Hethersett

fine

had the comfort of a fine opportunity offered him, to add two Martyrs more to his Acts and Monuments.The next Dissenting Protestant Martyr mentioned by our Author, is

Matthew Hammond,

"A poor plow-wright at Featherset, within three miles of Norwich. He was condemned for an heretick in the Bishop's Consistory on the fourteenth of April, and thereupon being delivered to the sheriff of the city, he was burnt in the Castle ditch on the twentieth of May, 1579. As a preparative to which punishment, his ears had been cut off on the thirteenth of that month, for base and slanderous words against the Queen and Council."- [Hist, Presb. L. vii. p. 280, 28] To this poor plow-wright, other historians add Francis Ket, burnt also at Norwich for heresy; and John Lewis, burnt at the same place, and for the same crime.-See Mr. Collier's Eccl. Hist. Vol. II. B. vi, p. 581, 582; and Mr. Fuller's Church Hist. B. ix. p. 169.

Elias Thacker and John Copping, (two Brownists.) "The first was hanged at Bury (St. Edmund's) on the fourth of June, and the latter on the sixth of the same month. Their crime was, for spreading certain books, seditiously penned by Robert Brown, against the Book of Common Prayer, established by the laws of this realm; as many of their books as could be found being burnt before them."-To this account Mr. Collier is pleased to add, that "Many of his [Brown's] followers continued unreclaimed, and suffered death for their mispersuasion."

Now, if so many irreclaimable Brownists suffered upon this occasion, perhaps the curious may enquire, 'What 'became of Brown himself, the famous author of a new * sect?'-Be it known then, that this new gospeller saved his neck from the halter by a lucky circumstance; and that was, "His being a near kinsman by his mother to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh," as D. Heylin informs us.

But if this short answer should not prove satisfactory to our reader, we shall give him a more explicit account of this noted man and his gospel, from the Doctor's History of the Presbyterians.

"For the better clearing up of which matter, we must fetch the story of this Brown a little higher, and carry it a little lower down than this present year (1582.) This Ro bert Brown was born at Tolethorp, in the county of Rutland, the grand-child of Francis Brown, Esq. privileged

in the 18th year of K. Henry VIII. to wear his cap in the presence of the King himself, or any other lords, spiritual or temporal, in the land, and not to put it off at any time, but only for his own ease and pleasure. He was bred some time in Corpus Christi College (commonly called Bennet College) in the University of Cambridge, where though he was not known to take any degree, yet he would many times venture into the pulpit. It was observed, that in his preaching he was very vehement. He joined himself to those with whom the government of the Church of England passed for antichristian; her sacraments affirmed to be dofiled with superstition; her liturgy reproached for popish, and in some parts heathenish; and finally, her ordinations to be no better than those of Baal's priests amongst the Jews. Not able to abide longer in a church so impure and filthy, he puts himself over into Zealand, and joins with Cartwright's new church in the city of Middleborough. But finding there some remainders of the old impiety, he resolves to constitute a new church of his own projectment, which should have nothing in it but what was pure and holy. The draught whereof he comprehended in a book which he printed at Middleborough, an. 1582, entitled, A Treatise of Reformation. And having sent as many of them into England as might serve his turn, he followed after in pursuit of his new plantation. The Dutch had then a church at Norwich. Amongst them he begins; and having gotten some authority amongst the Dutch, whose language he had learned when he lived in Middleborough, he began to practise upon the English.-Of each nation he began to gather churches to himself, of the last especially; inculcating nothing more to his simple auditors, than that the church of England had so much of Rome, that there was no place left for Christ, or his gospel. But more particularly he inveighed against the government of the Bishops, the ordination of ministers, the offices, rites, and ceremonies of the public Liturgy. Hereupon followed a defection from the church (of England) itself; not as before, amongst the Presbyterians, from some offices in it. Brown's followers (which from him took the name of Brownists) refusing obstinately to join with any congregation. --This was the first gathering of churches which I find in England; and for the justifying whereof, he caused his books to be dispersed in most parts of the realm. [And for the dispersing whereof Thacker and Copping suffered the law, as we have already taken notice.] But to put an end to our story: Brown at last, tho' not till he had passed thro'

two and thirty prisons, as he used to brag, died in Northampton Jail."-Hist. Presb. L. VII. p. 295, 296, 297.

Thus one Reformation as naturally begets another, as cold engenders hail. Brown thought himself and his doctrine pure enough to reform, redress, correct, and amend, not only the church of England, but the very Puritans themselves. And as for the gathering of the churches, it is a mistake, to suppose that Brown was the first in that bu siness. He only followed the footsteps of those that had gathered before him. At present, however, nothing seems to be more in vogue than the gathering of new churches. Go where you will, you are sure to meet with some of these dexterous gatherers of contributions as well as proselytes. And of these gathering predicants, it is to be expected we shall never see an end, as long as the godliness they preach up is productive of gain.

Hacket, Coppinger, and Arthington.

