wish the Kingdoms happiness I wish it peace and truly Sir I wish that this blood of mine may be the last that is drawn and howsoever I may perhaps have some reluctancy with my self as to the matter of my Fact for my suffering for my Fact yet I freely forgive all Sir I earry no rancour along with me to my Grave His Will be done that has created both Heaven and Earth and me a poor miserable sinful Creature now speaking before him For me to speak Sir to you of State-business and the Government of the Kingdom or my opinion in that or for any thing in that nature truly it is to no end it contributes nothing My own inclination hath been to peace from the beginning and it is known to many that I never was an ill instrument betwixt the King and his people I never acted to the prejudice of the Parliament I bore no Arms I medled not with it I was not wanting by my Prayers to God Almighty for the Happiness of the King and truly I shall pray still that God may so direct him as that may be done which shall tend to his Glory and the Peace and Happiness of the Kingdom I have not much more to say that I remember of I think I have spoken of my Religion D. Sibbald Your Lordship has not so fully said it Camb. Truly I do believe I did say something D. Sibbald I know you did it is pleasing to hear it from your Lordship again Camb. Truly Sir for the profession of my Religion that which I said was the established Religion and that which I have practiced in my own Kingdom where I was born and bred my Tenents they need not to be exprest they are known to all and I am not of a rigid Opinion many Godly men there is that may have scruples which do not concern me at all at no time they may differ in Opinion and now more than at any time differing in Opinion does not move me not any mans my own is clear Sir The Lord forgive me my sins and I forgive freely all those that even I might as a worldly man have the greatest animosity against We are bidden to forgive Sir 'T is a command laid upon us and there mentioned Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us D. Sibbald 'T is our Saviours rule Love your Enemies Bless them that curse you pray for them that persecute you do good to them that despightfully use you Camb. Sir it is high time for me to make an end of this and truly I remember no more that I have to say but to pray to God Almighty a few words and then I have done Then kneeling down with D. Sibbald he prayed thus MOst Blessed Lord I thy poor and most unworthy servant come unto thee presuming in thy infinite Mercy and the Merits of Jesus Christ who sits upon the Throne I come flying from that of Justice to that of Mercy and Tenderness for his sake which shed his Blood for sinners that he would take compassion upon me that he would look upon me as one that graciously hears me that he would look upon me as one that hath Redeemed me that he would look upon me as one that hath shed his Blood for me that he would look upon me as one who now calls and hopes to be saved by his all-sufficient merits For his sake glorious God have compassion upon me in the freeness of thy infinite mercy that when this sinful soul of mine shall depart out of this frail carcass of clay I may be carryed into thy Everlasting Glory O Lord by thy free Grace and out of thy infinite mercy hear me and look down and have compassion upon me and thou Lord Jesus thou my Lord and thou my God and thou my Redeemer hear me take pity upon me take pity upon me Gracious God and so deal with my soul that by thy precious merits I may attain to thy joy and bliss O Lord remember me so miserable and sinful a Creature now thou O Lord thou O Lord that dyedst for me receive me and receive me into thine own bound of mercy O Lord I trust in thee suffer me not now to be confounded Satan has had too long possession of this soul O let him not now prevail against it but let me O Lord from henceforth dwell with thee for evermore Now Lord it is thy time to hear me hear me Gracious Jesus even for thy own Goodness Mercy and Truth O Glorious God O Blessed Father O Holy Redeemer O Gracious Comforter O Holy and Blessed Trinity I do render up my soul into thy hands and commit it with the Mediation of my Redeemer Praising thee for all thy Dispensation that it has pleased thee to confer upon me and even for this Praise and Honour and Thanks from this time forth for evermore D. Sibbald My Lord I trust you now behold with the Eye of Faith the Son of Righteousness shining upon your Soul and will cheerfully submit unto Him who hath Redeemed us through his Blood even the Blood of Jesus Christ that you may appear at the Tribunal of God cloathed with the White Robe of his Unspotted Righteousness The Lord grant that with the Eye of Faith you may now see the Heavens opened and Jesus Christ standing at the Right Hand of God ready to receive you into his Arms of Mercy Camb. Then the Earl turning to the Executioner said Shall I put on another Cap Must this Hair be turned up from my Neck There are Three of my Servants to give Satisfaction D. Sibbald My Lord I hope you are able to give all that are about you Satisfaction you are assured that God is reconciled unto you through the Blood of Christ Jesus and the Spirit of the Lord witnesseth to you that Christ is become now a Jesus unto you My Lord fasten the Eyes of your Faith upon Jesus the Author and Finisher of your Salvation who himself was brought to a violent Death for the Redemption of Mankind He chearfully submitted to his Father's good Pleasure in it and for us Blessed and Holy is he that hath part my Lord in the first Resurrection that is in the first Riser Jesus Christ who is both the Resurrection and the Life Over him the Second Death shall have no Power 'T is the unspeakable Joy of a Believer that at the Hour of Death his Soul hath an immediate Passage from this earthly Tabernacle to that Region of endless Glory yea to the Presence of God himself in whose Presence is fulness of Joy and at whose Right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore Then the Earl of Cambridge turning to the Executioner said Which way is it that you would have me lie Sir Execut. The Executioner pointing to the Front of the Scaffold the Earl replied What my Head this way Then the Undersheriffs Son said My Lord the Order is That you should lay your Head towards the High Court
present Affairs as they are I cannot tell how to judge of them and truly they are in such a condition as I conceive no body can make a judgment of them and therefore I must make use of Prayers rather than of my Opinion which are That God would bless this Kingdom this Nation this State that he would settle it in a way agreeable to what this Kingdom hath been happily governed under by a King by the Lords by the Commons a Government that I conceive it hath flourished much under and I pray God the change of it bring not rather a prejudice a disorder and a confusion than the contrary I look upon the Posterity of the King and truly my Conscience directs me to it to desire that if God be pleased that these people may look upon them with that affection that they owe that they may be called in again and they may be not through blood nor through disorder admitted again into that Power and to that Glory that God in their birth intended to them I shall pray with all my Soul for the Happiness of this State of this Nation that the blood which is here spilt may even be the last that may fall among us and truly I should lay down my life with as much chearfulness as ever Person did if I conceived that there would be no more blood follow us for a State or Affairs that are built upon blood is a Foundation for the most part that doth not prosper After the Blessing that I give to the Nation to the Kingdom and truly to the Parliament I do wish with all my Heart Happiness and a Blessing to all those that have been Authors in this business and truly that have been Authors in this very work that bringeth us hither I do not only forgive them but I pray heartily and really for them as God will forgive my sins so I desire God may forgive them I have a particular relation as I am Chancellor of Cambridge and truly I must here since it is the last of my prayers pray to God that that University may go on in that happy way which it is in that God may make it a Nursery to plant those persons that may be distributed to the Kingdom that the souls of the people may receive a great benefit and a great advantage by them and I hope God will reward them for their kindness and their affections that I have found from them I have said what Religion I have been bred in what Religion I have been born in what Religion I have practised I began with it and I must end with it I told you that my Actions and my Life have not been agreeable to my Breeding I have told you likewise that the Family where I was bred