Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	believe_v	faith_n	fundamental_a	3,198	5	10.0998	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34573	Stafford's memoires, or, A brief and impartial account of the birth and quality, imprisonment, tryal, principles, declaration, comportment, devotion, last speech, and final end, of William, late lord viscount Stafford, beheaded upon Tower-hill on Wednesday the 29. of December 1681 hereunto is also annexed a short appendix concerning some passages in Stephen Colleges trial.	Corker, James Maurus, 1636-1715.	1681 (1681)	Wing C6306; ESTC R20377	92,206	80

he I may perhaps shake for cold but I trust in God never for fear After some time spent in Spiritual discourses at length about Ten a Clock word was brought him That Mr. Lieutenant waited for him below upon which he sweetly saluted his Friends bidding them not grieve for him for this was the happiest day of all his Life then he immediately went down and walked along by the Lieutenants Chair who had the Gout through a lane of Soldiers to the Barrs without the Tower There the Lieutenant delievered him to the Sheriffs and they from thence Guarded him to the Scaffold erected on Tower-Hill All the way as he passed several thousands of People crowded to see him many civilly saluted him and few there were amongst that vast number whose hearts were not touched and mollified with Compassion for him Having mounted the Scaffold there appeared in his Countenance such an unusual vivacity such a Chearfulness such a Confidence such a Candor as if the Innocence of his Soul had shined through his Body Nothing of that Mortal paleness Nothing of those Reluctances Convulsions and Agonies incident to persons in his condition could in the least be perceived in him He looked Death in the face with so undaunted a Resolution as gave many occasion to say Grace had left in him no Resentments of Nature After a short pause viewing the People and finding them attentive to what he should say he stept to one side of the Scaffold and with a Graceful Air and intelligible Voice pronounced his last Speech as followeth My Lord's last Speech BY the permission of Almighty God I am this day brought hither to Suffer Death as if I were Guilty of High Treason I do most truly in the presence of the Eternal Omnipotent and All-knowing God protest upon my Salvation that I am as Innocent as it is possible for any Man to be so much as in a thought of the Crimes laid to my Charge I acknowledge it to be a particular Grace and Favour of the Holy Trinity to have given me this Long time to prepare my self for Eternity I have not made so good use of that Grace as I ought to have done partly by my not having so well recollected my self as I might have done and partly because not only my Friends but my Wife and Children have for several days been forbidden to see me but in the presence of one of my Warders This hath been a great trouble and distraction unto me but I hope God of his Infinite Mercy will Pardon my Defects and accept of my good Intentions Since my long Imprisonment I have considered often what could the Original Cause of my being thus Accused since I knew my self not Culpable so much as in a thought and I cannot believe it to be upon any other account then my being of the Church of Rome I have no reason to be ashamed of my Religion for it Teacheth nothing but the Right Worship of God Obedience to the King and due Subordination to the Temporal Laws of the Kingdom And I do submit to all Articles of Faith believed and taught in the Catholick Church believing them to be most consonant to the Word of God And whereas it hath so much and often been objected That the Church holds that Sovereign Princes Excommunicated by the Pope way by their Subjects be Deposed or Murthered As to the Murther of Princes I have been taught as a Matter of Faith in the Catholick Church That such Doctrine is Diabolical Horrid Detestable and contrary to the Law of God Nature and Nations And as such from my heart I Renounce and abominate it As for the Doctrine of Deposing Princes I know some Divines of the Catholick Church hold it but as able and Learned as they have Written against it But it was not pretended to be the Doctrine of the Church that is any Point of Catholick Faith Wherefore I do here in my Conscience declare that it is my true and real Judgement That the same Doctrine of Deposing Kings is contrary to the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom Injurious to Sovereign Power and consequently would be in me or any other of His Majesties Subjects Impious and Damnable I believe and profess That there is One God One Saviour One Holy Catholick Church of which through the Mercy Grace and Goodness of God I die a member To my great and unspeakable grief I have offended God in many things by many great Offences but I give him most