queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed
in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and
exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and
superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended
himself, that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the
queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new
handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and
commanded to keep his house. He did so, though he might have escaped;
and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate.
"He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget
a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succour them." But all
these things were insufficient to induce him to depart and, when once
called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded
his life for that purpose.
After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of
London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among
thieves and murderers.
After Mr. Rogers had been long and straitly imprisoned, and lodged in
Newgate among thieves, often examined, and very uncharitably entreated,
and at length unjustly and most cruelly condemned by Stephen Gardiner,
bishop of Winchester: the 4th of February, in the year of our Lord 1555,
being Monday in the morning, he was suddenly warned by the keeper of
Newgates's wife, to prepare himself for the fire; who, being then sound
asleep, could scarce be awaked. At length being raised and awaked, and
bid to make haste, Then said he, if it be so, I need not tie my points.
And so was had down, first to bishop Bonner to be degraded: which being
done, he craved of Bonner but one petition; and Bonner asking what that
should be? Mr. Rogers replied, that he might speak a few words with his
wife before his burning. But that could not be obtained of him.
When the time came, that he should be brought out of Newgate to
Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the
sheriffs, first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him, if he would revoke
his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the sacrament of the
altar. Mr. Rogers answered that which I have preached I will seal with
my blood. Then Mr. Woodroofe said, Thou art an heretic. That shall be
known, quoth Mr. Rogers, at the day of judgment.--"Well, said Mr.
Woodroofe, I will never pray for thee. But I will pray for you, said Mr.
Rogers; and so was brought the same day, the 4th of February, by the
sheriffs, towards Smithfield, saying the psalm Miserere by the way, all
the people wonderfully rejoicing at his constancy with great praises and
thanks to God for the same. And here, in the presence of Mr. Rochester,
comptroller of the queen's household, sir Richard Southwell, both the
sheriffs, and a great number of people he was burnt to ashes, washing
his hands in the flame as he was burning. A little before his burning,
his pardon was brought if he would have recanted; but he utterly refused
it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in
Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife
and children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at
her breast, met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield: this
sorrowful sight of his own flesh and blood could nothing move him but
that he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonderful
patience, in the defence and quarrel of the gospel of Christ."
_The Rev. Mr. Lawrence Saunders._
Mr. Saunders after passing some time in the school of Eaton, was chosen
to go to King's college in Cambridge, where he continued three years,
and profited in knowledge and learning very much for that time shortly
after he quitted the university, and went to his parents, but soon
returned to Cambridge again to his study, where he began to add to the
knowledge of the Latin, the study of the Greek and Hebrew tongues, and
gave himself up to the study of the holy scriptures, the better to
qualify himself for the office of preacher.
In the beginning of king Edward's reign, when God's true religion was
introduced, after license obtained, he began to preach, and was so well
liked of them who then had authority, that they appointed him to read a
divinity lecture in the college of Fothringham. The college of
Fothringham being dissolved, he was placed to be a reader in the minster
at Litchfield. After a certain space, he departed from Litchfield to a
benefice in Leicestershire, called Church-langton, where he held a
residence, taught diligently, and kept a liberal house. Thence he was
orderly called to take a benefice in the city of London, namely,
All-hallows in Bread-street.--After this he preached at Northampton,
nothing meddling with the state, but boldly uttering his conscience
against the popish doctrines which were likely to spring up again in
England, as a just plague for the little love which the English nation
then bore to the blessed word of God, which had been so plentifully
offered unto them.
The queen's party, who were there, and heard him, were highly displeased
with him for his sermon, and for it kept him among them as a prisoner.
But partly for love of his brethren and friends, who were chief actors
for the queen among them, partly because there was no law broken by his
preaching, they dismissed him.
Some of his friends, perceiving such fearful menacing, counselled him to
fly out of the realm, which he refused to do. But seeing he was with
violence kept from doing good in that place, he returned towards London,
to visit his flock.
In the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 15, 1554, as he was reading in his
church to exhort his people, the bishop of London interrupted him, by
sending an officer for him.
His treason and sedition the bishop's charity was content to let slip
until another time, but a heretic he meant to prove him, and all those,
he said, who taught and believed that the administration of the
sacraments, and all orders of the church, are the most pure, which come
the nearest to the order of the primitive church.
After much talk concerning this matter, the bishop desired him to write
what he believed of transubstantiation. Laurence Saunders did so,
saying, "My Lord, you seek my blood, and you shall have it: I pray God
that you may be so baptised in it that you may ever after loathe
blood-sucking, and become a better man." Upon being closely charged with
contumacy, the severe replies of Mr. Saunders to the bishop, (who had
before, to get the favour of Henry VIII. written and set forth in print,
a book of true obedience, wherein he had openly declared queen Mary to
be a bastard) so irritated him, that he exclaimed, Carry away this
frenzied fool to prison.
After this good and faithful martyr had been kept in prison one year and
a quarter, the bishops at length called him, as they did his
fellow-prisoners, openly to be examined before the queen's council.
His examination being ended, the officers led him out of the place, and
staid until the rest of his fellow-prisoners were likewise examined,
that they might lead them all together to prison.
After his excommunication and delivery over to the secular power, he was
brought by the sheriff of London to the Compter, a prison in his own
parish of Bread-street, at which he rejoiced greatly, both because he
found there a fellow-prisoner, Mr. Cardmaker, with whom he had much
christian and comfortable discourse; and because out of prison, as
before in his pulpit, he might have an opportunity of preaching to his
parishioners. The 4th of February, Bonner, bishop of London, came to the
prison to degrade him; the day following, in the morning the sheriff of
London delivered him to certain of the queen's guard, who were appointed
to carry him to the city of Coventry, there to be burnt.
When they had arrived at Coventry, a poor shoemaker, who used to serve
him with shoes, came to him, and said, O my good master, God strengthen
and comfort you. Good shoemaker, Mr. Saunders replied, I desire thee to
pray for me, for I am the most unfit man for this high office, that ever
was appointed to it; but my gracious God and dear Father is able to make
me strong enough. The next day, being the 8th of February, 1555, he was
led to the place of execution, in the park, without the city; he went in
an old gown and a shirt, bare-footed, and oftentimes fell flat on the
ground, and prayed. When he was come nigh to the place, the officer,
appointed to see the execution done, said to Mr. Saunders, that he was
one of them who married the queen's realm, but if he would recant, there
was pardon for him. "Not I," replied the holy martyr, "but such as you
have injured the realm. The blessed gospel of Christ is what I hold;
that do I believe, that have I taught, and that will I never revoke!"
Mr. Saunders then slowly moved towards the fire, sank to the earth and
prayed; he then rose up, embraced the stake, and frequently said,
"Welcome, thou cross of Christ! welcome everlasting life!" Fire was then
put to the fagots, and, he was overwhelmed by the dreadful flames, and
sweetly slept in the Lord Jesus.
_The history, imprisonment, and examinations, of Mr. John Hooper, Bishop
of Worcester and Gloucester._
John Hooper, student and graduate in the university of Oxford, was
stirred with such fervent desire to the love and knowledge of the
scriptures, that he was compelled to remove from thence, and was
retained in the house of Sir Thomas Arundel, as his steward, till Sir
Thomas had intelligence of his opinions and religion, which he in no
case did favour, though he exceedingly favoured his person and
condition, and wished to be his friend. Mr. Hooper now prudently left
Sir Thomas' house and arrived at Paris, but in a short time returned
into England, and was retained by Mr. Sentlow, till the time that he was
again molested and sought for, when he passed through France to the
higher parts of Germany; where, commencing acquaintance with learned
men, he was by them free and lovingly entertained, both at Basil, and
especially at Zurich, by Mr. Bullinger, who was his singular friend;
here also he married his wife, who was a Burgonian, and applied very
studiously to the Hebrew tongue.
At length, when God saw it good to stay the bloody time of the six
articles, and to give us king Edward to reign over this realm, with some
peace and rest unto the church, amongst many other English exiles, who
then repaired homeward, Mr. Hooper also, moved in conscience, thought
not to absent himself, but seeing such a time and occasion, offered to
help forward the Lord's work, to the uttermost of his ability.
When Mr. Hooper had taken his farewell of Mr. Bullinger, and his friends
in Zurich, he repaired again into England in the reign of king Edward
the Sixth, and coming to London, used continually to preach, most times
twice, or at least once a day.
In his sermons, according to his accustomed manner, he corrected sin,
and sharply inveighed against the iniquity of the world and the corrupt
abuses of the church. The people in great flocks and companies daily
came to hear his voice, as the most melodious sound and tune of Orpheus'
harp, insomuch, that oftentimes when he was preaching, the church would
be so full, that none could enter further than the doors thereof. In his
doctrine, he was earnest, in tongue eloquent, in the scriptures,
perfect, in pains indefatigable, in his life exemplary.
Having preached before the king's majesty, he was soon after made bishop
of Gloucester. In that office he continued two years, and behaved
himself so well, that his very enemies could find no fault with him, and
after that he was made bishop of Worcester.
Dr. Hooper executed the office of a most careful and vigilant pastor for
the space of two years and more, so long as the state of religion in
king Edward's time was sound and flourishing.
After he had been cited to appear before Bonner and Dr. Heath, he was
led to the Council, accused falsely of owing the queen money, and in the
next year, 1554, he wrote an account of his severe treatment during
near eighteen months' confinement to the Fleet, and after his third
examination, January 28, 1555, at St. Mary Overy's, he, with the Rev.
Mr. Rogers, was conducted to the Compter in Southwark, there to remain
till the next day at nine o'clock, to see whether they would recant.
Come, brother Rogers, said Dr. Hooper, must we two take this matter
first in hand, and begin to fry in these fagots? Yes, Doctor, said Mr.
Rogers, by God's grace. Doubt not, said Dr. Hooper, but God will give us
strength; and the people so applauded their constancy, that they had
much ado to pass.
January 29, bishop Hooper was degraded and condemned, and the Rev. Mr.
Rogers was treated in like manner. At dark, Dr. Hooper was led through
the city to Newgate; notwithstanding this secrecy, many people came
forth to their doors with lights, and saluted him, praising God for his
constancy.
During the few days he was in Newgate, he was frequently visited by
Bonner and others, but without avail. As Christ was tempted, so they
tempted him, and then maliciously reported that he had recanted. The
place of his martyrdom being fixed at Gloucester, he rejoiced very much,
lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven, and praising God that he saw it
good to send him among the people over whom he was pastor, there to
confirm with his death the truth which he had before taught them.
On Feb. 7th, he came to Gloucester, about five o'clock, and lodged at
one Ingram's house. After his first sleep, he continued in prayer until
morning; and all the day, except a little time at his meals, and when
conversing with such as the guard kindly permitted to speak to him, he
spent in prayer.
Sir Anthony Kingston, at one time Doctor Hooper's good friend, was
appointed by the queen's letters to attend at his execution. As soon as
he saw the bishop he burst into tears. With tender entreaties he
exhorted him to live. "True it is," said the bishop, "that death is
bitter, and life is sweet: but alas! consider that the death to come is
more bitter, and the life to come is more sweet."
The same day a blind boy obtained leave to be brought into Dr. Hooper's
presence. The same boy, not long before, had suffered imprisonment at
Gloucester for confessing the truth. "Ah! poor boy," said the bishop,
"though God hath taken from thee thy outward sight, for what reason he
best knoweth, yet he hath endued thy soul with the eye of knowledge and
of faith. God give thee grace continually to pray unto him, that thou
lose not that sight, for then wouldst thou indeed be blind both in body
and soul."
When the mayor waited upon him preparatory to his execution, he
expressed his perfect obedience, and only requested that a quick fire
might terminate his torments. After he had got up in the morning, he
desired that no man should be suffered to come into the chamber, that he
might be solitary till the hour of execution.
About eight o'clock, on February 9, 1555, he was led forth, and many
thousand persons were collected, as it was market-day. All the way,
being straitly charged not to speak, and beholding the people who
mourned bitterly for him, he would sometimes lift up his eyes towards
heaven, and look very cheerfully upon such as he knew: and he was never
known, during the time of his being among them, to look with so cheerful
and ruddy a countenance as he did at that time. When he came to the
place appointed where he should die, he smilingly beheld the stake and
preparation made for him, which was near unto the great elm-tree over
against the college of priests, where he used to preach.
