have been divers who have ewned the 〈…〉 in the City of Rome it selâ— and 〈…〉 places in Italy For in the time of Pope Adrian the Fourth who was an Englishman one Arnald of Brixia came to Rome and preached publickly and boldly against the Corruptions of the Romish Church and found great favour among the â—enators and People insomuch that when the Pope commanded them to drive Arnald out of the City for an Heretick they resisted his command and defended Arnaâ—d upon which the Pope thundered out 〈◊〉 Excommunication against the whole City of Rome so that upon the importunity of the Clergy they were forced to send him away but he was entertained by the Lords of Câ—mpanâ—a who were subject to the Emperour of Germany with whom he remained and preached the Gospâ—â— to them The Emperour coming afterwards into Italy to be Crowned the Poâ—â— disned him to deliver up Arnald into his honds whereupon the Emperour seized upon one of the Lords of Campaâ—ia which so â—â—rified the other that he delivered up Arnald who being sent to the Pope he used him most cruelly and then ordered him first to be hanged and then burnt as anâ— Arch Heretick His Chief Heresies were That he preached against the Pride and Covetousness of the Monks and Clergy that he inveighed against the Errors in the Sacrament that he expounded the Scriptures c. In the year 1546. there was one Eucenas or Driander a Spaniard born who being bred up in Rome yet came at last to the knowledg of the Truth and having discovered his dislike of the false Doctrine of Popery he was betrayed by his own Countreymen and Acquaintance and being brought before the Cardinals he was committed close Prisoner and was afterwards brought forth to declare his Judgment where he gave a Notable Testimony to the Truth upon which when he refused to recant the same he was condemned to be burnt and suffered Martyrdom with great patience and constancy In the year 1550 One Faninus of Ferrara in Italy being by the Grace or God and reading of good books converted to the Gospel and began to instruct others privately therein but this coming to the ears of some of the Popes Blood-hounds they seized him and committed him to Prison where by the earnest Importunities of his Wife Children and Friends hâ— was perswaded to deny the Truth and wâ— thereupon released out of Prison He had nâ— been long at liberty but he was extreamly troubled in mind for preferring the Love of his Relations and Friends before the service of Jesus Christ neither could he by any means be free from these Tortures till he had fully resolved to venture his Life for the Gospel Being thus inflamed with holy Zeal he went about the Country teaching and Instructing the People wherever he came Whereupon he was apprehended and cast into Prison and was condemned to be burnt but he told his Judges That his time was not yet come and so it happened for he was removed to Ferrara where he continued in Prison for Two years and afterwards Eighteen Months in another Prison and was again condemned by the Popes Inquisitors but still his death was one way or other prevented His Wife and Sister came to him in Prison and weeping pitifully intreated him to remember and consider his poor Family To whom he answered That his Lord and Master had commanded him not to deny the Truth for his Families sake and that it was too much that for their sakes he had once fallen already and therefore desired them not to sollicite him any more in that matter for he knew his end drew near and therefore he commended them to the Lord. In a short time after the Pope sent word Faninus should be burnt at which he very much rejoyced and thanked the Messenger Being still offered Life if he would recant and thereby prevent the misery of his Wife and Children He said He would leave them to a careful and sufficient Overseer and being asked who that was he answered Even the Lord Jesus Christ a faithful Keeper of all that are committed to him As he was going to Execution one that saw him so merry and cheerful asked him what the reason of it was since Jesus Christ before his death swate Water and Blood To whom he answered That Christ sustained all the sorrows and conflicts with Hell and Death which were due to us that by his sufferings we might be free from the sorrow and fear of them all At the place of Execution after having earnestly prayed to God he went patiently to the stake and was first strangled and then burnt There was likewise one Dominious a Souldier under Charles the First in Germany who having received the Gospel grew so much in knowledge in a short time that he was able to instruct others whereupon he returned into Italy and taught the People in Naples Placentia and several other places In a little time after he was apprehended and readily obeyed the Magistrate saying That he wondered that the Devil had let him alone so long And being asked whether he would renounce his Doctrine He said That he maintained no Doctrine of his own but the Doctrine of Christ which he was also ready to seal with his blood Being therefore condemned to death he was brought into the Market-place where he most heartily prayed for his Enemies Instructed the People and then was hanged resting in peace in the Lord. In the City of Pavia in Italy one Galleacius Trecius a Gentleman of good Quality very rich and bountiful to the poor embraced the Gospel for which being persecuted he fled from thence but being afterwards apprehended he was brought before the Lords Inquisitors where he boldly and couragiously asserted the Truth whereupon he was condemned to be burnt next morning he was bound to a stake in the Market-place where he continued till noon to be gazed at by the People during which time many of his Friends perswaded him to recant but nothing could alter the firm mind of this constant Martyr and Fire being put to him he quietly slept in the Lord. A little before his Execution he heard there were some Differences between the Bishop and the Mayor of the Town who should be at the cost of wood to burn him but to end the Quarrel he sent them word he would be at the cost out of his own Goods In the year 1553. one John Mollius a famous Preacher was hanged and burnt for preaching the Gospel and the next year Francis Gamba was condemned upon the same account and because he made admirable discourses to the People his Tongue was bored through and he was first strangled and then burnt undergoing death with great Patience and Constancy The next year after there was one Algerius a Student in Padua a young man of Excellent Learning 〈◊〉 having attained the knowledge of the Truth he endeavoured by Example and Instruction to bring in others for which being accused of Heresie he was apprehended at Venice
