should make choice of such a poor Creature as I am to be employed in his Work I must further say that the Lord hath made crooked things straight and rough wayes plain and hard and difficult things easie to me through the Free and Rich Love of Christ Oh he hâ—th made death nothing unto me now but yet I have no strength of my own no my strength lies in my weaknesse and it is Christ alone that can renew my strength which he doth daily by setting upon my heart these following Scriptures which have been a constant relief to me The Lord is my Light and Salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the Rock of my life of whom should I be afraid Psal. 28.14 Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy Heart wait I say on the Lord. Psalm 33.11 The Counsel of the Lord stands for ever and the thoughts of his Heart to all Generations Blessed be the Soul that hath the Lord for its inheritance Psalm 138. vers 8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me the Mercies of the Lord endureth for ever forsake not the works of thine own hands Prov. 16. vers 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps in the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul commit thy wayes to the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established Prov. 28. vers 28. When the wicked arise men hide themselves but when they perish the Righteous increase But now thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel fear not I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins Esaiah 63. vers 9. In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pitty he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Lam. 3. vers 24. and 2.5.2.6 37. vers 38. The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore will I hope in him The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the souls that seeketh him it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. Who is he that saith it cometh to passe when the Lord commandeth it not out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good Psal. 34.9 Oh fear the Lord ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him Psal. 11.22 Though hand joyne in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished but the seed of the Righteous shall be delivered Some Experimental Passages in Discourse with a Friend A Friend coming to him the week of his Tryal and Suffering did partake of many choice breathings from him some of them which he could call to mind are here faithfully collected We are to esteem Sufferings the better when they are in the Wayes of God and we must not esteem the Wayes of God the worse because they are accompanied with Sufferings in this world A Believing Souls Sufferings for Christ do confirm him the more in the wayes of Christ. A Principle of Faith finds three sorts of Promises in the Gospel First The Promise of Assistance Secondly The Promise of Acceptance Thirdly The Promise of Reward Then he proceeded in some further Spiritual Discourse Although I find I have no strength to encounter with those great Tryals I am to meet with yet I will labour to quit my heart through the Spirit of Faith from that Scripture Esa. 30.7 Your strength is to sit still and indeed I find it so Then one present did ask him if he thought the Cause in which he had been engaged would ever arise again He said The Cause lies in the Bosom of Christ and as sure as Christ arose the Cause will arise again and we die but to make way for it for when John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ he must be beheaded for it so we by our death do but make way for the next comming of Jesus Christ personally to raign a thousand years with his Saints And although we die the Cause will certainly live The Thursday before his Suffering he entertained some Friends who came to visit him with very sweet and Heavenly Discourse to this purpose That although God had given him a sight of his Eternal happines yet Satan would have brought all his sins before him yea the very sins of his youth as unpardoned yea sayes he I my self also would fain have set them before me but God out of his free love through his Son was stronger then them both and would not suffer it but gave me in a full assurance that all my sins were freely forgiven and blotted out and never to be remembred against me any more which caused such unspeakable Joyes that he was not able to utter nor was he to the best observation of Friends then present ever seen so chearful in the greatest of his prosperity At noon one desired him that he would eat he answered him that he was above that kind of meat for the Lord saith he hath fed me with the fat things of his own Spirit The night before he Suffered he was exercised with some fears least he should want strength to go through the great work he was now suddenly to engage in he took his Bible and opened it at an adventure and God gave him in such a word that was so sutable for him at the time that he rejoyced and said Blessed be his Name that never leaves me without a Word the Scripture which Providence then presented him with was Isa. 54.10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither the Covenant of my Peace be removed from thee saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Oh sayes he to his Friends and Relations then with him You are the Mountains and the Hills that must depart from me now and so took his leave of them all with much chearfulness saying Go seek the Lord for me for I cannot go one hairs breadth in my own strength At another time he thus spake to some near Friends and Relations who were with him Certainly saith he if I had known the comforts of this sweet communion with God in a Prison before I had run to a Prison long ago If I had suffered when my Brethren did suffer I had had little or no blood in my body to have spilt for Jesus Christ in this good Cause but God carried me into Germany and there made us to sow a good Seed which will never dye and now God hath brought me back again with more strength to suffer for his Name and Cause Indeed the Lord hath made me in some measure now fit to go through Sufferings for him and it is indeed He alone who hath done it Upon hearing the news of his Tryal which he knew was
