them I also visited them again and renued my assaults and batteries against this strong hold of the Devil but she resists stands out against God and all his Counsels she resolves from first to last whatever parleys she hath with Heaven let the Lord humble himself never so much unto so base a Murderer she may treat with him but unless she can obtain her own Terms her own Articles and Conditions she will not surrender Sill she hideth her sin as Adam still concealeth she the secret of Hell as if she had been sworn Privy Counseller unto the Devil She will sooner bite out her Tongue and spit it out of her Mouth or seal up the door of her Lips than let the deposiâ—um Satan have vent and see the Sun So that I could sigh unto my self as that German Philip The old Satan is too hard for young Melancthon It was high time to leave her upon whom no good impressions could be wrought I then betook my self to the poor Penitent and asking her how she did How it went with her Soul She answers me Never was a poor Creature so cheated out of her life But I forgive the Nurse front my Heart And Sir Though my sins are many yet Gods mercies are more and if Christ bath not merits enough to save me I will be contented to be damned eternally And afterward inquiring of her into the grounds and reasons of this her confidence she told me she saw her sin she was unfeignedly sorry for it and not only that it was committed against her Mistresses and had ruined them and her self here but chiefly this grieved her that she had thereby dishonored God her Heavenly Father who had made her and Jesus Christ who had died for her and God the Holy Ghost who had sanctified her to become his Servant That however she would not despare of mercy For the Thief upon the Cross found mercy from our Saviour at the last hour and I Question not that he my Saviour hath mercy for me Reader I give thee her very words neither adding to them nor substracting from them and if they do do not melt thee in reading I must assure thee they did me in heating them Her Sisters being come to her weeping and crying she was desired to speak to them and urged because her time was short she answered My time is short indeed and I am drawing near unto Eternity but I hope in God to an Eternity of Happiness My great work now was to settle her Spirit and to corroborate her Soul against the horrors of her death and told her after many other discourses Anne thou art happier than many here for I hope before Twenty four hours be past thou wilt be in Heaven Hold fast thy hope and confidence in Gods mercy which shal have a good recompence of Reward No matter for thy punishment since thou hast a pardon Yea Sir saith she I believe and receive this true and faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Having got a little silence and very little indeed it was the noise and tumult of the people ever and anon drowning my voice I prayed with these Malefactors and wished them a good Night But sleep they did not Every hour increaseth their fears The day of their Execution is now come and early in the morning I gave them another visit comforted and confirmed the poor Maid who desired me not to leave her at her sufferings and dealt again with the Nurse though to as little purpose as formerly and then sought God by Prayer in their behalf That duty finished Turning my discourse to the Maid Anne said I Thy time flies away thy end is very near take off thy heart wholly from the world Be dead unto thy Relations tell them the best service and kindness they can do thee is not to see thee but pray for thee and let all thy thoughts and desires be unto God to be at home with him long now to be in Heaven and Glory turn thy Face to the Wall since thou hast no private Room and power out thy Soul before the Lord and wait yea wait earnestly for his Salvation Do not fear the Fire God will carry thee thorough it it can only hurt thy Body it shall not singe thy Soul Though thy Flesh and thy Bones be consumed thou wilt have many Mourners and God I hope will gather thine Ashes and grant thee a Glorious Resurrection I want words to tell thee what the Joys of Heaven are but thou wilt see and feel and tast and injoy them very shortly I hope this day thou wilt be with the Lord and all his blessed Saints and glorious Angels in Paradise She said Amen Notwithstanding my ill success and many repulses hitherto yet I would not leave the Nurse I reasoned still with my self who knoweth but that Grace may be given and Satan may loose his hold fast and the Prey may be taken out of the Paws of the spoiler out of the jaws of the Devourer Satan hath fallen as a flash of lightning before the Ministry of Gods Holy word God hath him in a Chain and though she hath not listened to the voice of former admonitions it may be she shall now unto the last Addressing my self therefore once again unto her I told her Nurse this is the last conference that ever I will have with thee on Earth about thy Soul and nothing but my real sence of its worth and lothness that it should be lost for ever would ever have ingaged me to it That I got nothing but trouble grief and loss of time thus to wait upon her and not to be able to do good I knew indeed my reward was with the Lord and my work with my God but yet I demanded this poor satisfaction of her now at parting that she should not send me away with the sad thoughts of her damnation To which she very civilly replyed Sir I thank you for all your love to my Soul I believe that what you have done and spoken hath been in order to my Eternal good Well then I added shall you and I have a little private discourse together She agreed Desiring therefore the people to withdraw at a distance I askt her in her Ear whether she were Guilty or not Sir saith she I will tell you all I know Then stopt at length the repeats again I will tell you all I know And then stops Whereupon I told her Nurse the Devil is leaving thee God is coming in with mercy do not now at the last hour refuse it tell me what you know of this business and I assure thee upon the word of a Minister that without thy consent I will not disclose it Do not fear shame shame the Devil and give Glory to God Sir I confess I did put the Spider into the Cup and bad the Girl to squat it abroad but it was a Foolish and vain word
tell you without Miracles of mercy you and your Children and your Servants and your Houses shall be undone Eternally The curse of the Lord is it to the House of the Wicked but he blesseth the Habitation of the Just 3. My dear Townsmen Perform Family duties let them not grow out of use and fashion Whatever others do yet do you and your Families serve the Lord. Give God a Morning and Evening Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving He hath throatned to pour out his wrath upon the Families that call not upon his Name Jer. 10. ult Prayerless Families are Paganish Families and Heathen Families are loathed by God Read the Scriptures daily in your Houses Catechize and Instruct in the doctrinals of Religion the Youth within your Gates Repeat and frequently discourse with them about the Word of God read and preached Sanctifie the Lords day Sing Psalms and the high-sounding Praises of God in your dwellings Examine the Proficiency of your Children and Servants in the grace and knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Give due and seasonable reprehension and correction and spare not the Rod unless you will spoil the Child Comfort and incourage them in well-doing Press them to private duties and give them time for Closet-prayer and do you endeavor to bring them to the publick Worship and Ordinances especially to the Sacraments Remember that they who serve God most will serve you best that a graceless Servant is a Devil in your Family which will ruin himself and