THE Wounds of a Friend: OR, A LETTER Mentioned by Mr Love upon the Scaffold, in his SPEECH, a little before his Death:  
Sent unto him the night before he should have been executed in the month of JULY:  
Which is upon the occasion of the said Mention thereof published, BY John Price of Colemanstreet, London.  
LONDON, Printed by I. M. for H. Cripps and L. Lloyd, and are to be sold at their shop in Popes-head Alley, 1651.   

The Wounds of a Friend; OR A Letter mentioned by Mr Love upon the Scaffold, &c.  
READER,  
I Understand that Mr Love in his Speech upon the Scaffold, a little before his death, amongst other things, made mention of a certain Letter, sent unto him the night before he should have been executed the last month, which he called an insulting Letter, importing a resolution in some to publish in print several things reflecting dishonour upon him after his death: The truth is, the Letter he spoke of was written by myself, and his jealousy of any man's writing concerning him after his death had its rise only from a marginal note of the said Letter, which it seems made a deep impression upon him; and since his death I perceive that not only Mr Love, but some of his friends, did take that Letter very ill at my hands, especially considering that deep sense, pity and compassion that did (as they say) seem to appear in me towards him in his sad condition but a little before that Letter was sent, which was (I confess) so great, that as on the one hand, I could not be well satisfied how the Parliament could in honour and Conscience have vouchsafed him a Pardon, (they being indeed not their own but trusties for the Commonwealth, and therefore obliged to pursue the public and common benefit in saving or destroying him (his life being forfeited to the Commonwealth,) and no probable, much less certain public advantage appearing to accrue from his Pardon, but rather a giving up their cause so maintained and asseted by him during all the time of his trial; and nothing appearing to the contrary in all his post addresses, how ever slily and cunningly couched and penned;) so on the other hand my bowels and affections did so melt and yearn towards him that I verily believe I could have been contented in God's way to have parted with one of my limbs for his life; and however I was by him and am by others unhappily mistaken in that letter; yet God and mine own Conscience do witness for me the uprightness, plainness and singleness of my heart and spirit, out of which I wrote it, for the spiritual peace and advantage of his soul, had he been pleased to have improved it to that end, being as I conceived, very genuinely & naturally improvable thereunto; And mine own Family can bear me witness (which I would not mention but upon this occasion) that with many prayers night and day, I did, according to my poor measure, importune the Almighty for grace and mercy for him until the time of his death. The truth is, I was plain and clear with him in my Letter, applying myself to him in such matter, which I thought might be most healthful and profitable for him; It is now about eleven years sithence my first acquaintance with him, in which time I have had very many advantages, by a strict observation of him & his deportment in public and private, of inspection, as into his worth and excellency (whereof he was always sufficiently sensible,) so into his weakness and infirmities (for I hope they were no worse,) and I found (and it was not only my observation of him, but also many others, for alas it could not be hid) that he was exceeding apt, not only to be courted, but even captivated with that secret, close, and dangerous lust and sin of popularity, affecting multitude of followers, and not able to bear opposition and contradiction; and therefore well perceiving the policy of Satan, that great adversary of mankind, adepting and sitting this fear of death wherein his foot was so aptly and easily taken, and mounting him upon the wing and pinnacle of popular observation, and considering also his seeming penitential Addresses unto the Parliament, though cloudily, obstrucely, and very uncertainly framed and penned, arguing (at least unto me) a kind of a trembling, shaking and exceeding dissatisfactory frame and temper of mind, to venture his life upon so bad a cause; and understanding also by some of his very near friends that were daily with him, how uncertain he was in his disposition to an ingenuous, christian, and plenary acknowledgement in his Addresses unto the Parliament for mercy, and that by reason of the various and diverse disposed and opinionated persons that were his constant Visitors, some inclining him one way, and some another; some endevoring (as it seemed to me) to make him a mere 
* Very tamperable for such a purpose, being of a rash, furious, hasty, violent & popular temper & disposition.  Calf, or Heifer, a Victim to their cause, though happily instructing him in that black art of double dealing, disingenuous distinctions, and reservations to save his life, together with their cause (could it so be brought about) some of which friends I fear stuck too close to him even to his death 
a Whose altum silentium, when their dying brother vented such bitter invectives against the present Authority, bespeaks either their own minds and judgements in the same; or themselves very unfit ghostly fathers at such a time. ,) Others again advising him to acknowledge his sin, and to give glory to God; I say, perceiving this poor young man thus harrassed and hurried in his thoughts and mind; and ready to offer up his life in this perplexed temper and disposition; And lastly, calling to mind the most dangerous and desperate estate and condition of his poor Soul, should he offer it up unto the service of this lust, not withstanding his seeming zeal for God's glory, and the great temptation hereunto by a mighty concourse of people to see the manner of his death, and hear his last Scaffold Oration. These Considerations wrought upon me, out of very faithfulness, to write this ensuing Letter, which take as followeth.  

