bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam. 1.14 15. If we provide for the flesh our prayers will but little avail and help us against the fulfilling of the lusts of it Remember Friend into whose hands these papers come while thou warrest against that wicked one thou standest on slippery ground thou fightest as it were with a burden upon thy Back and thy Enemy hath this Advantage against thee in that he is invisible and hath also a party within thee whom he too easily persuades and inticeth to joyn with him against thy Soul Be sober be vigilant and pray without ceasing and when he shoots in his fiery-darts hold up the Sword of the Spirit and the shield of Faith and lift up a cry to him who is the hope and help of his Israel and never yield consent if thou consent not he may disturb thee a while but cannot conquer 'T is written for thy encouragement Submit your selves therefore to God who giveth grace to the humble Resist the Devil and he shall flee from you Jam. 4.6 7. God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy Obser 4 and such as have much forgiven do love much and do more than others So did that wicked Woman call'd a sinner Luk. 7.37 who forsaking all other Lovers Luke 7.47 inquires after Christ and knowing where he was makes bold to enter in without the Pharissee Invitation She expresseth her love in washing his feet with her tears and wiping them with the hair of her head her heart runs out at her eyes as it were saying Alas my Lord that ever I should do as I have done O wonderful that ever thou shouldst admit such a wretch as I am to come into thy presence Sinners notorious for lewdness and vile practices have come to themselves and returned unto their Heavenly Father and have proved wonders to themselves and others and Eminent examples of redeeming time and glorifying the Lord in bringing forth much fruit and much more than many hundred that make some profession of Religion do O what a difference doth grace make between a bare Professor and a real Convert What a glorious change is made in the Heart and Life of a true Penitent What difference was there between Gymer when first imprisoned and the same man after at his apprehension at Yarmouth At first his heart is shut up and he openeth not his mouth to give glory to God in Confession and then he play'd at Cards and complied with his Fellow-Prisoners in doing as they did tho' his Conscience grumbled at it and rebuked him for it afterward he ingeniously confesseth his wickedness and all comes out freely he humbles himself greatly as Manitassch did in his affliction 2 Chron. 33.12 He is a man of sorrow and is solicitous about the state of his Soul Now his eyes being open his heart is affected and he is thankful to God that he was taken and did not escape the hand of the pursuers Now he is much taken with the wisdom and goodness of God in bringing him to Repentance in such a way and giving him a space of repentance He now sets upon the work in good earnest and help comes in and he blesseth the Divine Majesty of Heaven for exciting and stirring up the spirit of divers of his Servants both Ministers and others to assist him by their prayers and instructions Sinners that have gone on with an high hand in bloody and deceitful ways tho' the Lord give pardon upon repentance Obser 5 yet he usually takes vengeance on their inventions I read of one Wasoraw a Gentleman See fulfilling of Scripture p. 488. who was one who took delight in making difference between men and he stirr'd up a Neighbour Gentleman to kill another and finding him troubled in mind about the murder committed he told him more of that practice would be the best cure For he himself had killed six and at first he was much disquieted but the longer it continued it became the more easy But one day he riding to a place where two were to decide a quarrel by fighting his Horse stumbles on the side of a steep Rock and he falls a great way down his Sword falling out before him yet without any hurt Upon this the Lord brake in upon his conscience so that he turns home with great trouble and remorse and a most kindly change follows thereupon and for some years after he manifested much tenderness and repentance He spent much time alone in mourning before his de ath and that day he dyed he was heard in his Chamber wrastling in prayer and after long continuance they of the house knocking at the door and getting no answer brake it open and find him dead upon his knees and the whole blood of his body which from every passage had issued out swimming about him on the floor Tho' men may neglect doing of justice yet Divine Justice will not spare the murderer tho' upon his repentance God will remember his Soul in mercy The shedder of man's blood sometimes escapes the Justice of man but the righteous Lord of Heaven and earth will not let him go unpunished tho' he pardon the truly penitent sinner yet he declares to the world the abhorrency of his sin And thus he did deal with David 2 Sam. 12.9 10.13 14. And thus he dealt also with this poor Malefactor we treat of he set his sins in array against him which as a Lyon