Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	lord_n	minister_n	people_n	9,978	5	7.1094	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76061	A murderer punished and pardoned, or, A true relation of the wicked life, and shameful-happy death of Thomas Savage imprisoned, justly condemned, and twice executed at Ratcliff, for his bloody fact in killing his fellow-servant, on Wednesday, Octob. 28, 1668 / by us who were often with him in the time of his imprisonment in Newgate, at at his execution, Robert Franklin, Thomas Vincent, Thomas Doolitel, James Janeway, Hugh Baker ; to which is annexed a sermon preached at his funeral.	R. A. (Richard Alleine), 1611-1681.; Janeway, James, 1636?-1674.; Franklin, Robert, 1630-1684.	1679 (1679)	Wing A997A; ESTC R42788	47,969	54

with him on Saturday before he dyed he charged him with his sin which had caused such a blot upon all the Profession he had made and what great cause he had to be humbled before God and desired him to tell him as a dying man whether it was his voluntary act and delight in excessive drinking or no And he did prosefs that he knew it was not the quantity that he had drank which was not near so much as at other times he did use without distempering of himself However God was pleased to make him taste the bitterness of that Cup in that he had given such occasion to sinners to speak evil of the wayes of God and beating his hands being returned to himself upon the stones cryed out Oh that I should offend God! And though he did much lament the scandal yet he always said that he looked not upon it as a sin of drunkenness but a circumvention or to use his own words that something was put into the drink to distemper his head On Saturday during the Sessions he was arraigned and pleaded Guilty confessing with many tears and wringing his hands that he through the instigation of the Devil and enticement of that wretched Creature meaning the Harlot had committed that bloody fact which was such an horror to his Conscience that he would not do it again for ten thousand Worlds his Carriage and Confession was such that he much moved the honourable Bench and Jury and most of the Beholders On Monday next he received his Sentence of Death after which time he was with the other condemned Prisoners and did pray with them four times a day and read to them and sung Psalms with them After the Execution of the rest he had time given or procured him by the honourable Sheriff of London for some days which he improved to the great advantage of his Soul On Friday night he uttered these expressions in company with H. B. being the day that the other Prisoners were Executed I find saith he so much sweetness and delight and pleasure in Gods ways and so much folly in the ways of sin that if there were no Heaven to reward nor any Hell to punish I could not but love the ways of God and the People of God Oh it is so sweet to be in company with them praying and conversing with them over what is in hearing others Swear and Curse that I account it as great a mercy as any almost that I may be in their Company O methinks it is a Heaven to me to be with God's Ministers and People and Prayer now is so sweet that I grudge the time always when I am off from my knees or go down to the grate Now there is nothing in the World I prize like Christ one Christ above Ten thousand Worlds now I do repent and I do believe through Mercy it is the Lords work but I earnestly beg and pray for a more humble and a more broken heart and a more through sense of sin and a greater sorrow for it and beg that God would enable me to come to him to believe in him Lord saith he Faith is thy work Repentance is thy work do thou enable me to repent nay thou hast enabled me to repent and I do from the very bottom of my heart Lord as far as I know my own heart I repent that I should offend so gracious and so merciful a God as thou art Lord and Faith is thy work Lord saith he hast thou not said No man can come to thee except the Father draw him Draw me O Lord and I shall run to thee enable me to believe Lord and I shall believe nay I do believe Lord that Jesus Christ his blood was not shed in vain Did Christ die for nothing Lord Did he not die to save all repenting and believing sinners of whom I am chief On Saturday at night in company with Mr. Baker he Discoursed thus Oh! my dear Friend taking me by the hand come hither saith he and opening the Coffin look here is the Ship saith he in which I must lanch out into the Ocean of Eternity and is it not a terrible thing saith he to see one's own Coffin and burying-cloaths when at the same time I am as well as you do you think it would not daunt you to go to the gallows to have the Halter and to dye there were this for the sake of the Gospel I should not care were it ten hundred times a worse death but to suffer this cursed death for such horrid sins O this is sad Why said I you have a greater mercy in some respect than those that dye in their beds for they are full of sickness and pain and cannot so well mind Repentance as you who are well and have nothing else to mind Ah Sir saith he their sins are of a far less nature than mine and so they do not need so much repentance as mine do my dying for such horrid sins makes my repentance to be so much the more hard O saith he I believe it it is a hard work to dye I could carry it out as bravely as any do you think I could not but to consider that as I die and am sentenced from God's Barr so I must be for ever immediately either be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable To consider this would make a stout heart to tremble Those poor Creatures that were here the other night meaning the other condemned Prisoners they know now what it is to be in an eternal state and if they are gone to Hell O Lord how miserably are they disappointed who hoped for to have gone to Heaven and are sent from thy Barr to endless burning Lord what a mercy is it that I have a little time longer left let it be improved to thy glory and let my soul live and I shall praise thee The last Lords day he lived he desired to be alone and spent it in wrestling with God by prayers and in other duties in order to his preparation for his great change by death that then he expected the next day in which duties he found so much of God that he had some fore-tasts of the joys of Heaven and when we asked him what of God he had found that day he replyed That he had such pleasure and delight in mourning for sin and praying unto God that he was loath to come off from his knees At night there were some Ministers that sat up with him and spent that night in prayer with him and for him and in conference on Monday morning came T. D. to him before day thinking it was his last day for an Order was sent on Friday for his Execution on Monday and said to him Thomas how is it with you now your last day begins to dawn He said Blessed be God I am not afraid to dye because I hope I shall go to Jesus Christ After some time in prayer for him we desired him to spend some time

