shew'd their Dislike of this Change of Government but also the Colonies in Virginia and the Carybde Islands to the reducing of whom the Parliament sent Sir George Askue with a Fleet of Ships who brought them again into Obedience In the mean Time the Scots were very busie they had commenced a Treaty with Prince Charles at Breda which at last was concluded on he assenting to their Presbyterian Government and they to instal and re-establish him in that Kingdom and in the other accordingly as they questioned not but Fortune would answer their blind zealous Covenant Expectations The Prince puts forth to Sea and in despite of foul Weather and the English King Fishers that lay there to intercept him he landed safely at the Spey in the North of Scotland Now tho' the Scots had a King yet as if they had none every one did that which is right in his own Eyes and as if they intended him only the Title being now in their Power they forced him to follow the Rules of their haughty Clergy in all their sanatick Humours and imperious Decrees First then they bereaved him of all his old Friends Counsellors and Confederates whether of the Clergy or Laity as those who adhered to Episcopal Government and so not pure enough for so reform'd a People Thus they hamstringed him not as what was formerly in the Sign-post only of printed Papers Next they make him take the Solemn League and Covenant that strange Fire which the Scots believe descended from Heaven and by which they at their Pleasures kindle those Wars wherewith they infest England Then these Horse Farriers of the Conscience gave him another Drench he is taught to Renounce the Sins of his Father's House and of his own the Idolatry of his Mother by a constant adhering to the Cause of God according to the Covenant in the firm Establishment of Church Government as it is laid down in the Directory for publick Worship Confession of â—aith and Catechism These with divers others of the like Nature they wrought so on his Necessity they obtruded or rather rammed into his Conscience although with much Reluctancy he signed to making many strange Faces at these bitter Pills he swallowed yet it better'd not his Condition which was like that of a Child under Tutors and Governors there was not an Officer in that Kirk or Commonwealth how vile and abject soever in Place or Person but enjoyed more Freedom both in Body and Mind than he Guarded indeed he was but no otherwise than he was surrounded with the Ignis Fatuus of their zealous Suspicions of him so that move he must not but in the Sphere of the Kirk their Primum mobile whereby 'tis apparent that the Government of that Nation might be almost question'd whether it ever were truly Monarchial tho' they had Kings To proceed the Parliament having notice of all their Proceedings recalled General Cromwel out of Ireland making him Generalissimo of the Commonwealths Armies in the Lord Fairfax's Stead who at the same Time laid down his Commission he with a choice Army marches into Scotland and after many petty Defeats gives them a great Overthrow at Dumbar September 3 1650 and prosecuting his Victory takes Leith a very considerable and advantageous Place as also Edinburgh the Metropolitan City of all Scotland Thus he set firm there his Sword hewing his Way for him to conquer that Country which the King lost by his Pen. Now were the Scots truly miserable for besides a raging Enemy in the very Heart of their Kingdom they were divided among themselves even to the killing and slaying of one another one Party in the North was for the King without the Kirk another Party in the West was for the Kirk without the King a third Party was for the King and Kirk Yet notwithstanding these Losses and Divisions they assumed new Courage levied more Men and crowned their King with the utmost Magnificence as the Indigency and Necessity of their Affairs would admit The English on the other Side being resolved to terminate this War with Scotland passed over into Fife and having defeated four thousand Scots they soon became Masters of Inchigravy Burntisland and St. Johnstoun Mean while the Scots Army consisting of 16000 abandoned their own Territories and by the Way of Carlisle entred England General Cromwel advertised hereof leaves Colonel Monk with 7000 Men in Scotland to perfect the Conquest of that Kingdom and with the rest of the Army pursues the Scots who wheresoever they came proclaimed their King to be King of Great Britain France and Ireland c. But few stirred unto their Aid among others the unfortunate Earl of Darby who having assembled 1200 Men in Lancashire was defeated by Colonel Lilbourn and to save himself was constrained to flee to Worcester where the Scots after a long and tedious March had pitch'd their Camp whither General Cromwel soon pursued and having the Aid of the Train Bands of several Counties gave them Battle which proved fatal unto the Scots their whole Army being overthrown The King in a Disguise escaped into France not without much Difficulty and Danger the Parliament having promised five hundred Pounds to any one that could discover his Person Such a List of Prisoners as were then taken we shall seldom meet with in any Battle but Cromwel's the Earl of Darby the Earl of Lauderdale Duke