THIS Divine Sentence in the Lips of the King, seems to be of the same Nature with that Law which was Established presently after the flood, Gen. ix. 6. Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed.

Since the Nature of man hath been corrup­ted by the Apostasy, persons have been capa­ble of all that is bad. Not only have they been filled with Hatred and Enmity to the blessed God, which hath broken out & shewn it self in their words and Actions and is Horri­ble to be thought upon, But they have been Exceeding Injurious to one another;

[Page 2] For this Reason Government hath been In­stituted and Laws have been provided, that Injuries may Either be prevented or redressed and Societies may be kept in tolerable peace and Order. For there would be no Living in any Safety, if there were no Restraints, laid up­on peoples Evil Inclinaions, If it were free for them, who are Viciously Disposed, to Act as they please, If there were none to call them to an Account, or put them to Shame in any thing, or punish them for what they do amiss.

As for Lesser Injuries which are done to our Neighbours, whither by Wronging them in their Estates, or Hurting them in their Re­putation, Depriving them of their Liberty, or Maiming their Bodies and the like, Recom­pence may be made them again, and the Laws take care about it; That it shall be done in Kind, or in Money, which in this sense may be also said, to Answer all things, as well as because it purchaseth for us all the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life

But when Life is Taken away, because that cannot be restored again to the person slain & it is univesally preferred above all Temporal good Things, Therefore it is fit and the Laws have provided, that Life shall go for Life, as a punishment for the Crime, That Evil doers should be made to suffer an Equal Disadvan­tage with that which they have brought upon Others, and also to be a Warning to all the [Page 3] standers by, that they may hear and fear and do no more so wickedly.

Doing Violence to the Blood of any person, is a phrase to Express the Slaying of another with Intention and Design and without a Cause;

Such an One must flee to the Pit, i. e. the Grave, He must be put to Death and buried out of sight, It may Intimate too, the hast and Dispatch that must be made in the Execu­tion, He must be reprieved no longer, than some valuable End may be served by it and particularly to give him time for repentance.

It seems to me, that this phrase, doth not so much Intimate, as some would Interpret it, that they who are guilty of Murder, will go about as Vagabonds & Fugitives (like Cain after the Slaughter of his brother) run into Soli­tudes, be perpetually haunted and affrighted with an Evil Conscience and be ready Ever & anon to lay Violent hands upon themselves, and that none should pity them, Comfort them or stay their hand from so Just an Exe­cution, if it were in their power;

But rather it shews what is fit to be Done by the Ministers of Justice, those publick Aven­gers of Blood, When Murder hath been Com­mitted, they should Straitway Enquire into it, Secure the person Suspected, bring him to his Trial as soon as may be and having sufficient proof of the Fact, Sentence the guilty person [Page 4] to dy the Death and see that Execution be done with all Convenient hast.

Let no man Stay him. Every one in their Place should Discountenance the Violence that hath been done and rise up as with a general Consent to testify against it, They should Contribute what is in their Power and lend an hand towards the bringing of such offenders unto Justice; If it were in their power to stop the prosecution, defeat the process or E­lude the Sentence, they must not do it; For such Offenders as these have forfeited their Claim to the protection of mankind and must now be driven from among men.

In the farther speaking to these words I shall Consider. First. That when persons have been guilty of Doing Violence to the blood of Others, too often there are Endeavours used, to screen them from the punishment which they have Justly Deserved. Secondly. That this is by no means fit to be done and people should be strictly Cautioned against it. Third­ly That Death is the Just punishment to be Inflicted upon such persons, who have been guilty of doing Violence to the blood of others.

I. We may Consider, That when persons have been guilty of doing Violence to the blood of Others, too often there are Endeavours used to Screen them from the punishment which they have Iustly deser­ved. This is supposed in the Text, Let no man [Page 5] stay him, that some may be Inclined to Inter­pose & prevent their fleeing to the pit, There are none so bad, but there will be some, to favour and shelter and rescue them from the punishment which they have deserved:

But before I proceed to the farther Conside­ration of this head, I shall premise two things to shew what is not faulty in such cases.

