quartered; who were all executed at Tyburn, on the 12th of February.' So Mr. Stow, who takes no notice of the pretended plot of Rome and Rhemes, which they were also pleased to charge upon them; their very adversaries being sensible there were no grounds for any such accusa

tion.

Mr. Haydock received the sentence of death with incredible joy, returning hearty thanks to God for so great a favour: and whereas his apprehension and his arraignment both happened on the day of his patroness, St. Dorothy, virgin and martyr, he attributed this happy event to her prayers, and marked it down in the calender of his breviary; which, when he was going to die, he bequeathed to Mr. Creagh, archbishop of Armagh, at that time prisoner in the Tower for the catholic religion. In the mean while, being wholly intent on preparing himself for his happy passage, he was alarmed by a rumour spread about the city, which was brought to him in the Tower, that the queen had changed her mind, and he was not to suffer. Upon which, when his friends congratulated with him, he, on the other side, who saw himself, as he thought, just in the haven, and was very unwilling to be drove back again into the midst of the dangers of the tempestuous sea of this mortal life, conceived a great grief; but his confessarius, a man of great prudence and experience, encouraged him, assuring him, that these rumours were industriously spread about, only to make the world believe that the queen was averse to these cruelties, to take off the odium of them from her majesty, as if they were extorted from her against her inclinations; and that such reports as these, as it had been found in the case of Mr. Forde, Mr. Shert, &c., were indeed a sign that he and his companions would certainly suffer. Upon this, Mr. Haydock was freed from his fears, and wholly applied himself by watching, fasting, and prayer, to prepare for his last end.

On the 12th of February, (Dr. Bridgewater says the 13th,) Mr. Haydock, early in the morning, said mass in his chamber, to prepare himself by the holy viaticum for his journey into eternity: and then, with his four companions, was drawn through the streets from the Tower to Tyburn. When they were come to the place, Mr. Haydock, though the youngest of them all, was first ordered up into the cart; into which he ascended with great alacrity. Here, the rope being now about his neck, he was called upon by Spencer, the sheriff, and by the ministers, to confess his treason against the queen, and to ask her pardon. He answered, I call God to witness, upon my soul, that I am innocent of the pretended treason; and therefore I have no occasion to ask her pardon. He added, withal, that he acknowledged her for his queen, and wished her all happiness, and had offered several prayers to God for her that very day: and that such was his disposition, in regard to her majesty, that if he were alone with her in a wilderness, where he might, without danger, do to her what he pleased, he would not hurt her with the prick of a pin, though he might have the whole world for so doing. The sheriff, who showed himself a bitter enemy to Mr. Haydock and his fellow confessors, told him, that, since his condemnation, they had discovered far more heinous crimes of him and, upon this, the infamous Munday was called for, who pretended, that he had heard

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their father, who was a worldly man, had another way of thinking. Here, Mr. Fenn married a wife, by whom he had two children; and having undergone divers persecutions, for his conscience; and, after some time, lost his wife, he betook himself to the service of Nicholas Pointz, an eminent catholic gentleman, whom he served, in quality of steward, to the great satisfaction of his master, and all that had any dealings with him. And such, indeed, was his conduct in every station of life that he went through, as not only faithfully to discharge the duties of his office, but also, to behave himself with so much edification, that the whole tenor of his life was a perpetual sermon, by which, he strongly recommended virtue and piety to all that conversed with him.

