IvIBRARY 
 
 OF TUB 
 
 University of California. 
 
 GIF^T OF^ 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH, 
 
 Received October, i8g4. 
 iy^ccessions No„5^Si% .- Class No. 
 

MEMORIALS 
 
 OP 
 
 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 WITH A PRELIMI^^AI1Y HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 
 BY J. NEWTON BROWN. 
 
 The Beheading Block. 
 
 OF THa 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 118 ARCTT STREET. 
 
K-'n ip I I ^ 
 
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 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by the 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in 
 and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 BTEREOTTPED BY OEORQE CHARLES, 
 PRINTED BY KING & BAIRD. 
 
PRELIMINAM HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 BY J. NEWTON BROWN. 
 
 A Martyr is a witness — a witness for God, for Truth 
 and Righteousness — a witness tried both by action and 
 by suffering, and found faithful to his conscience and to 
 Christ, through every trial. Such, at least, are those who, 
 by the grace of God, are entitled to the name of Chris- 
 tian martyrs. *'To you it is given, ^^ sa^js Paul to the 
 Philippians, *' in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe 
 on him, but also to suffer for his sake." 
 
 By usage, however, this title, which belongs to faithful 
 Christians in general, has come in modern times to be re- 
 stricted to those who suffer tcnto death. Hence, in our 
 English Bible, the only three examples where the term 
 occurs are of this kind : — Stephen of Jerusalem, Antipas 
 of Pergamos, and the prophetic roll of the ^'martyrs of 
 Jesus," with whose blood the mystic ^'Babylon" is 
 drunken. Acts 22 : 20. Rev. 2 : 13. 11 : 6. 
 
 Martyrdom, in this restricted sense, may be said to 
 have begun with the first generation of fallen man. Then 
 in the world's fresh morning, the blood of righteous 
 Abel, shed by a brother's hand, cried unto God from the 
 crimsoned earth. The first revealed ^' heir of the righteous- 
 ness which is by faith," was thus a martyr — a Christian 
 martyr — typically, but truly — like John the Baptist in 
 later time, bearing witness unto death to *' the Lamb of 
 God, who taketh away the sin of the world." 
 
 (3) 
 
4 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 But it is manifest that the testimony of the true martyr 
 must vary in degree, though not in kind, with the measure 
 of Divine Revelation in different ages, and under different 
 dispensations. Hence, the martyr from the time of Noah 
 to Abraham might die as a witness to the new truth re- 
 vealed to Noah ; and from Abraham to Moses for the new 
 revelation to Abraham ; and from Moses to Christ for the 
 new revelation to Moses, or to any one of the successive pro- 
 phets, by whose anointed lips, '' God, in time past spake 
 unto the fathers." The martyrs down to the time of the 
 Maccabees, are examples cited by Paul. Heb. 11 : 85-38. 
 
 On the same principle, it is equally clear that, after the 
 coming of Christ, every faithful martyr was liable to suffer 
 for the new revelations and institutions introduced hy 
 Him ; whether in person, or through his Apostles, by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost. (John 15 : 18-27. 16 : 1-4. 12 
 -15.) Of this, Christians, from the beginning, were fully 
 forewarned, and especially Christian ministers, (Matt. 5 : 
 10-12. 10 : 16-42. 16 : 21-28.) and appropriate cautions, 
 counsels, and consolations were provided for their guid- 
 ance and support. 
 
 It behooves us, therefore, to examine carefully what those 
 new revelations and institutions are, belonging especially 
 to the New Testament dispensation, and binding upon 
 the conscience of every disciple of Christ, '^ even unto the 
 end of the world. '^ For it is not every sufferer that is a 
 martyr — though he may he a Christian ; for it is possible 
 that even a Christian may suffer for his own faults, and 
 not for righteousness' sake, or for Christ's sake. (1 Peter 
 4 : 15-16.) A single fault in the temper and tongue of 
 the meekest of men, shut him out of Canaan. Moses, the 
 noblest witness for God in his time, yet died for his own 
 fault — a warning to every succeeding generation of 
 God's witnesses. Still more striking is the case of the 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 5 
 
 young prophet at Bethel ; who died for disobeying the 
 plain command of God, through what might be thought 
 a becoming deference to the authority of a ''father" in 
 Israel — a warning too little heeded by those who fol- 
 lowed ''the traditions of the elders" in after times, 
 and the authority of " the early fathers " in the Christian 
 Church. (1 Kings 13 : 20-24.) In like manner, Paul in 
 reproving the Corinthians for their abuse of the Lord's 
 supper, says, " For this cause many are weak and sickly 
 among you, and many sleep." (1 Cor. 11 : 30). 
 
 'Nov is it every one that suffers in a true and righteous 
 cause, though he may die with indomitable courage, that 
 wins the crown of martyrdom; for "though I give my 
 body to be burned," says the Apostle, "and have not 
 charity, (^.e.,love), it profiteth me nothing." Thousands 
 also have been slaughtered for their connection with 
 Christianity, like the infants of Bethlehem, who were 
 rather victims to cruelty than martyrs for Truth. 
 
 Much less, even in the judgment of charity, are 
 they to be justly regarded as Christian martyrs, who die 
 in the diffusion and defence of antichristian errors. We 
 grant that this distinction may be, and has been sadly 
 abused for many hundreds of years, by many pretentious 
 parties in Christendom ; still within proper limits, and 
 with due allowance for all Christian freedom of thought, 
 it is a sound one, and must not be ignored. The oppo- 
 site opinion — however disguised under the name of liber- 
 ality — involves absolute contradiction. Though often 
 grievously misapplied, therefore, the old maxim is essen- 
 tially true, "There are no martyrs out of the Church." 
 But then the Church is no narrow sectarian organization, 
 no self-assumed infallible patron of orthodoxy, no State 
 Establishment, whether episcopal, presbyterial, or con- 
 gregational ; but the universal body of evangelical believers 
 
6 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 of every age — the body which recognizes and adores 
 Jesus Christ as '' God manifested in the flesh," '' the pro- 
 pitiation for our sins," and the unchanging '' head of all 
 principality and power." 
 
 It may be well to state explicitly what we conceive 
 to be the essential and invariable elements of true Evan- 
 gelical Christianity. There may be others, but the 
 four following we regard as both fundamental and vital. 
 The Scriptures only, as the Supreme Rule of Faith ; 
 Free Justification in Christ only through Faith ; 
 Spiritual Regeneration only, as the origin of Faith; 
 Personal Sanctification only, manifested by good works, 
 as the Effect and Evidence of Faith. These proposi- 
 tions are logically and inseparably linked together, 
 and constitute one self-consistent organic system of re- 
 vealed Truth. This system is ''the Gospel of Christ." 
 No other can be substituted for it. It bears on its front 
 the stamp and seal of the Almighty. It is the power of 
 God unto salvation to every one that believeth. And of 
 this it is the Apostle says to the Galatians, " If we, or an 
 angel from Heaven, preach unto you any other Gospel, 
 let him be accursed." The man who intelligently and 
 honestly believes this — lives for it, and dies for it — wher- 
 ever found, or whatever name he bears, is worthy to be 
 esteemed by all mankind, as he is by Christ himself, a 
 *' faithful martyr." 
 
 But we go farther. The above formulas of fundamen- 
 tal truth do not exhaust the distinctive principles of a 
 Pure Christianity. There are others that belong to the 
 institutions of Christ, under the New Testament economy. 
 Such, for example, are the following. Universal Free- 
 dom OF Conscience only as a Condition of Faith ; Baptism 
 
 ONLY ON A conscientious PROFESSION OF FaITH J ImMERSION 
 ONLY, AS THE PRESCRIBED BaPTISM OF FaITH J BAPTIZED Be- 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 7 
 
 LIEVERS ONLY, AS THE PROPER MATERIALS OF THE CHRISTIAN" 
 
 Church — the living Body of Christ. 
 
 These propositions — to add no more — may be safely 
 said to shine on the face of the New Testament, and to 
 inhere in the very substance of the revealed dispensation 
 under which we live. They are all organically and logi- 
 cally connected with each other, and are essential to the 
 normal or regular visible constitution of the kingdom of God 
 on earth. They are the characteristic features of that " king- 
 dom which is not of this world ;" in distinction from all 
 preceding dispensations ; and in contrast with all subse- 
 quent forms of religion, founded on human policy, and 
 supported by civil power. 
 
 Now what we wish to be remembered is, that any one 
 who, from a good conscience toward God, suffers for any 
 one of these '^ words " of Christ, suffers as a Martyr. He 
 is bound, as a Christian, ^*to observe all things whatso- 
 ever " commanded by Christ, even at the hazard of his life, 
 or the loss of it. Unless he thus take up the cross of his 
 crucified Lord, he cannot be a genuine disciple. ^' He 
 that seeketh to save his life, shall lose it ; and he that 
 loseth his life for my sake," says Christ, ^' shall keep it 
 unto life eternal." And 'Tear not them which kill the 
 body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but fear Him who 
 is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Hence, 
 our Lord himself — the King of Martyrs — bore testimony 
 to the truth before the Jewish Sanhedrim, although he 
 knew that his death would be the penalty — a death of pub- 
 lic infamy, and of unutterable agony. Hence, animated 
 by His Spirit, Peter and John, when summoned before the 
 same council, and forbidden to preach in the- name of 
 Christ, made their noble appeal — ''Whether it be right 
 in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto 
 God, judge ye ; for we cannot but speak the things which 
 
8 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 we have seen and heard." Hence, the intrepid Stephen 
 laid down his life, under the hands of violence — praying 
 like his dying Saviour, *' Lord, lay not this sin to their 
 charge." Hence, John the Baptist, for his faithful re- 
 monstrance against sin, and James, the son of Zebedee, 
 that fearless ^' son of thunder," both fell under the bloody 
 steel of Herod. Thus began, with names never to be for- 
 gotten, the long bright roll of New Testament Martyrs. 
 And thus, from year to year, and from age to age, that 
 illustrious roll received accessions, from the violence of 
 Jewish or Heathen persecutors, for three centuries. 
 
 But, with only one known exception, all this time, these 
 Christian Martyrs were Baptists. Neither Christ, nor his 
 Apostles have left us a single precept or example of Infant 
 Baptism. This is a conceded fact. The very first Pedo- 
 baptists in history — Cyprian of Carthage and his clergy, 
 (a. d. 253,) did not plead any law of Christ, or Apostoli- 
 cal tradition, for infant baptism. They put the whole 
 thing upon analogy and inference — upon the necessity of 
 infants on the one hand, and the unlimited grace of God 
 on the other. Their own language is an implied and ab- 
 solute confession that their *' opinion," as they call it, had 
 no basis in any New Testament law or precedent. It 
 confesses, in a word, that in advocating the baptism of 
 literally new-born babes, they were introducing a7i inno- 
 vation into the Church of Christ — and they defend it only 
 on the ground of necessity. 
 
 In stating this historical fact, we are perfectly aware of 
 the views of Dr. Wall, in favor of a different conclusion. 
 And we are perfectly aware of the special pleadings by 
 which he has darkened the clear light of history on this 
 point. Honest, but prejudiced to the last degree, he has 
 propagated for a century and a half a host of delusions 
 among his confiding followers. He has started wrong at 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 9 
 
 the beginning ; and beguiled his own strong intellect by 
 the most unfounded assumptions. His hereditary idea of 
 a State Church is the first grand error — perhaps the real 
 root of all the rest. Then came the convenient argument 
 of Jewish Proselyte Baptism as the model of Christian 
 Baptism — involving a whole series of false assumptions. 
 Then, the language of Christ and his Apostles is tortured, 
 to draw from it meanings it never can have by any fair in- 
 terpretation.* Then the language of the early Christian 
 Fathers must be put upon the rack, for the same purpose. 
 Could Clement of Rome, Hermas, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, 
 Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, or Origen himself, rise 
 from the tomb, they would protest with solemn indigna- 
 tion at the force that has been put upon their words, and 
 the absolute perversion of their testimony. f Then follows 
 Dr. Wall's ingenious supposition to account for the lan- 
 guage of Basil, and Cyril — his grand mistake of the testi- 
 mony of Augustine and Pelagius — and his miserable at- 
 tempts to set aside the fact, that every distinguished Chris- 
 tian writer of the first four centuries, whose baptism is re* 
 corded, was baptized in adult years, on his own confession 
 of faith — a fact that also holds true of every Christian 
 emperor in the fourth century, from Constantine to 
 Theodosius. 
 
 The infatuation of Dr. Wall is sad enough ; but it is 
 outdone by a writer in the North American Review for 
 January, 1854 ; who has the weakness to afi&rm in the 
 
 * Even the great Schleiermacher says, " lie that will find infant bap- 
 tism in the New Testament, mtist first jx^f it there." So, in effect, say 
 Neander, Hahn, Hagenbach, Bunsen, and the North British Review. 
 
 f The reader will find the clearest evidence of this in the articles of 
 Dr. Sears, in the Christian Review, for March and June, 1838; and still 
 more fully in those of Dr. Chase, in the Bibliotheca Sacra, for November, 
 1849, and in the Christian Review, for April, 1854. 
 
10 PKELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 face of the world — in a lame criticism on Bunsen's Hip- 
 polytus— that the ^ evidence for infant baptism ''amounts 
 to historical demonstration /" The words of the Apostle to 
 Timothy seem here truly applicable : '' Now as Jannes and 
 Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the 
 truth. But they shall proceed no further ; for their folly 
 shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was." The 
 accomplished scholars of the North British Review, in 
 several recent numbers, have frankly confessed the want 
 of scriptural and early authority for infant baptism ; and 
 have intimated that even the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 himself, appears to be on this point undergoing a process 
 of ^^ historical conversion.''^^ 
 
 But there is one decisive evidence that the primitive 
 Martyrs for three centuries were Baptists. We refer to 
 the document prepared by Eusebius of Csesarea, the eccle- 
 siastical historian, for the signature of all the bishops of 
 the General Council of Nice, (A. D. 325). It is found 
 in his own report of the proceedings, addressed to his 
 flock at Caesarea, as given by Socrates and Theodoret. 
 We subjoin it in Dr. Cave's translation. 
 
 '^ The form proposed by us, and which was read in the presence of the 
 most sacred emperor, and seemed to be liked and approved by all, was 
 in this manner : — The exposition of our faith, as we have received it 
 from the bishops, who were our predecessors, both when we were first in- 
 structed in the rudiments of the faith, and when afterwards baptized into 
 it; as we have learned from the Holy Scriptures, and both believed and 
 taught, not only when we sustained the ofl&ce of presbyter, but since we 
 came to the episcopal station, so do we still believe, and produce this 
 as the account of our faith : We believe in one God,^* <fec.f 
 
 Here is a testimony from the '^ Father of Ecclesiastical 
 History," produced on the most public occasion, in the pre- 
 
 * North British Review for August, 1852. 
 
 t Cave's Lives of the Fathers, Vol. II. p. 112, Oxford, 1840. 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 11 
 
 sence of 318 bishops of the Catholic Church, besides near 
 2000 other delegates, presbyters and laymen, convened 
 from all parts of the world — in the most solemn form and 
 for the most solemn purpose conceivable — that according 
 to Christ's Commission, instruction in the principles of ■ 
 Christianity J in all cases preceded baptism. 
 
 We have said that there was one exception. Cyprian 
 of Carthage, the father of pedobaptism, was a man of God 
 and a martyr. But we affirm, without fear of contradic- 
 tion, and invite correction if we are wrong, that he is the 
 only one recorded in the first three centuries. Indeed, that 
 the " opinion'^ of this distinguished man in favor of the 
 baptism of babes before the eighth day from their birth, 
 refers only to cases of immediate danger of death, is clear, 
 not only from his own words, but also from the fact that 
 Eusebius does not even deem the opinion worthy of men- 
 tion in his Ecclesiastical History. And, as we have seen, 
 the custom was unknown seventy-two years afterwards, at 
 the Council of Nice. Yet how often is this '' opinion" of 
 Cyprian quoted now, as if it were evidence of the uni^ 
 versal prevalence of pedobaptism in the first ages I 
 
 As now, it appears that pedobaptism had *'no recog- 
 nized existence," even in the so-called Catholic Church, 
 until after the Council of Nice, (nor indeed until the time 
 of Gregory Nazianzen, a. d. 363,) so we have no proof 
 whatever that it ever existed in the Pure Churches, or 
 Gathari, who separated from the Catholics in the preced- 
 ing century, in the time of Novatian, a. d. 251. This 
 large body of Dissenters from the Catholic communion, 
 were called Novatians by their adversaries ; but as the 
 historian Socrates testifies, they called themselves in Greek, 
 Gathari, (in Latin, Puritani,) signifying the pure ; and the 
 name was designed by them to announce the fundamental 
 principle of their separation, which was the preservation 
 
12 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 of a pure church membership, communion, and discipline. 
 They held that the Catholics had so departed from the 
 original constitution of the Church in this respect, as to 
 have forfeited their claim to that honor ; and hence invaria- 
 bly baptized all who joined them from the Catholic 
 churches. Hence they are the first in history who were 
 called Anabaptists J that is, rehaptizers ; although, of 
 course, they denied the propriety of the appellation, as 
 they believed the baptism administered by a corrupt 
 church to be null and void.* 
 
 Much stress has been laid on the fact, that no catalogue 
 of heresies from Irenaeus to Epiphanius, (a. d. 180, to 
 A. D. 380,) enumerates any sect as deniers of infant bap- 
 tism. The facts already established furnish the answer : 
 there was then no such Catholic custom as infant baptism 
 to be denied. Tertullian (a. d. 200), did oppose the in- 
 novation of Quintillaj who would have given baptism to 
 children too young to give proper evidence of piety ; and 
 his voice was not, what it has been strangely misrepre- 
 sented to be, even by Dr. Schaff, *' a solitary voice, with- 
 out an echo ;" it was the voice of the then Catholic church, 
 
 * Dr. "VYall says, they did not complain of the Catholics for infant 
 baptism : but, as we have seen, for a very good reason, namely, that it 
 did not come into common use for ages after, among the Catholics 
 themselves. Neither do the Donatists — who seceded from the Catholics 
 about sixty years after the Novatians, and for very similar reasons — 
 make any such complaint ,• although they chiefly resided in North Africa, 
 where Cyprian lived and died, and might be supposed to sympathize 
 with him in opinion and practice. Dr. Wall takes this for proof that 
 they were all Pedobaptists — a consequence of his own previous assump- 
 tions. All the positive evidence he adduces, is the canon of a Council 
 which belongs to t\iQ fifth century ; when some of them may be supposed 
 to have fallen in with the prevailing practice of the State Church, 
 though contrary to the distinctive spirit and tendency of their own 
 secession. 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 13 
 
 against which none replied."^ How could they indeed, 
 when the catechumenical course was universally estab- 
 lished, as necessary before baptism ? 
 
 It is time that men of learning and candor abandoned 
 all such unhistorical positions, and inconsequential rea- 
 sonings. Infant baptism is an error from beginning to 
 end ; corrupt in theory, and corrupting in practice ; born 
 in superstition, cradled in fear, nursed in ignorance, sup- 
 ported by fraud, and spread by force ; doomed to die in 
 the light of historical investigation, and its very memory 
 to be loathed in all future ages by a disabused Church f 
 In the realms of despotism it has shed the blood of mar- 
 tyrs in torrents ; that blood cries against it to heaven ; 
 and a long-suffering God will yet be the terrible avenger. 
 The book before us is a swift witness against it. 
 
 Down to the time of Constantine, with the solitary ex- 
 ception of Cyprian, as we have shown, all the martyrs — 
 and their number has been computed at three millions — ■ 
 were Baptists ; though with various shades of error gradu- 
 ally gathering over them from the beginning of the third 
 century — perhaps earlier. Already the corruption in 
 Kome, and Carthage, had become so great — not in 
 the ordinances J so much as in the membership — as to 
 
 * This whole subject of infant baptism, and the true theory of the 
 sacraments, in Dr. Schaff's otherwise admirable History, needs, and 
 will, wo trust, yet receive from its esteemed author, a thorough re- 
 vision. 
 
 f In no boastful spirit, but in the spirit of a martyr before God — 
 stung by the solemn conviction of duty, after thirty-five years of earnest 
 and impartial investigation on this subject^ — to speak out "the truth, 
 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'" — we nail these Theses to 
 the door of every Pedobaptist Church in Christendom ,• and challenge 
 all the Christian scholarship of the age, not to ignore, evade, or deny 
 them, but to face the inevitable trial, summon the witnesses, sift the 
 evidence, and, if it can, disprove all, or any one of them. And may 
 God help the right. 
 
14 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 have led to two great Secessions, for the sake of purity, 
 namely, the Novatians, and the Donatists.* When Con- 
 stantine and Licinius first came into power, (a. d. 312,) 
 they gave equal religious toleration to all their subjects. 
 But the attempt to settle the controversy in North 
 Africa, between the Catholics and Donatists by imperial 
 intervention, (a. d. 316,) was a departure from this im- 
 partial protection and equality before the law ; and from 
 that fatal moment, persecution began under the Christian 
 name. The Emperors, whether Orthodox or Arian — the 
 Bishops armed with imperial commissions, whether Ortho 
 dox or Arian — became the persecutors of their brethren 
 of the opposite faith. The Pure Churches, {Cathari^^ 
 — confessedly orthodox in all things else — refused all the 
 attempts to bring them into the Roman Catholic Imperial 
 Church, organized and established by Constantine ; and 
 although for a long time honored and protected by the 
 Catholics themselves, for their virtues, began in the fifth 
 century to feel the heavy hand of Catholic intolerance. 
 Socrates, in his Ecclesiastical History, (a. d. 445,) though 
 he records their sufferings from the Arians in the fourth 
 century, tells us that Innocent I., Bishop of Rome, in the 
 reign of Honorius, *' was the first persecutor of the Nova- 
 tians at Rome, many of whose churches he took away." 
 The same course was pursued by Celestinus, (a. d. 421,) 
 as well as by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, (a. n. 412). 
 
 If, now, we inquire into the cause of this persecution, 
 we shall find it mainly owing to the increased zeal for in- 
 fant baptism, awakened by the writings of Augustine in 
 this age. Other causes, doubtless, combined with this; 
 but no one who reads the canons of the Council of Car- 
 thage at which Augustine presided, (a. d. 414,) one of 
 
 * See 3foaheim*s Commentaries, &c., for a careful examination of these 
 Secessions. Also, Lardner, Hohuison, and Neander, 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 15 
 
 which runs in the following terms : '' We will that whoso- 
 ever DENIES THAT LITTLE CHILDREN BY BAPTISM ARE FREED FROM 
 PERDITION AND ETERNALLY SAVED, that they be ACCURSED, '^ 
 
 can question this. Other evidence in confirmation, if 
 necessary, might be adduced from the letters of Augustine 
 himself. From this influence came, also, the edict of 
 Honorius, and Yalentinian 111. (a. d. 413,) forbidding re- 
 baptisnij (as it was termed,) throughout the Roman em- 
 pire, under the penalty of death. This edict, though aimed 
 especially at the Donatists — whose numerous and flour- 
 ishing churches were nearly ruined by its rigorous enforce- 
 ment — was soon applied to the Novatians, whose practice 
 it had always been to baptize those who came over to them 
 from the Catholic churches. From this time, therefore, 
 THE PURE CHURCHES, became the victims of perpetual per- 
 secutions from the hands of the Roman Catholics, 
 
 " The first result of the protectopate of the Christian 
 Emperors," says the Chevalier Bunsen, " was, that in their 
 codes they converted church ordinances, (that about bap- 
 tism, for instance,) into statute laws. Thus Justinian, 
 in the beginning of the sixth century, ordered new-born 
 infants to be baptized, under a penalty for neglecting it ; 
 a law which still passes for a Christian principle in the 
 code of many a Christian State, Evangelical and Chris- 
 tian freedom thus received its death-blow, from the same 
 police crutch which was given it for support."* 
 
 Under Roman laws like these, enforced as they were 
 in the Middle Ages, with new and most sanguinary edicts 
 in all the States of Europe, what multitudes must have 
 become martyrs, may be conjectured from what occurred 
 at the Reformation, when Baptist martyrs were counted 
 by tens and even hundreds of thousands. 
 
 We are now gravely told by historians that, from the 
 
 * Bunsen's Hippolytus, Vol. III., p. 249. 
 
16 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 sixth century, the Gathari began to decline ; and we are 
 told or led to infer, that they ceased to maintain their 
 pure distinctive principles, and gradually merged in the 
 Roman Catholic Church. Not a shadow of proof is 
 offered for this assertion or inference, but that they disap- 
 pear from the notice of Koman Catholic writers. But the 
 northern "barbarians," (as they are called,) who broke 
 the Koman Empire into ten kingdoms, for a long time 
 refused subjection to the Bishop of Rome, and gave re- 
 ligious toleration to their subjects. Especially was this 
 the case with the Ostrogoths in Italy, under the long and 
 happy reign of Theodoric the Great — when all Italy 
 flourished like a garden, (a. d. 491-52*7.) 
 
 Afterwards, in the East, the Saracens did the same 
 thing, especially to that branch of the succession of the 
 pure churches which went under the name of Paulicians. 
 These last maintained themselves, even under the Greek- 
 Roman emperors, amid the fires of persecution, for at 
 least six hundred years, (from a. d. 653, to a. d. 1260,) 
 indeed till lost to view by the conquest of the empire by 
 the Turks. The Free Cities of Europe generally — the 
 Italian Republics of the Middle Ages — the Moors in Spain 
 — and the Princes of Provence, or Southern France — all 
 these at times, and even for long periods, gave protection 
 to the persecuted Baptists ; who were known alike by their 
 original name of Cathari^ the Pure ; and by the subse- 
 quent names of Paulicians, Paterines, and Poor Men of 
 Lyons, down to the beginning of the twelfth century — as 
 appears from the successive edicts issued against them.* 
 At this point of time they were joined by some illustrious 
 
 *We do not quarrel with Neander for his lamentably distorted and 
 contradictory account of the ^^Catharists," and some other denominations, 
 of the Middle Ages. He was not satisfied with it himself. His candor 
 would have set all right; but he wanted the real key to the problem. 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 17 
 
 reformers from the Church of Rome, such as Peter de 
 Bruis, (a. d. 1104 to 1124,) HexNry and Joseph, his dis- 
 ciples, (a. D. 1116 to 1148,) and Arnold of Brescia, 
 A. D. 1135 to A. D. 1156,) with whom the present volume 
 begins its ''Memorials of Baptist Martyrs," 
 
 From the rapid review we have now taken of the history 
 of Baptist Martyrs from the beginning, we gather some 
 interesting conclusions : 
 
 1. That the Baptists have no difficulty whatever in 
 tracing up their principles and their churches to the Apos- 
 tolic age. It has been often said by our enemies, that we 
 originated in the German city of Munster, in 1534. Lam- 
 entable must be the weakness or ignorance of such an 
 assertion, come from whom it may. It were easy to cite 
 eminent Pedobaptist historians, to refute this calumny — 
 especially Limborch and Mosheim, of the last century. 
 But we prefer to quote two historians of the present cen- 
 tury, selected by the King of Holland to draw up a his- 
 tory of the '' Origin of the Dutch Baptists," for the use of 
 the government. Dr. Ypeig, professor of theology at the 
 University of Groningen, and Dr. J. J. Dermont, chaplain 
 to the king — both of the Dutch Keformed Church — in the 
 authentic volume thus prepared, and published at Breda, 
 in 1819; come to the following deliberate conclusions : 
 
 *' The Mennonites are descended from th« tolerably pure evangelical 
 Waldenses, who were driven by persecution into various countries -, and 
 who, during the latter part of the twelfth century, fled into Flander;5, and 
 into the provinces of Holland and Zealand, where they lived simple and 
 exemplary lives — in the villages as farmers, in the towns by trades — free 
 from the charge of any gross immoralities, and professing the most pure 
 and simple principles, which they exemplified in a holy conversation. 
 They were therefore in existence long before the Reformed Church of the 
 Netherlands," Again; " We have now seen that the Baptists, who were 
 formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonites, were the 
 original Waldenses ^ and who have long in the history of the Church, re- 
 
18 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 ceived the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be 
 
 CONSIDERED AS THE ONLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY WHICH HAS STOOD SINCE 
 THE DAYS OP THE ApOSTLES ,' AND* AS A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY WHICH HAS 
 PRESERVED PURE THE DOCTRINES OF THE GoSPEL THROUGH ALL AGES. 
 
 The perfectly correct external and internal economy of the Baptist de- 
 nomination, tends to confirm the truth, disputed by the Romish Church, 
 that the Reformation brought about in the sixteenth century, was in the 
 highest degree necessary ; and at the same time goes to refute the erro- 
 neous notion of the Catholics, that their communion is the most ancient^* 
 
 Let it be remembered that the learned men who say 
 this, and say it aloud in the ear of majesty, after diligent 
 investigation, are not themselves Baptists. It is a confes- 
 sion of the rarest candor. *' Their rock is not as our rock, 
 our enemies themselves being judges." 
 
 But what it has cost the Baptists thus to keep their 
 churches pure, through all ages, amidst abounding cor- 
 ruption, heresy, schism, tyranny and persecution, this book 
 of Baptist Martyrs will in some measure show. 
 
 2. Baptist principles have always flourished wherever 
 the ruling powers have allowed them toleration. Bap- 
 tists, it is true, have often lighted up the darkness of his- 
 tory by the flames of their martyrs, and compelled the no- 
 tice of Chronicles and of Councils, by the very vastness, 
 variety, and intensity of their sufferings. Again and 
 again, as in the primitive times, has the blood of the mar- 
 tyrs been the seed of the Church ; but when a little breath- 
 ing space has been given them in any quarter of the 
 world, they have sprung up like the grass from the scythe 
 of the mower ; or, rather, as the oak which has bowed its 
 lofty head beneath the axe, again renews its branches, its 
 towering trunk, Its verdure and its strength. Witness 
 
 * It is an interesting fact that as a consequence of this, the govern- 
 ment of Holland offered to the Mennonite churches the support of the 
 State. It was politely, but firmly declined, as inconsistent with their 
 fundamental principles. — See Ward's Farewell Letters, 1821. 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 19 
 
 their rapid growth in the East, in the seventh century — 
 in Italy and France in the twelfth — in all Europe in the 
 sixteenth — under the English Commonwealth in the seven- 
 teenth — and in the United States from the period of the 
 American Revolution.* 
 
 3. The Baptists have not only their own Martyrs, but 
 it is clear that from the time of Christ down, they have 
 furnished the purest, the most magnanimous, and the most 
 numerous martyrs of all Christendom. This is true from 
 the days of the Apostles, and throughout the Middle Ages. 
 Hear w^hat a Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Hosius, 
 president of the Council of Trent, says on this subject, 
 to the Protestants of the Reformation : 
 
 " If you behold their cheerfulness in suffering persecution, the Ana- 
 baptists run before all the heretics. If you have regard to the number, 
 it is likely that in multitude they would sioarm above all others, if they 
 were not grievously plaijued, and cut off with the knife of persecution : 
 If you have an eye to the outward appearance of godliness, both the Lu- 
 therans and the Zuinglians must needs grant that they far pass them : 
 If you will be moved by the boasting of the word of God, these be no 
 less bold than Calvin to preach ; and their doctrine must stand aloft 
 above all the glory of the world, must stand invincible above all power, 
 because it is not their word, but the Word of the living God.^'t 
 
 4. We see another fact, which gives a peculiar and glori- 
 ous feature to our denomination. Much as the Baptists 
 have suffered from others, they have never retaliated — never, 
 when in power, pleaded for the principle of persecution, 
 or put it in practice ; but have stood forth, among per- 
 secuting sects, solitary and alone, as the fearless champions 
 and examples of liberty of conscience. This they have 
 done, too, on settled Scriptural principles, peculiar to 
 
 * Those who think to do battle against the Baptists as a modem, 
 reactionary, ephemeral sect, will find themselves greatly mistaken. 
 f Struggles and Triumphs of Religious Liberty, p. 88. 
 
20 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 their views of baptism ; and hence have pleaded for liberty 
 of conscience to the fullest extent. Witness the periods 
 of their power in Italy — in Armenia, Syria and Asia 
 Minor — in Southern France — in the Mediaeval Roman 
 Republic — in Poland in the sixteenth century — in Eng- 
 land, Ireland, and especially Rhode Island, in the seven- 
 teenth — in the United States at the formation of the 
 American Constitution ; and since then in the new Con- 
 stitutions of the States — in many of which States they 
 were a clear majority of the population. No sect, whose 
 origin dates back two centuries, can share with them this 
 glory. The Quakers, the Moravians, and the Methodists, 
 are of more recent origin. The principle of religious 
 liberty — a distinguishing principle of the Baptists in all 
 ages — we are however happy to add, is now universally 
 adopted by other denominations in the United States— 
 and is fast spreading over the world. 
 
 5. The Baptists — though for the most part of the 
 poor of this world, rich in faith only, and unknown to 
 fame, as were the primitive Christians — have yet, in almost 
 all ages, had of their number men of the most eminent 
 learning and ability, who died as martyrs to the faith. 
 From the time of Novatian, indeed, it has been customary 
 with their adversaries to call the whole body by the name 
 of its most distinguished leader — as if they were only a new 
 sect, of which he was the originator. Thus the Cathari 
 were called Novatians — then Paulicians — then Petrobrus- 
 ians, Henricians, Josephists — then Arnoldists — Waldenses 
 — Lollards — Mennonites ; nor were they ever permitted to 
 bear their present name of Baptists, until after their legal 
 toleration, in England, in 1688. Yet to them, as we have 
 seen, belong all the inspired writers of the New Testa- 
 ment — the sources of our Christian literature — Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude, Peter, and Paul himself, 
 
PKELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY 21 
 
 the accomplished pupil of Gamaliel. To them belong all 
 the Christian writers of the second century, including 
 Justin Martyr, Ireneeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertul- 
 lian, and in the next age, Hippolytus, and even Origen 
 himself. And from the time of the Pure Secession, in a. d. 
 251, they can produce names among the noblest. Nova- 
 tian himself had no superior in his own time — as his re- 
 maining writings show. But most of their writings have 
 perished. The same persecutions that robbed them of 
 their churches, liberty, and lives, suppressed their schools, 
 and their books — leaving them only that one Book from 
 which they would never part — the foundation of their 
 principles, the guide of their practice, and the support of 
 their hope, amid the terrors of martyrdom — the Bible. 
 Churches supported by the State, with stereotyped creeds, 
 canons, and forms, could afford to do without the Bible ; 
 but the Pure Churches, in their sublime dissent and pro- 
 test, could not. 
 
 6. We learn that the Baptists have a Glorious Past, 
 whose history is yet almost unwritten ; and that, rising 
 from the deep roots of the Past, and spreading with the 
 spread of the Scriptures, and of spiritual religion, aided 
 by historical investigation, and by universal liberty, they 
 have in reserve a Glorious Future. All they want now, 
 in every country on earth, is that same freedom which they 
 have ever given, and rejoice to give, to ensure the ultimate 
 triumph of their principles. As surely as many shall run 
 to and fro, and knowledge be increased — as surely as the 
 light of the moon, according to the beautiful figure of the 
 prophet, shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of 
 the sun sevenfold, even as the light of seven days — as sure 
 as the time shall come that the saints shall possess the 
 kingdom--and the spirits of the martyrs shall live again 
 in their successors on earth, and reign with Christ for a 
 
29 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 thousand years — so sure, judging from all the past, and 
 all the present, is the final triumph of Baptist principles. 
 Built on the book of God, in a fair field nothing can 
 stand before them. Already they are winning from all 
 others in the United States, in a steady stream of success* 
 - — they are reforming more thoroughly the Reformation in 
 Europe — in Africa, and Asia, in the isles of the ocean, 
 and indeed at every point where earnest piety is pressing 
 on to the conversion of the world, they are gaining power 
 . — and the prospect now is, that they will soon be spread 
 over the entire East, including India, Burmah, Siam, and 
 China — nations comprising more than half the population 
 of the globe. So, Lord, let thy kingdom come ! 
 
 T. But if these things be so. Baptists have a sacred 
 duty to perform ; first to themselves, and then to all 
 Christendom. They must seek among themselves to re- 
 vive THE Martyr Spirit — ^' not the spirit of fear, but of 
 power, and of love, and of a sound mind.'' They must 
 present their bodies, with their souls, their hearts and all 
 their substance, a living sacrifice to God, holy and ac- 
 ceptable, which is their reasonable service. They must 
 not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the 
 renewing of their mind and practice in a more eminent 
 degree. They must better estimate the worth of their 
 own Scriptural principles, the glory of their past history, 
 
 * It is recorded by Luke, as an evidence of the triumph of Christian 
 Truth in the days of the Apostles, that "the disciples multiplied 
 greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." 
 
 A competent writer has affirmed recently, that the number of members 
 received into the Baptist churches, for some years past, from other de- 
 nominations, exceeds 2000 annually ; and that the number of ministers 
 80 received by change of conviction, is equal to one for every week in 
 the year. This great movement is in principle the very reverse from 
 that of Bishop Ives and the Puseyites. And it is in addition to about 
 60,000 converts yearly. See Christian Review, January, 1854. 
 
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 23 
 
 •nd the grandeur of their position and destiny. They 
 must examine, and cultivate themselves more perfectly, 
 Dy the help of the Holy Spirit — " that they may know 
 what is the hope of their calling, and what is the riches 
 of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints." They 
 must more fully honor, love and pray for the Lord's peo- 
 ple of every name ; and study to do them good, to profit 
 by all the grace that is in them, and seek to supply what 
 is 5^et lacking in their knowledge, faith, or practice. 
 They must more fully display that charity which suffereth 
 long and is kind ; which envieth not ; which vaunteth not 
 itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly ; 
 which seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh 
 no evil ; which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in 
 the truth ; which beareth, believeth, hopeth, endureth all 
 things. This is the true spirit of Martyrdom — without 
 which we may give all our goods to feed the poor, and 
 .our bodies to be burned, and it profiteth us nothing. 
 
 This was the spirit of the Baptist Martyrs, whose me- 
 morials will be found in this book. No memorial of this 
 kind has before appeared in this country, or even in Eng- 
 land. Though confessedly far from complete — embracing 
 no sufferers for Christ, but those who suffered unto death — 
 going back only to the Middle Ages in time, and limited 
 to Europe as its field, and on that limited theatre pre- 
 ferring the principle of selection to that of accumulation 
 — =it will be found to embrace a great variety of the most 
 authentic and heart-touching, as well as pure, noble and 
 triumphant examples of the principles of our faith and 
 the power of the Gospel. It gives us names in which, for 
 Christ's sake. Baptists may justly glory, and which the 
 world itself " will not willingly let die." To specify no 
 more — here is Arnold of Brescia, the brightest name of 
 Italy in the Middle Ages — Jerome of Prague, the most 
 
24 PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 accomplished man of his time — and Hubmeyer of Katis- 
 BON, the friend of Erasmus, the fellow-laborer of the first 
 Reformers, classed by the Romanists themselves with 
 Luther, Zuingle, and Calvin, as one of the four great 
 leaders of the Reformation. Inferior in rank and learn- 
 ing, but not in interest, is the wise and good Hans op 
 OvERDAM — the bright youthful Jacques Dosie of Leuwar- 
 den — the loving but faithful Jeronimus Segerson of Ant- 
 werp — and the sturdy, outspoken, English yeoman, Richard 
 Woodman of Sussex, whose mind seems as strong as the 
 iron that he worked in his daily toil. Of the softer sex, 
 here is the gentle but heroic Elizabeth of Leuwarden — 
 Maria of Monjou, happier than a bride in the hour of her 
 martyrdom — Anne Askew, of the noblest blood of Eng- 
 land, but still nobler by her Christian faith and fortitude 
 — and Elizabeth Gaunt, the never to be forgotten martyr 
 to evangelical Christian Charity, whose name has been 
 embalmed by Bishop Burnet. 
 
 Richard Baxter somewhere says, that he ^' could as 
 soon die for Charity, as for any article of the Creed." 
 While he was uttering this just and beautiful sentiment, 
 Elizabeth Gaunt was exemplifying it in the flames ^ at Ty- 
 burn. The picture of her martyrdom forms the appro- 
 priate frontispiece of this volume ; which is also embel- 
 lished by engravings of the drowning of Maria of Monjou, 
 and of the examination of Anne Askew in the Tower of 
 London, and of her suffering at the stake in Smithfield. 
 
 There are many noble names, of Baptist Martyrs, that 
 we miss here ; but we cannot have everything, in a single 
 volume of the size of this. We doubt not this excellent 
 book will be warmly welcomed by every genuine Baptist 
 in the Union. 
 
 Philadelphia, May 1, 1854. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 The contents of this volume have been princi- 
 pally drawn from the old works on martyrdom : 
 such as, "Foxe's Acts and Monuments,'' and 
 "Braght's Dutch Marty rology,'" together with the 
 more modern sources of Crosby, Ivimey, Mann, 
 Jones, Benedict, Underhill, Taylor, Tonna, 
 PuDDicoMBE, etc., ctc. The selectipns have been 
 made to secure as much of interesting incident, 
 evangelical truth, and enlightened opposition to 
 error, as could be comprised in a moderate sized 
 volume; and the object kept constantly in view 
 has been to stimulate to holy and energetic action 
 the Christians, and especially the Baptists, of these 
 United States. 
 
 It will be observed by the careful reader of this 
 volume, that considerable pains have been taken 
 to authenticate its statements, both general and 
 denominational. We believe that no reasonable 
 doubt can exist in reference to any of the principal 
 facts here stated, or as to each and every one of 
 these holy martyrs belonging to the Baptist body. 
 3 (25) 
 
26 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 Generally speaking, the evidence of this last fact 
 is overwhelming. To a New Testament Baptist, 
 it must afford no small gratification, and the 
 highest ground of thanksgiving to God, that our 
 scriptural principles have been so fully tested, and 
 have come out pure from "the fiery trial.'* 
 
 To the Historical Essay which precedes the 
 work itself, and which was written by the esteemed 
 Editorial Secretary of the American Baptist Publi- 
 cation Society, the attention of the reader is earn- 
 estly requested. He will there find the enunciation 
 of facts and principles which may well lead to 
 serious reflection and persevering action. 
 
 The labor given to this volume will not have 
 been lost, if, under the Divine blessing, the spir- 
 itual interests of individual readers, and the highest 
 prosperity of our beloved country, are, in any de- 
 gree, advanced by its instrumentality. 
 
 B. 
 
 Philadelphia, 1854. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOS 
 
 Preliminary Essay, H 
 
 Introductory Remarks, 31 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MEN MARTYRED ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 Arnold, of Brescia, 40 
 
 Jerome, of Prague, 43 
 
 Felix Mantz, 49 
 
 George Wagner, 55 
 
 Leonhard Keyser, 60 
 
 Sicke Snyder, or Freerks, 65 
 
 EUert Jansen, 67 
 
 Eolken and Fye, 69 
 
 Hans, of Overdam 74 
 
 Jaques Dosio, 97 
 
 An Old Man in Holland, 104 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HUSBANDS AND WIVES MARTYRED FOR CHRIST ON THE 
 CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 ^Balthazar Hubmeyer and his Wife, 106 
 
 Jeroninus Segerson and his Wife, Lysken Dirks, 123 
 
 John Deswarte and Family, 15J 
 
 (27) 
 
28 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN MARTYRS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Bichst Heynes, 152 
 
 Elizabeth, 154 
 
 Maria, of Monjou, 161 
 
 A Young Lady of Fourteen, and Others, 163 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MEN MARTYRS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Gerard and his Friends, 165 
 
 Richard Woodman, 169 
 
 Jans Peters and his Friends, 222 
 
 Edward Wightman, 240 
 
 Benjamin and William Hewling, 244 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN MARTYRS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Anne Askew, 270 
 
 Joan Boucher, 281 
 
 Mrs. Brest, 286 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Gaunt, 297 
 
 Conclusion, 307 
 
(Bngratiing^. 
 
 Burning op Mrs. Elizabeth Gatint, ^ Frontispiece, 
 
 Beheading Block, Vignette, 
 
 Thumb-screw 158 
 
 Droavning of Maria of Monjou, 162 
 
 Interview of Members op the Council with Anne Askew, ... 276 
 
 Burning Place in Smithfield, London — Martyrdom of Anne 
 Askew, 278 
 
 3* ■ (29) 
 
Flung to the heedless winds. 
 Or on the waters cast, 
 Their ashes shall be watched, 
 And gathered at the last : 
 And from that scattered dust, 
 Around us and abroad, 
 Shall spring a plenteous seed 
 Of witnesses for God. 
 
 Jesus hath now received 
 
 Their latest dying breath ; 
 
 Yet vain is Satan's boast 
 
 Of victory in their death. 
 
 Still, still, though dead, they speak, 
 
 And, triumph-tongued, proclaim 
 
 To many a wakening land 
 
 The one availing Name. 
 
 Luther. 
 
 (30) 
 
BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 II^rTEODUCTORY EEMAEKS. 
 
 A CERTAIN class of men who have risen up within 
 the last forty years, and whose direct object seems 
 to be, if possible, to lead Christians back to Eome, 
 have spoken lightly of the martyrs of past ages. 
 Over such perversion of mind in such men, we can 
 scarcely wonder, but must deeply grieve ; for, as a 
 recent writer on this subject has well said, "If 
 ever men have won for their memories the meed 
 of honest praise, it was those self-devoted and lion- 
 hearted martyrs for the truth, who counted not 
 their lives dear unto themselves, but stood their 
 ground in the forefront of the battle, valiant for 
 the truth even till they fell, and in falling con- 
 quered." 
 
 Manifold indications show us that both in this 
 country and in Europe, a war of principles — a 
 great moral contest between Protestantism, so 
 called, and Popery, is at hand ; and that the oppos- 
 ing parties are likely to engage in the conflict with 
 great energy. We earnestly hope that the friends 
 of truth will show a warm adherence to its simple 
 and powerful principles, and that they will look to 
 heaven for the strength and wisdom they need. 
 
 (31) 
 
32 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Among the means employed to animate the 
 Christian warrior in the battle, and to impress the 
 minds of surrounding spectators, the presentation 
 of the examples of the "great cloud of witnesses" 
 for the truth, who have sung the praises of God in 
 the prison, calmly submitted to the agonies of the 
 rack, or gone with cheerfulness to the stake for the 
 glory of Christ, has always produced a mighty ef- 
 fect. It is true that science, yes, and false religion, 
 also, have had their martyrs, who thus gave evi- 
 dence of their sincerity; but did they ever compel 
 the profligate persecutor to admit the truth, and to 
 admire the spirit of ardent piety ? Did they ever 
 compel those who had till then been unbelievers 
 in the Gospel, to seek the pardon of their sins, and 
 bring them forward to be baptized in the room of 
 the dead ? Look at the results of the death of 
 Stephen on its immediate spectators, and on the 
 Church and the world ever since ; and see how, in 
 all ages, the blood of the martyrs has increased, 
 purified, and elevated the body of Christ. 
 
 We cannot read the accounts of martyrs, to 
 which the reader is now introduced, without a con- 
 viction that wherever religion flourishes in the soul 
 of a man, there is the spirit of martyrdom, evinc- 
 ing itself in his temper and conduct. Self-denial, 
 and readiness to bear the cross, will always be es- 
 sential to a true Christian character. There may 
 be martyrdom without the rack, the prison, or the 
 stake ; but the spirit cannot exist unless there be 
 a readiness to endure these things, if need be. " I 
 am ready," said one of our missionaries, at his or- 
 
INTllODUCTCRY REMARKS. 88 
 
 dination, '' I am ready, if called, to die in the mis- 
 sionary field ; unless I enter it I can have no peace ; 
 engaged in the labor, I can die in triumph." Such 
 is the spirit which becomes those who are acknow- 
 ledged by Jesus Christ as his brethren. 
 
 It cannot but afford high gratification to every 
 devoted Baptist, that the body to which he belongs 
 has in every age furnished most zealous adherents 
 to the cause of Christ, and that multitudes have 
 literally '^glorified God, in the fires." Cardinal 
 Hosius, one of the Pope's presidents at the Council 
 of Trent, says, "- if the truth of religion were to 
 be judged of by the readiness and cheerfulness 
 which a man of any sect shows in sufifering, then 
 the opinion and persuasion of no sect can be surer 
 than that of the Baptists ; since there have been 
 none for these twelve hundred years past that have 
 been more grievously punished, or that have more 
 cheerfully undergone, and even ofifered themselves 
 to the most cruel sorts of punishments, than these 
 people." 
 
 "Anabaptists," says old Bishop Latimer, after- 
 wards himself a martyr, " were burned in different 
 parts of the kingdom, and went to the stake with 
 good integrity." 
 
 In reading the records of the martyrs as handed 
 down to the present age, by writers of different 
 persuasions, the Baptist Christian usually meets 
 with some difficulty in recognizing his own breth- 
 ren and sisters. On the one hand, some of the 
 principles which peculiarly distinguished the old 
 Baptists, such as the sovereignty of Christ in his 
 
34 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Church, the sufficiency of the Scriptures to guide 
 men into all truth, the right of private judgment 
 in all matters of religion, and the entire freedom of 
 every man to act for himself, under his responsi- 
 bility to God, have, in whole or in part, been em- 
 braced by some who were not immersed ; and on 
 the other, very many Baptists have died without 
 their practical testimony to the purity of Christian 
 ordinances being recorded. Good old " Father 
 Foxe,*' in his " Actes and Monuments," conceals, 
 where he can, the views of our fathers on their 
 peculiarities ; and when he cannot do this, he la- 
 bors to extenuate and excuse what the good old 
 man personally considered 'Hhe errors of the ana- 
 baptists." Still, however, the facts are sometimes 
 developed, even by himself, and in other instances 
 by contemporary writers; so that no small dif- 
 ficulty presents itself in making a selection from 
 the great number of those who died not only for 
 the Gospel, but also to keep in the Church " the 
 ordinances as they were delivered." 
 
 It will be seen by the reader, as he proceeds in 
 the perusal of this volume, that the spirit of mar- 
 tyrdom is distinguished by a supernatural princi- 
 ple, which the apostle Paul calls faith^ and upon 
 which he suspends the purity, the self-denial, and 
 the sufferings of the illustrious patriarchs, the no- 
 ble army of martyrs, the persecuted Church of 
 God, from the beginning to the hour when he sat 
 down to write to the Hebrew Christians. This 
 principle does not spring from any known natural 
 source, but is superior to human philosophy, per- 
 
INTRODUCTOEY REMAUKS. W 
 
 suasion, and conviction. It is the full and entire 
 belief of God's own testimony, produced in tlie 
 heart by the influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Hence, the spirit of Christian martyrdom rests 
 on a supernatural support. God is present to give 
 special help. Hence Latimer, who had long been 
 bowed down by the infirmities of age, stood up- 
 right and firm at the stake ; and hence the timid 
 and delicate female has forgotten her feebleness, 
 and shown, as the fire has burnt around her, in- 
 domitable courage and strength. 
 
 This spirit, too, is associated with a supernatural 
 prospect. It embodies, and realizes, and appropri- 
 ates the invisible things of an eternal world. It pre- 
 sents even the Deity himself present to the mind, 
 who fills from his fullness all its faculties. Like 
 Moses, the "martyr endures " as seeing Him who is 
 invisible;" and this makes the present state shrink 
 before the soul into comparative insignificance. 
 Such men have always been " strong in the Lord 
 and in the power of his might." 
 
 How different from all this is the spirit of perse- 
 cution. In all ages " they that will live godly in 
 Christ Jesus must suffer persecution ;" but who 
 can survey the monster and his triumphs without 
 the profoundest horror and indignation ? The 
 offspring of Satan, the birth-place of persecution 
 was hell. Vile in its own nature, and in its ob- 
 jects, it is cherished by those who delight to scat- 
 ter arrows, firebrands, and death, wherever they 
 go. Persecution preys only cm the virtuous; it 
 grasps after victims of no other kind; and, as 
 
36 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 though tired of its own existence, it aims with one 
 effort to devour them all, and thus like the ana- 
 conda, with one mighty meal, to finish its work, 
 and procure its own death. It is driven from the 
 dwellings of sincerity and truth, and is cherished 
 only by hypocrisy and falsehood. It converts the 
 world, as far as it prevails, into a moral aceldama; 
 but it often defeats its own purposes by exhibiting 
 its odious features and its execrable allies too pub- 
 licly. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh" at the designs of this enemy ; He holds it 
 " in derision," aud overrules its operations to pur- 
 poses of his own glory. 
 
 Many who have filled the seat of government, 
 and who have supposed that their subjects were 
 bound to submit to their rule, however arbitrary 
 and opposed to the liberty which is the birthright 
 of every man, have made the religion of the cross 
 itself a mere instrument of accomplishing their 
 tyrannical purposes ; thus forgetting their respon- 
 sibility to God and man. They have linked the 
 Church to the State, and have sought to make 
 every will bow to their caprice, or determined to 
 subdue the opposer by their frown. 
 
