of corruptible Seed c. Psal. 4. 3. But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is Godly for himself c. I shall mention now no more the whole Bible abounds with these Texts with what a Renovation and change of our carnal and corrupt Hearts and Natures there must be with Holiness of Life and Conversation before we can be capable of a future and blessed Immortality and of inheriting the Kingdom of God for ever and ever Amen Captain Abraham Ansley's Speech I Am come to pay a Debt to Nature 't is a Debt that all must Pay though some after one manner and some after another The way that I pay it may be thought by some few Ignominious but not so by me having long since as a True Englishman thought it my Duty to venture my Life in Defence of the Protestant Religion against Popery and Arbitrary Power For this same Purpose I came from my House to the Duke of Monmouth's Army At first I was a Lieutenant and then a Captain and I was in all the Action the Foot was Engaged in which I do not Repent For had I a Thousand Lives they should all have been Engaged in the same Cause although it has pleased the Wise God for Reasons best known to himself to blast our Designs but he will deliver his People by ways we know nor think not of I might have saved my Life if I would have done as some Narrow-Soul'd Persons have done by Impeaching others but I abhor such ways of Deliverance choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy Life with Sin. As to my Religion I own the Way and Practice of the Independent Church and in that Faith I die Depending on the Merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ for my Eternal Salvation His Blessing be with you all Farewel to thee Poor England Farewel Abraham Ansley Mr. Jenkin's Letter to Mrs. Scott on the 26th of September 1685. Dear Sister THE News which came in my Brothers Letter of the 22d instant to Mr. Duewy did not at all surprize me for indeed I expected no other and seeing all hopes of saving my Life are blasted I thought my self bound to write a Line or two to so near a Relation as your self wherein I may take my Leave of you I bid you farewel till we shall meet again in Glory and never be separated more As for my own part though such a sort of Death as I am like to suffer be that which I always dreaded at a Distance when I have sometimes thought on it yet I thank my God now it draws very near even but a few hours off I find my self supported under the thoughts of it and I hope by his Strength who will never forsake his own I shall be enabled to undergo it with Glory to his Name and my Comfort and to my own and other Souls good that are more nearly concerned for me And as I have made it my own endeavour to submit to the Will of God in this sad Dispensation without murmuring and repining I hope you have been sensible of your Duty in the same Respects which is patiently to submit to his Will and eye his Hand in this severe Stroke Though God hath been pleased to deny success to your Endeavours for the saving of my Life yet I am satisfied nothing hath been wanting on your parts and for all the Trouble you have been at on my Account though I do not live to shew my Gratitude yet I render you my dying Thanks and beg your Prayers for my support in the last moment of my Life if you receive this before my Death the certainty of which I have not yet notice of Remember my Love to my Brother and Thanks for all kindnesses And as for my young Relations my Prayer for them shall be That they may see more happy Days than I have done and Die more peaceably I cannot say A more happy Death And now my Dear Sister I take my leave of you and I commit you to the Protection of that God who hath made every thing Beautiful in its time and will shew you the meaning of this sad Providence which now we do not understand to whom I trust I am now going and in the Enjoyment of whose Presence I doubt not but e'er long you will meet your Affectionate Brother William Jenkins Mr. Jenkins's Letter to his Mother on the 29th of September at Midnight 1685. Dear and Honoured Mother I Have ev'n now received News of my Execution to morrow which though I have such short Notice of yet I am prepared for it and by Gods strength enabling of me I shall be joyfully carried through it The Kindness you have been pleased to shew in your great Concern for me since I have been under this trouble as well as the Duty I owe to so near a Relation as your self ingages me to acquaint you with my present Condition for your Satisfaction which truly is such as I must beg you to accept this present Letter as my last farewell and though the sad Providence cannot but be grievous to so near and Affectionate a Relation yet I hope it already hath and still doth yield the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness to your self and me who had been severely exercised with it As for my own part I hope I can truly say that God