A compleat history of the most remarkable providences both of judgment and mercy, which have hapned in this present age extracted from the best writers, the author's own observations, and the numerous relations sent him from divers parts of the three kingdoms : to which is added, whatever is curious in the works of nature and art / the whole digested into one volume, under proper heads, being a work set on foot thirty years ago, by the Reverend Mr. Pool, author of the Synopsis criticorum ; and since undertaken and finish'd, by William Turner...

The Last Words of those Eminent Persons who fell in the Defence of the Pro∣testant Religion, and the English Liberties, both in London and the West of England, from the Year 1678. to this time.

IN the two last Reigns, many of the Flower of our Nobility and Gentry, either lost their Lives or Estates, or Liberties, or Country; whilst a Crew of Parasites triumphed and fluttered in their Ruins. To see a Russel die meanly and ignobly in the Flower of his Age; an Essex or a Godfry sacrificed to the insatiable Ambition and Revenge of their Enemies, who yet not content with their Lives, would like the Italian stab on after Death; and tho' they could not reach their Souls, endeavour to damn their Memories. These, and too many other such melan∣choly Instances would be ready to make a short-sighted Man exclaim with Hercules in the Tragoedian, That Vertue is but an empty Name, or at least could only serve to make its Owners more sensibly unhappy.

But altho' such Examples might a little work on a weaker Vertue, that which is more confirmed and solid can more easily resist it. 'Tis not impatient nor uneasie, but still believes that Heaven is awake, that the Iron Hands of Justice will at length overtake the Offenders, and by their Destruction vindicate the Honour and Innocence of those whom they have ruin'd. It considers any Riddles in Providence, as a curious piece of Opticks, which, if judged of either before 'tis finished, or by piece meal, here an Eye, and there another distorted Feature, appears not only unpleasing, but really dreadful; which yet if viewed when 'tis compleat, and taking all the Features together, makes a Figure sufficiently regular and lovely.

Who almost could have imagined, without some such Reflections as these, that those brave Men we have seen for some Years past, pick'd out, and out off one after another with as much Scandal and Obloquy as cou'd be thrown upon 'em by the ungenerous Malice of thier Enemies; when the very Attempt to clear their Reputation has been made al∣most Capital, and involved those who had Courage enough to attempt it in little less Mischief than what they them∣selves endured: That ever these Phoenixes should rise again, and flourish in their Ashes! That so many great Pens should already have done some of 'em Justice, and the World as much to all the rest! And with how much more Joy, if 'twere possible, would those Heroes have received their Crowns, could they have foreseen their Deaths wou'd have tended so far to work up the Nation to such a just Resentment, as wou'd at last have so great an Influence, as we find it had, on our late glorious deliverance. We shall therefore here under this Chapter, add the Last Words, and what's Remarkable, in the Deaths of those Eminent Persons who fell in Defence of the Pro∣testant Religion, and the English Liberties, both in London, and the West of England, from the Year 1678. to this Time.

1. Sir Edmundbury Godfrey declared some Days before his Death, That he believed in his Cons∣cience he should be the first Martyr. Two Anagrams there were made on this brave Gentleman, which for the peculiar luckiness of 'em, it may not be ungrateful to the Reader, to have 'em inserted.

Sir EDMƲNDBƲRY GODFREY, Anagram. I FIND MURDER'D BY ROGUES. Another. BY ROME'S RUDE FINGER DIE!

He was the first Martyr for our holy Protestant Religion: We shall address what has been written on this Subject, not only to Posterity, but to all the sober unprejudic'd Men of the present Age, and so dismiss it, and go on to the rest for whom he only made way, after we have presented you with one of the best pieces of Wit tht the Age has yielded on Sir Edmund's Death. 'Tis a part of that ingenious Poem, call'd Bacchanalia.

Well Primrose! my our Godfrey's Name on thee Like Hyacinth inscribed be! On thee his Memory flourish still, Sweet as thy Flower, and lasting as thy Hill. Whilst blushing Somerset, to her Eternal Shame, shall this Inscription wear; "The Devil's an Ass; for Jesuits on this spot "Broke both the Neck of Godfrey, and the Plot.

2. Mr. COLLEDGE.

NO body can doubt, but that 'twas now very much the Interest of the Papists to get off, if possible, that foul Imputation of a Plot which stuck so deep upon 'em; which had been confirm'd by Sir Edmund's Murther, Coleman's never-to-be-forgotten Letters, Arnold's Assassina∣tion, and a great deal of Collateral Evidence, which fell in unexpectedly, many of those who gave it being utterly unacquainted with the first Discoverers. After several unfortunate Attempts they had made to this purpose; after the Living had perjur'd themselves, and the Dying done worse, to support their desperate Cause; after Attempts to blast and ruine some of the Evidence, and buy off others of 'em, in both which, publick Justice took notice of, and punish'd 'em; be∣ing of a Religion that sticks no Villany to serve an Interest, and certainly the most indefati∣gable and firm People in the World, when they set about any Design, especially where Diana is concern'd, not being yet discouraged, they resolv'd to venture upon one Project more, which prov'd but too successful, to the Loss of the bravest and best Blood in the Kingdom; and that was to Brand all those who were the steddiest Patriots, and so their greatest Enemies, of what

Rank soever they were, with the odious Character of Persons disaffected to the Government, or, in the old Language, Enemies to Caesar: They pretended to perswade the World, that after all this great noise of a Popish Plot, 'twas only a Presbyterian one lay at the bottom.

Things being thus, what can any Man of Modesty say to Mr. Colledge's Protestations over and over, both in Prison, and at his Death, that he was perfectly innocent of what he dy'd for? [I did deny in them, (say he, that is, before the Council) and do deny it upon my Death: I never was in any manner of Plot in my days; nor ever had any such Design as these Men have sworn against me, I take God to witness, as I am a dying Man, and on the Terms of my Salvation, I know not one Man upon the face of the Earth which would have stood by me.] And lower, [I knew not of any part of what they swore against me, till I heard it sworn at the Bar. Again, [All the Arms we had was for our Defence, in case the Papists should have made any Attempt by way of Massacre, &c. God is my Witness this is all I know.] And in his solemn Prayer, and some of his almost very last Words, ['Tis thee, O God, I trust in— I disown all Dispensations, and will not go out of the World with a Lye in my Mouth.] And just after to the People, [From the sincerity of my Heart, I declare again, That these are the very Sentiments of my Soul, as God shall have Mercy upon me.]

Thus dy'd Mr. Colledge, whose Blood, as he himself desir'd it might, sufficiently spoke the Ju∣stice of his Cause, who seem'd in his Speech to have some Prophetick Intimations, that his Blood would not be the last, as indeed it was not, but rather a Praelude to that which follow'd, the Edge of the Law being now turn'd against all those who dar'd defend it.