 It is a wise arrangement of Divine Providence 
 that persecution is allowed to delight in public 
 cruelty, and to rejoice in what it esteems to be the 
 disgrace of its victims. A professor of the re- 
 ligion of Jesus could not, in the times of papal 
 persecution, recant, as, under the influence of the 
 dread of suffering, some did, without carrying the 
 badge of it about his dress till his dying day. The 
 
INTRODUCTOP.Y REMARKS. 37 
 
 records of persecntion describe to ns those who 
 abjured the faith of Christ, and who were con- 
 demned to bear a fagot during their hves. These 
 persons were fastened to a stake by the neck with 
 towels, and their hands held fast, while they were 
 marked on the cheek with a hot iron, which was 
 called branding ; after which they were compelled to 
 wear a fagot of sticks, indicating their near escape 
 from burning, worked or painted on the left sleeve 
 of their outer garment, and if at any time they laid 
 it aside the law adjudged them to be burnt.* What 
 must be the character of the religion which sanc- 
 tions all this ; and which lays claim to its recep- 
 tion by the whole world ! 
 
 It cannot be otherwise than gratifying to my 
 
 * It may not be without its use to copy a list of the expenses of 
 martyrdom, two or three centuries ago, in our fatherland. The 
 thoughtful reader will not merely regard it as a curiosity, but will 
 devoutly thank God that, whatever may be in the future, we have 
 not the immediate prospect of the public money being spent in 
 this manner in our own happy country. 
 
 When Strype wrote his " Memoirs of Archhishop Cranmer,^^ in the 
 year 1693, he found the book in which the expenses of the mar- 
 tyrs, during their residence in Oxford, were entered by the bailiffs 
 of the city, was in existence ; and it is probably still preserved 
 among the manuscripts of that University. The sums paid for the 
 burning of Archbishop Cranmer and his two fellow-sufferers, Rid- 
 ley and Latimer, appear in the book as follows : — " For one 
 hundred of wood fagots, 6s. ; for one hundred and a half of furze 
 fagots, 3s. 4d. ; to the carriage of them, 8d. ; to two laborers, 
 Is. 4d. ; to three loads of wood fagots to burn Ridley and Lati- 
 mer, 12s. ; one load of furze fagots, 8s. 4d. ; for carriage of these 
 four loads, 2s. ; a post. Is. 4d. ; for chains, 3s. 4d. ; for staples, 
 6d. ; for laborers, 4d." The above are exact transcripts from the 
 bills by the person who had charge of the funeral piles. 
 
 4 
 
38 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 readers, that these introductory remarks should 
 close with the following lines, by the Earl of 
 Surrey, who was called to suffer in the reign of 
 the capricious tyrant, Henry VIII., and who wrote 
 them in prospect of that solemn event, over which, 
 however, he could happily triumph. We may 
 call it 
 
 THE MARTYR'S HYMN. 
 
 My life's a shade, my days 
 Apace to death decline ; 
 My Lord is Life, he'll raise 
 My dust again, e'en mine. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise. 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviour see. 
 
 My peaceful grave shall keep 
 
 My bones till that sweet day 
 I wake from my long sleep, 
 And leave my bed of clay. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise, 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviour see. 
 
 My Lord — his angels shall 
 
 Their golden trumpets sound, 
 At whose most welcome call. 
 My grave shall be unbound. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise. 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviour see. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 39 
 
 I said, sometimes with tears, 
 
 Ah me ! I'm loth to die ; 
 Lord, silence thou those fears; 
 My Life's with thee on high. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise, 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviour see. 
 
 What means my trembling heart 
 
 To be thus shy of death ? 
 My Life and I sha'n't part, 
 Though I resign my breath. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise. 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviour see. 
 
 Then welcome, harmless grave; 
 
 By thee to heaven I'll go. 
 My Lord — his death shall save 
 Me from the flames below. 
 Sweet truth to me, 
 I shall arise. 
 And with these eyes 
 My Saviouff see. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MEN MARTYRED ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 ARNOLD, OF BRESCIA. 
 
 Seven hundred years, seven hundred years, 
 Since Truth and Rome together strove ; 
 
 Since Heaven beheld Italia's tears, 
 
 And Arnold spoke the words we love ! 
 
 He spoke ; — and Italy arose, 
 
 Thrilled by her prophet's voice of flame ; 
 
 Religion triumphed o'er her foes, 
 And Freedom sung her Arnold's name 
 
 But ah, the Martyr's voice was hushed. 
 
 His ashes strewed the Tiber's flood; 
 Truth, Freedom, Right, by Power were crushed, 
 
 And Rome was drunk with holy blood ! 
 
 J. N. Brown. 
 
 About the year 1137, a reformer appeared in 
 Italy, who proved himself a powerful opponent to 
 the Church of Eome ; and who, in fortitude and 
 zeal, was inferior to no one bearing that name, 
 while in talents and learning he excelled most. 
 This was Arnold, of Brescia ; a man remarkable 
 for force of piety and austerity of manners. 
 
 In early life he had traveled into France, and 
 studied under the renowned Peter Abelard. On 
 leaving this school, he returned into Italy, assumed 
 (40) 
 
ARNOLD, OF BRESCIA. 41 
 
 the habit of a monk, and began to propagate his 
 opinions in the streets of Brescia, where he soon 
 gained attention. He especially directed his zeal 
 against the wealth and luxury of the Roman clergy, 
 and his noble eloquence soon roused the inhabit- 
 ants of Brescia, who revered him as the Apostle 
 of religious liberty, and rose in rebellion against 
 the tyranny of the bishops. The Romish Church 
 took alarm at his bold attacks, and in a Council 
 condemned him to perpetual silence. 
 
 Arnold now left Italy, and found an asylum in 
 the Swiss canton of Zurich. Here he began his 
 system of reform, which was never more needed. 
 For a while he was successful, converting even the 
 Pope's Legate ; but the influence of the famous 
 Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, made it necessary 
 for him to leave the canton. 
 
 The bold man now conceived the plan and ha- 
 zarded the desperate experiment of visiting Rome, 
 and fixing the standard of reform in the very heart 
 of the capital. In this measure he so far succeeded 
 as to win over the Senate and effect a popular 
 change of the government. The Pontiff struggled 
 hard to maintain his ascendency, but at length 
 sunk under the pressure. Eugenius HI. withdrew 
 from Rome, and Arnold, taking advantage of his 
 absence, impressed on the people the necessity of 
 setting bounds to clerical authority. Arnold's 
 sentiments were influential among the people, and 
 on a few of the clergy. But not being prepared 
 for freedom, they carried their measures to an ex- 
 treme, abused the clergy, and burnt their property. 
 
 4* 
 
42 BAPTIST MAETYRS. 
 
 They required all ecclesiastics to Bwear allegiance 
 to tlie new constitution. ''Arnold," says Gibbon, 
 " presumed to quote the declaration of Christ, that 
 his kingdom was not of this world. The abbots, the 
 bishops, and the Pope himself, must renounce 
 their state^ or their salvation." 
 
 At length, in 1155, the Pope laid an interdict 
 on the city. As the sword was no weapon in 
 Arnold's panoply, the noble champion retired to 
 Tuscany. There he was seized, brought back to 
 Eome, condemned, crucified, and burnt. His 
 ashes were thrown into the Tiber. 
 
 The clergy triumphed in his death, and with his 
 ashes, it was thought, that his sect was dispersed. 
 Yet his noble spirit of religious freedom did not 
 die, but was cherished with his memory in the 
 hearts of reforming spirits in future generations, 
 such as "Wickliffe, Huss, and their compeers. And 
 even his immediate followers did not become ex- 
 tinct, for the Arnoldists are often met with in ec- 
 clesiastical history as a body who were worthy of 
 his name, and of our high respect. 
 
 Many very decisive facts show Arnold to have 
 been a Baptist. Bernard accuses his followers of 
 mocking at infant baptism. Ever\dnus, in Ger- 
 many, also says " the Arnoldists condemn the [Ca- 
 tholic] sacraments, particularly baptism, which they 
 administer only to the adult ; alleging that place, 
 whoever shall believe and be baptized shall be 
 saved." And, in a word, Arnold himself was form- 
 ally condemned by the Lateran Council for reject- 
 ing infant baptism. 
 
JEROME, OF PRAGUE. 
 
 This remarkable man was the intimate friend 
 and companion of the celebrated John Huss, in 
 the early part of the fifteenth century. He was in 
 early life distinguished for the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, and spent many years in the Universities of 
 Prague, Paris, Heidelburg, Cologne, and Oxford. 
 At the latter university he became acquainted with 
 the works of Wickliffe ; he translated them into his 
 native language, and on his return professed warm 
 adherence to his views. In addition to the fact 
 stated in a letter written to Erasmus from Bohemia, 
 that the followers of Huss " admit none until they 
 are dipped in water, and they reckon one another, 
 without distinctions of rank, to be called brothers 
 and sisters," and the statement by Eobinson, that 
 the sermons of Huss were full of '' anabaptistical 
 errors," as they were called, and that many of his 
 followers became Baptists, Orchard tells us that 
 he was baptized by immersion by some of the 
 Greek Church. This view of Jerome's creed, and 
 the fact of his being a layman, will account for 
 many historians omitting his name altogether. 
 But this omission may well be pardoned while we 
 have a full and satisfactory account furnished by 
 some of his strongest enemies. 
 
 When Jerome heard, while at a distance, that 
 his beloved friend John Huss was in danger be- 
 
 (43) . 
 
44 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 fore the Council of Constance, in 1411, he fled to 
 his help, and was soon apprehended, and tried in 
 company with him, and both were sentenced to 
 death. Huss, however, suffered some months be- 
 fore him. There seems to have been a period 
 when, like Cranmer, Jerome's faith faltered, and 
 he recanted ; but his adherence to the Saviour was 
 soon renewed, and he died at the same stake where 
 his dear friend Huss had been sacrificed to Christ. 
 ^'The sanguinary annals of the human race," says 
 Bonnechose, " do not, perhaps, present any specta- 
 cle more odious than the funeral pile of Jerome.'* 
 Poggius, who was secretary to the 'Pope, a frank, 
 ingenuous man, saw and heard Jerome in the 
 council; and wrote, in a letter to his friend Leonard 
 Aretin, a eulogium on him in a spirit of admira- 
 tion and love. He says, '' Since my return to 
 Constance, my attention has been wholly engaged 
 by Jerome, the Bohemian heretic, as he is called. 
 The eloquence and learning which this person has 
 employed in his own defence, are so extraordinary, 
 that I cannot forbear giving you a short account 
 of him. To confess the truth, I never knew the 
 art of speaking carried so near the model of ancient 
 eloquence. It was, indeed amazing to hear with 
 what force of expression, with what fluency of 
 language, and with what excellent reasoning, he 
 answ^ered his adversaries. Nor was I less struck 
 with the gracefulness of his manner, the dignity 
 of his action, and the firmness and constancy of 
 his whole behavior. It grieved me to think so 
 great a man was laboring under so atrocious an 
 
JEROME, OF PRAaUE. 45 
 
 a-ccnsation. Whether this accusation be a just one, 
 God knows: for myself, I inquire not into the 
 merits of it : resting satisfied with the decision of 
 my superiors. But I will just give you a summary 
 of his trial. 
 
 " After many articles had been proved against 
 him, leave was at length given him to answer each 
 in its order ; but Jerome long refased, strenuously 
 contending that he had many things to say previ- 
 ously in his defence, and that he ought first to be 
 heard in general ; before he descended to particu- 
 lars. When this was overruled, 'Here,' said he, 
 standing in the midst of the assembly, 'here is jus- 
 tice — ^here is equity ! Beset by my enemies, I am 
 pronounced a heretic. I am condemned before I 
 am examined. Were you Gods omniscient, in- 
 stead of an assembly of fallible men, you could 
 not act with more sufficiency. Error is the lot of 
 mortals ; and you, exalted as you are, are subject 
 to it. But consider, that the higher you are ex- 
 alted, of the more dangerous consequence are 
 your errors. As for me, I know I am a wretch 
 below your notice ; but at least consider, that an 
 unjust action in such an assembly will be of dan- 
 gerous example.' This, and much more, he spoke 
 with great eloquence of language, in the midst of 
 a very unruly and indecent assembly ; and thus 
 far, at least, he prevailed ; the council ordered that 
 he should first answer objections, and promised 
 that he should then have liberty to speak. It is 
 incredible with what acuteness- he answered, and 
 with what amazing dexterity he warded oft* every 
 
46 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 stroke of his adversaries. ]!^othing escaped him : 
 his whole behavior was truly great and pious. K 
 he were, indeed, the man his defence spoke him, 
 he was so far from meriting death, that, in my 
 judgment, he was not in any degree culpable. In 
 a word, he endeavored to prove, that the greater 
 part of the charges were purely the inventions of 
 his adversaries. Among other things, being 
 accused of hating and defaming the holy see, the 
 pope, the cardinals, the prelates, and the whole 
 estate of the clergy, he stretched out his hands, 
 and said, in a most moving tone, ' On which side, 
 reverend fathers, shall I turn for redress ? Whom 
 shall I implore ? Whose assistance can I expect ? 
 Which of you ^hath not this malicious charge 
 alienated from me ? Which of you hath it not 
 changed from a judge into an inveterate enemy? 
 It was artfully alleged indeed ! Though other 
 parts of their charge were of less moment, my ac- 
 cusers might well imagine, that if this were 
 fastened on me, it could not fail in drawing upon 
 me the united indignation of my judges.' '' 
 
 It appears from this secretary, Poggio Braccio- 
 tini, that on the third day of his trial, Jerome ob- 
 tained leave to defend himself. " He first began 
 with prayer to Grod, whose assistance he pathetically 
 implored. He then referred to profane history, 
 and to unjust sentences given against Socrates, 
 Plato, Anaxagoras. He next referred to the Scrip- 
 tures, and exhibited the suiferings of the worthies : 
 and then he dwelt on the merits of the cause pend- 
 ing, resting entirely on the credit of witnesses, 
 
JEROME, OF PRAGUE. 47 
 
 who avowedly hated him ; and here his appeal 
 made a strong impression upon the minds of his 
 hearers, and not a little shook the credit of the 
 witnesses. It was impossible to hear this pathetic 
 speaker without emotion. Every ear was capti- 
 vated, and every heart touched. But wishes in 
 his favor were vain ; he threw himself beyond the 
 possibility of mercy. Braving death, he even pro- 
 voked the vengeance which was hanging over 
 him. Through this whole oration, he showed a 
 most amazing strength of memory. He had been 
 confined almost a year in a dungeon, the severity 
 of which usage he complained of, but in the lan- 
 guage of a great and good man. In this horrid 
 place, he was deprived of books and papers ; yet 
 notwithstanding this, and the constant anxiety 
 which must have hung over him, he was at no 
 more loss for proper authorities and quotations, 
 than if he had spent the intermediate time of 
 leisure in his study." In his defence, " his 
 voice was sweet, distinct, and full ; his action 
 every way the most proper, either to express indig- 
 nation or to raise pity, though he made no affected 
 application to the passions of his audience. Firm 
 and intrepid, he stood before the council, collected 
 in himself, and not only contemning, but seeming 
 even desirous of death. The greatest character in 
 ancient story could not possibly go beyond him. 
 If there is any justice in history, this man will be 
 admired by all posterity. I speak not of his errors : 
 let these rest with him. What I admired was his 
 learning, his eloquence, and amazing acuteness. 
 
48 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 God knows whether these things were not the 
 groundwork of his ruin. 
 
 " Two days were allowed him for reflection ; 
 during which time many persons of consequence, 
 and particularly my lord cardinal of Florence, en- 
 deavored to bring him to a better mind. But per- 
 sisting obstinately in his errors, he was condemned 
 as a heretic. 
 
 "With a cheerful countenance, and more than 
 stoical constancy, he met his fate ; fearing neither 
 death itself, nor the horrible form in which it ap- 
 peared. "When he came to the place, he pulled 
 off his upper garment, and made a short prayer 
 at the stake ; to which he was soon after bound, 
 with wet cords and an iron chain, and inclosed as 
 high as his breast in fagots. Observing the exe- 
 cutioner about to set fire to the wood behind his 
 back, he cried out, 'Bring thy torch hither. Per- 
 form thy ofiice before my face. Had I feared 
 death, I might have avoided it.' As the wood be- 
 gan to blaze, he sang a hymn, which the violence 
 of the flames scarcely interrupted. 
 
 " Thus died this prodigious man. The epi- 
 thet is not extravagant. I was myself an eye- 
 witness of his whole behavior. "Whatever his 
 life may have been, his death, without doubt, 
 is a noble lesson of philosophy.'' 
 
 To this account of Jerome, furnished by an 
 enemy to his faith, we have only to add that he 
 suffered martyrdom, May 20, 1416. 
 
FELIX MANTZ. 
 
 This distinguished man, a leader in the Refor- 
 mation in Germany, was a native of Zurich, and 
 was educated in all the learning of the age, his 
 father being a canon of the great minster in the 
 place of his birth. In 1519 we find him studying 
 the Hebrew language with the eminent Zuingle, 
 under the tuition of Carlstadt, and to have been 
 on terms of intimacy with that Eeformer, as well 
 as with Myconius, Capito, and other leaders of the 
 Swiss Reformation. 
 
 About the year 1522, he began to doubt as to 
 the scriptural character of infant baptism, having 
 many conversations on that subject with Zuingle, 
 who was at first inclined to embrace the same 
 views. The progress of his investigations led him 
 further to object to tithes and usury, and to desire 
 to lay aside the peculiarities of Rome more rapidly 
 than was consistent with the opinions of Zuingle. 
 This led to a separation, and to a final adoption, 
 on the part of Mantz, of the sentiments of the 
 Baptists. In 1523, he began to preach publicly on 
 the subject of baptism, and to urge the necessity 
 of a church constituted in accordance with the 
 word of God. ^'He wished," says Zuingle, "to 
 form a church free from sin." In this way did the 
 reformer express the sentiment of Mantz — that 
 a church of Christ should consist of believers 
 
 . m 5 (49) 
 
50 BAPTIST MyVRTYRB. 
 
 baptized into Christ, and of them only. Mantz 
 likewise objected to the presence and use of 
 secular power in the church of God. 
 
 In the three disputes held at Zurich during the 
 year 1525, Mantz appears to have taken part, 
 and after that of March, to have been thrown into 
 prison, from which, however, he escaped. His 
 pious reference to the escape of Peter by the as- 
 sistance of an angel, as in some measure applica- 
 ble to his own, gave his enemies occasion to 
 assert, that he said an angelic being had likewise 
 opened to him the gates of his prison-house. 
 
 He now diligently proclaimed the freeness of 
 the gospel in different parts of Switzerland, and 
 taught the true constitution of the church. He 
 was baptized by Blaurock, a companion in suffer- 
 ing; and in the fields and woods, as occasion of- 
 fered, with the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures in 
 his hand, he expounded the word of God to the 
 people who flocked to him. As this was con- 
 trary to the prohibitory command of the magis- 
 trates of Zurich, he was deemed a rebel against 
 legitimate authority, and an exciter of the peo- 
 ple to sedition. 
 
 Towards the end of 1526, he was seized and im- 
 prisoned in the tower of Wellenberg He con- 
 fessed that he had baptized contrary to the edict. 
 It was right, he said, to obey God rather than 
 man. Exhibiting no sign of repentance, he was 
 at last adjudged, and on the 5th of January, 1527, 
 was drowned. 
 
 BuUinger thus writes, " As he came down from 
 
FELIX MANTZ. 51 
 
 the Wellenberg to the fishmarket, and was led 
 through the shambles to the boat, he praised God 
 that he was about to die for his truth ; for anabap- 
 tism was right, and founded on the word of God, 
 and Christ had foretold that his followers would 
 suflfer for the truth's sake. And the like discourse 
 he urged much, contradicting the preacher who 
 attended him. On the way, his mother and brother 
 came to him, and exhorted him to be steadfast ; and 
 he persevered in his folly, even to the end. "When 
 he was bound upon the hurdle, and was about to 
 be thrown into the stream by the executioner, he 
 sung with a loud voice, ' Into thy hands, O Lord, 
 I commend my spirit.' And herewith was he 
 drawn into the water by the executioner, and 
 drowned. His body was then taken to the Place 
 and buried at St. Jacob's." '' It is reported here," 
 says Capito, writing to Zuingle, near the end of 
 the same month, ^' that your Felix Mantz hath suf- 
 fered punishment, and died gloriously ; by which 
 the cause of truth and piety, which you sustain, is 
 weighed down exceedingly." 
 
 Mantz left behind him a paper, written in his 
 last days, with a view to encourage his companions 
 in their sorrows, which the reader will be glad to see. 
 
 "My heart rejoiceth in God, w^ho giveth me 
 much understanding, and guideth me that I may 
 escape eternal and endless death. Wherefore I 
 praise thee, Christ, Lord of heaven ! that thou 
 succorest me in my affliction and sorrow ; which 
 Saviour God hath sent me for an example and a 
 light, who hath called me before my end is come, 
 
62 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 to Ms heavenly kingdom, that I might have eternal 
 joy with him, and love him in all his judgments, 
 which shall endure both here and hereafter in 
 eternity, without which nothing avails or subsists. 
 Therefore are there so many, who not having this 
 are deceived with a vain opiuion. But, alas ! nowa- 
 days, we find men who boast themselves of the 
 gospel, speak much of it, teach and publish it, to 
 be full of hatred and envy ; who have in them no 
 divine love, whose deceit is known of all the 
 world, even as we have been told, that in these 
 last days, they that come to us in sheep's clothing 
 are ravening wolves, who hate the godly in the 
 earth, and hinder the way of life and to the true 
 sheepfold. Thus do the false prophets and hypo- 
 crites of this world; with the mouth they curse 
 and vtdth the same mouth likewise pray, whose 
 life is bad ; these call upon the magistrates to put 
 us to death, and herewith they destroy the body 
 of Christ. But I will praise the Lord Christ, who 
 hath all patience with us. He instructeth us 
 with his divine grace ; he showeth, after the na- 
 ture of God, his heavenly Father's love to all men, 
 which none of the false prophets can do. 
 
 '^Herein must we observe the difference; the 
 sheep of Christ seek the honor of God. This they 
 choose. They suffer not themselves to be hindered 
 by gain or temporal good, for they are in the keep- 
 ing of Christ. The Lord Christ forces no man 
 into his glory; but the willing and ready alone 
 enter, who come thereto by true faith and baptism. 
 When a man bringeth forth the true fruits of re- 
 
FELIX MANTZ. 63 
 
 pentance, for him is purchased and procured, by 
 Christ, through grace, the heaven of everlasting 
 joy, by the shedding of his innocent blood, which 
 he so willingly poured out. Thereby he showeth 
 us his love, and endueth us with the might of his 
 Spirit ; and he who receiveth and exerciseth this, 
 groweth and becometh perfect in God. 
 
 ^^Love to God, through Christ, will alone endure 
 and profit ; no boasting, railing, or threatening. 
 There is nothing but love with which God is 
 pleased. He who can show no love shall find no 
 place with God. The true love of Christ shall 
 cast oiF the enemy. It is set before him who will 
 be an heir with Christ, that he must be merciful, 
 even as his heavenly Father is merciful. Christ 
 never accused any one, as the false teachers now 
 do ; whence it appears that they have not the love 
 of Christ, nor understand his word. Yet they will 
 be shepherds and teachers. But at last they must 
 tremble, when they find that eternal pain will be 
 their reward, if they do not amend. 
 
 " Christ never hated any, and his true servants 
 likewise hate no one, continuing thus to follow 
 Christ in the right way, as he has gone before 
 them. This light of life they have before them, 
 and rejoice to walk therein ; but those who are full 
 of hatred and envy, who thus wickedly betray, 
 accuse, smite, and wrangle, cannot be Christians. 
 These are they who as thieves and murderers run 
 before Christ, and under a false show shed inno- 
 cent blood. Thereby may men know them, they 
 take no part with Chri.st. for through malice^ as 
 
54 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 tlie children of Belial, tliey annul the command 
 of Jesus Christ ; as Cain slew his brother Abel 
 when God accepted his offering. 
 
 "Herewith I will finish my discourse, and re- 
 quest all the pious to meditate on the fall of Adam, 
 who followed the serpent's counsel ; and being 
 disobedient to God, death followed him. So shall 
 it also befall those who receive not Christ, but 
 oppose him ; — who love this world, and have no 
 love to God. With this I conclude. I will abide 
 close to Christ and confide in him ; he knoweth 
 all my distresses, and can help me out of them. 
 Amen." 
 
GEORGE WAGNER. 
 
 George Wagner, of Emmerick, was appre- 
 hended at Munich, in Bavaria, on account of four 
 articles of faith. First, that tlie priests cannot for- 
 give men their sins : secondly, he did not believe 
 that a man can bring God from heaven : thirdly, 
 he did not believe that God, or Christ, is bodily in 
 the bread that the priest places upon the altar ; 
 but that it is the bread of the Lord : and fourthly, 
 he held not the belief that the baptism of water 
 saves men. 
 
 Because he would not retract his articles, he was 
 put to great torture, so that the prince had great 
 com.passion upon him, personally visited him in 
 prison, and earnestly exhorted him, saying, that 
 if he would recant, he would call him his friend 
 during his life. In like manner the steward of the 
 prince's household persuaded him to recant, and 
 made him many promises. Finally, his wife and 
 child were brought into the prison and placed be- 
 fore him, to move him thereby to a recantation. 
 However, he could not be moved, but said, that 
 though^ his wife and child were indeed so dear to 
 him, that the prince with his whole land could not 
 purchase them from him, yet nevertheless he would 
 not forsake the Lord his God. Many priests and 
 others also visited him to persuade him to renounce 
 what were considered his erroneous doctrines, but 
 
 (55) 
 
56 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 he continued firm and immovable, and was finally 
 condemned to die by the flames. 
 
 When he was delis^ered over to the executioner, 
 and led into the middle of the city, this excellent 
 man said, " This day will I confess my God to the 
 glory of Christ Jesus, that such happiness is 
 afforded me in the sight of all the world." His 
 face was not pale, nor were his eyes distorted. 
 With a smile playing on his lips he went to the 
 fire, where the executioner bound him to the lad- 
 der, and hung a bag of gunpowder to his neck ; 
 and when he had taken leave of a Christian bro- 
 ther, he was thrust into the fire, and calmly yielded 
 up his spirit to Christ, February 8, 1527. 
 
 The historian of this event tells us that the 
 sheriff, whose name was Der Eisen Reich, of 
 Landsberg, mshing, while riding home from the 
 burning of Wagner, to seize some of the com- 
 panions of the martyr, with a view to their suffer- 
 ing death also, died suddenly in the night, being 
 found dead in his bed. " Thus," saith our author, 
 ^^he was snatched away by the wrath of God." 
 
 A few further particulars of Wagner cannot be 
 uninteresting to the reader. As the day of his 
 martyrdom dawned, two executioners entered his 
 cell, to draw him to the place of burning. At 
 the same time some Franciscan monks entered 
 with them, and forced themselves on the con- 
 demned man, in their usual way, to instruct and 
 prepare him for his last hour. But he begged 
 them to return to their cloister, as their services 
 were entirely useless to him. At the steps of the 
 
GEORGE WAGNER. ' 57 
 
 conrt-honse, wliat thej called his erroneous propo- 
 sitions were again read to him, and he was once 
 more entreated to recant: but he still remained 
 immovable. 
 
 Among the Catholics who sought to recall Wag- 
 ner to Popery was one Conrad Schaider, the 
 master of St. Peter's school in Munich, and a doc- 
 tor of divinity. He asked him, " My dear George, 
 art thou not afraid of the death to which thou 
 wilt so soon be exposed ? If thou wert now free, 
 wouldst thou not most joyfully return to thy wife 
 and children?" 
 
 George. — Were the judges to let me go free, 
 ah ! to whom would I rather hasten than to my 
 wife and dearest children ? 
 
 Conrad. — Recant, then, and thou shalt go free. 
 
 George. — My wife and -children are indeed so 
 dear, that the duke, at no price, not even for the 
 revenue of his land, could purchase them of me ; 
 but for the great love of God I will willingly let 
 them go. 
 
 As they came to the place of execution, Conrad 
 again addressed him : " Believe," said he, " in the 
 mystery of the altar, and do not say that it is a 
 mere sign." "1 confess," said Wagner, "that the 
 sacrament is a sign and emblem of the body and 
 blood of Jesus Christ, who suffered the death of 
 the cross for our redemption." 
 
 " George, what thinkest thou ?" continued the 
 teacher ; " thou boldest baptism to be nothing, 
 and yet thou knowest that Christ was baptized in 
 Jordan." George then showed the design of 
 
58 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Christ's baptism, and how it was necessary, in 
 order to redeem sinners, for Christ to die on the 
 cross. "Even that Christ," he continued, "is my 
 Saviour ; for faith in whom I to-day yield up my- 
 self, and whom to-day with a good confession be- 
 fore all, I will glorify." 
 
 Conrad made other attempts to bring George 
 Wagner to the admission of what he called the 
 mystery of the altar ; and failing in that, to per- 
 suade him to open his heart to a confessor, in 
 order to obtain absolution. After a short time. 
 Doctor Conrad commenced, in a clear voice, the 
 repetition of the Lord's prayer, to which Wagner 
 responded as follows : — 
 
 Conrad. — Our Father ! who art in heaven. 
 
 George. — My God ! thou art truly our Father, 
 and no other ; to-day I long to be with thee. 
 
 Conrad. — Hallowed be thy name ! 
 
 George. — my God ! how little and how coldly 
 is thy name hallowed ! 
 
 Conrad. — Thy kingdom come! 
 
 George. — To-day, I hope, to my great joy, to 
 enter therein. 
 
 Conrad. — Let thy will be done on earth as it is 
 in heaven ! 
 
 George. — My Father ! I am willing that thy will 
 be done, not mine. 
 
 Conrad. — Give us to-day our daily bread. 
 
 George. — Jesus Christ is the true and heavenly 
 manna. He will feed me to-day. 
 
 Conrad. — Forgive us our trespasses, as we for- 
 give them that trespass against us. 
 
GEOBGE WAGNER. 59 
 
 Geoege. — I forgive with my whole heart, all that 
 my friends or enemies have ever done against me. 
 
 Conrad. — Lead us not into temptation, but de- 
 liver us from evil. 
 
 George. — good God ! with out doubt thou wilt 
 to-day deliver me ; for in thee alone I trust. 
 
 In a similar way Wagner responded to the re- 
 petition of the creed. On arriving at the place of 
 execution, Doctor Conrad gave a parting pledge, 
 that if George would only express his belief in the 
 use of prayers for the dead, he w^ould say a mass 
 for him. But George besought his prayers for him 
 while he was yet alive, that God would grant him 
 patience, courage, and a Christian's faith to en- 
 dure the punishment of death which awaited him. 
 
 The executioner now seized him and bound him 
 to the ladder ; but he continued to declare to the 
 spectators the chief points of Christian truth. 
 When some Christian brethren who were present, 
 requested him to give them from the midst of the 
 fire some token of his firm and unshaken faith, he 
 answered, "This shall be the strongest mark of 
 my faith in Jesus Christ, that so long as I can 
 open my mouth I will not cease to praise God, and 
 confess the name of my Saviour." When thrown 
 into the flames, he cried with a loud voice, 
 "Jesus! Jesus!" As the executioner cruelly 
 turned him, he often repeated, with a clear em- 
 phatic tone, the name of Jesus. Thus he died. 
 
LEONHARD KEYSER. 
 
 "While in the sixteenth century, the believers in 
 Jesus on the continent of Europe, greatly increased 
 in number and purity, as the sanctified result of 
 persecution, there were some instances very strik- 
 ingly illustrative of the power of the gospel. 
 
 Among these we may mention a learned Catho- 
 lic priest in Bavaria, named Leonhard Keyser. 
 Guided by the Spirit and Providence of God, he 
 was led to study the writings of Zuingle and Lu- 
 ther, and afterwards to visit Wittemberg, and con- 
 verse with the evangelical doctors of that city, with 
 whom he also communed in the Supper of the 
 Lord. Returning into Bavaria, and observing the 
 doctrines and conduct of the Baptists, as well as 
 of Luther and of Zuingle, he took up the cross, 
 and united with the Baptists, the separated church 
 of the Lord, in the year 1525. And immediately, 
 with great power and zeal, he proceeded in his 
 ministry, undismayed by all the tyranny exerted 
 against the faithful by water, fire, and sword. 
 
 In the second year of his ministry among the 
 Baptists, Keyser was apprehended at Scherding, 
 on the river Inn, about eight miles south of Pas- 
 sau, and by the bishop of the last named place, 
 with other priests and prebendaries, was condemned 
 to the flames on the Friday before the day of St. 
 Lawrence, in August of the same year. The chief 
 (60) 
 
LEONHARD KEYSER. 61 
 
 heads of accusation against him were, that faith 
 alone justifies, without good works; that there 
 are only two sacraments; that the gospel was 
 not preached by the papists in Germany; that 
 confession is not God's command; that Christ 
 is the only satisfaction for sin; that there i^ no 
 purgatory ; that Christ is the only Mediator ; and 
 that all days, (alluding to feast or saints' days), are 
 alike with God. At the trial of this worthy min- 
 ister of Jesus Christ, a criminal was brought to 
 swear against him that he deserved to die. 
 
 The enemies of truth conducted Keyser to the 
 stake bound on a cart, followed by the priests. 
 They spoke to him in Latin, but he answered them 
 in German, for the sake of the people at large, in 
 which language they would not' speak at his trial, 
 though he more than once demanded it. 
 
 When he came to the field outside the town, and 
 was approaching the fire, he bent on one side over 
 the cart, and gathered a flower, bound as he was, 
 and said to the judge who rod.e on horseback by 
 the side of the cart; — "My lord, I have plucked 
 a flower ; if you can burn me and this flower, then 
 have yoa righteously condemned me; but other- 
 wise, if you can neither burn me nor this flower in 
 my hand, then reflect on what you have done and. 
 repent." The judge, with three executioners, 
 therefore threw many fagots of wood, more than 
 ordinary, into the flames, in order by a great fire 
 to burn him immediately to ashes ; but when the 
 wood was entirely consumed, his body was taken 
 out of the fire unburnt. The three executioners 
 
 6 
 
62 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 and their servants then took fresh wood, and made 
 a large fire, which being consumed, his whole 
 body still remained unburnt, his hair only had been 
 burnt and his nails turned brown. The ashes 
 being brushed from his body, it was smooth and 
 clear, and the flower was found unfaded in his 
 hand, not the least burnt. The executioners then 
 hewed his body in pieces, and threw the pieces into 
 a new fire, which again being burned out, the 
 very pieces lay unconsumed in the fire. Lastly, 
 they took the pieces and threw them into a run- 
 ning stream called the Inn. The judge was thereby 
 so terrified, that he resigned his office, and left the 
 place. His principal servant, who was with the 
 judge, having seen and heard this, came himself 
 to us in Moravia, became our brother, lived a 
 godly life, and so died. Our teachers took this 
 down from his mouth, and wrote it for a memo- 
 rial, and now to the honor of God, publish it and 
 make it known. 
 
 Such is the account furnished by Van Braght, 
 the historian of the Dutch Baptist Martyrs; which 
 is substantially confirmed by Frank, J. P. Twisck, 
 and the distinguished Martin Luther, who some 
 months afterwards seems to have been induced, by 
 various prevalent reports, to examine into the mat- 
 ter. He says, '^ They now came to the gravel upon 
 the river Inn. Upon the gravel, near to the gibbet, 
 the layers of wood for the burning were prepared. 
 As an arm of the river encircled the gravel, Key- 
 ser was placed on a cart and the executioner with 
 him, that they might cross over it. When placed 
 
LEONHAED KEYSER. 63 
 
 in the circle, he expressed his hearty forgiveness 
 of all those who had brought him there, as he 
 hoped for forgiveness of God. He exhorted the 
 people to pray earnestly with him for all his ene- 
 mies. He entreated the pardon of any whom he 
 might have offended in his life, or by his example ; 
 also that they would pray for him, that he might 
 die in the exercise of a firm Christian faith. He 
 further prayed for those who were not yet en- 
 lightened. The sheriff* interrupted him, and said 
 to the executioner, ' Make an end of it, thou 
 knowest what is commanded thee.' 
 
 '' Leonhard was soon undressed, and lay down 
 in his shirt in a small cavity in the wood pile. 
 He was then bound upon the wood. As they 
 bound him, he besought the people to sing, ' Come, 
 Holy Spirit,' etc. A popish priest, w^ho had be- 
 fore been sent away, again approached him, and 
 said, ' If in aught he had erred, he should pray to 
 God for mercy.' Leonhard made no reply. The 
 priest asked, ' Would he die as a pious Christian V 
 Answer: 'Yes.' The priest then exhorted him 
 on baptism. The fire was kindled, and from its 
 midst, with loud cries, he said, ' Jesus, I am thine, 
 save me.' After this, his hands, feet, and head 
 were burnt away. As the fire diminished, the ex- 
 ecutioner took a pole, and rolled off* the body, then 
 laid more wood on the fire. The executioner next 
 hewed a hole in the body, then thrust in a^ sword. 
 Afterward he stuck the pole in the body, and again, 
 on the pole, lifted it up on the pile, thus consum- 
 ing," etc. 
 
64 BAPTIST MARTYES. 
 
 Thus abruptly, as Mr. Underhill has remarked, 
 ends Luther's narrative, and some other blanks in 
 it lead to the conclusion, that his information sub- 
 stantially agreed with the first printed one. The 
 same writer very properly adds, " We do not see 
 in Luther's account anything but what may easily 
 be reconciled with the other, allowing for the cer- 
 tain difficulty of any two persons, on such an occa- 
 sion, pressed on all sides by a curious crowd, being 
 witnesses of precisely the same events, and the 
 consequent discrepancy (apparently so at least) in 
 their accounts which must ensue. Many singular 
 and marvellous events are related by martyrolo- 
 gists of the sufferers of those times, as may be 
 seen in the ' Actes and Monuments of John Foxe.' 
 They were regarded by the persecuted as tokens 
 of divine favor, and were repeated from mouth to 
 mouth to animate each other in the bitter trials 
 through which they were called to pass.'' "We 
 may add, that, whatever view the reader may take 
 of this extraordinary statement, we see no reason 
 to doubt the credibility of the witnesses. 
 
SICKE SNYDEE, OR FREERKS * 
 
 In the montli of Frebruaiy, 1531, the harboring 
 ,of any Baptist preachers in the IsTetherlands was 
 forbidden by authority, and a reward offered for 
 their apprehension. An edict was issued imme- 
 diately after this, directing that those who having 
 been rehaptized^ as it was termed, recanted, were 
 to be admitted to mercy, but the obstinate were to 
 be punished with the utmost severity. 
 
 Soon after this became known, a devoted disciple 
 of Christ, a staunch champion in his Master's 
 cause, usually called Sicke Snyder, separated him- 
 self from the ungodly church of Eome, and from 
 her false and fanciful worship. He resolved on 
 walking in the footsteps of the true Lawgiver, and 
 only to hear his voice, as speaking in the Scrip- 
 tures. Conforming himself to the appointment 
 and example of Christ, he received Christian bap- 
 tism on confession of his faith, as a token of being 
 a regenerated child of God, and as testifying his 
 holy obedience. 
 
 As the consequence of this act, he became a 
 prisoner in bonds at Leeuwarden, in Friesland, 
 
 * Freerks seems to have been the proper name of this man, 
 as appears not only from historians, but from the record of his 
 sentence in the court book of Friesland. Snyder, as he was usu- 
 ally called, is indicative of his trade, which was that of a 
 Tailor. 
 
 6* {,Q^) 
 
66 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 and endured much siiftering from the adversaries 
 of the truth. And as he could not, by the torments 
 he sustained, be persuaded to apostatize, he was 
 there put to death by the sword, displaying great 
 firmness in testifying to the truth, and showing its 
 power on his soul by the manner of his death. 
 His sentence is thus recorded in the criminal sen- 
 tence-book of the court of Friesland : — '^ Sicke 
 Freerks, on this 20th of March, 1531, is condemned 
 by the court to be executed with the sword, his 
 body shall be laid on the wheel, and his head set 
 upon a stake, because he has been rebaptized, and 
 perseveres in that baptism." 
 
 The effect of the martyrdom of this poor but 
 pious man, who does not appear to have been even 
 a minister, was very important, as it first led the 
 mind of the distinguished Menno Simon to more 
 Scriptural views of baptism than he had formerly 
 entertained. He himself says : — " It now happened, 
 that I heard from some brethren that a God-fearing 
 pious man, Sicke Snyder by name, had been be- 
 headed at Leeuwarden, because he had renewed 
 his baptism. This sounded wonderfully in my 
 ears, that any one should speak of another bap- 
 tism. I searched the Scriptures vrith diligence, 
 and reflected earnestly upon them, but could find 
 no trace of infant baptism." — See the " Life and 
 Times of Menno," by the Rev. J. ISTewton Brown, 
 recently published by the American Baptist Pub- 
 lication Society. 
 
ELLERT JANSEN. 
 
 The arrival of the emperor, Charles the Fifth, 
 in the Low Countries, in the year 1540, was the 
 signal for the renewal of the grievous persecutions 
 which had already been endured by the Protestants 
 of Holland. Several severe proclamations were 
 issued against both the persons and writings of the 
 so-called Anabaptists, on whom this persecution 
 chiefly fell. It continued with unrelenting rigor 
 and barbarous cruelty for more than fifteen years. 
 During this period the faith of the sufferers was 
 strengthened by the Christian ministrations of the 
 eminent Menno Simon, who found refuge in the 
 habitations of his companions in tribulation, from 
 the unceasing pursuit of his foes. The following 
 narratives are but specimens of the courageous 
 piety of that age and country. 
 
 In the year 1549, there lay in prison, at Am- 
 sterdam, on account of religion, about twenty per- 
 sons, called Anabaptists, all of whom, but five 
 men and three women, made their escape, by the 
 help of some kind and sympathizing friends. 
 
 A certain tailor, named Ellert Jansen, might 
 have escaped with these his companions, but he 
 refused, saying, '' I am now so well satisfied to be 
 offered up, and feel myself at present £0 happy, 
 that I do not expect to be hereafter better pre- 
 pared." He was lame in one of his legs, and 
 
 (67) 
 
68 BAPTIST MARTYRS, 
 
 thought that though he might escape, he would be 
 easily discovered and retaken ; he therefore stayed 
 behind, and was burnt on the 20th of March 1549, 
 with the other four men and three women, accord- 
 ing to their sentence, " For that they had suffered 
 themselves to be rebaptized, and had wrong no- 
 tions of the sacraments." As he was being led to 
 execution, he cried out, ^'This is the most joyful 
 day in my whole life.'' 
 
EELKEN AND EYE. 
 
 In tlie year 1549, about three weeks before 
 Easter, two excellent men of tbe Baptist body 
 were apprehended in the town of Olde Boor, in 
 "West Friesland ; their names were Eelken and 
 Fye. They were brought before the magistrates, 
 and there boldly confessed their faith. They first 
 asked Eelken, Who has given you permission to 
 collect the people together to instruct them ? 
 
 Answer. — God has permitted me. 
 
 Question. — ^What have you taught ? 
 
 Answer. — Ask those who heard it, what was 
 taught among us; for you have apprehended a 
 woman who heard it. 
 
 They then asked the woman what she had heard 
 fi:'om Eelken. 
 
 Answer. — He read the four Evangelists, Paul, 
 Peter, John's epistles, and the works [Acts] of 
 the Apostles. 
 
 Eelken was then again examined. 
 
 Question. — ^What do you hold concerning the 
 Sacrament ? 
 
 Answer. — I know nothing of your baked God. 
 
 Question. — Friend, consider what you say ; for 
 these words will cost you your life. "What do you 
 hold concerning the Mother of God ? 
 
 Answer. — Much. 
 
 (69) 
 
70 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Question. — ^What say you, did not the Son of 
 God receive flesh and blood from Mary ? 
 
 Answer. — ^N'o. I hold that which the Son of 
 God himself testifies thereof. 
 
 Question. — ^What is your judgment of our holy 
 church of Rome ? 
 
 Answer. — I know nothing of your holy church, 
 and I acknowledge it not. In the whole of my 
 life, I have never been in a holy church. 
 
 Question. — ^'You speak very bitterly; I am 
 concerned for you ;" said a gentleman of the coun- 
 cil, " and fear your life will be forfeited. Have 
 you not been baptized ?" 
 
 Answer. — ^I have not been baptized; but I 
 earnestly desire to be. 
 
 Question. — ^What do you think of those false 
 teachers who go about, and baptize people ? 
 
 Answer. — Of false teachers I do not approve ; 
 but I have greatly longed to hear a teacher sent 
 of God. 
 
 They said, " We have, however, heard that you 
 were to be a teacher." 
 
 Eelken asked, ^'Who has made me a teacher ?" 
 and they told him they did not know. Eelken 
 said, " Do you ask me, since you know it not ? 
 How then should I know it ? I know no one who 
 has made me a teacher ; but God has given me 
 all those things for which I have prayed to him." 
 They said, '' We have now written down all the 
 articles that we have at this time demanded of 
 you ; if there be anything therein for which you 
 are sorry, we will readily take it out." The ques- 
 
EELKEN AND FYB. 71 
 
 tion in reply to the nobleman was, " Do you think, 
 then, that I would deny God?" 
 
 Eelken and his companion, Fye, both received 
 sentence ; and as soon as they were brought to- 
 gether they embraced, yea, kissed each other's 
 hands and feet with great affection, so that all 
 were astonished who saw and heard it. The 
 capuchin friars and servants ran and said to the 
 magistrates, ''S'ever did persons love each other 
 like these." Eelken spoke to Fye, saying, ^'Dear 
 brother, do not reproach me for having been the 
 occasion of your being brought into suffering." 
 Fye answered, ''Dear brother, do not think that: 
 for it is the power of God." 
 
 After the sentence was pronounced, they were 
 kept till the third day. Eelken was executed first 
 by the sword. "While the sentence upon Fye 
 was being read, he heard nothing of it by reason 
 of his great joy; and not knowing what was done, 
 or about to be done with Eelken, he sang and 
 leaped, praising and thanking God; and said, 
 ''This is the only way." 
 
 They now led Fye to the ship in which Eelken 
 lay beheaded, and the wheel on which he should 
 be laid, and also the stake at which Fye was to 
 stand to be burned. In the ship his hands were 
 unbound. But though he sat still, the monks 
 said, "Bind him again." The executioner said, 
 "Do you bind him;" but the constable of the 
 castle ordered him to bind Fye again. A woman 
 who saw it greatly wept; but Fye said, "Weep 
 not for me, but for your sins." Turning to the 
 
72 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 executioner, he asked, " What will you do to me ?" 
 The answer was, "That you will see." ''Yes, 
 yes," said Fye, '' do what you please. I have 
 already committed myself to the Lord's hands." 
 
 He was now attended by some of his brethren, 
 who had accompanied many of the common peo- 
 ple. Fye, seeing some of his acquaintances, called 
 out, " Friends, rejoice with me over such a mar- 
 riage feast as is provided for me." As he ascended 
 towards the gallows, some of the brethren spoke 
 to him, and greatly rejoiced with him, saying, 
 " This the narrow way ; this is the winepress of 
 the Lord; to this belongs the crown." But when 
 the constable of the castle heard the shout, he 
 cried out, '' Let no one touch them, on forfeiture 
 of life and goods." The executioner having for- 
 gotten his implements, ran into the town to fetch 
 them. 
 
 In the meantime, the constable, with the two 
 monks, had got Fye into the confessional, annoy- 
 ing him with bread and wine, but they could not 
 prevail on him to take any, for he did nothing but 
 sing and speak, praising and thanking God. Un- 
 able to succeed, and the executioner having re- 
 turned, they said to Fye, " How is it that you are 
 so obstinate, seeing you say you are a member of 
 Christ ? Will you not then do such a work of 
 mercy, as to receive this bread and wine as wine 
 and bread for our sake ?" He answered, " For 
 your bread and wine I do not hunger ; food is 
 prepared for me in heaven." Finding they could 
 not overcome his determined spirit, they said, 
 
EELKEN AND EYE. 73 
 
 "Go, heretic; go." The constable said, "I have 
 in my life seen many a heretic ; but never a more 
 obstinate one than this." 
 
 Fye standing ready to meet death, said to the 
 executioner, " Master, have you completed your 
 work?" He answered, "ISot yet." Fye said, 
 " Yes, here is the sheep with which you have to 
 do." The executioner then went to him, and tore 
 open his shirt ; next he took the cap from his head, 
 and filled it with gunpowder. Pye, standing at 
 the post at which he was to be strangled, ex- 
 claimed, " Lord, receive thy servant !" Where- 
 upon he was strangled, and then burnt. Thus did 
 he pass to his beloved Lord. The common people 
 cried out, " That was a pious man ! If he was 
 not a Christian, there is not one in the whole 
 world!" 
 
HANS, OF OYERDAM. 
 
 This admirable man was pnt to death at Ghent, 
 in 1550. The following account of his imprison- 
 ment and pretended trial was ^vritten by himself, 
 and cannot fail to afford both interest and instruc- 
 tion to every reader whose heart is under the in- 
 fluence of genuine piety. 
 
 Hans, of Overdam, with his fellow prisoners for 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ, wishes to all his 
 brethren and sisters in the Lord, grace, peace, and 
 ardent love from God the Father, and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to whom be praise, honor, and ma- 
 jesty, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 And you, the best beloved of my heart, be not 
 cast down on my account ^ but praise the Lord 
 that he is to me so good a Father, that, for the 
 testimony of Christ, I am permitted to suffer bonds 
 and imprisonment, and hope likewise to ascend to 
 him from the flaming pile. The Lord strengthen 
 me by his Holy Spirit. Amen. 
 
 My heart's wish, the deepest desire of my soul, 
 is, O dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, that 
 you always give increasmg diligence to fulfill the 
 vocation by which you are called by God the Fa- 
 ther, through Jesus Christ, to the majesty and 
 glory of the kingdom of his beloved Son, who has 
 purchased the church with his own blood; and 
 given himself for it, that he might sanctify and 
 (74) 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 75 
 
 cleanse it with the -vvashing of water by the word ; 
 that he might present it to himself a glorious 
 church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such 
 thing, but that it should be holy and without 
 blemish. 
 
 Therefore, my dear friends, behold what great 
 love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that he 
 has not spared his only Son ; and how Christ has 
 so willingly given himself, to suffer for us the most 
 shameful death of the cross, and to shed his pre- 
 cious blood, in order to wash and cleanse us from 
 our sins. Oh ! dear brethren and sisters, let us 
 regard this ; let us diligently watch and pray, that 
 the saving grace of God, and the unspeakable 
 love of the Father and of Christ, be not neglected 
 or forgotten by us, through any temporal anxieties 
 or perplexities of this world, its lusts and desires, 
 which kill the soul ; so that as spots or wrinkles 
 we should be removed from the glorious Church of 
 Christ ; yea, as unfruitful branches be cast into 
 fire. For, dearly beloved, it is not enough that 
 we have received baptism on the confession of our 
 faith, and by that faith have been ingrafted into 
 Christ, unless we hold fast the beginning of our 
 confidence steadfast unto the end. Is there, there- 
 fore, one who feels that he is become a spot or 
 wrinkle, let him see to it, and hasten before that 
 day overtake him, as a snare for the bird, and re- 
 pent with unfeigned grief and sorrow ; and lift up 
 the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 
 and run with vigor the race set before him, that 
 what is lame be not turned out of the way, but 
 
76 'BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 rather that it become sound and strong. Let ns 
 pass the time of our pilgririiage here in the fear of 
 God, and keep ourselves unspotted from this vile 
 and sinful world, which is full of deceit, snares, 
 and nets, which the devil employs to deceive the 
 souls of men, to entrap them by various kinds of 
 lust and delusions. 
 
 Lord, defend thy pilgrims, who walk hoping in 
 thee, from this murderer, and expect help and com- 
 fort from thee alone. heavenly Father, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, wilt thou fulfill the good 
 work which thou hast begun in us to the praise 
 and glory of thy holy name. thou almighty and 
 eternal God, how surpassing all understanding is 
 thy mercy, and thy fatherly compassion towards 
 them that fear and love thee ! Father ! who 
 would not fear such a God, who knoweth how to 
 deliver them that are his, although they seem here 
 for a short space to be forsaken, despised by all, 
 rejected and accursed in this world ! Yet he for- 
 sakes not his own, but gives them comfort by his 
 Holy Spirit in their hearts, which makes us bold 
 and joyful to suffer reproach for his name's sake. 
 And we hope, through the goodness of God, that 
 our pilgrimage will speedily be ended, and we be 
 released from this miserable world, this vale of 
 tears, and the earthly house of this our tabernacle 
 be dissolved, that we may be at home with our 
 heavenly Father, and receive the crown of eternal 
 life which is set before us, and which we trust 
 shall by no creature be taken from us. May we 
 for this be strengthened by the almighty and eter- 
 
HANSj OF OVERDAM. 77 
 
 nal God, the Father of mercies, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Understand, dear friends, what happened to me 
 before my imprisonment, and how they have dealt 
 with us since I have been in confinement. 
 
