Trouhlou. 
 Times. 
 
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 '*J 
 
 A
 
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 n^
 
 ^^ 
 
 Troublous Times; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Leaves from the Note-Book of the 
 
 Rev. Mr. John Hicks, an ejefted 
 
 Nonconformift Minifter, 
 
 1670 — ^71. 
 
 ^ 
 
 TRANSCRIBED BY 
 
 JANE BOWRTNG CRANCH, 
 
 With an IntroduSIion by the 
 REV. CHARLES STANFORD 
 
 Cnn.— " Tf you will go with us. you must go airainst wind and tide ; you 
 must also own religion in his rags, as well as when in his silver slippers ; 
 and stand by him, too, when bound in irons, as well as when he walketh 
 the streets with applause "—i'iiyrim'g Prugrnas, I'urt I. 
 
 yackfon^ JValforrl^ &^ Hoddei\ 
 
 18, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 
 
 MDCCCLXII.
 
 «i. UKWIN, GUESnAM 8TEAM PKESS BUCKLERSBURT, E.C.
 
 Introdudlion. 
 
 &^ 
 
 H I S is a story of old Puritan life. The 
 scene Is the little town of Kingsbridge, 
 situated in the extreme south of Devon. 
 Just after the A61 of Uniformity had 
 become the law of the land, this place was the abode 
 of several ejedled ministers — " men of whom the 
 world was not worthy." Mr. Tooker occupied a 
 small farm at Norden, nearly a third of a mile 
 distant, Mr. Burdwood rented land about four 
 miles out in the country, at Batson, a village noted 
 for its orchards. In the town itself, dwelt Mr. 
 John Hicks, Mr. Jellinger, and Mr. Quicke, some- 
 time vicar of the parish. Here, also, the learned 
 Mr. George Hughes ended his days. The church 
 is adorned by " a fair marble monument," which one 
 of his rich friends eredled to his memory, and which 
 bears a Latin inscription, from the pen of his son- 
 in-law, Mr. John Howe,
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 From family traditions, as well as from standard 
 biographies, the lady to whom we are indebted for 
 these chapters, has colle6ted many interesting notices 
 of our Kingsbridge worthies, and woven the various 
 threads of information thus obtained into a graceful 
 but unpretending narrative. Though in the form 
 of fidion, every leading incident is a well-authenti- 
 cated fadt. Even the imaginary conversations 
 convey the real sentiments, and are alive with the 
 very spirit of the fathers who are thus represented. 
 This we know from their writings. Perhaps we 
 may at first be inclined to think that the style for 
 which Mr. Hicks is made answerable, had become 
 somewhat out of date by the time when his " Notes" 
 are assumed to have been written ; but this thought 
 is checked when we remember that a certain antique 
 simplicity of speech, and many quaint fashions of 
 address, lingered in the remote country towns long 
 after they had dropped out of use in the rest of the 
 world. 
 
 The chief personage in the company to which v/e 
 are introduced is Mr. John Hicks. In 1662, 
 while measures were under discussion in high places, 
 with a view to the firmer establishment of the 
 national religion, he waited, with much concern, for 
 the result. He was then a young clergyman, a 
 true Puritan as to his faith, but holding what would 
 now be called moderate opinions on ecclesiastical 
 questions; and professing himself willing to continue
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 his ministry in the Church of England, if a few 
 sHght alterations were made in its forms, and if he 
 should only be required to submit to its ancient 
 terms of subscription. It was, therefore, a bitter 
 disappointment to find, on the publication of the 
 Bartholomew A<5t, that it was designed to operate 
 as a highly penal measure ; that the Prayer Book 
 had only been altered in order to make it impossible 
 for the Puritans to accept it ; and that, still further, 
 every Anglican clergyman was required to declare 
 his unfeigned assent and consent to all and every 
 thing the book contained, on pain of exclusion from 
 his office. 
 
 One day, when in conversation with an old 
 University friend, who was trying to persuade him 
 to conform, " I do believe," said he, " that these 
 conditions are only designed and contrived on 
 purpose to prevent our public preaching, and to 
 keep us out of the Church." To which his friend 
 replied, with much simplicity, " I judge that it is 
 so, for a bishop in Ireland, whose name I have 
 forgotten, told me the very same." 
 
 His final thoughts on the subjed are thus 
 expressed in his own language : — " The terms of 
 the particular law made in 1662, were not only 
 new, but so strid and severe, that I could never 
 have satisfadtion in my own conscience, after all 
 endeavours used for a compliance therewith, and a 
 conformity thereto. . . . The giving assent 
 
 b 2
 
 VIU INTRO DUCT ION. 
 
 and consent has been too hard and difficult for me 
 to comply with." He therefore gave up his benefice, 
 and came with his wife and children to Kings- 
 bridge. We should like to know more of that 
 young wife. She was " Mistress Howe" when he 
 first met with her, and perhaps some future research 
 may show that she was related to a certain friend 
 and neighbour of his — the writer of " The Living 
 Temple." All we know of her is, that she shared her 
 husband's convictions, and helped him cheerfully to 
 bear his cross. How he and his family fared for 
 the next nine years will be seen in these pages. 
 The account breaks off abruptly, when it reaches 
 the year 167 1, just as Mr. Hicks seems about to 
 enter upon a new series of adventures. Up to this 
 point, the fadls of his life are faithfully reported, and 
 so interesting are they, that every reader will wish 
 to learn the particulars of his subsequent career. If, 
 as the transcriber relates, and as local tradition seems 
 to indicate, he entertained at this time the idea of 
 emigration to New England, some circumstance, 
 now unknown, occurring at the last moment, must 
 have hindered him from carrying his plan into effedl, 
 for we find him almost immediately afterwards 
 taking part in public transactions. In 1672 he 
 was deputed, by a large number of gentlemen and 
 others in the west of England, to present, in their 
 name, an address of thanks to the King, for the 
 indulgence which he had just granted to the Non-
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 conformists. A few months later, a vote of the 
 Commons set aside this indulgence as an illegal 
 exercise of the prerogative, and troubles for con- 
 science' sake were renewed with more than their 
 former severity. In consequence of this change, 
 Mr. Hicks left Kingsbridge, and became the 
 minister of a congregation at Portsmouth. While 
 he was there, Calamy informs us that a visit was 
 paid to the town by the King ; that the governor, 
 principal officers, and many of the inhabitants, went 
 to Portsdown to meet him ; and that Mr. Hicks, 
 who was one of the company, was honoured by the 
 King's especial notice. It does not appear, how- 
 ever, that this momentary flash of light from the 
 royal countenance had any effedl in dispersing the 
 gloom of his lot, for we learn that, shortly after, 
 persecution again compelled him to leave his home. 
 What was his next dwelling-place is now uncertain, 
 but his last is ascertained from an old indictment, 
 in which he is described as " John Hicks, clerk, of 
 Keynsham, near Bristol." 
 
 He seems to have suffered even more than his 
 companions from the trials of the times. For this 
 he sometimes had reason to blame himself. It has 
 often been remarked that every strong element in 
 character is in danger of filling more than its due 
 place, and of becoming error by excess. It was 
 thus with him. He was generous, frank, and 
 daring to a fault ; apt to feel quickly, speak plainly.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and aft with headlong haste. On one occasion, 
 when a warrant was out against him from the 
 Kingsbridge justices for preaching without sandlion 
 of law, and two messengers, speaking vain-glorious 
 and uncivil things, came to take him in charge, he 
 did, to their great surprise, lift his cane, and after a 
 few words of exhortation touching the right govern- 
 ment of the tongue, proceeded to chastise them both 
 full soundly. At their particular request, he then 
 granted them his pardon, and departed, leaving each 
 dignitary to find his way home, as best he might; 
 there to tell, if it so pleased him, that he had that very 
 night been " robbed, murdered, and likewise put 
 in fears of his life." A mild and charitable version 
 of this affair will be found in the "Note-book" — just 
 the kind of account that we should expedt from the 
 good man himself; but it is mentioned now, partly 
 as an illustration of his high spirit, and partly 
 because we suspeft that this adventure with the 
 constables caused much of the vexation that troubled 
 him for the rest of his days. In their sacred persons, 
 both Church and State had been grievously insulted. 
 It was a grave offence thus to defy the executive 
 power of the law, and though the offender at once 
 hastened up to London, made a full confession to 
 his Majesty, and obtained his gracious absolution, 
 the deed was never forgiven or forgotten by his ill- 
 wishers in the country. They soon set afloat the 
 most extravagant stories to his disadvantage. He
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 was a conspirator ; he was a fifth-monarchy man ; 
 he was a Baptist ; he had assisted Colonel Blood 
 to steal the regalia from the Tower ; he, with the 
 colonel and two other desperadoes, had rescued an 
 officer, named Mason, from eight soldiers who were 
 conveying him from London to take his trial at the 
 York assizes, for a share in the great northern plot ; 
 he had shot a poor traveller who was journeying for 
 protecflion with that valorous guard ; he had been 
 concerned with Lord Russell and others in treason- 
 able praftices. Of course, all these reports were 
 the wildest fabrications, but the one well-known 
 instance of his reckless adtion seemed to give them 
 a colour of probability. They answered their 
 intended effedl — -they furnished the magistrates with 
 a pretext for giving him every possible annoyance, 
 and his persecution from place to place was doubtless 
 owing in a large measure to the prejudice they created 
 against him. Henceforth, he was a mark for malice, 
 and ^' the archers wounded him sorely." Even his 
 old friends became shy in their carriage towards 
 him ; many a discreet Nonconformist, who was 
 trying by strokes of cautious and skilful expediency 
 to steer his own way through " troublous times," 
 watched him with much apprehension, and many 
 a meek recluse besides, felt safest out of his 
 company. 
 
 At length, hurried on by the impulses of his 
 ardent nature, in 1685 he became a volunteer in
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the army of the Duke of Monmouth, who was 
 then making his desperate attempt to grasp the 
 Crown. Strange as it may seem, however, Mr. 
 Hicks never lost the loyal spirit which is rightly 
 ascribed to him in these pages. This rash engage- 
 ment was consistent with the most romantic 
 theories respecting the fidelity due from a subjed: 
 to his prince. To the very last he held it to be 
 *' unlawful, under any pretence whatever, to take 
 up arms against the rightful sovereign ;" but, un- 
 happily, he was deceived into the belief that the 
 Duke of Monmouth was his " rightful sovereign." 
 Convinced that he was the legitimate heir to King 
 Charles, kept out of his rights by a vile conspiracy, 
 he judged that if he had not followed the Duke's 
 standard, he " would not have been clear from the 
 sin of rebellion." "This," he assures us, "along 
 with a vigorous and vehement zeal for the Pro- 
 testant religion," alone prompted him to take the 
 course upon which he decided. 
 
 Zeal for the Protestant religion was the grand 
 motive to the rising in the West. This rising has 
 been called "the Dissenting Rebellion," but it should 
 rather be regarded as the last struggle and outburst of 
 the old historical Puritanism. The special opinions 
 of Nonconformists as to Church or State had 
 nothing to do with it. Dissenters formed the 
 majority of Monmouth's adherents, but only 
 because they were in pre-eminence the true Puritans,
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 and therefore the true Protestants of the day. To 
 all appearance, Popery was about to ruin Eng- 
 land for ever, and these men rose, resolved, if 
 possible, to avert the dread calamity. They were 
 mistaken in their line of adlion, mistaken in their 
 choice of a leader, still more mistaken in striving 
 to win a spiritual victory by carnal force. But 
 they were not mistaken in their estimate of the 
 evil they meant to resist, or of the good they 
 meant to fight for. The sin of their enterprise 
 consisted in the use of wrong means to accomplish 
 right ends ; but they had no suspicion that the 
 means they used were wrong. Multitudes were 
 led astray by the very passion and enthusiasm of 
 their concern for the interests of truth and righteous- 
 ness. It was a high-souled infatuation, and we 
 may almost say " the light that led astray was light 
 from heaven." 
 
 On the 6th of July, as the result of the adlion 
 at Sedgemoor, the cause was lost. Sorrowful 
 words were written in some of the old Dissenting 
 church-books, in memory of brethren who had 
 perished on that day. One such document, which is 
 still preserved, concludes in this language : — " Thus 
 these mighty men who had potency with God, and 
 jeopardized their lives in the high places of 
 the field for the cause of Christ, fell in the 
 midst of battle." Two days after the battle, 
 Monmouth was tracked to his last sad hiding-place
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 amongst the fern. Every day multitudes of 
 fugitives were found and reserved for a dreadful 
 fate. Mr. Hicks escaped, and contrived to remain 
 in concealment for about three weeks. At the 
 end of this time, having reached Warminster, he 
 despatched a person on a journey of twenty-six 
 miles, to the house of Lady L'IsIe, to ask her if 
 she would grant an asylum to him and Mr. 
 Richard Nelthorpe, an attorney, who was his 
 companion. According to the messenger, her 
 reply was, " She did not know but that she 
 might." After consideration, she desired them to 
 come on Tuesday night, the 30th of July. In 
 this way she had sheltered many a royalist soldier 
 in the Civil Wars, and many a hunted minister 
 since. Mr. Hicks could not be aware that she 
 was now incurring any greater risk than on former 
 occasions. He had not yet been convided of any 
 political offence ; his name was not in any proclama- 
 tion. She doubtless knew the nature of his danger, 
 although, from wise forethoup;ht, in case of any 
 future questioning, both she and the messenger 
 had avoided any dired allusion to it. At the hour 
 appointed, therefore, he and Nelthorpe, " booted 
 and spurred," arrived at her gates. To prevent any 
 possibility of mistake, Mr. Hicks at once told her 
 all the circumstances in explicit language. It was 
 now out of her power to say, in the event of any 
 legal inquiry, that she had not been told who her
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 guests were. It might now prove a dangerous 
 thing to give them shelter, and, as the best thing 
 that could be done, she sent her bailiff to a magis- 
 trate with information of their arrival, contriving 
 facilities for their escape in the interval. 
 
 For the last two days, however, treachery had 
 been at work. Colonel Penruddock had been made 
 acquainted with the whole of the original plan 
 of flight. He could easily have taken both 
 vidims on their way, but he afterwards told Lady 
 L'Isle that he only waited until she, too, was in his 
 power. Her late husband had been one of Crom- 
 well's lords. In defence of his own government, 
 Cromwell had been a terrible scourge to the 
 Colonel's family ; hence he felt fierce hatred towards 
 any person who had in any way been associated 
 with that hated name. A few hours after the two 
 fugitives had been watched into the house, they 
 were taken by Penruddock's soldiers, and their 
 benefadress was arrested at the same time. At the 
 close of August, the lady was brought to Winches- 
 ter, to answer for the capital crime of harbouring 
 traitors. " The imaginary trial of Faithful," says 
 a famous essayist, " before a jury composed of the 
 personified Vices, was just and merciful compared 
 with the real trial of Alice L'Isle before that 
 tribunal where all the Vices sat in the person of 
 Jefferies." She was infirm with extreme age, she 
 had passed her life in deeds of piety and kindness,
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 even the prejudiced Tory gentry all held her in 
 high esteem, and her poor neighbours regarded her 
 with an enthusiasm of admiring love ; but the 
 laughing, shouting, cursing Judge was so bent on 
 her destruction, that he strained the law to effedt it, 
 and on the second day of the trial gave directions 
 that Alice L'Isle should be burned alive that very 
 afternoon. The sentence was afterwards commuted 
 from burning to beheading, and the execution was 
 put off five days. 
 
 All this time Mr. Hicks was a prisoner at 
 Salisbury, " grievously afflided," as he says, by 
 the fate of his generous friend. He was brought to 
 Dorchester for trial, and on the fourth of Septem- 
 ber was sentenced to die. Some of his friends 
 rode up to Whitehall, and sought an interview 
 with the King to pray for a mitigation of the 
 sentence. They found, on their arrival, that the 
 adverse party, probably expecting that this step 
 would be taken, had already been eagerly at work 
 there to inflame the feeling that existed against him. 
 It had been said, that he was the very person who 
 had urged Monmouth to take the title of King, 
 although it was known that he had not even seen the 
 Duke, until some days after that proclamation had 
 been made. It had been said, that he had been 
 seen at a certain time riding about in the western 
 counties, to enlist volunteers for the rebel army, 
 although it was known that he was at that very
 
 INTRODUCTION. XVII 
 
 time in a distant part of the kingdom. Un- 
 happily, the King was in the mood for believing all 
 that could be said to the prisoner's disadvantage. 
 Still there was hope. Something might yet be 
 done for their friend by the influence of his younger 
 brother. Dr. George Hicks, the Dean of Wor- 
 cester. To understand the value attached to this 
 gentleman's good word, we must here introduce a 
 short account of him. 
 
 Since the opening of Charles the Second's reign, the 
 time when he left the University, he had been the 
 stout advocate of all popular dodrines. He was a 
 high Churchman, and a sound Royalist. "The King," 
 said he, " hath his authority inherently, not from 
 his electors, but from God, even as Christ is head 
 of His church." In one of his later pamphlets, he 
 laboured to prove that if King James should " be 
 pleased to massacre all his troops, as Maximian 
 had massacred the Theban legion, it would be their 
 duty to pile their arms, and meekly to receive 
 the crown of martyrdom." It is but fair to say, 
 that these appear to have been his genuine con- 
 vi6lions, and it is pleasing to add, that he had 
 hitherto suffered no inconvenience through holding 
 them. Conscience had only allured him into paths 
 of peace, and virtue had met with its full reward. 
 First he went to Scotland as a chaplain to the Duke 
 ofLauderdale, patron of orthodoxy, and prince of pro- 
 ficients in the art of using the chain, the rack, and
 
 XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the thumbscrew, for the advancement of religion. 
 Next, he was distinguished by receiving pubhc praise 
 from Archbishop Sharpe. The University of St. 
 Andrews, and afterwards that of Oxford, created 
 him Dodor of Divinity, the honour being accom- 
 panied in each instance by acknowledgments of the 
 remarkable services he had rendered to the Church 
 of England. He was appointed Chaplain in 
 Ordinary to his Majesty, became Vicar of All 
 Hallows, Barking, and was at last rewarded by 
 promotion to a Deanery. If any effedlual inter- 
 cessor could have been found for the hapless 
 prisoner, this was the man. No other person had 
 a chance of success. Sad to say, bigotry had 
 petrified natural affection ; and when he was 
 implored to speak for his brother, he replied, " I 
 will never speak for a fanatic,"* The prisoner's 
 fate was sealed. 
 
 * Dr. George Hicks was well versed in primitive Christian litera- 
 ture, and was, besides, the best Teutonic scholar of his day. His fame 
 now rests on this basis, but in his lifetime he was chiefly renowned for 
 the energy and controversial skill with which he defended the doftrines 
 of "divine right and passive obedience." Whatever considerations 
 might have first influenced him in the adoption of these tenets, 
 he became a thorough believer in them. The best proof of this 
 appeared in his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to William and 
 Mary, for which refusal he was deprived of all his ecclesiastical 
 honours. Most of the cler^-y who had taken the place of the ejeded 
 ministers, and the great majority of the rest, held the same opinions 
 as a most sacred part of their religion. From their loud and devout 
 advocacy of them, it might have been expefted that considerably more 
 than " two tliou'<and" would have submitted to deprival when the
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 " For the last twenty years," said Mr. Hicks, 
 " I have never been without some apprehensions of 
 a violent death ; and though I yet do not know 
 when or where I shall die, but expedl death every 
 day. ... I hope that, through the grace and 
 strength of Christ, when that message is brought to 
 me . . . neither my lips, flesh, nor heart shall 
 tremble. . . . How far I die for His cause 
 will be judged at the last day." But though he 
 trembled not on his own account, the thought of his 
 wife and family shook the strong man with emotion. 
 He had married a second time ; he would be forced 
 to leave many young children, besides two daughters 
 by his former marriage, who were still under his 
 care. There was no certain provision for them, for 
 his own property would be forfeited, and his wife's 
 estate was coveted by her brother, a Royalist, who 
 was then adopting artful contrivances to secure it, 
 with every prospedt of success. The storm of 
 hideous and furious wickedness, which had been 
 
 crisis came j but, instead of such an event, only about four hundred 
 made the sacrifice, and about twenty-nine thirtieths of the profession 
 submitted. Dr. Hicks was consistent to the last. A copy of the 
 Daily Courant, in 1716, contains the report of an Instrument of insti- 
 tution to priest's orders by Dr. Hicks, in which he signs himself, 
 " Georgius Hickes, permissione divina EpiscopusSufFrageneusThet- 
 fordiensis." This was truly " the absurd practice ot an absurd creed,'' 
 but it places him in honourable contrast to the thousands of his former 
 clerical associates, who though professing the same creed, and with the 
 same strength of religious conviftion, chose rather to renounce it than 
 give up their benefices. He was born in 1642, and died in 1715.
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 increasing since the Restoration, was now at its worst, 
 and his family would be left helpless in the midst of 
 it, for the home which had sheltered them to the 
 present hour, was about to drop like a warm nest 
 from a broken bough. 
 
 If we may trust the authority of a note by 
 Anthony Wood, Mr. Hicks was beheaded. He 
 was put to death at Glastonbury, Odober 6, 1685. 
 The report of the address which he delivered before 
 execution occupies four closely-printed folio pages. 
 Much of it is taken up in refutation of calumnies, 
 and in defence of his last actions. After what has 
 here been said, no portion of this need be quoted ; 
 but a few sentences on other matters may be given 
 with propriety, and ought to be read with interest. 
 
 " I die," said he, " owning my ministry and 
 nonconformity, for which I have suffered so much, 
 and which doth now obstru6t the King's grace and 
 mercy to me : for as 1 chose it not constrainedly, 
 but clearly from the didlates of my own conscience, 
 judging it to be the cause of God, and to 
 have more of divine truth in it than that which is 
 contrary thereto, so now I see no cause to repent of 
 it, nor to recede from it, not questioning but God 
 will own it at the last day. . . . Though I 
 could not wade through nor conquer the difficulty 
 (of subscription), yet I censure not those that did 
 it ; and I believe that after the hottest disputes and 
 most vehement contests between Conformist and
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 Nonconformist, there are of both parties who will be 
 glorified in heaven hereafter. According to the 
 29th Article of the Church of England, a visible 
 church is a congregation of faithful men, in the 
 which the pure word of God is preached, the 
 sacraments of the Lord duly administered according 
 to God's ordinance, and all things maintained that 
 are requisite and necessary to salvation : so with 
 such a church have I held the most intimate com- 
 munion, and with such, did I live, would I hold 
 it. But I would not on that account be so incor- 
 porated with any church as to exclude me from, 
 and render me incapable of, holding communion 
 with other churches. I was never strongly bound 
 up to any form of ecclesiastical government, but 
 any under which a pure and undefiled religion doth 
 flourish, and which contains and really practises 
 holiness, and advances the kingdom of God in the 
 world, that can I approve of, and would willingly 
 live under, were I to live. 
 
 " I bless God for all my sufferings, and par- 
 ticularly for this last, for the benefit and fruit of it, 
 by God's sandifying them to me, have been great ; 
 hereby I have been effedlually convinced of the 
 vanity of the world, and of my own sinfulness by 
 nature and pradtice, and to see that to be sin which 
 I never saw before, and to be more thoroughly 
 humbled for what I now know to be sin, not only 
 of omission, but of commission also ; hereby I have 
 
 c
 
 XXn INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been brought to a more thorough, deep, inward 
 sense of the absolute necessity of the righteousness 
 of Christ to justify me, and He hath been made 
 much more dear and precious to my soul than ever 
 He was before. 
 
 "I die a deeply humbled, self-judging, and self- 
 condemning sinner, abhorring my many and great 
 iniquities, and myself for them, earnestly desiring 
 full redemption from the bonds of corruption, under 
 which I have groaned so many years, longing for a 
 more perfed conformity to the most holy and 
 glorious God, the only infinite, pure Being ; thirst- 
 ing for a perfect diffusion of His grace through all 
 the faculties of my soul, panting after perfed: spi- 
 ritual life and liberty, and a consummate love to my 
 dearest Jesus, who is an all-comprehensive good, 
 that so I may be satisfied with His love for ever. 
 A vigorous and vehement zeal for the Protestant 
 religion, and a belief I had in the Duke's legitimacy, 
 hath involved me in this ignominious death ; yet, 
 through true faith in the blood of Jesus, there is a 
 passage from it to eternal life — from these bitter 
 sorrows to the fulness of sweetest joys that are in 
 His presence, and from these sharp bodily pains to 
 those most pure pleasures that are at His right 
 hand for evermore ; and, blessed be God, such a 
 death as this cannot hinder Christ's changing of my 
 vile body, and fashioning it like unto His own 
 glorious body in the general resurredion day.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXllI 
 
 " Having such full bodily vigour and strength, — 
 such perfed: health, notwithstanding my age, pre- 
 dominating in me, hath made it more difficult to 
 die than if I had been clogged and encumbered 
 with infirmities, and made to stoop and bow under 
 prevailing distempers, which many times make 
 men weary of life, and desire to die. This, in 
 conjundion with many other things highly gratify- 
 ing and pleasing to sense, which I must leave for 
 ever, strengthens and heightens the difficulty, and 
 begets a greater regret and relu6lancy in my will 
 to have this earthly house of my tabernacle dis- 
 solved, and my soul to dislodge and quit the same. 
 But now, when the black and gloomy shades of 
 death do overspread me, I can say, to the glory of 
 God's most free and powerful grace, true faith 
 hath in some measure changed the difficulty into 
 a facility and ease of dying : it hath very much 
 subdued the reluftancy of my will against it, for it 
 makes future things present, and invisible things 
 visible ; and doth realize and substantiate the same 
 to me ; so hereby, blessed be God, I have obtained 
 a greater vidory over sense, the world is crucified 
 
 unto me, and I unto the world Shall my 
 
 soul clasp and cling to these mortal and perishing 
 things ? Shall it earnestly desire and thirst for 
 muddy streams, when by an eye of faith I can look 
 into the indeficient, inexhaustible, and purest foun- 
 tain, the immense and immensurate ocean of divine
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 good, hoping to drink thereof, and bathe my soul 
 therein for ever ?" 
 
 He may be said to have died in the a6l of preach- 
 ing the Gospel, for his address closed in a long 
 strain of impassioned appeal on the necessity of 
 faith in Christ, and of a change of heart wrought 
 by the Spirit of God, in order to entrance into the 
 kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Thus did John Hicks finish his course. His 
 condudt at the outset of his ministry commands our 
 unmingled admiration. Gradually, his vital energy 
 and public spirit betrayed him into excessive and 
 disproportionate feeling on account of the temporal 
 wrongs and sorrows of the church. It is right to 
 make politics religious, but he was tempted to make 
 religion political. By this he lost the holy peace and 
 tender spirituality of better days ; though his piety, 
 if shaded for a time, shone out gloriously in his 
 dying hour. During the period of which this Note- 
 book is a memorial, he was in " the kindness of his 
 youth." The graces of his life were then in their first 
 fresh beauty, untouched by blight from a worldly 
 atmosphere. Then it was that he wrote his book on 
 *' The Excellency of the Heavenly Substance." He 
 then lived as " a pilgrim and stranger on the earth." 
 It might have been his portrait that Christian saw in 
 the house of the Interpreter, — " A pifture of a very 
 grave person hung up against the wall, and this was 
 the fashion of it : It had eyes lift up to heaven,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 the best of books in its hand, the law of truth was 
 written upon its lips, the world was behind its back ; 
 it stood as if it pleaded with men, and a crown of 
 gold did hang over its head." It will be matter of 
 thankfulness if our young Nonconformists take this 
 opportunity of becoming acquainted with him as he 
 was then, and of visiting in his company the old 
 homes and conventicles of Kingsbridge, there to 
 know the principles for which their fathers suffered, 
 and to see the serene courage with which they 
 fought their good fight. Let us hope that many 
 may be charmed into an imitation of the simplicity, 
 nobleness and power of the Puritan charafter, so, 
 that becoming " followers of them who through 
 faith and patience inherit the promises," they may 
 share the same inheritance. 
 
 A sentence may be allowed in parting, with 
 reference to the survivors of Mr. Hicks. He 
 had said in his farewell speech, " The care of my 
 most dear wife and a great many children I cast upon 
 God, who, I pray, will be better than the best of 
 husbands unto her, and the best of fathers unto 
 them." They were not forsaken. It is understood 
 that his widow found a home in the house of the 
 youngest of his two brothers. Dr. Ralph Hicks, a 
 physician, and that in various ways the education of 
 his children was wisely cared for. We find that, in 
 17 1 2, William, the second son, was recftor of 
 Broughton Giffard, in Wiltshire.
 
 Contents. 
 
 CtjtlpteC U PAGE 
 
 Wherein the Re-v. Mr. Hicks gives some Account of his Past Life — Refle&ions 
 
 on entering Kingsbridge — ProspeB of finding S^iet there disappointed . . I 
 
 Cljaptec iu 
 
 The Re-v. Mr. Hicks attends a Theological Disputation — Untvelcome Fisitors 
 
 arri-ve in his Absence 12 
 
 Cljaptec iiu 
 
 Barred Doors 26 
 
 Cijapter it. 
 
 A Beare — -Minor Sacrifices resol-ved upon and made — The Result of Master 
 
 Arthur Reynetls' Memorandum 39 
 
 Ctjapter t. 
 
 " And there ivas no more sea" 56 
 
 Cljaprer bi. 
 
 A Recolleffion of the Re-v. Mr. Hughes 73 
 
 Ctjapttr tjii\ 
 
 The Field Meeting and the Conventicle S8
 
 XXVlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Cljaptcc Wi. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fighting ivith Beasts at Epiiesus — Departure of the Rev. Mr. Jellmger for 
 
 " the land that is -very far off^'' loi 
 
 Chapter ix* 
 
 A Gracious Magistrate 120 
 
 Chapter %. 
 
 Ren). Mr. Burdiuood's Orchard 141 
 
 Cljaptcr x\. 
 
 Talk in Re-v. Mr, Burdivood'' s Orchard concluded by an Account of the Mis- 
 chief the Sun lurought for Christopher Hart 161 
 
 Cliapter riu 
 
 John Lucas falls Sick— The Rock and the Hill Gatherings — Master Beare 
 
 is made Magistrate — A Last Dying Speech 176 
 
 Cljaptcr xi\\* 
 
 Shotving the Charge upon ivhich the Re-v. Mr. Hicks luas " Cast into 
 
 Prison" 200 
 
 Cljaptcr ;rit3. 
 
 Retj. Mr. Hicks in Gaol, about his Master's business— The Trial 224 
 
 Cljaptcr ;rij. 
 
 From my Lodging in Margaret-street, fVestminster, this loth of 'June, xiijl. 250 
 
 Cljaptcr j:tj I. 
 
 The JVestminster Assembly of Divines — Rev. Mr Baxter's Preaching — A 
 ^ Royal Audience 289
 
 '^^0 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 fV/ierein the Re'u. Mr. Hicks gives some Account of his Past Life —Re- 
 flections on entering KingsbriJge—ProspeSl of finding S^uiet there 
 disappointed 
 
 Y pen and inkhorn lying convenient on 
 the table before me, I cannot refrain 
 using them, though little after my wonted 
 happy, tranquil practice, and yet me- 
 thinks 'twill somewhat ease my heart, and may not 
 prove altogether unedifying, if I note down a few 
 of the traits and features of those troublous times 
 in which our lot is cast, the evils and distra6lions 
 whereof have reached the most quiet nooks and 
 hidden corners of the country ; yea, even into such 
 a very little out-of-the-world place as this, where, 
 to my sorrow, I am now a dweller. But holdincr 
 no further parley with moments that do seem to fly 
 faster than the sands drop in the hour-glass at mv 
 elbow, I will, briefly as may be, relate a few parti- 
 culars concerning my early life, and how I came to 
 
 B
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 seek a home in Kingsbridge, of which, when I first 
 set eyes upon it, I said, " Sure, a peaceable spirit 
 that craveth a resting-place upon earth, may find it 
 there, if nowhere else." But a sorer mistake — as 
 these uneasy jottings of mine, written from time to 
 time, as opportunity serves, will testify — was never 
 made by man. 
 
 I was born in the year 1633, at Moorhouse, in 
 Yorkshire. My father and mother were descended 
 from what are called families of consideration. My 
 mother was truly a person of figure, who passed 
 her youth in the atmosphere of a Court ; from the 
 flatteries and sedu6lions of which she came out pure 
 and unscathed, the tindlure of her courtly training 
 alone perceptible in a most rare and winning gra- 
 ciousness of manner and deportment, that in no 
 wise detraded from, but rather tended to adorn and 
 commend, the beauty of her Christian life and con- 
 versation, to such as are ofttimes more observant 
 of the settings of a jewel than the precious thing 
 itself. How much I loved her my pen can never 
 write, nor my tongue tell. When she has been 
 a-walking, I have watched her graceful shadow in 
 the sunshine, and almost wished I were that shadow, 
 because then I never could be parted from her. 
 
 My father was a devout man, who lived in the 
 fear of God ; but being somewhat of an austere 
 turn, he ruled his children and his household with 
 a firm hand, sparing not precept, nor the rod either.
 
 CHOICE OF A CALLING. 
 
 when he judged it needful for his son's corredlion. 
 Though by nature I was of an uncommon quick 
 and Hvely spirit, the careful, tender teachings of 
 my mother, her prayers, and the exceeding loveli- 
 ness of her example, deeply impressed my heart, 
 even as a boy, with a sense of the value of those 
 heavenly things which alone are worthy the serious 
 pursuit and possession of an immortal soul. And 
 those impressions, received from the gentle lips of 
 one now so long time a " saint in light," when my 
 spirit was fresh in the dew of its youth, did not 
 vanish, were not scorched nor dried up in the noon 
 of manhood ; and by the grace of God her blessed 
 death did so confirm and strengthen them, that as 
 soon as it became necessary for me to make choice 
 of a calling, I besought my good father to let rne 
 be entered at one of the Universities, that I might 
 be duly qualified for a minister, which, with his 
 most hearty approval, was accordingly done. He 
 hardly lived long enough to see me ordained, but 
 in his last blessing conveyed to me, in a solemn, 
 affecting manner, the joy he felt at having a son to 
 leave behind him, who, he was pleased to say, 
 would, he doubted not, prove a faithtul, pains- 
 taking preacher of " the Gospel of Christ, the 
 power of God unto salvation to every one that 
 believeth." 
 
 Immediately after my ordination, I was appointed 
 a living in Devonshire, and I lost no time in bring- 
 
 B 1
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 iug there a wife — a pious, fair young gentlewoman, 
 v/ith whom I lived in all the content which might 
 be expefted from a wedlock so happily assorted as 
 ours. 
 
 Upon the restoration to the throne of his present 
 Majesty — (who I pray fervently may be preserved 
 in his high estate, and blessed with that wisdom 
 from above which shall make him worthy of it) — 
 'twas hoped that mildness and moderation touching 
 matters of religious opinion and discipline would 
 largely prevail in the councils of the realm, and 
 likewise have found advocates in those who had 
 access to the royal ear ; and they about him who 
 loved their country's and their sovereign's weal, did 
 most sincerely avise that a just and tolerant policy 
 might be pursued. For a while they seemed to have 
 weight with the King ; but ah ! the gay Court, 
 with its enticements and allurements, its fidsehood 
 and hollowness, proved the stronger and more 
 powerful. On the framing of those late disastrous 
 laws afFefting church government and the rights of 
 conscience, which have sent so many hundreds of 
 godly, learned, and right loyal gentlemen from 
 their homes into banishment, I perceived signs of 
 the coming present storm ; and when the Bartho- 
 lomew A6t had really passed, no further choice was 
 left. I must either conform to that which my 
 conscience and God's word refused to sanation, or 
 be thrust out from my living, and thrown on the
 
 STRUGGLE fVITH THE TEMPTER. 
 
 5 
 
 world without any certain means of support what- 
 soever. 
 
 I do not deny but that I had a sharp struggle 
 with the tempter, and there was one most tender 
 point, on which he plied me sorely. So feeling 
 my own weakness, I made instant and special prayer 
 to God, that my wife might be brought to see these 
 things in the same light I did. True and loving 
 as she was, I dreaded some natural womanish oppo- 
 sition on her part, concerning this surrender of ai/ 
 our present means of living, and future worldly 
 prospers to boot. Then our young children were 
 so inexpressibly dear. Yet, while my mind was in 
 this toss, what a gracious answer the Lord in mercy 
 vouchsafed me, and at the moment the Evil One 
 was busy a-whispering in my heart, somewhat to 
 this effed; — " If thou hadst only thyself to care 
 for, John Hicks, thy Bible and thy staff would 
 be enough for thee; but now wilt thou become 
 like him who * careth for the things of this world, 
 how he may please his wife.'" The bitter pang 
 such thought gave, made me hesitate no longer. 1 
 went straight to her, and, without reserve, declared 
 what, through grace, I was fully set of purpose to 
 do. She heard me without interruption, but at 
 length, as I expedled, fell a-weeping. At sight of 
 her tears, I turned away, and from the depth of 
 my soul prayed silently—'* Lord, I am oppressed ; 
 undertake for me;" then, swifter than lightning.
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 flashed across my mind those words, "He that loveth 
 [wife] father or mother more than me is not worthy 
 of me." " And he that loveth son or daughter 
 more than me is not worthy of me." *' And he that 
 taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not 
 worthy of me." Like one that heard a living voice, 
 1 answered aloud, " Yea, I will leave all things to 
 follow thee, my Heavenly Master, and count it joy 
 if called upon to lay down my life for thy sake." 
 
 Hereupon, with her face pale, yet something 
 wonderfully sweet and settled in its aspe6l, my 
 wife came softly towards me, and very tenderly 
 besought that I would not think meanly of her 
 on account of the weakness my words had surprised 
 her into — " Though," continued she, " that which 
 you have unburthened yourself of is by me not 
 altogether unexpedled. For these many months 
 past I have perceived a struggle going on in your 
 breast ; and now that I know all 'tis fitting I should 
 know, I say from my heart, if we be forced to 
 live upon bread and water, and by our labour can 
 scarce earn it, and instead of a cassock you wear a 
 russet coat, / shall love you none the less, and 
 more I cannot. Dear husband, do that which is 
 right in the sight of God and your own con- 
 science." 
 
 *' Good wife," was my rejoinder, " by God's 
 blessing you have removed a trouble that lay heavy 
 on my soul. 'Tis passing sweet to feel we are not
 
 REMOVAL TO KINGSBRIDGE. 
 
 only 'one flesh,' but something even nearer and 
 diviner still, of one mindy in our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 * as being heirs together of the grace of life.'" 
 
 After my ejedlment from my living, it became 
 necessary that I should seek some other home, as 
 soon as might be, for my family. The severance 
 from the flock, over which I had been, I trust, a 
 watchful shepherd, filled me with anguish. They, 
 for their part, craved earnestly that I would still 
 remain among them, pledging themselves that I 
 and mine should lack neither food nor raiment, 
 whilst they had a groat left ; but a procedure of 
 this sort, I foresaw clearly, might vex and harass 
 my successor, and likewise greatly injure those poor 
 honest folk who loved me, and whom I loved, so 
 that, when the time of our parting came, I could not 
 help exclaiming in the words of Paul, " What mean 
 ye to weep, and break mine heart V 
 
 Guided by the advice of certain godly friends, I 
 came to this very little town of Kingsbridge, most 
 deledably situate in the extreme south of Devon- 
 shire. Ah, keenly do I recall the feelings with 
 which, while trudging after the cart that contained 
 my wife and little ones and household stufi^ — I 
 caught sight of the taper-pointed steeple of Kings- 
 bridge Church, which doth form so meet a centre 
 for the houses clustered around it; and though my 
 shadow waxed long as a giant's, in the rays of the 
 setting sun, I halted to gaze upon the beauteous
 
 8 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 scene before me. In one dire6tIon I discerned a line 
 of hills standing out, distin6l and clear, as a wall of 
 sapphire, against the summer sky ; beholding thus 
 from afar their purple summits, my thoughts were 
 unconsciously lifted up, and carried beyond their 
 utmost everlasting bounds : then my eyes rested 
 upon a piece of water, so land-locked by fertile 
 fields and green pastures, sloping gently down to 
 its brink, as to present the lovely appearance of a 
 fair, unruffled lake. The air of sweetness and quiet 
 brooding over all things stole into my soul, which 
 yet grew gradually oppressed with sorrowful re- 
 fledlion. 
 
 " The founders," thought I, "of that very church 
 before me, whose dainty spire riseth so straightly 
 and loftily towards the heavens, walked themselves 
 in darkness, though they knew it not. Age after 
 age passed away, and then came the first faint 
 glimmering of that bright dawn, which seemed to 
 harbinger a brighter day. The thick curtain of 
 spiritual night, which had so long time shrouded 
 the land, was fringed with light at its edges ; it rose 
 and spread, daily it waxed stronger and more glo- 
 rious. Anon the boy-king Edward died, and his 
 Papist sister reigned in his stead. Verily, " the 
 souls of them that were slain for the word of God 
 and the testimony which they held," " which came 
 out of great tribulation," will yet rise up against 
 her in judgment. This Queen was gathered to hej
 
 A SOLILOSlUr. 
 
 fathers, and another filled the throne : still, certain 
 of God's chosen people found little rest, at last less 
 mercy, under the imperious sceptre of that great 
 princess. She too departed ; and near half a cen- 
 tury of misrule made the land wail for the dead 
 lioness once so jealous of Its glory. Then did the 
 Lord see fit to raise up a man who, if neither free 
 from the flaws nor the sins which belong to our 
 fallen nature, was yet made a mighty instrument 
 for the furtherance of religious liberty. In his day 
 the boon was granted which God designed for every 
 creature who calleth upon His holy name : freedom 
 to worship Him according to the dictates of that 
 mysterious inward sense which men call conscience. 
 Truly when Oliver Cromwell died, children of mar- 
 tyred saints abroad, as well as those of the faithful at 
 home, might with lamentation cry, " There is a great 
 man fallen this day in Israel." And now to such as 
 these are the times again fraught with evil. Almighty 
 and most merciful Saviour, when will men begin to 
 pra6lise in all its fulness, with regard to their 
 fellow-men, thy heavenly precept, " Do unto others 
 as ye would they should do unto you ?" 
 
 Thus musing, I entered Kingsbridge, hoping to 
 find here bread and shelter, and a peaceable home 
 for my family. I was not altogether disappointed. 
 Conjointly with other faithful sufferingbrethren,Ihad 
 large encouragement to preach, at a sufficiently com- 
 modious meeting-house, taking beside every oppor-
 
 lO TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 tunity that offered for doing so abroad. I loved my 
 great Master's service (what other may compare with 
 it?) and He blessed my feeble labours, so that I lacked 
 neither Christian consolation nor companionship ; — 
 true, my purse was often without a tester in it, but 
 He who "heareth the young ravens when they cry" 
 never suffered my children to want a meal ; and 
 though my wife had been delicately bred, so sweetly 
 did she conform to our very altered worldly cir- 
 cumstances, showing me, by little tender actions 
 rather than words, how readily and pleasantly she 
 could bear this change for my — nay not my, but 
 Christ's sake, — ordering our narrow means with 
 such housewifely care as to " owe no man anything," 
 that I, observing her prudent, gentle, and most 
 affectionate carriage, felt a deeper love, a warmer 
 admiration for her than in the flowery days of court- 
 ship, or those of our young, untried, smiling, 
 wedded love. But the unpeaceableness and com- 
 motion of these sad latter months have, as I said 
 at the beginning of my paper, spread over the whole 
 land, and reached into places scarce known before. 
 It showeth, in no little degree, how restless, adlive, 
 and searching a thing, the spirit of persecution must 
 be, in that it should ever find out Kingsbridge at 
 all, and, alack ! having found it, soon stir up cruel 
 foes, to put the late enadlments in such force against 
 us, that the doors of our meeting-house are nailed 
 up, and the benches and windows broken. It would
 
 BITTER ENEMIES. i i 
 
 now be as much as our lives are worth to venture 
 there. So at this present time, when we assemble 
 ourselves together for worship, we are constrained 
 to meet in bye-roads, or distant fields, or steal like 
 thieves into each other's houses during the watches 
 of the night. Not a few kind hearts among the 
 townsfolk pity our misfortunes. But they durst 
 not show it, save in a covert way, for in our im- 
 mediate neighbourhood we have a bitter enemy in 
 Squire Reynells, a magistrate, and another still 
 harder to escape, in the lusty person of Master 
 Beare, a country gentleman of good estate ; he hath 
 a familiar, ever ready to do his bidding, in the 
 town constable, John Lucas. This sorry fellow is 
 chief of a band of spies and eavesdroppers, who, 
 under cover of the Conventicle Act, work us all the 
 woe and mischief they can, till, like one of old, we 
 are ready to cry, — 
 
 " Our heart is faint for those things ; our eyes 
 are dim." 
 
 " Because of the mountain of Zion, which is 
 desolate, the foxes walk upon it." 
 
 " Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever ; thy throne 
 is from generation to generation." 
 
 " Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and 
 forsake us for so long a time } "
 
 chapter II. 
 
 "The Re'u. Mr. Hicks attetids a Theological Disputation — Unnvelcome 
 [Visitors arrive in his Absence. 
 
 ESTERDAY, about sunrise, I heard 
 the expedled low knock of Master 
 Burdwood at my garden-gate. Being 
 already dressed, I ran down and ad- 
 mitted him on the instant. Early as the hour was, 
 he had walked a good distance from the country in 
 order to bear me company at the meeting for 
 theologic disputation — with divers matters of spi- 
 ritual discipline, besides other weighty affairs under 
 consideration by our Nonconformist brethren — de- 
 signed to be holden that day in the house of a 
 certain gentleman, well-affecfled towards us, full 
 twenty miles distant from Kingsbridge. 
 
 In less troublous times we had been wont for 
 this purpose to confer together, either at Exon, or 
 some other town of repute in the county ; but the 
 whole aspedl of things is now so changed for the 
 worse concerning us, that 'tis only by the gracious
 
 THE REV. MR. JELLINGER. I J 
 
 sufferance — I might almost say, though my heart 
 and pen heartily mislike the mean sentiment this 
 word conveys, the connivance — of a few influential 
 personages — the noble gentleman I have just re- 
 ferred to is one of them — we are able to enjoy this 
 highly-prized and salutary privilege at all. Of 
 cruel necessity, for the present it must keep a season 
 in abeyance ; but while a spark of liberty is left in 
 England, can never quite be extinguished. 
 
 Shortly after Master Burdwood's arrival, poor 
 Master Christian Jellinger, who dv/elleth at the 
 extreme end of the town, came also to my gate. 
 I knew his hollow cough, and hasted to let him in, 
 for he was avised of our purpose, and would very 
 gladly have gone along with us, but this his infirmi- 
 ties hindered. Master Jellinger's spirit, lodged in a 
 weak, sickly, crazy body, is ofttimes overcast with 
 melancholy, as with a cloud. When I've essayed 
 to cheer our drooping brother by remarking " that 
 the nature of clouds is not to remain fixed and 
 settled ; they swiftly pass away, and then the shin- 
 ing of the sun appeareth all the brighter by reason 
 of the gloom which has preceded it," he, with a sigh, 
 did answer, " Master Hicks, you have living sun- 
 shine in your heart ; mine is a barred prison it may 
 never enter." Since his ejed:ment from his good 
 living he preacheth seldom, but his pen lies not idle ; 
 a portion of its produce he now showed us, in 
 numerous letters of a surprising length, filled with
 
 H 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 solid truth, if expressed in somewhat ornate and 
 diffuse style. These he charged me straitly de- 
 liver to certain reverend ministers, who would be 
 present at the disputation. Master Jellinger then 
 proceeded to make his letters up exceeding carefully, 
 in a parcel so large I could scarce thrust it down 
 the widest of my pockets, and when gotten there 
 'twas heavy enough to draw my coat awry, which 
 Brother Burdwood perceiving, began to laugh ; 
 whereupon I rather tartly reproved him, for Master 
 Jellinger, from us, needeth all the more polite 
 tenderness, seeing he was reared in foreign parts ; 
 and to the Kingsbridge folk, when first he came 
 hither, he seemed as strange as if he had been born 
 in another planet, instead of another country. But 
 if the town-gossips — of which sort there be pretty 
 many for so small and hid a place — seek to pry 
 into his concerns, he cloaketh himself in a kind of 
 moody reserve, which their scissors are not sharp 
 enow to cut an eye-hole through. 
 
 My wife upon this particular morning, having 
 got up before the lark had left his little nest in the 
 moist grass, the wood was a-sparkling and crackling 
 merrily upon her well-swept hearth, and the por- 
 ringers set out in neat order. When 1 handed Master 
 Jellinger our great Bible, most sonorously did he read 
 therefrom the 1 2 1 st Psalm, laying a peculiar feel- 
 ing stress upon the last verse, to which I heard a 
 very sweet, low voice close beside me fervently
 
 rHE REK MR. BURDWOOD. 
 
 15 
 
 respond the " Amen." Master Burdwood next 
 prayed. Few men have richer or more copious 
 gift that way than he. Ere rising from our knees 
 I hkewise earnestly implored a blessing. 
 
 Breakfast being quickly ready, we partook plea- 
 santly together of the savoury porridge. That 
 finished, I told my wife I had so ordered as 
 to return the same night ; and again promising 
 anxious Master Jellinger I would strive to remember 
 the least of his requests, we lovingly bid each other 
 God-speed, and Brother Burdwood and I set forth 
 in such brisk, lively manner, that by eight o'the clock 
 we were well advanced on our journey. To pass 
 the time profitably he and I began a discourse 
 touching our several Christian experience, each 
 acknowledging to the other how clearly the gra- 
 cious, immediate, and overruling providence of the 
 Almighty showed itself in the daily — yea, hourly, 
 concerns of ourselves and families. It was to the full 
 as apparent in very little and humble things as in 
 those we considered the chief turning-points of life. 
 My good friend, when he left the University, had, 
 like myself, a living presented him. Refusing to 
 conform, eje6lion followed, and he was likewise de- 
 nied the prosecuting certain plans, which to a person 
 of his scholarship appeared feasible, for the sup- 
 porting himself and family. In this situation, 
 though a gentleman of very ancient descent, he, 
 with the little money left him, considered it no
 
 1 6 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 harm to rent a few acres of land, on which he and 
 his young sons may be seen labouring like plain 
 husbandmen — Master Burdwood preaching beside, 
 whenever opportunity serves, to the numbers who 
 flock to hear him. 
 
 " Paul/' quoth he, " both wrote and preached — 
 how grandly, how gloriously — as an inspired apostle 
 of the Lord ; yet Paul worked with his own hands, 
 rather than be chargeable to any. And is it not 
 better for me and mine to live hardly and fare 
 poorly, than grow burthensome to others ? I am 
 not ashamed to dig, and when I can no longer dig, 
 neither shall I be ashamed to accept thankfully the 
 . morsel given me for Christian love and pity ; but 
 I and my dear children prefer earning, with God's 
 blessing, our honest bread in the sweat of our brow, 
 while we are able." 
 
 Such is noble Master James Burdwood, and all 
 good men that know, are constrained to rcspeft, as 
 much as love him. Proceeding on our way, he 
 observed to me, " How hard it seemeth. Brother 
 Hicks, at the first, for godly folk, yet how pre- 
 cious it proveth to them afterwards, — the learning 
 to ' walk by faith, not sight.' You and 1 may 
 be made more fully to master this holy lesson than 
 now we wot of." 
 
 " That is also my own belief," replied I. *' Our 
 present condition is painful and mortifying to the 
 flesh : if it become worse, still, from the depths of
 
 THE RICHES OF POFERTr. IJ 
 
 sorrow and humiliation, our Lord can cause arise 
 a sweetness and consolation never proved before. 
 Do you know I often feel more peace and comfort, 
 more of Christ's presence in my soul, in my straits 
 and poverty, than when I v/as at ease concerning 
 things temporal ? " 
 
 " Then long, for your soul's health, may you 
 be kept poor," said Master Burdwood, smiling. 
 " But," he rejoined, " my own heart bears testi- 
 mony to the truth of what you have been de- 
 scribing. Poverty like ours, my brother, hath 
 not unfrequently precious riches, which this world's 
 wealthy ones little reck the value of. Just as 
 the barrenest ground on earth is ofttimes found 
 nearest to veins of the most precious ore. 'Tis easy, 
 yea, sometimes pleasant, 1 trow, for the carnal, 
 when they are i' the vein, to give of their abundance 
 to them that lack ; though the test of generosity 
 lieth in the being forced to deny oneself in things 
 the want of which must be felt, or the possession 
 greatly desired, in order thereby to relieve the 
 wants of they who need help. Many of our dear 
 brothers and sisters in Christ are sorely pinched ; 
 but freely do they give, when there may be only 
 * a handful of meal left,' to such as are more hungry 
 than themselves." 
 
 " And the riches of this poverty are sumless ; 
 and no hearts on earth. Master Burdwood, can ever 
 be so closely knit, or sound the wondrous depth and 
 
 c
 
 I 8 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 constancy of which even human love is capable, like 
 those who have suffered — who do suffer — I scarce 
 dare think how much. When my turn comes to 
 be weighed in the balance, God grant I may not be 
 ' found wanting.' " 
 
 In talk of this kind we duly arrived at our 
 journey's end, where the goodly sight and cordial 
 greeting of our assembled brethren amazingly re- 
 freshed and cheered us. Some had come from the 
 furthest parts of the county to be present; and con- 
 spicuous among them all was the stately, graceful 
 figure and comely face of Master John Howe, whose 
 person doth seem a meet dwelling-place for the soul 
 that inhabiteth it. He being on a short sojourn 
 with friends at his old place of Torrington, thought 
 fit to join us ; and no sooner did his dark, clear, 
 piercing eye perceive me, than, making to where I 
 was, he welcomed me with an affedlion that made 
 my heart leap ; for I lived in close friendship with 
 his dear departed father-in-law — excellent Master 
 Hughes. And here I will observe, when Master 
 Howe arose to speak, which he did more than once, 
 on certain subjects propounded by the elder of the 
 ministers, these topics were handled and treated by 
 him in a manner so able and masterful, a power of 
 reasoning so acute and nervous, but subordinate to, 
 and kept in bounds by, a spirit so gracious, mild, and 
 catholic, that those he gravelled in argument were 
 in nowise hurt or offended — for he sought to con-
 
 A YOUTHFUL TIMOTHY. 
 