the Streets of Towns and Cities and those that were left alive and escaped the slaughter were banished their Countrey for ever The Ministers were chiefly aimed at and always cruelly tormented Among the rest one Adrian Chilmiskie who was famous for his great Piety and Learning and likewise for his Reverend Age was by these Barbarous Wretches roasted alive and this they did leisurely with a few Chips and Straw that he might be the longer in torment In another place above forty suffered death by several-sorts of tortures Near Vilna the chiefest City in Lithuania one Smolskie and his Son both Ministers had their Heads cruelly sawed off with a Sickle Another Minister had his Flesh sliced off by piece-meal till he died And to conclude this Field of Blood there were no less than fifteen hundred poor Protestants Ministers as well as others who were bound to Stakes on the Tops of Mountains in the Winter and there miserably starved to death with hunger and cold In a word no Age nor History can parallel all the several tortures and miserable deaths which these poor Protestants suffer'd from the hands of bloody Papists for no other Crime but professing and asserting the Truth and Gospel of Jesus Christ The Persecutions of the Protestants in France with an Account of the Bloody Massacre at Paris and the terrible Famine at Sancerre and Rochel ABout the year 1209. There were divers Learned men in France the Disciples of one Almericus at Paris who being taken notice of to hold other Opinions than those commonly heard of at that time six of them were brought upon Examination who freely declared that they did believe That God was no otherwise present in the Sacramental Bread than in any other Bread That it was Idolatry to build Altars to Saints or offer Incense to their Images That it was ridiculous to kiss or worship Relicks They said That the Pope was Antichrist and Rome was Babylon These being counted horrible Errors in that dark time of Superstition they were perswaded to recant and upon their refusal so to do were condemned and burnt at Paris and the Bones of their Master Almericus which 〈◊〉 been buried in the Church-yard were 〈◊〉 up and buried in the Fields 〈…〉 the year 1524. One John Clark set up a Bill on the Church-door against the Popes Pardons and called him Antichrist for which being apprehended he was ordered to be whipt several days and then burned in the Fore-head His Mother a Religious Woman standing by encouraged him saying with a loud voice Blessed be Christ and welcome be these marks for his sake After this he went to Metz and there being some Images without the City which the People used to worship once a year the Evening before John Clark abhorring their Idolatry went and brake down all their Idols the next Morning when the Clergy and People came to their Worship they found their Images lye all broken on the Ground upon which there began a great Tumult and John Clark was suspected and taken who presently confessed the Fact and gave Reasons for his so doing for which he was condemned to a most cruel death his Right Hand was first cut off then his Nose was violently pulled off and after that his Arms and Breasts with sharp pincers all which he sustained with admirable patience uttering all the while the words of the 115 Psalm Their Idols are Silver and Gold the work of mens hands Lastly he was thrown into the Fire and burnt to Ashes A while after a great number of Protestants at Paris Melda Linosin and divers other Cities and Towns in France were burnt rackt whipt beaten and other ways tormented to death At Melda one was burnt for saying That the Mass was a plain denial of the death passion of Christ He often meditated on the word of Christ He that demes me before men him will I also deny before my Father He was burned in a slow Fire and endured much torment One Stephen Brame being condemned to be burned for the Constant Profession of his Faith when the Fire was kindled a great wind drove away the Flame from him so that he stood for an hours space instructing and exhorting the People They then brought Oyl Vessels and more Faggots yet still was the flame driven from him whereupon the Hangman struck him on the head with a staff to whom he said I am condemned to be burned and do you strike me with Staves like a Dog After which the Hangman run him through the Belly with a Pike and then threw him into the Fire and scattered his Ashes in the Wind. Four Protestants were condemned at Roan and were carried to the Stake in a Dung Cart at which they rejoyced saying Blessed be God we are reputed as the Excrements of this World but yet our death is a sweet savour unto God Aymond de Lavoy a Godly Minister was burnt at Burdeaux and likewise one Vercote another Minister who was imprisoned in such a narrow place that he could neither stand nor lye down in which they kept him seven weeks whereas before no other Malefactor could endure that Torment above fifteen days without dying or growing mad afterwards they cut off his Tongue and lastly they were so merciful as to execute him One Thomas a young man of Eighteen years old coming from Geneva to Paris rebuked one for swearing whereupon he was apprehended for a Lutheran and carried before the Inquisition who committed him to Prison and rackt him so cruelly to confess his Companions that one of the bloody Inquisitors turned back his head and wept yea the Hangman himself was weary He was then carried to be burned and was let down into the Fire by a Pully and afterwards pull'd up again and asked if he would yet turn To whom he said He was in his way to God and desired them to let him go and so he quietly slept in the Lord. The Duke of Guise a great Instrument of Persecution committed many Barbarous Cruelties upon the Protestants and among the rest at a place called Vassey he murdered several Hundreds of Men Women and Children who were assembled to hear a Sermon mangling their Limbs and strewing them about the Seats and Galleries of the Church and at another Town called Seulis some were beheaded some whipt some beaten others sent to the Gallies the poor women being likewise made Slaves Among the rest one Fournia a Minister was tormented by having his Thumbs strained with a small cord till the blood issued out at the ends of them and with another Cord was hoisted up by the Thumbs and then twitcht down again having great Stones tied to his Toes and so was hanged till his Spirits failed him and then they suddenly let him fall with his Face on the hard floor with which Barbarous Usage he in a short time died being near fifty years old In the year 1559 in the Reign of Henry the second of France there was one Ann du Bourg a Noble man and
him on the Face with his Foot whom all the Murtherers of France feared so much when he was alive Then the Duke and his bloody Train went into the Streets crying Arm Arm we have had good success and a happy beginning Let us now proceed to the rest for it is the Kings Command which words he repeated often This is the Kings Commandment this is his Will this is his express pleasure therefore courage my Fellows Then the great Bell of the Pallace which was the bloody token of the General Alarm began to ring out aloud and presently a Report was spread That the Protestants had conspired against the King Queen and Court and were just going to Execute their Design After this the Admirals head was cut off and sent to the King and Queen Mother and being by them preserved with Spices it was sent to the Pope and the Cardinal of Lorrain at Rome as a very grateful present The Pope when he first heard the News of the Massacre appointed a day of Publick Thanksgiving to God where Te Deum was sung for joy in the Church of St. Lewis He likewise Published a Bull of Pardons and extraordinary Indulgences to such as should pray for the Heavenly assistance to the King and Kingdom of France for rooting out of Hereticks The Râ—scally Rabble cut off the Hands and Privy Members of the Admiral dragging his mangled body besmeâ—â—ed with blood and filth through the Sâ—reets three days together and then hanged it by the Feet upon the Gallows All the Attendants of the King of Navarr and Prince of Conde which lay in the Kings Pallace were murdered and likewise all the Lords and Gentlemen about the Admiral 's Lodgings and among the rest his Son Teligny and then