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NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Photo by W H. Smith & Son]

[Frontispiece

NOBLE MARTYRS
OF KENT

BY THE REV.

G. ANDERSON MILLER

ROCHESTER

FOREWORD BY THE REV.

H. TYDEMAN CHILVERS

spurgeon's tabernacle

MORGAN ftf SCOTT LTD

(Office of "%\n Christian")

12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS
LONDON E.C. 4

PRINTED IN SCOTLAND

DEDICATED

TO THE REV.

W. FULLER GOOCH

MY FAITHFUL AND LOVING PASTOR

BEFORE BEING ORDAINED

TO THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST

AND

MY INSPIRING EXAMPLE

AND HELPFUL FRIEND

EVER SINCE

PREFACE

IN the course of a long ministry in the Cathedral
city of Rochester, it has been my pleasurable
duty to study Protestantism, also to speak and
write on the same. Many friends have earnestly
and repeatedly urged me to publish a handy book
on the Protestant Martyrs of Kent, and after
prayerful thought I have yielded to their requests.
My sincere hope now is that they will not be dis-
appointed.

With much gratitude I beg to acknowledge my
indebtedness to the following writers and their
works : The Acts and Monuments of the Church [The
Book of Martyrs), by John Foxe ; History of
Protestantism, by Dr. J. A. Wylie ; Beauties of
England and Wales, by E. W. Brayley ; The
Histories of Kent, by Abel, Hasted, Ireland,
Fisher, and Wildash ; The Perambulation of
Kent, by Lambard ; Sketches of Rochester, by
Phippen and Edwin Harris ; History of the
Baptists, by Dr. J. M. Cramp ; Story of the Baptists,
by Dr. J. C. Carlile ; History of the Weald of Kent,
by Robert Furley ; Church History, by Thomas

viii PREFACE

Fuller ; Loyal and True, by H. R. Knight ;
History of England, by J. A. Froude ; A Short
History of the English People, by J. R. Green ;
History of Dartford, by John Dunkin ; History of
Strood, by H. Smetham ; A Saunter through Kent
with Pen and Pencil, by Charles Igglesden.

The need for all to know the Truth and History
of Protestantism is growingly evident, in view of
the inroads of Roman Catholicism, then Anglo-
Catholicism, and now Free Catholicism ! The call
to all true Protestants is to bear their own wit-
ness, and so prove themselves worthy successors
of those who counted not their lives dear to them
in their heroic testimony for Christ.

G. ANDERSON MILLER.

17 Rochester Avenue,
Rochester.

FOREWORD

" T EST we forget " is a quotation in the
I j closing paragraph of this solemnly in-
teresting book, and the words provide a most
fitting reason for the publication of such a story.
There is a great danger in these days of forgetting
the cost at which our religious freedom and Reforma-
tion principles have come to us. Many are looking
askance at the past, as though it contributed
nothing to the present, and the satirical references
made to our fathers, and their faith and fidelity,
are sad signs of the times, and an ominous augury
for the future. We owe a great debt to those
worthies who counted not their lives dear or too
precious to give for the sake of Christ and His
Gospel.

Mr. G. Anderson Miller has done well in adding
this contribution to Protestant literature ; and
surely none is more worthy of the honour to write
it. The author has lived and served as a Baptist
minister in Rochester for thirty-four years ; he has
built up a strong church of men and women who are
true to the Gospel ; and he has been the means

x FOREWORD

of erecting a splendid block of buildings that stand
as a monument to the power of his testimony.
He was one of the many men sent by the late
C. H. Spurgeon to do pioneer Baptist work in Kent.
Everybody who knows G. Anderson Miller knows
him as a stalwart for the truth of God.

The " Garden of England," as Kent is some-
times called, will appear in a new aspect to some
of our young folk when they have read this book ;
for many do not realize how rich the county has
been in faithful witness. The book should be
placed in the hands of all members of our Young
People's Societies and Bible Classes, to whom it is
calculated to render valuable service.

This book is a most timely production ; never
did the people need, as now, to be instructed in
the principles for which the martyrs died. They
need to understand the character of those men and
women of whom the world was not worthy and who
were indeed " faithful unto death." Rome, too,
should be seen in her true colours, for she has not
changed. Semper eadem is her abiding motto.

There must be no parleying with Rome ; she is the
enemy of Protestantism. Rome is making a great
effort to regain ascendancy in this country, and
by Jesuitical means and methods she is not without
success. Transubstantiation and the Mass are un-
scriptural and wicked ; they rob the Saviour of
His glory, and when taught pervert the meaning

FOREWORD xi

of Calvary's sacrifice. These practices are not
only manifest in Roman Catholic circles, but many
Anglo-Catholics are introducing them into the
Church of England.

The Christians of Kent should do all in their
power to circulate this book. It is adapted to
awaken and stir the people from an increasing
apathy and indifference to the advances of
Romanism and the lethargy of Protestantism.
May God speed the effort, and follow the circulation
of the book with His Spirit's power and blessing,
making it a means of revival in those things that
give spiritual muscle and fibre, and put iron into
the blood of Christian men and women. May it
also be a means of stemming the tide of error and
influence emanating from the mystic Babylon,
especially in the honoured County of Kent.

H. TYDEMAN CHILVERS.

Metropolitan Tabernacle,
London, S.E.

CONTENTS

PACJE

I. INTRODUCTORY I

II. ROCHESTER-
NICHOLAS Ridley .... 3

III. ROCHESTER (Continued)—

Nicholas Hall— John Harpole— Joan
Beach . . . . . 13

IV. STROOD—

William Wood— John Pemmell— John
Bailey . . . . . 15

V. DARTFORD—

Christopher Waid— Nicholas Hall-
Margery Polley . . . .20

VI. SEVENOAKS—

John Frith . . . . 25

VII. WROTHAM—

John Corneford . . . 32

VIII. MAIDSTONE—

Edward Walker — Thomas Hitton —
John Denley — John Newman, and
Others . . . . . .38

IX. TONBRIDGE—

Joan Beach— Margery Polley . . 42

xiii

xiv CONTENTS

X. STAPLEHURST— PAGE

Alice Potkins— Joan Bradbridge— Alice
Benden . . . . .45

XI. SMARDEN—

Agnes Snoth — Anne Albright— Joan
Sole— Joan Catmer— John Lomas . 48

XII. BIDDENDEN—

William Waterer— Thomas Stephens . 49

XIII. CRANBROOK—

John Archer— William Lowick . . 50

XIV. TENTERDEN—

John Waddon— William Carder — Agnes
Grebil— John Lomas, and Others . 52

XV. ASHFORD AND HYTHE—

John Brown — Matthew Bradbridge—
Nicholas Final . . . -54

XVI. WYE AND FAVERSHAM—

Thomas Stephens — John Phillpott —
Andrew Hewett, and Others . . 56

XVII. CANTERBURY-
NICHOLAS Shetterden— Stephen Kempe
Thomas Cranmer . . . .62

A PROPOSAL 79

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Rochester Cathedral .
Martyrs' Memorial, Oxford .
Martyrs' Memorial, Dartford
Martyr's Memorial, Pembury.
Martyrs' Memorial, Staplehurst
Westgate, Canterbury .
Martyrs' Memorial, Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral

Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

. 16

24

32
44
56
64
72

NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

i
INTRODUCTORY

DOUBTLESS there have been other brave
martyrs beside those for Protestantism.
All are to be commended who have the courage to
suffer for their convictions, not to say to give their
lives for their principles.

We propose to deal especially with the Protestant
Martyrs of Kent. Kent means " headland " or
" corner," and it is truly the head of all the counties
in the land for its number of martyrs in the Marian
Persecution, for no fewer than sixty-four out of the
three hundred or more victims of Popish error
and victors for Protestant truth, in that eventful
period, were from " The Garden of England."
Most of these were done to death at Canterbury.
Some forty-one were burnt to death in the Martyrs'
Field, and five were starved to death in the Castle.
The great majority were from outside that ecclesi-
astical city, and were brought from town and
village to pass through their fiery trial.

The arms of Kent are very suggestive, namely,
a white horse rampant, with the motto " Invicta,"
meaning unconquered or invincible. This word
fittingly describes the spirit of those who, through

2 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

the Conquering Christ of Calvary (and there is a
vision of Him, and the white horse, in Rev. xix. n),
were enabled to say, " Nay, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through Him that loved
us " (Rom. viii. 37).

Froude in his History of England (vol. vi. p. 101)
with burning words thus describes the cruelty of
Rome's representatives, Cardinal Pole and Queen
Mary, and their willing servants : " They went out
into the highways and hedges ; they gathered up
the lame, the halt, the blind ; they took the weaver
from his loom, the carpenter from his workshop,
the husbandman from his plough ; they laid hands
on maidens and boys. . . . Old men tottering to
their grave, and children whose lips could but just
lisp the articles of their creed, and of these they
made their burnt -offerings ; with these they crowded
their prisons, and when filth and famine killed them,
they flung them out to rot."

Moreover, Lord Burghley said : " By imprison-
ment, by torment, by famine, by fire, almost the
number of four hundred were in their various ways
lamentably destroyed."

It is instructive and inspiring to think of lovely
Kent, with its beauty and fertility so evident, as
being the most fruitful of all the counties in pro-
ducing fearless witnesses for the Protestant faith.

We propose a tour through Kent, visiting the spots
made historic in Protestantism by God's faithful
people. Our pilgrimage will commence at Rochester
— famous for its Cathedral and Castle, famed also as
Dickens-land, but honoured indeed through those
linked to this ancient city on the Martyrs' Roll.

II

ROCHESTER

Nicholas Ridley

THE first martyr with whom we meet is
Nicholas Ridley, who was Bishop of
Rochester for two years and seven months. He
was born in the county of Northumberland, being
descended from a much-respected family. His
early education was received at Newcastle. From
thence he went to the University of Cambridge,
where he soon became famous for his singular
aptness for learning, and was called to high office
in the University. Whilst head of Pembroke Hall
he was made Doctor of Divinity.

Ridley travelled on the Continent for three years
to increase his knowledge, and thus made the
acquaintance of some of the early Reformers,
whose doctrine he afterwards espoused. On his
return to Cambridge, he was made Proctor of the
University, and as such protested against the claims
of the Pope to exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction
over the realm. He was chosen as Public Orator,
and through the influence of Archbishop Cranmer
was given the living of Heme, near Heme Bay.
In the church there is to be seen a small memorial

4 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

of him with the inscription : "In memory of
Nicholas Ridley, Martyr, sometime Vicar of
Heme. For the Word of God and the testi-
mony of Jesus Christ." He became one of the
Chaplains to King Henry viii., and on September
4th, 1547, was elevated to the Bishopric of
Rochester.

In April 1550, during the reign of Edward VI.,
he was promoted to the See of London. In his
important offices he so diligently applied himself
to the preaching and teaching of " the true and
wholesome doctrine of Christ," that he was deeply
beloved by his flock in both of his dioceses. He
was truly anxious to gain the Papists from their
erroneous opinions, and sought by gentleness to
win them to the truth.

One incident will illustrate his godly zeal. Not-
withstanding the changes in religion since the
abolition of Papal supremacy in England, the
daughter of Henry viii., Princess Mary (afterwards
Queen Mary), refused to conform to them, and
maintained the service of the Mass. Bishop
Ridley went to visit her at Hunsden, when there
ensued the following curious dialogue, which we
reproduce from John Foxe :

" After the Bishop had saluted the Princess, he
said he had come to do his duty to her. Then she
thanked him for his pains, and for a quarter of an
hour talked with him very pleasantly, and said
she knew him in the Court when he was chaplain
to her father, and could well remember a sermon he
had preached before King Henry, and so dismissed
him to dine with her officers. After dinner, the

ROCHESTER 5

Bishop was called for by the Princess, and the
conversation was as follows :

" Bishop. — ' Madam, I came not only to do my
duty to see your Grace, but also to offer myself
to preach before you on Sunday next, if it will please
you to hear me.'

" At this her countenance changed, and after
silence for a space, she answered thus :

" Mary. — ' My lord, as for this matter, I pray
you make the answer to it yourself.'

" Bishop. — ' Madam, considering mine office and
calling, I am bound in duty to make to your Grace
this offer, to preach before you.'

" Mary. — ' Well, I pray you make the answer
(as I have said) to this matter yourself ; for you
know the answer well enough. But if there be no
remedy, I must make you answer : the door of the
parish church adjoining shall be open for you, if
you come, and you may preach if you list ; but
neither I nor any of mine shall hear you.'

" Bishop. — ' Madam, I trust you will not refuse
God's Word.'

