146 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. queen's majesty's officers, unto whom it may come or appertain." The order itself, dated London, December 11, 1573, was as follows We do require you, and " therewith straitly command you, and every of you, " in the queen's majesty's name, that you be aiding and " assisting to the bearer and bearers hereof, with all the best " means you can devise, for the apprehension of one " Thomas Cartwright, student in divinity, wheresoever he " be, within the liberties or without, within this realm. " And you having possession of his body by your good " travail and diligence in this business, we do likewise " charge you, (for so is her majesty's pleasure,) that he be " brought up by you to London, with a sufficient number " for his safe appearance before us, and other her majesty's " commissioners in causes ecclesiastical, for his unlawful " dealings and demeanours in matters touching religion, and " the state of this realm. And fail younot so to do, every one " of you, with all diligence, as you will answer to the " contrary upon your utmost peril." This order was signed by the Bishop of London, and eleven others of the high commission.* Mr. Cartwright, however, wisely concealed himself, till he found an opportunityof leaving the kingdom. And God, who provides for the young ravens when they cry, provided for his persecuted servant in this gloomy season. For at this critical juncture, he, was unexpectedly invited, together with Mr. Snape, to assist the ministers in the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, in framing the requisite discipline for their churches. This was a favourable dis- pensation to Mr. Cartwright ; who, being forced to abandon his native country, found there a refuge from the storm. These two islands were the only places within the British dominions, where the out-stretched arms of the high com- missioners could not reach him. During Mr. Cartwright's abode here, besides attending to the special object of his mission, he laboured in his public ministry, particularly at Castle -Cornet in Guernsey. It appears that he afterwards went again to Antwerp, and a second time became preacher to the English narrchants.+ Mr. Cartwright continued at Antwerp several years, but his health having greatly declined, the physicians' recommended him, as the most likelymeans of his restor- ation, to try his native air. His complaint at length Strype's Annals, voh ii. p.282. + Kingdom's MS. Collec. Pref. p. 33.
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