hath been an Exemplary Family I may say so I hope without vanity of much Affection to Religion and of much faithfulness to this Kingdom and to this State I have endeavoured to do those Actions that became an honest Man and a good English man and which became a good Christian I have been willing to oblige those that have been in trouble those that have been in persecution and truly I find a great reward of it for I have found their Prayers and their Kindness now in this distress and in this condition and I think it a great reward I pray God reward them for it I am a great sinner and I hope God will be pleased to hear my Prayers to give me faith to trust in him that as he hath called me to death at this place he will make it but a passage to an Eternal Life through Jesus Christ which I trust to which I rely upon and which I expect by the mercy of God And so I pray God bless you all and send that you may see this to be the last Execution and the last Blood that is likely to be spilt among you And then turning to the side-rayl he prayed for a good space of time after which Mr. Bolton said My Lord Now look upon him whom you have trusted My Lord I hope that here is your last prayer there will no more prayers remain but praises and I hope that after this day is over there will a day begin that shall never have end and I look upon this my Lord the morning of it the morning of that day My Lord You know where your fulness lies where your riches lie where is your only rock to anchor on you know there is fulness in Christ If the Lord comes not in with fulness of comfort to you yet resolve to wait upon him while you live and to trust in him when you die and then say I will dye here I will perish at thy feet I will be found dead at the feet of Jesus Christ Certainly he that came to seek and save lost sinners will not reject lost sinners when they come to seek him He that intreateth us to come will not slight us when we come to intreat him My Lord there is enough there and fix your heart there and fix your eyes there that eye of Faith and that eye of Hope exercise these Graces now there will be no exercise hereafter As your Lordship said here take an end of Faith and take an end of Hope and take a farewel of Repentance and all these and welcome God and welcome Christ and welcome Glory and welcome Happiness to all Eternity and so it will be an happy passage then if it be a passage here from Misery to Happiness And though it be but a sad way yet if it will bring you into the presence of joy although it be a Valley of Tears although it be a Shadow of Death yet if God will please to bring you and make it a passage to that Happiness welcome Lord. And I doubt not but God will give you an heart to taste some sweetness and love in this bitter Potion and to see something of mercy and goodness to you and shew you some sign and token of good so that your soul may see that which we have had already of experience of blessed be God for it many experiences many expressions not only in words nor tears God hath not left us without much comfort and evidence and I hope my Lord You that have given so many Evidences to us I hope you want none Your self but that the Lord will be pleased to support You and bear up your Spirit and if there want Evidence there is reliance my security lies not in my knowing that I shall come to Heaven and come to Glory but in my resting and relying upon him when the Anchor of Faith is thrown out there may be shakings and tossings but there is safety nothing shall interrupt safety although something may interrupt security my safety is sure although I apprehend it not and what if I go to God in the dark What if I come to him as Nicodemus did staggering in the night It is a
night of trouble a night of darkness though I come trembling and staggering in this night yet I shall be sure to find comfort and fixedness in him And the Lord of Heaven be the strength stay and support of Your soul and the Lord furnish you with all those Graces which may carry You into the bosom of the Lord Jesus that when You expire this Life You may be able to expire it into him in whom You may begin to live to all Eternity and that is my humble prayer Holland M. Bolton God hath given me long time in this World he hath carryed me through many great Accidents of Fortune he hath at last brought me down into a condition where I find my self brought to an end for a disaffection to this State to this Parliament that as I said before I did believe no body in the world more unlikely to have expected to suffer for that cause I look upon it as a great judgment of God for my sins And truly Sir since that the Death is violent I am the less troubled with it because of those violent deaths that I have seen before principally my Saviour that hath shewed us the way how and in what manner he hath done it and for what cause I am the more comforted I am the more rejoyced It is not long since the King my Master passed in the same manner and truly I hope that his purposes and intentions were such as a man may not be ashamed not only to follow him in the way that was taken with him but likewise not ashamed of his purposes if God had given him Life I have often disputed with him concerning many things of this kind and I conceive his sufferings and his better knowledge and better understanding if God had spared him Life might have made him a Prince very happy towards himself and very happy towards this Kingdom I have seen and known that those blessed Souls in Heaven have passed thither by the gate of sorrow and many by the gate of violence and since it is Gods pleasure to dispose me this way I submit my Soul to him with all comfort and with all hope that he hath made this my end and this my conclusion that though I be low in death yet nevertheless this lowness shall raise me to the highest glory for ever Truly I have not said much in publick to the people concerning the particular Actions that I conceive I have done by my Counsels in this Kingdom I conceive they are well known it were something of vanity methinks to take notice of them here I 'le rather die with them with the comfort of them in my own bosom and that I never intended in this action or any action that ever I did in my Life either Malice or Bloodshed or prejudice to any Creature that lives For that which concerns my Religion I made my profession before of it how I was bred and in what manner I was bred in a Family that was looked upon to be no little notorious in opposition to some Liberties they have conceived then to be taken and truly there was some mark upon me as if I had some taint of it even throughout my whole way that I have taken every body knows what my Affections have been to many that have suffered to many that have been in troubles in this Kingdom I endeavoured to relieve them I endeavoured to oblige them I thought I was tyed so by my Conscience I thought it by my Charity and truly very much by my Breeding God hath now brought me to the last instant of my time all that I can say and all that I can adhere unto is this That as I am a great sinner so I have a great Saviour that as he hath given me here a Fortune to come publickly in a shew of shame in the way of this Suffering truly I understand it not to be so I understand it to be a Glory a Glory when I consider who hath gone before me and a Glory when I consider I had no end in it but what I conceive to be the service of God the King and the Kingdom and therefore my Heart is not charged much with any thing in that particular since I conceive God will accept of the intention whatsoever the action seems to be I am going to dye and the Lord receive my Soul I have no relyance but upon Christ for my self I do acknowledge that I am the unworthiest of sinners my Life hath been a vanity and a continued sin and God may justly bring me to this end for the sins I have committed against him and were there nothing else but the iniquities that I have committed in the way of my Life I look upon this as a great Justice of God to bring me to this Suffering and to bring me to this Punishment And those Hands that have been most active in it if any such there hath been I pray God forgive them I pray God that there may not be many such Trophies of their Victories but that this may be as I said before the last Shew that this People shall see of the Blood of Persons of Condition of Persons of Honour I might say something of the Way of our Tryal which certainly hath been as extraordinary as any thing I think hath ever been seen in this Kingdom but because that I would not seem as if I made some complaint I will not so much as mention it because no body shall believe I repine at their Actions that I repine at my Fortune it is the Will of God it is the hand of God under whom I fall I take it entirely from him I submit my self to him I shall desire to roul my self into the Arms of my Blessed Saviour and when I come to this place when I bow down my self there I hope God will raise me up and when I bid farewel as I must now to Hope and to Faith that Love will abide I know nothing to accompany the Soul out of this World but Love and I hope that Love will bring me to the Fountain of Glory in Heaven through the Arms Mediation and the Mercy of my Saviour Jesus Christ in whom I believe O Lord help my Unbelief Hodges The Lord make over unto You the Righteousness of his own Son it is that Treasury that he hath bestowed upon You and the Lord shew You the Light of his Countenance and fill You full with his joy and kindness O my dear Lord the Lord of Heaven and Earth be with You and the Lord of Heaven and Earth bring You to that Safety Holland I shall make as much hast as I can to come that Glory and the Lord of Heaven and Earth take my soul I look upon my self entirely in Him and hope to find Mercy through Him I expect it and through that Fountain that is opened for Sin and for Uncleanness my Soul must receive it for did I rest in any thing else I