Now, after he had entered into prayer, a box was brought and laid before
him upon a stool, with his pardon from the queen, if he would turn. At
the sight whereof he cried, If you love my soul away with it. The box
being taken away, lord Chandois said, Seeing there is no remedy,
despatch him quickly.
Command was now given that the fire should be kindled. But because there
were not more green fagots than two horses could carry, it kindled not
speedily, and was a pretty while also before it took the reeds upon the
fagots. At length it burned about him, but the wind having full strength
at that place, and being a lowering cold morning, it blew the flame from
him, so that he was in a manner little more than touched by the fire.
Within a space after, a few dry fagots were brought, and a new fire
kindled with fagots, (for there were no more reeds) and those burned at
the nether parts, but had small power above, because of the wind, saving
that it burnt his hair, and scorched his skin a little. In the time of
which fire, even as at the first flame, he prayed, saying mildly, and
not very loud, but as one without pain, O Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy upon me, and receive my soul! After the second fire was spent, he
wiped both his eyes with his hands, and beholding the people, he said
with an indifferent loud voice, For God's love, good people, let me have
more fire! and all this while his nether parts did burn; but the fagots
were so few, that the flame only singed his upper parts.
The third fire was kindled within a while after, which was more extreme
than the other two. In this fire he prayed with a loud voice, Lord
Jesus, have mercy upon me! Lord Jesus receive my spirit! And these were
the last words he was heard to utter. But when he was black in the
mouth, and his tongue so swollen that he could not speak, yet his lips
went till they were shrunk to the gums: and he knocked his breast with
his hands until one of his arms fell off, and then knocked still with
the other, while the fat, water, and blood dropped out at his fingers'
ends, until by renewing the fire, his strength was gone, and his hand
clave fast in knocking to the iron upon his breast. Then immediately
bowing forwards, he yielded up his spirit.
_The life and conduct of Dr. Rowland Taylor of Hadley._
Dr. Rowland Taylor, vicar of Hadley, in Suffolk, was a man of eminent
learning, and had been admitted to the degree of doctor of the civil and
canon law.
His attachment to the pure and uncorrupted principles of christianity
recommended him to the favour and friendship of Dr. Cranmer, archbishop
of Canterbury, with whom he lived a considerable time, till through his
interest he obtained the living of Hadley.
Dr. Taylor promoted the interest of the great Redeemer, and the souls of
mankind, both by his preaching and example, during the time of king
Edward VI. but on his demise, and the succession of queen Mary to the
throne, he escaped not the cloud that burst on so many beside; for two
of his parishioners, Foster, an attorney, and Clark, a tradesman, out of
blind zeal, resolved that mass should be celebrated, in all its
superstitious forms, in the parish church of Hadley, on Monday before
Easter; this Dr. Taylor, entering the church, strictly forbade; but
Clark forced the Doctor out of the church, celebrated mass, and
immediately informed the lord-chancellor, bishop of Winchester of his
behaviour, who summoned him to appear, and answer the complaints that
were alleged against him.
The doctor upon the receipt of the summons, cheerfully prepared to obey
the same; and rejected the advice of his friends to fly beyond sea. When
Gardiner saw Dr. Taylor, he, according to his common custom, reviled
him. Dr. Taylor heard his abuse patiently, and when the bishop said, How
darest thou look me in the face! knowest thou not who I am? Dr. Taylor
replied, You are Dr. Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and
lord-chancellor, and yet but a mortal man. But if I should be afraid of
your lordly looks, why fear ye not God, the Lord of us all? With what
countenance will you appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and
answer to your oath made first unto king Henry the Eighth, and afterward
unto king Edward the Sixth, his son?
A long conversation ensued, in which Dr. Taylor was so piously collected
and severe upon his antagonist, that he exclaimed, Thou art a
blasphemous heretic! Thou indeed blasphemist the blessed sacrament,
(here he put off his cap) and speakest against the holy mass, which is
made a sacrifice for the quick and the dead. The bishop afterward
committed him into the king's bench.
When Dr. Taylor came there, he found the virtuous and vigilant preacher
of God's word, Mr. Bradford; who equally thanked God that he had
provided him with such a comfortable fellow-prisoner; and they both
together praised God, and continued in prayer, reading and exhorting one
another.
After that Dr. Taylor had lain some time in prison, he was cited to
appear in the arches of Bow-church.
Dr. Taylor being condemned, was committed to the Clink, and the keepers
were charged to treat him roughly; at night he was removed to the
Poultry Compter.
When Dr. Taylor had lain in the Compter about a week, on the 4th of
February, Bonner came to degrade him, bringing with him such ornaments
as appertained to the massing mummery; but the Doctor refused these
trappings till they were forced upon him.
The night after he was degraded, his wife came with John Hull, his
servant, and his son Thomas, and were by the gentleness of the keepers
permitted to sup with him.
After supper, walking up and down, he gave God thanks for his grace,
that had so called him and given him strength to abide by his holy word
and turning to his son Thomas, he exhorted him to piety and filial
obedience in the most earnest manner.
Dr. Taylor, about two o'clock in the morning, was conveyed to the
Woolpack, Aldgate, and had an affecting interview with his wife and
daughter, and a female orphan he had brought up who had waited all night
in St. Botolph's porch, to see him pass, before being delivered to the
sheriff of Essex. On coming out of the gates, John Hull, his good
servant, stood at the rails with Thomas, (Dr. Taylor's son.) This, said
he, is my own son. Then he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and prayed for
his son and blessed him.
At Chelmsford the sheriff of Suffolk met them, there to receive him, and
to carry him into Suffolk. Being at supper, the sheriff of Essex very
earnestly besought him to return to the popish religion, thinking with
fair words to persuade him. When they had all drunk to him, and the cup
was come to him, he said, Mr. Sheriff, and my masters all, I heartily
thank you for your good will. I have hearkened to your words, and marked
well your counsels. And to be plain with you, I perceive that I have
been deceived myself, and am like to deceive a great many in Hadley of
their expectations. At these words they all rejoiced, but the Doctor had
a meaning very remote from theirs. He alluded to the disappointment that
the worms would have in not being able to feast upon his portly and
goodly body, which they would have done if, instead of being burnt, he
had been buried.
When the sheriff and his company heard him speak thus, they were amazed,
marvelling at the constant mind that could thus without fear make a jest
of the cruel torments and death now at hand, prepared for him. At
Chelmsford he was delivered to the sheriff of Suffolk, and by him
conducted to Hadley.
When Dr. Taylor had arrived at Aldham-Common, the place where he should
suffer, seeing a great multitude of people, he asked, What place is
this, and what meaneth it that so much people are gathered hither? It
was answered, It is Aldham-Common, the place where you must suffer; and
the people are come to look upon you. Then he said, Thanked be God, I am
even at home; and he alighted from his horse and with both hands rent
the hood from his head.
His head had been notched and clipped like as a man would clip a fool's;
which cost the good bishop Bonner had bestowed upon him. But when the
people saw his reverend and ancient face, with a long white beard, they
burst out with weeping tears, and cried, saying, God save thee, good Dr.
Taylor! Jesus Christ strengthen thee, and help thee! the Holy Ghost
comfort thee! with such other like good wishes.
When he had prayed, he went to the stake and kissed it, and set himself
into a pitch barrel, which they had put for him to stand in, and stood
with his back upright against the stake, with his hands folded together,
and his eyes towards heaven, and continually prayed.
They then bound him with the chains, and having set up the fagots, one
Warwick cruelly cast a fagot at him which struck him on his head, and
cut his face, so that the blood ran down. Then said Dr. Taylor, O
friend, I have harm enough, what needed that?
Sir John Shelton standing by, as Dr. Taylor was speaking, and saying the
psalm Miserere in English, struck him on the lips: You knave, said he,
speak Latin: I will make thee. At last they kindled the fire; and Dr.
Taylor holding up both his hands, calling upon God, and said, Merciful
Father of heaven! for Jesus Christ, my Saviour's sake, receive my soul
into thy hands! So he stood still without either crying or moving, with
his hands folded together, till Soyce, with a halberd struck him on the
head till his brains fell out, and the corpse fell down into the fire.
Thus rendered up this man of God his blessed soul into the hands of his
merciful Father, and to his most dear Saviour Jesus Christ, whom he most
entirely loved, faithfully and earnestly preached, obediently followed
in living, and constantly glorified in death.
_Martyrdom of Tomkins, Pygot, Knight, Lawrence, Hunter, and Higbed._
Thomas Tomkins was by trade a weaver in Shoreditch, till he was summoned
before the inhuman Bonner, and confined with many others, who renounced
the errors of popery, in a prison in that tyrant's house at Fulham.
Under his confinement, he was treated by the bishop not only unbecoming
a prelate, but even a man; for the savage, because Tomkins would not
assent to the doctrine of transubstantiation, bruised him in the face,
and plucked off the greatest part of the hair of his beard.
On another occasion, this scandal to humanity, in the presence of many
who came to visit at Fulham, took this poor honest man by the fingers,
and held his hand directly over the flame of a wax candle having three
or four wicks, supposing that, being terrified by the smart and pain of
the fire, he would leave off the defence of the doctrine which he had
received.
Tomkins thinking no otherwise, but there presently to die, began to
commend himself unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, into thy hands I commend
my spirit, &c. All the time that his hand was burning the same Tomkins
afterward reported to one James Hinse, that his spirit was so rapt, that
he felt no pain. In which burning he never shrank till the veins
shrank, and the sinews burst and the water spurted into Mr. Harpsfield's
face: insomuch that Mr. Harpsfield, moved with pity, desired the bishop
to stay, saying, that he had tried him enough.
After undergoing two examinations, and refusing to swerve from his duty
and belief, he was commanded to appear before the bishop.
Agreeably to this mandate, being brought before the bloody tribunal of
bishops, and pressed to recant his errors and return to the mother
church, he maintained his fidelity, nor would swerve in the least from
the articles he had signed with his own hand. Having therefore declared
him an obstinate heretic, they delivered him up to the secular power,
and he was burned in Smithfield, March 16th, 1555, triumphant in the
midst of the flames, and adding to the noble company of martyrs, who had
preceded him through the path of the fiery trial to the realms of
immortal glory.
William Hunter had been trained to the doctrines of the reformation from
his earliest youth, being descended from religious parents, who
carefully instructed him in the principles of the true religion.
Hunter, then nineteen years of age, refusing to receive the communion at
mass, was threatened to be brought before the bishop; to whom this
valiant young martyr was conducted by a constable.
Bonner caused William to be brought into a chamber, where he began to
reason with him, promising him security and pardon if he would recant.
Nay, he would have been content if he would have gone only to receive
and to confession, but William would not do so for all the world.
Upon this the bishop commanded his men to put William in the stocks in
his gate-house, where he sat two days and nights, with a crust of brown
bread and a cup of water only, which he did not touch.
At the two days' end, the bishop came to him, and finding him steadfast
in the faith, sent him to the convict prison, and commanded the keeper
to lay irons upon him as many as he could bear. He continued in prison
three quarters of a year, during which time he had been before the
bishop five times, besides the time when he was condemned in the
consistory in St. Paul's, February 9th, at which time his brother,
Robert Hunter, was present.
Then the bishop, calling William, asked him if he would recant, and
finding he was unchangeable, he pronounced sentence upon him, that he
should go from that place to Newgate for a time, and thence to
Brentwood, there to be burned.
About a month afterward, William was sent down to Brentwood, where he
was to be executed. On coming to the stake, he knelt down and read the
51st psalm, till he came to these words, "The sacrifice of God is a
contrite spirit; a contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise." Steadfast in refusing the queen's pardon, if he would become
an apostate, at length one Richard Ponde, a bailiff, came, and made the
chain fast about him.
William now cast his psalter into his brother's hand, who said William,
think on the holy passion of Christ, and be not afraid of death. Behold,
answered William, I am not afraid. Then he lifted up his hands to
heaven, and said, Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit and casting down
his head again into the smothering smoke, he yielded up his life for the
truth, sealing it with his blood to the praise of God.
About the same time William Pygot, Stephen Knight, and Rev. John
Lawrence, were burnt as heretics, by order of the infamous Bonner.
Thomas Higbed and Thomas Causton shared the same fate.
_Dr. Robert Farrar._
This worthy and learned prelate, the bishop of St. David's in Wales,
having in the former reign, as well as since the accession of Mary, been
remarkably zealous to promoting the reformed doctrines, and exploding
the errors of popish idolatry, was summoned, among others, before the
persecuting bishop of Winchester, and other commissioners set apart for
the abominable work of devastation and massacre.