for me Well I know God loves I am sure God loves me When he was in prayer some of us heard him say Now Lord I am coming to thee thou art mine and Christ is mine and what need I be afraid of Death Lord give me some sense and some sign of thy love that when my soul shall be separated from my body it may be received into glory Afterwards when he looked upon his Cloaths he had put on to dye in said What have I got on my dying-cloaths dying-cloaths did I say they are my living-cloaths the cloaths out of which I shall go into eternal glory they are the best cloaths that ever I put on About four of the Clock in the morning we went up to him again full of expectation what we would say to us and what we should hear from him and T. D. stood behind him and took his expressions as he spake them from his own mouth and first he told us I account it a great mercy that God hath shewed me the evil of sin before he cast me into Hell sin hath not only brought my body to the grave but my soul in danger of everlasting burning The Lord will have mercy on me I hope I am filled with joy I am no more afraid to die than to stand in this place the Lord make me thankful The Lord hath been working on my soul for it was not I that could pray nor refrain from company nor delight in any thing that is good I have cause to bless God that ever I was taken and this we have often heard him say for if I had escaped I had gone on in my sin and might have lost my soul for ever One asked him which he thought was worse hell or sin using some gesture of body said Hell is very dreadful but sin is worse then hell because sin brings mens souls to hell and sin is that which offendeth God One asked him what he thought of Heaven and he with a smiling countenance said Heaven it cannot be but heaven must be an excellent place for it is an holy place We spake to him concerning his Coffin that was by him whether it did not trouble and amaze him to have it in his sight he replyed with all my soul I coul go into my Coffin oh it is a comfortable place he spake it with joy I can comfortably dye I have found such a deal of joy and comfort that I would not for a world have been without it We enquired whether death did not affright him morning light will presently appear He answered Death indeed did trouble me but now not at all I long for day I am not daunted at death Dye it is nothing this life is nothing but to dye Eternally and to loose God and Christ and Heaven that is Death Hell-tormens is not so much as to be shut from the presence of God Alas who would not dye this death to go to Jesus Christ when my body is upon the Gibbet my soul shall be carried by Angels into Heaven My heart is so drawn out after God that I could leave this world to be with him This world is nothing those that have the pleasures of it have nothing I desire to dye because I long to be with Christ there I shall never sin more there is no sin but joy where I shall sing hallelujahs and praise to God We askt what he thought of the company of Gods people for he had now experience of company good and bad He said I had rather be here meaning the Hole in Newgate with bread and water with such company then to have the company of wicked persons with the greatest dainties It was wicked company that drew me away I account it the greatest mercy to have the prayers of Gods people for me had I had my deserts I had been now in Hell where I should have had no prayers no instructions God doth love me for he hath inclined the hearts of his people and Ministers to pray for me and their prayers have prevailed Being ask'd what promises he found to be his support against the guilt of sin now he was to dye he alledged these repeating the words himself Whosoever will let him come and drink of the waters of Life freely and He that confesseth and for saketh his sin shall find mercy and Let the wicked for sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will Abundantly Pardon This word Abundantly Pardon did often refresh his soul I have sinned abundantly but God will pardon abundantly After these he mentioned another viz This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came to save sinners of whom I am chief and said I do relie and throw my self upon Jesus Christ I do believe there is merit enough in him and all sufficiency in him to save me it is nothing that I can do will save me He complained that it was the grief of his soul that he could love God no more and love Christ no more for his mercy toward him in giving him so much time and so many helps in sending so many Ministers to instruct him but added when several Ministers had been with me I threw of all and returned to sin and did as vainly as any I could not have repented and believed of my self it is the work of God He often said I fear not death it was nothing with him to die and go to Christ He often said that he had rather die immediately having an interest in Christ than to live a thousand years in this world in the enjoyment of all the pleasures of it without Christ And that he had found more pleasure and delight in the Ways of God since he came into Prison than ever he found in all the ways of sin He confessed his sins saying he first neglected and profaned the Sabbath and said this was the beginning of all his wickedness that on the Sabbath morning he studied what company to go into in what place of sin he might spend the Sabbath then to wicked Society then to Ale-houses then to Brothel-houses then to Murther then to Theft then to Newgate and yet at last he hoped to heaven He lamented saying I have striven to dishonour God and to run into sin oh that I should spend so much time in serving of the Devil and now have but a little moment of time to spend in the service of God and to the glory of God This discourse being ended we desired him now on his last morning before he went into Eternity to pray with us and he willingly consented and his prayer was as followeth being taken from his mouth by Thomas Doe-little that also took in writing his preceding discourse Verbatim The Prayer of Tho. Savage in Newgate with those that sat up with him the night before his Execution O Most merciful and ever

blessed Lord God I beseech thee O Lord look down upon me with an eye of pity if it be thy blessed will it is thy infinite mercy that I am on this side the grave and out of Hell O Lord I have deserved to be cast into torments to all Eternity How have I offended thee and run on in fin and thought I could never do enough to abuse thy mercy pardon the sins that I have committed wash that blood from off my soul let not me perish to Eternity It was an horrid crime to shed innocent blood pardon that sin O Lord let the blood of Christ cry more for mercy than the blood of that creature cry for for vengeance O Lord thou hast been merciful to me in giving me time to Repent for ought I know her soul is undone for ever Lord forgive me Lord forgive me I knew not what I did Forgive my Sabbath-breaking Lying Cursing forgive my drunkenness blot them out of the book of thy remembrance turn them away behind thee Lord I have repented of them from my soul that ever I should offend a God so good and so merciful and gracious I do believe on thee and do wholly throw my self upon thee I acknowledge it would be just in thee to damn my Soul but it will be infinite mercy in thee to