have nothing but sin and corruption in me I have nothing but that which in stead of being carried up into the Arms of God and of Glory I have nothing but may throw me down into Hell Bolton But my Lord when you are cloathed with the Righteousness of another you will appear glorious though now sinful in your self The Apostle saith I desire not to be found in my own righteousness and when you are cloathed with another the Lord will own you and I shall say but thus much Doubt not that ever God will deny salvation to sinners that come to him when the end of all his Death and Sufferings was the Salvation of Sinners when as I say the whole end and the whole design and the great work that God had to do in the world by the death of Christ wherein he laid out all his counsels and infinite wisdom and mercy and goodness beyond which there was a Non ultra in Gods thoughts when this was the great design and great end the salvation of sinners that poor Souls should come over to him and live certainly when sinners come he will not reject he will not refuse And my Lord do but think of this the greatest work that ever was done in the World was the Blood of Christ that was shed never any thing like it And this blood of Christ that was shed never any thing like it And this Blood of Christ that was shed was shed for them that come if not for them for none it was in vain else you see the Devils they are out of capacity of good by it the Angels they have no need of it wicked men will not come and there are but a few that come over but a few that come over and should be deny them there were no end nor fruit of the Blood and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus and had your Lordship been with Christ in that bloody agony when he was in that bloody sweat sweating drops of blood if you had asked him Lord what art thou now a doing art thou not now reconciling an angry God and me together art thou not pacifying the Wrath of God Art not thou interposing thy self between the Justice of God and my Soul Would he not have said yea And surely then he will not deny it now My Lord His passions are over his compassions still remain and the larger and greater because he is gone up into a higher place that he may throw down more abundance of his mercy and grace upon you and my Lord think of that infinite Love that abundance of riches in Christ I am lost I am empty I have nothing I am poor I am sinful be it so as bad as God will make me and as vile as I possibly can conceive my self I am willing to be but when I have said all the more I advance that Riches and Honour that Grace of God And why should I doubt when by this he puts me into a capacity into a disposition for him to shew me mercy that by this I may the better advance the Riches of his Grace and say Grace Grace to the Lord to all Eternity that God should own such a Creature that deserves nothing and the less I deserve the more conspicuous is his Grace and this is certain the Riches of his Grace he throweth amongst men that the Glory of his Grace might be given to himself if we can give him but the Glory of his Grace we shall never doubt to partake of the Riches of it and that Fulness My Lord that Fulness be your Comfort that Fulness of Mercy that Fulness of Love that Fulness of Righteousness and Power be now your Riches and your only Stay and the Lord interpose himself between God and you as your Faith hath indeavoured to interpose him between God and your soul so I doubt not there he stands my Lord to plead for you and when you are not able to do any thing your self yet lie down at the Feet of him that is a Merciful Saviour and knows what you would desire and wait upon him while you live trust in him when you die there is Riches enough and Mercy enough if he open not yet die at his door say there I 'le die there is mercy enough Holland And here is the place where I lie die down before him from whence I hope he will raise me to an Eternal Glory through my Saviour upon whom I rely from whom only I can expect mercy into his Arms I commend my Spirit into his bleeding Arms that when I leave this bleeding Body that must lie upon this place he will receive that Soul that ariseth out of it and receive it into his Eternal Mercy through the Merits through the Worthiness through the Mediation of Christ that hath purchased it with his own most precious Blood Bolton My Lord Though you conclude here I hope you begin above and though you put an End here I hope there will never be an End of the Mercy and Goodness of God And if this be the Morning of Eternity if this be the Rise of Glory if God pleaseth to throw you down here to raise you up for ever say Welcom Lord Welcom that Death that shall make way for Life and welcom any Condition that shall throw me down here to bring me into the Possession of Jesus Christ Hodges My Lord if you have made a Deed of Gift of your self to Jesus Christ to be found only in Him I am confident you shall stand at the Day of Christ My dear Lord we shall meet in Happiness Holland Christ Jesus receive my Soul my Soul hungers and thirsts after him Clouds are gathering and I trust in God through all my Heaviness and I hope through all Impediments he will settle my Interest in Him and throw off all the Claim that Satan can make unto it and that he will carry my Soul in despight of all the Callumnies and all that the Devil and Satan can invent will carry it into Eternal Mercy there to receive the Blessedness of his Presence to all Eternity Hodges My Lord It was his own by Creation it is his own now by Redemption and Purchase and it is likewise his own by Resignation O my Lord look therefore up to the Lamb of God that sits at the Right Hand of God to take away the Sins of the World O that Lamb of God! Holland That Lamb of God into his Hands I commit my Soul And that Lamb of God that sits upon the Throne to judge those Twenty Four that fall down before Him I hope he will be pleased to look downward and judge me with Mercy that fall down before Him and that adore Him that only trusts upon his Mercy for his Compassion and that as he hath purchased me he would lay his Claim unto me now and receive me Bolton My Lord Think of this There is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Who is it that can condemn It is
Christ that justifies And therefore look now upon this My Lord upon this Christ upon this Christ that justifies Hell Death Sin Satan nothing shall be able to condemn It is Christ that justifies you Holland Indeed if Christ justifie no Body can condemn and I trust in God in his Justification Though there is a Confusion here without us and though there are Wonders and Staring that now disquiet yet I trust that I shall be carried into that Mercy that God will receive my Soul Bolton I doubt not my Lord but as you are a Spectacles of Pity here so you are an Object of God's Mercy above Holland Then the Earl of Holland looking over among the People pointing to a Souldier said This honest Man took me a Prisoner You little thought I should have been brought to this when I delivered my self to you upon Conditions And espying Captain Watson on Horse-back putting off his Hat said to him God be with you Sir God reward you Sir Bolton My Lord Throw your self into the Arms of Mercy and say There I will anchor and there I will die He is a Saviour for us in all Conditions Whither should we go He hath the Words of Eternal Life And upon Him do you rest wait while you live and even trust in Death Holland Here must now be my Anchor a great Storm makes me find my Anchor and but in Storms no Body trusts to his Anchor And therefore I must trust upon my Anchor Vpon that God said Mr. Bolton upon whom your Anchor trusts Yea God I hope will anchor my Soul