His principal accusers and persecutors, on a charge of praemunire in the
reign of Edward VI. were George Constantine Walter, his servant; Thomas
Young, chanter of the cathedral, afterward bishop of Bangor, &c. Dr.
Farrar ably replied to the copies of information laid against him,
consisting of fifty-six articles. The whole process of this trial was
long and tedious. Delay succeeded delay, and after that Dr. Farrar had
been long unjustly detained in custody under sureties, in the reign of
king Edward, because he had been promoted by the duke of Somerset,
whence after his fall he found fewer friends to support him against such
as wanted his bishopric by the coming in of queen Mary, he was accused
and examined not for any matter of praemunire, but for his faith and
doctrine; for which he was called before the Bishop of Winchester with
bishop Hooper, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Bradford, Mr. Saunders and others, Feb.
4, 1555; on which day he would also with them have been condemned, but
his condemnation was deferred, and he sent to prison again, where he
continued till Feb. 14, and then was sent into Wales to receive
sentence. He was six times brought up before Henry Morgan, bishop of St.
David's, who demanded if he would abjure; from which he zealously
dissented, and appealed to cardinal Pole; notwithstanding which, the
bishop, proceeding in his rage, pronounced him a heretic excommunicate,
and surrendered him to the secular power.
Dr. Farrar, being condemned and degraded, was not long after brought to
the place of execution in the town of Carmathen, in the market-place of
which, on the south side of the market-cross, March 30, 1555, being
Saturday next before Passion-Sunday, he most constantly sustained the
torments of the fire.
Concerning his constancy, it is said that one Richard Jones, a knight's
son, coming to Dr. Farrar a little before his death, seemed to lament
the painfulness of the death he had to suffer; to whom the bishop
answered, That if he saw him once stir in the pains of his burning, he
ought then give no credit to his doctrine; and as he said, so did he
maintain his promise, patiently standing without emotion, till one
Richard Gravell with a staff struck him down.
_Rawlins White._
Rawlins White was by his calling and occupation a fisherman, living and
continuing in the said trade for the space of twenty years at least, in
the town of Cardiff, where he bore a very good name amongst his
neighbours.
Though the good man was altogether unlearned, and withal very simple,
yet it pleased God to remove him from error and idolatry to a knowledge
of the truth, through the blessed reformation in Edward's reign. He had
his son taught to read English, and after the little boy could read
pretty well, his father every night after supper, summer and winter,
made the boy read a portion of the holy scriptures, and now and then a
part of some other good book.
When he had continued in his profession the space of five years, king
Edward died, upon whose decease queen Mary succeeded and with her all
kind of superstition crept in. White was taken by the officers of the
town, as a man suspected of heresy, brought before the bishop Llandaff,
and committed to prison in Chepstow, and at last removed to the castle
of Cardiff, where he continued for the space of one whole year. Being
brought before the bishop in his chapel, he counselled him by threats
and promises. But as Rawlins would in nowise recant his opinions, the
bishop told him plainly, that he must proceed against him by law, and
condemn him as a heretic.
Before they proceeded to this extremity, the bishop proposed that prayer
should be said for his conversion. "This," said White, "is like a godly
bishop, and if your request be godly and right, and you pray as you
ought, no doubt God will hear you; pray you, therefore, to your God, and
I will pray to my God." After the bishop and his party had done praying,
he asked Rawlins if he would now revoke. "You find," said the latter,
"your prayer is not granted, for I remain the same; and God will
strengthen me in support of this truth." After this, the bishop tried
what saying mass would do; but Rawlins called all the people to witness
that he did not bow down to the host. Mass being ended Rawlins was
called for again; to whom the bishop used many persuasions; but the
blessed man continued so steadfast to his former profession, that the
bishop's discourse was to no purpose.--The bishop now caused the
definitive sentence to be read, which being ended, Rawlins was carried
again to Cardiff, to a loathsome prison in the town, called Cockmarel,
where he passed his time in prayer, and in singing of psalms. In about
three weeks, the order came from town for his execution.
When he came to the place, where his poor wife and children stood
weeping, the sudden sight of them so pierced his heart, that the tears
trickled down his face. Being come to the altar of his sacrifice, in
going towards the stake, he fell down upon his knees, and kissed the
ground; and in rising again, a little earth sticking on his face, he
said these words, Earth unto earth, and dust unto dust; thou art my
mother, and unto thee I shall return.
When all things were ready, directly over against the stake, in the face
of Rawlins White, there was a standing erected, whereon stept up a
priest, addressing himself to the people, but, as he spoke of the Romish
doctrines of the sacraments, Rawlins cried out, Ah, thou wicked
hypocrite, dost thou presume to prove thy false doctrine by scripture?
Look in the text that followeth; did not Christ say, "Do this in
remembrance of me?"
Then some that stood by cried out, put fire! set on fire! which being
done, the straw and reeds cast up a great and sudden flame. In which
flame this good man bathed his hands so long, until such time as the
sinews shrank, and the fat dropped away, saving that once he did, as it
were, wipe his face with one of them. All this while, which was somewhat
long, he cried with a loud voice, O Lord, receive my spirit! until he
could not open his mouth. At last the extremity of the fire was so
vehement against his legs, that they were consumed almost before the
rest of his body was hurt, which made the whole body fall over the chain
into the fire sooner than it would have done. Thus died this good old
man for his testimony of God's truth, and is now rewarded, no doubt,
with the crown of eternal life.
_The Rev. Mr. George Marsh._
George Marsh, born in the parish of Deane, in the county of Lancaster,
received a good education and trade from his parents; about his 25th
year he married, and lived, blessed with several children, on his farm
till his wife died. He then went to study at Cambridge, and became the
curate of the Rev. Mr. Lawrence Saunders, in which duty he constantly
and zealously set forth the truth of God's word, and the false doctrines
of the modern Antichrist.
Being confined by Dr. Coles, the bishop of Chester, within the precincts
of his own house, he was kept from any intercourse with his friends
during four months: his friends and mother, earnestly wished him to have
flown from "the wrath to come;" but Mr. Marsh thought that such a step
would ill agree with that profession he had during nine years openly
made. He, however, secreted himself, but he had much struggling, and in
secret prayer begged that God would direct him, through the advice of
his best friends, for his own glory and to what was best. At length,
determined, by a letter he received, boldly to confess the faith of
Christ, he took leave of his mother-in-law and other friends,
recommending his children to their care and departed for Smethehills,
whence he was, with others, conducted to Lathum, to undergo examination
before the Earl of Derby, Sir William Nores Mr. Sherburn, the parson of
Grapnal, and others. The various questions put to him he answered with a
good conscience, but when Mr. Sherburn interrogated him upon his belief
of the sacrament of the altar, Mr. Marsh answered like a true
Protestant, that the essence of the bread and wine was not at all
changed, hence, after receiving dreadful threats from some, and fair
words from others, for his opinions, he was remanded to ward, where he
lay two nights without any bed.--On Palm Sunday he underwent a second
examination, and Mr. Marsh much lamented that his fear should at all
have induced him to prevaricate, and to seek his safety, so long as he
did not openly deny Christ; and he again cried more earnestly to God for
strength that he might not be overcome by the subtleties of those who
strove to overrule the purity of his faith. He underwent three
examinations before Dr. Coles, who, finding him steadfast in the
Protestant faith, began to read his sentence; but he was interrupted by
the Chancellor, who prayed the bishop to stay before it was too late.
The priest then prayed for Mr. Marsh, but the latter, upon being again
solicited to recant, said he durst not deny his Saviour Christ, lest he
lose his everlasting mercy, and so obtain eternal death. The bishop then
proceeded in the sentence. He was committed to a dark dungeon, and lay
deprived of the consolation of any one, (for all were afraid to relieve
or communicate with him) till the day appointed came that he should
suffer. The sheriffs of the city, Amry and Couper, with their officers,
went to the north gate, and took out Mr. George Marsh, who walked all
the way with the book in his hand, looking upon the same, whence the
people said, This man does not go to his death as a thief, nor as one
that deserveth to die.
When he came to the place of execution without the city, near
Spittal-Boughton, Mr. Cawdry, deputy Chamberlain of Chester, showed Mr.
Marsh a writing under a great seal, saying, that it was a pardon for him
if he would recant. He answered, That he would gladly accept the same
did it not tend to pluck him from God.
After that, he began to speak to the people, showing the cause of his
death, and would have exhorted them to stick unto Christ, but one of the
sheriffs prevented him. Kneeling down, he then said his prayers, put off
his clothes unto his shirt, and was chained to the post, having a number
of fagots under him, and a thing made like a firkin, with pitch and tar
in it, over his head. The fire being unskilfully made, and the wind
driving it in eddies, he suffered great extremity, which notwithstanding
he bore with Christian fortitude.
When he had been a long time tormented in the fire without moving,
having his flesh so broiled and puffed up, that they who stood before
him could not see the chain wherewith he was fastened, and therefore
supposed that he had been dead, suddenly he spread abroad his arms,
saying. Father of heaven have mercy upon me! and so yielded his spirit
into the hands of the Lord. Upon this, many of the people said he was a
martyr and died gloriously patient. This caused the bishop shortly after
to make a sermon in the cathedral church, and therein he affirmed, that
the said Marsh was a heretic, burnt as such, and was a firebrand in
hell.--Mr. Marsh suffered April 24, 1555.
_Mr. William Flower._
William Flower, otherwise Branch, was born at Snow-hill, in the county
of Cambridge, where he went to school some years, and then came to the
abbey of Ely. After he had remained a while he became a professed monk,
was made a priest in the same house, and there celebrated and sang mass.
After that, by reason of a visitation, and certain injunctions by the
authority of Henry VIII he took upon him the habit of a secular priest,
and returned to Snow-hill, where he was born, and taught children about
half a year.
He then went to Ludgate, in Suffolk, and served as a secular priest
about a quarter of a year; from thence to Stoniland; at length to
Tewksbury, where he married a wife, with whom he ever after faithfully
and honestly continued: after marriage he resided at Tewksbury about two
years, and from thence went to Brosley, where he practised physic and
surgery; but departing from those parts, he came to London, and finally
settled at Lambeth, where he and his wife dwelt together: however, he
was generally abroad, excepting once or twice in a month, to visit and
see his wife. Being at home upon Easter Sunday morning, he came over the
water from Lambeth into St. Margaret's church at Westminster; when
seeing a priest, named John Celtham, administering and giving the
sacrament of the altar to the people, and being greatly offended in his
conscience with the priest for the same, he struck and wounded him upon
the head, and also upon the arm and hand, with his wood knife, the
priest having at the same time in his hand a chalice with the
consecrated host therein, which became sprinkled with blood.
Mr. Flower, for this injudicious zeal, was heavily ironed, and put into
the gatehouse at Westminster; and afterward summoned before bishop
Bonner and his ordinary, where the bishop, after he had sworn him upon a
book, ministered articles and interrogations to him.
After examination, the bishop began to exhort him again to return to the
unity of his mother the catholic church, with many fair promises. These
Mr. Flower steadfastly rejecting, the bishop ordered him to appear in
the same place in the afternoon, and in the mean time to consider well
his former answer; but he, neither apologizing for having struck the
priest, nor swerving from his faith, the bishop assigned him the next
day, April 20th, to receive sentence, if he would not recant. The next
morning, the bishop accordingly proceeded to the sentence, condemning
and excommunicating him for a heretic, and after pronouncing him to be
degraded, committed him to the secular power.
April 24, St. Mark's eve, he was brought to the place of martyrdom, in
St. Margaret's churchyard, Westminster, where the fact was committed:
and there coming to the stake, he prayed to Almighty God, made a
confession of his faith, and forgave all the world.
This done, his hand was held up against the stake, and struck off, his
left hand being fastened behind him. Fire was then set to him and he
burning therein, cried with it loud voice, O thou Son of God, have mercy
upon me! O thou Son of God, receive my soul! three times; his speech
being now taken from him, he spoke no more, but notwithstanding he
lifted up the stump with his other arm as long as he could.
Thus he endured the extremity of the fire, and was cruelly tortured for
the few fagots that were brought being insufficient to burn him, they
were compelled to strike him down into the fire, where lying along upon
the ground, his lower part was consumed in the fire, whilst his upper
part was little injured, his tongue moving in his mouth for a
considerable time.
_The Rev. John Cardmaker and John Warne._
May 30, 1555, the Rev. John Cardmaker, otherwise called Taylor,
prebendary of the church of Wells, and John Warne, upholsterer, of St.