" Mary. — ' I cannot tell what ye call God's
Word ; that is not God's Word now, that was
God's Word in my father's days.'

" Bishop. — ' God's Word is one in all times, but
hath been better understood and practised in some
ages than in others.'

" Mary. — ' You durst not, for your ears, have
avouched that for God's Word in my father's days
that now ye do. And as for your new books, I
thank God I never read any of them ; I never did,
nor ever will do.'

6 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

" And after many bitter words against the form
of religion then established, and against the govern-
ment of the realm, and the laws made in the young
years of her brother, Edward vi. — which she said
she was not bound to obey till her brother came to
perfect age, and then she affirmed she would obey
them — she asked the Bishop whether he were one
of the Council. He answered, ' No.' ' You might
well enough be,' said she, ' as the Council goeth
nowadays.'

" And so she concluded with these words : ' My
lord, for your gentleness to come and see me, I
thank you ; but for your offering to preach before
me, I thank you not a whit.'

" After he had partaken of some refreshment in
the place where he had dined, Ridley paused awhile,
looking very sad, and suddenly broke out into
these words : ' Surely I have done amiss, for I
have drunk in the place where God's Word offered
hath been refused ; whereas, if I had remembered
my duty, I ought to have departed immediately,
and to have shaken off the dust of my shoes for a
testimony against this house.' These words were
spoken with such vehemence that some of the hearers
afterwards confessed their hair to stand upright on
their heads ! This done, the Bishop departed, and
so returned to his house."

Bishop Ridley was first brought to a knowledge
of Christ by reading Bertram's book on The Sacra-
ment, and his conference with Archbishop Cranmer
and Peter Martyr did much to confirm him in that
belief. Being now, by the grace of God, thoroughly
converted to the true way, he was as constant and

ROCHESTER 7

faithful in the right knowledge which the Lord had
revealed to him, as he was before blind and zealous
in his old ignorance of the Truth. He was mighty
in his influence for spiritual good.

Alas ! on Mary's accession to the throne he was
one of the first upon whom the persecutors laid
their hands and sent to prison — first in the Tower
of London, and from thence conveyed to Oxford,
and with Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Latimer
confined in the common prison of Bocardo ; but
being separated from them, he was committed to
custody in the house of Mr. Irish, Mayor of Oxford,
where he was kept till the day of his martyrdom,
from 1554 until October 16th, 1555. He was cited,
with Latimer, to appear before the Lords Commis-
sioners at the Divinity School, Oxford.

Ridley was examined first, and afterwards Hugh
Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. The Commissioners
appointed by Cardinal Pole were : John White,
Bishop of Lincoln ; Dr. Brooks, Bishop of Gloucester ;
and Dr. Holyman, Bishop of Bristol. After a
lengthy examination, in which both Ridley and
Latimer gave fearless and faultless replies, Ridley
confessed that at one time he held the doctrines of
the Church of Rome, but he now rejected them
entirely wherein they differed from the Bible. He
was then requested to answer certain Articles drawn
up by his episcopal judges.

" Item 1. — ' We do object to thee, Nicholas
Ridley, first that thou, in this high University of
Oxford, in the year 1554, hast affirmed, and openly
defended and maintained, and in many other times
and places besides, that the true and natural body

8 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

of Christ, after the consecration of the Priest, is not
really present in the Sacrament of the Altar.'

" Item 2. — ' That in the said year aforesaid thou
hast publicly affirmed and defended that in the
Sacrament of the Altar remaineth still the substance
of bread and wine.'

" Item 3. — ' That in the said year thou hast
openly affirmed, and obstinately maintained, that
in the Mass is no propitiatory Sacrifice for the
quick and the dead.'

" Item 4. — ' That in the year, place, and months
aforesaid, these the aforesaid assertions solemnly
had been condemned, by the scholastical censure
of this school, as heretical and contrary to the
Catholic faith, by Dr. Weston, prolocutor then of
the Convocation House, as also of other learned
men of both the Universities.'

" Item 5. — ' That the premises be true and openly
known by public fame, as well to them near at hand
as also to them in distant places.' "

After the examination, the Bishop of Lincoln,
President of the Commission, concluded in the
following words :

" Master Ridley, I am sorry to see such stubborn-
ness in you, that by no means you will be persuaded
to acknowledge your errors, and receive the truth ;
but seeing it is so, because you will not suffer us
to persist in the first, we must of necessity proceed
to the other part of our commission. Therefore,
I pray you, hearken to what I shall say."

And forthwith he read the sentence of condemna-
tion, which was written in a long process ; the
substance of which was, that the said Nicholas

ROCHESTER 9

Ridley did affirm, maintain, and stubbornly defend
certain opinions, assertions, and heresies, contrary
to the Word of God and the received faith of the
Catholic Church, and could by no means be turned
from his heresies. They therefore condemned
him as an obstinate heretic, and adjudged him
presently, both by word and in deed, to be degraded
from the degree of a Bishop, from the priesthood,
and all the ecclesiastical orders ; declaring him,
moreover, to be no member of the Church, and,
therefore, they committed him to the secular
powers, of them to receive due punishment accord-
ing to the temporal laws.

Dr. Ridley was committed as a prisoner to the
Mayor, Mr. Irish, till he should suffer death as
appointed.

On the night before Ridley suffered, as he sat
at supper, at the house of Mr. Irish, his custodian,
he invited his hostess, and the rest at the table, to
his marriage : " For," said he, " to-morrow I must
be married." And he was as merry as ever he had
been before. And wishing his sister to be at his
marriage, he asked his brother, who was at the
table, whether he thought she could find it in her
heart to be there, to which the latter answered :
" Yes, I dare say, with all her heart " ; at which
he said he was glad to hear of her sincerity.

At this discourse Mrs. Irish, the Mayoress, wept,
but Dr. Ridley comforted her, saying : " Oh, Mrs.
Irish ! you love me not, I see well enough ; for in
that you weep, it doth appear you will not be
at my marriage, neither are content therewith.
Indeed, you are not so much my friend as I

10 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

thought you were. Be quiet yourself ; though
my breakfast shall be somewhat sharp, yet my
supper will be more pleasant."

The place of execution chosen was on the north
side of Oxford, in the ditch over against Balliol
College. Dr. Ridley had on a black gown, furred
and faced, such as he used to wear as Bishop. He
walked to the stake between the Mayor and an
Alderman. As he passed towards the Bocardo
Prison, he looked up to where Dr. Cranmer lay,
hoping to see him at the window, and to speak
to him.

Dr. Cranmer was engaged in a disputation with
a Spanish friar, Soto, and his fellows, so that
he could not see him. But Cranmer looked after
them, and devoutly prayed to God to strengthen
the faith and patience of Ridley and Latimer in
their last but painful passage.

Then, looking back, Dr. Ridley saw Latimer
coming after, unto whom he said : " Oh, are you
there ? " " Yea," said Latimer, " have after, as
fast as I can." So he followed a little way off,
until they came to the stake.

Dr. Ridley, entering the place first, earnestly
holding up both his hands, looked steadfastly
toward heaven ; then shortly after, seeing Latimer
with a cheerful look, he ran to him and embraced
him, saying : " Be of good heart, brother, for God
will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else
strengthen us to abide it."

He then went to the stake, and kneeling down,
prayed with great fervour, while Latimer, following,
kneeled also, and prayed with like earnestness.

ROCHESTER 11

After this, Dr. Smith began his sermon to them
on these words : " And though I give my body to
be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing " (i Cor. xiii. 3).

Strange that this panegyric on love should have
been so prostituted on this occasion.

At the conclusion of the sermon, Ridley said to
Latimer : " Will you answer or shall I ? "

Latimer said : " Begin you first, I pray you."

" I will," said Ridley.

He then knelt, with Latimer, to Lord Williams,
the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and said : " I beseech
you, my lord, even for Christ's sake, that I may
speak but two or three words." And while my
lord bent his head to the Mayor and the other
Commissioners, the bailiffs ran hastily to him, and
with their hands stopped his mouth.

Dr. Marshal said : " Master Ridley, if you will
revoke your erroneous opinions, you shall not only
have liberty so to do, but also your life."

" Not otherwise ? " said Ridley.

"No," answered Marshal; "therefore, if you
will not do so, there is no remedy ; you must suffer
your deserts."

" Well," said the martyr Bishop, "so long as the
breath is in my body, I will never deny my Lord
Christ and His known truth. God's will be done in
me."

With that he rose, and said with a loud voice :
" I commit our cause to Almighty God, who will
indifferently judge all."

Then the smith took a chain of iron and placed
it about their waists ; and as he was knocking in

12 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

the staple, Ridley took the chain in his hand, and
looking aside to the smith, said : " Good fellow,
knock it hard, for the flesh will have its course."

They then brought a lighted faggot, and laid it
at Ridley's feet ; upon which Latimer said : "Be
of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man !
We shall this day light such a candle, by God's
grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put
out."

Ridley was the longer to suffer because the
faggots were piled too high and so close to his body.
He said : " Let the fire come to me, for I cannot
burn." A bag of gunpowder was put on the
flames, and he expired at last, saying : " Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit ! "

Thus died the good Nicholas Ridley, once Bishop
of Rochester.

We shall here do well to recall the beautiful
poem of Wordsworth on these two brave martyr-
bishops :

LATIMER AND RIDLEY

How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled !

See Latimer and Ridley in the might

Of faith stand coupled for a common flight !

One (like those prophets whom God sent of old)

Transfigured, from this kindling hath foretold

A torch of inextinguishable light ;

The other gains a confidence as bold ;

And thus they foil their enemy's despite.

The penal instruments, the shows of crime,

Are glorified while this once-mitred pair

Of saintly friends, the " murtherer's chain partake,

Corded, and burning at the social stake " ;

Earth never witnessed object more sublime

In constancy, in fellowship more fair !

Ill

ROCHESTER (Continued)

Nicholas Hall — John Harpole — Joan Beach

THREE other names have added lustre to
the glory of the city of Rochester —
Nicholas Hall, John Harpole, and Joan Beach.

Nicholas Hall was a bricklayer of Dartford, and
was tried with Christopher Waid, a fellow-towns-
man, before the then Bishop of Rochester, Maurice
Griffiths.

It was the common charge of heresy. Hall
refused to call the Holy Catholic Church his Mother,
because he found not this word in connection with
the Church in Scripture, and he declared the Mass
to be naught and abominable as used. Sentence
of condemnation was passed, and he was appointed
to be burnt. This " brick " of a bricklayer was
burnt to death at Rochester, July 19th, 1555.

John Harpole was a citizen of St. Nicholas
Parish, Rochester. Joan Beach was a widow, of
Tonbridge. Both were examined by the Bishop
of Rochester, and condemned because they did
" affirm, maintain," and believe, contrary to the
Mother Holy Catholic Church of Christ, that in
the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar under the form

14 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

of Bread and Wine there is Not the " Very Body
and Blood of Our Saviour in substance, but only
a token and memorial thereof."

Joan Beach declared that " the Holy Catholic
Church was not her Mother, but believed only the
Father in Heaven to be her Father."

It was because John Harpole and Joan Beach
(as well as many others in those bitter days) so
realized the error of Transubstantiation and its dis-
honour of their Saviour and Lord, that they were
ready to seal their testimony with their life-blood.
Both were condemned to death in one sentence at
the Bishop's Palace by Bishop Griffiths, into whose
prison they had been cast. It is this Bishop of
whom Fuller, in his Church History, says : " This
Bishop played the tyrant."

Early in the morning of April ist, 1556, John
Harpole and Joan Beach were led out to die. They
were both chained to the stake, and again and
again they were urged to recant, but every time
they refused. The torch was applied to the faggots,
and soon the flames did their deadly work.

These two martyrs were faithful unto death, and
went to receive the crown of life.

IV
STROOD

William Wood — John Pemmell — John Bailey

WE pause awhile at Strood, where three
heroic men are worthy of remembrance
by Protestants — William Wood, a baker ; John
Pemmell, a fisherman ; and John Bailey, a glover.

All three were willing to die the martyr's death,
and no thanks to Rome that they perished not in
the flames.

William Wood, on October 19th, 1558, was
charged before the Mayor of Rochester in St.
Nicholas Church, with heresy concerning " the Real
Presence." He was examined by the Chancellor
of the Diocese (Dr. Kennal), and Dr. Chedsey, a
Commissioner and a bitter Romanist. These two
divines differed respecting the proper definition of
the word " Transubstantiation " (meaning " a change
into another substance," namely, that the bread
and wine become the actual Body and Blood of
Christ).

Each was so full of passion that first one and
then the other bounced out of his judgment-seat
in the Church, leaving the so-called heretic alone
with the Mayor.

