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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

THE SPEECHES DISCOURSES AND PRAYERS OF Col. JOHN BARKSTEAD Col. JOHN OKEY and Mr. MILES CORBET Upon the 19 th 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 Prov. 29.26 Every Man's Judgement cometh from the Lord. Heb. 11.13 These all dyed in Faith Printed in the Year 1662. To the READER READER THou art here presented with a most famous and pregnant Instance of the weakness and incapacity of Death yea of the worst of Deaths to disturb or in the least to discompose the Spirits of Saints who through the Faith of the Gospel have entred into Rest. Death is indeed a King of Terrors to the children of this world Col. 3.15 but it is neither King nor terrible to him in whose heart the Peace of God rules and reigns Christ hath said Oh Death I will be thy death how can it then have any Terror in it when there is no life in it it is now no more to a Believer than a dead or painted Lion which because of the want of life can upon no other account be reckoned terrible We have seen Death conquered before our faces and a company of poor frail men subject to like passions with our selves enabled by the Lord to bid defiance to that the fear of which makes the highest and greatest of men all their life-time subject to Bondage Certainly these men did familiarize Death to themselves by those many qualified and easie Notions of it which do so frequently occur in Scripture Job calls it a going to bed and a lying down to rest and sleep Job 14.1 13 14. a hiding in the Grave till the Indignation be overpast a great and signal change infinitely for our advantage yea he looks upon it as that which is in a near relation to him calling it his Father Mother and Sister Job 17.1 Old Simeon calls it but a Discharge from our Imprisonment And the Apostle looks upon it as a way to bring unto Jesus Christ Luk. 2.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is best of all Surely these men had no other apprehensions of Death than what did comport with all the fore-going Scriptural Representations of it whereof we have a most plain and clear Evidence in that they did without the least fear play on the hole of this Asp Isaiah 11.8 and with so much courage put their hand on the den of this Cockatrice and so often with Agag though in a more elevated sense and upon far better grounds express with so great and open confidence 1 Sam. 15.32 that the bitterness of Death was past And surely upon a serious and impartial reflexion upon the several Passages contained in the ensuing Narrative relating to the Lives and Deaths of these men the best grounded and the most critical Charity notwithstanding the Obliquity and Odium that lies upon the Fact for which they suffered will command us to hope and believe that they were wonderfully supported and strengthened by the Lord to drink of that bitter Cup which their Father had given them Joh. 18.11 Heb. 12 1 2. We cannot but believe that while they did run with such patience the Race which was set before them they did look to JESUS their fore-runner the Author and Finisher of their Faith and so for the Joy that was set before them endured the Cross and despised the Shame and having overcome are now set down with CHRIST upon his Throne Rev. 3 21. even as He overcame and is set down with his Father on his Throne What remains then but that we should be continually above the fear of Death which looks most gashly at a distance but when we approach it and begin to converse with it we finde that it hath neither strength nor sting and though before we came near to it we suspected it to be an Enemy yet now we perceive it is a Friend and comes to us onely upon this errand to let us know that the Bridegroom stayes for us and would have us partake of his Joy by a present entrance with Him into the Bride-Chamber Yea though thy Death comes in great Pomp and Solemnity in its Fiery Chariot yet do thou the rather for this smile upon it and give it a chearful welcome For if Believers are capable of any honour in this world it is that they are accounted worthy to suffer for the Name and Cause of their Lord and Master JESUS CHRIST This was that which gave the Church at Philippi the preheminence Phil. 1.29 that unto them it was given in the behalf of CHRIST not only to believe on him but also to Suffer for his sake Oh if the Servants of God did but believe this there would be as much crouding at the Court of Heaven for this Preferment as there is at the Courts of earthly Princes for Promotion and Advancement in their Church and State How did the primitive Christians long for Martyrdom seeking and pursuing after it publickly and boldly to the very Teeth of the Tyrants and Persecutors proclaiming their Christianity and therewith their zeal and readiness to water it with their Bloud If we are not attained to this yet let us with much courage and chearfulness conflict with it when it first sets upon us let the Gibbet and the Stake be the most pleasant and delightful prospects to us when the Providence of GOD for Christ's Cause and Interest brings us to them