428 LIVES. OF THE PURITANS. They also told him, " That they were provoked to pro- nounce him the holiest minister of all others, fordealing so plainly#nd resolutely in God's cause above all ministers, which God would manifest one day to his comfort." At another time, they came to him and said, "We are come to you now to bring you certain news of great comfort, viz. That we have seen Jesus Christ this day, in lively and extraordinary shape or fashion presented unto us, not in his body ; for he sitteth at the right hand of God in heaven, until the last judgment ; but in his effectual or principal spirit, wherebyhe dwelled' in William Hacket, more than in any creature upon the earl h.". Suchare the grievous crimes with which Mr. Wigginton is charged ! These facts, with a few others equally ridiculous, contain all the evidence of his uniting with Hacket and his companions, in their mad plots to overturn the government ! A s our informa- tion is from the pen of one of his bitterest enemies and persecutors, we may presume it is not given at all in his favour, but in some degree to his disadvantage : the impartial reader will, therefore, judge for himself, how far he was guilty. After the most minute investigation, it appears to me that Mr. Wigginton's character and memory have suffered great injury from the above bigotted historian, and from those who imitated his example. One of them, speaking of }Jacket and his companions, observes, " that one of this good brotherhood was Wigginton, as brainsick a teacher as any of the club, and as staunch an enemy to government.''; The reader will easily perceive the injustice and falsehood of this representation. For, if this statement be correct, why did not his enemies proceed against him, as well as against the other conspirators ? They were in possession of all the evidencethat ever appeared against him, and he was now a prisoner in the Gatehouse ; why then did they not punish him according to his deserts ? This, surely, was not owing to their too great lenity, or their want of inclination. DuringMr. Wigginton's imprisonment, he published two pamphlets. One was on " Pr, destination ;" the other was entitled " The Fools Bolt ; or, a Fatherly Exhortation to a certain Young Courtier." The latter is said to have been " conceived into an halting rhyme;" and written chiefly against the governors of the church. ...Coshes Conspiracy, p. 87, 88. 1- Kennet's Hist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 563.
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