your particular selves, it must be put into you by some others: You speak as if you desired mercy; where was your mercy, that would have destroyed king and country, and massacred many millions of souls, no respect of any person, but your own fellows? I speak this, that you may be the more sensible of your own crime, that you may truly, out of the remorse of conscience, be sorry for your sin: You know very well the old counsel, and it is a good one, Fear God, and honour the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change.' Medding with them that are given to change, has brought too much mischief already to this nation; and if you will commit the same sin, you must receive the same punishment: for happy is he, that by other men's harms take heed. I shall not spend long time with you, but if you will as much as you can discover the actors herein, you will do God, the king and your country good service. It remains that the court proceed to judgment: and therefore, you six, the one by his own confession, and the other five by conviction of law, the Judgment of this court is, That you be conveyed back to the place from whence you came, and from thence to te drawn upon an hurdle to the place of execution; and there you shall be banged by the neck, and being alive shall be cut down, and your privy members to be cut off, your entrails to be taken out of your body, and (you living) the same to be burnt before your eyes, and your head to be cut off, your body to be divided into four quarters, and your head and quarters to be disposed of at the pleasure of the king's majesty: And God have mercy upon your souls. 6 need be well done, for it is but once to be done. My hope is now above; and for what I now come to suffer, for my own part, I bless God, in whose presence I now speak, as a dying man, I had not any murderous thought against the king; but I have prayed for him, and wished that he might live and reign, and long reign in righteousness; and that God would make his crown a crown of righteousness upon his head, and bless him in his government, so that he may not know any of these occasions more: For my part, I have ventured my life for his majesty, it was far from my heart to do any thing of that nature. The Lord receive my soul. I freely forgive all men, as I hope to be forgiven of God: I never did act any thing, but only this, which was my ignorance of the laws, that I did not discover it; and I was justly found guilty, for not discovering. I have done, Mr. Sheriff; but hope, after my brethren have spoken, we may have liberty to call upon the Lord." Und. Sheriff. It will not be denied you. Then Mr. Tonge began in this manner: "Friends and Countrymen ; "You see me here a dying man: I have I have heard them contriving the business for sometimes been in some men's company, where which I am to die; and that which led me to join with them was this: I was and had been sometimes in the army; and I have looked upon this cause to be good. As for his majesty, the Lord bless him, and prosper him, and put it into his heart, that he may be a Tonge. I have nothing more. And then Gibbs proceeded and said, "Coun trymen and Friends, and I hope Christians, and the last consideration is that that makes me the more free to speak to you; we all profess to own God and Jesus Christ to be our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier, and giver of, and bestower upon us eternal life; Phillips, Tonge, Gibbs, and Stubbs were ordered for execution on Monday, Dec. 22, when they were drawn on two hurdles, viz. Phillips and Tonge on one, Gibbs and Stubbs on the other, to the common place of execution at Tybura: Where being come, they were received into a cart under the gallows; and the executioner desiring them severally to forgive him, they all declared they did freely forthis should excite our souls to love one anogive him and all their enemies, and did severally salute each other with this phrase, Wel- that God has so loved us as to give Jesus Christ, ther; and upon the account of God's love, come, Brother;' and to one another said, 'We are now launching into the deep.' They being love one another, it is his great command. to reconcile us sinners to God, we ought to all tied up, Phillips gave the executioner a small sum of money, and the rest directed the Truly, as to the cause for which I am brought executioner to take out of their pockets a small before whom I stand, knows that in the place here, God the great judge of heaven and earth, parcel of money, as their gift to him; and where I have lived, I behaved myself as an Phillips afterwards bent a sixpence, and pre-obedient subject; and when there was an insented it to a friend of his, Mr. Stroud; and a shilling likewise bent to one Mr. Clark. Then the under-sheriff of Middlesex acquainted them they bad all free liberty to speak, provided they did not reflect upon his majesty, or the present government; which they all promised not to do, and thanked him for his civility. And then Phillips began as follows: "Friends and Countrymen; "I am come this day to pay that great debt that I owe to nature; it is a work that had out in my own person, though I had servants surrection by the Fifth Monarchy men, I went as well as others, purely out of affection to his majesty, knowing that in the peace of his goout, bazarded my life, and continued out till all vernment I should have peace, and so I went was quiet. I was at a neighbour's