A BRIEF RELATION Of several Passages of the LIFE and DEATH OF WILLIAM BARTON OF SHREWSBURY In October 1661. Wherein may be seen much Wickedness against great Workings of God in him As also God's most just Anger and wondrous Mercy as is hoped towards him Published by a Relation of his and intended chiefly for the good of such as knew him in Shrewsbury many of whom can testify the truth of these things Stand in awe and sin not Behold the goodness and severity of God London Printed for John Allen at the Rising Sun in Little Brittain 1664. To the READER Christian Reader SInce it was the earnest desire of my poor unworthy Brother whom notwithstanding we hope God was graciously pleased to own and love to honour God some way to shame Sin and to betray the deceits of the Devil that God's hand upon him might do good to some Since this was his desire and should be the endeavour and design of all those that love God I have therefore by the advice of some Friends thought fit to present unto your consideration several Passages which through the blessing of God may tend thereunto The Method of this Discourse you must not expect to be orderly being penned by one that is unskilfull in such work If therefore you shall think any of the Passages therein impertinent or rudely brought in impute it not to him of whom the Discourse is but rather unto the unskilfulness of the Penner in ordering of it For sure I am for my own part I never did see any man more sensibly appear to be affected with what he spake than he was during the time of this his visitation which was about the space of seven weeks And although his Speeches and those Passages which have relation to this Providence as they are related by me may not affect you yet sure I am if you had seen that seriousness deep sence and sutable affections which accompanied those passages in him you could not but have been affected therewith Many choice things judged perhaps by divers to be better than these were spoke by him at several times which I am not able to set down I have given you as near as I could his own words omitting as much as I thought I might the discourse of others which occasioned them And although but very briefly and brokenly on my part yet I hope out of this confused heap you may pick something which may sometime or other do you good for which hope-sake I am encouraged to publish the same although I often feared and do fear that I shall thereby purchase the scorns of some yet knowing that wise men will take that well which was well intended passing by small faults or with the Bee gather Honey though from a Weed I am thereby encouraged and must venture the displeasure of others A brief Relation of several Passages of the Life and Death of William Barton c. FIrst let me beg your patience whilst I give you a description of his Disposition manner of Life to the end you may the better judge of the whole Discourse He was a Young Man not above twenty eight years of age born and educated in the Town of Shrewsbury of honest Parents the Trade he followed was a Butcher He was from a Child well educated he learned many Chapters Psalms in the Bible by heart from a Child would remember much of a Sermon and would often be teaching those brothers and sisters of his who were younger than himself seemed the hopefullest and the forwardest to good of any of his brethren and very forward to teach others Yet in one thing he was many times faulty from a Child which was a great aptness to speak lies usually hiding his fault by a lye for fear of punishment and was much given to talk and brag He was one that would take a great deal of pains in his Calling and was very diligent in whatsoever he went about He was also of a loving and pittiful disposition very ready to forgive any injury even to his greatest enemies very pittiful and charitable to the poor for many times he would give though he had but little in the house very freely to them When he had but half a loaf in his house seeing a poor woman go by his heart pittied her and he called her back and gave her half of it He was very glad to see others good and rejoyced when he saw reformation in any that had been formerly more loose When he was told that one in the Town that had been very loose was become a changed man and followed that which was good he wept for joy and said Methinks I feel my heart love him nay he would often weep for joy at the good he heard or saw in others especially in his relations He would give very good counsel to any he thought needed it although he lost their love by it and though he himself did follow it but poorly being too much the servant of sin He had alwayes a love to good Ministers and he would often say that he would venture his life for them Yet he was many times a companion of vain persons spending his time with them in the Alehouse yet among them as occasion was given he would speak for God and his People so that it was observed that he had not their love with whom he spent so much of his time and money He was much given to vain glory so that a little praise or expression of love would win his heart and easily draw him any way yet he oft-times loved to reade and used to pray in his Family and sometimes in secret though as he after complained very seldom Oft-times after he had broken out he would be very sad from the consideration of his life