16 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

William Wood was allowed quietly to escape,
thanks to the Mayor.

John Pemmell and John Bailey were both
brought before the Bishop at his Palace. It is
the same Bishop (Maurice Griffiths) who was the
first to light the martyr fires in Queen Mary's
reign.

These two Strood men were charged with " non-
attendance at Church and neglect of the Mass."
While the case was proceeding in the Palace yard,
where a large sailcloth had been fixed up to screen
the Bishop and his supporters from the sun, the
wind sprang up, and with such force that it
blew down the screen, and injured some of the
judges. The Bishop hastily rose and dismissed
the cases.

These two brave Johns of Strood were set at
liberty, though they were willing to burn rather
than turn.

So there were three champions of the faith in
Strood, who " kept the bridge in the brave days of
old."

Let us now journey on to Cooling, for at Cooling
Castle there lived the first Protestant martyr of
Kent, the good Lord Cobham. He was one of the
Lollards, the followers of John Wycliffe.

Lord Cobham, formerly Sir John Oldcastle, was
a knight of Herefordshire and married the heiress
of Cowling — or Cooling — Castle, near Rochester.
He sat in Parliament under the title of Lord
Cobham, in the right of his wife's barony.

In youth, Lord Cobham was gay and wild, though
clever and cultured, but through studying the

martyrs' memorial, oxford

[Facing page 16

STROOD 17

writings of John Wycliffe and reading the Bible his
heart was changed, and he was truly converted.

Dr. J. A. Wylie, the Protestant historian, says :
" So now to the knightly virtues of bravery and
honour were added the Christian graces of humility
and purity." He had borne arms under Henry iv.
in France, and Henry had set a great value on his
military accomplishments. He was a close com-
panion to Henry v., then Prince Henry ; but when
he became a Lollard, he had to pay the price of his
faithfulness.

Lord Cobham made no secret of his Christian
faith. He moved from his place in Parliament, as
early as 1391, that : " It would be very commodious
for England if the Pope's jurisdiction stopped at
Calais, and did not cross the sea." Would there
were more lords of such character to-day ! It is
said that so keen was he for the Word of God to
be circulated, that he had copies of Wycliffe's Bible
prepared for France, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, and
other lands beside.

Cooling Castle was thrown open to the Lollards,
and became their headquarters whilst in the district.
Often Lord Cobham might have been seen with his
hand resting on his sword ready to defend these
brave witnesses for Christ against the friars and
priests. Archbishop Arundel and the Bishops
became very bitter against him, so much so that, in
convocation at St. Paul's in 1413, the Archbishop
rose and called attention to the progress of Lollard-
ism in the land, and pointed to Lord Cobham as
the chief abettor of the Lollards. His lordship had
a friend in the King, who did his best to stay the

18 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

persecution until, alas ! he was over-persuaded by
the Archbishop to allow the persecutors to proceed
with their cruel work.

Lord Cobham was arrested, taken to the Tower
of London, then brought before the Archbishop
and others and examined. He answered fearlessly
and faithfully — " Not the crucifix, but Christ " —
and declared the Pope to be Antichrist. He was
sent back to the Tower as a prisoner, but escaped
to Wales, where he remained four years. The
sum of one thousand marks was offered as reward for
Lord Cobham, dead or alive. Lord Powis discovered
his hiding-place, and for greed of gold betrayed
him. Taken by his pursuers, he was roughly
handled, and in a scuffle his leg was broken. He
was removed on a horse litter to London, and once
more placed in the Tower. Again and again he was
urged to recant. A false report was spread abroad
to the effect that he had recanted ; but, on the
contrary, he reaffirmed his faith.

At last it was decided " to hang and burn him "
at St. Giles-in-the-Fields, to which place he was
dragged on a hurdle. The grand old man knelt
and prayed for forgiveness for the sins of his godless
youth, and pardon for his enemies. He urged the
people to accept the Word of God, to beware of
false teachers, and ever to be true to Christ. While
life lasted in the flames, he praised God all the time.
Friars and priests slandered his character, and
alleged that he was a rogue.

Even Shakespeare believed the lying statements
for a time and introduced him in Henry IV., but
afterwards scratched out " Oldcastle " and put the

STROOD 19

name " Falstaff " instead when he knew the real
facts of the case. Shakespeare's mind evidently
changed too, for he said : "Sir John Oldcastle
died a martyr, and this is not the man." He was a
valiant martyr, and a virtuous peer.

To Lord Cobham fell the unique honour of being
the first of the English nobility to suffer martyrdom
and die for the Protestant faith in the fair county
of Kent.

V

DARTFORD

Christopher Waid — Nicholas Hall — Margery
Polley

IT was in June 1555 that Christopher Waid, a
linen-weaver, and Nicholas Hall, a bricklayer,
both of Dartford, were arrested because of their
Protestant principles, and charged with heresy
before the notorious Maurice Griffiths, Bishop of
Rochester. The arms of this oft-mentioned Bishop
consisted of a black dragon, and can be seen in
the choir of Rochester Cathedral. Apart from its
heraldic meaning, the dragon speaks for itself.

Both these good men were sentenced to be burnt ;
Christopher Waid was appointed to suffer his penalty
on July 17th, but Nicholas Hall was not put to
death until July 19th ; and this took place at
Rochester, as already stated.

Christopher Waid was taken early in the morning
to the Brent, and into a gravel pit used for the
execution of felons. Christopher Waid and one
Margery Polley — a widow of Pembury, who had
previously been condemned for heresy by the same
episcopal judge, Griffiths — were in charge of the
Sheriff, who had a large retinue.

DARTFORD 21

Margery Polley said to Christopher Waid, on
seeing in the distance the large crowd assembled
to behold the burning : " You may rejoice to see
such a company gathered to celebrate your marriage
this day," and both martyrs sang a psalm. Margery
Polley was kept in the town until the Sheriff's return
from Waid's execution, and was conveyed the same
day to Tonbridge to meet her fate there.

Christopher Waid was stripped of his clothes in
an inn, and clad in a long white garment. He was
then led to the stake, which he embraced. He set
his back to be chained as required.

A pitch barrel having been placed near him, he
was fastened to the stake. As soon as this was
done, he looked up to heaven and, with a loud and
cheerful voice, said : " Shew me a token for good,
that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed :
because Thou, Lord, hast helped me " (Ps. lxxxvi. 17).

Near the stake was a mound and four posts on
the top, covered round about like a pulpit. Into
this place a friar went, book in hand. Christopher
Waid, on seeing the friar, urged the people to " heed
the Gospel and beware of the errors of Rome."

The Sheriff interrupted Waid by saying : "Be
quiet, Waid, and die patiently."

Waid said : "I am quiet, thank God, and so
trust to die." All the time the friar stood still,
looking as if he would speak, but could not. At
length he departed.

Faggots were then piled around the martyr,
who, with his own hands, opened a space for his
face to be seen, and for him to see others. His
voice was heard again and again, saying : " Lord

22 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

Jesus, receive my soul ! " Not a sign of impatience
or cowardice was visible, and when he could no
longer speak, he put his hands over his head and
toward heaven.

So died Christopher Waid, well named Christopher,
" the Christ-bearer." It is recorded that " divers
fruiterers came with horse-loads of cherries and
sold them to the many people who had come to
witness the martyrdom," but, while there were
those who found pleasure in such painful sights,
we rejoice that fruit abides, and abounds to the
memory of the sufferers in those sad and bad days.

Ere we leave Dartford we must climb the East
Hill, and see the splendid Martyrs' Memorial stand-
ing in the historic Old Burial-Ground :

THE DARTFORD MARTYRS' MEMORIAL

On the front side we read :

1851

Brecteo

to tbc dfcemor\> of

CHRISTOPHER WAID

Linen Weaver of Dartford.

A PROTESTANT

who was Burned for his Faith

on Dartford Brent

July 19, 1555

He repeated at the stake :

" Shew some token unto me for good,
that they which hate me may see it, and
be ashamed : because thou, lord, hast
helped me, and comforted me."

DARTFORD 23

On the left side, the inscription continues :

Other Dartford Martyrs were

NICHOLAS HALL, 1555.

MARGERY POLLEY, 1555.
Rev. vi. 9, 10, 11.
" I saw under the altar the souls of them
that were slain for the Word of God, and for
the testimony which they held : and they
cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O
Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?
And white robes were given unto every one
of them ; and it was said unto them, that
they should rest yet for a little season, until
their fellow-servants also and their brethren,
that should be killed as they were, should be
fulfilled."

On the right side are the words :

THE

NOBLE
ARMY OF
MARTYRS

PRAISE

THEE.

On the rear side of the Monument are the words :

This

MARTYRS' MONUMENT

in the spirit of

the Recorded

Anointing

of the Saviour

with Costly Ointment

is

for a Memorial

of Love

to Jesus and His Church.

24 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

Around the base of the Monument are the words :

"Precious in the Sight of the Lord is
the Death of His Saints."

On one of the sides is also the statement :

" This Monument was restored by
Public Subscription, a.d. 1888."

MARTYRS' MEMORIAL, DARTFORD

Photo by Snoivdon Bros., Dart/ord]

[Facing page 24

VI
SEVENOAKS

John Frith

THIS town received its name from seven large
oak trees which stood upon the eminence
where the town was afterwards built. The out-
standing object of present interest, amid the
beautiful woodland scenery of this delightful place,
is the name of one of England's noblest " hearts
of oak," as proved by his soundness, strength, and
stability in his service and suffering for Christ's
sake, namely, John Frith.

He was the son of an innkeeper, but, as John
Foxe says : "He was possessed of marvellously
quick parts, and with diligence and delight in
learning equal to his genius, he would have opened
for himself an easy road to honours and dignities
had he not wholly consecrated himself to the service
of the Church of Christ."

He commenced his studies at Cambridge, but was
afterwards appointed by Cardinal Wolsey to serve
with other learned scholars at his College at Oxford.

Frith first received the truth of the Gospel through
another University student, William Tyndale, and
these two saintly scholars " were perfectly emanci-

26 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

pated from the yoke of the Papacy," and their
emancipation had been accomplished by the Word of
God alone. Soon the persecuting spirit of Rome
began its evil work, and John Frith was committed to
prison by Cardinal Wolsey with eight others from
Wolsey's College. Their prison was " a damp and
dark cellar below the buildings of the college, smelling
rankly of the putrid articles stored up in it. Here
these young doctors and scholars were left breathing
the fetid air and enduring great misery."

Foxe gives even fuller details of this gloomy and
gruesome place of incarceration. " A deep cave
under the ground of the same college, where their
salt fish was laid, so that through the filthy stench
thereof they were all infected " (vol. v. p. 5).

After their examination they were condemned to
do public penance for their " erroneous " opinions.
A great fire was kindled in the market-place ; the
prisoners — than whom, of all the youth of
Oxford, none had a finer genius, or were more
accomplished in letters — were marshalled in pro-
cession ; with faggot on shoulder they marched
through the streets to where the bonfire blazed,
and finished their penitential performance by
throwing their heretical books into it.

After this, they were again sent back to their
dungeon. For weeks Frith and his companions
in tribulation were kept in their noisome prison ;
their strength ebbed away, and although they
beguiled the time by prayer and helpful conversation,
the chilly damp and corrupted air did their terrible
work upon them. Four were allowed to depart,
but only to die as the result of this callous treatment.

SEVENOAKS 27

For six months they sustained life in this dreadful
place, with poison in the air and fever in their
blood, but they lived to serve the cause they so nobly
represented. Some shone in the schools, others in
the pulpit, and others, like Frith, consummated at
the stake, long years after, the martyrdom theyMiad
begun in the dungeon at Oxford.

After many labours in the cause of Christ, Frith
decided to assist William Tyndale in the translation
of the New Testament, and so laboured that his
fellow-countrymen might receive the light of the
Gospel. On the completion of this glorious task,
he felt compelled to return to England from Ant-
werp, whither he had gone to help his friend,
Tyndale. He then began to preach the Gospel
from house to house. He also used his pen with
power, and to him belongs the honour of being
the first to write against the Corporeal Presence
in the Sacrament. His writings fell into the hands
of Sir Thomas More, and were answered by him ;
but instead of being allowed to defend his faith,
he was arrested, by the order of Sir Thomas More,
on behalf of Cardinal Wolsey, and was once more
put in prison. Then, though loaded with irons,
and without books, he replied. For these offences
he was taken before Bishops Stokesly, Gardiner,
and Longland, his judges, in May 1533, when he
bravely gave his reasons for the faith he held.

