a brand in the hand some the lash and publick whippings but those are violations of the Eighth Commandment and both of them place men in the Number of those Thieves of whom St. Paul hath said expresly that they shall not enter into the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 10. He that shall kill a man in his heat and passion is counted here not guilty of Murder but Manflaughter but both these are violations of the sixth Commandment and both make us liable to the judgment to come Nay more that very passion which we make the alleviation of our crimes here is counted Murder in the the sight of God For so our Saviour expresly asserts Math. 5. 21. 22. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Councel but whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of Hell-fire Where we see different degrees of causeless anger have different degrees of punishment but all of them are violations of that Commandment Thou shalt do no murder and all punishable more or less in the judgment to come And as for those that are acquitted here let them examine whether they are clear before God and if of that crime whether of others as great perchance and as crying in the account of God And to them who escape with life and liberty as well as to others is appliable that of our Saviour unless ye repent ye shall all likewise perish My second exhortation to such is that for the time to come they would endeavour to live without offence in the sight of God and man New mercies require new acknowledgments and we have no way of shewing our gratitude to God but by doing things that are pleasing in his sight God hath granted them life let them improve it to his honour they have had the pardon of the King let them seek forgiveness of God also they have dishonoured themselves and their profession let them endeavour to adorn the Gospel for the time to come by a more spotless conversation Let them heartily repent of all their publick and private crimes against God and against men that when they come to dye they may be fitter to dye than they were when they were Tried for their Lives and for this among other things let them pray in this or such like address to God A PRAYER O LORD our God we acknowledge before thee our manifold transgressions the sins of our hearts the sins of our Lips the sins of our Lives our unclean thoughts our filthy discourses all our unrighteous actions we are here Prisoners in one place but very different is the Lot which thy Providence hath assigned to us such of us O Lord whose days thou hast measured out to the oppressour give us grace to repent of those sins which have caused this punishment and the less mercy we find with men the more let us find with God As many of us as have found thy mercy in our Lives and Liberties give us grace to be sensible of thy mercies and to live closer with our God who hath delivered our feet from falling and our soul from the snare and our life from the Grave Let the shame we endure make us truly sensible of those sins that have caused it and however we have had disgrace here let us not be confounded when we stand in judgment make us mindful of thy eternal judgment and prepare us for it that when we come to die we may be fitter to die and fitter to give an account to God Lead us O Lord by thy councel guide us by thy grace give repentance and pardon here and bring us to thy glory hereafter through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ In whose c. CHAP. IV. Considerations suited to the condition of Malefactors as are actually under the sentence of condemnation for death WHat hath been already written in this discourse is designed to prevent if possible mens wretched arrival at the height of wickedness and by such considerations as the nature of the subject would suggest to stop their carier in wickedness before they proceed from lesser crimes to those that are Capital But there always was and always will be a generation â—f men that are reprobates to every good work that have their consciences seared with a hot Iron that turn a deaf ear against all good Counsel and harden their hearts against all good advice and as for these seeing milder Methods will do no good upon them necessity enforces to practice those that are more severe God says nay which is more swears that he does not delight in the death of a sinner but that he should turn from his wicked way and live but yet it is consistent both with his Justice and mercy to make death the Portion of such as by their wickedness pursue it and to make Perdition the inheritance of those that by the obstinacy and perverseness of their way unavoidably run upon it And the same method is very consistent with the rules of Justice and mercy among men Nay very often it is that severity upon offenders is mercy to the innocent and compassion to the wicked is cruelty to the just for the slackening of Justice encreases the number of Malefactors and if severe laws were not made and executed against Malefactors honest men would not be safe but the Nation would be soon overrun with Robbers and Murderers and all sorts of evil doers for as Solomon observed long ago Because Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore it is that the heart of the Sons of men is thoroughly set in them to do evil Eccl. 8. 11. Righteous therefore and just it is that the wages of sin should be death death eternal by the Law of God and death temporal by the Laws of God and man but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord But to what acts of Faith and repentance to direct the Malefactor that he may lay hold of that eternal life will require much Spiritual skill and prudence The Right Reverend Bishop Taylour and the Learned Doctor Hammond and some others have written diverse things very accurately towards the Lessening of that esteem which some men have of the efficacy of a death-bed repentance If I should here lay down their opinions in express terms as they have delivered them in all probability I should drive those whom I now write to into utter despair but if I should endeavour to assert and maintain the contrary those surriving Malefactors into whose hands this Book shall come would in all likelyhood make use of it as a further encouragement to delay their repentance to the hour of death Seeing therefore it is hard to Minister to the comfort of some without giving occasion to the Presumption of others I