fast upon Christ Jesus And if I die not with that Clearness and that Heartiness that you speak of truly I will trust in God though he kill me I will rely upon Him and in the Mercy of my Saviour Bolton There is Mercy enough my Lord and to spare you shall not need to doubt they shall never go begging to another Door My Lord that come to Him Then the Earl of Holland speaking to Mr. Hodges said I pray God reward you for all your Kindness and pray as you have done instruct my Family that they may serve God with Faithfulness and Holiness with more Diligence than truly I have been careful to press them unto You have the Charge of the same Place you may do much for them and I recommend them to your Kindness and the Goodness of your Conscience Dr. Sibbald standing upon the Scaffold in his Passage to Collonel Beecher expressed himself thus to his Lordship Dr. Sibbald The Lord lift up the Light of his Countenance upon you and you shall be safe Holland Then the Earl of Holland embraced Lieutenant Collonel Beecher and took his Leave of him After which he came to Mr. Bolton and having embraced him and returned him many Thanks for his great Pains and Affections to his Soul desiring God to reward him and return his Love into his Bosom Mr. Bolton said to him The Lord God support you and be seen in this great Extremity The Lord reveal and discover himself to you and make your Death the Passage unto Eternal Life Then the Earl of Holland turning to the Executioner said Here my Friend let my Cloaths and my Body alone there is Ten Pounds for thee that is better than my Cloaths I am sure of it Executioner Will your Lordship please to give me a Sign when I shall strike And then his Lordship said You have Room enough here have you not And the Executioner said Yes Bolton The Lord be your Strength there is Riches in him The Lord of Heaven impart himself to you he is able to save to the uttermost We cannot fall so low as to fall below the everlasting Arms of God and therefore the Lord be a Support and Stay to you in your low Condition that he will be pleased to make this an Advantage to that Life and Glory that will make amends for all Holland Then the Earl of Holland turning to the Executioner said Friend do you hear me If you take up my Head do not take off my Cap. Then turning to his Servants he said to one Fare you well thou art an Honest Fellow and to another God be with thee thou art an Honest Man And then said Stay I will kneel down and ask God Forgiveness And then prayed for a pretty space with seeming Earnestness Bolton The Lord grant you may find Life in Death Holland Which is the way of lying which they shewed him And then going to the Front of the Scaffold he said to the People God bless you all and God deliver you from any such Accident as may bring you to any such Death as is violent either by War or by these Accidents but that there may be Peace among you and you may find that these Accidents that have happened to us may be the last that may happen in this Kingdom It is that I desire it is that I beg of God next the saving of my Soul I pray God give all Happiness to this Kingdom to this People and this Nation And then turning to the Executioner said How must I lie I know not Executioner Lie down flat upon your Belly And then having laid himself down he said Must I lie closer Executioner Yes and backwarder Holland I will tell you when you shall strike And then as he lay seemed to pray with much Affection for a short space and then lifting up his Head said Where is the Man And seeing the Executioner by him he said Stay while I give the Sign And presently after stretching out his Hand and the Executioner being not fully ready he said Now now And just as the Words were coming out of his Mouth the Executioner at one Blow severed his Head from his Body Arthur Lord Capel his Speech on the Scaffold immediately before his Death March 9. 1649. The Execution of the Lord of Holland being thus performed the Lord Capel was brought to the Scaffold as the former and in the way to the Scaffold he put off his Hat to the People on both sides looking very austerely about him And being come upon the Scaffold Lieutenant Collonel Beecher said to him Is your Chaplain here Capel NO I have taken my Leave of him And perceiving some of his Servants to weep he said Gentlemen refrain your selves refrain your selves And turning to Lieutenant Collonel Beecher he said What did the Lords speak with their Hats off or no Coll. Beech. With their Hats off And then coming to the Front of the Scaffold he said I shall hardly be understood here I think And then began his Speech as followeth Capel The Conclusion that I made with those that sent me hither and are the Cause of this violent Death of mine shall be the Beginning of what I shall say to you When I made an Address to them which was the last I told them with much Sincerity That I would pray to the God of all Mercies that they might be Partakers of his inestimable
and boundless Mercies in Jesus Christ and truly I still pray that Prayer And I beseech the God of Heaven forgive any Injury they have done to me from my Soul I wish it And truly this I tell you as a Christian to let you see I am a Christian But it is necessary I should tell you somewhat more That I am a Protestant And truly I am a Protestant and very much in love with the Profession of it after the manner as it was established in England by the thirty nine Articles A blessed way of Profession and such an one as truly I never knew none so good I am so far from being a Papist which some Body have truly very unworthily at some time charged me withal that truly I profess to you that though I love Good Works and commend Good Works yet I hold they have nothing at all to do in the matter of Salvation My Anchor-hold is this That Christ loved me and gave Himself for me That is that that I rest upon And truly something I shall say to you as a Citizen of the whole World and in that Consideration I am here condemned to die truly contrary to the Law that governs all the World that is the Law of the Sword I had the Protection of that for my Life and the Honour of it But truly I will not trouble you much with that because in another Place I have spoken very largely and liberally about it I believe you will hear by other means what Arguments I used in that Case But truly that that is stranger you that are English-men behold here an English-man here before you and acknowledged a Peer not condemned to die by any Law of England not by any Law of England nay shall I tell you more which is strangest of all contrary to all the Laws of England that I know of And truly I will tell you in the matter of the Civil Part of my Death and the Cause that I have maintained I die I take it for maintaining the Fifth Commandment enjoyned by God himself which enjoyns Reverence and Obedience to Parents All Divines on all Hands though they contradict one another in many several Opinions yet all Divines on all Hands do acknowledge that here is intended Magistracy and Order And certainly I have obeyed that Magistracy and that Order under which I have lived which I was bound to obey And truly I do say very confidently That I do die here for keeping for obeying that Fifth Commandment given by God himself and written with his own Finger And now Gentlemen I will take this Opportunity to tell you That I cannot imitate a better nor a greater Ingenuity than his that said of himself For suffering an unjust Judgment upon another himself was brought to suffer by an unjust Judgment Truly Gentlemen that God may may be glorified that all Men that are concerned in it may take the Occasion of it of humble Repentance to God Almighty for it I do here profess to you That I did give my Vote to that Bill against the Earl of Strafford I doubt not but God Almighty hath washed that away with a more precious Blood the Blood of his own Son and my dear Saviour Jesus Christ And I hope he will wash it away from all those that are guilty of it Truly this I may say I had not the least part nor degree of Malice in doing of it But I must confess again to God's Glory and the Accusation of mine own Frailty and the Frailty of my Nature that truly it was unworthy Cowardize not to resist so great a Torrent as carried that Business at that time And truly this I think I am most guilty of of not Courage enough in it but Malice I had none But whatsoever it was God I am sure hath pardoned it hath given me the Assurance of it that Christ Jesus his Blood hath washed it away And truly I do from my Soul wish That all Men that have any Stain by it may seriously repent and receive a Remission and Pardon from God for it And now Gentlemen we have had an Occasion by this Intimation to remember His Majesty our King that last was and I cannot speak of Him nor think of it but truly I must needs say That in my