she must believe something for as she believed so she should be saved I told her also what the Bible declared to her That without Faith it was impossible to please God and I bad her consider the text that saith Whatsoever is not of Faith is sin as also the text that saith The just man liveth by Faith and desired her to read those words of our Saviour where he saith He that believeth shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned which she did read and this Witness being then present and I saying the same then before him I suppose from this text he accused me that I should say he would be damned because I repeated and shewed them our Saviour's words as they appear in that place of Scripture I having thus answered all the testimonies this Witness could bring in against me I referred my self to his Lordship and all the Bench to judge whether any thing this Witness had said against me would make me guilty The judge said but little to it but called for the next witness who was Father to this first who was so much grieved at the proceedings of his ungracious Son that he could not forbear to shed tears all the time that his Son produced such â—ccusations against me so that he appeared more witness against his Son's ungodliness than a Witness against me Yet the Judge asked him many questions whether he had ever heard seen or known any such or such things of or from me To all which questions he answered No he knew nothing against me so that the Judge seeing he shewed so much kidness he asked him what he was He answered a Catholick whereupon the Judge bade him go away saying He was too much my friend and therefore he would not accept of him as a witness but called the third This witness was an old man and very deaf who was forced to come against me by a warrant swore against his will The Judge asked him several questions whether he heard me say any prayers he answered yes but he could not well understand or hear what they were because he was so deaf he asked them whether they were English or Latin he answered he could not well tell he thought it was both and I think it might be neither for ought he could hear he was so very deaf Then he asked him what cloaths I had on he answered he could not well tell I had something on that was white a Surplice he thought and the Judge was willing to suppose this to be a Priests habit at Mass or when he gave the Sacrament but I told his Lordship that this could be no proof of any such matter because all over the world among Catholicks such Garments were worn by thousands in time of prayer who never were nor will be Priests as is well known to those that have been Travellers And I told his Lordship that if he pleased to call for them there may be several Travellers of several Sects and Opinions present in the Hall that would be sufficient witnesses as well of this as of the holy bread and water which the other witness as well as this old man said I had given them which they suppose to be the Sacrament but the Judge would call for none but called for the fourth witness This witness was a young woman who was also by violence forc'd to come and swear what she had heard seen or known concerning me about the matter in question The Judge asked her whether I had taught her any thing whether she had been at Confession or Communion what I said to her what pennance I gave her and he asked also the like questions of the old man the former witness to all which they were both very unwilling to answer for which some of the rude people curst the old man for an old doting fellow and were as much vexed at the young woman because she was so dejected that she could not speak but lookt like one that was half dead as some of the people said in anger she was so The Judge perceiving in what condition she was said aloud what men are these Priests that have such power over people that they are not able to speak against them he therefore bid them remember they were in the presence of God and were bound in conscience to speak the truth of what they had heard or seen so at last they owned that I had read in the Bible and other Books to them and that they had confest what troubled them and had received something like a Wafer from me and that they had believed what I read to them yet they both declared publickly that I did not bid them come to Confession or take the Wafer or Bread and when they took it that I did not tell them it was the Sacrament neither did they know whether it was or no By all which it appeared according to the letter of the Law and in conscience that none of these testimonies were of sufficient force to make me guilty A mans life is not to be taken away upon surmises or possibilities that this might be the Communion as well as other holy Bread For the Law requires that it must be proved that there was an Administration of the Sacrament by one that had taken Orders from a Foreign Power of taking Orders there was not the least Accusation mentioned against me by any of the witnesses much less could it be proved no not so much that I pretended to give the Sacrament any more than it might be holy water or holy bread as I desired my Lord to consider neither was it the wearing of a Surplice that could prove I said Mass for Priests never wear Surplices at Mass And if a mans wearing a Surplice at prayer prove him a Priest then all the Singing-Boys in every Protestant Cathedral Church and in all other Churches in Christendom all those Boys though but of ten or twelve years of age must be by consequence all Popish Priests and all Jews who constantly in their Synagogues put on a white Garment like a Surplice as I and all Travellers have seen them do when we have gone to see them pray At these Jews must be Romish Priests Out of all which it evidently appears that none of these testimonies the witnesses brought against me were any way concluding according to Justice to make me guilty of being a Priest As for my reading the Bible to them or in satisfying them in what they doubted or bidding them say their prayers and particularly the Lord's Prayer which the last two witnesses told the Judge I had done and the like he fearing to answer to all the questions he asked them To these I answered that I own I had done so whereupon the Judge said that out of this it appeared that I had taken upon me the Priests Office I told him that with his leave I would shew how it did no ways follow for out of this it only followed