through all the City and Suburbs were the poor Protestants Massacred with all manner of Cruelties Nothing was then to be heard but the Terrible noise of Horses and Arms Guns and Pistols mingled with the doleful sad and woful Screeches and miserable complaints of Men Women and Children Rich and Poor crying for mercy to these bloody Hell-hounds howling and lamenting at their miserable Condition to be thus wretchedly murdered for they knew not what And all this intermâ—xt with the groans of the dying and the merciless shouts of the Cruel Murtherers continually crying Kill kill for the King commands it that it seemed as if Heaven and Earth had met together or as if the Heavens had rent with Thunder So that in that night and the Two next days there was slain in Paris above Ten Thousand Persons of both Sexes and all Ranks and Ages the bloody Papists not sparing the Children in the Cradle nor the Infants in their Mothers wombs insomuch that the Streets Market-place and Rivers were dyed with Blood and the Murtherers boasted that they had in a few days put an end to that Quarrel that neither Pen Paper Decrees of Justice nor open War could accomplish in Twelve years This horrid Mâ—ssacre was committed on St. Bartholomews day being the 24 of August 1571. which was the Sabbath day and is made samous for ever by the Effusion of so much precious Innocent blood as no Age nor time can parallel for there were at this time in Paris Threescore Thousand men with Pistols Poinards Swords Knives and such other Bloody Instruments who ran up and down swearing and blaspheming the Sacred Majesty of God cruelly massacring all they met So that the Streets were covered with mangled Bodies and the Gates and Doots defiled with blood the Lords and Gentlemen were Inhumanely murdered some in their Beds others on the top of their Houses and in all other places where they were found and such a multitude of dead Bodies were thrown into the River Sein that the water was dyed Red with their Blood In the Heilish Assembly wherein this bloody Massacre was concluded on it was debated whether the King of Navarr and Prince of Conde should not be destroyed with the rest the Duke of Guise pâ—euded for it but others were against it and argued how abomiâ—able it would be to destroy two young Princâ—s of 〈◊〉 blood in the Flower of their Age and one of them in the imbraces of his young Bride and the Kings own Sister and therefore it was concluded That they should be threatued violâ—â—tly with death and all manner of Torments if they would not turn Papists And thereupon the King commanded them to be brought into his presence and told them That now he had cut off all the Instruments of the late Civil Wars which he hoped would prevent future troubles for by his Command the Admiral was slain and all the rest of the Hereticks and that the like should be Executed in all other places throughout the Kingdom and that if they would now save their Lives they must turn Catholicks for he was resolved to have but one Religion in his Kingdom The King of Navarr and the Prince of Conde humbly beseeched his Majesty to Remember his Oaths Promises and solemn Vows and Protestations that they should have the free Exercise of their Religion and withal told the King That he might do as he pleased with their Bodies and Estates but their unspotted Souls were in the hands of God and that they were resolved to remain stedfast in their Religion though with the loss of their lives which answer so inraged the King that he called the Prince of Conde Rebel and the Son of a Rebellious Person horribly threatning him That if within three days he did not obey his Command he should die for it and then with a furious Countenance left them with these three Terrible Words Death Mass or the Bastile Many Gentlemen that were attendants upon them as likewise their Schoolmasters and Tutors were thrust out of the Chamber among the Murtherers that is among the Kings Guard of Switzers who stood in two Ranks with their Swords drawn ready for Blood and Cruelty These Gentlemen crying out of the Kings Oaths Promises and Fidelity were yet by the Kings Command and in his own Sight unmercifully hewen and cut in peices In this Butcherly Massacre at Paris there were above four Thousand Houses robbed and plundered and above Five Hundred Barons Knights and Gentlemen who were chief Officers in the War with abundance of Noble young Gentlemen Ladies and Gentlewomen Inhumanely murthered who little expected such a bloody Fate for they came from all parts to rejoyce in honour of the marriage of the King of Navarr and instead of Jollity and pleasures they here met with an untimely death from Bloody and Cowardly Papists who murther like Devils but dare not fight like men The King and his Considents searing that this Massacte would not end the Quarrel but rather stir up the Protestants in other places to stand upon their own defence He therefore sends Messengers by Post to all parts of the Kingdom often shifting Horses for more speed with express Commands to the Governours of all other Towns and Cities
and was afterwards sent for to Rome by the Pope where many endeavours were used to tempt him to desert and deny the Truth which not prevailing he was Condemned to be burnt alive which he constantly suffered to the Admiration of all that saw him In the year 1559. John Aloysius a Minister being sent from Geneva to Calabria was sent for to Rome by the Pope where he suffered Martyrdom and at that time James Bovellus a worthy Minister was Martyred by the Popes Order at Messina Pope Pius the Fourth ralsed in hot persecution against the Protestants in all he Territories of the Church of Rome which was the destruction of many faithful Christians yea the Persecution was so hot in the Kingdom of Naples that many Noblemen and their Wives with divers others were slain And a Papist writing to a Noble Lord about the Cruelties shewed to some Christians â—n Calabria in the year 1560 hath these expressions When I think upon it I verily quake and tremble for their manner of putting to death may be fitly resembled to the slaughter of Calves and Sheep for Fourscore and Eight of them being thrust up together in one House as in a Sheepfold the Executioner cometh in takes one and blindfolds him and then leading him forth to a larger place commands him to kneel down and then cuts his Threat and leaving him half dead he takes his Butchers Knife and Muffler all goâ—e blood and fetches the rest and so one after another dispatches them all How sad this spectacle was I leave to your Lordship to Judge for my own part I cannot but weep to think of it neither were there any Spectators who seeing one to die could endure to behold another But truly so humbly and patiently they went to their deaths as is almost incredible to believe All the Aged Persons went more cheerfully the younger were something more timorous I tremble and shake to remember how the Hangman held his bloody Knife between his Teeth and his bloody Muffler in his hand and his Arms all gore blood up to the Elbows going to the Fold and taking every one of them one after another by the hand and so dispatching them all no otherwise than a Butcher doth his Calves and Sheep The City of Venice kept it self free a long time from this Plague of the Inquisition so that multitudes of Christians flocked thither from other places but in the year 1542 the Pope so far prevailed as to introduce it there likewise and then began a Terrible Persecution of the poor protestants there and they found