he died he charged him with this 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 profess that he knew it was not the quantity that he had drunk which was not neer so much as at other times he did use without distempering himself However God was pleased to make him tast the bitterness of that cup in that he had given such occasion to sinners to speak evil of the ways of himself upon the stones cried 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 did through the instigation of the Devil and enticement of that wretched Creature meaning his Harlot thâ—â— he had committed that bloody Fact which was sucâ— 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 Munday 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 daies 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 waies of God and the people of God O 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 Gods Ministers and People and Prayer now is so sweet that I grudge the time alwaies 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 Lord's 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 not thou 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 O 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 ones own Coffin and Burying cloaths when at the same time I am as well as you do you think it would not daunt you and to go to the Gallows to have the Halter and to die 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 die 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 Oh saith he I believe it it is a hard work to die 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 Gods Bar 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 not 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 Bar 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 prayer 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 sate up with him and spent that night in Prayer with him and for him and in conference on Munday 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 Munday 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 affraid to die because I hope I shall go to Jesus Christ after some time in Prayer for him we desired him to spend some time in that Duty which he performed with so much
company and so went to the Ale-house from the Ale-house to the Bawdy-house there I was perswaded to rob my Master as also to murder 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 souls 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 waies of God for the Lord be praised I have found so much of excellency and sweetness in Gods waies 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 die 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 Bar 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 nâ—w 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 received 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 pitty 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 of 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 haue 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 interest in Christ's Blood good Father good Lord before I go hence Lord I am willing I am willing to leave this world I â—an prize thee above all there is nothing I can prize like to thee wilt thou not receive my soul receive it into thy arms and say come thou blessed of my Father dear Father for Jesus Christ sake pitty my poor soul for pitties 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 than 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 glimps 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 shewest 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 receive my soul one smile Lord one word of comfort for Jesus sake O 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 pitty me pitty me for Jesus Christ's 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 Sir I thank God though 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 receive my spirit Lord one smile Good Lord one word of comfort for Christ's sake tho death make 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 Whilst 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 seeing 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 received 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 eyes and his mouth though his teeth were set before and offered
be inflicted upon him that he had but a few Weeks more to live and then he would be Tryed and Condemned and Executed but they told him that the punishment of Temporal Death was but small in comparison with the punishment of eternal Death in Hell which he had deserved and was exposed unto They told him that so soon as Death should make a separation between his Soul and Body that his Soul must immediately appear before the dreadful Tribunal of the Sin-revenging God and there receive its final doom and be irreversibly sentenced to depart from the presence of the Lord in everlasting fire if he were found under the guilt of this or any other sin They asked him if he knew what Hell was telling him what a fearful thing it would be for him to fall into the hands of the living God how intollerable the immediate impressions of Gods wrath would be upon his Soul what horrour and anguish he would there be filled withal and how he would be bound up in Chains of darkness until the judgement of the great day and then told him of the Glorious Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to Judgment that Soul and Body should be then joyned together and condemned together and punished together with such exquisite torments as never entered into the heart of man to conceive declaring the extremity and the eternity of the Torments of Hell which were the just demerit of his sins Then they asked him whether he had any hopes of escaping this dreadful punishment of hell He answered that he had They enquired into the grounds of his hopes he told them that he repented of his fault and hoped God would have mercy on his Soul They asked him whether he thought his Repentance would procure for him a Pardon He knew no other way They told him that God was just and his justice must