and rests upon it and trusts unto it that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners Of whom she is chief Thou art willing that all should be saved Therefore thou art willing she should be saved also Thou hast put these words into her mouth and into our mouths for her That if Jesus Christ hath not merits enough to save her she and we also will be contented that she should be Damned for ever But Blessed be our God! The merits of our Saviour are Infinite Oh! Lord make application of them unto her poor Soul Oh! Take away for Christs sake all her sins Blot out her iniquities at a Cloud and her Transgressions as a thick Cloud Though her sins have abounded unto her Condemnation yet let thy grace much more infinitely more abound unto her justification Enter not into judgment with her Oh Lord Deliver her from blood guiltiness Oh God thou God of her salvation And her Tongue and our mouths shall sing aloud of Christs Righteousness and of thy Faithfulness Oh take away whatsoever may hinder the Communications of thy Love favor and salvation unto her Purge sin out of her Give a broken contrite and truly Peritent heart unto her She is Mourning for her sin and misery Oh wash her in the blood of the Lamb in that Fountain opined for sin and for Uncleannesses in the lavor of Regeneration Oh sanctifie and renew her by thy Holy Spirit Take away all the spots and blots of her sin Though she be defiled and deformed with innumerable and those the most abominable yet canst thou rense and cleanse her in a moment No unclean thing shall enter into thy Kingdom Without Holiness none can see the Lord. Now the Lord Sanctifie her throughout in her whole Soul Body and Spirit And though she hath been by the wiles of the Devil cheated of her life and is now to suffer Justly for her evil deeds give her to bear patiently the indignation of her God because she hath sinned against thee and to accept of the punishment of her iniquity Though she must burn in Temporal flames yet let her not burn in Everlasting flames Oh Let the streams of Christs blood quench out the flames of thy wrath Though she die in Earth Lord Save her from Hell Oh Give her Faith the Faith of Gods elect And the Lord strengthen her Faith Oh Confirm her hope Oh Give her to abound in hope through thy Holy Ghost given to her Oh Grant that Faith Hope and patience may have their perfect work in her Give in some token some pledge of thy good will unto her if it be thy good pleasure Oh revive support and comfort her drooping Spirits Though she be in the Valley and shaddow of death do not forsake her Oh do not forsake her Say unto her thou art her Salvation Tell her that after she hath suffered a little while she shall be with thy self in Heaven perfect with thee in Glory Say unto her as unto the Thief upon the Cross this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Oh keep off Satan from her He is never more busie â—han when thy poor Worms are weakest and least able to defend themselves from him Lord Jesu Fight for her against him Keep her pretious and immortal Soul from him Oh Be with her now in these her last agonies Give thy Holy Angels to wait upon her and in that very moment that her Soul shall go out of her Body let those Glorious Angels carry it into Abrahams bosome Into thy hands do we commend her Into thy hands doth she commit her Spirit Dear Jesu Save it For thou hast loved redeemed and died for it And now Lord though earth will loose a bloody Sinner yet let Heaven be augmented by one saint more O Look down from Heaven the Habitation of thy Holiness and Glory upon this numerous Assembly Oh let them not be idle Spectators of these dreadful Providences Oh That they may be Ordinances for this good for their Conversion and Reformation Oh That every Soul that is gazing here may smite upon his Breast and lament that Universal corruption which is in our nature and the woful effects of our sin Sin having once conceived bringeth forth death We have the root of the matter in us the very causes of those sins for which these Malefactors suffer had we the same temptations we might be Guilty of the like transgressions And were it not for the Cords and Curbs of thy Restraining Grace we should be in their Condition Blessed be God we are not 'T is thou only that hast made us to differ Oh That all Masters of Families Parents of Children would see that they in their own Persons and with their Families do serve the Lord Oh Let there be no ' Prayerless Families no uncatechized Children in this Place Look once more we pray thee with mercy upon this thy poor Creature She is very low very miserable yearn upon her with bowels of compassion and embrace her with arms of everlasting lave Be her God and her Guide unto death and her Saviour from everlasting death And all we beg in and for the sake of our dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who sits on the Right hand making intercession for her and for us Hear us for his sake and gratiously answer us and do abundantly for her and us beyond what we can ask or think To him with thy self Holy Father and Eternal Spirit be Everlasting Glory Dominion Praise and Thanksgiving Amen Prayer being ended I lifted up my hands over her and said Anne the Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his Face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon thee and give thee Peace And if thy Repentance be true and thy peace made with God and our Prayers heard as I hope they all are death wont be terrible unto thee Now Farewel Life welcome Death God will send his Holy Angels in a Fiery Chariot to Convey thy Soul into Heaven THis poor wretch weeping and wringing me by the hand Sir saith she I am never able to requite you for all your labor of love care and pains about the Salvation of my pretious Soul but the Lord. will I hope The Lord reward you The Lord recompense you for all these kindnesses I thank you with all my Heart And as I was departing from her she helpake me Sir pray intreat for me that I may not be put to too much torture I answered her in broken words and tears for few there refrained That I would do my utmost endeavor to prevent it And turning my self to the Gentlemen in Authority Gentlemen the English temper abhors Cruelty show same Bowels to this poor Creature I need not intreat it there was such a Clowd of grief sitting upon all their Faces and so much tenderness and companion that they would have done their utmost to have hindred it Two went to the Maid and