out a new kind of death for them â—hich was to drown them in the bottom of the 〈◊〉 in the manner following when they â—ere condemned to die by the Inquisitors â—here was an Iron Chain fastened round their waste and a heavy stone was tyed thereto then they were laid upon a Plank between two Boats and so rowed to an appointed place in the Sea where the Boats parting asunder the Person immediately sunk into the Sea and was drowned notwithstanding which divers good Christians met together and had a Minister who preached the Gospel Administred the Sacrament to them but some false brethren creeping in among them betrayed them upon which many of them were apprehended and cast into the Sea others were imprisoned at Rome till they died Among others who were condemned to be drowned at Venice there was one Seignior Anthony Ricetto To whom after his condemnation his son of about Twelve years of Age came and with Tears beseeched his Father to recant for the saving of his own Life and that he himself might not be left fatherless To whom his Father answered A good Christian is bound to forgo Children goods yea and Life it self for the maintenance of Gods Honour and Glory for which cause said he I am now resolved with Gods assistance to lay down my Life When he came to the place where he was to suffer the Stone and Chain were fastned to him whereupon lifting up his Eyes to Heaven he said Father forgive them they know what they do Lord Jesus into thy hands I do commend my Spirit And so he ended his Life in the Sea A while after one Francis Spinola was apprehended and committed to Prison and being called before the Inquisitors he boldly reproved the Popes Legate and the other Judges in that contrary to their Consciences they persecuted the Truth of God and told them they were the Off-spring of the Pharisees c. Whereupon he had sentence passed upon him That he should be drown'd as an Heretick to whom he answered I am no Heretick but the Servant of Jesus Christ At which words the Popes Legate bid him be silent and told him that he lied The night after he was conveyed into the Sea and there drowned blessing and praising God with invincible Constancy In the year 1595 There was a young English Protestant at Rome who going into a Church and seeing their gross Idolatry he was so moved that he could not endure the sight of those impieties and therefore as the Procession passed by him he stept to him that bare the Host and Sacrament and plucking it out of his hands threw it on the Ground saying Ye wretched Idolaters do ye fall down to a Morsel of Bread This so provoked the People that they were like to have torn him in Pieces but he escaped death was sent to Prison complaint thereof being made to Pope Clement the 8th he was so inraged that he commanded him to be burnt the same day but his Cardinals advised to have him kept in Prison and Examined with Exquisite Tortures who set him on This they accordingly practised tormenting him with the utmost severity but could get nothing from him but these words Such was the will of God Then was he adjudged to be led from the Capitol naked to his middle and to wear on his head the form of a Devil his breeches to be painted over with Flames of Fire and so to be carried all about the City and then burnt alive This was Executed upon him and as he passed through the Streets he was mocked and derided of the People but he prayed fervently to God and at last uttered something against the debauched Lives of the Cardinals which so inraged them that they gagged him When he came before the Church where he threw down the Idol his Right hand was cut off by the Hangman and set upon a Pole in the Cart to which he was tyed Then two Tormentors with flaming Torches scorcht and burnt his Flesh all the way so that his body was all over blistered and bloody having no part free but his head then was he taken from the Cart and went himself to the stake kissing the Chains that should bind him The Fryars urged him to worship an Idol but he turned away his Face and shew'd his Detestation of it and when the Fire seized on him he bowed his head and quietly resigned up his Spirit
to keep him from speaking and then crushed his right hand between two flat red hot frons till the form of it was changed and then did the like by his foot which he endured with admirable patience then tying him round the waste by a Pully and making a Fire underneath they hoisted him up and down till he was burnt to Ashes which they cast into the River There were several martyred at Valence and Lisle and one of the Judges pronouncing sentence against these good People said This day you shall go to dwell with all the Devils in Hell Fire But the greatest Instrument of the Devil in those Countreys was the Duke of Alva who was sent by the King of Spain to root the Protestants out of the Low-Countreys This Duke boasted one time at his own Table That he had been diligent to root out Heresie for besides those he had slain in the Wars he had put into the hands of the Common Hangman to be Executed within the space of six years no less than Eighteen thousand Persons And to compleat this sad Catastrophe we may also remember that William of Nassaw Prince of Orange was shot by a Villain called Joanville who was encouraged by a Jacobine Fryar to do it the Rascal was thrust through with an Halbert and the Fryar was hang'd But this wound not proving mortal they hired one Gerard a Burgundian who standing behind the Pillar in a Room shot the Prince dead as he past by The Persecutions of the Papists upon the Protestants in Scotland and Ireland AS most Kingdoms in Europe felt the rage and fury of Romish Cruelty and Persecution so Scotland though in the frozen north was not insensible thereof For in the Year 1572. Mr. Patrick Hamilton of an Ancient and Honourable Family and called Abbot of Fern left Scotland and went into Germany where conversing with Luther and Melancthon he greatly increased in godly knowledge and learning and returning home he publickly Preached concerning Faith and good works and against the Superstitions and Idolatry of the Papists This so enraged James Beaton Arch bishop of St. Andrews that in the absence of the King Mr. Hamilton was seized upon by the Bishops Officers and carried to the Castle and the next day he was brought forth to Judgment and Condenmed to be Burnt for the Testimony of God The Articles charged against him were about Pilgrimages Purgatory Praying to Saints and for the Dead After Dinner the Fire was prepared which some thought was only to terrifie him but it pleased God to strengthen him against the fear of Death and so he was tied to the Stake giving his Garments to his Servant and saying thus to him These will not profit in the Fire they will profit thee After this thou canst receive no benefit by me except the Example of my Death which I pray thee to remember for though it be bitter to the Flesh and fearful before men yet it is the entrarce into eternal Life which none shall possess who deny Jesus Christ before this wicked Generation And the Fire being kindled he cried with a loud voice Lord Jesus receive my Spirit how long shall Darkness overwhelm this Realm and how long wilt thou suffer the Tyranny of these men A Fryar troubling him by crying out Turn thou Heretick call upon our Lady say Salve Regina c. he replyed Depart from me and trouble me not thou Messenger of Satan and speaking to one Campbel the chief among them he said Wicked man thou knowest the Contrary and hast confessed the contrary to me I