just like a Grain cast on a piece of Gold or a light Feather upon an heap they may turn the Scales and bring down upon you Eternal Vengeance The Sodomites had committed many sins and God had passed them by very graciously at last they would have sinned and are punished with Hell out of Heaven for the sin of their Wills a sin intended by them though never committed Gen. 19.9.11.24 2. My dear Youth beware of wicked Company Blessed is the Man that walketh not in the Counsel of the Ungodly nor standeth in the way of Sinners nor sitteth in the Seat of the Scornful Psal 1.1 Look upon wicked Company as Plaguy Person and shun them as you would those who had the Plague of God upon them VVhen Corah and his rebellious Crue were swallowed up alive by the yawning Earth and went down quick into Hell All Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them for they said lest the Earth swallow us up also Num. 33.34 My Son if Sinners intice thee consent thou not if if they say come with us let us lay wait for Blood let us lurk privily for the Innocent without Cause let us swallow them up alive as the Grave We shall find all pretious substance we shall fill our Houses with spoil Cast in thy lot among us let us all have one Purse My Son walk not thou in the way with them refrain thy Foot from their path For their Feet run to evil they lay wait for their own Blood You lurk privily for the destruction of your own lives Companions in sin will be Companions in Hell Prov. 1.10 to 19. 3. Flee the sins of youth vanity and self-conceitedness rashness pride and ostentation hot blood Fiery and vindictive passions noysome filthy and fleshly lusts disobedience and brutish obstinacy self-love lying idleness and intemperance neglect of your Souls forgetfulness of God and of your latter end Sins of youth have been an Hell to Gods aged Saints Thou writest bitter things against me and rememberest the iniquities of my Youth Job 13.26 The sins of your green years will be a stock of sorrows for your Gray Hairs Young Colts must be tamed and broken A young Penitent is better than an aged Sinner Holyness in youth will give you peace in death 1 King 14.13 and 2 Chronicles 34.27.28 4. Study diligently and practice conscientiously the duty of thy place calling and Relation Art thou a Child Learn and perform the duty of a Child Art thou a Servant Learn and perform the duty of a Servant submit to Catechizing do not count it a thing beneath thee Subjection to Gods Ordinances is thy dignity and Glory Honor thy Father and Mother thy Master and Mistress is the First Commandment with promise if you do not you are self-Murderers you cut your own Throats and shorten the days of your life I have read of a Young man Hanged at Four and twenty years whose Curled Black Locks upon the Gallows instantly turned white many inquiring into the cause of such a strange event A Grave Divine assigned this reason had this young man been dutiful to his Parents Obedient to his Superiors he might have lived so long till that in the course of nature his Black Hairs had become White 5. When tempted to any scandalous sin tending to the hurt of thy Neighbor and the Temptation abideth on thee disclose it without any more ado to some Godly Minister This dasheth the temptation to pieces and will contribute as you shall find by experience wonderfully unto your peace and safety Had this poor Girl when first assaulted detected the Devils Counsel possibly she had never been drawn out to Murder I knew one in the like Case that after I had preached of the mischievousness of thoughts and of the ready way to quell and subdue their violence and impetuosity by taking Ghostly Counsel from a Spiritual Guide came and discovered unto me with a stood of Tears a long imended purpose of Murder and by the blessing of God on a Religious use of Holy Counsels was afterward delivered from that Hellish Temptation Beware dear Youth of trusting to your own understanding or going out in your own strength to combat Hell You are not all Davids of sufficient force to Duel it with the Goliah of Hell 6. Do not commit any sin presuming on secrecy or Impunity not on secrecy For there is nothing hid but shall be revealed Conscience that Bird of the Air shall publish upon the House top before Men and Angels what you have done in your Privy Chambers Angels see you good and bad and they shall Witness against you God seeth you at all times Who can hide himself from God that is every where and knoweth all things Darkness and light are both alike to him Psalm 139.1 to 13. and Job 34.21.22 Murderers have of all other sinners presumed most upon Secrecy and yet how miraculously have they been detected Dreams Apparitions and meer Circumstances have detected and Convicted them And suppose you might escape Scot-free as to man is it possible you can escape the Justice of God The Barbarous Malteses spake sound Doctrine though they were out in their Application when they said of Paul no doubt this man is a Murderer whom though he hath escaped the Sea yet vengeance suffereth not to live God may forgive the Eternal but will not remit the temporal punishment If you escape a publick Execution you shall never a private one Kings may pardon what God will not Some that have escaped the Gallows could never escape the Scourges of their own Conscience which is Gods Vice-Gerent Yea though truly Penitent yet have died either with grief of mind or by the immediate stroke of Heaven Plymouth can afford an example of the former many years ago and Scotland shall of the Latter A Gentleman whose name was Wastraw a most bloody man and other ways notorious for prophaneness but most in this that it was his great work and pleasure to put difference betwixt men and as it was at that time very easie