towards the support of those that are in an afflicted condition For it is not afflict on that entitles to the particular Patronage of God but either the causes oâ— it when it is for righteousness sake or ouâ— Christian deportment under it but setting aside these two considerations a man is never a whit the more a Child of God for being chastised nor does any man entitle himself to those promises that are made to mourners by having drawn trouble upon himself by his own folly and extravagance or injustice or unrighteousness for there are afflictions that are not chastisements but judgments not the effects of God's fatherly correction but of his just indignation The Midianites were distressed yet not a jot the more to be accounted God's people for it Pharaoh severely scourged by God yet not the more a Saint upon that account Those Nations that oppressed Israel had their time of being led into Captivity as well as others and yet no Title to those promises made to Captives Good men ought to humble themselves under those Fatherly corrections which the Wisdom of God thinks fit to exercise them with But evil men should be awakened by those judgments which are sent to them for their obduracy in their sins and which fall upon them as the results of their sinful follies Secondly When the Prisoner has discerned his sins in their punishment in the next place â—â—t him endeavour to be troubled for them â—nd to repent of them and in his restraint mourn over the miscarriages of his Liberty and study to redress them Sadness and pensiveness of spirit is an usual attendant of this condition and happy is it when carnal grief is improved into spiritual sorrow for sin and transgression For Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 7. 10. But the sorrow of the world worketh death For our grief for our losses may stir up the impatience of our spirit against God and the dispensations of his providence towards us The desperateness of our circumstances may lessen our hope and faith and dependance and Christian relyance upon him and the reflection upon the rigour and severity of our Prosecutors and Creditors may possibly Minister to the useless purposes of inward malice and secret revenge and all this is productive of sin and sin of guilt and guilt of death But when our sorrow is directed against our sin as the sourse of our trouble all this is prevented and that grief which in others is the cause of sin and death is by this means made the happy occasion of repentance and life For he that looks upon his riot as the original of his poverty and those troubles which ensue upon it will in likelyhood be for the time to come more in love with temperance He that accuses his sloth as the ground of his evils will at present commend in the secret approbation of his own conscience that diligence which God hath made both his interest and his duty and hereafter practice it when God by his enlargement shall give him the happy opportunity to do so And if the Prisoner discover that the Curse of God hath rotted his estate and blasted all his unjust designs denied him those riches which he sought as the reward of iniquity and given him that poverty for the punishment of his sin which he endeavoured to avoid by the pursuit of it he is in a fair way of returning to his duty and such a man in all probability will use his Liberty to better purposes when God in his good time shall restore him to it and commit himself and his Affairs to God in well doing following God and his Providence in the ways of justice and paths of righteousness casting all his care upon God who careth for him 1 Pet. 5. 7. I know and have often with sadness of spirit observed that quite contrary is the usual practice of Prisoners Their own folly hath perverted their way and they fret against God Their sloth and negligence their excess and riot have brought them to poverty and they repine at providence They have disappointed deceived and delayed the just expectations of their creditors and they accuse their rancour and severity their cruelty and unmercifulness and lay that blame upon them which they ought to take upon themselves These are the usual miscarriages of most Prisoners and in some others there are greater than these And that place which should be the School of repentance is made to them the Nursery of sin they knew what it was to want before they came thither and there they learn to cheat they lay under all the temptations to it before and there they learn all the Arts of it or perchance they came in Knaves and go out Theives Before they knew how to over-reach their Neighbours now learn how to Rob them be ore practiced all the unjust arts of the Shop now learn those of the Highway too were very bad men when they came to Prison and grow worse by their converse with men as bad or worse then themselves were unjust enough in their inclinations before and among men more skilful in the mysteries of iniquity than themselves learn all the art and cunning of it But several men have several inclinations and there are some that grow worser by their Imprisonments but in other instances of sin they have time enough and to spare lying upon their hands and they spend it in Diceing and Carding and all sorts of Gaming have sorrow and sadness lying upon their spirits and endeavour to drown it by Tippling and Carowsing Are of a malicious temper and shew it in fretting against their Creditors and praying for their ruine or perhaps not only of a malicious spirit but profane too and vent both the one and the other in vile Oaths and horrid urses and deep imprecations against their adversaries And those that they take to be the contrivers or promoters of their misery And thus