He has one Daughter yet living, whose Gratitude and Generosity to those who were kind to her under the Misfortunes of her Family, is at present the Wonder and Entertainment of the Court of England, and whose brave Soul speaks her the true Child of such a Father.

His CHARACTER.

How great and undaunted his Courage was, both his Tryal and Death testifie. He was very vigorous and earnest, almost to a Fault, in his Undertakings. But certainly there are so few who err on that hand, that we may without Flattery account this his warm Zeal for his Coun∣try, if it did a little exceed, a happy as well as a very pardonable Error. He was extraordinary ingenious in his own Trade, and imployed amongst great Persons for his dexterity therein. He had an entire Love for the City of London, and stood up for its Honour and Privileges as highly as any Man living, He had a Soul so very great and generous, that many who knew him well, have said, considering his Education, they wondred how he came by it. He was a Man of very good sound Sense, considerably more than those of his Rank generally have, which he had much improved in his latter time by Conversation with Persons of Honour and Quality. In fine, he liv'd sufficiently belov'd by those who knew, and did not fear him; and dy'd lamented by his Friends, and admired and esteemed by his very Enemies.

Some time after his Death, his Picture was sold about Town. Under it were these Lines en∣graven:

By Irish Oaths, and wrested Laws I fell A Prey to Rome, a Sacrifice to Hell. My guilty Blood for speedy Vengeance cries, Hear, hear and help, for Earth my Suit denies.

3. ARTHƲR Earl of Essex.

THat Party, and those Persons who were engag'd to manage the Designs before-mention'd, were now entred on the most compendious way of introducing what they desir'd, as well as avoiding what their own Consciences, and all the World knew they deserv'd.

My Lord of Essex was a Person, whom 'twas, no doubt, the highest Interest of the Popish Faction to have gotten out of the way, even tho' there had been no such extraordinary Reason as has been mentioned. He had large Interest, a plentiful Estate, a great deal of Courage, un∣derstood the World, and the Principles and Practices of the Papists as well as any Man, having been of several Secret Committees in the Examination of the Plot, on which very reason there was as much necessity for his dying as Sir E. B. Godfrey's. He was besides all this, they very well knew, of Inflexible Honesty, and so true a greatness of Mind, they could no more expect to gain him, than Heaven it self to be on their side.

As for the immediate Subject of his Death, the manner and circumstances thereof— It must first be granted, and a very reasonable demand it is, that for the present only supposing he was murder'd by the Papists, they would, we may be sure, make it their business to render the manner of it as dark as the Hell in which 'twas contriv'd.

But whatever this couragious honest Gentleman suffer'd from their Spite and Malice, he bore all with handsom, and truly English Resolution. As he before his Imprisonment, and since, was indefatigably diligent in getting up the bottom of this foul Business; all English-men must own, he has deserv'd the Love and Honour of his Country, who was not discourag'd from acting even in the worst of times, against a whole enraged Faction.

His CHARACTER.

It must be confessed, 'tis a bold and dangerous thing to attempt the Character of one of the greatest Men which our Age has produced, especially for one who had not the Honour of any Personal intimacy with him. All that's to be done is from what has been already said, and what other Memoirs are left of him, to endeavour at something so like him, that any one who sees it, may say, 'twas meant for the Picture of the Great Essex, how infinitely soever it must of ne∣cessity be short of its Original.

The first thing then Remarkable in him, and which alone would sufficiently distinguish him, is, That he was a Person of strict Morals, and severe Piety; and that in the midst of a Court

and Age not very Famous for either. Nor did this degenerate into Superstition or Weakness. He was a refin'd Politician, without what some will say 'tis impossible to be so, and that's Dissi∣mulation. When Affronts were offer'd him, he did not, as others, dissemble 'em, but, like him∣self only scorn and conquer 'em; even tho' of the highest Nature, and which generally pierce deepest into Persons of his Figure and Character. He was, as all the rest here commemorated, a firm Lover of his Country and Religion, the true Character of a true English-man; and en∣gaged on their sides against the then Duke of York, and other Ministers, not from any mean Pique, or little discontented Humour, which he was very much above; but meerly from the true Respect he had for them, and a sense of that imminent Danger they were in, which his piercing Judgment and long Experience made him more sensible of, and his Courage and Vertue more concern'd at, than others; not only those who fat unconcern'd Spectators, or shared in their Ruins; but even then most of them who were engaged with him in the same Common Cause of their Defence and Preservation. Nothing of such an impatience, or eagerness, or black Melancholy could be discern'd in his Temper or Conversation, as is always the Symptom or Cause of such Tragical Ends, as his Enemies would perswade us he came to.

Lastly, What may be said of most of the rest, does in a more especial and eminent manner agree to the Illustrious Essex; and than which nothing greater can be said of Mortality, He liv'd an Hero, and dy'd a Martyr.

Upon the Execrable Murther of the Right Honourable Arthur Earl of Essex.

MOrtality wou'd be too frail to hear How ESSEX fell, and not dissolve with fear; Did not more generous Rage take off the blow, And by his Blood, the steps to Vengeance show. The Tow'r was for the Tragedy design'd, And to be slaughter'd, he is first confin'd: As fetter'd Victims to the Altar go. But why must Noble ESSEX perish so? Why with such fury drag'd into his Tomb, Murther'd by slaves, and sacrific'd to Rome?

By stealth they kill, and with a secret stroke Silence that Voice which charm'd when e'er it spoke. The bleeding Orifice o'er flow'd the Ground, More like some mighty Deluge, than a Wound. Through the large space his Blood and Vitals glide, And his whole Body might have past beside. The reeking Crimson swell'd into a Flood, And stream'd a second time in Capel's Blood. He's in his Son again to Death pursu'd, An instance of the high'st Ingratitude. Then they malicious Stratagems employ, With Life, his dearer Honour to destroy, And make his Fame extinguish with his Breath; An Act beyond the Cruelties of Death. Here Murther is in all its shapes compleat, As Lines united in their Centre meet, Form'd by the blackest Politicks of Hell; Was Cain so dev'lish when his Brother fell?

He that contrives, or his own Fate desires, Wants Courage, and for fear of Death expires; But mighty ESSEX was in all things brave, Neither to Hope, nor to Despair, a Slave. He had a Soul to Innocent, and Great, To fear, or to anticipate his Fate: Yet their exalted Impudence and Guilt, Charge on himself the precious Blood they spilt. So were the Protestants some Years ago Destroy'd in Ireland without a Foe. By their own barbarous Hands the Mad-men die, And Massacre themselves they know not why: Whilst the kind Irish howl to see the Gore, And pious Catholicks their Fate deplore. If you refuse to trust Erroneous Fame, Royal Mac-Ninny will confirm the same.