to engage them in blood whilest he had thus stirred up a neighbor Gentleman to kill another in that place finding him after sore troubled in mind there anent he told him more of that practise would be the best Cure for he himself had killed Six and at the first time was much disquieted but the longer he did continue it became the more easie But one day whilest he was on such an account riding to a place where Two had trysted to deside a private Quarrel by Fighting his Horse stumbles on the side of a steep Rock and he falls a great way down his Sword falling out before him yet without any hurt and hereby such a strange piece of Providence tryst and break in upon his Conscience so that he quits his Journey turns home with great trouble and remorse a most kindly change following thereon and for some years after witnessed much tenderness and repentance by
Master and Mistris are so very Sick She replied what she had done as to Mistris Weeks she had done God good Service in it to rid her out of the way and hoped that she had done her business and did look upon it that she had done no sin in it and saith as to the Girts that she can say no farther but what she hath said in her former Examination to which for more certainty she referreth her self The Mark of the said Anne A. E. Evans The Examination of the said Philip Cary taken as aforesaid THe said Examinant being demanded whether the said Anne Evans did not show her the said yellow Stone on Saturday last was Sevennight and whether she did not break it abroad in Powder between two Tiles and whether she did not steep part of it in a Dish in Small Beer and whether she did not give some of the same Rats-bane which she had broken unto the said Anne Evans and told her that she should put it into the Old womans Dish meaning the Old Mistris Weeks or used any words to that effect answered No. And being demanded also whether she had any dicourse with the said Anne Evans concerning the Poyson mentioned in the aforesaid Examination of the said Anne Evans or any words to that effect denies the same but saith that she doth believe that they shall both die for it because she hath concealed the Counsel of the said Anne Evans The Mark of Philip †Cary. ANd now they are in safe Custody in the Prison joyning to the Town-Hall in Plymouth where they have time and leisure to ruminate upon their foul and odious Crime to consider of the horrible danger to which these pretious Souls are exposed and to make their Peace with God if it be well husbanded and improved But I fear me that though the Lord wait graciously Six Months together for their Repentance and cry aloud by this terrible dispensation to convert reform and give Glory to him before they come to Judgment we shall even after their Condemnation at the Assizes meet with other and worse news from them Before we talk with these Malefactors any further it will not be unnecessary to make a little digression and see what evidence the Righteous Providence of God doth Administer towards a fuller detection of their Sin and Guilt Mistris Weeks being deceased and Doctor Holland a Physitian of the Town having averred it to be by Poyson the Coronor was sent for to inquire into the causes of her death who having impannel'd his Jury and examined Witnesses do all Unanimously concurre in their Verdict that she was murdered and that by Poyson The same Verdict also was given in by another Jury that sate upon the death of Mistris Pengelley The obstinacy of the Nurse to the very instant of her going off the Ladder in denying her self either principal or accessary to this bloody fact will excuse the relator if he subjoyn the respective depositions of several Witnesses upon their Oath concerning it that so the Justice of God may be glorified and no Sinister thoughts of the Judge Grand or Petty Juries that condemned her be entertained The Examination of Christopher Scibbow of Plymouth in the County of Devon Dyer had and taken at Plymouth aforesaid by and before Thomas Payne Gentleman Coronor for our Soveraign Lord the King within the Liberty of the Burrough of Plymouth aforesaid on the Corporal Oath of the said Examinant this 27th day of August Anno Domini 1675. THe said Examinant saith that on Wednesday night last he was at the Prison window in Plymouth where Anne Evans Spinster was committed on Suspition for poysoning Elizabeth the wife of William Weeks Dyer when and where this Examinant heard the said Anne Evans to say that the Nurse meaning Philip the wife of Richard Cary did ask of her about a month before to buy some Rats-bane and that she gave answer to the said Nurse that she would not do it because the Apothecary would put her name upon the Book Christopher Scibbow The Examination of Susanna the Wife of Brian Cansfield of Plymouth aforesaid Planter taken before the said Coronor on the Corporal Oath of the said Examinant the day and year aforesaid THe said Examinant saith that on Munday last she went and saw Elizabeth the Wife of William Weeks Dyer and found her very Sick and this Examinant and other Persons that were present did believe that she had been poysoned upon which there was some new Broth made and made with some of the same * Oatmeal Girts that had been put into the old Broth and when it was made she gave it to a great Dog who presently Vomited it up again She also saith that Anne Evans Master Weeks his Servant shewed this Examinant the bottom of the new Broth where was sound a Yellow Gravel and one shewing of it to Mistris Hurd and others they did believe that it was Rats-bane Susanna Cansfield The Examination of Alice the Wife of Anthony Windeit of Plymouth aforesaid Clothier taken as aforesaid before the said Coronor on her Oath THe said Examinant saith that on Wednesday