they Plow the Rock they do her no good their labor of love is lost their Prayers return into their own bosoms The Relator having visited them several times while they were in the High Goal at Exon thought it convenient to subjoyn the substance and effect of his conferences with them Possibly it may not be displeasing unto his Reader Coming into the Prison early in the Morning he had the Four condemned Persons brought unto him and bespeaks them in these words Miscrable Souls I am heartily sorty to see you in this place and to find you in this Condition You are here Judged of man and you must die but what also if you are Condemned of God and must to Hell for ever You are Sinners are you not You are Guilty of those Crimes for which Sentence is past upon you Three had so much Ingenuity as with Weeping and Trembling to acknowledge it Alas Poor wretches you are weeping because you have offended man and brought your selves to destruction Ah! what a mercy would it be if you could weep unfeignedly for your offences against God and because you have lost his Image and favor which is the greatest Blessing and deserved his wrath and Curse which is the greatest misery What think you of Sin Is it as sweet and pleasing to you now you must die for it as when at first you did commit it Here they were silent and Confounded Ah! Now you see what it is not to believe God speaking to you from his Word and by his Ministers you were told that sin would bring sorrow and shame wrath and death sooner or later The Devil and your own corrupted heart rose up against this Discovery of his will and you made light and slight of it and what have you got by it All the Fruit of your sin is that you are ashamed of it and grieved for it its wages is the loss of Earth Life and Heaven and these you are expecting every moment Man hath cast you off for your sins you cannot stand before your earthly Judge And if God shall cast you out of his blessed presence for ever among the Devils and the Damned Spirits how would you be able to bear it They being somewhat moved he askt them How think you to escape the dreadful wrath of God What means have you to save your pretious Souls from Hell What First do you believe you have Souls to save a being in your Body that doth not that cannote die with your Bodies Do you believe there is a God and Devil a Heaven and Hell and that all the wicked shall be turned into Hell and that you all of you shall be flung into it for your sins against God At this they shrugd up their shoulders and had nothing to answer but their Repentance Your Repentance said I what is that Why our sorrow for our sins we would not commit them again if they were now undone Yea indeed so you say and possibly think you would not but you do not know the wickedness and deceitfulness of your own hearts if you were now as heretofore and under the same temptations I know nothing to the contrary but that you would be Guilty of the same transgressions of as bad or worse Besides suppose your Repentance were true and real what amends is that unto God for the manifold dishonors you have done him You have broken every command of God you are Guilty of innumerable sins your very birth and nature is horribly corrupted and all your life long you have been Rebels against God and you think to put off Gods wrath with your pittiful Repentance a late Repentance and it may be no other than the very Reprobates have that are now in Hell Is this all the satisfaction you can make to God They knew no other Then it was told them that God was a great and terrible God that would not put up the affronts and wrongs had been done him without satisfaction that he would by no means acquit the Guilty That they had sinned and must die eternally and if ever they were redeemed from Eternal wrath they must make God full a mends and bring him a Ransome and if they had none nor knew where it was to be had they must expect as soon as they died to be damned for ever I asked of them in particular who or what Jesus Christ was and what it was he had done for them To which there was this answer made they could not tell None that knows a Goal will conceive this a Fable Hardly any but Atheists and the most ignorant wretches in the whole County are clapt up there and for one sin they brought with them into it they carry away Cart-loads out of it Our County Prisons being the Common Sinks of the Country and a Shop wherein all impiety is soonest learned and attained Their ignorance of Christ his Person Natures Offices and Undertakings for poor Souls made me to aggravate their wickedness and to tell them they had wretchedly mispent their time and that now they were going out of the World they must learn the Principles of Christian Religion and I questioned whether they had any Repentance that was pleasing unto God for they had no Faith nor knowledge even of the most necessary Truths without which they could not be saved And for my part I must not flatter you you are nearer Hell than Heaven Upon this there was a discourse made of Christ adapted to their capacities as also of his wonderful love and condescension in becoming man and dying for sinners and satisfying the Justice of God and holding forth his death as the price of Redemption unto all Penitent believers and that this was now offered unto them upon these terms of confessing and abhorring their sins and themselves for their sins and that if they came to God with a sence and feeling of the insupportable burden of the horrid nature and infinite number of their sins and threw themselves at his feet prostrate before him imploring his mercy for the passion of his dear Son the Lord would be merciful to them and he would not cast them off but would pardon and forgive their hainous and grievous offences In the close of this conference Master Holmes Chaplain to the High Sheriff came into the Chamber and after some words with the Malefactors we joyntly parted the Prisoners I withdrawing into another Room with the Nurse and Maid and having pressed them to a free ingenious confession of their Guilt the Girl with tears in her eyes gave me for substance the same confession and not varying in a circumstance from that which at her first apprehension she had made unto the Major and Justice of Plymouth I adjured her in the name of the All-seeing and heart-searching God who hated a Lye and would cast all Lyars into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever to declare nothing but the Truth That she had sinned enough already and had been Guilty of two
are become the objects of his rage and fury Satan had lost Heaven and he envies them Earth Their habitation in an Earthly Heaven displeaseth him because it pleaseth God They just now came out of their Creators hands endowed with a double Portion Holyness and happiness But he resolves they shall not long enjoy either Hence in the very first dawn of their Creation he contrived and accomplished their destruction He subtilly insinuates the poyson of sin by his conferences with and suggestions unto Eve and she having once tasted of the dose and allured with the deceitful pleasantness thereof to her sensual appetite communicates it to her Husband and they both derive it down unto all their natural posterity Ah! How many Murders were in this One Mankind made and ruined altogether Certainly they who plotted the blowing up of King and Kingdom in One hour they who effected the Sicilian Vespers Parisian Mattins and Irish Massacres had been all trained up and Educated in the Schools of this this old and Grand Abaddon Adam being in Honor continued not a day in it His glorious state did shine and set with the same Sun In the Morning it flourished and grew up in the Evening it was cut down and withered like the Grass He played away as a besorted Gamester his whole and all present and to come what he had in possession what he might have in Reversion at one cast Nothing was left him but his sin and curse and this he propagates unto all his Children A most sad Portion to be inherited by us Sin being now conceived doth prodigiously spawa and swarm The Old Serpent is not idle His boiling malice gives him no rest His first