John's, Walbrook, suffered together in Smithfield. Mr. Cardmaker, who
first was an observant friar before the dissolution of the abbeys,
afterward was a married minister, and in King Edward's time appointed to
be reader in St. Paul's; being apprehended in the beginning of Queen
Mary's reign, with Dr. Barlow, bishop of Bath, he was brought to London,
and put in the Fleet prison, King Edward's laws being yet in force. In
Mary's reign, when brought before the bishop of Winchester, the latter
offered them the queen's mercy, if they would recant.
Articles having been preferred against Mr. John Warne, he was examined
upon them by Bonner, who earnestly exhorted him to recant his opinions.
To whom he answered, I am persuaded that I am in the right opinion, and
I see no cause to recant; for all the filthiness and idolatry lies in
the church of Rome.
The bishop then, seeing that all his fair promises and terrible
threatenings could not prevail, pronounced the definitive sentence of
condemnation, and ordered the 30th of May, 1555, for the execution of
John Cardmaker and John Warne, who were brought by the sheriffs to
Smithfield. Being come to the stake, the sheriffs called Mr. Cardmaker
aside, and talked with him secretly, during which Mr. Warne prayed, was
chained to the stake, and had wood and reeds set about him.
The people were greatly afflicted, thinking that Mr. Cardmaker would
recant at the burning of Mr. Warne. At length Mr. Cardmaker departed
from the sheriffs, and came towards the stake, knelt down, and made a
long prayer in silence to himself. He then arose up, put off his clothes
to his shirt, and went with a bold courage unto the stake and kissed it;
and taking Mr. Warne by the hand, he heartily comforted him, and was
bound to the stake, rejoicing. The people seeing this so suddenly done,
contrary to their previous expectation, cried out, God be praised! the
Lord strengthen thee, Cardmaker! the Lord Jesus receive thy spirit! And
this continued while the executioner put fire to them, and both had
passed through the fire to the blessed rest and peace among God's holy
saints and martyrs, to enjoy the crown of triumph and victory prepared
for the elect soldiers and warriors of Christ Jesus in his blessed
kingdom, to whom be glory and majesty for ever. Amen.
_John Simpson and John Ardeley._
John Simpson and John Ardeley were condemned on the same day with Mr.
Cardmaker and John Warne, which was the 25th of May. They were shortly
after sent down from London to Essex, where they were burnt in one day,
John Simpson at Rochford, and John Ardeley at Railey, glorifying God in
his beloved Son, and rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to
suffer.
_Thomas Haukes, Thomas Watts, Thomas Osmond, William Bamford, and
Nicholas Chamberlain._
Mr. Thomas Haukes, with six others, were condemned on the 9th of
February, 1555. In education he was erudite; in person, comely and of
good stature; in manners, a gentleman, and a sincere Christian. A little
before death, several of Mr. H's. friends, terrified by the sharpness of
the punishment he was going to suffer, privately desired that in the
midst of the flames he would show them some token, whether the pains of
burning were so great that a man might not collectedly endure it. This
he promised to do; and it was agreed, that if the rage of the pain might
he suffered, then he should lift up his hands above his head towards
heaven, before he gave up the ghost.
Not long after, Mr. Haukes was led away to the place appointed for
slaughter, by lord Rich, and being come to the stake, mildly and
patiently prepared himself for the fire, having a strong chain cast
about his middle, with a multitude of people on every side compassing
him about. Unto whom after he had spoken many things, and poured out his
soul unto God, the fire was kindled.
When he had continued long in it, and his speech was taken away by
violence of the flame, his skin drawn together, and his fingers consumed
with the fire, so that it was thought that he was gone, suddenly and
contrary to all expectation, this good man being mindful of his promise,
reached up his hands burning in flames over his head to the living God,
and with great rejoicings as it seemed, struck or clapped them three
times together. A great shout followed this wonderful circumstance, and
then this blessed martyr of Christ, sinking down in the fire, gave up
his spirit, June 10, 1555.
Thomas Watts, of Billericay, in Essex, of the diocess of London, was a
linen draper. He had daily expected to be taken by God's adversaries,
and this came to pass on the 5th of April, 1555, when he was brought
before lord Rich, and other commissioners at Chelmsford, and accused for
not coming to the church.
Being consigned over to the bloody bishop, who gave him several
hearings, and, as usual, many arguments, with much entreaty, that he
would be a disciple of antichrist, but his preaching availed not, and he
resorted to his last revenge--that of condemnation.
At the stake, after he had kissed it, he spake to lord Rich, charging
him to repent, for the Lord would revenge his death. Thus did this good
martyr offer his body to the fire, in defence of the true gospel of the
Saviour.
Thomas Osmond, William Bamford, and Nicholas Chamberlain, all of the
town of Coxhall, being sent up to be examined, Bonner, after several
hearings, pronounced them obstinate heretics, and delivered them to the
sheriffs, in whose custody they remained till they were delivered to the
sheriff of Essex county, and by him were executed. Chamberlain at
Colchester, the 14th of June; Thomas Osmond at Maningtree, and William
Bamford, alias Butler, at Harwich, the 15th of June, 1555; all dying
full of the glorious hope of immortality.
_Rev. John Bradford, and John Leaf an apprentice._
Rev. John Bradford was born at Manchester, in Lancashire; he was a good
Latin scholar, and afterward became a servant of Sir John Harrington,
knight.
He continued several years in an honest and thriving way; but the Lord
had elected him to a better function. Hence he departed from his master,
quitting the Temple, at London, for the university of Cambridge, to
learn, by God's law, how to further the building of the Lord's temple.
In a few years after, the university gave him the degree of master of
arts, and he became a fellow of Pembroke Hall.
Martin Bucer first urged him to preach, and when he modestly doubted his
ability, Bucer was wont to reply, If thou hast not fine wheat bread, yet
give the poor people barley bread, or whatsoever else the Lord hath
committed unto thee. Dr. Ridley, that worthy bishop of London, and
glorious martyr of Christ, first called him to take the degree of a
deacon and gave him a prebend in his cathedral church of St. Paul.
In this preaching office Mr. Bradford diligently laboured for the space
of three years. Sharply he reproved sin, sweetly he preached Christ
crucified, ably he disproved heresies and errors, earnestly he persuaded
to godly life. After the death of blessed king Edward VI. Mr. Bradford
still continued diligent in preaching, till he was suppressed by queen
Mary. An act now followed of the blackest ingratitude, and at which a
Pagan would blush. It has been recited, that a tumult was occasioned by
Mr. Bourne's (then bishop of Bath) preaching at St. Paul's Cross; the
indignation of the people placed his life in imminent danger; indeed a
dagger was thrown at him. In this situation he entreated Mr. Bradford,
who stood behind him, to speak in his place, and assuage the tumult. The
people welcomed Mr. Bradford, and the latter afterward kept close to
him, that his presence might prevent the populace from renewing their
assaults.
The same Sunday in the afternoon, Mr. Bradford preached at Bow church in
Cheapside, and reproved the people sharply for their seditious
misdemeanor. Notwithstanding this conduct, within three days after, he
was sent for to the tower of London, where the queen then was, to appear
before the council. There he was charged with this act of saving Mr.
Bourne, which was called seditious, and they also objected against him
for preaching. Thus he was committed, first to the Tower, then to other
prisons, and, after his condemnation, to the Poultry Compter, where he
preached twice a day continually, unless sickness hindered him. Such was
his credit with the keeper of the king's Bench, that he permitted him in
an evening to visit a poor, sick person near the Steel-yard, upon his
promise to return in time, and in this he never failed.
The night before he was sent to Newgate, he was troubled in his sleep by
foreboding dreams, that on Monday after he should be burned in
Smithfield. In the afternoon the keeper's wife came up and announced
this dreadful news to him, but in him it excited only thankfulness to
God. At night, half a dozen friends came, with whom he spent all the
evening in prayer and godly exercises.
When he was removed to Newgate, a weeping crowd accompanied him, and a
rumor having been spread that he was to suffer at four the next morning,
an immense multitude attended. At nine o'clock Mr. Bradford was brought
into Smithfield. The cruelty of the sheriff deserves notice; for his
brother-in-law, Roger Beswick, having taken him by the hand as he
passed, Mr. Woodroffe, with his staff, cut his head open.
Mr. Bradford, being come to the place, fell flat on the ground, secretly
making his prayers to Almighty God. Then, rising again, and putting off
his clothes unto the shirt, he went to the stake, and there suffered
with a young man of twenty years of age, whose name was John Leaf, an
apprentice to Mr. Humphry Gaudy, tallow-chandler, of Christ-church,
London. Upon Friday before Palm Sunday, he was committed to the Compter
in Bread-street, and afterward examined and condemned by the bloody
bishop.
It is reported of him, that, when the bill of his confession was read
unto him, instead of pen, he took a pin, and pricking his hand,
sprinkled the blood upon the said bill, desiring the reader thereof to
show the bishop that he had sealed the same bill with his blood already.
They both ended this mortal life, July 12th, 1555, like two lambs,
without any alteration of their countenances, hoping to obtain that
prize they had long run for; to which may Almighty God conduct us all,
through the merits of Christ our Saviour! We shall conclude this article
with mentioning, that Mr. Sheriff Woodroffe, it is said, within half a
year after, was struck on the right side with a palsy and for the space
of eight years after, (till his dying day) he was unable to turn
himself in his bed; thus he became at last a fearful object to behold.
The day after Mr. Bradford and John Leaf suffered in Smithfield, William
Minge, priest, died in prison at Maidstone. With as great constancy and
boldness he yielded up his life in prison, as if it had pleased God to
have called him to suffer by fire, as other godly men had done before at
the stake, and as he himself was ready to do, had it pleased God to have
called him to this trial.
_Rev. John Bland, Rev. John Frankesh, Nicholas Shetterden, and Humphrey
Middleton._
These Christian persons were all burnt at Canterbury for the same cause.
Frankesh and Bland were ministers and preachers of the word of God, the
one being parson of Adesham, and the other vicar of Rolvindon. Mr. Bland
was cited to answer for his opposition to antichristianism, and
underwent several examinations before Dr. Harpsfield, archdeacon of
Canterbury, and finally on the 25th of June, 1555, again withstanding
the power of the pope, he was condemned, and delivered to the secular
arm. On the same day were condemned, John Frankesh, Nicholas Shetterden,
Humphrey Middleton, Thacker, and Cocker, of whom Thacker only recanted.
Being delivered to the secular power, Mr. Bland, with the three former,
were all burnt together at Canterbury, July 12, 1555, at two several
stakes, but in one fire, when they, in the sight of God and his angels,
and before men, like true soldiers of Jesus Christ, gave a constant
testimony to the truth of his holy gospel.
_Nicholas Hall and Christopher Waid._
The same month of July, Nicholas Hall, bricklayer, and Christopher Waid,
linendraper, of Dartford, suffered death, condemned by Maurice, bishop
of Rochester, about the last day of June, 1555. At the same time three
others were condemned, whose names were Joan Beach, widow, John Harpol,
of Rochester, and Margery Polley.
_Dirick Carver and John Launder._
The 22d of July, 1555, Dirick Carver, brewer, of Brighthelmstone, aged
forty, was burnt at Lewes. And the day following John Launder,
husbandman, aged twenty-five, of Godstone, Surry, was burnt at Stening.
Dirick Carver was a man whom the Lord had blessed as well with temporal
riches as with his spiritual treasures. At his coming into the town of
Lewes to be burnt, the people called to him, beseeching God to
strengthen him in the faith of Jesus Christ; and, as he came to the
stake, he knelt down, and prayed earnestly. Then his book was thrown
into the barrel, and when he had stripped himself, he went into it. As
soon as he was in, he took the book, and threw it among the people, upon
which the sheriff commanded, in the name of the king and queen, on pain
of death, to throw in the book again.--And immediately the holy martyr
began to address the people. After he had prayed awhile, he said, "O
Lord my God, thou hast written, he that will not forsake wife, children,
house, and every thing that he hath, and take up thy cross and follow
thee, is not worthy of thee!--but thou, Lord, knowest that I have
forsaken all to come unto thee Lord have mercy upon me, for unto thee I
commend my spirit! and my soul doth rejoice in thee!" These were the
last words of this faithful servant of Christ before enduring the fire.
