of these publications, in which they expressed themselves with considerable freedom against the bishops, and the established church. Therefore, March 21, 1592, they, together with Mr. Saxio Bellot, gent., Daniel Studley, girdler, and Robert Bowle, fishmonger, were indicted at the Old Bailey, upon the statute of 23 Eliz. “For writing and publishing sundry seditious books and pamphlets, tending to the slander of the queen and government;" when, in fact, they had written and published only against the church. Upon their trial, they behaved with great constancy and resolution, shewing no token of recognition, nor prayer for mercy. They protested their inviolable loyalty to the queen, and obedience to her government: that they never wrote, nor so much as ever intended to write, any thing against her highness, but only against the bishops and the established church; which was, indeed, sufficiently manifest. The jury, however, savouring too much of the spirit of their judges, brought them all in guilty.* Bellot, with tears, desired a conference, and confessed with sorrow what he had done; and Studley and Bowle being looked upon as accessaries only, though they continued firm, declaring their unshaken loyalty to the queen, and refusing to ask for mercy, were reprieved, and sent back to prison. Studley, after four years' imprisonment, was banished from the country, and Bellot and Bowle, not long after, died in Newgate. In the mean time, Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Barrow were reserved for public examples. Accordingly, sentence of death was passed upon them March 23d, when several divines were appointed to persuade them to recant, But remaining steadfast, they were carried, on the last of March, in a cart to Tyburn, and for some time exposed

* Strype's Whitgift, p. 414, 415.

+ MS. Remarks on Hist. p. 454.

About this time, Mr. Barrow presented a petition to the AttorneyGeneral Egerton, in which, after humbly requesting the favour of an impartial conference, in behalf of himself and his brethren then confined in prison, he thus addressed him:-" I protest to your worship, in the "sight of God, at whose judgment I look hourly to stand, that I hold "not any thing out of singularity, or pride of spirit; but am certainly "persuaded by the grounds of God's word, the profession and practice " of the reformed churches, and learned men of other countries. I, for 66 my own part, avow unto your worship, that, through God's grace, I will utterly forsake any error I shall be proved to hold, and will "humbly submit in all matters proved by the word of God.-By this "charitable act, your worship may put an end to the present controversies, "reduce all wherein we err, and appease many christian souls.—Signed 66 your worship's humble suppliant, HENRY BARROW."

Strype's Annals, vol. iv. p. 171.

under the gallows before the people, to see whether the terrors of death would not frighten them. They, nevertheless, continued firm even in the immediate prospect of death, and were brought back to Newgate. April 6, 1593, they were carried to Tyburn a second time, and there exccuted.* At the place of execution, they gave such testimonies of their unfeigned piety towards God, and loyalty to the queen, praying so earnestly for her long and prosperous reign, that when Dr. Rainolds, who attended them, reported their behaviour to her majesty, she repented of having consented to their death.+ The doctor signified to her majesty, "that he was persuaded, if they had lived, they would have been two as worthy instruments for the church of God, as any that had been raised up in that age." The queen, afterwards riding by the place of their execution, called to mind their suffering death, and, desirous to obtain some further information concerning them, demanded of the Earl of Cumberland, who was present at their death, what kind of end they made. He answered, "A very godly end, and prayed for your majesty, state, &c." Also, Mr. Philips, a most worthy and famous preacher, having conferred with Mr. Barrow, and beheld his holy preparation for death, said, "Barrow, Barrow, my soul be with thine." And we learn from the famous Mr. Hugh Broughton, who lived in these times, that though Barrow and Greenwood were condemned for disturbance of the state; this would have been pardoned, and their lives spared, if they would have promised to come to church." Thus they suffered for their nonconformity!

Their trial for offences against the state, when they had written against the bishops and the church only, was undoubtedly the artful contrivance of Archbishop Whitgift; who, by so doing, cast the odium of their death from himself upon the civil magistrate. Indeed, this charge is fairly brought against him by one of the sufferers. Mr. Barrow, having suffered confinement in close prison several years, exposed to all the severities of cold, nakedness, and famine, at length presented a supplication to the queen, earnestly desiring to be delivered from their present miseries, though it were by death. The paper was, however, intercepted by the archbishop, who endeavoured to prevent

Heylin's Hist. of Presby. p. 324, 325.

+ Neal's Hist. of Puritans, vol. i. p. 884. 4to. Edit, Peirce's Vindication, part i. p. 147.