Friends told him Well now the time draws nigh who answered I am ready I am ready Then came the Order for his going to the Sled upon which he went with all chearfulness and so went forward with undaunted courage to meet Death in the face like a Christian Souldier indeed who through the Lord's assistance presently obtained more than a Conquest over all his Enemies As he was in the Sled and drew near to the place of Execution a Friend came to him and said Sir I have a great desire to know how it is with you and how the Lord is pleased to manifest himself unto you in the condition you are now in The Colonel replyed Friend I thank you I bless the Lord I have great cause to praise and magnifie his great and glorious Name for his unspeakable goodness towards me especially in this present dispensation for I can truly say and that by experience that the Goodness of the Lord endures for ever and praised be God for this present tryal The same Friend further replyed and said I pray Sir are you not at all dejected in your spirits are you not cast down in your mind have you not hard thoughts of God for this his strange providence towards you The Colonel replyed Friend I shall endeavour to satisfie you as well as I can in this matter and I let you know that I have not the least trouble upon my heart nor the least burden upon my spirit upon the account of my Sufferings neither have I any hard thoughts of God but on the contrary can speak to the praise of his Grace that his Goodness hath carried me forth above the fear of all these things And my Friend let me tell you further That I have had more experience of God and more acquaintance with God within these three or four dayes than ever I had in all my life and at this present I am so far from being dejected or cast down in my spirits as that I am so much elevated and lifted up in my soul that I am not able to tell you how it is with me And when he was ready to rise out of the Sled another Friend came to him and asked him how he did To whom he answered I bless the Lord I am very well and do no more value what I am now going about than this straw taking up a piece of a straw in his hand I have sayes he made many a Charge in my time but now I have but one Charge more to make and then I shall be at rest Here followeth two Letters of his to two of his old faithful Friends eminent persons in the City of London A Letter from Col. John Okey directed to a Relation of his to be by him communicated to some Christian Friends of his acquaintance about the City of London SIR HAving a little time in this place before I am removed to Newgate where I am to go as I am informed I thought good to give you some account how it is with me concerning my better part I bless the Lord I never found so much spiritual joy some years before as I have in Prison it is according as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 1.3 4 5. And therefore let the People of God not fear a Prison or to suffer in the Cause of God I shall give you a touch but of three things viz. 1. How it is with me in my spiritual condition 2. I shall speak something of the Cause for which I suffer the loss of all things which are near and dear unto me in this evil world 3. In the last place What a Mercy it is when the Lord is pleased to call forth a creature to suffer for the Truths of our Lord Jesus Christ in such a day as this is I believe you have heard these from some other of the Servants of the Lord that have gone before in whole dishes but you are like to have them in a broken dish and but a few scraps in comparison to that great feast you have had before from them that are now with the Lord. Our Afflictions sanctified are good Cordials to the soul and therefore it is no marvel that David said It is good for me that I have been afflicted And as one observeth and saith well a Prison being the place where wanting other Books a man may there best study the Book of the knowledge of himself being separated from all business but praying and praising the Lord God in Christ by the Spirits assistance And since I have by the help of the Lord looked in some measure into my heart I could not have thought there had been so much ignorance and impatience pride inordinate affection to creature-comforts revenge difidence of God self-love and iniquity of all kinds in me as I now find there is and although the Lord in great mercy hath kept me by his mighty power and restraining grace from those Jayl-bird sins as Swearing Drunkenness Lying Uncleanness and hating of his People yet I find a mass of corruption in me and a multitude of transgressions so that my sins are as the hairs of my head which cannot be numbred for the multitude of them and all this darkness and filthiness of spirit is only discovered by the light of Christ By his lowliness in washing the Apostles feet I see the height of pride in my own spirit and want of condescention when I was in prosperity and my unfruitfulness under the means of Grace and little good I did when I had an opportunity thereunto and therefore I adore and acknowledge the Justice of God that he hath most righteously deprived me of my Liberty and Estate truly now I am thereby brought nearer to Christ whereby I find through Grace that Christ is become very precious to me And more to be desired than Gold yea 1 Pet 2.7 than fine Gold and sweeter than the Honey or the Honey-comb And this I can say through Mercy I do desire to love the good Word of the Lord before my appointed food I have begged of the Lord that he would enable me more and more that I may lay open before him all my sins known or unknown and to loath my self for them and that not only for the shame which sin bringeth but rather because I should sin against so good a God and loving Father in Christ Jesus as I have done and especially for my actual known sins committed against so much Love Light Promises and Covenants from a gracious God that will not destroy me for all my abominations blessed be his holy Name for ever and for ever I desire continually to go out of my self and to rely on the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ who only is the Fountain of Life and in his Light we shall see light Oh! what Mercy is it that the Lord should be pleased out of his great Love and Compassion to cast the mantle of his free Grace upon such a poor worm as I am and
thus ended Mr. Corbet himself gave thanks praying to and praising God with such melting language such readiness of speech such a composed frame of heart and such holy well-digested matter that it much affected some that joyned with him to hear an old Disciple of Jesus Christ so nigh his Death and such a Death as he was within a few hours to undergo to have a mind so sweetly setled without any the least seeming disturbance at all Among other passages in that his heavenly Prayer these were some viz. That as God had been his Guide unto Death so now he prayed that he would be his Support in Death that he would make Death a safe and speedy passage unto Glory That God would enable him to make a good Confession of Him before men and carry him well through that new kind of terrible work which he was now about to undertake in His Name and Strength and in Witness to His Cause That he might joyfully go hence as from the use of creatures which he had been now refreshed with so most of all from Sin and the snares of it With divers other like expressions fitted to his present case Time growing short now I stand saith he upon dying-ground and every inch is precious I had need therefore improve it to the utmost and so called to such as were present to joyn in Prayer with him and for him and accordingly they did so the Lord assisting him that was the mouth of the Company with Petitions very sweet and pertinent to the occasion The Prayer