Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A60547
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The behaviour of Edward Kirk after his condemnation for murdering his wife with the advice and prayers which he left with the ordinary, desiring him to publish the same for the reclaiming of vicious youth : together vvith the behaviour of the other condemned malefactors in Newgate.
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Smith, Samuel, 1620-1698.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing S4198; ESTC R10200
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4,314
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4
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THE BEHAVIOUR OF Edward Kirk After his CONDEMNATION FOR Murdering his Wife WITH THE Advice and Prayers which he left with the Ordinary desiring him to Publish the same for the Reclaiming OF Vicious Youth TOGETHER VVith the Behaviour of the other Condemned Malefactors in NEWGATE WHEREAS at the late Sessions of Gaol-Delivery held in the Old-Bayly on Wednesday and Thursday the 2d and 3d. Days of July 1684. Nine Persons received Sentence of Death viz. Edward Kirk John Mould John Holtam John Bennet John Richardson James Walden Mary Shelton Andrew Hill and Morgan Reading Now whereas several Malefactors Condemned to Dye do in the Prison of Newgate desire the Ordinary to Publish their Conferrences with him thereby giving an Account of their Penitency and to warn others by their Example of suffering Justice to avoid the same Crimes The Ordinary thereupon thinks it a necessary Service to give a faithful Account of the said Condemned Malefactors Behaviour hopeing thereby it will be a means to reclam Vice in Youth This account therefore he now gives that on the next Day after Condemnation they all appeared together in the Chappel where they were Exhorted and Prayed with the like was done on Saturday On the Lords Day following being the 6th of July Instant those for whose Execution the Warrant was directed were at the Chappel where the Ordinary Preached on this Text viz. the 33. Chapter of the Prophet Ezek. and the 11th Verse Say unto them as I Live saieth the Lord God I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and Live Turn ye turn ye from your Evil Ways for why will ye Dye O House of Israel The Ordinary observed that Edward Kirk who was Convicted for the Murder of Joan Kirk his Wife in cutting her Throat on Sunday the 25th Day of May last in the Fields near Paddington whom he often Visited before his Tryal seemed then to be more affected with his Horrid Crime then was observed before and since continues so The Paper of Advice which Edward Kirk left with the Ordinary in Prison WHereas the All-searching Eye of God with whom Darkness is Light and by whom the most Hidden and Secret Things are made Manifest has made a just Discovery of my Transcendent Wickedness I think it equally my Duty to God and Man to second it with a Penitent Confession that so the dear Interest which the Meritorious Death and Passion of Christ hath purchased for the Sins of frail Man-kind may be applicable to my self For such is the Misery and weight of Sin I lie under that unless the Miraculous Grace and Mercy of my Creator interpose is sufficient to press me down to the neathermost Hell Upon this Consideration I esteem it my Duty to Publish to the World the occasion which had the influence on my Punishment or what is the Meritorious cause of my Fatal and untimely End The occasion was so slender that it rather aggravates my cruel Crime than mittigates it My Wife for whose Murder I duly suffer was of that Temper that she was indefatigably officious to hunt me from Place to Place but whether out of Love or Necessity she did it is a difficulty to Discern and therefore I proclaim her Innocent and dare impute nothing to my Excuse my Passion being above my Principle and that Grace of God which should lead Men to a true and sincere Repentance for want of a true management of it was taken away from me and I left like the Jews in my own Willfulness and Stubbornness to act whatever my Spiritual Enemy the Devil could impose upon my Inclination and indeed the influence of my Wickedness is such that if I had the Greatest affluence of Sublunary Enjoyments it inbitters the most hopeful passages of my Life and nothing can be Sweet and Cordial to me but the precious Blood of Christ which was shed for the Sins of the Penitent such likewise is the present Punishment of the Murder that through the sense of it I am Involved into a Deluge of Melancholy sometimes preventing my address to God for assurance of Pardon yet according to that Gracious Light which it pleaseth God to intrust me with I continually lie under the contest of Sin and Satan and heartily beg for that Supernal Regeneration which is a turning from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan to the Kingdom of God Now because the world is more Govern'd by Example than Precept I am highly and zealously concerned to propose the reflection of my Condition to all those who are miserably biased to a Dissolute and un-Christian Life that from my doleful End they may be cautioned to discard all such Ways as may be Effectual to draw them on to Perdition and living without God in the World Nor can I forbear to express my Inclination which was always equal to the Natural State of all Men yet such was my Misfortune that I added the Whip and Spur to make it Strong and Vigorous and was as inquisitive to know Lewd Company as ready to Imbrace whatsoever was adapted to Irregularity the Sin of breaking the Sabbath I cannot pass by and was continually Guilty of upon which Holy Day I committed the Heinous Sin of Murder while Pride Lust and Luxury had the sole Dominion over me and was frequently more acceptable than any thing of Piety and Godliness Thus my Soul being surfeited with all mannor of Sin I am brought to condign Punishment Take timely care therefore all Young Men how you are drawn in by the Bewitching Lust and Love of Women for tho my Relations were Responsable and gave me a Good and Pious Education yet the Grace of God which is infinitly