born like the Plague spreads its venom universally and new Monsters are hatched and produced by it every day New sins in new shapes in odious and hideous colours shew forth their heads Grace is modest Sin impudent and shameless It seeketh no disguise nor putteth on a Vizard but for its own security and in order to further mischief to perpetrate some greater Villany The Devil having set variance between God and Man will give another cast of his Office He throws a Bone of contention between Man and Man The nearest Relations the dearest Friends they that had the same flesh in their Bodies the same blood in their veins that if not Twins yet scarce divided in their age that were Nurst Fed and Educated together both alike tendered by their Indulgent and Religious Parents shall yet through his subtilty and cruelty be sundered and divided one from the other And if he cannot drag them both with himself into Hell yet will he precipitate the one by a bloody and Barbarous death into his untimely Grave and the other by a sin like his own into the bottomless Pit of destruction ere he is aware of it Cain by the instigation of the wicked one upon no provocation no offence given unless Gods gracious acceptance of Abel for his Faith and Holiness be a crime Murthers his own his only and dearest Brother Bloody Villain Thou choppest off thy right hand with thy left thou dashest out thine own Brains in dashing out his Thou destroyest his body but damnest thine own Soul Ah what grief it this to Pious Adam Oh what joy and Musick unto Hell Revenge is sweet But it s a poor revenge Satan Which ends hi thine own in thine endless destruction However the Devil hath shown the way of Murthering and bad Arts are soon learnt Any one may be an easie and early proficient in Ungodliness the whole and old World soon got the skill of it God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually The Earth also was corrupt before God and filled with Violence All flesh had perverted its way and blood touched blood There was no fair and gentle means left unessayed by God to reclaim sinners to dam up if possible the torrents of their ungodliness to stench those foul issues and frequent effusions of Innocent blood Adam and the Holy Patriarks decry it down in their Lives and Sermons Enoch the Phoenix of his Age for the life and power of Godliness shining most illustriously in his Conversation Thunders out Prophesies of dreadful Judgments against the irreligious Cainites Behold saith that Glorious Saint The Lord cometh with Holy Myriads of Angels to Execute vengeance upon all the ungodly and to convince you of your ungodliness in flames of Fire who will not be convinced by our Ministry Upon the wicked he shall Rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest This shall be the Portion of their Cup. But the Prophet is counted a Fool and the Spiritual man Mad and his Menaces of approaching wrath idle Dreams melancholly thoughts bugbears to fright Children and bublings up of his envy and malice against them Thus he and his Prophecies are despised and scornfully rejected At last fair warning and loud calls and Summons unto Repentance having been long afforded them and not accepted nor in the least improved the patience of God is tired mercy finally departs from them and Divine Justice sweeps away the Habitations and persons of those Scarlet Sinners with a deluge of Waters One would have thought that such a fearful Judgment should have cautioned afterages from ever treading in their steps But alas Posterity is grown stupid and Judgment-proof As for Gods Judgments the wicked makes a puff at them they are afar off above and out of his sight he forgets and makes no reckoning nor account of them God hath Hanged up some in Chains before their eyes Executed a whole World of Malefactors and made them an everlasting Sign and Example to them yet they willfully shut their eyes that they may not see and lock up the Doors of their hearts that they may not consider for what causes this great wrath is come upon them So that we need not wonder at Gods plaguing such willful blind Souls It is but a righteous Retribution that his Justice oweth them In as much as they regarded not the works of the Lord nor took notice of the operation of his hand he could not build them up he must totally and utterly destroy them Sinners ate the Voluntary Carvers of their own misfortunes They choose and Create unto themselves their own bane and destruction Temporal and Eternal The reading of this ensuing Narrative will be a clear proof and evidence hereof Books Printed for and are to be Sold by Francis Eglesfield at the Marygold in St. Pauls Church-Yard DIvi Britannici being a Remark upon the Lives of all the Kings of this Isle from the year of the World 855. Unto the year of Grace 1660. By Sir Winston Churchill Knight in Folio The Works of that Famous Mathematician Master Edmond Gunter somtimes Professor of Gresham Colledge London Reprinted Corrected and much enlarged in this Fifth Edition in Quarto The whole Art of Dyalling By
whom she might Communicate it and have the benefit of their Assistance Counsels and Directions in order to her Salvation That it was impossible for her to get to Heaven without it Confession being a main and principal ingredient into Repentance To this she answered positively she would not and as peremptorily that it was enough to confess to God and why should she confess unto men I told her God required in publick scandalous and crying Crimes such as those whereof she was Guilty and especially now the lot of God had attached her and his holy righteous providence had condemned her that she should confess accuse shame and condemn her self publickly That otherwise she slandered most unworthily the Right Honorable Judge and the whole Court and endeavored to raise up a base and scandalous suspition of them as if they had maliciously took away her life To which she in plain terms said They had she was Innocent and they must answer for it unto God I told her I heard the Devil speaking with her tongue and was afraid to stay with her any longer least the should tear her in a Thousand pieces before me I had known many hard-hearted Murderers this Thirteen years last past in this Goal but never before met with the like That I saw she was resolved to be Damned and go to Hell And I was seriously perswaded that since so many Ministers had been with her and treated with her about everlasting life to no purpose and that all my poor endeavors were unsuccesful that God would never grant her Grace to repent but that she was a Vessel of wrath and preparing her self a pace for endless destruction At these words she began to weep and wept bitterly wringing her hands crying Oh! Sir What shall I do Will you have me speak that which I do not know I am Innocent Well woman said I if you be Innocent as to this Crime tell me are you not Guilty of some other Capital Crime deserving death For though the Lord may suffer an Innocent person to undergo an unjust Sentence from men yet if he have any Grace he will own the Justice of God in mans injustice It is rare very rare indeed that God the Wise and Righteous Governor of the World suffers the Innocent to be Condemned and the Guilty absolved but if he do is there not a Cause for it Were I in your Case I would say unto