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
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
tell you without Miracles of mercy you and your Children and your Servants and your Houses shall be undone Eternally The curse of the Lord is it to the House of the Wicked but he blesseth the Habitation of the Just 3. My dear Townsmen Perform Family duties let them not grow out of use and fashion Whatever others do yet do you and your Families serve the Lord. Give God a Morning and Evening Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving He hath throatned to pour out his wrath upon the Families that call not upon his Name Jer. 10. ult Prayerless Families are Paganish Families and Heathen Families are loathed by God Read the Scriptures daily in your Houses Catechize and Instruct in the doctrinals of Religion the Youth within your Gates Repeat and frequently discourse with them about the Word of God read and preached Sanctifie the Lords day Sing Psalms and the high-sounding Praises of God in your dwellings Examine the Proficiency of your Children and Servants in the grace and knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Give due and seasonable reprehension and correction and spare not the Rod unless you will spoil the Child Comfort and incourage them in well-doing Press them to private duties and give them time for Closet-prayer and do you endeavor to bring them to the publick Worship and Ordinances especially to the Sacraments Remember that they who serve God most will serve you best that a graceless Servant is a Devil in your Family which will ruin himself and you and yours also 4. Consider with your selves that you have the charge of Souls there is a great trust committed from Heaven unto Governours of Families The Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom hath no such Jewels nor Treasure in the Exchequer as you have in your Houses God hath made you the Guardians and Trustees of pretious Souls and as sure as you live shall you be responsible for them unto God Do your utmost that none miscarry under your hands Prefer the concerns of their Souls to those of your Bodies and be at as much care and pains that they may live in Heaven as you and yours to live on Earth You are their best and surest Friends if fast and faithful Friends unto their Souls To ruin a Soul is the Trick and Work of Devils it is an irreparable loss an everlasting evil Lost Goods may be recovered but if a Soul be once damned either by your sins of omission or commission it can never be recovered more The Lord deliver you from the Guilt of Soul-Murder 5. When you dispose your Children abroad in the World get them into Religious Families that they may drive a thriving trade Heaven-ward and obtain the Inheritance of Gods Saints his pretious promises It is not Riches nor Honors nor great dealings in the VVorld but Godliness that hath the promises of this life and of that which is to come 6. Are your Relations and Inferiors your Children and Servants wicked and irreligiâ—us do you become better Let not their sins be justy charged on your Souls Shortly VVhen death is in your Pot remember nothing but the Grace of God can preserve you Therefore value and prize it Did Servants do it Consider that it is just with God they should be Instruments of your destruction when your neglect of their Religious Education is a real cause of their Trangression They must go to Heaven as well as you and therefore should injoy liberties and opportunities for the solemn and publick Worship of God as well as your selves The Gallows and Stake the Fire and Halter preach unto Young and Old High and Low Parents and Children Masters and Servant this Doctrin That unless you do Repent you shall also perish Gods judgments upon others are warnings unto us It is an Oracle from Heaven That such who sin as others shall perish as others That if you do not repent the wrath of God which lighted upon others shall either here or hereafter infallibly and to all eternity light down upon you also FINIS
HELL OPEN'D OR The Infernal Sin of Murther Punished BEING A True Relation of the Poysoning of a whole Family in Plymouth whereof Two died in a short time For which horrid Fact the Malefactors were Condemned before the Lord Chief Justice North at Exceter the last Lent Assizes The one to be Burnt the other to be Hanged WITH An Account of the several Discourses and Religious means used by divers godly Ministers to bring them to Repentance Published for a warning to both Young and Old to flie Iniquity and exercise themselves in the practice of Godliness By J. Q. Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Francis Eglesfield at the Sign of the Marygold in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1676. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death Prov. 14.27 A Man that doth violence to the Blood of any Person shall flee to the Pit let no Man stay him Prov. 28.17 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands Psal 9.