never be offered again, for then he put an end
to all sacrifice.

_Oliph._ Thou deniest the office of a bishop?

_Mill._ I affirm that those you call bishops do no bishop's work, but
live after sensual pleasure, taking no care of Christ's flock, nor
regarding his word.

_Oliph._ Thou speakest against pilgrimage, and sayest, It is a
pilgrimage to whoredom?

_Mill._ I say pilgrimage is not commanded in scripture, and that there
is no greater whoredom in any place, except in brothel-houses.

_Oliph._ You preach privately in houses, and sometimes in the field?

_Mill._ Yea, and on the sea also when sailing in a ship.

Then said _Oliphant_, "If you will not recant, I will pronounce sentence
against you."

To this he replied, "I know I must die once, and therefore as Christ
said to Judas, _What thou dost, do quickly_: you shall know that I will
not recant the truth, for I am corn and not chaff: I will neither be
blown away by the wind, nor burst with the flail, but will abide both."

Then Oliphant, as the mouth of the court, was ordered to pronounce
sentence against him, ordaining him to be delivered to the temporal
judge, and burnt as an heretic. But they could not procure one as a
temporal judge to condemn him. One Learmond, then provost of the town,
and bailie of the bishop's regality, refused it, and went out of town;
the people of the place were so moved at his constancy, and offended at
the wrong done to him, that they refused to supply ropes to bind him,
and other materials for his execution, whereby his death was retarded
for one day. At last one Somerville, a domestic of the bishop, undertook
to act the part of temporal judge, and the ropes of the bishop's
pavilion were taken to serve the purpose.

All things being thus prepared, he was led forth by Somerville with a
guard of armed men to his execution; being come to the place, some cried
out to him to recant, to whom he answered, "I marvel at your rage, ye
hypocrites, who do so cruelly pursue the servants of God; as for me, I
am now eighty-two years old, and cannot live long by course of nature;
but an hundred shall rise out of my ashes, who shall scatter you, ye
hypocrites and persecutors of God's people; and such of you as now think
yourselves the best, shall not die such an honest death as I now do; I
trust in God, I shall be the last who shall suffer death, in this
fashion, for this cause in this land." Thus his constancy increased as
his end drew n