and as he confessed afterwards his sins seemed so horrible to him that they almost overwhelmed him and would make him think there was no hope for him so that he was fain to stifle all those workings and bussle through them with some kind of hope of amendment yet at such times he would conceal the cause of his trouble After upon some discontent with his wife and through the poverty which he had brought upon himself by his evil courses he went into Scotland where it pleased God to visit him with a great fit of sickness and to lay before him his life in such a manner as was horrible to him so that when he looked back upon his wayes he was even overwhelmed but when he looked forward he saw some hope and was full of resolutions of a new life and when he was recovered he lived in a stricter manner for a while and found much comfort and refreshment from God and such sweetness in that short time of obedience and resoluâ—ion as he never had found in any thing in the world yet after his returning into England he grew to the same pass again lived after the same rate and was in many things
his Relations he thus began to pity them O poor wretches that must be left to struggle with this sinful world full of snares on every side my heart pitties you O poor wretches I am afraid to think how you should get through the Snares round about you Lord keep you by his Mighty Power through Faith unto Salvation What a stir doth the Devil and the World make to destroy one poor soule your very griefs are folly in respect of God Not long after being alone his Brother and Sister went to him who found him sitting down with his eyes shut his face looking yellow and his countenance as if he had not been the same man They asked him how it was with him and told him that God had put away his sins and would never look at them any more and that it was the Devil that threw his sins in his face but he answered All is gone now I am in the dark I cannot see which is the way but I would hope against hope And again he said Though He kill me yet will I trust in him Some of the standers-by told him that the Devil would do the worst he could against him Because he loved God and hated sin and would fain destroy the kingdom of the Devil but Jesus Christ hath prayed for him that his Faith fail not They mentioned that Scripture also where it is said When the Enemy shall come in like a Flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him which Scripture much refreshed him Then said he These are comfortable Scriptures indeed Lord keep me from Temptation suffer me not to be tempted above what I am able Keep me by thy mighty Power through Faith unto Salvation And being come to his former Rapture of Joy thus he exprest it Justice and Mercy are met together Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other Christ's Righteousness and Peace to my poor Soul He began again to pitty us who were left behind and said I am glad to dye because I shall be freed from sin and glad to dye because sin shall be shamed I shall have the same nature about me if I live As he was going towards the Execution thus he said Thou dost not willingly afflict nor greive the children of men if lesser strokes would have done it this should not have been Oh how many precious Sacraments have I abused Oh the Patience of God to such a sinful Creature as I O that I could honour God whom I have sinned against I would fain honour thee Lord help me honour thy self O Lord. Chearfully looking upon the multitude he said All these are to see sin shamed When the Officers bad them stand off him he said O do not keep God's People from me this little moment that I am to be in this World they are my delight and my comfort As he went he often exprest great admiration of God's wonderful boundless and unlimited Mercy to him and an earnest desire of honouring God And when some good People that he priz'd as those that feared God came to him as he was going and expressed their affection and thankfulness to God for him he seemed to be much cheared by it and thus he said with a smiling countenance I am gathered I am gathered they have gathered me Sin is going to be executed our Kingdom will be the greatest A Friend going with him cheared him up with the words of Dr. Taylor of Hadley going to his Martyrdom It is but one stept to my Fathers House but his countenance grew very dejected and sad thereupon and thus he said Ah! but I am not such an one Immediately growing more chearful he said But some he saves as fire-brands out of the fire and so me In the midst of Judgement thou remembrest Mercy Will God accept of me to honour his Truth I fain would I hope God will help me I shall honour his Truth How truly is his Word fulfilled on me And being come to the place of Execution after he had kneeled down and prayed very pertinently and well he concluded with these words Now Lord help me to honour Thee Then he directed his Speech to the People to this purpose My dear Friends and Neighbours you are come hither not only to see a poor Sinner hanged here is something that is spiritual to be taken notice of O that you might not let that slip O that you might not let it slip Here is the truth of God's Word to be made appear upon me Heaven and Earth shall fail but not one jot of God's Word shall fail but shall all be fulfilled The truth of God's Word will be made