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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30965	The speeches, discourses, and prayers, of Col. John Barkstead, Col. John Okey, and Mr. Miles Corbet, upon the 19th of April being the day of their suffering at Tyburn : together with an account of the occasion and manner of their taking in Holland : as also of their several occasional speeches, discourses, and letters, both before, and in the time of their late imprisonment : faithfully and impartially collected for a general satisfaction.; Selections. 1662	Barkstead, John, d. 1662.; Okey, John, d. 1662. Selections. 1662.; Corbet, Miles, d. 1662. Selections. 1662.	1662 (1662)	Wing B817; ESTC R22773	95,595	102

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. 1● 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

traversed any Suit commenced against him And as for what he had done in this business that there he stood accused for he said he was engaged in it by the then Supream Publick Authority of the Nation the lawfulness of which Authority he said at that time was every-where acknowledged and reputed so to be and had he not this to plead for himself he should then have thought that what was done by himself and others had been very wicked and abominable But the Authority being since that time changed and new Laws made by which both the Fact and the Power it self too by vertue of which it was done are both said to have been invalid though the Law-makers at that time did not think so he had nothing further to adde but only to leave this one word with them from Isa. 33.22 The LORD is our Judge the LORD is our Law-maker the LORD is our King He will save us You mistake saith one it is not Law-maker but Law-giver in the Text. But in the Margent saith Mr. Corbet it is Law-maker This is a true Relation of this matter as near as possibly can be taken from his own mouth if any mistake be in a word ignorantly related or sentence misplaced the Reader is desired to pardon it This Mr. Corbet having been heretofore bred at Lincolns-Inn and known to be a good Lawyer and late Lord Chief Baron in Ireland and also much acquainted by long experience with Affairs of State as having been a Member in all the Parliaments that have sat since the beginning of the late King's Reign and being also further known to have been an antient and long-experienc'd sound Christian a man of a very tender Conscience and of an holy Life and Conversation and that as well in his greatest Prosperity as in his Adversity it was the earnest desire of many even of all parties that knew him fully and clearly to understand from his own mouth especially now in this time of his Affliction what inward peace quiet and satisfaction he had in his own Conscience touching that Act which he was condemned and very shortly to dye for and which passeth under so many dreadful names of the most horrid heinous wicked and unwarrantable Act that was ever done of the vilest Murder most execrable Regicide detestable and bloody Crime that men ever were guilty of and like unto which none hath been said to have been ever perpetrated in this world before except the putting of Christ himself to death His Answer to this Question was the more desired because he being taken for so good a Christian and so able experienced a Lawyer and Statesman as is before described his Opinion therein would be the more considerable and his words be of the greater weight which side soever they should fall whether to the Justification or the Condemnation of the Fact Now to this Question which he said he had long before examined thorowly and very well digested he said he would make this true faithful and ingenuous Answer and hoped he should stand to it and maintain it to his last breath And although he did find he said some near Relations were not of his mind in it yet for his own part he remained steady and unmoveable therein and before several Witnesses which he hath now left surviving that heard him declared as followeth First he said When he was named and appointed by the Parliament to be one of the Judges he was not present in the House nor did he at any time give his own personal consent thereto or approbation of it but rather fully resolved never to engage in that business Secondly When the Bill came into the House he spake against it and gave his Reasons nor could he be drawn by any Arguments to appear in the High Court of Justice or allow of their Proceedings Yet thirdly The state of Affairs being as then they were and the Consequence on both sides either of owning or not owning and joyning in that Act being with much prayer and consideration well weighed by him he at last came to a fixed settlement in his mind about these ensuing particulars 1. That the Supream Authority of the Nation as then it stood notwithstanding the Alterations made in it being generally accepted and submitted to at home and owned by forreign States abroad without any question made of it from the body and bulk of the People though here and there some scrupled it whose Interest lay contrary was lawful and sufficient to warrant all that was or should be done in reference to the late King 2 That the solemn Appeals made to God on both sides both by the King on his side and by the Parliament on their side all the time of the War and answered so distinctly and fully