affliction which well improved is the best spiritual Physick in the World proves often an occasion of the greatest sin but if we will not be wanting to our selves we may soon find that a Prison that deprives us of all other opportunities of thriving wants not its conveniences nay happy opportunities too For the exercise of repentance in the several parts of it and here as elsewhere may a man religiously and virtuously disposed practice those important duties of contrition for sin and confession of it and humiliation for it and reformation of life which if he cannot shew here constantly in some of those outward actions which are the demonstrations of it to men and for which he wants the opportunities in that narrow Scene of action yet he may always practise it in the inward acts of it such as Faith and Patience dependance upon God and resignation to his will in the sincere purposes and resolutions of outward which before God the searcher of hearts are always accepted and in
Malefactors I proceed in the next place to those that are greater and have incurred the danger of death and these are to be considered under two several though near in time yet in nature very different circumstances before their Trial and after it Before their Trials we find them full of fears and sollicitudes and careful thoughts What the witnesses will depose against them what plea they themselves may make against their depositions what verdict the Jury is likely to bring and what sentence the Judge may pronounce upon them Now natural it is for men that are in trouble to be affected with such fears and sollicitudes as these and as it is natural so if these cares rise not to too inordinate a degree it is allowable too in the permissions of religion Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau and his fears made him seek to appease him by a present David was afraid of his Persecutour King Saul and his fears made him seek so many Subterfuges our Saviour himself had some natural reluctancy against that bitter Cup and he prayed very earnestly that it might pass from him and when St. Paul was accused by Tertullus and others he made very curious and artificial defences for his life And so may Prisoners too when they are Indicted very allowably make all just defences that their case will admit all such Pleas for themselves as their cause will bear and all prudent arts that their wit not aided by lies and falsifications can direct them to But while Prisoners are mindful of all those methods of defence which self preservation will put them upon as men they should not be neglectful of those religious considerations which become them as Christians They should with the same sollicitude prepare for that great account at the last day as they do for that at the Old Bayly they should remember that he that is to judge them hereafter is God and not man that there will be no need of witnesses to depose against them their own consciences which they stiâ—e now will impartially testifie against them then and supply the place both of witness and Jury too by bringing in a righteous verdict against them and making them as condemned of God so also self-condemned in the secret convictions of their then awakened spirit For the raising of such thoughts as these are within their souls let the Prisoners frequently consider and meditate upon every word in that suitable Text of Scripture 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the judgment Seat of God that every one may receive the things done in his body whether they be good oâ— bad Some young sinners by the reason of the tenderness of their age are below the cognizance of such Courts as these and there are years at which sentence of death cannot be passed against an offender but all must appear before that judgment Seat both young and old Some sinners are so great as to aw Justice and when a Tyrant holds the Scepter and establishes iniquity by a Law no Court is so high as to take cognizance of him and to call him to account but none is great enough to deliver himself from the hand of God for hiâ— justice is armed with an infinite power whereby to execute the awards of his wrath upon the most obdurate sinners Some sins are so secret that the eye of man which sees not the heart can not discover them and therefore the justice of man cannot punish them but God searcheth the hearts and tries the reins and he will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus Men can only kill the body but he can cast Body and Soul into Hell-fire they can inflict only temporal death God eternal and everlasting Fire here may burn the body for a while which punishment is sometimes inflicted upon women for petty treason but as that fire burns the body so it consumes it and the fierceness of the flame and the pains of the offender have both a speedy conclusion but that fire burns for ever and the sinner hath an everlasting duration to endure those flames in This judgment and the consequences of it they should often meditate upon and no time more proper than this wherein they are to pass to that temporal judgment which bears some faint resemblance with the Eternal Now it is a proper time for them to set their souls in order before God to endeavour to make their peace with him by earnest prayer to seek his pardon and forgiveness and whether they live or die they will find the spiritual benefit of such thoughts as these are if the latter be their dreadful Lot they have by this means begun their preparation for death but if through the mercy of God the former be their more pleasing portion they may assure themselves that such men as are prepared to dye are by that means much more fit to live And now that I have brought the Prisoners to the Old Bayly it will not be long before they know their several Dooms Some have the Sentence of Death pronounced upon them Some are cast for their Lives but by the mercy of the Bench are set aside for Transportation or for Clergy or are left to the mercy of the King For the first of these the ensuing Chapter is designed to