THE ARRAIGNMENT OF THE ANABAPTISTS Good Old Cause, With the manner and proceed OF THE COURT of JUSTICE Against him. Also the Names of the JURY and WITNESSES that came in against him, WITH THE SENTENCE Of Death pronounced by the Judge before his EXECUTION, LONDON, Printed by John Morgan, 1660. THE ARRAIGNMENT OF THE ANABAPTISTS Good Old Cause, Together with the manner and proceed of the Court of Justice against him. UPon the 11th of February last the Judge came to the place of Judicature, attended with Knights, Sheriffs, and Justices of Peace, & other Officers. The Commission was read for the Trial of the Malefactor, who being brought to the Bar, the Jury was impannesd, and sworn to give in a true Verdict, according to the evidences. The Clerk stands up and calls them by their names: and the Crier names them, Mr. Conscience, I. Mr. Obedience, II. Mr. Honor-king, III. Mr. Honesty, IU. Mr. Duty, V Mr. Faithful, VI Mr. Trusty, VII. Mr. Law, VIII. Mr. Truth, IX. Mr. Love, X. Mr. Unity, XI. Mr. Justice, XII. Good Men and true stand together and hear the Charge: and looking upon the Prisoner as the Judge commanded, they were charged to take notice of every Passage and Sentence, that should be read by the Clerk in the Indictment, and thereupon to give up a true Verdict: Silence being made, the Prisoner is commanded to hold up his hand, which being done, the Clerk read the Indictment as followeth. Good Old Cause, thou art here Indicted by the name of Good Old Cause alias Rump, of the City of Government, in the County of Kingshire. That thou didst assume unto thyself in the yea● 1641. the name of Supreme Authority, and didst Levy a War against the chief Magistrate, and didst plot and endeavour to draw all other thy Fellow Subjects to do the same, and cause there to bring in their Estates, to defend and maintain thee in the pursuance of this War, and didst make a General over Horse and foot to be th● Captain, and didst settle a Militia in every County of the Land against the Commission of Arr●… ordered by Law: and then thou, the Good O●… Cause, didst lay Siege against the strong Citie●… Castles, Towns of the Land, to batter them dow●… or yield unto thee, and hadst set Battles fought against the good people of the Land, in whic● battles, many a brave Lord, Knight, and Gentleman, was Slain, or taken Prisoner by thee, a●… kept a long time in prison, and didst put out Order and Ordinances, to force and compel men 〈◊〉 serve thee, which if they denied, thou didst either plunder them of their goods, or secure them as ill affected, or both; contrary to all Law in that case made: provided and also that thou, the Good Old cause, didst impeach thy Fellow Members Treason (when thou thyself wast the greater Traitor) and cause them to be put to death, either by Hanging them, Killing them, or Shooting them to death, upon no good account, but only to exercise thy Power and Will over the people: also thou didst borrow infinite Sums of money of the good people, and never paid any of it back again, and those that would not lend thee any, thou compelledst them to it, and moreover imposed upon the people, pole money, Taxes, Freequarter, and Excise, besides the voluntary subscriptions of the men of thy own judgement, to the utter undoing of the people in general. And moreover thou didst in the year 1647. exclude thy Fellow Members out of the House, for many years, because they would not Act with thee, in those things which were contrary to Law, Reason, Honesty, Faith, and a good Conscience: and thou, the Good Old Cause, didst add unto all thy wickedness and abominations, a greater than any of the former, in betraying thy trust, and committed that unparallel regicide against thy true and lawful Magistrate, unto whom thou wast bound by the Oath of Allegiance, to defend and maintain to the uttermost of thy power: also in the same year thou didst Execute thy malice upon three Noble persons in one day, which were far better and honester than thy self, also thou the Good old Cause didst make an Ordinance, that this Land should be a free-State, and that no Writs should run in a single Persons name, and that there should be no more Kingly Government, because thou saidst it was burdensome and dangerous. And that there should be no House of Lords for thou saidst it was useless. And thou the Good old Cause didst banish the regal Line, and madest it to be Treason to give them their proper titles, or that any one should pray for them in their Pulpits, or aid and assist them with any money, meat, victuals, or any other necessary thing; and moreover thou the Good old Cause, didst put to sale all Crown Lands, Jewels, Houses, Manors, and Plate, belonging to the chief Magistrate, with the felling of his Woods, demolishing of Castles, in every part of the Land; besides Bishops, Deans, and Chapters Lands, which was not a little. Also thou didst pluck down and deface all the royal arms in what place soever set up, whether in Churches, on Ships, or Halls, and didst place thine own instead thereof. And moreover thou the Good old Cause, didst break in pieces the great true Seal of the Land, and madest a new stamp to coin money withal, with this circumscription God with us when the Devil was in thee. And also thou didst impose a Tax, of 90 thousand pounds a month for several years