Mr Love,  
I do not know, nor am I much solicitous, whether you esteem me an enemy or a friend; but as I abhor to salute you with the Kisses of an enemy, so I judge it unseasonable to afflict you with the Wounds of a friend; and yet the bowels of a spiritual Brother (I know not whether you can echo Brother to me,) do so implacably importune me, that I am compelled, by the workings thereof, to be bold with you in one word of Counsel, before our final parting; it is this, Offer not up your precious life, with all its concernments, natural, spiritual, a victim to the great goddess of vain Professors popula●ity, (though confined within the Circle of a certain Party:) You may call this Censoriousness for want of love, but my conscience calls it Faithfulness through the abundance of love: to be praised while you live, and talked on after you be dead, for a valiant Assertor even unto death of that Cause judged by many of your own Friends and judgement to be weak, yea wicked, is but a small price for this precious life, and the hazards of a better. It is well if the arms of Christ do bear you up above these troubled waters, and not windy bladders; but it is very rare, considering your Cause, the projecting, promoting, actual producing a new bloody War, a War between Saints, a War against Saints, a War to restore a wicked, a bloody Family, so signally and eminently dethroned by the vindicative justice of Almighty God, so decried, so imprecated with such zeal, expectation and confidence by your own self in public, in private, and you not so much as touched with the guilt of a busy-body in all your trial and sufferings; how ever you have valu●d or undervalued your precious life, yet let not Bassilix eyes destroy your Soul, viz. an ambition to be looked at, and admired: It is now high time to recollect yourself, your Breeding, your Education, 
* 〈…〉  at whose charges, from what sort of Professors you have received mercy and favour all your life, and how you have requited them at the last, by not only not doing the least thing for them, but striving to undermine them in their Liberties, and failing therein to cut them off by a bloody War: 
〈…〉  I should have been glad, had the due consideration of your miscarriages wrought you to an ingenuous and Christian acknowledgement in due season for your life sake; I should now rejoice, might it be yet considered for your soul's sake. Do you plead your Conscience? If it be so indeed, consider the strange hand of God upon your judgement, not much unlike his hand upon the late King, (in whose Cau●e, how ever palliated, you must yield up your life,) who could not submit to the Power that tried him for his Conscience sake. That a Minister of Jesus Christ should intermeddle with the State and Condition of several Nations, so as to involve them in a bloody war, yea to strive to subvert that Government under which he might live a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty, a thing never practised by any of the Prophets of old, by Christ, his Apostles or Successors, that yourself have judged faithful, (except you judge Jesuits to be such,) should do all this, not only without hesitancy, but with a zealous Conscience, argues a great hand of God upon such a judgement. Again, do you plead Conscience, and therefore cannot subject to a Christian confession of your miscarriage, though it might have saved your life, and that for Conscience sake? See here another strain of divine justice; you endeavoured to bring in a Power, though by an Army, to compel men's subjection against their Consciences, and yourself now must perish upon the same account. But once more, Consider, is it Conscience indeed? Is it not rather Popularity, than Conscience? Shall I submit now? Will not the world say, 'tis base, 'tis dishonourable? &c. Well Sir, consult God, and plead not Conscience against Conscience; it is bad to live, but worse to die with an ill Conscience, especially under the vizor of a good Conscience; an ill Cause, yea and an ill Conscience may be slily palliated with many good prayers, Scripture phrases, and a zealous show of a very tender Conscience, and to die stoutly in such a Cause, may be reputed Martyrdom amongst men, and just punishment with God; it may have a show of pure Christianism with man, but it is pure Atheism with God; the more close, secret and spiritual any sin is, the more dangerous and noxious it is unto the sinner. Sir, I do not judge you, but I fear you, I would I had no cause; if I am mistaken, it is well, this can do you no hurt; if I am not mistaken, this may do you good, that is my aim, and the desire of my Soul; for if I know my heart, I could willingly part with my right hand in God's way for your life, and with my very life in that way for your Soul: That the Lord of Life and Glory would so communicate himself yet unto you before you go hence, that having a due sense of the riches and freeness of his grace in our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and so rest, peace, and fullness of satisfaction upon that account, and also a due feeling of your own miscarriages in all your ways, and chiefly of that that hath brought you to this precipitated end, that you may yield up your life as becomes such a sense, and that eternal life may second your temporal, is the hearty prayers of  
Sir, Your very faithful and truly affectionate Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, JOHN PRICE. Coleman street, London, July 14, 1651.   
REader, Thou hast the Letter truly and faithfully committed to thy strictest view and examination, and submitted to thy judgement; if thou findest any thing of an insulting nature therein, nay any thing but love and faithfulness unto Mr Love, most certain I am, thou reapest that which was never sown by me; nay it passed a strict examen by a judicious godly man, one of Mr love's very good friends and acquaintance, and very zealously industrious for his Pardon, before it was sent unto Mr Love; for indeed I feared Mr love's sinister interpretation and misconstruction of it, who was very importunate with me to send it unto him: but it is true which Solomon saith, That a froward heart findeth no good. All that I shall say of Mr Love is this, His sin, vanity and folly have found him out, and pursued him to his grave, but I hope shall follow him no further: As for myself, I cannot with myself better (in wishes of this nature) then to desire God to g●●e me as ●●●●●ful a friend in the day of my departure from this world as I did desire to approve myself to Mr Love, and a better heart to improve the same. Farewell.  
FINIS.