from Heaven on behalf of the Parliament as all men then seemed to judge did further confirm him in the warrantableness of their Undertakings and righteousness of the whole Cause 3. That the foresight of such miserable Changes as by return of the Hierarchy and the concommitants and effects thereof which he saw was aimed at and did believe was intended by the late King at least after some time did greatly induce him to look into and fully inform himself about the matter of the Charge against the said late King 4. That upon mature and long debates of Parliament and such as were authorized to search into the Charge aforesaid he found things fully proved and moreover said that the matters objected were of a very unusual and high nature but that which principally swayed him to do what he did was the Blood of Ireland and the levying War against the Parliament who were thereupon forced for their own defence and the safety of the People by whom they were trusted and whom they did represent to take up Arms and so against their wills to maintain a most costly dangerous and unnatural War 5. That though he was now fully satisfied in his own mind of the lawfulness of the Fact as well as of the Power by which it was done and that it was his duty no longer to stand out but to joyn with his Brethren as an Actor in it or else might become guilty of unfaithfulness to the Cause of God and his Country yet such was his base and timerous spirit that he kept back and would not appear in it the rather because he was much set upon by his Nephew Sir Thomas Corbet who then lived in the house with him not to meddle at all or have any hand in it Now this Sir Thomas Corbet having a very considerable Estate to which himself was next Heir and which in case he should go cross to his mind in this business he had power by cutting off the Entail to give away from him and his Children he was loth to displease for he saw apparantly which way his said Nephew was bent Yet 6. Notwithstanding this Conscience wrought much with him and would not suffer him he said to be

by it in no other sense and upon no other 〈◊〉 but in order unto that or at least-wise no further then wi●l or can cons●st with that hath not the whole frame and ●onnexion of it a most apparent dependance upon and reference to the Religion aforesaid and if things be duely exami●● and the Reader will but take pains to search into the followin● Scriptures shal he not there find that the Covenanted Reformations of Hezekiah in 2 Chron. chap. 29 and 30. and of Josiah in the same 2 Chron. chapters 34 and 35. and of Ezra chap. 9 and 10. and of Nehemiah chap. 9. and 10 were not more holy nor Solemn in the matter of them then this our very Solemn League and Covenant And whereas it is farther said that it was unlawfully imposed and by an unlawful Power unjustly forced and therefore not obliging We Answer to this also when it was first taken men did not say so nor did the Generality or Body of the three Nations think so whatever some particular and otherwise interested persons might and we say further too that all the force used that we know of or can remember were only arguments and convictive discourses either from Prints or Pulpits This means indeed was used strongly urged and pressed upon peoples consciences and by those very men too chiefly that while it was burned to ashes were altogether silent in the defence of it a sin which we pray God to give them Repentance and Pardon for But if this Objection had any weight in it as indeed it hath not so long as the matter of the Covenant is good and the great God is now attested by them that took it and thereby indispensably obliged to God by it do not some of the Bishops themselves Dr. Sanderson by name hold it binding notwithstanding the pretended force of it But what need we trouble our selves with Arguments for this from the concession of mens since God himself pleads this very cause so irrefragably as he doth both in the case of the Gibeonites whose Covenant though gotten by fraud as is most apparent in the 9 of Joshua yet the breach of it was sharply revenged many years after in 2 Sam. 21. And of Zedekiah whose Covenant was forced upon him against his will even by an Heathen Prince and yet because he brake it see how God breaks him in the 17. of Ezekiel Let not men think to escape from an Omnipotent and an angry God A God that alwayes hath avenged and still will avenge the quarrel of his Covenant Levit. 26.25 and is therefore called the Lord G●d of Recompens●s and the Lord God of recompenses that will surely requite Jerem. 51.56 and himself gives the reason for it more then once by the mouth of the same Prophet saying that it is the vengeance of the Lord the vengeance of his Temple Jerem. 