Winceslaus Gisbitzkey, during his whole confinement, had great hopes of

life given him, which made his friends fear for the safety of his soul.

He, however, continued steadfast in his faith, prayed fervently at the

gallows, and met his fate with singular resignation.

Martin Foster was an ancient cripple; the accusations against whom were,

being charitable to heretics, and lending money to the elector Frederic.

His great wealth, however, seems to have been his principal crime; and

that he might be plundered of his treasures, was the occasion of his

being ranked in this illustrious list of martyrs.

CHAPTER VIII.

GENERAL PERSECUTIONS IN GERMANY.

The general persecutions in Germany were principally occasioned by the

doctrines and ministry of Martin Luther. Indeed, the pope was so

terrified at the success of that courageous reformer, that he determined

to engage the emperor, Charles the Fifth, at any rate, in the scheme to

attempt their extirpation.

To this end;

1. He gave the emperor two hundred thousand crowns in ready money.

2. He promised to maintain twelve thousand foot, and five thousand

horse, for the space of six months, or during a campaign.

3. He allowed the emperor to receive one-half the revenues of the clergy

of the empire during the war.

4. He permitted the emperor to pledge the abbey lands for five hundred

thousand crowns, to assist in carrying on hostilities against the

protestants.

Thus prompted and supported, the emperor undertook the extirpation of

the protestants, against whom, indeed, he was particularly enraged

himself; and, for this purpose, a formidable army was raised in Germany,

Spain and Italy.

The protestant princes, in the mean time, formed a powerful confederacy,

in order to repel the impending blow. A great army was raised, and the

command given to the elector of Saxony, and the landgrave of Hesse. The

imperial forces were commanded by the emperor of Germany in person, and

the eyes of all Europe were turned on the event of the war.

At length the armies met, and a desperate engagement ensued, in which

the protestants were defeated, and the elector of Saxony, and landgrave

of Hesse, both taken prisoners. This fatal blow was succeeded by a

horrid persecution, the severities of which were such, that exile might

be deemed a mild fate, and concealment in a dismal wood pass for

happiness. In such times a cave is a palace, a rock a bed of down, and

wild roots delicacies.

Those who were taken experienced the most cruel tortures the infernal

imaginations could invent; and, by their constancy evinced that a real

christian can surmount every difficulty, and despise ever danger to

acquire a crown of martyrdom.

Henry Voes and John Esch, being apprehended as protestants, were brought

to examination; when Voes, answering for himself and the other, gave the

following answers to some questions asked by a priest, who examined them

by order of the magistracy.

_Priest._ Were you not both, some years ago, Augustine friars?

_Voes._ Yes.

_Priest._ How came you to quit the bosom of the church of Rome?

_Voes._ On account of her abominations.

_Priest._ In what do you believe?

_Voes._ In the Old and New Testaments.

_Priest._ Do you believe in the writings of the fathers, and the decrees

of the councils?

_Voes._ Yes, if they agree with Scripture.

_Priest._ Did not Martin Luther seduce you both?

_Voes._ He seduced us even in the very same manner as Christ seduced the

apostles; that is, he made us sensible of the frailty of our bodies, and

the value of our souls.

This examination was sufficient; they were both condemned to the flames,

and soon after, suffered with that manly fortitude which becomes

christians, when they receive a crown of martyrdom.

Henry Sutphen, an eloquent and pious preacher, was taken out of his bed

in the middle of the night, and compelled to walk barefoot a

considerable way, so that his feet were terribly cut. He desired a

horse, but his conductors said, in derision, A horse for a heretic! no

no, heretics may go barefoot. When he arrived at the place of his

destination, he was condemned to be burnt; but, during the execution,

many indignities were offered him, as those who attended not content

with what he suffered in the flames, cut and slashed him in a most

terrible manner.

Many were murdered at Halle; Middleburg being taken by storm all the

protestants were put to the sword, and great numbers were burned at

Vienna.

An officer being sent to put a minister to death, pretended, when he

came to the clergyman's house, that his intentions were only to pay him

a visit. The minister, not suspecting the intended cruelty, entertained

his supposed guest in a very cordial manner. As soon as dinner was over,

the officer said to some of his attendants, "Take this clergyman, and

hang him." The attendants themselves were so shocked, after the civility

they had seen, that they hesitated to perform the commands of their

master; and the minister said, "Think what a sting will remain on your

conscience, for thus violating the laws of hospitality." The officer,

however, insisted upon being obeyed, and the attendants, with

reluctance, performed the execrable office of executioners.

Peter Spengler, a pious divine, of the town of Schalet, was thrown into

the river, and drowned. Before he was taken to the banks of the stream

which was to become his grave, they led him to the market-place, that

his crimes might be proclaimed; which were, not going to mass, not

making confession, and not believing in transubstantiation. After this

ceremony was over, he made a most excellent discourse to the people, and

concluded with a kind of hymn, of a very edifying nature.

A protestant gentleman being ordered to lose his head for not renouncing

his religion, went cheerfully to the place of execution. A friar came to

him, and said these words in a low tone of voice, "As you have a great

reluctance publicly to abjure your faith, whisper your confession in my

ear, and I will absolve your sins." To this the gentleman loudly

replied, "Trouble me not, friar, I have confessed my sins to God, and

obtained absolution through the merits of Jesus Christ." Then turning to

the executioner, he said, "Let me not be pestered with these men, but

perform your duty." On which his head was struck off at a single blow.

Wolfgang Scuch, and John Huglin, two worthy ministers, were burned, as

was Leonard Keyser, a student of the university of Wertembergh; and

George Carpenter, a Bavarian, was hanged for refusing to recant

protestantism.

The persecutions in Germany having subsided many years, again broke out

in 1630, on account of the war between the emperor and the king of

Sweden, for the latter was a protestant prince, and consequently the

protestants of Germany espoused his cause, which greatly exasperated the

emperor against them.

The imperialists having laid siege to the town of Passewalk, (which was

defended by the Swedes) took it by storm, and committed the most horrid

cruelties on the occasion. They pulled down the churches, burnt the

houses, pillaged the properties, massacred the ministers, put the

garrison to the sword, hanged the townsmen, ravished the women,

smothered the children, &c. &c.

A most bloody tragedy was transacted at Magdeburg, in the year 1631. The

generals Tilly and Pappenheim, having taken that protestant city by

storm, upwards of 20,000 persons, without distinction of rank, sex, or

age, were slain during the carnage, and 6,000 were drowned in attempting

to escape over the river Elbe. After this fury had subsided, the

remaining inhabitants were stripped naked, severely scourged, had their

ears cropped, and being yoked together like oxen were turned adrift.

The town of Hoxter was taken by the popish army, and all the inhabitants

as well as the garrison, were put to the sword; when the houses being

set on fire, the bodies were consumed in the flames.

At Griphenburg, when the imperial forces prevailed, they shut up the

senators in the senate-chamber, and surrounding it by lighted straw

suffocated them.

Franhendal surrendered upon articles of capitulation, yet the

inhabitants were as cruelly used as at other places, and at Heidelburg,

many were shut up in prison and starved.

The cruelties used by the imperial troops, under count Tilly in Saxony,

are thus enumerated.

Half strangling, and recovering the persons again repeatedly. Rolling

sharp wheels over the fingers and toes. Pinching the thumbs in a vice.

Forcing the most filthy things down the throat, by which many were

choked. Tying cords round the head so tight that the blood gushed out of

the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Fastening burning matches to the

fingers, toes, ears, arms, legs, and even tongue. Putting powder in the

mouth and setting fire to it, by which the head was shattered to pieces.

Tying bags of powder to all parts of the body, by which the person was

blown up. Drawing cords backwards and forwards through the fleshy parts.

Making incisions with bodkins and knives in the skin. Running wires

through the nose, ears, lips, &c. Hanging protestants up by the legs,

with their heads over a fire, by which they were smoked dried. Hanging

up by one arm till it was dislocated. Hanging upon hooks by the ribs.

Forcing people to drink till they burst. Baking many in hot ovens.

Fixing weights to the feet, and drawing up several with pulleys.

Hanging, stifling, roasting, stabbing, frying, racking, ravishing,

ripping open, breaking the bones, rasping off the flesh, tearing with

wild horses, drowning, strangling, burning, broiling, crucifying,

immuring, poisoning, cutting off tongues, nose, ears, &c. sawing off the

limbs, hacking to pieces, and drawing by the heels through the streets.

The enormous cruelties will be a perpetual stain on the memory of count

Tilly, who not only permitted, but even commanded the troops to put them

in practice. Wherever he came, the most horrid barbarities, and cruel

depredations ensued: famine and conflagration marked his progress: for

he destroyed all the provisions he could not take with him, and burnt

all the towns before he left them; so that the full result of his

conquests were murder, poverty, and desolation.

An aged and pious divine they stripped naked, tied him on his back upon

a table, and fastened a large fierce cat upon his belly. They then

pricked and tormented the cat in such a manner, that the creature with

rage tore his belly open, and knawed his bowels.

Another minister, and his family, were seized by these inhuman monsters;

when they ravished his wife and daughter before his face; stuck his

infant son upon the point of a lance, and then surrounding him with his

whole library of books, they set fire to them, and he was consumed in

the midst of the flames.

In Hesse-Cassel some of the troops entered an hospital, in which were

principally mad women, when stripping all the poor wretches naked, they

made them run about the streets for their diversion, and then put them

all to death.

In Pomerania, some of the imperial troops entering a small town, seized

upon all the young women, and girls of upwards of ten years, and then

placing their parents in a circle, they ordered them to sing psalms,

while they ravished their children, or else they swore they would cut

them to pieces afterward. They then took all the married women who had

young children, and threatened, if they did not consent to the

gratification of their lusts, to burn their children before their faces

in a large fire, which they had kindled for that purpose.

A band of count Tilly's soldiers meeting a company of merchants

belonging to Basil, who were returning from the great market of

Strasburg, they attempted to surround them: all escaped, however, but

ten, leaving their properties behind. The ten who were taken begged hard

for their lives; but the soldiers murdered them saying, You must die

because you are heretics, and have got no money.

The same soldiers met with two countesses, who, together with some young

ladies, the daughters of one of them, were taking an airing in a landau.

The soldiers spared their lives, but treated them with the greatest

indecency, and having stripped them all stark naked, bade the coachman

drive on.

By means and mediation of Great Britain, peace was at length restored to

Germany, and the protestants remained unmolested for several years, till

some new disturbances broke out in the Palatinate which were thus

occasioned.

The great church of the Holy Ghost, at Heidelburg, had, for many years,

been shared equally by the protestants and Roman catholics in this

manner: the protestants performed divine service in the nave or body of

the church; and the Roman catholics celebrated mass in the choir. Though

this had been the custom time immemorial, the elector Palatinate, at

length, took it into his head not to suffer it any longer, declaring,

that as Heidelburg was the place of his residence, and the church of the

Holy Ghost the cathedral of his principal city, divine service ought to

be performed only according to the rites of the church of which he was a

member. He then forbade the protestants to enter the church, and put the

papists in possession of the whole.

