to bring him into the pale of their Church. Those examinations, which were very long and learned, were all written down by Mr. Philpot, and a stronger proof of the imbecility of the Catholic doctors cannot to an unbiassed mind be exhibited.

December 16th, in the consistory of St. Paul's, bishop Bonner proceeded to pass the awful sentence upon him, after he and the other bishops had urged him by every inducement to recant. He was afterward conducted to Newgate, where the avaricious Catholic keeper loaded him with heavy irons, which, by the humanity of Mr Macham, were ordered to be taken off.

December 17th, Mr. Philpot received intimation that he was to die next day; and the next morning, about eight o'clock, he joyfully met the sheriffs, who were to attend him to the place of execution. Upon entering Smithfield, the ground was so muddy, that two officers offered to carry him to the stake; but he replied, "Would you make me a pope? I am content to finish my journey on foot." Arrived at the stake, he said, "Shah I disdain to suffer at the stake, when my Redeemer did not refuse to suffer the most vile death upon the cross for me?" He then meekly recited the 106th, 107th, and 108th psalms, and when he had finished his prayers, was bound to the post, and fire applied to the pile. On December 18th, 1555, perished this illustrious martyr, reverenced by man, and glorified in heaven! His letters, arising out of the cause for which he suffered, are elegant, numerous, and elaborate.

37. MRS. CICELY ORMES.

THIS young martyr, aged twenty-two, was the wife of Mr. Edmund Ormes, worsted weaver of St. Lawrence, Norwich. September 23, 1557, she was brought to the stake, at eight o'clock in the morning. After declaring her faith to the people, she laid her hand on the stake, and said, "Welcome, thou cross of Christ." Her hand was sooted in doing this, (for it was the same stake at which Miller and Cooper were burnt,) and she at first wiped it; but directly after again welcomed and embraced it as the "sweet cross of Christ." After the tormentors had kindled the fire, she said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour." Then crossing her hands upon her breast, and looking upwards with the utmost serenity, she stood the fiery furnace. Her hands continued gradually to rise, till the sinews were dried, and then they fell. She uttered no sigh of pain, but yielded her life, a willing sacrifice for the cause of truth.

38. MR. THOMAS HUDSON.

THOMAS HUDSON, of Aylesbury, Norfolk, was a glover, an industrious man, aged thirty. Disliking the superstitious ceremonies introduced by queen Mary, he absented himself from his church and home, and wandered about from place to place, till at length, anxious to see his children, he returned to the bosom of his afflicted family. The better to secure his person from the officers, he and his wife constructed a hollow place among a quantity of fagots, to which, for greater security, he retired. Here he remained six months, waited upon by

his wife with the utmost affection, while he employed his time in reading and prayer. Mr. Berry, the vicar of the town, anxious for the sacrifice of the pious man, now came to his wife, and threatened her with the fate designed for her husband, if she did not disclose the place of his retreat.

His next-door neighbour, Crouch, laid an information against him, and April 22, 1558, he was taken. When the constables entered, he said, "Welcome, friends, welcome! Now mine hour is come; for you are they who shall lead me to life in Christ. I thank God for it, and the Lord strengthen me for his mercy's sake."

The spot of execution was called Lollard's pit, without Bishopsgate, at Norwich. After joining together in humble petition to the throne of grace, they arose, went to the stake, and were encircled with their chains. To the great surprise of the spectators, Hudson slipped from under his chain, and came forward. A great opinion prevailed that he was about to recant; others thought that he wanted further time. In the meantime, his companions at the stake urged every promise and exhortation to support him. The hopes of the enemies of the cross, however, were disappointed: the good man, far from fearing the smallest personal terror at the approaching pangs of death, was only alarmed, that his Saviour's face seemed to be hidden from him. Falling upon his knees, his spirit wrestled with God, and God verified the words of his Son, "Ask, and it shall be given." The martyr rose in an ecstasy of joy, and exclaimed, "Now, I thank God, I am strong, and care not what man can do to me!" With an unruffled countenance he replaced himself under the chain, joined his fellowsufferers, and with them suffered death, to the comfort of the godly, and the confusion of antichrist.

39. LORD VISCOUNT WINCESLAUS.

age

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THIS venerable nobleman, who had attained the seventy years, was equally respectable for learning, piety, and hospitality. His temper was so remarkably patient, that when his house was broken open, his property seized, and his estates confiscated, he only said, with great composure, "The Lord gave, and the Lord. hath taken away." Being asked why he could engage in so dangerous a cause, he replied, "I acted strictly according to the dictates of my conscience. I am now full of years, and wish to lay down life, that I may not be a witness of the further evils which are to attend my country. You have long thirsted for my blood; take it, for God will be my avenger." Then approaching the block, he stroked his long gray beard, and said, "Venerable hairs, the greater honour now attends ye-a crown of martyrdom is your portion." Then laying down his head, it was severed from his body at one stroke, and placed upon a pole in a conspicuous part of the city.

40. LORD HARANT.

LORD HARANT was a man of good sense, great piety, and much experience gained by travel-as he had visited the principal places in Europe, Asia and Africa. Hence he was free from national prejudices, and had collected much knowledge.

When he came upon the scaffold, he said, “I have travelled through many countries, and traversed various barbarous nations, yet never found so much cruelty as at home. I have escaped innumerable perils both by sea and land, and surmounted inconceivable difficulties,

to suffer innocently in my native place. My blood is likewise sought by those for whom I, and my forefathers, have hazarded our lives and estates; but, Almighty God, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He then went to the block, kneeled down, and exclaimed with great energy, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; in thee have I always trusted; receive me, therefore, my blessed Redeemer." The fatal stroke was then given, and a period put to the temporary pains of this life.

41. SIR GASPER KAPLITZ.

THIS gentleman was eighty-six years of age. When he came to the place of execution, he addressed the principal officer thus:-"Behold a miserable ancient man, who hath often entreated God to take him out of this wicked world, but could not till now obtain his desire; for God reserved me till these years to be a spectacle to the world, and a sacrifice to himself: therefore God's will be done." One of the officers told him, that in consideration of his great age, if he would only ask pardon he would immediately receive it. “Ask pardon!" exclaimed he, "I will ask pardon of God, whom I have frequently offended; but not of the emperor, to whom I never gave any offence: should I sue for pardon, it might be justly suspected I had committed some crime for which I deserved this condemnation. No, no; as I die innocent, and with a clear conscience, I would not be separated from this noble company of martyrs:" so saying, he cheerfully resigned his neck to the block.