save me and what free Grace will it be in thee to pardon me It is dreadful to lose the body but how dreadful will it be to lose the Soul to all Eternity Lord let it not be in vain that I had so many instructions O let me not go down to hell let my soul bless and praise thy Name for ever for what thou hast done for me thou hast been at work upon my heart and thou hast helped me to Repent the Lord be praised Lord I desire to be more and more humble under the sence of my sins for they are dreadful there are many souls that have not committed those sins that are now in Hell O what a mercy is it that I am not in those flames in those devouring flames Lord as thou hast spared me here spare me to Eternity Let not my soul perish Lord reveal thy self unto me make known thy love unto me tell me my sins are pardoned tell me that I have an Interest in Christ before I go hence and be seen no more that I might leave some Testimony behind me that I might tell thy Ministers what thou hast done for me and tell thy People what thou hast done for my Soul Lord this will not be onely for my satisfaction but for thy glory Blessed Lord pardon the sins that I am guilty of and take away this cursed base heart of mine break this rocky stony heart in pieces these sins of Murder and Drunkenness c. were in my heart before I thought no eye did see me commit those sins but thou didst see me Lord turn my heart to thee and take away this heart of stone and take away this cursed nature for it was this cursed Nature that brought me to these sins and to this end and I was in danger of loosing my soul to all eternity but Lord though I a great sinner Christ is a great Saviour he is able to save me from my sins though they be never so great I do believe Lord I speak freely from my heart so far as I know my heart I do believe it is my grief I can sorrow no more for my sins which have been the cause of offending thee so long and so much One drop of thy blood sprinkled upon my soul will pardon all my sins Lord cross the black line of my sins with the red line of thy blood I am not able to answer for one vain thought much less for all my horrid crimes Lord save my immortal soul that I might sing praise to thee to all eternity Thou hast pardoned Manasseh that was a great sinner and Mary Magdalen and Paul that were great sinners and the Thief upon the Cross and thy mercies are as great thy mercy and thy love to repenting sinners is not shortned though my sins be great yet thy mercies are greater then my sins Lord be with me in my death then let me have some comfortable assurance of thy love unto my soul of the pardon of my sins do thou be my God and my Guide now and to all eternity Amen This Prayer he put up with much earnestness with great brokenness of heart for sin that all that joyned with him were exceedingly affected and blessed God for the Spirit of Prayer they discerned God had so plentifully poured out upon him After we had some other discourse with him we took our leave of him telling him we purposed to see him again at the place of Execution After two or three hours when the time of his going from Newgate drew near we were willing to return to see him once more there and the rather because one Minister that had not yet been with him was desirous to visit him and then again after some few words with him we asked him to go to prayer again once more saying Now this will be the last time that we shall pray with you in this place And he did perform this duty with great liveliness that now he excelled himself and the nearer he came to his end the more fervently we perceived he prayed but we took notice that in this last duty in Newgate he was much in praising God and blessing God for his mercy to him to our great astonishment After a few words when this duty was over we took some of us our final farewell of him and he expressing his thanks to Gods people for their prayers for him and to the Ministers for their love and pains with him was commended by us to the Grace of God saying ' Thomas The Lord be with you the Lord of Heaven be with you O the Lord of mercy help you and have compassion on you This morning he expressed himself to his Friend H. B. thus Oh my friend we cannot tell how glorious a place Heaven is but if once I get thither and could drop down a Letter to you and tell you of the glorious things I there shall find how would it rejoyce your heart And to his Friend parting with him said I know God loveth me and that I am going to the Kingdom of Heaven The last Speech of Thomas Savage at the place of his Execution at Ratcliff Gentlemen HEre I am come to dye a cursed and ignominious Death and I most justly deserve it for I have Murthered a poor innocent Creature and for ought I know have not only murthered her body but if God had no more mercy of her soul then I had of her body she is undone to all Eternity so that I deserve not only death from Men but Damnation from God I would have you all that look upon me take warning by me the first sin I began with was Sabbath-breaking

whereby I got acquaintance with bad company and so we went to the Ale-house from the Ale-house to the bawdy house there I was perswaded to rob my Master as also to murther this poor innocent creature for which I am come to this shameful end I was drawn aside I say by ill company pray take heed of that for it will not only bring your bodies to the grave but your soul to hell have a care of neglecting the Sabbaths it is that which hath not only brought my body to the grave but my soul in danger of eternal torments And try the ways of God for the Lord be praised I have found so much of excellency and sweetness in Gods ways that I bless God that ever I came into a Prison And now though I am leaving this world I know I shall go to a better place for I have repented from my soul for all my sins not because I am to dye for them but to see that I should do that whereby I should deserve Hell ten thousand times over and so dishonour God Now the Lord have mercy on my Soul The Prayer of THOMAS SAVAGE at the place of Execution O Most merciful and for ever blessed Lord God I beseech thee look down upon my poor immortal soul which now is taking its flight into another world which now is ready to appear before thy barr Lord I beseech thee prepare me for it and receive my soul into the Arms of thy mercy and though my body die and I come to die this shameful death yet let my soul live with thee for ever Lord pardon all the horrid sins that I have committed the Sabbath breaking Lying Swearing Cursing Vncleanness and all the rest of my sins that ever I have committed Lord give me a new heart and give me faith that I may lay hold and throw my self fully and wholly upon thee enable me O Lord give me saving repentance that I may come to thy Bar and thence be recieved into glory let me not be a prey to Devils to all eternity let not my soul perish though my body die let my soul live Lord let me not be shut out from thy presence and let not all the Prayers and Tears and Counsels and instructions that have been made and shed on my behalf be in vain pity my poor soul Lord my immortal soul Lord it would be just with thee to cast me into everlasting