dr. hewit's letter to dr wilde on monday, june 7. 1658 being the day before he suffered death, and read by dr. wilde at his funerall. hewit, john, 1614-1658. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a86267 of text r211085 in the english short title catalog (thomason 669.f.21[6]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a86267 wing h1633 thomason 669.f.21[6] estc r211085 99897377 99897377 170878 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a86267) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 170878) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2501:1) dr. hewit's letter to dr wilde on monday, june 7. 1658 being the day before he suffered death, and read by dr. wilde at his funerall. hewit, john, 1614-1658. 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [london : 1658] signed: your most affectionate friend, brother and servant in christ jesus, john hewit. dated at end: tower, june 7. 1658. morning 7 a clock. annotation on thomason copy: "june 9". reproduction of original in the william andrews clark memorial library. eng hewit, john, 1614-1658 -early works to 1800. royalists -england -history -17th century -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. great britain -history -commonwealth and protectorate, 1649-1660 -early works to 1800. broadsides -england a86267 r211085 (thomason 669.f.21[6]). civilwar no dr. hewit's letter to dr wilde on monday, june 7. 1658. being the day before he suffered death, and read by dr. wilde at his funerall. hewit, john 1658 593 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion dr. hewit's letter to dr wilde on monday , june 7. 1658. being the day before he suffered death , and read by dr. wilde at his funerall . dearest brother , i have no cause to think that you have not at any time taken me along with you in the daily walk upon your knees to heaven , but i beseech you and all my brethren to be ( now especially ) very mindfull to call upon god for me . the more company i go withal , the more welcom i shall be made . i should be loath either to leave out of my creed , or to be left out of the benefit of the communion of saints two are better then one . two or three have the advantage of a promise ; but to go with a multitude to the house of god , where all commers are welcome , is to be assured before-hand of good entertainment . admission will hardly be denyed to any , for whom there is great importunity of many : if the gate be shut , much knocking will open it ; or if that would not doe it , united forces would offer an holy violence . many will prevail , where one alone can do but little good . woe unto him that is alone . therefore dear brother , sith it is the infirmity of our nature , that we live not without the occasions of giving and taking of offence . and 't is the corruption of our nature that the offences we give , we write in the dust ; those we take , we engrave in marble . if you know , or shall heare of any one either of my brethren , or other persons whom by any act of scandall i have tempted , or provoked , or lessened or disturbed , to exclude me the benefits of their charitable prayers or wishes i beseech you beg of them from me , for me , their pardon . and let not any private wild-fire of passion put out the holy flames of a diffusive charity : and as for my selfe , i doe here protest before god that i doe heartily desire to forget the injuries of whosoever has trespassed against me , either by word or deed . and if god should have been pleased to have granted a longer life , i would not refuse , ( yea i am stedfastly resolved to sollicite termes of reconciliation with them that have done me the wrong ) and if my owne heart doe not deceive me , i would give my life to save the soule of any of my christian brethren , and would be content to want some degrees of glory in heaven , so that my very greatest enemies might be so happy as to have some . the god of mercy shed forth his bowels for them that shed my blood , and the blood of christ save , & the spirit of christ sanctifie , and support him who desires to live no longer then to honour the father , son , and holy ghost , and both living and dying craves yours , and the prayers of the whole church for her unworthy child , and dearest brother your most affectionate friend , brother and servant in christ jesus , john hewit . tower , june 7. 1658. morning 7 a clock . to the honourable house of commons assembled in parliament. the humble petition of francis wicker, the wife of robert wicker wicker, francis. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a96454 of text r232212 in the english short title catalog (wing w2082a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a96454 wing w2082a estc r232212 99900159 99900159 137418 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a96454) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 137418) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2538:6) to the honourable house of commons assembled in parliament. the humble petition of francis wicker, the wife of robert wicker wicker, francis. 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [s.l. : 1655] date of publication from wing (cd-rom edition). reproduction of original in the british library. eng executions and executioners -early works to 1800. clemency -early works to 1800. broadsides -england a96454 r232212 (wing w2082a). civilwar no to the honourable the house of commons assembled in parliament. the humble petition of francis wicker, the wife of robert wicker,. wicker, francis 1655 702 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-08 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the honourable the house of commons assembled in parliament . the humble petition of francis wicker , the wife of robert wicker , sheweth , that about two yeares since , one hanna the wife of ambrose tarrant being arraigned for poysoning of alice tarrant her said husbands mother , at the assizes holden for the county of surry was condemned for the same , and had judgement for death accordingly . and being in the cart to be carryed to execution , rich. wright , cornelius cooke , and tho. hudson , justices of the peace for the said county , sending a note to the sheriffe to make stay of the party condemned , and thereby undertaking to save him harmlesse , she was thereupon stayed ; and afterward a reprieve was obtained to make stay of execution , by mr. sergeant greene judge in commission till the next assizes : which being done , mr. wright ( one of the justices aforesaid , ) forthwith used all means for her enlargement , and for that purpose , gave unto thomas devenish the keeper of the gaole five pound ; and having by these indirect meanes , not only reprieved her life , and obtained her liberty , but did likewise give her free accesse to his owne house , where they were very intimate together . that since she hath often threatned the death of your petitioner , she being the daughter of the impoysoned woman , and to that purpose lay in wait by a wood side neare rigate with a pistoll , thinking to have met with your petitioner comming to london , and so to have executed her bloody purpose : but she then by gods mercy missing of her intent did afterward plot a new and secret mischiefe to take your petitioners life , and by the combination and confederacy of the said mr. wright upon a pretended robbery sworne against your petitioner , she was sent to prison there to remaine without bayle or mainprise , at which time there was divers in the gaole dyed of the plague , they thinking your petitioner could not have escaped . neverthelesse by this means your petitioners sister and three children lost their lives by comming to visit her . and further in pursuance of this their covetous and wicked practice , mr. wright gave warrant and expresse command to thomas white constable of headly , to bring your petitioners father andrew tarrant up to london either dead or alive , and said he would make him dispose of his estate , and being brought up to towne , was enforced to live with the said hanna and her husband , where within foureteen dayes he dyed . and further to make your petitioner most miserable , and themselves more infamous : thomas white constable of headly aforesaid , was expresly commanded by mr. wright to detaine your petitioners key of her house , which he did accordingly , and forthwith brought it to mr. wright , who suddenly after gave it to the said ambrose tarrant , who thereupon entered her house at headly , and so tooke all she had away , to the value of eighty pounds in goods of her owne , besides three hundred pounds in bonds , which was left to your petitioner by her said father in lieu of her marriage portion . she therefore in this her sad and deplorable condition , humbly prayeth that the sentence of death may be executed upon the said hanna according to the law ( and for that there was no prosecution upon the aforesaid accusation of robbery ) that restitution may be made for the goods so unjustly taken from your petitioner , and that the said mr. wright and other his confederates may be brought before this high and honourable court to answer the premises , and that your petitioner may have such further reliefe therein as to your grave wisdomes shall seem meet , and she as in all duty bound will daily pray for the happy successe of this high and honourable court . a declaration of the general court of the massachusets holden at boston in new-england, october, 1659, concerning the execution of two quakers. massachusetts. general court. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a50066 of text r31887 in the english short title catalog (wing m1001). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a50066 wing m1001 estc r31887 12272275 ocm 12272275 58301 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50066) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58301) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1508:7) a declaration of the general court of the massachusets holden at boston in new-england, october, 1659, concerning the execution of two quakers. massachusetts. general court. 1 broadside. [s.n.], reprinted in london : 1659. "printed by their order in new-england, edward rawson, secretary." reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng executions and executioners -massachusetts. society of friends -massachusetts. massachusetts -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. a50066 r31887 (wing m1001). civilwar no a declaration of the general court of the massachusets holden at boston in new-england, october 18. 1659. concerning the execution of two qu massachusetts. general court 1659 689 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a declaration of the general court of the massachvsets holden at boston in new-england , october 18. 1659. concerning the execution of two quakers . although the justice of our proceedings against william robinson , marmaduke stevenson , and mary dyer , supported by the authority of this court , the lawes of the country ; and the law of god , may rather perswade us to expect incouragement and commendation from all prudent and pious men , then convince us of any necessity to apologize for the same , yet for as much as men of weaker parts , out of pitty and commiseration ( a commendable and christian virtue yet easily abused , and susceptible of sinister and dangerous impressions ) for want of full information , may be less satisfied , and men of perverser principles , may take occasion hereby to calumniate us , and render us as bloody persecutors , to satisfie the one , and stop the mouths of the other , we thought it requisite to declare . that about three years since , divers persons , professing themselves quakers , ( of whose pernicious opinions and practises we had received intelligence from good hands , from barbadoes to england , arrived at boston ) whose persons were onely secured , to be sent away by the first opportunity , without censure or punishment , although their professed tenents , turbulent and contemptuous behaviour to authority would have justified a severer animadversion , yet the prudence of this court , was exercised , onely in making provision to secure the peace and order here established , against their attempts , whose design ( we were well assured of by our own experience , as well as by the example of their predecessours in munster ) was to undermine and ruine the same , and accordingly a law was made and published , prohibiting all masters of ships , to bring any quakers into this jurisdiction , and themselves from comming in , on penalty of the house of correction , till they could be sent away : notwithstanding which , by a back door , they found entrance , and the penalty inflicted on themselves , proving insufficient to restrain their impudent and insolent obtrusions , was increased by the loss of the ears of those that offended the second time , which also being too weak a defence against their impetuous frantick fury , necessitated us to endeavour our security , and upon serious consideration , after the former experiments , by their incessant assaults , a law was made , that such persons should be banished , on pain of death , according to the example of england in their provision against jesuites , which sentence being regularly pronounced at the last court of assistants against the parties above named , and they either returning , or continuing presumptuously in this jurisdiction , after the time limited , were apprehended , & owning themselves to be the persons banished , were sentenced ( by the court ) to death , according the law aforesaid , which hath been executed upon two of them : mary dyer upon the petition of her son , and the mercy and clemency of this court , had liberty to depart within two dayes , which she hath accepted of . the consideration of our gradual proceeding , will vindicate us from the clamorous accusations of severity ; our own just and necessary defence , calling upon us ( other means fayling ) to offer the poynt , which these persons have violently , and wilfully rushed upon , and thereby become felons dese , which might it have been prevented , and the soveraign law salus populi been preserved , our former proceedings , as well as the sparing of mary dyer , upon an inconsiderable intercession , will manifestly evince , we desire their lives absent , rather then their death present . reprinted in london , 1659 printed by their order in new-england . edward rawson , secretary . finis . groanes from newgate, or, an elegy upon edvvard dun, esq. the cities common hangman, who dyed naturally in his bed the 11th of september, 1663 / written by a person of quality. person of quality. 1663 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42180 wing g2055 estc r5890 12271086 ocm 12271086 58245 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42180) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58245) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 186:11) groanes from newgate, or, an elegy upon edvvard dun, esq. the cities common hangman, who dyed naturally in his bed the 11th of september, 1663 / written by a person of quality. person of quality. 4 p. printed by edward crowch ..., london : 1663. "and licenced according to order" reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dun, edward, d. 1663. elegiac poetry. executions and executioners -england -poetry. 2005-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-09 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-09 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion groanes from newgate ; or , an elegy upon edvvard dun esq : the cities common hangman , who dyed naturally in his bed , the 11th . of september , 1663. inter pone tuis interdum gaudia curis . written by a person of quality . and liscenced according to order . cromwell . ireton . bradshaw . london , printed by edward crowch , dwelling on snowhill . 1663. an elegy upon edward dun esquire , the cities common hangman . come new-gate muse and let 's agree to antipothize an elegie , and let each drop that dares to run from barren eyes fill twice three tun , that so we may soon drown our fears , and deluge grief in her own tears : let 's think but how he did the feat , and then conclude the loss is great . but oh ! it adds unto our dread , he di'd untimely in his bed . the valiant souldier's loth to yeild to death , except it be in field ; and who is he that would not die according to his quality ? it was ( oh death ! ) an unjust thing . thou should'st deny him his own swing ; sure , sure , thou hadst some great designe or else thou'adst took him under-line ; how can our griefs be unreveal'd , when so much vertue di'd conceal'd ? who does not hear how every stone in new-gate cries . o hone , o hone , whilst all the pris'ners sadly run and cry , the devil rides on dun ? nay more , each tender-hearted louse , belonging to that mansion-house , doe strive in sable robes to crawl , like mourners to his funeral . the noble hemp its grief doth shew , and scorch'd with sorrow cannot grow ; the ax , the block , the knife , in brief , each tool is rusty now with grief . one thing i had almost forgot , tyburn with grief is grown a sot ; and that which breeds her greatest harms , is that he di'd not in her arms : he 's gone , she cries , that often stood more then knuckle deep in blood . oh with what a dextrous art he would pull out a traytor 's heart ! never did musick please him well , except it were st. pulchers bell. i was his altar and his spouse to whom he often paid his vowes . the altars of the heathen gods were not so good as mine by ods ; because their priests were not so wise to offer men for sacrifice : but my brave priest did plenty bring , of such as murther'd their own king , he 'd offer them at my high altar , and thought no incense like the halter : but he is now quite void of breath , and had no incense at his death . his epitaph . vnderneath this place doth lie the miracle of crueltie ; i le tell thee now i have begun , then know , kinde reader , all 's but dun : funis . the last speech of thomas thwing priest; executed at york for high-trenson [sic], on saturday the 23. of october 1680. thwing, thomas, d. 1680. 1680 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b04296 wing l505da estc r179662 53299135 ocm 53299135 179886 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b04296) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 179886) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2807:22) the last speech of thomas thwing priest; executed at york for high-trenson [sic], on saturday the 23. of october 1680. thwing, thomas, d. 1680. 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [s.l. : 1680] date of publication suggested by wing (2nd ed.). reproduction of original in: bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng thwing, thomas, d. 1680 -death and burial -sources. last words -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -great britain -early works to 1800. broadsides -england -17th century. 2008-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the last speech of thomas thwing priest ; executed at york for high-trenson ; on saturday the 23. of october 1680. published verbatim as he spoke it ; for preventing all ( popish or other ) misrepresentations . matth. xxvii . v. xxiv . vos videritis . this sudden news of my execution [ after my reprieve , ] coming so unexpectedly , made me fear i should have more severity shew'd me than has been to others ; and consequently , that i should not have my full liberty to declare my mind in the place of my execution , therefore i have briefly exprest my self in writing as followeth . first , as i hope for salvation , and benefit by the blood and passion of my blessed saviour , i most sincerely protest , that what r. balron and l. mowbray swore against me , was absolutely false ; for here in the presence of the eternal god , i declare i never knew of any consult at barnbow , least prejudicial to the king or kingdom ; nor was i ever at any such consult or meeting with sir thomas gascoin , mr. gascoin his son , sir miles stapleton , the lady tempest , mr. ingleby , or any other , where any thing was ever treated , spoken , or written , about killing the king , or alteration of the government ; nor did i ever see , or know of any list of names of persons mention'd , and sworn by them against me . secondly , upon my salvation i declare , that i never have been in my whole life time guilty , even so much as in thought of any treason against his majesty , or the kingdom , being directly contrary to the principles of our faith. thirdly , that although i have , and do declare against the oath of allegiance as it is worded , yet it is only by reason of some clauses therein contained , not pertaining to allegiance ; and therefore , if an oath , containing nothing but allegiance , had been legally tendred me , i should have thought it a sin to refuse it . lastly , i acknowledge my self a priest , and to have about 15 years performed the priestly function ; which i am so far from denying , that i thought it the greatest honour imaginable . now dear country-men , having made this protestation in the most plain and serious terms i could , without all equivocation , or mental reservation whatsoever ; i appeal to the eternal judge , whether all good christians ought not rather to believe what is here in this manner sworn by me in my present circumstance , than what was sworn by my accusers ▪ whom notwithstanding , i beg of god almighty to forgive ; as also the jury , and all others , who have in any kind concur'd to my death . having full time allow'd him , he spoke much more ( with a clear voice , and ( as they say ) a remarkably chearful countenance , ) to the same effect , declaring his innocence as to any plot , his loyalty to the king , his charity to his neighbour , his love and piety to god , which he expressed in fervent prayers and ejaculations : but these particulars not being by him committed to writing , we must expect a more verbal account of each from those who were actually present at his execution . just as he went off the ladder , he was distinctly heard to say these words , sweet jesus receive my soul. god save the king . a true copy of a letter, writen by mr. harrison, in newgate, to a near relation, after his condemnation for the murther of doctor clinch. harrison, henry, d. 1692. 1692 approx. 4 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45671 wing h893 estc r218622 99830199 99830199 34649 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45671) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 34649) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1778:25) a true copy of a letter, writen by mr. harrison, in newgate, to a near relation, after his condemnation for the murther of doctor clinch. harrison, henry, d. 1692. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for randal tayler near stationers hall, london : [1692] date of publication from wing. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng clench, andrew, d. 1692 -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. trials (murder) -england -early works to 1800. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2008-02 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a true copy of a letter , writen by mr. harrison , in newgate , to a near relation , after his condemnation for the murther of doctor clinch . dear cosen , now accept of my hearty thanks for all your services and loving kindnesses ; and god allmighty reward you : i am now preparing my self for another world , and do heartily forgive all my enemies . there was four of my witnesses that did not appear ; one mr. white and his wife , mrs. fairelace and the maid , where i was that night . let not god lay my blood to their charge : and god forgive all those that swore falcely against me . and whether before my execution , or after , god is pleased to do it ( but i am sure he will reveal it ) and when it is brought to light , the world then will know my wrongs . in the mean time i resigne my soul and body to him , who is a just god , and by this means will bring me to himself . this affliction is a great one , and more than human nature can bear ; but i trust in him , that he will not lay more on me , than he will give me the grace of his holy spirit to undergo . and indeed i look upon it as a fatherly chastisement , for whom he loves he doth chastise : for if i had my deserts , he might have taken me off in the midst of all my sins , and have rewarded me with the punishment of the everlasting prison ( hell ) prepared for all impenitent sinners : but i hope he will give me the grace of his holy spirit to repent my self of all my sins ; which i have , and do , and shall , with a humble , lowly , and obedient heart , and not in the least cloke , or dissemble them before my heavenly father , who gave up his only begoten son to dy for sinners ( and me the greatest . ) and i hope he will give me the grace to follow his example , who was falsly accused , condemned , and suffered a shameful death upon the cross ; i being now falsly to suffer a shamful death : at which time i sincerely and heartily beg of him to support me , which i trust in god he will : humbly beging pardon , and confessing the sins i have been guilty of . now i have two things to beg of you , for christ his sake : the first is , that you will take it from me a dying man , without the least hopes of pardon here , from any mortal man , that i am innocent , clear , and free , in thought , word , and deed , of this bloody , barbarous , unheard of , and inhuman murther , for which i do suffer , surely knowing , and certainly believing no salvation can be had from the almighty god , the searcher of hearts , that at the houre of death dies with a ly in his mouth . therefore i desire your prayers ( for me being innocent ) and all other good christians prayers , that god almighty will be pleased to bring to light this bloody deed , not when we would have him , but at his one appointed time ( not our will , but his own be done . ) the other is , that you would be pleased to speak to your minister , or any other divine you know , to visit me , and get him to come as soon as you can ; and let me see you , for i have desired that no body may come at me , but your self , and cozen william , and some divines ; being i will not now discourse any persons relating to worldly affairs , but what may tend for the salvation of my poor soul : so recommending you to god , i rest the most wronged man , the most unhappy man , as to this world ; yet one of the most happy men through christ my saviour , in whom i trust for my eternal salvation . henry harrison . london , printed for randal tayler near stationers hall. a relation of the execution of iames graham late marquesse of montrosse, at edenburgh, on tuesday the 21 of may instant. with his last speech, carriage, and most remarkable passages upon the scaffold. also, a letter out of ireland, more fully concerning the taking of clonmell. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a90954 of text r206412 in the english short title catalog (thomason e602_8). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a90954 wing p33 thomason e602_8 estc r206412 99865574 99865574 117819 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a90954) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 117819) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 92:e602[8]) a relation of the execution of iames graham late marquesse of montrosse, at edenburgh, on tuesday the 21 of may instant. with his last speech, carriage, and most remarkable passages upon the scaffold. also, a letter out of ireland, more fully concerning the taking of clonmell. h. p. [8] p. printed by e. griffin in the old-baily, london : may 28. 1650. signed at end: h.p. signatures: a⁴. annotation on thomason copy: "may. 26.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng montrose, james graham, -marquis of, 1612-1650 -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -scotland -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. a90954 r206412 (thomason e602_8). civilwar no a relation of the execution of iames graham late marquesse of montrosse,: at edenburgh, on tuesday the 21 of may instant. with his last spe h. p. 1650 1128 2 0 0 0 0 0 18 c the rate of 18 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-01 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-01 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a relation of the execution of iames graham late marquesse of montrosse , at edenburgh , on tuesday the 21 of may instant . with his last speech , carriage , and most remarkable passages upon the scaffold . also , a letter out of ireland , more fully concerning the taking of clonmell . london , printed by e. griffin in the old-baily . may 28. 1650. a relation of the execution of iames graham late marquesse of montrosse at edenburgh on tuesday the 21 of may instant . sir , notwithstanding the great hubbub this place is in at the beheading of montrosse , i shall give you a short account of affairs . on saturday last montrosse came hither , he was received at the end of the towne by the bayliffes , and set upon an high cart , and tyed with a rope , his hat being before taken off by the hangman , and the hangman riding upon the filly-horse with his bonnet on , and a staffe in his hand , and thus he was brought up through the towne ▪ severall persons have been with him and upon discourse he told them , that for personall offences hee hath deserved all this , but justifies his cause ; he caused a new suite to be made for himselfe , and came yesterday into the parliament-house with a scarlet rocket , and a suit of pure cloth all laid with rich lace , a bever , and a rich hatband , and scarlet silke-stockings : the chancellor made a large speech to him , discovering how much formerly he was for the covenant , and how he hath since broke it : he desired to know whether he might be free to answer , and being admitted , he told them his cause was good , and that he had not only a commission , but particular orders for what he had done , from his majesty , which he was engaged to be a servant to , and they also had professed to comply with ; and upon that account however they dealt with him , yet he would owne them to be a true parliament . and he further told them , that if they would take away his life , the world knew he regarded it not , it was a debt that must once be payd , and that he was willing and did much rejoyce that hee must goe the same way his majesty did , and it was the joy of his heart , not only to do but to suffer for him . his sentence was , to be hanged upon a galhouse 30 foot high three houres , at edenburghcrosse , to have his head strucken off and hang'd upon edenburgh towlebooth , and his arms and legs to be hanged up in other publique towns in the kingdome , as glasco , &c. and his body to be buried , at the common burying place , in case his excommunication from the kirk were taken off , or else to be buried where those are buried that are hanged . all the time while sentence was giving , and also when he was executed , he seemed no way to be altered , or his spirit moved , but his speech was full of composure , and his carriage as sweet as ever i saw a man in all my daies . when they bid him kneele , hee told them hee would , hee was willing to observe any posture that might manifest his obedience , especially to them who were so neere conjunction with his majesty . it is absolutely beleved that hee hath gained more by his death then ever hee did in his life . the scots are listing forces here , and have named their officers , they intend to make up their army 25000 , they are much startled at the marching of the english army northwards . by the next you shall heare further from edenburgh , may 21. 1650. your servant , h. p. further by another expresse from edenburgh of the same date , thus : yesterday after the sentence was pronounc'd against montrosse , he said , that though he was cri●d out against for a bloody man , yet he never committed any act of cruelty , nor took away any mans life , but in an hostile way . after he came to the place of execution , having been so used as before , he spake to this purpose , to one that was neer him , you see what complements they put upon me , but i never took more delight in all my life in riding in a coach , then i did in this manner of passage to this place . his late declaration , and the history of his transactions were tyed at his backe when he was hanged , but he would have nothing to doe with the ministers who stood at the end of the scaffold . the places where montrosses quarters are to be set up , are , glascoe , sterlinge , perth alias s. johnson , and aberdeene . a letter out of ireland , more fully concerning the taking of clonmell . sir , this day we entered clonmell , which was quit by the enemy the last night about nine of the clock , after a teadious storme , which continned foure houres . our men kept close to the breach which they had entered all the time , save onely one accidentall retreat in the storm . we lost in this service col. cullum , and some other officers , with divers private souldiers , and some others wounded . the enemy had made many great preparations within , by a traverse or crosse worke , and so beat our men off , as they entered , but afterwards many of them stole out of the town , and left some few with the inhabitants to make conditions . in the morning our forces pursued and killed all they could light upon . the town is a very strong place , and i hope the getting of this garrison will be of good use for the gaining of others which depended upon this . the english under ormond and inchequeen are come in , and as many as desired had passes to goe beyond seas , and the rest have leave to live quiet at home . i am your affectionate friend . w. a. clonmel , may 10. 1650. finis . the last speech of sir godfrey mccullough of myretoun, knight and baronet, who was beheaded at the cross of edinburgh, the twenty sixth day of march, 1697. mccullough, godfrey, sir. 1697 approx. 5 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b04317 wing m118a estc r180239 52529169 ocm 52529169 178834 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b04317) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 178834) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2772:10) the last speech of sir godfrey mccullough of myretoun, knight and baronet, who was beheaded at the cross of edinburgh, the twenty sixth day of march, 1697. mccullough, godfrey, sir. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed by john reid, and are to be sold at his printing house in bells wynd, edinburgh : 1697. caption title. imprint from colophon. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mccullough, godfrey, -sir -death and burial -early works to 1800. last words -17th century. executions and executioners -scotland -early works to 1800. broadsides -scotland -17th century. 2008-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the last speech of sir godfrey m'culloch of myretoun , knight and baronet , who was beheaded at the cross of edinburgh , the twenty sixth day of march , 1697. i am brought here good people to give satisfaction to justice , for the slaughter of william gordon designed of cardines ; and therefore i am obliged as a dying man , to give a faithfull and true account of that matter . i do declare in the sight of god , i had no design against his life , nor did i expect to see him , when i came where the accident happened ; i came there contrair to my inclination , being pressed by these two persons , who were the principal witnesses against me , ( they declaring he was not out of bed ) that i might relieve their goods he had poinded ; i do freely forgive them , and i pray heartily god may forgive them , for bringing me to that place . when i was in england , i was o●t times urged by several persons , who declared they had commission from castle-stewart and his lady , ( now the pursuers for my blood ) that i might give up the papers of these lands of cardines , wherupon they promised not only apiece of money , but also to concurr for procuring me a remission ; and i have been several times since in the countrie , where the misfortune happened , and where they lived , but never troubled by any of them : although now after they have got themselves secured in these lands without 〈◊〉 they have been very active in the pursute , untill at last they have got me brought to this place . i do acknowledge my sentence is just , and does not repine ; for albei● it was only a single wound in the legg , by a shot of small hail , which was neither intended , nor could be foreseen to be deadly ; yet i do believe , that god in his justice hath suffered me to fall in that miserable accident , for which i am now to suffer , because of my many other great and grievous unrepented for sins : i do therefore heartily forgive my judges , accusers , witnesses , and all others who have now , or at any time injured me , as i wish to be foregiven . i recommend my wife , and poor children to the protection of the almighty god , who doth take care of , and provides for the widow and fatherless ; and prayes , that god may stirr up and enable their friends and mine , to be careful of them . i have been branded as being a roman catholick , which i altogether disown , and declare , as the words of a dying man , who am instantly to make my appearance before the great tribunal of the great god , that i die in the true catholick reformed protestant religion , renouncing all righteousness of my own , or any others ; relying only upon the merits of christ jesus , through whose blood , i hope to be saved , and whom i trust , will not only be my judge , but also , advocate with the father for my redemption . now dear spectators , as my last request , again and again , i carnostly desire , and begg , the assistance of your fervent prayers . that , although i stand here condemned by man , i may be absolved before the tribunal of the great god , that in place of this scaffold i may enjoy a throne of glory ; that this violent death may bring me to a life of glorious rest , eternal in the heavens : and that in place of all these spectators , i may be accompanyed with an innumerable company of saints and angels , singing , hallelujah to the great king to all eternity . now , o lord , remember me with that love thou bearest to thy own , o visite we with thy salvation , that i may see the good of thy chosen ones , and may glory in thine inheritance . lord jesus purge me from all my sins , and from this of blood guiltiness , wash me into thy own blood. great are mine iniquities , but greater are the mercies of god ! o let me be amongst the number of those for whom christ dyed ; be thou my advocat with the father , into thy hands do i recommend my spirit : come , lord jesus come , and receive my soul , amen . sic subscribitur sir godfrey m'culloch . edinburgh , printed by john reid , and are to be sold at his printing house in bells wynd . 1697. the speech and confession of mr. richard hannam on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield, being the 17. of this instant june immediately before his great and fatall leap from off the ladder together with a true and perfect description of his life and death; his several rambles, figaries, exploits, and designs, performed in most parts of europe; especially upon the king of scots, the queen of sweden, the kings of france, spain, and denmark, the high and mighty states of holland, the great turk, and the pope of rome. this is licensed and entred, according to speciall order and command. hannam, richard, d. 1656. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87069 of text r207281 in the english short title catalog (thomason e882_5). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87069 wing h655 thomason e882_5 estc r207281 99866342 99866342 168390 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87069) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 168390) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 133:e882[5]) the speech and confession of mr. richard hannam on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield, being the 17. of this instant june immediately before his great and fatall leap from off the ladder together with a true and perfect description of his life and death; his several rambles, figaries, exploits, and designs, performed in most parts of europe; especially upon the king of scots, the queen of sweden, the kings of france, spain, and denmark, the high and mighty states of holland, the great turk, and the pope of rome. this is licensed and entred, according to speciall order and command. hannam, richard, d. 1656. 8 p. printed for g. horton, london, : 1656. in the title the words "being the 17. of this instant june" are enclosed in square brackets. annotation on thomason copy: "june 18". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng hannam, richard, d. 1656. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. suicide victims -early works to 1800. thieves -england -early works to 1800. swindlers and swindling -england -early works to 1800. a87069 r207281 (thomason e882_5). civilwar no the speech and confession of mr. richard hannam on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield, being the 17. of this instant june immediately hannam, richard 1656 1024 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 c the rate of 10 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-10 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the speech and confession of mr. richard hannam on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield , [ being the 17. of this instant june ] immediatly before his great and fatall leap from off the ladder together with a true and perfect description of his life and death ; his several rambles , figaries , exploits , and designs , performed in most parts of europe ; especially upon the king of scots , the queen of sweden , the kings of france , spain , and denmark , the high and mighty states of holland , the great turk , and the pope o●rome . this is licensed and entred , according to speciall order and command . london , printed for g. horton , 1656. the speech and confession of mr. richard hannam , on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield , immediatly before his fatall leap from off the ladder , &c. in the days of william the conquerour , we read of one simon lupus , a notable carver , so called by the saxons , who in one half year , had purchased above 3000 l. as the ganters term it ; but not long after , lost both that , and life and all ; for being sentenced at chester to be hanged , he vowed that no man should never do it ; and accordingly being upon the ladder , he desperately leaped off : in like manner , mr. hannam , [ the subject of this discourse ] far exceeding cutting dick , bold peacock , valiant cheyny , and famous hind , hath desperately acted the like theatre ; for note , that upon his first breaking out of newgate , he crossed the sea to amsterdam , and robbed the bank of abundance of rich treasure : from thence he went to the hague , where he robbed the qu. of bohemia also of many rich jewels , rings , and plate : he robd the queen of sweden , he robd the k. of scots ; he robbed the kings of spain and france , and likewise the prince of turks : insomuch , that in one years space , he got above 17000 l. in gold , silver , plate , and jewels all which treasure , was not formidable enough to preserve him from the hand of justice ; but upon his return from his europian rambles , he lodged in bear-binder lane at one mr. chamberlains , and on saturday june 14. towards evening , he , with his father rud , another , and mrs. dale , ( a fidlers wife ) came to mr. laughorns , a victualling-house , went up stairs , called for a cup of beer , pickt open a chest , stole out 8 l. 19 s. in money , which the woman carryed away : but being suspected , two of them was apprehended , hannam escaped out of the house top , and returning about 4 hours after , was taken , carryed to newgate , and from thence to execution , where he made this ensuing speech , viz. mr. sheriffs , although i am a prisoner , and condemned to die ; yet i cannot but retain a favourable construction of your proceedings ( this day ) towards me ; presuming , that you will not deny me that liberty , due to all christians , from christian magistrates , which is , that i may be permitted the freedome of speech , to clear the innocent ( at this my hour of death ) that now lye accused , as being privy to my designs , and confederates with me in my late actions : as for my part , resolved i am to accuse no man : no , no , gentlemen , i abhor the thought , much more detest the action of so horrid and foul a crime ; and on the contrary , am as willing and free , to clear those that are accused for me ; which it seems is my poor landlord and landlady , mr. chamberlain and his wife , whose hard fate , and cruel destiny from my soul i pitty , as much as my own , and do protest their innocency in all respects [ towards me ] whatsoever . however , seeing it is my unhappy fortune , to end my days upon this gibbet , i humbly submit to the divine hand of justice , and desire the prayers of all good christians , to almighty god , earnestly to implore a remission of all my sins , which are many ; and inable me to sayl through this violent storm and tempest , that so at the last i may arrive at the haven of happiness , there to cast my anchor of faith and to lay hold on my lord and saviour jesus christ : and so farewell , farewell unto you all . then turning himself about , mr. clerk the minister of newgate spake unto him by way of exhortation ; and after him , one mr. cudson ; unto whom he was very attentive , and seemed to have a very relenting spirit , &c. but the hour drawing neer , he was commanded up the ladder , where the executioner sate ready to do his office ; and having put the rope about his neck , mr. hannam pulled out a white cap out of his pocket , and giving it to the executioner , he put it on the said hannams head , and after that , his mourning ribbon that he wore about his hat , and so lifting up his hands to heaven , and the executioner laying his hand upon his shoulder , [ which was the sign ] asking if he was ready , he immediatly leaped off on the left side , uttering these words : lord have mercy upon me . finis . a copy of mr. ashton's paper, delivered to the sheriff at the place of execution, january 28, 1690/1 ashton, john, d. 1691. 1691 approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26028 wing a3991_variant estc r34402 14397613 ocm 14397613 102297 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26028) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102297) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1056:12) a copy of mr. ashton's paper, delivered to the sheriff at the place of execution, january 28, 1690/1 ashton, john, d. 1691. 1 sheet ([2] p.) s.n., [london? : 1691?] caption title. imperfect: pages stained. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng executions and executioners -england. great britain -history -william and mary, 1689-1702. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-09 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a copy of mr. ashton's paper , delivered to the sheriff at the place of execution , january 28. 1690-91 . mr. sheriff , having observed that the method of making speeches at the place of execution was not always attended with the designed successes ; and thinking it better to imploy my last minutes in devotion and holy communion with my god , i have prepared this paper to leave in your hands , as well to assert my principles as to testifie my innocency . as to my religion ; i profess , by god's grace , to dye in the faith into which i was baptized , that of the church of england , in whose communion ( nothing doubting of my salvation , through the merits of my saviour ) i have always thought my self safe and happy : according to her principles , and late much esteemed doctrine ( though now unhappily exploded ) i have regulated my life , believing my self obliged , by my religion , to look upon my rightful , lawful prince ( whatever his principles were , or his practices might be ) as god's vicegerent , and accountable ( if guilty of male-administration ) to god only , from whom he received his power ; and always believing it to be contrary to the laws of god , the church , and the realm , upon any pretence whatsoever , to take up arms against him ; and let all the world take notice , in this belief i dye . but i have more particular obligations to the king my master , whom i have had the honour to serve , and received many signal favours from him , for sixteen years past : so that gratitude ( a thing not much esteemed at this time ) as well as duty and religion , commanded the utmost service i could pay him . and when i had these considerations , that we were born his liege subjects , that we had solemnly professed our allegiance , and often confirmed it with oaths , that his majesty's usage , after the prince of orange's arrival , was very hard , severe , and ( if i may so say ) unjust : and that all the new methods of settling this nation have hitherto made it more miserable , poor , and more exposed to foreign enemies : and the religion we pretend to be fond of preserving , now , much more than ever , likely to be destroyed ; there seems to me no way to prevent the impending evils , and save these nations from poverty and distraction , but the calling home our injured sovereign ; who , as a true father of his country , has ( notwithstanding all his provocations and injuries ) a natural love and tenderness for all his subjects . and i am so far from repining at the loss of my life , that had i ten thousand i should rather think my self obliged to sacrifice them all , than to omit any just and honest means to promote so good and necessary a work. and i advise and desire all my fellow subjects to think of their duty , and turn to their allegiance , before the severe judgments of god overtake them , for their perjury and rebellion : but certainly the good and interest of these nations , abstracted from all other considerations , will e're long convince them of the necessity of doing it . having thus frankly delared my principles , i know the inference will be , that i have acted accordingly ; and , consequently , that i am now ●ustly condemned : but as i ingenuously own the inference , i as positively deny the consequence ; for whatever my inclinations or actings have been , yet , as to the matter i was sentenced to dye for , i declare my self innocent . and i will appeal , even to the judges themselves , whether or no , upon my tryal , there appeared the least proof that i knew a tittle contained in the papers : but presumption was with the jury thought sufficient to find me guilty ; though , i am told , i am the first man that ever was condemned for high treason upon bare suspition or presumption ; and that contrary to my lord coke's , and other eminent lawyers opinions . the knowledge of my own innocency , as to the indictment and charge against me , was that that armed me with so much assurance , and occasioned my casting my life upon the first twelve men of the pannel , without challenging any : but though i have , i think , just reason to complain of the severe charge given by the judges , and hard measure i have received ▪ not to mention my close imprisonment , the hasty and violent proceedings against me , nor the industry used in the return of fitting persons to pass upon me , the denying me a copy of the pannel , &c. yet as i hope for pardon and forgiveness at the hands of god , so do i most heartily pray for and forgive them , and all my enemies , all the world ; nay , even that judge and jury-man who did so signally ( contrary to common justice ) expose themselves to destroy me . but let the will of god be done ; i rely wholly upon his mercy , and the merits of my blessed saviour , for salvation ; i do chearfully and intirely resign my self into his hands , as into the hands of a faithful creator , in sure and certain hopes of a happy resurrection . bless , protect and strengthen , o lord god , my good and gracious king and master : in thy due time let the virtue , goodness and innocency , of the queen my mistress , make all their enemies blush ; and silence the wicked and unjust calumnies that malice and envy have raised against her : make her and these nations happy in the prince of wales , whom , from unanswerable and undoubted proofs , i know to be her son : restore them all when thou feest fit to their just rights ; and on such a bottom as may support and establish the church of england , and once more make her flourish , notwithstanding what she hath received of late from her prevaricating sons . forgive , forgive , o lord , all my enemies ; bless all my friends ; comfort and support my dear afflicted wife , and poor babes ; be thou a husband and a father to them ; for their sakes only i could have wished to have lived , but pardon that wish , o good god , and take my soul into thy e●erlasting glory . amen . j. ashton . a full and true account of the tryal, condemnation, and execution with the last dying words of augustin king who was executed neer hartford-townsend, on wednesday march the 21st. 1687/8. 1688 approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a40577 wing f2311bc estc r221233 99832571 99832571 37045 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a40577) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37045) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2146:1) a full and true account of the tryal, condemnation, and execution with the last dying words of augustin king who was executed neer hartford-townsend, on wednesday march the 21st. 1687/8. king, augustin, d. 1688. 3, [1] p. printed by george croom, at the blue-ball in thames-street, near baynard's-castle, [london : [1688]] imprint from colophon; publication date from wing. some print show-through. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng king, augustin, d. 1688 -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. 2006-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-02 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-02 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a full and true account of the tryal , condemnation , and execution with the last dying words of augustin king . who was executed neer hartford-towns-end , on wednesday march the 21st . 1687 / 8 the often examples of men faling by justice , and their pretended speeches printed , before they suffer , are so common , that we have scarce the encouragement to present the world with one which is real , and i doubt not but to most ; will be grateful , the account being true , it needs no long preamble to create a ●elief . the person of whose end i am going to give an account , was by name ●ugustin king , born in the county of cambridge of sober and honest parents , ●●s father was a dissenting minister , who gave him liberal education , and ●●tred him in the vniversity of cambridge , to maturiate his studies , but faling 〈◊〉 and selecting bad company , and his father being not able to allow him where●●thal to maintain his extravagant humour , he betook himself to ill courses and was committed to cambridge gaol , from whence he made his escape , and for sometime , by the pious arguments of his parents , and the fear of coming to a publick shame , he forsooke his ill ways , and had an inclination to goe to sea , for which , some provisions were made about four years since , but considering the hardship and hazard , which attended a sea-faring life , and being not fully weaned from the visits and insinuations of his former lewd companions , he spurned against good council , and the convixions formerly made upon him , and again betooke himselfe to the most nefarious practices imaginable , which brought him to this immature and untimely end . about twelve months since , he was by the cambridge-carrier apprehended in white-hall , for a robbery committed on him , and was committed to the gate-house , but in a little time found a means by his insinuating tongue to make his escape from his keeper : since which time he hath been concerned in an innumerable robberyes , for which he was lately proscribed in the publick gazet , with this emphasis , & above all augustin king joyned with a menace to inn-keepers that should abscond him . notwithstanding , which he persevered in his robberies , having committed one in essex but a few days before he was taken , which was very accidental in his inn , he was carried before a magistrate and committed to newgate , where he was kept very close , and loaded with a pair of irons of an extraordinary weight , from whence he was removed to hartford where he took his tryal at the assises , several indictments being brought against him , upon one of which he was convicted , and received sentence of death , he behaved himselfe with that modesty upon his tryal , that several engaged to use their interest to procure him a pardon , amongst whom were some persons of honour , the high shrieff , and most of the eminent dissenters of the county , but their solisitations with his majesty , proved faithless , since little could be said on his behalf saving , he was never concern'd in a murder , and the resolution his majesty hath made , not to spare one of that wicked profession that the law hath convicted . of all , which having notice , he began to apply himselfe to repent and consider his latter end , and had several visits from a parson who assured him of the salvation of his soul , if not his body , in order to which , some applications were made by his means , but proving ineffectual , the priest acquainted him he must prepare for death : upon which he was desired by mr. king , to desist in his visits , for he knew the way to heaven better then he could shew him , and craved the asistance of some dissenting ministers , as also some worthy divines of the church of england , and so with great zeale and assurance , h● cheerfully waited for the day of his execution , which was o● wednesday last after the sun was down , an other who was exect●ted with him , was carryed in a cart , but he had the favour to walke to the gallowes which stood a little out of the town o● hartford , the high shrieff walked by his side with whom he discoursed all the way as they went , often smiling and freely telling them any thing they asked or he knew , he particularly confessed a robbery he lately committed on a pedlar in essex for which an eminent cytizen was accused upon the oaths of three but cleared by his jury , but denyed being concerned any other way than sinisterly in that robbery for which he came to suffer he gave an account of the evil practices of several inn-keepers &c. after which he kneeled down and made a long and pathetical prayer , several ministers joyning with him , then he ascended the cart and was tyed up , his countenance all this time not in the least changing , he begged forgiveness of all , whom he had offended or injured , and of god for his sinning against knowledge and was turned off speaking these words . lord receive my soul. amongst thousands of spectators that accompanied him to the place of execution , not one went away without a briny eye his corps the next day was interr'd in the church-yard at hartford . from the fate of this man , all may take care to avoid the allurements of satan and ill men , since they naturally center in shame and destruction , for if the strong , learned , and cunning , could not avoid being catched and overtaken by justice , how shall others whome god and nature hath made inferior , therefore the precepts of christianity are safe : fear god honour the king , do good to all men hurt to none , so shall it be well with thee ; and thy days shall end in peace . with allowance . london , printed by george croom , at the blue-ball in thames-street , near baynard ' s-castle . a full and true account of the behaviors, confessions, and last dying speeches of the condemn'd criminals that were executed at tyburn, on friday the 24th of may, 1700 allen, john, ordinary. 1700 approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a23639 wing a1033a estc r33065 12881690 ocm 12881690 94949 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a23639) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94949) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1517:9) a full and true account of the behaviors, confessions, and last dying speeches of the condemn'd criminals that were executed at tyburn, on friday the 24th of may, 1700 allen, john, ordinary. 1 sheet ([2] p.) printed for e. mallet ..., london : [1700] caption title. "date may 24, 1700. john allen, ordinary"--p. [2] imprint from colophon. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng executions and executioners -england. great britain -history -william and mary, 1689-1702. 2006-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a full and true account , of the behaviours , confessions , and last dying speeches of the condemn'd criminals , that were executed at tyburn , on friday the 24th of may , 1700. john shirly , alias davis , 22 years old , condemn'd for firing the house of dr. sloan ; being examin'd said , that he was descended of a good family , that his parents , who tenderly loved him , educated him at school a considerable time , but growing head-strong , he ran away from them , and listed himself a soldier , for several years he served abroad in that station , and at last , having got acquaintance with the surgeon of a regiment , he pretended to practice that art , which brought him in no small profit ; but being viciously inclin'd , liv'd at such a rate , that his incomes could not answer his unnecessary and exorbitant expences , which caus'd him to rack his invention , how to support his profuse way of living ; this made him listen to bad advice , and to turn a deaf ear to that wholsome counsel , which they who knew his parents frequently gave him . the great enemy of mankind provided some accomplices for him , who having consum'd their substance with riotous living , were willing to undertake any wicked action that might support their craving circumstances : to this gang he willingly associated himself , and committed several robberies and burglaries , more than he could remember : at length they resolv'd to break open this house in bloomsbury-square , which they attempted in several places , but could not effect ; then they resolv'd to burn it ; and accordingly one of them struck a light , and cut a little door into splinters , then breaking the glass and part of the wood in the window , set a candle to it , which caus'd the window to blaze : their design as he said , was to throw stones at the upper windows , to awaken the family when the fire had got a head , and so under pretence of helping them to carry away their best goods , and rob them of all that was valuable . i prest him very often to discover whether he was concern'd in that great fire in red-lion fields , putting him in mind , that there is no denying or lessening his sins before god , who was privy to all his thoughts and designs , and knows all his actions , tho' never so secretly committed , and no human eye saw him . but he still denyed that he was any ways concern'd in it , only that he was present when it was burning , and got a silver candlestick , a case of pistols , and some other things . he did not seem at first so well affected with his condition as could be wished ; but afterwards he returned to a better mind , and wisht that he had a longer space to live , that so he might testifie his sincerity , by leading a better life for the future . philip wake , convicted for the same , confest his crime , and gave an account of it much after the same manner , only with this adition , that davis was the projector of it , and encouraged them to do it , when they resolv'd to desist . he added , that he was an old offender , had made several resolutions , to forsake his evil courses , but as often broke them : his indisposition did not permit him to speak much , but he seem'd very attentive to good advice . james walters , condemn'd for several felonies : was an apprentice to a merchant , but leading a dissolute debaucht life , his master turn'd him away ; then he went to his old companions , who prevail'd with him to go abroad with them , where he committed a great many base , notorious actions . he complain'd of the tedious confinement he underwent , and how troublesome it was to him , who was always a busie stirring person : but he was put in mind that he shou'd by no means once fancy , that he must lie in that doleful place , shut out from all business , and condemn'd as it were to a state of idleness ; but that he should set himself with all his might , to mind the one thing necessary , the great work of repentance , and making his peace with almighty god ; for this would cut out work enough for him , and of more comfort and profit to his soul , than any other employment which he had formerly been used to . he was also told , that he stood now upon the very brink of eternity , and must shortly appear before the tribunal of god , which is infinitely more terrible than that of any earthly judge can be ; therefore it became him , with all the seriousness that is possible , to prepare himself for so dreadful an appearance ; to which he reply'd , that he had a good education , and understood these matters very well . john titt , 24 years old , convicted for burglary . he serv'd his master ( who was a waterman ) very faithfully , but being made free , he unfortunately met with some acquaintance which entic'd him to drink to excess , and so neglecting his lawful calling , being reduc'd to want , was the more easily prevail'd with to commit this fact , the only one of that nature , ( as he said ) he ever was guilty of . his life of late was very irregular , addicted to swearing , lewdness , and debauchery , for which he said he was exceeding sorrowful , and that his vices were now as detestable in his sight , as before they seem'd pleasant . john hatchman , aged 15 years , convicted for the same , confest his crime , and said that titt meeting him in southwark , made him drunk , and then brought him along with them to break open the house . he denyed he ever was concern'd with such persons any more , and promises if he be transported , to lead a better life for the future . john cooper , condemn'd for the same . he was seiz'd with the jayl-distemper , which is a violent feaver , attended with a delirious light-headedness , and so was not in a capacity to give any account of himself . joseph fisher , 48 years old , born in cornwal , condemn'd for burglary , was a seaman , and serv'd aboard in the royal-navy , and as he said , did once the true and perfect speeches of colonel john gerhard upon the scaffold at tower-hill, on munday last, and mr. peter vowel at charing-cross, on munday last, being the 11 of this instant july, 1654. with their declarations to the people touching the king of scots; their protestations sealed with their blood; and their prayers immediatly before the fatal stroke of death was struck. likewise, the speech of the portugal ambassadors brother upon the scaffold, his acknowledgment and confession; and the great and wonderful miracle that hapned upon the putting of mr. gerard into the coffin. taken by an ear witness, and impartially communicated for general satisfaction. gerard, john, 1632-1654. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a85956 of text r202289 in the english short title catalog (thomason e745_19). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 9 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a85956 wing g615 thomason e745_19 estc r202289 99862630 99862630 114795 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a85956) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 114795) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 114:e745[19]) the true and perfect speeches of colonel john gerhard upon the scaffold at tower-hill, on munday last, and mr. peter vowel at charing-cross, on munday last, being the 11 of this instant july, 1654. with their declarations to the people touching the king of scots; their protestations sealed with their blood; and their prayers immediatly before the fatal stroke of death was struck. likewise, the speech of the portugal ambassadors brother upon the scaffold, his acknowledgment and confession; and the great and wonderful miracle that hapned upon the putting of mr. gerard into the coffin. taken by an ear witness, and impartially communicated for general satisfaction. gerard, john, 1632-1654. vowell, peter, d. 1654. 8 p. for c. horton, imprinted at london : 1654. annotation on thomason copy: "july 12th.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng last words -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -early works to 1800. great britain -history -commonwealth and protectorate, 1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a85956 r202289 (thomason e745_19). civilwar no the true and perfect speeches of colonel john gerhard upon the scaffold at tower-hill, on munday last, and mr. peter vowel at charing-cross, gerard, john 1654 1570 24 0 0 0 0 0 153 f the rate of 153 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-05 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2007-05 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the true and perfect speeches of colonel john gerhard upon the scaffold at tower-hill , on munday last , and mr. peter vowel at charing-cross , on munday last , being ●he 11 of this instant july , 1654. with their declarations to the people touching the 〈◊〉 of ●ts ▪ their protestations sealed with their blood ; and their praȳe●s immediatly before the fatal stroke of death was struck . likewise , the speech of the portugal ambassadors brother upon the scaffold , his acknowledgment and confession ; and the g●●a● and wonderful miracle that hapned upon the putting of mr. gerard into the c●ffin . taken by an ear witness , and impartially communicated for general satisfaction . imprinted at london for c. horton , 1654. the true and perfect speeches of master vowel col. gerard , and the lord ambassadors brother , at the places of execution on munday last , at charing-cross , and at tower-hill . gentlemen , i am this day brought hither to suffer as a traytor , upon an impeachment of high treason , a thing which i was never guilty of , and in the presence of god i here speak it , never did my thoughts in the least ever center upon any such thing ; though the high court of justice were pleased to affirm , that i had endeavoured to make the lord protector odious to the people , in turning the design unto him by a lybel , which was scattered up and down london , that his highness and the army had a design to massacre all but their friends in all parts of england ; and for endeavouring to bring in my master the king , for whose ca●se i am here brought to the place of execution , to s●ffer upon the cross , as my blessed lord and saviou● hath done before me . and truly gentlemen , though my death be an untimely and ignominious death , yet it seems not in the least either dreadful or terrible ; for , blessed be the name of the lord , that hath taken away the sting thereof , and ind●ed me with his holy and divine spirit , whereby i am supported with those inward comforts , that so soon a● i have submitted my neck to the rope , and received the fatal turn , i shal then arrive at the haven of happiness , there to participate of those eternal felicities , prepared for all those that live and die in christ jesus , through whose merits , and by whose passion , i do absolutely believe to have a general remission of all my sins and transg●essions . as for those things laid to my charge before the high court of justice , i do utterly protest against them , having not in the least acted any thing , and withall being de●ied that which every free-born english-man may claim as his sole and onely birth right , that is , magna charta . so that being over awed by my judges , i here dye innocently before my equals , being leer and free from the guilt of any treason in the least . and i do her● protest in the presence of almighty god , that it is for no other thing that they thirst after my blood , but my loyalty to the king , ( as it appears to me ) whom the great j●h●vah preserve , keep , and d●fend and truly gentlemen souldiers , to you i now speak , that i can do no loss then tell you , that you are all deluded , misled , and blinded ; — but being interrupted by the sheriff , he was not permitted to speak any further in that particular . well then , i have done , 't is for my royal soveraign that i am h●●e to sacrifice my life , therefore i beseech you g●●tlemen le● no man be d●nted or dismayd at my death ; for i bless god i have not the least fear of terrour within , but am confident that i shal have a smile in heaven , when some may receive a frown : and so the lord bless , keep , and preserve you in the pure and unspotted bonds of true friendship and loyalty after which , the executioner put the rope about his neck , and prayers being ended , he did his office . and when he had hung about the space of half an hour , he was then cut down , and carryed to the sign of the bell , where many friends met him , and from thence carryed him in a co●ch likewise to islington , where a great funeral is prepared for him . his death is much lamented by any , being a gentleman of exquisite parts , and of singular knowledge , more fit indeed for a councellor , then a war●ike officer . about five of the clock in the afternoon , col. gerard was guarded from the tower to the scaffold on tower-hill , being accompanied by the lieutenant , and divers other gentlemen ; but coming to the stairs , he nimbly ran up , and smiling saluted col. barkstead with a cup of sack , and then walked up and down the scaffold with an undauted spirit . after which , he called the executioner to him , desiring to see the block , which he took in his hand , and saluted it : then he went to the head of the scaffold , and putting off his hat to the auditors spake as followeth : gentlemen , providence having alotted me the time of my death , the manner of my death , and the hour of my death , i am bound out of christian duty , and a loyal conscience , to acknowledge these singular favours , and to return all due honour and praise for these his great mercies ; but for what i stand impeached for by my judges , in reference to high treason , my innocency therein does justly acquit me of the guilt thereof ; so that i cannot but make this inference and construction upon the judgment passed against me in court , that i was not thought worthy to live , because i liv'd to love the king my master . and thus much i do here ingenuously declare , that if i had as many lives as haires upon my head , willingly should i sacrifice them in his cause ; and under his banner , my loyalty shall now issue sorth with streams of blood , being assured , that after my passing through the violent billows of this raging sea , i shal then arrive at the eternal haven of happiness , and there sing hallelujah with my glorious father in heaven , who is the most high and omnipotent protector , of all the low and inferior protectors here on earth . and after some conference and prayer with the minister , with an affable countenance , he cast off his doublet , and putting on a white wastcoat , and a linnen cap , he then went to prayers , where immediatly after taking leav of his friends , he prostraced himself before the block ; and laying his head down , rose up again , and said , gentlemen , when i am dead and gone , remem̄ber you have a royal soveraign ; and the lord unite your hearts and affections unto him after which , he willingly submitted himself to the block , and the executioner coming to him , to ask forgiveness , and know the sign ; he replyed , the lord forgive thee for i cannot . but when i lift up my right hand , do thy office ; and accordingly the sign b●●●g given , the executioner did his office , and at one blow severed his head from his shoulders ; which being done , the head and the body were both put into a coffin , & so carryed off the scaffold . then the portugal ambassadors brother was guarded up to the scaffold , being extreamly dejected in spirit , and in a mourning gown , where he endeavoured ( by way of speech ) to plead innocency ; and then by his interpreter to impute the chief cause of the riot and murder to the english ; but this was onely grounded by the way of excuse ; so that such circumstances proved superfluous ; and after his confession to the priest , the absolving him of his sins , and the resigning up of the crucifix , he likewise submitted to the block , & at two blows , and a race , his head was severed from his shoulders . one thing more is observable , that these two gentlemen , which this day underwent the fatall stroke , were the first that began the d●spute at the exchange ; and moreover , that mr. gerards hands when he was in the coffin , were seen to move , and lift up the lid thereof . finis . the last speech and confession of sarah elestone at the place of execution who was burned for killing her husband, april 24. 1678. with her deportment in prison since her condemnation. with allowance. elestone, sarah, d. 1678. 1678 approx. 8 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49649 wing l504f estc r216652 99828377 99828377 32804 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a49649) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 32804) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1953:4) the last speech and confession of sarah elestone at the place of execution who was burned for killing her husband, april 24. 1678. with her deportment in prison since her condemnation. with allowance. elestone, sarah, d. 1678. [2], 5, [1] p. : ill. printed for t.d., [london] : 1678. place of publication from wing. reproduction of the original in dr. williams's library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng elestone, sarah, d. 1678 -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -early works to 1800. murder -england -early works to 1800. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-07 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the last speech and confession of sarah elestone at the place of execution : who was burned for killing her husband , april 24. 1678. with her deportment in prison since her condemnation . with allowance . printed for t. d. 1678. the last speech and confession of sarah elstone , & , did we not make our selves miserable , god is so merciful to us , as he would make us happy ; but when we with high and presumptions hands , violate the laws of nature and grace , of earth and heaven , in murthering those whom through duty and affection we are bound to obey , honour , cherish and preserve : then we need not marvel because we first forsook god that he afterwards abandoneth us to our selves and sins , and to the fruits thereof , misery , infamy , and pardition : and that we may see humane cruelty to be justly met with and punished by gods upright and divine justice . a terrible instance we have here before us ; we see a wretched wife guilty of the death of her own husband . a sad and execrable fact , for the which we see her rewarded with condign punishment , and with a sharp and infamous death , but not so deplorable as deserved : it is so bitter , unhumane , and bloody a fact , that it must needs draw tears from our eyes if we have any room for pity or piety . in three-faulken-court , over against st. margarets-hill , in southwark , lately lived one sarah elestone , the late wife of thomas elestone , a felt-maker : a man very laborious in his calling , aged about forty years , and his wife forty-six years old : they lived many years very contentedly , she assisting him in his calling in what she was able : till such time as falling into the acquaintance of some lewd women , she was drawn to commit that filthy sin of drunkenness ▪ which after a little practising of it , she became harden'd in it , and learn'd to swear by her maker and to prophain the lords day , and hate good men ; such an alteration there was perceived in her , that several of her husbands acquaintance desired him to do all that he could to reclaim her , telling him also that it was his duty , to which he answered , that he hoped god would turn her from these evil courses , but he for his part could do no good with her , for she was so obstinate , that the more he said to her the worse she was : so that seeing he could not prevail by fair means , he sought some other way , as keeping her bare of money , but then she run him in debt , and took up money at the tally-shops , he having notice of it , told them if they trusted her any more he would not pay them : upon which she resolved of another way , which was to sell her goods , which she did by degrees , till they had scarce a chair to sit on , or a bed to lye on . this so perplexed her husband , that he resolved to beat her out of this wicked course , and to that end did sometimes chastize her with blows , which she was not wanting to repay : so much was their fury sometimes , that their neighbours hath been forced to part them at all hours in the night . in this like manner they lived for some years , which so troubled and disturbed the patience of the man ; that oft he hath been heard to wish himself dead , or that he had been buried alive that day he was married to her , and she wicked and graceless soul would many times in cold blood threaten him , that at one time or other she would kill him ; which proved to be too true , for she having been out with her gossips , and having got a cup too much as it was thought , comes and finds her husband at work ; she demands some money of him , and withall tells him , that if he will not give her some presently she would be the death of him ; he seeing her in that condition , took her and thrusts her down stairs , and shuts the door , and to work again ; within a little time after when he thought her heat was over , he goes down in his shift as he was at work , intending to drink ; she meets him at the stairs foot , and with one side of a pair of sheers gave him a mortal wound on the breast , of which he immediately dyed , upon which she presently fled : her husband being quickly found , hue and cry was made after her , and that night about twelve a clock she was taken by the old-street watch , to whom she confessed the fact , she had her tryal at the marshalses at the assizes , beginning on the 22 day of march , last past , where she was condemned by law to be burn'd to ashes for this horrid and bloody crime : after sentence was past , she begged some time to sit and prepare her self , which was granted , as also to two other malefactors . dureing her imprisonment she hath had several ministers to visit her who laid open the haniousness of her sins , especially that of murther : she for the most part seemed but little concerned , many times talking of other things when they prayed for her , but a day or two before her execution it pleased god to awaken her and to discover her sins unto her , and the need she stood in of an interest in the lord jesus : often remembring that saying in gen. 9. chapter . 6. verse ▪ whoso sheddeth mans blood , by man shall his blood be shed : for in the image of god made he man : and numbers the 35. chapter , and 33 verse . ye shall not pollute the land wherein you are , for blood it defileth the land : and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein , but by the blood of them that shed it . which made her the willinger to dye , finding that it was according both to the law of god and man : and hoping that the lord jesus would have mercy on her poor sinful soul : now she loved good men , good discourse , and often cryed out what should she do to be saved : when she came to the place of execution and beheld the fagots , she cryed , o lord for jesus sake let this be my last burning : o that god would give me an assurance of the pardon of my sins , and blot out the black lines of my sins with the red lines of christs blood . her last words were to exhort all good people to fear god , to keep the sabbath-day , to refrain idle company , to have a care how they take the name of the lord in vain . thus with a few ejaculatory prayers , she concluded with that saying in galatians the 5. chapter , and the 26 verse . let us not be desirous of vain glory , provoking one another , envying one another . having thus said , the executioner doing his office , stopped the atropos of her speech , and her body was consumed to ashes in the flames . finis . the manner of the beheading of duke hambleton, the earle of holland, and the lord capell, in the pallace yard at westminster, on friday the 9th of march 1648 with the substance of their several speeches upon the scaffold, immediately before they were beheaded. sibbald, james, 1590?-1650? this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a60178 of text r41488 in the english short title catalog (wing s3719). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 11 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a60178 wing s3719 estc r41488 31355437 ocm 31355437 110465 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60178) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 110465) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1753:10) the manner of the beheading of duke hambleton, the earle of holland, and the lord capell, in the pallace yard at westminster, on friday the 9th of march 1648 with the substance of their several speeches upon the scaffold, immediately before they were beheaded. sibbald, james, 1590?-1650? [2], 6 p. for robert ibbetson, printed at london : [1649] attributed by wing to james sibbald. contains illustrated t.p. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. eng hamilton, james hamilton, -duke of, 1606-1649. holland, henry rich, -earl of, 1590-1649. capel of hadham, arthur capel, -baron, 1610?-1649. executions and executioners -england. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649. a60178 r41488 (wing s3719). civilwar no the manner of the beheading of duke hambleton, the earle of holland, and the lord capell, in the pallace yard at westminster, on friday the [no entry] 1649 2020 4 0 0 0 0 0 20 c the rate of 20 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the manner of the beheading of duke hambleton , the earle of holland , and the lord capell , in the pallace yard at westminster , on friday the 9th of march 1648 with the substance of their several speeches upon the scaffold , immediately before they were beheaded . march 9. 1648. imprimatur theodore jennings ▪ printed at london for robert ibbitson . the manner of the beheading of duke hambleton , the earl of holland , and the lord capel , march 9. 1648. on friday march 9. 1648. duke hamilton , ( earle of cambridge ) the earle of holland , and the lord capell were beheaded in the pallace yard at westminster hall gate , in the middle of the pallace yard , toward the old standard , at that end of the pallace yard towards the water-side , the manner was thus . there were a great guard of souldiers both horse and foot , and many thousands of people . there were many scaffolds made about the pallace yard , and they were very full , insomuch that divers scaffolds broke , and some people fell down . the windowes and tops of houses were all full . first duke hamilton ( the earle of cambridge ) was brought upon the scaffold , there came along with him , lieut. col. beecher ( who had the charge of them all , as well the lord goring , and sir john owen , who are reprieved as these three who are this day beheaded ) also dr. sibbols the minister came upon the scaffold with him , and a gentleman of his own retinue with some other officers , and gentlemen , but very few were admitted to be there . duke hamilton was upon the scaffold above an hour , before his head was cut off . some part of the time was spent in a speech to the people , other part of the time was spent in speaking to those on the scaffold ; he had much conference with dr. sybolls . and prayed very humbly ( and with a deale of reverence ) to god , both with the minister , and with himselfe , some times he prayed aloud , and other times he prayed to himselfe . duke hamilton was in a blacke suite with a silver star upon his cloake . the h●adsman came to him , and asked him forgivnesse which he said he did . putting on a white satten cap , he sitted himselfe to lye downe , imbraced his servants , and doctor sibbols , and took his leave of , them and then he pray●● at the blocke . he gave advertisment to the executioner , that when he spread forth his armes he should do his office . a peece of red silk was spread upon the block , and when he was to die , and also to receive his head when it was cut off . he having put off his doublet was in his shirt and prepared himselfe to dye , and lying down prayed a little upon the block , and then stretching forth his arme , the executioner strucke off his head at one stroak , which was wrapt in the red silke that was laid down for receiving of it , and his coffin being brought upon the scaffold , his body and his head was put into the said coffin , and carried away . and a chyrurgeon ( appointed for the purpose ) sewed on the head again to the body , in an house in westminster , to which he was carried in the coffiin . the substance of duke hamiltons speech . that he was a protestant by religion , that he had justly deserved to dye , but at this time , in this way he left it to god , that he was sent into england by the parliament of scotland , that he had no thought of hurt to the parliament of england , that he had his hopes in heaven , & found peace in his conscience with god , desired them to pray for him , and prayed the lord to have mercy upon him , and save his soule . he imbraced the blocke in his armes and cryed out , lord jesus receive my soule to thy mercy . next to him , the lord of holland was brought upon the scaffold , where were lieut. col. beecher , dr. sybals and most of those gentlemen , save ( onely two or three of the dukes attendants ) that were upon the scaffold with the duke . there came with the earl of holland mr. hodges , and mr. knight two ministers , a gentleman of his , and some others , who were upon the scaffold , besides dr. sybals lieut. col. beecher , and the rest . the earle of holland came in a long gown of silk , lined with fur ( that he wore at his tryall ) of a brownish colour , he was upon the scaffold nigh an houre before he was beheaded . when the earl of holland was come upon the scaffold , he first went to that side next the water-side , and shewed himself to the people , but presently turned his face inward to the scaffold again , and had some discourse with those gentlemen that were on the scaffold . afterwards he went to the end of the scaffold against westminster hall gate , and there put off his hat to the people , and leaning upon the raile , with his hat off , and in his hand , he made a speech to them . he had conference then with the ministers , and went to the other side of the scaffold towards the gate going into kings-street . he had a great deal of conference with mr. knight the minister , and all the while carried himselfe very humbly , and with a great deal of devotion and reverence ; he took much delight in those things that mr. knight spake , and heard him a great while with much reverence . mr hodges turned to the other side of the scaffold and wept , and so also did another gentleman that did belong to him . the earl of holland having put off his gown and his doublet , he had a white satten wastcoat on , and after that he spent some time in prayer , and prayed at the block also . he had on the same white satten cap , with silver lace , that he wore at his tryall . he took his leave of li●ut . col. beecher , and the ministers , and his servants , and the rest . the executioner having asked and had forgivenesse , and received the sign of spreading out his arms , the earl of holland lay down upon the block , and then prayed a while , and then giving the sign , the executioner cut his head off at one stroke . his head and body were wrapped in a sheet , and put into a coffin brought upon the scaffold for that purpose , and he was carried away , and his head was after sewed to his body by a chirurgion , the substance of the earl of hollands speech . that he for religion is a protestant , for breeding he is of an ancient honourable family , was well bred , though he had not lived so well as his breeding was , that he hath been alwaies setled in his resolutions ; and as he took the covenant at first for king and parliament , as the parliament had declared , so he had lived , and so long as his judgement concurred with the parliament therein , hee stayed with them ; and what was the rerson why he left the parliament to go to the king ? why he came back to the parliament , and that afterward he rose for the peace of the king and parliament , and to settle the peace of the kingdome ; he much applauded the king , and said , that as for his owne part , he saw no blood shed by the forces that he commanded ; hee died patiently , and prayed to god to receive his soul . last of all the lord capell was brought upon the scaffold ; he had no minister at all with him , nor had he any shew of sence of death approaching , he was in a sad coloured suit and cloake , and white gloves , without his perrewig , and came with his hat cockt and his cloak thrown under one arme , outfacing death with a great deale of carelesnesse , as one notably resolved . when he came first upon the stage he looked towards the people , put off his hat , as at a salute , and then cockt it , and strutted about the scaffold in a carelesse posture . he had a little discourse with the gentlemen upon the scaffold , where he stayed very little between the time he went upon it , and the cutting off of his head , in all a little above a quarter of an houre . he went to the raile of the scaffold on that end towards westminster-hall gate , and made a speech , leaning over to the people , which speech took up most part of the time he was upon the scaffold : he put off his hat during the time that he spake , and his speech was made with much earnestnesse , as if a minister had been in a pulpit rather then like a man dying . after that speech he said little , some small discourse he had with the gentlemen upon the scaffold , and the ceremonies about the executioner , in all which he was very short . he then took off his cloake and laid it upon the raile towards the waterside , and his man took out a linnen cap and gave him , which he put on , delivering away his hat , and then he put off his dublet and was in his shirt . then kneeling down before the block he lifted up his hands and eyes towards heaven a very little while , and then lay down , but his shirt coller being too high he rose up againe and had it helped , ( for though he was tall yet he had but a short neck . ) he prayed a while lying on the block ( to himselfe ) lfiting up his right hand from the boards of the scaffold , and then stretching forth his arme the executioner cut off his head . a coffin and sheet being ready his corps was carried away , and his head after sewed on . it was a very faire bright sunshine day . he found fault with the puting of him to death ; appealed to the people , said he dyed for his affection to his king , applauded the late king , to be the most religious of all the princes in the world , and said that he had free-quarter given to him for mercy , but must now dye , and prayed the people to pray for him . he applauded prince charles , and the rest of the kings children , desired they might be kings , and said the kings children were all born to the crowne . he often prayed the people to pray for them , and asked them whether they would pray for him , and again said , i pray you good people pray for me . finis . his majesties speech on the scaffold at white-hall on tuesday last jan. 30 before the time of his coming to the block of execution and a declaration of the deportment of the said charles stuart before he was executed to the great admiration of the people : and a proclamation of the commons of england assembled in parliament to be published throughout the kingdoms prohibiting the proclaiming of any person to be king of england, ireland or the dominions thereof : also a letter from the north to a member of the army containing the declaration and resolutions of the northern army touching the late king of england and the lofty cedars of the city of london. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32120 of text r29203 in the english short title catalog (wing c2792b). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 11 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32120 wing c2792b estc r29203 10856298 ocm 10856298 46125 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32120) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 46125) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1419:23) his majesties speech on the scaffold at white-hall on tuesday last jan. 30 before the time of his coming to the block of execution and a declaration of the deportment of the said charles stuart before he was executed to the great admiration of the people : and a proclamation of the commons of england assembled in parliament to be published throughout the kingdoms prohibiting the proclaiming of any person to be king of england, ireland or the dominions thereof : also a letter from the north to a member of the army containing the declaration and resolutions of the northern army touching the late king of england and the lofty cedars of the city of london. charles i, king of england, 1600-1649. england and wales. parliament. 6 p. printed for r.w., [london] : [1649]. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng charles -i, -king of england, 1600-1649. executions and executioners -england. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -sources. a32120 r29203 (wing c2792b). civilwar no his majesties speech on the scaffold at white-hall on tuesday last, jan. 30. before the time of his coming to the block of execution; and a charles i, king of england 1649 1896 8 0 0 0 0 0 42 d the rate of 42 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion his majesties speech on the scaffold at white-hall on tuesday last , jan. 30. before the time of his coming to the block of execution ; and a declaration of the deportment of the said charles stuart , before he was executed , to the great admiration of the people . and a proclamation of the commons of england assembled in parliament , to be published throughout the kingdom ; prohibiting the proclaiming of any person to be king of england , ireland , or the dominions thereof . also a letter from the north , to a member of the army ; containing the declaration and resolutions of the northern army , touching the late king of england , and the lofty cedars of the city of london . imprimatur theodore jennings : printed for r.w. for general satisfaction of the people . a letter from the north , containing the declaration and resolutions of the northern army , and the inhabitants of yorkshire , concerning the executing of iustice upon charles stuart , late king of england , and the cutting off the lofty cedars within the city of london , and elsewhere , who have been promoters of the bloudy and tyrannicall design of the royall party , against the free-borne people of england . endeared sir , yours of the 6. instant i received ( together with your papers therein inclosed ) and according to your ardent expresly intimated , i shall here indeavour to satisfie your expectation , in communicating those particulars , which are most observable in these parts , viz. as for your present proceedings , in order to the executing of justice , it is the object whereon our eyes are fixed , our hearts thirsting after justice and righteousnesse ; considering , that judgment truly denounced , is as a crown of glory to all those who indevour to walk in the direct path of truth and holinesse ; and seeing that god hath bin pleased ( out of the abundance of his love ) to open a doore of deliverance to his people on earth , for the bringing them out of the snare of tyranny , and norman oppression . we doe therebore beseech our noble se●ars in the south to use their utmost endeavours , in carrying on this great work of liberty and freedom , for the true and impartiall executing of justice , and establishing of peace and righteousnesse . for , we are confident , that if justice bee not speedily executed , that both you and we shall perish , the wrath of the almighty jehovah , being ready to issue forth in streames of vengeance from the canopy of heaven against the unrighteousnesse of heaven , for acting against the known lawes and will of god , and standing in opposition against the most glorious splendor of the true light of the gospel of jesus christ . in consideration whereof , we the officers and souldiery in the northern brigade , do unanimously desire ( euen from the superiour to the inferiour ) that justice may be speedily executed , and that the tottering and corrupted pillars of the common-wealth of england , may be immediatly cut off and hewen down , as well the persons of princes , as either lords or commoners ▪ in order thereunto , and for the impartiall executing thereof , it is the sense of the officers and souldiery in these parts , to live and dye , aad stand and fall with you for the performance thereof , protesting to leave no meanes unassayed , for the clearing of englands putrified channell , which ebbes and flows ( in a prerogative and usurping way ) both in church and state : and not onely we alone , but the honest and free born denizons in the east and west-ridinr of this county , have mutually resolved to live and dye with us in prosecution of the same ; who upon a meeting near leeds , on tee 19 of this instr . declared their resolutions , and entred into protest●tion , to sacrifice lives and fortunes in the defence of parliament and army , for the obtaining of justice , liberty , and freedom , together with the common rights of the people of england . and do desire , th●t impartiall justice may ( without detraction of time ) be forthwith executed upon the person of the king , and that the lofty cedars of the city of london , and else-where , may bee lopt and taken down , wdo have ayded and assisted him in this unnatural tyrannicall , and bloudy war , and promoted the designes of the adverse party , against the well-affected of this kingdom . since which declaratory expressions from the said well-affected party , the spirits of malignancy have been much abated in these parts : but in lancashire , westmerland , and cumberland , the coles of enmity are a kindling , and ready to break forth into n●w flames of discord and contention , the clergy stirring up the people in their pulpits , and using all meanes possible to incite them to an engagement against the parliament and army , declaring , that all their actions and designes tends only to the extirpation of religion and government , and to erect a new government , according to the will of their own hearts , telling them ; that they shall not only be deprived of their most lawfull and dread soveraign , but also of their just rights , liberties , and estates : but ( we doubt not ) but a speedy glister will be administred to these inveterate and putrified caterpillars , and to give them a strong purgation and vomit , in recompense of all their infective language , and quack-salving cordials to the people . we hear that divers agents from scotland have dispiersed themselvs throughout severall counties in these parts , agitating with the royal party for a new commotion , telling them , that 40000. horse and foot will bee ready before the 16. of feb. to make an inrode into england , in behalf of their king and covenant ; but it s believed , a second english storm ( if a fourth invasion bee made ) will soon expiate all their scottish mists , which is all at present , from your obliged , and most feruent friend , peter michael wakefield 24 ian. 1648. an act or proclamation , prohibiting the proclaiming of any person to be king of england or ireland , or the dominions thereof . whereas charles stuart king of england , being for the notorious treasons , tyrannies , and murthers committed by him in the late and unnaturall and cruell wars condemned to death ; whereupon , after execution of the same , several pretences may be made , and title set on foot unto the kingly office , of the apparent hazard of the publike peace : for prevention thereof , be it enacted and ordained by this present parl ▪ and by authority of the same , that no person or persons whatsoever de presume to proclaim , declare , publish , or any way promote charles stuart , son of the said charles , commonly called the prince of wales , or any other person to be king , or chief magistrate of england , ireland , or of any the dominions belonging to them , or either of them , by colour of inheritance , succession , election , or any other claim whatsoever , without the free consent of the people in parl. first had , and signified by a particular act or ordinance for that purpose , any statute , law , usage , or custome to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding . and be it further enacted and ordained , and it is hereby enacted and ordained , that whosoever shall contrary to this act , proclaim , declare , publish , or any way promote the said charles stuart the son , or any other person to be king or chief magistrate of england , ireland , or of any the dominions belonging to them , or to either of them , without the said consent in parliament signed as aforesaid , shall be deemed and adjudged a traytor to the common-wealth , and shal suffer pains of death , and such other punishments , as belong to the crime of high treason . and all officers , as wel civil as military , and all other well affected persons , are hereby authorized and required forthwith to apprehend all such offenders , and to bring them in safe custody to the next justice of peace , that they may be proceeded against accordingly . h. scobel , cler. parl. d. com. the substance of his majesties speech , to the officers of the army , at the place of execution , on the scaffold at white-hall , on tuesday ian. 30. 1649. his majesty having received sentence of death from the high court of justice sitting in westminster hall , a scaffold was ordred to be forthwith erected and set up against white-hall , one end thereof adjoyning to the said banqueting house at white hall , being the place appointed for execution ; and upon tuesday being the 30. of jan. ( about one of the clock in the afternoon ) his majesty was guarded from his palace to the said place of execution , by divers officers of the army , who came with a most pleasant , and undanted courage to the scaffold , being attyred in a black sute and clo●k , with his blew ribbon and a george over his shoulders attended by dr. juxson , late bishop of london ; and upon his majesties coming towards the block , he fixed his eyes thereon , not seeming to be danted in the least ; saying , that he was willing to sacrifice his life , for the liberty and freedom of his people , and to dye as a martyr of the people of england , by changing this corruptible c●owne of misery , to an incorruptible crown of glory , and that hee was never guilty of the spilling of any bloud , except the e. of straffords ; which done , his majesty kneeled down upon the scaffold , and went to prayers with the bishop , and having prepared himself for death , he cast off his cloak , giving his george and ribbin to dr. juxson , and stript himself of his dublit , who being in his skey-colour wastcoat , the executioner came unto him , and folded up the hair of his head under his white cap ; after which , his majesty came to the block , and casting his eyes to heaven , kneeled down , the executioner immediatly doing his office , who severed his head from his shoulders at one blow ; which being taken up into a scarf , the body and it was both carryed off from the scaffold to white-hall . finis . the true narrative of the proceedings at the assizes holden at kingstone-upon-thames, for the county of surry which began on monday the 7th of this instant march, and ended on thursday the 10th following. giving an account of the most remarkable trials there, viz. for murder, felonies and burglaries, &c. with a particular relation to their names, and the places of their committing their facts, with the number of those condemned to die, burn'd in the hand, transported, and to be whipt. but more particular of the trial and condemnation of margaret osgood of the parish of st. olives southwark, for the horrid murther of her husband, on the 21th of july last, for which horrid fact she was found guilty of treason and murther. proceedings. 1681. great britain. assizes (surrey, england) 1681 approx. 10 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a71155 wing t2812a estc r185596 99830870 99830870 35331 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a71155) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35331) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2083:26; 2116:11) the true narrative of the proceedings at the assizes holden at kingstone-upon-thames, for the county of surry which began on monday the 7th of this instant march, and ended on thursday the 10th following. giving an account of the most remarkable trials there, viz. for murder, felonies and burglaries, &c. with a particular relation to their names, and the places of their committing their facts, with the number of those condemned to die, burn'd in the hand, transported, and to be whipt. but more particular of the trial and condemnation of margaret osgood of the parish of st. olives southwark, for the horrid murther of her husband, on the 21th of july last, for which horrid fact she was found guilty of treason and murther. proceedings. 1681. great britain. assizes (surrey, england) 4 p. printed by d. mallet, [london : 1681] caption title. imprint from colophon. reproduction of the original in the harvard university library (reel 2083) and the bodleian library (reel 2116). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. crime -england -early works to 1800. criminals -england -early works to 1800. 2005-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-02 john latta sampled and proofread 2006-02 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the true narrative of the proceedings at the assizes holden at kingstone-upon-thames , for the county of surry . which began on monday the 7th of this instant march , and ended on thursday the 10th following . giving an account of most of the remarkable trials there , viz. for murder , fellonies and burglaries , &c. with a particular relation of their names , and the places of their committing their facts , with the number of those condemned to die , burn'd in the hand , transported and to be whipt . but more particular of the trial and condemnation of margaret osgood of the parish of st. olives southwark , for the horrid murther of her husband , on the 21th of july last , for which horrid fact she was found guilty of treason and murther . the first we shall here give you an account of , is the aforementioned ma●garet osgood , for the horrid and bloody murther of her husband , commited in st olives parish in the burrough of southwark the 21th of july last . the defence she made was thus , that by his extravagancy he had brought her to distraction , and so desperate she was under that sence , that she had several times attempted her own en● by violence and was not capable of her actions when she did commit that horrid murther on him ; but her confession and the evidence against her contradicting that apology she was brought in guilty of treason and murther . the next was one john ashlock , for stealing a watch and three pieces of gold , a meddal and other things from his master who lives at stoake near guilford , and by a favourable prosecution found not guilty . the next were abraham priverly and robert mason , who were found guilty of petty larceny only . after those one robert hood was arraigned for the felloniously taking away of some pieces of ribband out of the shop of one mr. wallis in southwark , in october last ; of which he was convicted , the said goods being valued at 15 l. then richard wilson took his trial for a burglary , he was committed in february last , three witnesses were possitive that the ●d of february last , he had broke into the house of one turner in bandy-legg-walk in the park in southwark , and carried thereout several suits of apparel which were found upon him for which he stands convicted . four or five former convicted criminals were brought to the bar , and produced the kings pardon for all former crimes . the next was edw. bowmar , charged for the killing one collins in kent-street january last , the evidence against the prisoner was , that a quarrel happening betwixt him and the party deceased , the prisoner took up stones and coles , which he did throw at the party deceased , one of which having hit him on the head , did mortally wound him and was the occasion of his death ; the prisoner did not deny the fact , and was brought in guilty of chance-medley . james steward , and ann james , were arraigned for a fellony , the proof against them was , that on the 21th of august last , one andrew brittle living in bermondsey , leaving his dore fast locked when he went out , did in short time return , and found the same open and several clothes to the vallue of 20 shillings and five shillings in money stollen thereout , and making enquiry of the neighbours , the prisoners were described to him , and upon pursuit about nine days after did apprehend them , and found some of the goods that were stolen upon them . their defence was , that they being washer women , the linnen he challenged , was brought them to be washed , but failing , in produceing the parties that brought it , they were found guilty . the next were the said ann james , jane steward , together with one edward turner , who on the first of september last , were charged upon suspicion to have broke into the dwelling house of one thomas stainton in barnaby-street , and stealing thence several wearing apparel , and linnen to a considerable vallue . the proof was thus , that the same day the said edward turner had broke into the house of one john moulsworth , for which he was also indicted , and convicted , the evidence being , that he was actually taken in the fact , he for his defence only offerred , that he had money due to him from one john simons that lived there , and that this simons told him , he then should have it , if he would go with him home and stay there , till he had carried some goods to the pawn-brokers , to raise monies on , and going with him accordingly , the said simons left him in that house where he was apprehended , but this being but only a pretence , and one silver cup , of 30 shillings vallue , one amber necklace , and other things belonging to the said moulsworth , were found upon him , as also several picklock-keys , who with one of them , did open the door of that house after locked and upon evidence that all three were seen together at the said staintons house , they were all convicted for the former , and turner alone for the latter fellony . william trickler a whelewright , surrendred himself to iustice , and took his trial for the suspected murther of his wife . the evidence against the prisoner was , that on the ninth day of september last , he being in drink , w●s heard to quarrel with her , and also assaulted her with a spade , in so violent a manner , that some of the blowes were heard to a neighbours house near to them , of which bruise in two days time she died , yet the coroner endeavouring to stifle the matter , attributed her death rather to her infirmness ( being of a weak constitution ) than her husbands stroaks , although the contrary appeared very fully by those who saw them , for which return the choroner was fined ten pound , the prisoner made small defence for himself , yet meeting with a merciful jury , he was brought in guilty of manslaughter only . william ablo ; who had been formerly in newgate , abel hammersly , alice his wife , and thomas savioury , were arraigned for a robbery committed on the 25th of november last , the proof was absolute , that the said abbot , abel hammersly , thomas savioury , did rob a waggon on the day beforementioned , and carried away several parcels of silk , to the vallue of 100 pounds , for which they were convicted , they not being able to offer any thing material for their defence , only abbot refused to plead , produceing the kings pardon for all offences and therefore prayed the judg would not take away his life since the king had saved him , but the judg told him , the king knew not of this crime , therefore if he would not plead , he should be press'd to death , whereupon the statute being read , he then pleaded not guilty . jo. price was arraigned for breaking into the house of one thomas rowland , and stealing thence , a campaign-coat and other things to the vallue of 30 shillings , the evidence was very full , and his defence little , the goods being found upon him , yet brought in guilty to the vallue of ten pence . michael dixon a vintner in greenwich , and one henry pits , were both indicted upon suspicion of a robbery , the evidence was thus , that one thomas aldersey on the 28 of june last , was robbed between greenwitck and kent-street , of a watch , ring , sword , and about 13. shillings in money , and other things of a considerable vallue , by one fowler , since deceased , and that soon after , this robbery , the said dixon and pits were seen in fowlers company , dixon using several compliments to him , as if of great acquaintance ; the said dixon for defence said , that fowler was his acquaintance , and lodged often at his house , but never knew of any wrong he had done to any one person , also affirmed , that after this robbery the said aldersey had , or might have often seen fowler and have apprehended him if he would , and also produced several neighbours to satisfy the judg and jury , of his conversation and honest demeanour , and thereupon were both acquitted . william wyer and john bradshaw were arraigned for a felony , the proof was , that they in september last , did break into the dwelling house of one william tanner , in the day time , and stealing thence several parcels of woollen-cloth , which they disposed of , and afterwards were apprehended , and it being now proved against them , they were both found guilty of the fellony . there were in all eleven persons received sentance of death . margaret osgood sentensed , to be burn'd alive . richard wilson , ann james , jane steward , edward turner , william wyer , john bradshaw , william abbot , abel hamersly , thomas savioury , and one mary trot formerly reprieved , condemned to be hang'd . london , printed by d. mallet . 1681. the true and perfect speech of mr. james guthrey, late minister of sterling as it was delivered by himself immediately before his execution on june 1, 1661 at edinbrough. guthrie, james, 1612?-1661. 1661 approx. 17 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42359 wing g2267 estc r30329 11295277 ocm 11295277 47328 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42359) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 47328) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1462:22) the true and perfect speech of mr. james guthrey, late minister of sterling as it was delivered by himself immediately before his execution on june 1, 1661 at edinbrough. guthrie, james, 1612?-1661. 14 p. sent from edenburgh and printed for publick satisfaction and to prevent the dispersing of false copies, [london] : 1661. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dissenters, religious -england. executions and executioners -great britain. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-07 marika ismail sampled and proofread 2003-07 marika ismail text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the true and perfect speech of mr. james guthrey late minister of sterling as it was delivered by himself immediately before his execution , on iune 1. 1661. at edinbrovgh . sent from edenburgh , and printed for publick satisfaction , and to prevent the disperssing of false copies . 1661. the speech of mr. iames guthrey , late minister of sterling . men and brethren , i fear many of you come hither to gaze rather then to be edified by the carriage and last words of a dying man , but if any have an ear to hear , as i hope some of this great confluence have , i desire your audience as to a few words : i am come hither to lay down this earthly tabernacle and mortal flesh of mine ; and i bless god i do it willingly , and not by constraint , i say i suffer willinglie , if i had been otherwise minded i might have made a diversion , and not been a prisoner , but i being conscious to my self of nothing worthy of death or bonds , i would not stain my conscience with the suspicion of guiltiness by my withdrawing . neither have i wanted opportunity nor advantages to escape since i was a prisoner : not by the fault of my keeper , god knows , but otherwife . but neither for this had i light or liberty , least i should reflect upon the lords name , and offend the generation of the righteous . and if these men have not been mistaken or dealt deceitfullie in telling me so , i might have avoiced , not onlie the severity of the sentence , but also had favour and countenance by complying with the course of the times : but durst not redeem my life with the loss of my integrity , god knows i durst not . and that since i was a prisoner the lord hath so held me by the hand , that he never suffered me to bring to debate in my inward thoughts , muchless to propound or hearken to any overtures in that kind . i did judge it better to suffer then to sin , and therefore i am come hither to laie down my life this day , and i bless god i die not as a fool , not that i have any thing wherein to glorie in my self : i acknowledge i am a sinner , yea one of the vilest and greatest that hath owned a profession of religion , and one of the most unworthiest that hath preached the gospel , my corruptions have been strong and manie and hath made me a sinner even in all things , yea even in following my dutie : and therefore righteousness have i none of my own , but i do beleive that iesus christ came into the world to save sinners whereof i am the chief , through faith in his righteousness and blood , have i obtained mercie , and in him and through him alone have i the hope of a blessed conquest and victorie over sin and satan , and hell and death , and that i shall attain unto the resurrection of the just and be made a pertaker of eternal life , i know whom i have beleived , and he is able to keep that which i have committed to him against that day . i have preached salvation through his name , and as i have preached so i believe , and do commend the riches of his free grace and faith in his blood unto you all , as the onely way whereby you can besaved , and i bless god as i die not as a fool , so also i die not for evil doing , not a few of you may hapily judge that i suffer as a thief , or as a murderer , as an evil doer , or as a busie-body in other mens matters , that was the lot of our lord jesus christ himself , and hath been the lot of many of his precious people and servants , to suffer by the world as evil doers , and as my soul stirs not at that , but desires to rejoyce in being in conformity to my blessed head , and so blessed a company in these things , so do i desire in prayer that i may be to none of you to day on this account a stone of stumbling , or a rock of offence . blessed is he that will not be offended in christ , and his poor servants , because of their being condemned as evil doers by the world , god is my record that in these things for which sentence of death hath passed against me , i have a good conscience , i bless god they are not matters of compliance with the sectaries , or designes and practices against his majesties person , or government , or the person or government of his royal father , my heart i bless god is conscious of no disloyalty , nay loyal i have been , and commend it to you all , to be loyal and obedient unto the king , true piety is the foundation of true loyalty , a wicked man may be a flatterer , and a time server , but he will never be a loyal subject , but to return to my purpose . matters , for which i am condemned , are matters belonging to my calling and function , as a minister of the gospel , such as the discovery and reproof of sin , and pressing the holding fast the oath of god and the covenant , in preserving and carrying on the work of religion and reformation , according thereunto , and denying to acknowledg the civil magestrate to be the competent judge in matters ecclesiastical , that in all these things which god so ordering by his gracious providence are the ground of my sentence and death , i have a good conscience , as having walked therein according to the light and rule of gods word , as doth become a minister of the gospel . i do also bless the lord that i do not dye as one not desired , i know that of not a few i have never been nor am desired : it hath been my lot to have been a man of contention and sorrow : but it is my comfort that for my own things i have not contended , but for the things of jesus christ , and for what relates to his interest and work , and well being of his people , in order to the preserving and promoting of these i did protest against , and stood in opposition to those assemblies at st. andrews , and dundee , and edenburg , and the publique resolution of bringing the malignant party to judicature , and armies of this kingdom , as conceiving the same contrary to the word of god , and to our solemn covenant , and ingagement , and to be an inlet to defection , and to the ruine and destruction of the work of god , as it is now manifest to this day to mens consciences . i have not therein been mistaken , and was not fighting against the man of straw , i was also desirous to have some poor indeavour , to have the church of god purged from insufficient , scandalous , and corrupt ministers and elders . for these things , i have been mistaken by some , and hated by others : but i blesse the lord , as i had the testimony of my own conscience , i am there in a approving , and in the conscience of many of the lords people and precious servants , and how little soever i may dye not desired by some , yet by these i know i dye desired , and their approbation is of more value to me then all the contradictions and reproaches of the other : i doe with all my heart forgive them , and wherein i have offended any of them i doe beg their mercy and forgivenesse , and doe from my soul wish that my death may be profitable unto both , that the one may be confirmed in the sweet way of the lord , and that the other ( if the lord will ) may be convinced , and cease from those things that are not good , and doe not edifie . but yet there is one thing i would warne you all of , that god is wroth , yea very wroth with scotland and threatens to depart and remove his candlestick . the causes of his wroth are many , and would to god that were not one great cause , that the causes of his wroth are despis'd and rejected by a great many . consider that case that is recorded ier. 26. and the consequence of it , and tremble and fear . i cannot but also say , there is a great increase of wroth by the deluge of prophanity that overflowes the land , and hath reins loosed unto it every where ; in so far that many have lost not only the use and exercise of religion , but even morallity and common civillity , that is to be found even among heathen . secondly , the horrible treachery and perjury that is in the matter of the covenant and cause of god , and work of reformation : be astonished ye heavens at this , shall the people break the covenant and prosper , saith the lord ? shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with god , which frameth mischiefe by a law. i fear the lord is about to bring a sword on this land , which shall aveng the covenant . thirdly , horrible ingratitude after ten years oppression and bondage . he hath broken the yoak of strangers from off your necks , but what doe we render unto the lord for all his kindnesse ? most of the fruit of our deliverance is to work wickednesse and strengthen our selves to doe evill . fourthly , most fearfull idolatry and sacrificing to the creature . we have changed the glory of the incorruptible god into the image of a corruptible man , in whom many have placed almost all their salvation and desires , and have turned that which might have been a blessing unto us ( being kept into a due subordination unto god ) into an idol of jealousie , by preferring it before him . 5. god is also wroth with a corrupt and carnal generation of corrupt and carnal time-serving ministers ; i know and bear testimony , there is your true and faithful ministers ; blessed be god , we have yet many who study their duty , and desire to be found faithful unto the lord ; and i pray you to honour , reverence , and esteem much of those for their work sake ; & i pray them to be encouraged in their lord and master , who is with them , to make them an iron pillar , and brazen wall , and a strong defenced city , in their faithful following of their duty : but o that there were not too many that minde earthly things , that are enemies to the cross of christ , who push with the side and shoulder , who strengthen the hand of evil doers , who make themselves transgressors , by studying to build what formerly they did destroy , i mean prelacy , and the service book , and the mysterie of iniquity that works on us , whose steps lead us to the house of the great whore , and mother of fornication ; and whoever he be that builds this iericho , let him take heed of that curse of the flying rowle mentioned in zach. 5. and let all ministers take heed that they walk and be stedfast in the faith , and quit themselves , and be strong , and give seasonable warning concerning sin and duty : many of the lord's people do sadly complain of the fainting and silence of many watchmen ; and it concerns them to consider what god calls for at their hand in such a day ; silence now in a watchman , now when he is called to speak , and to give his testimony on the peril of his life , is doubtless a great sin : the lord open the mouths of his servants to speak his word with all boldness ; that covenant-breaking may be discovered and reproved , and that the kingdome of christ may not be supplanted , nor the souls of his people be destroyed without a warning . i have but a few words more to adde ; all that are prophane among you , i ●xhort to repentance ; for the day of the lord's wrath hastneth , and is neer ; but there is yet a door of mercy opened unto you , if you will not despise the day of salvation . all you that are malignant , and reproachers of godliness , and of such as live godly , take heed what you do ; it will be a hard matter for you to kick against pricks ; you make your selves the buts of the lord's fury and flaming indignation , if you do not cease , and repent of your ungodly deeds : all that are neuters , 〈◊〉 indifferent luke-warm professors , be zealous , lest the lord spew you out of his mouth . and you that repent for all the abominations that are done in the city , and in the land , and that take pleasure in the stones and dust of zion , cast not away your confidence , but be comforted and encouraged in the lord , he will yet appear for your joy ; god hath not cast away his people and work in britain and ireland ; i hope it shall once appear and revive by the power of his spirit , and take root downward , and bring forth plentiful fruit upward ; there is yet a holy seed , a root whom god will preserve , and bring forth ; but how long and dark our night may be , i do not know ; the lord shorten it for the sake of his chosen . in the mean time be you patient and immoveable , abounding in the work of the lord , and in love one to another : beware of snares , which are strowed thick ; cleave unto the covenant , and work of reformation ; do not decline the cross of christ ; chuse rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , then to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season ; and account the reproaches of the lord greater riches then all the treasures of aegypt . let my death grieve none of you , it will be more profitable and advantagious both for me and you , and for the church of god , and for christ's interest , then my life could have been ; i forgive all men the guilt of it , and desire you to do so also : pray for them that persecute you , bless them that curse you , bless i say , and curse not . i dye in the faith of the apostles and primitive christians and protestant reformed church , particularly that church of scotland , whereof i am a member and minister , and bear my testimony and witnesse to the doctrine and discipline of the church of scotland , by assemblies , synod , presbyteries , and societies ; popery , prelacy , and also their trumpery of service and ceremony i doe abhor , and bear my witnessing unto the national covenant in scotland , solemn league between the three kingdomes ; the sacred solemn and publick oath of god i cannot believe can be loosed by or dispensed with by any person or power , or any one on earth , but are still binding on these nations , and will be for ever hereafter , and are ratified and sealed by the conversion of many thousand souls since our entring therein : i bear my witnesse unto the protestation against the contraverted assembly and their publick resolution . to the testimony given against the sectaries . against that course of defection that is now in the land , and all the branches thereof in that . in the last place i bear my witnesse to the crosse of christ , and that i had never cause , nor have cause this day to repent of any thing i have suffered or can suffer for his name ; and i take god to record upon my soul , i would not exchange this scaffold with the fairest palace or miter of the greatest prelate ; blessed be god who hath shewed mercy unto such a wretch , and hath revealed his son unto me , and made me a minister of the everlasting gospel , that he hath dignified me in the midst of much contradiction from sathan and the world , to fulfill my ministry on the hearts of not a few of his people , especially in the stage wherein i last was , i mean the congregation of the presbyterie of sterling , god forgive that poor vain empty man that did there intrude my labour , and hath made a prey of many poor souls , and hath exposed others to reproach , and oppression , and a famine of the word of the lord , god forgive that misleader of the poor people , who tempted them to reject their alone minister ; the father of mercy pitty that poor mislead people , and the lord direct the congregations and presbyteries of scotland once more with faithfull pastors , and grant that the work of the lord may be revived through all brittain and over all the world : christ is my light and my life , my righteousnesse , my strength , and my salvation , he is also my salvation and all my desire is in him ; i doe with all the strength of my soul commend him to you : blessed are they that are not offended in him ; blesse him o my soul from henceforth , and for ever rejoyce , rejoyce , yea rejoyce all that love him , be patient and rejoyce in tribulation ; blessed are ye , and blessed shall you be for ever , and everlasting love and eternall salvation is yours , all are yours , ye are christs , and christ is gods. remember me o lord with the favour thou bearest to thy one people , direct me with thy salvation , that i may see the good of thy chosen therein , that i may rejoyce with the gladnesse of thy nation , that i may glory with thy inheritance ; now let thy servant depart in peace , since my eyes have seen thy salvation . finis . the last speech and carriage of the lord russel, upon the scaffold, &c. on saturday the 21st of july, 1683 1683 approx. 20 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a70521 wing l504c estc r8683 11904480 ocm 11904480 50655 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a70521) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50655) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 509:18 or 1742:24) the last speech and carriage of the lord russel, upon the scaffold, &c. on saturday the 21st of july, 1683 russell, william, lord, 1639-1683. 4 p. s.n., [london : 1683] caption title. place and date of publication from wing (2nd ed.). imperfect: stained, with slight loss of print. includes: the paper delivered to the sheriffs by my ld. russel. this item appears at reel 509:18 as wing r2353 (number cancelled in wing 2nd ed.), and at reel 1742:24 as wing (2nd ed.) l504c. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng russell, william, -lord, 1639-1683. rye house plot, 1683. executions and executioners -england. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2004-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the last speech and carriage , of the lord russel , upon the scaffold , &c. on saturday the 21st . of july , 1683. about nine in the morning , the sheriffs went to newgate , to see if my lord russel was ready ; and in a little time his lordship came out , and went into his coach taking his farewel of his lady , the lord cavendish and several other of his friends at newgate ; in the coach were dr. tillotson and dr. burnet , who accompanied him to the scaffold built in lincolns-inn-fields , which was covered all over with mourning . being come upon the scaffold , his lordship bowed to the persons present , and turning to the sheriff made this following speech . mr. sheriff . i expected the noise would be such , that i should not be very well heard . i was never fond of much speaking , much less now , therefore i have set down in this paper all that i think fit to leave behind me . god knows how far i was always from designs against the king's person , or of altering the government . and i still pray for the preservation of both , and of the protestant religion . mr. sheriff , i am told , that capt. walcot yesterday said some things concerning my knowledge of the plot : i know not whether the report is true or not . mr. sheriff , i did not hear him name your lordship . writer . no , my lord , your lordship was not named by any of them . lord russ. i hope it is not , for to my knowledge i never saw him , nor spake with him in my whole life , and in the words of a dying man , i profess i know of no plot , either against the king's life or the government . but i have now done with this world and am going to a better , i forgive all the world heartily , and i thank god i die in charity with all men , and i wish all sincere protestants may love one another , and not make way for popery by their animosities . i pray god forgive them , and continue the protestant religion amongst them , that it may flourish so long as the sun and moon indures . i am now more satisfied to die then ever i have been . then kneeling down , his lordship prayed to himself , after which dr. tillotson kneeled down and prayed with him , which being done his lordship kneeled down and prayed a second time to himself , then pulled off his wigg , put on his cap , took off his crevat , and coat , and bidding the executioner , after he had lain down a small moment , do his office without a sign , he gave him some gold , then embracing dr. tillotson , and dr. burnet , he laid him down with his neck upon the block . the executioner missing at his first stroke , though with that he took away life , at two more severed the head from the body : the executioner held up the head to the people , as is usual , in cases of treason , &c. which being done mr. sheriff ordered his lordships friends or servants to take the body , and dispose of it as they pleased , being given them by his majesties favour and bounty . the paper delivered to the sheriffs by my l d. russel . i thank god , i find my self so composed and prepared for death , and my thoughts so fixed on another world , that i hope in god , i am now quite weaned from setting my heart on this . yet i cannot forbear spending some time now , in setting down in writing a fuller account of my condition , to be left behind me , than i 'll venture to say at the place of execution , in the. noise and clutter that is like to be there . i bless god heartily for those many blessings , which he in his infinite mercy has bestowed upon me , through the whole course of my life : that i was born of worthy good parents , and had the advantages of a religious education ; which i have often thank'd god very heartily for , and look'd upon as an invaluable blessing : for even when i minded it least , it still hung about me , and gave me checks , and hath now for many years so influenced and possessed me , that i feel the happy effects of it in this my extremity , in which i have been so wonderfully ( i think god ) supported , that neither my imprisonment , nor the fear of death , have been able to discompose me to any degree ; but on the contrary , i have found the assurances of the love and mercy of god , in and through my blessed redeemer , in whom only i trust ; and i do not question , but that i am going to partake of that fulness of joy which is in his presence , the hopes whereof does so wonderfully delight me , that i reckon this as the happiest time of my life , though others may look upon it as the saddest . i have lived , and now die of the reformed religion , a true and sincere protestant , and in the communion of the church of england , though i could never yet comply with , or rise up to all the heights of some people . i wish with all my soul , all our unhappy differences were removed , and that all sincere protestants , would so far consider the danger of popery , as to lay aside their heats , and agree against the common enemy ; and that the church-men would be less severe , and the dissenters less scrupulous : for i think bitterness and persecution are at all times bad , but much more now . for popery . i look on it as an idolatrous and bloody religion ; and therefore thought my self bound , in my station , to do all i could against it . and by that , i foresaw i should procure such great enemies to my self , and so powerful ones , that i have been now for some time expecting the worst . and blessed be god , i fall by the axe , and not by the fiery tryal . yet , whatever apprehensions i had of popery , and of my own severe and heavy share i was like to have under it , when it should prevail , i never had a thought of doing any thing against it basely , or inhumanly ; but what could well consist with the christian religion , and the laws and liberties of this kingdom . and i thank god , i have examined all my actings in that matter , with so great care , that i can appeal to god almighty , who knows my heart , that i went on sincerely , without being moved , either by passion . by-end , of ill design . i have always loved my country much more than my life ; and never had any design of changing the government , which i value , and look upon as one of the best governments in the world , and would always have been ready to venture my life for the preserving of it , and would have suffered any extremity , rather than have consented to any design to take away the king's life : neither ever had man the impudence to propose so base and barbarous a thing to me . and i look upon it as a very unhappy , and uneasy part of my present condition , that in my indictment there should be so much as mention of so vile a fact ; though nothing in the least was said to prove any such matter ; but the contrary , by the lord howard : neither does any body , i am confident , believe the least of it . so that i need not , i think , say more . for the king. i do sincerely pray for him , and wish well to him , and to the nation , that they may be happy in one another ; that he may be indeed the defender of the faith ; that the protestant religion , and the peace , and safety of the kingdom may be preserved , and flourish under his government ; and that he in his person may be happy , both here , and hereafter . as for the share i had in the prosecution of the popish plot , i take god to witness , that i proceeded in it in the sincerity of my heart ; being then really convinced ( as i am still ) that there was a conspiracy against the king , the nation , and the protestant religion : and i likewise profess , that i never knew any thing , either directly or indirectly , of any practice with the witnesses , which i look upon as so horrid a thing , that i could never have endured it . for , i thank god , falshood and cruelty were never in my nature , but always the farthest from it imaginable . i did believe , and do still , that popery is breaking in upon the nation ; and that those who advance it . will stop at nothing , to carry on their design : i am heartily sorry that so many protestants give their helping hand to it . but i hope god will preserve the protestant religion , and this nation : though i am afraid i will fall under very great tryals , and very sharp sufferings . and indeed the impiety , and profaneness that abounds , and appears so scandalously bare-fac'd every where , gives too 〈◊〉 reason to fear the worst things which can befal a people . i pray god prevent it , and give those who have shew'd concern for the publick good , and who have appear'd hearty for the true interest of the nation , and the protestant religion , grace to live so , that they may not cast a reproach on that which they endeavour to advance ; which ( god knows ) hath often given me many sad thoughts . and i hope such of my friends as may think they are touch'd by this , will not take what i say in ill part , but endeavour to amend their ways , and live suitable to the rules of the true reformed religion ; which is the only thing can administer true comfort at the latter end , and revive a man when he comes to dye . as for my present condition , i bless god , i have no repining in my heart at it . i know for my sins i have deserved much worse at the hands of god ; so that i chearfully submit to so small a punishment , as the being taken off a few years sooner , and the being made a spectacle to the world. i do freely forgive all the world , particularly those concerned in taking away my life : and i desire and conjure my friends to think of no revenge , but to submit to the holy will of god , into whose hands i resign my self entirely . but to look back a little ; i cannot but give some touch about the bill of exclusion , and shew the reasons of my appearing in that business ; which in short is this . that i thought the nation was in such danger of popery , and that the expectation of a popish successor ( as i have said in parliamen ) put the king's life likewise in such danger , that i saw no way so effectual to secure both , as such a bill . as to the limitations which were proposed , if they were sincerely offered and had pass'd into a law , the duke then would have been excluded from the power of a king , and the government quite altered , and little more than the name of a king left . so i could not sea either sin or fault in the one , when all people were willing to admit of 'tother ; but thought it better to have a king with his prerogative , and the nation easy and safe under him , than a king without it , which must have bred perpetual jealousies , and a continual struggle . all this i say , only to justify my self , and not to inflame others : though i cannot but think my earnestness in that matter has had no small influence in my present sufferings . but i have now done with this world , and am going to a kingdom that cannot be moved . and to the conspiring to seize the guards , which is the crime for which i am condemned , and which was made a constructive treason for taking away the king's life , to bring it within the stature of edw. the 3d. i shall give this true and clear account . i never was at mr. shepheard's with that company but once , and there was no undertaking then of securing , or seizing the guards ; nor none appointed to view , or examine them : some discourse there was about the feasibleness of it ; and several times by accident , in general discourse elsewhere , i have heard it mention'd , as a thing might easily be done , but never consented to as fit to be done . and i remember particularly at my lord shaftsbury's , there being some general discourse of this kind , i immediately flew our , and exclaim'd against it , and ask'd , if the thing succeeded , what must be done next but massacring the guards , and killing them in cold blood ? which i look'd upon as in destable a thing and so like a popish practice , that i could not but abhor it . and at the same time the duke of monmouth took me by the hand , and told me very kindly . my lord , i see you and i are of a temper ; did you ever hear so horrid a thing ? and i must needs do him that justice to declare , that i never observed in him but an abhorence to all base things . as to my going to mr. shephards , i went with an intention to taste sherry ; for he had promised me to reserve for me the next very good piece he met with , when i went out of town ; and if he recollects , he may remember i ask'd him about it , and he went and fetch'd a bottle ; but when i tasted it , i said 't was hot in the mouth ; and desired that whenever he met with a choice piece , he would keep it for me : which he promised . i enlarge the more upon this , because sir geo iefferies insinuated to the jury , as if i had made a story about going thither ; but i never said , that was the only reason : and i will now truly , and plainly add the rest . i was the day before this meeting , come to town , for two or three days , as i had done once or twice before ; having a very near and dear relation lying in a very languishing and desperate condition : and the duke of monmouth came to me , and told me , he was extreamly glad i was come to town ; for my lord shaftsbury and some hot men would undo us all , if great care be not taken , and therefore for god's sake use your endeavours with your friends to prevent any thing of this kind . he told me , there would be company at mr. shephard's that night , and desired me to be at home in the evening , and he would call me ; which he did : and when i came into the room , i saw mr. rumsey by the chimny ; though he swears he came in after ; and there were things said by some with much more heat , than judgment , which i did sufficiently disapprove , and yet for these things i stand condemned . but i thank god , my part was sincere , and well meant . it is , i know , inferred from hence , and was pressed to me , that i was acquainted with these heats and ill designs , and did not discover them . but this is but misprision of treason at most . so i dye innocent of the crime i stand condemn'd for , and i hope nobody will imagine that so mean a thought could enter into me , as to go about to save my self , by accusing others . the part that some have acted lately of that kind , has not been such as to invite me to love life at such a rate . as for the sentence of death passed upon me , i cannot but think it a very hard one . for nothing was sworn against me ( whether true or false , i will not now examine ) but some discourses about making some stirs . and this is not levying war against the king , which is treason by the statute of edward the third , and not the consulting and discoursing about it , which was all that was witnessed against me . but , by a strange fetch , the design of seizing the guards , was construed a design of killing the king , and so i was in that cast . and now i have truly and sincerely told what my part was in that , which cannot be more than a bare misprision ; and yet i am condemned as guilty of a design of killing the king. i pray god lay not this to the charge , neither of the king's counsel , nor judges , nor sheriffs , nor jury : and for the witnesses , i pity them , and wish them well , i shall not reckon up the particulars wherein they did me wrong ; i had rather their own consciences should do that , to which , and the mercies of god , i leave them . only i still avers , that what i said of my not hearing col. rumsey deliver his message from my lord shaftsbury , was true ; for i always detested lying , tho never so much to my advantage . and i hope none will be so unjust and uncharitable , as to think i would venture on it in these my last words , for which i am so soon to give an account to the great god , the searcher of hearts , and judg of all things . from the time of chasing sheriffs , i concluded the heat in that matter would produce something of this kind ; and i am not much surprized to find it fall upon me . and i wish what is done to me , may put a stop , and satiate some peoples revenge , and that no more innocent blood may be shed ; for i must and do still look upon mine as such , since i know i was guilty of no treason ; and therefore i would not betray my innocence by flight , of which i do not ( i thank god ) yet repent , ( tho much pressed to it ) how fatal soever it may have seem'd to have proved to me ; for i look upon my death in this manner , ( i thank god ) with other eyes than the world does . i know i said but little at the trial , and i suppose it looks more like innocence than guilt . i was also advis'd not to confess matter of fact plainly , since that must certainly have brought me within the guilt of misprision . and being thus restrained from dealing frankly and openly , i chose rather to say little , than to depart from ingenuity , that by the grace of god i had carried along with me in the former parts of my life , and so could easier be silent , and leave the whole matter to the conscience of the jury , than to make the last and solemnest part of my life so different from the course of it , as the using little tricks and evasions must have been . nor did i ever pretend to a great readiness in speaking : i wish those gentlemen of the law who have it , would make more conscience in the use of it , and not run men down by strains and fetches , impose on easie and willing juries , to the ruine of innocent men : for to kill by forms and subtilties of law , is the worst sort of murder : but i wish the rage of hot men , and the partialities of juries may be stopp'd with my blood , which i would offer up with so much the more joy , if i thought i should be the last were to suffer in such a way . since my sentence , i have had few thoughts , but preparatory ones for death : yet the importunity of my friends , and particularly of the best and dearest wife in the world , prevailed with me to sign petitions , and make addresses for my life : to which i was very averse . for ( i thank god ) tho in all respects i have lived one of the happiest and contented'st men in the world , ( for now near fourteen years ) yet i am so willing to leave all , that it was not without difficulty , that i did any thing for the saving of my life , that was begging . but i was willing to let my friends see what power they had over me , and that i was not obstinate , nor sullen , but would do any thing that an honest man could do for their satisfaction . which was the only motive that sway'd , or had any weight with me . and now to summ up all , as i never had any design against the king's life , or the life of any man whatsoever ; so i never was in any contrivance of altering the government , what the heats , wickednesses , passions , and vanities of other men have occasioned , i ought not to be answerable for ; nor could i repress them , tho i now suffer for them . but the will of the lord be done , into whose hands i commend my spirit ; and trust that thou , o most merciful father , hast forgiven me all my transgressions ; the sins of my youth , and all the errors of my past life , and that thou wilt not lay my secret sins to my charge ; but wilt graciously support me during that small part of my life now before me , and assist me in my last moments , and not leave me then to be disorder'd by fear , or any other temptation ; but make the light of thy countenance to shine upon me ; for thou art my sun and my shield : and as thou supportest me by thy grace , so i hope thou wilt hereafter crown me with glory , and receive me into the fellowship of angels and saints in that blessed inheritance purchased for me by my most merciful redeemer , who is , i trust , at thy right hand , preparing a place for me ; into whose hands i commend my spirit . signed will. russel . a true declaration of the happy conuersion, contrition, and christian preparation of francis robinson, gentleman who for counterfetting the great seale of england, was drawen, hang'd, and quartered at charing-crosse, on friday last, being the thirteenth day of nouember, 1618. written by henry goodcole preacher of the word of god, and his daily visiter, during his imprisonment in the gaole of newgate. goodcole, henry, 1586-1641. 1618 approx. 39 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01873 stc 12013 estc s118282 99853489 99853489 18873 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01873) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 18873) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 888:08) a true declaration of the happy conuersion, contrition, and christian preparation of francis robinson, gentleman who for counterfetting the great seale of england, was drawen, hang'd, and quartered at charing-crosse, on friday last, being the thirteenth day of nouember, 1618. written by henry goodcole preacher of the word of god, and his daily visiter, during his imprisonment in the gaole of newgate. goodcole, henry, 1586-1641. [24] p. printed by edw: all-de dwelling neere christ-church, london : 1618. running title reads: a true declaration of the life and death of francis robinson. signatures: a-c⁴. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng robinson, francis, d. 1618. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. 2003-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2003-05 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a true declaration of the happy conuersion , contrition , and christian preparation of francis robinson , gentleman . who for covnterfetting the great seale of england , was drawen , hang'd , and quartered at charing crosse , on friday last , being the thirteenth day of nouember , 1618. written by henry goodcole preacher of the word of god , and his daily visiter , during his imprisonment in the gaole of newgate . london printed by edw : all-de dwelling neere christ-church . 1618. to the right honorable sir henry mountague , lord chiefe iustice of england , grace and honour bee multiplyed here , and by the mercies of iesus christ , fruition of his glory , and euerlasting happinesse hereafter . right honourable , i am in a great straite , betwixt hope and dispaire standing , your worthines and wisdome to trouble with such an vnworthy labour as this is ; for which my ambitious and bolde presumption , i stand at the barre of your learned iudgement , and deeme to bee arraigned , conuicted , and adiudged of the same . but my hearty desire of the welfare of our now florishing hierusalem , and her inhabitants , which i pray god long it may so continue , & vnfained zeale , thereunto is constrained thus to breake foorth , thus to proclaime vnto all her dwellers therein , your great mercy to distressed soules , desiring to comfort them , & by all meanes possible to saue them , aswel as your iustice & zeale to punish and cut of offenders : both which to be conioyned together in your noble heart , of late are expressed , in sending to a perplexed and distressed soule , when time of neede did greatly require the same ( phisicke ) by that heauenly phisition , and messenger of god mr. robert pricket , into whose industrious labour and haruest , i was bolde to intrude my selfe , and thrust in my sickle . and now further desirous to explaine vnto the world , the good successe and blessing that god in his great mercy gaue to our willing labours : humbly crauing your honours patronage and acceptance , which if your hon ▪ vouchsafe to graunt , will incourage vs to be at your hon : command in the like seruice . and being sheltred vnder your fauourable countenance and acceptance , wil make both the cause & help of our ministrie , respectiuely regarded and welcome , to whome wee shall be called . and this labour now published , & conuayed , my only ayme & intent by dispersing of it , is to vestigiate your hon : steps , to wish & endeauour the generall good of all , & particular hurt of none : the lord almighty of his great goodnesse long continue your hon : amongst his people for their welfare , to be as euer your religious courses haue explained , to be noble , charitable , and religious , a defence to such as else would be oppressed , and an incourager of the good and vertuous . your honours in all readines , and humilitie , to be commaunded : henry goodcole . to the christian reader . lamentable and perilous , are these times and dayes wherein we now liue , to see the abounding of sinne and iniquity , and pure religion , to the corrupt hearts , and vnstable fantasies of men , to be wrested , as they list , to finde diuersitie of religions , sects and schismes , as the hearts , qualities , and manners of men differ , thereunto they equiuolate their profession and religion , the which instability , wherein there should not in the least manner be any inconstancie , breedes corrupt liues , and vnrecouerable downfalls , of many hopefull young gentlemen , worshipfully descended , and carefully tutered , the true meanes of preuenting such horrible wickednesse . of which duly considering , and pondering in my minde , it did in some measure perswade me to a periode of this by mee now published , before i had put penne to paper , to write , being daily experienced , that where one suckes honey , another followeth , and thence sucketh poyson ; for it is a thing most impossible , to please the humours and fantasies of all men . but when i remembred the cause i had to handle , which was for the publique good of my countrey , to admonish them to take heede by other mens hurts and harmes , and for feare it should slip out of their mindes , this person francis robinson , his haynous act most remarkeable , and deplorable downefall , becomes my subiect , to write ; instigating mee thereunto , and encouraging mee , not to neglect my intended and good determination to a generality , for feare of the barking and contradicting spirits of our age , but to performe the cause and quarrell which i must write of against god and our enemies , how by a rauening wolfe , a romish catholike , as he was blinded , became a blind guide to this poore gentleman , to make him fall into the same ditch as he did , whereby like a silly simple innocent lambe by his subtill slie seducings , and inticings , his destruction befell most suddaine and fearefull . i leaue what i shall relate vnto thee to thy construction , desiring ( if i may ) to haue a charitable censure of thee : concluding with my hearty affection to thee , & christian admonition , howsoeuer thine is to me-ward . stand fast in thy faith , profession , and religion , and i pray god , that other mens harmes , may make thee and all others , fearefull , carefull , and watchfull , that you fall not in such manner as many before this day haue done : the vndoubted preuention whereof is , daily to inuocate gods grace from aboue , to ayde and assist thee , that thou fall not into the same mischiefes , who are as weake , fraile , and subiect to be tempted , as others before thee were . and thus with heartie prayers to god to assist thee to be a conquerour in the day of battell , and constant in the time and day of triall : i rest ; thine in the lord iesus , a labourer for thy welfare . henry goodcole . a true declaration of the happy conuertion , contrition and godly preparition , of francis robinson gentleman . dying mens wordes are euer remarkable , & their last déeds memorable for succéeding posterities , by them to be instructed , what vertues or vices they followed and imbraced , and by them to learne to imitate that which was good , and to eschew euill . but such is the depraued and corrupt nature of all mankinde , and sathans subtilty ( mans mortall enemy ) that dayly goeth about , and laboureth by all meanes possible he can , to blindfolde vs , stopping vs out of the way wherein god hath appointed vs to walke , and the example of gods children that haue trod out the way before vs. oh how much do these our daies wherin we now liue ( shew vs the too true experience of the same ) that multitudes for company sake , conioyne themselues in all maner of mischiefe , and runne in heapes with delight , to commit most abhominable sins , presuming on gods patience , because he doth not presently punish , saying in the pride of their hearts , and glory of their wicked sinnes , doth the lord sée , marke , or regard the déeds and actions , of the sonnes of men ? no , they say tush , he regards them not : and thus the deuill by this meanes , gets holde of multitudes , and bringes them in the end , to shame , hell , and destruction ; for the reward and wages of sinne is death . let me now my worthy country-men , present vnto your view , the experienced reward of sinfull delights , which latey befell a gentleman by name francis robinson , well descended , educated , and fostred tenderly , who happening into euill company , quickly , by the lewde examples , and dispositions of others , was brought to be as wicked , and as bad as themselues , for the deuill doth make wicked men to doe , what he cannot doe himselfe ( that is ) to bring men to sinne and shame , by lewd mens inticings , examples and directions , to doe as they doe , to walke in their steps and wayes of wickednes , merrily to passe away their times and dayes whilst here they liue , by which tossing , carousing , and iollitie of life , they become altogether forgetfull of god , and the meanes of their saluation , which to redéeme from the iawes of hell , a whole world and to late repentance then small auailes . remember o yée youthfull gallants now your creator in the dayes of your youth , and cast not off the yoke of god from your necke , when you are young , least he reiect you , when your strength and eye-sight faile you ; that is , in your olde age : learne to tread now the pathes of his holy wayes , if ye would be assured to come to the place of his euerlasting happines , for the lord hateth , and vtterly abhorreth all the workes and workers of sinne and iniquitie : but those that loue and feare him he maketh much of them . that you shall see , and say with the prophet dauid , psalme 58. verse 10. doubtlesse there is a god that iudgeth the earth , that he is a iust god and loueth righteousnes , and hateth iniquitie , repaying vengeance vnto them that delight in the same , my ensuing sequell shall declare vnto you : example doth daily testifie , and at this present confirmes the same . i pray god the wanton and roaring gallants of this our age , may by them be warned , but much it is to be feared they will not : if they will not , let them take héede as they goe for company , they hang not for company , wherat , for ought i doe perceiue they make a scoffe and scorne , to thinke in that manner of dying they dye valiantly , when that it is indéed most desperate , deuillish and damnable , and sauours no whit of the least sparke of gods grace , but of contempt of god , and the ripe fruit of sathans bondslaues , which is to commit sinne , and to boast and bragge of the same , to be the full height of a reprobate soule , from which good lord deliuer vs all . now to confirme you how this gentleman , as he himselfe related to me , fell , obserue what followeth . so soone as euer he was brought into the gaole of newgate , he looked round about him , and earnestly entreated those that stoode by him , to take heede of papists , and euill company , for they were the cause of his destruction . from the lodge he was conuayed by the keepers into the common gaole , where he remained some two houres , on tuesday the tenth day of nouember , from which side he was remoued to the maister side by warrant , from the right honorable sir henry mountague , lord chiefe iustice of england , who for the same was most hartily and humbly thankfull , and counted it , as well it did deserue , a great fauour from my lord , there to sequester him , the better to prepare and fit him for his end . and that no meanes might be wanting to worke that good worke in him of repentance , contrition , and assurance of his saluation , like a good samaritane that honourable and religious iudge , as hée had wounded him by denouncing his iust iudgement of deserued death , which is to flesh and blood most fearefull and vnwelcome , yet such was his honorable care towards him , which is worthy of remembrance , what lay in his power hee did to comfort him , and in nothing more appeared the same , then in the sending of my painefull brother and fellow labourer in gods worke ( maister pricket ) who did most grauely and wisely apply to his distressed soule ( such comfort ) as that i doe constantly beléeue , the lost sheepe was brought home againe to the folde of iesus christ. whereof most constantly robinson said , he was assured : for the spirit of god did inwardly confirme the same to him , vndoubtedly to beléeue it , of which most comfortable words and effectuall working , we were most glad , and ioyfull , that to our weake meanes , god rich in mercy , had giuen and sent such a blessing and cooperation . thus séeing our industrie and labour begin to prosper to the glory of god , the sauing and winning to god a sinfull soule , i was bolde to put my sickle into another mans haruest , and bestowed likewise my poore willing paines and industry : with what they were i haue here published , and what effect they tooke , i praise god , i laboured not in vaine , but found a hungry and thirstie soule , apt and ready , to receiue them from my hands , and the fruites thereof , repentance , contrition , and faith . a relation how we spent wednesday euening , being the eleuenth of nouember . so soone as euer i came vnto him , he did like a poore , sicke , and wounded patient , desirous of cure , tell his whole griefe , not mincingly or sparingly , but faithfully and truly , that i might the better apply and endeauour to comfort him , the beginning of his euils he tolde me , and how hée grew worse and worse by degrées , the manner he related , and as néere as i can from his owne mouth spoken , deliuered here the same . wherein as himselfe obserued we may sée the nature of sinne , which if it be not preuented in time , how it getteth the masterie of vs , and when we would shake off our olde accustomed and habituall sinnes , we cannot easily doe it , because it cleaueth fast vnto vs , that of our selues , by no meanes we are able , but by the helpe of god , who is willing , and ready at all times to helpe and succour vs therein , if we call and seeke for his sauing health . our conference . his lamentable downefall thus begun , the which , o would to god the carelesse and loose liuers , within this citie of london , would take notice of ( namely ) that he forsooke god first , before god forsooke him , at which wordes he much lamented , that the deuill had so blinded and deluded him , to forsake and deny the profession ( and faith of the church of england ) to embrace and cleaue vnto the hereticall doctrine of romish popery , which are but lying vanities , and vaine shaddowes , no way substantiall for the maine ground-worke of a christian mans saluation . an in-sight , whereinto after it pleased god to be so mercifull to grant him , hée from the bottome of his heart renounced , ( that false and antechristian church of rome ) sorrowing nothing more for any thing , then for that time , that in that church hée had béene a member , and reioycing and ioying in nothing more , then that god had opened his eyes to sée his former errors , and to giue his heart and soule a light , with earnest desiring and thirsting to be accepted againe , into the company of the true and faithfull beléeuers of the church of england , which his soule did assure him vndoubtedly was the true church of god. his progression . vvhen there was warrant out for his apprehension , he then was in darby , and hearing that there was waite laide for him , posted thence some sixe miles , but had not the power any further to trauell , but returned to darby , to goe and iustifie his foule fact , which by the narrow looking into , and examining of a lawyer there inhabiting , with whome he was at variance , his designes were discouered . when he was thus discouered , and sent vp to london to the right honourable the lord chauncellor of england , by whom he was examined , and vrged to confesse , that his foule fact of high treason : stood stoutly in the deniall of the same . but hée that sitteth in heauen laughed him to scorne , and most wonderfully disclosed the secret of his heart , and his foule fact , whereof he thought none should haue knowne , for being re-examined by the right hon : sir henry mountague knight , lord chiefe iustice of england , to him as formerly he did , denyed his foule fact , but behold héere how the hand of god laide holde on him , and how the eye of god was watching ouer him , and disclosed him , by deliuering a key to humphrey smith , to goe to a truncke , wherein his counterfeit commission was , and diuers other writings . it pleased almighty god , who teacheth all mens hearts wisdome , that the right hon : the lord chiefe iustice thus bethought himselfe , to know the truth , séeing as yet he could get no knowledge , he set spies to watch those that had accesse vnto him , to finde out by them , this foule fact , which most miraculously by the carefull examination of humphrey smith ( by that graue iudge sir heury mountague ) came soone to light thereof , who tolde his hon : of a truncke of writings : which so strangely discouered , robinson thereat was greatly amazed , thinking it a thing impossible to be knowne at all to any ; who when that he saw he was discouered , betooke himselfe ( of an obstinate denyer ) to become an humble , contrite , and sorrowfull confessor of what he had done , and implored mercy and fauour at honourable persons hands , of whome he little deserued the same . but he out of his most noble disposition , denyed not any the least of his requests , and humble suites , but buryed all his former vndeseruings , in the bowels of pitty and compassion , grieuing to sée what a most wretched course he had runne , that the iustice of the king , and his lawes , did iustly challenge his deserued deoth . nay further note and consider i pray you , for these were the wordes procéeding out of his owne mouth : how god did make his owne wisdome to be foolishnesse , therewith to laugh himselfe to scorne , that presuming he had some sound iudgement and true knowledge in the law , vpon which hée too much built and relyed , for his knowledge therein , was but the flash of pride & presumption : for when the right worshipfull , graue , wise and learned in the law ( sir henry yeluerton his maiesties atturney generall ) heard , said , that his intention , made the law to take holde on him , he thereat was silenced , and confessed his blindnes , and ignorance , and that his eyes were shut , and heart infatuated euen vnto the day of his tryall , in which it pleased god to reueale to him , his grosse mistaking of the law , and guilt in this his foule fact , which when he well and plainely perceiued ; he then remembred that portion of scripture which he formerly had read in the 3. chap. of ieremy , which stroake remorse of conscience in him , and that the whole world might take notice that the iudgements of god had ouertaken him , aduisedly coated the place recited for memory , that men should feare to offend in the like case , least they come to haue in the end the like reward for their paines . lastly , he confessed the person , and first occasion that drew him to commit his foule fact , which was ( couetousnes ) the foundation of all mischiefe . and lodging at the swan at charing crosse , there he grew acquainted with one ( morgan a romish catholicke ) whom he tolde of his thirsting after money , who then shewed the fruites of his religion , to bring by his wicked deuice , the body of this gentleman to his destruction , and ( had not god in his great mercy preuented the same destroyed ) his soule also , for he went the right way thereunto , by crafty seducing of him to become a papist . and thus , he leauing and for saking his god , and religion , his sodaine downefall afterwards happened , the which he heartily prayed to almighty god might teach , warne , and terrifie others from the like attempt : and thus spake that morning a little before hée receiued the most holy and blessed sacrament , of the supper of our lord iesus christ , ( said ▪ ) that morgan did seduce him first , from his religion , and after that , his heart was inclinable to receiue , what morgans poysoned tongue of mischiefe would speake , of which kinde of people and their religion , hée desired all people to beware and to flye their doctrine , it tending onely to mischiefe and destruction . his great desire of giuing satisfaction so farre as he could , to those whom he had greatly offended . his god and creator , hée acknowledged most highly by his foule fact to haue offended , and for attonement he fully relyed on the meritorious death and passion of iesus christ. the kings most excellent maiestie in a most high nature he had offended , for which he was heartily sorrie , and craued pardon , willing to render vp his life , acknowledging his death to be deserued ; and further saying , that if he were neuer so much to be tortured , he deserued the same , and contentedly embraced the same , that so his maiesties iust wrath might be appeased . of all the people in generall , he heartily craued pardon , that he had beene a runnagate from their blessed societie , heartily desiring their prayers vnto almighty god for him . and those from whom he had , by his deceitfull meanes , and guiles , gotten away any mony , he to his power ( of my knowledge ) laboured to giue satisfaction , sorrowing that hee altogether was disabled , to doe what his hearts desire was . thus ( deare country-men ) i finding a wandring shéepe , and distressed soule , wanting cure , and care , séeking , and earnestly destring to be brought home againe , from whence he had strayed , i set vnto him my helping hand , and now publish vnto thée , how in the sweet pastures of gods word , this wandring shéepe , was directed , fed , and comforted , by praying sometimes , and meditating at other times , on these sequent portions of scripture , out of which , i thanke god , he receiued great comfort , and we gods labourers , richly rewarded for the same : that we confidently beléeue , our labour was not in vaine with him , but wee haue brought home againe the lost shéepe to gods church here on earth , and to his triumphant church in heauen . the prayers wherein he was exercised day and night . o lord my god , in thee doe i put my trust , let me neuer be confounded . amen . oomnipotent , and most mercifuil god and creator , great is thy mercy in mans creation , for thy mercie excéedeth all thy workes , in the mercifull preseruing of man , who without thy blessed ayde , would suddainly come , and quickly slide to vtter confusion , didst not thou in thy great mercy and prouidence daily preuent the same . behold me , i humbly pray thée , the worke of thy own hands , and looke vpon me , with the eye of thy aboundant mercy , that so thereby thy wrath and fury which iustly by my manifolde sinnes and transgressions i haue deserued , may be appeased ; the remembrance of the multitudes whereof afflicteth me so sorely , that i can finde no peace or rest at , for they are a weight too heauie for me to beare : i am ready to faint , and fall vnder them : o send me lord iesus power from aboue , to helpe and support me , that i faint not , and finally fall vnder them . come vnto mee , o my swéet sauiour , come quickly , and powre in , into this distressed soule of mine , thy blessed baulme of thy mercy , o stablish my vnconstant heart , and wandring thoughts , with the comforts of thy frée spirit : for in my selfe , o lord my god , i finde no comfort at all , my conscience doth so accuse me , and thy iudgements doe so affright me , that without thou in thy aboundant mercy helpe ( o lord ) i vtterly perish . haue mercy vpon me , o lord , haue mercy vpon me , and according to the multitude of thy mercies , doe away mine offences : wash mee , and cleanse mee from all my sinnes , make me a cleane heart i pray thée , and renue a right spirit within me , and now let my poore distressed soule , with thy heauenly grace be comforted , whose onely stay and refuge o lord thou art , for whom haue i in heauen ( o lord ) but only thée , and nothing here on earth doth my soule more desire , or delight in , then in thee , and in thy sauing health . forsake mee not therefore , who thus flyeth to thee for succour and comfort , and vnder the shadow of thy wings to be defended . o shelter me vnder the same , for who shall worship thée in the pit or graue , then let my soule liue , and it shall for euer praise thee in the congregation of thy saints , in the land of the euer-liuing . certaine deuout inward comforts by him continually vttered and vsed . grant vnto me ( o god ) frée pardon of all my sinnes , and remember not the sinnes of my youth : as my ignorance , pride , wantonnes , and lustes of the flesh . grant vnto me lord iesus grace , at no time to dispaire or distrust of thy fauour and mercy towards mée . grant vnto mée o my god , and send into my sad and distressed soule , a tast of thy swéete mercy . grant vnto me , o swéete , and gracious iesus , a willing minde , and heart to loue thee onely , and grace to pray to thée faithfully . grant vnto me father of mercy , thy gracious assistance , inable me to withstand all the deuils temptations . grant vnto mée , o thou the wel-spring and fountaine of all good desires , grace , to put out of my minde , all worldly and vaine cogitations , which may now hinder me in thy seruice , or in the meanes of my saluation . grant vnto me , o blessed bridegroome of my soule , assurance heere , that i shall be with thee this day , in thy kingdome of glory . grant vnto me now , o thou the life of my soule , that though now i am to dye ignomiously , yet that i shall rise againe in the day of resurrection most gloriously , and beholde thée in thy perfect glory . a prayer wherein hee was exercised . o father of mercy ▪ and god of all consolation , whether shall i flia from thée , oh where shall my poore distressed and sinfull soule féeke for peace , and comfort thus perplexed ? to come to thée the fountaine of all goodnes and comfort , i dare not , for i haue sinned against thee onely , and committed many most grieuous offences in thy presence , which maketh me detestable in thy sight , and to flye the same if that i could for feare of thy heauy displeasure . to approach thy courts o lord , to pray to thée for mercy , or to praise thée o lord i cannot tell how , for i haue béene so accustomed to walke in all euill wayes , that now to begin to walke in thy wayes , i am not in the least manner able , for my tongue is still tyed , my heart is still obdurate and rebellious , my thoughts are wandring whilest i am in this tabernacle of my flesh , after the vanities of this world . turne me o lord my god vnto thée , and i shall be turned , conuert me vnto thée , and i shall be conuerted , call me home againe vnto thée , and take me to thy mercy : oh teach me thy statutes , and i will kéepe them euen to the end , vnty my tongue to praise thée , mollifie my heart to loue and feare thée , direct and enlighten my will , memory , and vnderstanding to delight and séeke thée , and to loue nothing more then thée , and in thy seruice to be busied . thy worke o lord this onely is , fréely thou giuest the same to whom thou pleasest , oh make me my lord and god i pray thée in the aboundance of thy mercies , partaker of the same , whose multitude of sinnes makes me thereof vnworthy . this prayer he saide at the time of his death . his continuall prayer and hearty eiaculation . o lord haue mercy vpon me and saue mee , for in thee doe i onely put my trust . o thou the sauiour of all mankinde , and most mercifull samaritane , to thée i now flye , in the holes of thy wounds to be sheltred and defended , hearken i most humbly pray thée , and incline thine eares vnto me , and forsake me not euen for thy mercyes sake , for my soule wholly trusteth in thée and thy sauing health . thy arrowes o lord doe sticke fast in me , and of thy terrible iudgements i am sore affraid . as thou camest into the world , in the fulnes of time to be a iesus to all mankinde , come now and be my iesus for thy ayde i lacke : as thou camest into the world to be an aduocate for all mankinde , become mine now — i pray thée . pleade thou my cause o lord , and let not my enemies triumph ouer me , but ridde me and deliuer me out of the handes of my enemies euen for thy mercy sake . oh plead for my wickednes thy righteousnes ; pleade for my disobedience thy obedience ; pleade for my pardon thy meritorious death and passion ; plead for my blessednes , thy accursednes ; pleade for my life , thy death ; pleade for my weakenes , thy all sufficiencie ; pleade for my wretchednes and misery , to haue the long white roabe of thy innocency to couer me withall , that i being therewith roabed , may beholde the glory of thy tabernacle and beauty of thy holy temple , without which i cannot , nor shall not be able to stand but appeare most vile . thy former mercyes shewed to many of thy seruants , o lord imboldens me , to approach vnto thee and to lye at thy gates of mercy , expecting thy comfortable answer . o come vnto me my lord iesus , come quickly shew vnto me the light of thy countenance , and then i shall be whole , accept now of my teares , and vnfained sorrow and contrition , for that i haue offended so good and gracious a god : abandon and put out of my minde , loue of the world and feare of death , and fixe my heart and thoughts onely on thée , and thy sauing health : swéeten this bitter cup of death vnto me , to make it acceptable and welcome , not fearing or dispairing thereof to taste , but willingly to drinke it vp : o swéeten it with assurance now to my soule , when this momentary life of mine is fled away , to inioy thy euerlasting glory which thou hast prepared for me in iesus christ , thy alone sonne and my onely sauiour . o giue me now and sound into my eares , and assure my heart , of the théeues paradice , of stephens vision , which is to see thy onely sonne my sauiour sitting at thy right hand in glory . and now to thée o lord , of all spirits as is most deue , and to thée alone belongeth , i am prepared ioyfully and willingly , to giue and render vnto thée this body and soule of mine which are thy due , and which of thy blessed mercy , i receiued from thy blessed hands : lord iesu receiue them , come lord iesus , hast thée vnto me , come o my god and make no long tarrying , but méete me : i expect thy comming , lord iesu receiue me in mercy , amen . and these thy mercyes i craue in the mediation of my sauiour , now faithfully praying and repeating his forme of prayer . our father which art in heauen , &c. the portions of scriptures whereon hee continually meditated , after these prayers were ended . the 8. chap. to the rom. in that he much delighted to read , in the 5. chap. 2. epistle cor : in the 4. chap. first generall epistle of iohn , in the 4. chap. hebrewes . 18 chap. st luke , the parable of the poore and humble publicane . plalme 6. 25. 26. 27. 28. 31. 32. 34. 35. 38. 40. 42. 43. 51. 55. 56. 86. who so is pleased to peruse these coated scriptures , i hope , as they did yeelde comfort to the dead , they shall no lesse bee thought worthy of the meditation of the liuing . i must pay two legacies which i promised vnto him i would , one to the right honourable sir henry mountague knight , lord chiefe iustice of england , his humble thankes and hearty prayers to god , to requite and redouble his blessings here and hereafter , for his christian and religious care of his distressed soule , to séeke and send meanes , to comfort and saue the same , praysing and attributing to god the glory , who by the weake meanes of our ministry , hath called and taken home now againe to his most blessed fould , his wandring shéepe , which honourable care and christian industry of his , shall remaine memorable in this world , and vndoubtedly rewarded by god in his kingdoms of glory . another legacy bequeathed , to the right worthy , learned , graue and worshipfull sir henry yeluerton , his maiesties atturney generall , to whome mr. francis robinson acknowledged himselfe very much bounden , in instructing , and inlightning his vnderstanding in the letter of the law , wherein he presumed of his owne wit and vnderstanding to make euasion : but by his grauety and wisdome he so confuted him , that hée to the glory of god being so manifestly conuinced , and shewed what a haynous fact he had done , praysed god for the same , and prayed most heartily vnto god , to continue and to increase such happy guardians to his maiesties peace , and weale publike of this whole realme . his owne relation of the beginning and proceeding in his foule fact , spoken the same morning a little before he went to his execution . not long had hee béene acquainted with the fashions or citie of london , for he had not béene in london aboue foure times before that time he did put in practise his detestable fact : his suites , places , and persons , were not of meane degrée , such was his ambition : but to the kings most excellent maiestie and his royall court hee wholy adressed himselfe , and by petition ▪ and helpe of others his maiesties attendants , moued his maiestie for a commission and protection , vnder his maiesties hand , and great seale of england , concerning the reforming of the diuers abuses , of uictualers , maulsters and usurers , hauing not long before heard , a petition was preferred for reformation of some such abuses . he thereupon conceiued presently , that this was a fitting subiect for him to worke on , to get thereby money to supply his wants ▪ and to satisfie his greedy minde ▪ though he bought it in the end at a most deare price and rate . for the better contriuing and effecting of his determina tion and purpose , he got an accomplice by name morgan with whom he got first acquainted , at the swan at charing-crosse , and from thence both of them remoued to the signe of the mayden-head at saint giles in the fields , where hee tolde morgan his companion , his designes were plotted , and resolued of , what should be by him afterward put in execution , which truly so it happened . and presuming too much vpon that small vnderstanding and knowledge he had in the law , of himselfe drew the forme of a commission , and thereinto inserted to make it beare the more validity , the names of diuers worthy attendants about his maiesties court and most royall person , to them from his maiestie directed , in his maiesties name to aske , cease , leuie , and receiue in foure seuerall shieres in this kingdome , certaine seuerall summes of money , according to the tenure of their commission , to them from his maiestie directed . this forged commission being by him alone inuented , and trecherously deuised , brought it to a scriuener in london , where hee had the same ingrossed , and without the knowledge or priuity of any , did put thereunto a counterfait great seale , for the true great seale of england , and so by vertue thereof , though none at all there was , did aske , leuie , and receiue at seuerall sittings in commission , though no lawfull authority he had thereunto , the summe of twenty eight pounds and fiue pence deceitfully , of the kings liege people . and this he did for the space of a moneth continue and procéede , not thinking of the all séeing eye of almighty god , that would discouer him , and suddainly confound him , and his most wicked deuice , whereof when he least imagined , or suspected , euen then bewrayed his treacherous heart and detestable fact . after the time of his apprehension for this most detestable and foule fact , behold how stedfastly he stoode in the iustification of the same , and vsed the name of a worthy knight , sir robert maxwell , to say he had his priuity and help therin , ( of which ) he in the least manner was not acquainted ; and for which his most false and vniust aspersion on him , at the time of his death , on his knées , and salt teares fast trickling downe , most humbly , and heartily craued , his frée pardoning of him for the same : and said , it was the diuels inticing of him , to doe what he did ( namely ) that foule and filthy treacherous déede of his , and that which did much afflict and terrifie his soule , more then death it selfe , whose grim countenance he did behold so to accuse an innocent guiltlesse , worshipfull , and worthy gentleman , that thereby himselfe who onely was guilty of that foule fact , might be fréed ; whereof god in his iustice would not approue , nor be so deluded , but brought him the plotter , contriuer , and actor of villany , to receiue his iust reward for the same , that the mischiefe by him pretended , to light on others , did at the last fall on his owne pate . and the net and snare which hee had priuily layd , and secretly spread abroade to intrap another , therein himselfe was ensnared . and thus he concluded : let all take héede , and beware of couetousnes , content themselues with that they haue , labour honestly with their hands for their owne liuing : for the honest and industrious labourer , god will for euer blesse , but they that doe trust in lying vanities , to get wealth by deceitfull meanes and wiles , let them know , said hee , that though god for a while forbeare them , yet his iustice requires to render vengeance to them , as iustly on me now he hath done . like a lambe going to the slaughter so went he vnto his death , prepared before to suffer the same , willingly , patiently , and ioyfully : and our confidence is such of him , that he is receiued into the fold of that most blessed heauenly flocke , whereof iesus christ , the great shéepheard of vs all is the keeper and defender , and into which number , the lord almighty in his aboundant mercy giue grace to all , daily so to prepare themselues , that in the end they may be found worthy thereof . amen . the conclusion . thus deare country-men ▪ haue i exercised your patience , and boldly presumed to incurre your censures , for the zeale that i beare to the soules of men , destring , and daily hartily praying to almighty god , that his downefall may make all others wary , and carefull to flye sinne , the reward whereof , and to the delighters therein , you haue heard . and although god in his mercy deferres to punish , expecting mens conuersion , which if they doe not in his expected time , hee payes home in the end , such their neglect of him , with most fearefull and vnrecouerable downefalls . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01873-e350 note this . note this . note this ▪ the vvitty rogue arraigned, condemned, & executed. or, the history of that incomparable thief richard hainam. relating the several robberies, mad pranks, and handsome jests by him performed, as it was taken from his own mouth, not long before his death. likewise the manner of robbing the king of denmark, the king of france, the duke of normandy, the merchant at rotterdam, cum multis aliis. also, with his confession, concerning his robbing of the king of scots. together with his speech at the place of execution. / published by e.s. for information & satisfaction of the people. e. s. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a92715 of text r203438 in the english short title catalog (thomason e882_8). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 74 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 28 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a92715 wing s20 thomason e882_8 estc r203438 99863392 99863392 115591 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a92715) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 115591) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 133:e882[8]) the vvitty rogue arraigned, condemned, & executed. or, the history of that incomparable thief richard hainam. relating the several robberies, mad pranks, and handsome jests by him performed, as it was taken from his own mouth, not long before his death. likewise the manner of robbing the king of denmark, the king of france, the duke of normandy, the merchant at rotterdam, cum multis aliis. also, with his confession, concerning his robbing of the king of scots. together with his speech at the place of execution. / published by e.s. for information & satisfaction of the people. e. s. [8], 47, [1] p. printed for e.s. and are to be sold at the greyhound in st. paul's church-yard., london : 1656. annotation on thomason copy: "june 25". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng hannam, richard, d. 1656. brigands and robbers -england -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. suicide victims -early works to 1800. thieves -early works to 1800. swindlers and swindling -england -early works to 1800. a92715 r203438 (thomason e882_8). civilwar no the vvitty rogue arraigned, condemned, & executed. or, the history of that incomparable thief richard hainam.: relating the several robberi e. s. 1656 13505 13 0 0 0 0 0 10 c the rate of 10 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-10 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the vvitty rogue arraigned , condemned , & executed . or , the history of that incomparable thief richard hainam . relating the several robberies , mad pranks , and handsome jests by him performed , as it was taken from his own mouth , not long before his death . likewise the manner of robbing the king of denmark , the king of france , the duke of normandy , the merchant at rotterdam , cum multis aliis . also , with his confession , concerning his robbing of the king of scots . together with his speech at the place of execution . published by e. s. for informacion & satisfaction of the people . london ▪ printed for e. ● . and 〈◊〉 to be sold in the greyhound in st. paul's church-yard 1656. to the reader . reader , you have here the life , pranks , and death of one of the most unparallel'd thieves in these our dayes , as it was partly delivered by himself , and partly by others that were conversant with him in his life . i have forborn to tell you his petty thieveries : but because there is one , which being his first , and as it were a prologue to his former actions , i shall insert it here ; and thus it was : being in the market-place , where there sate a woman selling puddings , he spies her , steps unto her , and feigning himself desiring for to buy , asks her the price , she told him ; but speaking to another customer , he in the interim slips as many as handsomely he could into his codpiece , which having done , told the woman , he would not give so much ; and thereupon left her . upon this good success , taking himself to be one of fortunes favourites , he frequently comes to market : insomuch , that by degrees , from robbing of a stall , he comes to rob a shop ; from a shop , to rob a house ; and from a house , even to dare to rob the court : until his doings did at last undoe him . whether it was more for need , or more to covet other mens applause , that thus he lived , i question which . but such is the policy of the devil , that plotting to undermine the frailty of a wretch , he shews him what it is to be admir'd ; this spurs him on with a conceit of acting something that may make him famous : of which he runs the hazard , and at last is taken : for so the custome of the devil is , when he hath brought one in a dangerous way , to leave him in the wolvish jaws of death . thus hath the wings of fame flown away with many , that not onely might have liv'd in the callings wherein they were educated , and contentedly ; but died peaceably , and so have liv'd , as not to fear to die , and took the easier way to heaven , viz. in a feather-bed , and not a s●ring . i shall not stay you any longer at the door , which being open , you may enter , and view the grandest thief in europe : but give me leave , before you wander further , to give you a true account of what he left behinde him on the ladder . the speech and confession of mr. richard hainam , on tuesday last in the rounds of smithfield , immediately before his fatal leap from off the ladder . although i am a prisoner , and condemned to die ; yet i cannot but retain a favourable construction of your proceedings ( this day ) towards me ; presuming , that you will not deny me that liberty due to all christians , from christian magistrates , wch is , that i may be permitted the freedom of speech to clear the innocent ( at this my hour of death ) that now lie accused as being privy to my designs , and consederates with me in my late actions . as for my part , resolved i am to accuse no man ; no , no , gentlemen , i abhor the thought , much less the action of so horrid and foul a crime ; and on the contrary , am as willing and free to clear those that are accused for me ; which it seems is my poor landlord and and landlady , mr. chamberlain and his wise , whose hard face and cruel destiny from my soul i pitty , as much as my own , and do protest their innocency in all respects [ towards me ] whatsoeever . however , seeing it is my unhappy fortune , to end my dayes upon this gibbet , i humbly submit to the divine hand of justice , and desire the prayers of all good christians , to almighty god , earnestly to implore a remission of all my sins , which are many ; and enable me to fail through this violent storm and tempest , that so at the last i may arrive at the haven of happiness , there to cast my anchor of faith , and lay hold on my lord god : and so farewel , farewel unto you all . then turning himself about , mr. clerk the minister of new-gate spake unto him by way of exhortation ; and after him one mr. tuke ; unto whom he was very attentive , & seemed to have a very relenting spirit ▪ &c. but the hour drawing neer , he was commanded up the ladder , where the executioner sate ready to do his office ; and having put the rope about his neck , mr. hainam pulled out a white cap out of his pocket , and giving it to the executioner , he put it on the said hainam's head , and after that his mourning ribbon that he wore about his hat ; and taking out his file which he had hitherto concealed , he gave it to mr. brisco , ( of which you shall hear more hereafter ) and so lifting up his hands to heaven , and the executioner laying his hand upon his shoulder , ( which was the sign ) asking if he was ready , he immediatly leaped off on the left side , uttering these words , lord have mercy upon me . the contents are as followeth . chap. 1. a brief discourse of his life and qualities . 2. how he rob'd the earl of pembroke . 3. how he rob'd a merchant in rotterdam . 4. how he cheated the same merchant of 400 l. 5. how he rob'd the portugal ambassador of a silver-table . 6. how he was imprisoned at paris , but escaped . 7. how he was again retaken ; and the manner of his strange escaping . 8. how he rob'd the king of france . 9. how he rob'd a gold-smith in bristol . 10. how being taken , he attempted to break prison , but was prevented . 11. how he desperately gets away , and cunningly deceives the watch . 12. how he takes a lodging in essex . 13. how he was again apprehended , and the manner of his escaping . 14. how he rob'd a poor man , and delivered him his moneys again . 15. how he cheated a gold-smith in cheapside . 16. how he seized on an english ship , and sold it in another country for 1700 l. 17. how he cousned a gentleman of ●our jewels . 18. how it was afterwards known that hainam had the jewels . 19. how he being pursued , notably escapes , and puts a trick upon his wench . 20. how he was secured in germany , and got away . 21. how he rob'd the duke of normandy of 700 l. 22. how he rob'd mr. marsh at hackny of 400 l. 23. how he rob'd alderman hancock at the grey-hound tavern in fleet-street . 24. how he cousned a merchant of 300 l. 25. how he cheated a draper in gracious-street . 26. how he returned to england , was taken ( and afterwards hang'd ) for robbing an ale-house in st. swithins-lane . 27. how he had almost escaped again . 28. how he was executed in smithfield-rounds , with a brief account of his dying words . the vvitty rogue arraigned , condemned , and executed : or , the history of that incomparable thief , richard hainam . chap. i. being a brief discourse of the life and qualities of richard hainam . he was by birth an english-man , descended from an ancient family , and instructed in the rudiments of learning ; insomuch , that at the latine speech he proved a good proficient : and had likewise gain'd a smack of divers languages . his discourse was pleasant , savouring much of scholarship and wit ; so that whoever saw him , if they had a breast that ▪ harbour'd any christian thoughts , would either pity his condition , or admire his parts . he was ever in his childhood thus addicted , counting it a greater credit to be thought wise enough to cheat , then honest enough to hate it : and when maturity of yeares had made him capable of a greater game , he findes acquaintance ; which if ill , like tarre , stick where they touch ; or , as it is reported of the mermaids , sings a man into a trance , till he dances into the mouth of dangers . thus stepping from one degree of mischief to another , he comes to be acquainted with one allen , and , as i suppose , with hinde ; which allen , being a master thief , and an ingenious villain , would oftentimes rob on the high-way in his coach , who would there sit in the habit of a bishop , while his men , which were the actors , making his coach their store-house , because unsuspected , either escape , or putting on a livery , ride by his side in the nature of his servants : with which man when hainam came to be acquainted , having before lost the conscience , he now resolves to finde out all the customes of a sinful life : and for his better education , jonis himself to a band of other villains ; who seeing him a forward man , and stout , were as much desirous of his company , as he was before ambitious of enjoying theirs . with these having now accompanied in some exploits , it was as difficult to fall back , as it was facile to begin ; but not so much through their means , by forcing his continuance , but by his own ; who having tasted of the devils bait , and prov'd the pleasure that he found in sin , could neither by intreaties of his friends , nor the instigations of abundance more , be disswaded from his wicked courses . nay , had he seen the torments of a damned soul pictured before his face , or if it might be possible , the gates of their infernal habitations opened to him , where he might behold the usurer choak'd with his molten gold ; the fornicators , and those wretched souls , that have worn out sheets of lawless lusts , upon the rack of steel ; the murtherer , which before was fill'd with blood , now crying , water , water , to quench his parched thirst ; or the thief , with nothing left him but his miseries : i say , had he beheld all these , they would have seem'd but fancies to him , and no more have touch'd him , or to as little purpose , as a lighted match does powder when 't is wet . notwithstanding , he was a man compleat in parts and person ; had he had grace equal to his other endowments , he had been the mirrour of the age . but it so pleaseth the almighty wise creator to disperse his blessings , to some vvit , and to others vertue ; without which , a mans wisdome is but a deceiving guide , which leads him to the fatal pit , as it did this man , helping him , as we may too truly say , to a dead lift , and only served for a varnish to his villanies , teaching him how to glory in his shame ; as if it were a maxime to be learned , that he that feareth not to sin , may never fear to shew it : from which indeed he would not be retarded : nor could any perswasions be so prevalent with him , as to prove an obstacle to his nimble tongue : insomuch that he would often boast , that all the prisons in england , holland , and elswhere , were far too weak to hold him ; as you shall more plainly perceive in the narration here ensuing . chap. ii. how richard hainam robbed the earl of pembroke . having by his wyles screw'd himself into the acquaintance of mr. herbert , one of the lords servants : for his several courtesies ( which as a prologue to his villanies ) he bestowed on the said herbert , he was in requital invited to meet him at his lords ; at which time hainam so insinuated himself into his favour , that a while after , nothing could be done without the others advice : insomuch , that coming to be sensible each of the others minde , it was suddenly resolved of , that hainam should appear the next day at the lords outward hall , where he assuredly should finde herbert , to the end he might receive instructions for the conveying away of the plate after dinner . now was the sop fallen into the honey-pot ; it fell out as pat , as a pudding for a friars mouth . hainam had his desire , and herbert his . the prefixt time , when come , hainam very gallantly attires him , not varying half an hour from the time agreed upon , but repairs to the earl's house ; where he had not long continued , but it was notified unto him , that the earl had dined , and was walking from one end of the dining-room to the other , till the servants had dispatched , who were then taking off the wrinkles from their bellies ; and moreover , that the cloth whereon the earl dined , was taken away , and the voider wherein the plate was usually put , was set upon the cup-boards-head . hainam having received this intelligence , ascends the stairs , which conducted him to the room where the plate stood , and where the earl was walking ; who seeing a gentleman in such goodly equipage , and supposing him to be a friend to some gentleman belonging to the house , he courteously salutes him with a conjee ; in which silent complement , hainam returns the like , and continued walking in the room . the servants seeing a gentleman walking there , supposed him to be some nobleman that came to give the earl a visit . in this manner both parties were mistaken , and hainam watching for the lords return to the other end of the room ( which was somewhat long ) he nimbly whips the voider full of plate under his cloak , to the value of fourscore pounds and upwards , and went away , taking his journey to the side of the bank , where he presently melted it into one great masse . the butler , according to his custome , comes to fetch the plate , which he found missing . then every one was questioned , but in vain , no tidings could be had , neither of the plate nor thief : then the steward gets some bills presently printed , wherein he discovered the lords arms , with other marks which was thereon , and caused them to be carried to most goldsmiths in london , and elswhere , but to no purpose ; insomuch that ( to verifie the proverb , he that hath once stollen , will steal again ) the former thief was induced to a further progresse , relying much upon his former fortune ; so that not long after , more goods were wanting : and whether heaven pointed out the author , i leave to you to judge ; but the servants having some suspition of mr. herbert , caused him to be severely questioned , who was so ingenious as to frame no other answer , but a just confession ; which he thus enlarged , telling them , that he had a sum of money of hainam , for informing him of the customes of the house : whereupon , hainam was apprehended , but in a short time following , by leaping over a wall , made his escape , taking his leap from london to rotterdam . chap. iii. how richard hainam robbed a merchant in rotterdam . after his villanies had made england too hot a place for him to stay his foot on , he journeys to rotterdam ; where being arrived in fashion of a gallant , he visits an eminent merchant , with an intent seemingly to wooe his daughter . the merchant having the qualities of a gentleman , thought he could not in civility but give him the welcome , if not of a son , yet a friend , or a gentleman ; and to that end , with many complements on both sides , urged him to chuse no other habitation then his own ; and being a stranger , he said , it would redound much as well to his benefit as conveniency . after many denyals , which seemed barely of a complement , he entertain'd the proffer ; but alledging , nothing could more disswade him , then the small hopes he had of his gratuity , or his insussiciencies of requital . having been now entertained , rather like a prince then a picaro , with all the dainties of a furnish'd table , he feigned himself inclinable to sleep , and seemed desirous to take his rest ; and to that end , was conveyed to his chamber , where he lay considering of his intentions , till the folks were bedded : of which being by the deadnesse of the night informed , he softly descends the stairs , and ransacks those rooms where he discovered the richest prizes ; and having made up a weighty pack , in the morning betimes he forsakes the house , puts on another sute of apparel , and in that case passed unsuspected . the next day , every one , when up , betakes himself to his usual occupation , not discovering the losse of any thing , till the day was half-way spent : then was there calling from one to another , where is this thing , and where is that ? who saw the silver-tankerd ? who saw my mistresse best scarf , or my masters gold hatband ? every one had his answer ready tuned , not i , sayes one ; nor i , sayes another ; nor i , sayes a third : which sounded basely in the master's eares . but at eleven of the clock , every one admiring at the gentleman 's long tarriance in his chamber : the merchant sends a servant to enquire his health ; who when he was at the door , having no acquaintance with his name , uses no other phrase then sir ; which after his often pronouncing , he found no eccho : he assays the chamber , which he findes in a bare condition , not onely destitute of its new-come-guest , but the very sheets whereon he lay , which were no mean ones : which when he had observed , he acquaints his master with , who needed then no spurs to post him on ; he presently pursues him , by the description of his habit : but hainam had made a shift to change that , before they had cloath'd them with their own ; and having notice that he was pursued , thought the best shelter was the merchants own house , for there none would seek him or mistrust him . thither he goes in his new-chang'd habit , pretending he had some commodities to sell which he had brought from england , and would desire him to give them house-room , for which he would content him ; not-so-much for that he wanted money , and would therefore sell them , but because he esteemed an inne no secure place to lay them in , by reason it was free to all comers , and the people unknown to him , as well as the merchant ; but having a good opinion of him , he would wholly relie upon his worth and honesty . to this the merchant willingly consented : so he left him . chap. iv. how he cheats the same merchant of four hundred pounds . the next day he sends one of his companions to this merchant , whom when he saw , he told him , his business to him was about his son , a youth which then he had with him , who he would desirously have to reside with him in the condition of a servant : and having intelligence of his good disposition , and the trade he drove , he would not spare any moneys to give with him , that he thought might in reason content him . the merchant greedy of gain , desired him to leave his son , that they might have some experience of one anothers humours ; which he did , and went his way . about a week after , hainam sends for this youth , and inquires of him what rich commodities his master had in his warehouse ; who having narrowly espied , gives him a punctual information ; and for the better surety , brings with him his masters shop-book , wherein he noted what he usually received : the which book hainam peruses , and finding a note of several commodities , which one had lately left with the merchant , to the value of four hundred pounds , he writes underneath in the book , this is mine . and having an excellent faculty in counterfeiting of hands , he writes sutably to the merchants own fist , as followeth , left with me by such a one ( framing an english name ) on such a day , such and such wares , delivered in the presence of f. m. and p. d. which f. m. and p. d. were the one the merchants man , the other hainams ; both of which under-write their hands ; and moreover , makes a small note in a piece of loose paper , expressing the same words : which note he orders the youth at his best opportunity to convey into his masters cabinet ; and with some other instructions he took his leave . the youth return'd with the book to his masters home , where he had not long been , but hainam comes and enquires for his master , who being then within hearing , runs out to him , as supposing he had brought those things he told him of : but contrariwise , hainam demands of him some of those commodities he left with him about a week since : the merchant was amazed , and asked him what he meant : he answered , to have his goods . quoth the merchant , i have no goods of yours in my hands . no ▪ quoth hainam , sure you have , sir ; you cannot forget so soon . quoth the merchant , you were with me , and told me that you had goods , and would send them in , but i received none : no ? quoth he , this shall not suffice , i have my witnesse of it : therefore let me have my goods by fair means , or i shall publish your knaveries , to the cracking of that little credit you have in other places . but the merchant still persisted , crying , he saw not his goods : insomuch that hainam fetcheth officers , endeavouring to force them from him . when the officers were come , the neighbors likewise crowded in , every one giving a fair character of the merchant . but after pro and con a long while , nothing could be done , the one pleading as ignorantly , as the other impudently . then they examine witnesses , who both confirm'd it : the merchants man said , that he by his masters order set his hand to such a bill ; so said hainams servant . then did the merchant stamp as if he was mad , swearing they had a plot to rob him ; and were they examined , he feared he should finde some of them guilty of his late losse , occasioned by the subtile trick of his counterfeit son-in-law . but hainam having now the voyce of all the people there , who cryed , he was the owner , it was plain ; he sends for one of the chief men in authority , to whom they stated the case , who admired at the merchants stubbornnesse , that was so lately reputed such an honest men ; and willed hainam to open what chests he pleased ; and if in case he would not deliver the keyes , to force them open . nay , quoth hainam , for a further confirmation , view his day-book , where if he hath not cross'd it out , you shall see his own hand , his servants hand , and my servants ; so that were he the veriest knave in the world , there could be no shifting of it : so reaches the book over , which he looks , and at last findes the wares written in a hand which the merchant could not deny but he should know , but avowed he was ignorant of its coming there . then the witnesses were asked , whether they knew those hands ? who both answered , they were their own : insomuch that they wanted little of either making the man mad , or perswaded him he had been so . and further , says hainam , if you will please to cause this desk to be opened , i question not but you shall finde another bill of the wares , which , if i mistake not , he lock'd therein . the merchant in a rage replies , he should be hang'd for a cheating rogue , ere he should look in his cabinet or desk ; he would not open it : whereupon , the officers broke it open , and turning over some papers , finde this same bill : then did they all rail upon him extreamly ; who , poor man , could hardly make any thing audible but his tears ; but with much ado would cry , pray secure him , for i know he hath a familiar : this must needs be the devils work . and not being able any longer to withstand the authority of the officers , he suffered all the goods to be carried away , and with them discharged his house of such an unworthy person as his servant , who he sent away to his father , and never heard of him after . chap. v. how he robbed the portugal ambassador of a silver table . hainam with his full bags thought it now high time to be gone : whereupon taking ship , he comes to london ; where having some notice of the rich attendance , with the appurtenances belonging to the portugal ambassador then resident in london , he fits himself to repair unto his lodgings ; where , discerning a small table of pure silver , which served onely as an ornament to the room wherein it stood , he presently contrives his plot to steal it , and never wanted some to assist him : he sends a discreet young man into the room , to speak with a gentleman which was there walking ; which man was to pretend some occasional businesse , as he did : but what it was , i am ignorant of . the man being entred the room in a gay sute , gallant-like , salutes the gentleman , and begins to frame his discourse , which he continued , walking with him from one end of the room to the other ; who had no sooner turned his back , but hainam following of him , nimbly conveys the silver table under his cloak , and stands at the door as he did formerly : his companion seeing the table gone , and walking on that side whereon it stood , shadowed the vacant place thereof ( from the gentlemans sight ) with his body as he walked ; and being come to the door where hainam stood with the table , he steps forth , pretending to have somewhat to say to hainam concerning their discourse , and willed the gentleman to step forth with him . not many words passed , till hainam watching his fit time , tells them he would go call his friend which waited without for their return : but when he was half way down , his companion calls after him by a devised name ; and meeting on the middle of the stairs , they both call to the gentleman whom they found walking , who not knowing but that they might have some real business with him , goes unto them ; and being come , they joyntly tell him , that about an hour after that time , he might expect their return , and then a fuller account of their business . having thus said , they leave him , who returned to his former walk ; and immediately missing the silver table , did mistrust them for the thieves that had stollen it : but before he could get down stairs , they were gotten clearly out of sight ; and taking ship for paris , could never be afterwards heard of , not returning to finish their discourse , which they left so abruptly , that the gentleman did say , it was the pitifull'st tale that ever he had heard . chap. vi . how he was imprisoned at paris , but escaped . hainam being for some exploits in paris imprisoned in the common goal ; and because his fact was great , as for robbing a french lord , he was guarded with a load of iron , and having a great chain about his middle , was fastened to a stake , which for the said purpose was drove into the ground : but hainam , with his file and other tools , being his arts-master , easily shook off all his shackles , and by main force , like a second samson , rooted up the post from out the ground , which having done he easily escapes . chap. vii . how he was again re-taken ; with the manner of his strange escape . but after a strict inquiry and search after him , he was found in the chimney of a neighboring house , into which he gets , having not time to make a further flight : so being again in custody , he was suddenly tryed , and was in a short time to be executed at the mill . and that he might not then make use of shifts , he had a guard of men , and was in chains : but having vowed himself a prisoner to his guard , and that he would not stir , but onely use his mirth and frolicks with them ; he gives them drink and money , of which he had no want , nor they , so long as he continued with them : but having one time made them drunk , his chains he soon unknit ; which he with ease would do , and put them on again : he takes three screws , with which he used to ascend a house , by thrusting them into any wall of stone or brick ; which so easily enter'd , that in a short time he would end his purpose . one of these screws he takes , and windes it into the prison-wall ; then taking another , with which he does the same a step above the former , and so a third ; and by these screws got up unto the top : the undermost of which he pulleth forth , and setteth it above the others . being almost at his journeys end , and earger to have his name divulg'd , that he might ride upon the wings of fame , he calls unto the guard ; one of which with much ado he wakes , but to so little purpose , that being drunk , he could hardly see him ; but hearing of a noise , cryed out in french , lye still , you drunken rogue : but hainam , not taking his advice , he makes his entrance through the top , and that night leaves the city . chap. viii . how he robbed the king of france . having been at the charge of a long imprisonment , where he had nothing to do , but to do nothing : let us now take him in his wants ; he was no other then a rogue in rags : but having an itching desire to a better estate , he thus bethinks him , that the king of france had an exchequer , wherein they laid several great sums of all coyns throughout the world , to the end that any ambassadors , either from or to him , might be furnish'd with such as their necessities should crave . hainam having now received a taste of this same honey , thought it long until he had his fill ; and having provided a small screw , with which he could lift any thing under the weight of twenty hundred , he thus repairs to court , and straightway fell to action ; and with such efficacy , that in a short space he became master of more then he could master : for having unhing'd six doors , he found his entrance into the exchequer : but one of his companions , thinking it a christian resolution , to be contented with a little , if got by a frugal honesty , in hopes of a reward , betrays the plot : whereupon , hainam was search'd for , who taking up a bag of some french crowns , casts it to the other end of the room , leaving the mouth of the bag something loose , which in the fall made such a noise , that the searchers supposed the thief to be there ; and that they might not miss him , ran earnestly to the place where they judged the thief was , who standing in a corner near the door , stole forth , escaping onely with the gain of 100 pistolets , and the loss of abundance more he might have had : by the help of which , he , with some others , got a speedy transportment unto bristol . chap. ix . how he robb'd a merchant in bristol . vvhere he , with some of his companions , perceiving a goldsmiths glass which stood upon the stall , to be well-furnish'd , watched their opportunity to steal it , which one night they thus effected : the shop being open somewhat beyond the hour , by reason of a gentlemans stepping in just when the youth was going to remove the glass ; which gentleman was purposely sent by hainam to cheapen rings , and to pretend he had some gold to change : while they two were talking , in comes hainam , and asks the apprentice , if he had any silver buttons : which he had no sooner said , but , says he , pointing to the young mans face , you have a spot of dirt upon your nose ; and therewithall throws a handful of beaten pepper in his eyes : which while the young man was wiping out , away goes he in the shop with the box of rings , and hainam with the box which stood upon the stall . all which , when the youth recovered his sight , he presently missed ; and calling to the neighbors , ran to overtake them , that way which by the noise of their running he supposed they might take , but never overtook them , nor heard he either of them or the goods . chap. x. how being taken , he attempted to break prison , but was notably prevented . hainam having hitherto escap'd the sword of justice ( which hung over his head , and was ready to cut the thread of his mortality ) dared even god himself , as if heaven were too high , and earth too low for his imperious minde . having sail'd through many dangers , and once more driven on the rock that split his fortunes , he was safely cast upon the shore at newgate ; but not without jeopardy of life : for his accusations tumbled in , as fast as he was loose ; so that it was a desperate game , and doubtful , nothing to be expected , but the favour of a speedy death . but in the nick of time , when he had almost shook hands with the world , his active brain conceived some sparks of hope , arising from his keepers sudden visit , with whom he stood , whether to discourse with him , or with his keyes , the sequel will inform you . but so it was , no sooner was his keeper gone , but he having kept a strong remembrance of the wards , discharg'd his head of that same toyl , and wrought the forms in some few ends of candles lying by him ; which he had no sooner done , but delivered it to a friend , to procure a key sutable to his patern ; which accordingly he did , and delivered it unto him , by the help of which he attempted to force the prison locks ; and had opened some , insomuch that he assayed to the last of all , where being discovered by the keeper , he was unfortunately prevented , and with greater care secured for the future . chap. xi . how he desperately got away , and cunningly deceives the watch . but all the care which could be used or thought on , nor all the locks and bars which could be made , were strong enough to hold him , so subtile was he in his tricks and slights , that he would break the iron chains like thread , as lately was too manifest : for having forc'd his way through many barricadoes , he gets him to the leads , and by vertue of his coat or cloak , which he tears , and fastens like a cord , conveyed himself upon the neighboring houses , and by a leap from thence into the street ; in which adventure he shrewdly hurt his leg : but dissembling of his hurt , he takes him to the gate , thorow which he was to enter , where being come , he calls unto a watchman , and in the best drunken phrase he had , desired him to wait upon him home , and for his pains a shilling should reward him . the vvatchman then ambitious of the office , not onely caused the vvicket to be opened , but supposing him to be much in drink , leads him towards his place of habitation , which he informed them was on holborn-hill ; and having reach'd the conduit , there salutes him two or three of his companions , who to the vvatchman seemed to be sparks ; but having entertained a short discourse , they offer to assist him on his way , and to that end liberally discharge his former guard ; who seeing that they knew him , went his way , not doubting any thing : but no sooner was the watchman gone , but hainam was conducted to a place where there was a horse provided for him , on which he mounts , rides to st. albans , and was by a surgeon there , cured of the burthen of a useless leg. chap. xii . he takes a lodging in essex . having , as you heard , escaped out of newgate , he leaves s. albans , and journeys into essex ; where he there takes his lodging at an alehouse : standing at the door one day , when his landlady was gone to lees about some business , a gentleman coming by , took cognizance of him ; but hainam fearing lest he would betray him , presently runs to his chamber ; the door of which being lock'd , and the key missing , he breaks it open , and taking out 400 l. in gold , which he had thither brought , he left a shilling and a pound of sugar on the table to satisfie his landlady , and departed . chap. xiii . how he was again apprehended , and the manner of his escape . to prevent the designs of an evil fortune , he thought it no policy to stand at his lodging to consider which way to steer his course ; therefore hies him to a private place not far off , where he resolved to remove to redriff ; where he had not long been , but by the constable and some others he was guarded up to london , as farre as to warwick-lane : where being , at the end , within sight of the fatal colledge , he made a proffer to escape ; to prevent which , they catch hold of his cloak , which he suddenly unbuttoned ; and leaving his cloak in their hands , very fairly escaped . chap. xiv . how he robbed a poor man , and delivered him his money again . residing now in london , he was informed , that a certain man at newington had in his house some moneys lately delivered unto him , which he attempted to seize , and did , by breaking in in the night : but understanding that the man was poor , and the sum not being much , he returns it him again ( after the good mans hard intreaties ) and with these words left him , there honest man , take your moneys , i come not to rob the poor . chap. xv . how he cheated a goldsmith in cheapside . another time he provided himself of rich clothes , which when he had put on , he comes to a goldsmiths in cheap-side , and desired to see some rings , and of the best , by reason it was for a special friend ; giving them to understand by the dumb expressions of his smiling signes , that it was to be bestowed on his lady , and therefore would desire him to shew him the best he had , for which he should have what content he asked . the goldsmith then shews him divers choyce ones , but above all , one very rich , which he valued at the rate of 18 l. this hainam pitch'd upon , and calling for a candle and some wax , having a letter ready writ , he pretends to send it by a friend , who that night was to leave the city . a candle was brought him , and he having a counterfeit ring in his pocket , pulls it out , and wraps it in the letter , leaving the true one in its place ; and having sealed the letter , gives it to the young man of the shop , desiring his master to let him carry it home with him , to the end he might there receive his money , which was in pauls church-yard ; which was without any suspition easily granted : so forth he struts , with the goldsmiths man following him ; who being come to mr. corbets the cooks in the church-yard , quoth hainam , come in friend ; and being in the house , he called for a cup of beer , which was brought ; he drank to the goldsmith , and when done , tells him he will go up to his chamber and fetch his money : the youth thought he was safe enough , so long as he had the ring ; but he in stead of going for the money , slips out of door , and was never heard of after . a long while the young man waited , but no man nor money could be heard of ; insomuch that he began somewhat to fear , and inquiring of the house for him , they cryed , they knew him not : then was he assured of his loss , and returning home , opened the letter , wherein he found the brass ring , and no other writing , but set this to the account of your constant customer . chap. xvi . how he seized an english ship , and sold it in another countrey for 1700 l. there being a knot of these blades of about sixteen in number met together , whereof hainam and one martin were the chief : which martin put it to the vote amongst them , whether they should then seize on such a ship as then lay in the river ; which , it being resolved on , and to that purpose hearing the ship was bound for france , they in two dayes time coming one by one , and not taking any cognizance one of another , they agree with the master to land them on some part of france , who promised he would : but having lanched forth , and the night over-shadowed the deep , when most of the mariners were asleep , excepting one or two which stayed upon the deck , who upon some excuse they send belowe ; who were no sooner down , but the sixteen appear at a watchword among them , and locking all the seamen under-deck , carry the ship to france ; where disburthening it of the men , and such goods as there was , they in a short time following sell it for seventeen hundred pounds ; and having shared the moneys , take their leaves , some for spain , some for denmark , and some for england : where , in process of time , martin , and two or three more were apprehended , and for the fact , five or six years since bequeathed their souls to god , and their clothes to the common executioner at tyburn . chap. xvii . how he cozened a gentleman of four jewels . hainam having in his voyages gotten some acquaintance with a gentleman , to whom he seemed to owe abundance of respect , was by this gentleman accidentally met in the street ; and that they might renew their former knowledge , was by the gentleman invited to a dinner . hainam having the mischievous engine of his brain in continual action , needed no double invitation , but promises to see him the next day ; and to spend some time with him , in the relating of such passages , which in his travels his eyes could bear him witness of . the next day , when come , hainam goes to the gentlemans house , where he was entertained in a plenteous manner , with dishes of all sorts ; and after dinner , the gentleman shewed him the relicks of his travels : which several toyes , with some jewels which he had brought with him ; four of which jewels hainam in a trice conveyed between the two crowns of his hat , which he had made for such like purposes : the gentleman little mistrusting him , but thought he had pull'd off his hat by reason of the heat of the season . but going to lay every thing in its proper place , the jewels were soon mist , and no body being there but the gentleman and hainam , it was clear enough that one must have them : but hainam rages at the sudden losse , and freely himself urges to be search'd ; and for better satisfaction , was search'd : but though the jewels could not be found , the gentlemans countenance shewed , that he conceived a jealousie of hainam ; which hainam taking heinously , would needs be gone , and without any more words , then ( farewel you and your jewels too ) he left him . chap. xviii . how it was afterwards known , that hainam had the jewels . the gentleman despairing of ever finding them , being confident that none but hainam could convey them thence , gets some printed bils , which he stuck about the streets , and left at goldsmiths shops ; by the which he came to hear of one , and consequently of all the jewels : for a gentleman , to whom hainam proffered to make sail of one of the jewels , bought it at an easie rate ; and seeing those bills , which directed to the loosers house , he hyes him thither , and shewing the jewel , it prov'd the right ; so that the gentleman very honestly returns it for the same price it cost him ; and after the description of the thief appeared evidently to be hainam , who was then pursued . chap. xix . how he being pursued , notably escapes , and puts a trick upon his wench . being one day at an alehouse with his wench , it so fell out , that the gentleman which bought the jewel of him came by , and seeing him , went and fetched officers to apprehend him : he not thinking any hurt , was towards dallying with his wench ; and for her cut-lemmon , agreed to give her one of those jewels which he then shewed her ; which bargain was soon finish'd ; he gives her the jewel , upon which while she was looking , in comes the gentleman with the officers , who when they saw the lasse having the jewel in her hand , tended the burthen of their business rather towards her then hainam ; who in the interim slips aside , and by leaping into another body's house , currantly escaped , leaving his true jewel and his crack'd one behinde him ; who ( that we may not digresse from the point in hand ) we leave in the custody of a trusty prison . chap. xx . how he was secured in germany , and got away . having now , as it were , fetters upon his legs , and so much a prisoner to the world , as not to know in which part thereof to inhabit , his wandring thoughts carried him to germany , where he found , that though god hath leaden feet , he quickly overtook him , and made him likewise know , that he had iron hands : for having played some prank there , he was apprehended and committed to prison ; where , having continued about a fortnight , he goes to three prisoners more , and told them , that that night he intended to procure a way for the escaping of them all ; whereupon they are mighty jovial , till the time came they were escape ; at which time hainam , and two of the others got out , leaving the third , that in their mirth , had made himself so drunk , that he not power to stand , much less to run away ; and was the next assizes , for coyning and other misdemeanors , hanged at the common place of execution . chap. xxi . how he robb'd the duke of normandy . having , as you have heard , broken prison again , he betakes himself to normandy , where having accommodated himself with a habit befitting some honourable person , and attendance sutable to the same ; which when he had done , after he had enquired into the affairs of the duke of normandy's court , he in person visits it : where he found the duke at dinner in his dining-room : in which room there stood a cupboard of plate to a great value ; together with two standing cups beset with diamonds , to the value of four thousand pounds , which he attempted to make prize of ; but missing his opportunity , was smoak'd , and onely pinch'd the cully of a casket of jewels of seven hundred pounds . chap. xxii . how he robb'd justice marsh at hackney of four hundred pounds . being desirous once more to see his native countrey , he takes shipping in an english ship ; whither when he was arrived , having notice that at such a place there was a booty for him , he undertakes to gripe it ; and in the night , having broke into the house where it was , after a serious searching , found a chest , in the bowels of which , when he had untomb'd it , he found in silver and gold to the value of four hundred pounds , and a small cabinet , wherein were divers writings ; which when he came to open , after his perusal , he found them to be of some concernment to the gentleman , he fairly parts stakes , keeps the moneys , and by a messenger of trust , returns the gentleman his writings . chap. xxiii . how he robb'd alderman hancock at the greyhound tavern in fleetstreet . after he was convicted for robbing of alderman hancock , concerning which , being desired by some ministers and friends to clear his conscience , he confessed in the presence of one of the aldermans kinsmen , the day before he dyed , that he broke open the door ; and being supposed the stoutest of the company , was left to defend the same , in case any tumult should arise without . but after they had finisht what they went for ; and when return'd , informed him , that they had wounded the alderman , he denyed to share of their booty ; protesting , that above all things , he abhorred the shedding of blood . chap. xxiv . how hainam and his complices cozened a merchant of london of 300 l. hainam taking occasion to visit a merchant in marke-lane , under pretence of some businesse he had with him from a merchant at cullen , from whence he lately came . the merchant being somewhat busie in his counting house , desired by his man , that the gentleman who attended to speak with him , would be pleased to come to him thither , who imediately was conducted by the merchants servant to his master ; where after some ceremonies , hainam took a seat , and so they fell to discourse ; but hainam who had setled his fancy upon something more pleasing to him then the discourse , which was three bags of money which lay upon the table ( every one containing 100 l. a piece ) and eying them very exactly , perceived them to be sealed all with one seal ; and leaving no stone unturned to gain his enterprise , made with his eye a diligent search to finde the seal lying anywhere in the counting house , but not perceiving any , began to draw to a conclusion of his discourse , and pretended he had forgot some earnest businesse which he should have done with another merchant a neighbour of his from the same merchant at cullen ; desires to be excused at that time , that he must so abruptly break off their discourse , and he would wait upon him at some other time ; the merchant being unwilling he should part without the civility of his house , desired him with many complements to stay and drink a glasse of new wine , which with a great many complements he refused , but at last yeelded , if that he would be pleased to honour him with his company to the antwerp tavern behind the exchange , where he had appointed to meet with the neighbour merchant . at last they both concluded so to do ; but hainam pretended he had some other businesse with some other gentlemen at another place , which he would only write a line or two to them , not to expect his coming at that time , but would give them directions how to finish their businesse themselves ; and so desired that he would be pleased to favour him with a piece of paper , and a pen and inke , with which he was presently accommodated ; wherein he took occasion to write to one of his men that waited on him , his full mind about the premises , which when he had finished , he desired the merchant to lend him his seal to seal it , which he presently took out of his pocket ( it being a seal ring ) which hainam well observed to be the same impression with the seals on the bags of money , with which he was well pleased , then he made presently another excuse to make a postscript to his letter of some thing which then came in his mind ; which he did , adding his mind further how he had projected to deceive the merchant of 300 l. which when he had done , he sealed his letter and gave to one of his attendants , and bid him make hast with it , and bring him an answer to the antwerp tavern behind the exchange . so the merchant having received his seal put it on his finger , and left his cashkeeper in his counting-house , and to the antwerp they went ; where they had not long been , but falling into discourse of divers businesses , came at last to businesses of merchandizing , and so by degrees fell to praising of divers rare inventions and curious workmanship , that at last the merchant came to praise the rare workmanship of his ring , it being presented him from the indies rarely graved ; which was the thing hainam principally aimed at to discourse of . humbly desired him he would be pleased to let him see it , which the gentleman willingly assented to , and seriously viewing of it , praised the rare invention of the graver , that had exprest an angell ascending into the heavens , threatning vengeance ( as was expressed by a flaming sword in her hand ) to a man underneath her , adoring the godesse pecunia , which hainam exceedingly admired how rarely it was exprest ; in the midst of this admiration , his man whom he had sent with the pretended letter came in and desired to speak privately with him ; in which conference hainam gave his man an account of what he should do for the gaining the three bags of money . which was thus neatly done , sir , said hainam , i cannot but admire the rare invention of the graver which hath done it so exquisitly that no hand in the world could mend it , nay equall it . sirah franck , sayes hainam to his man , do you know mr. richeson the stonecutter , that has the stone a cutting for me which the queen of bohemia gave me ; yes and please your honour answers his man ; pretheee go to him and bid him come hither presently , i shall and please your honour . away went the man ( and by and by coming again , as before the plot was laid ) told his master he was at home , but had taken physick that day , and was in no capacity to go abroad . i am sorry for that , sayes hainam , but i will request so much favour of this gentleman as to lend me his ring to send to him , to have him cut mine exactly the same impression as is this , so much sayes he , i am pleased with the fancy . which the gentleman readily did ; and so hainam bid him make hast , and go into mark-lane and bid mr. t. h. come to him presently , for he had waited there two houres for him , and bid the graver take an exact impression , but bid him not grave his stone till he spake with himself . away went his man , being not a little pleased to see that he was like to possess the merchants silver ; comes to the merchants house , and enquires for the cashkeeper , which when the cashkeeper saw him , knew him to be the gentlemans man that went out with his master , desired to know his businesse , he told him his master was at the antwerp tavern behind the exchange , and had sent for the 300 l. upon the table in the counting-house sealed with his masters seal , and there was his seal ; which when the man saw , he presently delivered the money and sent his master the ring again . and the man for fear the merchants man should profer to go along with him to carry the money , told him , his master desired him to perfect ▪ the account he was making up as soon as he could , and desired to know where he might have a porter to carry the money ; one was called , so away they went together into birtchir-lane , and there he left the money and discharged the porter , and so went to his master and carried the merchant his ring , and told his master all things should be done according to his mind ; and also that the merchant he sent him to , was gone to the pie tavern at aldgate with some other gentlemen of his acquaintance , and desired he would be pleased presently to come to him thither , which he seemed to be angry at , and so with many complements at the last called for a reckoning , which the merchant would needs pay , and so parted . so hainam and his man went into birtchin-lane , and took the money between them and away they went , leaving the merchant to the protection of his angry angell , while hainam himself adored and imbraced the goddesse pecunia . chap. xxv . how hainam cheated a draper in gratious-street , never heard of nor ever owned by the draper , but confest by hainam to a friend of his in newgate . hainam having pincht the cully on london bridge of a small piece of plate , conceived he was pursued , hearing some noise behind him , which was occasioned by two butchers dogs in eastcheap fastening one of the other , marched forward in no small hast ; but perceiving ( by casting his eye into a drapers shop ) the master of the shop telling forth of a considerable sum of money , stept into the shop , and presently without speaking to any one , set himself down on a stool by the counter side , and by and by lookt out of the door , his fear of being pursued being over , cast in his thoughts how he might be possessed of those glistering faces ; but before the gentleman of the shop had done telling of his money , he cast his eye on his customer that stood attending , desiring he would be pleased to give an account of his businesse . sir , sayes hainam , i am loath to trouble you till you have done your businesse , lest you in minding my businesse , you should commit an error in telling your money , which would put you to a double labour to tell it over again ; but so it fell out , the gentl●man did mistake and so was fain to tell it over again , which hainam eyed very diligently ; insomuch that he took an exact account ( by his telling ) how much there was ; and also it fell out , that there was a parcell of about 14 thirteenpence halfpennies which he put in a paper by themselves , and noted on the paper how many there was , which hainam observed , and when the gentleman had done , he put the rest of the money in the bag , and also the paper of odd monies , which hainam well noted ; and afterwards the gentleman took a piece of paper and writ upon it the value of it , which was 70 and odde pounds , and he being going forth of town , left a direction upon the bag who he would have it payed to ; which he easily observed by leaning on his elbow ; and also observed where he laid the money . after he had so done , hainam began to speak to him , sir , if you have finished , i shall give you an account of my businesse , which is this , sir i have a parcell of calicoes lately come from the indies , which indeed i can sell more then an ordinary penniworth , by reason we had them freed of custome and excise , and i desire to deal with no better chapman then your self , being acquainted with your worth and ability ; being directed to you by mr. r. b. a broaker upon the exchange , to whom i addrest my self unto being newly come into england , who advised me to your self ; and so it fell out for him that the gentleman knew the broaker he named very well , and had spoke to him about some calicoes , the gentleman was extreamly desirous to drink a pint of wine with hainam , but he refused it , in that he would not be so uncivill as to hinder his journey upon so small an account ; but at last to the kings-head in fishstreet they went , where after some discourse they began to treat of their bargain , and the gentleman desired to know their finenesse , and about what prices they were of : sir , sayes hainam , i come not sir to make you a price of them here , but sir be pleased to come to one mr. harris a merchant , well known in little more-fields , and there you shall hear of me , my name is denham , and you may see the commodities which for mine own part i have no great judgment in , but your friend and mine mr. r. b. has seen them , and i parted from him but even now at a friend house here hard by , and but for incivility to leave you alone , i would step and call him : the gentleman answers his complement with a desire to step for him . hainam presently steps out and goes to the drapers shop , and goes to one of the servants and desires him to deliver him the bag of money in such a place , marked with so much money , and directed for mr. t. s. by the same token there is 14 thirteenpence halfpennies in a piece of printed paper in the bag , which the fellow opened and found it so as he had said , delivered him the bag . hainam telling him he met the gentleman that was to have the money at the tavern , and so desired him to fetch it by that token . hainam having gotten the prize safe , went towards f●shstreet a pace , and going along pretended to make water at the counduict , only to look back to see if any of the men followed him ; and casting his eye suddenly back , perceived one of the youths to stand at the door looking that way , which hainam perceiving after he had done , marched forward his usuall pace , but presently started back again , and goes to the shop again , and perceiving customers in the shop buying of cloth , tels the man that stood at the door , he had forgot one thing , which was , that he should go up into his masters chamber , and in the window he should finde a writing sealed , which he should bring to his master presently at the kings-head , and that he was in the room called the crown , and if he found it not in the window , he should find it somewhere else about the chamber ; presently the boy went to look the writing , which with much search he could not find ; he went to his master , telling him he could not finde the writing he sent for ; the master wondring what the boy meant , at last the boy telling him the story , the master perceived he was pincht , went home with a heavie heart ; and charged his men ( after some correction for their too much credulity ) never to divulge it to any person whatsoever ; so much he was ashamed the world should take notice how nea●ly he was cheated . chap. xxvi . how he returned to england , was taken ( and afterwards hanged ) for robbing an alehouse in st. swithins-lane . having now sufficiently lined his purse against the inundations of a winters day , he strikes up sail for england , where when he was arrived , he meets with his father in law mr. rudd , one more , whose name i know not , and the wife of thomas dales a fidler , whose came to mr. langhornes a small victualling house , at the kings-head in st. swithins-lane , and desired a room above stairs , which was shewed them ; they call for a cup of bear , which they drank , and the party returned that brought it up ; then fall they to their work , which was to pick open a chest wherein they were informed monies lay . the woman having occasion to go to her chest for money , perceived them at it ; retires privily , and by warrant from the next justice , apprehended two of them , which as it afterwards appeared , had taken out 8 l. 19 s. in money , with other goods which the woman conveyed away ; and hainam likewise making his way thorow the house top , left his father in law , and the other to the mercy of the law . but not contented with this fair escape , but being sent by heaven to be punished for his villanies on earth , he in three or four hours returns ( having shifted his apparell at his lodging hard by , in the house of one chamberlayne a box-maker and an alehouse-keeper in beer-binder lane neer lumbardstreet ) and supposing that the master of the house mr. langhorne knew him , with a dagger which for that purpose he brought with him , he stab'd mr. langhorne in the back and twice thorow the arme , intending to have killed him ; and again made his escape over the houses till he came into sergeant probyes yard , whose man having some businesse at that time there , espies him coming towards him with two daggers in his hands , whereupon he runs for a rapier which he had not far off , and engaged with him ; sergean proby having by this time heard or seen something , comes with another weapon to the assistance of his man , with which he valiantly encountred hainam , and wounded him in the thigh , but was himself suddenly after stabbed in the belly by hainam ; yet having the more right on his side , he took the greater courage , and put the more confidence in his might , by the power of which hainam was held in play till it so fortuned that a gentleman of 23 or 24 years of age coming by , perceived the fray , and discerning desperate wounds arising from their blowes , he drawes his sword , and with that in his hand , forceth entrance at the door , which hainam perceiving to open , runs at , endevouring to escape , but the gentleman starting back wounds him on the leg , and with another blow he cut him in the head , and following his blow closely , he sals within him , so that hainam had neither time nor power to use his daggers or his two pistols which at that time he had about him in his pocket . being thus overmatched , he was attended to the counter , where it was found he had 7 l. about him ; at the taking away of which he vowed , they did him a great displeasure , for he intended the day following to be drunk therewith . but his intentions thus crossed , he was the next morning being june 15. 1656. guarded by six men with clubs and daggers to the prison of newgate . chap. xxvii . how he had almost escaped again . notwithstanding the privy search that was made as well for weapons as for monies , and other mischievous imployments , he had concealed a small file , which he hid in a place made fit for it in his cloathes , to the intent that when he should be fettered in newgate ( which he was assured he should be , having been formerly condemned ) he might with that work himself out of bondage . this file was of such a nature that should you stand in the room where it was filing off a thick iron bar , yet you could not hear the noise . with this file had he disrobed himself of most of his fetters , and wanted little of proving himself a loose man ; but being discovered sooner by his keepers eyes then his eares , he was at that time prevented , and more carefully lookt unto for the future ; yet was the file undiscovered , and so continued till he was challenged to the field to answer at his death for several abuses performed by him in his life . chap. xxviii . the execution of richard hainam in smithfield-rounds , with a brief account of his dying words . the next day his keepers ( through the fear they conceived of his escaping , which they well do , there having been one formerly hanged on the same account ) they sent to the maior and court of aldermen , desiring a speedy dispatch ; otherwise they feared their prisoner would pay his ransome with some of their lives , as he formerly had done . whereupon it was immediately concluded on , that he should be hanged in the rounds of smithfield , june 17. 1656. being tuesday . which day being come , he was accordingly carryed in a cart unto the place of execution , apparelled in a stuffe suit laced in the seames with a small silver lace , a most pure rough hat , a black cloak with things sutable thereto ; all which upon the ladder he bequeathed to the hangman . he said but little , and that little tended to the clearing of his landlord and landlady chamberlayne where he lay , who were both at that time in custody . he said , that he came thither in the condition of a working goldsmith , and they knew no other but that every day when he went forth , he went about his lawfull occasions , he pretending that he wrought a broad . and for his father in law , he hardly knew him , so lately were they acquainted , but for his wife and some others , if they deserved ought , he would not save them , nor would he accuse them . he denyed that he robbed the king of scots , and said he would rather have parted with a thousands pounds then have been so asperst . his confession was but small , alleadging it a point of p●pery to give an account to mortals , or to any one but god . moreover , he denyed the messias , and said he ought to pray only to the father and not to the son , as not believing he was yet come , but that he would come . having disburdened his mind of what he then delivered , he puls forth ( or caused it to be pulled forth ) his file , and delivered it to mr. brisco who belongs to newgate , and with a jumpe from the ladder , as the ep●logue of his exploits , we leave him taking his last swing . thus courteous readers you have his imprimis , his items , totals , and at last his finis . a brief account of the behaviour, &c. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a77386 of text r42468 in the english short title catalog (wing b4503a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 78 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a77386 wing b4503a estc r42468 36282018 ocm 36282018 150026 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a77386) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 150026) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2225:9) a brief account of the behaviour, &c. axtel, daniel, d. 1660. carew, john, d. 1660. cook, john, d. 1660. hacker, francis, d. 1660. harrison, thomas, 1609-1660. jones, john, d. 1660. peters, hugh, 1598-1660. scott, thomas, d. 1660. scrope, adrian, d. 1660. 38 p. s.n., [london : 1660] caption title. title page lacking? alternative title information from wing (2nd ed.). contains the last speeches of those executed for being concerned in the death of charles i. reproduction of original in the newberry library. eng axtel, daniel, d. 1660. carew, john, d. 1660. clement, gregory, d. 1660. cook, john, d. 1660. hacker, francis, d. 1660. harrison, thomas, 1609-1660. hewlett, william, -captain. jones, john, d. 1660. peters, hugh, 1598-1660. scott, thomas, d. 1660. scrope, adrian, d. 1660. executions and executioners -great britain. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. a77386 r42468 (wing b4503a). civilwar no a brief account of the behaviour, &c. [no entry] 1660 15206 18 0 0 0 0 0 12 c the rate of 12 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-09 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a brief account of the behaviour , &c. by a commission of oyer and terminer for the trial of the king's pretended judges , began at the old bailey , octob. 10th , 1660 , the aforesaid persons with many others were sentenc'd to death , of which tho. harrison , or major-general harrison , was the first that was executed , which was on saturday the 13th of october following . according to his sentence , he was drawn on a hurdle from newgate to charing-cross , where within certain rales made on purpose a gibbet was erected . when he came to the sight of the gallows he was transported with joy , and his servant asked him how he did ? he answered , never better in my life : his servant told him , sir , there is a crown of glory ready for you ; o yes ! said he , i see it . when he was taken off the sledge the hangman desired him to forgive him ; i do forgive thee ( said he ) with all my heart , as it is a sin against me ; and told him , he wisht him all happiness ; and further said , alas poor man ! thou dost it ignorantly ; the lord grant that this sin may not be laid to thy charge ; and putting his hand into his pocket gave him all the money he had ; and so parting with his servant , hugging of him in his arms , went up the ladder with an undaunted countenance . major-gen . harrison's speech upon the ladder . gentlemen ! i did not expect to have spoken a word to you at this time , but seeing there is silence commanded i will speak something of the work god hath in hand in our days . ; many of you have been witnesses of the finger of god that hath been seen among us of late years , in the deliverance of his people from their oppressors , and in bringing to judgment those that were guilty of the precious blood of the dear servants of the lord : and how god did witness thereto by many wonderful and evident testimonies , as it were immediately from heaven ; insomuch that many of our enemies , who were persons of no mean quality , were forced to confess , that god was with us ; and if god did but stand neuter they should not value us ; and therefore seeing the finger of god hath been pleading this cause i shall not need to speak much to it : in which work i with others were engaged , for the which i do from my soul bless the name of god , who out of the exceeding riches of his grace accounted me worthy to be instrumental in so glorious a work ; and though i am wrongfully charged with murder and bloodshed , yet i must tell you i have kept a good conscience both towards god , and towards man ; i never had malice against any man , neither did i act maliciously towards any person , but as i judged them to be enemies to god and his people : and the lord is my witness , that i have done what i did out of the sincerity of my heart to the lord . i bless god i have no guilt upon my conscience , but the spirit of god beareth witness that my actions are acceptable to the lord through jesus christ ; though i have been compassed about with manifold infirmities , failings and inperfections in my holiest duties , but in this i have comfort and consolation , that i have peace with god , and do see all my sins washt away in the blood of my dear saviour . and i do declare as before the lord , that i would not be guilty wittingly nor willingly of the blood of the meanest son , no , not for ten thousand worlds , much less of the blood of such as i am charged with . i have again and again besought the lord with tears to make known his will and mind unto me concerning it , and to this day he hath rather confirmed me in the justice of it ; and therefore i leave it to him , and to him i commit my ways ; but some that were eminent in the work did wickedly turn aside themselves , and to set up their nests on high , which caused great dishonour to the name of god , and the profession they had made : and the lord knows i could have suffered more than this , rather than have fallen in with them in that iniquity , though i was offered what i would if i would have joined with them ; my aim in all my proceedings was the glory of god , and the good of his people , and the welfare of the whole common-wealth . the people observing him to tremble in his hands and legs , he taking notice of it said . gentlemen , by reason of some scoffing that i do hear , i judge that some do think i am afraid to die , by the shaking i have in my hands and knees ; i tell you no , but it is by reason of much blood i have lost in the wars , and many wounds i have received in my body , which caused this shaking and weakness in my nerves ; i have had it this twelve years ; i speak this to the praise and glory of god , he hath carried me above the fear of death ; and i value not my life because i go to my father , and am assured i shall take it up again . gentlemen , take notice , that for being instrumental in that cause and interest of the son of god which hath been pleaded amongst us , and which god hath witnessed too by appeals and wonderful victories , i am brought to this place to suffer death this day , and if i had ten thousand lives i could freely and cheerfully lay them down all to witness to this matter . oh what am i poor worm , that i should be accounted worthy to suffer any thing for the sake of my lord and saviour jesus christ ! i have gone joyfully and willingly many a time to lay down my life upon the account of christ , but never with so much joy and freedom as at this time : i do not lay down my life by constraint , but willingly ; for if i had been minded to have run away i might have had many opportunities ; but being so clear in the thing i durst not turn my back , nor step a foot out of the way , by reason i had been engaged in the service of so glorious and great a god ; however men presume to call it by hard names , yet i believe e'er it be long the lord will make it known from heaven that there was more of god in it than men are now aware of . all the gods of the nations are but idols ; they have eyes , but see not ; and mouths , but speak not ; and cannot save those that trust in them . but my god is the king of kings , and lord of lords , before whom all you here , and all nations , are but as the drop of a bucket . and he will never leave those that truly trust in him , unto whose glory i shall surely go , and shall sit on the right hand of christ in heaven , it may be to judge those that have vnjustly judged me , matth. 25. 33 , 34. 1 cor. 6. 2. the sheriff minding him of the shortness of time , if he had any thing to say to the people he might . he said , i do desire as from my own soul that they and every one may fear the lord ; that they may consider their latter end , and so it may be well with them : and even for the worst of those that have been most malicious against me , from my soul i would forgive them all , so far as any thing concerns me ; and so far as it concerns the cause and glory of god , i leave it for him to plead ; and as for the cause of god , i am willing to justifie it by my sufferings , according to the good pleasure of his will . i have been this morning before i came hither so hurried up and down stairs , ( the meaning whereof i knew not , ) that my spirits are almost spent , therefore you may not expect much from me . oh the greatness of the love of god to such a poor , vile , and nothing-creature as i am ! what am i that jesus christ should shed his heart's-blood for me , that i might be happy to all eternity , that i might be made a son of god , and an heir of heaven ! o that christ should undergo so great sufferings and reproaches for me , and should not i be willing to lay down my life and suffer reproaches for him that hath so loved me ! blessed be the name of god that i have a life to lose upon so glorious and so honourable an account . then praying to himself with tears , and having ended , the hangman pull'd down his cap ; but he thrust it up again , saying . i have one word more to the lord's people , that desire to serve him with an upright heart : let them not think hardly of any of the good ways of god for all this ; for i have been near this seven years a suffering person , and have found the way of god to be a perfect way , his word a tried word , a buckler to them that trust in him , and will make known his glorious arm in the sight of all nations . and though we may suffer hard things , yet he hath a gracious end , and will make for his own glory , and the good end of his people . therefore be cheerful in the lord your god , hold fast that which you have , and be not afraid of suffering , for god will make hard and bitter things sweet and easie to all those that trust in him : keep close to the good confession you have made of jesus christ , and look to the recompence of reward ; be not discouraged by reason of the cloud that now is upon you , for the sun will shine , and god will give a testimony unto what he hath been doing in a short time . and now i desire to commit my concernment into the hands of my lord and saviour jesus christ , he that hath delivered himself for the chief of sinners , he that came into the world , was made flesh , and was crucified , that hath loved me , and washed me from my sins in his own blood , and is risen again , sitting at the right hand of god , making intercession for me . and as for me , oh , who am i ! poor , base , vile worm , that god should deal thus by me ; for this will make me come the sooner into his glory , and to inherit the kingdom , and that crown prepared for me ! oh , i have served a good lord and master , which hath helped me from my beginning to this day , and hath carried me through many difficulties , trials , straits , and temptations , and hath always been a very present help in time of trouble ; he hath covered my head many times in the day of battle . by god i have leaped over a wall , by god i have run through a troop , and by my god i will go through this death , and he will make it easie to me ; now into thy hands , o lord jesus , i commit my spirit . after which sentence was fully executed on him , and his head set on the south-east end of westminster-hall , and his quarters upon the city gates . observations . to commit villany unparallell'd , and bravely to outface death , is the badge of a desperate traytor , and an unhappy christian . in this man's life i find nothing of repentance ; as if the murther of a king , and the ruin of church and state , were of so slight a consequence , that among birds of his own feather treason becomes meritorious , and his detestable death a glorious martyrdom . he calls it god's cause , nay , the very interest of the son of god , his usurpation he terms the fear of the lord ; unheard-of impudence ! can god be the author of treason ? or can man expect mercy from god's hands that voluntarily transgresseth ? prosperum & felix scelus virtus , vocatur , was heathenish philosophy , though without question a maxim in the commonwealth of his conscience , whilst religion was made the stalking-horse to his rebellion . monday following , being the 15th of october , about the same hour mr. john carew was carried to the same place of execution . when he was brought to the gibbet , before he went up the ladder , ( his hands being bound , ) he exhorted several friends standing by to be faithful unto death , and not to be ashamed of the cause for which they suffered , and they should receive a crown of life . and further said to a friend that stood by , that he hoped the truths of the kingdom which he had preached up and down would not be the less esteemed for that he now came to seal it with his blood . mr. carew's speech upon the ladder . truly it is not words , nor that which i have to speak in mine own spirit , will glorifie god , or give any advantage to your souls , or unto me ; but it is , if i may speak a few words in the spirit of the lord , and in the power of his might , and from an unfeigned love unto jesus christ , that would indeed give me an open entrance , and make my passage very sweet , and a blessing may be left behind , even upon you . the first thing ( indeed ) that hath been very weighty , ( and i desire to leave it upon all , upon saints as well upon those that are not acquainted with jesus christ , ) that eternity , immortality and eternal life , it is a wonderful thing ; the thoughts and apprehensions of it are able to swallow up a poor soul : we little think what it is ; he that knows most of god , and most of christ , and hath the greatest measure of the anointing , he little , little knows what it is to appear before the holy , the most glorious , the most righteous god of heaven and earth ; to stand before his judgment-seat , before jesus christ that is at his right-hand ; and where all the holy angels are so ashamed ( because of the glory of god ) that they fall down and cover their faces , and cry , holy , holy , lord god almighty , which art , and wast , and art to come . and therefore if such glorious creatures , if such excellent spirits , as these seraphims and cherubims be , if they do fall down before the glory and majesty of this most excellent and wonderful god , how should dust and ashes do ? and how should they fear and tremble to appear before him ? and there i say , think of this , and of the righteousness of god , as well as of his glory and majesty , and of his justice ; that when for one sin he threw down the angels ( those glorious spirits ) into hell , and he would take no ransom or redemption for them ; and though he hath mercy on the sons of men , ( according to his own election or purpose , and according to that that he hath purchased for himself in christ jesus before the foundation of the world was laid , ) yet in time he made his son a sacrifice before men and angels , to bring his chosen ones to glory . that he should take pleasure to send his own son out of his bosom , who was the delight of his soul , and bruise him for our sins ; yet it pleased the father to bruise him . the most holy and righteous god that had but one son , one only begotten son , ( that was the delight of his soul , ) and should take pleasure to bruise him that we might be healed , and laid stripes upon him that we might be healed , oh the heighth and depth , oh the length and breadth of the love of god in christ jesus unto poor souls ! oh this is that the angels do desire to stoop down and look into , and to know more of this great mystery of the love of god in christ , and that god should take upon him the nature of man ! and put him into that glorious union with his own son ; and that he should leave the angels , though christ was made a a little lower than they , for suffering death for us : yet now , because the nature of man is united to the godhead by vertue of that marriage and union , we become the sons of god , and heirs of glory . those that are adopted by jesus christ , are brought near to the throne of glory , are in a high and glorious communion and fellowship with the father and spirit , owned of all the holy angels ; and therefore they do stand without the throne , ( as in several places of the revelations , ) and round about the elders , and round those that were given to the lamb , ( as in the fifth of the revelations , and many other scriptures , ) they stand without ; but there is another company within , which is the twenty-four elders , and four living creatures , they fall down and worship god , they are nearer than the angels . oh! who hath credited , who hath believed , this report ? and to whom is the arm of the lord revealed ? oh! how many professors are there in this day , in this nation , that call upon the name of christ , and that say they shall be saved by christ , and do live and trust most in their own works and righteousness , and never come to the knowledge and understanding of this great mystery of the love of god in christ ? who never received those teachings from the anointing , and according to the new covenant , where it is promised that they shall be all taught of god ; all the children of god shall be taught of him ; and there is no one can teach these but the father ; none can draw them to the son but the father ; and no man can come to the father but through the son : and this great mystery is both by the light and operation of the holy spirit , who makes the new creature in the soul : o that god would pour out of his holy spirit , that god would pour out the spirit of the new covenant , and the spirit of the gospel , and the spirit that can declare the mystery of god's word in the spirit ; and that he hath made manifest through jesus christ : o there is much talking and speaking in the name of christ ! and how many men spend little time in getting evidences in the power and demonstration of the spirit , and come to apprehend god in christ , that speak of him ? oh! there are few of these the lord knows . o that the anointing may be poured out more now , according to this faith , in the way of this grace , and in this love of god , even in the electing love of the father , and in the redeeming blood of jesus christ , according to the purchased possession that he hath obtained through his own righteousness , wherein god hath been just also , in justifying the ungodly ; and among them such a poor simple piece of dust and ashes as i have been , and have to this day little glorified my father ; and yet i can call him father , through some measure of his spirit , and father , according to the spirit of adoption too ; and can say , the lord jesus hath given himself for me ; and i take the lord jesus christ as the great gift of the father , desiring to bear witness of that love , and of that wonderful grace and glory , that he hath made me partaker of in and through him . oh! blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ , who hath called me to this hope , and who hath made me partaker of this glory , that the saints are enlightened in . and now i long to see the face of this father , and of his son , though i have such a number of sins in me , and though i have an interest in him , and can call him father at any time without doubt , and in full assurance of faith in the holy spirit ; yet if jesus christ were not there to present me faultless before the presence of god i should be afraid to appear before him ; but he is able to do it ; and therefore saith the apostle , now unto him that is able to save you , and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy , &c. i am a poor sinful piece , full of iniquity , laden with many burdens , that have a body of death that i carry about me , and i am now about to lay it down , and my soul shall enter into eternal life , and be made perfect in a moment , through the mighty power of god that hath wrought that glorious work of raising christ from the dead . oh! all my strength , and all my joy , and all my life , is in christ , and in him alone : and i have a righteousness already of his working , according to his own grace , and according to his own mighty power , and according to his own mercy , that he hath been pleased to work in me , and so hath been pleased to keep me in a very wicked , and in a very evil day , by the power of his grace . and i desire to glorifie my father , and many years have i been in that work that hath been of late in this nation ; few and evil hath been the days of my pilgrimage , but i have desired to serve the lord with faithfulness , and in the integrity of my soul , without prejudice against any creature ; and it hath been the desire of my soul to approve my self faithful towards god , and towards man : and what i have done i have done it in obedience to the lord , that i had in my eye , and in my heart . there are many things laid upon many of those that profess the kingdom and glorious appearance of our lord jesus christ , as if they were enemies to magistracy and ministry ; and as if so be we were for the destruction of the laws and properties of mankind , therefore i shall speak a few words unto that : and if indeed we were such , we were fit to be turned out of the world , as some men think they should do god good service in sending such poor creatures quickly from hence . there is no such thing , i desire to bear witnesses to the true magistracy , that magistracy that is in the word of the lord . and that true ministry , which ministry is a ministry from the anointing , that doth bear witness to the lord jesus , and hath his holy spirit . that testimony i desire to bear , and that testimony i desire to stand faithful in , with integrity to the lord jesus , as king of saints , and king of nations . and therefore it is , i say , to have a magistracy as at the first , and counsellors as at the beginning ; men fearing god , and hating covetousness ; and that ministry as doth preach the everlasting gospel . here mr. sheriff interrupted him , saying , 't is desired that you spend the rest of your time in preparing your self . another said , you spend your self , sir , in this discourse another said , it rains . then mr. carew said , i will pray . mr. carew his prayer . o most holy , and most glorious and blessed god , the god and father of our lord jesus christ , the father of all glory , the god of the spirits of all flesh ; unto thee , unto thee doth my soul desire to come through the new and living way , even through christ my righteousness ; and in him and through him to he offered up by the eternal spirit a living and acceptable sacrifice , in which thy soul delighteth . o lord , thou knowest my frame , and thou knowest my life , and what a passage this is , and what a wonderful thing it is to enter into glory , and what a wonderful thing it is to stand before thee , and to stand in thy presence . o father , father , let my soul be filled with thy joy , and with peace in believing : o let my heart be in heaven , while my body is here ; and , o let me be joined unto the lord through thine own spirit before this separation be — o lord , thou only art able to take hold of my heart and spirit ; poor creatures may speak words to thee , but oh! it is thine own power , and it is thine own spirit , that must take hold of the heart ; it is thine own spirit that must carry through all ; and it hath been thy spirit ( blessed be thy name ) that hath carried me through many trials , and many temptations , and many difficulties , that thy poor worm hath met with in this pilgrimage for many years . o blessed be thy name for all the goodness , and for all thy grace , and for all thy presence that hath been with thy poor creature far and near . oh! blessed be thy name that thou hast kept me in any measure faithful unto thee , and made me willing to lay down my life for thy righteous work and cause . o lord bless , bless thy poor people ; o comfort them in this day . pour out sevenfold of thy spirit for what thou dost take away in any of thy servants for thy holy name 's sake . o let the cause and kingdom of christ be dear and precious in thy sight , and live always ! lord , little do these ( poor creatures ) know , or these nations know what a controversie thou hast with them . o that thou wouldest be pleased graciously to spare this people ; spare thy people however ! and let them that love zion , and favour thy righteous cause , be glad for ever and ever . o now father be dear to me ; do thou receive my spirits ; take me into thine own glory ; take me into thine own glory ; let me know it is my portion , let me know there is a crown in the hand of christ prepared for my soul . o blessed lord , thou hast honoured thy poor creature , and brought him hitherto , o reward all the labours of love in any to him , in bonds or death ; and give them a double reward into their own bosoms . reward it so to them and theirs ; blessed be thy name that thou hast brought thy poor one hither to suffer in thy cause . and , o lord , let thy spirit be poured forth upon the nations until the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of thy glory . and that christ jesus may have all the honour , and praise , and glory , and dominion , for ever and ever . amen . i am so exceeding dry that my tongue is ready to stick to my mouth ; but i would fain speak a little more . oh blessed be god! oh! how many are the refreshments i have had from the presence of my god and father , sweet and secret communion betwixt him and my soul to day . and for that my soul hath seen of his riches and kindness ; o that i might be more like christ ! for i have been very unlike to jesus christ , very unlike to my father . but i shall leave all that is unlike christ behind ; and all his own workmanship he will purifie and perfect through this passage into glory . o my dear father , receive my soul ; o make this passage sweet , for now i am coming to thee ; lord , help , lord , spirit me ; fill me with thy spirit ; let me be ever with thee , let me know what it is to have thee at my right hand , that i may not be moved ; that in my soul going out of the flesh , i may be let into the presence of god , and into the arm of jesus christ . oh! that my soul may be breathed forth into the arms of god , into the bosom of jesus christ , through the anointing of the spirit ! a friend that stood by said , it is expected you should speak something to the matter of your suffering ; the under-sheriff said , 't is not to be suffered . what are you , that you put on men to speak ? what are you sir ? mr. carew said , farewel my dear friends , farewel ; the lord keep you faithful . the friend said , we part with you with much joy in our souls . mr. carew said to the executioner , stay a while , i will speak one word ; and then said very solemnly , and with a loud voice , lord jesus receive my soul , lord jesus , into thy arms i commend my spirit ; and so fell asleep . his majesty was pleas'd upon intercession of his friends to give his body to be buried . observations . the scene is no sooner prepared , and harison's part acted , but carew enters , a man that suck'd in treason with his first milk , one of the main props on which fanatick fury built herself a fantastick fabrick ; one whose name , like that of felton and ravillack , shall stand stigmatiz'd to eternity for treason , inhumane treason , against a gracious prince . magistracy and ministry , the two eyes of this land , which like two diamonds in the crown give a lustre to majesty , by a pretended zeal were almost dazled , and hourly threatned to be quite put out , whilst gain was his greatest godliness . 1. he impudently affirms that it was in the fear of the lord he condemned the lord's vicegerent ; pretends at the first to be excused from being a member of that detestable synod , to palliate his premeditated treason ; but being once seated in the chariot of authority , he , jehu-like , drove on furiously till he had wash'd his hands in that innocent and sacred blood . and so far was he from repenting for his villany , that he was sorry it was beyond his reach to strike one blow more at majesty . the nex day , viz. tuesday , the 16th of october , mr. john cooke , and mr. hugh peters , were carried to their execution ; but first of mr. cooke , the appointed time being at hand . he asked several times if the sheriff was not come ; saying , why stayeth the wheels of his chariot ? why do they drive so heavily ? i am ready , blessed be god ; i have nothing to do but to die . word being brought that the sheriff was come , he made haste to be gone , and his wife stepping after him , took him by the arm , whereupon he said , o do not hinder me from going to jesus christ ! and then with a cheerful countenance taking leave of his friends , he went to the sledge that carried him , whereon also was carried the head of major-general thomas harrison , with the face bare towards him ; and notwithstanding that dismal sight , he passed rejoicingly through the streets as one borne up by that spirit which man could not cast down . being come to the place of execution , when he was taken out of the sledge he said this is the easiest chariot that ever i rid in in all my life . being come upon the ladder , and the rope put about , his neck , he rejoic'd , saying , blessed be the name of god that i am bound for the sake of christ . then his work was to address himself to god , and to that end said , if you please i shall speak a few words to god in prayer . mr. cook's prayer before his speech . most glorious majesty , this day is a representation of that great day when all thy poor people shall meet together , multitudes , multitudes in the valley of derision . thy poor , poor servant is now come to pay the debt which he oweth to nature ; blessed be thy name that thou hast prepared him for it ; blessed be thy name , sweet jesus , blessed be thy name . o that all thy poor people that are here , if possible , may feel something of that divine power and assistance of god that thy poor servant now feels at this time ; blessed be thy name . i am a poor creature , a poor sinner , and the lord might justly withdraw from me , and leave me to horror and searedness if he should deal with me in justice ; but this hath not been his method ( blessed be his name ) to leave and forsake his poor servant . lord , let thy blessing be upon us at this time , and let thy blessing be upon england , and let thy blessing be upon all these nations , and let thy blessing be upon all that are here . assist , o lord , by thy divine power ; give us to see much of thy power ; and let not this meeting be in vain , but let every one here receive benefit thereby , to the praise and glory of thy great name , and the everlasting salvation of all our souls , ( if it be thy blessed will , ) through jesus christ our lord . having ended his first prayer , he applies himself to the sheriff and spectators in this following speech . mr. sheriff and gentlemen , the most glorious sight that ever was seen in the world was our lord jesus christ upon the cross ; and the most glorious sight next to that is to see any poor creature for him in his cause . i desire to speak a few words , briefly to let you understand what a glorious work the lord hath been pleased to accomplish upon my spirit . i bless the lord i have ransacked into every corner of my heart , and i have searched into all my sins , actual and original , secret and open , known and vnknown , so far as the lord hath discovered them to me and i have confessed them all with a penitential bleeding heart , and contrite spirit ; blessed be his name , he hath been pleased to come in abundant manner , and hath been pleased to shew me that the only remedy is the blood of christ ; and i have , blessed be the lord , applied that precious blood to my poor soul , and have laid hold upon a christ by a true and lively faith ; and there is a sweet calm and serenity in my soul and conscience , blessed , blessed be thy name . i desire to glorifie god , and to give him the glory of all , and to take shame unto my self for any sins that i have ever committed , that i know to be sin , and therefore i desire to rejoice in the god of my salvation , as isa. 61. 10. i will greatly rejoice in the lord , my soul shall be joyful in my god , for he hath cloathed me with the garment of salvation , he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness ; as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments , and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels , even so the lord delighteth in me . and as the earth bringeth forth her buds , and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth , so the lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations . and isa. 43. 9 , 10. ye are my witnesses , saith the lord ; i do desire to bear a testimony unto god , and to jesus christ , for justice , and truth , and righteousness , and holiness . the lord knows i have no malice upon my heart against any man or woman living upon the face of the earth ; neither against jury that found me guilty , nor court that passed sentence ; i desire freely to forgive every one from the bottom of my heart . and as concerning this great dispensation you may ( it may be ) desire to hear something of it ; truly i say , as to the king's majesty i have not any hard thoughts concerning him , my prayer shall be for him that his throne may be upheld by truth , and by mercy , for by mercy , prov. 23. the throne is upheld ; but i must needs say , that poor we have been bought and sold by our brethren as joseph was . brother hath betray'd brother to death , and that scripture is in a great measure fulfill'd , mat. 10. 21. the father against the son , and the son against the father , and brother shall deliver up brother to death . i desire for my own part to kiss the rod ; and i do desire ( if it may please the king's majesty ) that no more blood may be shed after mine ; it may be the lord will put it into his own breast . here is a poor brother coming , i am afraid that he is not fit to die at this time ; i could wish that his majesty might shew some mercy . the sheriff interrupted in words to this effect , let that alone , for the king's majesty hath clemency enough for all but his father's murtherers . mr. cook reply'd , then i shall proceed to speak something concerning my profession and faith , which , i bless the lord , is founded upon the rock christ jesus . i do not expect salvation for any thing i have ever done , but only lay hold upon christ as a naked christ , and there to bottom my soul . i can say , to the praise and glory of god , that i have endeavoured in my place , and to my power , to do that which might be to god's glory , according to the best of my vnderstanding . i have stood for a gospel magistracy and ministry , and that many delays in the law might be removed , ( and that thing i have much suffer'd for ; ) i say it 's good for king and people that many delays in matter of justice should be removed , and that publick justice might be speedily and cheaply administred . and as for my profession , i am of the congregational way , i desire to own it , and am for liberty of conscience , and all that walk humbly and holily before the lord , and desire to walk in the fear of the lord ; and believe it is a truth , and there can be nothing said against it . i do confess i am not convinced of any thing i have done amiss ; as to that i have been charged with i am not indeed , neither did i understand the plea of the court , that if the lords and commons had brought the king to the bar , and set him over them again , their bringing him to the bar had been treason . i desire never to repent of any thing therein i have done , but i desire to own the cause of god , and of christ , and am here to bear witness to it ; and so far as i know any thing of my self i can freely confess it . here the sheriff interrupted him again , desiring him to forbear any such expressions . mr. cook reply'd , it hath not been the manner of english men to insult over a dying man , nor in other countries among turks and galliasses . the lord bless every one of us , and help us that we may look more to the honour and glory of god than the concernments of our own lives : for alas ! what is a poor miserable life to us , but that therein we might give honour and glory to the god of all our mercies ? and if there be any here of that congregation to which i was related in the time that i lived here , i would commend to them that scripture , phil. 2. 