ended he fell to discourse again and speaking of Sufferings Truly saith he it is not an ordinary common spirit that will fit men for such Work and when I think of that froward and bitter carriage which still I find and now leave among the People of God I wonder what God will do upon it and fear the consequence if it be not repented of and removed And then again he renewed his aforesaid dying Requests which he had mentioned the night before further entreating that every one would make it their business to perswade all parties of God's People how differing soever in their Opinions to give no further advantage to the Common Enemy by their still continued unbrotherly distances and divisions but that they would rather exhort and admonish each other and set upon a personal and friendly Converse together which he said is one of the best means to unite and strengthen And for this he again propounded Dr. Preston's Counsel and Example one of whom saith he I may truly say that he was a man of the most excellent parts the sweetest Friend and the most savory Christian that ever I was acquainted with A Friend coming in that he had not seen before but wished for made haste to one of the other Prisoners who expected him and so took leave of him then he taking the said Friend by the hand desired him to remember him very kindly to his Brethren and Fellow-Sufferers and tell them saith he that I pray for them as I am able and desire them to do the like for me That God may appear for us and with us and be magnified by our Death Then speaking afterwards of his ten Brethren that first suffered in this Cause Those saith he that went first had the greatest Honour and usually they that have the first Honour in Sufferings have an answerable Assistance and Presence of God with them but we that follow them may haply miss of such eminent Appearances as they had with them Nay saith a Friend but why do you say so were not their Assistances for the encouragement of others and hath not God been very much with you and do you not even at this present find it so why therefore should you now doubt To which he answered It is true indeed you speak well I must confess I can say Eben-ezer Hitherto God hath helped me and I hope saith he he will still do it and enable me from former experiences to trust Him to the last only this I find that all my Comfort and Support comes in by a present Faith I remember saith he that speech of the Psalmist Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power and truly it must be a supernatural Power that must make flesh and blood willing and Oh that I may be willing I desire to be so for God doth not love an unwilling sacrifice that must be pulled and haled like a Dog in a string No the excellency of our services is from the freeness and readiness of our performance when in sincerity and in truth Blessed be God saith one I am comforted to hear you speak thus If God saith he will be with me I shall both speak and do too Ah saith he when I think of Stephen the Proto-martyr how the Heavens opened upon him and what a sight they gave him of the Son of God whilst the stones were about his ears it much encourageth me Some think saith he it was the intensness of Stephen's natural eye at that time raised and strengthened on purpose to behold that most comfortable and glorious object but if God will please to give me an eye of Faith to behold him at the Throne of his Father interceding for me and ready to receive me when I am giving up the ghost and pouring out my blood for him it will do as well Ah! the Righteousness of Jesus Christ saith he his compleat and most unspotted Righteousness the Righteousness of the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world Ah! how glorious is it to appear before God in that Robe Oh! that I may be found not having mine own righteousness but the Righteousness of this Son of God upon me Then a Friend telling him that so long as he held there he would have good hope indeed and a solid and sound peace for it is that Righteousness that we must all trust to if ever we get to Heaven Yea saith he and through Grace I have trusted to it and the more I think of it the more I cleave to it and see the need of it me-thinks it grows upon me I am greatly raised with my expectations from it else I am sure I should have sunk long ere this time but still I can say Eben-ezer an expression much used by him hitherto God hath helped me About an hour before the Sleds came he was speaking of the Providence of God in freeing his mind from cares and distractions about matters of this world Had I had an Estate saith he to leave behind with my Relations I should have been troubled about the dividing and disposing of it one would have been asking this of me another would have been asking that but now I am eased of all that trouble what Estate I had I spent it all in the Parliament service and now must leave my poor Wife and Children to the good Providence of God and the love of such Friends as he shall please to stir up to
that he had not left me to the wickedness of my own heart as he hath left thousands that do live in pleasure and vanity and so are dead while they live Now the good Lord grant that as he hath done for me more than he hath done for many thousands so I may love Him more than many thousands do that I may yet live and die for the Glory of his holy Name and that the few hours I have to live I may wholly spend to the praise of God I humbly desire to bless the Lord that hath made me willing to live or die as may be most for his Glory and the Good of his People for I can say through Christ that strengthens me I can do all things in some measure and have learned how to want and how to abound and can say to live is Christ and to die is gain praised be the Lord that hath made my heart fit in some good measure for the work which he hath called me unto and as I hear my departure is at hand so through the Lord 's rich Grace and free Mercy to me his poor unworthy Servant I am willing to be offered up and if I be offered upon the Sacrifice of your Faith I joy and much rejoyce therein I hope by the continual Prayers of you and the rest of the People of the Lord he that hath begun that good work in me will carry it on till the coming of the Lord Jesus When I look upon my self then I have cause to fear and tremble for my strength is as weak as water but when I look to the Lord Jesus then am I strong for he hath promised He will never leave nor forsake me nor all those that trust in Him And I know that through the Lord I shall do those things that may tend to the praise of his great Name in this evil day and I hope by his Grace to honour Him more by my Death than in all my Life before for indeed although I had a desire in the day of liberty to do that which was most for the glory of God and the good of his People and on that account I did not think my Life nor any thing I had near or dear to me and can say I do believe no man did more rejoycingly go to lay down his Life than I did yet