and the Romans will come and take away both our Place and Nation Here was a causeless Cry against Christ That the Romans would come and see how just the Judgment of God was They crucified Christ for fear least the Romans should come and his Death was it which brought in the Romans upon them God punishing them with that which they most feared And I pray God this Clamour of venient Romani of which I have given no cause help not to bring them in For the Pope never had such a Harvest in England since the Reformation as he hath now upon the Sects and Divisions that are amongst us In the mean time by Honour and Dishonour by good Report and evil Report as a Deceiver and yet True am I passing through this World Some Particulars also I think it not amiss to speak of And first this I shall be bold to speak of The King our gracious Sovereign hath been also much and â—eed for bringing in of Popery but on my Conscience of which I shall give God a present Account I know him to be as free from this Charge as any Man living and I hold him to be as sound a Protestant according to the Religion by Law establish'd as any Man in this Kingdom and that he will venture his Life as far and as freely for it and I think I do or should know both his Affection to Religion and his Grounds for it as fully as any Man in England The second Particular is concerning this Great and Populous City which God bless Here hath been of late a Fashion taken up to gather Hands and then to go to the Great Court of this Kingdom the Parliament and clamour for Justice as if that Great and Wise Court before whom the Causes come which are unknown to the many could not or would not do Justice but at their Appointment A way which may endanger many an innocent Man and pluck his Blood upon their own Heads and perhaps upon the City 's also And this hath been lately practised against my self the Magistrates standing still and suffering them openly to proceed from Parish to Parish without Check God forgive the Setters of this I beg it with all my Heart but many well-meaning People are caught by it In St. Stephen's Case when nothing else would serve they stirred up the People against him and Herod went the same way when he had killed St. James yet he would not venture upon St. Peter till he found how the other pleased the People But take heed of having your Hands full of Blood For there is a Time best known to himself when God above other Sins makes Inquisition for Blood and when that Inquisition is on foot the Psalmist tells us that God remembers but that 's not all he remembers and forgets not the complaint of the poor that is whose blood is shed by oppression v. 9. Take heed of this 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God but then especially when he is making Inquisition for Blood and with my Prayers to avert it I do heartily desire this City to remember the Prophecy Jer. 26.15 The third Particular is the poor Church of England It hath flourished and been a shelter to other neighbouring Churches when Storms have driven upon them But alas now 't is in a Storm it self and God only knows whether or how it shall get out And which is worse than a Storm from without it 's become like an Oak cleft to shivers with Wedges made out of its own Body and at every Cleft Profaneness and Irreligion is entering in while as Prosper speaks L. 2. de Contemptu Vitae c. 4. Men that introduce Profaneness are cloaked over with the Name of Imaginary Religion For we have lost the Substance and dwell too much in Opinion and that Church which all the Jesuites Machinations could not Ruine is fallen into Danger by her own The last Particular for I am not willing to be too long is my self I was Born and Baptized in the Bosom of the Church of England established by Law in that Profession I have ever since lived and in that I come now to die This is no time to dissemble with God least of all in matter of Religion and therefore I desire it may be remembred I have always lived in the Protestant Religion established in England What Clamours and Slanders I have endured for labouring to keep an Uniformity in the External Service of God according to the Doctrine and Discipline of this Church all Men know and I have abundantly felt Now at last I am accused of High Treason in Parliament a Crime which my Soul ever abhorred This Treason was charged to consist of these two Parts an Endeavour to subvert the Laws of the Land and to overthrow the True Protesant Religion established by Law Besides my Answers to the several Charges I protested my Innocency in both Houses It was said Prisoners Protestations at the Bar must not be taken I can bring no Witness of my Heart and the intentions thereof therefore I must come to my Protestation not at the Bar but at this hour and instant of my Death In which I hope all Men will be such Charitable Christians as not to think I would die and dissemble being instantly to give God an Account for the Truth of it I do therefore here in the Presence of God and his Holy Angels take it upon my Death That I never endeavoured the Subversion either of Law or Religion and I desire you all to remember this Protestation of mine for my Innocency in these and from all Treasons whatsoever I have been accused likewise as an Enemy to Parliaments No I understand them too well and the Benefit that comes by them too well to be so but I did mislike the Misgovernments of some Parliaments many ways and I had good Reason for it For Corruptio optimi est pessima the better the Thing is in nature the worse it is corrupted And that being the Highest Court over which no other here have jurisdiction when 't is misinformed or misgoverned the Subject is left without all Remedy But I have done I forgive all the World all and every of those bitter Enemies which have persecuted me and humbly desire to be forgiven of God first and then of every Man whether I have offended him or not if he do but conceive that I have Lord do thou forgive me and I beg forgiveness of him and so I heartily desire all to joyn in Prayer with me O Eternal God and Merciful Father look down upon me in Mercy in the Riches and Fulness of all thy Mercies look upon me but not till thou hast nail'd my Sins to the Cross of Christ not till thou hast bathed me in the Blood of Christ not till I have hid my self in the Wounds of Christ that so the Punishment due to my Sins may pass over me And since thou art pleased to try me
reacheth to all Mankind but is most illustriously visible in watching over Kings and Princes those Great Instruments of Good to Mankind and so we find it Recorded in more Capital and Legible Characters by the Pen-Men of S. Scripture and so we may find it too in Humane Histories It would be too wide a Field to walk in to take a Prospect of Foreign Nations I shall in this place confine my self to my Own and Remark a little what signal Deliverances our Princes have received since the Reformation I. In the Reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. Pope Paulus Quintus a Man of a fierce Nature and Disposition A. C. 1569. was so far wrought upon That in the most Solemn manner that could be he Excommunicated and Anathematized our Blessed Queen and caused a Brief thereof with his Leaden Bull annexed thereto to be fastned to the Gate of the Bishop of London's Palace near Pauls Church by one John Felton who being Apprehended confessed the Fact and received the reward of his Treason on a Gibbet before the said Gate This Excommunication caused much Trouble on Man's part but manifold Preservations and Deliverances on God's part 2. A C. 1563. Arthur Poole of the Race of George Duke of Clarence of the House of York with sundry of his Kindred and Alliance Conspired to set on foot again the Title of Mary Queen of Scots and to bring an Army out of France into Wales to back the same but before they could bring their Plot to maturity it was discovered and themselves Condemned 3. A. C. 1570. the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland encouraged by Promises of Aid from the Pope and Spaniard raised a Rebellion against the Queen in the Northern Parts but the Fire was soon quenched the Earl of Northumberland being taken and Beheaded and the Earl of Westmoreland flying beyond Sea ended his Days in a poor and mean Condition 4. A. C. 1570 John Story Doctor of Law a Spy to the Duke de Alva Conspired with one Prestol a Man much addicted to Magick and a Subject to the King of Spain against the Life of Queen Elizabeth He gave Intelligence to the said Duke how he might Invade England and cause Ireland to revolt But God brought this Treason to light Story and Prestol were by the Parliament Condemned for Treason and accordingly Executed 5. A. C. 1571. The Bishop of Rosse practised with sundry English Men to intercept Queen Elizabeth and to trouble the Parliament then sitting that so another Queen might be set up instead of Elizabeth but there fell out such mutual Mistrust amongst the Conspirators that their Plot turned to their own Confusion 6. A. C. 1578. Thomas Stukely an English Fugitive plotted with Pius V. and Gregory XIII to Lead Forces into Ireland to Assist the Rebels and to Conquer it for the Pope's Natural Son for which purpose he was made General of 8000 Italian Soldiers but by the persuasion of Sebastian King of Portugal he first led his Troops into Mauritania and was there Slain 7. A. C. 1580. Nicholas Sanders an English Priest had a Consecrated Banner given him by the Pope and an Army of Spaniards wherewith he entred Ireland and joyning with the Rebels caused a great Insurrection but it proved the Ruin of himself and of all his Accomplices 8. A. C. 1581. Robert Parsons Edmond Campion with other Seminary Priests were sent by the Pope from Rome to England to with-draw the Queen's Subjects from their Allegiance and to prepare them to take part with Foreign Powers when sent into England but their design was frustrated Campion Shâ—rwin Kirby and Bryant were Convicted Condemned for High Treason and accoadingly Executed 9. A. C. 1583. John Somervil was Apprehended as he came in a desperate manner to have killed the Queen being moved thereto as himself confessed by the Reading of certain Popish Books published by certain Priests After his Condemnation he Strangled himself in Newgate 10. A. C. 1585. Will. Parry Doctor of Law made a promise to kill the Queen upon promise of Absolution from the Pope but through Terror he deferred till his Treason was discovered and he received a due Reward for the same A. C. 1586. John Ballard a Romish Priest persuaded some Gentlemen to kill the Queen as she was