you and yours also 4. Consider with your selves that you have the charge of Souls there is a great trust committed from Heaven unto Governours of Families The Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom hath no such Jewels nor Treasure in the Exchequer as you have in your Houses God hath made you the Guardians and Trustees of pretious Souls and as sure as you live shall you be responsible for them unto God Do your utmost that none miscarry under your hands Prefer the concerns of their Souls to those of your Bodies and be at as much care and pains that they may live in Heaven as you and yours to live on Earth You are their best and surest Friends if fast and faithful Friends unto their Souls To ruin a Soul is the Trick and Work of Devils it is an irreparable loss an everlasting evil Lost Goods may be recovered but if a Soul be once damned either by your sins of omission or commission it can never be recovered more The Lord deliver you from the Guilt of Soul-Murder 5. When you dispose your Children abroad in the World get them into Religious Families that they may drive a thriving trade Heaven-ward and obtain the Inheritance of Gods Saints his pretious promises It is not Riches nor Honors nor great dealings in the VVorld but Godliness that hath the promises of this life and of that which is to come 6. Are your Relations and Inferiors your Children and Servants wicked and irreligiâ—us do you become better Let not their sins be justy charged on your Souls Shortly VVhen death is in your Pot remember nothing but the Grace of God can preserve you Therefore value and prize it Did Servants do it Consider that it is just with God they should be Instruments of your destruction when your neglect of their Religious Education is a real cause of their Trangression They must go to Heaven as well as you and therefore should injoy liberties and opportunities for the solemn and publick Worship of God as well as your selves The Gallows and Stake the Fire and Halter preach unto Young and Old High and Low Parents and Children Masters and Servant this Doctrin That unless you do Repent you shall also perish Gods judgments upon others are warnings unto us It is an Oracle from Heaven That such who sin as others shall perish as others That if you do not repent the wrath of God which lighted upon others shall either here or hereafter infallibly and to all eternity light down upon you also FINIS
are become the objects of his rage and fury Satan had lost Heaven and he envies them Earth Their habitation in an Earthly Heaven displeaseth him because it pleaseth God They just now came out of their Creators hands endowed with a double Portion Holyness and happiness But he resolves they shall not long enjoy either Hence in the very first dawn of their Creation he contrived and accomplished their destruction He subtilly insinuates the poyson of sin by his conferences with and suggestions unto Eve and she having once tasted of the dose and allured with the deceitful pleasantness thereof to her sensual appetite communicates it to her Husband and they both derive it down unto all their natural posterity Ah! How many Murders were in this One Mankind made and ruined altogether Certainly they who plotted the blowing up of King and Kingdom in One hour they who effected the Sicilian Vespers Parisian Mattins and Irish Massacres had been all trained up and Educated in the Schools of this this old and Grand Abaddon Adam being in Honor continued not a day in it His glorious state did shine and set with the same Sun In the Morning it flourished and grew up in the Evening it was cut down and withered like the Grass He played away as a besorted Gamester his whole and all present and to come what he had in possession what he might have in Reversion at one cast Nothing was left him but his sin and curse and this he propagates unto all his Children A most sad Portion to be inherited by us Sin being now conceived doth prodigiously spawa and swarm The Old Serpent is not idle His boiling malice gives him no rest His first born like the Plague spreads its venom universally and new Monsters are hatched and produced by it every day New sins in new shapes in odious and hideous colours shew forth their heads Grace is modest Sin impudent and shameless It seeketh no disguise nor putteth on a Vizard but for its own security and in order to further mischief to perpetrate some greater Villany The Devil having set variance between God and Man will give another cast of his Office He throws a Bone of contention between Man and Man The nearest Relations the dearest Friends they that had the same flesh in their Bodies the same blood in their veins that if not Twins yet scarce divided in their age that were Nurst Fed and Educated together both alike tendered by their Indulgent and Religious Parents shall yet through his subtilty and cruelty be sundered and divided one from the other And if he cannot drag them both with himself into Hell yet will he precipitate the one by a bloody and Barbarous death into his untimely Grave and the other by a sin like his own into the bottomless Pit of destruction ere he is aware of it Cain by the instigation of the wicked one upon no provocation no offence given unless Gods gracious acceptance of Abel for his Faith and Holiness be a crime Murthers his own his only and dearest Brother Bloody Villain Thou choppest off thy right hand with thy left thou dashest out thine own Brains in dashing out his Thou destroyest his body but damnest thine own Soul Ah what grief it this to Pious Adam Oh what joy and Musick unto Hell Revenge is sweet But it s a poor revenge Satan Which ends hi thine own in thine endless destruction However the Devil hath shown the way of Murthering and bad Arts are soon learnt Any one may be an easie and early proficient in Ungodliness the whole and old World soon got the skill of it God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually The Earth also was corrupt before God and filled with Violence All flesh had perverted its way and blood touched blood There was no fair and gentle means left unessayed by God to reclaim sinners to dam up if possible the torrents of their ungodliness to stench those foul issues and frequent effusions of Innocent blood Adam and the Holy Patriarks decry it down in their Lives and Sermons Enoch the Phoenix of his Age for the life and power of Godliness shining most illustriously in his Conversation Thunders out Prophesies of dreadful Judgments against the irreligious Cainites Behold saith that Glorious Saint The Lord cometh with Holy Myriads of Angels to Execute vengeance upon all the ungodly and to convince you of your ungodliness in flames of Fire who will not be convinced by our Ministry Upon the wicked he shall Rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest This shall be the Portion of their Cup. But the Prophet is counted a Fool and the Spiritual man Mad and his Menaces of approaching wrath idle Dreams melancholly thoughts bugbears to fright Children and bublings up of his envy and malice against them Thus he and his Prophecies are despised and scornfully rejected At last fair warning and loud calls and Summons unto Repentance having been long afforded them and not accepted nor in the least improved the patience of God is tired mercy finally departs from them and Divine Justice sweeps away the Habitations and persons of those Scarlet Sinners with a deluge of Waters One would have thought that such a fearful Judgment should have cautioned afterages from ever treading in their steps But alas Posterity is grown stupid and Judgment-proof As for Gods Judgments the wicked makes a puff at them they are afar off above and out of his sight he forgets and makes no reckoning nor account of them God hath Hanged up some in