last she went and saw Master William Weeks Dyer and Mary Pengelley being very Sick it being reported that they and Mistris Weeks had been poysoned on which it was said that the * Oatmeal Girts which were in the house and had not been used should be washed and the same were accordingly washed by Anne Evans the said Master Weeks his Servant and in the bottom there was found some Yellow like Gravel part whereof was about the bigness of a small Pins head upon which this Examinant blamed the said Anne Evans for washing the same without order who confessed that she had done it without Order Alice Windeit The Examination and Information of Mary Pengelley of Plymouth in the County of Devon Widow taken before the said Coronor on her Corporal Oath the thirtieth day of August Anno Domini 1675. THe said Examinant saith that yesterday last was Sevennight in the Morning Anne Evans the Apprentice of Master William Weeks Dyer fetched a Tankard of Strong Beer on which there seemed unto this Examinant that there was Keam for which she was blamed of which this Examinant drank hearty And now this Examinant doth verily believe by what hath happened since that that which she took to be Keam on the said Beer was Poyson And this Examinant further saith that afterwards yesterday was Sevennight she being come down over the Staires in the Kitchin about Noon the said Anne Evans asked this Examinant if she would eat any Pottage the said William Weeks and Elizabeth his Wife this Examinants Father and Mother having eaten Pottage a little before and this Examinant told her that she would and accordingly she did eat a Dish of Pottage being out of the same Dish that her said Father and Mother did so eat Pottage a little before and that presently after this Examinant and her said Father
they Plow the Rock they do her no good their labor of love is lost their Prayers return into their own bosoms The Relator having visited them several times while they were in the High Goal at Exon thought it convenient to subjoyn the substance and effect of his conferences with them Possibly it may not be displeasing unto his Reader Coming into the Prison early in the Morning he had the Four condemned Persons brought unto him and bespeaks them in these words Miscrable Souls I am heartily sorty to see you in this place and to find you in this Condition You are here Judged of man and you must die but what also if you are Condemned of God and must to Hell for ever You are Sinners are you not You are Guilty of those Crimes for which Sentence is past upon you Three had so much Ingenuity as with Weeping and Trembling to acknowledge it Alas Poor wretches you are weeping because you have offended man and brought your selves to destruction Ah! what a mercy would it be if you could weep unfeignedly for your offences against God and because you have lost his Image and favor which is the greatest Blessing and deserved his wrath and Curse which is the greatest misery What think you of Sin Is it as sweet and pleasing to you now you must die for it as when at first you did commit it Here they were silent and Confounded Ah! Now you see what it is not to believe God speaking to you from his Word and by his Ministers you were told that sin would bring sorrow and shame wrath and death sooner or later The Devil and your own corrupted heart rose up against this Discovery of his will and you made light and slight of it and what have you got by it All the Fruit of your sin is that you are ashamed of it and grieved for it its wages is the loss of Earth Life and Heaven and these you are expecting every moment Man hath cast you off for your sins you cannot stand before your earthly Judge And if God shall cast you out of his blessed presence for ever among the Devils and the Damned Spirits how would you be able to bear it They being somewhat moved he askt them How think you to escape the dreadful wrath of God What means have you to save your pretious Souls from Hell What First do you believe you have Souls to save a being in your Body that doth not that cannote die with your Bodies Do you believe there is a God and Devil a Heaven and Hell and that all the wicked shall be turned into Hell and that you all of you shall be flung into it for your sins against God At this they shrugd up their shoulders and had nothing to answer but their Repentance Your Repentance said I what is that Why our sorrow for our sins we would not commit them again if they were now undone Yea indeed so you say and possibly think you would not but you do not know the wickedness and deceitfulness of your own hearts if you were now as heretofore and under the same temptations I know nothing to the contrary but that you would be Guilty of the same transgressions of as bad or worse Besides suppose your Repentance were true and real what amends is that unto God for the manifold dishonors you have done him You have broken every command of God you are Guilty of innumerable sins your very birth and nature is horribly corrupted and all your life long you have been Rebels against God and you think to put off Gods wrath with your pittiful Repentance a late Repentance and it may be no other than the very Reprobates have that are now in Hell Is this all the satisfaction you can make to God They knew no other Then it was told them that God was a great and terrible God that would not put up the affronts and wrongs had been done him without satisfaction that he would by no means acquit the Guilty That they had sinned and must die eternally and if ever they were redeemed from Eternal wrath they must make God full a mends and bring him a Ransome and if they had none nor knew where it was to be had they must expect as soon as they died to be damned for ever I asked of them in