7 , 18. yea , and if i be offered up upon the sacrifice and service of the faith , i joy and rejoice with them all , for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me . and , deut. 18. verse 11. the lord god of your fathers make you a thousand times more than you are , and bless as he hath promised . the lord be pleased to speak comfort to them , and to all them that fear the lord . the lord keep england from popery , and from superstition , and keep it from prophaneness , and that there may not be an inundation of antichrist in the land . and that is all the harm i wish unto it . the lord hath forgiven me many thousand talents , and therefore i may well forgive those few pence that are owing unto me . i bless the lord i have nothing lying upon my conscience , but i can unbosom my self to every one , and to the throne of free grace , in the simplicity of my spirit ; i have endeavoured to do nothing but with a good conscience , and through the integrity of my heart , though accompanied with many frailties . i desire to bless the lord ; my lot was rather in ireland than here ; here i have been more known where i have given the offence . the sheriff again interrupted him . mr. cook replies , sir , i pray take notice of it , i think i am the first man that ever was hanged for demanding of justice , therefore i hope you will not interrupt me . i suppose you were there , and do bear me witness in your conscience , that there was not any thing then that i did not communicate to the court that i now speak upon the ladder . if you will believe the words of a dying man , i say as i must give an account , i have nothing lyeth upon my conscience . we must all meet together at the great day of the lord , to give an account of all our actions , ( and then it will appear , ) the lord grant we may meet with joy and comfort . i have a poor wife and child , and some friends left , i desire you that came along with me to commend to them isaiah 54. 4 , 5 , and 10 , verses . i hope the king and parliament will consider our poor friends as to their estates ; you know that those lords that formerly suffered under the parliament did not lose all their estates ; i hope there will be some consideration as to justice , ( lest that our small estates prove a poyson amongst their great deal , ) and my poor wife and relations suffer . the lord grant that mercy may be shewed , that mercy and righteousness may magnifie and exalt itself above justice : i shall not hold you long , i shall desire in the fear of the lord to give my self , ( as in rom. 12. 1. ) a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable unto god , which is but a reasonable service . and so do intreat that i may have a little time to call upon the lord , unless there be any thing more desired , or any one that would ask me a question . truly i forgive all from my heart ; i have nothing upon my heart to accuse any of them withal . i bless the lord i have a clear conscience ; i say it is in the integrity and simplicity of my heart , ( i do now appeal to the great god , to whom i must give an account of what i have done , ) knowing that all my guilt is washed away in the blood of jesus christ , ( and before him i hope to appear , ) and have nothing else to plead any thing at all for me . and so i hope that i have declared my self with simplicity and integrity in a few words , that you may understand my mind . i shall speak a few words to the lord in prayer , and shall not trouble you further . when having pray'd a short space he was executed , and his head afterwards fix'd on the north-east end ofwestminister-hall . observations on mr. cook . if treason ever wore a cloak you may see it here now palliated to the life ; a quaint orator struggling for life under the sad pressures of a heavy charge . a man bred up where law was more in force , at least more studied , than the gospel . i am sorry pearls of eloquence , and the very marrow of the law , should prove destructive to the owners . sum up all his virtues in a schedule , and at the end write traitor : can then his virtues make me blush to write , solus in conclavi & teste lucerna ? what he himself at a publick meeting , & coelo spectante , was not ashamed to act , the king must die , and monarchy with him ; could the dull genius of this nation suffer it so tamely ? marius , that excellent roman , daunted his butcher with a word , et tu homo audes necare , c. marium . and could not majesty with all its charms daunt a soliciting cook ? he alledges , he was put on it , nay , fee'd to do what he did ; so was judas when he sold his master : money is the root of all evil , and brought that famous orator demosthenes , a brother of the same fraternity , to a sore throat , when 't was avaritia non excusat militiam . some memorable passages of mr. hugh peters in his imprisonment at newgate , and at the time of his execution at charing cross , october 16 , 1660. mr. peters , as is well known , was exercised under great conflict in his own spirit during the time of his imprisonment , fearing ( as he would often say ) that he should not go through his sufferings with courage and comfort ; and said to his friends that he was somewhat unprepared for d●ath , and therefore unwilling to die ; something he said he had committed , and other things omitted , which troubled him ; but though it was a cloudy and dark day with him for a season , yet the light of god's grace and favour would break forth at last . a night or two before he suffered two of the episcopal clergy , who as some report were the king's chaplains , came to give him a visit ; they endeavoured to make advantage of the present temptations wherewith he was then assaulted , and to perswade him to a repentance and recantation of his former activity in the parliament cause , which they endeavoured to enforce upon him by a promise of pardon from the king in case he would therein hearken to them . but told them , he had no cause in the least to repent of his adhering to that interest ; but rather that he had in the prosecution thereof done no more for god and his people in these nations ; and with civility dismissing those visitants , he applied himself to some other ministers then present , whom he judged more able to speak a word in season to him under these great trials , wherewith the lord was then pleased to exercise him . being carried upon the sledge to execution , and made to sit therein within the rails at charing-cross , to behold the execution of mr. cook , one comes to him , and upbraided him with the death of the king , bidding him ( with opprobrious language ) to repent : he replied , friend , you do not well to trample upon a dying man , you are greatly mistaken , i had nothing to do in the death of the king . when mr. cook was cut down , and brought to be quartered , one they called colonel turner called to the sheriffs men to bring mr. peters near , that he might see it ; and by and by the hangman came to him , all besmear'd in blood , and rubbing his bloody hands together he ( tauntingly ) asked , come , how do you like this , m. peters ? how do you like this work ? to whom he replied , i am not ( i thank god ) terrified at it , you may do your worst . when he was going to his execution he look'd about , and espied a man , to whom he gave a piece of gold , ( having bowed it first , ) and desired him to go to the place where his daughter lodged , and to carry that to her as a token from him , and to let her know , that his heart was as full of comfort as it could be , and that before that piece should come to her hands he should be with god in glory . being upon the ladder he spake to the sheriff , saying , sir , you have here slain one of the servants of god before mine eyes , and have made me to behold it , on purpose to terrifie and discourage me ; but god made it an ordinance to me for my strengthening and encouragement . when he was going to die he said , what , flesh , art thou unwilling to go to god through the fire and jaws of death ? oh! ( said he , ) this is a good day , he is come that i long look'd for , and i shall be with him in glory ; and so smil'd when he went away . what mr. peters said further at his execution , either in his speech or prayer , it could not be taken , in regard his voice was low at that time , and the people uncivil . his head was afterwards set upon london-bridge . observations on mr. peters . a state juggler drest in divinity ; a meer protous , and yet a regicide ; a firebrand kindled by the devil ; by whose insinuating practices , blowing the bellows of rebellion , and belching from an impure throat the loathsome vapours of sedition , he not only poisoned the kingdom , but ruined the stately fabrick of an incomparable monarchy ; pretending in his pulpit that to be the finger of the lord which visibly appears to all ages to be the hand of the devil . wednesday , october 17th , mr. thomas scot , and mr. gregory clement , were brought on several hurdles to the same place , where being come , mr. scot first began . mr. scot's speech upon the ladder . gentlemen , i stand here a spectacle to god , to angels , and men : to god and angels , to whom i hope i am shortly a going . and now to you i owe it ; to god , and the nation , and my self , to say something concerning each . for my self , i think it may become me to tell you how and why i came hither ; and something in the general , concerning my capacity . in the beginning of these troubles i was ( as many others were ) unsatisfied ; i saw liberties and religion in the nation in great danger , to my best apprehension ; i saw the approaches of popery in great measure coming in upon us : i saw — upon which the sheriff interrupted him in these words ; if you will betake your self to prayer you may . mr. scot replied , i shall not speak to reproach any — the sheriff interrupted him again , saying , you have but a little time , mr. scot , therefore betake that little time to prayer . mr. scot replied , 't is according to my mind to speak what may be said — here the under-sheriff interrupted , saying , it hath been denied unto your predecessors , and will be denied unto you . then he prayed as followeth . holy lord god , the great and glorious god of heaven and earth , king of nations , and king of saints ; in both which capacities thy poor and vnworthy creature comes now to bear his witness in this great spectacle , before thee , angels and men : o lord , were it not for sin none of these things had befallen this nation , nor my unworthy self ; we have all transgressed , and gone astray from thee by a perpetual back-sliding , even all of all sorts , conditions , ranks , and orders of men : and among them none , none more than thy poor vnworthy creature , who acknowledgeth the same here before thee , in the face of heaven , and in thy presence , to which he is very shortly a going ; that glorious grace which thou hast been pleased to afford unto his soul in it . o blessed lord , thou hast called him forth as a publick spectacle to some in a condition of shame and reproach , to others of comfort , and to thy blessed self , as one that is a witness for thee , that hath served thee with all faithfulness in his trust and publick capacity and employment . o lord , they dispensation to thy poor creature hath been wonderful , gracious , and merciful ; and he must say to the praise of thy free grace — here the hangman stooping down to take drink , which was reached up to him upon the ladder , interrupted him ; upon which mr. scot said , prithee let me alone , i have not done ; and then proceeded in prayer , as followeth . — that this very condition to which he is now brought he acknowledgeth is the very answer of his prayer before his going out of england . thou knowest , lord , he did many times in prayers and tears seek thy bessed majesty for counsel , and for advice , whether it was his duty to stay and suffer , or to shelter himself abroad ; and if it were thy will to take more honour to thy self by his suffering than living , thou wouldst be pleased to remand him back again , and bring him hither . and he hath observed thy providence checking of his way , and in preserving him all along until he came to this . o blessed lord , thy poor creature doth acknowledge that thy ways to his poor soul have been of wonderful grace and mercy . but blessed be thy glorious name , the great god of heaven and earth , he hath been pleased to bear him witness to himself , to angels , and to all that hear me this very day , thy poor servant that now stands to suffer had joy and much consolation from god , and from his cause , more than ever he had before ; i say again , to the praise of the free grace of god , i bless his name he hath engaged me in a cause not to be repented of ; i say in a cause not to be repented of — here the sheriff interrupted him , saying , is this your prayer , mr. scot ? desiring him to forbear those kind of expressions . others also told him that he contradicted himself , and spoke blasphemy . then mr. scot said , i shall say no more but this , the lord i do acknowledge , that this very morning in the dark chamber i had very much of the presence of god , and from thence i take consolation to my self that his spirit is with me , and that he hath sealed unto my soul the decrees of heaven , at least perswaded my soul that it will be well with me , and that i am out of all danger , as to my eternal condition ; and that i shall live and reign with him there , where all my sin shall be done away , which is the growing glory of my soul ; and all tears wip'd away also . o lord , remember the price of blood that hath been shed for the purchasing of the civil and christian liberties . and remember thy enemies , that are not incorrigible enemies to thy truth and holiness ; and give them vnderstanding to see their error , and to turn to thee ; a heart broken , and with humiliation , that they may seek god with their whole heart , that they may be a holy or immanual nation , a chosen generation , a peculiar people , zealous of good works , careful to shew forth the virtue of him that hath called them from death to life . the lord call in all that belong to the election of grace speedily into that number : let no weapon formed against thy church prosper ; but , lord , remember zion , if it be thy good pleasure , and repair the walls of thy jerusalem : o lord , thy cause lyes near the hearts of thy people ; and i bear thee witness that i have this income from thee as the return of their prayers : and that we are supported to bear witness for thee very cheerfully , and with satisfaction . i desire to be found of thee in jesus christ : i do now abhor all my sins , and renounce my services , and do account them all as dung . lord , thou knowest i have desired to live , that i might serve thee better , and love thee more : but that i may be with thy self , oh it is infinitely better , and to confirm that testimony which is concerning thy glorious will : and thy will be done in earth , as it is in heaven , by me and all thine , from henceforth and for evermore . amen . observations on mr. scot . men , whose damnable actions whilst living , never merited from good men the smallest credit , being now to be made sacrifices to publick vengeance , see how saint-like they present themselves on the stage this man enter'd for a black saint in the calender of cruelty . something as to mr. gregory clements take as followeth . perhaps some may think it strange that there is so little said as to mr. gregory clement , who suffered with the rest ; therefore this only is to be said more , ( which is known to many , ) that mr. clement was very silent both in the time of his imprisonment at newgate , and at the time and place of his execution at charing-cross ; only thus it is said , that he exprest his trouble ( to some friends in the prison ) for yielding so far to the importunity of his relations as to plead guilty to the indictment : and though he spoke little at the place of execution , yet ( so far as could be judged by some discerning persons that was near him ) he departed this life in peace . the same day mr. ad. scroop and mr. john jones suffered together at the same place . collonel scroop's speech at execution , october 17 , 1660. you see an object here that hath been in a better place ; but howsoever the lord jesus christ hath sent me to this place i should die , i have no animosity nor malice against any man , nor ever had i ; neither have i any evil will to those that brought me hither , nor to the jury that found me guilty , nor judges that passed sentence , nor to him through whose means i was brought here to suffer . i say once more the lord forgive him ; i shall not name him , for i come not hither to reflect upon any man's person . i will not tell you what my breeding hath been , because it is not good for any man ( especially at such a time as this ) to boast of his lineage or breeding ; but this i shall say , that i was born and bred a gentleman . as for my carriage it may be some that look upon me here knows what it hath been : howsoever the lord knows all , and the lord god is judge of all , and he will judge ; i shall submit my self to his judgment , which is a righteous judgment . the judgment of men may go wrong , but god's judgment is right ; i shall submit to his way . the lord he is the rock of ages , and my support under this great weight that is now upon me : i look up to him alone ; the lord jesus christ is my saviour and my redeemer ; i am going into his arms , blessed be his name : i follow him ; he is gone before me the same way ; therefore it is no reproach or shame to follow the lord jesus christ , to die in his cause ; for that is it which i judge i am now going to do . that which i do desire of you ( here are a great many spectators both on the right hand and on the left ) is , that this day may represent to you the general day of the judgment of christ , where you must appear , and there every man must receive according to their works : and at that time it will be known , i say , at that time it will be known and seen , whose works are righteous , and whose are not ; therefore i would wish you , and desire you to judge charitably of me . observations on colonel scroop . if birth or education can render a man accomplisht without doubt col. scroop deserves a favourable censure ; but as the smallest spot is soonest discerned in a white garment , so treason dishonours the highest extraction , and leaves a blot in the scutcheon of nobility . a candid nature obligeth me to love the man , yet my own conscience , and that solemn commandment , fear god and honour the king , makes me pity what i cannot ●ustifie , and condemn the treason as a person that once ●ov'd the traitor . coll. john jones his speech upon the ladder , october 17 , 1660. there is two things that are necessary now i am going through this narrow gate or passage to the eternal ma●esty ; i say two things are necessary as to the occasion of my coming hither , to receive my father's good pleasure . first , peace with god . secondly , peace with man . i shall speak something to each of these ; and in the first place speak something of the court wherein i received the sen●ence . it hath been reported , as i was told , that i confessed ●his fact , and confessed that i were guilty of murther , as under those several-expressions that are in the indictment , viz. — i desire to clear my self before the lord , and before the world , in that particular ; for should i grant that i was guil●y in reality and truth of murther and malice , viz. — 〈◊〉 should belye my own conscience , and draw upon me a greater weight than i could bear ; but thus far i do confess , 〈◊〉 was willing to make the work as short as i could ; and be●ause i would not stand so long i told them i would take the first jury that came ; and when a jury was called , then i did confess so much as i was convinced of as to the matter ●f fact ; i desire you will judge charitably of this that i speak at this time , as in the presence of the lord , that it is not really , ( viz. that i acknowledged my self guilty of murder , i had no such thing in my heart . i must confess i very freely quit his majesty , considerin● what he doth in this case is the part of a loving son to a father , especially the judges telling him that it is the law and i conceive that the court did nothing but what they 〈◊〉 their best vnderstandings judged right as to law ; therefo●● i freely acquit the court , though there was not enough said 〈◊〉 satisfie such a poor creature as i am in so great and deep point as that was . as for all others , i do not know an● man on the earth to whom i do bear any malice , but i a●… in perfect charity with all men , and i hope the lord is 〈◊〉 charity with me ; and therefore as i desire to have forgivenes● my self from all those that i have offended , even so i do freely forgive all those that have in any measure offended me . the next thing is towards god , and it is that which shoul● be last upon my heart : it is not expected that i should give an account here of my state and condition , for that is betwixt god and my own soul ; and i do , through the grac● and goodness of god , firmly believe , that my redemption i● wrought , and my pardon is sealed , and that i shall be immediately in my father's arms , and that i shall be translated and brought to behold the lord jesus christ in glory with comfort , and fulness of joy . col. jones his prayer . blessed lord god , thou art the great opener , open unto my soul the lord jesus christ , who will lead me into the ways of truth and life ; o god save me , make good all the pledges of thy love unto my soul ! oh make all the promises which i have believed all the days of my life , make them now good unto my soul , giving me the full enjoyment of thy self : i desire to bless and praise thy name for this hour that thou hast brought me to . oh , what am i poor worm that thou shouldst give me this opportunity to suffer for thy name , and to acknowledge thy mercies before so great a congregation at this place . holy father , holy father , oh that thou wouldst now rain down blessings from heaven upon thy poor creatures that do hear and behold this action this day ! oh that thou wouldst sanctifie this thing to them , and let poor england be a land of truth and happiness ! o lord , let england flourish ! and oh that thou wouldst make thy angel of l●ght to go before thy people : good god , we pray thee keep off those great judgments that hang over the heads of these nations , because they have sinned against thee : through thy name sanctifie us ; let not thy name be reproached ; dear father , receive my soul , i am ready to come unto thee : blessed father , into thy hand i commend my spirit , thou hast redeemed me , blessed be thy name , in that thou hast opened the treasures of thy love unto my poor soul . thou hast given me this hope , whereof i need not be ashamed ! blessed be thy name my spirit is full of joy . oh holy father , holy father , i pray thee let thy blessing come down upon thy poor people . look upon me , holy father , stretch out thine arms to carry me over this brook ; i pray thee stand by me , dear father ; i cast my self into thy hand , i commit my soul unto thee . then speaking to the sheriff , said , mr. sheriff , i must needs return you many thanks for your civility . sheriff replied , i am glad to hear such an ingenious confession , and that you make such an end , and that you have not gone into any reviling language , as some others have done before . after this he committed his soul to god , and so departed . observations on colonel jones . if old age could free a man from punishment , then had col. jones a good plea in the court of antiquity ; his grey hairs pleaded much gravity , but reverence is not due to traitors ; to be zealous in a bad cause argues a conscience fit for villany . the last of these ten persons order'd for execution were col. dan. axtel , and col. fran. hacker , who on the 19th of october , two days after the death of scroop and jones , were drawn upon one sledge to tyburn . they were brought forth of prison ; the sledge being ready for them , they took their leave of some friends that stood at the door , and col. axtel desired them to be at the place of execution ; and both entring the sledge , they cast up their eyes toward that god to whom they were coming ; then with a cheerful countenance setting themselves down , they were drawn to tyburn , the place of execution , where a cart was set ready , into which they both ascended , their countenance not at all changed , though now the king of terror stared them in the face ; the ropes being then put about their necks , and a burning fire kindled before their faces ; first , col. axtel applies himself to the sheriff in these following words . col. axtel's speech at tyburn , october 12 , 1660. mr. sheriff , i am now , as you see , come to the place of execution , according to my sentence : i desire your leave that i may speak freely , and without interruption , first to this people , and then to god , for it is the last i shall speak in this world , and i hope it will redound to your account . mr. sheriff's reply . sir , you know what the court prohibited you to speak , and what was spoken at the bar of the court was there desired , therefore 't is needless to repeat it here . i hope you will keep to the present business that concerns you , and not go out into impertinencies ; and because you have but a little time , spend it to your best advantage , and the good of the people , and then you shall not be interrupted . or to the same effect . col. axtel begins , i say the very cause for which i have engaged , is contained in this book of god , ( having the bible in his hand , ) both in the civil and religious rights of it , which i leave to you , giving the book to mr. knowles . you see a dead man living , and yet i hope i shall live to all eternity , through the mediation of jesus christ , the mediator of the covenant of free-grace . i must truly tell you , that before these late wars it pleased the lord to call me by his grace , through the work of the ministry ; and afterwards keeping a day of humiliation in fasting and prayer with mr. symon ash , mr. love , mr. woodcock , and other ministers in laurence-lane , they did so clearly state the cause of the parliament , that i was fully convinced in my own conscience of the justness of the war , and thereupon engaged in the parliament service , ( which as i did and do believe ) was the cause of the lord , i ventred my life freely for it , and now die for it . then mr. sheriff said to this purpose , sir , remember your self . col. axtel proceeds ; and after the work of the lord was done in england , my lot cast me in the service of ireland , and i thank the lord i was serviceable to the english nation in that countrey , and have discharged my duty fully according to the trust committed to me there . as for the fact for which i now suffer , it is for words , only for words , and but for words ; and the sentence is already reversed in my own conscience , and it will be reversed by jesus christ by and by . i pray god from the very bottom of my soul to forgive all that have had any hand in my death , both witnesses and jury , and the court that passed sentence ; for considering the doctrine of our lord jesus christ , as he hath laid it down , matth. 5. 44. it hath been said of old time , love your neighbours and hate your enemies ; but i say unto you , love your enemies , and pray for them that hate and despitefully use you , that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven . i desire according to this doctrine from the bottom of my heart that god would give them true repentance , and not lay their sin to their charge , nor my blood , which by god's law and man's ( i think ) could not justly have been brought here to suffer . but i bless god i have some comfortable assurance that i shall be imbraced in the arms of christ , and have cause to hope that his spirit shall carry my soul into the father's hands . and if the glory of this sunshine be so great , the sun then shining bright , ) how much more is the glory of the son of god , who is the sun of righteousness . i think it convenient to give you some account of my faith . i believe all things written in the old and new testament , in the principles and doctrine of a believers faith ; i believe the blessed ordinances of christ , that it is our duty to hear the word preached , to seek unto god in prayer , and to perform family duties , and to walk in the communion of saints ; and for my own part i am a member of a congregation which i judge to be the way of christ , ( and were it for that only i were to die i could witness to it , ) which is a company of men born again by his grace , that walk in the ways of christ blameless and harmeless . i believe jesus christ died for poor sinners , of whom i am chief , as the apostle paul saith , this is a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation , that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners , of whom i am chief . and if the apostle might say so , much more may i . my friends and countreymen , i have reason to bewail my own unprofitable life , having been very unfruitful unto the people of the lord ; the lord knows i have much fault upon my heart , were it not for the blood of christ that cleanseth and washeth me , according to his promise , saying , i loved you , and washed away your sins in my own blood ; for there is no remission of sins without the blood of christ . i desire you all to loath and cast off sin ; it were better to suffer than to sin ; it is better to die than to sin ; nothing could grieve our saviour our but sin , and therefore have a care of that : you and i must meet one day at the bar of christ , and the son of god shall be our judge , for god hath committed all judgment to the son , that all men should honour the son as they honour the father . this day is a resemblance of that day , therefore be serious : beg as much good to your immortal souls as i expect to enjoy by and by . i beseech you beg of god that he would save your souls , and omit no opportunity through the strength of the lord to believe , and put your trust in the lord jesus christ ; be sure to labour after assurance of your interest in him , or else you will be of all men most miserable ; for i of men were most miserable if i had not believed , to see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living . blessed be the lord that brings me into this state , let the way or means be what it will ; it is god's sovereignty who made these creatures , to dispose of them how he pleaseth , and god hath ordained this death for me from all eternity . the lord christ often prayed , thy will be done ; this is the lord's will . he hath numbred my days , and my times are in his hand . many seek the ruler's favour , but every ones judgment is from the lord . when pilate said unto christ , knowest thou not that i have power to crucifie thee ? christ answered him , thou couldst have no power against me , except it were given thee from above . therefore i acknowedge the righteous hand of god he is righteous , but i am sinful , therefore will i bear god's indignation ; because i have sinned against him . it is said of jesus christ , that for the joy set before him , he endured the cross , and despised the shame , and is set down at the right hand of god , where i hope to see him by and by in glory and majesty , and to see his angels and believers worshipping of him , and therefore i despise the shame . our saviour died upon the cross without sin ; i am a sinful creature , a wretched sinner , and shall i expect better than he that was my master ? he who was holy , and never had a sinful thought in all his life ; and died not for himself , but for us , that we might live through his death ; that through his poverty we might be made rich. and christ having done this for his people , it should not be in their eyes thought a despicable thing that we should suffer for him , having been engaged in the work of god . but christ must prevail in righteousness , and he will prevail . now mr. sheriff i thank you for your civility , and for this leave . after this col. hacker spoke something privately to him , whereupon col. axtel said , mr. sheriff , must we both die together ? mr. sheriff answered , yes . then col. hacker read a paper which he had in his hand , a copy whereof followeth . friends and countreymen , all that have known me in my best estate , have not known me to be a man of oratory ; and that god hath not given me the gift of vtterance , as to others , therefore i have only this briefly to say unto you that are spectators : as the parliament stated the war , i did out of judgment and conscience , join with them in the common cause , and have through grace have been faithful to it according to my measure . and as for that which now i am condemned for , i do freely forgive both judges , jury and witnesses , and all others ; and i thank the lord , to whom i am now going , at whose tribunal i must render an account , i have nothing lyes upon my conscience as guilt whereof i am now condemned , and do not doubt but to have the sentence reverst . i do now apply my self unto god by prayer , and do desire the hearty prayers of all that fear god , that i may have a sweet passage from this mortal life , to that immortal life which god hath prepared for all that are in christ jesus . francis hacker . after the reading of this he desired that col. axtel would be both their mouth to god in prayer . and then col. axtel said , i desire all that fear the lord to hear me with patience , and to lift up their hearts to seek the lord with me , that we may have his strength , and the presence of his spirit , from this world to everlasting life . after he had ended his prayer he gave the sheriff thanks again for his civility , and turning to colonel hacker , they saluted and embraced each other in their arms , and said , the lord sweeten our passage , and give us a happy meeting with himself in glory . then pulling his cap over his eyes , expected , as is supposed , that the cart should be drawn away , with his hands lifted up he utter'd these words with a loud and audible voice , lord jesus receive my spirit ; but the cart staying a little longer , he lift up his hands the second time , and with the like audible and loud voice said , into thy hands , o father , i commend my spirit : and yet in regard there was no man found to put forward the horse to draw away the cart until the common hangman came down out of the cart himself to do it , the carman , as many witnesses affirm , saying , he would lose his cart and horse before he would have a hand in hanging such a man , by this he had opportunity to lift up his hands , and utter the like the third time also . observations on mr. axtel and mr. hacker . the last actors in this bloody tragedy are now entred upon the stage , and seeing they were join'd in their lives , i thought it fit to leave them as i found them . these were guilty of that horrid murther , in daring to protect what is a sin to think . axtel guarded those bloody shambles where virtue and majesty stood like lambs before the butcher ; and now having brought the ship of our king's life , tost upon the tumultuous surges of so many uncertain fortunes , almost into the harbour of their malice , he bids rebellion cast an anchor on the dangerous sands of the good old cause . thus when all good christians hearts were melted in the furnace of affliction , to see majesty lye a bleeding , and pleading for life in every honest heart , before so sad a tribunal . this gentleman spent his time in raising his soldiers spirits to a pitch of mirth , laughing at their squibs , extreamly pleased that majesty rise offended with such sad perfumes from the seat where he sate , which was suddenly to stumble at a block , and pass unregarded to a cold grave . finis . warnings to the unclean in a discourse from rev. xxi. 8. preacht at springfield lecture, august 25th. 1698. at the execution of sarah smith. by mr. john williams pastor of the church at deerfield. williams, john, 1664-1729. 1699 approx. 84 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 35 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66437 wing w2743 estc w15452 99831019 99831019 35481 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66437) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35481) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2086:23) warnings to the unclean in a discourse from rev. xxi. 8. preacht at springfield lecture, august 25th. 1698. at the execution of sarah smith. by mr. john williams pastor of the church at deerfield. williams, john, 1664-1729. 64 p. printed by b. green, and j. allen, for michael perry, at his shop over-against the town-house, boston : 1699. copy has print show-through. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng smith, sarah, d. 1698 -early works to 1800. repentance -early works to 1800. christian literature -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -massachusetts -early works to 1800. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2005-04 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion warnings to the unclean : in a discourse from rev. xxi . 8. preacht at springfield lecture , august 25 th . 1698. at the execution of sarah smith . by mr. john williams pastor of the church at deerfield . boston , printed by b. green , and j. allen , for michael perry , at his shop over-against the town-house . 1699. the tree of knowledge henry stevens of vermont , fsa , &c. 4 trafalgar square , london . 1882 to the reader . although in the popish sense we m●y allow no sin to be venial ; ( for the wages of every sin is death ) yet there are doubtless degrees in sin , some are in their nature & circumstances more peculiarly aggravated , and expose to a much sorer condemnation : among which may be reckoned those which are not only violations of positive precepts , but of the very dictates and law of nature ; in such sins there is both a contempt of the divine authority , and a great deal of violence offered to conscience , which would restrain from the commission of them , and is a plain demonstration of prevailing atheism of the heart , and mighty power and love of sin in it , to over-bear the light they have ; but that such sins should be committed under the clear light of the gospel , shews men to be wholly without excuse : it therefore is , and ought to be for a lamentation , that though we live in such an age of the world , wherein the light of the gospel shines with greater clearness probably then it ever did since the first revelation of it ; yea , in days too , wherein the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against the unrighteousness of men . that in such days there should be found so many sad instances of these horrid and unnatural sins of murther and uncleanness ; but especially of this latter , that there is ground to fear , that it hath been one of the things for which god hath so long had a controversie with the land : as for what is obvious to men of this nature , we have reason to hope , that the land is free from the guilt of it , by the vigilance and faithfulness of those to whom god hath committed the sword of justice ; but there are many things of this nature secret , which the method of god in his judgments seems directly to point at . it is noted among the procuring causes of israels miseries , 2 king. 17.9 . that the children of israel did secretly those things that were not right in the sight of the lord ; probably this may re●err to what we read , in 1 king. 14.24 . there were sodomites in the land : however that be , it 's certain the prophets reckon up the sins of whoredom and adultery among the black catalogue of their abominations , and the causes of their calamities , jer. 5.7 . they assembled themselves by troops in harlots houses ; and hos. 4.11 . whor●dom and wine take away the heart ; these are such things as defile the land , where-ever they are committed , and will certainly procure an increase of judgments , unless repentance prevents ; & whensoever god in his just wrath leaves any to be monuments of shame & ignominy before the world , it is a loud call to all who lye under such guilt , to be speedy and thorough in repentance . god both requires and expects it should be so . deut. 13.11 . all israel shall hear and fear , and do no more presumptuously , on which account it seems very sutable to accompany such sad instances with solemn warnings , that those who are under the like guilt , may be awakened , and others may be awed ; and it is especially needful , that persons be put in remembrance of the dreadful consequence of these things in the world to come ; in comparison of which , the greatest shame , and severe penalties here , are as nothing ; and as the judgment of god is more severe , so it is more certain , he hath positively declared , heb. 13.4 . whoremongers and adulterers god will judge ; these works of darkness may escape the notice , so the judgment of men , but there will be no escaping the judgment of god ; there is no darkness or shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves ; the eye of god follows men into their darkest recesses , and he will surely have a day to bring to light the hidden things of darkness . to promote these ends , it is that many of the hearers of the following sollid and seasonable warning delivered just before the execution of a person convicted of these horrid sins of murther and adultery , have desired the publication of it ; to which the author hath consented , being desirous to further the right improvement of such a sad example , to deter others from the like abominations . as for the person executed for these sins , she is an awful instance of the infatuating , hardening and stupifying power of this bruitish sin of uncleanness , her love to , & frequent practice of it , having occasioned her stifling many convictions , & contracted a fearful stupidity and sottishness upon her , near the approaches of death . it is earnestly to be wished , that such warnings and examples might not be in vain ; that all would so improve them , that we might see no more such examples . to conclude therefore , let me perswade all to consider , the heinous nature , and dreadful effects of these sins ; the apostle gives a particular account hereof , 1 cor. 6.9 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17. it s a sin against a mans own body , it is a defiling of that which should be the temple of god ; it is a sin loathsome in it self , and makes those who are guilty of it , loathsome to god , and to men too , when it is discovered ; it is a sin that is ordinarily the punishment of other sins , prov. 23.27 . a whore is a deep ditch , and a narrow pit , the abhorred of the lord shall fall therein . it is a sin that dreadfully hardens and besots those who are guilty of it . prov. 21.9 . 't is said of the harlot , n●ne that go in unto her return again , neither take they hold of the path of life . ( 2. ) that persons would more carefully avoid the inducements to this sin which are too common : such are , over cos●ly , light garish attire , impudent and immodest carriages , filthy communications , idleness , intemperance , by which the body is inflamed , and modesty banished ; the command that forbids the acts of uncleanness , forbids also the occasions and tendencies to it ; and unless there be a tenderness and watchfulness to avoid these , there will be little hopes , that gross pollutions will be avoided . thus commending the following warnings to the blessing of god , and to the serious consideration of the rising generation . i am your souls well-wisher . w. williams . warnings to all unclean persons . rev xxi . 8. but the fearful , and unbelieving , and the abominable , and murderers , and whoremongers , and sorcerers , and idolaters , and all liars , shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire & brimstone : which is the second death . sinners promise themselves a great deal of pleasure , satisfaction and delight in the ways of disobedience , to the holy commands of god ; but the destinations and appointments of god to them are far otherwise . they say they shall sollace themselves with love , and take their fill of love . but in these words you see what god appoints them too , not to a bed deckt with coverings of tapistry , with carved works , with fine linnen of egypt , perfumed with myrrh , aloes and cinnamon ; but to a lake burning with fire and brimstone ; a righteous allotment from god , to all them that burn in their filthy lusts here . in these words by an elegant antithesis , we have represented to us the differing frame of the wicked from the godly ; and the differing portion of these from the godly ; the godly in the foregoing verse are described from their constancy , and perseverance in opposing whatever was contrary to the holy nature , or holy law of god : and happiness in its full complement , or perfection is promised them of god : the ungodly spoken of in these words , are such as are for pre●ent ease , and endless sorrow , and pain are threatned to them . in which words , we have as it were a catalogue of those that are appointed to wrath , or a very severe commination , or threatning , &c. with the subjects thereof . 1. the commination or threatning , shall have their part , &c. an absolute peremptory threatning , ( shall have ) not that its probable , or who can tell but it may be so , they are in danger , its very much to be feared it will be ●o ; but they shall have their part . part ] share or portion , so much as hath been demerited by their sins , and is appointed them of god : who will give to every man , according to the fruit of his doings . lake ] figuratively put for the place of tor●ent ; hell , wherein the reprobate shall be ●ormented . burns with fire and brimstone ] denoting the ●xtream torments of hell ; when 't is said they ●hall have their part , &c. 't is as much as though ●t had been said , they shall be adjudged to a most grievous damnation , by an irreversible sentence . second death ] eternal death , &c. damnation of soul and body in hell , concludes under it the separation of the whole man , soul and body from the glorious presence of god ; and the delivering of the sinner to endless pain and torment in hell. 2. the subjects of this doleful commination . fearful ] such as through fear of man , swerve from the holy profession , and practice of godliness ; comprehending all those who are afraid , from the encouragements of the gospel , to commit their souls to christ ; who dare not on gospel encouragements believe on christ. unbelieving ] all that remain in a christless and impenitent state , on whatever consideration , whether from sloth , love of sinful pleasures , or contempt of christ , and his glorious grace . abominable . ] those that are left to sin against nature , and such as are guilty of sodomy , and bea●tiality . murderers . ] those that unjustly take away the life of others , or do that which hath a tendency thereto ; those that offer violence to the blood and life of others . whoremongers . ] unclean persons , whether married , who are termed adulterers ; or unmarried , who are called fornicators . sorcerers ] witches , those that have familiar amity with evil spirits . idolaters ] idol worshippers , that use idols in religious worship : such also are all that put the creature in the room and stead of god. all lyars ] such as are deceitful , and dissembling , who speak otherwise then they think ; and do otherwise then they speak ; such as accustom themselves to speak falsly ; comprehend those that fall into heresie , and all practical lyars , as hypocrites , who profess that they know god , yet in works deny him ; any dying under the guilt of these sins , are the subjects of this commination : any living under the single guilt of any one of these heads of sin ; are at present under a sentence of death , and nothing but un●eigned repentance towards god , and faith in jesus christ , can prevent their being the subjects , of this threatning eternally . doctrine . murder and uncleanness , are sins that god punisheth men , and women dying under the guilt of ; with eternal damnation . or thus , that impenitent murderers , and unclean persons , will ●e made the subjects of hell torments . hell torments will be the portion of all impenitent and unclean persons . i have singled out these two , rather then the rest ; because god in his providence , calls me to ●ear testimony against these , and to warn one in a peculiar manner convicted of both these , and under a just sentence of death , speedily to repent , and get a pardon in the blood of christ. uncleanness and murder are sins that god punisheth not only in this life , but in the world to come ; when the natural life of these shall be expired , and that by divine appointment , worse sorrows then ever they endured here , shall seiz● upon , and apprehend them ; the sufferings of wrath here , and loss of li●e , by divine vengeance , will not expiate , guil●iness ; but divine wrath will pursue and abide on the guilty in the other world : one death will lead to another ; the first death makes way for the second . god don't punish the guilty only with damnation , but everlasting damnation : sinners dying under the guilt of these sins , shall not only be damned , but everlastingly damned . quest. how doth it appear , that god will punish them that dye under the guilt of these sins , with everlasting damnation ? 1. from scripture threatnings and comminations , god is not a man that he should lye , n●ither the son of man that he should repent , hath he said , and shall he not do i● ? or hath he spoken , and shall he not make it good ? god that said of old , that he would chastize , as their congregation had heard , god who is truth , and cannot l●e , who after he had threatned his imp●nitent people in ancient times for their apos●acy , warned them against flattering themselves with hopes of impunity , by saying , the lord have spoken it ; this god hath in his word threatned thus to deal with unclean sinners , & commanded them not to deceive themselves with hopes of a less punishment . 1 cor. 6.9 , 10. gal. 5.6 . these exclusions from the kingdom of heaven , comprehend in them positive punishments , even the punishment of eternal damnation . if sinners hearing the curses and threatnings of gods word , embolden themselves with promising themselves happiness , they will find themselves in the issue , separated to all evil . deut. 29.19 , 20. for heaven and earth shall sooner pass away , than one jot or tittle of gods word fail of its accomplishment . 2. because these are transgressers of the holy law of god , and damnation is due to them on this account . rom. 6.23 . rom. 1.13 . every sin is a transgression of the holy law of god ; it s therefore a meet and a reasonable thing that they should have their due : hell and damnation are as really due to them , and deserved by them in this their last end , as ever wages were to a man , at the end of his days work . god is neglected & slighted , his holy law trampled upon , for a little present carnal satisfaction ; so that the justice of god is concerned thus to deal with them . 3. because these their sins are of a scarlet and crimson dye , aggravated iniquities filling up the measure of other sins ; not barely transgressions and violations of a holy law of god , but breaches of his law , with such aggravations , that ripen for damnation . 1. uncleanness is an aggravated iniquity , filling up the measure of other sins . prov. 2.18 . this appears , 1 in that it is a sin that god leaves the abhorred of his soul , and reprobates to a wallowing and continuing in . eccles. 7.26 . prov. 22.14 . a sin that he leaves them to , that he never intends good to ; these are left of god , to go the way to hell ; and not escaping these sins , they may not think to escape damnation . prov. 7.27 . prov. 5.5 . these expressions that the abhorred of the lord shall fall therein , plainly intimates , that many previous and foregoing sinful courses , have provoked god to jealousie and hot displeasure ; and that he will leave them to this sin , to prepare them for a day of vengeance . 2. a sin that takes away the heart from god , and that which is good . hos. 4.11 . it alienates and estrangeth the heart from god , and the holy commandment ; it causeth sinners to disregard and slight promises and threatnings ; it takes away the heart from thinking , and meditating of god , and his word , from delighting in god and his commandments , from contriving and studying how to please god , and obey his voice ; so that they will not hearken to his voice , they will none of him ; when the heart is thus taken off from god , and that which is good , the measure of sin will be filled up apace . prov. 2.17 . 3. in that they are addicted and accustomed to this sin , are hardened persons , and seldome truly repent . prov. 2.19 . prov 7.13.23 . the scripture speaks of these , as the most impudent and shameless sinners ; yea , as those that refuse to be ashamed ; many of these past feeling . eph. 4.18 , 19. now , when any are hardened from gods fear , they will fall into mischief , and the heart of those will be set in them to do evil . 4. a sin that hath ruined and made desolate nations and lands , guilty of it : it drowned the old world ; it brought down fire and brimstone on sodom and gomorrah , gen 19.13 . sodom had many other sins , as pride , idleness &c glu●tony ; but this sin of uncleanness made it a desolation ; and a sin that eternally ruins and undoes the soul. prov. 6.32 . 2. murder is an aggravated sin , filling up the mea●u●e of other sins ; other sins treasure up wrath against the day of wrath : this sin ripens for cutting down , finisheth the transgression , and brings forth death : this appears , in 1. that the cry of this sin , pierceth the very heavens , and brings down the curse of god. gen. 4 10 , 11. he sinned in his wrath against his brother ; he finished that sin , in the murder of him . god admonished and warned him , for his passionateness , and angryness , but when he had committed this s●n , saith god , thou art cursed from the earth . 2. inasmuch as usually they are hardened against gods ●ear , and contemners of god , that are thus guilty . gen. 4.9 . he doth not fall down and cry out against himself , for his own guiltiness , but as though it were a light thing to break with god , he adds sin to sin ; he lies , to hide his murder , and takes up god disdai●fully , am i my brothers keeper ? a parent , a master , a prince , would account such language from a child , servant or subject , unallowable sawciness and contemp● . he speaks as though it was an affront to put such a question to him : and therefore after god denounced a curse on him , he doth not bewail the greatness of his sin , he doth not relent or manifest sorrow that he had sinned against god , as he had done ; only faith , my punishment is greater than i can bear ; and instead of busying his mind to get his sin pardoned , by building a city , he diverts his mind from contemplating on his guiltiness . 3. in that god will not permit murderers to li●e here , but causeth them to dy before their time ; blood thirsty men shall not live out half their days exod. 21.14 . flying to the horns of the altar , shall be no sanctuary or security to them . numb . 35.31 . there can be no compensation m●de for the expla●ing of guilt as to this life . god will have no man plead that the natural life of such a● one , may be spared . prov. 28.17 . 4. in that a whole land cannot be innocent , but polluted , that suffer innocent blood to cry against it , in neglecting the execution of justice , for such a transgression : in that a whole land shall smart for sparing a convicted murderers life : when murder is uncertain as to the author of it ; see what is incumbent on a people , for the preventing the wrath of god. deut. 21.1 . ●● ▪ 10. a people have no reason to expect that it will goe well with them , li● they neglect execution of judgment , for this sin . deut. 19.11 , 12 , 13. numb . 35.33 . the conniving at , and suffering of such sins , greatly moved god to wrath against israel . jer. 2.34 . 5. in that the very light of nature , teacheth that god is not wont to suffer this sin to go unrevenged . acts 28.4 . the wrath of god is not only revealed from scripture light , against this sin ; but the barbarians by the light of nature , judge it too great an offence for the judge of the world to permit , long unrevenged here . use i. of information . 1. what great reason they have to be humbly thankful to god , that are restrained and kept from these sins . every one by nature , hath the seeds of all sin , and disobedience : its god that witholds all as well as ahimelech gen. 20.6 . religious education , our own wisdom and resolutions can't restrain even from such wickedness : its god that makes us to differ one from another , that keeps from such pollutions ; many of the wise and learned of the world , many that make a profession , have been guilty : we are not to be unthankful for restraining grac● ; we are humbly to acknowledg god , when he keeps back from presumptuous sins . 2. what great reason ministers , parents and heads of families , have to warn all under their charge against , and to restrain them from such sinful practices and courses . these sins will not only expose theirs to such calamities in this life , that will make the ears of them that hear , to tingle , but render them obnoxious to eternal damnation . 3. how they are to blame , who suffer and permit such things under their eye , and roof , that are leading occasions to such sins . they are to blame that suffer and allow their children and servants in the black and dark night , to be absent from the religious orders of their families , to be going the way to such houses ; they are to be reproved , who bring up their children and families in idleness , which doth occasion the abounding of sin , even this sin of uncleanness . idleness occasioned sod●ms being so vile . heads of families are to be reproved , that see young ones , children or servants wantonly toying & dallying one with another , foo●ishly sporting on beds before their eyes , unreproved . i● parents and heads of families countenance and wink at such things : i know no reason they have to exercise charity towards them , that they won't play the who●e , and be grosly unclean out of their sight ; they are to blame that know their children make themselves vile , and restrain them not . 4. that the case of some is exceeding hazzardous and full of danger , they have the astonishing guilt of these sins of uncleanness & murder upon their souls ; they have not only committed th●●● evils , but have not repented of them , have the guilt of these sins still lying upon their souls . if the consciences of the●e are a●l●ep , and they under security , yet they are in hazzard and great danger . it may be they s●id , when they were tempted to these sins , they would yield to them , it would be only repen●ing of them afterwards . oh they are but a few who addict themselves to such a way and course of sin , that un●eignedly repent and turn to god. prov. 2.19 . these had need to flie for refuge , to escape for their lives . 5. it s a thing much to be lamented , that any among us at this day should be left to such sins . it s sorrowful to hear that pagans and papists should be guilty in these respects : much more lamentable , when any among our selves , especially at this day , are walking on in these ways . god hath been hedging up our wayes with thorns , to stop us in ways of sin ; shall any in such a day when god is purging us , be thus unclean ? shall any contemn the justice of god , and flight his anger ? rivers of tears should run down our eyes . we should behold these transgressors and be grieved . use ii. of awakening to all that are guilty of these sins : know it , that for these things cometh the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience . there is reason that such sinners should tremble at the wrath of god ; hear what the text and doctrine saith to such as you . i would fain have charity , that there is but one in this assembly , that hath been guilty of murder in the highest degree of it ; yet i fear there are several that have murdered in their hearts , and some who have been guilty of interpretative murder , for hiding and concealing the uncleanness of which this poor condemned one was guilty , before she became guilty of murder , for which she is to dye . i fear the guilt of innocent blood lies also upon some that through a greedy desire to get gain , have made drunk the heathen , to the occasioning quarrels to death among themselves , and ploddings of death to others . oh consider of the words and truth of god to you this day , and labour to get a pardon for your blood-guiltiness . here also is certainly matter of awakening to all unclean sinners , adulterers or fornicators : it may be there are not many before god , that have before man been convicted of uncleanness , not many who have in the sight of man , had bastards laid to their charge ; yet to be feared , much uncleanness to be charged on several , who are whoremongers in the sight of god , and exposed to this wrath , that you hear determined from the lord god of hosts against the unclean . hear & tremble all you unclean ones , elder & younger who have not only been in heart , but actually unclean before the eye of your judge : how can you escape the wrath of god under the guilt of these ? this sin of uncleanness is one great cause why the land mourns this day , and is a sin for which many will despairngly mourn at last , unless they speedily repent . this evil is thought to be a prevailing , growing evil . i shall therefore more specially have a regard to the guilty of uncleanness in what remains . awakening , 1. to all those who can commit this sin with greediness , and without remorse ; these have got the mastery of their consciences , who can commit this sin without terror , the wounds that this sin makes , are not felt ; time was when the accusations of conscience made them tremble , fill'd them with inward horror ; time was , when they could not yield to lesser acts of uncleanness without much difficulty , from the arguing of a conscience informed from the word of god. but now they are greedy after the pleasures of sin , will and can argue for uncleanness , and promise themselves security . so the whorish woman spoken of in prov. 7.15 . she becomes an orator for it , useth all her eloquence , to inveigle a companion , doth not barely hint a desire of the commission of that sin , but useth much fair speaking : now they can watch for fit seasons , and for suitable companions . eph. 4.17 , 18. fear of hell , a religious education , fear of shame and reproach will do nothing to prevent the commission o● this sin. 2. to all those who are guilty of this sin just after sabbaths , & soon after they are com● from hearing the word of god. some ther● are , who before they sleep , or give themselve● rest in their beds , are unclean : it s much to b● feared , there are those who on the evenings a●ter sabbaths , are wanton and unclean ; who 〈◊〉 as though god had been giving them a dispensation to be vile ; rather than exhorting of them to holiness of life and conversation . how many who do in this way as it were bid defiance to god ? and say , they don't value his word , or like them , the word that hath been spoken to us in the name of the lord , we will not do it ; but we will certainly do whatever goeth forth out of our own mouth ; such are surely impudent . prov. 7.14 , 15. 3. to all those who descend from godly and religious parents , who to the grief , and against the godly warnings , and admonitions of their pious relations , are unclean . 1 sam. 27.25 . those may boast themselves of their priviledges ; and say , they have abraham to their father ; but they are to god , as children of the ethiopians : hath not god in his word said of such as you ? if they forsake me , i will cast them off for ever ? prov. 29.1 . 4. to all those who break their covenant with god and man , for the fruition of adulterous pleasure . mal. 2.14 . prov. 2.17 , 18. fornication is not connived at by god ; but he is a swift witness against these . mal. 3.5 . those who sin with so many aggravating and heightening circumstances as these , can't be very long in filling up the measure of their sin for a judicial process ; they have before witness on earth , in the presence of god , promised chastity . 5. to all those who condemn it in others , and know that it hath brought down the wrath of god upon them , and yet live in it ; some that are guilty of this sin , cry out against others , and speak as though the sorest punishment that could be thought of , could not be too severe : so did judah , when his daughter-in-law , was guilty of whoredom , yet himself as deeply guilty . gen. 38.24 . surely these are inexcusably guilty , and in very great hazard and danger of being filled with the wrath of god. rom. 1.32 . rom. 3.1 , 2 , 3 ▪ these ●o as it were justifie those that have been guilty after god hath punished them , and slight the justice of god ; therefore you find god so sharply reproving these , and declaring these more abominable in his sight . ezek. 16.47 , 53. jer. 3.7 , 12. god is not wont to suffer such that harden their hearts against examples of wrath on others , to escape his wrath. dan. 5.22 . 6. to them that live in uncleanness ▪ whilst they make a high profession of godliness : they come , and sit at the table of the lord , and yet wallow in uncleanness . god that sees what they do in secret , sayes , shall not my soul be avenged of such as these ? oh! in what great danger are church member unclean persons . if god will answer them according to their abominations , who set up their idols in their hearts , and put the stumbling block of their iniquity befor● their face , when they come to enquire of a prophet ezek. 14 4. what will the end of these ●e 〈◊〉 these have had impressions made by the spiri● of god , from the word on their consciences and have been like the earth that drinketh i● the rain , that cometh oft upon it ; and i● they do after all this , continue to bring ●ort● briars , and thorns , may they not look upo● themselves nigh to cursing ? heb. 6.8 . 7 to all those whom god hath suffered to escape long unpunished , in the pursuit of unclean delights , an awful symptome , and groun● of fear , that god intends to punish them eternally . oh! many are glad at heart , that they can sin unpunished , and not be brought to shame , and smart for it here : truly such have awful ground to fear , that god intends to damn them eternally . the letting of sinner● go unpunished is threatned , as one of the fores● calamities , inflicted in this world , for the preparing of the sinner for endless torment . hos● 4.14 , 17. let such read , rom. 9.22 , 23. and se● if they have any reason to account it any part of their happiness , that they are suffered of god , to escape long unpunished , in such a way of sinning . 8. to all those who cover their uncleannesses with lies , to the doubling of their guiltiness : these take a course to carry the guilt of their doings into another world with them . those that commit adultery , and walk in lies , will be as sodom to god. jer. 23.14 . prov. 19.5 . they are doubly an abomination to god : the text doth once and again threaten those persons . here 's nothing but matter of awakening and terrour to all unclean persons , older or younger . god saith that he will punish such as you are : he will take you into his own hands . heb. 13.4 . oh! what reason have you to tremble and be afraid ! your sin is damning . the damage it doth you , is not only in this life , and on your bodies , but it destroyes your souls , and that eternally . consider , that eternal separation from god , and every act of disobedience receiving a meet reward , will make you perfectly miserable . here consider , for your awakening . 1. that the pleasures of sin will be dear bought . you are now resolved to live a life of pleasure . you are doubly guilty of folly , as well as wickedness ; you make choice of pleasures : that lye in common with bruits , and refuse the joys of holiness , and communion with god. you chuse also those that you can enjoy but for a season : they will be but as the crackling of thorns under a pot ; and they will cost you the loss of all happiness , and the sustaining all misery : you live a jolly , jocund life now , but what will you do in the end thereof ? madness in your hearts whilst you live , and after that you go to the dead . 2. that god wont punish you for one sin only , or but for a few , but for all . he will remember all your iniquities , and visit all your sins . eccles. 11.9 . amos 3.2 . all your uncleanness , all your sabbath pollutions , all your sinful thoughts , words , and actions . oh! you will find it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god , under the guilt of innumerable sins : can your hands and hearts indure under this ? can you bear the wrath of god , for numberless transgressions ? 3 god wont only bring you into misery , but the cup shall be full of wrath , without any mixture of mercy ; that he will make you take and drink down . wrath wont fall heavily only on one member of the body , but all ; not only on the body , but soul and body too : no friends to pitty you , pray for you ; no comforts of this life , to comfort you . rev. 14.10 . oh! how hard do afflictions sometimes come upon you now ; you say , you can't live long under them , if they are continued ; and yet you have many mercies mixt with your bitterest afflictions , many comforts : but then forsaken of all , nothing but wrath , not one single mercy . 4. god will have no regard to any thing you can devise , to alleviate your pain . he will take no notice of any of the prayers you made , or profession you made of religion . if you took lamps , and went forth to meet the bridgroom ; if you eat and drunk at his table : if in his name you cast out devils ; if you gave of your estate to charitable uses ; if your estate were laid out for the maintaining and upholding the ordinances of god worship ▪ and your natural or acquired parts and abilities , were improved for the good of gods church ; your wisdom and your courage improved many years , for the preservation and defence of gods people ; it would not be esteemed by god , to prevent your torment . matt. 7.21 , 22 , 23. and matt. 25.12 . god wont regard the prayers of the most holy ministers and relations that prayed for you , to ease you of your pains . jer. 15.1 . ezek. 14.14 . god wont regard your earnest pleadings . matt. 25.11 , 12. dives can't get one drop of water , with all his pleadings . your descending from godly parents , and that you were the children of the covenant , won't procure any abatement of pain : the rich man crying out in torment , though he crys , father abraham , and is called son , yet hath no ease . luk. 16.25 . 5. god won't only rank your sins before your eyes , but he will make them manifest to your contempt , before the world . god will reprove you , and set your sins in order before your eyes , when he comes to execute vengeance , as matt. 25 41. psal. 50.21 , 22. he will also make known to the world , what manner of persons you were to your disgrace and reproach . psal. 52.6 , 7. luk. 12.2 , 3. all your secret sins , wicked thoughts , your hypocrisy , and apostacy , will all be proclaimed before all the world . you would be ashamed to be seen in any company , if the wickedness of your hearts , and thoughts ; if the wickedness committed by you in secret , were known to all ; oh! how do those that seemed to be without shame , hang down their heads ? how shy are they of any company , or society , when but a little of their sin is made known ? or but a few of their ungodly pranks brought to light : but now all shall be made manifest , to their everlasting disgrace . 6. god won't design any good to you in any , in all those sorrows , and torments that you shall indure . here when god chastens he aims at profit ; he puts into the furnace to puri●y : but then his wrath will be a confirming fire : reprobate silver shall they be called . god who was so long abused , slighted , and disregarded , will not have one thought , or intention to do you any good , or to prepare you by these miseries for his favour : he sentenceth to everlasting fire , prepared for devils . you will be separated from all those that god designs good to : the judgments of god will be to make you miserable . oh! consider of these things , you that forget god , least he tear you in pieces , and there be none to deliver you . it s an ease to the spirits of many a man and woman under afflictions , to have comfortable hopes and perswasions , that god is carrying on a design of love & grace to their souls , by such dispensations ; that by these he is preventing worse judgments . 1 cor. 11.32 . but no ease can come to the damned from any such consideration . god never designs to bring them out of torment , but the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever . use iii. of warning . to warn all to take heed of those sin ; and to warn them that are guilty of them , speedily to repent , and fly to christ for pardon and forgiveness . 1. to warn every one of you to take heed of these sins . 1. or god may justly suffer you to be punished in the same way that you abuse others , job 30.10 . god permits this many times by way of retaliation ? 2 sam. 12.11 . hos. 4.12.15 . they themselves had been unclean . you would be far from taking pleasure in having these sins paid back into your own botomes ; to have husbands or wives , to have children , sons or daughters left of god to uncleanness ; but it would be a righteous thing with god to permit you to be exercised after such a sort . 2. or you will take a course to bring an unremoveable reproach , blemish and spot on your selves . prov. 6.33 . if you get a pardon as to everlasting punishment , yet a spot will remain . 1 king. 15.5 . solomon tells you , a good name is better than precious oyntment . i am sure , they justly forfeit the reputation of wisdom that will part with a good name , for the pleasures that are to be enjoyed in this way . 3. or the best that can be expected , is sorrow unspeakably greater than any pleasure you can reap in this way of sinning . sorrow from the judgments of god , and that will be sure to overtake you in this life , and rottenness of bones ; being brought to a morsel of bread . how many heart distressing troubles was david followed with , after he fell into these sins ? how was he punished in and from his own children , and how by his subjects revolting ? sorrows from the influences of gods spirit , in bringing to a sound repentance . he tells of broken bones , his moisture turned into the drought of summer , he lost the joy of gods salvation . oh how will conscience accuse and perplex ; who would undergo the horrors of conscience , that will fill the soul of such , to the causing of them to have a dreadful sound in their ears for all the delight that is this way to be enjoyed ? the psalmist , psal 51. acquaints us how such pleasures bite at the last . cain says , his punishment is greater then he can bear ; his guilty conscience makes him fear , that every one that meets him , is gods executioner . 4. or , it 's to be feared , that if once you yield , that you will hold on in such wayes till death overtake you : sinners are stupified , that are left to these wayes of sin : you have heard that few are recovered by unfeigned repentance . stollen waters are so sweet and pleasant to ignorant carnal men , who know not that the dead are there , and that her guests are in the depths of hell ; that they oftimes go on , till a dart strike thro' their liver , prov. 7.23 . the young man had so much conscience left him , that he would not yield , till with much fair speaking he was sollicited , and then he goes on till death ; these are oftimes so far besotted by their lusts , that reproofs will be slighted by them , hos. 4.4 . 5. they are sins that bring great wrath upon a land. hos. 4.23 . when the sons of eli had given themselves to these sins , god was wrath , and thirty four thousand men fell in the battle , and the ark of god was taken . the wrath of god distresseth a land where such iniquities abound ; wars , impoverishing dispensations , to many families and towns , are the effects of gods anger , stirred up 〈◊〉 kindled by such provocations . why should you rebel thus against the lord , and so provoke god to be wroth with the whole congregation . 6. or you may fear that god will destroy you for defiling his temple . 1 cor. 13.17 . direction 1. don't disobey gods counsels and walk contrary to them , in refusing christ psal. 81.11 , 12. they take a direct course to fall into these abominations , to their everlasting contempt , that cast contempt upon the word of god , and on his son. a christless soul can have no assurance , that he shall not be left finally to the worst abominations . prov. 2 . 10.16● prov. 5.12 , 13. 2. don't rely on your own wisdom to be security to you from these abominations ; but endeavour to have your ways such as may please god. eccl. 7.22 . some are ready to say , as hazael , are we doggs , that we should do such things , and yet both do them , and have pleasure in them that do them : yea though they know the judgments of god against them who do such things . solomons wisdom was no preventive ; grace it self is no preservative from foul acts of sin ; where persons are carnally confident of their own strength . peter after his boasts , is so scared by a sorry dams●l , that he denies christ , and curses and swears . see that your wayes are well pleasing to god , that you may be kept by the mighty power of god , through faith to salvation . 3. abstain from all appearance and leading causes to such sins ; don't come ●igh the door of her house , don't be out in evenings , & among foolish vain jolly company , when you should be in your closets , and on your knees before god. prov. 5.8 , 9. prov. 4.14 , 1● . the young man spoken of , prov. 7.1 . was going the way to her house in the black and dark night ; he is insnared . prov. 17.18 , 19 , 21. beware and take heed of idleness , as that which will occasion your sinning after this sort . usually unclean persons , are idle persons ; there was abundance of uncleanness in sodom , and that because there was abundance of idleness . ezek. 16.49 , beware of drinking away your precious time : drunkenness ushers in murder and adultery : drunkards are often unclean . 4. beware of giving way to other sins against the motions and strivings of gods spirit . so did this poor condemned woman , before she was left of god to this sin of murder ! for which she must dye : so did herod , and he imprisoned and murdered john the baptist. seven worse and more wicked spirits often enter into such , and so their last end is worse than their beginning , mat. 12.44 , 45. 5. consider that all your ways are before god , and the darkness hideth not from him . prov. 5.21 . 6. beware of indulging your selves in secret sins ; you must endeavour to be cleansed from secret faults , if you would not have presumptuous sins have dominion over you . 2. to warn them that have fallen into these sins , not to delay repentance ; to beware of doing any thing to the continuing of the guilt of these sins upon your souls , and consciences . oh hasten , escape for your lives ; fly for refuge to christ. look not back , with a desire after them . 1 you have been antecedently guilty of many other sins , ripening you for these ; besides the guilt of these sins , you have the guilt of many other . 2. god will else tear you in pieces , and none shall deliver you . psal. 50.22 . 3. all your former righteousness , and religigiousness will be disowned , if you live impenitent under these sins . ezek. 18.24 . & 32 12 , 13. 1. remember them against your selves so as to be heartily judging and condemning of your selves for them . if you would not have god to loath you , loath and abhor your selves for your violations of his holy law : if you would not have god remember against you former iniquities , you must remember them against your selves . your iniquities must be before you ; and you must be judging your selves , before god for them : so did ezra , chap. 9.15 . so did david , psal. 51.3 , 4. this we are counselled to . 1 cor. 11.31 . thus did repenting ephraim . jer. 31.18 . 2 , follow and trace the footsteeps of these your sins , till you find out your original sin , & your impure nature . psa. 51.5 . unless men come to see and know the plague of their own hearts , they will be partial and feigned in their repentance : they that dont turn with their whole hearts , will fall back again , when a suitable temptation and occasion is offered and presented . 3. beware that you dont flatter your selves as though you had repented before you have ; repentance is not a saying before god with tears , that you are sorry for your transgressions : many turn , but not to the most high. 4. see that christ as a sanctifier and justifier be sought after by you , in respect of the guilt you lie under : you had need improve christ as a justifier , and as an advocate . oh! then go to christ as to him who only can justify , acquit , and absolve you from the guilt of sin. 1 joh. 2.1 , 2. joh. 1.29 . from the consideration of the power and dominion of sin : you have need of christ as your only sanctifier . your prayers , reformations , tears , won't justifie you : christ must be a satisfyer for you , or gods justice can't be satisfyed . and you have no way to get power against corruption , but by going to christ as your sanctification : your vows , promises , resolutions , fastings , won't mortifie and kill any one sin in you ; 't is christ must subdue your sin in you , and for you . 5. improve present influences from the spirit of god to draw you to christ. unless god by his spirit draw you , you will never come to the son : the number of your sins won't make you go to christ ; the greatness of your sins won't make you go to christ : natural desires of happiness , and escaping wrath & hell , won't bring you to christ ; these may cause you to play the hypocrite , but they won't bring you to christ : times of common calamity & judgment won't drive you to christ : thoughts and apprehensions of deaths drawing near and just at hand , ready to arrest you , won't prevail with you to go to christ. you that delay and put off your repentance when god is striving with you , take heed , you can't convert your selves when you will , without gods spirit . look upon this poor object before your eyes , and then consider whether any , or all the forementioned things , will make you fly to christ. improve the spirit while it is at work on your souls . 6. beware that you don't hearken to vain words and reasonings , tending to the lessening of your guiltiness , and your danger of gods wrath and judgment . eph. 5.6 . oh! know that for these things cometh the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience . and since the apostle hath cautioned thus , as to this sin ; i would particularly warn you , to take heed that you don't by vain reasonings prevent your speedy repenting , and turning to god : and shall in a few particulars shew you the vanity of such reasonings , as have a tendency to extenuate , and lessen your sin and danger , that you may not hearken to them , and deceive your own souls . 1. some are ready to reason away apprehensions of divine anger , because 't is so long since they were guilty of them ; if they had committed these sins to day , yesterday , or but a few weeks ago ; they should be afraid , and concerned to get them pardoned : but it s so long since , that they have almost forgotten them ; and if god had been much provoked he would not have born with them thus long . 1. consider . god remembers them all , as though committed but yesterday : they are sealed up among his hid treasures . god said , psal. 50. that he can set them in order before the sinners eyes . god won't only punish for a few of your latter sins only , but for all : if they were committed when you were young , he hau 't forgot them , for he sayes , he will bring you into judgment , for all your youthful sins . eccle. 11.9 . they that have gone to god aright , have gone for the pardon of former sins ; sins of youth , as well as latter transgressions . 2. god punisheth some men a long time after they have committed their sins . 't is true because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed , that the hearts of the sons of men are set in them to do evil ; it s no argument that you shall escape punishment , because god hath not yet punished you . though god did not destroy the people in the wilderness presently , but bore with their evil manners for forty years , yet he wasted that generation . hear what god sayes , exod. 32.32 . god waited on , and warned his people for twenty three years by his prophet , and yet after all he destroyed them in his anger . jer. 25.3 , 7. jude verse 5. 2 pet. 2.9 . 3. it may be you have been under a judicial process ever since . sinners are sometimes stupid and don 't observe the strokes of god upon them ; hear how unobservant they were that had been for so long a time under a course of judgment . jer. 44.19 . compared with 20●●●24 . the judgments of god are sometimes more spiritual , and so more undiscorned ; god layes his plagues on some mens souls , when he layes them on other mens bodies ; he sends leanness into some mens souls , when he sends leanness on others estates . ha●'t god let you alone and poured upon you a spirit of deep sleep ? given you eyes , that you should not see , nor perceive , nor be converted to this day ? to be left of god to go on stupidly in impenitency , is a very great testimony of divine wrath. soul plagues are the forest plagues . 4. the longer ago your sins were committed , the more hazardous your unconcernedness about ●epenting of them , & getting a pardon of them : god wont be patient alwayes , though he is ●ometimes long suffering : if he waites on sinners till they bring forth briers and thornes , he would have them know , they are nigh to cursing . yea , such as are impenitent after much long suffering , may fear that they are vessels fitted to destruction , rom. 9.22 . god sayes , i come three years looking for fruit , and find none , cut it down why cumbereth it the ground . luk. 13.7 . ult . 2. some are ready to argue that their sins are but little ; if they had been left to gross acts of fornication or adultery , they acknowledge they should have had need to have haltened to chrst for a pardon ; but they were only guilty of some wanton dalliances , therefore they don't think god is very angry with them . 1. though some sins comparatively considered are little , yet no sins absolutely considered are little and small , because against an infinite god , and violations and transgressions of his holy laws , and commands . 2. such little sins , if your consciences were awakened and enlightned would fill you with great perplexity , and distress : as long as the commandment did not come , with convictions of its exactness , and spirituality on pauls conscience , he was alive and could do well enough ; but when such an exposition , as christ put upon the commandment came , sin revived , and ●e dyed ; he was slain , and could justifie himself no longer . 3. god finds stubbornness & rebellion which are as that sin of witchraft , where sinners can see only humane frailty and sins of infirmity , 1 sam. 15.23 . saul saith , he had obeyed , the● he had a good end in varying from the command , or the people are to blame , but god tell● him of rebellion and stubbornness which were to him as witchcraft and idolatry : god tell● him that he had in so doing rejected the word of the lord. christ tells us , he that looks upon a woman to lust after her , hath committed adultery with her in his heart . hear what account god makes of that which you call a look , a cast o● the eye , a little thing . isa. 3.16 , 17. 4. the more madness to break with god , and expose your souls to hell torment for these things , that had but a little of pleasure to entice . ezek. 13.19 . 5. little sins make way for greater . one sin allowed , stupifies and makes way for great ones ; the greatest sinner began with that which you call little . eve first saw that the tree was good : cain was first wroth with abel , and then slew him . 3. some are arguing thus ; god is long-suffering and patient ; no hazzard of present danger . eccles. 11.8 . if god strike sinners dead presently , they should be afraid to put off repentance ; but god waits and forbears ; he waited long on the old world , on sodom , on many wicked men of old ; they don't doubt but god will yet wait on them , they see no appearance of wrath as yet : to this , consider , 1. is not this to despise the riches of gods grace and patience , to the treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath , rom. 2.4 , 5. can't you be content without a treasure of wrath ? that you can find in your heart thus to delay repentance . 2. god did not exercise any patience towards the fallen angels , and he is under no obligation to exercise any towards you . jude 6. 2 pet. 2.5 . what reason can you give why god should wait any longer on you ? can you do him more services ? god is very arbitrary in his waiting , longer or shorter on sinners . 3. god doth not ordinarily wait so long on gospel sinners . rom. 9.28 no sinners ripen sooner for cutting down in vengeance than gospel sinners . god makes very quick work with some . acts 13.46 . how quick and sudden was god with ananias and saphira ? 4. god threatens to make quick work with them that harden themselves in sins , in hopes of long-suffering . ezek. 12.27 , 28. so that you have no security in putting off repentance ; it s very hazzardous . 4. some will reason thus with themselves . god is very gracious and merciful , and pardons great sins , and sinners . god pardoned manasseh , and mary magdalen , and other great sinners : if god had not proclaimed his name to be gracious and merciful , slow to anger , & forgiving iniquity , transgression and sin , they should be afraid of delaying repentance ; but inasmuch as god is so very merciful , they hope it will be no very hard thing to perswade him to pardon afterwards . to this consider , 1. that he is a just and righteous god too , and pardons no sinners but such as are penitent ; it 's true , god gives great sinners encouragement to turn to him ; and upon their repentance , he will forgive their iniquities , yea multiply to pardon ; but remember he is a just god too ; when he proclaims his name with so much encouragement to repenting sinners , he subjoyns that he will not at all acquit the guilty . nahum . 1.3 . as merciful as god is , he will not shew mercy and grace to the wronging and injuring of his justice . 2. you take a course to be shut out of all mercy , and to have god appear shutting up all bowels , and pitty from you . deut. 29.19 . such reasonings are to be abominated . rom. 6.1 . surely you turn the grace of god to wantonness ; when you improve it to encourage you on in ways of sin and rebellion . 5. some plead for themselves , that they are weak and ignorant ; god hath not given them muck knowledge as others ; wherefore their sin is not so provoking to god , as the sins of them that have more knowledge ; they hope god will pity their weakness , and not be so very severe with them . 1. one sin won't excuse you for another ; a gracious act presently after a sinful one , will not excuse you before god ; surely the pleading of that which is a sin , will be no security for a sin . it 's true , the more any sin against knowledge , the more aggravated is their sin ; but ignorance is no defence against gods anger ; especially in such as you that have had your education in new-england , under the plain convincing preaching of the gospel . you must of necessity have refused to attend to the word preached , that remain ignorant , as to the plain principles of religion ; you must have set at nought gods counsels , and closed and shut your own eyes . what excuse will it be for you ? if you are willingly ignorant ; you did not see , because you shut your eyes , and would not . 2. you know that such and such courses that you allow you selves in , are sins ; and so your sins are not from weakness , but wilfulness . you know that whoredom is a sin ; that prophaning gods sabbaths is a sin , that unbelief is a sin . you can't plead ignorance here . 3. god hath declared that your ignorance & weakness shall be no expiation of his wrath : isa. 27.11 . hos. 4.6 . 6. you say , you don't make such a profession of godliness as some others do ; if you made a very great profession , and did such things , you are ready to think , god would be very angry ; you do therefore condemn lesser evils in church members , and admire how they can be so insensible . 1. sin will damn them that don't make a profession , as well as others . god will damn heathen for their impenitency , as well as professors . 2. you do so far make a profession , that your sin will be aggravated . you pray in your families , come and joyn in prayer , and hearing the word of god. you do many things , tho' not all commanded duties ; you profess so high , that your sin will cast you down as low as hell , if you repent not . 3. by these things you incapacitate your selves from making a suitable profession . will saying that you lived in sins and wickedness , that rendered you unfit for respecting all gods commandments , prevent your being beaten with many stripes ? luk. 12.47 . 7. some will say , that it s not in their power to change their own hearts , and withstand temptation : if they had sinned after such a sort , & had a power to have resisted temptations ; they think god would have been very severe , but they can't change their own hearts . 1. because you can't do that which is not your work , and what you can't , won't you do what is your duty , and what you can ? though you can't change your hearts , you can reform your life . many that have no principle of grace , reform their lives . 2. 't is in your power not to run your selves into temptations , as you often do ; you may as well on an evening , go into your closet , and confess your sin , as go into bad company , and bad places . 3. 't is your sin and madness then to provoke god not to help you . can't you repent of your selves ? and will you run away from god , who only can ? will you sin away his help from you ? he bids you turn , and he will pour out his spirit : if you turn from him , and will not cherish the motions of his spirit , you take a course to dye in your sins . 8. 't is your grief and sorrow that you do sin . if you were not affected and sinned without remorse , you conclude , god would say , shall not my soul be avenged on such a sinner ? but you are sorry , you confess your sins with tears ; you can say you are grieved at heart for your sins , you hope god will not be so exact with you . 1. some are grieved and sorrowful , but 't is for the shame and punishment of their sins : they acted as though they had no shame in them , when their sins were hid from man , but when men know of them , they grieve and are sorrowful . shame and fear of punishment , not the violation of gods law is the moving cause of some men and womens grief and sorrow . 2. your grief and sorrow won't quench hell fire , nor wash away the stain of sin . if you cry night and day , and weep never so much ; yea , you cover the altar in this sense with tears , god won't regard : these are not the blood of christ , which only cleanseth from iniquity . 3. your sorrow and grief are but flattery & dissimulation , so long as you take no heed to reform . you read of the pharisees , that they appeared to men to be sorrowful : yea of those whose fasts god abhorred , though they made a very plausible show of sorrow , because they did not reform sayes god , will you call this a fast ? and an acceptable day to the lord ? isa. 58.3 ▪ 8. 9. you say , you were sollicited , drawn in , and over perswaded by others to these sins ; if you had enticed others , you had been very much to blame ; but for your part you had no intention , not a thought in your heart to do such wickedness ; but others would give you no quiet till you make one with them , and so you impute it to your being good natured and willing to gratifie others , rather than to the enmity of your heart against god. 1. could they that enticed you , do as much for you , or against you , as god could ? surely if you use this reasoning to be looked upon to be good natured persons , you lay your selves open to a just censure for folly : who that is wise will despise god , to please man ? 2. if you are so good natured , why don't you yield to god in his beseechings and entreaties ? you are stubborn , wilful and stout enough here : how earnestly hath god invited you to come to him ? he hath not failed in giving you suitable and proper encouragements ; god hath stood long entreating , many years called with al●earnestness , & sent by many to perswade you . 3. others could not make you yield , if sin within did not entice you , to a giving a consent , jam. 1.14 . the devil himself han't a power to make you yield ; it may be you say , the scripture seems to carry it in the favour of the young man , spoken of , in prov. 7.21 , that she forced him . to that i say ; you would do well to consider , that the scripture relates it , as preparing him for such wickedness , and how fully he yielded ; 't is said , he was one void of understanding , one that had refused christ as his prophet , that would not come to him for eye salve , and that he was out of his place , and idling away his time , seeking occasions of sin ; he was passing through the street , near her corner , and he went the way to her house ; and then that he goes after her straightway , or suddenly as it may be rendred ; she did not pull and drag him along , not forcibly drive him ; but he comes after , not make a stand , a stop , or turn back ; but goes after her straightway , and perseveres in the sin. 4. that god doth strike dead even such as these . prov. 7.23 . god don't only take vengeance on them that entice , but on them that are enticed . god gives you no reason by his dealings with such , to hope that you may escape unpunished . 10. you say the days are such days of apostacy , and the times so degenerate , that you should be a meer laughing stock if you did not sin ; you are ready to say , that you have found , that the end of such mirth is heaviness : conscience hath galled , accused & condemned you for them ; but if you did decline wanton expressions and gestures , you should make your selves a prey ; others would censure you as silly creatures , not fit for society ; if others would reform , you would be glad to reform ; but as things are circumstanced , you are afraid to reform . 1. better sinners laugh at you here , than god laugh at you for ever . god will be ashamed of them that are ashamed of him , before an adulterous and wicked generation : god will have them in derision : yea , he will laugh at their calamity , and mock when their fear cometh as desolation ; that on such pretences set at nought his counsel . prov. 1.26 . you are afraid sinners will laugh at you , and count you a silly creature : you take a direct course to be a fool for ever . 2. others have kept from sin under greater temptations . moses , joseph , lot , daniel , and the three children . 3. it would be no damage but a benefit to get rid of such company , whose favour you think to lose . the psalmist says , depart from me you wicked men , i will keep the commands of my god. moses counted the reproach of christ greater riches than all the pleasures and treasures of egypt . 4. it may be your conversion might be an occasion , not only of the reformation , but found conversion of many others . it may be your being so concerned for christ , may cause them to say , o thou fairest among women ! whither is thy beloved gone , that we may go and seek him with you ? cant. 6.1 . it may be you may make them ashamed , that falsly accuse your good conversation : you are not sure you shall be reproached by any . 5. your conversion to god will rejoyce many , god , christ , your godly relations , and ministers , will be glad and rejoyce . luk. 15.32 . 2 joh. 4. & 3 joh. 3. 11. you say you are not convinced that such and such things are sins , you see no great harm in them ; god prospers you in such wayes , if you really thought them to be sins , you would reform : you have heard such unclean words and gestures reproved in the pulpit , but you are not of the ministers mind : you have known others that have fled from such things , have been afflicted , and you have been prospered . 