Broughton's Works, vol. ii. p. 731. Edit. 1662,

a knowledge of their situation from coming to the ears of the queen. Mr. Barrow, therefore, exposed his grace's behaviour, in the following smart language:-"The arch"bishop," says he, "having sent so many men to divers "prisons, as Bridewell, Newgate, the two Compters, the "White-lion, and the Fleet, now posted these things to the "civil magistrate. He hath destined brother Greenwood "and myself to death, and others to close prison; their 66 poor wives and children to be cast out of the city, and "their goods to be confiscated. Is not this," says he, "a "christian bishop? Are these the virtues of him, who takes 66 upon himself the care and government of the churches "in the land, to tear and devour God's poor sheep, to rend "off their flesh and break their bones, and chop them in "pieces as flesh for the cauldron ? Will he thus instruct "and convince gainsayers? Surely he will persuade but "few, who fear God, to his religion, by this evil dealing. "Does he consult his own credit, or the honour of his "prince, by this tyrannical havock? For our parts, our "lives are not dear unto us, so that we may finish our "testimony with joy. We are always ready, through the 66 grace of God, to be offered up upon the testimony of the "faith that we have made."* When, therefore, their whole case is impartially considered, we think there was not much cause for Mr. Strype to call these passionate and angry expressions. These unhappy men undoubtedly fell a sacrifice to the resentment of an angry prelate; who is, nevertheless, denominated " a very worthy man."+

In the mean time, while we condemn the severity with which these men were treated, we do not mean to palliate their errors. Their rigid and narrow sentiments concerning discipline; their denying the church of England to be a true church; their maintaining that her government was so wholly popish and antichristian as to render all her ordinances and sacraments invalid; and their not only renouncing communion with her, but with all other reformed churches, excepting such as were according to their own model, are sufficient proofs how strongly they were tinged with bigotry. The true grounds of religious freedom were, at this period, so little understood, that it is exceedingly probable, that, if the Brownists had risen in power, they would have exercised it in a very unjustifiable manner. The condemnation and execution of Mr. Barrow and Strype's Whitgift, p. 415, 416.

+ Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. i. p. 206.

Greenwood, were acts of flagrant injustice and cruelty, and will stand as monuments of disgrace to the reign of Qucen Elizabeth, as durable as time.

Upon this part of our English history, the judicious Rapin observes, "That the queen hearkened to the sug gestions of the clergy, who represented the puritans as seditious persons; who rebelled against the laws, and, by their disobedience, shook the foundations of the government. This is not the only time, nor is England the only state, where disobedience in point of religion, has been confounded with rebellion against the sovereign. There is scarcely a christian state, where the prevailing sect will suffer the least division, or the least swerving from the established opinions; no, not even in private. Shall I venture to say, it is the clergy chiefly who support this strange principle of non-toleration, so little agreeable to christian charity? The severity of which, from this time, began to be exercised upon the nonconformists in England, produced terrible effects in the following reigns, and occasioned troubles and factions which remain to this day."+

Mr. Greenwood published " A Briefe Refutation of Mr. George Gifford;" and "An Answer to George Gifford's pretended Defence of Read-Prayers and Devised Liturgies;" in the titles of which, he calls himself "Christ's poor afflicted Prisoner in the Fleet, for the Truth of the Gospel."

WILLIAM SMYTH was born about the year 1563, and educated, most probably, in the university of Cambridge. On his entrance upon the sacred function, he was ordained by the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and licensed to preach by the Bishop of Sarum, when he became minister at Bradford in Wiltshire. Having continued in this situation for some time, he went to London, attended the private assemblies of the Brownists' congregation, and probably became a zealous and active member of the church; for which he was cast into prison, where he remained a long time. During his confinement, he was frequently carried before the inquisitors of the high commission and the star-chamber, and after examination, with a view to make him confess and accuse himself and his brethren, he was sent back to prison. On one of these

Biog. Britan. vol. ii. p. 621. Edit. 1778.

+ Rapin's Hist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 141,

occasions, April 5, 1593, he was convened before the Dean of Westminster, Mr. Dale, Mr. Barnes, and Mr. Young, when he underwent an examination, of which the following particulars are preserved :-He said he had been in prison about two months, committed by Dr. Stanhope and others, on suspicion of being privy to the matters concerning the coffin, (referring, no doubt, to the coffin of Mr. Roger Rippon,) carried to Mr. Young's door. He said also that he had been examined first before Mr. Young and Mr. Townsend; next before the Bishop of London and others; and lastly before the Lord Chief Justice and Judge Anderson, but never, to his knowledge, was indicted. He confessed that he had been at an assembly, in the house of Mr. Lees, near Smithfield; but when he was asked whether he be longed to that church, of which Mr. Johnson was pastor, he refused to answer. Also, when it was demanded whether he had ever any of Barrow's, Greenwood's, or Penry's books in his possession, he again refused to answer. He acknowledged that he came up to London to confer with Mr. Johnson, Mr. Greenwood, and others, and that he attended the assembly in Lees's house, on purpose to bear and see their orders in church matters. He refused the oath ex officio; and when he was asked whether he would go to the parish church, he refused to be bound, but was desirous to have a conference.* Great numbers of Brownists were now confined in the different prisons in and about London, many of whose names, and their crimes, with their cruel usage, are now before me. The two principal crimes with which they were charged by their enemies, were, their having seen or possessed certain books supposed to have been published by Barrow, Greenwood, or Penry; and their having joined the congregation of Brownists, which, to avoid the persecution of the bishops, assembled in private houses, in the fields, and in woods. For these significant offences, they were stigmatized as rebels, and committed to filthy prisons, where many of them died, and others, after a miserable imprisonment of four or five years, were banished from the country. Mr. Smyth was probably of this number.+

Baker's MS. Collec. vol. xv. p. 111, 112.

+ Ibid. p. 59-117.