 19 
 
 vince, not triumph, by an eloquence withal neither 
 imitable nor attainable by any amount of brain- 
 work : It resembled the unconscious, majestic flow 
 of some glad, mighty river, proceeding from a 
 source which Is exhaustless. Master Howe may 
 have his equal, yet 'twould, methlnks, be difficult, 
 either In natural gifts, acquired furniture, or prac- 
 tical piety (which I hold to be the marrow of true 
 godliness of life), to find his superior. 
 
 Beside him sate Master Lewis Stucley, who might, 
 had he so willed, have attained to great worldly 
 honour and preferment — the Duke of Albemarle 
 being his kinsman ; but he chose something nobler 
 than peers or princes can bestow, namely, a free, 
 untrammelled conscience. One of his high ances- 
 tors. In time past, was the valiant standard-bearer 
 of an English monarch ; Master Stucley likewise 
 beareth bravely the banner of "Him who hath 
 chosen him to be a soldier," — yea, who is " the 
 Prince of the kings of the earth." 
 
 I took notice also of a young gentleman present 
 I had never met before, the sweet composure and 
 fine gravity of whose aspedt greatly pleased me. 
 An air of mingled modesty and wisdom presaged 
 parts of no common order. The careless adjust- 
 ment of his cloak and band, the exceeding plainness 
 of his garb, tokened well for indifference to youth- 
 ful vanities of outward adornment. When asked 
 for an opinion, he gave It, not before ; and with 
 
 c 2
 
 20 rnouBLous times. 
 
 a very graceful, becoming diffidence, speaking 
 pertinently and briefly, but in so incomparably 
 engaging a manner that I longed to hear him at 
 greater length. I perceived the elder ministers 
 regarded this Master John Hamner somewhat as 
 Paul did Timothy, whom he called his "own son in 
 the faith," Master Howe, smiling pleasantly, cast 
 an approving eye of love upon his youthful brother. 
 I had a talk aside with Master Flavel, likewise 
 Master Quicke, sometime vicar of Kingsbridge, 
 who hath been to prison once, and is ready to 
 go again, if his persecutors see fit to send him ; for 
 he scrupleth not declaring, he " must obey God 
 rather than man." " I had scarce a gold piece 
 left. Master Hicks," he observed, " when they 
 clapped me up in gaol, and I could ill bear the 
 selling of my books, for ye know to a scholar they 
 are treasures he can hardly tell how to part company 
 with." (Master Quicke hath all his life been a 
 very searching, painful student ; his common wont 
 is to rise with the sun, the more closely to apply 
 himself to his learning.) "But the Lord made 
 rich amends to me : my heart was full of heavenly 
 joy and comfort, and my spirit fresh and vigorous, 
 all the while I lay in my stone cage." By nature 
 he hath a certain warmth of disposition, which some- 
 times makes him weep over little hastinesses that 
 have hurt none save himself. As a preacher, 
 zealous, fervent, and counted of most uncommon
 
 rHE REV. MR. FLAVEL. 21 
 
 liveliness, which in Kingsbridge Church Master 
 Quicke found full need for. With little to give, 
 yet hath he such tender bowels to poor souls in 
 distress, that in the hearts of Kingsbridge folk, the 
 good deeds of this pious vicar are better recorded 
 than ever a brass in the chancel can do it hereafter. 
 Master Flavel is a person of most gracious con- 
 ditions ; he forgiveth injuries and indignities done 
 to himself, as if his chiefest delight on earth was to 
 " overcome evil with good ;" ever ready to think 
 and speak charitably of others ; and his pen is so 
 fruitful and ingenious, that it may truly be called 
 " the pen of a ready writer." I doubt not his 
 writings will tend to keep his name fragrant as long 
 as there shall be good books printed, or folk 
 inclined to read 'em. Master Flavel told me that 
 now he findeth it convenient, for sake of secrecy, 
 to preach at midnight., in the house of a certain 
 honourable family, who show him favour ; and that 
 when even at that mirk season their vast and gloomy 
 hall is thronged with eager listeners, and the flame 
 of the torches falleth strongly upon so many atten- 
 tive, often tearful faces — this sight, working upon 
 his peculiar frame of mind, hath given him a new 
 thought (and with him thought is a seed which 
 begetteth choice similes ; he knoweth how to clothe 
 in fitting words), he meekly trusted a divine 
 undiori, made precious to the souls of his hearers, 
 of that city which the glory of God maketh bright
 
 22 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 perpetually, for " the Lamb is the light thereof," 
 and where "there shall be no night." 
 
 In this assemblage of ours there were ancient 
 ministers, true fathers in the church on earth, men 
 who had fought without flinching in the battle of 
 spiritual warfare which raged so fiercely in their 
 youth ; and some will carry its cruel scars, from the 
 knife and the branding-iron, to their graves — men, 
 whom their bitterest foes acknowledged masters of 
 human, as we did of divine, learning ; and they 
 now, in their grey hairs, as with one voice, exhorted 
 all around them to " hold fast the profession of 
 faith, steadfast and unwavering, for His sake who 
 hath promised that " if we suffer, we shall also 
 reign with Him." 
 
 At eventide I was constrained to bid these, my 
 dear brethren and fellow-labourers in the Lord, 
 farewell — Master Burdwood, by reason of having 
 business in the next town, whither he purposed pro- 
 ceeding on the morrow, remained behind. So, with 
 a heart revived and comforted, and a mind girded 
 up and strengthened — for Solomon saith truly, 
 " As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the 
 countenance of his friend " — I set my face home- 
 ward. Though I walked with all diligence, the 
 night was at its deepest ere I neared Kingsbridge, 
 and the great fair moon had climbed the silent 
 heavens. Foremost among the stars I beheld Venus, 
 shining with a lustre that did seem to separate, even
 
 A REVERIE SHARPLY BROKEN. 
 
 23 
 
 while making her the loveliest of them all. " She, 
 too," mused I, " must fall from yon bright sphere 
 and cease to be^ when the spirit now informing this 
 frail clay of mine, which can but dimly compre- 
 hend either the glory or the purpose of her march 
 with time, shall remain indestru6tible — yea, eternal 
 as Him who made those heavenly lights, * the 
 works of His fingers,' and appointed them their 
 places and their seasons. Compared with a reflec- 
 tion like this, how mean and little seemeth all that 
 man holdeth sway or exerciseth dominion over — 
 the life which now is with that which is to come ! I 
 marvel not that Job delighted in the fair science 
 of astronomy, as his description of * the sweet 
 influence of the Pleiades,' and the * bands of 
 Orion,' very clearly proveth ; nor that the Chal- 
 deans, from their lofty towers on the plains of 
 Shinar, loved so to watch — till the watch became a 
 worship — those most glorious luminaries." Here 
 my reverie was sharply broken by a voice I thought 
 I knew, crying, " Hist, master, hist !'' and the next 
 moment good Crispin Colling's eldest son swung 
 himself nimbly down from the bough of a tree, on 
 which he had been perched, awaiting for my 
 appearance on the road. By the light of the moon 
 I could see his face, and perceived he was the 
 messenger of bad news. 
 
 " Hath aught evil," exclaimed I, " befallen my 
 wife or children ?"
 
 24 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 " Squire Reynells," replied he, " and his men 
 have broken into your house." 
 
 " My family have not been ill-treated ?" 
 
 " Ohj Mistress Hicks, father said — and he was 
 on the stairs till they knocked him down — bore it 
 bravely ; yet I saw her cheeks turn white as those of 
 a corpse, when, after calling her names, they 
 began " 
 
 The lad checked himself. 
 
 " Go on ; let me know all. Keep nothing 
 secret." 
 
 " Sir," answered he, hesitating, and growing very 
 confused, '' Mistress Hicks gave them never a 
 word, till they began to cry you down, in so shock- 
 ing a manner, that, clasping her hands tightly 
 together, she said, loud enough for us in the street 
 to hear every word, ' Revile me, who am a poor, 
 weak woman, if ye like ; but my husband — ah, 
 cowards, abuse him not in presence of his wife !' " 
 
 " The true heart ! Prithee, child, tell me their 
 pretext for offering this violence." 
 
 " Why, Sir, Squire Reynells had scent of a 
 preaching. Though he found his mistake, they 
 threw some of your things out at the window." 
 
 " Did this haughty man thus molest my poor 
 household ? Surely the neighbours " 
 
 " Were 'most afraid to look at the Squire, for 
 he's a terrible gentleman. Some of the boldest did 
 venture faintly cry * Shame !' when his back was
 
 MISCHIEF BREJVING. 
 
 25 
 
 turned ; but they were glad to slink. Mistress 
 Hicks charged me herself to try meet you, and tell 
 what had been done, for she greatly feared your 
 coming home before Squire Reynells, with his men, 
 were clean gone from the town. As they left the 
 house. Sir, I spied Master Arthur Reynells pluck a 
 book out of his pocket, and eyeing sourly two or 
 three folk nearest the porch — Master Best was one 
 — begin to write something, when the Squire 
 clapped him on the shoulder, and they rode away 
 laughing together." 
 
 " Humph !" thought I, " then there will soon, I 
 fear, be after-mischief brewing."
 
 chapter III. 
 
 Barred Doors. 
 
 H E church clock chimed one as I 
 entered the town, where all was buried 
 in profound repose and quiet. At the 
 back of my house a little window over- 
 looks the garden path — the same by which we had 
 left in the morning ; from this window streamed 
 the ray of a lamp, trimmed by a careful watcher. 
 Though I trod softly, my footsteps were heard, the 
 casement flew open, a face peered out, then 
 instantly disappeared ; the bolt of the door was 
 hurriedly drawn, and, with a trembling kind of 
 joyfulness, my wife admitted me. Her first ques- 
 tion was, had I seen her messenger, Crispin 
 Collings } 
 
 " Ay, heard him also ; and if we can no longer 
 count on escaping insults and annoyance, like those 
 you have been subjed to this past day, take heart :
 
 TALK BETWEEN MR. HICKS AND HIS WIFE. 27 
 
 by God's help, depend on't, we shall be brought 
 through or supported under them." 
 
 " But," said my wife, after concluding her 
 account of Squire Reynells' visitation, in which 
 she passed over, or very slightly mentioned — 
 wincing while doing so, as if it gave her pain barely 
 to think upon — the scurril language of my 
 defamers touching myself, and dropt not a word 
 about her own good and commendable condudl 
 during the attack, — " I marked those rude, boisterous 
 persons. The justice and his men seemed greatly 
 chagrined, notwithstanding the terror and confu- 
 sion they surprised us into." Meaning some neigh- 
 bours, decent, and very civil bodies, who, while 
 she was sitting busy at her spinning-wheel, had just 
 put their harmless noses within the porch to bid her 
 good-day, when Squire Reynells and his attendants 
 burst like a storm upon and scattered them. 
 " They surely can do no more mischief," quoth 
 she, casting a rueful glance around her. 
 
 " Ah," thought 1, " may it be so ordered ! And, 
 doubtless, this magistrate and his followers were 
 chagrined at not seizing me as they desired, in the 
 midst of what their profanity calleth a conventicle. 
 Still, Arthur Reynells' jotting down the name of 
 certain a-lingering outside to my mind wears an 
 ugly look ; for to men like he, truth and justice in 
 sooth are as empty sounds. 'Tis plain, that / 
 myself am the mark these scornful archers seek to
 
 28 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 hit ; but fear of such shall never hinder me from 
 either preaching abroad, or speaking in private, 
 when or wherever I can find place and fitting 
 season for so doing. John Lucas, ere they stop 
 me, must first put his gagging-iron in my mouth. 
 'Twill cut me to the quick, wife," observed I, " to 
 see our good Crispin or honest Guy, and others 
 we love, mulcted in fines they cannot pay, and in 
 default of payment wantonly punished ; I would 
 far rather suffer in my own person." 
 
 " That,'' replied she, " is you all over, and 
 minds me of a pidure I once beheld, where the limner 
 showed a hero binding up his friend's wounds, while 
 regardless of the bleeding of his own." 
 
 " Nay, that is far too high and romantical a 
 conceit. I would have you read" — trying to frown 
 — " a plain man of not unkindly nature like your 
 husband more soberly ; but, as I was saying, if any 
 wrong is done these worthy folk, I shall grieve 
 sorely, though what can my sympathy avail them ? 
 Alack, I am powerless and very poor." 
 
 As I spoke the last words, the light I had taken 
 in my hand shone softly upon the faces of two of 
 my children, sound asleep upon a pallet in the 
 corner of our chamber. Stooping down for a 
 moment, I contemplated the blooming features of 
 my pretty boys : both their heads lay on the same 
 pillow, and the eldest— who his mother told me 
 showed signs of a sturdy spirit during the uproar,
 
 HIS BOOKS MOILED AND RANSACKED. 
 
 29 
 
 while the next in age was ahnost frighted into 
 fits — had his arm thrown with a child-proteding 
 air about this weaker brother's neck. The careless 
 grace of sleep had mixed their curly locks together; 
 those shining rings which I love well to twist and 
 twine around my finger. How could I say I was 
 poor ? God pardon me the hasty speech ! Why, 
 there in that room were treasures of His giving, 
 for which the jewels of a monarch's crown would 
 prove a worthless exchange. 
 
 Being heartily tired, I soon fell into a heavy 
 slumber, from which I did not waken till broad 
 day ; and then the first thing my eye lighted on 
 was our carved oaken press, from which the doors 
 had barbarously been torn away. Its contents, 
 mostly linen of her own spinning, my wife told 
 me — beside a portion of our well-saved raiment, 
 fast growing frail and thread-bare — had been 
 coarsely handled by our late rude disturbers, the 
 dirty traces of whose boots were visible all over the 
 house. Yet that which vexed and disturbed me 
 more than having hat and wig thrown out of window 
 was, to find how cruelly my books had been moiled 
 and ransacked — worse than all ; not only the brown 
 ancient covers of some rent and defaced, but the 
 contents of a full ink-horn emptied in malice over 
 the pages of others, which had descended to me 
 from my learned ancestors ; likewise a manuscript 
 that cost me much toil, though the toil grew to be
 
 30 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 a delight — namely, my treatise upon "The Hea- 
 venly Substance," — Squire Reynells no sooner 
 espied lying on the writing-table, than, like a 
 hawk pouncing on its prey, straight he snatched 
 the papers up, and, finding what they were, tore 
 them fiercely and then essayed to cast the discourse 
 in the fire, from whence my good wife boldly 
 snatched, and, scorched though it was, smothered 
 it in her apron, he swearing savagely, her husband 
 might be made find his goose-quill could be turned 
 into a rod, and a pretty sharp one, for his own 
 back. 
 
 " The contemptuous behaviour of this churl, 
 dear wife," cried I, taking the blurred, disfigured 
 manuscript, " stirreth my anger barely to think 
 upon." 
 
 " Then do not think upon it," said she, pensively. 
 " Anger never mended a mischief, whereas love 
 healeth many." 
 
 " Right, and thou art a good remembrancer. I 
 have need pray for grace to subdue this choleric 
 passion. Oh, while preaching and writing sermons 
 for other folk, may the Lord enable mc to show 
 that my own godly, humble life is the truest appli- 
 cation of them, seeing ' faith, if it hath not works, 
 is dead, being alone.' " 
 
 Left to myself, I began more coolly to refled on 
 the forcible entry of this magistrate — proceeding 
 from a mere groundless suspicion — into our pre-
 
 jiN IDEA PRESENTS ITSELF TO HIS MIND. 3 I 
 
 mises, and under present circumstances, my inability 
 
 to prevent the recurrence of a like, or perhaps 
 
 worse violence, should he be disposed to offer it. 
 
 An idea then gradually presented itself to my mind, 
 
 concerning which, all I shall here say is, the more 
 
 I pondered upon, the more prudent and feasible did 
 
 the measure appear. Now those rare books of 
 
 mine, mused I, regarding ruefully the one in my 
 
 hand, a quarto of goodly bulk, whose leathern sides 
 
 and brazen clasps had been sorely damaged. Its 
 
 title-page was once adorned with a portrait of 
 
 Augustine ; on this grave and noble countenance, 
 
 while a child at my mother's knee, well had I loved 
 
 to gaze, as in turn did my little sons at mine. The 
 
 fair admirable features were fouled, and smirched, 
 
 and made grim to blackness in very wantonness of 
 
 mischief by the barbarous spoiler. With profane 
 
 touch had he sullied leaves where I have found 
 
 mute yet eloquent companionship with souls a 
 
 " little lower than the angels." These golden 
 
 moments, if fled, are not wasted, I trow. I must 
 
 bring the plan — the best my brain can devise 
 
 — to preserve such as remain undamaged being 
 
 served in like manner, if forced by a pang to attest 
 
 the truth of Master Quick's observe when obliged 
 
 to sell his. Again, this check was doubtless needed; 
 
 I may have been too prone to sip the stream of 
 
 other men's wisdom and experience, when I should 
 
 have drunk deeply from the divine fountain of
 
 32 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 heavenly living water, which supplied that stream ; 
 been more earnest and diligent in searching the 
 oracles of God for myself, the Scriptures given by 
 His inspiration, for the use, teaching, warning, and 
 consolation of those who lay hold upon eternal life. 
 Is there a book for the time of trouble, the time of 
 self-probation, the time of sickness, the time of 
 health, or youth, or joy, yea, till time itself be 
 merged into eternity, a learned doftor, or a child of 
 tender years, can learn from, lean upon, cling to, 
 rejoice over, be comforted with, as with the Bible ? 
 In retaining this one, loss of all others will be 
 made up. 
 
 But I have made digression from what I was 
 about to write, which is : The governors of public 
 affairs, and framers of our laws, do not merely give 
 countenance, they openly lavish favours and pre- 
 ferments on men — I cannot prefix the ancient, 
 courteous title of gentle'man to their names — of 
 Squire Reynells' and Master Beare's complexion. 
 When we appeal for redress of our grievances to 
 those in power, it seemeth to have the effedt of 
 increasing, instead of lessening, the evils we groan 
 under. They in high places seek to tread us down, 
 for nought save cleaving firmly to the tenets of the 
 faith our righteous fathers held, and saints and 
 martyrs before them, who glorified God "in the 
 fires." The liberties they many of whom died for, 
 it becometh us never to slacken our efforts in
 
 AN INTERRUPTION. 33 
 
 Striving to possess. The Lord will help, and 
 deliver His people from their oppressors. Till 
 then, let us betake ourselves to a refuge, from 
 which Satan may not drive, nor hell affright, nor 
 all the powers of earth combined debar us. That 
 refuge is prayer. Let us "pray without ceasing," 
 and grace will be given us " to do well, and suffer 
 for it, taking it patiently." 
 
 I had written thus far when a confused hum of 
 voices, followed by a faint scream, and the sharp 
 sliding of bolts, made me throw away my pen ; 
 and now, after considerable lapse of time, I hastily 
 take it up again, to make minute of the cause of 
 this interruption. 
 
 'Twas close upon the hour of noon, when I was 
 startled at sounds in our porch like strokes dealt 
 with a hearty will from a bar, or cudgel. In a 
 moment my wife rushed into the room where I was 
 sitting, and her lips all white, and trembling, cried 
 out, " I've barred the doors, for John Lucas and 
 his man are below." She then passionately im- 
 plored me not to wax too bold. " Make your mind 
 easy on that score," said I ; " but there is one 
 thing I straitly enjoin — stay here with the children," 
 who, poor things, were holding by her skirts, and 
 beginning to wail. Then running nimbly up the 
 stair, I suddenly opened a window in front of my 
 house, and spied two men belabouring my door, 
 might and main, with their staves. As may be 
 
 D
 
 34 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 supposed, the noise they made had brought a num- 
 ber of folk together, and others were running as 
 fast as their legs could, carry them. 
 
 No sooner did the tallest of these men catch 
 sight of me steadily regarding him, than he bade 
 his comrade desist, and the horrid din being stopped, 
 shouted forth, " Master Hicks, in the King's 
 name I command that you unbar your door to give 
 us entrance," and producing a warrant, just signed 
 by the hand of Squire Reynells, read it aloud ; 
 whereby I learnt, in accordance with the late enadl- 
 ments and statutes framed for the suppression of 
 conventicles, and the chastisement of supposed 
 holders and abettors thereof, this implacable magis- 
 trate had levied a fine of twenty pounds upon me. 
 To say nought of its spirit, I concluded the letter 
 of the warrant was illegal, therefore firmly refused 
 the constable admission. Hearing which resolve, 
 he — an exceeding gaunt, lean, hard-featured man — 
 looked up at me as I stood in the window, with a 
 pair of eyes so ravenous in their regards, that 
 though I never saw a wolf but once in my life, the 
 sight of his ill-favoured visage brought the beast 
 quite fresh to my remembrance ; and folk say the 
 inward temper of this man is harsh and cruel as 
 his outward person would seem to indicate. Still 
 glaring at me, and holding the writ high as a 
 remarkably long arm could reach, that all might 
 see it, he exclaimed fiercely, " If ye still persist in
 
 JOHN LUCAS. 2 5 
 
 keeping us without, your door shall instantly be 
 broke open, and distress taken upon your chattels." 
 
 Here I felt my coat-skirt gently pulled, and a 
 deep sob told me my wife was close behind. Turn- 
 ing round, with as severe a countenance as I could 
 possibly put on, she retreated to the stair-head, but 
 near enough to hear all that passed. 
 
 " John Lucas," replied I, " it is both right and 
 lawful to render unto Cassar " 
 
 " None of your cant," roared he, '' I know 
 nought about Cassar. Come down and unbar the 
 door, or we'll soon make ye," and he and his com- 
 rade banged at it so violently, the floor shook 
 whereon I was standing. 
 
 I, making earnest gesture to those gathered in 
 the street, called at the top of my voice, " Let me, 
 for one minute's space, I entreat ye, be heard." 
 
 " Hold, John Lucas, hold your noise. We will 
 hear what Master Hicks has got to say," and 
 straightway some lusty young 'prentice fellows 
 began to press the constables, bawling, " Fair 
 play's a jewel ;" and one, pointing meaningly to 
 me, cried, " If he's to be baited and worried after 
 this fashion for what he has not done, who'll be 
 safe" — tapping the two men on the high crowns of 
 their hats — '■'■your worshipful master sees fit to 
 lay his hands upon ?" 
 
 A strong feeling of indignation was now fast 
 rising against my persecutors, and a brawny smith, 
 
 D 2
 
 ^6 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 with thews like a giant's, seizing the lesser one, 
 declared Nix Ford should be taught keep the 
 peace himself, while the crowd grew mightily 
 tickled to see the man kicking, spluttering, and 
 vowing all manner of reprisal, in the King's name. 
 Squire Reynells's, and I wot not whose beside. 
 They then began hem in John Lucas, who stood 
 motionless within the porch. I could not see his 
 face, but a dark shadow, falling grimly athwart 
 the sunshine on my threshold, told me where he 
 was. The disturbance outside not seeming to 
 lessen, I, fearing a mischief might ensue, put my 
 head out of window, and entreated the folk to let 
 the men alone, whereupon they desisted, and I 
 seized the opportunity to speak a few words some- 
 what to this effect : — That duty to God first, and 
 man next, I humbly strove by grace to make the 
 leading rule and adion of my life. I knew myself 
 to have as true and loyal a heart and nature as any 
 of those a-listening to me — yea, in a just cause, 
 I would cheerfully make any temporal sacrifice 
 required for the honour of the Crown. But the 
 liberty I craved, freedom to worship Him who is 
 " the King of kings," I trusted earthly suffering 
 or punishment might never daunt me from. " It 
 is," said I, warming with the subjecft as I went on, 
 " a sacred birthright, which man, be he never so 
 highly exalted by circumstance, has no right to 
 withhold, or alienate from his fellow-man."
 
 KEEP A STILL TONGUE. 
 
 37 
 
 Here some below cried, " Master Hicks, 'twere 
 better you should keep a still tongue." And, I 
 grieve to add, my poor wife not a little vexed me 
 by her sighs and tears, after the foolish manner of 
 women when affrighted. But let me do this fond 
 heart justice. What made her quail in this exceed- 
 ing craven manner, now I was present in person, 
 was the terror which possessed her soul, that I 
 should so commit myself, as to get dragged away 
 to gaol, by they who greatly desired to show me 
 this civility ? And John Lucas, stepping from 
 under the porch, full into view, folded his arms, 
 and fixing those strange eyes of his upon my face 
 — his wrinkled upper lip at the same time showing 
 his long, sharp teeth in so ugly a manner, that 
 I felt as if some evil thing were about to strike its 
 fangs in me — said, gruffly, " Go on, prating rebel, 
 / bid ye not stop." 
 
 " By witnesses of good credit," was my reply, 
 glancing, after a troubled pause, at his knitted, 
 grizzled bro.ws, " I can prove this warrant you are 
 come to serve, is issued on a pretext, false and 
 groundless as paltry and shameless. In this case, 
 surely the law has neither been broken nor evaded 
 by me or my friends ; if you still persist, for no 
 harm that I have done, trying to force your way 
 inside the house to waste, spoil, and turn us out 
 destitute, though I am not strong enow to resist, 
 never, of my own accord, will I consent unbar these
 
 38 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 doors to admit men for so evil and cruel a 
 purpose." 
 
 Either the peaceable, inoffensive carriage of my- 
 self and family had won us more affedlion and 
 sympathy than I before had knowledge of, or else 
 that innate love of truth and justice, which, though 
 it may be awhile kept down, is sure, at last, to 
 kindle, and break forth with all the more power in 
 true English hearts, or perhaps both together — I 
 cannot tell ; but all the townsfolk gathered around 
 — save some of the timider sort, who had prudently 
 retreated, like conies to their burrows — declared 
 they never would stand quietly by and see poor 
 Master Hicks and his wife and children so mal- 
 treated ; and the smith lifted up an arm, whose iron 
 strength few mortals of common build might dare 
 risk contadl with in strife. John Lucas, perceiving 
 the turn matters had taken, and that no entrance by 
 him into my house could then be effedled, turned 
 sullenly away, not, however, without, in a baffled 
 rage, clenching his bony fist, and again regarding 
 me, as I have before described — while he hissed, 
 rather than spoke, these words : " Master Parson, 
 'fore long we'll be closer acquainted."
 
 chapter IV. 
 
 A Beare — Minor Sacrifices resol'ved upon and made— The Result oj 
 Master Arthur Reynells' Memorandum. 
 
 ETHINKS an English yeoman, de- 
 scended from generations of the hke 
 condition before him, in prime of life, 
 robust in health, with a plentifully- 
 stocked estate, and large convenient house, shel- 
 tered by trees of his forefathers' planting, seated in 
 the midst of fields and meadows, which do not only 
 feed, clothe, employ himself and household, but 
 likewise recreate them with pure, sweet, wholesome 
 air, and all manner of pleasant, cheerful, rustical 
 sights and sounds — his land paying him back a rare 
 usury in golden harvests for the seed sown amid its 
 fruduous furrows — surely a lot of this kind I have 
 been describing, may be counted among the most 
 favoured and delightsome — the most peaceful, as 
 well as useful, if the receiver thereof possess a
 
 40 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 gracious heart and quiet nature — of any the Lord 
 bestoweth upon the sons of men. Just such a 
 goodly possession, as far as temporal blessings are 
 concerned, hath by natural heritance fallen to 
 Master Beare — of all our persecutors the most 
 dangerous — whose extraordinary a6tive forwardness, 
 in thus distressing and worrying us, would be 
 unexplainable by reason, were it not pretty well 
 known he greatly craveth the dignity of being made 
 a magistrate ; and to a certain party in power, who 
 can grant him this preferment, nought appearing 
 more acceptable than our punishment, he hath 
 keener edge for a pursuit of which folk say the 
 reward is assured. 
 
 Master Beare liveth upon his estate, in a flux of 
 pride and wasteful riot, being foremost in all bouts 
 of fighting, dicing, wassail, and other carnal diver- 
 sions. At the barbarous town baitings, his fierce 
 dogs, set on by their fiercer master, are ever the 
 first to gore, and the last to hang upon, the chained 
 and bellowing bull. Yet these horrid evil pastimes 
 he delighteth in rarely hinder Master Beare from 
 showing himself and his great white periwig, fine 
 laced coat, and doublet all a-blaze with gold and 
 scarlet, duly at church, where he sayeth the 
 responses in a voice louder than the parish clerk's, 
 or liker, may be, to the olden Pharisees', a " whited 
 sepulchre" to outward view, but within " full of 
 dead men's bones and all uncleanness."
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 41 
 
 I had so narrow an escape myself, a couple of 
 days agone, from falling bodily into his clutches, 
 that I now make somewhat careful entry concerning 
 the occasion which very nearly led to it, the par- 
 ticulars whereof have since been told me by they 
 who were v/itnesses of the whole affray. . 
 
 A good distance out of Kingsbridge lieth a 
 piece of waste, unfenced common, high enough for 
 those of our people set to watch — when we meet 
 there for worship — to give timely alarm if a sus- 
 picious party be seen approaching. Last Tuesday 
 the brethren, understanding either Master Tooker 
 or myself designed to preach there, were assembling 
 themselves in expectation of our arrival. But 
 God's interposing mercy had decreed otherwise. 
 Before I gat half way thither, two of the friends, 
 knowing the secret, rarely-trodden path by which 
 I was coming, met, and in so wild an alarm be- 
 sought me to flee for safety, that I yielded to their 
 importunity, and was thus again delivered from the 
 snare of the wicked ones who seek my ruin. 
 
 Master Beare, in conjunction with John Lucas, 
 had laid a plan to surround us — having a muster of 
 near a score followers for the purpose — and seize 
 upon me in the atJ of preaching. Then Lucas, 
 who hath been heard swear he hateth doing things 
 of this sort by halves, felt confident the threat so 
 lately uttered by him, when baffled at my own 
 door, could be fully carried into effed, for he
 
 42 . TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 greedily longeth to hale me to prison ; and, by 
 keeping concealed a little longer, this objedl must 
 have been gained and I taken in the manner my 
 enemies wished to take me ; but the fierce impa- 
 tience of Master Beare was permitted to forestal 
 and defeat his cruel purpose. He rode over the 
 ground where our meetings are sometimes holden, 
 mounted upon his fiery horse — a brute few like to 
 come near, though he sitteth him in a way that 
 mindeth one of the heathen fable of the Centaur, 
 the man seeming, truly, part of the beast, but the 
 beast by no means adorned by the burly human 
 figure planted upon its back — riding at full speed 
 after they who fled like timid sheep from before him ; 
 for such a man and horse are — it is a mercy — 
 seldom to be met. He thunderingly demanded if 
 Master Hicks had been among them ; hearing this 
 they mustered courage to halt, and with some 
 spirit declared, ^' I had noty neither had they seen 
 me near the spot," which was stridlly true. John 
 Lucas, on a sorry hack, and looking mighty chop- 
 fallen, next rode up. Master Beare, bending down, 
 whispered him a moment, and then, wheeling round, 
 galloped furiously after some poor frighted gentle- 
 women, cumbered by their heavy riding gear, 
 whom he espied in the distance, dashing into their 
 midst, and bespattering them with mud, even to 
 their hoods. In a fit oi tempestuous merriment at 
 their distradion, with hand of iron he reined up his
 
 GENTLEfVOMEN INSULTED. 43 
 
 horse, which pawed the ground, and champed the 
 bit till its skin was flecked with foam, showing like 
 snow-flakes on the blackness of a carcase where 
 not a white hair is to be found. Mad, ungodly 
 Master Beare, whose red face when in a passion — 
 — and he is rarely ever out of one — turneth almost 
 of a purple hue, now ceasing his hideous laughter, 
 began to rate these modest gentlewomen in lan- 
 guage so unseemly, that it made their ears tingle, 
 and cheeks burn with shame and anger, all ready, 
 as they were, to sink into the earth before him from 
 excess of fear. Meanwhile, John Lucas laid hold 
 of a slender stripling, who had previously been 
 cuffed and beaten by others of this evil company, 
 because they conceited him one of those set to 
 give warning of the approach of foes to the poor 
 flock thus rudely scattered. 
 
 " Ho ! ho ! young psalm-singer," said Lucas, 
 in his deep, grating voice, " thou shalt not slip 
 through my fingers like an eel. I'll have two 
 crown pieces paid on the instant," — a mean attempt 
 at jesting on the part of the constable, who knew 
 the lad was scarce like to be owner of two brass 
 farthings, — " or give thee a taste of my staff I'll 
 warrant thou'lt not forget in a hurry." 
 
 " Is it money you want ?" cried Robin Cheke, 
 putting his hands in his pockets, though for- 
 lornly conscious there was nothing in either of 
 them.
 
 44 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 " What dost hold parley with that rogue for ?" 
 shouted Master Beare, again coming up to Lucas. 
 " Leave him for me to settle." And striking spurs 
 in his horse, made a bound towards the poor youth, 
 but the creature he bestrode, whether of more 
 generous nature than its master, or disliking the 
 spur, suddenly recoiled on its haunches, nearly 
 flinging him out of the saddle. 
 
 However, Master Beare quickly recovered his 
 seat, and bade Lucas recapture Robin, who in 
 deadly fright had broken away, and gotten for 
 shelter behind a clump of stunted pollards, to 
 avoid the being trampled under the hoofs of the 
 plunging horse. The constable did so ; and as 
 he is a man of large sinewy frame, poor Robin 
 Cheke was cudgelled in such cruel manner, espe- 
 cially about the head and shoulders, that if his 
 beaver, strangely enow, had not cleaved pretty 
 close to his pate, a cracked skull would most like 
 have been the consequence. Other of Master 
 Beare's men, overtaking more defenceless flying 
 folk, drew their rapiers, and threatened to run 
 them through if ever they were caught there 
 again. 
 
 This shows what a pass things are coming to, 
 and I grieve to observe, this most violent dispersal 
 of the Lord's people by fearful menace and hard 
 blows hath struck a chill of terror into the souls of 
 some who loved well to warm themselves in the
 
 FEEBLE-MINDED FOLK. 
 
 45 
 
 sunshine of religion, but are not steeled with 
 courage to meet the storm of troubles gathering 
 about the strait and narrow path they profess to 
 choose. Truly these are sifting times ; the wheat 
 must soon be separate from the chaff, and not a 
 few we counted stable will perhaps veer with the 
 wind and turn with the tide. I pray fervently 
 those dear feeble-minded folk I have just made 
 allusion to, as showing tokens of dismay and fal- 
 tering, may, through saving grace, yet prove by 
 experience that " the weakness of God is stronger 
 than men." 
 
 I was about to shut up my note-book. Yet is 
 there another entry, of character altogether homely 
 and domestical (to a degree that some folk might 
 think savours of puerility), I incline, though of 
 such simple, small account, to jot down. But as 
 moments make up the sum of time, and drops of 
 water the ocean, so is our daily life chiefly com- 
 posed of and influenced by things too minute and 
 insignificant for any chronicler to record, or any 
 eye to note, save His, without whose knowledge 
 even a little mean bird, like yon sparrow, twittering 
 on the eaves which overhang my window, may not 
 fall to the ground unnoticed. I made mention 
 a while back, that as I was sitting alone in my 
 disordered chamber, the morning after Squire Rey- 
 nells sacked my house, a certain thought came into 
 my mind I had then neither time, nor inclination.
 
 46 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 to dilate upon, though now I can do so in a way 
 that filleth me with thankfulness, and this was the 
 motion I thus soliloquized at the time alluded 
 to : — 
 
 'Twould surely be a prudent measure in us to 
 dispose, as quickly as may be, of whatever super- 
 fluities we possess in our stock of household stuff 
 (those relics of the time when I was a prosperous 
 vicar), and, till quieter days return, keep nought 
 save what is barely required for our own and chil- 
 dren's wants. By so doing we shall avoid running 
 risk of the mortification of again seeing our goods 
 defaced and spoiled, besides raising a sum like to 
 prove of good service, now I am cut off from my 
 chief resource of earning a guinea ; for before the 
 cruel Five Mile Act (framed, it would seem, o'pur- 
 pose for the starving poor ministers) was put in full 
 force, I, having some experience of tuition during 
 my university life, was glad, when not other ways 
 engaged, to instruct, for a small fee, the sons of 
 certain of the Kingsbridge folk ; and my scholars 
 gathered willingly around me, for I ever strove as 
 schoolmaster to set learning with a serene and gra- 
 cious, not harsh and crabbed, aspedl before their 
 youthful eyes. I also remembered that on some 
 few minds the Almighty in His inscrutable wisdom 
 has bestowed the wondrous power of gaining know- 
 ledge almost by intuition, of comprehending the 
 subtle mysteries of science, or profounder secrets of
 
 A PATTERN SCHOOLMASTER. 47 
 
 nature, rather with the glance of a spiritual intelli- 
 gence unfettered by corporeal matter, than the 
 capacity of a mortal — these are the possessors of 
 the glorious but awful gift of the " talents" complete. 
 Being 'ware of my propensity to hold great and 
 shining natural parts in a too fond admiration, I did 
 pray (if any such might come under my teaching) for 
 all the more patience, skill, and gentleness, to take 
 encouragingly by the hand the weaker, duller, those 
 to whom only " one" had been vouchsafed (who, 
 to speak comparatively, found it a hard tug to con 
 aright the letters in a horn- book), and lead them 
 on, as best they were able to bear it. None of my 
 scholars, even the frowardly inclined, but, I'll make 
 bold to say, grew to respedl and love me ; and of 
 all feelings the sweetest is, to feel oneself beloved. 
 How perfe6l is the description of Him by whom, 
 through whom, and for whom all things were 
 created, though told in only three short words, 
 God is love ;" and in not many more we 
 have the distinguishing feature of His favoured 
 disciple: "he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in 
 God." These divine sentences flowed from an 
 inspired pen — yea, his who in the flesh leaned 
 upon the breast of the Redeemer of mankind. 
 
 I would also observe that in making all needful 
 efforts toward the support of our family, my wife 
 was never a whit behind me. Reckoned right 
 excellent at her needle, what once she pradised 
 
 cc
 
 48 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 for pleasure she ofttimes did now for profit. 
 Certain gentlewomen, finding her to be a most 
 dainty and nimble broidress, gave her plenty of 
 this work to do ; and before I could guess her 
 purpose, she had filled a little purse and put it in 
 my hand with a gladness of spirit that brought a 
 tear to my eye ; yet afterwards I could scarce for- 
 bear a smile, when I have seen her regarding her 
 rainbow silks, intent as a bee upon a knot of 
 garden flowers. In truth she ever mindeth me 
 (in the doing one household duty after another) of 
 a bee going busily from flower to flower, and making 
 honey for the little hive at home. 
 
 Now this matter I was meditating secretly in 
 my own mind, touching the disposal of the best 
 portion of our worldly goods, I likewise fully 
 resolved not think of carrying into efl^edt without 
 her entire and cheerful approval. My wife's quiet 
 submission to my will, thought I, in a matter of 
 this sort, will not suffice ; she must either heartily 
 commend the measure, or I will abandon it alto- 
 gether. For a household sacrifice of the sort I 
 mused upon afi^efteth gentlewomen more closely 
 than it doth their husbands. The simple wants of 
 a scholarly, and somewhat careless man, may be 
 almost comprised in a trencher to eat from and a 
 stool to sit upon. But they regard these things in 
 a very different light. Many a time hath my wife 
 broke an innocent jest with me, by declaring —
 
 MINOR SACRIFICES. 
 
 49 
 
 which was true enow — that I scarce could discern 
 the difference between a pewter dish or one of 
 costly porcelain, a silver charger or a wooden bowl; 
 but there is little like of her making a mistake of this 
 sort ; and most of those articles I was going to 
 avise with her about the disposal of, she prized as 
 relics of her happy girlhood in her father's house, 
 or, dearer still, our early wedded life. After some 
 further cogitation I at length gently unfolded my 
 plan ; as I rather reluctantly proceeded (for the 
 task proved harder than I thought) her face, at 
 first slightly overcast, assumed a look of thoughtful 
 attention, which gradually melted into a smile of 
 sweet and ready approval. Her good sense clearly 
 discerned its prudence, and my motion produced 
 the happiest effeCl, till I went on to say that the 
 books, with sundry other matters she well knew 
 how high a value I had once set upon, should be 
 the first things to go. 
 
 Then, with a pertinacity which nearly angered 
 me, she persisted in repeating, "I had much rather 
 sell my hood and kirtle than have your books 
 disposed of; just think how puzzled and at a loss 
 you will find yourself. Indeed," continued she, wax- 
 ing eloquent, " I can't conceive, dear husband, how 
 you could possibly manage to get on without 'em." 
 
 " That is a mistake," said I, a little nettled ; 
 " I trust my intelleftuals are as yet sufficiently 
 clear to enable me to find out, as well as defend the
 
 so 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 truth ; and to discern the costly treasures laid up 
 in the great storehouse of God's Holy Word, 
 without everlastingly holding the candle of another 
 man's learning in my hand for the purpose." 
 
 To cut this cavil short, it was not before I 
 declared resolutely that unless my part of this 
 household sacrifice was made as fully as I could do 
 so, our chattels and moveables must remain as 
 they were till the next inbreak from our enemies, 
 that she accorded her consent cordially, and thus 
 'twas settled. The sending the bellman round, 
 according to custom, being unprafticable for persons 
 in our situation, we found friendly folk, who, 
 heartily approving our wise resolve, kindly did 
 their best toward the carrying out our purpose, 
 by taking goods we could no longer count on pre- 
 serving in safety, at what I greatly feared was too 
 high a price — they named it themselves — for I 
 know " blessings are upon the head of the just," 
 and " that no man go ' beyond and defraud his 
 brother in any matter" is a divine command; and 
 be that matter never so little, a lively tender con- 
 science will not fail to remember it. 
 
 Yet there was a memory of the past associated 
 with some few of those familiar things which 
 centred strongest on two of the most brittle, and 
 therefore, of course, the most unfit for us to keep, 
 that cost me half a sigh of vain regret, when I saw 
 them taken away, though by kind and loving
 
 AN AWAKENING REMEMBRANCER. 
 
 51 
 
 hands. The one was the Venice mirror, in cun- 
 ningly-wrought frame, which had refledled my 
 wife's fair face at the period I, with a youthful 
 bachelor's conceit, was wont to think the bravest 
 red rose might not match her blushing cheek if she 
 espied me near, and other eyes had likewise gazed 
 complacently enow upon its polished surface to make 
 me smile. Yet only marvel how vanity could be 
 so much more enduring a thing than beauty with 
 some female gentlefolk ; for a true mirror telleth 
 no flattering lies ; but is, I take it, a valuable 
 remembrancer of the change time surely maketh, if 
 our weak eyes are not holden to perceive what every 
 other pair can for us. The next was my large hour- 
 glass, which Master Hawes, a bachelor, was greatly 
 minded to have, and hath purchased in a sum so 
 handsome I was fain refuse it, but he overruled my 
 objedlions ; and may this glass — seeing he is near 
 forty — prove to him an awakening remembrancer 
 of the exceeding fleetness, as well as preciousness 
 of time. 'Twas a gift to me from an aged 
 Brownist kinsman, on occasion of my preaching 
 my first sermon, though I never used it in the 
 pulpit, as some more learned elder brethren do 
 theirs, whose discourses being divided into a 
 goodly number of heads, each head with its en- 
 largements and particulars well and closely studied, 
 they can for three hours and upwards pursue their 
 subjed: without flagging. Now I inclined to more 
 
 E 2
 
 5 2 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 brevity, preferring to condense that which the 
 Holy Spirit instruded me to deHver, and impart 
 it to my hearers in as clear, simple, yet forcible a 
 manner as I could, avoiding the shooting over 
 their heads with high and flighty tropes, as much 
 as I strove to reach their hearts by simplicity of 
 speech, aiFe6lion, and true soundness of doctrine. 
 Therefore this tall hour-glass of mine was not of 
 the service the worthy giver designed, for I never 
 turned it more than once. And this pradlice — 
 which our younger brothers and sisters did dare 
 venture approve, almost to open admiration, for 
 the latter came like doves to their windows when 
 'twas known I was a-going to preach — of necessity 
 made my sermons, as I have before hinted, much 
 shorter than those of many reverend ministers at 
 whose feet I have been thankful to sit, filled with 
 humility at the contrast my scanty, imperfedt 
 attainments presented, when compared with the 
 depth and the greatness of theirs. 
 
 Just as I had finished counting over the money 
 paid me from the sale of our superfluities, my wife 
 said, smiling, " This little heap of broad pieces is 
 like to prove of very good service to us. Right 
 glad am I to think, if Squire Reynells again break 
 in, there will be little save bare walls for him to 
 spoil and waste." 
 
 " True; and better still, we need neither lock 
 nor key for our treasure. The gold your needle
 
 A GRIM SHEPHERD. 53 
 
 and thread has sewn up safe enow in the lining of 
 my doublet; and this," handing her a small leathern 
 bag of silver, " you know pretty much better than 
 1 do how to manage discreetly." 
 
 The words were scarce out of my mouth, when 
 a neighbour came running in hastily to tell me 
 that writs were served on certain persons, who had 
 been noted by a gentleman (Master Arthur Rey- 
 nells) as supposed to have been taking part in a 
 conventicle, on the day Squire Reynells broke into 
 my house, in hope of finding me there. 
 
 " And they will, doubtless, be fined, on the 
 evidence of those first basely tutored, and then 
 suborned for the purpose," exclaimed I. 
 
 " Ay, marry, they will ; for Master Cole, demur- 
 ring payment, they have driven away his flock of 
 sheep ; I passed the poor, harmless, bleating things on 
 the road, as I came hither. Methought John Lucas 
 made the grimmest shepherd that ever was seen." 
 
 " He would make a fitter butcher," was my 
 inward refledlion. 
 
 " And Crispin Coliings, with one or more 
 beside," continued our informant, " are mul6ted in 
 forty shillings a-piece, which they, being poor as 
 coots already, will never be able to pay." 
 
 As soon as my wife and I were left alone, I said, 
 •^^ There is but one way in which I can help these 
 dear souls in their trouble," and I laid my hand 
 upon my doublet.
 
 54 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 She understood my meaning. I saw her give 
 an anxious glance toward the children. 
 
 " Fear not," cried I ; "we serve Him who will 
 never let the righteous be forsaken, nor suiFer his 
 seed to beg their bread." 
 
 She answered by pulling out the little bag of 
 silver I had given into her keeping. " Dear hus- 
 band, would I had thy faith ! Let us divide our 
 all with them." 
 
 " Truly," quoth I to myself, ^' * a good wife is 
 a gift from the Lord,' and (blessed words) ' his 
 heart doth safely trust in her.'" 
 
 So, without loss of an hour, I privately sought 
 Master Hawes, and he arranged to settle matters 
 in such a manner that our poor friends — though 
 every farthing was exacted of the hateful fine levied 
 upon them, for their goods were publicly sold — by 
 means of my advance, and some help from other 
 quarters, were able to remain in their own houses. 
 Master Cole, being a man of a little substance, 
 likewise paid his fine, and gat back most, but not 
 all, of his sheep ; and when he tried to gain 
 account of the missing, received so sharp a hint 
 " that 'twould be best for him to keep quiet," he 
 hath never since said a word about his loss. 
 
 Neither am I deceived by the present treacherous 
 calm shown towards myself by those who so lately 
 sought to lay hands upon me. I know that this 
 seeming quiet on their part is only a feint to blind
 
 NO FEjIR. 
 
 55 
 
 and mislead — of this I have received private warn- 
 ing from a watchful friend — the more completely 
 to entrap me hereafter. Yet I, remembering how 
 godly men of old " through faith stopped the 
 mouths of lions," feel no fear, having a most com- 
 fortable assurance from the Lord that " through 
 weakness" I shall be "made strong." Yea, "He 
 that keepeth me will not slumber."
 
 chapter V. 
 
 *' And there nvas no more sea.'"'' 
 
 OOD Master and Mistress Tooker are 
 bereaved by death of their son, in so 
 distressful a manner, that our hearts, as 
 a Christian church — taking Christ for her 
 blessed exemplar, and therefore feeling through all 
 her members a brother or sister's calamity — have 
 sorrowed much for this faithful minister . and his 
 wife in their tribulation. 
 
 The stroke which, in accordance with the pur- 
 pose of Him who cannot err, hath fallen thus 
 heavily upon them, is of such pitiful, singular, and 
 affefting nature, that we might well think even a 
 person like Master Beare could scarce prove so 
 ruthless as, out of the heart-pouring before the 
 Lord of these poor stricken souls in their sad 
 " house of mourning " to find successful pretext 
 for tormenting and despoiling them. By my troth.
 
 AN ONLY CHILD. 
 
 57 
 
 Beare is a name that suiteth this man. He could 
 be called by no fitlier, seeing he proveth thus true 
 a one in his savage temper and conditions ; for, if 
 he did not rampage out to poor Master Tooker's 
 place, in his own alarming person, yet is he, never- 
 theless, the prime mover of the whole wicked plot ; 
 and, alack ! needeth not tools, who do his work 
 in a way which showeth they are ready-fashioned 
 to the evil hand of the master, using their pravity 
 for ends so cruel, that my pen — unconscious 
 servant of my will — seems loth to trace the features 
 of the melancholy cause which led to our distressed 
 brother's ill-usage. Briefly they are as follows : — 
 Mistress Tooker, after several years of barren- 
 ness, bore him a son. Now, an only child, though 
 counted by rejoicing parents their most precious, 
 is likewise their most perilous earthly treasure. 
 The boy grew up well-favoured, and towardly 
 enough in all particulars save one : nought would 
 he give his mind to but boats, and ships, and talk 
 of sailor folk ; while to become a great sea- 
 captain was his thought by day — yea, he even 
 prattled of it in his sleep ; and this wayward 
 inclination of young Tooker's was the more 
 remarkable and noticeable, seeing his infant years 
 had been spent in his father's quiet fields, or under 
 his tender mother's wing, amid her fruit-trees, bees, 
 and flowers, with no piece of water near, or in 
 sight, bigger than a pond ; and to that., as soon as
 
 58 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 he was out of a go-cart, his nature prompted him, 
 where soon, with a wild and boisterous glee, he 
 learned to dive and swim, liker a wag-tail, or 
 screaming curlew, than could be supposed possible 
 for child of such grave, serious father, and gentle, 
 timorous mother. She, poor trembling soul, tried 
 various loving arts and fond entreaties to wile him 
 from a bent which filled her days with anxious 
 bodings ; till his father, finding mildness and affec- 
 tion of little avail, handled him more harshly, 
 speaking with authority, and then sternly chastising 
 him with the rod. But nought could hinder 
 or restrain this beloved child of their hopes and 
 prayers from pursuing the inclination of his natural 
 propensity. Therefore, to prevent a worse mis- 
 chief. Master . Tooker gave reludlant consent his 
 son should try one voyage. The brave ship in 
 which the lad sailed had made a hundred before, 
 and returned all safe and prosperous ; yet this 
 proved her last. A great storm arose ; she was 
 wrecked ; and he who was so full of health, life, 
 and gladness — few dreamed of death for him ; his 
 young, ruddy-cheeked, comely face, and bright, 
 black, mirthful eyes, are before me as I write — 
 now sleeps beneath the waters. 
 
 When the doleful tidings that her son was 
 drowned were broke — though never so gently — to 
 Mistress Tooker, they feared she would have gone 
 distraught. The first outburst of feeling spent
 
 REl^. MR. JELLINGER'S CHAMBER. ^p 
 
 itself, and then, like a woman whose soul " refused 
 to be comforted," she sank into a state of dejedt 
 and silent woe, even still more pitiful to witness. 
 At this jundlure, Master Tooker conveyed a mes- 
 sage to me : the purport of it was that, if prac- 
 ticable, he greatly desired my presence at Norden 
 — the little hidden corner in the country where 
 their home is. I needed not his message, to seize the 
 earliest opportunity of going to him ; but on my 
 road, the house in which Master Jellinger lodgeth 
 being scarce a stone's throw out of the way, I 
 stepped aside, and, as my wont is, knocked softly 
 at the door. Receiving no answer, I lifted the 
 latch ; all was quiet, save a blithe cricket chirping 
 in the chimney. Having privilege of entrance, I 
 went up to Master Jellinger's chamber, looked in, 
 and there was he reclining on the bench of the win- 
 dow in the sweetest, tranquillest slumber imaginable. 
 The heat of the weather had made him push back 
 from his temples his black Geneva skull-cap — 
 he misliketh a periwig — and his long locks of a 
 silver whiteness were gently stirred by the summer 
 air, as if by an invisible, caressing hand. The 
 pen had fallen out of his thin, wasted fingers, and 
 beside him lay his papers. I just made bold to see 
 what he was employed upon ; sure, nothing less 
 than turning some of his thoughts into a poem, 
 for having pretty many jerks of fancy, our brother, 
 naturally enow, conceiteth himself of a poetic cast
 
 60 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 of mind, and loveth to divert his spare moments 
 with this verse-making, of which, in his particular, 
 the sense is better than anything else. Between the 
 leaves of his favourite discourses, " The Rose of 
 Sharon,"' and " A Cluster of the Sweetest Grapes," 
 he had stuck sprigs of rosemary — the meaning of 
 which I was at no loss to divine, for rosemary is 
 death's own flower, and therefore poor mournful 
 Master Jellinger preferreth it before any other. 
 Regarding him affed:ionately, I perceived a smile — 
 rare visitor — upon his countenance, and every fea- 
 ture tokening he was in enjoyment of a most calm 
 and pleasant dream. I, judging 'twould be pity to 
 arouse him therefrom, withdrew as cautiously as I 
 had entered. 
 