Chains before their eyes Executed a whole World of Malefactors and made them an everlasting Sign and Example to them yet they willfully shut their eyes that they may not see and lock up the Doors of their hearts that they may not consider for what causes this great wrath is come upon them So that we need not wonder at Gods plaguing such willful blind Souls It is but a righteous Retribution that his Justice oweth them In as much as they regarded not the works of the Lord nor took notice of the operation of his hand he could not build them up he must totally and utterly destroy them Sinners ate the Voluntary Carvers of their own misfortunes They choose and Create unto themselves their own bane and destruction Temporal and Eternal The reading of this ensuing Narrative will be a clear proof and evidence hereof Books Printed for and are to be Sold by Francis Eglesfield at the Marygold in St. Pauls Church-Yard DIvi Britannici being a Remark upon the Lives of all the Kings of this Isle from the year of the World 855. Unto the year of Grace 1660. By Sir Winston Churchill Knight in Folio The Works of that Famous Mathematician Master Edmond Gunter somtimes Professor of Gresham Colledge London Reprinted Corrected and much enlarged in this Fifth Edition in Quarto The whole Art of Dyalling By
they Plow the Rock they do her no good their labor of love is lost their Prayers return into their own bosoms The Relator having visited them several times while they were in the High Goal at Exon thought it convenient to subjoyn the substance and effect of his conferences with them Possibly it may not be displeasing unto his Reader Coming into the Prison early in the Morning he had the Four condemned Persons brought unto him and bespeaks them in these words Miscrable Souls I am heartily sorty to see you in this place and to find you in this Condition You are here Judged of man and you must die but what also if you are Condemned of God and must to Hell for ever You are Sinners are you not You are Guilty of those Crimes for which Sentence is past upon you Three had so much Ingenuity as with Weeping and Trembling to acknowledge it Alas Poor wretches you are weeping because you have offended man and brought your selves to destruction Ah! what a mercy would it be if you could weep unfeignedly for your offences against God and because you have lost his Image and favor which is the greatest Blessing and deserved his wrath and Curse which is the greatest misery What think you of Sin Is it as sweet and pleasing to you now you must die for it as when at first you did commit it Here they were silent and Confounded Ah! Now you see what it is not to believe God speaking to you from his Word and by his Ministers you were told that sin would bring sorrow and shame wrath and death sooner or later The Devil and your own corrupted heart rose up against this Discovery of his will and you made light and slight of it and what have you got by it All the Fruit of your sin is that you are ashamed of it and grieved for it its wages is the loss of Earth Life and Heaven and these you are expecting every moment Man hath cast you off for your sins you cannot stand before your earthly Judge And if God shall cast you out of his blessed presence for ever among the Devils and the Damned Spirits how would you be able to bear it They being somewhat moved he askt them How think you to escape the dreadful wrath of God What means have you to save your pretious Souls from Hell What First do you believe you have Souls to save a being in your Body that doth not that cannote die with your Bodies Do you believe there is a God and Devil a Heaven and Hell and that all the wicked shall be turned into Hell and that you all of you shall be flung into it for your sins against God At this they shrugd up their shoulders and had nothing to answer but their Repentance Your Repentance said I what is that Why our sorrow for our sins we would not commit them again if they were now undone Yea indeed so you say and possibly think you would not but you do not know the wickedness and deceitfulness of your own hearts if you were now as heretofore and under the same temptations I know nothing to the contrary but that you would be Guilty of the same transgressions of as bad or worse Besides suppose your Repentance were true and real what amends is that unto God for the manifold dishonors you have done him You have broken every command of God you are Guilty of innumerable sins your very birth and nature is horribly corrupted and all your life long you have been Rebels against God and you think to put off Gods wrath with your pittiful Repentance a late Repentance and it may be no other than the very Reprobates have that are now in Hell Is this all the satisfaction you can make to God They knew no other Then it was told them that God was a great and terrible God that would not put up the affronts and wrongs had been done him without satisfaction that he would by no means acquit the Guilty That they had sinned and must die eternally and if ever they were redeemed from Eternal wrath they must make God full a mends and bring him a Ransome and if they had none nor knew where it was to be had they must expect as soon as they died to be damned for ever I asked of them in particular who or what Jesus Christ was and what it was he had done for them To which there was this answer made they could not tell None that knows a Goal will conceive this a Fable Hardly any but Atheists and the most ignorant wretches in the whole County are clapt up there and for one sin they brought with them into it they carry away Cart-loads out of it Our County Prisons being the Common Sinks of the Country and a Shop wherein all impiety is soonest learned and attained Their ignorance of Christ his Person Natures Offices and Undertakings for poor Souls made me to aggravate their wickedness and to tell them they had wretchedly mispent their time and that now they were going out of the World they must learn the Principles of Christian Religion and I questioned whether they had any Repentance that was pleasing unto God for they had no Faith nor knowledge even of the most necessary Truths without which they could not be saved And for my part I must not flatter you you are nearer Hell than Heaven Upon this there was a discourse made of Christ adapted to their capacities as also of his wonderful love and condescension in becoming man and dying for sinners and satisfying the Justice of God and holding forth his death as the price of Redemption unto all Penitent believers and that this was now offered unto them upon these terms of confessing and abhorring their sins and themselves for their sins and that if they came to God with a sence and feeling of the insupportable burden of the horrid nature and infinite number of their sins and threw themselves at his feet prostrate before him imploring his mercy for the passion of his dear Son the Lord would be merciful to them and he would not cast them off but would pardon and forgive their hainous and grievous offences In the close of this conference Master Holmes Chaplain to the High Sheriff came into the Chamber and after some words with the Malefactors we joyntly parted the Prisoners I withdrawing into another Room with the Nurse and Maid and having pressed them to a free ingenious confession of their Guilt the Girl with tears in her eyes gave me for substance the same confession and not varying in a circumstance from that which at her first apprehension she had made unto the Major and Justice of Plymouth I adjured her in the name of the All-seeing and heart-searching God who hated a Lye and would cast all Lyars into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever to declare nothing but the Truth That she had sinned enough already and had been Guilty of two