being assured of this that if the LORD vouchsafe so much of his comforting and supporting Presence to his People who declaredly suffer for Him in a Cause that is at least very doubtful to many good and holy men then He will much more stand by those who lay down their Lives in behalf of that which is clear and certain to all Hebr. 12.1 and concerning the truth of which we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses Let not therefore the Worm Jacob be discouraged seeing the LORD hath promised to be with him to strengthen him to help him and to uphold him with the right hand of his Righteousness Onely look well to the setling of your Spiritual state else your hearts will not be quiet and setled when you come to dye Get an Interest in JESUS CHRIST who alone hath abolished Death and brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 If thou art in CHRIST then though thou dyest the Covenant is still alive the Relation of GOD to Abraham was as firme and strong when he had been a long time dead as when he was alive therefore sayes he I AM the God of Abraham Matth. 22.32 c. And to conclude Get your hearts loosened from this present evil World be ye first crucified to

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

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

to keep you in all his wayes and rest Your loving Father in bonds for the Cause of God and his People till death John Okey I bless the Lord I am at present well wanting nothing but an humble and thankful heart to praise his Name There was another Letter written by Col. Okey to his Son beyond the Seas to the same effect An History of the Life and Death of Mr. Miles Corbet being intended shortly to be made publick and so many things reserved till then in the mean time it is thought convenient that a taste be given of some of those occasional Passages which fell from him whilst he was a Prisoner in the Tower in the hearing of several Friends who have faithfully collected them to be carefully laid up and wisely improved by them that survive ABout ten dayes before his Execution an old Friend having obtained leave to come to him while yet a Close-Prisoner Mr. Corbet imbracing him and rejoycing greatly to see him asked how he durst be so bold as to adventure to give him a Visit at that time and in that place and in that condition His Friend answered he was afraid of being charged at the day of Judgment with cowardise or want of love to Christ in not visiting his Members in Prison To which Mr. Corbet smilingly replyed And let it be remembred to you at that day that you were one of the Visiters there meant by our dear Lord whose Servant I hope I am and desire to be But Sir said his Friend to him I was in hopes you had been safe enough or at least would have taken care to be so when once you were abroad and had escaped so long And truly I thought so too said Mr. Corbet but God would not have it so Alas who can be hid whom he shall please to discover It seems he hath other work for me to do and I bless his Name for it I am not dismaid at all When I was beyond Sea I did the best to secure my self and was careful not wilfully to run into danger it was a meer hand of God that I was seized on for having not sent a Letter saith he in eight months time to my Wife I went to the place where I was taken to consult how to convey one safely to her and being ready to go thence to my own Lodging I was surprized suddenly and though at first I was startled at it yet I saw there was an over-ruling Providence in it and so was quieted in my own thoughts after a little space and found a power enabling me to submit And now that the Lord hath brought me hither and upon such an account as I am here for His holy Will be done for through grace I can truly say with the Apostle Col. 1.9 that I am filled with the Will of God Had I continued abroad I might have died in obscurity and have been carried out into some hole in a dust basket where my death would have signified nothing but now God hath honoured me in calling me forth to fight for him with my blood and in my own native Country too and in that famous City where I have had my breeding and education for many years and where I have endeavoured to do my Master Christ the best service I could while opportunity was in my hand And this I can truly say in some measure through grace a word which he often used that I account it an high favour All my desire is that I may not faint nor any way dishonour the Cause that I am to suffer for by my weak and unworthy carriage which I confess I am afraid of and therefore earnestly desire the prayers of Friends on my behalf that God will be pleased to support me and carry me well through this so hard and difficult a task Being asked what his Age was He answered Sixty seven years the greatest part of which time saith he God hath been pleased to use me more or less in publick services having for thirty seven years been still a Member in the several Parliaments that have been called In all which time saith he I bless God I have not sought my self nor any worldly ends And when I was without any of my own seeking freely