Opinion that have had time to consider all the Images of all the greatest and vertuousest Princes in the World and truly in my Opinion there was not a more vertuous and more sufficient Prince known in the World than our gracious King Charles that died last God Almighty preserve our King that now is his Son God send him more Fortunate and longer days God Almighty so assist him that he may exceed both the Vertues and Sufficiences of his Father For certainly I that have been a Councellor to him and have lived long with him and in a time when Discovery is easily enough made for he was young he was about thirteen fourteen fifteen or sixteen Years of Age those Years I was with him Truly I never saw greater Hopes of Vertue in any young Person than in him great Judgment great Understanding great Apprehension much Honour in his Nature and truly a very perfect English-Man in his Inclination And I pray God restore him to this Kingdom and unite the Kingdoms one unto another and send a great Happiness both to You and to Him that he may long live and reign among you and that that Family may reign till thy Kingdom come that is while all Temporal Power is consummated I beseech God of his Mercy give much Happiness to this your King and to You that in it shall be his Subjects by the Grace of Jesus Christ Truly I like my Beginning so well that I will make my Conclusion with it that is That God Almighty would confer of his infinite and inestimable Grace and Mercy to those that are the Causers of my coming hither I pray God give them as much Mercy as their Hearts can wish And truly for my part I will not accuse any one of them of Malice truly I will not Nay I will not think there was any Malice in them what other Ends there is I know not nor will I examine But let it be what it will from my very Soul I forgive them every one And so the Lord of Heaven bless you all God Almighty be infinite in Goodness and Mercy to you and direct you in those ways of Obedience to his Commands to His Majesty that this Kingdom may be an happy and glorious Nation again and that your King may be an happy King in so good and so obedient People God Almighty keep you all God Almighty preserve this Kingdom God Almighty preserve you all Then turning about and looking for the Executioner who was gone off the Scaffold said Which is the Gentleman which is the Man Answer was made He is coming He then said Stay I must pull off my Doublet first and my Wastcoat And then the Executioner being
the best Interest For so various is the world that those who now want our bounty may recompense us in the like misery For this there are many examples XLVI Those that have an imperfect speech it is great discretion in them to esteem silence wisdom Yet to addict themselves to an active form of complement without affection and a serene countenance XLVII Wise and happy is that man that will not be drawn to commit either an indecent or dishonest Act for love hatred or gain XLVIII Many in gaming are like drunken men so heated with ill fortune that the civil carriage of others can hardly safe-guard them from their quarrelsom distemper These should correct themselves from this poor humour which if they cannot they must fly from play as from a Basilisk XLIX Those that behave themselves with an uneven and captious conversation towards others are but tell-tales of their own unpeaceable and miserable unsetled minds within themselves L. Lord Thou hast heaped Blessings upon me if thou make them true Blessings by guiding me in the use of them The Philistines had once thy Ark amongst them but it was a sensible curse to them but to thy Israel thy great mercy O make me thine otherwise these blessings will be insensible maledictions great occasions to draw me on to sordid base affections LI. Expence is not the only thing that craks mens estates but the regardlesness of what and how we spend For men of great fortunes I have seen enjoy no more neither in substance nor shew than those of less who have sided with them in the same courses yet the greater have perished and the less held up For the most provident may spend most LII Few have the wisdom in adverse things to use prevoyance before them circumspection in them and patience after them but are commonly improvident negligent and perturbated in the undue seasons But in remediless occurrences it is the best wisdom of man to be insensible LIII Instable are the resolutions of women and as their flexible natures may be instruments of great good if their happiness be to affect honesty and discreet friends so there is no folly so great but they will confidently prosecute it if they either rest upon their own feeble judgment or unfortunately repose themselves on such men that respect their own commodity beyond the value of their reputation LIV. To those that are wilfully bent against any good conceit of us it will prove but trouble without success to endeavour by servile obsequiousness to gain them The better way is by a constant fair carriage to expect that time may ripen the fruit which hast cannot and too hasty shaking throws down the sowre with the sweet LV. Complement may be used but not usually like sweet-meats entertainment for strangers or great personages which keep their taste if rarely served but if commonly prove nauseous LVI I would take reports but especially those of servants with divers Queries For many times they are the bane of undiscreet credulous persons LVII The true Christian man looks not backward but forward not Pharisaically prides himself to see those that are worse than himself but encourageth himself to reach the perfection of the best stands not still like milposts that rot in the places where they were set All his life is a race a progression LVIII Vain attempts as they are the loss of labour and time so they are the discredit and infamy of the undertakers LIX In all the unhappy actions of our life there is a destined precipitation where our will and self-conceit out-goes our consideration and judgment LX. Those whose desires and expectations are moderate have their afflictions and troubles not intolerable LXI I have seen many that desiring to make themselves pleasant companions have faln into the habit of most ridiculous actions and discourses LXII Sharp and bitter jests are blunted more by neglecting than by responding except they be suddenly and wittily retorted But it is no imputation to a mans wisdom to use a silent scorn LXIII There is much delight in the society of men of witty and pleasant discourse But if they be not qualified with true honesty we shall pay dear for our sport if we entertain them into any strict familiarity LXIV The life of a Christian though it be the highest profession yet none are so excelent or perfect but that even by them much is to be learnt and unlearnt And here in this world we are alwaies Disciples that is learners A good lesson to take down our natural pride which puffs us up with so much self-conceit that we think our selves rich and cloathed when we are miserable and naked LXV It requires a good temper to endure contradicting spirits but they are best silenced by silence LXVI It is hard for human frailty alwaies to keep so sure a guard of words and actions but that sometimes by them it will fall into inconvenience if not mischief Therefore it is more ingenuous by gentle acknowledgment to confess a fault than with an unblushing impudence to maintain it And inhumane it is with proud arrogance to insult over a penitent delinquent LXVII No decent fashion is unlawful And if fashions be but a diversified decency without question it is but a Cynical singularity either to exclaim against or not sociably to use them LXVIII Wealth without friends is like life without health The one an uncomfortable fortune the other a miserable being LXIX I have observed a malicious kin do Flattery not onely to please or gain from the party flattered but to circumvent or mischief a third person As it is rarest so worst For it as much exceeds common flattery as Adultery Fornication LXX It is a hard thing to be a true friend For many times in acting the part of a true friend to one we love we not onely lose familiarity but procure hatred And I scarce know a man that is capable of a true friend LXXI Let our thoughts and actions towards God be pious to our neighbour charitable toward our selves sober and our present life will be peaceable our memory praised and our happiness eternall LXXII The depraved nature of Man affects what he should not though more laborious than that which is required LXXIII Industry to get and Frugality to keep are the infallible worldly means to raise great Fortunes LXXIV In the heat of Summer we easily believe there will come a season of Frost and Snow yet in our prosperity we consider not of adversity yet the one is as successive as the other LXXV The idle man is more perplexed what to do than the laborious in doing what he ought LXXVI God deliver me from the society of those who fear not the infamy of an evil action LVII It is a quality commendable not to pretermit things of moment which may instruct the judgment But it is a note of a vain mind to hunt after every trivial garish pomp or shew LXXVIII Though children to our common apprehension
