The Bishop of Canterburies last prayer on the Scaffold. _Lord I am comming as fast as I can, I know I must pass through the [sha]dow of death before I can come to see thee, but it is but_ umbra mortis, _[a m]eere shadow of death, a little darkness upon nature, but thou by thy me[ri]ts and passion hast broke through the jaws of death; so, Lord, receive my Soul, and have mercy on me, and bless this Kingdom with peace and plenty, and with brotherly love and charity, that there may be not this effusion of Christian blood amongst them, for Jesus Christ his sake, if it be thy will. And when he said, Lord receive my soul, which was his designe, the Executioner did his office._} In the year 1633 appeared Prynne’s _Histrio Mastix_, a violent attack on play-acting, dancing, and masques. In all these things the Queen took great delight. Therefore the work was supposed to be directed against her. A brutal sentence was inflicted upon Prynne, and was duly carried out, and after pillory, branding on the forehead, having his nose slit and his ears cut off, the wretched man was condemned to be disbarred, to be deprived of his University degree, and to be imprisoned for life. The freedom of the press was of course attacked. Laud assumed a censorship over all new books and over the sale or circulation of old books. Among other books prohibited were Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_ and Bishop Jewel’s _Works_. Prynne, and with him Dr. Bastwick, a physician, and Henry Burton, a divine, all three being prisoners in the Tower, were prosecuted in the Star Chamber for writing libellous and schismatical books. They were sentenced to pay £5000 each; to stand in pillory; to lose their ears, or, in Prynne’s case, to lose what was left of his ears; to be branded and to be imprisoned in Launceston, Lancaster, and Carnarvon. An immense multitude gathered to see the sentence carried out; they “cried and howled terribly”; they followed the prisoners with shouts of good wishes and groans for their persecutors; they threw money into the coach in which Burton’s wife was sitting. Laud complained afterwards that the prisoners were suffered to speak to the people, and that notes were taken of their speeches and circulated in the City. At Chester, on his way to Carnarvon, Prynne was entertained by the Sheriff and a number of gentlemen, who refreshed him with a good dinner, and gave him tapestry and carpets for his cell.