112 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. ANDREW WYKE was a zealous minister of the baptist persuasion, and apprehended in the county of Suffolk, for preaching and dipping. When he was brought before the committee of the county, to be examined about his authority to preach and the doctrines he delivered, he refused to give any account of either. He alleged, that a freeman of England was not bound to answer any such interrogatories , either to accuse himself or others ; but he signified, that if they had any thing against him, they ought to bridg ffirward their charge, andproduce their evidence. This was, indeed, con- sidered as great obstinacy, and as high contempt of their authority; therefore he was immediately sent to jail.. It does not appear how long he remained in prison ; but during his confinement a pamphlet was published either by him'self or some of his friends, entitled, " The Innocent in Prison Complaining ; or, a true Relation of the Proceedings of the Committee of Ipswich and the Committee of Bury St. Edmunds in the countyof Suffolk, against AndrewWyke, a witness of Jesus in the same county, who was committed to prison, June 3, 1646."+ This work gives a circumstantial account of his adversaries' proceedings against him, and exclaims bitterly against the committee for its persecuting principles and illegal conduct. Withholding from others the blessing of christian liberty, came with an ill grace from those persons, who, only a few years before, while they groaned under the iron rod of the tyrannical prelates, had earnestly pleaded for the same blessing. March 16, 1650, Mr. Wyke, together with several others, was committed to prison at Coventry, to be tried for his crimes. He is represented as having kissed a soldier three times, and said, " I breathe the Spirit of God into thee." During his confinement, he preached every Lord's day at the gate of the prison, when multitudes of people stood in the street io hear him. But how long his tribulations continued, or when he died, we are not able learn.t HENRY TOZER, B. D.-This learned person was born at North-Tawton in Devonshire, in the year 1602, and educated in Exeter college, Oxford, where he took his degrees, and was afterwards chosen sub-rector and fellow of the house. Having entered into the ministerial office, it is said, that he Edwards's Gangrwna, part iii. p. 169, 170. + Crosby'sBaptists, vol. i. p. 235. Whitlocke's Mem. p.430,432.
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