day to helpe to burne them to worke vpon my body with intent to make mee call backe my sayde wordes of protestation concerning the trueth of this religion which if I would not doe sayde they but could endure the torments that they would inflict then they all would bee of my religion and would make mee Emperour ouer all Europe This tale to them that had minds afore prepared and tooke Hacket by reason of his most earnest protestations prayers shewe of zeale pretended fauour with God and such like to be a man that would not tell an vntrueth for all the worlde seemed no way vnprobable or to be discredited so that these three principall actors hauing aswell among themselues as with others often conferred hereabouts both by word and writing were by the midst of Trinitie terme become most resolute for the aduancing of their designements For in a letter written by Coppinger about that time to the aforesaid I. Thr. it is thus contained Mine owne deare brother my selfe and my two brethren who lately were together with you in Knight ryders streete doe much desire conference with you which will aske some time The businesse is the Lords owne and hee doth deale in it himselfe in a strange and extraordinarie maner in poore and simple creatures Much is done since you did see vs which you will reioyce to heare of when wee shall meete and therefore I beseech you so soone as you receiue this letter hasten an answere in writing to my sisters house therein aduertise I beseeche you when I may come to speake with you for delayes are dangerous and some of the great enemies beginne to be supursued by God as they are at their wits end The Lordmake vs thankeful for it who keepe vs euer to himselfe to doe his will and not ours By occasion also of hearing Master Charke on a Fryday about that time at the Blacke fryers Coppinger saith he was thereupon moued by God spirite to write vnto him a letter which beareth date the 9. day of Iuly last In which letter amongs other things thus hee writeth vnto him I doe not denie good Syr but that I haue nowe a good long time taken a strange and extraordinarie course such as hath offered occasion of susption of my not onely doing hurt to my selfe Note but also to the best sort of men now in question and to the cause it selfe But by what warrant I haue done this that is all for if the holy Ghost haue bene my warrant and carryeth mee into such actions as are differing from others of great note in the Church of God what flesh and blood dare speake against me This is it that I desire at your hands and at all the rest of Gods seruants that you forbeare to censure me and such others as shall deale extraordinarily with me in the Lords busines committed to our charge iudge of vs by the effects that followe which if you hereafter see to be wonderfull great then are all ordinarie men placed in callings within this land to feare and to call themselues to examination before the Iustice seate of God and see whether they haue walked faithfully before God and man in seeking the saluation of the soules of the people and the aduancement of Christs kingdome Note and the ouerthrowe of Antichristes And if all and euery one in their places shall be forced to confesse to haue fayled in not discharge of their dueties let them acknowledge their sinne and repent before plagues and punishments fall vpon them The waste of the Church cannot be denyed to be great so that there is place for extraordinary men though temporizing Christians will not admit this therefore Gods mercies shall appeare to be wonderfull great if amongst vs he haue raysed vp such as I knowe hee hath and hereafter I doubt not by Gods grace but I with the helpe of the rest shal be able to auowe against all gainesayers whatsoeuer My desire heretofore hath bene to haue counsayle and direction from others but nowe by comfortable experience I finde that the action which the Lorde hath drawen me into is his owne and he wil direct it himselfe by the holy Ghost and haue the full honour of it and therefore I wayte vpon him and yet most hartily craue the prayers of the Saints that they will beseech God to blesse all his seruants that he hath set aworke in his owne businesse And I further beseech you to shewe this Letter to Master Trauerse and Master Egerton and all the rest of the godly Preachers in the Citie and iudge charitably of me and others and let euery one looke to his owne calling that therin he may deale faithfully and let vs iudge our selues not iudge one another further then we haue warrant After this letter it hapned that M. Charke preached in the same place againe the next Sunday after at which time Coppinger tooke him selfe to be particularly meant by one part of the sermon Whereupon hee wrote a letter to another Preacher as I doe gather the thursday after viz. 15. of Iuly wherby he thus signifieth M. Charke told the people that there were some persons so desperate that they would willingly thrust themselues vpon the rockes of the lande and waues of the sea This I tooke to be spoken principally to my selfe therefore I thought good to aduertise you that he spake the trueth in those words but he touched not mee but himselfe and the rest of the ministers of the lande who haue not onely runne desperately themselues vpon the rockes and waues but carryed the whole shippe whereby they all bee in danger of shipwracke and shoulde haue perished if the Lorde had not immediatly called three of his seruants to helpe to recouer it who are not onely sent from God to his Church here but also elsewhere through the worlde My calling is specially to deale with Magistrates Another hath to doe with Ministers who hath written a letter to you of the Citie but it cannot be deliuered hardly this day The other third is the chiefest who can neither write nor reade for he is the Lords Executioner of his most holy will This letter is thus subscribed The Lords messenger of mercy Ed. Coppinger These three therefore strongly fansying to themselues such extraordinarie callings and standing resolute by all meanes to aduaunce that which they falsely call Reformation and beeing thus seduced and bemoped by Hacket it is no marueile though they entred further as by degrees into many lewde dangerous and traiterous attempts For first hauing conceaued mortall hatred against two great and and worthie Counsailors of this estate who they thought woulde not a little stop the course they had taken and hinder the purpose which they pursued Coppinger therefore by Hackets aduice directed seuerall letters vnto some honourable personages whereby he signified that certaine treasons were entended euen against her Maiesties owne sacred person meaning after to appeach those two thereof and hoping by
their places for so he saide God had giuen in commandement vnto him According to which plots by a tumult of the people at Mulhusin he procured the olde Officer to be deposed and a new Magistrate to be set vp in his place and himselfe to bee chosen a Senator of that Citie albeit he was stil a Preacher and seemed to mislike this course in other men Nowe when as by these and other like meanes great multitudes of men to the number of fourtie thousand had taken vp armes throughout Franconia and Sucuia then he thought opportunitie serued him to set forward his purposes by adioyning himselfe vnto them and in this action one Phyfer a neere companion of his and like affected to him did also ioyne But when the rebellious Rout wanted victuals and many other necessaries whereby their courages began to faile then hee comforted them in his Sermons and assured them as from God that their cause and quarrell was so good that the frame of the whole worlde should sooner be changed then they should be forsaken or left destitute of him And when the Princes armie gathered to subdue them being greater and better furnished then theirs were was ready to ioyne in battell hee still most resolutely assured them of some euident miraculous helpe to bee manifested from Heauen for the ouerthrowe of their enemies saying that God woulde so enfeeble all their enemies shot that Muncer himselfe would receiue them al without harme into the lap of his coate before they should light for a token hereof it happened that they had taken the signe of a Raine-bowe for their ensigne he shewed them as it fell out the selfe same time a true Rainebowe in Heauen as an vndoubted signe that they should obtaine the victorie Whereupon they