upon thy fellow Subjects, and madest them to subscribe to an engagement to be true to thee, and madest thyself rich by undoing others of thy Brethren, by plotting and fomenting things against them which they never knew, so that thou becamest hateful to the eyes of all, & for thy ill actings and grand misdemeanour was turned out of doors for the space of six years and upward; after all which by thy craft and subtlety, thou the Good old Cause, didst wind thyself in again, and by the power of thy strength and policy, didst defend and justify thy doing to be agreeable to Laws, and wouldst not be contradicted nor entreated by the request and petitions of the said truly good and honest; but after all, thou, the Good old Cause, didst out of malice, and envy, and invettered hatred against the honourable City, by whom thou hast been much engaged to, and from whom thou hast received so many gratuities, favours, and bounty; thou hast in thy rage plucked up their posts, took off their Chains, took off their Gates, and broke in pieces their Percullisses, and sold the iron for naught; all which rebellions, Murders, Robberies, and Perjuries, have been by thee committed contrary to the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown and dignity. Judge then said to the Good old Cause, what sayest thou for thyself to this Indictment? Guilty or not guilty? He answers, not guilty, and puts himself upon trial, than the Crier said, if there be any can give evidence against the Prisoner at the Bar, let them come, for he stands upon his deliverance: at which words came in Mr. Loyal, and witnessed saying, My Lord this fellow, the Good old Cause, came in a very formal way, and promised to act good things, and seemed to be a very holy man, but his heart was full of hypocrisy, and deceit, My Lord, he branded all the true hearted to their Superiors to be Malignants, and those that would not give or bring in their money at his order were called delinquents and illaffected, My Lord he would acknowledge no power above himself, he valued the shedding of blood no more than the cutting off a dog's head, he maintained Rebellion, gave out Commissions to kill and slay, justified Hothams' actions, and yet killed him at last, made an excellent protestation, a seeming holy Covenant and performed neither, juggled with the People, that they took him for a God. Mr. Bishop can tell you more of him my Lord, I am but a Servant, what say you Mr. Bishop against the Prisoner at the Bar? My Lord, he was an utter enemy to us, he thrust us out of our places, and would not suffer us to sit with him, he branded us by the name of Popish Prelates, he took away our Means, our Live, & came & dwelled in them himself, put us in prison, and some of us to death, took away Churches livings, and sold them to others, yea my Lord he took the very plate out of the Churches, and melted it, and coined it into a new stamp, her's Mr. Duke my Lord a very noble person can evidence much more against him than I have done. Mr. Church a witness. Judge speaks. Mr. Duke or Lord what can you say to the Prisoner at the Bar? My Lord, this Fellow called the Good old Cause, did plunder me of all my Estate, sold our Houses, that whereas I had 5000 a year, and kept a good house for all comers, & maintained good Hospitality, relieveing the poor, and setting whole Towns at work, did Homage to my Sovereign when my turn was, he took my Estate away, bestowed it upon some of his own friends; to one, he gave a thousand a year, to another, five hundred a year, to another, two thousand a year, and hath left me nothing for myself, but one hundred a year, to maintain myself, my wife, and children, in our old age. And besides after I was turned out of doors I was glad to compound for what I had, and to fly into France to hid myself from being imprisoned, and to save my life, for he killed as many as he thought good; Here's Mr. Citizen can witness many other things. Judge, Mr. Citizen, what can you say against this Prisoner at the Bar? My Lord I can testify against him, that he imposed great Taxes upon us, and if we did not pay him as soon as ever he demanded them, he either quartered Soldiers upon us, or else fetched away by violence from us, ten times the worth of the Tax he required: he also hindered the trading amongst us, kept us bare of money, and made us pay Excise for Meat and drink, and laid insupportable Taxes upon us, yea we gave him the meat out of our mouths. And my Lord, he even out of mere spite, stole away the Gates and Chains of the City, and made Bonsiers of the Posts. And whereas his name was called the Good old Cause before, it was afterwards called the Rump. I think my Lord, because he would not be known, for he did hid himself sometimes, being ashamed of his do, and then again would wipe his mouth and come to light. Mr. Countryman that is here my Lord can give evidence also against him. Judge, Mr. Countryman, what can you say to the Prisoner at the Bar? My Lord, this Fellow did send Troops of Horses into our Houses, and Inns, which eat up all our Hay, Oats, Beans, and Peas, yea my Lord he suffered his Horses to go into the Meadows, and Corn Fields, to eat it, tread it down and spoil it, and when we complained against him for such abuses, he would do ten times worse; take the bread and meat