going to take the Air which they vowed to do but being discovered before the Effect Fourteen of them were Executed as Traitors A. C. 1587. William Stafford a young Gentleman and one Moody a desperate Ruffian were Suborned by a Foreign Ambassador then in England to kill the Queen but were prevented 13. A. C. 1588. Philip formerly of England then King of Spain endeavoured by his Invincible Armado to recover England the Strength of which take out of Ranzovius's Com. Bell. l. 1. c. 8. The Navy consisted of 130 Ships and carried 57868 Lasts Soldiers c. 19295. Sea-Men 8052. great Guns 2441. Pilas seu glandes Tormentarias I know not well whether my Author means Mortar-Pieces or Cannon-Bullets 123090. Hundreds of Powder 1151. a great quantity of fresh Water Dishes Candles Lamps Clubs Leather Tow Flax and Straw to stop the chinks of the Ships great Plenty Shields Wax-Candles Tallow-Candles long Sacks a great Number for carrying of the great Guns 40 Mules together with Wagons Wheels c. Field-Pieces 1500. long Guns 7000. Forked and Crooked at the Handle 1000. Halbards and Axes 1000. Short Pikes 6000. Pioneers 700. Persons needful for such an Expedition Stipendiary Soldiers Gunners Physicians Chirurgeons Priests Monks Nobles Servants Governours Judges Admirals Mariners Seamen Cooks c. almost 30693. Provision for 6 Months thus Hundreds of Bisket 11000 Barrels of Wine 21255 Hundreds of Salt Flesh 6000 Hundreds of Cheese 3433 Hundreds of Salt Fish 8000 Hundreds of Oats 3000 Hundreds of Beans c. 6320 Baths of Oil 11398 Baths of Vinegar 13687 Pipes of Potable Water 11870 Paid to the Soldiers for Stipend 12000 Ducats besides a great quantity of Gold and Silver for carrying on and maintaining the War And yet saith my Author the English discharged upon this Fleet 10000 Guns Pant. Attic. Bellar. par 2. p. 208 209. ex Comment Bell. Ranzov l. 1. c. 8. 14. A. C. 1593. Patrick Cullin an Irish Fencer was hired by English Fugitives in the Low Countries to kill the Queen and with that purpose came over but Intelligence being given thereof he was Apprehended and Executed 15. The same Year Edmond York and Richard Williams were hired in like manner to kill the Queen and to burn her Navy with Balls of wild Fire but the mischief was prevented and they deservedly Executed 16. A. C. 1598. Edward Squire being in a Ship on the Sea was taken by the Spaniards and by them carried into Spain where he was suborned and directed by Richard Whalepool and English Fugitive and a Jesuit to destroy the Queen by laying a strong Poyson which the Jesuit then gave him on the pummel of the Sadle whereon the Queen should ride that she laying her Hand thereon might carry the
Keeper of those Provisions who by Night conveyed the same into Fawks's Rooms The appointed day for the Parliament being the 17th of February it was thought fit to begin their work in October before But Fawkes returining out of the Country found Piercy's Roomes appointed for the Scotish Lords to Meet in who were to Treat about the Union of the two Kingdoms whereupon they forbore to begin their Work But that Assembly being Dissolved upon the 11th of December late in the Night they entred upon the Work of Darkness beginning their Mine having Tools afore-hand prepared and bak'd Meats provided the better to avoid Suspicion in case they should send abroad for them They which first began the Mine were Robert Catesby Esq the Arch Contriver and Traytor and ruin of his Name Thomas Piercy Esq akin to the Earl of Northumberland Thomas Winter John Wright and Guy Fawkes Gentlemen and Thomas Bates Catesby's Man all of them well grounded in the Romish School and earnest Labourers in this Vault of Villany so that by Christmass-Eve they had brought the Mine under an Entry adjoyning to the Wall of the Parliament-House under-proping are Earth as they went with this Framed Timber nor till that day were they seen abroad of any Man During this under-mining much consultation was had how to order the rest of the business when the Deed should be accomplished The first was how to surprize the next Heir to the Crown For tho' they doubted not but Prince Henry would accompany his Father and perish with him yet they suspected that Duke Charles as too young to attend the Parliament would escape the Train and perchance be so carefully Guarded and Attended at Court that he would hardly be gotten into their Hands but Piercy offered to be the remover of this Rub resolving with some other Gentlemen to enter into the Dukes Chamber which by reason of his Acquaintance he might well do and others of his like Acquaintance should be placed at several Doors of the Court so that when the Blow was given and all Men in a maze then would he carry away the Duke which he presumed would be easily done the most of the Court being then absent and for such as were present they would be altogether unprovided for Resistance For the surprize of the Lady Elizabeth it was held a matter of far less difficulty she remaning at Comb-Abby in Warwickshire with the Lord Harrington and Ashby Catesby's House being not far from the same whither under the pretence of Hunting upon Dunsmore-Heath many Catholicks should be Assembled who knowing for what purpose they were met had the full liberty in that distracted time to provide Money Horses Armour and other necessaries for War under pretence of strengthening and guarding the Heir apparent to the Crown Then it was debated what Lords they should save from the Parliament and it was agreed that they should keep as many as they could that were Catholicks or Favourers of them but that all others should feel the smart and that the Treason should be charged upon the Puritans to make them the more odious to the World Next it was controverted what Foreign Princes they should make privy to this Plot seeing they could not enjoyn them Secresie nor oblige them by Oath and this much troubled them For though Spain was held fittest to second their Plot yet he was slow in his Preparations and France was too near and too dangerous to be dealt with and how the Hollanders stood Affected to England they knew very well But while they were thus busying themselves and tormenting their Brains the Parliament was Adjourned to the Fifth Day of October ensuing whereupon they brake off both Discourse and Work till Candlemass and then they laid in Powder and other Provisions beginning their Work again and having in the mean time taken into their Company Cristopher Wright and Robert Winter being first Sworn and receiving the Sacrament for Secresie the Foundation Wall of the Parliament-House being very hard and nine Foot thick with great difficulty they wrought half through Fawkes being their Centinel to give warning when any came near that the Noise in digging might not be heard The Labourers thus working into the Wall were suddenly surpriz'd with a great Fear and casting away their Digging Tools betook themselves to their Weapons having sufficient Shot and Powder in the House and fully resolving rather to die in the place than to yield or be taken The cause of this their Fear was a noise that they heard in a Room under the Parliament-House and which they meant to have mined which was directly under the Chair of State but now all on a sudden they were at a stand and their Countenances cast each upon other as doubtful what would be the issue of this their Enterprize Fawkes scouted out to see what he could discover abroad and finding all safe and free from Suspect he return'd and told them that the noise was only occasion'd by the Removal of Coals that were now upon Sale and that the Cellar was to let which would be more commodious for their purpose and also would save their labour for the Mine Hereupon Thomas Peircy under pretence of Stowage for his Winter Provision and Coals went and hired the Cellar which done they began a new Conference wherein Catesby found the whole weight of the Work too heavy for himself alone to support For besides the Maintenance of so many Persons and several Houses for the several Uses hired and paid for by him the Gunpowder and other Provisions would rise to a very great Summ and indeed too much for one Man's Purse He desired therefore that himself Piercy and one more might call in such Persons as they thought fit to help to maintain the Charge alledging that they knew Men of Worth and Wealth that would willingly assist but were not willing that their Names should be known to the rest This request as necessary was approved and therefore ceasing to dig any further in the Vault knowing that the Cellar would be fitter for their purpose they removed into it 20 Barrels of Gunpowder which they cover'd with a thousand Billets and five Hundred Faggots so that now their Logding Rooms were clear'd of Suspicious Provisions and might be freely enter'd into without danger of Discovery But the Parliament being again Prorogued to the 5th of November following these Persons thought fit that for a while they should again disperse themselves all things being already in so good a forwardness and that Guy Fawkes should go over to acquaint Sir William Stanley and Master Hugh Owen with these their Proceedings yet so as the Oath of Secresie should be first taken by them For their Design was to have Sir William Stanley's Presence so soon as the fatal Blow should be given to be a Leader to their intended Stratagems whereof as they thought they should have great Need and that Owen should remain where he was to hold Correspondence with Foreign Princes to allay