1. you don't bring your deeds to the light to know what they are , that it may be made manifest what they are ; you might have been convinced . your refusing to try your actions , renders it suspicious that you have a secret jealousy they are naught ; you would not willingly know them to be sins joh. 3.20 . 2. you have often from the ministry been warned of such courses , and have heard them condemned from scripture arguments ; your saying , you are not of the ministers mind , who cites scripture for what he layes down , whilst you refuse to search with the bereans , whether the things be so or no , will be no plea for you . 3. your own consciences have accused you for these things , when you have lookt upon death to be near ; when you are well , your love to your lusts , puts a new darkness upon your judgments , that were before corrupted by the fall . 4. outward prosperity is no argument that your ways are good . you can say by experience , that soul prosperity don't go along with such ways and courses . prov. 1. penult . others have been converted , and you blinded and hardened ; you have lost the things that have been wrought , and are gone backward . 12. you say your sins are secret from the eyes of the world , and you were never left above once to be actually and grosly unclean . if you had been an open sinner , one addicted to wayes of filthiness , you think god would be very angry : but you sinned but once , you hope god will over look that , and pa●s it by . 1. god that is to be your judge sees in secret , and will damn for secret sins : secret sins will damn you as well as open . christ denounced woes against scribes and pharisees , for secret sins . god will bring every secret thing into judgment . eccl. 12.14 . 2. adam by one act of disobedience was shut out of paradise : the angels thrust out of heaven . 3. one act of these sins may fill up the measure of other sins . ananias and saphira they fill'd up the measure of sin in lying : one of these sins don't go alone ; many other sins prepare and make way for them . 13. you say you have many good things as well as evil ; you hope your good may be set against your evil . you pray , hear , read , and do many good things ; you hope no present hazard , you should be afraid , were it not that you are religious in many things . 1. such have perish'd eternally . the pharisies could say as much as you in this respect : yea herod did many things gladly ; and the young man that came to christ , could say , all these have i kept from my youth up . 2. those things which you call good are an abomination to god , whilst you give your selves liberty to sin : see what god sayes to them isa. 1.11 . god threatens to make them as shiloah . jer. 7.14 . 3. by your impenitency you take a course to be openly wicked , and to lose your religiousness . though herod had a respect to john the baptist a while , by retaining his herodias , he is left first to imprison him who he had heard gladly , and then beheads him . 14. you say you have known several do such things , and yet when they come to dye they have made a very good end , you hope you shall too . 1. did you never know any that seemed to be as good and religious as they whilst sick , that after recovery were worse ? oh! do you think that all that were prophane in health and hypocrites in sickness recover ? and that they all go to heaven that are full of good expressions on a sick bed to death ? 2. it may be god may come upon you with a sudden destruction , that you may never come on a sick bed . who can tell what a morrow may produce ! when you think death farthest off , and promise your selves years , god may say , fools , this night shall your souls be required . 15. you say you saw religious and good men do such things , and therefore you apprehend no great harm in them , surely they would never have done such things , if there had been so much provocation , and therefore so much hazzard in them . 1. it may be they were only hypocrites that you saw act so : so was judas , so was demas , so the scribes and pharisees , that were had in such veneration for their sanctitie . 2. you are to follow none only wherein they follow christ. good men are not the rule you are to walk by . consider how the prophet was punished that was deluded , upon a prophets suggesting to him , that an angel had so spoken to him . 1 king. 13.13 . i would conclude with a word of warning to you , that are the occasion of our being here this day before the lord , who are under a righteous sentence of death : to turn to the lord under the guilt of these sins , before the decree bring forth . you have stood before an earthly tribunal , and are found guilty ; how will you stand before the tribunal of christ ? to answer for all your sins ? your day of grace is almost gone , and within a few hours , you will either be in heaven or hell. oh! now turn to god , or you will never . i would offer some things to your consideration , for your conviction of guiltiness , and need you have to get your peace made with god. you are by nature , a child of wrath , and guilty of adams sin ; you brought a guilty , defiled soul into the world with you : you were shapen in iniquity , and in sin did your mother conceive you . you have long refused and slighted jesus christ , and would none of him as your prophet , your priests , and your king , and so are under a sentence of death , from the gospel , as well as the law ; by your unbelief you have sealed down , the wrath of god upon your own soul ; you have fallen also into great land-polluting moral evils , lying , stealing , adultery , and murder . you would not hearken to the voice of your eminently pious father-in law , warning of you . you have accustomed your self to these ways of sin , tho' you lived under the convincing preaching of the gospel . you closed your eyes , and would not see , tho' for many years you lived under an eminently soul-searching ministry ; & you have given up your self to these sins in the day that god was pleading his controversie , and hedging up your ways with thorns ; in the day of the lords anger , you have sinned more and more : when god had driven you out of one plantation , into another , by the enemy ; when god had taken away your first husband by death , and suffered your second to be carried into captivity ; when he was in bondage , you were wantonly doting on your lovers ; yea though you could not look out an your door , but the garrison and souldiers before your eyes proclaimed it to be a day of gods anger ; your sin is very great , in your violating your marriage covenant . you have relapsed after god filled your soul with horror for these abominations , and turned again as a sow that was washed , to her wallowing in the mire . you refused to be prevented from murder , by covering your adultery with lying , though so solemnly admonished and cautioned . you have unnaturally murdered the fruit of your own body , & what in you lay its soul ; have abused patience and long suffering exercised towards you of god ; multiplying lying , and hardening your heart , & have not feared god , being under a righteous condemnation , and sentence of death ; but to this day continued in lying . you have slighted the word of god , quenched the spirit of god , refused christ ; and have by these things filled up the measure of your sins ; so that you must dye , that the land be not guilty : none may stay you from death , and suffer you to live ; least the land be greatly polluted . and you are now enjoying your last opportunity in gods house ; you that have idled , slept away , yea whored away part of so many sabbaths and lectures , shall have no more . you that have disregarded gods counsels , how righteously might god say ? i will laugh at your calamity , and mock when your fear comes● . yet he sayes after all these things , turn , jer. 3.7 . for the life of your body , your case is hopeless . your sin is so heinous , that your life can't be saved without injustice . well then , since you can't live guiltless , labour to die penitent ; & since your body can't be saved alive , endeavour that your soul may be saved alive in death ; there is yet a possibility that your soul may be saved . see prov. 1.20 , 22 , 23 , 24. jesus christ the essential wisdom , calls after such an one as you , to come to him ; though you have been long sinning , lov'd , and delighted in sinning ; yea , tho' you have hated knowledge , you are called upon , & encouraged to come . god in christ is shewing how ready he is to show you mercy upon your repentance , and to help you in your repentance , he offers you the best help , and help suitable . oh then come away to jesus christ now ; left upon your refusal , the after verses be made good against your soul. direction . come away to christ now upon the call and encouragement of the gospel . stay away no longer : don't think your prayers , good promises , and others praying for you , will save you . but hasten away to christ : there is no other name given , whereby you can be saved . act. 4.12 . and no other way of being saved by christ , than by coming to him , or believing on him . you are called this day in an ordinance of christ to come for reconciliation . 1 cor. 5.19 . christ came to save guilty sinners : it s a faithful saying and worthy of your acceptation , that christ came into the world to save sinners , chief of sinners . the greatest sinners have been justified in this way . 1 cor. 6.11 . so manasseh that shed much innocent blood . consider , for your encouragement , that christ fully accepts of them that ran far from him , that refused to come as long as they could retain any hopes of being saved in any other way , upon their coming to him . luke 15. god won't upbraid you upon your coming . jam. 1.5 . yea , he that comes unto me i will in no wise cast out ; though he have been a great and an old sinner , though he have sinned away many convictions , yet if he come he shall have mercy . christ jesus calls you to come ; not to sell you pardon , but give you grace . matth. 11.29 . i will give you rest . christ aimes at your present gain , and not at his own : and therefore if you have no money , yet you may have the mercy you want . isa. 55.1 . consider . 1. that christ don't call you to come to him to be punished , but pardoned . christ in the gospel comes to you to save you , calls you to come to him , to be pardoned . it s true , if you refuse the calls of christ in this life , he will call you in the next life to be punished , and condemned . oh! christ calls you , and you need not be afraid to come to him now ; for he doth not call you to come to be punished for sins al●eady committed ; but that he may pardon and forgive them , blot o●t the hand-writing of ordinances that was against you . may you have a free and full pardon of so many and great sins upon coming ? then delay no longer . 2. jesus christ calls you to come , not to pass a sentence of death upon you ; but to take it off from you : there will be no condemnation against your soul , when once you are gotten into christ. rom. 8.1 . yea , christ says , such shall not enter into condemnation ; for they are passed from death to life ; there is a sentence of death gone out against you in the law , & 't is a holy and righteous sentence too ; now the gospel offers no mercy , to the repealing and taking off this sentence of condemnation without coming to christ. 3. christ calls you to come to him , not to shut you up in the prison of hell , but to set you at liberty . oh! christ would bring you out of the pit , wherein is no water ; for christ received a commission from the father , to proclaim liberty , and the opening of the prison doors , to them that are shut up , isa. 61.1 , 2. the prison and dungeon of hell is the place you will assuredly be shut up in , if you stay away from christ ; but the son will set you at liberty , if you come to him ; who don't chuse liberty and enlargement before prisons and dungeons ? 4. christ calls you not to feed you with the bread and water of affliction , but to feast you . rev. 3.20 . luk. 15.23 . here 's bread , which if you eat of you shall never hunger : is not bread to the hungry soul desireable ? why should you stay away , when you are ready to perish with hunger ? christ jesus will feast you , if you come to him . christ hath spiritual delicacies to entertain you withal . 5. jesus christ don't call you to cloath you with raggs , and bring you to shame and disgrace , but to cloath you with his righteousness . christ won't take away any thing that is good and desireable , and worth keeping , but to give you grace and glory : nor to speak angrily , but to speak comfortably to you ; not to put you to drudgery , and ignominious service for ever ; but to stand before him to do him service , in praising and glorifying his name . see what you are counsel'd to come to christ for . rev. 3.18 . 1. come to him for that which he came into the world for , to be your sanctifier ; to have sin taken away ; that he would give you repentance . christ is exalted at the right hand of the father , to give repentance unto israel , and remission of sins . god hath sent him to bless his people in turning them from their iniquities . his name is jesus , and he will save them that come unto him from their sins . you want christ for this , how can you else think of going into the holy heavens ? nothing that defiles enters there : without holiness you can't see god. oh! then let that be upon your soul , to have christ for sanctification . 2. come to him as a poor guilty , polluted creature : come therefore self condemned : they that come because they have made so many prayers , and have gotten something good , are not like to be accepted . remember the poor publican , that went down to his house justifyed ; he was one that smites upon his breast , the lord be merciful to me a sinner ; he don't say , be merciful to me , who was once a great sinner , but i have reformed my life , i have made many an affectionate prayer , i have taken a great deal of pains ; but he comes as guilty , sayes not a word to justify himself . so the prodigal , when he come home , he comes judging & condemnning himself for what he had done , that he was so guilty , that god might now justly put him by , he does not say , i did displease , but i have now done something to turn away thine anger , and to procure thy favour . see what he sayes . luk. 15.18 , 19 , 21. and yet ●●e what wellcome he met with . verse ●2 . and don't you think to go because you have sorrowed , mourned , and kept from sinful co●●●es . see how david went to god. psal. 51.3 , 4. 3. come as a helpless , shi●tless , lost creature . oh! consider that in him the f●●●erless findeth mercy : as one that must have all ●●om christ. oh! go to him as one that is lost , and knows not what to do of your self . christ came to seek and save the lost . 4. justifie god in all his comminations , threatnings and curses against sin , and sinners . so did david , psal. 51.4 . 5. come to him from the encouragements of the gospel , from what encouragements christ gives you in his word ; nor because you have gotten a heart to ha●e sin , love god ; or because you are not quite so bad as you have been . 6 come to him to be saved from the wickedness of your heart . oh that you may be saved from the unbelief , hypocrisie , worldliness , hardness and carnality of your heart . so did david , psal. 51.1 . create in me a c●ean heart 7. come to him with a desire to be put into his service , to do work for him ; so did the prodigal ; make me as one of thy hired servants . you will say , what work can i do ? that am just going out of the world . oh consider , that you may serve christ , in making confession of you sin , warning of others , justifying god ; oh come away , consider that christ will call to you from off the mercy seat no more after a few hours ; if you refuse now , how will you dare to make your appearance before the throne of justice ? if you are afraid to come to christ so affectionately calling you to come to him , where he is sitting on his throne of mercy , & holding forth the scepter of divine grace ? oh! come ; behold now , even now , is yet an accepted time . come , and give your self to jesus christ. oh! lift up your heart to god , to draw you , to turn you ; and we will lift up our hearts and desires to god with you , and for you , that he would draw and turn you . finis . a brief review of the most material parliamentary proceedings of this present parliament, and their armies, in their civil and martial affairs. which parliament began the third of november, 1640. and the remarkable transactions are continued untill the act of oblivion, february 24. 1652. published as a breviary, leading all along successiviely, as they fell out in their severall years: so that if any man will be informed of any remarkable passage, he may turne to the year, and so see in some measure, in what moneth thereof it was accomplished. and for information of such as are altogether ignorant of the rise and progresse of these times, which things are brought to passe, that former ages have not heard of, and after ages will admire. a work worthy to be kept in record, and communicated to posterity. vicars, john, 1579 or 80-1652. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a74878 of text r206997 in the english short title catalog (thomason e693_2). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 181 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 34 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a74878 wing v294a thomason e693_2 estc r206997 99866074 99866074 118334 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a74878) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118334) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 107:e693[2]) a brief review of the most material parliamentary proceedings of this present parliament, and their armies, in their civil and martial affairs. which parliament began the third of november, 1640. and the remarkable transactions are continued untill the act of oblivion, february 24. 1652. published as a breviary, leading all along successiviely, as they fell out in their severall years: so that if any man will be informed of any remarkable passage, he may turne to the year, and so see in some measure, in what moneth thereof it was accomplished. and for information of such as are altogether ignorant of the rise and progresse of these times, which things are brought to passe, that former ages have not heard of, and after ages will admire. a work worthy to be kept in record, and communicated to posterity. vicars, john, 1579 or 80-1652. hamilton, james hamilton, duke of, 1606-1649. several speeches of duke hamilton earl of cambridg, henry earl of holland, and arthur lord capel, upon the scaffold immediately before their execution, on friday the 9. of march. [2], 30, 28, 33-36 p. : ill. printed by m.s. for tho: jenner, at the south-entrance of the royal exchange., london : 1653. attributed to john vicars. includes "the severall speeches of duke hamilton earl of cambridge, henry earl of holland, and arthur lord capel. spoken upon the scaffold immediately before their execution, on friday the ninth of march, 1649" with caption title; pagination and register are separate. annotation on thomason copy: "aprill 25"; the imprint date has been altered to 1653. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng england and wales. -army -early works to 1800. england and wales. -parliament -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -england -early works to 1800. last words -early works to 1800. great britain -history -commonwealth and protectorate, 1649-1660 -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government, 1649-1660 -early works to 1800. a74878 r206997 (thomason e693_2). civilwar no a brief review of the most material parliamentary proceedings of this present parliament, and their armies, in their civil and martial affai vicars, john 1653 33275 54 0 0 0 0 0 16 c the rate of 16 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-09 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a brief review of the most material parliamentary proceedings of this present parliament , and their armies , in their civil and martial affairs . which parliament began the third of november , 1640. and the remarkable transactions are continued untill the act of oblivion , february 24. 1652. published as a breviary , leading all along successively , as they fell out in their severall years : so that if any man will be informed of any remarkable passage , he may turne to the year , and so see in some measure , in what moneth thereof it was accomplished . and for information of such as are altogether ignorant of the rise and progresse of these times , which things are brought to passe , that former ages have not heard of , and after ages will admire . a work worthy to be kept in record , and communicated to posterity . hosea 14. 9. who is wise , and he shall understand these things ? prudent , and he shall know them ? for the wayes of the lord are right , and the just shall walk in them : but the transgressors shall fall therein . london : printed by m. s. for tho : jenner , at the south-entrance of the royal exchange . 1652. 1 in the first year of king charles his reign , a parliament being called at oxford , two subsidies were granted , no grievances removed , but the said parliament soon dissolved . 2 the sad effects which the dissolution of this parliament produced , were the losse of rochell , by the unhappy help of englands ships . 3 the diversion of a most facile and hopefull war from the west-indies , to a most expensive and succelesse attempt on cales . 4 the attempt on the isle of ree , and thereby a precipitate breach of peace with france , to our great losse . 5 a peace concluded with spain , without consent of parliament , contrary to a promise formerly made to the kingdom by king james , a little before his death ; whereby the cause of the palatinate was altogether most shamefully deserted by us . 6 the kingdom suddenly billetted with souldiers , and a concomitant project set on foot , for germane horses , to force men by fear , to fall before arbitrary and tyrannicall taxations continually to be laid upon them . 2 parliament . 7 the dissolution of a second parliament at westminster , in the second year after a declarative grant of no lesse then five subsidies , and the sad issues that flowed to the kingdom thereupon . 8 as first , the violent exacting from the people that mighty sum of the 5 subsidies , or a sum equal to it by a commission for a royal loan . 9 many worthy gentlemen imprisoned and vexed , that refused to pay it . 10 great sums extorted by privy seals and excises , and the most hopefull petition of right blasted . 3 parliament . 11 a third parliament called , and quickly broken in the fourteenth year of the king , the best members clapt up close prisoners , denied all ordinary and extraordinary comforts of life ; and so that paliament was dissolved . 12 opprobrious declarations published to asperse the proceedings of the last parliament , yea proclamations set out to those effects , thereby extreamly to dis-hearten the subjects , yea , and plainly forbidding them once to name a parliament , or to desire them any more . 13 whence immediatly gushed out the violent inundations of mighty sums of money , got by that strange project of knight-hood , yet under a colour of law . 14 the most burthensome book of rates , the unheard of taxation of ship-money ; the enlargement of forrests contrary to magna charta ; the injurious taxation of coat and conduct money ; the forcible taking away of the trained-bands arms ; ingrossing gunpowder into their hands in the tower of london . 15 the destruction of the forrest of dean , which was sold to papists , whence we had all our timber for shipping . 16 monopolies of sope , salt , wine , leather , and sea-coal ; yea , almost of all things in the kingdome of most necessary and common use . 17 restraint in trades and habitations ; for refusall of which foresaid heavy pressures , many were vext with long and languishing suits ; some fined and confined to prisons , to the loss of health in many , of life in some ; some having their houses broken open , their goods seized on , their studies or closets searched for writings , books , and papers , to undo them ; some interrupted also in their sea-voyages , and their ships taken from them . 18 the crushing cruelties of the star-chamber court , and councel table , where the recorder of salisbury was greatly fined for demolishing the picture of the first person in the trinity , in their great cathedrall . 19 thus far for the miseries of the common-wealth ; popish ceremonies , romish innovations , and such like other outrages of the arch prelate of canterbury , and his prelaticall agents and instruments , over the whole kingdom , in matters of religion , divine worship , and spirituall cases of conscience . 20 additions in the oath administred to the king , at his first inauguration to the crown , by the arch-bishop . 21 fines , imprisonments , stigmatizings , mutilations , whippings , pillories , gagget , confinements , and banishments ; yea , and that into perpetuall close imprisonments , in the most desolate , remote , and ( as they hoped and intended ) remotest parts of the kingdome . mr ▪ burton , mr bastwick , mr prin. 22 the ruinating of the feoffees for buying in of impropriations , and the advancing to ecclesiasticall livings arminians , silencing with deprivations , degradations , and excommunications , almost all the most pious pastors over the land , whom they could catch in their snares , and all this under a pretence of peace , unity , and conformity . 23 printing presses set open for the printing and publishing of all popish and arminian tenets , but shut up and restrained from printing sound doctrines . 24 nay , not only thus lamentably molested in england , but attempted the like in scotland , indeavouring to impose upon them new liturgie , and a book of canons . 25 they refusing of them , were called and counted rebels and traytours ; yea , so proclaimed in all churches in england , and an army was also raised to oppresse and suppresse them . the arch-prelate of st andrewes in scotland reading the new service-booke in his pontificaliby assaulted by men & women , with cricketts stooles stickes and stones . the rising of prentises and sea-men on southwark-side to assault the arch-bishops of canterburys house at lambeth . 27 scotland raising an army in their own just defence , and by force of arms , inforcing their own peace . 28 a first pacification being then made by the king , and some of his nobility , and ratified under hand and seal , 'twixt them and the scots , yet was it shortly after quite broken off by the arch-prelat of canterbury , and the e. of strafford , and burnt by the hangman at the exchange . 4 parliament . 29 a fourth parliament was thereupon shortly after called again , by those complotters means , but to a very ill intent , and another parliament summoned also at the same time by the earl of strafford in ireland , both of them only to levy and procure moneys to raise another army , and wage a new war against the scots . 30 the ships and goods of scotland , were in all parts and ports of this land , and of ireland also , surprized and seized on for the king ; their commissioners denyed audience to make their just defence to the king , and the whole kingdom of scotland and england too , hereupon much distracted and distempered with leavying of moneys , and imprisoning all amongst us that refused the same . 31 this parliament also refusing to comply with the king , canterbury and strafford , in this episcopal war against the scots , was soon dissolved and broken up by them , and thereupon they returned to their former wayes of wast and confusion , and the very next day after the dissolution thereof , some eminent members of both houses had their chambers , and studies , yea , their cabinets , and very pockets of their wearing cloaths ( betimes in the morning , before they were out of their beds ) searched for letters and writings , and some of them imprisoned , and a false and most scandalous declaration was published against the house of commons in the kings name . 32 a forced loan of money was attempted in the city of london , to be made a president ( if it prevailed there ) for the whole kingdome , but some aldermen refusing , were sorely threatned and imprisoned . 33 in which interim , the clergies convocation continuing ( notwithstanding the dissolution of the parliament ) new conscience-opprissing-canons were forged , and a strange oath with a &c. in it was framed for the establishing of the bishops hierarchy , with severe punishments on the refusers to take it . the oath , that i a. b. doe sweare that i doe approve the doctrine and discipline or government established in the church of england , as containing all things necessary to salvation . and that i will not endeavour by my selfe or any other , directly or indirectly , to bring in any popish doctrine , contrary to that which is so established : nor will i ever give my consent to alter the government of this church , by arch-bishops , bishops , deanes , and arch-deacons , &c. as it stands now established , and as by right it ought to stand . nor yet ever to subject it to the usurpations and superstitions of the sea of rome . and all these things i doe plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear , according to the plaine and common sence , and understanding of the same words , without any equivocation , or mentall evasion , or secret reservation whatsoever . and this i doe heartily , willingly , and truly upon the faith of a christian . so help me god in jesus christ . 34 in this convocation sore taxations were also imposed upon the whole clergie , even no lesse than six subsidies , besides a bountifull contribution to forward that intended war against scotland . 35 for the advancing of which said sums for this war , the popish were most free and forward ; yea , and a solemn prayer was composed and imposed by the bishops on their ministers every where , to be used and read in all churches against the scots , as rebels and traytors . 36 the papists also in a high measure enjoyed even almost a totall toleration , and a popes nuncio suffered amongst us to act and govern all romish affairs , yea a kind of private popish parliament kept in the kingdom , and popish jurisdictions erected among them . 37 commissioners were also ( secretly ) issued out for some great and eminent papists , for martiall commands , for levying of souldiers , and strengthening their party with arms and ammunition of all sorts , and in great plenty . 38 his majesties treasure was by these means so extreamly exhausted , and his revenues so anticipated , that he was forced to compell ( as it were ) his own servants , judges , and officers of all sorts , to lend him great sums of money , and prisons filled with refusers of these and the other illegal payments ; yea , many high-sheriffs summoned in the star-chamber , and to the councel-board , and some of them imprisoned for not being quick enough in levying of ship-money , and such like intolerable taxations . 39 in sum , the whole land was now brought into a lamentble and languishing condition of being most miserably bought and sold to any that could give and contribute most of might and malice against us , and no hope of humane help , but dolour , desperation , and destruction , to be the portion of all . 40 in which interim , the scots being entred our kingdome for their own defence , the king had advanced his royal-standard at yorke , where the cream of the kingdom , nobles , and gentry being assembled , and a treaty betwixt the prime of both armies had at rippon , for a fair and peaceable accommodation , the king was , at last , inforced to take his nobles councel , and in the first place , a cessation of arms agreed on , and then this 5th present parliament ( the parliament of parliaments ) was necessitously resolved on to begin , november 3. 1640. 5 parliament , anno 1640. novemb. 3. 41 but behold a desperate plot and design was herein also immediately set on foot to spoyle or poyson it in the very embrio and constitution of it , in the first choyce of the members thereof , by letters from the king , queen , malignant and popish earls , lords , knights , and gentry , posts into all parts of the kingdom , to make a strong party for them , but by admirable divine providence , this their plot was counterplotted and frustrated , and the parliament most hopefully congregated and setled . 42 shortly after , a very formidable spanish-fleet , or armado , appeared on our english narrow seas , in sight of dover , and was coming in ( as was on very strong grounds more then probably conjectured ) as a third party , to help to destroy us ; the spaniards hoping , that by this time , we and the scots were together by the ears , but they were by gods mercy , beaten off from us by our neighbours of holland . and we fighting against them , fought against our friends . 43 the souldiers in their passage to york turn reformers , pul down popish pictures , break down rails , turn altars into tables , and those popish commanders , that were to command them , they forced to eat flesh on fridays , thrusting it down their throats , and some they slew . 44 in the time of ours , and the scots armies residing in the north , which was in june , 1641. the malignant lords and prelates , fearing the effects of this present parliament , complotted together to dissaffect that our english army against the parliament , and endeavoured to bring it out of the north , southward , and so to london , to compell the parliament to such limits and rules as they thought fit . whereupon the parliament entred upon this protestation . at the beginning of the parliament ( july 1641 ) there was a diligent inquisition after oppressions and oppressors , and first upon the petition of mistris bastwick and m●●●●…s burton , two widowed wives , and a petition exhibited in the behalf of mr pryn , dr laighton , mr smart , mr walker , mr foxley , mr lilburn , and many others , set at liberty , some being banish'd , and all close prisoners , others fast fettered in irons , and their wives debarr'd from coming to them . 45 the earl of strafford then prisoner in the tower , attempted an escape , promising to sir william belfore then lieutenant of the tower , twenty thousand pounds , and the marriage of his daughter to sir williams son , if he would but consent , but sir william hated such bribes . 46 then they attempted by false scandals on the parliament , to intice the army of the scots ( then still in the north ) to a neutrality , whiles our english army acted . die veneris 30 july , 1641. we the knights , citizens , and burgesses of the commons house in parliament , finding to the great griefe of our hearts , that the designes of the priests , jesuites , and other adherents to the sea of rome , have of late been more boldly and frequently put in practice than formerly , to the undermining and danger of the ruine of the true reformed protestant religion , in his majesties dominions established : and finding also that they have been and having just cause to suspect that there are still even during this sitting in parliament , endeavours to subv●rt the fundamentall lawes of england and ireland , and to introduce the exercise of an arbitrary and tyrannicall government , by most pernicious and wicked counsels , practises , plots , and conspiracies : and that the long intermission and unhappy breach of parliaments , hath occasioned many illegall taxations , whereupon the subject hath been prosecuted and grieved : and that divers innovations and superstitions have been brought into the church , multitudes driven out of his majesties dominions , jealousies raised and fomented betwixt the king and his people , a popish army l●vyed in ireland , and two armies brought into the bowels of his kingdome , to the hazard of his majesties royal person , the consumption of the revenues of the crown and treasure of his kingdome : and lastly , finding great cause of jealousie that endeavours have been , and are used to bring the english army into a mis understanding of this parliament , thereby to incline that army with force to bring to pass those wicked councels , have therefore thought good to joyne our selves in a declaration of our united affections and resolutions , and to make this ensuing protestation . the protestation . i a. b. do in the presence of almighty god , promise , vow , and protest to maintaine and defend , is far as lawfully i may , with my life , power , and state , the true reformed protestant religion , expressed in the doctrine of the church of england , against popery and popish innovations , within this realme , contrary to the same doctrine , and according to the duty of my allegiance , his majesties royall person , honour , and estate , as also the power and priviledges of parliament , the lawfull rights and liberties of the subject , and every person that maketh this protestation , in whatsoever he shall do , in the lawfull pursuance of the same . and to my power , and as far as lawfully i may , i will oppose , and by all good wayes and means endeavour , to bring to condigne punishment , all such as shall either by force , practice , councels , plots , conspiracies , or otherwise , do any thing to the contrary of any thing in this present protestation contained . and further , that i shall in all just and honourable ways endeavour to preserve the union and peace between the three kingdoms of england , scotland , and ireland , and neither for hope , fear , nor other respect , shall relinquish this promise , vow , and protestation . the earl of straffords speech on the scaffold , may 12. 1641. my lord primate of ireland ( and my lords , and the rest of these 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 glad to obtain so much silence , as to be heard a few words , but doubt i shall not ; my lord , i come hither by the good will and pleasure of almighty god , to pay the last debt i owe to sin , which is death , and by the blessing of that god to rise again through the mercies of christ jesus to eternal glory ; i wish i had beene private , that i might have been heard ; my lord , if i might be so much beholding 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 judgement which hath past 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 my heart ; i speak it in the presence of almighty god , before whom i stand , that these is not so much as a displeasing thought in me , arising to any creature ; i thank god i may say truly , and my conscience bears me witness , that in all my services since i have had the honour to serve his majesty , in any imployment , i never had any thing in my heart , but the joynt and individuall prosperity of 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 judgement is hereafter , here we are subject to error , and apt to be mis-judged 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 clearnesse , that i hope i shall have your christian charity in the belief of it ; i did alwayes think that the parliaments of england , were the happiest constitutions that any kingdome or any nation lived under , and under god the 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 mericing 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 , and that he may find mercy when he hath most need of it ; i wish the kingdom all the prosperity and happines 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 man here , and wish every man to lay his hand upon his heart , and consider seriously whether the beginning of the happines of a people should be writ in letters of blood ; i fear you are in a wrong way , and i desire almighty god , that not one drop of my blood may rise up in judgement against you . ( my lord ) i profess my self a true and obedidient son to the church of england , to the church wherein i was born , and wherein i was bred ; prosperity & happines be ever to it : and whereas it hath been said , that i have inclined to popery , if it be an objection worth answering , let me say truly , that from the time since i was twenty one years of age , till this hour , now going upon forty nine , i never had thought in my heart , to doubt of the truth of my religion in england ; and never any had the boldnesse to suggest to me contrary to the best of my remembrance ; and so being reconciled to the mercies of christ jesus my saviour , into whose bosom i hope shortly to be gathered to that eternall happiness that shall never have end , i desire heartily the forgivenesse of every man , both for any rash or unadvised word , or deed , and desire your prayes : and so my lord farewel , farewel all the things of this world : lord strengthen my faith , give me confidence and assurance in the merits of jesus christ . i desire you , that you would be silent and joyn in prayers with me , and i trust in god that we shall all meet , and live eternally in heaven , there to receive the accomplishment of all happines , where every tear shall be wiped from our eyes , and every sad thought from our hearts : and so god bless this kingdome , and jesus have mercy upon my soule . amen . the earle of strafford for treasonable practises beheaded on the tower-hill anno 1641. octob. 23. 47 about this time that inhumane bloudy rebellion , and monstrous massacring of almost 200000 innocent english protestants , men , women , and children , brake out in ireland , namely , about october 23. 1641. having had their principall encouragements from the court of england , and of purpose to have made england the chief seat of the war . 48 the design now went on chiefly against the city of london , for which purpose , the lieutenant of the tower , sir william belford was displaced , and cottington made constable of the tower ; but he was soon displaced , and c. lunsford was made lieutenant of the tower ; but he also was displaced , and sir john byron was made lieutenant of the tower in lunsfords stead ; but he also with much ado removed , and sir john conyers was put in his place . to the kings most excellent majesty , and the lords and peers now assembled in parliament . the humble petition and protestation of all the bishops and prelats now called by his m●j●st●●● writs to attend the parliament , and present about london and westminster for that service . that whereas the petitioners are called up by severall and respective writs and under great penalties to attend the parliament , and have a clear and indubitable right to vote in bils , and other matters whatsoever debatable in parliament , by the ancient customes ▪ lawes , and statutes of this realm , and ought to be protected by your majesty quietly to attem●… and prosecute that great service . they humbly remonstrate and protest before god , your majesty , and the noble lords and peers now assembled in parliament , that as they have an indu●●●ate right ●o sit and vote in the house of lords ; so are they ( if they may be protected from force and violence ) most ready and wil●i●g to performe their duties accordingly and that they doe abominate all actions or opinions tending to popery , and the maintenance thereof ; as also all propension and inclination to any malignant party , or any other side or party whatsoever , to the which their owne reasons and conscience shall not move them to adhere . but , whereas they have been at severall times violently menaced , affronted and assaulted by multitudes of people , in their coming to perform their services in that honourable house , and lately chased away , and put in danger of their lives , and can find no redresse or protection , upon sundry complaints made to both houses in these particulars . they likewise humbly protest before your majesty , and the noble house of peers , that saving unto themselves all their rights and interests of sitting and voting in that house at other times , they dare not sit or vote in the house of peers , untill your majesty shall further secure them from all affronts , indignities , and dangers in the premisses . lastly , whereas their fears are not built upon fantasies and conceits , but upon such grounds and objects as may well terrific men of good resolutions , and much constancy . they doe in all duty and humility protest before your majesty , and the peers of that most honourable house of parliament , against all lawes , orders , votes , resolutions , and determinations , as in themselves null , and of none effect , which in their absence since the 27th of this instant moneth of december , 1641. have already passed ; as likewise against all such as shall hereafter passe in that most honourable house , during the time of this their forced and violent absence from the said most honourable house ; not denying but if their absenting of themselves were wilfull and voluntary , that most honourable house might proceed in all their premisses ▪ their absence , or this protestation notwithstanding . and humbly beseeching your most excellent majesty , to command the clerk of the house of peers to enter this their petition and protestation among their records . they will ever pray to god to bless , &c. jo. ebor. th dures . rob. co. lich jo norw jo. asa. gul ba. & wells . geo. heref. rob. ox. ma. ely . godf. glouc. io. peterb . morr . landaff . the high commission-court and starr-chamber voted down , and pluralities & non residencies damned by parliament . the bishops had a plot about this time , to subvert the parliament , by indeavouring to get the king to protest against their proceedings in it ; but 12 of them were impeached of high treason , and 10 imprison'd in the tower , and afterward all disabled from ever sitting in the parliament . bishops voted down root and branch , nullo contradicente : the citizens of london the same night made bonefires , and had ringing of bels . the parliament published an ordinance , injoyning all popish recusants inhabiting in and about the city , all dis-affected persons , and such as being able men , would not lend any money for the defence of the common-wealth , should forthwith confine themselves to their own houses , and not to go f●rth without speciall license . an ordinance to apprehend dis-affected persons in the city , whereof were four aldermen put in safe custody , in crosby house , and some in gressam colledge . a letter sent to mr pym . mr pym , do not think that a guard of men can protect you , if you persist in your trayterous courses and wicked designs : i have sent a paper-messenger to you , and if this does not touch your heart , a dagger shall , so soon as i am recovered of my plague-sore . in the mean time you may be forborn , because no better man may be endangered for you : repent traytor . 50 after this the king himselfe violently rushed into the house of commons accused five of their most eminent members of treason , demanded their persons to be delivered up unto him , intending to destroy all that resisted him therein , but crost by the happy absence of the gentlemen . this plot was attempted jan. 4. 1641. col. lunsford assaulted the londoners at westminster-hall , with a great rout of ruffanly cavaliers . the queen when she went over beyond seas , one of her ships wherein she had great treasure , sprung a leak , and much was lost and spoyled ; and when she returned for england , she had a mighty storm at sea , which brake the mast of van trom's ship , and after eight dayes boisterous turmoyl , she was driven back again . there was broke and lost 3 ships of ammunition , and they that were driven back were almost starved . anno 1642. 51 binion a silk-man of london , and the kentish malignants , wherein sir edw. deering had a principal hand , framed petitions against the proceedings of parliament ; but both were rejected , and they fined and imprisoned . 52 the king forsakes the parliament , and getting the prince to him , leaves london , and posts into the north , and there attempts to get hull into his hands . 53 sir francis windebancke , sir john finch , the lord digby , jermyn , &c. flye for their lives beyond sea . 54 the king interdicts the militia , but the messenger was hanged at the exchange . 55 the lords and gentry of ireland and scotland , petition the king to return to his parliament ; yea and the gentry and commons of yorkshire doe the like , but are all rejected . 56 the king set on foot a commission of array . 57 three letters were intercepted , discovering a plot against the parl. by wilmot , digby , jermyn , cro●ts , and others , which came to nothing ; but we by taking some of their ships were advantaged . 58 sir rich. gurney lord mayor and an array man , was clapt up in the tower . 59 proclamations and declarations against the parliament , read in all churches and chappels within the kings power . 60 sir john pennington displaced , and the earl of warwick put in his place . 61 hull besieged by the marquess of newcastle , and in that interim , beckwith a papist , plotted to betray it by firing it in 4 several places . the citizens of london proffer their service to attend and guard the parl. by land to westminster , to secure them from danger . by water also the stout ship-masters and marriners made ready a great number of long-boats furnished with ordnance , muskets , and other sea-warlike instruments , their vessels gallantly adorned with flags and streamers , together with martial musick , drums and trumpets ; when they came to white-hall and understood that the parliament were safely arriv'd , the train'd bands by land , and the sea-men by water , let flye their thundring shot both smal and great , their trumpets sounding , and their drums beating in a tryumphing and congratulatory manner , was a singular testimony of their cordial affections . the same day buckingham-shire men , both gentlemen , ministers , and others of that countrey on hors-back , with their protestations in their hats , for reformation of evils in church and state , and to assure their best services and assistance to the parliament , on all just occasions ; and out of essex , hartford , bark-shire , surrey , and other counties of the kingdome , came one after another . 62 the earl of essex was ordained lord general over all the parl. forces , which he faithfully managed , as edge-hill , newbury , and other places can abundantly witness . 63 at edge-hill 16 pieces of canon shot against 80 of the earl of essex life guard , and not one man hurt : and those 80 brake in upon 1600 of the kings ; four of the parl. regiments ran away , and sixteen troops of horse , so we were 6000 and they 18000 , yet we took their standard , and cleft sir edw. varney standard-bearer in the head , and slew the lord lindsey general of the field . 63 a plot to have blown up all the lord generals magacine of powder , and another at beverley in yorkeshire , to have slain sir john hotham , both intended by one david alexander , and hired thereunto , but both timely prevented . 64 commissioners granted to popish recusants to leavy men and arms against the parliament . 65 the king received the most bloody irish rebels petition , and permitted their persons with great favour and allowance about him , calling and counting them good catholick subjects ; but utterly rejecting the petition ( exhibited by the lord general ) desiring peace and reconciliation with him . 66 a treaty of peace was really intended by the parliament , but meerly pretended by the king for a while , in which interim , that most bloody bickering at brainford , was committed by the kings party , the city of london mightily preserved . 67 new high-sheriffs , for the better collecting of the 400000 li . subsidies , intended to have been confirmed to the king in a former parliament , crost ; and an o●dinance set on foot for the successefull association of counties for mutuall defence one of another . 68 a design of the royalists at oxford , and elsewhere , to proceed against the prisoners as traitors , and so put them to death , by which dr bastwicke , captain lilburn , were to have been tryed for their lives , but preserved by an ordinance for execution of a lex talionis , and so of executing the royal prisoners among us . anno 1643. 69 a notable plot against the city of london , immediately upon the cities preferring a petition to the king , by the hands of two aldermen , and four commoners of the said city , in reply to which petition , the king sending as his messenger , one captain hern to the city , and the whole body of the city assembling at a common-hal , this hern desires faire play above board of them , but the busines being found to be a notable design of the malignant citizens against the parl. and the ( then ) lord maior of london , and the government of their city , the major part cry out in the hearing of hern , they would live and dye with the parl. and so sent hern away with a flea in his ear . 70 a letter sent to all the freemen , journeymen , and apprentices of city , to assemble at their several hals ; and there the masters and wardens of all companies to read the kings letter to them , and to perswade them to yeeld to all the kings commands against the city . this letter was voted scandalous . 71 a plot to betray bristol , but discovered , two principal conspirators were by martial law condemned and hanged . the 2 of may , 1643 . ye crosse in cheapeside was pulled downe ▪ a troope of horse & 2 companies of foote wayted to garde it & at ye fall of ye tope crosse dromes beat trupets blew & multitudes of capes wayre throwne in ye ayre & a greate shoute of people with ioy , ye 2 of may the almanake sayeth was ye invention of the crosse , & 6 day at night was the leaden popes burnt ▪ in the place where it stood with ringinge of bells , & a greate acclamation & no hurt done in all these actions . 72 mr pryn sent to search canterburies chamber and study : found the original scotch service-book with his own hand-writing , the cause of all the scots wars . 73 london to have been betrayed under a pretence of peace , by mr waller , a member of parl. mr tomkins , mr challenor , and others ; but waller fined 10000. l. and perpetuall banishment ; tomkins and challenor hanged , the one at the exchange , and the other in holborn . 74 sir john hotham attempted the betraying of hull unto the queen . an order sent down to the church-wardens , to demolish altars , to remove the communion table from the east end , and to take away all tapers , candlesticks , and basons ; and to demolish all crucifixes , crosses , and all pictures and images of the trinity and virgin mary , both within and without all churches and chappels . 75 a plot for betraying of lincoln by the two purfries , but preserved . 76 gloucester admirably freed by the city regiments . 77 a rebellion by the kentish malignants about tunbridge . 78 a ship bound from denmark to the king , of about 300 tun , richly laden with arms and ammunition ; another ship bound from newcastle to holland , laden with sea-coale , but in the midst thereof was found between 3 or 4000l . hid in the coals , sent to buy arms for the king ; a third great ship called the fellowship , of at least 400 tun , carrying 24 peeces of ordnance , taken by the parliament . 79 scotland with an army of at least 20000 horse and foot , invited thereunto by the parl. in the bitter depth of winter , when they marched up to the middle in snow , and were forced to bring their artillery over the ice of the frozen river of tyne ; and the citizens of london lent the parl. a 100000. l. for the scots first pay , to encourage their advance to help us against the kings forces . may 23. 1643. voted the queen pawning the jewels of the crown in holland , and therewith buying arms to assist the war against the parl. and her own actuall performances with her popish army in the north , was high treason , and transmitted to the lords . images , crucifixes , papistical books in somerset and jameses were burnt , and five capuchin friers sent away . may 1643. an ordinance for the making of forts , trenches , and bulwarks about the city . july 1. 43. the assembly of divines met , dr twiss prolocutor , 120 the total . the bishop of canterburies first prayer on the scaffold , jan. 10. 1644. o eternal god , and mercifull father , look down upon me in mercy , in the riches and fulnesse of all thy mercies , look upon me , but not till thou hast nailed my sins to the crosse of christ : look upon me , but not till thou hast bathed me in the blood of christ , not till i have hid my selfe in the wounds of christ , that so the punishment that is due to my sins may passe away , and go over me , and since thou art pleased to try me to the uttermost , i humbly beseech thee , give me 〈◊〉 in this great instant , full patience , proportionable comfort , a heart ready to dye for thine honour , and the kings happinesse , and this churches preservation ; and my zeale to these , far from arrogancy be it spoken , is all the sin , humane frailty excepted , and all incidents thereunto , which is yet known of me in this particular , for which i now come to suffer . i say in this particular of treason , but otherwise my sins are many and great , lord pardon them all , and those especially whatsoeever they be , which have drawne this present judgement upon me , and when thou hast given me strength to bear it , then do with me as seems best in thine owne eyes , and carry me through death , that i may look upon it in what visage soever it shall appear to me ; and that there may be a stop of this issue of blood in this more then miserable kingdome ; i shall desire that i may pray for the people too , as well as for my self : o lord , i beseech thee give grace of repentance to all people that sr alexander carew , sr. iohn hotham , captin hotham & the arch bishop of canterbury , be headed on iowerhill for ireason against ye parliament 1645. have a thirst for blood , but if they will not repent , then scatter their devices so , and such as are or shall be contrary to the glory of thy great name , the truth and sincerity of religion , the establishment of the king , and his posterity after him , in their just rights and priviledges , the honour and conservation of parl. in their ancient and just power , the preservation of this poor church in her turth , peace , and patrimony , and the settlement of this distracted and distressed people , under the ancient laws , and in their native liberties ; and when thou hast done all this in mercy for them , o lord fill their hearts with thank fulness , and with religious dutifull obedience to thee and thy commandements all their dayes : so amen , lord jesus , and i beseech thee receive my soul to mercy . our father , &c. the bishop of canterburies last prayer on the scaffold . lord i am comming as fast as i can , i know i must passe through the shadow of death before i can come to see thee , but it is but umbra mortis , a meer shadow of death , a little darknesse upon nature , but thou by thy merits and passion hast broke through the jaws of death ; so , lord receive my soul and have mercy on me , and blesse this kingdome with peace and plenty , and with brotherly love and charity , that there may not be this effusion of christian blood amongst them , for jesus christ his sake , if it be thy will . and when he said lord receive my soule , which was his signe , the executioner did his office . 80 a design to starve the city , by breaking into surrey , sussex , kent , but disappointed by s. w. waller , with the help of the city regiments . 81 the king granted a cessation of arms with the bloody rebels of ireland , but it was observed he never prospered after that . 82 a solemn league and covenant taken by the lords and commons in parl. and by the city of london , and all parts of the kingdom , in the parl. power . 83 nottingham town and castle to have been betrayed , but prevented by col. hutchinson . a ship from denmark of 300 tuns laden for the most part with round-heads , they were halfe pike-staves , with a great knob at the end of it , full of iron spikes , sent to the king , and great treasure ; but that year the swedes fell into denmarke , and took away halfe his countrey from him , 1643. 84 a plot against the city of london , by sir basil brooke , col. read , mr ripley , and vilot , 2 citizens of london , and others , but prevented . 1644. 85 two desperate plots for the betraying of ailsbury , and one against southampton , but all three prevented . 86 mr edward stanford , plotted with cap. backhouse for the betraying of the city of gloucester , and proferred 5000l . for a reward , 300l . whereof was paid to the said captain , but the plot was frustrated . 87 our army in cornwall preserved , with the losse of our artillery . 88 a peace pretended at vxbridge , and a treacherous petition framed by the malignants of buckingham-shire , wherein one sir john lawrence of that country was a great stickler , but frustrated . 89 melcomb regis , to have been betrayed , wherein divers of the malignant townsmen had a principal hand , and col. goring , and sir lewis dives , were agents therein , the town and forts recovered , and two ships with rich prizes from rhoan in france were seized on to make amends for their trouble . the service-book voted downe . 90 earls and lords from oxford , submitted themselves to the parl. the famous victory of naisby over the kings forces , 5000 prisoners taken . a jewel of 500l . sent to gen. leven by the parl. all the kings commissioners taken at shaftsbury . basing-house taken and burnt . 91 a plot in the west against the parl. by the glubmen . 92 a sudden p●ot upon scotland , which was almost over-run by montross , but as suddenly recovered again , by generall david lesley , and montross discomfied and beaten away into the mountaines . 93 a treaty with the parl. for a well-grounded peace , and yet at that time the earl of glamorgan , had a commission to the ruine of all the protestants in ireland , and consequently in england also . 94 the great seal broken before the lords and commons , on tuesday the 11 of august , 1646. the negative oath . i a. b. do swear from my heart , that i will not directly , nor indirectly adhere unto , or willingly assist the king in this war , or in this cause against the parl. and i do likewise swear that my comming and submitting my selfe under the power and protection of the parl ▪ is without any manner of designe whatsoever , to the prejudice of the proceedings of the two houses of this parl. and without the direction , privity , and advice of the king , or any of his councell , or officers , other then what i have now made known . so help me god , and the contents of this book . 1646 the king escapes out of oxford in a disguised maner ordered , that whosoever conceals the kings person , shall be a traytor . a letter concerning the kings coming to the scots army , may 5. 1646. right honourable , the discharging of our selves of the duty we owe to the kingdom of engl : to you as commissioners from the same , moves us to acquaint you with the kings coming in to our army this morning , which having overtaken us unexpectedly , hath filled us with amazement , and made us like men that dream ; we cannot think that he could have been so unadvised in his resolutions , as to have cast himselfe on us , without a reall intention to give full satisfaction to both kingdoms , in all their just and reasonable demands , in all those things that concern religion and righteousnes ; whatsoever be his dispositions or resolutions , you may be assured , that we shall never entertain any thought , nor correspondency with any purpose , or countenance any indeavours that may in any circumstance incroach upon our league and covenant , or weaken the union or confidence betwixt the nations , that union to our kingdom was the matter of many prayers , and as nothing was more joyfull unto us then to have it set on foot , so hitherto have we thought nothing too dear to maintain it , and we trust to walk with such faithfullnesse and truth in this particular , that as we have the testimony of a good conscience within our selves , so you , and all the world shall see , that we mind your interest with as much integrity and care as our owne , being confident you will entertaine no other thought of us . signed may 5. 1646. lothian . a remonstrance exhibited in the name of the lord major , aldermen , and common-councel of the city of london , to the high court of parl. 1 that some strict and speedy course may be taken for the suppressing of all private and separate congregrations . 2 that all anabaptists , brownists , hereticks , schismaticks , blasphemers , and all such sectaries as conforme not to the publick discipline established , or to be established by the parliament , may fully be declared against , and some effectuall course settled for proceeding against such persons . 3 that as we are all subjects of one kingdome , so all may be equally required to yield obedience to the government either set , or to be set forth . 4 that no person disaffected to the presbyterian government , set , or to be set forth by the parliament , may be imployed in any place of publick trust . the king gave speedy order to several officers for the surrender of the towns , castles , and forts , which then were in the hands of the kings commanders , viz. oxford , worcester , litch feild , and wallingford . a petition delivered to his excellency from the officers and souldiers in the army , touching their faithfulness in the parl. service , doing summer service in the winter season , &c. further presented severall desires of theirs . 1 that an ordinance of indempnity with the royal assent be desired . 2 that satisfaction may be given to the petitioners for their arrears , both in their former service , and in this army before it is disbanded . 3 that those who have voluntarily served the parliament , may not be prest to serve in another kingdom , &c. 4 that those who have lost lives , limbs , or estates , may be provided for , and relieved . 1647. the apology in answer to his excellencies letter , relating their sense of a second storm hanging over their heads , by the malice of a secret enemy , worse then the former now vanquished , expressing their sorrow that they cannot desire their owne security without hazard to his excellency , &c. concerning the abuse to divers well-affected to the army by imprisonment , to the ruine of their estates , and losse of their lives . and for their candid intentions and endeavours declared no less then troublers , and enemies to the state and kingdom , resolving rather to dye like men , then to be enslaved and hanged like dogs , &c. a letter from his excellency to the earl of manchester , concerning the votes of both houses , as also his grief of heart for the distractions between the parliament and army , desiring that all things may be determined in love , &c. that the souldiers of holdenby , with the kings consent , brought him away from thence , &c. that his majesty was unwilling to return back again to holdenby , &c. and that the removall of his majesty from holdenby , was no designe , knowledge , or privity on his part , &c. a particular charge against the 11 members impeached by the army . 1 that mr denzil hollis being one of the speciall commissioners for the parl. to present propositions to the king at oxford , made private addresses to the kings party then in arms against the parl. and did secretly plot and advise them against the parl. &c. 2 that the said mr. denzil hollis , and sir phillip stapleton , during the late war , when the earl of lindsey went from the tower to oxford , sent severall messages of intelligence to the earl of dorset , &c. 3 that the said mr hollis , sir phillip stapleton , sir wil. lewis , sir john clotworthy , sir wil. waller , sir john maynard , maj. gen. massie , mr glyn , mr long , col. edward harley , and anthony nicholas , in the months of march , april , may , and june last , in prosecution of their evil designs , met in divers places with persons disaffected to the state , for holding correspondency with the queen of england now in france , and incouraged her party there . 4 and indeavoured to bring in forraign forces , and listed divers commanders and souldiers there , to raise and leavy a new war . 5 and affronted divers petitioners that came in a peaceable manner , boysterously assaulting them , &c. 6 imprisoned some members of the army , and to dis-oblige the army from the parl. the solemn engagement of the citizens , commanders , officers , and souldiers , &c. this was the treasonable ingagement . we do solemnly engage our selves , and vow unto almighty god , that we will to the utmost of our power , cordially endeavour that his majesty may speedily come to his houses of parliament , with honour , safety , and freedome , and that without the nearer approach of the army , there to confirme such things as he hath granted the twelfth of may last , in answer to the propositions of both kingdomes , and that with a personall treaty with his two houses of parliament , and the commissioners of scotland , such things as are yet in difference may be speedily setled , and a firme and lasting peace established . the army marching towards the city , orders were given to the trained bands to go to the works . the auxilaries are raised to defend the city . a proclamation by beat of drum for all that are able to bear arms , and are not listed to come to receive them . the house of commons , and the lords likewise , met according to the order of adjournment , july 30. but neither of the speakers . at length they proceeded to a new election , and voted mr pelham a counsellour , and member of the commons house , speaker pro tempore . the lords made choice of the lord grey to be speaker of their house pro tempore . the sergeant at arms being absent with the mace when the commons chose their speaker , had the city mace , and chose mr norfolk sergeant at arms . after which , proceeding to debate the great affairs to ching the city and kingdom , they voted as followes : 1 tha the king come to london . 2 that the militia of the city shall have full power to raise what forces they shall think fit to the same . 3 that they may make choyce of a commander in chief to be approved of by the house , and such commander to present other officers to be approved of by the militia . the common-councell made choice of major generall massey to command in chief all the city forces . ordered by the militia that all reformadoes and other officers should the next day at two of the clock be listed in st. jamses fields , where was a great appearance . order given for staying of horses in the city , and many listed . most of the eleven members sat in the house , and in the afternoon m. gen. massey , sir william waller , and col. gen. poyntz , were at list●ng the reformadoes . declaration of the lord maior , aldermen , and common councel . a brief of which that his majesty was surprised at holmby , and no place for his majesties residence allowed by the army nearer then their quarters ; therefore to sattle peace , and establish true religion , ease the kingdomes burden , establish his majesties just rights , maintaine the parl ▪ priviledges , and relieve bleeding ireland , they profess the main●… their enterprise , &c. a petition in the names of many thousands wel-affected citizens for some way of composure , &c. at which time col. gen. poyniz and other officers of the new list , attending for their orders upon the militia , came into guild-hall-yard , and most cruelly h●ckt and hew'd many of the aforesaid petitioners , divers whereof were mortally wound●d , whereof some since dyed . lord say , lord magresie , other lords , with many of the house of commons , came to the head quarters , desiring the generals protection . six aldermen and twelve common-councel men sent with a letter to the general , declaring their unwillingnesse to a new war . a letter from southwarke , relating their withstanding the design of raising a new war , desiring protection , massey sends scouts , but neer brainford thirty chased by ten , and took four of massies . col. rainsborough , col. hewson , col. pride , and col. thistlwet , marched into southwarke ; the fort yielded without opposition . the members forced away returne . the houses being sat with their old speakers , thomas lord fairfax , made high constable of the tower . his excellency marches through the city from 11 until 8 at night . a letter from lieu. gen. cromwel , that his majesty had withdrawne himself at 9 the last night , having left his cloak and some letters . his majesties last letter , hampton-court , nov. 11. 1645. liberty being that which in all times hath been , but especially now is the condition , the aim and desire of all men , common reason shews that kings lesse then any should endure captivity ; yet i call god to witnes with what patience i have endured a tedious restraint , which so long as i had any hopes that this sort of my suffering might conduce to the peace of these 3 kingdoms , or the hindring of more effusion of blood , i did willingly undergo , but now finding by too certaine proofs , that this my continued patience would not only turne to my personal ruine , but likewise be of much more prejudice to the furtherance of the publique good , i thought i was bound as well by natural as political obligations , to seek my safety , by retiring my self for some time from publique view both of my friends and enemies , and i appeal to all indifferent men to judge , if i have not cause to free my selfe from the hands of those who change their principles with their condition , and who are not ashamed , openly to intend the destruction of the nobility , by taking away their negative voyce , and with whom the levellers doctrine is rather countenanced then punished ; and as for their intentions to my person , their changing and putting more strict guards upon me , with the discharging most of all the servants of mine , who formerly they admitted to wait upon me , do sufficiently declare : nor would i have this my retirement mis-interpreted , for i shall earnestly and uncessantly endeavour the setling of a safe and well-grounded peace , where ever i am or shall be , and that ( as much as may be ) without the effusion of more christian blood , for which how many times have i prest to be heard , and yet no ear given to me ; and can any reasonable man think ( according to the ordinary course of affairs , there can be a setled peace without it , or that god will bless those that refuse to hear their own king ? surely no ; i must further add that ( besides what concerns my self ) unless all other chief interests have not only a hearing , but likewise just satisfaction given to them ( to wit , the presbyterians , independents , army , those who have adhered to me , and even the scots ) i say there cannot ( i speak not of miracles , it being in my opinion a sinful presumption in such cases to expect or trust to them ) be a safe and lasting peace : now as i cannot deny but that my personal security is the urgent cause of this my retirement , so i take god to witness , the publique peace is no lesse before mine eyes , and i can find no better way to expresse this my profession ( i know not what a wiser man may do ) then by desiring and urging that all chief interests may be heard , to the end each may have just satisfaction ; as for example , the army ( for the rest , though necessary , yet i suppose are not difficult to consent ) ought ( in my judgement ) to enjoy the liberty of their conscience , and have an act of oblivion or indempnity ( which should extend to the rest of all my subjects ) and that all their arrears should be speedily and duly paid , which i will undertake to do , so i may be heard , and that i be not hindred from using such lawful and honest means as i shall chuse . to conclude , let me be heard with freedom , honour , and safety , and i shall instantly break through this cloud of retirement , and shall shew my self to be pater patriae , c. r. a great tumult , insurrection , and mutiny in london , breaking open divers houses , and magazines of arms and ammunition , breaking open divers houses , seizing on the drums , gates , chains , and watches of the city , assaulted and shot into the l. maiors house , and killed one of his guard , &c. 1648. may 16. surrey petitioners came to westminster , and made a great shout , and cryed , hey for king charls ; we will pull the members out by the ear●s . disarmed two sentinels , knockt them down , one sentinell refusing to be disarmed , the petitioners got within his arms , one of them drew his sword and run him through , and the petitioners drew their swords on the troopers , and said , fall on for king charls , now or never ; but a party of 500 foot did take some : of the petitioners were slain four or five , of the souldiers two . the old l. goring proclaimed general at the head of the kentish army upon the hill neer alisford , consisted of 8000 besides those in maidstone , there were neer 300 slain , and about 2300 prisoners , many of them taken in the woods , hop-yards , and fields ; also gentlemen of good quality , there were about 500 horse , 3000 arms , 9 foot colours , and 8 pieces of canon , with store of ammunition taken : their word at the engagement was king and kent , ours truth : they being routed marched over rochester bridge towards black-heath , with about 3000 horse and foot , most cavaliers prentises and watermen , and fled over the water into essex , by woollidge and greenwich . the duke of buckingham , l. francis , e. of holland , l. andrew , l. cambden , and others , rose in surrey , and made proclamation that they expected the parl. would have setled the kingdom , but because they have not , they would fetch the king , and live and dye with him to settle it . july 11. 1648. was the surrender of pembroke castle . the scots army of 21000. invaded england duke — hambletons standard had motto date cesari , foot standard for covenant , religion , king and kingdomes ; riseing in kent , revosting of the navie , redusing colchester , and quelling the insurection in pembroke shire — all in 1648 : the scots entring the kingdom , july 11. 1648. maj. gen. lambert sent this letter to duke hammilton . my lord , having received information that some forces of horse and foot are marched out of scotland into this kingdome , under your excellencies command , i have sent this bearer unto you , desiring to know the truth and intent thereof , and whether they are come in opposition to the forces in these parts , raised by the authority of the parl. of england , and now in prosecution of their commands , i desire your lordships speedy answer , and rest your excellencies humble servant , j. lambert . duke hammiltons answer . noble sir , i received yours of the 11 of this instant , in answer whereunto i shall only say , the informa●ion you received is true , for according to the commands of the committee of estates of the parl. of scotland , there are forces both of horse and foot come into this kingdome , under my conduct for prosecution of the ends mentioned in my letter of the 6. to which i refer you , intending to oppose any that are or shall be in arms for the obstructing those pious , loyal , and just ends , and so remain hambleton . the town of colchester delivered up , sir charls lucas , and sir geo : lisle shot to death . l. col. lilburn revolted at newcastle , declared for the king , sir arthur has●erigge storm'd the castle , lilburns head was set upon a pole . june 5. the l. of warwick went to portsmouth , to bring into obedience the mutinous sea-men ; there was with the l. of warwicke , the phoenix , mary , rose , robert , nonesuch , lilly , lyon , bonadventure , antilope , swift-sure , hector , and fellowship . a short abridgement of the engagement made by the common councell , commanders , souldiers , and commission officers in london . we decla●e to ingage as much as in us l●es , to defend the king and parl ▪ from all violence , and to the end we may be inabled to perform the same , we humbly offer , that the forces in the line may be one entire militia , and no forces may be raised , but by authority of the said militia , by consent of the common councel , we desire no forces in arms might come within thirty miles of london , during the treaty , and for those within , what persons soever shall make any tumu't , shall be put to death . ordered , that the common councel men and commanders shall within their severall precincts goe from house to house , to receive concurrence to the said ingagement . decemb. 1648. the house having notice of the kings carrying to hurst cast●e , voted , that the seizing his person was without their advice or consent . dec. 5. the house voted , that his majesties concessions to their proposals , was ground sufficient to settle the peace of the kingdome . dec. 6. col. rich , and col. prides reg. guarded the parl. and seized some members . maj. gen. brown sheriff of london , was apprehended , decemb. 12. dec 13. the house voted , that the lords and commons , declare they will make no further addresses to the king , nor none shall be by any person whatsoever without leave of he parl. and if any make breach of this order , they shall incur the penalty of high treason , and that they will receive no more any message from the king , to both or either houses of parl. an ordinance sent to the lords for the triall of the king , but they rejected the commission , and adjourned 8 dayes , after that they never sate more . ●er . d●n●y serj. at arms to the commissioners , rode into westminster hall , with the mace belonging to the house of commons on his shoulder , and some officers attending him all bare , and six trumpeters on horseback , a guard of horse and foot attending in the pallace yard , and proclamation was made , all that had any thing for matter of fact against charls stuart , king of england , to bring it in to the commissioners . jan. 19. 1648. that this present seale of england should be broken in pieces , and a new one forthwith made , and ordered that the arms of england and ireland , should be ingra●en on the one side , on the other side a map of the parl. with these words in it , the first yeare of freedome by gods blessing restored , 1648. the charge of the commons of england , against charls stuart king of england . that the said ch stuart being admitted king of england , and therein trusted with a limitted power , to govern by , and according to the lawes of the l●nd , and not otherwise ; and by his truth , oath , and office , being obliged to use the power committed to him , for the good and benefit of the people , and for the preservation of their rights and liberties ; yet nevertheless out of a wicked design , to erect and uphold in himselfe an unlimited and tyrannical power , to rule , according to his will ; and to overthrow the rights and liberties of the people ; yea , to take away , and make void the foundations thereof , and of all redresse , and remedy of mis-government , which by the fundamentall constitutions of this kingdome , were reserved on the peoples behalfe , in the right and power of frequent and successive parl. or nationall meetings in councels ; he , the sad ch. stuart , for the accomplishment of such his designes , and for the protecting of himselfe and his adherents , in his and their wicked practises to the same ends , hath traiterously and maliciously levyed war against the present parl. and the people therein represented . particularly , upon or about the 30 day of june , in the year of our lord , 1642. at beverley in the county of york , and upon or about the 30 day of july , in the yeare aforesaid , in the county of the city of york ; and upon , or about the 24 day of august , in the same year at the county of the town of nottingham ( when and where he sat up his standard of war ; ) and also on , or about the 23 day of october , in the same year , at edge hill , and keintonfield , in the county of warwick ; and upon , or about the 30 day of nov. in the same year , at brainford in the county of middlesex ; and upon or about the 30 day of august , in the year of our lord , 1643. at cavesham bridge neer redding in the county of berks ; and upon , or about the 30 day of octob. in the yeare last mentioned , at or near the city of gloucester ; and upon or about the 30 day of nov. in the year last mentioned , at newberry in the county of berks ; and upon , or about the 31 day of july , in the year of our lord 1644. at cropredy bridge in the county of oxon ; and upon , or about the 30 day of sep. in the year last mentioned , at bodmin , and other places neer adjacent , in the county of cornwall ; and upon about the 30 day of nov. in the year last mentioned , at newbery aforesaid ; and upon or about the 8 day of june , in the year of our lord , 1645. at the town of leicester ; a●d also upon the 14 day of the same moneth , in the same year , at naseby field , in the county of northampton . at which severall times and places , or most of them , and at many other places in this land , at severall other times , within the years afore mentioned . and in the year of our lord , 1646. he the said ch. stuart , hath caused and procured many thousands of the free people of the nation to be slain ; and by divisions , parties , and insurrections within this land , by invasion : from forreign parts , endeavoured and procured by him , and by many other evill wayes andmeans , he the said c. stuart , hath not only maintained and carried on the said war , both by land and sea , during the years before mentioned ; but also hath renewed , or caused to be renewed the said war against the parliament , and good people of this nation , in this present year 1648 , in the counties of kent , essex , surrey , sussex , middlesex , and many other countries and places in england and wales , and also by sea ; and particularly , he the said ch. stuart hath for that purpose given commissions to his son the prince and others ; whereby , besides multitudes of other persons , many such , as were by the parl. intrusted and imployed for the nation , being by him or his agents , corrupted to the betraying of their trust , and revolting from the parl. have had entertainment and commission for the continuing and renewing of war and hostility against the said parl. and people , as aforesaid . by which cruel and unnatural wars by him the said charls stuart , continued and renewed as aforesaid , much innocent blood of the free-people of this nation hath been spilt ; many families have been undone , the publike treasury wasted and exhausted , trade obstructed , and miserably decayed ; vast expence and damage to the nation incurred , and many parts of the land spoiled , some of them even to desolation . and for farther prosecution of his said evill designes , he , the said ch : stuart , doth still continue his commission to the said prince , and other rebels and revolters , both english and forreigners , and to the e. of ormond , and to the irish rebels and revolters associated with him , from whom further invasions are threatned , upon the procurement , and on the behalfe of the said charls stuart . all which wicked designes , wars , and evil practises of him the said charls stuart , have been and are carried on , for the advancing and upholding of the personall interest of will and power , and pretended prerogative to himself and his family against the publique interest , common right , liberty , justice , and peace of the people of this nation , by , and for whom he was entrusted as aforesaid . by all which it appeareth , that he , the said ch : stuart hath been , and is the occasioner , author , and contriver of the said unnaturall , cruell , and bloody wars ; and therein guilty of all the treasons , murthers , rapines , burnings , desolations , damage , and mischief to this nation , acted or committed in the said wars , or occasioned thereby . and the said iohn cook , by protestation ( save on the behalf of the people of england , the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter , any other charge against the said ch : stuart , and also of replying to the answers which the said ch. stuart shall make to the premises , or any charge that shall be so exhibited ) doth , for the said treasons and crimes , on the behalf of the said people of england , impeach the said ch : stuart as a tyrant , traytor , murtherer , and a publick and implacable enemy to the common-wealth of england ; and pray , that the said ch stuart king of england , may be put to answer all and every the premisses ; that such proceedings , examinations , tryals , sentence , and judgement , may be thereupon had , as shall be agreeable to justice . the kings last speech made upon the scaffold . king . i shall be very little heard of any body here , i shall therefore speak a word unto you here ; indeed i could hold my peace very well if i did not think that holding my peace would make some men think that i did submit to the guilt , as well as to the punishment ; but i think it is my duty to god first , and to my country , for to clear my self both as an honest man and a good christian ; i shall begin first with my innocency , in troth i think it not very needfull for me to insist long upon this , for all the wo●ld knowes i never did begin a war with the two houses of parliament , and i call god to witnesse , to whom i must shortly make an account , that i never did interd for to incroach upon their priviledges , they began upon me , it is the militia they began upon , they confest that the militia was mine , but they thought it fit for to have it from me ; and to be short , if any body will look to the dates of commissions , of their commissions and mine , and likewise to the declarations , will see clearly that they began these unhappy troubles , not i ; so that as for the guilt of these enormous crimes that are laid against me , i hope in god that god will clear me of it , i will not , i am in charity ; god forbid that i should lay it upon the two houses of parliament , there is no necessity of either , i hope they are free of this guilt ; for i doe believe that ill instruments between them and me , ha's been the cause of all this blood shed ; so that by way of speaking , as i find my self , clear of this , i hope ( and pray god ) that they may too : yet for all this , god forbid that i should be so ill a christian , as not to say that gods judgements are just upon me : many times he does pay justice by an unjust sentence , that is ordinary ; i will onely say this , that an unjust sentence that i suffered to take effect , is punished now by an unjust sentence upon me ; that is , so far i have said , to shew you that i am an innocent man . now for to shew you that i am a good christian , i hope there is a good man ( pointing to dr iuckson ) that will bear me witnesse , that i have forgiven all the world ; and those in particular that have been the chief causers of my death ; who they are god knows , i do not desire to know , i pray god forgive them . but this is not all , my charity must go farther , i wish that they may repent , for indeed they have committed a great sin in that particular , i pray god with st stephen , that this be not laid to their charge ; nay , not onely so , but that they may take the right way to the peace of the kingdome : so ( sirs ) i do wish with all my soule , and i do hope ( there is some here will carry it further ) that they may endeavour the peace of the kingdom . now ( sirs ) i must shew you how you are out of the way , and will put you in a way ; first , you are out of the way , for certainly all the way you ever have had yet as i could find by any thing , is in the way of conquest ; certainly this is in an ill way , for conquest ( sir ) in my opinion is never just , except there be a good just cause , either for matter of wrong , or just title , and then if you go beyond it , that makes it unjust at the end that was just at first : but if it be only matter of conquest , then it is a great robbery ; as a pirate said to alexander , that he was the great robber , he was but a petty robber ; and so , sirs , i do think the way that you are in , is much out of the way . now sir , for to put you in the way , beleive it you will never doe right , nor god will never prosper you , untill you give god his due , the king his due , ( that is , my successors ) and the people their due ; i am as much for them as any of you : you must give god his due , by regulating rightly his church ( according to his scriptures ) which is now out of order : for to set you in a way particularly now i cannot , but onely this , a nationall 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 lawes 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 freedome , as much as any body whomsoever ; but i must tell you , that their liberty and their freedome , consists in having of government ; those lawes , by which their life and their goods may be most their owne . it is not for having share in government ( sir ) that is nothing pertaining to them . a subject and a soveraign , are clean different things ; and therefore untill they do that , i mean , that 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 lawes changed 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 your charge ) that i am the martyr of the people . introth sirs , i shall not trouble you much longer ; for i will onely say this to you , that intruth , 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 then i have done , and therefore i hope you will excuse me . i have delivered my conscience , i pray god , that you do 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 . king . i thank you very heartily ( my lord ) for that , i had almost forgotten it introth 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 me by my father ; and this honest man i think will witnesse it ▪ then turning to the officers said , sirs , excuse me for this same , i have a good cause , and i have a gracious god ; i will say no more . then turning to col hacker he said , take care that they do not put me to pain , and sir , this and it please you . but then a gentleman coming neer the ax , the king said , take heed of the ax ▪ pray take heed of the ax then the king speaking to the executioner , said , i shall say but very short prayers , and when i thrust out my hands — then the king called to d iuxon for his night cap , and having put it on , he said to the executioner , does my heire trouble you , who desired him to put it all under his cap , which the king did accordingly , by the help of the executioner and the bishop , then the king turning to dr iuxon , said , i have a good cause , and a gracious god on my side . dr iuxon . 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 , it will carry you from earth to heaven , and there you shall find a great deal of cordiall joy and comsort . king i go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown , where no disturbance can be . doct. you are exchanged from a temporall to an eternall crown , a good exchange . then the king took off his cloak and his george , giving his george to dr iuxon , saying , remember ; 't is thought for the prince , and some other small ceremonies past , after which , the king stooping down , laid his neck upon the block , after a very little pause , st●etched forth his hands , the executioner at one blow severed his head from his body , his body was put in a coffin , covered with black velvet , and removed to his lodging chamber at white hall . an act prohibiting the proclaiming of any person to be king of england , &c. whereas charls stuart king of england , being for the notorious treasons , tyrannies , and murthers , committed by him in the late unnaturall and cruell wars condemned to death ; whereupon , after execution of the same , severall pretences may be made , and title set on scot unto the kingly office , to the apparent hazzard of the publique peace . for the prevention thereof , be it enacted and ordained by this present parliament , and by the authority of the same , that no person or persons whatsoever doe presume to proclaime , declare , publish , or any way promote charls stuart , son of the said charls , commonly called prince of wales , or any other person to be king or chief magistrate of england , or of ireland , or of any the dominions belonging to them , or any of them ▪ by colour of inheritance , succession , election , or any other claim whatsoever , without the free consent of the people in parliament first had , and signified by a particular act or ordinance for that purpose , any statute , law , usage or custome to the contrary notwithstanding . and be it further enacted and ordained and it is hereby enacted and ordained , that whatsoever shall contrary to this act , proclaim , declare , publish , or any way promote the said charls stuart the son , or any other person to be king ▪ or chiefe magistrate of england , or of ireland , or of any the dominions belonging to them , or to either of them , without the said consent in parliament signified as aforesaid shall be deemed and adjudged a traytor to the common-wealth , and shall suffer the pains of death , and such other punishments as belong to the crime of high treason and all officers , as well civil as military , and all other well affected persons , are hereby authorized and required forthwith to apprehend all such offenders , and to bring them in safe custody to the next iustice of the peace , that they be proceeded against accordingly . h. scobel cler. parl. d com. imprimatur theodore iennings . the severall speeches of duke hamilton earl of cambridge , henry earl of holland , and arthur lord capel . spoken upon the scaffold immediately before their execution , on friday the ninth of march , 1649. 