Murders and if the Nurse were Innocent she should not for a World accuse her for if she did the Lord might Damn her immediately To which she replied with Tears Sir I am a lost Creature I have no hopes in this World I would not willingly Damn my Soul by drawing upon me the Guilt of more Blood I speak it as in the presence of God I had not put in the Poyson into the Pottage had not the Nurse bid me do it And added My Body is lost but if the Lord would have pitty upon my Soul it is all that I desire And the Nurse hath said she should never confess though she did Hang for it That I might confess what I would she would not confess any thing Upon this I confronted her with Philip Cary she obstinately denies all stands stifly to her Innocency throws all upon the Girl saith Judge Jury and Witnesses are all Guilty of her Innocent Blood and she will lay it at their Doors Whereupon I desired the Maid to go in to Master Holmes and dealt privately with this Vile woman yet to give Glory unto God by confessing of her sin and renouncing all commerce with Hell that if she did hide her sin and keep the Devils Counsel she could never prosper That it was in vain for her to think of concealing it for God knew it the World knew it her Country condemned her for it her own conscience if she had any left in her must needs accuse and condemn her Possibly said I you think of life and feed your self with vain imaginations of escaping death I told her they were foolish and groundless that Justice would have its Course that the whole World could not save her That she was already dead in Law and must be as certainly Executed as she was already Condemned That she stood upon the brink of the Pit and was ready to drop down into the bottomless Gulph of Hell That she might if she would escape it God offered pardon Life Heaven and Salvation to her provided she would but give glory to him by confessing her sin and taking the shame thereof unto her self That it was better to do it now than upon the Gallows She had served the Devil long enough too too long and it was a miracle of mercy if ever the Lord shewed mercy to her at last but yet I would and did assure her in his name as being his Ambassador and sent with his Commission to reconcile her unto God whom she had so hainously dishonored that if she would disclose all this cursed crime who first contrived it who managed it and put her upon it there was hopes For the Lord was a merciful God unto unfeignd Penitents and compassionated her deplorable condition and would bring her out of it That she take care not to Rebel against his grace nor to tear a pardon that was offered her upon such easie terms in pieces nor to refuse Heaven and all its joys and happiness Alas Sir saith she What will you have me say I will tell you all I know of it I am as free from this Crime as the Child that is now Born But the Maid did it For she told me she was weary of her life by reason of her Mistris who was such a Curst Old Woman that there was no living with her and that she was resolved to leave her Service and go away with the Mountebanks and that she told me she would fit her and had bought the Rats-bane of the Mountebanks Boy or Man with whom she was in Love This was all I could get from her then and not one Syllable of it true I told her she should beware of Lying and false Witness bearing and not let the Devil sit upon her heart and Tongue and added when you knew this Girl had an intent to make away her Mistris why had not you discovered it She said That indeed it was her fault if it were a fault I told her consent unto and concealing of Murder was Intentional Murder before God and Man and that she had a real hand in it She told me she had none at all and could give me no other answer Our secret conference being ended I brought the Maid again unto her who avowed her former Confession disavowed all acquaintance with the Mountebanks Servant never to have talked with him but once at the Conduit when she fetcht water and maintained to her face that this wicked woman the Nurse did oftentimes perswade her to run away from her Mistress and if she would have gone away the Saturday before the fact was committed she would help her to a Riding Suit Unto this she made no reply Returning with them unto Master Holmes he pressed upon them the evil of their sin advised them to Repentance and bespeaking the Nurse Philip Cary said he there is a report and Suspition of your having been unclean with your Master At which she fell down upon her Knees in the midst of us and impricated most direfully upon her self is he ever knew her to be a man or woman more than by giving suck unto his Grand Child Having cleared her Master but not confessing any other thing or sin Master Holmes being desired by me concluded this conference with Prayer and we departed In the evening I returned again unto these Prisoners And dealt with the Nurse to acknowledge her Crime freely to unbosome her self unto me that I might spread it before the Lord in Prayer and intreat him for a broken heart and a new Spirit for her And withdrawing from the Company that crowded on us into a private Chamber I desired her for Gods sake her poor Souls sake with cears in my eyes that she would yet leave sin before sin left her that she would flee from that wrath to come that she would bid defiance unto the Devil who she saw had ruined her and would Damn her everlastingly that she would yet accept of grace and peace and reconciliation with God it was late indeed to return unto him but not too late how ever she must not thus dally with the Divine Majesty to put him off with delays and lies That she should not be afraid of shame that it was the greatest shame and reproach unto her to have committed and concealed this sin but it would be a step to Honor and Eternal Glory to confess it good men would then pitty her pray for her and God would save her And added that if she would not confess it publickly to the World which yet was her duty and if ever the Lord gave her Repentance she would do it more feely and in a more ample manner than I could desire she should at least confess it unto me and I promised her upon the word of a Minister that without her consent I would never divulge it Or if she would not trust me with such an important secret I advised her to single out some Godly Learned Minister or some Judicious private Christian to
these Malefactors The covetous Keepers for love of a piece of money letting them in who by their loose idle and impertinent discourses obstruct the success of Ministerial Labors However this poor Maid assured me that her thoughts had been upon my Counsels in the night and she wou'd make it her business to do it more effectually and withal added that she saw her self undone for ever To which I replied No she was nearer Heaven than she was aware of That her sins were not too great for God to pardon That she should remember Three Texts of Scripture that I would tell her First This is a true and faithful saying worthy of her acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Yea Sir saith she I am the greatest sinner in Plymouth Secondly That whosoever comes unto Christ that is believes in Christ he would in no wise cast out That for her to believe in and come to Christ was no other than this That seeing her self by reason of sin to be a damned Wretch she cast her self upon the everlasting mercies of God because of Christs death with hope and expectation of them and waiting for them And then Thirdly That the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sins And she should meditate and think upon these pretious words of God and resolve that she would live and die with them in her Heart And if she did and grieved unfeignedly for her sins loathed them and her