courageously at first set forward singing a song for ayde by the holy Ghost but being neuerthelesse all put in Rout and discomfited Muncer fledde away and disguised himselfe Yet by meanes of certaine letters that were found with him he was afterward in a house discouered and taken Being brought before the Magistrates he stoutly defended his fact affirming that Princes who refused to establish the puritie of the Gospel were in that sort to be bridled When he was brought to the place of execution saw no hope of escape which before he hoped for he grewe to be very much deiected perplexed in minde in so much as without helpe of a godly Prince which then stoode by he could not repeate so much as the articles of his Christian faith I shall not neede to dwell long in the application and resemblance of these poynts vnto this late tragedie the very reading of them ouer giuing sufficient light vnto the same For the sharpe and angrie zeale of some vnaduised Preachers which pretend neither to like of the Pope nor of the present state of the Church for want of some puritie as they fansie hath it not incensed and made to boyle ouer not onely the foule mouthes of Martinists but also the traiterous actions of these Conspirators And albeit the common multitude whom the Disciplinarians bragge to bee already inflamed with zeale ready to lend a hundred thousande handes for the aduancement of their cause and by whom they hope and say such Reformation must at last bee brought in did better keepe themselues out of this action then was expected Yet the danger thereof was as great and if it had once taken head would happely as hardly as the other haue bene subdued Were not the treaties of these men also in priuate houses at night-fasts and the Consultations concerning it at Classicall Conuenticles and like assemblies Did not these likewise shoote at the ouerthrowe of the whole state Ecclesiasticall and at the displacing of her Maiesties most honorable Counsel and that vnder pretence of Reformation to aduance the preaching of the Gospel in euery congregation throughout this land Made not these the like complaints of wicked Counsellors Noble men and Magistrates for keeping out the Discipline for persecuting sincere Preachers afflicting Gods people like lyons and Dragons And doe they not pretend this to bee a speciall grieuance of theirs that the common people of euery Congregation may not elect their owne Ministers that the people are brought vnder the yoke of the lawe Ceremoniall by paying tythes c. and is not the hand and head of Satan as plainely in this action to seeke the ouerthrowe of sound professors by others of the same profession vnder pretence of greater sinceritie Doe not these likewise almost appropriate to themselues and their fauorites the tennes of Gods Church of Christian brethren and of true reformed Preachers Is any speech more rife in their mouthes then that they will only be tried and iudged by Gods booke and by his spirit Do they not taxe all other men not so farre gone as themselues of loose liues of Antichristianisme of Hypocrisie Idolatrie in the meane time neuer looking at their owne treasons disloyalties and other vices Make they not great ostentation of loue and fidelitie to her Maiesties Person and of care of her safetie euen when they secretly nourished a fansie of forfeiture of her Crowne sought to ouerrule her by Hacket their imagined Soueraigne King of Europe Had they not their Cabinet Preachers their table-end teachers their guides of Fasts c. that teach pray for attend extraordinarie callings by visions dreames reuelations enlightnings Was not Giles Wigginton some others vnto them as Thomas Muncer Phifer were to the Germanes men of supposed great austeritie of life holinesse fauour with God resolutenesse in his cause singlenesse and vprightnesse of heart Did not Wigginton resolue them by examples he gathered touching extraordinarie callings in these dayes by reason of the great waste of this Church of England Had not hee and they likewise learned of the same Deuill in the prayers at fasts to aske signes and seales of God for their extraordinarie callings Doth not Arthington say that he importuned God in his prayers and Coppinger that hee had leaue giuen to talke more familiarly with God then afore Did not Hacket in praying for the pretended possessed Gentlewoman sawcily expostulate with God charge him with his promise as if he dealt not well with him Did he not at his Arraignement and Execution shewe such anger in his prayers against God thinking belike as those did to be excused by his feruencie of zeale Did not both hee and Coppinger pretend conference with God by sundrie reuelations and dreames Fenneri theol Doe not they and the rest of the Disciplinarian humor exact and seeke to square out euen in Hypothesi all ciuill policies and iudgements in causes Criminall especially vnto the Iudicials of Moyses giuen for the people of the Iewes Is there any thing they stand more vpon or condemne the contrary deeper then to haue an equalitie amongs all persons Ecclesiasticall Doe they not inueigh sharpely against Prince and Nobles for
Lords busines which was to be done by himself vpon Coppingers backe telling him the Lord had appointed him to it would stand with him in it Thus farre in this point goeth that discourse But long before this time of their two first acquaintances Coppinger vpon his returne foorth of Kent in Michaelmas terme last had signified vnto Arthington and to one T. Lancaster a Schoolemaster in Shoe-lane both being of his familiar acquaintance and whome he had requested to fast and pray with him for successe in obteining a widow that God had shewed him the said Copp great fauour by reuealing such a secret mystery vnto him as was wonderful being in substance thus much viz. that he knew away how to bring the Queene to repentance to cause al her Councel Nobles to doe the like out of hand or els detect them to be traitors that refused Al they by such repentance meaning vnderstanding as it seemeth the erecting of their fanciful Discipline For this phrase being vsual with them in conferences of this matter he thereby sufficiently declared his mind to thē they wel vnderstood what was meant without further a do Nowe it had bene inconuenient that Coppinger should all this while conceale this mysterie which he imparted vnto them after to Hacket from Wigginton who brought them acquainted together vnto whom he so oft resorted and so highly aboue all other Preachers esteemed for his resolute dealings in Gods matters as he termes them whome he also after aduouched vnto Arthington as an irrefragable witnesse to be perswaded by that would iustifie the trueth of Hackets torments whom he also knew more often busied for attaining of that discipline which himselfe also laboured for then perhaps for heauen it selfe And you see that he had accordingly done it Wigginton not discouraging him therein This proposition so made by Coppinger Arthington saith that he Lancaster misliked as a matter impossible by Copp to be done but by the Lord Iesus onely such whereof the issue could not fall out well any way so put him off for the first time not vnderstanding in what maner by what special meanes Coppinger conceaued that such repentance should be wrought in the Queenes Maiestie in others The maner and other circumstances of the first reuealing of this pretended mysterie Coppinger himselfe at large declareth in a letter written the 4. of Februarie last vnto T. C. in prison the occasion of writing it he there saith was the said T. C. offer to take knowledge by writing from him of such matter as might induce him to suppose himselfe to haue receaued some hope of speciall fauour from God to some special vse but yet without warrant from the worde direction of the holie spirite approbation of the Church he was he said most vnwilling to enter into so great an action The letter is long but to this effect that vpon some extraordinarie humiliation of him he with some other and a guide of their exercise ioyned in a fast their guide in the euening spake of the vse of fastes c. and then willed the others to adde to that which he had deliuered either for the generall or particular causes which mooued them to humble themselues that a great part of the said night Coppinger founde himselfe very extraordinarily exercised c. by such a motiue as he could not well describe partly comforted with a wonderfull zeale