The aggrieved people applied to the protestant powers for redress, which

so much exasperated the elector, that he suppressed the Heidelburg

catechism. The protestant powers, however, unanimously agreed to demand

satisfaction, as the elector, by this conduct, had broke an article of

the treaty of Westphalia; and the courts of Great Britain, Prussia,

Holland, &c., sent deputies to the elector, to represent the injustice

of his proceedings, and to threaten, unless he changed his behaviour to

the protestants in the Palatinate, that they would treat their Roman

catholic subjects with the greatest severity. Many violent disputes took

place between the Protestant powers and those of the elector, and these

were greatly augmented by the following incident; the coach of the Dutch

minister standing before the door of the resident sent by the prince of

Hesse, the host was by chance carrying to a sick person; the coachman

took not the least notice, which those who attended the host observing,

pulled him from his box, and compelled him to kneel: this violence to

the domestic of a public minister, was highly resented by all the

protestant deputies; and still more to heighten these differences, the

protestants presented to the deputies three additional articles of

complaint.

1. That military executions were ordered against all protestant

shoemakers who should refuse to contribute to the masses of St. Crispin.

2. That the protestants were forbid to work on popish holydays even in

harvest time, under very heavy penalties, which occasioned great

inconveniences, and considerably prejudiced public business.

3. That several protestant ministers had been dispossessed of their

churches, under pretence of their having been originally founded and

built by Roman Catholics.

The protestant deputies, at length became so serious, as to intimate to

the elector, that force of arms should compel him to do the justice he

denied to their representations. This menace brought him to reason, as

he well knew the impossibility of carrying on a war against the powerful

states who threatened him. He, therefore, agreed, that the body of the

church of the Holy Ghost should be restored to the protestants. He

restored the Heidelburg catechism, put the protestant ministers again in

possession of the churches of which they had been dispossessed, allowed

the protestants to work on popish holydays, and, ordered, that no person

should be molested for not kneeling when the host passed by.

These things he did through fear; but to show his resentment to his

protestant subjects, in other circumstances where protestant states had

no right to interfere, he totally abandoned Heidelburg, removing all the

courts of justice to Manheim, which was entirely inhabited by Roman

catholics. He likewise built a new palace there, making it his place of

residence; and, being followed by the Roman catholics of Heidelburg,

Manheim became a flourishing place.

In the mean time the protestants of Heidelburg sunk into poverty and

many of them became so distressed, as to quit their native country, and

seek an asylum in protestant states. A great number of these coming into

England, in the time of queen Anne, were cordially received there, and

met with a most humane assistance, both by public and private donations.

In 1732, above 30,000 protestants were, contrary to the treaty of

Westphalia, driven from the archbishopric of Saltzburg. They went away

to the depth of winter, with scarce clothes to cover them, and without

provisions, not having permission to take any thing with them. The cause

of these poor people not being publicly espoused by such states as could

obtain them redress, they emigrated to various protestant countries, and

settled in places where they could enjoy the free exercise of their

religion, without hurting their consciences, and live free from the

trammels of popish superstition, and the chains of papal tyranny.

_An Account of the Persecutions in the Netherlands._

The light of the gospel having successfully spread over the Netherlands,

the pope instigated the emperor to commence a persecution against the

protestants; when many thousand fell martyrs to superstitious malice and

barbarous bigotry, among whom the most remarkable were the following:

Wendelinuta, a pious protestant widow, was apprehended on account of her

religion, when several monks, unsuccessfully, endeavoured to persuade

her to recant. As they could not prevail, a Roman catholic lady of her

acquaintance desired to be admitted to the dungeon in which she was

confined, and promised to exert herself strenuously towards inducing the

prisoner to abjure the reformed religion. When she was admitted to the

dungeon, she did her utmost to perform the task she had undertaken; but

finding her endeavours ineffectual, she said, Dear Wendelinuta, if you

will not embrace our faith, at least keep the things which you profess

secret within your own bosom, and strive to prolong your life. To which

the widow replied, Madam you know not what you say; for with the heart

we believe to righteousness, but with the tongue confession is made unto

salvation. As she positively refused to recant, her goods were

confiscated, and she was condemned to be burnt. At the place of

execution a monk held a cross to her, and bade her kiss and worship God.

To which she answered, "I worship no wooden god, but the eternal God who

is in heaven." She was then executed, but through the before-mentioned

Roman catholic lady, the favour was granted, that she should be

strangled before fire was put to the fagots.

Two protestant clergymen were burnt at Colen; a tradesman of Antwerp,

named Nicholas, was tied up in a sack, thrown into the river, and

drowned; and Pistorius, a learned student, was carried to the market of

a Dutch village in a fool's coat, and committed to the flames.

Sixteen protestants having received sentence to be beheaded, a

protestant minister was ordered to attend the execution. This gentleman

performed the function of his office with great propriety, exhorted them

to repentance, and gave them comfort in the mercies of their Redeemer.

As soon as the sixteen were beheaded, the magistrate cried out to the

executioner, "There is another stroke remaining yet; you must behead the

minister; he can never die at a better time than with such excellent

precepts in his mouth, and such laudable examples before him." He was

accordingly beheaded, though even many of the Roman catholics themselves

reprobated this piece of treacherous and unnecessary cruelty.

George Scherter, a minister of Saltzburg, was apprehended and committed

to prison for instructing his flock in the knowledge of the gospel.

While he was in confinement he wrote a confession of his faith; soon

after which he was condemned, first to be beheaded, and afterward to be

burnt to ashes. In his way to the place of execution he said to the

spectators, "That you may know I die a true christian, I will give you a

sign." This was indeed verified in a most singular manner; for after his

head was cut off, the body lying a short space of time with the belly to

the ground, it suddenly turned upon the back, when the right foot

crossed over the left, as did also the right arm over the left: and in

this manner it remained till it was committed to the flames.

In Louviana, a learned man, named Percinal, was murdered in prison; and

Justus Insparg was beheaded, for having Luther's sermons in his

possession.

Giles Tilleman, a cutler of Brussels, was a man of great humanity and

piety. Among others he was apprehended as a protestant, and many

endeavours were made by the monks to persuade him to recant. He had

once, by accident, a fair opportunity of escaping from prison and being

asked why he did not avail himself of it, he replied, "I would not do

the keepers so much injury, as they must have answered for my absence,

had I gone away." When he was sentenced to be burnt, he fervently

thanked God for granting him an opportunity, by martyrdom, to glorify

his name. Perceiving, at the place of execution, a great quantity of

fagots, he desired the principal part of them might be given to the

poor, saying, a small quantity will suffice to consume me. The

executioner offered to strangle him before the fire was lighted, but he

would not consent, telling him that he defied the flames and, indeed, he

gave up the ghost with such composure amidst them that he hardly seemed

sensible of their effects.

In the year 1543 and 1544, the persecution was carried on throughout all

Flanders, in a most violent and cruel manner. Some were condemned to

perpetual imprisonment, others to perpetual banishment but most were put

to death either by hanging, drowning, immuring, burning, the rack, or

burying alive.

John de Boscane, a zealous protestant, was apprehended on account of his

faith, in the city of Antwerp. On his trial, he steadfastly professed

himself to be of the reformed religion, which occasioned his immediate

condemnation. The magistrate, however, was afraid to put him to death

publicly, as he was popular through his great generosity, and almost

universally beloved for his inoffensive life, and exemplary piety. A

private execution being determined on, an order was given to drown him

in prison. The executioner, accordingly, put him in a large tub; but

Boscane struggling, and getting his head above the water, the

executioner stabbed him with a dagger in several places, till he

expired.

John de Buisons, another protestant, was, about the same time, secretly

apprehended, and privately executed at Antwerp. The number of

protestants being great in that city, and the prisoner much respected,

the magistrates feared an insurrection, and for that reason ordered him

to be beheaded in prison.

A. D. 1568, three persons were apprehended in Antwerp, named Scoblant,

Hues, and Coomans. During their confinement they behaved with great

fortitude and cheerfulness, confessing that the hand of God appeared in

what had befallen them, and bowing down before the throne of his

providence. In an epistle to some worthy protestants, they express

themselves in the following words; Since it is the will of the Almighty

that we should suffer for his name, and be persecuted for the sake of

his gospel, we patiently submit, and are joyful upon the occasion;

though the flesh may rebel against the spirit, and hearken to the

council of the old serpent, yet the truths of the gospel shall prevent

such advice from being taken, and Christ shall bruise the serpent's

head. We are not comfortless to confinement, for we have faith; we fear

not affliction, for we have hope; and we forgive our enemies, for we

have charity. Be not under apprehensions for us, we are happy in

confinement through the promises of God, glory in our bonds, and exult

in being thought worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. We desire not

to be released, but to be blessed with fortitude, we ask not liberty,

but the power of perseverance; and wish for no change in our condition,

but that which places a crown of martyrdom upon our heads.

Scoblant was first brought to his trial; when, persisting in the

profession of his faith, he received sentence of death. On his return to

prison, he earnestly requested the jailer not to permit any friar to

come near him; saying, "They can do me no good, but may greatly disturb

me. I hope my salvation is already sealed in heaven, and that the blood

of Christ, in which I firmly put my trust, hath washed me from my

iniquities. I am now going to throw off this mantle of clay, to be clad

in robes of eternal glory, by whose celestial brightness I shall be

freed from all errors. I hope I may be the last martyr to papal tyranny,

and the blood already spilt found sufficient to quench the thirst of

popish cruelty; that the church of Christ may have rest here, as his

servants will hereafter." On the day of execution, he took a pathetic

leave of his fellow-prisoners. At the stake he fervently said the Lord's

Prayer, and sung the fortieth psalm; then commending his soul to God, he

was burnt alive.

Hues, soon after, died in prison; upon which occasion Coomans wrote thus

to his friends, "I am now deprived of my friends and companions;

Scoblant is martyred, and Hues dead, by the visitation of the Lord; yet

I am not alone, I have with me the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of

Jacob; he is my comfort, and shall be my reward. Pray unto God to

strengthen me to the end, as I expect every hour to be freed from this

tenement of clay."

On his trial he freely confessed himself of the reformed religion,

answered with a manly fortitude to every charge against him, and proved

the scriptural part of his answers from the gospel. The judge told him

the only alternatives were, recantation or death; and concluded by

saying, "Will you die for the faith you profess?" To which Coomans

replied, "I am not only willing to die, but to suffer the most

excruciating torments for it; after which my soul shall receive its

confirmation from God himself, in the midst of eternal glory." Being

condemned, he went cheerfully to the place of execution, and died with

the most manly fortitude, and christian resignation.

William Nassau fell a sacrifice to treachery, being assassinated in the

fifty-first year of his age, by Beltazar Gerard, a native of Franche

Compte, in the province of Burgundy. This murderer, in hopes of a reward

here and hereafter, for killing an enemy to the king of Spain and an

enemy to the catholic religion, undertook to destroy the prince of

Orange. Having procured fire arms, he watched him as he passed through

the great hall of his palace to dinner, and demanded a passport. The

princess of Orange, observing that the assassin spoke with a hollow and

confused voice, asked who he was? saying, she did not like his

countenance. The prince answered, it was one that demanded a passport,

which he should presently have.

