especially that of the King 's they made no bones of him but condemned him to the Gibbet with such fury and hast that they would scarce afford him time to recommend himself from their merciless Bar to the merciful and just Tribunal of Heaven which would ere long judge righteously in his cause between his Enemies and himself He was not long in preparation for his dissolution having as well learned as taught the necessity of Death improved to him into an easie suffering undergoing of it by the glory of his cause so that he quietly submitted to their Sentence and with Christian resolution owning his actions in order to his duty laid down his life the day and year aforesaid and will therefore deservedly among the rest of his glorious Company be had in precious and everlasting remembrance Not long afterwards followed the rendition of Pontefract-Castle surprized as aforesaid by Col. Morris they had stood it out to extremity there being no place in England for the King besides therefore were forced to accept of very hard Conditions which were that six of the garison whom they should chuse should be left at discretion The reason of this calling out this Number was a resolution to Sacrifice them to the ghost of the said Rainsborough being assured that those that performed that exploit were then in the Castle might be discovered upon view Among those or rather for those this Gentleman was taken being the Governor of the place and with Cornet Michael Blackbourn and the others brought to the City of York and committed to that Goal until the Summer-Assizes held there by Baron Thorp for that County when an Indictment of Treason was brought against them for levying War against the Parliament therupon found guilty by a pack'd Jury and after Sentence of being hanged drawn and quartered they were executed the day and year aforesaid the rigour of dismembring them being only abated At their death they spake as followeth The Speech of Col. John Morris Governour of Pontefract Castle at the place of his Execution at York August 23. 1649. WHen he was brought out of prison looking upon the Sledge that was there set for him lifting up his eyes to Heaven knocking upon his breast he said I am as willing to go to my death as to put off my doublet to go to bed I despise the shame as well as the Cross I know I am going to a joyful place with many like expressions When the Post met him about St. James Church that was sent to the Parliament to mediate for a reprieve and told him he could not prevailin it he said Sir I pray God reward you for your pains I hope and am well assured to finde a better pardon then any they can give my hope is not in man but in the living God At the place of Execution he made this profession of his faith his breeding his cause he had fought in Gentlemen First I was bred up in the true Protestant Religion having my education and breeding from that honorable House my dear Lord Master Strafford which place I dare boldly say was as well governed and ruled as ever any yet was before it I much doubt better then any will be after it unless it please God to put a period to these distracted times this Faith and Religion I say I have been bred in and I thank God I have hitherto lived in without the least wavering and now I am resolved by Gods assistance to dy in These pains are nothing if compared to those dolors and pains which Jesus Christ our Saviour hath suffered for us when in a bloody-Sweat he endured the Wrath of God the pain of Hell and the cursed and shameful death which was due to our sins therefore I praise the Lord that I am not plagued with far more grievous punishment that the like hath befallen others who undoubtedly are most glorious and blessed Saints with Christ in Heaven It is the Lords affliction and who will not take any affliction in good part when it comes from the hand of God And what shall we receive good from the hands of God and not receive evil And though I desire as I am carnal that this Cup may depart from me yet not my will but thy will be done Death brings unto the godly an end of sinning and of all miseries due unto sin so that aâ—ter death there shall be no more sorrow nor cry nor pain for God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes by Death our souls shall be delivered from thraldom and this corruptible body shall put on incorruption and this mortal immortality Therefore blessed are they that are delivered out of so vile a world and freed from such a body of bondage and corruption the soul shall enjoy immediate Communion with God in evetlasting bliss and glory it takes us from the miseries of this world and society of sinners to the City of the living God the celestial Jerusalem I bless God I am thought worthy to suffer for his Name and for so good a cause and if I had a thousand lives I would willingly lay them down for the cause of my King the Lords Anointed the Scripture commands us to fear God and honour the King to be subject