which he founde himselfe to haue to set foorth Gods glorie any wayes which lawefully hee might enter into partly cast downe by such a burning fire of concupiscence as in his greatest strength of bodie he had not founde the like that the next day he riding into the Countrey as he ridde fansied to himselfe that there was leaue giuen him to speake to God in a more familiar manner then at any time before and also perswaded himselfe that Gods spirite did giue him many strange directions wherein the Lorde would vse him to doe seruice to his most glorious Maiestie and to his Church Vpon which he had thought to haue returned presently backe and to haue left his intended iourney but going on and after being returned backe he imparted to his former fast-fellowes the worke of God in him and desired they might againe ioyne in the like which he with some other went forward with to their comfort but without their chiefe guide for he refused to ioyne Note Hereupon he saith that he was againe stirred vp to such busines of such importance as in the eyes of flesh and blood were likely to bring much danger to himselfe and vnlikely to bring any good successe to the Church of God hereof he writte to some Preachers out of the Realme and to some in the Realme at length he writte hereof to one in the Citie that was silenced who resolued him that God did yet worke extraordinarily in some persons to some speciall vses Hereupon he obteined this Preachers consent to ioyne with him and about foure others on the Lordes day in a fast which day was chosen that they might not hinder their worldly affaires in the weeke and that they vsed meanes to haue notice giuen to some of the Preachers in prison of the day of their humiliation desiring them to commend to God in their prayers the holie purposes Note which any fearing God should in time attempt to take in hand by seeking to bring glorie to God and good to the Church that in their prayers at the saide fast he and others did beseech God that if he had appointed to vse any of them to doe any speciall seruice to him and his that to that ende he would extraordinarily call them that he would seale vp his or their such calling by some speciall maner by his holy spirite and giue such extraordinarie graces and giftes as are fit for so weightie an action The night following he saith he thought in his sleepe that he was caried into heauen and there being wonderfully astonished with the Maiestie of God and brightnes of his glory he made a loude and most strange noise whereby he awaked his brother that lay with him and some in the next chamber Since which time saith he I finde euery day more and more comfort and suppose that there is somewhat in me which my selfe am not so fit to iudge of and therefore I desire the Church I meane your selfe and such as you shall name vnto me because I cannot come to you without danger to your selfe and me to looke narrowly into me if I be thought to be any way mislead I craue sharpe censuring if I be guided by Gods spirite to any good end as hereafter shall be adiudged I shal be ready to acquaint you and them with generalities and particularities so farre foorth as you they be desirous to looke into At this time the ende of my writing is onely to acquaint you with the occasions of mine entring into this great action and
danger to thine enemies Good Sir and my louing brother in the Lord though such as are admitted to consult with God haue by prayer meditation much familiaritie and acquaintance with his holy maiestie need not doubt of good successe in all things which he setteth them a worke in though Satan his vassals crosse their course hinder their labour by all the means they can yet is it also necessary that while we remain in the felowship communion of the saints that we communicate one with another that as louing children we may all ioyne togither to helpe each other to be doers of our heauenly fathers will here on earth as the angels do it in the heauens The conscience which I had hereof enforced me to write vnto you lately and the like mooued you to speake with mee vpon that letter And truely I did obserue many things in that litle time we spent together were sayd done which might mooue either of vs to prayse our good God to cheere vs vp Note to further so holy an action as now is in hand which must needs speed well in the end because it is the Lords owne worke And if we aduenture our selues to do him seruice here he will reward elsewhere You may be bold for you haue the warrant of the worde the allowance of the state and you walke in your owne calling But I am to be fearfull and circumspect because the dangers I enter into be infinite my course misliked though vnknowen because it is extraordinarie which callings be ceased in all mens opinion of iudgement and haue not of long time bene heard of or to bee hoped for but where the word is not preached at all or the Church in a great waste which no body dare affirme our Church of England to be Wherfore it seemeth that euery step that I shal make herein shall be vpon thornes therefore I am to feare pricking yet for all this I am not without hope neither is the same groūded but by good warrant The end why I write vnto you is this to intreat you to giue thanks to those holy mē all on my behalf who are now in questiō I haue reaped much benefit from them by their cariage towards me though they know it not for I durst not in regard of danger which might growe to them visite any of them since I found my selfe caried with a zeale to doe somewhat in the same cause for which they suffer If by some effects hereafter I may shew it that is it which I desire to doe and in the meane time doe what I can to perswade the saints that in this action I seeke Gods glory and not mine owne I haue bene heretofore put backe and disswaded from attempting any thing least I marred all by the wisest the learnedst the zealousest and holiest preachers of this Citie great causes and weightie reasons moouing thereunto But yet this will not make me leaue it but still I am enforced by little and little to labour to make my selfe fit to take vpon me the managing of it Wherefore if it please you to shew the other letter and this and beseech them from me to lay them before the Lord when they shall meete and ioyne togither in prayer and if the Lords spirite shall assure their spirites that he hath bene is and will be with me in this action how hard soeuer it seemeth to be let me by their meanes be vouchsafed this fauour that I may be allowed conferēce with the preachers of the Citie which sute I make not for that I would seeke to haue approbation from them or any other liuing creature but from God himselfe or that I purpose to doe that which heretofore I haue bene aduised vnto Note namely acquaint thē with the courses which I purpose by Gods assistance to take in hand whereby great danger might grow to them and little good to me but that my cariage towards them may witnes vnto them the humilitie of my mind and lowlinesse of my spirit care and conscience not to enter into the matter without offer to haue my gifts examined if they shal be supposed to be such as the church may haue vse of then let all holy means be vsed which shal be aduised to be fit to be done in such a dangerous time and weightie action So beseching God to gouern vs in all our wayes and preserue vs in all our dangers and supply vs with whatsoeuer we stand in need of I humbly and heartily commend you to God this 21 day of May 1591. The effect of the speeches which Coppinger had with him at their conference as the said gentleman himselfe reported was to commend the cause of the preachers committed to incourage him to the defence of it adding that it was the trueth of God that in the end it would preuaile Then the said Coppinger began to declare vnto him his reuelations his great fasting and prayer and how God had indued him with an extraordinarie grace of prayer perswasion or prophesie that God had appointed him as he was perswaded to reueale the will of God touching the reformation of his Church that he had an extraordinarie calling to doe good to the Church and what seuerall conflicts he had in himselfe before he yelded to this extraordinarie motion or calling from God Therefore his request was that by the sayd gentlemans meanes his gifts and calling might bee tried and allowed by those godly preachers c. What the preachers and others that were conferred