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away in prison, by a more tedious martyrdom; and that he died a confessor of Christ, on the common side of Newgate, in some part of the year 1645.

1641. This year two priests were put to death for the exercise of their functions, and divers others were sentenced to die. The first was

WILLIAM WARD, ALIAS, WEBSTER, PRIEST.*

WILLIAM WARD, whose true name was. Webster, was born at Thornby, in Westmoreland, and educated in the catholic religion. He performed his studies abroad in the English college at Douay, where I find him admitted to the college oath, in 1605, and ordained priest, and sent upon the English mission, in 1608. The best and fullest account that I have met with of this holy man is in a manuscript relation, written by a priest, who was his intimate acquaintance and ghostly child; only that he is in a mistake, when he affirms him to have been made priest in the English seminary at Rhemes; for the seminary had been removed from Rhemes to Douay fifteen years before Mr. Ward was made priest. The account of him sent by way of letter, is as follows:

SIR: In the way of an exact story I cannot undertake to tell you the entire life of Mr. William Webster, alias, Ward, born at Thornby in Westmoreland; but this I can say, that I had a perfect knowledge of the man for many years together, and had the happiness to be his ghostly child, divers years before myself was priest, and divers years after. He was made priest in the English seminary at Rhemes, in Champaigne, above forty years before his martyrdom, and was ever known to be of an excellent spirit, exceeding zealous in God's service; not only exemplary in himself, but exhorting others to exemplarity of life; and his zeal was so great in this kind, that he got the repute of a rigid ghostly father: and albeit many great persons made use of him in that way, nevertheless he yielded nothing to their greatness, but was rather more severe to them than to meaner persons; and however, his plainness and round language did not always please them, yet his spirit was so good, that he made impression on their souls, even then when they would scarce lend him patient ears. And I have known many great personages profess, that albeit they could not please him in conforming themselves to that religiousness in their lives which he required of them, nevertheless, they would rather make use of him for their ghostly father, and were better pleased with him in that way, than with any other that was less plain and more indulgent to them.

It was ordinary with him to threaten those that were worldly, in plain terms, with hell fire, and to tell them, they must make a stricter account of their actions in the next world, than they did here; that

* From the manuscript relation, by a priest, who calls himself Mr. Ward's ghostly child, and from the Douay diary.

heaven was not so cheap as they thought, but must be bought at a dearer rate than they seemed to value it at; that it was not easy to be saints in heaven, if we were not first saints here, and by a perfect charity united to Almighty God.

'He did not use to preach set sermons, though his whole life was a continual preaching, but in confessions, wherein he spent most of his time, he would exhort much to virtue, and the love of God, and dissuade from vice and the vanity of the world; and seldom spared a threat of damnation, if the party were vain, as many of his penitents have told me themselves; and he gave this reason for it, that he found the fear of damnation to work stronger with worldlings for their repentance, than the better motive of the pure love of Almighty God.

And however some men held him to be passionate, because his speech was earnest, and his face somewhat fiery upon any fervent speaking; yet those that knew he was truly vir dolorum, being in perpetual pain of two infirmities, which, for many late years hung upon him, a corroding fistula, and an extremity of tooth-ache, never being free from the actual molestation of the one of these at least, and commonly afflicted with both at once in a high degree; and knowing that he had besides, in his soul, not only a perpetual fire of burning charity, but a passionate, yet holy hatred against sin, which made him with eagerness inveigh against sinners, according to that of the holy prophet, Irascimini et nolite peccare: those, I say, which knew this, were of a contrary opinion, and did not think the man to be so choleric as his hasty speech made others believe he was, but were edified at his spiritual zeal, to see it exceed his corporal pain, and give him leave to take pains in reprehending others, when he had more reason to have been indulgent to himself. And I do profess, that for my own particular, I had this opinion of his zeal, and pure intention in all his actions, that even when he did things which others conceived to be odd, I durst not but attribute it to a holy simplicity; and was much edified at many passages in his life, which I know divers did not stick to laugh at, and make themselves merry withal. And whereas, some censorious people presumed to accuse him of avarice, because his diet was ever spare, and his apparel homely, though he had means enough to wear good clothes, and make better fare; yet this blessed man, the day before he died, purged himself of this aspersion, and made profession to a good poor catholic and friend of his, that the sole and true reason why he did not wear no better clothes, nor covet better diet than he used himself to, was only by reason he did in his own conscience not think himself worthy of better; and this he spake with such an edifying simplicity, as would have put a scruple into any man not to have believed him. Besides, the holy man was ever charitable to the poor, which argued no love in him to riches, and he left what he had gathered up to pious uses. It was admirable to see the austerity of this good man's life, who albeit he was never free from pain, and always observed a sparing diet, as was said before, whence he must of necessity be exceeding weak; nevertheless, he did with great rigour keep all vigils, embers, Fridays throughout the year, and lent; insomuch, that all the lent long, he never eat VOL. II.