did sorely bruise and wound his Conscience He tells us in writing of tumultuous thoughts that he had in secret about his condition without Christ and considering saith he how Satan hath betrayed me and led me from one sin to another God was pleased to make me sensible of my sins and I was ready to despair of any mercy But in reading those words of Isaiah chap. 1.8 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord tho' your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow tho' they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool And upon the thoughts of Mary Magdalen whose wickedness was great yet upon her repentance she obtained pardon I had comfort But many other times I have been almost distracted for fear God would not accept of such a vile wretch as I am But then I thought of the Thief on the Cross and put up many prayers and have been again refreshed And as he was under deep dejection of Spirit Obser 6 so afterwards he was sweetly lifted up As his afflictions abounded so did his Consolations in the free and preciouspromises His comfort arising from his hope in the word was so strong and steady that for some Months before he dyed he feared not death no not that kind of death he expected to die but rather greatly desired it O saith he Psal 55.6 that I had the wings of a Dove The time seemed long to him till he came to his rest He declined not in the least the
Sacrifice to Legal Justice But the Divine Wrath must be appeased and mercy obtained by a better Sacrifice and that is the Blood the most precious Blood of the Son of God our Saviour Jesus Christ This Blood is the only Medicine of Blood-guiltiness Lord wash me from this and I shall be clean And I should be in a higher degree of hope to obtain this blessing could I but hear you say as I hope you will to this prayer say Amen which is the most humble desire of a sorrowful Soul in Prison William Gymer Some have doubted and so have I whether these Lines were of his own inditing and composure yet I question not if the words were not but the sense was his own and his heart was in them He writ also a Letter to his Wife see p. 11 12. and another for his Child as I have been told which he never saw it being but about three quarters old for its use if the Lord should let it live and give it understanding He leaveth a paper also for others that may read it wherein he seems to be much affected with the sorrow and sufferings of Christ and prays that God would take away our stony hearts and give us to consider what he suffered for us Thou saith he whose property it is to have mercy hear and have compassion We commit our hearts unto Thee our God And let us as he addeth O my Friends take that due care to bring forth fruits that are meet for Repentance Matth. 3.8 The foundation of a holy life is true Repentance and where that is we may believe there is remission of sins and eternal life succeeds O then let us not put off our Repentance from day to day for to morrow is none of ours O let us repent to day for the day is at hand when we must render an account not only for one day but for our whole life Let us truly call upon God that he would turn his face from our sins and pray unto him that our sins may depart from us For sin is the distemper of the Soul which moved David to cry out Heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Psal 41.4 Let us call upon God that he would not cast us away from his presence but restore unto us the joy of his salvation Psal 51.12 O let us not count calamity and punishment evil for many times good proceedeth from them Nay they may be called good because they are God's Messengers and proceed from him who is the Fountain of all good Moreover they lead us unto the chiefest Happiness which is life everlasting For Christ by his Passion entred into his glory and Christians by tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 O then let us count nothing evil but sin because it draws us from that which is good The Sinner is accused by his Conscience which he hath defiled by his Creator whom he hath offended and by the sins he hath committed Let us beg of God that he would grant us Grace to repent and endeavour to make our Calling and Election sure My Friends I leave these Lines behind me heartily desiring you to avoid all sin and to avoid Lying which I believe to be the fore-runner of other sins Solomon bids us Prov. 23.23 buy the Truth but doth not tell us what it must cost because we must get it tho' it be never so dear We must love Truth both shining and scorching Thus he writes and thus he spent part of that space of time given him for Repentance and owned scorching Truth in a free confession of those Crimes which he knew would cost him his life He admonished such as came to see him to take heed of Lying and Sabbath-breaking and let him saith he that standeth take heed lest he fall For I little thought or intended to commit those grievous Crimes I am guilty of half an hour before the commission of them And then he burst out into tears He was frequent in Prayer with Thanksgiving I do confess saith he it might be but Justice in thee