The Bishops seemed unwilling to condemn this
scholar and saint, but he was so resolute in the
stand he had taken that Stokesly pronounced
sentence and delivered him to the secular
power, " at the same time desiring that his punish-

28 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

merit might be moderated, so that the rigour might
not be too extreme, nor yet the gentleness of it
too much mitigated " — a piece of hypocrisy which
deceived no one.

Frith, with a fellow-martyr, one Andrew Hewitt,
was brought to the stake at Smithfield on July 4th,
I533- On arriving there, he expressed great joy,
and hugged the faggots with delight. A priest
named Cook, who stood by, told the people not
to pray for the culprits any more than they would
do for a dog. At this, Frith smiled, and prayed God
to forgive him. The fire was then kindled, and the
martyrs consumed to ashes ; but their names live
still.

John Frith has left a name in Sevenoaks — aye,
and in his native land ! — that is writ large in deep,
clear, and imperishable letters. He was the writer
of some scholarly volumes on the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper and on Purgatory. He encountered
many troubles, some of which he set forth in a
Letter to his Friends, paragraphs from which are
herewith reproduced :

" I doubt not, dear brethren, but that it doth
some deal vex you, to see the one part to have all
the words, and freely to speak what they list, and
the others to be put to silence, and not be heard
indifferently. But refer your matters unto God,
who shortly shall judge after another fashion. In
the meantime, I have written unto you, as briefly
as I may, what articles were objected against me,
and what were the principal points of my con-
demnation, that ye might understand the matter
certainly.

SEVENOAKS 29

" The whole matter of this my examination was
comprehended in two special articles, that is to
say, Of Purgatory, and Of the Substance of the
Sacrament.

" And first of all, as touching Purgatory, they in-
quired of me whether I did believe there was any
place to purge the spots and filth of the soul after
this life ? But I said, that I thought there was no
such place : for man (said I) doth consist and is
made only of two parts, that is to say, of the body
and the soul, whereof the one is purged here in this
world, by the cross of Christ, which He layeth upon
every child that He receiveth ; as affliction, worldly
oppression, persecution, imprisonment, etc. The
last of all, the reward of sin, which is death, is laid
upon us : but the soul is purged with the Word of
God, which we receive through faith, to the salva-
tion both of body and soul. Now if ye can show
me a third part of man besides the body and the
soul, I will also grant unto you the third place,
which ye do call Purgatory. But because ye
cannot do this, I must also of necessity deny unto
you the Bishop of Rome's Purgatory. Never-
theless, I count neither part a necessary article
of our faith, to be believed under pain of
damnation, whether there be such a Purgatory
or no.

" Secondly, they examined me touching the
Sacrament of the Altar, whether it was the very
body of Christ or no ?

" I answered, that I thought it was both Christ's
body and also our body, as St. Paul teacheth us in
I Cor. x. For in that it is made one bread of many

30 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

corns, it is called our body, which, being divers
and many members, are associated and gathered
together into one fellowship or body. Likewise
of the wine which is gathered of many clusters of
grapes, and is made into one liquor. But the same
bread again, in that it is broken, is the body of
Christ ; declaring His body to be broken and
delivered unto death, to redeem us from our
iniquities.

" Furthermore, in that the sacrament is distri-
buted, it is Christ's body signifying that as verily
as the sacrament is distributed unto us, so verily
are Christ's body and the fruit of His passion distri-
buted unto all faithful people.

" In that it is received, it is Christ's body, signify-
ing that as verily as the outward man receiveth
the sacrament with his teeth and mouth, so verily
doth the inward man, through faith, receive
Christ's body and the fruit of His passion, and is as
sure of it as of the bread which he eateth.

" Well (said they), dost thou not think that His
very natural body, flesh, blood, and bone, is really
contained under the sacrament, and there present
without all figure or similitude ? No (said I), I do
not so think : notwithstanding I would not that
any should count, that I make my saying (which is
the negative) any article of faith. For even as I
say, that you ought not to make any necessary
article of the faith of your part (which is the
affirmative), so I say again, that we make no
necessary article of the faith of our part, but leave
it indifferent for all men to judge therein, as God shall
open their hearts ; and no side to condemn or despise

SEVENOAKS 31

the other, but to nourish in all things brotherly
love ; and one to bear another's infirmity.

" As touching the cause why I cannot affirm
the doctrine of Transubstantiation, divers reasons
do lead me thereunto : first, for that I do plainly
see it to be false and vain, and not to be grounded
upon any reason, either of the Scriptures or of
approved doctors. Secondly, for that by my
example I would not be an author unto Christians
to admit anything as a matter of faith, more than
the necessary points of their creed, wherein the
whole sum of our salvation doth consist, especially
such things, the belief whereof hath no certain
argument of authority or reason. I added, more-
over, that their Church (as they call it) hath no
such power and authority, that it either ought or
may bind us, under the peril of our souls, to the
believing of any such articles. Thirdly, because
I will not, for the favour of our divines or priests,
be prejudicial in this point unto so many nations,
of Germans, Helvetians, and others, which alto-
gether rejecting the transubstantiation of the
bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ,
are all of the same opinion that I am, as well those
that take Luther's part as those that hold with
(Ecolampadius. Which things standing in this
case, I suppose there is no man of any upright
conscience, who will not allow the reason of my
death, which I am put unto for this only cause,
that I do not think transubstantiation, although it
were true indeed, to be established for an article
of faith."

VII
WROTHAM

John Corneford

WE will now go from the busy towns to the
quiet village of Wrotham. Can any good
thing come out of a village ? Come and see ; for out
of the various places represented in Kent by Pro-
testant Martyrs, are nine towns, but no fewer than
nineteen villages. Brave victors of the village !

John Corneford, of Wrotham, was one of the
last five burnt in the Marian Persecution. Queen
Mary was very ill at the time, but so bitter against
the Protestants that she would not wait for recovery ;
rather she wished the brutal work to continue.
John Corneford, with others, was tried for rejecting
the doctrines of Transubstantiation, and Prayers to
the Virgin Mary and the Saints. This hero of the
village was burnt at Canterbury on November 15th,
1558, and witnessed a good confession for Christ.

While at Wrotham we cannot but be impressed
by its magnificent views. And it will be well worth
our while at this quiet and charming spot to see
that we have right conceptions concerning the
dogma of Transubstantiation, since Rome so per-
sistently made this the touchstone with which to

WROTHAM 38

test her many victims. This dogma was broached
as early as the ninth century, but not formally
established until the Council of Lateran, 1215,
under Pope Innocent ill. ; nor was it till three
centuries later that the Council of Trent decreed
it to be " a true and propitiatory Sacrifice."

Canon I. of the Council of Trent (a.d. 1545-1563,
Session XIII.) says : " If any shall deny that in the
Sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, there is
contained truly, really, and substantially the body
and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but shall say that He is only in
it in sign, or figure, or power, let him be accursed."

"It is also in this place to be explained by the
pastors that there is contained, not only the true
body of Christ, and whatever belongs to a true
condition (or definition) of a body, such as Bones
and Nerves, but also a whole Christ." Again,
" It ought to be accounted but one and the same
Sacrifice which is done in the Mass, and which was
offered on the Cross " (Catechism of Council of Trent).

" This Council began its deliberations by re-
pudiating the maxim of Protestants that Scripture
is the final authority. At its third Session it
decreed that the traditions of the Fathers are of
equal authority with the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, and that no one is to presume
to interpret Scripture in a sense different from
that of the Church. This secured that nothing
should emanate from the Council save a series of
thoroughly Popish decisions and dogmas, all of
them, like the first, under the pain of Anathema "
(History of Protestantism, Dr. J. A. Wylie).
3

84 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

The Corpus Christi Festival of the Roman
Catholic Church was instituted by Pope Urban,
between 1262 and 1264, in honour of Transubstan-
tiation. It is celebrated on the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday. The Corpus Christi Procession
is illegal in England as declared in the Roman
Catholic Emancipation Act (Sec. 26, 10 George
iv., c. 7, 1829). " And be it further enacted that
if any Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, or any member
of any of the Orders, Communities, or Societies
hereinafter mentioned, shall, after the commence-
ment of this Act, exercise any of the Rites or Cere-
monies of the Roman Catholic Religion, or wear
the Habits of his Orders save within the usual
places of Worship of the Roman Catholic Religion or
in private houses, such ecclesiastic or other person
shall, being thereof convicted by the course of law,
forfeit for every such offence the sum of fifty pounds."
This Act, while giving certain rights to Roman
Catholics, expressly provided that no objects or
symbols of worship should be brought into the
public street.

Such legislation became necessary owing to the
tyranny and persecution of the Church of Rome
when in the past she held sway in England. And
since she is unchanged at heart (and even boasts
of her unchangeableness), we need to guard well
our liberties, because the same spirit still prevails
wherever she has predominance, as seen where the
Corpus Christi Procession is carried on, and as proved
by the bitter experience of Protestants even now
in such Roman Catholic countries as Italy, Spain,
South America, and even the South of Ireland,

WROTHAM 35

And this very Act goes to make pure the liberties we
all enjoy, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic.

The claim of the Church of Rome in their dogma
of Transubstantiation to offer the Sacrifice of the
Mass and repeat the Sacrifice of Christ offered for
our sins at Calvary, is a grave reflection on the
efficacy of His atoning death, for it implies that the
work of Christ on our behalf is incomplete ; whereas
Christ Himself declared in His dying words on the
Cross, "It is finished " (John xix. 30). It is de-
plorably unscriptural, for no less than seven times
in relation to Christ's Death as our Substitute, do
we find the truth expressed thus, " Once," " Once
offered," " Once for all," " One sacrifice for sins for
ever " (Heb. vii. 27 ; ix. 12, 26, 28 ; x. 10, 12, 14 ;
and in six of these references the same word is used,
meaning " Once for all "). It is worthy of notice
in these days, that the Church of England, in her
Catechism and Thirty-nine Articles, speaks on this
matter with no uncertain sound.

In the Catechism there is the Question {re the
Sacraments) : " Why was the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper ordained ? "

Answer : " For the continual remembrance of the
Sacrifice of the Death of Christ, and the benefits
which we receive thereby."

In the Articles we read :

" Article 28. — Transubstantiation (or the change
of the Substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper
of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ ; but
is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, over-
throweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath
given occasion to many superstitions."

86 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

" Article 31. — Of the one Oblation of Christ
finished upon the Cross. — The Offering of Christ once
made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and
satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world,
both original and actual ; and there is none other
sacrifice for sin, but that alone. Wherefore the
Sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly
said that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick
and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt,
were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits."

While thinking and talking so much about this
false doctrine of Transubstantiation, it should mean
to us something far more than a mere matter of
opinion, or theological discussion, or even Church
History. Do we realize the fact that " Christ died
for us " (Rom. v. 8) ; that " Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures " (1 Cor. xv. 3) ?
Can we truly say : "He loved me, and gave Himself
for me " (Gal. ii. 20) ?

Now we are on this pilgrimage together, let us
settle the question by trusting Christ as our own
personal Saviour. Then can we rejoice that no
repetition of Christ's Sacrifice for Sin is required,
but rather it is our gracious privilege to celebrate
the Lord's Supper as a " Remembrance Feast,"
whilst obeying His word : " This do in remembrance
of Me " (Luke xxii. 19). For as it is so well put
in the chorus of the hymn, written and sung by that
sweet singer of the Gospel, the late P. P. Bliss :

" Once for all, O sinner, receive it ;
Once for all, O brother, believe it ;
Cling to the Cross, thy burden shall fall —
Christ hath redeemed us, once for all."

WROTHAM 87

As Protestants we protest against the grievous
error of Transubstantiation, for it deprives Christ of
His glory as Saviour, it dishonours the Sacred Word,
it degrades the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by
making it idolatrous, it deludes the soul concerning
Salvation, and delights the Evil One by doing his
work of deception. " Protestant " means " One who
testifies for or before " ; it is therefore not only
negative, but also very positive. Let us stand boldly
against this, and all the other errors of Rome, and
fearlessly testify on behalf of the finished work of
Christ — a complete Salvation, a perfect Redemption,
wrought out for us by Jesus our Saviour on the Cross.

The word "martyr" reproduces a Greek word
meaning " a witness " ; and the witnesses of
Christ, known as martyrs, sealed their testimony
with their blood. Although we may not be called
upon to give our lives for the Christian faith, we
can be witnesses in our respective spheres through
the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts i. 8), and give
clear evidence of what we have seen, heard, and
experienced of the Salvation of Christ, our Substitute-
Saviour, received by simple faith as a free gift
(Rom. v. i ; vi. 23). We thus bear our witness
without any unkind feeling toward Roman Catholics
as such, for we have among them friends whose
character and devotion we greatly admire. Our
opposition is to the terrible system that holds them,
and the woeful heresies by which they are enthralled.