humble thanks not in any of those Crimes of which I was Accused All the Members of either House having liberty to propose in the House what they think fit for the good of the Kingdom accordingly I proposed what I thought fit the House is Judge of the fitness or unfitness of it and I think I never said any thing that was unsitting there or contrary to the Law and Vse of Parliament for certainly if I had the Lords would as they might have punished me so I am not culpable before God or Man It is much reported of Indulgences Dispensations and Pardons to Murther Rebel Lie Forswear and Commit such other Crimes held and given in the Church I do here profess in the presence of God I never Learned Believed or Practised any such thing but the contrary And I speak this without any Equivocation or Reservation whatsoever And certainly were I guilty either my self or knew of any one that were Guilty whosoever that were so of any of those Crimes of which I am accused I were not only the greatest Fool imaginable but a perfect Mad-man and as wicked as any of those that so falsly have accused me If I should not discover any ill Design I knew in any kind and so upon Discovery save my Life I have so often had so fair occasions proposed unto me And so am guilty of Self-Murther which is a most grievous and hainous Sin and though I was last Impeached at the Lords Bar yet I have great grounds to believe that I was first brought to Tryal on the belief that to save my Life I would make some great Discovery And truly so I would had I known any such thing of any ill Design or Illegal Dangerous Plot either of my self or any other Person whatsoever without any Exception But had I a thousand Lives I would lose them all rather then Falsly accuse either my self or any other whatsoever And if I had known of any Treason and should thus deny it as I do now upon my Salvation at this time I should have no hope of Salvation which now I have through the Merits of Christ Jesus I do beseech God to bless His Majestly who is my Lawful King and Sovereign whom I was always by all Laws Humane and Divine bound to Obey and I am sure that no Power upon Earth either singly or all together can legally allow me or any body else to lift up a Hand against him or his Legal Authority I do hold that the

Christian Mysteries and Duties respectively necessary to Salvation 8. This Church thus Spread thus Guided thus visibly Continued in One Vniform Faith and Subordination of Government is that Self-same which is termed the Roman Catholick Church The Qualifications above-mentioned viz. Vnity Indeficiency Visibility Succession and Vniversality being applicable to no other Church or Assembly whatsoever 9. From the Testimony and Authority of This Church it is that We Receive and Believe the Scriptures to be God's Word And as She can assuredly tell Us This or That Book is God's Word so can she with the like Assurance tell us also the True Sense and Meaning of it in Controverted Points of Faith The same Spirit that Writ the Scripture Enlightning Her to Understand both It and all Matters Necessary to Salvation From These Grounds it Follows 10. All and only Divine Revelations deliver'd by God unto the Church and proposed by Her to be Believ'd as such are and ought to be esteem'd Articles of Faith and the contraty Opinions Heresie And 11. As an Obstinate Separation from the Vnity of the Church in known declared Matters of Faith is formal Heresie So a wilful Separation from the Visible Vnity of the same Church in Matters of Subordination and Government is formal Schism 12. The Church proposeth unto Us Matters of Faith First and chiefly By the Holy Scripture in Points plain and Intelligible in it Secondly By Definitions of General Councils in Points not sufficiently Explained in Scripture Thirdly By Apostolical Traditions deriv'd from Christ and his Apostles to all Succeeding Ages Fourthly By her Practice Worship and Ceremonies Confirming her Doctrines PARAGRAPH II. Of Spiritual and Temporal Authority 1. GEneral Councils which are the Church of God Representative have no Commission from Christ to Frame New Matters of Faith these being sole Divine Revelations but only to explain and ascertain unto us what antiently was and is received and retained as of Faith in the Church upon arising Debates and Controversies about them The Definitions of which General Councils in matters of Faith only and proposed in such oblige under pain of Heresie all the Faithful to a Submission of Judgment But 2. It is no Article of Faith to believe That General Councils cannot Err either in matters of Fact or Discipline alterable by circumstances of time and place or in matters of Speculation or Civil Policy depending on meer humane Judgment or Testimony Neither of these being Divine Revelations deposited in the Catholick Church in regard to which alone she hath the promised