good upon all you that are here present sooner or later And first let me tell you how true it hath been upon me I was born of Parents that served God I had a Father that feared God and a Mother and other Relations that are here present Brothers and Sisters that served God who followed me with their counsel and their tears but because I did not receive their good Counsel nor follow it I began at the length to be weary of it and not to love it I did not love the very house sometimes and cared not how little I came to it because I could not be quiet in it but they would be counselling me for my good Oh! what shall I say I have been a Son of many reproofs but I hardened my neck And how is God's Word made good upon me in this He that being often reproved and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed My sin hath alwayes been running from Counsel for had I hearkened to faithful Counsel and followed that it had been otherwise with me I think and just it was with God that I should be taken in running away from Counsel For I think if my wife had not bidden me stay within I should not have gone out but because she bad me and I having a readiness to do contrary out I went and some such words as these I used to my wife Dost thou think that I will be afraid to go about my business for fear of an Apprentice-boy I was no sooner out but I knew I had done ill and had a mind to go in but I had no power then I should have stopt sooner O let every one hearken to Counsel I had an aptness to do contrary and so I was left to my self that if I needs would run from Counsel I might see what would come of it and see whither it brought me O let every one take heed of sin stop sin in the beginning for you cannot stop when you will if once you give way to sin When my Mother or some others would deal faithfully with me I did for the most part believe that they spake to me out of true love and could see it to be right counsel and such as I had need of and yet there was that in me that put me upon doing contrary though I thought it was
give heed thereunto And although she dyed in Faith and did not in her life time see that change which she hoped for yet God who never faileth those that put their trust in him did not fail her but heard her prayers in his own due time and in his own way We therefore who are hereby obliged do on her behalf and on our own desire to speak good of God for we have largely experienced upon our selves and upon these our relations that it is not in vain to seek unto the Almighty for as we have heard so have we seen it made good Such as sate in darkness and the shadow of death being bound in afflictions and irons because they rebelled against the Lord and contemned his Counsels yet even then when they cryed unto the Lord He heard them and saved them out of their distress O that men would Praise the Lord with us for this his Goodness and for his wonderful works to the sons of men for he satisfieth the hungry soul with good things he fulfilleth the desire of such as fear him and hope in his Mercies Be encouraged therefore to be earnest in seeking unto God for your selves and for your relations for the faithful prayer of a Righteous man availeth much if it be fervent he that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened and as David experienced even so may we that the Word of the Lord is a tryed Word and all his Judgments are done in truth And although the seeming sad Providences which accompanied this Mercy may seem to lessen it in the eyes of some yet let it not for God's Wayes are not as our wayes nor his Thoughts as our thoughts And though sinful man came off with shame in this Providence yet both the Goodness and Severity of God were hereby made to appear Severity that so sin might not be encouraged and Goodness that so we might be encouraged to seek unto God and therefore this death was the best and the best for him and doth not lessen the Mercy And since laying open the Vertues of others sometimes hath and may be as a whetstone putting an edge upon the Graces of others drawing on and encouraging them to imitate the same it therefore will not be amiss since she of whom we spake is out of the reach of being hurt by applause to give you further knowledge concerning her She was of a courteous winning carriage very diligent in her business and a careful attender upon all the Ordinances of God She was a faithful friend unto whomsoever she was acquainted withall for if she knew them to be accustomed in any evil or whatsoever she thought to be their fault of faults she would be sure to tell them of it and yet in such a way that they could not chuse but see her true love to them thereby And this consideration as she said sometimes put her upon this duty viz. What if I must never see this Friend of mine again until I meet him in Eternity since I think such and such things to be his fault if I do not seriously tell him of it if he miscary how shall I then answer it how shal I look him in the face may he not then curse me She also accustomed herself to walk out in the evening when it began to grow dark into some solitary place as the Church-yard where people are buried or without the wals of the Town by the Water-side and being asked by some of her relations why she chose such a time and such a solitary place she answered thus Because I can at