After this somewhat lengthy conversation in this
restful village, made famous by one of its former
inhabitants, the lone but loyal martyr, John
Corneford, let us now pass on.

VIII

MAIDSTONE

Edward Walker — Thomas Hitton — John
Denley — John Newman, and Others

NO fewer than thirteen names were added to
the scroll of fame at Maidstone. Twelve
were burnt to death and one died in prison.

The first martyrdom connected with this town
took place on May 2nd, 15 11, when Edward Walker
was consumed in the flames because he was true
to the Divine Word and his Divine Lord.

The second was in March 1530, when Rev. Thomas
Hitton was burnt near the door of his own parish
church. Tyndale speaks of him in his writings as
" a preacher of Christ's Gospel whom the Bishop of
Rochester and the Archbishop of Canterbury bitterly
persecuted, on account of his Evangelical ministry,
and at last had him burnt to death."

The third martyr connected with Maidstone was
John Denley, who was burnt at Uxbridge on August
8th, 1555-

The fourth was William Minge, who died in prison
at Maidstone on July 2nd, 1555. He was as truly
a martyr as any who went to the stake.

The fifth case was that of John Newman, of

MAIDSTONE 39

Maidstone, a pewterer, who was burnt at Saffron
Walden, August 31st, 1555.

The sixth instance was that of Christopher
Browne, who gave his life at the stake at Canter-
bury, November 15th, 1555.

The seventh must be noticed more fully. There
were seven in all in this company, and all were
burnt in the King's Meadow, or Fairfield.

Edmund Allen and his wife Catherine. Allen
was a miller of Frittenden, and had sold his corn
more cheaply than others in order to benefit the
poor ; he had also given them the Bread of Life.

Walter Appleby, and Petronil his wife, were both
natives of Maidstone, and lived quite near the
Martyrs' Field, so they died for Christ's sake close
to their own home. Peculiar pathos is added to
this when, as we know, young children were left
behind to mourn their loss.

Joan Bradbridge and Mrs. Manning, two brave
women ; and last of all, Elizabeth Lewis, a blind
orphan maiden.

These seven were lodged in the old gaol at the
top of the High Street. As they came forth from
the prison, and Elizabeth was groping her way,
the Sheriff roughly said, " What ails thee, maiden ? "
The people answered : " Your worship, Elizabeth
is blind." It was on Friday, June 18th, 1555,
these seven were chained to the stake and burnt
to ashes, because of their faithful testimony ; and
blind Elizabeth, like the rest, went through fire to
"see the King in His beauty," and receive at His
hands the martyr's crown.

Before leaving Maidstone, we shall do well to

40 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

visit the Museum, and read the beautiful poem by
the late Rev. H. H. Dobney, on " The Martyred
Seven." We shall certainly be touched and
thrilled by this epic of Christian constancy and
courage.

THE MARTYRED SEVEN

The summer sun was shining o'er our fair fields of Kent,
When down our wondering High Street a strange pro-
cession went ;
It came not from the palace, it came not forth from hall,
Nor from the bridal dwelling, where merry bells ring all.

No troop of gallant horsemen, was neither squire nor

knight ;
No noble's wrist held falcon all ready for the flight.
There was no sound of laughter, no merry music there,
But hushed the people's voices and silent all the air.

And faces at the windows were ghastly pale that day ;
And mothers clasped their little ones, and tried, dear

hearts, to pray ;
And strong men muttered curses, and slow drew in their

breath,
For the seven that were passing, were passing to their

death.

Not by the sharp sword's swiftness, nor by the axe's blow.
But they must yield their bodies to death by torture slow ;
For the massive stake is driven, and the faggots piled

around,
And the rough, unpitying doomsman is ready on the

ground.

So the prison doors have opened and yielded forth the

seven,
Dazed by the sudden sunshine and the bright blue of

the heaven ;
For the jailer to the Sheriff has given his prisoners o'er,
And, roughly ordered, on they move, the javelin men

before.

MAIDSTONE 41

One was a yeoman sturdy, his pale wife by his side ;
Did there flash on Allen's mem'ry the day she was his bride ?
And a second loving couple are walking in their rear,
Their rifled home close by — where are their children dear.

And then two others follow to witness in the flame,
How dear to them the Gospel, how dear their Saviour's

Name ;
And still another doomed one, the crowd with wonder see,
For naught is known about her, save that an orphan

maiden she ;

And only eighteen summers have bloomed upon the maid,
Yet for her, so young and tender, Rome's faggots, too,

are laid.
And must she yield her body to the cruel, torturing flame ?
Aye, and she'll yield it gladly for love of Jesus' name.

But see, she gropes and falters, feebly holds forth her hand,
And feels for one to lead her, else she can hardly stand :
What ails the maiden ? roughly the Sheriff seeks to find ;
They answer him, " Your worship, Elizabeth is blind."

And now they've reached the meadow, now they're

fastened to the stake,
The wood and furze piled round them, their last look

let them take
On tree and sky and river and faces that they know,
For come is the dread moment, and now the red flames

glow.

0 Jesus, Thou art faithful, Thou know'st how sharp

death's sting,
Be with Thy loyal, loving ones, within that fiery ring :

1 see, I see heaven's portals, wide opening at Thy word,
And now, e'en now, Thy martyred ones are safely with

their Lord.

And now, ye men of England, how love ye Gospel truth ?
How prize ye now the freedom, bought with so much of

ruth ?
What lives are yours, my masters ? Whose followers are ye ?
If Truth to-day wants martyrs, will ye Truth's martyrs be ?

IX
TONBRIDGE

Joan Beach — Margery Polley

TONBRIDGE is noted for its splendid school,
and is also famous for its connection with
the national game of Cricket ; but we are more
interested to learn of some who here played vic-
toriously in the great game of Life.

Two names claim our attention and admiration,
namely, those of Joan Beach and Margery Polley.
Both have previously been mentioned, the former
in connection with Rochester, and the latter with
Dartford.

Margery Polley, widow, of Pembury, after being
tried before the Bishop of Rochester, and " in
high swelling style " (John Foxe), was condemned
to be burnt. The Sheriff conveyed her to Ton-
bridge for the burning, via Dartford, after
accompanying Christopher Waid on his way to
death by fire at Dartford. She greatly heartened
this man of God for his passing through the flames.
At Tonbridge she herself bravely sealed her own
confession of Christ with her life-blood.

Joan Beach, widow, of Tonbridge, was con-
demned to the stake by the same bigoted Bishop,

TONBRIDGE 43

and was burnt in the Cathedral city of Rochester
the following year — April ist, 1556. Those two
faithful widows have left behind them undying
names, and their heroic example should stir others
to be steadfast and unmovable, whatever the cost.

While we are so near Pembury, the native place
of Margery Polley, the bereaved wife of Richard
Polley of Pembury, we must look in upon the
pretty village, made memorable by the noble
steadfastness of this godly woman to her Protestant
convictions. Here we find, with pleasure, a most
useful and durable monument erected to her
memory, in the form of a grey granite drinking-
fountain, with a trough for horses and cattle, and
a smaller one underneath for dogs. It stands on
the side of the Hastings Road, and at the top of
the upper green of the village.

This memorial was so placed by the generosity of
local and loyal Protestants. Thus the memory of
Margery Polley, the first of the women martyrs
of Kent in the Marian Persecution, is kept fresh in
the minds of people to-day, by the perpetual service
rendered in quenching the thirst of both man and
beast. Nor are the children of the village unmindful
of its purpose, for it not only refreshes them while
at their games, but causes them to think of this
solitary and splendid heroine who, for the Truth,
passed through the flames to her rest and reward.
On the front of the Memorial is the inscription :

To the Memory of MARGERY POLLEY of Pembury

who suffered martyrdom at TONBRIDGE

A.D. 1555

Erected by Voluntary Subscription.

44 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

On the back are the words, in large letters, and
cut deeply like the rest, so that all may read and
remember :

" While we were yet sinners Christ died for us."—
(Romans v. 8.)

So the Gospel, dearly loved by Margery of Pem-
bury, is silently preached day by day, and the
atoning work of her Saviour is proclaimed, year in,
year out. Her testimony is therefore living and
lasting, and without doubt will lead others also
to think of and trust in her Saviour.

MARTYRS' MEMORIAL, STAPLEHURST

[Facing page 44

X
STAPLEHURST

Alice Potkins — Joan Bradbridge — Alice
Benden

LET us now ramble through the Weald of
Kent. Our first stop shall be Staplehurst,
where we shall see the fine monument erected to
the memory of three heroic women of Staplehurst,
Alice Potkins, Joan Bradbridge, and Alice Benden.

" Their faith and patience, love and zeal,
Should make their memory dear."

Alice Potkins was a married woman, and was
the first of these three heroines to suffer. She
was examined at the same time as William Foster
(of Stone), who told his judge that he " did not
believe in praying to saints, nor yet in purgatory
. . . and as to carrying a cross, he should as
soon carry about a gallows on which his father
had been hanged." Alice Potkins said she agreed
with all that William Foster had said, and added :
" I am resolved never to confess to a priest, nor
to pray to a saint, nor creep to the cross."

When asked her age, Alice said : "I am forty-
nine years according to my old life, but since I

46 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

learned Christ, and believed in Him, I am only one
year old." She was imprisoned in Canterbury
Castle, October 14th, 1556, and before the year
ended she died of starvation, with four others, and
their bodies were buried in the highway.

Joan Bradbridge, a young unmarried woman, was
also true to her trust. She was taken from Staple-
hurst to Maidstone, and there burnt to death.
(She was one of the seven already mentioned, who
gave their lives for Christ amid the flames in the
King's Meadow.)

Alice Benden was the wife of Edward Benden of
Staplehurst, a wicked man and a cruel husband.
She refused to go to church, and on being
asked why, she replied that she " could not go
with a good conscience, because there was much
idolatry committed against the glory of God." The
poor woman was arrested and kept in prison for
fourteen days, and then released for a while. Her
husband tried to get her to go to church, but she
refused. He then told the neighbours, and this led
to her being put in prison a second time. Her cruel
husband actually offered to pay the cost of her
conveyance to prison. She gave herself up to avoid
this additional suffering and humiliation. She was
brought before Justice Roberts (of Cranbrook)
and then was sent to Canterbury. Here she was
examined by the Bishop of Dover, and condemned
to prison and the stake. By order of this Bishop,
she was put into a prison called " Monday's Hole,"
a small vault underground, where she had to lie
on straw, between the city stocks and a stone wall,
and there she remained without being permitted to

STAPLEHURST 47

change her attire for nine long weeks. Because she
sang, she was removed to Westgate Prison, then
taken to Canterbury Castle, whence she was led,
with six others, to the Martyrs' Field. There this
woman, betrayed by her husband, went home in
a chariot of fire, rejoicing in her Saviour ; and
although suffering untold agony, she experienced
unspeakable joy.

The Martyrs' Memorial at Staplehurst stands
boldly at the cross-roads, and speaks to every passer-
by. It is built of solid Aberdeen granite, and on
it has been placed a decorative bronze tablet with
the following inscription :

THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS PRAISE THEE.

This Monument is dedicated to the Memory of

ALICE POTKINS, JOAN BRADBRIDGE, and

ALICE BENDEN of Staplehurst,

also of EDMUND ALLEN and his WIFE,

who for the faith suffered death, 1556-1557,

during the Marian Persecution.

'•We shall by God's grace light such a
candle in England as shall never be put out."

Erected 1004 by Protestants of Staplehurst and District.
"Thy Word is Truth."

Other places in the country honoured by being
linked with martyrs, where no memorial exists
as yet, might do well to follow the example of
Staplehurst.

XI

SMARDEN

Agnes Snoth — Anne Albright — Joan Sole —
Joan Catmer — John Lomas

AT Smarden, a Baptist widow, Agnes Snoth, has
left an undying name and fame for the honour
of her Lord. She was one of eighteen females who
bravely suffered even unto death for Christ's sake
in Kent. Wives and widows, women of tender
youth and women of many years, were alike " faith-
ful unto death."

Agnes Snoth at her trial refused to confess to a
priest. She quoted Jas. v. 16 : " Confess your
faults one to another." She would confess as one
to another, but not for Absolution. She rejected
the Mass and Penance. Her sentence was that she
" be handed over to the Sheriff to be burnt to death."

She went to her rest through fire, January 31st,
1556, with four others — Anne Albright, Joan Sole,
Joan Catmer (widow), and a man named John
Lomas — at Canterbury.