We have lost more in injur'd Capel's Heir, Than the poor Bankrupt Age can e're repair. Nature indulg'd him so, that there we saw All the choice strokes her steady hand cou'd draw. He the Old English Glory did revive, In him we had Plantagenets alive. Grandeur, and Fortune, and a vast Renown Fit to support the lustre of a Crown. All these in him were potently conjoyn'd, But all was too ignoble for his Mind. Wisdom and Vertue, Properties Divine, Those, God-like ESSEX, were entirely thine.

In his great Name he's still preserv'd alive, And will to all succeeding Times survive. With just Progression, as the constant Sun Doth move, and through its bright Ecliptick run. For whilst his Dust does undistinguish'd lie, And his blest Soul is soar'd above the Sky, Fame shall below his parted Breath supply.

4. WILLIAM, Lord RƲSSEL.

THE next who fell under their Cruelty, and to whose Death Essex's was but the Prologue, was my Lord Russel, without all Dispute one of the finest Gentlemen that ever England bred, and whose Pious Life and Vertue was as much Treason against the Court, by affronting them with what was so much hated there, as any thing else that was sworn against him.

The Last Speech and Carriage of the Lord Russel, upon the Scaffold, &c.

ON Saturday, July the 21st. 1683. about Nine in the Morning, the Sheriffs went to Newgate, to see if the Lord Russel was ready; and in a little time, his Lordship came out, and went into his Coach, taking his Farewel of his Lady, the Lord Cavendish; and several other of his Friends, at Newgate. In the Coach were Dr. Tillotson, and Dr. Burnet, who accompanied him to the Scaffold built in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, which was covered all over with Mourning. Being come upon the Scaffold, his Lordship bowed to the Persons present; and turning to the Sheriff, made this following Speech.

Mr. Sheriff, I expected the Noise would be such, that I should not be much heard. I was never fond of much speaking, much less now; therefore I have set down in Paper all that I

think fit to leave behind me. God knows how far I was always from Designs against the King's Person, or of altering the Government: And I still pray for the Preservation of Both, and of the Protestant Religion. Mr. Sheriff, I am told, that Captain Walcot, Yesterday, siad something concerning my Knowledge of the Plot: I know not whether the Report be true, or not.

Mr. Sheriff. I did not hear him name your Lordship.

Writer. No, my Lord, your Lordship was not named by any of them.

Lord Russel. I hope it is not; for, to my knowledge, I never saw him, nor spake with him in my whole Life; and, in the Words of a dying Man, I profess I know of no Plot, either against the King's Life, or the Government. But I have now done with this World, and am going to a better. I forgive all the World heartily; and, I thank God, I die in Charity with all Men; and I wish all sincere Protestants may love one another, and not make way for Po∣pery by their Animosities. I pray God forgive them, and continue the Protestant Religion amongst them, that it may flourish so long as the Sun and Moon endures. I am now more sa∣tisfied to die, than ever I have been.

Then kneeling down, his Lordship prayed to himself; after which, Dr. Tillotson kneeled down, and prayed with him; which being done, his Lordship kneeled down and prayed a second time to himself, then pull'd off his Whig, put on his Cap, took off his Crevat and Coat, and bidding the Executioner, after he had lain down a small moment, do his Office without a Sign. He gave him some Gold: Then embracing Dr. Tillotson and Dr. Burnet, he laid him down with his Neck upon the Block. The Executioner missing at his first stroke, though with that he took away his Life, at two more severed the Head from the Body. The Executioner held up the Head to the People, as is usual in cases of Treason, &c. Which being done, Mr. Sheriff ordered his Lordship's Friends or Servants to take the Body, and dispose of it as they pleased, being gi∣ven them by His Majesty's Favour and Bounty.

His Body was convey'd to Cheneys in Buckinghamshire, where 'twas buried among his Ance∣stors. There was a great Storm, and many loud Claps of Thunder the day of his Martyrdom. An Elegy was made on him immediately after his Death, which seems by what we have of it, to be writ with some Spirit, and a great deal of Truth and Good-will; only this Fragment on't could be retriev'd, which yet may not be unwelcome to the Reader.

'Tis done—he's crown'd, and one bright Martyr more, Black Rome, is charg'd on thy too bulky score. All like himself he mov'd, so calm, so free, A generall Whisper question'd—Which is he? Deckt like a Lover, tho' pale Death's his Bride, He carne, and saw, and overcame, and dy'd. Earth wept, and all the vainly pitying Croud: But Heaven his Death in Thunder groan'd aloud.

His CHARACTER.

For his Character, if we'll believe the best Men, and those who knew him best, 'tis one of the most advantageous the Age, or indeed, our Nation has yielded. Those are great words which Mr. Leviston Gower speaks of him on his Tryal, but yet not a Syllable too big for his Merit, tho' they are very expressive of it.—

That he was one of the best Sons, the best Fathers, the best Husbands, the best Masters, the best Friends, and the best Christians. By other, That he was a most Vertuous, Prudent, and Pious Gentleman.— A Man of that Vertue, that none who knew him could think him guilty of such a Conspiracy.— A Man of great Honour, and too Prudent to be concern'd in so vile and desperate a Design.— A Person of great Vertue and integrity.— One, whom those he had long convers'd with, never heard utter so much as a word of Indecency against the King.] And others of the highest Quality, who had been often in his Company, say, That they had never heard any thing from him, but what was Honou∣rable, Just, and Loyal.

His Person was tall and proper; his Temper even and aggreable, and such as rendred his Ver∣tues even more lovely than they did him. His Piety and Devotion, as unaffected, and yet as remarkable as his Love to the Church of England. The True Church of England, as he himself calls it, not those Tumours and Wens that grow upon it, and pretended to be not only part but all of it in our late bad Times; to whose Heighths and Extravagancies he thinks it no shame in his Speech to confess he could never rise. He was of a Noble Courage, which he did not express by Quarrels or Duelling, but serving his Country at Sea in the most dangerous Wars, and at Land in the Parliament, in more dangerous Councils and Debates. He was there a true Englishman— still the same; you knew where he would be, for he never mov'd. A strenuous Asserter and Defender of his Country's Religion and Rights against all Opposers, and that in a Lawful and Parliamentary Method. He spoke little there, but always very home, and much to the purpose— And that was as true a Character of him formerly recited, as if it had come from a better Man, That every one knew the Lord Russel to be a Person of great Judg∣ment, and not very lavish of Discourse. Lastly, which will give no small heightening to his Character, He had Mr. Johnson to his Chaplain.