particular who or what Jesus Christ was and what it was he had done for them To which there was this answer made they could not tell None that knows a Goal will conceive this a Fable Hardly any but Atheists and the most ignorant wretches in the whole County are clapt up there and for one sin they brought with them into it they carry away Cart-loads out of it Our County Prisons being the Common Sinks of the Country and a Shop wherein all impiety is soonest learned and attained Their ignorance of Christ his Person Natures Offices and Undertakings for poor Souls made me to aggravate their wickedness and to tell them they had wretchedly mispent their time and that now they were going out of the World they must learn the Principles of Christian Religion and I questioned whether they had any Repentance that was pleasing unto God for they had no Faith nor knowledge even of the most necessary Truths without which they could not be saved And for my part I must not flatter you you are nearer Hell than Heaven Upon this there was a discourse made of Christ adapted to their capacities as also of his wonderful love and condescension in becoming man and dying for sinners and satisfying the Justice of God and holding forth his death as the price of Redemption unto all Penitent believers and that this was now offered unto them upon these terms of confessing and abhorring their sins and themselves for their sins and that if they came to God with a sence and feeling of the insupportable burden of the horrid nature and infinite number of their sins and threw themselves at his feet prostrate before him imploring his mercy for the passion of his dear Son the Lord would be merciful to them and he would not cast them off but would pardon and forgive their hainous and grievous offences In the close of this conference Master Holmes Chaplain to the High Sheriff came into the Chamber and after some words with the Malefactors we joyntly parted the Prisoners I withdrawing into another Room with the Nurse and Maid and having pressed them to a free ingenious confession of their Guilt the Girl with tears in her eyes gave me for substance the same confession and not varying in a circumstance from that which at her first apprehension she had made unto the Major and Justice of Plymouth I adjured her in the name of the All-seeing and heart-searching God who hated a Lye and would cast all Lyars into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever to declare nothing but the Truth That she had sinned enough already and had been Guilty of two
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
these Malefactors The covetous Keepers for love of a piece of money letting them in who by their loose idle and impertinent discourses obstruct the success of Ministerial Labors However this poor Maid assured me that her thoughts had been upon my Counsels in the night and she wou'd make it her business to do it more effectually and withal added that she saw her self undone for ever To which I replied No she was nearer Heaven than she was aware of That her sins were not too great for God to pardon That she should remember Three Texts of Scripture that I would tell her First This is a true and faithful saying worthy of her acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Yea Sir saith she I am the greatest sinner in Plymouth Secondly That whosoever comes unto Christ that is believes in Christ he would in no wise cast out That for her to believe in and come to Christ was no other than this That seeing her self by reason of sin to be a damned Wretch she cast her self upon the everlasting mercies of God because of Christs death with hope and expectation of them and waiting for them And then Thirdly That the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sins And she should meditate and think upon these pretious words of God and resolve that she would live and die with them in her Heart And if she did and grieved unfeignedly for her sins loathed them and her self for them my Soul for hers she should never perish For Jesus Christ was a most absolute and compleat Saviour able and willing to save the worst of Mankind that would be saved by him upon these his Terms and therefore would save her Upon this she wept again Having comforted her and done somewhat to bind up her wounds I added Anne there are yet some other works for you you must die in Charity with the world and crave pardon as from God so from Man especially from your Master whom you have so grievously wronged You must also in particular forgive this bloody Woman the Nurse that hath seduced you to this great sin and to your perdition Will you Can you do it If you do it not from your heart God will never forgive you Sir saith she I wit I do it And it should not grieve me if she lived though l died only for this Fact I forgive her a I expect forgiveness from God Then I added She must beware of mispending her time or loosing a moment of it she should take heed of vain thoughts she must be much in private Prayer and not be long but short short in Prayer but often She must hearken to all the good counsels of Gods Ministers that would come and visit her and do them to the utmost She should be as Spiritual Holy Religious Humble Serious and Heavenly minded as possible She should not take any great care of her Body the less the better as to eating drinking or sleep Her whole thoughts and care should be spent about her Soul and its salvation And to conclude Anne said I it is a hard work to die at any time but for one in thy condition very hard indeed But however once thy peace is made with God and thou hast repented of thy sin and thrown thy poor Soul upon Sovereign mercy in the Blood of Jesus never fear death Take it humbly patiently and