She declared herself to the very last " a witness
of Christ and His truth," and sang psalms at the
stake. The good knight, Sir John Norton, being
present, wept much at the sad sight. So her
sufferings were not in vain even then, and her

influence still abides at Smarden.

48

XII
BIDDENDEN

William Waterer — Thomas Stephens

WE now go to Biddenden, for there are
things for which this village is famed
beside the Biddenden maids and cakes. Of course
there is the tradition of the celebrated twin
maids, who, joined in life, remained together in
death. When they were born they were united at
the hips and shoulders, and lived thus for thirty-four
years. One was taken ill and died, but the other
refused to be separated and expired six hours after-
ward. By their will they left certain land, the
proceeds of which provide for loaves of bread,
pieces of cheese, and curious cakes to be distributed
at Easter.

Two martyrs were produced in this quaint and
quiet spot — William Waterer, burnt at Canterbury,
January 15th, 1557, and Thomas Stephens, burnt
to death at Wye, January 16th, 1557.

Those two days are made memorable in the
calendar of Biddenden, for on these particular
days the Biddenden braves made history, and
caused this village to be remembered for their
courageous stand for Christ.
4

XIII
CRANBROOK

John Archer — William Lowick

THIS place was noted in the old days as the
centre of the cloth industry. It was the
policy of Edward in. to limit certain manufacturing
establishments to particular counties. Kent was
selected for the manufacture of broadcloth, and
Cranbrook became the chief market-town for " the
strong and durable broadcloths of good mixtures
and colours " for which the Weald of Kent acquired
a wide reputation. Cloth workers from every land
came here to live at the King's charges until they
were able to support themselves. Hence Cranbrook
held a prominent position in the industrial and
commercial life of Kent, but no longer is this so, for
the manufacture of cloth is now carried on elsewhere
(History of the Weald of Kent, Robt. Furley).

Cranbrook remains quiet and dignified with the
memory of its past glory.

Of far more interest to us is the part played by
two of Cranbrook's native sons, who have woven
into the history of Kent a beautiful and lasting
pattern of Christian heroism.

These champions for Christ were John Archer,

CRANBROOK 51

who was starved to death in Canterbury Prison,
and William Lowick, who was burnt to death at
Canterbury, January 15th, 1557.

During Queen Mary's reign there lived at Cran-
brook, Sir John Baker, a notorious agent of persecu-
tion for the Church of Rome. He haled many to
prison, and these two Cranbrook men had to face
him. A chamber in the south porch of Cranbrook
Church is called " Baker's Prison," for it was here
that this petty tyrant kept the Protestants in
custody. Honour be to John Archer, who preferred
to starve rather than stifle his conscience, and to
William Lowick, who would burn rather than turn.

XIV

TENTERDEN

John Waddon — William Carder — Agnes
Grebil — John Lomas, and Others

THIS old town is celebrated for its steeple,
which is so frequently used to suggest the
illogical. The saying is that " Tenterden steeple
was the cause of the Goodwin Sands."

There may be some connection, but it is evidently
very remote. There is no doubt, however, about
Tenterden's place in Protestant history.

Tenterden steeple is quite a landmark, and was
used as a beacon tower to warn the people of the
approach of the Spanish Armada to England's
shores. Yet not a steeple, but the heroic stand of
nine Protestants of Tenterden, who shine as stars
even now, is our chief concern at this time.

John Waddon, of Tenterden, a priest who became
a Lollard in the reign of Henry vi., was put in prison
at Norwich Castle and was ultimately burnt to
death in September 1428, because he believed God
alone could forgive sins, and God alone was to be
worshipped and not images.

William Carder and Agnes Grebil, natives of
Tenterden, were burnt on May 2nd, 1511, in the reign

TENTERDEN 58

of Henry VIII. The case of Agnes Grebil was sad
indeed, because her own husband and her two sons
betrayed her to the enemy. She was dragged
through the streets of the town, and at last burnt
to death.

John Lomas, a weaver of Huguenot descent,
was tried again and again for heresy, and, since he
would not yield, he was burnt at Canterbury,
January 31st, 1556.

John Phillpott, Matthew Bradbridge, and Nicholas
Final, three courageous men of Tenterden, were
imprisoned at Canterbury because of their stand for
the truth. After being nearly starved to death,
they were burnt, the first at Wye and the others
at Ashford.

The widow of Bradbridge and the widow of Final
were taken to prison after this fierce trial in the
loss of their husbands, and both were burnt at
Canterbury. Widow Bradbridge asked the Bishop
who condemned her to the stake if he would take
and keep her two fatherless children when she was
gone. The Bishop displayed his patience and
charity by saying : "By the faith of my body, I
will meddle with neither of them." Notwith-
standing all these influences, she was faithful to
the very last.

Tenterden merits a continuance of honourable
record in the annals of Protestantism.

XV

ASHFORD AND HYTHE

John Brown — Matthew Bradbridge —
Nicholas Final

FIVE martyrs were burnt at Canterbury,
namely, Rev. Humphrey Middleton (Baptist
minister), John Herst, Richard Collier, Richard
Wright, and William Steere. But there is the dust of
martyrs at Ashford itself, for three were burnt there.

John Brown, a townsman of Ashford, was travel-
ling on a Gravesend barge and happened to sit
close to a priest. The priest asked him : " Dost
thou know who I am ? Thou sittest near me,
thou sittest on my clothes."

J. B. — " No, sir, I know not what you are."

Priest. — " I tell thee I am a priest, I sing for souls."

J. B. — " I pray you, sir, where find you the soul
when you go to Mass ? "

Priest. — " I cannot tell thee."

J. B. — " Then if you cannot tell me, how can
you save the soul ? "

Priest. — " Go thy way, thou heretic ! I will be
even with thee."

As soon as they landed, the priest put his threat
into action . He went to the Archbishop of Canterbury
(Warham), and informed against his interlocutor as

ASHFORD AND HYTHE 55

a heretic. A day or two later, John Brown was
seized, tied to his own horse and taken to Canterbury,
his wife and friends not knowing what had happened
to him. For forty days he was kept in prison, and
cruelly treated. His bare feet were placed on burn-
ing coals in a vain endeavour to make him recant.
At last he was sent back to Ashford to be burned.

All this time his anxious wife had no knowledge
of his whereabouts or circumstances. But later she
heard that he was in Ashford; and finding that
Brown had been put in the stocks, she stayed the
whole night, cheering him and being cheered by him.
His martyrdom took place on Whitsunday evening,
15 17, but not before he had exhorted his wife to
bring up the children in the fear of God.

Matthew Bradbridge and Nicholas Final, both of
Tenterden, after having been all but done to death
by starvation at Canterbury, were taken to Ashford
to die at the stake, and their burning took place on
January 16th, 1556.

We now pass on to Hythe, one of the Cinque
Ports to the west of Folkestone. In the crypt of
its ancient church may be seen a large number of
human bones, said to be those of Britons and
Saxons slain in a battle here in the year 456.

But we are more interested in the fate of the four
brave natives who were slain for the faith and
suffered mart}Tdom at Canterbury. George Catmer
and Robert Streater were burnt on September 6th,
1555 ; Joan Catmer (widow of George Catmer), on
January 31st, 1556 ; and William Hay, on January
15th, 1557 ; and their names are all to be found on
the Memorial there.

XVI

WYE AND FAVERSHAM

Thomas Stephens — John Phillpott —
Andrew Hewett, and Others

WYE was a town of much importance in
olden days. It is now better known for
its modern institutions, the Agricultural College
and the racecourse. While rejoicing in the valuable
work of the former and regretting the vicious in-
fluence of the latter, our special interest is in the
spot where two brave martyrs, Thomas Stephens,
of Biddenden, and John Phillpott, of Tenterden,
nobly gave their lives at the stake on January 16th,

1557-

These heroic souls made history that day in Wye,
in thus dying to prove their love and loyalty to
Christ their Saviour and King.

While on the way to Faversham we pass through
a further stretch of characteristic Kentish scenery,
with its graceful variety and peaceful beauty,
consisting of cornfields and fruit orchards, hop
gardens and woodlands, green pastures and homely
farmsteads. And thus travelling, we may profitably
refer to some other of the places associated with
the martyrs, but as yet unmentioned by us,

S<5

WYE AND FAVERSHAM 57

namely, Broomfield, Challoch, Stone, Horton, Sel-
linge, Brenchley, Halden, Thurnham, Rolvenden,
Adisham.

The two villages last named claim special atten-
tion, for their respective vicars, John Frankesh
and John Bland, made a bold defence of the truth
and suffered a brave death at the stake for their
Saviour's sake.

John Bland, Vicar of Adisham, was brought
before his judges again and again, and each time
witnessed a good confession. An able scholar and
a firm believer in the Protestant faith, he faith-
fully discharged his pastoral duties, and was a
man whose whole life was devoted to his fellows, as
may be gathered from the following fact.

After entering the ministry of the Church of God,
he was inflamed with a keen desire to profit his
congregation. Twice he was cast into prison for
preaching the Gospel, to be delivered through the
intercession of his friends, yet he would preach
again, as soon as he was at liberty, whereupon,
being apprehended the third time, his friends
would again have rescued him, if he had promised
to abstain from preaching : he would give no such
undertaking, repeating the words of the Apostle
Paul (Rom. viii. 35) : " Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword ? "

He was bitterly persecuted at Adisham by the
hirelings of the Roman Catholic authorities.
Quietly he went on with his work during the
early part of Queen Mary's reign, but on

58 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

September 24th, 1554, trouble began through John
Austen, one of three brothers, all tools of Rome,
who disturbed the service at the parish church, by
casting aside the Lord's Table. On November 26th,
the other two brothers, Richard and Thomas,
charged the Vicar with using profane language
concerning the Mass.

" If that be so," replied the Vicar, " then, God
helping me, I will stand to the proof of it."

" Well," said his accusers, " we will have the
Mass here next Sunday, and a preacher who will
prove thee a heretic."

Thus it came about that John Bland was arrested
in his own parish church, because he protested
against this priest celebrating the Mass in the
church of which he was Vicar. He was roughly
and cruelly handled, and conveyed as a heretic to
Canterbury, there to be imprisoned in the Castle.
Later, he was removed to Ashford, and examined
by the Archdeacon of Canterbury (Nicholas Harps-
field) in the house of the Bishop of Dover (Richard
Thornden) .

Soon after, he was brought before the notorious
Sir John Baker (at Cranbrook), who, after bullying
the prisoner, said at the close of his examination :
" I will give six faggots to burn thee, ere thou
should be unburned. Hence, knave ! Hence ! "
He was thereupon taken to Maidstone Gaol and,
after being held in " durance vile " for several
months, was ultimately sent back to Canterbury
Prison. At his last trial he had to appear before
the Bishop of Dover, the Commissary (Robert
Collins), appointed by the Cardinal and the Arch-

WYE AND FAVERSHAM 59

deacon of Canterbury. The examination by the
Commissary was as follows :

Collins. — " Mr. Bland, you know that you are
presented to us as one suspected of heresy. How
say you ? Are you contented to conform yourself
to the laws of this realm and of the holy Church ? "

Bland. — " I deny that I am justly suspected
of heresy."

Collins. — " You were brought before the Arch-
deacon and me, and matter of heresy laid to your
charge."

Bland. — " That matter was done and said a
whole year ago, for I have been in prison this year
and more. If you have anything against me by
law, I desire that you let me know the law and
matter, and I will answer according to the law."

Then said my lord Suffragan, the Bishop of
Dover : " But that I am one of the judges, I would
rise and stand by thee, and accuse thee to be a
sacramentary ; and bring witness to prove it ;
yea, and further, that thou hast called the Mass
an abominable idol."

Bland. — " You, my lord, never heard me say
so ; but I heard you once say that, in your con-
science you had abhorred the Mass three years."

Collins. — " Thou liest ; this is but a drift. You
had better answer now else you shall go to prison
again, and be called on Monday, and have articles
laid to you ; and if you answer not them directly,
you shall be condemned as a heretic, and that will
be worse for you."

Bland. — " Sir, I do not now, nor will then, deny
to answer anything that you can lay to my charge

60 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

by law ; wherefore I trust you will let me have
the benefit of the law."

Collins. — " Well, on Monday, at nine o'clock,
you shall see the law and have the articles laid unto
you."

After some conversation, the Bishop of Dover
cried : "No more ! I command you to hold your
peace. Have him away, and bring in another."