 It happened at the time that four friends were 
 offered up, when I wrote a hymn, and I had seen 
 them burnt, that I heard it said that the other 
 friends who still remained in prison had been as- 
 sailed with greater subtlety and deception, by ad- 
 vice of the false prophets, who have always in 
 their thoughts the devil's craft, which indeed they 
 had boasted they would practise. Our fiiends 
 who remained there were two young servants and a 
 young girl. We w^ere very diligent in daily prayer 
 for them, fearing lest by some deceitful allurement 
 they should be beguiled. We were also daily ap- 
 prehensive that they would be put to death. I was 
 much exercised in mind, on account of their youth, 
 to go and stand in front of the scaffold where they 
 should suffer, that in case they were in anything 
 cast down I might be able to comfort them, and 
 rebuke the monks who greatly distress our friends 
 when led out to suffer death. But, alas ! the poor 
 young creatures were not advanced so far; they 
 incautiously suffered themselves to be led into dis- 
 putations with the false prophets, notwithstanding 
 they had been sufficiently warned to .. avoid such 
 discussions as they valued their souls, for every 
 one has not the gift of disputation. Boldly to 
 confess the truth, as it has been received from the 
 Lord, becomes the Christian well. 
 7* 
 
78 BAPTIST MAIITYES. 
 
 The poor lambs, however, having entered into 
 discussion, became confused in their consciences, 
 and in consequence fell away from the truth. The 
 false prophets acquired great renown by this, as 
 having won their souls, and brought them again 
 into the " holy church." Hearing that, I was much 
 cast down in mind and spirit on account of the 
 loss of the poor sheep, and because the false pro- 
 phets and the council gloried so much in the fall 
 and ruin of the poor lambs and sucklings, to which 
 they had been brought by means even of oaths, as 
 you shall hear. 
 
 Thus cast down, I made my complaint to God, 
 groaning over the power and violence of the devil, 
 which he employs by the hands of his children 
 who believe not the truth ; and it came into my 
 mind that I would write some short letters, and 
 placard them in some public place, rebuking their 
 vain triumph over the loss of the poor sheep whose 
 souls they had murdered. I then began to write, 
 and in writing my soul became so inflamed, that 
 instead of a short piece of a hand's breadth, it 
 grew to an address of a whole sheet. The Lord 
 opened my understanding, so that I was surpri- 
 singly led to show the magistrates, from the Scrip- 
 tures, their punishment and end, with that of the 
 whole Romish church. I also said that I wished 
 and desired the opportunity of a public disputation 
 with all their learned men before a large fire, and 
 that whoever should be vanquished should be 
 thrown into the fire, while the poor lambs should 
 be left in peace, and that they should lay aside the 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 79 
 
 sword of the magistrate, and strive alone with the 
 sword of the word of God. 
 
 When this writing was put in order, I allowed 
 the brethren to see it, who were well pleased with 
 it, and had six copies of it taken by a brother who 
 could write better than myself. In the mean time 
 the poor corrupted sheep were let out of prison, 
 having recanted every thing. One young servant 
 died the same day he was released, a mile from 
 the town, and became an example or mirror to 
 those who thus seek to save their lives. At the 
 time this took place, I came from Antwerp with 
 Hansken Keeskooper, having arranged our mat- 
 ters with relation to the letter, which we sent to 
 the magistrates of the town on Saturday evening. 
 Two copies were posted in the middle of the town, 
 that every one might read them. We greatly 
 praise and thank the Lord who enabled us to do 
 this before we were apprehended, for we were all 
 betrayed by a Judas who was amongst us, and 
 who seemed to be the most pious brother of all 
 who were there, so hypocritically could he carry 
 himself, and which he had, as we now perceive, 
 long practised, in order to betray a number of 
 friends. This traitor was present w^hen the letters 
 were placarded. It was also arranged to meet the 
 other friends on Sunday morning to speak the 
 word of God, for I wished to take leave of the 
 brethren, and to proceed on my journey the next 
 day ; but the Lord be praised, who had otherwise 
 appointed. 
 
 Early in the morning Hansken went with me to 
 
80 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the wood where we were to assemble, but we did 
 not find our friends at the place where we expected. 
 We sought them a ftiU half hour, and thought they 
 had not come, because it had rained the previous 
 evening exceedingly hard. We were about to 
 return home, when I said, "Let us go on, per- 
 haps they are before us;" and we sang softly, that 
 if they were there they might hear us. I then 
 heard a rustling in the wood, and said to Hansken, 
 " Here are our friends." We then stood still, that 
 we might see who were approaching. Three per- 
 sons then came forward with arms and staves. I 
 said, " Well, comrades, have you been seeking a 
 hare, and not caught it?" Their countenances 
 then became deadly pale ; they came to us, and 
 taking me by the arm, said, " Surrender yourself 
 a prisoner." They apprehended us and said, "We 
 have arrested a great many more." We then saw 
 a whole wagon load of our brethren, sitting bound, 
 and three justices, with all their officers, guarding 
 them : a large number. As we approached them, 
 we saluted our brethren with the peace of God, 
 and comforted them with the word of the Lord, 
 encouraging them now valiantly to strive for his 
 name's sake. We also rebuked the justices for 
 being so desirous of shedding innocent blood. 
 
 They then fastened Hansken and me together 
 with iron bands, and also our thumbs. We thought 
 they were about to take us into the town ; but as 
 it was in another lordship we were apprehended, 
 we were obliged to go half a mile farther. We 
 esteemed it a great happiness to be so long to- 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 81 
 
 gether, and that going along we were able to com- 
 fort each other with the word of the Lord before 
 we were separated. We were led to the castle a 
 mile from the town. There we were kept together 
 in a chamber, and remained for three days : for 
 that was a right of the lordship where we had 
 been apprehended. "We thanked and praised the 
 Lord onr God, that he, in his wisdom, had so ar- 
 ranged it, that we had so long a time freely to ex- 
 hort one another. Many people from the town 
 came to see and hear us ; but at last no one was 
 permitted any longer to come to us in the room. 
 
 We were then examined by the high bailiff of 
 the province of Aelst concerning our faith, which 
 we freely confessed to him. We thought that we 
 should be conducted to Aelst, but because the 
 bailiff of Ghent had put us into the wagon when 
 we were apprehended, in order to take us to 
 Ghent, therefore we had to be taken altogether to 
 Ghent. And the traitor who had betrayed us 
 was apprehended with us, that we might not notice 
 it. They purposely put us into another room, 
 which grieved us. He was thereby prevented 
 being with us, and we were ignorant that he was 
 our betrayer. He was likewise taken in the wagon 
 to the prison in Ghent, and there we first came to 
 know that he had betrayed us. When we were 
 brought out of the castle to be taken to the town, 
 there were many people who had come from the 
 town to see us. My brother's wife was at that 
 time apprehended, she was also a sister, because 
 she had spoken to me. She was placed in the 
 
82 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 wagon, and likewise anotlier person, a man, who 
 wished us happiness. We spoke freely to the peo- 
 ple who were come to us, how they must all be 
 made a prey who would depart from evil and follow 
 Christ. Many of the people would willingly have 
 spoken to us, but they durst not on account of the 
 wicked magistrates. 
 
 Thus were we ready, with our ten companions 
 in bonds, standing two and two, and four youths ; 
 the two others were apprehended because they had 
 spoken to us. They brought us, filling two 
 wagons, to the town in broad daylight : and on 
 the road they seized another woman, because she 
 had said to us, " God protect you." She was like- 
 wise placed in the wagon. But when we came 
 into the town, had they apprehended all who spake 
 to us, and to whom we likewise called, speaking 
 the word of the Lord, they could not have con- 
 veyed them in twenty wagons; for the people 
 came running quickly from all quarters, wherever 
 we should pass by. Like water running down 
 from the hills and becoming a large body, the peo- 
 ple ran together ; and this lasted from one gate of 
 the city to the Earl's castle, which stands at the 
 end of the town, a distance of an hour's walk. 
 We were then led to the castle, and the magistrate 
 of the province of Aelst delivered us over into the 
 hands of the magistrates of the imperial council. 
 
 We were now separated from one another; 
 some above into rooms ; the women likewise re- 
 mained above ; but eleven of us were taken into 
 a dark deep vault. In the vault were built many 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 88 
 
 dark cells of masonry. There we were all put, 
 three and three ; but Hansken and I were placed 
 in the darkest of all, in which was a little dirty 
 straw, as much as might be carried in one's lap, 
 which was our best accommodation. I said, " Me- 
 thinks we are with Jonah in the fish's belly, it is 
 so very dark; we must, like Jonah, cry unto the 
 Lord, that he may be our comforter and deliverer; 
 for we are now deprived of all human comfort and 
 succor." At this we were not cast down, but praised 
 and thanked God that we were permitted to suffer 
 for his name's sake. We likewise spoke to our 
 brethren who lay in the other dungeons ; for we 
 could plainly hear each other speak. 
 
 When we had lain here three or four days, 
 Hansken and I were both summoned before the 
 justices, where we were examined, and questioned 
 as to the ground of our faith, and when we were 
 baptized. The Lord, according to his promise, 
 then gave us a mouth to speak boldly, and we re- 
 quested to answer publicly from the word of God. 
 But they replied that they would appoint learned 
 men, who should instruct us ; and thus we were 
 again conducted below. 
 
 Shortly after, I was fetched up to another cham- 
 ber, before two councillors and a clerk, who 
 sharply demanded of me where I had been, and 
 if I did not well know that I had been banished 
 more than six years ago, in Martin Huereblok's 
 time, and where we had held our assemblies? 
 They knew all that already ; for our betrayer had 
 told them. I said, " Why do you inquire of me, 
 
84 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 who am come from foreign lands?" — ^For I had 
 purposely avoided making inquiries, that if I 
 should be apprehended, I might not then have 
 much to answer. — " Why do you ask so sharply ? 
 have you not shed enough innocent blood ? do you 
 still thirst for more ? Inquire as vigorously as you 
 will, it shall be inquired of you again by the righte- 
 ous Judge, unless you repent." 
 
 They then asked me still more, and adjured me 
 by my baptism that I should inform them, " for 
 we know," said they, ^' that your people do not lie, 
 therefore answer us." I said, "You knowing that 
 we do not lie is to us a token of salvation, and to 
 you of perdition, since ye put such to death ; but 
 your adjurations have no power against the truth." 
 All I said was written down, and they threatened 
 to torture me, unless I would tell them the whole. 
 I said, that "what I did not know, I could not 
 tell;" bat they thus harassed me a long time. I 
 was then again conducted below. They dealt in 
 the same manner with all our friends, one after 
 the other, alone. 
 
 On a Saturday I was again fetched up into the 
 same chamber. There were then present four 
 monks. The superior of the Cordeliers, with 
 another; and the father of the Jacobins, with 
 another. With me came a young brother who 
 had not yet received baptism, but stood ready. 
 
 When I was seated and had asked what they 
 desired, they said, that they were appointed by 
 the magistrate to instruct us, and to converse with 
 us on the ground and articles of faith. I then 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 85 
 
 answered, that I was ready to be instructed from 
 the word of God, and desired to enter into con- 
 versation on the grounds and articles of faith, 
 and that publicly, in the presence of the judges 
 who were to pass sentence upon us, and in the 
 hearing of our brethren and sisters, who were 
 prisoners with us. 
 
 Answer. — That they will not be willing to 
 grant. 
 
 Hans, of Overbam. — Well, they can do then as 
 they please; but we will not dispute thus alone 
 and in secret, that our words may not be wrested 
 behind our backs. 
 
 Answer. — We will not wrest your words. 
 
 Hans. — 'No ? We know you well.' 
 
 Question. — What do you know of us ? What 
 harm have we done you ? Tell us what harm you 
 know of us. 
 
 Hans. — If you will know it ; I consider you to 
 be false pi^ophets and deceivers. 
 
 We then fell into a dispute about their show of 
 spiritual sanctity, and the command of the Pope 
 respecting the purity of the priests and monks, 
 and why they were called spiritual, and the others 
 secular, seeing they ought all to be spiritual per- 
 sons. Then thinking that hereby no progress was 
 made, they said, " Let us dispute concerning the 
 articles of faith." On which I said, "Well, so I 
 proposed." They said, they would inform the ma- 
 gistrates. And thus we separated, after having 
 disputed together for two hours. 
 
 Two days after this, Hansken anjd- myself were 
 
 IfUHirERSITTl 
 
86 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 called before the Council. The four monks were 
 present, and proposed a discussion. I then said 
 to the Council, " Gentlemen, I ask you in whose 
 house we are ? In one of justice or of violence V 
 
 Answer. — In one of justice. 
 
 Hans. — Grod grant it may be so; but, gentle- 
 men, of what do you accuse us, that you have ap- 
 prehended and confined us as thieves and mur- 
 derers ? Have we defrauded any one ? or do you 
 lay to our charge assault or murder, or any vil- 
 lany ? 
 
 Answer. — ^IsTo; we know nothing of the kind 
 against you. 
 
 Hans. — Well, gentlemen; why then have you 
 apprehended nis ? 
 
 Answer. — That your accusers will tell you. 
 
 Hans. — Are you then our accusers ? 
 
 * Answer. — 'No; we are your judges. 
 
 I then said to the monks, "Are you then our ad- 
 versaries?'* 
 
 Answer. — No. 
 
 Hans. — ^Well ; if no one is our accuser, why are 
 we prisoners? Then one of the Council said, 
 " The Emperor is your accuser.'' 
 
 Hans. — ^We have done nothing against his Im- 
 perial Majesty. We will obey him, according to 
 the power he has received from God, and observe 
 all his ordinances as far as in our power, consist- 
 ently with the truth. 
 
 Councillor. — You have held assemblies of this 
 new doctrine, and the Emperor has forbidden such 
 to be holden. 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 87 
 
 Hans. — It is not given him of God to make snch 
 laws ; therein he exceeds the power granted him 
 of God. In this matter we know him not as a 
 ruler ; for the salvation of our souls is dearer to 
 us, and we must give our obedience to God. 
 
 The monks then said, " We are your opponents 
 herein, for your doctrine is not good. If it were, 
 you would not preach in woods and corners, but 
 in public." 
 
 Hansken then said, " Allow us a free place in 
 the market, or in your cloisters and churches, and 
 then see if we go into the woods. But, no ; you 
 are afraid that men would rebuke you, and there- 
 fore you have so managed that you cannot be re- 
 proved, and have driven us from town and coun- 
 try." 
 
 Monks. — ^Alas ! we have not done that ; it is the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Hansken. — ^You have urged him to it*. 
 
 The Monks. — ^We have not. 
 
 The council then began to speak to us ; why we 
 were not satisfied with the faith of our parents, and 
 with our baptism? We said, "We know of no 
 infant baptism ; but of a baptism upon faith, which 
 God's word teacheth us." Many more words 
 passed, in which we reproved them for wishing to 
 be judges in matters of faith, while they under- 
 stood not the Scriptures. " But if ye will be 
 judges, be impartial, and let the business take a 
 regular course and order, and both parties be 
 equally dealt mth ; and let our brethren and sis- 
 ters, who are brought as prisoners here with us, be 
 
88 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 also present, and then one of us will speak, whose 
 mouth the Lord will open, and the other side shall 
 listen and be silent as long as he speaks, and let 
 our opponents do the same. 
 
 The Council. — ^We will not let your people 
 come together, we will have you dispute here 
 alone. 
 
 "We then said, " Gentlemen, it would be the 
 most suitable way, and the discussion would pro- 
 ceed regularly through; otherwise you will have 
 to begin the disputation afresh with two or three 
 only together." 
 
 Council. — It does not signify, we will not hav^e 
 it so. 
 
 A councillor then said, " They wish to have the 
 others with them, to mislead them still more; 
 therefore it must not be permitted." 
 
 Hans, or Overdam. — Gentlemen, you say that 
 you are judges ; but we consider you our oppo- 
 nents, for you seek to weaken us in every way, and 
 by violence and fraud to withdraw us and our 
 companions from our belief. 
 
 Answer.— Why should we not do so, in order 
 to recover the erring to the right way ? 
 
 Hans. — ^Well, gentlemen, then hear ! Since we 
 see that you are no judges, but are our adversaries, 
 and employ all force and craft where you can and 
 may, to your own advantage and our prejudice : — 
 first in having taken from us, by violence, and be- 
 reft us of our Testament, in which we find our 
 comfort ; next, in having us placed apart, some in 
 deep dark cellars, the others in high chambers; 
 
89 
 
 and, thirdly, in seeking now to entrap and deceive 
 us into various discussions, and then to say to our 
 brethren, and behind our backs, that you have 
 vanquished us, and then the same of our brethren 
 and sisters to us : — ^therefore, gentlemen, we will 
 not dispute here alone, unless our brethren and sis- 
 ters be present. 
 
 When they heard that their design did not suc- 
 ceed according to their mind, they became very 
 indignant, and the monks likewise. We saw well 
 what their object was, and that what they were 
 driving at was all knavery ; for should it be proved 
 from the holy Scriptures that they were wrong in 
 any point, yet they would not confess it, but ex- 
 cuse themselves by pleading the Emperor and his 
 mandate ; and the monks the ancient customs of 
 the Eomish church, and the great number of 
 fathers ; and when proof was brought from the 
 Scriptures to the contrary, it was as before, to no 
 purpose, but like speaking into the air. 
 
 We then said, " Well, gentlemen, will you not 
 then permit us to dispute in a reasonable and or- 
 derly manner, as we have desired?" Their answer 
 was, "]N"o." "Well then," said we, "you know the 
 grounds of our faith, which we have freely con- 
 fessed to you ; you can now do with us what you 
 please, so far as God permits you ; but consider 
 well what you do, for there is another judge above 
 you. May the Lord open the eyes of your under- 
 standing, that you may see how lamentably you 
 are misled and deceived by the false prophets 
 in fighting against God and the Lamb ; it will 
 8* 
 
90 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 bring upon you a heavy judgement, unless you 
 repent." 
 
 "We were then again led away, not being willing 
 to dispute further. For we had agreed together to 
 adopt this course when we were yet in the castle 
 outside the town, in order that they might not 
 take advantage of the simple in the disputation. 
 In this way they would be prevented from making 
 any one believe they had obtained the victory, as 
 all well knew there would be no disputation unless 
 the rest were there also, and then the disputation 
 would be to the comfort and admonition of the 
 brethren and sisters who heard it. For as we saw 
 that their own advantage was their only object, 
 we likewise would not neglect our own, for we 
 knew well that it was necessary. 
 
 When they perceived that they had failed of 
 their object, they took counsel, and adopted ano- 
 ther plan. They placed one of the council and 
 two monks, (a grey and a black,) in a chamber, 
 into which each brother or sister were brought to 
 dispute or defend the reasons of their faith with 
 the monks. But they said that they would not 
 dispute alone in the chamber, but in public, and 
 with the rest before the council. Then said they, 
 ^^We adjure you by your faith and baptism that 
 you dispute here." The brother said, "My faith 
 and baptism I know and acknowledge, but with 
 your adjuration I have nothing to do. Let us 
 come together, that is just our desire, in order to 
 dispute with you publicly, but not thus in a cham- 
 ber alone." They then sent for another, and so 
 
HANS, OF OVEHDAM. 91 
 
 on until they had the whole before them, and not 
 one would, in such a way, engage in disputation. 
 
 I was then called alone into a chamber where 
 were one of the council and two monks, who like- 
 wise began to adjure me. I then said, "What 
 would you adjure me to do ? To cast roses before 
 dogs, and pearls before swine, to be trodden under 
 foot ? ISTo, that the Lord has forbidden me to do. 
 ISTo, I esteem God's word too highly to let that 
 light shine here in vain, where no one is enlight- 
 ened, but which is traduced and contemned as it 
 is by you when the truth is spoken." They then 
 adjured me still more solemnly. "Whereupon I said, 
 " To what purpose is so much adjuring ? I do not 
 regard it ; for it is the manner of wizards who 
 swear against the truth. But I now see plainly by 
 what means the souls of our two brethren and our 
 sister were seduced and murdered. Through 
 your swearing and enchantment they were not on 
 the guard against the devil's subtlety, and had 
 not the gift of disputation. 
 
 Then said the superior, "You have given a 
 challenge in your letter to hold a public disputa- 
 tion; wherefore are you afraid to dispute now?" 
 
 Hans, of Overdam. — You monk, I desire with 
 all my heart to defend my faith in public by God's 
 word, before all men ; but your cowl would trem- 
 ble if you had to dispute with me before the flames, 
 and the magistrate were not your protector. 
 
 The Councillor: — lS[o; we have no inclination 
 to let you dispute in public ; you are in our hands. 
 
 Hans. — I wished it before I knew that I should 
 
92 BAPTIST MAETYES. 
 
 fall into your hands ; but I see plainly that we are 
 in the eagle's talons, and whoever is there cannot 
 escape ; he must there lose either soul or body. 
 
 CouNCiLLOE. — ^Who is the eagle ? the Emperor ? 
 
 Hans. — 'So, It is the Roman empire or power. 
 Read the letter I wrote to you, that will give you 
 an answer. 
 
 Many other words passed between us. The 
 monks were wroth with me, and began to speak 
 great swelling words. I then said that Paul had 
 rightly prophesied of them, that they were blas- 
 phemers, fierce and puffed up. Brother Jan de 
 Crook then became so angry, that he began to ex- 
 claim, **= Simpletons ! simpletons! Heretics! ye 
 are heretics!" 
 
 Hans. — See! is not that a fine teacher? Paul 
 says that a bishop must not strive, nor be angry. 
 The councillor was himself ashamed of the monk, 
 and admonished him to be silent. 
 
 At another time after, there came two secular 
 priests. Master Willem, of Meuwen-land, and the 
 parish priest of St. Michael's. I asked them what 
 they desired. They said, ''We are come for your 
 soul's good." This time I kept myself as close as 
 possible, hoping that we might dispute publicly 
 before the Council, they having told me they 
 would do their best thereto. "When I heard that 
 it might not be, and they came a second time to 
 me with a clerk, I thought we must take another 
 course with these than we did last time. I then 
 asked, " What then do you wish ?" 
 
HANS, OF OVERDAM. 93 
 
 Answer. — We wish you to allow yourself to be 
 instructed, for we seek your soul. . 
 
 Hans. — ^Are you then so diligent in seeking 
 souls ? 
 
 Answer. — ^Tes. 
 
 Hans. — ^Well, go then into the town, into every- 
 place, to drunkards, whoremasters, swearers, re- 
 vilers, the covetous, the proud, idolaters, tipplers, 
 gluttons, and murderers, to them that shed inno- 
 cent blood. These are all your brethren ; go and 
 seek their souls ; mine, Christ has found. 
 
 Answer. — We admonish them, and have de- 
 livered our souls. 
 
 Hans. — That is not enough ; you should go and . 
 reprove them, and if they will not hear you, bring 
 them before the church, and rebuke them pub- 
 licly. If they then will not hear, cast them out of 
 the church, and let them be to you as heathens 
 and publicans, as Christ teaches, and Paul to the 
 Corinthians. Eebuke also your judges who em- 
 ploy force and injustice, yea, who spill and shed 
 innocent blood. 
 
 A priest then said, " Should we go and reprove 
 our superiors V I asked, if God was a respecter 
 of persons ? 
 
 Answer. — 'No. 
 
 Hans. — ^Will you be God's servants, and respect 
 the persons of men ? 
 
 Answer. — That would make an uproar in the 
 town, and they would put us to death. 
 
 Hans. — ^Do you thus suffer for righteousness 
 sake? 
 
94 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 But metliouglit they had no great desire to suf- 
 fer in such a cause. In short, we discoursed much 
 on excommunication ; that if the words of Christ 
 and Paul should be followed, then the Pope, pre- 
 lates, emperor, and king, yea themselves and their 
 whole company would be shut out, and the num- 
 ber become extremely small. I then said to them, 
 that their house was on fire, kindled by the fire of 
 hell, which they should first quench before they 
 came to see if our house was in danger of fire. 
 They then went away, and one of the priests came 
 no more again. With Master Antonis, of Hille, I 
 discoursed in like manner, who troubled the 
 others ; but he let me be in peace. 
 
 Herewith, I commend my dear brethren and 
 sisters in the Lord to the hands of Almighty God 
 the Father, through Jesus Christ the Lord. 
 Amen. 
 
 "Written in prison for the testimony of Christ. 
 In this dark dungeon I have lain a month. I 
 now lie in a deep round dungeon, which is some- 
 what lighter, and in which I have written this let- 
 ter. I hope this week to make my offering, if it 
 please the Lord, with those whom the Lord has 
 thereto appointed. For if it do not take place 
 this week, it will be two months longer, as their 
 sittings are only once in six weeks. Know that 
 our brethren and sisters are comfortable and of 
 good courage, through the mercy of the Lord. 
 God be praised. 
 
 I pray you by the brotherly love you bear me, 
 to forward this letter to Friesland, particularly to 
 
HANSj OF OVERDAM. 95 
 
 Embdenland, this letter itself, as speedily as you 
 can. You may copy it ; but be expeditioas. That 
 I request as a friend ; and let it be taken care of, 
 so that it be not torn or soiled. 
 
 The brethren who are lying with me in the 
 vault greet you unitedly, wishing you peace in the 
 Lord. We pray daily for you. Do the same like- 
 wise for us. "Walk in peace in the Lord; so shall 
 it be well with you. When this letter has been 
 read, forward it to Antwerp, that it may reach the 
 church at Embden, and be read by every one. This 
 I desire of you, my dear brethren, by the brotherly 
 love which you bear towards me. 
 
 The first volume of TJnderhiU's edition of the 
 '^ Butch Marty rology^'' contains the very long and 
 forcible letter addressed by this excellent man to 
 the judges and council of Ghent, the day before 
 he was apprehended, to which reference has already 
 been made. It is full of Scriptural truth, and 
 manifests great holy courage in stating it, but is 
 too long for insertion in our volume. Hans, of 
 Overdam, and Hans Keeskooper were sentenced to 
 death. When they were condemned, the pro- 
 cureur-general said, " The reason of your being 
 condemned as heretics is this: — ^that various 
 learned persons have disputed with you, and you 
 have not suffered yourselves to be instructed." 
 
 Hans, of Overdam. — Gentlemen, had we been 
 allowed to dispute in public, it would soon have 
 been seen what kind of learned persons those were. 
 
 The Procureur General. — It is too late now. 
 It is too late now. 
 
96 BAPTIST MARTYKS. 
 
 Hans, of Oveedam. — ^Yes, yes, it is now too 
 late. 
 
 They were then both taken away, and departed 
 with a smihng countenance. 
 
 Hans Keeskooper had agreed with Hans, of 
 Overdam, that while he drew oft' his hose on the 
 scaffold, Hans, of Overdam, should speak to the 
 people. This was done. The executioner being 
 about to assist Hansken, [Hans Keeskooper,] he 
 wished to do it alone, that Hans, of Overdam, 
 might speak the longer to the people. This being 
 done, they were each fastened to a stake, and pre- 
 sented their bodies a sacrifice to God. 
 
JAQUES DOSIE. 
 
 During the sixteenth century, the exact date we 
 have not been able to ascertain, though it is highly 
 probable that it was in 1560, Jaques Dosie, (pro- 
 bably a Fleming who had fled to Priesland to es- 
 cape the intolerant edict of the emperor, by which 
 a modified, form of the Inquisition was established 
 in the Netherlands,) was apprehended at Leeu- 
 warden, the capital of Friesland, for the sake of the 
 truth of the holy gospel. He is said to have been 
 but fifteen years of age, but God wonderfully ex- 
 hibited in him the power of his grace, and enabled 
 him to bear a noble testimony for the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 On one occasion, when the governor of Friesland 
 and his lady, with many other gentlemen and 
 ladies, were assembled at Leeuwarden, they had 
 this Jaques brought before them, and spoke with 
 him, inquiring if he was tainted with any heresy. 
 Fully did he realize that God gave him " a mouth 
 and wisdom which the enemies could not gainsay 
 or resist." 
 
 After a few words, the governor of Friesland^ 
 in consequence of the people's waiting for him, took 
 his leave ; but his lady, as it appears, being deeply 
 interested, spoke with him, and asked him where- 
 fore he, being yet so young, was thus rigorously 
 confined and bound. 
 
 9 (97) 
 
98 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Jaques answered, ^'This has happened only be- 
 cause I believe in Christ, and depend on him 
 alone, and will by no means forsake him." 
 
 The lady asked him, " Are you not one of the 
 people who rebaptize themselves, and do so much 
 evil in our country, exciting uproar, running to- 
 gether, and who say that for their faith they are 
 driven away, and boast of being the church of 
 God; but who are a dangerous set, and make 
 great disturbance among the people ?" 
 
 Jaques. — My lady, tumultuous people I know 
 none, and am in no wise of the number of such ; 
 but we desire much rather, as the Scripture teaches 
 us, to assist our enemies, and if they are hungry 
 or thirsty to satisfy them with food and drink, and 
 in no wise to resist them by violence or to avenge 
 ourselves. 
 
 Some one said, ^'It would be soon seen, in case 
 you had the power." 
 
 Jaques. — Oh no, my lady ; believe me, if we 
 were free to oppose the wicked witli the outward 
 sword, you ought to know that then seven men 
 could uot have brought me here, and I had es- 
 caped out of your hands ; for strength enough 
 would have been found. 
 
 Lady. — I know that there are sects, that are 
 very infamous, that kill people, and hold a com- 
 munity of goods and wives. 
 
 Jaques. — Oh, no, madam ; such wicked things are 
 laid to our charge without our fault, and people 
 seek occasion thereby to persecute us ; but we must 
 suffer and bear all such things with patience. 
 
JAQUES DOSIE. 99 
 
 Lady. — ^Were tliey not your people who dis- 
 gracefully and shamefully took up the sword 
 against the magistrates at Amsterdam and Mun- 
 ster ? 
 
 Jaques. — Oh, no, madam; those persons greatly 
 erred. But we consider it a devilish doctrine to 
 resist the magistrates by the outward sword and 
 violence. We would much rather suffer persecu- 
 tion and death at their hands, and whatever is ap- 
 pointed us to suffer. 
 
 Lady. — It is, however, laid to your charge, and 
 they do very ill who excite uproar ; but I sincerely 
 believe what you say hereupon. 
 
 Jaques. — My lady ; do we not read much of the 
 same kind, how that wicked men spoke untruly 
 of the Apostles themselves, and the whole Chris- 
 tian multitude, and sought by many evil charges 
 to stir up the higher powers to vengeance against 
 them ? yet it was all falsehood. 
 
 Lady. — ^Do you not think that all are lost who 
 are not baptized in your way? 
 
 Jaques. — Oh, no, madam ; judgment belongs to 
 God alone, who will reward every man according 
 to his works, as plainly appears in many places of 
 the holy Scriptures. Besides, water has no power 
 to cleanse us from sin, as Peter says ; but is only 
 a token of obedience. 
 
 Lady. — ^When you have been baptized, tell me, 
 can you then still sin ? 
 
 Jaques. — ^Yes, indeed, madam ; for that clearly 
 appears fi^om Paul's words; for we are encom- 
 passed still with a weak sinful body, and offend in 
 
100 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 many things. But we must continually crucify 
 and put the same to death, and not do or fulfill 
 the works of the flesh, otherwise we should, by 
 the righteousness of God, be consigned to ever- 
 lasting death. 
 
 Lady. — In what then do you differ from the In- 
 quisitor ? let me hear now. 
 
 Jaques. — Madam; in that I will in nowise re- 
 ceive his doctrine, except he first clearly show me 
 that it every way agrees with God's word ; other- 
 wise he labors in vain. My faith is founded alone 
 upon the pure word of God. Concerning the use 
 of infant baptism, we speak with reason against it, 
 as being no command of Almighty God ; but much 
 rather an invention of men, considering that the 
 young children have no knowledge or discernment 
 about whatever is required and contained in the 
 baptismal service. But Christ, from affection to 
 such innocents, without their seeking it them- 
 selves, graciously promised them the kingdom of 
 God. Besides this, madam, I think the papacy 
 chargeable with many other errors ; for they seek 
 to bring Christ into the bread, or to change the 
 bread itself into his flesh and blood. This we can 
 by no means believe ; but consider it as a gross 
 error and absurdity. But we believe that Christ 
 is truly ascended into heaven, and sits at the right 
 hand of the Father. Believing this, we neither 
 believe nor hold any salvation to be in their meal, 
 or their mass, or purgatory, or their prayers for the 
 dead, or in any such inventions of men, which 
 abound among them, none of which are known in 
 
JAQUES DOSIE. 101 
 
 the sacred Scriptures, but are excluded therefrom. 
 But in opposition thereto, we invoke God, and 
 seek our salvation in him, and not in any crea- 
 ture; that we may. not rob God of the honor due 
 to him, by giving the same to any of the creatures 
 he has made. 
 
 The Provincial being now come, he began to 
 speak, saying, " Will you not believe in the sacra- 
 ment which Christ himself instituted ?" 
 
 Jaques. — Sir, Paul says, that the bread is broken 
 in remembrance of Him, and the cup of blessing 
 is a communion of the blood of Christ. 
 
 Herewith the Provincial ended his discourse. 
 
 Lady. — I consider the worst in you to be, your 
 refusal to baptize the children ; for all Germany, 
 and every kingdom, regard your conduct as 
 heresy. 
 
 Jaques. — Madam, such is indeed the truth, that 
 we are everywhere contemned, and are, like the 
 apostolic band, spoken against in all the world ; 
 but do not think that all such will therefore in the 
 last day be lost. 
 
 Lady. — My dear child, consider ; I beg you to 
 come over to our side, and repent ; you will then 
 be freed from this trouble, and I again fully pro- 
 mise to procure your entire deliverance and free- 
 dom. 
 
 Jaques. — Madam, I thank you heartily for the 
 afiection and kind disposition you have towards 
 me; but I will not exchange my faith to please 
 any mortal being, unless it is proved from the 
 Scripture that I haxe erred. That I might be the 
 9* 
 
102 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 friend of God, I have given myself over entirely to 
 him, in whom I hope to live and die. 
 
 Lady. — My son, look at all this multitude of 
 people. I compassionate you, and earnestly be- 
 seech you to repent of your baptism, and not to 
 continue thus hardened. Should you, so young a 
 child, die in consequence, it would be a heavy 
 cross to my heart. Take the course then by which 
 you may again be at liberty and return to your 
 home. 
 
 Jaques. — Madam, in my baptism I can find 
 nothing criminal, considering that herein I have 
 followed not my own will, but the institution of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Could I have found 
 another and better way to the kingdom of God, 
 it would not have taken place ; for I was desirous 
 with my whole heart to seek the Lord my God. 
 
 Lady. — Could they then all err, so many learned 
 men, who were before you ? Can you dare to be 
 thus presumptuous ? 
 
 Jaques. — Madam, in Israel there were as many 
 as four hundred prophets against one Micaiah, 
 who alone spoke the truth, and was fed on bread 
 and water ; but king Ahab found it to be true too 
 late in his distress. 
 
 Lady. — I find many good qualities in you ; but 
 your greatest error I hold to be in your baptism. 
 That I do not think to be of God. 
 
 This lady frequently required that Jaques should 
 be brought before her ; but though he was young 
 in years, he was highly intelligent xn the know- 
 ledge of the Saviour, and firmly settled on the 
 
JAQUES DOSIE. 103 
 
 foundation stone, Jesus Christ ; so that he va- 
 liantly warded oiF, with the sword of the Spirit, 
 which is the word of God, all the crafty attacks of 
 Satan, whether by cruel threatenings, or the fair 
 promises of the men of this world. He could by 
 no means be brought to deny Christ ; and so was 
 condemned by rulers of the darkness of earth to 
 pass from life to death. He witnessed a good con- 
 fession in life before many witnesses, and proved 
 the sincerity of his faith in the truth by suffering 
 a bloody and cruel death; thus obtaining the 
 crown of martyrdom, and by the infinite grace of 
 God, we doubt not, the crown of everlasting glory. 
 
AN OLD MAN IN HOLLAND. 
 
 Bkandt, in his " History of the Reformation in 
 the Low Countries^'' gives a fine illustration of Bap- 
 tist patience and boldness in the face of death, 
 which it would be unjust to withhold from the 
 readers of this volume. 
 
 The scene was in Holland, the period preceded 
 the year 1551. An old man of seventy-five was 
 brought before the bloody tribunal; his hair was 
 white, his body thin with age, and his manners, 
 which sprung from a heart fearing God, were irre- 
 proachable. He had been baptized in his old age, 
 and then had found, though late, a home in the 
 church. Knowing well the character of those 
 before whom he stands, he feels himself as a sheep 
 bound for the slaughter house, and, surrounded 
 by a number of the burghers, he calmly awaits the 
 approach of the criminal magistrate to pronounce 
 the sentence of death. 
 
 An oflnlcer speaks to him. " Good father, why do 
 you continue thus obstinately in your cursed error, 
 do you think there is such a place as hell?" 
 
 Old Man. — Sir, I believe in a hell, most cer- 
 tainly; but I know nothing of the errors you 
 mention. 
 
 Another. — ^Yes, you are in an error, and in so 
 dreadful a one, that if you die in it you will be 
 damned for ever. 
 (104) 
 
AN OLD MAN IN HOLLAND. 105 
 
 Old Man. — Are you sure of that ? 
 
 Officer. — ^Yes, it is as sure as anything in the 
 world. 
 
 Old Man. — If it is so, then are ye murderers of 
 my soul. 
 
 There was deep silence in the multitude as the 
 old man thus discoursed ; their attention became 
 more earnest, and the oflBlcer, half enraged, and 
 ashamed, loudly continued, — 
 
 Officer. — What do you say, you impertinent 
 fellow ? Are we the murderers of your soul ? 
 
 Old Man. — ^Do not be angry, sir, at the sound 
 of truth. You yourself know that faith is the gift 
 of God, that neither I nor any other can extort 
 this saving gift out of God's hands ; that God be- 
 stows his gifts on one man early, on another late, 
 just as he called the husbandmen into the vine- 
 yard. Suppose now that I had not yet received 
 this gift, as you have, ought you to punish me for 
 this misfortune ? Might not God, in case you suf- 
 fered me to live, impart to me, as well as to you, 
 this excellent gift in a week, a month, a year? 
 If then you hinder me from sharing therein, by 
 depriving me of this time of grace, what are you 
 otherwise but murderers of my soul ? 
 
 The officer of justice hurried him away, not- 
 withstanding the murmurs of the people, whose 
 hearts were moved by his courage and his words. 
 His condemnation did not linger, neither did the 
 sun reach his meridian till the glory of the Lamb 
 burst upon the vision of his martyred servant. lie 
 was beheaded for his testimony to Christ. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 HUSBANDS AND WIVES MARTYRED FOR CHRIST ON THE CON- 
 TINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND HIS WIFE. 
 
 In the time of Zuingle lived the famous Bal- 
 thazar HuBMEYER, of Friedburgh, a learned and 
 eloquent man, who, while yet among the Catholics, 
 had been called a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 He was first a reader and preacher at Ingold- 
 stadt, and afterwards removed to Eegensburg, 
 where he preached with great power. By the 
 illuminations of the Holy Spirit, he was so con- 
 vinced of the abominations of Popery, that, fol- 
 lowing the counsel of God, he separated himself 
 from it. He afterwards rejected, with other errors, 
 their self-invented infant baptism, and taught with 
 all possible zeal the baptism of believers according 
 to the command of Christ. But the dark world 
 could not bear the light of the holy gospel, and 
 the testimony thus given to their false faith and 
 evil works ; therefore Hubmeyer, with many others, 
 was hated and persecuted by the world. 
 
 After many trials, banishments, and imprison- 
 ments, he removed to Mclasburg, in Moravia, and 
 was there, together with his wife, apprehended, 
 (106) 
 
BALTHAZAR IIUBMEYER AND WIFE. 107 
 
 and taken to Vienna, in Austria, where, after 
 various trials, and long imprisonment, endured 
 with great steadfastness, he was burned to ashes, 
 and his wife drowned; both thus confirming by 
 their deaths, the faith they had received from 
 God. 
 
 Some interesting particulars of the life and death 
 of this excellent man may be given. He was one 
 of the earliest coadjutors and intimate friends of 
 Ziiingle. lie was born in Friedburg, near Augs- 
 burg, in Bavaria, not later than the year 1480, and 
 thence often called Friedburgher, or, in its Latin- 
 ized form, Pacimontanus. By the Cardinal de 
 Sandoval, in his "Index of Prohibited Books," he 
 is ranked by name with Luther, Zuingle, Calvin, 
 Schwenckfeld, standing fourth on the list as a 
 principal leader in the Reformation. 
 
 Beneath the shadow of the beautiful minster of 
 the High school of Friedburg, Ilubmeyer acquired, 
 under the renowned controversialist and theo- 
 logian, Eck, his knowledge of the ancient tongues. 
 His first intention was to become a physician ; but 
 he soon exchanged medicine for theology. Barely 
 supplied with the means of subsistence, he was for 
 a time compelled to suspend his studies, and as- 
 sume the office of schoolmaster at Schaff'hausen. 
 The friendships he there formed were continued to 
 a later period of his life, especially with an emi- 
 nent physician of the name of Adelphus. In 1511, 
 he graduated at Friedburg ; and in the following 
 year, on account of his erudition and eloquence, 
 became professor of Divinity and principal preacher 
 
108 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 in the Maria Kirk at Ingoldstadt, a fortified city 
 in Bavaria, by the appointment of that ancient 
 university. For three years and five months he 
 continued his eloquent and instructive labors; 
 and by his earnest and powerful preaching revived 
 the decayed spirit of Catholicism. 
 
 His fame reached Regensburg, the modern 
 Eatisbon, and one of the most ancient cities of 
 Germany. Early in 1516, he removed to that 
 city. The inhabitants flocked to the grand but 
 gloomy cathedral to hear his denanciations of the 
 vices of the times ; and the soft blue colored light 
 which fell upon the waving mass, from windows 
 richly painted, helped to increase the superstitious 
 awe and enthusiasm which his eloquence inspired. 
 
 The Jews were the especial objects of his denun- 
 ciations. He treated on the evils of Judaism, but 
 particularly on the damage received by the entire 
 German nation from the Jewish usury. The en- 
 raged senate sought from the emperor an edict of 
 banishment against them ; and on the last day of 
 February the Jews were driven from the city, their 
 goods plundered, and their synagogue, with other 
 buildings, levelled to the ground. 
 
 In its stead arose a chapel dedicated to Maria 
 Formosa, and before the door was set up a wonder- 
 working stone statue of the Virgin! Pilgrim- 
 ages were made to it. Its fame spread on every 
 side. The chronicler hints that the clergy were 
 not sparing of incantations and magical arts to 
 attract the vulgar, that they might be enriched 
 by the liberality of the congregated multitudes. 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. 109 
 
 Laborers engaged at their work, when they saw 
 the long lines of people pass by — woodmen, tail- 
 ors, and maidens — to the Virgin's fane, would 
 shoulder their axes and reaping hooks, hasten to 
 join the devout procession, and wildly cast them- 
 selves at the feet of the goddess of Regensburg. 
 
 To this infatuation Hubmeyer contributed, until 
 the noise of Luther's strife with Tetzel, and of 
 Zuingle's bold proclamation of the gospel at En- 
 isidlin, awoke his suspicions, and led him to see 
 the errors of that church which he had so zealously 
 served. 
 
 While yet a Romish priest, Hubmeyer had 
 sought to revive the ancient spirit of religion, to 
 render the services of his church more intelligible, 
 and to awaken the lost devotion of the common 
 people. He appears to have gladly hailed the 
 dawn of better days. His course, as a reformer, 
 was begun by translating the gospels and epistles 
 into the German tongue, and he read the mass 
 in the language of the common people. He next 
 altered the canon of the mass, and celebrated it 
 under both the forms of bread and wine. He now 
 taught the true doctrine concerning it, that Christ 
 was not bodily present in the bread, and that after 
 the consecration it continued to be bread. His 
 hearers, to whom for two years he had preached, 
 were directed to reverence the blessed Virgin and 
 the saints no more, and the use of the " Ave 
 Maria" was abolished. Fasts were set aside, and per- 
 mission given to eat meats without distinction. He 
 laid aside the chalice and the robes worn at mass, 
 
 10 
 
110 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 and sold the sacred utensils. He clothed himself 
 in a coat made of a black camlet priest's cloak. lie 
 lifted up his voice against images in churches, 
 broke some into pieces and burnt them, and 
 called their worship idolatry. It was at a later period 
 that he rejected the baptism of infants. 
 
 Thus changed in opinion, he left Eegensburg, 
 and for a time abode at Schaffhausen. About the 
 year 1519, he received the appointment of preacher 
 at Waldshut. There he investigated with diligence 
 the Holy Scriptures, and led many of the people 
 to abandon the superstitions of liome. He also 
 formed an intimacy with Erasmus, who then re- 
 sided at Basle. In a letter to his friend, the 
 physician, John Adelphus, of Schaifhausen, June 
 23, 1522, he testifies of this learned man, that he 
 spoke boldly but wrote timidly. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hubmeyer's return to Regensburg 
 was longed for by many of his former hearers ; 
 and in 1522, he returned for a year to minister 
 among them as a teacher of the doctrines of the 
 Reformation. In March, 1523, he ventured to 
 Waldshut ; and in May, visited Zuingle at Zurich, 
 with whom he enjoyed much Christian intercourse. 
 His mind was at this time unsettled on the subject 
 of infant baptism, and it formed one of the topics 
 of their conversation. Zuingle and Oecolampa- 
 dius were in a similar state of doubtful opinion. 
 
 To carry on the great work of the Reformation, 
 Hubmeyer preached the gospel, and with amazing 
 success, in St. Gall. As the church could not hold 
 the crowds who assembled to hear him, he preached 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. Ill 
 
 on the place in the open air. He there contracted 
 a friendship with the eminent Dr. Joachim Yon 
 "Watt, afterwards burgomaster of St. Gall, who, at 
 a later period, offered him a refuge from the per- 
 secutions he endured. 
 
 It was at the second great disputation, held in 
 October of this year, that Hubmeyer appeared side 
 by side with Zuingle and Leo Jude, as the main- 
 tainer of the word of God against the priests of 
 Eome. The assembly was convened in the large 
 hall of the town house of Zurich, in the presence 
 of the members of the great council. Three hun- 
 dred and fifty priests, chiefly from the cantons of 
 Schaffhausen and St. Gall, were there, with more 
 than nine hundred spectators. Joachim Von Watt 
 and two others were named presidents of the 
 assembly. The subject of the first day's discussion 
 was the worship of images — a question then of 
 pressing interest. But a few weeks before, a 
 citizen of Zurich, animated with zeal, had ventured 
 to dash into pieces a crucifix that was held in high 
 estimation at Stadelhofen. The publication of a 
 small pamphlet by Louis Hetzer, had deepened 
 the feeling of intense hatred towards the use of 
 images. In this tract, Hetzer adduced the con- 
 demnation pronounced in Scripture against idola- 
 try, and its approval of the iconoclastic zeal of 
 Ilezekiah. 
 
 Hubmeyer, on the first day, appears to have 
 spoken but once, and then briefiy. He spoke of 
 the Christian's duty, by command of God, to assist 
 his brother if he should have fallen into error, and 
 
112 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 if possible to enlighten him upon those mistakes 
 and idolatrous abuses which, in the course of cen- 
 turies, had disfigured the church. In all the dis- 
 puted matters the clear word of God, contained in 
 both testaments, which God has himself sanctified, 
 is the sole judge. That word must be made 
 known. It testifies of Christ. Holy Scripture 
 alone is the true light and lamp, by which every 
 human argument and darkness must be illumined. 
 Christ hath himself taught us to take in hand the 
 lamp of his saving word, that when the Bride- 
 groom cometh we may enter with him to the wed- 
 ding. By this alone can errors relating to images 
 and the mass be destroyed; and what is built 
 thereon will last for ever, for the word of God is 
 immortal. Thus he proclaimed the supremacy of 
 God's word, and none was found to answer him. 
 
 The second day's disputation was on the subject 
 of the sacrifice of the mass. It was opened by 
 Zuingle and Leo Jude, who met with but few and 
 feeble opponents among the assembled priests. 
 After a pause, Hubmeyer arose. He referred to 
 the decision of the preceding day. It was well 
 and truly established from Scripture that images 
 ought not to be used, and he wished that images 
 had never come into use among Christians. The 
 laws of Moses were clear and explicit in their con- 
 demnation. God commanded them to be burnt, 
 and they who made them were accursed, — "And 
 all the people shall say ^ Amen.'' The hall echoed 
 with many voices, saying, ^' Amen." 
 
 Hubmeyer continued: — Either images were 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. 113 
 
 commanded to be honored, or they were not. If 
 they were commanded, let the text of Scripture be 
 produced, — that would settle the question. If 
 they were not commanded, they were unnecessary. 
 What God teaches, whether by word or works, is 
 useful and profitable. But whatever plant he hath 
 not planted shall be plucked up. Were they use- 
 ful, God would have commanded them. It is 
 blasphemy to send sinners to images to pray, to 
 draw and invite them to exercises of devotion. For 
 it is Christ who calls the sinner, who invites him 
 to the wedding feast ; he alone moves men to em- 
 brace that which is good, and God the Father dis- 
 ciplines those who come to Christ. Thus did this 
 eminent man clearly perceive, that not only were 
 those devices in the worship and institutions in the 
 church to be laid aside that were clearly forbidden 
 by the word of God, but those also which could 
 not be maintained by the direct command or 
 authority of Scripture. 
 
 The discussion on the mass was renewed on the 
 following day. After a few words from Conrad 
 Grebel, asserting the existence of various abuses, 
 Hubmeyer proceeded at some length to refer to 
 them, and point out how far the practices of 
 Rome had departed from the institution of 
 Christ. He would prefer to lay aside the term 
 "mass," and call the ordinance the testament of 
 Christ, or a memorial of his bitter death. It was 
 the greatest abuse of all to call it a sacrifice. His 
 dear brethren in Christ, Ulrich Zuingle, and Leo 
 Jude, had well shown its contrariety to the word 
 10* 
 
114 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 of God. Thence it followed that it could be no 
 sacrifice for the living or the dead. As we cannot 
 believe for another, neither can we offer a sacrifice 
 or mass for another. The institution of Christ 
 was given to strengthen the faith of the believing. 
 The pure, clear word of God ought to be an- 
 nounced with the ordinance of which it is a sign, 
 and the whole service be observed in the language 
 of the people. The Lord's people should, more- 
 over, communicate in both kinds; he who does 
 otherwise, does wrong to the directions of Christ, 
 which he has given in his last testament. 
 V Hubmeyer nobly continued: — "These are my 
 opinions, which I have gathered from the Scrip- 
 tures, upon images and the mass. If they are not 
 right and Christian, I pray you all, by Jesus 
 Christ our only Saviour — I entreat you by the last 
 judgment, that ye will instruct me in a brotherly 
 and Christian spirit from the Scriptures. For I 
 may err: I am a man ; but a heretic I cannot be. 
 I wish from my heart to be instructed, and I will 
 promise gratefully to confess my error. Most 
 cheerfully I submit in all obedience to the word 
 of God, and will faithfully follow you as ye are fol- 
 lowers of Christ. I have spoken; judge ye; 
 teach me. To Christ I will pray, that he may 
 grant us his grace to do his will." 
 
 A brief colloquy ensued between Zuingle and 
 Grebel, the latter urging the abolition of abuses, 
 the former admitting their existence, but referring 
 the subject to the mandate of the magistracy! 
 The disputation closed; but not without the 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. 115 
 
 magistrates committing to prison, or banishing, 
 the men whose zeal against idolatry had given 
 rise to the discussion. The Reformation halted, 
 and waited the pleasure of the ruling power — • 
 and Zuingle would have it so. 
 
 Hubmeyer returned to Waldshut. Early in 
 1524, he published eighteen propositions to his 
 companions in office in the chapter, inviting them 
 to a discussion, to be closed with a fraternal meal 
 at his expense. Some of these propositions fol- 
 low : — 
 
 1. Faith only justifies us before God. 
 
 4. Those works only are good which God hath 
 commanded : those .only are evil which he hath 
 forbidden. 
 
 5. The mass is no sacrifice, but a solemn me- 
 morial of Christ's death ; for which reason it can- 
 not be oiFered for the living or the dead. 
 
 8. As every Christian believes and is baptized 
 for himself, so should every one, according to the 
 Scriptures, for himself judge whether he is fed by 
 the pastor of his soul. 
 
 9. As Christ alone died for our sins, and as we 
 all are baptized into his name, so must he alone 
 be addressed as our Intercessor and Mediator. 
 
 12. The time is at hand, indeed has already 
 come, that no man shall be regarded as a priest 
 who does not announce God's word. 
 
 13. The fellow-believers are bound to maintain, 
 and properly to support, with food and clothing, 
 those who preach to them purely and plainly the 
 word of God. 
 
116 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 18. He who labors not for bread with the sweat 
 of his brow, is excommunicate. 
 