 On going out, I met Mistress Hawes — the 
 ancient widow with whom Master Jellinger lodgeth 
 — a-coming in. This worthy woman hath truly 
 proved herself, in life and conversation, like they 
 Paul commended, as deserving of honour in the 
 church, for she belongeth to the number of '^ widows 
 that are widows indeed" is " well reported of for 
 good works," having " brought up children," 
 " lodged strangers," and " relieved the afflidted." 
 On my telling her how I found matters above stairs 
 with her lodger, she smiled, and said she was glad 
 to hear he was asleep, " for his nights, dear, feeble 
 gentleman, have been sadly broken of late. Some- 
 times in the middle watches. Master Hicks, I and
 
 rHE CUP OF COLD WATER. 6 I 
 
 my son" — she Is mother of Master Hawes the 
 bachelor — " know Master Jellinger to be awake, 
 he is either praying or singing hymns, in so 
 moving a manner, that I can scarce help weeping, 
 for he is numbered with them from whose eyes all 
 tears will soon be wiped." 
 
 *^ His singing of hymns then, good dame, in the 
 night, doth not disturb you ?" 
 
 " Nay, nay," quoth she ; " we feel as if a bles- 
 sing resteth on our roof-tree ever since this godly 
 minister was sent to lodge with us." 
 
 " And doubtless a blessing will rest upon thee 
 and thine," thought I, " for having given the '■ cup 
 of cold water' to a disciple that needed it, and show- 
 ing so '^ much kindness' to him who ' cannot requite' 
 thee after the fashion of the rich of this world's 
 children, when they receive and are grateful for a 
 favour ; yet shalt thou ^ be recompensed at the 
 resurre6lion of the just.' " 
 
 As I went down the steep, narrow, bosky lane, 
 that leadeth into Master Tooker's place of Norden, 
 I remembered when in stiller times treading the 
 same grassy path, with the branches meeting over- 
 head, a-thinking what sweet spot 'twas either to 
 begin or end one's days in ; and they ought count 
 themselves favoured, who are permitted do both 
 in such a peaceful hermitage. The noon of life I 
 might choose pass in busier scenes ; but for the 
 morning dawn, or sober even, when the deepening
 
 62 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 shadows say the solemn night is near, where can 
 calmer earthly rest be found ? 
 
 The farm-house is long and low ; there is a 
 great stack of chimneys at one end, and an iron 
 vane, set up with a deal of complacency by poor 
 dear Master Tooker himself, at the other. Divers 
 little windows peer out like eyes upon a garden 
 court, with a row of bee-hives all along the south 
 side, and a dial to see what o'clock 'tis in the 
 middle. A single, rich, brown pear-tree stands in 
 a corner of the goodly orchard. How pleasant 
 seemed this Vale of Norden, as I gazed upon its 
 sunny fields, through which runs a brook of the 
 clearest water, ever, while it goeth on its way, sing- 
 ing the same soft ceaseless tune in the ear of man, 
 and to the greenwood above. It began to sing 
 in that of silence — eldest of all things — more than 
 five thousand summers agone. 
 
 As I drew near Master Tooker's dwelling I 
 descried his wife sitting in one of the little windows 
 I had named. A rose-tree spreadeth over half 
 the house ; some of the gay roses were dangling 
 about the casement, and two, fair and bright enough 
 for a young bride's garland, almost touching the 
 close white coif of the mourner below. She 
 was so buried in deep sad reverie, that I remained 
 still a few minutes marvelling at the change grief, 
 in such short space of time, had wrought upon the 
 drooping form before me. While thus occupied,
 
 MT SOIV! Mr SON! 
 
 63 
 
 the bells of the nearest villacfe church rano- out 
 a peal ; the sweet sounds rising, falling, at last 
 floated away, and died in a strain of tender fine- 
 ness, the very air around did seem charmed into 
 the continuing of— yea, loth to receive into its 
 bosom ; and on again regarding Mistress Tooker, 
 I perceived that she, too, was hearkening, for her 
 head was raised, and turned in the diredion whence 
 the sweet peal sounded. But, presently, she began to 
 wring her hands, seeing which, I hastened forward. 
 
 *^ Dear sister," said I, after we had aiFecTiionately 
 greeted one another, " I pray you tell me what 
 there could be in those bells we have each been 
 just a-listening to that stirred your grief afresh. 
 On my ear they fell all gentle, soothing, like distant 
 music." 
 
 " Ah, once," replied she, " 'twas thus with 
 mine, and the thought. Master Hicks, ye fain would 
 know, is this : — How often, when a babe, have I 
 carried him in these poor arms through yon green 
 churchyard, and watched him sport among the 
 daisies on the graves ! My parents and near kindred 
 lie there, and I loved to think in child so fair as 
 mine their blood ran still ; if such pride of a 
 mother's heart was sinful, how hath the Lord 
 humbled and brought it low !" 
 
 Then the poor soul brake forth in that lament 
 of a king's, saying the words, *' My son, my son, 
 would God I had died for thee !" in a way I never
 
 64 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 yet heard them said by human Hps before ; so that 
 when Master Tooker came in he found me very 
 considerably affeded and overcome ^t sight of a 
 sorrow hopeless and desolate as his wife's. Now 
 he is a person who showeth little outwardly what 
 goeth on within, but, according to the similitude 
 of Scripture, turneth " his face to the wall " when 
 passing through those deeps of anguish, that travail 
 of soul, which certain shallow natures, presuming 
 to judge his stronger one, have argued as denoting 
 want of feeling. Alack ! they knew him not. 
 And I observed, as he sate firm and ered in a stiff 
 chair he calleth his easy one, how greatly aged he 
 was in countenance ; for since last we met — a brief 
 while agon-e — the lines of thought on his grave face 
 had. changed to furrows. Master Tooker, with a 
 well-seasoned head, hath likewise a heart whose 
 trust in God seems never shaken. " Strong in 
 faith," he alway remembereth that his concerns, 
 both in this world and the next, are under the 
 immediate supervision of a wisdom as perfeft as it 
 is omnipotent. In his preaching he is very spiritual 
 — perhaps to an *' itching" pair of ears a trifle too 
 exadl and deliberate in his sermons. A certain 
 restraining diffidence of powers far from incon- 
 siderable — to my mind not the least pleasing feature 
 in his character — divine grace hath not let prove a 
 hindrance to his ministering in holy things, much 
 to the church's contentment and edification.
 
 REr. MR. HICKS OPENS THE BIBLE. 65 
 
 After conversing awhile with my bereaved bro- 
 ther and sister, in a manner, I trust, will prove 
 salutary as well as comfortable, I opened the Bible 
 I saw lying on the little walnut-table, experience 
 having long taught me that in afflidion no word 
 conveys a balm of healing to the broken heart like 
 God's Word : therefore, inwardly praying the Holy 
 Spirit to dired: me, I read — dilating upon sundry 
 verses as I proceeded — the hundred and second 
 Psalm. Next to this tender outpouring of David's 
 soul, I turned me to the fifteenth chapter of Corin- 
 thians, lingering over the sublime hope and glory 
 contained in the concluding verses. Then I seleded 
 portions of the twentieth and twenty-first chapters 
 of the book of Revelation. When I came to these 
 words, " And the sea gave up the dead which were 
 in it," Mistress Tooker, whose head had been 
 bowed all the time, drooped it still lower on her 
 bosom ; but by the joined palms of the hands 
 resting upon her knee, and the quivering of 
 her lips, I could see what filled that poor reft heart. 
 Where John in his apocalyptic vision proceeds to 
 say, " And there was no more sea," I stole a second 
 glance, and perceived the fountain of her tears was 
 at last unsealed — they streamed from under her 
 half-closed eyelids, and over her pale cheeks, till 
 they dropt like rain upon her apron. 
 
 " True, mother," thought I, " thou canst form 
 no pidure of heaven — next to our Lord's presence 
 
 F
 
 6G TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 there - so lovely to thy mind's eye as that which 
 shutteth out for ever the image of the element 
 which swept thy child from thy embrace." And 
 before I came away, it gave me joy unspeakable to 
 find in her a more composed, comfortable mind ; 
 and though I foresee she will be of those who " go 
 softly" the remainder of her pilgrimage, still have 
 I hope cur poor chastened sister will yet, with 
 devout submission, be able to say, " It is good for 
 me that I have been afflided.' 
 
 But last Sabbath, barely two days after my 
 visit— which was conducted so privily that neither 
 spy nor constable gat inkling of it— good Master 
 Tooker was surrounded by the enemy, and it fell 
 out in this wise : — Being the Lord's day, he, with 
 his wife, were sitting alone together — the work- 
 folk and even the 'prentice wench, Vv-ho craved 
 leave to see a sick father, were all absent — when, 
 hearing the sound of horses' feet a-down the steep 
 path approaching the house. Master Tooker rose 
 up, went out, and to his great comfort espied three 
 very gracious gentlewomen whom he knew, that had 
 come a good distance on purpose to offer their con- 
 dolence. Not a few tears did these godly matrons 
 shed while lovingly saluting Mistress Tooker, and 
 many were the pious, tender words exchanged 
 between them. At length, the elder of the gentle- 
 women proposed Master Tooker should improve 
 this mournful meeting by a breathing of prayer, to
 
 '' CEASE THY PRATING." 67 
 
 which he gladly assenting, they all meekly and 
 calmly kneeled down together. Now, though our 
 brother is not gifted with " excellency of speech," 
 yet his faith, humihty, and grace are such as do 
 seem to draw down blessings from on high ofttimes 
 denied more ready parts and fluent utterance ; like 
 Job, he has been enabled to say, touching his pre- 
 sent sharp trial, " The Lord gave, and the Lord 
 hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord;" 
 — therefore it came to pass that whilst he prayed 
 the soul of his wife revived within her ; the sad 
 moan, "Can there be any sorrow like unto my 
 sorrow ?" exchanged for heavenlier words, and his 
 own spirit (he told me) being greatly solaced by 
 hearing her repeat after him this promise, " I am 
 with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy God ; — 
 yea, I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; 
 yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
 righteousness," he afresh renewed his supplications 
 for divine help and mercy, and so fervently as to 
 become unconscious of aught passing around — par- 
 ticularly outside his house — till startled by a loud 
 voice close to his ear, exclaiming with an oath, 
 " Cease thy praying ;" and he and his companions, 
 looking up, beheld the face of an emissary of 
 Master Beare's, scowling in among the roses at the 
 little window. Other men were posted like sentries 
 round the dwelling, to hinder any within from 
 escaping. A messenger was already despatched 
 
 F 2
 
 68 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 for the constables and churchwardens, and these 
 lagged not to answer the summons, — running faster 
 than to put out a fire for a neighbour. 
 
 Meanwhile the gentlewomen's serving-man ap- 
 peared in sight, but scenting something wrong, the 
 varlet turned and fled. Nimble as he was, the 
 spies were not less dapper, for finding upon search 
 none beside the three gentlewomen — and five per- 
 sons in addition to the folk of the family are required 
 to make up the conventicle number — the spies, 
 though they saw only this man's back and the 
 palfrey's switch-tail vanishing up the bosky lane, 
 adlually jotted him down as one of the persons 
 assembled at Norden. Still lacking another to 
 complete their tale, and casting their evil eyes 
 keenly about them, lo, in a field so far off that 'tis 
 monstrous to suppose he could have known or heard 
 what was going on in Master Tooker's premises, 
 they espied Joseph Tripe — a plain honest man, who 
 though not of, is very well understood not to 
 be against us — walking pleasantly in the sunshine, 
 and our base foes were so exceeding shameless as 
 to mark this unconscious wight for their desired 
 fifth. 
 
 All being now ripe and ready. Master Beare's 
 men, taking what vidluals and drink they could 
 find, and using some very rough language to 
 Master Tooker and his friends, left the place them- 
 selves. Shortly afterward, the serving lad, who had
 
 FINE OF THE CHIEF OFFENDER. 6 9 
 
 hidden himself hard by, perceiving the coast clear, 
 ventured down a second time, to seek the gentle- 
 women, and they chided him pretty sharply for 
 proving such a craven ; but he, knowing for the 
 time present the foe was clean gone, grew valiant 
 thereat, and rode away, looking bold enow to face 
 a lion, his offended mistress tightly grasping his 
 girdle, on her pillion behind him. 
 
 As I was penning my last sentence, who should 
 tap at our back-door but dear Master Tooker him- 
 self, come after night-fall to bid us farewell, having 
 made up his mind to remove from this part early 
 on the morrow. The sum in which certain parties 
 — of whom Master Beare was the foremost — decided 
 on mulding him as (they were pleased to say) the 
 chief offender, touching the alleged conventicle held 
 at Norden, is thirty pounds. Joseph Tripe is like- 
 wise fined ten, and the poor soul hath been like a 
 man in a stound ever since he learnt news of 
 the offence laid to his charge. This fine of Master 
 Tripe's is a blacker piece of injustice than any 
 Squire Reynells or Master Beare have yet dared to 
 carry into effe6l, and is no doubt intended as a 
 warning to they who, if not belonging to our num- 
 ber, will yet do nought to injure or molest us. 
 Brother Tooker then went on to tell, how a troop 
 of Master Beare's men, headed by the constables, 
 came down upon him in his house, to put in force 
 the justice's warrants. He had about half the money
 
 yo TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 demanded — times have been strait with him, as most 
 of us — and entreated them to take that, and, con- 
 sidering his sorrowful state, leave him and his 
 wife in peace till the rest could be gotten. Their 
 answer was a shout of derision. John Lucas, 
 clutching the few gold pieces, immediately pro- 
 ceeded to search the chattels and every portion of 
 the premises for more ; finding none, they seized and 
 carried off his goods and farming stock, in lieu of 
 the remainder. It grows very plain to us, that 
 these men, though adting under colour of authority, 
 are allowed, by way of reward from those they 
 serve, to pillage and plunder on their own account, 
 knowing we dare not call them to a reckoning; 
 so poor Master Tooker and his wife were left with 
 never a cup to drink out of, nor bed to lie upon. 
 " Yet," said he, very sweetly, as well as pertinently, 
 " we have, I trust, a treasure laid up for us, 'where 
 neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thieves 
 break through and steal ;' and ye know, Master 
 Hicks, this world is but our inn, not our home." 
 
 " And thy poor wife, my brother — how doth she 
 bear such cruel treatment ?" 
 
 " Why," replied he, his grave, sad face brighten- 
 ing almost to a smile, " she bore the worry and 
 tumult of the constables and their men, and the 
 spoiling of our goods, and our coming away from the 
 old place last night, as one whom nothing earthly 
 might move more ; till, perceiving how sorely hurt
 
 REF. MR. roOKER-S CH^IR. J I 
 
 I was, she Struggled hard within herself, and at length 
 began to comfort me, as her wont was when I've 
 
 been cast down before — before " Master 
 
 Tooker stopped abruptly. 
 
 " Now our Lord be thanked, my brother, for 
 His great mercy. Why, thou art not near as for- 
 lorn in thy trouble as I feared. He is still blest 
 who hath a tender, pious, faithful heart knit with 
 his own in this world." 
 
 Master Tooker then described how he stood 
 some way off and watched the cart, laden so deep 
 with his effe6ls the horses could scarce drag it up 
 the steep road ; and tied fast a-top of all the goods, 
 what should he spy but his own elbow-chair. "In 
 that chair. Master Hicks, you have ofttimes seen 
 me unbend myself." 
 
 " In mind, perhaps," thought I, " for in no other 
 way could it there be possible." 
 
 "And I'm not ashamed to own," he continued, 
 " I set a value on the familiar thing. My father, 
 suffering long with a cruel asthma, affe6led none 
 other so well. He sate in it when he laid his hands 
 upon my head and blessed me, the day before he 
 died. After I came to be master of a house, and 
 brought home a wife, and in time a fair son was 
 given us, he loved to climb my knees, as I rested 
 in that old chair, and smile upon my breast." 
 Master Tooker's voice faltered. 
 
 " Good brother," whispered I in his ear, as he
 
 72 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 turned his face away, " shall not the Judge of the 
 whole earth do right ?" 
 
 " Ay, ay," he responded, grasping my hand, 
 " and even to our old age, and even to hoar hairs, 
 will He carry us. He has made and He will bear ; 
 even He will carry and deliver us."
 
 chapter VI. 
 
 §<r^r^ 
 
 A Recolledion of the Rev. Mr, Hughes. 
 
 HE new school-house, builded at sole 
 charge of a certain Master Thomas 
 Crispin, who was born in this town 
 more than threescore years agone, and 
 is now a fuller of great repute in Exon, hath 
 to-day been opened for the first time ; and twelve 
 small boys, in suits of grey frieze cloth, and their 
 satchels stored with books, all gifts of the same 
 generous donor, been duly entered as poor 
 scholars. And what I trow will please these 
 urchins better than books and grammar-learning, 
 is their patron's providance of a goodly piece of 
 ground for them to have their boyish gambols in ; 
 it showeth his considerateness of their young, fresh, 
 lively natures, and that he knoweth — to speak in 
 figures — an experienced archer keepeth not his 
 bow, though made of sturdy yew, always upon 
 full stretch ; and, therefore, the tender, lithe, green
 
 74 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 willow-wands of which young children's are fashioned, 
 too tight a strain would soon snap and spoil. I 
 pray God bless this good charity, and cause it, by 
 a wise and pious master's teaching, to become a 
 nursery of souls for heaven. 
 
 But Master Crispin the founder's bounty, which 
 raiseth the present flutter of delight among the 
 Kingsbridge folk, so mingles in my thoughts with 
 gentle recolle6tion of one, about the rarest scholar, 
 and also the humblest man, that ever I yet had the 
 honour and happiness to become acquainted with 
 (and of whose learning and piety Master Crispin 
 himself was likewise a warm and true admirer), 
 namely, Master George Hughes, that I shall jot 
 down some particulars concerning this holy minister, 
 a severe sufferer for the truth's sake, and who 
 finished his course not a long while since — happily 
 before the present troubles of these later days were 
 broken out — in this very place. 
 
 When mind can reason with mind, and heart 
 speak to heart, in the pure communion of a godly 
 friendship, they who are thus privileged receive 
 foretaste on earth of a joy possessed, in its complete 
 fulness, by the saints above ; and of such a nature 
 was the commerce which subsisted several years 
 between the late Master Hughes and myself, know- 
 ing neither change nor minishment, till death 
 effedted its severance here, to be again, 1 trust, 
 renewed hereafter. Now, I have heard divers
 
 FRIENDSHIP OF WOMEN. 7 5 
 
 persons affirm confidently that the sohd quahties, 
 on which a steady, lasting friendship is based, 
 belong wholly to the masculine portion of human- 
 kind ; " for that," quoth they, " which women 
 sometimes profess for each other is but a clatter of 
 words that strikes the ear — weak, unstable, yea, 
 ofttimes treacherous, as winds, waves, feathers, 
 broken reeds, or the like frail, fantastic, deceptive 
 matters." To all such unsound judges I say. Go, 
 read the book of Ruth ; the friendship therein 
 depided loseth nothing, but rather gaineth, by com- 
 parison with any other of men upon record. 
 Jonathan and David's was not a whit more tender, 
 true, and faithful than that which subsisted between 
 those two women, Ruth and Naomi. 
 
 Master Hughes was endowed by God with a 
 very fine natural capacity, and diligently improved 
 it by applying himself so closely to his studies that 
 his extraordinary proficiency therein soon rendered 
 him conspicuous in everybody's eyes save his own. 
 While still a youth, he became the first fellow 
 of his college, and several persons of after-eminence 
 were his scholars ; but what made his charad:er so 
 altogether lovely, and could not fail endear him in 
 a remarkable degree to most men, was the stricft 
 piety which pervaded his life down to its minutest 
 aftions and kept him " unspotted from the world," 
 coupled with the sweetest, humblest, obligingest 
 disposition, not merely to his equals and superiors
 
 76 TROUBLOUS rjMES. 
 
 in worldly station — (I speak neither of natural gifts 
 nor learning : few in those things were his com- 
 peers) — but to they who were below him in 
 temporal estate, and perhaps sordid and uncivil to 
 boot. Concerning his exemplary behaviour toward 
 suchj I cannot refrain making the following ob- 
 serve : — 'Tis no great matter, methinks, to regard 
 those with love who are disposed to regard us with 
 the like ; but the rub is, to be meek, and gentle, 
 forbearing, and well-affe6lioned toward they who 
 cross, and thwart, and seek to carry it with a high 
 hand over us ; to avoid as a snare of the Evil One 
 the chafed spirit which says, " 'They, not /, have 
 offended ;" to learn to humble ourselves to the 
 dust for the sake of Jesus. Now, he that hath the 
 grace of God deeply rooted in his heart can show 
 this true charity and humility ; he is tender to the 
 peevish and froward — yea, submitteth (as did dear 
 Master Hughes, with sometimes a pleasant smile 
 playing round the corners of his mouth) to be 
 prated to conceitedly by the ignorant — and I opine 
 there is no conceit like that begotten of ignorance 
 — on subjedls that he understandeth, but which 
 they who presume to teach him know nought, or 
 very little, about themselves. Master Hughes bore 
 impertinencies of this kind with a benign, suave 
 composure, the like of which I never saw equalled ; 
 for he was himself the exadtest of critics, acutest of 
 disputants, a master of the ancient languages, and, in
 
 PFORDS SPOKEN IN MEEKNESS. J J 
 
 fine, most parts of learning ; but though he had a 
 body of divinity in his head, grace enabled him to 
 show how the spirit of that body ruled his temper 
 and filled his heart. Words spoken in meekness, 
 not anger and arrogancy, he was wont affirm, 
 were more piercing to others in the long run, and 
 always more comfortable to the speaker himself; 
 and he eschewed a vidlory which was the fruit of 
 strife, as he would a weak and sinful compliance in 
 things spiritual ; with this one saving clause, he 
 ever sought to yield his will to that of others rather 
 than bow theirs to his. To my m.ind, there is 
 something in such a mild and gracious submissive- 
 ness which showeth truer greatness of soul than 
 wrangling for, yea, perhaps obtaining, an earthly 
 crown and kingdom. And, as in those times when 
 all things seemed to favour him (Master Hughes 
 enjoyed a long calm of prosperity), he had never 
 been unduly elated, so, in the trial of adversity, 
 proved he firm and steadfast. 
 
 This man, of such a heavenly disposition, was 
 not only silenced in his ministry, but, 'tis thought, 
 on account of the extraordinary high esteem which 
 his admirable preaching, zealous labours, and large 
 charities — for he resigned a considerable living — 
 had procured him, the hearts of certain parties in 
 high places were the more rankled with malice, and, 
 upon a very empty charge, or, rather, no charge at 
 all, he v/as sent to St. Nicholas Island, and con-
 
 78 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 fined so long in a damp prison close to the sea, that 
 he thereby contracted an incurable distemper. In 
 his captivity Master Hughes had a fellow-sufferer 
 . — at some distance — whose punishment for the 
 same offence as his own made his heart sorer, and 
 yet gladder, he afterwards told me, than tongue 
 could express. This was Master Obadiah Hughes, 
 his son, a young man of most promising parts and 
 piety, and of so generous a spirit, and genteel a 
 deportment, he merits the highest praise I can give, 
 which is, that he hath proved himself worthy his 
 father ; and Master Hughes was wont to say with 
 emotion, " Obadiah studied assiduously, and when 
 ready to take his degree they ejected him from 
 Oxford, for nought save his nonconforming. He 
 hath been in a still sharper college since; our 
 Divine Master himself suffered in the same school 
 when upon earth ; adversity hath prepared my son 
 for the ministry, better than all the degrees which 
 can be conferred. The cross is the way to the crown." 
 In his sea-girt prison Master Hughes so won 
 upon his surly gaoler as to get letters passed 
 between himself and Obadiah, which truly were 
 drops of sweetness^n the full cup of sorrow wrung 
 out to them. At length his friends, by giving 
 their security (without his knowledge) for ji large 
 sum of money, obtained his freedom ; but only 
 upon this condition, that he whose whole life 
 had been spent in doing good to others, should not
 
 MISTRESS HOWE. 
 
 19 
 
 reside within twenty miles of his late parish. Poor 
 Master Hughes's health being utterly broken, he 
 made no demur ; and craving rest, quiet, and, as 
 he said — with exception of his children and friends 
 — to be forgotten by all upon earth, came, under 
 these circumstances, quite as in the natural order of 
 things, to Kingsbridge. He had then been long 
 widowed ; his beloved Obadiah, likewise set at 
 liberty, was removed to another part of the king- 
 dom ; and Master John Howe so sorely harassed, 
 that he went over to Ireland, and remained a good 
 while there. 
 
 Master Howe was married to Master Hughes's 
 daughter, a mild-eyed gentlewoman, and, what I 
 would have all female folk, soft-voiced, and a great 
 peacemaker. Without regular beauty of features. 
 Mistress Howe has so lovely a soul informing hers, 
 that the first instant I beheld I likened her to those 
 modest flowers which love best the shade — the 
 violet, or the lily folding up its green sheath of 
 leaves, if the wind prove rude, or the sun too bold 
 in his hot gaze ; and I marvelled not a man of 
 Master Howe's sagacity and deep discernment, 
 who doubtless might, had he so chosen, have culled 
 the fairest rose a-growing in the garden of woman- 
 kind, preferred the taking for a bosom-flower one, 
 if less brave of hue, excelled by none in sweetness 
 and fragrance. 
 
 Master Howe was wont to correspond largely
 
 8o TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 with his father-in-law, and they most times writ 
 each other in Latin. The following, in a letter of 
 Master Hughes's, was somewhat like a presage. 
 Master Howe's house caught fire ; but a heavy- 
 rain fell and seasonably made it out. That very 
 day he received an epistle from Master Hughes, 
 concluding with this benedidlion, which done into 
 English is, " Let the dew of heaven be upon your 
 dwelling." 
 
 For the reasons already assigned, the end of 
 Master Hughes's earthly pilgrimage was uncheered 
 by either the tender ministrations of wife or 
 children ; and some folk might count it desolate : 
 yet 'twas not so ; if solitary, he was not forsaken ; 
 never were the aftings of faith and hope more 
 lively and vigorous in him than now. " The close 
 of my life," I heard him say, " would be like a 
 very tranquil summer's even, if it were not for this 
 heavy cloud resting upon God's church," meaning 
 the ejedtion of so many faithful ministers — and who 
 faithfuller than he ? — from her midst. And a man 
 beside of such a healing spirit, that he was ready to 
 love all men, if they feared the Lord, and did work 
 righteousness, howsoever they might differ from 
 him in judgment about things less necessary, 
 touching opinion, sentiment, or matters of discipline. 
 And to show how much Master Hughes was 
 esteemed, for this harmonious temper of mind, 
 by divers Episcopal divines, I will record an
 
 RESPECT OF EPISCOPAL DIVINES. 8 I 
 
 instance after he was silenced. The Bishop of 
 Exon held a visitation at Totness ; and Master 
 Hughes, knowing nought of it, went thither. He 
 tarried a brief space in the town, and then took his 
 horse to depart ; but lo ! the clergy — of whom 
 an unusual great number were present — learning 
 Master Hughes was there, left their bishop — they 
 were under the wings of a quiet one — and flocked 
 around him ; and, though he tried hard dissuade 
 them to the contrary, would not be hindered com- 
 pany ing him a mile on his journey, they in their 
 full canonicals, good Master Hughes riding meekly 
 in their midst ; and then took leave of him with as 
 profound a respecfl as if he had been a bishop 
 himself. 
 
 After his retirement to Kingsbridge he could 
 not bear to be idle ; and, sharp at times as were 
 his sufferings, continued to divide his time between 
 study, devotion, pious counsel, and conference with 
 friends, who occasionally came to visit him. If 
 the weather proved fair, Master Hughes was oft- 
 times, at noon, to be seen walking up or down the 
 single street that runneth straight through the heart 
 of this little town, in which a man of absent mind, 
 and with a brisk pair of legs, might, or ever he 
 was 'ware, either find them half-way up in salt 
 water, at flow of the tide upon the pretty shelving 
 beach at bottom of it, or out in the middle of a 
 corn-field at the top. There is a row of stone 
 
 G
 
 82 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 pillars outside the church wall, and the grand- 
 dames of certain Kingsbridge gossips, still alive 
 and merry, minded well how the last portly Abbot 
 of Buckfast, when, according to his wont, he came 
 to keep Lent here, with all his jovial monks a- 
 chanting behind him, used to draw the bridle of 
 his mule just where the last is — for they were not 
 standing in m.y lord Abbot's time — close by the 
 churchyard stile ; and there stretching out his 
 hands, which the poor kneeling witlings in the 
 street kissed fervently, give them, after his sort, an 
 old man's blessing. Beside these pillars would 
 Master Hughes pace slowly, never faihng to cast a 
 look of peculiar mild contemplativeness over the 
 stile, upon the peaceful burying-ground within ; 
 his black cloak, from long wear, become near a 
 brown one, and seeming at last almost too heavy 
 for his bent shoulders to bear the weight of; his 
 darned hose hanging loose about his thin legs. 
 And yet this poor decayed gentleman was more 
 than well respe6led by the townsfolk, for he had a 
 gentleness of dignity all his own, had Master 
 Hughes ; moreover, he carefully preserved his 
 independence, preferring to eke out his own means, 
 whatever they were, to receiving assistance, though 
 tendered in the delicatest way, from other folk ; 
 and a kind Providence so ordered it as to make 
 them last him to the end. Truly he was of that 
 blessed number who in all sincerity could thank
 
 REV. MR. HUGHES' FAREWELL BLESSING. 8 J 
 
 God for being neither ashamed to live nor afraid 
 to die. 
 
 This devoted minister, worn as he was by study, 
 labour, and imprisonment, continued, whenever he 
 was able, to preach and exhort privately, caring 
 for no discourse save what was spiritual. A 
 young minister he loved, upon intimation of a 
 warrant out against him, came hastily to bid Master 
 Hughes farewell, when the latter, in giving him his 
 parting blessing, spake thus : — " This dead cause 
 of reformation, for which we now suffer, shall rise 
 and revive again ; salvation shall come to the 
 churches. I die, but you shall live to see it. The 
 very means these men take to suppress and destroy 
 it shall most effeftually promote it. Only be 
 cautious that you never engage in any indired: 
 courses about it. Leave God to do His own work 
 in His own way. Your duty is to be quiet and 
 stand still ; in returning and believing you shall 
 have rest." 
 
 As the flame of a lamp, when on the point of 
 expiring, is sometimes seen to burn with a more 
 vivid brightness, so Master Hughes, who closely 
 resembled one in this particular, that while giving 
 light to others he spent his own life, felt his 
 strength equal to preaching twice upon the Sabbath 
 before he died, concluding his blessed labours with 
 those memorable words, " And now all my work is 
 done." Then Death took Master Hughes by the 
 
 G 1
 
 84 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 hand as if he too loved him, and led him away 
 from this world in so inexpressibly gentle and 
 tender a manner, I shall say a word or two con- 
 cerning it. That the cruel distemper contradled 
 by him in prison made the frail earthly tabernacle 
 all the more ready to be dissolved I doubt not; but 
 this weakness afFeded little the spirit within, which 
 shone clear and steadfast unto the end. Master 
 Makepeace, who I esteemed much, sat beside him 
 during his last night on earth, of which he gave me 
 the following account. As the evening advanced 
 he ordered his watch should be laid beside him, 
 desiring this friend to observe when it was two 
 o' the morning. " For," said he, " that is my 
 hour;" telling him, moreover, that he felt within 
 the sure tokens of a speedy approaching release. 
 Master Hughes then began repeating softly to 
 himself divers portions of Scripture, returning 
 frequently to the fourth verse of the twenty-third 
 psalm. At midnight a cock crowing loudly, dire6l 
 under the window of his chamber, somewhat 
 startled him, and he asked to be raised up in a 
 sitting posture, which being done, his eyes took 
 careful note, thing by thing, of what his little 
 chamber contained ; it seemed as if he were bidding 
 each familiar objed farewell. Next he asked for a 
 Bible, " My sight," quoth he, " is yet clear, and 
 methinks, had I a pen, I've still strength left, dear 
 kinsman, true friend, to write your name." Book
 
 THE BOOK OF BOOKS. 85 
 
 and pen were very quickly gotten, and, with his 
 dying hand, he traced the name of Master Make- 
 peace upon the flyleaf, saying pleasantly, " Make- 
 peace art thou by name, and what Is better. Make- 
 peace by nature also. In this Book of books (and 
 through life I've been the fondest, faithfullest lover 
 of them) I'll now read my last chapter, for its 
 words were precious to me In my prison — yea, 
 more than * fine gold ' to me in my poverty. Trim 
 the lamp ; before it go out my spirit shall be 
 loosed." While he was calmly reading the chapter 
 to himself, the eyes of Master Makepeace were 
 riveted upon his countenance, all white and wasted 
 as were the features on which the light of the lamp 
 fell ; so singular and heavenly a composure per- 
 vaded them, that he could think of nought to 
 liken this divine expression to, save what we con- 
 ceive an angel's face must wear. When Master 
 Hughes had ended his reading, he turned down 
 the page; it was at the eleventh chapter of the 
 Hebrews — and shut the book. A young maid 
 who loved him as a father, and tended him like a 
 duteous daughter, had mixed a medicine, and 
 begged him tenderly try drink it. He did so; und 
 as she received back the cup, he, regarding her 
 steadfastly, said, " Child, thou hast been very kind 
 and careful In thy attendance upon me ; In the 
 name of God I bless thee, and those that shall 
 come after thee." Then he signed for them to lay
 
 86 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 him down upon his pillows, and closed his eyelids, 
 saying, with a smile of wonderfully sweet signifi- 
 cance, *' Dear friends, I'm going to sleep." Near 
 an hour he remained as if in a most tranquil slum- 
 ber ; but his low breathing grew fainter and fainter, 
 till, about the time he named, the poor night-lamp 
 began to flicker, and the maid's eyes, which had 
 never wandered from Master Hughes's face, per- 
 ceived, pale as it was, a deeper paleness still — a 
 paleness that was stealing like a shadow over it, yet 
 without ruffling or disturbance of a single feature — 
 his whole aspedl remaining so calm and changeless 
 that she and Master Makepeace, though closely 
 watching him, knew not the exaft moment of his 
 departure. Now this young woman is by nature 
 of exceeding fearful, timorous spirit, and moreover 
 had, confessedly, a great dread, amounting almost 
 to horror, of death and dying — yea, like to prove 
 by experience the words of the Apostle, and be all 
 her life " subjed to bondage " through fear of that 
 " last enemy" to be overcome by the believer. 
 Her affedlion for Master Hughes made her zealous 
 in serving him, and verily the fruit of his blessed 
 legacy to her began to show itself in the same 
 instant he left this world for a better, by the imme- 
 diate deliverance of her soul from the slavish thrall 
 and fear which had hitherto enchained it. Long 
 afterwards, she observed to me, with tears of grati- 
 tude, " Ever since I saw sweet Master Hughes die.
 
 READ r AND y TFUL. 8 f 
 
 my old terrors respedling death have, through 
 God's mercy, been so entirely taken away, that 
 my only care now is to be found, like him, ready 
 and joyful when I shall hear the sound of the 
 Bridegroom's welcome voice." 
 

 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 The Yield Meeting and the Con'uenticle. 
 
 ROUBLE now leaves daily traces in my 
 memory, by which I can reckon time 
 near as well without as with a calendar ; 
 and, by one of these same sorrowful 
 tokens, I mind 'tis three weeks agone this very 
 night, that, as usual, under cover of the darkness, 
 my wife and I got home safe from Surley Butts. 
 Our clothes were miry and dank, for the heavy 
 rain had soaked them thoroughly ; and by reason 
 of standing in this plight such long time in the 
 field, my limbs ached and shivered so, I feared I 
 was going to fall sick. 
 
 A month before, the brethren designed convene 
 a meeting at this our old spot ; but the spies were 
 so thick about they durst not risk it ; and when 
 they did venture, we stole away singly or in pairs. 
 As many as three seen together in company might 
 have set them upon our track. Though John
 
 GREAT DROPS OF RAIN. 8 9 
 
 Lucas was believed out o' the town, Master Beare 
 was known to be at his own house. 
 
 On reaching the place appointed, I found several 
 persons gathered there waiting my arrival ; some of 
 them I had not had speech with for months, and these 
 gave me greeting so glad, yet, alack ! so sorrowful, 
 I was moved almost to weeping. They had set a 
 large stone for me to stand upon while preaching, 
 and on this first kneeling down, I lifted up my 
 voice in prayer. Just as I had made an end of 
 praying, the black and gloomy clouds let fall great 
 drops of rain, which quickly became a torrent that 
 drenched us miserably. Scarce a quarter-mile dis- 
 tant was a barn ; but, though empty, we knew we 
 must not venture there. The sight of its warm 
 thatch roof and mud walls, plainly discernible from 
 where I stood, begat in me at this moment" a lively 
 and strong desire for shelter — not on my own 
 account, (God forbid !) but for sake of the women 
 and weaker aged folk standing around, meek and 
 patient, in wet cloaks and doublets sodden with the 
 rain ; so that I groaned inwardly, " How long wilt 
 thou forget us, O Lord ? how long wilt thou hide 
 thy face from us ?" Yet though the flood showed 
 no token of abating, all present signed me to go 
 on, and, being greatly heartened by their steadfast- 
 ness, I spake a good while from these words : — 
 " Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we 
 are called by thy name ; leave us not." And soon
 
 90 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 I warmed comfortably with my subjeft, so that to 
 me it no longer mattered — and judging by the 
 earnest faces of those a-listening, it mattered not to 
 them either — whether 'twas fair sunshine or foul 
 weather. 'Tis true, more than once a gust of wind, 
 sweeping and rustling among the trees, made the 
 women start, and, the better to hearken, push their 
 hoods back from their ears. I sometimes fear I 
 may not alway be let keep mine by the sides of my 
 head. But, God be thanked, the enemy lay still, 
 and this time gave us no disturbance. 
 
 Our good wives and sisters continue to help us 
 greatly by their prayers, zeal, discreetness, and 
 wonderful patience under suffering. If the 
 " weaker vessels " in feebleness of body, I am not 
 ashamed to confess, in all other matters they 
 approve themselves our equals : and here I make 
 note, from my own private observes, that those 
 among the sisters who prate most fluently — and 
 few there be of womankind without a sort of 
 natural gift that way — are not of so choice a spirit 
 as they who say little, and that little modestly, and 
 with reludlance to be heard speaking. These last 
 are sure to be found the best minders of their 
 homes and business, serving their husbands in love 
 to the uttermost, and exceeding particular care- 
 ful in looking after and training their young chil- 
 dren, doing all things in fear of the Lord. Yea, at 
 times, with some confusion as well as wonderment,
 
 GRACIOUS IVOMEN. 
 
 I have been inclined to conceit that gracious women, 
 let them be never so burthened with work-a-day 
 cares— and religion hindereth not, but rather in- 
 citeth to a more exa(5l performance of all needful 
 household duties — do show keener zeal and relish, 
 and more lively enjoyment, in our assemblies for 
 worship together, and other solemn exercises, than 
 their husbands and brothers. Taken generally, the 
 very nature of woman seems to me finer, more 
 spiritualized, and devoted than man's ; and what I 
 shall now jot down, in my opinion goes some way 
 to prove it : — At those seasons, in days less 
 troublous, when we were wont to gather regularly 
 in our meeting-house, not only for Sabbath preach- 
 ing (which I except), but also prayer among the 
 brethren, expounding Scripture, and the like, the 
 larger number of they who were present most-times 
 proved to be sisters. On a certain occasion, I mind 
 noting the unseemly odds of near two hoods to 
 one wig. 
 
 The chill it turned out I had taken at the 
 field-meeting kept me in-doors for some days, 
 shivering like one stricken with an ague, till I was 
 fain to say, " The whole head is sick, and the whole 
 heart faint." My good wife prepared and zealously 
 administered a potion which, had any quacksalver 
 given it, I should have conceited must be designed 
 to make the man who swallowed it sicker than he 
 was before, for to the palate 'twas bitter enow ;
 
 92 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 however, by God's blessing, not long after the 
 taking the physic, I began to mend; and while 
 slowly pacing our chamber, meditating upon the 
 subjedl of my next sermon, and turning over in my 
 thoughts when and were 'twas likely the Lord 
 would see fit dired me to deliver it, who should 
 glad us with a visit but Master Hope ! The smile 
 upon his cheery face spoke of good news, ere his 
 tongue could utter it ; and the first, and by far the 
 best, was that Sir William Bastarde — of whom 
 more anon — was daily expe6led at his seat of Gar- 
 ston, near Kingsbridge ; the next, that John Lucas 
 had been seen leave his house very early in the 
 morning, and go in the diredlion of Master Beare's, 
 from whence 'twas known for certain this well- 
 matched pair, in a very private manner, rode away 
 together, with intent (Lucas's wife Joan whispered 
 to her gossip, who lost no time in sending the 
 matter a little further) of not returning till after the 
 morrow. 
 
 " Female folk," said Master Hope, " how much 
 soever they may differ in temper or conditions, are 
 pretty much alike in this particular — the being sure 
 to let the cat jump out o' the bag. I know them 
 well," quoth he, conceitedly. 
 
 Alack! it never entered mind so artless as his 
 that the tongue of a liar was here employed for 
 none other purpose than to lure us into the snare 
 our enemies had laid for us.
 
 A SUPPOSED OPPORTUNITY. 
 
 93 
 
 " You are still," he went on, " too disordered, 
 Master Hicks, to preach out o' doors," (and I felt 
 I was,) " but the brethren wish not to lose this 
 most excellent opportunity " — meaning the alleged 
 absence of our inveterate foes — " of assembling 
 themselves at any hour you shall name at my 
 house." 
 
 " Nay," said I, " rather let it be here ; then, if 
 a danger should follow — " and I looked round upon 
 my bare-stripped walls. 
 
 " By this time we reckon," replied Master Hope, 
 " there is a good forty miles — and I would 'twere 
 forty thousand — betwixt us and Master Beare and 
 his trusty servant, for we guess tlie road they've 
 taken. Squire Reynells is a-bed, by reason of his 
 gout, and cannot move a leg." 
 
 " And our good neighbours. Master Hope," 
 interrupted I, " after the pitiful, friendly spirit 
 they've shown, will never turn informers, and some 
 of them may be among us at the meeting. A 
 good seed, brother, hath been sown in the hearts of 
 certain I could name, which giveth promise of 
 bearing blessed fruit hereafter." 
 
 " Then I will order it as you desire," said Master 
 Hope ; and straightway he departed to tell the folk 
 that very early on the morrow they might venture 
 up the well-known garden path, and, with little 
 dread of molestation, once more gather under my 
 poor roof.
 
 94 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 That the dear souls a-hungering for the Bread of 
 Life I along with other ministers have been wont 
 to break to them — and in so doing be richly fed 
 ourselves — are vtry anxious to profit by each 
 scanty and uncertain time for worship we can now 
 avail ourselves of, was shown by our back chamber 
 (the largest we have), shortly after 'tvt^as light, 
 being filled so full that several persons were forced 
 to stand upon the stairs. Dear Master Christian 
 Jellinger entered, looking cheerfuller than usual ; 
 and, as I noted his white hairs and failing strength, 
 a thought came over me like a prescience, that, 
 of all present, how much was he the nearest heaven. 
 At a little distance from him sate a buxom wife, by 
 name Cicely Pickweather, and whose tongue, upon 
 occasion, I do believe, can wag as fast as e'er the wing 
 of a swallow can fly. Though neither ill-natured, 
 nor otherwise unagreeable. Mistress Pickweather hath 
 wrought some little mischief in the church, through 
 her vain desire — being in this particular a kind 
 of she-Diotrephes — to "have the pre-eminence;" 
 and while striving to be thought of note and con- 
 sequence, by her own talk soon discovereth herself at 
 bottom to be a very shallow person. Now, re- 
 gardless both of place and season, she must needs 
 essay to gain the ear of Master Jellinger ; but he, 
 turning his head gently, yet resolutely, quite another 
 way, fixed his deep grey eyes — which most-times 
 did seem a-looking at what nobody else could see
 
 MISTRESS PICKlVEArHER. 
 
 9S 
 
 — on a portion of the sky discernible from our 
 window, still ruddy, by reason of the newly-risen 
 sun, who coming " like a bridegroom out of his 
 chamber," the crimsoned east, left, as he rose higher 
 in the heavens, a track of brightness behind him, 
 which seemed a path of light leading up to those 
 gates " not shut at all by day." And this radiant 
 parting in the clouds. Master Jellinger regarded 
 as intently as if he were a traveller then about to 
 thread that glorious unknown way. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mistress Pickweather, balked in her 
 forward attempt to engage him in converse, next 
 singled out a bashful young country-maid, sitting on 
 the same bench, in kirtle of sad-coloured stuff, 
 coarse straw hat, and with basket and pattens by 
 her side ; for this good girl had walked miles 
 through a lonesome, miry road, that morning, in 
 order to be present at our meeting. The advances 
 of busy Mistress Pickweather she responded to so 
 innocently, and with such exceeding respec5t, that 
 the former, quite elated at finding so meek a 
 listener, began to hold forth in a manner which 
 made it necessary for us to commence the service 
 without delay. 
 
 An hour — it appeared like a moment spent in a 
 better world than this — was passed in alternate exer- 
 cise of prayer and exhortation. Master Jellinger 
 could not speak much, but what he did say — though 
 a man never exa6l in his composures — sunk deep
 
 96 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 into our hearts, and will be long rememberedj for 
 'twas the spiritual, divine language of one far more 
 nearly akin to heaven than earth. 
 
 After this fine, tranquil breathing, Master Hope, 
 who is of a gladsome nature, adually proposed our 
 singing a hymn. There was a brief demurring 
 among the prudentest ; at length they consented ; 
 but, afore it was begun, my thoughts were drawn 
 away an instant by the sweet, clear notes of a bird 
 perched upon the extreme top of the thorn-tree in 
 our garden. Methought that little, happy cho- 
 rister warbled forth a matin of praise and gratitude 
 more acceptable to his Maker than cloistered monk 
 or nun had ever learned to chant ; and he did 
 appear so to enjoy the liberty of pouring out the 
 gladness of his little melodious heart in song, as, at 
 hour like this, could not fail touch mine sensibly. 
 
 Master Hope, in a sort of pleasing rapture, then 
 pitched the tune, and we sung, " Thy mercies, 
 Lord, for aye endure," with voices at first low 
 and quavering — we knew we were doing a very 
 bold thing — but, as our confidence increased, they 
 grew steadier ; and if, for lack of pradlice, we did 
 get somewhat queerly out o' measure of the time, 
 yet were our hearts knit in accord so harmonious, 
 that I doubt not those feeble notes mingled 
 acceptably with the songs and harpings of the angels 
 above. A humble lay brother of "low estate" 
 next prayed. Of scholarly learning he knoweth
 
 ENOCH TRUEMAlsrs PRATER. 97 
 
 very little, but his soul is replete with " the wisdom 
 that Cometh from above." This Enoch Trueman's 
 life doth seem more " hid with Christ in God," 
 more mortified In carnal afFedlions, than almost any 
 other man's I wot of; and I count it a precious 
 privilege to know and be joined with him in 
 Christian fellowship. And lo, as he prayed, the 
 Holy Spirit gave him such grand, earnest utterance 
 of what filled his soul, as light fills a temple, even 
 to overflowing, a power did seem to tremble upon 
 his lips which minded me of that vouchsafed the 
 captain of the hosts of Israel, who commanded, 
 and " the sun stood still, and the moon stayed" in 
 her course ; or the mighty prophet, at whose word 
 fire came from the Lord, and rain fell in abundance 
 from heaven. 
 
 How all feeling of our present oppressed, mi- 
 serable condition was lost, as the glories of an 
 eternal future unrolled themselves before our 
 ravished sense ! The Angel of the Covenant was 
 overshadowing us with His wings, though mortal 
 eyes might not behold their awful splendours ; and 
 the stifled sob, the fervent response, or the rapt 
 silence of the assembled worshippers, told how 
 deeply, according to their several capacities, they 
 were affedled. Yea, mere children as yet in years 
 did show, according to the imperfecfl nature of their 
 small experience, that they too felt something not 
 to be expressed by common words and emotions, as 
 
 H
 
 98 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 the cry of this "man of God" went up from 
 among us. I noted one, " the only son of his 
 mother," and she too a widow — and 'tis plain to 
 many beside myself, our sister, a truly gracious 
 woman in other particulars, doth err concerning 
 this child, and is, I fear, unmindful of the Apostle's 
 injunction, "Keep yourselves from idols;" for in 
 her young son's slightness of frame, and the red 
 burning spot on either of his cheeks, there are 
 tokens which tell me her earthly punishment is 
 preparing by Him who is " a jealous God," and 
 will have the whole heart ; that a worm is already 
 gnawing at the root of the gourd, in whose hoped- 
 for shadow she expedeth to find future solace and 
 delight. 
 
 I watched this boy pluck gently his mother's 
 mourning cloak, and when she turned, he, fixing 
 his large, over-bright eyes upon her mild, tearful 
 face, said softly, " Will Christ, sweet mother, 
 count us worthy to suffer like the holy martyrs 
 Master Trueman spake of — they who bear the 
 palms, and wear the golden crowns .^ Ah, would 
 / were among them ! " 
 
 " Peace, my child," she answered, in a hurried 
 voice ; " and, dear heart, speak not to me again in 
 this wise." 
 
 Then I moved aside, for their low murmured 
 talk affefted me. 
 
 But Mistress Pickweather must now forsooth
 
 FAITH OF yiSSURANCE. 
 
 99 
 
 (with a tongue they on the stairs might hear) declare 
 that, for her part, if death were to summon her that 
 very instant, she felt more than ready — yea, would 
 rejoice at thought of leaving a world which she had 
 found nought save a desert and a howling wilder- 
 ness, whose paths were beset with pitfalls, and also 
 very full of thorns. Yet, so far, few have had a 
 smoother road, in regard to things temporal, than 
 this same velvet friend of ours. And rumour 
 saith she hath not failed both use and enjoy them 
 pretty comfortably. "The words, * Fear not,'" 
 pursued Mistress Pickweather, " are the most 
 fitting, I conceit, for myself, which can be thought 
 upon. All doubts I cast behind me; indeed, I 
 never was troubled with many. What say you. 
 Mistress Hicks ? " 
 
 I lost part of my wife's answer, as she spoke 
 very low, yet caught the conclusion : " 1 feel 1 am 
 so weak, that I pray daily to be preserved from 
 ever becoming tempted like Peter to deny our 
 Heavenly Master, or ashamed to suffer for His 
 cause." 
 
 " Sheer want of confidence," retorted Pick- 
 weather, briskly; "you lack the faith o^ assurance" 
 (here Master Jellinger gave a short dry cough), 
 " and we all know," continued this same prating 
 dame — and she smiled with immense self-compla- 
 cency — " some believers have a much larger portion 
 of grace than others. Ye are 'ware, my sister, a 
 
 H 2
 
 lOO TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 small poor vessel " — and her eyes fell disparagingly 
 upon the young country-maid, who happening to 
 look up and meet them, blushed deeply — '^ cannot 
 be expeded to hold the same noble measure as a 
 great one." 
 
 " Yet it may be every whit as full," quoth my 
 wife, with displeasure ; and taking the hand of the 
 girl affedtionately, said, in a pretty, soothing 
 manner, " of ourselves alone, what can the best, 
 the bravest of us do ? Why, nothing — absolutely 
 nothing." 
 
 " Good mistress," answered the humble creature, 
 brushing away a tear, " my cry to the Lord is, 
 * What time I am afraid I will trust in thee.'" 
 
 " Thou canst not have a better," was my hearty 
 rejoinder ; and thinking that to a person so wise 
 in her own esteem as Mistress Pickweather some 
 rebuke was highly needful, I read, as impressively 
 as I could, the second chapter of Paul's Epistle to 
 the Philippians, and proceeded to make a few 
 closing remarks ; but I was interrupted almost at 
 the first, by a woman on the stair-head screaming 
 out — 
 
 " Master Beare and the constables are coming." 
 
 " They are here ! " answered the voice of John 
 Lucas, with a hoarse chuckle.
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 Ss^r^ 
 
 Fighting --witk Beasts at Ephesus — Departure of the Re'v. Mr. JelUnger 
 for " tke land that is 'very far off."" 
 
 N rushing to the door, and then the 
 window, we discovered a party of men 
 had been lying in ambush for our, unsus- 
 pe6ling selves, by creeping stealthily 
 through the fence which parted my plot of ground 
 from our neighbours, some of whom were at the 
 meeting, and those not present protested their 
 unconsciousness of the treachery (and I piously 
 believe they spake the truth). Our enemies com- 
 pletely surprised us. The street porch was guarded 
 by persons armed with rapiers, while at the back- 
 door peered in the malignant, ill-favoured visage of 
 John Lucas ; but, loud above all other sounds, the 
 voice of Master Beare might be heard roaring in 
 the passage that " now he had unearthed the fox." 
 Meanwhile the struggling folk upon the stairs made 
 a kind of barrier between him and myself, and
 
 I02 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Master Hope, leaning over the rail, demanded his 
 warrant for making us prisoners. 
 
 " Warrant, quotha," shouted he. " Why, this — " 
 (drawing his sword) — " and 'tis the best such knavish 
 traitors as ye can be served with ;" then (fearful 
 words upon his blasphemous tongue) he struck out 
 right and left, producing the maddest terror and 
 confusion. 
 
 But just as Master Beare succeeded in setting a 
 foot upon the stair, one of our friends, watching 
 the opportunity, suddenly closed and grappled with 
 him. Master Beare, thus taken unawares, had 
 barely power to attempt the giving a desperate 
 thrust by way of reprisal, when the fingers of a 
 hand like a vice of iron — 'twas the smith's I have 
 before made mention of, who showeth us much 
 kindness, whether in part for the sake of the country 
 damsel, I will not take upon me to determine — 
 wrested it out of his grasp, snapped it in twain as 
 if it had been a lady's riding-wand, and contemptu- 
 ously flung away the fragments ; which John Lucas 
 perceiving, presented (as he thought, unobserved) 
 a pistol— for this time our foes came provided with 
 deadlier weapons than staves and cudgels. I felt a 
 pair of soft arms wildly flung around me, while 
 something passed my head near enow, and of a 
 power — though I remained unscathed — to make me 
 stagger, and for the moment feel stunned. But, 
 thanks to God's proteding mercy, the bullet spent
 
 THE THIRD TIME BAFFLED. 
 
