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ried to execution , Charles II . had the indecency to go to the spot to witness the brutal tragedy . Sir John Birkenliead , wlio pub-3 ished a virulent pamphlet in 1663 , entitled , " The Assembly Man , " for the purpose of bringing the Assembly of Divines into contempt , sums up
the whole by saying , «* an Assemblyman s sole comfort is , that he cannot out-sin - Hugh Peters j sure as Satau hath possessed the Assembly , so Hugh Peters hath possessed Satan , and is the devil ' s devil . He alone would fill a whole herd of Gadarenes : he hath
sucked bk * od frorci his youth , and now iias gL shambles in his countenance . " * From this outrageous language , and the copperplate print which is affixed to the production , I am inclined to think that the main design of this laboured tract , was to traduce the
character of the unfortunate man who is the subject of these observations . Dr . Barwick has thought proper to assert , that ** he was infamous for more than one Kind of vice $ " and Dr , Young , who betrayed the confidence which Hugh Peters reposed in him ,
and was the chief evidence against him on bis trial , published a small work three years after his death , with an evident design to blacken his memory , and in this book he propagated the story of an improper connexion he had with another 'man ' s wife *
In addition to these heavy . charges , Bishop J 3 « , rnet liad the baseness to assert , that he died like a coward ; f and Dr . South closed the catalogue of accusations , with the tale of his having been foxtd t or intoxicated , when he died .
At this distance of time it is very difficult to ascertain a man ' s real character , but I have no hesitation in saying , that I believe the greater part , if not the whple of these accusations ,
were basely calumnious , and were contrived for the vile purpose of destroying his reputation . A very short abridgment of Dr . Harris ' s observations on these charges will , I trust ,
* SfeThe Assembly Man , p . 21 . t Bttriiet ' s assertion is , that " he was s"nk in spirit , and had neither the honesty to repent nor the con rag-e to suffer . " A more unfounded cajmuuy was never fanned . " ¦«
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render this opinion . extremely probable . First , these accusations came from his bitter and acknowledged enemies , who hated the cause in vvliich he had been eugaged .
Secondly , It may be observed that he was charged with being openly immoral . * But when it is recollected what precise , demure kind of men the ministers of those days were , denying themselves the innocent gaieties and pleasures of life , it is impossible he could have been the man which he
has been represented to be * It was this strictness of conversation , joined with their popular talents in the pulpit , that created the Puritan ministers so much respect , and obliged the men in power to profess , to admire them . It was necessary to gain the preachers , in order to maintain their credit With
the people . But if Peters had been vicious , Cromwell and his adherents must have separated themselves from him , to have prevented their being thought enemies to godliness . Whereas it is well known that he was caressed by the great 5 and bis addresses were received as oracles by the people , t
Thirdly , The Earl of Warwick , Sir Thomas Fairfax , and Oliver Cromwell were his patrons , J and he was caressed and rewarded by the Parliament . How improbab ( e then , is it * that Peters should have been notorious
for wickedness ! His patrons have never been accused of personal vices ; , they were men who made high pre-« u wm Mmmm ' - * '' ~ w « - ^—^«—*—yn !¦¦ ¦ 1 H ^ ipi . ^ p .. — .. ¦
* See his Last Legacy to his Daughter p . 106 . -f- That the generals of the army professed to be supporters of religion , and strenuous promoters of moral conduct , there is abundant evidence ; and I have one or two documents that will prove the assertion . The first is a copy o ^ f the Laws of
War , published in the year 1642 , by the Earl of Warwick , and addressed to all the officers of the army . It begins with a detail of their diities to God , and then of llH » ir duties to the community ; and theic strictness against all immorality is very remarkable .
I have also a document of the same nature , which was printed 17 ye ^ ars afterwards , and proves that the regard for reli gion was not a sudden fit of godliness , but was an abiding- principle in the army . % See the Letters of Cromwell and Brads > ha \ r to him .
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The Nonconformist . N 6 . XIV . 527
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1819, page 527, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1776/page/3/
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