out of our mouths, eat up our Bacon, kill our Poultry, and Geese, and Ducks, and Lambs, and Hogs, insomuch that we had not any thing left for to keep us alive, and kept us out of our beds, that we never had a good night's rest; and if we refused, presently he would set a Pistol or Sword against our breasts, and force us to give what they required: Mr. King can say much more against him than I have spoken. Judge, Mr. King, what can you say against the Prisoner at the Bar? My Lord, I can say thus much of him, that he is as great an adversary to any of my name, as can be, yea he is a mortal enemy, for he hates their being, place, name, and person, he covets their Houses, Manors, Lands, Jewels, Plate, Apparel, and what not? He endeavours to make them but titular or none, he will break the oath of Allegiance, he will promise to make them glorious, and yet fight against them, keeps no fidelity, sends out Armies, as if it were to bring him home from Counsellors, but with intention to kill him, yet disparageth him of breach of trust, intrudes into his Militia, takes away his revenues, reviles them that adhere to him, gave out Commissions to Rebel, and to secure all orthodox Ministers, and put out of their Benefices, and to bring in Anabaptism, Independantism, Quakerism, Ranterism, and all manner of profaneness, and Poperism, and all things to confusion. Nay my Lord, I can say of this Fellow, the Good old Cause, that he put to death a Gentleman of my name, who was the most eminent and famous in the World for Prudence, Goodness, Love, Chastity, Godly life, good Government, Piety, Religion, justice, and a Defender of the Faith, and banished his dear Wife and Children, and would not suffer them to enjoy the smallest Cottage he had, or allow him the least maintenance that might be; yea, forbidden strangers in other Lands to supply him in his necessity, and to relieve his wants: My Lord, he is the greatest Rebel that ever was heard of, all which he did under the Title of doing Reformation: Yea my Lord, he made Plots himself, and then discovered them, and we suffered for it. My Lord, we can bring many witnesses more of this ill life and name, if it please your Lordship to call for them. Judge, Here are witnesses enough: Jury, have you heard what these Gentlemen have evidenced against the Prisoner at the Bar? if you have, give it in, if you be agreed of the Verdict; what think you of him, is he guilty or not guilty? The foreman Mr. Conscience, answers in the behalf of the rest, guilty my Lord. Then the Judge speaking to the Prisoner, said, Good Old Cause, thou hast heard what all these have witnessed against thee; what canst thou say for thyself, why Sentence of Death should not be pronounced against thee? then the Good Old Cause, spoke as followeth. Good my Lord, I am accused wrongfully, I am not the Good Old Cause that they took me to be for; My Lord, it stands upon me now to speak for my life, I beseech you my Lord here me a little. Judge, What hast thou to say? My Lord, only two or three words, which is this: I was summoned 〈◊〉 appear by a Writ, near unto Hell, where I have sat above 12 years, and done righteous things, and many Noble Acts, worthy to be recorded to all posterity; for I went about to make a thorough reformation from the narrow Seas, to the Irish Bogs. My Lord, I put down all Organs in the Churches, and break in pieces all the Windows painted with the twelve Apostles, or any other Image or Saint in them; I plucked down all Crosses that were on Church Steeples, and in Market places, especially that great Idol the Cross in Cheapside, which caused many to bow to it: I caused the word Saint to be blotted out of the Weekly Bill of Mortality, neither would I have any one to name or call a Street, or Church, by the name of St. Laurence Lane, or St. Laurence Church, or St. Bartholomew Lane, or St. Bartholomew Church, or St. Thomas, or St. john, or St. Peter; but Laurence Church, Laurence Lane, Bartholomew Church, or Bartholomew Lane, or Thomas Church, or john's Church, or Peter, and the like, because it was superstition and popery my Lord; and I ordained Fasting days, because of Profaneness and Hypocrisy; and I ordered feasting days of joy, for the good things I did, and for Victories, and would not suffer that Christmas day should be kept, no nor Easter, or Whitsuntide, nor any other Holiday beside. And my Lord, I gave commandment that no Milk should be sold between nine of the Clock in the Forenoons and four in the Afternoons, on Sundays, and that none should bake any Puddings abroad on Sundays, or set on their pots, or send for Beer or Wine out of Doors, or walk and travel abroad; and I gave the guifted people both Men and Women, to exercise their gifts in Conventickles, and places where they would; and I gave a toleration in Religion to weak and tender Consciences. And for these things, and many more my Lord, they called me Roundhead, yet that did not at all grieve me, for I had a just and lawful war: Yea my Lord, I put the Land into a posture of defence against the Enemies of the Church, and punished offenders in it, and did Justice upon them, and would not suffer them to live; and I made my Orders and Ordinances, make Null all Acts whatsoever had been made, by any Tyrant whatsoever heretofore, and I countenanced the good, and