sion to many to say, that "grace had left in him no resentments of nature." After a short pause, viewing the people and finding them attentive to what he should say, he stepped to one side of the scaffold, and, with a graceful air and intelligible voice, pronounced his last speech; in which, first, he protested, in the presence of the eternal God and upon his salvation, that he was entirely innocent of the treason laid to his charge then, giving thanks to the Divine Majesty for the long time be had given him to prepare for death, he declared that, having well considered what could be the original cause of his having been so unjustly accused and condemned to death, he was convinced that it was no other than his religion; of which, he said, he had no reason to be ashamed, for that it taught nothing but the right worship of God and due subordina tion to the king and the temporal laws of the kingdom. That he most firmly believed all the articles that the Catholic church believes and teaches, as most consonant to the word of God; and that, with the same Catholic church, from his heart be detested all king-killing doctrine; that his principles were entirely loyal; and as for indulgences, dispensations, or pardons, pretended by the adversaries of the church to be given to murder, rebel, lie, forswear, or commit any other crime whatsoever, he professed, in the presence of God, and that without any equi vocation or mental reservation whatsoever, that he was never taught any such thing, nor believed or practised any such thing. That if he had been really guilty of any of those crimes of which he was accused, he should have been worse than a fool and guilty of self-murder into the bargain, if he had not acknowledged his guilt, since by so doing he might have saved his life: " but had I a thousand lives, (said he) I would lose them all rather than falsely accuse either myself or any other whatsoever." Then again declaring his abhorrence of all treason and murder, and, that to his knowledge, he had never spoke to or seen Oates or Tuberville till his trial, or ever spoke with Dugdale about any treasonable matters, (whom nevertheless he heartily forgave, and all others that had any hand in his death,) he concluded his speech as follows:-" I shall end with my hearty prayers for the happiness of his majesty, that he may enjoy all happinesss in this world and in the world to come, and govern his people according to the laws of God, and that the people may be sensible what a blessing God has so miraculously given them, and obey him as they ought. I ask pardon, with a prostrate heart, of Almighty God for all the great offences I have committed against the Divine Majesty; and hope, through the merits and passion of Christ Jesus, to obtain everlasting happiness; into whose hands I commit my spirit, asking pardon of any person that I have done any wrong to, &c. I beseech God not to revenge my innocent blood upon the nation, or on those that were the cause of it, with my last breath; I do, with my last breath, truly assert my innocence, and hope the omnipotent all-seing just God will deal with me accordingly,"

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His speech being ended; he delivered several written copies of it to the sheriffs, &c. Then he returned to the middle of the scaffold, where, encompassed by his Catholic friends, he knelt down and, reverently making the sign of the cross, pronounced aloud, with exceeding devo tion, an excellent prayer adapted to his present circumstances, to which he joined several pious ejaculations, wherein, with singular compunction

and abundance of tears, he implored the divine mercy and pardon for his sins past; he recommend his soul to his dear Redeemer, Jesus Christ; he blessed his holy name, and offered his life to him a willing sacrifice of gratitude, piety, and love. Remaining still on his knees, he again protested his innocence with all the asseverations a dying Christian is capable of making. Then, rising up, he a second time saluted the people, telling them they had as good and gracious a king as ever reigned; and earnestly exhorting them to be faithful and constant in their allegiance to him; praying to God earnestly to bless his majesty, and preserve him from his enemies; to bless the nation, to bless and be with all them there present, especially all loyal subjects; declaring again his innocence; desiring the prayers of all good Christians; begging God's mercy and pardon for his sins; asking forgiveness for all, and beseeching the divine goodness not to revenge his innocent blood upon the whole kingdom; no not upon those by whose perjuries he was brought thither; to whom he wished from his heart no other hurt than that they should repent and tell truth.