1. It is no fault to have Compassion upon such malefactors and minister to their Necessities and Comfort, during the Time they are permitted to Live. Common Humanity will bind us, not­withstanding the Just Indignation rising in our breasts, against the Odious crime that hath been Committed, to see that nothing be want­ing for the tolerable support of Life during their Confinement. If they should prove stub­born & hard hearted, these good Offices will indeed be done with so much less good-will;

But when they appear truly sensible of their fauls & humble under them, we may minister to them with readiness and Delight, we must feed them when they are Hungry, cloth them when they are Naked, see that they be not Exposed to the cold and not suffer them to want any thing that is for their Convenience;

It is true, they are not shut up in Prison there to be pampered & seasted, but Neither should they be unnecessarily pinch'd and exposed; Besides the publick allowance, there is room for private charity's to be Exercised, that [Page 6] they may not suffer more than needs must, during the time they are allowed to Live, and if they have given Evidence of their repen­tance and behaved themselves like Christians, whatever persons shall bestow upon them in the name of a Disciple and because they belong to Christ though it be but a cup of cold water only, Verily they shall not lose their reward.

2. Much less is it a fault, to Instruct, Counsel and Pray for them, and take what pains we can with them that they may be prepared for Death and find mercy with God, when they must be dispatched out of this world. For we may remember that no crimes whatever they be, do put poor Creatures out of the reach of Divine mercy, provided they may be made sensible of them and brought to a thorow repentance; Pains therefore should be taken with such people, if haply God will please to bless those Endeavours for the opening of their Eyes, that they may be brought to fly for refuge to lay hold of the hope that is set before them; That since they must quickly Die they may be prepared to die well and their spirits may be saved in the Day of the Lord;

Instructions should be given them from God's Word; The Odiousness & Evil Desert of their Sins should be shewed them, till they are brought heartily to bewail and repent of them; The way of Salvation by Jesus Christ should be set before them and they should be [Page 7] urged still to fall in therewith; and Prayers should be put up for them Night & Day.

These things premised, I proceed to Con­bder, that persons are too often faulty in Screening those who have done Violence to the [...]lood of others from the punishment which they have deserved; This has been attempted divers ways.

1. Sometimes by Suppressing the Truth, when they are called to give Testimony and Evidence of what they know in such cases. They know a great deal if they would but speak, They could give in a full & clear Evidence in the case. But sometimes it hath been seen that Wit­nesses have stifled and suppressed the truth in favour to them, that their Iniquity may not be brought to Light;

As there are false witnesses, who somtimes speak more than is true in Order to the Con­demning of the Innocent, So there are people who will not declare what they Know when they are called to it and put upon it, in Order to the Screening of the guilty. Or they will so soften their Testimony that there shall be no great force in it, chusing rather to derive some guilt to themselves, than that they should be made to flee to the pit, as they have justly Deserv'd. This may be attempted,

2. Somtimes by Endeavouring to plead them off, when the matter comes before the Cognizance of the Iudges.

[Page 8] There have been Advocates who have used their Eloquence & skill in a Mercenary & Un­worthy manner to blanch the foulest Actions and bring off clear such as have Justly De­served to die:

Not but that Advocates may be justly Assigned to Criminals to set their Case in its true light, to keep off that mischief which they have not Justly deserved and that they may not be too much born down in the heat of the prosecution.