submissively Bear the indignation of the Lord because thou hast sinned accept of the punishment of thine iniquity yea be thankful unto God that thou mayest be Burnt here and not hereafter I hope the Lord will make thy death easie short and comfortable Thou art yet a stranger to the joys of Gods Salvation and to the comforts of his Holy Spirit But it may be the Lord will give them to thee in thy bitter torments and then thou wilt scarce feel them or if he shall detain them from thee yet his Grace is sufficient for thee believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved And finishing my discourse with her she asked whether she should not see me again especially when she was to suffer for she earnestly requested my help my assistance to her in that hour I promised if it could be obtained she should have it Being now returned to the rest of the Malefactors I spake something of the Glories of that other World where truly Penitent and believing sinners were a going what an unspeakable happiness God had prepared for them and what wonderful rich grace this was on Gods part that he should promise and tender it unto them Two of whom I hope were broken hearted though they wanted much knowledge and much of that Compunction that they ought to have that if they would endeavor after more Grace God who was the God of all Grace would give liberally unto them and never upbraid them with their past ungodliness That the promises were not made so much unto the measure and degree of Grace as to the nature and Truth of Grace That a Grain of Gold was as truly Gold as an heap or Mountain That the Lord was no respecter of Persons but an Universal a Common Saviour That he despised not the day of small things He would not quench the smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed nor cast off any self-confounded and self-condemned wrerches That whatever their sins had been they should beware of doubting or despairing of Gods mercies Their despair of Salvation being a greater sin than Murder or High Treason That I was not ignorant of Satans devices no stranger to his Wiles and Stratagems who when he could keep them no longer in Chains of darkness and Impenitency would put Souls upon Over-doing in Repentance and over whelm them with horrors They should look to this and believe it live and die upon it that Christ Jesus was more willing to save them than they were to be saved by him that though they were to die shameful and painful deaths you to be Hanged and you to be Burnt Yet here was a comfortable meditation it was as easie going to Heaven from the Stake and Gallows as from their Beds and when their Souls were departing out of their Bodies Gods Holy Angels would convey them into Paradise At this good news my Two Penitents wept and I hope Tears of Joy And turning my self unto the Nurse Woman said I it is the very grief of my Soul and makes my heart bleed within me that not one Syllable or tittle of these good words of Gods gracious promises belongs to thee This is the Children Bread it must not be given unto Dogs and Devils Having finished my discourse I gathered up the particulars and spread them before the Lord in Prayer begging grace and glory for them And that his Divine Majesty would yet mollifie that Adamant before him and take away the heart of stone and give an heart of flesh and open the Brazen Doors that this Captive of Hell might go
herself Now she being questioned about her offence owns every particular thereof it having been propounded to her in particulars Owneth that the Nurse bad her put it in Only denieth the Deposition of Scannels Wife professing that she cannot remember it Professeth her hearty and unfeigned sorrow for her sin not only because it had ruined her Mistresses and her self but principally and especially because it was an high dishonor to God Father Son and Spirit that it made her unworthy of his Favor and Blessing yet she professed her Faith and Hope of Salvation through the alone Merits of the Lord Jesus Into whose hands she now commended her self and desired to forgive all the World and that Bloody Woman the Nurse who had drawn her into destruction and added that she submitted patiently to her death because she had deserved it And said it was her wish that all others would take warning by her Example and taking this Relator by the hand Sir saith she will you not pray with me Did you not promise me yon would And craving it with Tears it was readily accorded Silence being commanded and every Person composed there was this following Prayer conceived and poured before the Lord in her behalf MOst Holy Lord God! The Righteous Judg of the whole World Just in all thy Ways and Holy in all Works The great and terrible God! a consuming Fire and everlasting burnings How can such sinful chaff and stubble as we are stand before thee We must needs in a Moment be reduced unto Ashes if thou hast not pitty on us But blessed be thy Name thou art a God of wonderful Love and Mercies Thou hast so loved the World as to give thine only begotten Son to the death for us that we believing in him should not perish but have everlasting life We are greater Sinners than the Apostate Angels and yet have greater Mercies afforded us though they are better capacited to serve God than our selves and never sinned against thee but once yet thou didst utterly reject them never gavest a Christ to them nor to die for them whereas thou hast bestowed him on us the most unworthy Persons Sons and Daughters of sinful Adam who have never ceased sinning against thee We are all Sinners by Nature and from our Youth upward We were conceived in sin and born in iniquity Our Infancy our Youth and riper years have been all spent in the drudgery of sin We have broken all the Commandments