be satisfied and there was no way for him to do it but by undergoing the eternal torments of Hell and did he know no way of satisfying Gods Justice besides and pacifying his anger that was kindled against him No he knew not any and 〈◊〉 did he hope to be saved He answered yes They â—â—quired whether ever he had experience of a gracious change wrought in him Herein he could give no account and yet hoped to be saved Yes They told him his hopes were unsound having no good foundation and he would find himself disappointed that it was not his repentance his tears and prayers though he ought to use them as means that would save him if he fixed the Anchor of his hope upon them That if he hoped to be saved in the condition which for the present he was in he would certainly be damned That he must cast away all those groundless hopes he had conceived and endeavour to despair in himself that being pricked and pained at heart through the apprehensions of the wrath of God ready to fall upon him and seeing no possibility of flying and and escaping if he looked only to himself he might cry out What shall I do to be saved and enquire after a Saviour and then they spake to him of the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of Salvation by him which before he was sottishly ignorant of as if he been brought up in a Countrey of Infidels and not of Christians The words spoken to him by these two Ministers seemed to take little impression upon him whilst they were present yet after they were gone the Lord did begin to work and he did acknowledg to Mr. B. that two had been with him he knew not their names whose words were like arrows shot into his heart and he did wish that he had those words in writing especially one expression of T. V. That he would not be in his condition for ten thousand Worlds did affect and so affright him that he said it made his hair stand an end An account of a Discourse betwixt T. D. and T. S. about fourteen daies after he was Prisoner in Newgate VVHen I came in and saw him in Irons I said were these Fetters for the sake of the Gospel they would be far more precious than chains of Gold but see here the cursed fruits of Sin that thou shouldst all thy life-time have been a faithful servant of God hast neglected no time to serve the Devil I asked him how old he was he said 16 years old I told him he was a young man but an old sinner then I began to set my self to bring him to a sense of his sin and of his miserable and lost estate and asked him whether he believed there was a God he answered yes and dost thou believe that this God is true he said yes and taking up the Bible I asked him dost thou believe that this is the Word of God he answered yes Then I told him according to this Word he was a damned wretch and God had past a sentence of death upon him and told him plainly that he should not enter into the Kingdom of God but be a companion of Devils in a lake of Brimstone to all Eternity meaning without Repentance Conversion and Faith in Christ Then I turned him to several Scriptures and told him this was the Word by which he must be judged at the 〈◊〉 of God and be damned or saved according 〈◊〉 then he should be found to be converted oâ—â—â—…converted The Scriptures were these 1 Cor. 6. 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God be not deceived neither Fornicaters nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Esseminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind ver 10. Nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Another Scripture I read to him was Gal. 5. 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness ver 20. Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies ver 21. Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God The next Scripture to the same purpose was Rev. 21. 8. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death I told him these were the words of the holy true and infallible God this was the sentence which God had passed upon him as the desert of those abominable sins which he was guilty of for these Scriptures pointed at several of the sins which he confessed he had lived in and had committed as Drunkenness Lying Uncleanness and Murder I cryed you confess your self guilty of these sins and that God threatneth you with eternal death with everlasting torments and exclusion from his Presence and Kingdom not only God's Justice but God's 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 to 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 Gods threatning be cast among 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 Matt. 15. 19. for out of the heart proceed 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 Murder in his confession did follow them up to the rise and original from whence they did spring Psal 51. 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 red as Crimson they shall be as Wooll As I opened to him the great mercy of God in Christ towards Sinners died in Grain that were sinners of a Scarlet colour that had committed hainous transgressions he brake forth into tears and wept plentifully at the tidings 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 hope 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 hearkened 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 justify 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 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 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 hainousness 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 perform 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
