him in particular saying It was so sad a thing to see such excellent Persons so cut off they scarce knew how to â—ear it Some of the most malicious in the place from whom nothing but Railing was expected said as they were carried to their Graves in Taunton-Church Voluntarily accompanied by most of the Town That these Persons had given sufficient Evidence that they were Glorified Saints in Heaven A great Officer in the Kings Army hath been heard to say If you will learn to Die go to the Young Men in Taunton Much more was uttered by him shewing the Blessed and Gracious frame of his Soul but this is what occurs to Memory About two Hours before his Death he Wrote this following Letter which shewed the great Composure of his Mind Mr. Hewlings last Letter a little before his Execution THat News which I know you have a great while feared and we expected I must now acquaint you with that notwithstanding the hopes you gave in your last Letter Warrants are come down for my Execution and within these few hours I expect it to be performed Blessed be Almighty God that gives Comfort and Support in such a day how ought we to Magnifie his Holy Name for all his Mercies that when we were running on in a course of Sin he should stop us in our full Career and shew us that Christ whom we had pierced and out of his free Grace enabled us to look upon him with an Eye of Faith believing him able to save to the uttermost all that come to him O Admirable long Suffering and Patience of God! That when we were a dishonouring his Name he did not take that time to Glorifie himself by our Destruction for he delights not in the Death of a Sinner but had rather he should turn to him and Live. And he hath many ways of bringing his own to himself Blessed be his holy Name that through Affliction he hath taught my Heart to be in some measure conformable to his Will which worketh Patience Patience Experience Experience Hope which maketh not ashamed I Bless God I am not ashamed for the Cause for which I lay down my Life and as I have Ingaged in it and Fought for it so I am now going to Seal it with my Blood. The Lord carry on the same Cause that hath been so long on foot and though I die in it and for it I question not but in his own good time he will raise up other Instruments more worthy to carry it on for the Glory of his Name and the Advancement of his Church and People I know there hath been nothing left undone by you or the rest of my Friends for the saving of my Life for the which I return my hearty acknowledgments to your self and them all and it is my dying request to you and them to pardon all Undutifulness in every Relation pray give my Duty to every Relation and to every Friend a particular Recommendation pray tell them all how pretious an Interest in Christ is when we come to die and advise them never to rest in a Christless state for if we are his it is no matter what the World does with us they can but kill the Body and Blessed be God the Soul is out of their reach for I question not but their Malice wishes the Damnation of the Soul as well as the Destruction of the Body which hath evidently appeared by their deceitful flattering Promises I commit you all to the Care and Protection of God who hath promised to be a Father to the Eatherless and a Husband to the Widow and to supply the wants of every Relation the Lord God of Heaven be your comfort under these Sorrows and your Refuge from those Miseries which we may easily fore-see coming upon poor England and upon the poor distressed People of God in it The Lord carry you through this Vale of Tears with a resigning submissive Spirit and at last bring you to himself in Glory where I question not but you will meet Your Dying Relation and Friend Benjamin Hewling Executed at Taunton September 30th 1688. FINIS ADVERTISEMENT ☞ There will speedily be Publish'd a second Collection of the Dying Speeches Letters and Prayers c. of those Eminent Protestants who Dyed in the West of England and else-where under the Cruel Sentence of the late Lord Chancellour ☞ There is now Publish'd a very Vseful Book Entituled The Joy of Faith Or a Treatise opening the true nature of Faith it 's lowest Stature and Distinction from Assurance with a Preliminary Tract evidencing the Divinity of the Sacred Scriptures By Samuel Lee M. A. Both to be sold at the Black-Raven in the Poultrey
Deliverance of the People of God We have great reason to lament but for the outward Prosperity that would accompany it it is but of small moment in it self as it would never satisfie so neither could it be abiding for at longest Death would put an end to it Also adding Nay perhaps we might have been so foolish as to have been taken with that part in the neglect our Eternal Concerns then I am sure our present Circumstances are incomparably better for us He frequently Exprest grrat concern for the Glory of God and affection to his People saving If my Death may be for the Glory of God and hasten the Dâ—liverance of his People it will be enough and that it was great Comfort to him to think of so great a Priviledge as to have an Interest in all their Prayers In his particular Converse he greatly delighted in and valued those Persons where he saw most shining Holiness he also shewed great pity to the Souls of others saying That the Remembrance of our Vanity may well cause Compassion to others in that Estate and in his Conversation promoting others to a Seriousness telling them that Death and Eternity are such weighty concerns that they deserved the greatest intentions of our Mind for the way to receive Death Cheerfully is to prepare for it seriously and if God should please to save our Lives we have the same reason to be serious and to spend our remaining days in his Fear and Service He also took great care that the Worship of God which they were in capacity of performing as Reading Prayer and Singing Psalms might be duly performed in which he took great delight for those three or four days before his Death When there was a general Report no more should dye he said I do not know what God hath done beyond our expectation if he do prolong my Life it is all his own and by his Grace I will wholly devote it to him But the 29th of September about Ten or Eleven at Night we found the deceitfulness of that Report for they were then told they must dye the next Morning which though unexpected as to the suddenness of it yet he often therein Blessâ—d God for his Power Grace and Faith in giving suitable support by his Blessed Presence which appeared in him upon my coming to him at that time finding him greatly composed he said Though Man hath a design to surprize yet God doth and will fulfill his Word to be a present help in time of trouble Next Morning when I saw him again his Cheerfulness and Comfort was much increased waiting for the Sheriff with the greatest sweetness and serenity of mind saying Now the wil of God is determined to whom we have referred it and he hath most certainly chosen that which is Best Afterwards with a smiling Countenance Discoursing of the Glory of Heaven there in the 3. 