house drinking of a cup of beer on Tuesday night in the kitchen alone, save only the man of the house and the maid; these men came in, one Hill. and Riggs, that are the witnesses against me; there were Riggs and Hill, and this Stubbs, and one Beazeley: and I being alone in the kitchen, they asked for one Gibbs; the people of the house told me there were some gentlemen would speak with me: I wished them to direct them to me, and they came to me; and through the ignorance of the law, which, it seems, runs thus: If any words treasonable against his majesty are spoken, it is treasonable to conceal them: So thus I have given you, in part, the cause of my being here. "Hereupon information was given to the king's majesty, that I should say there would be a rising, and that All-hallows eve was the time; that there were arms sent into the country, and that Ludlow was to be general; and this was charged upon me by the king's majesty, when I came before' him to be examined: And upon Hill's and Riggs's oath, I was sent to the Tower, and kept a long time a prisoner, examined three or four times over by the lords of his majesty's council. I have one word more; as touching my judgment, I am reputed in the world to be one of those that is called by the name of Anabaptist, a name of derision and scorn; one is an Anabaptist, one an Independent, one a Presbyterian, one this, and one that, and one the other; who gave these nick-names to Christians? There is but one God, one Lord Jesus, one baptism, one hope of glory: How comes the body of Christ, or the members of Christ to be called by these nick-names? But now, as I am one that do profess faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and do stand before you all, and before the Lord, I know no other God, but the eternal and living God, that hath made the world, and that rules and reigns, and disposes all his creatures; I do believe in this God, he has been gracious to me a poor sinner, and to all poor sinners, that when we by reason of sin had forfeited all our mercies, and were under wrath and everlasting destruction, and must perish for ever; that God did out of his rich grace and tender mercies give his only begotten Son, according to his promise, to be the blessing of God to the poor Gentiles, according as the Scripture did declare; the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathens through faith preached before the Gospel to Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: He speaks not of the natural seed of Abraham, but of Christ; so that all the blessings that God did convey to the sinful world, are by the means of Jesus Christ, whom God in the fulness of time did send, his Son, born of a woman, to redeem poor sinners under the law; and herein was the great grace and mercy of God towards all sinners, that he was so gracious to send his beloved Son out of his own bosom to take our natures upon him, who were defiled, and cursed, and condemned, and separated from God. I say, Jesus Christ took our natures upon him, and for this very end, to do the will of his heavenly Father: Lo, it is written in the vo'lume of the book, I come to do thy Will, O 'God;' and it was his meat and drink to do his Will; and what was that, but that we might be sanctified through the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ for our sins, to tread the wine-press of his Father's wrath, and to endure the cross, and bear all our sins in his own body, that made his soul heavy unto death? He was a surety for us and our sins, and for our sakes the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, and he hath borne our grief and endured our punishment; it made his soul cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? or else we must for ever be banished out of the presence of God, and never have any hopes of glory, of faith, or of salvation, had not the Son of God become our mediator and surety; so there is one God, and one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus. He gave himself a ransom for all our sins, to free us from the wrath to come, everlasting destruction, and from the worm that never dies. O that we could ever be thankful to God, live to him that hath so loved us, as to send his Son to die for us, and is by the almighty power of God raised from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of God, and ever lives to make intercession. Truly, friends, this is not the love of man, but the love of God, and therefore eternal love. God so loved the world; it is God's love, he loved sinners, ungodly ones; he did so love them as to give his only begotten Son to save them, to reconcile them, to uphold them, to redeem them from wrath to come; it was to seek and save them that were lost. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. We all, like sheep, had gone astray, and must perish in our sins, had not the Lord Jesus been sent of his Father, out of his bosom to declare the good will of God, and did it, by which we are sanctified through the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ, and this Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, he is the mediator between God and poor sinners. Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, says Christ, and I will give you rest; now this grace is from God, we are saved by grace, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; through faith in Christ we are saved; and all things that do pertain to life and godliness it is the gift of God; now all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Would you know the forgiveness of your sins, your peace with God, and that God is well pleased with you? God is reconciled by Jesus Christ unto you, and does not impute your sins unto you, but looks on the righteousness of Christ as satisfaction, that thereby you might have the remission of your sins through the blood of Christ. Be it known unto all men, that through this man's preaching the forgiveness of sins, Acts xiii. 38, 39, and by him all that do believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be by the law of Moses. Now justification from sin, and redemption from iniquity, is through the knowledge of Christ's death for our sins, and his resurrection; and now there is no other name given under Heaven whereby we can be saved, but by the name of Jesus, and whosoever believeth in his name shall not perish, but have everlasting life, John | v. 24. It is the doctrine of Jesus Christ, it is his word, and I hope you will search the scriptures, and look into those things for your souls good, when Christ says, Verily, verily, I say anto you, he that heareth my words and believeth them, he hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life. The reason why God does assure poor sinners they shall not pass into everlasting condemnation and perish, is through his rich grace, and through his promise; for he hath promised, he will be merciful to our iniquities, and our sins will remember no more; and these his promises of grace, which are all yea and amen in Christ, are ratified by the blood of Christ; the blood of Christ is the blood of the new covenant, and it is that by which we have the forgiveness, remission, and cleansing of all our sins." Under Sheriff. Mr. Gibbs, let me interrupt you; this is very good and pertinent, but you have said these things over and over; there is another of your friends to speak, and the time grows short, pray go on to the matter, or conclude. Gibbs. "I shall speak a word or two as to the knowledge of forgiveness of sins, by and through Jesus Christ; and so the knowledge of the resurrection of the dead, it is the fruit of Jesus Christ; for by the first man came death, and by the second man, Christ, came life; and God, that has by his exceeding great and mighty power raised up Jesus Christ from the grave and power of sin, he also shall raise us up by the same power, and when he comes the second time, at his appearing and coming we shall see him, and be made like to him, and be will receive us to himself; he is gone to prepare a place for us, and in his Father's bouse are many mansions, and if it were not so, be would have told us: And now God that bath given eternal life, and forgiveness of sins unto his poor servants, he will also, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, receive him into his everlasting glory, which is my faith, expectation, and hope, in God, through Jesus Christ. A man may bear his infirmities, but a wounded conscience who can bear? When God smites who can bear? And therefore I desire, as I believe, the forgiveness of all my sins, through the rich grace of God, through the bloodshed of Jesus Christ his Son; every one must give an account to God, and as their works are, so will their reward be, either accepted by God, as workers of Christ, or condemned as workers of iniquity. Last of all, as to the separated congregations to whom I belong, I have observed in those few days that I have lived, there is a great deal of animosity, evil will, hard censuring, and abusing the precious saints of Jesus Christ. If they are in an error, you that are in the truth instruct them, and you may recover them out of the claws of the Devil: Are you Christians, and have the light of God in your souls? O then strengthen your brethren, do not give them nick-names, and abuse them; that's not the way; Christ teaches another lesson, That if thine enemy hunger, you shall feed him; and if he be a-thirsty, give him drink' We should pray to the Lord that he would turn those that be out of his way, into the right way." Under Sher. You know we must be all subject to government, every congregation must not have a ruler, their meetings are prohibited by good authority, and because they will not be obedient to good government. Gibbs. I do not say, that every congregation must have a ruler, and I hope I speak the words of sobriety; I hope you will put a charitable construction upon what I say. As to the magistrates, I have a word or two." Under Sher. Speak well of them. Gibbs. "Be not afraid, I will not speak any evil of them; magistracy is an ordinance of God, and the end of magistracy is for the punishment of evil doers, and the praise of them that do well; and for this purpose, I do desire that the Lord would give to the supreme magistrate here on earth, wisdom and understanding, a wise council, a council fearing. God, and hating covetousness, that they may study to exalt the throne of the king in righte ousness and truth; O that we may all praise the Lord for deliverance out of condemnation; and I say it is the duty of all the subjects of the king's majesty, in all his kingdoms and dominions, to live peaceably, and to pray for the king's majesty: Prayers and intercessions ought to be made for all men, especially for kings and governors, for this very end and purpose, that thereby we may live in all quietness, godliness, honesty and