self for them my Soul for hers she should never perish For Jesus Christ was a most absolute and compleat Saviour able and willing to save the worst of Mankind that would be saved by him upon these his Terms and therefore would save her Upon this she wept again Having comforted her and done somewhat to bind up her wounds I added Anne there are yet some other works for you you must die in Charity with the world and crave pardon as from God so from Man especially from your Master whom you have so grievously wronged You must also in particular forgive this bloody Woman the Nurse that hath seduced you to this great sin and to your perdition Will you Can you do it If you do it not from your heart God will never forgive you Sir saith she I wit I do it And it should not grieve me if she lived though l died only for this Fact I forgive her a I expect forgiveness from God Then I added She must beware of mispending her time or loosing a moment of it she should take heed of vain thoughts she must be much in private Prayer and not be long but short short in Prayer but often She must hearken to all the good counsels of Gods Ministers that would come and visit her and do them to the utmost She should be as Spiritual Holy Religious Humble Serious and Heavenly minded as possible She should not take any great care of her Body the less the better as to eating drinking or sleep Her whole thoughts and care should be spent about her Soul and its salvation And to conclude Anne said I it is a hard work to die at any time but for one in thy condition very hard indeed But however once thy peace is made with God and thou hast repented of thy sin and thrown thy poor Soul upon Sovereign mercy in the Blood of Jesus never fear death Take it humbly patiently and submissively Bear the indignation of the Lord because thou hast sinned accept of the punishment of thine iniquity yea be thankful unto God that thou mayest be Burnt here and not hereafter I hope the Lord will make thy death easie short and comfortable Thou art yet a stranger to the joys of Gods Salvation and to the comforts of his Holy Spirit But it may be the Lord will give them to thee in thy bitter torments and then thou wilt scarce feel them or if he shall detain them from thee yet his Grace is sufficient for thee believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved And finishing my discourse with her she asked whether she should not see me again especially when she was to suffer for she earnestly requested my help my assistance to her in that hour I promised if it could be obtained she should have it Being now returned to the rest of the Malefactors I spake something of the Glories of that other World where truly Penitent and believing sinners were a going what an unspeakable happiness God had prepared for them and what wonderful rich grace this was on Gods part that he should promise and tender it unto them Two of whom I hope were broken hearted though they wanted much knowledge and much of that Compunction that they ought to have that if they would endeavor after more Grace God who was the God of all Grace would give liberally unto them and never upbraid them with their past ungodliness That the promises were not made so much unto the measure and degree of Grace as to the nature and Truth of Grace That a Grain of Gold was as truly Gold as an heap or Mountain That the Lord was no respecter of Persons but an Universal a Common Saviour That he despised not the day of small things He would not quench the smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed nor cast off any self-confounded and self-condemned wrerches That whatever their sins had been they should beware of doubting or despairing of Gods mercies Their despair of Salvation being a greater sin than Murder or High Treason That I was not ignorant of Satans devices no stranger to his Wiles and Stratagems who when he could keep them no longer in Chains of darkness and Impenitency would put Souls upon Over-doing in Repentance and over whelm them with horrors They should look to this and believe it live and die upon it that Christ Jesus was more willing to save them than they were to be saved by him that though they were to die shameful and painful deaths you to be Hanged and you to be Burnt Yet here was a comfortable meditation it was as easie going to Heaven from the Stake and Gallows as from their Beds and when their Souls were departing out of their Bodies Gods Holy Angels would convey them into Paradise At this good news my Two Penitents wept and I hope Tears of Joy And turning my self unto the Nurse Woman said I it is the very grief of my Soul and makes my heart bleed within me that not one Syllable or tittle of these good words of Gods gracious promises belongs to thee This is the Children Bread it must not be given unto Dogs and Devils Having finished my discourse I gathered up the particulars and spread them before the Lord in Prayer begging grace and glory for them And that his Divine Majesty would yet mollifie that Adamant before him and take away the heart of stone and give an heart of flesh and open the Brazen Doors that this Captive of Hell might go
T is reported she should say She knew she should be Damned but not for this Crime Exon March 30 1676. Sir Yours to love and serve you in our Lord Jesus What ever the effect and Fruit of their labors was she gave them this ensuing Confession which one of those Reverend Ministers that panted after her Souls Salvation took from her mouth and hath Cloathed it in these words The Ingenious and true Confession of Anne Evans concerning the horrid and cruel Murder of Elizabeth Weeks and Mary Pengelley ENvy being once at the height it put in Execution with a Witness This Nurse having by some means caused her Husband to receive words from her Mistris he was pleased to be very angry with his Wise for the same and withal threatens her to leave her And departed for a Fortnights time whereupon began an hatching of this Barbarous action by the said Nurse saying she would fit her for it for she her Mistris was the cause of her Husbands going from her as she said and endeavored to put it in practise with perswading the said Anne Evans to go to Master Mathews the Apothecary for Ratsbane telling her she should ask it for the poysoning of Rats and Mice saying it will do her work in as short a time as one might go to the Gate and back again and then they should live as merry as the days were long when the old Devil was gone Saying she knew one who was poysoned in as little time with it and some Cream Whereupon like a true and Faithful Servant the said Anne Evans refuseth and rejects the said sayings and would by no means do it Here we must stop a while and give you to understand how much this poor Creature lived in fear of the Nurse and by that means neglected the discovery of it to the destroying of her Body â—ut 〈◊〉 hot 〈…〉 the destroying of her Soul For there is mercy with the Lord that he may be Feared Now the Devil having once got hold on her Heart neglects no opportunities but puts her on it with great subtilties and invention The Nurse laying as it is supposed by all circumstances a clean Paper twisted at both ends with Poyson in it in the path of the Garden knowing that this Anne Evans was to go forth to gather Herbs to put into the Pot according to her Mistresses command she finds the Paper lying in her way which she took up and brought in and shews it to this Nurse again asking her what it was who pretended she knew not and with all bidding her put it out of her hand the Nurse eyed her where she lay'd it which was in the Kitchin on a shelf Going afterward to the Conduit for Water at her return it came into her mind to look on that thing once more which she had taken up in the Garden and it was gone off from