50.28 51.11 Let our Sufferings therefore be what they will or can be we are sure it is for doing no more then what in our Places and Callings by this Covenant we were bound to do and that upon the utmost hazzard of our inward peace here and eternal happiness hereafter We are charged indeed with Disloyalty to our late Prince but as matters stood with us being thus engaged how could we have been Loyal to the King of Kings if we had not endeavoured at least to perform our vows to him If we were brought into this dilemma or double straight that we must necessarily come under the censure of Disloyalty either to God or the King we say with the Apostles in Acts 4.19 whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God Judge ye Some may think and perhaps may be ready enough to say it too that we dye like Fooles and have no sufficient warrant for our Sufferings But for our parts we are of another mind and hope shall be enabled to assert and seal it to the last drop of our blood And though for a time in the present heat of things men may insult over our mangled bodies as if by killing us they had got the victory and may triumph at the sight of our exalted Quarters yet when the eyes of people are throughly opened and they have been long enough wearied with the Miseries and Oppressions of all sorts which they have been so eagerly fond of and for want of due fore-sight have so hastily and violently precipitated themselves into they will have other thoughts and such of us as now passe for Murtherers and the vilest and most execrable that are too may perhaps be accounted worthy of the esteem of Martyres for what hath brought us to this we are now come to Is it not the same Cause upon the whole matter which all the three Nations owned and which some of us pleaded in Parliament and others of us fought for in the Field was it not for opposing and doing what we were able to remove and prevent for the future those very mischiefs as well in Civils as Ecclesiasticks which while we were in power could not break in upon us but now are returned more fiercely then ever even like a mighty Torrent that bears all before it Let all true English-men lay their hands upon their hearts let them remember and compare without passion and prejudice the last twenty years Injoyments with present times and things Though we had Armies then and Taxes upon the people yea though we deny not but there were some Vnusuall Actings and Irregular Proceedings arising inavoidably from the necessity and exigence of Affairs not from the choise or desires of those that were Actors in them Yet how great and invaluable were the Priviledges and Liberties which the people then enjoyed Were their Charters and Enfranchisments endangered as now they are Was their Trading ever so low even in the worst of those times as at this present Was their Pretious and Glorious Gospel extinguished or so much Eclipsed at least in the light of it Did poverty every where march so fast upon them even in that time of War as now it doth in our dayes of peace like an armed man Did we not flowrish at Home at least comparatively and were we not a terrour to enemies abroad Though there was not so due a care as should or might have been for the preventing of Divisions and uniting all just and good interests together a sin that is to be lamented and will be lamented yet was there ever such a Flood-gate opened to all impiety as now there is What prophanations of the Sabbaths are now found among us What vain and superstitious Worships What dreadful Apostacy What Teaching for Doctrines the precepts and inventions of men directly contrary to Christ and the Apostles Mat. 15.9 Colloss 2.20 to 23. What lewd and lawlesse-lives among all sorts of men and women What Chamberings and Wantonnesse What Riot and excesse What Drinking and Whoring What Swearing and Swaggering What Gaming and Revelling What Cursing and Damning

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 h●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

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

Corbet's Speech WE are now dying Men and upon dying ground we are now in the presence of the great God to whom we are now going Truly I desire to speak in His Fear touching that which we are here come to suffer for I will only say this Mr. Sheriff both the Levying of the War and that Act that we are now accused and condemned for if they had been done without Authority they had been abominable and to justifie that Authority I do not come here to do it The Parliament the Wisdom of the Nation that now is hath decryed it down and said 't is void and the Court of Justice where we have been in pursuance of their Judgement have given Judgement against us Truly so long as that Act of Parliament stands on foot Judges must give Judgement accordingly But there hath been many Appeals about that Authority and the Nation hath been governed by it and the Nations about us have owned it and we are now going to God who is the Righteous Judge and that Word is upon my heart Isa. 33.22 Truly Men may judge and they may make Laws and it is our duty to submit to the Laws of the Nation or leave it if we think them too hard But whatsoever Laws are made God is our Judge and he will Judge this Cause and God is our Law-giver It is a Scripture phrase God is our Law-giver and He is also our King and he will save us He will Judge the Cause of his People And I hope that the minds of sober Men will wait for that Judgment Truly Mr. Sheriff as concerning that common aspersion laid upon us that we should be against Magistrates and Ministers the Lord knows it is my Principle and I desire there may be a standing setled Government a godly Magistracy and likewise a godly Ministry in this Nation And I pray God grant that his People may be blessed under them and truly for the Magistrate that now is the hand of God hath brought him into the Throne while I have been in other Nations I have blessed God and desired the Lord that he may