 103 
 
 itself in the plaster of a wall just beyond us, which 
 it cracked, and sent into a shower of fragments on 
 those around : also my poor wife, whose life is 
 dearer to me than my own, escaped unhurt from 
 the effedts of the cruel aim her eye detected taking 
 at mine. 
 
 " 'Tis the third time I've been baffled, Master Par- 
 son ; but, aliveor dead, I'll have ye," said Lucas, as my 
 eyes again encountered the baleful gaze of his, which 
 now did seem adually to burn with smothered fury ; 
 and their silent rage had in it, I confess, a certain 
 power, strong enough to make me shudder. Yet 
 have I studied God's Word too closely to fear, be- 
 yond a moment of passing weakness, aught that 
 one of His sinful creatures can do to injure me. 
 Satan himself might not harm a hair of Job's head, 
 otherwise than as the Lord permitted ; and He is 
 likewise, thought I, " my strength and my shield ;" 
 of whom or what, therefore, shall I be afraid ? , 
 
 But such a feeling of horror and indignation 
 possessed the minds of the brethren at the attempt 
 of John Lucas upon my life, that they decided, let 
 the consequences to themselves he what they might, 
 on driving Master Beare and his men out of the 
 place. Declaring boldly they would risk all things 
 rather than leave me helpless and a prisoner in the 
 hands of persons so void of ruth as our persecutors, 
 and being more than a match in number, they 
 carried out their purpose ; though, what with the
 
 I04 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Struggling together of men below, and the clamour 
 and shrieking of women above, I did make sure 
 my poor house would now be certainly pulled about 
 our ears. 
 
 And there was one voice whose screams rose 
 louder than any of the others : their knife-like 
 sharpness was so remarkable, that, amid all the 
 horrid din, I caught these words—" Don't kill me ! 
 Ah, spare my life! Sweet Sir, show pity! I'll 
 give ye money, or do whatsoever ye list." 
 
 " Oh ! bragging tongue, that didst wag so glibly," 
 thought I, " scarce half-an-hour agone, how is thy 
 note changed !" Then followed such dismal, un- 
 earthly cries of " murther " from the same quarter, 
 that I darted at once into the thick of the fray, and 
 lo ! who should I espy but Mistress Pick weather, 
 with a creature of Master Beare's pointing his rapier 
 towards her heart, as if he fully meant despatching 
 the poor thing upon the instant ? That the fellow 
 had no serious intention of slaying our friend I feel 
 certain ; yet what to him was nought save brutal 
 sport, to her was like the bitterness of death itself. 
 Frighted out of her five wits— for the faith of 
 assurance was all gone— Mistress Pickweather had 
 fallen upon her knees, and, in most abject wise, 
 implored compassion. At sight of the woman's 
 distress, I felt my blood boil, and seizing with all 
 my strength her assailant — whereby I got an ugly 
 cut from the sword— succeeded in making him de-
 
 A PRACTICAL LESSON. 
 
 105 
 
 sist tormenting his vi6tim ; but before I was 'ware, : 
 
 he, very nimbly disengaging his right arm, dealt 
 me a blow on the temple, which felled me to the j 
 
 ground, and ere I could recover myself, I saw him 
 catch the buckram skirt of Mistress Pickweather, 
 and, with a scornful laugh, give her a twirl — as if 
 she had been some very light matter indeed — right 
 on to my trampled garden, from whence this poor 
 soul fluttered off much in the condition of a bird 
 spoiled of all its fine feathers, and no other hurt 
 beside, I rejoice to say, save terror. Moreover, j 
 
 our sister hath, 1 trow, gotten a pra^ical lesson in 
 humility that will last her her lifetime. 
 
 Meanwhile, Master Beare, though a very strong- 
 built, powerful man, and nearly beside himself with 
 fury, had found this, his work of " unearthing a 
 fox," so hard, it compelled him to measure his 
 length in the passage. John Lucas was thrust into 
 the street, where the 'prentice lads — and I wot the 
 fathers and brothers of some of 'em — who for 
 reasons of their own mislike him hugely — (doubtless 
 they remembered in what merciless sort he hath 
 clapped as many of their number as he could in the 
 cage, or the stocks, with ofttimes a set-up in the 
 pillory to boot, and gathering somewhat from those 
 ejefting him of his late murtherous attempt on my- 
 self) — declared they would not lose such an oppor- 
 tunity of paying him (ay, and with usury) back in 
 his own bad coin ; but Master Hope, who is a
 
 I06 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 favourite with most of the town-folk, and another 
 of the brethren, gat among the young men, and 
 besought them, if they valued our lives, to do 
 the plotting, mischievous, cruel fellow no hurt ; 
 and their counsel so far prevailed, that, with excep- 
 tion of a general burst of abhorrence at his wicked- 
 ness, which pursued him to his threshold, he escaped 
 without a hand being raised in reprisal. 
 
 The great boots of Master Beare, still kicking 
 desperately against the shins of those who had over- 
 come him, followed ignominiously after. He was 
 conveyed to the town tavern, and certain friendly 
 folk promised to keep an eye upon his movements, 
 and report them to us. The remainder of this evil 
 crew, though they flourished about their swords 
 (thereby causing several persons who, conceiting 
 from the uproar we were being massacred, had 
 come to our help, to take to their heels instead), 
 when they perceived what unexpeded as well as 
 resolute numbers they would have to contend with, 
 and noting beside unmistakable signs of a sound 
 dressing, like very quickly to be administered to 
 themselves, dispersed without giving us much 
 further annoyance. 
 
 And here I must observe, it caused me not a 
 little uneasiness to see how Robin Cheke comported 
 himself, the stripling that fared so ill at the hands 
 — perhaps I ought rather to say hoofs — belonging to 
 Master Beare, and afterward, the staff of John
 
 ROBIN CHEKES COMPORTMENT. lOJ 
 
 Lucas. There was he, upon the stair-head, regard- 
 ing his enemies' rout and present discomfiture 
 with such a vengeful expression in his face, that I 
 intend reproving him the first opportunity ; a hearty 
 forgiveness of those who injure us being one of our 
 Lord's especial commands, and a feature of import 
 in His divine prayer. Alack ! the evil spirit of 
 persecution gendereth hatred and bitterness, even 
 in natures gentle, sweet, and affectionate, as, till 
 then, I believed our young Robin's to be. 
 
 We were none of us unmindful of dear Master 
 Jellinger, but to get him removed during the 
 tumult was a thing impossible ; and to our conster- 
 nation a kind of fit seized him, from which we 
 feared he would hardly fetch again. After my 
 house had been cleared of the foe. Master True- 
 man and I spread a pallet, and laid him carefully 
 upon it, while another of the brethren hied to the 
 house of a very ancient, well-respedted gentleman, 
 who for more than half a century pradised physic 
 in this town, and having gotten much wealth, hath 
 ceased to follow his calling ; yet, to his credit, he is 
 ever ready to give the poor and distressed advice 
 and help for sake of charity. To him, therefore, 
 went our brother, with tidings of Master Jellinger's 
 being struck, as it appeared, for death, and prayed 
 the old physician come see if he could do aught to 
 save him ; and Master Rich readily consented, 
 though one of those Episcopalian gentlefolk, of
 
 I08 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 whom some highly disapprove what they are pleased 
 to call our contumacy, while others of their se6lion 
 scruple not in private to declare we are too hardly 
 dealt by, and likewise show symptoms of displea- 
 sure at the condu6t of our oppressors. 
 
 Master Rich, before leaving his house, opened 
 the door of a parlour to speak with his lady, and 
 our friend looking in, to his very great amaze 
 saw sitting upon a carven chair none other than the 
 poor little country-maid, looking as if just recovered 
 from a swoon, and tended by Mistress Rich herself. 
 It appeared this girl, during the affray, had con- 
 trived to squeeze herself, though somewhat plump 
 in person, out of a little casement my wife showed 
 her in the side-wall, which appears to me scarce big 
 enow for a cat to go through. Being very adive, 
 she lighted safely upon the ground, and, with a part- 
 ing nod, away the damsel sped. But ere well out 
 of sight, some lynx-eyed man of Master Beare's 
 caught sight of the flying figure, and, joined by 
 another comrade in wickedness, started in full chase 
 after her. If nearly " swift of foot as a wild roe," 
 she knew the long legs of her pursuers were gaining 
 upon her, and coming to a pair of stately gates 
 which stood open, she rushed into the court of the 
 mansion beyond. Heeding not a serving-man just 
 a-coming out of the porch, the girl bounded up the 
 wide staircase in the hall, and then, half-dead with 
 fright, dropped down before a chamber-door, which
 
 MASTER RICH AND THE COUNTRY-MAID. 
 
 109 
 
 was instantly opened by an aged gentleman, clad in 
 a loose flowing kind of robe, with a broidered 
 night-cap on his head — to wit, Master Rich himself, 
 who gazed astonished upon the panting, speechless 
 creature, without hat or cap (she had lost both in 
 her flight), and unbound hair, lying at his feet. 
 And surely 'twas by the ordering of Providence this 
 good young maiden fled for shelter where she did ; 
 for though, as I've already said. Master Rich is a 
 stifi^ Episcopalian, and at first felt disturbed by the 
 notion of harbouring or giving countenance to a 
 Conventicler, his kindness gat the better of his pre- 
 judice, and under Master Rich's roof even, fol- 
 lowers rude and rough as Master Beare's presumed 
 not intrude themselves. 
 
 But a poor young man I have hitherto made no 
 mention of, was handled so cruelly in his attempt to 
 get away from my house, that we fear the conse- 
 quence ; and he could ill bear this treatment, by 
 reason of a heavy sickness, which, some short time 
 since, brought him very near the grave. " So near," 
 quoth he, to a friend, " that ever since I seem to 
 see my shadow rest upon it." And 'twas during 
 this afflidion he became, we trust, " born again," 
 left his former carnal companions, and so delighteth 
 in seeking instruction from, and holding pious 
 converse with, godly folk, that, without fear, 
 we have received him among us, as giving what I 
 will always maintain is the best token of a renewed
 
 I lO TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 heart — to wit, an amended life — though none hold 
 more strongly than I, according to the sound and 
 comfortable dodlrine of eledlion, that by God's 
 free grace alone can man be saved ; and, touching 
 his own salvation, " it is the gift of God." But oh, 
 the " exceeding riches " of that grace, the greatness 
 of that gift, the freedom of the pardon offered 
 through Him who " liveth and reigneth to make 
 intercession for us ;" so, then, if good works profit 
 nothing, yet are they the certain fruits of a new 
 nature in Christ ; for unless the conversation be 
 agreeable to the Gospel, our faith in Him is only a 
 dead faith. 
 
 At the meeting I, noting how eagerly this youth 
 seemed, as It were, to drink in the words of those 
 who took part there, said to myself, " Truly, here 
 is ' one that thirsteth for the waters of life,' and if 
 he hath no money yet shall he ' buy and eat, yea, 
 buy wine and milk without money and without 
 price.'" Seeing, moreover, his wan cheeks and 
 wasted limbs, I thought fit to say somewhat con- 
 cerning the brevity, even at Its longest, of that span 
 of time we call a life, and our tenure of it as being 
 quite as uncertain as the stroke of death Is Inevi- 
 table ; therefore did not the main concern of the 
 former ought to consist in solemn preparation for 
 the latter ? *' Our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle," continued I, " Is a strudure so marvellous, 
 fine, and delicate, that in prime of health and
 
 ALWAYS READY. I I I 
 
 Strength, a very little accident, which produceth a 
 few swift hours of suffering, yea, it may be scarce a 
 moment's space of agony, proveth sufficient to bid 
 it return to the dust from whence 'twas taken. 
 Yet the believer in Christ, how sudden soever his 
 summons to enter his Master's presence, is always 
 ready, for he knoweth whose blood hath ransomed, 
 whose grace is sufficient, whose strength is made 
 perfed even in his very weakness ; yea, that the 
 more feeble, trustful, and like a child in heart, the 
 closer will he feel the everlasting arms embracing 
 and supporting him, till the ' deep waters ' through 
 which he is passing prove but a tide of hope 
 and bliss, on which his frail bark is borne 
 calmly, ofttimes triumphantly, towards its glorious 
 haven." 
 
 The apostolic injundlion of " Let the strong help 
 the weak," was, methinks, well followed, when 
 those of the church who were able, cared for the 
 old and weak, sheltering them as best they might 
 from the violence of our assailants ; and though 
 some were sorely bruised, and others greatly ruffled 
 in spirit, yet none received the hurt which did the 
 young man I just made allusion to. Two of the 
 brethren having gotten him away some considerable 
 distance, and believing he was safe, at his earnest 
 entreaty went back to assist the folk left behind. 
 He made shift to get along till, upon turning a 
 corner, the same ruffians who had chased the country-
 
 112 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 maid came up, and seized the poor, feeble soul, 
 shouting, — 
 
 " We make you a prisoner !" 
 
 " I pray you let me go, my masters," answered he, 
 " for, as ye can perceive, I am scarce strong enow to 
 walk, and feel as if a-near the end of my last journey." 
 
 " Mayhap, thou whining hypocrite, I know how 
 to make the journey yet a little shorter," said the 
 stoutest of his assailants, at the same time plucking 
 a pistol from his belt, and holding it close to the 
 defenceless sick man's head, who thereupon naturally 
 expeded instant death ; and the effecft of this 
 brutishness to a person in his condition proved such 
 that blood gushed out of his mouth and nostrils, 
 which the wicked ones seeing, thought he was killed 
 with fright, and so left him. 
 
 The poor youth rem.ained in this state till some 
 Christian folk spied his misery ; by them he was 
 lifted up as carefully as they could do it, and carried 
 to a bed, from which we hardly think he will be 
 permitted rise again. 
 
 And now, having made this wide digression, I 
 return to dear Master Jellinger, and would I had 
 power to portray in fitting language how he passed 
 away from among us, leaving our poor converse 
 for the society of angels, and his earthly cares and 
 dolours to dwell with Him in whose "presence is 
 fulness of joy" — at whose " right hand are plea- 
 sures for evermore."
 
 REV. MR. JELLINGER DELIRIOUS. II3 
 
 Master Rich, the physician, upon ascertaining 
 the nature of his seizure, pronounced that he had 
 only a few hours to hve ; but applying certain 
 means, with the skill of his wonderful art and 
 long experience, our brother recovered the use of 
 his organs, though for a season his mind remained 
 in utter bewilderment. 
 
 " He will again," said Master Rich, keenly 
 regarding him, " become sentient and reasonable 
 before he dies ;"— .-and so it proved. 
 
 In poor Master Jellinger's deliration there was 
 something more than ordinarily moving, for, as I've 
 already mentioned [see chap, ii.], he came from 
 foreign parts, and we could make out, though 
 he spake rapidly in the language of his native land, 
 that his spirit had flown back to the days of his 
 youth. Now he conceited himself in the streets of 
 a very ancient* city, with stately gates and cathedral 
 towers, while his ears grew filled with the sound of 
 the river rushing past its walls. Then he babbled 
 much student lore, and once started wildly at what 
 he said was the sound of the trumpet calling him to 
 battle ; for, strange to tell, this most retiring, 
 melancholy gentleman bore arms awhile in the 
 righteous cause of civil and religious freedom in his 
 own country, and had had before his hair-breadth 
 'scapes from a foe hasting toward him upon scarce 
 peacefuller ground. Anon our poor chamber 
 became transformed into a lake (for years he was 
 
 I
 
 I I 4 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 a teacher in the schools at Geneva), of wondrous, 
 almost celestial beauty, blent gloriously with a 
 "sea of fire mingled with glass." 
 
 But the most tender image of all arose while my 
 good wife was gently bathing his temples with 
 something Master Rich had given her for the 
 purpose. 
 
 " Ah, little precious hand," quoth he, " how many 
 a year hath thy poor son longed to have it laid 
 again upon his head ! Sometimes in dreams of sleep 
 it might ; yet when I waked 'twould crumble into 
 dust. Ah, mother mine ! The little Bible at thy 
 girdle I've kept close, close to my heart, when 'twas 
 pierced and broken by what proved crueller than 
 death. No love of earth e'er found I deep and 
 true as thine." 
 
 I shall here observe Master Jellinger married 
 early, and lost his wife before he became an exile 
 for the faith. In England, his gentle birth and other 
 valuable qualities procured him (at the time I speak 
 of) much consideration. My Lord of Winchester 
 was one of his good patrons. He never re-married, 
 and if topic of that sort was casually introduced in 
 his presence, would check it with a sigh so deep — it 
 might be taken for a groan — from which Master 
 Burdwood and I concluded his sorrow for his dead 
 wife was unlike most other men's — who do ofttimes 
 bear these kind of bereavements with a considerable 
 degree of resignation — and 'twas either so profound
 
 " HAVE FAITH IN GOD" I I 5 
 
 as to hinder his making the least allusion to her, or, 
 if otherwise, he might not have been so happy in 
 his wedlock as we were in ours. 
 
 But just what Master Rich prognosticated took 
 place : ere the weary wheels of life stood still 
 for ever, his reason returned to him again, clearer, 
 methinks, and in greater vigour and acuteness, than 
 I before remembered, along with the full con- 
 sciousness that he was a-dying. Calling Enoch 
 Trueman, Master Hope, and myself, each severally 
 by name, he said to us : — " Thanks to the blood of 
 Christ Jesus, which cleanseth from all sin — and no- 
 thing, nothing else will do for such as ye behold me 
 now — I am going into the haven our Brother Hicks 
 spake of this morning; but you, dear friends, must 
 still abide the storm. ^ Have faith in God ;' He will 
 stablish, and strengthen, and keep His saints alive 
 till the miseries of the present time be overpast. Yet 
 as gold is tried in the furnace, even so shall ye be 
 tried by the Purifier." 
 
 I write this down, because I incline think to dying 
 folk is sometimes vouchsafed a prescient knowledge 
 of things hidden to those who are further removed 
 from the confines of the spiritual world. 
 
 Then a change came over the countenance of 
 Master Jellinger ; it was the messenger of his 
 departure. And he whom the Lord of Life him- 
 self in the flesh " became obedient unto," we knew 
 was beside us. Master Trueman fell upon his 
 
 I 2
 
 I I 6 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 knees, and prayed for our dear brother deep in the 
 swelHng of Jordan, till we said, " He is one chosen 
 by God to convoy this parting soul to glory." 
 
 Looking earnestly upon the face of Master Jel- 
 linger, whose head I supported, and believing him 
 still conscious, I cried, " Give us yet another com- 
 fortable token, my beloved brother, if thou canst, 
 of thy everlasting welfare." 
 
 He heard me, and through the gathering mist of 
 death, his eyes gazed into mine, while stretching 
 out his right hand, he struggled for speech. I bent 
 down my ear close to his lips, and caught distindlly 
 those blessed words, " To die is gain ;" and, so say- 
 ing, he gave up the ghost. 
 
 After a short space. Master Rich went below with 
 me, and I saw fit to tell him, without reserve, the 
 particulars of the circumstance which had brought 
 us to such a disastrous pass ; for that we were now 
 within reach of the statutes made o' purpose to 
 punish Nonconformists, I nothing doubted. More- 
 over, the nature and disposition of our oppressors 
 were too well known not to foresee the rigour with 
 which they would procure their enforcement. 
 
 Quoth Master Rich, who had listened patiently, 
 yet still evincing some trifling signs of displeasure, 
 as I proceeded with my sad narration, " You have 
 omitted. Master Hicks, to mention what I incline to 
 think by no means unimportant ; and (pardon me) 
 indiscreetly and perversely as I must say you've
 
 TURNING THE SCALE. I I y 
 
 a6led, touching this late assemblage at your house, 
 it might turn the scale. Master Beare came with no 
 other authority to seize you and your friends than 
 that he thought proper to bestow upon himself. 
 This daring breach of law should be properly re- 
 sented by the other justices of the peace." 
 
 " Alack!" said I, *' full well he knew Squire Rey- 
 nells, who is a willing accessory in our ruin, would 
 readily overlook this assumption of power on his 
 part." 
 
 " However much I may differ from, and con- 
 demn you in some matters," replied Master Rich, 
 '* I've both seen and heard enough this day to 
 make me ready to depose before any magistrate, 
 that, all things being duly weighed, I consider the 
 resistance made, to wit, the defence of your pro- 
 perty — " 
 
 " Property ! Good Sir, look round you." 
 
 " Well, let it be your lives — that cowardly 
 villain, John Lucas, deserves what I fear there's 
 little chance of his getting — should be viewed 
 as — 
 
 " Sir, I thank you heartily for your kind inten- 
 tions," said I, interrupting him o' purpose — for I 
 felt the innate pride of my corrupt heart rise against 
 this suing for compassion, when 'twas justice we 
 craved from our fellow-men. 
 
 Master Rich shook me by the hand so cordially 
 1 winced. " What is it ?" asked he in surprise.
 
 I I 8 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 " I'd forgotten," replied I, " that Wat Campion 
 gave me a prick with his rapier." 
 
 But worthy Master Rich would not leave without 
 seeing my hurt, the bleeding of v/hich I had con- 
 trived stanch, and keep to myself; and while he 
 attended to and dressed it, I heard my wife called 
 by a woman's voice outside. 'Twas a wench of the 
 tavern. 
 
 " Mistress," cried she, " I've slipped away to tell 
 ye Master Beare hath plied himself so hard with 
 liquor that he's now lying dead drunk upon our 
 oaken settle, his wig inside out, and his ruffles torn 
 to shreds. I'll engage, from the cups of sack I've 
 served him myself, he'll do ye no further harm to- 
 night, and as soon's 'tis dark enow his men mean to 
 get him away — and a good riddance — from our 
 house to his own. Better," continued the wench, 
 kindly, " he'd keep to coursing, and killing his 
 hares and foxes, than quiet folk as ye are." 
 
 " You mean us well, I perceive," said my wife, 
 bursting into tears ; for good-will and sympathy 
 from such a quarter fairly overcame her. " But, 
 my girl," sobbed she, " we wish Master Beare no 
 harm, and may he be forgiven his cruelty, and 
 turned from the evil he seems bent upon doing 
 us!" 
 
 Robin Cheke here ran in with the news that the 
 sky westward was red by reason of a great light ; 
 so great was it, the four pinnacles of the old church-
 
 SIR WILLIAM IS COME. 
 
 119 
 
 tower on the hill could be seen distind as if 'twas 
 day. 
 
 " Ah !" exclaimed Master Hope, starting up, " I 
 know what that means — Sir William is come." 
 
 And so it proved. Amid the blazing of bon- 
 fires and ringing of bells the knight was entering 
 his place at Garston.
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 A Gracious Magistrate. 
 
 F all country gentlemen in these parts 
 is Sir William Bastarde reckoned the 
 chiefest. When he cometh into them, 
 which I grieve to add is rarely — (during 
 the period of my sojourn here, I've ne'er till very 
 lately had the hap to see him) — all poor, oppressed, 
 and wretched folk — guided by the instindt which leads 
 weak and helpless creatures seek protedlion in the 
 quarter most likely to afford it — flock to his house 
 at Garston. For this representative of an ancient 
 and knightly family is so courteous in demeanour, 
 that a curtsey from a servant wench, or awkward 
 attempt at a bow from the most rustical clown, 
 will he acknowledge with a grace that makes them 
 feel they could run their lives out to do him 
 service. But this freedom and charmingness of 
 manner doth not, I've been told, hinder his pos- 
 sessing in the completes! degree a certain cool.
 
 MASTER HOPE'S ADVICE. 121 
 
 high-bred, undescribable power of checking any- 
 insolent, presumptuous approach to famiharity from 
 his inferiors in station ; and they who experience 
 its rebuke once, generally take care to provoke not 
 the like a second time. 
 
 " Let me a vise that there be no delay," quoth 
 Master Hope, *' in laying our present hard case 
 before Sir William ; he'W not turn a deaf ear, take 
 my word for't, to what we have to say." 
 
 I readily assented, though of not quite so san- 
 guine a temper as our brother. For I had felt, 
 upon hearing of the arrival of this gentleman in our 
 neighbourhood, pretty much like one who sees a 
 sudden flash of light illumine an abyss of dark- 
 ness into which he is fallen, and showing him a 
 rope : it may prove a rope of sand, yet he hopes to 
 cling to it awhile in safety. 
 
 " If Sir William Bastarde," mused I, " be only 
 half as excellent as report makes him, he will surely 
 evince a spirit tolerant enow in some degree to 
 shield us from the lawless assaults of our most 
 intolerant enemies, who, unless they receive speedy 
 check from a person of weight and influence suffi- 
 cient to restrain their present procedures, will be 
 sure to pounce upon us with even a savager fury 
 than before." 
 
 Of Master Rich's profi^ered kindness I declined 
 for the present avail myself. Though of too 
 upright and gentle a nature to countenance the
 
 122 TRO UBLO US TIMES. 
 
 wickedness pradlised towards us, he belongeth, as 
 I've already said, to the Episcopal party ; and 
 they, as a class, have been heard, even in this nook 
 o' the earth, express a pretty decided opinion that 
 we ought to be more conformable, and, seeing we 
 cannot free, submit ourselves to the yoke those in 
 high places seek to lay upon us. With a large 
 share of prudence, of a certain kind, they cautiously 
 avoid and shun the seeming to lend assistance to 
 our cause, or being any way mixed up in the con- 
 fli6l we are now engaged in ; and God forbid they 
 should ! Some of them I believe to be very worthy 
 persons : kind Master Rich is a notable example. 
 Yet say I again firmly, if sorrowfully, God forbid 
 they should ! 
 
 The friends now quickly decided among them- 
 selves to a6t according to Master Hope's sugges- 
 tion ; so the day after the last attack made upon 
 my premises, four of us, beside the lad Robin 
 ■ Cheke, who we judged right to take likewise (I had 
 got him to confess his fault with a becoming peni- 
 tence), set out for Garston, which is scarce a two- 
 mile walk from Kingsbridge, and situate in a very 
 sheltered spot, quite near the waterside. Its sur- 
 rounding elm trees attest, by their size and beauty, 
 the richness of the soil they thrive in. 
 
 We had passed the first entrance gate when I 
 perceived a gentleman and his attendants, gallantly 
 mounted, with a hawk and several spaniels, riding
 
 THE KNIGHr OF GARSTON. I 23 
 
 toward us, who Master Hope at once recognized 
 as Sir William himself. Stepping hastily forward, 
 he made a low bow, which the other gracefully 
 returned ; and seeing our brother wished speak to 
 him, reined up his horse, and seemed encourage his 
 communication with a courtesy I could not fail 
 contrast with the churlishness and brutishness we 
 are wont receive from men, how greatly his in- 
 feriors in birth and worldly station. 
 
 " Sir William," said Master Hope, earnestly, 
 " my friends " (pointing to us a little behind) " and 
 I have come to Garston this morning upon business 
 of so urgent a nature, that I take the liberty of 
 humbly craving you will be pleased give this matter 
 a hearing. Believe me. Sir," pursued our spokes- 
 man, with some little tremulousness of voice, " our 
 errand is to the full as grievous as 'tis pressing." 
 
 " In that case," replied the knight, blandly, " I 
 will return to the house and go through it at once ; 
 the distance is too short for you to keep me long 
 waiting." And before Master Hope could thank 
 him, he had made a sign to his servants, and was 
 riding swiftly thither. 
 
 " Said I not truly, Master Hicks, when I told 
 ye that Sir William is one of the best and finest 
 gentlemen in Christendom ? Liken him with 
 Squire Reynells or Master " 
 
 " Prithee, do no such thing," interrupted I hastily; 
 " 'tis worse than comparing gold to brass."
 
 I 24 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 For while Master Hope and the knight were 
 conversing, I narrowly observed his outward 
 bearing. Sir William Bastarde is still in the first 
 prime of manhood, being scarce thirty years old, 
 and of a face and person singularly handsome and 
 elegant. His eyes, of a deep clear hazel, are 
 changeful in expression ; methought there slept in 
 them a fire, which, upon occasion, I doubted not, 
 could as completely alter the charadler of his 
 winning, gracious countenance, as that of a storm- 
 cloud can obscure the smiling beauty of a summer's 
 sky. His hair, of a pale, fair brown, he wears in 
 the cavalier fashion of the times. His attire 
 suiteth his station : fine costly clothing to him is 
 as natural, becoming, and indifferent as a leathern 
 jerkin is to a countryman, or a woollen bed-gown 
 to a kitchen-wench. I also failed not remark an 
 air of perfeft, dignified, unconscious ease pervading 
 his entire deportment, which spoke him one of 
 those accustomed to have their wishes anticipated, 
 and their requests obeyed as commands. 
 
 Upon our reaching Garston House, we found a 
 serving-man ready waiting to condudl us to his 
 master. I was about to follow him across the hall, 
 when the silken rustle of a sack made me pause at 
 its threshold, and bow, perhaps lower than Master 
 Hope had done to Sir William, as a lady, very fair 
 and stately — none other than the knight's nobly- 
 born wife — swept grandly by. A mincing young
 
 A FAIR LADY. 
 
 IIS 
 
 gentlewoman, holding a bright-haired child by the 
 hand, came tripping daintily after her mistress, 
 who for a moment let her great dark eyes, flashing 
 beneath still darker brows, rest upon us ; then, 
 with a slight inclination of her queenly neck, 
 passed on. There was the sparkle of diamonds in 
 the long tresses, black as night, that, being wholly 
 turned back from the forehead, gave me a full 
 view of her beautiful, noble face ; every feature 
 of which, even to the delicate, sharply-cut nostril, 
 spoke the high lineage (I know it well) from 
 whence the lady descended. Her little son, 
 pulling the skirt of his conduftress, made the girl 
 linger a minute, for he seemed disposed to regard 
 us more curiously than his stately mother ; and 
 catching my eye, in a very pretty child-manner, he 
 kissed his hand, and smiled a smile of such arch, 
 dimpled sweetness, ere he vanished through an 
 opposite doorway, that I, struck by his resemblance 
 to his father, remarked to Master Hope, " Yon 
 little pleasant branch biddeth fair prove worthy of 
 its goodly parent stem." 
 
 We were then shown into an oak-panelled 
 parlour, with a low, richly-wrought ceiling. 
 The windows looked out upon a spacious plea- 
 saunce, gay with flowers, of as marvellous richness 
 and profusion as if they had been transplanted 
 from the sun's own garden in the East ; here and 
 there mingled with trees, whose dark-green glossy
 
 I 26 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 leaves, and fruit of a golden hue, spoke them 
 natives of another and more southern clime ; yet 
 they had taken kindly to, and grew and flourished 
 in, this favoured spot, not a bud or blossom of 
 which but was worthy the plucking of the gallant 
 Philip Sidney and his fair and favourite sister, to 
 pidure in the gentle pages of their " Arcady." 
 
 At further end of this apartment sate Sir 
 William ; he had laid his hat and fringed gloves 
 upon a table before him, strewn with books and 
 papers. A little distance off stood a young man, 
 with, I conceited, a somewhat sinister cast of 
 countenance ; the inkhorn at his girdle, and the 
 pen stuck behind his ear, spoke him a justice's 
 clerk in waiting. 
 
 Sir William kindly requested us to be seated, an 
 invitation of which Master Hope and myself 
 accepted ; but Enoch Trueman, Master Best, and 
 the lad Robin could by no means think of doing 
 any such thing ; for the carven chairs and couches 
 were covered with a damask finer than the last 
 might dare to dream of for a wedding doublet. 
 
 " 111 not press the matter," said the knight, 
 smiling ; " having heard before that your backs are 
 a little stiffish,"' — all finished gentleman as he is, 
 a slightly scornful expression flitted across his hand- 
 some features ; — " and, doubtless, friends, I'm now 
 to learn the truth of what I've known by report only, 
 that ye're somewhat unpliant and hard to bend."
 
 MASTER HOPE'S STATEMENT: 127 
 
 Then Master Hope, in plain, terse, simple 
 language, and a manner which was so due an 
 admixture of respe6l and confidence that I was at 
 loss sufficiently to admire it, went diredl into the 
 marrow of the grievances we were come to com- 
 plain of; namely, the wanton outrages perpetually 
 committed upon us by our oppressors. In his own 
 charming, artless way, he movingly depided our 
 sorrowful plight, and the treatment we are subjed 
 to ; that the result of the distressful struggle which 
 had taken place the day before would be for some 
 of us a gaol, or, perhaps, exile beyond seas, was 
 most certain, unless a counter-influence could be 
 exerted in our behalf sufficiently powerful to 
 restrain a man like Master Beare, aided and 
 abetted as he was by such a magistrate as Squire 
 Reynells. 
 
 Throughout his statement Master Hope pre- 
 served a delicate discreetness and humility which 
 yet had not the least flavour of fawning or servility 
 in its address ; and Sir William listened with the 
 most polite attention, though I could scarce help 
 conceiting, at the first, with a somewhat amused 
 expression. As Master Hope proceeded it became 
 graver, thoughtfuller, and at length deepened into 
 absolute sternness. 
 
 " What ! " I heard him say, in an under-tone, 
 " insult women — maltreat mere children," glancing 
 at Robin — " and hound the sick to death ! Why,
 
 128 TRO UBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 this comes up — " He did not finish the sentence ; 
 but when Master Beare's answer was repeated to 
 the question we had put to him at my house, 
 touching the warrant of his authority for the late 
 treacherous and brutal attack upon us which I 
 have elsewhere set down — namely, Master Beare's 
 drawing his sword and saying ^^ that was his 
 
 authority" — " He shall find it otherwise, by ," 
 
 exclaimed the knight in a mood so fiery it startled 
 us. And good Enoch Trueman, who, as I said, 
 remained standing, cried out at once, " Hold, Sir ! 
 what is man, whose breath is in his nostrils, that 
 you should take God's name thus hastily upon 
 your tongue ?" 
 
 " Sirrah, keep thine still," said Sir William, 
 haughtily; but his dark kindling eyes meeting 
 Master Trueman's all sorrowfully fixed upon him, 
 I saw that, quick as thought, he divined the true 
 meaning of this faithful soul's rebuke ; for his 
 gracious asped: immediately became its cloudless 
 self again. 
 
 " This Beare, of whom ye report so ill," said he, 
 " I will lose no time in acquainting Edward Rey- 
 nells must be made comport himself differently. 
 The honour of those who hold his Majesty's com- 
 mission as justices of the peace ought to do, is con- 
 cerned and requires it. I'll know what he means by 
 allowing an affront of this sort to the bench on 
 which, like myself, he sits as magistrate, thus pass
 
 CONVENTICLE MEETINGS OBJECTED TO. I 29 
 
 unnoticed. But mark," and the fine face of the 
 speaker assumed a vexed, disturbed expression, 
 " those miserable conventicle meetings of yours 
 are the plea that will be set up as an ample excuse 
 for the wrongs and insults of which you not 
 unjustly complain. If persisted in, they assuredly 
 must work your ruin — perhaps death." And for 
 a short time he proceeded rapidly, in a precisely 
 similar strain to that of which Master Rich the 
 night before had sounded the key-note. 
 
 " I am not ignorant, though seldom in this 
 part," continued Sir William, " of some of your 
 places of resort. Touching those alleged meetings, 
 my people have already told me," — (" Ah," thought 
 I, " then we've our secret foes even in this house- 
 hold") — " that two of these spots," and his brows 
 grew slightly compressed, " are rather near Garston 
 itself; and ofttimes, in the lower grounds, your 
 psalmody has reached their ears across the water." 
 
 " Ay, Sir William, to such mean shifts and 
 sorry refuges are we driven by our adversaries," 
 said I, feeling 'twas now my fit time to speak, for 
 hitherto I had thought proper to remain a listener ; 
 " but upon the Rock of Saltstone, to which you 
 allude, they may not molest us ; there at least, when 
 winds and tides permit, we can assemble."* 
 
 * At a low tide this rock, on which for years the persecuted Non- 
 conformists were wont occasionally to hold their meetings, can be 
 reached nearly dry-shod. 
 
 K
 
 I JO TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 " Perhaps," cried the knight, gaily, " ye think 
 ye're taking the Israelites of old for pattern in 
 thus marching through the sea." 
 
 " And the God who smote a king and his host," 
 replied I, gravely, " protedeth and comforteth us ; 
 for He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever." Then I firmly but temperately proceeded 
 to advocate those sacred and fundamental principles 
 of religious freedom, which led to our separation 
 from the Episcopal Church. " We reckon among 
 our numbers," said I, " men of sterling piety and 
 godliness, likewise high birth, and rare attainments ; 
 priests and scholars, who have lacked no worldly 
 inducement, which their friends, or the partisans 
 of the present Government, could hold out in order 
 to induce them conform. He now lying dead in a 
 chamber of my house was one of these, and pre- 
 ferred solitude, poverty, contempt, to a shackled, 
 reproving conscience. We are willing, in most 
 temporal matters — mark me. Sir, temporal — to 
 submit ourselves ' to the powers that be,' and" (I 
 smiled) '* ' obey magistrates ;' but when they seek 
 gain dominion over what belongs to God, and 
 was never by Him designed for man to presume 
 meddle with, we will resist, ay, to the death. Let 
 the gaol and the halter do their work upon us, 
 they cannot daunt men who, in following the 
 command of their Divine Master, ' fear not them 
 who at the worst can but kill the body.' "
 
 WHY NOT REMAIN PASSIVE ? 1 3 I 
 
 " Yet why," said Sir William, who, while 
 listening to me, gave answering signs of a 
 generous sympathy, " why are you of the Non- 
 conforming clergy, disapproving the present state 
 of things in ecclesiastical matters, not content 
 to remain passive, and wholly lay down your 
 ministry ?" 
 
 " Nay," answered I, " this may not be. I for 
 one could not do it on many accounts, nor my 
 brethren either ; we fear the guilt of breaking our 
 ordination vow, by which we have pledged our- 
 selves to be diligent in the performance of our 
 work, as called and chosen servants of the Lord. 
 Many still seek our condu6l, as shepherds in holy 
 things, and not only entreat, but claim the con- 
 tinuance of our old relation toward them. If the 
 authority of magistrates is generally set against us, 
 we still hold ourselves under the solemnest obliga- 
 tions, to a higher and more sacred authority than 
 theirs, to fulfil the duties of our ministry, though 
 at peril of life and liberty, as long as God shall 
 permit us. For negledling these things the 
 command of an earthly monarch can furnish us 
 no just excuse : we dread above all things the 
 doom of the unprofitable servant, that went and 
 hid his talent in the earth." 
 
 Sir William then motioned the clerk to with- 
 draw, which the latter, all obsequiousness, did, 1 
 noting the same covert, sinister cast in his eye 1 
 
 K 2
 
 132 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 misliked and mistrusted the moment I beheld him. 
 We felt relieved when he was gone. 
 
 " Now," said the knight, " once, and for all, 
 attend to what I shall communicate." 
 
 We bowed. 
 
 " My presence in this part, short, I regret, as 
 it must be (for urgent business requires me in 
 town by the end of the month, and may keep me 
 there the whole winter), will, nevertheless, serve as 
 some restraint upon those the present asped of 
 affairs" — here he remarked upon the late very 
 severe statutes enadled against Nonconformists — 
 " makes it impossible for me to chastise, as their 
 cowardly insolence deserves to be chastised ; and 
 they know it, and 'tis this knowledge which makes 
 a man of Beare's stamp thus bold. But, by my 
 troth, he shall be kept chained to his staple whilst 
 / am here. My tolerance, would I might say 
 approval. Master Hicks," giving me his hand (we 
 knew the full value of the former word from his 
 lips), " after the fa6ts you have stated, is secure ; 
 yet we must not part, without my warning you 
 against this pradice of assembling in each other's 
 dwellings," (I, thinking on the solemn shadow 
 then resting upon mine, sighed deeply,) " until," 
 he added, kindly perceiving the pained expression 
 of my face, " the Government see fit to withdraw 
 its opposition to such meetings." 
 
 He then beckoned Robin Cheke draw near ;
 
 AN ANCIENT RELIC. 
 
 ^33 
 
 and Robin, with a little trepidation and shame- 
 facedness, obeyed. A very ugly scar upon his 
 temple attracting Sir William's attention, he made 
 inquiry respecting it. The poor boy for a good 
 while was forced to wear a patch over his left eye, 
 the sight of which had been greatly obscurated by 
 the cruel beating he got from John Lucas. 
 
 Master Robin now grew bold enow to tell his 
 own tale ; and, remembering the destruction of 
 his best beaver, said, looking ruefully at a dismal 
 castor he was holding in his hand, " This, 
 honoured Sir, belonged to my grandfather, who's 
 been dead these many years ; and 'tis the only 
 one my mother can afford me, in place of that I 
 lost." 
 
 " An ancient relic, truly, for a curled pate like 
 thine to carry," said the knight, laughing, as he 
 laid a hand, sparkling with rings of price, upon the 
 lad's shoulder (and a mighty pretty sight it was, 
 methought, to see rank, wealth, and power thus 
 gracious to weakness and poverty) ; the other he had 
 thrust into a pocket of his broidered vest. I caught 
 the shimmer of gold upon Robin's palm, and heard 
 a rich, mellow voice say, " Take it, boy, and get 
 thee another hat^ with crown less like a church- 
 steeple than that thou now hast ;" and hastily 
 disclaiming all thanks, while gracefully bidding us 
 farewell, he passed out, and from a window which 
 partially commanded the entrance to the house,
 
 134 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 we saw him direcftly afterward vault into his 
 saddle and ride off at full speed. 
 
 The serving-man who had received, now appeared 
 to re-"condu6t us ; in the hall was the young clerk, 
 and the sneer upon his features he now took no 
 pains to conceal ; moreover, I observed him 
 exchange a wink with our guide, and, at the same 
 time, hearing a titter from another part, looked 
 up, and in a little stone gallery espied a cluster of 
 giggling young chamber-wenches, who were scan- 
 ning our outward garb (plain enow, I grant) with 
 an impertinence 'twas wise not notice. 
 
 After we were gotten outside the court-gate, 
 Robin Cheke said eagerly, " Sir William has given 
 me two guineas. Master Hicks, and I pray you 
 take them both." 
 
 '' What for ?" quoth I. " If 'tis to keep the 
 money safe, / have no strong box." 
 
 " Nay, Sir, that's far from my meaning. 
 Through God's mercy, I've enow to eat and drink, 
 but there be they that deserve much better than I, 
 sorely pinched with hunger : this money will buy 
 many loaves of bread." 
 
 " When Sir William so graciously gave you this 
 gold, Robin, I heard him say, 'twas designed for a 
 beaver in lieu of that upon your head." 
 
 " Ay, Sir," he replied, his blue eyes smiling up 
 at mine from under its shady brim, for the sweet 
 and trustful look of old had again come back to
 
 MONET PUT ro THE BEST OF USE. 135 
 
 them ; *' I'll work hard to get me a better ; but 
 these brave tokens (showing his guineas), e'en for 
 sake of the grand gentleman who gave 'em me, I'd 
 like put to the best of use, and I can think of none 
 betterr 
 
 " Then your own mother is a widow, and bur- 
 thened with care of many children ; she is also 
 poor." 
 
 " True," replied he, quickly ; " but there was 
 a widow once as poor, who '• cast in all that she 
 had' into the treasury, honoured Sir. Is it your 
 wish to turn me from my purpose?" 
 
 " Nay, good Robin, for I believe 'tis out of the 
 abundance of your warm young heart your mouth 
 hath spoken ; but I wish that part this money be 
 laid out in purchase of a hat suited to your years ; 
 the remainder, with your mother's approval," said 
 I (knowing what a kind soul Patty Cheke is), 
 " divided between her and they to whom, as ye said 
 truly, a loaf of bread will prove indeed acceptable." 
 
 While thus pleasantly conversing, the sound of 
 something rushing along at great speed made us 
 look backward, and what should we spy but a huge 
 dog, known by report the whole country round, 
 and most-times, by reason of its size and fierceness, 
 kept close chained in the Garston kennel. Flight 
 before such a pursuer was impossible ; yet nimbly 
 as a squirrel the boy had darted up the nearest tree; 
 the other friends managed to scramble through the
 
 136 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 hedge ; and I, planting myself firmly against the 
 trunk of the beech among whose boughs Robin was 
 perched, folded my arms, and awaited the result of 
 the hound's advance. 
 
 All this took place in what seemed less than a 
 moment of time, as on he came with an arrowy 
 swiftness, till a few paces distant the spot where I 
 stood ; and though, I confess, full of inward dread, 
 I kept my eyes fixed steadily upon him, for I had 
 heard — neither felt inclined treat altogether as a 
 fable — that a man hath been able to daunt even a 
 lion by the power of his eye ; and the creature con- 
 fronting me was near as big as one, of the same 
 tawny hue, and his nervous limbs of a strength and 
 suppleness which could have made, had he been so 
 disposed, the springing upon and throttling me 
 scarce the work of a minute. But whatever his 
 impetuous advance might indicate, at the distance 
 I have named he stopped suddenly, and save for 
 his restless fiery eyes, which watched intently the 
 slightest gesture or motion on my part, became still 
 as if turned to stone. Even at a moment like this 
 I could not help noting with admiration the 
 symmetry and fineness of his proportions : he 
 minded me of a dog carven by the cunning chisel 
 of some rare sculptor. 
 
 Now, there be few of the brute kind, after a 
 very little while, I've not found incline to grow 
 trustful and familiar with me. As never wilfully I
 
 THE JVHOLE CREATION. 1 37 
 
 worked the woe of any of these creatures, so when 
 their dumb looks meet mine confidingly, I see how 
 true they are to the instindt planted in their natures 
 by a Divine Creator, that thus maketh them discern 
 a friend who hath ofttimes shown a care and con- 
 cern about their treatment, for which hard-hearted 
 folk have ridiculed him not a little. Yet others — 
 and my heart glows at the remembrance — have been 
 so wrought upon by my reproofs, and moved by 
 my exhortations, that to my certain knowledge they 
 have eschewed bull and bear baits, and other the like 
 cruel pastimes ever afterward. Where the Apostle 
 speaketh of " the whole creation groaning and tra- 
 vailing in pain together,'' I recognize in these poor 
 fools an important part of that creation ; and He 
 " who meted out heaven with a span, and compre- 
 hended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
 weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a 
 balance," we are expressly told by our Lord him- 
 self, noteth the fall of a sparrow. 
 
 The organs of dogs are so subtile, and their per- 
 ceptions so nice, a conceit hath thereby arisen in 
 some folk's minds that they can, in a manner, 
 refledl on what passeth around them ; and certes, 
 my new acquaintance the hound, as he then stood, 
 with his broad chest dilate, and his fine head a 
 little thrown back, was, I saw, grown rather 
 puzzled, and at loss how to proceed. It then 
 occurred to me my best chance for safety lay
 
 IjS TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 in greeting him boldly. A strange power dwelleth 
 in the tones of the human voice over inferior and 
 bestial natures. 
 
 " My brave dog," quoth I, speaking cheerfully, 
 and advancing a step— though a slight rising of his 
 back, and very low, smothered growl, made the 
 blood pause at my heart — " 'tis none but thieves 
 or sturdy beggars you should be sent in chase of 
 — nay, hardly them, to my way of thinking ; but 
 I'm a very honest, harmless kind of man. Come 
 hither, friend, and examine for thyself." 
 
 " Master Hicks, ye're surely taken mad," cried 
 Robin, among the boughs. 
 
 " Prithee, be not so fool-hardy," said another 
 voice, a little way off; " and maybe the dog will 
 turn aside." 
 
 The dog, however, showing no such inclination, 
 I seated myself as composedly as I could at foot o' 
 the tree ; then he came gradually nearer, and began 
 to smell my clothes, hands, and at length con- 
 sidered my features, with such a grave, careful 
 scrutiny, that for my life I could not repress a 
 smile. Certain it is they were not displeasing to 
 him. He set his great, heavy paws upon my knees, 
 and we became friends on the instant. 
 
 " Thou art indeed a noble beast, and most 
 sagacious," exclaimed I, laying my hand now fear- 
 lessly upon his head, " in that thou scornest to 
 worry the weak and the defenceless — though.
 
 A LESSON FROM A DOG. I J 9 
 
 doubtless, unchained and sent after us for the 
 purpose." 
 
 Looking down the road as I spoke, I spied the 
 figures of two men, a good way off, skulking as if 
 they wished not to be seen. Perceiving this, I ran, 
 the dog bounding on before, till I had overtaken 
 them. The serving-man proved one, and the 
 other had the badge of the family on his sleeve. 
 
 "By whose orders," cried I, "did you set that 
 dog after us ? " 
 
 " Nay, master," they both exclaimed, with marks 
 of fear as v/ell as shame depidted in their faces ; 
 " he broke loose, and we were coming in pursuit of 
 him." 
 
 " I believe ye not," said I. " Yet is your 
 wicked malice defeated. Servants such as ye may 
 well go take a lesson from a dog." 
 
 The knaves answered never a word, but hanging 
 
 down their heads, returned to the house. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Upon the evening of the third day after dear 
 Master Jellinger's death, we buried him in a grave, 
 which, though far away from land of his birth and 
 those of his kindred, yet tears of truest sorrow fell 
 upon it, and 'twill be ofttimes visited by the gentle 
 regrets of many who loved the peaceful sleeper 
 there. 
 
 Ere the coffin was nailed, a sister asked me to 
 take my farewell look of the body. 'J he body ! How
 
 140 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Strange those two little words smote upon my 
 heart ! I went again into the chamber where he 
 died ; and weeping Mistress Hawes, softly and 
 tenderly, as if she feared disturbing him, drew away 
 the face-cloth. 
 
 " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," 
 seemed writ, by a heavenly finger, upon the serene, 
 tranquil features before me. The last words the 
 pale, still lips had uttered appeared again whisper- 
 ing in my ear, but as by an angel's voice. 'Tis 
 our intent to have them graven on the stone with 
 which we design to mark our brother's bed of rest. 
 At the head of it, Master Hope hath already 
 planted a fair young maple tree.
 
 chapter X. 
 
 Rev, Mr, Buriizvoods Orchard. 
 
 EAR a month has passed since I made 
 my last jotting ; but for the whole of 
 that time we've enjoyed a freedom from 
 alarm and insult almost past belief. The 
 furious reprisal we expeded, after the shocking dis- 
 turbance at the late meeting, upon such as were 
 principally concerned therein, came not at all ; our 
 clouds of doubt and dread seemed to disperse, as 
 I've seen clouds scattered in the heavens, when, to 
 the eye, they appear charged with storm and de- 
 stru6lion, and yet are driven away by some hidden 
 agency that, like the gracious south wind, riseth 
 unawares ; and if men guess, they may not tell its 
 source, and either bless silently or curse its potent 
 influence according to the good or evil spirit which 
 possesseth them ; yet more than this they cannot do. 
 Master Edmund Spenser, in a certain famous
 
 142 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 book of poesy, that in my youth (having time afore 
 me) I read from the first line even unto the last, and 
 was not sorry when I gat there, sayeth somewhat, 
 if I mind rightly, about the effedV produced among 
 a company of troublous, rebel subje6ls, at wave of 
 an enchanted wand ; now, if I, a plain, studious. 
 God-fearing country parson, was inclined dilate after 
 the fantastic, allegoric fashion in which Master 
 Spenser handles serious things, I also might, per- 
 haps, be tempted liken the late forced stillness in 
 these parts (though rumours are afloat of sinister 
 portent) to a magic of the same kind ; but as, when 
 a young man, and in love to boot, I had still suffi- 
 cient sense left me neither to vex my own wits, the 
 gentlewoman's I was courting, nor those of any 
 other folk, by essaying to rhyme idylls with a 
 feather-headed pen, I shall certainly, at this time o' 
 day, content myself with noting in honest, homely 
 prose, a feature or two of the change which hath 
 come over our condition. 
 
 First, Master Beare, for aught we can learn to 
 the contrary, remains sulking in his house, as if he 
 truly were become like a furred quadruped of the 
 same name, and with growling submission was com- 
 pelled to brook awhile //;<? chain that binds him to 
 his staple. Squire Reynells, after paying his re- 
 spe6ls at Garston, pa:ssed through Kingsbridge, on 
 his return, as if he'd never even heard of the 
 tumult our assemblage had caused there ; and John
 
 MIND PERTURBED AND EXERCISED. 1 43 
 
 Lucas, though exceeding brisk and busy, and to the 
 full intent upon and occupied in discharge of the 
 duties conne6led with his pleasant calling — stocks 
 nor pillory remaining empty from any lack of atten- 
 tion or assiduity on his part — seems to aroint the 
 very shadow (leave alone the substance) of our per- 
 sons, if by accident we cross each other's path. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding this alteration in the car- 
 riage of our most inveterate foes, my mind of late 
 hath been much perturbed and exercised ; and, in 
 sleep, my brain haunted by dreams which made me 
 glad to wake and find they were dreams and nothing 
 more ; for the Lord doth not warn His servants 
 now, as of old, by solemn or terrifying visions of 
 the night. When in mood of this kind, which, to 
 me, is thing of rare occurrence — as, God be 
 thanked, I am far enow from having a deje6t cast of 
 mind — a lusty walk into the fresh open country I've 
 found prove a right salutary, wholesome remedy for 
 the distemper; therefore I concluded upon doing 
 what I'd long minded, namely, the going to see 
 Master Burdwood at his little farm. My children 
 followed me across the threshold of our house, and 
 the two biggest prayed so hard to go likewise, that 
 I consented ; their mother, shading her eyes from 
 the sun with her hand, watched us, smiling, in the 
 porch, as long as we remained in sight. 
 