4 5. Verse of the 22 of the Revelations And there shall be no more Curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his Servants shall serve him And they shall see his Face and his Name shall be in their Forehead And there shall be no Night there they need no Candle neither Light of the Sun for the Lord God giveth them Light and they still Raign for ever and ever Then he said What a happy state is this shall we be loth to enjoy this Then he desired the Second Book of the Corinthians 5 Chapter and 1 Verse to be read to him For we know that if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens All along his Comforts still increasing expressing his hope and full assurance in this Glorious Inheritance and being now going to the Possession of it Seeing the happiness of this Blessed Change he said Death is more desirable then Life and as to the manner of this Death when I have considered others under these Circumstances I haâ—e thought it very dreadful but now God hath call'd me to it I have quite other Apprehensions of it I can now chearfully Embrace it as an easie Passage into Glory and though Death separates us from enjoying each other it will be but for a short time and then we shall meet in such Enjoyment as now we cannot conceive and for ever rejoyce in that Happiness O! How great a thing is Redemption from Wrath to come to an Eternity of Happiness Then Reading of the Scriptures and musing with himself he imitated the great Comfort that God câ—nveighed to his Soul in it saying What an invalidate Treasure is this Blessed Word of God in all Conditions Here is store of strong Consolation One desiring his Bible he said Nay This shall be my Companion to the last moment of my Life Thus Praying Reading and Conversing together waiting for the Sheriffs coming who when he came void of all Pity or Civility hurried them away scarce suffering them to take leave of their Friends but notwithstanding this and the doleful Mourning of those about them the Joyfulness of his Countenance was increas'd that as he left the Prison thus he appeared in the Sledge when they sat about half an Hour before the Officers could force the Horses to draw at which they were greatly Enraged there being no visible Obstruction from Weight or Way but at last they Haled them forward the Mayor and Sheriff Balaam-like driving the Horses when they came to the Place of Execution was surrounded with Spectators Many that waited their coming with great Sorrow said That when they saw him and them come with such Chearfulness Joy and Evidence of the presence of God with them it made Death appear with another Aspect They first Embraced each other with great Affection then two of the Eldest Persons Prayed Audibly they joyning with great Seriousness Then he desired leave of the Sheriff to Pray particularly but he would not grant it but only asked him If he would Pray for the King To which he Answered I Pray for all Men He then Requested they might sing a Psalm the Sheriff told them It must be with Ropes about them which they chearfully accepted and sung with such heavenly Joy Sweetness that many present said it broke and joyed their Hearts Thus in Expressing the Delightfulness of Praising God on Earth he wâ—llingly closed his Eyes on a vain World and past to the Eternal Employment Sept. the 30th 1685. All present of all sorts were exceedingly affected and amazed Some Officers that had before insultingly said Sure these Persons have no thoughts of Death but will find themselves surprized by it after said That they now saw that he and they had something extraordinary within that carried them through with such Joy. Others of them said They were so convinced of their Happiness that they would be glad to change Conditions with them All the Soldiers in general and all others wept and lamented about them and for
use No Duty so acceptable to God as Charity that 's it which our Saviour exalts so far that he saith Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom for I was an hungry and ye fed me naked and ye cloathed me sick and in prison and ye visited me I die and leave you but if you keep close to God and his ways he will never leave you nor forsake you The summe of the whole is Fear God and keep his Commandments Do that to all others that you would they should do to you is the golden Rule of the Gospel and will be a great Preservative to you from offending either God or Man. Eternity calls me away and I have neither Time nor Opportunity to add more Your Duties may be various in the World as Servants as Masters as Husbands as Wives as Parents There is no Condition of life but hath its Comforts and its Troubles the Lord fit you for whatsoever Condition he calls you to whether Honour or Dishonour Riches or Poverty But remember whatsoever it be it is God's Providence orders and governs the World. Dear James as thou art the eldest strive to be the best and a good Example to the rest a dutiful and a loving Son Whatever thou or the rest have lost by me God can make up even in this Life My dear Babes who have been all Pledges of my Love by the best and most affectionate Wife I do once more beg it of you as my last Request that you obey love and honour her who hath been the greatest worldly Blessing to your Father and will never think any thing too much to do for you My dear Children Farewell I must now take my leave both of you and all worldly Comforts I trust and hope I am going to the Eternal Inheritance where Sin and Sorrow cease and that I may meet you at the right hand of my blessed Saviour is the dying Prayer of Dear Children Your affectionate and loving Father Richard Nelthrope Newgate 29 Octob. 