 Other propositions condemned fasting, images, 
 and purgatory; and thus show that Hubmeyer 
 was prepared to forsake the entire circle of Romish 
 doctrine. The chapter met early in 1524. The 
 truths advanced were vigorously discussed, until 
 but one priest, a young nobleman, remained stead- 
 fast to the old communion. From this time the 
 reformation rapidly advanced in Waldshut, under 
 the wise guidance of the chief pastor Hubmeyer. 
 . The governing powers of Austria now interfered. 
 Rumors of the approaching peasant- war began also 
 to utter their voices amid the revelry and reckless 
 atrocities of the feudal lords. Revolution and Re- 
 formation appeared to be synonymous words, and 
 the imperial power drove Hubmeyer from his 
 home. His refuge was Schaffhausen, a town of 
 Switzerland, not far north of the forest towns. 
 Soon were found in that free city men prepared to 
 sacrifice the exile, for political favor with the em- 
 peror ; and he was again constrained to return to 
 "Waldshut. His safety was of brief duration. The 
 men of Zurich, who in their reforming zeal had 
 hastened to Waldshut with arms to aid the re- 
 formation so early stayed by Austria, were com- 
 pelled to return ; and soon after, Hubmeyer sought 
 an asylum in the houses of some faithful men of 
 Zurich. His appearance in that city was with very 
 different feelings and results to his former visit. 
 Now he was a Baptist, a proclaimed adversary of 
 
BALTHAZAR IIUBMEYER AND WIFE. 117 
 
 Zuingle, — a hunted bird, that quickly fell a prey 
 to the arts of the fowler. 
 
 Two years before, the question of infant baptism 
 had excited much interest among the leading re- 
 formers of Switzerland ; several of Zuingle's early 
 coadjutors had already seceded from his side, op- 
 posing his indiscriminate church constitution, and 
 its alliance with the state. Early in 1524, Hub- 
 meyer had opened a correspondence with Zuingle 
 on the subject, and was accustomed to affirm that 
 he possessed an early writing of Zuingle, in which 
 he expressed himself against the baptism of in- 
 fants. The people of Waldshut were advised not 
 to bring their babes to the font. Hubmeyer waa 
 sure that infant baptism had no authority from the 
 word of God; but was not quite sure that it was 
 right, in opposition to the advice of Zuingle and 
 Oecolampadius, to abolish it altogether. The 
 parents were therefore spoken with, and not until 
 their entreaties were very urgent did our Reformer 
 yield to the celebration of the rite. In December 
 of this year he wrote this sincere and earnest note 
 to Zuingle : — 
 
 " Write to me again, for God's sake, on baptism. 
 And if I shall have offended thee and Leo, the 
 fault is unawares. Pardon me. Farewell. Sa- 
 lute Leo. From our nest at Waldshut. Thine. 
 
 '' Balthazar. 
 
 "Margaret will answer the request of Leo.'' 
 
 From this time his views rapidly matured, and 
 
118 BAPTIST MARTYES. 
 
 he was soon treated as a bitter foe by his eminent 
 correspondent. So late as November, 1524, Hub- 
 meyer wrote of Zuingle as his '' brother in Christ;" 
 but early in 1525 he complains to Oecolampadius 
 that Zuingle and Leo had forsaken him. Would 
 the Reformer of Basle forsake him too ? Would 
 he not from friendship, for the sake of Christian 
 peace, and for God, hasten to correct his errors, 
 and to restore the wandering sheep ? For openly 
 did Balthazar teach the institutions of Christ. 
 Who, asked he, instituted Baptism ? — Christ. 
 Where? — in the last chapter of Matthew. In 
 what words ? — " Go ye into all nations and teach 
 them, and baptize them into the name of the Fa- 
 ther, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Alto- 
 gether right. Why, therefore, do we baptize chil- 
 dren? Baptism, they say, is a mere sign. A 
 sign truly it is, and a symbol instituted by Christ 
 in most pregnant and august words. But it can- 
 not be made to apply to babes ; therefore is infant 
 baptism without any authority whatever. " I be- 
 lieve and know," he concludes, that Christendom 
 shall not receive its rising aright, unless baptism 
 and the Lord's supper are brought to their original 
 purity." 
 
 Thus simply and clearly, assuming Zuingle 's 
 views of a sacrament to be correct, did Hubmeyer 
 reason. The answer of Oecolampadius w^as to the 
 effect, that as all children are born in original sin ; 
 — since some have even in the womb been sancti- 
 fied ; — since also the Most Merciful will listen to 
 the prayers of the church, seeking the salvation of 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. 119 
 
 the offspring of the faithful ; — and as otherwise the 
 children of Christians would be worse off than the 
 children of the circumcision ; therefore it was 
 right to bring them to the sacred font. These, 
 and such like arguments, did Oecolampadius now 
 use, though, in another letter, he admitted that the 
 New Testament gives no authority for infant bap- 
 tism. Such arguments, however, failed to con- 
 vince Hubmeyer, as they have many others, that 
 infant baptism is an institution of the Saviour; 
 and at Easter, at a retired village not far from 
 Waldshut, in company with one hundred and ten 
 persons, he was baptized by William Roubli, one 
 of the earliest of the Swiss Baptists, and for some 
 time a pastor at Basle. 
 
 The matter was now public. Hubmeyer him- 
 self baptized some three hundred persons in the 
 few following months. Great excitement every- 
 where prevailed. He published a work on Bap- 
 tism, which brought in the autumn a violent and 
 virulent reply from Zuingle. Some of the Bap- 
 tists were cast into prison ; and so cruel were the 
 proceedings, that even the populace complained 
 that injustice was done to them. The public opin- 
 ion was so strong that at the persuasion of the 
 ministers, a public conference was called at Zurich, 
 in which Zuingle took a leading part. It failed, 
 however, to convince the Baptists of their errors, 
 which -many of them were made to atone for by 
 imprisonment and fines. 
 
 Hubmeyer published a tract, in which he com- 
 plains of Zuingle and his followers: — that they 
 
120 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 had proceeded so far as at one time to throw into 
 a dark and miserable tower, twenty persons, both 
 men and pregnant women, widows and young 
 females, and to pronounce the sentence upon them 
 — that thenceforward they should see neither sun 
 nor moon for the remainder of their lives, and be 
 fed till their days were ended with bread and 
 water. And that they should remain in the dark 
 tower together, both the living and the dead, sur- 
 rounded with filth and putrefaction, until not a 
 single survivor of the whole remained. He tells 
 us, farther, that some of these persons would re- 
 fuse to take even a mouthful of bread for three 
 days in succession that the rest might have the 
 more to eat. " God !" he writes, "- what a hard, 
 severe, cruel sentence upon pious Christian peo- 
 ple, of whom no one could speak evil, only that 
 they had received water baptism in obedience to 
 the command of Christ !" 
 
 About July, 1525, Hubmeyer entered Zurich, 
 and sought a refuge at the Green Shield with a 
 few friends and faithful followers. His coming 
 was soon known among his fellow-believers, and 
 soon also to the council of Zurich. He was sought 
 out, and immured in the cells of the court-house. 
 For many days and weeks Zuingle and his old 
 associates endeavored to shake his adhesion to the 
 truth. At last the torture was applied. Protestant 
 historians say that a promise of recantation was 
 willingly given, and written with his own hand. 
 Alas ! how willingly ! the pains of the rack were 
 the sharp and eftectual arguments. 
 
 On the 22d of December, he was led to the 
 
BALTHAZAR HUBMEYER AND WIFE. 121 
 
 minster, and placed at a desk facing that from 
 which Zuingle long and vehemently declaimed 
 against the heresies which his friend was there 
 come to confess. The sermon was over, and every 
 eye turned to the rising form of the sick Balthazar. 
 Though not old, his trials have told on his robust 
 frame ; and with a quivering voice he begins to 
 read from the paper of recantation before him. As 
 his articulation becomes distinct, he is heard to 
 affirm that infant baptism is without the command 
 of Christ. As the words continue to flow, and 
 add certainty to the incredulous ears of the crowd 
 in the thronged cathedral, murmurs float omi- 
 nously in the resounding roof, increasing by de- 
 grees to audible expressions of approbation or of 
 horror. Zuingle's voice rises above all. He quiets 
 the coming storm, and Hubmeyer is rapidly con- 
 veyed to his cell in the Wellenburg. 
 
 Redoubled efforts were afterwards made to re- 
 call the mischief that had been done. Probably 
 renewed tortures were applied or threatened ; for 
 in a few months, the sufferer is said to have made 
 a public recantation both at Zurich and at St. 
 Gall ; but with so little satisfaction to his perse- 
 cutors, that although released from prison, he was 
 kept in the t6wn under strict surveillance. About 
 the middle of the year 1526, by the aid of distant 
 friends, he succeeded in escaping from Zurich, and 
 after preaching at Constance for a short time, he 
 journeyed to Moravia, passing through Augsburg 
 on his way. There he freely proclaimed the gos- 
 pel, and in all the region round about, baptizing 
 
 11 
 
122 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 many, and forming clinrclies of Christ according 
 to his word. 
 
 In the year 1528, he was arrested, probably at 
 Briinn, where he was teacher of the church, at the 
 command of king Ferdinand, and sent to Vienna. 
 After some days he was thrown into the dungeons 
 of the castle of Gritsenstein. At his own request 
 he was visited by Dr. Faber, of Gran, in Hungary, 
 who had been in former days his friend. Their in- 
 terviews, at which two other learned men assisted, 
 lasted the greater part of three days. The sub- 
 stance of their discussions Faber afterwards pub- 
 lished, and hints that on several points Hubmeyer 
 yielded to the cogency of h^s arguments. It is im- 
 possible, however, to gather from Faber's book what 
 Hubmeyer's sentiments really were. A written ex- 
 position of his views was afterwards sent to king 
 Ferdinand, by Hubmeyer himself; and it is im- 
 possible that any important change could have 
 taken place, as he was immediately sentenced to 
 death. The sentence was read to him in presence 
 of many thousand men. He courageously went to 
 the stake, on the 10th of March, 1528. 
 
 The partner of his life was also partner of his 
 sufferings ; imprisoned with him, she too was led to 
 Vienna, and there condemned to death by drown- . 
 ing. This faithful woman in the river Danube 
 found a watery grave. What a meeting must these 
 noble martyrs of Christ have had in heaven in 
 the presence of their Lord ! 
 
JEEONIMUS SEGEESON AND HIS WIFE, LYS- 
 KEN DIRKS. 
 
 On September 2cl, 1551, these excellent persons, 
 who had fallen into the hands of their spiritual 
 tyrants, and endured long and trying sufferings, 
 passed through several severe examinations, and 
 having given full evidence of their cordial attach- 
 ment to Christ, nobly sealed their testimony with 
 their blood. Jeroninus, in company with a de- 
 voted Christian, called Tall Hendrik, died at the 
 stake, and the wife of Jeronimus was drowned in 
 a sack in the river Scheldt. 
 
 We have before us a long and deeply interesting 
 correspondence between these excellent persons, 
 who were confined in different cells, as well as 
 with other friends. The whole is much too long 
 for insertion in this volume, but two letters shall 
 be given at length, and a few passages selected 
 from others. To explain a passage in the first 
 letter, it may be remarked, that the Baptists on 
 the continent of Europe, at that period, refused to 
 be married by the clergy of the dominant church, 
 but were united before the church of which they 
 were members, similar to the practice of the soci- 
 ety of Friends at the present day. This was made 
 a matter of reproach and accusation by their ene- 
 mies, as if they encouraged and practiced licen- 
 tiousness, than which nothing could be farther 
 
 (123) 
 
124 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 from the truth. After the Revolution, when mar- 
 riage became a civil act in the Netherlands, in 
 1574, and 1580, the Baptists ceased to marry in 
 their own assemblies, and resorted to the civil au- 
 thorities. 
 
 The following is the first letter we shall give. 
 It will be remembered that both parties were now 
 in prison, charged with the high crime of worship- 
 ing God in what they esteemed the New Testa- 
 ment way. 
 
 " Fear God always. 
 
 *'In lonesome cell, guarded and strong I lie, 
 Bound by Christ's love, his truth to testify ; 
 Though walls be thick, the door no hand unclose, 
 God is my strength, my solace and repose. 
 
 " Grace, peace, gladness, joy and comfort, a 
 firm faith, good confidence, with ardent love to 
 God, I wish my most beloved wife, Lysken Dirks, 
 whom I married in the presence of God and his 
 holy church, and took thus, agreeably to the 
 Lord's command, to be my wife. Consolation, 
 joy, and gladness, my dear wife, be increased and 
 multiplied unto you. 
 
 " I pray the Lord very earnestly for you, that he 
 would comfort you, and remove what is too heavy 
 for you. I know well, my chosen lamb, that you 
 are greatly dejected on my account; but put away 
 all sorrow, and look to Jesus, the Leader and 
 Finisher of our faith, and let us henceforth walk 
 in all righteousness and holiness, as the children 
 of peace. Let us employ well the time of grace, 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 125 
 
 and think wliat great mercj the Saviour has shown 
 us. Oh, my dear wife, think only what a faithful 
 God we serve. He will not suffer us to be ashamed. 
 Think how faithfully he led the children of Israel 
 through the Eed Sea with an outstretched hand, 
 out of Pharaoh's house of bondage, and from the 
 land of Egypt. Think how they had to prepare 
 themselves before they could depart, and how they 
 ate the paschal lamb with unleavened bread, and 
 must eat it standing, and how they covered up in 
 their garments the unleavened bread they had, 
 and began 1^ depart toward the wilderness. The 
 angel of the Lord went before them, by day in a 
 pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire, and 
 thus enlightened them. But when they were 
 afraid of Pharaoh and his host, the people began 
 to murmur against Moses, for they had no stead- 
 fast confidence in the Lord that he would lead 
 them foi-th; but the Lord told Moses what he 
 would do, and how he would display his power on 
 Pharaoh and his host, and he commanded Moses 
 to take his rod and stretch forth his hand over the 
 sea, and when Moses did so the sea dried up, and 
 the waters were divided, and became a wall unto 
 them on the right hand and on the left, so that 
 they went through the sea dry*shod. But Pharaoh 
 pursued them with his host, and was drowned with 
 all his captains and people ; while Israel passed 
 through without loss, and praised and gave thanks 
 to God, that he had delivered them from Pharaoh's 
 house of bondage. But they were not yet in the 
 promised land. They came into the terrible desert, 
 
126 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 where there was no bread. The bread which they 
 had brought out of Egypt was not much ; it was 
 the unleavened dough which they had brought in 
 their clothes on departing from Egypt. Then 
 were they disheartened, because they had nothing 
 to eat; but the Lord fed them with bread from 
 heaven. 
 
 " In like manner, my most beloved wife, we 
 have not overcome all things when we have con- 
 fessed the truth and separated ourselves from the 
 world, and renounced all sensual delights and de- 
 sires. We must likewise wrestle with enemies, 
 that is, we must wrestle here in this world with 
 emperors, with the powers and princes of this 
 world. "We must in this world suffer, for Paul 
 has said, that ' all that will live godly in Christ 
 Jesus, must suffer persecution.' We must com- 
 pletely conquer the world, sin, death, and the 
 devil, not with material swords and spears, but 
 with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 
 God, and with the shield of faith, wherewith we 
 must quench all sharp and fiery darts, and place 
 on our heads the helmet of salvation, with the 
 armor of righteousness, and our feet be shod with 
 the preparation of the gospel. Being thus strength- 
 ened with these weapons, we shall, with Israel, 
 get through the wilderness, oppose and overcome 
 all our enemies. They must be brought to shame 
 who fight against the truth. 
 
 " When now the children of Israel were passed 
 through the wilderness, that terrible and fearful 
 wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and had 
 
JEROXIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 127 
 
 journeyed therein forty years, and surmounted so 
 many perils, and had taken so many cities and 
 countries on this side of Jordan, still they had 
 not yet entered into the promised land. They had 
 not yet passed over Jordan ; but the Lord showed 
 Moses the promised country from afar. 
 
 " my dear wife, I have likewise seen from afar 
 the promised land. I hope soon to enter the 
 beautiful city so richly adorned, that John de- 
 scribes. Its foundations are twelve precious stones, 
 its walls and streets of pure and transparent gold. 
 The city has twelve gates, each gate of pearl, and 
 there is no night there, for the Lord God en- 
 lightens it. And the Lord told Moses that he 
 should not bring that people into the promised 
 land, but Joshua brought them in, and the Lord 
 led them dry-shod through the Jordan. Lie com- 
 manded them, that they should keep his laws but 
 failing the Lord gave them over into the hands 
 of their foes, so that they were slain by their 
 enemies. Even when they had passed over Jor- 
 dan, they were not yet in full possession of the 
 land of promise, which flowed with milk and 
 honey; they had to take possession thereof by 
 mere force, and to slay all their enemies, and to 
 burn their cities with fire. In like maimer must 
 we also enter the promised land by force, for 
 Christ saith that ' the kingdom of heaven sufFereth 
 violence.' I now for the first time know what war- 
 fare is ; no one knows it better than he who has 
 experienced it, so craftily do they approach in 
 order to seduce us. 
 
128 BAPTIST MARTYRS.. 
 
 *^ Know that I received your letter by my mo- 
 ther, which I read with tears. I thank you that 
 you therein so heartily comfort me, and I rejoice 
 in hearing that you are so well contented. 
 
 " Understand, my beloved wife, Lysken, that I 
 have been before the Margrave, who had there 
 with him two Dominican friars, and two justices, 
 and the recording clerk. He asked me if I had 
 not yet thought better of it, saying, that he had 
 * allowed the two good gentlemen to save [absolve] 
 my soul if I would repent. I replied, that I would 
 not renounce my faith, for it was the truth. They 
 then asked me what my faith was ? I said to the 
 monks, ' Ask the Margrave ; to him I have con- 
 fessed my faith; ask it of him.' They harassed 
 me sorely ; but I would say nothing at all to 
 them. They asked me how I knew that it was 
 the truth ? If God had spoken to me by word of 
 mouth ? 
 
 *' As they ccruld get nothing more from me, my 
 confession was read, namely, that I did not approve 
 of the sacrament. I said, 'No, it was only a 
 bread-god.' The priests were wroth that I so con- 
 temned their god. They were desirous of talking 
 with me. I said, 'I will not hear you, nor speak 
 to you ; but let my brother come here with me, I 
 will then speak with you, and we will make con- 
 fession of our faith.' They then asked me if I 
 was not sufficiently established in my faith, that I 
 thus relied upon my brother ? I said, ' Yes, my 
 faith is strong enough, but that you should not 
 wrest our words.' They said, 'We shall not wrest 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON A^^D WIFE. 129 
 
 your words.' I said, 'I know you too well, and 
 am perfectly acquainted with your craftiness.' 
 
 "The Margrave said, ^It shall be granted you.'* 
 I thought he said that he would bring a Bible with 
 him. The priests said, ' When the little children 
 are baptized, they then obtain faith.' At this I 
 laughed, and asked, ' Why then did they not go to 
 Turkey, to baptize the Turks ; if men thereby be- 
 came possessed of faith, as you say, they too would 
 become believers?' They said, ^Although men 
 should baptize the Turks, they would nevertheless 
 remain Turks still.' 
 
 " They pressed me sore that I would recant, and 
 become a good member of the Eomish church. 
 The Margrave and the justices were so unrighte- 
 ously moved with compassion towards me, that 
 they said, ' If your life were spared, and you re- 
 pented, and became a good member of the Romish 
 church, I should have good hope of you ; for you 
 are brought here young and for no crime, and I 
 know by whom. [The Margrave referred to 
 Jelis Van Aken, a Mennonite minister, by whom 
 he had been baptized.] You are also descended 
 from very worthy parents, and your mother is 
 almost dying from grief.' I said, 'Even if the 
 door stood open, and you should say. Go, only say 
 I am sorry, I would not go ; for I am sure I have 
 
 * The priests often misrepresented the martyrs as having made 
 a recantation in these solitary interviews, partly to increase their 
 own influence, and partly to induce others to follow their supposed 
 example, and thus injure the cause of truth. To prevent this, the 
 martyrs were anxious to have present some of their own friends. 
 
130 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the truth.' Tlie Margrave then said, ^If you will 
 not listen, I will have you burned alive.' Thereat 
 I smiled, and said, 'Whatever you do to me, on 
 account of my faith, I will willingly suffer.' He 
 added, ' His wife is the greatest heretic there is in 
 the town.' 
 
 '' I cannot sufficiently thank the Lord for all the 
 strength and vigor he gives me in this trial. I 
 find indeed in the present season that the Lord is 
 with us, for he helps us so faithfully in all our 
 need. He is such a faithful leader ; he gives his 
 servants such courage ; strengthens them so that 
 they do not fear. They neither fear nor tremble, 
 through the great love they have to their heavenly 
 Father. For St. Paul says, 'Who shall separate 
 us from the love of God? Tribulation, or dis- 
 tress, persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or 
 peril, or sword ? as it is written, For thy sake we 
 are killed all the day long : we are accounted as 
 sheep for the slaughter. N'ay, in all these things 
 we are more than conquerors through him that 
 loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, 
 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor do- 
 minion, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea- 
 ture, shall separate us from the love that is in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord.' 
 
 " Therefore, my most beloved wife, Lysken, sub- 
 mit yourself to present circumstances ; be patient 
 in tribulation, and instant in prayer, and look 
 at all times to the precious promises everywhere 
 given us, if we continue steadfast to the end. Let 
 
JERONIMUP SEGERSON AND WIFE. 131 
 
 ns guard the precious treasure, for we have this 
 treasure in earthen vessels, and cannot hide it. It 
 everywhere discovers itself, and is much too pre- 
 cious to be concealed. We are so joyful, having 
 this treasure, which is our faith, hope, and love. 
 These will never leave us barren of comfort should 
 we even be placed in a dark hole, separated from 
 each other. The treasure is of such a nature that 
 it cannot be hidden. The one calls to the other, 
 and pours out his treasure, so that it may be seen. 
 We are so happy ! everlasting praise and thanks 
 to the Lord! We call upon him, we sing together, 
 we experience great joy in comforting and strength- 
 ening each other. 
 
 " The Lord gives us such strength and might, 
 that we cannot thank him enough for the great 
 mercy he displays towards us. Therefore we are 
 not weary ; for although our outward man decay- 
 eth, yet the inward man is nevertheless renewed 
 day by day; for our affliction, which is but tem- 
 porary and light, worketh a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory for us who look not at the 
 things that are seen, but at the things that are 
 not seen. 
 
 "Thus, my dear wife, cease not to serve the 
 Lord your God with all your heart, and to follow his 
 footsteps. 'For we know that if this earthly house 
 of our tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
 ing of God, a house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens. For this we greatly long — for our 
 dwelling which is in heaven; earnestly desiring 
 therewith to be clothed upon ; for me, I would rather 
 
132 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 be clothed than be found naked; for as long as we 
 are at home in the body, we are on pilgrimage, 
 and are absent from the Lord. 
 
 " Therefore, my dear wife, look diligently that 
 you pass the time of your pilgrimage here with 
 fear and trembling ; not, however, with such fear 
 and trembling that we should fear the world, or be 
 afraid or tremble before the world because they 
 are so furious against us. But we must fear and 
 tremble before the Lord, so that we may keep his 
 commandments and statutes, and thus finish the 
 period of our pilgrimage in the fear of the Lord, 
 and attain the end of our faith, namely, the salva- 
 tion of our souls. Then we shall ever rejoice with 
 the Lord, and meet him at the resurrection of the 
 dead. Therefore, fear not the world ; for the hairs 
 of your head are all numbered. They have no 
 power, except it be given them from above. Christ 
 saith, ' Fear not them who kill the body, but fear 
 him who is able, after he hath killed the body, to 
 cast the soul into hell ; there shall be weeping of 
 eyes, and gnashing of teeth, and their worm shall 
 not die, they shall rest neither day nor night.' 
 
 " May the almighty and eternal God, so 
 strengthen and comfort you with his blessed 
 word, that you may abide faithful to the end. 
 Then shall you likewise be found under the altar 
 with all God's dear children, where all tears shall 
 be wiped away from our eyes. There shall all 
 tribulations have an end. Then shall our de- 
 spised body be glorified, and fashioned after the 
 likeiiess of his glory. Then shall our weeping be 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 133 
 
 turned into laughter, and our sorrow into joy. 
 Then shall we, who for a short space are despised 
 and contemned, yea, persecuted and cast out, and 
 in great reproach, pain, and contempt are brought 
 to death for the testimony of Jesus Christ, enjoy 
 an everlasting triumph, and dwell for ever with 
 the Lord. We shall be clothed with white robes, 
 as John testifies in his Revelation concerning the 
 souls of those who were slain for the word of God 
 and for the witness they bare. They lay under 
 the altar, and cried with a loud voice, saying, ' O 
 Lord, holy and true, how long dost thou not judge 
 and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
 earth V And to each of them was given a white 
 robe ; and it was said unto them, that they should 
 rest yet for a little season, until the number of 
 their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that 
 should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 
 '' Oh ! what a glorious company shall we be, 
 when united with the great multitude that Esdras 
 describes ; and of which John in his Revelations 
 speaks. He saw 'a great multitude which no 
 man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, 
 and people, and tongues, standing before the 
 throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
 robes, and palm-branches in their hands; and 
 they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation 
 to him who sitteth upon the throne of our God, 
 and unto the Lamb. These are they who came 
 out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
 robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of 
 
 12 
 
134 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 God, and serve him day and night in his temple : 
 and he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell 
 among them. They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on 
 them, nor any heat ; for the Lamb which is on 
 the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
 unto fountains of living waters ; and God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes.' And Esdras 
 testifies concerning the same multitude, and says, 
 ' that they stood in the midst of the hill of Zion, 
 and were clothed with white raiment ; and in the 
 midst of them stood one taller than all the rest ; 
 and to each of them he gave palm-branches in 
 their hands, and upon every one of their heads he 
 set crowns.' And John says, that he 'saw a sea 
 of glass mingled with fire, and them who had 
 gotten the victory over the beast, and over his 
 image, and over his mark, and over the number 
 of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having 
 the harps of God. And they sang the song of 
 Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.' 
 See then, my dear wife, what glorious promises we 
 everywhere find, which God will bestow, and give 
 to all his dear and sincere children who here abide 
 faithfully by him, and have ended their lives to 
 the honor of their Lord, and washed their robes 
 and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 " Oh ! my wife, from my inmost heart beloved, 
 I cannot sufficiently thank the Lord for all the 
 great kindness which he shows to me-ward. He 
 gives me such strength and power, that I cannot 
 express it. Ah ! I now find that the Lord is a 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 135 
 
 powerful helper in time of need. He forsaketh 
 not them that put their trust in him. For he who 
 trusteth in the Lord, shall not be put to shame. 
 He will keep us as the apple of his eye. He will 
 deliver us from all the assaults of the devil, and 
 from the tyranny of this world ; yea, he will pre- 
 serve us, that we shall not descend to hell ; pro- 
 vided that we faithfully abide by him unto the 
 end ; for Christ saith, ' He that endureth steadfast 
 to the end, shall be saved.' 
 
 "Oh! my heartily beloved wife, abide faithful 
 to the Lord even unto death ; for the crown is not 
 at the beginning, nor at the middle, but at the 
 end. If you abide faithful to the Lord, he will 
 not forsake you, he will give you the crown of 
 everlasting life, and lead you into his kingdom; 
 he will crown you with praise and honor; he will 
 wipe away all tears from your eyes. My dear 
 Lysken, will he wipe away all tears ? then here 
 must first be weeping. He will heal our suffer- 
 ings ; therefore we must in this world first suffer. 
 Yea, we must fight and strive against the roaring 
 lions, dragons, and bears ; yea, against the evil and 
 wricked generation of vipers and serpent rulers, and 
 against the subtle serpents of this world, and the 
 wicked seed of Cain. For Paul saith that 'we 
 wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 
 the rulers of darkness, and against the princes and 
 powers of this world ; yea, against the spirits that 
 hover in the air,' which is the old serpent and 
 Satan, that, as Peter says, ' goeth about as a roar- 
 ing lion seeking whom he may devour.' There- 
 
186 BAPTIST MAKTYRS. 
 
 fore, be diligent in the conflict with prayer and 
 supplication to the Lord. Cleave fast to the doc- 
 trine of Jesus Christ our Saviour, that you may 
 attain to the end of your faith, namely, the salva- 
 tion of your soul. And fight, with Paul, the good 
 fight of faith. 
 
 " Herewith, my heartily beloved wife and sister, 
 I commend you to the omnipotent and eternal God, 
 and to the word of his rich grace, that you may re- 
 main steadfast against all the gates of hell. Amen." 
 
 As it would extend our narrative of this excel- 
 lent husband and wife beyond all proper bounds 
 to give even half the correspondence which passed 
 between them, we shall transcribe only one letter 
 from Lysken to her husband, in which will be seen 
 considerable talent, a great acquaintance with the 
 Scriptures, and the same spirit of piety which he 
 himself showed. Be it again remembered that 
 both of them were now confined, though sepa- 
 rately, in prison : — 
 
 " Grace and peace be with us both from God 
 the Father. The love of the Son, and the fellow- 
 ship of the Holy Ghost be with us, to the perfect 
 strengthening, comfort, joy, and salvation of our 
 souls. 
 
 '' My beloved husband in the Lord, understand 
 that at first the time seemed exceedingly long to 
 me, because I was not accustomed to imprison- 
 ment, and I heard nothing but temptations to for- 
 sake the Lord. They said. What reason had I to 
 meddle with the Scripture, I had better mind my 
 sewing, ' It seems,' said they, ' that you will follow 
 
JERONIMUS SEGEllSON AND WIFE. 137 
 
 the apostles ; what are the signs that you show ? 
 They spake with divers tongues, after they had 
 received the Holy Ghost. Where is the tongue 
 that you have received from the Holy Spirit?* 
 But it is enough for us that we have become be- 
 lievers through their ^ words. John relates that 
 Christ thus spake : — ' I pray not alone for them, 
 but for those also which shall believe on me 
 through their word.' Herewith I commend you 
 to the Lord. The grace of God be with us always. 
 " Praised be God the Father, who hath had, and 
 hath shewn such love to us, that he hath given his 
 dear Son for us. He will bestow upon us such 
 love, such joy, such wisdom, and such a steadfast 
 mind, through Christ, and by the might of the 
 Holy Ghost, that we may stand firm against all 
 devouring beasts ; against dragons and serpents, 
 against all the gates of hell, now so subtle to catch 
 and deceive, destroy, and seduce our souls. We 
 ought, therefore, humbly to pray the Lord, day and 
 night, without ceasing; for the devourer goeth 
 round about us, seeking whom he may devour ; 
 and we are not ignorant of his devices. But, 
 although they are very subtle, the Lord's hand is 
 not shortened towards those that love him and do 
 his will ; ' for the eyes of the Lord are upon those 
 who love him, and his ears are open unto their 
 prayer : but the face of the Lord is against them 
 that do evil.' Therefore let each one see well to 
 himself, that the face of the Lord be not against 
 him ; for the soul of him that sinneth shall die, 
 unless he repent before the Lord come. And it 
 12- 
 
138 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 is not made known to us when the Lord shall come, 
 for he will come as a thief in the night. 
 
 '' Therefore should we pray to the Lord for each 
 other, that our flight be not on the Sabbath day, 
 when we are unprepared ; nor in the winter, 
 when we have no fruit on' our trees; 'for every 
 tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be 
 hewn down, and cast into the fire.' But that 
 which bears good fruit, he will purge, that it may 
 bring forth more abundant fruit. And further, it 
 is made known to us by the mouth of the Lord, 
 that to him that sins wilfully, ' there remaineth no 
 more sacrifice for sin ; but a certain looking for of 
 judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour 
 the adversaries.' Moses' law was so strict that he 
 who transgressed it, ' died without mercy under 
 two or three witnesses ; how much sorer punish- 
 ment shall he receive, who treads under foot the 
 Son of God !' It is likewise said by the Holy 
 Ghost, ' K we suffer with him, we shall also reign 
 with him. If we be dead with him, we shall also 
 live with him ; if we deny him, he also will deny 
 us ; if we believe him not, yet he abideth faithful ; 
 for he cannot deny himself Being then encom- 
 passed with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 
 lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so 
 cleave to us, and let us run with patience the race 
 that is set before us, and look to Jesus, the finisher 
 of our faith, who for the joy that was set before 
 him endured the cross, despising the shame ;' not 
 threatening when he suftered for our sins, and the 
 salvation of our souls. 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 139 
 
 ^*Thu8 may we suffer, my best beloved in the 
 Lord, to the praise of God, and the comfort of all 
 dear friends. I desire that Christ crucified may 
 be our everlasting joy and strength. I confide in 
 the Lord, who only is wise, and who has given his 
 wisdom to those alone who are simple-hearted, 
 guileless, and outcasts jfrom the world, that he will 
 comfort us until the time of our travail arrive. 
 
 " My dear husband in the Lord, whom I married 
 before God and his people, but with whom they 
 say I have lived in adultery, because I was not 
 married in Baal; the Lord saith, 'rejoice when 
 men shall say all manner of evil against you; re- 
 joice, and be exceeding glad, for great shall be 
 your reward in heaven.' 
 
 "Understand, that I wept much because you 
 were dejected on my account; and because you 
 had heard that I repeatedly wished you to depart 
 from Assuerus, and that you had not done so. Be 
 at rest concerning it, my dearly beloved in the 
 Lord. Had it not been the Lord's pleasure, it 
 would not have taken place ; the will of the Lord 
 must be done, to the salvation of both our souls. 
 He suffers us not to be tempted above what we 
 are able to bear. Therefore be comforted, my dearly 
 beloved in the Lord; rejoice yourself in the Lord, 
 even as before, praising and thanking him that he 
 hath chosen us, and counted us worthy to lie so 
 long in bonds for his name's sake. He knows 
 what he hath purposed by this. Although the 
 children of Israel continued long in the wilder- 
 ness, yet, had they been obedient to the voice of 
 
140 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the Lord, they would have entered into the pro- 
 mised land with Caleb and Joshua. So we are 
 now here in the wilderness, among these ravenous 
 beasts, that spread out their nets daily to take us 
 therein; but the Lord is very mighty, who for- 
 saketh not his own that put their trust in him. He 
 preserves them from all evil; yea, as the apple 
 of his eye. Let us then be at rest in him, and 
 take up our cross with joy and patience, and ex- 
 pect with firm assurance the fulfilment of the 
 promises he has given us, nothing doubting, for 
 he is faithful that promised, that we shall be 
 crowned on the hill of Zion, and adorned with 
 palms, and follow the Lamb. I pray you, my be- 
 loved in the Lord, be of good cheer in the Lord, 
 with all dear friends, and pray to the Lord for me. 
 Amen.'* 
 
 In a letter written subsequently to this, the emi- 
 nently pious Lysken says to her husband: — "I 
 beseech the Lord night and day, that he will give 
 us such an ardent love that we may not regard 
 whatever torments they may inflict upon us ; yea, 
 that we may say with the prophet David, ' I fear 
 not whatever men may do unto me.' This our 
 suffering, which is light and temporary, is not to 
 be compared with the glory which shall be re- 
 vealed in us. Since then the will of the Lord is, 
 that with Daniel I should lie long in the lion's 
 den, and await howling and ravenous wolves and 
 lions, and the old serpent that was from the be- 
 ginning, and shall be to the end ; I entreat all my 
 dear brethren and sisters, that they forget me not 
 
JEEONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 141 
 
 in tlieir pra^^ers. I will likewise cheerfully re- 
 member tliem according to my ability. my 
 dear friends, how can I sufficiently thank my 
 heavenly Father, that he hath thought it meet for 
 me, a poor sheep, to lie so long in bonds for his 
 name's sake ! Night and day do I pray the Lord, 
 that this my trial may prove my soul's salvation, 
 to the praise of the Lord, and to the edification of 
 my brethren and sisters. Amen." 
 
 She goes on to say : — " Mcolaes, from the sugar- 
 refining house, brought two priests here to in- 
 struct me, whom, by the grace of God, I answered. 
 They told me that they were much grieved because 
 I held such opinions, for they could not consider it 
 to be faith, but only opinion, seeing that we did 
 not hold what the Christian congregation or church 
 directs. But I told them in reply, — ' "We desire 
 to do and to believe only what the church of Christ 
 directs. But we will have nothing to do with 
 Baal's temple, or other temples that are made 
 with hands, after the doctrines and command- 
 ments of men, and not after Christ. With these 
 we will have nothing to do, for Stephen saith that 
 * the Most High dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands,* for he said that he saw 'heaven 
 opened, and Christ seated on tlie right hand of his 
 Father.' And Paul saith that 'we are the temple 
 of the living God;' if we do his will, 'he will 
 dwell in us, and walk in us.' They said that they 
 were the sent, and were those who sit in Moses' 
 seat. I then answered them, that to them then 
 belonged the woe recorded in the twenty-third of 
 
142 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Matthew. They asked me, if I meant to say that 
 he who had taught me these things was sent of 
 God ? I said, ' Yes, indeed ; I know assuredly 
 that he is sent of God.' They then asked me if I 
 knew what a teacher must be? I replied, 'A 
 teacher must be the husband of one wife, blame- 
 less, having obedient children, no drunkard, not 
 given to wine, not incontinent.' They then an- 
 swered, ' If we do wrong, it will fall upon our own 
 heads ; the Lord is merciful.' I then asked them 
 if they would sin because of the mercy of God, 
 and said that it was written that we should not 
 add sin to sin, and that we should not say [in such 
 a connexion] the Lord is merciful. 
 
 "We spoke much unore, which it would be too 
 long to write. I told them that they were ever 
 learning, and never able to come to the knowledge 
 of the truth. They said, that Christ hath spoken 
 to his apostles, 'To you. it is given to understand, 
 but to others in parables.' I said that they who 
 rightly understand, to them it is also now given. 
 At last they crossed themselves most zealously, 
 and said that I should know it well when I stood 
 before the judgment seat. ' That will be so in- 
 deed,' I said, ' we shall sit there as judges, to judge 
 this disobedient, adulterous generation.' With this 
 they went away. I told them that they came from 
 Satan to torment and destroy my soul. 
 
 ** Once more I wish, for my dear husband in the 
 Lord, and for myself, Christ crucified, our unfad- 
 ing joy, and a love that passeth not away. 
 
 "Know, my dear husband in the Lord, when I 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 143 
 
 read that you were so happy in the Lord, I could 
 not finish the letter. I was constrained to entreat 
 the Lord that he would give me also the same 
 joy, and preserve it to the end, that we might pre- 
 sent the sacrifice of our bodies with rejoicing, to 
 the glory of our Father who is in heaven, and the 
 edification of all dear brethren and sisters. Know 
 that I thank you heartily for the letter which you 
 wrote to me. The grace of the Lord be with us 
 always.'* 
 
 Shortly after Jeroninus had received this letter 
 from his wife, he wrote to her another, breathing 
 the same spirit of piety and of joy in the promises 
 and presence of Christ, showing also that the rage 
 of the enemies of the holy cause had not lessened. 
 Among many other things, he says, " I likewise 
 inform you, beloved, that they taught me severely 
 * * * but the Lord, who kept my mouth, was 
 mightier than all their torments. To the Lord be 
 endless praise and honor, who forsakes not his own. 
 They got no names from me, but one or two which 
 they read to me out of a letter. I told them these, 
 to hear what they would say. But they asked if 
 % were mocking them, and urged me still more, 
 and said that I should name the women, and 
 others too, or they would torture me till the next 
 morning, and would stretch me a foot longer than 
 I was. They told Gileyn that he should rack me. 
 This man did it, while Gileyn poured water into 
 my mouth till I was full. They also had me laid 
 naked, all but my shirt, upon the bench, and 
 bound me to it with four cords, that I thought my 
 
144 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 head and legs were gone. But they obtained no- 
 thing more, praised and adored be the Lord. When 
 they loosed me, they had, two or three together, 
 to raise me from the bench to dress me ; indeed it 
 had not been possible to have borne the pain with- 
 out help from the Lord. They told me that I 
 must consider of it, and become a good member 
 of the Roman church, and say all I knew, or they 
 would know still better how to deal with me. But 
 I replied thereto, that I had not erred, and would 
 much rather die than renounce my faith. They 
 then said that they should come again. But they 
 can do no more than the Lord permits them. 
 
 " Eternal honor to the Lord, who hath thus far 
 made us meet, and will yet make us meet, to 
 be children of his kingdom. My beloved wife, I 
 commend you to the Lord, and to the word of his 
 grace." 
 
 It is with reluctance that we are compelled to 
 omit several letters to the brethren and sisters 
 with whom Jeronimus was associated ; but the 
 reader will readily suppose what their character 
 was from the specimens of those addressed to his 
 wife, which he has already read. We shall, how-* 
 ever, give the closing paragraphs of the last letter 
 he addressed to her, in the immediate prospect of 
 death : — 
 
 "With this I commend you to the Lord, and to 
 the word of his grace. Herewith I take leave of 
 you in this world, for I expect to see your face no 
 more, but hope shortly to see you again under the 
 altar of Christ. Therefore, my beloved wife in the 
 
JERONIMUS SEGEESON AND WIFE. 145 
 
 Lord, notwithstanding the world counts us de- 
 ceivers, and separates us bodily from each other, 
 yet the compassionate Father will in a little time 
 bring us together again under his altar, with our 
 brother. I doubt not of this, but steadfastly con- 
 fide in him. I have committed all three of us into 
 his hands, that he may accomplish his divine will 
 in us, whereby his name may be most praised and 
 glorified, to the salvation of our souls, and the edi- 
 fication and succor of all those who fear the Lord, 
 and serve and love his name. This he will do I 
 doubt not, for he forsakes not his own who put 
 their trust in him. Therefore I go with a cheerful 
 mind to present myself a sacrifice to the glory of 
 God. 
 
 " Had it been in my power I would have come 
 to you, but Joachim would not permit it. But 
 Christ will soon bring us together under his altar; 
 that^ men will not be able to prevent. 
 
 "With this I bid you adieu, till we be again 
 united under the altar. 
 
 " Remain herewith commended to the Lord. 
 
 "Tall Henry salutes you much in the Lord. 
 
 " Behold, my dear wife in the Lord, the hour is 
 now come that we must part. I go before you 
 with great joy and gladness to my heavenly Fa- 
 ther, and to yours. I most humbly beseech you 
 that you be not therefore cast down, but rejoice 
 with me. Yet I am somewhat sorry that I leave 
 you amongst these wolves ; but I have commended 
 you, and the fruit of our union, to the Lord, and 
 am fully persuaded that he will preserve you to 
 
 13 
 
146 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the end. In this persuasion I rest myself in peace. 
 Abide devoutly in the Lord." 
 
 Such was the cheerful dovoted spirit with which 
 Jeronimus Segerson and his companion, Tall Hen- 
 drick, went to the stake at Antwerp, September 
 2, 1551. 
 
 Turn we now to Lysken, who had recently given 
 birth to a child, referred to in the farewell letter 
 of her husband, from which we have already 
 quoted. We prefer to give now the beautifully 
 simple and touching account, written at the time, 
 and on the spot, rather than anything of our 
 own : — 
 
 " Lysken, our sister, having lain long in bonds, 
 has at last finished the period of her pilgrimage, 
 remaining perfectly steadfast in the word of the 
 Lord unto the end ; the Lord be for ever praised. 
 She very boldly and undisguisedly confessed her 
 faith at the tribunal, before the magistrates and the 
 multitude. They first asked her concerning bap- 
 tism. She said, ' I acknowledge but one baptism, 
 even that which was used by Christ and his dis- 
 ciples, and left to us.' ' What do you hold concern- 
 ing infant baptism ?' asked the sheriff. To this 
 Lysken answered, 'I^Tothing but a mere infant's 
 baptism, and a human institution.' On this the 
 bench stood up, and consulted together, while Lys- 
 ken, in the meantime, confessed, and explained 
 clearly to the people the ground of her belief. They 
 then pronounced sentence upon her. Lysken spoke 
 in the following manner to the bench : — ' Ye are 
 now judges ; but the time will come when ye will 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 147 
 
 wish that ye had been keepers of sheep, for there 
 is a Judge and Lord who is above all ; he shall in 
 his own time judge you. But we have not to 
 wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the 
 principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness 
 of this world.' The bench said, ' Take her away 
 fi^om the tribunal.' 
 
 " The people then ran earnestly to see her, and 
 Lysken spoke piously to them ; — ' Know that I do 
 not suffer for robbery, murder, or any kind of 
 wickedness, but solely for the incorruptible word 
 of God.' When they came to the Barg church, 
 she said, ^O thou den of murderers, how many 
 souls are murdered in thee !' Proceeding forward, 
 between the officers, unconfined, the officers said, 
 ^ Stand by; make room.' Lysken said, 'They 
 do not hinder me ; they are welcome to see me, 
 and to take an example by me, even all who love 
 the word of the Lord;' and while continuing to 
 speak, she re-entered the prison. 
 
 ''The people were hereby greatly moved. The 
 friends were cheerful. Some of them w^ent in the 
 afternoon to the prison, to visit her, and many 
 others with them. Our friends conversed a little 
 with her, and said, ' It is well that you suffer only 
 for well-doing, and not for any wicked works;' 
 but she was constrained not to notice them on ac- 
 count of the other people that were there in the 
 prison. Lysken spoke boldly and piously to the 
 people, and sang a beautiful hymn, so that they 
 were astonished. Two monks then came to tempt 
 her, and they three were shut up together in a 
 
148 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 room. Lysken would in no wise listen to them. 
 The chamber door, at which many persons were 
 standing, being once opened, Lysken came to the 
 door, saying to the monks, ' Go till you are sent 
 for ; I will give no ear to you. Had I been satis- 
 fied with your leaven I should not have come 
 here.' She was then again shut up with them in 
 the room. Thus these wandering spirits, or stars, 
 came with their false and poisonous venom ; but 
 Lysken, God be praised, was not aflfrighted. In 
 good spirits, she sang a hymn in the presence of 
 the monks. One of the friends who was present, 
 said, 'Sister, strive manfully!' "When they heard 
 that, they were quite enraged, and said, 'There 
 is another of her people encouraging her, who de- 
 serves burning more than she.' They then de- 
 parted in wrath, for their voice was strange, and 
 was not heard there. 
 
 '' Lysken was now shut up in the chamber alone, 
 fronting tlie street where she was accustomed to 
 sit. No one was permitted to come to her, but 
 those who had the keys. When the monks came 
 into the street to go away, some of the friends who 
 were there asked the monks, 'Will she not turn?' 
 They replied, ' K'o : for there was one of her peo- 
 ple there whom she preferred hearing.' 
 
 " As it now began to draw towards evening, the 
 Lord graciously ordered it that one of the friends 
 came to the place where Lysken sat, and spoke a 
 long time with her. The people in the street be- 
 ginning to hear, they all looked towards the place 
 where the friend was. Some who were near him 
 
JERONIMUS SEGERSON AND WIFE. 149 
 
 were troubled, and called to him to go away. He 
 then said, 'I must first take leave of her/ and 
 thereupon said to her, ' Stand up, sister ; show 
 yourself; look through the window.' This she 
 immediately did, and as she looked out upon the 
 people standing in the street, there were among 
 them some friends who called out, saying, ' Dear 
 sister, strive piously, for the crown of life is 
 set before you.' She then said to the people, 
 ' Drunkards, whoremongers, adulterers, are all 
 borne with, who will read and talk of the Scrip- 
 tures ; but they who live according to the will of 
 God, and walk consistently therewith, must be 
 harassed, oppressed, persecuted, and killed.' She 
 then raised her voice and began to sing a hymn, but 
 before she had finished it, the magistrates, with the 
 officers, came to the prison. Some of the friends 
 said, ' Sing out, Lysken ;' but. before she had 
 finished the hymn they drew her from the window, 
 and the evening coming on she was no more seen. 
 " On Saturday morning we rose early, some be- 
 fore day, some with the daylight, to see the nup- 
 tials which we thought would then be celebrated ; 
 but the crafty murderers outran us. We had slept 
 too long, for they had finished their murderous 
 work between three and four o'clock. They had 
 taken that sheep to the river Scheldt, and had put 
 her into a sack, and drowned her before the people 
 arrived, so that few persons saw it. A few, how- 
 ever, did see it, and they testified that she went 
 courageously to death, and spoke boldly, ' Father, 
 into thy hands I commend my spirit.' Thus she 
 
 % /^. oar ^w/ 
 
150 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 was delivered up, and it came to pass to the honor 
 of the Lord that, by the grace of God, many were 
 moved thereby. 
 
 "When the people assembled, and heard that she 
 was already dead, it occasioned a great commotion 
 among them, for it grieved them as much as if 
 she had been publicly executed. For the people 
 said, ' Thieves and murderers they bring publicly 
 before all men ; but their treachery is thus more 
 manifest.' Some simple-hearted people asked, 
 ^Why must these persons die; for many bear a 
 good testimony concerning them V Some of the 
 friends were present, and spoke openly to the peo- 
 ple, ' The reason is, that they are more obedient 
 to God's commands than to the emperor's or 
 men's ; because they have heartily turned to the 
 Lord their God, from lies to the truth, from dark- 
 ness to light, from unrighteousness to righteous- 
 ness, from unbelief to the true faith, and have ac- 
 cordingly amended their lives, and been baptized, 
 seeing they were real believers, according to the 
 command of Christ arid the practice of the apostles.' 
 They further showed the people, from the word of 
 God, that the papists are they of whom the apostle 
 Paul prophesied, namely, the seducing spirits who 
 teach the doctrines of devils ; and moreover, that 
 the righteous have had to sufier from the begin- 
 ning, from the time of Abel to the present ; that 
 Christ also suffered and entered into the glory of 
 his Father, and left us an example that we should 
 follow in his footsteps. 'For all who will live 
 godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution.' " 
 
JOHN DESWARTE AND FAMILY. 
 
 Brandt, in his '^ History of the Reformation^'" in 
 the sixteenth century, at Halwin, in Flanders, states 
 that John Deswarte, whom he calls an Anabaptist, 
 and his family, who had been betrayed by the pro- 
 fessedly Christian pastor of that town, were car- 
 ried away by the dean of Eousen, to Lisle. 
 
 Deswarte was taken with his wife and four sons. 
 The two youngest of his children not being at 
 home when the inquisitor broke into the house, 
 were warned by the neighbors to escape ; but one 
 of them said to Ifhe other, ^' Let us uot seek to 
 save ourselves, but rather die with our father and 
 mother." In the meantime they carried the father 
 out, who seeing his sons, said to them, " Will ye 
 also go to the l^ew Jerusalem ?" One of them, 
 who was scarcely sixteen, cried out, "Yes, we 
 will, father;" and they at once surrendered them- 
 selves. These, with two other persons of the same 
 faith, who happened to be in the house, as also 
 two married couples, and a man who had en- 
 deavored to comfort them, were, at several times, 
 all burnt at Lisle. 
 
 (151^ 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN MARTYRS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 EICHST HEYNES. 
 
 About the year 1547, there lived in Friesland, 
 in the Ylst, not far from Sneek, a very pious wo- 
 man, a Baptist, of the name of Richst Heynes, so 
 called after her husband, according to the manner 
 of that country. She had taken upon her the 
 easy yoke of Jesus, hearing and following his 
 blessed voice, and avoiding all who were strangers 
 to Christ and his church. Her holy conduct being 
 observed by the enemies of religion, they resolved 
 either to compel her to abandon her religion, or to 
 put her to death. To this end they employed 
 several cruel emissaries, who, like devouring 
 wolves, soon got into their power this meek and 
 harmless follower of the Son of God. 
 
 Her husband becoming acquainted with their 
 designs, escaped with great peril and danger of 
 his life; but they succeeded in imprisoning his 
 wife, cruelly binding her, and treating her with 
 great severity, though not far from confinement, 
 the midwife being with her. In this trying con- 
 dition they led her away from her home, regard- 
 less of Hie screams and tears of her little children, 
 (152) 
 
RICHST HEYNES. 153 
 
 to the prison at Leuwarden, where, after three 
 weeks' imprisonment, she gave birth to a son. 
 This child bore the marks which its mother had 
 received from these inhuman persons, more espe- 
 cially in its arms, which excited much attention 
 and surprise among all who saw her. 
 
 These enemies of Christ, after this, inflicted still 
 greater sufferings on this pious disciple, and tor- 
 tured her to such a degree that she could not raise 
 her hands to her head. Thus was she inhumanly 
 put to the rack, because she would not give evi- 
 dence against her Christian associates ; for these 
 awfully cruel men still thirsted for innocent blood. 
 The great Redeemer she served, always a faithful 
 Eefuge in time of need, and a shield to those who 
 trust him, guarded her lips, so that no one suf- 
 fered through her. 
 
 After all means had failed to shake her religion 
 and her constancy, and to induce her to forsake 
 Christ, she was condemned to death; and, as 
 though she were but a brute beast, was placed in 
 a sack, tied up, and thrown into the wat^r until 
 life was extinct. 
 
 All this cruelty did this amiable woman endure 
 patiently and unmoved, remaining faithful to her 
 Saviour until death; and thus was she removed 
 from suffering to enjoy her crown of everlasting 
 life. 
 
ELIZABETH. 
 
 On the fifteenth of January, in the year 1549, 
 Elizabeth, a tender maiden who had formerly been 
 a Beguin nun, was apprehended for her attach- 
 ment to Christ and his people. 
 