Nothing farther passed before dinner, but on the return of the prince

and princess through the same hall, after dinner was over, the assassin,

standing concealed as much as possible by one of the pillars, fired at

the prince, the balls entering at the left side, and passing through the

right, wounding in their passage the stomach and vital parts. On

receiving the wounds, the prince only said, Lord, have mercy upon my

soul, and upon these poor people, and then expired immediately.

The lamentations throughout the United Provinces were general, on

account of the death of the prince of Orange; and the assassin who was

immediately taken, received sentence to be put to death in the most

exemplary manner, yet such was his enthusiasm, or folly that when his

flesh was torn by red-hot pincers, he coolly said, If I was at liberty,

I would commit such an action over again.

The prince of Orange's funeral was the grandest ever seen in the Low

Countries, and perhaps the sorrow for his death the most sincere, as he

left behind him the character he honestly deserved, viz. that of Father

of his people.

To conclude, multitudes were murdered in different parts of Flanders; in

the city of Valence, in particular, fifty-seven of the principal

inhabitants were butchered in one day, for refusing to embrace the

Romish superstition; and great numbers were suffered to languish in

confinement, till they perished through the inclemency of their

dungeons.

CHAPTER IX.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PERSECUTIONS IN LITHUANIA AND POLAND.

The persecutions in Lithuania began in 1648, and were carried on with

great severity by the Cossacks and Tartars. The cruelty of the Cossacks

was much, that even the Tartars, at last, grew ashamed of it, and

rescued some of the intended victims from their hands.

The barbarities exercised were these: skinning alive, cutting off hands,

taking out the bowels, cutting the flesh open, putting out the eyes,

beheading, scalping, cutting off feet, boring the shin bones, pouring

melted lead into the flesh, hanging, stabbing, and sending to perpetual

banishment.

The Russians, taking advantage of the devastations which had been made

in the country, and of its incapability of defence, entered it with a

considerable army, and, like a flood, bore down all before them. Every

thing they met with was an object of destruction; they razed cities,

demolished castles, ruined fortresses, sacked towns, burnt villages, and

murdered people. The ministers of the gospel were peculiarly marked out

as the objects of their displeasure, though every worthy christian was

liable to the effects of their cruelty.

As Lithuania recovered itself after one persecution, succeeding enemies

again destroyed it. The Swedes, the Prussians, and the Courlanders,

carried fire and sword through it, and continual calamities, for some

years, attended that unhappy district. It was then attacked by the

prince of Transylvania, who had in his army, exclusive of his own

Transylvanians, Hungarians, Moldavians, Servians, Walachians, &c. These,

as far as they penetrated, wasted the country, destroyed the churches,

rifled the nobility, burnt the houses, enslaved the healthy, and

murdered the sick.

A clergyman, who wrote an account of the misfortunes of Lithuania, in

the seventeenth century, says, "In consideration of these extremities,

we cannot but adore the judgment of God poured upon us for our sins, and

deplore our sad condition. Let us hope for a deliverance from his mercy,

and wish for restitution in his benevolence. Though we are brought low,

though we are wasted, troubled, and terrified, yet his compassion is

greater than our calamities, and his goodness superior to our

afflictions. Our neighbours hate us at present, as much as our more

distant enemies did before; they persecute the remnant of us still

remaining, deprive us of our few churches left, banish our preachers,

abuse our schoolmasters, treat us with contempt, and oppress us in the

most opprobrious manner. In all our afflictions the truth of the gospel

shone among us, and gave us comfort; and we only wished for the grace of

Jesus Christ, (not only to ourselves, but to soften the hearts of our

enemies) and the sympathy of our fellow christians."

The protestants of Poland were persecuted in a dreadful manner. The

ministers in particular were treated with the most unexampled barbarity;

some having their tongues cut out, because they had preached the gospel

truths; others being deprived of their sight on account of their having

read the bible; and great numbers were cut to pieces for not recanting.

Private persons were put to death by various methods; the most cruel

being usually preferred. Women were murdered without the least regard to

their sex; and the persecutors even went so far as to cut off the heads

of sucking babes, and fasten them to the breasts of the mothers.

Even the solemnity of the grave did not exempt the bodies of protestants

from the malice of persecutors; for they sacrilegiously dug up the

bodies of many eminent persons, and either cut them to pieces, and

exposed them to be devoured by birds and beasts, or hung them up in

conspicuous or public places.

The city of Lesna particularly suffered in this persecution; for being

besieged and taken, the inhabitants were all put to the sword.

CHAPTER X.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PERSECUTIONS IN CHINA AND SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES.

Christianity was first established in China by three Italian

missionaries, called Roger the Neapolitan, Pasis of Bologne, and Matthew

Ricci of Mazerata, in the marquisate of Ancona. These entered China

about the beginning of the sixteenth century, being well circumstanced

to perform their important commission with success, as they had

previously studied the Chinese language.

These three missionaries were very assiduous to the discharge of their

duty; but Roger and Pasis returning to Europe in a few years, the whole

labour fell upon Ricci, who aimed to establish christianity with a

degree of zeal that was indefatigable.

Ricci, though much disposed to indulge his converts as far as possible,

made great hesitation at their ceremonies, which seemed to amount to

idolatry. At length, after eighteen years consideration, he began to

soften his opinion, and tolerated all the parts of those customs which

were ordered by the laws of the empire, but strictly enjoined his

Chinese christians to omit the rest.

This was the condition of christianity in China, when the christian

church established there was governed only by Ricci, who, by his

moderation, made innumerable converts. In 1630, however, his tranquility

was disturbed by the arrival of some new missionaries, these being

unacquainted with the Chinese customs, manners, and language, and with

the arguments on which Ricci's toleration was founded, were astonished

when they saw christian converts prostrate before Confucius and the

tables of their ancestors, and condemned the custom accordingly.

A warm controversy now ensued between Ricci, seconded by his converts,

and the new missionaries; and the latter wrote an account of the whole

affair to the pope, and the society for the propagation of the christian

faith. The society soon pronounced, that the ceremonies were idolatrous

and intolerable, and the pope confirmed the sentence. In this both the

society and the pope were excusable, as the matter had been

misrepresented to them; for the enemies of Ricci had affirmed the halls,

in which the ceremonies were performed, to be temples, and the

ceremonies themselves idolatrous sacrifices.

The sentence above mentioned was sent over to China, but treated with

contempt, and matters remained as they were for some time. At length, a

true representation of the matter was sent over, setting forth, that the

Chinese customs and ceremonies alluded to were entirely free from

idolatry, being merely political, and tending only to the peace and

welfare of the empire. The pope, finding that he had made himself

ridiculous, by confirming an absurd sentence upon a false report, wanted

to get rid of the affair, and therefore referred the representation to

the inquisition, which reversed the sentence immediately, at the private

desire of the pope, as may be naturally supposed.

The christian church, for all these divisions, flourished in China till

the death of the first Tartar emperor, whose successor was a minor.

During this minority of the young emperor Cang-hi, the regents and

nobles conspired to extirpate the christian religion. The execution of

this design was begun with expedition, and carried on with severity, so

that every christian teacher in China, as well as those who professed

the faith, were struck with amazement. John Adam Schall, a German

ecclesiastic, and one of the principals of the mission, was thrown into

a dungeon in the year 1664, being then in the seventy-fourth year of his

age, and narrowly escaped with his life.

The ensuing year, viz. 1665, the ministers of state publicly and

unanimously resolved, and made a decree specifying, viz.

1. That the christian doctrines were false.

2. That they were dangerous to the interest of the empire.

3. That they should not be practised under pain of death.

The publication of this decree occasioned a furious general persecution,

in which some were put to death, many were ruined, and all were, in some

manner, oppressed. This decree was general, and the persecution

universal accordingly throughout the empire; for, previous to this, the

christians had been partially persecuted at different times, and in

different provinces.

Four years after, viz. 1669, the young emperor was declared of age, and

took the reins of government upon himself, when the persecution

immediately ceased by his order.

_An account of the Persecutions in Japan._

Christianity was first introduced into the idolatrous empire of Japan by

some Portuguese missionaries in the year of our Lord 1552, and their

endeavours in making converts to the light of the gospel met with a

degree of success equal to their most sanguine wishes.

This continued till the year 1616, when the missionaries being accused

of having concerned themselves in politics, and formed a plan to subvert

the government, and dethrone the emperor, great jealousies subsisted

till 1622, when the court ordered a dreadful persecution to commence

against both foreign and native christians. Such was the rage of this

persecution, that, during the first four years, no less than 20,570

christians were massacred. The public profession of christianity was

prohibited under pain of death, and the churches were shut up by an

express edict.

Many who were informed against, as privately professing christianity,

suffered martyrdom with great heroism. The persecution continued many

years, when the remnant of the innumerable christians, with which Japan

abounded, to the number of 37,000 souls, retired to the town and castle

of Siniabara, in the island of Xinio, where they determined to make a

stand, to continue in their faith, and to defend themselves to the very

last extremity.

The Japanese army pursued the christians, and laid siege to the place.

The christians defended themselves with great bravery, and held out

against the besiegers for the space of three months, but were at length

compelled to surrender, when men, women and children, were

indiscriminately murdered; and christianity, in their martyrdoms,

entirely extirpated from Japan.

This event took place on the 12th of April, 1638, since which period no

christians but the Dutch are allowed to land in the empire, and even

they are obliged to conduct themselves with the greatest precaution, and

to carry on their commerce with the utmost circumspection.

_An account of the Persecutions against the Christians in Abyssinia, or

Ethiopia._

Towards the conclusion of the fifteenth century, and soon after the

discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, some Portuguese missionaries made a

voyage to Abyssinia, and were indefatigable in propagating the Roman

catholic doctrine among the Abyssinians, who professed christianity

before the arrival of the missionaries.

The priests, employed in this mission, gained such an influence at

court, that the emperor consented to abolish the established rites of

the Ethiopian church, and to admit those of Rome. He soon after

consented to receive a patriarch from Rome, and to acknowledge the

pope's supremacy.

Many of the most powerful lords, and a majority of the people who

professed the primitive christianity, as first established in Abyssinia,

opposed these innovations, and took up arms against the emperor.--Thus,

by the artifices of the court of Rome, and its emissaries, a most

furious civil war was begun, and the whole empire thrown into commotion.

This war was carried on through several reigns, its continuance being

above 100 years, and the court constantly siding with the Roman

catholics, the primitive christians of Abyssinia were severely

persecuted, and multitudes perished by the most inhuman means.

_An account of the Persecutions against the Christians in Turkey._

Mahomet, (the impostor) in the infancy of his new religion, tolerated

christianity through a political motive, as he was sensible, that even

in those early times it had several powerful espousers among the

princes, who were his cotemporaries. As a proof that this was his sole

view, as soon as he found his doctrine was established on a more

permanent situation, he altered his forbearance to a system of the most

rigid and barbarous persecution; which diabolical plan he has

particularly recommended to his misguided followers, in that part of his

Alcoran, entitled The Chapter of the Sword; and as proofs of the blind

zeal his followers have adopted from his infernal tenets, the many

bloody battles of the Turks with the whole of the professors of Christ's

gospel, and their cruel massacres of them at various periods,

sufficiently evince.