1685. Mr. Nelthrope's last Speech THE great and inexpressible trouble and distraction I have been under since I came into trouble especially since my close Confinement in Newgate hath so broken my Reason that for many weeks last past till the day my Sentence was passed I have not had any composure of mind and have been under the greatest trouble imaginable Since my dearest Wife hath had the favour granted her of coming to me I am at present under great composedness of mind through the infinite goodness of the Lord. As to what I stand Outlawed for and am now sentenced to Dye I can with comfort appeal to the great God before whose Tribunal I am to appear that what I did was in the simplicity of my heart without seeking any private advantage to my self but thinking it my Duty to hazard my Life for the preservation of the Protestant Religion and English Liberties which I thought invaded and both in great danger of being lost As to the design of Assassinating the late King or his present Majesty it always was a thing highly against my Judgment and which I always detested and I was never in the least concerned in it neither in Purse nor Person nor never knew of any Arms bought for that Intent nor did I believe there was any such design nor ever heard of any disappointment in such an Affair or Arms or Time or Place save what after the discovery of the General design Mr. West spoke of as to Arms bought by him And as to my self I was in the North when the late King was at New-market and the first news I had of the Fire was at Beverly in York-shire As to my coming over with the late Duke of Monmouth it was in prosecution of the same ends but the Lord in his holy and wise Providence hath been pleased to blast all our undertakings tho there seemed to be a very unanimous and zealous spirit in all those that came from beyond the Seas And as to the Duke of Monmouth's being declared King I was wholly passive in it I never having been present at any publick Debate of that affair and should never have advised it but complained of it to Coll. Holms and Captain Patchet I believe the Lord Gray and Mr. F the chief Promoters of it As to the Temptation of being an Evidence and bringing either into trouble or danger any the meanest Person of his Life upon the Account for which I suffer I always abhorred and detested the thoughts of it both when in and out of danger and advised some very strongly against it except when under my distractions in Prison that amongst other temptations did violently assault me but through the goodness of my dearest God and Father I was preserved from it and indeed was wholly incapable and could never receive the least shadow of comfort from it but thought Death more eligible and was some time afore out of my distracted and disquieted condition wholly free from it thô not without other Temptations far more Criminal in the sight of men I bless the Father of all mercies and God of all Consolations that I find a great Resignedness of my Will to his finding infinitely more comfort in Death than ever I could place in Life thô in a Condition that might seem honourable every hour seeing the Will of God in ordering this Affair more and more cleared up to me God hath given God hath taken blessed be his holy Name that hath enabled me to be willing to suffer rather than to put forth my hand to Iniquity or to say a Confederacy with those that do so I am heartily and sincerely troubled for what hath happened many mens Lives being lost and many poor distressed Families rained the Lord pardon what of sin he hath seen in it He in his wonderful Providence hath made me and others concerned Instruments not only for what is already fallen out but I believe for hastening some other great work he hath to do in these Kingdoms whereby he will try and purge his People and winnow the Chaff from the Wheat the Lord keep those that are his faithful unto the end I dye-in Charity with all the World and can readily and heartily forgive my greatest Enemies even those that have been Evidences against me and I most humbly beg the Pardon of all I have any wise in the least injured and in a special manner most humbly ask Pardon of the Lady Loyl's Family and Relations for that my being succoured there one night with Mr. Hicks brought that worthy Lady to suffer Death I was wholly a Stranger to her Ladyship and came with Mr. Hicks neither did she as I verily believe know who I was or my Name 'till I was taken And if any other have come to any loss or trouble I humbly beg their Pardon and were I in a Condition I would as far as I was able make them a requital As to my Faith I neither look nor hope for
his present Majesty for I was in the East Country when the Duke Landed and from thence I went directly to him when he was at Shipton-Mallet not one Man accompanying me from thence But hitherto as I lived so now I dye owning and professing the true Reformed Christian commonly called the Protestant Religion which is founded on the pure written Word of God only and which I acknowledge likewise to be comprehended in the Articles of the Doctrine of the Church this Religion I have made a reasonable and free Choice of and have heartily embraced not only as it protests against all Pagan and Mahometan Religion but against the Corruption of the Christian and I humbly and earnestly Pray to God that by his Infinite Wisdom and Almighty Power he will prevent not only the utter extirpation but diminition thereof by the heighth and influence of what is contrary thereto and for that end the Lord make the Professors of it to live up more to its Principles and Rules and bring their Hearts and Conversations more under the Governmeâ—t and Power of the same I dye also owning my Ministry Non-conformity for which I have suffer'd so much and which doth now obstruct the Kings Grace and Mercy to be manifested and extended to me For as I chose it not constrainedly so I appeal to God as a dying Man not moved from sullenness or humour or factious temper or erroneous Principles of