Speech of Mr Thomas Theodore Deacon

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37 (37)
The Speech of Mr ThosThomas
Theodore Deacon.

My dear Fellow-Countrymen,

I am come here to pay the last
Debt to Nature, &and think my selfmyself happy
in having an Opportunity of dying in
so just &and so glorious a Cause. The delud-
ed &and infatuated Vulgar will, no Doubt,
brand my Death with all the Infamy
that Ignorance &and Prejudice can suggest;
but the thinking Few, who have not
quite forsaken their Duty to God and
their King, will, I am persuaded,
look upon it as being little inferiourinferior
to Martyrdom it selfitself; for I am just
going to fall a Sacrifice to the Re-
sentment &and Revenge of the Elec-
tor of Hanover, &and all those unhap-
py Miscreants, who have openly
espoused the Cause of a Foreign Ger-
man Usurper, &and withdrawn their
Allegiance from their only rightful,
lawful &and native Sovereign, King
James the 3d. It would be trifling
here to expatiate on the Loss of so
many brave SubjectsSubjects' Lives, who have
had the Courage to appear in the
Defence of their native King, &and 38 (38)
&and the vast the immense Treasure
squandered away in Defence of the
Usurper, the heavy Load of Taxes &and
Debts, under which the Nation groans,
the prevalence of Bribery &and Corrup-
tion, the Preference of Strangers to
Natives, &and innumerable other In-
conveniencies, which must necessa-
rily attend a Foreigner’s Sitting on
the Throne of Great Britain, &and qchwhich
must be too obvious to every im-
partial unprejudiced Englishman.

Moreover, I think it is very evi-
dent, that the very Mercy of the U-
surper is no less than arbitrary
Power, &and the Freedom of Parlia-
ment, Bribery &and Corruption; from qchwhich
unhappy Circumstances nothing
else can restore this Nation, &and bring
it to it'sits former Happiness &and Glory,
but inviting King James the 3d to
take Possession of his undoubted
Right.

I profess, I die a Member, not of
the Church of Rome, nor yet that
of England, but of a pure Episco-
pal Church, which has reform’dreformed
all the Errors, Corruptions &and De-fects,39(39)
fects, that have been introduc’dintroduced into
the modern Churches of Christendom;
a Church, which is in perfect Com-
munion with the antientancient &and universal
Church of Christ by adhering uniform-
ly to Antiquity, Universality &and Con-
sent, that glorious Principle, which,
if once strictly &and impartially pur-
sued, would, &and which alone can,
remove all the Distractions, &and unite
all the divided Branches, of the
Christian Church. This truly Catho-
lickCatholic Principle is agreed to by
all the Churches Eastern &and Wes-
tern, Popish &and Protestant, &and yet
is unhappily practised by none
but the Church, in whose holy
Communion I have the Happi-
ness to die. May God, of his
great Mercy, daily increase the
Members thereof. And if any would
enquire into it'sits primitive Consti-
tution, I refer them to our Com-
mon Prayer-Book, intitledentitled, A com-
pleatcomplete Collection of Devotions,
both publickpublic &and private, taken from 40 (40)
from the ApostolickApostolic Constitutions,
AntientAncient Liturgies, &and the Common
Prayer-Book of the Church of Eng-
land, printed at London, 1734.✝

I sincerely declare, I forgive
all my Enemies, who have raised
on me any false or scandalous Re-
ports, the pretended Court, by which
I was tried, &and all those, who were
Witnesses against me, particularly
the unfortunate, deluded Mr Mad-
dox, who has added the Sin of un-
parallel’dunparalled Ingratitude to those of
Treachery to his Fellow–Subjects,
Perfidiousness to his lawful Prince,
&and Perjury against his God, having
sworn away the Lives of those ve-
ry Persons, who chiefly supported him,
while he attended on the Prince’s Ar-
my, &and for a Month after he was tak-
en Prisoner. And further I affirm,
on the Word of a dying Man, he per-
jured himself in the Evidence he
gave against me at my Trial; as,
I verily believe, he did in what he
swore against most, if not all, of the

✝
This Book was compil’dcompiled by Mr Dea-
con’s Father, a Non-jurant Bishop in
Manchester.