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whitemeat all his life-time, notwithstanding he was eighty years old and upwards.

And this, amongst other his virtues, to me seemed rare, that in all the time I knew his holy man, I could never hear him relate any passage, or speak of any subject, but it either began or ended with a memory of Almighty God's service, if his whole speech were not upon that theme; insomuch, that it may truly be said of him, that his lamp of charity and love towards God, was ever burning, and that no blast of human commerce was able to blow it out, but still it blazed, and gave light to those whose lamps were extinguished, and many times lighted them again, by enkindling in their souls a devotion, whom if he found key-cold towards Almighty God's service, yet he left them with an ardent desire to serve God better than they had done formerly. This to my own confusion and his honour hath often happened to myself, and I have heard divers others affirm the same; for the truth is, no man that would look fixedly upon him, and observe well his comportment, could go out of his company without much edification; so composed an aspect he had, so grave a speech, so religious a carriage, so incessant a zeal, that a man might see he had always God in his mind, and his own soul in his hand: Anima mea in manibus meis semper. As if every one of his thoughts, words, and deeds, had been a matter that concerned his soul's salvation, as in truth it was to him, and is to every one of us, if we reflect, (as he did,) well upon ourselves.

It was remarkable to see how soon Almighty God was pleased to make trial of this his servant's constancy. The holy man when he was sent in mission into England, for the conversion of souls, had the fortune, by contrary winds, to be landed in Scotland, as he was going to the northern part of England, and being upon suspicion apprehended for a priest, was cast into the dungeon, where, for three years together, he did not see the sun, yet in this desolate place he continued a zealous and constant professor of his faith, and a stout confessor. After three years durance, being released out of this dungeon, and coming into England, it was not long ere he was taken and put in prison again, insomuch that he had been in several prisons of the several counties of England; and as I have been credibly told, of forty and odd years, that he was priest, he had been a prisoner about twenty of them at several times; and had been banished more than once or twice. Yet so the zeal of Almighty God had eaten up the man, that he would never leave exposing himself to danger of death for the gaining of souls to God's holy truth, and the catholic religion.

And it seems that he was by God's singular providence, ordained to die a martyr, who had lived so long so glorious a confessor. For some few days before he was taken and condemned to death, a nephew of his, and a priest, being careful of his old uncle, and solicitous how to secure him in these dangerous times, came above fifty miles on purpose, up to London, to convey his uncle into a private house in the country, where he might lie sheltered till the storm of persecution was blown over, which the parliament had newly raised, banishing, by pro

clamation, all jesuits, priests, and seminarists, menacing death to those that should be found in any of his majesty's dominions after the 7th of April, 1641. But no persuasion of the nephew, no entreaty of any other friend, could prevail with the holy man to retire himself, whom, Almighty God it seems, did more strongly persuade to stay in London, out of zeal to his many penitents which were there. And what better proof that it was an holy instinct which made him stay, than that within few days after, the blessed martyr was dogged by a pursuivant, to his lodgings, and at eleven o'clock at night, was taken out of his bed, carried to prison, arraigned, condemned, and executed all within the space of eleven days. In brief, the remarkable virtues in this saint, were, profound humility, apostolical poverty, zeal of souls, holy simplicity, approved fortitude, and perfect charity.

The manner of his taking, imprisonment, arraignment, condemnation, and going to

execution.