Education or from secular Interests or worldly advantages but clearly from the Dictates of my own Conscience and as I judged it to be the Cause of God and to have more of Divine Truth in it than that which is contrary thereto so now I see no Cause to repent of it nor to recede from it not questioning but God will own it at the last Judgment-day If no more had been required after the late King's Restauration to qualifie Ministers for publick Preaching than was after the first Restauration from the time of Charles the first probably I might have satisfied my self therewith and not scrupled Conformity thereto but the Terms and Conditions thereof by a particular Law made in 1662. being not only new but so strict and severe that I could never have satisfaction in my own Conscience after all endeavours used for a Complyance therewith and a Conformity thereto to say nothing of the Covenant which I never took but the giving my Assent and Consent have been too difficult and hard for me to comply with And I very well remember that about fourteen years agoe entring into a Discourse with Mr. Patrick Heldore and Irish-man who was Contemporary with me in Dublin concerning Conformity which he much endeavour'd to perswade me to I urg'd the severity of the forementioned Conditions against it and after some Debates and Reasons with him I told him I did believe they were contrived and designed on purpose to prevent our publick Preaching and to keep us out of the Church to which he ingenuously reply'd he judged it was so For said he a Bishop in Ireland whose Name I have forgot told me the very same But though I could not wade through and conquer this Difficulty yet I censure not those that did it and I believe after all the hottest Disputes and most vehement Debates and violent Contests between Conformist and Non-conformist there are of both Parties will be glorified in Heaven hereafter According to the 29th Article of the Church of England a visible Church is a Congregation of faithful Men in the which the pure Word of God is Preached the Sacraments of the Lord duly administred according to Christ's Ordinance and all those things that of necessity are requisite and necessary to salvation so with such a Church I have held the most intimate Communion and with such did I live could hold it I would not therefore be so Incorporated with any Church as to exclude me from and render me uncapable of holding Communion with other Churches I was never strongly bound up to any form of Ecclesiastical Government but that under which a pure and undefiled Religion doth flourish and that which contains and really practises Holiness and advances the Kingdom of God in the World that can I approve of and submit to and willingly live under were I to live I did approve of the ancient and present form of Civil Government English Monarchy I am fully satisfied with and do also declare that it is not warrantable for any Subject to take up Arms against and resist their lawful Soveraigns and rightful Princes And therefore had I not been covinced by several things that I have read and heard to believe that the late Duke of Monmouth was the Legitimate Son of his Father Charles the second I had never gone into his Army judging that without this I could not be freed from the guilt of Rebellion which I always resolved to keep my self clear from And tho his Father denyed that he was marryed to his Mother I thought it might be answered with this That Kings and Princes for State-reasons often cannot be fathomed by their Subjects affirming and denying things which otherwise they would not do and make even their natural Affections to truckle and stoop thereto I exhort all to abhorr all treasonable Plots and pretences of all Rebellion with the highest Detestation and to take the plain Text of sacred Scripture to walk by in honouring and obeying and living in Subjection to rightful Kings and not readily to Receive or suddenly to be Impress'd with evil Reports and Defamations of them also not Rashly to be propagators of the same I desire God to forgive all mine Enemies and to give me an heart to forgive them which are many some mighty and all most malicious Particularly Barter of Lisnel who betrayed me and proved such a Traytor to James D. of M. his old and intimate Friend I am grievously afflicted that I should prove the occasion of the great sufferings of so many Persons and Families But this hath fallen under the Just and wise ordering of Divine Providence as Davids going to Abimelech when he proved the occasion of the Death of all the Persons Men Women and Children in the City But who shall say unto God What dost thou The care of my most dear Wife and a great many Children I cast upon God who I hope will be better than the best of Husbands unto her and the best of Fathers unto them God knows how Just and Legal Right my Wife hath unto her Estate to him therefore I commit her to defend her from the violence and oppression of men particularly from a most inhumane and unnatural Brother But no wonder if he will lay violent hands upon his Sisters Estate that hath so often laid them on his own Father I dye a deeply humbled self-judging and self-condemning Sinner loathing and abhorring my many and great Iniquities and my self for them earnestly desiring full Redemption from the bonds of Corruption under which I have groaned so many
of Angels and the Spirits of Just men made perfect all fastned together with indissolvable and uninterrupted Chains of most pure Love and all continually wrapt up in and transported with the highest Admiration of Gods Love his infinite and incomprehensible excellencies and perfections singing Hallelujahs to him without ceasing and triumphing in his praise for ever and ever The Consideration also that I know so little of these sublime profound and divine misteries of the most glorious mystery of Salvation by Jesus Christ that I am so uncapable to fathom the depth of the Providences of God whose ways are in the Sea and whose paths are in the deep waters and whose footsteps are not known and particularly in the late stupendious and amazing one and that I am so ignorant of the Nature of Angels and Spirits with their Offices and Operations and of their high and glorious excellencies and that I am so little acquainted with the Nature of my own Soul as at present dwelling in and united to my Body and as disunited and separated from it how without corporeal Organs it shall most vivaciously and vigorously perform all its proper Functions and Offices and more than ever strongly and indefatigably serve the Lord Jesus most fervently and abundantly love him and delight in him every way much more obtain the supream and highest end of its Creation and being and this makes me much more willing to dye that I may have the knowledg hereof with innumerable other things that I am now either ignorant of or do but imperfectly know and so be made happy by a plenitude of fulness of enjoying intellectual Pleasures which are of all other most suitable sweet and satisfactory to immortal Souls And also I see that he that departs from Iniquity makes himself a prey and so many plunging themselves into the ways of Iniquity lest they should accounted odious and vile which makes them so much degenerate not only from Christianity but from Humanity it self as if they were scarce the excrement of either contemning even that most Noble Generous Heroick Spirit that dwelt in many Heathens who accounted it most honourable and glorious to contend for their Rights and Liberties yea to suffer Death and the worst of Deaths in Defence of the same and judge them accursed and most execrable in the World that do so and not only so but for their own profit and advantage have many of them inslaved their posterity by it and are most industrious and laborious most fierce and furious to destroy them whereby they are become as unnatural as Children that seek the ruine of their Parents that begot them and brought them forth or them that lay violent hands upon themselves dashing out their own Brains cutting their own Throats hanging and drawing themselves ripping up their own Bellies tearing out their own Bowels they being in diffirent sences Children and Members of that Body politick they design and attempt the Destruction of and when I know not how long the Duration and Continuance of these things shall be or a Conclusion or End by God shall be put thereto who by Divine and Unerring Wisdom governs the World why shall my Soul be unwilling to take it's flight into the unseen and eternal World where no sullied sordid or impious thing most incongruous and unbecoming Nature shall be seen and found and where I shall behold no narrow conclusive contracted Soul there habitually preferring their private before a publick good but all most unanimously and equally center in one common universal good and where the sighs and groans and cryes of the afflicted and persecuted shall be heard no more for ever I earnestly exhort all most highly to prize and value Time and diligently improve it for Eternity to be wise seriously and seasonably to consider of their latter End for by the Irrepealable and Irreversable Law of Heaven we must all dye yet we know not how where or when live with your Souls full of solicitude and care with a most deep concernedness and most diligent Industriousness whilst you have time and opportunity and the means of Grace Health and Strength make sure of these two great things viz. 1. What Merits for you a Right and Title to Eternal Life and Glory and the future unchangeable Blessedness as the Redeemers most precious Blood and Righteousness that thereby a real Application and Imputation may be unto you by sincere believing 2. That that which makes you qualified Subjects for it is the great work of Regeneration wrought in your Souls being renewed in the Spirit of your Minds the Divine Nature being imprest upon them repairing of the depraved Image of God in you that being transformed into his own likeness thereby in the World you may mind and savour more the things of the Spirit than the things of the Flesh Celestial and Heavenly more than Terrestial and Earthly Superiour more than Inferiour things And therewith have a Holy Life and Conversation conjoyned that results and springs from the same as Fruit from the Root and Acts from the Habits Let all in order thereto seriously consider these few Texts of sacred Scripture let them predominantly possess you let them be deeply and Indelibly Transcribed upon your Souls let them be assimulated thereunto and made the written Epistles the lively Pictures thereof Mat. 5. 8 20. Blessed be the pure in Heart for they shall see God. v. 20. For I say unto you except your Righoeousness exceed the Righteousness of Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven John 3. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God c. Gal. 5. 19 20 to 23. Now the works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery c. Jam. 1. 18. Of his own Will hegat he us with the Word of Truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures 1 Pet. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Vers. 13. Wherefore gird up the loyns of your Minds c. Colos. 3. 1 2. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things that are above set your affections on things above not c. Gal. 5. 24. And they that are Christs have Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts c. Eph. 2. 1. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins Rev. 20. 6. Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no Power Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no Condemnation c. 1 Pet. 1. 15. But as he that hath called you is holy so be ye c. V. 23. Being born again not
