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<DATE>5-13-11</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE SPEECHES AND PRAYERS OF Major General <HI>Hari&s;on,</HI> Octob. 13. Mr. <HI>John Carew,</HI> Octob. 15. Mr. Ju&s;tice <HI>Cooke,</HI> Mr. <HI>Hugh Peters,</HI> Octob. 16. Mr. <HI>Tho. Scott,</HI> Mr. <HI>Gregory Clement</HI> Octob. 17. Col. <HI>Adrian Scroop,</HI> Col. <HI>John Jones,</HI> Octob. 17. Col. <HI>Daniel Axtell,</HI> &amp; Col. <HI>Fran. Hacker,</HI> Oct. 19 The times of their Death.</P>
<P><HI>Together with</HI> Severall occa&s;ionall <HI>Speeches</HI> and <HI>Pa&s;&s;ages</HI> in their Impri&s;onment till they came to the place of Execution.</P>
<P>Faithfully and impartially collected for further &s;atisfaction</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Heb. 11.4</HI></BIBL>
<P>And by it he being dead, yet &s;peaketh.</P></Q>
<P>Printed <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1660.</P>
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<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P><HI>REader,</HI> the intent of this Epi&s;tle is not to &s;et forth (in a commendatory way) any thing concerning the per&s;ons, or their &s;uf|ferings, though much might be &s;poken de&s;er|vedly in that matter, but only to pre&s;ent unto thee the words of dying men, &s;ome part whereof was occa&s;ionall Di&s;cour&s;es (betwixt them and &s;ome friends that vi&s;ited them) in the Pri&s;on, yea in the Dungeon; unto every particular there are &s;ufficient Witne&s;&s;es in this City, unto whom we can appeale, that there is nothing patronized upon the&s;e &s;uffe|rers but what was &s;poken by them, though it is not all that was &s;poked by them, for that would have &s;welled into too large a volume: What thou ha&s;t here therefore are but &s;ome &s;mall mites, carefully taken out of their great trea&s;ury. Here are al&s;o extracts of &s;everall
<PB REF="3">
Letters coppied from their own hand wri|tings; the re&s;t is their Speeches and Prayers (at the time and places of Execution) taken by exact &s;hort-writers, and divers of the be&s;t coppies have been compared, and the worke (with much care and indu&s;try) hath been brought to this perfection. There hath &s;ome &s;peciall rea&s;ons moved us to undertake this matter: as fir&s;t, to prevent that wrong which might be done to the decea&s;ed, and more e&s;pe|cially to the name of God, by fal&s;e and imper|fect coppies. Secondly, to &s;atisfie tho&s;e many in City and Countrey who have much de&s;ired it. Thirdly, to let all &s;ee the riches of grace magnified in tho&s;e &s;ervants of Chri&s;t. Fourth|ly, that men may &s;ee what it is to have an in|tere&s;t in Chri&s;t, in a dying houre, and to be faithfull to his cau&s;e. And la&s;tly, that all men may con&s;ider and know, that every mans judgement &s;hall be from the Lord. <HI>Prov. 29.26.</HI></P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>Some occa&s;ionall Speeches, and Memorable pa&s;&s;a|ges of <HI>Major Generall Harri&s;on</HI>'s, after his coming to <HI>Newgate.</HI> With his Speech upon the Ladder.</HEAD>
<P>THe day of his coming to <HI>Newgate</HI> from the <HI>Tower,</HI> at night he &s;ent his Wife word that that day was to him as his Wed|ding day.</P>
<P>When the &s;entence was pronounced, he &s;aid, whom men have Judged God doth not condemne, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed be the name of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>And as he was carried away from the Court through the croud, the people &s;houted, <HI>And he cryed good is the Lord for all this;</HI> I have no cau&s;e to be a&s;hamed of the cau&s;e that I have been inga|ged in. Some Friends askt him how he did, he An&s;wered, very well; and cannot be in a better condition if I had the de&s;ires of my Heart; we mu&s;t be willing to receive hard things from the hands of our Father, as well as ea&s;ie things: when he came to Newgate there was Chaines put upon his Feet; And he &s;aid Wellcome, Wellcome&punc; Oh this is nothing to what Chri&s;t hath un|dergone for me; this is out of his great loving kindne&s;&s;e and faithfulne&s;&s;e, and my God is All &s;ufficient in all Conditions. And al&s;o &s;oon after his coming into the Dungion in order to his Exe|cution, a Woman belonging to the Goal, who was &s;ent to make clean the Room, and to make a Fire for him, was askt when &s;he came out by divers people (whereof &s;ome were &s;coffers) how the Major General behaved him&s;elf and what he &s;aid. To which &s;he an&s;wered, &s;he knew not what he had done to de&s;erve to be there, but &s;ure &s;he was that he was a good man, and that never &s;uch a man was there before, for he was full of God, there was nothing but God in his mouth; &s;o that it would have done any one good to have been neer him, or with him; And his di&s;cour&s;e and frame of heart would melt the harde&s;t of their hearts.</P>
<P>Some time after he was put into the Hold, Three Mini&s;ters of the City were &s;ent by the Sheriffe to di&s;cour&s;e with him.</P>
<P>And their di&s;cour&s;es was to endeavour to convince him.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Of being Guilty of the Kings Blood.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Of Mr. Love's Death.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="2" REF="4">Thirdly, <HI>Of breaking the Old Parliament.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>Of being loo&s;e in Family duties, and the Ob&s;ervation of the Lords day.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, <HI>Of the ju&s;tne&s;&s;e of this thing that was upon him by rea&s;on of his iniquity.</HI></P>
<P>To which he an&s;wered, As to the Blood of the King, I have not in the lea&s;t any Guilt lying upon me; for I have many a time &s;ought the Lord with Tears to know if I have done ami&s;&s;e in it, but was rather confirmed that the thing was more of God then of men; And be&s;ides what I did, I did by Authority of Parliament, which was then the onely lawful Authority, for God owned it by pleading their Cau&s;e, and Fighting their Battels for them; the Lords people owned it by rejoycing in it, and praying for it; the Generality of people both in <HI>England, Scotland</HI> and <HI>Ireland</HI> owned it by yeilding Obedience to it; Forreign Princes owned it by &s;ending their Emba&s;&s;adours, therefore it was rather the act of the Parliament, then ours that were there &s;ervants. He de|clared that he was very tender of the King, in&s;omuch that the King him&s;elf did confe&s;&s;e that he found him not &s;uch a per&s;on as he was repre&s;ented to him (when he was brought out of the <HI>I&s;le of Weight</HI>) and that he had &s;ome skill in Faces, &s;o that if he had but &s;een his Face before, he &s;hould not have harbored &s;uch hard thoughts of him.</P>
<P>Secondly, As to Mr. <HI>Love</HI>'s Death, I was in <HI>Scotland</HI> when he was Condemned and had no hand in it in the lea&s;t. They de&s;ired to know if he did not &s;ay then, <HI>That if a Godly man &s;o tran&s;gre&s;s as to being him&s;elf under the Condemnation of the law, it were not a ju&s;t thing for him to &s;uffer for his &s;in;</HI> he told them he did not remember that he did &s;ay &s;o, <HI>But then</HI> &s;aid, <HI>if a godly man did &s;o tran&s;gre&s;&s;e a righteous law, he ought to &s;uffer as another man.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, The breaking of the Parliament was the Act and De&s;igne of General <HI>Cromwell,</HI> for I did know nothing of it; that morning before it was done he called me to go along with him to the hou&s;e, and after he had brought all into di&s;order, I went to the Speaker and told him; Sir &s;eeing things are brought to this pa&s;&s;e it is not requi&s;ite for you to &s;tay there he an&s;wered he would not come down unle&s;&s;e he was pulled out; Sir &s;aid I, I will lend you my hand, and he putting his hand into mine came down
<PB N="3" REF="4">
without any pulling, &s;o that I did not pull him; Indeed after|wards I was glad the thing was done, for I did &s;ee they did intend to perpetuate them&s;elves without doing tho&s;e de&s;irable things which were expected and longed for by the Lords people; and apprehending that God had done his work by them, and that he had &s;ome more worthy per&s;ons to come upon the &s;tage; the Lord is my witne&s;&s;e, that I had no &s;elf-end in that Action, but it was out of the Integrity of my heart as to the Lord. Afterwards when <HI>Cromwell</HI> and his party did &s;et up them&s;elves in their room, I abhorred them and their wayes, and &s;uffered impri&s;onment by rea&s;on I would not joyne with them in that iniquity and go a|gain&s;t my con&s;cience; there is nothing of this al&s;o that lyes as Guilt upon me.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Concerning Family-duties and the Ob&s;ervation of the Lord's Day, there &s;tands my Servant let him &s;peak to it; for he hath lived with me about this Eight years.</P>
<P>The Servant an&s;wered, <HI>That tho&s;e reports were very fal&s;e; for his Ma&s;ter was a man in a manner wholly devoted to religious Exer|ci&s;es, very frequent in prayer, and diligent in expounding the Scri|ptures, to the great comfort and con&s;olation of his whole Family, and that he was very zealous in ob&s;erving the Lord's day.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, He &s;aid that the Lord's Spirit did witne&s;&s;e with his &s;pi|rit, That all his &s;ins were done away by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and that he had peace with God, and was a&s;&s;ured that this was not come upon him for his iniquity.</P>
<P>They di&s;cour&s;ed of many other things, but the&s;e were the chief|e&s;t, &s;o far as one then pre&s;ent could afterwards remember. He parted very &s;weetly and lovingly with the &s;aid Mini&s;ters, and they told him that they came then by the de&s;ire of the Sheriffe; But that they would willingly come again upon a Chri&s;tian ac|count.</P>
<P>Many Friends came to vi&s;it him whil&s;t he was in that place, and found him full of the joy of the Lord; &s;o that &s;ome apprehended he was cloathed with the Spirit of the Lord.</P>
<P>The Sheriff came that morning that he was to die, and told him that in half an hour he mu&s;t be gone; He an&s;wered that he was ready and would not have him &s;tay at all on his account. But the Sheriff left him to &s;tay a little longer, and in the mean time,
<PB N="4" REF="5">
he was longing for the Sheriffs coming, and as his Friends judged he was in ha&s;t to be gone, and &s;aid, he was going about a great work for the Lord that day, and that his &s;upport was, that his &s;ufferings was upon the account of Jehovah the Lord of Ho&s;ts: he &s;aid, he looked upon this as a clear an&s;wer of his prayers; for many a time &s;aid he, have I begged of the Lord, That if he had any hard thing, any reproachfull work, or contemptible &s;ervice to be done by his people, That I &s;hould be imployed in it; <HI>And now ble&s;&s;ed be the Name of God, who accounteth me worthy to be put upon this &s;ervice for my Lord Chri&s;t: Oh, this is nothing to what Chri&s;t hath &s;uffered for me!</HI></P>
<P>He parted with his wife and friends with great joy and chear|fulne&s;&s;e as he did u&s;e to doe when going &s;ome journey or about &s;ome &s;ervice for the Lord; He told his wife he had nothing to leave her but his Bible; but that he was a&s;&s;ured that God would make up all her lo&s;&s;es in due time, and de&s;ired that tho&s;e that did love him &s;hould manife&s;t their love in being loving and tender to his dear wife.</P>
<P>Some pa&s;&s;ages at the Dungeon dore as he came forth, The She|riffe commanding the Keeper to acquaint <HI>Mr. Harri&s;on</HI> he mu&s;t go to &s;uffer; the Keeper came forth and returned an&s;wer, that he was ready when he plea&s;ed: Then the Sheriff commanded the Keeper to fetch him forth; &s;o he came forth immediately, &s;ooner then was expected; (running down the Stairs with a &s;miling countenance) by rea&s;on of his &s;udden coming, the doore (that he was to go up a pair of Stairs at) was not opened, which occa&s;ioned his &s;tay in the Hall till the Keeper could be found; and there one Mrs. <HI>M.</HI> took him by the hand, and &s;aid, with a loud voice, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the great God of Ho&s;ts, that hath enabled you and called you forth to bear your te&s;timony, the God of all grace and peace be with you, and keep you faithfull to the death, That you may receive a crown of life.</HI> With that one of the Officers pulled the woman away by the &s;houlder, &s;aying, Away with this woman &s;he &s;tands prating here. But the Maj. General replied, Be not offended with her, &s;he &s;peaks Scripture-language: So they thru&s;t her away from him, and would not permit any to &s;peak more to him in that place. Then he &s;pake, &s;aying, <HI>I ble&s;&s;e the Lord that hath called me forth, and hath inabled we in the power of his &s;trength, to offer my
<PB N="5" REF="5">
life with &s;atisfaction and cheerfulne&s;s in obedience to the will of God. I ble&s;s the Lord I am full of the manife&s;tation of his love in the Lord Je&s;us; It's a day of joy to my &s;oul. I &s;ay God hath enabled me, to whom all the powers of the world are but as the drop of a bucket;</HI> &amp; &s;aid he, I <HI>do find &s;o much of the joy of the Lord coming in, that he was carried far above the fear of death being going to receive that glori|ous and incorruptible crown which Chri&s;t hath prepared for him.</HI></P>
<P>Then he was carried into a Room where the common Pri&s;o|ners were, and told them what a &s;ad thing it was to be condem|ned to die, and to want the love and favour of God: But it's not &s;o with me; for though I die, yet I know I &s;hall live with Chri&s;t to all eternity, and this is out of the exceeding riches of the grace of God; for he it is that maketh the difference; For as I am in my &s;elf, I am a ba&s;e, vile, and nothing-creature; but compleat in him who is the Head of all Principalities and Powers. Poor men! I wi&s;h you all as well as I doe my own Soul. Oh that you did but know Chri&s;t! his bowells earns towards the greate&s;t of &s;inners; his bloud is &s;ufficient to doe away the deepe&s;t iniquity; he waiteth to be gracious and is willing to receive all that come unto him: Oh therefore labour to come to Chri&s;t; your time in this world is &s;hort and uncertain; you are walking upon the brink of eternity, and are ready to drop in every moment, if you die without the fear of our God you will be mi&s;erable for ever &amp; ever; but if you come to know Chri&s;t to be yours, it will be your joy and happi|ne&s;s world without end. He then put his hands into his pocket and gave them &s;ome money, and wi&s;hed them to take heed of &s;inning again&s;t the Lord. And from thence was carried upon the Leads on the top of <HI>New gate,</HI> &s;o that he could &s;ee the greate&s;t part of the City, he then &s;aid, <HI>The earth is the Lords and the ful|ne&s;s thereof, and there is nothing hid from his eyes.</HI> From thence he was carried down two paire of &s;taires, where he was tied about the back, brea&s;t, and &s;houlders; he took the rope in his hand and &s;aid, <HI>friends take notice that God gives me power to receive this with thanksgiving</HI> and he helped the Sarjeant to put on the rope. Then a friend came weeping to him to take her leave of him, he &s;aid, <HI>hinder me not, for I am going about a work for my ma&s;ter.</HI> Then looking about him &s;aid, <HI>Sirs,</HI> Its ea&s;ie to follow God when
<PB N="6" REF="6">
he makes a hedge about us, and makes liberall provi&s;ion for us: but its hard for mo&s;t to follow him in &s;uch a di&s;pen&s;ation as this; and yet my Lord and Ma&s;ter is as &s;weet and glorious to me now as he was in the time of my greate&s;t pro&s;perity.</P>
<P>He al&s;o &s;aid, this I can &s;ay for my &s;elf, <HI>That according to the light that God hath given me, I have &s;erved him and my Countrey with integrity and uprightne&s;&s;e of heart, not willingly, nor wittingly wronging any;</HI> But this have I done with much infirmity and weakne&s;&s;e. One telling him, that he did not know how to un|der&s;tand the mind of God in &s;uch a di&s;pen&s;ation as this, He &s;aid, <HI>wait upon the Lord; for you know not what the Lord is leading to, and what the end of the Lord will be.</HI></P>
<P>After this, addre&s;&s;ing him&s;elf to a Gentleman, he &s;aid, <HI>I dare not nor cannot be a plea&s;er of men:</HI> a friend an&s;wered, it appeared &s;o by your declining <HI>Cromwell</HI>'s Intere&s;t; which words he a&s;&s;en|ted to, and further &s;aid, the manner of my &s;peaking before the Court may &s;eem &s;trange to &s;ome; but my De&s;ign was not to ap|prove my &s;elf before Men but God; and what I &s;aid, was accor|ding to my con&s;cience. And as the Rope was tying on he re|peated <HI>I&s;aac</HI>'s words to <HI>Abraham, Father, here is the wood, but where is the Sacrifice?</HI> and al&s;o &s;aid, <HI>if the Lord &s;ee good, he can provide another &s;acrifice, he can deliver tho&s;e that are appoin|ted to die; but his will be done, Death is not terrible to me; yea, it is no more to me then a Ru&s;h, I have learnt to die long ago.</HI> And was often heard to &s;ay, concerning the Lord's di&s;pen&s;ation to him and his people, <HI>Shall not the Lord do with his own what it plea&s;eth him?</HI> And &s;o parting with his Friend, went down &s;tairs to the Sledge, and askt which my mu&s;t I &s;it, for I am not ac|quainted with this: <HI>Good is the Lord in all his waies.</HI> Then he was carried away in the Sledge, having a &s;weet &s;miling Counte|nance, with his eyes and hands lifted up to Heaven, his counte|nance never changing in all the way as he went to he place of Execution, but was mighty cheerful to the a&s;toni&s;hment of many. He called &s;everal times in the way, and &s;poke aloud, <HI>I go to &s;uffer upon the account of the mo&s;t glorious Cau&s;e that ever was in the world.</HI> As he was going to &s;uffer, one in a Deri&s;ion called to him and &s;aid, Where is your <HI>Good Old Cau&s;e?</HI> He with a cheerful &s;mile clapt his hand on his Bre&s;t, and &s;aid, <HI>Here it is, and I am
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going to &s;eal it with my bloud.</HI> And when he came to the &s;ight of the Gallows he was tran&s;ported with joy, and his &s;ervant askt him how he did, he an&s;wered, never better in my life: his &s;er|vant told him, Sir, there is a Crown of glory ready prepared for you, Oh yes &s;aid he! I &s;ee it; when he was taken off the Sledge, the Hangman de&s;ired him to forgive him, I doe forgive thee &s;aid he with all my Heart as it is a &s;in again&s;t me; and told him he wi&s;h't him all happine&s;&s;e. And further &s;aid alas poor man thou do&s;t it ignorantly; the Lord grant that this &s;in may not be laid to thy charge: and putting his hand into his pocket, gave him all the money he had; and &s;o parting with his Servant, hugging of him in his arms, and went up the Ladder with an undaunted countenance.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>M. Gen. <HI>Harri&s;on's</HI> Speech upon the Ladder.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I did not expect to have &s;poken a word to you at this time, but &s;eeing there is &s;ilence commanded, I will &s;peak &s;omething of the work God had in hand in our dayes.</P>
<P>Many of you have bean Witne&s;&s;es of the Finger of God that hath been &s;een among&s;t us of late years in the deliverance of his people from their Oppre&s;&s;ors, and in bringing to Judgement tho&s;e that were guilty of the precious bloud of the dear &s;ervants of the Lord, And how God did witne&s;s thereto by many wonderful and evident te&s;ti|monies, as it were immediatly from Heaven; in&s;omuch that many of our Enemies, who were per&s;ons of no mean quality, were forc'd to confe&s;s, <HI>That God was with us, And if God did but &s;tand newter they &s;hould not value us;</HI> And therefore &s;eeing the Finger of God hath been pleading this Cau&s;e, I &s;hall not need to &s;peak much to it: In which work I with others were engaged; for the which I do from my &s;oul ble&s;&s;e the name of God, who out of the exceeding riches of his grace accounted me worthy to be in&s;trumentall in &s;o glorious a work, and though I am wrongfully charged with murder and bloud&s;hed, yet I mu&s;t tell you I have kept a good con&s;cience both to|wards God, and towards man; I never had malice again&s;t any man, neither did I act malitiou&s;ly towards any per&s;on, but as I Judged them to be Enemies to God and his people; And the Lord is my
<PB N="8" REF="7">
witne&s;&s;e that I have done what I did out of the &s;incerity of my heart to the Lord, I ble&s;&s;e God I have no Guilt upon my con&s;cience, but the &s;pirit of God beareth witne&s;&s;e that my Actions are acceptable to the Lord through Je&s;us Chri&s;t; though I have been compa&s;&s;ed about with manifold Infirmities, Failings and Imperfections in my Holie&s;t duties; but in this I have comfort and con&s;olation, that I have pace with God, and do &s;ee all my &s;ins wa&s;h't away in the blood of my dear Saviour. And I doe declare as before the Lord, that I would not be guilty wittingly, nor willingly of the blood of the mean|e&s;t &s;on, no not for ten thou&s;and Worlds, much le&s;&s;e of the blood of &s;uch as I am charged with.</P>
<P>I have again and again be&s;ought the Lord with Tears to make known his will and mind unto we concerning it, and to this day he hath rather confirmed me in the ju&s;tice of it, and therefore I leave it to him, and to him I commit my wayes; but &s;ome that were emi|nent in the work, did wickedly turn a&s;ide them&s;elves, and to &s;et up their Ne&s;ts on High which cau&s;ed great di&s;honour to the name of God and the profe&s;&s;ion they had made, And the Lord knows I could have &s;uffered more then this rather then have fallen in with them in that iniquity, though I was offered what I would if I would have joyned with them, my Aime in all my proceedings was the glory of God, and the good of his people, and the wellfare of the whole Com|monwealth.</P>
<P>The people ob&s;erving him to tremble in his hands and leggs, he taking notice of it &s;aid,</P>
<P><HI>Gentlemen,</HI> By rea&s;on of &s;ome &s;coffing that I do hear <HI>I</HI> Judge that &s;ome do think I am afraid to dye by the &s;haking I have in my hands and knees, I tell you no, but it is by rea&s;on of much blood I have lo<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">t in the Wars, and many wounds I have recceived in my body, which cau&s;ed this &s;haking and weakne&s;se in my Nerves, <HI>I</HI> have had it this twelve year, <HI>I</HI> &s;peak this to the prai&s;e and glory of God; he hath carryed me above the fear of death: and <HI>I</HI> value not my life becau&s;e <HI>I</HI> go to my Father and am a&s;&s;ured <HI>I</HI> &s;hall take it up again.</P>
<P><HI>Gentlemen,</HI> Take notice that for being in&s;trumentall in that cau&s;e and intere&s;t of the &s;on of God which hath been pleaded among&s;t us, and which God hath witne&s;&s;ed to by Appeals and VVonderfull Victories; <HI>I</HI> am brought to this place to &s;uffer death this day, and if <HI>I</HI> had ten thou&s;and lives, <HI>I</HI> could freely and cheerfully lay them down all to witne&s;&s;e to this matter.</P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="7">Oh what am <HI>I</HI> poor worm that <HI>I</HI> &s;hould be accounted worthy to &s;uf|fer any thing for the &s;ake of my Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>I</HI> have gone joyfully and willingly many a time to lay down my life upon the account of Chri&s;t, but never with &s;o much joy and freedome as at this time; <HI>I</HI> do not lay down my life by con&s;traint but willing|ly, for if <HI>I</HI> had been minded to have run away, <HI>I</HI> might have had many opportunities, but being &s;o clear in the thing <HI>I</HI> dur&s;t not turn my back nor &s;tep a foot out of the way by rea&s;on <HI>I</HI> had been engaged in the &s;ervice of &s;o glorious and great a God; however men pre&s;ume to call it by hard Names, Yet <HI>I</HI> believe ere it be long the Lord will make it known from Heaven that there was more of God in it then men are now aware of: <HI>All the Gods of the Nations are but Idols, they have Eyes but &s;ee not, and Mouths but &s;peak not, and can|not &s;ave tho&s;e that tru&s;t in them. But my God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, before whom all you here, and all Na|tions are but as a drop of a Bucket. And he will never leave tho&s;e that truly tru&s;t in him, unto who&s;e Glory I &s;hall &s;urely go, and &s;hall &s;it on the right hand of Chri&s;t in Heaven, it may be to Judge tho&s;e that have Unju&s;tly Judged me,</HI> Matth. <HI>25.33, 34. 1</HI> Cor. <HI>6.2.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Sheriffe minding him of the &s;hortne&s;&s;e of time, it he had any thing to &s;ay to the people he might.</HI></P>
<P>He &s;aid <HI>I</HI> do de&s;ire as from my own &s;oul, that they and every one may fear the Lord, that they may con&s;ider their latter end, and &s;o it may be well with them; and even for the wor&s;t of tho&s;e that have been mo&s;t malitious again<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">t me, from my &s;oul <HI>I</HI> would forgive them all &s;o far as any thing concerns me, and &s;o far as it concerns the cau&s;e and glory of God <HI>I</HI> leave it for him to plead; and as for the cau&s;e of God <HI>I</HI> am willing to ju&s;tifie it by my &s;ufferings according to the good plea&s;ure of his will.</P>
<P>I have been this morning, before <HI>I</HI> came hither, &s;o hurried up and down Stairs (the meaning whereof <HI>I</HI> knew not,) that my &s;pirits are almo&s;t &s;pent; therefore you may not expect much from me.</P>
<P>Oh the greatne&s;&s;e of the love of God to &s;uch a poor, vile, and no|thing creature as <HI>I</HI> am! what am <HI>I</HI> that <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hould &s;hed his hearts Bloud for me that <HI>I</HI> might be happy to all Eternity, that <HI>I</HI> might be made a &s;on of God, and an heir of Heaven! Oh, that Chri&s;t &s;hould undergo &s;o great &s;ufferings and reproaches for me, and
<PB N="10" REF="8">
&s;hould not <HI>I</HI> be willing to lay down my life and &s;uffer reproaches for him that hath &s;o loved me! Ble&s;&s;ed be the Name of God that <HI>I</HI> have a life to lo&s;e upon &s;o glorious, and &s;o honourable an account: then praying to him&s;elf, with tears; and having ended, the Hang-man pull'd down his Cap; but he thru&s;t it up again, &s;aying, <HI>I</HI> have one word more to the Lords people that de&s;ire to &s;erue him with an up|right heart: Let them not think hardly of any of the good wayes of God for all this; for <HI>I</HI> have been near this &s;even years a &s;uffering per&s;on, and have found the way of God to be a perfect way, his Word a tried Word, a Buckler to them that tru&s;t in him, and will make known his glorious Arm in the &s;ight of all Nations. And though we may &s;uffer hard things, yet he hath a gracious end, and will make for his own glory and the good end of his people; there|fore be cheerfull in the Lord your God, hold fa&s;t that which you have, and be not afraid of &s;uffering; for God will make hard and bitter things &s;weet and ea&s;ie to all tho&s;e that tru&s;t in him: keep clo&s;e to the good Confe&s;&s;ion you have made of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and look to the recompence of reward; be not di&s;couraged by rea&s;on of the cloud that now is upon you; for the Son will &s;hine, and God will give a te&s;timony unto what he hath been a doing in a &s;hort time.</P>
<P>And now <HI>I</HI> de&s;ire to commit my Concernments into the hands of my Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t&punc; he that hath delivered him&s;elf for the chief of &s;inners; he that came into the world, was made fle&s;h, and was crucified, that hath loved me, and wa&s;hed me from my &s;ins in his own bloud, and is ri&s;en again, &s;itting at the right Hand of God making interce&s;&s;ion for me.</P>
<P>And as for me, Oh, who am <HI>I?</HI> poor, ba&s;e, vile worm, that God &s;hould deal thus by me; for this will make me come the &s;ooner into his glory, and to inherit the Kingdome, and that Crown prepared for me! Oh, <HI>I</HI> have &s;erved a good Lord and Ma&s;ter which hath hel|ped me from my beginning to this day, and hath carried me through many difficulties, trialls, &s;traits, and temptations, and hath alwayes been a very pre&s;ent help in time of trouble; he hath covered my head many times in the day of Battle: By God <HI>I</HI> have leaped over a Wall, by God <HI>I</HI> have run'd through a Troop, and by my God <HI>I</HI> will go through this death, and he will make it ea&s;ie to me. <HI>Now into thy Hands, O Lord Je&s;us, I commit my &s;pirit.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="11" REF="8">
<HEAD>Some Occa&s;ionall Speeches, and Memorable pa&s;&s;a|ges before Execution of Mr. <HI>John Carew.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHen the fir&s;t tidings of the Adver&s;aries intentions to &s;eize and apprehend him (being then in <HI>Cornwall</HI>) came to his knowledge, he uttered the&s;e words or to this effect. That he had committed both his life and e&s;tate to the Lord; to &s;ave or de|&s;troy, as he thought meet; and therefore he would not by any means go out of the way, though provoked thereunto by &s;everal Friends.</P>
<P>After he was &s;eized upon in the Countrey, and coming up to <HI>London,</HI> he had a gratious pre&s;ence of the Lord with him: &s;weetly &s;upporting him in the &s;en&s;e of the love of Chri&s;t to his &s;oul; and being per&s;waded, that the cau&s;e of his &s;uffering from man was &s;uch, as he had no cau&s;e to be a&s;hamed of; otherwi&s;e, the many reproaches and hard u&s;age in the way to <HI>London</HI> had been &s;uffici|ent to have troubled his &s;pirit. In mo&s;t Towns where he came, the Generality of the people Reviling him, with &s;uch words as the&s;e: hang him Rogue, pi&s;tol him, &s;aid others, hang him up &s;aid &s;ome (at <HI>Salisbury</HI>) at the next &s;ign-po&s;t without any further trouble Look &s;aid others how he doth not alter his Countenance; but we believe he wil tremble when he comes to the Ladder. This is the Rogue will have no King but Je&s;us. Indeed, the rage of the people all the way was &s;uch, that had he not been indued with &s;trength from on High, he could not have under-gone the wicked and Barbarous Deportment and Carriage of the Giddy multitude which he was &s;ubjected to.</P>
<P>After he came to <HI>London,</HI> and had many opportunities of E|&s;cape, if he had thought it meet (before he was &s;ent to the <HI>Tower</HI>) yet he would not, knowing how much the Name and Glory of God was concerned in his faithful witne&s;&s;e to the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t for which he was in Bonds. And the truth is, his joy in the Lord was &s;uch&punc; that when many came drooping in &s;pirit to him (by rea&s;on of the Gloomine&s;&s;e of this pre&s;ent di&s;pen&s;ation) they went away refre&s;hed and comforted by tho&s;e many Gracious words that came out of his mouth.</P>