to damn my Soul but O Lord I pray thee in Justice remember Mercy and in thine Infinite Mercy pardon me 'T is dreadful to lose the Body but O how much dreadful to lose the Soul to all Eternity Let my Soul praise thy Name for what thou hast done for me For I hope and do believe thou hast been at work upon my Soul in helping me to repent for which I give thee hearty thanks and am desirous to be most humble under the sense of my sins for they are very dreadful to me As he prayed so his prayers were mixed with Faithand a humble confidence He would tell me he had comfort in God upon his praying He often found the Lord ready to give what he asked and more ready to receive the contrite in heart into favour as he acknowledged then they to offer themselves by unfeigned Repentance Prayer was the employ in which he spent much of his time and he heartily desired the earnest prayers of Ministers and all good and pious Christians that he might grow more and more in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and many were put up for him The great mercies of God made his heart glad and the Company of those who came to instruct and help him forward in the way of Life was very acceptable to him and he would entreat them to come again and not leave him while he was in the Land of the Living His words were but few but his ingenious Confession and meek Conversation and his Works that declared his unfeigned Repentance won the hearts of many to him His Wife told me he writ twice a week to her In his last Letter to her he writeth thus My Dear Love THIS being the last Letter that ever I shall write I write to you to look to your Eternal Stat aend to prepare for it before it be too late which is my hearty prayer to Almighty God that you should so do and that you may not be found as some I once read of who cryed out O miserable Souls that we are How hath sin and the world blinded and bewitched us that we could not see our condition before it was too late God hath kept me in the thoughts of death for some time Once I thought my self just at the Graves side but he that laid me down was pleased to lift me up again But now he seems to be speedily finishing my days to whom through the infinite mercy of Jesus Christ I call with some comfort and boldness saying Come Lord Jesus come quickly And so farewel my Friends and Relations farewel eating and drinking and I hope within a few days to say Farewel sin and sinning And My dear I commend you and my poor Babe to him who hath promised To be a Father to the Fatherless and to plead the cause of the Widow And so I earnestly desire you to
The Exceeding Abundant Grace of God Displayed in the CONVERSION OF William Gymer A Penitent Malefactor and Murderer Who was Executed on the Castle-Hill in Norwich Sept. 4. 1696. Written by John Lucas Minister of the Gospel VVho was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and Injurious But I obtained mercy c. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant 1 Tim. 1.13 14. Nor Thieves nor Covetous c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6.10 11. LONDON Printed by Tho. Snowden for Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market-place 1696. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Here present to thy view one who was like a little Candle going out with a stinking snuff but in a little time lighted again by the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness and set upon a Hill He had been as a Bryer and Thorn that wounded his Friend to death and yet became a living Branch of the true Vine He was like a Worm that had killed another of its own kind and thereupon was trodden to death by the Devil that devouring Lion and yet was restored to life by his vertue who was as a Worm despised and rejected of men Psal 22.6 Isa 53.3 Of such a one I am writing who according to the judgment of Charity proved a sincere Convert Indeed some bid fairer for our Charity than others and in my Opinion he did so Reader come and see how he comes to himself and then writing to his Wife he tells her This is to let you know that I did commit the Crime This I have openly confest and since that I am much more at ease in my mind and for what I have done I am heartily sorry and earnestly beg pardon at the hands of God Almighty While David kept silence the hand of God was heavy upon him but in acknowledging his iniquity he found relief Psal 32.3 4 5. He discovered his disease and it much tended to its cure Being awakened with the sense of his guilt he cries unto God and calls upon his Wife and others to do the like For saith he God is able yea willing to hear but it must not be bare calling but that which is in sincerity of heart that will do Having obtained hope of pardon and life he desires to die and lay down his life as a debt to Justice and yet he would have his Friends assured that he despaired not of God's Mercy but did put his whole trust and confidence in him as knowing there was no pardon for him but through Jesus Christ I only saith he rely on the Merit of Christ hoping that he who invited those great Sinners who by their wicked hands