Hamilton General of the Scots Army who afterwards died of his Wounds the Earl of Rothes the Earl of Cornwarth the Earl of Shrewsbury Peckington Cunninghame and Clare Knights the Lord Spine and Sinclare the Earl of Cleveland of Kelley and Colonel Greaves six Colonels of Horse thirteen of Foot nine Lieutenant Colonels of Horse eight of Foot six Majors of Horse thirteen of Foot seven and thirty Captains of Horse seventy three of Foot fifth five Quarter-masters eighty nine Lieutenants of Foot Major General Biscotty Major General Montgomery the Lieutenant General of the Ordnance the Adjutant General of the Foot the Marshal General the Quartermaster General the Conductor General of the Baggage seventy six Standards ninety nine Ensigns all which were hung up in Westminster Hall for successive Parliaments to understand what Vigour of Spirits they by their Influence can infuse into those they please please to authorize only the Want of the Allay of their Ambitions often works them high where it is impossible to set limits to generous Minds To continue the other Appendixes to this Victory there were also taken nine Ministers nine Chirurgeons One hundred fifty and eight Colours and all the Cannon and Baggage generally the Royal Standard the King's Coach and Horses the Royal Robe the Collar of the Order of the Garter thirty of his domestick Servants and that admirable Poet his Secretary Fanshaw Several other Persons were also afterwards taken in the remotest Countries as Major General Massey who being committed to the Tower afterwards made his Escape Major General Middleton Lieutenant General David Lesly insomuch as that it may be
said the Gleanings of this Victory were as considerable as the whole Harvest itself Many of the common Soldiers were transported into Barbadoes and other Plantations this Mercy extended to them in saving their Lives causing much Gain to accrue thereby unto the Commonwealth in selling the poor heathenish Highlanders to the Plantations I shall end these sad Transactions with what Mr. Wharton chronologized in these Words Since England 's Hogs eat our dear Brethren up He only reflects on the half Graves were made for them in Tuttle Fields Of all this long List two only suffer'd Death viz. Sir Timothy Featherstone Knight and the Earl of Darby who on the 15th of October following was beheaded at Bolton in Lancashire being conducted thither by sixty Foot and eighty Horse about two of the Clock he was brought forth to the Scaffold which was built at the Cross part of it with the Timber of his own House at Latham there was not above an hundred Lookers on besides Soldiers presently after his coming upon the Scaffold there happen'd a great Tumult the Occasion whereof was not certainly known in appeasing of which there were some cut many hurt and one Child killed The Earl was no eloquent Orator and the Tumult put him out of his speaking what he intended At last after some Silence made he began as followeth Since it hath pleased God by this untimely Death to shorten my Days I am glad it is in this Town where some have been made believe I was a cruel Person that I might vindicate myself from this Aspersion It was my Desire the last Time I came into this Country to come hither as to a People that ought to serve the King as I conceive upon good Grounds It was said that I was accustomed to be a Man of Blood but it doth not lie upon my Conscience I was wrongfully bely'd I thank God I desir'd Peace I was born in Honour and I shall die Honourably as I suffer for my Sovereign I had a fair Estate good Friends and was respected and do respect Those that were ready to do for me I was ready to do for them I have done nothing but as my generous Predecessors acted to do you good It was the King that called me in and I thought it my Duty to wait upon his Highness to do him Service Here he was disturb'd by the Noise of the People after some Pause he said I intended to have exprest my self further but I have said I have not much more to say to you but as to my Good-will to this Town of Bolton I can say no more but the Lord bless you I forgive you all and desire to be forgiven of you all for I put my Trust in Christ Jesus Looking about him he said I did never deserve this hard Measure Honest Friends you that are Soldiers my Life is taken away after Quarter given by a Council of War which was never done before Walking up and down the Scaffold he said The Lord bless you all the Son of God bless you all of this Town of Bolton Manchaster Lancashire and the rest of the Kingdom and God send that you may have a King again and Laws I die like a Christian and a Soldier God and my Sovereign's Soldier Causing his Coffin to be opened he said I hope when I'm imprison'd here armed Men shall not need to watch me Looking upon them that were upon the Scaffold he said What do you stay for it is hard that I cannot get a Block to have my Head cut off Speaking to the Executioner he said Thy Coat is so troublesome and cumbersome that I believe that thou canst not het right the Lord help thee and sorgive thee Other Words he used which to avoid Proxillty I willingly omit At last submitting his Neck to the Block he had his Head severed from his Body with one Blow his sorrowful Son who was a