the others I now Address my self and first to those who are for Transportation who are usually the most in Number And here a very slender observation may soon suggest to us that the condition of convicts after their Transportation beyond these as differs little from that of those that are in Bridewell unless in the duration of their evils For when they are set down upon the place of their Banishment they are delivered to a seven-years bondage ingaged in hard labours exposed to great drudgeries and treated with very much scorn and contempt and insolence and usually the reason why this mercy is shewed to them for the sparing of their lives is because they are reputed to be but young Malefactors having never before been legally convicted of such crimes as are punishable by death and therefore before they proceed to the remainder of this Chapter I desire them to read what they find in the former Chapter concerning the breaking off their sins by repentance and improving their present afflictions of shame and slavery to spiritual purposes And to these directions I shall add these that follow First That they would be perswaded to observe the mixture of Judgment and mercy which is very apparent in their present condition mercy in that their lives are spared and Judgment in that they are to spend the remainder of their lives in so much hardship and misery and then to turn the expostulation of the Apostle Rom. 2. 4 5 6 7 8 9. into an exhortation to themselves and that they would not despise the riches of Gods goodness and forbearance and long suffering which ought to lead them to repentance neither treasure up to themselves
wrath against the day of wrath and the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and immortality eternal life but to them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Those that are thus Transported they have Captivity for their punishment and in that Captivity they may discern something of the severity of God towards them but not greater severity then God hath heretofore shewed towards sinners and in the same kind of punishment too that of slavery Manasseh sinned against God and his punishment was he was taken Captive by the Captains of the Kings of Assyria and as such bound in Chains and carried to Babylon Zedekiah sinned against God and for his sin he was exposed first to the scorn of Nebuchadnezzar in his bondage and then in his cruelty in the loss of his eyes and what was dearer to him then his eyes his Children And it is no more then what was threatned by Moses to rebellious Israel Deut. 28. 68. Ye shall be sould to your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen and no man shall buy you that is when they should commit iniquity with greediness their sins would make them so vile in the eyes of God that he would sell them into the hands of their enemies for Slaves and Drudges and their enemies should count them so vile too that they could not think them worth the buying So that that bondage which God inflicted sometimes upon Kings and Princes nay frequently upon his own People too when they sinned against him and departed from him by their transgressions ought not to be repined against by Malefactors as it were too severe a punishment upon them by the hand of God for their transgression but contrari wise they ought to be thankful to the mercy of God that he hath spared their Lives and thereby given a space for repentance which if they consider it aright is a mercy of very great value and of so great value that their gratitude for life ought to overballance those murmurings which they usually entertain upon account of the sufferings of it of this opinion was Jeremiah when he and his Nation were under the like circumstances in Captivity in a strange Country Wherefore says he should a living man complain a man for the Punishment of his sin Lament 3. 39. in which sentence there are almost as many Arguments as words and every one of those Arguments suitable to the Subject now in hand God is the Creator of all things man his Creature why therefore should man complain when he is afflicted The clay against the Potter the workmanship against the maker man that is but dust and ashes against God the Lord of all his Soverainty will bear him out if he disposes of his Creatures as he in his wisdom thinks most fit therefore they ought not to complain especially when they consider that they are sinful men and that their afflictions are but the punishment of their sins No great wonder if upright Job complain that he is afflicted more then the scorners Jeremiah then those that deal treacherously holy Daniel and righteous Shadrack Meshack and Abednego then their accusers and tormentors but unjust it is that sinners complain under their just and deserved punishment when they reap but the very fruit of their doings More it would become them to acknowledge that God is just and righteous in all that he does and in all the corrections which he does inflict and that he has punished them less then their iniquties deserve and then in â—ustice he might have done if he had been extream to mark what is done amiss and therefore that they ought to be humbled and accept of the Punishment of their iniquities and bear the indignation of the Lord because they have sinned against him Especially considering that he hath given them a Portion among those that are living God had not been unrighteous if he had taken away the sinner in the midst of his sins and then as the Tree fell so it wouldly as death left them so Judgment would find them and as they died in the Commission of sin so they would rise hereafter to the inflictions of wrath but God hath been merciful in that he hath given them a life though a life very full of misery to repent in a space though that space surrounded with many afflictions to make their peace with God This Goodness of God ought to lead them to repentance in order to which end let them Secondly Live under a constant sense of Gods omnipresence and that wheresoever they go and into whatsoever parts of the World they