crucified his dear Son to repent and live will of his mercy look upon my dejected Soul which I lift up with a humble confidence in him that he will not deny me the same mercy He discoursed of death as his familiar Acquaintance with his Friends in his writing to his Wife and tho' such Discourse might be unpleasing to some and put them into a cold sweat making them tremble as Pelshazzar did at the writing on the Plaister of the Wall in his Palace Dan. 5.5 6. yet his hearty desire was with tears in his eyes if you will believe him that his Relations would consider how their lives were like a Shadow and assure themselves they had no greater work to do than to prepare for death He lookt upon death as the end of misery to the faithful and beginning of blessedness but to the secure and careless as the end of their pleasure and beginning of eternal pain Of such like things he writes which I have seen and read in his Letters to his Wife and tells her that he writ not any thing to her as a ceremony but out of an earnest Zeal and well-wishing to her Souls welfare and happiness 1. His Soul being healed by pardoning Grace he admires the Physicians mercy we ought saith he above all things to admire the infinite goodness of God who hath set forth his Son a propitiation through Faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 We cannot often enough make mention of his great kindness who gave himself as a free-will-offering for our sins 2. He prizes the precious promises which he termeth Wonderful such as these God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble Psal 46.1 and they that know thy Name will trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee Psal 9 10. and others These were the Treasure he laid up and took comfort in 3. He pants after a sinless State and longed to be with Christ in that better Country and to live for ever with him 4 He was concerned for the Souls of others In was his extreme grief as he expresseth his mind to hear how some of his Relations who instead of being humbled under the great Judgment that had befallen her in his fall were rather hardened But he entreats them for God's sake to look upon it as a warning from Heaven not to presume for if God leave any of us to our selves we are so prone to sin that we may soon fall into great Transgressions He admonisheth He exhorts and prays for them that they might not live any longer without Christ and that the life they led in the Flesh might be by Faith on the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us the remembrance of which love he adds should be most dear and precious to us so as to set light by all wordly vanities He prays that they might pass their time here as it becomes those who expect shortly to give an account to him who will Judge all Men according to their Works Thus he opened his heart and shewed his good will and thus he poured out his Soul in his requests to God for the good of their Souls who were nearly related to him As to the Prisoners that lived with him and Lodged with him he would Read to them and Pray with them and according to the gift he had received he was willing to give them and others that visited him his advice and caution against carnal confidence and yielding to the occasions of sin Some of his last words at the place of Execution were Gentlemen You are come to see a poor Creature suffer and I justly deserve it Oh! the Infinite Grace and Mercy of God towards me that he did not immediately cast me down to Hell but gave me so long a space of Repentance Beware of the great evil of Sin beware of Lying and Sabbath-breaking which sins I believe were the Foundation of this my present suffering O! watch and pray and do not purchase your Repentance at so dear a rate as I have done And now Lord Jesus receive my Soul into thy hands I
might get it without borrowing This motion at first put him into a trembling nevertheless knowing where his Masters Cash used to lie he went to the place but yet came back again before he had taken any as doubting what to do But the Tempter putting him forward he went to the place again where having broke open a lock he took out some bags of money which afterwards he hid in the ground not far from the House Having now yielded to the Devil thus far he still pusheth him forward and tempts him to conceive mischief against the poor Maid and murder her that in so doing his Robbery might be concealed Then going forth with a bloody mind he finds the Maid in the Corn-close and coming to her trips up her heels she saying no more but what do you make account to do with me and forthwith with her own knife cuts her throat and then throws away the knife Having committed this barbarous cruelty he was soon under such horrour that he thought to have done the like to himself had the knife been in his hand I thought saith he I could have laid violent hands upon my self praised be God he did restrain me from so doing But I continued as he writes under so great terrour that I thought would have thanked any man to have knockt me on the head and thus it was with me till I came to Prison Afterwards going homeward