sad Spectator of this woful Tragedy out of a pious care and filial duty conveyed his Corps back with him that Night to Wiggan and afterwards gave them honourable Burial Not long before at London was Colonel Eusebius Andrews apprehended who having formerly practiced the Law changed his Gown into a Coat of Armour having received a Commission from the King of Scots for the raising Men in England he was tryed in Westminster Hall at the High Court of Justice then again newly erected being the first unfortunate Centleman that hanselled the Court He was condemned and the 22. of August 1650. brought to the Scaffold on Tower-hill where he expressed himself to the People in these his last Words Christian Gentlemen and People your Business hither to Day is to see a sad Spectacle a Man to be in a Moment unman'd and cut off in the prime of his Years taken from further opportunities of doing good either to himself his Friends the Common-wealth or more especially as to my continued services to my Creator Truly if my general known Course of Life were but enquired into I may modestly say there is such a moral Honesty upon it as some may be so sawcy as to expostulate why this great Judgement is fallen upon me but know I am able to give them and my self an answer and out of this Breast am able to give a better Accompt of my Judgement and Execution then my Judgers themselves or you are able to give It is Gods wrath upon me for Sins long unrepented of many Judgements withstood and Mercies slighted therefore God hath whipped me by his severe Rod of Correction that he might not lose me I pray join with me in Prayer that it may not be a fruitless Rod that when by this Rod I have laid down my Life by his Staff I may be comforted and received into Glory I am very consident by what I have heard since my Sentence there is more exceptions made against proceedings against me then I ever made My Triers had a Law and the value of that Law is undisputable and for me to make a question of it I should shame my self and my Discretion In the strictness of that Law something is done by me that is applicable to some clause therein by which I stand condemnable The means whereby I was brought under that Interpretation of that which was not in my self intended maliciously there being Testimony given by Persons whom I pity so false yet so positive that I cannot condemn my Judges for passing sentence against me according to Legal Justice though Equity lieth in the higher Breasts As for my Accusers or rather Betrayers I pity and am sorry for them they have committed Judas 's Crime but I wish and pray for them with Peter's Tears that by Peter's Repentance they may escape Judas 's Punishment and I wish other People so happy they may be taken up betimes before they have drunk more Blood of Christian Men possibly less deserving then my self It is true there have been several Addresses made for Mercy and I will put the
Obstruction of it upon nothing more than my own Sin and seeing God sees it fit having not glorified him in my Life I might do it in my Death which I am contented to do I profess in the fear of God particular Malice to any one of State or Parliament to do them a bodily Injury I had none For the cause in which I had long waded I must needs say my engagement or continuance in it hath laid no scruple upon my Conscience it was on Principles of Law the Knowledge whereof I profess and on Principles of Religion my Judgement satisfied and Conscience rectified that I have pursued those ways which I bless God I find no blackness upon my Conscience nor have I put it into the Bed-roll of my Sins I will not presume to decide controversies I desire God to honour himself in prospering that side that hath right with it and that you may enjoy Peace and Plenty beyond all you possess here In my Conversation in the World I do not know where I have an Enemy with cause or that there is such a Person whom I have to regret but if there be any whom I cannot recollect under the notion of christian Men I pardon them as freely as if I had named them by name I freely forgive them being in free Peace with all the World as I desire God for Christs sake to be at Peace with me For the business of Death it is a sad Sentence in it self if Men consult with Flesh and Blood But truly without boasting I say it or if I do boast I boast in the Lord I have not to this minute had one consultation with the Flesh about the blow of the Axe more then as my passport to Glory I take it for an honour and I owe thankfulness to those under whose Power I am that they sent me hither to a place however of Punishment yet of some Honour to die a death somewhat worthy of my Blood answerable to my Birth and Qualification and this courtesie of theirs much helped towards the pacification of my Mind I shall desire God that those Genâ—lemen in that sad Bed-roll to be tryed by the High Court of Justice that they may find that really there that is nominal in the Act an High Court of Justice a Court of High Justice high in its Righteousness though not in its severity Father forgive them and forgive me as I forgive them I desire you now that you would pray for me and not give over praying till the Hour of my Death not till the Moment of my Death for the