from their very Enemies The Prodigies of our Saviour's Crucifixion procured a free Confession from some of his Enemies that certainly he was the Son of God See more Instances 1. Polycarp when first apprehended was pitied by many of his Enemies that so holy honest and aged a Man should be put to death After his Prayer at the Stake the flame framed it self in manner of a Vault or Sail of a Ship with the blustering Blasts of Wind so that it touched not the Holy Martyr's Body which sent forth a fragrant Smell like Frankincense but the cruel Persecutors thereupon call'd for a Tormentor to thrust him thro' the Side with a Spear which being done Blood issued out so abundantly that it quenched the Fire to the Astonishment of all Beholders Clark's Marr. of Eccl. Hist. 2. Dionysius the Areopagite being aimed at by the Idolatrous Priests who envied his Success in the Ministery with his gracious Lustre and Radiancy of Countenance abashed and so affrighted his Adversaries that they fled away Ibid. Some say that by the order of Sisinnius the Prefect of Gaul being thrown to wild Beasts they would not tear him put into a hot Oven it would not burn him at last was condemned to Decollation Ibid. 3. Justin Martyr seems accomplish'd by the Divine Providence to make a stout Apology to the Heathen Emperors for his Christian Brethren by passing first through all the famous Schools of the Heathen Philosophers by which means he was enabled and fitted to attack them with their own Weapons which he did ingeniously and couragiously and effectually in his Plea to Antoninus Pius c. Ibid. 4. Tertullian was raised in a seasonable time by God Almighty to plead the Cause of his Church against their Adversaries and slanderous Accusations for he ingeniously shew'd them that they never intended any Stirs or Rebellions against the Empire it being the Frinciple of the Christians to pray for all Men and render Good for Evil and whereas they were slander'd for murdering Infants how can that be saith he when their Custom is to abstain from all things strangled and from Blood c. Ibid. By his excellent Apologies he prevailed with Severus to favour the Christians 5. Cyprian vindicates the Christians from the Scandals charged upon them in his time by telling them that the Publick Calamities were not owing to the Christians but to the Idolatry of their Enemies that they were long before prophesied by Christ and the Heathens had no reason to expect any better than Famine Wars and Pestilences for their Wickedness and Cruelty in shedding so much Blood of the Christians Ibid. 6. Lactantius wrote seven Books of Institutions in the Behalf of the Christians against the Gentiles 7. Athanasius being accused by the Miletians to the Emperour that he had imposed a Tribute of Linnen Garments upon the Egyptians and had gathered the same it pleased God that Alipprius and Macarius two Presbyters of Alexandria happen'd to be present who easily wip'd off this false Charge afterwards he was accused that he had sent a Sum of Gold to one Philumenus to take away the Emperor but he easily clear'd himself of this too At last he was taxed that he had broken the sacred Chalice and cut off the Arm of one Arsenius that was slain and kept it for an Instrument in Magick Arsenius was a Presbyter who for some great Fault had hid himself Athanasius finding it difficult to clear himself in this Case employ'd one of his Deacons to enquire out this Arsenius who with some difficulty found him out which so satisfy'd the Emperor Constantine that he clear'd him and sent him back with Commendations to his Office requiring that this Epistle which he wrote upon this Score might be read in the Church to the Terror of his Adversaries Yet he was after some time effectually prosecuted by his Restless Adversaries and injuriously deposed Ibid. 8. The Arians prevailing for the Banishment of Basil Bishop of Caesarea and the writing being brought to Valens the Emperour to sign the Pens would not write the least tittle tho' often tried and when the Emperour being mad with rage endeavour'd still to confirm the Edict his Right Hand was struck with a great Trembling so that at last being terrified with these Judgments he tore the Writing in pieces Ibid. 9. Mr. John Husse who was condemn'd by the Council of Constance for Heresie was acquitted in a solemn Letter from any such fault in his Doctrine by the Bishop of Nazareth who was appointed and deputed by the See of Rome to be Inquisitor of Heresie in the City of Prague Martyrol p. 549. and more than that was commended for his Life and Conversation by the Testimony of no less than 54 of the Nobles of Moravia in a Letter written by them in his Behalf to the Council of Constance Which Letter and the Names of the Peers See Martyrol p. 386 387. 10. Edwond Everard Esq being an Agent in the French Court for the English Militia by Acquaintance and Discourse with the Lady Gourdon Sister to the Marquess of Huntley in Scotland then in a Popish Convent at Paris and with Collonel Richard Talbot and Peter his Brother Titular Arch-Bishop of Dublin got some small glimmerings of a grand Design on Foot for the publick Settling of Popery in England dissolving the Parliament or at least raising a Misunderstanding between them and His Majesty for Relieving the Catholicks in Ireland for killing His Majesty and setting up the D. of Y. coming over into England and making an Essay towards the Discovery of it at Court was by Malice and Arts of his Enemies falâ—ly Accused and sent to the Tower and there kept a close Prisoner four Years and never in all that time called to a fair Hearing yet at last when the Plot broke out by other Instruments and Means which God in his Wisdom produced and made use of He was Released from his illegal Confinement and brought upon the Stage as an Innocent Person and had Liberty granted him to Accuse his Accusers Anno Christi 1679. It were an endless Task to recount over the many Instances that are in the World even within ken of the present Generation of Persons who have been one while Afflicted Disgraced Fined Imprisoned c. as Persons not fit for common Society among their Fellows who have been afterwards received into Favours preferred to Places of Trust and Honour dandled upon the Knee of a benign Providence and died in the Vogue of the World good and honest Men. 11. Dr. Vsher wanted not Enemies who sought to scandalize him to King James under the Title of a Puritan which was very odious to the King in those Days hereby to prevent his further Preferment but God so order'd it that it proved an occasion of his Advancement For King James being jealous of him upon that score by reason of the Eminency of his Learning fell into Serious Discourse with him and thereby was so well satisfied in the Soundness of
an idle Person walking in the Streets but their Doors and Windows close shut the People within exercised in serious and grave Discourses reading of the Scriptures Repetition of Sermons Catechising Praying Singing of Psalms c. In the other the Doors open the Streets too much frequented with idle Company and licentious Exercises And even in Whitchurch where the Plague first and afterwards a Fire had the greatest Influence the Rector or Minister of the Parish did often enough and very plainly admonish them Inhabitants of that particular Street called the New-Town of their careless observance of the Lord's-Day as if that in his Judgment were the distinguishing Sin of that Street above any others in the Town 4. I have taken Notice elsewhere of Ministers and others who have been delighted and expended themselves in Sabbatical Devotions have been called to their Rest upon that Day As for instance 1. The Divine Poet nad Preacher Mr. Herbert 2. Mr. Edw. Deering 3. Theodore Beza 4. Arch-Bishop Abbot soon after he came out of the Pulpit fell sick and shortly after died 5. Dr. Rob. Harris died between Twelve and One a Clock on Saturday Night 6. Dr. Preston at Five a Clock on the Lord's-day Morning 7. Dr. Thomas Tailour of Aldermanbury Mr. Edward West the Lord's-Day-Night after having Preach'd there 8. Mr. Julius Herrings 9. Mr. Thomas Wadsworth and Mr. Richard Vines 10. Sir Matthew Hale upon Christmas-Day a Day which he used to Celebrate with great Devotion and much Spiritual Joy leaving behind him no less than Seventeen Poems which he had Composed upon that Day to the Honour of his Saviour Cum multis aliis c. On the same Day died Mr. Sam. Crook Minister See the Head of Sudden Death for more Relations of this nature 5. Mr. H. Burton after his Sufferings and Exile having an Order sent him from the Parliament for his Enlargement and his Return for England makes this Observation and in these Words Blessed Tidings indeed and the more because it comes from a Parliament and the more because it comes from a Parliament's Handsel presenting much Good but promising more The News filled Guernsey Castle with Joy and so the Island The First Observation I made of it was of the Day on which this Tidings came First I noted it was the Lord's-Day which Day I had mightily propugned and defended both by Preaching and Writing against the Malignant and Prophane Adversaries of the Sanctification thereof and of its Morality And when the Book for Dispensations and Allowance of Sports on that Day came with an Injunction to be publickly read in my Church upon the Lord's-Day that ery Day instead of Reading of it I turned my Afternoon Preaching into an opening of the Fourth Commandment therein proving the Lord's-Day both for Sabbath and Sanctification under the Gospel now the Order for my Liberty came on that Day See his Life p. 38. CHAP. LXXV Present Retribution to them that have been Obedient to Parents HOnour thy Father and Mother saith the Apostle which is the first Commandment with Promise And the particular Promise annexed to it is Length of Days viz. That thy Days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And the Reason is obvious and natural and plain to any Man of Common Sence for besides that the Dutifulness of Children is the likeliest may to engage the Favour of God and the Divine Conduct and Blessing on their sides it obligeth the Children who are temselves green in Years and unexperienced in the World and obnoxious to many Temptations and Snares of Ill Company Idleness Rashness Licentiousness c. to keep close to wiser Counsels and the grave Instructions of their faithful aged and experienced Parents by which means they oftentimes fare better than such rash and refractory Phaetons who throw off the Yoke of Parental Discipline and are left like Sons of Belial to do whatsoever seems good in their own eyes How many in the World have escaped the Stings of Poverty and the Ignominy of the Gallows and a violent Death and other Dangers by this means 1. Tho' Lamech had several other Children as Jabal Jubal Tubal-Cain c. yet none that we read of trod in the Steps and proved so dutiful and comfortable to his Parents as Noah Gen. 5.29 And he was remarkably blessed and rewarded for it for when all the rest of the World was destroyed He found Grace in the sight of the Lord Gen. 6.8 2. Noah had Three Sons Shem Ham Japhet but Ham dishonoured his Father and made a Scorn of his Nakedness and therefore was accursed by him Shem and Japhet joyned together and took a Garment to cover their Father's Infirmity and therefore Blessed saith Noah be the Lord God of Shem c. Gen. 9.26 3. Abraham had Two Sons Ishmael and Isaac the one scornful and disinherited and turned out of the House the other dutiful and his Father's Favourite and Heir 4. Isaac had Two Sons Esau and Jacob the one a cunning Hunter a profane Fellow that made light of his Birth-right and therefore