are sent by Banishment Gods eye follows them He fills the Heaven and the earth and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him his greatness is unsearchable so that there is no flying from his presence nor can any man hide himself in secret places that God should not see him They may fly their Country but they cannot fly from the presence of God if in a strange Land they retain the sins of England thither the Vengeance of God can follow them there the Justice of God can find them out prove their Plague and their scourge there as well as here but if in a forreign Country they repent of their sins committed here Gods Grace is as near to them there as here his mercy is over all his works and his goodness reaches to the utmost corners of the earth And though their Fathers see them not and their Friends know not their condition yet God is as present to them there as here and is ready to receive the Prayer of the Captive the petition of the stranger the supplication of the Banished and to grant his pardon to the poorest most afflicted Penitents At the Sessions some are found not guilty by their Jury or obtain the benefit of their Clergy or the gracious pardon of the King which if they consider it aright is a mercy very highly valuable and as it is the happiness of these men that they have their Lives and Liberties so it is their disadvantage that their Liberty is attended with the disgrace of having once held up their hand and how to improve this dishonour to spiritual advantage they have been taught in the forecited Chapter and together with those directions let them take these directions that follow First Now that they are free from the Tribunal of man that they would endeavour to set all accounts right between them and God For very possible it may be that an offender may be either free or guilty to a lesser degree in these counts below but perfectly guilty in that court above Here some things are accounted felonies some petty larcenies some deserve only by the law
sinned and he repented of it in some degree and as an instance of it made restitution of the price of blood but had not recourse by faith and Gospel repentance to that blood of atonement and therefore died as a sad instance and dreadful example of horrid dispair and indeed no sin except that one unpardonable one against the Holy Ghost is exempted from forgiveness upon a true repentance And to take away doubt in this the Scripture hath particularly mentioned the greatest sorts as actually forgiven to sincere Penitents As particularly The Blasphemies of Saul the Fornications of Magdalen the extortions of Zaccheus the Murder and uncleanness of David the drunkenness and incest of Noah and the Robberies of the Thief upon the Cross But as there may be an error on this hand so there may be and possibly is more frequently on the other hand toc in relying too confidently upon the pardoning mercy of God in Christ without those Gospel preparations of heart which will sit us to receive it And this seems to be the sin of those very confident but very much mistaken fiduciaries mentioned and reproved by our Saviour Mat. 7. 21 22 23. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that day Lord have we not Prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity And if they would guide themselves between presumption and despair it will behave them to take the Advice of St. Peter to Simon Magus so Acts 8. 22. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee He saith not and so certainly it shall be this possibly might be too confident a presumption to depend upon but if perhaps that an humble hope may be allowed to seek after The carriage of Benhahad to King Ahab may well become them The Kings of Israel are merciful Kings says he and so they The God of Israel is a merciful God this they may with fulness of Faith believe and peradventure he will save us this they may with an humble hope desire And to accommodate a little to this purpose that expression of Queen Esther They may go into the presence of God by humble supplication and prayer and say if we perish we will perish praying unto God we will perish imploring his Grace we will Perish rolling our selves upon his mercy in Christ Jesus and it is possible God may be more merciful to us then we are apt to think he will when we reflect upon the great defect of our death bed repentance The rest I shall refer to the Conduct of their spiritual guides of which number I am bound in duty to be one and shall request them often to read these seven Psalms 6 32 38 51 102 130 143. Paraphrased into Prayers by Bishop Taylour which I have provided for them at my own charge A small Treatise called The Penitent sinner provided for them by the care of the Court of Aldermen and these two Prayers the one taken out of Doctor Patricks Devout Christian the other from Bishop Taylour and with a small alteration accommodated to their condition A Prayer for condemned Malefactors written by Dr. Patrick in his Devout Christian O MOST holy and righteous judge of the whole world give us sinful and miserable wretches leave to prostrate our selves before the throne of thy Grace and to implore that mercy which we have formerly despised or abused We are not worthy we confess to lift up our eyes towards heaven and it becomes us in the greatest dejection of spirit to sigh and groan under the Load of our sins which have been so great and many so bold so presumptuous and shameles that when with an awakened mind we reflect upon them we are ready to sink into Hell and utterly despair of any mercy O God how have we hated instruction and our heart despised reproof And have not obeyed the voice of our teachers nor inclined our ear to them that admonished us How swift have our feet been to run into evil and how backward and averse have we been to any thing that is good O the injuries that we have done our neighbours the abuse of our selves and thy good creatures the prophane contempt or neglect of thee and the duties of thy worship and service * Here let them reckon up the