 "When the officers came to the house where she 
 lived, they found a Latin New Testament. Hav- 
 ing apprehended this holy woman, they said, "We 
 have the right person, — we have now the teacher ;" 
 and asked " Where is your husband ? Where is 
 Menno Simon?" etc. They conveyed her to the 
 council-house, and the next day two white Ca- 
 puchin friars conducted her to another place, where 
 she was brought before the council. She was asked 
 by them, on oath, whether she had a husband. 
 Her reply was, "It is not permitted us to swear ; 
 but ouf words must be yea, yea ; and nay, nay. I 
 have no husband. 
 
 Council. — ^We say that you are a teacher, who 
 mislead many, and this we have been told con- 
 cerning you by others. We wish to know who 
 are your friends. 
 
 Elizabeth. — My God has commanded me to 
 love the Lord my God, and therefore to honor 
 my parents. I will not therefore tell you who 
 are my parents; for to suffer for Christ's name 
 is, [in the esteem of the public,] to the dishonor of 
 my friends. 
 (154) 
 
ELIZABETH. 155 
 
 Council. — On this we will not further press 
 you, but we would know what people you have 
 taught. 
 
 Elizabeth. — Oh no, gentlemen, excuse me here- 
 in, and ask me concerning my faith ; that I will 
 most readily confess. 
 
 Council. — We shall use such severe means as 
 will make you confess. 
 
 Elizabeth. — I trust, through the grace of God, 
 that he will keep my tongue, so that I shall not 
 become a traitor, and deliver my brother to death. 
 
 Council. — ^What persons were present when you 
 were baptized ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — Christ said, " Ask those that were 
 present, or that heard it." 
 
 Council. — ISTow we see that you are a teacher ; 
 for you wish to make yourself like Christ. 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^No, gentlemen, God forbid I should ; 
 for I esteem myself no better than the sweepings 
 of the house of the Lord. 
 
 Council. — ^What then do you hold concerning 
 the house of God? Do you not consider our 
 church to be the house of God ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — l^o, indeed, gentlemen; for it is 
 written, ^' Ye are the temple of the living God ;" 
 as God says, " I will dwell in them, and walk in 
 them.'' 
 
 Council. — ^What do you think of our mass ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — I do not approve of your mass ; 
 but whatever agrees with God's word, that I highly 
 esteem. 
 
156 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Council. — ^What do you think of the most holy 
 sacrament ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^I have never in my life read in 
 holy Scripture of a holy sacrament; but I have 
 read of the Supper of the Lord. [Here she re- 
 peated the Scriptures which referred to this ordi- 
 nance.] 
 
 Council. — ^Be silent; for the devil speaks by 
 your mouth. 
 
 Elizabeth. — This indeed, gentlemen, is but a 
 small matter ; for the servant is no better than his 
 , Lord. 
 
 Council. — You speak with a proud spirit. 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^No, gentlemen ; I speak with free- 
 dom of spirit. 
 
 Council. — ^WTiat did the Lord say when he gave 
 the Supper to his disciples ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^What did he give them, flesh or 
 bread ? 
 
 Council. — He gave them bread. 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^Did not the Lord then continue 
 sitting there? "Who then could eat the Lord's 
 flesh? 
 
 Council. — ^What do you hold concerning infant 
 baptism, that you should have had yourself bap- 
 tized again ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^No, gentlemen ; I have not been 
 baptized again ; I wais baptized once on my con- 
 fession of faith ; for it is written that baptism be- 
 longs to believers. 
 
 Council. — Are our children then lost, because 
 they have been baptized ? 
 
ELIZABETH. ' 157 
 
 Elizabeth. — I^o, gentlemen ; far be it from me 
 that I should condemn, the children. 
 
 Council. — Do you not expect salvation from 
 baptism ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — No, gentlemen. All the waters in 
 the sea cannot save me ; but salvation is in Christ ; 
 and he has commanded me to love the Lord my 
 God above all things, and my neighbor as myself. 
 
 Council. — Have the priests power to forgive 
 'sins ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ITo, gentlemen ; how can I believe 
 that ? I say that Christ is the only priest through 
 whom is the forgiveness of sins. 
 
 Council. — ^You say that you believe all that 
 agrees with the holy Scripture : do you then agree 
 with the words of James ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^Yes, truly, gentlemen. How could 
 I not agree with them ? 
 
 Council. — Has he not said, "Go to the elder 
 of the church, that he may anoint you, and pray 
 for you ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^Yes, gentlemen. Do you then 
 mean to say that you are of such a church ? 
 
 Council. — The Holy Gbost has already saved 
 7/ou ; you need neither confession nor sacrament ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — Ifo, gentlemen. I acknowledge 
 indeed that I have transgressed the command of 
 the pope, which has been confirmed by the em- 
 peror's proclamation. But show me any article 
 in which I have transgressed against the Lord my 
 God, and I will say, "• Woe is me, poor miserable 
 creature !" 
 
 14 
 
158 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 This is recorded as the first confession. She 
 was afterwards brought again before the council, 
 and led into the torture tower, the executioner, 
 Hans, being present. The council then said, "We 
 have thus far proceeded with mildness, and if you 
 will not confess, we will treat you with severity. 
 Tlie procureur-general spoke : — ''Master Hans, lay 
 hold of her." Hans answered, "Oh no, gentle- 
 men, she will confess voluntarily." And as she 
 would not make a voluntary confession he put 
 thumb-screws on both her thumbs and fore-fingers, 
 
 THUMB-SCREW. 
 
 so that the blood sprang out of her nails. Eliza- 
 beth exclaimed, " Oh, I cannot longer bear it !" 
 The council said, " Confess, and we will ease your 
 pain." But she cried to the Lord her God, "Help, 
 O my God, thy poor handmaid : for thou art a 
 helper in time of need." The council cried out, 
 " Confess, and we will ease your pain ; for we 
 spoke to you of confessing, and not of calling on 
 God the Lord." But she continued steadfastly 
 calling upon the Lord her God, as we have already 
 related. And the Lord relieved her pain, so that 
 she said to the council, "Ask me, and I will an- 
 swer you ; for I feel no longer any pain in my 
 body as before." 
 
 Council. — Will you not yet confess ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^No, gentlemen. 
 
ELIZABETH. 159 
 
 They then put on two iron screws, one on each 
 ankle. She said, " Oh, gentlemen, pnt me not to 
 shame." The procureur-general said, "Ifo, Miss 
 Elizabeth, we shall not treat yon improperly." 
 She then fainted ; and they said one to another, 
 " Perhaps shp is dead." Coming to herself, she 
 said, " I am alive, and not dead." They then 
 loosened all the iron screws, and spoke to her with 
 entreaties. 
 
 Elizabeth. — ^Why do you thus entreat n^e ? They 
 deal so with children. 
 
 Thus they could not draw from her a word to 
 the injury of her associates in the Lord, or of any 
 individual. 
 
 Council. — Will you recant all the things you 
 have before confessed ? 
 
 Elizabeth. — No, indeed, gentlemen ; but I will 
 seal them with my blood. 
 
 Council. — We will no longer distress you, if 
 you will now freely tell us who it was that baptized 
 you. 
 
 Elizabeth. — Oh no, gentlemen ; I have already 
 told you that I will not confess that to you. 
 
 After this, the sentence was pronounced upon 
 her, March 27, 1549, and she was condemned to 
 death by being drowned in a sack. Thus she 
 willingly offered her body a living sacrifice unto 
 God. Her enemies showed the extent of their 
 hatred ; happily, however, their real power was but 
 small, for though her body was committed to the 
 river, her happy spirit was soon filled with the tri- 
 umphant joys of the upper world. 
 
160 BAPTIST MARTYRS, 
 
 In one of the Mennonite lijTiin-books is to be 
 read a hymn descriptive of the cloister life, which 
 is said to have been composed by Elizabeth, and 
 handed down from one generation to another, till 
 printed in 1618. It consists of forty-eight verses, 
 with the following refrain or chorus : — 
 
 " In thanks to God will I delight, 
 And love and praise with all my might, 
 Honor and fear him day and night." 
 
MARIA, OF MONJOU. 
 
 It Las been always true, that they who will live 
 godly in Christ Jesus shall sufter persecution. So 
 was it with this eminently pious woman. 
 
 Having, according to the requirement of Scrip- 
 ture, on a profession of faith in Jesus, been bap- 
 tized, and become a member of the body of Christ, 
 and having for a long time conducted herself with 
 holy consistency in the church and towards society 
 in general, the hatred of the ungodly displayed 
 itself. The magistrate of Monjou had a great 
 dislike to this poor widow, and at length cast 
 her into prison. There she lay confined for more 
 than a year; and though she had to pass through 
 many sufferings, she cheerfully bore them. Con- 
 stantly did she exhort the pious to walk in love, 
 and abide firmly by the covenant of Jesus Christ. 
 She was herself always diligent to present her 
 body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto 
 God, that her soul might be built up as a spiritual 
 house, well adorned inwardly with the word of 
 God. 
 
 The magistrate, in every possible way, tempted 
 her for three days, but could not induce her to re- 
 nounce her faith. She firmly resolved to abide in 
 Christ. The magistrate entreated her to go to 
 what she considered the en^oneous church ; he 
 even promised that if she would do so, he would 
 14^^ (161) 
 
162 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 release her, and give her support for a year. 
 However, she would not consent to his proposal, 
 but said that she would abide with Christ, and 
 was willing to resign her life for him. She was 
 therefore condemned to be drowned. 
 
 When she went towards the water, she sang with 
 a cheerful heart, and rejoiced that so happy an 
 hour had arrived. Thus, like her Lord, she went 
 as a sheep to the slaughter. She remembered the 
 testimony of Scripture, " They shall kill you, and 
 think they do God service." Going along the 
 road she said, " I have been the bride of an earthly 
 bridegroom, but to-day I hope to be the bride of 
 Christ, and with him to inherit his kingdom." 
 
 When they approached the water, one of the 
 dissemblers said, "0 Maria, repent, or it will not 
 be well with you." They kept her by the side of 
 the water nearly three hours, hoping they might 
 persuade her to recant, and to follow them ; but 
 her only reply was, " I abide by my God ; pro- 
 ceed in the business for which you are come here. 
 The corn is in the straw, and it must be threshed. 
 In like manner the word of God has begun to 
 work, and it must be perfected." She then par- 
 tially uncovered herself, and went cheerfully to 
 death, saying, " heavenly Father, into thy hands 
 I commend my spirit." She was then driven into 
 the water, where she died, witnessing to the truth 
 of the gospel with her last breath, and greatly en- 
 couraging the believers in Christ who witnessed 
 the affecting scene. 
 
A YOUNG LADY OF FOURTEEN, AND OTHERS. 
 
 Another illustration of the doctrine that the 
 followers of Christ must suffer persecution, was 
 given in the city of Rotterdam, in the year 1544. 
 A number of the followers of Jesus were assem- 
 bled together in his name, to speak to each other 
 for mutual edification, and their establishment in 
 the truth of the gospel which they had received. 
 Here they felt the spirit and the power of prayer 
 and praise, and rejoiced in the performance of 
 these holy exercises. But such engagements have 
 always excited the highest displeasure of the Ca- 
 tholics, who have sought to put an end to them by 
 ' every means in their power. 
 
 This assembly of devoted Christians was be- 
 trayed into the hands of its enemies, by a woman 
 who came to the house where they had met, pro- 
 fessedly to borrow a kettle. Being thus thrown 
 into the power of wolves, these unresisting sheep 
 were treated by them most cruelly; in order, if 
 possible, to draw them away from the truth. Tbey, 
 however, patiently endured persecution for the 
 name of Jesus, in the certain hope of his eternal 
 kingdom. As no torments could induce them to 
 recant, they were sentenced to suffer death. The 
 men were beheaded by the sword in the city itself, 
 and the women were most tyrannically thrown 
 
 (163) 
 
164 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 into a boat, and thrust under the ice till they were 
 drowned. 
 
 Among those thus sacriliced was a young female 
 only fourteen years old. She composed a favorite 
 hymn in the old Dutch hymn books, beginning : — 
 
 "To the wide world Iramanuel came, 
 His Father's kingdom left," etc. 
 
 Well may Brandt, in his " History of the Reforma- 
 tion^'" call this "a dreadful butchery of a religious 
 assembly of Anabaptists at Rotterdam." 
 
 How striking the contrast between this church 
 of the Lord, and the synagogue of Satan ; and how 
 different the spirit they breathed ! The followers 
 of Christ, like lambs, manifest no spirit of revenge, 
 but freely resign their lives for the cause of their 
 Lord; but their enemies ^'breathe out threatenings 
 and slaughter," and delight in the attempt to de- 
 stroy the church of the Eedeemer. How strikingly 
 different too, will be their treatment by the all- 
 seeing and omnipotent Judge at the last great 
 day! 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MEN MARTYRS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 GERARD, AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 About the year 1160 appeared at Oxford, m 
 England, about thirty men and women, called 
 Publicans^ a corruption, no doubt, of Paulicians. 
 They came from Gascony, and soon attracted the 
 attention of the government by the singularity of 
 their religious opinions and practices. They were 
 thorough Baptists, and judging from the testimony 
 of their enemies, as well as that of their friends, 
 they were eminently a spiritual people. 
 
 "William, of Ifewbury, a monkish historian, tells 
 Tis that these persons, whom he calls vagabonds, 
 emigrated from Gascony, and spread their doc- 
 trine into many regions. " In the broadest pro- 
 vinces of France, and Spain, and Italy, and Ger- 
 many, so many are said to have been infested with 
 this pest, that according to the prophet they seemed 
 to have been multiplied beyond the sand of the 
 sea." He adds "they are mere rustics and men 
 of inferior condition, hence they are dull in the 
 comprehension of argument ; yet if they are once 
 thoroughly tainted with that pest, they will rigidly 
 hold out against all discipline. Hence, it very 
 
 (165) 
 
166 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 rarely happens that anj of them, whenever they 
 are betrayed and dragged out of their lurking 
 places, is [are] ever converted to piety." 
 
 These poor peasants of Teutonic race, and 
 speaking that language, could not accomplish 
 much in the way of converting others. Their 
 enemies tell us that one woman professed to have 
 been converted by them; though she seems to 
 have returned back to the errors of popery, and 
 was, probably, the person who betrayed them into 
 the hands of their enemies. Their pastor, named 
 Gerard, was, it is said, the only person of any 
 learning among them, and " to him," says the his- 
 torian, " they all looked up, as their prince and 
 preceptor." 
 
 "When the matter was made known to king 
 Henry II., whose love of justice had induced him 
 to revive in England trial by jury, he would not 
 allow them to be punished without a hearing, and 
 ordered a council of popish bishops to be assem- 
 bled in Oxford to try them. The imagination 
 paints before us this proud array of lordly ecclesi- 
 astics in all the pomp and splendor in which 
 popery delights, sitting in high state, assuming 
 powers which belong not to mortal man ; they call 
 before them a little body of poor simple peasants, 
 foreigners, without a friend, without an advocate 
 to plead for them, without a witness to prove the 
 innocence of their lives, or liberty to appeal to the 
 word of Grod in defence of their doctrines. How 
 forlorn and desolate appeared these poor prisoners ! 
 
 Gerard, who was quite equal to the task, spoke 
 
1G7 
 
 for the whole. His answer to his examiners was 
 — that they were Christians, and that they ven- 
 erated the doctrines of the Apostles. On a more 
 particular enquiry, it was found that they denied 
 several of the leading doctrines of the Romish 
 church, such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, 
 the invocation of saints, the baptism of infants, 
 and transubstantiation. They would admit nothing 
 contrary to the word of God, and while acknow- 
 ledging themselves unable to argue all the points 
 brought forward by their cunning adversaries, they 
 positively refused to surrender the faith which they 
 held, or to join in the idolatrous services of the 
 papal church. They were then threatened with 
 the severest sufferings, which threats they laughed 
 to scorn, and answered in the words, " Blessed are 
 they who suffer persecution for righteousness' 
 sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 These Publicans being found so firm in their 
 rejection of false doctrine, the bishops reported 
 them to the king as obstinate heretics, worthy of 
 death ; and he, under priestly influence, sentenced 
 them all to be branded with a red hot iron on their 
 foreheads, as heretics; that then they should be 
 publicly whipped through the streets of Oxford, 
 and be afterwards delivered to the secular power 
 for further punishment, or, in other words, should 
 be put to death. To the proclamation was added 
 a command that none of the people should show 
 them sympathy or comfort under the severest 
 penalties. 
 
 The sentence was fully carried into execution. 
 
168 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Gerard, to distinguish him from the rest, had a 
 mark burnt on his chin as well as on his forehead ; 
 their clothes were all cut short by the girdles, and 
 in the depth of winter, when the hedges and the 
 fields were covered with snow, every man, woman, 
 and child was cast into the fields, and the whole 
 of them perished with cold and hunger. The his- 
 torian exults that having been beaten " with loudly 
 sounding stripes," they were driven out of the 
 city, "l^o one," says William, "showing them 
 the slightest degree of mercy, they miserably 
 perished." But the historian is wrong. Misery 
 was no part of their lot. He himself tells us that 
 they went forth to endure death, " not with linger- 
 ing steps, but actually rejoicing with much joy; 
 while their master preceded them, and sang, 
 'Blessed are ye when all men shall hate you.* " 
 
 Thus they died, but the truths they maintained, 
 and which so fully sustained them in the hour oi 
 martyrdom, are immortal ! 
 
EICHARD WOODMAN. 
 
 As true religion is always the same, so are its 
 eifects. The soldiers of Christ have always en- 
 dured hardness, whatever post they might occupy 
 in his army. The mechanic as well as the clergy- 
 man has brought honor to his Eedeemer, by his 
 bold utterance of the truth, and by his readiness 
 to "die for the Lord Jesus." Thus has it been 
 seen that the faith of Christ raises a man above 
 the world, and that he will, when brought before 
 rulers, take a stand for the truth to which nothing 
 else could lead him. Richard "Woodman, burnt 
 at the stake, in the days of cruel Mary of England, 
 furnished a glorious instance of attachment to the 
 truths and ordinances of the Gospel. 
 
 This extraordinary man was a simple mechanic, 
 — a worker in iron ; his residence w^as at Warble- 
 ton, in the county of Sussex ; and his apprehension 
 by the so-called officers of justice took place when 
 he was about thirty years of age. The curate or 
 minister of the parish, named Fairbanke, was, 
 during the reign of Edward VI., a preacher of the 
 truth, and zealously entreated the people never to 
 give heed to "another gospel." He was "the 
 husband of one wife," and discharged his duties 
 with much satisfaction to his congregation. As 
 soon, however, as Mary came to the throne, he 
 veered round, embraced the creed of popery, and 
 15 (169^ 
 
170 BATTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 taught the people the very opposite doctrines to 
 those which they had been accustomed to hear 
 from him. 
 
 When Eichard "Woodman heard these things 
 from his lips, he could not forbear to admonish 
 his pastor, and for doing this he was immediately 
 apprehended, and committed to the Queen's Bench 
 prison, where he remained a year and a half. At 
 the end of this period he was transferred, by the 
 notorious Dr. Story, to Bishop Bonner's coal-house, 
 a place but too well known, with all its miseries, 
 to many of the holy martyrs of that period. Here 
 he remained about a month, after which he under- 
 went twenty-six examinations, and was expecting 
 to be led to the stake, when, to the surprise of 
 himself and his friends, on the very day on which 
 the noble martyr Philpot was burned. Woodman, 
 with four others, was suddenly restored to liberty. 
 
 It must not be supposed that this happy event 
 silenced his tongue as to the movements around 
 him, especially as to the death of Philpot. His 
 notice of this event was in language equally severe 
 and just; and strongly expressive of the indignation 
 and abhorrence excited in the minds of all good 
 men by the murder of that excellent martyr. After 
 saying that Bonner sent for him and his com- ' 
 panions and discharged them, only requiring them 
 very earnestly to speak well of him. Woodman 
 goes on, " And no doubt he was very worthy to 
 be praised, because he had been so faithful an aid 
 in his master, the devil's business; for he had 
 burnt good master Philpot the same morning, with 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 171 
 
 whose blood his heart was so drunken, as I sup- 
 posed, that he could not tell what he did, as it ap- 
 peared to us both before and after. For but two 
 days before he promised us that we should be con- 
 demned that same day that we were delivered; 
 yea, and the morrow after he had delivered us, he 
 sought for some of us again, yea, and that earnestly. 
 He waxed dry [thirsty] after his great drunken- 
 ness, whereby he is likely to have blood to drink 
 in hell, as he is worthy, if he repent it not with 
 speed. The Lord turn all their hearts, if it be his 
 will." 
 
 Woodman carefully wrote down all his earlier 
 examinations; but the bishop of Chichester ob- 
 tained possession of them, and either concealed or 
 destroyed them. The persecutors then proclaimed 
 that he had recanted ; but this he disproved, by 
 travelling about from parish to parish, and talking 
 so openly, even to the principal people, that it was 
 resolved again to confine him in prison. That 
 they might do this under the color of law, they in- 
 vented a charge against him of usurping the ofiice 
 of the ministry in baptizing and marrying persons ; 
 from which he so fully cleared himself, that they 
 could not execute upon him the warrants already 
 drawn up. However, they soon issued others, and 
 the Queen's chamberlain sent three of his men to 
 take him while ploughing his land. As these men 
 were professedly friends of Woodman, he had no 
 suspicion of them, and so was easily arrested ; but 
 going home to change his apparel, it occurred to 
 him to demand a sight of their warrant, when they 
 
172 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 confessed tliat they had none with them. He then 
 pleaded the right of an Englishman, and refused 
 to go with them unless they produced one. They 
 locked him in his house, and guarded the door, 
 while one of them went to obtain a warrant ; and 
 he, taking advantage of the opportunity, made his 
 escape from the back part of the dwelling. 
 
 Of course, a strict search was instantly com- 
 menced, which "Woodman eluded by taking up 
 his abode under the trees in a thick plantation, 
 within a bowshot of his own house. Here, with 
 his Bible, pen, and ink, he contentedly stayed for 
 six or seven weeks, his wife daily bringing him 
 food. The simple and fervent man wrote, '' I 
 thought myself blessed of God, that I was thought 
 worthy to lie in the woods for the name of Christ." 
 Meanwhile the sea-coast, from Portsmouth to 
 Dover, was guarded, to prevent the poor man's 
 escape. But failing in their search, they aban- 
 doned it, concluding that he had left the country, 
 which he did when they had ceased to look for 
 him. 
 
 Abroad, however, he could not long stay. He 
 ardently desired again to see his native land. "I 
 thought," said he, " every day seven years, or ever 
 I were at home again." So in three weeks he re- 
 turned, and notwithstanding the zeal with which 
 his enemies hunted him, he often abode a month 
 or five weeks openly in his own house, following 
 his accustomed occupation. His enemies, as he 
 himself said, could lay no hands on him till their 
 hour was fully come. It arrived at last, and by 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 173 
 
 the treachery of his own father and brother he was 
 led into their grasp. 
 
 The circumstances were these: — Richard had 
 entrusted property, of the value of fifty pounds a 
 year, to his father and brother, wherewith to pay 
 his debts, and to maintain his wife and children. 
 They wickedly reported that it was not sufficient 
 for the first of these purposes, whereas it was more 
 by two hundred pounds, than all his debts 
 amounted to ; and Woodman, anxious to do jus- 
 tice, applied to them to restore the money and 
 writings, and to settle the account with him. A 
 day was appointed, on which a full account should 
 be sent in to him with the balance ; but to avoid 
 this restitution, the wretched brother w^ent and 
 apprised his enemies, that at such a time they 
 might certainly seize him in his own house. The 
 sherift* accordingly sent a strong party of men, who 
 concealed themselves a whole night in bushes 
 near the dwelling. A workman in Woodman's 
 employ, and two of his little children, falling in 
 with them, were detained, lest they should give the 
 alarm ; and in the afternoon, while the poor man 
 was reclining on a bed, making shoe-thongs, his 
 little girl, who saw them approaching, ran into the 
 room, crying out, " Mother, mother, there come 
 twenty men." Woodman started up, and thought 
 to have slipped out of the door, but thej were too 
 near, and his wife instantly shut and bolted it, 
 while he made the attempt to escape by another 
 door ; the house, however, was immediately sur- 
 15* 
 
174 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 rounded, and the officers called out to have the 
 door opened, or they would break in. 
 
 "Woodman's house had been searched at least 
 twenty times, by night and by day ; sometimes 
 nearly twenty men would be at the same time ex- 
 amining it. There was, however, one place which 
 they were never able to discover, being formed for 
 concealment ; and into this he went ; while his 
 wife, knowing him to be now safe, opened the 
 door, and telling the men he was not there, ex- 
 cused herself for having barred it on the ground 
 of having been often frightened by the men who 
 were sent to search, and also supposing that the 
 displeasure against her husband extended to her 
 and her children. They demanded a candle, say- 
 ing there were many secret places in the house ; 
 and after a most minute search they ceased from 
 their task, some of the party ^oing down to the 
 churchyard, where they stood talking with the un- 
 natural father of the persecuted man. 
 
 The conductor of these officers was a next door 
 neighbor, who had been persuaded by the wicked 
 brother thus to betray him. He knew of the hiding- 
 place, which his friend had often mentioned to him 
 in confidence ; but it happened that he had never 
 shewn him the way to it, only that the entrance 
 was over a window in the hall. On receiving this 
 information, they renewed the search, and one of 
 them perceived a little loft with three or four 
 chests in it, between two of which the entrance 
 really was ; but as they could not discover it, they 
 insisted on his wife pointing it out. She led them 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 175 
 
 to anotlier quarter, and then gave her husband a 
 token to escape, from which he supposed there 
 was no farther hope of his remaining concealed. 
 He could not descend into the house without com- 
 ing into the midst of them ; and his only chance 
 was to break through some boarding, which he 
 did by setting his shoulder against it ; but unhap- 
 pily the noise thus occasioned, attracted their at- 
 tention, and as he attempted to jump from a 
 window they saw him. He had not had time to 
 put on his shoes, w^hen the alarm was first given 
 him by his child ; and he had now to run along a 
 lane strewn over with sharp cinders, while a shout 
 was raised, and a pursuit commenced with cries of 
 " Strike him, strike him!" He looked back, and 
 saw but one man within a hundred yards of him ; 
 and had he been shod, he might have easily got 
 away, being strong, swift, and courageous; but 
 just then one of his naked feet fell upon a hard- 
 pointed cinder, and starting from it, he incautiously 
 stept into a hole full of mire, which threw him 
 down. Before he could recover himself, the pur- 
 suer, a very powerful man, came upon him, and 
 he was taken. On this he remarks, "It was not 
 Grod's will ; for if it had been, I should have es- 
 caped from them all, if there had been ten thou 
 sand of them." 
 
 While they were conducting him to his home, 
 to put on his shoes, and complete his dress, one 
 of them sneeringly said, '' Now your master has 
 deceived you ; you said you were an angel ; and 
 if so, why did you not flee away from us-" He 
 
170 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 asked who had ev^r heard him say he was an 
 angel ? " It is not/' he added, " the first he by a 
 thousand that they have made for me. Angels 
 are never of mortal birth ; but if they had said 
 they heard me say that I do trust I am a saint, 
 they had not said amiss." " What ! do you think 
 to be a saint?" asked the other. "Yea, that I 
 do, and am already in God's sight, I trust in God; 
 for he who is not a saint in God's sight already, is 
 a devil. Therefore he who scorneth to be a saint, 
 let him be a devil." 
 
 At his own door he met his father, who desired 
 him to remember himself; meaning that he 
 should consider the consequences of persisting in 
 his religious faith; to which he answered, "I 
 praise God that I am well remembered whereabout 
 I go. This way was appointed of God for me to 
 be delivered into the hands of mine enemies ; but 
 woe to him by whom I am betrayed ! It would be 
 good for that man that he had never been born, 
 if he repent not with speed. The Scriptures are 
 now fulfilled on me; 'For the father shall be 
 against the son ; and the brother shall deliver the 
 brother to death,' as it is this day come to pass." 
 One of the men sneeringly remarked, "that he was 
 a good child to ace ase his father;" he answered, 
 " I accuse him not, but say my mind ; for there 
 was no man knew me to be at home but my father, 
 my brother, and one more ; the which I dare ssij 
 would not hurt me for all the good in this town." 
 After some further talk, and cruelly refusing him 
 even to enter the door of his house, at which he 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 177 
 
 was obliged to put on his shoes and the rest of 
 his clothes, they bound him by putting a hound's 
 slip over his arms; which he said, rejoiced his 
 heart, that he was counted worthy to be bound for 
 the name of God. He then took leave of his poor 
 wife, his children, and his wretched father, and 
 was led away. 
 
 In the following April the sheriffs sent Wood- 
 man to London, where, after two days, he was 
 brought before his Ordinary, the bishop of Chi- 
 chester, to whom he had appealed ; Story, Cook, 
 and others assisted in the examination. The 
 bishop told him he was sorry for him, as were all 
 the gentlemen of his county, where he had a 
 good report, both among rich and poor. On this 
 account he wished him to consider himself, with 
 his family and friends, and not to suppose that he 
 was wiser than all in the realm, but to receive in- 
 struction. The good man disclaimed any wish to 
 seem wiser than others, being willing to learn of 
 any man who could or would teach him the truth. 
 ^'For my wife and children," said he, " God doth 
 know how I love them in him, and my life also. 
 My life, my wife, and my children are all in God's 
 hands, and I have them all as though I had them not, 
 I trust, according to St. Paul's words. But if I had 
 ten thousand pounds of gold, I had rather lose it 
 all than them, if I might choose, and not displease 
 God.'^ 
 
 He then told the bishop of Chichester that he 
 had appealed to him, that if any fault was found 
 in him, he might be reformed by him ; and also, 
 
178 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 that if his blood was shed unrighteously, it might 
 be required at his hands, who had undertaken to 
 be the spiritual physician of that part of the coun- 
 try. On his saying this, Story broke out as usual, 
 '^Is not this a perverse fellow, to lay to your 
 charge that his blood shall be required at your 
 hands?" And turning to Woodman, he said, 
 " Thinkest thou that thou shalt be put to death 
 unjustly, that thy blood shall be required ? No, 
 if he should condemn a hundred such heretics as 
 thou art. I helped to rid a good number of you ; 
 and I promise thee I will help to rid thee too, the 
 best that I can." 
 
 Woodman would have replied, but Chichester 
 enjoined them both to be silent ; and then kindly 
 addressing Woodman, calling him neighbor, told 
 him that he, as his spiritual pastor, was about to 
 give him spiritual counsel ; therefore he must 
 listen to him. Woodman begged first to ask him 
 a question, which was, whether he was sure that 
 he had the Spirit of God. The bishop said ''K"o;" 
 swearing by St. Mary that he dare not be so bold 
 as to say so. The prisoner then told him that he 
 was like the waves of the sea, unstable ; and 
 threatened him with the doom of the Laodicean 
 church ; this put Story into a great rage, who, 
 with great violence told him that he had the devil 
 within him, and was mad ; and that he was worse 
 than Satan ; with many other similar things. 
 Chichester remarked, that the man was sent to 
 him to learn, but presumed to teach him. 
 
 The poor man, on seeing their blindness, bui'st 
 
IIICHARB WOODMAT^. 179 
 
 into tears, and said, " The Jews told Christ he had 
 a devil, and was mad, as ye have said that I am ; 
 and I know that the servant is not above his mas- 
 ter. And God forbid that I should learn of him 
 who confesseth that he hath not the Spirit of God.'* 
 " Why," said the bishop, "do you think that you 
 have the Spirit of God?" "I believe, verily, that 
 I have the Spirit of God," was the reply. Chiches- 
 ter said, " You boast more than ever Paul did, or 
 any of the apostles ; the which is great presump- 
 tion." Woodman answered, "I boast not in my- 
 self, but in the gift of God, as Paul did ; for he 
 said that he believed verily that he had the Spirit 
 of God ; making no doubt, as in 1. Cor. vii." " It 
 is not so," said the bishop, "you belie the text." 
 " It it be not so, let me be burned to-morrow," re- 
 plied Woodman. "Thou shalt not be burned to- 
 morrow," said Story, "but thou shalt be burned 
 within these six days, I promise thee." 
 
 Chichester next qualified his denial of the quota- 
 tion, by saying that if it was so, it was wrongly 
 translated ; as it was, he said, in a thousand 
 other places. They then consulted the Latin and 
 Greek passages, and he told him that in both Paul 
 said he supposed he had the Spirit of God, but was 
 not sure ; the bishop adding, " Even so I hope and 
 suppose I have the Spirit of God, but I am not 
 sure." 
 
 Woodman then went on to say, that if men had 
 wrongly translated the Bible, woe unto such trans- 
 lators ! However, he warned them to beware that 
 they did not slander the translators, whom he be- 
 
180 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 lieved to have had the fear of God before their 
 eyes. He offered to prove, by places enough, be- 
 sides the one quoted, that Paul had the Spirit of 
 God ; as he himself, and all the elect, had. This 
 he did by citing, "Iso man can believe that Jesus 
 is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost;" and went 
 on, "I do believe that Jesus Christ is my Ke- 
 deemer, and that I shall be saved from all my 
 sins by his death and blood-shedding, as Paul and 
 all the apostles did, and as all faithful people 
 ought to do, which no man can do without the 
 Spirit of God ; and as there is no condemnation to 
 them who are in Christ Jesus, so there is no salva- 
 tion to them who are not in Christ Jesus. For he 
 who hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his, 
 but is a cast-away." And again, " 'We have not 
 received the spirit of bondage to fear any one ; 
 but we have received ' the Spirit of adoption, 
 whereby we cry Abba Father.' The same Spirit 
 certifieth our spirits that we are the sons of God. 
 Besides all this, John saith, ' He that belie veth in 
 God dwelleth in God, and God in him.' So it is 
 impossible to believe in God unless God dwell in 
 us. Oh, great God ! what more injury can be 
 done unto thee than to mistrust that we have re- 
 ceived thy Holy Spirit by thy gift ? Thus may all 
 men see their blindness, and whose servants they 
 be, as they declare themselves both by their words 
 and deeds !" 
 
 By this time Dr. Story had become greatly ex- 
 cited, and cried out, " Oh, my lord, what a heretic 
 is this same ! Why do you hear him ? Send him 
 
mCHAllD WOODMAN. 181 
 
 to prison to his fellows in the Marshalsea, and they 
 shall be dispatched within these twelve days." 
 ^^ When I heard him say so," says Woodman, from 
 whose recital of his last examinations this account 
 is taken, " I rejoiced greatly in my heart, desiring 
 God, if it were his will, to keep him in that mind ; 
 for I looked surely to have gone to the Bishop of 
 London's coal-house, or to Lollard's tower; but it 
 pleased God to put it in their hearts to send m& to 
 the Marshalsea, amongst our brethren, and my old 
 prison fellows: so mercifully hath God dealt with 
 me, in easing me of my burden that I looked for." 
 They observed his satisfaction, and the bishop 
 said, " Methinks he is not afraid of the prison ;" 
 to which Woodman replied, "No, I thank the 
 living God." This again raised Story's savage 
 temper, and he said, " This is a heretic indeed : 
 he hath the exact terms of all heretics, ' The living 
 God !' I pray you are there dead Gods, that you 
 say the living God?" Woodman mildly asked in 
 reply, "Be you angry with me because I speak 
 the words which are written in the Bible ?" "Bib- 
 ble-babble, bibble-babble," said the dignified di- 
 vine, adding, " there is no such word written in 
 all the Bible." " Then I am much to blame if it 
 be not so written," said Woodman, and quoted 
 texts in support of his assertion. Chichester con- 
 fessed that it was so written, and that it was the 
 truth ; but added that such was the language of all 
 heretics. He was supported by Story, who sagely 
 said, " My lord, I will tell you a heretic by his 
 words, because I have been more used to them 
 
 16 
 
182 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 than you have been ; that is they will say ' the 
 Lord,' and ' We praise God,' and * The living God.' 
 By these words you shall know a heretic." " All 
 these words," replied Woodman, " are written for 
 our learning, and we are commanded by the pro- 
 phet to use them daily, as thus, ' The Lord's name 
 be praised, from the rising up of the sun, even to 
 the going down of the same,' Also, as many as 
 feaV the Lord say always, ' The Lord be praised.' " 
 
 After a little more railing. Dr. Story went off' to 
 mass ; and then the bishop said to Woodman, '' I 
 would not have you use such speeches as you do, 
 as 'the Lord be praised,' and 'the living God,' 
 with such like words. Can you not say as well, 
 our Lord, or our God, as otherwise ?" Woodman, 
 after declaring that he could not see how he could 
 deserve to be censured for using the plain language 
 of Scripture, added "It seemeth to me that you 
 mistrust that I believe not as you do." " Yes, 
 that is my meaning, indeed," said the bishop. "I 
 believe in the living God," repeated Woodman; 
 " if you do not so, then our belief is not alike, in- 
 deed. But if it please you to examine me on any 
 particular matter now, I will make you answer 
 thereto by God's help." 
 
 The bishop then proceeded to charge Woodman 
 and his friends with erring from the church ; and 
 in proof of it showed him a great bundle of writ- 
 ings; which, as soon as Woodman saw, he ac- 
 knowledged to be his own, which had been pri- 
 vately stolen from his house by the sheriff^'s men. 
 They contained his examinations and discussions 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 183 
 
 during his former imprisonment. He expressed 
 his gladness that the bishop might now see, under 
 his own hand, a full statement both of what had 
 been said and what had been done against him, 
 referring him to the parties named there for a con- 
 firmation of its truth. 
 
 Then followed a very long conversation, in 
 which the bishop mar.ifested a spirit so different 
 from that of his brethren in general, that if he was 
 sincere in it, his mind must have been ill at ease , 
 under the burden of such companionship in evil. 
 Gently, kindly, and candidly he both spoke and 
 listened, as one who was far from desiring to turn 
 away his ears from the truth ; and even admitted, 
 with evident satisfaction, Woodman's refutation 
 of all the false charges against him. Having 
 cleared himself, the martyr thus spoke, — "Where- 
 fore look ye to it, for I am now in your hands, and 
 you ought to be a house of defence against mine 
 enemies; for if you suffer them to kill me, my 
 blood shall be required at your hands. If you can 
 find in me any just cause of death by God's word, 
 you may condemn me yourself, and not offend 
 God. Wherefore look to it ; the matter is weighty ; 
 deliver me not into their hands, and look to be so 
 discharged." Chichester told him that he was not 
 3^et fully invested with the authority of his office, 
 but he would do what he could for him. 
 
 They then entered on the question, whether or 
 no St. Paul was married, and Woodman proved 
 that he was not ; speaking very fully on the sub- 
 ject, in a way which seemed to please the bishop, 
 
184 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 who said lie was very glad to have heard hira so 
 speak, and warmly repeated his assurance of a sin- 
 cere wish to serve him. Woodman told him that 
 he was willing to renounce anything that he held, 
 which could be proved contrary to God's word. 
 "And the truth is," continued he, I have talked 
 with a dozen priests at the least, since I was de- 
 livered out of prison, of certain matters, and they 
 have not been able to certify me in anything that 
 I have asked them ; and therefore they have com- 
 plained of me to the sheriff and justices, making 
 tales and lies to turn me to displeasure, as much 
 as in them lieth. I promise [assure] you that 
 there are as many unlearned priests in your dio- 
 cese as in any one diocese in England, so I think ; 
 the more is it to be lamented." The bishop's 
 answer was much to his honor, — " I promise [as- 
 sure] you I do much lament it myself, for I hear 
 no less ; but it is true as you say. I would I could 
 remedy it, but I cannot ; but I will' do the best 
 that I can when I come into the country ; and I 
 will be glad to talk with you some other time, 
 when I shall be somewhat better at ease. Yoa 
 see, I am very tender [out of health] now, as I 
 have been this half year and more. Come to din- 
 ner; our dinner is ready. I counsel you not to 
 tarry for any great cheer that you shall have ; nor 
 would I that you should think I go about to win 
 you with my meat; but you are welcome with 
 all my heart ; come, sit down." 
 
 After enjoying a plentiful dinner with the 
 bishop, in company with a merchant and 3ne of 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 185 
 
 the sherift^'s officers who guarded him, he was told 
 by the bishop that he must deliver him to Story's 
 man, but that he would soon send for him again, 
 and prayed God he might do him good. Wood- 
 man begged that he might have nothing to do 
 with Story, requesting the bishop to examine him 
 himself. They then began to discuss the subject 
 of the sacraments, of which Woodman would ac- 
 knowledge but two ; and the bishop engaging to 
 convince him by God's word that there were seven, 
 kindly bid him farewell. 
 
 Thus does the bold and faithful Baptist conclude 
 this part of his narrative : — " And so I was brought 
 me to the Marshalsea, where I now am merry — 
 God be praised therefor — looking for judgment of 
 my flesh, for they intend to dispatch me shortly, 
 if God will give them leave ; but He hath their 
 hearts in his hand, and they can do nothing to me 
 but as he will give them leave. Wherefore I com- 
 mit my cause to God only, and I am sure there 
 shall not one hair of my head perish without my 
 heavenly Father's will, though I bide [endure] 
 never so much trouble. Job perished not for all 
 his trouble, though God gave the devil leave to 
 trouble him in divers and many ways, as God hath 
 suffered his members to trouble and try me divers 
 and many ways, I praise God. They shall as little 
 prevail against my faith, I have no mistrust, as the 
 devil prevailed against Job, whatsoever they do 
 with my goods, body, or life. For he who kept 
 Job in all his trouble neither slumbereth nor sleep- 
 ethj but keepeth me and all his elect, that whether 
 1&^ 
 
186 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 we live or die it shall be to the praise and o;;lorv of 
 God. For if we live, we live at the Lord's will ; 
 and if we die, we die at the Lord's will ; so whether 
 we live or die we are the Lord's — blessed be his 
 name. 
 
 "- Wherefore, dear brethren and sisters, to whom 
 this mj writing shall come, be of good cheer, and 
 fear not what man can do unto you, for they can 
 but kill the body ; but fear him who hath power 
 to kill both body and soul. And yet once again I 
 bid you be of good cheer, for the sheriff, with di- 
 vers other gentlemen and priests, when I was at 
 the sheriff's house, said to me, that all the heretics 
 in the country hung on me, as the people did in 
 times past upon St. Augustine, or St. Ambrose, or 
 such like. Wherefore, said they, look well on it ; 
 you have a great thing to answer for. To the which 
 I answered, I pray God to lay nothing more to my 
 charge than he will do for heresy, as I am sure he 
 will not ; for He hath set my sins as far from me 
 as it is from the east to the west, so that I am sure 
 they shall never come near me any more. Yea, 
 and by that they call heresy we serve God. And 
 I am sure that there is no man or woman that 
 hangeth on me, but on God. 
 
 '' But such are their imaginations and thoughts, 
 that if they might win me to them, they should 
 win a great many likewise. And thinking to kill 
 me if they cannot win me, as I trust in God, and 
 am sure they never shall, by God's grace, if it were 
 possible for them to kill me ten times ; for I am so 
 linked to Christ in a chain by faith, that it is im- 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 187 
 
 possible for men to loose us asunder, neither for 
 life nor death, I praise my Lord God therefor. No 
 doubt their full intent and purpose is to kill me, 
 thinking thereby to make others afraid; which 
 death of my body were best of all for me, if God 
 was so pleased. But if I may live for the comfort 
 of others, his name be praised. I know what he 
 can do, but what he will do I know not. But if 
 death be offered me, so that I cannot refuse it 
 without displeasing God, I trust in God I shall not 
 offend my brethren in receiving death, but shall 
 rather be an occasion of strengthening their faith, 
 by choosing and receiving it, and that with joy. 
 For as Christ hath given his life for us, so ought 
 we to give our lives for the defence of the gospel^ 
 and comfort of our brethren. And whereas the 
 bishop saith he will prove seven sacraments, be 
 you out of doubt he shall never be able to do it, 
 no more than he hath proved other arguments 
 with me already. Thus fare ye well. Prom the 
 Marshalsea, where I now am, as a sheep appointed 
 to be slain. God be praised therefor." 
 
 Of all the English army of martyrs, Richard 
 Woodman seems to have the most resembled Mar- 
 tin Luther in the cast of his natural character, and 
 the peculiarity of his spiritual gifts. As we pro- 
 ceed in our narrative we shall find him applying 
 the hammer of God's word to the hardened iron 
 which formed the sinews of the necks of his ene- 
 mies, with as much force and as little ceremony as 
 he was wont to exercise w^hen working the metal 
 in his worldly calling. In archdeacon Philpot, 
 
188 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 this b' Idness of speech, and energy of thought, 
 appeared under the polish of rank, education, learn- 
 ing, and ecclesiastical dignity ; in Woodman it 
 stands forth rough and unmitigated, save by the 
 subduing influence of true piety. Even this, how- 
 ever, in his case, added emphasis to the impulse 
 of holy indignation, when he looked upon those 
 whose hearts were really, as he has before expressed 
 it, made drunk by the blood of the saints and mar- 
 tyrs of Jesus ; the blood of men by whom he had 
 been taught the way of salvation, whose dungeons 
 he had shared, whose sufferings he had witnessed, 
 and the smoke of whose cruel burnings had hardly 
 ceased to darken and infect the air. Strong must 
 have been the power of that grace which withheld 
 from bitter revilings the tongue of one whose 
 natural courage shrunk from nothing ; and who 
 was so keenly sensible of the wrongs inflicted on 
 his murdered pastors, and the blasphemous dis- 
 honor heaped upon the name of his God ! 
 
 Eichard Woodman, the humble ironmonger of 
 Sussex, made more than one mitred head cower 
 beneath his righteous rebukes; and forced them 
 to wince under the scornful irony which touched 
 the idolatrous priests of Baal from the inspired 
 lips of Elijah. We do not intend to soften down 
 any part of the recital ; but to give it, with as few 
 curtailments as our limits will allow, in the very 
 words of our martyr. 
 
 Woodman's second examination was in the 
 house of the bishop of Chichester, where Story had 
 sent him. He returned the bishop's courteous 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 189 
 
 greeting with the most respectful salutation he 
 could render ; at the same time thanking him for 
 his former kindness. Chichester requested that 
 he would be brief in his discourse, as the length 
 of their former conversation had impaired his 
 health. 
 
 The seven sacraments were proposed for discus- 
 sion ; and on Woodman denying five of them, and 
 requiring the bishop to prove them from Scrip- 
 ture, he became greatly excited, swearing in a very 
 coarse and shocking manner; for which his pri- 
 soner reminded him that he was not setting a good 
 example to his flock. Chichester seems to have 
 been exposed to evil influence since their last meet- 
 ing ; for when Woodman justified his rebuke by 
 quoting the command to reprove an offending bro- 
 ther, he and the priests pronounced him past cure ; 
 and the bishop desired Dr. Story to be called, as 
 he would talk no more with him ; adding that 
 the company of his fellows in the Marshalsea had 
 made him worse than he was ; for before he went 
 there he had some hope of him. After some 
 more hard speeches, the bishop a little moderated 
 his displeasure, and consented to proceed in the 
 matter of the sacraments. 
 
 The subject on which they began was that of 
 matrimony J where the bishop fortified himself with 
 the word saeramentum used in the Latin version ; 
 and Woodman holding to the English rendering, 
 "a great mystery," as typifying the union of 
 Christ with his church, showed, very beautifully, 
 that the '^ mystery," or unseen thing, was the 
 
190 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 union of heart, invisible to the eye ; whereas a sa- 
 crament was a visible sign. He asked the bishop, 
 " My lord, I pray you w^hat is a sacrament ?" "It 
 is the sign of a holy thing," replied the bishop, 
 who had parried the last argument by insisting 
 that the ceremony being seen, and the man and 
 woman also seen, it was not an invisible mystery. 
 "Woodman, then, on this new ground of the bishop's 
 choosing, disproved his assertion, saying, " There 
 need not be a sign of a holy thing where the holy 
 thing itself is. Matrimony is a holy thing in 
 itself, and is ended outwardly, and needs no more 
 signs but themselves ; wherefore it cannot be a sa- 
 crament as others are." To this the bishop re- 
 turned a singularly ridiculous answer : — "Lo, now 
 you speak against yourself; and for an example, 
 I came by an hosier's, and there hangeth a pair of 
 hose, that are to sell within." At this the priests 
 chuckled, and Woodman answered indignantly, 
 he wondered they were not ashamed of themselves. 
 When taunted by the priests for being angry, he 
 replied, "I am not angry, but I am earnest, I tell 
 you, to see your blindness and folly. I talked of 
 the Scriptures that are written, and they are God's 
 word, to prove my matter true by ; and you will 
 prove your matter trne by a pair of hose. And as 
 well can you prove it by that, as by God's 
 word." "Why," said a priest, "is there nothing 
 true but what is written in the Bible ?" Wood- 
 man replied, " St. Paul saith to the Galatians, "If 
 an angel came from heaven, and holdeth any other 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 191 
 
 doctrine, than may be proved by God's word, hold 
 him accursed; and so do I tell you plainly." 
 
 The priest resumed, "Here is a Testament in 
 my hand ; if I hurl it in the fire, do I burn God's 
 word or not ? I will buy a new one for sixteen 
 pence." Woodman a^iswered, "I say you have 
 burned God's word ; he that would burn a Testa- 
 ment willingly, would burn God himself if he 
 could; for he and his word are as one." They 
 made a great jest of this; and he continued, 
 " Laugh on. Your laughing will be turned to 
 weeping, and all such joy will be turned to mourn- 
 ing, if you repent not with speed." Chichester, 
 to cover the folly of his priests, said, "Why, if 
 my counting-house were full of books, and if my 
 house were by chance on fire, and so burned, is 
 God's word burned?" "'No, my lord, because 
 they were burned against your will ; but yet if you 
 should burn them willingly, or think it well, or 
 not be sorry for it, you burn God's word as well 
 as he. For he that is not sorry for a shrewd turn, 
 [an evil thing,] doth allow it to be good." 
 
 Chichester remarking that he had little learning, 
 then asked him what St. Paul meant by the pas- 
 sage, "We have an altar whereof you may not 
 eat." He answered, " There is no man so foolish 
 as to eat stones, I trow." This greatly annoyed 
 the bishop, who said it was a plain mockery ; but 
 Woodman reminded him that he had just accused 
 him of having no knowledge or learning, or un- 
 derstanding, wherefore he ought to make things 
 more plain to him, and not ask him such dark 
 
192 BAPTIST MARTYRS. . 
 
 questions, and blame him too. The bishop de- 
 clared that the greatest fool in his house would 
 luiderstand his meaning, and calling by his name 
 a servant who stood a little way off, " Come hither; 
 I say to thee, thou shalt not eat of this table. 
 What do I mean thereby ?V " Forsooth, my lord, 
 you would not have me to eat of this table," lay- 
 ing his hand upon it, answered the man. This 
 made all the party laugh ; including Woodman, 
 who said, " He hath expounded the matter almost 
 as well as I." " He meaneth well enough," said 
 the bishop, " if you would understand him. 
 Answer me again, to make it more plain. I say, 
 thou shalt not eat of this table. What mean I 
 thereby?" "Forsooth, you would not have me 
 eat this table." At this they laughed again ; and 
 the bishop, almost angry, said, " He meaneth that 
 I would not have him eat of the meat that is set 
 upon the table. How sayest thou, dost thou not 
 mean so ?" The man replied, " Yes, forsooth, my 
 lord, that was my meaning indeed;" and Wood- 
 man observed that he had answered according to 
 the prompting; showing that he could have re- 
 plied to the j&rst question. 
 
 They then passed on to the sacrament of the 
 altar. Chichester asked Woodman what he said 
 to it. He replied, " You mean the sacrament of 
 the body and blood of Jesus Christ?" "I mean 
 the sacrament of the altar, and so I say." " You 
 mean Christ to be the altar, do you not?" asked 
 Woodman. " I mean the sacrament of the altar 
 xu the church. What! is it so strange to you?" 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 193 
 
 "It is strange to me, indeed, if yoii mean the altar 
 of stone," returned Woodman. " It is that altar 
 which I mean," said the bishop. Woodman re- 
 marked that he understood not the altar so ; and 
 craving permission to show his belief, brought 
 some Scriptures to prove that Christ, in the midst 
 of his assembled people, is the true altar, where 
 Christians, at peace with each other and all the 
 w^orld, should come and offer their prayers to 
 God. 
 
 After hearing him to the end, Chichester said, 
 " Do you understand the offering and the altar so ? 
 I never heard any man understand it so ; no, not 
 Luther, the great heretic, who was condemned by 
 a general council, and his picture burnt." To 
 which Woodman shrewdly replied, "If he were 
 an heretic, I think he understood it not so indeed ; 
 but I am sure all Christians ought to understand 
 it so." The bishop maintained his own view, 
 which was quite a Jewish one ; and when Wood- 
 man showed him so, he said, "Who shall be judge 
 betwixt us in this matter?" Woodman replied, 
 " The twelfth of John declareth who shall be judge 
 in the last day." "You mean," said Chichester, 
 " The word shall judge the word. How can that 
 be?" Woodman replied, "St. Peter saith the 
 Scripture hath no private interpretation ; but one 
 Scripture must be understood by another." He 
 also said " the true church of God is able to dis- 
 cuss all doubts ; to whom I refer it." The bishop, 
 of course, took this as an admission in favor of his 
 false church. 
 