the Lord do not Condemn me shew me wherefore thou contendest with me Come unrip your heart and tell me what sins thou hast been Guilty of that though you need no Repentance for this Murder for which as you say you are unjustly Condemned yet you may be holpen unto Repentance for them Sir I know no sin at all that I am Guilty of is her reply No Sir none at all Ah! poor wretch Guilty of no sin Is not thy nature depraved Hath not thy life been debauched How hast thou improved thy time here in Prison In Prayers Repentance and preparation for death Still she answers No sin deserving death It may be she had committed some little sins as all others do but for sins deserving death she never had committed any I told her she was a perfect stranger to her own heart that she was full of sin all over but blind and could not see them that her little sins were all damnable and as she knew one drop of Poyson would kill as bad as a Spoonful so one little sin without Repentance would as infallibly Damn her as the greatest that for my part I did utterly despair of her Salvation seeing the Devil to be so strong in her that she was in the Gall of bitterness and bond of Iniquity and seared that she would go to Hell with a lye in her mouth she was now pleasing the Devil and thought she had found his Service so profitable and beneficial to her that she was resolved to serve him to the last and to hear the Lord Thunder in her Ears Go Thou Cursed Murderess into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels for ever At this she wept again and told me she was a poor * Ignorant Ingrant Soul But she hoped it would not be so bad with her as I spake I told her it was my hearts desire it might not be so I pittied her from my Soul I labored for her everlasting welfare I had no other design upon her than to pluck her out of the Jaws of Hell That I had nothing but labor for my pains and was afraid I should be a Witness at the last day against her for her refusal her stubborn wilful rejection of everlasting life That so her Brother had done before her and would never repent nor confess till he was upon the Gallows ready to be turned over and then out all came when he could live no longer to the Devil then he would go to God and God must be put off with the Devils leavings To which she rejoyned that her Brother had made a Godly end and she was sure he was now in Heaven and did wish she might make as good an End And said I I pray God you may make a better Now that the Curiosity of my Reader who will inquire concerning her Brother may be satisfied I shall give an account of him briefly craving pardon for amuseing him with this Digression Take then his and subscribed with his own hand at Lanceston in Cornwall April the Third 1675. Just as he was a turning over for till then he would make none The Confession of John Codmore Condemned to be Executed and Made by him at the Gallows 1. HE began to commit the sin of Theft first upon Pease and Apples 2. The next thing he stole was Figs from a Merchants Stall unknown to the Owner 3. Next he wronged his Father in giving away his Syder unknown to him and by reason of perswasions of others And he Married against his Fathers consent 4. When he was with his Master John Temple of Tamerton Parish he took Money for Dying of Cloth and Stockings unknown to his said Master 5. Next when he was with Robert Strong of Plymouth he there received Money for Dying of Cloth Stockings and Wool unknown to his Master which did belong unto his Master and in his Service went into a Garden and stole Goesberries and Cherries 6. Next he stole from Peter Slade of Tregony Fourteen Pounds of Wool and also kept from him Dy-stuff which did belong unto him 7. Next he stole from Samuel Pentire of Tregony One piece of Sarge who brought it to him to Dye and never had the return of it more 8. Next he stole from John Cooling of Verrian a Yard and half of Sarge and several Pounds of Wool 9. Next he stole from John Bullock of the same Parish One piece of Sarge who brought it to him to Die and never had it more 10. He stole from another person whose name he hath forgot Two Yards and half
of Sarge which were bought to be Dyed and severall pare of Stockings from several people which they never had again 11. He stole from Henry Jellings of Tregony One piece of Sarge who brought it to him to Dye and never had the return of it more 12. He stole from Robert Strong of Plymouth Three Yards of Sarge Two Yards of Cloth and Four pair of Stockings at another time Four Sticks of Brazil 13. He stole from William Weeks of Plymouth Seven Yards of Sarge 14. He stole from a Widow woman of Loo out of a Box that was in a Chamber wherein he lay Eight Shillings and Six pence 15. He stole from his Uncle John Codmore a Dun Nag 16. He stole out of John Temples House of Tamerton Eight Yards of Linnen and One pair of Stockings and at another time stole from him Fourteen Yards of Sarge Three Yards of Cloth and Eleven pair of Stockings 17. He stole from his Father Money out of his Pockets at several times and once Eighteen Shillings 18. He stole from Tryphena Channings of St. Stephens One Silver Thimble and Two Yards and half of Sarge and a mans Sarge Coat for which he broke a Window 19. He stole from John Walter of the said Parish a white Mare Bridle Saddle and Gambadoes 20. He broke an House in Pillington and stole from thence Five Silver Spoons One Silver Trimble and a Silver Whistle 21. He stole from Hugh Northam of Tamerton the Summ of Nine and thirty Pounds Fifteen Shillings and Ten Pence in Money and One Scarf Six Dozen and Four Silver Buttons Twenty Gold Buttons a shoulder Knot of Scarlet Ribband and Four small Knots of the same and some Silver Bobbin 22. He confest he sold his Wife to a Millar for Five pound on a Bill half to be paid on Easter Munday and the other half to be paid the Whitsun Munday after 23. He stole from Hatherly Moore Two Steers and fold them at Plymouth 24. He brake the House of John Trapling of Pillington and from thence stole meat drest 25. He went into Thomas Mallets House of Gerrance at the top of the Chimney and his Wife heard it so he went out and stole nothing 26. He was also tempted to break the House of Tryphena Channings if she had not changed her lodging Room from the Chamber to the under Room he had then intended to have stolen away her Box wherein her money lay 27. He stole a Goose at Lee in Pillington Parish 28. He was also riding in St. Blazy and saw Geese in the way he struck one and killed it and carried it away with him I certifie my offence that all the world may know the effects of sin and hereto I have set my hand the day above written And the Lord give me Repentance whilst it is time John Codmore REader this is a fair Catalogue A goodly Bedroll And a very sweet Penitent And that I do not wrong his memory give me leave to tell thee that of all this money which he last stole from Mr. Northam and it is credibly reported the Sum was double to what he confessed he never took any care to restore one Farthing nay ordered a considerable Summ of it I think Thirty Pound to be put out for his Child and gave order unto his wretched Brother in Law to go to Loo and in that Chamber where he lay last hanging to the Vallance of his Bed next to the Wall he shâ—uld find a Purse of Money which accordingly he