burning I have been a great sinner but Christ is a great Saviour O Lord thou hast pardoned great sinners and thou canst do it Lord and Lord wilt thou not do it Lord let me not be a fire-brand in Hell and a prey to Devils to all eternity let me not then be shut up with Devils and damned souls when my soul takes its flight into another World Lord I have repented for what I have done from the bottom of my heart I have repented and Lord if thou wouldst damn me thou wouldst be just but how infinitely more would it be for the glory of thy free grace to save such a sinner as I am good Lord pour down thy Spirit upon my soul O tell me that I have an interest in Christs blood good Father good Lord before I go hence Lord I am willing I am willing to leave this world I can prize thee above all there is nothing I can prize like to thee wilt thou not recieve my soul recieve it into thy arms and say Come thou blessed of my Father good Father for Jesus Christs sake pity my poor soul for pities sake Lord it is not my Prayers or Tears will save my soul but if ever I am saved it must be through free-grace and the blood of Christ and if there be not enough in that Blood Lord I am willing to be Damned Lord look down upon my poor soul and though I have been such a sinner thou art able to pardon me and wash me apply one drop of thy blood to my soul Lord my immortal soul that is more worth then Ten Thousand Worlds It is true Lord I confess I have taken a great deal of pleasure in sin I have run on in sin and could not invent where to go on thy day and was wont to study into what place and into what company I might go upon the Sabbath day forgive me Lord wash me receive me into thy arms O Lord Oh for one glimp of mercy Lord if thou wilt please to reveal thy self to me I shall tell it to all that behold me It is a mercy Lord that I am not in Hell and that thou showest me the bitterness of sin before I come into Hell it is a mercy Lord that I have had the Prayers converse and instructions of so many of thy Ministers and People Lord recieve my soul one smile Lord one word of comfort for Jesus sake Oh let me not go out of this world let not my soul perish though I killed a poor innocent Creature Lord deal not with me as I dealt with her but pity me pity me for Jesus Christ sake Amen One asked him in the cart Well now Thomas how is it with your soul What sense have you of God's love He answered Sir I thank God through infinite mercy I find God loves me and that now I can chearfully go After his Cap was over his Eyes he used these Expressions Lord Jesus recieve my Spirit Lord one smile Good Lord one word of comfort for Christs sake though death make a separation between my soul and body let nothing separate between thee and my soul to all eternity Good Lord hear me Good Father hear me O Lord Jesus receive my soul VVhilst he did thus pathetically express himself to the people especially to God in prayer there was a great moving upon the affections of those who stood by and many tears were drawn from their eyes by his melting speeches All this was the more remarkable in this young man being under sixteen years of age when he was first apprehended After he was turned off the Cart he strugled for a while heaving up his body which a Young man his friend perceiving to put him quickly out of his pain struck him with all his might on the breast several times together then no motion was perceived in him and hanging some considerable time after that and as to all outward appearance dead insomuch as one said to another friend of his namely Mr. B. Now he is in Eternity and the people beginning to move away the Sheriff commanded him to be cut down and being receiv'd in the arms of some of his friends he was conveyed by them into a house not far distant from the place of Execution where being laid upon a Table unto the astonishment of the beholders he began to stir and breath and rattle in his throat and it was evident his life was whole in him from the Table he was carried to a bed in the same House where he breathed more strongly and opened his

A Murderer Punished AND PARDONED OR A True Relation of the Wicked Life and Shameful-happy Death of Thomas Savage Imprisoned Justly condemned and Twice Executed at Ratcliff for his Bloody Fact in Killing his fellow-servant on Wednesday Octob. 28. 1668. By us who were often with him in the time of his Imprisonment in Newgate and at his Execution Robert Franklin Thomas Vincent Thomas Doolitel James Janeway Hugh Baker To which is annexed a Sermon Preached at his Funeral The Twelfth Edition with the Addition of the leud life and shameful death of Hannah Blay who was condemned and executed for being guilty of the bloody murther committed by Thomas Savage With other new Additions London Printed for P. P. in the Year 1679. To the READER IN the following Narrative you have a Relation of the bloody murther committed by T. Savage with an account of the wonderful mercies of God to his poor soul after the committing so bloody a sin To which is added a short relation of the carriage and Behaviour of that vile Strumpet Hannah Blay during the time of her being in Newgate to her Execution which though it hath nothing in it worthy to be related yet she being an instrumental cause of that bloody resolution was thought fit to be inserted that she may remain as an example of shame to all leud women and a severe example of Gods justice upon such cruel monsters who are not contented with endangering the soul of such ignorant young men that have not the fear of God before their eyes with their abominable Whoredomes and Adulteries but as it were to make sure of destroying both body and soul together by adding to their former sins the guilt of shedding innocent blood And as you have a wonderful instance of Gods free-grace to the soul of T. S. so the foulness of his fact the danger of damning his soul and the twice shameful execution which he suffred may be a means to preserve all young men and Apprentices from being guilty of the like fact And as a help to you herein you are advised to be very careful what company you keep That you addict not your selves to drinking or gaming or company-keeping which is the ruin of many young men who by getting a habit of keeping company or other Vices are to often drawn to purloin from their masters to maintain them in their extravagancies by which means they do not only run the hazard of exposing their bodies to publique-shame if they be discovered to the great grief and even heart breaking of their friends when they hear of their ill courses but the wrath of God and eternal damnation of their poor souls as you may see in the Narrative of T. S. who first began with Company-keeping from Company-keeping to Whoring from Whoring to Thieving and murther And lastly be careful to spend the Lords-day and all thy other spare time in the service of God as reading Praying hearing the Word preached which may be a means to preserve thee from the guilt of sins of this nature and other sins likewise if thou apply thy self seriously to this work But whiles I am advising of others I my self commit an error in exceeding my ●onds being confined to a Page I rest A real