such a time or in such a place the better put my self into a dying condition for when the fears of the night are about me and the flesh apprehends some danger then I can see the things of the world to be as they are can think thus with my self What if I must never have to do with anything in the world more I must shortly be in the condition of these dead persons under me and my place must know me no more and when all the world is gone with me what is it that will abide or stand me in stead at such a time And likewise my conscience would at such times bring to my mind such things which I had done or said or thought evil in which before passed without taking notice of And these thoughts are of use to further me in seeking after that wherein I then found solid comfort and to make me more watchful against such things as at such times I found my conscience to be offended withal I find likewise that I can be more free from distracting thoughts Though I cannot say I am altogether free from natural fear at such a time yet after a while when I have by acting Faith overcome it and reasoned away my fear then I find great advantage great delight and satisfaction in God and am thereby encouraged chearfully to go through those tryals and duties which otherwise in my place I found hard And one time as she was stealing forth as formerly to her solitary walk her Mother perceiving seemed to be angry that she should go out at such a time of night to endanger her health but she answered her and that almost with tears Good Mother do not hinder me of my portion it is my portion in this world neither can I undergo any business or go through the world as I ought without some such refreshments Further if any one had taken offence at her though causlesly she would be the first in seeking reconciliation and seldom or never without good success and when she met with any deriding speeches or backbiting from others instead of repaying home in the same kind she would overcome their evil with good This was usually her word What is my duty what would God have me to do in this matter and so she practised for she would usually go or write to such persons and deal in such a manner and shew such meekness that either she gained them to be her friends or else their mouthes were by this her carriage so stopt that they could not fasten their reproaches upon her I might make a large discourse concerning her but I forbear She was buried the tenth day of February Anno Domini 1658. The place of Scripture she chose to be preached upon at her Funeral was John 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be If any man serve me him will my Father honour Which as she said she could scarce ever reade but it would affect her so as to cause tears Here follow also some Verses made by the same Mary Barton in the praise of CHARITY She her self being singular in the love and practice of this Grace above most others The substance of them is taken out of the 13th Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians THe matchless Worth of Charity my heart desires to prize O that in all I do or say I may with it advise If I the Tongue of Angels had or of men most renown'd For Eloquence which makes men glad more than sweet Musicks sound Yet void of this there would in me of worth no more appear Then sounding Brass or Cymbals have that tinkle to our ear Though I through gifts of Prophecy could things to come foretell Or though in understanding I all others did excel Though I deep Myst'ries could unfold or did such Faith enjoy That I could Mountains high remove when they did me annoy Yet void of this so prime a Grace I should accounted be As nothing by him who all hearts doth plainly search and see Though all my Goods unto the poor I do most freely give Or unto scorching flames commit this flesh wherein I live Yet void of this it cannot help or any whit amount To profit me when I appear in day of mine account Seeing its absence makes all vain its presence then is bliss Therefore give ear and you shall hear what this chief Vertue is It 's Charity that suffers long and kind hath ever been She envies not nor vaunts her self puft up was never seen Unseemly rude behaviour she alwayes doth detest And seeking not her own is still possest with inward rest She thinks no evil nor her joy in wickedness hath set But evermore made glad by Truth seeks Truth not to forget By Patience she can all things bear That here on Earth befal Upheld by Faith by Hope made glad she well endureth all This Excellency more it hath it ever still abides And in that breast where ere it s wrought for aye it there resides Nor is that sentence doom'd on her which on some Gifts is past That they shall fail yea cease and quite be done away at last Now but in part our knowledge is In part we prophesie But when Perfection we attain This done away shall be Even as we see that men of years those rudiments forsake Of which whilst children in their youth they great account did make For now the perfect'st views we have are dark as in a glass But then our perfect sight shall be as when face answers face Whil'st we are here in our warfare by Faith we stand our ground And are by hope kept up that we with waves are not quite drown'd But Charity of all these three in honour doth surmount And he that makes most use of it shall best give his account FINIS