by his Providence hath weaned me from the World and made me willing to leave it and to be dissolved that I might be with Christ which is far better and now I am come to die I hope I can truly say I have nothing to do but to die I having fought a good Fight and finished my Course I am now in expectation of that Crown of Reward which God the Righteous Judge of the whole Earth hath promised to all those that love his appearance And as it is my great Work to be now every moment fitting my self for my great and last Change so it is the Duty that belongs to you and the rest of my Dear Relations to resign me up into the Hands of that God whose I am and to whom I am going and not to repine at his Righteous Will which we ought quietly to submit unto But now being at last leaving the World Dear and Honoured Mother I take my leave of you also hoping I shall again meet you in a place of Happiness where â—ll Tears shall he Wiped from our Eyes and we shall Sorrow no more I have nothing more to say but to return you my Dying Thanks for all the Trouble and Care you have been at for saving my Life which God hath not thought fit to make successful yet my Thankfulness is equally due to you for your Endeavours as if it had I shall end with Subscribing my self Dear and Honored Mother your Dutiful Son William Jenkins Mr. Jenkins's Letter to Mrs. Gourden on the 30th of September 1685. Dear Sister THough you be at a great Distance from me yet you
years longing for a most perfect Conformity to the most glorious and holy God the only Infinite pure Being thirsting for a perfect Diffusion of his Grace through all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul panting after perfect Spiritual Life and Liberty and a Consummate Love to my dearest Jesus who is an All-comprehensive Good and to be satisfied with his Love for ever A vigorous and vehement Zeal for the Protestant Religion with a Belief I had of the Dukes Legitimacy hath involved me into this ignominious Death yet blessed be God that by sincere Repentance and true Faith in the Blood of Jesus there is a passage from it to a glorious Eternal Life and from these bitter sorrows to the fulness of sweetest Joyes that are in his Presence and from these sharp bodily pains to those more pure Pleasures that are at his Right hand for evermore and blessed be God that such a Death as this cannot prevent and hinder Christ's changing of my vile Body and fashioning it like unto his Glorious Body in the general Resurrection-day I am now going into that World where many dark things shall be made perfectly manifest and clear and many doubtful things fully Resolved and a plenary Satisfaction given concerning them all Disputes and Mistakes concerning Treason Rebellion and Schism shall be at an end and cease for ever many things that are Innocent Lawful and Laudable which have foul Marks and black Characters stampt and fixt upon them here they shal be perfectly purified and fully cleansed from there where at one view more shall be known of them than by all wrangling Debates and eager Disputes or by Reading all Polemick Books concerning them here I greatly deplore and bewail the greedy Appetite and insatiable thirst that Professing Protestants have after the Blood of their Brethren and the high pleasure they take in the Effusion thereof But what will not Men do when they are either Judicially blinded or their secular worldly Interest insensibly insinuates and winds it self into their Religion Is so twisted and incorporated with it that it animates and acts it is the Life and Soul the vital Form and Power and made wholly subservient thereunto I bless God for all my Sufferings and particularly for this last for the benefit and fruit of it by Gods sanctifying of them to me have been great hereby I have been effectually convinced of the Vanity of the World and my own sinfulness by Nature and practice and to see that to be sin which I never saw before and to be more throughly humbled for what I know to be sin not only of Commission but of Omission also Hereby I have been brought to a more thorough deep inward sence and feeling of the absolute necessity of the Righteousness of Christ to justifie me and he hath been made much more dear and precious to my Soul than ever he was before Hereby my Soul hath been more Refin'd from the Dross of Sensuality wrought into a more heavenly Frame raised up to a higher pitch of Spirituality hereby I am made more Meek and Humble and so Judge more charitably of others that differ from me in Opinion and Judgment so though by God's most Righteous Judgment I have been apprehended and most Justly and deservedly undergo this Suffering for my Sins yet I hope they have wrought for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory fitting and preparing me making me a better qualified Subject for and far more meet to be a Partaker of the same By the Grace and Strength of God I will