<P><PB N="12" REF="9">When word was brought him that Maj. General <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> was dead, he &s;aid well, my turn will be next, and as we have gone a long in our Lives, &s;o mu&s;t we be one in our Death. The Lord God grant, that I may have &s;trength from him&s;elf to follow coura|giou&s;ly to the la&s;t breath; and that I may much honour and glo|rifie God, whom I have made profe&s;&s;ion of; I can do nothing of my &s;elf, but my &s;trength is in the Lord of Ho&s;ts, who hath help|ed me from my beginning to this day, and will help me to the end. The night before he &s;uffered, &s;ome of his Natural Relation came to take their leave of him, and when they were parting, they &s;hed &s;ome tears, but when he perceived it &s;aid, O my friends, if you did know and feel what joy I have, and what a Glorious Crown I &s;hall receive from the hand of Chri&s;t (for this work) you would not Mourn, but Rejoice, that I am counted worthy to be a witne&s;&s;e to this Cau&s;e, and &s;aid further, <HI>The Lord pre&s;erve you all from the portion of this Generation;</HI> for a&s;&s;uredly, There is great wrath from the Lord that will reach them to their de&s;tructi|on. When Mr. L. came to take his leave of him, he asked this Que&s;tion (<HI>viz.</HI>) how it was with him? he An&s;wered, very well I ble&s;s my God; as to my intere&s;t in him I have not the lea&s;t doubt, but do know a&s;&s;uredly, that when my &s;oul &s;hall be &s;eparated from this body, I <HI>&s;hall be taken into his pre&s;ence where is fullne&s;s of joy,</HI> &amp;c. And by Je&s;us Chri&s;t be pre&s;ented to my Father, without &s;pot and blame, in his own compleat and perfect righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e which is free, and not for any of mine own works: for I am a poor &s;inful and wretched creature, and compa&s;&s;ed about with many in|firmities. And when it was asked him, if he had any thing of conviction upon him as to what he was to &s;uffer for? he an&s;wered no, not in the lea&s;t, for &s;aid he, Though man have Condemned, yet the Lord hath and doth ju&s;tifie; he added, the Lord had ju|&s;tifyed it in the Field once already in this Nation (but that is now accounted as a thing of Nought) but he will again do it with a Witne&s;&s;e, and prayed that the Lord would deliver him (<HI>viz.</HI>) Mr. <HI>L.</HI> from that Judgement that was at hand by which he would do it. To this effect &s;pake he al&s;o to many that did quere with him about this matter&mdash;being told that his Nephew and &s;ome others were doing their utmo&s;t for his Reprieve, he replyed, that there is nothing to be done: For the Sheriffe hath brought me
<PB N="13" REF="9">
word (ju&s;t now) that I mu&s;t Dye to morrow, and that there was &s;ome that de&s;ired I might not be Quartered, but it would not be granted. But Death is nothing to me, let them Quarter my body never &s;o much, God will bring all tho&s;e pieces together again. It was asked him if he had a&s;&s;urance of the love of God? he &s;aid, yea, yea, he had Fought a good Fight and had overcome, and he was ready to &s;uffer the will of God. One asked him if he thought there would be a Re&s;urrection of the Cau&s;e? he An&s;wered, he Dyed in the Faith of that, as much as he did that his body &s;hould ri&s;e again &amp; if he did not believe that, he &s;hould not be &s;o cheer|full at the Sentence of death, he &s;aid al&s;o he had not the lea&s;t regret or di&s;turbance on his &s;pirit about that for which he was to die, for what he did was of the Lord, &amp; if it were to be done again he wold do it. And the way they took to &s;uppre&s;&s;e and de&s;troy tho&s;e that did not think the Kings per&s;on Sacred, their blood will make many hundreds more per&s;waded of the truth of it: it was grie|vous to him, to hear how at his Tryal they bla&s;phemed God and his people; but he was re&s;olved he would own the Lord among them, which they could not bear, Therefore they were &s;o violent again&s;t him: he &s;aid the Go&s;pell was going from <HI>London,</HI> &amp; Popery and Super&s;tition, &amp;c. was coming in, and it would be a rare thing to find a profe&s;&s;or of religion in <HI>London</HI> &s;hortly; he in|couraged tho&s;e about him, to keep clo&s;e to the Lord in this evil day Oh! &s;aid he, who would have thought &s;ome yeers &s;ince, that Poper&punc; and Formality &s;hould have been let in again to the&s;e Na|tions? he &s;aid, they were &s;o Barbacus, they would not allow him &s;ome &s;mall time to take a little Re&s;t before he was to &s;uffer; which was all he needed or de&s;ired of them; For he was much tired with &s;peaking to company which came continually in: He de&s;ired to be remembred to &s;ome Friends, and tell them, <HI>That this was the la&s;t Bea&s;t, and his Rage was great, becau&s;e his time was &s;hort.</HI> Some more Expre&s;&s;ions he uttered to this effect. But in all his words and manner of &s;peaking, he manife&s;ted the highe&s;t Chri|&s;tian Magnanimity and holy Greatne&s;&s;e of mind, and &s;uch a &s;pi|rit of joy and glory re&s;ted upon him, even to a&s;toni&s;hment. It was asked if he apprehended his confidence would contniue to the death? he &s;aid, he was not &s;trong in his own &s;trength, but in the Lord's &s;trength, which he &s;till relied upon. And he &s;aid to one
<PB N="14" REF="10">
by him, will you not &s;ee how God will carry me through next day? and de&s;ired prayers for him. One asked him, what he thought of this &s;evere hand of God? He &s;aid, that which was hid &s;ecret in the bo&s;ome of the Father, &s;hould be manife&s;ted in due time: Oh! &s;aid he, it grieves me to think how Popery is coming upon us like a flood in this poor Nation, and the great judgement that will follow. But the Lord will be a hiding place for his poor people untill the indignation be overpa&s;t: let not our enemies think to break the Spirit by putting us to death; for I am con|fident, That God will give his Spirit &s;even-fold unto tho&s;e that are left; but the enemy, the Lord hath &s;et their feet in &s;lippery places, &s;o that when they come to their mea&s;ure, they mu&s;t be ca&s;t down: Therefore 'tis the the duty of the Lord's people to wait patiently <HI>and he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tarry.</HI> 'Tis a trying time, and none but tho&s;e that are endued with power from on High, will be able to hold out. One asking him, where his Chain was? he &s;aid, here it is; and though I have worn it &s;o long, that it hath entred into my fle&s;h, yet it was not as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s, it had not entred into his &s;oul. He was highly rai|&s;ed up in admiring the grace of God, That he &s;hould be accoun|ted worthy to wear a Chain for Chri&s;t, &s;aying, They have been ble&s;&s;ed Chains to me; adding, that the Lord had crowned him beyond many of his Brethren, being counted worthy to &s;eal Gods work with his bloud; admiring that God &s;hould accept of &s;uch a cra&s;ie body: much of his &s;trength being already &s;pent; yet, That God &s;hould &s;o honour it in the end; he much admired the depths of the love of God to &s;uch an unworthy worme. The Lord will bring my bloud (&s;aith he) to cry with the re&s;t of the Martyrs, <HI>How long, O Lord, Holy and True,</HI> &amp;c. As for death, or the fears of it, I am got above them, in and through the behol|ding of the glory of our God, into which I am entring: which glory &s;hall be &s;hortly for the reviving of the &s;pirits of his Saints, and de&s;troying his Enemies. A friend &s;peaking to him (the night before he died) of this di&s;pen&s;ation he &s;aid, he was per&s;wa|ded, That their bloud would be of much advantage to the <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> in Foraign Nations. Two Friends that came to vi&s;it him, being (as he thought) under &s;ome trouble of &s;pirit, he directed his &s;peech to them, as follows; Be not troubled, there is nothing
<PB N="15" REF="10">
&s;tands between me and the Father; for I go with all clearne&s;&s;e and freedome, and, I know, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t is my compleat Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; and this is my crown of Rejoycing, <HI>That I die not in the Lord onely, but for the Lord;</HI> And think not that this ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> &s;hall be lo&s;t; for it &s;hall reach to the end of the Earth. Think not your prayers lo&s;t; for your prayers and tears with our bloud, &s;hall come down &s;hortly upon <HI>Babylon,</HI> although they think to heale her, yet they &s;hall give her a greater blow then ever we could have given her in our per&s;ons. Tho&s;e who have been pleading for &s;uffering, who &s;o ready to run away from it? While the Lord hath given us a little of the &s;pirit of Rejoycing, that hath made us willing to be giving up our &s;elves unto him. And, although the Enemy think to Conquer us, they &s;hall never do it; for we are got above them in the Spirit of the Kingdome; we trample upon them, and they are under our feet; and this bloud that now &s;hed, &s;hall warm the bloud that hath bin &s;hed before; and &s;hall come down and doe notable Execution upon the Enemy. The Lord hath (in much wi&s;dome) hid this death from us, and hath alured into it; but he hath fitted us for it, and be not troubled that he hath taken away two or three drops of the &s;pirit; for he will in the room thereof pour it out upon you.</P>
<P>The day he &s;uffered and the hour being come, The Rope be|ing tyed about him, he rejoyced exceedingly, &s;aying, Oh! what am I, that I &s;hould be bound for the Cau&s;e and Intere&s;t of the Son of God? And when he was coming down <HI>Newgate</HI>-&s;tairs to go into the Sledge, in a very &s;miling, cheerful manner, his counte|nance &s;hining with great glory, uttered words to this effect; My Lord Je&s;us, for the joy that was &s;et before him, endured the Cro&s;&s;e, and de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame and is now &s;et down on the right hand of God; who&s;e &s;teps de&s;ire to follow. It was al&s;o ob&s;erv'd that the cheerfulne&s;s of his countenance all the way as he went to the Gibber, remained, to the encouragement of the Faithfull, and admiration of enemies, uttering by the way many chearfull expre&s;&s;ions &s;etting forth his joy in the Lord.</P>
<P>When he was brought to the gibbet, before he went up the lad|der (his hands being bound) he exhorted &s;everall friends &s;tanding by, to be faithfull unto death; and not to be a&s;hamed of the
<PB N="16" REF="11">
cau&s;e for which they &s;uffered, and they &s;hould receive a Crown of life. And further &s;aid to a friend that &s;tood by, That he hoped the Truths of the Kingdom which he had preached up and down would not be the le&s;&s;e e&s;teemed, for that he now came to &s;eale it with his blood.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Carew's</HI> Speech upon the Ladder.</HEAD>
<P>TRuly, it is not words, nor that which I have to &s;peake in mine own &s;pirit, will glorifie God; or give any advan|tage to your &s;oules, or unto me: but it is, if I may &s;peak a few words in the Spirit of the Lord, and in the power of his might, and from an unfeigned love unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t: that would indeed give me an open entrance, and make my pa&s;&s;age very &s;weet; and a ble&s;&s;ing may be left behind, even upon you. The fir&s;t thing (indeed) that hath been very weighty (and I de|&s;ire to leave it upon all, upon Saints as well as upon tho&s;e that are not acquainted with Je&s;us Chri&s;t) that Eternity, Immor|tality, and Eternall life, it is a wonderfull thing; the thoughts and apprehen&s;ions of it are able to &s;wallow up a poor &s;oul: we little think what it is; he that knows mo&s;t of God, and mo&s;t of Chri&s;t, and hath the greate&s;t mea&s;ure of the anoynting, he little, little knows what it is to appeare before the holy, the mo&s;t glorious, the mo&s;t righteous God of Heaven and Earth: to &s;tand before his judgement &s;eat, before Je&s;us Chri&s;t that is at his right hand: and where all the holy Angels are &s;o a&s;ha|med (becau&s;e of the glory of God) that they fall down and co|ver their faces, and cry <HI>Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which art, and wa&s;t, and art to come.</HI> And therefore if &s;uch glorious creatures, if &s;uch excellent Spirits as the&s;e Seraphins and Cherubins be, if they do fall down before the glory and Maje&s;ty of this mo&s;t excellent and wonderfull God, how &s;hould du&s;t and a&s;hes doe? and how &s;hould they feare and tremble to appeare before him? And therefore, I &s;ay, think of this, and of
<PB N="17" REF="11">
the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, as well as of his glory and Maje&s;ty, and of his ju&s;tice; that when for one &s;inne he threw down the Angels (tho&s;e glorious Spirits) into hell, and he would take no ran&s;ome or redemption for them; and though he hath mer|cy on the &s;ons of men (according to his own election and pur|po&s;e, and according to that that he hath purcha&s;ed for him&s;elf in Chri&s;t Je&s;us before the foundations of the World was laid) yet in time he made his Sonne a Sacrifice before men, and Angels to bring his cho&s;en ones to glory. That he &s;hould take plea&s;ure to &s;end his own Sonne out of his bo&s;ome, who was the delight of his &s;oule, and brui&s;e him for our &s;innes; yet it plea&s;ed the Father to brui&s;e him. The mo&s;t holy and righteous God, that had but one Sonne, one onely begotten Sonne (that was the delight of his &s;oule) and &s;hould take plea&s;ure to brui&s;e him, that we might be healed, and laid &s;tripes upon him that we might be healed. oh! the height and depth, oh! the length and bredth of the love of God in Chri&s;t Je&s;us unto poor &s;ouls. Oh! this is that the Angels do de&s;ire to &s;toope down and looke into, and to know more of this great my&s;tery of the love of God in Chri&s;t: and that God &s;hould take upon him the na|ture of man, and put him into that glorious union with his own Sonne; and that he &s;hould leave the Angels, though Chri&s;t was made a little lower then they for &s;uf|fering death for us: yet now, becau&s;e the nature of man is united to the Godhead by vertue of that marriage and un<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">on, we become the &s;onnes of God, and heirs of glory. Tho&s;e that are adopted by Je&s;us Chri&s;t are brought neer to the Throne of glory, are in a high and glorious communion and fellow&s;hip with the Father and Spirit, owned of all the holy Angels. And therefore they doe &s;tand without the Throne (as in &s;everall places of the <HI>Revelations</HI>) <HI>and round about the Elders, and round about tho&s;e that were given to the Lambe</HI> (as in the fifth of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> and many other Scrip|tures)
<PB N="18" REF="12">
they &s;tand without, but there is another company with|in which is the <HI>24</HI> Elders, and four living creatures, they fall down and wor&s;hip God, they are neerer then the Angels; Oh! who hath credited, who hath believed this report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Oh! how many profe&s;&s;ors are there in this day, in this Nation, that call upon the name of Chri&s;t, and that &s;ay they &s;hall be &s;aved by Chri&s;t, and doe live and tru&s;t mo&s;t in their awn works and righteou&s;ne&s;s; and never come to the knowledge and under&s;tanding of this great my&s;tery of the love of God in Chri&s;t? who never recei|ved tho&s;e teachings from the Anointing, and according to the new covenant, where it is promi&s;ed that they &s;hall be all taught of God, all the children of God &s;hall be taught of him, and there is no one can teach the&s;e but the Father, none can draw them to the Sonne but the Father; and no man can come to the Father but through the Sonne: and this great my&s;terie is both by the light and opperation of the holy Spirit, who makes the new creature in the &s;oule: o that God would poure out of his holy Spirit; that God would poure out the Spirit of the new Covenant, and the &s;pirit of the Go&s;pel, and the &s;pirit that can declare the my&s;tery of Gods word in the Spirit, and that he hath made manife&s;t through Je&s;us Chri&s;t. oh! there is much talking and &s;peaking in the name of Chri&s;t, and how many men &s;pend little time in getting evidences in the power and demon&s;tration of the Spirit, and come to apprehend God in Chri&s;t, that &s;peake of him? Oh! time are few of the&s;e the Lord knows. O that the annoynting 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 Je&s;us Chri&s;t, according to the pur|cha&s;ed po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion that he hath obtained through his own righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, wherein God hath been ju&s;t al&s;o, in ju&s;tifying the ungoldy; and among them, &s;uch a poore &s;imple piece of du&s;t
<PB N="19" REF="12">
and a&s;hes as I have been, and have to this day little glorified my father; and yet I can call him father, through &s;ome mea|&s;ure of his &s;pirit, and father according to the &s;pirit of adop|tion to; and can &s;ay the Lord Je&s;us hath given him&s;elfe for me, and I take the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t as the great gift of the Father, de&s;iring to bear witne&s;&s;e of that love, and of that won|derfull grace and glory, that he hath made me partaker of in and through him. Oh! ble&s;&s;ed be the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who hath called me to this hope, and who hath made me partaker of this glory, that the Saints an enlightned in. And now I long to &s;ee the face of this father, and of his Sonne, though I have &s;uch a number of &s;innes in me; and though I have an intere&s;t in him, and can call him Father at any time without doubt, and in full a&s;&s;u|rance of faith in the holy Spirit, yet if Je&s;us Chri&s;t were not there, to pre&s;ent me faultle&s;&s;e before the pre&s;ence of God, I &s;hould be afraid to appear e before him; but he is able to doe it, and therefore &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Now unto him that is able to &s;ave you, and to pre&s;ent you faultle&s;&s;e before the pre&s;ence of his glory with exceeding joy, &amp;c.</HI> I am a poore &s;infull 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 &s;oule &s;hall enter into eternall life, and be made perfect in a moment, through the mighty power of God that hath wrought that glorious work of rai&s;ing Chri&s;t from the dead. Oh! all my &s;trength, and all my joy, and all my life is in Chri&s;t, and in him alone; and I have a righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e already of his working, according to his owne grace, and according to his own mighty power, and according to his own mercy, that he hath been plea&s;ed to worke in me; and &s;o hath been plea&s;ed to keep me in a very wicked and in a very evill day, by the power of his grace. And I de&s;ire to glorifie my father, and many years have I been in that worke,
<PB N="20" REF="13">
that hath been of late in this Nation; few and evill have been the daies of my pilgrimage, but I have de&s;ired to &s;erve the Lord with faithfulne&s;&s;e, and in the integrity of my &s;oule, with|out prejudice again&s;t any creature; and it hath been the de|&s;ire of my &s;oule to approue my &s;elfe faithfull towards God, and towards man: and what I have done I have done it in obe|dience to the Lord; that I had in my eye, and in my heart. There are many things laid upon many of tho&s;e that profe&s;&s;e the Kingdome and glorious appearane of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as if they were enemies to Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;tery; and, as if &s;o be we were for the de&s;truction of the Lawes and properties of mankind, therefore &s;hall I &s;peak a few words unto that. And if indeed we were &s;uch, we were fit to be turned out of the World; as &s;ome now think they &s;hould doe God good &s;ervice in &s;ending &s;uch poore creatures quickly from hence. There is no &s;uch thing; I de&s;ire to beare witne&s;&s;e to the true Maje|&s;tracy, that Maje&s;tracy that is in the Word of the Lord. And that true Mini&s;tery, which Mini&s;tery is a Mini&s;tery from the annoynting; that doth beare witne&s;s to the Lord Je&s;us, and hath his holy Spirit. That te&s;timony I de&s;ire to beare; and that te&s;timony I de&s;ire to &s;tand faithfull in, with integrity to the Lord Je&s;us, as King of Saints, and King of Nations. And there|fore it is, I &s;ay, to have a Maje&s;tracy as at the fir&s;t, and Coun|&s;ellors as at the beginning, men fearing God and hating cove|tou&s;ne&s;s. And that Mini&s;tery as doth preach the everla&s;ting Go&s;pell.</P>
<P><HI>Here Mr. Sheriffe interrupted him &s;aying,</HI> 'tis de&s;ired that you &s;pend the re&s;t of your time in preparing your &s;elfe. <HI>Another &s;aid,</HI> you &s;pend your &s;elf, Sir, in this di&s;cour&s;e. <HI>Another &s;aid,</HI> it raines. <HI>Then Mr.</HI> Carew <HI>&s;aid,</HI> I will pray,</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="prayer">
<PB N="21" REF="13">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Carew,</HI> his Prayer.</HEAD>
<P>O mo&s;t holy, and mo&s;t glorious and ble&s;&s;ed God, the God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t&punc; the Father of all Glory; The God of the &s;pirits of all Fle&s;h; unto thee, unto thee doth my &s;oule de&s;ire to come through the new and living way, even through Chri&s;t my Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: And in him and through him to be offered up by the Eternall &s;pirit, a living and acceptable Sacrifice, in which thy &s;oul delighteth. O Lord, thou knowe&s;t my frame, and thou knowe&s;t my life, and what a pa&s;&s;age this is; and what a wonderfull thing it is, to enter into Glory. And what a wonder|ful thing it is to &s;tand before thee, and to &s;tand in thy pre|&s;ence. O Father, father, let my &s;oul 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 joyned unto the Lord, through thine own &s;pirit before this &s;eparation be&mdash;O Lord, thou on|ly art able to take hold of my Heart and Spirit; poor Creatures may &s;peak words to thee, but Oh! it is thine own power, and it is thine own &s;pirit, that mu&s;t take hold of the heart; it is thine own &s;pirit that mu&s;t carry through all, and it hath heen thy &s;pirit (Ble|&s;&s;ed be thy Name) that hath carryed me through many Tryals, and many Temptations, and many Difficulties, that thy poor Worme hath met with in this Pilgrimage for many Years. O Ble&s;&s;ed by thy Name for all the Goodne&s;&s;e, and for all thy Grace, and for all thy pre&s;ence that hath been with thy poor Creature far and neer. Oh! Ble&s;&s;ed be thy Name that thou ha&s;t kept me in any mea&s;ure faithful to <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">to thee, and made me willing to lay down my life for thy <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">ous Work and Cau&s;e, Oh Ble&s;&s;ed be thy Name, that the Lord and Chri&s;t (that is at thy right hand) hath bought me with his own mo&s;t precious bloud. He hath Re|deemed me indeed. Therefore it is but my rea&s;onable &s;ervice
<PB N="22" REF="14">
that I &s;hould be offered up a &s;acrifice to him, my joy is in him, and my confidence is in him, that I &s;hall be pre&s;ented by him to my heavenly father. O father, when thy &s;ervant is to be pre&s;en|ted before thee, let him know what it is to finde mercy. Let him know what it is to have Je&s;us Chri&s;t an Advocate; and what it is to be pre&s;ented before thee by &s;uch a Redeemer. O that Je&s;us Chri&s;t might bid me welcome into the pre&s;ence; and may &s;ay to my &s;oule, <HI>Well done good and faithfull &s;ervant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.</HI> O ble&s;&s;ed Father, it is not that I doe expect any thing from thee upon any account below the account of the Lord Je&s;us: and wherein &s;oever thou ha&s;t been glorified by thy poor &s;ervant, it hath been by thine own power and thine own working. O nothing unto thy poore creature is due, but unto thy holy name be prai&s;e and glory. O holy father, behold thy work in the Kingdomes, and behold the cau&s;e and intere&s;t of all thy people. O doe thou revive it in thine own appoin|ted time; O doe thou &s;trengthen the starts of thy poor Saints: O &s;catter all clouds, &s;peak comfortably to their &s;oules, that they may be able to &s;tand under all &s;torms, faithfull into the death, and receive a Crown of life and glory. O ble&s;&s;e the poor Saints in the City, and ble&s;&s;e thy Saints in the Country: and ble&s;&s;e thy Saints in the We&s;t: O ble&s;&s;e thy &s;onnes and thy daughters; O ble&s;&s;e all the meetings of thy people, let the ble&s;&s;ing of the Lord appear unto them, let the glory of the Lord make ha&s;te; let the glory of the Lord be upon the&s;e Nations. O remember thy pro|mi&s;e to thy ancient people the Jewes; O let thy people be taught of thee, O let the&s;e drie bones live, O let the Spirit of life breath upon them. O dear father let the fulne&s;&s;e of the Jewes and of the Gentiles be brought in. Let multitudes be gathered out of every Kindred, and Tongue, and Nation, unto the Kingdome of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. O Father, Father, advance thy Sonne; &s;et him as King upon the mountaine of thy holine&s;&s;e; give him all glory, and power and dominion over the whole Heavens, that thou ha&s;t pro|mi&s;ed according to thy word and covenant to give unto him: that he may raigne in thine own word and law, through his own Spirit for ever and ever. Lord, lord I de&s;ire thou would&s;t ga|ther up my &s;oul, O gather up my &s;oule O Lord, make this pa&s;|&s;age &s;weet, O make it comfortable. Lord Je&s;us thou ha&s;t taken
<PB N="23" REF="14">
away the &s;ting of death, and born the burden of all this &s;hame, and of all this reproach. And thou ha&s;t given thy poor &s;ervant &s;omething of thy pre&s;ence, through the riches of thy grace this day. O Lord, now receive, O open thine everla&s;ting armes: O now let me enjoy thy pre&s;ence O God, which I have de&s;ired to behold and &s;ee, and to behold thy face in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, O, and now let me enjoy what thou ha&s;t prepared for me: and fill me with the joyes that are at thy right hand, and tho&s;e plea&s;ures that are in thy pre&s;ence for ever more. O thou lamb of God lead me to the everla&s;ting Fountain, that living fountain that is able to &s;upply all our wants. O Lord ble&s;&s;e, ble&s;&s;e thy poor people; O comfort them in this day. Poure out &s;evenfold of thy Spirit for what thou do&s;t take away in any of thy &s;ervants, for thy holy Names &s;ake. O let the cau&s;e and kingdome of Chri&s;t be deare and precious in thy &s;ight, and live alwaies. Lord little doe the&s;e (poor creatures) know, or the&s;e Nations know, what a contro|ver&s;ie thou ha&s;t with them. O that thou woulde&s;t be plea&s;ed gra|tiou&s;ly to &s;pare this people, &s;pare thy people however; and let them that love <HI>Zion,</HI> and favour thy righteous cau&s;e, be glad for ever and ever. O now Father be neer to me doe thou receive my &s;pirit, 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 Chri&s;t prepared for my &s;oul. O ble&s;&s;ed Lord, thou ha&s;t honoured thy poore 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 bo&s;omes. Reward it &s;o to them and theirs. Ble&s;&s;ed be thy name that thou ha&s;t brought thy poor own hither to &s;uffer in thy cau&s;e. And O Lord, let thy &s;pirit be powred forth upon the Nations, until the whole Earth be filled with the knowledge of thy Glory. And that Chri&s;t Je&s;us may have all the Honour, and Prai&s;e, and Glory, and Do|minion for Ever, and Ever. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I am &s;o exceeding Dry that my Tongue is ready to &s;tick to my Mouth. But I would fain &s;peak a little more. Oh ble&s;&s;ed be God! oh! how many are the Refre&s;hments I have had from the pre&s;ence of my God and Father, &s;weet, and &s;ecret
<PB N="24" REF="15">
Communion betw'xt him and my &s;oul to day. And for that my &s;oul hath &s;een of his Riches and Kindne&s;&s;e. O that I might be more like Chri&s;t! for I have been very unlike to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, very unlike to my Father. But I &s;hall leave all that is unlike Chri&s;t behind; And all his own Work man&s;hip he will purifie and perfect through this pa&s;&s;age into Glory. O my Dear Fa|ther, receive my &s;oul, O! make this pa&s;&s;age &s;weet, 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 &s;oul going out of the Fle&s;h, I may be let into the pre&s;ence of God, and into the Arm of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Oh! That my &s;oul may be breathed forth into the Arms of God, into the Bo&s;ome of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, through the Anointing of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>A Friend that &s;tood by &s;aid, it is expected you &s;hould &s;peak &s;omething to the matter of your &s;uffering; The under Sheriff &s;aid 'tis not to be &s;uffered, What are you? that you put on men to &s;peak, What are you Sir?</P>
<P>Mr. Carew <HI>&s;aid, Farewell my dear Friends, Farewell; the Lord keep you faithfull.</HI> The Friend &s;aid, we part with you, with much Joy in our Souls.</P>
<P>Mr. Carew <HI>&s;aid to the Executioner, &s;tay a while, I will &s;peak one word, and then &s;aid very &s;olemnly and with a loud voyce,</HI></P>
<P>Lord Je&s;us receive my Soul, Lord Je&s;us into thy Armes I Com|mend my Spirit.</P>
<P>And &s;o fell a A&s;leep.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="25" REF="15">
<HEAD>Some occa&s;ionall Speeches, and Memorable pa&s;&s;a|ges of <HI>Mr.</HI> Ju&s;tice <HI>Cooke,</HI> during his Impri&s;on|ment in the <HI>Tower</HI> and <HI>Newgate.</HI> With his Speeches and prayer upon the Ladder.</HEAD>
<P>HIS Wife coming to vi&s;it him in the Tower of <HI>London,</HI> but not having Admittance to him, he &s;aw her forth of his Window, and &s;aid to home to thy Friends my Dear Lamb I am well, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be God they cannot keep the Comforter from me.</HI></P>
<P>His wife asking the Gentleman Jaylor to &s;ee him (another time) He an&s;wered, &s;he might &s;ee him &s;uddenly in <HI>Newgate,</HI> her Husband hearing of this, &s;aid, <HI>If the way to the new Jeru&s;alem be thorough Newgate, ble&s;&s;ed be God for Newgate, the King of Glory will &s;et open his Everla&s;ting Gates to receive me &s;hortly, and then I &s;hall for ever be with the Lord.</HI></P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="note">
<HEAD>A Note &s;ent by him from the <HI>Tower.</HI></HEAD>
<P>My <HI>D. L.</HI> chear-up, Heaven will make amends for all, ble&s;&s;ed be God I am full of &s;piritual Joy, and do mu&s;t God to make what bargain for me he plea&s;eth, for he knoweth the appointed time of my Compo&s;ition and Di&s;&s;olution, <HI>let us look to Je&s;us Heb.</HI> 12.</P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P>After Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> was brought to <HI>Newgate</HI> di&s;cour&s;ing with &s;ome Friends there, he &s;aid, I am now going to my Tryal, wherein the Lord &s;trengthen me. If I be attainted yet my E&s;tate in <HI>Ire|land</HI> is not thereby Forfeited without an Act of Parliament to that purpo&s;e, and indeed it is much &s;et upon my heart, that if my &s;mall E&s;tate be taken away from my poor Wife and Child, it will prove as poy&s;on to tho&s;e that enjoy it, and Con&s;umptive to the re&s;t of their great E&s;tates, for I ble&s;&s;e God I never Acted Ma|litiou&s;ly, or Covetou&s;ly, but in a &s;pirit of Simplicity and Inte|grity, however the good will of the Lord be done.</P>
<P>I commit and commend my Dear, Loving and Faithful Wife and Child to their ble&s;&s;ed Husband and Father, with three &s;crip|tures e&s;pecially for their portion. <HI>The Widdows cru&s;e and barrel of meal,</HI> 1 King. 17. I&s;a. 54. ver. 5. to 10. Jer 49.11. <HI>Earne&s;tly de&s;i|ring
<PB N="26" REF="16">
that my Child may be Religiou&s;sy Educated in the fear of the Lord.</HI> Thus if God hath appointed it, I &s;hall go from the Cro&s;s to the Crown.</P>