justice; and to this very end the Lord bless our magistracy, give theur counsel and wisdom, that they may love them that love the Lord, and hate them that hate the Lord." After Gibbs had done speaking, then Stubbs began, who went over all the particulars of his trial at large, to which for brevity's sake we refer you. After which he said as follows: "Friends and Countrymen, "It is true, and I must confess my sin in the presence of God (and did ask mercy of the king) that I was in the company when I did hear wicked and treasonable words spoken; and I being ignorant, and not knowing the law, did not discover what I did hear. As to my judgment, truly I desire to own that the scriptures own; I shall speak of that place in the Hebrews, which is the command of Christ, I desire the churches and the people every one to live the life of faith, and love one another; I am confident it would be a means of abundance of comfort here in the nation; there is a kind of heart burning and rising one against another, you are so and so, throw dirt one against the other; it is our and your duty, still to be studying to live in love, and bear one with another, not to be angry, destroy, and fight one with another: O that we might live that life of love that God has commanded, then we may expect the presence of God to be with us; surely God hath a great judgment against his own people, for not loving one another." Phillips. Mr. Sheriff, I have only one word to speak before I go to my prayers; that is, Here I see some gentlemen present that are in the capacity that I was in as a soldier; I say, be faithful to your trust, and beg of God that you may stand fast, and not dishonour God, nor be disobedient to the king; when the Fifth Monarchy men were up, I was free and willing to lay down my life for the interest of the nation, and did venture it as much as any young man in London; therefore good friends, have a care: I am now brought to suffer; it is true, I was guilty of concealing it; I desire your prayers, that now as we are going to the state of eternity from whence there is no redemption, I humbly beseech you, as christians and friends, that you would seek earnestly to God, that now he may receive our souls into everlasting rest and happiness, which he has been pleased to bestow on them that love him and fear him; and the Lord knows my heart, I speak it in his presence, that had the king been pleased to shew mercy to me, I should have been a faithful and true subject to him all my days; but seeing it is the righteous hand of God, that now I am come to this untimely death, I desire you to lift up your hearts and souls to God with me, that when my soul shall leave this body, that the Lord Jesus Christ may with his everlasting arms receive me to glory: There is no redemption after death, we shall either go to eternal woe, or eternal happiness: therefore good friends, I desire you to look up to God, that when my soul departs, it may be received to glory." Then they went to their prayers: which being ended, their caps were severally pulled over their faces; and after some private ejaculations, the executioner caused the cart to be drawn away; and after they had hanged awhile they were severally beheaded and quartered according to their sentence, and their heads and quarters conveyed in a basket to Newgate, to be disposed of at the king's pleasure. Their several quarters were buried on Saturday night, December 27. Their heads were set up on several poles, two on the one Tower-bill, and two on the other, as near the Tower as might be: Ludlow's account of this affair, is as follows: “In the mean time, the English court knowing themselves to be fallen under the hatred and contempt of the people for their cruelty, im morality and corruption, aggravated by the late sale of Dunkirk, resolved by the contrivance of a plot to disarm their enemies, and provide for their present safety. To this end, by the means of major-general Brown and others, money was advanced and arms put into the hands of some persons, among whom one Bradley, who had formerly belonged to Cromwell, was the principal, that by giving small sums to indigent officers of the late army, and by shewing the arms they had ready, they might engage them and others in this pretended design. Au account of this plot was printed and published, affirming, That divers thousands of ill-affected persons were ready, under my command, to seize the Tower and the city of London; then to march directly to Whitehall, in order to kill the king and Monk, with a resolution to give no quarter to any that adhered to them; and after that to declare for a commonwealth. By this means one Baker, who had been of the guard to Cromwell, and since the disbanding of the army, had been re duced to grind knives for a poor living, having received half a crown from Bradley, and promised his assistance when there should be occasion, was executed with some others for this conspiracy. However, this served the court for a pretence to seize five or six hundred persons; to disarm all those they suspected; to require those they had taken to give bonds of 2001. each, not to take up arms against the king, and to increase the standing guards. They were not ashamed also to give out, that their messengers had been so near to seize my person, that they had taken my cloak and slippers, and committed two gentlemen to the Tower for accompanying me, as they said, to the sea-side, in order to my