blasphemies debaucheries and violences that they have been guilty of The remembrance of all this is dreadful the burden is intolerable How shall we appear before thee at whose rebuke the mountains quake since we cannot think of our appearance before an earthly judge without shame and affrightment of spirit O Lord work in us a greater dread of thee with a greater shame and confusion of face now that we are in thy presence For which end represent unto us essectually the wickedness the baseness and vileness of our evil doings as well as the guilt and just desert of thee O that we could hate and abhor them more than death which we expect shortly to suffer for them Bestow on us that ingenuous and godly sorrow which worketh repentance and unfeigned purposes of amendment of life If thou through thy great mercy and unexpected providence shouldest grant enlargement of it These purposes come too late indeed we may justly think to find acceptance with thee and therefore not without great fear and trembling and a great sense of our undeserving we look up unto thee acknowledging thy infinite goodness if thou wilt vouchsafe but the smallest hope of mercy Mercy mercy Good Lord cast us not quite out of thy sight for Jesus sake who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity It is the beginning of some mercy and an earnest we hope of more that thou hast made us sensible of our offences Help us to manifest our sincerity by making free and open confession of our crimes and taking the shame of them before others and by acknowledgment that we are unworthy to live and by earnest admonishments to all to be warned by our example and to cease betimes to do evil and learn to do well O that we could glorifie thee O God a little in our latter end after this manner And till we come to receive our deserved punishment help us to spend our time in bewailing our sins in humbling our selves before thee for them in setting our hearts against them in studying and admiring with the greatest affection the holy life of our Lord Jesus in calling other offenders to repentance and exhorting them thereby to give thee glory Deny us not we beseech thee the grace thus to employ our selves that we may have some tast of thy mercy and the fear of death may
this nature they themselves are standing monuments of the goodness of God in that kind They are Lodged in those Chambers that their Parents never hired cloathed with those Garments they never provided fed with that meat they never paid for and supplyed with all things necessary by the care of those good Patrons which the Providence of God hath raised up for them And now that God hath so largly blessed them Let me teach them the duty of gratitude to him out of the Book of Psalms which they so often sing at their meals and so often read by the injunction of their instructors They may every one of them say with David Psalm 16. 5 6. The Lord is the Portion of my Inheritage and of my Cup he maintains my Lot the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly Heritage And therefore let them say with David also v. 7. I will bless the Lord who hath given me Counsel by the instruction of my teachers and maintenance by the bounty of my patrons My reins also shall instruct me in the night season They may again say all in general and each in particular in the words of the same King David Psalm 116. 5 6 8. Gratious is the Lord and righteous yea our God is merciful The Lord preserveth the simple I was brought low through the poverty of my Parents and he helped me Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt plentifully with thee For the Lord hath delivered my soul from death and from want which is almost as bitter as death mine eyes from tears and my feet from fallings And as their mercies are proportionable to his so let their thankfulness be proportionable to his also which they may appositely express in his words v 12 13 14. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people Even those vows which I made in my low condition when my friends were forced to forsake me for want and no eye pitied my poor condition And as these great mercies ought to teach them thankfulness for all the loving-kindness of God towards them hitherto so Secondly Let the same mercies teach them to place their faith and hope and confidence in God for the time to come They have already found to their great comfort that God is a Father to the fatherless a protectour of the destitute and a ready help to them in the needful time of trouble and now of all men in the world they will be the most inexcusable if in their age they forget the God of their Childhood and of their youth or ever neglect to depend upon him who hath already been so good and so gracious to them The experience of the continued goodness of God should encrease their relyance in him and make them say in a pious expectation of his gracious providence towards them for the time to come In the words of Job which we find Chap. 5. v. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27. God hath delivered us in six troubles yea in seven no evil hath touched us in famine he hath redeemed us from death and in need from the hand of poverty and now we will confidently rely upon his faithfulness and without wavering depend upon his providence for surely he that hath so soon prevented us with his loving kindness will be our God all the residue of our lives We shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue neither shall we be afraid of destruction when it cometh At destruction and famine we shall laugh neither shall we be afraid of the beasts of the earth For we shall be at league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with us We know that our Tabernacle shall be at peace we shall visit our habitation and not sin We know our seed shall be prosperous and our off-spring as the Grass of the earth We shall come to our grave in a full age like as a stock of Corn cometh in his season Lo this we have searched so it is After this manner we have found it hitherto and so we trust in the loving-kindness of our God we shall find it for the time to come But because those to whom in this Chapter I am to direct my exhortation are very much practised in the singing and reading the Psalms of David I shall from them further instruct them in this useful and comfortable duty of encreasing their relyance and dependance upon God from their experience that they have of his gratious protection and watchful providence over them hitherto This Lesson the Psalmist teaches them in Psalm 23. 