<P>Speaking to &s;ome in pri&s;on, for the clearing of him&s;elf from fal&s;e A&s;pertions, &s;aid, whereas &s;ome &s;ay I have done them wrong, they do much wrong me in &s;o &s;aying, I have relieved many &s;o far as by law I could, knowing that the wor&s;t of men ought to have Ju&s;tice; I ble&s;&s;e God I dur&s;t not wrong any man, for I know that I &s;hall meet them at the la&s;t day before the Bar of Chri&s;ts Judgement, where I can with boldne&s;&s;e look all men in the Face as to matter of Ju&s;tice, for which I have great cau&s;e to ble&s;&s;e the Lord, <HI>Holy be his Name.</HI></P>
<P>Some in the pri&s;on &s;peaking of the Differences in Religion, Mr. <HI>Peters</HI> &s;aid, pray talk not of controver&s;ies now, we have but a little time to live and cannot &s;pend it in &s;uch di&s;cour&s;es.</P>
<P>Whereupon,</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be God brother Peters we are going to Heaven, where the Saints are all of one mind, which my &s;oul hath long de&s;ired to &s;ee, it rejoyceth my heart to think what a perfect hap|pine&s;&s;e I &s;hall have there; the be&s;t condition here is but mixed, but in Heaven there is no &s;orrow nor trouble, neither have I one drame of trouble upon my &s;pirit at this time, ble&s;&s;ed be God he hath wiped away all tears, and I could with Paul and Silas &s;ing in pri&s;on for Joy,</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed be the Comforter.</P>
<P>Di&s;cour&s;ing after he came into the Dungion, he &s;aid, when a poor Creature comes about &s;o Solemne a work as to Dye, what a ble&s;&s;ed thing is it to have a Helper, and what can help but the holy &s;pirit; ble&s;&s;ed be the Comforter for I am full of &s;piritual Con&s;olation; if one of you was to have a Thou&s;and pounds a year after the death of an Old man Con&s;umptive, that would not live three dayes, how would you rejoyce; this is my Condition through Grace, I mu&s;t in a little time put off the Old man, and enter into the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Heavenly Glory. Let no good people fear a pri&s;on, for it is the only place, wanting other books to &s;tudy the book of &s;elf.</P>
<P><HI>A Friend going about to comfort Mr.</HI> Cooke <HI>from the con&s;idera|tion of the brevity and uncertainty of mans life&punc; u&s;ing &s;ome expre&s;&s;i|ons of love,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><PB N="27" REF="16">Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> replyes, what do&s;t thou &s;peak thus for, if I were &s;ick of a <HI>Feavour</HI> this might be a &s;utable di&s;cour&s;e, but we mu&s;t talk at a higher rate then this now; were I to chu&s;e, I would rather chu&s;e this death then to Dye of a <HI>Feavour,</HI> for there is much pains and &s;ometimes di&s;tractions, but here a man is well when he goes upon the Ladder and out of all pains in a quarter of an hour; And &s;peaking to a Friend &s;aid, I am now going to Heaven and &s;hall leave you in the &s;torm.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Mr. Cook to &s;ome Friends in pri&s;on</HEAD>
<P>Friends I be&s;eech you rejoyce with me, O let us ble&s;&s;e the Lord that he counts us worthy to be &s;acrifices to follow his &s;teps, was not the Captain of our Salvation made perfect through &s;uffe|rings, and &s;hall not I, Oh I long to be at home, out of the body with the Lord, though I go through a &s;ea of Bloud to him; truly I think every Hour Ten; little doe my Enemies think what a Friendly part they do me, to ha&s;ten me to my Fathers Kingdom, to my Crown and Glory; I had rather go to my Dear Je&s;us with my Chain and Cro&s;&s;e, then to &s;it down with an Earthly King on his Throne and wear a Crown of Gold.</P>
<P><HI>Some disaffected to him being pre&s;ent &s;aid, the Je&s;uits &s;uffered chearfully and confidently.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> replyes, I ble&s;&s;e God my ju&s;tification is not built upon the merits of Works, but alone upon Grace in the bloud of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>The &s;aid per&s;on compared him and his fellow pri&s;oners to</HI> Corah, Darhan <HI>and</HI> Abiram.</P>
<P><HI>Well friends &s;aid he, it matters not who condemnes, when God ju&s;tifies.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. Cooke <HI>(&s;aid they) do not ju&s;tifie your &s;elf, but confe&s;s your &s;ins, your haynous crime again&s;t the Lord and his Anointed, and Re&s;ent.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> replyes, I mu&s;t needs tell you that if Repentance was now to doe, I was in a &s;ad condition, but I ble&s;&s;e my God he hath inabled me to confe&s;&s;e my &s;in, and hath &s;ealed my pardon in the bloud of his Dear Son, and given &s;uch peace as none can give or take away. I have no Guilt nor Trouble upon my &s;pirit touching what is done, but &s;uch &s;weet peace in God as I cannot expre&s;&s;e, and I &s;hall leave all with God who judgeth righteou&s;ly, who will decide all things.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB N="28" REF="17">
<HEAD><HI>Mr. Cooke</HI> to <HI>Mr. Peters</HI> in the Dungion &s;aid</HEAD>
<P>Brother <HI>Peters</HI> we &s;hall be in Heaven to morrow in bli&s;&s;e and Glory, what a ble&s;&s;ed thing is that, my very heart leaps within me for joy, I am now ju&s;t as I was in the <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See his Relation of his pa&s;&s;age by Sea to <HI>Ireland,</HI> and his dream.</NOTE> &s;torm, almo&s;t in &s;ight of Heaven, read me the <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.9.10. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.10.11. <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 13.14.</P>
<P>Then looking upon his bed, &s;aid, that &s;hall be my la&s;t Pillow, I will lay me down and &s;leep awhile, and he &s;lept about an hour and half, and then awoke, &s;aying, now farewel &s;leep, no more &s;leep in this World, and farewel Darkne&s;&s;e and Night, I am go|ing where there &s;hall be no Night there, neither need of a Candle, nor of the Sun, for the Lord will give us light, <HI>yea the Lord will be our Everla&s;ting light and our God will be our Glory.</HI></P>
<P>And welcome every thing that gives notice the hour is at hand, welcome the Cock that crowes, welcome &s;weet death my good Friend that will bring me &s;o near Eternity. O ble&s;&s;ed be God, ble&s;&s;ed be his Name, Oh this Chri&s;t is a ble&s;&s;ed Chri&s;t, he an&s;we|reth all things, and within few hours we &s;hall be crowned with Glory and Victory; ble&s;&s;ed be our Lord Je&s;us that hath given us the Victory over Sin and Death. Welcome Mr. <HI>Loman</HI> my keep|er, welcome Angels, that will within few hours take the Office and Guard me into Eternity.</P>
<P>At midnight he prayed very fervently, and the common pri|&s;oners heard him, and &s;eemed very &s;orrowful by their expre&s;&s;ions &s;aying, Sir the Lord be with you, O that our &s;ouls might go where your &s;oul goes.</P>
<P>About the Morning &s;peaking to Mris. <HI>Cooke</HI> &s;aid, Lamb do not di&s;honour my la&s;t Wedding day by any trouble for me; For if all my Judges did but know, what Glory I &s;hall be in before Twelve of the Clock they would de&s;ire to be with me.</P>
<P>And let the Executioner make what ha&s;t he can I &s;hall be <HI>be|fore</HI> hand with him, for before he can &s;ay here is the Head of a Traytor, I &s;hall be in Heaven. <HI>Come Lord Je&s;us come quickly, my &s;oul longeth for thee, and I wait to hear thy voyce &s;aying, come up hither, and immediately, I &s;hall be in the Sprit;</HI> and then &s;hall I for ever be with the Lord. At and midnight there was a cry
<PB N="29" REF="17">
heard the Bridegroome cometh, and they that were ready went into the Marriage; <HI>This day I &s;hall enter into the joy of my Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Come brother <HI>Peters</HI> let us knook at Heaven Gates this morn|ing, God will open the dores of Eternity to us before Twelve of the Clock, and let us in to that innumerable company of Saints and Angels <HI>and to the &s;ouls of ju&s;t men made perfect,</HI> and then we &s;hall never part more, but be with the Lord for Ever, and Ever, Singing prai&s;es, Singing prai&s;es to our Lord and Everla&s;ting King to all Eternity; he &s;aid further, O what a good ma&s;ter have I &s;er|ved, that &s;tands by me now, and &s;upports me, with his Everla&s;t|ing Arme he bears me up; (then &s;aid) <HI>come away my beloved make ha&s;t, and be thou like unto a young Roe, or a young Hart upon the Mountaines of Spices,</HI> Behold I come Lord Je&s;us, I come full &s;ayle to thee I come upon the wing of Faith, Lord Je&s;us receive me; and going to lye down upon his bed he &s;aid, it is no more to go to dye to morrow then it is to go to &s;leep to night. I ble&s;s the Lord I am free from trouble, and my poor heart is as full of &s;pi|ritual eomfort as ever it can hold, <HI>And this joy can no man take from me.</HI></P>
<P>The dores of the pri&s;on being opened in the morning, he &s;pent that little time he had left in prayer and heavenly di&s;cour&s;e with Friends that came to vi&s;it him, preparing him&s;elf, for his &s;uffe|ring, with &s;uch a cheerfulne&s;&s;e, as was an A&s;toni&s;hment to the &s;pectators.</P>
<P>Then &s;peaking to his Wife &s;aid, farewel my Dear Lamb, I am now going to the &s;oules under the Alter, That cry how long O Lord holy and true; do&s;t thou not Judge and Avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the Earth, and when I am gone my bloud wil cry and doe them more hurt then if I had lived. But I am now going to eternity, ble&s;&s;ed be God, be not troubled for me, but re|joyce, becau&s;e I goe to my father and your father, to my God and your God. And after &s;ome time &s;pent in prayer, he de&s;ired his wife not to withhold him by an unwillingne&s;s to part with him now when God called for him, to be offered up as a &s;acrifice for his name and cau&s;e.</P>
<P>After a little pau&s;e &s;he freely gave him up to the Lord; to which he replied, Now all the work is done, and &s;aid, I re&s;ign thee up to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be thy husband, to whom al&s;o I am going to be married in glory this day.</P>
<P><PB N="30" REF="18">His wife &s;hedding tears, he &s;aid, Why weepe&s;t thou? let them weep who part and &s;hall never meet again; but I am confident we &s;hall have a glorious meet in heaven; here our comforts have been mixt with chequer work of troubles, but in heaven all tears &s;hall be wiped from our eyes.</P>
<P>He asked &s;everall times if the Sheriffe was not come, &s;aying, why &s;taieth the wheeles of his chariot? why doe they drive &s;o heavily? I am ready ble&s;&s;ed be God, I have nothing to due but to die;</P>
<P>Word being brought that the Sheriffe was come, he makes ha&s;t to be gone, and his wife &s;tepping after him tooke him by the arme, whereupon he &s;aid, <HI>O doe not hinder me from going to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And then with a chearfull countenance, taking leave of his friends, he went to the &s;ledge that carried him, whereon was al&s;o carried the head of Major Gen. <HI>Tho. Harri&s;on,</HI> with the face bare towards him; and notwith&s;tanding that di&s;mall &s;ight he pa&s;&s;ed rejoycingly through the &s;treets, as one born up by that Spirit which man could not ca&s;t down. Being come to the place of exe|cution, when he was taken out of the &s;ledge, he &s;aid, <HI>this is the ea|&s;ie&s;t chariot that ever I rid in in all my life.</HI></P>
<P>Being come upon the ladder, and the rope put about his neck he rejoyced, &s;aying, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the name of God, that</HI> I <HI>am bound for the &s;ake of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Then his work was to addre&s;&s;e him&s;elf to God, and to that end &s;aid, if you plea&s;e I &s;hall &s;peak a few words to God in prayer.</P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Cookes</HI> prayer before his &s;peech.</HEAD>
<P>Mo&s;t glorious Maje&s;ty, this day is a repre&s;entation of that great day when all thy poore people &s;hall meet together, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of deri&s;ion, Thy poor poor &s;ervant is now come to pay the debt which he oweth to nature, ble&s;&s;ed be thy name that thou ha&s;t prepared him for it, ble&s;&s;ed be thy name &s;weet Je&s;us, ble&s;&s;ed be thy name. O that all thy poor people that are here if po&s;|&s;ible may feel &s;omething of that divine power and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God, that thy poore &s;ervant now feels at this time; ble&s;&s;ed be thy name. <HI>I</HI> am a poor creature, a poor &s;inner, and the Lord might ju&s;tly with|draw
<PB N="31" REF="18">
from me, and leave me to horrour and fearedne&s;s, if he &s;hould deale with me in ju&s;tice. But this hath not been his method (ble&s;&s;ed be his name) to leave and for&s;ake his poor &s;ervant. Lord let thy ble&s;|&s;ing be upon us at this time, and let thy ble&s;&s;ing be upon England, and let thy ble&s;&s;ing be upon all the&s;e Nations, and let thy ble&s;&s;ing be upon all that are here; A&s;&s;i&s;t O Lord, by thy divine power; give us to &s;ee much of thy power, and let not this meeting be in vain, but let every one here receive benefit thereby, to the prai&s;e and glory of thy great name, and the everla&s;ting &s;alvation of all our &s;oules (if it be thy ble&s;&s;ed will) through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lords</P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P><HI>Having ended his fir&s;t prayer, he applies him&s;elfe to the Shie|riffe and &s;pectators in this following &s;peech:</HI></P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<OPENER><SALUTE>Mr. Shieriffe and Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>The mo&s;t glorious &s;ight that ever was &s;een in the world was our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon the Cro&s;&s;e; and the mo&s;t glorious &s;ight next to that, is to &s;ee any poor creature &s;uffer for him in his cau&s;e.</P>
<P>I de&s;ire to &s;peake a few words, briefly to let you under&s;tand what a glorious worke the Lord hath been plea&s;ed to accompli&s;h upon my &s;pirit. I ble&s;&s;e the Lord, I have ran&s;acked into every corner of my heart, and I have &s;earched into all my &s;innes, actual and original, &s;ecret and open, known and unknown, &s;o farre as the Lord hath di&s;covered them to me; and I have confe&s;&s;ed them all with a penitentiall bleeding heart, and contrite &s;pirit; ble&s;&s;ed be his name he hath been plea&s;ed to come in abundant manner, and hath been plea&s;ed to &s;hew me that the onely remedy is the blood of Chri&s;t; and I have, ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord, applied that precious blood to my poor &s;oul, and have laid hold upon a Chri&s;t, by a true and lively faith; and there is a &s;weet calme and &s;erenity in my &s;oul, and con&s;cience, ble&s;&s;ed be thy name. I de&s;ire to glorifie God, and to give him the glory of all, and to take &s;hame unto my &s;elfe for any &s;innes that I have ever committed, that I know to be &s;inne. and therefore I de&s;ire to rejoyce in the God of my &s;alva|tion as, <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 61, 10. <HI>I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord, my &s;oul &s;hall be joyfull in my God, for he hath cloathed me with the garment of &s;alvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteou&s;ne&s;s, as a
<PB N="32" REF="19">
Bridegroom decketh him&s;elf with ornaments: and as a Bride ador|neth her &s;elf with Jewels: Even &s;o the Lord delighteth in me. And as the earth bringeth forth her buds, and as the garden cau&s;eth the things that are &s;own in it to &s;pring forth: &s;o the Lord will cau&s;e righteou&s;ne&s;s and prai&s;e to &s;pring forth before all Nations.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 43.9, 10. <HI>Ye are my witne&s;&s;es, &s;aith the Lord,</HI> I doe de&s;ire to bear a te&s;timony unto God, and to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for ju|&s;tice and truth, and righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>The Lord knows I have no malice upon my heart again&s;t any man or woman living upon the face of the earth; neither again&s;t Jury that found me guilty, nor Court that pa&s;&s;ed &s;entence; <HI>I</HI> de|&s;ire freely to forgive every one from the bottom of my heart. And as concerning this great di&s;pen&s;ation you may (it may be) de&s;ire to hear &s;omething of it. Truly, <HI>I</HI> &s;ay, as to the Kings Ma|je&s;ty, <HI>I</HI> have not any hard thoughts concerning him: my prayer &s;hall be for him that his Throne may be upheld by truth, and by mercy; for <HI>by mercy,</HI> as <HI>Prov.</HI> 23. <HI>the Throne is upheld.</HI> But <HI>I</HI> mu&s;t needs &s;ay, that poore we have been bought and &s;old by our bre|thren, as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was.</P>
<P>Brother hath betrayed brother to death; and that Scripture is in a great mea&s;ure fulfilled, <HI>Matth.</HI> 10.21. <HI>The father again&s;t the &s;onne, and the &s;onne again&s;t uhe father; and brother &s;hall deliver up brother to death. I</HI> de&s;ire for my own part to ki&s;&s;e the rod; and <HI>I</HI> doe de&s;ire (if it may plea&s;e the Kings Maje&s;ty) that no more blood may be &s;hed after miae: it may be the Lord wil put it into his own brea&s;t.</P>
<P>Here is a poor brother comming, <HI>I</HI> am afraid that he is not fit to die at this time; I could wi&s;h that his Maje&s;ty might &s;hew &s;ome mercy.</P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P>The Shieriffe interrupted in words to this effect: <HI>let that alone, for the Kings Maje&s;ty hath clemency enough for all but his fa|thers murtherers.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> replied, then <HI>I</HI> &s;hall proceed to &s;peak &s;omething con|cerning my profe&s;&s;ion and faith, which <HI>I</HI> ble&s;s the Lord, is founded upon the rock Chri&s;t Je&s;us. <HI>I</HI> doe not expect &s;alvation for any thing <HI>I</HI> have ever done, but onely lay hold upon Chri&s;t as a na|ked Chri&s;t, and there to bottome my &s;oule.</P>
<P><HI>I</HI> can &s;ay to the prai&s;e and glory of God, that <HI>I</HI> have endea|vored
<PB N="33" REF="19">
in my place and to my power, to doe that which might be to Gods glory, according to the be&s;t of my under&s;tanding. I have &s;tood for a Go&s;pel Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, and that many delays in the law might be removed, (and that thing I have much &s;uffered for) I &s;ay its good both for King and people, that many delays in matter of ju&s;tice &s;hould be removed, and that publique ju&s;tice might be &s;peedily and cheaply admini&s;tred.</P>
<P>And as for my profe&s;&s;ion, I am of the Congregational way, I de&s;ire to own it, and am for liberty of con&s;cience, and all that walk humbly and holily before the Lord; and de&s;ire to walk in the fear of the Lord; and I believe it is a truth, and there can be nothing &s;aid again&s;t it. I doe confe&s;s I am not convinced of any thing I have done ami&s;&s;e, as to that I have been charged with, I am not indeed; neither did I under&s;tand the plea of the Court, that if the Lords and Commons had brought the King to the Bar, and &s;et him over them again, their bringing him to the barr had been trea&s;on.</P>
<P>I de&s;ire never to repent of any thing therein I have done; but I de&s;ire to own the cau&s;e of God and of Chri&s;t; and am here to beare witne&s;s to it, and &s;o far as I know any thing of my &s;elfe I can freely confe&s;s it.</P>
<P><HI>Here the Sheriffe interrupted him again, de&s;iring him to forbeare any &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> replied, it hath not been the manner of Engli&s;h men to in&s;ult over a dying man, nor in other countries among Turks or Gallia&s;&s;es.</P>
<P>The Lord ble&s;s every one of us, and help us that we may look more to the honour and glory of God then the concernments of our own lives: for ala&s;s what is a poor mi&s;erable life to us, but that therein we might give honour and glory to the God of all our mercies.</P>
<P>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, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.17, 18. <HI>Yea and if I be offered up upon the &s;acrifice and &s;ervice of the faith, I joy and rejoyce with you all, for the &s;ame cau&s;e al&s;o doe ye joy and rejoyce with me.</HI> And <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.11. <HI>The Lord God of your Fathers make you a thou&s;and times more then you are, and ble&s;&s;e you as be hath promi&s;ed.</HI> The Lord be plea|&s;ed
<PB N="34" REF="20">
to &s;peake comfort to them, and to all them that feare the Lord.</P>
<P>The Lord keepe <HI>England</HI> from popery, and from &s;uper&s;tition, and keep it from prophanene&s;s, and that there may not be an in|undation of Antichri&s;t in the land. And that is all the harm I wi&s;h unto it.</P>
<P>The Lord hath forgiven me many thou&s;and talents, and therefore I may wel forgive tho&s;e few pence that are owing unto me. I ble&s;s the lord I have nothing lying upon my con&s;cience, but I can unbo&s;ome my &s;elfe to every one, and to the throne of free grace, in the &s;implicity of my &s;pirit, I have endeavoured to doe nothing but with a good con&s;cience, and through the inte|grity of my heart though accompanied with many frailties.</P>
<P>I de&s;ire to ble&s;&s;e the Lord, my lot was rather in <HI>Ireland</HI> then here, here <HI>I</HI> have been more known where I have given the Offence.</P>
<P><HI>The Sheriffe again interrupted him.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Mr. Cooke</HI> replyes, Sir I pray take notice of it, I think I am the fir&s;t man that ever was Hanged for demanding of Ju&s;tice, there|fore I hope you will not interrupt me.</P>
<P>I &s;uppo&s;e yon were there, and doe bear me witne&s;&s;e in your con&s;cience, that there was not any thing then, that I did not com|municate to the Court that I now &s;peak upon the Ladder.</P>
<P>If you will believe the words of a dying man, I &s;ay as I mu&s;t give an account, I have nothing lyeth upon my con&s;cience. We mu&s;t all meet together at the great day of the Lord to give an ac|count of all our Actions, (and then it will appear) the Lord grant we may meet with Joy and Comfort.</P>
<P>I have a poor Wife and Child and &s;ome Friends left, I de&s;ire you that came along with me, to commend to them, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 54.4.5. and 10. ver.</P>
<P>I hope the King and Parliament will con&s;ider our poor Friends as to their E&s;tates, you know that tho&s;e Lords that formerly &s;u|ffered under the Parliament, did not loo&s;e all their E&s;tates; I hope there will be &s;ome con&s;ideration as to Ju&s;tice, (lea&s;t that our &s;mall E&s;tates prove a poy&s;on among&s;t their great deal) and my poor Wife and Relations &s;uffer.</P>
<P>The Lord grant that mercy may be &s;hewed, that mercy and
<PB N="35" REF="20">
righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e may magnifie and exalt it &s;elf above Ju&s;tice. I &s;hall not hold you long; I &s;hall de&s;ire in the fear of the Lord to give my &s;elf (as in the 12 <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.) <HI>A living Sacrifice, Holy and Accep|table unto God, which is but a rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;o doe intreat that I may have a little time to call upon the Lord, unle&s;&s;e there be any thing more de&s;ired, or any one to would ask me a que&s;tion.</P>
<P>Truly I forgive all from my heart, I have nothing upon my heart to accu&s;e any of them withal. I ble&s;&s;e the Lord I have a cleare Con&s;cience, I &s;ay it in the integrity and &s;implicity of my heart, (I doe now appeale to the great God, to whom I mu&s;t give an account of what I have done) knowing that all my Guilt is wa&s;hed away in the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, (and before him I hope to appear,) and have nothing el&s;e to plead any thing at all for me.</P>
<P>And &s;o I hope that I have declared my &s;elf with &s;implicity and integrity, in a few words that you may under&s;tand my mind.</P>
<P><HI>I &s;hall &s;peak a few words to the lord in prayer, and &s;hall not trouble you further.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Mr. Cookes Prayer.</HEAD>
<P>MO&s;t Glorious Maje&s;ty, I be&s;eech thee, &s;o to warm my Heart, and fill it &s;o full of the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that it may never be cool any more; Oh that the Lord would now appear Graciou&s;ly to &s;hew him&s;elf a wonder working God, in bearing up the Heart and Spirit of thy poor creature, it is no matter how bitter the Cup is, if the Lord give &s;trength to drink it, and no matter how heavy the Burden be, if the Lord be at one End, and uphold the other, and bear the burden him&s;elf, or lay no more upon his poor Children then they are able to bear; the Lord give &s;trength to all that are to bear this bur|den; the Lord be with all that are yet to &s;uffer in this cau&s;e, and double and treble &s;even-fold of thy Spirit upon us, let us not &s;tand it out again&s;t our Rea&s;ons and Judgements and Con|&s;ciences. If any did pur&s;ue power and intere&s;t, and did not
<PB N="36" REF="21">
look after the good of Gods poor People, and the good of the Nations, the Lord forgive them. The Lord knows the Simpli|city of the Hearts of his poor Servants that are gone before, and of tho&s;e that are to come after; I de&s;ire that all thine may have hearts willing to &s;uffer for thee, to make confe&s;&s;ion of Faith in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, I know is nothing, I know it is not enough onely to confe&s;&s;e in Words, to confe&s;&s;e in Doctrinall E|vangelicall Truths, and to confe&s;&s;e by a holy life and conver|&s;ation; and if the Lord call any of his poor Children to &s;eale the truth with their blood, yea their precious blood, it is their duty al&s;o; if the Lord Je&s;us had come down from the Cro&s;&s;e, and had not &s;hed his mo&s;t precious blood, and had not by that blood gone to heaven our Salvation had not been. Lord let it be well with England, the Lord hear me for my poor Friends and Relations, for my poor Wife and Child; unto thee Lord I commend the cau&s;e of God, and of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, And re|member poor Ireland wherein I had a lot and intere&s;t, the Lord remember them all, and help thy poor Children to conti|nue Faithfull unto Death, that &s;o we may receive a Crown of life, for the &s;ake of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: and &s;o I come Lord Je&s;us, Oh receive my &s;oul! Send down a Guard of Angells to convey my &s;oul into Abrahams Bo&s;ome; Receive my &s;oul, O Lord, into thy hands I commend my Spirit. And I de&s;ire to appeal to thee O lord, thou art the great God of Heaven and Earth before whom all controver&s;ies mu&s;t come.</P>
<P>I believe there is not a man in the world what ever he be, but hath &s;ome reverentiall feare of death; but for any &s;infull vitious fear; I ble&s;s the Lord I have not the hundredth part of a dram upon my con&s;cience; if it were my wedding day I could not more rejoyce in the Lord, becau&s;e it is a con&s;um|mation of that ble&s;&s;ed marriage that my Lord Je&s;us hath made up with me. Ble&s;&s;ed be thy name, me thinks I doe &s;ee with <HI>Stephen,</HI> even by the eye of faith, Heaven open, and
<PB N="37" REF="21">
the Lord Je&s;us ready to receive my poor &s;oule. And oh that I may with <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;ee the glory of God; and &s;ee, with <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> the Lord &s;itting on his Throne of glory. And oh that the love of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the Spirit may warme my heart, and carry me up from the beginning of this pa&s;&s;age to the end and clo&s;e of it. Lord Je&s;us come and receive my &s;pirit, and &s;weeten this cup, and let me &s;ay, <HI>The cup which my Father hath given me, &s;hall I not drink of it?</HI> And I leave all into the hands of the Lord, that if it be the Lords will every one that belongs to the election of grace my meet with comfort at the great day, and that we may &s;hake hands together, where no office of love &s;hall be unrewarded, nor any unkindne&s;s &s;hewed to the people of God.</P>
<P>But within a few hours I &s;hall be in the harbour; I am ju&s;t now entring into it, I would not goe backe againe for all the world.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord I de&s;pi&s;e the &s;hame, and am willing to endure the cro&s;&s;e, for Chri&s;ts &s;ake; becau&s;e the Lord Je&s;us, who is the author and fini&s;her of my &s;alvation, did it for me. The Lord pitty tho&s;e that follow, and bear up their hearts.</P>
<P>The Lord helpe his poore people that finde any thing upon their &s;oul; that they &s;hould &s;tand fa&s;t unto the truths of Je&s;us. Alas, we &s;hall be but a few daies here, and Heaven will make amends for all, and we &s;hall glorifie God in eternity, where we &s;hall enter into a &s;inle&s;&s;e, timele&s;&s;e, and temptationle&s;s e&s;tate, and never meet with &s;orrow or troubles any more; but the Lord will receive us to him&s;elfe, and then the innocency of thy poor &s;ervants &s;hall be vindicated, and we &s;hall be ever with the Lord, ble&s;&s;ing and prai&s;ing his holy name.</P>
<P>When <HI>Elijah</HI> was taken away, the &s;pirit of <HI>Elijah</HI> re&s;ted on <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> who &s;tood up in his &s;tead. And when <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t was cut off, the Lord had his Apo&s;tles to &s;upply that office. The Lord will have profit in the Death of his Children. I be|lieve
<PB N="38" REF="22">
that an Army of Martyrs would willingly come from Heaven to &s;uffer in &s;uch a cau&s;e at this that I come here to &s;uffer for.</P>
<P>I de&s;ire to bewaile that I have not had &s;o much love to the Glory of God therein as I ought. But as to the thing I come to &s;uffer for, I have not had any thing or act come to my mind with le&s;&s;e regret, and greater comfort then this.</P>
<P>And as for tho&s;e that brought me hither, I do forgive them, I have not one hard thought concerning them, the ble&s;&s;ing of the Father Son and Spirit be with them.</P>
<P>Oh that the Lord would grant that no more might &s;uffer; and &s;o Dear and Ble&s;&s;ed Father I come into the bo&s;ome of thy love, and de&s;ire (to enter into that Glory which is Endle&s;&s;e and Boundle&s;&s;e) through Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="letter">
<HEAD>A Letter written from the <HI>Tower</HI> to a Chri&s;tian friend, by Mr. Ju&s;tice <HI>Cooke.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>NOw in an&s;wer to your loving inquiry how it fares with my better part, I ble&s;&s;e God I never found &s;o much internall &s;pi|rituall &s;olice, and unmixt joy and comfort, as <HI>I</HI> have experimen|ted in the&s;e five moneths indurance, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.3, 4, 5. Let never any Chri&s;tian fear a pri&s;on, it being the onely place where (wanting other books) a man may be&s;t &s;tuddy the book of the knowledge of him&s;elfe, having a long vacation from all bu&s;ine&s;s; but praying unto, and prai&s;ing God in Chri&s;t, by the &s;pirits a&s;&s;i&s;tance. I cannot take <HI>Marthas</HI> part, for none mu&s;t come to me; nor <HI>Marys</HI> part to wait upon the ordinances, which my &s;oul thir&s;ts after; there|fore my chamber is like the <HI>&s;anctum &s;anctorum,</HI> where wittingly none may enter but the high Prie&s;t of our profe&s;&s;ion the Lord Je|&s;us. <HI>I</HI> did not think that there had been &s;o much ignorance, im|potence, impatience, ingratitude, pride, inordinate affection to creature comforts, revenge, diffidence of God, &s;elf-love, and ini|quity of all &s;orts in me, as I finde there is; who am not onely a
<PB N="39" REF="22">