Assistance of the Holy Ghost Hence it is deduced 3. If a General Council much less a Papal Consistory should undertake to depose a King and absolve his Subjects from their Allegiance no Catholick as Catholick is bound to submit to such a Decree Hence also it followeth 4. The Subjects of the King of England lawfully may without the least breach of any Catholick Principle Renounce even upon Oath the Teaching Mantaining or Practising the Doctrine of deposing Kings Excommunicated for Heresie by any Authority whatsoever as Repugnant to the fundamental Laws of the Nation Injurious to Soveraign Power Destructive to the Peace and Government and by consequence in His Majesties Subjects Impious and Damnable Yet not properly Heretical taking the Word Heretical in that connatural genuine sense it is usually understood in the Catholik Church on account of which and other Expressions no wise appertaining to Loyalty it is that Catholicks of tender Consciences refuse the Oath commonly call d the Oath of Allegience 5. Catholicks believe That the Bishop of Rome is the Successor of St Peter Vicar of Jesns Christ upon Earth and Head of the whole Catholick Church which Church is therefore sitly stiled Roman Catholick being an universal Body united under one visible Head Nevertheless 6. It is no matter of Faith to believe That the Pope is in himself Infallible seperate from a General Council even in Expounding the Faith By consequence Papal Definitions or Decrees though ex Cathedra as they term them taken exclusively from a General Council or Vniversal Acceptance of the Church oblige none under Pain of Heresie to an interior Assent 7. Nor do Catholicks as Catholicks believe that the Pope hath any direct or indirect Authority over the Temporal Power and Jurisdiction of Princes Hence if the Pope should pretend to Absolve or Dispence with His Maiesties Subjects from their Allegiance upon account of Heresie or Schism such Dispensation would be vain and null and all Cathelick Subjects notwithstanding such Dispensation or Absolution would be still bound in Conscience to defend their King and Countrey at the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes even against the Pope himself in case he should invade the Nation 8. And as for Problematical Disputes or Errors of particular Divines in this or any other matter whatsoever the Catholick Church is no wise responsible for them Nor are Catholicks as Catholicks justly punishable on their Account But 9. As for the King Killing Doctrine or Murder of Princes Excommunicated for Heresie It is an Article of Faith in the Catholick Church and expresly declared in the General Council of Constance That such Doctrine is Damnable and Heretical being contrary to the known Laws of God and Nature 10. Personal Misdemeanors of what Nature soever ought not to be Imputed to the Catholick Church when not Justifyable 〈◊〉 the Tenents of her Faith and Doctrine For which Reason though the Stories of the Paris Massacre the Irish Cruelties Or Powder-Plot had been exactly true which yet for the most part are Notoriously mis-related nevertheless Catholicks as Catholicks ought not to Suffer for such Offences any more then the Eleven Apostles ought to have Suffered for Judas's Treachery It is an Article of the Catholick Faith to believe that no Power on Earth can License Men to Lye to Forswear and Perjure themselves to Massacre their Neighbours or destroy their Native Countrey on pretence of promoting the Catholick Cause or Religion Furthermore all Pardons and Dispensations granted or pretended to be granted in order to any such ends or Designs have no other validity or Effect then to add Sacriledge and Blasphemy to the above-mentioned Crimes 12. The Doctrine of Equivocation or Mental Reservation however wrongfully Imposed on the Catholick Religion is notwithstanding neither taught nor approved by the Church as any part of her Belief On the contrary Simplicity and Godly Sincerity are constantly recommended by her as truly Christian Vertues necessary to the Conservation of Justice Truth and Common Society PARAGRAPH III. Of some Particular controverted Points of Faith 1. EVery Catholick is obliged to believe that when a Sinner Repenteth him of his Sins from the bottom of his Heart and Acknowledgeth his Transgressions to God and his Ministers the Dispensers of the Mysteries of Christ