well-wisher to the eternal happiness of your immortal soul BLood doth cry aloud the blood of man when violently shed by cruel hands for private revenge or covetousness or the satisfaction of some such base lust doth cry as far from Earth to Heaven for vengeance And however some horrible murder may be secretly plotted and as secretly effected yet seldom are they long unpunished even in this world for besides that sometimes the guilty accusing consciences of such Persons who have committed this heinous crime do so inwardly lash and torment them that they can find no rest until they have made discovery of the Fact with their own mouth there is the all-seeing eye of sin revenging God which doth find them and a strange hand of his Providence which doth often Follow them and entangle them in their steps when they are flying and seeking some hiding-place which doth as it were bind them before they are in chains and deliver them before they are aware into the hands of Justice to be punished But there is another blood which doth send forth a louder cry namely the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for the sins of men which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel crying for mercy and forgiveness This blood hath such prevalency and vertue that when it is applyed by Faith unto the most notorious Malefactor guilty of blood as well as other wickedness it doth out-cry and drown the voice of blood and every other sin and washeth the most impure Soul dyed in sin unto a scarlet and crimson hue This blood we hope was sprinkled upon the Conscience of this Murtherer who had a little before embrued his hands in the blood of his Fellow-servant for having given such evidence of his sincere repentance and true faith unto several of us Ministers and other Christians that were with him before and at his Execution we hope though he were justly punished with the first death by the hand of man for his crime that through infinite free Grace and Christs blood he hath escaped the second death and wrath of God in Hell The narrative may give the same satisfaction to others which the Publishers hereof have received which is as followeth THomas Savage born in the Parish of Giles in the Fields he was put out Apprentice to Mr. Collins Vintner at the Ship-Tavern in Ratcliff where he lived about the space of one year and three quarters in which time he manifested himself to all that knew him to be a meer Monster in sin in all that time he never once knew what it was to hear one whole Sermon but used to go in at one door and out at the other and accounted them fools that could spare so much time from sin as 2 or 3 hours on a Lords day to spend in the Lords service He spent the Sabbath commonly at the Ale-house or rather at a base house with that vile Strumpet Hannah Blay which was the cause of his ruine he was by a young man now gone to Sea first enticed to go drink there and after that he went alone and now and then used to bring her a Bottle or two of Wine which satisfied not her wicked desires but she told him if he would frequent her house he must bring money with him he told her often he could bring none but his Masters and he never wronged his Master of two-pence in his life still she enticed him to take it privately He replyed he could not do it because the Maid was always at home with him Hang her Jade saith this impudent slut knock her brains out and I will receive the money this she many times said and that day that he committed the murther he was with her

Gods Truth also stood betwixt him and eternal happiness and told him that I spake it with reverence that the Holy God must be a Lyar or else he dying in the guilt of these sins must be certainly and eternally damned I asked him what do you think how will you escape the damnation of hell and the great wrath that is come You have heard what God saith what do you say what course will you take and what means will you use that you may not according to God's threatning be cast amongst Devils into Eternal devouring flames to this at present he made no reply but did often shake his head and lifted up his eyes towards Heaven Next I endeavoured to bring him to a sight and sense of the corruption of his nature and of the sinfulness of his heart and told him all those sins were in his heart before they were actually committed and turned him to the saying of Christ in the 15th of Matthew ver 19. For out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts False-witnesses Blasphemies and told him that in his repentance for those sins he must not only lay to heart and be grieved for the outward acts but lament and bewail the inward principle of corruption whereby he was so strongly inclined to such horrid abominations according to the example of David after his sins of Adultery and Murther in his confession did follow them up to the rise and original from whence they did spring Psal 15. 5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me By this time I perceived some workings of heart within him and that he was in some measure sensible of his lost estate and by his deportment and carriage to be cast down not knowing what to do I was unwilling to leave him without some grounds of hope that it may be he might be saved that there was a possibility that he might obtain pardoning mercy and be delivered from that great damnation that was due to him for his great transgressions I began to open to him the readiness of Christ the fulness and sufficiency of Christ to save the greatest sinners and that God I hoped in mercy to his soul had sent me one of his Embassadors to offer him a pardon and Eternal life if he were but willing to accept of Christ upon the terms of the Gospel for his Lord and Saviour and did encourage and assure him upon repentance and faith in Christ there was mercy yet for him though a Murderer from these Scriptures Isa 1. 18. Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow and though they be as red as crimson they shall be as wool As I opened to him the great mercy of God in Christ toward Sinners dyed in grain that were sinners of a scarlet colour that had committed heinous transgressions he brake forth into tears and wept plentifully at the tydings of mercy and possibility that such a one as he might be saved Besides I turned him to some Scripture-promises that God would certainly forgive his sins and save his Soul if he could repent and get Faith in Christ Such as Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy and Isa 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon This Scripture he diligently heeded and turned it down in his Bible and these two Scriptures the night before he suffered amongst others he alledged as the grounds of his hopes of mercy I also gave him some Scripture instances of great Sinners that had obtained mercy turned him to the example of Manasseh 2 Chron. 33. to that of Mary Magdalen Luke 7. 37 38. to that of the Jews Acts 2. 37 38. that were guilty of the blood of Christ that had murdered the Son of God a greater murther than which could not be committed and yet upon Repentance and Faith many of them were pardoned and saved To that of Paul 1 Tim. 1. 