poor &s;inner, but &s;in it &s;elfe, a very ma&s;&s;e of &s;in. I find it very hard to rely nakedly on Gods goodne&s;s, not to feel the heat of per&s;e|cution, nor to be carefull when all is taken away. <HI>Jer.</HI> 7.17 <HI>Lo,</HI> &s;o this darkne&s;s and filthine&s;s of &s;pirit is onely di&s;covered by the light of Chri&s;t, by who&s;e lowline&s;s in wa&s;hing the Apo&s;tles feet, I &s;ee my loftine&s;s and want of conde&s;cention when I had power; by his patience my many pa&s;&s;ions and heart-ri&s;ings again&s;t in&s;tru|ments; by his obedience to the death, my reluctancies; by his faithfulne&s;s my former back&s;lidings; by his fruitfulne&s;s, and do|ing good, <HI>Act.</HI> 10.38. my barrenne&s;s &amp; the little good I did when I had opportunity; and by his liberality, my penuriou&s;ne&s;s; whereby I adore and acknowledge his ju&s;tice that he hath mo&s;t righteou&s;ly deprived me of my liberty &amp; e&s;tate: all which drives me neerer to Chri&s;t, and makes me take fa&s;ter hold of his righte|ou&s;ne&s;s. I now under&s;tand (through grace) how precious he is; 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.7. if it were not for Chri&s;t what a mi&s;erable condition were I now in? that might &s;uddenly be &s;ent to contend with the wrath of God in everla&s;ting burnings; and this makes me love Chri&s;t the more, having forgiven me more then others: and ha|ving had ten thou&s;and talents forgiven me, I would forgive any wrong doers; and this keeps me humble and from cen&s;oriou&s;ne&s;s. I ble&s;s God I have ran&s;ackt into every corner of my &s;oule, I have with <HI>David, Job, E&s;ay,</HI> and <HI>Paul,</HI> bewailed my hereditary di&s;ea&s;e and heart-corruption. I feel it is as a rotten tooth that akes, would fain be rid of it, have condemned my &s;elfe for it, cried out agin&s;t it, as the ravi&s;hed dam&s;el, <HI>Deut.</HI> 22.26. The like for &s;ins done in my inclination, which by preventing grace are &s;ecret and onely known to God; and I haue mourned over my &s;ecret &s;innes, onely known to God and my &s;elfe; over the &s;innes of my youth, which were committed fa&s;ter then can be named; for tho&s;e which <HI>I</HI> did not know to be &s;in, and tho&s;e that <HI>I</HI> have forgotten? and e&s;peci|ally for my actually known &s;ins committed again&s;t love and light, promi&s;es and covenants. I have confe&s;t them all with a heavy bleeding broken and contrite &s;pirit, and O that I had all &s;in, as &s;in, in a greater execration; my griefe is for having offended &s;o gracious a father&punc; that wil not damn me for it; if there were no hell nor judge I would rather dye then willingly offend him any more, and I cannot &s;atisfie divine ju&s;tice for one vain thought&punc;
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therefore I flie to Chri&s;t, and clo&s;e with him upon a free promi&s;e as a poor penitent &s;inner; no merits but the merits of my Saviour; I take in whole Chri&s;t, and not one drop of my pudled water &s;hall be mingled with the ocean of his pure and perfect righteou&s;ne&s;s; &amp; I give up my &s;elf wholly to him, as by a deed of gift, to be at his di&s;po&s;e; and I know he hath received me, <HI>I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine,</HI> and all is mine, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.22. death it &s;elfe; I have a &s;weet certificate from Heaven of the pardon of &s;in, ju&s;tification, reconciliation, and adoption. I know Gods heart and his eyes are upon me perpetually, 2 <HI>Chro.</HI> 2.15. that no tender father or mother can have &s;o &s;pecial a care of any &s;ick impri&s;oned child, as he hath of me. I believe that God who hath given a property to the needle to keep fixt though the &s;hip overturn, wil keep me faith|ful to the death, and that I &s;hal receive the crown of life, and &s;tand with as much confidence at the great day, as if: had never &s;inned; and herein I am confirmed by the te&s;timony of the &s;pirt, and Scripture evidences.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed be God I doe love the Saints, every one that &s;uffers in this cau&s;e is at deare to me as my own &s;oule, my &s;ighs have been many, and my heart faint, &s;ince I came hither, not for my own condition (for it is happy) but for the afflictions of <HI>Jo&s;eph;</HI> &s;carce a poor Saint permitted to breathe in Iri&s;h ayre; tho&s;e that wil not &s;weare and be drunke, or have prayer in their families, are counted Fanaticks. <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 50.15. I have a dear re&s;pect to all Gods commandements, &s;piritual joy is no &s;tranger to me; I love the Word and Ordinances more then my appointed food. I de&s;ire that all my thoughts, words, and actions may plea&s;e God; and that all that he does may plea&s;e me; and I doe freely forgive my ad|ver&s;aries, the Lord herein encrea&s;e my faith, <HI>Luke</HI> 17.5. and I ble&s;s God I have a quiet con&s;cience as to the world, and which is good al&s;o for being ju&s;tified by Chri&s;t, apprehended by faith, I have peace with God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.1. and &s;o I de&s;cend to the cau&s;e for which I am in bonds, which is as good as ever it was; and I believe there is not a Saint that hath engaged with us, but wil wi&s;h at the la&s;t day that he had &s;ealed to the truth of it with his blood, if thereunto called: for I am &s;atisfied that it is the mo&s;t noble and glorious cau&s;e that has been agitated for God and Chri&s;t &s;ince the Apo&s;tolical times; being for truth, holine&s;s, and righteou&s;ne&s;s,
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for our liberties as men and as Chri&s;tians, for removing of all yokes and oppre&s;&s;ions, for a go&s;pel Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;tery and not onely for the Prie&s;tly and Prophetical offices of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, but for his Kingly al&s;o: the peculiar light and worke of this ge|neration being to di&s;cover and oppo&s;e the Civil and Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal tyrannies intended upon the Nations, by the Popes <HI>Leger de|main,</HI> to exalt Chri&s;t as Lord and King over mens con&s;ciences, to magnifie and make the law of God honourable, and authen|tique every where, and to give ju&s;tice and mercy the upper hand. As I hear nothing what they intend to doe with me, &s;o I am not much &s;ollicitous about it; I doe freely tru&s;t God to make what bargain for me he plea&s;es. I believe they are as angry with me as any man in the nations, becau&s;e <HI>litera &s;cripta manet,</HI> but their cau&s;e requires rather &s;ilence then eloquence; as for that again&s;t Monarchy unaccountable they will be a&s;hamed to oppo&s;e it, that which nettles them, is the &s;tating the Ca&s;e for which I had Vou|chers, and Warrants for every word, but now they plow with our Heffer; yet great is the truth and that will prevail, as for Peti|tioning there is not any. I cannot confe&s;&s;e any guilt, it is &s;uch a Cau&s;e that the Martyrs would gladly come again from Heaven to &s;uffer for, if they might, though too many object again&s;t me, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.15. <HI>Let none of you &s;uffer as a Murtherer:</HI> I look upon it as the mo&s;t noble and high Act of ju&s;tice that our Story can parallel; and &s;o far as I had a hand in it, never any one action in all my life comes to my mind with le&s;&s;e regret, or trouble of con|&s;cience, then that does; for the bloud mu&s;t lie upon Him, or the Parliament; and I am &s;ure I had no more malice in my heart, then when I was in my Cradle: all that I can be &s;orry for, is, that I had not &s;uch pure, and unbya&s;t Aims, at the glory of God &amp; exaltation of Chri&s;t therin, as I &s;hould have had; I neither &s;aid nor did any thing <HI>dubitante,</HI> or <HI>reluctante con&s;cientiae</HI> I was &s;o far from a rain&s;aying con&s;cience in any thing I acted, that I never &s;cru|pled in the lea&s;t, and the generality of the people have &s;ince owned it: <HI>I</HI> was in mercy a poor Advocate for Chri&s;t, and the people of <HI>England,</HI> and if by my bloud their cau&s;e may be watered, I &s;ay (as <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.17, 18.) to you and the re&s;t of the Church of Chri&s;t, if I be offered upon the &s;acrifice and &s;ervice of your faith, let us rejoyce together: it has been counted &s;hamefull for Souldiers to
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run from their Colours, or de&s;ert their Ma&s;ters, and Principles, but it is more odidus for a Councellor to prevaricate and betray his Clients Cau&s;e: I am per&s;waded that all tho&s;e that have had a chief hand and are now giving Judgement again&s;t them&s;elves, and all good people, in all tho&s;e points which they formerly conten|ded for, again&s;t the King; as the lawfulne&s;&s;e of the War, which was granted both here and at <HI>Edenburgh.</HI> The Militia, Nega|tive Voyce, power to di&s;&s;olve Parliaments, conferring great Offi|ces (as King <HI>James</HI> &s;aid, <HI>&s;o long as I make Bi&s;hops and Judges, I will have what Religion and Laws I plea&s;e</HI>) As they are mo&s;t abo|minable prevaricators of the hone&s;t intere&s;t, for they will wi&s;h at the la&s;t day, that they had been <HI>Jewes, Turks</HI> or <HI>Indians</HI> for the greater light, the greater is their Apo&s;tacy and ingratitude, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.21. and &s;ure they will have a peculiar Judgement by them|&s;elves; for they do openly proclame the cau&s;e of <HI>Barrabas</HI> before the cau&s;e of Je&s;us. <HI>Peter</HI> denyed Chri&s;t, and <HI>Judas</HI> betrayed him, but it was before his pa&s;&s;ion and A&s;&s;ention, they never &s;aw the wonderful works which our Eyes have beheld; but what &s;hall we &s;ay, if the treachery of <HI>Judas</HI> help forward the work of our &s;alva|tion, why may we not hope, that God is whetting his Tooles, and gone back to fetch a greater blow again&s;t his oppre&s;&s;ors, <HI>I&s;a|ac</HI> mu&s;t not dye though the Knife be at his Throat, <HI>Gen.</HI> 12.14. our ca&s;e &s;eems to be like theirs, under proud <HI>Homan</HI> the Gal|lows was erected, but the Royal &s;eed pre&s;erved. <HI>He&s;t.</HI> 6.13. <HI>Numb.</HI> 23. the &s;tory of <HI>Baalam</HI> is much upon my heart, the &s;hout of King Je&s;us to Reign in Holine&s;&s;e and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is among his peo|ple, I hope as much as ever; and there is no inchantment a|gain&s;t <HI>Jacob</HI> therefore he mu&s;t not be afraid; I am per&s;waded we &s;hall fare the better for the thou&s;and cur&s;es we had between <HI>Che&s;ter</HI> and <HI>London,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 16.12.</P>
<P>Now having endeavored to &s;atisfie you that the great work is over as to my eternal &s;alvation, and my opinion of the goodne&s;s of our Cau&s;e; I &s;hall further entreat your patience to tell you that I am fully convinced, that next to that un&s;peakable gift of Chri&s;t, the greate&s;t grace and mercy that God can be&s;tow upon any of us, is to call for and enable us to lay down our lives upon this account; &s;uffering for Chri&s;t being a &s;trong Argument of his Electing love, <HI>Acts</HI> 9.15, 16. and a greater matter of rejoycing,
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<HI>Acts</HI> 23.11. be of good cheer <HI>Paul;</HI> therefore he forbids tears for him upon that &s;core, <HI>Acts.</HI> 21.13. and I have charged my poor lamb not to wear any black for me (if &s;he have where with to buy it;) for I &s;hall be in <HI>white, Revel.</HI> 6.11. the Apo&s;tle rejoyced to be counted worthy to &s;uffer &s;hame for Chri&s;t, and would not but &s;peak what they &s;aw with the eyes of Faith, and heard with the ears of the Spirit, <HI>Acts</HI> 4.20. and the 5.41. and <HI>Paul</HI> gloried in the tribulation, rejoycing in hope of the glory of God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5, 23. and took plea&s;ure in reproaches, nece&s;&s;ity and per&s;ecutions for Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.10. &s;o <HI>Mo&s;es, Heb.</HI> 11.26. for the recom|pence of reward which is God him&s;elf, <HI>Gen.</HI> 15.1. and the times cannot be &s;o full of terrour and di&s;couragement as the Scriptures are full of comfort and incitations in this particular, to us the Lords pri&s;oners, <HI>Mat</HI> 5.10.12. why are we &s;orrowful when Chri&s;t bids us to be joyful, <HI>Mat.</HI> 10.25.27. there is no &s;afety but to be on Chri&s;ts &s;ide, for the Son of man &s;hall come in his glory and the Saints al&s;o, <HI>Mark</HI> 8.33, 38. they are not the words of a Child, but of Chri&s;t, not &s;poken to affright us, but for our animadver|&s;ion; Oh this perfidious Generation! how will that word be made good to the Amazemeat of our Timerous profe&s;&s;ors, <HI>John</HI> 16.21. The Axe or a Halter will be le&s;&s;e pain then the pangs of Child-birth, <HI>John</HI> 15.18, 21. we are in nothing to be terrifyed, 1 <HI>Phil.</HI> 28.29. con&s;tancy in &s;uffering for good principles is matter of glory in the Churches, and Tribulation will be the portion of our troublers, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.4. to the end is very pretious, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 3.8. we live if yee &s;tand fa&s;t in the Lord: I know you, and my dear Brethren and Si&s;ters are of <HI>Pauls</HI> mind, if I dye in my bed being a Church member, you will by the rule of Charity judge me hap|py; I cannot doe you more &s;ervice then to bear my witne&s;&s;e in this Cau&s;e of Chri&s;t wherein you are &s;o much concerned, I finde our Text appropriate to our Condition, <HI>Joh.</HI> 12.23. to 27. Chri&s;ts death was like &s;owing of Corne, which &s;eemed lo&s;t, but was our life; &s;o he that counts not his life dear for Chri&s;t, though the world count him mi&s;erable, yet he hath two &s;pecial promi&s;es to be where Chri&s;t is, and that the Father will honour him, it is a following of Chri&s;t in Dying for him, Actively or in Affection as appears, <HI>John</HI> 13.36, 21, 19. by a conformity to his death, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.10. <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.3. &s;ome read which dyed for the Lord, as <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.4.
<PB N="44" REF="25">
and 19.10. which now is counted as bad as Trea&s;on, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12. has an ineffable &s;weetne&s;&s;e in it, <HI>Ch.</HI> 11. is the little book of Martyrs, 12.1. the &s;pirit &s;ayes follow your leaders, he is a Coward that will not follow &s;uch free Examples; Chri&s;t and the Saints behold you and yee are witne&s;&s;es for Chri&s;t as they were, but mu&s;t for&s;ake all &s;in, e&s;pecially your <HI>Dallilaes, Herodias</HI> and <HI>Rimmons,</HI> and &s;trive again&s;t it; and ye have need of patience, but ye will faint and be weary unle&s;&s;e yea look unto Je&s;us and fear not, for he is as well the fini&s;her of your Faith as the Father of it, he de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame, what need you care if they &s;ay behold the Head, or the heart of a traytor, when your better part is in heaven, and re|proves us for being too par&s;imonious of our blood; we mu&s;t be prepared for &s;uffering <HI>eruore &s;anctorum rigatur Eccle&s;iae. Luther</HI> was troubled that he carried his blood to his grave, he loved the Chri&s;ts cro&s;&s;e more then the 24 Letters, and loved not half Chri|&s;tians, that were onely for doing &amp; not for &s;uffering; and though our &s;inne de&s;erve death as from the Lord, yet our enemies mind them not, they puni&s;h us for being judges, advocates, and &s;ouldi|ers for our Lord Je&s;us, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 38.20.</P>
<P>And as the &s;piritual man overcomes the Animal, &s;o I am rea|&s;oning my &s;elf again&s;t &s;ence into a willingne&s;s to dye, for either the times will be better or wor&s;e; is there not in probability a great floud of Oppre&s;&s;ion and Per&s;ecution, coming upon the God|ly; will not the righteous &s;oule of a ju&s;t <HI>Lot,</HI> be vexed with the horrible prophanene&s;&s;e, malignity, and contempt of Chri&s;ts pure Ordinances that abounds every where; we have heard Ju&s;tice and Tyranny, Truth and Fal&s;ehood, the forme and the power of Godline&s;&s;e pleading together, and Judgement was given for God, and his people, but all &s;eems to be rever&s;ed, and what was but an <HI>injurie</HI> or <HI>ne&s;ciente</HI> before, is now a formal and material con|tempt, and de&s;pight to God and Chri&s;t, and the &s;pirit of grace in whom &s;oever breathing; and what, comfort is there in a &s;on, if the Ark be taken, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 4.20, 21. &s;he regarded it not, the ble&s;&s;ing is to &s;ee our children with peace upon <HI>I&s;rael, P&s;al.</HI> 128.5, 6. it is a mercy to be taken away from the evil to come, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 57.1. be&s;tow|ed upon <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> as a favour, being tender hearted, 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 23.19. tis a rich mercy to get into our heavenly hou&s;e, and harbour be|fore the &s;torm come, 2 <HI>Cor,</HI> 5. how much more ble&s;&s;ed to give our
<PB N="45" REF="25">
polluted blood for his &s;ake who &s;hed his mo&s;t precious blood for us; and if the times prove good, for civil or &s;acred liberties; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> envied not tho&s;e that were to goe into <HI>Canaan,</HI> becau&s;e he was in|ve&s;ted with a better po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, a heavenly Countrey, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.16. if there be &s;uch glorious times to be expected upon earth as you and I have di&s;cour&s;ed of, I am &s;ure there is no le&s;s joy in heaven; and we that are there &s;hal have no cau&s;e to envy our millitant brethren; be&s;ides, as for my &s;elf I can expect to doe little for God, I am three parts dead, 70 being divided into four, the &s;hadows of the evening are upon me, and aches and paines are in&s;eparable companions, if now Chri&s;t &s;hould graciou&s;ly accept of my poore crazy body, &amp; bring me to an honourable and an ea&s;ie death for him, ble&s;&s;ed be his name forever, 1 <HI>Chro.</HI> 29.10. <HI>to</HI> 16. The heathen could &s;ay, <HI>Dulce e&s;t pro patria mori, pro Chri&s;to mori dulcimum.</HI> How did the Romans glory to die for their liberties, and after for the glory of their <HI>Ce&s;ars?</HI> and how glad are the poor Spaniards and Mu&s;covites that they have a life, a wi&s;e, or a &s;onne, for their King: and how glad are the City that their fea&s;tings will be re|ceived, A Popi&s;h Friar told me lately, that if he were of my opi|nion for a&s;&s;urance of &s;alvation, he would not willingly live an houre longer for all <HI>Ireland;</HI> yet Saints too much feare this grim porter death, though when executed we goe from the cro&s;&s;e to the Crown, <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.12. indeed it is below the profe&s;&s;ion that we have made, to be now troubled; in pro&s;perity I would be a worm, but now the Lord makes us bold as Lyons, that being called to &s;uffer after &s;o ble&s;&s;ed an example, we may think it an honour to pledge our ma&s;ter in his own cup, and commit the keeping of our &s;oules to him in wel doing as unto a faithful creator, 1 <HI>Pet,</HI> 2.21. and 4.19. for he wil never leave nor for&s;ake us, but wil give us &s;houlders to bear what he laies upon us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.13. let us therefore who are the children of <HI>Zion</HI> be joyful in our King, as others (who one day wil appeare to be fanatiques indeed) rejoyce in them, for the&s;e pre&s;ent &s;ufferings are not worthy to be compared with our future glory, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.18.</P>
<P>Sir, I ble&s;s God I have an invincible peace and a &s;ecret joy &s;urpa&s;&s;ing my expre&s;&s;ion; <HI>and I pre&s;s towards the marke, Phil.</HI> 3.14 yet divine cordials are not con&s;tant, but often &s;ome fainting fits, and di&s;pondencies; the &s;pirit bloweth where it li&s;teth; where it is
<PB N="46" REF="26">
not comforting it is &s;upporting, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 40.29, &amp; 41.10. if I were not very feeble, how could Gods power appear in my weakne&s;s. I ble&s;s his name that his arrows are not within me, nor doe the terrors of death take hold upon me, as <HI>Job</HI> 6.4. for I never was better as to the frame and temper of mind, and body, then &s;ince my re|&s;traint; and ble&s;&s;ed be the comforter I am not long without him. My cou&s;in <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> is very full of &s;piritual comfort (as the Gen|tleman Jaylor tels me) and bids me cheere up, and indeed it wil be a mercy if tho&s;e who are called forth to te&s;tifie for Chri&s;t prove couragious, as <HI>Jo&s;.</HI> 1.9. but truly as for my part, in does not lie on that &s;ide, I fear lea&s;t <HI>I</HI> may be too much exalted with the honour of it though <HI>I</HI> know the Lord can &s;oon withdraw; we live by faith and not by &s;ight, our happine&s;s is in our union rather then in communion and &s;en&s;ible gu&s;ts; and <HI>I</HI> rather fear a lingring death with &s;everity, &s;ome for bani&s;hment, <HI>Ezek,</HI> 7.16 &amp;c. but let the Lord doe with me as he plea&s;eth, as <HI>Joab</HI> &s;iad, 1 <HI>Chro.</HI> 19.13. <HI>Omnia co|operatur in bonam, Rom.</HI> 8.28. So having unbo&s;omed my heart unto you, that you and &s;uch whom you judge faithful and &s;ecret may the better &s;pread my condition before the Lord, <HI>I</HI> would in|treat you to beg for me more particularly, 1. That God would &s;et home upon my heart, and fulfil in me with power your &s;weet Scripture (for which <HI>I</HI> heartily thank you) 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.7, 8, 9, 12. that <HI>I</HI> may not be afraid of their terrors, nor troubled but may &s;anctifie the Lord at that time, and be able to an&s;wer all oppo&s;ers, that they may be a&s;hamed when we &s;uffer for wel doing, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.14. to 18. 2. That <HI>I</HI> and the re&s;t of our brethren and companions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for the word of God and his te&s;timony may be &s;trengthned with all might according to Chri&s;ts glorious power, unto all patience and long &s;uffering with joyfulne&s;s, as <HI>Paul</HI> prayed for the Collo&s;&s;ians, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.9, <HI>to</HI> 14. being filled with knowledge, wi&s;dome, and &s;piritual under&s;tanding and feeling tho&s;e grounds of joy as an inheritance of light, and deliverance from the power of darkne&s;s: that we may be <HI>te&s;tes</HI> and <HI>conte&s;tes</HI> to agree in our te&s;timonies, and not di&s;parage &s;o good a cau&s;e. 3. That we may be ready (not onely to be bound but to die for Chri&s;t, and the vindication and ju&s;ti|fication of his Evangelical doctrine; we have made high profe&s;|&s;ion and confe&s;&s;ion of the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, and it is a ble&s;&s;ed
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thing to believe with the heart, and confe&s;s with our mouths, and in our lives and by active martyrdom, as <HI>Brooke, Ireton, Hamp|den, Pickering,</HI> and others have worthily done, who are &s;afely ar|rived expecting us, and we are yet upon the waves; but the mo&s;t excellent, honourable, rich and fruitful confe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t, whereby we can make the mo&s;t efficacious demon&s;tration of our election and faith in Chri&s;t, and love in his glorious per&s;on with mo&s;t &s;upream illu&s;tration of Gods glory is to lay down our lives as the martyrs did to &s;eal and confirm the truth of our profe&s;&s;ions with our blood, for the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, and &s;afety of our brethren, <HI>Rom.</HI> 16.4. 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.16. as our ble&s;&s;ed ma&s;ter, after he had con|fe&s;&s;ed and preached the glory of God, and our &s;alvation, confir|med and approved all by miracles, and his mo&s;t holy life made a good confe&s;&s;ion, under <HI>Pontius pilat,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.13. without which all had been ineffectual: So I have often thought for the di&s;covery of hypocrites, cementing of the Saints in more concording affe|ctions, trial of faith, exerci&s;ing of patience, and love to Chri&s;t, and for many other glorious ends God would call for &s;ome of his chil|drens blood, which wil be the greater favour to them whom he &s;hal count worthy of it, becau&s;e I think this wil rather be a <HI>Julian</HI> then a <HI>Heronian</HI> per&s;ecution, alwaies provided that we be found in the doctrine of the covenant of grace, that God does not love us becau&s;e we live &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly, and godly in this pre&s;ent world, and are willing to for&s;ake all, and loo&s;e our lives for him.</P>
<P>But becau&s;e he loves us, and has &s;ingled us out from the world, therefore he enables us &s;o to live, and to doe &s;ingular things for his honour and glory, and willingly to <HI>follow the Lamb whither|&s;oever he goeth, Revel.</HI> 14.4. <HI>for the love of Chri&s;t con&s;traineth us,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14. O that we had more enlarged hearts for our King Je|&s;us. 4. (That you may fully hit my condition) I have &s;ome trou|ble upon me concerning the lo&s;&s;e of my temporal e&s;tate, e&s;peci|ally for my poor, tender loving wife and child: I was a purcha&s;er, and had a &s;tock of cattel, &amp; being wrongfully made pri&s;oner two moneths before any &s;peech of a King I was &s;urprized and could &s;ave nothing nor get 20 <HI>l</HI> of my e&s;tate &s;ince Michaelmas la&s;t They promi&s;ed to beare my charges to <HI>London,</HI> but at <HI>Che&s;ter</HI> I was for|ced to borrow money, or mu&s;t have come a foot: therefore pray
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be earne&s;t with the Lord, that we may take the &s;poyling of our goods more joyfully, knowing that we have in heaven better and an enduring &s;ub&s;tance, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10 34. and that we may not faint at the&s;e momentany afflictions, which work &s;o wel for us (wherein riches and honours are not &s;o) according to that pa&s;&s;age, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4 3 la&s;t ver&s;es, and be affected with eternal joyes. It is &s;aid that I &s;hall be put down into the hole for non-payment of great Fees: my comfort is that God will be with me, there they cannot &s;hut out Gods &s;pirit from me, which is an everla&s;ting &s;pring and Jubi|le; nor will that be &s;o bad as <HI>Jeremiah's</HI> Dungeon, nor as <HI>Jo|&s;eph's</HI> Irons which entered into his &s;oule, though indeed we are &s;old by our brethren as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was, that the &s;cripture may be ful|filled, <HI>The brother &s;hall deliver up the brother to Death, Matthew</HI> 10.21.</P>
<P>I know not how to conclude, not knowing when I may have a|nother opportunity to conver&s;e with you, I am overjoyed to think they cannot reach my &s;oule, and that our cau&s;e is invinci|ble and it will be a happine&s;&s;e if God &s;ee it good that none might &s;uffer death, but &s;uch who&s;e &s;ouls are out of danger; but being upon the account of civil liberties as well as &s;piritual, our onely wi&s;e Father will order all for his own Glory, and this onely &s;i|lences all murmurings, and ma&s;ter &s;ave thy &s;elfe, that what he plea&s;es mu&s;t needs be lea&s;t for us; he being Infinite, Wi&s;dome, Love, Power and Goodne&s;&s;e. Had the King made his way by the Sword, we might expect his &s;ore&s;t &s;trokes; but for the men of <HI>Keilah</HI> to deliver us up for the Parliament to &s;acrifice us, the&s;e men that &s;it by a Commonwealth Writ, for who&s;e priviledges we adventured our all, and who cannot condemne us but mu&s;t give up the Cau&s;e, and give Judgement again&s;t them&s;elves, and all the good people in the Nation; let the <HI>Indians</HI> judge of it, if any of the Elect think hardly of us, that we do not cry <HI>peccavi,</HI> &amp; make our recantations, it will not la&s;t long, and it is no matter what others &s;ay, for they mu&s;t receive their Judgement at the Bar of Chri&s;t, and we &s;hall Judge our Judges; therefore let us not en|tertaine damps of di&s;pondencies. My rejoycing is in a good God, a good Cau&s;e, a good Con&s;cience, I have the Ju&s;tice of Heaven on my &s;ide, and Gods loving kindne&s;&s;e which is better then life, if we find inju&s;tice and cruelty here, mens Law at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> will
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be adjudged Trea&s;on in Heaven, it will not be long before all tears &s;hall be wiped from our Eyes, and if our innocencies be not vindicated, and cleared up in this life, as <HI>Jobs Mordecas, Jo&s;ephs,</HI> and <HI>Daniels</HI> and <HI>Su&s;annas</HI> were yet at the revelation of the righ|teous judgement of God, it will appeare before men and Angels, that we are not Traytors, nor Murtherers, nor Phanatiques, but true Chri&s;tians, and good Commonwealths men, fixt and con&s;tant to the principles of &s;anctity, truth, ju&s;tice, and mercy, which the Parliament and Army declared and engaged for; and to that Noble principle of preferring the Univer&s;ality, before Particula|rity, that we &s;ought the publique good, and would have infran|chi&s;ed the people, and &s;ecured the welfare of the whole groaning Creation, if the Nation had not more delighted in &s;ervitude, then in freedom. And if we now &s;uffer a martyrdom of body, we &s;hal be &s;ome of the &s;ouls under the Altar crying, <HI>How long O Lord holy &amp; true,</HI> and though we can patiently dige&s;t their Tortures, and leave all vengance to whom it belongs, yet who knows but that our blood may be their poy&s;on; but then after all unju&s;t &s;entences of men how &s;weet and honourable will the Judgement of Chri&s;t be, <HI>Matth.</HI> 25. <HI>(Euge bone &s;erve)</HI> of entring into our ma&s;ter joy, when the Kings of the Earth and the chief Captaines and Dukes of <HI>Edom</HI> &s;hall wi&s;h the Mountaines and Rocks to fall upon them, <HI>Rev.</HI> 5.16. I ble&s;&s;e God my poor Wife <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> much encourage me, to be faithful to the Death, and &s;he is a <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> who helps her Husband &s;o to Heaven, as in a Fiery Charoit; &s;he is one who bears an unfeigned love to Chri&s;t and all the Saints; I in|treat your tender care of her and my Child, <HI>providebit Deus, Ier.</HI> 49.11. I &s;hal leave her that Scripture and <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 54.5. to 8. while they cannot take away by confiscation; when we were in the &s;torm we took our leaves each of the other, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See the relation of his pa&s;&s;age by &s;ea from Wex&s;o<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">d to King|&s;ale.</NOTE> and though we have not paid our Vowes at <HI>Pethell,</HI> yet I tru&s;t (as was then promi&s;ed) we &s;hal be willing to go to Chri&s;t if he call through a Sea of bloud. But O the infinite wi&s;dome and love of God, and the un&s;earcha|ble riches of his Grace, that if I had been drowned the Malig|nants would have &s;aid, though he e&s;caped by Land, yet Divine Vengance over took him at <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span">ow he &s;hould vouch&s;afe me (poor me as <HI>Gideon</HI> &s;aid, <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> 15. one of the meane&s;t Lawyers in <HI>We&s;min&s;ter-Hall</HI>) <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> of bonds and an affe|ctual