Most of the auditors seemed to be touched with a sensible compassion for him; some, as he spoke, put off their hats and bowed to him, in sign that they agreed to what he said; others, by distinct acclamations, answered, we believe you, my lord; God bless you, my lord," &c. Afterwards he applied himself to his friends about him, whom he lovingly embraced, and, with a pleasant voice and cheerful aspect, took his last leave of them for this world. Then, being made ready, he knelt down before the block, and making the sign of the cross, recommended himself with great devotion to the divine mercy: he kissed the block, and used several devout ejaculations, such as, "sweet Jesus, receive my soul: into thy hands, O, Lord, I commend my spirit," &c. He then laid his head down upon the block, continuing still in prayer and expecting the stroke of death with wonderful courage and constancy, not shewing the least sign of fear, or seeming in the least to quake or tremble. After he had laid thus a good space, finding that the headsman delayed the execution of his office, he once more raised himself upon his knees, and, with a grave and serene aspect, asked why they stayed? It was answered; for a sign. "What sign will you give, sir?" He answered, "None at at all; take your own time; God's will be done; I am ready." The headsman said, "I hope you forgive me," he answered, "I do." Then blessing himself with the sign of the cross, he reposed his head upon the block, which, with one blow, was severed from his body. He was interred privately in the Tower. He lived 68 years, and suffered on the feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury, December 29, 1680.

We have now brought the Examination of For's Martyrs and Confessors, and the Biography of the Catholic Missionary Priests to a close; but we have not yet concluded the account of the sufferings endured by the Catholics from Protestant persecution. Before, however, we give any further details, it may be necessary to remark that the statements made by John Fox are unsupported by any authority whatever, and rest only on his bare assertion. How far these unsupported assertions are entitled to credit, may best be learned by the testimony of Protestant authorities. Anthony Wood, the celebrated historian of Oxford, assures us, that Fox committed many errors by trusting to the relations of poor simple people, and in making martyrs of men who were living after the appearance of the first edition of his work, but subsequently omitted.-(Athen. Oxon.) This historian relates a remarkable story, in proof of Fox's inaccuracy, of one Griniwood, who was actually in the church, when the clergyman was describing, on the authority of Fox's Acts and Monuments, (page 2100) the circumstances of his supposed miserable and preternatural death; for which Grimwood brought an action against the minister for defamation. Others, it appears, he mentioned twice over, (see Rhedon, February 10 and December 19) in order to multiply the number of his victims. Whereas, the account we have given of the Missionary Priests has been abridged from Dr. Challoner's Memoirs, who quotes his authorities, which consist of the records of the various colleges from whence the Missionaries were sent to execute their functions, from works printed and circulated immediately after the executions, and from the histories of the most celebrated authors, namely, the learned Diego de Yepez, bishop of Tarrasona, and father Ribadaneira, in Spanish; Polinus, in Italian; father Lewis de Granada, in his Catechism; cardinal Baronius, Dr. Bridgwater, and Rassius, who have employed their pens in recording the deeds of men, who, despising the world and braving the tortures of the enemies of truth, laid down their lives for that same cause for which the holy apostles and primitive martyrs suffered death to uphold and fructify with their blood. In Fox's Protestant calendar we be hold a few men having pretensions to learning, yet immoral in character and unsteady in principle; but the greater mass consisting of illiterate artisans and spinsters, imbued with the most discordant and fanatical notions; while, in the Catholic ranks, we have invariably men of the most unblemished morals, and, for the most part, scholars of the highest reputation, adhering to the same faith that was planted by the apostles, and condemned for no other crime than strictly adhering to that faith. We will also further remark, that, from the first planting of the Catholic faith in England to the reign of king Henry the fourth, embracing a period of more than eight hundred years, there did not exist a sta

tute law in England for the punishment of heresy; the writ de hæretico comburendo was not enacted till tumult and rebellion had taken place under the garb of amending religion, and the whole state of society in the kingdom had been threatened with dissolution, as the preamble of the act sets forth, that the persons against whom it was passed did excite and stir up sedition and rebellion, and make great strife and division among the people. The object, therefore, of this law, against which such an outcry has been raised by Protestants, was not to infringe on the right of conscience-was not to enforce a belief in the Catholic religion-but to prevent the sowing of strife and division among the people, and preserving the peace of society; whereas the laws which have been passed in various reigns, since the establishment of Protestantism in England and Ireland, have invariably been levelled at the free exercise of conscience, and the punishments have been inflicted, not for any breach against civil society or any crime against the state, but merely for refusing to conform to the religious creed established by the parliament, and principally for believing in that faith which was handed down to us by the apostles and their successors; which had been the religion of England for more than ONE THOUSAND YEARS before Henry the eighth resisted the spiritual authority of the pope, and subverted, the civil constitution of the realm-a religion, under which the people of England were renowned for the freedom and plenty and happiness they enjoyed; and while it continued to be the religion of the land, observe, there were neither paupers, nor church and poor rates, nor standing armies, nor sinecure places and pensions, nor national debts and Jew loan jobbers,

