The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
History
The Tower of London, (Vol. 1 of 2)
Gower, Ronald Sutherland, Lord
Tower of London (London, England)
At nine o’clock the Lieutenant called for him. “I will wait upon you
straight,” said the Bishop, “as fast as this body of mine will give me
leave.” He then called for his furred tippet, which he placed round
his neck, “Oh, my Lord,” said the Lieutenant, “what need you be so
careful of your health for this little time, which you know is not
much above an hour.” “I think the same,” said Fisher, “but yet, in the
meantime, I will keep myself as well as I can to the very time of my
execution. For I tell you truly, though I have, I thank our Lord, a
very good desire and a willing mind to die at this present, and so that
of His infinite goodness he will continue it, yet will I not willingly
incommodate my health in the meantime one minute of an hour, but I
will still continue the same as long as I can by such reasonable ways
and means as God Almighty hath provided for me.” With that, taking a
little book in his hand—it was a Latin New Testament—that lay by him,
he made the sign of the cross upon his forehead, and then went out of
the chamber with the Lieutenant, being so weak that he could scarcely
go down the stairs. For this reason he was placed in a chair, and
carried by two of the Lieutenant’s men to the Tower Gate, surrounded
by a small number of guards. At the Gate he was to be delivered over
to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex for his execution, but when
the procession arrived there it had to wait until a messenger, who had
been sent to the Sheriffs, returned to say whether those officials
were ready to receive him. During this waiting the Bishop rose from
his chair, and stood leaning against the wall with his eyes raised to
the sky. Then he opened the Testament he was carrying in his hand,
and said, “O Lord, this is the last time that I shall ever open this
book, let some comfortable place now chance to me, whereby I, Thy poor
servant, may glorify Thee in this my last hour!” Looking into the book,
the first words he espied were these! “And this is the life eternal,
that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work
which Thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with
thine own self.” Fisher then closed the book, saying, “Here is learning
enough for me to my life’s end.” From the Gate he was carried to the
scaffold on Tower Hill, praying as he went, and when several persons
offered to help him to mount the steps, he turned to them and said,
“Nay, masters, seeing that I am come so far, let me alone, and you
shall see me shift for myself well enough.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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