And when the fire came to him, he cried, "O Lord have mercy upon me!"
and sprang up in the fire, calling upon the name of Jesus, till he gave
up the ghost.
Thomas Iveson, of Godstone, in the county of Surry, carpenter, was burnt
about the same month at Chichester.
John Aleworth, who died in prison at Reading, July, 1555, had been
imprisoned for the sake of the truth of the gospel.
James Abbes. This young man wandered about to escape apprehension, but
was at last informed against, and brought before the bishop of Norwich,
who influenced him to recant; to secure him further in apostasy, the
bishop afterward gave him a piece of money; but the interference of
Providence is here remarkable. This bribe lay so heavily upon his
conscience, that he returned, threw back the money, and repented of his
conduct. Like Peter, he was contrite, steadfast in the faith, and sealed
it with his blood at Bury, August 2, 1555, praising and glorifying God.
_John Denley, Gent., John Newman, and Patrick Packingham._
Mr. Denley and Newman were returning one day to Maidstone, the place of
their abode, when they were met by E. Tyrrel, Esq. a bigoted justice of
the peace in Essex, and a cruel persecutor of the protestants. He
apprehended them merely on suspicion. On the 5th of July, 1555, they
were condemned, and consigned to the sheriffs, who sent Mr. Denley to
Uxbridge, where he perished, August the 8th, 1555. While suffering in
agony, and singing a psalm, Dr. Story inhumanly ordered one of the
tormentors to throw a fagot at him, which cut his face severely, caused
him to cease singing, and to raise his hands to his face. Just as Dr.
Story was remarking in jest that he had spoiled a good song, the pious
martyr again chanted, spread his hands abroad in the flames, and through
Christ Jesus resigned his soul into the hands of his Maker.
Mr. Packingham suffered at the same town on the 28th of the same month.
Mr. Newman, pewterer, was burnt at Saffron Waldon, in Essex, Aug. 31,
for the same cause, and Richard Hook about the same time perished at
Chichester.
_W. Coker, W. Hooper, H. Laurence, R. Colliar, R. Wright and W. Stere._
These persons all of Kent, were examined at the same time with Mr. Bland
and Shetterden, by Thornton, bishop of Dover, Dr. Harpsfield, and
others. These six martyrs and witnesses of the truth were consigned to
the flames in Canterbury, at the end of August, 1555.
Elizabeth Warne, widow of John Warne, upholsterer, martyr, was burnt at
Stratford-le-bow, near London, at the end of August, 1555.
George Tankerfield, of London, cook, born at York, aged 27, in the reign
of Edward VI. had been a papist; but the cruelty of bloody Mary made him
suspect the truth of those doctrines which were enforced by fire and
torture. Tankerfield was imprisoned in Newgate about the end of
February, 1555, and on Aug. 26, at St. Alban's, he braved the
excruciating fire, and joyfully died for the glory of his Redeemer.
Rev. Robert Smith was first in the service of Sir T. Smith, provost of
Eton; and was afterward removed to Windsor, where he had a clerkship of
ten pounds a year.
He was condemned, July 12, 1555, and suffered Aug. 8, at Uxbridge. He
doubted not but that God would give the spectators some token in support
of his own cause; this actually happened; for, when he was nearly half
burnt, and supposed to be dead, he suddenly rose up, moved the remaining
parts of his arms and praised God; then, hanging over the fire, he
sweetly slept in the Lord Jesus.
Mr. Stephen Harwood and Mr. Thomas Fust suffered about the same time
with Smith and Tankerfield, with whom they were condemned. Mr. William
Hale, also, of Thorp, in Essex, was sent to Barnet, where about the same
time he joined the ever-blessed company of Martyrs.
George King, Thomas Leyes, and John Wade, falling sick in Lollard's
Tower, were removed to different houses, and died. Their bodies were
thrown out in the common fields as unworthy of burial, and lay till the
faithful conveyed them away by night.
Joan Lashford, daughter-in-law of John and Elizabeth Warne, martyr, was
the last of the ten condemned before alluded to; her martyrdom took
place in 1556, of which we shall speak in its date.
Mr. William Andrew of Horseley, Essex, was imprisoned in Newgate for
heresy; but God chose to call him to himself by the severe treatment he
endured in Newgate, and thus to mock the sanguinary expectations of his
Catholic persecutors. His body was thrown into the open air, but his
soul was received into the everlasting mansions of his heavenly Creator.
_The Rev. Robert Samuel._
This gentleman was minister of Bradford, Suffolk, where he industriously
taught the flock committed to his charge, while he was openly permitted
to discharge his duty. He was first persecuted by Mr. Foster, of
Copdock, near Ipswich, a severe and bigoted persecutor of the followers
of Christ, according to the truth in the Gospel. Notwithstanding Mr.
Samuel was ejected from his living, he continued to exhort and instruct
privately; nor would he obey the order for putting away his wife, whom
he had married in king Edward's reign; but kept her at Ipswich, where
Foster, by warrant, surprised him by night with her. After being
imprisoned in Ipswich jail, he was taken before Dr. Hopton, bishop of
Norwich, and Dr. Dunnings, his chancellor, two of the most sanguinary
among the bigots of those days. To intimidate the worthy pastor, he was
in prison chained to a post in such a manner that the weight of his body
was supported by the points of his toes: added to this his allowance of
provision was reduced to a quantity so insufficient to sustain nature,
that he was almost ready to devour his own flesh. From this dreadful
extremity there was even a degree of mercy in ordering him to the fire.
Mr. Samuel suffered August 31, 1555.
William Allen, a labouring servant to Mr. Houghton of Somerton suffered
not long after Mr. Samuel, at Walsingham.
Roger Coo, was an aged man, and brought before the bishop of Norwich for
contumacy, by whom he was condemned Aug. 12, 1555, and suffered in the
following month at Yoxford, in Suffolk.
Thomas Cobb, was a butcher at Haverhill, and condemned by Dunnings, the
furious chancellor of Norwich. Mr. Cobb suffered at Thetford, Sept.
1555.
_G. Catmer, R. Streater, A. Burward, G. Brodbridge, and J. Tutty._
These five worthies, denying the real presence in the eucharist, were
brought before Dr. Thornton, bishop of Dover, and condemned as heretics.
They suffered in one fire, Sept. 6, 1555, at Canterbury, enduring all
things for their faith in Christ Jesus.
About the same time William Glowd, Cornelius Bungey, William Wolsey, and
Robert Pygot, suffered martyrdom.
_Bishop Ridley and Bishop Latimer._
These reverend prelates suffered October 17, 1555, at Oxford, on the
same day Wolsey and Pygot perished at Ely. Pillars of the church and
accomplished ornaments of human nature, they were the admiration of the
realm, amiably conspicuous in their lives, and glorious in their deaths.
Dr. Ridley was born in Northumberland, was first taught grammar at
Newcastle, and afterward removed to Cambridge, where his aptitude in
education raised him gradually till he came to be the head of Pembroke
college, where he received the title of Doctor of Divinity. Having
returned from a trip to Paris, he was appointed Chaplain to Henry VIII.
and Bishop of Rochester, and was afterwards translated to the see of
London in the time of Edward VI.
His tenacious memory, extensive erudition, impressive oratory, and
indefatigable zeal in preaching, drew after him not only his own flock,
but persons from all quarters, desirous of godly exhortation or reproof.
His tender treatment of Dr. Heath, who was a prisoner with him during
one year, in Edward's reign, evidently proves that he had no Catholic
cruelty in his disposition. In person he was erect and well
proportioned; in temper forgiving; in self-mortification severe. His
first duty in the morning was private prayer: he remained in his study
till 10 o'clock, and then attended the daily prayer used in his house.
Dinner being done, he sat about an hour, conversing pleasantly, or
playing at chess. His study next engaged his attention, unless business
or visits occurred; about five o'clock prayers followed; and after he
would recreate himself at chess for about an hour, then retire to his
study till eleven o'clock, and pray on his knees as in the morning. In
brief, he was a pattern of godliness and virtue, and such he endeavored
to make men wherever he came.
His attentive kindness was displayed particularly to old Mrs. Bonner,
mother of Dr. Bonner, the cruel bishop of London. Dr. Ridley, when at
his manor at Fulham, always invited her to his house, placed her at the
head of his table, and treated her like his own mother; he did the same
by Bonner's sister and other relatives; but when Dr. Ridley was under
persecution, Bonner pursued a conduct diametrically opposite, and would
have sacrificed Dr. Ridley's sister and her husband, Mr. George
Shipside, had not Providence delivered him by the means of Dr. Heath,
bishop of Worcester. Dr. Ridley was first in part converted by reading
Bertram's book on the sacrament, and by his conferences with archbishop
Cranmer and Peter Martyr. When Edward VI. was removed from the throne,
and the bloody Mary succeeded, bishop Ridley was immediately marked as
an object of slaughter. He was first sent to the Tower, and afterward,
at Oxford, was consigned to the common prison of Bocardo, with
archbishop Cranmer and Mr. Latimer. Being separated from them, he was
placed in the house of one Irish, where he remained till the day of his
martyrdom, from 1554, till October 16, 1555. It will easily be supposed
that the conversations of these chiefs of the martyrs were elaborate,
learned, and instructive. Such indeed they were, and equally beneficial
to all their spiritual comforts. Bishop Ridley's letters to various
Christian brethren in bonds in all parts, and his disputations with the
mitred enemies of Christ, alike prove the clearness of his head and the
integrity of his heart. In a letter to Mr. Grindal, (afterward
archbishop of Canterbury,) he mentions with affection those who had
preceded him in dying for the faith, and those who were expected to
suffer; he regrets that popery is re-established in its full
abomination, which he attributes to the wrath of God, made manifest in
return for the lukewarmness of the clergy and the people in justly
appreciating the blessed light of the reformation.
Bishop Latimer was the son of Hugh Latimer, of Turkelson, in
Leicestershire, a husbandman of repute, with whom he remained till he
was four years old. His parents, finding him of acute parts, gave him a
good education, and then sent him at fourteen to the university of
Cambridge, where he entered into the study of the school divinity of
that day, and was from principle a zealous observer of the Romish
superstitions of the time. In his oration when he commenced bachelor of
divinity, he inveighed against the reformer Melancthon, and openly
declaimed against good Mr. Stafford, divinity lecturer in Cambridge.
Mr. Thomas Bilney, moved by a brotherly pity towards Mr. Latimer, begged
to wait upon him in his study, and to explain to him the groundwork of
his (Mr. Bilney's) faith. This blessed interview effected his
conversion: the persecutor of Christ became his zealous advocate, and
before Dr. Stafford died he became reconciled to him.
Once converted, he became eager for the conversion of others, and
commenced public preacher, and private instructer in the university. His
sermons were so pointed against the absurdity of praying in the Latin
tongue, and withholding the oracles of salvation from the people who
were to be saved by belief in them, that he drew upon himself the pulpit
animadversions of several of the resident friars and heads of houses,
whom he subsequently silenced by his severe criticisms and eloquent
arguments. This was at Christmas, 1529. At length Dr. West preached
against Mr. Latimer at Barwell Abbey, and prohibited him from preaching
again in the churches of the university, notwithstanding which, he
continued during three years to advocate openly the cause of Christ, and
even his enemies confessed the power of those talents he possessed. Mr.
Bilney remained here some time with Mr. Latimer, and thus the place
where they frequently walked together obtained the name of Heretics'
Hill.
Mr. Latimer at this time traced out the innocence of a poor woman,
accused by her husband of the murder of her child. Having preached
before king Henry VIII. at Windsor, he obtained the unfortunate mother's
pardon. This, with many other benevolent acts, served only to excite the
spleen of his adversaries. He was summoned before Cardinal Wolsey for
heresy, but being a strenuous supporter of the king's supremacy, in
opposition to the pope's, by favour of lord Cromwell and Dr. Buts, (the
king's physician,) he obtained the living of West Kingston, in
Wiltshire. For his sermons here against purgatory, the immaculacy of the
Virgin, and the worship of images, he was cited to appear before Warham,
archbishop of Canterbury, and John, bishop of London. He was required to
subscribe certain articles, expressive of his conformity to the
accustomed usages; and there is reason to think, after repeated weekly
examinations, that he did subscribe, as they did not seem to involve any
important article of belief. Guided by Providence, he escaped the subtle
nets of his persecutors, and at length, through the powerful friends
before mentioned, became bishop of Worcester, in which function he
qualified or explained away most of the papal ceremonies he was for
form's sake under the necessity of complying with. He continued in this
active and dignified employment some years, till the coming in of the
Six Articles, when, to preserve an unsullied conscience, he, as well as
Dr. Shaxton, bishop of Salisbury, resigned. He remained a prisoner in
the Tower till the coronation of Edward VI. when he was again called to
the Lord's harvest in Stamford, and many other places: he also preached
at London in the convocation house, and before the young king; indeed he
lectured twice every Sunday, regardless of his great age (then above
sixty-seven years,) and his weakness through a bruise received from the
fall of a tree. Indefatigable in his private studies, he rose to them in
winter and in summer at two o'clock in the morning. By the strength of
his own mind, or of some inward light from above, he had a prophetic
view of what was to happen to the church in Mary's reign, asserting that
he was doomed to suffer for the truth, and that Winchester, then in the
Tower, was preserved for that purpose. Soon after queen Mary was
proclaimed, a messenger was sent to summon Mr. Latimer to town, and
there is reason to believe it was wished that he should make his escape.