The executions which occurred in Mary's reign are much to be deplored; but they must be attributed to the turbulence and seditious spirit of the pretended evangelical reformers, and not to a supposed mercenary influence of the Catholic religion over men in power-that religion, as we have before said, which had been the occasion of such great happiness and liberty to our forefathers, and to which we are now indebted for every national institution that is worthy of being esteemed. When Mary came to the crown, she promised, as we have shewn in the second volume of this work, liberty of conscience to all her subjects, and this promise she faithfully kept, till her life was endangered by the restless and seditious temper of her Protestant subjects; and when she had recourse to severe measures, by the advice of her council, she did not resort to new laws to make a trap for conscience, but she relied on that law which had existed, with the consent of the people, nearly one hundred and fifty years. Mary had restored the ancient religion of the country, and with it the privileges of freedom enjoyed by the people: her wish was to reinstate the kingdom in its former glory and renown; but in this desire she was thwarted by the base wretches who had obtained the spoils of the church and the poor in the two preceding reigns, and the hungry apostates who had broken their religious professions and embraced a lewd life, and therefore had no other means to gain subsist ence than by fanning the flames of faction and sedition. If certain doctrinal points of religion formed part of the examination of the unhappy sufferers in Mary's reign, as Fox alleges, it must still be borne in remembrance that they were punished under an old law enacted to prevent sedition and rebellion, and to preserve the people from strife and division.

But was this the case with her successor, the sanguinary Elizabeth, so much extolled by interested Protestant writers? Most certainly not. It will be seen by the sketches we have given of the missionary priests who suffered in her reign, that they were all condemned by NEW LAWS passed by her slavish parliaments, for the purpose of entrapping conscience, by making it treason to follow and practise the ancient religion of the country, and that religion too which SHE herself most solemnly SWORE, at her coronation, she would uphold and maintain. The missionary priests had nothing more to do than to violate their conscience, and they immediately became innocent men!!! She commenced her reign by packing the parliament, and depriving the Catholic bishops of their sees. She repealed the laws in favour of the ancient religion, and made new ones to compel all persons to conform to that mode of worship which she dictated. Plots were fabricated and laid to the charge of the Catholics, to give a colour to the confiscation of their estates and persecution of their persons. Commissioners were sent prowling through the kingdom to establish an INQUISITION in every parish, and who were put above the authority of parliament; and to such a degree of ty ranny and injustice did these inquisitors perform their office, that hundreds of Catholics fled the kingdom through fear and terror, whilst she encouraged the subjects of neighbouring states to rebel against the lawful authorities. But when this remorseless queen and her council were delivered from their apprehensions of an invasion by the destruction of the Spanish armada, they immediately raised a greater persecution than ever against the English Catholics, though noways concerned in the designed invasion. Dudley, earl of Leicester, the queen's great favourite, and the capital enemy of the Catholics, is supposed to have been the chief promoter of the cruelties exercised against them. By his instigation, a new proclamation was published against the papists, and six new gal lowses were erected in and about London for the purpose of despatching then. Of this Leicester, Dr. Heylin, the Protestant historian, thus speaks, in his History of the Reformation:-"He was a man so unap peasable in his malice, and insatiable in his lusts; so sacrilegious in his rapines; so false in promises, and treacherous in point of trust; and, finally, so destructive of the rights and properties of particular persons, that his little finger lay far heavier on the subjects, than the loins of all the favourites of the two last kings." Such is the character given by a Protestant divine of the high-priest of the founder of the church of England by law established, who had the disposing of all offices in court and state, and of all preferments in the church: need we wonder that such fruits have been produced by the handiwork, and that the people of this country have been gradually sinking under clerical exactions and boroughmongering oppressions into a state of unparalleled slavery, misery and poverty? We have, in the preceding pages, shewn how the Catholics have been put to death by the new laws of Elizabeth and her sucdessors, and we now close our labours by giving a summary of other sufferings borne by them, selected from the Memoirs of Dr. Challoner.