of our God in heart thought word and deed sinned against the Law and against the Gospel against all the means used by our God to reclaim and to reform us We have despised the best of Mercies and deserved the worst of Judgments yea to be burnt up with unquenchable flames as this poor wretched Malefactor is now ready to be with those that are temporal But hitherto thou hast spared and reprieved us and given us space for Repentance and waitest to be gracious to us and biddest us seek thee O our God whilest thou mayest be found and call upon thee whilest thou art near it forsake our ungodliness and to forego all our wickedness and thou wouldest abundantly pardon yea thou art so gracious as to bid and incourage us to Pray for others with promises of Audience and Acceptance This emboldens us to make our addresses to thee for this poor condemned Creature ready to be executed We confess for her and she doth acknowledg for her self Lord her great and grievous offences that she hath been a Rebel against thee all her days lived in sin neglected duty neglected getting the saving knowledg of God and acquaintance with thee that she hath not hearkened to the voice of God speaking from his holy Word unto her but listned readily unto the Temptations and Suggestion of the Devil a Murderer from the beginning and by whose enticements she hath embrewed her hands in Blood in the guilt of innocent Blood of her Relation and Superiors which crys to Heaven for vengeance against her Lord she cannot stand before the Justice of Men. Ah! how unable is she to subsist at the Bar of God Man hath justly contemned her and the Lord might justly damn her and that to all Eternity The wages of her sin is death death Temporal and Eternal But Lord though she is miserable thou art merciful though she is full of sins thou art full of pardons though she is helpless in her self yet in thee Lord is she not hopeless Blessed be God that hath opened a Door of hope for her in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus who was delivered to the death for her sins and rose again from the dead that she might be justified Thy Free guift in Christ Jesus is Eternal Life Oh! How sweet is thy mercy Suffer us Blessed Father in all humility to plead with thee in her behalf Oh That thou wouldest be gracious to her she is thy Creature the work of thine hands do not destroy her She is the purchase of thy Sons blood Oh Let him not loose her Christ died for her Oh Let him not die in vain for her Therefore save her Her sins are many but thy mercies are infinitely more her sins are Bloody Crimson Scarlet and crying sins but the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sins Bloodshed by her cryeth down Vengeance on her But yet dear Lord Hear Oh hear the lowder outcries of thy Sons blood for her She is if ever any an object worthy of pitty not from any worth in her but because of her misery If God do not help her who will Who can Men and Angels cannot save her but Jesus Christ can He is able And Bessed be thy name sweet Jesu Thou art willing also even to the worst and utmost to save Thou art an Almighty and All sufficient Saviour thine arm is not shortened thy Grace is not exhausted Oh Magnifie thy Grace now even now upon her Thou hast said that the weary the heavy laden should come unto thee and thou wouldest give them rest And that such as come unto thee though the greatest sinners thou wouldest not cast out 'T is late indeed that she comes unto thee but not too late Truth Lord Late Repentance is seldom true but yet true Repentance is never too late Bitter late than never Thou hast given us one instance one example of the Thief on the Cross saved at the Eleventh at the last hour save one 't is but one that we should not presume and yet one that we should not despair Oh Lord she will not despair of thy mercy that were a greater sin than all the rest that she hath committed Now Lord though late she comes unto thee she throws her self at thy Feet and we thy poor Servants come unto thee and prostrate our selves at thy fleet for her Oh! Do not cast her out of thy sight Oh! Let her not be Damned but saved This is a true and faithful saying worthy of all acceptation most worthy of hers and she accepts of it
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
her sake Besides he should but tempt God to ask a pardon for her Who resolved never to take it upon Gods Terms In short if she would be yet ingenious and give Glory to God by adoring his Justice and shameing her self and renouncing her sin and the Devil there Was no person more willing to pray with her and pray for her than himself To which she making no reply Mr. R. the Minister conceived a pithy and pertinent Prayer lamenting the depravedness of our Nature the horribleness of Gods wrath the possibility of Salvation refused by desperate sinners and as we feared in particular by this Malefactor his dear Sister now ready to be turned over He petitioned that if it were not yet too late that God would give her Repentance and break her stony heart and cause her to glorifie him at the last by an ingenious and full Confession Prayer being ended she is once again asked whether she would confess But being obstinate in her refusals she prayed for her self in the words of the lords Prayer said the Creed and being yet exhorted to Remember the merciful nature of God who would save her as we yet hoped provided she would come unto his Terms of Confession and Repentance She tells us She cannot confess that whereof is not Guilty Being asked whether she could die in Charity with her Witnesses and Accusers She said I forgive all the World And a while after without any visible tokens of Religion Grace or Devotion without any observable preparedness or willingness