forfeited his Blessing the other a plain Man and pious and according procured the Blessing 5. Jacob had many Children but Reuben the First-born unstable as Water went up to his Father's Bed and defiled it and therefore Gen. 49.4 Thou shalt not excel Simeon and Levi had Instruments of Cruelty in their Habitations in their Anger they slew a Man and in their Self-will digg'd down a Wall and therefore ver 7. Cursed be their Anger for it was fierce c. They were to be divided and scattered in Israel Judah to save Joseph's Life who was his Father's Fondling and the Son of his Old Age advised his Brethren to sell him and afterwards offered himself to be Joseph's Bondman for his Brother Benjamin out of Tenderness to his Aged Father Gen. 44.34 For how shall I go up saith he to my Father and the Lad be not with me lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my Father And therefore see how this Piety of Judah and Dutifulness to his Father was at last rewarded chap. 49.8 9 10. Judah thou art he that thy Brethren shall praise thy Hand shall be in the Neck of thy Enemies thy Father's Children shall bow down before thee Judah is a Lion's Whelp c. The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah c. 6. I have read saith my Author of a young Man hang'd at Four and twenty Years whose curled Black Locks upon the Gallows instantly turned White many enquiring into the Cause of such a strange Event a grave Divine assigned this Reason Had this young Man saith he been dutiful to his Parents obedient to his Superiours he might have lived so long 'till that in the Course of Nature his Black Hairs had become White Mr. Quick in his relation of the Poisoning of a whole Family in Plimouth c. p. 87. 7. Mr. Paul Baines of Christ's-College in Cambridge was at first very
his Creatures that depend upon him for every bit of Bread they eat and are not able to stand a moment upon their Legs without him grow bold in confidence of their own Faculties as if they were a kind of Demi-gods upon Earth Absolute and Soveraign without any dependance upon Heaven 1. Arimazes having garrison'd a very strong and steep Rock in the Sogdian Country with Thirty Thousand Men sent to Alexander the Great who demanded it to know whether he could flee or not But the next Day he was taken together with his strong Hold and nailed to a Cross God delights to confute Men in their Confidences that they that are his way run to the Rock of Ages Isa 26.4 to that Arx roboris of his Holy Name which alone is impregnable and inexpugnable 2. The Spaniards in 1588. called their Navy the Invincible Armado but it proved otherwise and that upon St. James's Dayâ— whom they count their Patron and Tutelary Saint Trapp 3. The Lord Mordant afterwards Earl of Peterborough being a Papist and desirous to draw his Lady to the same Religion he was willing that there should be a Meeting of two Eminent Parsons of each Party to dispute what might be in Controversie between them The Lady made choice of our Lord Primate and prevailed with him though newly recovered from a long Sickness and scarce able to take such a Journey The Jesuite chosen by the Earl went under the Name of Beaumond but his true Name was Rookwood Brother to Ambrose Rookwood one of the Gunpowder Traytors The Place of Meeting was at Drayton in Northamptonshire where there was a great Library so that no Books of the Ancient Fathers were wanting upon occasion for their View The Points to be disputed on were concerning Transubstantiation Invocation of Saints Worshipping of Images and the Visibility of the Church Three Days they were in this Disputation three Hours in the Forenoon and two in the Afrernoon each Day and the Conclusion was this after the third Day 's Meeting The Lord Primate having been hitherto Opponent now the Tables were to be turned and the Jesuite according to his desire was to oppose and the Lord Primate to answer But when the time came the Jesuite was expected instead of coming he sent his Excuse to the Lord Mordant which was That all the Arguments which he had framed in his Head and premeditated so that he thought he had them as perfect as his Pater-Noster were now slipt from him and he could not possibly recover them again and that he believed it was a just Judgment of God upon him for undertaking of himself to dispute with a Man of that Eminency and Learning without a License from his Superiors The Lord Mordant seeing his Tergiversation upon some further Discourse with the Lord Primate was converted and became a Protestant and so continued to his Death One Challoner a Secular Priest afterwards writing a Book against this Beaumond by way of Scorn bids him beware of coming any more to Drayton lest he should meet with another Vsher to foil him again to the Dishonour of his Profession and himself See his Life 4. A little before the late horrid Conspiracy against the Life of our present Soveraign King William the III. in an exempt Chappel within three Miles of Norwich one preached on those Words Jer. 24.10 and near the time of the intended Assassination on Jer. 46.10 For this is the day of the Lord God of Hosts a day of Vengeance that he may avenge himself on his Adversaries and the Sword shall devour and it shall be satisfied and made drunk with their Blood for the Lord God of Hosts hath a Sacrifice in the North Country by the River Euphrates One Mr. Trinder also a noted Justice of Peace in Middlesex in the Reign of King James to his Nephew in the Earl of Arran's Regiment in a Letter dated at Paris Feb. 1695. writes thus viz. Sir Notwithstanding your great Confidence in your Hero and your great Ingratitude to your Friend your Repentance shall not be too late if the Effects of it appear within a Month after the Receipt of this Advertisement from your Friend J. T. Another great French Man in a Letter to a Friend concluded That the whole English Nation would be a miserable Field of Blood c. And the Courtiers of France and some of them bragg'd That King James was not gone to invade but to take possession of his Kingdom Nay the D. of B. was so confident of Success in this Business that he told the French King he scrupled not within three Months but he should be sent over by King James to give him Thanks in way of Embassy for all his Kindness to him since he left his Kingdoms A Declaration was drawn up printed and dispersed on purpose to cajole the People of England into false Hopes of a Relaxation of Taxes perpetual Parliaments and the Preservation of the Protestant Religion c. Transport Ships were ready and Soldiers to the number of 20000 to embark at Callis Bullen Dunkirk c. And the French King caused to be delivered 100000 Lewis ' d'ores to the late King desiring him to hasten his Departure for that all things were in readiness and so took his leave of him wishing him a prosperous undertaking promising as soon as he posted himself in England he would supply him with more Troops The Pope's Nuncio likewise pronounced a solemn Benediction upon the Enterprize and the Jesuites had begg'd Chelsea-College for themselves the Image of St. Victor was bestowed upon the Army as an auspicious Omen And yet after these Preparations and great Confidences when they thought all cock-sure the Descent was hindred by the Winds the Counsels took air in England and by Divine Providence the Authors of the Conspiracy discovered and several of them brought to condign Punishment The Impartial History of the Plots and Conspiracies against King William p. 30 31 c. CHAP. CXXXIV Divine Judgments upon Bribery and Injustice SHould any one saith Bishop Latimer in a Sermon preached at Court ask me which was the readiest way to Hell I would answer First be Covetous secondly take Bribes thirdly pervert Judgment and Justice There 's the Mother and her two Daughters I will add fourthly a Tyburn Tippet Hangum Twinum for him If saith he to his Majesty I were King and any of my Judges should thus suffer themselves to be corrupted and pervert Justice tho' he were my Lord Chief Justice himself as God shall judge me I would make Quondams of every Man of them If not in these Words yet to this purpose Sure I am God Almighty doth ring very sharp Peals of his Wrath and Vengeance by the Prophets in the Ears of his People Israel for this very Sin and there is no doubt but he is as severely angry with it in all Ages even to this Day 1. A. C. 1289. A. 16. Edw. I. upon the general Accounts made of the ill Administration of Justice in
and Books and Collections I can rest my Soul on nothing but the Scriptures and above all that Passage lies most upon my Spirit Titus 2.11 12. The Grace of God that brings Salvation c. 76. Dr. Donn on his Dying-bed told his Friends I Repent of all my Life but that part I spent in Communion with God and doing good 77. Sir Walter Rawleigh in a Letter to his Wife after his Condemnation hath these words If you can live free from Want care for no more for the rest is but a Vanity Love God and begin betimes in him shall ye find True Everlasting and Endless Comfort My dear Wife Farewel Bless my Boy Pray for me and let my True God hold you both in his Arms. 78. Mr. Herbert the Divine Poet to one going about to Comfort him with the Remembrance of a good Work he had done in Repairing a ruinous Church belonging to his Ecclesiastical Dignity made answer 'T is a good Work if sprinkled with the Blood of Christ In the Preface before his Poems 79. Mr. Tho. Cartwright the last Sermon that he made was Dec. 25. on Eccl. 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth c. On the Tuesday following the Day before his Death he was two Hours on his Knees in private Prayer in which as he told his Wife he found wonderful and unutterable Joy and Comfort and within a few Hours after he quietly resigned up his Spirit to God Dec. 27. 1603. Mr. Clark 's Martyrol p. 21. 80. Mr. Paul Baines in his last Sickness had many Fears and Doubts God letting Satan loose upon him so that he went away with far less Comfort than many weaker Christians enjoy Ibid. p. 24. 81. Mr. William Bradshaw exhorted all that came to him to lay a good Foundation for a comfortable Death in time of Life and Health assuring them that their utmost Addresses and Endeavours would be little enough when they came to that Work Ibid. p. 51. 81. Mr. Richard Rothwel foretold his own Death I am well and shall be well shortly said he to some that sent to enquire how he did And afterwards whispering one in the Ear there present said Do you know my meaning I shall be with Christ e're long but do not tell them so And after Prayer smiling said he Now I am well Happy is he that hath not bow'd a knee to Baal He called upon the Company to sing Psal 120. And in the singing of it he died An. 1627. Aged 64. Ibid. p. 71. 