find fault with other men for those very faults wherein themselves are most faulty Surely hoping to divert other mens observations from their lives These men think to hide themselves behind a thred CCXVI It is as bootless to endeavour to win some men by gentle usage as to hope to tame a wolf by stroaking CCXVII It is a help to tranquillity lightly to esteem ill reports that are falsely cast upon us and those that are deservedly to make them admonitions to us for our reformation and not to be incensed to a wilful prosecution for that will multiply our vexation CCXVIII O Lord how great is thy mercy to mankind that thou oftentimes withdrawest thy blessing from strong means and so makest them ineffectuall and again thou inspirest weak helps to effect great matters This thou dost knowing our wicked natures would adore thy blessings not thee if the ordinary best means should be infallible And if thou shouldst never go along with the means how lazy should we be and so become loathsom drones in thy sight CCXIX. It is a most unfit time either to undertake or consult of any weighty business when our minds have newly been stirred with any violence of passion let it be either of anger grief or fear For a man may as well consult fighting as then CCXX None more in patiently suffer injuries than those that are most forward in doing them CCXXI I have seen men discommend those things which have been spoken by one whom they have not much affected and commend the self same things delivered from anothers mouth whom they love These methinks resemble those that praise the same liquor out of a glass and dispraise it out of a bowle CCXXII In War when every man seeks to save one all is lost In a Common wealth when every one greedily applies himself to his own profit the publick suffers So in a Family when every one endeavours mastership all are disordered CCXXIII. In a State nothing is more requisite than to preserve to every office yea to the meanest a good refute For the first step to disorder is the contempt of Magistracy and that as well of the lowest degrees as the more exalted CCXXIV. I would endeavour to strangle all ill conceits of a parent even at their first beginning though there were too much occasion for them But to aggravate any upon never so just grounds is a degree of Parricide CCXXV. That Religion which principally intends internal integrity and is exercised with external decency is far more holy than that which by external glory and pomp incites more ocular admiration than inward sanctity CCXXVI If I could I would labour and if not able to labour the law of nature would allow me to beg but rather than steal I would dye CCXXVII A man may be a good practical Moralist and no Christian but a man cannot be a good Christian and an ill Moralist CCXXVIII Those women that desire to marry such doults as they hope to govern and rule as they list are like those that spend all their life time in leading of the blind CCXXIX A fault opportunely rebuked is like a cure timely taken then both alike easily cured but when time hath given strength and growth they both pass from dangerous to deadly CCXXX The life of a little sick Infant is as hazardous and hopeless as the safety of a small Bark in the Sea 〈…〉 allanced and without a steers-man Every wave though not rough tosseth and endangereth the safety of it So these little ones wanting strength as the ballast and reason as the steers-man by which they might either help themselves or direct others for their help small infirmity dissolves them But God manifests himself most where there are least natural means and by his goodness they are preserved CCXXXI Wisely used it may be a discreet course when our friends are afflicted with the calamity of some great loss to amuse them with the danger of a greater dependent misfortune if their wisdom and patience do not well provide for it so whilst their minds are busied with the consideration of a greater matter the other will be swallowed up and the happy safety of what was most feared will annihilate the sorrow of the other CCXXXII Many times when we are in heavy affliction and are desperate of all outward means our Faith is more strong then afterwards when God hath mercifully delivered Yea how far doth the Devil prevail to make us when escaped even worship the vertue of those means which in our calamity were but either cold or no comforters CCXXXIII It is the wisdom of a man to be always armed against casualties and the advantage of a Christian man to be best armed Our little moment of time is obvious to many dangers and afflictions these such as one stroak of them is able to kill us as the loss of wife the greatest of children the next of estate and fame and many the like In how many if not in all places do we lye open But Faith in Gods providence that he orders all for the best is a compleat armour of defence therefore let us never be unharnessed CCXXXIV How disconsolate a thing is it to journey alone and to 〈◊〉 â—enighted in fearful darkness and in 〈…〉 passage And how are we re 〈…〉 meet with well-known acquaintance that will accompany us Such like but far exceeding is the comfort of cordial friends in affliction CCXXXV Those disputations are fruitless and contentious where the Authorities of learned men are objected and not Reason CCXXXVI That State is happiest and prospers best where the people rather obey the authority of the ancient and fundamental Laws than dispute the wisdom and policy of the first Institutors CCXXXVII Those who govern themselves by the examples of others and not by the rule of reason judgment are like those who to the appearance have clear eyes yet are blind and cannot walk but as they are led CCXXXVIII Friendship is the chiefest comfort of life but to multiply friendships and for one man to joyn himself in many is levity and danger For no man that is wise will give many keys of that Cabinet where his chiefest wealth lies CCXXXIX The first step of that ladder by which a Christian man ascends to Heaven is humility and he who means 〈…〉 that and so ascend by the rest 〈…〉 them and tumbles back with 〈…〉 ption CCXL Those are far from ingenuous dispositions who for their own ends will comply with ignominious and base persons CCXLI. To servants I would give all lawful liberty as upon just occasions to be absent from my service But I would not suffer them to take it for if they find a remiss hand upon them in one thing it will ingender insolence in all CCXLII. 'T is not the plenty of meat that nourisheth but a good digestion Neither is it abundance of wealth that makes us happy but the discreet using it CCXLIII The interchanging courtesies of Friends is
Nathanael Lacey Jo. Stone Cornelius Cook William Wybeard Jo. Blackwell Esq James Prince Nathanael Whettam Silvanus Taylor Thomas Ayres Edward Cresset William Penoyre Esq Sir Edward Barkham Barrester Ralph Harrison Maximillian Beard Sir William Roe Fra. Hacker Esq Jo. Whitby John Harrison Richard Downes Sparrow William Webb Thomas Cook Robert Titchbourn George Cooper Owen Roe Thomas Pride Jo. Huson Thomas Sanders Esq Thomas Titchbourn Esq Thomas Anarews Alderâ— William Spence Nicholas Martin Josias Barnars Hardwick Robert Norwood Stevin Estwick Thomas Nowell Thomas Arnold Thomas Browne Esq Thomas Ayre William Barlet Esq Sir Jo. Throughgood Kt. Vincent Potter William Parker Solomon Smith Hubberd Esq Sir Rich. Saltingstall Kt. Sampson Sheffeild Esq You and every of you are required to appear upon Monday the fifth of this instant Febr. in the morning by nine of the Clock in the Painted Chamber at Westminster for the putting into Execution an Act of Parliament for the erecting of an High Court of Justice for the trying and adjudging of James Earl of Cambridge Henry Earl of Holland George Lord Goring Arthur Lord Capel and Sir John Owen Knight Hereof the Subscribers are ordered to give notice and therefore desire you not to fail herein Given under our hands this third day of Feb. Anno Dom. 1648. Luke Robinson Nicho. Love J. Sarland The several Speeches of Duke Hamilton Earl of Cambridge the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capell immediately before their Execution upon the Scaffold in the Palace-yard Westminster on Friday March 9. 