 17 
 
1&4 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Woodman asked what he offered up on his 
 altar? he said, ''We offer up in the blessed sacra- 
 ment of the altar, the body of Christ to pacify the 
 wrath of God the Father." At that they all took 
 off their caps in honor of the idol. Woodman 
 proved from Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, that 
 the one offering of Christ was sufficient; and 
 added, ^' as far as I can see, you are priests after 
 the order of Aaron, who offered up sacrifice for 
 their own sins, and the sins of the people ?" The 
 bishop said, " ITo ; they were priests after the 
 order of Melchizedek, who offered bread and wine 
 in remembrance, to signify the giving of Christ's 
 body in bread and wine, w^hich he, at the last sup- 
 per, gave to his disciples, and ordered to be used 
 to the end of the world." Woodman liked this 
 exposition. He said the bishop had made it very 
 plain to him, that as Christ was the end of all 
 sacrifice, so was he the beginning of the sacra- 
 ments, willing them to be used in remembrance of 
 him to the world's end. The bishop, however, 
 insisted on more than a remembrance; on tran- 
 substantiation ; but he desired Woodman to be 
 brief. 
 
 The martyr then said, " My lord, if you will 
 answer me to one sacrament, I will answer you to 
 another. If you say the w^ords of baptism over 
 the water, and there be no child there, is it true 
 baptism?" ^'N'o; there must be the water, the 
 word, and the child; and then it is a baptism." 
 "Very well," rejoined Woodman ; "then if a child 
 be baptized in the name of the Father and of the 
 
RICITArtD WOODMAlSr. 195 
 
 Son, it is not truly baptized ?" "N"o; the child 
 must be baptized in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the IToly Ghost, or else it is not 
 truly baptized." ''Then," said Woodman, ''there 
 may be nothing added, or taken away from the 
 sacraments, may there?" "Is'o," replied the 
 bishop. " Now, my lord, I will answer to you, if 
 it please you." " Well," asked the bishop, "how 
 say you ? ' Take, eat, this is my body,' is it not 
 Christ's body as soon as the words are said?" 
 "My lord," replied Woodman, "I will answer 
 you by your own words, that you answered me. 
 The w^ater, the word, and the child, you say, all 
 these together make baptism : the bread, the wine 
 and the word make the sacrament ; and the eater, 
 eating it in true faith, maketh it his body. Here 
 I prove it is not Christ's body but to the faithful 
 receiver. For he saith, ' Take, eat, this is my 
 body.' He called it not his body before eating, 
 but after eating. St. Augustine said, 'Believe, 
 and thou hast eaten.' And St. John said, ' He 
 that believeth in God, dwelleth in God, , and God 
 in him;' wherefore it is impossible to dwell 
 in God, and to eat his body, without a true 
 faith." 
 
 One of the priests said, " Then the faith of the 
 receiver maketh it his body, and not his word, by 
 your saying. I pray you, what did Judas eat." 
 Woodman replied, " Judas did eat the sacrament 
 of Christ, and the devil withal," " He did eat the 
 body of Christ unworthily, as St. Paul saith," re- 
 turned the priest. "Nay," said Woodman, "St. 
 
196 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Paul saith no such thing. He spoke not of eating 
 his body unworthily, but of the sacrament un- 
 worthily. For he saith, ' Whoso eateth this bread, 
 and drinketh this cup unworthily, eateth and 
 drink eth his own damnation, because he maketh 
 no difference [discernment] of the Lord's body ;' 
 and not because he eateth the Lord's body. If 
 Judas did eat Christ's body, it must needs follow 
 that Judas is saved ; for Christ saith in the sixth 
 of John, '"Whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him 
 up at the last day.' " 
 
 On this the priests and bishop agreed that it 
 was lost labor to talk any more v/ith him ; so the 
 bishop demanded a final answer as to his belief in 
 the matter, and received this reply : — '' I do believe 
 that if I come to receive the sacrament of the body 
 and blood of Christ truly ministered, believing 
 that Christ was born for me, and that he suffered 
 death for me, and that I shall be saved from my 
 sins by his blood-shedding; and so receive the 
 sacrament in that remembrance, then I do believe 
 that I receive wholly Christ, God and man, mysti- 
 cally by faith. This is my belief." Chichester 
 observed, " Why then, it is no body without faith ; 
 God's word is of no force, as you count it." ''My 
 lord," he replied, "I have told you my mind with- 
 out dissimulation ; and more you get not of me, 
 without you will talk with me by the Scriptures ; 
 and if you will do so, I will begin anew with you, 
 and prove it more plainly ; three or four manner 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 197 
 
 of ways, that you shall not say nay to that I have 
 said yourself." 
 
 "When he said this they began to laugh heartily, 
 saying to each other, " This is an heretic indeed ; 
 it is time he were burned." Their ridicule and 
 malignity moved him to give them a very severe 
 rebuke ; '^ Judge not lest ye be judged ; for as you 
 judge me, you shall be judged yourselves. For 
 what you call heresy, I serve God truly with, as 
 you all shall well know, when you shall be in hell, 
 and shall be compelled to say, from pain, 'This 
 was the man that we jested on, and whose talk we 
 called foolishness, and his end to be without honor ; 
 but we now see how he is counted among the saints 
 of God, and we are punished.' These words shall 
 you say, being in hell, if you repent not with 
 speed, if you consent to the shedding of my blood. 
 Wherefore look to it; I give you counsel." A 
 priest taxed him with being angry ; and began to 
 repeat some words which he had spoken against 
 their idols, and in answer to bishop Stephen Gar- 
 diner. He answered, " That I said, I said ; and 
 where you said I was angry, I take God to my re- 
 cord that I am not, but am zealous for the truth, 
 and speak out of the Spirit of God with cheerful- 
 ness." The priest, with marks of contempt, mock- 
 ingly repeated, " The Spirit of God ! think you 
 that you have the Spirit of God ?" " I believe 
 surely," answered the martyr, "that I have the 
 Spirit of God, I praise God therefor ; and you are 
 deceivers, mockers, and scorners before God, and 
 are the children of Satan, all of you, as far as I can 
 17* 
 
198 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 see." Here Story came in, and after railing as 
 usual, advised the bishop to have nothing more to 
 do with him, and ordered him back to the prison 
 without farther question. When thej had all left 
 to receive a party, who were come to dine with 
 the bishop, a priest began to flatter Woodman, 
 urging him to recant ; but he met with no success ; 
 and after a few minutes, he was conducted again 
 to the Marshalsea prison. 
 
 Soon after this, the marshal came to the prison, 
 and questioned Woodman as to his having been 
 abroad, speaking seditious words, both of which 
 he so clearly disproved, that the officer owned that 
 it must be a false report ; and then took him away 
 for another examination, to lord Montague's house, 
 in Southwark, where Dr. Langdale, the bishop's 
 chaplain, was waiting for him. A very long con- 
 versation ensued ; which Langdale began, by 
 charging him with forsaking the faith of his 
 fathers, and so forth. Woodman answered wisely 
 and scripturally, and the doctor, after blaming 
 him for quoting the Bible too much, tried by the 
 assurance of much good will, to induce him to 
 speak his mind freely. The martyr, in a strain of 
 admirable prudence, mingled with his natural 
 frankness, told him that he knew not how to trust 
 his fair words, when he could not trust his own 
 father and brother, and others who had been his 
 familiar friends ; — that Christ had bade him to be 
 wise as a serpent, and as innocent as the dove, — 
 and also to take heed of men, for they would be- 
 tray. He added, that the doctor's dislike to his 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 199 
 
 quoting Scripture made him suspect iiim ; there- 
 fore he must not be angry if he found him circum- 
 spect in his answer; '' For," said he, ''.it shall not be 
 said, by God's help, that I run wilfully into mine 
 enemies' hands ; and yet, I praise God, that my life 
 is not dear unto myself, but is dear with God; 
 wherefore I will do to the uttermost I can to keep it." 
 Langdale then made a misstatement of what had 
 taken place before Woodman's last apprehension, 
 which he very calmly and soberly answered, fully 
 showing in what he had been wrongfully charged. 
 Woodman was next charged with baptizing his 
 child, and in the same breath with leaving it un- 
 baptized. He indignantly proved the falsehood 
 of this strange contradiction ; and referring to a 
 part of Langdale 's speech, where he had said that 
 if the child died before baptism it must have 
 been eternally lost, he asked him, "How think 
 you ? are all condemned who receive not the out- 
 ward sign of baptism?" "Yea," said the doctor, 
 "that they be." Woodman asked, "Howproveyou 
 that ?" Langdale replied by repeating our Lord's 
 words which command baptism, assuring eternal 
 life to such as believe and are baptized, and con- 
 demnation to them who believe not. " Then,'* 
 observed Woodman, " by your saying that bap- 
 tism bringeth faith; and all that are baptized in 
 water shall be saved, shall they?" "Yea, that 
 they shall," replied the doctor; "if they die be- 
 fore they come to discretion, they should be saved 
 every one of them ; and all that be not baptized, 
 shall be damned, every one of them." 
 
2C0 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 This greatly roused "Woodman, who exclaimed, 
 " How dare you speak such blasphemy against God 
 and his, as you do ? How dare you for your life 
 take upon you to preach, and teach the people, 
 and understand not what you say ? For I protest 
 before God that you understand not the Scriptures, 
 but as far as natural reason can comprehend ; for 
 if you did, you would be ashamed to speak as you 
 do.*' Langdale told him to take heed, for he had 
 a toy in his head that would make him despair ; 
 and asked why he reproved him as he did. Wood- 
 man answered, "Because you blaspheme God;'* 
 and then challenged him to prove his doctrine by 
 Scripture, which made the other turn pale and 
 tremble. 
 
 Woodman then proceeded to show that the per- 
 dition threatened was not to them who are not 
 baptized, but to such a^ believe not ; quoting the 
 words of John, " He that belie veth not is con- 
 demned already, because he believeth not." He 
 went on, "I dare not say, for all the good things 
 under heaven, that all they who receive no material 
 baptism by water, shall be condemned, as you have 
 said ; yet I would not that you should gather from 
 these words that I deny baptism, as you were about 
 to lay to my charge, before I had half told out my 
 tale. But I would not have you nor any man, so 
 rash in judgment, to condemn the thing that they 
 are not able to prove by the word ; and to make it 
 seem to the simple that the outward washing of 
 the water were the cause of faith." "Why, is it 
 not so?" asked Langdale; "will you deny it ? how 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 201 
 
 say you, will yon deny it ? I say tbe child hath no 
 faith before it is baptized; and therefore the bap- 
 tism bringeth the faith. How say you to it? 
 Make me a plain answer to the question." 
 
 "ISTow," said Woodman, "I see you go about 
 nothing else but to take advantage of my words. 
 But, by God's help, I will answer you so that you 
 shall well see your sayings nntrue. And yet I 
 will not speak mine own words, but the words of 
 the Holy Ghost, out of the mouth of the prophets 
 and apostles; and then ask them whether they 
 will deny it." He then asked where Jacob was 
 baptized before he had faith ; alleging the passage 
 which speaks of his election before his birth ; but 
 Langdale parried this, as it was before the institu- 
 tion of baptism. He demanded an answer to his 
 former question, observing, that Woodman de- 
 nied original sin, and free will; "for," said he, 
 ''if children can be saved without baptism, it must 
 needs follow that children have no original sin; 
 the which is put away in the baptizing. But I 
 think that you know not what original sin is, or 
 free will either." Woodman then told him that 
 he thanked God, that he thought he could tell 
 him better than he could; and then asked him, 
 "what free will hath man to do good of himself?" 
 Langdale answered, " I say that man hath as much 
 free will as Adam had before the fall." "I pray 
 you, how prove you that?" "Thus I prove it," 
 saith the doctor, "that as sin entered into the 
 world, and by the nature of one that sinned all 
 became sinners, the which was by Adam ; so by 
 
202 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the obedience of one man, righteousness came 
 upon all men that had sinned, and set them as free 
 as they were before their fall ; the which was by- 
 Jesus Christ. See the fifth of the epistle to the 
 Romans." 
 
 Woodman exclaimed, " Oh, what an overthrow 
 have you given yourself here in original sin, and 
 yet you cannot see it ! For, in proving that we 
 have free will, you have quite denied original sin. 
 For here you have declared that we are set as free 
 by the death of Christ as Adam was before his 
 fall; and I am sure that Adam had no original 
 sin before his fall. If we are as free now, as lie 
 was then, I marvel wherefore Paul prayed thrice 
 to God to take away the sting of it ; God making 
 him answer, and saying, ' My grace is sufficient 
 for thee.' These words, with divers others, prove 
 original sin in us ; but not that it shall hurt God's 
 elect people, for his grace is sufficient for all of 
 them. But you say in one place that it is not 
 without baptism ; and in another place you put it 
 away quite by the death of Christ; and in very 
 deed you have spoken truer in the matter than 
 you are aware of. For all who believe in Christ 
 are baptized in the blood of Christ, that he shed 
 on the cross ; and in the water that he sweat for 
 pain, and putting away of our sins at his death. 
 And yet I say with David, 'In sin was I born, and 
 in sin did my mother conceive me ;' but in no 
 such sin as shall be imputed, because I am born 
 of God by faith, as John saith in the third chapter 
 of his first epistle. Therefore I am blessed, as 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 203 
 
 eaith the thirty-second psalm, because the Lord 
 imputeth not my sin, and not because I have no 
 sin ; but because God hath not imputed my sins. 
 'Not of our own deserving, but of his free mercy, 
 he hath saved us. Where is now your free will 
 that you speak of? If we have free will, then our 
 salvation cometh of our own selves, and not of 
 God ; the which is great blasphemy against God 
 and his word." He quoted the apostles James, 
 John, and Paul, and went on to apply these Scrip- 
 tures. " Seeing then that every good and perfect 
 gift cometh from above, and lighteneth upon whom 
 it pleaseth God, and that he worketh in us both 
 the will and the deed, methinks all the rest of our 
 own will is little worth, or nothing at all unless it 
 be wickedness." 
 
 Woodman then craved leave to answer to the 
 matter of Jacob's faith, which Langdale had put 
 aside as having nothing to do with baptism. The 
 doctor consented, probably, as Woodman suspected, 
 hoping to lay hold on some of his words ; and he 
 proceeded, " First you may be reminded, yoa said 
 that if my child had died without baptism, if I 
 had been the cause that it had not been baptized, 
 the child should have been damned, and I too. 
 How say you ?" " Yea, that you should," answered 
 the doctor. Woodman replied, "That is most 
 untrue ; for the prophet saith, the father shall not 
 bear the child's offences ; nor the child the father's 
 offences ; but the soul that sinneth shall die. What 
 could the child have done withal, if it had died 
 without baptism ? the child could not be blamed. 
 
204 BAPTIST MAKTYRS. 
 
 How say yon to this ? And I am snre that what 
 I brought in, in the old law, to prove that faith is 
 before baptism is not disagreeable unto the word. 
 For circumcision was a figure of baptism ; and 
 that I may bring to prove baptism by, as well as 
 St. Peter did ; for he brought in Noah's flood, 
 which was a long time before Jacob and Esau, to 
 prove baptism ; saying, ' While the ark was a pre- 
 paring, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved 
 by water, like as baptism now saveth us ; not in 
 putting away the filth of the flesh, but there is a 
 good conscience consenting to God.' Here Peter 
 proveth that water had not saved I^oah and the 
 other seven, no more than it saved all the rest, if 
 it had not been for their faith ; which faith now 
 saveth us ; not in putting away the filthy soil of 
 the flesh by the washing of w^ater, but a good con- 
 science consenting unto God. 
 
 "But you say, that if they are baptized with the 
 water, if they die before they come to the years of 
 discretion, they are all saved ; the which St. Peter 
 is clean against, unless you grant that children have 
 faith before they are baptized, l^ow I ask you, 
 what consent of conscience the children have, being 
 infants ? For you say they believe not before they 
 are baptized ; therefore, then, they consent not to 
 be baptized, because they believe not. And by 
 this it followeth that none shall be saved, although 
 they are baptized. I would fain see how you can 
 answer this." Langdale replied, " You are the 
 most perverse man that ever I knew. You know 
 not what you say. The children are baptized iu 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 205 
 
 their godfathers' and godmothers' faith, and that 
 is the good conscience which St. Peter speaks of ; 
 and the christening is the keeping of the law 
 which St. Paul speaketh of, saying, ' Ifeither is cir- 
 cumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but the 
 keeping of the law.' Like as circumcision was the 
 keeping of the old law, so is baptism the keeping 
 of the new law." 
 
 To all this Woodman replied, '' Ah ! methought 
 if you talked with me, you would be compelled to 
 bring in the old law to maintain your sayings by ; 
 though you refused it when I brought it in. Bat 
 yet it serveth not your purpose so much as you 
 think for. For here you have confessed that 
 neither circumcision availeth, nor uncircumcision ; 
 the which you have coupled with baptism, proving 
 that none of them availeth, but keeping the law is 
 the whole thing. The which law is kept, you say, by 
 the outward signs ; which is not so ; for 'Abraham 
 believed God, and that was counted to him for 
 righteousness,' and this was before he was circum- 
 cised." 
 
 After saying a little more on this point, "Wood- 
 man asked, ''Where you said the children are 
 baptized in their godfathers' and godmothers' 
 faith, being all unbelievers, in what faith is the 
 child" baptized then ? In none at all, by your own 
 saying." This greatly excited the doctor, who 
 exclaimed, "What! then you would count that 
 there are very few believers, if there be not one of 
 three that believeth. You enter into judgment 
 against the people. Belike you think there are 
 
 18 
 
206 BAPTIST MAETYRS. 
 
 none tliat believe well, unless they are of your 
 mind. Indeed, then Christ's flock were a very 
 little flock!" Woodman replied, "Indeed, these 
 are Christ's own words, in Luke the twefth, ^ Fear 
 not little flock,' the which we may see to be very 
 true. Yea, you said that if there were not one 
 amongst three, that were very few. But there is 
 not amongst thre^ hundred for anything that I can 
 see ; for if there were, there would not be so many 
 that w^ould seek their neighbors' goods and lives 
 as there are." Langdale cunningly asked him 
 how many he thought there w^ere of that little 
 flock ; but he got not the information he wanted, 
 for Woodman told him it would be making him- 
 self equal with God to answer it ; he then quoted 
 many passages of Scripture, to show that the great 
 mass of mankind are in error, and Christ's believ- 
 ing people a small number, ending by an offer to 
 furnish farther evidence ; and also to show that 
 the doctor and his party were not in that small 
 number. 
 
 Langdale then began to stamp the floor, to show 
 his rage, railing at him for a long time. When he 
 had finished this. Woodman asked him, where- 
 fore he was so angry at his answering the ques- 
 tions proposed? Langdale said he had not an- 
 swered him as to original sin, and that he denied 
 original sin. 
 
 Before the martyr could reply, a Mr. Gage, who 
 had been kind to Woodman, came into the room. 
 He acted as a peacemaker, and persuaded the 
 angry doctor to resume the examination, suggest- 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 20T 
 
 iiig that lie should question him on the sacrament 
 of the altar ; and here the former discussion with 
 Chichester and the priest was, in substance, re- 
 peated. It ended, of course, by remanding the 
 prisoner to the Marshalsea. 
 
 It may be proper to remark here, that Wood- 
 man seems to have had rather singular views of the 
 meaning of some figurative passages of Scripture. 
 As, for instance, his supposing the symbol, " lively 
 stones," to refer to flint stones, out of which fire 
 might be struck to enlighten the darkness of 
 others. A beautiful idea, though singular, and 
 not the meaning of the text. Salvation by grace, 
 however, was the main point which the holy mar- 
 tyrs of that day were anxious to guard against the 
 system of salvation by works, which was taught 
 by the persecuting church. 
 
 Woodman's next examination took place at St. 
 George's church, in South wark, before the bishops 
 of Winchester and Eochester, with others. Win- 
 chester commenced by giving a long history of 
 his former imprisonment and release, his alleged 
 oftences since, and his capture. In this he made 
 just as many mistakes as he made statements ; and 
 at the end Woodman showed him the utter false- 
 hood of what he had said. The whole time w^as 
 occupied in reporting stories of Woodman's re- 
 ported sayings and actions, contrary to the laws, 
 not one of which charges could they maintain ; and 
 he was sent to prison, when there seemed a greater 
 probability of their being compelled to release 
 
208 BAPTIST MAETYRS. 
 
 him. But what can the lamb's innocence avail, 
 when the hungry wolf has it under his paw ? 
 
 Three weeks afterwards, he was brought to St. 
 Mary's, in Southwark, where sat the bishop of 
 Winchester, Harpsfield, Langdale, and other com- 
 missioners, in the presence of more than three 
 hundred people. Winchester began by rebuking 
 him for defending himself so strongly on the last 
 occasion, when Woodman had maintained that he 
 was not sent to prison for any heresy, but for the 
 breach of a statute in speaking to a priest in the 
 pulpit. The bishop now tried to disprove this; 
 but Woodman told him he had bought a statute 
 book since he was imprisoned, and had made out 
 the whole case, confirming what he had before as- 
 serted, and proving the bishop's charge to be false. 
 Finding this would not answer, Winchester then 
 produced the account, in the prisoner's own V9iit- 
 ing, of the former examinations before the com- 
 missioners, and proceeded to question him as to 
 his belief in the sacrament of the altar. Wood- 
 man, seeing that the bishop only wanted to make 
 him utter, in his discourse, something that he 
 might catch hold of, to assume the character of 
 his ordinary, replied, "I will answer you to no 
 such thing, for I am not of your diocese ; therefore 
 I will not answer to you." Winchester said, 
 " Thou art within my diocese, and thou hast of- 
 fended within my diocese ; and therefore I will 
 have to do with thee." ''Have to do with me if 
 you will," replied the martyr, "but I will have 
 nothing to do with you, I tell you plainly. For 
 
KICHAKD WOODMAN. 209 
 
 though I be now in yonr diocese, I have not of- 
 fended in your diocese, if I have, show me where- 
 in." He was told of his own handwriting, there 
 present, which stated his heretical opinions. He 
 owned it as his, but said that, being merely a re- 
 lation of the talk between him and the commis- 
 sioners, it was no offence, nor had they anything 
 to do with it. The bishop then ordered him to 
 be sworn, that he might question him as to where 
 he wrote it, and whether he still held the same 
 doctrines ; but Woodman refused to be sworn by 
 him, not being his ordinary; and also protested 
 he wrote no word of the paper in that diocese. 
 Langdale then asserted that it was written in the 
 King's Bench prison. Woodman declared that 
 he did not write it there. A fat proud priest next 
 demanded where he wrote it. He answered, that 
 he owed him not so much service as to tell him ; 
 they must find it out how they could, for they only 
 sought his life. Winchester then went on to read 
 from his paper the replies that he had formerly 
 given to the commissioners, and several times 
 sought to entrap him into some expression of his 
 opinion there ; but Woodman was too wary to be 
 caught. 
 
 When the bishop, after reading his remarks on 
 the publication of false doctrine in pulpits and 
 churches, asked him, where it took place, he re- 
 plied, " In the synagogue of Satan, where God is 
 dishonored by false doctrine." " I pray you, where 
 is one of them?" asked Winchester; "l!Tay," he 
 replied, ''that judge yourself; I came not here to 
 18* 
 
210 BAPTIST MAKTYRS. 
 
 be a judge.'* Having, in like manner, baffled all 
 attempts to make him commit himself, he answered 
 the bishop very severely as to some of his railing 
 speeches, quoting the book of Revelation, and also 
 the apocryphal one called the Book of Wisdom. 
 When he named this Winchester cried out, " Wis- 
 dom ! what speakest thou of wisdom ? thou never 
 hadst it ; for thou art as very a fool as ever I heard 
 speak." Woodman answered, ''Do you not know 
 that the foolish things of the world must confound 
 the wise things ? wherefore, it grieveth me not to 
 be called a fool at your hands." ''N'ay, thou art 
 none of those fools," returned the bishop; thou 
 art an obstinate fool and a heretic. Lay hand on 
 the book, and answer to such things as I will lay 
 against thee." Woodman refused, repeating that 
 he was not of that diocese. Winchester exlaimed, 
 " This man is without law ; he careth not for the 
 king or queen, I dare say, for he will not obey 
 their laws. Let me see the king's commission. I 
 will see whether he will obey that or not." The 
 martyr remarked, " I would you loved the king 
 and queen's majesty no less than I do, if it pleased 
 God; you would not do then as you do now." 
 ''Hold him a book," repeated the angry bishop, 
 " he is a rank heretic. Thou shalt answer to such 
 things as I will demand of thee." 
 
 Woodman then said, " I take heaven and earth 
 to witness that I am no heretic ; neither can I tell 
 wherefore I am brought to prison, no more than 
 any man here can tell." He looked round upon 
 the people, and then continued, addressing the 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 211 
 
 bishop, " If you have any just cause against me 
 worthy of death, lay it against me, and let me 
 have it ; for I refuse not to die, I praise God, for 
 the truth's sake, if I had ten lives. If you have 
 no cause, let me go home, I pray you, to my wife 
 and children, to see them maintained; and other 
 poor folk that I would set to work, by the help of 
 God. I have set to work a hundred persons ere 
 this, all the year together, and was unjustly taken 
 from them ; but God forgive them who did it, if it 
 be his will!" The inhuman bishop now said, 
 '' Do you see how he looketh about for help ? But 
 I would see any man show thee a cheerful coun- 
 tenance, and especially you that be of my diocese. 
 If any of you bid God strengthen him, or take him 
 by the hand, or embrace him, or show him a cheer- 
 ful countenance, you shall be ^excommunicated, 
 and shall not be received again till you have done 
 open penance; and therefore beware of it." The 
 martyr replied, " I look for no help from man, for 
 God is on my side, I praise him therefor ; and 
 therefore I need not to care who are against me ; 
 neither do I care." The judges called oat, " Away 
 with him, and bring us another." So he was car- 
 ried back to prison. 
 
 The sixth and last examination of this bold 
 champion took place, also, at St. Mary Overy's, 
 two days after the preceding one ; where were pre- 
 sent the bishops of Winchester and Chichester, 
 Harpsfield, Langdale, Roper, and the same priests 
 who had formerly assisted them. Winchester told 
 him that he had affirmed certain heresies the last 
 
212 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 time before them ; and asked if he held them 
 still, or would revoke them. He answered that he 
 held no heresies, as the Lord knew. "ISo !" said 
 the bishop, " did yon not affirm that Judas received 
 bread ? which is a heresy, unless you tell what 
 more than bread." Woodman replied, "Is it 
 heresy to say that Judas received no more than 
 bread ? I said he received more than bare bread, 
 for he received the same sacrament that was pre- 
 pared to show forth the Lord's death ; and be- 
 cause he presumed to eat without faith, he ate 
 the devil with all, as the words of Christ declare ; 
 after he ate the sop, the devil entered into him, as 
 you cannot deny." "Hold him a book," said the 
 bishop, "I will have you answer directly whether 
 Judas did eat the body or no." But Woodman 
 refused to be sworn, maintaining that the bishop 
 of Winchester had no jurisdiction over him in the 
 cause ; and to this he inflexibly stood. He also 
 pleaded that the bishop of London had discharged 
 him of all the matters laid against him ; and that 
 it was unlawful as well as unjust, to imprison and 
 try him over again on the same charges. 
 
 Winchester said, ttiat if he was again suspected 
 of being a heretic, they had a right to call him 
 before him and examine him of his faith, upon 
 suspicion. " Indeed," said Woodman, " St. Peter 
 willeth me to render account of my hope that I 
 have in God; and I am contented so to do, if it 
 please my bishop to hear me." "Yes, I pray 
 you, let us hear it," said the bishop of Chichester. 
 " I do believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 213 
 
 of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and 
 invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, my 
 Saviour, very God and very man. I believe in 
 God the Holy Ghost, the Comforter of all God's 
 elect people, and that he is equal with the Father 
 and the Son. I believe in the true Catholic church, 
 and all the sacraments that belong thereto. Thus 
 have I rendered account of my hope that I have 
 of my salvation." 
 
 Winchester asked, ^^And how believe you in 
 the blessed sacrament of the altar?" And at 
 that word they all took off their caps in honor of 
 the idol. Woodman replied, " I pray you be con- 
 tented, for I will not answer to any more ques- 
 tions; for I perceive you go about to shed my 
 blood." " isTo !" said the bishop, " hold him a 
 book. If he refuse to swear, he is an Anabaptist, 
 and shall be excommunicated." Woodman firmly 
 repeated, " I will not swear for you, excommuni- 
 cate me if you will. For you are not fit to receive 
 an oath; for you laid heresies to my charge in 
 yonder pulpit, the which you are not able to 
 prove ; wherefore you are not meet to take an 
 oath of any man. And as for me, I am not of 
 your diocese, nor will have anything to do with 
 you." Winchester repeated that he would have 
 to do with him : and that he was a strong heretic. 
 Woodman remarked, that all truth was heresy with 
 them ; but offered to show them his belief con- 
 cerning the sacrament, and then repeated what he 
 had before declared, as to his coming in faith that 
 Christ suffered for his sins, and that he should be 
 
214 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 saved by his blood-shedding ; and so receiving a 
 whole Christ, mystically, by faith. On his uttering 
 the last words they all cried out ; and the fat 
 priest, calling him a fool, demanded what he 
 meant by "mystically." He replied, "I take 
 mystically to be the faith that is in us ; that the 
 world seeth not, but God only." 
 
 Here Winchester remarked that he knew not 
 what he said ; and demanded once more a direct 
 answer, as to the real presence in the sacrament. 
 "Woodman replied, " I have said as much as I will 
 say; excommunicate me if you will. I am not 
 of your diocese. The bishop of Chichester is mine 
 ordinaiy. Let him do it if you will needs have 
 my blood, that it may be required at his hands." 
 Chichester said, " I am not consecrated yet ; I told 
 you so when you were with me." The martyr 
 seems to have penetrated the true character of this 
 man, whose name was Christopherson, and who, 
 after his consecration, became as violent a perse-^ 
 cutor as any of his brethren. Woodman, on re- 
 collecting that a bull from Rome must arrive 
 before he could receive consecration, quaintly re- 
 marked, ''ISTo, indeed, your kine bringeth forth 
 nothing but cow-calves, as it chanceth now." 
 This put the pope's clergy in a rage ; and they all 
 railed at him together, telling him that he was out 
 of his wits. " So Festus said to Paul when he 
 spake the words of soberness and truth, as taught 
 by the Spirit of God, as I do," said Woodman. 
 " But as you have judged, you shall be judged 
 yourselves. You will go to hell, and all like you, 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 215 
 
 if you condemn me, and repent not of it 
 speedily." 
 
 After some commotion, Winchester and Harps- 
 field said, " We go not about to condemn thee, 
 but go about to save thy soul, if thou wilt be ruled, 
 and do as we would have thee." "To save my 
 soul!" repeated the martyr, "Nay, you cannot 
 save my soul. My soul is saved already ; I praise 
 God therefor. There can no one save my soul but 
 Jesus Christ; and he it is who has saved my soul 
 before the foundation of the world was laid." On 
 this a priest cried out, " What a heresy is that, my 
 lords ! He saith his soul was saved before the 
 foundations of the world were laid." Then turning 
 to Woodman, " Thou canst not tell what thou 
 sayest. Was thy soul saved before it existed?" 
 '' Yes, I praise God I can tell what I say, and I 
 say the truth. Look at the first chapter of the 
 Ephesians, and there you shall find it, where Paul 
 saith, 'Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, w^ho hath blessed us with all spiritual 
 blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according 
 as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation 
 of the world, that we should be holy and without 
 blame before him in love ; having predestinated 
 us unto the adoption of children.' These are the 
 words of Paul, and I believe they are most true. 
 And therefore it is my faith in and by Jesus Christ 
 that saveth ; and not you or any man else." 
 
 " What !" said the priest, " faith without works? 
 St. James saith, 'faith without works is dead;' 
 and we have free will to do good works." Wood- 
 
216 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 man replied, " I would not that any of you should 
 think that I disallow good works. For a good 
 faith cannot be without good works. Yet not of 
 ourselves, for it is the gift of God ; as St. Paul 
 saith to the Philippians, ' It is God that worketh 
 in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.' " 
 Winchester, not enduring to hear so much sound 
 doctrine, now interposed, saying, " Make an end ; 
 answer to me. Here is your ordinary, the arch- 
 deacon of Canterbury; he is made your ordinary 
 by my lord cardinal, and he hath authority to ex- 
 amine you of your faith upon a book, to answer to 
 such articles as he will lay to you. And I pray 
 you refuse it not, for the danger is great if you do. 
 "Wherefore we desire you to show yourself a sub- 
 ject in this matter." Then the rest, having by 
 this time discovered that nothing was to be done 
 with this resolute victim by harshness, all joined, 
 saying, " Lo, my lord desireth you gently to 
 answer him, and so do we all. For if you refuse 
 to take an oath, he may excommunicate you. For 
 my lord cardinal may put whom he will in the 
 bishop's office, until he is consecrated." But 
 Woodman was not to be so led. He answered, 
 *' I know not so much. If you will give me time 
 to learn the truth of it, and if I can find it to be as 
 you say, I will tell you my mind in anything he 
 shall ask of me without any flattering." The 
 priest said, " My lord and we all tell thee it is 
 true, and therefore answer to him." ^' I will be- 
 lieve none of you all," replied Woodman, ^^for you 
 are turncoats and changelings, and are wavering- 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 217 
 
 minded, as St. James says; you are neither hot 
 nor cold, as saith St. John, therefore God will cast 
 you out of his mouth. "Wherefore I can believe 
 none of you all ; I tell you the truth." " What !" 
 said Winchester, "are we turncoats and change- 
 lings ? What meanest thou by that?" " I mean," 
 answered the plain-spoken prisoner, " that in king 
 Edw^ard's days you taught the doctrine that was 
 set forth then, every one of you ; and now you 
 teach the contrary ; therefore I call you turncoats 
 and changelings, as I may well enough." These 
 words made them quake, and Winchester said, 
 "ISTay, not all, as it chanced." " IsTo ! I pray you, 
 where were you then ?" asked Woodman. The 
 bishop replied, " I w^as in the tower, as the lieu- 
 tenant will bear me record." "If you were in the 
 tower," said Woodman, " it was not therefor, I 
 dare say; it was for some other matter." Then 
 the others took heart, and said, "My lord, he 
 Cometh to examine you, we think ; if he will not 
 answer to the articles, it were best for you to ex- 
 communicate him." The bishop replied, " He is 
 the naughtiest, and most impudent heretic I ever 
 knew; I will read the sentence against him." 
 After some more angry speaking, and being told 
 again by Woodman that if he condemned him he 
 would be punished everlastingly ; with the assur- 
 ance that he himself was not afraid to die for 
 God's sake, if he had a hundred lives ; the bishop 
 repeated, "For God's sake? nay, for the devil's 
 sake. Thou sayest thou art not afraid to die ; no 
 more w^as Judas, who hanged himself, as thou wilt 
 
 19 
 
218 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 kill thyself wilfully, because thou wilt not be 
 ruled." Woodman said, '^l^ay, I defy the devil, 
 Judas, and all their members. And the flesh of 
 Judas was not afraid, but his spirit and conscience 
 were afraid, and therefore he despaired and hung 
 himself. But, I praise God, I feel no unwillingness 
 in my flesh to die, but a joyful conscience and 
 willing mind thereto. Wherefore my flesh is sub- 
 dued to it, I praise God ; and therefore I am not 
 afraid of death." 
 
 The bishop of Chichester then said, " Wood- 
 man, for God's sake be ruled. You know what 
 you said at my house. I could say more if I 
 would." "Say what you can," said the undaunted 
 martyr; "the most fault that you found in me 
 was, because I praised the living God; and be- 
 cause I said, 'I praise God and the Lord;' which 
 you ought to be ashamed of, if you have any 
 grace ; for I told you where the words were writ- 
 ten." Winchester spoke next: — "Well, how say 
 you? Will you confess that Judas received the 
 body of Christ unworthily ? tell me plainly." " My 
 lord," he replied, " if you, or any of you all, can 
 prove before all this audience, in all the Bible, 
 that any man ever ate the body of Christ un- 
 worthily, then I will be with you in all things that 
 you will demand of me ; of the which matter I de- 
 sire all these people to be witness." "Will you 
 so?" said the priest, "then we shall agree well 
 enough. St. Paul saith so." Woodman asked, 
 "I pray you where saith he so? Eehearse the 
 words." The priest answered "in the eleventh 
 
IIICHARD WOODMAN. 219 
 
 chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, he 
 saith, ' ^Hioso eateth of this blood, and drinketh 
 of this cup, unworthily, eateth and drinketh his 
 own damnation, because he maketh no difference 
 of the Lord's body.' " Woodman then asked, 
 " Do these words prove that Judas ate the body of 
 Christ unworthily ? I pray you let me see them." 
 They gave him the book, and he went on:— ^ 
 ^' These are the words, even that you said ; good 
 people hearken well to them. ' "Whoso eateth of 
 this bread, and drinketh unworthily ;' he saith not 
 Whoso eateth of this body unworthily, or drinketh 
 of this blood unworthily ; but he saith, " Wliosoever 
 eateth of this bread, and drinketh of this cup un- 
 worthily, (which is the sacrament,) eateth and 
 drinketh his own damnation,' because he maketh 
 no difference between the sacrament which repre- 
 senteth the Lord's body, and other bread and 
 drink. Here, good people, you may all see that 
 they are not able to prove their sajdngs true. 
 Wherefore, I cannot believe them in anything that 
 they do." 
 
 Winchester then exclaimed, " Thou art a rank 
 heretic indeed! Art thou an expounder? Now 
 I will read sentence against thee." "Judge not, 
 lest you be judged," said the martyr again; "for 
 as you have judged me, you are yourself." Win- 
 chester commenced reading, and he asked, "Why 
 will you read the sentence against me, and cannot 
 tell wherefore?" "Thou art a heretic," answered 
 the wicked prelate, "and therefore thou shalt be 
 excommunicated." "I am no heretic, I take hea- 
 
220 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 ven and earth to witness, T defy all heretics ; and 
 if you condemn me, you will be condemned eter- 
 nally, if you repent not. But God give you grace 
 to repent it, if it be his will." 
 
 "And so," writes Woodman, in ^losing his 
 story, " he read forth the sentence in Latin, but 
 what he said God knoweth, and not I. God be 
 judge between them and me. When he had done, 
 I would have talked my mind to them, but they 
 cried out, ' Away, away with him !' So I was car- 
 ried to the Marshalsea again ; where I now am ; 
 and shall be,* as long as it shall please God. And 
 I praise God most heartily that ever he hath 
 elected, and predestinated me to come to so high 
 a dignity, as to bear rebuke for his name's sake ; 
 his name be praised therefor, for ever and ever. 
 Amen." 
 
 Woodman was not burned alone. He was one 
 of ten who were consumed in the same pile. 
 George Stevens had been some time in the prison 
 also for the truth ; but the remaining eight had 
 been only apprehended two, or at most three days 
 before they received sentence at the mouths of 
 these persecuting ministers, professedly servants 
 of the meek and lowly Jesus. W. Maynard, and 
 A. Hosman, his servant ; J. Morris, with his aged 
 mother, Margery Morris ; Thomasine Wood, Mr. 
 Maynard's maid-servant; Dennis Burgess; and 
 two married w^omen, named Ashdowne and Grove, 
 were all at large, some say the very day before 
 they were committed to the flames. 'No time was 
 allowed for a writ to come down from London, to 
 
RICHARD WOODMAN. 221 
 
 Lewes, in the county of Sussex, wliere they suf- 
 fered. Such legal proceedings were then scarcely 
 thought of. The process of the murderers was 
 like that of the Babylonian tyrant on the plains of 
 Dura. Whosoever would not worship the idols, 
 was seized, bound, and cast into the fire. 
 
 19* 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 There is an important sense in wHcli it may 
 be said that the developments of history are pro- 
 gressive. History has of late been more carefully 
 studied ; fiction has been sifted from fact ; private 
 documents have been brought forward to substan- 
 tiate or correct public statements ; and we are less 
 disposed than formerly to be terrified by mere 
 names. We have become fully satisfied that Ana- 
 baptist may be a nickname for a truly eminent 
 Christian. 
 
 The good men and women of whom we are now 
 writing had fled to London from the Low Coun- 
 tries, to escape the suflferings to which Baptist 
 principles exposed them. " We had to forsake our 
 friends/' says one of the suflerers, " our country, 
 our possessions, on account of tyranny, and fled as 
 lambs from a wolf ; only because of the pure evan- 
 gelical truth of Christ, and not for uproars' or fac- 
 tions' sake, like those of Munster, whose views are 
 an abomination of which we have been slander- 
 ously accused." 
 
 The English are often boasting of their good 
 Queen Elizabeth, but the following, among many 
 other similar facts, shows that she had little in 
 which they can honorably glory. In her day, the 
 fierceness of ecclesiastical intolerance was severely 
 felt 
 
 (222) 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. ?23 
 
 As e;>y]y as 1568, the Baptists had engaged the at- 
 tention of the bishops, who obtained a proclama- 
 tion from the queen directing a severe visitation to 
 be made throughout London, and ordering all 
 persons " that have conceived any manner of such 
 heretical opinions, as the Anabaptists do hold, and 
 meaneth not by charitable teaching to be recon- 
 ciled, to depart out of this realm within twenty 
 days, upon pain of forfeiture of all their goods, and 
 to be imprisoned and further punished." This 
 proclamation does not appear to have had its in- 
 tended effect, for the sectaries rapidly increased. 
 A short time prior to the death of Archbishop 
 Parker, a congregation of them w^as discovered in 
 Aldgate, London, twenty-seven of whom were 
 cornmitted to prison. 
 
 These persons had fled from the slaughterings 
 and devastations caused by the Duke of Alva in 
 Flanders, and in the expectation that in now Pro- 
 testant England they would be free from the per- 
 secutions to which they had been exposed. But 
 their peace and security did not last long. Popery 
 had passed away only in name, and its spirit still 
 lived in full vigor in the queen and the govern- 
 ment ; and these simple-hearted Christian people 
 soon felt its power. 
 
 The morning of the Sabbath, April 3d, 1575, 
 liad dawned. It was deemed by the dominant 
 party a holy season — Easter day, the grand feast 
 in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ from the dead. Thirty disciples of the 
 Lord, men and women, had assembled in an 
 
224 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 upper room for worship near the Aldgate, one of 
 the entrances of the city of London. How pure, 
 how tender, but how unearthly the devotion of such 
 a meeting ! Outcasts and strangers, they sought 
 a heavenly citizenship, and in this sojourn met to 
 comfort each other, and to unite their prayers at a 
 throne of grace. What a power of principle did 
 they unfold ! All the dignity of Christian man- 
 hood was there seen ! They knew the power of 
 suffering ; they were prepared again to brave its 
 fary, if necessary, for the advancement of the truth. 
 Imagination realizes more than this, as by an effort 
 it aims to identify itself with this little band of 
 Christian disciples. 
 
 Their meeting, though conducted in quietude, 
 was detected by their neighbors, and a constable 
 was soon on the spot with an assistant or two from 
 whom they might all have easily escaped. Ad- 
 dressing them as devils, this professed officer of 
 justice demanded which was their teacher. Seven 
 and twenty of their names were at his command 
 recorded, and taking the promise of the rest to re- 
 main, he proceeded with seven of them to a ma- 
 gistrate. He soon after returned, and with op- 
 probrious and cruel words drove the rest before 
 him to the jail. Two escaped on the way; the 
 rest were led ^^as sheep to the slaughter." On 
 the third day they were released, — heavy bail 
 being taken for their appearance, whenever and 
 wherever it should please the authorities to de- 
 termine. 
 
 Information of the capture was conveyed to the 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 225 
 
 queen's council; and at the suggestion • of arch- 
 bishop Parker, a commission was issued on the 
 27th of April, to Sandys, the bishop of London, 
 assisted by several civilians and judges, to " confer 
 with the accused, and to proceed judicially, if the 
 case so required." In a very few days the sum- 
 monses were issued, and these poor people stood 
 criminally arraigned for worshiping God according 
 to their convictions. The court assembled in the 
 consistory of St. Paul's, because it was a case of 
 heresy. Their reconciliation to the Dutch church 
 was the avowed end of this imposing procedure. 
 The episcopal smile was first tried, and then came 
 the terrible frown. These sturdy confessors were 
 assured that their recantation would have the most 
 healthful influence upon the state of their souls, 
 and be hailed as a special token of God's great 
 goodness to the whole church ; whilst the alterna- 
 tive in this world would be banishment or death, 
 and in the future hopeless misery. 
 
 The following graphic account is from the pen 
 of Von Byler, one of the prisoners ; it will show 
 us the nature of the charge upon which these holy 
 men were tried, and throw a gleam of light upon 
 the mode of their proceedings : — 
 
 " When we came before the bishop, there were 
 present. Master Joris, [the minister of the Dutch 
 church,] James de Koninck, John de Kodemaker, 
 two members of the council, and a French clerg}^- 
 man. We were placed before those lords, and 
 their servants, who propounded four questions to 
 
226 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 US, to wliicli we were to give an affirmative or a 
 negative. 
 
 " ' 1. Whether Christ did not assume his flesh 
 from the body of Mary V 
 
 " We replied, ' That he is the Son of the living 
 God/ 
 
 " ' 2. Whether infants should not be baptized V 
 
 '' ' We cannot understand matters so, for we 
 read nothing of it in the Scriptures/ 
 
 " ' 3. Whether it was lawful for a Christian to 
 attend to, or discharge the duties of a magistrate's 
 office V 
 
 " We replied, ' That our conscience would not 
 suffer us to do so ; but we considered the magis- 
 trate as a minister of God, for the protection of 
 the servants of God?' 
 
 '' ' 4. Whether a Christian was allowed to take 
 an oath?' 
 
 ''We again replied, our conscience would not 
 allow us to do so, for Christ said, ' Let your com- 
 munication be yea, yea, nay, nay.' We then kept 
 silent. The bishop said that our misdeeds were 
 very gross, and we could not inherit the kingdom 
 of God* Lord, avenge not ! 
 
 "The bishop then remanded us to prison. A 
 young brother who was first interrogated, boldly 
 confessed the truth; and was on that account 
 sorely accused, and led to Westminister, where he 
 was imprisoned by himself. This caused us much 
 grief." 
 
 Some additional information may be collected 
 from an interesting letter written by a countryman 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 227 
 
 of these persecuted saints to his mother, then re- 
 sident at Ghent. She was a woman of great piety, 
 and had requested her son to supply her with all 
 the information he could procure. His name was 
 Somers, a resident in London, a member of the 
 Dutch church there, and subsequently, on his re- 
 turn to his native land, was raised to the highest 
 honors of the State. 
 
 "It is probable," he says, "that I am better 
 acquainted with the circumstances than the gene- 
 rality of people, inasmuch as I have had frequent 
 intercourse with them, and have received informa- 
 tion from all of them : so that I cannot forbear 
 giving such an account of it as accords with the 
 extent of my information in reference to the mat- 
 ter. In connection with which I send you a copy 
 of their confession; on account of which some 
 died and others are retained in prison." 
 
 On their return from their examination to their 
 place of confinement, Mr. Somers says, " That ten 
 or twelve of them made their escape, as they were 
 aware of the danger to which they were exposed, 
 and perceived the fine opportunity of escape that 
 presented itself; the guard consisted of but two 
 or three individuals. The whole of them, however, 
 in the course of two or thee days, returned to the 
 prison, partly in order to acquit their bail, w^ho 
 was bound in the sum of .£100, and partly because 
 the bishop, as a man of honor, promised with an 
 oath, that he would set them all free in the course 
 of five or six days if they would return ; but if not, 
 the rest should remain in prison till Candlemas." 
 
228 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 The dreary solitude of their prison-house was 
 soon disturbed by their officious opponents. Again 
 and again they were visited by many I^Tether- 
 landers, and twice they were summoned into the 
 august presence of the London pontiffi To one 
 of these visits the following extract refers : — 
 " When we were all lodged in prison, came Mas- 
 ter Joris, and said, if we would join the church he 
 would set us at liberty — for these are the bishop's 
 orders. But we contended valiantly for the truth 
 in Christ Jesus, — for he is our Captain, and none 
 else ; upon him we put all our confidence." These 
 means of proselyting, sooner or later to some ex- 
 tent, were successful. For soon " after this, five 
 of the men were converted (through much disputa- 
 tion with these Netherlanders which belonged to 
 the church) before they were condemned as here- 
 tics ; nevertheless, they were placed before a ros- 
 trum in St. Paul's church-yard, in a large assem- 
 bly of some thousands of Englishmen, and a bundle 
 of fagots was laid upon each one's shoulder, as a 
 sign that they deserved to be burnt.* In addition 
 
 • The form of abjuration made by these men is a curious docu- 
 ment, as it proves to what lengths the prelatists wished persons 
 professing these sentiments to go. It was taken before Dr. De 
 Laune, in the Dutch church Austin Friars, of which the Doctor 
 was minister. It is as follows: — " Whereas, we being seduced by 
 the devil, the spirit of error, and by false teachers, have fallen 
 into the most damnable errors ; that Christ took not flesh of the 
 substance of the Virgin Mary, that the infants of the faithful ought 
 not to be baptized, 'that a Christian may not be a magistrate, or 
 bear the sword and office of authority, and that it is not lawful for 
 a Christian man to take an oath. Now, by the grace of God, and 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 229 
 
 to which they inflicted manj other injuries and 
 ignominy upon them, though the bishop had pro- 
 mised that he would set them at liberty without 
 any incumbrances if they would only sign the four 
 articles ; but the event proved the contrary. This 
 transpired the 25th of May, A. D. 1575." 
 
 For the fourth time these worthy Christians 
 were called before the priestly tribunal. " It 
 was," says Yon Byler, " On Whitsuntide morning 
 we were chained two and two, and led before the 
 lords. When we were brought before them, they 
 presented the same four questions, urging us to 
 ' subscribe to them ;' but we told them we would 
 abide by the Word of the Lord. We were then 
 remanded to the prison and fettered as before; 
 the women were confined at ITewgate, together 
 with a young brother ; but they were released and 
 transported. The young man, however, was tied 
 to a cart and scourged, and afterwards whipped 
 out of town." 
 
 The statement of Mr. Somers is rather fuller. 
 
 the assistance of good and learned ministers of Christ's church, we 
 understand the same to be most damnable and detestable heresies ; 
 and do ask God, before his church, mercy for the said former 
 errors ; and do forsake, recant, and renounce them ; and we ab- 
 jure them from the bottom of our hearts, protesting we certainly 
 believe the contrary. And further, we confess that the whole doc- 
 trine established and published in the Church of England, and also 
 that which is received by the Dutch church in London, is found 
 true according to God's word. Whereunto in all things we submit 
 ourselves, and will be most gladly members of the said Dutch 
 church ; from henceforth utterly abandoning and forsaking all and 
 every Anabaptistical error." 
 
 20 
 
230 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 and gives us an occasional glimpse of the tender- 
 ness with which episcopal hands dealt with their 
 erring brethren. '' In the course of a few days, 
 the bishop perceiving that the rest would not apos- 
 tatize from their faith, sentenced them all to death 
 in the ecclesiastical court room, St. Paul's church, 
 (as was customary with the Papistic bishops, during 
 Queen Mary's reign, who were wont to condemn 
 the Christians to death,) and delivered them into 
 the hands of the civil judge ; then they bound 
 the women hand to hand, and conducted them 
 to IsTewgate — the prison for capital convicts, — 
 together with one of the men which was con- 
 sidered the youngest and most innocent among 
 them ; but the rest of the men were conducted to 
 their old episcopal prison, for which reason it was 
 supposed that the w^omen would be executed first, 
 even as persons came daily to threaten them, and 
 to present death to them unless they would apos- 
 tatize. Hence they suffered great anguish and 
 temptation for five or six days, supposing every 
 day they would be burnt ; nay, on the very day 
 that sentence of their banishment came from the 
 court, — for the bailiff came with the servant at ten 
 o'clock in the evening into the prison, to take an 
 inventory of all their property, informing them, in 
 addition, that they should prepare for death the 
 next day. This he did, in order to see whether 
 any of them would apostatize through fear ; but 
 perceiving that they all remained steadfast, he in- 
 formed them that it was the queen's pleasure to 
 be gracious to them, and merely banish them from 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 231 
 
 the country, and have the young man whipped 
 behind a cart. Accordingly, in the course of five 
 or six days, about fourteen women were conveyed 
 from the prison, which is situated in the space be- 
 tween St. Martin's church and St. Catharine's, to 
 the ship, by the apparitors ; but the young man 
 was whipped behind a cart which moved on before 
 him. Thus they were all banished from the coun- 
 try, on pain of imprisonment, and reside for the 
 present in Holland and Zealand ! 
 
 '' A few days after, the five men that remained 
 in the bishop's prison were likewise sentenced to 
 death by the bishop, and conveyed to IsTewgate, 
 where one of them died of wretchedness and a load of 
 chains ; and the rest were apprehensive that they 
 would inflict extreme punishment upon the wo- 
 men. They were also informed that the queen 
 and her whole council were so highly ofifended at 
 them that no person would venture to present a 
 petition for them, since an evil report arose, that 
 they denied God and Christ, and rejected all go- 
 vernment and all respect for the magistrate and 
 civil power, as ungodly and unchristian." 
 