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without the Gates of Heaven are the Dogs and the POYSONERS Rev. 22.15 And they became a Sign Numb 26.10 And Israel shall hear and fear and do no more such wickedness Deut. 13.11 To the Right Worshipful John Dell Major and to the Worshipful William Weeks William Jennings and John Martyn Justices of the Peace together with their Brethren the Magistrates of the Town of Plymouth And to my very Honored Friend John Harris of Manniton Esquire Sirs I Have real somewhere of an Hermite who being guided by an Angel unto two Cities saw the Gates of the first close shut and a Devil having the Keys thereof at his Girdle in a deep sleep and snorting From thence he is led unto the other which was fair and spacious and finds the Gates wide open innumerable Devils crouding and thronging in multitudes climbing over the walls and whole swarms of them in the Churches Streets Houses Shops walks and all other Avenues and places of concourse exceedingly employed busying and bestirring themselves to the utmost for the ruine of it and her Inhabitants At which wondring beyond measure the Angel told him yonder City is the worst of the Two ingulpht in all wickedness and irreligion so that Beelzebub hath no fear of loosing it and therefore there is but one Devil to guard it and his work so little that he sleeps But as for this wherein now we are here are many Souls fearing and serving God Religion is professed and Religious Worship countenanced and incouraged and the Holy Angels of God are watching over these precious Saints and their Habitations to preserve them This hath caused Hell to break loose and to endeavor by all means and arts imaginable their ruine and its destruction Sirs I think this be no unfitting Emblem of our Plymouth wherein I trust there are multitudes of Gods dear Servants as well as Sinners But I fear me multitude of Devils also that walk in Temples and Congregations in Streets and Houses in Chambers and Closets in Ships and Shops upon Keys and Exchange The over abounding of Sin among us and of late of that hainous and crying sin of Blood and Murther for which Two of the prime Actors and God knows whether there be any other have suffered condign punishment is too sad and clear an instance hereof When Hannibal was at the Gates of Rome it was more than time for the Consuls and Senate to look about them Woe Woe Unto the Inhabitants of the Earth saith an Angel from Heaven Because the Devil is come down among you having great wrath for his time is short He doth not appear in a visible shape at noon day but walks as his younger Son the Jesuite in all sorts of Masques and disguises in every habit and fashion and among Persons of every Trade Calling Quality and Condition Now Sirs God having constituted you the Angel-Guardians of our Plymouth and made you Gods unto it there is all reason you should be awake and do your utmost to prevent the Stratagems and attempts of Hell against it I know no other way or means that you have than by an exemplary Holiness in your lives than by walking with God in your respective Families and Callings than by a couragious zealous activity for God and Godliness and a vigorous suppression and impartial punishing of all Vice and Impiety Would you but continue your great respects and incouragements to your Reverend and Learned Ministers and joyn both Swords together Temporal and Spiritual I am confident the designs of Hell against you would be broken frustrated and rendered ineffectual Honored Sirs My hearts desire and Prayer for you is that you may do worthily in your Ephrata and Famously in your Bethlehem that you may glorifie God in your Station and that God may reflect rays and beams of Glory upon you For such as Honor him God will Honor them but they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2.30 Sirs if you will suppress all prophaneness and by your Authority put out the Fire of uncleanness if you will stop the Mouth and Gag the Tongue of the Swearer that the Roaring of Oaths and Curses be not heard in our Streets if you will promote true practical Piety and persevere as you have begun in the conscientious discharge of your Magistratical Duty the God of blessings will bless your persons and Families and Plymouth shall never be a Sodom but Zion shall ever be a Jerusalem for Gospel-priviledges a Pillar and Ground of Truth rich and flourishing as Tyre for Trade and Traffick and as formerly so in after-times a Zoar for Divine safety and wonderful preservations That endeared affection I have for the Town of my Nativity where I first drew my breath and where I had my School-Education moveth me to speak and write so freely And your true goodness cannot but make a candid interpretation thereof May Plymouth her Magistrates and Government ever live before God! May this Famous Town be called Hephzibah and Beulah the Delight of God and Married unto God! Let her be called the Righteous the Holy City And may this be her name unto Posterity Jehovah Shamma The Lord is there So prayeth Right Honored Sirs From my Study in Plymouth April 7. 1676. Your most humble and unfeigned Sevant in our Lord Jesus John Quicke THE PREFACE THe Devil is stiled by our blessed Saviour A Murderer from the beginning Having destroyed himself by his willful A postacy from God and being justly banished the Glories of the celestial Paradise for his Voluntary Rebellion he turned about him seeking how and in what manner he might be revenged on his Judg. And after all his rueful thoughts and consultations could find no expedient more likely to succeed and take than the working mischief on mankind Our first Parents a Compendium of both Worlds Sublunary and Aetherial the Crown of Gods Creation but a little lower than the Angels