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 truely is so weake , so low , that they connot heare me , neither truly was i ever at any time so much in love with speaking , or with any thing i had to expresse , that i tooke delight in it ; yet this being the last time that i am to doe so , by a divine providence of almighty god , who hath brought me to this end justly for my sins ; i shall to you sir , master sheriffe , declare thus much , as to the matter that i am now to suffer for , which is as being a traytor to the kingdome of england : truly sir , it was a country that i equally loved with my owne , 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 command of the parliament of the country where i was borne , whose command i could not disobey , without running into the same hazard there , of that condition that i now am in . it pleased god so to dispose that army under my command , as it was ruined ; and i , as their generall , cloathed with a commission , stand here , now ready to dye ; i shall not trouble you with repeating of my plea , what i said in my owne defence at the court of jvstice , my selfe 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 matter of the sentence , but that i doe willingly submit to his divine providence , and acknowledge that very many wayes i deserve even a worldly punishment , as well as hereafter , for we are all sinfull , sir , and i a great one ; yet for my comfort , i know there is a god in heaven that is exceeding mercifull ; i know my redeemer fits at his right hand , and am confident ( clapping his hand on his breast ) is mediating for me at this instant , i am hopefull 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 profest in the land , and established , and now it is not this religion , or that religion , nor this or that fancie 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 said , ) had i thought my speech would have been thus taken , i would have digested it into some better method then now i can , and shall desire these gentlemen that doe 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 are , sirs , terrible aspersions that 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 lesse intended then to serve him in it . i was bred with him for many years , i was his domestique 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 speake onely 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 designe known to me by the in coming of that army , then what is really in the declaration published . his person , i doe professe , i had reason to love , as he was my king , and as he had been my master : it hath 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 gaine by for ever . there hath been much spoken , sir , of an invitation into this kingdome : it 's mentioned in that declaration , and truly to that i did and doe remit my self : and i have been very much laboured for discoveries of these inviters , 't is no time to dissemble , how willing 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 unusefull in that which willingly i would have done . as i said at first ( sir ) so i say now concerning that point ; i wish the kingdome happiness , i wish it peace ; and truly sir , i wish that this bloud of mine may be the last that is drawn : and howsoever i may perhaps have some reluctancie with my self as to the matter of my suffering , for my fact , yet i freely forgive all ; sir , i carry no ranc●●… along with me to my grave : his will be done that has created both 〈◊〉 and earth , and me a poor miserable sinfull creature now speaking before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ for me to speak , sir , to you of state-businesse , and the government of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kingdome , or my opinion in that , or for any thing in that nature , truly it is 〈◊〉 no end , it contributes nothing : my owne 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 happinesse 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 happinesse of the kingdome . for my religion , that which i said was the established religion , and that which i have practised in my owne kingdome where i was borne and bred ; my tenets they need not to be exprest , they are known to all , and i am not of a rigid opinion ; many godly men there are that may have scruples which do not concerne me at all at no time ; they may differ in opinion , and more now then at any time ; differing in opinion does not move me ( nor any mans ) my owne is clear : sir , the lord forgive me my sinnes , and i forgive freely all those that even i might as a worldly man , have the greatest animosity against ; wee are bidden to forgive ; sir , t is a command laid upon us ( and there mentioned ) forgive us our trespasses , as we forgive them that trespasse against us . then the earl turning to the executioner , said , shall i put on another cap , must this hair be turn'd up from my neck , there are three of my servants to give satisfaction ; he also asked him which way he would have him lye . the executioner pointing to the front of the scaffold , the earl replyed , what , my head this way ? after a little discourse in private with some of his servants , he kneeled downe by the side of the scaffold and prayed a while to himself . then with a cheerfull and smiling countenance , ( embracing dr. sibbalds , ) he said , truly sir , i doe take you in mine arms , and truly i blesse 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 then ever i had , i passe out of a miserable world to go into an eternall and glorious kingdom ; and sir , though i have bin a most sinfull creature , yet gods mercy i know is infinite , and i blesse my god for it , i go with so clear a conscience , that i know not the man that i have personally injured . then imbracing those his servants which were there present , said to each of them , you have been very faithfull to me and the lord blesse you . and so turning himselfe to the executioner , he said , i shall say a very short prayer unto my god , while i lye downe there ; and when i stretch out my hand , ( my right hand ) then sir , do your duty ; and i doe freely forgive you , and so i doe all the world . then the e. of cambridge said to the executioner , must i lye all along ? he answered , yes , and 't please your lordship . then he said , 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 lye . and being told he must lye a little lower ; he said : well , stay then till i give you the signe . and so having laine a short space devoutly praying to himselfe , he stretch'd 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 taffery scarfe , 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 hamiltons at the mews , where it now remains . dk. hambleton , e : of cambridg , e : of holland , and lord capell be headed mar : 9. 1649 and their speeches on the scaffold the speech of the earl of holland upon the scaffold . it is to no purpose ( i thinke ) to speake any thing here , which way must i speak ? and then being directed to the front of the scaffold , he ( leaning over the raile . ) said , i thinke it is fit to say something , since god hath called me to this place . the first thing which i must professe , is , what concerns my religion , and my breeding , which hath been in a good family , that hath been ever faithfull 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 borne and bred : i hope god will forgive me my sins , since i conceive that 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 beleive 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 judgement , and a just judgement of god ; not but i have offended so much the state and the kingdome , and the parliament , as that i have had an extream vanity in serving them very extraordinarily . for those actions that i have done , i think it is knowne they have been ever very faithfull to the publique , 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 then they were when i was ingaged with the parliament : i have never gone off from those principles that ever i have professed : i have lived in them , and by gods grace wi●l dye in them ▪ there may be alterations and changes that may carry them further then i thought reasonable , and 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 bin 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 common-wealth , and to seek the peace of the kingdome : that made me thinke it no improper time , being prest out by accidents and circumstances , to seek the peace of the kingdome , 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 aime 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 scarcely a drop of blood shed in that action that i was ingaged in . for the 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 judgement of them : and therefore i must make use of my prayers , rather then of my opinion , which are , that god would blesse this kingdome , this nation , this state ; that he would settle it in a way agreeable to what this kingdome 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 then 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 hath in their birth intended to them i shall pray with all my soul for the happinesse of this state , of this nation , that the blood which is here spilt , may be even the last which may fall among us , and truly i should lay down my life with as much cheerfulnesse as ever person did , if i conceived that there would 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 doe wish with all my heart , happinesse , and a blessing to all those that have been authors in this businesse ; and truly that have been authors in this very work that bringeth us hither : i doe 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 goe 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 kingdome , 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 kindnesse , and their affections that i have found from them . ( looking towards mr. bolton ) 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 faithfulnesse to this kingdom , and to this state . i have endeavoured to doe those actions that have become an honest man , and which became a good englishman , 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 kindnesse now in this distresse , and in this condition i am in , and i thinke it a great reward , and 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 eternall 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 blesse 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 raile , he prayed for a god space of time . god hath given me ( speaking to m. bolton ) long time in this world ; he hath carryed me through many great accidents of fortune ; hee hath at last brought me down into a condition , where i find my self brought to an end , for a dis-affection 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 judgement of god for my sins . and truly sir , since that the death is violent , i am the lesse 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 truely i hope that his purposes and intentions were such , as a man may not be ashamed not onely 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 kingdome . 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 neverthelesse this lownesse shall raise me to the highest glory for ever . truly , i have not said much in publike 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 ( me thinks ) to take notice of them here ; i le rather dye with them , with the comfort of them in mine 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 , that they conceived , then to be taken ; and truly there was some marke upon me , as if i had some taint of it , even throughout the whole ways 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 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 publikely in a shew of shame in the way of this suffering , ( truly i understand it not to be so ) i understand it to be 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 seem to be . i am going to dye , and the lord receive my soul ; i have no reliance but upon christ , for my self , i doe 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 have been , i pray god forgive them , i pray god that there may not be many such trophies of their victory , 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 somthing of the way of our tryal , which i think hath been as extraordinary , as any thing i think hath ever been seen in this kingdom , but because i would not seem as if i made some complaint , i will not so much as mention it , because no body shall believe i rep●ne at their actions or my owne fortune ; it is the will of god , it is the hand of god under whom i fall , i take it intirely from him , i submit my self to him , i shall desire to roul my selfe into the armes of my blessed saviour , and when i come to this place , ( pointing to the block . ) when i bow downe my selfe there , i hope god will raise me up , and when i bid farewell , 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 beleeve , o lord helpe my unbelief . i shall make as much hast as i can to come to that glory , and the lord of heaven and earth take my soul : i look upon my selfe intirely in him , and hope to find mercy through him , i expect it , and through that fountaine that is opened for sin , and for uncleannesse 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 instead of being carryed up into the arms of god and glory , i have nothing but may throw me downe into hell . and here is the place where i lye downe before him , from whence i hope he will raise me to an eternall glory through my saviour , upon whom i rely , from whom onely i can expect mercy : into his arms i commend my spirit , into his bleeding armes , that when i leave this bleeding body that must lye upon this place , he will receive that soul that ariseth out of it , and receive it into his eternall mercy , through the merits , through the worthinesse , through the mediation of christ that hath purchased it with his owne most precious blood . 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 sathan can make unto it , and that he will carry my soule in despight of all the calumnies , and all that the devill , and sathan can invent , will carry it into eternall mercy , there to receive the blessednesse of his presence to all eternity . that lamb of god , into his hands i commit my soule : and that lamb of god that sits upon the throne to judge those 24 that fall down before him , i hope he will be pleased to look downeward , and judge me with mercy that fall down before him , and that worship him , and that adore him , that onely trusts upon his mercy for his compassion , and that as he hath purchased me , he would lay his claime unto me now , and receive me . indeed if christ justifie , no body can condemne , and i trust in god , in his justification , though there is 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 soule . then the earl of holland looking over among the people , pointing to a souldier , said , this honest man took me prisoner , you little thought i should have been brought to this , when i delivered my self to you upon conditions , and espying capt. watson on horse-back putting off his hat said to him , god be with you sir , god reward you sir . here must now be my anchor , a great storm make the findes my anchor and but in storms no body trust to their 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 dye not with that clearnesse and heartinesse that you speak of , truly , i will trust in god , though he kill me , i will relye upon him , and the mercy of my saviour . then the earl of holland imbraced lieut. col. 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 returne his love into his bosome . mr. bolton said to him , the lord god support you , and be seen in this great extremity , the lord reveal and discover himselfe to you , and make your death the passage unto eternall life . then the earl turning to the executioner , said , here my friend , let my clothes and my body alone , there is ten pounds for thee , that is better then my clothes , i am sure of it . executioner , will your lordship please to give me a sign when i shall strike ? and his lordship said , you have room enough here , have you not ? and the executioner said , yes . then the earl of holland turning to the exeuctioner , said , friend , doe 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 forgivenesse , and then prayed for a pretty space , with seeming earnestnesses . then speaking to the executioner , he said , 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 blesse 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 finde that these accidents , that have hapned to us , may be the last that may happen in this kingdome ; it is that i desire , it is that i beg of god , next the saving of my soul : i pray god give all happinesse to this kingdom , to this people , and this nation : and then turning to the executioner , said , how must i lye ? i know not . executioner , lie down flat upon your belly : and then having laid himselfe down , he said , must i lie closer ? executioner , yes , and backwarder . 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 comming out of his mouth , the executioner at one blow severed his head from his body . the speech of the lord capel . the conclusion that i made with those that sent me hither , and are the cause of this violent death of mine , shalll 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 & boundles mercy 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 somwhat more , that i am a protestant , and truly i am a protestant , and very much in love with the prossifeon of it , after the manner as it was established in england by the thirty nine articles ; a blessed way of profession , and such a 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 withall , that truly i profes to you , that though i love good works , and commend good works , yet i hold , they have nothing at all to doe in the matter of salvation ; my anchor hold is this , that christ loved me , and gave himselfe 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 dye : 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 wil 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 now before you , and acknowledged a peer , not condemned to dye 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 tel you , in the matter of the civil part of my death , and the cause i have maintained , i dy ( 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 severall opinions , yet all divines on all hands , do acknowledge that here is intended magistracy and order , & certainly i have obeyed that magistracy & the order under which i have lived , which i was bound to obey ; and truly , i do say very confidently , that i do dye here for keeping , for obeying that fift 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 then his , that said of himself , for suffering an unjust judgement upon another , himself was brought to suffer by an unjust judgement . truly gentlemen , that god 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 doe here profes to you , that truly i did give my vote to that bill of the e. of strafford , i doubt not but god almighty hath washed that away with a more precious blood , and that is , with 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 the least degree of malice in the doing of it : but i must confes again to gods glory , and the accusation of mine own frailty , and the frailty of my nature , that truly it was an unworthy cowardize , not to resist so great a torrent as carried that busines 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 , then our gracious king charls that dyed 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 sufficiencies of his father : for certainly , i that have been a councellour 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 , then in him ; great judgement , great understanding , great apprehension , much honour in his nature , and truly , a very perfect englishman in his inclination ; and i pray god restore him to this kingdome , and unite the kingdoms one unto another , and send a happinesse both to you and to him , that he may long live and reign among you , and that that family may reign till thy kingdome come , that is , while all temporall power is consummated : i beseech god of his mercy , give much happines 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 comming hither , i pray god give them as much mercy as their own hearts can wish ; and truly for my part , i will not accuse any 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 i will not examine , but let it be what it will , from my very soul i forgive them every one : and so , the lord of heaven blesse you all , god almighty be infinite in goodnesse and mercy to you , and direct you in those wayes of obedience to his commands to his majesty , that this kingdome may be a happy and glorious nation again , and that your king may be a happy king in so good and so obedient people . god almighty keep you all , god almighty preserve this kingdome , 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 a coming , he then said , stay , i must pull off my doublet first , and my wastcoat : and then the executioner being come upon the scaffold , the lord capel said , o friend , prethee come hither : then the executioner kneeling down , the lord capel said , i forgive thee from my soul , and not only forgive thee , but i shall pray to god to give thee all grace for a better life : there is five pounds for thee ; and truly for my clothes and those things , if there be any thing due to you for it , you shall be very fully recompenced ; but i desire my body may not be stripped here , and no body to take notice of my body but my own servants : look you friend , this i shall desire of you , that when i lye down , that you would give me a time for a particular short prayer . then lieut. col. beecher . said , make your own signe , my lord . capel . stay a little , which side doe you stand upon ? ( speaking to the executioner ) stay , i think i should lay my hands forward that way ( pointing foreright ) and answer being made , yes , he stood still a little while , and then said , god almighty blesse all this people . god almighty stench this blood , god almighty , stench , stench , stench , this issue of blood ; this will not do the businesse , god almighty find out another way to do it . and then turning to one of his servants , said , baldwin , i cannot see any thing that belongs to my wife : but i must desire thee to beseech her to rest wholly upon jesus christ , and be contented and fully satisfied : and then speaking to his servants , he said , god keep you ; and gentlemen , let me now doe a businesse quickly , privately , and pray let me have your prayers at the moment of death , that god would receive my soul . capel . pray at the moment of striking , joyn your prayers , but make no noise ( turning to his servants ) that is inconvenient at this time . servant , my lord , put on your cap. capel . shoul i , what will that doe me good ? stay a little , is it well as it is now ? and then turning to the executioner , he said , honest man , i have forgiven thee , therefore strike boldly ; from my soul i do it . then a gentleman speaking to him , he said , nay , prethee be contented , be quiet good m — be quiet . then turning to the executioner , he said , well , you are ready when i am ready , are you not ? and stretching out his hands , he said , then pray stand off gentlemen , then going to the front of the scaffold , he said to the people , gentlemen , though i doubt not of it , yet i thinke it convenient to ask it of you , that you would all joyn in prayers with me , that god would mercifully receive my soul , and that for his alone mercies in christ jesus , god almighty keep you all . executioner , my lord , shall i put up your hair ? capel . i , i , prethee do ; and then as he stood , lifting up his hands and eyes , he said , o god , i doe with a perfect and a willing heart submit to thy will : o god , i doe most willingly humble my self : then kneeling down , said , i will try first how i can lye ; and laying his head over the block , said , am i well now ? execu . yes . and then as he lay with both his hands stretched out , he said to the executioner , here lye both my hands out , when i lift up my hand thus , then you may strike . and then after he had said a short prayer , he lifted up his right hand , and the executioner at one blow severed his head from his body , which was taken up by his servants and put ( with his body ) into a coffin , as the former . march 19. 1648. an act for abolishing of the house of peers . the commons of england assembled in parliament , finding by too long experience that the house of lords is uselesse and dangerous to the people of england to be continued , have thought fit to ordain and enact , and be it ordained and enacted by the present parliament , and by the authority of the same , that from henceforth the house of lords in parliament , shall be , and is hereby wholly abolished and taken away ; and that the lords shall not from henceforth meet or sit in the said house of lords ; nor shall sit , vote , advise , adjudge or determine of any matter or thing whatsoever , as a house of lords in parliament : neverthelesse it is hereby declared , that neither such lords as have demeaned themselves with honour , courage and fidelity to the common-wealth , their posterities who shal continue so , shall not be excluded from the publike councels of the nation , but shall be admitted thereunto , and have their free vote in parliament , if they shall be thereunto elected , as other persons of interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have : and be it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid , that no peer of this land , not being elected , qualified , and fitting in parliament as aforesaid , shall claim , have , or make use of any priviledge of parliament , either in relation to his person , quality , or estate , any law , usage , or custom to the contrary notwithstanding . hen. scobel cler. parliamenti . on thursday july 25. the generall and army marched from mordington to coppersmith , col. hackers regiment being drawn up in the way ; his excellency made a speech to satisfie them concerning cap. ogles troope , being sent back into northumberland , in regard of his interest in that county : and that capt. greenwoods troop appointed for berwick should march with the regiment in the stead thereof , which gave great satisfaction . col. brights regiment being drawn up , maj. gen. lambert appointed colonel thereof , coming to the head of the regiment , was received with great acclamations . a list of the regiments of horse and foot randezvouzed and marched with the l. gen. cromwell into scotland . eight regiments of horse . the l. generals in number 663 maj. gen. in number 663 col. fleetwoods in number 663 col. whalies in number 663 col. twisden in number 663 col , lilburne in number 663 col. hackers in number 663 col. okey in number 774 consisting with officers , in all 5450 ten regiments of foot . the l. generals in number 1307 col. pride 1307 col. bright 1307 col. maliveryr 1307 col. ch. fairfax 1307 col. cocks 1307 col. dunell 1307 col. sir ar. hasterigs 5. comp. 550 col. fenwicks five companies 550 consisting with officers in all 10249 the train , six hundred and ninety . the whole thus , the train six hundred and ninety . the horse five thousand four hundred and fifteen . the foot ten thousand two hundred forty nine . the total , sixteen thousand three hundred fifty four . a letter from lieut. gen. david lesly , to the l. g. cromwel . my lord . i am commanded by the committee of estates of this kingdom , and desired by the commissioners of the generall assembly , to send unto your excellency this inclosed declaration , as that which containeth the state of the quarrel ; wherein we are resolved , by the lords assistance , to fight your army , when the lord shall please to call us thereunto . and as you have professed you will not conceal any of our papers , i do desire that this declaration may be made known to all the officers of your army ; and so i rest , bruchton , 13. aug. 1650. your excellency's most humble servant , david lesley . for his excellency the lord generall cromwel . the declaration of the commissioners of the generall assembly of scotland , as followeth . the commission of the generall-assembly considering , that there may be just ground of stumbling , from the kings majesties refusing to subscribe and emit the declaration offered unto him by the committee of estates , and commissioners of the generall assembly , concerning his former carriage , and resolutions for the future , in reference to the cause of god , and the enemies and friends thereof ; doth therefore declare , that this kirk and kingdome do not owne nor espouse any malignant party , or quarrell , or interest , but that they fight meerly upon their former grounds and principles , and in defence of the cause of god , and of the kingdome , as they have done these twelve years past and therefore as they doe disclaime all the sin and guilt of the king and of his house ; so they will not owne him , nor his interest , otherwise then with a subordination to god , and so far as he ownes and prosecutes the cause of god , and disclaims his , and his fathers opposition to the work of god , and to the covenant , and likewise all the enemies thereof . and that they will with convenient speed take in consideration the papers lately sent unto them from oliver cromwel , and vindicate themselves from all the falshoods contained therein , especially in these things , wherein the quarrell betwixt us and that party is mis-stated , as if we owned the late kings proceedings , and were resolved to prosecute and maintaine his present majesties interest , before and without acknowledgement of the sins of his house and former wayes , and satisfaction to gods people in both kingdomes . west kirk , 13. august , 1650. a. ker. tho : henderson . 13. august , 1650. the committee of estates having seen and considered a declaration of the commission of the generall assembly , anent the stating of the quarrell , whereon the army is to fight , do approve the same , and heartily concur therein . the lord generals answer to the former , as followeth . i received yours of the thirteenth instant , with the paper you mentioned therein inclosed , which i caused to be read in the presence of so many officers as could well be gotten together , to which your trumpet can witness , we returne you this answer , by which i hope in the lord it will appear , that we continue the same we have profest our selves to the honest people of scotland , wishing to them as to our own souls , it being no part of our busines to hinder any of them from worshipping god in that way they are satisfied in their consciences by the word of god they ought ( though different from us ) but shall therein be ready to perform what obligations lie upon us by the covenant ; but that under the pretence of the covenant mistaken , and wrested from the most native intent and equity thereof , a king should be taken in by you , to be imposed upon us , and this called the cause of god and the kingdome , and this done upon the satisfaction of gods people in both nations , as is alleged , together with a disowning of malignants , although he who is the head of them , in whom all their hope of comfort lies , be received ; who at this very instant hath a popish party fighting for and under him in ireland , hath p. rupert ( a man who hath had his hand deep in the blood of many innocent men of england ) now in the head of our ships stoln from us upon a malignant accompt ; hath the french and irish ships daily making depredations upon our coasts : strong combinations by the malignants in england , to raise arms in our bowels , by vertue of his commissions , who having of late issued out very many to that purpose , and how the interest you pretend you have received him upon , and the malignant interest in the ends and consequences entring in this man , can be secured , we cannot discern ; and how we should believe , that whilst known and notorious malignants , fighting and plotting against us on the one hand , and the declaring for him on the other , should not be an espousing of a malignant party , quarrell , or interest , but be a meer fighting upon former grounds and principles , and in defence of the cause of god , and of the kingdome , as hath been these 12. years last past ( as ye say ) for the security and satisfaction of gods people in both nations , or the opposing of which should render us enemies to the godly with you , we cannot well understand , especially considering , that all these malignants take their confidence and encouragement from the late transactions of your kirk and state with your king ; for as we have already said , so we tell you again , it is but satisfying security to those that employ us , and are concerned in that we seek , which we conceive will not be by a few formall and feigned submissions from a person who could not tell otherwise how to accomplish his malignant ends , and therefore councel'd to this complyance , by them who assisted his father , and have hitherto acted him in his most evill and desperate designes , and are now again by them set on foot ; against which , how you will be able in the way you are in , to secure us or your selves , is ( forasmuch as concerns our selves ) our duty to look after . if the state of your quarrell be thus , upon which , as you say , you resolve to fight our army , you will have opportunity to do that , else what means our abode here ? and if our hope be not in the lord , it will be ill with us . we commit both you and our selves to him , who knows the heart and tries the reins , with whom are all our ways , who is able to doe for us and you , above what we know , which we desire may be in much mercy to his poor people , and to the glory of his own great name : and having performed your desire in making your papers so publique , as is before exprest , i desire you to doe the like , by letting the state , kirk and army have the knowledge hereof . to which end i have sent you inclosed two copies , and rest from the camp at pencland hills , 14. august . 1654. your humble servant , o. cromwel . the victory at gladsmore in scotland , 30 , and 31. of july 1650. m. g. montgomery slaine , 200 armes taken of the scots , 80. troopers , 400. or 500. wounded , 4 colours , 15. troops totally routed , 500. foot routed at muscleburrough . the victory at danbar , 30 august 1650. 400. killed upon the place , 10000 prisoners , 2000 horse , 290 commission officers , 15000 arms , 200 colours , 32. peices of ordnance . of ours that ingaged in the battail , 5000 horse and foot , their word , the covenant ; our word , the lord of hosts , who manifested him selfe to be with us . novemb. 1650. insurrections in norfolk , for which 24 were condemned , and 20 executed , the other left to mercy . col. ker routed and taken , and the towne of ayre . decemb. 25. the strong castle of edenburgh delivered up , with 53 pieces of ordnance , whereof 15 iron , the rest brasse ; about 8000 arms , store of ammunition and provision ; it was the hand of the lord alone that wrought out and extended such great salvations to us . novemb. 21. a squadron of ships commanded by gen. blague , surprised a considerable part of the portugal brasil fleet fraughted with sugar , and sent them to england , and after pursued the revolted ships , and followed them beyond alligant , where they have taken 7 of p. ruperts fleet , and pursued him to thoulon one of the furthest havens of france , having but two ships left him ; which hath sounded forth in the ears of forreigne princes and states , who began to acknowledge that god hath been with the parliament and common-wealth of england , and both spain and portugall have sent their embassadors to treat with us . for all which signall salvations , the 30. of jan. 1650. was set apart and observed as a day of publike thanks-giving and holy rejoycing , in england , wales and town of berwick . jan. 1. 1650. the scots king was crowned at schone , he is generall of the army , duke hamilton lieut. gen. of the scotch army , david lesley m. gen. middleton l. g. of the scotch horse , and massey m. g. of the english . a speech made by k. charles ye-2d-at his coronation ▪ 1. january . 1650 i will by gods assistance bestow my life for your defence wishing to live no longer then that i may see this kingdome flourish in happiness . the oath , i doe promise & vow in ye presence of ye eternall god yt i will maintaine ye true kirk of god religion right preaching & administration of ye sacraments now received & preached within this realme in purity ; and shall abolish & gain-stand all falce religions & sects contrary to ye same . and shall rule ye people com̄ited to my charge , according to ye will of god , and laudable laws & consti●●tions of ye realme ; causing justice & equity to be ministred without partiality . january 4. 1650. the king of spaine sent his embassadour for the acknowledging of this state , whose authority and soveraignty resides in this parliament of the common-wealth of england , and to stablish and close up a good friendship with this common-wealth . the portugall sent his agent also to the like effect . march 6. 1650. sir henry hide beheaded at the exchange for receiving and acting by vertue of a commission from charls stuart the second , and king of great britaine , france , and ireland , as his agent to the great turk , with an intent to destroy the trade of the turkie company , and the parliaments interest , not onely in constantinople , but in mitylene , anatolia , and smyrna , in which conspiracies he had a commission to be a commissioner , and he was likewise to seize upon our merchants goods , for the use of the king of scotland ; and procured audience of the grand visier , and raised great fears and uproars among the merchants . browne bushell , beheaded under the scaffold on tower-hill , march 29. 1651. for delivering up scarborough . june 2. 1651. the surrender of silly islands . insurrection in cardiganshire , 24 june 1651. 40 slain , 60 prisoners taken . burnt island surrendred , 29 july , 1651. the scotch king invaded england with 16000 horse and foot , and a light train of artillery , and caused himselfe to be proclaimed king of england , scotland , and ireland , in lancashire . august 22. charles the first erected his standard at notingham , and charles the second erected his standard the 22 of aug. at worcester , 1651. september 3. 1651. old lesly , crawford , linsey , ogleby , with divers of quality , besides 300 taken that were making levies to raise the siege at dundee . august 2. 1651. st. johnston surrendred . august 19. 1651. the castle of sterling surrendred , 40 pieces of ordnance , 27. faire brasse pieces , 2 great iron guns , 11 leather guns , provision of meal to serve 500 men about twelve months , 40 or 50 barrels of beef , about five hundred armes , new muskets and pikes , twenty six barrels of powder , 20 or 30 vessels of claret wine & strong-waters , great store of match and other ammunition , lances , guns , a thousand flattes and other instruments of war of that nature , all the records of scotland , the chaire and cloth of state , the sword , and other 〈◊〉 furniture of the kings . august 25. 1651. the totall rout and overthrow of the earl of darby in lancashire , by colonel robert lilburne . a full narrative of the late dangerous designe against the state , written with master love's owne hand , and by him sent to the parliament ; whereby he setteth down the severall meetings , and secret actings , with major alford , major adams , colonel barton , master blackmore , m. case , m. cauton , dr. drake , m. drake , captain far , m. gibbons , m. haviland , maj. huntington , m. jenkins , m. jaquel , m. jackson , liev. jackson , captain massey , m. nalton , captain potter , m. robinson , m. sterks , col. sowton , col vaughan , and others . considering how a clear and full narrative may satisfie the state ( although it may prejudice my selfe ) i am willing with an ingenuous freedome , and opennesse of heart to make knowne the whole matter , so far as i distinctly know , and well remember , humbly hoping that this large acknowledgement of mine ( which is more then any in the world can prove against me ) shall not be taken as an aggravation of my fault , but as a demonstration of my ingenuity . before i mention the matters of fact , i humbly crave leave to signifie the time when , and manner how i came to be intangled in this unhappy businesse . as for the time , it was after the breaking off the treaty between the king and the scots at jersey ; for before that time ( to the best of my remembrance ) i was not privie too , or acquainted with any meetings about the sending of captain titus ( whose face i never saw ) to jersey , or sending letters to him , or receiving letters from him , while he was there ; or about sending any letters too , or receiving any letters from the king , queen , jermyn , piercy , or any other person in forreign parts during the treaty at jersey , but after that treaty was ended , m. w. drake came to me , told me he had newes to impart , and to that end , he desired to know ( if he could get friends together ) whether i was willing that they should meet at my house ( it being conveniently scituate in the midst of the city ) that so he might communicate what he heard of affairs abroad . to satisfie my curiosity to hear new●s , i was content to let him , with those he should bring to meet at my house . thus for the time when , and manner how i came to be present at any meetings about intelligence . i now come humbly and truly to relate the matter of fact , which is as followeth : it appeared to me by the testimony of the witnesses , that there were frequent meetings by mr. drake , alford , titus , adams , and others , soon after the death of the late king , and applications made to the king of scots , the queen his mother , to jermyn , and piercy , both before and during the treaty at iersey , of which i know nothing , nor was i present : but the first meeting i was at , was at my house , and was ( as i remember ) at the reading of a letter which came from captain titus , after the treaty was ended at jersey ; the contents of that letter were ( if i mistake not ) to this effect : that the treaty at jersey was broken off through the violent and evill counsels of desperate malignants ; and that he had something of concernment to communicate , which he durst not doe in person , being not safe for him to come over into england , nor could he well do it by writing , he judging it not fit nor safe to send by the common post , fearing a miscarriage ; wherefore he desired some body to be sent over to him to calice , to whom he might give an account of all proceedings . vpon the reading of this letter , mr. drake moved that some person should be desired to goe to calice ; for said he , we shall hear the whole relation of the businesse at jersey : whereupon major adams or captain farr were moved by mr. drake to goe . there was mention of major alford to goe , though he was not then present that i know of , nor was he ever within my house , as i remember , untill after he returned from calice : so that there was none that i know of was gone , mr. drake told me , major alford was the fittest man to goe over to calice , having businesse of his owne to goe into france , to look after his prodigall son , so that it was ( said he ) a plausible pretence to conceale his going over to meet with titus . there were present at this first meeting , m. drake , m. ienkins , maj. adams , d. drake , cap. farr , cap. potter , and my selfe , with some others , but who more , i cannot remember . about two or three dayes after major alfords returne from calice , mr. drake told me he was come to london , and told me he would goe to severall ministers and citizens , to desire them to meet at my house , that so we might hear what newes major alford brought with him from calice ; accordingly the next day in the evening they met at my house , mr. drake brought major alford with him ; major alford at that meeting gave an account of his conference with titus , and of his receiving a copy of the kings letter from him , as also a narrative of the proceedings at the treaty at jersey : but he said ( if i mistake not ) that he brought not over the letters himself , but delivered them to a passenger that came over in the ship , to carry them , lest that himselfe should be searched ; but after he came into england , he received the letter and narrative from the passenger ( but who he was i know not ) and so brought them to london ; whether the copy of the kings letter was read at my house , in my hearing , i remember not ; yet i deny not but it was read there , i am sure i heard that the contents of it were to this effect , that he tooke in good part the affections and loyalty of those who formerly had made applications by way of petition to him ( of which petition i know nothing ) and if ever god restored him , or put him in a condition , he should remember them : the narrative which alford brought from titus , was read in my house , in my hearing , which was to this effect , he made a large description of the scots , commending his prudent carriage and good inclinations to an agreement with the scots , but that his bad councell about him hindred it ; also he made a rehearsall of his sufferings from the cavaliers at iersey , how he was imprisoned in a close room : many things else was in the narrative , which i have forgotten . there were present at this meeting , major alford , m. drake , m. case , major adams , m. iaquel , m. iackson , m. ienkins , d. drake , cap. potter , m. sterks , cap. farr , and my self , with some others , but who more , i doe not remember . a little before or about the treaty , between the king and the scots at breda . there was a meeting at my house , m. drake proposed , that we should think of some way to promote the agreement betweene the king and the scots ; where by the way , i desire humbly to give notice , that this was the first and onely meeting of this nature , and for this end , at my house , that i know of . at this meeting , m. drake tooke cut some papers out of his pocket , written in characters , which he read in my study ; what he read , went under the name of a commission and instructions ( as he termed it ) to be sent to the lord willoughby , alderman bunce , massey , graves , and titus , to appoint them to advise with , and use their interests in persons of honour , about the king , to provoke him to agree with the scots , and to take the covenant ; as also to advise with the scots commissioners , and perswade them , that in their agreement with their king , they would have speciall respect to the interest of religion , and terms of the covenant ; the commission ran in this form , as if it were in the names of all the presbyteriall party in england : after i heard it read , i expressed my selfe against it , alledging severall reasons , chiefly , that it was an act of high presumption for private persons to send a commission with instructions , and an act of notorious falshood , to say , this was in the name of the presbyteriall party of england , when none but a few persons knew thereof , that i know of : many in the company did expresse a dislike thereof , as well as my selfe . m. drake did also read a letter in this meeting , but to whom it was , i know not , neither know i the contents of it , i was at least a dozen times called out of the room , whiles the company were there met , so that i am not able to give so full and particular an accompt of the contents of the letter , and of the commission and instructions : what m. drake did about the commission and instructions after he was gone from my house , i know not ; what he sent away , i know not , nor did i know by whom it was sent away , untill maj. alford declared before the high court , that he received the papers from m. drake , carried them to gravesend , and delivered them to one mason ( whose face i never saw ) and he carried them to holland . there was present at this meeting , major huntington ( who was never at my house before nor since , whose face i never saw before nor since , but at my tryall ) m. drake , d. drake , m. jackson , m. jenkins , m. cauton , maj. alford , m. gibbons , maj. adams , cap. farr , and my selfe , with some others , whom i cannot remember . there is one thing more i make bold to mention , that there are other persons , besides those i have named , who did now and then come to these meetings at my house , as m. robinson , m. nalton , m. haviland , m. blackmore , col. vaughan , col. sowton , these were also present at one time or another , but at what particular meeting , i cannot positively say . thus i have clearly laid open the whole matter of fact , so far as i well remember , and distinctly know of passages about these meetings and transactions at my house . from the tower of london , july 22. 1651. i attest the truth of this narrative under my hand , christopher love . mr. love's speech made on the scaffold on tower-hill , august 22. 1651. beloved christians , i am this day made a spectacle unto god , angels , and men ; and among them i am made a grief to the godly , a laughing-stock to the wicked , and a gazing stock to all ; yet blessed be my god , not a terror to my self ; although there be but a little between me and death , yet this bears up my heart , there is but a little between me and heaven : it comforted dr taylor , the martyr , when he was going to execution , that there were but two stiles between him and his fathers house ; there is a lesser way between me and my fathers house , but two steps between me and glory ; it is but lying downe upon the block , and i shall ascend upon a throne : i am this day sailing towards the ocean of eternity , through a rough passage , to my haven of rest ; through a red sea , to the promised land . methinks i hear god say to me as he did to moses , goe up to mount nebo , and die there , so goe thou up to tower-hill , and dye there . isaac said of himself , that he was old , and yet he knew not the day of his death ; but i cannot say thus , i am young , and yet i know the day of my death , and i know the kind of my death also , and the place of my death also ; it is such a kind of death as two famous preachers of the gospel were put to before me , john the baptist , and paul the apostle , they were both beheaded : yee have mention of the one in scripture story , and of the other in ecclesiasticall history : and i read in the 20 of the revelations , and the 4. the saints were beheaded for the word of god , and for the testimony of jesus . but herein is the disadvantage , which i am in in the thoughts of many , who judge that i suffer not for the word , or for conscience , but for medling with state-matters . to this i shall briefly say , that it is an old guise of the devil , to impute the cause of gods peoples sufferings , to be contrivements against the state , when in truth it is their religion and conscience they are persecuted for . the rulers of israel they would put jeremiah to death , upon a civill account , though indeed it was onely the truth of his prophesie made the rulers angry with him : yet upon a civill account they did pretend he must dye , because he fell away to the chaldeans , and would have brought in forreign forces to invade them : the same thing is laid to my charge , of which i am as innocent , as ieremiah was . i find other instances in the scripture , wherein the main causes of their sufferings were still imputed to meddling with state-matters : paul , though he did but preach jesus christ , yet he must dye , if the people might have their will , under the pretence that he was a mover of sedition . upon a civill account my life is pretended to be taken away , whereas indeed it is , because i pursue my covenant , and will not prostitute my principles and conscience to the ambition and lusts of men . beloved , i am this day to make a double exchange , i am changing a pulpit for a scaffold , and a scaffold for a throne ; and i might add a third , i am changing this numerous multitude , the presence of this numerous multitude upon tower-hill , for the innumerable company of angels in the holy hill of zion ; and i am changing a guard of souldiers , for a guard of angels , which will receive me , and carry me into abrahams bosome . this scaffold is the best pulpit i ever preached in , for in the church pulpit god through his grace made me an instrument to bring others to heaven , but in this pulpit he will bring me to heaven . these are the last words that i shall speak in this world , and it may be this last speech upon a scaffold my bring god more glory , then many sermons in a pulpit . before i lay downe my neck upon the block , i shall lay open my case unto the people that hear me this day : and in doing it , i shall avoid all rancour , all bitternes of spirit , animosity , and revenge ; god is my record , whom i serve in the spirit , i speak the truth , and lye not , i doe not bring a revengefull heart unto the scaffold this day ; before i came here , upon my bended knees , i have beg'd mercy for them that denied mercy to me , and i have prayed god to forgive them who would not forgive me : i have forgiven from my heart , the worst enemy i have in all the world , and this is the worst that i wish to my accusers and prosecutors , who have pursued my blood , that i might meet their souls in heaven . i have now done , i have no more to say , but to desire the help of all your prayers , that god would give me the continuance and supply of divine grace to carry me through this great work i am now to doe ; that i , who am to doe a work i never did , i may have a strength that i never had ; that i may put off this body with as much quietnesse and comfort of mind , as ever i put off my cloaths to goe to bed . and now i am to commend my soul to god , and to receive my fatall blow , i am comforted in this , though men kill me they cannot damne me , and though they thrust me out of the world , yet they canshut me out of heaven . i am now going to my long home , and you are going to your short homes , but i tell you i shall be at home before you , i shall be at heaven , my fathers house , before you will be at your owne houses . now i am going to the heavenly jerusalem , to the innumerable company of angels , to jesus christ the mediator of the new covenant , to the spirits of just men made perfect , to god the judge of all , in whose presence there is fulnesse of joy , and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore . i shall conclude . then he kneeled downe and made a short prayer privately . then after rising up , he said , blessed be god i am full of joy and peace in believing , i lye downe with a world of comfort , as if i were to lye downe in my bed . my bed is but a short sleep , and this death is a long sleep , where i shall rest in abrahams bosome , and in the embraces of the lord jesus . and then saying , the lord blesse you , he laid himselfe downe upon the scaffold , with his head over the block , and when he stretched forth his hands , the executioner cut off his head at one blow . the humble petition of william jenkins , prisoner . most humbly sheweth : that your petitioner is unfeignedly sorrowfull for all his late miscarriages , whether testified against him , or acknowledged by him , and for the great and sinfull unsutablenesse of them to his calling and condition . that upon earnest seeking of god , and diligent enquiry into his will , your petitioner is convinced , that the alterations of civill governments are ordered by , and founded upon the wise and righteous providences of god , who removeth kings , and setteth up kings , ruleth in the kingdomes of men , and giveth them to whomsoever he will . that the providences of this god , have in the judgement of your petitioner , as evidently appeared in the removing of others from , and the investing your honours with the government of this nation , as ever they appeared in the taking away , or bestowing of any government , in any history of any age of the world . that he apprehends , that a refusall to be subject to this present authority , under the pretence of upholding the title of any one upon earth , is a refusall to acquiesce in the wise and righteous pleasure of god , such an opposing of the government set up by the soveraigne lord of heaven and earth , as none can have peace , either in acting in , or suffering for , and that your petitioner looks upon it as his duty , to yeeld to this authority , all active and cheerfull obedience in the lord , even for couscience sake , to promise ( he being required ) truth and fidelity to it , and to hold forth the grounds of his so doing , to any , as god shall call him thereunto . that though an imprisonment , accompanied with the losse of estate , and to be followed ( without your gracious prevention ) with a speedy arraignment before a high and eminent iudicatory , are far from being pleasant to flesh and blood , and though the injoyment of your grace and favour , be a blessing most deserving to be reckoned among the best of temporals , yet that neither the feeling , and fearing of the former , nor the expectation of the latter , could have induced your petitioner against the light of his owne judgement , and the prepondering part of his owne conscience to have made , or presenting this acknowledgement , he sadly forecasting , that a whole skin is but a contemptible recompence for a wounded conscience . wil . jenkin . aug. 22. 1651. a glorious victory obtained through gods mercy , by the forces of the common-wealth , over the scotch army at worcester , 3 sep. 1651. this day twelve months was glorious at dunbar , but this day hath been very glorious before worcester , the word was , the lord of hosts , and so it was now ; the lord of hosts having been wonderfully with us : the same signall we had now as then , which was to have no white about us , yet the lord hath cloathed us with white garments , tho to the enemy they have been bloody , onely here lyeth the difference , that at dunbar our work was at break of day , and done ere the morning was over , but now it began towards the close of the evening , and ended not till the night came , that in the end it became an absolute victory , determined by an immediate possession of the town , with a totall routing and defeat of the scotch army , the number of persons taken is neer 10000. neer 3000 were slain of the enemy , but of all our side not above 200. which adds much to the mercy . my lord generall did exceedingly hazard himselfe , riding up and down in the midst of their shot , and riding himself in person to the enemies forts , offering them quarter , whereto they returned no answer , but shot . let us conclude therefore in the words of our renowned generall , the dimentions of this mercy are above all our thoughts , it is for ought i know , a crowning mercy , sure if it be not such a one we shall have , if this provoke not those that are concerned in it to thankfulnesse , and the parliament to doe the will of him , who hath done his will for it , and for the nation . sept. 1. 1651. dundee taken by storme , sixty ships in the harbour , forty guns . the scots king beaten at worcester , gets into a hollow tree , remaines there a night , the next day in a wood , cuts his hair short , shipt for havre de grace , and so to paris . sir , the scottish king came hither on munday the last of october , new style , and being demanded by his mother and the duke of orleans how he escaped the fight of worcester , gave them this account . that about six a clock in the evening , his army being in all likelihood beaten , he quitted worcester towne , with a party of horse , and marched toward lancashire , but being fearfull of being pursued , and likewise of some of the scotish officers that might deliver him up , he with my lord wilmot quitted their horses , sent the party of horse upon their march , and betook themselves the second dayes march from worcester , into a tree , where they remained untill night , and then marched on foot that night ; the third day they took sanctuary in a wood , and night approaching marched on towards lancashire , where they were received by a lady who furnished them with cloaths for a disguise , and cut off their haire very short . having reposed two or three dayes , the lady resolved to endeavour to ship them out of england , to which purpose , she riding behind the king , and wilmot as another servant by , they went to bristoll , but finding a narrow and hot inquiry there , resolved to go for london , where they stayed three weeks . the king one day went into westminster-hall , where he saith he saw the states-arms , and scots colours ; my lord wilmot procured a merchant to hire a ship of forty tuns to transport them , which cost them a hundred and twenty pounds , but where they took shipping is not yet knowne : but as soon as my lord was entred the barque , and the king as his servant , the master of the vessel came to my lord , and told him , that he knew the king , and told him , that in case it should be knowne , he could expect no mercy : which saying troubled them , but at length , what with money and promises , they prevailed , and so set faile for havre de grace , where they landed , and from thence to roven , where they cloathed themselves , and writ to paris . his arrivall there will put them to new counsels , since now they cannot send their embassadors , which was concluded on before his coming . the duke of orleans fetched him into towne , and expressed much as to serve him . yesterday he , with thurenne , beaufort , the duke of guise , came to him to the louvre , where the king told them , that they should endeavour to reconcile the breach between the prince and the king of france , for , said he , to my knowledge the english will visit you with an army in the spring . the executing of the earl of darby at bolton in lancashire , octob. 15. 1651. the isle of jersey taken , octob. 30. nov. 16. the isle of man taken . resol. that the time for the continuance of this parliament , beyond which they resolve not to sit , shall be nov. 3. 1654. the parliament of the common-wealth of england declare . 1 that no power , jurisdictions or authority derived from , by or under charles stewart , who pretended himselfe king of scotland , or any of his predecessors , or any otherwise then from the parliament of the common-wealth of england be used , exercised or enjoyned within scotland or the isles or any of their territories thereof . 2 that they doe forbid , annull and make void the use and exercise of any power , jurisdiction and authority whatsoever within scotland or the isles , or any of the territories thereof , other then such as shall be derived from the parliament of the common-wealth of england . february 24. 1651. an act of generall pardon and oblivion . the parliament of england having had good experience of the affections of the people to this present government , by their ready assistance in the defence thereof , against charls stuart son of the late tyrant , and the forces lately invading this nation under his command , and being much afflicted with the miserable and sad effects which the late unnaturall war hath produced , and resolved ( next to the glory of god , and the advancement of the kingdome of jesus christ ) to make no other use of the many victories the lord hath in mercy vouchsafed unto them , then a just settling of the peace and freedome of this common-wealth ; and being most desirous that the minds , persons and estates of all the people of this nation might be composed , setled and secured , and that all rancor and evill will occasioned by the late differences , may be buryed in perpetuall oblivion . be it enacted by this present parliament , and by authority of the same , that all and every person or persons of or within the common-wealth of england , the isles of jersey and gernsey , and the towne of barwick upon tweed , and the heires , executors , and administrators of them and every of them , and all and singular bodies in any manner incorporated , cities , burroughs , shires , ridings , hundreds , lathes , rapes , wapentakes , townes , villages , hamblets and tithings , and every of them , are and shall be , and are by the authority of this parliament , acquitted , pardoned , released and discharged ( as against the parliament the keepers of the liberties of england by authority of parliament , or any or other of them ) of all manner of treasons , fellonies , offences , contempts , trespasses , entries , misdemeanors , forfeitures , sequestrations , penalties , and sums of moneys , pains of death , pains corporall , or pecuniary , and generally of all other things , causes , quarrels , fines , judgements , and executions had , made , committed , suffered or done before the third day of september 1651. not in this present act hereafter not excepted nor foreprized . and the said keepers of the liberties of england by the authority of this present parliament , granteth and freely giveth , acquitteth , pardoneth , releaseth and dischargeth to every of the persons , and to every of the said bodies corporate , and others before rehearsed , and to every of them , all goods , debts , chattels , fines , issues , profits , amercements , forfeitures , which to the said keepers of the liberties of england do , or shal belong or appertain , by reason of any offence contempt , trespasse , entery , misdeameanors , matter , cause , sequestration or quarrell had , suffered , done , or committed by them , or any of them , before the said third day of september , and which be not hereafter in this act foreprized and excepted . and it is further enacted , that this pardon by these generall words , clauses and sentences before rehearsed , shall be reputed , deemed , adjudged , expounded , allowed , and taken in manner of courts of justice , or else-where most beneficiall and available to all and singular the persons , bodies corporate , and others before rehearsed , and to every of them . and if any person or persons , &c. shall be in any wise arrested , attached , distrained , summoned , or otherwise vexed , &c. for , or because any thing acquitted , pardoned , released , or discharged by vertue of this act , that every person so offending , and being thereof lawfully convicted by sufficient testimony , shall yeeld and pay for recompence to the party so grieved or offended thereby , his or their treble dammages , and forfeit ten pounds to the keepers of the liberties of england . excepted , and always foreprized out of this general free pardon , all and all manner of high-treasons , ( other then for words only ) and all levying of war , rebellions , insurrections , and all conspiracies and confederacies , traiterously had , committed , and done against the parliament , or the keepers of the liberties of england , either within or without the limits of this common-wealth , since the thirtieth day of january in the year of our lord , 1648. and all misprisions and concealements of the said offences or any of them , or the abettimg , ayding , procuring of them , or any of them . and also excepted all manner of voluntary murthers , petty treasons , and wilfull poysoning ; all piracies , and robberies upon the seas , and the abettors thereof ; all buggeries , rapes , and ravishments , and wilfull taking away and marrying of any maid , widow , or daughter against her will . and also except all persons now attainted or outlawed , of or for petty treason , murther , or wilfull poysoning , conjurations , witchcrafts , charmes , wrongfull detainments of any the customes , and all sequestrations and sums of money due upon compositions excise or new-impost . and also excepted all conditions and covenants , and all penalties and forfeitures due to the parliament or the late king , since the 30. of january 1648. and also all first fruits , and tythes , and all offences and misdemeanours whereof any sentence or judgement hath been given in parliament ▪ since the 30 of january 1648. and all offences of bribery , perjuries and subordination of witnesses , counterfeiting deeds , debenters , bils of publick faith , escripts , or writings whatsoever : and all offences touching the carrying , sending or conveying over the seas any gold , silver , jewels , or any coyne . and all other offences in the unlawfull buying , selling , exchanging or melting downe of any gold , silver or bullion , or the transporting beyond the seas of auy guns , shot , or gun-mettle : and all offences in detaining or imbezling any the goods , moneys , or chattels of the late king and queen : and except all fines and amercements lost , imposed , or assessed : and all offences committed by any jesuite or seminary priest , contrary to the statuts in that case : provided and except any outlawries upon any writ of capias ad satisfaciendum , and all except persons as were the 28●h of january 1651 in prison , or otherwise constrained of liberty by immediate commandement , warrant , or direction of parliament or councell of state : and also excepted all informations and proceedings concerning common high wayes , and all forfeitures of any goods or merchandize prohibited to be exported or imported : all-fee-farme rents , rents service , rents charge , and rents seck : and all arrerages due since the 24th of june 1647. and all moneys imprested since the third of november 1638. provided that all acts of hostility and injuries , whether between the late king and the lords and commons in parliament , or between any of the people of this nation which did arise upon any action , attempt , assistance , councel , or advice having relation to , or falling out by reason of the late troubles , that the same , and whatsoever hath ensued thereon , whether trenching upon the lawes and liberty of this nation , or upon the honour and authority of parliament , or to any particular person , shall in no time after the 18th of june 1651 be called in question . finis . sadducimus debellatus: or, a true narrative of the sorceries and witchcrafts exercis'd by the devil and his instruments upon mrs. christian shaw, daughter of mr. john shaw, of bargarran in the county of renfrew in the west of scotland, from aug. 1696 to apr. 1697. containing the journal of her sufferings, as it was exhibited and prov'd by the voluntary confession of some of the witches, and other unexceptionable evidence, before the commissioners appointed by the privy council of scotland to enquire into the same. collected from the records. together with reflexions upon witchcraft in general, and the learned arguments of the lawyers, on both sides, at the trial of seven of those witches who were condemned: and some passages which happened at their execution. cullen, francis grant, lord, 1658-1726. 1698 approx. 237 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a35351 wing c7475a estc r215462 99827329 99827329 31747 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a35351) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 31747) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1864:6) sadducimus debellatus: or, a true narrative of the sorceries and witchcrafts exercis'd by the devil and his instruments upon mrs. christian shaw, daughter of mr. john shaw, of bargarran in the county of renfrew in the west of scotland, from aug. 1696 to apr. 1697. containing the journal of her sufferings, as it was exhibited and prov'd by the voluntary confession of some of the witches, and other unexceptionable evidence, before the commissioners appointed by the privy council of scotland to enquire into the same. collected from the records. together with reflexions upon witchcraft in general, and the learned arguments of the lawyers, on both sides, at the trial of seven of those witches who were condemned: and some passages which happened at their execution. cullen, francis grant, lord, 1658-1726. [8], 60 p. printed for h. newman and a. bell; at the grasshopper in the poultry, and at the crosse keys and bible in cornhill near stocks-market, london : 1698. by lord francis grant cullen. reproduction of the original in the trinity college library, dublin. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng shaw, christian, b. 1685? witchcraft -england -early works to 1800. trials (witchcraft) -england -early works to 1800. executions and executioners -early works to 1800. 2003-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-10 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-10 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion sadducismus debellatus : or , a true narrative of the sorceries and witchcrafts exercis'd by the devil and his instruments upon mrs. christian shaw , daughter of mr. iohn shaw , of bargarran in the county of renfrew in the west of scotland , from aug. 1696 to apr. 1697. containing the journal of her sufferings , as it was exhibited and prov'd by the voluntary confession of some of the witches , and other unexceptionable evidence , before the commissioners appointed by the privy council of scotland to enquire into the same . collected from the records . together with reflexions upon witchcraft in general , and the learned arguments of the lawyers , on both sides , at the trial of seven of those witches , who were condemned : and some passages which happened at their execution . job 2. 6. and the lord said unto satan , behold he is in thy hand ; but save his life . math . 15. 22. have mercy upon me , o lord , thou son of david ; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil . rom . 19. 20. and the god of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly . london , printed for h. newman and a. bell ; at the grashopper in the poultry , and at the cross-keys and bible in cornhill near stocks-market . 1698 the preface . wise men do justly suspect , and are hardly brought to believe , the accounts of extraordinary stories ; especially about witchcraft : because the frequent impostures which the romanists have obtruded on the world in their miracles and legends ; the many relations of odd things as done by daemons or wizards , which yet , were either false , or meerly the product of natural causes ; the ignorance of several judges and juries , who have condemned silly creatures meerly upon their own ridiculous confessions , or other slender proof ; and the difficulty of conceiving the manner or philosophy , of some operations and appearances , tho undoubtedly true in fact ; are good prejudices against a sudden belief , and may serve as precautions to make an exact inquiry into those matters before we believe them . but they are men of weak souls , and destitute of cleer thoughts ; who deny all , because they have discovered error in some ; or condemn all facts , as false , because they know not how they came to exist : by the same rule of reasoning they may argue that there are no enthusiasts , because the best men have been sometimes mistaken for such , and that there are no criminals , because several have been punished that were not truly such : because many historys are fabulous , that there are none to be trusted : and that all the phaenomena in nature , whose invisible causes they cannot comprehend , are meer delusions . the following narrative , as to the truth of the matter of fact , is the best attested piece of history of this kind , that has occurr'd in many ages : the most of the matters therein represented having gained the assent of private scepticks ; and been prov'd before publick judges . so that its more surprising than witchcraft it self , that any man should seriously deny the beeing of any such thing , and from thence doubt the falling out of such strange providences at a distance , when the certainty of the matter of fact has dispell'd all objections in the places where they happened . many authors have proved , at large , that there are witches and witchcrafts , from reason , scripture , antiquity and the experience of all nations and ages : and they have solved the difficultys which might obstruct the belief of this positive proof , by hypoth●…ses of philosophy : where it 's to be observed , that tho such explications of the natural manner of phenomena are subject to cavil , yet the existence of a thing which has so certain an●… positive evidence cannot be denyed in sound reasoning ; because angels and men not being made for civil converse together in this world , and all communion with devils being forbidden us , the scripture needed to unfold little of their way of acting ; and still the next age , may discover what this could not , as there have been those things explain'd already in this age which were thought unexplicable in the last . therefore such a short hint , as may somewhat illustrate the events in the subsequent discourse , is sufficient in the present case : especially since providence designs those eminent occurrences , rather for our practical instruction , then for a subject of ●…otional speculation . the devil can assume a bodily shape , and speak to man out of it : as he did to eve , to our saviour , and in some heathen oracles ; to make men capable of entring into contract with him , for satan is willing thus to ensure mortalls of being enemies to heaven , to other men , and to their own salvation . the insatiable itch that prying wits have after hidden and curious knowledge , the desire of honour , revenge and of the knowledge of secrets , in some who are great in the world , the desire of riches , and many times likewise of revenge in worldlings and the poorer sort of people , and the eager pursuit after the enjoyment of sensual pleasures by those that are voluptuous , do by the just judgment of god render all those sorts of persons liable to his tentations and easie to be prevail'd upon by his proposals to gratify them in those things which they seek after as their chief good . we see daily , how the lusts of criminals inflamed by satan , divert their horrour not only of eternal and distant , but also of temporal and imminent torments ; and pervert those instincts of nature which might otherwise frighten them from a surrender . but further , he commonly facilitates his conquest over witches , by decoying them gradually to his lure , through the mediation of others that are already embarrr'd with him , till they be sufficiently prepar'd for making an explicite transaction to obey him . that accordingly he has de facto prevailed in making sorcerers and witches , appears from the testimony of the wisest and best of men in all ages and nations . the heathens , by nature and practice , discovering this truth , made laws against malefico's and mathematico's , and some of the last ( tho they assumed the name of an art much encouraged by the legislators ; being known , under the pretext of that , to consult the devil , as to the distinies of men and states ) were punish'd by the senate and people of rome . and even the persians , in some good reigns , did the like . in the old testament we have an account of the magicians of egypt and babylon , who were baffled by moses and daniel ; of balaam and the witch of endor ; and that iesabel , manasseth , and the ten tribes were punished by just judgments for their sorceries and witchcrafts amongst other crimes ; and there also we have an account of the laws made against such , as distinct from those against other criminals . the new testament gives us an account of simon magus who bewitched the people of samaria ; of elimas the sorcerer that was struck blind at paul's rebuke ; of the pythonisse who seems to have been possest by consent , because she was not tormented , but got profit thereby ; and of such as confessed , shewed their deeds , and burnt their books in ephesus ; which are all of 'em undeniable instances of witches and witchcraft . there are also prophesies of false christs with signes and wonders , able to deceive , if posible , the very elect : general councils have made canons against those wretches ; and the experimental knowledge of injured mortalls in all ages , with the publick sentences of courts of judicature thereupon , are delivered down to us by all historians . pet. mamo●…ius in his book de lamiis , gives us an account , that gulielmus linensis , a popish doctor was justly put to death tho he dyed penitent , he having confessed witchcraft , had the written covenant with satan in his pocket , and own'd that his share of the devils service was to preach and perswade people that witches were only silly deluded melancholians , and therefore their confessions were no proof . his success in this work of darkness was such , that the people and judges did slacken their procedure against those miscreants , by which means the witches were vastly multiply'd in a few years , as we are told by the same author , who gives an account of the whole process , from authentick records . it is observ'd , that satan has ofttimes chang'd his scene in the different periods of time , and turned himself into such shapes as he found most convenient for his purpose . ●…o that the manner of his apparition has been different , according to the state of the times . of old he appeared devil like , and was worshiped as such by those that deprecated his mischeif : as some of the barbarous indians do to this day . in the darkness of popery he was transformed into a more innocent sort of spirit called brounie or fairie , ( that pretended to fortell deaths , to reveal the deceaseds will , discover hidden murders , and do other friendly offices , &c. which were subtile means of inducing people to rely on him ) those spirits were then very frequent , he having the impudence thus to appear openly proportiona●…ly ●…o the knowledge of men , over whom his reign was so universal : and as travellers and authors in●…orm u●… he continues to do so in the more northerly regions to this day . but since the ligh●… of the gospel has broke out in our horison , he oftner works externally by magicians and witches , and internally on the lusts of men , being now mostly restrain'd to his own sphere or subjects . yet still he ensnares too many , partly by aping the ordinances of god ; especially as they are corrupted in the romish church , whence so many monks and nuns , as being well 〈◊〉 ●…o his hand , have been easily overcome by him . thus he keeps publick 〈◊〉 in the night as things of extraordinary merit : they formally worship him by many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ●…e imprints on them a kind of sacrament : he inflicts dread●…ul penances on such 〈◊〉 have not executed the commanded mischiefs : he teaches them odd word ●…nd ●…ignes , upon repeating of which exorcisms , he effects the operations agreed on beforehaud . but though what he does of himself , or by the watch-word of sorcerers or witches , may , by collection , and an artful disposal of matter and form ; appear very surprising : yet he cannot work against nature ; or overturn the course of it ; since that is only in the power of its author who alone can do true miracles , or know immediatly the thoughts of men. it is probable moreover that since the fall satans natural power is below that of good angels ; and it is certain , that he is often baffled in his designs by providence : yet beyond all doubt he retains so much poweras ( being permitted by god ) is sufficient to bring about , by unseen natural means , most of the extraordinary appearances , that the generality of the learned , have ascribed to him : and particularly those in the subsequent narrative : many of which , tho they are beyond the efficiency of disease , deceit , or any visible cause ; yet may be the effects of some such unperceived means , as follow . there is no difficulty in satan's transmiting in a short time an account of things which are past ; since it s known he goes to and fro in the earth : yea , he may have certainly foretold some future events , as that of alexander's success against persia , &c. seeing he understands and may steal , the great revolutions of the world out of the prophets ; wherein they are so graphically described : or he may discover his own resolutions whenever he is commissioned or permitted to execute a judgment ; as in the case of those who , for seeking their horoscops , are given over to him by god ; and thus he gave saul an exact account of his own end by the philistines . but without some such aids satan can only guess like a phisician by the symptoms , or a politician by the crisis of states : which is the cause that most of his oracles are ambiguous . his transporting of witches is elsewhere explained . he can raise hurricanes ( as appears in iob ) which are known to carry very ponderous bodies over great tracts of sea and land. it s easy for him to condense a part of the vehicle ; which may protect the breathing and yet cut the air , like the fence of dyvers , &c. the beak of a sloop : in which also he affects the magnifying of his own natural power , and to make his followers believe that it is no less then that of the good angels , who transported ezekiel and elijah through the air. his covering of the witches from sight , at some times , is also cleared , from the difficulties which seem to attend it , in another place of this book : where it appears very possible that his skill in opticks , reflection and refraction of light &c. to which his power and agility as a spirit subministrats materials ; may effect all that can be prov'd to be matter of fact in that case . glanvil , more , and others lay down another hypothesis in both , viz. that the soul is separable from the body in some cases , without death : when by god's permission , satan with the parties consent , gets power over both soul and body ; whereby he may carry away the one from the helm of the other , and bring it back again into its seat ; provided the vital spirits which make the body a fit receptacle , be well preserved by ointments , that constrict the pores , till the return of its guest : but death ensues from a separation when the organs of the body are rendred altogether unapt to obey the soul's commands in its functions . if such an opinion could be true , satan might imploy this captivated spirit to actuat any shape he thinks fit . but there needs not so much metaphysicks to unridle the appearances of witches in the shape of beasts , and the like : since their real persons may be covered with a vehicle ; which by disposal of the rays comming from it , may deceive the eyes by the same impressions that come from the true sight of such things . his power of representing another thing in lieu of that which is truly present ; is so certain that it 's found he may make up the image or resemblance of persons who are not present at all : for it is not doubted but spiritual devils may sometimes be permitted to represent by phantoms the most innocent and praise-worthy men , aswell as incarnate devils , are suffered to tr●…duce them . he that accuseth the brethren and imitats an angel of light , may likeways personate the children of ligh●… by his delusions : yet the antecedents , concomitants , and consequents , of such providences , do generally discover the falshood ; so as the just man , for the 〈◊〉 part shall not perish in his righteousness , and god , in his ordinary providence , will not laugh at the trial of the innocent ; tho sometimes it falls out , that the sons of belial may swear away the life of an innocent naboth . there are several other things of less difficult explication . particularly , the devil , or witches might have been heard in converse by the maid and not by others ; the sa●…e 〈◊〉 as a sound directed through a speaking trumpet reaches the ears to which it is aimed without dispersing it self towards those that are not in a streight line betwixt ' em . the confederate devil may , upon the witches desire , infuse poisonous humors , extracted from herbs , of the same invisible operation with the steem of mad-dogs , or the pestilence ; which being joyned to the rapid course of the patient 's own spirits , humors , and blood , and satan , by ingyring himself into them , may , through the natural means of pulsion , set 'em in such a career as may very well produce those extraordinary motions which are mentioned in the following account . the devils delight much in the torture , or destruction , of young children , out of envy to christ , who is tender of such little ones ; and because the crime is the greater the less the patient has offended , or can resist . they use , or make others to repeat , scripture-words for gaining credit , or alleviating the terror , or to disgrace the word , by such a mock-use ; as they did in the time of our saviour , and therefore their testimony was by him rejected . it 's observable from many passages ; that he hastens , sometimes , and effects the discovery of witches by his malice against their present temporal enjoyments , the uncertainty of their continuance in his service , and unsatiable desire for their full ruine : yet some of them , who are most maliciously bent , he thinks fit to keep here , as useful instruments ; and providence permits others to live , that by a wilful filling up the measure of their wickedness , under the means of the gospel , they may be rendered finally inexcusable . as for those , whom , in secret judgment , the devil is permitted to torment ; but , in mercy , not to overcome : he may be influenced thereunto by a design of perverting them with terror , whereof he is at last disappointed : and it is likewise certain , that the defacing of god's image in man , especially in despite of iesus christ , who honoured that nature by assuming it , is his chief delight : or he may be constrained to make such stupendious appearances against his will ( because he 's most successful when he is least known ) for a visible testimony superadded to the greater gospel proofs , in gross times , that there are spirits , and a devil to torment sinners , as it 's observable that this was denied by mr. aikenhead , yet he died in full conviction of it ) by the passages contain'd in the ensuing narrative : or providence may suffer things to fall out , that , though they be intended by the devil for an instance of malice ; they may , by their notoriety , be a means of promoting the discovery , and bringing to justice those miscreants , whom he made use of as his instruments ; and who , perhaps , may have liv'd long in rebellion against heaven , and destroying mankind by services of the same nature , as fell out in the case now in hand . in the last place , god may permit such things for the magnifying of his own grace , which was so conspicuous in enabling this young girl to resist the fierce and cunning assaults of the wicked one ; and there is no doubt but the devil himself hath the greatest malice against those countries or persons , over whom he perceives his reign to be nearest at an end . there are many other profitable instructions that may be learnt from this wonderful providence , for such dispensations have their own language , and the man of wisdom shall see god's name . the use of charmes for men or beasts , certain characters , words , verses , and spells : the observation of times and seasons as lucky , or unlucky : the belief of having success by care rying about one some herbs , plants , or branches of trees : and many the like superst●…tions ; which can have no natural causality on the effects desired , are the very rudiments of witchcraft , and an implicite application to the devil for vertues which god has deny'd to those things : whence they are to be abhorred as sinful in themselves , and introductory to an explicit engagement with the devil . so , gross ignorance , prophane loosness , stupid forgetfulness of god , and neglect of his worship in closets and families ; malice , envy , revenge , discontent , oppressive fear of want , and distrustful anxiety of spirit : and lastly , a libidinous temper , curses , imprecations , and sinful curiosity , are to be avoided , as paving the way to the same mischief . let none enveigh against a profession of religion , because some , under that specious covert , have been found in league with the devil . it 's because of the glorious lustre and excellency of our holy faith that these miscreants paint themselves with it ; that they may be the less suspected , and the more able subtilly to gain others , and do their masters work : it was no stain on the apostles that one of their number had a devil , was a traitor and cheat : nor that satan transformed himself into an angel of light , on design that the good ways of the lord may be evil spoken of . neither let us be under a slavish fear and terror of that hellish tribe , in truckling to their humor , least they should do harm , which savours of worshiping and paying homage to the devil ; whereas we ought only to make the lord of hosts our fear and our dread . there is no just ground to reflect on particular persons or families , upon account of such troubles . for no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that 's before them : all things happen alike to all : we must not suppose , that these were sinners above all the galileans , or above all that dwelt in ierusalem : the infinite wise god may thus try our faith , patience , and christian fortitude . iob and our saviour were assaulted ; and seven devils cast out of mary magdalen , a chosen vessel . a daughter of abraham was bound by satan for eighteen years ; and his messenger was sent to buffet the great apostle of the gentiles . the woman of canaan , math. 15. 22. and the godly man , mark 9. 