escape; though at the same time they knew so well where I was, that they had employed instruments to procure me to be assassinated, which was discovered to a merchant of Lausanna by a person of quality living in these parts," [Ludlow was in Switzerland,] "who had refused 10,000 crowns offered to him on the part of the duchess of Anjou, (Orleans is intended) sister to bis gracious majesty, if he would undertake that province." concerned The General farther adds, "The earl of Antrim, an Irish Papist, and one who had been that country, having been seized at London, as among the first in the rebellion of soner to Ireland, was ordered, by a letter under I mentioned before, and afterwards sent prithe king's hand and seal, to be cleared and set at liberty, charging the guilt of that rebellion upon his father, and affirming in the said letter, That the earl of Antrim had not done any king his father; though it was well known, thing, without warrant and authority from the that he had his head and hands deeply and early engaged in that bloody work. Thus the mask was openly taken off, in confidence, that a people deprived of their leaders, dispirited by the late executions, and awed by the auwould not be able to shew their resentment." thority of a complying House of Commons, There is reason enough to believe, that the Court very much exaggerated the transactions out of which arose the proceedings against these people, as well as those against James, Venner and others: See John James's Case, sup. p. 67, and the note to p. 104. But the historians who are most vehement in their aniiosity against Charles the Second and his ministers at this time, are scarcely satisfied with imputing to the Court the charge of exaggeration. Mrs. Macaulay's short account of this sham conspiracy, as she calls it, and of the proceedings against Tonge and the rest, is a master-piece of unfairness. For years after the Restoration there must have been among many classes much disaffection towards the goverment, and at court the deepest dread of the consequences of such disaffection, and a most anxious wish to suppress every indication of commotion which might have furnished a rallying point to all the disaffected. Burnet and Hume both mention the tumult of Venner and the Millenarians. Of the plot of November and December, 1661, Burnet says, "When the Act of Uniformity was brought into the House, many did apprehend that so severe an act might have ill effects, and began to abate of their first heat: Upon which reports were spread, and much aggravated as they were reported to the House of Commons, of the plots of the Presbyterians in several counties. Many were taken up on those reports: But none were ever tried for them. So, the thing being let fall, it has been given out since, that these were forged by the direction of some hot spirits, who might think such arts were necessary to give an alarm, and by rendering the party odious to carry so severe an act against them. The lord Clarendon himself was charged as having directed this piece of artifice: "but I could never see any ground for fastening it on him: though there were great appearances of foul dealing among some of the fiercer sort." But he is silent as to this of 1662: and Hume is silent as to both. 213. The Trial of MARY MODERS alias STEDMAN, styled the German Princess, at the Old Bailey, for Bigamy: 15 CHARLES II. A. D. 1663. THE Court being sat, a Bill of Indictment was drawn up against Mary Moders, alias Stedman, for having two husbands now alive, viz. Tho. Stedman and John Carleton. The Grand Jury found the Bill, and was to the effect following, viz. "That she the said Mary Moders late of London Spinster, otherwise Mary Stedman, the wife of Tho. Stedman, late of the City of Canterbury in the county of Kent, Shoemaker, May 12, in the reign of his now majesty the sixth, at the Parish of St. Mildred's in the City of Canterbury, in the county aforesaid, did take to husband the aforesaid Thomas Stedman, and him the said Thomas Stedman then and sayest thou, art thou Guilty of Felony whereof Mary Moders. Not Guilty, my Lord. order to her trial, she prayed time till the mor- After she was arraigned, and going back to gaol, her husband the young Lord told her, he must now bid her adieu for ever. To which she replied, there had to husband. And that she the Afterwards the said Mary Moders, alias Stedman, was called to the Bar; and appearing, was commanded to hold up her hand: which she accordingly did, and her Indictment was read to her as followeth. Clerk of the Peace. Mary Moders, alias Stedman, thou standest indicted in London by the name of Mary Moders late of London, spinster, otherwise Mary Stedman, the wife of, &c. [And here the Indictment was read as above] How VOL. VI. "Nay, my Lord, 'tis not amiss, And so saluted him, and said, What a quarand noise here's of a cheat! You cheated me, and I you: you told me you were a Lord and I told you I was a Princess; and I think I fitted you.' And so saluting each other they parted. June 4, 1663. The Court was sat; Proclamation was made. Cl. of the Peace. O Yes! all manner of per sons that have any thing more to do, &c. Set Mary Moders to the Bar: where she accordingly stood. Cl. of the Peace. Mary Moders, alias Stedman, hold up thy hand: [which she did.] Those men that you shall hear called, and personally appear, are to pass between our sovereign lord the king and you for your life: if you will chal T |