rote a letter to Dr. Seaton, recanting those words he spake
at the stake, and the articles which he had subscribed; for he was
grieved that he had ever signed them. The same day se'night he was again
brought to the stake, where the vile tormentors rather broiled than
burnt him. The Lord give his enemies repentance!

Not long before the sickness of queen Mary, in the beginning of August,
1558, four inoffensive humble martyrs were burnt at St. Edmundsbury with
very little examination. Neglect in attending the popish service at
mass, which in vain they pleaded as a matter of conscience, was the
cause of their untimely sufferings and deaths. Their heroic names were
J. Crooke, sawyer; R. Miles, alias Plummer, sheerman; A. Lane,
wheelright; and J. Ashley, a bachelor.

_Alexander Gouch and Alice Driver._

These godly persons were apprehended by Mr. Noone, a justice in Suffolk.

They were brought to the stake at seven o'clock in the morning,
notwithstanding they had come from Melton jail, six miles off. The
sheriff, Sir Henry Dowell, was much dissatisfied with the time they took
in prayer, and sent one of his men to bid them make an end. Gouch
earnestly entreated for a little time, urging that they had but a little
while to live: but the sheriff would grant no indulgence, and ordered
the numerous friends who came to take the last farewell of them as they
stood chained to the stake, to be forcibly torn away, and threatened
them with arrest; but the indignation of the spectators made him revoke
this order. They endured the terrific conflagration, and honoured God
equally in their lives and deaths.

In the same month were executed at Bury, P. Humphrey, and J. and H.
David, brothers. Sir Clement Higham, about a fortnight before the
queen's death, issued out a warrant for their sacrifice, notwithstanding
the queen's illness at that time rendered her incapable of signing the
order for their execution.

_Mrs. Prest._

From the number condemned in this fanatical reign, it is almost
impossible to obtain the name of every martyr, or to embellish the
history of all with anecdotes and exemplifications of Christian conduct.
Thanks be to Providence, our cruel task begins to draw towards a
conclusion, with the end of the reign of Papal terror and bloodshed.
Monarchs, sit upon thrones possessed by hereditary right, should, of all
others, consider that the laws of nature are the laws of God, and hence
that the first law of nature is