Hour is come already the instant of Time approaches that as I have a great load of Sins so I may have the wings of your Prayers to help those Angels that are to convey my Soul to Heaven and I doubt not but I shall see my Saviour and my gallant Master the King of England and another Master whom I much honoured my Lord Capel hoping this Day to see my Christ in the presence of the Father the King in the presence of him my Lord Capel in the presence of them all and my self there to rejoyce with all other Saints and Angels for ever more After the uttering of these and many the like Words declaring his Faith and Confidence in God with as much undaunted yet Christian Courage as possibly could be in Man he exposed his Neck to the fatal Ax commending his Soul into the Hands of a faithful and merciful Creator thro' the meritorious Passion of a gracious Redeemer and having said Lord Jesus receive me the Executioner with one Blow severed his Head from his Body For such a collateral design not long after one Master Benson was executed at Tyburn one that had some Relations to Sir John Gell who was tried for the same Conspiraccy with his Man Sir John's former Services to the Parliament being his best and most assured Intercessors for his Life and at that time were more then ordinary Advantages to him I shall in the next place give you an account of the Beheading of Sir Henry Hide He was by the Scots King commissonated as Ambassadour to the Grand Signior at Constantinople and stood in Competition with Sir Thomas Bendish then Ambassadour for the English for his Place whereupon they had a Hearing before the Vizier Bassa the result whereof was that Sir Thomas Bendish should dispose of the said Sir Henry Hide as he thought good who was to the same purpose sent to Smyrna thence into England and there condemned and executed before the Royal Exchange in London March 4. 1650. His last Words were to this Effect CHristian People I come hither to die I am brought hither to die and that I may die Christian like I humbly beseech the assistance of your Christian Prayers that by the benefit of them my passage may be the more easie Yet because Men in that condition which it hath pleased God to reduce me to give the more credit to Speech in the discharge of my Duty towards God I shall use a few Words and so conclude I pray all of you join with me to praise this Almighty God to whom I desire to render all hearty Thanks as for all his Mercies so in particular for this that he hath brought me hither that whereas I owe a Debt to Sin and and to Nature that now I can pay the Debt to Nature I can pay it upon the account of Grace And because it is fit to render the blessed account of that hope that is in me I shall tell you to the praise of Almighty God that I have been born and bred up in the Doctrine of the Church of England I have no negative Religion believing to be saved by the only merits of my Saviour Jesus Christ and whatsoever else is profest in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England authorized by Law humbly beseeching Almighay God to restore unto this Church her Peace Prosperity and Patrimony whereof I have an Obedient and a Loving however an unworthy Son and now both my Hope being consident and my Faith perfected there remains only Christian Charity Charity we carry into Heaven Charity on Earth that I leave beseeching all whomsoever I have offended to forgive me as I from the bottom of my Heart do all whomsoever blessing Almighty God for the happy advantage he takes to bring me the sooner to Heaven I bless Almighty God that he hath given me this Advantage as he hath been Merciful to me before the Foundation of the World in my Saviour so that now he hath in Mercy honoured me with a suffering for his Name in Obedience to his Commandment On this Day sevennight I was summoned before that Justice which condemned me on Friday last praised be Almighty God that by this way he hath brought me nearer to himself My charge I presume is publick as my Punishment is visible if there have been any thing in the management of my part being unskilful having
my Soul that God would forgive all those that upon so slender and small Grounds adjudg'd me to dye taking Advantage of such simple Ignorance as I was in And I had at the very beginning of my pleading engaged their Honours no Advantage should be taken against me to my Prejudice that in as much as I understood nothing of the Law And having heard that a Man in the Nicety of the Law might be lost in the Severity thereof meerly for speaking a Word out of simple Ignorance I made it my Prayer to them that no Advantage might be taken against me to the Prejudice of my Person And there was to me a seeming Consent for the President told there should be no Advantage taken against me and upon these Considerations I am afraid there was too great Uncharitableness but I pray God forgive them from the very bottom of my Soul and I desire that even those that shed my Blood may have the Bowels of the God of Mercy shed for them And now having given you the Occasion of my coming hither it is fit I should give you somewhat as concerning my self as I am a Christian I thank God I was Baptized to the Holy Church so I was Baptized to be a Member of the