4 5. Thou art with me O Lord thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Thou preparest a Table before me thou anointest my head with oyl my cup runneth over These words are very applyable to those that have their education in Christchurch the rod of God corrected them heretofore in the poverty and destitution of their parents his staff supports them now in their present maintenance they have a Table prepared for them and that plentifully their cup runneth over this is their present priviledge as exactly described in the expressions of this Psalm as if it were on purpose penned for them and their duty is in the ensuing words they ought confidently to expect that God will still preserve and bless them in well doing ver 6. Surely goodness and mercy shall preserve me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever The like expressions we have concerning his early hope in God and God's early provision for him in his Childhood Psal 22. 9 10. But thou art he that took me out of the womb thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mothers breasts I was cast upon thee from the womb thou art my God from my mothers belly And therefore he prayers with full assurance to be heard in the expressions that follow v. 11. Be not from me for trouble is near and there is none to help me excepting God only who hath been my helper from my very birth and in whom I trust that he will be so still And if at this second teaching the Scholars will not learn this Lesson we have it inculcated a third time Psalm 71. 5 6. For thou art my hope O Lord thou art my trust from my youth By thee have I been holden up from the womb thou art be that took me out of my mothers bowels and from these premises within few Verses follows that prayer v. 8 9. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day Cast me not away in my old age forsake me not when my strength faileth And both these immediately succeed each other v. 17 18. O God thou
sedateness of their Spirits and in the peace of their consciences and in their mastery over those inordinacies of Soul which often transport men into phrensy Love nothing passionately but God and those Divine beauties though they may transport will never distract the Soul Submit to the disâ—â—â—sâ—tions of God concerning you and think that condition best which his providence hath allotted you and you need never fear that discontent will crack your brain Keep a conscience clear in all things for nothing is so distracting as guilt nothing more sedate then uprightness and integrity In Religion study not the things that are mysterious but the things that are necessary Deep enquiries have often distracted the acutest brains but plain truths never discomposed the most illiterate understanding Believe the Trinity to be a mystery incomprehensible and let it continue so Acknowledge the decrees of God to be unsearchable and pry not into them too curiously Resign your self to the guidance of the Spirit and be content to be ignorant of the manner of its operations and if this you do you will be as wise as God requires you should be more Religious then some men that count themselves more wise then you and more composed in your Spirit then those that distract themselves with mysterious enquiries And this is my second direction to this sort of People to avoid violent passions and nice speculations Thirdly My third direction shall be that when men have recovered the use of their reason they would employ the exercise of it about the best things the service of God the good of mankind and the discreet guidance of their own lives and conversations And surely God in his providence will preserve that reason sound and entire that is employed to so Divine purposes In these generous employments there are many things ennobling to our reason nothing disturbing or distracting To serve God and submit our will to his to hope in his goodness and depend upon his mercy are things easie to be understood and require not an acute brain to perform them But the disputes about God and Religion lead men into endless mazes and Meanders To do as we would be done by requires no great skill and cunning but the methods of Craft and deceit may soon puzzle the shrewdest understanding for the paths of righteousness are plain and easie but the contrivances of the wicked are many of them very distracting And then for those duties which concern the Regulation of our affections there are none of them have any tendency in them to disturb our Spirits but all proper to compose them Anger and impatience enrage the heart but meekness will compose and settle it Thirst of revenge boyls up the blood to unnatural heats but Christian forgiveness makes us at peace within our selves and with others Anxious care and desponding thoughts are very often productive of Phrensy but nothing so proper to quiet and allay all the fluctuations of our minds as Faith and Hope and those other graces that are nearly allied to these If God of his mercy restore our reason in gratitude we are bound to employ it in his service and this is also the best course to preserve the soundness and integrity of it for God will bless that reason that is employed in the exercises of Religion and the duties of Religion naturally tend to the improving and preserving of it The last duty that I shall recommend to them is to pity them that are in the like condition to that wherein they heretofore were to aid them at present with the assistance of their prayers and hereafter their Hospital with the bounty of their purse if God