An Abstract of the late Noble Lord Russel's Speech to the Sheriffs; as also of a Paper delivered by him to them at the Place of his much-lamented Execution on July 21. 1683.

IN his Speech to the Sheriffs, he tells them, That for fear of not being well heard, he had couched what he had to say upon that sad occasion in the Paper he delivered them; only he Protest his Innocence of any Designs against the King's Person, or the then Government, and Prays for the Preservation of both, and of the Protestant Religion; and in short, declares, that he forgives all the World, and wishes that all True Protestants may love one another, and not make way for Popery by their Animosities.

In the Paper, He first declares himself compos'd for Death, and weaned from this World: Then he affectionately thanks God, as in general, so in particular, for his advantageous Birth, and Religious Education, of which in that important occasion, he found such happy and power∣ful Effects as kept him up against the fear of Death, and all other Discomposures, and armed him with such Assurances in God's Love and Mercy, as made the most joyful of the visibly sad∣dest Moments of his Life.

He professes to die as he had lived, a sincere Protestant of the Church of England, though he never could come up to the heighths of some; wishes more Moderation both in Church-men and Dissenters, and that the Common Danger of Popery might move them to lay aside their Differences, and all Persecuting Inclinations, as more unseasonable then, than at any other time.

He declares, he had a Notion of Poperey, as of an Idolatrous and Bloody Religion, and thought himself bound to Act in his Station against it, notwithstanding the Power of the Enemies he was sure to meet with on that account, &c. But yet he professes he never thought of doing any thing against it basely or inhumanely, against the Maxims of Christian Religion, or the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom, for his sincerity, in which, he appeals to God, renouncing all Passion, By-End, or Ill Design, as also all Designs of changing the Government, which was in his Opinion, the best in the World, and for which, as well as his Country, which he valued above his Life, he was ever ready to venture it: Disclaims all thoughts against the King's Life, deny∣ing even the Lord Howard to have said any thing tending to prove it.

Frays sincerely for the King and Nation, and wishes they may be mutually happy in one ano∣ther; that the King may be truly a Defender of the Faith; that the Protestant Religion and King∣dom may flourish under Him, and He be happy in both Worlds.

As to his share in the Prosecution of the Popish Plot, he declares he acted sincerely in it, as really believing, as he still did, the truth of such a Conspiracy, and disclaims his knowledge of any Practices with the Witnesses, which he protests against as abominable, and disowns Falshood or Cruelty ever to have been in his Nature.

He persists in his Opinion, that Popery was breaking in upon the Nation, and grieves to see Protestants Instrumental to it; declares his fears of the Sufferings the Protestant Religion was like to undergo, and bewails the publick and shameless Impiety that abounded, and modestly admo∣nishes all Persons, and particularly his Friends, well-wishers to the Protestant Cause, that were defective, to live up to its Principles. Then he declares his Submission to God's Pleasure, freely forgives his Enemies, and desires his Friends to seek no Revenge for his Blood.

After which, he looks back, and gives some little touches concerning his past behaviour, and the manner of his Treatment at his Tryal.

He confesses, he moved much for the Bill of Exclusion, as the only effectual Remedy to secure both the King's Life, the Protestant Religion, and the Frame of the Government, he thinking none of them could be safe so long as there was any hopes of a Popish Successor; and that the Li∣mitations proposed to bind the Duke were effectual Remedies against those Fears, because the Nation could never be easie and safe under a King without a Prerogative: But yet imputes his present Sufferings to the Revengeful Resentments some Persons retained for his Earnestness in that matter.

Next, as to his Conspiring to seize the Guards, he disowns that ever he was concerned in any such Design, or ever heard talk of any such thing as designed, but only one, as of a thing feazible, against which likewise he warmly declared himself, and said, the consequence of it was so like to end in Massacring the Guards in cold Blood, that he could not but abhor the thoughts of it, as approaching too near the Popish Practice, at which the Duke of Monmouth taking him by the hand, cried out affectionately, That he saw they were both of a Temper; he adds on that occasion, that he always observed in that Duke, an abhorrence to all base things.

He proceeds to shew how he went to the Meeting at Mr. Shepherd's, at the Duke of Mon∣mouch's earnest Request, chiefly to endeavour to prevent any such disorderly Proceedings as the Duke feared would be otherwise put on by some hot Men, whose rash courses he did accordingly most vigorously oppose, and yet was condemned only for not discovering them, though he en∣deavoured to reform them, because he would not stoop to so mean a thought, as that of going about to save his Life by accusing others for Crimes that they only talk'd of, and that, as we may partly gather from his Discourse, he had effectually disswaded them from too; so that his Intention was good, and his part in that Transaction, even in the strictest sense of Law, but a Misprision of Treason, and therefore he declares, he cannot but think the Sentence of Death past against him to be very hard, and he by a strange fetch, brought within the compass of the Statute of Treason, of Edward the Third.

He moreover adds, That he had so convincing a sense of his own Innocence in that Case, that he would not betray it by flight, tho' much pressed to it. He next excuses his saying so little at his Tryal, saying, he hoped it look'd more like Innocence than Guilt: Adding, that he was ad∣vised not to confess Matter of Fact too plainly, because it would certainly have brought him within the Guilt of Misprision; and so he thought it better to say little, than by departing from the Ingenuity he had always practised, by using little Tricks and Evasions, to make the last and solemnest part of his Life so notably different from the preceding course of it, as such a Con∣duct would have made it. He farther subjoyns, that he never pretended great Readiness in Speaking, and advises those Gentlemen of the Law that have it, to use it more conscientiously, and not to run Men down, and impose on Easie and Willing Juries by Strains and Fetches, &c. the Killing unjustly by Law, being the worst of Murthers. He then, as in several other places, repeating his wishes, that the Rage and Revenge of some Men, and the Partiality of Juries, may be stopped with his Blood; and so, after a small hint, how by the Importunity of his Dearest and most Vertuous Lady, and some other Dear Friends, he had been prevail'd upon, against his

Inclinations, to Address, tho' ineffectualy, for his Life, he concludes with a fresh Protestation of his Innocency, and a Devout Prayer to God, suitable to that sad Occasion.

5. Captain WALCOT.

CAptain Walcot and his Fellow-sufferers, in order of time, should have gone first, he being convicted before my Lord Russel, and executed the Friday, as he on Saturday. But my Lord Russel's Fate having so immediate a dependance on the Earl of Essex's, and all the Plot hanging on him; especially they two making the greatest Figure of any who suffer'd on this occasion; it look'd more proper and natural to begin with them, and reserve the other to this place. Captain Walcot was a Gentleman of a considerable Estate in Ireland, but more remark∣able for the rare Happiness of having Eight Children all at once living, and most of all, for his Love to his Country, which cost him his Life.