to serve him I beseech God to bless the Parliament that is now in Election that they may determine nothing but what they themselves do hope to be judged by at the last day I beseech God to bless all that suffer under this Persecution and to turn this our Captivity into Joy that they who now sowe in tears may reap in joy I beseech God to accept the death of my Body and to receive my Soul I have no more to say Mr. Sheriff I give you no interruption but only whereas you said that you dyed for the Faith that is not so you do not dye for that but because you being His Majesties Subject received Orders from the Church of Rome Beyond the Seas and came again into England contrary to the Law Mr. Johnson That was pardoned by the Kings Act of Grace Mr. Sheriff That Act pardoned onely Crimes committed before the making of it but not those done since as your continuance in England was Mr. Johnson I am sorry if I have given offence in any thing I have said my â—â—ason for it was because when I was sent for to the Judges upon Sunday night â—â—dge Atkins told me I dyed not for being concerned in the Plot but for being a Priest Mr. Sheriff No but for your continuance in England against the Law being a Priest Mr. Johnson God receive my Soul Mr. Sheriff Sir You may take your own time and you shall have no interruption Sir will you be pleased to have your own time Jaylor Sir pray give the Sign when you please to be turned off Mr. Johnson I will give you no Sign do it when you will And so he was Executed Mr. Johnson was of an Honourable Family in Norfolk born to an Estate of 500 l. per Annum All which he left for the sake of Religion his third Brother now enjoys the Estate FINIS Mr. Johnson's Speech Which he deliver'd to his Friend to be Printed as he mention'd at the place of Execution ADVERTISEMENT Mr. Johnsons's Tryal and what he spoke at his Execution being finisht there came to the Printers hands his Speech at large of which his foregoing words are only the heads as the Reader will see and as Mr. Johnson also mentions viz. I would have said more but that I gave my Speech to a Friend to be Printed therefore his Friend has now faithfully publisht it accordingly being written by Mr. Johnson himself as followeth GOD Almighty honoured Friends having been pleased of his infinite mercy through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ to bestow oâ— all Christians the Theological vertues of Faith Hope and Charity by vertue of Faith all are to believe whatever God hath revealed to us in this world by hope all are to expect what he hath promised we shall receive in the world to come And because where God bestows such a Faith and Hope it is in order to bring all to a true charity and love of him for who can have Faith to believe an Infinite Goodness in which he hopes but he must love that Infinite Goodness in whom he hopes which bestows on him such gifts therefore all ought to honour God and shew their love to him by a due profession and a due practice of this Faith this Hope and this Charity otherwise they cannot be saved because as St. Paul saith With thâ—â—â— art it is believed to righteousness but with the mouth confession is made to salvation Romans 10. For those that will not shew their Faith which is a light not to be hid under a bushel but to be set in a Candlestick to give light to all such can never have neither true Hope for themselves nor true Charity towards God or their Neighbour nor God to them because our Saviour saith Luke 12. He that confesseth me before men him will the Son of man confess before the Angels of God but he that denieth me before men as those do that act or swear against their conscience him will the Son of Man deny before the Angels of God And as all are bound to confess him and his Faith so likewise all are obliged to own and profess that this Faith can be but one only Faith as we are taught Ephes 4. where St. Paul declares There is one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God even as you are called saith he in one hope of your calling This being most true let every rational Christian in his most retired thoughts consider how this Unity of Faith and this Hope of our Calling can stand with such multiplicity of Sects and Opinions all so divers one against the other with which the Nation now so abounds For according to the Text a man may as well say there are diversities of Gods or diversities of Christs as that there are diversities of Faiths because Faith is nothing but the truth of one God which Truth or Faith he hath revealed which none can alter We are all therefore bound to believe alike in one Faith and in one holy Catholick Church as our Creed teacheth us we are all obliged to believe in one Catholick Faith as the Creed of St. Athanasius in the Protestant Common-Prayer-Book declares saying Whosoever will be saved it is necessary before all things that he believe in the Catholick Faith which Faith unless every one keep whole and undefiled he shall without doubt perish everlastingly All and every one are to keep this Faith whole because as it is writ St. Jam. 2. v. 10. Whesoever keeps the whole Law and yet offends in one point is guilty of all All are to keep the whole Faith because our Saviour saith Matth. 16. 15. Go ye into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature All are to believe alike the whole Faith of the Gospel else they shall perish everlastingly because our Saviour saith in the same place v. 16. He that believes shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned We all must keep the Unity of Faith whole and undefiled because our Saviour also saith St. Matth. 5. 16. Heaven and Earth shall pass but one jot or one tittle of the Law shall in no wise pass till all be fulfilled as well the Law of Faith as the Law of Works In confirmation of this I appeal to the Faith and Works and Sufferings of all the Saints from the beginning who to keep their Faith whole and entire have made such profession and practice of it and confirm'd it by such works as are recorded in St. Paul Heb. 11. where first he registers the Faith and Deeds of the Believers in particular and then in general of what they did and suffered by vertue of their Faith as there you read By faith they stopt the mouths of Lions extinguished the force of the fire repelled the edge of the sword they were racked they were tryed by mockings and stripes they were in chains and prisons they were stoned they were hewed they were tempted they died in