are very near my Heart so that to leave the World before I have writ a Line or two to you to bid you farewel and to comfort you under this sad Providence would be uncomfortable to me I hope you have by this time learned how to welcome Evil as well as good Tydings and submit to the wise Disposer of all things who knows what 's best for us better than we do our selves though I question not but the News of my Death especially in such a violent manner as within a few hours I am to suffer will be afflictive to you yet I would beg of you to consider the Happiness I am going to and that I am but a few Years sooner taken out of a troublesome wicked World unto the Quire of Triumphant Martyrs in Glory which place of Happiness though I have not deserved by any Merit of my own yet for the Merits of my Mediator and Redeemer who hath purchased more for me than can enter into my Heart to conceive I doubt not but I have a Mansion prepared for me in that place where the Wicked cease from Troubling and the Weary are at Rest. And now Dear Sister I have nothing more to do in this World but to be preparing and fitting my self for this place of Rest which in a few Hours I am going to and therefore leave you and yours to the Protection of God who is able to keep and support you under this and all other his afflictive Providences and bring a good Issue out of them and who will in his own due time conduct you safe to that place of Happiness where you will meet above for Christs sake Dear Sister our Loving and Affectionate Brother William Jenkins An Account of the Behaviour of Mr. William and Benjamin Hewling before and at their Execution with several Letters to divers of their Relations THe Gracious Dealings of God manifested to some in their dying hours have been of great Use to those living that heard the same giving them occasion thereby to reflect on their own Estate and to look for the things of their Peace before they are hid from their Eyes As also a great encouragement to strengthen the Faith of those that have experienced the Grace of God to them at the End it 's thought necessary by Parents especially to preserve to their Children what remains of those Blessed Experiences that such have had that God hath taken to himself you have here a true Account presented of the Admirable Appearance of God towards two young Men Mr. Benjamin Hewling who dyed when he was about 22 years of Age And of Mr. William Hewling who dyed before he Arrived to 20 years which for reasons best known to themselves engaged with the Duke of Monmouth for which Mr. William Hewling was Executed at Lyme September 12 and Mr. Benjamin Hewling at Taunton September 30. 1685. However severe Men were to them yet the Blessed Dispensation of God towards them was such as hath made good his Word That out of the Mouth of Babes he hath ordained strength that he may still the Enemy and Avenger After the Dispersing of the Duke's Army they fled and got off to Sea but were driven back again and with the hazard of their lives got on Shore over dangerous Rocks where they saw the Country fill'd with Soldiers and they being unwilling to fall into the hands of the Rabble and no way of defence or escape remaining with them they surrendered themselves Prisoners to a Gentleman whose House was near the place they Landed at and were from thence sent to Exeter Goal July the 21 where remaining some time their behaviour was such that being Visited by many caused great Respect towards them even of those who were Enemies to the Cause they engaged in And being on the 15th of July put on Board the Swan Frigot in order to their being brought up to London their Carriage was such as caused the Commander and the rest of the Officers in the Ship to shew great kindness to them and being brought into the River Captain R. by Order came down to take them into his Custody and carried them to Newgate putting great Irons upon them and put them into rooms apart without giving Liberty for any near Relation to see them though in the presence of a Keeper which did greatly increase the Grief and Sorrow of their Relations But although men were cruel and severe to them God who wisely orders all things for good to all those whom he intends Grace and Mercy upon made this very Restraint and hard Usage a Blessed Advantage to their Souls as appears by their own Words when after great Importunity and Charge some of their near Relations had an opportunity to speak a few words to them before the Keeper to which they replyed That they were content with the Will of God whatsoever it should be Having been in Newgate three Weeks there was orders given to carry them down into the West in order to their Tryals which being told them they answered they were glad of it and the morning they went out of Newgate several that beheld them so Chearful said Surely those Yonng Men have their Pardons in their Pockets or else they could never carry it with that Chearfulness as they do This must be observed that from first to last whatever hopes they received from their friends of their Pardon they still thought the contrary never being much affected with the hopes of it nor cast down at the worst that might attend them in their Journey to Dorcester The Keepers that went with them have given this Account of them That their Carriage was so Grave and Serious that made them admire to see and hear what they did from such young men The first opportunity their Sister had to speak with them was at Salisbury August the 30th who gives the following Account of them I found them in an excellent Composure of Mind declaring their Experience of the Grace and Kindness of God to them in all their Sufferings in supporting strengthning and providing for them turning the Hearts of all them whose Hands they had been in both at Exon and on Ship-board to shew pity and favour to them although since they came to Newgate they were hardly used and how in their Journey loaden with heavy Irons and more Inhumanely dealt with they with great Chearfulness profest they were better yea and in a more happy Condition then ever in their lives from the sence they had of the Pardoning Love of God in Jesus Christ to their Souls with only referring themselves to the Wise and Gracious God to chose for them Life or Death expressing themselves thus Any thing what pleases God what He sees best so be it we know He is able to deliver if not Blessed be His Name Death is not terrible but desirable My Brother Benjamin in particularly added As for the World there 's nothing in it to make it worth while to live except we may