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 die 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 I 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 haue 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 wondering at the Grace of God towards him that one so wicked all his days so young being 16. years old so lately acquainted with the wayes of God should have such a spirit of prayer poured out upon him after this he prayed with more life and fervency then before and the nearer he came to his end the more we perceived God was ripening him for his 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 London's 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 Munday 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 that 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 Munday in the Afternoon he had an excessive pain in his Teeth as we judged occasioned by his leaving off his cloaths and putting on some thin apparel to die in and that evening he expressed great willingness to dye and leave this world he said I see and find so much excellency in Christ that he is so pure 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 thee Teeth was great but the pain of Hell was greater On Tuesday the day before he died 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 and Christ and Angels be The night before he died a Minister came to Thomas Savage and after other serious discourse for 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 approached so near unto him he might have some nearer accesses of God into his soul that when pale death stared him in the face he might see God's 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 others 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 incline 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 for me well I know God loves
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 sin and thought I could never do enough to abuse thy mercy Pardon the sins that I have committed wash that bloud from off my soul let not my soul perish to Eternity It was 〈◊〉 horrid crime to shed innocent bloud Pardon that sin O Lord let the blood of Christ cry more for mercy than the blood of that Creature cry 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 remembrance turn them away behind thee Lord I have repented of them from my Soul that ever I should offend 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 the 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 have 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 humbled under the sense of my sins for they are dreadfull there are many Souls that have not committed those sins that are now in Hell O what 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 only 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 losing my soul to all eternity but Lord though I am 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 my 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 than 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 sin 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 purpoâ—… 〈◊〉 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 farewel of him 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 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 this 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 die a cursed 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 on her soul than 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 thereby I got acquainted with bad
to speak but could not recover the use of his tongue but his reviving being known within 4 hours 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 Profaneness 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 Murder 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 product of sin arrived 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 reapeth Great Glory to his name by pardoning Great Sins We 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 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 not man If one man had been so provoked by another it had lain in the power of his hand to have avenged himself upon his enemy surely he would not have spared or shewn any favour but because he is God not man whose thoughts are not like our thoughts and whose mercies are not like our mercies but further removed above them than the Heavens are removed above the Earth in comparison with whose mercies our most tender mercies are no less than cruelty therefore because he is God not man and herein would Act like himself he hath pity 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 that God should say as at another time for God doth not shew such favor to all 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 pardoneth 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 previus disposition he being so exceeding vitiated by such defiling sins could in the least incline God to have mercy upon him but the motive was taken from himself his own bowels He had mercy on him only because he would have mercy compassion on him 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 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 Matth. 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 indulge themselves in a sinful course hoping to obtain mercy at the last as he hath done and to turn Gods glory into shame 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 ruin 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 custome and continuance in sin harden your heart and fasten you in Satans Chains hath not God threatened that such who cry peace peace to themselves though they walk after the imagination of their hearts to add drunkenness to thirst That he will not spare them but his anger and his jealousie shall smoke 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 Gods 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 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 especially as they were against a good and gracious God according to Ps 51.