On entering Smithfield, he jocosely said, that the place had long
groaned for him. After being examined by the council, he was committed
to the Tower, where his cheerfulness is displayed in the following
anecdote. Being kept without fire in severe frosty weather, his aged
frame suffered so much, that he told the lieutenant's man, that if he
did not look better after him he should deceive his master. The
lieutenant, thinking he meant to effect his escape, came to him, to know
what he meant by this speech; which Mr. Latimer replied to, by saying,
"You, Mr. Lieutenant, doubtless suppose I shall _burn_; but, except you
let me have some fire, I shall deceive your expectation, for here it is
likely I shall be _starved with cold_."
Mr. Latimer, after remaining a long time in the Tower, was transported
to Oxford, with Cranmer and Ridley, the disputations at which place have
been already mentioned in a former part of this work. He remained
imprisoned till October, and the principal objects of all his prayers
were three--that he might stand faithful to the doctrine he had
professed, that God would restore his gospel to England once again, and
preserve the Lady Elizabeth to be queen; all which happened. When he
stood at the stake without the Bocardo-gate, Oxford, with Dr. Ridley,
and fire was putting to the pile of fagots, he raised his eyes
benignantly towards heaven, and said, "God is faithful, who doth not
suffer us to be tempted above our strength." His body was forcibly
penetrated by the fire, and the blood flowed abundantly from the heart;
as if to verify his constant desire that his heart's blood might be shed
in defence of the gospel. His polemical and friendly letters are lasting
monuments of his integrity and talents. It has been before said, that
public disputation took place in April, 1554, new examinations took
place in Oct. 1555, previous to the degradation and condemnation of
Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. We now draw to the conclusion of the lives
of the two last.
Dr. Ridley, the night before execution, was very facetious, had himself
shaved, and called his supper a marriage feast; he remarked upon seeing
Mrs. Irish (the keeper's wife) weep, "though my breakfast will be
somewhat sharp, my supper will be more pleasant and sweet." The place of
death was on the north side of the town opposite Baliol College:--Dr.
Ridley was dressed in a black gown furred, and Mr. Latimer had a long
shroud on, hanging down to his feet. Dr. Ridley, as he passed Bocardo,
looked up to see Dr. Cranmer, but the latter was then engaged in
disputation with a friar.--When they came to the stake, Dr. Ridley
embraced Latimer fervently, and bid him be of good heart. He then knelt
by the stake, and after earnestly praying together, they had a short
private conversation. Dr. Smith then preached a short sermon against the
martyrs, who would have answered him, but were prevented by Dr. Marshal,
the vice-chancellor. Dr. Ridley then took off his gown and tippet, and
gave them to his brother-in-law, Mr. Shipside. He gave away also many
trifles to his weeping friends, and the populace were anxious to get
even a fragment of his garments. Mr. Latimer gave nothing, and from the
poverty of his garb, was soon stripped to his shroud, and stood
venerable and erect, fearless of death. Dr. Ridley being unclothed to
his shirt, the smith placed an iron chain about their waists, and Dr.
Ridley bid him fasten it securely; his brother having tied a bag of
gunpowder about his neck, gave some also to Mr. Latimer. Dr. Ridley then
requested of Lord Williams, of Fame, to advocate with the queen the
cause of some poor men to whom he had, when bishop, granted leases, but
which the present bishop refused to confirm. A lighted fagot was now
laid at Dr. Ridley's feet, which caused Mr. Latimer to say, "Be of good
cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God's grace,
light up such a candle in England, as, I trust, will never be put out."
When Dr. Ridley saw the flame approaching him, he exclaimed, "Into thy
hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!" and repeated often, "Lord receive
my spirit!" Mr. Latimer, too, ceased not to say, "O Father of heaven
receive my soul!" Embracing the flame, he bathed his hands in it, and
soon died, apparently with little pain; but Dr. Ridley, by the
ill-adjustment of the fagots, which were green, and placed too high
above the furze was burnt much downwards. At this time, piteously
entreating for more fire to come to him, his brother-in-law imprudently
heaped the fagots up over him, which caused the fire more fiercely to
burn his limbs, whence he literally leaped up and down under the fagots,
exclaiming that he could not burn; indeed, his dreadful extremity was
but too plain, for after his legs were quite consumed, he showed his
body and shirt unsinged by the flame. Crying upon God for mercy, a man
with a bill pulled the fagots down, and when the flames arose, he bent
himself towards that side; at length the gunpowder was ignited, and then
he ceased to move, burning on the other side, and falling down at Mr.
Latimer's feet over the chain that had hitherto supported him.
Every eye shed tears at the afflicting sight of these sufferers, who
were among the most distinguished persons of their time in dignity,
piety, and public estimation. They suffered October 16, 1555.
In the following month died Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester and
Lord Chancellor of England. This papistical monster was born at Bury, in
Suffolk, and partly educated at Cambridge. Ambitious, cruel, and
bigoted, he served any cause; be first espoused the king's part in the
affair of Anne Boleyn: upon the establishment of the Reformation, he
declared the supremacy of the Pope an execrable tenet, and when queen
Mary came to the crown, he entered into all her papistical bigoted
views, and became a second time bishop of Winchester. It is conjectured
it was his intention to have moved the sacrifice of Lady Elizabeth, but
when he arrived at this point, it pleased God to remove him.
It was on the afternoon of the day when those faithful soldiers of
Christ, Ridley and Latimer, perished, that Gardiner sat down with a
joyful heart to dinner. Scarcely had he taken a few mouthfuls, when he
was seized with illness, and carried to his bed, where he lingered
fifteen days in great torment, unable in any wise to evacuate, and burnt
with a devouring fever, that terminated in death. Execrated by all good
Christians, we pray the Father of Mercies, that he may receive that
mercy above he never imparted below.
_Mr. John Webb, George Roper, and Gregory Parker._
These martyrs, after being brought before the bishop of Dover and Dr.
Harpsfield, were finally examined, October 3, 1555, adjudged to be
heretics, and at Canterbury, terminated their existence.
Wm. Wiseman, clothworker of London, died in Lollard's Tower, Dec. 13,
1555, not without suspicion of being made way with, for his love of the
gospel. In December, died James Gore, at Colchester, imprisoned for the
same cause.
_Mr. John Philpot._
This martyr was the son of a knight, born in Hampshire, and brought up
at New College, Oxford, where he several years studied the civil law,
and became eminent in the Hebrew tongue. He was a scholar and a
gentleman, zealous in religion, fearless in disposition, and a detester
of flattery. After visiting Italy, he returned to England, affairs in
King Edward's days wearing a more promising aspect. During this reign he
continued to be archdeacon of Winchester under Dr. Poinet, who succeeded
Gardiner. Upon the accession of Mary, a convocation was summoned, in
which Mr. Philpot defended the Reformation against his ordinary,
Gardiner, (again made bishop of Winchester,) and soon was conducted to
Bonner and other commissioners for examination, Oct. 2, 1555, after
being eighteen months imprisoned. Upon his demanding to see the
commission, Dr. Story cruelly observed, "I will spend both my gown and
my coat, but I will burn thee! Let him be in Lollard's tower, (a
wretched prison,) for I will sweep the King's Bench and all other
prisons of these heretics!" Upon Mr. Philpot's second examination, it
was intimated to him, that Dr. Story had said that the Lord Chancellor
had commanded that he should be made way with. It is easy to foretell
the result of this inquiry; he was committed to Bonner's coal-house,
where he joined company with a zealous minister of Essex, who had been
induced to sign a bill of recantation; but afterward, stung by his
conscience, he asked the bishop to let him see the instrument again,
when he tore it to pieces; which induced Bonner in a fury to strike him
repeatedly, and tear away part of his beard. Mr. Philpot had a private
interview with Bonner the same night, and was then remanded to his bed
of straw like other prisoners, in the coal-house. After seven
examinations, Bonner ordered him to be set in the stocks, and on the
following Sunday separated him from his fellow-prisoners as a sower of
heresy, and ordered him up to a room near the battlements of St. Paul's,
eight feet by thirteen, on the other side of Lollard's tower, and which
could be overlooked by any one in the bishop's outer gallery. Here Mr.
Philpot was searched, but happily he was successful in secreting some
letters containing his examinations. In the eleventh investigation
before various bishops, and Mr. Morgan, of Oxford, the latter was so
driven into a corner by the close pressure of Mr. Philpot's arguments,
that he said to him, "Instead of the spirit of the gospel which you
boast to possess, I think it is the spirit of the buttery, which your
fellows have had, who were drunk before their death, and went I believe
drunken to it." To this unfounded and brutish remark, Mr. Philpot
indignantly replied, "It appeareth by your communication, that you are
better acquainted with that spirit than the spirit of God; wherefore I
tell thee, thou painted wall and hypocrite, in the name of the living
God, whose truth I have told thee, that God shall rain fire and
brimstone upon such blasphemers as thou art!" He was then remanded by
Bonner, with an order not to allow him his Bible nor candlelight.
December 4th, Mr. Philpot had his next hearing, and this was followed by
two more, making in all, fourteen conferences, previous to the final
examination in which he was condemned; such were the perseverance and
anxiety of the Catholics, aided by the argumentative abilities of the
most distinguished of the papal bishops, to bring him into the pale of
their church. Those examinations, which were very long and learned, were
all written down by Mr. Philpot, and a stronger proof of the imbecility
of the Catholic doctors, cannot, to an unbiassed mind, be exhibited.
December 16th, in the consistory of St. Paul's bishop Bonner, after
laying some trifling accusations to his charge such as secreting powder
to make ink, writing some private letters, &c. proceeded to pass the
awful sentence upon him, after he and the other bishops had urged him by
every inducement to recant. He was afterward conducted to Newgate, where
the avaricious Catholic keeper loaded him with heavy irons, which by the
humanity of Mr. Macham were ordered to be taken off. December 17th, Mr.
Philpot received intimation that he was to die next day, and the next
morning about eight o'clock, he joyfully met the sheriffs, who were to
attend him to the place of execution. Upon entering Smithfield the
ground was so muddy, that two officers offered to carry him to the
stake, but he replied, "Would you make me a pope? I am content to finish
my journey on foot." Arrived at the stake, he said, "Shall I disdain to
suffer at the stake, when my Redeemer did not refuse to suffer the most
vile death upon the Cross for me?" He then meekly recited the cvii. and
cviii. Psalms, and when he had finished his prayers, was bound to the
post, and fire applied to the pile. On December 18th, 1555, perished
this illustrious martyr, reverenced by man, and glorified in heaven! His
letters arising out of the cause for which he suffered, are elegant,
numerous, and elaborate.
_Rev. T. Whittle, B. Green, T. Brown, J. Tudson, J. Ent, Isabel Tooster,
and Joan Lashford._
These seven persons were summoned before Bonner's consistory, and the
articles of the Romish church tendered for their approbation. Their
refusal subjected them to the sentence of condemnation, and on January
27, 1556, they underwent the dreadful sentence of blood in Smithfield.
Mr. Bartlet Green was condemned the next day.
Mr. Thomas Brown, born at Histon, Ely, but afterward of St. Bride's,
London, was presented by the parish constable to Bonner, for absenting
himself from church. This faithful soldier of Christ suffered on the
same day with the preceding.
Mr. John Tudson, of Ipswich by birth, was apprenticed in London to a Mr.
Goodyear, of St. Mary Botolph. He was condemned January 15, 1556, and
consigned to the secular power, which completed the fiery tyranny of the
law, January 27, to the glory of God, and the immortal salvation of the
meek sufferer.