chosen to be a Member of the Long Parliament I saw my Call so full and clear that I durst not deny but that it was of God and though saith he the Trust and Work which I was to undertake were very great and like to prove dangerous to as many as would be faithful to Christ's Interest yet through grace saith he I was resolved to go through it and accordingly I have done so to the utmost of my ability even to the prejudice of my own Estate and nearest Relations as themselves can witness and do now find pointing to his Wife and one of his Sons there standing by Proceeding further upon this subject Now in my Age saith he when I have most need of all outward comforts they are and have been of late furthest off from me I have neither Estate nor Habitation nor wherewith to keep a Servant yet in all this saith he I am comforted because it is come upon me in the performance of my duty and the defence of my Master's Cause and do well know I shall be no loser at last by Him he having been alwayes found to be a good Pay-master to them that serve Him in truth as I have desired and endeavoured to do Nay saith he I can say He hath payed me already for though I have nothing of my own no not so much as to buy Bread for me and mine yet I want nothing Ah! how good is God! and how good is his Word how faithful and how true is He that hath promised He hath said Matth. 19.29 Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Wife or Children or Lands for my Name sake shall receive an hundred fold and that even in this life besides the Inheritance of everlasting life hereafter I am sure saith he I have found it so I have had many houses in mine Exile as free as my own have found as much care and tenderness from strangers as from my own Wife and Children every body is kind to me every body shews their love and their bounty to me Ah! blessed be God saith he blessed be God! and so went on very largely in this melting and moving manner adding among many other sweet expressions a reflexion upon the Speech of good old Polycarpus for even as he said That Christ had been a good Master to him and never did him hurt for eighty six years so saith he may I say the like Christ hath been a good Master to me these threescore and seven years Another time discoursing of the frailty of humane life and the many maladies and accidents that it is liable unto he took occasion to speak of the manner of his own approaching Death Alas saith he I might have dyed long

since of some noysom disease or lingring sickness might have lain long weltering and at last been as it were smothered to death in a feather-bed and perhaps with the losse of my senses too and the use of my Reason and Memory as it happens to many that dye in age whereas now I am strong in body as one of my years may be and of sound mind having my Understanding in some good measure vigorous wherby I hope to be made able through grace to become a seasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto God and as for the pain of it I reckon it far lesse than what is usually felt in an ordinary sickness Indeed the shame is something saith he the Reproaches Mockings and Scorns that may perhaps be cast upon me all along the streets in the face of the multitude but I set Heaven saith he against all these and considering what I shall enjoy there can easily laugh at them and wear them as the Badge of my Master's Livery who himself also endured the Crosse and despised the Shame Tyburn saith he is the place that I must dye at Well! let it be so blessed be God that hath so appointed it for therein I shall be the more like unto my Lord who suffered without the Camp as a Malefactor too great to suffer within the City But the more ignominious our Death the more conspicuous will our Honour be while we are made spectacles to Angels and men And for my own part I hope through grace I shall go willingly to meet my Saviour even at Tyburn without the Camp as the Apostle exhorts I should Heb. 13.13 and there bear his reproach Some Friends to whom he spake thus rejoycing to see him so sweetly supported Truly saith he it is a blessed thing to suffer for Christ and if Conscience be clear so that the suffering be not for evil-doing there is a secret hidden comfort that goes along with it and I bless God I have found it so and do find it yet must tell you I have my damps and fears come in sometimes upon me especially when I think of my carnal Relations and other concernments of this world which do what I can will ever and anon rush in upon me and then I find my heart sinking and my flesh ready to fail till God fetch me off again by the consideration of higher things which that he will continually please to do while yet I abide in the Land of the living I still beg the help of your prayers And indeed this was a duty he would be often at especially when any new Friend came in that he judged fit to move it unto and to joyn with therein He was in the dayes of his liberty for many years a great lover of private seeking of God by Fasting and Prayer and said in the hearing of Friends about two years since at the end of such a day There was more sweetness tasted