justified their do, and gave to some of them according to their deservings, to some I gave 100 l. 200 l. 300 l. or a 1000 for their good service, and to some I gave the like Quantities and Sums of money a year, for gratuities and favours, some have had 1000 a year, some 1500. and 2000 a year, and I thought it very well bestowed on them, and indeed they deserved it, for they ventured their Lives for it: My Lord, I cut down Woods, and made it Arable Land, being most needful, and plucked down old Castles, and great Houses, which were only Dens for Thiefs. And at last my Lord, I plucked down the Gates, Posts, and Chains, of the Enemies City, and that they should not offend us any more, because they were a hindrance to the intended work of Reformation. Judge, I have heard thee a long time with patience, but before I pronounce Sentence against thee, I remember I heard in the Indictment against thee, that thou wast Indicted by another name beside the Good Old Cause, and that was the Rump, what is the reason that thou hast changed thy name? The Good Old Cause answers, My Lord, 'tis true my Lord, I was called the Rump at the latter end; but my Lord, when I began the work of Reformation first, I began it in Aries, which signifies the Horn, and it went on as you may remember with great encouragement and resolution, and having made such a good progress in it; that it came to such a successful conclusion, and I found such sweetness in it, that in the end I was called the Rump: My Lord, I did not change my name because I would run away, as 'twas reported; for although I was absent six years, yet I shown my Face again with cheerfulness and courage, and when I was put to the worse a second and third t me, I was not ashamed of myself, or my name, but I acted vigorously to the life in defiance of all the malicious Adversaries; and therefore because my last Actions were the best, I thought that name most suitable to me, and every one was so taken with the name Rump, that they rejoiced exceedingly over it, a●d clean cashiered my former name the Good Old Cause, and baptised me by the name of Rump, in Fire, Water, and Salt. This is the very truth my Lord, that I have told, but for those evidences that have witnessed against me that I did such things, My Lord, I did do it to set forward the work of Reformation, and I did very good service to my Country, that I acted confidently, and upon good grounds, therefore good my Lord be good unto me. Judge, Good Old Cause, alias Rump, the Evidences against thee are clear and manifest, and these excuses are vain, for thou hast not performed the trust given thee in charge, and unto which thou hast sworn to be true and faithful; therefore hear thy Sentence. Good Old Cause, alias Rump, speaks; Good my Lord before you give Sentence against me, let me speak one word, it is this; during this sitting my Lord, I acted with the most, and with the strongest party; for when I saw which party got the upper hand, I thought it safe to keep myself to that: whether it was in voting, or by hands: My Lord, I cried out for Justice upon delinquents, and made them come to composition I forced the Cavalier party 20 Miles off the City when occasion served: My Lord I carried as fair an outside as ever did any in the world, that none could espy it. Therefore good my Lord be good to me, and let me have a Psalm of mercy. Judge says, The Law affords not the benefit of the Clergy to such as thou art, therefore whereas thou hast been indicted by the name of the Good old Cause, alias Rump, and hast been found guilty of all the blood spilt since 1640. broke thy oaths of Allegiance, committed and maintained Rebellion; given out false Commissions, framed an unnatural War, killed thy fellow Subjects, spoken evil of Authority, art a Regicide, and for these and all other thy forenamed Treasons, hast been arraigned, and hast pleaded not guilty; and being put upon the trial was found guilty, and hast no more to say for thyself. This is the Law, thou shalt be carried back to the place of Execution, where thou shalt be hanged up by the heels, with thy Rump upward, fleed, and salted, and thy Head downward, thy Members, and Bowels, cut out, and thrown into the fire, thy Limbs cut off, and hung upon the Gates of the City; and lastly thy Head shall be cut off and set upon a pole, and thou shalt be carried back to the place of Execution upon a Sledge, where thou shalt be hanged up by the heels, with thy Rump upward, fleed, and salted, then cut off, and thrown into the fire, thy Members also shall be cut off, and burnt with thy Bowels. Thy Limbs also shall be cut off one by one, and hanged upon a pole at every Gate; and lastly as thou hangest, thy head shall be cut off, & set upon 〈◊〉 Bridge Gate of Government, the rest of thy Carcase shall the Fouls and Beasts devour. Jailor take away the Prisoner, and see that execution be done upon him. After this Sentence, the Crier made an O Yes, every man to departed home. And so the Court broke up, and the Judge ariseth with the Gentlemen and Officers that were present, and the Servants went before them with sounding of Trumpets, and the People with their loud clamours, and shouting, and acclamations, did hearty rejoice, and gave thanks to the Judge, for giving such a just judgement upon the Malefactor. FINIS.