13 14 15 16. shewed him how God had set up Paul as a pattern of Free-grace towards great sinners for the encouragement of such that though guilty of great sins afterwards should believe To all these he hearkned very carefully and took notice of the places of Scripture for his meditation after I left him And last of all I endeavoured to set before him Jesus Christ as the only Remedy and Saviour for his Soul and shewed him the insufficiency of all his Duties Prayers and Tears to get off the guilt of the least sin that if he could shed a thousand tears of blood for any one vain thought it would be no better than puddle water to justifie or to save him Much discourse I had with him at this time besides what is here inserted and several other times when I went to visit him in Newgate which I willingly omit because this book should not swell to too great a bulk After all I went to prayer with him in which Duty he was much dissolved into tears he seemed to me and his faithful Friend that was most with him above all others to be very earnest in Prayer and with weeping eyes to beg for pardon and for Converting Grace and Christ to be his Saviour which was much insisted on in the prayer that was made for him After which advising him to consider of what I had said for that time I took my leave of him The next time after this Discourse that Mr. Baker came to him he Enquired how it was with him he said what T. D. had said did very much startle him that he knew not what to reply and cryed out very much of the heinousness of his sins that he should commit that horrid Sin of Murder and knew not what to do for that left a deep impression upon his heart that God must be a Lyar or else he in that condition of impenitency must be damned yet he laid hold upon that promise that was unfolded to him That if a sinner turned from his wicked ways God would abundantly pardon And afterwards read on the verse that followed Isa 55. 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord. Upon which considering said Men cry out for death and vengeance no mercy to be had from men but Gods thoughts to a repenting sinner were life for he delighteth not in the death of a sinner About four or five days after this he was puzled about his performing of Duties and resting only upon Christ for Salvation for he was tempted if he performed duties to rest upon them or to let them alone and leave them off if he must rest only upon Christ At which time H. B. coming to him enquired how it was with him now and how he hoped

to be saved He answered by Repentance and Faith and I could easily tell you to satisfie you that I do repent and do believe but truly so to do as I ought I find it the hardest thing in the World I do believe and I do not I cannot tell how to believe that Christ dyed for sinners so as to throw my self wholly and fully upon him and to think my Tears and Prayers will do me no good But here Reader we must take notice of the unwearied diligence of the Devil in using all means from time to time to undo ruine and wound the Soul of this poor Malefactor who would not forbear to solicit him to sin after he was cast into Prison for former iniquities he had committed for we cannot but judge that the Devil was loth to loose such a prey as his immortal Soul when he had brought him to the very Mouth and Gates of Hell to have him snatched out of his hands by the free-grace of God the Devil did work the more because he knew his time to tempt him was but short to blemish and eclipse the gracious work of God upon his heart and cloud the glory of Gods mercy in saving such a sinner He was by some former acquaintance visiting of him who shewed their love to a death deserving sinner no other way then by calling for drink and desiring him to drink with them overcome therewith and after some former convictions of sin and his lost estate did twice relapse into the sin of Drunkenness whereby he caused many to fear that all this while he had no more than some common workings of the Spirit and put us to stand that we knew not what would be the issue of these things but yet not daring to omit endeavours if possible as instrumenents under God to save his soul we did after this visit him again and again and set forth unto him the greatness of his sin that he should sin yet more against the Lord and in his affliction and chains to provoke the Lord to greater wrath against his Soul with many words to that purpose After which his soul was wounded his heart was pierced he knew not what to do he asked May Mercy be had for a back-sliding sinner To which were given him some Scriptures where God called to back-sliding sinners to return and invited them to repent and promised Mercy to them if they did even after they had done as wickedly as they could and this was much enlarged upon before him from Jer. 3. ver 1 to 15. verse But God that had begun to awaken and to rowse his Conscience that he might set him up as a pattern of free-grace would not let the Devil go thus away with his Soul but brought him to a deep sense of his falling into sin that he much lamented with many tears the sadness of his state the misery of his soul saying What will become of my Soul my Immortal Soul I cannot think what will become of my soul I deserve Hell ten thousand times over and have I now but one grain of sand left in the glass to work for Eternity shall I neglect God any longer O I have neglected God too long already striking his hand upon his Breast and wringing his hands and shaking his head and weeping abundantly said Lord what shall I do O God what shall I do Lord what will become of me if God had dealt justly with me I had now been in Hell I had been dashed into Hell when I murthered that poor innocent Creature I wonder that I am not now in Hell that such a wretch as I am not in Hell God hath been pleased to manifest more mercy to me in sparing of me and affording me so long time for Repentance but I have neglected time and relapsed into drunkenness and vain talking time after time I thought this place meaning the Hole in Newgate Hell upon Earth and did account it a Heaven to be among other Prisoners but now God hath tryed me whether sin will be bitter and displeasing to me or not I have this day being the Lords day been among the Prisoners and they asked me to play at Cards but instead of complying with them I reproved them and told them for my part I had profaned Sabbaths enough already I have but a little time to work for my Soul and I ought not to neglect time now that they likewise he told them if they rightly considered had something else to do and striking his hand upon his breast with much earnestness he cryed out with tears Now now I find that God hath been at work upon my Soul he hath I am sure been at work for now I see so much evil and taste such bitterness in sin that I am not so much troubled that I am to dye nor so much troubled that I am in danger of Hell as to think I should so dishonour God that I should so offend so gracious and merciful a God and spurn against all his Mercies Oh my Soul my Immortal Soul I know not what will become of it to all Eternity it is the grief of my very Soul that I have neglected time as I have done now I