be Serviceable to God therein And after said GOD is a strong Refuge I have found him so indeed The next opportunity was at Dorcester where they were both carried and put in Prison and by reason of their strait Confinement our Converse was much interrupted but this I found from them that they had still the same presence and support from God as formerly no ways being discouraged at the near approach of their Tryal nor of the issue of it though it might appear to Flesh and Blood to be terrible The 6th of September my Brother Benjamin was ordered at Taunton to be Tryed then taking my leave of him he chearfully said Blessed be God for Afflictions I have found such happy Effects of them that I would not have been without them for all this World I remaining still at Dorcester to see the issue of my Brother William to whom after he was Tryed before his Sentence I had free Liberty to go to whose Mouth was filled with Admiration of the Grace of God in Christ Jesus that had been manifested unto him in calling him out of his natural Estate suddenly seizing on his Heart when he thought not of it in his Abode in Holland finding secret Whisperings in his Heart to seek the Face of God who enabled him to answer his Gracious Call and to reflect upon his own Soul whereby he came to see the Evil of Sin and his need of Christ from that time carrying him on to a sensible Adherence to Christ for Pardon and Peace of Soul where he said He found a Spring of Joy and Sweetness beyond all the Comfort of the whole Earth He further said He could not but admire the wonderful goodness of God in preparing him for what he was bringing him unto which then he thought not of giving hope of Eternal Life before he call'd him to look Death in the Face So that he did Chearfully resign his Life to God before he came having sought his Guidance in it and that the Cause did appear to him both then and now very Glorious notwithstanding all that which he had suffer'd in it or further might although God had with-held those good things from us As to himself he said God had carried on his Work in his Soul in and by all sufferings and whatever the will of God were Life or Death he knew it would be best for him After he had received his Sentence when he return'd to Prison he said Methinks I find my Comfort in God increase since my Sentence there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus it is God that Justifieth who shall condemn When I came to him the next morning when he had received News of the time of his Execution and in order to it was to be carried to Lyme that day I found him in a most excellent Spiritual Frame more then ever before he was in he said He was satisfied God had done best for him he knew what the Temptation of Life might be I might have lived and forgotten God but now I am going where I shall Sin no more O it it is a Blessed thing to be free from Sin and to be with Christ O how great were the Sufferings of Christ for us beyond all that I can undergo How great is that Glory to which I am going It will now swallow up Sorrow here When he was at Dinner just before his going from Dorcester to Lyme he dropt many Expressions of his inward Joy such as these O the Grace of God the Love of Christ O the Blessed Supper of the Lamb to be for ever with the Lord He further said When he went to Holland You knew not what Snares Sins and Miscarriages I might have fallen into or whether we might ever meet again Now you know whether I am going and that we shall certainly have a most joyful meeting and never part more for ever He said Pray give my Recommendations to all Relations with Acknowledgments for all their Kindness I advise them all to make sure of an Interest in Christ for he is the only Comfort when we come to dye One of the Prisoners seemed to be troubled at the manner of Death they were to dye to whom he replyed I bless God I am Reconciled unto it all Just at his going he writ these few Lines to his Mother being hardly suffered to stay so long I am going to Lanch into Eternity I hope and trust into the Arms of my Blessed Redeemer to whom I commit you and all my Relations My Love to my Dear Sister and the rest of my Friends William Hewling As they passed through the Town of Dorcester to Lyme multitudes of People beheld them with great Lamentation and bitter Cryes admiring at his Carriage and Behaviour at his parting with his Sister As they passed along the Road betwixt Lyme and Dorcester his Discourse was exceeding Heavenly and Spiritual as those present have since declared taking occasion from every thing to speak of the Journey they were going looking out upon the Country as they passed along he said This is a Glorious Creation but what then is the Paradice of God to which we are going When he was come to Lyme one reading the 14. of John and the 18 Verse I will not leave you Comfortless I will come to you said Christ will come unto us he will be with us to the very last At Lyme that morning he was Executed one taking Leave of him he said Fare-well till we meet in Heaven presently I shall be with Christ I would not change Conditions with any I would not stay behind for Ten Thousand Worlds To another that ask'd him how he did he said Very well I Bless God and farther ask'd him if he could look Death in the Face with Comfort now it approached so near He answered I can I bless God with Comfort God hath made this a good Night to me my Comforts are much increased since I left Dorcester Then taking leave of him said Farewell I shall see you no more To which he repiyed How see me no more Yes I hope to meet you in Glory To another which was by him to the last he said Pray Remember my Love to my Dear Brother and Sister and tell them I would desire them to Comfort themselves that I am gone to Christ and we shall quickly meet in the Glorious Mount Zion above Afterwards he Prayed for about three quarters of an hour with the greatest Fervency exceedingly blessing God for Christ Jesus Adoring the Riches of his Grace in all the Glorious Fruits of it towards him Praying for the Peace of the Church of God and for this Nation in particular with such Eminent Assistance of the Spirit of God that it Astonished Convinct and Melted the most Malitious Adversaries forcing Tears and Expressions of Sorrow from them some saying They knew not what would become of them after Death but it was evident he was going to great Happiness When he was just going