Rule for God and be a terror to evil doers and countenance the true Professors of the true Protestant Religion that he may defend both Religion it self and the Professors of it Truly there have been many as they call them Sects and Heresies that have sprung up in these later times but blessed be God there have been also great appearances of God and much Light is broken out more in this Nation than I could ever hear of or see in the Nations round about though they profess the same Religion I have been among many whom they call Reformed Protestants but of true Protestants such as hold out their Profession in their Lives there are more in this Nation than else-where and they are not to be compared for number blessed be God and the Lord increase them and multiply them daily For the glory of the Nation is not in a Multitude of People onely but of such as Fear the Lord and Worship God and lift up his Name and truly my desire and Prayer is That the Gospel the true and glorious Gospel of God the Gospel of Jesus Christ may have a free course in this Nation and may be glorified in the Lives of men as well as in their Words As for the particular Way of Worship that I am of I shall onely say that in my Judgment and Conscience I have and do understand that which is called the Congregational way to be nearest to the Word of God and I do freely bear my Testimony to the Confession of it that is extant which was made at the Savoy But with this that also of the Assembly of Divines that was made in the time of the Long Parliament and the Declaration they made concerning Religion saving only as to the discipline-part As to the other I do fully subscribe unto it for I think that the said Confessions are the most clear of any Protestant Confessions whereof I have seen divers that are extant And in Forreign parts they will confesse as much Mr. Sheriffs As to what I shall desire for the Nation for truly we are taking our leaves of it and we shall see your faces no more that which I upon the knees of my soul do beg for this Nation is That as they are Protestants in Name and take that upon them in Profession so their Lives may be answerable Truly nothing doth more dread my spirit and cause me to fear the Wrath of God to come upon this Nation then when I hear that amongst those which bear the Names of Protestants there is such Prophaneness Drunkenness Swearing and such Abominations that are not to be named no not among Moral men The Lord stop the course of them as also the growth of Popery and Superstition and that the Truth of God may break forth and that men may love it for truly the Gospel is worth the loving the Truths of God are worth loving And if we love them then truly God will love us and bless us Mr. Sheriffs For my own part if there were any here that I knew I had wronged I would ask them pardon and forgiveness if I knew them I must confess I have been in many publick actions I have been of all the Parliaments since the late King's Reign and in the beginning of this Parliament I must confess I being called to it did think it was my duty to act according to the ability God gave me and to deny my self I thank God for it I came with an Estate to the Parliament and I bless God for it I spent it while I sat in the Parliament And truly I thank God they cannot find any Estate that I have forfeited for I have none to forfeit This business that we are here for I was very far from being a Contriver of When the Bill came into the House I must confess I being a Member of the Parliament did somewhat wonder at it and I did speak against it but when it was past and I was named to be a Commissioner truly it being done by that that was then called the Authority of the Nation I did think I was bound to obey in that respect I will say no more I never sat but once in that they called the High Court of Justice but for that I 'le say no more I do not come to condemn that Authority and Power neither will I now because the Parliament and the Nation and the Spirits of Men are against it justifie it And being a little interrupted he said I will not speak to offend any man Truly I thank God I never got any thing either of Kings Lands nor Bishops nor Dean Chapters Lands I never knew what belonged to the Trade of Buying or Selling Lands I thought I was in a better way looking to that Station which God had called me to And as my Brother said let men hold to their

curse and wrath and death O Lord hath not He born our sins and so likewise our shame and carried our sorrows O Lord what shame was cast upon Him as thy poor Worms are at this day and at this time a shame in the eyes of many present O Lord he was despised and rejected of men O did not He suffer death did not that Righteous one that Holy one suffer death O he dyed for those sins of ours He was cut off from the Land of the Living He poured-out his Soul unto death Nay Lord blessed Father it pleased thee to put Him to grief and he hath born our sins and ô Lord the chastisements of our Peace was laid on Him he was made sin for us Blessed Lord we will lay all our sins upon the head of the scape Goat upon our Lord Jesus Christ Him thou hast given to be a Propitiation O dear Lord in him and through his Blood thou hast found out a way of Atonement for sin and by that one Oblation that he once offered he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto thee through him Lord we come in the blood of that Mediation we desire to lay hold on the Atonement and Propitiation that he hath offered up unto thee O he hath satisfied thy Justice He that knew no sin he was made sin and thou didst lay our sins upon him and thou hast accepted of that satisfaction that he hath made and thou hast raised him from the dead and set him at thy right hand and though he dyed but once yet by that one Oblation he hath satisfied for all our sins O here is the Blood of God the Lord Jesus Christ which was God and man O that Righteous one he loved us and dyed for us that we might live he bare thy Wrath that we might be reconciled that we might find mercy yea and through him thou art merciful Thou God of Mercy shew Mercy to our souls and to the souls of all those in this great Assembly that is met here and dear Father accept us in his Mediation O 't is our comfort though he dyed but once having satisfied thy Justice thereby he doth ever live to make Intercession for Sinners Lord here is Comfort for poor wretched Sinners the Great Mediator that is so pleasant in thy sight whom thou hearest alwayes O he doth continually live to make Intercession for us we pray thee in and through Him accept these poor Prayers of ours these poor Petitions and Requests of ours which we make known to thee O it is pardoning love we seek O Reconciliation with thee before we go hence and be seen no more O Lord we do believe that thou hast sealed our Pardon that thou art reconciled to us and that there is Peace betwixt thee and our poor souls through that great Peace-maker else it would go ill with us now we are going out of this world O come and sprinkle every one of our souls with that precious Blood O that we that are in our selves vile Wretches may yet stand righteous before thee in his Righteousness O the same Righteousness of Christ which thou hast appointed for thou hast made him to be Righteousness for us and Sanctification and Redemption and He is the Lord our Righteousness O put that Robe upon us that glorious Robe of his Righteousness that we may be presented now not having our own righteousness for that is like a vile filthy Rag a menstruous cloth but cloath us with that Righteousness that we may be presented before thee in and through him without spot and without wrinkle before thy presence through him with exceeding joy O thou hast made him our King O that he would now undertake our Cause the Cause of our poor souls Come Lord Jesus thou King of Saints come tread our Enemies under our feet especially that great Enemy O Lord he hath conquered Satan he hath born our sins and hath condemned sin O he took the likeness of sinful flesh and in his flesh condemned sin in the flesh O that now through his Righteousness we might fulfil thy holy Law He is our Righteousness his obedience we now fly to O dear Lord thou hast set before us as a Refuge to fly unto that blessed hope even those Glorious things the Gospel holds out O the hope of Eternal Life which thou that art the faithful God that canst not lye hast promised unto us O thou hast set this hope of perfect Justification and perfect Sanctification before us O thou hast held it forth this same hope of Righteousness thou hast set it before us and now we fly unto it in this day of our distress to lay hold upon it O thou art pleased Lord that we might have strong consolation thou art pleased to confirm this thy Covenant with an Oath That by two immutable things the Covenant of God and the Oath of God we might have strong Consolation Now we fly to this Covenant through Jesus Christ. O be a God in Covenant with us Father say to us every one that we are thine that thou art in Covenant with us and then say Fear not Worms Else ah Lord God now were we to encounter with Death that King of Terrors what would become of us but O Lord speak Peace to us speak Comfort to us thou God of Comfort O comfort our hearts O Lord it must be done by our dear Lord Jesus Christ himself Our Father hath given us Everlasting Consolation Come and comfort our hearts ô comfort us with thy Love ô Lord ô set thy Banner of Love over us Thou dost not despise the affliction of the afflicted blessed be thy Name We have found thee Lord we bear witness to thee before this great Assembly O thou hast not despised the affliction of the afflicted thou hast seen us in our low estate and been very good to us We have had a Banner of Love over us and we bless thy Name for this very Affliction that thou hast laid upon us O that we could bear witness to thee in the face of this great City and before this great Assembly of thy Goodness and Faithfulness and of thy Mercy which endures for ever O we have tasted of thy Love and it 's good to cleave unto thee Father thou art a Refuge to the Poor and Strength to the Poor and Needy Come and be a Refuge to us in this great Storm truly we are to go through a great Storm before we come unto thee ô that we may finde Death a sweet in-let and a passage into thy blessed Arms through Jesus Christ When our poor souls shall be coming to thee we pray thee give thy Angels charge over us and strengthen us against the fears and terrors of Death O let fresh strength come from Jesus Christ at this present It is not all the Graces we have had will now do us any good unless we have fresh supplies Our fresh springs are in thee Arise O Spring O