83. Dr. Preston the Night before he died being Saturday he went to Bed and lay about three Hours desirous to sleep but slept not Then said My Dissolution is near let me go to my Home and to Jesus Christ who hath bought me with his most precious Blood About Four of the Clock the next Morning he said I feel Death coming to my Heart my Pain shall now be quickly turned into Joy And after Prayer made by a Friend he look'd on the Company turned away his Head and at Five a Clock on the Lord's-Day in the Morning gave up the Ghost An. 1628. Aged 41. or near it Ibid. p. 113. 84. Mr. Hildersam sickening with the Scurvy in the midst of Winter on March 4. being the Lord's-Day was prayed for in the Congregation of Ashby His Son also prayed with him divers times that Day and in the last Prayer he departed March 4. 1631. Had I time to pause upon it methinks the Death of many worthy Persons happening upon the Christian Sabbath is worthy of a special Remark Mr. Hildersam had given order in his Will that no Funeral Sermon should be preached at his Burial Ibid. p. 123. 85. Dr. Tho. Tailour of Aldermanbury expressed himself thus O said he we serve a good Lord who covers all our Imperfections and gives us great Wages for little Work And on the Lord's-Day he was dismissed hence to keep a perpetual Sabbath in Heaven in the Climacterical Year of his Age 56. Ibid. p. 127. 86. Mr. John Carter likewise Feb. 21. 1635. being the Lord's-Day ended his Life with a Doxology The Lord be thanked Ibid. p. 140. 87. Dr. Sibs died Anno 1631. Aged 58. Ibid. Dr. Chaderton Anno 1640. Aged 94. Ibid. 88. Mr. Ball being ask'd in his last Sickness whether he thought he should live or die answered I do not trouble my self about that matter And afterwards how he did replied Going to Heaven apace He died 1640. Aged 55. Ibid. 89. Dr. Potter died about the great Climacterical Year of his Age being suspected to have laid to Heart the Reproaches of some thrown upon him for a Sermon preached a little before at Westminster as too sharp against Innovations in the Church Ibid. 90. Mr. Julines Herrings the Night before his Departure was observed to rise upon his Knees and with Hands lifted up to Heaven to use these Words He is overcome overcome through the Strength of my Lord and only Saviour Jesus unto whom I am now going to keep a Sabbath in Glory And accordingly next Morning March 28. 1644. Aged 62. on the Sabbath-Day he departed Ibid. 168. 91. Mr. John Dod was tried with most bitter and sharp Pains of the Strangury and great Wrestlings with Satan but was Victorious To one watching with him he said That he had been wrestling with Satan all Night who accused him That he had neither preached nor prayed nor performed any Duty well for manner or end but saith he I have answer'd him from the Example of the Prodigal and the Publican One of his last Speeches was with Eyes and Hands lift up to Heaven I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Which desire was granted him Anno 1645. aged 96. Ibid. p. 178. 92. Mr. Herbert Palmer after Isa 38 Chap. being read prayed himself to this purpose First for himself That God would heal the sinfulness of his Nature pardon all his Transgressions deliver him from Temptation accept him in Christ c. Then for the Publick the Nation King and Parliament Ministers c. For Scotland and the Churches in France New-England c. Queen's College Westminster the Country his Benefactors c. He departed December 25. 1647. aged 46. He desired his Friends not to Pray for his Life but Pray God saith he for Faith for Patience for Repentance for Joy in the Holy Ghost Lord saith he cast me down as low as Hell in Repentance and lift me up by Faith to the highest Heavens in confidence of thy Salvation The Tuesday before he departed This day Seven-night said he is the Day on which we have used to remember Christ's Nativity and on which I have preached Christ I shall scarce live to see it but for me was that Child born unto me was that Son given c. Ibid. p. 201. 93. Mr. John Cotton to Mr. Wilson taking his last leave of him and praying that God would lift up the Light of his Countenance upon him and shed his Love into his Soul presently answered
how Happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosen sake send me Life and Death I suspect some Mistake in recording these last Words perhaps Life or Death that I may truly serve thee O my Lord God! bless thy People and save thine Inheritance O Lord God save thy People of England O my Lord God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and thy People may praise thy Holy Name for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake His last Words were I am faint Lord have mercy and take my Spirit He died aged 17. 108. The Lady Jane Grey by King Edward's Will proclaimed Queen of England the Night before she was beheaded sent her Sister her Greek Testament in the end whereof she wrote as may be seen under the Head of Love of the Holy Scriptures She spoke on the Scaffold thus GOod People I am come hither to Die and by a Law I am condemned to the same My Offence against the Queen's Majesty was only in consenting to the Device of others which now is deemed Treason yet it was never of my seeking but by Counsel of those who should seem to have further understanding of those things than I who knew little of the Law and much less of Titles to the Crown But touching the Procurement thereof by me or on my behalf I do here wash my Hands in Innocency before God and the Face of you all this Day and therewith she wrung her Hands wherein she had her Book I pray you all good Christian People to bear me Witness that I die a true Christian Woman and that I look to be saved by no other means but only by the Mercy of God in the Blood of his only Son Jesus Christ And I do confess That when I knew the Word of God I neglected the same and loved my self and the World and therefore this Plague and Punishment is justly befallen me for my Sins And I yet thank God of his Goodness that he hath been pleased to give me Respite to Repent in And now good People while I am alive I pray assist me with your Prayers She died 1554. aged 16. Tu quibus ista legas incertum est Lector ocellis Ipsa equidem siccis scribere non potui Fox 's Martyrol 109. Queen Elizabeth is reported upon her Death-bed but by what Author I confess I do not presently remember to complain of the want of Time Time Time a World of Wealth for an Inch of Time yet finished her Course with that of the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good Fight c. 110. The young Lord Harrington professed in his Sickness That he feared not Death in what shape soever it came declaring about two Hours before his Death that he still felt the assured Comforts and Joys of his Salvation by Jesus Christ And when Death approached he breathed forth these longing Expressions Oh that Joy Oh my God! when shall I be with thee And so sweetly resigned up his Spirit unto God An. 1613. aged 22. See in his Life in the Young Man's Calling and my Christian 's Companion 111. Henry Prince of Wales eldest Son to King James in his Sickness had these Words to one that waited on him Ah Tom I in vain wish for that time I lost with thee and others in vain Recreations Which puts me in mind of what Mr. Smith relates in the Funeral Solemnity of Mr. Moor Fellow of Gaius College and Keeper of the University Library viz. That he often lamented the Misery of our English Gentry who are commonly brought up to nothing but Hawks and Hounds and know not how to bestow their Time in a Rainy Day and in the midst of all their Plenty are in want of Friends necessary Reproof and most loving Admonition 112. The Earl of Strafford made this Speech on the Scaffold May 12. 1641. MY Lord Primate of Ireland and my Lords and the rest of the Gentlemen it is a very great Comfort to me to have your Lordship by me this Day in regard I have been known to you a long time I should be very glad to obtain so much silence as to be heard a few Words but I doubt I shall not My Lord I come hither by the Good Will and Pleasure of Almighty God to pay that last Debt I owe to Sin which is Death and by the Blessing of God to rise again through the Merits of Christ Jesus to Eternal Glory I wish I had been private that I might have been heard My Lord if I might be so much beholden to you that I might use a few Words I should take it for a very great Courtesie My Lord I come hither to submit to that Judgment which hath passed against me I do it with a very quiet and contented Mind I do freely forgive all the World a Forgiveness that is not spoken from the Teeth outward as they say but from the Heart I speak it in the Presence of Almighty God before whom I stand that there is not in me so much as a displeasing Thought to any Creature I thank God I may say truly and my Conscience bears me witness that in all my Service since I have had the Honour to serve His Majesty in any Employment I never had any thing in my Heart but the joynt and individual Prosperity of the King and People If it hath been my Hap to be misconstrued it is the common Portion of us all while we are in this Life the Righteous Judgment is hereafter here we are subject to Error and apt to be misjudged one of another There is one thing I desire to clear my self of and I am very confident I speak it with so much clearness that I hope I shall have your Christian Charity in the belief of it I did always ever think the Parliaments of England were the happiest Constitutions that any Kingdom or Nation lived under and under God the happiest Means of making King and People happy so far have I been from being against Parliaments For my Death I here acquit all the World and pray God heartily to forgive them and in particular my Lord Primate I am very glad that His Majesty is pleased to conceive me not meriting so severe and heavy a Punishment as the utmost execution of this Sentence I am very glad and infinitely rejoyce in this Mercy of his and beseech God to turn it to him that he may find Mercy when he hath most need of it I wish this Kingdom all the Prosperity and Happiness in the World I did it living and now dying it is my Wish I do now profess it from my Heart and do most humbly recommend it to every Mâ—n here and wish every Man to lay his Hand upon his Heart and consider seriously whether the beginning of the Happiness of a People should be written in Letters of Blood I fear you are in a wrong way and I desire Almighty God that no one drop of my Blood may