That was the bitter spirit and brutal manner
of those cruel men : " Have him away, bring in
another ! "

On Monday, June 13th, John Bland was again
brought before the Bishop of Dover, the Papal
Commissary, and the Archdeacon of Canterbury,
three men under whom a great many were cruelly
treated and barbarously slain at Canterbury, and
among these, Rev. John Bland was first. On the
25th of the same month he appeared again at the
Chapter-House, and there boldly withstood the
authority of the Pope, whereupon he was con-
demned to death by the Bishop of Dover, and
delivered to the secular power, to be burnt to death
at Canterbury on July 12th, 1555, with his fellow-
prisoners, John Frankesh, Humphrey Middleton,
and Nicholas Shetterden.

And now we reach Faversham, where a young
man named Andrew Hewett, a native of the town,
twenty-four years of age, claims attention. Faver-
sham is noted for explosives, cement, and beer, but,
to us, especially for the brave young Protestant
hero in the time of Henry viii.

Hewett was a tailor's apprentice in London, his
master being a Mr. Warren (of Watling Street).

WYE AND FAVERSHAM 61

Another young tailor named William Holt met
Andrew Hewett, and suspecting that he was " a
Gospeller," informed the Bishop of London (Stokesly).
Officers were sent to arrest Andrew Hewett, who
was put in irons and imprisoned in the Bishop's
house. A kind friend took a file and cut the chain
and Hewett escaped, only to be soon recaptured.

After a long and cruel imprisonment he was tried,
with John Frith (of Sevenoaks). When asked
concerning " the Real Presence " at his trial, Hewett
said : "I think as John Frith."

The Bishop asked : "Is not the bread the real
Body of Christ ? " Hewett replied : "I do not
believe it." The Bishop smiled and said : " Why,
John Frith is a heretic and condemned to be burnt."
Hewett bravely answered : "I am content to go
to prison to John Frith."

The two friends were burnt at Smithfield on the
afternoon of July 4th, 1533.

Though young, away from home, and so sorely
tried concerning his faith, Andrew Hewett was
" faithful unto death." Well named Andrew,
which means " manly " ! He was manly indeed
for the Man Christ Jesus, and his courage should
appeal to the young manhood of to-day.

XVII
CANTERBURY

Nicholas Shetterden — Stephen Kempe —
Thomas Cranmer

WE might well linger more than a little while
in the ecclesiastical capital of England.
Apart from a nameless priest who was converted
to the faith of the Gospel, and because of his faith-
fulness to Christ was burnt to death in 1498 by
order of Henry vn., there are only two names
known of Canterbury natives who were martyrs
for the Protestant faith. There is little cause for
wonder in this, considering that the city was the
centre of Rome's sway in our land.

All the rest of the martyrs associated with Canter-
bury were from other parts of the county. From
the various towns and many villages, the victims
of Roman Catholic persecution were brought here
to be tried and afterwards put to death. Men and
women in different stations of life were taken.
Clergy, ministers, and priests were among the
number, and worthies were found in various trades.
Nor were persons of wealth and culture wanting
in fidelity to the Word of God, for three gentlemen
were burnt at one time, namely, George Roper, John
Webbe, and Gregory Parke, on November 30th, 1555.

CANTERBURY 63

Men and women, old and young, were alike true
to their vows, and loyal to their Divine King.

Nicholas Shetterden is one of the names identified
with Canterbury. His place of residence is un-
known, but as he was, for long, a prisoner at
Westgate, Canterbury, his name must be linked
with this ancient cathedral city. Because of his firm
stand for the Word of God, he was brought up again
and again before his various judges, but, unswerving
in his fidelity to the Protestant faith, he was stead-
fast to the very end. His examination before the
Bishop of Winchester, the then Lord Chancellor, is
well worth our consideration.

He left the report himself, which is as follows :

" I was called into a chamber before the Lord
Chancellor, the Suffragan, and others. He stood
by the table, and because I saw the Cardinal was
not there, I bowed and drew near. Then said he :
' I have sent for you because I hear you are indicted
for heresy ; and being called before the Commis-
sioners, you will not answer nor submit yourself.'

" I said : ' I did not refuse to answer ; but I did
plainly answer that I had been in prison a long
time, and reason it was that I should be charged
or discharged of that, and not to be examined of
articles to hide my wrong imprisonment ; neither
did I know any indictment against me. If there
were any, it could not be just, for I have not been
abroad since the law was made.'

" Winchester. — ' If thou wilt declare thyself to
the Church to be a Christian, thou shalt go, and
then have a writ of wrong imprisonment, etc'

" Shetterden. — ' I have no mind to sue now,

64 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

but require justice; but to make a promise I will
not ; and if I offend the law, punish me accordingly.
For it might be that my conscience was not per-
suaded, nor would be in prison ; seeing these
things which I have learned were by God's law
openly taught and received by the authority of
the realm.'

" Winchester. — ' It was not a few that could
be your guides in understanding, but the doctors
of the whole Church ; now, whom wouldst thou
believe ? either the few or the many ? '

" Shetterden. — ' I did not believe for the few
or for the many, but only for Him that bringeth
the Word, and showed it to me to be so, according
to the process thereof.'

" So after many words, by which he thought to
ensnare me, he came to the Church's faith, and
comely order of ceremonies and images. And then
I joined to him again with the Commandments.

" Winchester. — ' That was done that no false
things should be made, as the heathen would
worship a cat because she killed mice.'

" Shetterden. — ' It is plain that the law forbids
not only such, but even to make an image of God to
any manner of likeness.'

" Winchester. — ' Where find you that ? '

" Shetterden. — ' Forsooth, in the law where
God gave them the Commandments ; for He said,
" Ye saw no shape, but heard a voice only " ; and
added a reason why, " lest they should after make
images and mar themselves " ; so that God would
not show His shape, because they should have no
image who was the true God, etc'

MARTYRS' MEMORIAL, CANTERBURY

Photo by />'. c^ //. Fisk-Moote, Cantcrbu>y\ [Facing page 04

CANTERBURY 65

" Winchester. — ' You have made a goodly
interpretation.'

" Shetterden. — ' No, it is the text.'

" A Bible was then brought. He bade me
find it, and so I read it aloud ; the place was
Deut. iv. 12-19, 'And the Lord spake unto you
out of the midst of the fire,' etc.

" Winchester. — ' Well, yet by your leave, so
much as was seen you may, that is, of Christ, of
the Holy Ghost, and of the Father, who appeared
to Daniel like an old man.'

" Shetterden. — ' That is no proof that we may
make images contrary to the Commandment ;
for though the Holy Ghost appeared like a dove,
yet was He not like in shape, but in certain qualities ;
and therefore, when I saw the dove, which is God's
creature, indeed I might remember the Spirit to be
simple and loving.'

" At last he said he saw what it was, and that he
had sent for me for charity's sake to talk with me ;
but now he would not meddle, and said my wrong
imprisonment could not excuse me, but I must clear
myself. I said that was easy for me to do, for I
had not offended. He said I could escape so, there
I was deceived.

"Shetterden. — 'Well, then, I am under the
law.'

" The Archdeacon was then called in, and he
said that I behaved myself before him with such
arrogancy as never was heard ; whereas he was
minded with such mercy toward me ; and many
other lies he laid to me, that I was sent home till
another time, and I would not be contented.
5

66 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

" Shetterden. — ' I declare that therein he
falsely reported me, and brought in laws then in
the realm, and the Queen's proclamation, that
none of her subjects should be compelled till the
law was to compel ; and that I rehearsed the same
in the Court for me. And I did use him then, said
I, as I use your Grace now, and no otherwise.

" Winchester. — ' Well, you do conduct yourself
very well now.'

" I said, ' I had so offered myself to be bailed, and
to confer with them when and where they would.'

" Winchester. — ' You should not confer, but be
obedient.'

" I said : ' Let me go, and I will not desire to confer
neither ; and when offended, let them punish me,'
and so departed " (John Foxe).

He was afterwards brought up before his judges
with his fellow-prisoners — John Bland, John
Frankesh, and Humphrey Middleton. Nicholas
Shetterden so baffled his judges that at last the
Lord Chancellor, the Bishop of Winchester, said :
" Who hath taught you so well ? " Shetterden
replied : " The Lord Himself ! " He was con-
demned by the Bishop of Dover on the 25th day of
June, 1555.

A few days before he suffered, he wrote an
affectionate letter to his wife, and two to his mother,
wishing her " increase of grace and godly wisdom."
He also wrote to his brother, Walter Shetterden,
expatiating on " the true faith and doctrine of
Christ." In a last letter to his brother he breathed
a manly spirit, worthy of the Great Cause for which
he died. His brother had informed Nicholas that,

CANTERBURY 67

if he would recant, he would bestow a large fortune
on him. But wealth had no more influence than the
fear of death, so the promised riches were refused,
in the courageous spirit of a Christian hero, confident
of the treasures laid up for him in heaven.

The farewell letter to his mother (signed and
sealed with his own blood) was dated from West-
gate, July nth, 1555, the day before his martyrdom ;
and therein he pleaded with her to " beware of
the great idolatry and the blasphemous Mass, and
to follow the counsel of God's Word " — to trust
Christ alone for salvation. It had also this
P.S. : " Appointed to be slain for Christ's cause and
the maintenance of His most sound and true re-
ligion " (Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. vii. p. 314).

He was led away to the Martyrs' Field with three
others, on July 12th, 1555, and went to his eternal
home by lire.

Stephen Kempe (burned January 15th, 1557)
was another of the Protestant Martyrs. He is
mentioned as "of Norgate," or Northgate, but
of this brave witness for the Word of God little is
known, except that he, too, was " faithful unto
death" ; and that, surely, is sufficient !

There is yet one more name inseparably linked
with Canterbury and its Martyrs, namely, Arch-
bishop Cranmer.

Thomas Cranmer was born at Alsacton, near
Nottingham, on July 2nd, 1489. He came of a
family whose ancestors arrived in England with
William the Conqueror, and had resided at his
birthplace for many generations. He received
his first lessons in education from an old and

68 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

inflexibly severe priest. On his father's death, the
mother of Thomas placed him at Jesus College,
Cambridge, where he applied himself with great
diligence to his studies, especially to Hebrew,
Greek, and theology. Under the influence of the
University, his genius was discovered and developed.
In due course he took his M.A. degree, and after-
wards obtained a fellowship. In 1523 he was made
Divinity lecturer, also examiner of the candidates
for degrees.

So zealous was he for the promotion of the know-
ledge of Scripture, that he would not permit any
to proceed with the Divinity course unless they
were well grounded in the knowledge of the Bible.
Cranmer set himself to know the truth as it stood
between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism,
and he felt that it could only be settled by the
Bible and that alone.

" After three years spent in the study of the
Scripture without Commentaries or human help,
the darkness of Scholasticism, which until then had
hung about him, cleared away, and the simple yet
majestic plan of Salvation stood forth in glory before
his eyes on the sacred page " (Dr. J. A. Wylie).

The question of the proposed divorce between
Henry vm. and Catherine of Aragon was being
freely discussed, and he spoke his mind frankly, not
imagining that his words would be heard beyond
the Chamber where on one occasion he was con-
versing with two of his friends. " Why go to
Rome ? " he asked. " Why take so long a road,
when by a shorter you may arrive at a more certain
conclusion ? "

CANTERBURY 69

" What is the shorter road ? " inquired his
friend.

" The Scriptures," replied Cranmer. " If God
has made this marriage sinful, the Pope cannot
make it lawful."

" But how shall we know what the Scriptures
say on the point ? "

" Ask the Universities," replied the Doctor ;
"they will return a sounder verdict than the Pope."

Two days later, Cranmer's words were reported
to the King. He eagerly caught at them, think-
ing he saw a way out of his difficulties.

Cranmer's counsel was that " the appeal should
be made from the Pope to God, and from the
Church to the Scriptures."

With this idea, Henry at once agreed, not know-
ing that it was the formal and fundamental
principle of Protestantism.

Cranmer was immediately summoned to the
Court and made a King's Chaplain. He would,
without doubt, have much preferred the calm of a
country parish to the splendours and perils of the
royal Court. Thus he began and carried on his
work, which was to lead him to the Primacy of
England and the higher glory of the stake at the
end of his career. In January, 1533, he was ap-
pointed Archbishop of Canterbury.

After Henry vm. had divorced Catherine of
Aragon and married Anne Boleyn, the Pope pro-
nounced excommunication on the King of England.
But the monarch had already provided against that
contingency by the passing through Parliament of
the " Act for the Abolition of Papal Supremacy in

70 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

this Realm." Henry vm. then became Head of
the Church of England.

The Archbishop used all his powers for the pro-
motion and furtherance of such measures as might
give permanence to the new order. The Bible
was translated into English, and distributed among
the people. A copy was placed in every parish
church on a raised desk, so that all might freely
read the Scriptures. More than once did Cranmer
differ from the King, and had more frowns than
smiles, but he pursued his course of uplifting the
religious life of the nation.