 Efforts were made to obtain the lives and free- 
 dom of these Christians. A petition and confes- 
 sion of their faith were presented to her majesty ; 
 but the cruel and haughty sovereign refused to 
 listen to it, and indigantly reprimanded those 
 through whose influence it had been laid before 
 her. Failing in this, they laid them before the 
 bishop, through a noble lord. He graciously con- 
 descended to tell them how distressed he was on 
 
232 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 their account ; but there was no hope of favor un- 
 less they would sign the four articles and abjure 
 their heresy. 
 
 It is to the immortal honor of John Foxe, the 
 Martyrologist, whom Ehzabeth, notwithstanding 
 his Puritanism, used to call '^my father Foxe," 
 that he now interposed on behalf of these de- 
 spised and hated sectaries. He addressed an elo- 
 quent letter to the queen, in which he pleads for 
 their lives in a strain of earnest and impassioned 
 supplication. '' To roast the living bodies of un- 
 happy men," he says, ^'who err rather through 
 blindness of judgment than perverseness of will, 
 in fire and flames, raging with pitch and brim- 
 stone, is a hardhearted thing, and more agreeable 
 to the practice of the Romanists, than to the cus- 
 tom of the gospellers. I do not speak these things 
 because I am pleased with their wickedness, or 
 favor thus the errors of any men ; but seeing I my- 
 self am a man, I must favor the life of man ; not 
 that he should err, but that he might repent. 
 Wherefore, if I may be so bold, I humbly beg of 
 your royal highness, for the sake of Christ, who 
 was consecrated to suffer for the lives of many, 
 this favor at my request, which even the divine 
 clemency would engage you to, that if it may be, 
 (and what cannot your authority do in such cases?) 
 these unhappy men may be spared. There are 
 excommunications and imprisonments; there are 
 bonds ; there is perpetual banishment ; burning 
 of the hand ; w^hipping ; or even slavery. 
 
 "This one thing I most earnestly beg; that the 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 233 
 
 piles and flames of Smithfield, so long ago extin- 
 guished by your happy government, may not be 
 revived. But if I may not obtain this, I pray with 
 the greatest earnestness, that out of your great 
 pity, you would grant us a month or two, in which 
 we may try whether the Lord will grant that they 
 may turn from their dangerous errors, lest with 
 the destruction of their bodies, their souls be in 
 danger of eternal ruin." But the queen was inex- 
 orable, and they must die. 
 
 From the Confession of Faith, to which we 
 have referred, as sent by these persons to the 
 queen, we select a few sentences, that our readers 
 may see what it was his lordship of London con- 
 demned as heresy, and for the defence of which 
 the writers were burnt at the stake : 
 
 '' We, poor and despised strangers, who are per- 
 secuted for the testimony of Jesus, desire that God 
 may grant all mankind peace, so that they may 
 live together in all godliness to the praise of the 
 Lord, and the advancement of their soul's salva- 
 vation. Since so many, both by writing and ver- 
 bal statement, do us great injustice, accusing and 
 charging lies upon us, we are constrained to present 
 our belief very summarily. They do not speak to 
 us, and do not, in a mild manner, inquire of us 
 what our religious views are, as the Scriptures 
 teach ; but they speak all manner of evil of us, so 
 that they increase our miseries and sufferings ; 
 and, besides, they have no compassion either on 
 our distressed wives or helpless children. 
 
 " We seek no salvation in our works, as it is re- 
 20* 
 
234 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 ported we do, but we hope to be saved alone 
 through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. I^or 
 do we boast that we are without sin, but we always 
 confess ourselves sinners before God. But we 
 have to refrain from voluntary sins if we would be 
 saved ; such as adultery, fornication, sorcery, sedi- 
 tion, bloodshed, cursing and swearing, lying, and 
 cheating, pride, drunkenness, envy ; these are the 
 sins that the Scriptures declare, who do them shall 
 not inherit the kingdom ol God. 
 
 " They also say, we refuse to hear the "Word of 
 God, because we do not go to hear the preachers of 
 the church. To this charge we would say, that 
 we do not hear the preachers, because the word of 
 God constrains us not to do so ; because they are 
 a people not fit to attend to the sacred calling of a 
 Gospel preacher. For Paul teaches Timothy, and 
 says, ' The things that thou ha-st heard of me, 
 among many witnesses, the same commit thou to 
 faithful men,' etc. Ifow if the preachers were such 
 as the apostles required, we would cheerfully hear 
 them, — ^we would be the first and last in the 
 church 
 
 ^' We are also accused of not being subject to 
 the magistracy, because we do not baptize infants. 
 To this we reply, we desire to submit to the magis- 
 tracy in all things not contrary to the word of God. 
 That we do not suffer our children to be baptized 
 by the priests, is not done out of temerity, but we 
 do it out of fear to God, because Christ commands 
 believers to be baptized ; for Christ's apostles did 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 235 
 
 not baptize infants, but adults only, and those on 
 their faith and confession of their sins-. 
 If it had been the will of God that infants should 
 be baptized, he would have commanded it to be 
 done. Christ would have been baptized in his in- 
 fancy as well as circumcised ; but as it is not the 
 will of God, therefore did he teach them differ- 
 ently, and received baptism differently himself." 
 
 Fourteen women and a youth finally received, 
 as we have already seen, the milder sentence of 
 banishment. They were led by the sheriffs to 
 the water-side, and put on board a ship at St. 
 Catherine's. The youth followed, tied to a cart's 
 tail, and was whipped to the place of embarkation. 
 Thus the ties of nature were severed: some of the 
 poor exiles had to mourn in anguish over husbands 
 and fathers, left in the hands of their persecutors, 
 for whom yet more cruel severities were reserved. 
 
 The next day, June 2d, the five men, who re- 
 mained of this company, were again led bound 
 into the consistory. The terrors of the stake were 
 vividly set before them; their only escape was 
 subscription to the articles. They were urged, 
 they were threatened ; it was unavailing. ''It is 
 a small matter thus to die," said Jan Peters, with 
 a courageous mind. The bishop sharply inquired, 
 "What does he say?" Peters replied as before. 
 The bishop listened with some moderation, and 
 then stoutly said, ''We must shave such heretics, 
 and cut them off as an evil thing from the church." 
 Said Hendrik Terwoort, " How canst thou cut us 
 off from your church, since we are not of it ?" 
 
236 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 The bishop said, " It was all the same ; there were 
 none in England who were not members of the 
 church of God." And now were these friends of 
 Christ unjustly condemned, and led away to 'New- 
 gate to await the day of death. 
 
 Here they wet^e strongly secured, heavily ironed, 
 and thrown into a deep and noisome den, swarm- 
 ing with foul and disgusting vermin. " Then we 
 thought ourselves," says Byler, " within one or two 
 days of the end, after which we earnestly longed, 
 for the prison was grievous ; but it was not yet the 
 Lord's will. After eight days, one of our brethren 
 was released by death, trusting in God ; his dying 
 testimony filled us with joy." Even the society of 
 thieves and malefactors was deemed too pure for 
 them, both the bishop and a preacher saying, that 
 care must he taken, lest the criminals should be 
 corrupted by the association. Great indeed must 
 have been the horror their opinions had inspired, 
 when an English preacher occasionally visiting 
 their dungeons, would lay his hands upon them, and 
 falling upon his knees, cry aloud, " Sirs, be ye con- 
 verted;" and then, exorcising the devil within 
 them, exclaim, " Hence, depart, thou evil fiend !" 
 
 A month's reprieve from death was all that the 
 clemency of the queen allowed. As Mr. Underbill 
 has said, " The month expired, without any altera- 
 tion in the resolution of these servants of God, or 
 in their fidelity to the truths they had received. 
 Early in the month of July, it was intimated to 
 two of them, that they must die. Incarcerated in 
 separate cells, they were not permitted to enjoy 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 237 
 
 each other's society, and words of love. On the 
 15th, the queen signed, at Gorhambury, the war- 
 rant and writ for the execution to proceed. Jan 
 Peters and Hendrik Terwoort were the two se- 
 ^ lected. 
 
 " Jan Peters was an aged inar\^ and poor, with 
 nine children. His first wife, some years before, 
 had been burnt for her religion, at Ghent, in Flan- 
 ders ; and his second wife had lost her first husband 
 by martyrdom for the truth. They had fled to 
 England, hoping there to worship without danger. 
 His circumstances were laid before the bishop, and 
 he had earnestly entreated permission to leave the 
 country with his wife and children, but the bishop 
 was inexorable. 
 
 "- Hendrik Terwoort was a man of good estate, 
 five or six-and-twenty years of age, and a gold- 
 smith by trade. He had been married about eight 
 or ten weeks before his imprisonment. But neither 
 domestic affection, nor the solicitations of his 
 Mends, nor the dread of death, weakened his reso- 
 lution. 
 
 " On Sunday, the 17th, tidings were brought 
 them, that within three days they would be burnt, 
 unless they desired delay. To this Terwoort re- 
 plied, ' Since this your design must come to pass, 
 so we wish you to speed the more quickly with 
 the matter, for we would indeed rather die than 
 live, to be released from this frightful den.' He, 
 however, asked till Friday. We again quote the 
 affecting narrative of their companion in tribula- 
 tion. ' Upon Tuesday, a stake was set up in 
 
238 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Smithfield, but the execution was not that day. 
 On Wednesday many people were gathered toge- 
 ther to witness the death of our two friends, but 
 it was again deferred. This was done to terrify, 
 and draw our friends and us from the faith. But * 
 on Friday our two friends, Hendrik Terwoort and 
 Jan Peters, being brought out from their prison, 
 were led to the sacrifice. As they went forth, 
 Jan Peters said, 'The holy prophets, and Christ, 
 our Saviour, have gone this way before us, even 
 from the beginning, from Abel until now.' 
 
 " It was early morning w^hen they reached the 
 scene of their triumph. They were fastened to 
 one stake, neither strangling nor gunpowder being 
 used to diminish their torture. As defenceless 
 sheep of Christ, following the footsteps of their 
 Master, resolutely, for the name of Christ they 
 went to die. An English preacher was present, 
 to embitter, if possible, by his cruel mockings, the 
 closing moments of their martyr-life, and martyr- 
 death. Before all the people he exclaimed, ' These 
 men believe not on God.' Saith Jan Peters, ' We 
 believe in one God, our heavenly Father Almighty, 
 and in Jesus Christ his Son.' While standing 
 bound at the stake, the articles were again, for the 
 last time, presented to them, and pardon promised 
 on subscription. Peters again spake, 'You have 
 labored hard to drive us to you, but now, when 
 placed at the stake, it is labor in vain.' One of 
 the preachers attempted an excuse : ' That all such 
 matters were determined by the council, and that 
 it was the queen's intention they should die.' 
 
JAN PETERS AND HIS FRIENDS. 239 
 
 'But/ said Peters, 'You are the teachers of the 
 queen, whom it behoves you to instruct better, 
 therefore shall our blood be required at your 
 hands.' 
 
 " And now with courage they entered on the 
 conflict, and fought through the trial, in the midst 
 of the burning flame ; an oblation to the Lord, 
 which they living oflered unto him — ' accepting 
 not of deliverance.' For the truth's sake, they 
 counted not their lives dear unto them, that they 
 might finish their course with joy. 
 
 a i For what were thy terrors, death ? 
 
 And where was thy triumph, grave ? 
 
 When the vest of pure white and the conquering wreath 
 
 Were the prize of the scorner and slave V 
 
 '' We are saved comment on this painful scene. 
 All writers, of every party, are agreed in condem- 
 nation of its folly and criminality. ' How utterly 
 absurd and unchristian,' saith our Dutch martyr- 
 ologist, 'do all such cruel proceedings and sen- 
 tences as are here seen, appear, when contrasted 
 with the Spirit of Christ! The Christian host is 
 described as sheep and lambs, sent forth among 
 cruel and devouring wolves : who will be able 
 with a good conscience to believe, that these Eng- 
 lish preachers were the true sheep of Christ, since 
 in this matter they brought forth so notably the 
 fruit of wolves?' " 
 
EDWARD WIGHTMAN. 
 
 In the early part of the reign of James I. the 
 Baptists of England considerably increased; so 
 that they were emboldened, with a view of lessen- 
 ing the public prejudice and of extending the 
 truths of divine revelation, to publish a confession 
 of their faith. But, alas, this rather increased the 
 evil than lessened it ; for bishops were still found 
 who determined to persecute the Baptists even 
 unto death. 
 
 In 1611, the very year of the publication of the 
 commonly received version of the Bible, Bartholo- 
 mew Legate, charged with Arianism, was burnt in 
 Smithfield, and on April 11, 1612, Edward Wight- 
 man, of Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, was called 
 to the fire of martyrdom at Lichfield. Among 
 other charges brought against him were these : — 
 " That the baptizing of infants is an abominable 
 custom; that the Lord's supper and baptism are 
 not to be clebrated as they are now practised in 
 the church of England ; and that Christianity is 
 not wholly professed and preached in the church 
 of England, but only in part.'* Who would have 
 thought that a person would have been burnt by 
 Protestants for such opinions ! Thank God, we 
 trust that this day of bigotry has passed for ever. 
 . It has been thought by Ivimey and others, that 
 William Sawtry, a Lollard priest, who was the first 
 (240) ^ 
 
EDWARD WIGHTMAN. 241 
 
 man burnt in England for religion, was a Baptist. 
 Certainly, Edward Wightman, a Baptist, was the 
 last man who was burnt in that country professedly 
 for his religious views, though we have yet to give 
 a painful narrative of some who were sacrificed on 
 the altars of persecution for their efforts to obtain 
 religious freedom. In the days of James a strong 
 public opinion had begun to extend itself against 
 these religious burnings, so that it was found un- 
 safe to persevere in the practice. Besides which, 
 very soon after this, indeed as early as 1614, 
 Christians in England and Wales began to emi- 
 grate to this country. 
 
 It will show the spirit of the rulers of those times 
 to place before the reader the warrant issued from 
 the "Dread Sovereign" to the sheriff of Lichfield 
 to act out the wishes of the bishop who had con- 
 demned poor Wightman, authorizing the said 
 sheriff to put him to death. The document here 
 follows : — 
 
 " The King to the sheriff of our city of Lichfield, 
 greeting : — 
 
 "Whereas the reverend father in Christ, Richard, 
 by divine providence, of Coventry and Lichfield, 
 bishop, hath signified unto us, that he, judicially 
 proceeding, according to the exigence of the eccle- 
 siastical canons, and of the laws and customs of 
 this our kingdom of England, against one Edward 
 Wightman, of the parish of Burton upon Trent, 
 in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, and 
 upon the wicked heresies of Ebion, Cerinthus, 
 Valentinian, Arius, Macedonius, Simon Magus, 
 
 21 
 
242 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Manus, Manichees, Photiniis, and of the Anabap- 
 tists and other arch heretics ; and moreover, of 
 other cursed opinions, by the instinct of Satan exi- 
 cogitated, and heretofore unheard of; the aforesaid 
 Edward Wightman appearing before the aforesaid 
 reverend father, and other divines learned in the 
 law, assisting him in judgment, the aforesaid 
 wicked crimes, heresies, and other detestable blas- 
 phemies and errors, stubbornly and pertinaciously, 
 knowingly, maliciously, and with an hardened 
 heart published, defended and dispersed ; by de- 
 finitive sentence of the said reverend father, with 
 the consent of divines learned in the law aforesaid, 
 justly, lawfully, and canonically, against the said 
 Edward "Wightman, in that part brought, stands 
 adjudged and pronounced a heretic; and there- 
 fore, as a diseased sheep out of the flock of the 
 Lord, lest our subjects he do infect by his conta- 
 gion, he hath decreed to be cast out and cut off. 
 
 "Whereas therefore the holy mother Church, 
 hath not further in this part what it ought more 
 to do and prosecute, the same reverend father, the 
 same Edward Wightman, as a blasphemous and 
 condemned heretic, hath left to our secular power 
 to be punished with condign punishment ; as by 
 the letters patent of the aforesaid reverend father, 
 the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in this be- 
 half thereupon made, is certified unto us in our 
 Chancery. 
 
 " We, therefore, as a Zealot of Justice, and a 
 Defender of the Catholic faith, and willing that the 
 holy church, and the rights and liberties of the 
 
EDWARD WIGHTMAN. 243 
 
 same, and the Catholic faith to maintain and de- 
 fend, and such like heresies and errors everywhere, 
 so much as in us lies, to root out and extirpate, 
 and heretics so convicted to punish with condign 
 punishment, holding that such an heretic in the 
 aforesaid forms convict and condemned, accord- 
 ing to the laws and customs of this our kingdom 
 of England, in this part accustomed, ought to he 
 burned with fire. 
 
 "We command thee, that thou cause the said 
 Edward Wightman, being in thy custody, to be 
 committed to the fire in some public and open 
 place, below the city aforesaid, for the cause afore- 
 said, before the people ; and the same Edward 
 Wightman, in the same fire, cause really to be 
 burned, in the detestation of the said crime, and 
 for manifest example of other Christians, that 
 they may not fall into the same crime. And this 
 no ways omit, under the peril that shall follow 
 thereon. 
 
 " Witness, etc." 
 
 If from charges so various and so vague, we can 
 gather anything with certainty, Wightman was 
 unsound in his views of the Person of Christ. 
 While this must seriously diminish our regard for 
 him as a martyr in the proper sense of that term — 
 still in the absence of clearer evidence we cannot 
 wholly deny him that honor. 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 
 
 It is well known that towards the close of the 
 seventeenth century, England was ruled by the 
 cruel tyrant James II., who was at length driven 
 from the throne by his incensed people, and suc- 
 ceeded by "William III. Previous to the revolu- 
 tion, the Duke of Monmouth and his party strug- 
 gled hard, but unsuccessfully, for freedom, civil 
 and religious. Very many of the best Christian 
 men of that day, of all sections of the church, 
 united with the duke, and no more stigma can at- 
 tach to them, than would have been connected 
 with the Prince of Orange and his friends had 
 they been equally unsuccessful. 
 
 Among those whose lives were sacrificed in this 
 cause were two young men, grandsons of the ven- 
 erable William Kiffin. These young men were 
 brothers, and their character and tragical end 
 made a very great impression on the minds of the 
 people of England. ISToble, in his History of the 
 Protectoral house of Cromwell, thus speaks of 
 them: — ^' These two amiable but unfortunate gen- 
 tlemen were the only sons of Mr. Benjamin Hew- 
 ling, a Turkey merchant of great fortune in Lon- 
 don, who, happily for himself, died before them. 
 After their father's death they were most carefully 
 brought up by a tender mother, and their maternal 
 grandfather, Mr. William Kiffin, who, though very 
 (244) 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 245 
 
 much advanced in years, as well as his wife, sur- 
 vived them both." 
 
 The excellent Mr. Kiffin, to whom reference has 
 thus been made, was one of the wealthiest men 
 and one the most eminent preachers among the 
 Baptists of that day. lie left a manuscript ac- 
 count of his life, written when in his seventy- 
 seventh year, for the use of his descendants, and 
 which was, a few years since, printed in London. 
 He gives the following account : — 
 
 " IS'ot long after the king died, and James IT. 
 coming to the crown, the summer after his coming 
 the duke of Monmouth with a party came over 
 with a few armed men that landed at Lyme, and 
 I having a young grandson, William Hewling, at 
 board and school in Holland, he came over with 
 him, although unknown to me or any of his 
 friends, he being about the age of nineteen years. 
 And his eldest brother, Benjamin Hewling, con- 
 versing with those who were under great dissatis- 
 faction, seeing popery encouraged, and religion 
 and liberty likely to be invaded, did furnish him- 
 self with arms, and went to the said duke, and in 
 the first fight, being afterwards both taken pri- 
 soners, were brought to Newgate, which to me 
 was no small affliction. And it being given out 
 that the king would make only some few that 
 were taken examples, and the rest would leave to 
 his officers to compound for their lives; I en- 
 deavored with his mother to treat with a great 
 man^ and agreed to give three thousand pounds 
 for their lives. 
 
 21* 
 
246 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 " But the face of things was soon altered, so 
 that nothing but severity could be expected, and 
 indeed we missed the right door; for the Lord 
 Chief Justice [Jeffries] finding agreements made 
 with others, and so little to himself, was the more 
 provoked to use all manner of cruelty to the poor 
 prisoners, so that few escaped. Amongst the rest 
 these two young men were executed. But how 
 graciously the Lord showed himself to them, both 
 in their behaviour before their trial and at their 
 deaths, the consideration thereof to such as please 
 to peruse it ; I think it may be of use to leave to 
 you and to your children, and to such as may read 
 the same, which is as foUoweth. 
 
 " The gracious dealings of God manifested to 
 some in dying hours have been of great advantage 
 to those living that have heard the same, giving 
 them occasion thereby to reflect on their own 
 state, and to look after the things of their peace 
 before they be hid from their eyes ; also a great 
 encouragement to strengthen the faith of those 
 that have experienced the grace of God to them. 
 
 ^'To that end it is thought necessary, by pa- 
 rents especially, to preserve to their children that 
 remain, those blessed experiences that such have 
 had which God hath taken to himself. 
 
 "Here then is presented a true account of the 
 admirable appearances of God towards two young 
 men; Mr. Benjamin Hewling, who died when he 
 was about twenty-two years of age, and Mr. Wil- 
 liam Hewling, who died before he arrived to 
 twenty years. They engaged with the Duke of 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 247 
 
 Monmouth, as their OMm words were, for tJie Eng- 
 lish liberties, and the Protestant religion, and for 
 which Mr. William Hewling was executed at 
 Lyme, the 12th of September, 1685; and Mr, 
 Benjamin Hewling at Taunton, the 30th of the 
 same month ; and however severe men were to 
 them, yet the blessed dispensation of God to them 
 was such, as hath made good his word, that ' out 
 of the mouth of babes he hath ordained strength, 
 that he may still the enemy and avenger.' 
 
 " After the dispersing of the duke's army they 
 fled and put to sea, but w^ere driven back again, 
 and with the hazard of their lives got ashore, over 
 dangerous rocks, where they saw the country filled 
 with soldiers, and they being unwilling to fall into 
 the hands of the rabble, and no way of defence or 
 escape remaining to them, they surrendered them- 
 selves prisoners to a gentleman whose house was 
 near the place where they landed, and were from 
 thence sent to Exeter jail, the 12th of July, where 
 remaining sometime, their behaviour was such, 
 that, being visited by many, caused great respect 
 towards them, even of those that were enemies to 
 the cause they engaged in. And being on the 
 27th of July put on board the Swan frigate, in 
 order to their bringing up to London, their car- 
 riage [conduct] was such as obtained great kind- 
 ness from their commander, and all other officers 
 in the ship. Being brought into the river, [Thames] 
 captain Richardson came and took them into cus- 
 tody, and carried them to E'ewgate, putting great 
 irons upon them. He put them apart from each 
 
248 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 other, without giving liberty for the nearest rela- 
 tion to see them, notwithstanding all endeavors 
 and entreaties used to obtain it, though in the 
 presence of a keeper ; which though it did greatly 
 increase the grief of relations, God, who wisely 
 orders all things for good to those he intends 
 grace and mercy to, made this very restraint, and 
 hard usage a blessed advantage to their souls ; as 
 may appear by their own words, when after great 
 importunity and charge, some of their near rela- 
 tions had leave to speak a few words to them 
 before the keeper, to which they replied, they 
 were contented with the will of God, whatever it 
 should be. 
 
 " Having been in ^Newgate three weeks, there 
 was an order given to carry them down into the 
 west, in order to their trial ; which being told 
 them, they answered, they were glad of it ; and as 
 they went out of N'ewgate, several that beheld 
 them, seeing them so cheerful, said, surely they 
 had received their pardon, else they could never 
 carry it with that courage and cheerfulness. Al- 
 though this must be observed, that from first to 
 last whatever hopes they might have received from 
 their friends, they still thought the contrary, never 
 being much affected with the hopes of it, nor cast 
 down, nor the least discouraged at the worst that 
 man could do. In their journey to Dorchester, 
 the keepers that went with them have given this 
 account, ' that their carriage was so grave, serious, 
 and Christian, that made them admire to see and 
 hear what they did from such young men.' 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 249 
 
 "A near relation [a sister] that went into the 
 west to see the issue of things, and to perform 
 whatsoever should be necessar}^ for them, gives 
 the following account: — * At Salisbury, the 30th of 
 August, I had the first opportunity of conversing 
 with them. I found them in a very excellent com- 
 posure of mind, declaring their experience of the 
 grace and goodness of God to them in all their 
 sufferings, in supporting and strengthening them, 
 and providing for them, turning the hearts of all 
 in whose hands they had been, both at Exeter and 
 on shipboard, to show pity and to favor them ; 
 although since they came to Ifewgate they were 
 hardly used, and now in their journey loaded with 
 heavy irons and more inhumanly dealt with. They 
 with great cheerfulness professed that they were 
 better and in a more happy condition than ever in 
 their lives, from the sense they had of the pardon- 
 ing love of God in Jesus Christ to their souls; 
 wholly referring themselves to their wise and 
 gracious God to choose for them life or death, ex- 
 pressing themselves — Anything what pleaseth 
 God, what he sees best, so be it. We know he 
 is able to deliver; but if not, blessed be his name; 
 death is not terrible now, but desirable. Mr. Ben- 
 jamin Hewling particularly added, As for the 
 world, there is nothing in it to make it worth 
 while to live, except we may be serviceable to 
 God therein. He afterwards said, Oh ! God is a 
 strong refuge : I have found him so indeed ! 
 
 " ' The next opportunity I had was at Dorches- 
 ter, whither they were both carried, and remained 
 
250 BAPTIST MARTYES. 
 
 together four days. By reason of their strait con- 
 finement, our conversation was much interrupted; 
 but this appeared, that they had still the same 
 presence and support from God, no way discour- 
 aged at the approach of their trial, nor at the event 
 of it, whatever it should be. The 6th of Septem- 
 ber, Mr. Benjamin Hewling was ordered to Taun- 
 ton, to be tried there. Taking my leave of him, 
 he said, Oh, blessed be God for afflictions. I 
 would not have been without them for all this 
 world. 
 
 "^I remained still at Dorchester to wait the 
 issue of Mr. William Hew^ling, to whom, after 
 trial, I had free access, and whose discourse was 
 much filled with the admirings of the grace of 
 God which had been manifested towards him in 
 calling him out of his natural state. He said, 
 God by his Holy Spirit did suddenly seize upon 
 his heart when he thought not of it, in his retired 
 abode in Holland, as it were secretly whispering 
 in his heart, Seek ye my face, enabling him to an- 
 swer his gracious call and to reflect upon his own 
 soul, shewing him the evil of sin and the necessity 
 of Christ, from that time carrying him on to a 
 sensible adherence to Christ for justification and 
 eternal life. Hence he found a spring of joy and 
 sweetness beyond the comforts of the whole earth. 
 He also said that he could not but admire the 
 wonderful goodness of God in so preparing him 
 for what he was bringing him to, which then he 
 thought not of; giving him hope of eternal life 
 before he called him to look death in the face, so 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 251 
 
 that he did cheerfully resign his life to God before 
 he came, having sought his guidance in it ; and 
 that both then and now, the cause did appear to him 
 very glorious, notwithstanding all he had suffered 
 in it, or what he farther might suffer; although 
 for our sins, God had v>^ithheld these good things 
 from us. But he said, God carried on his blessed 
 work on his own soul in and by all his sufferings ; 
 and whatever the will of God were, life or death, 
 he knew it would be best for him. 
 
 " ' After he had received his sentence, when he 
 returned to prison, he said, Methinks I find my 
 spiritual comforts increasing ever since my sen- 
 tence. There is no condemation to them who are 
 in Christ Jesus. It is God that justifieth; who 
 shall condemn? When I came to him the next 
 morning, when he had received news that he must 
 die the next day, and in order to it was to be car- 
 ried to Lyme that day, I found him in a more ex- 
 cellent, raised, and spiritual frame than before. 
 He was satisfied, he said, that God had chosen 
 best for him. He knows what the temptations of 
 life might have been. I might have lived and 
 forgotten God ; but now I am going where I shall 
 sin no more. Oh, it is a blessed thing to be freed 
 from sin, and to be with Christ ! Oh, how great 
 w^ere the sufferings of Christ for me, beyond all I 
 can undergo ! How great is that glory to which I 
 am going ; it will soon swallow up all our suffer- 
 ings here ! 
 
 " ' While he was at dinner, just before his going 
 to Lyme, he dropped many abrupt expressions of 
 
252 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 his inward joy, such as these ; — Oh, the grace of 
 God ; the love of Christ ! Oh, that blessed supper 
 of the Lamb ; to be for ever with the Lord ! He 
 farther said. When I went to Holland, you know 
 not what sins, snares, and miseries I might have 
 fallen into, nor whether we should ever meet 
 again ; but now you know whither I am going, 
 and that we shall certainly have a joyful meeting. 
 He said. Pray give my particular recommendations 
 to all my friends, with acknowledgments for all 
 their kindness. I advise them all to make sure 
 of an interest in Christ, for he is the only comfort 
 when we come to die. 
 
 " ' One of the prisoners seemed to be troubled 
 at the manner in which they were to die ; to whom 
 he said, I bless God that I am reconciled to it all. 
 Just as he was going to Lyme, he wrote these few 
 lines to a friend, being hardly suffered to stay so 
 long : — I am going to launch into eternity, I hope 
 and trust, into the arms of my blessed Redeemer ; 
 to whom I commit you, and all my dear relations. 
 My duty to my dear mother, and love to all my 
 sisters, and the rest of my friends. 
 
 " 'William Hewling.' 
 
 "As they passed through the town of Dor- 
 chester to Lyme, multitudes of people beheld 
 them with great lamentations, admiring his de- 
 portment at parting with his sister. Passing on 
 the road, his discourse was exceedingly spiritual, 
 taking occasion from everything to speak of the 
 glory they were going to. Looking at the coun- 
 try as they passed, he said, ' This is a glorious 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 253 
 
 creation ; but what tlien is the paradise of God to 
 which we are going ! It is but a few hours, and 
 we shall be there, and be for ever with the Lord !' 
 ^'At Lyme, just before they went to die, reading 
 John xiv. 18, he said to one of his fellow-suflerers, 
 ' Here is a sweet promise for us, I will not leave 
 you comfortless^ I will come unto you. Christ will 
 be with us to the last.' A friend taking leave of 
 him, he said, 'Farewell till we meet in heaven. 
 Presently I shall be with Christ. Oh, I would not 
 change condition with any one in this world ! I 
 would not stay behind for ten thousand worlds !' 
 
 "To another who asked him how he did, he 
 said, 'Very well, blessed be God.' And farther 
 asking him whether he could look death in the 
 face with comfort now it approached so near, he 
 said, ' Yes, I bless God I can with great comfort. 
 God hath made this a good night to me : my com- 
 forts are much increased since I left Dorchester.' 
 Then taking leave of him, he said, ' Farewell, I 
 shall see you no more.' To which he replied, 
 'How, see me no more ? Yes, I hope to meet you 
 in glory.' To another, who was with him to the 
 last, he said, ' Pray remember my dear love to my 
 brother and sister, and tell them I desire they 
 would comfort themselves that I am gone to Jesus, 
 and we shall quickly meet in Zion above.' 
 
 " Afterwards he prayed for about three quarters 
 of an hour with the greatest fervency, exceedingly 
 blessing God for Jesus Christ, adoring the riches 
 of his grace in him, in all the glorious fruits of it 
 towards him, praying for the peace of the church 
 
 22 
 
254 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 of God and of these nations in particular ; all with 
 such eminent assistance of the Spirit of God as 
 convinced, astonished, and melted into pity the 
 hearts of all present, even the most malicious ad- 
 versaries, forcing tears and expressions from them ; 
 some saying they knew not what would become 
 of them after death, but it was evident he was 
 going to great happiness. 
 
 "When just departing out of the world, with a 
 joyful countenance he said, ' Oh, now my joy and 
 comfort is that I have a Christ to go to ;' and so 
 sweetly resigned his spirit to Christ, on the 12th 
 of September, 1685. 
 
 '' An officer who had shown so malicious a 
 spirit as to call the prisoners devils, when he was 
 guarding them down, was now so convinced, that 
 he afterwards told a person of quality that he 
 never was so affiscted as by his cheerful carriage 
 and fervent prayer, such as he believed was never 
 heard, especially from one so young ; and added, 
 ' I believe that if the lord chief justice had been 
 there, he would not have let him die.' The sheriff 
 having given his body to be buried, although it 
 was brought from the place of execution without 
 any notice given, yet very many of the town, to 
 the number of two hundred, came to accompany 
 him ; and several young women of the best of the 
 town laid him in his grave in Lyme church-yard, 
 September 13, 1685. 
 
 "After this event his sister wrote to her mo- 
 ther : — ' Although I have nothing to acquaint my 
 dear mother withal, but what is most afflictive to 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 255 
 
 sense, both as to the determination of God's will 
 and as to my present apprehension concerning my 
 brother Benjamin who still remains ; yet there is 
 such an abundant consolation mixed in both, that 
 I only wanted an opportunity to pay this duty ; 
 God having wrought so glorious a work on both 
 their souls, revealing Christ in them, that death is 
 become their friend. My brother William having 
 already, with the greatest joy, declared to those 
 that were with him to the last, that he w^ould not 
 change conditions with any that were to remain 
 in this world, and he desired that his relations 
 would comfort themselves that he is gone to 
 Christ. My brother Benjamin expects not long 
 to continue in this world, and is quite willing to 
 leave it when God shall call ; being fully satisfied 
 that God will choose what is best for him and for 
 us all. By these things God doth greatly support 
 me, and I hope you also, my dear mother, which 
 was and is my brother's great desire. There is 
 still room to pray for one ; and God having so an- 
 swered, though not in kind, we have encourage- 
 ment still to wait on him. 
 
 'Honored mother, 
 
 'Your dutiful daughter.' 
 "When I came to Taunton to Mr. Benjamin 
 Hewling, he had received the news of his brother's 
 being gone to die with so much comfort and joy, 
 and afterwards of the continued goodness of God 
 in increasing it to the end, on which he expressed 
 himself to this effect — We have no cause to fear 
 death, if the presence of God be with us, there is 
 
256 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 no evil in it, the sting being taken away. It is 
 nothing but our ignorance of the glory the saints 
 pass into by death which makes it appear dark to 
 ourselves or our relations. K in Christ, what is 
 this world that we should desire an abode in it? 
 It is all vain and unsatisfying, full of sin and 
 misery. He also intimated his own cheerful expec- 
 tations soon to follow, discovering then and all 
 along great seriousness and sense of spiritual and 
 eternal things, complaining of nothing in his pre- 
 sent circumstances but want of a place of retire- 
 ment to converse more uninterruptedly with God 
 and his own soul ; saying that his lonely time in 
 IS'ewgate was the sweetest in his whole life. He 
 said God had sometime before struck his heart, 
 when he thought of the haz-ard of his life, to some 
 serious sense of his past life, and the great con- 
 sequences of death and eternity; showing him 
 that they were the only happy persons who had 
 secured their eternal state, the folly and madness 
 of the ways of sin and his own thraldom therein, 
 with his utter inability to deliver himself, also the 
 necessity of Christ for salvation. He said he was 
 not without terror and amazement for some time 
 when he had the sight of unpardoned sin and eter- 
 nity before him. But God wonderfully opened to 
 him the riches' of free grace in Christ Jesus for 
 poor sinners to flee to, enabling him to look alone 
 to a crucified Christ for salvation. He said this 
 blessed work was in some measure carried on 
 upon his soul amidst all his business and hurries in 
 the army, but never sprung forth so fully and 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 257 
 
 sweetly till his close confinement in I^ewgate. 
 There he saw Christ and all spiritual objects more 
 clearly, and embraced them more strongly ; there 
 he experienced the blessedness of a reconciled 
 state, the excellency of the way of holiness, the 
 delightfulness of communion with God, which re- 
 mained with deep and apparent impressions on his 
 own soul, which he frequently expressed with ad- 
 miration of the grace of God towards him. 
 
 " Perhaps my friends, said he, may think this 
 the saddest summer of my life ; but, I bless God, 
 it hath been the sweetest and happiest of it all ; 
 nay, there is nothing else that deserves the name 
 of happiness. I have sought satisfaction from the 
 things of this world, but I never found it. But 
 now I have found rest for my soul in God alone. 
 
 '' Oh how great is our blindness by nature ; 
 till God opens our eyes we can see no excellency 
 in spiritual things, but spend our precious time in 
 pursuing shadows, and are deaf to all the invita- 
 tions of grace and glorious offers of the gospel. 
 How just is God in depriving us of that we so 
 much slighted and abused. Oh, his infinite pa- 
 tience and goodness, that after all he should sanc- 
 tify any methods to bring a sinner to himself! 
 Oh, electing love ! distinguishing grace ! What 
 great cause have I to admire and adore it ! What 
 an amazing consideration is the suftering of Christ 
 for sin to bring us to God ! His suffering from 
 wicked men was exceedingly great ; but alas, what 
 was that to the sorrows of his soul under the in- 
 finite wrath of God ! This mystery of grace and 
 
258 BAPTIST MARTYHS. 
 
 love is enoiigli to swallow up our thoughts to all 
 eternity. 
 
 " As to his own death, he would often say, he 
 saw no reason to expect any other. I know God 
 is infinitely able to deliver, and am sure he will do 
 it, if it be for his glory and my good. In which, 
 I bless God, I am fully satisfied. It is all my de- 
 sire that he would choose for me, and then I am 
 sure it will be best, whatever it be. For truly un- 
 less God have some work for me to do in the world 
 ■^or his service and glory, I see nothing else to 
 make life desirable. In the present state of affairs, 
 there is nothing to cast our eyes upon but sin, sor- 
 row, and misery ; and were things ever so agree- 
 able to our desires, it is but the world still, which 
 will never be a resting place. Heaven is the only 
 state of rest and happiness ; there we shall be per- 
 fectly free from sin and temptation, and enjoy God 
 without interruption for ever. 
 
 "Speaking of the disappointment of their ex- 
 pectations in the work they had undertaken, he 
 said, "With reference to the glory of God, the pros- 
 perity of the Gospel, and the delivery of the peo- 
 ple of God, we have great cause to lament it ; but 
 for that outward prosperity which would have ac- 
 companied it, it is of small moment in itself. As 
 it would not satisfy, so neither could it be abiding ; 
 for at longest, death would have put an end to it 
 all. Also adding, ISTay, perhaps we might have 
 been so foolish as to be taken with part of it, to 
 the neglect of our eternal concerns ; and then I 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 259 
 
 am sure our present circumstances are incalcula- 
 bly better. 
 
 " He. frequently expressed great concern for 
 the glory of God, and affection to his people, say- 
 ing, If my death may advance God's glory, and 
 hasten the deliverance of his people, it is enough. 
 Saying it was a great comfort to him to think of 
 so great a privilege as that of having an interest 
 in all their prayers. In his conversation he par- 
 ticularly delighted in those persons in whom he 
 saw most holiness shining ; also great pity to the 
 souls of others, saying that the remembrance of 
 our former vanity may well cause compassion to- 
 wards others in that state. In his conversation he 
 prompted them to seriousness, telling them that 
 death and eternity were such weighty concerns 
 that they deserved the utmost attention of our 
 minds ; for the way to receive death cheerfully is 
 to prepare for it seriously; and if God should 
 please to spare our lives, surely we have the same 
 reason to be serious, and spend our remaining 
 days in his fear and service. He also took great 
 care that the worship of God, which they were in 
 a capacity of maintaining there, might be duly 
 performed; as reading, praying, and singing of 
 psalms, in which he evidently took great delight. 
 
 " For those three or four days before theii 
 deaths, when there was a general report that no 
 more should die, he said, I do not know what 
 God hath done, contrary to our expectations. If 
 he doth- prolong my life, I am sure it is all his 
 own, and by his grace I will wholly devote it to 
 
260 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 him. But on the 29th of September, about ten or 
 eleven at night, we found the deceitful n ess of this 
 report, they being then told that they must die 
 the next morning, which was very unexpected as 
 to the suddenness of it. But herein God glorified 
 his power, grace, and faithfulness, in giving suita- 
 ble support and comfort by his blessed presence, 
 which appeared upon my coming to him at that 
 time, and finding him greatly composed. He said. 
 Though men design to surprise, God doth and 
 will perform his word, to be a very present help in 
 trouble. 
 
 " The next morning, when I saw him again, 
 his cheerfulness and comfort were much increased, 
 waiting for the sheriff with the greatest sweetness 
 and serenity of mind; saying, ISTow the will of 
 God is determined, to whom I have referred it, 
 and he hath chosen most certainly what is best ! 
 Afterwards, with a smiling countenance, he dis- 
 coursed of the glory of heaven, remarking with 
 much delight the third, fourth, and fifth verses of 
 the twenty-second of the Kevelations : — ^And there 
 shall be no more curse ; but the throne of God 
 and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants 
 shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and 
 his name shall be in their foreheads; and there 
 shall be no night there, and they shall need no 
 candle, nor light of the sun ; and they shall reign 
 for ever and ever. Then he said, Oh, what a 
 happy state is this ! Shall we be loth [unwilling] 
 to go and enjoy this ? 
 
 " He then desired to be read to him, 2 Cor. v. 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAN HEWLINa. 2&1 
 
 1, 2. For we know that if our earthly house of 
 this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens, etc. His hope and comfort still in- 
 creasing, with the assurance of an interest in that 
 glorious inheritance to the possession of which he 
 was now going, he said death was more desirable 
 than life, and he would rather die than live any 
 longer here. 
 
 ^' As to the manner of his death, he said. When 
 I have considered others under these circumstances, 
 I have thought it very dreadful ; but now God 
 hath called me to it, I bless him that I have quite 
 other apprehensions of it. I can now cheerfully 
 embrace it as an easy passage to glory; and 
 though death separates from the enjoyment of 
 each other here, it will be but for a very short 
 time, and then we shall meet in such enjoyments 
 as now we cannot conceive of, and for ever rejoice 
 in each other's happiness. 
 
 " Then reading the Scriptures and musing with 
 himself, he intimated the great comfort which God 
 conveyed to his soul in it; saying, Oh, what an 
 invaluable treasure is this blessed word of God ! 
 In all conditions here is a store of strong consola- 
 tion ! A friend desiring his Bible, he said, 'No : 
 this shall be my companion to the last moment of 
 my life. 
 
 "Thus praying together, reading, meditating, 
 and conversing of heavenly things, they waited for 
 the sheriff, who, when he came, void of all pity or 
 civility, hurried them away, scarcely suffering them 
 
262 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 to take leave of their friends. 'JS'otwithstanding 
 this, and the bitter mourning of all about them, 
 the joyfulness of his countenance was increased. 
 Thus he left the prison, and thus he appeared in 
 the sledge, where they sat about half an hour be- 
 fore the officers could force the horses to draw ; at 
 which they were greatly enraged, there being no 
 visible obstruction from weight or way. At last 
 the mayor and sheriff haled them forwards them- 
 selves, Balaam-like, driving the horses. 
 
 '' When they came to the place of execution, 
 which was surrounded with spectators, many that 
 waited their coming, said, that when they saw 
 him and them come with such cheerfulness and 
 joy, and evidence of the presence of God with 
 them, it made death appear with another aspect. 
 They first embraced each other with the greatest 
 affection ; then two of the elder persons praying 
 audibly, they joined with great seriousness. Then 
 he required leave of the sheriff* to pray particu- 
 larly ; but he would not grant it, and only asked 
 him whether he would pray for the king. He an- 
 swered, 'I pray for all men.' He then requested 
 that they might sing a hymn. The sheriff told 
 him it must be with the rope about their necks ; 
 which they cheerfully accepted, and sung with 
 such heavenly joy and sweetness that many who 
 were present said, that it both broke and rejoiced 
 their hearts. Thus in the experience of the de- 
 lightfulness of praising God on earth, he willingly 
 closed his eyes on a vain world, to pass to that 
 eternal enjoyment, on September 30, 1685. 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 2G3 
 
 " All present of all sorts were exceedingly af- 
 fected and amazed. Some officers who had before 
 insultingly said, Surely these persons have no 
 thoughts of death, but will find themselves sur- 
 prised by it, now acknowledged that they saw he 
 and they had something extrordinary within, which 
 carried them through with so much joy. Others 
 said that they were so convinced of their happi- 
 ness, that they would be glad to change conditions 
 with them. The soldiers in general, and all others, 
 lamented exceedingly, saying, it was so sad a thing 
 to see them so cut off that they scarcely knew how 
 to bear it. Some of the most malicious in the 
 place, from whom nothing but railing was ex- 
 pected, said, as they were carried to their grave in 
 Taunton church, ' These persons have left sufficient 
 evidence tha.t they are now glorified spirits in 
 heaven.' A great officer also in the king's army 
 has often been heard to say, ' If you would learn to 
 die, go to the young men of Taunton.' Much 
 more was uttered by these good men, which showed 
 the blessed frame of their hearts, to the glory of 
 divine grace. But this is what occurs to memory. 
 
 ^'Mr. Benjamin Hewling, about two hours be- 
 fore his death, wrote the following letter, which 
 showed his great composure of mind : — 
 
 " ^ HoNoiiED Mother, 
 
 " ' That news which I know you have a great 
 while feared, and we expected, I must now ac- 
 quaint you with ; that notwithstanding the hopes 
 you gave in your two last letters, warrants are 
 
264 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 come for my execution, and within tliese few 
 hours I expect it to be performed. 
 
 " ' Blessed be the Almighty God, who gives 
 comfort and support in such a day ! How ought 
 we to magnify his holy name for all his mercies, 
 that when we were running on in a course of sin 
 he should stop us in our full career, and show us 
 that Saviour whom we had pierced, and out of his 
 free grace enable us to look upon him with an eye 
 of faith, believing him able to save to the uttermost 
 all such as come to him ! Oh, admirable long- 
 suffering patience of God ; that when we were dis- 
 honoring his name, he did not take that time to 
 bring honor to himself by our destruction ? But 
 he delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but had 
 rather he should turn to him and live ; and he hath 
 many ways pf bringing his own to himself. Blessed 
 be his holy name, he has taught my heart in some 
 measure to be conformable to his w^ill, which 
 worketh patience, and patience experience, and 
 experience hope, which maketh not ashamed. 
 
 ^''I bless God that I am not ashamed of the 
 cause for which I lay down my life ; and as I have 
 engaged in it, and fought for it, so now I am go- 
 ing to seal it with my blood. The Lord will still 
 carry on the same cause which hath been long on 
 foot ; and though we die in it and for it, I question 
 not but in his own good time he will raise up other 
 instruments more worthy to carry it on to the 
 glory of his name, and the advancement of his 
 church and people. 
 
 " ' Honored mother, I know there has been 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 265 
 
 nothing left undone by you or my friends for the 
 saving of my life, for which I return many hearty 
 acknowledgements to yourself and to them all; 
 and it is my dying request to you and them, to 
 pardon all undutifulness and unkindness in every 
 relation. Pray give my duty to my grandfather 
 and grandmother ; service to my uncles and aunts ; 
 and my dear love to all my sisters ; to every re- 
 lation and friend a particular recommendation. 
 Pray tell them all how precious an interest in 
 Christ is when we come to die ; and advise them 
 never to rest in a Christless state. For if we are 
 his, it is no matter what the world do to us ; they 
 can but kill the body, and blessed be God, for the 
 soul is out of their reach. I question not but their 
 malice wishes the damnation of that, as w^ell 
 as the destruction of the body, which has too 
 evidently appeared by their deceitful flattering 
 promises. 
 
 '' 'I commit you all to the care and protection 
 of God, who has promised to be a Father to the 
 fatherless, and a husband to the widow, and to 
 supply the want of every relation. The Lord God 
 of heaven be your comfort under these sorrows, 
 and your refuge from those miseries w^hich we 
 may easily foresee coming upon poor England, 
 and the poor distressed people of God in it. The 
 Lord carry you through this vale of tears with a 
 resigning submissive spirit; and at last bring you 
 to himself in glory ; where I question not but you 
 will meet your dying son, 
 
 ' Benjamin HEWLiNa.' " 
 23 
 
266 BAPTIST MARTYES. 
 
 Mr. Kiffin adds to this statement, "Only for 
 myself it was a great comfort to me, and is to 
 observe what testimony they left behind of that 
 blessed interest they had in the Lord Jesus, and 
 their humble and holy confidence of their eternal 
 happiness. 
 
 " One thing I think it necessary to observe, that 
 at the trial of William Hewling, the Lord Chief 
 Justice Jefferies was pleased in public court, to tell 
 him, that his grandfather did as well deserve that 
 death, which he was likely to suffer, as they did. 
 Which I mention to that end, that thereby it may 
 be seen what an eye they had upon me for my 
 ruin, if the Lord, who hath watched over me for 
 good, had not prevented." 
 
 The relative who has been described as attend- 
 ing these lovely young men in the west, and from 
 whom Mr. Kiffin received his account, was their 
 sister, Hannah Hewling, who, about a year after- 
 wards, married Major Henry Cromwell, and who 
 died in 1731. When all other means had failed, 
 she determined to present a petition to the king. 
 For this purpose she was introduced by Lord 
 Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough. 
 While they waited in the ante-chamber for ad- 
 mittance, standing near the chimney-piece. Lord 
 Churchill assured her of his most hearty wishes 
 for the success of her petition. " But," he added, 
 "Madam, I dare not flatter you with any such 
 hopes, for that marble is as capable of feeling com- 
 passion as the king's heart." 
 
 Noble says, " It has been said in most of the 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 267 
 
 accounts that have been published, that Lord 
 Chief Justice Jefferies always treated Hannah 
 Hewling according to his usual custom, with the 
 greatest brutality ; but this is not true ; for Jef- 
 feries always treated her with the greatest polite- 
 ness and respect. This fact, however, does not 
 much soften the horrors of his general character. 
 Jefferies had a relation from whose fortune he had 
 formed great expectations ; and as this relation 
 was an intimate acquaintance of the Hewlings, he 
 exerted himself very warmly with him on their 
 behalf. He repeatedly protested to the chief jus- 
 tice, that the continuance of his friendship together 
 with every benefit he might hope to result from 
 it, depended entirely on his using every endeavor 
 to save the Hewlings. This, Jefferies declared 
 that he did ; but he always said that the king was 
 inexorable. 
 
 '' For many reasons,'' adds IsToble, " it would be 
 improper to omit what Mr. Hewling Luson has 
 said of these two young men. ' The two unfor- 
 tunate brothers, Benjamin and William Hewling, 
 were the only males of their name, and of their 
 family, which was in the highest esteem and 
 popularity among the staunch whigs and dissent- 
 ing Protestants, at that time so numerous and re- 
 spectable in the city. Their parts were excellent, 
 and their education was the best that could be 
 given them; their morals were spotless, their 
 piety exemplary; their zeal against popery, the 
 ardor of their courage in the field, and the manly 
 meekness, and devout resignation of their deport- 
 
268 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 ment to the last, nnder their sufferings, concurred 
 with their youth, (the one twenty-one, and the 
 other not quite twenty,) and the uncommon beauty 
 and gracefulness of their persons, to place them the 
 first in the list which was at that time called The 
 Western Marty rology^ and to render the severity of 
 th^ir fate most pitied of any who fell a sacrifice to 
 the popish vengeance of James, though there were 
 some other sentences much more unjust/ " 
 
 We cannot willingly close this account without 
 a touching anecdote of Mr. Kifiin, the venerable 
 grandfather of these excellent young men. Shortly 
 before his abdication, James determined, after 
 having arbitrarily deprived the city of London of 
 its charters, to change its magistracy, and to put 
 some of the dissenters into oflice. He privately 
 sent to Kiflln to wait upon him at court. When 
 he arrived there, he found many lords and gentle- 
 men. The king immediately came up, and ad- 
 dressed him with all the little grace he was master 
 of. He talked of his favor to the dissenters in the 
 court style of the time, and concluded with telling 
 the old man that he had put him down in his new 
 charter as an alderman. '' Sire," replied Kiffln, 
 " I am a very old man, and have withdrawn my- 
 self from all kind of business for some years past; 
 and am incapable of doing any service in such an 
 affair to your majesty in the city. Besides, Sire," 
 — the old man went on, fixing his eyes steadfastly 
 on the king, while the tears ran down his cheeks 
 — ^' the death of my grandsons gave a wound to 
 my heart which is still bleeding, and never will 
 
BENJAMIN AND WILLIAM HEWLING. 269 
 
 close but in the grave." The king was greatly 
 struck by the manner, the spirit, and the freedom 
 of this rebuke, so unexpected but so just. An en- 
 tire silence followed, while the king, chagrined 
 and mortified, as indicated in his countenance, 
 showed that he shrunk from the horrid remem- 
 brance. He soon, however, recovered himself 
 enough to say, '' Mr. Kiffin, I shall find a balsam 
 for that sore;" and then immediately turned about 
 to a lord in waiting. Of course Mr. Kiffin never 
 again heard from the king. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN MARTYRS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 ANNE ASKEW. 
 