of order For to set you in a way particularly now I cannot but only this A National Synod freely called freely debating among themselves must settle this when that every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King indeed I will not the Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that Therefore because it concerns my own particular I only give you a touch of it For the People and truly I desire their Liberty and Freedom as much as any body whomsoever but I must tell you That their Liberty and Freedom consist in having 〈◊〉 Government those Laws by which their Lives and Goods may be most their own It is not for having a share in Government Sirs that is nothing pertaining to them a Subject and a Soveraign are clean different things and therefore until they do that I mean until you do put the People in that Liberty as I say certainly they will never enjoy themselves Sirs it was for this that now I am come here If I would have given way to an Arbitrary way for to have all Laws chang'd according to the Power of the Sword I needed not to have come here and therefore I tell you and I pray God it be not laid to their Charge That I am the Martyr of the People In troth Sirs I shall not trouble you much longer for I will only say this to you That in truth I could have desired some little time longer because that I would have put this that I have said in a little more order and a little better digested than I have done and therefore I hope you will excuse me I have delivered my Conscience I pray God that you may take those Courses that are best for the Good of the Kingdom and your own Salvation The Bishop of London minding him to say something concerning his Religion he answered I thank you very heartily my Lord for that I had almost forgotten it In troth Sirs my Conscience in Religion I think is very well known to all the World and therefore I declare before you all That I die a Christian according to the Profession of the Church of England as I found it left by my Father and this honest Man I think can witness it Then turning to the Officers he said Sirs Excuse me for this same I have a good Cause and a Gracious God I will say no more Then turning to Colonel Hacker he said Take heed that they do not put me to pain and Sir this and it please you But then a Gentleman coming near the Ax the King said Take heed of the Ax Pray take heed of the Ax. Then to the Executioner I shall have but very short Prayers and when I thrust out my Hand Then the King called to Dr. Juxon for his Night-cap and having put it on he said to the Executioner Doth my Hair trouble you Who desired him to put it all under his Cap which he did accordingly Then to Dr. Juxon I have a good Cause and a Gracious God on my side Dr. Juxon There is but one Stage more This Stage is turbulent and troublesome it is a short one but you may consider it will soon carry you a very great way from Earth to Heaven and there you shall find a great deal of Cordial Joy and Comfort King I go from a Corruptible to an Incorruptible Crown where no Disturbance can be Doctor You are exchanged from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown a good Exchange Then the King took off his Cloak and his George giving his George to Dr. Juxon saying Remember And so humbly submitted to the Block Jan. 30. 1648. through the Indignity and unjust Dealing of ill Men. A brief Review of the most material Parl. Transact began Nov. 3. 1640. 115. Duke Hamilton Earl of Cambridge made this his last Speech on the Scaffold in the Palace-yard march 9. 1649. I Think it is truly not very necessary for me to speak much there are many Gentlemen and Soldiers 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 that 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 I am now to suffer for which is as being a Traytor to the Kingdom of England Truly Sir it was a Country I equally loved with my own I made no difference I never intended either the Generality of its Prejudice or any particular Man 's in it what I did was by the Command of the Parliament of the Country where I was born whose Command I could not disobey without running into the same hazard there of that condition that I am now in It pleased God so to dispose that Army under my Command as it was ruined and I as their General cloathed with a Commission stand here now ready to die I shall not trouble you with repeating of my Plea what I said in my own Defence at the Court of Justice my self being well satisfied with the Command laid upon me and they satisfied with the Justice of their proceedure according to the Laws of this Land God is Just howsoever I shall not say any thing as to the matter of the Sentence but that I do willingly submit to his Divine Providence and acknowledge that very many ways I deserve even a Worldly Punishment as well as hereafter For we are all sinners Sir I am 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 on 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 in my Religion I thank God for it since my Infancy it hath been such as hath been profess'd in the Land and established and now it is not this Religion or that Religion nor this or that Fancy of Men that is to be built upon it 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 somewhat that he then observing the Writers had I thought my Speech would have been thus takeâ—â—â— 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 c.
read a Paper in which was a good rational Confession of his Faith then comes to the Occasion of his Death for which he says He neither blames the Judges Jury nor Council but only some Men that in reality were deeper concern'd than he who combin'd together to swear him out of his LIfe to save their own and that they might do it effectually contriv'd an Untruth c. He forgives the World and the Witnesses gives his Friends Advice to be more Prudent than he had been prays that his may be the last Blood spilt on the Account wishes the King wou'd be merciful to others says he knew nothing of Ireland and concludes with praying God to have Mercy upon him He had then some Discourse with Cartwright wherein he tells him That he was not for contriving the Death of the King nor to have had a Hand in 't and being urg'd with some Matters of Controversie tells him He did not come thither to dispute about Religion but to die Religiously 7. Mr. ROVSE ROuse comes next gives an Account of his Faith professing to die of the Church of England tells his former Employment and Manner of Life acknowledges he heard of Clubs and Designs but was never at 'em and a perfect Stranger to any thing of that Nature Gives a Relation of what past between him and his Majesty on his Apprehension Talks somewhat of Sir Thomas Player the Earl of Shaftsbury and accommodating the King's Son as he calls it tho' not while the King reign'd Then falls upon Lee and the Discourse they had together who as he says swore against him on the Trial those very Words he himself had used in pressing him to undertake the Design Speaks of a Silver Ball which he proposed to be thrown up on Black-Heath and after some Discourse with the Ordinary gives the Spectators some good Counsel They they all Three singly prayed and then the Sentence was executed upon them 8. ALGERNOON SIDNEY Esq THe next Victim to Popish Cruelty and Malice was Colonel Algernoon Sidney of the ancient and noble Name and Family of the Sidneys deservedly famous to the utmost Bounds of Europe who as the ingenious Mr. Hawles observes was meerly talk'd to Death under the Notion of a Commonwealth's Man and found Guilty by a Jury who were not much more proper Judges of the Case than they wou'd have been had he writ in Greek or Arabick He was arraign'd for a Brnach of this Plot at Westminster the 17th of November 1683. where tho' it cannot be said the Grand Jury knew not what they did when they found the Bill against him since no doubt they were well instructed what to do yet it must that they found it almost before they knew what 't was being so well resolv'd on the Case and agreed on their Verdict that had he been Indicted for Breaking-up an House or Robbing on the High-way 't was doom'd to have been Billa vera as much as 't was now An Abstract of the Paper delivered to the Sheriffs on the Scaffold on Tower-Hill December 7. 1683. by Algernoon Sidney Esquire before his Execution FIrst having excused his not speaking as well because it was an Age that made Truth pass for Treason for the Proof of which he instances his Trial and Condemnation and that the Ears of some present were too tender to hear it as because of the Rigour of the Season and his Infirmities c. Then after a short Reflection upon the little said against him by other Witnesses and the little Value that was to be put on the Lord Howard's Testimony whom he charges with an infamous Life and many palpable Perjuries and to have been byassed only by the Promise of Pardon c. and makes even tho' he had been liable to no Exceptions to have been but a single Witness He proceeds to answer the Charge against him from the Writings found in his Closet by the King's Officers which were pretended but not Lawfully evidenced to be his and pretends to prove that had they been his they contained no condemnable matter but principles more safe both to Princes and People too than the pretended high-flown Plea for Absolute Monarchy composed by Filmer against which they seemed to be levelled and which he says all intelligent Men thought were founded on wicked Principles and such as were destructive both to Magistrates and People too Which he attempts to make out after this manner First says he if Filmer might publish to the World That Men were born under a necessary indispensible Subjection to an Absolute King who could be restrained by no Oath c. whether be came to it by Creation Inheritance c. nay or even by Usurpation why might he not publish his Opinion to the contrary without the breach of any known Law Which Opinion he professes consisted in the following Particulars 1. That God had left Nations at the liberty of Modelling their own Governments 2. That Magistrates were instituted for Nations and not E contra 3. That the Right and Power of Magistrates was fixed by the standing Laws of each Country 4. That those Laws sworn to on both sides were the matter of a Contract between the Magistrate and People and could not be broken without the Danger of dissolving the whole Government 5. The Vsurpation could give no Right and that King had no greater Enemies than those who asserted that or were for stretching their Power beyond its Limits 6. That such Vsurpations commonly effecting the Slaughter of the Reigning Person c. the worst of Crimes was thereby most gloriously Rewarded 7. That such Doctrines are more proper to stir up Men to destroy Princes than all the Passions that ever yet swayed the worst of them and that no Prince could be safe if his Murderers may hope such Rewards and that few Men would be so gentle as to spare the best Kings if by their Destruction a wild Vsurper could become God's Anointed which he says was the scope of that whole Treatise and asserts to be the Doctrine of the best Authors of all Nations Times and Religions and of the Scripture and so owned by the best and wisest Princes and particuarly by Lewis XIV of France in his Declaration against Spain Anno 1667. and by King James of England in his Speech to the Parliament 1603. and adds that if the Writer had been mistaken he should have been fairly refuted but that no Man was ever otherwise punished for such Matters or any such things referred to a Jury c. That the Book was never finished c. nor ever seen by them whom he was charged to have endeavoured by it to draw into a Conspiracy That nothing in it was particularly or maliciously applied to Time Place or Person but distorted to such a sense by Innuendo's as the Discourses of the Expulsion of Tarquin c. and particularly of the Translation made of the Crown of France from one Race to another had been applied by the then Lawyers