An Abstract of Captain Walcot's Speech.

CAptain Walcot denied any Design of killing the King, or of engaging the Guards, whilst others killed him; And said, That the Witnesses invited him to Meetings, where some thing were discoursed of, in order to the asserting our Liberties and Properties; which we look'd upon to be violated and invaded: — That They importuned and perpetually solicited him, and then deliver'd him up to be hang'd— That They combined together to swear him out of his Life, to save their own; and that they might do it effectually, They contrived an Ʋntruth.— That he forgave them, though guilty of his Blood; But, withal, earnestly begg'd, That they might be observed, that Remarks might be set upon them, whether their End be Peace: And he concluded (with what made Sir Roger L'Estrange a great deal of Sport, but yet Heaven has made it good) That when God hath a Work to do, he will not want Instruments.

With him was try'd Rouse, who was charged with such a parcel of mad Romance, as was scarce ever heard of; and one would wonder how Perjury and Malice, which use to be sober sins, could even be so extravagant as to hit on't. He was to seize the Tower, pay the Rabble, uncaese the Aldermen, to be Pay-Master, and Flea-Master General, and a great deal more to the same Tune. In his Defence, he says no great Matter, but yet what looks a Thousand times more like Truth than his Accusation; That the Tower Business was only Discourse of the feasibleness of the thing, (as Russel's about the Guards) but without the least intent of bringing it to Action; That all he was concern'd in any real Design, he had from Lee, and was getting more out of him, with an intention to make a Discovery. But it seems Lee got the whip-hand of him; they were both at a kind of Halter-Combat; Rouse's foot slipt, and Lee turn'd him over, and saved his own Neck.

His Dying Words.

Mr. Rouse declared, That he was told, that They did not intend to spill one drop of Blood; and affirmed, that Lee (the Witness against him did (by his Evidence) make him the Author of the very Words, that came out of his the said Lee's own Mouth.

A Brief Extract of Captain Walcot's Prayer.

O Lord, our God, Thou art a God of present help in time of Trouble, a God, that hast promised to be with thy People in the Fire, and in the Water. O Lord, we pray Thee, that thou wilt afford thy Presence to thy poor Suffering Servants at this time; O Lord, thy Servant that speaketh doth confess, that the Iniquties at his heels have justly overtaken him: O do thou bathe each of our Souls in that Fountain set open for sin and Uncleanness. O do thou enable every one of us, from the inward Evidence of thy Spirit, to say with thy Servant Job, That we know and are assured that our Redeemer lives. O give us some inward Tasts of those Heavenly Joys that we hope through the Mercy of Jesus Christ, in a little time to have a more full Fruition of. O Lord, do thou speak Peace to every one of our Consciences; though we lie under a Sentence of Death from Man, we beg that we may have a Sentence of Life Eternal from our God; and though we meet Thee, O Lord, in a Field of Blood, we beg that Thou wilt come to meet us in a Field of Mercy. O Lord, though we have been Prodigals, we desire to return unto our Father's House, where there is Bread enough. O enable us to come unto Thee as Children to their Parents. Lord put to thy helping Hand, Lord teach us truly to leave no Sin unrepented of in any one of our Hearts. And O Lord, we beg that with us thou wilt give us leave to recommend unto thy Care our Poor Wives and Children: Thou hast promised to be the Father of the Fatherless, and the Husband of the Widow; and thou hast commanded us to cast the Care of them upon Thee. O do thou make Provision for them, an enable them to bear this severe stroke with Patience. O Lord, we also beseech thee in the behalf of these Poor Kingdoms wherein we are, that Thou wilt be merciful to them, prevent Divisions among them, heal all their Breaches, compose their Differences, make all that are thine of one Heart and Mind in the things of Thee our God. Lord, favour us with the Mercy, assure us of thy Love, stand by us in the difficult Hour, take us into thine own Care, cause thy Angels to attend us, to convey our Souls as soon as they are divided from our Bodies, into Abraham's Boso••. All which we beg for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ, in whom, O Lord, this little time do thou give us Hearts to give Thee all Glory, Honour, and Praise, now and for evermore, Amen. Sweet Jesus, Amen.

6. Mr. HONE.

Hone was accused, and owns himself Guilty of a Design to Kill the King and the Duke of York, or one, or neither, for 'tis impossible to make any Sense of him. When they came to suf∣fer, Walcot read a Paper, in which was a good rational Confession of his Faith; then comes to the Occasion of his Death, for which, he says, He neither blames the Judges, Jury, nor Coun∣cil, but only some Men, that in reality were deeper concern'd than he, who combin'd together to swear him out of his LIfe, to save their own, and that they might do it effectually, contriv'd an Untruth, &c. He forgives the World and the Witnesses; gives his Friends Advice to be more Prudent than he had been; prays that his may be the last Blood spilt on the Account; wishes the King wou'd be merciful to others; says he knew nothing of Ireland, and concludes with praying God to have Mercy upon him.— He had then some Discourse with Cartwright, wherein he tells him, That he was not for contriving the Death of the King, nor to have had a Hand in't; and being urg'd with some Matters of Controversie, tells him, He did not come thither to dispute about Religion, but to die Religiously.

7. Mr. ROƲSE.

ROuse comes next, gives an Account of his Faith, professing to die of the Church of Eng∣land, tells his former Employment and Manner of Life, acknowledges he heard of Clubs and Designs, but was never at 'em, and a perfect Stranger to any thing of that Nature. Gives a Relation of what past between him and his Majesty on his Apprehension. Talks somewhat of Sir Thomas Player, the Earl of Shaftsbury, and accommodating the King's Son, as he calls it, tho' not while the King reign'd. Then falls upon Lee, and the Discourse they had together, who as he says, swore against him on the Trial those very Words he himself had used in pressing him to undertake the Design. Speaks of a Silver Ball which he proposed to be thrown up on Black-Heath, and after some Discourse with the Ordinary, gives the Spectators some good Counsel. They they all Three singly prayed; and then the Sentence was executed upon them.

8. ALGERNOON SIDNEY, Esq;

THe next Victim to Popish Cruelty and Malice, was Colonel Algernoon Sidney, of the ancient and noble Name and Family of the Sidneys, deservedly famous to the utmost Bounds of Europe; who, as the ingenious Mr. Hawles observes, was meerly talk'd to Death, under the No∣tion of a Commonwealth's Man, and found Guilty by a Jury who were not much more proper Judges of the Case, than they wou'd have been had he writ in Greek or Arabick. He was ar∣raign'd for a Brnach of this Plot, at Westminster, the 17th. of November, 1683. where, tho' it cannot be said the Grand Jury knew not what they did, when they found the Bill against him, since no doubt they were well instructed what to do; yet it must, that they found it almost before they knew what 'twas, being so well resolv'd on the Case, and agreed on their Verdict, that had he been Indicted for Breaking-up an House, or Robbing on the High-way, 'twas doom'd to have been Billa vera, as much as 'twas now.