to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether to the King as supreme or to to those that are in authority under him I have been always faithful to my Trust and though I have been most basely accused for betraying Leverpool yet I take God to witness it is a most false aspersion for I was then sick in my bed and knew not of the delivering of it till the Officers and Souldiers had done it without my consent and then I was carried prisoner to Sir John Meldrum afterwards I came down into the Country and seeing I could not live quietly at home I was perswaded by Colonel Forbes Colonel Overton Lieut-Colonel Fairfax whom I took for my good friends to march in their Troops which I did but with intention still to do my King the best service when occasion was and so I did and I pray God to turn the hearts of all the Souldiers to their lawful Sovereign that this Land may enjoy Peace which till then it will never do and though thou kill me yet will I put my trust in thee wherefore I trust in God he will not fail me nor forsake me Then he took his Bible and read divers Psalms fit for his own occasion and consolation and then put up divers prayers some publiquely and some privately the publique was this whiâ—h follows His Prayer WElcome blessed hour the period of my Pilgrimage the term of my Bondage the end of my cares the close of my sins the bound of my travels the Goal of my race and the haven of my hopes I have fought a long fight in much weakness I have finished my course though in great faintness and the Crown of my joy is that through the
the time and place of this Regicide also proved This Information was first made to the House of Lords and avowed by the said two Gentlemen whereupon Rolfe being apprehended in Bishopsgate where he had like to have been torn in pieces by the multitude of people had it not been for their very strong Guards they sent for him was carried in a Sedan to the Gate-house whence he was sent against the Assizes to Winchester where at his Arraignment the whole matter was punctually proved against him yet for all that both by Judges and Jury the then Lord Chief Baron and some packt desperate Wretches of that County he was to the wonder and astonishment of all the world acquitted and freed and soon after set at Liberty Next followed the Inditement and Arraignment of this our Martyr which was layd for levying war against the King to which he duly and of Right and Conscience pleaded Not guilty Tâ—e matter of Fact which was proved against him was that he had beaten up Drums in the Isle of Wight to raise men for to assist the King against the Parliament such a Contradiction in it self that had but Reason and Loyalty been at market there had been no such desperate Chapmen in the Country for without more ado these wretched Fellows bring him in guilty of High Treason and the Judge gave Sentence accordingly which was presently after executed We will consider Thirdly that this manner of Trial was never offered before to the Subjects of this Kingdom those men they murdered upon the Score of Loyalty during the war were either taken away by their Illegal Ordinances or Courts Marshal and Councils of war they not daring to refer their case to the decision of the Law but here assoon as they had reduced the King they thought it an easie work to reduce the Laws and though his Majesty would not comply with their unlimited demands they would bend the Law to their Lusts and most absolute will and Tyranny so that he is the first who suffered as a Martyr of the English Freedom Intercessions were made on all hands for his Life his poor wife even drowned in tears imploring their mercy but there was no Relenting or Compassion to be found among those men So Feb. 10. being come the day of his blessed Exchange he full of Christian Resolution and Comfort with Earnest Prayers to God for the King and Kingdoms Restoration to their former and lasting Happiness willingly resigned his Spirit to God sealing his Glorious Cause with his last Breath and Bloud Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle shot to death at Colchester by a Council of War upon the Rendition of the same Town THese Gemini of Valour and Honour as well as exact Loyalty I could not well divide in this Martyrology being so joyned in their deaths honourable Burial and Funerals and being both of them so equally eminent in their Generation for all true worth and Vertue Sr. Charles Lucas was descended of a very Ancient and Illustrious Family he who knows not the Name of Lucas knows nothing of Gentility but if this Noble Person had derived no Honour from his Ancestors yet his own purchased Glory and the Relative Merits of his two Famous Brethren the Lord Lucas and Sir Gervas formerly Governour of Belvoyr Castle in which three Nature and Education had summ'd up a Perfection will without any other Additaments transmit him to Posterity as a worthy and English Heroe He was a Person assisted with a resolute