with answered to Coppinger herein and whether more dutifully to the estate then warily so as they might neither as they thought endanger themselues nor kill or discourage the zeale of that their brother in so pretended holy a cause may partly by that which is afore spoken appeare and wee may then beleeue them when they shall tell vs the whole trueth thereof But how slender and cold discouragement he found with some preachers of London with whom hee delt touching his fantasticall extraordinarie calling and dangerous plots may also appeare by these words found in a letter of his viz. Good master L. as master E. former cariage in this action which standeth me much vpon to deale aduisedly in did somwhat trouble me so his Christian and louing answer deliuered now by you from him vnto me doth much comfort me A comfortable change though by reason of some particular businesse which I must necessarily follow I cannot attend till Friday in the after noone or Saturday any part of the day And after in the same letter thus Satan by his angelicall wisdom which he still retaineth doth many times preuaile with the holiest to make them feare good successe in the best causes in regard of the lets and hinderances which himself laieth in the way It cannot be denied but that the cause is good which I desire to be an actor in but it is sayd by some that it is
person of a great personage since deceased as it were in candle light with a great Bell full of iniquitie That during that time the Lorde shewed him a terrible famine which he would bring vpon a lande but whether this lande or not was not declared That Christ then shewed him his wisedome and prouidence in gouerning the Seas all other waters in their courses and further shewed him the man that should sitte on Christes right hand to iudge both the quicke and the dead whose name he wel knoweth That then he made his petition vnto the Lord who answered him by a voice thus what he would how he would when he would Howe by the extremitie of his torments his eies were fallen downe and his tongue thrust out of his head so as he could not pull it in againe one Barley cornes breadth but the Lorde in that extremitie shewed him that hee would keepe his bodie from bursting and that one haire of his head shoulde not perish That being loosed by his wiues importunitie soone after in a verie raynie daye hee his wife one Richard Dickons and one Palmer ridde altogether thence towarde Oundell thirtie myles that daye and albeit it rayned all the daye verie sore so that great floods came vpon it yet neuer one of them had any droppe thereof fall vpon their clothes That being at Oundell and foreseeing he shoulde bee exercised againe he prayed his wife that no man might come at him for hee woulde keepe his chamber and then the Lorde appeared vnto him and shewed him in what danger the lande was by reason of forreine enemies at the Sea and commaunded him to goe rounde about the Towne and that shoulde be a defence to the land round about That after this he kept him selfe in his Barne about eight daies reasoning with the Lorde touching Praedestination and Reprobation continually begging of him that hee would saue all those that fought ignorantly against the trueth or otherwise sinned through want of knowledge How after this betaking himselfe to his chamber againe the Lord he saith forced him to cry out against two great subiects and Counsellors in this lande That he was againe bounde and tormented there other twentie dayes in eight whereof he neither did eate nor drinke and was continually watched for that they knew the Lord would come and loose him if they left him That during this time Witches vsed their forcerie stongly vpon him That the Lorde then tolde him that he would harden his owne heart against Hackets tormētors How then also 4. or 5. Angels night by night stood by him and watched ouer him like vnto doues and one night spirits innumerable and that a white hande came from the Almightie and tooke him by the hande whereby all venome poison vncleannes and corruption departed from him for a time whereupon the Lorde shewed him three heauens together all the dwelling places contriued in one of them but the highest heauen was shewed to be without ende which glorie he was not able to beholde but was made able to looke vpon the blood of the Saintes which was made round like a waxe cake in very great breadth but the glorie which therewith appeared he could not looke vpon so that he was forced to turne his face vpon the pillowe Howe the Lord also shewed him the murthering of the wicked euen like the slaying of swine the father murthering the sonne and the mother the daughter and euery one another all the day long and no man tooke pitie vpon them That there was then reuealed vnto him a very strange fire from heauen the length whereof he did see consuming all things from the heauen to hell mouth but he did not see the breadth thereof Also that he then did see the breadth of the tormenting place of the damned and what was therein but neither the bottome nor length of the place That he also supposed he sawe his libertie begged by two honourable personages Notwithstanding which deliuerance that he dreamed of he telleth that he was carried afterward to North-hampton gaole where he remained 17. weekes as afore is remembred Furthermore there is declared that in his torments the Lorde shewed him howe he would confound all his aduersaries that were guiltie in any practise against him and that one thing which they went about they should neuer bring to passe for he let him see that they were all as drunken men and fooles without wit That in the end they should throw all their bookes away and be at a great confusion one with another That afterward viz. about the beginning of Easter terme last the Lorde brought him to London and howe he was made acquainted with Coppinger at that time as hath bene afore declared Howe after his departing out of the Citie from Coppinger he could not but remember him in his praiers desiring the Lord to reueale himselfe extraordinarily to him so that he might be encouraged to goe forwarde in the action whereupon as the saide Coppinger affirmed he had two extraordinarie seales in very short space after Hackets departure and was wonderfully strengthened to proceede in the cause Then is tolde howe the Lorde commanded him to goe from one place to another in and about the Citie for two daies space and howe he was commanded to raile against the saide two great Counsellors in diuerse places where he came Howe being in that time commanded to see the Lyons in the Tower he tooke the fiercest of them by the head and had none harme Then is tolde what Preachers in the Citie he heard and that going to heare one he sawe a surplesse lie in the Church whereupon he would not stay there That he went to certaine Preachers in prison to command them to deale faithfully in the Lordes busines And how he was commanded by God to deface the Armes of England in Kaies house in Knight-Rider streete Lastly it is saide that God hath appointed two others to deale for and with Hacket whome it will stand vpon to deale faithfully for the Lorde for they knowe what Hacket is and what shall followe if their counsels and directions be not followed Nowe if any shall meruaile howe such an absurd and ridiculous lying legend should seduce men of any consideration so earnest for a supposed Reformation and so exercised in praying and fasting let him remember not onely the effectuall but the efficacie it selfe of Illusion and the spirite of slumber falling by Gods secrete yet alwaies iust iudgement vpon the children of disobedience such as be wise in their owne conceites and not wise with sobrietie that they might beleeue lyes because they haue not beleeued the trueth and that they might aske and not obtaine because they aske not as they ought After Arthington on Thursday morning had ended his aforesaid Treatise of prophesie being the very day before their rising Coppinger tolde him that God the night before had enlightned him the said Coppinger who they all three were saying that Arthington had