I was accompanied with so many failings in my best doings that I have cause to be ashamed and humbled for the best of all my services that ever I have performed and praised be his holy Name although I have nothing in my self to glory in yet in Christ Jesus I can and will rejoyce giving thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus who hath made me meet to be partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in light and for his unspeakable love to me in the Lord Jesus for being justified by Faith I have peace with our blessed God through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be praise and glory both now and for evermore And now a word concerning the Cause for which I am to suffer all that is near and dear unto me I shall as before the Lord who only knoweth the hearts and thoughts of all men tell you my Faith I do believe at long-run there is not a man that fears the Lord will have any reason to be sorrowful for engaging in that Good Old Cause which I am now to seal with my Blood again as I have many a time done I am satisfied in my soul that it is a most just and glorious Cause as hath been in many years asserted and although the Lord hath been pleased for the sins of his People and for a great judgment to the wicked of the three Nations to let it be in respect of the Cause as it were the Sun setting for a night yet it will certainly arise the next morning very gloriously though now it be never so much reproached by the wicked of this day And when I die I shall die in the Faith thereof And that most of the Reformed Churches in the world by report are all of that mind and I my self have heard the same from many among them where I have been abroad I bless the Lord I have no guilt upon me in reference to that Cause if I had I would let you know it And although many object against me that place 1 Pet. 4.15 Let none of you suffer as a Murderer yet I cannot after much seeking the Lord be convinced that I am such a one And in case any did it out of base ends of their own I praise the Lord I had none but looking at the Glory of God and the Good of his poor People in what I did and I bless the Lord I find the comfort of it at this day And for the Cause I shall say no more of it than what the Parents said to the Pharisees when they asked them if that were their son they told them he was of age he should speak for himself So I say this Cause hath spoken in most parts of the Christian World and will speak more when we are dead when the Fowls have eaten of our vile Bodies that are to be set up on the Gates of the City I shall only add a word to the People of the Lord to comfort them against sufferings for the Cause of God for it is a most glorious thing and honourable and therefore saith the Apostle James Count it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations And so the Apostle Paul Rom. 5 We glory in Tribulation Also the like in Phil. 1.28 29. To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake And so again the Apostle sayes Jam. 1â— 12. 2 Cor. 12.10 Act. 2 13. Blessed is the man that endureth Temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive a Crown of life So the Apostle Paul rejoyced in his Infirmities Reproaches Necessities in Persecutions in Distresses And he professes himself to be ready not only to be bound but to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Further It is the duty of Saints to suffer as the Apostle speaks He that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 We are also commanded not to fear their fears nor to be terrified by any thing that evil men can do against us but suffer as good Souldiers of Christ Jesus We are likewise to rejoyce in as much as we are partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed 1 Pet. 4.13 we may rejoyce with exceeding joy And as it brings peace to a man 's own soul so it rejoyceth the hearts of the Saints for saith the Apostle We live if ye stand fast in the Lord. And therefore dear Brethren fear none of these things for the Devil shall cast some of you into Prison and you shall have Tribulation for ten dayes
but be faithful to the death and you shall receive a Crown of life Oh my dear Friends it is better to fall with Christ than to stand with Caesar let us be willing to follow our Captain the Lord Jesus who is gone before as also the blessed Saints and Martyrs of Christ. We use to say He is not worthy the name of a Souldier that will not follow his Leader Let us then follow Christ the Captain of our Salvation who hath said to us Fear not him that can but kill the body and can do no more Oh let us I pray you fear the Lord and take heed of all sin for let me tell you there is more evil in the least sin than there is good in any thing this base world can afford And although here we may suffer and be condemned of men as evil-doers as our Lord Jesus and was called Beelzebub and the like yet this will be our comfort that although men do condemn us the Lord doth acquit us You know what Christ saith to his Disciples Blessed are ye when men speak all manner of evil of you for my Name sake and the Gospel then do ye rejoyce and be exceeding glad Thus I have given you to know in a few words my thoughts concerning those three things I spake of in the beginning of this Paper I had thought to have been more large but am strangely prevented by my Keeper and for want of time Only one word to let you know that blessed be the Lord for his great mercy towards me I am at present in a peaceable and comfortable condition although sometimes fainting fits do seem to seize upon me for when I look on my self then I have cause to mourn for my unworthy walking but when I look up to the Lord I have cause to rejoyce and to be glad and do desire to praise his holy Name Oh it is good to have our portion in the Lord who is our only Good for one smile of his Countenance is better than Life And therefore my dear Friends above all things labour to give your selves up to the Lord and appear for his Cause and Glory and for the Gospel and stand up for the Truth for all Truth and for the poor Saints at such a day as this is so that you may with the Apostle say experimentally I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Glory and not only for me but for all those also that love the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now my dear Brethren in the Lord I bid you farewel and commit you and yours to Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy Now to the only wise God be glory for evermore Yours for ever in our Lord Jesus Christ. J. O. Post-script Oh my Brethren I have one request to you that is That you would beg of the Lord that the Saints may dwell more together in Love And although they be not of one form yet let them labour to be of one mind in the things of the Lord and love as Brethren and take heed of judging one another which hath been a great fault Give no offence to those that are within nor to those that are without as near as you can That those that are out