see so much need of a Christ and so much preciousness and excellency in Christ that if the greatest King in the world should come and throw his Crown at my foot and tell me I should enjoy it and all the glory of it for millions of years and should have my Liberty presently and should say but it must be without Christ I would sooner chose to dye this moment nay to be racked to pieces by ten thousand deaths or burn ten years together so I may have a Christ I speak freely from my heart so far as I know my heart and now I find it is not only the Devil 's tempting me hath brought me to this but this cursed wretched devilish heart of mine within It is within me so that it was in me before it was committed by me I deserved Hell ten thousand times over before I committed this horrid sin well now I am resolved I will pray as much as I can and weep and wrestle with God as if I were to have Heaven for it but when I have done all I will deny all for my Prayers and Tears cannot save me and I will fully and wholly throw my self at the feet of Christ and if I am damned I will be damned there And more he spake to this purpose in Mr. Baker's hearing About three days after Mr. Baker coming to him asked him how it was with him He told him that the Devil was very busie with him and did solicit him grievously with his Temptations perswading him to have thoughts of escaping These things said he hindred my minding of God one part of the day the other part of the day the Devil fills me with drowsiness that I can neither pray nor read nor perform any duty nor mind any one that prays with

in that Duty which he performed with so much affection and earnest pleading with God that all the company were exceedingly melted and their hearts beyond ordinary measure warmed and raised that the room did ring with sighs and groans and there was such a mighty presence of the Spirit poured out upon him and on those that joyned with him that we do not remember the time when ever we had experience of the like In which Prayer after the confession of his sins he begged earnestly for pardon and for an interest in Christ saying O Lord wilt thou let me dye without a Christ Shall I leave this world before thou smilest upon my Soul Thou hast promised pardon and mercy and salvation to those that do repent and to those that do believe Lord I do repent and do believe if I know my own heart I do repent I do believe Lord I roll my self upon thy Son I cast my self at his foot for mercy Thou wouldst be just if thou dost damn me but thou hast pardoned others and it will be to the praise of thy free-grace to pardon me Lord shall those Prayers that have been made and all those Tears that have been shed for me and all those Instructions which have been given me be all in vain With many other Expressions in that Prayer which wonderfully affected the hearts of those that were with him that afterwards we looked upon one another wondring at the Grace of God towards him that one so wicked all his days so young being sixteen years old so lately acquainted with the ways of God should have such a Spirit of Prayer poured out upon him after this he prayed with more life and fervency than before and the nearer he came to his end the more we perceived God was ripening him for Glory After this we took our leave of him not knowing but that was the last day for the Cart stood below and the Coffin fetched down and some of the honourable Sheriffs of Londons men came into the Prison but the Sheriff of Middlesex having not notice to be ready his Execution was deferred till Wednesday following Reader Here take notice that the report that the reason why he was not Executed on Monday was because he was drunk is an abominable falshood for to our knowledge that were with him he did not eat nor drink that morning When we went up to him again we told him we perceived he was not to dye that day giving him caution not to think there was any pardon intended for him and one came from the Sheriff to acquaint him with the reason of the delay of his Execution When his Coffin was carried up to him again one asked what he thought and what were the workings of his heart when he saw his Coffin brought back he said he was much troubled and it daunted him to see it for he could willingly have dyed that day to go to Christ On Monday in the Afternoon he had an excessive pain in his Teeth as we judge occasioned by his leaving off his Cloaths and putting on some thin Apparel to dye in and that evening he expressed great willingness to dye and leave the World He said I see and feel so much excellency in Christ that he is so pure in Grace pure in Holiness pure in all things Lord I count it an Hell to be upon Earth I so long to be where I might enjoy thee and he spent some time in Prayer notwithstanding his pain with much affection wherein he said The pain of the Teeth was great but the pain of Hell was greater On Tuesday the day before he dyed after some time spent in prayer both by him and H. B. being full of joy he expressed himself thus O my dear Friend what a welcome shall I give you when you come to Heaven and say to you Come see come see this is the Glory that you told me of but all that you ever told me was nothing to what I have found O what a place is this O how shall we love one another then Sure it cannot be but Heaven must be a glorious place where God Christ and Angels be The night before he dyed a Minister came to Thomas Savage and after other serious discourse sor satisfaction of a Christian Friend that had seen him before he demanded of him what were now the grounds of his hopes of Salvation He made this reply God both in infinite mercy made me deeply sensible of great sins and not only of them but of the vileness of my heart and nature and God hath made me to abhor my self for my sins and I hope truly to repent of them for that which hath been the delight of my soul is now as bad as Hell and God hath given me to see that all my own Prayers and Tears and all the Prayers of all the good people that come to me are not able to save A Christ alone I throw my self at the feet of Christ for mercy and if I perish I will perish there I feel longings and breathings after Christ and love him more than my life I long to be with him and I would not be to live any longer this World is a little Hell because of sin I fear not death for I hope the sting of it is taken out for me This last night before his death he desired us to sit up with him in order to his better preparation for the great work he had to do the next day that we might wrestle with God on his behalf that when death approacheth so near unto him he might have some nearer accesses unto God into his Soul that when pale death stared him in the face he might see Gods smiling countenance which opportunity we readily embraced and spent the former part of the night in prayer till two of the Clock in the morning about which time he desired us to go down into the Lodge that he might have some part of the night for prayer and meditation alone and to discourse a while with his friend Mr. Baker to whom he most of all did open his very heart and spake more freely to than to any other whom for that reason we left with him and when we were gone down his Friend being with him who told us afterwards he fell into admiration and said What a Prodigy am I What a wonder of Mercy that God should encline the hearts of his Ministers to come and pray with me and pour out their souls in prayer thus for me For me a Murtherer for me a Drunkard for me so vile and sinful Well I cannot but love God and though I go to Hell yet I will love God for his goodness and graciousness to me already manifested in this world yea though I should be damned for my sin yet I could and would love God What would they venture to come and pray with me a Murtherer How did they know but I might have Murthered some of them Pray for me wrestle