out of the World with a Joyful Countenance he said O now my Joy and Comfort is I have a Christ to go to and so sweetly Resigned his Spirit to Christ September the 12th 1685. An Officer who had shewed so Malicious a Spirit as to call the Prisoners Devils when he was Guarding them down was now so concerned that he after told a Person of Quality that he was never so Affected as by his Chearful Carriage and Fervent Prayer such as he believed never was heard especially from one so young and said he believed that had the Lord Chief Justice been there to see and hear what he did he could not have let him die The Sheriff having given his Body to be Buried although it was brought from the place of Execution without the knowledge of his Friends yet very many of the Town came to his Funeral to the number of about two hundred and several young Women of the best of the Town laid him in his Grave in Lyme Church-Yard September the 13th 1685. After which his Sister Writ this following Letter to her Mother ALthough I have nothing to Acquaint my Dear Mother withal but what is most Afflictive to Sense both as to the Determination of Gods Will and as to my present Apprehension concerning my Brother Benjamin yet remaining yet there is such abundant Consolation mixt in both that I only wanted an opportunity to pay this Duty God having wrought so Glorious a work on both their Souls revealing Christ in them that Death is become their Friend My Brother William having already with the greatest Joy declared to those that were with him to the last that he would not change Conditions with any that were to remain in this World and he desired that his Relations would comfort themselves that he is gone to Christ. My Brother Benjamin expects not long to continue in this World and is exceeding willing to leave it when God shall Call being fully satisfied that God will choose that which is best for him and us all by these things God doth greatly support me and I hope you also my Dear Mother which was and is my Brothers great desire there is still room for Prayer for one and God having so answered though not in kind we have encouragement still to wait on him Honoured Mother your Dutiful Daughter HANNAH HEWLING VVHen I came to Taunton my Brother Benjamin had received the News of my Brother William 's being gon tâ— die with so much Comfort and Joy and afterwards of the continuance of the goodness of God in increasing unto the end He Exprest himself to this effect We have no cause to fear Death if the Presence of God be with us there is no Evil in it the sting of it is taken away it is nothing but our Ignorance of the Glory that the Saints pass into by Death which makes it appear Dark to our selves or Relations if belonging to Christ what is this World that we should desire any Abode in it It is all Vanity and Vnsatisfying full of Sin and Misery Intimating also his own Cheerful expectation now to follow discovering then and all along great seriousness and sense of Spiritual things complaining of nothing in his present Circumstances but the want of a place of Retirement to Converse more Uninterruptedly with God and his own Soul saying That his little time in Newgate was the sweetest in his whole Life He said God having before struck his Heart when he thought of the hazard of his Life and the great Consequence of Death and Eternity shewing that they were the only happy Persons that had secur'd their Eternal Estate and the folly and madness of the ways of Sin and his own Thraldome therein with his utter Inability to deliver himself also the necessity of Christ to Salvation He said It was not without sorrow and amazement for some time the thoughts of Vnpardoned Sin with Eternity before him was a great surprize but God wonderfully open'd to him the Riches of his free Grace in Christ Jesus for poor Sinners to fly unto enabling him alone to look unto a Crucified Christ for Salvation He said That this Blessed Work was in some measure carried on upon his Soul under his business and hurry in the Army but never sprung forth so fully and sweetly till his close Confinement in Newgate then he saw an All-spiritual Object more clearly and imbraced it more strongly there he experienced the Blessedness of a Reconciled Estate the Excellency of the ways of Holiness of Communion with God which remained very deep and apparent impressions on his Soul which he frequently exprest with Admiration of the Grace of God to him He said Perhaps my Friends may think this some of the sadest time of my Life but I bless God it hath been the sweetest and most happy of all nay there is nothing else worth the name of happiness I have formerly but in vain sought happiness in the things of this World but I never found it but now I have found Rest for my Soul in God alone O how great is our blindness by nature that we can't see an Excellency in spiritual things we spend our pretious time in pursuing of shadows and are deaf to the Invitations of Grace and the Glorious Offers of Christ in the Gospel How just is God in depriving us of that we have so much slighted and abused O his infinite Patience and Goodness that after all he should yet take any method to bring a poor Sinner to himself O Electing Love Distinguishing Grace What cause have I to Admire and Adore it He said What an amazing Consideration is the Sufferings of Christ for Sin to bring us to God His sufferings were exceeding great but alas what was that to the dolours of his Soul under the infinite VVrath of God The great mystery of Grace and Love is enough to swallow up our thoughts to Eternity As to his own Death he would often say He saw no reason to expect any other I know God is infinitely able to deliver and I am sure will do it if it be for his Glory and my Good for which I bless God I am fully satisfied it is all my desire he would choose for me that I am sure will be best whatever it be for truly except God hath some work for me to do in this World for his Service and Glory I see nothing else to make Life desirable in this present state of things there is nothing to cast our Eye upon but Sin Sorrow and Misery and truly were things never so much according to our desire it is but the World still which will never be a Resting-place Heaven is the only state of Rest and Happiness where we shall be perfectly free from Sin and Temptation and enjoy God without Interruption for ever Speaking of the disappointment of their Expectation of the work they had undertaken he said with Reference to the Glory of God and Prosperity of the Gospel and