Holy Catholick Church that is the Church of England which I dare say for Purity of Doctrine and orderly Discipline till a sad Reformation had spoiled the Face of the Church and made it a querry whether it were a Church or no I say it was more purely Divine and Apostolical than any other Doctrine or Church in the Christian World whether National or Classical or Congregational And I must tell you That as I am a Member of this Church so I am a Member of the Holy Catholick Church and shall give a most just Confession of my Faith both negatively and affirmatively negatively I am so a Member of the Holy Catholick Church that I abhor all Sects Schisms Sedition and Tyranny in Religion Affirmatively so that as I hold Communion with so I love and honour all Christians in the World that love the same Lord Jesus in Sincerity and call on his Name agreeing with those Truths that are absolutely necessary and clearly demonstrated in the Word of God both in the Old and New Testaments tho' in Charity dissenting from some others that are not necessary And I as I am thus a Christian I hope for Salvation through the Merits of Christ Jesus his Blood I rely on his Merits I trust to for the Salvation of my own Soul Though to this Faith good Works are necessary not meritorious in us but only made meritorious by Christ his Death by his all sufficiency by his satisfaction and his righteousness they become meritorious And truly as I am a Member of this Church so I am a Member of this Community and so pleaded for the Liberties and Priviledges thereof I must now answer something I am aspersed withal in the World They talk of something of a Plot and a Treasonable Design and that I had a great Interest in the Knowledge and Practice thereof and that for the saving my Life I would have discover'd and betray'd I cannot tell what I hope my Conversation hath not been such here in this City where I have been a long Time very well known as to make one imagine I should intermeddle in such an Action and go so contrary to the Practice of my Profession and I hope there are none so uncharitable towards me as to believe I had a Knowledge of that Design Here I must come to particulars for a Plot of having a Design upon the City of London for the Firing of it I so much trouble at the Thought of the Thing that should have been done as they say for the carrying on of such a Design if my Heart deceive me not had I known it I so much abhor the Thing I should have been the first discoverer of it Nor ever had I Correspondency or Meetings with such Persons as would have carried on such a Design It is said likewise I entertained the Earl the Marquess of Ormond to my Remembrance I never saw the Face of that Honourable Person in my Life It is said One Lords Day I did preach at Saint Gregory's and the next Lords Day I was at Brussels or Bruges and kist the Kings Hand and brought I cannot tell what Orders and Instructions from him this I shall say For these three Years last past together I have not been sixty Miles from this City of London and I think it is somewhat further to either of those Places then threescore Miles It is said that I kept Correspondence with one Barrow and Bishop they are Persons I have heard of their Names but never saw their Faces and to my Knowledge I do not know they knew me nor do I know them at all but only as I have heard of their Names And whosoever else hath suggested such things against me I know not His Highness was pleased to tell me I was like a flaming Torch in the midst of a Sheaf of Corn he meaning I being a publick Preacher was able to set the City on Fire by Sedition and Combustions and promoting Dâ—signs Here truly I do say and have it from many of those that are Judges of the High Court that upon Examination of the Business they have not found me a Meddler at all in these Affairs And truly I must needs say therefore that it was a very uncharitable Act in them who ever they were that brought such Accusations against me and irritated his Highness against me I will not say it was Malice it might be Zeal but it was rash zeal which caused me to be sentenced to this Place the God of Mercy pardon and forgive them all and truly as I am a Member of the Church and as a Member of the Community whereon behalf I have been speaking I cannot but do as our Saviour himself did for his Disciples when he was to be taken from them he blessed them and ascended up to Heaven My Trust is in the Mercy of the most High I shall not miscarry and however my Days are shortned by this unexpected doom and shall be brought untimely to the Grave I cannot go without my Prayers for a Blessing upon all the People of this Land and cannot but bless them all in the Name of God and beseech God to bless them in all their Ways and his Blessing be upon them Let us Pray O Most glorious Lord God thou whose Dwelling is so far above the Highest Heavens that thou humblest thy self but to look upon the Things that are in Heaven and that are in Earth and thou doest whatsoever thou wilt both in Heaven in Earth in the Sea and in all deep Places in thy Hands are the Hearts of all Men and thou turnest them which way soever thou wilt O Lord look in Mercy and Compassion we beseech thee on this great and innumerous People of