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if not effectual Martyrdome for being an Advocate for my ble&s;&s;ed Advocate and the good people of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>I have been the larger not knowing what u&s;e this may be of, if my mouth &s;hould be &s;top't; if you hear any report of me contrary hereunto, believe it not, &s;o you have my heart; and I had rather be buried alive, then my Tongue or Hand &s;hould differ from it. O pray much for me, and pray again and mend your prayer, as I have great need to doe, if you know what pittiful poor &s;hort and confu&s;ed prayers I make in a day; yet Father into thy hands I commend my &s;pirit is a prayer, no period better then prayer, therefore now unto him that is able to keep you (and me) from falling, and to pre&s;ent you (and me faultle&s;&s;e before the pre|&s;ence of his glory with exceeding joy: To the only wi&s;e God our Saviour be Glory and Maje&s;ty, Dominion and Power now and for Ever, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your for ever in our Dear Redeemer,</HI> John Cooke.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="letter">
<HEAD>A Letter written by Mr. Ju&s;tice <HI>Cooke</HI> from the <HI>Tower</HI> to his Wife.</HEAD>
<P>MY deare lamb, ble&s;&s;ed be God for Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and for a pri&s;on, where I finde much of his comforting pre&s;ence; tell &s;i&s;ter <HI>Jones</HI> that &s;he keeps but two or three Sabbaths in a weeke, but in pri&s;on every day is a Chri&s;tian Sabbath; not onely to cea&s;e from &s;inne, but to prai&s;e God, &s;inging Ho&s;annaes and Hallalujahs. I can but &s;mile to think that they cannot hinder me from preaching, for <HI>I</HI> preach twice every day to my &s;elfe, and ye&s;terday, ble&s;&s;ed be the Comforter, my heart was brimfull of joy and con&s;olation from P&s;al. <HI>73.25, 26.</HI> wherein I ob&s;erved three points, or doctrinall conclu&s;ions.</P>
<P N="1"><HI>1. That a Saint &s;hould love and e&s;teem nothing but God, and for God;</HI> all di&s;cour&s;e is vain but what aims and tends to Gods glory <HI>1 Cor. 10.31.</HI> a husband, wife, child, friends, and all creature com|forts are to be loved &s;o far as we &s;ee God in them; as the creatures doe not &s;erve us but God &s;u&s;teines us in them, and by them, &s;o our affe|ctions and de&s;ires mu&s;t not be fixed upon them, but terminate in God; as the waters in the river never re&s;t till they return to the Sea, &s;o our
<PB N="51" REF="28">
loves mu&s;t onely pa&s;&s;e by the creatures, and &s;ettle in God; and the more wel &s;ee the image of God in any one, there our love is to be mo&s;t in the Lord, and for his &s;ake this love is the greate&s;t weight of our &s;oules, and transforms into the nature of the thing beloved, let us endeavour to put out more acts of love to God in Chri&s;t, <HI>Cant. 1.16.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><HI>2.</HI> From tho&s;e words, <HI>my fle&s;h and my heart faileth me, but God is the &s;trength of my heart,</HI> the chiefe re&s;idence of the &s;oul being in the heart, <HI>I</HI> ob&s;erve, <HI>That there is &s;omething more dear to a Saint then his own &s;oule, which is the &s;oule of his &s;oule, and the life of his life, and that is Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who dwelleth in our &s;oules by his &s;pirit,</HI> Rom. <HI>8 10, 11.</HI> for as the body is dead when the &s;oul leaves it, &s;o the &s;oule is dead without Chri&s;t; which may teach us two le&s;&s;ons. <HI>1.</HI> To love Chri&s;t more then our own lives or relations, becau&s;e he is the &s;oul of our &s;oules; this did <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> Exod. <HI>32.32.</HI> and <HI>Paul,</HI> Rom. <HI>9.3.</HI> they preferred the glory of God in the &s;alvation of their brethren before their own &s;oules, if it could have been, which is a Chri|&s;tian duty, though very hard; and if divine ju&s;tice &s;hould &s;ay to us at the great day, <HI>the &s;oul that &s;ins mu&s;t die:</HI> we may &s;ay, why then did God puni&s;h our Lord Je&s;us who is the &s;oule of our &s;oules, more dear to us then our &s;ouls; and if God had &s;een it good we had rather have &s;uffered in our own per&s;ons to have &s;aved him; but we not being able to undergoe the wrath of God, that innocent and immaculate lambe was put to death, who is the heart of our hearts, the &s;oule of our &s;oules, and the &s;pirit of our &s;pirits; for ju&s;tice is more then abun|dantly &s;atisfied, much more then if our wils, &s;oules, and bodies had &s;uffered, and the debt was all paid together which had alwaies been paying if we had gone to hell, for as to Chri&s;t our &s;alvation is all pure &s;trict ju&s;tice, who felt nothing but extremity, the father would not &s;pare him, <HI>Rom. 8.32.</HI> but as to us it is all mercy that his &s;atisfaction &s;hould be accepted for us, and that thee and me, and deare Da<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">t<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">; and &s;weet love I tru&s;t &s;hould be ve&s;&s;els of that mercy and free grace, O ble&s;&s;ed be his glorious name for ever.</P>
<P N="3"><HI>3.</HI> My meditations were principally carried out from the joyes of heaven and from tho&s;e words, <HI>Whom have I in heaven but thee? and thou art my portion forever,</HI> I was ravi&s;hed with this con&s;ide|ration, <HI>that the joyes of Heaven are eternal:</HI> or thus, <HI>The Saints plea&s;ures have a beginning, but no ending.</HI> No doubt but this is in|finite
<PB N="52" REF="29">
matter of joy to <HI>Abraham,</HI> and all the Saints in heaven, to think that they &s;hall continue in their joy and glory, not <HI>100.</HI> or <HI>10000</HI> millions of years onely, but for ever, that when they have been there <HI>100000</HI> millions of millions of years, as to what remaines it wil not be a minuit, but then we begin our felicity, therfore Chri&s;t cals it <HI>a life eternal,</HI> Matth. <HI>25</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word">. Therefore if a man could live here <HI>1000000</HI> millions of years and enjoy his hearts de&s;ire, and all the variety of plea&s;ures which <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> world can afford, and afterwards be deprived of Paradi&s;e, <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> damned, what a &s;ad bargain would that be; for the S<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">its <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> that while in heaven, and &s;hall be there for ever: and <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> a <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> might <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 word"> its <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ounger and live here for ever if &s;uch a <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> po&s;&s;ibl<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> not that content him, becau&s;e he is capa<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters"> of go<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> and <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> to the choice of an illuminate Chri&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters"> whether to <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">000</HI> years in health, wealth, and all the <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> to be in heaven but one day, he ought to choo&s;e the lat<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>40.</HI> &s;o one minuits being in heaven is to be preferred before a perpetuity of all worldly plea&s;ures, for to be ab&s;ent from the Lord is more grievous then all humane de|lights can be comfortable, if it were but a pretty good condition, if men were &s;ure alwaies &s;o to continue it would be comfortable: there|fore to think of an everla&s;ting crown of Glory, is a &s;oul-melting con|&s;ideration. If then this life be not a minuit in compari&s;on of the perpetual life of the ble&s;&s;ed &s;oules in heaven; how greatly are they to be blamed that for a little vain honour flattering plea&s;ure or the momentany &s;infull delights of this evil world, &s;quander away their precious &s;oules, <HI>2</HI> As the joyes of Heaven are eternal, &s;o they are exceeding great: If the men of the world which have their portion here, <HI>P&s;a. 17.14.</HI> have &s;uch &s;tately hor&s;es and plea&s;ant palaces and delights, &s;hall we not think that God hath provided ine&s;timable trea|&s;ures and plea&s;ures in the world to come for his children&punc; for whom doe earthly parents trea&s;ure up, but for their children; but if we could hut apprehend what they are, they are not the joyes of Hea|ven, for <HI>no heart can conceive what God has prepared for them that love him, 1 Cor. 29.</HI> the eye hath &s;een much, and the eare heard more, and the heart may conceive much more, but eternal plea&s;ures are inconceivable, yet the &s;piritual eye hath &s;ome glamps of it: a poor Saint findes more &s;olid and zeal joy in a crucified Chri&s;t, poore and naked and de&s;pi&s;ed in the world, then all the Dukes of Edome in
<PB N="53" REF="29">
their rich and glorious pomp and magnificence; but all the Saints living here have not &s;o much joy and &s;plendour as the lea&s;t Saint hath in heaven. The Scripture mentions three heavens, <HI>where the Fowles are, the &s;tarry Heaven, and the Heaven of heavens, 1</HI> Kings <HI>8.27.</HI> the &s;un is conceived to be <HI>300</HI> times bigger then the Earth, and every &s;tarre bigger then this lower world, and that all the earth it but as mote and not &s;o big as a flee in compari&s;on of the Emperiall coele&s;tiall Heavens where the &s;ouls of the Saints are with God and Chri&s;t; and by the largene&s;s of the place we may gue&s;s at the greatne&s;s of the joys &amp; plea&s;ures, that the Elect are but few in compari&s;on of tho&s;e who &s;hal be turned into hell, <HI>P&s;a. 9.17.</HI> as it were thru&s;t into a hole together, <HI>Matth. 25.23.</HI> our Lords joy can be no little joy, and it is too big to enter into us, we mu&s;t enter into it. Next I con&s;ider wherein the &s;ub|&s;tance and e&s;&s;ence of heavenly joyes does properly con&s;i&s;t by <HI>1 Cor. 13.12.</HI> it &s;eems much to be in &s;ight and knowledge.</P>
<P N="1">1 For &s;ight to &s;ee God face to face, to &s;ee the beautifull per&s;on of our deare Lord Je&s;us, to &s;ee all the ble&s;&s;ed &s;aints and Angels, and to be one of them, how joyfull is the thought of it; for if the dam|ned (between whom and the &s;aints there is a great gulph fixed, <HI>Luk. 16.26.</HI>) &s;hall &s;ee <HI>Abraham and the prophets in the Kingdome of God,</HI> Luke <HI>13.28.</HI> when them&s;elves are thru&s;t out (poor &s;aint-haters that now per&s;ecute the heirs of glory, &amp; &s;corn their companies would then fein crowd into heaven with them) much more the Elect them|&s;elves; but the difficulty is, how we can &s;ee &s;pirits with bodily eyes, and bodies with &s;piritual eyes. <HI>I</HI> rather think that <HI>Job 19.25, 27.</HI> is to be under&s;tood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, whom <HI>Job</HI> &s;hall &s;ee with the Eyes of his hody, and by the Eyes of our &s;oules we &s;hall &s;ee God the Father and the ble&s;&s;ed &s;pirits; and our comfort is that we &s;hall for ever be with the Lord. But here the Scripture has no Tongue to &s;peak, we mu&s;t not too curiou&s;ly inquire for knowledge, it is a wonderful ex|pre&s;&s;ion, we &s;hall know even as we are known, God knows us perfectly and what &s;hall be our la&s;t thoughts, <HI>P&s;al. 139.1, 2.</HI> All the &s;aints up|on Earth do not know &s;o much as one &s;aint in Heaven, where faith is turned into Vi&s;ion, and hope into Fruition; then &s;hall we know the love of Chri&s;t which pa&s;&s;eth all knowledge here below, <HI>Eph. 3.19.</HI> how all the love that ever God vouch&s;afed to the world, is but as a &s;park to the Oven red hot in compari&s;on of giving Chri&s;t; but I believe we &s;hal never know God comprehen&s;ively [but apprehen&s;ively] that is &s;o much
<PB N="54" REF="30">
of his glory as we &s;hall never know more, for there will he new &s;prings and fre&s;h di&s;coveries of his infinite Grace, Glory, Goodne&s;&s;e and per|fections &s;treaming forth continually to us, that will be as everla&s;ting fountaines of joy and glorious rejoycing to our &s;oules and bodies; as one at &s;ea &s;ees a great way but not to the end or bottome of the &s;ea, for we &s;hall know as much of God as our heads can hold, and love God as much as our hearts can containe; and no doubt but there are different degrees of Glory in Heaven, as the Saints know more or le&s;s of God, here as when Ve&s;&s;els of &s;everal &s;izes are ca&s;t into the &s;ea, they are all full, but &s;ome hold more then others, <HI>2 Cor. 5.4</HI> God works upon our Hearts as ingravers upon Gold or Marble, and the more of his image he &s;tamps upon us in this life, the liker &s;hall we be to him in Glory, but every &s;aint &s;hall have his own fulne&s;&s;e of know|ledge.</P>
<P N="3"><HI>3.</HI> I think that heavenly joy does much con&s;i&s;t in the will, in the transformation of our wills into the will of God; for as we heard an excellent &s;ermon from <HI>1 Cor. 6.17.</HI> at <HI>Northampton,</HI> he that is joyned unto the Lord is one &s;pirit; for I believe that mi&s;tical onene&s;&s;e which our dear Lord &s;o &s;weetly prayed for, <HI>Joh. 17.11, 21, 22.</HI> is meant of onene&s;&s;e in will and affections, when the &s;oul &s;hall have all that it can de&s;ire and nothing but what it does de&s;ire, and &s;hall will nothing but what God wills, and not onely to be &s;atisfyed with the wil of God, but but to ta&s;te a &s;weet complecency and delight in it, that it is infinitely be&s;t to be there.</P>
<P N="4"><HI>4.</HI> This transforming of the will proceeds from the apprehen&s;ion of divine love, where the &s;oul finds that God has loved it from all Eternity, that his eye and his heart are perpetually upon it for good, and knows that it is a free, pure, unchangeable, and eternal love, this cau&s;es an eternity of joy; &amp; a love is the &s;weete&s;t grace in the heart (the very &s;ugar of the &s;oul) that makes a Heaven upon Earth, where it is without di&s;&s;imulation and &s;piritual, &s;o heavenly joy will con&s;i&s;t much in love, which mu&s;t needs flow from &s;ight and knowledge, for as <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aies, <HI>1 Cor. 2.8.</HI> it is onely ignorance of God that makes &s;o many to oppo&s;e the way of truth and holine&s;s; &s;o the &s;ight of divine glorious beauty, and the knowledge of infinite wi&s;dome, power, love, and goodne&s;s in Chri&s;t, cau&s;es the &s;oul to love God, and Chri&s;t, and the Spirit, much better then it &s;elf: for if the Spou&s;e be &s;ick of love here, <HI>Cant. 5.8.</HI> and if the fire of love con&s;train militant Saints
<PB N="55" REF="30">
not to live to them&s;elves, <HI>2 Cor. 5.14.</HI> ingenuity being the great prin|ciple of the Go&s;pell not to work for life, but from life, and to doe all from a &s;pirit of love, much more the Saints triumphant: but the more I think of this ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate of glorification, the more I am at a lo&s;&s;e in it, <HI>P&s;al. 16.11. in Gods pre&s;ence there is fullne&s;&s;e of joy, and at his right hand there are plea&s;ures for evermore:</HI> and <HI>Da|vid</HI> &s;aies, P&s;al. <HI>123. that they that be wi&s;e &s;hall &s;hine as the bright|ne&s;s of the Firmament, and as the Stars for ever and ever: but one Star differeth from another in glory; and</HI> Matth. <HI>13.43. the righteous &s;hall &s;hine as the Son in the Kingdome of their Father,</HI> And our Lord &s;aies, <HI>in my Fathers Hou&s;e are many man&s;ions,</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> calls it, <HI>a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2</HI> Cor. <HI>4.17. and a building of God a Hou&s;e not made with hands eternal in the Heavens, where we &s;hall be &s;o &s;oon as the &s;oul parts from the body, 2</HI> Cor. <HI>5.1, 8.</HI> and that it is an inheritance in light, all light and no darkne&s;&s;e, <HI>1 Colo&s;&s; 12.</HI> and that the Saints &s;hall judge the world, and when Chri&s;t &s;hall appear, we &s;hall be like him; for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is, <HI>1 John 3.2.</HI> the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> there &s;hall be no &s;orrow, no crying, no pain, <HI>Rev. 21.4.</HI> and the gates of the City are pearls, and the &s;treet is pure gold, <HI>ver. 21</HI> the glory of God lightens it and the Lamb is the light thereof, <HI>v. 22.</HI> in it there is a pure river of water of life and a tree of life, which bears fruit every month, <HI>Rev. 22.1, 2.</HI> and there &s;hall be no Cur&s;es there, and there &s;hall be no night, and we &s;hall reign for ever and ever, <HI>ver. 5.</HI> All the&s;e are &s;oul ravi&s;hing con&s;iderations, and I have &s;uckt much comfort from, <HI>P&s;al. 17.15.</HI> I &s;hall be &s;atisfied when I awake with thy likene&s;&s;e; and <HI>1 The&s;&s;. 5.10.</HI> who died for us, that whether we wake or &s;leep we &s;hould live together with him; therefore let us comfort our &s;elves and edifie one another with the&s;e words, and Mr. <HI>Bur|ton</HI>'s Text, <HI>Heb. 12.22, 23.</HI> it is &s;weet al&s;o to con&s;ider of the glory of the body, <HI>1 Cor. 15.42, 43.</HI> it &s;hall be an incorruptible, glorious, powerfull, &s;piritual body, there will be charity, agility, penetrability, impo&s;&s;ibility, no hunger, no cold, it &s;hall be fa&s;hioned like unto Chri&s;ts glorious Body, <HI>Phil. 3.20.</HI> What a comfort is it to thee as me&punc; that have &s;uch crazy bodies! ulcerous <HI>Lazarus</HI> &s;hall be as &s;ound as a Fi&s;h, and we &s;hall have an everla&s;ting &s;pring of health and &s;trength which &s;hall never decay.</P>
<P><HI>U&s;e.</HI> Let this teach us more to mind eternity, to &s;tudy the joyes of
<PB N="56" REF="31">
Heaven, that we may receive a full reward, <HI>2 Ephe&s;.</HI> to <HI>8.</HI> as Mr. <HI>Whitfield</HI> once exhorted <HI>Oliver</HI> in every thing to mind and eye eter|nity; for they are the brave men and women that will be &s;o at that day: the plea&s;ures of this world are &s;o far from &s;atisfying the un|der&s;tanding and will, which are capable of God, that they can|not &s;atisfie any one &s;ence; never any Mu&s;ick &s;o &s;weet, but a man will de&s;ire to hear better, no object &s;o beautiful, no meat &s;o plea&s;ant, but a man will covet to &s;ee that which is more lovely and ta&s;ts &s;weeter, <HI>Eccle&s;. 1.8.</HI> &s;tudy that Book and Canticles well, that the &s;pirit may convince us of the vanity and vexation of all creature-delights, and of the fullne&s;&s;e and excellency that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t the be&s;t condition in this life is but a bitter-&s;weeting, all our comforts are impure mixt with Wormwood, no Ro&s;e without thorn, and the bitter is more then the &s;weet, but in Heaven all our delights are pure and unmixed, there is perfect joy without any grief, &s;ollid comforts and no afflictive mi|&s;ery, no Envy, no Emulation which abounds here; for every Saint has what his heart can de&s;ire, it is a Sinle&s;&s;e, Sorrowle&s;&s;e, Temptati|onle&s;se, Oppre&s;&s;ionle&s;&s;e, Sickle&s;&s;e, Timele&s;&s;e and Endle&s;&s;e e&s;tate, where being once Arrived we &s;hall never fear parting any more, therefore (my dear &s;weeting) let us wait patiently and chearfully for that ble&s;&s;ed tran&s;lation from Earth to Heaven; we mu&s;t begin our Hea|ven here, the more prepared to dye, the fitter we are to live, &s;o let us live, &s;o let us dye, that we way live Eternally. If thee like&s;t &s;uch poor breathings &amp; broken Meditations, thee may'&s;t command more of them, I leave thee and me and my dear child and our Chri&s;tian re|lations with thee in his Armes who is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father, therefore we need not fear what man can do unto us, <HI>E&s;a. 51.12.</HI> To him I am, thine for ever,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Thy loving Husband during this Life,</HI> John Cooke.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="57" REF="31">
<HEAD>Another <HI>Letter</HI> from Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> to a Friend af|ter Condemnation.</HEAD>
<P>DEar Brother, beloved in the Lord, <HI>condemnatus &s;um ad vi|tam,</HI> and this is my Cordial Farewel to you and all Saints, from my <HI>Jeremiahs</HI> pri&s;on; to morrow I &s;hall be in eternal glory, in the bo&s;om of Chri&s;t, where our father <HI>Abraham</HI> is, and a guard of Angels wil convey my &s;oul thither. Never let Gods people fear a pri&s;on any more, for the Lords &s;upporting or comforting &s;pirit hath not been ab&s;ent from me &s;ince my indictment. I writ a letter to you formerly, acquainting you with my &s;piritual con|dition, to which I refer you; and fearing le&s;t wrong may be done to the cau&s;e when I am in heaven, I think fit to leave a few words with my deare&s;t love to all Chri&s;tian friends.</P>
<P N="1">1. Upon my triall it came to this, that the Judges &s;aid, <HI>that all have been trea&s;on &s;ince</HI> 1642, &s;o that the Lords and Commons are not to meddle with the King. I &s;aid, <HI>that I acted obedientially by or|der from the hou&s;e of Commons, and the Commons being the repre&s;en|tatives of the people cannot commit trea&s;on, for there can be no trial of all the people. And as for any force upon the Hou&s;e in</HI> 1648. <HI>they were the onely judges of it and no inferiour Court can judge of the lawfulne&s;s or unlawfulne&s;s of their acts or orders.</HI> But they &s;aid, all our Acts and Orders are trea&s;on. So that now it is brought to that it was in 1642.</P>
<P N="2">2. I intend by Gods a&s;&s;i&s;tance upon the Ladder to beare my te&s;timony for Je&s;us Chri&s;t to all his Offices, and for a Go&s;pel Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, and to &s;peak &s;omething &s;o farre as God &s;hall enable, and wil be permitted, for <HI>the good Old cau&s;e,</HI> or righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s. I can at pre&s;ent onely leave my dear love and re&s;pects for you and my dear &s;i&s;ter, be&s;eeching God, and not doubting but that we &s;hall &s;hortly meet in eternal glory. Company &s;o &s;pends me that I can write no more; I &s;hall &s;udden|ly enter into the joy of the Lord, O ble&s;&s;ed be his name, ble&s;&s;ed be the Comforter, my &s;oul is full of con&s;olation Farewel, fare|wel, <HI>Renede in Paradi&s;o.</HI> Yours forever,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>John Cooke,</SIGNED>
<POSTSCRIPT>
<P><HI>For my dear brother</HI> F.</P>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon notes">
<PB N="58" REF="32">
<HEAD>Some Notes taken of a Sermon Preached by Mr. <HI>Hugh</HI> Peters, the <HI>14^t^h^.</HI> of <HI>October</HI> 1660. (after his Condemnation) in the pri&s;on of <HI>Newgate,</HI> wherein he was much interrupted, by the coming in, and going forth, of &s;trangers that came to &s;ee him, and the other pri&s;oners, in the Room with him, and &s;o was con&s;trained to break off the &s;ooner; And though they are but briefe Heads, yet it's thought conve|nient here to in&s;ert them, for the better &s;a|tisfaction of any, touching the frame of Mr. <HI>Hugh Peters</HI> at that time. The di&s;cour&s;e was from,</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>PSAL. 42. ver. 11.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Why art thou ca&s;t down O my &s;oule? and why art thou di&s;quieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I &s;hall yet prai&s;e him, who is the health of my Countenance and my God.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>AFter Analy&s;ing the P&s;alme, he Ob&s;erved this Do|ctrine.</P>
<P>Doctrine, <HI>That the be&s;t of Gods people are apt to be di&s;|ponding.</HI></P>
<P>This was the Mans ca&s;e in the whole 88 <HI>P&s;al.</HI></P>
<P>Al&s;o <HI>Davids</HI> ca&s;e, when he complained of the breaking of his Bones, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>This was Chri&s;ts ca&s;e him&s;elfe, when he cryed out
<PB N="59" REF="32">
<HI>My God, my God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me.</HI></P>
<P>The Rea&s;ons why the be&s;t of Gods people, are apt to di&s;pondencies, are,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>When &s;omething falls out from God more then ordi|nary, when God put's weight in Sorrow and Affliction, that makes it &s;inking; Although that Afflictions are heavy of them&s;elves many times, yet it's the weight that God puts in Sorrow, that makes it &s;ink us.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><HI>2ly, Over-valuing our comforts, puting too much upon Wife, Children, E&s;tate, or Life it &s;elf, a man is apt to be ca&s;t down when he thinks of parting with them.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>Our unpreparedne&s;&s;e for &s;ufferings, and afflicti|ons that makes us di&s;pond. Alas I thought not of it &s;ay &s;ome, it's come unexpectedly upon me.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>We are apt to di&s;pond when our Afflictions are many, when they are multitudes, when all is &s;truck at together, Name, E&s;tate, Relations and Life it &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, <HI>VVhen Afflictions are of long continuance, a man can bear that Burthen a while, that he cannot &s;tand under long.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly, <HI>VVhen afflictions fall upon the noble&s;t part of man, which is his &s;oule; then are di&s;pondencies apt to come in.</HI></P>
<P>Seventhly, <HI>VVhen we have more Sen&s;e then Faith.</HI></P>
<P>Now it &s;hould not be &s;o, Gods people ought not to di&s;pond.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Becau&s;e it di&s;covers impatiency.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Becau&s;e it di&s;covers want of Faith, they leane not upon the Rock that will not faile them.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>It di&s;covers want of Wi&s;dome,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>VVe &s;hould not be thus, becau&s;e it gratifies the Enemy, who in &s;uch a ca&s;e is ready to upbraide us, and &s;ay, where is now their God? what is become of their God?</HI></P>
<P>Now what cure and remedies are there for di&s;pon|ding.</P>
<P><PB N="60" REF="33">This Eleventh ver&s;e gives you two.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Hope in God, <HI>Hope thou in God.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Faith is &s;et on work, <HI>I &s;hall yet prai&s;e him,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>But more particularly take the&s;e directions.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Be carefull of exerci&s;ing faith, for no condition of man &s;uperceeds his Faith, do all in Faith, pray in Faith, and hear in Faith,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Now what is the exerci&s;e of Faith but rouling upon Chri&s;t, and &s;taying on him, here I'le &s;tick, if I peri&s;h I peri&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>The mi&s;carriages of Chri&s;tians, is either becau&s;e they have no faith, or el&s;e, becau&s;e, if they have faith, they give it not food to live upon; faith mu&s;t go to Chri&s;t, as the Liver Vaine, and fetch bloud and life thence. We quarrel that we have not Love, and Patience, and meek|ne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but the defect lyes in our faith, if we had more faith, we &s;hould have more of all other Graces.</P>
<P><HI>Now what is the food of Faith.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Faith will not feed upon every Di&s;h, not on a &s;talled Ox or fatted Calfe; pro&s;perity is not faiths food. But it will Eat a word, live upon promi&s;es, the&s;e nouri&s;h faith, <HI>I will never leave thee, nor for&s;ake thee, all things &s;hall work together for good,</HI> and the like promi&s;es.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Be marvellou&s;ly carefull of things below, mea&s;ure things not by &s;ence, or by a day, but by faith, and Eternity; we are troubled at the lo&s;&s;e of this and tother Creature, and comfort, but what's the value of them, the over valluing things is our mi&s;chiefe.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Go and tell the Lord Chri&s;t I have a defiled con&s;cience, and if thou doe&s;t not wa&s;h me, I am undone for Ever. See the nece&s;&s;ity and worth of Chri&s;t; there mu&s;t be &s;omething better to look at then what we loo&s;e for the pre&s;ent, &s;omething above E&s;tate, and Life, and Relations, and Name. See the worth of
<PB N="61" REF="33">
Chri&s;ts bloud, it's worth all the world, becau&s;e what the bloud of Bulls and Goats could not doe, his bloud doth clean&s;e from all &s;inne.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Keep clo&s;e to the u&s;e of Ordinances much of our mi&s;chief hath come from neglects of this kind; the &s;afety of a Chri|&s;tian lyes in the enjoyment of Church Communion, P&s;al.</HI> 27.4, 5 <HI>and</HI> 6 <HI>Ver&s;es,</HI> One thing I have de&s;ired of the Lord, and that will I &s;eeke after, that I may dwell in the hou&s;e of the Lord all the dayes of my life, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for in the time of trouble he &s;hall hide me in his Pavillion, in the &s;ecret of his Tabernacle, &s;hall he hide me, he &s;hall &s;et me upon a Rock; and now &s;hall my head be lifted up above mine Enemies round about me, &amp;c. <HI>The greate&s;t fears are di&s;|pelled there&mdash;you &s;hall find before troubles pa&s;&s;e over (for you expect &s;ome) it will be a hard matter to break Churches, they are &s;o fa&s;t chayned together, and yet there hath been mar|vellous mi&s;carriages among&s;t Saints in their Church Rela|tions.</HI> Finis.</P>
<P>He al&s;o during his impri&s;onment in the <HI>Tower,</HI> wrote &s;ome &s;heets of paper to his Daughter, leaving them with her as his la&s;t Legacy, containing in it very much &s;ound and whole&s;ome advice as to her &s;oules health. It carries with it &s;uch a &s;avour as denotes it proceeds from a &s;pi|rit that hath learned experience in Chri&s;ts &s;choole, and hath been aquainted &s;ometimes with &s;un&s;hine as well as foul weather, it's too long here to be incerted, but if it be made publick by it &s;elfe, doubtle&s;&s;e the Experienced Reader will be no loo&s;er by peru&s;ing this legacy.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="62" REF="34">
<HEAD>Some Memorable pa&s;&s;ages of Mr. <HI>Hugh Peters,</HI> in his Impri&s;onment at <HI>Newgate,</HI> and at the time of his Execution at <HI>Charing-cro&s;&s;e</HI> October <HI>16 1660.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Mr. <HI>Peters,</HI> as is well known, was exerci&s;ed under a great conflict in his own &s;pirit, during the time of his Impri&s;onment, fearing (as he would often &s;ay) that he &s;hould not go through his &s;ufferings with courage and comfort, and &s;aid to friends, that he was &s;omewhat un|prepared for death, and therefore unwilling to dye; &s;omething he &s;aid he had committed, and other things omitted, which troubled him, but though it was a clou|dy and dark day with him for a &s;ea&s;on; yet the light of Gods grace and favour would break forth at la&s;t.</P>
<P>And &s;urely the favour of God did at the la&s;t appeare, for a little before he went forth to Execution (as many can te&s;tify) he was well compo&s;ed in his Spirit, and chearfully &s;aid, I thank God now I can dye, I can looke death in the face and not be afraid.</P>