A learned and pious priest, who used to frequent Sir Nicholas's house, taking notice of the excellent qualifications and rare virtues of Mr. Fenn, thought it a pity that his talents should not be employed in greater things; and seriously advised him to quit that worldly employ, and to go over to Rhemes, to the English College, lately translated thither from Douay, that, receiving holy orders, and returning into his country, he might be serviceable to the souls of many. Mr. Fenn took the council of the holy man, and giving up his stewardship, went over to Rhemes, where he was made priest, as appears by the college diary, anno 1580, and so was sent upon the mission. His labours were in his own native country, Somersetshire, where he reconciled several persons of distinction to the catholic church. But it was not long before he was apprehended by the persecutors, though not yet known to be a priest, and sent to Ilcester gaol, where he was lodged amongst the felons, and loaded with irons. And that nothing might be wanting to his disgrace, he was exposed, chained, and fettered as he was, in a public place, on a market day, for a show to all the people but the success, did not answer the design and expectation of his adversaries: for such was the invincible patience; such the modesty of his countenance, and the tranquillity of soul, which discovered itself, in his whole behaviour on this occasion, that the spectators conceived a great veneration for him; and many began to look more seriously into their religion; being not a little shocked to see a man treated in this manner, barely for following the dictates of his conscience, in matters of religion.

The magistrates in the country, being alarmed at this, acquainted the queen's council, by letters, with the whole matter, who ordered Mr. Fenn to be sent up to London, where he was examined by secretary Walsingham, and sent prisoner to the Marshalsea. Here he was kept for two whole years, the jailors and turnkeys, not knowing him to be a priest, and therefore treated him with more humanity than otherwise they would have done; and not prohibiting any one to visit him; which opportunity Mr. Fenn made good use of, not only to confirm the catholics in their faith, and administer the holy sacraments to as many as applied to him; but also to reconcile several protestants to the church. In the mean time, he prayed much, meditated often, exercised himself daily in the works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, to his fellow prisoners, especially those of the household of faith. He had a parti

cular charity for pirates, and other unhappy malefactors, who were to suffer the law for their crimes; whom he visited, as much as he could, and exhorted with great affection, to make good use of their time, and to appease the wrath of God by penitence, and to seek a reconciliation with his divine Majesty, in the communion of the catholic church, which alone had received from Christ the keys of heaven, and the power of remitting and retaining sins. And such was the force and unction that accompanied his words, that he brought several of those hardened sinners to repentance and confession; and, among the rest, a noted pirate, whom he found so deeply oppressed with the load of his sins, as to be absolutely in despair of salvation; whom he so effectually exhorted and encouraged, by setting before his eyes the greatness of God's mercy, and the power he had given to his ministers, that he cast himself at his feet, and desired to be admitted into the catholic church, and to make his confession, which he did, after Mr. Fenn had given him proper instructions, as far as the shortness of his time would permit. The next day, he also admitted him to the holy communion, to his unspeakable comfort; and so stout was this convert, that, being to die the following day, he absolutely refused the communion and prayers of the protestant ministers, neither regarding their threats nor their promises; and at the place of execution publicly professed that he died a catholic, and blessed the providence of God, that had brought him to a place where he had met with such holy company as taught him to be a christian.

As Mr. Fenn's words carried with them a particular virtue, by which he made a great impression on the souls of those that conversed with him, so, in his very countenance and mein, there was something exceedingly engaging and attracting, more especially when he was speaking of God, and of heavenly things, (which he did as often as he had opportunity,) or when he was celebrating the sacred mysteries; insomuch, that those who saw him, or heard him, on these occasions, found themselves wonderfully affected and stirred up to devotion, by that heavenly air which showed itself in the whole man. A certain gentleman, who once assisted at his mass, declared to a priest of his acquaintance, that he found, in his soul, at that time, such unusual sentiments of devotion as he had never experienced before or since; so that he could not refrain from shedding an abundance of tears; and this, by seeing the heavenly mein of the holy priest, and that air of recollection and devotion, which was so remarkable in him upon that occasion.

One year before his happy end, he seemed to have a foreknowledge of his death, and prepared himself for it by a more strict retirement, (only when the necessities of his neighbours required his attendance) a more continual prayer, joined to much watching and fasting, till the time now drawing near, when God would crown his servant, he was discovered to be a priest, and committed to a more close confinement. And as it pleased the ministry at that time to pick out some of the many priests they had then in prison, to make an example of them for the terror of the catholics, he was one that was marked out for the butchery. And, as a preparation for this, he was called to an examination, and had the usual murdering questions put to him concerning the supremacy to which he answered in such manner as to profess all due