appeal thee before the Tribunal Seat of Jesus Christ after which words he resigned up his Spirit to God and within a few days after the Fryar died in a Frenzy and Desperation The Archbishop of St. Andrews likewise called before him two Gentlemen David Straton and Mr. Normand Gomlay Mr. Straton being accused for Heresy was much troubled at it and thereupon frequented the company of Religious men and hearing that Text read He that denieth me before men or is ashamed of me in this wicked Generation I will deny him before my Father and his Holy Angels he stedfastly lift up his eyes and hands to Heaven and burst forth into these words O Lord I have been wicked and justly mayest thou withdraw thy Grace fâ—â—â—â— me but Lord for thy Mercy sake let me never deny thy Truth for fear of Death or Corporal pain Being afterwards together with Mr. Norman brought to Judgment in Holy Rood-House where the King himself was present they were both condemned to the fire and in the afternoon were first Hanged and then Burnt which they chearfully suffered There was likewise one Dean Thomas Foret who used to Preach to his Parishioners every Lords day out of the Epistles and Gospels as they came in order for which being complained of to the Bishop of Dunkeldon he reproved him for it telling him that it was too much to preach every Sunday since the People might think they ought to do so likewise and says the Bishop Is it not enough for you when you find a good Epistle and Gospel to set forth and preach the Liberty of Holy Church and let the rest alone Dean Thomas replyed That he had read them all over and knew no bad ones among them But said he when your Lordship shews me any such I will pass them by The Bishop anwered I thank God I never knew what the Old and New Testament was but go your ways and â—â—pent of these fancies ere it be too late The Dean answered My cause is good and just 〈◊〉 the presence of God and therefore 〈…〉 〈…〉 but he 〈…〉 Cardinal Beton by whom he was condemned and Burned for an Heretick The Year after Jerom Russel and Alexander Kennedy who was not above eighteen years old â—ere brought before the Archbishop and his Associates who railed upon them and called â—hem Hereticks Jerom Russel replyed This your hour and power of darkness now sit ye as judges and we are wrongfully accused but the day will come wherein our Innocency will appear â—nd ye shall see your own blindness to your everlasting confusion go forward and fulfil the measure of your Iniquity A while after they were sentenced to die and as they went to Execution Jerom comforted Kennedy saying Brother fear not greater is he that is in us than he that is in the World the pain we are to suffer is short and shall be light but our joy and consolation shall never have an end let us therefore strive to enter into our Master and Saviours Joy by the same straight way which he hath taken before us Death cannot hurt us for it is destroyed by him for whose sake we now suffer And in this manner past reason they joyfully gave up their Souls unto God in the Flaming Fire In the year 1543. Cardinal Beton coming to Edenburgh caused several Religious persons to be brought before him and when he could prove nothing else against them
He caused four men to be hanged upon suspicion that they had eaten a Goose upon a Friday And a Woman with a Child sucking at her breast was drown'd for refusing to pray to the Virgin Mary Many others were likewise Banished and Imprisoned for the Gospel and among the rest John Rogers a learned and godly Minister whom he caused to be murthered in Prison and then thrown over the Wall giving it out that by attempting to make his escape he broke his neck In the year 1546. Mr. George Wisheart a famous Minister was sent for to appear before Cardinal Beton and the other Bishops at St. Andrews where a Priest was ordered to curse him who called him Renegade Traitor Thief c. However Mr. Wisheart gave them an account of his Faith and Doctrine but they not being able to answer him immediately condemned him to be Burnt and presently a Fire was prepared over against the Castle and Velvet Cushions were laid in the Castle-windows for the Cardinal and the rest of the Prelates to see him suffer and for fear he should be rescued by his friends all the Castle Guns were mounted against the place of his Execution by the Cardinals order then with a Rope about his Neck and a Chain about his middle he was fastned to the Stake and having earnestly prayed and exhorted the People and forgiven his enemies and persecutors he said thus I Beseech you Brethren Exhort your Prelates to learn the Word of God that they may be ashamed to do evil and learn to do good or else there shall come upon them the Wrath of God which they shall not eschew Then the Hangman upon his knees said Sir I pray forgive me for I am not the cause of your Death Mr. Wisheart called him to him and kissing his Cheek said Lo here is a token that I forgive thee My heart do thine Office and so he was tyed to the Stake and the fire kindled The Captain of the Castle came to him and bid him be of good Courage to whom Mr. Wisheart said This fire Torments my Body but no whit abates my Spirits then looking towards the Cardinal he said He who in such State from that high place feeds his eyes with my Torments within few days shall be hanged out at the same Window with as much shame and ignominy as he there leans with Pride then his Breath being stopt with the Flames he gave up the Ghost This Prophecy was fulfilled in a short time after for the people being generally discontented at the Cruelty used against Mr. Wisheart several persons conspired against him and killed him in the Castle and the Provost raising the Town came to the Castle Gates crying What have you done with my Lord Cardinal where is he To whom they answered from within Return to your Houses for he hath received his reward and will trouble the World no more But they cryed We will never depart till we see him Then was he hanged out at that very window to satisfie them he was dead and so the people departed Shortly after one Adam Wallace was Burned likewise and Henry Forest suffered the same Cruel Death upon Account of Heresie One Walter Will was accused for Heresie and being bid to recant he said I am Corn and not Chaff I will not recant the Truth and being thereupon condemned to the Fire and all things made ready to that purpose they commanded him to go to the Stake No said he by the Laws of God I am forbidden to lay hands on my my self therefore do you put me in the Fire and you shall see my resolution Having then made his Prayer unto God he spake thus to the people Although I have been a Great Sinner yet it is not for that but for Gods Truth contained in his Word of the Old and New Testament that I now suffer and God out of his abundant Mercy doth honour me so far as to make me among other of his Servants to seal his Truth with my Blood Dear Friends as you would escape Eternal Death be no more seduced with the Lies of Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors c. but trust only in God After he had thus spoke he was tyed to the Stake and the Fire being kindled he quietly slept in the Lord and was the last person that died for the Protestant Religion in Scotland In the year of our Lord 1641. there brake forth a most horrid and Bloody Rebellion and Massacre of the Irish Papists committed on the English in Ireland a Nation famous for the Birth of divers worthy persons therein but none more renowned than that Excellent Learned and Religious Person James Usher late Ld. Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Primate of Ireland who amongst many other extraordinary Gifts and Graces which it pleased the Almighty to bestow upon him was wonderfully endued with a Spirit of Prophecy from which among many other things he foretold this bloody Rebellion forty years before it came to pass in a Sermon which he preached at Dublin in the Year 1601. where from Ezekiel 4.6 discoursing concerning the Prophets bearing the Iniquity of Judah forty days the Lord therein appointing a day for a Year he made this direct application in relation to the Connivance at Popery at that time From this Year says he will I reckon the sin of Ireland that those whom you now embrace shall be your Ruin and you shall bear your Iniquity which Prediction proved exactly true for from that time 1601. to the year 1641. was just forty years in which it is notoriously known that the Rebellion and destruction of Ireland happened and which was acted by those Popish Priests Jesuits and other Papists which were then connived at For the Jesuits Priests and Friars were the chief Instigators to this horrid Massacre by continually incensing and stirring up the Popish Gentry and Commonalty to shew the utmost of their Zeal therein and this without any provocation given by the English for it was observed that they had all the Liberty they could reasonably desire and that there was not any reason for such Cruel Proceedings against the English but only for that damnable and unpardonable sin of being Protestants And the Popish Clergy the more to engage the deluded Papists to murther them every where loudly declaimed That they were Hereticks and not fit to be suffered any longer amongst them that it was no more sin to kill one of them than to kill a Dog and that it was a mortal and unpardonable sin to relieve or protect any of them And when their business was so fixt that they did not fear any miscarriage the success of this Great Design was recommended in their Publick Prayers as tending very much to the advancement of the Catholick cause and they likewise maliciously represented to the People the severe proceedings against the Papists in England All things being in a readiness they proceeded to the Execution of this Damnable Contrivance but their proceeding therein was various some
of men and to the Breasts of Women At Nants they hung up several Women and Maids by the feet stark naked and others by the armpits exposing them to publick view which is certainly the most exquisite suffering to the modesty of the fair Sex and which toucheth the most tender part of their Soul They bound Mothers that gave suck to posts and let their little Infants lye languishing in their sight without being suffered to suckle them for many days and all this while left the poor babes crying moaning and gasping for life and even dying for hunger and thirst thereby to vanquish the constancy of their tender-hearted Mother Swearing they would never permit them to give suck till they promised to renounce the profession of the Gospel Children of four or five years old were kept from Meaâ— and Drink till they were ready to famish and were then brought to their Parents by the Dragoons who swore bloudily That except they would recant they must prepare themselves to see their Children languish and die in their presence If it happen that any by their patience and courage stand out the Souldiers go and acquaint their Commanders That they have done all they could but without success who in a barbarous and surly tone answer them You must return upon them and do worse than you have done the King commands it Either they must turn or I must burst and perish in the attempt These are the pleasant flowry paths whereby Papists allure Protestants to return to the Bosom of their Church Thirty two Companys of Foot with an Intendant and the two Bishops of Agen and Periguex entred the City of Bergerack and sending for two hundred of the principal Citizens before them told them That the Kings express will and pleasure was they should all go to Mass and that in case of disobedience they had order to compel them to it To which the Citizens unanimously answered That if they were so resolved they had nothing else to do but to prepare themselves to receive the punishment they should inflict Whereupon thirty two Troops more of Horse and Foot marched into the Town who were all quartered upon the Protestants with express command not to spare any thing they had and to exercise all manner of violence upon them till they had extorted a promise of conformity to their wills These Wolves thus incouraged flew instantly upon these Innocent sheep rending and worrying them in such a manner as the relation thereof cannot but strike horror and amazement Whole Companys were ordered to quarter upon one Citizen and and when their Money was gone they sold their Horsehold-stuff for little or nothing They bound and fettered Father Mother Wife and Children four Souldiers standing continually at the door to hinder any from succouring them keeping them in this condition five or six days together without Meat Drink or Sleep On one hand the Child cryes with the languishing tone of one ready to die Ah my Father Ah my Mother What shall I do I must die I can endure no longer The Wife on the other hand cryes Alas my Heart fails me I faint I die Whilst their cruel Tormentors are so far from being touched with compassion that from thence they take occasion to torment them afresh and to renew their tortures affrighting them with their Hellish Threats accompanied with execrable Oaths and Curses crying Dog Bougre what wilt thou not be converted wilt thou not be obedient Dog Bougre thou must be converted we are sent on purpose to convert thee And the Clergy who are witnesses of all these Cruelties with which they feast their eyes and who hear all their infamous and abominable speeches which ought to cover them with horror and confusion yet only make it a matter of sport and laughter A young woman was brought before the Council in order to oblige her to abjure the Truth which she boldly and manfully refusing was remanded back to Prison where they shaved her head and singed the hair from other parts and stripping her stark naked led her through the Streets of the City where many a blow was given her and Stones flung at her After this they set her up to the neck in a Tub full of Water where when she had been a while they took her out and put upon her a Shift dipped in Wine which as it dryed and Stuck to her sore and bruised body they snatcht off again and then had another ready dipt in Wine to clap upon her this they repeated six several times and when by this inhumane usage her body was grown very raw and tender they demanded of her Whether she did not now find her self disposed to imbrace the Catholick Faith As they term their Religion But she being strengthned by the Spirit love of him for whose names sake she suffered all these extremities undauntedly answered That she had before declared her resolution to them which she would never alter and that though they had her body in their power yet she was resolved never to yield her Soul to them but keep it pure and undefiled for her heavenly Lover as knowing that a little while would put an end to all her sufferings and give a beginning to her enjoyment of eternal bliss Which words further inraging them and despairing of making her a Convert they fastened her to a Gibbet by the feet stark naked with her head