<P>As for that &s;landerous report which was too much received by good people as well as bad, to wit, that he was guilty of Uncleanne&s;&s;e. A Friend coming to him in pri&s;on, put that que&s;tion &s;eriou&s;ly and &s;oberly to his &s;oule, to which he replyed, that he ble&s;&s;ed the Lord, he was wholy clear in that matter, and that he never knew any woman but his own Wife.</P>
<P>A night or two before he &s;uffered, two of the Epi&s;co|pal Cleargy, who as &s;ome report were the Kings Chap|lains, came to give him a vi&s;it; they endeavoured to make advantage of the pre&s;ent temptations wherewith
<PB N="63" REF="34">
he was then a&s;&s;aulted, and to per&s;wade him to a Repen|tance and Recantation of his former Activity in the Parliament cau&s;e, which they endeavoured to enforce upon him by a promi&s;e of pardon from the King, in ca&s;e he would therein hearken to them, But though he was then much afflicted in his &s;pirit, yet the Lord did help him to beare up with much courage again&s;t the in&s;inua|tions of that &s;ort of men, and told them he had no cau&s;e in the lea&s;t to repent of his Adhering to that intere&s;t; but rather, that he had in the pro&s;ecution thereof done no more for God and his people, in the&s;e Nations, and with civility di&s;mi&s;&s;ing tho&s;e Vi&s;itants, he applyed him|&s;elfe to &s;ome other Mini&s;ters then pre&s;ent, whome he judged more able to &s;peake a word in &s;ea&s;on to him un|der the&s;e great Tryals, wherewith the Lord was then plea&s;ed to exerci&s;e him.</P>
<P>Being carried upon the &s;ledge to Execution, and made to &s;it therein within the Railes at <HI>Charing-Cro&s;&s;e,</HI> to behold the Execution of Mr. <HI>Cooke.</HI> One comes to him, and upbraided him with the Death of the King, bidding him (with opprobrious language) to repent: he replyed, Friend, you do not well to trample upon a Dy|ing man, you are greatly mi&s;taken, I had nothing to do in the death of the King.</P>
<P>When Mr. <HI>Cooke</HI> was cut down, and brought to be quartered, one they called Coll. <HI>Turner,</HI> called to the Sheriffs men, to bring Mr. <HI>Peters</HI> neer, that he might &s;ee it, And by and by the Hangman came to him, all be|&s;mered in bloud, &amp; rubbing his bloudy hands together, he (tauntingly) asked, come, how do you like this Mr. <HI>Peters,</HI> how do you like this work? to whom he replyed, I am not (I thank God) terrifyed at it, you may do your wor&s;t:</P>
<P><PB N="64" REF="35">When he was going to his execution, he lookt about and e&s;pied a man, to whom he gave a piece of gold (having bowed it fir&s;t) and de&s;ired him to goe to the place where his daughter lodged, and to carry that to her as a token from him, and to let her know <HI>that his heart was as full of comfort as it could he; and that before that piece &s;hould come to her hands, he &s;hould be with God in glory.</HI></P>
<P>Being upon the Ladder he &s;pake to the Shieriffe, &s;ay|ing, <HI>Sir, you have here &s;lain one of the &s;ervants of God before mine eyes, and have made me to behold it, on purpo&s;e to terri|fie and di&s;courage me, But God hath made it an Ordinance to me for my &s;trengthning and encouragement.</HI></P>
<P>When he was going to die, he &s;aid, <HI>What fle&s;h, art thou unwilling to go to God through the fire and jawes of death? Oh</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>this is a good day, he is come that I have long loo|ked for, and I &s;hall be with him in glory,</HI> and &s;o &s;miled when he went away.</P>
<P>What Mr. <HI>Peters</HI> &s;aid further at his Execution, either in his Speech or Prayer, it could not be taken, in regard his voyce was low at that time, and the people uncivill.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="57" REF="35">
<HEAD>Some Pa&s;&s;ages and occa&s;ional Speeches of Mr. <HI>Scot's</HI> before he came to Execution.</HEAD>
<P>VVHen he was in the Tower, a Relation &s;ent to know how he did; To which he returned this an&s;wer, That he had been very ill all night, and had &s;ome Apprehen|&s;ions that it might be unto death. But, &s;aid he, I was not at all di&s;plea&s;ed; for if it be the Will of God, that I may not live his Servant, I would dye his Sacrifice.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t day that he came to New-gate, &s;ome friends came to &s;ee him, and asked him how it was with him; he told them, he was well; but he waited and much longed for a word of Peace from God: But (&s;aid he) I Ble&s;s God (though it is &s;omewhat dark with me at pre&s;ent, and I know I have a very naughty heart) yet I have not one Tempta|tion to de&s;ert <HI>that good Cau&s;e,</HI> which God hath &s;o &s;ignally (ma|ny a time) owned.</P>
<P>The next day, which was the day Maj. Gen. <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> was Condemned, &s;ome of his Relations came to him, and told him, They &s;uppo&s;ed he had heard what di&s;mal Sentence was pa&s;&s;ed on him; And, O Sir, &s;aid one of them, my heart fails me to think how you will bear it. Why, &s;aid he, fle&s;h and blood will recoil; But, ble&s;&s;ed be God, I am not troubled at that; A fit of an Ague would co&s;t a man more, I believe.</P>
<P>The day after he was Condemned him&s;elf, his Wife and other Relations and Friends came to him: O Sir, &s;aid &s;ome, how is it now? Why, &s;aid he, Ble&s;&s;ed, O ble&s;&s;ed Chains! I would not be without the&s;e Chains. Indeed, it was a very dark, di&s;mal, cloudy morning, I was brought to be content to peri&s;h. Truly, I thought I could not plead at all, my &s;oul was &s;o &s;ad, becau&s;e God hid his face: But I was re&s;olved, &s;aid he, if I could have &s;aid no more, to tell the Court, <HI>That the Cau&s;e was the Lords;</HI> and the fault was not in the Lord, but my great per&s;onal unworthine&s;s, that I could not a&s;&s;ert it; And that though I did &s;ink into the Bottomle&s;s Pit immediat|ly, yet I dur&s;t not, no not for a World, but own that Cau&s;e,
<PB N="58" REF="36">
which God had often honoured. But, &s;aid he, the Lord for your &s;akes did help me to &s;ay &s;omewhat; but, truly it was but pitiful. I thought if I might have been &s;uffered, (although I have not &s;lept, to &s;peak of, the&s;e two nights) I could have &s;poken three or four hours longer. And now, &s;aid he, as dark as it was in the morning, 'tis &s;o bright, &s;o quiet and calm, that truly I think, if I were to be executed to morrow, I could &s;leep all night as well as ever. But (lifting up his eyes) Lord, &s;aid he, I would not be too confident: O pardon thy &s;ervant. But, being in a very chearful frame, his Friends and Relations left him at that time, and, becau&s;e of ilne&s;s, could not vi&s;it him next day.</P>
<P>But on the next fir&s;t-day of the week, being with him, he told them he found an increa&s;ed &s;trength. That day about noon; the Warrant for Execution was &s;igned; at which time, he was de&s;irous to have a Repreeve gained, if po&s;&s;ible: not (&s;aid he) that I expect Life; but methinks my Wedding Garment is not quite ready: a little more time, that I may, as a Bride, be ready trimmed. That evening it was told him, that Sir <HI>O. B.</HI> would &s;peak with him the next morning; and &s;ome told him, it may be that would prove an hour of Temptation. Truly (&s;aid he) I ble&s;&s;e God, I am at a point, I cannot, no, I cannot de&s;ert the CAUSE.</P>
<P>The next morning they two were together, the matter of their di&s;cour&s;e I know not, but I remember when his Wife de&s;ired to go to <HI>O. B.</HI> that evening, to &s;ee if he would be her dear Hu&s;|bands (or rather her) Mediator to his Maje&s;ty for his Life. It may be (&s;aid he) Sir <HI>O. B.</HI> may &s;ay, That I &s;hould confe&s;s guilt, and do the King &s;ome &s;ervice. Prethee tell him, I would engage to live quietly; but for owning <HI>Guilt,</HI> that I cannot do: For to this day I am not convinced of any, as to <HI>the Death of the King,</HI> and that I went but too far, in asking the benefit of the <HI>Proclamation;</HI> and I cannot go any further, no not to &s;ave a Thou&s;and Lives.</P>
<P>That evening came in two Mini&s;ters: one, or both of them, (after they had talked with him a good while) I heard them ask, <HI>Whether he did acknowledge his Guilt?</HI> for they believed his owning of that, would be the mo&s;t likely (if not a mo&s;t certain) means, to prolong his Life. To which he an&s;wered, That al|though
<PB N="59" REF="36">
he had often, and that with many tears (and he thought with &s;ome brokenne&s;s of heart) &s;ought the Lord to convince him of it, if he had any <HI>Guilt</HI> in him, as to that particular Action, (for which he was then in Chains, and under Condemnation) for, &s;aid he, I would not for a World die with one Sin unrepented of: But, &s;aid he&punc; Really, to this day I have no &s;uch Conviction. But, &s;aid the Doctor, <HI>Sir, If any &s;uch do come in, will you tell us?</HI> Yes, &s;aid he, I profe&s;s I will, if it come in at the la&s;t moment, even at the Gibbet, I will tell the World of it. And it is ob|&s;ervable, that &s;ome of his la&s;t words were, <HI>That God had en|gaged him in a CA&V;SE, not to be Repented of,</HI> I &s;ay, <HI>Not to be Repented of</HI> &mdash;</P>
<P>The night before Execution, when he was in the Dungeon, he was (as he had been that day) &s;ome &s;adder than at other times; And one asked him, if any particular thing lay on him? He &s;aid, No, But the Lord was plea&s;ed to &s;u&s;pend his Comfort|ing pre&s;ence: but, &s;aid he (with an humble boldne&s;s I would &s;peak it) The Lord &s;hall not put me off with any thing be&s;ides Him&s;elf. After, having &s;pent &s;ome hours in Prayer, as at other times, about midnight we left him, and his Fellows, that they might get a little re&s;t, for the &s;upport of their natural &s;pirits; and in three or four hours his Wife, Children, and many other friends returned. When we came, we found them praying: A&s;&s;oon as Col. <HI>Scroop</HI> had ended, Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> turned about, and opening his arms, he imbraced his Wife, and one of his Daughters: Ah, &s;aid he, my dear ones, <HI>God is good, he is come, he is come! I am full, I am full. O ble&s;&s;e the Lord for me, and with me; O my &s;oul, and all that is within me, magnifie the Lord.</HI> By and by he went to prayer him&s;elf; and one would have thought he had been (as it were) in Heaven, his &s;oul was &s;o enlarged in ble&s;&s;ing, prai&s;ing and magnifying the God of his Salvation. O! &s;aid he to his Wife, <HI>I would not change this dark Room for the be&s;t Star-Chamber under Heaven.</HI> He de&s;ired his Friends and Relations would not be &s;olicitous for his Body; but let them do what they plea&s;ed, and exerci&s;e what Cruelty they would; &s;aying, it was meet it &s;hould be &s;o: And that the dead Bodies of the Witne&s;&s;es mu&s;t be unburied, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.</P>
<P>Some part of his prayer was, to ble&s;&s;e the Lord, That (as the
<PB N="60" REF="37">
P&s;almi&s;t &s;aid) though he came in there weeping, and fearing that he had not yet been bearing precious feed, yet now they were returning rejoycing and triumphing, and carrying their &s;heaves with them. Call us not (&s;aid he) <HI>Marahs</HI> (as &s;he once &s;aid) but call us <HI>Naomies:</HI> for we came in hither (&s;ome of us) <HI>empty;</HI> but we are going out <HI>full:</HI> The Lord hath not writ <HI>bitter</HI> things, but <HI>good</HI> of us; for this is glorious Grace, <HI>That We are counted worthy to &s;uffer for GOD and His CA&V;SE.</HI> Oh! what &s;hall we render to the Lord? Wee will <HI>take the Cup of Salva|tion and call upon the Name of the Lord.</HI> Oh our &s;ouls, ble&s;&s;e the Lord! And we do with our &s;ouls ble&s;&s;e Thee, that we have an Eternity to ble&s;&s;e Thee in; for no le&s;&s;e will &s;atisfie our &s;ouls, And now, O ble&s;&s;ed and glorious God, &s;hall we be among thy Worthies?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Meaning</HI> N. G. H. Mr. Ca|rew, <HI>and</HI> Mr. Cook.</NOTE> if Po&s;&s;ible, let us attain to the fir&s;t Three; but if we attain not to &s;o glorious a Te&s;timony as that, yet O Lord, let us be among thy Worthies. We de&s;ire to glorifie thy great and ble&s;&s;ed Name, that Thou ha&s;t in any mea&s;ure enabled us to en|courage our hearts in the Lord our God, at &s;uch a time as this, when Eighty is (as it were) in the flames; and the people &s;peak of wor&s;e than &s;toning us. When &s;ome &s;pake of the Reproaches of the people, he &s;aid, he accounted that his honour.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Scot's</HI> Speech upon the Ladder.</HEAD>
<P><HI>GENTLEMEN,</HI> I &s;tand here a Spectacle to GOD, to Angels, and Men: To GOD and Angels, to whom I hope I am &s;hortly a going. And now to you I owe it; to God, and the Nation, and my &s;elf, to &s;ay &s;omething concerning each. For my &s;elf, I think it may become me to tell you how and why I came hither: and &s;omething in the general, concerning my ca|pacity. In the beginning of the&s;e Troubles I was (as many others were) un&s;atisfied: I &s;aw Liberties and Religion in the Nation, in great danger, to my be&s;t apprehen&s;ion; I &s;aw the approaches of Popery in a great mea&s;ure, coming in upon us: I &s;aw &mdash;</P>
<P>Upon which the <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted him in the&s;e words:</P>
<P><HI>If you will betake your &s;elf to prayers, you may.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> replied, I &s;hall not &s;peak to reproach any &mdash;</P>
<P><PB N="61" REF="37">The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted him again, &s;aying, <HI>You have but a little time, Mr.</HI> Scot, <HI>Therefore betake that little time to prayer.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> replied, I &s;hall &s;peak &mdash;.</P>
<P>The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted him again, &s;aying, <HI>I be&s;eech you Sir, betake your &s;elf to prayer.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> &s;aid, It may become me to give account of my &s;elf, becau&s;e &mdash;</P>
<P>The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted him again, &s;aying, <HI>It doth not become you to &s;peak any &s;uch thing here; Therefore I be&s;eech you betake your &s;elf to prayer; it is but a little time you have to live: you know, Mr.</HI> Scot, <HI>that is the mo&s;t needful thing.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> replied, 'Tis &s;o.&mdash;</P>
<P>The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupts again, &s;aying, <HI>Sir, But when you came upon the Stage, you deprived your &s;elf very much.</HI></P>
<P>Then &s;aid Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> I thought to tell you how I came hither&mdash; Here the <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted again (or el&s;e &s;ome one be&s;ides the <HI>Sheriff</HI>) and &s;pake to this effect. <HI>Every body knows, that</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> &s;aid, Sir, 'tis hard that an Engli&s;h man hath not li|berty to &s;peak &mdash;</P>
<P>The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted again, &s;aying, <HI>I cannot &s;uffer you to &s;peak any &s;uch thing.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> &s;aid, I &s;hall &s;ay no more but this, That it is a very mean and bad Cau&s;e that will nor bear the words of a dying-man: it is not ordinarily denied to people in this condition &mdash;</P>
<P>The <HI>Sheriff</HI> interrupted again, &s;aying, <HI>Sir, you had a fair Tryal, and you were found guilty.</HI></P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> replied, 'Tis according to my mind to &s;peak what may be &s;aid&mdash;</P>
<P>Hear the Under-Sheriff interrupted, &s;aying, <HI>It hath been de|nyed unto your Predece&s;&s;ors, and will be denyed unto you.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Then he Prayed as followeth.</HEAD>
<P>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 unworthy Creature comes now to bear his Witne&s;s in this great &s;pectacle, before Thee, Angels and
<PB N="62" REF="38">
Men. O Lord, were it not for Sin, none of the&s;e things had be|fallen this Nation, nor my unworthy &s;elf: We have all tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ed and gone a&s;tray from thee by a perpetual back-&s;liding; even all, of a &s;orts, conditions, ranks and orders of men: And among them none, none more than thy poor unworthy Creature, who ac|knowledgeth the &s;ame here before Thee, in the face of Heaven, and in Thy Pre&s;ence, to which he is very &s;hortly a going. That glorious Grace, which thou ha&s;t been plea&s;ed to afford unto his &s;oul in it. Thou art gone to the highe&s;t extent of mercy that ever was &s;hewed to any of the &s;ons of men. Thy poor &s;ervant doth ac|knowledge him&s;elf to be the greate&s;t of tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors. And thy glorious Grace is magnified above all thy Name, in what Thou ha&s;t done for thy poor Creature. But Lord, &s;o it is, becau&s;e &s;uch is thy good plea&s;ure, &s;uch was thy de&s;ign from Eternity; through or in the great Tran&s;actions that was between Thee, and Chri&s;t thy ble&s;&s;ed Son, and our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour; that Thou &s;houlde&s;t in thy dispen&s;ation, in the governing of thy Church in the World: That thou &s;houlde&s;t glorifie thy Free-grace in pardoning of the Sins, and in the Salvation of &s;ome of lo&s;t Man-kind, which was the great Ma&s;ter-piece of thy Love, that thou &s;houlde&s;t chu&s;e out of poor lo&s;t Man-kind one or other, it is of admirable and incom|prehen&s;ible mercy: And that thou &s;houlde&s;t chu&s;e thy poor Crea|ture as one in the number, is matter of Adoration, Admiration, is matter of Eternal Exta&s;ie, and is matter of Thank&s;giving for ever: And this is the comfort of his poor &s;oul, that he &s;hall have an Eternity with thy &s;elf; Thou ha&s;t &s;o a&s;&s;ured him, that he &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ing, honouring and magnifying of Thee among a com|pany of Saints and Angels, and the &s;ouls of ju&s;t men made perfect. O ble&s;&s;ed Lord, thou ha&s;t called him forth as a publick Spectacle to &s;ome, in a condition of Shame and Reproach; to others, of Com|fort; and to thy Ble&s;&s;ed Self, as one that is a Witne&s;s for Thee, that hath &s;erved Thee with all faithfulne&s;s in his tru&s;t and pub|lick capacity and imployment. O Lord, thy Dispen&s;ation to thy poor Creature hath been wonderful gracious, and merciful; and he mu&s;t &s;ay, to the prai&s;e of thy Free-grace&mdash;</P>
<P><HI>Here the</HI> Hangman <HI>&s;tooping down to take Drink, which was reached up to him upon the Ladder, interrupted him; Upon which Mr.</HI> Scot <HI>&s;aid, prethee let me alone, I have not done; and then proceeded in Prayer as followeth.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="63" REF="38">&mdash; That this very Condition to which he is now brought, he acknowledgeth, is the an&s;wer of his Prayer before his going out of <HI>England.</HI> Thou knowe&s;t Lord, he did many times in pray|ers and tears &s;eek thy ble&s;&s;ed Maje&s;ty, for Coun&s;el and for Ad|vice; whether it were his duty to &s;tay and &s;uffer, or to &s;helter him|&s;elf abroad: And if it were thy will to take more honour to thy &s;elf, by his Suffering than his Living; thou woulde&s;t be plea&s;ed to Remand him back again, and bring him hither. And he hath ob&s;erved thy Providence checking of his way, and in pre&s;erving him all along until he came to this. O ble&s;&s;ed Lord, thy poor Creature doth acknowledge, that thy ways to his poor Soul, have been of wonderful grace and mercy. It was a great mercy to him, that having had (by rea&s;on of many &s;inful temptations, and many incumbrances, and many ince&s;&s;ant Bu&s;ine&s;&s;es in the World, whereof he hath been a perpetual drudge) many years pa&s;t; and he hath not had the conveniency, though his duty: The Lord knowes he had not the conveniency, nor the heart, &s;o to improve and keep his own vineyard, while he had been look|ing after, or keeping others vineyard: Thou did&s;t therefore all along (while he was abroad) give &s;weet opportunities, and preci|ous &s;ea&s;ons, (while he was abroad, of &s;eeking thy face, and &s;tudy|ing his Souls good concerning Eternity, and the Eternnal plea&s;ure of thy holy will: And he ble&s;&s;eth thy name, that thou ha&s;t been plea&s;ed to open to him, both the Scripture and his under&s;tanding; and &s;o to an&s;wer the one by the other, as that he is (through the grace of God) comfortably per&s;waded, that his eternal e&s;tate is out of hazard. But O Lord, thou ha&s;t been plea&s;ed, all the while that his condition hath been doubtful, to make his Comforts to his poor &s;oul doubtful al&s;o; &s;ometimes fear, and &s;ometimes hope, have been mixed: Again, and again wanting tho&s;e Con&s;olations that might &s;upport his &s;oul to &s;uch an i&s;&s;ue. But ble&s;&s;ed be thy glorious Name, the great God of Heaven and Earth, he hath been plea&s;ed to bear him witne&s;s to him&s;elf, to Angels, and to all that hear me this day, this very day, thy poor Servant that now &s;tands to &s;uffer, had joy and much Con&s;olation from God, and from his <HI>Cau&s;e,</HI> more than ever he had before: I &s;ay again, to the prai&s;e of the Free-Grace of God, I ble&s;s his Name, he hath engaged me in a <HI>Cau&s;e not to be repented of;</HI> I &s;ay, in a <HI>Cau&s;e not to be repented of</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P><PB N="64" REF="39"><HI>Here the Sheriff interrupted him, &s;aying, Is this your Prayers Mr.</HI> Scot? <HI>de&s;iring him to forbear tho&s;e kind of Expre&s;&s;ions, O|thers al&s;o told him, that he contradicted him&s;elf, and &s;poke Bla&s;|phemy.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Then Mr.</HI> Scot <HI>&s;aid,</HI> I &s;hall &s;ay no more but this; The Lord I do acknowledge, that this very morning in the <HI>Dark Chamber,</HI> I had very much of the pre&s;ence of God; and from thence I take Con&s;olation to my &s;elf, that his Spirit is with me, and that he hath &s;ealed unto my &s;oul the Decrees of Heaven, at lea&s;t per&s;wa|ded my &s;oul, that it will be well with me, and that I am out of all danger as to my Eternal Condition; and that I &s;hall live and reign with him there, where all &s;in &s;hall be done away, which is the growing glory of my &s;oul, and all tears wipt away al&s;o; In the mean time I pray thee O Lord, that thou woulde&s;t remember <HI>England,</HI> and remember thy <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> in <HI>England;</HI> and remember me with the joyes of thy Salvation in the in&s;tant of my departure; O Lord, it is an narrow entrance, it is a &s;trait pa&s;&s;age, it is an entrance into Eternity. O Lord thou ha&s;t once to day &s;hewed me &s;omething beyond it, &s;omething of the glory of God; I pray thee for&s;ake me not while I am here and &s;en&s;ible, or afterwards in the pa&s;&s;age of my &s;oul; to thee I leave it, and to thy Providence, and do acknowledge thy goodne&s;s to my &s;oul, in fitting me to re|ceive that good which thou in thy infinite plea&s;ure, do&s;t think fit for me; And therefore O Lord, into thy hands I commend my Spirit. Lord I de&s;ire to have &s;ome more te&s;timony of thy Love, if it be thy ble&s;&s;ed will: It is enough that I live upon what I had to day; but if it be agreeable to thy holy will, I would ho|nour and eternally ble&s;s thee, if thou would&s;t be plea&s;ed to &s;hine upon me, with &s;ome more particular immediate di&s;coveries of thy pre&s;ence; but not my will but thy will be done. The Lord be plea|&s;ed to &s;ettle the Nation in peace, and in the power and purity of Religion, and thy Ordinances in purity: And Lord, for thy Son, that is the darling of thy Soul; Be thou plea&s;ed to give him a glorious entertainment in the world; and let the Kingdoms of the world, become the Kingdoms of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Lord thou ha&s;t a <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> in the world, dear unto thee, I pray thee own it; though it may not be owned in all places, and by all per&s;ons, yet Religion is the Intere&s;t of them all. O Lord Remember the price
<PB N="65" REF="39">
of Blood, that hath been &s;hed for the purcha&s;ing of the Civil and Chri&s;tian Liberties. And remember thy Enemies, that are not incorrigible Enemies to thy Truth and Holine&s;s; and give them under&s;tanding to &s;ee their Error, and to turn to thee; a heart broken, and with humiliation, that they may &s;eek God with their whole heart; that they may be a Holy or Immanuel Na|tion, <HI>A Cho&s;en Generation, A peculiar People, zealous of good Works,</HI> careful to <HI>&s;hew forth the virtue of him that hath Called them from Death to Life.</HI> The Lord call in all that be|long to the <HI>Election of Grace</HI> &s;peedily, into that Number; Let no Weapon formed again&s;t thy Church pro&s;per; But Lord Re|member Zion, if it be thy good plea&s;ure, and repair the Walls of thy Jeru&s;alem. O Lord, thy <HI>CAUSE</HI> lies near the hearts of thy People; And I bear thee Witne&s;s, that I have this In|come from thee, as the Return of their Prayers; And that we are Supported to bear Witne&s;s for thee very chearfully and with &s;atisfaction. I de&s;ire to be found of thee in Je&s;us Chri&s;t: I do now abhor all my &s;ins, and renounce my Services; and do account them all as dung. Lord thou knowe&s;t, I have de&s;ired to live, that I might &s;erve thee better, and love thee more; but that I may be with thy &s;elf, Oh it is infinitely better; and to confirm that Te&s;timony that 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, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<HEAD>Some Memorable Pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>Col. Adrian Scroope,</HI> after his Condemnation, and in his Impri&s;onment at Newgate, which (though they are but few) may di&s;cover the excellent chri&s;tian frame of his heart, and how he was born up under &s;o great Sufferings.</HEAD>
<P>AFter his Condemnation, one of his Children hanging upon him, and weeping over him, he &s;aid, Peace, Child, peace, be &s;till, not a word; thou ha&s;t a ble&s;&s;ed Portion: Who would be troubled to dye? for can any one have greater honour, than to have his Soul carried up to Heaven, upon the wings of the Prayers of &s;o many Saints?</P>
<P><PB N="66" REF="40">When the Jaylor called him, and Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> Mr. <HI>Jones,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Clement,</HI> to go to the Dungeon, &s;aying Gentlemen, you mu&s;t got to the Room where Mr. <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> was. Sayes Colonel <HI>Scroop,</HI> Mu&s;t we all go? He repleyed, Yes. At which, laying his hand on his brea&s;t, and elevating his eyes, with a &s;erious coun|tenance, &s;aid, Ble&s;&s;ed be God that we are not parted.</P>
<P>As he &s;ate at Dinner he &s;poke to a Mini&s;ter that was with them &s;aying. I would &s;peak it for glory of God's Free-grace, and and comfort of you all, That my &s;ins are all pardoned; not one and in the &s;trength of this, will I go to Heaven.</P>
<P>Speaking to &s;ome Friends that came to vi&s;it him, &s;aid, I de&s;ire all the People of God, to look at the Lords hand in this Di&s;pen|&s;ation, and own his Soveraignity; &s;peak well, of him, what-ever he doth; lie at his feet with their mouthes in the du&s;t; and live more in love and unity one with another.</P>
<P>A tall Gentleman coming into the Dungeon to &s;ee Col. <HI>Scroop,</HI> the night before he dyed, &s;aid to him, Uncle, I am &s;orry to &s;ee you in this condition, and would de&s;ire you to repent of the Fact, for which you are brought hither, and &s;tand to the Kings mercy; and more words so the &s;ame effect. Whereupon Col. <HI>Scroop</HI> put forth his hand, and thru&s;t him from him, u&s;ing the&s;e words, AVOID SATAN.</P>
<P>When the time approached for his Execution, Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> and Mr. <HI>Clement</HI> were fir&s;t carried away in the Sleds, and the &s;ame Sleds was afterwards to come and carry Col. <HI>Scroop,</HI> and Col. <HI>Jones;</HI> during that time, &s;ayes Col. <HI>Scroop,</HI> Well Brother <HI>Jones,</HI> do you &s;pend your time as the Lord &s;hall direct you, I intend to take a little &s;teep, for I &s;lept not well the la&s;t night; and my Countenance is not &s;o fre&s;h as I would have it. Thereupon he laid him down, and &s;lept &s;o &s;oundly, that he &s;nored very loud, and &s;o continued until the Sled came for him: whereupon, being a|wakened, he ri&s;eth up; and a Friend taking him in his Arms, asked him how he did? he an&s;wers, Very well, I thank God, never better in all my life.</P>
<P>And now, &s;aith he, <HI>will I wa&s;h mine hands in Innocency, So will I compa&s;&s;e thine Altar, O Lord:</HI> And &s;o with great chear|fulne&s;s went to Execution.</P>
<P><PB N="67" REF="40">Colonel <HI>Adrian Scroop,</HI> and Colonel <HI>John Jones</HI> (two comely ancient Gentlemen) were both drawn upon that Sled which carried Mr. <HI>Scot;</HI> and being come to <HI>Charing-Cro&s;&s;e,</HI> the place of Execution, Col. <HI>Scroop</HI> was fir&s;t brought up to the Ladder, where he &s;pake as followeth.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>Col. <HI>Scroop's</HI> Speech at Execution, Octob. <HI>17. 1660.</HI></HEAD>
<P>YOu &s;ee an Object here, that hath been in a better place; but how&s;oever the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath &s;ent me to this place, that in this place I &s;hould die. I have no Animo&s;ity nor Malice again&s;t any man, nor ever had I; neither have I any evil will to tho&s;e that brought me hither, nor to the Jury that found me guilty, nor Judges that pa&s;&s;ed Sentence; nor to him through who&s;e means I was brought here to &s;uffer. I &s;ay, once more, the Lord forgive him, I &s;hall not name him; for I come not hither to reflect upon any mans per&s;on.</P>
<P>I will not tell you what my Breeding hath been, becau&s;e it is not good for any man (e&s;pecially at &s;uch a time as this) to boa&s;t of his Linage or Breeding; But this I &s;hall &s;ay, that I was born and bred a Gentleman.</P>
<P>As for my Carriage, it may be &s;ome that looks upon me here, knows what it hath been: How&s;oever the Lord knows all, and the Lord God is Judge of all, and he will judge; I &s;hall &s;ub|mit my &s;elf to his Judgment, which is a Righteous Judgment. The judgement of men may go wrong, but Gods Judgement is right, I &s;hall &s;ubmit to his way, The Lord he is the <HI>Rock of Ages,</HI> and my Support under this great Weight that is now up|on me: I look up to him alone, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t is my Sa|viour and my Redeemer; I am going into his Arms, ble&s;&s;ed be his Name: I follow him, he is gone before me the &s;ame way: Therefore it is no reproach or &s;hame to follow the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to die in his Cau&s;e; for that is it which I judge I am now going to do.</P>
<P>That which I do de&s;ire of you (here are a great many Specta|tors both on the right hand and on the left) is, That this day may repre&s;ent to you, the general Day of the Judgement of Chri&s;t, where you mu&s;t appear, and there every man mu&s;t receive ac|cording to their works: And at that time it will be known; I
<PB N="68" REF="41">
&s;ay, at that time it will be known and &s;een, who&s;e works are righteous, and who&s;e are not: Therefore I would wi&s;h you, and de&s;ire you, to judge charitably of me.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Col. <HI>Scroop</HI> having given a brief account of him&s;elf to the People, his la&s;t work was, to give up him&s;elf to God in Prayer, as follovveth.</HEAD>