the shelf which no body else could take but the said Nurse for it was at Eight of the Clock at night and no body there but she Then the said Anne Evans saw her grinding it on the Harth with Two Tiles and demanding her what she was doing she cryed Peace we shall have brave sport if you will but put this into the old Womans Dish She through her enticements and strong perswasions not knowing what it was or that the end of it would be death being not willing to have her displeasure For she lived in great fear of offending the Nurse because she was in great favor with the young Mistress thinking that if she did not consent to her request she should fare the worse for it And further the said Anne Evans doth testifie that the same Sunday she was sent for some drink which she brought to the Nurse and the Nurse did Warm it and put a bit of Bread into it and drank up a good draught of it and filled it up again afterward with other drink in which she had steeped some of that Powder all night and gave it to the old Mistriss to drink Here is a Consession Harmonical with that she made formerly she varied nothing from first to last in it So that as the Serpent drew in Eve in like manner did this wicked Nurse beguile this poor Maid into the transgression ON Wednesday the 29. of March they left Exon and were brought on Horseback to Plymouth in order to their execution At the Bridg end as they were coming out of the City that vile Woman was heard to lay unto the Hangman boastingly That she had known many Men in her life and used several other obscene expressions that I will not soil my Paper nor make my Reader blush at the Relation of them In their journey the Girl was very pensive cared for little or no refreshment and at the last place where they baited being desired to take some sustenance she replied There was other work for her than to eat or drink she had a Soul to save would look wholly after that and no more care for her Body which should neither eat nor drink more in this world The Nurse was of a far different temper and deportment far from seriousness or thoughts of Death and Eternity The Executioner was her Husband and if he had not defiled her they are both abominably wronged Now they return again to Plymouth At their entrance they are attended by Thousands of People Persons of all Age and Quality ran to meet them They are gazed at as so many Monsters Every one passeth his censure on them some with bowels of pitty on the poor Girl scarce any one hath Charity for the Nurse They went from this Town with their sin and under guilt They return unto it with shame and sorrow and under wrath Being conducted unto their Chamber the Reverend and Learned Ministers of Plymouth Dr. Ashton Mr. Collings and Mr. Read visits them and discourse with them but the Throng of Spectators was so great that for the present much good could not be done by them Yet so strong a flame of divine love toward the Souls of these condemned wretches was kindled in the hearts of those grave Divines that they return again unto them after Ten and though late at night yet spent a considerable space of time in Religious conferences with them and muster up all their arguments to induce that obstinate sinner the Nurse to confess and forsake the Devil and to accept of Gods tender mercies But the flinty Rock will sooner gush out with Waters and the Adamant be broken to pieces by the Hammer than her unmoveable Soul utter forth one Syllable of guilt Heart-work is hard work None but the Divine and Omnipotent Arm can unlock it's Doors or break its Bars in pieces With the Maid they had no difficulty she owneth and confesseth all Her desires are for mercy at the hands of God acknowledging she deserved and expected none from Men. They conclude their charitable Visit with seeking God the Reverend Doctor praying most fervently for
and rests upon it and trusts unto it that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners Of whom she is chief Thou art willing that all should be saved Therefore thou art willing she should be saved also Thou hast put these words into her mouth and into our mouths for her That if Jesus Christ hath not merits enough to save her she and we also will be contented that she should be Damned for ever But Blessed be our God! The merits of our Saviour are Infinite Oh! Lord make application of them unto her poor Soul Oh! Take away for Christs sake all her sins Blot out her iniquities at a Cloud and her Transgressions as a thick Cloud Though her sins have abounded unto her Condemnation yet let thy grace much more infinitely more abound unto her justification Enter not into judgment with her Oh Lord Deliver her from blood guiltiness Oh God thou God of her salvation And her Tongue and our mouths shall sing aloud of Christs Righteousness and of thy Faithfulness Oh take away whatsoever may hinder the Communications of thy Love favor and salvation unto her Purge sin out of her Give a broken contrite and truly Peritent heart unto her She is Mourning for her sin and misery Oh wash her in the blood of the Lamb in that Fountain opined for sin and for Uncleannesses in the lavor of Regeneration Oh sanctifie and renew her by thy Holy Spirit Take away all the spots and blots of her sin Though she be defiled and deformed with innumerable and those the most abominable yet canst thou rense and cleanse her in a moment No unclean thing shall enter into thy Kingdom Without Holiness none can see the Lord. Now the Lord Sanctifie her throughout in her whole Soul Body and Spirit And though she hath been by the wiles of the Devil cheated of her life and is now to suffer Justly for her evil deeds give her to bear patiently the indignation of her God because she hath sinned against thee and to accept of the punishment of her iniquity Though she must burn in Temporal flames yet let her not burn in Everlasting flames Oh Let the streams of Christs blood quench out the flames of thy wrath Though she die in Earth Lord Save her from Hell Oh Give her Faith the Faith of Gods elect And the Lord strengthen her Faith Oh Confirm her hope Oh Give her to abound in hope through thy Holy Ghost given to her Oh Grant that Faith Hope and patience may have their perfect work in her Give in some token some pledge of thy good will unto her if it be thy good pleasure Oh revive support and comfort her drooping Spirits Though she be in the Valley and shaddow of death do not forsake her Oh do not forsake her Say unto her thou art her Salvation Tell her that after she hath suffered a little while she shall be with thy self in Heaven perfect with thee in Glory Say unto her as unto the Thief upon the Cross this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Oh keep off Satan from her He is never more busie â—han when thy poor Worms are weakest and least able to defend themselves from him Lord Jesu Fight for her against him Keep her pretious and immortal Soul from him Oh Be with her now in these her last agonies Give thy Holy Angels to wait upon her and in that very moment that her Soul shall go out of her Body let those Glorious Angels carry it into Abrahams bosome Into thy hands do we commend her Into thy hands doth she commit her Spirit Dear Jesu Save it For thou hast loved redeemed and died for it And now Lord though earth will loose a bloody Sinner yet let Heaven be augmented by one saint more O Look down from Heaven the Habitation of thy Holiness and Glory upon this numerous Assembly Oh let them not be idle Spectators of these dreadful Providences Oh That they may be Ordinances for this good for their Conversion and Reformation Oh That every Soul that is gazing here may smite upon his Breast and lament that Universal corruption which is in our nature and the woful effects of our sin Sin having once conceived bringeth forth death