Spirit of an active disposition and a surable discretion to manage it strict and severe in his Commands without any pride or surliness free in his Rewards to persons of Desert and Quality in his Society and with his Friends he was affable and pleasant in his Charge serious and vigilant remiss in nothing that might any way improve or expedite his Dispatch in the Affairs of VVar as he is well charactered by a good Pen. We will therefore view him only in the Camp in which he gloriously lived and died excusing his Learning and other rare Endowments from the imputation of Crime and lay all the Load of his miserable Fate aggravated by the Name of an enemy to the Kingdom upon his Loyal carriage and magnanimity abstracted from all other Considerations In the beginning of the Tumults and Preparations for War in Scotland against their Native pious Pr. he raised a Troop of Horse in London and like an Expert and Resolute Commander behaved himself in that uncertain Service being a profest Enemy to the Insolencies and Rebellious Designs of that Nation That Broyl ceasing through the great condescentions of the King to the unreasonable Demands of that Kingdom which kindled the Combustions in this the King being necessitated to take up Arms to defend his Person and the Authority of the Laws against the like Rebellion at home Sr. Charles readily engaged on his Soveraigns side against the pretended 2 Houses The first place where he signally shewed his Valour in that just Cause omitting Exployts of less concernment as not to our purpose was at Auburn Chase and Newberry Field where the first memorable Battel was fought here Sr. Charles Lucas with many other Gallant Gentlemen behaved themselves with undanted courage and Resolution which so far engaged him in that dangerous Business the fight being obstinately maintained that he received some desperate wounds that fatal day but the Blood he lost there was but an Earnest or prognostick stillations drops of that mass of Bloud which was afterwards to flow out with his Life for the same Cause His next Appearance to the terror of his Enemies his Valour having gained him a frighting name amongst them was in his deserting of Cawood Castle assaulted by the Parliaments Forces whence with good conduct and as true Courage he forced his way through their Quarters to such places as he thought convenient and came at last in safety to York His Bravery in charging at Marston Moor and enduring the Brunt of his Enemies when the Fortune of that day declined on the Kings side as it then challenged the Praise of all men so it deserves everlasting Remembrance His discreet and military Management of the Affairs at Newark where he manifested himself an absolute Souldier both in Discipline of war and personal Action to the great satisfaction of the Governour and Garrison which alwaies consisted of Gallant and truly Noble Persons merits a Record to serve as an Example to Future Times His brave and successeful Attempt in his March from Berkly Castle with part of his Regiment betwixt Slymbridge and Beverston Castle upon Col. Masseys Garrisons together with his incomparable Gallantry in the pursuit of his Design at Tedbury was work for noble Imitation But all these Particulars signifie nothing to his Heroick Magnanimity in defence of the Town of Colchester beleaguered by a potent and victorious Army This was as the Corollary the summing up of all his Atchievements in the times and circumvallations
purpose a scandal which obliquely hit Sir Henry to the taking away his life but was doubly aymed at his Majesty whom they would render to his Subjects as they in their Traiterous Papers had called him an Enemy to the Common-wealth At his going to Constantinople several Messages past betwixt him and Sir Thomas Bendish in order to his audience which usually is prepared by the Resident there which his mistakes and jealousie was a long time delayed and at last frustrated The Vizier being wrought upon to betray him and to send him away for England by the Ships then bound thither from Smyrna in one whereof contrary to his Designation and reinfect with some of Sir Thomas Bendisheâ— men who sided with him in obedience to the Kings Authority he arrived at London and was presently committed to the Tower where he past his Examination I shall omit any further account but refer the Reader to that Apology or Defence which Sir Thomas Bendish lately published in excuse of himself and to free and clear his Reputation charged with the guilt of this Martyrs death and more especially to what Sir Henry himself said a view whereof you have in the subsequent leaves After some while imprisonment he was brought before the High Court of Justice and heard in defence of his life wherein he would have used and desired to speak in the Italian Language being through long disuse of his Mother-tongue not so ready and expressive as that important matter required he should be which request by the folly and