<P><HI>O</HI> Lord, thou art my Father, a pre&s;ent help in trouble; Thou art my Father, I believe in Thee: I come unto thee, Lord Je&s;us, that went unto thy Father, and my Father, thy God and my God; and this is that which doth &s;upport my &s;pirit, and ena|ble me to undergo this Death with chearfulne&s;s and readine&s;s. Lord, thou knowe&s;t my heart and affections, and my de&s;ires, Oh deal not with me according to my &s;ins, I am a mi&s;erable wretched &s;inner; <HI>If thou enter into Judgment, who is able to &s;tand before thee? but there is forgivene&s;s with thee, that thou maye&s;t be feared.</HI> O Lord let it be known and &s;een, that there hath not been any heart in me, to do any thing with Malice or Revenge, or that might &s;hew any Revenge: If there be any Revenge on the other &s;ide, the Lord lay it not to their charge. The Lord ble&s;&s;e tho&s;e in Authority, the Lord ble&s;&s;e his Majesty that he may reign prosperou&s;ly, and that he may receive a ble&s;&s;ing from the hand of the Lord. O Lord, thou &s;ee&s;t my failings, my infir|mities and weakne&s;&s;es: O Lord, I be&s;eech thee that thou would&s;t bear with me, thou art a tender-hearted Father; Thou art my &s;trength: When my heart and my &s;trength faileth, then thou art the &s;trength of my heart, and my portion for ever. O Lord be with me in this hour of Temptation, and carry me through it; for thou art my God and my Father, into who&s;e hands I com|mend my &s;pirit, for thou ha&s;t redeemed me.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<HEAD>The <HI>Copy</HI> of a Letter &s;ent from <HI>Col. John Jones,</HI> when Pri&s;oner in the <HI>Tovver</HI> of <HI>London,</HI> to a Relation.</HEAD>
<P>I Am very much grieved, to find (by the Note I received from you) &s;uch dark and &s;ad Apprehen&s;ions upon your Spi|rit concerning me: VVe are in the hands of the Lord, and what he hath appointed for us, will be our portion, and no man can
<PB N="69" REF="41">
fru&s;trate his holy purpo&s;e concerning us; which I que&s;tion not will be found to be in love, what ever appearance it may have to men. My Advice is to you and all that love me, That (in ca&s;e I be removed from you) you do not, neither in reallity, nor outward garb, mourn for me; but rather rejoyce, that my Portion is in Heaven; and that my Di&s;&s;olution or Removal out of this earthly Tabernacle, is but in order to my Cloathing with Immortality, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing my Eternal Man&s;ion; and to my being for ever with Chri&s;t, to behold his glory; And therefore that you do not behave your &s;elf, as tho&s;e that have <HI>no hopes but of this life.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, That you take off your mind from me, and fix it unmovably upon your eternal Relation, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; in who&s;e glorious and ble&s;&s;ed pre&s;ence, we &s;hall meet ere long, to our Eternal Rejoycing; It is the goodne&s;s of the Lord to us, to remove all Creature Comforts from us, that our Souls might have no re&s;ting-place to delight in, or to promi&s;e them &s;afety; until we return to the Ark of his Te&s;timony, the bo&s;ome of his love manife&s;ted and exhibited for us, in our ble&s;&s;ed Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. I write in ha&s;t, therefore excu&s;e my abruptne&s;s.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thine in Sincere Love, JOHN JONES.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>Tower, <DATE><HI>Sept.</HI> 19. 1660.</DATE></DATELINE>
<POSTSCRIPT>
<P>Let the Fir&s;t and la&s;t Ver&s;es of <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 27. be con&s;tantly fixed up|on thy mind.</P>
<P>Ver. 1. <HI>The Lord is my light &amp; my &s;alvation, whom &s;hall I fear? The Lord is the &s;trength of my life, of whom &s;hall I be afraid?</HI></P>
<P>Ver&s;. 14. <HI>Wait on the Lord, be of good, courage, and he &s;hall &s;trengthen thy heart; wait I &s;ay on the Lord.</HI></P>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>Some few living Sentences, that fell from a Dying Man, Col. <HI>Joh. Jones,</HI> when he was in his Chains in <HI>Newgate.</HI></HEAD>
<P>OB&s;erving one of Col. <HI>Scroopes</HI> children weeping, he takes her by the hand, &s;aying to her, You are weeping for your Father, but &s;uppo&s;e your Father were to morrow to be King of
<PB N="70" REF="42">
<HI>France,</HI> and you were to tarry a little behind, would you weep &s;o? why he is going to reign with the King of Kings, in everla|&s;ting Glory.</P>
<P>Speaking to a Friend, that was to have accompanied him into <HI>Ireland,</HI> Ah! dear heart (&s;ayes he) thee and I were in that &s;torm together, going to <HI>Ireland,</HI> and if we had gone this jour|ney then, we had been in Heauen to have welcomed hone&s;t <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> and <HI>Carew;</HI> but we will be content to go after them, we will go after.</P>
<P>Speaking of tho&s;e that were gone beyond the Seas, (O dear hearts, &s;ayes he) in what a &s;ad condition are our dear Friends beyond Sea, where they may be hunted from place to place, and never be in &s;afety, nor hear the voice of the Turtle; how much have we gotten the &s;tart of them, for we are at a point, and are now going to Heaven?</P>
<P>Speaking of the Sled in which he was to be carryed to Execu|tion; it is (&s;aid he) like <HI>Elija's</HI> Fiery Charriot, only it goes through <HI>Fleet&s;treet.</HI></P>
<P>The time of his departure being come, this Aged Gentleman, was drawn in one Sled, with his Aged Companion, Col. <HI>Scroop,</HI> who&s;e grave and graceful Countenances, accompanied with cou|rage and chearfulne&s;s, cau&s;ed great Admiration and Compa&s;&s;ion in the Spectators, as they pa&s;&s;ed along the Streets, to <HI>Charing-Cro&s;&s;e,</HI> the place of their Execution; And after the Executioner had done his part upon three others that day, he was &s;o drunk with Blood, that like one &s;urfeited, he grew &s;ick at &s;tomack: and not being able him&s;elf, he &s;et his Boy to fini&s;h the Tragedy upon Col. <HI>Jones;</HI> who coming up the Ladder, with the like chearfulne&s;s that his Brethren did before him; and being placed fit for Execution, he proceeds to &s;peak as followeth.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD><HI>Col.</HI> Joh. Jones his Speech upon the Ladder, <HI>Oct. 17. 1660.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere is two things that are nece&s;&s;ary, now I am going through this narrow gate or pa&s;&s;age, to the Eternal Maje|&s;ty; I &s;ay two things are nece&s;&s;ary, as to the occa&s;ion of my co|ming hither, to receive my Fathers good plea&s;ure.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Peace with God.</HI> Secondly, <HI>Peace with Man.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="71" REF="42">I &s;hall &s;peak &s;omething to each of the&s;e; and in the fir&s;t place, &s;peak &s;omething of the Court wherein I received the Sentence; It hath been reported, as I was told, that I confe&s;&s;ed this Fact, and confe&s;&s;ed that I were guilty of Murther, as under tho&s;e &s;everal ex|pre&s;&s;ions that are in the Indictment, <HI>Viz.</HI> &mdash;</P>
<P>I de&s;ire to clear my &s;elf before the Lord, and before the world, in that particular; for &s;hould I grant that I was guilty in reallity and truth of Murther and Malice, <HI>(Viz.)</HI> &mdash;</P>
<P>I &s;hould belie my own Con&s;cience, and draw upon me a grea|ter weight than I could bear; But this far I do confe&s;&s;e, I was willing to make the work as &s;hort as I could, And becau&s;e I would not &s;tand &s;o long, I told them I would take the fir&s;t Jury that came; And when a Jury was called, then I did confe&s;s &s;o much as I was convinced of, as to the matter of Fact, I de&s;ire you will judge charitably of this that I &s;peak at this time, as in the pre&s;ence of the Lord, that it is not &s;o really (<HI>viz.</HI> that I acknow|ledged my &s;elf guilty of Murder) I had no &s;uch thing in my heart.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t confe&s;s I very freely quit his Maje&s;ty, con&s;idering what he doth in this ca&s;e is the part of a loving Son to a Father, e&s;pe|cially the Judges telling him that it is the Law; and I conceive that the Court did nothing, but what they to their be&s;t under|&s;tandings, judged right as to Law; Therefore I freely acquit the Court, though there was not enough &s;aid, to &s;atisfie &s;uch a poor Creature as I am, in &s;o great and deep a point as that was: As for all others, I do not know any man on the Earth, to whom I do bear any Malice, but I am in perfect charity with all men; and I hope the Lord is in charity with me: And therefore as I de&s;ire to have forgivene&s;s my &s;elf from all tho&s;e that I have offen|ded, even &s;o, I do freely forgive all tho&s;e that have in any mea|&s;ure offended me.</P>
<P>The next thing is towards God, and it is that which &s;hould be la&s;t upon my heart, It is not expected that I &s;hould give an Account here of my &s;tate and condition, for that is betwixt God and my own &s;oul; And I do, through the Grace and Goodne&s;s of God, firmly believe, that my Redemption is wrought, and my Pardon is &s;ealed, and that I &s;hall be immediately in my Fathers armes, and that I &s;hall be tran&s;lated and brought to behold the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t in glory, with comfort and fulne&s;&s;e of joy.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="prayer">
<PB N="72" REF="43">
<HEAD><HI>Col. JONES</HI> his Prayer,</HEAD>
<P>BLe&s;&s;ed Lord God, Thou art the great Opener, open unto my &s;oul the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who will lead me into the wayes of truth and life; O God &s;ave me, make good all the pledges of thy love unto my &s;oul; Oh make all the Promi&s;es which I have believed all the days of my life, make them now good unto my &s;oul, giving me the full enjoyment of thy &s;elf: I de&s;ire to ble&s;s and prai&s;e thy Name for this hour that thou ha&s;t brought me to, Oh, what am I poor worm, that thou &s;houlde&s;t give me this oportunity to &s;uffer for thy Name, and to acknowledg thy Mercies before &s;o great a Congregation at this place. Holy Father, Holy Father, Oh that thou woulde&s;t now rain down Ble&s;&s;ings from Heaven upon thy poor creatures, that do hear and behold this Action, this day; Oh that thou woulde&s;t &s;anctifie this thing to them, and let poor <HI>England</HI> be a Land of truth and happine&s;s, O Lord let <HI>England</HI> flouri&s;h: And oh that thou woulde&s;t make thy Angel of Light to go before thy people: Good God we pray thee keep off tho&s;e great Judgments that hang over the heads of the&s;e Nations, becau&s;e they have &s;inned again&s;t thee: Through thy Name &s;anctifie us, let not thy Name be reproached. Dear Father, receive my &s;oul, I am ready to come unto thee: Ble&s;&s;ed Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit: thou ha&s;t redeemed me, ble&s;&s;ed be thy Name, in that thou ha&s;t opened the trea&s;ures of thy love unto my poor &s;oul. Thou ha&s;t given me this hope, whereof I need not be a&s;hamed. Ble&s;&s;ed be thy Name, my Spirit is full of joy. Oh Holy Father, holy Father, I pray thee let thy ble&s;&s;ing come down upon thy poor people. Look upon me, Holy Father: Stretch out thine armes to carries me over this brook. I pray thee &s;tand by me, Dear Father, I ca&s;t my &s;elf into thy hand, I commit my &s;oul unto thee.</P>
<P><HI>Then &s;peaking to the Sheriff, &s;aid, Mr. Sheriff, I mu&s;t needs return you many Thanks for your Civility.</HI></P>
<P>Sher. Repl. <HI>I am glad to hear &s;uch an Ingenuous Confe&s;&s;ion, and that you make &s;uch an end, and that you have not gone into any reviling language, as &s;ome others have done before.</HI></P>
<P><HI>After this he committed his &s;oul to God, and &s;o departed.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="document">
<PB N="73" REF="43">
<HEAD>Something as to Mr. <HI>Gregory Clements,</HI> take as followeth.</HEAD>
<P>PErhaps &s;ome may think it &s;trange, that there is &s;o little &s;aid, as to Mr. <HI>Gregory Clement,</HI> who &s;uffered with the re&s;t; Therefore this only is to be &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1+ letters"> more, (which is known to ma|ny) That Mr. <HI>Clement</HI> was very &s;ilent both in the time of his Impri&s;onment at <HI>Newgate,</HI> and at the time and place of his Ex|ecution at <HI>Charing-Cro&s;s,</HI> only this it is &s;aid, that he expre&s;t his trouble, (to &s;ome Friends in the Pri&s;on) for yeelding &s;o far to the Importunity of his Relations, as to plead guilty to the Indict|ment: And though he &s;poke little at the place of Execution; yet (&s;o far as could be judged by &s;ome de&s;cerning per&s;ons that was near him) he departed this life in peace.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<HEAD>Some Additional Pa&s;&s;ages of Col. <HI>Scroopes,</HI> Col. <HI>Jones,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Cooks;</HI> with his Letter to his Daughter.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="document">
<HEAD>Some more Pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>Col. Scroope.</HI></HEAD>
<P>COl. <HI>Scroope,</HI> when a Friend asked him at parting, the &s;ame day, how he did, an&s;wered him, Better and better I thank God every moment, my life doubles upon me, and mul|tiplies.</P>
<P>He al&s;o heard him &s;ay, when mention was made, that there was &s;ome Endeavours for his Pardon, That only would prove a &s;nare to him, but he was fully &s;atisfied what to do, and &s;hould not to &s;ave his Life, do any thing to prejudice his Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>He al&s;o heard him when one was di&s;cour&s;ing to him the Hap|pine&s;s of Heaven, and telling him it con&s;i&s;ted in three Things, <HI>viz.</HI>
<PB N="74" REF="44">
A perfect Communion with God; A perfect Conformty to God; And a perfect Enjoyment of God. He made this reply, Tho&s;e three Things you mention are but one, we are entring into it, and can tell. And that Friend asking him futher about it, he &s;aid, That God was but one pure Act, and in whom there was no &s;ucce&s;&s;ion nor di&s;tinction of Acts; and that Souls led forth in his Spirit, were in a manner made like to him; for their Injoy|ing was their Conformity and Communion, and one was all: In which he &s;eemed to be &s;wallowed up, and even then gat &s;o far into Heaven, that all &s;eemed to be but one Act with him.</P>
<P>Some Friends being pre&s;ent, heard both him and Col. <HI>Jones</HI> &s;ay; You can &s;ay, God is better than all the World, and &s;ay it truly; but you cannot &s;ay it with &s;o much feeling and experience, as we now can: we find he is &s;o indeed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="document">
<HEAD>Some more Pa&s;&s;ages of Col. <HI>Joh. Jones</HI> in Pri&s;on.</HEAD>
<P>COL. <HI>Jones,</HI> the night before he &s;uffered, told a Friend he had no other Temptation upon him but this, Le&s;t he &s;hould be too much tran&s;ported and carryed out to neglect and &s;light his Life; &s;o greatly was he &s;atisfied to die in that <HI>Cau&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>The day he &s;uffered, he gra&s;ped a Friend in his arms, and &s;aid to him with &s;ome expre&s;&s;ions of Endearedne&s;s, Farewel: I could wi&s;h thee in the &s;ame condition with my &s;elf, that thou mighte&s;t &s;hare with me in my joyes.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="document">
<HEAD>Some more Pa&s;&s;ages of Mr <HI>Cook.</HI></HEAD>
<P>MR <HI>Cook</HI> &s;peaking to his Wife a little before his Death, &s;aid, My Lamb, now I am going where I &s;hall meet the Saints all of one mind, which thou knowe&s;t was the de&s;ire of my heart to &s;ee. At another time, &s;aith he, Truly, my Lamb, if I might have my choice now, I would not de&s;ire Life; for I could not live where I might not enjoy the Liberty of my Con&s;cience: and when I can do nothing for God, what &s;hould I live for? O welcome &s;weet Death! thy &s;ting is out, ble&s;&s;ed be God, I do imbrace thee with rejoycing: thou art a good Potter, that will &s;uddenly open to
<PB N="75" REF="44">
me the Gates of Eternity; O tho&s;e Everla&s;ting Gates will my Father &s;et open to receive me. O ble&s;&s;ed be God for Je&s;us Chri&s;t the fountain of all Mercies! Lord Je&s;us, I come flying to thee upon the wings of Faith; I come, Lord, full-&s;ail to thee, Lord Je&s;us receive me. That which the world counts &s;hame, &s;aith he, I count it my Joy, my Crown, and my Glory.</P>
<P>A little before he parted with his Wife, &s;he laying her head in his bo&s;om and wept; whereat he &s;aid, My dear Lamb, let us not part in a &s;hower, God hath wiped away all tears from my eyes, ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<HEAD>Mr. <HI>Cook's</HI> Letter to his Daughter, <HI>Octob. 15. 1660.</HI> A little before his Death.</HEAD>
<HEAD>To my dear Child, <HI>Free-love Cook:</HI> The&s;e, with my mo&s;t Fatherly endeared Love.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My dear &s;weet Child,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>LEt thy Name, <HI>Free-love,</HI> put thee in mind of the free Love of God in Chri&s;t, in giving thee to me and thy dear Mother; and know, &s;o &s;oon as God gives thee any under&s;tanding, That thou art the Child of one whom God counted worthy to &s;uffer for his &s;ake, and to &s;eal to the Truth of his Law and Go&s;pel with his Blood, which will be a great Honour to thee in the judgment of all that truly love and fear God. I leave thee to the Lord, who I know will take care of thee, and be thy Portion, &s;o thou &s;halt never want. Learn with all &s;peed to reade the Scriptures, and to under&s;tand them; and have a great care to &s;erve God, and &s;tudy to love Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and be obedient to thy dear Mother, and good Grandmother, and thy loving Uncle and Aunt <HI>Ma&s;&s;ey.</HI> I pray thee never learn any Pride, but be humble and meek, and courteous, and wait upon Gods Ordinances: love the Word more than
<PB N="76" REF="45">
thy appointed food. When the Lord &s;hall plea&s;e to alter thy Condition, be &s;ure to marry one that is gracious, and a man that feareth God; be &s;ure to prefer Grace before Wealth and Parts: for a little with the fear of God, is better than great Riches with an Ungodly man: The Lord make thee Religious; for Beauty is Vanity, and Favour is deceitful, <HI>but a Woman that feareth the Lord &s;he &s;hall be prai&s;ed.</HI> If the Lord give thee Children, be &s;ure to bring them up vertuou&s;ly and religiou&s;ly, in the Nurture, Admonition and Fear of the Lord. I charge thee never to marry without the Con&s;ent of thy dear Mo|ther, if &s;he be then living. In all thy Actions have an eye to Eternity, and never do any thing again&s;t the Light of thy own Con&s;cience. Know that thy dear Father is gone to Heaven to thy dear Brother, &mdash; and be &s;ure &s;o to live, that by Gods Grace thou maye&s;t follow after. If God give the ability, I charge thee to do good to thy Friends, and to all Gods People: And if my la&s;t Will may be of force, do not violate it in the lea&s;t. So I leave Gods Ble&s;&s;ing with thee, praying for thy Tempo|ral and Eternal Happine&s;s, and re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thy dear loving Father, <HI>JOHN COOK.</HI></SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>Octob. 15, 1660.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
<GAP DESC="missing" EXTENT="4 pages">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="documents">
<PB N="81" REF="45">
<HEAD>Some occa&s;ionall Speeches, and Memorable pa&s;&s;a|ges of <HI>Col. Axtell</HI> and <HI>Col. Hacker,</HI> during their Impri&s;onment, and at their Execution.</HEAD>
<P>BEing asked by &s;ome Friends how he found him&s;elf &s;itted to Encounter with Death.</P>
<P><HI>He An&s;wered,</HI> I can &s;ay nothing until I come to dye, I dare not boa&s;t till I put of my Armour, but de&s;ire your prayers until there be no more need of them.</P>
<P>Returning from his Tryal at the Court to his Pri&s;on with a chearful countenance, and his Wife coming to him full of Trou|ble, he &s;aid, not a Tear Wife, what hurt have they done me, to &s;end me &s;ooner to Heaven; And I ble&s;&s;e the Lord I could have freely gone from the Bar to the Gibbet. They had nothing a|gain&s;t me neither by Gods law nor their own low to condemne me, was it ever known that a man &s;hould dye for &s;uch Words, and further &s;aid, <HI>though men had Judged yet God had not Con|demned.</HI></P>
<P>Some taking notice of his cour&s;e lodging, he &s;aid what matter is it to have a little durty way, when we have a fair Hou&s;e to come into.</P>
<P>Then looking upon Friends about him &s;aid, if the &s;ight of &s;o few of Gods people be &s;o comfortable, what will it be to enjoy all the Saints in Heaven together.</P>
<P>Towards the clo&s;e of that Evening he went to prayer (divers being pre&s;ent who admired the ble&s;&s;ed frame of &s;pirit that he was in) admiring God in all his appearances for his poor people, he laid all his comfort in the blood of a crucifyed Chri&s;t, and upon the Covenant of Free Grace; he did heartily de&s;ire pardon for all his Judges, Jury and tho&s;e witne&s;&s;es that had &s;worn fal&s;ely a|gain&s;t him.</P>
<P>Returning again from the Court when he had received his &s;entence, he came into the pri&s;on very chearfully with a Bible in his hand, &s;aying, I &s;hall have the u&s;e of this book two dayes more, and then injoy the fulne&s;&s;e of the Go&s;pel to all Etetnity.</P>
<P><PB N="82" REF="46">His Daughter coming in to him, he &s;aid where ha&s;t thou been all this while, I thought thou had&s;t been a&s;hamed of my Chains? but they that will not bear the Cro&s;&s;e, &s;hall not weare the Crown.</P>
<P><HI>A Gentleman coming to vi&s;it him, &s;aid, &s;hall I petition for your life?</HI> Col. Axtel <HI>replyed, Sir you offer me to my lo&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>The Gentleman told him he was going for <HI>Ireland,</HI> Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> &s;aid Sir pray remember my love to all Chri&s;tian friends there, &amp; tell them (&s;aid he, &s;haking of his Chains rejoycingly) that you &s;aw me in my chains; &amp; I recon all the&s;e links as &s;o many Pearls to Adorn me, and am &s;ure they are &s;o in Chri&s;ts account; and tell them that for that <HI>Good Old Cau&s;e</HI> which we were ingaged in, under the Parliament, I am now going to be their Martyr. And as for the King, I wi&s;h him as well as my own &s;oule. But they have meerly murthered me, and they might as well have done it at the Tower, as have brought me hither to make this bus&s;le; I wi&s;h my bloud do not cry to the third and fourth Generation. But I &s;hall do them more hurt in my death, then I could do in my life. They had no|thing in Gods law nor their own to condemne me, the Court condoled me, but it was enough my name was <HI>Axtell,</HI> I wi&s;h that I may &s;ee them all in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>A Friend going into Glouce&s;ter&s;hire, &s;aid to him, Sir what me&s;|&s;age will you now &s;end to the good people in the Country.</HI></P>
<P>Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> An&s;wered Remember my dear love to them all, and tell them that their prayers are An&s;wered. Bid them keep clo&s;e to Chri&s;t, and let them not touch with Surplis or Common prayer book; and bid them (what ever they doe) love the image of Chri&s;t where ever they &s;ee it, in <HI>Presbyterian, Independent, Bap|ti&s;ed</HI> or other; And take heed of &s;triking in with any thing, that will &s;trike out any of the Offices of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Four of his fellow pri&s;oners pa&s;&s;ed by his Chamber dore, as they were going forth to Execution, and being denyed &s;ight of them, he called them by their Names, and with a mighty fervent &s;pirit &s;aid, <HI>the Lord go with you, the Angell of his pre&s;ence &s;tand by you</HI> (and then turning about to his Friends &s;aid) <HI>Oh they are gone to Heaven before me,</HI> but we will give them up to the Lord, and &s;o went to prayer and pre&s;ently after he went to prayer againe, &s;aying, <HI>God hath &s;aid that he will make us joyfull in the hou&s;e of
<PB N="83" REF="46">
Prayer:</HI> and many ob&s;erved that he did perform the duty of pray|er Five times that day him&s;elfe, wherein he laid him&s;elf very low before the Lord, acknowledging him&s;elf the wor&s;t of all the pri|&s;oners, and that he &s;hould have the lea&s;t to &s;ay for God, and would &s;ay to his Friends, &s;ay nothing of me tell you &s;ee me on the upermo&s;t round of the Ladder.</P>
<P><HI>His Daughter coming in he told her that he had left Je&s;us Chri&s;t an Executor in tru&s;t for her.</HI></P>
<P>Having given an Account to &s;ome per&s;ons for their &s;atisfaction about his proceedings again&s;t the Rebels in <HI>Ireland,</HI> &s;aid, I can &s;ay in Humility, that God did u&s;e me as an in&s;trument in my place, for the &s;uppre&s;&s;ing of that boudy Enemy, and when I con|&s;idered their bloudy cruelty in murthering &s;o many thou&s;ands of prote&s;tants and innocent &s;ouls, that word was much upon my heart, give her bloud to drink for &s;he is worthy; and &s;ometimes we neither gave nor took Quarter, though &s;elf pre&s;ervation would have &s;aid, give that which you may expect to have.</P>
<P><HI>One coming in told him that his fellow pri&s;oners dyed Nobly and Chearfully,</HI> (well &s;aid he, but how doe they &s;tand?) <HI>An&s;wer was made upon a Ladder. Ble&s;&s;ed be God &s;aid he, it is a Jacobs Lad|der.</HI></P>
<P>The Sun &s;hining into the room, he &s;aid, if it be &s;o glorious to behold the Sun, what will it be to behold the Son of Glory.</P>
<P>Laying his hand upon (his fellow pri&s;oner) Col. <HI>Hacker,</HI> he &s;aid, <HI>come brother be not &s;o &s;ad, by this time to morrow we &s;hall be with our Father in Glory, and what hurt will they do us to bring us through the Cro&s;&s;e to the Crown. Well, our God is the God of Newgate.</HI></P>
<P>Then the Officer coming to carry them down into the Dunge|on, he took his leave of many of his Friends then pre&s;ent, &s;aying love the Lord Je&s;us, love the Lord, and weep not for me, for God hath wiped away all tears.</P>
<P>And coming to the dore of the Dungeon &s;aid, I am now going to my bed of Ro&s;es my la&s;t bed.</P>
<P>Many Friends being with him, there was an Eminent Godly Mini&s;ter of the Presbyterian way; and Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> taking him by the hand, &s;aid, I have one word to &s;peak to you, it is much upon my heart, that one great cau&s;e why the Lord contends thus with
<PB N="84" REF="47">
his people, is for want of their love towards them that were not of their minds; to which the Mini&s;ter replyed, truly Sir I think &s;o too, the Lord help us that wherein we &s;ee we have done ami&s;&s;e, we may do &s;o no more. Then &s;aid,</P>
<P>Col. <HI>Axtell,</HI> I ble&s;&s;e God I have not much to charge my &s;elfe with in this matter.</P>
<P>Col. <HI>Hacker then &s;aid, but I have much to complaine of in that matter.</HI></P>
<P>Col. <HI>Axtell,</HI> Afterwards &s;itting on his bed &s;ide clapping his hands, &s;aid, if I had a thou&s;and lives, I could lay them all down for the Cau&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Whereupon another godly Mini&s;ter then pre&s;ent asked him what he meant by the cau&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> replyed, Sir I tell you I mean that cau&s;e which we were encouraged to, and ingaged in under the Parliament, which was for common Right and Freedome and again&s;t the Surplis and Common prayer book; and I tell you, that Surplis and Common prayer book &s;hall not &s;tand long in <HI>England</HI> for it is not of God.</P>
<P>And afterwards thinking that he &s;hould not dye that day, de|&s;ired &s;ome retirement, but news coming that he mu&s;t dye within an hour (though it was not &s;o) he quickly made him&s;elf ready to go, and looking upon his Gloves, &s;aid, the&s;e are my wedding Gloves, my mortal mu&s;t marry immortality.</P>
<P>Some Friends going to &s;ee him the night before he was Execu|ted found him at &s;upper very chearful, and many being pre&s;ent, he &s;aid take heed of temporizing, &amp;c. for that hath been the oc|ca&s;ion of great Evil. Then &s;peaking to an Officer there pre&s;ent, that had continued tell of late in the Army, &s;aid, Brother thou ha&s;t been greatly Guilty herein, the Lord forgive thee, thou ha&s;t a great hand in this.</P>
<P><HI>To which the per&s;on replyed, I confe&s;se I have been &s;o too much.</HI></P>
<P>Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> an&s;wered, there is yet mercy for thee if the Lord give thee repentance.</P>
<P><HI>Moreover &s;aid, the Lord forgive that poor wretch</HI> Lieut. C. <HI>N. for he hath &s;worn fal&s;ely in his Evidence; and now is that word made good,</HI> that brother &s;hall betray brother to death.</P>
<P><HI>And &s;peaking of</HI> Col. T. <HI>&s;aid, Ah he hath appeared Five pound lighter in Twenty then I thought him to be.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="85" REF="47"><HI>And for</HI> Col. H. <HI>he was the unciville&s;t of all about the late King, and yet he comes in a witne&s;&s;e again&s;t Hacker and me.</HI></P>
<P>That Evening many Friends being with him, he prayed with them, and in that duty the Lord by his &s;pirit filled him with Ex|cellent Expre&s;&s;ions, to the great refre&s;hing of tho&s;e about him. And bewailing the great Divi&s;ions among&s;t Gods people, he &s;aid, Lord if they will not live together in love, thou wilt make them lye together in &s;ufferings. Then minding their pre&s;ent condition, &s;aid, Lord Death is the King of Terrors to Nature, but it is a be|lievers choice Friend, it is thy high way to lead us into Glory.</P>
<P>After prayer taking notice of his Daughter, he &s;aid to her, <HI>get an intere&s;t in Chri&s;t and keep clo&s;e to him, he will be a better Fa|ther to thee then I, and &s;o took his leave of her.</HI></P>
<P>The day of their Execution being come, &s;everal godly Mini|&s;ters &s;pent &s;ome time with them in prayer, <HI>Viz.</HI> with Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> and Col. <HI>Hacker,</HI> and many friends coming in to pay their la&s;t re&s;pects, Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> &s;eeing one of his Familiar Friends and com|panions, &s;aid, my Dear brother thou art better then I am, and yet I mu&s;t go to heaven before thee for all that.</P>
<P>He very chearfully &s;aid to divers then with him, dear Friends Rejoyce, I am going where ye &s;hall be al&s;o, yea where we &s;hall be for ever with the Lord and never part, and be without any more change; I be&s;eech you follow the Lamb wherever he goeth, though he may lead you in a har&s;h, di&s;mal and difficult way; yet at la&s;t he will bring you into a plea&s;ant path, and cau&s;e you to lye down in green pa&s;tures, in the land of re&s;t, <HI>Oh be faithful un|to the death, and he will give you a Crown of life,</HI> as he hath gi|ven to your &s;uffering Brethren.</P>
<P>Oh! all that we have, or doe &s;uffer, is but to make Chri&s;t and heaven more &s;weet, deare and Glorious to us; all the &s;ad &s;teps we &s;hall tread on this Ladder, is but to mount us to hea|ven, for at the top are Angels ready to receive us, as was on <HI>Jacobs</HI> ladder. All the things I meet with move me not I ble&s;&s;e my God, for I am &s;ure to Fight a good Fight and fini&s;h my cour&s;e with joy.</P>
<P>Afterwards taking his leave of his Son, imbracing him in his Arms, he &s;aid, my dear &s;on fare thee well, I mu&s;t leave thee, get an intere&s;t in Chri&s;t and love him, nothing el&s;e will &s;tand thee in &s;tead but an intere&s;t in him.</P>
<P><PB N="68" REF="48">Then calling for his Bible he hugged it, &s;aying, this hath the whole Cau&s;e in it, and I may carry this without offence. And calling to a Friend he de&s;ired him to remember his love to the Congregation, where he was a Member, and after took his leave of all his Friends, exhorting them with much chearfulne&s;&s;e to love the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and keep clo&s;e to him, and &s;o with great joy addre&s;&s;ed him&s;elf to go to his next work</P>
