H. BURTON. 49 " church,* and the maintenance of the orthodox truth and " religion of Christ, professed, established, and maintained " in this church of England." Was the conscience then of this reverend prelate become so callous, that, by continued acts of cruelty and oppression, he had lost all feeling for his fellow-creatures? In the conclusion of the above speech, still addressing the lords who constituted the court, he even adds : -" I humbly give you all hearty thanks for your just " and honourable censureupon these men, and your unanimous " dislike of them !"+ No one will for a moment dispute their unanimous dislike of them ; but whether this, as well as thejust and honourable censure put upon them, was deserving the hearty thanks of a learned and pious archbishop, will certainly be questioned. An impartial writer very justly observes, that as the punishment of these men was ex- orbitant, and disproportionate to the offence, it was then, and hath been ever since, looked upon by all merciful and unprejudiced persons withhorror and detestation.# The morning when the prisoners were to -suffer their heavy sentence, Mr. Burton being brought to the Palace- yard, Westminster, and beholding the pillory, he said, " Never was my wedding-day so welcome and joyful to me as this day is ; and so much the more, seeing I have so noble a captain, who hath gone before me with so undaunted a spirit, that he saith of himself, ' I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that, plucked off the hair.' The Lord God will help me ; therefore, I shall not be confounded. Shall I be ashamed of-a pillory for Christ, who was not ashamed of a cross for me?" Then being put in the pillory, he addressed the immense crowd of spe -tators, saying, " Good people, I am brought hither to be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. And though I stand here to undergo the punishment of a rogue; yet, unless it be the property of a rogue to be a faithful servant of Christ, and a loyal subject to the king, I am clear from any such charge. But if to be Christ's faithfulservant, and the king's loyal subject, deserve such kind of punishment as this, I glory in it, and bless God my conscience is clear. I bless God, who hath accounted me worthy of these sufferings. . The character given of his grace by Lord Clarendon, very much accords with the good opinion he had of himself. " No man," observes the noble historian, " was ever more plentifully replenishedwith a 'good conscience, and most sincere and worthy intentions, and a man of immense virtue."-Clarenclon's Hist. vol. i. p. 51. + Laud's Speech annexed toTroubles, vol. ii. p. 67-84. Biog. Briton. vol. 5. p. 682. VOL. UT.
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