Constantine was, in the year 1453, besieged in Constantinople, by

Mahomet the Second, with an army of 300,000 men, when, after a bloody

siege of about six week, on the 29th of May, 1453, it fell into the

hands of the infidels, after being an imperial christian city for some

centuries; and the Turks have, to this day, retained possession of it,

as well as of the adjoining suburb of Pera.

On entering Constantinople, the Turks exercised on the wretched

christians the most unremitting barbarity, destroying them by every

method the most hellish cruelty could invent, or the most unfeeling

heart could practise: some they roasted alive on spits, others they

flayed alive, and in that horrid manner left to expire with hunger; many

were sawed asunder, and others torn to pieces by horses.--For full three

days and nights the Turks were striving to exceed each other in the

exercise of their shocking carnage, and savage barbarity; murdering,

without distinction of age or sex, all they met, and brutishly violating

the chastity of women, of every distinction and age.

During the year 1529, Solyman the First retook Buda from the christians,

and showed the most horrible persecution of the inhabitants; some had

their eyes torn out, others their hands, ears, and noses cut off, and

the children their privities, the virgins were deflowered, the matrons

had their breasts cut off, and such as were pregnant had their wombs

ripped open, and their unborn babes thrown into the flames. Not content

with this, he repeated these horrid examples all the way on his march to

Vienna, which he ineffectually besieged, during which, this diabolical

barbarian, having made a body of christians prisoners, he sent three of

them into the city to relate the great strength of his army, and the

rest he ordered to be torn limb from limb by wild horses in sight of

their christian brethren, who could only lament by their cries and tears

their dreadful fate.

In many places the tender children were in sight of their wretched

parents torn to pieces by beasts, others dragged at horses' heels, some

famished with hunger, and others buried up to their necks in earth, and

in that manner left to perish. In short, were we to relate the

innumerable massacres and deplorable tragedies acted by the infidels,

the particulars would at least make a volume of themselves, and from

their horrid similarity be not only shocking, but disgusting to the

reader.

_Persecutions and Oppressions in Georgia and Mingrelia._

The Georgians, are christians, and being very handsome people, the Turks

and Persians persecute them by the most cruel mode of taxation ever

invented, namely, in lieu of money, they compel them to deliver up their

children for the following purposes.

The females to increase the number of concubines in their seraglios, to

serve as maids of honour to sultanas, the ladies of bashaws, &c., and to

be sold to merchants of different nations, by whom the price is

proportioned to the beauty of the purchased fair one.

The males are used as mutes and eunuchs in the seraglio, as clerks in

the offices of state, and as soldiers in the army.

To the west of Georgia is Mingrelia, a country likewise inhabited by

christians, who are persecuted and oppressed in the same manner as the

Georgians by the Turks and Persians, their children being extorted from

them, or they murdered for refusing to consent to the sale.

_An Account of the Persecutions in the States of Barbary._

In Algiers the christians are treated with particular severity; as the

Algerines are some of the most perfidious, as well as the most cruel of

all the inhabitants of Barbary. By paying a most exorbitant fine, some

christians are allowed the title of Free christians, and these are

permitted to dress in the fashion of their respective countries, but the

christian slaves are obliged to wear a coarse gray suit and a seaman's

cap.

The punishments among the Algerines are various, viz.

1. If they join any of the natives in open rebellion, they are strangled

with a bowstring, or hanged on an iron hook.

2. If they speak against Mahomet, they must either turn Mahometan, or be

impaled alive.

3. If they turn christians again, after having changed to the Mahometan

persuasion, they are roasted alive, or thrown from the city walls, and

caught upon large sharp hooks, where they hang in a miserable manner

several days, and expire in the most exquisite tortures.

4. If they kill a Turk, they are burnt.

5. Those christians who attempt to escape from slavery, and are retaken,

suffer death in the following manner, which is equally singular and

brutal: the criminal is hung naked on a high gallows, by two hooks, the

one fastened quite through the palm of one hand, and the other through

the sole of the opposite foot, where he is left till death relieves him

from his cruel sufferings.

Other punishments, for trifling crimes committed by the christians, are

left to the discretion of the respective judges, who being usually of

malicious and vindictive dispositions, decree them in the most inhuman

manner.

In Tunis, if a christian slave is caught in attempting to escape, his

limbs are all broken, and if he murders his master, he is fastened to

the tail of a horse, and dragged about the streets till he expires.

Morocco and Fez conjointly form an empire, and are together the most

considerable of the Barbary states. In this empire christian slaves are

treated with the greatest cruelty: the rich have exorbitant ransoms

fixed upon them; the poor are hard worked, and half starved sometimes

murdered by the emperor, or their masters, for mere amusement.

_An Account of the Persecutions in Spanish America._

The bloody tenets of the Roman catholic persuasion, and the cruel

disposition of the votaries of that church, cannot be more amply

displayed or truly depicted, than by giving an authentic and simple

narrative of the horrid barbarities exercised by the Spaniards on the

innocent and unoffending natives of America. Indeed, the barbarities

were such, that they would scarce seen credible from their enormity, and

the victims so many, that they would startle belief by their numbers, if

the facts were not indisputably ascertained, and the circumstances

admitted by their own writers, some of whom have even gloried in their

inhumanity, and, as Roman catholics, deemed these atrocious actions

meritorious, which would make a protestant shudder to relate.

The West Indies, and the vast continent of America, were discovered by

that celebrated navigator, Christopher Columbus, in 1492. This

distinguished commander landed first in the large island of St. Domingo,

or Hispaniola, which was at that time exceedingly populous, but this

population was of very little consequence, the inoffensive inhabitants

being murdered by multitudes, as soon as the Spaniards gained a

permanent footing on the island. Blind superstition, bloody bigotry, and

craving avarice, rendered that, in the course of years, a dismal desert,

which, at the arrival of the Spaniards, seemed to appear as an earthly

paradise; so that at present there is scarce a remnant of the ancient

natives remaining.

The natives of Guatemala, a country of America, were used with great

barbarity. They were formerly active and valiant, but from ill usage and

oppression, grew slothful, and so dispirited, that they not only

trembled at the sight of fire-arms, but even at the very looks of a

Spaniard. Some were so plunged into despair, that after returning home

from labouring hard for their cruel taskmasters, and receiving only

contemptuous language and stripes for their pains, they have sunk down

in their cabins, with a full resolution to prefer death to such slavery;

and, in the bitterness of their anguish, have refused all sustenance

till they perished.

By repeated barbarities, and the most execrable cruelties, the

vindictive and merciless Spaniards not only depopulated Hispaniola,

Porto-Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahama islands, but destroyed above

12,000,000 of souls upon the continent of America, in the space of forty

years.

The cruel methods by which they massacred and butchered the poor

natives, were innumerable, and of the most diabolical nature.

The Spaniards stripped a large and very populous town of all its

inhabitants, whom they drove to the mines, leaving all the children

behind them, without the least idea of providing for their subsistence,

by which inhuman proceeding six thousand helpless infants perished.

Whenever the people of any town had the reputation of being rich, an

order was immediately sent that every person in it should turn Roman

catholics: if this was not directly complied with, the town was

instantly plundered, and the inhabitants murdered; and if it was

complied with, a pretence was soon after made to strip the inhabitants

of their wealth.

One of the Spanish governors seized upon a very worthy and amiable

Indian prince, and in order to extort from him where his treasures were

concealed, caused his feet to be burnt till the marrow dropped from his

bones, and he expired through the extremity of the torments he

underwent.

In the interval, between the years 1514 and 1522, the governor of Terra

Firma put to death, and destroyed, 800,000 of the inhabitants of that

country.

Between the years 1523 and 1533, five hundred thousand natives of

Nicaragua were transported to Peru, where they all perished by incessant

labour in the mines.

In the space of twelve years, from the first landing of Cortez on the

continent of America, to the entire reduction of the populous empire of

Mexico, the amazing number of 4,000,000 of Mexicans perished, through

the unparalleled barbarity of the Spaniards. To come to particulars, the

city of Cholula, consisted of 30,000 houses, by which its great

population may be imagined. The Spaniards seized on all the inhabitants,

who refusing to turn Roman catholics, as they did not know the meaning

of the religion they were ordered to embrace, the Spaniards put them all

to death, cutting to pieces the lower sort of people, and burning those

of distinction.

CHAPTER XI.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PERSECUTIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND PRIOR TO THE

REIGN OF QUEEN MARY I.

Gildas, the most ancient British writer extant, who lived about the time

that the Saxons left the island of Great Britain, has drawn a most

shocking instance of the barbarity of those people.

The Saxons, on their arrival, being heathens like the Scots and Picts,

destroyed the churches and murdered the clergy wherever they came: but

they could not destroy christianity, for those who would not submit to

the Saxon yoke, went and resided beyond the Severn. Neither have we the

names of those christian sufferers transmitted to us, especially those

of the clergy.

The most dreadful instance of barbarity under the Saxon government, was

the massacre of the monks of Bangor, A. D. 586. These monks were in all

respects different from those men who bear the same name at present.

In the eighth century, the Danes, a roving crew of barbarians, landed in

different parts of Britain, both in England and Scotland.

At first they were repulsed, but in A. D. 857, a party of them landed

somewhere near Southampton, and not only robbed the people, but burnt

down the churches, and murdered the clergy.

In A. D. 868, these barbarians penetrated into the centre of England,

and took up their quarters at Nottingham; but the English, under their

king Ethelfrid, drove them from their posts, and obliged them to retire

to Northumberland.

In 870, another body of these barbarians landed at Norfolk, and engaged

in battle with the English at Hertford. Victory declared in favour of

the pagans, who took Edmund, king of the East Angles, prisoner, and

after treating him with a thousand indignities, transfixed his body with

arrows, and then beheaded him.

In Fifeshire, in Scotland, they burnt many of the churches, and among

the rest that belonging to the Culdees, at St. Andrews. The piety of

these men made them objects of abhorrence to the Danes, who, wherever

they went singled out the christian priests for destruction, of whom no

less than 200 were massacred in Scotland.

It was much the same in that part of Ireland now called Leinster, there

the Danes murdered and burnt the priests alive in their own churches;

they carried destruction along with them wherever they went, sparing

neither age nor sex, but the clergy were the most obnoxious to them,

because they ridiculed their idolatry, and persuaded their people to

have nothing to do with them.

In the reign of Edward III. the church of England was extremely

corrupted with errors and superstition; and the light of the gospel of

Christ was greatly eclipsed and darkened with human inventions,

burthensome ceremonies, and gross idolatry.