madnesse of his Judges was imputed to him as an affected pride and vanity In conclusion by a Power intrusted and lodged in that High Court of Justice by Authority of Parliament he was sentenced to be beheaded and the place and day assigned for the Execution The main incentive to this villany was without doubt the nearnesse of his Honourable Brother to the King at whom this blow glanced if also they did not remember and reckon their two presumptuous Emissaries and Agents Dorislaws and Achtan into the score However it was Sir Henry nothing dismaid at this outrage against his Life and Honour quietly submitted to his doom and at his death though accompanied thereto with many diseases and Infirmities couragiously asserted his Cause owned his Master the King and cleared them both from any Aspersions and so rendered his Soul to God Sir Henry Hide 's speech on the Scaffold near the Exchange immediately before his Execution March 4. 1650. REader Take notice that this Speech following is published in those very words that the Gentleman delivered them and though there be some abrupt breakings off and other expressions not so smooth as might have been yet I could not with henesty alter a word and therefore have I tyed my self to his own expressions that I may neither abuse the world or the dying man or my self THe Gentleman came in a Coach to the Scaffold attended by the Lieutenant of the Tower and the Sheriffs of London and also in his company one of his servants and Dr. Hide I Am come to put in practice the Christian Profession Sir Hen. Hide and as I owe a death to nature and sin now I pay it upon the score of grace Dr. Hide Blessed be God that hath enabled you to it God hath and will enable you Sir H. Hide Looking round on the People he said A populous City God bless it and grant they may live to his Grace Then turning to his Man he said John I pray now though I have not been a good Master to you be you a good Servant and accompany me with your prayers and help me both in body and mind John Have you my things about you John Then staying for his Servants they being not on the Scaffold he said I had rather have my Servants then strangers Then the Lieutenant of the Tower coming to him he said pray Sir rejoyce with me I thank Almighty God I am brought hither to suffer for him Lieut. of the Tower I am glad you are so comforted Gods Will be fulfilled in all things Sir H. Hide If God call me to him and I glorifie him it is well I seek only the company of your Christian Prayers Lieut. of the Tower I shall not be wanting in that God willing Then the Chirurgion coming but not his Kinsman who was called for he said My kinsman is of no use you may be useful about my body I hope Mr. Sheriff that you 'l give order I may have a little more room here Sheriff Yes yes Sir Sir H. Hide And likewise for libertie of speech and that it shall please you for I am not acquainted with the forms here of England that I may speak my own sense I am now going into the presence of Almightie God a very little without any disturbance Sheriff Why Sir you shall Sir H. Hide John where is my Coffin John It is here Sir Sheriff Sir it seems these men cannot be found Sir H. Hide But if Mr. Barret could be found After some stay Mr. Barret being not found the Sheriff spake to him saying Sheriff You have your libertie you know your time Sir H. Hide Where is the place of standing that way or this way pointing towards the Exchange and the Poultery Sheriff Which way you please you may stand which way you will but that way you must lie pointing towards the Exchange Sir H. Hide I am indifferent it is not the way to heaven where a man stands One brought word to him that there was no help to be had Sir H. Hide That is no hinderance to my felicity Dr. Hide God enable you that you may find that joy and comfort which is due to the glory of his holy Name he will not forsake you that have put your trust in him Sir H. Hide I will open my heart and my mouth with thanksgiving if this Gentleman please to give way Then turning towards the Poultery he put off his Hat and said Glory be to God on high on Earth Peace good will to men CHristian People I come hither to die I am brought hither to die and that I may die Christian-like I humbly beseech your Christian Prayers that by the benefit of them my passage may be the more easie Yet because men in that condition which it hath pleased God to reduce me carry more credit to their Speeches In the discharge of my Duty towards God I shall use a few words and so dispatch I pray all of you joyn with me to praise this Almighty God to whom I desire to render all hearty thanks as for all his mercies so in particular for this That he hath brought me hither That whereas I owe a duty to Sin and to Nature I can pay it upon the account of Grace And because it is fit to render an account of the hope that is in me I shall tell you to the praise of Almighty God That I have been born and bred up in the Doctrine of