downward and there let her hang in that ignominious posture till she gave up the Ghost There was an old man in the City who having been long kept Prisoner in a deep dungeon for the Protestant Profession where his companions were darkness and horror and filthy creeping things was brought at length before the Judges with Vermine and Snails crawling upon his mouldred garment who seeing him in that loathsom condition said to him How now old man does not not your heart begin to relent and are not you willing to abjure your Heresy To which he answered As for Heresy I profess none but if by that word you mean my Religion you may assine yourselves that as I have thus long lived so I hope am resolved by the grace of God to dye in it With which reply they being incensed grew rougher with him Dost thou not see said they that the worms are ready to devour thee Well since thou art so resolved we will send thee back again to the loathsom place from whence thou camest that they may dispatch thee and consume thy obdurate heart To which he replyed in the words of holy patient Job I know that after worms have eaten this body that in my flesh I shall see God And having so said he was remanded back to his Jail where he still continues if death hath not put a period to his miseries Some Dragoons quartered with a Person whom they could not pervert who upon a time being well filled with Wine broke their Glasses at every health they drank and covered the floor with the
of the Irish only stripping the English Protestants and turning them out of Doors naked in the cold and snow others cruelly Murdering man woman and child without the least compassion but they all resolved upon this point that by all manner of ways and means they would universally destroy and root the English out of Ireland Nay the Irish were so inveterately malicious against them that they would not endure the very sound of their Language but punished those that spake English and the names of English places they changed into Old Irish In some places they killed the Cows and Sheep meerly because they were English and sometimes they cut off their Legs or a piece out of their Buttocks and so left them to live in pain and in other places those English Cattel that they could not devour they kill'd them and left them in great multitudes stinking upon the Ground The Popish Priests gave the Sacrament to divers of the Irish upon Condition that they should neither spare Man Woman nor Child of the Protestants saying That it did them a great deal of good to wash their hands in their Blood Some of their Priests Excommunicated all that should from thenceforth relieve or harbour any English Scotch or Welshman or give them Alms at their Doors whereby many were Famished to Death Yea the Popish Monks and Fryers exhorted them with Tears not to spare the English but utterly to destroy them nay they boasted that when they had made an end of them in Ireland they would go over into England and would not leave the memorial of an Englishman under Heaven and their Priests told them It was as lawful to kill an English man as to kill a Sheep or a Dog and that it was no more Pity or Conscience to take their Estates from them than to take a Bone out of a Dogs mouth The day before this Horrid Massacre began the Priests gave the people a dismission at Mass with full liberty to go out and take Possession of all their Lands which they pretended weâ—â— unjustly detained from them by the English aâ—though they were justly forfeited by their repeated Rebellions and Treasons against the Government They further told them that they might lawfully strip rob and despoil them of all their Goods and Chattels The Protestants being as they said worse than Dogs for their were Devils and worshiped the Devil and therefore that the Killing of such was meritorious and an Excellent Preservative against the Pains of Purgatory since the Bodies of such Catholicks as should die in this Quarrel would not be cold before their Souls should ascend up into Heaven so that they need not fear the Pains of Purgatory which occasioned some of these Murthering Villains to boast after they had massacred many of the English That if they should die presently they should go straight to Heaven When this Horrid Rebellion first began several Irish Gentlemen pretended great kindness to some of their Protestant Neighbours and perswaded them to put their Goods and Cattel into their hands engaging that they would secure them from the rage of the Rabble which made the Protestants so confident because of former familiarity that they gave them Inventories of all they had nay they digged up some of their best things which they had hidden in the grounds and put them into their hands whereby they got vast quantities of Goods into their hands and yet like True Papists they cheated them of it all nay which was more barbarous they promised the English that if they would be contented to lose their Goods they and their Wives and Children should peaceably depart the Country and yet when they had got all they had they inhumanely â—â—urthered them In one place there was no less than Twenty two Widdows who were first robbed and then stript stark naked and when in a house they had covered themselves with Straw the bloody Papists threw in burning Straw among them on purpose to burn them together And in a while after they brake forth into such abominable Cruelties bloody Massacres and Murders as would make the heart of any Christian to ake and his Ears to tingle at the Relation of them In the Castle of Lisgol above an hundred and twenty Men Women and Children were burnt together Another Castle was delivered to one of the Popish Commanders upon condition their lives should be saved but as soon as he entred he cruelly murdered and destroyed them all without mercy At Portendown Bridge a thousand Men. Women and Children were drowned in the River and it was testified upon Oath that nine days after there was the Apparition of a Man bolt upright in the Water breast-high with his hands lifted up to Heaven and that he was seen several times in that posture from December to the end of Lent at which time some of the English Army passing that way saw it likewise after which it vanished away One Elizabeth Price made Oath that she with other Women whose Husbands and Children were drowned in that place hearing of those Apparitions went thither one Evening at which time they saw a Woman rise out of the River breast-high her hair hanging down which was as white as Snow and so was her skin and that she often cryed out Revenge Revenge Revenge which so affrighted them that they went away In Queens County an English-man his Wife five Children and a Maid were all hanged together and then cut down and put into a hole the youngest Child though it was hanged was not quite dead when it was put in but put up its hands and cryed Mammy Mammy and yet these Villains without mercy buried it alive They stripped a Scotch-man and knocked him down for dead but he afterwards recovering went into the Town naked whereupon they hewed him all to pieces They also ript up his Wifes belly so that the Child dropped out They likewise hanged up divers other Women with Child and ripping them up they gave their Infants to be devoured by Dogs and Swine In one place they set a Castle on fire wherein were many Protestants and then rejoycingly said among themselves Oh how sweetly do they fry In one place they burnt two English Bibles and said it was Hell-fire they burnt they cut other Bibles to pieces and burnt them threatning to do the like to all English Bibles And in one place they took a Bible and laid it in a â—uddle of Water and then stamping on it said A Plague on it this Bible hath bred all the Quarrel A Papist would have perswaded a man and his Wife to have joyned with them in the Massacre but they protested That rather than they would forsake their Religion they would die upon the Swords point then he would have had the Woman burn her Bible but she told him Rather than she would burn her Bible she would die the Death whereupon they were both cruelly murthered These barbarous Villains caused some Children to carry their Aged Parents to the River