The followers of Wickliffe, then called Lollards, were become extremely

numerous, and the clergy were so vexed to see them increase whatever

power or influence they might have to molest them in an underhand

manner, they had no authority by law to put them to death. However, the

clergy embraced the favourable opportunity, and prevailed upon the king

to suffer a bill to be brought into parliament, by which all Lollards

who remained obstinate, should be delivered over to the secular power,

and burnt as heretics. This act was the first in Britain for the burning

of people for their religious sentiments; it passed in the year 1401,

and was soon after put into execution.

The first person who suffered in consequence of this cruel act was

William Santree, or Sawtree, a priest, who was burnt to death in

Smithfield.

Soon after this, lord Cobham, in consequence of his attachment to the

doctrines of Wickliffe, was accused of heresy, and being condemned to be

hanged and burnt, was accordingly executed in Loncoln's-Inn Fields, A.

D. 1419.

The next man who suffered under this bloody statute was Thomas Bradley,

a tailor, and a layman; and a letter having been tendered him, which he

refused, he was declared an obstinate heretic, and tied to the stake in

Smithfield; where he was burnt alive, rejoicing in the Lord his God.

The next person we read of who was tried upon this abominable statute,

was William Thorpe, a man of some knowledge, who adhered to all the

doctrines taught by Wickliffe. He was brought many times before

archbishop Arundel, and at last committed a close prisoner, where he

died, but in what manner cannot now be ascertained.

About this time 36 persons, denominated Lollards, suffered death in St.

Giles', for no other reason than professing their attachment to the

doctrines of Wickliffe. They were hung on gibbets, and fagots being

placed under them, as soon as they were suspended, fire was set to them,

so that they were burnt while hanging. Only one of their names has been

transmitted to us, which is that of Sir Roger Archer whom they

distinguished from the rest by stripping him stark naked, and executing

him in that indecent manner.

Much about the same time one Richard Turning was burnt alive in

Smithfield, and suffered with all that constancy, fortitude, and

resignation, which have so much distinguished the primitive christians.

In 1428, Abraham, a monk of Colchester, Milburn White, a priest and John

Wade, a priest, were all three apprehended on a charge of heresy.

Soon after, father Abraham suffered at Colchester, and with him John

Whaddon; both of whom died in a constant adherence to the truth of the

gospel. Milburn White and John Wade suffered also about the same time in

London.

In the year 1431, Richard Ilvedon, a wool-comber, and a citizen of

London, was brought before the archbishop, and being declared an

obstinate heretic, was burnt alive on Tower-hill, for no other reason

than that he embraced and professed the doctrines of Wickliffe.

In the year 1431, Thomas Bagley, a priest, who had a living near Malden,

in Essex, was brought before the bishop of London, and being declared an

obstinate heretic, was condemned and burnt alive in Smithfield.

In the year 1430, Richard Wick, a priest, was burnt alive on Tower-hill,

for preaching the doctrines of Wickliffe.

In 1440, some of the greatest persons in the kingdom were condemned to

perpetual imprisonment for heresy, as being Lollards;--among whom was

the dutchess of Gloucester, who had long been a follower of Wickliffe.

It was otherwise, however, with Roger Only, a priest, who being

condemned as an obstinate heretic, was burnt alive in Smithfield.

In August, 1473, one Thomas Granter was apprehended to London; he was

accused of professing the doctrines of Wickliffe, for which he was

condemned as an obstinate heretic. This pious man being brought to the

sheriff's house, on the morning of the day appointed for his execution,

desired a little refreshment, and having ate some, he said to the people

present, "I eat now a very good meal, for I have a strange conflict to

engage with before I go to supper;" and having eaten, he returned thanks

to God for the bounties of his all-gracious providence, requesting that

he might be instantly led to the place of execution, to bear testimony

to the truth of those principles which he had professed. Accordingly he

was chained to a stake on Tower-hill, where he was burnt alive,

professing the truth with his last breath.

April 28th, 1494, Joan Boughton, a lady of considerable rank, was burnt

in Smithfield for professing the doctrines of Wickliffe. This lady was a

widow, and no less than 80 years of age.

In 1498, the king being then at Canterbury, a priest was brought before

him, accused of heresy, who was immediately ordered to be burnt alive.

In the year 1499, one Badram, a pious man, was brought before the bishop

of Norwich, having been accused by some of the priests, with holding the

doctrines of Wickliffe. He confessed he did believe every thing that was

objected against him. For this, he was condemned as an obstinate

heretic, and a warrant was granted for his execution; accordingly he was

brought to the stake at Norwich, where he suffered with great constancy.

In 1506, one William Tilfrey, a pious man, was burnt alive at Amersham,

in a close called Stoneyprat, and at the same time, his daughter, Joan

Clarke, a married woman, was obliged to light the fagots that were to

burn her father.

This year also one father Roberts, a priest, was convicted of being a

Lollard before the bishop of Lincoln, and burnt alive at Buckingham.

In 1507, one Thomas Norris was burnt alive for the testimony of the

truth of the gospel, at Norwich. This man was a poor, inoffensive,

harmless person, but his parish priest conversing with him one day

conjectured he was a Lollard. In consequence of this supposition he gave

information to the bishop, and Norris was apprehended.

In 1508, one Lawrence Guale, who had been kept in prison two years, was

burnt alive at Salisbury, for denying the real presence in the

sacrament. It appeared, that this man kept a shop in Salisbury and

entertained some Lollards in his house; for which he was informed

against to the bishop; but he abode by his first testimony, and was

condemned to suffer as a heretic.

A pious woman was burnt at Chippen Sudburne, by order of the chancellor,

Dr. Whittenham. After she had been consumed in the flames, and the

people were returning home, a bull broke loose from a butcher and

singling out the chancellor from all the rest of the company, he gored

him through the body, and on his horns carried his entrails. This was

seen by all the people, and it is remarkable, that the animal did not

meddle with any other person whatever.

October 18, 1511, William Succling and John Bannister, who had formerly

recanted, returned again to the profession of the faith, and were burnt

alive in Smithfield.

In the year 1517, one John Brown, (who had recanted before in the reign

of Henry VII. and borne a fagot round St. Paul's,) was condemned by Dr.

Wonhaman, archbishop of Canterbury, and burnt alive at Ashford. Before

he was chained to the stake, the archbishop Wonhaman, and Yester, bishop

of Rochester, caused his feet to be burnt in a fire till all the flesh

came off, even to the bones. This was done in order to make him again

recant, but he persisted in his attachment to the truth to the last.

Much about this time one Richard Hunn, a merchant tailor of the city of

London, was apprehended, having refused to pay the priest his fees for

the funeral of a child; and being conveyed to the Lollards' Tower, in

the palace of Lambeth, was there privately murdered by some of the

servants of the archbishop.

September 24, 1518, John Stilincen, who had before recanted, was

apprehended, brought before Richard Fitz-James, bishop of London, and on

the 25th of October was condemned as a heretic. He was chained to the

stake in Smithfield amidst a vast crowd of spectators, and sealed his

testimony to the truth with his blood. He declared that he was a

Lollard, and that he had always believed the opinions of Wickliffe; and

although he had been weak enough to recant his opinions, yet he was now

willing to convince the world that he was ready to die for the truth.

In the year 1519, Thomas Mann was burnt in London, as was one Robert

Celin, a plain honest man for speaking against image worship and

pilgrimages.

Much about this time, was executed in Smithfield, in London, James

Brewster, a native of Colchester. His sentiments were the same as the

rest of the Lollards, or those who followed the doctrines of Wickliffe;

but notwithstanding the innocence of his life, and the regularity of his

manners, he was obliged to submit to papal revenge.

During this year, one Christopher, a shoemaker, was burnt alive at

Newbury, in Berkshire, for denying those popish articles which we have

already mentioned. This man had got some books in English, which were

sufficient to render him obnoxious to the Romish clergy.

In 1521, Thomas Bernard was burnt alive at Norwich, for denying the real

presence.

About the beginning of the year 1522, Mr. Wrigsham, a glover; Mr

Langdale, a hosier; Thomas Bond, Robert Harchets, and William Archer,

shoemaker, with Mrs. Smith, a widow, were apprehended on Ash Wednesday

and committed to prison. After examination, the bishop of Litchfield

declared them to be heretics, and they were all condemned and burnt

alive at Coventry.

Robert Silks, who had been condemned in the bishop's court as a heretic,

made his escape out of prison, but was taken two years afterward, and

brought back to Coventry, where he was burnt alive.--The sheriffs always

seized the goods of the martyrs for their own use, so that their wives

and children were left to starve.

In 1532, Thomas Harding, who with his wife, had been accused of heresy,

was brought before the bishop of Lincoln, and condemned for denying the

real presence in the sacrament. He was then chained to a stake, erected

for the purpose, at Chesham in the Pell, near Botely; and when they had

set fire to the fagots, one of the spectators dashed out his brains with

a billet. The priests told the people, that whoever brought fagots to

burn heretics would have an indulgence to commit sins for forty days.

During the latter end of this year, Worham, archbishop of Canterbury,

apprehended one Hitten, a priest at Maidstone; and after he had been

long tortured in prison, and several times examined by the archbishop,

and Fisher, bishop of Rochester, he was condemned as a heretic, and

burnt alive before the door of his own parish church.

Thomas Bilney, professor of civil law at Cambridge, was brought before

the bishop of London, and several other bishops, in the Chapter house,

Westminster, and being several times threatened with the stake and

flames, he was weak enough to recant; but he repented severely

afterward.

For this he was brought before the bishop a second time, and condemned

to death. Before he went to the stake he confessed his adherence to

those opinions which Luther held; and, when at it, he smiled, and said,

"I have had many storms in this world, but now my vessel will soon be on

shore in heaven." He stood unmoved in the flames, crying out, "Jesus, I

believe;" and these were the last words he was heard to utter.

A few weeks after Bilney had suffered, Richard Byfield was cast into

prison, and endured some whipping, for his adherence to the doctrines of

Luther: this Mr. Byfield had been some time a monk, at Barnes, in Surry,

but was converted by reading Tindal's version of the New Testament. The

sufferings this man underwent for the truth were so great, that it would

require a volume to contain them. Sometimes he was shut up in a dungeon,

where he was almost suffocated, by the offensive and horrid smell of

filth and stagnated water. At other times he was tied up by the arms,

till almost all his joints were dislocated. He was whipped at the post

several times, till scarce any flesh was left on his back; and all this

was done to make him recant. He was then taken to the Lollard's Tower in

Lambeth palace, where he was chained by the neck to the wall, and once

every day beaten in the most cruel manner by the archbishop's servants.

At last he was condemned, degraded, and burnt in Smithfield.

The next person that suffered was John Tewkesbury. This was a plain

simple man, who had been guilty of no other offence against what was

called the holy mother church, than that of reading Tindal's translation

of the New Testament. At first he was weak enough to abjure, but

afterwards repented, and acknowledged the truth. For this he was brought

before the bishop of London, who condemned him as an obstinate heretic.

He suffered greatly during the time of his imprisonment, so that when

they brought him out to execution he was almost dead. He was conducted

to the stake in Smithfield, where he was burned, declaring his utter

abhorrence of popery, and professing a firm belief that his cause was

just in the sight of God.