impossible that I should be fit to meddle therin So that here a christian louing answer to his great cōfort is giuē further conferēce by speech is offred the course not so much misliked as the succes only is doubted by reason of his vnfitnes that was to be an actor in it But what resolution herein was also returned from the preachers of foraine parts to this case of consciēce propounded by Coppinger may hereby not vnprobably be gathered Arthington at one of his examinations confessed that Penrie sent a letter vnto him forth of Scotland wherin he signified that Reformatiō for so they speake must shortly be erected in England herein he said that he tooke Penrie to be a prophet Now it is sure that Penrie conueied himself priuilie into England and was lurking about London at the self same time when these other prophets arose in Chepeside attending as seemeth the fulfilling of this his Prophesie al 's by their meanes How duetifully and aduisedly those that be subiects haue dealt which hauing intelligence hereof did conceale it till it burst forth of it selfe with apparant danger to her Maiestie and the whole state may thus be gathered For by this conceit of Coppingers you heare it is pretended and surmifed that a commendable cause a cause to be defended yea the very trueth of God which must preuaile is by the state suppressed and kept vnder that it is the will of God to haue such a reformation that impoachment of it is offered by the Queene Counsell and Nobles that this is a great sinne meete to be repented of by them that they must be brought to this repentance that the penaltie against any of them that refuse to be brought is to be detected as Traytors an offence deseruing death that this must bee done out of hand that the will of God in great fauour for the good of his Church was reuealed to him in this behalfe being a man of much fasting prayer rare gifts a prophet an extraordinarie man with an extraordinarie calling such as was not to be bee iudged of or discerned by meere ordinarie men and whereinto he entred not rashly or on a sudden but after many conflicts with himselfe before his yeelding to Gods extraordinarie motion and calling but submitting himselfe neuerthelesse to haue his gifts and calling tryed and allowed of by the best reformed Preachers and therefore not worthy to bee suspected or discredited that the way to bring them to this repentance was a secret mysterie such as those preachers and others whom he conferred with albeit they helde it a worke to bee wished at Gods hands yet by his talke gathered the maner of bringing it in to be so dangerous as that they feared the successe and refused to bee made accquainted with the particular wayes and meanes which hee had plotted to effect it Thereby making choise rather that Coppinger should venture to put it in practise if he remained resolute herein which they found by him of what dangerous consequence soeuer such a way might be then that they by bewraying of him to authoritie should bee any meanes to breake of and preuent his resolucion or quench his zeale And thus with opinion of safetie to themselues they merchandized the hasard of their friends life or els the rearing of sedition in the Realme with the hope that secretly they nourished to haue the Discipline which they dreame of erected Thus Coppinger remayning still more confirmed and selted in this veyne by his Pue-fellowe Wigginton about Easter terme last being as is aforesayd brought acquainted with Hacket as with a most holy man soone after would needes bring Arthington also acquainted with him as one whom vpon so small knowledge he had obserued to bee a very rare man For this purpose hee sent for Arthington to dinner or supper vnto Lawsons house necre to Paules gate where Arthington met first with Hacket together with another whom he calleth a godly man of whose ordinary talke then had Arthington liked very well but had as he saith at that time no further conference with him After which time Arthington discontinued from the Citie remained in Yorkeshire vntil Trinitie terme leauing Hacket and Coppinger behinde him piotting of their purposes together what purposes they had what counsell they entred into and what conferences they entertained betwixt themselues and with others by the euents ensuing will best bee discouered After this Hacket stayed not long in London but desired Coppingor at his departure to write vnto him what successe I. T. had withall assuring him that whensoeuer he should write for him he the said Hacket would streight way come vp againe Hereupon Coppinger writte vnto him first at the end of Easter terme and after againe very earnestly to be at London three dayes before the beginning of Trinitie terme last but he coulde not bee heere so soone by three or foure dayes When he was come he lodged the first night at Islington but sent his horse downe againe into the countrey as purposing to stay long in London Then after a night or two one of which nights hee lodged at the sayd Lawsons house by Wiggintons direction hee was prouided of a chamber and of his boord at one Ralfe kates house in Knight-rider streete by Coppingers meanes and at his charges for he cost Coppinger there eleuen shillings by the weeke But Kayes waxing weary of him in part for that he feared Hacket was a coniurer or witch in that the Camomill he saith in his Garden where Hacket either trode or sate did wither vp the next night and waxed blacke therfore Coppinger prouided at his own charges like wise an other roome for him at one Walkers house by Broken wharfe where he remained vntill his apprehension Whiles Hacket was at Kayes house he vsed before after meales to pray as seemed most deuoutly and zealously but neuer for the Queenes Maiestie Hacket also tolde Kayes that if all the Diuines in England should pray for raine if hee sayde the word yet it should not rayne The first of the aforesayde letters which Coppinger writte vnto Hacket to mooue him to come vp doeth containe matter of note besides not vnfit to be knowen Brother Hacket saith he the burden which God hath layde vpon mee you being the instrument to make me bolde and couragious where I was fearefull and faint is greater then I can beare without your helpe here though I haue it where you are The workings of his holy spirite in me since your departure bee mightie and great my zeale of spirit burneth like fire so that I cannot conteine my selfe and conceale his mercies towardes mee And a little after in the same letter Master Thr is put off till the next tearme the zealous preachers as it is thought are to be in the Starre Chamber tomorowe the Lord by his holy Spirit bee with them my selfe if I can get in am mooued to be there Note and I feare if sentence with seueritie be
my first loue and haue embraced the God of this world But my conscience beareth mee witnesse of the contrary the reason of mine absence being so great and so weightie that hereafter when they shal be examined by your selues who are indued with the spirit of wisdome and discerning of spirits I doubt not but you will allowe of my not cōming Note which might bring you into more trouble and danger then it would do me good or breede me comfort And afterward thus You haue care conscience to further the building of the Lords house which lieth waste and to seeke the finall ouerthrow of Antichrists king dome which being the Lords owne worke hee will blesse it and all the actors in it And this I dare be bold of mine own knowledge to report that in this great worke he hath diuers that lie hid and are yet at libertie who are hammering their heads busying their braynes and spending their spirits in prayers to God as much as you or any of you that are in prison Note and hope in short time to he brought forth into the sight of their and your enemies to defend the cause you stand for And againe afterward in this wise I beseech you cheere vp your selues in the Lord for the day of our redemption is at hand and pray that the hand of the Lord may be strengthened in them Note whom he hath appointed to take part with you in this cause and beseech him that blessing may be vpon Sion and confusion vpon Babel Pardon my long letter I beseech you and impart mine humble sute to all the rest to whom I neither dare write nor offer to see I neither put to my name nor make subscription the bringer can report who sendeth the letter and let that suffice Furthermore that they hated deadly and maligned her Maiestie as a principall obstacle to their innouation and kingdom and therefore sought to depriue her highnes of her Soueraigntie and life may be gathered by their owne words and actions for Hacket confessed before the other two that at a sermon of one Egertons preaching in the Blacke Friers whither they