take notice of from these words is this Doct. That it is the great duty of young people to be exceeding careful to avoid the sins which usually attend their age Or if you please That it highly concerns Young men to flee youthful lusts It 's no cowardise to flee from sin In the prosecution of this Doctrine I shall shew 1. What are the common sins of young people 2. What it is to flee from youthful Lusts 3. Why they should flee from youthful Lusts 4. I shall apply it I shall name some of those sins which young ones are subject to First Young people are very apt to be disobedient to their Parents or Masters O how great a rarity is it to see young people as ready to obey as their Parents are to command Most children are children of Belial that is without a yoak Let Parents command advise nay intreat all 's to little purpose How ready are they to break the bond which God and Nature lay upon them to dutifulness Though the Command of God be plain enough though his Threatnings are terrible and though this sin seldom goes unpunished in this life yet children take little or no notice of them one would think that one Scripture should scare them Prov. 30. 17. The eye that mocketh at his Father and despâ—seth to obey his Mother the Ravens of the valley shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it What is the English of that Why they shall come to an untimely end Have not the sad Complaints of many at Tyburn sufficiently demonstrated this to be true Have not many cried out with a halter about their neck Children if you value your lives and souls take heed of disobeying your Parents That was the sin which brought me to this untimely and shameful end 2. Another youthful sin is Lying Poor children quickly learn this Lesson of their Father the Devil It is not without good reason that the Psalmist Psal 58. 3. gives such a character of wicked children which went astray from the womb telling Lies and the older they grow the more skilled they be in this devilish Art it 's like they are not ignorant that it is a sin that cuts the bonds of all Society it may be they are told how dear Ananias and Saphira paid for one Lie Act. 5. 3. nay though the Word of Truth tell them more than once That Liars must dwell with their Father the Devil in that black Prison Hell though they hear of a Lake of Fire and Brimgone that burns for ever Rev. 21. 8. and that such as they are must be cast into it yet for all this they 'll venture still 3. Sabbath-breaking is another youthful sin O how little do most of the young people of this City 〈◊〉 the sanctifying of the Sabbath Doth not the multitude of Apprentices and Children that wander up and down Monefields on the Lord's-day speak this to be too true they dare not make bold with their Masters time on the Week-daies but as for God's Day that they spend as if God had set apart one day in the Week for young people to sleep drink and play in They dare as well eat a piece of their fingers almost as to do that of another day which they do then and the truth of it is they look upon the displeasure of a dying man as terrible but the Anger of a Holy GOD they make light of O! little do they think what precious time that is their souls are naked and they may then have cloathing they are starving and they may then have food the Market is then open Provisions for Eternity may then be had But O prodigious madness the hearts of most young ones speak in this language As for Christi Heaven and Soul let them go we have better things to think on more weighty matters to mind And is it true indeed O young man What is the company of vain Wretches like thy self the wanton embraces of a whorish Woman the turning off thy cups and damnation more needful than the hearing of Sermons than Praying and Reading and Salvation Sure you shall not alwaies be of that mind O! little do you imagine how dear you shall pay for all the pleasures you have on the Sabbath out of God's House This this was THE SIN which lay like a load upon the soul of this poor Young man The profaning of the Sabbath that was the bane of him This carried him out of God's Way into the Devils Quarters O how bitterly did he bemoan himself for this sin as the cause of all the rest O! said he when I should have been begging the life of my soul I was plotting the death of my soul and body too Did none of you stand by the Cart when he wept so bitterly and cried to the Lord to forgive this great and dreadful sin Did none of you hear how earnestly he begged of you to have a care of that sin as you loved your Lives and Souls O wretch said he that I was I studied how I might spend the Lords Day in the Devils work I thought I could never dishonour God enough and that time that I should have served God most in I did most for Satan in them then I plaid my mad pranks I went into the Church indeed sometimes but I may speak it with shame and deep sorrow now I never heard one whole Sermon all the time I was with my Master and indeed I laughed at those that spent the Sabbath in hearing of Sermons and Praying and looked upon them as the veriest fools in the world I was glad when the Sabbath came that I might have time to run to my vile Comrades I rejoyced that I could then go to satisfie my cursed Lusts with whorish women O! tell young mâ—n from me that the breaking of the Sabbath is a costly and dangerous sin Sirs the substance of this Sermon I received from his mouth And will you not believe a dying man Do you think he did but jest 'T was on the Sabbath day he went to a whore 't was on the Sabbath he robbed his Master and 't was on the Sabbath that he killed the Maid But because this sin is Epidemical I leave a short story with you and desire you to think of it and the if you like what follows break the Sabbath still The story is this A dear Friend of mine was preaching about the sanctifying of the Sabbath and had occasion to make mention of that man that by the special command of God was stoned to death for gathering sticks upon the Sabbath-day Whereupon one of the Congregation stood up and laughed and made all the hast he could out of the Church and went to gathering of sticks though he had no need of them but when the people came from the Sermon they found this man stark dead with the bundle of sticks in his arms lying in the Church-porch And yet for all this there stands a young man in that