eligible before the whole World was wanting in me and justly left me to the Guilt of Murder Let no Man therefore trust in uncertain Riches nor bolster himself up with the sufficiency of his Friends in order to any hopes of Security from suffering the just Punishment of an evil Life for there is a just God that made and Governs the World who will not only in this World but in that which is to come Shower down Hail Fire and Brimstone on those who tread under Foot the Son of God and put him to open Shame If this Confession and Advice have efficacy to reclaim any it only gains the end for which I design'd it and to God above be Glory Amen Two Prayers which Edward Kirk desired might be Printed with his Advice to Youth O Lord God Good and Gracious Everlasting and Blessed God I must confess I have been a great Sinner and without thy Pardon am utterly Vndon for Ever and therefore I pray thee Lord that thou wouldest be pleased to wash away all my Sins from my Heart and give me a new Spirit within so that I may truly serve thee in Holiness and Righteousness those few Minutes that I have to live in this World that when my Soul and Body parts my Soul
may ascend up into Heaven to God on High so that he that shed his Precious Blood for Sinners if it be his Blessed Will may make my Peace with God Of all my Sins that I have Committed there is none so sad and Horrible as the Sin of Murder is therefore I Beseech thee O Lord to blot out that loud crying Sin from before thy Presence so that it may not rise up in Judgment against me when I come before thy Tribunal-Seat on High Oh! that men would consider this in time that Sin will one Day change their Countenance however it cometh in a flattering form pretending nothing but Friendship but in the end will leave a Sting behind it even a guilty Conscience Terror of Mind and anguish of Spirit wherefore let us flye from Sin as from the biting of a Serpent that we be not stung to Death knowing that the ways of Sin is Death O Lord most Holy Good and Gracious Everlasting and Blessed Lord God how Glorious art thou Lord thou art a great and a Merciful God and thou hast done more for me a thousand times than I have deserved I confess I have been a great Sinner I have done those things which I should not have done and I have left undone those things which I should have done Lord help me and strengthen my Faith every Minute more and more those few Minutes that I have to live in this World that when I am departed hence through the merits of Jesus Christ I may ascend into a Heavenly Kingdom Amen Edward Kirk acknowledged that he was at the Execution of John Gower a Coach-maker who for Murdering his Wife was Executed at Tyburn on the 23d of May last 1684. And that after Kirk returned from Tyburn Satan suggested him to Murder his own Wife within one hour after That he Prayed against the Temptation yet not so fervently as he ought The Instigation came with Violence upon him about six a Clock on the Lords Day in the Morning being the 25th of May 1684. That he then contrived how to draw her out in the After-noon to walk with him into the Fields That when he got her out he sometimes went before her and called to her to walk faster after him and when they were near Paddington he told the Ordinary that he pretended some excuse into a Gravel-Pit which was within two Fields of Tyburn That he asked his Wife to give him her Hand which she did and so led her into the Gravel Pit That when she was there he Quarreled with her and Bruised her Face and Head with a Cane that she begged him to spare her but he drew out a Knife to cut her Throat which he attempting to do she Strugled with him using these Words Lord have Mercy on my Soul Was ever Woman so barbarously Murdered After he had cut her Throat and returned home he endeavoured as much as he could to compose his Countenance and go about his Business and so order his Behaviour that nothing more than ordinary might appear in his Looks to give suspition that he had been about any un-Lawful much less so Horrid a Fact He told the Ordinary that he would at his Tryal Plead Guilty and beg God and the Kings Mercy yet against his Resolution he denied the Fact till it was proved upon him by his own Confession before his Tryal Notwithstanding he used many false Stories to evade the Proof of the Fact as appears in the account of his Tryal Since his Condemnation to Death he hath plainly Bewailed his great prevarication and false asseverationtos the Court of Judicature hoping that by Repentance and through a true lively Faith in the Meritorious satisfaction of Christs Blood-shed His Horrid Murder and the denial of it so Impudently in the Court of Justice will be pardoned by God to him And the Ordinary doth hope that upon narrow search into the frame of his Heart that Edward Kirk had some Ground to Expect a happy Eternity for he said that his Sin was so great that he deserved to Dye and desired not to Live Andrew Hill Aged 21 Years acknowledged to the Ordinary in conference that he had spent his time very Idly and lived a very disorderly Life often quenching the motions of the Holy Spirit and warns all Young-Men to mind their Honest Imployments and not to seek out nor mix with Lewd Company least they come to an untimely Death Morgan Reading Condemned for a Burglary was very sensible of his Sinful course of Life and grieved that he had commited several Impieties against clear and strong Convictions in Conscience to the Contrary Another of the Condemned Persons being a Lusty and Comely Person of the Age of Four and twenty Years is very Penitent and much bewailed his mispence of Precious Time neglecting the publick Assemblies on the Lords Day and the duty of Prayer whereby he fell under the Temptations of Satan and bad Company so that he commited many Excesses such as he desires all Young-Men to refrain from particularly to bridle their Tongues from Cursing and Swearing or useing any other Intemperance for God in due time will discover all who persist in Impenitency Dated on Thursday the 10th Day of July 1684. Samuel Smith Ordinary of Newgate London Printed by Geo. Croom in Thdmes-street over against Baynard's Castle 1684.