s was
not the case, however; the witness was characterised by one of the judges
as "very forward," and when Cornish humbly remonstrated with the treatment
his witness was receiving from the bench he was sharply told to hold his
tongue. The jury after a brief consultation brought in a verdict of
guilty, and Cornish had to submit to the indignity of being tied--like a
dangerous criminal--whilst sentence of death was passed upon him and three
others who had been tried at the same time.

(M808)

The prisoner was allowed but three clear days before he was hanged at the
corner of King Street and Cheapside, within sight of the Guildhall which
he had so often frequented as an alderman of the city, and on which his
head was afterwards placed. He met his end with courage and with many
pious expressions, but to the last maintained his innocence with such
vehemence that his enemies gave out that he had "died in a fit of
fury."(1571) The injustice of his sentence was recognised and his
conviction and attainder was afterwards reversed and annulled by
parliament (22 June, 1689).(1572)

(M809)

Of the three others who had been tried with Cornish, two were reprieved
(one was afterwards executed), but the third, Elizabeth Gaunt, was burnt
at Tyburn the same day that Cornish suffered (23 Oct.) for having
harboured an outlaw named Burton and assisted him to escape beyond the
law. He had been implicated in the Rye House Plot, but with the aid of
Mrs. Gaunt, who lived in the city, had contrived to avoid capture. In
order to save his own skin the wretch did not hesitate to turn king's
evidence and to sacrifice the life of his benefactress, a woman who is
described as having "spent a great part of her life in acts of charity,
visiting the gaols and looking after the poor." She too died with great
fortitude, arranging with her own hands the straw around her, so as to
burn the more speedily.(1573)

(M810)

Parliament began to be alarmed at the favour shown to Catholics, and this
alarm was increased by a report from France that Louis XIV, with whom
James was known to be closely allied, and on whom he depended, like his
late brother, for pecuniary support, had revoked the Edict of Nantes
granted by Henry IV in favour of his Protestant subjects. The report was
soon confirmed by the appearance of numbers of French Protestants--refugees
from persecution--in England, and more especially in the city of London.
What Louis had done in France Jame