eyes and his mouth though his teeth were set before and offered to speak but could not recover the use of his Tongue but his reviving being known within an hour the Officers came to the house where he was and conveyed him to the place of Execution again and hung him up again until he was quite dead whence he was carried by his mourning friends to Islington where he now sleepeth in the Bed of his Grave until the morning of the Resurrection from whence though buried in dishonour he will then be raised in glory Thus you have had the Relation of one that was but young in years but old in wickedness you have read of his Sabbath-breaking prophaness swearing lying stealing drunkenness fornication and the like sins which he confessed himself frequently and deeply guilty of and to compleat and fill up the measure of his sins he added to the rest the horrid sin of Murther I believe you have scarcely heard of sin grown up to such maturity in so short a time as it did in him who when he was imprisoned was under sixteen years of age And what could any expect should be the issue and product of sin arriv'd to such perfection but Death and wrath and the vengeance of eternal fire But behold here an instance of Free-grace His sins did abound but Gods grace did super abound Sometimes God doth sow the seed of grace in the heart that is most unlikely to receive it and reapeth great glory to his Name by pardoning great sins VVe read that when Ephraim was bent upon wickedness so that a man could hardly expect the restraining of Gods anger any longer but that it should kindle in his breast and break forth in a flame to devour a people so rebellious yet the Lord expresseth himself in a way of wonderful mercy and astonishing free-grace Hos 11. 8 9. How shall I give thee up O Ephraim How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim My heart is turned within me not against Ephraim but towards him my repentings not mine anger are kindled together I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger And the reason is not drawn from any thing in Ephraim to move him but only from himself For I am God and not Man If one man had been so provoked by another and it had lain in the power of his hand to have avenged himself on his enemy surely he would not have spared or shewn any favour But because he is God and not Man whose thoughts are not like our thoughts and whose mercies are not like our mercies but further removed above them then the Heavens are removed above the Earth in comparison with whose mercies our most tender mercies are not less then cruelty therefore because he is God and not Man and herein would act like himself he hath pity and sheweth favour unto Ephraim Take another instance in Israel who had made God to serve with his sins and wearied him with his iniquities having pressed God herewith as a Cart is pressed with sheaves and nothing but vengeance could rationally be expected and that God should say as at another time for God doth not shew such favour to all and at all times that the freeness of it might be the more evident Ah I will ease me of my Adversaries and avenge me on my Enemies and I even I am he that will make such audacious sinners see and feel what an evil and fearful thing it is to affront and provoke me yet read how graciously God pardoned Israel declaring the ground of it to be only for the glory of his own Name Isa 43. 25. I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins Surely no motive from this young mans person or any good previous disposition he being so exceeding vitiated by such defiling sins could in the least encline God to have mercy upon him but the motive was taken from himself and his own bowels He had mercy on him only because he would have mercy and compassion only because he would have compassion If some yea many are passed by who have escaped the more gross pollutions which are in the world through Lust and never committed such God-provoking sins as you read in the Narrative that he committed but for lesser faults are punished everlastingly when God hath had mercy upon him and thrown the skirt of his love over him and wrought a gracious change in him we must say with our Saviour Mat. 11. 26. Even so Father because it so seemed good in thy sight It is through free grace that any are saved but in the Salvation of such a one God hath demonstrated the exceeding riches of his grace towards him through Jesus Christ Eph. 2. 7. Let not any from this example of Gods free grace presume to continue and indulge themselves in a sinful course hoping to obtain mercy at the last as he hath done and so turn God's glory into shame and his grace into wantonness for it is a rare example hardly again to be parallel'd will a man run himself through the body because some have been healed of such wounds will a man drink down poyson because some by an Antidote have expelled the poyson and escaped with life is not Presumption the bane and ruine of Millions of Souls may not God cut you off in the act of some of your sins and not give you time for repentance and if life doth continue may not he deny you the grace of repentance doth not custom and continuance in sin harden your heart and fasten you in Satans Chains hath not God threatned that such who cry peace peace to themselves though they walk after the imagination of their own hearts to add drunkenness to thirst that he will not spare them but his anger and his jealousie shall smoak against them and that he will blot out their name from under heaven Deut. 29. 19 20. The great improvement which should be made of Gods gracious dealings with this young man is for all to admire God's Free-grace and especially for poor distressed souls that are upon the brink of Hell in their own apprehensions and are ready to despair of Gods mercy because of the greatness of their sins to take encouragement from hence and hopes that there may be mercy in store for them they have not been murderers whatever their sins have not been and if a murderer hath been received into favour why may not they hope Let such think with themselves that it is free grace hath saved him and let them sue out at the Throne of Grace for the same grace which is freely tendred unto them A Recollection out of this Narrative of those passages from which in charity we do conclude that the work of grace was really wrought in his soul or the Evidences of T. S. of his Title to eternal happiness 1. HE bitterly lamented his sins and loathed himself for them