Being asked why he
could engage in so dangerous a cause as that of attempting to support
the elector Palatine Frederic against the power of the emperor, he
replied, I acted strictly according to the dictates of my conscience,
and, to this day, deem him my king. I am now full of years, and wish to
lay down life, that I may not be a witness of the farther evils which
are to attend my country. You have long thirsted for my blood, take it,
for God will be my avenger. Then approaching the block, he stroked his
long grey beard, and said, Venerable hairs, the greater honour now
attends ye, a crown of martyrdom is your portion. Then laying down his
head, it was severed from his body at one stroke, and placed upon a pole
in a conspicuous part of the city.

Lord Harant was a man of good sense, great piety, and much experience
gained by travel, as he had visited the principal places in Europe,
Asia, and Africa. Hence he was free from national prejudices and had
collected much knowledge.

The accusations against this nobleman, were, his being a protestant and
having taken an oath of allegiance to Frederic, elector Palatine of the
Rhine, as king of Bohemia. When he came upon the scaffold he said, "I
have travelled through many countries, and traversed various barbarous
nations, yet never found so much cruelty as at home. I have escaped
innumerable perils both by sea and land, and surmounted inconceivable
difficulties, to suffer innocently in my native place. My blood is
likewise sought by those for whom I, and my forefathers, have hazarded
our estates; but, Almighty God! forgive them, for they know not what
they do." He then went to the block, kneeled down, and exclaimed with
great energy, into thy hands, O Lord! I commend my spirit; in thee have
I always trusted; receive me, therefore, my blessed Redeemer. The fatal
stroke was then given, and a period put to the temporary pains of this
life.

Lord Frederic de Bile suffered as a protestant, and a promoter of the
late war; he met his fate with serenity, and only said, he wished well
to the friends whom he left behind, forgave the enemies who caused his
death, denied the authority of the emperor in that country, acknowledged
Frederic to be the only true king of Bohemia, and hoped for salvation in
the merits of his blessed Redeemer.

Lord Henry Otto, when he first came upon the scaffold, seemed greatly
confounded, and said, with some asperity, as if addressing himself to
the emper