24. had their nearest relations vext in this manner : and blessed be the lord that he has le●…t such instances on record for prevention of s●…umbling ; though it must be confessed , that the same charity which judges well of all things , cannot but alter its remark when its proof is sufficiently clear from the way in which the person affected did formerly walk , since presumptions do always yield to truth , and lawyers have a maxim , that in re clara non est locus conjecturis . the deaf adder that stops her ears at the charming voice of a sun-shine gospel , will , one way or other , fall into the charms of satan , or his instruments : when men will have none of christ , he gives them up to their own lusts , and the power of their spiritual adversary ; as , when israel had forsaken their god ▪ he gave them up to worship the host of heaven . what holy caution , and pious use of our baptismal covenant , ought we to make , as the best amulets against being either enticed by the attempts of his instruments . but how much ought we to be humbled ? and how great diligence ought to be used in the discovery of so many hidden achans that are in the camp of israel ? yet poverty , age , the features , yea , ill fame , or the like slender grounds , which could not be worthy of being represented to a magistrate ; ought not to move us to suspition , much less to defame : since charity hopes all things , and we ought to do to others , as we would be done by . these things we doubt not will meet with a very different reception , especially in this unhappy age and place of the world , where britain may be termed the unfortunate island ; africk never having been more fertile in the production of monsters : since it s observ'd , that through all the successions of men , there was never before any society , or collective body of atheists till these dreggs of time ; though there might have been here and there some mishapen births . but wisdom is justify'd of her children , and it 's the season for sampson to awake when dalilah gives the alarum , that the philistines are upon him . what peace , so long as the whoredomes of iezebel and her witchcrafts are so many . but good things are hoped of our magistrates , who have already so happily begun . the apostle said of iob's tryals , ye have heard of the patience of iob , and have seen the end of the lord. so , in this narrative , you have a deplorable account of this maids dreadful fits , and of the powers of darkness that combind together , not only for the ruining of her body ; but also for murdering her soul. in the mean time the hearts of many were bleeding for her , and much application was made to god in her behalf : divers solemn facts were observed , both in her fathers family , in the parish , and throughout the bounds of the presbitry , and else-were ; her case was expresly minded in publick addresses to the throne of grace , till at length there was a general fast religiously kept in most parts of the synod , that god might give an effectual check to satan's rage and dominion in the countrey . boasting of prayers is to be abhorred ; yet it is our duty , with all gratitude , to acknowledge god to be the hearer of prayer , and to proclaim to the world the excellency of them upon this very occasion : for he hath not turned away his ear from us ; it being the comfortable result of this history , that the girl hath been perfectly well for many months : so that we may well say , t●…at she is a brand plucked out of the fire ; and the instruments wherewith the witches thought to have destroyed her , have fallen upon some of their own heads . the devil could not enter the herd of swine , nor touch one hair of iob's head , without permission from him whose kingdom ruleth over all : whence it appears , that tho our enemies be indefatigable and invisible , yet we are under the conduct of a watchman who neither slumbers nor sleeps ; to whom darkness and light are both alike ; and greater is he that is in us , than he taht is in the world : so that unless we wilfully ●…orfeit our priviledge , 〈◊〉 is no fear of our being able to resist the wicked one ; since neither angels , principalities , nor powers , shall be able to separate us from the love which is in christ jesus our lord : and though no argument can be drawn from any merit in us , yet we shall carry the day against all the militia of hell , under the captain of our salvation . it will not be a natural sturdiness of temper , nor a formal mentioning of the name of god or christ , that can shelter us from those devourers , as appears by the seven sons of s●…eva , acts 19. they wrestle most successfully against principallities and powers , who fight upon their knees , by prayer ; this is the true way of resisting the devil , so as to make him flee from us . if satan's possession of bodies be so great a plague , how much worse is it to have him reign master of our souls ? wherefore let us watch and pray against every sin , the least of which is more pleasing to him , and worse to us then to be tormented bodily . if satan , as a spirit , can insinuate himself into our humours , it is no wonder , if , by having such an advantage of our temper , he influence the flegmatick person to sloth , the cholerick to anger , the sanguine to lust and sinful pleasure , the melancholick to despair , &c. so that they that think they stand , have need to take heed least they fall : and to pray , that the watchman of israel may make an hedge about them and their house , and about all that they have on every side . let this not only rouze our diligence , and stir up our gratitude , for not being afflicted in the same manner ; but let it also raise up our admiration and love of iesus christ , who hath freed our souls and bodies from the power and slavery of satan : and finding our selves too weak to resist those deluding pleasures which occasion our being deserted by god , and given up to this fearful thraldom ; let us run to the rock of ages for protection and support , our sufficiency being only in god. seeing devils take so much pains to contract for the souls of witches ; the saducee's the judicially blinded in their reason , are hereby rendred inexcusable by very sense ; ill books , which corrupt and ensnare curious fancies , who are seldom endow'd with accurate judgments , ought to be restrain'd : as also such ridiculous pamphlets , as no doubt by the instigation of satan , have lately been sent abroad , designedly to frustrat any good use which might be made of such extraordinary providences as these contained in the ensueing narrative . the authors of those pamphlets having either forged other subjects or disguised this . the publication of this narrative has been delayed so long , partly , that there might be the more narrow scrutiny made into the matters of fact ; and partly , by some accidents which did retard it . the reader is not to expect any accuracy of stile ; because the designed brevity occasion'd the wraping up of much matter in few words , naked and exact truth in every circumstance being our chief aim . the narrative . about the end of august one thousand six hundred ninety six , christian shaw , daughter to iohn shaw of bargarran gent. in the parish of erskine and county of renfrew ; a smart lively and well inclin'd girl , of about eleven years of age , perceiving one of the maids of the house , named catharine campbel , to steal some milk , she told her mother of it ; whereupon the said maid ( being a young woman of a proud and revengeful temper , and much addicted to cursing , swearing and purloining ) did , in a mighty rage , imprecate the curse of god three times upon the child ; and at the same time did thrice utter these horrid words , the devil harle ( that is drag ) your soul thro' hell. this past on munday , august 17. in presence of several witnesses , who afterwards gave evidence of it . upon the friday following , being august 21. about sun-rising , one agnes naismith , an old ignorant woman , of a malicious disposition , addicted to threatnings , ( which sometimes were observed to be followed with fatal events ) came to bargarran's house ; where finding the said christian shaw in the court with her younger sister , she ask'd how the lady and young child did , and how old the young sucking child was ? to which christian replied , what do i know ? then agnes ask'd , how she her self did , and how old she was ? to which she answered , that she was well , and in the eleventh year of her age. on the saturday-night after , being august the 22. the said christian shaw went to bed in good health ; but assoon as she fell asleep , began to struggle and cry , help , help : and then suddenly got up , and did fly over the top of a bed where she lay , to the great astonishment of her parents and others in the room , with such violence , that probably her brains had been dasht out , if a woman , providentially standing by , had not broke the force of the childs motion ; she was afterwards laid in another bed , and remained stiff and insensible as if she had been dead , for the space of half an hour ; and for forty eight hours after could not sleep , crying out of violent pains thorow her whole body , and no sooner began to sleep or turn drowsie but seemed greatly affrighted , crying still help , help . after this a pain fixt in her left side , and her body was often so bent and stiff , that she stood like a bow on her feet and neck at once , and continued without power of speech , except in some very short intervals , for eight days ; during which time , she had scarce half an hours intermission together , the fits taking her suddenly , and coming on and going off by a swoon , or short deliquium , but she appeared perfectly well and sensible betwixt whiles . about the middle of september her fits returned , in a manner differing from the former , wherein she seemed to fight and struggle with something that was invisible to the spectators ; and her actions appear'd as if she had been defending her self from some who were assaulting , or attempting to hurt her , and this with such force , that four strong men were scarcely able to hold her ; and when any of the people present touch't any part of her body , she cry'd out with such vehemence , as if they had been killing her , but could not speak . when she was seized with those fits , her parents sent to pasley , for iohn whyte an apothecary , their near relation , and afterwards for dr. iohnston ; who order'd her to be let blood , and apply'd several things to her , without any discernable effect : all the while of these later fits she was afflicted with extraordinary risings and fallings in her belly , like the motion of a pair of bellows ; and with such strange movings of her body , as made the bed she lay on to shake . some days after she was able to speak during her fits , and cried , that katharine campbel and agnes nasmith were cutting her side , and other parts of her body ; which were at that time violently tormented : and when the fit was over she still asserted , that she had seen those persons doing the things which she complained of in her fit ; ( it being observable , that in the intervals , she was still as well and sensible as ever ) and could not believe but that other persons present saw them as well as she : in this condition she continued with no considerable variation , either as to the fits or intervals , for the space of a month. after which she was carried to glasgow , where doctor brisbane , an able physician , order'd mr. henry marshall , apothecary , to prepare medicines for her ; so that having stayed in glasgow about ten days , she was brought home to her father , and had near a fortnights intermission . but then her fits returned , with this difference , that she knew when they were coming , by a pain in her left-side : and in these fits her throat was prodigiously drawn down toward her breast , and her tongue back into her throat ; her whole body becoming stiff , and extended as a dead corpse , without sense or motion : and sometimes her tongue was drawn out of her mouth over her chin , to a wonderful length , her teeth closing so fast upon it , that those about her were forced to thrust something betwixt , for saving her tongue . and it was often observed , that her tongue was thus tortured when she attempted to pray . in this condition she was for some time , with sensible intervals , wherein she had perfect health , and could give a full account of what she was heard to utter while in her fits. her parents resolved to carry her again to glasgow , for the greater conveniency of being under the doctors inspection and care , and for the further discovering the nature of her distemper , and making use of the most probable natural remedies . but being on her way thither , in her grand-mothers house at northbar , she thrust , or spit out of her mouth parcels of hair , some curled , some plaited , some knotted , of different colours , and in large quantities : and thus she continued to do , with several fainting fits every quarter of an hour , both in her passage to glasgow , nov. 12. and after she arrived there , for the space of three dayes ; then from munday to thursday following , she put out of her mouth coal-finders about the bigness of chesnuts , some of 'em so hot , that they could scarely be handled , as dr. birsbane witnesses in his atttestation . then for the space of two days , in her swooning-sits , there came out of her mouth great numbers of straws , by one at a time , folded up , but when out return'd to their natural shape ; and it was observable , that in one of them there was a pin : after this there issued out of her mouth bones of various sorts and sizes , and then some small sticks of candle-firr ( a sort of firr in this countrey that burns like a candle ) one of 'em about three or four inches long ; which , when any attempted to pull out , they found them either held by her teeth , fix'd upon them , or forcibly drawn back into her throat ; particularly archibald bannatine of kellie , junior ; observing a bone in her mouth , like that of a duck's leg , and essaying to pull it out , he declared he found something drawing it back into her throat ; so that it required a deal of strength to pull it out . it is to be observ'd , that hitherto she knew not how these things were brought into her mouth , and when they were pulled out , she immediately recover'd of her fit for that time . after this there came out of her mouth some quantity of hay , intermix'd with dung , as if it bad been taken out of a dunghil ; which stunck so , that the damsel could not endure the tast and smell of it , but was forc'd to wash her mouth with water . then for a days space she put out of her mouth a great number of feathers of wild-fowl ; after that a stone , which , in the judgment of beholders , had been passed by some person in a fit of the stone ; with some small white stones , and a whole nut-gall ( with which they use to dye cloath and make ink ) also lumps of candle grease , and egg-shells : of all which there were many witnesses . when the sticks above-mention'd came out of her mouth , she foretold that she was to be grievously tormented with sore fits that night , which accordingly fell out : for a little after , she fell into a swoon , wherein she had no use of her senses : and though the spectators called to her aloud , and moved her body , and mr. bannatin above-named , gave her a very sore pinch in the arm , she was not sensible of it . after she recover'd from the swoon , but continuing in her fit , she fell a reasoning with katharine campbel after this manner , thou sit'st there with a stick in thy hand to put in my mouth ; but thorow god's strength thou shalt not get leave : thou art permitted to torment me ; but i trust in god , thou shalt never 〈◊〉 my life , tho it 's my life thou design'st . and callin●… 〈◊〉 ●…or a bible and candle , said , come near me kate , and i 'll let thee see where a godly man was given up to satan to be tormented : but god kept his life in his own hand : and so i trust in god , thou shalt never get my life , and all that thou shalt be permitted to do unto me , i hope thorow god's mercy , shall turn to my advantage . this man was rob'd of all , and tormented in body , and had nothing left him but an ill wife . come near me kate , and i 'll read it to thee . and reading that passage of job , when she came to the place where his wife said to him curse god and dy , the damsel considering these words alittle , said ; o! what a wife was this , that bid her husband curse god and dy ? she who should have been a comfort to him in his trouble , turned a cross to him ? then after reading of the chapter to the end , she lookt towards the foot of the bed and said . now kate , what think'st thou of that ? thou seest , for all the power the devil got over iob he gain'd no ground on him ; and i hope he shall gain as little on me . thy master the devil deceives thee , he is a bad master whom thou serv'st , and thou shalt find it to thy sorrow , except thou repentest ; there is no repentance to be had after death : i 'll let thee see kate , there is no repentance in hell , and turning over the book citeing luke , chap. 16. near the latter end , and reading the same said , kate thou seest , there is no repentance in hell , for this rich man besought abraham to testify to his five brethren , that they come not to the place of torment , where he was ; but repent and turn to the lord , for there is no getting out if once they come there ; now kate , thou hear'st this , what think'st thou of it ? i 'll let thee hear another place , which should pierce thy very heart , and turning over the book said . she would read about adam and eve , thou know'st kate , the serpent ( the devil thy master ) thought to have ruined mankind at the beginning , his malice was so great at that blessed state wherein they were , seeing himself cast down from all hopes of mercy , he used all means possible to subvert their happiness , by suggesting to them fair promises , and a prospect of advantage in causing them to eat of that forbidden fruit ; and were made subject to god's curse for ever : but god did not suffer them to remain in this condition , but of his infinit mercy shewed to them a better way whereby they might have life eternal by revealing to them that blessed promise , the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent . now kate what think'st thou of that promise ? but observe this , thou 'lt get no advantage by it , it 's not made to thee , who hast renounced god's service , and listed thy self under the devil ; thou art his slave , thou deny'st this ; but i know thou art a hypocrite ; for i remember , when thou wast in my mothers house , thou boughtest a catechism upon a pretence to learn to read , to cloak thy sin : wilt thou hear me ? know'st thou the reward of the hypocrit ? i 'll let thee hear it ; i remember mr. william gillies was lecturing the other day upon the 23 of mathew , where many a wo is pronounced against the hypocrit , eight dreadful wo's here kate , and some of them belongs to thee : but i 'll tell thee more , know'st thou the reward of the hypocrit they shall be cast into the lake that burns for ever , that 's their portion ; do'st thou hear this now ? thou turn'st thy back to me , when i am telling thee truth ; if i were reading a story-book , or telling a tale to thee , thou would'st hear that . remember it will be thy portion too , if thou do not repent , and confess , and seek mercy . again turning over the book , she read about pilat , saying ; pilat he made a shew of cleansing himself of christ's blood , he wash'd his hands and declar'd himself innocent ; but for all his washing he had a foul heart , he would not loose his office for the saving of christ's life : he knew well enough that christ was an innocent person ; but he perferred his honour before christ ; therefore to please the iews , and to quench the strugling in his conscience , he washt his hands , and then delivered christ to be crucified by them . thus she continued for more then two houns space ; reasoning at this rate , and exhorting her to repent , quoting many places of scripture , in the revelations and evangelists . and when any one offered to take her bible from her , she uttered dreadful schreeks and out-crys , saying , she would never part with her bible as long as she liv'd , she would keep it in spight of all the devils . before we pass from this it will be needful to give the reader notice of some few things . 1. that while she call'd for her bible and a candle , she neither heard nor saw any of those persons who were then actually and discernably present in the room with her , and that katharine campbel to whom she directed her speech was not discernably present to any body but her self . and the pinch mr. bannatine gave her in her insensible fit , she complain'd of afterward , but knew not how she came by it , nor did she blame any of her tormentors for it . 2. that these words set down as spoke by her , were the very same both for words and order as nearly as they could be gathered and remembred by the hearers , without any addition of their own . 3. that altho she was a girl of a pregnant spirit above her age , knew much of the scriptures , and had a pretty good understanding , above what might be expected of one of her years , of the fundamental principles of religion ; yet we doubt not but in so strong a combat , the lord did by his good spirit graciously afford her a more then ordinary measure of assistance . sometime after the trash above-mentioned issued out of her mouth she fell into extream violent fits , with lamentable out-crys , four persons being hardly able to hinder her from climbing up the walls of the chamber , or from doing her self hurt , in the mean time she had no power to speak , her back and the rest of her body was grievously pained , and in this condition she continued four or five days with the usual intervals : during which she declared , that four men , alexander and iames anderson , and other two ( of whom she gave particular and exact marks , but knew not their names ) were tormenting her . it was observ'd , that many of those she named were known to be persons of ill fame , as were these two persons last mention'd : it is also remarkable , that for some time she knew not the name of the said alexander anderson , till one day that he came a begging to the door of the house , where she was , then she immediatly cryed out , that was he whom she had seen among the crew . after this she fell into other fits , wherein she saw the persons before-named , with some others , and heard and saw several things that past among them . particularly , she sometimes foretold when she was to have the sits , and how often she should have them , ( which fell out accordingly . ) about the eighth of december , being brought home again from glasgow , and having had six or seven days respite from her fits , she fell into a frightful and terrible relapse : the occasion whereof she declar'd to be , her seeing the devil in prodigious and horrid shapes , threatning to devour her ; she would fall down dead , and became stiff , with all the parts of her body stretcht out , like a corpse , without sense or motion ; those fits came suddenly , without her knowledge , and she did as suddenly recover and grow perfectly well ; and they usually came on her when she offer'd to pray : sometimes she knew when the other fits were a coming , how long they would continue , and when they would return : in which fits her eyes alter'd strangely , and turned in her head , to the admiration of the spectators , with a continual pain about her heart ; sometimes her joynts were contracted together , and her forehead drawn forcibly about toward her shoulders ; these fits she took by falling into a swoon , and would instantly recover in the same manner . during this time her fits alter'd again , as to their times of coming , and continuance , in which she sometimes endeavour'd to bite her own fingers , or any thing else that came in her way ; she did the like when she saw the persons before-mentioned , or any one of them about her , she would point out where they were to the people with her , but they could not see them ; and sometimes she declared , that she had hold of them by their cloaths . particularly , december 17. being in a sore fit , she cry'd out of several persons that were tormenting her ; and being in the bed , grasped with her hands towards the foot of it , and cry'd out , that she had catched hold of the sleeves of one i. p's . jerkin ( or jacket ) which was , as she said , ragged at the elbows : and , at that very time , the damsels mother and aunt heard the sound of the rending or tearing of a cloth , but saw nothing , only they found in each of the girles hands a bit of red cloth , which lookt as if it had been torn off of a garment ; of which kind of cloth there was none in the room , nor in any part of the house : at the same time she told them , there was such an one among the crew going to pinch her tongue , which was thereupon instantly pull'd back into her throat , and she lay dumb for a considerable space . sometimes after her recovery from her fits , she told that she heard several things spoken by her tormentors , but durst not make them known , because they threatned to torment her more if she did ; and accordingly when her mother or others prevailed with her to tell them any thing , she was instantly tormented . she added that her tormentors appear'd to her usually with lights and strange sorts of candles , which were frightful to look on . thus she continued till the first of ianuary , 1697. in such fits as before-mention'd with some alterations , and had likewise other swooning fits , wherein she continued for two or three hours together , sometimes more , sometimes less , with very short intervals , in which fits she did not complain much of pain ; but had a great palpitation in her breast , and sometimes strange and unaccountable motions in other parts of her body , which continued in a greater or lesser degree during the whole time of the fit , wherein she was somewhat light-headed , and not so solid in her mind as at other times ; tho in the intervals of these , as of all other fits she was composed enough , and these fits , as all the rest , came suddenly on and went as suddenly off by a swoon . before we proceed any further it is fit to observe , 1. that agnes naismith before-mentioned , being brought by the parents a second time to see the girl , did ( without being desired ) pray that the lord god of heaven and earth might send the damsel her health and discover the truth : after which , the child declared that tho the said agnes had formerly been very troublesome to her ; yet , from that time forward she did no more appear to her , as her tormentor ; but as she thought defended her from the fury of the rest . 2. that katharine campbel , before-mentioned , could by no means be prevailed with to pray for the damsel , but on the contrary cursed them and all the family of bargarren , and in particular the damsel and all that belonged to her , with this grievous imprecation ; the devil let her never grow better , nor any concern'd in her be in a better condition then she was in , for what they had done to her . which words she spoke before diverse credible witnesses . 3. that bargarren having prevailed with the under sheriff to imprison the said katharine campbel , she never after appear'd to the damsel , ( tho formerly she was one of her most violent tormentors ) except once or twice , when it was found upon enquiry , that she was not in the prison , but either in the jaylors house , or when she had liberty to go to church . 4. that at the time when the damsel voided at her mouth the hair and other trash as above related , katharine campbel being taken into custody , there was found in her pocket a ball of hair of several colours , which being thrown into the fire the child from that time forward vomited no more hair , she declared that she heard her tormentors say that katharine campbel made the ball , of the hair cut off of christians head when her trouble began . upon the first day of ianuary about ten a clock at night , she swoon'd and fell into fits differing from the former , in that , after her swooning was over she lay still as if she had been dead , yet at the same time she was heard talking mournfully with a low voice , and repeating several storys in meeter , which they thought to be an account of the rise and progress of her own trouble ; and thus she continued ( naming some of the forementioned persons at times ) till her parents and others offered to rouze her , by touching and moving her body , whereupon she uttered horrid shreeks , and cry'd as if she had been pierced thorow with swords , and assaulted for her life . after this she fell a singing , leaping and dancing for a long time , laughing with a loud voice , in an unusual manner , tearing down the hangings of the bed , and pulling off her head-cloaths ; in which extravagances she was acted with such force and strength that her father and the minister tho joyning their whole strength , could not hinder her from dancing and leaping . but after prayer , the minister finding her composed , enquired if she remembered what she had done in the time of the fit ; to which she reply'd , that she distinctly remembered her miscariages , and in particular her singing and dancing , adding , that the witches enclosed her in a ring ( or circle ) and dancing and singing about her , was the occasion of her dancing , which she then gladly performed with the rest . for some days after she had fits much after the same manner , with some small variation : in one of 'em she tore off her head-cloaths , and would have stript her self of all her cloaths if she had been permitted . about the eleventh of ianuary , she fell into fits different from the former , in which she was carried away from her parents and others that were about her , with a sudden flight , and the first time ( to their great amazement ) thorow the chamber and hall down a long winding stair towards the tower-gate , with such a swift and unaccountable motion , that it was not in the power of any to prevent her , her feet did not touch the ground , so far as any of the beholders could discern ; and as she went she was heard to laugh in an unusual manner : but by divine providence the gate being shut , her motion was stopt till such time as some of the family could overtake her , who endeavouring to carry her back , she immediately fell down and became stiff like a dead corps , and being brought back to her chamber , lay so for a considerable space : upon her recovery she declar'd , that there were about nine or ten persons who carried her away as if she had been in a swing , wherein she then took pleasure , her feet not at all touching the ground , to her apprehension . the night following she was suddenly carried away , as before , from her parents and others thro the chamber and hall , and sixteen large steps of a winding stair towards the top of the house , where she met with apparitions of strange and unaccountable things , but was carried down again 〈◊〉 she thought in a swing by six women and four men 〈◊〉 the the gate , where she was found , and thence 〈◊〉 up as formerly with all the parts of her body distended and stiff like one dead ; she lay so for some time , and when recover'd , declared , that both then and before , she had endeavoured to open the gate , and that those she saw about her helped her , with a design to get her to the court to drown her in the well , which she heard them say they intended to do , and that then the world would believe she had destroyed her self . it is observable that in one of these fits afterwards , she was stopt at the gate , tho it was not bolted nor lock'd , yet the providence of god order'd it so that neither she nor her tormentors could open it so that they left her there as usual . before we proceed further , it is fit to take notice that as soon as the damsels affliction was observ'd to be extraordinary and preternatural there was ( besides former private prayers and fasts by the family ) at the desire of the parents and minister of the parish , and by the presbytries special order , a minister or two appointed to meet one day every week to joyn with the family , the minister of the parish and other good christians of the neighbourhood , in fasting and praying . and on the 12th . of ianuary it being the turn of mr. patrick simpson a neighbouring minister to be there ; when he came he found the minister of the parish , and the other who was to joyn with him absent upon necessary occasions , yet resolved to carry on the work with the assistance of three elders and some other good people that were present . when he first saw the damsel he found her under some lesser fits which came and went off quickly : she was quiet and sober during prayer , but in time of singing the 93 psalm she fell into a sore fit , of greater continuance , first laughing , then making a sound like singing , after that pulling her head-cloathes over her face , and lastly turning so outragious in her motions that her father could scarce hold her till the fit abated : after her recovery she was quiet and composed all the time of prayer , and while the minister lectur'd on mark 9. from 14. verse to the 30. was very attentive , carefully looking for the scriptures quoted , and so continued till the religious exercise was ended , and sometime after , when she acquainted the company that she had something to tell which she heard some among her tormenters say ; but durst not reveal it ; upon which the minister and her mother urg'd her to be free and not to obey the devil , but before she got a sentence fully pronunced in her mothers ear , she fell into a violent fit , so as her mother and others could scarcely hold her till the violence thereof began to abate , and then her mother told the company that she was speaking of a meeting and a feast her tormentors had spoken of in the orchard of bargarran , but was able to say no more . after her recovery , her mother desir'd her to tell the rest of it , and she began again to wisper in her ear , but could not get one word uttered till she was seiz'd again with a fit , as violent as the former , whereupon the minister desired them to forbear troubling her any further . but it was observed afterwards that elizabeth anderson , iames lindsay and thomas lindsay , three of those that tormented her confessed that they and others had a meeting in the orchard at that time , tho neither of 'em knew what the girl had said , or what the others had confessed concerning it . a little after this , she was again suddenly carried from them down a stair , which goes off from a corner of the chamber to a celler just below it , whether her brother and sister were providentially gone a little before , to bring some drink with a lighted candle , which she soon put out : but they crying and holding her by the head-cloaths , quickly discovered to the rest where she was . upon which mr. alexander king minister of bonnil made hast down stairs where her brother and sister had lost their hold of her ; but mr. king having caught hold of her again , keept her in his arms till another candle was brought , and endeavoring to bring her up stairs , declared that he found something forcibly drawing her downwards , but still keeping his hold , she fell as one dead upon the stairs , and being carried up and laid in bed , she lay ▪ so for a considerable space . when recovered from her fit , she declar'd that the occasion of her going down stairs with such force , was , that the crew had suggested to her while she was light-headed , that the devil was in the meal chist in the celler , and that if she would go down and put out the candle , she might force him out of it . when some fits of this kind were ready to seize her , she now and then gave notice thereof to those that were present and earnestly desired their help to prevent her motion , which usually proved to be of good effect , wherein the divine mercy toward her is much to be observed . when she was in these flying fits , she used to utter horrid shreeks and crys not like those of rational creatures : and there were heard for three nights together , when the damsel was asleep in bed , shreeks and crys of the same kind in the court , when none of the family was without doors , to the great afrightment of those that heard them , because they exactly resembled the crys and shreeks the girl used to utter in her fits ; and in one of her intervals hearing the family talking of those crys and shreeks , and alledging they had been uttered by some wild beast or other , she told them they were mistaken , for it was margaret and two others of the name of margaret call'd by the crew their maggi's , that uttered those shreeks , the devil having promised to them at that time to carry her out of the house that they might drown her in the well , where there were eighteen more waiting for her . after this she fell into freting and angry fits , in which she was cross to all those about her , nothing they did or said proving to her satisfaction ; but when restored to a right composure of mind , she declar'd that her tormentors did still suggest to her and advise her to go to such and such remote places of the house alone , and bring with her a string or cravat or some such thing , promising her almonds and other sweet-meats , and bid her bring her apron with her to hold them in , and accordingly when she was seiz'd again with fits of this nature she did resolutly endeavour to repair to those places with a string , cravat and apron , and would suffer none to be in her company , which put her parents and others under a necessity of detaining her by force , and being thus prevented she would utter hideous shreeks and crys . thursday ianuary 14th . at night a young girl appear'd to her with a scabbed face amongst the rest of her tormentors , telling her she was to come to the house to morrow about ten a clock , and forbidding her to reveal it . the next day in the afternoon the damsel earnestly enquired at her mother and the rest of the family what beggars had come to the gate that day , and of what countenance and visage they were ? but not knowing her design in such a question , they gave no heed to it ; yet she still insisting on it , and being in company with her mother and another gentlewoman , about four a clock at night she said to them , she thought she might tell them somewhat ( the time being now past ) that she was forbidden to reveal ; but as she begun to tell it , she presently fell a crying that she was tormented and pricked thorow her whole body , however recovering from her fit , she went on and told 'em that a scabbed-fac'd lass appear'd to her yester-night and was to be at the gate this day at ten a clock . whereupon the servants being enquired at what sort of beggers had been there that day , they declar'd that among others , there had been a begger woman at the door and a young lass with her who had scabs on her face , and receiv'd their alms. ianuary , 16th and 17th , when recovered of her swooning fits , she voided at her mouth a great number of pins , which she declared i — p. — and a gentlewoman , who had been always one of her most violent tormentors , had forc'd into her mouth . ianuary 21 , her fits altered again , after this manner , she would fall into them with heavy sighs and groans and hideous out-crys , telling those about her that cats , ravens , owles and horses were destroying and pressing her down in the bed : and at the same time her mother and another gentlewoman being in the room with her , did declare that immediatly after they had taken the girl out of her bed in this condition , they did see something moving under the bed-cloaths as big as a cat. the same morning in the interval of her fits , she said , she heard her tormentors whisper amongst themselves , and suggest to one another , ( naming i — p. — the andersons and others ) that the devil had promised and engaged to them , to carry her out at the hall window , to the end they might drown her in the well which was in the court ; and then they said the world would believe she had destroyed her self ; and the same day and several days after , when seiz'd with her grievous fits , she did attempt with such force to get out at that window , that the spectators could scarcely with their whole strength prevent her . about this time , nothing in the world would so discompose her as religious exercises , if there were any discourses of god or christ , or any of the things which are not seen and are eternal , she would be cast into grievous agonies ; and when she assayed in her milder fits to read any portion of the scriptures , repeat any of the psalms , or answer any questions of the catechisms ( which she could do exactly well at other times ) she was suddenly struck dumb and lay as dead , her mouth opened to such a wideness that her jaws seem'd to be out of joynt , and anon they would clap together again with incredible force . the same happened to her shoulder blade , her elbow , and wrists . she would at other times ly in a benum'd condition , and drawn together as if she had been ty'd neck and heels with ropes ; and on a sudden would with such force and violence be pull'd up , and tear all about her , that it was as much as one or two could do to hold her in their arms : but when ministers and other good christians ( seeing her in such intollerable anguish ) made serious application by prayer to god on her behalf , she had respite from her greivous fits of this kind , and was ordinarly free of them during most of the time of prayer , tho seiz'd by them before ; usually when ministers began to pray she made great disturbance by idle lowd talk , whistling , singing , and roaring , to drown the voice of the person praying . particularly ianuary 22. she was more turbulent then at other times , and continued some space after the minister began to pray , singing and making a hideous noise , fetching furious blows with her fist , and kicks with her feet at the minister , uttering reproachful talk to him , and calling him dog , &c. yet being compos'd , and her fits over before prayer was ended , the minister , when he had done , finding her sober and in a right composure of mind , enquired why she made such disturbance ? she reply'd , she was forc't to do it by the hellish crue about her , and that she thought they were none of her own words that she uttered . ianuary 24th . she said that some things relating both to her self and to others had been suggested to her by her troublers ; but that they had threatned to torment her if she should offer to make them known . and accordingly as she essay'd to express her mind , she was cast into two grievous fits , in which she cry'd out of violent pains ; all the parts of her body becoming stiff and extended like a corps , her head was twisted round , and if any person offered by force to obstruct such dangerous motions , she would roar out exceedingly ; sometimes her neck-bone seem'd to be dislocated , and yet on a sudden became so stiff that there was no moving of it ; and when those grevious agonys were over , she again essay'd to express her mind in writing , but to no purpose ; for she was cast instantly into other two very grievous fits , wherein she was struck dumb , deaf and blind , and her tongue drawn to a prodigeous length over her chin. and when the fits were over she declar'd , that the andersons i. p. the gentlewoman , and i. d. with the rest of the hellish crew , some of whom she could not name , had been tormenting her in her fits , and that there had been fifteen of them about the house all last night ; but were now all gone save one who was to stay about the house till her fits were over . and accordingly her brother and sister declared that they saw in the morning a woman in the garden with a red coat about her head , sitting at the root of an apple-tree ; but bargarren with most of the servants being abroad , that matter was not further search't into . that same day about six at night , she was seiz'd with variety of greivous fits , in which sometimes she lay wholly senseless and breathless , with her belly swel'd like a drum , her eyes were pul'd into her head so far that the spectators thought she should never have us'd them more , sometimes when she was tying her own neck-cloaths , her enchanted hands would tye them so strait that she had certainly strangled her self if the spectators had not prevented her ; sometimes she offered with violence to throw her self into the fire , and divers times she struck furiously at her near relations . in her fits she 'd maintain discourse with her tormentors , ask questions concerning her self and others and receive answers from them ; which none but her self could hear : she reasoned particularly with one of them after this manner ; o what ail'd thee to be a witch ! thou say'st it is but three nights since thou wast a witch , o if thou would'd repent , it may be god might give thee repentance , if thou would'st seek it , and confess ; if thou would desire me i would do what i could ; for the devil is an ill master to serve , he is a lyer from the beginning , he promises but he cannot perform . then calling for her bible , she said , i 'll let thee see where he promised to our first parents , that they should not dye , and reading the passage , said , now thou seest he is a lier ; for by breaking of the commandment , they were made liable to death here and death everlasting . o that 's an uncouth word ; long eternity never to have an end , never never to have an end : had not god of his infinite mercy , ordain'd some to eternal life through jesus christ. the devil makes thee believe thou wilt get great riches by serving him ; but come near , and having uttered this word she lost the power of her speech , her tongue being drawn back into her throat ; yet beckning with her hand to the spectre to come near her , and turning over the book , kep't her eye upon that passage of holy scripture , iob. 27. 18. and pointing with her finger at the place , and shaking her head , turn'd over the book again . and recovering speech , said , i 'll let thee see where god bids us seek and we shall find , and reading over the place said , it is god that gives us every good gift , we have nothing of our own , i submit to his will tho i never be better ; for god can make all my trouble turn to my advantage , according to his word , rom. 8. 28. which place she then read , and thus continued reasoning , for the space of an hour . sometimes she cry'd out of violent pain , by reason of furious blows and strokes she had received from the hands of her tormentors , the noise of which those that stood by heard distinctly , tho they perceiv'd not the hands that gave them . one night sitting with her parents and others , she cry'd out something was wounding her thigh ; upon which , instantly her mother putting her hand in the damsels pocket , found her folding knife open'd , which had been folded when put into her pocket , but her uncle not believing the thing ; did again put up the knife and leaving it folded in her pocket on a sudden she cry'd out as before , that the knife was cutting her thigh , being unfolded by the means of i. p. and others : upon which her uncle searching her pocket , found the knife open'd as formerly . this happened twice or thrice to the admiration of the beholders , who took special notice that neither she her self nor any other visible hand opened it . ianuary 25th . she was again seiz'd with her swooning fits , with this remarkable variation ; her throat was sometimes most prodigiously extended , and sometimes as strangely contracted , so that she appear'd in palpable danger of being choak't , and through the violence of pain in her throat and difficulty of breathing struggled with her feet and hands , as if some body had been actually strangling her , and she could neither speak nor cry out to any ; with these kind of fits she was frequently seiz'd for several days ; and in the intervals declar'd that the fore-mention'd persons , and others ( whom she could not then name ) were strangling her , and that the occasion of her not having power to speak or cry in the fit , was a ball in her throat , which also was visible to the spectators ; for they did clearly discern a bunch in her throat ( while in the fit ) as big as a pullets egg which had almost choak't her . sometimes she was kep't from eating her meat ; having her teeth close together when she carried any food to her mouth . also she was diverse times kept from drinking when at meat ; no sooner tasting the drink , but she was in hazard to be choak't ; sometimes she held the cup so hard betwixt her teeth , that it was not in the power of those that were with her to unloose it . and when any thing had fallen out amiss in the place where she was , as the falling and breaking of a cup , any body's receiving harm or the like ; she would fall a laughing and rejoyce extremely ; which was far from her temper at other times . february 1st . she attempted to tell some things that she had been forbidden by her tormentors , upon which she was grievously tormented ; at the beginning of her fits she would look odly ; sometimes towards the chimney , sometimes towards other places of the room , but could not always tell what she saw ; yet ordinarily she 'd name such and such persons , who , she said were then come to cast her into fits. and when any desired her to cry to the lord jesus for help , her teeth were instantly set closs , her eyes twisted almost round , and she was thrown upon the floor in the posture of one that had been some days laid out for dead : and on a sudden she would recover again , and weep bitterly to think what had befal'n her . that same day , when her fits were over , she said , she perceiv'd it was by means of a charm , that such restraints were laid upon her as she could not tell what the witches had forbidden her to make known , but the charm might be found out ( as she said ) by searching beneath the bed where she lay ; and having quickly done it her self , she found ( to the apprehension of the spectators ) an egg-shell open in the end , which being thrown into the fire , did melt after the manner of wax , without any such noise as egg-shells use to make when thrown into the fire . after this she said , she should not now be handled so severely , upon essaying to make known what the witches had forbidden her , only her tongue would be drawn back into her throat , which accordingly happened . she did likewise inform her friends of many things she had not liberty to do before the charm was found out , particularly that her tormentors had frequently solicited her to become a witch her self , and promised her great riches , and perfect health to induce her thereunto . which tentation , she through the infinit mercy of god still resisted , reasoning with them after this manner : the devil promises what he cannot perform ▪ and granting he could fulfill his promises ; yet i am sure from the scriptures , hell and the wrath of god will be the final reward of all such as yeild to this wickedness . to which she receiv'd this reply ( which indeed none but her self could hear ) that hell and the wrath of god so much talk't of , was not so formidable as represented . she also said , the witches had importunatly urged her to give her consent to the taking away the life of her young sister , who was at that time upon her mothers breast ; which tentation also she was enabled throw the grace of god to resist . she told her parents likeways , there had been a charm laid upon the top of the house where her young sister was ( the child having been sent out to nursing by reason of the continued affliction of the family ) and that the charm had been plac'd there by pinch'd maggi , who thereby did design the taking away of her sisters life ; and that this was the cause why she had so often for some weeks before desired her mother to bring home her sister , constantly affirming , that the child would daily decay as long as she stayed there : whereupon her parents observing the decay of the infant ; even to skin and bone , they brought her home , where she recovered . and the girl being asked how she came to the knowledge of these things ? reply'd , that something speaking distinctly as it were over her head , had suggested these and other things of that nature to her . february 2d . being in the chamber with her mother and others , she was on a sudden struck with great fear and consternation ; and fell a trembling , upon the sight of one iohn lindsay of barcloch , talking with her father in the hall. she told her mother , the foresaid lindsay had been always one of her most violent tormentors , and that she had been threatned with extreame tortures , if she should offer to name him ; whereupon she was desired to go toward the place where he was , and touch some part of his body , unknown to him , which having done , with some aversation , she was instantly seiz'd with extreame tortures in all the parts of her body . after which lindsay was examin'd thereupon ; but giving no satisfying answer , was desir'd to take the damsel by the hand , which being unwillingly prevail'd with to do , she was immediately , upon his touch , cast into intolerable anguish , her eyes almost twisted round , and all the parts of her body becoming stiff , she fell down in the posture of one that for some days had been dead , and afterwards got up on a sudden , and tearing her cloaths , threw her self with violence upon him , and when her fits were over , the spectators did also take the damsel by the hanud , but no such effects followed . about six at night there came an old highland fellow to bagarren , who calling himself a weary traveller , said , he behooved to lodge there that night ; but the servants refusing him lodging , gave him something by way of almes . at this time the damsel being in the chamber with her mother , and another gentlewoman , said , to her best apprehension , there was one of the wicked crew in or about the house at that time ; whereupon her mother made hast with her daughter down stairs toward the kitchen . and finding there unexpectedly the highland fellow , whom the girle then accused , as one of her tormentors , she desir'd him to take her daughter by the hand , which he being urg'd to do , the girle immediately , upon his touch , was grievously tormented in all the parts of her body . whereupon bargarran gave orders to secure him . the next morning the minister being come to visit the damsel , called for the highland fellow , and having examin'd him about this matter , without any satisfyfying answer , he brought the child out of ●…he chamber , covering her face , and almost her whole body with his cloak ; and giving signs to the highland fellow to touch her in this posture , as he had order'd him before , without the damsels knowledge , he did it with great aversion ; and the girle not knowing of his touch , was instantly cast into intollerable agonies ; yet others afterwards touching her , no such event followed . and when her fits were over , she besought the highfand fellow to allow her the liberty to discover the persons that haunted and molested her , whom he had forbidden her to make known : upon which the old fellow looking at her with an angry countenance , her mouth was instantly stop't , and her teeth sett : but being desired by those present to speak her mind freely ; whether he would or not , at length she reply'd , that she was affraid to do it . and when by the importunity of the lairds of dargavel and porterfield of fulwood , and some other gentlemen there present , she essay'd to declare her mind , she was seiz'd with her fits again . before this time , the lamentable case of the afflicted damsel and family had been represented to his majesty's most honourably privy-council , who , upon serious application made to them , granted a commission to a noble lord , and some worthy gentlemen , to make enquiry into the matter . by vertue of this commission some suspected persons were seiz'd ; particularly on february 4. alexander anderson ( an ignorant , irreligious fellow , who had been always of evil fame , and accused by the afflicted damsel ) was by a special order from the commissioners for enquiry , apprehended and committed to prison ; as was also elizabeth anderson his daughter , upon strong presumptions of witchcraft ; for the other year iean fulton her grand-mother , an old scandalous woman , being cited before the kirk session , and accus'd for cursing , and imprecating mischief upon several persons , which had been followed with fatal events ; the fore mentioned elizabeth anderson her grand child , who liv'd in the house with her , did declare before the session , she had frequently seen the devil in company with her grand mother , in the likeness of a small black man , and that he usually vanished on a sudden , when any body came to the door . upon this presumption was the said elizabeth anderson seiz'd with her father , and committed to custody ; but at first most obstinatly denied any manner of accession to the sin of witchcraft , until afterwards , that being seriously importun'd in prison by two gentlemen , she did , before she came to bargarran's house , confess her guilt . and that she had been at several meetings with the devil and witches , and , amongst others , she accus'd her own father , and the fore-mention'd high-land fellow , to have been active instruments in the girl 's trouble ; and before she was confronted with him , gave exact marks of this highland man , tho' she knew not his name ; yet when she saw him did accuse him , and affirm'd he was the person she spoke of . february 5th . a quorum of the commissioners being met at bargarran , and the persons then accused by elizabeth anderson to have been at meetings with the devil , and active instruments of the damsels trouble , viz. alexander anderson her father , agnes nasmith , margaret fulton , iames lindsay , alias curat , katharine campbel , were all of them confronted , with christian shaw , before the lord blantyre , and the rest of the commissioners , and several other gentlemen of note and ministers ; and accused by her as her tormentors . and they having all severally touched her in the presence of the commissioners , she was , at each of their touches , seiz'd with grievous fits , and cast into intollerable agonies ; others then present did also touch her , in the same manner , but no such effect followed . and it is remarkable , that when katharine cambel touched the girle , she was immediately seiz'd with more grievous fits , and cast into more intollerable torments than upon the touch of the other accused persons ; whereat cambel her self being daunted and confounded , tho' she had formerly declined to bless her , uttered these words ; the lord god of heaven and earth bless thee , and save thee both soul and body ; after which , the damsel , when the fits were over , in which she had lain a most pitiful spectacle , did declare she was now loos'd , and that she might freely touch any of the accus'd persons , or they her after this , without trouble , which accordingly , upon trial , fell out : and being enquired how she came to the knowledge of that , answered as formerly in the like case ; that something speaking distinctly as it were over head , suggested this to her ; and likewise , usually gave her the knowledge of the names of her tormentors , and places in which they liv'd . february 6. the girle being seiz'd with sore fits , something was seen in her mouth like pieces of orange-pills , which were invisibly convey'd thither ; she seem'd ; in her agonies to chew them ; and having got them down her throat , she fell down as if she had been choak't , strugling with her feet and hands , and at the last gasp , and her throat swelling in a prodigious manner , to the affrightment of the spectators ; when she recover'd she was light-headed for some time , and would say , o it was a very sweet orange-pill which i got from the gentlewoman ; declaring also , that there had been others there , particularly margaret l. or pinch't maggi , whose sirname she had neither power nor liberty to express , neither durst she of●…er to do it , least she should be tormented as was threatned , and alwayes came to pass when she essay'd to do it , either by speaking or writing , as had appear'd the day before in presence of the commissioners . about this time , thomas lindsay , a young boy , not yet twelve years of age , was seiz'd , upon strong presumptions of witchcraft ; he had said before several credible persons , that the devil was his father , and if he pleas'd he could fly in the likeness of a crow , up to the mast of a ship ; he sometimes caus'd a plough to stand , and the horses to break their yokes upon the pronouncing of some words , and turning himself about from the right-hand to the left , contrary to the natural course of the sun. this he would do upon the desire of any body for a half-penny . upon these and the like presumptions he was apprehended , and at first continu'd most obstinate in denyal ; yet afterwards confess'd to the minister , in his own house , before credible witnesses , his compact with the devil , and that he had receiv'd the insensible mark from him , which is visible upon his body : as also , that he had been at several meetings with the devil and witches , where he said were present his brother iames , with others , and particularly those who had been accus'd by anderson . this he confest , with some others of the like kind , before he was committed to custody . after this , bargarran made diligent search for iames lindsay , elder brother to thomas , he having been all along accused by the afflicted damsel , as one of her troublers , by the name of the gleid , or squint-ey'd elff , ( the rest of her tormentors having call'd him so , because of his squint eyes ) when he was brought to the place , he did at first obstinately deny his guilt , yet , at length , by the endeavours of mr. patrick simpson , a neighbouring minister , ingenuously confessed it , and did agree in every material circumstance with the other two , tho' he knew not what they had confest , he having neither seen them before his confession , nor had any occasion of information in conference with others , being immediately brought thither from the prison of glasgow , where he had been shut up some weeks before as a vagabond , in order to be sent to forreign plantations . a more particular account of what all of them freely confess'd and acknowledg'd before the commissioners for enquiry , we have , for the satisfaction of the reader , subjoyn'd to the narrative ; with an abstract of the report made by the commissioners , to the lords of his majesty's most honourable privy-council , concerning the who●…e affair . february 11. there was by the presbitry's appointment a publick fast kept on the damsels account in the church of erskine , in which mr. turner , minister of the place , begun with prayer , expounding rev. 12. from vers. 7. to vers. 13. mr. iames hutchison minister at killellan took the next turn of prayer , and preach'd on 1 pet. 5. 8. and mr. simpson concluded the work , preaching on mat. 17. 20 , 21. the girl was present all day ; and before she came to church that morning , told , that while she was in one of her fits the night before , she heard the devil speaking of that publick fast , and what ministers were to be there ; and that the old man mr. iames hutchison , should stumble , and his peruick fall off as he went up to the pulpit , and all the people should laugh at him ; and he should break his neck in going home . and when she came out of the church , she said , the devil was a liar , for no ●…uch thing fell out as he had threatned . she was all day very quiet in church ; though troubled with some of her light fits , during which some spectres appear'd , as she told afterwards . about six at night there were present in the chamber with the damsel , mr. simpson with his wife , the lady northbarr ; and others , discoursing and conferring about her case ; and while they were thus conferring together , she told them , she would gladly make some things known , if she durst , for her tormenters ; and afterwards attempting to do it , was instantly seiz'd with a violent fit ; in which she leapt strait up , and appear'd as if she had been choak'd , so that it was as much as one or two could do , to hold her fast in their armes : and when the fit was over , mr. simpson going about family worship , did expound psalm 110. and speaking of the limitted power of the adversaries of our lord jesus chist , from the latter part of verse 1. she was on a sudden seiz'd with another grievous fit , and some blood issued from her mouth , which rais'd grounds of fear and jealousy in the minds of the spectators , as to the occasion of it ; yet they could not get her mouth open'd , her teeth being close set . and in the interval of the fit being ask'd , if she found any thing in her mouth that had been the occasion of that blood ; she reply'd , she found nothing , nor knew not the cause of it ; but opening her mouth , they found one of her double-teeth newly drawn ; yet tho' search was made for the same , it could not be found : after which the minister proceeded upon the same subject , but was again interrupted by her renewed fits , yet closed the exercise with prayer ; after which she was taken to bed , without any farther trouble that night . february 12. margaret laing and her daughter martha semple , being accused by the three that had confessed , and accused by the girl to have been active instruments in her trouble , came of their own accord to bargarran's house , and before they came up stairs the girl said , she was now bound up , and could not accuse margaret laing to her face : and accordingly the girl 's mother having desired some of those who were sitting by her to feel her body , they found her so stiff and inflexible , that there was no moving of it , and immediatly again found some parts of her body contracted and drawn hard , as if by cords ; after this margaret laing and her daughter , having gone to the chamber to the girl ; did in presence of the ministers and others , desire the damsel to come to her ; for she ▪ would do her no harm , and laying her arms about her , spake very fairly to her , and question'd her if ever she had seen her or her daughter amongst her tormentors , to which the girl did positively reply , she had frequently seen her daughter ; but declined throw fear to accuse her self , saying faintly no ; after which margaret and her daughter returning into the hall , and the minister requiring at her why she said no , seeing she had accus'd her before , she answered , you must take my meaning to be otherwise , upon which she was seiz'd with a grievous fit ; and after her recovery being urg'd again to tell her mind freely , whether or not margaret laing was one of her tormentors , the child thereupon essaying to say yes , and having half pronounced the word , was cast into unexpressible anguish ; and again in the interval of the fit , she essay'd to express the same thing , and saying only the word tint ( that is lost ) was on a sudden struck with another fit , and when the fit was over , and the child returned to the chamber , margaret laing who was sitting near the hall door , spoke these words the lord bless thee , and ding ( that is beat , or drive ) the devil out of thee . a little after which , margaret going down stairs , the damsel came to the hall and said , her bonds were now loos'd , and that she could accuse margaret laing to her face , and declar'd the occasion of her being so restrain'd while margaret was present , was her letting fall a parcel of hair at the hall door as she came in ; being a charm made by her for that end , which also had been the occasion of her uttering the word tint in the former fit : and accordingly a parcel of hair had been found at the hall-door , after margaret laing had gone straight from the hall to the chamber , which immediatly was cast into the fire and burnt . and its remarkable , that it could be attested that there was no hair , or any other thing else in that place before margaret laing came in , and the girl being enquired , what way she knew margaret laing had laid the fore-mentioned charm upon her , replyed , that something speaking distinctly to her as it were over her head , inform'd her so . about eight at night she was severely handled in her fits , much after the former manner , and while she was in her swooning fits , there was seen in her mouth a pin , wherewith she seem'd almost choak't ; but by divine providence it was got out , tho with great difficulty . after this she was somewhat composed , and did not much complain of pain ; but was distinctly heard to entertain discourse with some invisible creatures about her , and the reply's given by her , and heard by those who took care of her , gave them ground to conclude she was tempted to set her hand to a paper then presented to her , with promises that upon her yielding thereunto she should never be troubled any more ; as also that she should have sweet meats , a glass of sack , and a handsome coat with silver lace : she was also distinctly heard to say , resisting the tempter , thou art a filthy sow , should i obey thee ; this was not the end of my creation , but to glorify god and enjoy him for ever ; and thou promisest what thou canst not perform : art thou angry at me for saying thou sow , what should i call thee but thou filthy sow ? art thou not the filthy devil , for as brave as thou art with thy silver and gold lace ? wouldst thou have me renounce my baptism ? dost thou promise to give me brave men in marriage , and fine cloaths , and perfect health , if i should consent thereunto ? dost thou say my baptism will do me no good , because thou alledgest he was not a sufficient minister that baptized me ? thou art a liar , i 'll be content to dye ere i renounce my baptism . o thorow the grace of god i 'll never do it . and thus she continued reasoning , being both blind and deaf , for the space of two hours ; and when she came to her self did declare it was the devil , who first presented himself tempting her in the shape of a sow , to renounce her baptism , as is hinted ; and that he did chide her when she call'd him , thou sow , and immediatly appear'd to her again in the shape of a brave gentleman , having gold and silver lace on his cloaths , still urging her to renounce her baptism , which temptation through the special assistance of the grace of god she effectually resisted : she also said , that it had been suggested to her by the spirit , speaking to her as formerly over her head , after the combat with the tempter was past , that one of her tormentors would be at the house to morrow . february 13. she was seiz'd with a sore fit about twelve a clock of the day , in which she continued for more than two hours , both deaf and blind . those in the room with her cry'd to her aloud , and pinch'd her hands and other parts of her body ; but all to no purpose . and in this posture she was hurried ●…o and fro with violence thorow the room : and when any body offer'd to hinder the dangerous and violent motion she seem'd to be in , she 'd roar exceedingly , sometimes she 'd desire her father and mother and others to come and take her home ( supposing her self not to be in her fathers house ) when she was in this deplorable condition , margaret roger who liv'd in the neighbour-hood , came to the house of bargarren enquiring for the lady ; and having come up stairs , the parents of the damsel remembering the girl had said the night before , that one of her tormentors was to come that day to the house , brought margaret roger to the chamber where she was , and so soon as she entered the door ; the damsel tho she could discern none of those who were present with her , nor answer them when they cry'd to her ; yet presently saw her and ran towards her , crying , maggi , maggi , where hast thou been ? wi●…t thou take me with thee , for my father and mother have left me . whereupon the spectators being astonish'd , caus'd morgaret to speak to the child ; which she having done , the girle distinctly heard and answered her every word . after this , the three that had confessed , were also brought up to the chamber where the damsel was ; and as soon as they entered the door , she ran also to them , laughing , as if she had been overjoy'd , answering them when they spoke to her : and margaret roger being confronted with them , they declared that she had been at meetings with the devil and witches in bargarran's orchard , consulting and contriving the childes ruine . the lord's day following , being february 14. after some short intervals , she was again seiz'd with her fits , in which she said , margaret laing , and her daughter martha semple , were tormenting her , and cutting her throat ; which words , through violence of pain , and difficulty of breathing , she uttered with a low , and scarcely , audible voice ; and upon the naming of margaret laing and her daughter , she was tossed and dreadfully tormented in all the parts of her body , being made sometimes to stand upon her head and feet at once , sometimes her belly swelling like a drum , and falling again on a sudden ; and sometimes her head , and other parts of her body were like to be shaken in pieces , so that the spectators fear'd she would never speak more . and when the fit was over , she declar'd , margaret laing said to her , while in the fit , that she would give her a tosty ( which imports hot and severe handling ) for naming her . at this time she was seldom free of her light-headed-fits , which , for the most part , were all the respite and ease she had from the unexpressible agonies she endur'd in her more grievous fits ; unless when asleep : and while she was in these fits , no body could perswade her to pray ; yet , when in a right composure of mind , she 'd weep bitterly at the remembrance of this , expressing her fears , least it might be an evidence that god would for sake her . february 18. about two in the afternoon , she being in a light-headed-fit , said , the devil now appear'd to her in the shape of a man ; whereupon being struck with great fear and consternation , she was desir'd to pray with an audible voice , the lord rebuke thee satan : which essaying to do , she instantly lost her power of speech , her teeth being sett , and her tongue drawn back into her throat ; and attempting it again , she was immediately seiz'd with another grievous fit ; in which her eyes being twisted almost round , she fell down as one dead , struggling with feet and hands , and getting up again on a sudden , was hurried with violence too and fro , thorow the room , deaf and blind ; yet was speaking with some invisible creature about her saying , with the lord's strength thou shal't neither put straw nor sticks into my mouth . after this she cry'd in a pitiful manner , the bee hath sting'd me : then presently sitting down , and untying her stocking , put her hand to that part which had been nip't or pinch't ; whereupon the spectators did visibly discern the lively marks of nails of fingers deeply imprinted on that same part of her leg. and when she came to her self , she did declare , that something speaking to her , as it were over her head , told her it was m. m. in a neighbouring parish ( naming the place ) that had appear'd to her , and pinch't her leg in the likeness of a bee. she likewise declared , that the forementioned m. m. instantly after this had been suggested to her , appeared in her own shape and likeness , as she us'd to be at other times . shortly after this , being still seiz'd with her light fit , she whisper'd in her mothers ear , the devil was now appearing to her again in the shape of a gentleman : and being instantly seiz'd with her light fits , in which she was both blind and deaf , was distinctly heard , arguing after this manner . thou think'st to tempt me to be a witch ; but through god's strength thou shalt never be the better : i charge thee , in the name of god to be gone , and thy papers too ; in the lord's strength i 'll not fear thee : i 'll stand here and see , if thou can come one step nearer me ; i think thou fearest me more then i fear thee . then turning her self again , she was hurried to and fro with violence thorow the room as formerly , saying , she was bitten or pinch't very sore in the hands with teeth , and nip't with fingers above twenty four times ; which occasion'd her to utter horrid shreeks , and out-crys at every time she receiv'd them , shewing and pointing with her finger to those parts of her arm and leg which had been pinch't and bitten , but neither saw nor heard any about her . and accordingly the spectators did visibly discern the evident marks of the teeth and nails of fingers upon her arms and legs . in this postute the girle continued from two to five in the afternoon ; and when her miseries were over , she sa●…d , m. m. told her in the fit , that margaret laing , then in custody , had ordered her to handle her after that manner . and that margaret laing had a commanding power over her . on friday and saturday , february 19 and 20. she was frequently seiz'd with the foremention'd fits , and violently bitten , pincht and nipt in her hands , neck , and other parts of her body , so that the marks of the nails of fingers and teeth , with the spittle and slaber of a mouth thereupon were evidently seen by spectators . when she was seiz'd with her blind and deaf fits , a crooked fellow appear'd to her , having his two feet deform'd , his two heels turning inwards toward one another , and the fore-parts of his feet outward , so that the broad side of his feet mov'd foremost ; and upon the appearing of this fellow , her feet were put in the very same posture during the time he tormented her . it is to be observed that there is a fellow in one of the neighbouring-parishes , whose feet are exactly deform'd in that manner , who has been of a long time of evil fame , and accused by those that confessed , to have been at meatings with the devil , and the rest of the crew in bargarren's orchard . saturday , february 20. the whole family being gone to bed , they had left a great quantity of peets ( or turff ) by the hall chimney , which , the next morning , they saw burnt to ashes , though there had been no fire in the chimney , nor near them , so that the plaister and stones of the wall , where the peets or turff lay , were , in a great part , turn'd to rubbish by the violence of the fire , but no other damage followed , the hall-floor being laid with stones , and the peets lying within the brace of a large chimney . febr. 27th . the chamber-fire having been covered with ashes in the chimney when the family went to bed , the next morning , though a good quantity of ashes had been left ; yet they found all clean sweept away , and no appearance of ashes nor fire at all , th●… none in the family had been there after the fire was covered . in fits of this kind she continued for several days after , naming the foremention'd crooked fellow , i. r. and m. a. two women that lived in the neighbouring parishes , which two latter were accus'd ( by the three that had confessed ) to be amongst her tormenters , and particularly upon the lords day february 12. and the munday following , the said i. r. appearing to her grievously vexed her , telling her she was commissioned so to do , the gentlewoman m. m. having a pain in her head at that time , and so not being able to come forth . concerning which it is worthy of remark , that the damsel declar'd m. m. to have appeared to her about two days after , with her head bound up with a handker-chief , in which posture she did not formerly appear . upon thursday february 25. she continued in the former fits , weeping bitterly and complaining of a pain in both her sides , she also told in the interval of her fits , that she was that night to be in very grievous and sore fits , her tormenters being resolved to choak her , by putting pins in her mouth , which ( tho she emptied her self of all that were in her cloaths ) yet accordingly came to pass : in those fits she was both blind and deaf , leaping up and down in an extraordinary manner , and thus continued for some days voiding out of her mouth a great quantity of small broken ●…ins , which she declar'd i. r. had forc'd into the same . upon the lords day being the last of february , about five a clock in the afternoon she fell into grievous fits , accompained with loud laughing , leaping , and runing with violence to and fro , and thereafter wept sore , crying out of pain , and that a little highland man ( whom she knew to be such by his habit and speech ) was now breaking her leg ; which ( because of pain ) she scarce could get told in the fit , and putting her hand to the part of her leg affected , the spectators untying her stocking , distinctly observed a sore bruise in her shin bone ; which when touched did so pain her , that she uttered horrid shreeks and crys ; and when recovered did declare , that the little highland fellow had given her that bruise . after this , she voided at her mouth a crooked pin , which she said the highland fellow had forc't into her mouth , and design'd to choak her . the first eight days of march she continued in her former fits ; with little variation , voiding at her mouth a great number of small pins and often fainted and fell as dead upon the ground on a sudden , strugling with feet and hands ; by all which her natural spirits were much weakned and exhausted ; sometimes also she attempted to go into the fire . about this time when ministers and other christians met in the family for prayer , she us'd at the beginning of the work to make great disturbance , particularly march 2. which day being set apart for fasting and praying , she was for some time very composed , until of a sudden , a strong blast of wind forced open the windows of the room ; upon which she was instantly seiz'd with a violent fit , whilst the minister was supplicating god that she might be delivered from satans bonds : in this fit she was both blind and deaf as to all , except her tormentors , was hurried with violence to and fro in the room , sometimes falling down as one dead , sometimes singing and making a hideous noise , sometimes naming m. m. and others , who she said , were there present afflicting and tormenting her , and named the particular places of the room where she saw them standing and sitting . and when recovered from the fit , she told that a gentlewoman and a little highland fellow came in with the blast of wind , which forc'd open the windows . this falling out upon the tuesday , she continued in the light fit without any intermission , till the sabbath after , not being seiz'd with any of her sore fits : and having gone to church the lords day following , was perfectly well ●…or the most part of the day ; yet affirmed she saw ianet wagh and others in one of the windows of the church , tho invisible to all others . tuesday being march the 9th . her mother and margaret campbel her cousin took the damsel to walk with them in the orchard ; and returning back to the house , her mother entered the tower gate first , with the damsel at her back and margaret campbel tarrying a little while at the gate , her mother went into the kitchen , supposing they had both been with her , whereas the damsel was of a sudden carried away in a flight up stairs with so swift and unaccountable a motion , that her absence was not in the least suspected , but her mother turning about and missing her , cry'd , where is christian and margaret campbel ? and instantly runing up stairs to look for the damsel heard a noise and following the same , found her leaping and dancing upon one of the stairs being seiz'd with fits , out of which being recovered she told , that i. p. had carried her away from her mothers back as she entred the kitchen door ( her feet not touching the ground to her apprehension ) with a design to strangle her in an high wardrob with ropes on which they us'd to to dry linnen , but that the said i. p. could carry her no further then the place where she was found , and did therefore leave her in such a violent sit . upon the lords day after being march 14. her fits altered , her mouth and nose were prodigiously distorted , and her face thereby strangely and horridly deform'd . that same day being at church in the forenoon , her glove falling from her , was again put into her hand by some invisible agent , to the amazment o●… the beholders . to which we may add here , as that which is worthy of remark , that all this while an invisible beeing haunted her on all occasions , suggesting many things to her , both concerning her self and others ; but yet wa●… never heard by any but her self . the same day betwixt sermons , she foretold that she was to be violently tormented in the afternoon ; which accordingly came to pass , and in her fits she named one i. k. a woman living in the neighbourhood , of whom she said , that she had seen her in the church . as also , that she was master of these kind of fits she was now afflicted with ; withal asserting , that it the said i. k. were not sent for , she would grow worse and worse ; which her parents finding to be true , sent in the evening for the said i. k. threatning her , if the damsel was any further troubled with her , that she should be apprehended as others had been ; after which the damsel being in the mean time in a very sore fit , the forementioned i. k. prayed ( tho not desired ) that god might send the damsel her health ; whereupon the damsel was no more troubled with these kind of fits ; but did instantly recover , by falling into a swoon as she us'd to do before her recovery out of any of her fits . tuesday march 16 , she was again seiz'd with her other fits , all the parts of her body being stiff ; and sometimes she was heard conversing with the gentlewoman ( as she call'd her ) vindicating her self of what the gentlewoman alledged against her , viz. that she had accused some innocent persons as her tormentors , to which the damsel distinctly reply'd , that she was a lyar , saying , it was you your self , and no other ever mentioned any such thing . thus she continued until the friday after , being never free of the light fits , and now and then also falling into swoons , and appear'd to be almost choaked by the means of some charms and inchantments , invisibly convey'd into her mouth ; which , to the apprehension of spectators , were like pieces of chestnuts , orange-pills , whites of eggs , or such like , all which were distinctly observed ; when occasionally in the fit she opened her mouth , and when the spectators essay'd to get them out , she kept her mouth and teeth so closs , that no man could open the same . and when recover'd out of the fit , she told , that l. m. a woman living in the neighbourhood , had put them in her mouth . upon friday , march 19. she was violently tormented with sore fits , in which her neck was distorted , and bended back , like a bow , towards her heels , she strugling with her feet and hands , and was sometimes stiff , blind and deaf , and voided at her mouth a great number of small pins , which she said the foremention'd l. m. had put there . about six a clock that same night , being violently tormented , she fell a crying , that if the gentlewoman was not ●…hended that night , it would be in vain to apprehend her to morrow : ●…or , said she , i have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suffer at her hands betwixt twelve and one a clock in the morning . after this , the damsel 〈◊〉 up her eye lids with her hands , and looking upwards , said , i●… ha●… art thou that tells me , that the sheriff and my father are coming here this night ? after which the sheriff , her father , and iames 〈◊〉 , macer to the justiciary court instantly came up stairs , to the amazement of those who remembred what the damsel had just said . the girl continued afterwards blind and deaf , yet was heard , in the presence of the sheriff , &c. discoursing distinctly with some invisible being near her , saying , is the sheriff come , is he near me ? and stretching out her hand to feel if any person were near her , the sheriff put his hand in hers ; notwithstanding which , she said to the invisible being , that discours'd with her , i cannot feel the sheriff , how can he be present here ? or how can i have him by the hand as thou say'st , seeing i feel it not ? thou say'st he hath brown clothes , red plush breeches with black stripes , flowred mu●…ling cravat , and an imbroidered sword-belt , thou says , there is an old gray-hair'd man with him , having a ring upon his hand ; but i can neither see nor feel any of them : what , are they come to apprehend the gentlewoman ? is this their errand indeed ? and the girl being enquired at , how she came to the knowledge of these strange things ? reply'd , as formerly , in the like case , that something speaking distinctly , as over her head , suggested them to her . it is very observable , that the persons aforesaid had that same afternoon got an order from the commissioners of justiciary to apprehend the same gentlewoman , and were so far on their way to put it in execution against next morning ; but being witnesses to the damsels trouble , and hearing what she had told , viz. that a delay in that matter would prove exceeding dangerous to her , they went straight on in their journey to the gentlewomans habitation , and put their warrant in execution that same night ; the damsel continued to be violently tormented , sometimes lying with her neck , and other parts of her body upon the ground , as if they had been disjoynted , and sometimes essaying to throw her self into the fire . about ten a clock , her father ( who had not gone with the sheriff ) began to read in the bible , and she repeated the words after him , though blind and deaf , which made the spectators to apprehend , that she had the sense of hearing in those fits , at least when the word of god was read : to find out the truth of which , her father ceas'd from reading ; yet she continued to repeat the following verses of the chapter , though none in the room were reading , and her self had no book , but was heard to say to some invisible being , wilt thou teach me a part of the old testament as well as the new. she continued in her fits , and said unto the people that were present , now it is twelve of the clock ; oh it is now past twelve : sometimes lying as one dead through the violence of pain , and decay of her natural spirits ; sometimes again recovering , she essayed to express somewhat , but could not ; a great quantity of crooked pins issued out of her mouth , and her body being prodigiously distorted , she complain'd of great pain . thus she continu'd until half an hour after twelve at night ; when , on a sudden , she recover'd , to the admiration of the beholders , telling them , she might now go to bed , being told by some invisible informer , that the sheriff , and the other gentleman , to wit the macer , had now entred the gentlewomans house ; and accordingly going to bed , she was no further troubled that night . it is worthy of remark here , that the sheriff and macer , at their return , declared , that it was just about that time they entered the gentlewomans house , which the damsel mention'd . saturday , march 20. about ten a clock in the forenoon , she was , of a sudden , seiz'd with fits , falling down as dead , with her eyes closed , and sometimes again opening and turning in her head , she saw nor heard none about her , but was hurried with violence to and fro through the room , crying with a loud voice when any one offered to hinder her motion . being in this posture , and deprived of her senses , iames lindsay , one of the three that had confessed , was brought into the room , and no sooner entered the door but was perceived by her , and she ran towards him smiling , saying , jamie , where hast thou been this long time ? how is it with thee ? and answered him distinctly to every word he spake , though , at the same time , she neither heard nor saw any other in the room , nor could she converse with them , which was tryed by several experiments for that purpose , particularly a tobacco-box , being held before her eyes by one of the company , she did not see it ; but assoon as it was put in the hand of iames lindsay , she enquired at him , where he had got that box ? she continuing in this condition , the sheriff and her father being present , thought it fit to confront m. m. who was now come , to try if the damsel would hear or see her , as she had done iames lindsay , which accordingly they did . and as soon as m. m. entered the door , the damsel ( though still in the fit ) presently smiled and said , i see the gentlewoman now : though she had never seen her personally before , but only by her spectre in the fits. she likewise heard when she spoke to her , and answered distinctly to some questions proposed by her , such as , when it was she had seen her 〈◊〉 her . to which she answered , she had seen her the other night in her fits : and further challeng'd her , why she had 〈◊〉 her from making known the highland womans name ? adding , thou pretendest thou knowest no●… what i say , thou knowest well enough . upon which the gentlewoman , on a sudden , ( without being de●…ired ) prayed , that the lord might send the damsel her health , saying , " lord help thee poor foolish child , and rebuke the devil . which words were no 〈◊〉 uttered , then the damsel fell down as dead ; and being carried to another room forthwith recovered of her blind , deaf , and light-headed fit , became perfectly well , and continued so for some time : being thus recovered , and m. m. removed into another room , the damsel was examined , whom she had seen in her last fit ? to whi●…h she reply'd , she had seen the gentlewoman : though , in the mean time , she was altogethe●… ignorant of her having been personally present with her . that same day the commissioners of justiciary being come to bargarren , m. m. and the damsel were again confronted , on which the child ( being in her light fit ) upon the first look of m. m. was suddenly seiz'd with sore fits , and when recovered , accused her as being one of her most violent tormentors , particularly mentioning such and such times in which she had in an extraordinary manner afflicted her , as also what words she spoke in her hearing while in the fit , and which is yet more remarkable , did question the gentlewoman if she did not sometime in december last when she was tormenting her , remember how she went away from her in great hast , saying she could stay no longer being obliged to attend a childs burial at home . in confirmation of which it is very credibly informed that w. r. a near neighbour of hers had a child burried that same day , and that the gentlewoman came not in due time to attend the corpse to the burial place , but the corpse being near to the church-yeard ere she reached the house from whence they ●…ame , she returned again to her own lodging , and so did not accompany the burial at all . the lords day following being march 21 ▪ she fell into swooning fits , complained of a pain near her heart , and fell down as dead , not only when the fits seiz'd her , but also during the intervals , sometimes singing after an unusual manner , and informing the spectators that i. g. constrained her to that kind of musick , her own lips not at all moving in the time , which the beholders saw to be true , but her tongue mov'd , for preventing of which she frequently put her hand in her mouth . at this time when either she her self , or those about her , offered to read any part of the scripture , she was violently tormented , declaring if she did but so much as hear the word of god read that day , she would certainly be extremly tortured ; in confirmation of which when some essay'd to read heb. 11. 2 , 4. 6. isa. 40. psal. 3. she uttered horrid shreeks and out-crys , complaining that she was pinched , in evidence of which , the prints or marks of the nails of fingers were distinctly seen on her arms , and being thus pinched or bitten four several times with great violence and pain , the skin it self was torn off those parts of her arms and fingers where the prints of the teeth and nails were observed ; so that the parts affected fell a bleeding , and her blood was both seen and handled by the spectators . while she was in this sad and lamentable condition she seem'd to be extreamly affected and oppressed with sore sickness , as one in a fever , crying sometimes to remove those dead children out of her sight ; which she frequently repeated from six to nine in the morning , she continued thus the rest of the day , and it was observed that some charm , and inchantments were put in her mouth as formerly , of which being very sensible , she fell down on a sudden to the ground putting her hand to some spittle which came out of her mouth , and lifted up some trash which she again cast down to the ground , so as it made a noise , yet nothing could be seen in her spittle , nor elsewhere by spectators , tho in her mouth they could distinctly observe something like orange pils , whites of eggs , and peeces of chesnuts . munday , being march 21. the before mentioned l. m. or i. g. came to bargarrans house , and being confronted with the damsel , questioned her if ever she had seen her in any of her fits , alledging that she withal could be none of her tormentors , because she was not now seiz'd with a fit , tho looking upon her , as she us'd to be , when she look'd upon any of her other tormentors ; upon which the damsel being for sometime silent , i. m. or i. g. did again propose the same question , to which the damsel distinctly reply'd yes , upon which l. m. reply'd , perhaps you have seen the the devil in my shape . as to this conference there are several things exceeding remarkable , as first , that the damsel upon her answering , yes , was immediatly seiz'd with a fit. 2dly . that tho after katharine campbel had touch'd the damsel in presence of the commissioners , upon the 5th . of february last , she had ever since that time freedom to touch any of her tormentors without being seiz'd with her fits , as has been hinted , yet true it is , that in the room of that charm a new one took place , viz. when any time she looked upon her tormentors in the face , at the very first look she was seiz'd with her fits ; which charm she declar'd was laid on her by the said l. m. or i. g. and taken off again by her that very morning before she came to visit the damsel , and this she said was suggested to her by some invisible beeing , speaking distinctly over her head ; and that therefore the damsel now had freedom to look l. m. in the face without being seiz'd with fits , which for a considerable time before she could not do when confronted with any of her tormentors . 