for death by any of those many Divines that had painfully dealt with her or Christians that beheld her she was turned off the Ladder and went into that other World She went out like the Snuff of a Candle leaving a stench behind her And if it be asked what is become of her Soul I answer the Question is idle needless over-curious and unprofitable 't is not for saucy Creatures poor crawling Earth-worms such at our selves are to pry into the deep secrets of Gods Eternal Counsels nor to peep into the sacred Ark of his bottomless decrees These inscrutable purposes of God by reason of their inexplicable difficulties will amaze and puzle us nor can we ever possibly attain unto any infallible certainty or satisfaction concerning her I know the absolute and uncontroulable Soveraignty of Divine Grace and mercies and that God can come in if he please between the Bridge and Water the Cup and the Lip But who can inform or assure me that God did so to her She is gone unto her Judge hath undergone her Doom and if she be saved it is a Thousand mercies unto the World that the World neither doth nor can know it But did she not protest her Innocency to the very last I know she did and is she Innocent because she said so Dying persons are indeed to be credited But then they must be persons of credit and serious and if Condemned Malefactors such as are most Eminent and exemplary for their Repentance Can any one Man or Woman living that Converst with her from first to last from her Imprisonment to her Execution avow upon her knowledge that she saw so much as one poor token of a broken heart of a sincere Penitent in her Produce it and it shall be Thankfully accepted Had she been Innocent she could not have been so much concerned for life as she was I told her in ' Plymouth and Exon and she was told the same by a Reverend Divine that Innocency was a Wall of Brass it would carry a Person above the fear of Death make her to outbrave Death she could go triumphantly into the presence of the Eternal Judg and bless him that she was condemned unjustly Besides her Innocence as to this Fact would have ingaged her to a more curious and exact scrutiny into her life past to have found out the true cause of Gods anger in shortning her days and to a most holy life and religious preparation of her Soul for death during the whole time of her imprisonment None of which she had done unless looseness prophaneness and uncleanness must be expounded and taken for it Finally I lookt upon her as a desperate and Forelorne wretch and told her it was no new thing to find her such 'T is no new thing tor the worst of sinners to be desperate Were not Cain Saul Abimelech Achitophel and Judas desperate This Relator heard a man Condemned to be Hanged utter upon the Ladder these words Gentlemen I value not my life of a Rush I fear not death and without any more Ceremonies or ado and Soldiers are none of the most Religious He willfully leapt off of the Ladder at Crimble-passage Where had not others shown his body more mercy than he did hi own Soul he might have perisht everlastingly I know not whether she had as much Courage Sure I am Death never struck unto her Spirits till the Psalm was a Singing and it was a doleful Tune unto her Her heart was then up in her mouth If it were not broke with the sence of sin and near approaches of Divine wrath it was with the very horrors of death Others Sang she did but howl and yell Methought the expressions of her grief and vehemency of her passions raised strange resentments and compassions in the Spectators One and but one have I known in her condition a big and tall Fellow that upon the score of his strength could have affrighted the King of Terrors Yet after Sentence and for Burglary was he Sentenced unto death his heart failed him his Spirits sunk his Soul died within him All his Language and that too in groans and Floods of Tears with blubbered Cheeks and wringed hands was I shall die I shall die I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die Though I came to him into the Jail took him by the hand intreated him upon my knees not to be so much concerned for the loss of his Natural Life But to look after another a better Life after the life of his miserable Soul Yet no Arguments no motives could prevail upon him He was Deaf in that ear A stone might have heard and answered but this wretch would give none other answer than I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die The terrors of death like an opiate Medicine had quite stupified him that he could not listen unto the best Counsels for his Souls welfare But what and if this vile woman had been Guilty of some other Capital Crimes I know of the dead rue best must be spoken but then those dead persons should not be Impenitent Criminals It is no pleasure to me no pleasing task to Rake in Dunghils Would to God all Vices were Buried together with hers though under the Gibbet It were no difficult matter nay a man might with a wet Finger prove her Guilty of soul and frequent Adulteries of Debauching Young persons of prostituting her self in