Coppinger is styled by D. Heylin, "A gentleman of a very good family," and Hacket "An inconsiderable fellow, both for parts and fortune."But what his parts had denied him, was abundantly supplied from the spirit of enthusiasm, with which he was heated to a prodigious degree, if all be true that our Historian relates of him for he tells us, that Hacket took it into his head to pass for "The very angel which should come before the day of judgment, with his fan in the one hand, and his shepherd's crook in the other, to distinguish the sheep from the goats, to tread down Satan, and ruin the kingdom of Antichrist. He ordains Coppinger to be his prophet of mercy, and Arthington to be his prophet of justice. Their commission was to proclaim Hacket the only supreme monarch of the world, which they did in Cheapside, London." Soon after this mad prank, the angel and his pseudo-prophets are seized and imprisoned. "Hacket is afterwards arraigned, July 26, and two days after drawn to his execution, which was to be done upon him in that part of Cheapside in which his two prophets had proclaimed him, and where accordingly he was turned off the ladder, and presently cut down, ript up, and quartered, according to the law in that behalf.Coppinger, by a wilful abstinence, starved himself in prison within a few days after. But Arthington lived to see his error, and was pardoned upon his repentance.”—Hist. Presb. L. IX. p. 307, 308, 309.

Barrow and Greenwood.

"It was in the month of November, 1587, that Henry Barrow, Gentleman, and John Greenwood, Clerk, were publickly convened before the High Commissioners, for holding and dispersing many schismatical opinions and seditious doctrines. On the 21 of March they were indicted, and being found guilty, had sentence of death pronounced upon them March 23. They were both hanged at Tyburn on the 6th of April.”—Hist. Presb. L. IX. p. 322, 323, 324, 325.

Penry.

"In May next following Penry is brought upon his trial. He was apprehended by the Vicar of Stepney, committed prisoner, condemned, and executed not long after, at S. Thomas of Waterings; but executed with a very thin company attending him, for fear the fellow might have raised some tumult, either in going to the gallows, or upon the ladder. But what he could not do when he was alive, was put into a way of being effected when the hangman had done his office, by publishing one of his seditious pamphlets, intitled, The History of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, applied to the Prelacy and Ministry of the Church of England. By Mr. John Penry, a Martyr of Jesus Christ."

After this recital of the title-page, D. Heylin proceeds to give us some account of the Author, from the Preface to the pamphlet in question; part of which I shall beg leave to detail.

"We are told in the Preface of it," says our Historian, "That Mr. John Penry was a godly man, learned, zealous, and of a most christian carriage and courage. That he was born and bred in the mountains of Wales, and with all godly care and labour endeavoured to have the gospel preached amongst his countrymen, whose case he greatly seemed to pity, wanting all the ordinary means for salvation. That being used by God for a special instrument of the manifestation of his truth, he was hardly intreated, imprisoned, condemned, and executed, and so suffered martyrdom for the name of Christ.......He was judged on the 25th of the 5th month, and executed at S. Thomas of Wa terings, near London, on the 29th of the same, in the year of our God 1593.'- "And in the Postscript to the same he concludes it thus, viz. That he was apprehended, adjudged, and executed for writing for the truth of Christ,

whatsoever other things were pretended against him.'"Hist. Presb. L. IX. p. 325, 326.

Thus Q. Elizabeth made many Martyrs, as they were generally called (and esteemed as such) by the opposite party and her Supremacy, like a two-edged sword,” (and very like her father's) drew blood from dissenting Protestants as well as Catholics.

§ 17. Mr. Collier's Account of a sanguinary Paper presented to Q. Elizabeth by the House of Commons, wherein she is petitioned to dispatch the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots.

BUT notwithstanding these severe checks, the Puritans (thro' the powerful patronage of the great Earl of Leicester, and some others of their friends at court) obtained admittance into the House of Commons; where (considering their well-known affection for crowned heads) it is not improbable but they might, perhaps, have had a hand in that sanguinary paper (as my Author styles it) or Petition, which was presented with an intention to prevail upon the hesitating Elizabeth to accelerate the execution of the unfortunate Queen of Scots, whose guilt they pretended to prove from the plain word of God. Mr. Collier has left us a specimen of their fanatical arguments upon this melancholy subject, with which, and his answers to them, we beg leave, for a while, to entertain our reader.

"The House of Commons," says our historian, "came to a resolution, that the speedy trial of the Queen of Scots for high treason was necessary for the safety and preservation of the Queen's person. And to prevail with her to second this extraordinary motion, a paper was put into her hands upon this argument.-There is something in the paper which supposes it to be written, or suggested at least, by some Bishop. But whoever was the author, the reasoning is weak and sanguinary. To give the reader a part of the substance of it.

"The text of S. Paul to the Romans [Rom. xiii.] is alledged to shew that the magistrate is God's minister for the punishment of evil-doers. But what then? This pu

+ Cellier's Eccl. Hist. Vol. II, B. vi. p. 536.