at such a Fast than at the Lord Mayors Feast And was given much to Prayer after his coming from Ireland and would much deny himself of Comforts he might have had to prepare himself for hardship About a week before his end hearing some special Friend was upon a Journey to visit him said This Visit would be against his Burial A few dayes before his suffering certain Gentlewomen partly of his old Acquaintance and partly such as he said he never remembred he had seen their faces before sent in divers good Dishes of Meat with some Bottles of Wine to Dine with him which kindness he was much affected with and said it put him in mind of those good Women in Christ's time and particularly of Mary Magdalen who brought an Alabaster box of precious Oyntment and poured on him as he sat at meat in Bethany which saith Christ Mark 14.8 she did for my Burying and shall be a kindness spoken of and remembred where-ever the sound of the Gospel shall come through the whole world Matth. 26.6 14. Even so saith he me-thinks these good Friends here have prepared for my Burial And why not for your Wedding rather said a Friend that sat by That is true too said he for it is the Bridegroom that I am going to and hope to meet him shortly and doubt not but he will meet me Much of this kind of pleasant discourse passed that Dinner-time But among other things that fell from him this is not to be forgotten Having occasion to speak of the former plenty and fulness of all things which he was wont to enjoy and of his being now deprived of them Truly saith he when I had the good things of this world about me yea even my fill of them I was more carnal heavy and earthy in my spirit less mindful of my future state and the much better things of the other world present enjoyments took up even all my heart I am sure much more of it than they ought but these temptations being removed from me now in the time of my late Exile me-thoughts I found my self much at ease and wholly at leisure for Heaven without having any desire at all to those former delights and then using this comparison which he craved pardon for it being Dinner-time A man saith he that hath the wealth power dignities and pleasures of this world by which his mind is fed and still irritated to give satisfaction to his own corrupt and evil heart is like one that is troubled with the Itch a troublesom distemper which provokes him to scratch and the more he scratcheth the more he desires and delights to scratch but all the while enrageth his distemper and hurts himself which when some Physician a friend of his sees he disswades him from scratching and tells him he will prescribe something that shall take away the cause and kill the itching humour and so give him a more healthy and sound state of body Nay but in the mean time saith he I must scratch and I will scratch and cannot help it Even so said he it was with me in the time of my prosperity when I had wealth and power and other earthly contents about me but now that I and they are separated my mind is more at quiet and more free for a sweet communion and converse with God Then he proceeded further to tell the company at Table how he spent his time when he was abroad viz. partly in Prayer partly in Meditation partly in reading Scripture and the Writings of holy men especially the Notes of the Dutch Bible and the Works of his three choice Friends as he called them Dr. Preston Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Bridge and further said that before he had done his task which he every day set himself and alwayes found delight in performing the day seemed too short for him and was gone too soon one day seeming to tumble and huddle too fast upon another And this he said was no small mercy to him especially since he was deprived of all publick Ordinances and the

society of Christian Friends After he was risen from Dinner he looked towards the Window and seeing the people passe by Truly saith he I would not be as those people are that walk at liberty and go where they will I am better where I am and about better work since it is that which my Master meaning Christ hath called me to and counts me worthy to be imployed in nor will it be long ere I receive my wages though I confess I have done little or nothing for it I am sure not in comparison of what I might or ought to have done Ah! the Riches of Grace saith he Ah! the compleat and al-sufficient Righteousness of Jesus Christ Ah! the Satisfaction which he hath made for poor sinners which word Satisfaction he often mentioned Yea and how sweet is that word too where it is said He makes Intercession for us and lives to that end and for ever too Heb. 7.25 It will not be long now ere I know the meaning of these things more fully Had I lived to dye a natural death in all likelihood it would not have been many years being so aged as I am already and then I might have dyed a worse death by far than now I am to undergo for this is an honourable one How great a Mercy is it said a Friend that God hath thus quieted your mind and that he thus chears and warms your heart even while the thoughts of Death are upon it to have the fear