Subsequently, John Hunt, Isabella Forster, and Joan Warne, were
condemned and executed.
_John Lomas, Agnes Snoth, Anne Wright, Joan Sole, and Joan Catmer._
These five martyrs suffered together, January 31, 1556. John Lomas was a
young man of Tenterden. He was cited to appear at Canterbury, and was
examined January 17. His answers being adverse to the idolatrous
doctrine of the papacy, he was condemned on the following day, and
suffered January 31.
Agnes Snoth, widow, of Smarden Parish, was several times summoned before
the Catholic Pharisees, and rejecting absolution, indulgences,
transubstantiation, and auricular confession, she was adjudged worthy to
suffer death, and endured martyrdom, January 31, with Anne Wright and
Joan Sole, who were placed in similar circumstances, and perished at the
same time, with equal resignation. Joan Catmer, the last of this
heavenly company, of the parish Hithe, was the wife of the martyr George
Catmer.
Seldom in any country, for political controversy, have four women been
led to execution, whose lives were irreproachable, and whom the pity of
savages would have spared. We cannot but remark here that, when the
Protestant power first gained the ascendency over the Catholic
superstition, and some degree of force in the laws was necessary to
enforce uniformity, whence some bigoted people suffered privation in
their person or goods, we read of few burnings, savage cruelties, or
poor women brought to the stake, but it is the nature of error to resort
to force instead of argument, and to silence truth by taking away
existence, of which the Redeemer himself is an instance. The above five
persons were burnt at two stakes in one fire, singing hosannahs to the
glorified Saviour, till the breath of life was extinct. Sir John Norton,
who was present, wept bitterly at their unmerited sufferings.
_Archbishop Cranmer._
Dr. Thomas Cranmer was descended from an ancient family, and was born at
the village of Arselacton, in the county of Northampton. After the usual
school education he was sent to Cambridge, and was chosen fellow of
Jesus College. Here he married a gentleman's daughter, by which he
forfeited his fellowship, and became a reader in Buckingham college,
placing his wife at the Dolphin inn, the landlady of which was a
relation of hers, whence arose the idle report that he was an ostler.
His lady shortly after dying in childbed, to his credit he was re-chosen
a fellow of the college before mentioned. In a few years after, he was
promoted to be Divinity Lecturer, and appointed one of the examiners
over those who were ripe to become Bachelors or Doctors in Divinity. It
was his principle to judge of their qualifications by the knowledge they
possessed of the Scriptures, rather than of the ancient fathers, and
hence many popish priests were rejected, and others rendered much
improved.
He was strongly solicited by Dr. Capon to be one of the fellows on the
foundation of Cardinal Wolsey's college, Oxford, of which he hazarded
the refusal. While he continued in Cambridge, the question of Henry
VIII.'s divorce with Catharine was agitated. At that time, on account of
the plague, Dr. Cranmer removed to the house of a Mr. Cressy, at Waltham
Abbey, whose two sons were then educating under him. The affair of
divorce, contrary to the king's approbation, had remained undecided
above two or three years, from the intrigues of the canonists and
civilians, and though the cardinals Campeius and Wolsey were
commissioned from Rome to decide the question, they purposely protracted
the sentence. It happened that Dr. Gardiner (secretary) and Dr. Fox,
defenders of the king in the above suit, came to the house of Mr. Cressy
to lodge, while the king removed to Greenwich. At supper, a conversation
ensued with Dr. Cranmer, who suggested that the question, whether a man
may marry his brother's wife or not, could be easily and speedily
decided by the word of God, and this as well in the English courts as
in those of any foreign nation. The king, uneasy at the delay, sent for
Dr. Gardiner and Dr. Foxe, to consult them, regretting that a new
commission must be sent to Rome, and the suit be endlessly protracted.
Upon relating to the king the conversation which had passed on the
previous evening with Dr. Cranmer, his majesty sent for him, and opened
the tenderness of conscience upon the near affinity of the queen. Dr.
Cranmer advised that the matter should be referred to the most learned
divines of Cambridge and Oxford, as he was unwilling to meddle in an
affair of such weight; but the king enjoined him to deliver his
sentiments in writing, and to repair for that purpose to the Earl of
Wiltshire's, who would accommodate him with books, and every thing
requisite for the occasion. This Dr. Cranmer immediately did, and in his
declaration, not only quoted the authority of the Scriptures, of general
councils and the ancient writers, but maintained that the bishop of Rome
had no authority whatever to dispense with the word of God. The king
asked him if he would stand by this bold declaration; to which replying
in the affirmative, he was deputed ambassador to Rome, in conjunction
with the Earl of Wiltshire, Dr. Stokesley, Dr. Carne, Dr. Bennet, and
others, previous to which, the marriage was discussed in most of the
universities of Christendom and at Rome; when the pope presented his toe
to be kissed, as customary, the Earl of Wiltshire and his party refused.
Indeed, it is affirmed, that a spaniel of the Earl's, attracted by the
glitter of the pope's toe, made a snap at it, whence his holiness drew
in his sacred foot, and kicked at the offender with the other. Upon the
pope demanding the cause of their embassy, the Earl presented Dr.
Cranmer's book, declaring that his learned friends had come to defend
it. The pope treated the embassy honourably, and appointed a day for the
discussion, which he delayed, as if afraid of the issue of the
investigation. The Earl returned, and Dr. Cranmer, by the king's desire,
visited the emperor, and was successful in bringing him over to his
opinion. Upon the Doctor's return to England, Dr. Warham, archbishop of
Canterbury, having quitted this transitory life, Dr. Cranmer was
deservedly, and by Dr. Warham's desire, elevated to that eminent
station.
In this function, it may be said that he followed closely the charge of
St. Paul. Diligent in duty, he rose at five in the morning, and
continued in study and prayer till nine: between then and dinner, he
devoted to temporal affairs. After dinner, if any suitors wanted
hearing, he would determine their business with such an affability, that
even the defaulters were scarcely displeased. Then he would play at
chess for an hour, or see others play, and at five o'clock he heard the
Common Prayer read, and from this till supper he took the recreation of
walking. At supper his conversation was lively and entertaining; again
he walked or amused himself till nine o'clock, and then entered his
study.
He ranked high in favour with king Henry and ever had the purity and the
interest of the English church deeply at heart. His mild and forgiving
disposition is recorded in the following instance--An ignorant priest,
in the country, had called Cranmer an ostler, and spoken very derogatory
of his learning. Lord Cromwell receiving information of it, the man was
sent to the fleet, and his case was told to the archbishop by a Mr.
Chertsey, a grocer, and a relation of the priest's. His grace, having
sent for the offender, reasoned with him, and solicited the priest to
question him on any learned subject. This the man, overcome by the
bishop's good nature, and knowing his own glaring incapacity, declined,
and entreated his forgiveness, which was immediately granted, with a
charge to employ his time better when he returned to his parish.
Cromwell was much vexed at the lenity displayed, but the bishop was ever
more ready to receive injury than to retaliate in any other manner than
by good advice and good offices.
At the time that Cranmer was raised to be archbishop, he was king's
chaplain, and archdeacon of Taunton; he was also constituted by the
pope, penitentiary general of England. It was considered by the king
that Cranmer would be obsequious; hence the latter married the king to
Anne Boleyn, performed her coronation, stood godfather to Elizabeth, the
first child, and divorced the king from Catharine. Though Cranmer
received a confirmation of his dignity from the pope, he always
protested against acknowledging any other authority than the king's, and
he persisted in the same independent sentiments when before Mary's
commissioners in 1555. One of the first steps after the divorce was to
prevent preaching throughout his diocess, but this narrow measure had
rather a political view than a religious one, as there were many who
inveighed against the king's conduct. In his new dignity Cranmer
agitated the question of supremacy, and by his powerful and just
arguments induced the parliament to "render to Caesar the things which
are Caesar's." During Cranmer's residence in Germany, 1531, he became
acquainted with Ossiander, at Nurenburgh, and married his niece, but
left her with him while on his return to England; after a season he sent
for her privately, and she remained with him till the year 1539, when
the Six Articles compelled him to return her to her friends for a time.
It should be remembered that Ossiander, having obtained the approbation
of his friend Cranmer, published the laborious work of the Harmony of
the Gospels in 1537. In 1534 the archbishop completed the dearest wish
of his heart, the removal of every obstacle to the perfection of the
Reformation, by the subscription of the nobles and bishops to the king's
sole supremacy. Only bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More made objection;
and their agreement not to oppose the succession, Cranmer was willing to
consider as sufficient, but the monarch would have no other than an
entire concession. Not long after, Gardiner, in a private interview with
the king, spoke inimically of Cranmer, (whom he maliciously hated) for
assuming the title of Primate of all England, as derogatory to the
supremacy of the king, this created much jealousy against Cranmer, and
his translation of the Bible was strongly opposed by Stokesley, bishop
of London. It is said, upon the demise of queen Catharine, that her
successor Anne Boleyn rejoiced--a lesson this to show how shallow is the
human judgment! since her own execution took place in the spring of the
following year, and the king, on the day following the beheading of this
sacrificed lady, married the beautiful Jane Seymour, a maid of honour to
the late queen. Cranmer was ever the friend of Anne Boleyn, but it was
dangerous to oppose the will of the carnal tyrannical monarch.
In 1538, the holy Scriptures were openly exposed to sale; and the places
of worship overflowed every where to hear its holy doctrines expounded.
Upon the king's passing into a law the famous Six Articles, which went
nearly again to establish the essential tenets of the Romish creed,
Cranmer shone forth with all the lustre of a Christian patriot, in
resisting the doctrines they contained, and in which he was supported by
the bishops of Sarum, Worcester, Ely, and Rochester, the two former of
whom resigned their bishoprics. The king, though now in opposition to
Cranmer, still revered the sincerity that marked his conduct. The death
of Lord Cromwell in the Tower, in 1540, the good friend of Cranmer, was
a severe blow to the wavering protestant cause, but even now Cranmer,
when he saw the tide directly adverse to the truth, boldly waited on the
king in person, and by his manly and heartfelt pleading, caused the book
of Articles to be passed on his side, to the great confusion of his
enemies, who had contemplated his fall as inevitable.
Cranmer now lived in as secluded a manner as possible, till the rancour
of Winchester preferred some articles against him, relative to the
dangerous opinion he taught in his family, joined to other treasonable
charges. These the king delivered himself to Cranmer, and believing
firmly the fidelity and assertions of innocence of the accused prelate,
he caused the matter to be deeply investigated, and Winchester and Dr.
Lenden, with Thornton and Barber, of the bishop's household, were found
by the papers to be the real conspirators. The mild forgiving Cranmer
would have interceded for all remission of punishment, had not Henry,
pleased with the subsidy voted by parliament, let them be discharged;
these nefarious men, however, again renewing their plots against
Cranmer, fell victims to Henry's resentment, and Gardiner forever lost
his confidence. Sir G. Gostwick soon after laid charges against the
archbishop, which Henry quashed, and the primate was willing to forgive.
In 1544, the archbishop's palace at Canterbury was burnt, and his
brother-in-law with others perished in it. These various afflictions may
serve to reconcile us to an humble state; for of what happiness could
this great and good man boast? since his life was constantly harassed
either by political, religious, or natural crosses. Again the inveterate
Gardiner laid high charges against the meek archbishop and would have
sent him to the tower; but the king was his friend, gave him his signet
that he would defend him, and in the council not only declared the
bishop one of the best affected men in his realm, but sharply rebuked
his accusers for their calumny.
A peace having been made, Henry, and the French king Henry the Great,
were unanimous to have the mass abolished in their kingdom, and Cranmer
set about this great work; but the death of the English monarch, in
1546, suspended the procedure, and king Edward his successor continued
Cranmer in the same functions, upon whose coronation he delivered a
charge that will ever honour his memory, for its purity, freedom, and
truth. During this reign he prosecuted the glorious reformation with
unabated zeal, even in the year 1552, when he was seized with a severe
ague, from which it pleased God to restore him that he might testify by
his death the truth of that seed he had diligently sown.