Limb for every Town in Christendom ☞ Thus Reader having given thee a Faithful Account of the Behaviour and Dying Speeches of the most Eminent Persons who suffered in Scotland I shall return again for London where the last Person of Quality that suffered was the Duke of Monmouth whose Expedition Sufferings and Dying Speech next follows 9. JAMES Duke of MONMOVTH THE last Person with whom we shall conclude this Mournful Tragedy and the greatest in it is the late James Duke of Monmouth one indeed who if he had been a little less might have been at this time one of the greatest Men both in England and the World By reason of some Passages in his Life not so defensible 't was thought at first better to draw a Veil before that unfortunate Prince and say nothing at all of him But what Allowances are made for Custom and Education God only knows I remember a shrewd Answer given to an Objection of this Nature Where said one should he learn any better But however where there has been any time to think soberly of past Actions or none of that Nature reiterated Charity is obliged to judge favourably And besides the good West-Country-men would be very angry if they should not find their Master that they loved so well and suffered so much for among the rest of these Noble Hero's None can deny but he was a great General a Man of Courage and Conduct and great Personal Valour having signaliz'd himself both at Mons and Maestricht so as to gain an high and just Reputation He was all along true and firm to the Protestant Interest in and out of Parliament tho' abhorring any base way of promoting it as well as his Friend my Lord Russel This is intended as a Character rather or very short Compendium than any History of his Life He was all along the Peoples Darling whose hearts were entirely his by his Courtesie and Affability as other Persons lost them by their sourness and haughty Pride After Russel's Death he went into Flanders whence had he prosecuted his Design and gone as 't is said he intended into the Emperor's Service how many Lawrels might he have won and how many more would now have been growing for him But his Fate was otherwise He came over into England After the defeat of his Army at Sedgemoor he fled with the Lord Gray who was first taken and he himself a little after brought up to London and on his Attainder in Parliament beheaded on Tower-Hill 'T is said a certain brave Old Officer who then came over with him and since with the Prince offered with a small Party of Horse to have ventured through all the Guards and took him off the Scaffold But they could not be got together his time was come Providence had designed other things that our Deliverance should be more Just and Peaceable and Wonderful and that the Glory thereof should be reserved for His Sacred Majesty King William Whom God grant long to Reign The Last Speech and Carriage of the Duke of Monmouth upon the Scaffold THE late Duke of Monmouth came from the Tower to the Scaffold attended by the Bishop of Ely the Bishop of Bath and Wells Dr. Tenison and Dr. Hooper which four the King sent him as his Assistants to prepare him for Death The Duke himself entreated all four of them to accompany him to the Place of Execution and to continue with him to the last The two Bishops going in the Lieutenant's Coach with him to the Bars made Seasonable and Devout Applications to him all the way and one of them desired him not to be surprized if they to the very last upon the Scaffold renewed those Exhortations to a particular Repentance which they had so often repeated before At his first coming upon the Scaffold he looked for the Executioner and seeing him said Is this the Man to do the Business Do the Work well Then the Duke of Monmouth began to speak some one or other of the Assistants during the whole time applying themselves to him Monmouth I shall say but very little I come to die I die a Protestant of the Church of England Assistants My Lord if you be of the Church of England you must acknowledge the Doctrine of Non-resistance to be true Mon. If I acknowledge the Doctrine of the Church of England in general that includes all Assist Sir it is fit to own that Doctrine particularly which respects your Case Here he was much urged about that Doctrine of Non-resistance but he repeated in effect his first Answer Then he began as if he was about to make a premeditated Speech in this manner Mon. I have had a Scandal raised upon me about a Woman a Lady of Vertue and Honour I will name her the Lady Henrietta Wentworth I declare That she is a very Vertuous and Godly Woman I have committed no sin with her and that which hath passed betwixt us was very Honest and Innocent in the sight of God Assist In your Opinion perhaps Sir as you have been often told i. e. in the Tower but this is not fit Discourse in this Place Mr. Sheriff Gostlin Sir were you ever married to her Mon. This is not a time to Answer that Question Sher. Gostlin Sir I hoped to have heard of your Repentance for the Treason and Bloodshed which hath been committed Mon. I die very Penitent Assist My Lord it is fit to be particular and considering the Publick Evil you have done you ought to do as much Good now as possibly you can by a Publick Acknowledgment Mon. What I have thought fit to say of Publick Affairs is in a Paper which I have signed I referr to my Paper Assist My Lord there is nothing in that Paper about Resistance and you ought to be particular in your Repentance and to have it well grounded God give you True Repentance Mon. I die very Penitent and die with great Chearfulness for I know I shall go to God Assist My Lord you must go to God in his own way Sir be sure you be truly Penitent and ask Forgiveness of God for the many you have wronged Mon. I am sorry for every one I have wronged I forgive every Body I have had many Enemies I forgive them all Assist Sir your Acknowledgment ought to be particular Mon. I am to die pray my Lord I referr to my Paper Assist They are but a few words that we desire We only desire an Answer to this Point Mon. I can bless God that he hath given me so much Grace that for these two Years last past I have led a Life unlike to my former course and in which I have been happy Assist Sir was there no Ill in these two Years In these Years these great Evils have happened and the giving Publick Satisfaction is a necessary part of Repentance be pleased to own a Detestation of your REBELLION Mon. I beg your Lordship that you would stick to my Paper Assist My Lord as I
Man living from those Opinions concerning Religion wherewith she was so throughly seasoned Nor would he be the occasion that any one should attempt to Discourse her any more upon that occasion unless he intended to lose his Labour And this was what he also wrote to K. James In this Conference with the English Agent the most prudent Princess added thus much farther That she could not sufficiently admire nor indeed imagine how it should come to pass that any Man not void of Reason or Sence or that had a right Judgment of God and Divine Matters or had comprehended in his Mind the true manner of Worshipping him could prove a Deserter and run from our Religion to the Ceremonies of Rome When the Agent replied That her Father the King of Great Britain was a living Example of a better Approbation of the Romish Worship She made answer That there was nothing griev'd her more and the only thing she wonder'd at by whose Seduction upon what Occasion by what Arguments he could be induced to betray the Bulwark of purest Truth and having left that upon what Supporters the Security and Tranquility of his Mind could rely These things the most wise and prudent Mary Not long after when there was no question but the King James had been certified of all these things by his Agent 's Letters the Father sends a long and weighty Epistle to his Daughter wherein he set forth at large the Occasion the Reasons and Methods he had followed in abandoning our Worship and embracing the Opinions of Rome This Letter from King James was delivered to Mary upon Tuesday in the Evening the Messengers who brought it being to return into England the next Day Wherefore when she had read it over and over again with extraordinary attention and studiously considered every thing she set herself to return an Answer wherein she spent the greatest part of the Night and thô frequently put in mind that it was time to go to Bed and that it behov'd her to take care of her Health which would be much disorder'd by watching the most prudent Queen made answer That the Duty of Answering the King's Letters was to be preferr'd before Sleep lest she should be straitned in time the next Day and thereby be hindred from performing what she ow'd to her Father That therefore she made the more haste lest if the Messenger should slip away without her Answer it might be suspected that she had made use of help and got some Divine to write her Letters for her which if her Father should believe they would want that weight and effect which by the Favour of God she promised herself from dispatching 'em with all speed she could The King 's chief Argument was taken from the