of that King of Terrors thus banished from you how singular a favour is it and what an argument of God's Love to you and of his Presence with you It is indeed said he and I hope it is partly in Answer to the Prayers of Friends whom I perceive God hath stirred up to pray much for me and I beseech you saith he let them not cease but still hold me up before the Lord the little space I am yet to abide here And because saith he I know not how soon I shall be called to my Tryal I earnestly desire that some Friends would keep a day with me here in this place if it may be with safety and conveniency if not yet somewhere else which in answer to his desire was done accordingly upon Wednesday April 16. which was the day of his Tryal The next morning being Thursday some of his near Relations and Friends that came to visit him having heard some malicious reports to his prejudice as that he had denyed his Name and not owned himself to be the person that was mentioned in the Act when he was at Westminster at the Kings-Bench Bar earnestly desired him to let them know the truth of things from his own mouth To which he readily answered That he was much mis-understood and wrongfully presented if any said so of him And moreover said That he blessed God he was neither ashamed of his Name nor of his Cause nor of his Master and hoped never should and then related as followeth That his Brethren Col. Barkstead Col. Okey and himself being brought before their Judges were there called all by their names to which they made answer and as they were bid held up their hands Then the Question being put what they had to say for themselves concerning the Fact which they stood there arraigned for and which they were charged with in the Act of Parliament at that time read before them Mr. Corbet answered he did not take himself to be the person named in the said Act for that he did never maliciously wickedly and traiterously imagine contrive or endeavour to murder the late King as was there charged upon him in the said Act and therefore desired them to prove it What! said some on the Bench will you deny your Names now did you not answer to and hold up your hands at those Names To which Col. Okey made answer not understanding Mr. Corbet's drift which was to have a Proof made that they were guilty in manner and form as the Act expresseth it he would never deny his Name for the matter No more will I saith Mr. Corbet neither do I But may there not be more men of my Name saith Mr. Corbet that perhaps may have been guilty of malice against the King though for my own part I never was Then Col. Okey began to perceive his mistake and Col. Barkstead also who being thus rectified Mr. Corbet proceeded and told the Judge It was true they were called by their right Names and did accordingly own them yet saith he it doth not judicially appear to this Court that we are the persons meant in the Act putting an emphasis on the word Judicially No! saith one the Parliament hath adjudged it and you are the men Yet however said some let a Jury be empanelled and then the Atturney General saying that he was ready for a Tryal a Jury was called against which no Exceptions being made Evidences were taken and they found guilty The Judge then asked again what they had now to say why Sentence should not pass Mr. Corbet replyed he humbly conceived the Proceedings of the Court were not regular nor agreeable to former Presidents for according to Law there ought first to be an Indictment an Information and Scire Facias as was in the Case of Sir Walter Rawleigh all which were pre-requisit to an Issue in Law as their Lordships well knew so that here was a Conclusion without Premises Yet if it should please the Judges to over-rule it he was contented carrying himself with much reverence and respect unto the Court. To which either the Atturney General or some other replyed that Mr. Corbet said truth as to ordinary proceedings but here it was extraordinary viz. by Act of Parliament in a Bill of Attainder and then cited a Book-case of one Stafford who was thus proceeded against sentenced and executed in Henry the 7ths time To which Mr. Corbet replyed again he had nothing to say to that but what the Authority of the Nation had made Law he must submit to and did acknowledge as things stood they did proceed according to the Rules given them and in that respect did what was just according to the present Law But did you not confess the Fact saith one by your own flight it being a known Maxime Qui fugam facit fatetur facinus To which Col. Barkstead answered that he for his part fled for fear of an Arrest threatned against him for twenty thousand pounds for pretended false Imprisonment Mr. Corbet said that he for his part did not sly for twelve years together after the Fact done and that any body who had a mind to it might easily have seized him it being well known where he was all that time and when he did fly it was not prohibited nor any way unlawful as conceived for himself or others so to do and now that he was returned again he knew not that he was an out-law'd person and if occasion had been could have been ready to have