taken they are all bound over to Prosecute our Malefactors at the next Assizes for the County of Devon whose Mittimus is now Signed and Sealed and they sent to the High Goal near the Castle of Exon. Here they spend full Six Months but what In a serious and sad reflection upon their hainous and Crying sin In the exercises of Repentance Contrition and Godliness No in nothing less than in the practice of such indispensible Duties In truth they came thither the Slaves and Vassals of the Devil full of Ignorance and unacquainted with God and the things of God they were got into a Prison the very Suburbs of Hell a place to the Relators knowledge a Seminary of all Villanies Prophaneness and Impieties destitute of good Company good Books and the good means of Grace and of all helps saving their Affliction that might lead them Heaven-ward And it was very improbable that under so great a want of Spiritual advantages they should bethink themselves of Heaven and Eternity Indeed they might and ought to have done it But they were captivated by the Prince of Darkness who had blinded the eyes of their understandings and Seared their hearts as with an hot Iron that they should not see nor know nor consider the things that belonged unto their Peace Besides they were held in stronger Chains than those of Iron their own iniquities had taken hold of them and they were bound with the Cords of their sins Here they fed themselves and are flattered also by their Companions in Ungodliness with the fond and false hopes of escaping the Justice of man and as for that of God they never Dream of it it enters not into their thoughts Let them but escape the Gallows and get out of Goal they imagine Hell may be avoided with less difficulty and Heaven obtained with far more facility Thus Camelion-like they live upon the Air or with Ephraim upon the East wind or as Esay's Idolator they feed upon Ashes a deceived heart hath turned them aside that they cannot deliver their Souls nor say is there not a lie in our right hands But in the depth of their Sencelesness and Security they are surprized with a cold damp The Assizes are come the Judges arrived the Trumpets sound and our wretched Prisoners are Summoned unto Judgment Up they go unto the Bar with heavy hearts though with undejected Countenances They had some Figleave excuses to cover their shame and rather than want a Shift and Plea for themselves they will add sin to sin lyings and impudent denials Alas Poor Souls this is not to lessen but to aggravate your guilt this doth not hide but discover it You Cloath your selves with a Net your Nakedness and filth is the more Apparent Witnesses are examined evidence is produced the Malefactors are heard and permitted to speak for themselves the Bill was found and an Impartial Jury declares them Guilty they are cast Sentence is pronounced and now being dead in Law they Petition for a Transportation Here is the last Refuge of miserable Murderers But Justice dispenseth no favors they may be Transported to another world not to another Land Blood cries for Blood Innocent Blood demandeth Vengeance God hath said it and the Righteous Law of England hath confirmed it that he who sheddeth mans Blood by man shall his Blood be shed a man that offers Violence to the blood of any person shall flie to the Pit let no man stay him Accordingly their Petition is rejected their Request is denied they are bidden to prepare for death all hopes of life here have left and forsaken them The Girl as Guilty of Petty Treason and Murder is Sentenced to be drawn on an Hurdle to the place where she shall be Executed and there Burnt to death An horrible death An Emblem and lively Picture of Hell torments Dâ—awn as if dragged by Devils Burnt alive as if in that Lake of Fire and Brimstone already Lord what Rocks are these that do not rend and break to pieces at the hearing and thinking of it Methinks the very Sentence should have struck her dead There is so much of horror in it that with Nabal her Heart should have died in her Yet she lives under it Lord Let it be in mercy to her Space is given her to escape the wrath of God though she cannot the vengeance of Man The Nurse must Hang till she be dead a too gentle death for such a Prodigy of Ungodliness She Pleads stifly her Innocency disowns all Guilt takes no Shame her Brow is Brass she is Impudent and hath an Whores Forehead If ever there were a Daughter of Hell this was one in her proper colors No evidence