and Commons in Parliament assembled That he never read or knew of Coleman's Letters or Consultations for Tolleration till he saw the Letters themselves in the Printed Tryal How far Coleman was Criminal he did not know but he believed he did that which was not justifiable by Law That as to the damnable Doctrine of King-killing If he were of any Church whatsoever and found that to be its Principle he would leave it That he knew the disadvantage he was under in being forced alone to stand a contest with the Learned Gentlemen the Mannagers who have those great helps of Memory Parts and Understanding in the Law all which he wanted That therefore he hoped their Lordships would not conclude barely upon the manner either of his or their expressions But seriously debating the merits of the Cause in it self would please to be his Councel as well as his Judges That seeing he was to be Acquitted or Condemned by their Lordships Judgement He knew they would lay their hands upon their Heart Consult their Consciences and their Honours And then he doubted not they would do what was just and equitable That with submission to their Lordships he thought it hard measure and contrary to Law that any one should be Imprisoned above two years without being admitted to Tryal And that it was of evil consequence for any one to have Justice denyed him so long till his Opponents had found occasion to gain their ends That however those large Allowances and Rewards granted to the Witnesses for Swearing might peradventure be an effect of His Majesties Grace and Bounty yet it was not easily conceivable how the hopes and promises of so great Sums should not prove to dissolute indigent Persons strong Allurements and temptations to Perjury Finally That the defence he had made he owed it to the worth and dignity of his Family He owed it to his dear Wife and Children at which words he was observed to weep He owed it to his Innocense He owed it to God the Author of Life That he confided their Lordships would duly reflect what a dreadful thing Murder is and the Bloud of Innocents And that he verily believed none of the House of Commons desired his Death for a Crime of which he was not Guilty That he hoped their Lordships would not permit him to be run down by the shouts of the Rable the Emblem of our past Calamity It began in the late times with the Lord Stafford and so continued till it ended in the Death of the King the most execrable Murder that ever was committed And where this will end said he God knows To conclude He again declared in the presence of God of his Angels of their Lordships and all who heard him That he was intirely Innocent of what was laid to his charge That he left it to their Lordships to do Justice and with all submission resigned himself to them To this discourse of my Lords the Mannagers returned for answer That his Lordships last Address was not regular nor according to the due method of proceedings for if after his Lordship had summed up his Evidence and the Prosecutors had concluded theirs he should begin that work again and they by consequence be admitted to reply he might still rejoyn upon them and so there would be no end of proceedings They therefore desired this Indulgence granted to my Lord might not serve for a future President The Conclusion of the Tryal ¶ 5. HEre then the Lord High Steward wholly terminating all further process on either side The Court gave final Judgment And the Lord High Steward collecting the Votes my Lord Stafford was Pronounced Guilty by fifty five Votes against thirty one When the Votes were passed the Lord High Steward declared to the Prisoner He was found Guilty of High Treason whereof he was Impeached To which my Lord Stafford answered Gods holy name be praised my Lord for it Then the Lord High Steward asked him What he could say for himself why Judgment of Death should not be given upon him according to Law He reply'd My Lord I have very little to say I confess I am surprized at it for I did not expect it But Gods will be done and your Lordships I will not murmur at it God forgive those who have Falsly Sworn against me We are now come to the final Sentence of Death For a Prologue to which the Lord High Steward made a short Pathetick Speech wherein after some reflections upon the Plot in general he descended to my Lords case in particular And then advised his Lordship as now a supposed guilty Person to bething himself of the State and Condition he was in of his Religion and Guides that 't is said had seduced him Of the repentance due to so hainous Crimes And concluded with an assurance to his Lordship That a true Penitential Sorrow joyned with an humble and hearty Confession was of mighty power and efficacy both with God and Man He then pronounced Sentence upon him in these words The Judgment of the Law is and the Court doth award it That you go to the place from whence you came from thence you must be drawn upon an Hurdle to the place of Execution when you come there you must be Hanged up by the Neck but not till you are Dead for you must be cut down Alive your Privy Members must be cut off And your Bowels Ript up before your Face and thrown into the Fire Then your Head must be severed from your Body and your Body divided into four Quarters And these must be at the disposal of the King And God Almighty have mercy on your Soul My Lord received this dismal