An Abstract of the Paper delivered to the Sheriffs on the Scaffold on Tower-Hill, December 7. 1683. by Algernoon Sidney, Esquire, before his Execution.

FIrst having excused his not speaking, as well because it was an Age that made Truth pass for Treason for the Proof of which, he instances his Trial and Condemnation, and that the Ears of some present were too tender to hear it, as because of the Rigour of the Season, and his Infirmities, &c. Then after a short Reflection upon the little said against him by other Witnes∣ses, and the little Value that was to be put on the Lord Howard's Testimony, whom he charges with an infamous Life, and many palpable Perjuries, and to have been byassed only by the Pro∣mise of Pardon, &c. and makes, even tho' he had been liable to no Exceptions, to have been but a single Witness: He proceeds to answer the Charge against him from the Writings found in his Closet by the King's Officers, which were pretended, but not Lawfully evidenced to be his, and pretends to prove, that had they been his, they contained no condemnable matter, but prin∣ciples, more safe both to Princes and People too, than the pretended high-flown Plea for Absolute Monarchy, composed by Filmer, against which, they seemed to be levelled; and which, he says, all intelligent Men thought were founded on wicked Principles, and such as were destru∣ctive both to Magistrates, and People too. Which he attempts to make out after this manner.

First, says he, if Filmer might publish to the World, That Men were born under a necessary indispensible Subjection to an Absolute King, who could be restrained by no Oath, &c. whether be came to it by Creation, Inheritance, &c. nay, or even by Usurpation, why might he not pub∣lish his Opinion to the contrary, without the breach of any known Law? Which Opinion he professes consisted in the following Particulars.

1. That God had left Nations at the liberty of Modelling their own Governments.

2. That Magistrates were instituted for Nations, and not E contra.

3. That the Right and Power of Magistrates was fixed by the standing Laws of each Country.

4. That those Laws sworn to on both sides, were the matter of a Contract between the Ma∣gistrate and People, and could not be broken without the Danger of dissolving the whole Govern∣ment.

5. The Ʋsurpation could give no Right; and that King had no greater Enemies than those who asserted that, or were for stretching their Power beyond its Limits.

6. That such Ʋsurpations commonly effecting the Slaughter of the Reigning Person, &c. the worst of Crimes was thereby most gloriously Rewarded.

7. That such Doctrines are more proper to stir up Men to destroy Princes, than all the Passions that ever yet swayed the worst of them, and that no Prince could be safe if his Murderers may hope such Rewards, and that few Men would be so gentle, as to spare the best Kings, if by their Destruction, a wild Ʋsurper could become God's Anointed, which he says was the scope of that whole Treatise, and asserts to be the Doctrine of the best Authors of all Nations, Times and Reli∣gions, and of the Scripture, and so owned by the best and wisest Princes, and particuarly by Lewis XIV. of France, in his Declaration against Spain, Anno 1667. and by King James of Eng∣land, in his Speech to the Parliament, 1603. and adds, that if the Writer had been mistaken, he should have been fairly refuted, but that no Man was ever otherwise punished for such Matters, or any such things referred to a Jury, &c. That the Book was never finished, &c. nor ever seen by them whom he was charged to have endeavoured by it to draw into a Conspiracy: That no∣thing in it was particularly or maliciously applied to Time, Place, or Person, but distorted to such a sense by Innuendo's as the Discourses of the Expulsion of Tarquin, &c. and particularly of the Translation made of the Crown of France, from one Race to another, had been applied by the then Lawyers Innuendo's to the then King of England; never considering, adds he, that if such Acts of State be not allowed Good, no Prince in the World has any Title to his Crown; and having, by a short Reflection, shewn the Ridiculousness of deriving Absolute Monarchy from Patriarchal Power, he appeals to all the World, whether it would not be more Advantageous to all Kings, to own the Deerivation of their Power to the Consent of willing Nations, than to have no better Title than Force, &c. which may be over-powered.

But notwithstanding the Innocence and Loyalty of that Doctrine, he says, He was told he must die, or the Plot must die, and complains, that in order to the destroying the best Protestants of England, the Bench was fill'd with such as had been blemishes to the Bar; and Instances how against Law, they had advised with the King's Council about bringing him to Death, suffer'd a Jury to be pack'd by the King's Sollicitors, and the Ʋnder-Sheriff, admitted Jury men no Free∣holders, received Evidence not valid, refus'd him a Copy of his Indictment, or to suffer the Act of the 46th. of Edw. 3. to be read, that allows it, had over-ruled the most important Points of Law, without hearing, and assumed to themselves a Power to make Constructions of Treason, tho' against Law, Sense, and Reason, which the Stat. of the 25th. of Edw. 3. by which they pre∣tended to Try him, was reserved only to the Parliament; and so praying God, to forgive them, and to avert the Evils that threatned the Nation, to sanctifie those Sufferings to him, and tho' he fell a Sacrifice to Idols, not to suffer Idolatry to be established in this Land, &c. He concludes with a Thanksgiving, that God had singled him out to be a Witness of his Truth, and for that Good Old Cause in which from his Youth he had been engag'd, &c.

His EPITAPH.

ALgernoon Sidney fills this Tomb, An Atheist by declaiming Rome; A Rebel bold by striving still To keep the Laws above the Will, And hindring those would pull them down, To leave no Limits to a Crown. Crimes damn'd by Church and Government. Oh whither must his Soul be sent! Of Heaven it must needs despair, If that the Pope be Turn-key there; And Hell can ne'er it entertain, For there is all Tyrannick Reign, And Purgatory's such a Pretence, As ne'er deceiv'd a Man of Sense; Where goes it then? where't ought to go, Where Pope and Devil have nought to do.

His CHARACTER.

There's no need of any more than reading his Trial and Speech, to know him as well as if he stood before us. That he was a Person of extraordinary Sense, and very close thinking, which he had the Happiness of being able to express in Words as manly and apposite as the Sense included under 'em. He was owner of as much Vertue and Religion, as Sense and Reason; tho' his Piety lay as far from Enthusiasm as any Man's. He fear'd nothing but God, and lov'd nothing on Earth like his Country, and the just Liberties and Laws thereof, whose Constitutions he had deeply and successfully inquired into. To sum up all, He had Piety enough for a Saint, Cou∣rage enough for a General or a Martyr, Sense enough for a Privy-Counsellor, and Soul enough for a King; and in a word, if ever any, he was a perfect Englishman.

