Being about five of the Clock, Baranton was sent to tell him it was time to go; let us go said he, seeing I must die, and desired he would charge his Brothers from him, to remain faithful to the King, and not to go to Court, till time had blotted, or at least lessened the shame of his death. He kneeled before the Altar, and having ended his Prayer, he desired the Company to pray for him.
Coming out of the Chappel, he met the Executioner, who offered to follow him, and he thinking it was to bind him; keep off, (said he) and do not touch me till it be time; I shall go willingly to die without troubling any body; but it shall never be said that I am dead like a Slave, or a Thief, and swore by God that if he came near him he would strangle him. The Divines exhorted him going down the stairs to resist those impaciencies and temptations of the Devil, who striveth most to deviate the Soul from her Salvation, when as he hath most need of the Divine assistance to withstand his assaults, remonstrating also unto him, that all his violences and passions could not hinder the Soul to depart from a place where she was but a Tenant at Will. He hearkened to them, and saying three times ah, ah, ah, raising his voice at every one, he said, is there no Mercy in the world, I see to day, that all the world hath forsaken me.
He came into the Yard, and seeing the Lieutenant of the City, in whose house the King had put la Fin, to secure him from all attempts, My Lord Lieutenant (said he) I am very much your friend, take heed to have any thing to do with that Witch and Magician that lyeth at your house, if you meddle with him he will undo you.
The Scaffold was set up in the corner of the Yard, over against the Garden gate, six foot high, and seven long, without any Ornament or distinction. He kneeled upon the first step, lifted up his Eyes to Heaven and made a short Prayer, like a Souldier, and went up as couragiously as if he had gone to an assault, clad in a Gray Taffety Suit, with a black Hat on his Head, but as soon as he saw the Executioner, he looked furiously upon him, and bid him stand aside till he were ready to receive the last stroke: He threw his Hat, his Handkarchief, and Doublet to the first that would take it, nevertheless one of the Executioners men was nimbler than all the rest, and looking upon the Souldiers that kept the Gate armed, with Musquets and Fire-locks. Ah! said he, must I die? is there no pardon? if at least some of those good fellows would shut me (opening his Breast) he should oblige my very much, what pity is it to die so miserably, and of so shameful a blow, then directing his speech to the Spectators, he said, I have put my Soul into such a state as she ought to be to appear before the face of Almighty God, but I pity that of the King, who causeth me to die unjustly: I have erred I confess, but I never attempted anything against the Kings Person, he should have been dead ten years ago if I would have believed the evil Councel that was given me concerning that the trouble and distress of his Soul was so great, that a little while before he said three years, and now he says ten; the Divines having setled him a little once more, he received their absolution.
The Executioner then presented unto him a Frontlet, but it proved to him a new wound, an increase of grief, and swore if he toucht him any other way than with the Sword he would strangle him, & thereupon he asked again for his own Handkarchief to make use of it, his hollow and gastly Eyes shewed he was not in his right mind. Voisin intreated him to be patient, and to raise his thoughts to the place where his Soul was to go, and to be attentive to the reading of his Sentence. He was unwilling to hear the repetition of his Crimes, and to have occasion to exclaim again against the Iniquitie, of those that had condemned him, against the Kings cruelty, as he called it, that would not grant him his pardon, and that this was to make him feel death before death. Voisin answered, that it could not be done otherwise. He answered that every body knew for what reason he was there and then as if it were by confession, he said, well, read, and thereupon held his Peace till Voisin came to these words, for having attempted against the Kings Person; for then he fell into a passion again, as he had done before, and said, that it was false, that this never came into his mind, that as God was his Judge, he would be for ever deprived of his Grace if it were true, that since two and twenty Months he had done nothing against the Kings service, that it is true he had written some Letters, but that the King had forgiven him, protesting and calling the Spectators to Witness, that it was the truth what he spoke, as he would answer it before God, and spoke so many words, and so fast that neither he nor the Sheriff could be understood.
The Sentence being read, the Divines did admonish him to leave all Earthly thoughts, to implore the assistance of Heaven, and to resign his Soul to the Eternal providence of the Almighty, and his Body to what the Law had ordained of it, he made some Prayer to God, and bound his Eyes with his own Handkarchief, and asked the Executioner in what place he was to put himself, the Executioner pointing with his finger, said, there my Lord; he pulled off his Handkarchief in a rage, and where is that there, said he? thou seest I am blind fold, and thou shewest me as if I could see; he bound himself again, and bid the Executioner to dispatch quickly: The Executioner told him he ought to kneel, for fear he should do something amiss. No, no, said he, I shall not stir, if thou canst not do it at one blow do it at thirty, he was intreated again to kneel, which he did, and spoke these Imperious words, dispatch, dispatch, then rose up again, and untied his Handkarchief, and by casting his Eyes upon the Executioner, made the people believe, that either he had a mind to seize upon the Sword, or that he was terribly afrighted by the approaches of Death, and began again his former complaints, is there no pardon? must I die so miserably? after so many services. The Executioner intreated him to suffer his hairs behind to be cut off; he began to swear again fearfully, that if he toucht him otherwise than with the Sword, he would strangle him. The Divines told him that he was too carefull of his Body, he would hear no more of that, but fell into a rage, and swore, that he would not be toucht by so Infamous a Person as long as he was alive, that if they did provoke him too much, he would strangle half the Company, and oblige the other half to kill him, those that were upon the Scaffold went down and left him with the Executioner, who repented himself heartily that he had taken the care of him unbound.
The Divines went up again upon the Scaffold, and desired him for the love of God to resolve to step over that pass, which was necessary for every man to do, and with some few other words, whispered into his ears, did calm him a little, and made him resolve to undergo the Execution, after he had made many complaints, and shewed great fears of dying. A strange thing that as stout and valiant a man as ever was born, who had so many times cast himself amongst the greatest dangers, without any fear or apprehension, as if there was no death for him, should shew himself now so fearful at the coming of it; we may judge by this, that the apprehension of death is incomparably greater when it cometh upon a cold blood, and those that know what his Chirurgion was wont to say, shall less wonder at it; for he said, that the Duke of Biron used to wonder at himself, that being not afraid of the thrust of a Sword, nevertheless he was very timerous at the pricking of a Launcet, when he had occasion to be let blood: Whereupon we must confess, that the greatest courage, and most undaunted stoutness of a man, is nothing in comparison of human Natures weakness.
The Divines judging him to be out of fear, gave him his last absolution, he kneeled again, and cried aloud three times, My God, my God, my God, have Mercy upon me, then turning to the Executioner, he took the headband that he had in his hand, and intreated Baranton to do him that last curtesie as to lift up his hairs behind, which Baranton did, and the Duke himself did tie the Handkarchief about his Eyes. The Divines seeing him in that good disposition, did assure him, that he was ready to go to Heaven, and to see God, and to enjoy his Glory. Yes, said he, Heaven is open to receive my Soul, and so stooped his neck for the Executioner to do his office. The Executioner considering, that he had untied himself three times before, and might do so again for the fourth, thought fitting to entertain him with fair words, to desire his forgiveness, and to put him in mind of saying his last Prayer, in the mean time he beckened to his man, who was at the foot of the Scaffold, to reach him the Sword, which no sooner was in his hand, but the Duke of Birons Head was off his Shoulders, it fell from the Scaffold to the ground, and was thrown again by the Executioners man upon the Scaffold, the Body was stript to its Shirt, and wraped in a Sheet, and the same day buried, about nine of the Clock at night, in St. Pauls Church, without any shew or Ceremony. Thus ended the Tragical History of the Duke of Biron.
Now follows the two last Verses of this Prophecie.