his manifold expressions both towards God and men first to God as Rom. 8. where he makes this Proclamation Who shall saith he separate us from the Charity of Christ Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword As it is written for thy sake we are kill'd all the day long we are accounted as sheep to the slaughter He adds I am certain that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And for this Charity in order to his Neighbor let what he suffered to serve them testifie as he relates 2 Cor. 11. by being in Labors and Stripes in Prison in Death in Scourgings in Shipwracks being day and night in the bottom of the Sea in Perils in Weariness in Painfulness in Hunger in Thirst in Fasting in Cold and Weariness besides what he suffered through his care of all Churches ver 28 29. where he saith Who is weak and I am not weak understand by compassion as Fellow-sufferer Who is scandalized and I burn not understand by zeal Let those now consider this who never more rejoyce than now when they see their passive Neighbors scandalized and were never better content in their own apprehensions than now when they behold us suffering though before God we are innocent Were St. Paul on earth again he would rather give himself for others to ease them of their sufferings according to his wonted charity exprest 2 Cor. 12. 15. saying I will very gladly spend and be spent for you and he would rejoyce to suffer in charity for his Neighbor as he abundantly declares Colos 2. 4. saying I rejoyce in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is wanting of the passions or afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church and this example is given for us to do the like and therefore he saith 1 Cor. 4. 9. We are made a spectacle to the World to Angels and to men and therefore God forbid but some of us if we be Christian men should endeavor to imitate some of his examples though we cannot all For he ascended to so superlative a degree of Charity towards his Neighbor that he declares to the World that he could be a Cast-away himself to save others for thus he saith Rom. 9. 3. I could wish my self were accursed from Christ for my Brethren Christians do not then henceforth so easily ruine your Neighbors neither in their Lives nor Estates or Credits by Persecutions and Scandals the Scripture holds forth no such Doctrine nor gives any such examples but as you see the contrary but if our Persecutors will not imitate these examples let us that are persecuted and suffer endeavor to imitate them by choosing rather to lose all we can call our own in this World and Life also rather than to break Charity to God and our Neighbor either by denying or dissembling our Faith and scandalizing the Church or bearing false Witness against our selves or our Neighbors to save our Lives or Fortunes or enrich our selves by false Witness And if we will put in practice the Virtues of Faith Hope and Charity I have spoke of we ought to do it thus what we profess by words we must confirm by deeds and actions Our profession of Catholick Faith is this I believe all Divine Revelations delivered to the Prophets and Apostles proposed by the Catholick Church in Her General Councils or by Her Universal Practice to be believed as an Article of Catholick Faith knowing this to be our Faith the confirmation of this knowledge or the practice of this by our deeds is as St. Paul teacheth Ephes 3. 8. To esteem all worldly things as dirt in respect of this eminent knowledge of Christ and his Faith and therefore for my own part I now being ready to leave all in the World and my Life in testimony of my Catholick Faith which I profess I desire and hope to manifest to all I value my knowledge of Christs Faith more than I value the universal World And as for my Christian Hope I profess to have the confirmation of it or the practical part is to be fulfilled thus being that we must as St. Peter saith 1 Pet. 3. 15. Be always ready to give an account to every one concerning the hope which is in us I have already by words expressed it and by deed I express it thus That whereas I do believe that God as the Scripture saith kills and brings to life again carrieth down to the depth and bringeth back again so now I do by this my present Execution which I am now to undergo willingly give my Body to be mortified in death for my Faith hoping in Gods infinite mercy he will restore my Body and Soul to eternal life and I do willingly resign my self to be carried down to my Grave hoping by my Saviours Cross and Passion Death and Burial he will raise me up again to a glorious Resurrection And as for the confirmation of my Charity to shew by deeds the love I owe to God and my Neighbor it hath pleased my Saviour by his own words to declare which is the best proof or practice of Charity where he saith No man hath a greater Charity than he that lays down his life for his Friend I therefore do willingly undergo this death I am to suffer now to testifie I love my Friend my Neighbor as my self whil'st I undergo this death for my self and them that seeing it is for the profession of my Faith I dye they whil'st they live may the more happily serve God in the same belief and I testifie I love God above all because I forsake the World and my self in death rather than offend him by doing any thing against my Conscience And forasmuch as for these many years I have had occasion by discoursing and reading the Holy Scriptures with others who desired to find out the true Faith I have by words declared what Faith I did believe and what Faith they ought to believe I now declare that for every Point of Faith that ever I believ'd my self or read to others or told them that they might believe as a Point of Faith for all and every such Points of Faith in confirmation of them as well to my self as others I here lay down my Life and omitting all other particular Points I believe Obedience to our King to be a Divine Law and that we are bound to obey His Commands in Temporal Laws and I believe it too a sin of Damnation for any Subject of His to Rebel against Him or His Kingdom and I believe it as certain a sin to Damnation for any Subject to endeavor either by thoughts words or deeds to take away His Life or act any thing