He was apprehended on Thursday night, about midnight, being the 15th of July, 1641, in the house of one John Wollam, a nephew of his, and a poor catholic, by Thomas Mayhew, commonly called Mayo, a pursuivant, in virtue of a general warrant, under the hand of the speaker of the house of commons, and by this Mayo, was brought directly to the prison of Newgate, without any order from justice of peace, or other officer that had power to commit him, where he remained till the sessions following, which began at the Old Baily, within six days after his imprisonment, viz: Wednesday, the 21st of July.

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Upon Friday the 23d of July next ensuing, he was indicted and arraigned upon the statute of taking orders of priesthood by authority of the church of Rome. The evidence brought against him, was this Mayo aforesaid, who first professed himself to have been a Roman catholic about nineteen years past, then testified, that about the same time he had made his confession to this Mr. Ward, had absolution from him, heard his mass, and received the sacraments at his hands. And Sir Thomas Gardener, the recorder, demanding of Mayo, what ornaments Mr. Ward had on when he said mass, the impudent fellow, being ready at his lie, said, he had on an albe, a stole, a maniple, a vestment, and such other things as belong to a priest; but as it seems, the thing he affirmed, was false, so he could not tell the colour or quality of the

vestments.

There were two more, who pretended to give evidence against him, that he was a Roman priest; but the one of them said so little to the purpose, that it was not worth the noting, and so he who gave me this relation, being present at the bar, doth not remember what it was, but affirms it was nothing to the purpose. The other witness, testified, that about seven years since, he had apprehended Mr. Ward, carried him to the Gatehouse, and took from him a spiritual book, wherein were his faculties from the see of Rome.

• After these evidences, given in by the three witnesses, the recorder asked Mr. Ward, and bid him answer directly, whether he was a priest or no? He answered, no man was bound to accuse himself, but re

quired that it should be proved against him, if they desired to know the truth thereof, and then professed openly before the bench, that what Mayo had testified was most false; whereupon the recorder demanded of him, if at least, those faculties which had been taken about him, were his; and he answered, he knew of no such thing.

• Nevertheless, upon these evidences, the jury found him guilty; and the same day, in the afternoon, when the judges had dined, he was sent for from the prison, to the bar, where the recorder pronounced sentence of death against him, in the usual manner.

'After this sentence, he was brought back to Newgate, whither, he went most cheerfully, and there, prepared himself for his death, which was to be upon Monday following, being the 26th of July, 1641. And it was wonderful to see with what alacrity of countenance and speech, he resigned himself unto the holy will of Almighty God, professing an ardent desire to suffer for his sake, and declaring, that if any one should attempt to procure his reprieve or pardon, he would hinder it, if he could.

Upon Sunday, which was the day before he died, he desired conference with a priest in the same prison, which lasted for some hours, and was sometimes interrupted with tears of joy, both in the one, and in the other; in which tears, the holy martyr expressed his hearty desire of suffering for his blessed Saviour's sake, and so prettily intermingled his joy with sighs, as if his humility had told him he was not worthy of so great a crown of his unworthy labours, as was this of martyrdom, and ever expressed a fear to be deprived of his highest hopes, out of an unworthiness which he conceived in himself of so great an honour. And to all such as came that day to visit him, he expressed signs of an excessive joy, that he had lived so long as to come to this desired end.

The 26th of July 1641, which was the day of his suffering, being Monday, he said mass very early in the morning, with great devotion and comfort, administered the holy sacrament to some lay catholics, which were his fellow-prisoners and after thanksgiving, communicated to the priest that was with him the day before, certain things, which he desired should be executed after his death; and gave him some money, to be distributed amongst the poor catholics in prison, as also, a twenty-shilling piece to give to Mr. Johnson, the master keeper of Newgate, whom he willed him to thank for his kind usage towards

him.

And it was noted by all who came this morning to him, especially by the priest, that his countenance, which was ever grave, was at this instant more than ordinarily gracious and sweet, as if it had received an outward beauty from the inward grace which was then, no doubt, abundant in his soul. And as the priest and devout catholics who were with him in his chamber, had newly done preparing him for his journey to the gallows, by putting him on a clean cap, band, and cuffs, which were points of great finery in him that affected a contemptible attire, (though then as going to his wedding, and so he was content to put on vestes nuptiales,) instantly, one of the keepers of the prison knocked at the door, to know if he was ready, for that the sledge was

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