shall convince her Confess faith she Then I shall Hang indeed I deny the fact none saw it none knew it but the Girl it may be that vile Person her Husband had a Finger in it but he is gone Some will pitty me though none will believe me none can help me Yet though she must die as sure as she was born the Devil helps her to one Expedient as she conceives that may save her Life My Lord I am Innocent I am with Child do not kill two Innocents If I must die let my Child live The Reverend Judge is too Righteous to punish the Innocent with the Guilty or to destroy the Child for the Mothers fault Hence a Midwife is commanded to attend the Court a Jury of Matrons impannell'd the Murderess is searched and after their strictest Scrutiny and Inquest they find her a Lyar to have troubled the Court needlesly she is not quick as she would bear them in hand if she have at all conceived Upon this they are returned to their Prisons and now in sight of Hell Others pitty them and tremble at their dismal State but poor wretches they have no Bowels for themselves yea without any gracious Sentiments without any feeling apprehensions of their approaching misery Plymouth hath been the first Scene of this Tragedy there had they committed their Murders and upon the humble Petition of Master Weeks Husband and Father to the Murdered Persons and concurrent Request of the Grand Jury His Lordship grants it to be the place of their Execution This was a rare Spectacle such a sight was never seen since the foundations of that Town Oh! that it might be the last In the Interval of their Sentence and Execution several Divines visit them The Right Reverend Diocesan out of his Religious care of their happiness ordered two who frequently attended on them but with no success on the Nurses part Other Ministers moved by Charity and yearning at their misery did concur to use their utmost endeavors to save them from Hell Instructions Exhortations Prayers Tears dreadful denunciations of unsusterable torments with the damned sweet and gratious promises in case of Confession Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus are used and urged with the greatest Vehemency and industry upon the Nurse but they beat the Air
Murders and if the Nurse were Innocent she should not for a World accuse her for if she did the Lord might Damn her immediately To which she replied with Tears Sir I am a lost Creature I have no hopes in this World I would not willingly Damn my Soul by drawing upon me the Guilt of more Blood I speak it as in the presence of God I had not put in the Poyson into the Pottage had not the Nurse bid me do it And added My Body is lost but if the Lord would have pitty upon my Soul it is all that I desire And the Nurse hath said she should never confess though she did Hang for it That I might confess what I would she would not confess any thing Upon this I confronted her with Philip Cary she obstinately denies all stands stifly to her Innocency throws all upon the Girl saith Judge Jury and Witnesses are all Guilty of her Innocent Blood and she will lay it at their Doors Whereupon I desired the Maid to go in to Master Holmes and dealt privately with this Vile woman yet to give Glory unto God by confessing of her sin and renouncing all commerce with Hell that if she did hide her sin and keep the Devils Counsel she could never prosper That it was in vain for her to think of concealing it for God knew it the World knew it her Country condemned her for it her own conscience if she had any left in her must needs accuse and condemn her Possibly said I you think of life and feed your self with vain imaginations of escaping death I told her they were foolish and groundless that Justice would have its Course that the whole World could not save her That she was already dead in Law and must be as certainly Executed as she was already Condemned That she stood upon the brink of the Pit and was ready to drop down into the bottomless Gulph of Hell That she might if she would escape it God offered pardon Life Heaven and Salvation to her provided she would but give glory to him by confessing her sin and taking the shame thereof unto her self That it was better to do it now than upon the Gallows She had served the Devil long enough too too long and it was a miracle of mercy if ever the Lord shewed mercy to her at last but yet I would and did assure her in his name as being his Ambassador and sent with his Commission to reconcile her unto God whom she had so hainously dishonored that if she would disclose all this cursed crime who first contrived it who managed it and put her upon it there was hopes For the Lord was a merciful God unto unfeignd Penitents and compassionated her deplorable condition and would bring her out of it That she take care not to Rebel against his grace nor to tear a pardon that was offered her upon such easie terms in pieces nor to refuse Heaven and all its joys and happiness Alas Sir saith she What will you have me say I will tell you all I know of it I am as free from this Crime as the Child that is now Born But the