fetcht but what is become of it is unknown However at the Execution of his wicked Sister we may chance to hear some farther tale and tidings thereof But for this fellow he hath a Twelve month since received his Doom and is gone unto his place and there we leave him And now let us return Reader from our Digression though I think we have not been much nor long out of our way Finding no good success in my labors with the Nurse I sent for the Maid to come unto me Who being shut into the Chamber with me I asked her what she did think would become of her pretious Soul that it was better worth than a World and it was a Thousand pitties that a Jewel of such inestimable worth and value should be lost for ever That now it was in a very dangerous â— state and ready to perish irrecoverably That as she had by her envy malice Instigation and Correspondence with the Devil Murdered her two Mistresses so she also had Murdered her own Soul and Body And that as they were dead and Buried so would she also shortly die a very horrible death and without wonderful mercy be swallowed up of everlasting wrath That the Fire which was to consume her in Plymouth would be very painful but the Fire of Hell in which she must live and lye for ever would be insupportable That her many and mighty sins had brought her to this woful condition And I added How will you get out of it Poor wretch She fell a trembling and weeping and desired my help and direction and she would labor to follow it Whereupon my Bowels yearning on her and mingling my tears with hers I told her I was heartily glad to hear such words drop from her mouth and through Gods blessing she would never want it Then I told her Anne do you sit down in some secret place and review your life and look over all your ways and call your self to an account for all the sins that you can remember your self Guilty of and consider chiefly that your heart and nature are desperately wicked that there dwelleth in you nothing that is good and that you cannot do any thing that is good no not so much of your self as think a good thought much less to Convert and turn your self to God Then remember every one of the Ten Commandments and how that you have transgrest against them especially against the Sixth Thou shalt not kill and that for every one of these sins of yours even for the least you have deserved to burn in Hell Oh! Then how many Hells have you merited Besides consider all the mercies of God bestowed upon you as your Life Health Liberty Friends Food and to live in a Land where the Gospel is preached and the way to Heaven revealed and discovered and yet how unworthily have you abused them to the dishonor of the Lord that gave them But principally consider that all your sins have been committed against God the Father that Created you that gave you life and being against God the Son Christ Jesus who became man and died for you Anne said I this makes your sin exceeding sinful a very horrible sin that Christ Jesus to save you from sin and Hell died for you was crucified and accursed for you lost his heart blood for you and underwent the torments of Hell for you to keep and save you from them And yet by every sin that you have been Guilty of you
these Malefactors The covetous Keepers for love of a piece of money letting them in who by their loose idle and impertinent discourses obstruct the success of Ministerial Labors However this poor Maid assured me that her thoughts had been upon my Counsels in the night and she wou'd make it her business to do it more effectually and withal added that she saw her self undone for ever To which I replied No she was nearer Heaven than she was aware of That her sins were not too great for God to pardon That she should remember Three Texts of Scripture that I would tell her First This is a true and faithful saying worthy of her acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Yea Sir saith she I am the greatest sinner in Plymouth Secondly That whosoever comes unto Christ that is believes in Christ he would in no wise cast out That for her to believe in and come to Christ was no other than this That seeing her self by reason of sin to be a damned Wretch she cast her self upon the everlasting mercies of God because of Christs death with hope and expectation of them and waiting for them And then Thirdly That the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sins And she should meditate and think upon these pretious words of God and resolve that she would live and die with them in her Heart And if she did and grieved unfeignedly for her sins loathed them and her self for them my Soul for hers she should never perish For Jesus Christ was a most absolute and compleat Saviour able and willing to save the worst of Mankind that would be saved by him upon these his Terms and therefore would save her Upon this she wept again Having comforted her and done somewhat to bind up her wounds I added Anne there are yet some other works for you you must die in Charity with the world and crave pardon as from God so from Man especially from your Master whom you have so grievously wronged You must also in particular forgive this bloody Woman the Nurse that hath seduced you to this great sin and to your perdition Will you Can you do it If you do it not from your heart God will never forgive you Sir saith she I wit I do it And it should not grieve me if she lived though l died only for this Fact I forgive her a I expect forgiveness from God Then I added She must beware of mispending her time or loosing a moment of it she should take heed of vain thoughts she must be much in private Prayer and not be long but short short in Prayer but often She must hearken to all the good counsels of Gods Ministers that would come and visit her and do them to the utmost She should be as Spiritual Holy Religious Humble Serious and Heavenly minded as possible She should not take any great care of her Body the less the better as to eating drinking or sleep Her whole thoughts and care should be spent about her Soul and its salvation And to conclude Anne said I it is a hard work to die at any time but for one in thy condition very hard indeed But however once thy peace is made with God and thou hast repented of thy sin and thrown thy poor Soul upon Sovereign mercy in the Blood of Jesus never fear death Take it humbly patiently and submissively Bear the indignation of the Lord because thou hast sinned accept of the punishment of thine iniquity yea be thankful unto God that thou mayest be Burnt here and not hereafter I hope the Lord will make thy death easie short and comfortable Thou art yet a stranger to the joys of Gods Salvation and to the comforts of his Holy Spirit But it may be the Lord will give them to thee in thy bitter torments and then thou wilt scarce feel them or if he shall detain them from thee yet his Grace is sufficient for thee believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved And finishing my discourse with her she asked whether she should not see me again especially when she was to suffer for she earnestly requested my help my assistance to her in that hour I promised if it could be obtained she should have it Being now returned to the rest of the Malefactors I spake something of the Glories of that other World where truly Penitent and believing