not purchase my Life by the Death and Blood of my Protestant Brethren but chuse to dye rather than be a Betrayer of them the Impetuous and violent assault of this I dreaded more than Death it self Blessed be God I was not exposed unto it and conquered by it as some have been having such full bodily vigour and strength being in such perfect Health notwithstanding my Age predominating in me it hath made it more difficult to dye than if I had been Clogged and Incumbred with Infirmities made to bow and stoop under them by prevailing Diseases and Distempers gradually worn out therewith which many times makes Men weary of Life and to desire to dye and this in Conjunction with many things which I forbear to mention highly gratifying and pleasing to sense which I must leave for ever strengthens and heightens the Difficulty and begets a greater Regret and Reluctancy in my Will to have the Earthly Tabernacle of my Body dissolved and my Soul to dislodge and quit the same But now when the black and gloomy Shades of Death do overspread me I can say to the Glory of God's most Free and Powerful Grace True Faith in some measure hath changed the difficulty into a Facility and easiness of Dying It hath very much subdued the Reluctancy of my Will against it for it makes Future things present and Invisible things visible and doth Realize and substantiate the same to me and as by it I penetrate and pierce into Eternity and behold Invisible and Immortal things so hereby blessed be God I have obtained a greater Victory over Sense The World is crucified to me and I to the World and all the most pleasant delightful Objects therein all finite fading Creatures Comforts and Injoyments are become minute and small Despicable and Contemptible to me in comparison thereof being infinitely Contained and Comprehended therein Shall my Soul clasp and cling about these Mortal and Perishing things Shall it cleave and be glued to them Shall it be confin'd and captivated into what is kept in the narrow bounds of Time and in this lower World Shall it earnestly desire and thirst for muddy Streams yea Rivers of Flesh-pleasing Good when by an Eye of Faith I can look into the Indeficient Inexhaustible purest Fountain the Immense Imensurate Ocean of Divine Good hoping to Drink thereof to Swim and Bathe my Soul therein for ever and ever And when I consider how long my Ears have been bound up and tyed to their innumerable and horrid Oaths and Cursed Blasphemies and my Eyes to see the prophanation of the day of God and when I behold such an overflowing Flood of most prodigious Impiety such an Inundation of most monstrous Iniquity and so much Hell upon Earth and that there is so much decay of holy Zeal and true Piety and Christian Religion among the Professors of it such seeming incurable Breaches and Divisions such expiring Love and Charity and parting 's among them it hath powerful influence on my Soul to reconcile it more to Death and makes it electively and from choice to leave this present World and to take up my abode in that which is Unseen and Future were there shall be nothing but perfect Love and Holiness a sinless state and serving God with all unweariedness and perfection with the highest complacency and delight that immortal Souls can be capable of there is perfect Peace and Concord the innumerable company
be glorified by me the meanest and poorest of all his Servants but through Free-grace faithful unto the end My Soul is ravished I can hardly write and my Comforts are more unspeakable than my Terrors were I did this Evening see my dearest Brother and Companion his Face was to me as that of an Angel and he gave me that Comfort that I cannot but say my Love to him is beyond what I ever had to my dearest Relations When God comes every thing hath a beauty and lustre upon it here is an Answer of Prayers and such an Answer as Dearest Relations must engage you all to be constant in performance of that Duty which like Jacob's Ladder though it stand upon the Earth yet it reaches up to Heaven Here 's the Love of God made manifest to a poor Sinner at the last hour like the Thief upon the Cross he that never knew before what the Love of God was to his Soul finds it now filled with it and running over Now bless the Lord O my Soul yea all that is within me Bless his holy Name for this Dispensation Now light appears out of darkness in the face of Jesus now all worldly Joy and Comforts seem to me as they are things not hard to part with Father Mother Brothers Sister Wife Children House and Lands are as my Dear Saviour saith to be parted with for him or we are not worthy of him I Bless his Name I find no reluctancy to do it he hath brought me to his foot-stool and I can say heartily the Will of the Lord be done in this Matter I never before but saw a beauty in worldly Comforts but now those seem so faded by the greater lustre and beauty that I see in God in Christ Jesus that I am astonished where I have been wandering all my dayes spending my time and my money for that which is not Bread. O strive to get a taste of this Love of God in Christ Jesus and it will perfectly wean you from this deceitful foolish World What is worldly Honour and Riches O set not your hearts upon them but get a Treasure in Heaven that your hearts may be there also O lose no time for if you ever knew the sweetness of it you would never be at rest 'till you found him whom your Soul loved it will be more yea infinitely more than all worldly Injoyments can afford you though in their greatest perfection it will make your Life sweet and your Death most comfortable It is the Bread which this World knoweth not of and therefore maketh little or no enquiry after it Dearest Relations whilst you and my other dear Friends are like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses I am through Grace getting Victory over the Amalakites I can embrace my dear and beloved Brother and Companion with more Joy in the field of Suffering than ever I could have done had I met him crowned with the Laurels of Victory Oh the Mercy to dye with such a Friend and such a valiant Souldier of Jesus who hath kept his garments clean I now begin to pity you that stay behind who have many Temptations to conflict with for a little yea a very little time and my warfare will be accomplished and if God continue his Love and Influence upon my Soul it will be both short and sweet I have little of this World about me I leave you all the Legacy of what was ever dearest to me the best of Wives and five poor Children who must pass through an evil and sinful World but I have committed them to God who hath commanded to cast our Fatherless Children and Widdows upon him Dear Parents Brothers Sister all adieu my time draws on my Paper is finished and your dying Child and Brother recommends you all to him who is alsufficient to the God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the sheep through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant who will make you perfect in every good work to do his Will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen Richard Nelthrope From the Palace of Newgate October the 30th 1685. Two of the Clock in the Morning Mr. Richard Nelthrope's Letter to his Children My dear Children THE Providence of God hath so ordered it that your poor and ever loving Father is taken from you in such a manner as may cast both worldly Loss and Reproach upon you but I charge you let not this be a Stumbling-block to you in the way of God but that you remember your Creator in the days of your Youth That you never neglect a day without reading the Holy Scripture wherein you 'l find your Duty both to God and Man there you 'l find the way to everlasting Life there you 'l find Christ Jesus instructing you and dying for you Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all other things will be added to you After your Duty to God Almighty your dying Father charges and conjures you as you 'l answer it at the great day of Appearance of our dearest Saviour that you be dutiful and loving to the best of Mothers as long as God shall continue that great Mercy to you Hearken to her Voyce and be obedient to the words of her Mouth for she 'll be faithful to your Souls and Bodies and remember that Obedience to Parents hath the Promise of this Life as well as of Eternal Life Pay a great Duty and Obedience to your Grandfather and Grandmother Unkles and Aunt who all of them have not only testified the greatest Love to your dying Father but from whom if you carry your selves as becomes you you may expect both the good things of this World and Advice and Counsel for what is far beyond all temporal Blessings Diligence in your lawful Callings to which God shall in his Providence appoint you is both commendable and a Duty but let not the eager pursuit of the things of this World justle out the Time allotted for better things Prayer will bless what you get in your Imployments and so at once you obtain Gods Blessing upon worldly mercies and find God manifesting himself to you in his dear Son Christ Jesus in the Pardon of your sins and receiving worldly things in the Covenant Your tender years in which I leave you in this wicked and deceitful world may render you subject to many temptations but I commit you to the Father of the Fatherless who is able to preserve you both in Soul and Body your poor Father hath no Legacy to leave you but the Blessing of the great Jehovah which he begs for you upon the bended knees of his Soul. The Lord God bless you with the Dew of Heaven and if he sees good give you Jacob's Portion Food and Raiment and if the Lord bless you with any temporal Goods remember they are Talents employ them well to the Masters
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
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