3ly . it is yet more observable , that the same morning before ever l. m. came to visit her , it was told by the damsel to several persons in the family , that l. m. had taken off that charm , of her being seiz'd with fits when looking any of her tormentors in the face , but withal that she had laid on another it is room ▪ to wit , that as soon as the damsel should by words confer with any of her tormentors , so soon should she be seiz'd ▪ with a fit , which accordingly w●… verified when she spoke to l. m. or i. g. on tuesday march 23d , the damsel being asleep in the bed with her mother about three a clock in the morning was on a sudden awakned ( having for sometime struggled in her sleep ) in great fear and consternation , and being seiz'd with her blind and deaf fits , took fast hold of her mother , declaring to her father and her , that the devil was standing near the bed assaulting her , upon which she try'd out suddenly : god almighty keep me from thy meetings . i 'll die rather then go to them , i 'll never thorow the grace of god renounce my baptism ; for i 'll certainly go to hell if i do it : thou sayest i 'll go to hell however , because i am a great sinner ; but i believe what the word of god sayeth , tho i have many sins ; yet the blood of christ cleanseth from all sin , and i will not add that great wickedness to my other sins , which thou art tempting me too . it s no wonder thou lie to me seeing thou wast bold to lie i●… gods face . i know thou art a liar from the beginning ; and the red coat thou promisest me , i know thou canst not perform it . and altho i should never recover , i 'm resolv'd never to renounce my baptism , it is god who hath kept me all this time from being a witch , and i trust he will yet by his grace keep me , not because of any thing in me , but of his own great mercy , and that he who hath kept me hitherto from being devoured by thee , i hope will yet keep me . this conference continued near the space of an hour , her father , mother and others being ●…ar witnesses to the same . and after recovery the damsel declared that it was the devil , who ( in the ape of a naked man in a shirt , having much hair upon his hands and his face , like swines bristles ) had appear'd to her tempting her as aforesaid . until sabbath following she continued in the light fit , but withal every morning and evening was still seiz'd with her sore fits , and continued still to name m. m. ( who was at this time set at liberty ) the forementioned l. m. e. t. an highland woman , and others as being her tormentors . it is fit to be observed here , that m. m. being set at liberty upon bail , the very day after she went home , she again appear'd to the damsel tormenting her in her fits , and continued so to do several days , particularly on the saturday march 27 after she was set at liberty : on which day the damsel was heard name her in her fits , and saying to her , wilt thou say god help me poor mad or foolish child as thou saidst the other day before the iudges ? art thou wishing the devil to take me ? where is the habit thou wast cloathed with the other day ? on ●…abbath morning , march 28. the damsel throw god's great mercy towards her , was perfectly recovered from all her fits , and became as well , sensible and composed as ever . if it be questioned , how the truth of all these strange things is attested ▪ there is none of those particulars , but had the witnesses names inserted at the end of every particular paragraph , and were attested before the commissioners for enquiry at renfrew , by the subscriptions of the respective witnesses . but seeing the placing of them so now , would have occasioned the repetition of several persons names and made the narrative swell too much ; therefore we judg'd it fittest to set down the names of the chief witnesses altogether at the end of the narrative ; and the rather because those things fell not out in a private corner ; but thousands in this countery have been eye and ear witnesses of 'em , and been fully convinced of a diabolical hand in the affliction of the damsel : we shall only here make mention of a few , viz , besides the father , mother , grand-mother , and nearest relations of the damsel , and servants of the family , who were always present with her in her fits : such of the commissioners for inquiry , and of justiciary as had occasion to be on the place of the events , were as follow , the lord bantyre , mr. francis montgomery of giffen , sir iohn maxwell of pollock , sir iohn houston of houston , alexander porterfield of porterfield , the laird of black-hall younger ▪ the laird of glandeertone , the laird of craigens , porterfield of ●…ullwood , iohn alexander of black-house , mr. semple sheriff of renfrew : and several other honourable persons of good sense and quality as the earl of marshal●… , the laird of orbiston , the laird of killmarnock , the laird of meldrum , the lairds of bishopton elder and younger , gavin , cochran of craigmure , william denneston of colgrain , dr. mathew brisben , &c. and several ministers , who kept days of humiliation and prayer weekly in the family , and sometimes in the parish-church with the congregation , viz. mr. iames hutchison , minister of the gospel at killelan , mr. patrick simson of renfrew , mr. iames stirling of kilbarchan , mr. thomas blachwal of paisly , mr. iames brisban of kilmacolme , mr robert taylor of houston ; and of neighbouring presbytries , mr. neill gillies , mr. iames brown , mr. iohn gray ministers of glasgow , while the damsel was there ; mr. iohn ritchie minister of old kilpatrick , mr. alexander king of bonui●… , mr. archibald wallace of cardross , mr. iohn a●…son of drymmen , mr. andrew turner minister of the place , who was frequently there : besides mr. menzies of cammo , and mr. grant of cullen , advocates ; who were eye and ear-witnesses to several important passages of the damsels affliction , and the convincing evidences of its flowing from the operation of the devil , and his instruments . the truth whereof is further demonstrated by the progress and issue of the tryal , at which were present , at several occasions , not only sir iohn hamiltoun of halcraig , one of the senators of the colledge of justice , sir iohn shaw of greenock , commissar smollet of bonnill , mr. iames stewart advocat , who were concerned in the commission with the others before mentioned : but also a great confluence of several of the nobility and gentry out of the countrey , such as the earl of glencairn , the lord killmares , the lord semple , &c. the report made by the commissioners appointed by his majest's privy-council for enquiry : and of the confession of elizabeth anderson , james lindsay , and thomas lindsay ; transmitted by those commissioners to the council , before granting of the commission for a trial . to which is subjoyned , the sum of the confessions of margaret and jannet rogers , who did confess ( during the tryal ) of the rest , beyond expectation . together also with an account of the confession and death of john reid , who made a discovery agreeable to that of the former witnesses , after the trial was over . and , in the last place , there are added some passages which fell out at the execution of the seven witches who were condemned . the commissioners ▪ for enquiry having met at bargarran in february 1697 , did chose the lord blantyre for chairman , and took the confession of elizabeth anderson , aged about 17 years , as follows . that about seven years ago the stayed with iean fultoun her grand-mother , and playing about the door , she saw a black grim man go into her grand-mothers house : after which , her grand-mother came to the door , called her in , and desired her to take the gentleman ( as she nam'd him ) by the hand ; which she did , but finding it very cold , became affraid ; and immediately he ●…anish'd . about a month after , her grand-mother and she being in the house together , the said gentleman ( whom she then suspected to be the devil ) appeared to them , and fell a talking with her grand-mother ▪ and whispering in one anothers ears : upon which , the grand-mother desired her to take him by the hand , being a friend of hers ; but elizabeth refusing , her grand-mother threatned , that she should have none of the cloaths promised her unless she would obey : yet elizabeth withstood , saying , the lord be between me and him ; whereupon he went away in a flight , but she knew not how . elizabeth was not troubled for a long time after , till her father desiring her to go with him a begging through the countrey ; and ●…e saying , that she needed not seek her meat , seeing she might have work ; her father pressed her to go along with him , and took her to a heath in kilmacome , where were gathered together , at that and other subsequent meetings , katharine campbel , margaret fulton ( her grand aunt ) margaret lang , iohn reid , smith ; margaret and ianet rodgers , the three lindsays ( besides the two confessing ones , ) &c. and several others whom she did not know , and the foresaid gentleman with them ; he came to her the said elizabeth , bidding her renounce her baptism , promising that if she would consent thereunto , she should have better meat and clothes , and not need to beg. but ( as she declared ) she would not consent . then he enquired what brought her thither ? she answered , that she came with her father : whereupon the devil and her father went and talked together apart , but she knew not what . she declares , that in that meeting was conserted the tormenting of mr. william fleeming minister of innerkipp's childe . the said elizabeth confesses she was at another meeting with that crew above the town of kilpatrick , with the foresaid gentleman , whom they called their lord : and that she went with her father to the ferrie-boat of erskin ; where the devil , with the rest of the band , overturn'd the boat , and drowned the laird of bridghouse , and the ferriman of erskine , with several particular circumstances concerning that affair , as that some of the crew would have saved the ferriman , but one of them , viz. his mother-in-law gainstood it , because he had expelled her out of his house a little while before the meeting . she acknowledges she was present with them at the destroying of william montgomeries child , by strangling it with a sea handkerch ; that having entered the house , they lighted a candle which was somewhat blewish , and agnes naismith saying , what if the people awake , margaret fulton replyed , ye need not fear : she also declares , that about five weeks before the date , her father brought her on foot to bargarran's orchard , into which they entred by a breach in the wall , and there were present the persons before-named , &c. and the devil , who told them , that no body would seem them , at which they laugh'd . at this meeting , they , with their lord , contriv'd the destruction of christian shaw : some being for stobbing her with a a rappier , others for hanging her with a cord , a third sort for choaking her , and some intended to have her out of the house to destroy her ; but fearing they might be taken before the next meeting , their lord ( as they call'd him ) gave them a piece of an unchristened child's liver to eat ; ( but the deponent , and the other two confessers avoided the eating of it ) telling them , that though they were apprehended , they should never confess , which would prevent an effectual discovery : and further , several of them being affraid that the deponent would confess , and discover them , as she had formerly done her grand-mother , they threatned to tear her in pieces if she did so ; and particularly margaret laing threatned her most . after two hours , or thereabouts , they disappeared and flew away , except the deponent , who went home on her foot. she confesses likewise , that one night her father raised her out of her bed , and going to the river side , took her on his back , and flew with her over ; from whence they went on foot to dunbritton , and in mr. iohn hardy , the ministers yard the crew and their lord being met , they formed the picture of mr. hardy , and dabbed it full of pins , and having put it amongst water and ale mixed together , roasted it on a spit at a fire , &c. after which her father and she returned in the same manner as they went. iames lindsay , ( aged 14 years ) declares , that one day he met with the deceast ▪ iean fulton his grand-mother , at her own house , where she took from him a little round cap , and a plack , or ⅓ of a penny ; at which being vexed , he required them from her again , and she refusing to restore them , he called her an old witch , and ran away ; upon which she followed him , and cryed , that she would meet him with a vengeance . about three days after , being a begging in the countrey , he met his grand-mother with a black grim man , whom she desired him to take by the hand , which he did , but found it exceeding cold , and his own hand mightily squeezed ; whereupon the said gentleman ( as she termed him ) asked the deponent if he would serve him , and he should have a coat , hat , and several other things ; to which iames answer'd , yes , 〈◊〉 do it : and after this , the foresaid gentleman ( whom the deponent knew afterward to be the devil ) and his grand-mother went away , but knows not how . he acknowledges he was frequently after at meetings with the devil and witches , particularly those mentioned in elizabeth andersons confessions : that their lord came to iames at the first publick meeting , took him by the hand , and for●…d him to discover : that they contrived before hand at the said meeting the drowning of brighouse , and concurrs with elizabeth anderson , as to the design of saving the ferriman , which his mother in law did divert . he being examined , declared he did not see i. k. and i. w. at the committing of the foresaid fact : ( and indeed they were then in prison ; that they with a cord strangled mathew park 's child ; and that the person who waited on the child finding it stifled , cryed out mathew , mathew , the child is dead : elizabeth anderson concurrs in this particular ; and tells that when they had done , they took the cord with them . he declares , that he was present at strangling william montgomeries child with a sea handkerchief , and heard agnes naismith say draw the ●…not . that about five weeks since he was carryed to them in bargarrans orchard , and concurrs with elizabeth anderson in what was treated there , as to the destroying christian shaw , and the charm against confessing . he likeways acknowledges the meeting in dunbritton about mr. hardy : and that he has several times appeared to christian shaw both in glasgow and bargarran , with the rest that tormented her , and put in her mouth coal cinders , bones , hay , hair , sticks , &c. intending thereby to choak her : that he and they did oft-times prick and stob her in the following manner , viz. he had a needle which if he put in his cloaths , her body would be pricked and stobed in that place where he fixt the needle , and if he put it in his hair , that part of her head would be tormented : that he saw her void the pins they had put in , on which time he cryed out in these words , help i. d. who was also then present : that when the ministers began to pray in bargarrens house at several occasions , the devil and they immediatly went away , &c. thomas lindsay being under age , declares that the same iean fulton his grand-mother awaked him one night out of his bed , and caused him to take a black grim gentleman ( as she called him ) by the hand ; which he felt to be cold : and who having enquired if thomas would serve him and be his man , and he would give him a red coat , he consented : and the gentleman ( whom he knew afterwards to be the devil ) pinch'd him in the neck which continued sore for ten days . that one day after his grand-mothers decease , coming by her house , he thought she appeared to him stroaking his head , and desiring him to be a good servant to the gentleman to whom she had given him , and forbid him to reveal it . he declares , that one night lying in bed in the house of one robert shaw , he was awaked out of his sleep and carried as if he had flew to mathew parks house , where were present the particular persons named by him , and concurrs as to the manner of strangling of the child with iames lindsay his brother : and that another night being in the house of walter alexander , he was brought to the strangling of william montgomeries child , and agrees likeways in the manner of it with his brother ; only he sayes the sea-handkerchief with which they committed the fact was ●…pecled . he likewise concurrs as to the meeting in bararrans orchard about five weeks ago , and in what was acted there . as also about mr. hardy ; with this addition , that he himself turned the spit on which the picture was roasted , &c. it is to be observed , that as the three confessers were apprehended seperatly upon several occasions , so ( after their obstinacy to discover was abated ) they made these confessions in several distinct places without communication , without knowledge of one anothers confessions . the commissioners examined them by other trying questions that were new , on purpose to make experiment of their agreement , or disagreement : but still found them to agree in , the matters of fact ( declared by them , ) particularly in strangling of the children , the death of the minister , the drowning of those in the boat , and the tormenting of bargarrans daughter . the commissioners did also confront them both with christian shaw the afflicted girl , and the other persons accused ( whom they had caused to be apprehended ) and both the girl and the confessers did accuse them to their faces , and convince them by circumstances with great steddiness and agreement , tho separatly brought in . the commissioners did also try some experiments about the girls falling in fits on the approach of the accused , as is exprest in the narrative ; and examined her , with those who were commonly about her , as to the particulars of her sufferings : they tryed to cause her to write ( since she could not speak ) the name of a person , whom she first called margaret , or pinch maggie , and asserted to be one of her chief tormenters . but , upon writing margaret , and the letter l. of her sirname , the girl was presently taken with a fearful convulsion , the pen was struck out of her hand , and she fell dead , with heavier groans than ordinary : after her recovery , some ministers shew'd her a passage of the bible , but assoon as she attempted to cast her eyes on it , she fell into vehement pangs ; but one of the commissioners ordering the book to be closed , she immediately came to her self , &c. in the last place , the commissioners called before them those persons who had signed the passages of the several days in the written journal of the girles sufferings ; and , having examined them upon it , transmitted the same , with the declarations of the three confessers , and several of the passages that occurred in the precognition , to his majestys privy council , by whom they were appointed to enquire into the matter . besides all this , the signed attestations of dr. mathew brisbane , physician , and mr. henry marshall apothecary in glasgow , did very much influence them to the belief of an extraordinary cause of those things that befel katharine shaw. the doctor's attestation . about the 24th or 25th of october last , the lady bargarran brought a daughter of hers , a child of eleven years old , or thereabouts , to glasgow , to take advice of physicians concerning her . when i was first brought to her , i could hardly be perswaded there was any need of me , or any man else of my profession ; the child appeared so brisk , and vigorous in motion , so cheerful , and of so florid and good a colour , and , in a word , to outward appearance , every way healthful ; but , it was not long , till i found my self obliged to alter my thoughts of her ; for , i had not been above eight or ten minutes in the room by her , till she arose from her seat , and acquainted the company , that she was instantly to be seized with a fit ; and so being straightway carryed to bed , i observed a considerable stiffness and distention in her left hypocondre , which falling in a tryce , she was taken with horrid convulsive motions in most parts of her body , but her back and neck especially ; this was accompany'd with heavy groans at first , which , so soon as she was able to frame words , were converted into a kind of expostulatory murmuring against some women , two whereof she always named ; one of them she called nasmith , ( as i remember , ) and the other campbel : all these symptoms , i thought , were very reduceable to the effects of hypocondrick melancholy ; and therefore putting her in such a course , as i thought proper , against that kind of malady , i was in absolute security , as to her case ; the child having continued free from all the above-mentioned symptoms , for the space , i think , of a week in this town , and some eight or ten days more in the countrey . and i was perfectly surprized , when a friend of the lady bargarrans told me , that the child was returned to town again , and worse than ever ; for now she was in great hazard of being choaked with mouthfulls of hair , which she apprehended the women above-named to be pressing down her throat , had not she her self pulled it out . having read many such stories in authours , and heard the like from other hands too , but never seen any such thing , i was the more earnest to see the child again ; and , for some weeks that she stayed in this place , i was frequently with her , observed her narrowly , and was confident she had no humane correspondent to subminister the straw , wool , sinders , hay , feathers , and such like trash to her ; all which , upon several occasions , i have seen her pull out of her mouth in considerable quantities , sometimes after several fits , and at other times , without any fit at all , while she was discoursing with us ; and , for the most part , she pulled out all these things , without being wet in the least ; nay , rather , as if they had been dryed with care and art : for one time , as i remember , when i was discoursing with her , and she with me , she gave me a sinder out of her mouth , not only dry , but actually hot , much above the degree of the natural warmth of a humane body . during the time she was thus exercis'd , though she had daily , not only light convulsive motioos , but two strange convulsions , such as we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to a high degree and rigidity of the whole body ; yet she fancyed , as at other times , she saw many such people , as have been already named , about her ; but the voiding , or rather pulling out of the things above named , did no sooner cease , but , as in all her fits , when she was able to speak , she constanstantly cry'd out , that they were pinching , or pricking her : those fits were both more severe , and more frequent than before , and followed with an alienation of mind for some time . i have seen her too when otherwise , free of all fits , suddenly seiz'd with dumbness , her tongue , being strangely contracted , that it appeared , to her self , as she expressed it , as if people were drawing it down her throat . this i declare on conscience , and in most solemn manner , is what i have seen and handled ; and , were it not for the haires , hay , straw , and other things , toto genere , contrary to humane nature , i should not despair to reduce all the other symptomes to their proper classes in the catalogue of humane diseases ▪ written and signed at glasgow the thirty first day of december , 1696. by me , sic subscribitur , a. brisben , m. d. the declaration of mr. henry marshall , apothecary . being desired by john shaw of bargarran , to declare what i know of his daughter christian's condition , i do it as follows . about the latter end of october last , she was brought hither to have dr. brisbens advice about her health , and i was imployed as apothecary . the child was about eleven years of age , of a good habit of body , as far as i could judge ; but now and then fell into convulsions , swoons , and a little lightness of head ; and when recovered , out of those fits , she would be perfectly well again ; and , by the use of the means the dr. prescribed , she seemed to be free of her distemper : whereupon she was taken back to the country ; but , had not been long there , till she became worse then before , and was sent hither again to be under the doctors care ; and after her fits she took out of her mouth , without any pressure , or vomiting , tufts of hair , straw long , and folded together , burnt coals , pieces of bones , leather , chips of timber , and several other things , divers of which she hath taken out of her mouth and given to me , while we were conversing together : and upon the 20th of november last , when i went to see her , i found her in a swoon , whereinto she had fallen just as i came to the house : when she had lain so for some time , she arose in a great rage , beat all about her , frowning with her countenance , and uttering a great deal of unknown language in an angry manner : then she put the tuft of a highland belt , with which she was girt , into her mouth , and pulled , with her hand , so hard , that if we had not cut the belt with a knife , she had , in all probability , drawn out her teeth ; whereupon she tore the tuft all to pieces with her teeth , and afterward fell a tearing her cloathes , and her shooes which she pulled off , and every thing she could get into her hands ; then she fell into a dumb fit , as she termed it , wherein all her body was so convelled and distorted , that i endeavoured to put her armes into a better posture , but found them so stiff , that i could not bring them to their natural posture without breaking them : then she arose out of that fit , and went up and down the room , and would have gone through the wall , muttering the former unknown language ; after this she fell headlong upon the ground , as if she had been thrown down with violence , where she lay for some time as dead , but afterward arose , as if she had been somewhat recovered , and fell a reasoning , very distinctly , thus ; ketie , what a●…eth thee at me , i am sure i never did thee wrong ? why should thou trouble me ? come , let us agree , let there be no more difference between us : and putting out her hands , as if she would take her by the hand , said , let us shake hands together : then pulling in her hand again , she said , well , ketie , i cannot help it , you will not agree with me : and having pronounced those words , immediately she fell into another fit , and swoon'd ; and out of that into another rage , wherein she bit her own fingers , and tore her hands upon pins that were in her cloathes ; after which she appeared angry , pulled out all the pins , and threw them away . and after she had been thus tortured for more then half an hour , without any intermission , she recovered , and became perfectly well : whereupon i asked her , how she was ? to which she reply'd ; she had just now a very bad fit , for , during the fit , she knew no body , neither took any notice of me , though i moved her body , and spoke often to her : i asked her again , what she saw in her fits ? she replyed , i saw katherine cambel , agnes nasmith , alexander anderson , and others that she did not know . i enquired again , what katharine cambel was doing ? she told me , she was going to thrust a sword into her side , which made her so desirous to be agreed with her : and when she had told me this , instantly she fell into another swoon , and repeated all that was said before , and much more , which i have partly forgot : and in each of those two fits she continued halfe an hour . all this i declare upon conscience , and in most solemn manner , to be a truth ; in testimony whereof , i have writ and subscribed this at glasgow , the first day of ianuary , 16●…7 . sic subscribitur , henry marshall . while the trial was depending ianet and margaret rodgers confessed in this manner , the commissioners had adjourned to two several times ; and though they were to meet on the third , yet it was not expected that they would proceed till providence should make the guilt of the prisoners appear by the further testimonies of those who might confess ; but on the very morning before they were to meet the third time , those two women above mention'd , confessed which was a surprize to every one that came to attend the court , since these women were not formerly taken notice of as others were ; but confessed of their own free motion without any persons desiring it , nor had they such means of instruction as were administred to others : their confessions agreed as to the meetings and the things acted in them with those of the three former , and the other evidences of visible matters of fact : only they were so punctual as to name some of the indited persons whom they did not see at those rendevouzes ; and great care was taken to compare their testimonies with what had been already discovered , and to try their certain knowledge by new questions when they were separated from one another , &c. thus the whole matter was so evident that the commissioners , with the general approbation of the most intelligent men of the countery , who came to attend the court , approv'd the going on of the process , and bringing seven of the best known criminals , ( for whom an advocat appeared ) to trial ; accordingly there were some days allowed for the persons indited to give in their informations upon the finding of the bill : and at the term , there was much time spent in producing wittnesses , an account whereof is referred to another place . upon the 21th . of may 1697. after trial of the seven witches , there is an attestation subscribed by m. patrick simson minister of renfrew , walter scot baily there , &c. of this import , iohn reid smith at inchennan prisoner , did in presence of the said persons and some others , declare , that about a year ago the devil ( whom he knew to be such thereafter ) appeared to him when he was travelling in the night time , but spoke none to him at the first encounter . at the second appearance he gave him a bite or nipp in his loyn ; which he found painful for a fortnight . that the third time he appeared to him as a black man , &c. desired him to engage in his service upon assurance of getting riches and comfort in the world ; and that he should not want any thing that he would ask in the devils name : and then he renounced his baptism , putting the one hand to the crown of his head , and the other to the sole of his foot ; thereby giving himself up to satans service : after which the pain of the bite or nipp ceased . he told that hitherto there was none others present with them ; but afterwards he was at several mettings , particularly that in bargarrans yard , about the time when there was a fast for christian skaw , where the devil appeared in the same kind of garb as he first appeared to him , and they consulted christians death either by worrieing or drowning her in the well ; and the devil said , he should warrand them , that they should neither be heard , seen , nor confess , to which end he gave every one of them a bit of flesh , that the deponent got one of them , but let it fall , and did not eat it . he afterwards own'd this confession in presence of the laird of iordanhill , the minister , mr. andrew cochran town clark , and baily paterson ; and being enquired at by iordanhill how they were advertised of their meetings , he said that ordinarly at their meetings the time of the next was appointed ; but for particular warning there appeared a black dog with a chain about his neck , who tinkling it , they were to follow , &c. and being enquired at by the minister if he did now wholly renounce the devil ( for he had formerly told how satan had not performed his promise ) and give himself to jesus christ , and desire to find mercy of god through him : he assented thereunto . it is to be observed that john reid after his confession had called out of the prison window , desiring baily scott to keep that old body angus forrester , who had been his fellow prisoner , closs and secure ; whereupon the company asked john when they were leaving him on friday night the 21th . of may , whether he desired company or would be afraid alone , he said he had no fear of any thing : so being left till saturday in the forenoon , he was found in this posture , viz. sitting upon a stool which was on the hearth of the chimney , with his feet on the floor and his body straight upward , his shoulders touching the lintel of the chimney , but his neck tyed with his own neck-cloath ( whereof the knot was behind ) to a small stick thrust into a hole above the lintel of the chimney , upon which the company , and especially iohn campbel a chyrurgeon who was called , thought at first in respect of his being in an ordinary posture of sitting , and the neck-cloath not having any drawn knot , but an ordinary one which was not very strait , and the sticks not having the strength to bear the weight of his body or the struggle ; that he had not been quite dead ; but finding it otherways , and that he was in such a situation that he could not have been the actor thereof himself , concluded that some extraordinary agent had done it , especially considering that the door of the room was secured , and that there was a board set over the window which was not there the night before when they left him . we shall add but little as to what past at the execution of the seven witches , because there is no subscribed attestation concerning it : and the design of ▪ the publisher is , to advance nothing but what stands warranted by testimonies of known credit beyond contradiction . yet this is well known , that when they were going to the stake , one of the lindsays was over-heard to say to the other , now , brother , it is high time that we should confess , since our keeping it up will serve us to no purpose , or the like expression ; to which the other answered , that they should never do that , &c. and margaret lang , before execution , own'd , that when the devil first appeared , she knew him not to be such till afterwards ; that he gave her the insensible marks found upon her body : she yielded to engage her self in his service by a covenant ; and besides publick meetings , she had been above 80 times in private conferences with him . being asked by a near relation of her own , as to her being in bargarrans house , tormenting christian shaw , she answered in these words ; the devil having an absolute power and dominion over me , carryed my shape whither he would : and it is known how she confessed unnatural lust , and profound hypocrisy , &c. though truely it did appear from her mein , and other circumstances , that these things dropped from her at seasons , when natural ingenuity , and the vigour of truth got the ascendant over the devil . so agnes nasmith , &c. frequently told the minister , that their hearts and tongues were bound up in such a manner , that they could not express what they would : and sometimes it appear'd by ocular inspection of their visage , that convulsive-damps did seize their heads , when they attempted to make any such discovery . there are two remarkable instances in the case of katharine campbel , who was the chief instrument and author of the girles trouble , viz. an eminent minister discoursing , before reputable witnesses , to the said katharine , and enquiring , if she did not distinctly remember the godly counsels , and gracious admonitions , which christian shaw , while in a fit , ( mention'd in the narrative , ) gave her at a certain time ? and instancing some particulars thereof ; she answer'd , with heavy groans , yes , i remember . but being asked , why she would not confess the rest , as well as that passage ? and finding her self thereby to be caught , she began to retract , and seemed to be confounded . this happen'd while she was in prison , before the tryal : and after it , in presence of several witnesses , she spoke these words , that the doom pronounced on her was most just , and that she could not free her self of witchcraft : but , upon such attempts , she fell down dead , strangely distended , and that six or seven times successively , with a suddenness , that was both surprising and convincing to the spectators : on which occasion it was observed , that immediately before her falling into those fits , and upon her essaying to speak , when things were charged home to her conscience ; her mouth seemed to be contracted , and she uttered heavy moans ; whereupon convulsions followed ; and after rising out of them , she turned more obstinate and inflexible : and whenever there was any appearance of her being more plyant , the foresaid fits did overtake her . i shall only add some passages which were omitted in the narrative , but are attested by some of the same persons that were witnesses to the other matters mentioned therein . particularly , the girle declares , that in one of her conflicts with the devil , he told her , how a certain minister ( for whom she had a special respect ) did compile his sermons throughout the week ; what books he chiefly made use of ; and several other matters , as to his method of study in his closet , that no mortal could know by ordinary means : by which , no doubt , satan did partly design ( though by a very false argument ) to raise the esteem of books above sermons collected out of them : cencealing , in the mean time , both the gift of improving helps , and the blessing promised to the hearer of the word preacht . when the lady bargarran received the two pieces of red cloath , that the girl had torn from one of the witches sleeves , as is before-mentioned ; she locked 'em up , and kept the key : notwithstanding which caution some friends having come to visit the girle , and being destrous to see the said pieces of cloath ; she being in one of her fits , laughed , and said . that her mother needed not to s●…ek for them in the place where they were locked up ; the witches having taken them away , and laid them in a corner of the cellar ; and accordingly being searched for , they were found in the particular place she mentioned . another such passage happened to a friend of bargarrans , who went with him to sollicit a commission from the council : for he having brought along with him those pieces of cloth , buttoned up in his pocket , and secured them , as he thought , they were missing in the morning ; but , after search , found at a good distance from his pocket , though no visible thing had been in the room to open it , or carry them off . in the last place it is to be observed , that the young girl , christian shaw , discovers a great sagacity in her discourse and observationss , but accompanyed with extraordinary modesty : she observed , among other things , that the doors and windows did open and shut upon the entry of the witches , and that there was , at no time , such a number of them about her , as the room might not very well contain , with the visible persons that were present therein : she observed them to shift their place with a great agility , when any other came into it , or offer'd to attacque them , upon her pointing where they were : and she often averred from the instance of the spirit that spoke to her above her head , told their names , and gave her other means of discovering of them , &c. that satan does often contrive their ruine , by the most undiscernible methods he can ; because , if he did it openly , it would scare others from engaging with so faithless a master , &c. two letters , giving an account of what appeared most material or curious in the tryal of the seven witches . the truth of the strange things mentioned in the preceeding narrative was at first carefully searched into only by private persons : but at last became so notorious , that , upon application founded on a journal of those extraordinary events , and attested by many of the gentry in the country ; the privy council gave a commission for enquiring into it . the honourable persons to whom this was recommended , did , with great impartiality and exactness , make a report : which influenc'd the government to order the execution of justice on some of those witches , who otherways , might have lurked without being discovered . for , hereupon , the council directed a second commission , for trial of those who appeared to them to be most charged by the evidence of the witnesses , produc'd on the first commission . several of the judges were not only persons of honour , but also of singular knowledge and experience , and accordingly proceeded with extraordinary caution , and were so far from precipitancy in the affair , that , after several diets of court they adjourned to a long term , that , in the mean time , the prisoners might be provided of advocates . accordingly an advocate appeared for them , and managed their defence with all the accuracy that could be expected . there were above twenty hours imployed , at one diet , in examination of witnesses : and the jury being shut up spent about six hours in comparing the evidence : whereupon seven of the most notorious criminals were convicted and condemned . the crimes charg'd and proven against them , were not meer spectral imaginations ; but obvious and plain matter of fact : viz. the murders of some children , and persons of age ; and the torturing of several parsons , particularly bargarran's daughter : and both these , not at a distance , but contiguously by natural means of cords , pins , and the like . besides the other ordinary works of witchcraft , such as renouncing baptism , entering in contract with , and adoring the devil in a corporal shape , &c. which could not but be sustained as sufficient ground for a trial in scotland , since there is an express statute parl. 9. act. 73. queen mary ordering such persons to be put to death . to make the probation the more convincing , it was adduced orderly in three periods . the first consisted of unsuspected witnesses , who proved facts : from whence it was necessarly inferred , that there was witchcraft in the case . the second did include , also unexceptionable witnesses , who deponed upon facts ; which made it probable , if not necessary , that the persons indited were the witches . the third did comprehend six positive testimonies , of those who did see and hear the witches committing the crimes charged in the inditement . the only valuable subject of debate , was as to the import of these last testimonies ; five whereof were by confessants , who had been at the meetings in which the crimes were committed , and the sixth of bargarran's daughter , who was one of the persons afflicted . the antecedent part of the probation was by witnesses beyond exception ; and the judges upon a long debate did fustain four of these six only cum nota , and two of them to be examined without oath . so nice were they in favour of the criminals lives , since some of these witnesses might have been admitted in such a crime without any quality ▪ by the most scrupulous judicatory in europe . but all things were carried on in this procedures with tenderness and moderation : for even the advocates , who were sent to prosecute the enditement by his majesty's council and advocate , did not act with the byass of partys ; but on the contrary , shewed an equal concern to have the accused persons absolved , if it could be found compatible with justice . this is the reason for which the publisher doubts not , but the two following letters ( one whereof gives an abridgment of the advocates speech to the jury , and the other , of their answers to the objections against the confessant witnesses ) will afford a satisfying view of the chiefest part , of the trial : since the objections which were , or might have been made are therein stated and answered , or anticipated and prevented ; and the intended brevity would not premit to print at this time the whole process , which being extant upon record , any who are cautious may have easy access thereunto . there is scarce any need to take notice of a late scurrilous pamphlet , that has been printed in england , pretending to give an account of those proceedings : for any who reads it may easily find , that the author has been either fool or knave , or both , there being neither good language , sense nor truth in the most part of it . the first letter . sir , you having told me , that the odd passages which occur in the west , have put many of your neighbours and your self , upon reading all the books you can get that treat of witchcraft : and therefore desired me to transmit to you my observations at the trial : i shall not prepossess your opinion by giving them in my own form ; but herein i send to you the exactest copy of the advocates speech to the jury that i could obtain ; and by the next post you shall have something more curious : viz. a collection of their answers to the objections against the six last witnesses , that were adduced for concluding the proof : having these , you will want little that could be agreeable to such an accurat pallat as yours is . the speeches to the jury were ▪ to this effect . good men of the iury ; you having sitten above twenty hours in hearing the evidence : and being now to be inclosed , where , its like , you will take no small time to re-consider and compare it : we shall not detain you with summing up the same in particular ; but shall only suggest some things , whereof it is fit you take special notice in your perusal of it : viz. 1st . the nature of your own power , and the management thereof . 2dly . the object of this power which lies before you ; wherein you are to consider , in the first place , whether or not there has been witchcraft in the crimes libelled ? and , in the next place , whether or not these prisoners are the witches ? as to your power , it is certain , that you are both judges and witnesses , by the opinion of our lawyers and custom : therefore you are called out of the neighbourhood , as presumed best to know the quality of the prisoners , and the notoriety of their guilt or innocence . your oath is , that you shall all truth tell , and no truth conceal ; which does plainly imply , that you are to condemn or absolve , according to your own conscience . such is the excellent constitution of juries in england : and ought to hold more specially in thi●… circumstantiat ●…ase , where there is such a chain of different kinds of probation concurring against the same prisoners , as will appear by the review thereof in its proper place . we are not to press you with the ordinary severity of threatning an assyse of error , in case you should absolve ; but wholly leave you to the conduct of god and your own consciences , and desire that you proceed with all the care of the prisoners lives that is possible for you , as the honourable judges have set to you a desirable pattern , by their great caution in this matter . as to the probation it self ; you see , that it is divided into three parts , viz. the extraordinariness of the crimes : the probability of the concurring circumstances : and the clearness of the positive probation . as to the first part , the crimes , or corpora delicti , are proven by unexceptionable witnesses , to have fallen out in such an odd and extraordinary manner , that it points out some other cause , than the ordinary course of nature , to have produced those effects . for clearing of this , particularly in relation to the torments of bargarran's daughter , you may consider not only the extraordinary things that could not proceed from a natural disease , which ly proven before you ; but also several other matters of fact , which is notorious ; have been seen by some of your selves , and ly here in a journal of her sufferings : every article whereof is attested by the subscriptions of persons of entire credit , before the honourable commissioners appointed by his majesty's privy council , for making enquiry into the matter . this girl 's throwing out of hair , pins , and coals of greater heat than that of her body or blood ; as also so dry , that they appeared not to have come out of her stomack ; nor had she any press of vomiting at the time , that she declared the same to have been put in her mouth by her tormenters : is deponed by doctor brisban , in his opinion not to proceed from a natural cause . she was not tormented by any of the criminals after their imprisonment : except two nights by katharine campbell ; which being a surprise , it was thereafter discovered , that these two nights the jaylor's wife had let out katharine campbell to spin in her house . she having been speaking to one of her tormenters as present ( tho' invisible to the by-standers ) and asking how her tormenter had got those clouted red sleeves ; she suddenly gets up , takes hold of them , the company heard the noise of the cloaths tearing , and she pulls away two pieces of red cloth , which all the by-standers beheld with amazement in her hands : nor was there any other piece of this kind of cloth to be found in the room at that time . she told , that her tormentors were giving her a glass of sack , an orange pile , &c. ( thereby ensnaring her to accept of a favour from them ) and accordingly she was seen to move her lips , and to have the orange-pile betwixt her teeth ; tho' there was no visible hand that could have done it . she advertised before-hand , that one of her tormentors was to be at the door at a particular hour : and that another of them was in the kitchin ; before any did tell her thereof ▪ which accordingly fell out : and these being brought to her presence , became obnoxious to the ordinary means of discovery . when her glove fell down from her , at a time that several persons were about her : it was lifted up again by a hand invisible to them . she was not only transported throw the hall and down stairs , without perceiving her feet to touch the ground : but also was hurried in a flight up stairs : and when a minister endeavoured to retain her ; he found a sensible weight , besides her own strength drawing her from him . when she complained , that her tormenters had bitten and scratched her ; the marks of the nails and teeth were seen upon her skin , with blood and spittle : about the wounds , which were above twenty four ; while neither her own , or any others teeth that were visible , could have done it . she was most vehemently distorted , upon attempting to tell , or even to write the names of her tormenters : yet that ceased as to any of them , how soon that person was accused by any other , and particularly she had liberty , after many painful attempts , to accuse margaret laing , so soon as the charm of hair to restrain her ( which margaret had left behind the door ) was found and burnt ; the girl having told it to have been lost , as mentioned in the depositions . she did throw out no more hair after the finding and burning of a ball of hair , of the same colour and kind with that thrown out by the girle ( in katharine campbell's pocket ) with pins in it . after agnes nasmith had prayed for her , she did appear to her , but not torment her . she foretold , that her tormenters had conserted to throw her , at a certain hour , in a fit , ( whereof they did forewarn her , on design to fright her , to renounce her baptism by the terror ) and had left one of their number to execute it : and accordingly there was a woman with a red-coat seen under a tree in the orchard , and the torment was brought on at the time appointed . when she told , that there was something tormenting her under ▪ the cloaths ; the spectators saw the bed-cloaths move in an extraordinary manner , after the girle had been raised out of them . when she complained that she was beaten : the by-standers heard the noise of the strokes . she cried out at a time , that her thigh was hurt : and one of the company having searched her pocket , found a knife ; but unfolded : however , having folded up the same , and put it in a second time , she cries out a-new : and , upon the second search , ( though secured by the spring ) it is found open , to the great wonder of the beholders ; since they did watch , that no visible thing could have possibly opened it . she told of a charm under the bed : and accordingly it was found in the shape of an egg , which melted away being put into the fire : she told also , that her sister that was boarded abroad , had charms put above her in the house , and would not recover of the decaying sickness till she were brought out of it : and accordingly , the child being brought home , straightway recovered . she told of their meeting in the yeard of bargarran , for consulting about the destroying of her : and accordingly the confessants have deponed , that they did meet and consult her ruine in that place . the story about her telling , that the commissioners , though at three miles distance , had granted a warrant to the sheriff , to apprehend one of her tormenters : her giving so perfect an account of the sheriff , and of mr. guthrie who was with him , while her eyes were cieled and fast : her being in excessive torments ( as she fore-told till that person was apprehended , and immediatly thereupon , tho' at many miles distance , her telling that her tormenters were now taken , betwixt ▪ twelve and one a clock in the morning ; and the sheriff when he returned , did declare the seisure to have been about that time : is so notorious and so well attested that we need only to put you in mind of it . her falling in fits upon the sight , or touch of her tormenters , was no effect of imagination : for she was fully hood-winked with a cloak , so as she saw no body whatsoever ; yet upon the approach of her tormenter , she immediately fell down dead : whereas she no ways startled upon the touch of any other : which experiment was tried for ascertaining this mean of discovery . in the last place , she is naturally sagacious and observing : and discovered her integrity in the face of the court. for when the president asked , whether or not she knew one of the prisoners names that was to be pricked ? she answered , that though she knew her well enough of her self ; yet one had told her the name of this prisoner when she was sent for to be confronted with her : so far did this girle discover her aversion from any thing that might seem intended to aid the natural evidence of truth unfairly : and her firmness to the utmost against temptations of becoming a with ; particularly against the last assault of satan , wherein he perswaded her at least to go to their meetings ; and she answered , that she would not follow such a base fallen creature : and he rejoyning , that she would go to hell however for her other sins ; and she answering , that he was a liar from the beginning , and the blood of iesus would cleanse her from all iniquity : whereupon he disappeared , and she perfectly recovered upon the sabbath thereafter , was an happy end put to this fearful tragedy of witchcraft , and confirms , to conviction , the reality of it . as to the murdering of the children , and the minister , charged in the inditement ; you may observe several extraordinary things appearing in them ; particularly , the witnesses depone , the minister to have been in excessive torments , and of an unusual colour , to have been of sound judgment ; and yet he did tell of several women about him , and that he heard the noise of the door opening , when none else did hear it . the children were well at night , and found dead in the morning , with a little blood on their noses , and blewness at the root of their ears ; which were obvious symptoms of strangling : besides , that the mother of one of them cried out , matthew , mathew , the child is dead . and the house of the other was whitened within , with sifting of meal the night before . both which particulars were told and discovered by the confessants , before the witnesses , which now concur with them in it , were examined . secondly . the second part of the probation consists of several adminicles , or corroborating evidence proven by unsuspected witnesses , which lead us to suspect those prisoners to be witches , as so many lines drawn from a circumference to a center , and as an avenue to the positive probation thereafter adduced : and these either strike at the whole prisoners in general , or some of them in particular . in general ▪ we need not enumerate all these adminicles , but remit you to the probation , which is so full concerning it ; only you will be pleased to take notice , that it is clearly proven , that all the accus'd have insensible marks , and some of them in an extraordinary manner ; that most of them have been long reputed witches , and some of them in 1687. by a confessing witch , whose subscribed confession has been produced . you see that none of ▪ them do shed tears , nor were they ever discovered to do it since their imprisonment , notwithstanding their frequent howlings : so that it is not a sudden grief or surprise . and finally , that the girle fell in fits of torment upon the prisoners approach to her , and that she did name them all frequently , either in , or out of her fits. in particular , you see how katharine cambell was provoked by this girles discovering her theft ; whereupon she has brought in the rest of her confederats to act the following mischiefs : how thereupon cambell did curse and imprecate in a terrible manner : how she stayed out of her bed at night , and was frequently drousie in the morning : how she was named by the girle , particularly the two nights she was out of prison : the ball of hair was taken out of her pocket and burnt ; whereupon the girle 's voiding of hair at her mouth did cease : she could not express one word , even when on her knees , of prayer for the girles recovery : and the insensible marks on her were very remarkable . agnes nasmith did not torment the girl , after she had prayed for her : she was reputed a witch , and hath the marks . she came early in the morning to bargarran's yard , when , by her refusing to go in , it appeared she had no business : yea , it is plain , that she had a resentment , because she got not a greater alms the last time she was there . the girl declared ex incontinenti , that nasmith asked her health and age ; which , in these circumstances , was a shrewd presumption of her evil design : and she acknowledged her self ▪ to have done this , when she asked the age of another child ; wherein , by providence , she was befooled ; since that which she thought would have been an excuse , tended to discover her guilt . and lastly , a●…ter this appearance of agnes nasmith , the girl did take her first fit , and nominate her amongst the first tormentors . margaret lang , that great impostor , has been a master-piece of the devil ; she has confessed unnatural lust , which is known to some of your number . she sat near the door , where the charm of hair was found , which the girle declared did keep up her tongue ; and , upon burning thereof , it was loosed . the girle fell in fits upon her approach : she has notable marks ; particularly one , which the confessants declare she lately received ; and , by inspection , it appears to be new. when she came from her private conversation ( no doubt with the devil ) she raged as if she had been possest , and could not but declare , that she expected a violent death . she looked in the face of iames miller's child , and asked her age , whereupon that child sickned the same night , and named margaret lang on her death ▪ bed ; it appears she was ready to show to ianet laird a sight of her mother , who had been three years dead . and finally , she has been taken in several lyes , and gross prevarications ; particularly , you may remember , how six hours ago , when the witnesses were examined on the ball of hair found with katharin campbell , a gentleman ( mr. stewart of ) heard her say to katharin in the ear ; this is well bestow'd on you , because ye would not put it away when i desired you , &c. vvhich the said mr. stewart did openly testifie in court upon oath ; notwithstanding which this impudent vvretch had the confidence to deny it , tho katharin cambell also confest , that she had pulled her , and had spoke somewhat to her , to which she did not advert , which was no wonder , the vvitnesses deponing , at the time being close upon katharin . margaret fulton was reputed a vvitch , has the mark of it ; and acknowledged , in presence of her husband , that she made use of a charm ; which appeared full of small stones and blood. that her husband had brought her back from the faries ; and her repute of being a vvitch is of an old date ; besides her being named often by the bewitched girl . as to the lindsays , they all have the mark ; and were all of a long time reputed to be vvitches . iohn lindsay of barloch was accidentally discovered by the girles taking a fit upon his coming to the house . iohn and iames lindsays were accused by a confessing vvitch in anno 1687 , vvhich confession is publickly read before you ; and there was money given to the sheriff-depute for the delaying of the pursute . iames lindsay appeared to william semple suddenly , and flew about like a fowl , for an opportunity to strike him , in revenge of the quarrel mention'd in the deposition , and at last prevailed to strike him dead over a vvall. and finally , which is a remarkable indication , both of truth and providence , the very vvitnesses adduced in defence of the lindsays , deponed so clearly against them , even beyond the pursuers vvitnesses , that their advocate was daunted at it ; and thereupon desisted from calling any more vvitnesses to be examined in their defence . it is true , some of these indications may be in one , and others of them in another , either from nature or accident ; and yet that person not be a vvitch : but it was never heard or read , that all these indications , which are so many discoveries by providence , of a crime that might otherways have remain'd in the dark , did ever concur in one and the same individual person that was innocent : yea , on the contrary , they , by the vvisdom and experience of all nations , do as convincingly discover a vvitch , as the symptoms of a leprosie concerted by all physicians argue the person affected with the same to be leprous . but grant they are not sufficient of themselves : yet their tendency and meaning , being cleared and applyed to their proper cause , by a plain and positive probation ; there wants no more to determine you as to the prisoners guilt . and therefore , thirdly . as to the third part of the probation , vve remit the positive depositions of the confessants , and against whom they do concurr , wholly to your own perusal and examination : only be pleased to take notice . first , some things which very much add to the credibility of their testimonies , arise from their examination in court. secondly . we shall explain to you the import of the word nota , which is added to the decree of the judges , admitting these last witnesses . as to the first . elizabeth anderson is of sufficient age , being seventeen ; yet so young and punctual , that her deposition appears no effect of melancholly : she accused her father to his face when he wa●… dying in the prison , as now there are two of her aunts in the inditment , which certainly must proceed from the strength of truth , since even dives retain'd a natural affection to his relations . she went on foot to the meetings with her father , except only that the devil transported them over the water of clyde , which was easy to the prince of the air who does far greater things by his hurri-canes ; she tells that montgomeries house was meallie when his child was strangled : and she declares that she never renounced her baptism ; but was carried along by the compulsion of a parent : so that nothing can be objected against her testimony in any judgement , much less in an excepted crime . iames lindsay it is true , is of less import : yet by his weeping when he came in and was admonished of the greatness of his guilt , it appears that he had a sense of it : he hath a natural precipitancy in what he speaks , yet that is commonly the concomitant of ingenuity , as importing his expressions not to be fore-thought . he concurrs in most things with the others , and yet he has declared , that he saw not margaret fulton at dumbartoun , &c. which implys that he does not file the prisoners all at randome , but tells what occurred to his senses , &c. ianet and margaret rodgers are instances of a singular providence , for they did confess the same morning that the court did last sit , of their own proper motion , there being neither ministers nor judges by them at the time . agnes naismith is ianets relation , and she tells that she never saw katharine campbel , as margaret declares that she did not see iohn lindsay of barloch : which plainly demonstrats that they tell only the dictats of their natural conscience arising from discretion and knowledge of the true matters of fact : they both professed their repentance last sabbath in the church : and do persist with a great firmness , and you see their deportment in deponing to be congruous and exact . thomas lindsay and christian shaw , being under age , we did not press their being put to an oath ; yet you saw that they did declare in court against these criminals in such an harmony with the rest of the deponents , and gave such a cause of their knowledge , that it is certain their youngness in years adds extreamly to the credit of their testimony : because thereby it is incredible , that they could have contrived or executed the acting so by concert . as to the second . since these witnesses are admitted by the judges ; it necessarily inplyes , that they meant them to be probative ; only they added the words cum nota : that is , you must take notice , or notandum est . that there must something else concurr to prove the guilt of the prisoners , besides the depositions of any two such witnesses : but so it is , that all the circumstantial evidence , on which you have seen probation led , for more then sixteen hours of your time , are strenghtening evidences , of those witnesses credibility , and cannot but have been taken notice of by you as inferring the same things which they depone . whereby the nota is fully taken off by the concurrence of four other positive testimonys , agreeing with that of two of these witnesses : by the extraordinariness of the corpora delicti : by the probability of circumstances : and finally by the whole chain of this affair , and the sparkles of an infernal fire , which in every place have broke out of it . it is true there are some few of the circumstances that are proven only by one witness . but as to this , you may consider , 1st . that a witness deponing de facto proprio , is in law more credited than any other single witness : and this is the present case as to some of the circumstances . 2dly . the antecedent , concomitant , and subsequent , circumstances of fact , do sustain the testimony and makes the semi-plenary probations to become full . but , 3dly . the other circumstances , undoubtedly proven by concurring witnesses , are per se , sufficient : and therefore you saw us , at the desire of the judges , forbear to call the far greatest part of our witnesses ; because the time had already run to so great a length , and it was thought that there was already enough proven of presumptions : for it may as reasonably be imagined , that the most regular and curious scheme had emerged from the fortuitous concourse of atoms roving without rule , as that so many indications should concenter against each of these prisoners , and yet they remain innocent of witchcraft . now upon the whole , you will take notice , that presumptions being vehement , make a more certain probation then witnesses : because presumptions are natural emanations of the thing it self , which cannot be bribed ▪ whereas witnesses are obnoxious : so in our law there was one condemned for theft , another for falshood , and a third for murdering of a child , meerly upon presumptions , as is related by mc. keinzie in his criminal treatise : much more may presumptions , add to the credit of , and take off the nota from , positive witnesses , for it is a gross mistake , that several proofs , which have each of them some import , may not be joyned to make a full evidence , the same way as two small candles in a dark room , will not suffice ; yet several others being added to them , will make a sufficient light , to discover the murderer ▪ two boys will be able to carry a weight which one of them would not be able to sustain ; as two units make a full number : one witness of whatsoever dignity proves nothing ; yet out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every truth shall be established . and finally , tho one coal make not a fire that can do the work ; yet several coals added to it encrease the flame ; which is hoped will be sufficient for the operation . we shall therefore leave you with this conclusion , that as you ought to beware to condemn the innocent , and ought to incline to the safest side : so if these prisoners be proven legally guilty ; then , as to what is past , your eye ought not to spare them , no●… ought you to suffer a witch to live : and , as to the future ; in doing otherways you would be accessory to all the blasphemies , apos●…acys , murders , tortures , and seductions , &c. whereof these enemies of heaven and earth , shall hereafter be guilty , when they are set at liberty . so that the question seens simply to come to this , whether upon year oath de sideli , you can swear , that the prisoners , notwithstanding all that is proven against them , are not guilty of witchcraft ? in the determination whereof we pray god may direct you to the right course . the jury being inclosed near six hours , brought in their verdict to court , that they found the inditement . i am , &c. the second letter . sir . i have collected according to my promise , what appeared to me most specious in the reasonings , either in court , or private conversation about receiving of the confessants as witnesses . you are not to imagine , that the prisoners were condemned on the credit of these : for i do believe the probation by unexceptionable witnesses , led antecedent to this last , was so pregnant , that the prisoners might have been condemned on it , tho' these last had not been adduced . i may have missed the energy of the argument sometimes , in a case which in it self is so abstruse : however , you have it in such manner as i was able to comprehend it ; as follows . in order to the more satisfactory answering of the objections made against these last witnesses , we shall first , lay before you the state of the case : and , then , clear up the ●…mination of it . as to the first , the question is not , whether partners in the crime , or others mentioned in the objections , can be a concluding proof of themselves , tho' two of them should concurr as to the same act of witchcraft : but whether the corpora delicti appearing already to imply witchcraft , and the extrinsick presumptions being so pregnant , to infer that these prisoners are the witches : there concurring such characters , as by the observation of all nations and ages , are the symptoms of a witch ; particularly the marks , fame , not shedding of tears , &c. which are providencial discoveries of so dark a crime , that like avenues lead us to the secret of it . and finally , when six persons of different ages and stations , fiye confessants , and the girl , do , when separatly examined , agree in their answers to every material question that is put to them , even tho' it be new ; so that it could not be concerted : we say , whether or not in such a case may witnesses be received to compleat the evidence by a positive probation , of a matter of fact which is the object of sense , tho' otherways they be liable to exception , if such extraordinariness of the corpora delicti , clearness of the circumstances , and of the diagnosticks of the witches ; did not preceed them ; as you have seen it proven they do ? the case is not , whether these witnesses would be good in an ordinary crime , which commonly happens to be exposed to other witnesses , then those concerned in it : but whether they can be received in this extraordinary , occult , and excepted crime of witchcraft ; wherein there are two special cases to be consider'd ; viz. sometimes the acts thereof are open and admit the choise of witnesses ; such as charms used in the day-time , when the actor is visible . but that part of witchcraft , whereby witches meet in the night-time , adore their lord , contrive their mischievous designs , and accordingly afterwards put them in execution , when other witnesses are asleep , or the witches themselves are covered from sight : we say , that this can be no otherways proven than by these that are privy to it , joyned to the positive proof and presumptions before-mentioned . we do not alledge , that persons altogether destitute of knowledge and natural conscience are to be admitted in any case , such as infants , mad , foolish persons , &c. neither do we contend , that thomas lindsay and christian shaw , who are under age , should be put to their oath ; for they are only to be examined separatly before the court , upon queries , by which it may appear , whether or not they agree with the four other confessants , that are to depone before them ; and this is the prisoners advantage in case of disagreement : but we insist , that any person above nonage , giving evidences of considerable knowledge and natural conscience ( which is a sufficient fond for all the credit that we need in this case , that is already almost fully proven ) is to be received as a witness . as to the 2d . we shall make this as clear as noon-day . 1st . from reason and the nature of the thing . 2dly . the unanimous judgment of lawyers in all nations and ages . 3dly . our own customs and decisions . and 4thly . the singularity of this circumstantiat case . as to the first . the going to , and coming from meetings , especially on ●…oot ; the falling down , and worshiping the devil there , untler a corporal shape ( which he had when he tempted our saviour to do it ) the actual murdering of children by a cord and napkin ; and the tormenting of others by pins , &c. are plain objects of sense : and therefore he senses are to be believed concerning them . for as reason hath things intelligible , and faith things supernatural ; so the senses have things c●…rporeal to their object , as to which they are to be trusted , until it be proven , that the appearance is impossible , or that the witness of it , is an impostor . it is part of the witches purchase from the devil , that they cannot be seen on some occasions : so that the abominations committed then would remain unpunished , if such witnesses were not admitted . i●… cannot be thought that witches ( who of all criminals are the most backward to confess ) would venture the loss of their own lives , by deponing against others , against whom they have no special pi●…que ; yea , for whom they have particular affection , as several of the prisoners are some of the witnesses relations . nor has the devil any peculiar interest to instigat them thereunto : for several of the prisoners have confessed other execrable crimes : whereby it cannot be supposed , that satan would be divided against himself . god in his ordinary providence has taken such care of publick judgments , that the enemy of justices special power ceases as to that , as appears by the witches not being able either to do more harm , or to escape , after god's ministers begin to counteract satan's instruments by imprisonment . and finally , the oddness of the crimes , the concurrence of the presumptions ; and the existence of matters of fact , wherein these consessants ( tho' not knowing the same otherways ) do agree with other unexceptionable witnesses , &c. do sufficiently add to their credibility : for as falshood being a crime , is never presumed ▪ so ●… person found true in many things , is still presumed to continue such , till the contrary be evinced . as to the second . socius criminis &c. admittitur si delictum sit nefandum men. a. i. q. l. 2d . l c. c. is . 474. n. 27. seq . aut ocultum & veritas aliunde haberinon p●…sit m●…s . ●…ol . 1. c●…n . 466. n. 6. aut di●…ficilis probationis farin . lib. 2. op. criminalium . ●…it . 6. q. 6●… . n. 28. mas. v●…l . 3●… . co●… . 1360. n. 4th . menoch . l. 2d . cas. 116. l. 1st . q. 58. nocturno tempere comi●… qu●… dis●…ilis dicuntur probationis boer . deci●… . 68. n. 6. menoch . d. cas. 116. n. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 presump●…iva & conjectur at a probatio sufficit , verum etiam in habiles admit●…tur faria . ●… . 2d . ●…r . 6. q. 55. n. 40 ▪ mas●… . l. 2. con. 1124. n. 13. i●…em in dilictis commissis in ere●… , 〈◊〉 , mo●…te alio●… loco secreto , gomez . var. res , tom. 3d. c. 12. n. 21. far. d. tit. 6. q. 62. ●… . 55 sed o●…cultum non dicitur quod ac●… non intervenerint , at quod de natura delidi vel r●…ne 〈◊〉 & ●…poris a●…ii tes●…s habitu intervenire non po●…uerint : ut est mal●…ficium 〈◊〉 quo socius 〈◊〉 , &c. a●…mittitur . men. l. 2d . cap. 5. cas. 474. n. 33. campeg . te test . reg ●…6 . ●… ▪ 〈◊〉 . 6. c●…otus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . part 4th . n. 97. o●…dindorp . d●… . ●…est . ●…il . de personis testium n. 21. in a word all lawyers who have writ particular treatises on witch●…rast in germany , italy , love●… , fran●… , and spain , &c. do concl●…de , that inhabile witnesses ; and particularly socii are to be admitted in vvit●…craft ; only the strictest of them do think , that this admission is to be cum nota ; or as delrio in the place cited for the prisoners expresses it , ex his so●…is , the judge is not to condemn , nor do we require it . as to the ●…hird . we have the testimony of our famous k. ia. 6th . de●…on . lib. 3. c. ult . telling us , that it is our law , that boys , girls , infamous persons , &c. are not to be rejected any more in witch●…rast , than in humane lese majesty , even tho' they assert others to have been presen●… at imaginary meetings : because this supposes their having entred into a pre-contract : he say●… , th●…t 〈◊〉 mark , and the want of tears , are pregnant aids to the discovery , quod deus prat●… 〈◊〉 ordi●…em voluit ess●… secretae iman●…tatis judictum , & co non permittente ut fedissimi criminis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he gi●…es an instance of a girl , who having named several witches 〈◊〉 her 〈◊〉 , they 〈◊〉 all condemne●… upon 〈◊〉 concurring presumptions . this is not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but ●… man who as cur●… u●… , was exact : as ●…rudent did not publish such ●…hings 〈◊〉 the approbation of the best divines and lawyers ▪ as a pri●…ce , is to be craedited about the law of his own country ; and as a king has determined any doubt that might have remained in this ●…oint , as far as the law of our government will permit . but further our judges and lawyers have followed his majesty : for in all the processes in the journals ; fame , and accusation , and the mark , are still sustained , as most pergnant presumptions ; upon which , and a very small probation besides , witches have been frequently condemned . so in the processes against the bewitchers of sir george maxwel of pollock , and hamilton of barns , anno , 1677. socius criminis , tho under age , is sustained to be a witness : and witnesses are adduced before the jury for proving , that the mark was found upon some of the witches . women and minors have been received by multitudes of decisions cited by mckenzie . tit. prob . by witnesses , and tit. witch●…raft . and he also cites decisions , where , in paralel cases , socii criminis and others inhabile were admitted ; particularly in treason and in falshood : and all lawyers conclude , that witchcraft is as much an excepted crime as these . as to the 4th . what ever inhability these witnesses might be under , it is fully made up , and they rendred unexceptionably habile by the chain of this whole business . it is true one m●… thro the concurrence of corrosive humors , may have an insensible mark ; another be enviou●…y defamed : a third may thro sudden grief or melancholly , not be able to weep , &c. a fourth may be loaded with suspitious circumstances , when extraordinary things fall out in t●… country : and a fifth may be deponed against by two false vvitnesses , tho neither of these separatly be truly vvitches . but by the known observation and experience of mankind , none except vvitches have had the unhappy medley and concurse of all or most of these indicia , and ordinarly , and for the greater part , vvitches have them : so that since the rules of judgment are established upon that , quod plerumque fit , which does obtain till an excepti●… be apparent in a special case , the conjunction of these in one per●…on , does as plainly give 〈◊〉 character , as the most certain symptoms of the plainest disease , being universally concer●…d in all parts of the vvorld , points out to us that the haver of them is a person ●…ruly affected with that disease , whereof he hath the concurrent diagnosticks . in a word , one or other 〈◊〉 these may concurr in the innocent ; but no vvriters do attest , that all of them have concentred in any other person in the world but a vvitch : and on the other hand , their taking place in witches , through all parts of the world , must proceed from a common , and not from a peculiar humour or cause . the specifick aptitude , of some of the nicest of the indicia , which appeared from the probation already led , to discover a witch , do serve to clear the ground of the worlds observation concerning them . particularly the devil , as aping god , imprints a sacrament of his covenant : besides that , commonly this mark being given at the first meeting , does by its intollerable pain , force the witch to a second randevouz for curing it , at which the poor wretch being under this furious necessity , fixes the paction by renewing it with deliberation , ha●…ing been diverted in the mean time from considering the horridness of the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pain . the inability to shed tears may be a characteristick of harden●…ng , th●… not alw●… ▪ in the case of christians ; yet in these who have ceased to be such ; lest the devil giving the●… such words of scripture and prayer as many have , it should be impossible to discover their hypocri●…y ; and that is not satan's own interest , since by this discovery occasion i●… given to buffoon the profession of holiness . a report often arises without ground , but a consta●… report that keeps footing ▪ implyes for the most part a surer cause ; especially when it is o●… persons below envy ; and by persons above calumny . the girls falling in fits at the approach of the prisoners might proceed from antipathie , arising from the poisono●… steems of the witch accustom'd to produce that effect through a vertue affixed thereun●…o by the dev●… , by conjunction of natural causes ( the same way as the invisible ●…estilence does operat ) of his promise of casting the girl in fits at the witches presence , might have been general ; whereby the witch was eventually befooled and discovered , as it often falls out : for satan envies even their temporal felicity , and fears lest by continuing here , they should be pluck●…d out of his hands by conversion : when they come to perceive the delu●…ion of his promises to make them rich and the like , &c. there was one thing further , which was tried before your lordships , viz. none of the prisoners that were tried ( tho most sagacious and knowing , and perfect in memory , so that it could not proceed from ignorance or forgetfulness ) could make out the attempt of saying the lord's prayer ; which may either be a secret judgment for renouncing their first lord , from whom it is pecul●…arly denominated ; or by restraint of their new lord , who may think that too special an homage to his adversary . but we have hindered you too long with that which is not necessary : for this being incontravertible law and custom , there needs no phylosophy to support it : since legislators do reason , but subjects must obey : and both the fool and the lazie ( who have neither read nor thought enough to understand this subject ) are to be left to their own chimera's : yet least they should insult , we shall answer in their fashion , such of the objections as the prisoners advocate thought any ways worthy to be repeated in this place . whereas it is objected , that delrio sect. 5. sess. 4. says , that socii are not to be admitted witnesses ad condemnandum ; especially considering , that the probation ought to be luce meridiana clarior . it is answered , that the place it self confutes this inference in the present case : for it says , ex his solis non est procedendum ad condemnationem , s●…io contrarium communius ●…eneri & in praxi ●…tinere , &c. so that it is evident , first . that the common opinion and custom is in the contrary , even when there is no other probation , but by the partners of the crime . yet , second●…y , we are not so strai●…ned , but subsume in his very words , ex his solis , we do not desire the prisoners should be condemned ; but your lordships see these witnesses we are to adduce , are not soli , or alone ; for the probation led these last sixteen hours , are so many concomitants and discoveries of providence , which astruct and make up any defect in their credit that can be desiderat . hence , thirdly , the meaning of that maxim ( which is metaphorical , as appears by the words , clarior luce meridiana , an equal clearness being sufficient ) is fully answered , and takes place in the present case , for the extraordinariness of the corpora delicti , pregnancy of the presumptions , and punctualness of the positive probation , being conjoyned ; there is not a clearer proof upon record in any nation , than that to which , 't is hoped , these will amount . whereas this allegation is enforced , by pretending it were of dangerous consequence to allow such witnesses to prove meeting with the devil , since satan might have represented other●… by their false shapes . it is answered . first . that we are not straitned in this ; because there are many articles proven , which ●…ould not have been falsifyed . but if we give some scope to reasoning , even in this point , it is to be considered , that the rules of judgement are established upon that , which , for the most part , does still obtain ; and rules are to be followed , till an exception be proven in a particular circumstantiat case . but so it is , by the experience and observation of the wisest divines , lawyers , philosophers , physicians , states-men , judges and historians , at home and abroad ( that are too wise to be imposed upon , and too ingenuous to deceive us , when they all concur in the same matter of fact ) beside the testimony of witches themselves every where ; makes the apparitions of withes to be commonly and mostly real ; so delrio tells us , lib. 5. sect. 16. illusi rarissime contingit , ita iaquerias , comensis , sprengirus bien●…dus , &c. and therefore the testimony of the senses is always to be credited concerning them , until it be disprov'd . for single or few instances of false representations to the s●…nses esteeming them to be true , or a possibility of appearances being false , can no ways invalida●… the rule established upon experience , which is common , and for the most part , whereby no exception is to be proven in a special case ; since a wonder does not subvert the proof draw●…●…rom the common course of nature ; logick admits not to argue a 〈◊〉 , or from possibility to existence ▪ law puts the burden of proving simulation on the affirmer , and that which se●…dom occurrs , is not considered by the legislators . for illustrating of which , it is further to be considered , that for the most part and ordinarily , the witches are personally existent in the places where they appear ; because it 's more easie for the prince of the air to transport them in his hurricanes which he can raise , as is plain in the instance of iob ( who was put in his power , i. e. his natural power without delegation ) forming a fence upon their face , whereby the violence of the air may be diverted from choking them : than to form the curious miniature of such various transactions on their brain : the difficulty whereof is the ●…eater , that all their 〈◊〉 are not disposed at all times the same way ; and they have not the seeds of this work , unless they had once acted it in reality . it is both the greater crime and pleasure to act in reality , which therefore the devil and witches do rather chuse ( unless the place be far distant , or the party indisposed ) and this de facto is attested to be so , by the writers and witches in all nations and ages . secondly . notwithstanding that the rule must hold , till an exception of exculpation be evinced , as to a particular person , by evidencing , that the real appearance was in that special case a true mistake ; yet this exception is sufficient for safety of the misrepresented ; since the same providence which permitted the affliction , will order the out-gate and exculpation ; either by the aerial bodies not abyding the touch , or some other distinction , as providence commonly allowes the devil to personate only with cloven feet , or that the apparition was solely to one single witness , who cannot be a proof ; or that the innocent can prove alibi ; or finally , the known character of a samuel , will purge and dispel the aspersions of satan , contrived on purpose to discredit the evidence of sense , by which alone his instruments can be discovered . especially this character being joyned to the other circumstances of the providence ; such as when good men are disguised , they are mostly passive in the scene and presumptions . whereas witches are personally active in their common life by such words and deeds , as ( in conjunction with these appearances ) conspire to make us know , and distinguish them from the truely good ; since these witches open profanity , naughtiness , or unvailed hypocrisy , being cleared by fame , sealed by the mark , and confirmed by the other discoveries of the presumptions that ly proven before you , do still make a land-mark betwixt the children of darkness and light. so delrio , lib. 5. sect. 16. n. 5. tells of athanasius and st. germanus , against whom probation was adduced for sorcery , but providence did disprove it . it 's a famous instance of susanna , represented by the elders ; which , though not in the case of spectre , yet agrees in the rationale . the representation by pharo's magicians had concomitants , by which they were discovered and confounded . but lastly , suppose that god , in the depth of his wisdom ( to convince the error of too much self confidence ) should permit all necessary probation to concur against an innocent person ; yet the judge , following the faith of proofs , established by divine and humane laws , is altogether innocent : and since this case is very rare , the evil is less than the establishing a principle , by which most of all these monsters could not be cut off . upon the whole , it is certain , that tho' oft-times false witnesses set on by the devil , have taken away an harmless life , by accusing it of crimes ; yet the testimony of witnesses must still be credited , till they be made evident : so these appearances of witches , with the other specialties before exprest , being proven , ought to be esteemed real , till the fallacy be made evident . especially seeing there are examples in ancient and modern history of satan's representing the best of men , as committing murther , buggrie , &c. in effigie ; so delrio , lib. 5. sect. 16. n. 5. relates , that st. silvanus was represented by the devil , as committing a common capital crime : and the like of a monk : whereof there are several modern paralel instances ; yet this cannot enervate the rule and faith of publick judicatures , founded on no more but upon the sight of the like appearances ; and any argument against the probation in witchcraft , will equally hold against the probation of any other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . wherefore the rules of them both must be common , as to believing the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 supra ; till their error be individually discovered . finally , the certainty is noways diminished by the extraordinariness of the appearance to the senses : for in law and nature reality and not simulation is presumed , 〈◊〉 the contrary be made appear by proving the thing not possible in nature , or tho' it be possible , that it is actually false . this is answer enough to those who place a great part of their small wit in a nonsensical arguing against all divine authority : but writers further illustrate that the extraordinariness of a matter of fact , does not exclude its reality from being the subject of the testimony of vvitnesses , in our saviours miracles , transfiguration , vvalking on the vvater , standing in the midst of the disciples while the doors were shut , and arguing assurance by their senses , that a spirit had not flesh and bones , tho' indeed the surer vvo●…d of prophe●…e did put these beyond doubt . nor could it be alledged for the prisoners ( tho they had the last word , as perhaps they have not , in objections against witnesses , since therein re●…unt acto●…es by atta●…qing the presumed hability , or legality of the vvitnesses ) that it s not conceiveable , how the girl or vvitnesses could see what the bystanders could not behold : besides the impossibility of the real bodies entering at closs doors and windows , or not intercepting the sight o●… what is at its back . for to this it would be answered . 1st . proven facts must not be denyed , tho' philosophers have not yet certainy reached the invisible manner of their existence : so in nature , the load-stone draws the iron , the compass turns always to the poles , &c. in scripture the angel●… ( and the devil was once such , retaining as yet his natural powers ) smote the sodomites , that they could not see the poor ; tho' they saw the house . balaam's ass perceived the angel that stood undiscover'd to himself ; and the rod thrown down by the magicians of egypt , was no doubt , seen by themselves , tho' invisible to the by standers . vvhich holding of their eyes , interpreters explain to have been done by natural means ; and yet the manner thereof is certainly difficult . however , it is also certain , that if a possible way can be proposed , the reality of a proved fact is not to be contradicted : and this can be done in the present case : for , secondly . satan's natural knowledge , and acquired experience , makes him perfect in the opticks and limning : besides that , as a spirit , he excels in strength and agility ; whereby he may easily bewitch the eyes of others , to whom he intends that his instruments should not be seen , in this manner , as was formerly hinted , viz. he constricts the pores of the vvitches vehicle , which intercepts a part of the rayes reflecting from her body ; he condenses the interjacent air , with grosser meteors blown into it , or otherwayes does violently move it , which drowns another part of the rayes : and lastly , he obstructs the optick nerves with humors stirred toward them : all which joyned together , may easily intercept the whole rayes reflecting from these bodies , so as to make no impression upon the common sense ; and yet at the same time , by refraction of the rayes , glyding along the fitted sides of the volatile couch , wherein satan transports them , and thereby meeting and coming to the eye , as if there were nothing interjacent , the vvall , or chair , behind the same bodies , may be seen ; as a piece of money lying out of sight in a cup , becomes visible , so soon as the medium is altered by pouring some vvater on it . several of your number do know , that the girle declared , that she saw and heard the doors and vvindows open at the vvitches entry , when , no doubt , the devil had precondensed a soft stoppage on the eyes and ears of others , to whom that was unperceiv'd . so apolinus escaped domitian's sight ; and giges became invisible by his magical ring . iohn of sali●…bury tells us of a vvitch , that could make any thing not to be seen : and mejerus mentions another , that had the like power . some italian vvitches of greater then ordinary wit confessed to grillandus , the devils opening doors and windows for them , tho the more ignorant , by a fascination , think themselves actors of this . whence it ought not to be doubted , by any reasonable man , what in all times and places is so uncontestible fact. finally , the prisoners could not insist , that those confessants are to depone only on their imagination . which can prove no more against themselves , or others , than a dream . for still it s to be minded , that there are other proofs to which this is only necessary , as a consonant circumstance . but further , arg. causa , it is answered , that the allegation is a mistake ; seeing they declare plain matters of fact , obvious not only to one , but to several of their senses , viz. some of them went the greatest part of the way to these meetings on foot : they there saw and touched their confederates ; they heard their combinations to destroy and torture the infants , the girle and the ministers : they returned on foot again : and even when they were carried thither , or back again , they knew , on the next day that it was no dream , by the same way as all other mortals discover the difference . but moreover , this is confirmed by some real effects of a personal presence , as you have seen in the probation : and it is yet further cleared by the journal of bargarrens daughters sufferings ; which was attested before the former commissioners , and is known in the country ; particularly the glas●… of sack , and orange pi●…e ; the pieces of the clouted sleeves ; the words expressed on the sudden murther of the child , by the woman that looked after it , which are constantly told by some of the confessants ; as also the houses being strewed with meal that night . the girle , the hood-wink'd , her falling in fits at their approach , &c. and others , which shall be pointed at to the jury , conjoyned together , can be ascribed to no other cause then the real ex●…stence of the witches persons in the place : unless it be said , that satan might possibly have foisted and suborned all those ; and thence it be concluded , that the devil did actually so , in which case the objecters are the persons that found their opinion on imagination , without any positive ground of the reality of what they fancy ; yea , against positive grounds , of belief in the contrary ; which arguing from possibility to existence , is already sufficient exploded . whereas , for strengthning the objection it is alledged , that the confessants having been in the devils service , and renounced christ , they are not capable o●… the religion of an oath . it is answered , first . in the rules of charity , &c. the confessants , tho once witches , have now , at least the majority of them , ceased to be such , having had the use of means , by the ministers and word , and actually declared their repentance , and the devils ceasing to molest them ; particularly elizabeth anderson was only carried along violently by her father , and stood out , to the last , renouncing of her batism , or consenting to those crimes which were contrived in their meetings . ianet and margaret rodgers do testifie a great remorse , and avowed the same last sabbath in the face of the congregation . so those three are sufficient , whatever might be said against the other two , especially if we joyn the improbability , either of hazarding their own lives , or the devils sending them out against these prisoners , or their destroying their own relations ; as was remarked before . but , secondly . whether they remain witches or not ; it is certain , by reason and experience , that the devils peculiar influence ceaseth when they are brought to judgment : by the common course of providence : and therefore the authors before cited admit witches whether penitent or not . thirdly . all the supposed defects of their evidence is supplied , and the intireness thereof compleated , by their testimonies being so wonderfully confirmed ; particularly the confessants are constant from the first discovery ; uniform in such various circumstances , not only with themselves , but with the girle : they declare nothing but what is probable , most of the prisoners having been reputed witches , all of them having the mark ; and one or other of them , ( to whom their associates who delighted in mischief , never failed to joyn ) having had particular provocations to take revenge by the torture and deaths mentioned : besides , the other presumptions of guilt already proven before you . the confessants were threatned to retract by the prisoners themselves and their friends : besides the bad usage from others in the countrey . they concurr with the bewitched girles testimony , and amongst themselves , even when examin'd singly : and upon new things : as several of your number have tryed the experiment : on this head delrio , lib. 5. sect. 16. n. 5. wisely observes , quamvis tam facile foret demoni plures decipere quam unum tamen non est censendus deus hoc aeque p●…rmi tere ne omnis ratio probandi talia delicta occulta judicibus adimatur ; hoc enim est dissentaneum provid●…ntiae divinae . the reiteration of the acts which they declare , as to some persons that they never saw , except in these congresses , and yet whom they knew now on the first sight , is unaccountable , if they were cheats : and that they are not such is further confirm'd by some of the prisoners being accused , by a confessing witch in anno 1687. and you know that others accus'd by these confessants , were lately brought in guilty by the verdict of a former inquest , &c. which are so many joynt proofs of the witnesses integrity , and make a chain of evidence and moral demonstration both against error in themselves , and delusion , in relation to others , &c. there were some things objected from the law of scotland , of which also i shall give you a touch . whereas it was alledged , that irretiti criminibus capitalibus , those who are indicted for capital crimes , and so under the pursuers power , cannot be admitted to be witnesses ; conform to a statute in regiam majestatem . to this it was answered , that we need not say , that these statutes have not the force of law , except in so far as they are received by custom ; and are conformable to law. a laick cannot witness against a clerk , or e contra , &c. nor need we make use of that which is obvious , viz. that these statutes are only common rules in ordinary crimes ; which have their exception in all occult and excepted crimes , such as witchcraft , &c. nam omnis regula subverti potest , and particularly this rule is actually so restricted in the case of witchcraft , by the opinion of lawyers and the customes before-mentioned , which are the best interpreters of laws : for if this application should hold , a socius criminis could never be admitted : but we positively deny , that those confessants are under our power or influence ; seeing elizabeth anderson is not guilty of witchcraft , for any thing that does appear : the lindsays were never indicted for it ; and the inditement against ianet and margaret rogers was drop'd ; as the whole commission is to expire against the first of iune , betwixt and which time , they are to proceed no further then this particular trial. so that this objection vanishes into smoak . whereas it is pretended , that the rogers's cannot be received , because not given out in the list of witnesses ; conform to the regulation , whereby the prisoners might have proven their objection by their exculpation . it was answered , 1st . this objection ought to be rejected ; because , besides that the act speaks only of criminal libells , and not indictments , which with the list of the witnesses may be given in far shorter time than the additional list has been given to the prisoners indited , being prisoners : this act is interpreted by the common custom of the justice court ; of giving additional lists after the first , upon shorter time then this has been given : as is particularly attested by iames guthry macer , who gave them , and being a person in officio , his testimony is to be credited in what relates to his office : so that the old custom confirmed by a decision , august 3d. 1661 ▪ where alexander forrester was cited apud acta against a vvitch , continues as to this point , as is related by mckenzie , pag. 529. but 2dly . any objection that the prisoners pretend against these witnesses , is in jure , or may instantly appear . 3dly . the case is altogether extraordinary and circumstantiat : for these witnesses had not confessed : and so were not existent under that reduplication when the principal list was given out : whereby the act of parliament can only be understood of witnesses , that were then existent . and finally the prisoners got a general warrand of exculpation for citing of any witnesses they pleased , and they have had several days since they got this additional list , so that they might have cited witnesses to prove their objections , were it not the truth is , they have none , besides these that are common and before answered . thus i have given you hints that your own reason ( which i know to be refin'd ) may improve and apply , so as to dissolve the quibles which the petty witts , who have not soul enough of themselves to penetrate into the depth of that which is abstruse may raise against it : it being their common talent either to skipp over things superficially , or else to attaque some of the slightest outworks , and then to triumph as if they had obtain'd the victory . i must confess that none could be more sceptical as to the truth of such odd things as i had heard ; nor inquisitive for canvassing the reality , and explications of them , then i was before my attendance at bargarrans house , and the several dyets of court ; and my conversation with some of those concerned in the matter . but now , after all that i have seen , reasoned , and heard ; i do acknowledge may self entirely captivated by the dictats of natural understanding and common sense , into a firm belief and perswasion , that , as there is such a thing as witchcraft , so it was eminent in its forementioned effects ; and that the seven prisoners were some of the witches . i have troubled you little with my own observations ; yet lest you should think me too lazy i shall make one , and that is , that i do not think the greater part of the condemned prisoners will ever fully confess : for which conjecture i have two grounds , viz. that they are neither ignorant nor melancholick ; but on the contrary , some of them would seem to have been once enlightned before they fell away , so that if this be a sin unto death , there is no appearance that they will glorify god by confession . several of them are persons of singular knowledge and acuteness beyond the common level of their station : particularly margaret lang did make harangues in her own defence , which neither divine nor lawyer could well out-do : yet i thought that when they sp●…ke in a matte●… of any concern , their eyes stood squint and fixed , as if they had been turning their ears and attending to some invisible dictator . their answers to the trying questions put to them , were surprisingly subtile and cautious : tho indeed , by the indu●…ry of some of the judges and lawyers , they were sometimes catch'd in lyes , prevarications , and contradictions ; which might have proceeded either from natural or perternatural causes . some of them were esteemed in the country to be very sagacious and exact in their bussiness : margaret lang having been a noted midwife , and one of the lindsays having acquired a considerable fortune by his tillage and trade : yet it was observed , that there did commonly break out in their hypocritical way of living , something odd either of iniquity or affectation ; and lindsay did cunningly enough get off from the sheriff when he was formerly accused in 1687. melancholy persons are lovers of solitude ; witches of society , and feasts : those are commonly pale and heavy ; many of these corpulent and ●…oluptuous witches are hard to confess as knowing their guilt ; the melancholy delight to discover their horridest damps , because they think them no crime : the contessions of the one are every where uniform ; the others phantasms are as various as their humours . finally , witches teach their trade ; whereas conceits would dye with the melancholy ; and can no more be conveyed by them to others then the humour which is the specifick cause thereof . as these distinguishing characters do hold in the general , so in this particular case there are several others : such as , most of the prisoners were of middle-age , one of them not much above twenty ; and the first confessants are known to be young : so that dotage or melancholly are the less to be suspected ; yea was morally impossible in many of their cases . for the facts which the confessants had formerly declared before the commissioners for enquiry , were sworn to by other unexceptionable witnesses before the commissioners for the trial ; and their circumstances were such , that one of 'em could not know what was to be deponded by the other : as it 's already manifest , that the real effects in several passages of bargarrans daughter were not possibly producible by any imagination or humour ; and it is special in this case , tha●… neither the prisoners nor confessants were distempered by being kept from sleep , tortured , or the like , which were too usual in former times ; but all the measures were strictly observed , that are requisits to a truly impartial judgment . i needed not insert the copies of the depositions themselves : because it is not deny'd that they are such as represented in the pleadings ; the chief question being about the legality of the last deponents . nor is there any need to insert the defendants part of the debate , seperately by it self ; in respect that it is faithfully repeated or implied in what you have here sent you . upon the whole i do believe ; that there is scarcely a more remarkable providence of this nature to be found in any true history ; nor was there ever a more exact caution in any enquiry or trial of this kind : a more clear probation , without confession of the prisoners themselves , or , a more just sentence , putting together all circumstances , upon record . i am , what you have made me , yours , &c. finis . 