vsually resort he the sayd Hacket remayned vncouered all the sermon tyme vntill the preacher came to pray for her Maiestie but then hee sayd that hee put on his hat And when Arthington demaunded why he did so Copping streight way answered thus There is a matter in that Likewise when as in their priuate praiers among themselues Arthington vsed to pray for the Queene Coppinger would sundry times tell him that his so doing did much grieue Hacket adding that in the beginning himselfe did also pray for her but Hacket had now drawen him from it saying there was a cause why which Arthington knew not but should know hereafter For saieth he you doe not know this man meaning Hacket who is a greater person then shee and in deed aboue all the princes in the world And when as on the very Sundry before their rising for so themselues haue since termed that action it hapned that Arthington prayed againe for the preseruation of the Queenes Maiestie Hacket not digesting this suddenly with indignation turned his face away from him but when hee prayed for other matters then Hacket cast his countenance towardes him agayne which he perceiuing that Arthington also marked by him and purposing as it seemeth to salue vp this matter agayne least Arthington happely might yet haue fallen from them therefore when they had ended their prayers Hacket tooke him with his armes about the middle in very kind sort affirming that hee loued the Queene as well as either of them and desired him not to bee offended for the Lord had commaunded it adding further that there was a matter in it that Arthington as yet knew not Hereupon Coppinger being in hearing thereof sayd that she might bee prayed for in generall termes but not so specially as Arthington did whereby Hacket was grieued nor yet to bee prayed for as a Soueraigne for sayd hee shee may not raigne as Soueraigne Note but this man Hacket and yet saieth hee shee shall liue better then euer shee did albeit shee must bee gouerned by another thereby also meaning Hacket And to the intent they might the more assuredly retaine Arthington without suspicion of their poisonfull malice wherein they boyled against the Queenes highnesse Hacket himselfe once after this time verie subtilly prayed for her Maiestie For proofe that they also meant to depriue her of life the seuerall confessions of Arthington at sundrie examinations may bee alleaged Whereby vpon that which hee heard and knew is confessed that hee is verilie perswaded Hacket meant her Maiestie should haue bene depriued both of kingdome and life which hee also gathered by Coppingers letters albeit hee denieth that hee was euer made acquainted by what speciall meanes it should be done Thus hauing in some part described the qualities perswasions in opinion familiaritie inducements vnto mutuall crediting one of another exercises and designments of these persons it resteth to goe on with the narration of the rest of the action for better persiting vp of this historie Hacket on a time recounting vp vnto the other two his torments which hee pretended to haue endured told how amongst others one Pigge a preacher did so beate him with rods at a place in Hartfordshire whiles hee lay bound there in a sinke hole that this cost him the sayd Hacket more deare then all the rest of his torments because thereby hee was enforced to suffer for all hypocrites also adding thereunto that all their best preachers so they terme such as thirst after and perswade innouations were no better in very trueth then Hypocrites neuerthelesse hee would hee sayd daily heare them preach Hereupon Arthington tooke occasion to tell him that hee could prooue all such preachers to bee Hypocrites and Idolaters both albeit of ignorance because they doe yeeld in some sort to the commaundements of the gouernours and vnto the lawes of this Church that they may be tollerated to preach This pleased Hacket so exceedingly well as that he beganne highly to esteeme of Arthington and hereby the rather he thought good that Arthington should be made acquainted with their letters For about tenne dayes before their rising Arthington saieth that Coppinger did greatly importune him to read the letters which he and Hacket had written if it were but to see the stile assuring him they tended to nothing else but to make a way to acquaint her Maiestie with their secrets So that when Arthington sawe so great Counsellors so resolutely thereby charged with matter of so high qualitie by Coppinger especially her Maiesties sworne seruant hee was induced to beleeue it and to thinke they had some very good ground thereof Arthington also with great contentment vnto Hacket framed certaine Syllogismes I beleeue in a lewd Moode and in an vnperfect and fond Figure to prooue forsooth one of the sayd honourable Counsellors whom hee and Coppinger
and vtterly ignorant of any thing done by themselues or in their presence Nowe then to examine these three persons by that which hath bene saide It may be yeelded that their imaginations purposes plots and designements respecting the weightines of the end and weakenes of the meanes were fantasticall vnaduised most fond and vnlikely yet none otherwise then may be also truely saide for the most part of all such fanatical fantastiques schismatiques heretiques or malecōtented treasonable conspirators whatsoeuer But cannot truly or with any colour of probabilitie be affirmed that any of them were mad beside themselues and out of their wits as not knowing and perceiuing what they did or said or what others said or did vnto them First concerning Arthington I haue not heard so much as any doubt at all of madnes to haue bene made by any man that conuersed or had to deale with him either in or after this action But because Coppinger hath bene supposed by many after the time of his first examination to haue fallen into starke madnes let vs a litle looke backe briefly recapitulate some points that haue bene afore touched concerning him to see if any such distraction of mind could also be noted in him by the carriage of this action before his apprehension Yet I doe know that it hath bene doubted vpon some good ground by wise men whether he were in deed mad euen at any time after he was apprehended as he made shew or whether it were onely fained by him For a mad man may often times doth for 2. or 3. daies together eate no meate nor happely drinkes not at al. But when the humors of his stomacke are fully concocted put ouer so that for want of food it beginneth naturally to sucke backe the blood nourishment distributed afore into the veines parts which breedeth hunger then wil a mad man most commonly very greedily rauenously euen by course of nature fall to his meate if it be shewed him cannot abstaine because he cannot dissemble this appetite in the time of his furie But Coppinger is said to haue forborne abstained from meate drink though they were offred vnto him by the space of 8. whole daies whereby he grew so weake as that it may seeme he died for want of sustenance Such resolution or obduration of mind can hardly so long together remaine with him that is madde in deed knoweth not what he doeth Howsoeuer it were after it is sure that before their pageant was plaied wherein matters prospered not as they expected the whole course of his speeches writings other dealings were such as doe argue no defect at all of reason memorie wit or vnderstanding setting aside the absurditie and follie of the fansie wherewith he was led For when he first had taken apprehension of such extraordinarie calling he yeelded not streight way vnaduisedly vnto it but after long deliberate debating with himselfe his care was great and course as in such a matter was considerate in seeking to be resolued by such as he both then afore held to be best able to iudge of his gifts calling the questions that he framed were very pertinent to that purpose and orderly penned his letters speeches to T. C. to Eg. to Ch. to Vd. to Lan. to Wig. to P. W. to I. T. and others and to them of forreine Churches were for that matter well and aduisedly indited his cunning was not small to keepe the very particular way of effecting that which he desired from those he dealt with because himselfe knewe it a dangerous secrete and a course not iustifiable vnlesse it came by extraordinarie motion and speciall oeconomie from God and therefore he desired to haue it allowed so to be his pretense of entertaining intelligence