shall enable them to do so To do good and to communicate forget not saith the Apostle for with such sacrifices God is well pleased but our charity is most suitable when it is extended to those who are under those miseries which heretofore were ours Israel must not grieve the stranger because they were strangers in Egypt The believing Hebrews to whom the Apostle writes must remember those that are in bonds as being bound with them and them that suffer adversity as being themselves also in the body And those that have wanted their senses should remember those that want them still remember them always in their prayers and when they shall be able in the largeness of their bounty too I add not further to this Chapter but only the usual conclusion of the rest a Prayer A PRAYER O LORD we desire to return unto thee all possible praise and thanks for all thy mercies bestowed upon us more particularly for that great mercy of restoring us to our former senses We beseech thee teach us to employ our reason in the service of God and the duties of religion to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to study the things of our peace Subdue in us all disturbing passions and inordinate affections which are contrary to our peace and contrary to thy Gospel Root out of our souls sensual love and restless ambition and all pride and haughtiness of spirit and teach us to regulate our desires according to the rules of reason and religion Preserve our reason which thou hast restored and restore it to those that want it pity their dark and disconsolate condition allay their fears answer their doubts and subdue their distempers and speak peace and health to them and make us truly thankful to God who hath made it to be better with us than it is with them And as thou hast relieved our bodily distempers so heal all our spiritual diseases Make us every day more and more to be religious towards our God just and charitable towards our Neighbours and sober and temperate in our chast and Christian usage of our own bodies Fill us with the fruits of the spirit goodness and meekness and faith and hope and patience and long-suffering and all other Graces here and the fulness of thy glory hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose name c. The Close HItherto from the beginning to the ending of this Treatise I have walked in a path untroden by others before me But all along have sincerely aimed at the spiritual good of those that have come under the directions of my Pen. It is very meet that in this as in all other actions the main end that I propound to my self should be the hohour of God and the good of Souls but râ—â—â—er that I have also designed to testifie my duty and respects to the Court of Aldermen whose Stipendiary I am and to the Worshipful Governours of the several places mentioned in this discourse and if they will permit these books to be distributed among the people under their charge I shall pray for a blessing from God upon what I have writ and theâ— shall read and direct them to pray for their Governours and Patrons and Benefactours in the short form following A PRAYER O LORD the giver of every good and perfect gift we return unto thee the tribute of praise and thanksgiving for all the priviledges and advantages reached out to us by the hands of our Patrons and Benefactours We beseech thee give us Grace to walk worthy of all these thy mercies and their favours and restore unto them into their bosomes a hundered fold for all their Christian charity and bounty Granting them in this life all the blessings of thy Grace and favour and in the world to come life and immortality through Jesus Christ our Lord who hath taught us to pray saying Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us and lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THE CONTENTS Of the several Chapters of this Treatise Chap. 1. Directions suitable to those who are Prisoners for Debt which may be applyable to the condition of such as are Prisoners in Ludgate the Fleet or either of the Counters or Newgate as it is the County Prison for Debt Pag. 1. Ch. 2. Instructions for such Malefactors as have committed such crimes the punishment whereof is some publick shame or corporal infliction or any other punishment below that of death Applyable in great measure to the condition of those that are in Bridewel p. 28. Ch. 3. Directions for those that are Tried and Cast for their Lives but have them spared by the mercy of the King or the Bench. p. 45. Ch. 4. Considerations suited to the condition of such Malefactors as are actually under the sentence of condemnation for death p. 60. Ch. 5. Instructions suited to the condition of those who have their Education in the Hospital of Christ-Church p. 77. Ch. 6. Instructions proper for such for whose care Provision is made in the Hospital of S. Bartholomew near Smithfield and S. Thomas the Apostle in Southwark p. 94. Ch. 7. Instructions for those that have been restored to their senses in the Hospital of Bethleem p. 110. FINIS The Reader is desired before he proceed to peruse this Book to mend with his Pen these following mistakes which are not wholly chargeable upon the Printer but in part upon the Copy which was in some places interlined and in others not very fairly writ mispointings and smaller Errata's I have not here noted but such as pervert the sense of which the first is the Grossest and in that as well as the rest the Reader hath the very Pages and Lines noted Pag. 2. l. 9. for Creditors read Chapmen p. 4. l. 26. for we r. be p. 8. l. 27. for Learning r. hearing p. 15. l. 25. after world insert then p. 29. l. last for side r. size p. 31. l. 28. for Heb. 3. 1. r. Heb. 3. 13. p. 37. l. 16. for Devils r. Devil p. 39. l. 9. after are blot out with l. 26. for reach r. reak p. 41. l. 3. after themselves blot out they are p. 49. l. 16. after these blot out as p. 55. l. 19. for Counts r. Courts p. 80. l. 2. for reports r. reporters p. 93. l. 20. blot out in and insert old p. 95. l. 16. for Authority both by r. both by the Authority