sinners were a going what an unspeakable happiness God had prepared for them and what wonderful rich grace this was on Gods part that he should promise and tender it unto them Two of whom I hope were broken hearted though they wanted much knowledge and much of that Compunction that they ought to have that if they would endeavor after more Grace God who was the God of all Grace would give liberally unto them and never upbraid them with their past ungodliness That the promises were not made so much unto the measure and degree of Grace as to the nature and Truth of Grace That a Grain of Gold was as truly Gold as an heap or Mountain That the Lord was no respecter of Persons but an Universal a Common Saviour That he despised not the day of small things He would not quench the smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed nor cast off any self-confounded and self-condemned wrerches That whatever their sins had been they should beware of doubting or despairing of Gods mercies Their despair of Salvation being a greater sin than Murder or High Treason That I was not ignorant of Satans devices no stranger to his Wiles and Stratagems who when he could keep them no longer in Chains of darkness and Impenitency would put Souls upon Over-doing in Repentance and over whelm them with horrors They should look to this and believe it live and die upon it that Christ Jesus was more willing to save them than they were to be saved by him that though they were to die shameful and painful deaths you to be Hanged and you to be Burnt Yet here was a comfortable meditation it was as easie going to Heaven from the Stake and Gallows as from their Beds and when their Souls were departing out of their Bodies Gods Holy Angels would convey them into Paradise At this good news my Two Penitents wept and I hope Tears of Joy And turning my self unto the Nurse Woman said I it is the very grief of my Soul and makes my heart bleed within me that not one Syllable or tittle of these good words of Gods gracious promises belongs to thee This is the Children Bread it must not be given unto Dogs and Devils Having finished my discourse I gathered up the particulars and spread them before the Lord in Prayer begging grace and glory for them And that his Divine Majesty would yet mollifie that Adamant before him and take away the heart of stone and give an heart of flesh and open the Brazen Doors that this Captive of Hell might go
herself Now she being questioned about her offence owns every particular thereof it having been propounded to her in particulars Owneth that the Nurse bad her put it in Only denieth the Deposition of Scannels Wife professing that she cannot remember it Professeth her hearty and unfeigned sorrow for her sin not only because it had ruined her Mistresses and her self but principally and especially because it was an high dishonor to God Father Son and Spirit that it made her unworthy of his Favor and Blessing yet she professed her Faith and Hope of Salvation through the alone Merits of the Lord Jesus Into whose hands she now commended her self and desired to forgive all the World and that Bloody Woman the Nurse who had drawn her into destruction and added that she submitted patiently to her death because she had deserved it And said it was her wish that all others would take warning by her Example and taking this Relator by the hand Sir saith she will you not pray with me Did you not promise me yon would And craving it with Tears it was readily accorded Silence being commanded and every Person composed there was this following Prayer conceived and poured before the Lord in her behalf MOst Holy Lord God! The Righteous Judg of the whole World Just in all thy Ways and Holy in all Works The great and terrible God! a consuming Fire and everlasting burnings How can such sinful chaff and stubble as we are stand before thee We must needs in a Moment be reduced unto Ashes if thou hast not pitty on us But blessed be thy Name thou art a God of wonderful Love and Mercies Thou hast so loved the World as to give thine only begotten Son to the death for us that we believing in him should not perish but have everlasting life We are greater Sinners than the Apostate Angels and yet have greater Mercies afforded us though they are better capacited to serve God than our selves and never sinned against thee but once yet thou didst utterly reject them never gavest a Christ to them nor to die for them whereas thou hast bestowed him on us the most unworthy Persons Sons and Daughters of sinful Adam who have never ceased sinning against thee We are all Sinners by Nature and from our Youth upward We were conceived in sin and born in iniquity Our Infancy our Youth and riper years have been all spent in the drudgery of sin We have broken all the Commandments of our God in heart thought word and deed sinned against the Law and against the Gospel against all the means used by our God to reclaim and to reform us We have despised the best of Mercies and deserved the worst of Judgments yea to be burnt up with unquenchable flames as this poor wretched Malefactor is now ready to be with those that are temporal But hitherto thou hast spared and reprieved us and given us space for Repentance and waitest to be gracious to us and biddest us seek thee O our God whilest thou mayest be found and call upon thee whilest thou art near it forsake our ungodliness and to forego all our wickedness and thou wouldest abundantly pardon yea thou art so gracious as to bid and incourage us to Pray for others with promises of Audience and Acceptance This emboldens us to make our addresses to thee for this poor condemned Creature ready to be executed We confess for her and she doth acknowledg for her self Lord her great and grievous offences that she hath been a Rebel against thee all her days lived in sin neglected duty neglected getting the saving knowledg of God and acquaintance with thee that she hath not hearkened to the voice of God speaking from his holy Word unto her but listned readily unto the Temptations and Suggestion of the Devil a Murderer from the beginning and by whose enticements she hath embrewed her hands in Blood in the guilt of innocent Blood of her Relation and Superiors which crys to Heaven for vengeance against her Lord she cannot stand before the Justice of Men. Ah! how unable is she to subsist at the Bar of God Man hath justly contemned her and the Lord might justly damn her and that to all Eternity The wages of her sin is death death Temporal and Eternal But Lord though she is miserable thou art merciful though she is full of sins thou art full of pardons though she is helpless in her self yet in thee Lord is she not hopeless Blessed be God that hath opened a Door of hope for her in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus who was delivered to the death for her sins and rose again from the dead that she might be justified Thy Free guift in Christ Jesus is Eternal Life Oh! How sweet is thy mercy Suffer us Blessed Father in all humility to plead with thee in her behalf Oh That thou wouldest be gracious to her she is thy Creature the work of thine hands do not destroy her She is the purchase of thy Sons blood Oh Let him not loose her Christ died for her Oh Let him not die in vain for her Therefore save her Her sins are