 Getting out o' the town, which it taketh not much 
 time to do, our pleasant road lay between hedges
 
 144 
 
 rROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 flush of wilding flowers still covered with dew-drops 
 fairer than the pearls upon a queen's bodice ; here 
 and there was an opening made by a rustical stile 
 or gate, through which might be seen glimpses of 
 beauteous prosped beyond, and the waters of the 
 rising tide were shimmering like burnished silver. 
 Moreover, 'twas the harvest season : as we watched 
 the reapers busy in the field, I dilated upon the 
 marvellous beauty of the pastoral psalms and nar- 
 ratives in Holy Writ, and those where corn-fields 
 are mentioned. I spoke to my sons of Eastern 
 lands and customs ; the stately Boaz and his men, 
 and made them note the gracious salutation of this 
 princely master to his servants, " The Lord be with 
 you ;" and the grateful understanding conveyed in 
 their response, " The Lord bless thee." I piftured 
 Ruth in her poverty, all meekly gleaning atween 
 her rich kinsman's sheaves, till their own dark eyes 
 'gan softly glisten. 
 
 " Ah," cried one, "were I a jolly farmer, I'd do, 
 my father, as that good vicar wont, I've heard you 
 tell of, who, while he kept his glebe, had rakes made 
 with but five teeth a-piece for his own use, that poor 
 folk might find a plenty left behind when they came 
 among his stooks to glean." 
 
 As the merry pair pranked on before me, they 
 plucked them posies as they went, the elder having 
 a knack at marking devices from leaves, blossoms, 
 and long delicate grasses, for his mother's flowery
 
 SPYING A BIRD'S NEST. 1 45 
 
 tapestry, which, beside being some small help to 
 her, is a surprising pretty natural gift in one no 
 older than he. 
 
 But the younger, who had gotten greatly ahead 
 of us, full quick returns, his face brimming with its 
 little news, to wit, that he had spied a nest, and 
 would like nought better than climb up and 
 pluck it down out of the lofty tree ; yet he minded 
 what his mother told him, and how once she chided, 
 and shook her head ; thereupon the urchin wagged 
 his curls, and with such an arch trick of the face 
 mimicked my wife, when she conceits she frowns, 
 that I was fain to kiss the varlet ere I said, " Ah, 
 child, bethink thee how grievous cruel 'tis for urchin 
 hands like thine to tear away that curious little home, 
 which costeth these pretty feathered songsters such 
 nice care and skill to build and furnish to their 
 minds. Then, parting the tender callow things 
 from the old birds causeth them a suffering sadder 
 than I can tell by words ; the young, my son, 
 should alway be let remain safe under a parent's 
 downy wing, till grown strong enow to poise them- 
 selves upon their own bright pinions." 
 
 Here a sound more like the rumble of thunder 
 than anything else interrupted our discourse, and 
 brought us to a halt. I resolved it to proceed from 
 coach-wheels, and as there was but one coach in the 
 neighbourhood (of which, whenever it appeared, 
 'twas the entire talk and wonder) I knew whose it 
 
 L
 
 146 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 must be. Presently the ponderous vehicle, drawn 
 by six long-tailed horses, in a glittering harness, 
 came in sight. Sir William Bastarde, mounted 
 upon his favourite mare, was riding beside it, and 
 no sooner saw me, than making a motion with his 
 hand to the fat coachman, he rode up to the spot 
 where I stood, and smiling at my httle boys, who 
 somewhat shily regarded the handsome stranger gen- 
 tleman, the knight hastily informed me himself and his 
 lady were then upon the first stage of their intended 
 journey, and the rest of the household about to follow. 
 " If we proceed as smoothly as we've begun, 
 which you know, Mr. Hicks," said he, laughing, 
 " is a thing I scarce dare hope for, in little more 
 than a week we shall find ourselves in London." 
 Leaning down toward me. Sir William lowered his 
 voice, and with an earnestness of manner which left 
 no doubt in my mind of the interest he was pleased 
 to say he took in my welfare, enjoined me, by all I 
 valued or held dear (looking kindly toward my 
 children, whose admiring eyes were riveted upon 
 the fine coach, rich-liveried servants, and prancing 
 horses, a little way off), to pursue a certain line of 
 condu(5t. What that certain line of condudt was, I 
 need not here set down ; suffice it to hint, a high 
 ecclesiastical personage had thought proper to cause 
 be laid before his Majesty's Privy Council " A com- 
 plaint concerning the — " Sir William paused, and 
 I perceived the colour deepen on his cheek.
 
 IMPATIENT GESTURE OF ASSENT. 
 
 147 
 
 " The protedion vouchsafed us, since your com- 
 ing into this part," said I, completing the sentence. 
 He made an impatient gesture of assent, yet the 
 next moment disclaimed eagerly the doing aught in 
 our behalf, " Save that," cried he, his lip curling as 
 he spoke, " which, could I have a6ted otherwise, had 
 made me unworthy the trust I hold ; ay — pardon 
 my pride, 'tis honest — the blood which bounds un- 
 tainted in my veins." 
 
 " God grant that no ill after-consequences, Sir 
 William, may accrue to yourself from the just, the 
 generous spirit which has thus made you interpose 
 between our persecutors and ourselves." 
 
 " Nay, 'tis little I need care — some slight cen- 
 sure, perhaps, from a royal quarter, which I shall 
 bear as lightly as I do the feather in my hat ; but, 
 friend, listen to my parting word of counsel — be 
 you right cautious for the future." 
 
 "My future," replied I, "is as the Lord shall 
 direct ; it lies with Him ; all our ' times are in His 
 hand.'" 
 
 While this converse was going on, the coachman, 
 with the other servants clustered behind the coach, 
 eyed askance from their respedlive seats the poor 
 man, in his thread-bare suit of rusty black, their 
 worshipful master thus talked with as an equal; 
 the very horses seemed toss their heads and arch 
 their shining necks disdainfully ; my lady's httle 
 foot-page sate watchful on the wide, low door-step 
 
 L 2
 
 148 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 of the coach ; and soon my lady herself, in her vel- 
 vet hood, looked out to see what the cause of this 
 delay might be. Yet her face (about the finest I 
 ever beheld) grew somewhat clouded when, after 
 returning my obeisance, she sunk back upon her 
 seat. The pert nose of the young waiting gentle- 
 woman sitting opposite her mistress was also dis- 
 cernible, as well as the dim outline of what I con- 
 cluded a chaplain's averted shovel-hat, in another 
 corner of the roomy vehicle. Then, forsooth, a 
 favourite monkey the damsel was holding in a silver 
 chain must needs show his small, dark, wizened 
 visage, making at the same time a little mowing 
 grimace, whereat the children falling into an ecstacy 
 of laughter, the chain of the ape was quickly pulled, 
 and in its stead appeared the cherub head of the little 
 heir, his peach-like cheeks all dimpled with respon- 
 sive mirth ; but a signal to move being given, the 
 jerk flung him down among my lady's silken 
 cushions, and the gorgeous equipage proceeded on 
 its way. Sir William, with a countenance in which 
 both regret and commiseration were strongly ex- 
 pressed, cordially extended his hand ; I pressed it 
 warmly, and may the prayer to Heaven which then 
 sprung from my heart to my lips, rest like a bless- 
 ing upon him and his ancient house for many a 
 prosperous generation to come ! 
 
 After walking briskly several paces, I turned to 
 take a farewell look, just as the four gilt balls on
 
 MILLER AND HIS fVIFE. I49 
 
 the roof of the coach were slowly disappearing 
 adown a steep hill behind us ; and a feeling, pretty 
 near akin to a wight's who, crossing a deep, foam- 
 ing torrent, sees the plank on which his foot resteth 
 shiver and part beneath him, oppressed my soul 
 with sadness. Not long afterward, the clack of a 
 mill rising faintly to the ear from a vale below 
 broke the thread of my reflexions, and soon we 
 reached a low, one-arched bridge, overhung with 
 trees. Hard by was the miller's house, a place 
 content itself might love to dwell in, and in the 
 porch, her distaff in her hand, a comely red-cheeked 
 dame was sitting, who, nodding to my little sons, 
 cheerily gave me good-day, and asked us step 
 within, rest our legs a bit, and taste their home- 
 brewed ale. 
 
 While the miller's wife was speaking, the miller 
 himself appeared, looking just what he is, a right 
 goodly sample of jocund health and plenty ; his 
 honest face round and full as a harvest moon, and 
 shoulders of a breadth to match. Each living 
 creature around did convey a sense of the same 
 comfortable ease and abundance, from the cock 
 a-crowing and strutting with his dozen wives before 
 the door, to the lazy house-dog basking i' the 
 sun, who half opening his blinking eyes, surveyed 
 us mildly, and again shut them for the flies to walk 
 over at their pleasure. 
 
 I had some ado to get away from the proffered
 
 I50 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 kindness of the hearty miller and his dame ; but 
 time allowed not this pleasant loitering by the way. 
 Sure, thought I, 'tis none save envious niggard 
 churls would grudge such bounteous souls the good 
 a gracious Providence delights thus shower upon 
 them. 
 
 Then we struck into a path, which brought us 
 to the keep of a very ancient castle, shattered by 
 the Parliament forces in the late civil strife ; its 
 turrets are fallen, and the courts overgrown 
 with grass, which thirty years agone echoed the 
 tramp of the sentinel, and the neigh of the war- 
 horse. At no distant date, I foresee, few traces of 
 these old walls will remain. I lingered a little space 
 upon the green, where the feudal lords of the place 
 wont play at bowls and other pastimes, the boys all 
 gleefully watching a hare dart across and on to 
 the sunny glade beyond ; but, alack ! at very short 
 distance from the spot stood a grim reminder of the 
 barons of yore in the castle gibbet- tree, from whose 
 black mouldered cross-beam many a one had 
 quivered in his death-throes at the frown of his 
 lord. 
 
 All about the fortress seemed decayed and 
 desolate ; nought living discerned I near us, save a 
 flock of sheep feeding quietly in an adjoining field. 
 Presently I spied a couple of crows flying about, 
 who, in very important manner, appeared to be 
 calling their gossips. At sound of their hoarse
 
 A CROTV AND HIS GOSSIP. I 5 I 
 
 voices an ugly suspicion seized me ; they driving 
 downward, I lost sight of them. There was a gap 
 in the hedge in that direction ; I went thither, 
 looked through, and lo ! the pitiful spedlacle met 
 my eyes of a poor harmless sheep lying upon her 
 back, with this pair of carrion, in their funeral 
 feather cloaks, perched at her head, just a-making 
 up their minds to begin their cruel work. I cried 
 out so loud that I scared 'em. My children also 
 came running up, and the elder, like a brave little 
 man as he is, tugged and strove to help me ; while 
 the younger gave the biggest of the crows (and I 
 could scarce chide him for it) so shrewd a hit with 
 a stone, that he and his black neighbour were glad 
 to flap their wings at more convenient distance, 
 and go sailing off in quest of other prey, while we 
 gat the poor innocent fool of a sheep safe upon her 
 legs again. 
 
 This exploit, which joyed us much, being excel- 
 lently done, we trod the last mile all the more 
 briskly ; and then, peeping out amid the surround- 
 ing orchard trees, the brown thatch-roof of Master 
 Burdwood's cottage, with its gable chimney sendini^' 
 up a wreath of smoke in the clear, warm air, came like 
 a pretty pidure before our eyes. The land, in that 
 part of the country where he liveth, during the 
 spring-time o* the year, is gay as gay can be with 
 apple blossoms ; for these trees affecft the soil so 
 well they yield fruit there in measure and abundance
 
 152 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 scarce to be credited elsewhere ; but now, the sum- 
 mer Hearing its close, their heavy boughs were 
 drooping beneath a load of rich and ripening rosy 
 treasures for the autumn gathering. 
 
 At sound of our footsteps, a little wiry cur 'gan bark 
 so loud I'd thought of clapping him in my pocket 
 to still his pother. The noise he made brought 
 out none other than Master Burdwood himself, 
 followed by his wife and daughters — the sons were 
 in the field. They welcomed me as if I'd brought 
 some exceeding choice and much-desired thing, 
 instead of two little appetites beside my own, and 
 all three whetted to an unusual degree of keenness 
 by the fresh, pure air and healthful exercise of the 
 morning. Right glad we were to find ourselves 
 in their humble kitchen, where the sunbeams, 
 darting through the woodbine trained against the 
 lattice window, made a fanciful kind of chequer 
 over the clean huckaback cloth one of the girls 
 was busy laying upon the long shining oaken 
 table. They set before us sweet wholesome bread, 
 cheese, and pasty, flanked by a pewter tankard 
 kept bright as silver, and filled with cider a prince 
 might drink of and commend, beside a bowl of 
 fragrant milk, and dish of honey-comb, for the 
 children. Master Burdwood then said grace, and 
 'tis better to hear him do so over a crust and salad 
 than many a plethoric bishop preach. 
 
 Mistress Burdwood heaped our trenchers with
 
 MISTRESS BURDWOOD AND HER DAUGHTERS. I^J 
 
 the hand of a gentlewoman who dehghteth (as she 
 oft doth) to feed the hungry. At her desire, when 
 her husband settled in this farm, having some 
 means left, he purchased a few cows, and she and 
 her daughters learned greatly to excel in dairy 
 thrift ; ay, more, I've heard, than most of their 
 neighbours, who've been nought save homespun 
 housewives all their days, with scarce a thought, or 
 wish, beyond, their pots and pans. Yet the once 
 white, taper, jewelled fingers of Mistress Burd wood, 
 that do now apply themselves with such admi- 
 rable skill and diligence to the plainest, rustical, 
 house-wife matters, in past times touched the lute 
 rarely. 
 
 The girls too drew their joint-stools near, and 
 gently caressed my little sons, for which the 
 youngest gat her round cap twitched off slily from 
 the bright curls it but half did cover. She is a 
 marvellously pretty child, and while her mother 
 smoothed the golden locks a-shining in the sun, I 
 trusted the sickle of the reaper might not be laid 
 untimely at stem of so sweet a budding flower. 
 For though my brother has still several children 
 left, death hath cropped others scarce less lovely, 
 and ah ! scarce less fragile, than the blossoms on 
 his fruit-trees before a frost in spring. 
 
 " Now," said Master Burdwood, when our 
 repast was ended, " I will have you to my orchard. 
 Under a favourite tree of mine there, my good
 
 154 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 sons made a bench for me, which upon occasion 
 serveth for my pulpit also, and folk of the nearest 
 hamlets and villages flock largely thither to hear 
 God's message delivered to them. We, too, have 
 not been free from alarms and commotions, though 
 falling short your worries and dispersals at Kings- 
 bridge. If our arch foe. Master Beare, is ever 
 made magistrate, I hear he threatens me a first visit 
 in that capacity." 
 
 " Doubtless, he'll keep his evil word." 
 
 As we were going out o' the house, I observed 
 at little distance a hen spreading abroad her soft, 
 speckled wings, and covering her brood with them, 
 in a way that served bring to mind in a very 
 lively manner the tender image by which our Lord 
 showed what His love to His ancient people would 
 have been had they not rejefted it ; also a nearly- 
 forgotten passage in my own life. It was as 
 follows : — 
 
 When I had possession of a vicar's house, glebe, 
 and other things, tending, perhaps, to make this 
 life too desirable, my wife took pleasure in the 
 rearing and feeding divers choice sort of fowl. 
 Now a certain worldly-wise gentleman, a neigh- 
 bour of ours, after I'd announced my intention to 
 give up my living, made it his business to expos- 
 tulate with me thereon. 
 
 " Master Hicks," quoth he, " if ye prove thus 
 humorsome, and persist in refusing to conform.
 
 THE HEN AND CHICKENS. I 5 5 
 
 having a family like to be growing larger, what 
 will ye do ?" 
 
 " Do ?" cried I, and looked around me for a 
 fitting emblem to illustrate that which I was going 
 to say ; and lo ! close by was a brave hen, just 
 such another as that I noted at ^Master Burd- 
 wood's door, calling to her young — and a goodly 
 number the poor, fond, anxious thing had to care 
 for. *' Master Silver," said I, pointing to her, 
 " if I've as many children as yonder hen has 
 chickens, I question not but God will provide for 
 them all." 
 
 And truly my gracious Heavenly Father has 
 done what, from the beginning of my temporal 
 troubles, grace was given me to believe without 
 doubting He would, yea, will do to the end. 
 
 *' Brother," said Master Burdwood, as we seated 
 ourselves upon the rustical bench he spake of, in the 
 midst of his pleasant and delightsome orchard, " I 
 have felt much of the Lord's presence in this spot, 
 yea, preached with more undtion under these 
 boughs than I've done beneath the lofty arches of a 
 cathedral roof." 
 
 " God's service, " replied I, " hath ofttimes 
 appeared to me likewise, when preaching i' the 
 open air, sweeter, ay, solemner, with the hills 
 around me for walls, the sky above for roof, than 
 in any temple builded by the hand of man. And 
 how fervent the spirit, which bringeth our hearers
 
 156 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 together! — earthly punishment only seemeth to make 
 the larger number bhid themselves all the more 
 closely to the holy cause for which they suffer." 
 
 'Tis for the dearest, sacredest rights of human- 
 kind we and they are striving, Master Hicks ; and 
 if our lot be cast where force takes place of laws, 
 and the worshipping our Maker in other ways than 
 the King wills appear counted a crime we may 
 hereafter, perhaps, expiate on the gallows, have we 
 not already proved by experience how the Lord 
 can strengthen us for this contest ? I reckon we 
 play a more important part in our Master's service, 
 now we ofttimes scarce know how to live, than when 
 we were snugly ensconced in our good livings." 
 
 '^ Ay, and are at peace with our own conscience, 
 my brother. When thou and I gave up our worldly 
 all, we trusted in God's promises, and hath He 
 ever since failed suf)port us by His providence?" 
 
 " How truthful is thine observe ! " said Master 
 Burdwood ; and so bright a smile broke over his 
 features that I likened it to what Master Spenser, 
 in a stanza of his long-winded poem, prettily enow 
 calleth, " sunshine in a shady place." " But I meet 
 with other kind of disturbance. Master Hicks," 
 quoth he, " In a quarter ye little wot of. Ye 
 know there are pretty many of the persons 
 called Quakers a-settling themselves in these parts." 
 
 " Ay, we've two or three families of 'em newly 
 come to Kingsbridge. They seem affecfl the place.
 
 QUAKERS. I^y 
 
 and shrewder hands at making an honest bargain, 
 the townsfolk declare they never in all their lives 
 met before. Of a truth, in worldly matters, the 
 Quakers do appear to have the wisdom of the 
 serpent." 
 
 " Yet are they not quite so harmless as doves. 
 What think ye of these worthy folk (for good to 
 the heart's core, despite some of their megrims, I 
 believe 'em) a-coming when I am preaching on pur- 
 pose to hold a wordy kind of disputation with me 
 at the. end o' my sermon ? I freely own the sight of 
 their beavers under my apple-trees is to me far enow 
 from a pleasant one." 
 
 " If such their errand, I can readily conceit it, 
 though the wearers of 'em be excellent souls in 
 the main, and like ourselves they suffer much 
 — ay, in ways, too, that we are free of — for 
 maintaining steadfastly what they believe right, 
 according to God's word ; braver confessors for 
 the glorious truth, that the Lord assumes to him- 
 self the dominion of conscience, and therefore all 
 punishment for conscience sake is, contrary to His 
 word, shall ye find nowhere than among the Quakers." 
 " And greatly do I honour and esteem these our 
 friends for their righteous firmness in this matter. 
 They have sterling stuff in 'em, my brother ; more- 
 over, being devout believers in the Holy Scriptures, 
 as ' given by inspiration of God,' they are sound 
 i' the faith, though their chief dodrine, namely, a
 
 158 TROUBLOUS riMES. 
 
 fuller recognition of the direft moving and teaching 
 of the Spirit than other believers care so largely sub- 
 scribe to, / (not without some small reason) con- 
 sider in a certain degree erroneous, for never can I 
 be brought to think their feet guided hither by 
 the Divine Spirit into this my orchard — as they 
 stiffly contend they are — to ruffle and disturb 
 mine, while engaged in the work I humbly hold 
 myself appointed to by the Lord ; and If these our 
 over-familiar neighbours find me not out of doors, 
 without as much as a ^ By thy leave, friend,' they'll 
 lift the latch, and come straight Into the midst of 
 my house — ay, when we're at prayers, or meals — 
 and taking careful note of what they see and hear 
 (for from under their hats look forth eyes as 
 keen, observant, and discerning as ever yet were set 
 in human heads), after I've ended my praying, or 
 begun my dining, they'll maybe ply us round — 
 wife, children, or any others present — with the 
 strangest, searchingest questions ye can conceit. 
 And mark, these folk, while sucking the very mar- 
 row of your thoughts, are extreme sparing o' the 
 change they give that way in return. If ye ask the 
 merest Quaker stripling such simple question as, 
 * What of the clock 'tis.?' he'll pick his words well 
 over afore he give ye a cautious answer. Now 
 and then, I confess, I wax somewhat warm with, 
 and make tartish answers to, these our self-appointed 
 catechisers."
 
 HORNS OF A SNAIL. 
 
 159 
 
 " How bear they having inquiry made into their 
 own personal concerns?" quoth I, smiling. 
 
 " The horns of a snail," said Master Burdwood, 
 " are not tenderer to the touch of a rude finger, nor 
 doth he shrink more quickly into the house upon 
 his back, than do they retreat within themselves, if 
 reprisal of this sort be tried." 
 
 " I once heard Master Corbett's friends tell a tale 
 about these worthy people and Bishop Gunning, and 
 how they worsted the bishop." 
 
 " Let's have it. Master Hicks." 
 
 " Well, ye must know, his lordship, out of his 
 hot-headed zeal, must needs give a challenge to the 
 Independents, Baptists, and i^a^i^dTJ, for the holding 
 a public disputation ; and when the time appointed 
 was come, the bishop in much state took the pulpit, 
 with a great pile of books beside him, and after 
 his sort, began to fire away very fiercely at the first 
 (for schism and rebellion were the ball he shot), and 
 they let him say out his say, without much troubling 
 themselves to answer. Thus having spent his heat, he 
 treated the Baptists civiller ; but on the third day of 
 the disputation up came the Quakers, and at sight of 
 their beavers, set as firm upon their pates as if 
 they grew there, and which none save a man-at-arms 
 might remove. Bishop Gunning, forgetful that ' a 
 bishop must be no brawler,' fell a-railing. Lo ! 
 never man quicklier found out his mistake, for they 
 paid him back in his own coin, and with interest too.
 
 j5o troublous times. 
 
 soon letting him know they should neither be gra- 
 velled by his books, nor confounded by his tongue, 
 till at length, in sore dismay and confusion, he was 
 forced leave the pulpit ; and as he passed 'em, 
 one boldly plucked his lawn sleeve, crying, 'The 
 hireling fleeth ! the hireling fleeth !' Yea, they fol- 
 lowed him home, and right glad was my lord bishop 
 to find himself inside his palace gates again ; and 
 never after could he abide sound of holding further 
 controversy with these folk." 
 
 " Good," said Master Burdwood, laughing, " and 
 few, I trow, there be, either among bishops or 
 laymen, who can gravel a Quaker in argument, or 
 anything else." 
 
 With regard to another communication I made, of 
 a very different nature. Master Burdwood remarked, 
 " Depend on't, the bishops will do their best, or 
 rather worst, to hinder the King from showing his 
 Nonconformist subje6ls that justice which, some ten 
 years since, he was ready to promise, when the 
 ministers of our body joyfully attended him through 
 London upon his restoration. Poor old Master 
 Arthur Jackson! I conceit I see that good man pre- 
 senting the rich Bible to his sovereign, and hear the 
 grateful acclamations which burst forth, when, with 
 a princely grace, the King, taking the holy Gospel 
 in his hand, told them ' it should be the rule of his 
 actions.'' "
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 Talk in Rev. Mr. BurdnjuoocTs Orchard concluded by an Account of the 
 Mischief the Sun nxiroughtfor Christopher Hart. 
 
 UT, Master Burdwood," exclaimed I, 
 hurriedly, after a pause of several 
 minutes, during which I had been cogi- 
 tating too ruefully upon his last observes 
 to give a glance at his countenance, " what is this 
 which has come over you ?" for Master Burdwood's 
 face had grown pale as the face of a statue, and the 
 drops were gathered in beads upon his high fore- 
 head, knitted like that of him who endureth sharp 
 agony, while both his hands were tightly clenched. 
 " I will run to the house," cried I, in great alarm. 
 Hereupon he shook his head, and made a gesture so 
 expressive of disapproval that I remained where 
 I was, and after an anxious watch of some duration 
 on my part, his countenance gradually retimed its 
 wonted hue and expression. 
 
 " Thou hast read of the rack, brother," said he, 
 faintly trying to smile ; " methinks it could scarce 
 
 M
 
 1 62 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 give dreadfuller wrenches than those I am now 
 ofttimes called to suffer." And he proceeded 
 describe to my amazed and deeply-affeded self the 
 progress of a cruel hidden malady, that baffles 
 science find a cure for, from which he hath, hitherto, 
 been an unsuspeded sufferer, its fangs having been 
 slow a-striking themselves in his strong, healthful, 
 finely-made frame. 
 
 " Yet art thou, my brother," at length groaned 
 I, " in the hand of Him who doth not willingly 
 affli(5l the children of men." 
 
 " True, Master Hicks, I am ; and if it be God's 
 pleasure that ere long I must become fit for no 
 work save the work of suffering, I submit— I submit. 
 I have lost children, and estate, lastly health ; yet 
 can I say, with holy joy, with devout thankfulness. 
 He is my God still, yea, more so than ever. And," 
 continued he, his old smile breaking again like 
 sunlight over his features, " wot ye not. Master 
 Hicks, 'tis better to be pickled in brine than let rot 
 in honey ? " 
 
 " Ay, dear friend," said I, *' and the Lord ofttimes 
 seasons His chosen vessels with the water of afflic- 
 tion, ere He pours into them the wine of His 
 glory." 
 
 " And if," pursued Master Burdwood, " I handle 
 the spade less, 1 use the pen more. What dost 
 think of ^ Heart's-Ease,' for title of a book I projed 
 writing ? And I've begun another, named, * Helps
 
 KINGSBRIDGE. 1 63 
 
 for Faith in Times of Afflidion/ purely from my 
 own personal experience." 
 
 " I pray ye may be allowed fully to complete it. 
 'Twill prove, I doubt not, a work of sterling value 
 to the church ; and, speaking of books, I myself 
 am, at spare hours, engaged in the writing a 
 treatise, which I humbly trust may do some little 
 good. Ye know how roughly divers parts of it 
 have been already handled."* (Master Burdwood 
 nodded. He was now, in appearance, quite come 
 round again to his wonted pleasant, cheerful self.) 
 " And, moreover, of late it hath taken me in the 
 mind to keep (by means of a few unstudied jottings, 
 which, may be, you will think poor and trivial) 
 some slight record of things, just as they pass 
 before my own eyes, or I hear them reported by 
 folk of credit in Kingsbridge." 
 
 " A little town," interrupted Master Burdwood, 
 " which tidings from afar reach just when the 
 rest o' the world have clean forgot them — where 
 a post windeth his horn scarce oftener than once a 
 month, and then it causeth such commotion in the 
 place that the very dogs in the street partake 
 thereof, and bark accordingly ; while he who 
 getteth a ' News-book,' or a broad-sheet of ' The 
 Public Intelligencer,' is forced to read the same 
 aloud to they who cannot, which includes near half 
 
 * See Chapter III. 
 
 M 2
 
 I 64 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 the parish — where the delivery of parcels and the 
 like by the carriers is so uncertain and distressful 
 that Master Crispin deemed it prudent to send a 
 man and horse express with his letter, touching the 
 interment of Master Hughes." 
 
 "Pretty true in the main," said I, smiling; "yet 
 is the pidiure a little overcharged. For this town, 
 with its part royal appellation, to wit, that of King, 
 once set the admirable scholar ye just mentioned 
 a-thinking and searching the true origin and meaning 
 thereof; and he made a choice Latin transcript of a 
 certain tradition he believed closely conne6led with 
 the same, which near nine hundred years had been 
 floating adown the stream of time, that to some folk 
 flows so gently, it scarce seems flow at all in 
 Kingsbridge. I laid it carefully, along with other 
 of my most prized papers, in the small cedar chest, 
 which I delivered into the worthy hands of Master 
 Hawes, the bachelor, for safer keeping than, alack ! 
 my own poor house now afix)rdeth." 
 
 " I know it well. Master Hicks, and 'tis a flower 
 of heavenly poesy well worth preserving in a good 
 man's mem.ory." 
 
 " But that which I spake of anon. Master Burd- 
 wood, was some simple jottings oi our every-day life, 
 made when I am i' the vein ; alack, they grow so 
 sorrowful 'tis not often I've the heart for it." Then 
 I plucked out of my pocket, and showed him, this 
 my note-book.
 
 PEN NEEDS STRAirER CHECK THAN THE TONGUE. I 6 5 
 
 " The notion is not amiss," replied Master Burd- 
 wood, turning over its leaves ; " for the prattling 
 with a pen giveth a man a curt, easy, natural mode 
 of expression. Yet, pardon me for reminding you, 
 good brother, that the pen needs even straiter check 
 than the tongue ; the latter is capable of giving 
 wounds, such as time, who healeth most things, 
 fails to heal. Yet is it neither to be so feared in 
 its mischief, nor so deadly in its poison, as the 
 former. When a thing is set down in writings 
 it assumeth a degree of certainty which may be as 
 lasting in its effects for evil as for good." 
 
 " I design this little memoriam of ' 'Troublous 
 Times ' for my children — perhaps theirs after them," 
 quoth I. 
 
 " Yet thou knowest not in years to come whose 
 hands it may happen fall into." 
 
 *' True ; and if of a curious turn, I conceit they 
 who get will wish" — and I laughed at my thought 
 — "John Hicks had learned write a less evil hand; 
 for that which long use hath made most familiar to 
 me is crooked enow to decipher." 
 
 " Ye speak truth ; thy written characters are so 
 perverse, even I who know and love thee so well 
 can scarce make 'em out." 
 
 " Whereas some folk — my eldest son will be one 
 of those — touch their paper or vellum with strokes 
 so clear, and true, and fine, that a quill handled by 
 a fay's fingers could scarce do it more daintily.
 
 I 66 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 We've each our respedive gifts and graces, and for 
 certain that of writing straight and plain is not 
 among the number of mine ; but I pray God that, 
 as we are enjoined to speak ' the truth in love,' I 
 shall be careful, dear brother, to mind your injunc- 
 tion the other way." 
 
 " Look yonder," said Master Burdwood, point- 
 ing to a distant part of his orchard, " ye've a 
 lively fancy. Master Hicks ; now isn't that a pretty 
 pidlure under the boughs of my famous golden 
 pippin ?" 
 
 " Ay, as e'er a limner could desire to paint," 
 cried I, delightedly ; for his own blooming daughters, 
 with my sons, were there seated upon the grass, 
 and one of the young maidens had her apron full 
 of flowers, which the biggest of the boys was help- 
 ing her sort, and tie up in choicest posies ; the 
 elder of the fair girls, half reclining on her elbow, 
 held in one hand an open book ; and the little, 
 prick-eared, brown dog, that snarled so saucily at 
 our entrance, had thrust his black nose under her 
 arm, and setting a paw upon the page, seemed, by 
 the grave twinkling of his eyes, near as intent upon 
 the reading it as she. 
 
 "My good children," said Master Burdwood, 
 " have been to me truly ' a heritage of the Lord.' 
 Ye know," continued he, with emotion, "how 
 death hath been commissioned by the Lord to crop 
 the sweetest of my buds, and choose the firstlings
 
 REV. MR. BURDfVOOD'S CHILDREN. iSj 
 
 of my flock, taken to heaven in the morning of 
 their day; they yet left me such blessed hope in 
 their departure, that with very little outward 
 discomposure I was enabled preach the funeral 
 sermon of each, though the parting with them 
 seemed to my poor wife and myself just like the 
 severance of our own heart-strings. Master Hicks, 
 I pray much for my children, and I know you do 
 the same for yours." 
 
 " Ah, my very soul," quoth I, fervently, " at 
 these seasons seemeth to resolve itself into the 
 prayer I offer on their behalf." 
 
 " I cannot," pursued Master Burdwood, "expedl 
 my sons — they will be come from the field against 
 we return to the house, and ye'll see what tall, 
 comely youths they are grown — to remain content, 
 nor is it fitting they should, with tilling my poor 
 rental of ground : theyhave learnt them dialling and 
 land-surveying, though right diligent in attending 
 their plough and cattle. These things, Master Hicks, 
 which appear plain and of ordinary account, neither 
 debase nor unfit a person for what is high and noble." 
 
 " To my way of thinking, Master Burdwood, 
 they appear to shed all the greater lustre and 
 dignity upon him, if it is the Lord's will that here- 
 after his estate shall become an exalted one ; for 
 have we not in our time seen hands which grudged 
 not their farm labour — hands that knew full well 
 how to use a spade, or drive a coulter — hold the
 
 1 68 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 reins of power in this kingdom majestically, and 
 administer her government with a firmness and 
 wisdom which made the nation prosperous at home, 
 feared and respected abroad ?" 
 
 " The late Lord Prote6tor, Master Hicks, was a 
 ruler of God's own making ; in truth, a sovereign 
 man." Then, after a solemn pause, which I felt 
 no inclination to break, he resumed, " Let us 
 discourse upon a humbler subjed. My sons (as I 
 was saying) will, ere long, leave me ; nor can I, in 
 justice to them, withhold my consent. They 
 desire to build homes, and get farms, in that New 
 World, I once, along with several other brethren 
 in misfortune, was upon the point of embarking 
 for. Yet, in my particular case. Providence 
 decreed it should be otherwise, and constrained me 
 stay behind." 
 
 " Ah, Master Burdwood, thousands of miles 
 across the sea, in New England, the brave and 
 godly sons and daughters of the Old (they whom 
 tyrants banish, and she casteth out as unworthy to 
 be her children) can dwell in safety, under the 
 shadow of their own vine and fig-tree, and have laid 
 the foundation of a free and gracious polity. When 
 reflecting, as I ofttimes do, upon my poor family's 
 possible future, the same thing your sons (by the 
 blessing of God) purpose achieving presents itself 
 before me in an increasingly desirable point of view." 
 
 " Nor can I marvel thereat, Master Hicks ; but
 
 FEviRS FOR THE INCREASE OF POPERT. I 69 
 
 if, dear friend, true brother, this come to pass, may 
 the Lord grant that ye and your wife be permitted 
 go with your children to that new land of promise. 
 For me, He has willed otherwise. I must submit 
 to final earthly separation from most of mine ; and 
 I will also confess to you a dread which weigheth 
 heavy on my soul ; in addition to these discords 
 which harass our country, I greatly fear the spread 
 and increase of Popery. There is a prince very 
 near the throne, who, if he ever wear the crown, all 
 that know aught of him say, will go as far as God 
 shall permit in again bringing this deadly evil upon 
 the kingdom. Ah ! sooner than son or daughter 
 of mine should become miserable apostates from 
 the saving truths of the Reformed faith, and per- 
 haps hold a candle to a Popish priest, would I see 
 the last" — and his voice sounded sadly — " in their 
 winding-sheets. But I know. Master Hicks," said 
 he, some minutes afterward, in a cheerfuller tone, 
 " those owlet-nests, convents, abbeys, and the like, 
 you, though far as myself from wishing to see 
 reared up again, to become the pest-spots of this 
 fair realm, yet, nevertheless, when opportunity 
 serves, dearly like inspedl their remains, and rumi- 
 nate therein." 
 
 " Of a truth. Master Burdwood, 'tis no discredit 
 to my taste, for their founders had rare art in 
 mating strength with beauty. I remember 'twas 
 one of dear Master Jcllinger's conceits that the
 
 I 7 O TRO UBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 abbot archite6ls of yore were true poets, * as their 
 works in stone,' quoth he, * to this day testify.' 
 Now, to my mind, the brains of these 'cute monks 
 were hkewise stored with notions, more suited to 
 the eating and drinking world they Hved in than 
 the airy imaginings of poesy Hketh well admit ; for 
 had they not eyes as quick as they were careful in 
 choosing them sites among the best and fattest 
 portions of the land, where the meadows are 
 greenest, the woods fairest, and the streams and 
 rivers teemed with fish, that promised comfortably 
 for the fasts o' Lent ? " 
 
 " Ay, Master Hicks, those monks were glut- 
 tonous livers, and noted for making ^ gods of their 
 bellies.' " 
 
 *' But to my belief there are good men, and for 
 certain good women," cried I, " according to the 
 divine light they have been permitted to receive, 
 of every creed — nay, frown not, my brother — of 
 every creed, clime, and tongue, upon the face of the 
 whole earth." 
 
 " I will also tell you a thing. Master Hicks, bear- 
 ing on this point we're a-discussing, the which I've 
 pondered over much, and sorrowfully, under my 
 orchard-trees ; to wit, that, whenever any religious 
 body — I except ours no more than another — holds 
 exclusive or preponderating influence in the State, 
 intolerance, which is the sure forerunner of what's 
 even worse, creepeth in diredlly."
 
 INrOLERANCE. IJl 
 
 " Ay," said I, " and how many Episcopalians at 
 this very time, who profess abhor the flames of 
 Smithfield, would yet, to judge by their adions, 
 serve us not much better ; if they don't burn, they 
 hang, fine, imprison, and exile without mercy. 
 Master Beare, that calleth himself so stanch a 
 Churchman, and hath the words, ' Fear God, and 
 honour the King,' pat enow upon his tongue, lacketh 
 but the power to be a match for any Papist, dead 
 or alive, in violence and cruelty." 
 
 " True, and I think. Master Hicks, I can make 
 narration of a circumstance which took place not 
 quite three years agone. Did ye ever hear of the 
 mischief the sun wrought for Christopher Hart?" 
 
 " Somewhat in parcels, I may, of what seemed to 
 me so like an idle tale that I gave it little heed." 
 
 " Nay, 'tis worth remembering ; 'tis sober truth, 
 depend on't, every word. Before we leave this 
 bench, I'll tell ye the particulars." 
 
 *' Do," said I. And, in my opinion, the relation 
 of Master Burdwood was so curious, and out of the 
 common course of human affairs, that I shall tran- 
 scribe it, as near as I can, in his own words : — 
 
 " Christopher Hart was a farmer. Descended 
 from ancestors who were Puritans, he himself held 
 much the same religious opinions, though occasion- 
 ally an attendant at his parish church; and upon the 
 day set apart by the Church of England to com- 
 memorate the beheading of King Charles I., Master
 
 172 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Hart was — woe the day for him ! — seated in one of 
 its pews. He appeared not take the slightest notice 
 of the allusions in the service to the defundt 
 monarch and Royal Martyr, till it so fell out that 
 the officiating minister, in the height of his exordium 
 from the pulpit, thought fit exclaim, ' And never 
 since, on this day, has the sun been known to shine.' 
 As the words passed his lips, the sun, which had 
 before been slightly overcast, streamed through the 
 church windows with such a flood of dazzling bright- 
 ness that the small eyes of the old vicar blinked 
 again in the sudden blaze of golden light, which, 
 after playing with his own round cheeks and ruby 
 nose, proceeded to illuminate the monument of a 
 knight who had fought in the Wars of the Roses, 
 and nobody could tell how many wars beside, whose 
 fierce visage seemed to frown more darkly still, whilst 
 the clasped gauntleted hands appeared raised as if 
 in solemn deprecation of the monstrous fable to 
 which priestly tongue had given utterance. 
 
 " But at this very moment there was a living face 
 which looked near as forbidding in real flesh and 
 blood as did the grim old warrior's in stone, for 
 Master Christopher Hart had risen to his feet, and, 
 with a voice that made the aisles resound again, 
 shouted forth — ' By thy own red nose, thou speakest 
 false ! The sun not shine on this day more than any 
 other ! — why, man, he is now shining straight in thy 
 very face to confound thee.'
 
 CHRISTOPHER HylRTS INTERRUPTION. IJ ^ 
 
 " The parson dropped his book ; the lord of the 
 manor, Squire Dacres, started up in his great crim- 
 son-cushioned pew, with an oath ; whilst Madam 
 Dacres spread her fan, lest her eyes should be 
 extinguished by glancing toward such a monster. 
 Even the curls on the periwig of their little buff- 
 breeched heir-apparent, as well as those lovelier 
 ones under cap of finest Flanders upon the head of 
 his pretty sister, seemed to rise and stand on end 
 with horror at such a sacrilegious outrage. 
 
 ** What followed may not easily be imagined. 
 Master Hart had walked into that church a wealthy, 
 thriving man : he was dragged out as a felon, an 
 objedl for Episcopal vengeance to pursue. For 
 presuming within sacred precinfts to become a fear- 
 less witness in the cause of truth, he was persecuted 
 with the most merciless severity, for they said he 
 had ^ brawled' in the church ; therefore, he was fined 
 so heavily that his wife and children were made 
 homeless, and himself cast into prison. Neverthe- 
 less, the captive's spirits are wonderfully kept up ; 
 he there manageth to pursue some handicraft, which, 
 with the aid rendered by a few kind Christian souls 
 — whose timid natures, I've heard, secretly blame 
 his more intrepid one for being so deficient in all 
 worldly prudence — he and his family have, hitherto, 
 been kept from starvation. It must also be borne 
 in mind, that most of they who sympathise with and 
 pity his misfortunes, while ministering to his neces-
 
 174 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 sities, keep certain rankling memories in their own 
 hearts of perhaps a grandfather pubHcly scourged 
 and branded, an uncle nailed to the pillory, and 
 other kinsfolk minus their ears. 
 
 " I do not think the Lord will permit Christopher 
 Hart to die in prison, though I fear the best years 
 of his life will be spent there, neither have his chil- 
 dren been permitted beg their bread ; the elder ones 
 have gone out to America, are flourishing there, 
 and bid fair to prove worthy the parent stock ; and 
 as for his wife, no language I am master of can fitly 
 tell what that brave soul has struggled through for 
 love of her husband and family. If man is created 
 only ' a little lower than the angels,' 'tis my belief, 
 Master Hicks, some women (Kit Hart's wife is of 
 their number) are, in adversity, equal to the angels 
 themselves." 
 
 " I doubt it not," responded I, warmly ; " and 
 thine are not the idle fancies of a mere brain-sick 
 romancer, but the words of truth and soberness." 
 
 " The temper of the prisoner's own mind," said 
 Master Burdwood, " is also exceedingly cheerful 
 and composed ; he hath turned the following little 
 song, and ofttimes, like a caged lark, singeth it 
 whilst at his work : — 
 
 " Bright sun, betwixt my prison bars 
 I love thy smile to see j 
 'Twas strange those golden beams of thine 
 Should sorrow make for me.
 
 A CLEAR CONSCIENCE. I 7 5 
 
 " Whilst cooped within these walls of stone, 
 I muse, and work, and sing ; 
 Perchance in bonds do ofttimes feel 
 More joyous than a king ; — 
 
 '■ For certes than a king forsworn — 
 I who, from early youth, 
 Have counted crowns but sorry gauds 
 Without that jewel — truth. 
 
 " Let timid hearts school prudent tongues 
 Their coward peace to hold ; 
 Lord grant that, in her sacred cause, 
 I steadfast prove as bold. 
 
 " Then smile betwixt those bars, bright sun, 
 My breast forebodes no ill; 
 For a clear conscience maketh there 
 A brighter sunshine still."
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 John Lucas falls Sick — The Rock and the Hill Gatherings — Master 
 Beare is made Magistrate — A Last Dying Speech. 
 
 S late as Wednesday week, 'twas reported 
 in Kingsbridge that John Lucas had fallen 
 sick, and his distemper proved itself to 
 be a spotted fever of the worst kind. On 
 hearing my poor stricken foe's condition, the first 
 wish of my heart was that I could do him some 
 good service. Remembering also the injundlion of 
 our Lord, to *' pray for them which despitefully use 
 you and persecute you," I made instant and very 
 earnest supplication at a throne of grace on his 
 behalf Those we love 'tis easy and natural enow 
 to bear upon our hearts in prayer. We wrestle 
 fervently, and weary not, in imploring that blessings 
 may descend upon them. Yet did Christ set us 
 other example still to follow. While even in His 
 death-agony. He craved pardon for they who 
 scouiged, and mocked, and pierced Him.
 
 THE ROCK SALTSTONE. 1 77 
 
 Touching our own affairs at this period, though 
 their posture remained pretty much the same as 
 when I made my last jottings : we determined not 
 risk the assembhng ourselves again together, 
 either in or very near the town ; but upon the 
 afterpart of the day I've named, we agreed to hold 
 a meeting on the Rock Saltstone,* which lieth 
 nearly in the midst of the arm o' the sea that 
 washeth the beach at foot of the town of Kings- 
 bridge. No parish has been able to make out a 
 claim to this poor islet, now the only spot where, 
 according to the present cruel laws, we feel sure our 
 enemies may neither surround nor seize us. God's 
 eye regards that speck amid the waters, for hitherto 
 He hath preserved it inviolate from their malice. 
 The friends in the adjacent places round — opportu- 
 nity serving — likewise meet us there ; as the top of 
 this rock, at ebb o' the tide, presenteth a level plat- 
 form near five score feet in length, and full half as 
 much in breadth, so that a goodly number of 
 worshippers can stand thereon, and have blessed 
 breathing of prayer, and be refreshed with spiritual 
 exhortation, for which their thirsty souls pant, even 
 " as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks." 
 
 A certain godly minister, never in these parts 
 before, had come quite unexpeded to my house, 
 when it wanted scarce four hours of that appointed 
 
 • See Chapter IX. 
 N
 
 1 y 8 7i? UBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 for the meeting ; and though this good man had the 
 preceding day journeyed upward of fifty mile, and 
 most of it afoot, he no sooner learned our purpose 
 than he decided upon making one of our number ; 
 whereat we greatly rejoiced, seeing Master Habak- 
 kuk Brande is a person of no common rank or like- 
 lihood ; the exceeding plain cut of his habit, made 
 after the old Puritan manner, shows how little he 
 careth, in mere apparelling of the outward man, for 
 this world's fashions and vanities. 
 
 A slight rest and refreshment we, in a sort, forced 
 him to take. 
 
 " I know not," quoth he, " w^hat 'tis to be either 
 foot-sore or weary in my Master's service ; yea, 'tis 
 so brave a service, that never have I ceased rejoice 
 since first the Holy Spirit called me to enter it as a 
 preacher of the truth. I pray to be kept from e'er 
 becoming like certain professors,' who afFe6l know 
 much, and ofttimes say much, yet do as little as ever 
 they can, God forbid I should pick holes in other 
 men's coats, yet with blushing cheeks must I tell 
 you. Master Hicks, there be some slothful, lazy 
 workers in our Master's vineyard — ay, ministers 
 ne'er a whit the worse for years, and with very sound 
 inwards, yet list they neither preaching, nor ex- 
 pounding, more than can be barely helped ; to such 
 I say. Brethren, ye seem to fear lest ye should do 
 too much for Him from whose free sovereign grace 
 ye yourselves have received everything ; a faith that
 
 REy. MR. BRANDE. 
 
 179 
 
 shirketh labour cannot be a saving faith ; ye may 
 count yourselves ' stablished in the faith ' and 
 ' rooted and built up' in the Lord, yet is not the 
 fruit of a tree more visible than its root ? And 
 upon this point be admonished by His own words : 
 * For every tree is known by his own fruit.' " 
 
 And, of a truth. Master Brande himself is one 
 whose feet are " shod with the preparation of the 
 Gospel." Moreover, he is steeled with a courage 
 which maketh him confess to no fear, save the fear 
 of offending God. Endowed with extraordinarv 
 san6lity, as well as activity of spirit, he will wear, 
 but never rust out in the heavenly work he is 
 engaged in ; which hath been owned and blessed in 
 wonderfully abundant measure. On receiving such 
 an honoured guest, we seemed as they who enter- 
 tain an angel — I cannot exacflly say unawares, for 
 my wife and I soon discovered the choiceness of 
 his quality. 
 
 When the time was come for us to set forth, I 
 conduded Master Brande through some fields skirt- 
 ing the water, till we arrived at a well-known creek 
 o' the shore, where a boat full of brethren and 
 sisters lay to, awaiting us ; and the rowers— Master 
 Hope was one — plied their oars so lustily, in less 
 than an hour we reached the Rock of Saltstone. 
 Many persons — Master Burdwood and his tall 
 handsome sons among them — had already assem- 
 bled, and were chanting the 46th Psalm. As we 
 
 N 2
 
 l8o TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Stepped upon the little tide-washed islet, I said to 
 Master Brande, — 
 
 " This spot, my brother, is exceeding dear to the 
 Lord's people hereabouts. * Prayer, and strong 
 crying with tears,' have gone up from hence, which 
 He ' whose throne is in the heavens,' hath bowed 
 down to listen to : His hand hath beckoned to Him- 
 self some of the dear friends who wont to worship 
 with us, and they now behold * the King in His 
 beauty.' " 
 
 ^' Yet are they still your brethren," replied 
 Master Brande, " for the church of Christ above 
 is knit in a very close communion with His church 
 below." 
 
 " A reflection to my mind," quoth I, *' fraught 
 with the heavenliest of consolation." 
 
 Beside the folk gathered upon the rock, no other 
 human creature was in sight ; some cattle were 
 grazing peacefully in the distant fields, and now and 
 then a sea-fowl clove the air with its white wings ; 
 but this comparative silence and solitude only made 
 our hearts beat all the calmer and freer, for 'tis in 
 the very nature of spiritual persecution to make folk 
 turn away from and mistrust (ofttimes with very 
 good reason) their familiar friends and acquaintance, 
 yea, those who eat bread with them, and are of 
 kindred blood — thus fulfilling, to the letter, the 
 words of our Lord, " And a man's foes shall be 
 they of his own household."
 
 CRUEL fVATCHERS. l8l 
 
 The white taper-pointed spire of Kingsbridge 
 Church was visible from where we stood ; yet 
 neither haughty magistrate, Uke Squire Reynells, 
 nor blustering yeoman, nor long-armed constable, 
 might reach us there. True, our foes have some- 
 times been observed eyeing us from afar, and it 
 might happen that when the boats containing divers 
 parts of the congregation pushed off, and, having 
 set these a-land, returned for the rest, the tide had 
 encroached upon the rock, so as to give considerable 
 cause of mirth to these cruel watchers, who once, to 
 judge by the exceeding liveliness of their gestures, 
 would have liked nothing better than see us forced 
 swim for our lives, or perhaps drowned before their 
 eyes. 
 
 After the meeting had been opened by prayer. 
 Master Brande, at our pressing instance, consented 
 to speak first. Standing ereft among the ring of 
 folk, his commanding figure — which by reason of 
 its spareness appeareth still taller than it is — drawn 
 up to its full height, he, casting an eye, keen and 
 clear as a falcon's, upon us around him, gave out, 
 in a voice of marvellous power and cadence, by way 
 of text, the following Scripture : " A remnant 
 according to the eledtion of grace." Before he had 
 uttered many sentences. Master Burdwood and 
 myself could not refrain exchanging looks of admi- 
 ration, perceiving our brother was of those whom 
 the Lord girdeth with strength, as with a girdle.
 
 I 8 2 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Moreover, the Holy Spirit hath bestowed on him 
 the Apostolic power of being able to impart some 
 measure of it to the feeblest of his hearers. If they, 
 whilst hanging upon the words of his lips, still 
 remembered themselves to be mean and despised, 
 whom the proud of this world trampled under their 
 feet, yet felt they also that they were the sons and 
 daughters of a King, who had chosen them " before 
 the foundation of the world " was laid. Of poor 
 account seemed the titles of earthly princes and 
 rulers, compared with a royalty so ancient, of God's 
 own free bestowing ; and would He fail to hold the 
 children of His election even as the apple of His eye? 
 This their present state of humiliation and suffering 
 was but a purpose of His sovereign will, that they 
 more signally hereafter, " through Him, might be 
 glorified." Then all masterly, after reasoning awhile 
 upon justification by faith, he dwelt with assurance 
 so solemn and triumphant on the glorious vidory 
 awaiting the final perseverance of the saints, that I 
 saw many a pale cheek flush, and meek eye kindle, 
 among the listeners. I do believe, at such moment, 
 either sword or stake would have been thought little 
 other than a passage to heaven — the sharpness of 
 which was scarce worth the reckoning, compared 
 with " the glory that should follow." 
 
 Yet neither must I omit mention. Master Brande's 
 denouncement of they who presumed approve them- 
 selves the bitter, ruthless persecutors of the Lord's
 
 R IGHTEOUS STERNNESS. I 8 3 
 
 people, for its severity minded me of what I 
 have heard of the men who scrupled not to set their 
 feet upon the neck of a monarch, when that monarch 
 proved false to his solemn obligations. This 
 righteous sternness had in it an austerity which 
 made the sisters tremble and hold each other by the 
 hand till he had done. 
 
 Master Burdwood next discoursed excellently 
 from these words, " Christ is all and in all." Truly 
 his was do6lrine that dropped " as the rain," and 
 speech that distilled " as the dew ;" his lucid manner 
 of showing how grace first brings Christ and the 
 soul of man together, and then unites them ever- 
 lastingly^ struck me as being, even for him, unusu- 
 ally admirable. With a devoutly san6lified frame 
 of mind, he hath a head richly seasoned by experi- 
 ence ; much learning ; likewise a tongue silvered by 
 the politeness of education and gentle nurture. 
 
 I followed Master Burdwood with an exhorta- 
 tion from a Scripture partly suggested me by our 
 then situation — " The Rock of Ages." Some of 
 the brethren also prayed. Master Trueman was 
 drawn out, in an especial manner, to intercede for 
 the increase, settlement, and prosperity of that per- 
 secuted portion of Christ's church in this realm, 
 whereof we are members, which, separating from 
 the State for the better keeping the faith pure, 
 acknowledgeth Him alone as her supreme, living 
 Head.
 