We have the root of the matter in us the very causes of those sins for which these Malefactors suffer had we the same temptations we might be Guilty of the like transgressions And were it not for the Cords and Curbs of thy Restraining Grace we should be in their Condition Blessed be God we are not 'T is thou only that hast made us to differ Oh That all Masters of Families Parents of Children would see that they in their own Persons and with their Families do serve the Lord Oh Let there be no ' Prayerless Families no uncatechized Children in this Place Look once more we pray thee with mercy upon this thy poor Creature She is very low very miserable yearn upon her with bowels of compassion and embrace her with arms of everlasting lave Be her God and her Guide unto death and her Saviour from everlasting death And all we beg in and for the sake of our dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who sits on the Right hand making intercession for her and for us Hear us for his sake and gratiously answer us and do abundantly for her and us beyond what we can ask or think To him with thy self Holy Father and Eternal Spirit be Everlasting Glory Dominion Praise and Thanksgiving Amen Prayer being ended I lifted up my hands over her and said Anne the Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his Face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon thee and give thee Peace And if thy Repentance be true and thy peace made with God and our Prayers heard as I hope they all are death wont be terrible unto thee Now Farewel Life welcome Death God will send his Holy Angels in a Fiery Chariot to Convey thy Soul into Heaven THis poor wretch weeping and wringing me by the hand Sir saith she I am never able to requite you for all your labor of love care and pains about the Salvation of my pretious Soul but the Lord. will I hope The Lord reward you The Lord recompense you for all these kindnesses I thank you with all my Heart And as I was departing from her she helpake me Sir pray intreat for me that I may not be put to too much torture I answered her in broken words and tears for few there refrained That I would do my utmost endeavor to prevent it And turning my self to the Gentlemen in Authority Gentlemen the English temper abhors Cruelty show same Bowels to this poor Creature I need not intreat it there was such a Clowd of grief sitting upon all their Faces and so much tenderness and companion that they would have done their utmost to have hindred it Two went to the Maid and
asked her what Faith and what Repentance were And one of them proceeded to instruct her in the nature of Faith that it was to take Christ as Lord and King and to submit unto all his Laws to be Governed by them and in particular to this of suffering the punishment inflicted on her for her sin At which putting them off with my Hand I replied Gentlemen do not trouble her 't is unseasonable now to Catechize her in Doctrinals she stands in need of some Soveraign Cordials to revive and support her drooping Spirit in these her last Agonies with death and conflicts with the Devil And Addressing my self once again unto her Anne said I fear not but cast thy self upon the everlasting mercies of God in the blood of Christ Jesus and thou shalt be saved Since thou must die die upon this that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom thou art chief And 't will be but a quarter of an hour and thou shalt be freed from all sins and torments Say Into thy hands I commit my Spirit Lord save it For thou hast died for it Lord Jesu thou Son of David have mercy upon me Oh Thou Lamb of God receive my Soul I left her expecting no answer The Rope is now drawn close unto her Neck and the Hangman would have set Fire unto the Fuâ—ze before she was strangled but some more charitable and tender-hearted cryed to him to take away the Block from under her Feet which having done she soon fell down and expired in a Trice And it was observable that all the skill and diligence of the Executioner and his Assistants could not make either Powder Wood or Fewel to take fire till she had been dead a Quarter of an hour as also that as soon as the fire was kindled the Wind which blew before in the back of the Nurse immediately shifted and drove the smoke full in her Face as if God had spoken to her The Smoke of my Fury and Flames of my Fiery Vengeance are now Riding upon the Wings of the Wind towards thee And now for Two hours the Nurse feeds her eyes and feasts her thoughts with the sad spectacle of this poor Maids burning The flames being well allayed several Ministers and worthy Gentlemen indeavor yet the Repentance Conversion and Saving of her Soul But All succeeds as formerly She denies her guilt pleads her Innocency accuseth Judg Jury Witnesses Country and all of her Murther that she is Murthered that they take away her Life unjustly Nay that they kill too she is with Child expects to be delivered about Midsummer What will you Murther one that is unborn And a great deal more of the like stuff That she was not with Child we heard evidenced upon Oath at her condemnation And a skilful Hand-Woman searching her but a night before her Execution could never discover any such thing Most probable the true ground of all her denials was a foolish hope of Life the Hangman as it is commonly noised having promised never to execute her Whatever familiarities had past between them Two in Jail I know not This is certain the Hangman brought the under Sheriff to terms just as they were leaving Plymouth and going to the place of Execution And the Girl being dispatched he ran away with the Halter under the Clifts and when he was brought back lay asleep at the Foot of the Gallows or at least pretended sleep and so deserted Execution Besides another Accident intervened which put a stop for a time and had it not been prudently and presently composed upon the place would have totally suspended for that day at least her Execution All these Circumstances jumping in one upon the other contributed to the strengthening of her Heart in the false hopes of Life For what she would have it was an easie matter to perswade her to believe and hope But at length she hath worn out all patience both of God and Man And the Halter is fastened to the Gibber and put about her Neck Now Ministers ply their work with her because she is upon the brink of Destruction and in view of Hell No sin she acknowledged no guilt as to the Fact for which she is condemned Indeed she confesseth She had been a Swearer Lier and Sabbath breaker but none others trouble her As to Money that her Brother stole and was in hers or her Husbands hands she now chargeth upon a dead Person having wronged her in her life the must mischief her at her death too No Bond nor Bill can she produce nothing under the Deceased's hand can she show for her having received it yet doth she charge Mr. W. to look that it be restored unto the right Owner Ministers however lament her deplorable condition especially since just as she is going out of the World she cryes Judg and Revenge my cause O Lord Which made this Relator tell her He now saw what he formerly feared viz. That God was departed from her that the Devil was already in her heart for he sat upon her tongue that troops of Devils were upon the Ladder by her all gaping for her and that within in a few moments they would have her wretched Soul into Hell with them and then and there she would be soon sensible of her madness in dying with a Lye in her Mouth and confess and mourn for her folly and madness in rejecting Heaven and Salvation but it would be too late and to no purpose For her condition whatever it might be here would infallibly be there unalterable and irreversible That she was going into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone there to be tormented for ever and ever and when she was in the midst of those Eternal torments she would remember that I had told her of it A Psalm was called and part of the Twenty fifth sung Never did I see but one in that heavy condition Whilst the people sing she cries and weeps bitterly the very terrors of death are upon her she cries as if her Heart would break Indeed her Soul was overwhelmed with unmeasurable horrors and fears she had no mind to die nor could she be vouchsafed Life What hopes could she have in her departure who never laid any sollid basis for good hopes during life The Psalm is now sung out and yet is she summoned to confess but it is as good speak to the stones or to the Deaf Adder that stops his ear she will never be charmed let the Charmers Charm never so wisely At last being demanded whether she would have any Prayers or any Person Pray for her she said yes and pointed to this Relator desiring him to perform that Office for her Who replied that he was most willing to serve and save her Soul But in as much as she made no Confession of her Crying sins of Murther and of her Theft and Uncleanness and other Villanies whereof me knew her selt Guilty he durst not take the name of God in vain tor
her sake Besides he should but tempt God to ask a pardon for her Who resolved never to take it upon Gods Terms In short if she would be yet ingenious and give Glory to God by adoring his Justice and shameing her self and renouncing her sin and the Devil there Was no person more willing to pray with her and pray for her than himself To which she making no reply Mr. R. the Minister conceived a pithy and pertinent Prayer lamenting the depravedness of our Nature the horribleness of Gods wrath the possibility of Salvation refused by desperate sinners and as we feared in particular by this Malefactor his dear Sister now ready to be turned over He petitioned that if it were not yet too late that God would give her Repentance and break her stony heart and cause her to glorifie him at the last by an ingenious and full Confession Prayer being ended she is once again asked whether she would confess But being obstinate in her refusals she prayed for her self in the words of the lords Prayer said the Creed and being yet exhorted to Remember the merciful nature of God who would save her as we yet hoped provided she would come unto his Terms of Confession and Repentance She tells us She cannot confess that whereof is not Guilty Being asked whether she could die in Charity with her Witnesses and Accusers She said I forgive all the World And a while after without any visible tokens of Religion Grace or Devotion without any observable preparedness or willingness for death by any of those many Divines that had painfully dealt with her or Christians that beheld her she was turned off the Ladder and went into that other World She went out like the Snuff of a Candle leaving a stench behind her And if it be asked what is become of her Soul I answer the Question is idle needless over-curious and unprofitable 't is not for saucy Creatures poor crawling Earth-worms such at our selves are to pry into the deep secrets of Gods Eternal Counsels nor to peep into the sacred Ark of his bottomless decrees These inscrutable purposes of God by reason of their inexplicable difficulties will amaze and puzle us nor can we ever possibly attain unto any infallible certainty or satisfaction concerning her I know the absolute and uncontroulable Soveraignty of Divine Grace and mercies and that God can come in if he please between the Bridge and Water the Cup and the Lip But who can inform or assure me that God did so to her She is gone unto her Judge hath undergone her Doom and if she be saved it is a Thousand mercies unto the World that the World neither doth nor can know it But did she not protest her Innocency to the very last I know she did and is she Innocent because she said so Dying persons are indeed to be credited But then they must be persons of credit and serious and if Condemned Malefactors such as are most Eminent and exemplary for their Repentance Can any one Man or Woman living that Converst with her from first to last from her Imprisonment to her Execution avow upon her knowledge that she saw so much as one poor token of a broken heart of a sincere Penitent in her Produce it and it shall be Thankfully accepted Had she been Innocent she could not have been so much concerned for life as she was I told her in ' Plymouth and Exon and she was told the same by a Reverend Divine that Innocency was a Wall of Brass it would carry a Person above the fear of Death make her to outbrave Death she could go triumphantly into the presence of the Eternal Judg and bless him that she was condemned unjustly Besides her Innocence as to this Fact would have ingaged her to a more curious and exact scrutiny into her life past to have found out the true cause of Gods anger in shortning her days and to a most holy life and religious preparation of her Soul for death during the whole time of her imprisonment None of which she had done unless looseness prophaneness and uncleanness must be expounded and taken for it Finally I lookt upon her as a desperate and Forelorne wretch and told her it was no new thing to find her such 'T is no new thing tor the worst of sinners to be desperate Were not Cain Saul Abimelech Achitophel and Judas desperate This Relator heard a man Condemned to be Hanged utter upon the Ladder these words Gentlemen I value not my life of a Rush I fear not death and without any more Ceremonies or ado and Soldiers are none of the most Religious He willfully leapt off of the Ladder at Crimble-passage Where had not others shown his body more mercy than he did hi own Soul he might have perisht everlastingly I know not whether she had as much Courage Sure I am Death never struck unto her Spirits till the Psalm was a Singing and it was a doleful Tune unto her Her heart was then up in her mouth If it were not broke with the sence of sin and near approaches of Divine wrath it was with the very horrors of death Others Sang she did but howl and yell Methought the expressions of her grief and vehemency of her passions raised strange resentments and compassions in the Spectators One and but one have I known in her condition a big and tall Fellow that upon the score of his strength could have affrighted the King of Terrors Yet after Sentence and for Burglary was he Sentenced unto death his heart failed him his Spirits sunk his Soul died within him All his Language and that too in groans and Floods of Tears with blubbered Cheeks and wringed hands was I shall die I shall die I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die Though I came to him into the Jail took him by the hand intreated him upon my knees not to be so much concerned for the loss of his Natural Life But to look after another a better Life after the life of his miserable Soul Yet no Arguments no motives could prevail upon him He was Deaf in that ear A stone might have heard and answered but this wretch would give none other answer than I shall die I shall die Woe is me I shall die I shall die The terrors of death like an opiate Medicine had quite stupified him that he could not listen unto the best Counsels for his Souls welfare But what and if this vile woman had been Guilty of some other Capital Crimes I know of the dead rue best must be spoken but then those dead persons should not be Impenitent Criminals It is no pleasure to me no pleasing task to Rake in Dunghils Would to God all Vices were Buried together with hers though under the Gibbet It were no difficult matter nay a man might with a wet Finger prove her Guilty of soul and frequent Adulteries of Debauching Young persons of prostituting her self in