Maid did it For she told me she was weary of her life by reason of her Mistris who was such a Curst Old Woman that there was no living with her and that she was resolved to leave her Service and go away with the Mountebanks and that she told me she would fit her and had bought the Rats-bane of the Mountebanks Boy or Man with whom she was in Love This was all I could get from her then and not one Syllable of it true I told her she should beware of Lying and false Witness bearing and not let the Devil sit upon her heart and Tongue and added when you knew this Girl had an intent to make away her Mistris why had not you discovered it She said That indeed it was her fault if it were a fault I told her consent unto and concealing of Murder was Intentional Murder before God and Man and that she had a real hand in it She told me she had none at all and could give me no other answer Our secret conference being ended I brought the Maid again unto her who avowed her former Confession disavowed all acquaintance with the Mountebanks Servant never to have talked with him but once at the Conduit when she fetcht water and maintained to her face that this wicked woman the Nurse did oftentimes perswade her to run away from her Mistress and if she would have gone away the Saturday before the fact was committed she would help her to a Riding Suit Unto this she made no reply Returning with them unto Master Holmes he pressed upon them the evil of their sin advised them to Repentance and bespeaking the Nurse Philip Cary said he there is a report and Suspition of your having been unclean with your Master At which she fell down upon her Knees in the midst of us and impricated most direfully upon her self is he ever knew her to be a man or woman more than by giving suck unto his Grand Child Having cleared her Master but not confessing any other thing or sin Master Holmes being desired by me concluded this conference with Prayer and we departed In the evening I returned again unto these Prisoners And dealt with the Nurse to acknowledge her Crime freely to unbosome her self unto me that I might spread it before the Lord in Prayer and intreat him for a broken heart and a new Spirit for her And withdrawing from the Company that crowded on us into a private Chamber I desired her for Gods sake her poor Souls sake with cears in my eyes that she would yet leave sin before sin left her that she would flee from that wrath to come that she would bid defiance unto the Devil who she saw had ruined her and would Damn her everlastingly that she would yet accept of grace and peace and reconciliation with God it was late indeed to return unto him but not too late how ever she must not thus dally with the Divine Majesty to put him off with delays and lies That she should not be afraid of shame that it was the greatest shame and reproach unto her to have committed and concealed this sin but it would be a step to Honor and Eternal Glory to confess it good men would then pitty her pray for her and God would save her And added that if she would not confess it publickly to the World which yet was her duty and if ever the Lord gave her Repentance she would do it more feely and in a more ample manner than I could desire she should at least confess it unto me and I promised her upon the word of a Minister that without her consent I would never divulge it Or if she would not trust me with such an important secret I advised her to single out some Godly Learned Minister or some Judicious private Christian to
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
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
asked her what Faith and what Repentance were And one of them proceeded to instruct her in the nature of Faith that it was to take Christ as Lord and King and to submit unto all his Laws to be Governed by them and in particular to this of suffering the punishment inflicted on her for her sin At which putting them off with my Hand I replied Gentlemen do not trouble her 't is unseasonable now to Catechize her in Doctrinals she stands in need of some Soveraign Cordials to revive and support her drooping Spirit in these her last Agonies with death and conflicts with the Devil And Addressing my self once again unto her Anne said I fear not but cast thy self upon the everlasting mercies of God in the blood of Christ Jesus and thou shalt be saved Since thou must die die upon this that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom thou art chief And 't will be but a quarter of an hour and thou shalt be freed from all sins and torments Say Into thy hands I commit my Spirit Lord save it For thou hast died for it Lord Jesu thou Son of David have mercy upon me Oh Thou Lamb of God receive my Soul I left her expecting no answer The Rope is now drawn close unto her Neck and the Hangman would have set Fire unto the Fuâ—ze before she was strangled but some more charitable and tender-hearted cryed to him to take away the Block from under her Feet which having done she soon fell down and expired in a Trice And it was observable that