<P>It will be convenient in this place to give you a brief account of Col. <HI>Francis Hacker,</HI> in regard that Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> and he were fel|low pri&s;oners and &s;ufferers together. He was a man of few words, and had not the gift of oratory, to deliver him&s;elfe as others could, yet was very &s;weetly born up under his &s;uffering, and had a very comfortable a&s;&s;urance that God had pardoned and accepted him in the blood of Chri&s;t; he had been a profe&s;&s;or of Religion many years in the Presbyterian way, and a great lover of godly Mini&s;ters; a man of ju&s;t and hone&s;t conver&s;ation among&s;t men, and one that de&s;ired to walke blamele&s;s in the &s;ight of God; his fellow pri&s;oner did &s;ay he did believe that Col. <HI>Hacker</HI> had an in|tere&s;t in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Col. <HI>Hacker</HI> declared to &s;everall of his own friends, a little be|fore he &s;uffered, that the greate&s;t trouble he had upon his &s;pirit was, <HI>that he had formerly born too great a prejudice in his heart towards the good people of God that differed from him in judgement.</HI> And then broke forth into this admiration&punc; <HI>O what am I poore vile worme, that God &s;hould count me worthy to &s;uffer with &s;uch pre|cious &s;oules as the&s;e are, again&s;t whom I have been formerly &s;o much prejudiced.</HI></P>
<P>And thus the&s;e two gracious per&s;ons having fini&s;hed their cour&s;e, and the time of their departure being at hand, were both brought forth of pri&s;on, the &s;ledge being ready for them, they took their leave of &s;ome friends that &s;tood at the door, and Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> de&s;ired them to be at the place of execution; and both en|tring the &s;ledge they ca&s;t up their eyes toward that God to whom they were comming; then with a chearfull countenance, &s;etting them&s;elves down, they were drawn to <HI>Tyburne,</HI> the place of exe|cution, where a cart was &s;et ready, into which they both a&s;cen|ded, their countenance not at all changed, though now the King of terror &s;tared them in the face; the Ropes being then put about
<PB N="87" REF="48">
their necks, and a burning fire kindled before their faces; and be|ing there ready to receive that &s;entence which nature would have &s;unk under, if grace had not &s;upported, fir&s;t Col. <HI>Axtel</HI> applies him|&s;elf to the Sheriffe in the&s;e following words:</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="speech">
<HEAD>Col. <HI>Axtels</HI> &s;peech at <HI>Tyburne,</HI> Octob. 19. 1660.</HEAD>
<P>Mr. Shieriffe, <HI>I am now as you &s;ee come to the place of execu|tion, according to my &s;entence. I de&s;ire your leave that I may &s;peak freely and without interruption; fir&s;t to this people, and then to God, for it is the la&s;t that I &s;hall &s;peak in this world, and I hope it will redowne to your account.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Mr. Shieriffs reply.</HI> Sir, you know what the Court prohibited you to &s;peak and what was &s;poken at the barre of the Court was there de&s;ided, therefore tis needle&s;s to repeat it here. I hope you will keep to the pre&s;ent bu&s;ine&s;&s;e that concerns you, and not goe out into impertinences; and becau&s;e you have but a little time &s;pend it to your be&s;t advantage, and the good of the people, and then you &s;hall not be interrupted. Or to the &s;ame effect.</P>
<P>Col <HI>Axtel</HI> begins. <HI>I &s;ay the very cau&s;e for which I have engaged is contained in this book of God,</HI> (having the Bible in his hand) <HI>both in the civil and religious rights of it, which I leave to you</HI> (gi|ving the book to Mr. <HI>Knowles.</HI>)</P>
<P><HI>You &s;ee a dead man living, and yet I hope I &s;hall live to all eter|nity, through the mediation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Mediator of the cove|nant of free grace,</HI></P>
<P><HI>I mu&s;t truly tell you, that before <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 word"> late wars, it plea&s;ed the Lord to call me by his grace, through the work of the Mini&s;tery; and af|terwards keeping a day of humiliation in fa&s;ting and prayer, with Mr.</HI> Simeon A&s;h, <HI>Mr.</HI> Love, <HI>Mr.</HI> Woodcocke, <HI>and other Mini&s;ters, in</HI> Laurence-lane <HI>they did &s;o clearly &s;tate the cau&s;e of the Parliament, that I was fully convinced in my own con&s;cience of the ju&s;tne&s;s of the warre, and thereupon engaged in the Parliament &s;ervice, (which as I did and doe believe) was the cau&s;e of the Lord, I ventured my life freely for it, and now die for it.</HI></P>
<P>Then Mr. Shieriffe &s;aid to this purpo&s;e, Sir, remember your &s;elfe.</P>
<P><PB N="88" REF="49">Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> proceeds, <HI>And after the work of the Lord was done in</HI> England, <HI>my lot ca&s;t me in the &s;ervice of</HI> Ireland, <HI>and I thank the Lord I was &s;erviceable to the Engli&s;h Nation in that Country, and have di&s;charged my duty fully according to the tru&s;t committed to me there.</HI></P>
<P><HI>As for the Fact for which I now &s;uffer, it is for words, onely for words, and but for words, and the &s;entence is already rever&s;ed in my own con&s;cience, and it will be rever&s;ed by Je&s;us Chri&s;t by and by, I pray God from the very bottome of my &s;oul to forgive all that have had any hand in my death, both Witne&s;&s;es and Jury, and the Court that pa&s;&s;ed &s;entence; for con&s;idering the Doctrine of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as he hath laid it down,</HI> Matth. 5.44. It hath been &s;aid of old time, love your Neighbours and hate your Enemies, But I &s;ay unto you love your Enemies, and pray for them that hate and de&s;pitefully u&s;e you, that you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>I de&s;ire according to this Doctrine from the bottome of my heart that God would give them true repentance, and not lay their &s;in to their charge, nor my blood which by Gods law and mans, (I think) could not ju&s;tly have been brought here to &s;uffer. But I ble&s;&s;e God I have &s;ome comfortable a&s;&s;urance, that</HI> I <HI>&s;hall be embraced in the Arms of Chri&s;t, and have cau&s;e to hope that his &s;pirit &s;hall carry my &s;oul into the Fathers hands.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And if the Glory of this Sun&s;hine be &s;o great (the Sun then &s;hin|ing bright) how much more is the glory of the Son of God, who is the Son of righteou&s;ne&s;s&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>I thinke it convenient to give you &s;ome Account of my Faith.</P>
<P><HI>I believe all things written in the Old and New Te&s;tament, as the principles and doctrine of a believers Faith, I believe the ble&s;&s;ed Or|dinances of Chri&s;t, that it is our duty to hear the word preached, to &s;eek unto God in prayer, and to performe Family duties, and to walk in the Communion of Saints; and for my own part,</HI> I <HI>am a Member of a Congregation, which I judge to be the way of Chri&s;t, (and were it for that only</HI> I <HI>were to dye, I could witne&s;&s;e to it) which is a company of men born again by his grace, that walk in the ways of Chri&s;t blamele&s;&s;e and harmle&s;&s;e. I believe Je&s;us Chri&s;t dyed for poor &s;inners, of whom</HI> I <HI>am chief, as the Apo&s;tle Paul &s;aith,</HI> this is a
<PB N="89" REF="49">
faithfully &s;aying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Chri&s;t Je&s;us came into the world to &s;ave &s;inners, of whom I am chiefe. <HI>And if the Apo&s;tle might &s;ay &s;o, much more may I.</HI></P>
<P><HI>My friends and Countreymen,</HI> I have rea&s;on 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 Chri&s;t that clean&s;eth and wa&s;heth me, ac|cording to his promi&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>I loved you, and wa&s;hed away your &s;ins in own blood.</HI> For there is no remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins without the blood of Chri&s;t. I de&s;ire you all to loath and ca&s;t off &s;inne; it were better to &s;uffer then to &s;inne, it is beter to die then to &s;inne; no|thing could grive our Saviour but &s;inne, and therefore have a care of that you and I mu&s;t meet one day at the bar of Chri&s;t &amp; the Son of God &s;hal be our Judge, for God hath committed all judgement to the Son, <HI>that all men &s;hould honour the Son as they honour the Father.</HI> This day is a re&s;emblance of that day, therefore be &s;erious beg as much good to your immortal &s;ouls as I expect to enjoy by and by. I be&s;eech you beg of God that he would &s;ave your &s;oules, and omit no opportunity through the &s;trength of the Lord to believe, and put your tru&s;t in the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; be &s;ure to labour after a&s;&s;urance of your intere&s;t in him, or el&s;e you wil be of all men mo&s;t mi&s;erable; for I of all men were mo&s;t mi|&s;erable if I had not believed to <HI>&s;ee the goodne&s;&s;e of the Lord in the land of the living.</HI></P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord that brings me into this &s;tate, let the way or means be what it wil; it is Gods &s;overaignty who made the&s;e creatures &s;o to di&s;po&s;e of them how he plea&s;eth and God hath or|deined this death for me, from all eternity. The Lord Chri&s;t often prayed <HI>thy will be done,</HI> this is the Lords wil. He hath numbred my daies, and my times are in his hand. Many &s;eek the Rulers favor, but every ons judgement is from the Lord. When <HI>Pilat</HI> &s;aid unto Chri&s;t, <HI>Knowe&s;t thou not that I have power to crucifie thee,</HI> Chri&s;t an&s;wered him, <HI>thou coulde&s;t have no power again&s;t me, except it were given thee from aboue.</HI> Therefore I acknowledge the righ|teous hand of God, he is righteous but I am &s;inful, <HI>Therefore will I beare Gods indignation, becau&s;e</HI> I <HI>have &s;inned again&s;t him.</HI></P>
<P>It is &s;aid of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>that for the joy &s;et before him he endured the cro&s;s, and de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame, and is &s;et down at the right hand
<PB N="90" REF="50">
of God,</HI> where I hope to &s;ee him by and by, in glory and Maje&s;ty, and to &s;ee his Angels and believers wor&s;hipping of him, and there|fore I de&s;pi&s;e the &s;hame. Our Saviour died upon the cro&s;s with|out &s;inne, I am a &s;inful creature, a wretched &s;inner, and &s;hall I ex|pect better then he that was my ma&s;ter? he who was holy, and ne|ver had a &s;inful thought in all his life; and died not for him&s;elfe, but for us, that we might live through his death; that through his poverty we might to made rich. And Chri&s;t having done this for his people, it &s;hould not be in their eyes thought a de&s;picable thing that we &s;hould &s;uffer for him, having been engaged in the work of God. But Chri&s;t mu&s;t prevail in righteou&s;ne&s;s, and he wil prevaile.</P>
<P><HI>Now Mr. Sheriffe, I thank you for your civillity, and for this leave.</HI></P>
<P>After this Col. <HI>Hacker</HI> &s;poke &s;omething privately to him, where|upon Col. <HI>Axtel</HI> &s;aid, Mr. Shieriffe, mu&s;t we both die together?</P>
<P>Mr. Shieriffe an&s;wered, Yes.</P>
<P>Then Col. <HI>Hacker</HI> read a paper which he had in his hand, a coppy whereof followeth:</P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<P>FRiends &amp; Country-men, all that have known me in my be&s;t e&s;tate, have not known me to have been a man of Oratory, and that God hath not given me the gift of utterance, as to others, therefore I have onely this briefly to &s;ay unto you that are &s;pectators: As the Parlia|ment &s;tated the war, I did out of judgment and con&s;cience joyn with them, in the common cau&s;e, and have through grace been faithfull to it according to my mea&s;ure. And as for that which now I am con|demned for, I do freely forgive both Judges, Jury, and Witne&s;&s;es, and all others; And I thank the Lord, to whom <HI>I</HI> am now going, at who&s;e tribunall <HI>I</HI> mu&s;t render an account, I have nothing lies upon my con|&s;eience as guilt whereof I am now condemned; and doe not doubt but to have the &s;entence rever&s;t. <HI>I</HI> doe now apply my &s;elfe unto God by prayer, and doe de&s;ire the hearty prayers of all that fear God, that I may have a &s;weet pa&s;sage from this mortall life, to that im|mortal life which God hath prepared for all that are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Francis Hacker.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P>After the reading of this he de&s;ired that Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> would be both their mouths to God in prayer.</P>
<P><PB N="91" REF="50">And then Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> &s;aid, I de&s;ire all that fear the Lord to hear me with patience, and to lift up their hearts to &s;eek the Lord with me, that we may have his &s;trength, and the pre&s;ence of his &s;pirit from this world to everla&s;ting life.</P>
<P>And with a wonderful compo&s;ed frame of &s;pirit, and with an audible voice entred upon the following duty, wherein the Lord helped him with excellent expre&s;&s;ions &s;uitable to both their con|ditions.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>The prayer followeth.</HEAD>
<P>OH! ble&s;&s;ed Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t who art the great God of heaven and earth, heaven is thy throne, and the earth thy fool&s;tool, thou upholde&s;t all things with and by the word of thy power. The i&s;&s;ues of life and death are in thy hand, oh God. Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, we pray thee let us have communion with thy &s;elfe, and the glory of thy face, let the &s;hi|ning rayes of Chri&s;t &s;hine continually upon our &s;ouls. Lord, let there be no interruption between the brightne&s;s of thy glory and our &s;ouls, til we come into the fulne&s;s of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it. Ble&s;|&s;ed Lord, we de&s;ire to take &s;hame before thee and this multitude, for all our iniquities and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions; we were born and came great &s;inners into the world, the root of bitterne&s;s was in us, that flowed from that bitter fountain <HI>Adam:</HI> but thou, O Lord, ha&s;t been plea&s;ed to &s;end the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> that <HI>as by the &s;inne of one man death entred into the world, &s;o by the obedience and righte|ou&s;ne&s;s of one Je&s;us Chri&s;t many &s;hould be made righteous.</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, thou knowe&s;t all our original guilt, all upon our hearts, and upon our con&s;ciences, all our per&s;onal defilements and tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ions; we pray thee Lord, wa&s;h them all away in the blood of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t. Lord we have nothing of our own to rely upon, but a Chri&s;t; for all our goodne&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s is but as polluted rags and men&s;truous cloaths. Therefore, O Lord, thou ha&s;t &s;aid by the workes of the Law no man &s;hall be ju&s;tified, but by the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t Je&s;us. Therefore, oh Lord hold out the covenant of grace to poor believers, and make Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Mediator of the covenant, to perform Gods part to us, and our part towards God. Oh lord, in thee are all our &s;pring, thou art the fountain of all grace, let us have mercy and pardon from thee. Lord it is by grace that any here are &s;aved. Thou &s;hould&s;t be a
<PB N="92" REF="51">
righteous God if thou &s;houlde&s;t not only &s;uffer us to lye under the condemnation of man, but to exclude us from heaven and glory for ever.</P>
<P>But Lord if thou &s;hould&s;t be &s;trict to mark iniquity, who &s;hould &s;tand in thy pre&s;ence? but there is mercy with thee that thou may&s;t be feared. Lord thou ha&s;t &s;aid, <HI>Who is a God like unto thee, pardoning iniquity, and pa&s;&s;ing by the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions of the remnant of thy people, for thine own names &s;ake.</HI> Lord, it is thy covenant, that thou wilt put thy &s;pirit into our hearts, and erect thy law in our inward parts, and our &s;ins and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions thou wilt re|member no more. Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord for the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: for had it not been for a Chri&s;t we were undone forever. Ble&s;&s;ed be our Lord, that hath written our names in heaven, and given us a portion in Chri&s;t, in whom we have believed and tru&s;ted. We humbly beg of thee the pardon of all our per&s;onal and fami|ly guilt; the &s;ins of our publique imployments, which thou know|e&s;t we have not willingly committed, though it may be through infirmity and temptation, and the &s;ins of our nature. Lord, we humbly pray thee, let us &s;ee our &s;elves ju&s;tified in the blood of our Lord Je&s;us that we may &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle, Who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect. It is God that ju&s;tifieth us, it is Chri&s;t that died, yea rather that is ri&s;en again for our ju&s;tifica|tion. He is ri&s;en that he might be our advocate, interce&s;&s;or, and mediator. He is filled with all the fulne&s;s of the Godhead, to di|&s;tribute to us according to our need. Thou ha&s;t promi&s;ed by the Apo&s;tle, that God &s;hall &s;upply all our wants according to the riches of his own grace. Lord thou wilt have the pa&s;&s;over eaten with &s;owre hearbs, and Lord we are contented: but Lord thou ha&s;t provided &s;weet Wine for us, and ha&s;t thou not kept the be&s;t Wine, and the be&s;t of thy divine comforts until now? til now? to carry us over this bridge, and pa&s;&s;age from earth to heaven; &s;an|ctifie this our pa&s;&s;age, for it is be&s;t to have the cro&s;&s;e with the crown, they goe together, and are in&s;eparable: therefore &s;aith our Lord they that wil &s;uffer with me, &s;hal al&s;o raign with me.</P>
<P>Deare Lord, we pray thee give us a full experience, and let thy holy Spirit witne&s;s to our &s;ouls that we are the children of God, and reconciled to thee in the covenant; and that we &s;hal through thy Son be glorified with thee. Strengthen our faith, that we may
<PB N="93" REF="51">
be purged, wa&s;hed and clean&s;ed, and for our ju&s;tification, &s;ancti|fication, and acceptation with the Father.</P>
<P>Glorious lord, we de&s;ire to leave our reque&s;ts with thee on the behalfe of this poor people, as the la&s;t reque&s;t we have to beg of thee on this &s;ide heaven; if there be any here not belonging to Chri&s;t, and not friends to him, Lord convert them; and &s;hew them their own undone and mi&s;erable e&s;tate, and give them the par|don of a dying Saviour&punc; (thy poor &s;ervants would not part with a Chri&s;t for ten thou&s;and lives.) Lord make Chri&s;t precious to their immortal &s;ouls, Lord convince them of the evil of their &s;ins, and the evil of their own ways, and break them off from them; and cau&s;e them to clo&s;e with Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Thou ha&s;t promi&s;ed that tho&s;e that come unto him thou wilt not ca&s;t off. Remember all thy people and help them to per&s;evere in thy grace and love, and make them able to hold fa&s;t the truth till thou come, and to quit them&s;elves like men, to &s;tand fa&s;t in the faith.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, we humbly pray thee to have mercy upon that great City, the place from whence we came. When thou re&s;olved&s;t to de&s;troy <HI>Sodom,</HI> thy &s;ervant <HI>Abraham</HI> expo&s;tulated with thee, and thou &s;aid&s;t, <HI>if there were but ten righteous thou would&s;t &s;ave it:</HI> but Lord there are many tens of righteous ones in that City. It hath been a place where thou ha&s;t been glorified, and where ma|ny godly Mini&s;ters have been encouraged. O Lord, let it goe wel therefore with that great City, and let thy Go&s;pel have free pa&s;|&s;age in the publique wor&s;hip of it. Ble&s;s the government and go|vernours thereof, and make them in&s;truments to thy glorious prai&s;e. We pray thee have re&s;pect to the chief Magi&s;trates that are come here by command to &s;ee execution done. Oh Lord we beg mercy for their &s;oules. O that Chri&s;t would evidence him&s;elf more to their &s;oules, and that we might meet in Heaven together, and be imbraced in the arms of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And him that &s;hal be the Executioner, &amp; mu&s;t now wa&s;h his hands in our blood, doe thou wa&s;h his &s;oul in the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; O lord, we pray thee that thou woulde&s;t have pitty upon his &s;oul, and let him know what it is to be wa&s;hed in the blood of Chri&s;t, that fountain &s;et open for him, and for uncleanne&s;s.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, help us thy poor creatures with &s;trength, for we have no &s;trength of our own. Thy word &s;aith, that death is the
<PB N="94" REF="52">
King of terrours; but ble&s;&s;ed be thy Name, thou ha&s;t taken the &s;ting out of it, and the poy&s;on from it; and therefore as faith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Oh death then, where is thy &s;ting? oh grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that hath given us the victory.</HI> Thou ha&s;t &s;aid by the Apo&s;tle, <HI>We have the &s;entence of death in our &s;elves, and therefore &s;hould not tru&s;t in our &s;elves, but believe in Chri&s;t that rai&s;eth the dead.</HI> Lord, we will not tru&s;t in our &s;elves, but in the living God&mdash; Oh my God, that art the God of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and of <HI>Jacob,</HI> &s;trengthen and &s;up|port our poor &s;ouls. <HI>Stephen</HI> when he was &s;toned to death, &s;aw the Heavens opened and the glory of the Father and of his throne; Shall we but &s;ee the Face of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, bearing up our hearts under all, and we &s;hall go through. Thou ha&s;t promi&s;ed that thou wilt never, never, never leave us nor for&s;ake us. Thou ha&s;t &s;aid, <HI>Who can &s;eparate us from the love of God in Chri&s;t Je&s;us?</HI> Come life, come death, or what can &s;eparate a believer from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, let thy Angels come downe, we are per&s;waded that the Angels are ready to receive our &s;oules, and to carry them into thy bo&s;ome, and into the company of <HI>A|braham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and of the ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tles and Martyrs, and witne&s;&s;es of Je&s;us, and ju&s;t men made perfect in thy King|dome. Ble&s;&s;ed lord, thou art our &s;upport and comfort, &s;upport us with the cordials of thy love.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed lord, before we make an end of praying, O thou father of mercies, and God of all con&s;olation, we beg one reque&s;t for the chief Magi&s;trate of this Nation, That thou woulde&s;t give him a glorious Chri&s;t into his poor &s;oul, and magnifie thy grace towards him, that he may become a friend unto Chri&s;t, and a friend to the people of Chri&s;t, and raigne in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; and may be a terrour to evill doers, and a prai&s;e to them that doe wel; that he may ca&s;t away iniquity with his eye, &amp; rule for God, before whom he and all others mu&s;t render an account in the day of judge|ment; Lord hear us for him. And ble&s;&s;ed lord doe the like for all that had any uncharitablene&s;s towards us, we would have none towards them, but we beg their &s;ouls might live in thy pre&s;ence; make them to &s;ee their &s;ins, and let them receive their pardon, that we might embrace one another through the grace of God, in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, one day in Heaven. Dear Father, we pray thee for
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them, as we would beg for our &s;elves.</P>
<P>We now de&s;ire to re&s;ign up our &s;elves into thy bo&s;ome as it is thy Command; thou ha&s;t &s;aid, <HI>Ye are bought with a price not with &s;ilver or gold, but with the precious bloud of Je&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI> and we offer up our bodies and &s;ouls unto Chri&s;t, which is but a rea&s;on|able &s;ervice, that thou &s;houlde&s;t have all when thou calle&s;t for them, our e&s;tates and lives them&s;elves. The Earth is the Lords, and the fulne&s;&s;e thereof, and we are all his works: It is God's &s;overaignty to command what&s;oever he plea&s;eth. Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, we de&s;ire with our Lord Je&s;us, when he offered up him&s;elf upon the Cro&s;&s;e, he &s;aid unto thee, <HI>O Father, into thy hands I commend my &s;pirit;</HI> and with <HI>Stephen</HI> when he was put to death, <HI>Lord Je|&s;us receive my &s;pirit.</HI></P>
<P>So &s;ay we Lord Je&s;us receive our &s;pirits, pity us, love us, and accept us, in thy Son upon whom we re&s;t for life and &s;alvation. Lord let us know that death is a pa&s;&s;age into Glory; it is appoint|ed for all men once to dye, and after death to Judgement. This is a decree and &s;tatute law of Heaven, that all mu&s;t dye, and this is &s;ome comfort in our death, that from this time forward, we &s;hall &s;inne no more, grieve Chri&s;t no more, di&s;honour God no more, nor offend any el&s;e no more; &s;et thy love upon our &s;oules and let our prayers be di&s;&s;olved into prai&s;es, where we may em|brace thee, and thou embrace us.</P>
<P>We humbly intreate thee do more abundantly for us and all them we have prayed for, then we are able to ask or think, in the name, and for the &s;ake, of our Lord Je&s;us, who is the interce&s;&s;our with the Father, who hath promi&s;ed that he will pray the Father for us; he is the Mediator of the new Covenant, betwixt God and us, our fulne&s;&s;e, our &s;trength, our comfort and our &s;upport, our all, in his name we ask all our reque&s;ts; to whom with thy &s;elf and thy holy &s;pirit we de&s;ire to give all Honour and Glory and Prai&s;e for ever more, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P>After he had ended his prayer, he gave the Sheriffe thanks a|gain for his civility, and then turning to Col. <HI>Hacker,</HI> they &s;alu|ted and embraced each other in their Armes, and &s;aid, the lord &s;weeten our pa&s;&s;age and give us a happy meeting with him&s;elf in Glory.</P>
<P>Then pulling his Cap over his Eyes, expecting as is &s;uppo&s;ed
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that the Cart &s;hould be drawn away, with his hands lifted up, he uttered the&s;e words with a loud and Audible voyce, Lord Je&s;us receive my &s;pirit; but the Cart &s;taying a little longer, he lift up his hands the &s;econd time, and with the like audible and loud voyce &s;aid, into thy hands Oh Father I commend my &s;pirit; and yet in regard there was no man found to put forward the hor&s;e to draw away the Cart until the common Hang-man came down out of the Cart him&s;elf to do it. The Carman as many witne&s;&s;es affirm, &s;aying, he would loa&s;e his Cart and Hor&s;e before he would have a hand in hanging &s;uch a man; by this means he had op|portunity to lift up his hands and utter the like words the third time al&s;o.</P>
<P>One thing more is very remarkable, that when Col. <HI>Axtell</HI> and Col. <HI>Hacker</HI> were taken out of the &s;ledge into the cart; the &s;pe|ctators being in great numbers there, behaved them&s;elves very civilly, only two per&s;ons among them as &s;oon as the Ropes were put about their Necks, cryed out very earne&s;tly, hang them, hang them Rogues, Traytors, Murtherers, Hang-man draw away the cart; whereupon a man that &s;tood by them, de&s;ired them to be civil, and &s;aid, Gentlemen, this is not civil, for the Sheriff know|eth what he hath to doe; and thereupon they were &s;ilent and gave attention to Col. <HI>Axtell</HI>'s &s;peech and prayer; but before he had done, tho&s;e very per&s;ons were &s;o affected, that they could not refrain from pouring out many Tears upon the place, and went a&s;ide to a place a little more retired to weep, and that man that before de&s;ired them to be civil, went after them and be|held them, to his great admiration, as him&s;elf hath Narrated.</P>
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<HEAD><HI>Reader,</HI> In regard that the Pre&s;&s;e could not conveniently be attended, there are many faults committed in this Impre&s;|&s;ion, &s;ome Sentences left out, and others mi&s;placed, which doth much alter the &s;ence; therefore thou art earne&s;tly de|&s;ired, before the reading of this book, to take thy Pen and Correct the&s;e following Errours, and for others which are le&s;&s;e con&s;iderable, it's hoped thy ingenuity will help thee to Correct them.</HEAD>
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<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 14. Line 11. for but the enemy, read <HI>but for the enemy.</HI> P. 15. l. 19 <HI>Allured us.</HI> p. 21. l. 22. by, r. <HI>be.</HI> p. 23. l, 28. own, r. <HI>one.</HI> p. 26. l. 28. love, r. <HI>Job.</HI> p. 28. l. 21. take the, r. <HI>take your.</HI> p. 33. l. 9. and all, r. <HI>for all.</HI> p. 33. l. 18. therein I have done, r. <HI>I have done therein</HI> p. 33. l. 26. Gallia&s;&s;es, r. <HI>Galli&s;laves.</HI> p. 33. l. 35. the faith, r. <HI>your faith.</HI> p. 36. l. 9. and if, r. <HI>but if.</HI> p. 37. l. 22. they &s;hould, r. <HI>they may.</HI> p. 38. l. 26. wittingly, r. <HI>willingly.</HI> P. 39. l. 20. any, r. <HI>my.</HI> p. 41. l. 15. teahes thence, r. <HI>netles them.</HI> p. 41. l. 34. in mercy, r. <HI>through mercy.</HI> p. 43. l. 31. our, r. <HI>one.</HI> p, 44. l. 5. mo&s;t, r. <HI>mu&s;t.</HI> p. 44. l. 9. Father, r. <HI>Author.</HI> p. 45. l. 13 dulcimum, r. <HI>dulci&s;&s;imum.</HI> p. 45. l. 32. them, r. <HI>theirs.</HI> p. 47. l. 7. in, r <HI>to.</HI> p 47. l. 21. Heronian, r. <HI>Neronian.</HI> P. 48. l. 23. lea&s;t, r. <HI>be&s;t.</HI> p. 49. l. 28. while, r. <HI>which.</HI> p. 50. l. 8. Know, r. <HI>Knew.</HI> p. 52. l. 37. &s;olid &amp; zeal, r. &s;olid comfort &amp; &mdash; p. 58. l. 23. the Mans, r. <HI>Hemans.</HI> p. 62. l 6. dele <HI>the &s;ame.</HI> p. 62. l. 7. that glorious, r. <HI>that that glorious.</HI> p. 62. l. 10. in it. Thou, r. <HI>in it thou</HI> (without the full point.) p 62. l. 15. <HI>through or,</HI> that mu&s;t be left out. p. 64. l. 5. the Lord r. <HI>O Lord.</HI> p. 71. l. 8. truth of r. <HI>truth guilty of.</HI> p. 85. l. 8. redoune r. <HI>redound.</HI> p. 89. l 6. much faith r. <HI>much filth.</HI> p. 89 l. 8. I loved r. <HI>I have loved.</HI> p. 89. l. 15. honour the Father r. <HI>honour the Son as they honour the Father.</HI> p. 89. l. 26. the&s;e r. <HI>his.</HI> p 89. l. 27. <HI>leave out</HI> (&s;o) p. 90. l. 9. their r. <HI>your.</HI> p. 91. l. 17. interruption r. <HI>interpo&s;ition.</HI> p. 92. l. 9. erect r. <HI>write.</HI> p. 92. l 35. experience r. <HI>evidence.</HI> p. 92. l. 38. that we may r. <HI>that we may lay hold upon a naked Chri&s;t that by his blood we may,</HI> &amp;c. p. 93. l. 34. upon his &s;oul, r. <HI>upon his &s;oul, and remember him in his low e&s;tate.</HI> p. 93. l. 36. for him r. <HI>for &s;inne.</HI> p. 94. l. 16. come life come r. <HI>can life can death.</HI> p. 94. l. 23. of thy love, r. <HI>of thy love, O thou Father of mercy and God of all con&s;olation.</HI> And leave that &s;entence out in the next line.</P>
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