touching some important seruice to the State of the Realme whereof he pretended to haue an inckling but no full and particular knowledge was none vnaduised or simple reache of policie in him For if in platting of his purposes and dealing in the principall action any thing of doubtfull acceptance should happen to haue bene after discouered then might he well and with good colour haue pretended that hee did it but in way of attaining to intelligence of those dangers whereof the generalitie as it were in the cloudes he had afore deliuered to a Counsellor For he might not seeme a man to be suspected of any disloyall purpose who shewed himselfe so careful for his Soueraignes safetie Adde to these his cunning petition to haue prisoners for treason c. to be examined by himselfe and execution of condemned persons to be staied at his becke whereby he might more easily haue induced them to appeach whom he list to haue ouerthrowen and whom he principally aimed at His subtiltie also doth notably appeare in his petitions to her Maiestie where he makes shewe of great secretes to be deliuered onely in her presence and praieth to be pardoned if in ouer much feare of her safetie he had attempted to prooue that which he could not which argueth that he had in deede not so much as any colourable intelligence deliuered vnto him of treason intended by such great men as he pretended but vsed this as a meanes to haue accesse for himselfe and the others vnto her Highnes presence for some further intended mischiefe then his allowance and commendation of sound good counsel giuen him by Eg. a preacher and by others his sparing to reueale the great dangerous secret vnto Hacket vpon their first acquaintance his rasing out of Hackets and the Townes name out of the letter sent by him to a Noble personage to giue inckling of treasons intended against her Maiestie least the qualitie and vnlikelihood of the man being enquired after that plat should be dashed his not subscribing of his name to sundry letters his directing of Hacket neither to subscribe nor endorse but in that sorte as he prescribed for feare of discouerie his desire to haue all the letters againe that hee had written to Eg. about that matter his warie and diligent keeping of copies of euery letter that he writ in that cause and when leasure serued not so to doe his great care to haue the very letters againe his offence with one Hoc for keeping a letter from him which he had sent vnto him his cunning excuse of Hackets defacing of the Queenes Armes his counterfeite reuelation to bring Arthington further in his deuise to make Arthington resolute by saying it was reuealed to him that they had Angelicall spirits not subiect to hurt by any mortall power his willing choise to withdrawe himselfe into an house when after their proclamation things fell not out as was expected and from thence afterward to goe to his place of abode thorough by-lanes his and Hackets putting of the matter frō knowledge of Arthington for a time though afterward happely to be opened why the Queene might not be praied for in particular their
Father had laid vpon him the sinnes of the whole multitude so that now they were cleansed and freed from all vice which was the deliuerance which he promised vnto them therewith they were to holde themselues contented When the Bishops strength by common supplies from the Princes of the Empire were much reēforced matters in the town grewe to that extremitie that by meanes of two persons who conueyed themselues secretly forth of the towne it was at last surprised by the assaylants though with much adoe and bloodshed euen after they were entred Their King with Cuipperdoling and Crecliting their two false prophets were taken aliue but Rotman their Reformed preacher seeing no hope to escape desperately ranne in amongs the thickest of the armed companies and by them he was cut in pieces The three persons aforenamed were caryed about the countrey as a spectacle to sundry the Princes and others thereabouts and after were brought backe againe vnto Munster The Bishoppe of Munster demaunded of the King by what authoritie he tooke vpon him to rule in that Citie who asked the sayde Bishoppe againe by what authoritie he the sayd Bishoppe claymed any power there When he answered that he had it by meanes of election of the Chapter and by consent of the people the King replying sayde that himselfe had his authoritie from God After two dayes had bene bestowed with them to reduce them by godly perswasions from their errours Leyden their King confessed his sinne and desired for giuenesse at Christes handes But Cuipperdoling and Crecliting would confesse no fault but defended their course and opinions with great obstinacie So all three being tyed vnto postes were dismembred by peece meale and pulled in small peeces with hotte burning pinsers and tongs and afterward their carkases were hanged vp there in yron cages but the King in the midst and much higher then the other two as his place required Besides certaine especial opinions which these Anabaptists held namely the yong childrē were not to be baptized touching lawfulnesse of Poligamie or hauing many wiues Of communitie of goods and that Christ tooke not flesh of the virgin Mary c. they also taught and defended many other strange erroneous and hereticall positions and yet they shewed as much deuotion outward holines and puritie as might be As for example they held these folowing viz. that a perfit Christiā might not exercise the office of a Magistrat nor might take an oth before him that God doth now oftētimes shew his will by extraordinarie reuelations dreames and visions That the common people haue an especiall authoritie in determining and establishing of Chruch causes That before the day of iudgement the kingdome of Christ shal be such as that the godly and elect shall ouerthrow subdue all the wicked and then they alone shall rule in the earth That it is lawfull for the people to depose and put downe the Prince or Magistrate That Ministers and others godly affected ought to establish though it were by force a Reformation in all Countries That Princes and Magistrates ought not to pursue this kinde of persons for that they are innocents and the beloued people of God That the seate of Dauid which was fallen downe must bee reestablished and that Christ nowe in the latter ende of the worlde shall reigne externally vpon the earth That the time of besiege they then liued in was that whereof Esaie prophecied wherein the iust and godly were afflicted and persecuted That the time of their deliuerance and enlargement was at hand which should be like to that deliuerance of the Israelites from the thraldome vnder the Babylonians And that then the wicked and vngodly shall receiue the guerdon and recompense of all their impieties committed against the saints all the vngodly being ridde out of the way the seate of righteousnesse should bee prepared and aduanced That there is none efficacie or force in that baptisme wherewith infants are baptized All which they obstinately defended and yet whensoeuer they were charged they pretended that they woulde acknowledge and confesse their errors if they shoulde bee shewed vnto them by the Scriptures to be errours Nowe as I haue done afore in the Historie of Thomas Muncer I must craue leaue that with the readers patience I may also briefly compare and resemble some of the dealings and errours of the Anabaptists of the Citie of Munster with the actions and opinions of these late conspirators of their Disciplinarian schoolemasters from whom they haue sucked like poyson For did not Hacket the most ignorant of all the three being but an vnlettered Maltster in like sort take vpon him to rule the other and to mannage the whole action and are not the most ignorant of such as be of this humor most presumptuous to direct all others and to discusse deepest doubts Haue not their mutuall cohortations and seditious instructions with their conceiued prayers and hypocriticall Fasts that they practised in priuie conuenticles and assemblies giuen greatest strength to his faction to the seduction of numbers Haue not the Magistrates now as great cause to looke into these proceedings before they make head vpon confidence of their multitudes Haue not all the stayed and sounde Preachers of this land by sundrie Maleperts and nowe againe by Arthington bene most insolently challenged vnto disputation Hath not