rest Couldst thou but see the flaming tongues of those horrid sinners that know what the meaning of that word Damn-me is couldst thou but see how they bite those tongues for madness it may be it would make thee think that an Oath is no such light matter You say words are but wind but believe it this wind will rise to such a Storm as will not be allaid without deep repentance till it hath blown thee into hell Did you never read the third of Mal. v. 5. I will come near to judgment and will be a swift witness against the false Swearers and such as fear not me saith the Lord of Hosts But you 'l say your tongues are your own who is Lord over us Psal 12. 4. You shall hear one shortly that will answer that question and let you know that he is Lord over that and that your own Tongues shall be made to condem you But what is it that I see How does that swearing Wretch storm and rage there at me for telling him of his sins Come come sinner if you spare not God I promise you I will not spare you and I tell thee What thou hearest is nothing to what thou shalt feel 7. The next youthful lust that I shall mention is Drunkenness Do not many I wish old ones were not here too guilty act as if their business in this World was to eat and drink and take their pleasures The Devil bids them read the Text Eccles 11. 9. Rejoyce O young men and they are easily perswaded to take his counsel and so they drink and roar and consider not what a reckoning will be brought in at last neither do they stand till they have read the latter part of that verse but know that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment Not considering the meaning of that whole Scripture which is but this Go young man lie at the Taverns and Alehouses do drink and be drunk but remember this you shall be damn'd for it and God will make you take off t'other Cup whether you will or no and that is a Cup spiced with Wrath and Fury But you see not neither do you yet feel it and therefore you do but laugh at all this you say with those in Matt. 24. 49. My Master delaies his coming and therefore you eat and drink with the Drunkards you say let him talk till his heart akes I will never leave my Pleasure for you why Man Wilt thou then be desperate Dare you say I 'll drink though there be Death in the Pot though Hell be at the bottom of the Cup or do you think that God will be worse than his word and that though he threaten high yet he means no such matter O sinner deceive not thy self and if you forget the rest carry home but that one Text Deut. 29. 9 10. If any one hear the words of this curse and yet bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart and add drunkenness to thirst the Lord will not spare him c. Do you read on and read it again and think of that Scripture the next time that you sit down to your Cups Little do poor creatures think how dreadful a sin Drunkenness is and how many it bringeth with it I 'll tell you of one story of my own knowledg and then I shall leave this A certain Drunkard that I knew very well when he was in drink quarrelled with his Fellow-servant and after a few words knocked him down with his Flail and killed him at one blow Afterwards by Friends he made a shift to escape the Halter and comes home again and swears and curses and drinks at as high a rate as ever but at last when he was in the same yard where he did this Murder he dropt down dead in a moment and I was one of the first that saw him 8. Another youthful sin is Vncleanness Is not England too near a kin to France Do not many of our young ones act as if they took pattern by Sodom and had learned of Gomorrah Jeremiah made sad complaint Jer. 5. 7. And are we less guilty Doth not the Scripture speak plain enough against this sin Though the Pope count it a Vemal fault yet those that are guilty of it will find that his Pardon will give them little ease when they are cast into a Bed of Flames Sure our hot young men seldom read the book of Proverbs but act as if that simple young man Prov. 7. 13. did run no great hazzard What was it that brought Thomas Savage to Theft and Murder what brought him to that shameful death O how bitterly did he take on that he should ever see the face of that Vile Woman O! had he but considered whither he was going and that most of her Guests go to Hell had be but thought seriously how bitter that sin would prove I believe he would have lain in Flames as soon as with that abominable woman Did none of you hear what he said when he was upon the Cart Did none of you see with what earnestness he spoke Why this was one great thing that he begg'd of you young ones as his dying request That you would have a care of this sin 9. The next youthful sin that I should mention is Theft Drunkenness and Vncleanness are two costly sins especially the latter and poor creatures are usually so bewitched with that that Credit Purse Body Soul and all must go rather than that beastly sin should not be gratified How many Servants are there that wrong their Masters imbezel their Goods and secretly wast them by the fore-mentioned sin and I believe I need not tell you what a tragical end Theft hath That Prodigy of her Sex and disgrace of Women could not be satisfied with Wine and good Chear her Purse must be fed as well as her stinking Carcase What do you come hither said she for without Mony Why where should I have it said he What hath your Master none replied that Monster Yes said he but I never wronged him neither can I. Nay said she if you be thereabout come no more here But alas the poor Creature is insnared so that he cannot but go to ask counsel of this Daughter of the Devil how he should manage his matters so as to get that money which his Master had She makes a ready reply and adviseth To murder the Maid to bury the theft O that unfaithful servants would think of these things and now and then read that Scripture Tit. 2. 10. and Luk. 16. 6. I should here speak something of the bloody sin of Murder but the Word of God the Laws of Men the Power of Conscience and the signal Judgments of God against such puts me in some hope that I need not much insist upon that I shall add but one sin more 10. Another youthful sin is Incorrigibleness How resolutely do most young ones go