9. Mr. JAMES HOLLOWAY.

MR. Holloway declared, That Mr. West proposed the Assassination, but none seconded him— That he could not perceive that Mr. Ferguson knew any thing of it; and HOlloway said, It was our Design to shed no Blood. He being interrogated by Mr. Ferguson's Friend, Mr. Sheriff Da∣niel, whether he knew Ferguson; he answer'd, That he did know him, but knew him to be against any Design of killing the King.

10. Sir THOMAS ARMSTRONG.

HE had been all his Life a firm Servant and Friend to the Royal Family, in their Exile and afterwards: He had been in Prison for 'em under Cromwel, and in danger both of Execu∣tion and Starving; for all which they now rewarded him. He had a particular Honour and De∣votion for the Duke of Monmouth, and push'd on his Interest on all Occasions, being a Man of as undaunted English Courage, as ever our Country produced.

In his Paper he thus expressed himself, That he thanked Almighty God, he found himself prepa∣red for Death, his Thoughts set upon another World, and weaned from this; yet he could not but give so much of his little time as to answer some Calumnies, and particularly what Mr. Attorney accu∣sed him of at the Bar.

That he prayed to be allowed a Tryal for his Life according to the Laws of the Land, and ur∣ged the Statute of Edward 6. which was expresly for it; but it signified nothing, and he was with an Extraordinary Roughness condemned and made a precedent; tho' Holloway had it offered him, and he could not but think all the World would conclude his Case very different, else why refused to him?

That Mr. Attorney charged him for being one of those that was to kill the King; He took God to witness, that he never had a Thought to take away the King's Life, and that no Man ever had the Impudence to propose so barbarous and base a thing to him; and that he never was in any Design to alter the Government.

That if he had been tried, he could have proved the Lord Howard's base Reflections upon him, to be notoriously false— He concluded, that he had lived and now died of the Reformed Religion, a Protestant in the Communion of the Church of England, and he heartily wished he had lived more strictly up to the Religion he believed: That he had found the great Comfort of the Love and Mercy of God, in and through his blessed Redeemer, in whom he only trusted, and verily hoped that he was going to partake of that fulness of Joy which is in his pesence, the Hopes whereof infinitely pleased him. He thanked God he had no repining, but chearfully submitted to the Punishment of his Sins. He freely forgave all the World, even those con∣cerned in taking away his Life, tho' he could not but think his Sentence very hard, he being denied the Laws of the Land.

On the Honourable Sir Thomas Armstrong, Executed June 20. 1684.

HAdst thou abroad found Safety in thy Flight, Th' Immortal Honour had not flam'd so bright. Thou hadst been still a worthy Patriot thought; But now thy Glory's to Perfection brought. In Exile, and in Death, to England true: What more could Brutus or just Cato do?

11. Alderman CORNISH.

TO make an end of this Plot altogether, 'twill be necessary once more to invert the Order in which things happened, and tho' Mr. Cornish suffer'd not till after the Judges returned from the West, as well as Bateman after him, yet we shall here treat of 'em both, and so con∣clude this Matter.

Cornish on his Tryal is said to have denied his being at the Meeting, and discoursing with the Duke of Monmouth: Which they'd have us believe Shepherd swears he was, tho' not a Syllable of it appears. [He had been there several times, Shepherd says, but was not of their Consult, knew nothing of their Business, nor can he be positive whether 'twas the Duke of Monmouth he came to speak with that Evening.] But supposing in two or three Years time, and on so little Recol∣lection, Cornish's Memory had slipt in that Circumstance, what's that to Shepherd's Evidence against the very Root of Rumsey's, which hang'd the Prisoners?

In spight of all he was found Guilty, and Condemn'd, and even that Christian serenity of Mind and Countenance wherewith 'twas visible he bore his Sentence, turn'd to his Reproach by the Bench.

He continued in the same excellent Temper whilst in Newgate, and gave the World a glaring Instance of the Happiness of such Persons as live a pious Life, when they come to make an end on••••, let the way thereof be never so violent. His Carriage and Behaviour at his leaving New∣gate, was as follows.

Some Passages of Henry Cornish, Esq; before his Sufferings.

COming into the Press-yard, and seeing the Halter in the Officer's Hand, he said, Is this for me? the Officer answered, Yes; he replyed, Blessed be God, and kissed it; and after said, O blessed be God for Newgate, I have enjoyed God ever since I came within these Walls; and blessed be God who hath made me fit to die. I am now going to that God that will not be mocked, to that God that will not be imposed upon, to that God that knows the Innocency of his poor Creature. And a little after, he said, Never did any poor Creature come unto God with greater Confidence in his Mercy, and Assurance of Acceptation with him, through Jesus Christ, than I do; but it is through Jesus Christ, for there is no other way of coming to God but by him, to find Acceptance with him: There is no other Name given under Heaven whereby we can be saved, but the Name of Jesus. Then speaking to the Officers, he said, Labour every one of you to be fit to die, for I tell you, you are not fit to die: I was not fit to die my self, till I came in hither; but, O blessed be God! he hath made me fit to die, and hath made me willing to die! In a few Moments I shall have the Fruition of the Blessed Jesus, and that not for a day, but for Ever! I am going to the Kingdom of God, to the Kingdom of God! where I shall enjoy the Presence of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit, and of all the Holy Angels! I am going to the general Assembly of the First-born, and of the Spirits of Just Men made perfect! O that God should ever do so much for me! O that God should con∣cern himself so much for poor Creatures, for their Salvation! Blessed be his Name! For this was the Design of God from all Eternity, to give his only Son to die for poor miserable Sinners. Then the Officers going to tie his Hands, he said, What, must I be tied then? Well, a brown Thred might have served the turn: You need not tye me at all, I shall not stir from you; for,

I thank God, I am not afraid to die. As he was going out, he said, Farewel Newgate, Farewel all my Fellow Prisoners here; the Lord comfort you, the Lord be with you all.

Thus much for his Behaviour in the way to his Martyrdom. The Place of it was most spite∣fully and ignominiously ordered, almost before his own Door, and near Guildhall, to scare any good Citizen from appearing vigorously in the Discharge of his Duty for his Countrey's Service, by his Example. If any thing was wanting in his Trial, from the hast of it, for the clearing his Innocency, he sufficiently made it up in solemn Asseverations thereof on the Scaffold. [God is my Witness, says he, the Crimes laid to my Charge were falsly and maliciously sworn against me by the Witnesses: For I never was at any Consult, nor any Meeting where Matters against the Government were discoursed of.] He adds, [I never heard or read any Declaration tending that way.] Again, [As to the Crimes for which I suffer, upon the Words of a dying Man, I'm alto∣gether Innocent.] Lower he adds, [He died as he had liv'd, in the Communion of the Church of England, in whose Ordinances he had been often a Partaker, and now felt the blessed Effects thereof in these his Agonies.]