 This distinguished lady is very truly said, by 
 Mr. C. B. Tayler, to have been the most interest- 
 ing victim of the fires of Smithfield. "We have ia- 
 deed a sad story to tell of this gentle and delicate 
 woman. She was the intimate friend and com- 
 panion of the lovely queen Catherine Parr, and 
 was singled out by the crafty bishop Gardiner and 
 others, as well as by the popish ladies of the court, 
 hoping that through her they might find an accu- 
 sation against the queen, for holding the faith and 
 principles of the Reformation. 
 
 Anne Askew, as we learn from the second volume 
 of '' The Pictorial History of England^'" by Messrs. 
 Craik and Macfarlane, was associated with Joan 
 Boucher, of whom we shall speak in our next ar- 
 ticle, in the good work of circulating books and 
 tracts in the court of Henry VIII. Joan escaped 
 burning till the following reign, but, like her 
 friend, Anne Askew, she was persecuted and im- 
 prisoned by the tyrannical and hypocritical mon- 
 arch. The probability that these two friends en- 
 tertained the same views on the subject of baptism, 
 
 (270) 
 
ANNE ASKEW. 271 
 
 seems confirmed by uncontradicted tradition, and 
 the fact that no other body of Christians ever 
 seems to have claimed either the one or the other. 
 We feel no difficulty, therefore, in placing Anne 
 Askew among the so-called "fanatical Anabap- 
 tists," of whose religious views the lower house of 
 convocation complained to the sovereign, " as 
 prevalent errors that demanded correction." 
 
 Anne was the youngest daughter of Sir William 
 Askew, of Kelsey, in Lincolnshire ; her eldest sis- 
 ter had been engaged to marry a gentleman of the 
 name of Kyme, a harsh and bigoted Catholic ; but 
 the sister died, and she was compelled by her 
 father to take her sister's place, and become the 
 wife of that gentleman. It was indeed a most un- 
 happy marriage for Anne. Her education had been 
 supeiior to that usually given even to the nobility 
 in those days, and she possessed a strong and en- 
 lightened mind ; indeed she presented a striking 
 contrast to her morose and narrow-minded hus- 
 band. 
 
 She seems to have been distinguished for piety 
 from her earliest years, and to have searched and 
 prized the holy Scriptures, which had made her 
 wise unto salvation. Her love gf the truth, as it 
 is found in its purity and freshness in the word of 
 inspiration, gave grea-t displeasure to her husband, 
 by whom she was cruelly driven from her home. 
 One of the accusations against her was, " that she 
 was the devoutest woman he had ever known, for 
 she began to pray always at midnight, and con- 
 tinued for some hours in that exercise." 
 
272 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Travelling to London to sue for a divorce from 
 her tyrannical husband, his persecution and that 
 of the popish priests followed her, and she soon 
 fell into the snares they had laid for her. Full of 
 piety and of Christian simplicity, she dreamt of no 
 evil in the circles in which she moved. Anne 
 Askew — for she had resumed her maiden name — 
 was filled with the piety induced by the Holy 
 Spirit. Her thorough knowledge of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, the hold which it had obtained of her heart, 
 the influence which it exercised upon her conduct, 
 the sweetness which it breathed over her manners, 
 all combined to win for her the affection of those 
 noble and pious ladies who formed the circle of 
 the queen's society, who was herself said to be her 
 friend, to have received books from her, and to 
 have returned many a kind message. It has been 
 said that probably a more unguarded and fearless 
 spirit existed in this meek and gentle lady than in 
 any other follower of Christ of her sex, rank, and 
 the age in which she lived. 
 
 Soon, however, did she find that all the holy 
 familiar intercourse she held on various occasions 
 with the godly ladies of the court must cease ; and 
 that her attachment to the writings and memory 
 of holy men must be locked up as inviolate secrets 
 in her own bosom ; for she was apprehended on 
 the charge of holding heretical opinions against 
 the six articles, with especial reference to the sa- 
 crament of the Lord's supper, and was committed 
 to prison. Her conduct from that time presented 
 a remarkable combination of lofty self-possession. 
 
ANNE ASKEW. 273 
 
 and touching simplicity and sweetness — of firm- 
 ness, constancy, and a ready wit, according to the 
 true acceptation of that word; and all these quali- 
 ties were in perfect keeping in her whole character 
 and conduct, and made her at the same time one 
 of the most feminine and courageous of her sex. 
 
 On the part of her enemies two objects were 
 plainly manifest in all the examinations to which 
 they subjected her — the first was to make her 
 criminate herself, the second to lead her to crimi- 
 nate the queen, and those of her ladies who were 
 suspected of holding "the new learning," as the 
 eternal truths of the gospel were called by the 
 Catholics. 
 
 Few women have so dearly and so truly won 
 the title of heroine, in the highest sense of the 
 word, as the poor persecuted martyr, Anne Askew. 
 Few have possessed a presence of mind so unsup- 
 ported by human strength, or even so little en- 
 couraged by human friends, as this young lady. 
 The wisdom and discretion which she exhibited 
 in answering the insidious questions, and baffling 
 the crafty designs of her enemies, were no less re- 
 markable than her clear and accurate knowledge 
 of the word of God, and her resolute spirit in cleav- 
 ing to it. And thus she met and surmounted all 
 the difficulties to which she was exposed, in one 
 conference after another, with the most skilful and 
 subtle of the Popish party; and every one who 
 entered into an encounter with her, was com- 
 pletely foiled by her truth, her simplicity of wis- 
 .dom, her patience, and her calm trust in God. 
 
274 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Her piteous story is enough to melt the sternest 
 man to tears, were it not that the heart must 
 throb, and the cheek burn at the disgraceful con- 
 sciousness that Englishmen and English prelates, 
 could be found base and bad enough to make 
 that gentle lady the victim of their diabolical 
 malice. 
 
 She was examined concerning her opinions by 
 Christopher Dare, and Sir Martin Bowes, the then 
 Lord Mayor of London, and their brother com- 
 missioners. With what inimitable simplicity did 
 she reply in the conversation, which is said to 
 have taken place between the Lord Mayor and 
 herself: '' What if a mouse were to eat the sacred 
 bread after it was consecrated?" was the absurd 
 question ; " what shall become of the mouse, what 
 sayest thou, thou foolish woman ?" " Kay, what 
 Bay you, my lord, will become of it?" ^'I say 
 that mouse is damned!" "Alas, poor mouse," 
 was her quiet reply ; and so at once all his divinity 
 was discomfited. In one of her examinations 
 she was asked if she had said that priests could 
 not make the body of Christ; "I have read" she 
 replied, "that God made man; but that man can 
 make God, I never yet read, nor, I suppose ever 
 shall." 
 
 She herself, in the most artless language, gives 
 an account of her various examinations. First, 
 she was summoned before the inquisition at Sad- 
 ler's Hall, where Christopher Dare asked her if 
 she did not believe that the sacrament hanging 
 over the altar was the very l)]ood of Christ. She 
 
ANNE ASKEW. 275 
 
 replied by asking "him, Why Stephen was stoned ? 
 to death ? He said he could not tell. '' N"o more/' 
 said she, " will I answer your vain question." 
 Being charged with reading from a book that God 
 dwelleth not in temples made with hands, she 
 showed them the seventh and seventeenth chap- 
 ters of the Acts of the Apostles. She was asked 
 why she had said she would rather read five lines 
 in the Bible than hear five masses ? She confessed 
 having said it, because the one did greatly edify 
 her, and the other did not at all ; quoting the text 
 in the fourteenth of the first epistle to the Corin- 
 thians : — " If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, 
 who shall prepare himself for the battle ?" 
 
 On her next examination before the lord mayor, 
 she relates : — " Then the bishop's chancellor re- 
 buked me, and said I was much to blame for 
 uttering the Scriptures ; for St. Paul, he said, for- 
 bade women to speak, or to talk of the word of 
 God. I answered him that I knew Paul's mean- 
 ing as well as he, which is that a woman ought 
 not to speak in the congregation, by the way of 
 teaching. And then I asked him how many wo- 
 men he had seen go into the pulpit and preach ? 
 He said he never saw any. Then I said he ought 
 to find no fault in poor women, except they offend 
 against the law." In an interview with a priest 
 she requested him to answer some of his own 
 questions, when he told her " that it was against 
 the order of the schools, that he who asked the 
 question, should be required to answer it;" she at 
 
276 BAPTIST MARTYES. 
 
 once told him that she was but a woman, and 
 knew not the course of schools. 
 
 But we pass over these, and many other exami- 
 nations, in which the patience of her adversaries, 
 who could not overcome her, was exhausted. 
 These bold and crafty men were determined to 
 spare neither threat nor violence by which they 
 might extort from her some word or other, as a 
 ground of accusation against the Lady Herbert, 
 who was the queen's sister, or the Duchess of Suf- 
 folk, and so at last Queen Catharine herself. As 
 yet they had discovered nothing. Rich, and another 
 of the council, came to her in the tower, where she 
 was then confined, and demanded that she should 
 make the disclosures which they required concern- 
 ing her party, and her friends. She told them 
 nothing. " Then," she says, " they did put me 
 on the rack, because I confessed no ladies or gen- 
 tlemen to be of my opinion ; and thereon they 
 kept me a long time, and because I lay still and 
 did not cry, my lord chancellor and Mr. Rich took 
 pains to rack me with their own hands till I was 
 nigh dead." These inhuman creatures, it is re- 
 corded, provoked by her saintJike endurance, 
 ordered the lieutenant of the tower to rack her 
 again. He, Sir Anthony Knevett, "tendering the 
 weakness of the woman," positively refused to do 
 so. Then Wriothesley and Rich threw ofl* their 
 gowns, and threatening the lieutenant that they 
 would complain of his disobedience to the king, 
 " they worked the rack themselves, till her bones 
 and joints were almost plucked asunder." When 
 
5 
 
 a* 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 a 
 
 5' 
 
ANNE ASKEW. 277 
 
 the lieutenant caused her to be loosed down from 
 the rack, she immediately swooned. ^' Then," 
 she writes, "they recovered me again. After that 
 I sate two long hours reasoning with my lord 
 chancellor on the bare floor, where he, with many 
 flattering words, persuaded me to leave my opin- 
 ion ; but my Lord God, I thank his everlasting 
 goodness, gave me grace to persevere, and will do, 
 I hope, to the very end." And she concludes 
 this account to her friend, by saying, "Farewell, 
 dear friend, and pray, pray, pray." 
 
 The lieutenant of the tower, fearing Wriothes- 
 ley's threats, secretly took a boat, and hastened to 
 the king, to tell him the things he had witnessed. 
 Henry seemed displeased at the excess of barbarity 
 perpetrated, and dismissed the humane officer with 
 assurances of his pardon ; telling him to return, 
 and see to his charge in the tower. There all the 
 wardens and officials anxiously waited the result ; 
 and gave God thanks for the success of his em- 
 bassy. 
 
 Lascelles, one of Anne's fellow martyrs, inquir- 
 ing if it were true that she had recanted, received 
 from her this reply : — " friend, most dearly be- 
 loved in God, I marvel not a little what should 
 move you to judge in me so slender a faith as to 
 fear death, which is the end of all miseries. In 
 the Lord I desire you not to believe of me such 
 weakness. For I doubt it not but God will per- 
 form his works in me, like as he hath begun. 
 I understand the council is not a little displeased, 
 that it should be reported abroad that I was racked 
 24 
 
278 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 in tlie tower. They say now, that what they did 
 there was but to fear me; [make me afraid,] 
 whereby I perceive they are ashamed of their un- 
 comely doings, and fear much lest the king's ma- 
 jesty should have information thereof; wherefore 
 they would have no man to noise it. "Well, for 
 their cruelty God forgive them !" 
 
 Her last hours were employed in writing a 
 strong denial of a report which had been circu- 
 lated, that she had recanted, and swerved from the 
 truth, and she concludes her account with this 
 beautiful prayer : — '' Lord, I have more enemies 
 now, tlian there be hairs on my head ! Yet, Lord, 
 let them never overcome me with vain words, but 
 fight thou, Lord, in my stead : for on Thee cast I 
 my care ! With all the spite they can imagine, 
 they fall upon me, who am Thy poor creature. 
 Yet, sweet Lord, let me not set by them that are 
 against me ; for in Thee is my whole delight. 
 And, Lord, I heartily desire of Thee, that Thou 
 wilt, of Thy most merciful goodness, forgive them 
 that violence which they do, and have done unto 
 me ; open also Thou their blind hearts, that they 
 may hereafter do that thing in Thy sight, which 
 is only acceptable before Thee, and to set forth 
 Thy verity aright, without all vain fantasies of 
 sinful men. So be it, O Lord, so be it." 
 
 Unable to walk or stand from the tortures she 
 had endured, Anne Askew was carried in a chair 
 to Smithfield, and when brought to the stake was 
 fastened to it by a chain which held up her body, 
 and one who saw her there describes her as " hav- 
 
ANNE ASKEW. 279 
 
 mg an angel's countenance, and a smiling face." 
 She had three companions in her last agonies, fel- 
 low-martyrs with herself, John Lascelles, a gentle- 
 man of the court and household of king Henry, 
 John Adams, a tailor, and Nicholas Belenian, a 
 minister of Shropshire. The apostate priest Shax- 
 ton preached the sermon, to which Anne Askew 
 gave diligent attention, assenting w^hen he spoke 
 truth, and when he erred, detecting and exposing 
 it. The concourse of spectators was so great, that 
 a space was obliged to be railed in to keep off* the 
 pressure. The three Throckmortons, near kins- 
 men of the queen, and members of her household, 
 drew near to comfort Anne and her three com- 
 panions, but were warned that they were marked 
 men, and were entreated to withdraw. 
 
 While these things were going on, at a short 
 distance, elevated on a high judicial seat, im- 
 mediately under St. Bartholomew's church, sat 
 Wriothesley, the tormenting Lord Chancellor of 
 England, the old duke of JJ'orfolk, the old earl of 
 Bedford, the Lord Mayor, and several others. 
 Guilt always makes men fearful, and when these 
 men heard that some gunpowder w^as thrown upon 
 the bodies of the martyrs, they showed no small 
 alarm, lest the faggots might thereby be driven 
 towards them. At length, however, the facts be- 
 ing fully ascertained by the earl of Bedford, their 
 alarm ceased. 
 
 At the very last, a written pardon from the king 
 was offered to Anne Askew, upon condition that 
 she would recant. The fearless lady turned away 
 
280 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 her eyes and would not look npon it. Slie told 
 them that she came not there to deny her Lord 
 and Master. The fire was ordered to be put under 
 her, and her companions, who, in like manner 
 had each refused a pardon, by the Lord Mayor ; 
 "and thus," to use the words of John Foxe, " the 
 good Anne Askew, with these blessed martyrs, hav- 
 ing passed through so many torments, having now 
 ended the long course of her agonies, being en- 
 compassed with flames of fire as a blessed sacrifice 
 unto God, she slept in the Lord, A. D. 1546, leav- 
 ing behind her a singular example of Christian 
 constancy for all men to follow." Her crime was 
 the denial of the Mass, "So this," she wrote, "is 
 the heresy that I hold, and for it must suffer death." 
 She kept the faith to her God, she kept the faith 
 to her friends, for she betrayed no one, enduring 
 shame and agony with meek unshaken constancy. 
 none but Christ, none but Christ could have 
 made the weakness of a delicate woman so strong, — 
 the feebleness of a mortal creature so triumphant ! 
 And thus the square of Smithfield, which was 
 made in the reign of Henry L, "a lay stall of all 
 ordure or filth," and the place of execution for 
 felons and other transgressors, has become not only 
 drenched with the blood of martyrs, but hallowed 
 by the faith and patience of the saints, by the wit- 
 ness of their good confessions, and by the breath 
 of their dying prayers and praises. 
 
JOAN BOUCHER. 
 
 Joan Boucher, or as slie is more frequently 
 called, Joan of Kent^ of high parentage, and en- 
 gaged in the court of Henry VIII., was unques- 
 tionably a Baptist. Uninterrupted and uncontra- 
 dicted tradition reports her as a member of the 
 Baptist church, then meeting at Canterbury and 
 Eythorne, and which still flourishes in the latter 
 village, near the south-eastern extremity of Eng- 
 land, a few miles from Dover, and about sixteen 
 miles from Canterbury, where not a few of her 
 friends endured the fire of martyrdom. 
 
 Strange as it may appear to some of our readers, 
 in 1547 was established a Protestant inquisition, 
 of which Cranmer and Latimer, who were them- 
 selves in after years martyrs, and other men of 
 great eminence, were commissioners. Only eighteen 
 days after the commission was issued, Joan Boucher 
 was arraigned for heresy before this body, and her 
 sentence formally pronounced. From Cranmer's 
 own archiepis copal register we learn that he him- 
 self sat as principal judge on this sad occasion, as- 
 sisted by Latimer and three others, as the king's 
 '^proctors, inquisitors, judges, and commissaries.'* 
 
 Joan Boucher had been an active distributor of 
 
 the proscribed translation of the ]!^ew Testament 
 
 by Tyndale. The court of Henry was the scene 
 
 of her zealous labors, where she often introduced 
 
 24* (281) 
 
282 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 the sacred volumes unsuspected, tying, as Strype 
 tells us, the precious books by strings to her ap- 
 parel. Although well acquainted with the Scrip- 
 tures, she could not read them ; no uncommon 
 calamity in that day, even among people of rank. 
 Much of her time, Foxe tells us, was occupied in 
 visiting the prisons, wherein were incarcerated her 
 companions in tribulation, whom it was her custom 
 perpetually and bountifully to assist. 
 
 But there was one supposed error which was 
 sufficient to expose her to the poisonous breath of 
 calumny, and to the burning flame. For this she 
 had to appear before the inquisitors, " in the chapel 
 of the blessed Mary in St. Paul's." The examina- 
 tions were long, the judges learned, and apparently 
 desirous to save her from the stake ; but she could 
 not, she would not be convinced that she held any 
 heresy, or anything in opposition to the truth. 
 I^either threatenings nor entreaties moved her; 
 but a good conscience made her bold. At length 
 she uttered language which it grieved her judges 
 to hear, but which smote their consciences with 
 its telling truth. "It is," said she, "a goodly 
 matter to consider your ignorance. It is not long 
 ago since you burned Anne Askew for a piece of 
 bread, and yet you came yourselves soon after to 
 believe and profess the same doctrine for which 
 you burned her. And now, forsooth, you will 
 burn me for a piece of flesh, and in the end you 
 will come to believe this also, when you have read 
 the Scriptures, and understood them." 
 
 With, professedly, " the fear of God before his 
 
JOAN BOTICIIER. 283 
 
 eyes," and with invocation of the name of Christ, 
 the '^ reverend father in Christ, Thomas, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury," with the full approbation 
 of his colleagueSy proceeded to pronounce her 
 doom. The sentence contained her crime and its 
 punishment. "You believe that the Word was 
 made flesh in the virgin, but that Christ took flesh 
 of the virgin you believe not ; because the flesh of 
 the virgin being the outward man sinfully gotten, 
 and born in sin, but the Word by the consent of 
 the inward man of the virgin was made flesh. 
 This dogma, with obstinate, obdurate, and perr 
 tinacious mind, you affirm, and not without much 
 haughtiness of mien. With wonderful blindness 
 of heart, to this you hold; therefore, for your 
 demerits, obstinacy, and contumacy, aggravated 
 by a wicked and damnable pertinacity, being also 
 unwilling to return to the faith of the church, 
 you are adjudged a heretic, to be handed to 
 the secular power, to sufier in due course of law, 
 and finally the ban of the great excommunication 
 is upon you." The inquisitors completed the 
 labors of the day, by announcing to Edward, the 
 youthful sovereign, through their president, that 
 they had decreed her separation from the Lord's 
 flock as a diseased sheep. " And since," said they, 
 " our holy mother, the church, hath nought else 
 that she can do on this behalf, we leave the said 
 heretic to your royal highness, and to the secular 
 arm, to sufter her deserved punishment." 
 
 Considerable delay, however, occurred before 
 the execution of the sentence. We may give the 
 
284 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 reformers credit for an earnest desire to lead Joan 
 Boucher to more correct views, but must not 
 withhold an expression of just abhorrence at the 
 bloody deed, and at the hateful principle on which 
 they acted. They had adopted an unsound basis 
 for their reformation, and its necessary result was 
 oppression of conscience. The exercise of freedom 
 of thought and judgment upon Scripture truth was 
 impossible. Eidley, of London, and Goodrich, of 
 Ely, were specially active in their endeavors to 
 reclaim her ; to whom must be added, Cranmer, 
 Latimer, Lever, Whitehead, and Hutchinson. 
 
 A year within three days was passed in these 
 unavailing efforts. Her constancy remained un- 
 shaken. On the 27th of April, the council issued 
 their warrant to the lord chancellor to make out a 
 writ for her execution; and Cranmer is said, by 
 Foxe, to have been most urgent with the young 
 king to affix the sign manual to the cruel docu- 
 ment. The youthful king hesitated. Cranmer 
 argued from the law of Moses, by which blas- 
 phemers were to be stoned to death ; this woman, 
 he said, was guilty of impiety in the sight of Cod, 
 which a prince, as God's deputy, ought to punish. 
 The youthful king said to Cranmer, "Mj lord, 
 will you send her soul to hell?" But his majesty 
 was compelled to yield, and saying '' If it be an 
 error, you, my lord, shall answer it to God." 
 With tears, the royal signature was appended. 
 Rogers, the first martyr of Mary's reign, also 
 thought that she ought to be put to death, and 
 when urged with the cruelty of the deed, replied, 
 
JOAN BOUCHER. ^ 285 
 
 ^' that burning alive was no cruel death, but easy 
 enough." He was the first man called in the reign 
 of Mary to test the truth of his own remark. 
 
 The bishops had resolved that Joan Boucher 
 should die, and on the 2d of May, 1550, she ap- 
 peared at the stake in Smithfield. Here further 
 efforts were made to shake her confidence. To 
 Bishop Scory was allotted the duty of preaching 
 to the sufferer, and to the people on the occasion. 
 ''He tried," says Strype, "to convert her; she 
 scoffed, and said he lied like a rogue, and bade 
 him, ' Go read the Scriptures.' " By this language 
 we understand an indignant rejection of the shame- 
 ful misrepresentations which in that hour of trial 
 were made of her faith. She closely adhered to 
 those words of truth which were her joy and 
 strength, in the moments of her dying agony. 
 She loved and adored the holy and immaculate 
 Lamb of God. 
 
 "Were it desirable, it might easily be shown 
 that Joan Boucher did not believe or teach the 
 errors laid to her charge. She differed from the 
 Catholics chiefly in believing that the mother of 
 Jesus, like all other merely human beings, was 
 tainted with sin. 
 
MRS. PREST. 
 
 Few things are more difficult in reading " John 
 Foxe's Martyrology'' than to distinguish between 
 Baptists and others. Nothing was more common 
 than to brand an appeal to the Scriptures as the 
 only infallible standard of truth, or an assertion of 
 the full rights of conscience, and other things of a 
 similar character, as '' anahaptistical errors^'' without 
 any regard to their views and conduct as to the 
 ordinance of baptism. And again, John Foxe 
 partook fully of the prejudices of the good men of 
 his day against the Baptists, and whenever he 
 could, throughout his work, he defended martyrs 
 fi-om the supposed crime. As he has not vindi- 
 cated the good woman of whom we now speak 
 from the charge, but tells us that in several ex- 
 aminations she was called " an Anabaptist^'' there 
 can be no doubt that we may place her on our 
 list. 
 
 This poor woman resided near Launceston, in 
 Cornwall. ''She was," says Foxe, "as simple a 
 woman to see to as any man might behold ; of a 
 very little and short stature ; somewhat thick ; and 
 almost fifty years of age. She had a cheerful and 
 lively countenance; most patient in. her words 
 and answers ; sober in apparel, meat, and drink ; 
 and would never be idle ; a great comfort to those 
 who conversed with her ; good to the poor ; and 
 
 (286) 
 
MRS. PREST. 287 
 
 even when in her troubles would never accept 
 money from any one ; ' for,' she would say, 'I am 
 going to a city where money bears no mastery ; 
 and while I am here God has promised to feed 
 me.' " By a diligent attention to the sermons of 
 pious ministers, probably in the days of king Ed- 
 ward, and hearing good books read, (for she her- 
 self could not read,) she had gained such an ac- 
 quaintance with the Scriptures, that she could 
 readily tell where any passage alluded to might be 
 found ; and very powerfully felt the truth on her 
 heart. 
 
 Her husband and children were strongly at- 
 tached to the superstitions of popery; and fre- 
 quently compelled her to attend mass, visit the 
 confessional, and assist in processions. For some 
 time she submitted to these impositions ; but as 
 her convictions of their sinfulness increased, the 
 burden of an accusing conscience became intoler- 
 able. She prayed earnestly for divine direction 
 and support; and at length resolved to sacrifice 
 all her earthly comforts rather than submit to 
 practices which she was now convinced were anti- 
 christian and idolatrous. She communicated her 
 determination to her family ; " and grew," as 
 Foxe expresses it, " in contempt with her husband 
 and children." She then thought it to be her 
 duty, in order to keep a clear conscience, to sepa- 
 rate herself from her family, and commit herself 
 to the care of Providence. Accordingly she left 
 her home ; and moving about from place to place, 
 obtained a livelihood by spinning. She omitted 
 
288 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 no opportunity of declaring her sentiments on re- 
 ligious subjects, especially on the popish doctrine 
 of transubstantiation. 
 
 After some time, she was brought again to her 
 husband; but whether by persuasion or force does 
 not appear. She had not, however, been long at 
 home, before her neighbors, having sent informa- 
 tion to the bishop of Exeter, had her conveyed be- 
 fore him for examination. On this occasion, the 
 following conversation took place, the particulars 
 of which were communicated to the historian by 
 those who heard it. 
 
 Bishop. — Thou foolish woman, I hear say that 
 thou hast spoken certain words against the most 
 blessed sacrament of the altar, the body of Christ. 
 Fie, for shame ! Thou art an unlearned person, 
 and a woman. Wilt thou meddle with such high 
 matters, which all the doctors cannot define? 
 Wilt thou talk of so high mysteries ? Keep to 
 thy work and meddle with thy own concerns. It 
 is no woman-matter, to be prated about while card- 
 ing and spinning. If it be as I am informed, thou 
 art worthy to be burned. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — My lord, I trust your lordship 
 will hear me speak. 
 
 Bishop. — =Yea, marry : therefore I sent for 
 thee. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — I am a poor woman and live by 
 my hands ; getting a penny honestly ; and of that 
 I get, I give part to the poor. 
 
 Bishop. — That is well done. Art thou not a 
 man's wife ? 
 
MRS. PREST. 289 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — I have a husband and children, 
 and yet I have them not. So long as I was at 
 liberty, I refused neither husband nor children. 
 But now, standing as I do, in the cause of Christ 
 and his truth ; where I must either forsake Christ 
 or my husband, I am content to cleave only to 
 Christ, my heavenly spouse, and renounce the 
 other. For my Saviour has said, " He that leav- 
 eth not father or mother, brother or sister, or hus- 
 band, or wife, for my sake, cannot be my dis- 
 ciple." 
 
 Bishop. — Christ spake that of the holy martyrs, 
 who died because they would not sacrifice to false 
 gods. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — Surely, sir ; and I will rather die 
 than I will worship that foul idol, which, with your 
 mass, you make a god. 
 
 Bishop. — ^Dare you say that the sacrament of the 
 altar is a foul idol ? 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — ^Yea, truly : there never was such 
 an idol as your sacrament is made by your priests ; 
 and commanded to be worshiped of all men, 
 with many fantastic fooleries: when Christ did 
 command it to be eaten and drank in remem 
 brance of his most blessed death for our redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Bishop. — Alas ! poor woman, thou art deceived. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — If you will give me leave, I will 
 declare a reason why I will not worship the sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 Bishop.— Marry, say on. I am sure it will be 
 goodly gear. 
 
 25 
 
290 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — Truly such gear as I will lose this 
 poor life of mine for. 
 
 Bishop. — Then you will die a martyr, good- 
 wife? 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — Indeed : if denying to worship 
 that hready god be my martyrdom, I will suffer it 
 with all my heart. 
 
 Bishop. — Say thy mind. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — I will demand of you, whether 
 you can deny your own creed, which says that 
 Christ perpetually sits at the right hand of his 
 Father, both body and soul, till he come again ? 
 or whether he be there as our Advocate, and in- 
 tercedes for us with God his Father ? If it be so, 
 he is not here on earth in a piece of bread. If he 
 be not here ; and if he do not dwell in temples 
 made with hands, why do we seek him here ? K 
 he did offer his body once for all, why make you 
 a new offering ? If, with one offering, he made 
 all perfect, why do you, with a false offering, make 
 all imperfect ? If he be to be worshipped in spirit 
 and truth, why do you worship a piece of bread ? 
 If he be eaten and drank in faith and truth, and if 
 his flesh be not profitable to be among us, why do 
 you say that you seek his body and flesh, and that 
 it is profitable for the body and soul ? Alas ! I am 
 a poor woman ! but rather than I would do as you 
 do, I would live no longer. I have said, sir. 
 
 Bishop. — I promise you you are a jolly Pro- 
 testant. I pray you, in what schools have you 
 been brought up ? 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — I have, upon the Sundays, visited 
 
MRS. PREST. 291 
 
 the sermons, and there have I learned such things 
 as are so fixed in my breast, that death shall not 
 separate them. 
 
 Bishop. — 0, foolish woman ! Who would waste 
 his breath on thee, or such a woman as thou art ? 
 But how chances it that thou wentest away from 
 thy husband? If thou wert an honest woman, 
 thou wouldst not have left thy husband and chil- 
 dren, and run about the country like a fugitive. 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — Sir, I labored for my living ; and 
 as my Master, Christ, counsels me, when I was 
 persecuted in one city, I fled to another. 
 
 Bishop. — ^Who persecuted thee ? 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — My husband and my children. 
 For when I would have them leave idolatry and 
 worship God in heaven, they would not hear ; but 
 rebuked and ill-treated me. I fled not for whore- 
 dom or theft ; but because I would not be a par- 
 taker with him and his children of that foul idol 
 the mass. And wheresoever I was, as oft as I could 
 upon Sundays and holidays, I made excuses not 
 to go to the popish church, but to the true church. 
 
 Bishop. — The true church! what dost thou 
 mean? 
 
 Mrs. Prest. — ^ISTot your popish church, full of 
 idols and abominations ; but where two or three 
 are gathered together in the name of God ; to that 
 church will I go as long as I live. 
 
 Bishop. — ^Belike then you have a church of your 
 own. "Well ; let this mad woman be put down to 
 prison, until we send for her husband. 
 
 Mrs. I^rest. — No. I have but one husband, 
 
292 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 who is here abeady, in this city and prison ; from 
 whom I will never depart. 
 
 The conclusive and rational answers of this 
 simple woman perplexed the bishop and his of- 
 ficers ; who seemed at first unwilling to proceed 
 to extremities. They pretended to consider her 
 as out of her senses ; though certainly no marks 
 of insanity can be discovered in her examinations. 
 They therefore directed the jailer to permit her to 
 go about the town as she pleased ; in hope, pro- 
 bably, that she would either abscond, or commit 
 some act of extravagance, which might sanction 
 harsher measures. But they were disappointed. 
 She employed her time diligently in the prison, in 
 doing the work of a servant, and in spinning ; but 
 continued to bear her constant testimony against 
 the Catholics; especially against their favorite 
 doctrine of the mass. 
 
 Shortly after, they sent for her husband, who 
 oftered to take her home, if she would renounce 
 her heretical opinions; but this she steadily re- 
 fused to do, declaring that she could not betray 
 the cause of her Saviour, for which she now stood 
 before the bishop and his priests. Several of the 
 Romish clergy undertook to persuade her to ac- 
 knowledge the real presence of the body of Christ 
 in the sacrament ; but to all their arguments she 
 replied, ^' It is nothing but very bread and wine ; 
 and you ought to be ashamed to say, that a pieoe 
 of bread, which ferments and moulds, and which 
 may be eaten by mice, or burnt in the fire, is 
 changed by man into the natural body of Christ. 
 
MRS. PREST. 293 
 
 God's own body will not be so handled, nor kept 
 in prison in boxes and cups. Let it be your god ; 
 it shall not be mine. My Saviour sits at the right 
 hand of God, and doth pray for me." They told 
 her that the devil had deceived her; "l^o," said 
 she, " I trust that the living God hath opened my 
 eyes, and caused me to understand the right use 
 of the blessed sacrament, which the true church 
 doth use, but the false church doth abuse." 
 
 At this point of the discussion, an old friar 
 stepped forward and asked her, " What do you 
 say of the holy pope?" Her reply was, "I say, 
 that he is Antichrist and the devil." At this 
 answer they all very heartily laughed. " N^ay," 
 continued she, ''you have more need to weep 
 than to laugh ; and to be sorry that ever you were 
 born to become the chaplains of that harlot of 
 Babylon. I defy him and all his falsehoods. Get 
 you away from me, you only trouble my con- 
 science. You would have me follow your doings ; 
 I will first lose my life. I pray you begone." 
 After much more fruitless conversation, finding 
 her inflexible, the priests left her. 
 
 In one of her walks, which, as we have already 
 said, she was allowed to take about the town, she 
 entered a church, and seeing a Dutch sculptor, 
 busily engaged in fitting some new noses upon 
 some of the graven images which had been dis- 
 figured in king Edward's days, she told him that 
 he was madly engaged. In a high rage he called 
 her a harlot, "Nay," retorted she, "thy images 
 ^re harlots, and thou art their follower; fordoes 
 
294 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 not God saj, 'Ye go a whoring after strange 
 gods?' This conversation was immediately re- 
 ported to the bishop, who instantly sent for her, 
 and committed her to close confinement. 
 
 Daring her imprisoment, she was visited by a 
 number of respectable and pious persons. Among 
 the rest came a wealthy and pious lady, highly 
 accomplished, and strongly disposed towards the* 
 truth. To her Mrs. Prest recited the creed ; and 
 when she came to the words, '' he ascended into 
 heaven," she paused, and bade her visitor to seek 
 his body in heaven, not upon earth ; telling her 
 plainly that God dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands ; and that the sacrament was intended 
 for nothing else but to be a remembrance of the 
 sufferings and death of Christ ; whereas, as the 
 priests used it, it was but an idol, and far away 
 from any remembrance of Christ's body. The 
 lady, on returning to her husband, said that in all 
 her life she never heard a woman of such sim- 
 plicity and plainness of appearance '' talk so godly, 
 so perfectly, so sincerely, and so earnestly." Ad- 
 ding, " Insomuch, if God were not with her, she 
 could not speak such things, which I am not able 
 to answer, though I can read, and she cannot.' 
 
 At last, her persecutors having exhausted all 
 their powers of argument to shake her constancy, 
 but in vain, brought her before the court ; and rail- 
 ing at her as an Anabaptist, delivered her over to 
 the civil magistrate, who sent her from one prison 
 to another, and endeavored to persuade her to re- 
 cant; telling her, among other things, that she 
 
MRS. PREST. 295 
 
 was but an unlearned woman, and could not un- 
 derstand these high matters." ''I am nothing 
 more," was her answer, "Yet with my death I am 
 content to be a witness of Christ's death. I pray 
 you make no more delay with me ; my heart is 
 fixed, and I will never turn to their superstitious 
 doings." The bishop said that she was led by the 
 devil ; and in every possible form did they seek to 
 irritate and gain an advantage over her, but all 
 was entirely in vain. 
 
 The sentence was then read to her — that she 
 should be burnt in the flames till she was con- 
 sumed. As soon as she heard it, she lifted up her 
 eyes and her voice towards heaven, and said, " I 
 thank thee, my Lord and God. This day have I 
 found what I have long sought for." This was 
 followed by the general mocking and derision of 
 the whole court; but the constant martyr stood 
 unmoved and cheerful. The court again told her, 
 that if she would recant and turn from her errors, 
 her life should be spared. Her ready and decided 
 reply was, " l!^ay, that I will never do ; God forbid 
 that I should lose the life eternal for this carnal 
 and short life. I will never turn from my Hea- 
 venly husband to my earthly one ; from the fel- 
 lowship of angels to mortal children. If my hus- 
 band and children be faithful, then I am still 
 theirs. God is my father, my mother, my brother, 
 my sister, my friend most faithful." 
 
 She was then delivered to the sheriff*; and in 
 the midst of an immense crowd of spectators was 
 led to the place of execution, outside of the walls 
 
296 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 of the city of Exeter. Here again the Romish 
 priests assaulted her, but she refused to listen to 
 anything they wished to say, and begged them not 
 to disturb her any more. While being tied to the 
 stake, and while the flames were all around her, 
 she displayed a holy and cheerful courage. Her 
 last prayer was, " God be merciful to me, a sin- 
 ner." Thus did she die, exhibiting a most noble 
 example of faith and constancy, united with Chris- 
 tian simplicity and humility. Her holy Redeemer 
 was present while she glorified him in the fire of 
 martyrdom, and conveyed her immortal spirit to 
 his own throne, eternally to participate in his joy. 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH GAUNT. 
 
 The Rye-house Plot, as it was called, stands as- 
 sociated in English history with acts of atrocious 
 cruelty, perpetrated under color of the administra- 
 tion of justice. It was said to contemplate the as- 
 sassination of Charles II. ; but of this there is no 
 evidence. To adopt the words of the Right Hon- 
 orable Charles James Fox : — " That which is 
 most certain in this affair is, that the persons ac- 
 cused committed no overt act, indicating the 
 imagining of the king's death, even according to 
 the most strained construction of the statute of 
 Edward III. ; much less was any such act legally 
 proved against them. And the conspiracy to levy 
 war was not treason, except by a recent statute of 
 Charles II., the prosecutions upon which were 
 limited to a certain time, which, in these cases had 
 elapsed ; so that it is impossible not to assent to 
 the opinion . of those who have ever stigmatized 
 the condemnation and execution of Lord William 
 Russell as the most flagrant violation of law and 
 justice. The proceedings in Sidney's case were 
 still more grossly unjust. Thus Russell and Sid- 
 ney fell, two names that will, it is hoped, be for 
 ever dear to every patriotic English [and American] 
 heart. When their memory shall cease to be an 
 object of respect and veneration, it requires no 
 
 (297) 
 
298 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 spirit of prophecy to foretell that liberty will be 
 fast approaching to its final consummation/' 
 
 The halo of glory which rests on the names of 
 these eminent men has made less conspicuous 
 some who are still worthy of grateful remem- 
 brance. These were times — like some that pre- 
 ceded them — in which were persecutions of per- 
 sons of no ordinary worth. 
 
 " Who lived unknown, 
 
 Till persecution dragged them into fame, 
 And chased them up to heaven.'* 
 
 Such was Elizabeth Gaunt, a Baptist in humble 
 life, who was charged with harboring a man, with 
 his family, named Burton, suspected, of being con- 
 cerned in the Rye-house plot. That he was a vile 
 scoundrel, who assumed, for his own wicked pur- 
 poses, the cloak of ITonconformity, there is every 
 reason to believe ; of which indeed there is suf- 
 ficient proof in his becoming king's evidence 
 against the woman who afforded him shelter, and 
 who had twice saved his life. 
 
 The question is, had she incurred any guilt? 
 She might be innocent, though a multitude had 
 violated the existing laws. Of such plain facts, 
 however, her judge, — the infamous Jefferies — had 
 entirely lost sight, and he engrossed to himself 
 not merely the power of a tyrant-judge, but the 
 right of a succumbent and abject jury. He saw 
 that there was no proof that Elizabeth Gaunt 
 knew anything of Burton's being engaged in 
 the so-called conspiracy, or was even aware of 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH GAUNT. 299 
 
 his name being found in any proclamation. His 
 only proper course, therefore, was to tell this to 
 the jury, and to leave them to pronounce her ac- 
 quitted. But what was a proper course to him, — 
 a man of furious passions, exasperated by habitual 
 intemperance, — a man who rioted in cruelty, and 
 had a fiendish delight in pronouncing the sentence 
 of death? Though in the eye of the law that 
 woman was innocent, and though witnesses were 
 ready to attest her virtues, he forbade them to be 
 called, directed the jury to find her guilty, and 
 then consigned her to the agonies of the stake. 
 We will, however, listen to the statement given 
 of the whole affair, by bishop Burnet: — 
 
 "There was in London one Gaunt, a woman 
 that was an Anabaptist, who spent a great part of 
 her life in acts of charity, visiting the jails, and 
 looking after the poor, of what persuasion soever 
 they were. One of the rebels found her out, and 
 she harbored him in her house, and was looking 
 for an occasion of sending him out of the kingdom. 
 He went about in the night, and came to hear 
 what the king had said, [namely, that he would 
 sooner pardon the rebels than those who harbored 
 them.] So he, by an unheard of baseness, went 
 and delivered himself up, and accused her that had 
 harbored him. She was seized on and tried. 
 There was no witness to prove that she knew 
 the person she harbored was a rebel, except he 
 himself. Her maid witnessed only that he was 
 entertained at her house ; but though her crime 
 was that of harboring a traitor, and was proved 
 
300 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 only by this infamous witness, yet the jndge 
 charged the jury to bring her in guilty, pretending 
 that the maid was a second witness, though she 
 knew nothing of that which was the criminal 
 part. 
 '^She was condemned and burnt, as the law 
 directs in the case of women convicted of treason. 
 She died with a constancy even to cheerfulness, 
 that struck all who saw it. She said. Charity was 
 a part of her religion as well as faith ; this at worst 
 was feeding an enemy. So she hoped she had re- 
 ward with him for whose sake she did this service, 
 how unworthy soever the person was who made 
 so ill a return for it. She rejoiced that God had 
 honored her to be the first that suffered by fire in 
 this reign, and that her suffering was a martyrdom 
 for that religion which was all love. Penn, the 
 Quaker, told me that he saw her die. She laid 
 the straw about her for burning her speedily, and 
 behaved herself in such a manner that all the 
 spectators melted in tears. *' 
 
 She was executed, according to her sentence, at 
 Tyburn, near London, October 23, 1685, and left 
 a paper containing an account of the whole trans- 
 action, which she delivered into the hands of cap- 
 tain Bichardson, then keeper of BTewgate prison, in 
 which she had been confined. It cannot be unin- 
 tere>sting to the reader : — 
 
 "Not knowing whether I shall be suffered, or 
 able, because of weakenesses that are upon me, 
 through my hard and close imprisonment, to speak 
 at the place of execution, I have written these 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH GAUNT. 301 
 
 few lines to signify that I am reconciled to the 
 ways of my God towards me ; though it is in ways 
 I looked not for, and by terrible things, yet in 
 righteousness ; for having given me life, he ought 
 to have the disposing of it, when and where he 
 pleases to call for it. And I desire to offer up my 
 all to him, it being my reasonable service, and also 
 the first terms which Christ offers, that he who 
 will be his disciple must forsake all and follow 
 him. Therefore let none think hard, or be dis- 
 couraged at what hath happened unto me ; for he 
 hath done nothing without cause in all that he 
 hath done unto me ; he being holy in all his ways, 
 and righteous in all his works, and it is but my 
 lot in common with poor desolate Zion at this 
 day. 
 
 '^ Neither do I find in my heart the least regret 
 at anything I have done in the service of my Lord 
 and Master, Jesus Christ, in securing and succor- 
 ing any of his poor sufferers, that have showed 
 favor, as I thought, to his righteous cause ; which 
 cause, though it be now fallen and trampled on, 
 yet it may revive, and God may plead it at another 
 time more than ever he hath yet done, with all its 
 opposers and malicious haters. And therefore, let 
 all that love and fear him not omit the least duty 
 that comes to hand or lies before them, knowing 
 that now Christ hath need of them, and expects 
 they should serve him. And I desire to bless his 
 holy name that he hath made me useful in my 
 generation, to the comfort and relief of many 
 desolate ones ; that the blessing of many who were 
 26 
 
302 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 ready to perish hath come upon me, and I helped 
 to make the widow's heart leap for joy. 
 
 "And I bless his holy name that in all this, 
 together with what I was charged with, I can ap- 
 prove my heart to him, that I have done his will, 
 though it may cross man's. The Scriptures which 
 satisfy me are these : ' Hide the outcasts ; bewray 
 not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell 
 with thee : be thou a covert to them from the face 
 of the spoiler. Thou shouldst not have delivered 
 up those of his that did remain in the day of dis- 
 tress.' Isa. xvi. 3, 4 ; Obad. 12, 13, 14. But men 
 say you must give them up, or die for it. N'ow 
 whom to obey, judge ye. So that I have cause to 
 rejoice and be exceeding glad, in that I ' suffer for 
 righteousness' sake,' and that I am counted worthy 
 to suffer ' for well doing ;' and that God hath ac- 
 cepted any service from me, which hath been done 
 in sincerity, though mixed with manifold infirmi- 
 ties, which he hath been pleased for Christ's sake 
 to cover and forgive. 
 
 " And now as concerning my crime, as it is now 
 called ; alas, it was but a little one, and such as 
 might well become a prince to forgive. But he 
 that shows no mercy shall find none ; and I may 
 say of it in the language of Jonathan, ' I did but 
 taste a little honey, and lo, I must die for it' — I did 
 but relieve an unworthy, poor, distressed family, 
 and lo, I must die for it. Well, I desire in the 
 lamb-like nature of the gospel to forgive those 
 that are concerned ; and to say, ' Lord, lay it not 
 to their charge!' But I fear he will not; nay, I 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH GAUNT. 303 
 
 believe, when he comes to make inquisition for 
 blood, it will be found at the door of the furious 
 judge ; who, because I could not remember 
 things, through my dauntedness [confusion] at 
 Burton's wife and daughter's witness, and my ig- 
 norance, took advantage of it, and would not hear 
 me when I had called to mind that which I am 
 sure would have invalidated the evidence. And 
 though he granted something of the same kind to 
 another, he denied it to me. At that time my 
 blood will also be found at the door of the un- 
 righteous jury, who found me guilty on the single 
 oath of an outlawed man ; for there was none but 
 his oath about the money, who is no legal witness, 
 though he be pardoned, his outlawry not being re- 
 versed, also the law requiring two witnesses in 
 point of treason. As to my going with him to 
 the place mentioned, namely, the Hope, it was by 
 his own word before he could be outlawed, for it 
 was about two months after his absconding. So 
 that though he was in a proclamation, yet not for 
 high treason, as I am informed ; so that I am 
 clearly murdered. And also bloody Mr. Atter- 
 bury, who hath so insatiably hunted after my life, 
 though it is no profit to him, yet through the ill 
 will he bears me, left no stone unturned, as I have 
 ground to believe, till he brought it to this, and 
 showed favor to Burton, who ought to have died for 
 his own fault, and not to have bought his own life 
 with mine. Captain Richardson, who is cruel and 
 83vere to all under my circumsctances, did, at that 
 time, without any mercy or pity, hasten my sen- 
 
804 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 tence, and held up my hand that it might be 
 given. All which, together with the great one 
 of all J [James 11., who had just come to the 
 throne, carrying on his brother's proceedings,] 
 by whose power all these and multitudes more 
 of cruelties are done, I do heartily and freely 
 forgive as against me ; but as it is done in an 
 implacable mind against the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and his righteous cause and followers, I leave it 
 to Him who is the avenger of all such wrong, 
 and 'who will tread upon princes as upon mor- 
 tar, and be terrible to the kings of the earth.' 
 
 " Know this also, that though you are seemingly 
 fixed, and because of the power in your hands are 
 weighing out your violence, and dealing with a 
 spiteful mind, because of the old and new hatred, 
 by impoverishing and every way distressing those 
 you have got under you ; yet unless you can secure 
 Jesus Christ, and also his holy angels, you shall 
 never do your business, nor shall your hand ac- 
 complish your enterprize. He will be upon you 
 ere you are aware ; and therefore that you would 
 be wise, instructed, and learn, is the desire of her 
 that finds no mercy from you ! 
 
 ''Elizabeth Gaunt. 
 
 " P. S. Such as it is, you have from the hand of 
 her who hath done as she could, and is sorry that 
 she can do no better ; hopes you will pity, and 
 consider, and cover weaknesses and shortness, and 
 anything that is wanting; and begs that none 
 may be weakened or stumble by my lowness of 
 spirit ; for God's design is to humble and abase. 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH GAUNT. 805 
 
 that he alone may be exalted in that day. And I 
 hope he may appear in a needful time and hour, 
 and it may be he will reserve the best wine till the 
 last, as he hath done for some before me. N^one 
 goeth a warfare at his own charges, and the Spirit 
 blows only where and when it listeth ; and it 
 becomes me who have so often grieved it and 
 quenched it, to wait for and upon his motions, 
 and not to murmur; but I may mourn, because 
 through the want of it I honor not my God nor 
 his blessed cause, which I have so long loved and 
 delighted to serve ; and repent of nothing but that 
 I have served it and him no better." 
 
 In an anonymous work, published at the time, 
 entitled " A Display of Tyranny^'" there are some 
 remarks upon the trial of this truly worthy wo- 
 man, which are highly creditable to her character. 
 "Were my pen," says the author, " qualified to re- 
 present the due character of this excellent woman, 
 it would be readily granted that she stood most de- 
 servedly entitled to an eternal monument of honor 
 in the hearts of all sincere lovers of the reformed 
 religion. All true Christians, though in some 
 things differing in persuasion from her, found in 
 her a universal charity and sincere friendship, as ' 
 is well known to many here, and also to a multi- 
 tude of the Scotch nation, ministers and others, 
 who for conscience sake' were thrust into exile 
 from prelatic rage. These found in her a most 
 refreshing refuge. She dedicated herself with un- 
 wearied industry to provide for their supply and 
 support, and therein I do incline to think she out- 
 26* 
 
S06 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 stripped every individual, if not the whole body jf 
 Protestants in this city. Hereby she became ex- 
 posed to the implacable fury of the papists, and 
 those blind tools who co-operated to promote their 
 accursed designs ; and so there appeared little dif- 
 ficulty to procure a jury, as there were well-pre- 
 pared judges, to make her a sacrifice as a traitor 
 to " holy church." 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 In closing a volume, the interest of wHeli has, 
 to its writer, increased with the increase of his 
 labor in producing it, it cannot be improper to 
 quote the language of the eloquent Robert Hall. 
 Thus does he write : — 
 
 " The example of these holy persons should be 
 a reproof to the lukewarmness of many professing 
 Christians. Can we suppose that Christianity 
 was, in primitive times, in the same low state as 
 at present ? Were these martyrs to return again 
 and see the general state of religion, — the practice 
 of some in attending the theatre, where the name 
 of God and the sanctity of religion are sported 
 with — were they to see the rapacity of the rich, or 
 the venom of party spirit which prevails, they 
 would inquire, ' Where are the traces of martyr- 
 dom ? Are these the successors of those who be- 
 lieved the world must be renounced, and that the 
 kingdom of heaven must be taken with violence ? 
 You reason upon the lawfulness of amusements 
 until you retain everything but your religion ; the^ 
 astonished the world by their sufferings, you by 
 the portentous magnitude of your vices; the^ 
 sought the favor of Divine Providence, and took 
 nothing by violence but the kingdom of heaven ; 
 you let go immortality to secure wealth, and leave 
 large legacies to your children or friends, at the 
 
 (307) 
 
308 BAPTIST MARTYRS. 
 
 expense of lifting up your eyes in torment in a 
 future world/ 
 
 " Would not these be the sentiments of primi- 
 tive Christians? What remains, then, but that 
 we should examine our steps ? Though we do not 
 reach so high as they did, we may reach even 
 higher. Martyrdom may be considered as the ex- 
 pression of those principles, which are, in their 
 spirit, obligatory and common to all Christians. 
 If we are under the influence of the world, that 
 spirit will lead us to renounce Christianity, if it 
 be not done already; and if we have not re- 
 nounced the love of the world, it is evident that 
 our feet will never stand in that blessed place 
 where they sing the song of Moses and the 
 Lamb. 
 
 " Let us not be slothful, but followers of them, 
 who, through faith and patience, are now inherit- 
 ing the promises. Let us kindle our dying lamps 
 at these heavenly fires. Jesus Christ, the great 
 proto-martyr, says, ^If any one will be my dis- 
 ciple, let him come after me.' As we expect 
 eternal happiness, let us seek it in this way, for 
 He has led the path." 
 
 Let us close our volume by borrowing from an 
 old writer a 
 
 "CLUSTER OF SIMILES. 
 
 ** God's children are like Stars, that look most bright 
 When foes pursue them through the darkest night; 
 Like Torches beat, they more resplendent shine ; 
 Like Grapes when pressed, they yield luxui-iant wine ; 
 
CONCLUSION. 809 
 
 Like Spices pounded, are to smell most sweet ; 
 Like Trees when shook, that wave but not retreat ; 
 Like Vines, that for the bleeding better grow ; 
 Like Gold, that burning makes the brighter show ; 
 Like Glow-worms, that shine best in dark attire ; 
 Like Cedar-leaves, whose odors gain by fire ; 
 Like the Palm-tree, whose humors force removes ; 
 Like Camomile, which treading on improves; 
 Like everything that can withstand the test. 
 Are those God loves, and who love God the best.*' 
 
 THE END. 
 
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