Sentence with a meek and resigned Countenance He declared in the presence of Almighty God he had no malice in his Heart to them that had Condemned him But freely forgave them all He made one and only one humble request to their Lordships viz. That for the short time he had to Live a Prisoner his Wife Children and Friends might be permitted to come at him My Lord High Steward told him their Lordships had so far a Compassion for him They would be humble suiters to the King That he will remit all the punishments but the taking off his Head Thus Sentence being passed the Lord High Steward broke his Staff and my Lord Stafford was led back from the Bar to the Tower The Ax being carryed before him as the Custom is in such cases with the Edge toward him SECT III. My Lords PRINCIPLES of FAITH and LOYALTY DOubtless the thing which most weighed to my Lord's prejudice most advanced the credit of the Evidence And most influenced both his Prosecutors and Judges against him was a pre-possessed Opinion of wicked Principles supposed to be held and practised by my Lord as the matter of his Faith and Religion It is by many taken for granted The Papists hold it an Article of Faith That to Depose and Murder Kings to Massacre

their Neighbours and destroy their Native Countrey by Fire and Sword when the interest of their Religon requires it are acts dispensable by the Pope and meritorious of Heaven Now what thing so wicked however slenderly proved will not easily be believed against Men so Principled My Lord therefore to clear himself and his Religion from this heavy and as the Papists say injurious Aspersion Protested and Declared in the presence of Almighty God and their Lordships his Judges That he hated and detested such Principles as he did Damnation to himself And that he could not be more desirous of Salvation then he was cordial in hating such Principles That he ever held Treason to be the worst of Crimes and knew no term ill enough to express it That he heard with horrour the late wicked practices in Scotland That he acknowledged the King his lawful Soveraign and knew no Person or Authority on Earth could absolve him from his Allegiance And least this might seem a meerly extorted profession of a despairing Man My Lord endeavoured to prove by several convincing Testimonies he had ever been Instructed and Educated in the same Sentiments as the Established Doctrine of the Roman Catholick Church His first Testimony was taken from places of Holy Scripture particularly That of St. Math. 22. v. 21. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars c. From the plain and clear sense of which and other Texts of Holy Writ nothing he said in this world was able to remove him His second Testimony was taken from the Authority of the General Council of Constance to which all Roman Catholicks are obliged to submit The 15 th Canon and Definition of which Council is this Quilibit Tyrannus potest debet licité meritorié occidi per quemcunque Vasallum suum vel Subditum etiam per clanculares insidias subtiles blanditias vel adulationes non obstante quocunque Praestito juramento seu confoederatione factis cum eo non expectatâ sententiâ vel mandato judicis cujuscunque Adversus hunc errorem Satagens haec Sancta Synodus exurgere ipsum funditùs tollere declarat desinit hujusmodi Doctrinam erroneam esse in fide in moribus ipsamque tanquam Haereticam Scandalosam ad ●raudes Deceptiones Mendacia Proditiones Perjuria vias dantem reprobat condemnat Declarat insuper decernii quod pertinaciter Doctrinam hanc perniciocissimam asserentes sunt Haeretici tanquam tales juxta Canonicas Sanctiones puniendi Englished thus Every Tyrant lawfully and meritoriously may and ought to be Killed by any Vassal or Subject whatsoever even by hidden Treacheries and subtle Flatteries or Adulations notwithstanding any Oath given or confederation made with him Without expecting the Sentence or Command of any Judge whatsoever which clause is added in regard of the right of Supreme Temporal Monarchs over inferior Princes Subordinate to them Against which Error this Holy Synod industrious to withstand and utterly to extirpate it doth declare and define that this Doctrine is Erroneous in Faith and Manners and the same as Heretical Scandalous and opening a way to Frauds Deceipts Lyes Treasons and Perjuries doth dissaprove and condemn It farther declares and decrees that those who obstinately maintain this most pernicious Doctrine are Hereticks and as such ought to be punished according to Canonical Sanctions My Lords third Testimony was taken from the Annotations upon the 13 th Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans in the English Catholick Edition of the new Testament set forth by the Colledge of Divines at Rhemes The words are these upon the Text He that resisteth c. v. 2. Whosoever resisteth of obeyeth not his lawful superior