He was observ'd by those who stood near the Sledge, to have solemnly, several times, averr'd his absolute Innocence of any Design against the Government, and particularly that which he died for.

There was such a terrible Storm the Day of his Death, as has scarce been known in the Me∣mory of Man, and will never be forgot by those who were in it; ten or a dozen Ships being founder'd, or stranded in one Road, and a vast many more in other Places. And as Heaven then did him Justice, and vindicated his Innocence, so Earth also has done it; the Judgment against him being Reverst by that Honourable, Ever-memorable Parliament, which, under God and our King, has settled the Happiness both of this Age and Posterity.

His CHARACTER.

HE was a Person of as known Prudence as Intregrity, a good Christian, a compleat Citizen, a worthy Magistrate, and a zealous Church of England Man. He was so cautious and wise, that he was noted for it all thro' those worst of times, and often propos'd as an Example to others of hotter and more imprudent Tempers; nor could the least Imputation be fix'd on him of hearing or concealing any unlawful or dangerous Discourses, any other ways than by plain force of Perjury, being known to have shunn'd some Persons, whom he, as well as some other prudent Men, suspected to have no good Designs, and to be indu'd with no more Honesty than Discretion, as it afterwards prov'd. But he was design'd to glorifie God by such an End a•• all his Care could not avoid, which he submitted to with Bravery rarely to be met with, unless among those who suffered for the same Cause in the same Age; or their Predecessors, Queen Ma∣ry's Martyrs. There was seen the same Tenour of Prudence and Piety thro' all the Actions of his Life, tho' most conspicuous in the last glorious Scene of it. There was such a firmness in his Soul, such vigour, and almost extatick Joy, and yet so well regulated, that it shin'd thro' his Face, almost with as visible Rays as those in which we use to dress Saints and Martyrs, with which; both at his Sentence and Execution, he refresh'd all his Friends, and at once dazled and confounded his most bitter Enemies.

12. Mr. CHARLES BATEMAN.

THE next, and last, was Mr. Bateman the Chirurgeon, a Man of good Sense, good Courage and good Company, and a very large and generous Temper, of considerable Repute and Practice in his Calling: A great Lover and Vindicator of the Liberties of the City and King∣dom, and of more Interest than most of his Station. He was sworn against by Rouse's Lee, and Richard Goodenough, upon the old Stories of seizing the Tower, City, and Savoy.

'Twas urged, That there was Three Years between the Fact pretended, and Lee's Prosecution of him, which, tho' they had but one Witness, could have brought him to Punishment, which would have been judged sufficient by any, but those who would be content with nothing but Blood. For Goodenough, he was but one Witness, and pardon'd only so far, as to qualifie him to do Mischief. However, he was found Guilty, and died as much like a Christian, and with as great a Presence of Mind as most of the others.

The Last Words of those which suffered in the West of England, and other Places, chiefly under Jeffrey's insulting Cruelty.

ONE thing there is very observable in most, if not all of those who laid down their Lives in Defence of the Pro∣testant Religion, both in England and Scotland, that, besides that extraordinary Divine Courage and Chear∣fulness with which they dy'd, they had Expressions plainly boading that great Deliverance which Providence has since that miraculously accomplished for these Kingdom. 'Twould be endless to give almost all the innumerable Instances of it: Mr. Nelthrop says, [God had in his wonderful Providence made him and others Instru∣ments, not only in what was already fallen out, but he believed, for hast'ning some other great Work, he had yet to do in these Kingdoms.] Mrs. Gaunt says, [God's Cause shall revive, and he'd plead it at another rate than yet he had done, against all its malicious Opposers.] And speaks yet more strangely of those then uppermost, and likely to be so, [That tho' they were seemingly fix'd, and using their Power and Violence against those they had now got under 'em, yet unless they could se∣cure Jesus Christ, and all his Holy Angels, they should never do their Business, but Vengeance would be upon 'em, 'e're they were aware.] Capt. Ansley, whose Speech is as pretty a meat thing, as close, and Christian, and couragious, as perhaps any that ever was made by Man in his Condition, after he had said, [He did

not repent what he had done, but if he had a thousand Lives, would have engag'd 'em all in the same Cause;] adds just after, [Though it has pleased the wise God, for Reasons best known to himself, now to blast our Designs, yet he will deliver his People by ways we know not, nor think of.] Rumbold said just the same. Mr. Hewling says, [I question not, but in his own time, God will raise up other Instruments to carry on the same Cause they dy'd for, for his own Glory.] Mr. Lark, [That he was confident God would Revenge their Bloods.] Now it will be very harsh to say, all these, and several more to the same purpose, were nothing but Enthusiasm, since spoken by Persons of all Sexes and Ages, in twenty different Places, in the most calm and serene Tempers, and the Persons not wild or fanci∣ful; and their Words miraculously made good by the Event, which shews God honour'd 'em with being Prophets as well as Martyrs.

To proceed to the Persons who suffer'd in this Cause here, and in the West, and other Places, chiefly under Jef∣frey's Insulting Cruelty. His dealing with 'em is not to be parallel'd by any thing but the new French Dragoons, or the old Cut-throats and Lords Chief-Justices of the poor Albigenses or Waldenses at Merindol and Cutrices. Had the Great Turk sent his Janisaries, or the Tartar his Armies among 'em, they'd scaped bet∣ter. Humanity could not offend so far to deserve such Punishment as he inflicted. A certain Barbarous Joy and Plea∣sure grinn'd from his Brutal Soul through his Bloody Eyes, when ever he was Sentencing any of the poor Souls to Death and Torment, so much worse than Nero, as when that Monster wish'd he had never learnt to Write, because forc'd to set his Name to Warrants for Execution of Malefactors. Jeffreys would have been glad if every Letter he writ had been such a Warrant, and every Word a Sentence of Death. He observ'd neither Humanity to the Dead, nor Civility to the Living. He made all the West an Aceldama; some Places quite depopulated, and nothing to be seen in 'em but forsaken Walls, unlucky Gibbets, and Ghostly Carcasses. The Trees were loaden almost as thick with Quarters as Leaves; the Houses and Steeples covered as closed with Heads, as at other times frequently in that Country with Crows or Ravens. Nothing could be liker Hell than all those Parts, nothing so like the Devil as be. Cal∣drons hizzing, Carkesses boiling, Pitch and Tar sparkling and glowing, Blood and Limbs boiling and tearing, and mangling, and he the great Director of all; and in a word, discharging his Place who sent him, the best deser∣ving to be the late King's Chief Justice there, and Chancellor after, of any Man that breath'd since Cain or Judas.