 184 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Ah, if in happier, peacefuller time the children 
 of those who were that day gathered upon Saltstone 
 should be permitted meet for worship in " a ceiled 
 house" of prayer, sheltered from storm and rain, 
 " none daring to make them afraid," may they 
 never forget, and bid their sons and daughters 
 remember after them, how we blessed the Lord 
 and gave thanks for even so uncertain a resting- 
 place for the soles of our feet, so brief a season of 
 respite from terrors and alarm^s, as this lone rock of 
 the sea afforded us. 
 
 Our succeeding exercise, though of a kind inex- 
 pressibly cheering and delightsome, was yet mingled 
 with a gentle, tender sadness, the nature of which I 
 will presently explain. We were a-going to sing, 
 and might then and there do it to the full pitch of 
 our voices, which, sooth to say, would have grown 
 altogether rusted that way, had it not been for this 
 occasional using of them upon Saltstone, at request 
 of Mistress Hawes, and the other soft-hearted 
 female folk. I drew out of my pocket a roll of 
 paper, on which was writ the hymn — and 'twas his 
 last — dear Master Jellinger had been employed 
 upon, that time I surprised him asleep in his cham- 
 ber. And here I can't refrain making an observe 
 or two, touching a few persons I've known in 
 my time, possessed with what they were pleased to 
 call the tuneful gift of poesy. Alack, poor souls ! 
 'twas a possession none need envy, seeing how
 
 POETIC WEAKNESS. I 8 5 
 
 mean a pennyworth it made 'em. When they 
 found they lacked clothes, and. meat, and drink, 
 just like other mortals, then, whatever golden 
 dreamings might be in their brain, they'd rarely the 
 hap to find the golden reality of a guinea in their 
 purse ; and letting this pass, how if any of their 
 numbers chanced be spoken in their hearing — for 
 ears so delicate are quickly tickled — did they eye 
 the speaker, and with so friendly a countenance — 
 granting they had the grace to blush a little — as 
 plainly showed, when most they conceited they hid 
 their thoughts, that they esteemed him far from 
 doing them an unhandsome turn. And our beloved 
 Master Jellingerwas not without his little weakness 
 this way also, though his composures were most- 
 times so lengthy, that to sing them gave the singers 
 a breathing. Yet he misliked, ay, and showed a 
 spark of temper too, when we ventured curtail, or, 
 as he said, " spoil 'em." Now this last hymn of 
 his — not much exceeding a dozen verses — we 
 resolved, as mark of our affe6lion, and the value in 
 which we held his memory, to leave out neither, 
 but sing it all through. Young Mistress Grace 
 Glover hath a voice sweet as ever woman or 
 nightingale was dowered with ; Master Hope like- 
 wise brave vocals. Thus lifting up our voices we 
 sang ; and methought, as the church above is so 
 closely knit with the church below, who could tell 
 — ay, who could tell — but that some of the glori-
 
 I 86 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 fied members of the former might not then be 
 divinely regarding us, their once pilgrim com- 
 panions in the flesh ? 
 
 The sun went westering down, setting the hills 
 aglow with his glory, till they shone like golden 
 hills of light. The trees of the dark and ancient 
 wood sloping toward the water were gently stirred 
 by a soft wind, till they joined their low murmurs 
 with the chiming ripple of the waves, mingling har- 
 moniously, in that which seemed the sweetest, 
 tenderest, as well as solemnest of all requiems, for 
 our departed brother in the Lord. The rim of the 
 moon showed itself above the wood, and a star or 
 two beside looked down upon us, and the tide came 
 creeping up apace ere our singing was ended. After 
 a fervent benediction from Master Brande, the 
 boats were unfastened from the weedy edges of the 
 rock and put off with their living freight, but by 
 the time the last of the folk were fetched away their 
 shoes were full of water. 
 
 It had been arranged among the brethren before 
 we separated, that, God permitting, I should preach 
 upon the following Sabbath at Linkum Hill, 
 which, next to Saltstone, we held our safest, because 
 one of our most sequestered places of resort. When 
 the morning of the Lord's day appointed for my 
 going thither was arrived, this Scripture, " My 
 presence shall go with thee," impressed itself on my 
 mind in so remarkable and comfortable a manner.
 
 " THE FEET OF JESUS." I 87 
 
 that I mentioned it to my wife, for she, finding 
 herself with child, can no longer attend these 
 our meetings." 
 
 " Dear husband, let me tell you my heart has 
 been much engaged in prayer for your safe pro- 
 te(5tion, and surely," cried she, joyfully, " the 
 blessed words you have just uttered are the gracious 
 answer vouchsafed me." 
 
 " Wife," quoth I, taking up my staff and sett- 
 ling my beaver aright, " it glads me more than I 
 can express to find thou delightest in being very 
 often at that best place on earth or in heaven either 
 — * the feet of Jesus.' Each onward step we take 
 in the strait and narrow path seemeth only to 
 give us clearer view of the glorious brightness 
 awaiting us at the end, when our brief night of 
 sorrow here shall be changed there Into a cloudless 
 and eternal day." 
 
 While trudging along the solitary road which 
 leadeth to the hill, I felt in so exceeding cheerful 
 and composed a frame of mind, that 1 compared 
 my soul to a well-tuned harp, whose chords gave 
 answering harmony to the divine hand at whose 
 touch the mighty anthem of a whole creation pealed 
 forth, '* when the morning stars sang together, and 
 all the sons of God shouted for joy." 
 
 I had left the town some miles behind, and was 
 passing a stile, when a man's voice called after mc 
 to slack my pace, and soon three of the friends
 
 I 8 8 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 came up and joined me. They are worthy mem- 
 bers of that dear scattered flock who love to count 
 me among the number of their shepherds — yea, 
 one ofttimes ready to exclaim, " I am less than the 
 least." And I write these words not in that spirit 
 of mock humility which is more acceptable, I trow, 
 to Satan than either open bragging or a haughty 
 carriage, but the sincere self-abasement which all 
 true ministers of Christ experience. Full many a 
 time I have heard such men as Master Howe and 
 Master Hughes confess to the same, and with pro- 
 foundest lowliness exclaim, "Who is sufficient for 
 these things ?" 
 
 My companions and I had not proceeded far, 
 before other pilgrims to that city *' whose builder 
 and maker is God," overgat us, and we entered 
 into so profitable a conversation together, that it 
 made the way seem short and pleasant, instead of 
 long and tedious. After crossing a rising open 
 tradl of country parcelled out in fields, with the 
 light of an unclouded, newly-risen sun lying golden 
 upon them, we shortly arrived in sight of the place 
 where I was to preach. Beholding at some little 
 distance the number of folk there, I said to him 
 nearest me, " The strength of the hills is His also." 
 
 Whereupon he quickly rejoined, " I will make 
 them and the places round about a blessing." 
 
 *' Amen," was the fervent response of those who 
 heard his words.
 
 HILL OF LINKUM. I 8 9 
 
 The hill of Linkum is a pretty sharp ascent, 
 with three roads meeting at the top ; and from each 
 of these had come up that morning dwellers in 
 surrounding villages, hamlets, and lone farm-houses 
 — they who counted it " better to suffer affliction 
 with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures 
 of sin for a season." The palfreys of certain of 
 the gentlewomen, along with other horses, were 
 tethered hard by. The saddles had been taken of, 
 and placed in a half-circle upon the ground, to 
 make seats more convenient for their owners ; 
 behind gathered the men-folk of the congregation, 
 diredl fronting the spot where I should take my 
 stand. These are closely attentive, patient, above 
 all, prayerful hearers. If a pastor's hands wax 
 weak, as did the hands of Moses, and Amalek 
 threatens to prevail, they will lift up and sustain 
 them, and do their best to help, strengthen, and 
 comfort him. Turn which way I would, grave, 
 serious faces, deep, thoughtful, earnest eyes met 
 mine : let such a people be never so tempted, tried, 
 or buffeted, as the true " heirs of promise," God 
 will not suffer them to " fall away." 
 
 At top o' the hill groweth a mountain ash-tree, 
 green and vigorous ; its branches made for me a 
 pleasant canopy. Around us lay a fair, wide land- 
 scape, including a reach of the sea. Our beloved 
 Rock Saltstone, when left bare by the tide, is very 
 plainly discernible therefrom ; likewise the square,
 
 I 90 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 1 ^ ^ j 
 
 ancient tower of a remote village church, situate 
 among lands which once made part the dower of 
 that wise, discreet Queen, who, under a guiding , 
 Providence, proved a nursing-mother of the Refor- ■ 
 mation, to wit, the Lady Katherine Parr. 
 
 In a rapt and heavenly frame, such as the hum- , 
 blest believer is sometimes privileged experience, 
 though neither tongue nor pen of angel or apostle 
 can describe it, I then poured out my soul in 
 prayer ; yea, till the hoary, everlasting hills did j 
 seem respond an echo to my supplication. After j 
 I had done praying, I drew forth from my doublet \ 
 a certain well-worn, leathern-coated Bible, which, ' 
 God be thanked, from the time I was sixteen years 
 of age till now, hath proved to me not only a \ 
 breast-plate against the darts of Satan, but the ! 
 preciousest of breast-jewels also. Unfastening the i 
 slender hasp which held its leaves together, I read 1 
 the first chapter of the first Epistle of Peter, and 
 briefly expounded thereon ; at close of my remarks, 
 the dear souls afore me raised their bee-like hum of 
 grateful approval. This portion of our worship I 
 ended with the 80th Psalm. 
 
 The text chosen by me for my discourse was 
 — " The sufferings of this present time are not 
 worthy to be compared with the glory which shall 
 be revealed in us." And the Holy Spirit loosed 
 my tongue, and gave me power to utter the 
 thoughts which flowed forth free, and fast, and
 
 WOLVES ON THE TRACK. 
 
 191 
 
 Strong. Yea, felt I not that these poor lips of 
 mine were touched as by '* a live coal from off the 
 altar ?" And upon pausing to wipe my brow, I 
 perceived the folk present were very greatly moved 
 and affe6led by what the Lord had enabled His 
 servant to declare to them. 
 
 Again I was about proceed, when an uneasy 
 movement among they who were farthest off 
 attradted my notice. This sudden motion on their 
 part caused me stop. A long breath was drawn, in 
 the hush of which, had a stray leaf rustled down, 
 our ears, grown exceeding watchful, and quick to 
 distinguish sounds, must have heard it. Thus 
 stood we on the hill-top listening, much like a herd 
 of startled deer, when they scent a coming danger. 
 Soon I heard faintly the far-off gallop of horses' 
 feet, proceeding at a furious rate along the distant 
 valley, and knew at once the wolves were upon our 
 track. 
 
 " Dear friends," cried 1, " we must disperse ; let 
 the beasts be instantly saddled. Haste, my sisters, 
 or 'twill be too late for flight." 
 
 With little flutter or commotion this advice was 
 quickly adled on. All fervently we bid each other 
 farewell ; and though the men come in pursuit of 
 us. Squire Reynells himself at their head, had by 
 his diredion divided themselves into separate 
 parties — the better, as they conceited, to cut off 
 our retreat — yet, thanks to the Lord's proteding
 
 IQ2 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 care, our extreme niceness of hearing, which, I've 
 already said, is near as keen and delicate as the 
 mole's ; and, lastly, our perfect knowledge of 
 every turn, bye-path, and covert thereabout, not 
 one of us was caught, though some (myself for 
 instance) within a hair's breadth of being so, by 
 they who, breathing nought save fury, rode forth 
 to worry us on that calm, peaceful Sabbath 
 morning. 
 
 Squire Reynells offered ten gold pieces out of 
 his own purse to divers rustics he met by the way, 
 if they could instruct him how best, and surely, to 
 seize me preaching : one simple clown he dis- 
 dained not chastise with his own heavy riding- 
 whip, because the clown declared ignorance of our 
 whereabouts ; but the justice, suspefting otherwise, 
 handled him accordingly ; his evil followers, 
 meanwhile, did as they always do when let loose 
 upon the country, in the breaking down of fences, 
 trampling over gardens and orchards, and dis- 
 daining neither to fright women nor little children 
 — the latter, in some instances, going into fits 
 from terror — with a deal of other the like riotous 
 mischief. 
 
 Before, however, they could reach the hill, I had 
 fled for safety to the house of a very honest 
 farmer, who, with most of his family, were at 
 the meeting ; under their roof is kept " a little 
 chamber ready, with a bed and candlestick in it,"
 
 SS^UIRE RETNELLS. I 93 
 
 for any " man of God" who cometh beneath its 
 shadow. But worthy Master Blake, thinkhig 
 'twas hkely I might need a closer concealment, had 
 me to a place near the top of an out-building, where, 
 through a chink in the wall, the person hidden 
 could see, as well as hear, pretty much of what 
 might be a-going on below. 
 
 Scarce was I gotten to this roost, and smothered 
 up in hay and straw, ere Squire Reynells, followed 
 by a servant, rode into the court-yard ; my good 
 friends, the farmer and the dame, were immediately 
 in the porch to receive him. 
 
 " It has been reported me," said the justice, 
 sternly, *' that you would scruple not at harbouring 
 some of those seditious brawlers — of whom John 
 Hicks is chief — that designed meeting at Linkum 
 Hill this morning." 
 
 Master Blake, by way of reply, very civilly 
 asked the justice to dismount. 
 
 " A thought takes me," continued the latter, 
 pointinj^ to certain old, decayed buildings, greatly 
 overrun with ivy, and exadly in the diredion of 
 the chink through which I was then regarding 
 him, " that among such owlet-nests yonder, you 
 might stow an odd score or two of those scoundrels. 
 When my men come up I'll have 'em searched 
 closely, and if any be found there, 'twould be 
 better for you that all your ricks and barns were in 
 a blaze."
 
 94 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 The farmer replied, " They who suspedled him 
 would now have opportunity of seeing for them- 
 selves ;" and this he said with so steady a voice, 
 and apparently cool, unconcerned a manner, that the 
 justice seemed a moment to waver in his purpose. 
 
 The servant who accompanied him ventured 
 an observe, however, which I lost ; but the master's 
 reply sounded distinct enough, — 
 
 " Beshrew me, Giles, thou'rt in the right ; the 
 word of a long-faced fellow" — indicating Master 
 Blake with the handle of his riding-whip — 
 " having such a pair of spindle legs, should not 
 be trusted." For which last most sensible reason 
 — though very lame in his own, by reason of the 
 gout — he managed to get off his horse, and, 
 leaning on his man, hobble into the house. 
 
 Several of his followers arriving about the same 
 time, they all dismounted, and very soon an occa- 
 sional scream from a female voice, mocked by loud 
 laugh and scurril jest on part of the horsemen, told 
 the search was begun in right earnest ; yet was it 
 given me more fully, I think, at this season than 
 throughout all my previous experience, to realize 
 during the whole of the commotion — of which I 
 knew myself to be the principal cause — the truth 
 of this most blessed Scripture, " Thou wilt keep 
 him in perfedl peace whose mind is stayed on 
 thee." 
 
 In a short time the more suspicious of the
 
 GOOD FARMER. 
 
 ^9S 
 
 searchers left the house, and began to pry among 
 the out-buildings ; next I heard them clattering up 
 a ladder, by which means they gained access to the 
 place where I was lying hidden ; and one, seizing a 
 pitchfork, made the straw fly in all directions. Then 
 I gave myself up for lost ; yet, although the prong 
 of the fork several times nearly touched me, it was 
 the will of a gracious Providence that I should re- 
 main undiscovered ; and, after a while, grown weary 
 of a search which proved fruitless, I heard them 
 growling retreat ; and, not long afterward, the 
 discomfited justice and his evil troop, leaving the 
 farm, struck across the country in quite another 
 direction. 
 
 The good farmer and his son quickly came up 
 to me, and down we went amid the assembled 
 family, who embraced, and wept for very thank- 
 fulness over this my preservation ; the ruin that 
 would have fallen upon their honest selves, had 
 I been discovered, seemed not even to enter their 
 thoughts. At its best estate "the friendship of 
 the wicked is enmity with God ;" but that His 
 children experience for each other is of a nature 
 which " loveth at all times" — yea, truly that of a 
 " brother born for adversity." 
 
 I remained where I was till the night closed in, 
 as I knew every step of my homeward path so 
 well, methinks I could traverse it blindfold ; then, 
 taking a very affedionate leave of these kind folk, 
 
 o 2
 
 I 96 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 set forth on my return. At a certain part of the 
 road, the trees, nearly meeting overhead, afford very 
 grateful shade from the heat of the noontide sun ; 
 but at the hour I was traversing it, made it seem 
 wondrous mirk and lonesome, and I met never a living 
 creature. When come to an ancient way-side cross 
 of stone, set up by the Papists in Queen Mary's 
 time, this relic of a fearful past showed dim and 
 ghostly in the faint star-light. Regarding it 
 steadfastly, I said to myself, " Thou mute symbol 
 of the love and the sufferings of Him, who during 
 His brief earthly sojourn did nought save heal, 
 and bless, and pardon ; what a mark of awful 
 condemnation art thou upon the forehead of that 
 false church which grew drunken with the blood 
 of His saints !" Just as I touched the hoar thing 
 with my staff, the moon, that had been hitherto 
 concealed, looked out through a rent in the clouds, 
 shedding a white unnatural lustre upon all things, 
 making the gray cross appear especially distindt. 
 I am of too sober a turn to let my fancy play me 
 fool's tricks, or I had likened it to a speftre, which, 
 casting its shroud, was spreading its grisly arms 
 before me. Yet, though I avoid indulgence in all 
 superstitious conceits, I could not wholly banish a 
 certain chill presentment of evil, in conne6lion 
 with Popery, that might be looming in the shadow 
 of th© future for this fair and noble realm of 
 England.
 
 so LATE 0' NIGHT. igj 
 
 Walking briskly, in half an hour I entered 
 Kingsbridge, and as I was going up the main 
 street overgat a man and woman. The latter 
 held a lanthorn. At sound of my step they looked 
 round. 
 
 " 'Tis Master Hicks," said a familiar voice. 
 
 " Prithee, what takes you abroad so late o' night, 
 friend Crispin ?" quoth I. 
 
 " Alack, Sir, my youngest child is down, we 
 fear, in the same fever John Lucas is just dead of." 
 
 " Dead ! " exclaimed I, much startled ; for 
 though report of his distemper had been con- 
 firmed, my family having little knowledge, and 
 holding no manner of acquaintance with those 
 among whom he lived and mostly companied, I was 
 not at all 'ware of his end being so near. " Then 
 do I trust this poor soul, like the dying thief upon 
 the cross, had grace given him to cry for mercy, 
 and that he received the same heavenly pardon." 
 
 " Ah, kind Sir," broke in Goody Browne, the 
 woman Crispin had fetched — for she was a noted 
 tender of sick folk — "I've been by many a death- 
 bed in my time, but never such a one as his afore." 
 
 " Hold, Goody, there's another piece of news 
 to tell, which a bird o' the air brought to the town 
 since noon ; but 'tis true as we're now talking 
 together, and maybe the quicker Master Hicks 
 learns it the better." 
 
 " Then bid thy tongue make haste."
 
 Iq8 7R0UBL0US times. 
 
 " Alack, Sir, ye'd hardly guess, though you 
 know Master Beare hath again been to Exon, for 
 he's in mighty favour with my lord the bishop, 
 who, 'tis said, hath mainly helped forward the 
 business of his promotion." 
 
 *■' His promotion ! " cried I, in very great alarm, 
 " what on earth dost mean ?" 
 
 *' Mean, Sir? why that he received his com- 
 mission as was yesterday, and is now one of his 
 Majesty's justices of the peace." 
 
 " Oh, peace ! oh, justice !" groaned I ; " what 
 crimes will be committed in your names !" 
 
 " And he returns, Master Hicks, to his house 
 to-morrow," 
 
 " I will leave this place (an my wife be willing) 
 at break o' dawn," said I, 
 
 " The best — ay, the very best thing ye can 
 do. Sir," said the crone, eagerly, and yet with a 
 quaking voice. 
 
 " Why so, dame?" replied I, somewhat sur- 
 prised. " Have I done aught — how can I — to 
 make you thus willing I should be gone ?" 
 
 " Sir," quoth she, solemnly — and as the light of 
 the lanthorn (which she seemed to hold unsteadily) 
 flickered fitful upon her wrinkled face, I saw that 
 it wore a haggard and most perturbed expression 
 — " I told ye John Lucas died hard, for to the 
 end he was trying and striving to catch and grasp 
 at something, which evermore slipped from his
 
 ALIVE OR DEAD, VLL HAVE YE. ion 
 
 hands, till, with a terrible cry — I would 'twere out 
 of my ears" — here the Ian thorn shook so that I 
 laid hold of it—" he screamed forth^he was in 
 his last throe. Sir — " The old woman stopped as 
 if unable to go on. 
 
 " What was it he said ?" demanded Crispin and 
 I in a breath. 
 
 " Just this. Master Hicks, and never a word 
 spake after, ' Alive or dead, I'll have ye.'" 

 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 t^lV^^VP 
 
 Shonving the Charge upon •voh'ich the Re-v. Mr. Hicks ivas " Cast 
 
 into Prison." 
 
 LACK ! how wide the difFerence in the 
 aspeft of the sun's face seen through the 
 loophole of a prison, to that it pre- 
 M senteth when viewed at early morning 
 from the breezy top of some high hill, or broad 
 expanse of heathery common ! Yet, caged in gaol 
 as I am, it cheereth me to watch those rays of his 
 celestial brightness which find their way between the 
 rusted iron bars of the cell where now these many 
 weeks I've lain in durance. But the gaoler 
 alloweth me to go into the common room, as well 
 as court-yard of this sad place, at certain seasons ; 
 and through God's everlasting mercy to His 
 servant, even in this most doleful gaol of Exon, 
 thus far have I been able to bear my load of sorrow 
 like one who knoweth how heavy soever it may
 
 DOUBLET OF JILTED SERGE. 20I 
 
 prove, he hath only short while to carry it, and 
 nothing doubting in the end I shall experience safe 
 and joyful deliverance. If to finite, mortal vision, 
 my deliverer appear both stern and terrible — for 
 many a wight dieth here of hunger, cold, and other 
 ills to flesh and blood, so nauseous and distressful 
 I cannot bring my pen to note 'em down — still. He 
 I serve can, with my last breath, give me strength 
 to cry, " In all things we are more than conquerors 
 through Him that loved us." 
 
 Some three days since, I gat a parcel, containing 
 a change of linen, likewise my thick doublet of 
 quilted serge, the which my poor wife contrived 
 send by a safe, trusty hand. Before, however, it 
 reached mine, the parcel must need pass through 
 those of the gaoler, who kept back part ; but the 
 remainder (for which I felt thankful enow, as 
 winter hath set in sharply) was given to me. 
 Shaking with cold, I hasted put on my warm 
 doublet, when lo ! something I felt in the left 
 sleeve made me turn it inside out diredtly, and 
 there, all cunningly sewn up (I knew by whose 
 needle), was a little secret packet, opening which 
 joyfully, I found, wrapt in a silken glove, a slender 
 sum of money, and certain loving words traced on 
 a slip of paper, with here and there a round blot, as 
 if a drop had now and then fallen from the writer's 
 eyes, and dried up as it fell. At sight of this 
 (though half perishing with cold, and lack of whole-
 
 101 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 some food), the tears rushed into mine, near as 
 quick as they rise in a woman's ; for it pierced my 
 heart to think how sorely the tender, faithful givers 
 of the little purse might then be lacking that which, 
 regardless of their own wants, they must needs be 
 sending to relieve mine. 
 
 Having procured from the youngest, and best 
 favoured of the turnkeys, the loan of an ink-horn, 
 giving this same person a penny, I besought the 
 further civility of a pen, whereupon he brought 
 me what did seem a quill, and doubtless 'twas 
 plucked from the pinion of some kind of bird, yet 
 one, I trow, never designed by nature to furnish 
 pens for the use of any rational scribe. I, knowing 
 remonstrance on the part of a captive generally 
 provoketh to the taking away any small indulgence 
 granted him, or perhaps crueller usage, said nothing, 
 and now prick and scratch my jottings in the best 
 manner I am able (and 'tis so bad / can scarce 
 make 'em out) upon the pages of this my note- 
 book, which, unawares to myself (when I, more 
 than two months agone, was seized, and clapped up 
 in prison), happened to be in a secret pocket of the 
 coat I then had on, and thus it cometh to pass that 
 I have it now with me in gaol. 
 
 But ah, how unlike is the poor soul dipping a 
 pen, less pliant than a cook's skewer, into a drop 
 o' mouldy ink, and locked in a dismal cage, to the 
 same man free, and sitting, maybe, in a sunny
 
 SfVEET VOICE OF MY WIFE. 203 
 
 chamber of his own house ; his books, and papers, 
 and other scholarly appertenance, lying all hand- 
 some and convenient about him, just as mine did, 
 when I began the introduction of my " Treatise on 
 the Heavenly Substance," with nought to break the 
 current of my meditations, save, perhaps, the sweet 
 voice of my wife, a-chiding silverly an adlive urchin 
 who had contrived upset a brother in a go-cart. 
 And then the soft answer of that other little voice 
 to hers, which came up to me, where I sat in my 
 study, more like the cooing of a wood-dove, than 
 any other sound to which I can liken it. 
 
 Upon going back to my very last notes (saving 
 these I am now a-making), I find Master Beare's 
 promotion to the bench of justices duly recorded, 
 and, at end of it, the shocking speech of poor John 
 Lucas, just the moment his soul was on the point of 
 departure. Therefore it is from that page I will 
 take up and pursue the thread of my most dolorous 
 
 narration. 
 
 It ^ * * * 
 
 Greatly appalled and horror-struck, I bid Crispin 
 and the nurse a hasty good-night, and soon arrived 
 at my own door. As usual, my wife was anxiously 
 upon the watch for my return, and afore 1 could 
 begin inform her of the evil tidings I had just 
 learned, she discovered herself to be already in full 
 possession of those concerning Master Bcare. Ere 
 1 found opportunity to give opinion touching the
 
 204 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 wisdom of an immediate departure from Kings- 
 bridge, she 'gan importune me to let her prepare 
 for the same. 
 
 " And without loss of a day, or an hour, I 
 entreat ye, dear husband, there be no delay !" And 
 then the poor soul wrung her hands, and melted 
 into a fit of very wife-like tenderness, already con- 
 ceiting me dragged before his worship. Justice Beare. 
 
 " Well," said I, *' seeing you are so bent upon 
 instant removal from this place, /// not oppose 
 it ;" nor, as I spoke, could I help smiling inly, 
 thus to see how love can make folk, as it were, 
 forestall each other's very thoughts. " We'll be 
 up and stirring by the dawn, wife, and I doubt not 
 God's angels will have charge concerning us. Now 
 let's to bed." 
 
 At break o' the next day I rose. " Our bit of 
 household stuff," quoth I, to my busy spouse, 
 " Master Best will gladly lend his horse and cart 
 for ; and neither thy wardrobe, nor mine, will con- 
 sume much time in the packing of," 
 
 Then in the grey light of early morning forth I 
 sallied to make known our resolve to a stanch 
 friend or two, whose affedlion and faithfulness to 
 me and mine I pray the Lord return a thousand- 
 fold to them and theirs. And these, while grieving 
 at our purposed departure, perceived the prudence 
 of the movement so clearly, that they used the 
 utmost of their ability to forward it.
 
 GOING AW AT FROM KINGSBRIDGE. 205 
 
 All things combining to favour us, not long 
 after sunrise we saw with tearful eyes that dainty 
 spire recede till lost in distance, which I had 
 regarded with such interest the very first even- 
 ing of our coming to Kingsbridge — a little town 
 whose situation is most choice and delegable, yea, 
 the country air thereof so soft and delicate, that 'tis 
 no marvel the abbots chose them sites both in and 
 round about it. And now, in lieu of monk and 
 friar, dwell there many dear and honest souls, 
 whose hearts are knit with ours in the bonds of a 
 brotherly and sisterly love, and a friendship which 
 hath been proven, and stood bravely that truest of 
 all tests, the test of adversity ; and in parting with 
 them, we could not but experience the pangs of 
 an exceeding sharp and sorrowful regret. Thus, 
 before the new-made justice. Master Beare — blown 
 with pride and insolence at his newly-acquired 
 dignity — was returned to his house, we were near 
 twenty miles distant. In worldly goods I went 
 away from Kingsbridge poorer and emptier than I 
 arrived there ; yet our sweet children had increased 
 in number, and, by God's blessing, proved towardly 
 and obedient in parts and spirit, as they were 
 healthy, well-favoured, and beautiful in person. 
 
 Now my wife had a kinswoman, one Mistress 
 Lettice Aylmer, widowed and childless, who lived 
 in a loneish country place, though 'twas bare three 
 miles distant the good sea-port o' Plymouth. If for
 
 206 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 several years we'd never seen each other (our cir- 
 cumstances prevented the holding of personal inter- 
 course), the affeftion always expressed toward us 
 by Mistress Aylmer, and very heartily reciprocated 
 on our part, caused me entertain no fear of put- 
 ting her kindness to the proof in my then exigency. 
 Though poor in purse, she had a large, sweet, 
 bounteous nature, which delighted in doing good to 
 all that needed and came within the reach of its 
 limited means. The house she lived in made a 
 part of her narrow jointure. We trusted the gate 
 would open freely to receive us ; and her right- 
 loving reception upon our unlooked-for arrival, 
 proved how true was the conjecture. What a cup 
 of spiced wine is to him whose life-blood is a slowly 
 freezing, or a burst of cheerful sunshine and fresh 
 air to the bed-rid tenant of some dull chamber, 
 seemed the tender converse of my wife, and the 
 smiles and caresses of our blooming, loving children 
 to the yearning, weary heart of that gentle, desolate 
 woman. 
 
 We had not been in our new home scarce a day 
 before I, with my boys (for I never could abide the 
 owning an idle pair of hands), fell with a right 
 good will to work upon the nearly waste piece of 
 ground (once a brave garden), which surrounded 
 the sides of the queer, quaint, decaying, gable- 
 ended, many-chimneyed dwelling (in its time a 
 house of some pretension) of Mistress Aylmer ; and
 
 A FEW BRIEF HAPPT DATS. 20'] 
 
 we wrought to such purpose that, ere a week was 
 ended, she smiling said, under lusty labourers like 
 us, her wilderness soon bid fair to " rejoice, and 
 blossom as the rose." 
 
 Thus sped a few brief, happy days, during which 
 the cessation from petty insult, worry, and alarm, 
 that in Kingsbridge fretted and bittered our lives, 
 made my wife's eye lose its anxious look, and 
 brought the colour to her cheek again. Truly, I 
 did feel it grateful, this sweet, tranquil shelter from 
 (I blush to write it) the rude attacks of my fellow- 
 men. On another leaf, a great way back, I mind 
 saying something about the riches of poverty y and 
 we were then a-proving and partaking of them, for 
 excellent Mistress Aylmer was greatly reduced in 
 her estate as a gentlewoman ; but our dinners of 
 herbs, where contentment, thankful hearts, and 
 healthful appetites to boot, were never wanting, 
 troubled us not at all. I had still four gold pieces left 
 out of the little capital invested in my grey doublet, 
 and these would help fill our children's mouths with 
 bread a good while to come ; our raiment was cer- 
 tainly much the worse for wear, the boys having 
 outgrown their clothes in a way that ofttimes made 
 us both sad, and merry, to behold. My good wife 
 patched, repaired, and altered them ingeniously to 
 the utmost they could bear it ; she still contrived to 
 keep intad my well-saved suit of Sabbath raiment, 
 and one morning (after we had been at Mistress
 
 208 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Aylmer's hard upon a month) I observed her care- 
 fully unfold the coat, and sharply spying a httle 
 rent in the skirt, she straightway fell a-mending it, 
 with skill so delicate, and a kind of tenderness (the 
 faded garment was long past its best), just as if the 
 cloth could feel the prick of her dainty needle, that 
 I, being in a merry pin, said, laughing — 
 
 " Wife, my coat would soon have near as many 
 holes in it as the roof of our good cousin's house 
 here, if 'twere not for thy very constant watchful- 
 ness thereof." 
 
 " r faith," quoth she, and sighed softly, " but 
 dearly do I love the work." 
 
 " And if," pursued I, somewhat moved, " 'tis 
 grown thus frail and threadbare, still, ye know, it 
 never hath been turned.''' 
 
 With all a woman's quickness of divining she 
 dropt her needle, for she caught my meaning, and 
 looked up smiling in my eyes tiil her own 'gan fill 
 with tears, her aspedl at the moment minding me 
 of sunshine breaking out amid a shower of April 
 rain. 
 
 " I know," cried she, " ye might, had ye so 
 willed, have kept one black and sleek as that upon 
 a raven's back ; yet, dear husband, rather, far 
 rather, would thy poor wife see thee in this she's 
 now a-mending," 
 
 'Twas on the evening of the same day, each 
 little circumstance in which seems graven with
 
 NIGHT GATHERING MIRK AND STORMY. 
 
 209 
 
 a remarkable clearness and distincflness on the tablets 
 of my heart, that, according to our wont, we were 
 assembled about the usual supper-hour in the half- 
 hall, half-kitchen of Mrs. Aylmer. The night was 
 gathering mirk and stormy, the rain pattering 
 against the casement, adown the little pointed panes, 
 of which the great drops kept rolling heavily as 
 tears, while the wind went moaning round the 
 corners, and sobbed at the crazy doors of the old 
 house, like a voice with the burthen of human woe 
 in its wailing cadence. But if all without was 
 thus chill and dreary, we felt peaceful and content 
 enow gathered round the wide, warm, cheery 
 hearth, on which some logs of wood I had chopped 
 with my own hands cast a bright ruddy glow upon 
 the faces of those before it. 'Twas at season like 
 this I loved to question and instrud my children, 
 and a charming ring they made about the tall, 
 ancient chair (with back as straight as Brother 
 Tooker's) in which I played the schoolmaster ; the 
 click of good Mistress Aylmer's knitting-needles 
 mingled pleasantly with the hum of my wife's spin- 
 ning-wheel, which sometimes stopped as of its own 
 accord, the while she nodded, smiled, and listened 
 to hear how bravely our eldest acquitted themselves, 
 and what pertinent answers they were quick and readv 
 with, I forgetting not duly to impress upon those 
 old enow to understand me, that the very soul of the 
 highest wisdom and learning, as of religion itself, 
 
 p
 
 2IO TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 consists in that which can be applied best to the 
 improvement of, and shows brightest in, the practick 
 part of life. Then bethinking me of my apt, 
 pretty girl, scarce four years old, who was a-conning 
 the task I'd set her, " Sweetheart," quoth I, " 'tis 
 now your turn." And (considering how her bright 
 eyes had been drawn away by a mime of a kitten's 
 merry antics with the pear-shaped pincushion 
 dangling at Mistress Aylmer's girdle) she said off 
 the cross-row in her horn-book to admiration ; and, 
 with her little clear voice making its childish music 
 in my ear, I heeded not the advancing sound of 
 what, amid the gusty pauses of the wind and rain. 
 Mistress Aylmer concluded must be a party of 
 hunters returning late from the chase coming along 
 tlie road, direCl before the pillars of the broken 
 gateway of her house. At length the trampling of 
 horses, their shoes striking sharply on the stones of 
 the court-yard itself, followed by a knock of thun- 
 dering loudness at the low, arched entrance, made 
 us all start to our feet ; but ere I'd time to attend 
 the summons there came another, as if from the 
 stroke of a battering-ram, nearly sending the door 
 off its rusty hinges, and rattling the casements with 
 a worse discord than that of the howling wind. 
 Hastily drawing back the bolt, I looked out into 
 the darkness, and diredlly my name was shouted by 
 at least half-a-dozen voices, some of whom I 
 recognized as belonging to our Kingsbridge foes.
 
 ROUGHLY SEIZED. 2 I 1 
 
 The court seemed full of men and horses, and 
 before I'd power to ask the meaning of this strange 
 arrival, all defenceless, I was roughly seized, and a 
 pair of hand-bolts fastened upon my wrists. 
 
 When recovered, after this rude surprise, the use 
 of speech sufficiently, I accosted him who appeared 
 the leader of the troop, requiring to know for what 
 particular offence I was thus made prisoner. Natu- 
 rally enow, I could think upon none other than that 
 of preaching, and attending those religious meetings 
 by unholy statutes called conventicles. The person 
 I addressed hereupon produced what he said was a 
 special warrant for my apprehension ; and, taking 
 the candle from the table, showed me the name 
 Beare, signed in stragghng, tipsy-looking letters at 
 the bottom, and next proceeded read it out aloud. 
 
 God of truth and mercy ! did my ears deceive 
 me ? No, they did not ; though a mist, as of blood, 
 swam before my eyes, and a shuddering kind of 
 sickness crept over my flesh, to learn by the scroll 
 the man was reading that I, John Hicks, a minister 
 of the blessed Gospel, was therein accused of the 
 crime of murther^ and as being " a principal party 
 in causing the death by violence of one John Lucas, 
 lately deceased at Kingsbridge." 
 
 On hearing all this, my wife, who had hitherto 
 remained silent, in a kind of stupor, gave a shriek, 
 which made my bones thrill, and fell backward in a 
 swoon. Upon my making an instindlive motion 
 
 p 2
 
 212 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 towards her, two of the men seized me, and a third, 
 cocking a pistol, swore he would shoot me dead on 
 the spot, if I attempted to move ; but another of 
 their number, more compassionate, helped our dis- 
 tressed, terrified kinswoman carry the poor insensate 
 soul up to her chamber, followed by most of the 
 scared young children. 
 
 " Surely," cried I, when again able to speak, " the 
 father of lies himself must have invented this charge 
 whereof I am accused." 
 
 " Well, master, Mi2/ will be your business to prove 
 as best ye may, in another place, to-morrow ; but 
 we've many a mile to ride, and our orders are special 
 sharp concerning ye, so the sooner we're on our road 
 there the better." 
 
 This fearful passage in my life giveth me such 
 anguish to refle6l upon, that I shall make it as brief 
 as possible. Now, indeed, I felt the hour was come 
 in which it was the Lord's will to try His servant ; 
 even " as gold is tried in the furnace by the hand of 
 the refiner." Before I mounted the horse, whose 
 bridle, chained to that of another rid by a stalwart 
 constable, was led up to the door (it being decided 
 I should be taken diredl on to the place where the 
 magistrates Beare and Reynells, with several others 
 of a similar stamp, would hold a session about noon 
 o' the following day), I craved earnestly to be allowed 
 take leave of my wife and children ; and a minute 
 or so was granted me for the purpose, a couple of
 
 NO DRE^M. 
 
 213 
 
 men going along with me into the chamber. I found 
 her just as a person seemeth when restored to some 
 degree of consciousness, after being stunned by a 
 heavy blow ; or hke one wakened hastily out of a 
 frightful dream. And this was no dream. Good 
 Mistress Aylmer, who had so piously sheltered and 
 sympathized with us in our misfortunes, sat by the 
 bedside, holding my wife's hand in hers ; the tears 
 slowly stealing down her own withered cheek, like 
 drops from a fountain whose source is nearly dry, 
 while my children clung around me in all the passion 
 of youthful sorrow. 
 
 " Dear wife," said I, speaking as distind: and 
 calmly as I could, " the time is come, and when 
 least we expeded, that 1 am to be taken from thee. 
 It may be but a short season, for my innocence must 
 appear ; and thou wilt not fail remember, if thy 
 husband is in the hand of man, he is in the hand of 
 God also." 
 
 " Oh," cried she, rousing up at sound of my 
 voice, " I cannot let you go alone ; we will die 
 together ! " Saying the words with a kind of despair- 
 ing energy, and a look in her soft eyes I had never 
 observed there before ; her voice, too, sounded 
 strange and unnatural. I feared her reason was 
 forsaking her, and this was a moment of horror and 
 darkness to my soul ; making that which had gone 
 before appear almost as nought. 
 
 " Save me, O my God ! " exclaimed I, " the seeing
 
 2, 1 4 TRO UBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 this poor heart ' pressed out of measure beyond 
 strength.' " And the Lord heard my prayer. " My 
 dear wife, I shall not go alone^'' answered I, as com- 
 posedly as I was able. " He will go with me who 
 never forsaketh His people. * They are preserved 
 for ever.'" 
 
 Then, to my unutterable relief and thankfulness, 
 I saw the tears stream down, fast and helplessly, over 
 the poor soul's pallid cheeks. Stretching out her 
 little work-worn hands towards me, they touched 
 the iron in which mine were locked ; and perceiving 
 at this how painful a shiver ran through her frame, 
 I said, earnestly, " By thy fortitude in controlling 
 as much as thou canst thy present suffering, I shall 
 count thy love deeper than any outward perturba- 
 tion or disturbance can show. Sweet friend, true 
 wife, hearken to my parting words and obey them. 
 Trust thy husband, as he trusteth thee and thy 
 children, wholly, undoubtlngly, to the mercy and 
 care of One who * out of darkness bringeth forth 
 light.' " 
 
 "Ah, I feel that God is with thee, husband 
 mine," faintly whispered her white, quivering lips. 
 " Yea, I will trust Him, though He slay me." 
 
 In less than five minutes afterward I was set out 
 upon my dismal journey. The men who guarded 
 me had some thought of tying my feet under the 
 belly of the horse I rode ; but on my mildly remon- 
 strating they spared me the indignity, and themselves
 
 rHE 1<IEW-MADE JUSTICE. 2 1 5 
 
 a most unnecessary precaution. These fellows were 
 very rough and hardened, yet they showed not the 
 malignant cruelty with which poor John Lucas was 
 wont insult his vi6tims, and concerning whose sad 
 end, and the circumstances which preceded and 
 followed it, I must here (in order to make my 
 jottings sufficiently clear) unwillingly go back to, 
 and pive further and more succin6l account thereof. 
 
 O 
 
 Master Beare had sworn a bitter revenge upon 
 me. Since that morning he was carried, feet fore- 
 most, out of my poor house at Kingsbridge, and 
 because his malice for a time was checked and 
 baffled, it proved none the less cruel and vindiftive 
 in the end. His willing servitor died, as before 
 related, of a fever of the putrid kind, and so did 
 Crispin's child, and three other persons besides ; but 
 after he, John Lucas, was buried, Satan put it into 
 the brain of the new-made justice (who chafed fiercely 
 on his return home at learning I had disappeared, 
 and could nowhere be heard of) to find, if possible, 
 some pretext for laying the cause of this man's death 
 at my door, taking counsel with certain folk near as 
 wicked as himself He and they decided on bring- 
 ing against me as the principal, and other of the 
 friends present at the meeting on the morning to 
 which I allude, as participators therein, the following 
 charge, namely, that John Lucas, in the affray which 
 then took place (when he certainly would have 
 killed 7ne if he could, and the hasty summons came.
 
 2 1 6 TROUBLOUS IIMES. 
 
 for the soul of dear Master Jellinger to quit its 
 earthly tenement, and leave " the storm and windy 
 tempest, to be at rest for ever"), had there received 
 a deadly hurt, from the effedt whereof he afterwards 
 languished and died. These evil plotters sought 
 Joan Lucas, widow of the deceased ; and she, 'tis 
 thought, hearing the chink of gold pieces at her ear, 
 agreed to strengthen this horrid falsehood by swear- 
 ing that her husband declared Master Hicks and his 
 friends so maltreated him upon that occasion, he was 
 sick and languishing ever after. Now, more than 
 half the town-folk were ready to attest how hale, 
 and healthful, and strong of limb he was, till the 
 fever seized him. Many of the fellows he had 
 haled along, and put in the stocks and cage, 
 beside craft of another kind he'd whipped soundly, 
 bearing a clamorous testimony thereto. But this 
 false woman is not only the daughter of a father of 
 ill-repute, she hath a mother of the like fame ; there- 
 fore, when she wedded Lucas, folk said 'twas an evil 
 branch grafted upon a bitter tree, and who could 
 expedl aught so corrupt to bear the wholesome print 
 of truth ? " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or 
 figs of thistles ? " The descent and marriage of this 
 Joan Lucas (in one sense), Enoch Trueman observed, 
 brought to his mind that of hers who of old shed 
 the blood of the righteous, till, though a king's 
 daughter, the dogs hasted to lick her own. The 
 father also deposed that he saw the marks of our
 
 GRAVE OF THE DEAD OPENED. 11'] 
 
 ill-usage still visible upon the corpse of his son-in- 
 law, while the stretchers were laying it out. Fur- 
 nished with such evidence. Justice Beare immediately 
 issues a special warrant to take me (when I could be 
 found), as chief and foremost in the alleged murther, 
 and divers other of the brethren as accessory thereto. 
 These last, after immense trouble and vexation, were 
 permitted get sureties for their appearance, the 
 coming assize, at which my trial is to take place. 
 
 Thus far Master Beare and his colleagues dared 
 proceed, knowing a coroner's inquest had never been 
 thought of, nor, of course, holden upon the body, 
 for it was a test they wished by all means to avoid, 
 and they did so, till 'twas far worse than having 
 none at all ; but those of my friends accused as 
 being abettors in the deed, and strong in their 
 indignant innocence thereof, spake out right boldly 
 concerning this wilful omission on the part of the 
 new justice, and thus it came to be decided the 
 inquest should even then be holden. So the grave 
 of the dead was opened, and the poor rotten corpse, 
 which had said to corruption, " Thou art my 
 mother," and to the worm, " Thou art my sister," 
 taken up, and its loathly lineaments uncovered before 
 certain, who, taking a shrinking look thereon, turned 
 fearful and appalled away. 
 
 The jury being impanelled, witnesses on both 
 sides were examined : first, the widow of him a-lying 
 in his grave-clothes at the church porch, with a
 
 1 1 8 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 husky voice and bleached lips, swore to the same 
 false purport she had done before. Joan's father, 
 thinking his daughter spoke too low, was noticed 
 pluck her by the sleeve, ere he bore a like testimony 
 himself; yet, when turn came for evidence to be 
 heard on the part of the accused, who, strange to 
 tell, should appear among them save the very aged 
 father and mother of the defund; John Lucas him- 
 self? The tears and wailings of this grey-headed 
 pair (one of whom is since dead) were exceeding 
 pitiful ; they were full of a sorrowful resentment 
 against Master Beare, whom they grievously up- 
 braided with moving this disturbance, whereby their 
 son's body was taken from the grave, and, all unfit 
 for human eyes to rest upon, exposed in so shock- 
 ing a manner; and, God be thanked, they were kept 
 from the mortal sin of perjury, for if they heartily 
 misliked uSy yet did they stoutly persist in miaintain- 
 ing their son died of his distemper, the fever, and 
 nought beside. As if this was not enow to put the 
 justice and his creatures to confusion, forth steps a 
 chirurgeon (who had seen John Lucas in his sick- 
 ness) to confirm the truth of what the aged pair 
 said. While this person was speaking, the greatest 
 astonishment and mortification were visible among 
 our enemies, they having been avised of his pre- 
 vious intention to advance nothing that would tend 
 to establish our guiltlessness of the accusation laid 
 against us ; but he afterward confessed he was sud-
 
 H^TE IMPLACABLE. 21 9 
 
 denly moved to say what he did by a power he felt 
 himself wholly unable to resist. The finger of God 
 was upon this man. 
 
 Then the jury, after consulting awhile, declared 
 their verdift to be that John Lucas " died a natural 
 death by visitation of God." 
 
 This honest acquittal by twelve of our fellow- 
 countrymen, and most of them adverse to the 
 opinions we hold, and the pra6tice of the Non- 
 conformist ministers in preaching, as they ofttimes 
 do, at peril of liberty, sometimes life, might surely 
 have been thought sufficient to free us from all 
 trouble touching further prosecution upon this 
 dreadful charge. Not so. Master Beare, whose 
 hate is implacable, " yet breathing out threatenings 
 and slaughter," by an unheard-of wanton exercise 
 of his new authority, which he would never have 
 presumed stretch thus boldly if not confident of 
 protection, whatever the result may prove, in 
 quarters strong and powerful enough to screen 
 him, issues afresh the special warrant for my 
 apprehension. And straightway those at his beck, 
 " whose feet are swift" to run upon such an errand, 
 scoured the country for many a mile around — at 
 first with no success, for they of the Kingsbridge 
 friends who knew where I was kept faithfully their 
 trust. At length. Master Beare's men scented my 
 place of refuge ; ay, just at the time when I felt it 
 passing sweet to exclaim, " The beasts of the earth
 
 220 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 have their grassy lair to he down in, and the fowls 
 of the air their nests to fly to, and through God's 
 mercy we have also found a shelter, where for 
 awhile we may be let rest in peace." 
 
 I now return again to that part of my narration 
 when I was seized at Mistress Aylmer's house, 
 taken from my distraded family, and compelled 
 set out upon a journey, during a night so dismal 
 that methought 'twould scarcely ever end in morning. 
 The roads proving very heavy, and the horses 
 jaded, we stopped to rest on our dreary way at two 
 or more hostelries. I mind the men halting a few 
 minutes outside a little rustical inn, the hostess of 
 which, struck with my dejed appearance and 
 drenched condition, for the rain was falling heavily, 
 brought me a horn of frothing ale ; and though I 
 told her I had never a groat wherewith to requite 
 the civility, she smiling kindly bade me drink it, 
 and " keep a heart of cheer." 
 
 The place where the session was appointed to be 
 holden proved a mean, sorry village, lying several 
 miles distant from Kingsbridge, and our poor nags 
 being sadly tired, we did not arrive there till the 
 magistrates had begun assemble. Though early, 
 Master Beare was already seated on the bench. 
 He wore the look of a man who'd been drinking 
 hard, and the fresh mire with which his boots and 
 the skirts of his coats were spattered, showed he 
 had ridden hard as well. No sooner did he catch
 
 INNOCENCE fVHITE AND CLEAN. Ill 
 
 a glimpse of me with gyves upon my wrists, 
 between a couple of his men, than his fierce blood- 
 shot eyes seemed to dilate in size the while they 
 gloated upon a sight to them so welcome ; but I, 
 strong in the fearlessness of an innocence white and 
 clean, regarded this man, who, in thus brutally 
 persecuting me, debased himself, with a look calm 
 and steadfast enow to make even his red face 
 change its hue. He 'gan shuffle in his place, and 
 at length shifted it, each movement showing how 
 ill he felt himself at ease. Yea, now that his desire 
 was granted, and I stood bound and guarded by his 
 creatures before him, methought this Scripture 
 applied well to Master^ Beare, from one in my then 
 condition : " Rejoice not against me, O mine 
 enemy : when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in 
 darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." 
 This bad man's conscience was not wholly seared, 
 the very presence of his vidlim confounded him, 
 and his speech, at best none o' the clearest, grew 
 still more thick and confused, while answering the 
 questions of those about him. 
 
 To be brief, the usual forms were hurried 
 through with a most unseemly despatch, and an 
 order for my committal to Exon Gaol unanimously 
 agreed upon by the rest of the justices, who I 
 perceived were fully disposed to countenance by 
 their support Master Bcare in his proceedings. 
 
 " Not an hour should be lost. Sir Hugh,"
 
 222 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 quoth Squire Reynells to a gentleman beside him, 
 in a scarlet hunting-coat, with a very full-fed 
 person, and a nose shaped like an eagle's beak, " in 
 lodging this troublous sometime parson where for 
 certain he'll neither hold nor abet again in a hurry 
 any more such murtherous conventicles." 
 
 " Ay, ay," was the reply, " and we need nail up a 
 scarescrow of his colour, in order to frighten the 
 rest o' the crows." 
 
 Master Beare was at this moment hastily signing 
 his name to a paper his clerk presented him. He 
 cared not to read it, 
 
 " That will do," I heard him say. " Take it ; 
 all is right." 
 
 " Sir," cried I, in a voice which might be heard 
 to the furthest corner of the place, " that will not 
 do, and well ye know all done and now doing here 
 is wrong, is false, is — — " 
 
 " Stop this brawler's tongue," shouted Rey- 
 nells ; and the magistrates, roaring out together 
 like lions, exclaimed, " Gag him, if nought else 
 will do't." 
 
 Seeing their men prepare obey the order with 
 alacrity, I was fain hold my peace. The high- 
 nosed gentleman in the scarlet coat then said, " The 
 speedier this Hicks is removed the better, and " 
 — (addressing the constables, at the same time 
 dragging a huge watch from his pocket) — " if ye 
 make haste, before night he can be caged."
 
 GRIM PORTALS. 223 
 
 And haste was made, fresh horses were quickly- 
 gotten, and at close o' the day I passed through the 
 grim portals of the gates of the said prison, nor 
 could I stifle a groan, when I heard them close 
 jarringly behind me. 
 
 '^•51^ 
 
 f^^ 
 
 
 ^ti-?-^^'^
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 C5V|?<P 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hicks in Gaol, about his Master'' s business. — The Trial. 
 
 HE divers grievous sufferings I've ex- 
 perienced since I was clapped up here, 
 together with my late sore sickness (so 
 near proving a mortal one), hath 
 hindered me such long time from the using my 
 pen and ink, that now (being still in extreme weak 
 condition) I do need make pretty determinate 
 struggle against the languor of a disposition in- 
 clining me to lay aside these jottings altogether. 
 Neither will I deny my miseries at times have been 
 of a poignancy so extreme, that It seemed to me 
 almost like the laying bare a shrinking nerve or 
 sinew (as with their knives the chirurgeons do) — 
 even the committal of my feelings to this the silent 
 keeping of my little book. 
 
 Winter having set In bitterly (as I noted after 
 receiving my poor wife's parcel), its nipping air 
 did so unkindly chill and freeze my blood, lacking
 
 LASi: GROAT GONE. 11^ 
 
 the grateful warmth of fuel and wholesome exercise, 
 that there were moments when I feared my heart 
 itself would grow a-cold. And, sad to tell, the 
 poor prisoners in this gaol are kept upon such 
 starving short commons, that when my last groat 
 was gone, a barley cake given me at times in the 
 prison court-yard, by a kind soul coming there 
 occasionally, who pitied my most sorrowful con- 
 dition, proved a boon, none save a wight dinnerless 
 and supperless for two days on a stretch can fitly 
 understand the refreshment of. Alack ! in gaols 
 there be those, if the prisoners hap to have a little 
 money (or 'tis suspeded they can raise it through 
 friends), who scruple not to prey upon them, as 
 vultures will upon a helpless living quarry. 
 