many but thy mercies are infinitely more her sins are Bloody Crimson Scarlet and crying sins but the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sins Bloodshed by her cryeth down Vengeance on her But yet dear Lord Hear Oh hear the lowder outcries of thy Sons blood for her She is if ever any an object worthy of pitty not from any worth in her but because of her misery If God do not help her who will Who can Men and Angels cannot save her but Jesus Christ can He is able And Bessed be thy name sweet Jesu Thou art willing also even to the worst and utmost to save Thou art an Almighty and All sufficient Saviour thine arm is not shortened thy Grace is not exhausted Oh Magnifie thy Grace now even now upon her Thou hast said that the weary the heavy laden should come unto thee and thou wouldest give them rest And that such as come unto thee though the greatest sinners thou wouldest not cast out 'T is late indeed that she comes unto thee but not too late Truth Lord Late Repentance is seldom true but yet true Repentance is never too late Bitter late than never Thou hast given us one instance one example of the Thief on the Cross saved at the Eleventh at the last hour save one 't is but one that we should not presume and yet one that we should not despair Oh Lord she will not despair of thy mercy that were a greater sin than all the rest that she hath committed Now Lord though late she comes unto thee she throws her self at thy Feet and we thy poor Servants come unto thee and prostrate our selves at thy fleet for her Oh! Do not cast her out of thy sight Oh! Let her not be Damned but saved This is a true and faithful saying worthy of all acceptation most worthy of hers and she accepts of it
her sake Besides he should but tempt God to ask a pardon for her Who resolved never to take it upon Gods Terms In short if she would be yet ingenious and give Glory to God by adoring his Justice and shameing her self and renouncing her sin and the Devil there Was no person more willing to pray with her and pray for her than himself To which she making no reply Mr. R. the Minister conceived a pithy and pertinent Prayer lamenting the depravedness of our Nature the horribleness of Gods wrath the possibility of Salvation refused by desperate sinners and as we feared in particular by this Malefactor his dear Sister now ready to be turned over He petitioned that if it were not yet too late that God would give her Repentance and break her stony heart and cause her to glorifie him at the last by an ingenious and full Confession Prayer being ended she is once again asked whether she would confess But being obstinate in her refusals she prayed for her self in the words of the lords Prayer said the Creed and being yet exhorted to Remember the merciful nature of God who would save her as we yet hoped provided she would come unto his Terms of Confession and Repentance She tells us She cannot confess that whereof is not Guilty Being asked whether she could die in Charity with her Witnesses and Accusers She said I forgive all the World And a while after without any visible tokens of Religion Grace or Devotion without any observable preparedness or willingness for death by any of those many Divines that had painfully dealt with her or Christians that beheld her she was turned off the Ladder and went into that other World She went out like the Snuff of a Candle leaving a stench behind her And if it be asked what is become of her Soul I answer the Question is idle needless over-curious and unprofitable 't is not for saucy Creatures poor crawling Earth-worms such at our selves are to pry into the deep secrets of Gods Eternal Counsels nor to peep into the sacred Ark of his bottomless decrees These inscrutable purposes of God by reason of their inexplicable difficulties will amaze and puzle us nor can we ever possibly attain unto any infallible certainty or satisfaction concerning her I know the absolute and uncontroulable Soveraignty of Divine Grace and mercies and that God can come in if he please between the Bridge and Water the Cup and the Lip But who can inform or assure me that God did so to her She is gone unto her Judge hath undergone her Doom and if she be saved it is a Thousand mercies unto the World that the World neither doth nor can know it But did she not protest her Innocency to the very last I know she did and is she Innocent because she said so Dying persons are indeed to be credited But then they must be persons of credit and serious and if Condemned Malefactors such as are most Eminent and exemplary for their Repentance Can any one Man or Woman living that Converst with her from first to last from her Imprisonment to her Execution avow upon her knowledge that she saw so much as one poor token of a broken heart of a sincere Penitent in her Produce it and it shall be Thankfully accepted Had she been Innocent she could not have been so much concerned for life as she was I told her in ' Plymouth and Exon and she was told the same by a Reverend Divine that Innocency was a Wall of Brass it would carry a Person above the fear of Death make her to outbrave Death she could go triumphantly into the presence of the Eternal Judg and bless him that she was condemned unjustly Besides her Innocence as to this Fact would have ingaged her to a more curious and exact scrutiny into her life past to have found out the true cause of Gods anger in shortning her days and to a most holy life and religious preparation of her Soul for death during the whole time of her imprisonment None of which she had done unless looseness prophaneness and uncleanness must be expounded and taken for it Finally I lookt upon her as a desperate and Forelorne wretch and told her it was no new thing to find her such 'T is no new thing tor the worst of sinners to be desperate Were not Cain Saul Abimelech Achitophel and Judas desperate This Relator heard a man Condemned to be Hanged utter upon the Ladder these words Gentlemen I value not my life of a Rush I fear not death and without any more Ceremonies or ado and Soldiers are none of the most Religious He willfully leapt off of the Ladder at Crimble-passage Where had not others shown his body more mercy than he did hi own Soul he might have perisht everlastingly I know not whether she had as much Courage Sure I am Death never struck unto her Spirits till the Psalm was a Singing and it was a doleful Tune unto her Her heart was then up in her mouth If it were not broke with the sence of sin and near approaches of Divine wrath it was with the very horrors of death Others Sang she did but howl and yell Methought the expressions of her grief and vehemency of her passions raised strange resentments and compassions in the Spectators One and but one have I known in her condition a big and tall Fellow that upon the score of his strength could have affrighted the King of Terrors Yet after Sentence and for Burglary was he Sentenced unto death his heart failed him his Spirits sunk his Soul died within him All his Language and that too in groans and Floods of Tears with blubbered Cheeks and wringed hands was I shall die I shall die I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die Though I came to him into the Jail took him by the hand intreated him upon my knees not to be so much concerned for the loss of his Natural Life But to look after another a better Life after the life of his miserable Soul Yet no Arguments no motives could prevail upon him He was Deaf in that ear A stone might have heard and answered but this wretch would give none other answer than I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die The terrors of death like an opiate Medicine had quite stupified him that he could not listen unto the best Counsels for his Souls welfare But what and if this vile woman had been Guilty of some other Capital Crimes I know of the dead rue best must be spoken but then those dead persons should not be Impenitent Criminals It is no pleasure to me no pleasing task to Rake in Dunghils Would to God all Vices were Buried together with hers though under the Gibbet It were no difficult matter nay a man might with a wet Finger prove her Guilty of soul and frequent Adulteries of Debauching Young persons of prostituting her self in