in those causes wherein he is subject to him resisteth Gods appointment and sinneth deadly and is worthy to be punished both in this World by his Superior and by God in the next Life For in Temporal Government and Causes the Christians were bound in Conscience to obey even their Heathen Emperours And upon the Text Beareth not the Sword c. v. 4. There were certain Hereticks called Begardi that took away all Rule and Superiority The Wickleffists also would obey no Prince nor Prelate if he were once in deadly sin Some Protestants of our time care neither for the one nor for the other though they extol only Secular Power when it maketh for them The Catholicks only most humbly obey both according to Gods Ordinance the one in Temporal Causes and the other in Spiritual in which order both these States have blessedly flourished in all Christian Countreys ever since Christs time My Lords fourth Testimony was taken from the censure of the Doctors of the famous Faculty of Sorbon in the Vniversity of Paris against a Book of Anthony Sanctarelus treating of Heresie Schism c. Particularly against the 30 th and 31 st Chapters of the said Book The censure of the Faculty my Lord produced in Court and is as followeth Upon the first of April in the year of our Lord 1626. after Mass of the Holy Ghost the usual Assembly of Doctors being met in Solemn manner in the Hall of the Sorbon Colledge was heard the relation of the Masters of the same Faculty deputed for that end who declared that in those two above-mentioned Chapters these propositions were contained That the Pope can punish Kings and Princes with Temporal Penalties and Depose and Deprive them of their Kingdoms for the crime of Heresie and free their Subjects from their obedience And that it had been always the custom in the Church And for other causes also as for faults if it be expedient If the Princes be negligent For the insufficiency and unprofitableness of their Persons Likewise that the Pope has right and power over Spirituals and all Temporals also and that both the powers Spiritual and Temporal are in him by Divine right That it was to be believed that Power was granted to the Church and its Chief Pastors to punish with Temporal Penalties Princes the transgressors of Divine and Humane Laws especially if the Crime be Heresie They said likewise that the same Sanctarelus did affirm That the Apostles were subject to secular Princes de facto non de jure by Fact not by Right Moreover That as soon as the Pope is installed all Princes begin to be subject unto him Lastly they related that he Sanctarelus expounded the words of Christ Whatsoever ye shall bind upon Earth c. To be understood not only of the Spiritual but of the Temporal Power That he imposes upon St. Paul changing his words by withdrawing the Negation and upon many Authors cited by him They related many other things out of the said Sanctarelus which seemed to them very well to deserve the grave Animadversions and Censure of the Faculty The matter therefore being brought into debate by the Dean the mature deliberations of all and every Master being heard the Faculty hath dissapproved and condemned the

est In thâ promissione non in meâ justitiâ confido Vitam quam dedisti mihi libenter tibi reddo secundum beneplacitum tuum In manus tuas commendo Spiritum meum qui moriens Spiritum tuum in aeterni Patris manus commendasti In pace igitur in id ipsum dormiam requiescam quoniam tu Domine singulariter in spe constituisti me Amen Jesu Amen Englished thus I acknowledge O Lord Jesus my Sins to be many and great for which I am affraid but I hope in thy mercy and commiserations which are without number Have mercy therefore on me according to thy great mercy and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine iniquity If my Sins be great thy mercy is greater If many thy Commiserations are infinite If I have committed that for which thou mayest Condemn me thou hast not lost that by which thou canst and art accustomed to Save To him that believed in thy Power and said O Lord If thou wilt thou caust make me clean Thou presently answeredst I will Be thou clean I believe what he believed I hope for what he hoped I Implored what he Implored Say therefore to my Soul I am thy Salvation Heal Me O Lord Jesus and I shall be healed Save Me and I shall be saved and I will sing forth thy mercy for all eternity Cast me not therefore away from thy Face and take not thy Holy Spirit from me But render me the joy of thy Salvation and with thy Principal Spirit Confirm me Thou hast said O most Sweet Jesus Turn to Me and I will turn to You I turn my self to Thee with my whole Heart with my whole Soul with my whole Mind Turn thy self therefore O most Merciful unto me thy unworthy Servant whom thou hast redeemed with thy most Precious Bloud Thou hast said Every one who shall confess me before Men I will confess