of the way may be won by your holy conversation in Christ Jesus Another Letter of Col. John Okey's directed to an intimate Friend and old Acquaintance of his in London Hon. Friend I Do much rejoyce to hear of your good health with your dear Wife and that the Lord doth so much comfort and strengthen you in the day of your trouble it is a great honour that he hath put upon you in this backsliding time wherein iniquity doth so much abound and most men are making shipwrack of Faith a good Conscience in this day of Jacob's sorrows now that wickedness is established by a Law Now the worse the times are the Lord grant we may be the better Oh Sir suffering-times are very glorious when the Lord is pleased to come in by his holy Spirit into the heart of a poor worm there can be no restraint where the Spirit of the Lord is for there is liberty for the loving-kindness of the Lord is better than any thing that this base world can afford My dear Friend what a favour hath the Lord been pleased to cast upon you and me that we should be called forth to bear witness to and for the Old Cause the Lord himself hath so often owned by fighting our Battels and in destroying of the proud Enemies of God and his Saints so that the sound of it is gone through the whole World And now I shall trouble you with a word to let you know how it is with me at the present concerning the inner man I do humbly desire to speak to the glory of the Lord 's free Grace that although I am in trouble on every side yet not distressed something perplexed but not in dispair persecuted but not forsaken cast into Prison but not destroyed and therefore blessed be the Lord I faint not for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.16 We reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 and therefore the Lord grant that we may watch and stand fast in the Faith quit our selves like men be strong in his strength and in the power of his might and as Joab said Be of good Courage let us behave ourselves valiantly for our People and for the Cities of our God and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight 1 Chron. 19.13 Sir I hear my time is short and I am in some measure through much mercy ready to be offered up and if I be offered up upon the sacrifice of the Faith of the Lords People I shall joy and much rejoyce Alas you know I am a poor worm and of my self can do nothing but in the strength of the Lord I shall be able to do what the Lord shall be pleased to call me to for he hath promised to lay no more upon me than he will enable me to bear and therefore I do humbly beg your prayers for me and the rest of my suffering Brethren that are in trouble with me here or elsewhere that the Lord would be pleased to stand by us so that we be not ashamed of the Cause of the Lord and his poor People it would have been better we had never made a profession of the Gospel than for to deny any of the Truths of the Lord or the Cause of his People What are our lives in comparison of the Glory of God better ten thousand of us should dye than the Gospel
should suffer and therefore I do again beg your prayers to the Lord night and day that the Lord would strengthen us with all might according to his rich and glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light who hath called us to suffer for the Truth and not to fear base man whose breath is in his nostrils and although they seem to be in honour yet in a few dayes they shall fall and perish and become as the dung of the Earth and men like themselves shall see them no more Oh we have no cause to be troubled when we see wicked men made great for when they die none of their pomp shall follow them for as they lived undesired so will they dye unlamented My dear Friend I am fain to break off for want of time and I hope you will cover my weak lines you have them from the heart that wisheth you as well as my own soul. Thus with my love to you and my prayers to the Lord for you and yours and to the rest that love the Lord Jesus and now for the present I leave you to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God be glory and power now and ever Your faithful Friend till death J. O. A Letter of Col. John Okey to his Daughter My dear Daughter I Salute you in the Lord wishing you all Grace here and Glory hereafter I am something troubled at the cruelty of wicked men that will not let me see you in such a day as this is But it 's not to be wondred at for you know what the Scripture saith The mercies of the ungodly are cruelty it self But blessed be our good God though they can keep our Relations from us they cannot keep us from coming to our heavenly Father within a few dayes we shall be out of their hands where they shall afflict us no more for there the Oppressed shall be free from the Oppressor and therefore be not troubled for these things I thank you for your love to me as much as if I had seen you and although we are kept one from another in the body yet we are not so in the spirit but do rejoyce in one another and be not much cast down for these outward troubles that we meet with in this evil world where we are pilgrims and strangers for it 's the lot and portion of the dearest of God's People to suffer here in this world but rather rejoyce that we are accounted worthy to suffer shame for his most holy Name and I beg that you would be earnest with the Lord that he would be pleased to keep my heart close to himself that I may not dishonour the Lord nor bring a reproach to the glorious Gospel of our Lord Christ and his Cause which the Lord hath from Heaven so gloriously owned by scattering of his Enemies so often as he hath done in the sight of the Sun in bringing many of them to Justice so that the sound of it is gone thorow the whole World that it is the talk of the most part of the World and this you may be confident of that the day is not far off when God will give a glorious Resurrection to this Good Cause that is so much scorned by the basest of men who as Daniel saith shall fall in a few dayes like their own dung and perish and be seen no more for God hath set them in slippery places and therefore be not troubled at their prosperity but wait on the Lord and he shall give you the desire of your soul. And therefore my dear Daughter I humbly desire you that you would more and more give your self up wholly to the Lord to walk in all his wayes and to delight in all his wayes for his wayes are all wayes of peace and paths of pleasantness to all them that fear and love him and although earthly fathers leave you he will never leave you nor forsake you but will bless you here and for evermore therefore rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce I am very sorry that I am not able to do that for you which I desire and did intend for you and yours which I should have delighted to have done but the Providence of the Lord hath been pleased to order things other wayes praised be his Name and I hope the good Lord will supply all your wants through the riches of his Mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ to whom I shall commit you and yours who hath promised to do you good both in soul and body for he hath said When father and mother forsake you he will keep you for ever And therefore my loving Daughter be comforted in the Lord for although I go before you I shall not be lost but we shall meet again in Glory through mercy where we shall part no more for ever where we shall sorrow no more nor sin no more but shall be for ever praising his holy Name to all Eternity I shall desire you to remember me kindly to your Husband if it please the Lord to bring him home and to your Brother and so to the rest of my Friends and let your Husband know that if it please the Lord to return to his People he or his shall have a Portion in the mean time the Lord will bless that little to you that shall do you and yours more good than the treasures of the wicked like to the widows oyl and the barrel of meal that wasted not until the Lord sent more You know what David said I have been young and now am old yet he never saw the Righteous forsaken nor his seed begging their bread and Paul said We brought nothing into this world and it 's certain we shall carry nothing out having food and raiment let us therewith be content I am forc'd to break off at present but I hope to see you once more before I go hence and be seen no more I shall desire you would have a great care of those little Children that the Lord hath given you to bring them up in the fear of the Lord whilst the Lord is pleased to let you be with them And do also desire as you would do any thing for me or mine that you would be kind and loving to my dear Wife when I am gone that is the last Request that I beg of you And thus with my hearty love to you and your dear Husband and to your Children and to the rest of my Friends and to John and desire him that he would beg of the Lord to give him an heart to love the Lord and to walk in his wayes and it shall be well with him here and for evermore Thus in haste I commit you to the Lord beseeching the Lord
pity them and then spake to such as were present that they would shew what Kindness they could to his desolate Wife there standing by him at which when she fell a weeping he turning to her said Ah my Dear shall we part in a shower may I not say saith he as our Saviour did to the daughters of Jerusalem Weep not for me but weep for your selves and the Calamities that are coming upon you for verily saith he you are entring into great Sufferings and such as I am perswaded saith he will shortly send some of you after us up into our Country lifting up his eyes towards Heaven Not long after the noise of the Horses and Sleds were heard as they came in at the Tower-Gates which one telling him of and saying that the Sleds were come he turning quick about Call you them Sleds saith he they are the Chariots which are sent to fetch us to Heaven adding presently thereupon I shall now go from the Tower to my Coronation which words he uttered again before he went that morning As the Discourse went on for he was alwayes dropping some excellent speech or other when it was his turn to speak he affectionatly touched upon that place in Rom. 8.19 to 24. where mention is made of the earnest expectation of the Creature to be delivered from bondage the word saith he signifies such an expectation as one hath that puts his head out at a window to see whether the party looked for be coming and within sight Even so saith he it is with me now moving his head towards the window Me-thinks I look for the Bridegroom me-thinks he is nigh yea very nigh even at the door there pointing that way with his hand His Opinion being asked what he thought of the Cause of God that now seems to lye in so forlorn a condition and to have miscarried so much besides the hopes and expectations of them that fear and love the Lord Truly saith he how justly it is come upon us I need not relate and by what means too it is visible enough God's own People have done foolishly yea have sinned greatly How worldly did they grow how high and stiff against each other How solicitous and busie was every one to set up his own Party and Interest when power was in his hand without minding the general and common welfare of their Brethren The truth is saith he all Parties have been blame-worthy and every one more or less hath contributed to the common heap of Guilt and may look to share in the Punishment yet saith he could we see an humble self-denying self-judging and reforming Spirit among all parties of good men and an hearty readiness and endeavour in every one to unite heal and close up breaches between God and themselves much might be hoped but without this how weak and feeble must our hopes needs be so that though I doubt not saith he but God will revive his Cause again and in due time not only give it a new life but make it flourish more than ever yet not till his People have repented and gotten their Pardon sealed I remember saith he that Text in Psal. 79.8 Remember not against us former Iniquities or saith he as the Dutch Notes hath it the Iniquities of them which have been before And sure then said he if former Iniquities and the Iniquities of them that have been before must be prayed against till they be forgiven and forgotten ere better times can be expected then present Iniquities must be done away also The People of God had need look about them and see what it is that hinders Mercy that keeps good things from them and remove it as fast as they can else in vain will their hopes be Indeed we are apt saith he to be quick in our expectations for good but slow in our amendments I remember a passage saith he in the Dutch Anotations upon the words of Eve Gen. 4.1 when Cain was born I have gotten a man said she from the Lord understanding thereby the promised Seed which should break the Serpents head as if Cain had been that promised Seed when as it proved quite otherwise God having another channel for that precious Seed to be conveyed through not so soon by far in the time of it as Eve dreamed of Even so said he we are apt to conclude upon promised Mercies to be accomplished about such or such a time and by such or such Instruments but we may be deceived and yet God will not be worse than his Word or let the Faith and Prayers of his People go away ashamed As for his Enemies they sometimes seem to carry all before them and think to remove every person and thing that crosseth their design but they consider not that God is able to finde or make new Instruments for his own Service and Glory when the old ones are gone but the worst that they do or can do even then when their Power and Rage is greatest is more Gods work than their own For what is it can come to pass without his fore-ordination and appointment or can possibly happen contrary to his wise Decree Our Adversaries think now by this their severity towards us to advantage their own cause whereas who can tell but that God may get himself more honour and we may do him more