 By assigned reason of a quibbling law pretext 
 (though most like another I fear me I sound too 
 truly) my trial has been postponed till the spring 
 assize, now fully arrived. Perhaps certain cruel 
 folk might shrewdly conclude, a winter passed in a 
 gaol, reported about the worst in England, would 
 render any other sort of trial for John Hicks quite 
 needless, and they have been very near hitting their 
 deadly mark. But the Lord, blessed be His 
 name ! hath seen fit, by preserving His servant 
 alive, to disappoint their malice ; yea, in the 
 sharpest exercises of faith and patience, enabled me, 
 as never I did afore I came hither, to prove the 
 truth of His own gracious promise, " My grace is
 
 226 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 sufficient for thee," and to feel that they whom 
 wicked men hate most, are also those whom He 
 loves most. 
 
 Now, some of the saddest of my trials in this 
 place (which assuredly is one of Satan's strongholds) 
 have arisen from the foul converse and shocking 
 evil pradtices, when opportunity presented, of by 
 far the greater number of they around me. Misery, 
 starvation, and ofttimes brutal punishment from the 
 gaoler and his men, instead of taming and subduing, 
 did the rather tend to harden or madly exasperate 
 my unhappy fellow-prisoners ; and fain was I to 
 wish I could shut my ears against the words of their 
 profane tongues as easy as I could my eyes against 
 their persons. This matter weighing heavily upon 
 my heart, I hasted lay it before the Lord ; my 
 faith in praying is this — that, as spiritual breathings 
 are the very soul of spiritual living, so He, who, 
 by His Holy Spirit, giveth us the desire to come 
 to Him in this wise, never denieth a/tfz//;/i</ prayer. 
 
 Even while I prayed, a light broke in upon my 
 mind, and, rising up from my knees, I exclaimed, 
 " What an unprofitable servant have I been since I 
 came here, where surely God hath work for me to 
 do ! I will delay no longer to be about my 
 Master's business. And afterward, whenever 
 fitting moment offered, or I could any wise contrive 
 make one myself, I spake out boldly that of which 
 my heart was full to the thieves and cut-purses by
 
 " FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME." ITj 
 
 whom I was surrounded, beseeching them fervently 
 to " flee from the wrath to come." At first, they 
 gibed and scoffed, and then began pelt me ; and 
 soon such a tumult was raised, that the turnkeys, 
 followed by the gaoler, came running in to see what 
 the cause might be. These fiercely threatened; 
 and, in consequence of my persistence in my 
 exhortations to the prisoners, I was locked up 
 several hours over time in the filthiest of the stifling 
 cells, and my poor, scant allowance of food taken 
 away. Yet, through divine grace strengthening 
 me, I bore these things joyfully, for His sake who 
 bore the death of the cross for mine ; and in time, 
 the gaoler and his men grew softer, I giving them 
 never an angry look, nor frpward, peevish word, 
 because I knew the heavenly strength a-lying in 
 meekness and forbearance. At length they grew 
 so far softened as actually to permit me preach in 
 the court-yard of the prison, which I've done 
 repeatedly ; and if the precious seed of Gospel 
 truth sown in so much weakness hath some ot it 
 fallen in stony places, to be choked by thorns or 
 scorched by heat, other, I have been privileged 
 receive good evidence, fell " into good ground" — 
 yea, hath already " brought forth fruit." 
 
 And here I will observe what a notable difl^erence 
 I perceived in the expression of the countenances 
 and 'haviour of these poor souls, the prisoners, 
 when 1 set before them, as I joyed to do, the 
 
 0^2
 
 228 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 tender mercy, the long-sufFering, the yearning, 
 pitiful compassion, the wondrous love of Christ as 
 a Divine Redeemer — to that they presented when I 
 plied them with rebukes and threatenings. To the 
 latter they most times hearkened either with sullen, 
 dogged indifference, or scornful, defiant sneers ; but 
 when I spake of the pardon vouchsafed the dying 
 thief, the welcome awaiting the prodigal son, the 
 gentle admonition given to the woman taken in 
 adultery, their aspeft changed. For these were 
 all so many keys by which the Holy Spirit helped 
 me unlock their hardened hearts, and bid tears 
 flow from eyes which seemed to have forgot what 
 blessed thing it was to weep at word of truth or 
 tenderness ; and, with gratitude inexpressible, I, 
 seeing such tokens of emotion in my hearers, said 
 inwardly, " Though the Ethiopian cannot change 
 his skin, nor the leopard his spots," yet "with 
 God all things are possible." Many were still very 
 young in years, and from their earliest childhood 
 owned to no training, save that given them by 
 vicious parents, or wicked keepers and companions; 
 these I regarded with profound compassion, for 
 while the youngest were almost preternaturally 
 sharp in all manner of evil knowledge, I yet found 
 it a more difficult matter to bring down my dis- 
 courses to their sin-darkened comprehension, than 
 if I'd been called to preach before the bishops in 
 Latin.
 
 ■I 
 DISMAL COMPANY. - - - ' 
 
 229 
 
 Among this dismal company was one who minded 
 me of her of old, namely, that " woman of the city, 
 which was a sinner," who, afterward kneeling at 
 our Lord's feet, washed them with her tears, and 
 wiped them with the hairs of her head, and con- 
 cerning whom He said, " Her sins, which are many, 
 are forgiven her." 
 
 " Let me entreat thee," said I to this person, 
 who showed a very deep contrition for her past 
 wicked ways, " if thou shouldst again be set at 
 liberty, to return to thy ill courses no more. Ah, 
 become not (as holy Scripture warneth) like the 
 sow gone back to her * wallowing in the mire,' 
 nor any longer give the flower of thy young life, 
 which should be of Christ's setting, for the devil's 
 plucking." 
 
 " But whOy master," cried she, eagerly interrupting 
 me, her cheeks all wet with tears, " who will stretch 
 out hand to help or succour such as me ? The scorn- 
 ful city dames would count their mantles fouled, if 
 in the street the borders of 'em brushed my sleeve." 
 
 " Take heart, poor wench," quoth 1, " for there's 
 One as yet ye wot but little of, who's strong and 
 powerful enough, and, what's more, willing to save 
 and shelter thee." Then, in the plainest, clearest 
 speech that I could frame my lips to utter, I 
 expounded to her the nature of the pardon God 
 offers all men through His Son, and pressed it 
 heartily upon her acceptance. " None, even the
 
 230 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 vilest, need despair obtaining it," said I ; " and as 
 thou canst not read the blessed Word for thyself, 
 I must tell thee that He bids a poor and stricken 
 sinner attempt the doing of no hard matter, no 
 slave's task, in coming to the foot of the cross — 
 nought save the simplest, easiest, naturalest thing 
 imaginable. Hearken to what He Himself says, 
 
 * Look unto me and be ye saved.' Thou seest 
 yonder streak of sunshine slanting bright against 
 the wall of this our dreary prison ?" 
 
 " Ay, master, I do." 
 
 " Even as ye regard that sunbeam with the eyes 
 of your body would I have thee, through grace, 
 look upward to thy Saviour. For He is God, 
 
 * and there is none else.'" And as the stung and 
 dying Israelites gazed at the brazen serpent lifted 
 high in the wilderness, and were saved, so, I trust, 
 was this poor guilty creature brought regard Him 
 of whom it was the type. " Moreover," continued 
 I, " Jesus, who so freely shed His most precious 
 blood for our salvation, after He hath once taken 
 poor sinners into His love, will suffer none to 
 pluck them out of His hand. Ye may feel sure 
 that, having forgiven. He will continue to care for ; 
 and if all others cast thee off. He never will. 
 Learn this little prayer I shall now teach thee — 
 one which, when said from the heart (though evil 
 folk tempt, and Satan may try), is sure to be 
 answered. 'Tis short enow for thee to very well
 
 A REPENTANr SINNER. IJ I 
 
 remember ; yet so much to the purpose that Christ 
 Himself commended it." 
 
 " Kind Sir, I'll learn, and gladly." 
 
 " Then hearken. All the words of it are these : 
 * God be merciful to me a sinner.^ Yet are they 
 strong enow to make the gates of heaven open 
 joyfully, for a penitent soul to enter." 
 
 And as the wench, all humbly and broken- 
 heartedly, said them after me, I could not help 
 thinking her prosped in this life, if she do get 
 released from gaol, much like his who, despised by 
 the haughty Pharisee, stood afar off, and " would 
 not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven." 
 
 " Alack !" mused I, " there be they too proud 
 of their good name and fame to bestow word of 
 pity, or deed of compassion, on fallen outcast such 
 as this. Yet how did the spotless Redeemer of 
 mankind aft by her prototype of old !" And at 
 conclusion of our talk, I remember observing, 
 " Now bear in mind the command of my divine 
 Master, Jesus, ' Go, and sin no more.' " 
 
 " I'll pray the Lord, Sir," answered she, weep- 
 ing, " that when I leave this place it may be with 
 me even as ye say, to * sin no more^ " repeated she, 
 very slowly, and thoughtfully. 
 
 I had writ my wife, and despatched my letters, 
 according as I found opportunity, amid the rule, 
 or rather ;;z/i-rule, of this gaol ; and though I gat 
 no answer, I did not allow it unduly to weigh upon
 
 232 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 my heart, reasonably enow concluding that the risk, 
 of her getting my letter safe was to the full equal 
 to hers reaching me. Moreover, I felt comforted 
 upon reflefting she was under the roof of a loving 
 kinswoman ; and kind Mistress Aylmer's parting 
 word was, my wife should be tended as if she were 
 her own daughter. Yet just about this tim.e, 
 strive as I might, I felt a gloomy sinking of the 
 heart, a trembling prescience of coming woe, im- 
 possible to describe. Ah ! what had become of 
 the buoyant spirit, that wont so stoutly maintain 
 there was a bright light hidden in the darkest 
 cloud ? but now the cloud of afflidlion hooded and 
 wrapt my soul as in a mantle, and the light I 
 could in nowise discern the gleaming of. Quoth I 
 to myself, when alone with myself, " The only 
 way by which I can combat these despairing 
 thoughts is to ^ pray without ceasing ;' " and 
 while I prayed, calling to remembrance the weak- 
 ness and the necessities of they who were so wound 
 around my heart as to have become the very life 
 of its life, likewise my own forlorn estate, I shed 
 tears, till this Scripture 'gan greatly relieve and 
 comfort me, *' God shall supply all your need 
 according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." 
 A day or two afterward, on being locked up for 
 the night, a letter was slipped into my hand, I 
 could not see by whom. I was forced wait till 
 day-break for light to read it ; and during the
 
 GATES OF DAT OPENED. 233 
 
 dark watches lay sleepless, grasping tightly the 
 letter which I trusted would give me tidings of my 
 poor family. Well might it then seem to me as 
 if the *' wings of the morning" were shorn of their 
 swiftness, ere my straining eyes beheld the first 
 unfolding of their brightness. At last the golden 
 gates of day were opened, and I was able to 
 decipher the superscription : " These for the worthy 
 hands of the Rev. John Hicks." Alack ! with a 
 deep sigh of disappointment, I perceived 'twas not 
 in the slender, delicate writing 1 so longed to see, 
 but the clear round chara6ters of good Master 
 Hope instead. 
 
 I've ofttimes spoken of Master Hope's face, as 
 reminding me of the truthful index to a right 
 pleasant, genial book. Moreover, this our brother, 
 in addition to a most happy natural disposition, 
 hath, by the purity and consistency of his outward 
 carriage, greatly set forth and recommended the 
 beauty of a holy life and conversation in the eyes 
 of they who are not believers. For these watch 
 sharply the walk of such as have " professed a good 
 confession before many witnesses." And if Chris- 
 tian professors stumble and fall into any heinous 
 sin, like David, they may repent heartily, and 
 be forgiven their " great transgression;" yet I do not 
 think that erring brother, or erring sister, will again 
 be made largely useful (save by way of example), 
 or ought exped; to hold the same place in the
 
 234 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Church of Christ on earth, as they do who have 
 maintained a profession " without spot," and " un- 
 rebukable." The friends at Kingsbridge loved 
 apply to him of whom I'm writing (in part, 
 perhaps, because it bore reference to his fair earthly 
 name) this Scripture — " Christ in you the hope of 
 glory ;" and while a-talking with Master Hope, 
 I've more than once called to mind a story of an 
 old-world king, who, after he had gotten a famous 
 victory, divided the fruits of it among his followers: 
 to one he gave whole countries, to another store of 
 gold and jewels ; at last they asked him what he 
 meant reserve for himself. " The bravest treasure 
 of all," said he. " And what, O Prince, may that 
 be?" "Why, I will keep hope," quoth he. 
 And verily this monarch thought to hope for that 
 which would make him do whatever he was able to 
 do, or any could think, was enow to fill even a soul 
 as great as his. 
 
 Master Hope's letters are, in general, as faithful 
 a reflex of his mind as a true mirror is of a man's 
 face. Aforetime I've read some of 'em, which, if 
 set among the leaves of my present jottings, would 
 show there just as bright marigolds might in a bunch 
 of sad and dismal rue. This, however, that he now 
 sent me, was an exception, being fuller of lamenta- 
 tion. Master Hope said, than any he ever writ in 
 his life before. And here is a page of it : — 
 
 " His worship, Master Beare, proveth so sore a
 
 MASTER HOPE'S LETTER. 
 
 ^35 
 
 scourge to the Lord's people in Kingsbridge, that a 
 good many of 'em will, ere long, be clean driven 
 out o' the town. Some of the younger folk (Robin 
 Cheke is one) bethink them of embarking, very 
 shortly, for America, having had news of that 
 brave land, which they liken to the receiving * glad 
 tidings of the kingdom of God ' from a far country. 
 Worthy Master Burdwood our enemies have plagued 
 in such sort, that he hath been obligated leave his 
 farm, and is now entertained (with his wife and some 
 of his children) by a very godly person in the town 
 o' Dartmouth. The crew of informers, at beck of 
 Master Justice Beare, unhung his gates, rifled his 
 house, seized and drove away his cattle, ripped the 
 locks off his barn-doors ; and poor Mistress Burd- 
 wood, and her young daughters, were forced seek 
 shelter among the better-disposed of their neigh- 
 bours. Master Beare's black horse (who, divers o' 
 the ancient gossips affirm, hath in him somewhat of 
 the evil spirit which possesseth his master), taking 
 freely the road leading to Master Burdwood's, at all 
 hours might his hoofs be heard gallopping in that 
 diredlion ; and upon one of these occasions, the 
 fierce stamping brute having cast a shoe. Master 
 Beare ordered a certain smith to set it right, which 
 he, in not a little bodily fear, having done, the 
 wicked horseman getteth into further converse with 
 him, and, finding this smith owed Master Burdwood 
 a small sum of money, aviseth him never pay it ;
 
 236 TROVBLQUS TIMES. 
 
 and, worse still, become a party — which the person 
 hath since done — in helping to ruin his benefadlor. 
 But * the Lord God of recompences shall surely 
 requite' these folk according to their deserts hereafter. 
 I need scarce tell ye, Master Burdwood bore the 
 coarse insults heaped upon him by his persecutors, 
 with so admirable a patience, cheerfulness, and com- 
 posure, that Master Beare's rude nature was greatly 
 irked and mortified thereby. Our excellent brother 
 took * joyfully the spoihng of his goods,' praying 
 God to forgive them who did it. Nought the new 
 justice could do had power to make him forget that 
 he was the servant and faithful minister of One 
 who, when His enemies ' reviled Him, reviled not 
 again ;' neither. Master Hicks, did he fail comport 
 himself with a dignity becoming the well-born 
 gentleman he is, which chafed Master Beare 
 hugely. 
 
 " Postscriftum. — A little dog belonging to young 
 Mistress Burdwood happed, when the spies were 
 lurking near her father's house — the family being at 
 evening prayers — to thrust out his head, and bark 
 at 'em, whereby a great mischief was wrought for 
 they within. And the cruel strangers catching the 
 poor little noisy rogue, treated him to a bit of hemp 
 — the pretty maid herself finding him stark, and 
 hanging from a tree-bough, in Master Burdwood's 
 orchard." 
 
 After I had ended the reading Master Hope's
 
 GOLD CAROLUS. 237 
 
 epistle, I could not help musing with much surprise 
 over this circumstance, namely, how it came to pass 
 his letter should find its way to me with the string 
 and seal both unmeddled with ; and, that which 
 made the matter all the more remarkable, was its 
 safe containment of a gold Carolus, which Master 
 Hope, and certain kind souls beside, enclosed 
 therein for my use ; and I, knowing how oft they 
 are without a crown themselves, exclaimed, " Truly 
 the Lord hath his * jewels' in that little town of 
 Kingsbridge, none the less precious though they be 
 hid ; yea, high-headed folk might count them buried 
 there. As touching myself, I can testify ' they oft 
 refreshed me ;' and now I am unrighteously cast 
 into prison, and some of them are implicated in the 
 issue of my coming trial, they yet remember, 
 and minister, to my cruel want, and are ^ not 
 ashamed of my chain.' " Afterward I made dis- 
 covery, these kind friends, being sorely puzzled 
 how to get their help conveyed me, at length 
 lighted upon an honest countryman going diredl to 
 Exon, who'd a sister married to one of the gaol 
 turnkeys, and she prevailed with her husband to 
 deliver me the letter, which (as before stated), in 
 the darkness, he did, thus faithfully fulfilling the trust 
 confided him ; when, if otherwise minded, he might 
 easily have defrauded me of it altogether. Now 
 this man is of a forbidding countenance, and 
 extreme surly carriage ; unknown to myself, I'd
 
 238 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 conceived a prejudice against him ; conceiting sagely, 
 so rough a shell must needs contain a very bitter 
 kernel — in short, that nothing friendly or good 
 might be hoped from such a quarter. But ye 
 cannot always tell what o'clock 'tis in a man's breast 
 by the dial of his face ; and this person's worthy 
 condu(5l towards myself has given me a new, and, I 
 trow, clearer light whereby to ponder these words 
 of the Apostle, " Charity thinketh no evil." 
 
 I'd many a time heard of the havoc disease 
 maketh in gaols, and I knew if it should be the 
 Lord's will to send " the pestilence that walketh in 
 darkness " among us. Death, in our crowded, filthy 
 cells, would prove a swift and fearful reaper. As it 
 was, several of the prisoners were always more or less 
 disordered. Here there is no provision made for 
 sick folk, nor a ward for them to lie apart in ; and 
 now that which I dreaded came to pass. Scant, 
 unwholesome food, foul air, and other dreadful 
 miseries beside, proved too much for me, and I sank 
 down upon my bundle of straw, overpowered by the 
 fearful sickness of which they were the chief cause, 
 that had already begun its awful ravages among the 
 prisoners. But while stretched helpless on my 
 straw, proving by experience the force and truth 
 of those few simple, yet most moving words, " sicky 
 and in 'prison" and expedling the hour was near 
 approaching in which I must surely die, still, 
 through God's mercy, before my senses forsook
 
 SEEMING LAST EX-TREMITT. 
 
 ^39 
 
 me, I could from my inmost heart cry, " I count 
 all things but loss, for the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have 
 suffered the loss of all things ; and do count them 
 but dung so that I may win Christ." 
 
 And my heavenly Master forsook me not, in this 
 my seeming last extremity. It pleased Him to 
 awaken pity and compassion for my sad state in the 
 hearts of some o' the gaol people ; the hard-featured 
 turnkey, anon I spake of, proving among the fore- 
 most ; thus was I fetched back to life at the moment 
 I appeared the nearest leaving it. After a while, 
 my sound, healthful constitution prevailed over the 
 fever ; and though wasted to the shadow of my 
 former self, in time, with help of a staff, I managed 
 to crawl, feebly as a fly, alongside the wall of the 
 gaol court-yard. Last week, as I was trying to 
 catch the warmth of the little sunshine that could 
 find its way there, I spied a coffin carrying out, and 
 asking of they nearest me which of the prisoners 
 was again dead, learned 'twas none other than the 
 woman I'd held the converse with, already jotted 
 down. As I watched the men bearing away her 
 corpse (which, like the rest of they who died of this 
 sickness, was to be buried in a church-yard outside 
 the city walls), her own words returned with force 
 to my mind — " God grant that when I leave this 
 place it may be to sin no more." And afterward, 
 with feelings pen or tongue can ne'er describe, I
 
 240 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 learned the poor wench died with the prayer I'd 
 taught her, the blessed one of the publican, a- 
 trembling upon her lips. Nor doubt I, her soul is 
 numbered among theirs "who have washed their 
 robes, and made them white, in the blood of the 
 Lamb." 
 
 Yesterday, the gaoler himself gave me another 
 letter, which, when I saw 'twas superscribed by the 
 feeble hand of Mistress Aylmer, my heart sunk 
 with a fear dreadfuller than all other fears beside ; at 
 last I gathered courage to read its contents. My 
 wife had been confined of a still-born child, and, 
 though the kind old gentlewoman who wrote 
 evidently dreaded to add " sorrow upon sorrow," I 
 was given understand her recovery must be con- 
 sidered as very doubtful. Of the letters I sent, 
 they'd received but two. " To our safe getting the 
 last, under God's good providence " (said Mistress 
 Aylmer), " do I ascribe the continuing of your poor 
 wife's life ; for nought (even the voice of her 
 children's weeping) had power to arouse her lan- 
 guishing spirit, till, through mercy, that letter 
 reached us." 
 
 As I was a-penning these last words, a very faint, 
 prolonged swell of distant music (my sense of 
 hearing was always exceeding nice and accurate) 
 made me stop, and listen intently. I have resolved 
 the meaning of yonder far-off sound. 'Tis the 
 flourish of trumpets, announcing that the judges
 
 rOPFER OF STRENGTH. 24 1 
 
 appointed to try the prisoners are entering the city. 
 And now, to Him whose very name "is a tower of 
 strength, into which the righteous fleeth and is 
 saved," do I all fervently commit a — perhaps dying 
 — wife and helpless children. This haughty trumpet 
 peal hath no further power to shake my heart, though 
 a certain death-knell for many a trembling one beside. 
 Two days later. — (These following writ by me, 
 eleven d" the clock at night, barely four hours after 
 ending of my trial. La us Deo \) — Upon crossing 
 the outer court of the gaol, on my way to the castle 
 of Exon, at the hour appointed me, to stand my 
 trial there, I found, anxiously waiting by the gates, 
 those good friends already spoken of as accused 
 (though in much milder sort) of being accessories 
 to the crime whereof I was charged as being the 
 chief perpetrator, and who, according to their 
 several recognisances, now appeared at the assize. 
 If put under the same indidment, I felt assured 
 matters would not be pushed against them (their 
 having been allowed get sureties had already shown 
 it) half as severely as against myself. They were 
 duly avised of the pestilent sickness in the gaol 
 whence I was just taken ; but no sooner did they 
 espy me coming than, running forward, Enoch 
 Trueman grasped both my hands, while ardent 
 Master Hope, falling on my neck, could not forbear 
 weeping ; quoth another, " Dear Master Hicks, ye 
 have indeed * sorrowed much.' " 
 
 R
 
 242 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Alack ! the last two months had done the work 
 of many years upon my outward man. 'Twas a 
 long time since I'd seen my visage in a looking- 
 glass ; yet their sad, pitying eyes, and the smo- 
 thered words of surprise and grief that fell from 
 their lips, told me, to the full as truly as any mirror, 
 how greatly I must be changed in person. 
 
 Having neither inclination nor ability to describe, 
 save in a general and cursory manner, the nature 
 of a trial such as mine, which was conduced pretty 
 much after the manner of many a similar one in 
 these sad times — where infamous, perjured wit- 
 nesses, who scruple not to gain a piece of bread by 
 laying information against the innocent, affedling their 
 charafters as loyal subjects, and with what can be 
 made out beside by the twisting and misrepresenting 
 perhaps some simple word or a6lion of the accused, 
 or any other kind of presumptive evidence that can 
 be fished up, do ofttimes enable a predetermined 
 judge, and corrupt counsel, to influence a jury in 
 obtaining from them the fatal verdid they desire — I 
 shall hasten to say, that when placed at the bar, and 
 the indidment against me was read, I answered 
 " Not guilty," with a tongue which, God be 
 thanked, never yet gave my conscience the lie. 
 
 Lo ! the very first witness called was none other 
 than our notorious adversary. Master Beare. The 
 new justice bustled into court in his bravest attire, 
 and with his usual insolent swagger, as he doffed
 
 THE BIG, BURLT, PROSPEROUS JUSTICE. 243 
 
 his hat — in the lace band of which was looped a 
 great flapping feather — (he mightily affedeth the 
 gentleman of figure, which, beside they of the true 
 sort, only maketh him appear the more vulgar, for 
 silken purse was never wrought out of a sow's ear) — 
 and showed the coarse, bloated features of his 
 broad red face, lit by eyes at once fierce and dull, 
 yet with a leer of triumph in their wicked twinkle, 
 when turning his regards in the diredlion where I 
 was, which limner for the Evil One alone could 
 fitly paint. Thus stood we twain before that large 
 assemblage : he^ the big, burly, prosperous justice, 
 in his fine, glittering habit — I, wasted to a wan 
 and meagre shadow, and for many a month no 
 woman's gentle hand had done its best to make my 
 miserable clothing decent. Yet, as I've said, when 
 in this bad man's presence before, though out- 
 wardly so weak and wretched, yet felt I strong in 
 the consciousness of an innocence both white and 
 clean ; and would not have been degraded by 
 change of places with my adversary, for aught this 
 world could offer in shape of recompence. 
 
 The questions put Master Beare by the counsel 
 for the Crown, as well as his replies, were all that 
 a heart of malice could possibly prompt lying lips 
 to utter ; and so carefully ordered withal, that I at 
 once 'gan suspedt a secret understanding between 
 the parties, in order to the making my condemna- 
 tion secure, and the punishment of those poor 
 
 R 2
 
 2,44 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 souls alongside me in tribulation a very different 
 matter to what, in their simplicity and country 
 ignorance of law-courts, they had ever conceited it 
 would be. And the Kingsbridge friends now and 
 then giving a groan while the harsh voice of Master 
 Beare was a-grating on their ears, just to mark 
 their sense of his wickedness, the criers of the 
 court called silence, and forthwith certain officials 
 dealt them so smart a rap with their wands on the 
 pate, that they being greatly confused thereat, the 
 graceless folk around laughed out loudly, and this 
 unseemly merriment received no check from those 
 sitting in judgment upon us. 
 
 Joan Lucas was then produced, in her black 
 hood and widow's garb ; but she comported herself 
 in so bold a manner, and with gest and speech so 
 impudent, that most present knew nought, save 
 free use of strong waters, could reasonably account 
 for a carriage thus reckless and daring. 
 
 As her shrill scream, craving that *' justice might 
 be done upon the murtherers of her husband," 
 ceased its sound, a man with a hat slouched over 
 his eyes was heard say, "Well answered, daughter ; 
 we'll hang him yet." 
 
 Divers other evil evidence next followed. The 
 chirurgeon, he who spake truthfully, what time the 
 inquest on the body of John Lucas was holden, 
 the powers of darkness had since been permitted 
 tamper with ; his replies, however, proved so
 
 AN UGLY CHANGE. 245 
 
 confused and contradidory, that he was quickly 
 dismissed. 
 
 Over the coroner who presided on that most 
 shocking occasion had Hkewise come an ugly 
 change, he answering the counsel with a quaking 
 tremulousness, as if afeard of some secret power, 
 which coerced and held him in subje6tion. This 
 man had neither the courage of virtue nor the 
 hardihood of vice. 
 
 Those persons subpoenaed by the brethren 
 present to give evidence were plied by certain 
 lawyers (no secret being made as to which side 
 they, the lawyers, belonged), and perplexed with 
 their cunning, and browbeat by their insolence ; 
 for the wily questioners tried hard mislead 
 and frighten these simple, honest natures ; but, I 
 joy to record, truth stood the test bravely, and 
 the counsel failed to shake their testimony in our 
 favour. 
 
 Faint by reason of my late sickness, I leaned 
 wearily against the rail in front o' me. This 
 weakness of body did seem affe6ling my intelleduals. 
 Whatever natural powers I once possessed, now that 
 most I needed 'em, appeared forsaking me ; in this 
 condition I was called upon for my defence. When 
 I began to speak, many a fierce and frowning 
 visage turned darkly toward mine. Had it been 
 as in time past with me, how differently should I 
 have proclaimed my own guiltlessness of murthering
 
 246 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 a man who, I'm bold to say, I never In my life 
 laid finger near (as well as theirs, accused by 
 " them that plot iniquity" of aiding me in com- 
 mitting such crime), to what I then felt able ! But, 
 crushed and broken as I was, that which, through 
 mercy, strength was given me to say, though of 
 necessity exceeding brief, artless, and unstudied, 
 produced no inconsiderable impression ; yea, 
 carried along with the simple earnestness of its 
 appeal a convi6lion to the minds of the honestest 
 present, that I, and my friends, were accused on 
 the falsest, most unfounded of pretexts, by our 
 bitter and merciless persecutors. 
 
 After I'd done, there was a great hush in the crowded 
 court ; it became so remarkable, that methought 
 the ticking of a watch, or the fall of a pin, might 
 have been heard in the silence. Judge Rainforde 
 was about to deliver his charge. At first sound 
 of this judge's voice, I lifted up my eyes (dulled 
 and heavy as they had become) in sheer amaze- 
 ment; for it was so rarely musically sweet in tone, 
 and withal persuasive, that as the silvery accents 
 of his tongue melted on my astonished ear, I could 
 scarce believe what I before heard reported, 
 namely, that this judge was of nature so ruthless 
 and cruel, the hangman and the strangling cord 
 followed his appeals as surely, and as closely, as a 
 wight's shadow doth himself But full soon I 
 discovered, though " his words were softer than
 
 rUE JUDGE. o^y 
 
 oil, yet were they drawn swords," and "the poison of 
 asps was under his lips ;" for this voice, in its depths 
 so majestic, in its cadence and clearness so harmo- 
 nious and perfect that not the smallest syllable was 
 lost, which charmed m.en's ears as by a sorcerer's 
 accurst enchantment, could yet control and awe, 
 with a power so strange and terrible, that those 
 of Squire Reynells, or Master Beare, when 
 in their savagest of moods, would be impotent 
 compared with it as the peevish crying of a froward 
 child against the subtile one of him who said to 
 our first mother, " Ye shall be as gods, knowing 
 good from evil." And there was the motley 
 expeftant audience, the keen-eyed lawyers in their 
 gowns, the sheriffs and their men in the gorgeousest 
 of liveries, the figure of Joan Lucas in her 
 mourning garments, her bold, black, burning eyes, 
 riveted upon the stately judge, while with out- 
 stretched neck she listed to him greedily, and 
 against whom, I fear me, the soul of many a 
 wretch cut off in a youth of sin, the tears and 
 wailings of many a desolate widow, orphaned child, 
 and heart-broken parent, will rise up at the day 
 of doom. My blood ran chill, while reflecting 
 upon the malignity, the desperate hard-heartedness 
 of this man ; thus corrupted by sin, yet endowed 
 with natural gifts so extraordinary, all perfected 
 too, as they were, by the highest training, art, 
 learning, and experience can give : he minded me
 
 248 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 of the fallen " Son of the morning," who, with his 
 bright compeers, kept not their first estate ; yet 
 lost, everlastingly lost, and in perdition though 
 they be, are, in the greatness and grandeur of their 
 intelleftual powers and capacities, angels (if of 
 darkness), angels still. 
 
 Oh, with what fair seeming of truth and justice 
 did this judge, in his summing up, remind the 
 jury of each thing charged against us, yet how 
 carefully omit, or set in light of such false likeli- 
 hood (that I myself was startled by his close and 
 subtile reasoning), the saving points which made 
 for our defence ! Lastly, with what an over- 
 mastering force of eloquence did he seek make the 
 wrong appear the right, the worse the better, the 
 innocent the guilty cause ! 
 
 From an adversary so deadly and powerful, and 
 altogether set against us, I considered my own sentence 
 as already sealed, likewise feared that of my poor 
 friends would be ruinously severe ; but the God we 
 serve, " in whose hands are the hearts of all men," 
 at the very moment I had given up all earthly 
 hope of being saved, saw fit, by a signal interposi- 
 tion of His sovereign will, to show that He could 
 deliver us when we were inwardly exclaiming. 
 Our souls are " among lions, among them that 
 are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth 
 are spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp 
 sword." For the jury, after consulting a long
 
 NOT GUILTT. 249 
 
 while together, returned with a verdid altogether 
 the reverse of that which was expeded — yea, con- 
 fidently predi6led by our enemies. Upon hearing 
 the resolute "Not Guilty" of the foreman, I 
 felt a certain dizziness, causing me to grope at 
 what was nearest for support, while surrounding 
 objects floated all formless and confused before my 
 eyes ; the buzz of angry murmurs, which arose 
 from our disappointed foes, sounded in my ears as 
 sounds the surge of waters to the drowning. 
 
 I know nothing further of what passed in court, 
 but as soon as recovered out of the insensate con- 
 dition into which, from bodily weakness, I'd fallen, 
 and finding myself once more i' the blessed open air 
 of heaven, I kneeled down and returned to the Lord 
 solemn thanks for the merciful deliverance He had 
 vouchsafed his servant, — likewise, that in England 
 there were still left hearts of truth and honour, yea, 
 they who will not suffer the blood of the innocent 
 to be poured forth like " water spilt on the ground, 
 which cannot be gathered up again." 
 
 %
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 OH, "that mine adversary had written a book. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 From my Lodging in Margaret-street, Westminster, this roth of 
 
 June, 1 67 1. 
 
 URELY no man ought feel firmer assu- 
 rance than I, that each event in the 
 lives of us poor mortals, be it in our eyes 
 never so small, mean, and insignificant, 
 is ordered and disposed by Him who has numbered 
 even the very hairs of our head ; all that is good 
 must of necessity proceed from God, as naturally 
 as a stream does from its parent source, and all 
 that is evil, we are sure, is in absolute subjeftion 
 to, and only permitted to serve His purpose, in the 
 infallibility of whose divine wisdom there can be no 
 error, when to mere human reason and intelligence 
 its ways appear mysterious, its depths soundless. 
 If, in this tumultuary lower world, I've had the hap
 
 E^R'THLT FORTUNE AND PROSPERITr. 
 
 251 
 
 to pass, not without much damage, over divers 
 treacherous quicksands and sunken rocks, while 
 certain of my compeers, beginning life just when 
 and as I did, have so trimmed and adjusted the 
 sails of their barques as to sail in the very sleeve 
 of earthly fortune and prosperity, I envy them 
 not their boon voyage, though barely escaped 
 another of those threatening reaches, which again 
 was opening its black mouth to engulf me. 
 Albeit I have, or as good, I trow, shot safely the 
 danger that was pending ; and methinks I can 
 scarce use the leisure of this evening at mine inn, 
 more to my satisfaction than in tracing, with pen 
 and ink, a few more links in that chain of events 
 unenlightened folk call destiny, but which a child 
 of God knoweth, as I've before said, to be none 
 other than so many manifestations of the over- 
 ruling, ever-present agency of the Lord Himself. 
 The particular circumstance which led to my 
 coming hither, in manner altogether unforeseen by 
 myself, I consider one of them. 'Twas passing 
 strange ; and I do seem, even now, more like a 
 man in a dream than awake while refleding 
 upon it. 
 
 Immediately after my release from gaol, I jour- 
 neyed, fast as love and fear could make a person 
 in my exhausted condition, dired for the place 
 where Mistress Aylmer liveth. The meeting 
 between myself and family, in the greatness of its
 
 252 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 joy, had yet a very afFeding solemnity : for when 
 my poor wife, looking more like the ghostly spirit 
 than the bodily reality of a living woman, scanned 
 my pale, altered visage, as in turn most sorrowfully 
 I did hers, each felt how near the other had been 
 to the crossing over the narrow boundary which 
 parteth time from eternity, though our step had 
 been stayed on its awful threshold. Even then it 
 seemed to us as if we were still standing in the shadow 
 of Death ; but the Lord mercifully decreed that 
 our children at the period of their lives when 
 most a loving parent's watch is needed, should 
 not be deprived of it. 
 
 I soon began reflect carefully upon a projedt 
 whereby, under God's guiding providence, I meant 
 shape my future course. It was to close with a 
 proposition made me to join the little company of 
 godly folk who have made arrangement to sail 
 next month from the port o' Plymouth for New 
 England, a colony which seems planted by the hand, 
 likewise in a very peculiar manner blessed by the 
 favour and protection, of the Almighty. 
 
 On sounding my wife's mind about leaving this 
 the land of our birth and that of our ancestors for 
 many a long-past generation, she made answer 
 which, coming from one reduced to such weak, 
 feeble condition, struck me as being not without a 
 certain pious heroism, and for a woman very much 
 to the purpose. " Dear husband, when we can
 
 FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD. 253 
 
 no longer live in our own beloved country but in 
 such way as is worse than dying in it, I think God 
 shows us the time is fully ripe for our leaving it." 
 
 " Amen," said I ; " and though that to which 
 we think of going may seem little better than a 
 wilderness by comparison with this we are driven 
 out from, yet shall we and our children find there 
 the blessedest of all earthly privileges and enjoy- 
 ments, namely, freedom to worship God." 
 
 Our eldest son being old enow to understand 
 the subjedl we were discussing, I scrupled not tell 
 him of that which I was a-meditating, for ever 
 since my children have been able express their 
 thoughts in language articulate, I've encouraged 
 'em without fear to pour their innocent confidences 
 in my ear, and ofttimes these have refreshed and 
 gladded my toil-worn spirit more sweetly than I 
 know how to describe. Our young family, if com- 
 posed of separate bodies, will yet, I humbly pray, 
 in all important matters {religious especially), be 
 found to have but one heart and soul. Ah, never 
 do I see the blessing of God descending, or His 
 Spirit resting like a tranquil dove in any household 
 widely apart, and divided, in opinions of this 
 kind, with near the same un6lion as where hus- 
 band, wife, and children, dwelling together, prove 
 of united mind in serving the Lord upon earth. 
 To such heaven-bound families apply the words of 
 the 133rd Psalm, as it can to none other, for on
 
 254 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 them has " the Lord commanded the blessing, 
 even hfe for evermore." 
 
 My son, fixing his quick observant eye upon a 
 chart lying before me, in which was depi6led, not 
 only the track of our sea-voyage, but the bearing 
 of that portion of the land of New England 
 where I designed settle, mastered the whole with 
 an intelligence so clear and ready that I felt 
 afraid I should grow proud o' my scholar, 
 seeing he hath had no teacher save myself; and 
 then the dear youth spake so modestly of his wish 
 to be helpful to his parents, and his desire in some 
 measure to requite all their loving cares for him, 
 that my wife and I looked upon one another till 
 our eyes grew moist. Truly, our hearts were 
 full of gratitude to the Lord in bestowing on us, 
 in our first-born, a child thus dutiful and towardly. 
 I regarded him " even as a father the son in whom 
 he delighteth," and, through God's preserving 
 mercy, as one who will worthily " keep my name 
 in remembrance" hereafter ; but his mother laid 
 her thin, pale hand (it looked all the paler and 
 thinner by the contrast) upon his black, crisp, 
 glossy curls ; a tear stole slowly down her cheek — 
 yea, such a tear as would have left no stain upon 
 that of the most " blessed among women" — and 
 her lips moved, though they uttered no sound. 
 Then I knew the prayer which is above all prayers 
 — a holy, faithful, tender mother's — was a-going
 
 FUTURE HOME. 
 
 ^SS 
 
 up to God on her son's behalf; nor doubt I the 
 blesshig thus piously invoked will descend copiously 
 upon his young and comely head. 
 
 For my own part, I confessed to a feeling 
 amounting almost to joyful certainty, that it would 
 be greatly for my young family's future benefit 
 this remove to that far land, I began contemplate 
 as our future home ; and, after what I had lately 
 gone through in this country (whose future seemeth 
 daily grow more overcast with clouds of doubt and 
 gloom), the proposal I've referred to — for me and 
 mine to leave it— was grateful to my spirit as is 
 the rush of water to ear of a wretch spent with 
 wandering through a parched and dreary desert. 
 While pleading earnestly before the Lord for His 
 guidance, proted:ion, and more especially that 
 it might be vouchsafed my feeble wife and younger 
 children in this our greatest venture, the words, 
 " God Himself shall be with them," came to my 
 soul so like a comforting messenger of heavenly 
 promise, that straightway the last shade of mis- 
 giving vanished therefrom. 
 
 Knowing several weeks must of necessity elapse 
 ere the voyage could take place, I said, " My pen 
 and ink shall not be idle during this quiet leisure 
 interval." Accordingly, I filled a good portion of 
 each day by framing and compiling an account of 
 the grievous fines, exadions, and illegal prosecu- 
 tions divers parties in this county have suffered and
 
 Q.^6 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 been laid under for the steadfastness of their Non- 
 conforming principles. If the names of the indivi- 
 duals who made themselves most busy in worrying 
 and affli6ting them were set down, still 'twas nought 
 save a bare statement of fa6ls — sufficient ugly 
 and startling I grant, yet all unlike this little 
 private note-book I carry about with me, and 
 in whose artless pages I've talked with my pen as 
 I would with my tongue to a very honest friend ; 
 but, upon reading over what I'd set down (the 
 rough outer shell of these sad affairs, and nothing 
 more), I could not, I confess, help exclaiming, 
 ^' 'Tis no wonder such things make godly folk cry 
 out, in the language of David, ' Oh, that I had 
 wings like a dove ; for then would I flee away.' 
 *^ Lo, then would I wander afar off, and remain in 
 the wilderness.' " 
 
 Just as I was putting the last stroke to my work, 
 three worthy persons from the neighbouring town, 
 two of whom were brother ministers, calling to see 
 me, and finding what I'd been engaged upon, asked 
 permission to look over my performance, which, 
 sooth to say, I was nothing loth grant. After 
 they had done reading it, the oldest and gravest 
 of 'em (a man of solid parts, and generally ac- 
 counted much prudence) wanted show the writing 
 to other of our friends, and I feeling tickled at the 
 commendation implied therein, very willingly con- 
 sented, and this being done, the brethren quickly
 
 BOOK GETS PRINTED. 
 
 257 
 
 agreed among themselves that as it was a thing, as 
 they conceited, like to do good service in the sacred 
 cause we are engaged in, must need get it printed. 
 
 Yet, though my name, and the printer's also, 
 were carefully withholden, the book gat freely cir- 
 culated, and much talked about ; in consequence 
 thereof, the feathers of more than one evil human 
 bird of prey were sorely ruffled. At length their 
 suspicions pointed toward me as its compiler. 
 With shame I confess, that when a rumour of these 
 things was wafted me in my retreat, I heartily 
 wished my over-a6live friends had deferred the 
 printing of this pamphlet till there were some few 
 thousand miles of tumbling water between me and 
 my adversaries ; but after a moment's reflection 
 'gan despise myself for entertaining so abje6t and 
 mean a thought. Quoth I, " 'Tis the truth, and 
 nothing save the truth ; and what Christian man 
 ought feel afraid or ashamed to draw his pen in 
 defence thereof? Now, out upon thee, John 
 Hicks, for turning such a craven ! " and with 
 blushing cheeks I commenced singing, though 1 
 felt scarce worthy to do so, a verse of honest 
 Christopher's prison rhymes — 
 
 " Let timid hearts school prudent tongues, 
 Their coward peace to hold ; 
 Lord grant that in truth's sacred cause 
 I steadfast prove as bold." 
 
 An exceeding sweet, clear, youthful voice (I was 
 
 s
 
 258 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 not 'ware of my eldest son being within earshot of 
 the stave) joined mine, and sang the two last lines 
 manfully. 
 
 At this particular jundure it fell out that our 
 good cousin, who, as already noted, is a lone, aged 
 widow, grew very anxious about the settlement of 
 a small property in part conneded with payment of 
 her yearly jointure. The person chiefly concerned 
 in the affair lives upon an estate not far from 
 Exon, which once belonged to her late husband, 
 Walter Aylmer ; and she entreated me do what I 
 could in the way of seeing her claim properly esta- 
 blished. Right glad was I of this opportunity to 
 show the excellent gentlewoman my gratitude for 
 all her friendship and affedion to us in our misfor- 
 tunes ; therefore I decided setting off without 
 delay upon the business ; but a journey of near 
 threescore miles lying afore me. Mistress Aylmer 
 would have me tarry till she'd first begged the 
 loan of a horse from a neighbour, who thinketh 
 more of his than many folk do of a poor' relation. 
 When, after some little hesitation, the widow made 
 her request, wealthy Master Winterblossom an- 
 swered thus, " My brown mare Phillis is, ye know, 
 dame, reckoned the bravest roadster in the county ; 
 I'd fear trust the good wench in any other hands 
 except my own, saving one pair, and they are 
 Master Hicks's. * A righteous man,' Mistress 
 Aylmer, ' regardeth the life of his beast ;' and I've
 
 A MONTH TO COME. 
 
 2S9 
 
 noted how careful over, and considerate he is to 
 all dumb creatures, and with knowledge of their 
 ways and nature ; therefore tell him the mare 
 is heartily at his service, ay, an it be for a month to 
 come." 
 
 Thus handsomely mounted, I set forth early on 
 a Tuesday morning, fully purposing, through 
 God's mercy, to return at close o' the week ; and, 
 being no mean horseman, performed my journey 
 with all the ease and pleasure imaginable ; its 
 results proved satisfadlory. I was very civilly 
 entertained by the gentleman I waited on, and at 
 end of a couple o' days free to travel homeward, 
 with the back-standing arrears of Mistress Aylmer's 
 jointure in my pocket, and the pleasing assurance 
 that I'd been able effedl what she desired, touching 
 future payment of the same. 
 
 While trotting pleasantly along, I could not help 
 comparing the difference between riding such a fine, 
 well-conditioned, swift-paced creature as Brown 
 Phillis, to plodding wearily a-foot, or striving 
 after the uncertain chance of getting a seat among 
 the bales on a pack-horse, if a string of such hap 
 go by ; and which seat I alway preferred to one 
 in the heavy diligence, that rarely exceedeth four 
 miles an hour, and is for ever meeting mischances, 
 whereby the passen«^ers are bruised and shaken 
 horribly. Moreover, I felt within my veins the 
 delicious sense of returning health and cheerfulness ; 
 
 S 2
 
 <l60 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 the year, also, was, to my mind, at its primest 
 season, when the earth puts on her robe of many 
 colours, and looks as youthful as she did near six 
 thousand springs agone, with the blush of early 
 summer on her tender leaves and blossoms, and the 
 air breathes fresher, sweeter odours than art can 
 ever hope to imitate. 'Twas in delightsome mood 
 like this, I repeated, as I rode, the 128th Psalm, to 
 every word of which, methought the bright and 
 lovely scenes around gave back a glad response. 
 
 Going leisurely up a little ascent, I spied a pair 
 of mounted travellers a good way on before. The 
 horse of the elder of them proving somewhat lame, 
 and that of the other a hard-mouthed brute, with 
 a head like a camel's — but none of that mild Eas- 
 tern slave's obedience and knowledgableness inside 
 o' it — I soon overgat them, and they very civilly 
 accosting me, I slacked my pace, and we fell into a 
 discourse touching the road ; upon their asking a 
 few questions concerning it, I readily gave them all 
 the information I could, finding they were bound 
 in the same dire6lion as myself. These new 
 acquaintance were well equipped in long riding- 
 coats and boots, and the younger had a silver lace 
 about his hat. There was nought in the least 
 soldier-like about the mien or bearing of either. I 
 set them down as belonging to a peaceable profes- 
 sion, perhaps that of a city scrivener and his clerk ; 
 and being a solitary traveller, with another person's
 
 TfVO PLEASANT, CIVIL GENTLEMEN. l6\ 
 
 money in charge, I was not altogether sorry (thieves 
 being grown mighty plenty and daring of late), 
 to find myself in company with two such pleasant, 
 civil gentlemen. He upon the hard-mouthed 
 horse complaining how the ill-contrived beast 
 strained his arms, naturally fell a-praising and 
 admiring the sleek, graceful, and very handsome 
 creature on which I was mounted, just at that 
 moment pacing daintily as if she trod on eggs, 
 laying back her thin, fine, small, light ears, and 
 every now and then giving her head a little 
 scornful toss, for all the world like proud, silly 
 human folk do, when they conceit themselves 
 demeaned by being thrust into company with those 
 they count their inferiors. 
 
 Soon after, we arrived at a mean hamlet, and 
 perceiving, amid the cluster of cottages, one with 
 the sign of a bush over the door, and horse- 
 block projeding deep into the road, we decided to 
 rest, and refresh ourselves and horses, at this poor 
 house of entertainment. The folk o' the place 
 seemed cleanly and obliging, and the hostess 
 readily agreed furnish us a dinner of eggs and 
 bacon. 
 
 " But I will first go to the stable," quoth I, 
 " and see to the mare's corn and water myself," 
 which accordingly I did, she giving short, grateful 
 neighs of approval, all the while 1 was a-tending 
 her.
 
 262 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Upon re-entering the low-raftered kitchen of 
 the hostelrie, with its wide fire-place of the time of 
 Queen Bess, where a pan of savoury rashers was 
 then in full sputter, the good wife begged show me 
 into a little room, divided off from this the princi- 
 pal apartment ; and there I found my new friends, 
 with a tankard of ale and bread and cheese before 
 them. To these viands were quickly added the 
 smoking rashers and fresh eggs, when immediately 
 I took it upon me to say grace. After having done 
 so, the elder of the two gentlemen craved liberty 
 to ask if I was not a parson, for such he could 
 scarce help conceiting me. I answered briefly in 
 the affirmative ; and our ride having made us 
 hungry, question and answer seemed alike forgotten, 
 till we had done ample justice to our simple fare. 
 Then, he who ventured the inquiry thus 'gan 
 resume his questioning : — 
 
 " I think you said. Sir, that you belonged to 
 the Church ?" 
 
 " Ay, and truly," answered I, wiping my lips. 
 
 '* Your whole appearance, ay, very garb, though 
 without bands, sufficiently tokens your orthodoxy," 
 pursued the friendly stranger, pushing the tankard 
 towards me. 
 
 Now, my appearance, as far as a suit of clothes 
 went, was just that of a curate with seven pounds 
 a- year salary; and I felt a little surprised at my 
 coat, the same my good wife has mended so often,
 
 MISTylKE DISCOVERED. 263 
 
 being taken as evidence decisive of the soundness of 
 my creed. 
 
 " But," proceeds my gentleman (without giving 
 me time to reply), " those canting scoundrels of 
 Nonconformists, scattered all over the country, who 
 have of late given our admirable Lord the Bishop 
 such trouble, still some o' 'em insolently affe6l the 
 clerical habit, yet a practised eye can easily discern 
 the varlets under their false colours. Don't you 
 think they deserve to lose their heads as well as 
 their ears, which latter a good many (serve 'em 
 right, too) have already done, for the pother and 
 disturbance they make ?" 
 
 Here, opportunely enow for me, our host made 
 his appearance with a bottle of wine ; and the 
 attention of the travellers was thereby drawn off 
 from the surprise and consternation, I doubt not, 
 painted in my look, sufficiently strong to be- 
 tray me. 
 
 " May I be so bold," said the younger of this 
 precious pair, after the cork had been drawn, " to 
 ask if ye' re going as far as the town o' Plymouth?" 
 
 " Not quite," replied I, rather inadvertently, for 
 I was thrown off my guard by the sudden discovery 
 I'd made of the sentiments of my companions. 
 
 " Yet, possibly (if ye belong to that part), ye 
 may be able give us some inkling of information 
 touching a person now harbouring in the neigh- 
 bourhood?"
 
 204 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 " You were right, gentlemen, in supposing me a 
 minister, but are very wide the mark in conceiting 
 me an informer," quoth I, sharply. 
 
 " Nay, be not in a hufF; all we designed civilly 
 inquire is, know ye aught of a certain Master John 
 Hicks, sometime vicar in the Church, with a very 
 pretty living, too ; but the fool chose become a 
 separatist and schismatic, and my Lord Bishop 
 judgeth him a more than commonly troublesome 
 fellow." 
 
 " The person ye ask about, if I mistake not," 
 said I, carelessly, though my pulse beat a quick 
 measure, ''was set free from Exon gaol this last 
 assize." 
 
 " The very same," cried both, in a breath. 
 
 " And I'll warrant," quoth one of the apparitors 
 (for such they were), feeling in his pocket for 
 something which looked like a roll of vellum, with 
 a seal attached thereto, — " I'll warrant he'll ere long 
 be clapped up again. Look ye, master, here's his 
 mittimus " (just showing me the end of the parch- 
 ment) ; " and this time / take upon me to prognos- 
 ticate he'll not be let off, seeing how greatly my 
 Lord the Bishop is incensed against him. For this 
 Hicks was no sooner at liberty than he must need 
 ply his pen in lieu of his brawling tongue, and hath 
 writ — ay, printed too, forsooth — a book full of 
 scurril, treasonable matter against his superiors." 
 
 Then they fell a-reviling me as so adlive and
 
 MISCHIEF UNDERRATED. 
 
 265 
 
 dangerous an enemy to King, Church, and State, 
 that I, on their stopping to draw breath, said drily, 
 " Methinks, gentlemen, ye make John Hicks of far 
 more importance than he really is ; 'twould be 
 rather difficult, I conceit, to prove his power, 
 supposing he had the will, to disturb a whole 
 kingdom." 
 
 " Sir, ye underrate the mischief; did I not tell ye 
 this cockatrice hath writ a book, and what's more 
 than can be said of some, 'tis one that folk read, by 
 which means the poison is spread far and near. 
 My lord ever abhorred these scribbling rogues as 
 the worst of the entire pestilent lot. John Hicks' 
 offence requires a notably sharp punishment ; but 
 he'll get his deserts, little fear o' that." 
 