him before my Father which is in Heaven I Living Confess thee and thy Holy Catholick Religion and through the assistance of thy Holy Grace will confess thee Dying Vouchsafe therefore to Receive and Confess me before thy Father which is in Heaven I confide in thy Promise not in my own Justice The Life thou hast given me I willingly render thee according to thy good pleasure Into thy Hands I commend my Spirit who Dying didst commend thy Spirit into the Hands of thy Eternal Father In peace therefore in that one thing will I Sleep and Rest because thou O Lord hast singularly Established me in hope Amen JESUS Amen TO this Prayer he adjoyned several other Pious Ejaculations wherein with singular Compunction and aboundance of Tears he Implored the Divine Mercy and Pardon for his Sins past He recommended his Soul to his dear Redeemer Jesus He blessed his Holy Name And offered his Life to him a willing Sacrifice of Gratitude Piety and Love Remaining still on his knees he again protested his Innocence with all the asseverations a dying Christian is capable to make Then rising up he a second time saluted the people and walking to each side of the Scaffold Told them they had as good and gracious a King as ever Reigned He earnestly exhorted them to be faithful and constant in their Allegiance to him And that no pretence whatsoever should withdraw them from their Duty He wished with a feeling resentment that none might be less Loyal to His Majesty then he had been And it was very remarkable in him He never seemed transported with any fervours or Extasies but either in his Prayers to God or in his expressions of Loyalty to the King Then indeed he was all Flame and you might read in his very Eyes the tender Emotions and Zeal of his heart He likewise assured them upon his Salvation he knew no design the Duke of York ever had against the King But that he had behaved himself for ought he knew as a loving Loyal Brother ought to do Then he again declared his own Innocence and desired the Prayers of all good Christians for him He Prayed to God heartily to bless the King and preserve him from his Enemies To bless the Nation To bless and be with them all there present especially the King 's Loyal Subjects He begged Gods Mercy and Pardon for his Sins He asked forgiveness of all and forgave all beseeching the Divine goodness not to Revenge his Innocent Bloud upon the whole Kingdom No not upon those by whose Perjuries he was brought thither to whom he wished from his Heart no other hurt then that they should repent and tell truth Whilest he thus professed his Loyaity his Innocence his Piety Most that heard him were touched with a sensible Compassion for him Some as he Spoke put off their Hats and Bowed to him in sign they Accorded to what he said Others by distinct Acclamations answered We believe you my Lord God bless you my Lord Pray God forgive him his Sins c. In this conjuncture a Protestant Minister accosted him saying Have you received no Indulgences from the Romish Church Have you received no Absolution To which my Lord answered What have you to do with my Religion However I do say the Roman Catholick Church allow's of no Indulgences or Dispensations Authorizing Treason Murder Lying or Forswearing Nor have I received any Absolution for such ends Pray do not trouble your self nor me Then turning from the Parson he applyed himself to his Friends about him whom he lovingly embraced and with a pleasant Voice and Aspect bid them Adieu for this World Next he delivered his Watch two Rings off his Fingers his Staff and his Crucifix about his Neck as Legacies to several Friends He desired the Sheriffs that such Persons as he nominated might have leave without the Executioners Intermeddling to assist him and take care of his Body which was accordingly done And his Gentleman stripping him of his Coat and Peruke put on his head a Silk Cap and accommodated his hair Shirt and Waistcoat for the Execution And now being ready for Death both in Body and Mind he chearfully submitted himself to the Block before which first kneeling down and making the Sign of the Cross he recommended himself with raptures of Devotion to the Divine Mercy and Goodness After this he lay down as it were to try the Block And then who could imagine it with a Stupendious Courage embraced the fatal Wood as the dear Basis or Point from whence his Soul was now to take its flight to Immortal Glory The Heads-man put him in mind that his Shirt and Waistcoat came too high Whereupon he raised himself up upon his Knees and bid his Gentleman put them lower Whilst this was Performing he was heard continually to breath forth several Acts of Prayer as Sweet Jesus receive my Soul Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit c. When his Gentleman had finished He again laid down his head upon the Block persevering still in Prayer and expecting the