service by our Deaths how sharp and ignominious so ever they be than ever we did in all the time of our Lives His Wife weeping as she often did at his heavenly discourse saying Oh! what a precious Husband shall I lose he said to her Ah! my dear heart why dost thou weep thus may I not say unto thee as Paul did to his Friends at Cesaria Act. 21.13 What mean you to weep and to break my heart for I am ready not to be bound only but to dye for Christ. He died for me and gave his Life for me and what greater honour can befall me than to die for him and taking his Wife by the hand said Truly Mol thou wilt greatly engage my heart to thee if thou wilt now willingly yeeld me up to God Time hastening the Warders desired the Company to depart and left only two or three Friends in the Room with him besides his Wife and Son Now saith he as ere-while I took leave of the Creatures let me take leave of Duties too at least in this place and with you my Friends and dear Relations for I may now say Farewel Faith and farewel Hope but welcome Love for that shall remain still even for ever since I may truly say with my old Friend Dr. Preston I shall only change my place but not my Company words uttered by him when with a sudden death he went to Heaven Then he prayed briefly but with most pithy words full of life and power some of which were as followeth Oh holy and dear God and Father the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and my Father look down upon thy poor Worm with
end of his Journey one came from a Friend to the Sled side to tell him that endeavours were used to get his Body for burial What care I saith he what becomes of my Body when I am dead let them do what they will with it I blesse God my Soul is safe Many other excellent Passages are yet behind scattered in the hands of several Friends which cannot be yet brought together but care is taken that they shall not be lost but are all preserved to a more large Account when the afore-mentioned History of his Life and Death comes out together with several choice Letters of his very worthy of Record All which will ask some time to prepare and put them into due order for the Presse The Several SPEECHES and PRAYERS of Col. John Okey Col. John Barkstead and Miles Corbet Esq at the place of Execution April 19. 1662. UPon April 19. 1662. being the day appointed for the Execution of Col. John Barkstead Col. John Okey and Miles Corbet Esq who were drawn on three several Hurdles from the Tower to Tyburn Col. Barkstead was first brought to the place of Execution and then Col. Okey and then Mr. M. Corbet who at a good distance of time one after another mounted a Cart which was prepared for them to stand in whilst they spake to the people Col. John Barkstead was the first that ascended the Cart And as soon as he was in he lifted up his eyes to Heaven and said Blessed be God and then immediatly one supposed to be of the Life-guard cryed out very loud He is almost dead if he be not quickly hanged he will be dead before therefore hang him hang him before he be quite dead See how he looks But being much spent he waved speaking to that And after he was tyed up finding the Rope very strait he would sit on the side of the Cart to rest himself but could not till the Rope was somewhat loosened After resting himself it was expected he would say something before the other Prisoners came which was at least half an hours distance The Sheriff therefore spake to him to this effect Sheriff You must not speak any thing in justification of such an horrid Offence for which you came hither to suffer To which Col. Barkstead replyed I cannot speak much Barkst by reason of the weakness of my body I desire to get as much refreshment as I can before I speak Then the Sheriff spake to Mr. Hastings Sheriff who was Under-Sheriff of the County of Middlesex Will not you dispatch one first of all To which the Under-Sheriff answered We use to hang all together Undersh Col. Barkstead then lifted up his eyes and hands to Heaven Then replyed the Sheriff Let it be according as it use to be Sheriff Execut. Then said the Executioner to Col. Barkstead You may be going on in your own prayers and lose no time Barkst I shall be but short and taking something out of a silver Box putting it into his mouth lifting up his eyes said I bless God I have a better Comforter than this Then being asked by some person of quality whether he were not sorry for what he had done He answered Sir I shall be sorry for whatever the Lord convinceth me to be a sin When the Lord sets home that upon my soul I shall express it unto God and man and truly that must be from him alone Mr. Th. Porter Then Mr. Thomas Porter spake to him I am sorry to see you there but you will be a happy man within this half hour Barkst I have I bless God an assurance through Jesus Christ that I shall be so but feeling the Cart stir under him as he did several times before and thereby the Rope pinched him he desired it might be eased Then Col. Okey was brought towards the Cart and when Col. Barkstead saw him he lifted up his eyes and hands Some of the Sheriffs Officers when Okey came to the Cart said of him That he was a lusty stout brave man as ever fought in England Sheriff Then said the Sheriff to Col. Okey I hope I need not give you this Caution that you make no justification of this horrid Offence not to justifie that Offence for which you are brought hither this day Okey To which Col. Okey made this reply Sir I must not lye for God much less for you I hope you will give me leave to speak what lies upon my conscience whether I am guilty or not guilty We will speak something of what lyes upon us Then Mr. Corbet being at the Cart ready to come up Col. Okey stooping down to help him up said Come brother Corbet how do you and clapping his hand upon his breast Okey said I thank God I have it here Then speaking to the Sheriff he said May I have my Hat on or stand bare Sheriff Which you please said the Sheriff you have your liberty for that Then Col. Okey addressed himself to speak to the People as followeth Colonel Okey's Speech GENTLEMEN THe Providence of God hath brought me to this place to pay that which every man oweth I shall not trouble you with what is superfluous which is to tell you of my Family which of all the Families in Israel was the least and I was the least of that Family It is not unknown to most here what troubles have been in this Nation and how eminently the hand of God did appear therein Among many others that were called forth to serve the King and Parliament as then the Cause was stated I was one which I did faithfully according to the best of my power and knowledge I here do bless God that I was called to that Work For I am perswaded in my heart that it was for the Glory of God and the good of his People however it was turned at last and if I had as many lives as I have hairs on my head I should have ventured them all in that Cause I have nothing upon me as to that and I thank God I am fully satisfied as to that Cause but I shall say no more to that but only this in general That as the Parents of him that was born blind being asked by the Pharisees how he came to his sight answered He is of Age let him speak for himself and so the Cause is sufficiently able to speak for it self But as to that vvhich I have been adjudged for and am come hither to give my Life for viz. the Death of the late King I shall only say thus much That I think most of you know that I vvas none of the Counsel within or without neither did I know any thing of the Tryal of the King or who vvere the Judges till I saw my Name inserted in a Paper and I did sit there but once or twice but for any malice to him I had no more than to my own soul but prayed for him to