The death of Edward, in 1553, exposed Cranmer to all the rage of his
enemies. Though the archbishop was among those who supported Mary's
accession, he was attainted at the meeting of parliament, and in
November adjudged guilty of high treason at Guildhall, and degraded from
his dignities. He sent an humble letter to Mary, explaining the cause of
his signing the will in favor of Edward, and in 1554 he wrote to the
council, whom he pressed to obtain a pardon from the queen, by a letter
delivered to Dr. Weston, but which the latter opened, and on seeing its
contents, basely returned. Treason was a charge quite inapplicable to
Cranmer, who supported the queen's right; while others, who had favoured
Lady Jane, upon paying a small fine were dismissed. A calumny was now
spread against Cranmer, that he complied with some of the popish
ceremonies to ingratiate himself with the queen, which he dared publicly
to disavow, and justified his articles of faith. The active part which
the prelate had taken in the divorce of Mary's mother had ever rankled
deeply in the heart of the queen, and revenge formed a prominent feature
in the death of Cranmer. We have in this work, noticed the public
disputations at Oxford, in which the talents of Cranmer, Ridley, and
Latimer, shone so conspicuously, and tended to their condemnation.--The
first sentence was illegal, inasmuch as the usurped power of the pope
had not yet been re-established by law. Being kept in prison till this
was effected, a commission was despatched from Rome, appointing Dr.
Brooks to sit as the representative of his Holiness, and Drs. Story and
Martin as those of the queen. Cranmer was willing to bow to the
authority of Drs. Story and Martin, but against that of Dr. Brooks he
protested. Such were the remarks and replies of Cranmer, after a long
examination, that Dr. Brooks observed, "We come to examine you, and
methinks you examine us." Being sent back to confinement, he received a
citation to appear at Rome within eighteen days, but this was
impracticable, as he was imprisoned in England; and as he stated, even
had he been at liberty, he was too poor to employ an advocate. Absurd as
it must appear, Cranmer was condemned at Rome, and February 14, 1556, a
new commission was appointed by which, Thirdly, bishop of Ely, and
Bonner, of London, were deputed to sit in judgment at Christ-church,
Oxford. By virtue of this instrument, Cranmer was gradually degraded, by
putting mere rags on him to represent the dress of an archbishop; then
stripping him of his attire, they took off his own gown, and put an old
worn one upon him instead. This he bore unmoved, and his enemies,
finding that severity only rendered him more determined, tried the
opposite course, and placed him in the house of the dean of
Christ-church, where he was treated with every indulgence. This
presented such a contrast to the three years hard imprisonment he had
received, that it threw him off his guard. His open, generous nature was
more easily to be seduced by a liberal conduct than by threats and
fetters. When satan finds the christian proof against one mode of
attack, he tries another; and what form is so seductive as smiles,
rewards, and power, after a long, painful imprisonment? Thus it was with
Cranmer: his enemies promised him his former greatness if he would but
recant, as well as the queen's favour, and this at the very time they
knew that his death was determined in council. To soften the path to
apostacy, the first paper brought for his signature was conceived in
general terms; this one signed, five others were obtained as explanatory
of the first, till finally he put his hand to the following detestable
instrument:--
"I, Thomas Cranmer, late archbishop of Canterbury, do renounce, abhor,
and detest all manner of heresies and errors of Luther and Zuinglius,
and all other teachings which are contrary to sound and true doctrine.
And I believe most constantly in my heart, and with my mouth I confess
one holy and catholic church visible, without which there is no
salvation; and therefore I acknowledge the bishop of Rome to be supreme
head on earth, whom I acknowledge to be the highest bishop and pope, and
Christ's vicar, unto whom all christian people ought to be subject.
"And as concerning the sacraments, I believe and worship in the
sacrament of the altar the body and blood of Christ, being contained
most truly under the forms of bread and wine; the bread, through the
mighty power of God being turned into the body of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, and the wine into his blood.
"And in the other six sacraments, also, (alike as in this) I believe and
hold as the universal church holdeth, and the church of Rome judgeth and
determineth.
"Furthermore, I believe that there is a place of purgatory, where souls
departed be punished for a time, for whom the church doth godlily and
wholesomely pray, like as it doth honour saints and make prayers to
them.
"Finally, in all things I profess, that I do not otherwise believe than
the catholic church and the church of Rome holdeth and teacheth.--I am
sorry that I ever held or thought otherwise. And I beseech Almighty God,
that of his mercy he will vouchsafe to forgive me whatsoever I have
offended against God or his church, and also I desire and beseech all
christian people to pray for me.
"And all such as have been deceived either by mine example of doctrine,
I require them by the blood of Jesus Christ that they will return to the
unity of the church, that we may be all of one mind, without schism or
division.
"And to conclude, as I submit myself to the catholic church of Christ,
and to the supreme head thereof, so I submit myself unto the most
excellent majesties of Philip and Mary, king and queen of this realm of
England, &c. and to all other their laws and ordinances, being ready
always as a faithful subject ever to obey them. And God is my witness,
that I have not done this for favour or fear of any person, but
willingly and of mine own conscience, as to the instruction of others."
"Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall!" said the apostle, and
here was a falling off indeed! The papists now triumphed in their turn:
they had acquired all they wanted short of his life. His recantation was
immediately printed and dispersed, that it might have its due effect
upon the astonished protestants; but God counter-worked all the designs
of the catholics by the extent to which they carried the implacable
persecution of their prey. Doubtless, the love of life induced Cranmer
to sign the above declaration; yet death may be said to have been
preferable to life to him who lay under the stings of a goaded
conscience and the contempt of every gospel christian; this principle he
strongly felt in all its force and anguish.
The queen's revenge was only to be satiated in Cranmer's blood, and
therefore she wrote an order to Dr. Cole, to prepare a sermon to be
preached March 21, directly before his martyrdom, at St. Mary's, Oxford;
Dr. Cole visited him the day previous, and was induced to believe that
he would publicly deliver his sentiments in confirmation of the articles
to which he had subscribed. About nine in the morning of the day of
sacrifice, the queen's commissioners, attended by the magistrates,
conducted the amiable unfortunate to St. Mary's church. His torn, dirty
garb, the same in which they habited him upon his degradation, excited
the commisseration of the people. In the church he found a low, mean
stage, erected opposite to the pulpit, on which being placed, he turned
his face, and fervently prayed to God. The church was crowded with
persons of both persuasions, expecting to hear the justification of the
late apostacy: the catholics rejoicing, and the protestants deeply
wounded in spirit at the deceit of the human heart. Dr. Cole, in his
sermon, represented Cranmer as having been guilty of the most atrocious
crimes; encouraged the deluded sufferer not to fear death, not to doubt
the support of God in his torments, nor that masses would be said in all
the churches of Oxford for the repose of his soul. The Doctor then
noticed his conversion, and which he ascribed to the evident working of
Almighty Power, and in order that the people might be convinced of its
reality, asked the prisoner to give them a sign. This Cranmer did, and
begged the congregation to pray for him, for he had committed many and
grievous sins; but, of all, there was one which awfully lay upon his
mind, of which he would speak shortly.
During the sermon Cranmer wept bitter tears: lifting up his hands and
eyes to heaven, and letting them fall, as if unworthy to live: his grief
now found vent in words: before his confession he fell upon his knees,
and, in the following words unveiled the deep contrition and agitation
which harrowed up his soul.
"O Father of heaven! O Son of God, Redeemer of the world! O Holy Ghost,
three persons and one God! have mercy on me, most wretched caitiff and
miserable sinner. I have offended both against heaven and earth, more
than my tongue can express. Whither then may I go, or whither may I
flee? To heaven I may be ashamed to lift up mine eyes, and in earth I
find no place of refuge or succour. To thee, therefore, O Lord, do I
run; to thee do I humble myself, saying, O Lord, my God, my sins be
great, but yet have mercy upon me for thy great mercy. The great mystery
that God became man, was not wrought for little or few offences. Thou
didst not give thy Son, O Heavenly Father, unto death for small sins
only, but for all the greatest sins of the world, so that the sinner
return to thee with his whole heart, as I do at present. Wherefore, have
mercy on me, O God, whose property is always to have mercy, have mercy
upon me, O Lord, for thy great mercy. I crave nothing for my own merits,
but for thy name's sake, that it may be hallowed thereby, and for thy
dear Son Jesus Christ's sake. And now therefore, O Father of Heaven,
hallowed be thy name," &c.
Then rising, he said he was desirous before his death to give them some
pious exhortations by which God might be glorified and themselves
edified. He then descanted upon the danger of a love for the world, the
duty of obedience to their majesties of love to one another and the
necessity of the rich administering to the wants of the poor. He quoted
the three verses of the fifth chapter of James, and then proceeded, "Let
them that be rich ponder well these three sentences: for if they ever
had occasion to show their charity, they have it now at this present,
the poor people being so many, and victual so dear.
"And now forasmuch as I am come to the last end of my life, whereupon
hangeth all my life past, and all my life to come, either to live with
my master Christ for ever in joy, or else to be in pain for ever with
the wicked in hell, and I see before mine eyes presently, either heaven
ready to receive me, or else hell ready to swallow me up; I shall
therefore declare unto you my very faith how I believe, without any
colour of dissimulation: for now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I
have said or written in times past.
"First, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
&c. And I believe every article of the Catholic faith, every word and
sentence taught by our Saviour Jesus Christ, his apostles and prophets,
in the New and Old Testament.
"And now I come to the great thing which so much troubleth my
conscience, more than any thing that ever I did or said in my whole
life, and that is the setting abroad of a writing contrary to the truth,
which now here I renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand
contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and written for fear
of death, and to save my life, if it might be; and that is, all such
bills or papers which I have written or signed with my hand since my
degradation, wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as
my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand
shall first be punished; for when I come to the fire, it shall first be
burned.
"And as for the Pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy, and antichrist,
with all his false doctrine.
"And as for the sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against
the bishop of Winchester, which my book teacheth so true a doctrine of
the sacrament, that it shall stand in the last day before the judgment
of God, where the papistical doctrines contrary thereto shall be ashamed
to show their face."
Upon the conclusion of this unexpected declaration, amazement and
indignation were conspicuous in every part of the church. The catholics
were completely foiled, their object being frustrated; Cranmer, like
Sampson, having completed a greater ruin upon his enemies in the hour of
death, than he did in his life.
Cranmer would have proceeded in the exposure of the popish doctrines,
but the murmurs of the idolaters drowned his voice, and the preacher
gave an order to lead the heretic away! The savage command was directly
obeyed, and the lamb about to suffer was torn from his stand to the
place of slaughter, insulted all the way by the revilings and taunts of
the pestilent monks and friars. With thoughts intent upon a far higher
object than the empty threats of man, he reached the spot dyed with the
blood of Ridley and Latimer. There he knelt for a short time in earnest
devotion, and then arose, that he might undress and prepare for the
fire. Two friars who had been parties in prevailing upon him to abjure,
now endeavoured to draw him off again from the truth, but he was
steadfast and immoveable in what he had just professed, and before
publicly taught. A chain was provided to bind him to the stake, and
after it had tightly encircled him, fire was put to the fuel, and the
flames began soon to ascend. Then were the glorious sentiments of the
martyr made manifest;--then it was, that stretching out his right hand,
he held it unshrinkingly in the fire till it was burnt to a cinder, even
before his body was injured, frequently exclaiming, "This unworthy right
hand!" Apparently insensible of pain, with a countenance of venerable
resignation, and eyes directed to Him for whose cause he suffered, he
continued, like St. Stephen, to say, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit!"
till the fury of the flames terminated his powers of utterance and
existence. He closed a life of high sublunary elevation, of constant
uneasiness, and of glorious martyrdom, on March 21, 1556.
Thus perished the illustrious Cranmer, the man whom king Henry's
capricious soul esteemed for his virtues above all other men. Cranmer's
example is an endless testimony that fraud and cruelty are the leading
characteristics of the catholic hierarchy. They first seduced him to
live by recantation, and then doomed him to perish, using perhaps the
sophistical arguments, that, being brought again within the catholic
pale, he was then most fit to die. His gradual change from darkness to
the light of the truth, proved that he had a mind open to conviction.
Though mild and forgiving in temper, he was severe in church discipline,
and it is only on this ground that one act of cruelty of his can in any
way be excused. A poor woman was in Edward's reign condemned to be burnt
for her religious opinions; the pious young monarch reasoned with the
archbishop upon the impropriety of protestants resorting to the same
cruel means they censured in papists, adding humanely, "What! would you
have me send her quick to the devil in her error?" The prelate however
was not to be softened, and the king signed the death warrant with eyes
steeped in tears. There is however a shade in the greatest characters,
and few characters, whether political or religious, were greater than
Cranmer's.
_Agnes Potten and Joan Trunchfield._