on in their sins How hardly brought so much as to debate the business soberly with themselves or others How do they fly in the face of them which reprove them as if it were ten times a greater fault for to reprove sin than to commit it Nay some are come to that heighth that they make but a mock of Hell and Judgment as well as Sin Isa 5. 19. But these are so vile a Generation that I have little hopes of prevailing with them Psal 28. 4 5. Jer. 22. 21. Gen. 19. 14. 11. The next thing I proposed to speak to was To shâ—w you what it is to flee sin In this I shall be very brief 1. Not to commit it Take not up this Serpent for it hath a deadly sting in the tail of it Embrace not this Dalilah for she will betray thee Hast away avoid it if you do not it is as much as your life the life of your soul is worth Isa 1. 16. 2. Flee That is avoid the very occasions of sin It 's ill jesting with edge-tools They are safest that are farthest from it A hundred to one but thou art caught if thou play with the Bait. Who but a mad-man would take strong poison into his mouth and say that he will then spit it out Who would chuse to sleep upon the top of a Mast Believe it Sin is one of the most dangerous things in the World and he that tampers with it plays with Hell and is sporting with the Devil 1 Thes 5. 22. 3. Flee that is hate it with a perfect hatred Say What have I to do with Idols any more How shall I do this and sin against God Labour for a spiritual antipathy against sin and to loath it as David and Paul yea as God himself Psal 139. 23. 4. Flee and perswade others to flee for the danger is not inconsiderable Tell others what sin will prove at last and perswade them to consider what the wages of such work will be Psal 119. 157. III. Why should we flee youthful lusts 1. Because our Captain bids us flee we have his Commission nay his absolute Command may I not say his Entreaty too What is the meaning of all those pathetical Expostulations Turn you turn you Why will you die Why doth he bid us to beseech you to look about you What is the design of all the Scripture Wherefore do we Preach and Pray Methinks the Ministers of Christ should be like those Angels that warned Lot to flee out of Sodom and when he lingred they pulled him and bid him haste and flee for his life I might be infinite in Scriptures for the proof of this Psal 34. 11 14. 2. Because of the danger of not fleeing If the Wrath of God if Hell and Damnation if everlasting Misery be to be avoided then Sin is for as sure as God is true Sinners must be damned if they flee not sin 3. Because of the benefit we shall have by fleeing sin We shall be everlastingly secured if Heaven and Glory be worth the getting if Happiness and Salvation considerable if a Kingdom and Crown be worth the having this may be obtained by fleeing fâ—om sin APPLICATION IV. Vse 1. Is it so That it is our duty to flee youthful Lusts Then let all this Congregation of young men and women consider how well they have obeyed the Command Sirs be faithful to your souls and ask your selves speedily What you have done young men Are you guilty or not guilty It 's better you should be ask'd this question at the Bar of Conscience than at the Bar of God's Judgment Children how say you Are you as ready to obey as your Parents are to command Doth not your Conscience tell you that you can tell a lie to cover a fault and yet not be much troubled Some of you are come here this day to hear news more than to hear your sin reproved but where are you on the Sabbath-day May not I see you idling in the streets and sitting at your doors nay may I not see you in the company of wicked creatures in an Alehouse Well sinner well the reckoning will come up by and by I pray tell me How do you spend your time Is it in your Chamber upon your knees and at your honest Callings and in Civil and Christian Society Who are the persons that you take most delight in Are they those that discourse of God and their souls and warn one another with words of Grace What think you of Cursing and Swearing Do you fear an Oath Or do you think the deepest Oaths the best Rhetorick and most graceful if I may so speak to your discourse What language do you speak the language of Canaan or the language of Ashdod Can you stretch your selves upon beds of Ivory and drink Wine from morning to night and look upon this as the only life Is is not a pleasing thing to lie in the embraces of a wanton woman and cannot you use unseemly dalliance and say Am I not in sport Did you never wrong your Master in your life and dare you do so still And how would you take it if I should come to you and tell you roundly of all your sins Could you bear it if I should come close to you and set hell and damnation before you Young men I beseech you answer me I tell you again it 's better for you that I should ask you this question here than God hereafter Well have you put it to your Conscience And are you guilty I must tell you plainly I cannot but thing that abundance of this Congregation are in many of these sins deeply guilty and yet there stands a sly sinner no more affected than the ground he treads on thou thinkst I do not know thee but that if possible I may stop thee before thou comest to the Gallows and Hell I shall do what I can for my soul to reach thee Wherefore give me leave in the next place to speak one word by way of Conviction Young people I am not come this day to tell you News my business is not to tickle your ears but to do what I can possibly to keep you from that place of shame the Gibbet and that place of torment Hell I believe that here are many here that I shall never see nor speak to while the World stands and that our next meeting will be before the judgment-Seat of Christ and therefore I must tell you I must not iest with you I speak to those that are guilty you know well enough who I mean Let me ask you soberly Do you believe that there is a God and that he is privy to all you do And dare you out-face God with your wickedness Or do you make account his eye is nothing so man doth not know Say you so Believe it sinner you will shortly know that God and your Conscience are witnesses enough to cast you and is this nothing are not the threatnings of a God to