all the skill and diligence of the Executioner and his Assistants could not make either Powder Wood or Fewel to take fire till she had been dead a Quarter of an hour as also that as soon as the fire was kindled the Wind which blew before in the back of the Nurse immediately shifted and drove the smoke full in her Face as if God had spoken to her The Smoke of my Fury and Flames of my Fiery Vengeance are now Riding upon the Wings of the Wind towards thee And now for Two hours the Nurse feeds her eyes and feasts her thoughts with the sad spectacle of this poor Maids burning The flames being well allayed several Ministers and worthy Gentlemen indeavor yet the Repentance Conversion and Saving of her Soul But All succeeds as formerly She denies her guilt pleads her Innocency accuseth Judg Jury Witnesses Country and all of her Murther that she is Murthered that they take away her Life unjustly Nay that they kill too she is with Child expects to be delivered about Midsummer What will you Murther one that is unborn And a great deal more of the like stuff That she was not with Child we heard evidenced upon Oath at her condemnation And a skilful Hand-Woman searching her but a night before her Execution could never discover any such thing Most probable the true ground of all her denials was a foolish hope of Life the Hangman as it is commonly noised having promised never to execute her Whatever familiarities had past between them Two in Jail I know not This is certain the Hangman brought the under Sheriff to terms just as they were leaving Plymouth and going to the place of Execution And the Girl being dispatched he ran away with the Halter under the Clifts and when he was brought back lay asleep at the Foot of the Gallows or at least pretended sleep and so deserted Execution Besides another Accident intervened which put a stop for a time and had it not been prudently and presently composed upon the place would have totally suspended for that day at least her Execution All these Circumstances jumping in one upon the other contributed to the strengthening of her Heart in the false hopes of Life For what she would have it was an easie matter to perswade her to believe and hope But at length she hath worn out all patience both of God and Man And the Halter is fastened to the Gibber and put about her Neck Now Ministers ply their work with her because she is upon the brink of Destruction and in view of Hell No sin she acknowledged no guilt as to the Fact for which she is condemned Indeed she confesseth She had been a Swearer Lier and Sabbath breaker but none others trouble her As to Money that her Brother stole and was in hers or her Husbands hands she now chargeth upon a dead Person having wronged her in her life the must mischief her at her death too No Bond nor Bill can she produce nothing under the Deceased's hand can she show for her having received it yet doth she charge Mr. W. to look that it be restored unto the right Owner Ministers however lament her deplorable condition especially since just as she is going out of the World she cryes Judg and Revenge my cause O Lord Which made this Relator tell her He now saw what he formerly feared viz. That God was departed from her that the Devil was already in her heart for he sat upon her tongue that troops of Devils were upon the Ladder by her all gaping for her and that within in a few moments they would have her wretched Soul into Hell with them and then and there she would be soon sensible of her madness in dying with a Lye in her Mouth and confess and mourn for her folly and madness in rejecting Heaven and Salvation but it would be too late and to no purpose For her condition whatever it might be here would infallibly be there unalterable and irreversible That she was going into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone there to be tormented for ever and ever and when she was in the midst of those Eternal torments she would remember that I had told her of it A Psalm was called and part of the Twenty fifth sung Never did I see but one in that heavy condition Whilst the people sing she cries and weeps bitterly the very terrors of death are upon her she cries as if her Heart would break Indeed her Soul was overwhelmed with unmeasurable horrors and fears she had no mind to die nor could she be vouchsafed Life What hopes could she have in her departure who never laid any sollid basis for good hopes during life The Psalm is now sung out and yet is she summoned to confess but it is as good speak to the stones or to the Deaf Adder that stops his ear she will never be charmed let the Charmers Charm never so wisely At last being demanded whether she would have any Prayers or any Person Pray for her she said yes and pointed to this Relator desiring him to perform that Office for her Who replied that he was most willing to serve and save her Soul But in as much as she made no Confession of her Crying sins of Murther and of her Theft and Uncleanness and other Villanies whereof me knew her selt Guilty he durst not take the name of God in vain tor