 " And with all my heart, in a matter like this," 
 said I, cheerily, " I trust he may. Now, by your 
 leave, gentlemen " (rising from my seat), " I'll 
 just step out and see how my mare is getting on." 
 
 " And we, worthy Sir, will quickly follow." 
 
 " Don't hurry yourselves," quoth I. 
 
 " Our road," cried they, " lying much in the 
 same direcftion, by all means let us ride together." 
 
 Making straight for the stable, I nimbly saddled 
 and bridled Brown Phillis, looking with special care 
 to the saddle-girth. Then stroking her silken 
 cheeks, I said, while she turned her dumb, lustrous 
 eyes mildly upon me, " Approve thyself true to a 
 friend in need o' thy help, wench ; for I perceive a
 
 266 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 very different journey stretching its length out 
 before me and thee to what either of us conceited 
 this morning." 
 
 The son of mine host then making his appearance, 
 I gave him money enow to pay my full share o' the 
 reckoning ; and as he was a-thanking me for't, the 
 two worthies I'd left in the little hostelrie made 
 their appearance. 
 
 " Why this haste ?" cried they, running forward; 
 " we'd be loth to lose your good company." 
 
 " But I am more than well content to be quit of 
 yours, gentlemen," answered I, setting myself firmly 
 in the saddle. " Sirrah, let go !" I exclaimed, 
 looking very stern, and holding up my riding rod, 
 for the younger and most adive had laid his hand 
 on the mare's bridle. 
 
 " This man hath the megrims in his head. 
 Mayhap he'd behave more civilly if he knew whai 
 we are," said they, looking at each other in amaze. 
 
 " Ah," quoth I, " that I've already discovered, 
 likewise the cruel business ye're bound upon, for of 
 yourselves ye bewrayed it ; though by the Lord's 
 help and mercy John Hicks shall escape your 
 clutches even ' as a bird from the hand of the 
 fowler.' Did ye not say ye were a-going in search 
 of him ? Take another, and what I trust will prove 
 a farewell look, my masters, at me." 
 
 With desperate fury the two apparitors tried to 
 keep back the mare, shouting lustily for the
 
 BROfVN PHILLIS. iG"] 
 
 astonished folk of the hostelrie, to help unhorse me, 
 on which I dealt them a few smart cracks a-piece 
 with my cane, and jerking the reins out o' reach of 
 the hands striving to grasp 'em, away flew Brown 
 Phillis at a pace which seemed mocking the wings 
 of the wind to follow. As if by instindl, she 
 retraced the road we had travelled that morning ; 
 for the generous docile creature appeared fully 
 comprehend the nature of the service I required her 
 perform, and would have continued her marvellous 
 speed till fairly spent ; but I, knowing how badly 
 mounted the foe left behind were, felt certain the 
 pursuit could not be a very hot one, therefore after 
 a time drew bridle, and continued gently trot her, 
 while I cogitated the possibility of putting in 
 pra6tice a resolve gendered by a sudden motion 
 which had risen in my mind, during that short 
 interval elapsing between my rising up from table 
 in the little room of the inn, and saddling the mare 
 in the stable. 
 
 For I must here observe the danger I was then 
 fleeing was not the first of the same kind (though 
 this seemed much more pregnant with evil) I'd met 
 with in my life before. During my sojourn at 
 Kingsbridge, the Bishop's Court oft harassed me by 
 their citations : a cheerful spirit and courageous 
 heart stood me good stead on most of those 
 occasions ; moreover, the times were not so wholly 
 overcast with gloom and fraught with danger then
 
 268 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 as now, and kind friends generally contrived give 
 me a seasonable hint, what day it would be prudent 
 for me to absent myself. 
 
 On one occasion, however, a bishop's messenger 
 arrived, when, having received no previous warning, 
 I was in my own house. Making his errand known 
 to some of the townsfolk, he was by them gravely 
 avised, " Take heed how he meddled with Master 
 Hicks ; for let us whisper ye," said the sly rogues, 
 " he hath not only a stout heart, but a sturdy oaken 
 staff to boot, and a strong arm to use it." 
 
 The man laughed scornfully, came straight to 
 my dwelling, and knocking at the door, inquired 
 for me. Down I went, and it so happened had 
 in my hand a stiff walking-cane. Regarding him 
 by no means unkindly, I briskly inquired his 
 business. 
 
 " It lies with Master John Hicks, gentleman" 
 replied the messenger. 
 
 " Then I am he, friend; for every true Christian 
 brother, be his possession in this world never so 
 little, / hold a gentleman," quoth I, adding plea- 
 santly, " and he now standing afore ye is a poor, 
 unworthy minister of the blessed Gospel as well." 
 
 The apparitor was a person of tall stature, and 
 exceeding stalwart, powerful frame, far more so 
 than myself; yet, while thus quietly answering his 
 question, I perceived his face change colour, till it 
 became of an ashen hue, and he 'gan tremble, like
 
 APPARITOR STRUCK WITH FEAR. 26 g 
 
 a wight struck with deadly fear and horror. To 
 my inconceivable and altogether unutterable amaze- 
 ment, I saw this man (who was come for the express 
 purpose of apprehending me), after throwing another 
 glance of terror upon my countenance, just as if 
 he'd seen a Gorgon, turn away in haste, and I never 
 again beheld him afterward. 
 
 The inexplicable nature of the circumstance I can 
 give no reasonable explanation of whatsoever, and 
 as I gat not the slenderest clue to help me thereto, 
 it must remain among those mysterious dealings of 
 Providence more than once exercised for my imme- 
 diate personal preservation, of which I dare not 
 attempt the solvement ; yet am I very certain there 
 is nothing repellant or forbidding in my natural, 
 ordinary aspe6t. On my carefully interrogating my 
 wife, who knoweth each change of my face better 
 than any other human being can, if, in all the time 
 we've lived together, she had ever seen it wear a look. 
 " y^ look" quoth I, solemnly, " dreadful enow to fill 
 a fellow-creature with lively emotions of dread and 
 terror." The bare conceit of the thing moved her 
 to mirth in such degree that her only answer was 
 a burst of gentle laughter ; perceiving, however, I was 
 quite in earnest, and likewise a kind of awe imprinted 
 on my features, she in turn 'gan question me, and 
 was even more struck than myself by the singularity 
 of this remarkable occurrence, for the cut of my 
 face, especially when I smile, pleaseth young children
 
 270 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 mightily ; ay, very shy little stranger-folk I've 
 known affeft my company hugely ; and I, remem- 
 bering that " of such are the kingdom of heaven," 
 love theirs most dearly ; moreover, as I've some- 
 where said before, all dumb creatures, yea, they 
 whose natural instinct warneth them to shun man- 
 kind as their greatest enemies, I've known put 
 confidence in me — birds soon learn feed securely 
 from my hand, and once I mind, as I was a-walking 
 in the fields, a hare, hard pressed by her pursuers, 
 fled along my path. The poor, frighted, harmless 
 thing stayed her course for a breath, lifted her wild 
 eyes to mine, and, with a cry that filled my soul 
 with pity, leaped direft into my arms for shelter, 
 nor would I suffer her be torn from thence; and 
 it gave me no mean degree of pleasure to feel the 
 soft subsiding of the timorous creature's heart 
 (which at first did seem as if it would have burst its 
 fur clothing) against my own doublet. 
 
 But to return to that sudden motion, I firmly 
 believe of the Lord's special sending, which, like an 
 arrow of light, shot across my bewildered brain, and 
 seemed to point, as might the finger of a guide, the 
 diredion I had best take, namely, without a moment's 
 dallying hesitancy to ride straight to London ; and, 
 safely gotten there, wait upon a certain nobleman, a 
 pretty near family connexion of my own, on the side 
 of my sainted mother, whose niece he had married. 
 I knew this Lord Haverford was a member of the
 
 MUSES UPON GAINING ADMISSION TO THE KING. 
 
 271 
 
 Privy Council, and likewise reported high in favour 
 at Court. " And if," mused I, " through his 
 influence I should gain admission to the presence of 
 the King, my suit, by His blessing who is the Ruler 
 of princes, will not be rejeded ; nay more, the 
 King shall learn from a truthful, if not a courtly 
 tongue, the wrongs inflided upon, and the sufferings 
 borne by, us his Majesty's loyal and faithful 
 subjedls in the west ; and that these flagrant doings 
 are now committed openly, by they who, instead of 
 being true delegates, are surely foul abusers (at 
 least I would fain still hope so) of the authority 
 entrusted them as magistrates, by virtue of his 
 royal commission. Moreover, the strong assurance 
 vouchsafed me from on high, touching my present 
 enterprise, made me resolve follow this leading of 
 Providence with implicit reliance, feeling neither 
 doubt nor fear concerning the issue of it; and I, 
 therefore, dire6led my course accordingly. 
 
 Arrived at Exon, I judged it prudent seek a 
 tavern as much in the outskirts of the city as 
 possible ; the brave mare, though she had gone 
 more than fifty miles that day, had never turned a 
 hair, and I intended pursuing my journey at sunrise. 
 Having found a place of entertainment that suited 
 me, and been furnished with all needful accommo- 
 dation, I, ere I betook myself to rest, drew out my 
 pen and inkhorn, and, procuring some paper, writ 
 two letters : the first to my wife, sho'vino- how well
 
 T-Jl rROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 I'd sped with good Mistress Aylmer's business, and 
 then the strange misadventure that had imperilled 
 my liberty, as I was a-thankfully returning to them; 
 how, through God's overruling mercy, I'd thus far 
 clean escaped the pending danger and its miserable 
 consequences, and the sudden resolve I'd come to 
 in consequence thereof ; moreover, the comfortable 
 assurance received from the Lord, that all would 
 be well with me, whatever the result of the journey 
 I'd undertaken might prove. The other was to 
 worthy Master Winterblossom, in which I told him 
 I was, greatly to my sorrow, like go near making 
 good his permission touching the mare ; yet I 
 trusted, within the time he'd named, to restore that 
 admirable creature to the hand of her good master, 
 ne'er a whit the worse for her travels. 
 
 Having tied and sealed my letters, I diredled 'em, 
 under cover, to a very honest hosier at Plymouth, 
 whom I could rely upon, that, when he saw my 
 writing, would lose not a moment in hasting deliver 
 them to my wife. I gave this packet, next morning, 
 as I was a-leaving the inn, to the care of the buxom, 
 cheerful hostess, for her face bespoke a nature at 
 once shrewd and kindly. She readily agreed 
 despatch it by the post, which would start about 
 noon that day, and, further, refused the piece of 
 silver I offered, while conjuring her to be mindful 
 of her promise. 
 
 The long string of pack-horses which go weekly
 
 PACK-HORSES. 
 
 '^13 
 
 between Exon and Bristol had left the former the 
 day previous, yet I overgat them ere they were a 
 third way on their journey. These patient, docile, 
 serviceable brutes are of a size, strength, or know- 
 ledgableness, to mind one of the rare marvels told 
 of elephants and camels by travelled folk who've 
 had the hap to visit far-off countries. When I came 
 up with them, the sun being very hot, and the good 
 beasts weary, the drivers were resting awhile under 
 the cool, fresh shade of some trees, in a spot which, 
 were I given to poetics, I'd seled for subjed of an 
 idyll ; neither should it lack a fitting hero, albeit he 
 was old and gray. The country here lying afore 
 me extended far as the eye could measure, in a wide, 
 open range of land, seemingly bounded by nought, 
 save the meeting of earth and sky together, diver- 
 sified with woods, corn-fields, pastures, rich in flocks 
 and herds, with clusters of distant cottages ; a gray 
 church-tower rising in their midst, and, nearer, the 
 turrets of a stately castle, its bridge down, and 
 battlements reflefted in the moat, filled by the 
 river, that wound along by those stern walls, and 
 which, now lost to sight, then sparkling out again 
 amid the beauteous landscape, for ever and for ever 
 went on its way rejoicing. 
 
 While gazing delightedly, and repeating softly 
 those words of the Lord to Jerusalem — " I will 
 extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the 
 Gentiles like a flowing stream," — I spied an old 
 
 • T
 
 274 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 man, of brisk carriage, and exceeding hale, comely 
 countenance, coming toward me. In one hand he 
 held a stick, of knotted thorn, with a long crook at 
 the end, in the other a half-knit woollen stocking, 
 and by his side was a rough-coated dog, whose eyes 
 were more observant, and, I was just a-going to 
 write, better informed with sense, than those in the 
 heads of many folk of human kind. 
 
 '^ Methinks," quoth I to the old man, " methinks 
 a shepherd's life" (pointing to the flocks, feeding so 
 peaceful in the sunny distance) " must be a mighty 
 pleasant one." 
 
 " In summer weather 'tis. Sir," replied he, 
 cheerily. 
 
 " I take it," said I, " that you're a shepherd 
 yourself." 
 
 " Ay, many and many a year I've kept sheep 
 among yonder hills and plains, with other farm 
 work atween ; and let me tell ye, master, a shepherd's 
 life, in the bitter blasts and snow-storms of winter, 
 is not so mighty pleasant as ye town gentlefolk " 
 (and he smiled at me), " sitting upon a daisy 
 bank in the sunshine, most-times conceit it must 
 be." 
 
 " Your face, however, honest friend, is a brave 
 witness in its favour ; for such a healthful visage, 
 with its white hairs for a crown, doth a man's heart 
 good to look upon." 
 
 Say ye so ?" answered the shepherd, with another 
 
 (C(
 
 THE OLD SHEPHERD. 2J ^ 
 
 cheery smile. " Now, ac what age might ye reckon 
 me to be ?" 
 
 " Well, ye said ye'd kept sheep these pretty 
 many years, so I'll guess full threescore, or " 
 (taking a sharp survey of him) " mayhap a few 
 years more." 
 
 " A few years, in truth, master, for as such to 
 me they seem, and yet how wide the mark ye've 
 guessed, for I've seen five instead of threescore 
 summers pass over my head. By our church 
 book, I was a hundred years old last Christmas 
 day." 
 
 " Then 'faith, gaffer," cried one of the pack- 
 horse men, who joined us while we were a-talking, 
 and heard these last words, " I think I'll turn 
 shepherd myself. Come, take a hearty sup o' this" 
 (drawing forth a certain leathern bottle, which, for 
 better convenience and security, the driver carried 
 strapped to his girdle) ; " the good liquor will warm 
 thy ancient blood, and make thee feel growing 
 young again." 
 
 " Nay, thank ye kindly," said the shepherd, 
 reje6ling firmly the proff^ered bottle, " I'll none 
 o' it, for ever since I was a boy my drink hath 
 been the same as Adam's was in Paradise — water, 
 pure, blessed water, and nought else. Yet, methinks, 
 friend, my cheeks are still near as ruddy as (craving 
 your pardon) the tip o' your own nose is." 
 
 " Water's well enow in its way," replied the 
 
 T 2
 
 276 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Other ; " 'tis excellent to wash a horse's legs, or the 
 grime off a body's face, or the cook-wenches to boil 
 their pots with ; but for a grown man to drink — 
 ugh ! I that am the wrong side o' forty — ye're 
 laughing, old Sir, and I grant j^ may ; but as I was 
 a-going to say, / begin feel I want something to 
 cheer and strengthen my inwards. Man, after all, 
 is a kind o' animal, that " 
 
 " Right !" exclaimed the shepherd, very quickly 
 interrupting him, and then pointing his crook with 
 much meaning towards the pack-horses — (it joyed 
 me see what care their masters took o' 'em, stroking 
 their great necks, and carefully examining their 
 huge feet, than which I conceited a mammoth's 
 could scarce tread firmer) — and these now having 
 had their good feed o' corn, were drinking gratefully 
 from a clear runnel near the road-side, " Ye see," 
 pursued the shepherd, " there's nought lacking in 
 the way of strength or sinew in the brave legs and 
 mighty shoulders of they true water-drinkers a- 
 quaffing yonder stream." 
 
 " Was ever the like o' that heard afore ?" cried 
 the driver. " Now, shame upon ye, to even the 
 palate and stomach of a pack-horse, for such is your 
 drift, with the inside of a Christian." 
 
 " Nay," quoth I, " ye mistake. Our friend here 
 was only speaking of there being neither lack of 
 strength nor power in the noble beasts that have thus 
 far brought ye and their heavy loads in safety.
 
 INSTINCT. 277 
 
 though their drink be nought save water. And I'll 
 warrant many a useful thing hath he gathered up 
 during his long out-o'-door life, in observing the 
 changes of the weather and the seasons, and divers 
 other matters, beside the ways and habits o' the dumb 
 things about him, for these last are never false to 
 the instindl God hath planted in them as a guide to 
 their meaner natures." 
 
 " Use plainer speech, master," said the shepherd, 
 who was listening attentively. " I'm but a simple 
 herdsman. Now, what meant ye about God's 
 a-planting? — faith, I've lost the word, 't had a 
 cracked sound." 
 
 " Just this," was my reply, " that the Lord, in 
 His wisdom and mercy, hath seen fit to give even 
 beasts a certain kind of sense, and though they use 
 it without reason, it never leads 'em wrong." 
 
 '^ Ay, ye may well say so ; yea, 'tis my belief, 
 venture more than that concerning some o' 'em. 
 Why, here's this dog o' mine ; he knoweth the face 
 of each sheep in our flock as well as I do, though 
 to eyes like yours they might seem as much alike 
 as one pea is to another ; yet they all difi^er. An' 
 I might tell of things beside, which, unless ye'd 
 seen as I've done, ye'd ne'er believe a pate like this" 
 (and the shepherd laid his hand lovingly upon the 
 dog's head) " could get knowledge of. He hath a 
 tongue, too, in it, that never told a lie ; and I wish 
 all servants, from they who wait upon our gracious
 
 278 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 King downward, were as true to their masters as 
 mine is to me." 
 
 " What children have ye living ?" asked I. 
 
 " Ah, master, that's the saddest part of an old, 
 very old man's tale ; for most-times, such as reach 
 my age see those they hoped would lay their gray 
 hairs in a quiet grave, go thither afore 'em. Once 
 I had wife, and goodly sons, and blooming daughters ; 
 but all, all are gone. Yet, sometimes, when I'm 
 out in the fields alone, their faces smile around me ; 
 though when I speak they fade away, as does the 
 morning mist upon the hills. I'm apt forget. Sir ; 
 'tis more than fifty years agone since I beheld some 
 o' 'em in the flesh." And then I saw a look come 
 into his eyes which told of tears for the long-buried 
 dead, that never again might flow — he'd no more 
 left to shed. 
 
 " Thine age, good friend," said I, after a few 
 remarks touching the great, and, I trusted, heavenly 
 change so close awaiting him, to which he meekly and 
 very reverently hearkened, " is, I hope, well tended." 
 
 " Ay, never an old man's better," answered the 
 shepherd, smiling, " and by the hands of a good, 
 loving grandchild. Might I make bold, gentle Sir, 
 to ask ye go along with me to my cottage ; 'tis 
 bare half-a-mile from here ?" and he pointing his 
 stick in the quarter where it lay, I discerned a low 
 roof of warm, brown thatch, peeping out like a nest 
 from the trees near it.
 
 TRUE PHILOSOPHER'S SECRET. IJ g 
 
 I felt grieved I mustn't think of accompanying 
 him thither, and after we had bidden each other a 
 fervent God-speed, I turned me twice to watch 
 this ancient shepherd a-wending his homeward way. 
 'Twas then I first perceived his shoulders were a 
 trifle bent, in a way not unlike the slight stoop 
 thought peculiar to scholarly men, ofttimes before 
 ihey have reached to middle age. The locks be- 
 neath his wide-brimmed hat were still abundant, and 
 white as the driven snow ; but his firm step, and, 
 in short, entire carriage, as he walked leisurely 
 onward in the direftion of the cottage, set me 
 a-thinking very seriously whether pure water to 
 drink, plain food to eat, fresh country air, a sober, 
 industrious life, a patient, disciplined spirit, and, 
 above all, a heart reconciled to God, is not the 
 true philosopher's secret for lengthening out man's 
 days upon earth. 
 
 On parting company with the pack-horse train, 
 I pursued my journey with renewed spirit, finding 
 not much difficulty in gaining what information I 
 needed, touching the road, from other decent 
 travellers, most of 'em like myself on horseback, 
 or civil wayside folk a-foot ; likewise suitable 
 entertainment at the inns of the divers towns and 
 villages (the names of half which 1 forget, and the 
 other 'tis bootless jot down here) through which I 
 passed ; but more than once I'd the hap to arrive 
 in the very nick of time a heavy-loaden diligence
 
 28o TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 was overturned, and all its flustered, crumpled 
 passengers cast with their goods about the King's 
 highway, in a mighty clamour and tumult of con- 
 fusion, the poor souls making a noise more like a 
 flock of gabbling geese when afirighted than any- 
 thing else to which I can compare it. And well 
 they might clamour, seeing few escaped these 
 distressful upsets without getting ugly bruises, and 
 some much worse hurts than bruises. Though 
 it hindered me sorely — and for the pressingest 
 of reasons I'd not a minute to spare — I alway 
 lighted down, and lent a helping hand to these 
 unhappy wights, and then pushed forward with 
 speed. 
 
 'Twas after assisting the last time to pick up 
 the stunned folk of a diligence, that Brown 
 Phillis, cantering easily along, all of a sudden gave 
 a short quick neigh, and then shied a very little 
 (the good beast never started) at some near objed:. 
 I, at the same time, hearing a rusty creaking sort o' 
 sound, looked sharply around me, and lo ! hard by 
 us, was a tall black gibbet, from which swung slowly 
 the rotting corpses of two robbers hanged in chains. 
 The night had begun to close, and a chill wind 
 swept over the face of the earth ; it made the rusty 
 irons give forth the creaking sound I've noted, and 
 fluttered the dead men's rags, bestowing such 
 ghastly semblance of living motion, as made me 
 hastily give the mare a " hint," which she as readily
 
 " PERILS Br LAND." 2 8 I 
 
 obeying, bounded forward fast as her fleet strength 
 could carry her. 
 
 After a breathing gallop we fell into a gentler 
 pace, and I, gazing up at the heavens, perceived 
 the moon and stars coming forth in all their silent 
 beauty. The sight seemed stay the sick loathing 
 of my spirit. " ^ The eyes of the Lord,' " mused 1, 
 " * run to and fi'o in the earth ;' He regardeth all 
 creatures who have the breath of life, both the evil 
 and the good, and without His knowledge and 
 permission thieves andmurtherers cannot be doomed 
 suffer punishment for their iniquities," — and with 
 this I repeated the loth Psalm. 
 
 But of all " perils by land" throughout my 
 journey, the chiefest I encountered was when a- 
 nearing the end o' it, in crossing a wide, bare, 
 heathery tradt of waste common, exceeding drear 
 and desolate to view. The landlord of an inn, a 
 few miles distant from this place, kindly warned 
 me of the danger, as a single traveller, I ran of 
 being stopped, plundered, perhaps murthered by 
 thieves, and would fain have compelled me stay 
 till either the heavy diligence came up, or some 
 nobleman or gentleman's equipage, to which I 
 might attach myself for better chance of safety ; 
 but I, knowing the diligence had lost both its 
 hinder wheels, and must stay to get them righted, 
 and that perhaps three or four days might pass ere 
 the coach and outrides of a family of quality
 
 282 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 arrived, determined on braving all risks, " For the 
 Lord's eye will be on His servant in the midst of 
 yon wild plain, as much as it is here in this snug 
 shelter," thought I ; and the thought gave me 
 courage to ride over two-thirds of a way in such 
 fearful ill-repute, without a single misgiving. 
 
 As, however, I wasa-trottingbya clump o' stunted 
 fir-trees, out started, pistol in hand, three stalwart 
 rogues, their faces covered with black masks, and 
 in the distance I spied a couple more, mounted on 
 powerful horses, hasting toward me. Now, I never 
 carry any weapon, save a walking staff or oaken 
 riding-rod ; for had I the hap to kill a fellow- 
 creature, even in self-defence, the notion of sending 
 a soul, all sudden and unprepared, to its last 
 account, would make me wretched ; yea, I'd just 
 as lief be slain myself. Therefore, my only chance 
 of escape lay in the mettle and swiftness of the 
 brave creature I bestrode ; but Brown Phillis 
 seemed scent the exa6t nature of the danger which 
 beset us. With a curve quick as lightning, she 
 avoided the first rush of my assailants, and then, 
 with marvellous leap ('twas well I had learned 
 how to sit a horse properly), clearing an ugly kind 
 of embankment on our left, slacked not her 
 wonderful speed till she'd brought me fairly into 
 the skirts of a little straggling town, where I 
 harboured safely that night. Yet the mounted 
 robbers chased us full ten miles, and the horse
 
 THE HEAR! OF A KINGDOM. 283 
 
 of one o' em was able keep even my flying mare in 
 sight. Moreover, these villains fired repeatedly, 
 and though their murtherous balls hit neither 
 myself nor the mare, one went dired through the 
 crown of my beaver ; but the Lord suffered not 
 a hair of His servant's head to be hurted. 
 
 'Twas near noon o' the day following this 
 encounter, that, gazing eastward, I discerned, 
 through a filmy haze spread all over that part the 
 horizon, the thrice welcome sight of spires and 
 towers, with peaked roofs and chimneys, of what 
 did seem to me a countless number of houses, 
 while a sound, at first faint and uncertain, swelled 
 gradually fuller and more distinft upon the ear, 
 as 1 drew nearer the famous city that may be called 
 the heart of this brave kingdom. 
 
 Now, when I was in London seven years agone, 
 I had found excellent accommodation at a house 
 of entertainment for travellers, kept by very sober 
 folk in the purlieus of Westminster ; the ravages 
 of the great fire — which hath turned near half 
 the old town (mightily, methinks, to its improve- 
 ment and beautification) into a new one — reaching 
 not hither. I found the good people o' the house 
 I remembered and sought, alive and hearty, though 
 neither so noted nor wealthy as they might easily 
 have become, had they conformed, like some of 
 their neighbours, to the loose ways and doings of 
 the gay, lawless times in which they live. Yet
 
 284 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 have my honest friends of the " Rose and Garter," 
 in thus choosing, aded well and wisely, for at the 
 end of the reckoning ill-gotten gains are sure never 
 to prosper. 
 
 Suffice it to say, here I was readily furnished, 
 and at moderate charge, with all that a man, putting 
 up at a quiet ordinary, can reasonably desire. 
 After settling myself in these good quarters, I 
 brushed carefully the dust from my garments, 
 penned a brief letter, and then, without loss of an 
 hour, sallied forth in the direction where stood the 
 almost princely mansion of the Earl of Haverford. 
 
 Though London, by the multitude of new build- 
 ings a-going on, and streets laid out in place of 
 those destroyed, is marvellously changed, I had no 
 trouble in finding the well-known residence of him 
 I was about seek interview with. The big red- 
 faced porter, of whom I inquired if his lord was in, 
 at first eyed me coldly, and rather suspiciously, and, 
 I shrewdly surmise, was about give a flat denial to 
 this question. On taking, however, a second and 
 more attentive look at my countenance, a good 
 deal of surprise, mingled with no little curiosity, 
 became expressed in his own ; and most civilly he 
 prayed me enter his lodge and state my errand. 
 I answered by handing him the missive I'd prepared 
 (I knew enow of the ways of town menials to give 
 a piece of money along with it), and said I would 
 wait the issue of its delivery.
 
 LORD HAyERFORD. 285 
 
 After short space, a page, richly habited, ap- 
 peared, saying he was come with orders from his 
 master to condud me to his presence immediately. 
 On hearing this, the round eyes of the fat porter 
 dilated wider, and making me a most respedful 
 obeisance, at the same time craving pardon for his 
 presumption, he said my face struck him as being 
 so like — the man paused a moment sorrowfully — 
 so like his late noble lady's that he felt certain I 
 must be near related to her. 
 
 ** A poor cousin, in truth, friend," quoth I, 
 smiling sadly, as I followed the page into the 
 hall. 
 
 Lord Haverford and I were still youi:lis when 
 last we parted under my father's roof, and I thought 
 he would scarce recognise me ; but I was mistaken. 
 On the first step of the grand staircase stood the 
 Earl, holding my letter in his hand, and after 
 dartinp" a keen, momentary glance at my person, 
 grasped both mine, with a warmth and cordiality 
 exceeding grateful and re-assuring to a man in 
 my then most uncertain and misfortunate condition. 
 As at his gracious bidding 1 entered a gorgeous 
 saloon, I could not help contrasting the wide 
 difference in our respedlive worldly circumstances 
 — he rich, noble, living in splendour ; / poor, 
 oppressed, just set free from a gaol, and, under 
 God's mercy, trusting to the favourable exercise 
 of his influence with royalty to shield me from the
 
 2,86 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 threatening horrors of another, perhaps more 
 terrible, more fatal imprisonment. 
 
 Lord Haverford peremptorily refused hear 
 aught of the business that had brought me thus 
 unexpectedly before him, till I had partaken of 
 what appeared to me like a kingly banquet, served 
 upon silver and the rarest porcelain ; but the 
 dainty viands and choice wines were tasted by me 
 only out of complaisance to the wishes of my 
 noble entertainer. I longed so greatly disburthen 
 myself of the communication I'd to make, that 
 naturally I seized the very first opportunity which 
 offered for this purpose. 
 
 At length the Earl consented listen to my woful 
 relation ; and after I had stated my late alarming 
 adventure with the apparitors of the Bishop, and 
 the storm of episcopal fury like to break upon me 
 in consequence of the pamphlet I writ being — 
 unawares to myself — made public. Lord Haver- 
 ford observed, — 
 
 " You are on the horns, cousin, of a dilemma, 
 and a more than ordinarily awkward one ; yet they 
 shan't gore you to the death, if I can help it ; 
 though what you've just been telling me proveth 
 to demonstration the truth of a certain old wiseacre's 
 maxim : * From them whom I trust, God defend 
 me ; from them whom I trust not, I will defend 
 myself.' This trouble your imprudent, busy, 
 Puritan friends have so near been a means of
 
 "THAr PARTT." 1%'J 
 
 dragging you Into, will, I foresee, require some 
 skilful management to get you well through with ; 
 for that party," continued, the courtier (he had 
 received accurate information of the circumstances 
 which led to my resignation of my living, and 
 joining the Nonconformist Separatists from the 
 Church Episcopal), " that party you, in my 
 humble opinion, so unwisely chose cast lots with, 
 grow daily more and more obnoxious to certain 
 personages whose influence is weighty in the 
 council-chamber of the King, who is of too easy a 
 temper to much trouble his royal head about 
 other men's wrangling and disputations (especially 
 religious ones), provided they presume meddle 
 not with his own personal concerns. The Court 
 is now at Tunbridge, but will return to St. James's 
 in four or five days hence ; till then, good kins- 
 man, ye must perforce consent make this poor 
 house of mine your home." 
 
 With respedlful thanks, I steadily persisted in 
 declining this last proffered courtesy. The 
 sumptuous palace which my lord, with some 
 little affe6lation, called his " poor house," with 
 the throngs of gay and splendid company per- 
 petually arriving to pay their respedls to its 
 courted, powerful master (during our private talk, 
 what a number of these painted butterflies had 
 gathered In the ante-chamber), would grievous 
 ill-suit the complexion of mind of a poor, hunted
 
 288 rROUBLOUS TIMES, 
 
 Nonconformist minister. " But I'll not fail, my 
 lord," said I, rising, after I had (nearly at the risk 
 of giving him offence) at last succeeded in waiving 
 his hospitable endeavours to overcome what he 
 called, laughing, my "scruples of conscience,' — 
 " I'll not fail to appear again shortly, though in 
 you I feel I've not a patron like those their 
 petitioners need remind till they grow weary, sick of 
 hope deferred touching fair promises thac mean — " 
 " Exactly what they're worth," interrupted he, 
 " which is NOTHING. No, no, John Hicks, this 
 I've made I'll keep for sake alone of my dead 
 Lucy, whose beautiful face the cut of yours, 
 though a care-beat, middle-aged man, so strangely 
 resembieth, as well as that sweet lady, my wife, 
 was thought so much like thy own gentle mother, 
 whose blessed soul again seems looking at me through 
 those mild eyes of thine. I'll make the concern 
 that brought ye hither as much and heartily my 
 own as if I stood in thy own square-toed Noncon- 
 forming shoes." 
 
 (P
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 e=ss^!^ 
 
 The Westminster Assembly of Divines — Renj. Mr. Baxter's preaching — 
 
 A Royal Audience. 
 
 ARELY have I looked toward the cun- 
 ningly-wrought brazen gates of King 
 Henry's Chapel, in the old historic 
 Abbey of Westminster, without in my 
 mind's eye seeing pass between them that notable 
 company of godly, learned men, in their plain black 
 coats and bands, who near thirty years agone 
 (after prayer, fasting, and other solemn religious 
 exercise) first met there, to hold conference touch- 
 ing such discipHne and government in the church, 
 as might among themselves be deemed most agree- 
 able to God's Word, and likewise tend preserve 
 peace and concord in the realm. If these grave 
 and seasoned divines occasionally differed touching 
 matters of sentiment, or on certain points of opinion, 
 yet as the shades of God's bow of promise in 
 
 u
 
 290 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 the heavens, though composed of divers hues, 
 do yet mingle together harmoniously as a complete 
 and glorious whole, so did they to a man prove 
 of one mind in their theologic do6trines, which, free 
 from all taint of heresy, were sound and Calvinistic 
 — in a word, those of the Church of England her- 
 self. Moreover, they strove ably to clear and 
 vindicate those dodlrines from the foul aspersions 
 and false interpretations cast upon them by semi- 
 papist wolves in sheep's clothing, within a sacred 
 and consecrated pale. The reverend ministers who 
 made the Westminster Synod were the honour of 
 the Parliament party, and so far (as was maliciously 
 charged against them by their enemies) from stir- 
 ring up the people by seditious preaching, and thus 
 proving a main cause of the civil commotions of 
 their time, a number of their body mildly con- 
 formed to certain exadions, all more or less painful, 
 because they esteemed some things lawful in case of 
 necessity ; though certes they longed to have that 
 necessity removed. Till the bishops proceeded so 
 far as to approve recreation on the Sabbath-day 
 (for 'tis well known " The Book of Sports" was 
 printed with their lordships' san6tion), and the bow- 
 ing to altars, and other Popish observances, likewise 
 dancings which above all things that could be con- 
 ceited by the loose, vain, and carnal, was a grief of 
 mind to men of such exceeding gravity, solidity, 
 mortification, and holiness — yea, this Herodias
 
 ^WESTMINSTER fFORTHIES. 
 
 Igl 
 
 dancing proved to them an abhorrence inexpres- 
 sible. 
 
 Therefore, when the Parliament set about a 
 sifting reformation in those evil pradices, godly 
 persons could not fail rejoice and be thankful 
 thereat, seeing how many pious ministers, with their 
 wives and families, by steadfastly refusing to fall in 
 with such monstrous sinful doings, were ruined and 
 undone in temporal estate, against conscience, 
 against all bowels of compassion. 
 
 These Westminster worthies would never rest 
 satisfied with giving God the cap and knee at pub- 
 lic service and prayer-time, and dire6t afterward 
 yield themselves up to all manner of gaiety and 
 wickedness — yea, as I've read of certain fabled fruits, 
 be fair and shining outwardly, but to the core full 
 of ashes and rottenness : if in the beginning of their 
 troubles they had studied how to please God and 
 men both^ they quickly discovered that to be in 
 favour with those who are out of favour with Him 
 is a reproach and disgrace, instead of an honour ; 
 therefore they hasted free themselves from yoke so 
 intolerable, and espousing the sacred cause of reli- 
 gion and civil freedom, put on " righteousness as a 
 breast-plate," and were *^ clad with zeal as with 
 a cloak." 
 
 During this my stay here, 't has been my happy 
 privilege to renew old acquaintance with one 
 Master Amos Burroughs, a kinsman of the eminent 
 
 U 2
 
 292 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 Master Jeremiah Burroughs, who was a conspicu- 
 ous member of the Westminster Assembly, helped 
 largely in the compiling their Catechism, and was, 
 moreover, counted among the most approved and 
 famous of the Triers. This admirable (yet I con- 
 ceit somewhat severe) man, in his office as trier, 
 remembered the words, " Try the spirit ^ believe not 
 every spirit;" he listed not the taking dodrines 
 upon trust, without a searching trial of their sound- 
 ness, and in a very faithful manner tested the 
 sayings of ministers by the sayings of God. He 
 knew that all is not truth that goeth for truth. 
 The cup may be of gold that containeth a deadly 
 poison within ; and sometimes 'tis but mere copper 
 ore what foolish pates think pure silver ; therefore 
 those that presented themselves before him for 
 trial got it to their marrow ; for, as I said, Master 
 Jeremiah proved and sifted them by the Word of 
 Truth itself. The birth, estate, learning, wit, or 
 shining parts of the candidates mattered nothing at 
 all ; he rejedled and trod down all these things as 
 dirt under his feet, unless he found their possessors 
 agreeable to, and bottomed on the truth, and presu- 
 ming neither preach nor teach any other dod;rine than 
 that declared in holy written word. A poor man's 
 genuine graces he esteemed far beyond a rich man's 
 costliest treasure. Master Burroughs loved gifts, 
 but graces more. " A heart," quoth he, " full of 
 grace, is better than a head full of notions ; and
 
 A FAIR SURPLICE OF PROFESSION. 
 
 ^93 
 
 many a minister speaketh much of the Lord to his 
 flock, yet falleth grievous short of his speaking 
 himself, — can sharply rebuke from the pulpit they 
 who walk in the way the most go, but is not straitly 
 careful to get in the right way himself? Neither 
 can I abide thought of those who scruple not take 
 Christ's money and do Satan's pleasure nimbly with 
 it ; who under a fair surplice of profession hide the 
 foul deeds of corruption ; with their tongues in 
 church proclaim their readiness to set a crown of 
 glory on our Lord's head, yet, alack, alack, by an 
 unseemly walk and conversation, put a crown of 
 thorns there in reality." And truly the pious men 
 Master Burroughs, by the Holy Spirit's guidance, 
 passed with acceptance through his crucible as 
 a trier, and became a means of installing in livings, 
 were such (I mind not a single exception) as set 
 themselves heartily and laboriously to God's work, 
 and whose light so shone before others, as in some 
 instances to make them a blessing and an ornament 
 to the age in which we live. 
 
 Yesterday Master Amos Burroughs (who, with 
 all his household, have shown me " much kind- 
 ness" for the Lord's sake) came to my lodging, 
 bringing news Master Richard Baxter was a-going 
 to preach that morning (he can do so only occa- 
 sionally) at Pinner's-hall ; and would I like bear 
 him company thither ? 
 
 " Right gladly," said I, " having already held
 
 294 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 rare communion in spirit with this Master Baxter, 
 in his holy treatise of ' The Saint's Rest,' which 
 hath long been as a savour of most sweet odour to 
 the soul of many a heavenward-bound pilgrim ; ay, 
 for that matter, to the whole Christian church 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land, 
 though its brave author hath suffered much loss, 
 and been sorely tried for conscience' sake." 
 
 On our arrival at the hall, we found it (and 'twas 
 a week-day) full crowded ; but Master Burroughs, 
 being very well known and respected, a passage 
 was made for him, and he gat me a seat on a 
 bench near the pulpit. 
 
 Some few minutes afterward, a side-door hard by 
 was opened, and Master Baxter came forth and 
 went up its stair — from his appearance I reckoned 
 he had passed his third score — of a spare and 
 slender make, with hair once of a brownish hue, 
 still retaining somewhat of the wavy curls of youth, 
 profusely streaked with grey, and he wears it after 
 the fashion of godly ministers from foreign parts, 
 under a small skull-cap of black velvet. The com- 
 plexion of Master Baxter's face is purely, deeply 
 pale — pain, as well as thought, having set its signet 
 there, and worn, and somewhat sharpened the clear- 
 cut features. I've since learned he is the severely- 
 disciplined, unmurmuring servant of Him who 
 ofttimes, " like a refiner's fire," trieth and purifieth 
 His best-beloved, choicest servants in the flesh.
 
 ByJXTER'S PRE.4CHING. 295 
 
 " that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in 
 righteousness ;" for Master Baxter suffereth under 
 the same hidden malady which long since secretly 
 and insidiously began sap the foundations of dear 
 Master Burdwood's mortal life ; and I fear me, 
 from what I've lately heard, threatens at no very 
 ilistant period to destroy it. But Master Baxter's 
 face hath a sweeter, more refined gravity, a calmer, 
 holier tenderness of expression, than, methinks, I 
 ere before observed in human, though I may have 
 dreamed of such for spiritual countenance. Awhile 
 he bowed his head upon his clasped hands, which 
 rested on a large Bible ; through a high, narrow 
 window direcft behind him the sun was softly 
 shining ; its light descended upon that bowed head, 
 and when he slowly raised it and stood up before 
 the people, the rays encircled his thin, white 
 temples as with a glory. 
 
 Now, were I to live upon earth a thousand years, 
 never should I forget this man's preaching, though 
 pen of an evangelist could alone describe fitly its 
 wonderful richness, fulness, and unftion ; more- 
 over, the argument of his sermon, likewise the 
 application thereof, had a keenness and force which 
 I compared to a sword of finest-tempered steel, 
 cutting its way through the pith of a knotty or 
 difficult scriptural passage, the golden threads 
 whereof others less gifted must seek unravel by a more 
 tedious process, and thereby not unfrequently tangle
 
 296 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 them the more. Yet in Master Baxter's discourse, 
 which I believe in a measure resembleth that the 
 saints above hold with and hear from each other, 
 there was so rare and happy a union of reason and 
 persuasion, that, while he convinced the under- 
 standing, he failed not gain the heart — yea, all its 
 fountains were opened for him, able to look stead- 
 fastly into the profoundness of depths serene and 
 transparent to his eye. I noted, too, with much 
 approval, that both rebuke and warning were fol- 
 lowed by appeals which methought none save hearts 
 of stone might long resist unmoved ; and here his 
 fervid earnestness became mingled with a certain 
 noble negligence of style ; for this great mind, sur- 
 charged with its subjed, seemed as if it could no 
 longer stoop to the mere eloquence of words, even 
 when they were most piercing in their sweetness and 
 divine in their power. At conclusion of his sermon. 
 Master Baxter spake of the future blessedness of 
 the Lord's ele6l — of the everlasting rest awaiting 
 God's saints — till he appeared to me as one who 
 had already partaken of that rest he knew so ravish- 
 ingly how to describe. Surely he dwelleth on the 
 borders of " The Holy City," the " New Jerusa- 
 lem"- — yea, I do believe in beatific vision hath been 
 permitted look within its gates of pearl. 
 
 Master Baxter preached a good space (for he 
 turned his hour-glass), yet it appeared a very little 
 moment of time. But they who would grow
 
 MISSIVE FROM THE E^RL. 
 
 297 
 
 aweary of his preaching, would grow aweary of 
 heaven itself. 
 
 On returning to my lodging, right glad was I to 
 perceive a page of Lord Haverford's waiting for 
 me ; he brought a brief missive from the Earl, who 
 requested I would immediately after reading it com- 
 mit myself to the guidance of this, his messenger ; 
 a coach was likewise sent to convey me to the 
 palace, where he hoped receive and condu6t me to 
 the King's presence. 
 
 May the Lord (prayed I inwardly) enable me 
 to speak before his Majesty with sufficient wisdom 
 and discreetness ; so that the honest statement of 
 an insignificant person, like myself, shall find its 
 way to his heart. Then 1 bethought me of these 
 words as in a certain point of view not inapplicable 
 to one in my situation : " When we are taken 
 before rulers for His name's sake whom we serve, 
 it shall be given us, in that very hour, what we 
 shall say." And I pondered over them to such 
 purpose, that by the time the coach stopped at the 
 palace entrance, I felt cool and colledled as ever I'd 
 been in my life. 
 
 Scarce was I set down, ere Lord Haverford, 
 kindly greeting me, led the way to the King's 
 audience-chamber. We passed through noble and 
 princely halls and galleries, where gay gentlemen 
 of his Majesty's household, bluff yeomen of the 
 guard, and now and then a fair lady with sweep-
 
 298 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 ing train, borne by little pages in attire glittering 
 and fantastic as the scarlet and tinsel apes are 
 dizened with, might all be seen. 
 
 " I confess," whispered the Earl, " that I found 
 more difficulty in gaining the King's consent to 
 grant this audience than I counted on, though he 
 was too good-natured to hurt an old friend by 
 dired refusal. But, kinsman, a word of caution 
 for you : remember that a royal ear is soon 
 wearied." 
 
 As my lord spoke, the folding-doors at end of 
 the gallery which separated us from the presence of 
 a sovereign of three kingdoms were thrown open, 
 and at the upper part of a lofty, richly-furnished 
 chamber I beheld a gentleman, reclining carelessly 
 in a gilded chair, above which was blazoned the 
 arms of England ; a few other persons, seeming 
 (save that they were all standing) near as much at 
 their ease as himself, chatted unrestrainedly together, 
 some little distance from the gentleman in the chair, 
 who, of course, I immediately recognised as the 
 King. He appeared above middling stature, and 
 well enow shaped, his complexion brown to swart- 
 ness, and, I supposed to suit its hue, he wore a 
 large black periwig ; his eyes were dark, brilliant, 
 and expressive, yet had a rolling, ogling kind of 
 look, which, taken with a certain sensual fulness in 
 the formation of his lips and chin, spake him a 
 man of appetite. He was dressed in a plain, un-
 
 THE KING'S SMILE. 
 
 299 
 
 trimmed suit of black velvet, and his costly lace 
 neck-band had the most careless twist imaginable ; 
 the only personal decoration which distinguished 
 him, was a star and ribbon across his doublet. 
 Three little spaniels, of a beauty that for their kind 
 might be called incomparable (all other dogs of 
 this sort I've seen being turnspits by comparison), 
 brushed familiarly against the silk hose of their 
 royal master, their long ears nearly touching the 
 Persian carpet on which his footstool rested ; and 
 certainly, wherever I had seen that master, I should 
 have set him down as a person of the. highest rank, 
 from the perfection of his deportment and manner, 
 which might be called the very grace of simplicity 
 itself — a grace that appertaineth almost as a birth- 
 right to they of most distinguished lineage and 
 breeding. True, I know in part the nameless 
 charm of their stately, or airy, and witty, but 
 always polished address, is in good measure the 
 result of very early careful training, and ofttimes 
 serveth only as a varnished mask for the foulness 
 and emptiness it covers. 
 
 The King smiled when he perceived us advanc- 
 ing, and never have I seen smile which made a 
 face far enow from handsome so exceeding pleasant 
 to look upon ; a sunbeam lighting up a sombre 
 objed; gives it not more beauty than did this arch 
 brightness impart to his countenance. Extending 
 his hand, which the Earl, dropping upon one knee,
 
 300 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 in very courtly manner, saluted, his Majesty, after 
 regarding myself for a moment, was pleased also to 
 show me the same mark of condescension. Truly, 
 as far as mere outside is concerned, he may be called 
 a " most gracious" prince. 
 
 Then, in a voice which at times had so mirthful 
 a sound that it contradidied the grave expression of 
 his features, the King asked me a few questions, 
 and by them I discovered he was very well in- 
 formed of the reason which caused my sudden 
 flight to town ; yet, with some appearance of 
 curiosity, he signified his pleasure to hear what I 
 had to say for myself. 
 
 I thereupon (taking, as I conceited, sharp heed 
 of Lord Haverford's caution) drew briefly a pidure, 
 and truth made me a faithful limner, of what his 
 most loyal (I laid much stress on these words) Non- 
 conforming subjedls in the west sufi^ered at the 
 hands of their Episcopal oppressors. 
 
 He heard me good-naturedly but indifferently, 
 toying all the while with the silken ears of his little 
 spaniels. Unpromising as this appeared, I quitted 
 not my vantage-ground before solemnly declaring 
 that as our principles are sound, and lives sober and 
 peaceable (here his Majesty yawned slightly, and 
 Lord Haverford gave me a meaning glance), like- 
 wise our obedience to the law indisputable, saving 
 those points wherein, we believed, we only followed 
 the Word of God for a guide in ading as we did,
 
 " ODDS FISH." 
 
 301 
 
 therefore I humbly trusted he would see fit exert 
 his royal authority in our behalf. 
 
 " Odds fish !" cried the King — for with these 
 two foolish, senseless expletives his commonest 
 remarks are perpetually garnished, let their subjed 
 be a bishop or a mountebank — " Odds fish ! 
 Mr. Hicks, we've been told ye yourself have 
 been doing something with your pen of late, and 
 what your tongue can" (and he laughed merrily) 
 " we've now, methinks, had pretty fair taste of. 
 There's a certain bookish thing of yours which 
 hath a mighty ill odour in the nostrils of our lords 
 the bishops ; and they, along with divers justices 
 of the peace, complain loudly thereof, demanding it 
 should be burned at Tyburn. Odds fish ! man, ye 
 must have a craze in your pate to venture do aught 
 of this sort." 
 
 " I'm sane enough, your Majesty, God be 
 thanked — for oppression hath sometimes made 
 wiser men than me go mad : yet doth their madness, 
 and the wild a6ts which spring from it, lie at the 
 door of they who torture and distradt them ; and 
 such there be, O King, who do thus daily by certain 
 of your truest and faithfullest lieges, whom the 
 justices beyond all law have very much wronged." 
 
 *' Then, odds fish ! they shall be righted, take 
 our royal word for it, we'll see they are." 
 
 But even as I bowed in token of gratitude for 
 the gracious assurance, this Scripture darted vividly
 
 302 
 
 7R0UBL0US TIMES. 
 
 to my remembrance, " It is better to trust in the 
 Lord than to put confidence in princes ;" and the 
 thought, " he whose son ye are made the word 
 of a king a jest for even the false themselves to 
 mock at," would obtrude itself. 
 
 A sign from Lord Haverford informed me I 
 must consider my audience ended ; and his Majesty 
 smiling, and again gracefully extending his hand 
 for me to salute, repeated the assurance just given, 
 that the wrongs of his Nonconforming subjeds 
 should be redressed. 
 
 The Earl, in a subsequent conversation, after we 
 had quitted the royal presence, expressed himself 
 as confident the King seriously means to keep his 
 promise (the Lord grant he may) ; and that by 
 virtue of his supreme power in ecclesiastical matters, 
 he will shortly suspend and perhaps cancel the 
 severe penal laws, now put in such barbarous force 
 by ill-judging, violent men against the Nonconfor- 
 mists ; in this case, they will have leave to repair 
 and build their meeting-houses anew. Ah, if so 
 blessed a state of things do come to pass, may the 
 ministers and the members of their flocks prove 
 humble and modest in their prosperity, as they 
 showed themselves firm and unshaken in their 
 adversity. " Praying always with all prayer and 
 supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto, 
 with all perseverance and supplication for all 
 saints," may abundant utterance be given the
 
 OFFERED LARGE PREFERMENT. 
 
 303 
 
 ministers to open their mouths boldly in making 
 known " the mystery of the Gospel ;" and may He 
 who loves to see the face of His church beautiful, 
 wipe away her tears, and present her to Himself 
 " a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, 
 or any such thing ; but holy, and without blemish ;" 
 and " the kingdoms of this world become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord." 
 
 I had almost forgotten to jot down that since I 
 came here I've been offered a large preferment 
 (which though the Earl's interest might easily be 
 obtained me) if I would moderately conform — in 
 other words, remain passive under Episcopal domi- 
 nation. I said at once, on receiving this pro- 
 posal, '^ No temptation shall bring me to that ;" 
 nor do I look forward to be one of they 
 who will enjoy the promised grant of princely 
 favour, I pray that in the end it may not prove 
 a cruel mockery and deception ; yet all I've learned 
 of the Court and its tricksy ways seemeth fuller of 
 falsehood, hollowness, vice, and corruption than 
 my simpleness of nature could before have supposed 
 possible. The nobleman to whose good offices I 
 hold myself so greatly indebted (for solely owing 
 to his influence I can now return without appre- 
 hension to my family) is not wholly escaped from 
 taint of its pollution ; and yet, in heart, I feel sure 
 he must loathe its glaring wickedness. Then he 
 hath such goodly gifts and graces of mind, person.
 
 304 
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 and estate, that it grieveth me to see them thus 
 perverted. Never shall he lack the earnest prayer 
 of a sincere soul at a throne of grace, while John 
 Hicks can offer one on His behalf. 
 
 I have already spoken in this my note-book (at 
 the last leaf of which I'm come) of my wife's hearty 
 willingness to leave England, and for aye. Some 
 natural regrets, in so doing, we must experience 
 poignantly ; but unless Providence interpose and 
 visibly direft otherwise, soon after I rejoin my 
 family (and I set out to-morrow), we shall embark 
 in the good ship *' Heron," which next month sails 
 from Plymouth for America. I feel like one about 
 to be freed from the fetters of a galling chain, and 
 whose home after much suffering is at last found. 
 Our God, the God of our fathers, hath hitherto 
 been with us, yea, will to the end ; and that New 
 World, wherein (with certain dear and pious friends, 
 who design company us across the sea) we seek 
 cast our future earthly lot with theirs who have 
 already founded there so prosperous and flourishing 
 a colony, hath ofttimes, when I've been most sorely 
 hunted and distressed, filled me with ardent long- 
 ings and conje6tures of its majestic realities : those 
 mighty rivers and mountain fastnesses, primeval 
 forests and untrodden wildernesses, where even foot 
 of the swart and painted salvage man ne'er yet 
 ventured, rise before my mind's eye in dim and 
 mystic grandeur ; and these sublime images suggest
 
 AMEN. 
 
 305 
 
 nought save peaceful, soothing, tranquil, and happy 
 thoughts. In my night-dreams and day-musings 
 they seem to beckon and invite me, whispering 
 softly, " JVith us is thy appointed place, where thou 
 shalt again labour, more than hitherto thou hast 
 been able, in thy Master's vineyard ; and the chil- 
 dren's children of thee and thy good wife rise up 
 and make both her old age and thine most blessed." 
 Amen.
 
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