the cause of this pretented Discipline beene neuethelesse quashed oftentimes in Pulpits in publike disputations in the vniuersities and by learned treatises written whereby the weakenesse and meagernesse of their childish collections haue beene fully displayed Will they make any haste or dare they to offer disputation if such conditions assistants and indifferent and learned Iudges as are fit shall bee set downe and appoynted and being beaten from their ordinarie meanes haue not these Conspirators and such as haue animated them betaken themselues vnto pretended extraordinarie callings rauishings in spirite caryings into Heauen reuelations dreames and visions Haue they not seditiously filled our streetes with their like hypocriticall outcries of Repent Repent c. and by gathering of Routes tending to vproare and popular tumult If their purposes had succeeded and their prophecies of killing and massacring men like swine in London streetes had come to passe woulde the outrages in haynousnesse haue come any whit behinde those of Munster If this sort of persons haue bene gratified with any indifferent toleration coulde their restlesse busie heads though they haue promised otherwise cease to hammer by long hand and secretely the bringing to full effect of their designements viz. That they might gouerne in the Church with Christes scepter and administer his kingdome for so they blasphemously terme the Discipline which they haue forged Was not the displacing of her Maiesties Counsell plotted by the Confederates and had they not assigned other Counsellors in their roomes Should those whome themselues had thus chosen and assigned haue remained long in place if their King Hacket had bene once inuested as fully and royally
their names with this addition Late L Ch. or late L. Tr. as if they were already disautorised and in their steads they had nominated and set downe certaine others in trueth very honorable and worshipfull persons that should be counsellors of whome euery honest man neuerthelesse is perswaded that they detest both these and all other such vile seditious and fanaticall persons and courses Coppinger not long afore their rising as it seemeth penneda letter to haue bene sent to the one of the aforesayde honorable personages In this letter he chargeth a great worthy Counsellor vsing onely his Christian name and sirname that he together with his hellish and infernall companions for so he raueth had comitted treason in the hiest degree against her Maiestie He desireth that honorable personage to effect that the said Counsellor himselfe and two others of the Lords messengers may be brought before the Queenes Maiestie and if he be not prooued a traitor to God and her then let me saith he for my pride and presumption be hanged at the Courtgates Then he exclaimeth against another great Counsellour terming him but by his bare name likewise to whō he had sent letters copies to haue bin shewed to her Maiestie and there sheweth himselfe greatly offended with him because hee was not as he hoped brought to her Royal presence adding thus therto but he the rest saith he of her wicked Counsellers Note vngodly magistrats shal be forced to acknowledge what they are worthy to haue the Lord pardō their soules for in their outward man they must be punished though they repent a litle after thus I doe aduise also that euery one of her Counsell be cōmanded to keepe their house or chamber for feare of stirre or danger Then he doth appoint to her Maiestie a new Counsel aduising that Wigginton a man in more fauour he saith with God then any man of his calling whatsoeuer be cōmanded to be neere her highnesse to pray to God or to preach priuatly By the like resolute vaine Arthington also chargeth the sayde Counsellor as deepely and vpon the like greater penaltie to himselfe in a supplication penned by him to haue bene sent to her Maiestie But I will giue you a taste how friuolously vpon what fond proofes he groundeth his accusation to the end it may appeare that this was but a colourable pretense wherein they reposed to great suretie of successe but hoped at length thereby to haue brought themselues and Hacket to her Maiesties presence The issue he tendereth is this That if in her Maiesties presence he prooue not the saide Counsellor to be the most dangerous enemie that was discouered since her highnesse reigne then let his body and soule be for euer damned Prouided alwaies that if her Maiestie cannot by his euidence iudge him the said Counsellor to be so bad as he makes report of him yet that she would giue him the saide Arthington leaue in her sacred Presence to fight the combat of praier with him Newe Triall by combat in prayer wherin if it please him saith Arth. I wil first begin to pray against my selfe that if he be not as deepely guiltie as I haue charged him then that Gods vengeance may presently consume me both body soule into hell for euer which if it come to passe the victorie shal be his he returne an innocent But if he see me leape vp for ioy as one that hath discouered him to be a traitor then if he dare fal down in like sort make the same praier that the like vengeance may fal vpō himself if he be so deepely gilty as I haue charged him if Gods vengeance fall not vpon him before he depart out of her presence let me be hangd drawn quartred for laboring to empeach a Counsellors credit but if he dare not thus enter the listes with me before her Maiestie let him be holden guiltie Their last most damnable designment of al was the depriuatiō of her sacred Maiesty frō her Crown dignity the destructiō of her Royal person whom the eternal God in mercy long preserue to the confusion of all seditious wretches her enemies of all sorts The very particular principall meanes how these diuelish purposes were meant to be effected by them Arthington now saith that they were not opened vnto him pretending that though the other two seemed willing to haue imparted some of their secretes vnto him yet himselfe was alwayes vn willing to heare any of them But for the speciall meanes that Coppinger had plotted to bring the Q. Maiestie Counsel to repentance he saith that this was a secret mystery as Hacket Coppinger affirmed to him which they would keepe to themselues were so enioyned of the Lord. But whether soeuer the way to effect these was ment by some open violence or secret practise sure it is that popular tumult was not the least meanes they trusted of to bring them to passe which they hoped to stirre vp by their pretence of so great holinesse with calling the Realme to repentance in the open streetes of London by offering ioyes and mercie to the penitent and by their Proclamation also then made in Chepeside as hereafter commeth to be declared Now that these their two last purposes were in deede the principal maine ends which they propounded to themselues besides that which by the way is noted already that which comes hereafter to be mentioned let these fewe proofes ensuing suffice First for the alteration of the whole gouernment Ecclesiasticall and erecting of the new Discipline It is confessed that Coppinger Arthington the two counterfeit prophets on the 16. of Iuly last being Friday and the selfe same day that they arose in Cheapeside tolde Wigginton in the morning these words amongst many others vz. That reformation the Lords Discipline should now forthwith be established therefore charged Wigginton in the Lords name to put all Christians in comfort that they shoulde see a ioyfull alteration in the state of Church-gouernment shortly To which wordes Wigginton made no reply nor further demaund as of any matter strange vnto him how it was so shortly to be compassed Wherein may also be obserued that these kinde of persons doe recken and terme onely those Christians that will take comfort andioy at such an alteration So that by their opinions it skilleth not what be attempted or done against all others being but as Heathens and Paynims or at least Idolalaters Thus much with their seditious purposes also is plainely implied in a dangerous letter written by the said Coppinger since Easter last vnto one Iohn Vdale a condemned man for Felonie in the White Lyon in Surrey for writing of the booke termed the Demonstration of Discipline that letter beginneth thus Right reuerend Sir my forbearing to visite you and the rest of the Saints who suffer for righteousnesse sake doe giue you all cause to thinke that I haue forsaken