Much about this time Valentine Treest, and his wife, were apprehended in

Yorkshire, and having been examined by the archbishop, were deemed as

obstinate heretics, and burnt.

The next person that suffered in this reign, was James Baynham, a

reputable citizen in London, who had married the widow of a gentleman in

the Temple. When chained to the stake he embraced the fagots, and said

"Oh, ye papists, behold! ye look for miracles; here now may you see a

miracle; for in this fire I feel no more pain than if I were in bed; for

it is as sweet to me as a bed of roses." Thus he resigned his soul into

the hands of his Redeemer.

Soon after the death of this martyr, one Traxnal, an inoffensive

countryman, was burned alive at Bradford in Wiltshire, because he would

not acknowledge the real presence in the sacrament, nor own the papal

supremacy over the consciences of men.

In the year 1533, John Frith, a noted martyr, died for the truth. When

brought to the stake in Smithfield, he embraced the fagots, and exhorted

a young man named Andrew Hewit, who suffered with him, to trust his soul

to that God who had redeemed it. Both these sufferers endured much

torment, for the wind blew the flames away from them, so that they were

above two hours in agony before they expired.

At the latter end of this year, Mr. Thomas Bennet, a school-master, was

apprehended at Exeter, and being brought before the bishop, refused to

recant his opinions, for which he was delivered over to the secular

power, and burned alive near that city.

In the year 1538, one Collins, a madman, suffered death with his dog in

Smithfield. The circumstances were as follow: Collins happened to be in

church when the priest elevated the host; and Collins, in derision of

the sacrifice of the Mass, lifted up his dog above his head. For this

crime Collins, who ought to have been sent to a madhouse, or whipped at

the cart's tail, was brought before the bishop of London; and although

he was really mad, yet such was the force of popish power, such the

corruption in church and state, that the poor madman, and his dog, were

both carried to the stake in Smithfield, where they were burned to

ashes, amidst a vast crowd of spectators.

There were some other persons who suffered the same year, of whom we

shall take notice in the order they lie before us.

One Cowbridge suffered at Oxford; and although he was reputed to be a

madman, yet he showed great signs of piety when he was fastened to the

stake, and after the flames were kindled around him.

About the same time one Purderve was put to death, for saying privately

to a priest, after he had drunk the wine, "He blessed the hungry people

with the empty chalice."

At the same time was condemned William Letton, a monk of great age, in

the county of Suffolk, who was burned at Norwich for speaking against an

idol that was carried in procession; and for asserting, that the

sacrament should be administered in both kinds.

Some time before the burning of these men, Nicholas Peke was executed at

Norwich; and when the fire was lighted, he was so scorched that he was

as black as pitch. Dr. Reading standing before him, with Dr. Hearne and

Dr. Spragwell, having a long white wand in his hand, struck him upon the

right shoulder, and said, "Peke, recant, and believe in the Sacrament."

To this he answered, "I despise thee and it also;" and with great

violence he spit blood, occasioned by the anguish of his sufferings. Dr.

Reading granted forty days indulgence for the sufferer, in order that he

might recant his opinions. But he persisted in his adherence to the

truth, without paying any regard to the malice of his enemies; and he

was burned alive, rejoicing that Christ had counted him worthy to

suffer for his name's sake.

On July 28, 1540, or 1541, (for the chronology differs) Thomas Cromwell,

earl of Essex, was brought to a scaffold on Tower-hill, where he was

executed with some striking instances of cruelty. He made a short speech

to the people, and then meekly resigned himself to the axe.

It is, we think, with great propriety, that this nobleman is ranked

among the martyrs; for although the accusations preferred against him

did not relate to any thing in religion, yet had it not been for his

zeal to demolish popery, he might have to the last retained the king's

favour. To this may be added, that the papists plotted his destruction,

for he did more towards promoting the reformation, than any man in that

age, except the good Dr. Cranmer.

Soon after the execution of Cromwell, Dr. Cuthbert Barnes, Thomas

Garnet, and William Jerome, were brought before the ecclesiastical court

of the bishop of London, and accused of heresy.

Being before the bishop of London, Dr. Barnes was asked whether the

saints prayed for us? To this he answered, that he would leave that to

God; but (said he) I will pray for you.

On the 13th of July, 1541, these men were brought from the Tower to

Smithfield, where they were all chained to one stake; and there suffered

death with a constancy that nothing less than a firm faith in Jesus

Christ could inspire.

One Thomas Sommers, an honest merchant, with three others, was thrown

into prison, for reading some of Luther's books; and they were condemned

to carry those books to a fire in Cheapside; there they were to throw

them in the flames; but Sommers threw his over, for which he was sent

back to the Tower, where he was stoned to death.

Dreadful persecutions were at this time carried on at Lincoln, under Dr.

Longland, the bishop of that diocess. At Buckingham, Thomas Bainard, and

James Moreton, the one for reading the Lord's prayer in English, and the

other for reading St. James' epistles in English, were both condemned

and burnt alive.

Anthony Parsons, a priest, together with two others, were sent to

Windsor, to be examined concerning heresy; and several articles were

tendered to them to subscribe, which they refused. This was carried on

by the bishop of Salisbury, who was the most violent persecutor of any

in that age, except Bonner. When they were brought to the stake, Parsons

asked for some drink, which being brought him, he drank to his

fellow-sufferers, saying, "Be merry, my brethren, and lift up your

hearts to God; for after this sharp breakfast I trust we shall have a

good dinner in the kingdom of Christ, our Lord and Redeemer." At these

words Eastwood, one of the sufferers, lifted up his eyes and hands to

heaven, desiring the Lord above to receive his spirit. Parsons pulled

the straw near to him, and then said to the spectators, This is God's

armour, and now I am a christian soldier prepared for battle: I look for

no mercy but through the merits of Christ; he is my only Saviour, in him

do I trust for salvation; and soon after the fires were lighted, which

burned their bodies, but could not hurt their precious and immortal

souls. Their constancy triumphed over cruelty, and their sufferings will

be held in everlasting remembrance.

In 1546, one Saitees, a priest, was, by order of bishop Gardiner, hanged

in Southwark, without a council process; and all that was alleged

against him was, that of reading Tindal's New Testament.

This year one Kirby was burned in Ipswich, for the testimony of the

truth, for denying the real presence in the sacrament. When this martyr

was brought to the stake, he said to one Mr. Wingfield, who attended

him, "Ah! Mr. Wingfield, be at my death, and you shall say, there

standeth a christian sufferer in the fire."

CHAPTER XII.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PERSECUTION IN SCOTLAND DURING THE REIGN OF KING HENRY

VIII.

The first person we meet with who suffered in Scotland on the score of

religion, was one Patrick Hamilton, a gentleman of an independent

fortune, and descended from a very ancient and honourable family.

Having acquired a liberal education, and being desirous of farther

improving himself in useful knowledge, he left Scotland, and went to the

university of Wirtemberg, in Germany, in order to finish his studies.

During his residence here, he became intimately acquainted with those

eminent lights of the gospel, Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon; from

whose writings and doctrines he strongly attached himself to the

protestant religion.

The archbishop of St. Andrews (who was a rigid papist) hearing of Mr.

Hamilton's proceedings, caused him to be seized, and being brought

before him, after a short examination relative to his religious

principles, he committed him a prisoner to the castle, at the same time

ordering him to be confined in the most loathsome part of the prison.

The next morning Mr. Hamilton was brought before the bishop, and several

others, for examination, when the principal articles exhibited against

him were, his publicly disapproving of pilgrimages, purgatory, prayers

to saints, for the dead, &c.

These articles Mr. Hamilton acknowledged to be true, in consequence of

which he was immediately condemned to be burnt; and that his

condemnation might have the greater authority, they caused it to be

subscribed by all those of any note who were present, and to make the

number as considerable as possible, even admitted the subscription of

boys who were sons of the nobility.

So anxious was this bigoted and persecuting prelate for the destruction

of Mr. Hamilton, that he ordered his sentence to be put in execution on

the afternoon of the very day it was pronounced. He was accordingly led

to the place appointed for the horrid tragedy, and was attended by a

prodigious number of spectators. The greatest part of the multitude

would not believe it was intended he should be put to death, but that it

was only done to frighten him, and thereby bring him over to embrace the

principles of the Romish religion. But they soon found themselves

mistaken.

When he arrived at the stake, he kneeled down, and, for some time,

prayed with great fervency. After this he was fastened to the stake, and

the fagots placed round him. A quantity of gunpowder having been placed

under his arms was first set on fire which scorched his left hand and

one side of his face, but did no material injury, neither did it

communicate with the fagots. In consequence of this, more powder and

combustible matter were brought, which being set on fire took effect,

and the fagots being kindled, he called out, with an audible voice,

"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! How long shall darkness overwhelm this

realm? And how long wilt thou suffer the tyranny of these men?"

The fire burning slow put him to great torment; but he bore it with

christian magnanimity. What gave him the greatest pain was, the clamour

of some wicked men set on by the friars, who frequently cried, "Turn,

thou heretic; call upon our lady; say, Salve Regina, &c." To whom he

replied, "Depart from me, and trouble me not, ye messengers of Satan."

One Campbell, a friar, who was the ringleader, still continuing to

interrupt him by opprobrious language; he said to him, "Wicked man, God

forgive thee." After which, being prevented from farther speech by the

violence of the smoke, and the rapidity of the flames, he resigned up

his soul into the hands of Him who gave it.

This steadfast believer in Christ suffered martyrdom in the year 1527.

One Henry Forest, a young inoffensive Benedictine, being charged with

speaking respectfully of the above Patrick Hamilton, was thrown into

prison; and, in confessing himself to a friar, owned that he thought

Hamilton a good man; and that the articles for which he was sentenced to

die, might be defended. This being revealed by the friar, it was

received as evidence; and the poor Benedictine was sentenced to be

burnt.

Whilst consultation was held, with regard to the manner of his

execution, John Lindsay, one of the archbishop's gentlemen, offered his

advice, to burn friar Forest in some cellar; for, said be, the smoke of

Patrick Hamilton hath infected all those on whom it blew.

This advice was taken, and the poor victim was rather suffocated than

burnt.

The next who fell victims for professing the truth of the gospel, were

David Stratton and Norman Gourlay.

When they arrived at the fatal spot, they both kneeled down, and prayed

for some time with great fervency. They then arose, when Stratton,

addressing himself to the spectators, exhorted them to lay aside their

superstitious and idolatrous notions, and employ their time in seeking

the true light of the gospel. He would have said more, but was prevented

by the officers who attended.

Their sentence was then put into execution, and they cheerfully resigned

up their souls to that God who gave them, hoping, through the merits of

the great Redeemer, for a glorious resurrection to life immortal. They

suffered in the year 1534.

The martyrdoms of the two before-mentioned persons, were soon followed

by that of Mr. Thomas Forret, who, for a considerable time, had been

dean of the Romish church; Killor and Beverage, two blacksmiths; Duncan

Simson, a priest; and Robert Forrester, a gentleman. They were all burnt

together, on the Castle-hill at Edinburgh, the last day of February,

1538.

The year following the martyrdoms of the before-mentioned persons, viz.