Prison are these no Capital offences Let them not be What meant she by those words unto the Girl that to her knowledg a little Poyson in Cream had made one away in less time than you could go from her Matters House to the Gate I am apt to think that she would not confess this Murder lest some other might out also There was a shrewed Item in her Exon acknowledgment That she knew she should be damned though not for this Crime It brings to my remembrance a Story which I had from Mr. B. Cl. a very holy Man of God a Reverend Minister of the Gospel who if yet in the Land of the living is one of the most Ancient Laborers in the Lords Vineyard in this Western Diocess that in his younger days when he was Minister of Petrocks by the Castle of Dartmouth he was sent to Visit and Pray with a dying Man under very much trouble of Conscience His case was this Sir said he unto the Minister about Seven months since as I was walking to Buscow I met a Camerade of mine who had gone to Sea about a fortnight since and taking him by the hand wondring at his arrival I said VVhat cheat Mate What makes thee return so soon and look so Pale I am dead quoth this Spectrum Dead Man and yet walk and talk Yes saith he I am dead I was took sick shortly upon my going to Sea and died this day and about an hour since so many Leagues off was I thrown overboard Now I desire thee to go home and tell my Wise of it and to open my Coffer and show her my Will and see my Legacies paid which having promised to do for him at parting he added And at for that business between thee and me that thou well wotest off I charge thee that thou never speak of it to any Man living for if thou dost I will in that very moment tear thee in a thousand pieces Now Sir this lies heavy heavy upon my Conscience Fain would I declare it It is upon my Tongue but I cannot And why can you not Oh Sir do not you see him Do not you see him Look how terrible he is There he is just against me Oh! how doth he threaten me I would tell you but I dare not And whatever arguments this Reverend Personage could use unto the sick Man he could never bring him to a Confession but he pines away under his terrors and horrors till at last not being able to subsist any longer by reason of them he died Whether there be any parallel between the conditions of this Man and Woman I leave it unto my Readers judgment The poor Girl at her Death at the very point of Death charged her with it This Philip Cary her self confessed before the Major of Plymouth at her Examination and the very day before her Execution to this Relator that she knew of it And is she Innocent We have reason to believe the confession of a Penitent before the denial of a stubborn and impenitent VVoman Besides she had a very fair trial before the Judg. There were no less than Nineteen VVitnesses that gave in their Evidence to his Lordship and the Grand Jury upon Oath against her Yet she saith Not guilty Yea and takes it to her death that she is Innocent knew nothing of Poyson But what if all this be nothing but Lyes and Imposture VVhat if evidence appears against her after death and that she did both know of it and buy the Poyson also Reader I will not amuse thee call thine Eyes upon what follows and thou wilt be in so me measure satisfied The Examination of Elizabeth the Wife of Thomas Webb of Plymouth in the County of Devon Marriner had and taken at Plymouth by and before the Worshipful William Weeks Gentleman one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace within the Burrough of Plymouth on her Corporal Oath the Seventh day of April Anno Domini 1676. THe said Examinant saith That about a week before Philip the Wife of Richard Cary of Plimouth was committed to Plimouth Prison on suspition for the Poysoning of Elizabeth Weeks and Mary Pengelley This Examinant on a Saturday Evening when the Candles were lighted being at the House of John Vallacke Apothecary in Plymouth there came into the said Mr Vallacks shop a VVoman who was a stranger unto this Examinant and desired the said Mr. Vallacks Boy to give her a Penny worth of Mercury as she called it and said she was hasty That accordingly the said Boy delivered unto the said VVoman the said Mercury as she called it in a white Paper And that about a week after that the said Philip Cary being committed unto the said Prison as afore said this Examinant went to the VVindow of the Prison and saw her and she believes that the said Philip Cary was the same VVoman which so fetched the said Mercury as aforesaid Signum dicta E. VV. Elizabeth Webb Possibly you will ask VVhy had not this VVoman given in her Evidence being so material before her death I answer She is of age Let her speak for her self REader by this time I believe thou art wellwearied Sure if thou be not I am However at parting let me ask thee one Question VVhat art thou A Master or a Servant A Parent or a Child In what Relation standest thou Inferior or Superior I. If thou be a. Child or Servant Receive Wisdom receive Instruction 1. BEware of little sins you generally make no reckoning of them Your vain Thoughts your idle Words your envious and malicious Imaginations your froward Replies and Answers again your undutiful and disobedient Carriages to Parents to your Masters and Mistresses these are counted by you little sins But what and if God call them great sins VVhose opinion and judgment shall we take concerning the nature and evil of sin Yours or Gods My dear Youth Read and Ponder that Text of Scripture Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven Math. 5.19 I must tell you and you shall find it by woful experience that little sins allowed make way for great sins A little Thief creeping in at the VVindows may open the Door to great Ones A little Sin is as mortal as damnable as a great one A little Leak undiscerned may sink Ship Men and Goods A Ponyard shall stab a Man to death as well as a Rapier A Pistol can kill as well as a Cannon Little sins fill up the measure of your sins one very little sin may do it Cyphers in themselves signifie nothing but added unto figures how do they raise the sum A Consonant of it self may be a Mute make no sound but joyned with a Vowel may make a roaring noise Those which you call little sins may fill up the Sum and seal up the Account and make a roaring Noise against you in Heaven Your thought-sins never acted but intended are
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