by the way he cut his Fingers on purpose that the blood which stain'd his clothes might be thought to proceed from thence The report of this murder soon flying abroad of some his relations desired him to go to his Masters-House and see how things were He pretends a willingness to go and make enquiry but having gone a little way he turns aside went not thither at all His not going caused suspicion upon which some ten days after he was apprehended and carried before 2 Justices of Peace * Justice Matthews and then Sir Nevil Catlin who after examination made his Mittimus and sent him to Norwich Castle Here his sorrow for a time was somewhat allayed yet he repented and bewail'd his Sins in secret to God tho' he was unwilling to discover them to the world Here being no evil company he did as others did altho' his Conscience troubled him for so doing In this frame he continued till the time of his escape with another Prisoner to Yarmouth This Prisoner being minded to get away tells Gymer of two men that were to assist him so that he also was desirous to go with him I did saith he Promise my self if I got away and were not taken again I would spend the rest of my days in some Forreign place and there work for my Living and bewail my self for my Sins But if I were taken I was resolved to confess my Sins to the World and take the shame belonging to me Gymer and his Fellow-Prisoner upon request obtained the liberty of going to the Jailors-House to spend some mony in Drink but upon their return to the Castle it being in the evening somewhat dark they both slipt down the Hill undiscerned deceiving their Keeper that went before and so travelled to Yarmouth But being soon pursued they were both there apprehended his Heart now smites him and unlooseth his tongue freely to confess his Sins of Lying and Swearing and the Theft and Murder he had committed These he oft acknowledged to Ministers and others that visited him and being arraigned the last Assizes in Court he pleaded guilty three times one after another His Conscience being awakened and wounded he hath given Glory to God in confessing his wickedness and ever since hath been diligent in seeking the Lord for the life of his Soul and greatly desirous of the Prayers and Assistance of Ministers and of all serious and Pious Christians His ingenuity manifested in his frequent Confessions his humble and meek behaviour in the place and condition his iniquities had brought him into his patient accepting of the punishment deserved his readiness to hearken to and follow good Counsel and the diligence he gave both day and night in making his Calling and Election sure were remarkable and gained him so great an interest in the prayers and affections of all serious Christians of what persuasion soever who had any acquaintance with him or did believe the good report that was given of him as is not ordinary By these and such like good fruit he obtained a good report and it could not well be judged otherwise but that the Tree must be made good which brought forth such good fruit After his apprehension at Yarmouth and being brought again to prison the poor Prodigal came to himself And when I began saith he in writing to consider of my sins and that for ought I knew I had sent a Soul to Hell the thoughts thereof made me tremble and almost conclude there could be no mercy for so vile a wretch And in this condition I was for some time But in reading the Scripture I found a place where 't is said Come now let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow though they be red as crimson they shall be as wooll Isa 1.18 These words so affected my heart that I cannot express the comfort I found by them But some time after I fell into doubts again because I was in Fetters God would not hear my cries in this place But reading of Manasseh's finding mercy in Prâ—son 2 Cron. 33.12 13. after he had spent a great deal of time in wickedness and had committed great sins This put me in hope it was not too late for me And that comfortable saying of Christ Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Matth. 1â— 28 And many places in Ezek. 18. have been my comfort By these promises I found there was a door of hope open for me which brought me to so great a change in the thoughts of my heart that I have thought I would not exchange them for the whole World and so I continued in such a delightful frame that I thought my heart was almost ravished But at times my affections grew cold again which I have endeavoured to raise again And in reading the first of John's Epistles chap. 2. v. 1. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous That and other places of Scripture have been my comfort to this present moment I have such comfort in my heart that I can willingly yield up the Ghost These are his expressions which I find in some of his Papers he sent to me In one of my Visits which I made to him I advised him he speaking but little to set down in writing the Experiences he had of Gods dealings with his Soul and seeing he was not like to live long here I desired him to shew his Friends the Ground or Reasons of his