Prison are these no Capital offences Let them not be What meant she by those words unto the Girl that to her knowledg a little Poyson in Cream had made one away in less time than you could go from her Matters House to the Gate I am apt to think that she would not confess this Murder lest some other might out also There was a shrewed Item in her Exon acknowledgment That she knew she should be damned though not for this Crime It brings to my remembrance a Story which I had from Mr. B. Cl. a very holy Man of God a Reverend Minister of the Gospel who if yet in the Land of the living is one of the most Ancient Laborers in the Lords Vineyard in this Western Diocess that in his younger days when he was Minister of Petrocks by the Castle of Dartmouth he was sent to Visit and Pray with a dying Man under very much trouble of Conscience His case was this Sir said he unto the Minister about Seven months since as I was walking to Buscow I met a Camerade of mine who had gone to Sea about a fortnight since and taking him by the hand wondring at his arrival I said VVhat cheat Mate What makes thee return so soon and look so Pale I am dead quoth this Spectrum Dead Man and yet walk and talk Yes saith he I am dead I was took sick shortly upon my going to Sea and died this day and about an hour since so many Leagues off was I thrown overboard Now I desire thee to go home and tell my Wise of it and to open my Coffer and show her my Will and see my Legacies paid which having promised to do for him at parting he added And at for that business between thee and me that thou well wotest off I charge thee that thou never speak of it to any Man living for if thou dost I will in that very moment tear thee in a thousand pieces Now Sir this lies heavy heavy upon my Conscience Fain would I declare it It is upon my Tongue but I cannot And why can you not Oh Sir do not you see him Do not you see him Look how terrible he is There he is just against me Oh! how doth he threaten me I would tell you but I dare not And whatever arguments this Reverend Personage could use unto the sick Man he could never bring him to a Confession but he pines away under his terrors and horrors till at last not being able to subsist any longer by reason of them he died Whether there be any parallel between the conditions of this Man and Woman I leave it unto my Readers judgment The poor Girl at her Death at the very point of Death charged her with it This Philip Cary her self confessed before the Major of Plymouth at her Examination and the very day before her Execution to this Relator that she knew of it And is she Innocent We have reason to believe the confession of a Penitent before the denial of a stubborn and impenitent VVoman Besides she had a very fair trial before the Judg. There were no less than Nineteen VVitnesses that gave in their Evidence to his Lordship and the Grand Jury upon Oath against her Yet she saith Not guilty Yea and takes it to her death that she is Innocent knew nothing of Poyson But what if all this be nothing but Lyes and Imposture VVhat if evidence appears against her after death and that she did both know of it and buy the Poyson also Reader I will not amuse thee call thine Eyes upon what follows and thou wilt be in so me measure satisfied The Examination of Elizabeth the Wife of Thomas Webb of Plymouth in the County of Devon Marriner had and taken at Plymouth by and before the Worshipful William Weeks Gentleman one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace within the Burrough of Plymouth on her Corporal Oath the Seventh day of April Anno Domini 1676. THe said Examinant saith That about a week before Philip the Wife of Richard Cary of Plimouth was committed to Plimouth Prison on suspition for the Poysoning of Elizabeth Weeks and Mary Pengelley This Examinant on a Saturday Evening when the Candles were lighted being at the House of John Vallacke Apothecary in Plymouth there came into the said Mr Vallacks shop a VVoman who was a stranger unto this Examinant and desired the said Mr. Vallacks Boy to give her a Penny worth of Mercury as she called it and said she was hasty That accordingly the said Boy delivered unto the said VVoman the said Mercury as she called it in a white Paper And that about a week after that the said Philip Cary being committed unto the said Prison as afore said this Examinant went to the VVindow of the Prison and saw her and she believes that the said Philip Cary was the same VVoman which so fetched the said Mercury as aforesaid Signum dicta E. VV. Elizabeth Webb Possibly you will ask VVhy had not this VVoman given in her Evidence being so material before her death I answer She is of age Let her speak for her self REader by this time I believe thou art wellwearied Sure if thou be not I am However at parting let me ask thee one Question VVhat art thou A Master or a Servant A Parent or a Child In what Relation standest thou Inferior or Superior I. If thou be a. Child or Servant Receive Wisdom receive Instruction 1. BEware of little sins you generally make no reckoning of them Your vain Thoughts your idle Words your envious and malicious Imaginations your froward Replies and Answers again your undutiful and disobedient Carriages to Parents to your Masters and Mistresses these are counted by you little sins But what and if God call them great sins VVhose opinion and judgment shall we take concerning the nature and evil of sin Yours or Gods My dear Youth Read and Ponder that Text of Scripture Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven Math. 5.19 I must tell you and you shall find it by woful experience that little sins allowed make way for great sins A little Thief creeping in at the VVindows may open the Door to great Ones A little Sin is as mortal as damnable as a great one A little Leak undiscerned may sink Ship Men and Goods A Ponyard shall stab a Man to death as well as a Rapier A Pistol can kill as well as a Cannon Little sins fill up the measure of your sins one very little sin may do it Cyphers in themselves signifie nothing but added unto figures how do they raise the sum A Consonant of it self may be a Mute make no sound but joyned with a Vowel may make a roaring noise Those which you call little sins may fill up the Sum and seal up the Account and make a roaring Noise against you in Heaven Your thought-sins never acted but intended are