1539, two others were apprehended on a suspicion of heresy; namely,

Jerom Russel, and Alexander Kennedy, a youth about eighteen years of

age.

These two persons, after being some time confined in prison, were

brought before the archbishop for examination. In the course of which,

Russel, being a very sensible man, reasoned learnedly against his

accusers; while they in return made use of very opprobrious language.

The examination being over, and both of them deemed heretics, the

archbishop pronounced the dreadful sentence of death, and they were

immediately delivered over to the secular power in order for execution.

The next day they were led to the place appointed for them to suffer; in

their way to which, Russel, seeing his fellow-sufferer have the

appearance of timidity in his countenance, thus addressed him: "Brother,

fear not; greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world. The

pain that 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 Saviour's joy, by the same straight way which he

hath taken before us. Death cannot hurt us, for it is already destroyed

by Him, for whose sake we are now going to suffer."

When they arrived at the fatal spot, they both kneeled down and prayed

for some time; after which being fastened to the stake, and the fagots

lighted, they cheerfully resigned their souls into the hands of Him who

gave them, in full hopes of an everlasting reward in the heavenly

mansions.

In 1543, the archbishop of St. Andrews made a visitation into various

parts of his diocese, where several persons were informed against at

Perth for heresy. Among these the following were condemned to die, viz.

William Anderson, Robert Lamb, James Finlayson, James Hunter, James

Raveleson, and Helen Stark.

The accusations laid against these respective persons were as follow:

The four first were accused of having hung up the image of St. Francis,

nailing ram's horns on his head, and fastening a cow's tail to his rump;

but the principal matter on which they were condemned was, having

regaled themselves with a goose on fast day.

James Raveleson was accused of having ornamented his house with the

three crowned diadem of Peter, carved in wood, which the archbishop

conceived to be done in mockery to his cardinal's cap.

Helen Stark was accused of not having accustomed herself to pray to the

Virgin Mary, more especially during the time she was in child bed.

On these respective accusations they were all found guilty, and

immediately received sentence of death; the four men for eating the

goose to be hanged; James Raveleson to be burnt; and the woman, with her

sucking infant, to be put into a sack and drowned.

The four men, with the woman and child, suffered at the same time, but

James Raveleson was not executed till some days after.

Besides the above-mentioned persons, many others were cruelly

persecuted, some being banished, and others confined in loathsome

dungeons. Among whom were Mr. John Knox, the celebrated Scottish

reformist; and John Rogers, a pious and learned man, who was murdered in

prison, and his body thrown over the walls into the street; after which

a report was spread, that he had met with his death in attempting to

make his escape.

_An Account of the Life, Sufferings, and death of Mr. George Wishart,

who was strangled and afterward burned, in Scotland, for professing the

Truth of the Gospel._

Mr. George Wishart was born in Scotland, and after receiving a

grammatical education at a private school, he left that place, and

finished his studies at the university of Cambridge.

In order to improve himself as much as possible in the knowledge of

literature, he travelled into various parts abroad, where he

distinguished himself for his great learning and abilities, both in

philosophy and divinity.

After being some time abroad he returned to England, and took up his

residence at Cambridge, where he was admitted a member of Bennet

college. Having taken up his degrees, he entered into holy orders, and

expounded the gospel in so clear and intelligible a manner, as highly to

delight his numerous auditors.

Being desirous of propagating the true gospel in his own country he left

Cambridge in 1544, and on his arrival in Scotland he first preached at

Montrose, and afterwards at Dundee. In this last place he made a public

exposition of the epistle to the Romans, which he went through with such

grace and freedom, as greatly alarmed the papists.

In consequence of this, (at the instigation of cardinal Beaton, the

archbishop of St. Andrews) one Robert Miln, a principal man at Dundee,

went to the church where Wishart preached, and in the middle of his

discourse publicly told him not to trouble the town any more, for he was

determined not to suffer it.

This sudden rebuff greatly surprised Wishart, who, after a short pause,

looking sorrowfully on the speaker and the audience, said, "God is my

witness, that I never minded your trouble but your comfort; yea, your

trouble is more grievous to me than it is to yourselves: but I am

assured, to refuse God's word, and to chase from you his messenger,

shall not preserve you from trouble, but shall bring you into it: for

God shall send you ministers that shall fear neither burning nor

banishment. I have offered you the word of salvation. With the hazard of

my life, I have remained among you; now you yourselves refuse me; and I

must leave my innocence to be declared by my God. If it be long

prosperous with you, I am not led by the spirit of truth: but if

unlooked-for trouble come upon you, acknowledge the cause and turn to

God, who is gracious and merciful. But if you turn not at the first

warning, he will visit you with fire and sword." At the close of this

speech he left the pulpit, and retired.

After this he went into the west of Scotland, where he preached God's

word, which was gladly received by many.

A short time after this, Mr. Wishart received intelligence, that the

plague was broke out in Dundee. It began four days after he was

prohibited from preaching there, and raged so extremely, that it was

almost beyond credit how many died in the space of twenty-four hours.

This being related to him, he, notwithstanding the importunity of his

friends to detain him, determined to go there, saying, "They are now in

troubles, and need comfort. Perhaps this hand of God will make them now

to magnify and reverence the word of God, which before they lightly

esteemed."

Here he was with joy received by the godly. He chose the eastgate for

the place of his preaching; so that the healthy were within, and the

sick without the gate. He took his text from these words, He sent his

word and healed them, &c. In this sermon he chiefly dwelt upon the

advantage and comfort of God's word, the judgments that ensue upon the

contempt or rejection of it, the freedom of God's grace to all his

people, and the happiness of those of his elect, whom he takes to

himself out of this miserable world. The hearts of his hearers were so

raised by the divine force of this discourse, as not to regard death,

but to judge them the more happy who should then be called, not knowing

whether he should have such comfort again with them.

After this the plague abated; though, in the midst of it, Wishart

constantly visited those that lay in the greatest extremity, and

comforted them by his exhortations.

When he took his leave of the people of Dundee, he said, "That God had

almost put an end to that plague, and that he was now called to another

place."

He went from thence to Montrose; where he sometimes preached, but spent

most of his time in private meditation and prayer.

It is said, that before he left Dundee, and while he was engaged in the

labours of love to the bodies, as well as to the souls, of those poor

afflicted people, cardinal Beaton engaged a desperate popish priest,

called John Weighton, to kill him; the attempt to execute which was as

follows: one day, after Wishart had finished his sermon, and the people

departed, a priest stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs, with a

naked dagger in his hand under his gown.--But Mr. Wishart having a

sharp, piercing eye, and seeing the priest as he came from the pulpit,

said to him, "My friend, what would you have?" and immediately clapping

his hand upon the dagger, took it from him. The priest being terrified,

fell on his knees, confessed his intention, and craved pardon. A noise

being hereupon raised, and it coming to the ears of those who were sick,

they cried, "Deliver the traitor to us, we will take him by force;" and

they burst in at the gate. But Wishart, taking the priest in his arms,

said, "Whatsoever hurts him shall hurt me; for he hath done me no

mischief, but much good, by teaching more heedfulness for the time to

come." By this conduct he appeased the people and saved the life of the

wicked priest.

Soon after his return to Montrose, the cardinal again conspired his

death, causing a letter to be sent to him as if it had been from his

familiar friend, the Laird of Kennier, in which he was desired with all

possible speed to come to him, as he was taken with a sudden sickness.

In the mean time the cardinal had provided sixty men armed to lie in

wait within a mile and a half of Montrose, in order to murder him as he

passed that way.

The letter coming to Wishart's hand by a boy, who also brought him a

horse for the journey. Wishart, accompanied by some honest men, his

friends, set forward; but something particular striking his mind by the

way, he returned back, which they wondering at, asked him the cause; to

whom he said, "I will not go; I am forbidden of God; I am assured there

is treason. Let some of you go to yonder place, and tell me what you

find." Which doing, they made the discovery; and hastily returning, they

told Mr. Wishart; whereupon he said, "I know I shall end my life by that

blood-thirsty man's hands, but it will not be in this manner."

A short time after this he left Montrose, and proceeded to Edinburgh in

order to propagate the gospel in that city. By the way he lodged with a

faithful brother, called James Watson of Inner-Goury. In the middle of

the night he got up, and went into the yard, which two men hearing they

privately followed him.

While in the yard, he fell on his knees, and prayed for some time with

the greatest fervency, after which he arose, and returned to his bed.

Those who attended him, appearing as though they were ignorant of all,

came and asked him where he had been? But he would not answer them. The

next day they importuned him to tell them, saying, "Be plain with us,

for we heard your mourning, and saw your gestures."

On this he, with a dejected countenance, said, "I had rather you had

been in your beds." But they still pressing upon him to know something,

he said, "I will tell you; I am assured that my warfare is near at an

end, and therefore pray to God with me, that I shrink not when the

battle waxeth most hot."

Soon after, cardinal Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews, being informed

that Mr. Wishart was at the house of Mr. Cockburn, of Ormiston, in East

Lothian, he applied to the regent to cause him to be apprehended; with

which, after great persuasion, and much against his will, he complied.

In consequence of this the cardinal immediately proceeded to the trial

of Wishart, against whom no less than eighteen articles were exhibited.

Mr. Wishart answered the respective articles with great composure of

mind, and in so learned and clear a manner, as greatly surprised most of

those who were present.

After the examination was finished, the archbishop endeavoured to

prevail on Mr. Wishart to recant; but he was too firmly fixed in his

religious principles, and too much enlightened with the truth of the

gospel, to be in the least moved.

On the morning of his execution there came to him two friars from the

cardinal; one of whom put on him a black linen coat, and the other

brought several bags of gunpowder, which they tied about different parts

of his body.

As soon as he arrived at the stake, the executioner put a rope round his

neck, and a chain about his middle; upon which he fell on his knees and

thus exclaimed:

"O thou Saviour of the world, have mercy upon me! Father of heaven, I

commend my spirit into Thy holy hands."

After this he prayed for his accusers, saying, "I beseech thee, Father

of heaven, forgive them that have, from ignorance or an evil mind,

forged lies of me: I forgive them with all my heart. I beseech Christ to

forgive them, that have ignorantly condemned me."

He was then fastened to the stake, and the fagots being lighted,

immediately set fire to the powder that was tied about him, and which

blew into a flame and smoke.

The governor of the castle, who stood so near that he was singed with

the flame, exhorted our martyr, in a few words, to be of good cheer, and

to ask the pardon of God for his offences. To which he replied, "This

flame occasions trouble to my body, indeed, but it hath in nowise

broken my spirit. But he who now so proudly looks down upon me from

yonder lofty place (pointing to the cardinal) shall, ere long, be as

ignominiously thrown down, as now he proudly lolls at his ease." Which

prediction was soon after fulfilled. The executioner then pulled the

rope which was tied about his neck with great violence, so that he was

soon strangled; and the fire getting strength, burnt with such rapidity

that in less than an hour his body was totally consumed.