Antiquity and the long and immovable Endurance of the Roman Church establish'd and founded upon the Promises of Christ Thou art Peter c. To which were added other Places Arguments and Testimonies heaped together to corroborate that Opinion All which the most ingenious Princess answered and refuted in so short a time and with so much Politeness and Judgment that an eminent Divine and some few other Persons conspicuous for their Quality and Integrity who afterwards were permitted to see a Copy of that Epistle ravish'd into admiration asserted that they could never have perswaded themselves that such a Letter so full of grave and efficacious Arguments could have been written by any Man much less by a Woman unless by one who had devoted his whole Life to the Study of the Scriptures and true Divinity Grevius 's Oration on the Queen at Utrecht 57. Such was also the Sanctity of Mary's Life that King William after her Decease calling to mind her Piety toward God the Integrity of her Life and here extraordinary Knowledge of Sacred Things brake forth into this Expression That if he could believe that ever any mortal Man could be born without the Contamination of Sin he would believe it of the Queen And she preserv'd herself so chast and spotless that while she resided upon Earth she liv'd the Life of the Saints even in the hurry of the Court Ibid. 58. When the News was sent from England That Mary the Eldest Daughter of King James was by Decree of Parliament to be the next Day proclaim'd Queen of England the Messenger was to pass through the Hague and to impart the News in the Resident's Name to a Person of high Authority and no less high both in William and Mary's Esteem He immiedately hastens to the Court and informs Mary of this Vote of the House and congratulates her Advancement to the Royal Dignity She according to her wonted Good Nature mildly indeed but with a less familiar Countenance and a more contracted Brow made answer That she neither hop'd those Things to be true which he related neither did she believe that William would accept the Kingdom as a Substitute to Female Authority or as one that was to be beholden to a Woman for a Crown Ibid. 59. When it was admir'd that Mary should be so implacable to deny her Pardon to one that had done nothing against her nor had injur'd her either in Word or Deed when William justly offended had pardon'd the Delinquent she order'd this Answer to be made That had the Crime been committed against her she would not have been either severe or inexorable but that she could not forget an Attempt against her Husband nor grant her Pardon so easily to him who had so highly offended William Who can sufficiently extol this Conjugal Fidelity this unusual Affection of a Queen toward a Husband For my part I am not able to admire it as I ought to do Nor was the Queen belov'd with less Affection by the King that the King was belov'd by her there was no need of falling out to renew their Love but such was the harmonious Agreement of their Minds and Counsels from the first Day of their auspicious Marriage that their Wills were still the same whatever pleas'd whatever dislik'd the one always dislik'd still pleas'd the other such an Agreement of Opinion in all Things both private and publick that thô in Persons divided by long Intervals of distant Leagues yet by an unaccountable Sympathy they were always of one Mind in all Affairs most difficult and of dubious Event which would have puzled the most acute and experienc'd Politicians So that they might be said to be born under one Constellation or rather that one Soul resided in two Bodies And that you may not think I speak a Fiction behold an Example of a real Harmony of Minds almost beyond belief When the King sent word That Forty of the Men of Wwar with the Admiral should steer away toward the Coast of France with the Design That if they found an Opportunity they should burn all the Enemies Transport-Ships Before the Yachts and the Messenger who was sent with the King 's Expresses arriv'd in England the Queen's Letters were brought
upon his Head and a Charter in his Hand They are stiled by the King Consanguinii nostri our Cousins and may use the Stile of Nos but so may Viscounts too All Earls are Local except the Earl-Marshal of England who is also Officiary and the Earl Rivers who is denominated not from the Place but Family 4. Viscounts are so made by Patent 5. Barons so called from Baron or Varon Vir in Spanish are made by Writ and called thereby to sit in the Higher House of Parliament but most usually by Patent The Earls Palatines and Earls Marches of England had anciently their Barons under them and in Cheshire there are still such Barons But these not holding immediately from the King as the Bishop of Man under the Earl of Darby are no Peers The Head of the Barony is some Castle or chief Seat of the Noble Man which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Son but must defcend to the eldest Daughter All the Lords of England are Feudatories to the King swearing Fealty and doing Homage to him Their several Titles are thus A Duke hath the Title of Grace and may be stiled Most High Potent and Noble Prince a Marquess Most Potent and Noble Lord But so may Earls and Viscounts also A Baron Right Noble Lord. Their Coronets differ thus A Baron hath six Pearls upon the Circle A Viscount hath the Circle of Pearls without number An Earl's Contronet hath the Pearls raised upon Points and Leaves low between The Marquess a Pearl and a Strawberry-leaf round of equal height And a Duke's Coronet only Leaves without Pearls Note That the Dukes of the Blood-Royal bear a Coronet of Crosses and Flower-de-luce which is the same with that of the Prince of Wales and his is the same with the Kings the Arches Globe and Cross on the top of the King's Crown Their Parliamentary Robes are thus distinguished A Baron hath but two Guards on him Mantlet or short Cloak a Viscount two and a half an Earl three a Marquess three and a half and a Duke four Also the Mantle of a Duke Marquess and Earl is faced with Ermin that of a Viscount and Baron with plain white Fur. Their Marks of State are thus A Duke may have in all places out of the King's Presence a Cloth of Estate hanging down within half a Yard of the Ground so may his Dutchess and her Train born up by a Baroness and no Earl to wash with a Duke without the Duke's Pleasure A Marquess may have a Cloth of Estate reaching within a Yard of the Ground and that in all Places out of the Presence or the King or a Duke and his Marchioness to have her Train borne by a Knight's Wife and no Viscount to wash with a Marquess but at his Pleasure An Earl also may have a Cloth of Estate without Pendants but only Fring and a Countess may have her Train borne up by a Gentlewoman out of the Presence of her Superiors and in her Presence by a Gentleman A Viscount may have a Cover of Assay holden under his Cup while he drinks but no Assay taken as Dukes Marquesses and Earls may have and have a Travers in his own House and a Viscountess may have her Gown borne up by a Woman out of the Presence of her Superiours and in their Presence by a man A Baron may have the Cover of his Cup holden underneath whilst he drinketh and a Baroness may have her Gown borne up by a Man in the Presence of a Viscountess All Dukes eldest Sons are born as Marquesses and the younger as Lords with the addition of their Names as Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Marquess's eldest Son is called Lord of a Place and the younger Sons as Lord Thomas Lord John c. And Earl's eldest Son is born as a Viscount and shall go as a Viscount and shall have as many Powderings as a Viscount so their younger Sons are said to be born as Barons but shall go after all Barons and before all Baronets An Earl's eldest Son is called Lord of a place and all his Daughters Ladies but his youngest Sons are not Lords A Viscount's eldest Son is no Lord nor his Daughters Ladies and therefore the eldest Sons and the eldest Daughter of the first Viscount of England is said to be the first Gentleman and Gentlewoman without Title in England yet a Viscount's eldest Son is said to be born a Baron 6. The next Degree to Barons are Baronets which is the lowest Degree of Hoour that is Hereditary An Honour first instituted by King James An. 16 11. given by Patent to a Man and his Heir Males of his Body lawfully begotten for which each one is obliged to pay in the Exchecquer so much oney as will for three Years at Eight Pence per Diem pay 30 Foot Soldiers to serve in the Province of Vlster in Ireland which Sum amounts to 1095 l. which with Fees doth commonly arise tp 1200 l. Baronets have Precedence before all Knights except Knights of the Garter Knights who are Privy-Counsellors and Knights Banorets made under the King's Banner or Standard displayed in an Army Royal in open War and the King personally present or the Prince of Wales Baronets have the Priviledge to bear a Canton of their Coat of Arms or in a whole Scutcheon the Arms of Vlster viz. In a Field Argent a Hand Gules Also in the King's Armies to have place in the Gross near the King's Standard with some other particular for their Funerals The whole Number of Baronets are not to exceed 200 at one and the same time after which Number compleated as any one for want of Heirs come to be extinct the Number shall not be made up by new Creations but be suffered to diminish as appears by their Patent No Honour is ever to be created between Baronets and Barons The word Knight is derived from the German word Knecht signifying Originally a lusty Servitor The Germans by publick Authority bestowed on their young Men able to manage Arms a Shield and a Javelin as fit for Martial Service and to be a Member of the Commonwealth accounted befoe but a part of a Family and such a young Man publickly allow'd they call'd Knetcht from whence we had our Institution of Knighthood The thing Knight is at this Day signified in Latin French Spanish Italian and also in High and Low-Dutch Tongues by a word that properly signifies an Horseman because they were wont to serve in War on Horseback and were sometimes in England called Radenhyts id est Riding Soldiers the Latine Milites according to the common Law 1. Knights of the Garter so call'd because the Garter is an Emblem of Concord or Combination to prevent all Sinister Interpretation whereof the King commanded that Motto or Impress to be wrought on the Garter Honi Scit qui Maly Pence This Honourable Company was anciently a College or Corporation of 25 Companions called Knights of the Garter 14 secular