1649. Duke Hamilton Earl of Cambridge his Speech on the Scaffold March 9 1649. UPon Friday the ninth of this instant being the day appointed for the Execution of the sentence of Death upon the Earl of Cambridge the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel about ten of the Clock that morning L. Col. Beecher came with his Order to the several Prisoners at St. James's requiring them to come away according to which Order they were carried in Sedans with a Guard to Sir Thomas Cottons House at Westminster where they continued about the space of two hours passing away most of that time in Religious and seasonable conferences with the Ministers there present with them After which being called away to the Scaffold it was desired that before they went they might have the opportunity of commending their Souls to God by prayer which being readily granted and the room voided Mr. Bolton was desired by the Lord of Holland to take that pains with them which was accordingly done with great appearance of solemn Affections among them Prayer being concluded and hearty thanks returned by them all to the Ministers who performed as also to the rest who were their Assistants in this sad time of trouble The Earl of Cambridge prepared first to go towards the place of Execution and after mutual Embraces and some short Ejaculatory Expressions to and for his fellow-Sufferers he took his leave of them all and went along with the Officers attended upon by Dr. Sibbald whom he had chosen for his Comforter in this his sad Condition The Scaffold being erected in the new Palace-yard at Westminster over against the great Hall-Gate in the sight of the place where the High-Court of Justice formerly sate the Hall-doors being open there was his excellencies Regiment of Horse commanded by Capt. Disher and several Companies of Col. Hewsons and Col. Prides Regiments of Foot drawn up in the place When the Earl came from Westminster Hall near the Scaffold he was met by the Under-Sheriff of Middlesex and a Guard of his Men who took the charge of him from Lient Col. Beecher and the Partizans that were his Guard The Sheriff of London being also according to command from the High Court of Justice present to see the Execution performed The Earl of Cambridge being come upon the Scaffold and two of his own Servants waiting upon him he first spake to the Doctor as followeth E. of Camb. Whether shall I pray first Dr. Sibbald As your Lordship pleases E. of Camb. My Lord of Denbigh has sent to speak with me I know not the fashion I may ask you Sir Do those Gentlemen expect I should say any thing to them or no They cannot hear Dr. Sibbald There will be a greater silence by and by It will not be amiss if your Lordship defer your speaking till you hear from his Lordship Camb. There is something in it He was with the House Dr. Sibbald I suppose he would give no interruption to your Lordship at this time were there not something of concernment in it Camb. He is my Brother and has been a very faithful Servant to the State and he was in great esteem and reputation with them He is in the Hall and sent to speak with a servant of mine to send something to me Sibbald It will not lengthen the time much if you stay while you have a return from him My Lord you should do well to bestow your time now in meditating upon and imploring of the free mercy of God in Christ for your Eternal Salvation and look upon that ever-streaming Fountain of his precious Blood that purgeth us from all our sins even the sins of the deepest die the Blood of Jesus Christ washes away all our sins and that Blood of Christ is poured forth upon all such as by a lively faith lay hold upon him God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life that is now my Lord the Rock upon which you must chiefly rest and labour to fix your self in the free mercy of God through Christ Jesus whose mercies are from Everlasting to Everlasting unto all such as with the eye of Faith behold him behold Jesus the Author and Finisher of your Salvation who hath satisfied the Justice of God by that all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice which once for all he offered upon the Cross for the sins of the whole world so that the sting of Death is taken away from all Believers and he hath sanctified it as a passage to Everlasting Blessedness It is true the Waters of Jordan run somewhat rough and surly betwixt the Wilderness and our passage into Canaan but let us rest upon the Ark my Lord the Ark Christ Jesus that will carry us through and above all those Waves to that Rock of Ages which no Floud nor Waves can reach unto and to him who is yesterday to day and the same for ever against whom the Powers and Principalities the Gates of Hell shall never be able to prevail lift up and fasten your eyes now upon Christ crucified and labour to behold Jesus stand at the right hand of his Father as the Protomartyr Stephen ready to receive your Soul when it shall be separated from this frail and mortal Body Alas no man would desire Life if he knew beforehand what it were to live it is nothing but sorrow vexation and trouble grief and discontent
that waits upon every condition whether publick or private in every station and calling there are several miseries and troubles that are inseparable from them therefore what a blessed thing it is to have a speedy and comfortable passage out of this raging Sea into the Port of Everlasting Happiness We must pass through a Sea but it is the Sea of Christ's Blood in which never Soul suffered Shipwreck in which we must be blown with Winds and Tempests but they are the gales of Gods Spirit upon us which blow away all contrary Winds of diffidence in his mercy Here one acquainting the Earl his Servant was coming he answered So Sir And turning to the under-Sheriffs Son said Cambridge Sir you have a Warrant here Sheriff Yes My Lord we have a Command Cambridge A Command I take this time Sir of staying in regard of the Earl of Denbighs sending to speak with me I know not for what it is he desires me to stay Dr. Sibbald I presume Mr. Sheriff will not grudge your Lordship a few minutes time when so great a work as this is in hand His Lordships Servant being returned and having delivered his message to the Earl of Cambridge privately he said So it is done now and then turning to the front of the Scaffold before which as in all the rest of the places there was a great concourse of people he said Cambridg I think it is truly not very necessary for me to speak much there are many Gentlemen and Souldiers there that see me but my voice truly is so weak so low that they cannot hear me neither truly was I ever at any time so much in love with speaking or with any thing I had to express that I took delight in it yet this being the last time that I am to do so by a divine Providence of Almighty God who hath brought me to this end justly for my sins I shall to you Sir Mr. Sheriff declare thus much as to the matter that I am now to suffer for which is as being a Traytor to the Kingdom of England Truly Sir it was a Country that I equally loved with my own I made no difference I never intended either the generality of its prejudice or any particular mans in it what I did was by the Comand of the Parliament of the Country where I was born whose Commands I could not disobey without running into the same hazard there of that condition that I am now in The ends Sir of that Engagement is publick they are in Print and so I shall not need to specifie them Dr. Sibbald The Sun perhaps will be too much in your Lordships face as you speak Cambridge No Sir it will not burn it I hope I shall see a brighter Sun than this Sir very speedily Dr. Sibbald The Sun of Righteousness my Lord. Cambridg But to that which I was saying Sir It pleased God so to dispose that Army under my Command as it was ruined and I as their General clothed with a Commission stand here now ready to dye I shall not trouble you with repeating of my Plea what I said in my own Defence at the Court of JVSTICE my self being satisfied with the Commands that is laid upon me and they satisfied with the Justness of their procedure according to the Laws of this Land God is just and howsoever I shall not say any thing as to the mater of the sentence but that I do willingly submit to his Divine Providence and I acknowledge that very many ways I deserve even a worldly punishment as well as hereafter for we are all sinful Sir and I a great one yet for my comfort I know there is a God in Heaven that is exceeding merciful I know my Redeemer sits at his Right Hand and am confident clapping his hand to his Breast is Mediating for me at this instant I am hopeful through his Free-Grace and all-sufficient merits to be pardoned of my sins and to be received into his mercy upon that I rely trusting to nothing but the Free Grace of God through Jesus Christ I have not been tainted with my Religion I thank God for it since my infancy it hath been such as hath been profest in the Land and established and now 't is not this Religion or that Religion or this or