Not all his deeds and decisions were commend-
able ; in fact, some we strongly condemn ; but
considering that he was educated in the Church of
Rome, we may well wonder at his grasp of the
truth, and his advance toward the light in such
dark days. On the death of Henry vm., in 1547,
Cranmer was one of the executors of His Majesty's
will. He was a member of the Council, and served
also in the Regency appointed to govern the king-
dom during the minority of Edward vi.

Cranmer watched over the mental, moral, and
spiritual welfare of the young King with keen
and prayerful interest. He is said to have wept
with joy when he marked the intellectual develop-
ment and deep piety of the royal youth. The
Archbishop's personal knowledge and love of the
Bible would lead him to see that the coming ruler
of the kingdom should know the Word and will of
the King of kings. His influence evidently went
far to shape the conduct and mould the character
of the young Edward vi.

CANTERBURY 71

The exclusion of the daughter of Henry vm.
(Princess Mary), by the will of her brother, was a
measure in which Cranmer participated ; and he
also joined the supporters of Lady Jane Grey in
the plan for her to take the throne ; but that,
possibly, against his judgment. On Mary's re-
ceiving the Crown, she immediately dispatched a
messenger to the Pope to announce her accession.

The Princess Mary owed a personal debt to
Cranmer, who is reported to have preserved her
from the anger of her father, which threatened her
destruction because of her determined adher-
ence to the faith and claims of the Church of Rome,
but she could neither forgive nor forget. Cranmer
was therefore destined to be the victim of her
personal wrath and Papist hate. A number of
Reformers, before espousing her cause as Queen,
begged to know whether she were willing for the
religious settlement effected under Edward vi. to
continue. She bade them put their minds at ease,
promising that no man should be molested on the
ground of religion and that she would be content
if she were allowed to practice in peace her own
worship.

" These soft words smoothed her way, but soon
she changed her speech and, throwing off all dis-
guise, she left none in doubt that her settled purpose
was the suppression of the Protestant faith "
(Dr. J. A. Wylie, vol. hi. p. 420).

Without losing a day, she proceeded to undo all
that her father and brother had done for the Pro-
testant cause. She requested the Pope to send
Cardinal Pole with full power to receive the kingdom

72 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

back into the Roman pale. The last time Arch-
bishop Cranmer officiated publicly was on the day
when he read the Protestant burial service at the
funeral of Edward VI. After this he was ordered
to confine himself to his own house at Lambeth.

Cranmer was brought before the Commissioners
in September 1555. Dr. Brooks, Bishop of
Gloucester, and two delegates (Martin and Scory)
came with authority from Cardinal Pole to judge
him. He told the Commissioners he could never
serve two masters, and that since he had sworn
allegiance to the Crown he could not submit to the
Pope. He also showed that " the Pope's power
had been as unjustly used as it was ill grounded."

After much discourse on both sides, Dr. Brooks
(the presiding Commissioner or judge) required
Cranmer to appear before the Pope within eighty
days, and answer the charges that should be brought
against him. Cranmer said he would do so willingly,
but he could not possibly go to Rome if he were
kept in prison here.

In February 1556, Bonner and Thirleby were sent
to degrade him for his non-appearance at Rome,
although all the while he had been detained as a
prisoner in England. He was clothed with all the
episcopal robes, made of canvas, and then they were
taken from him according to the ceremonial of
degradation.

In all this the Archbishop was little concerned.
He denied that the Pope had any authority over
him, and appealed from his sentence to a free
General Council. Many devices were made to
influence him to recant, and both English and

CANTERBURY 73

Spanish divines had conferences with him. Cranmer
was taken to Oxford and there imprisoned in the
Bocardo. The Archbishop was afterwards removed
to the house of the Dean of Christ Church. Crafty
men gathered around him and treated him with
much respect, professing their desire to prolong his
life for future service and honour. They suggested
that he might dictate his own words of submission.
At last he recanted. " Alas ! the man who stood
erect amid the storms of Henry viii.'s time, and had
often ignored the wishes and threats of that way-
ward monarch, and followed the path of duty, fell
by the arts of these subtle seducers " (Dr. J. A.
Wylie, History of Protestantism). He signed the
submission demanded of him.

The Queen and the Cardinal were overjoyed at
the fall of the Archbishop. His recantation would
do more, they thought, than all their stakes, to
suppress the Reformation in England. None the less
did they adhere to their set purpose of burning him,
though they carefully concealed their intentions.

On the morning of March 21st, 1556, he was led
out of prison, and, preceded by the Mayor and
Aldermen, with Spanish friars on either side of him,
chanting penitential Psalms, they conducted him to
St. Mary's Church, there to make his recantation
in public. " The Archbishop having already felt
the fires that consume the soul, dreaded the less
those that consume the body, and suspecting what
his enemies meditated, made his resolve." He was
placed on a platform before the pulpit, and there, in
" the garments and ornaments " of an Archbishop,
" only in mockery, for everything was of canvas

74 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

and old clouts," sat the man who had, till lately,
been the first subject in the realm. Dr. Cole
preached the sermon, and at the end he exhorted
the Archbishop to clear himself of all suspicion of
heresy by making a public confession. To this
Cranmer replied : " I will do it, and, that with good
will."

He then rose up and addressed the vast con-
course. He declared his abhorrence of the Romish
doctrines, and expressed his steadfast adherence to
the Protestant faith. " And now," said he, "I
come to the great thing that so much troubleth my
conscience more than anything that ever I did or
said in my whole life."

He then solemnly revoked his recantation, adding,
" Forasmuch as my hand offended, writing contrary
to my heart, my hand shall first be punished there-
for ; for may I come to the fire, it shall be first
burned. And as for the Pope, I refuse him, as
Christ's enemy and Antichrist, with all his false
doctrines."

Hardly had he uttered the words when the
Romanists, filled with fury, dragged him violently
from the platform and hurried him off to the stake.
It was already set up on the spot at Oxford where
Ridley and Latimer had suffered in the previous
year. Cranmer quickly put off his garments and
stood in his shroud, with his feet bare, a spectacle
to move the heart of friend and foe — at once a
penitent and a martyr.

As soon as the fire approached him, he stretched
out his right arm, and thrust his hand into the flame,
saying, " That unworthy right hand." He kept it

CANTERBURY 75

in the fire, excepting that he once wiped with it
the drops of perspiration from his brow, till it was
consumed, repeatedly exclaiming, " That unworthy
right hand." The fierce flames now surrounded him,
but he stood as unmoved as the stake to which
he was chained (John Foxe). Raising his eyes
toward heaven, he breathed out the prayer of
the first Christian martyr, Stephen, " Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit"; and thus the first Protestant
Archbishop of Canterbury expired, and inscribed
his name on the Martyrs' Roll. No marble tomb
contains his ashes : no Cathedral tablet records his
virtues. Nor are such needed, for, as Strype has
well said : " His martyrdom is his monument "
(Memorials of Cranmer, p. 371).

John Richard Green (Short History of the English
People, p. 360), says : " It was with unerring in-
stinct that . . . the Protestants fixed, in spite of
his recantations, on the martyrdom of Cranmer
as the death-blow to Roman Catholicism in
England."

What more shall I say but that, ere we leave the
historic city of Canterbury, we shall look again at
the worthy Martyrs' Memorial and read the long
list of heroes and heroines of the Cross, who rejoiced
they were " counted worthy to suffer for the sake
of the Name of the Lord Jesus " ? They were all
Martyrs for their Saviour, and now wear the
Martyr's crown. Of them all it may be said :
" The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee."

The Martyrs' Memorial consists of granite, and is
a credit to Canterbury. On the front the inscrip-
tion is as follows :

76

NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

Jn Gemots of
FORTY-ONE KENTISH MARTYRS

WHO WERE

BURNT AT THE STAKE ON THIS SPOT

IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY

A.D. 1555- 1558.

FOR THEMSELVES THEY EARNED THE MARTYR'S CROWN

BY THEIR HEROIC FIDELITY THEY HELPED TO SECURE

FOR SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS THE PRICELESS

BLESSING OF

Religious Freedom.

"PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS
THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS."

Names on Right Side.

JOHN BLAND

(Vicar of Adisham)
JOHN FRANKESH

(Vicar of Rolvenden)
NICHOLAS SHETTERDEN
HUMPHREY MIDDLETON
WILLIAM COKER
WILLIAM HOPPER
HENRY LAWRENCE
RICHARD COLLIER
RICHARD WRIGHT
WILLIAM STEERE
GEORGE CATMER
ROBERT STREATER
ANTHONY BURWARD
GEORGE BROADBRIDGE
JAMES TUTTEY
JOHN WEBBE
GEORGE ROPER
GREGORY PARKE
JOHN LOMAS
AGNES SNOTH
ANNE ALBRIGHT

Names on Left Side.

JOAN SOLE
JOAN CATMER
WILLIAM WATERER
STEPHEN KEMPE
WILLIAM HAY
THOMAS HUDSON
WILLIAM LOWICK
WILLIAM PROWTING
JOHN FISHCOCK
NICHOLAS WHITE
NICHOLAS PARDUE
BARBARA FINAL
BRADBRIDGE'S WIDOW
WILSON'S WIFE
ALICE BENDEN
JOHN CORNEFORD
CHRISTOPHER BROWNE
JOHN HERST
ALICE SNOTH
KATHERINE KNIGHT

CANTERBURY 77

On the other side are the following words :

This Site was Given

the Surrounding Ground was Purchased

and this Monument was Erected

BY

Public Subscription
a.d. 1899.

LEST WE FORGET.

Before we say farewell to this sacred spot,
with reverence we salute the names of the sainted
dead. And let us pledge ourselves never to forget
the price paid for our precious Protestant privileges,
and resolve to help all to remember our incal-
culable debt to those who suffered in the past for
truth and liberty.

We have not taken the chronological order of the
martyrdoms, but for convenience have pursued the
topographical path ; wending our way from place
to place we have sought to cover as far as possible
the ground made dear to us in this fair county
by the Martyr spirit. May we as Protestants
value our liberties and privileges more dearly than
ever, seeing that they have been purchased with so
great a price — even the agony and blood of many of
the saints of God — and determine that we too will
be faithful in our day and generation ; for, as
Bishop Heber so inspiringly wrote :

The Son of God goes forth to war,

A kingly crown to gain ;
His blood-red banner streams afar :

Who follows in His train ?

78 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

Who best can drink His cup of woe.

Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears His cross below,

He follows in His train.

The martyr first, whose eagle eye

Could pierce beyond the grave,
Who saw his Master in the sky,

And called on Him to save ;
Like Him, with pardon on his tongue,

In midst of mortal pain,
He prayed for them that did the wrong :

Who follows in his train ?

A noble army, men and boys,

The matron and the maid,
Around the Saviour's throne rejoice,

In robes of light arrayed ;
They climbed the steep ascent of heaven,

Through peril, toil, and pain :
O God, to us may grace be given

To follow in their train I

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a cvown
of life." — Revelation ii. 10.

A PROPOSAL

IT is a matter for great regret that there is no
monument in Rochester to perpetuate the
memory of the four Protestant Martyrs connected
with the ancient city on the Medway. It has long
been the dream and keen desire of the writer of this
book that a permanent record in bronze or stone
should be provided for this purpose. He has there-
fore decided that out of the profits accruing from the
sale of this volume, the cost of a suitable memorial
tablet shall be defrayed ; or better still, if poss-
ible, a worthy monument erected. The following
is suggested as an inscription that might be used :

3n Grateful dfccmorg
of tbe ©rotestant Martyrs of "Rochester

Nicholas Hall (of Dartford)
Burnt at Rochester, July 19th, 1555.

Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of Rochester

1547-1550

Burnt at Oxford, October 16th, 1555.

John Harpole (of St. Nicholas Parish,

Rochester)

Joan Beach (of Tonbridge)

Both burnt at Rochester, April 1st, 1556.

" Be thou faithful unto death." — Rev. ii. ro.

80 NOBLE MARTYRS OF KENT

Every purchaser of this book may have the
satisfaction of sharing in this desirable object, and
all who read and recommend this story to others
may know they have helped to attain this end.
Thus, in the Cathedral city of Rochester, with its
historic past, there would be a public and perpetual
witness to commemorate the brave sufferings and
heroic deaths of those who gave their lives for the
sake of the Truth of God, and by so doing paid a
large part of the great price in the purchase of the
religious liberty which we all now enjoy.

G. A. M.

LONDON : MORGAN AND SCOTT LIMITED, 12 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.4