the last hour of his life as I did for my self and so I have done for this King also which is my duty to do I have many hundred times since I went out of England this two years last past and before also begged with tears of the Lord if there were any iniquity or malice or any thing of that nature in what I did that God would shew it to me yea the like I did this very morning beseeching the Lord that if I had any guilt of his Majesties blood upon me or any hatred against him he would reveal it to me that I might here confess it before you all But I have nothing upon my spirit as to that And what ever other men did I shall say nothing to that as for my self I can say again that I got not any thing by it but remained in the same condition I was a Colonel before and was no more since I thank the Lord I am clear in that Then making a stop he said there is such a noise I cannot speak And Sir I shall tell you now vvhat is upon my spirit I take vvhat hath befallen me as righteous and just from the Lord for my unworthy walking for being no more zealous for God and his People no more fruitful in my Generation and no more thankful but as for that thing I thank the Lord I have no guilt upon my spirit And as for all my other sins I confess they are many and great but I thank the Lord he hath given my soul the pardon of them all through the Blood of Christ for his Name sake and through the Riches of his Grace and his abundant Mercy towards me And now I will only speak a word to our Friends here You all know we have had many troubles and much blood hath been shed and there hath been a vacancy as to a single person But the Nation did earnestly desire him that now reigns and I wish from my soul he may reign gloriously and righteously and reign here so as he may reign for ever And now they have the great Mercy they did desire I wish that they would make a right improvement of it and that they would walk in some measure answerable to that mercy that they have so much desired I shall beg this as a dying man That as they have received a Mercy which they account so exceeding great that they would walk answerable to it that God might have the glory and the Nation might yet flourish in Peace and Righteousness I shall beg of these †Some of the Guard Gentlemen and all others that have a great affection to their King that they would pray more for him and love him more and that they would swear less and drink less for if you were beyond Sea to hear what I have heard of this Nation it would make your hair stand on end and your ears to tingle They say certainly that notwithstanding the great answer they have had of their desires yet if they go on in the way of wickedness and Blasphemy which they report do abound in England for my part I have been a close Prisoner and have spoken with no body almost since I came that this Nation cannot stand three years together therefore I shall make it my humble request That as this Nation hath flourished and gone beyond other Nations in Piety and Religion it might flourish ten times more than it hath done this many years upon the same account It hath been a Nation that hath profest the Gospel which indeed hath flourished here more than in any other Kingdom and so it hath had more glory and honour than other Nations and I desire it may continue that you may have Peace within your Palaces and Plenty within your Dwellings Oh that every man would study in his place to fear God and honour the King and to give glory to God and walk in some measure answerable to those many mercies they have and do enjoy And that as they have what they so much desired every man would now beg that the Gospel may flourish and that Righteousness and Truth may be in the midst of you There is something that I shall speak more I would be loth to speak so as to offend you in any thing Then replyed the Sheriff I am glad to hear these Expressions from you Sir let me tell you because it 's a very great matter and looks like a black thing that is charged upon us in the Indictment I should have abhorred it had there not been a face of Authority an Authority that then was owned had it not been so I should have abhorred to have done any thing in that business as much as any Gent. here therefore I thank God I have peace as to that and Peace as to the Pardon of all mine Iniquities whatsoever through rich Grace and Mercy And truly as to the Cause I am as confident even as I am of my Resurrection That that Cause which we first took up the Sword for which was for Righteousness and for Justice and for the advancement of a godly Magistracy and a good Ministery however some men turned about for their own ends shall yet revive again I am confident I say That Cause for which so much Blood hath been shed will have another Resurrection that is You will have a blessed fruit of those many thousands that have been killed in the late War But I would leave this to all my Brethren and Friends that they would keep their places wait upon God stand still and see the Salvation of God and rather suffer than do any thing to deliver themselves by any indirect or unjust wayes If his Majesty had been pleased to have given me my Life or if I had come over or heard for I had a Warrant for my return into England from the House of Commons but I fell short two dayes and so was fain to go back time enough of the Proclamation I would through the blessing of God have lived quietly and rather have suffered than have done any thing against the Law of the Land and I would say this to all good men and others Rather to suffer than take any indirect means to deliver themselves but to wait upon God keep their way stand still and see the Salvation of God And God when it shall make most for his own Glory and the good of his People will deliver and that in such a way that himself shall have Glory in and the Gospel shall have no Reproach by But because some think we are enemies to Magistracy and Ministry I shall only say this That I alwaies I thank the Lord did pray both for Magistracy and Ministry and that you might have righteous Laws established that so Judgement may run down like a Stream and Righteousness like a mighty River And that shall be my Prayer now That God would give you Peace and Truth and scatter them that delight in Blood and War Mr.