and drown them some Wives were forced to help to hang their Husbands in one Town they caused a young Man to murther his own Father and then hanged him up in another place they forced a Woman to kill her Husband and then caused her Son to kill his Mother and then immediately hanged her Son and their cursed malice was thereby shewn that they might as much as in them lay destroy Soul and Body together Yea so detestable was their Cruelty that they taught Irish Children to kill English Children and two Boys boasted that they had at several times murthered and drowned thirty six English Women and Children The Irish Women followed this Army of Murtherers and provoked the Men to Cruelty crying out Kill them all spare neither Man Woman nor Child and many of them stoned the English Women and their Children to Death and cryed Slay them all the English are fit meat for Dogs and their Children are Bastards Yea so Implacable was their malice that one of them was very angry with her Husband because he did not bring the Grease of a Fat Gentlewoman whom they had slain for them to makes Candles of which was commonly practised by them in other places Yea they boasted that the day was their own and that ere long they would not leave one Protestant Rogue living but would utterly destroy every one that had but a drop of English Blood in him yea they vowed they would not leave one English beast alive nor any of their breed Alas who can comprehend the Sighs the Groans the trembling and astonishment of these poor Innocent Souls to sind themselves so suddenly surprized and that without remedy What Schrieks Cries and bitter Lamentations were there of Husbands Wives Children Servants and Friends howling and weeping finding themselves without all hope of deliverance from their present woful Miseries and Calamities For by these and all manner of Cruelties and Barbarities which Hell it self could invent the Irish and English Papists murdered and destroyed in a few Months near Three Hundred Thousand Protestants as it is commonly computed without any manner of provocation but only because they were Protestants whose deaths the Divine Vengeance in a short time after recompensed upon several of the Murtherers many thousands perishing by the Sword and the plague that followed it and the rest without doubt unless they heartily repent will receive the reward of their wickedness The Cruelties Plots and Treasons of the Papists against the Protestants in England AFter having briefly Epitomized the bloody Cruelties and slaughters of this Monster of Rome and his Vassals throughout Europe let us now return home and see if our own Countrey has escaped betterthan our Neighbours Englishmen are generally accounted to be of a merciful nature and pitiful disposition apt to be touched with the miseries of others are not in their own natures bloody barbarous or Cruel what then may be the cause of those dreadful marks of Rage and Fury that have been seen among us How has this Fair Island been made an Accldama a Field of Skulls and Martyrs bones All this we shall sind proceeds from corrupt principles of Religion I doubt not says a worthy Divine but Papists are made like other men Nature hath not generally given them such Savage and Cruel Dispositions but their Religion hath made them so I am loth to say it and yet I am confident it is true that many Papists would have been excellent Persons and very good men if their Religion had not hindred them if the Doctrines and Principles of their Church had not spoiled their natural Disposition Good God! that any thing that is called Religion should so presently strip men of all Humanity and transform the mild and gentle Race of Mankind into Wolves and Tigers It is Popery that alters the Nature of Englishmen and makes them act like Turks Infidels or Barbarians its principles infect the Blood and invenom the Soul instead of being Meek and humble it makes them Proud and Arrogant instead of performing the Commands of Christ it makes men obey the Pope though never so contrary to Religion If our Blessed Saviour says Hurt no man pray for your Persecutors submit to Magistrates and Governours The Pope and his Doctrines say Kill every man that is not of your Religion Curse those that disobey your Commands Kill Stab or depose your Kings or Governours This is the Doctrine and these are the Principles and Commands of the Romish Church It is some hundreds of years since this Bloody Beast of persecution began to shew his Fangs and armed Claws in this Kingdom and it was almost as soon perceived and testified against by some good men in those times For in the Year one Thousand Two Hundred John of Salisbury declared against the Corruptions and Superstitions of the Romish Church and plainly discovered the oppression of the burden of the Pope and his Ravenous Clergy and after him John Grostead Bishop of Lincoln wrote to the Pope and admonished him for which he had like to have lost his life yet the Pope did only hitherto shew his Teeth and could not take his full swing in Blood and Murther which he afterward attained to But since the Papists impertinently urge against us the Newness of our Religion and that it was not known before Martin Luthers days we shall produce much more early Testimonies against the Errors and Abuses in the Romish Churchâ— For we find in the Year 884. John Patrick Erigena a Britan who was ordained the first Reader in Oxford by King Alfred was afterward Condemned and Martyred by the Pope for writing a Book concerning the Sacrament And in the year 960. many Ministers and Divines wore the Mark of the Beast in their faces being by the Popes order Branded in the Faces with hot Irons for Dissenting in many things about the Mass Purgatory Monkery and the like and for saying that Rome was Babylon and that Cloisters were the Nurses of Sodomy In the year 1126. one Arnold an Englishman and a Preacher of the Gospel was Butchered at Oxford for Preaching against the Pride of the Prelates and the wicked lives of the Priests In the Year 1160 the poor Persecuted Waldenses came hither for succour but instead thereof they were Persecuted Condemned Burnt Whipt and Stigmatiz'd for their Religion both at Oxford and other places After which almost in every Year it pleased God to raise up several learned and worthy men to testify against the Horrid Corruptions of Rome both by Speaking Writing and Disputing against them As in the Year 1170. Gualo and Gilbert Foliot Doctors of Divinity and after them Silvester Gerald Alexander a Divine Gualter Maxes Arch-Deacon of Oxford Sebald Archbishop of York William Stringham Doctor of Divinity Roger Bacon Fellow of Merton Colledge a divine and Mathematican John Scotus the Great Scotch-man and about the same time Doctor John Wickliff Jeoffery Chaucer William Wickham Bishop of Winchester and many other Learned men All these gave