that Fancy of men that is to be built upon 't is but one that 's right one that 's sure and that comes from God Sir and in the Free Grace of our Saviour Sir there is truly something that had I thought my Speech would have been thus taken I would have digested it into some better method than now I can and shall desire these Gentlemen that do write it that they will not wrong me in it and that it may not in this manner be published to my disadvantage for truly I did not intend to have spoken thus when I came here There is sirs terrible aspersions has been laid upon my self truly such as I thank God I am very free from as if my actions and intentions had not been such as they were pretended for but that notwithstanding what I pretended it was for the King there was nothing less intended than to serve him in it I was bred with him for many years I was his Domestick Servant and there was nothing declar'd by the Parliament that was not really intended by me and truly in it I ventured my Life one way and now I lose it another way and that was one of the ends as to the King I speak only of that because the rest has many particulars and to clear my self from so horrid an aspersion as is laid upon me neither was there any other design known to me by the incoming of the Army then what is really in the Declaration published His person I do profess I had reason to love as he was my King and as he had been my Master it has pleased God now to dispose of him so as it cannot be thought flattery to have said this or any end in me for the saying of it but to free my self from that calumny which lay upon me I cannot gain by it yet Truth is that which we shall gain by for ever There hath been much spoken Sir of an invitation into this Kingdom it 's mentioned in that Declaration and truly to that I did and do remit my self and I have been very much laboured for discoveries of these Inviters 'T is no time to dissemble How willingly I was to have served this Nation in any thing that was in my power is known to very many honest pious and religious men and how ready I would have been to have done what I could to have served them if it had pleased them to have preserved my Life in whose hands there was a power They have not thought it fit and so I am become unuseful in that which willingly I would have done As I said at first Sir so I say now concerning that point I
of Justice The Earl of Cambridge after a little Discourse in private with some of his Servants kneeled down on the Side of the Scaffold and prayed a while to himself When he had finisht his Prayer D. Sibbald spake to him thus My Lord I humbly beseech God that you may now with an Holy and Christian Courage give up your Soul to the Hand of your faithful Creator and gracious Redeemer and not be dismayed with any sad Apprehension of the Terrors of this Death And what a blessed and glorious Exchange you shall make within a very few Minutes Then with a cheefful and smiling Countenance the Earl embracing the Doctor in his Arms said Camb. Truly Sir I do take you in mine Arms and truly I bless God for it I do not fear I have an Assurance that is grounded here laying his Hand upon his Heart now that gives me more true Joy than ever I had I pass out of a miserable World to go into an Eternal and Glorious Kingdom And Sir though I have been a most sinful Creature yet God's Mercy I know is infinite and I bless my God for it I go with so clear a Conscience that I know not the Man that I have personally injured D. Sibbald My Lord it is a marvellous great Satisfaction that at this last Hour you can say so I beseech the Lord for his Eternal Mercy strengthen your Faith that in the very moment of your Dissolution you may see the Arms of the Lord Jesus stretched out ready to receive your Soul Then the Earl of Cambridge embracing those his Servants which were there present said to each of them You have been very faithful to me and the Lord bless you Camb. Then turning to the Executioner said I shall say a very short Prayer to my God while I lie down there and when I stretch out my Hand my Right Hand then Sir do your Duty And I do freely forgive you and so I do all the World D. Sibbald The Lord in great Mercy go along with You and bring You to the Possession of Everlasting Life strengthening Your Faith in Jesus Christ This is a Passage My Lord a short Passage unto Eternal Glory I hope through the Free Grace of Your gracious God You are now able to say O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory And to make this comfortable Answer Blessed be God blessed be God who hath given me an Assurance of Victory thro' Christ Jesus Then the Earl of Cambridge said to the Executioner Must I lie all along Execut. Yes and 't please your Lordship Camb. When I stretch out my Hands But I will fit my Head first tell me if I be right and how you would have me lie Execut. Your shirt must be pinn'd back for it lies too high upon your Shoulders Which was done accordingly D. Sibbald My Lord Now now lift up Your Eyes unto Jesus Christ and cast Your self now into the Everlasting Arms of Your gracious Redeemer Then the Earl having laid his Head over the Block said Is this right D. Sibbald Jesus the Son of David have Mercy upon You. Execut. Lie a little lower Sir Camb. Well Stay then till I give you the Sign And so having lain a short space devoutly praying to himself he stretched out his Right Hand whereupon the Executioner at one Blow severed his Head from his Body which was received by two of his Servants then kneeling by him into a Crimson Taffety Scarff and that with the Body immediately put into a Coffin brought upon the Scaffold for that purpose and from thence conveyed to the House that was Sir John Hamilton's at the Mews This Execution being done the Sheriffs Guard went immediately to meet the Earl of Holland which they did in the Mid-way between the Scaffold and Westminster-Hall and the Under-Sheriffs Son having received him into his Charge conducted him to the Scaffold he taking Mr. Balton all the way in his Hand passed all along to the Scaffold discoursing together Upon which being come observing his Voice would not reach to the People in regard the Guard compassed the Scaffold he said Henry Lord Rich Earl of Holland His Speech on the Scaffold immediately before his Death March 9. 1649. Holland IT is to no purpose I think to speak any thing here Which way must I speak And then being directed to the front of the Scaffold he leaning over the Rayls said I think it is fit to say something since God hath called me to this place The first thing which I must profess is what concerns my Religion and my Breeding which hath been in a good Family that hath ever been faithful to the true Protestant Religion in the which I have been bred in the which I have lived and in the which by Gods Grace and Mercy I shall dye I have not lived according to that Education I had in that Family where I was born and bred I hope God will forgive me my sins since I conceive it is very much his pleasure to bring me to this place for the sins that I have committed The cause that hath brought me hither I believe by many hath been much mistaken They have conceived that I have had ill Designs to the State and to the Kingdom Truly I look upon it as a Judgment and a just Judgment of God not but I have offended so much the State and the Kingdom and the Parliament as that I have had no extream vanity in serving them very extraordinarily For those Actions that I have done I think it is known they have been ever very faithful to the Publick and very particularly to Parliaments My Affections have been ever exprest truly and clearly to them The dispositions of Affairs now have put things in another posture than they were when I was engaged with the Parliament I have never gone off from those Principles that ever I have professed I have lived in them and by God's Grace will die in them There may be Alterations and Changes that may carry them further than I thought reasonable and truly there I left them But there hath been nothing that I have said or done or professed either by Covenant or Declaration which hath not been very constant and very clear upon the principles that I ever have gone upon which was to serve the King the Parliament Religion I should have said in the first place the Commonwealth and to seek the Peace of the Kingdom That made me think it no improper time being prest out by Accidents and Circumstances to seek the Peace of the Kingdom which I thought was proper since there was something then in Agitation but nothing agreed on for sending Propositions to the King that was the furthest aim that I had and truly beyond that I had no intention none at all And God be praised although my blood comes to be shed here there was I think scarce a drop of blood shed in that Action that I was ingaged in For the