41 (41)
the others.

Lastly, I most freely forgive ~~all~~ my
two principal Enemies, the Elector
of Hanover &and his Son, who claims yethe
pretended Title of Duke of Cumber-
land, who are actually guilty of
Murder in putting me, with many
others, to Death, after the Latter
had granted a regular formal Ca-
pitulation in Writing, which is
directly contrary to the Laws of God
&and Nations, and, I hope, will be a
sufficient Warning to all those,
who shall hereafter have Spirit,
Honour &and Loyalty enough to take
up Arms in Defence of their lawful
Sovereign, King James the 3d, or
any of his Successors, against the
Usurper &and his Descendants. I say,
I hope, it will be a sufficient War-
ning for them never to surrender
to Hanoverian Mercy, but to die
bravely with Swords in yrtheir Hands.
Not but I submit, with the utmost
ChearfulnessCheerfulness &and TranquillityTranquility, to
this violent Death, being tho-
roughly convinc’dconvinced, that thereby I 42 (42)
I shall be of much more Service
to my beloved Country &and Fellow-
Subjects, as well as my only law-
ful King, my dear brave Prince
of Wales, &and the Duke of York (qmwhom
God, of his infinite Mercy, bless, pre-
serve &and restore) than all I could do
by fighting in the Field or any o-
ther Way.

I publicklypublicly profess, that I heartily
repent of all my Sins; but am
so far from reckoning the Fact,
for which I am to die, one of ymthem,
that I think, I shall thereby be
an Honour to my Family; and,
if I had ten thousand Lives,
would chearfullycheerfully &and willingly lay
them down in the same Cause.
And here I solemnly affirm that
malicious Report to be false &and
groundless, which has been spread,
(merely with Design to involve
my Relations in Inconveniencies,)
that I engaged in this Affair thro’through
their Persuasion, Instigation &and e-
ven Compulsion. On the contrary,
I was always determin’ddetermined to embrace
the first Opportunity of performing my 43 (43)
my Duty to my Prince, which I did
without consulting, or being advised
to it, by any Friend on Earth.—And
now, my dear Countrymen, I have
nothing more to say, than to advise
You to return to your Duty, before
it be too late, &and before the Nation
be entirely ruin’druined. Compare the
paternal &and tender Affection, qchwhich
your King has always shewnshown for
this his native Country, with the
Rashness of the Usurper, &and his
great Regard to his German Do-
minions, the Interest of which
has been always preferr’dpreferred to
that of England. Compare the
extraordinary Clemency &and Huma-
nity of the ever glorious Prince
Charles with the horrid Barba-
rities &and Cruelties of the Elec-
tor’s Son, which he perpetrated
in Scotland.—Remember what
solemn Promises have been given
by both our King &and Prince Charles,
to protect You in your Laws, Re-
ligion &and Liberties. Has not the
Prince thrown himself into your Arms 44 (44)
Arms? Has he not given sufficient
Proof of his Abilities in the Cabinet,
as well as Bravery in the Field?
In fine, He has done his Part, &and
consequently the Sin must lyelie at
your Door, if you do not yours.

May God be pleased to bless ysthis
Land, &and to open the Eyes of yethe Peo-
ple, that they may discern their
Duty &and true Interest, &and assist in
restoring their only natural King
to his indisputable &and just Right.
God bless, &and prosper Him, &and guide
Him in all his Undertakings.

So prayeth
Thomas Theodore Deacon.
Lord, have Mercy upon me.

Christ, have Mercy upon me.

Lord, have Mercy upon me.

Lord Jesu, receive my Soul.
Wednesday, July 30th, 1746. upon
Kenington-Common.
The

Date	30 Jul 1746
Person (author)	Thomas Theodorus Deacon
Place	Kennington Common