400 LIVES OE THE PURITANS. when their keeper was checked by the vice-chancellor. And having made earnest suit for liberty to attend public service at St. Mary's church, with their keeper, on a Lord's day, their request was rejected by the vice-chan- cellor, saying, 44 You must pardon me, I neither can nor will. Mr. Bainbrigg and Mr. Johnson having suffered numerous and grievous hardships, laid their distresses before Burleigh the chancellor, in the following letter :t " Right honourable and very good lord. " May it please your good lordship once again to " admit the humble suit of us poor prisoners, now having, " as your lordship understandeth, of long time so con- " tinned in the university of Cambridge, without bail " or mainprize. And, first, may it please your honour " to understand, that we are not committed for any thing " uttered by us in our sermons, but only because we 0 did not yield to take a corporal oath, to deliver the " truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, of 44 what we spake in our public sermons, and thereby to " accuse ourselves, if in any thing we had offended. " Without oath we have already openly in the consistory " (according to your honour's first letters) answered to " whatsoever we were charged with ; notwithstanding " which, we still continue imprisoned, only because we " refuse to take their unlawful oath. We have great cause " to believe, that your honour hath been already a very " good lord unto us, in keeping from us that extremity " which wegreatly feared ; for which we shall continually " pray the lord to reward sevenfold in your lordship s " bosom. Yet because your lordship's first letters only 44 (which upon information against us) were imparted to 4' the rest of the heads of houses, and read also unto us ; " but the two late letters sent from your honour, private " only to Mr. Vice-chancellor, were not communicated in " the whole to the heads present in the university. We " see no hope of release, except we yield to that hard " condition, which we have before set down to your "lordship, but are likely to be tired with imprisonment ; 44 although in so good a cause, God witnessing us, we hope " never to give over. " We are again bold to fly unto your lordship for relief, "desiring your honour to consider of our long imprison- ** Baker's MS. Collec. vol. iv. p. 83-85. t Ibid. p. se, 83.
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