The next person who fell a martyr to popish bigotry, was one Adam

Wallace, of Winton, in East-Lothian, who having obtained a true

knowledge of the gospel of Christ, spent the greater part of his time in

endeavouring to propagate it among his fellow-creatures.

His conduct being noticed by some bigoted papists, an information was

laid against him for heresy, on which he was apprehended, and committed

to prison.

After examination, sentence of death was passed upon him as heretic; and

he was immediately delivered over to the secular power, in order for

execution.

In the evening of the same day, Wallace was visited by several Romish

priests, who endeavoured to prevail on him to recant; but he stood so

steadfast in the faith he professed, and used such forcible arguments in

vindication of the gospel, that they left him with some wrath, saying,

"He was too abandoned to receive any impression."

The next morning he was conducted to the Castle-hill at Edinburgh, when,

being chained to the stake, and the fagots lighted, he cheerfully

resigned up his soul into the hands of him who gave it, in full

assurance of receiving a crown of glory in the heavenly mansions.

The last who suffered martyrdom in Scotland, for the cause of Christ,

was one Walter Mill, who was burnt at Edinburgh in the year 1558.

This person, in his younger years, had travelled into Germany, and on

his return was installed a priest of the church of Lunan in Angus, but,

on an information of heresy, in the time of cardinal Beaton, he was

forced to abandon his charge and abscond. But he was soon apprehended,

and committed to prison.

Being interrogated by Sir Andrew Oliphant, whether he would recant his

opinions, he answered in the negative, saying, He would sooner forfeit

ten thousand lives, than relinquish a particle of those heavenly

principles he had received from the suffrages of his blessed Redeemer.

In consequence of this, sentence of condemnation was immediately passed

on him, and he was conducted to prison in order for execution the

following day.

This steadfast believer in Christ was eighty-two years of age, and

exceedingly infirm; from whence it was supposed, that he could scarcely

be heard. However, when he was taken to the place of execution, he

expressed his religious sentiments with such courage, and at the same

time composure of mind, as astonished even his enemies. As soon as he

was fastened to the stake, and the fagots lighted, he addressed the

spectators as follows:

The cause why I suffer this day is not for any crime, (though I

acknowledge myself a miserable sinner) but only for the defence of the

truth as it is in Jesus Christ; and I praise God who hath called me, by

his mercy, to seal the truth with my life; which, as I received it from

him, so I willingly and joyfully offer it up to his glory. Therefore, as

you would escape eternal death, be no longer seduced by the lies of the

seat of Antichrist: but depend solely on Jesus Christ, and his mercy,

that you may be delivered from condemnation. And then added, "That he

trusted he should be the last who would suffer death in Scotland upon a

religious account."

Thus did this pious christian cheerfully give up his life, in defence of

the truth of Christ's gospel, not doubting but he should be made a

partaker of his heavenly kingdom.

CHAPTER XII.

PERSECUTIONS IN ENGLAND DURING THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY.

The premature death of that celebrated young monarch, Edward the Sixth,

occasioned the most extraordinary and wonderful occurrences, which had

ever existed from the times of our blessed Lord and Saviour's

incarnation in human shape. This melancholy event became speedily a

subject of general regret. The succession to the British throne was soon

made a matter of contention; and the scenes which ensued were a

demonstration of the serious affliction which the kingdom was involved

in. As his loss to the nation was more and more unfolded, the

remembrance of his government was more and more the basis of grateful

recollection. The very awful prospect, which was soon presented to the

friends of Edward's administration, under the direction of his

counsellors and servants, was a contemplation which the reflecting mind

was compelled to regard with most alarming apprehensions. The rapid

approaches which were made towards a total reversion of the proceedings

of the young king's reign, denoted the advances which were thereby

represented to an entire revolution in the management of public affairs

both in church and state.

Alarmed for the condition in which the kingdom was likely to be involved

by the king's death, an endeavour to prevent the consequences, which

were but too plainly foreseen, was productive of the most serious and

fatal effects. The king, in his long and lingering affliction, was

induced to make a will, by which he bequeathed the English crown to lady

Jane, the daughter of the duke of Suffolk, who had been married to the

lord Guilford, the son of the duke of Northumberland, and was the

grand-daughter of the second sister of king Henry, by Charles, duke of

Suffolk. By this will, the succession of Mary and Elizabeth, his two

sisters, was entirely superseded, from an apprehension of the returning

system of popery; and the king's council, with the chief of the

nobility, the lord-mayor of the city of London, and almost all the

judges and the principal lawyers of the realm, subscribed their names to

this regulation, as a sanction to the measure. Lord chief justice Hale,

though a true protestant and an upright judge, alone declined to unite

his name in favour of the lady Jane, because he had already signified

his opinion, that Mary was entitled to assume the reins of government.

Others objected to Mary's being placed on the throne, on account of

their fears that she might marry a foreigner, and thereby bring the

crown into considerable danger. Her partiality to popery also left

little doubt on the minds of any, that she would be induced to revive

the dormant interests of the pope, and change the religion which had

been used both in the days of her father, king Henry, and in those of

her brother Edward: for in all his time she had manifested the greatest

stubbornness and inflexibility of temper, as must be obvious from her

letter to the lords of the council, whereby she put in her claim to the

crown, on her brother's decease.

When this happened, the nobles, who had associated to prevent Mary's

succession, and had been instrumental in promoting, and, perhaps,

advising the measures of Edward, speedily proceeded to proclaim lady

Jane Gray, to be queen of England, in the city of London and various

other populous cities of the realm. Though young, she possessed talents

of a very superior nature, and her improvements under a most excellent

tutor had given her many very great advantages.

Her reign was of only five days continuance, for Mary, having succeeded

by false promises in obtaining the crown, speedily commenced the

execution of her avowed intention of extirpating and burning every

protestant. She was crowned at Westminister in the usual form, and her

elevation was the signal for the commencement of the bloody persecution

which followed.

Having obtained the sword of authority, she was not sparing in its

exercise. The supporters of Lady Jane Gray were destined to feel its

force. The duke of Northumberland was the first who experienced her

savage resentment. Within a month after his confinement in the Tower, he

was condemned, and brought to the scaffold, to suffer as a traitor. From

his various crimes, resulting out of a sordid and inordinate ambition,

he died unpitied and unlamented.

The changes, which followed with rapidity, unequivocally declared, that

the queen was disaffected to the present state of religion.--Dr. Poynet

was displaced to make room for Gardiner to be bishop of Winchester, to

whom she also gave the important office of lord-chancellor. Dr. Ridley

was dismissed from the see of London, and Bonne introduced. J. Story

was put out of the bishopric of Chichester, to admit Dr. Day. J. Hooper

was sent prisoner to the Fleet, and Dr. Heath put into the see of

Worcester. Miles Coverdale was also excluded from Exeter, and Dr. Vesie

placed in that diocess. Dr. Tonstall was also promoted to the see of

Durham. "These things being marked and perceived, great heaviness and

discomfort grew more and more to all good men's hearts; but to the

wicked great rejoicing. They that could dissemble took no great care how

the matter went; but such, whose consciences were joined with the truth,

perceived already coals to be kindled, which after should be the

destruction of many a true christian."

_The words and behaviour of the lady Jane upon the Scaffold._

The next victim was the amiable lady Jane Gray, who, by her acceptance

of the crown at the earnest solicitations of her friends, incurred the

implacable resentment of the bloody Mary. When she first mounted the

scaffold, she spake to the spectators in this manner: Good people, I am

come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact

against the queen's highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto

by me: but, touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my

behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God, and the face

of you, good christian people, this day: and therewith she wrung her

hands, wherein she had her book. Then said she, I pray you all, good

christian people, to bear me witness, that I die a good christian woman,

and that I do look to be saved by no other mean, but only by the mercy

of God in the blood of his only Son Jesus Christ: and I confess, that

when I did know the word of God, I neglected the same, loved myself and

the world, and therefore this plague and punishment is happily and

worthily happened unto me for my sins; and yet I thank God, that of his

goodness he hath thus given me a time and a respite to repent and now,

good people, while I am alive, I pray you assist me with your prayers.

And then, kneeling down, she turned to Feckenham, saying, Shall I say

this psalm? and he said, Yea. Then she said the psalm of Miserere mei

Deus, in English, in a most devout manner throughout to the end; and

then she stood up, and gave her maid, Mrs. Ellen, her gloves and

handkerchief, and her book to Mr. Bruges; and then she untied her gown,

and the executioner pressed upon her to help her off with it: but she,

desiring him to let her alone, turned towards her two gentlewomen, who

helped her off therewith, and also with her frowes, paaft, and

neckerchief, giving to her a fair handkerchief to put about her eyes.

Then the executioner kneeled down, and asked her forgiveness whom she

forgave most willingly. Then he desired her to stand upon the straw,

which doing, she saw the block. Then she said, I pray you despatch me

quickly. Then she kneeled down, saying, Will you take it off before I

lay me down? And the executioner said, No madam. Then she tied a

handkerchief about her eyes, and feeling for the block, she said, What

shall I do? Where is it? Where is it? One of the standers-by guiding her

thereunto, she laid her head upon the block, and then stretched forth

her body, and said, Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and so

finished her life, in the year of our Lord 1554, the 12th day of

February, about the 17th year of her age.

Thus died the Lady Jane; and on the same day the lord Guilford, her

husband, one of the duke of Northumberland's sons, was likewise

beheaded, two innocents in comparison of them that sat upon them. For

they were both very young, and ignorantly accepted that which others had

contrived, and by open proclamation consented to take from others, and

give to them.

Touching the condemnation of this pious lady, it is to be noted, that

Judge Morgan, who gave sentence against her, soon after he had condemned

her, fell mad, and in his raving cried out continually, to have the lady

Jane taken away from him, and so he ended his life.

On the 21st day of the same month, Henry, duke of Suffolk, was beheaded

on Tower-hill, the fourth day after his condemnation: about which time

many gentlemen and yeomen were condemned, whereof some were executed at

London, and some in the country. In the number of whom was the lord

Thomas Gray, brother to the said duke, being apprehended not long after

in North-Wales, and executed for the same. Sir Nicholas Throgmorton,

also, very narrowly escaped.

_John Rogers, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, and Reader of St. Paul's,

London._

John Rogers was educated at Cambridge, and was afterward many years

chaplain to the merchants adventurers at Antwerp in Brabant. Here he met

with the celebrated martyr William Tindal, and Miles Coverdale, both

voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish

superstition and idolatry. They were the instruments of his conversion;

and he united with them in that translation of the Bible into English,

entitled "The Translation of Thomas Matthew." From the scriptures he

knew that unlawful vows may be lawfully broken; hence he married, and

removed to Wittenberg in Saxony, for the improvement of learning; and he

there learned the Dutch language, and received the charge of a

congregation, which he faithfully executed for many years. On king

Edward's accession, he left Saxony, to promote the work of reformation

in England; and, after some time, Nicholas Ridley, then bishop of

London, gave him a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the dean and

chapter appointed him reader of the divinity lesson there. Here he

continued until queen Mary's succession to the throne, when the gospel

and true religion were banished, and the Antichrist of Rome, with his

superstition and idolatry, introduced.