But when they quite pervert things, Call evil good & put light for darkness, and by the colouring of words & arts of Sophistry they En­deavour to make that innocent or venial, which merits the utmost resentment, Now they may be said to use their Endeavour to Stay them, who by the Ordinance of Justice, should be fleing to the pit. This may be attempted,

3. Somtimes by giving in wrong Verdicts, after the Cause hath been heard, or accepting such Ver­dicts when they are brought in. This also hath been Known somtimes in the world; Verdicts have been given somtimes by favour, as well as somtimes by prejudice. When this last pre­vails, the poor Prisoner, though he hath amply clear'd himself & baffled by his Just replyes all the charges & accusations brought against him, yet hath been brought in guilty, and the Ver­dict hath been Accepted, because he was one that had fallen under a general Odium; So on the other hand, when the proofs have been [Page 9] Numerous and the Evidences full and Un­questionable, through favour he hath yet been Cleared and the Verdict Accepted.

Thus One that should have fled to the pit, hath been unjustly stopt. This hath been attempted,

4. Sometimes by gathering into parties & Defen­ding such Malefactors by strong hand, against those who were preparing to Call them to an account.

Jonathan's Case was indeed peculiar, when his Father told him that he should surely Die, And the people were in no fault when they Interposed & Delivered him out of his Hands, For the King had adjured the people rashly, Neither did Jonathan know of the Curse which had been pronounc'd. 1 Sam. xiv. 45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Ionathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this day.

But somtimes Numbers have gather'd round a great deal worse people, Tho' their Crimes were bloody and to the last Degree Infamous, Yet they have Interposed & Desended them, against the Demands of Justice and so they have Escaped the punishment which they de­served and such as should have fled to the pit, have been Unjustly stopt. This hath been attempted,

5. Somtimes by Assisting such Malefactors to make their Escape from Iustice and that whither before [Page 10] or after their being taken into Custody. They have clandestinely Conveyed them away, into other Governments, into forreign Countrys, where they have not been Known or their Crimes heard of, where no more Inquiry would be made after them, Or, if there were, it was presum'd that they would not be deliver'd up. Or they have kept them Concealed so long till there was no more Inquiry made after them, Or they have Disguised them to that degree, that they could not lightly be known, though they should be met with; They have taken off their Chains and even broken Open their Prisons to set them at Liberty; This they have thought to be a piece of Kindness and faithfulness to one that was in Extremity.

But really it was a faulty & Injurious Screen­ing of an Offender from Justice, an unworthy staying of them who should have fled unto the pit. In these and such like ways people are too often faulty, And this brings me to the Second particular.

II. I am to Consider, That this is by no means fit to be done and people should be strictly Cautioned against it.

So we read in the Text, Let no man stay him. No man, Let his Circumstances, relation or Temptations, be what they will, should lend an hand to so Evil a thing as this, Nothing will Vindicate or bear them out in this, Here we may consider the following particulars.

[Page 11] 1. Tho' they may be the Dearest friends or Nearest relations, Or their Lives may be ever so Necessary to persons, yet no Indirect or unjust Endeavours should be used to Screen Malefacters from the punish­ment which they have Deserved.

It is indeed a trying Case when some useful Servant and much more when a Child, or a Parent, or a Brother, or a Sister, or some dear Friend hath been less to fall into so odious a Crime as this; Nature will work; all the springs of tenderness will be touch'd; They would give all the world that it were otherwise, that they knew Nothing, That they were not ob­lig'd to speak, That their hands might not be upon them: But yet Justice the Honour of God, the safety of Society, should be dearer to them than the nearest Friend or the most in­timate Companion;

And tho' when they are called to tell their Story, it may well be suppos'd that their hearts will ake and throb and their utterance be al­most stopt by floods of tears, Yet no part of the truth should be willingly suppressed. Moses in the Law puts the Case very high with respect to the Enticers to Idolatry, which was then by the Lord made a Capital crime, & it will hold the same proportion with respect to any other Capital crime Deut. xiii. 6,—9. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entire thee secretly, saying, Let us go and [Page 12] serve other gods—, Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him, Neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, But thou shalt surely kill him, Thine hand shall b [...] fi [...]st upon him to put him to death and afterwards the hand of all the people It may well be expected that Natural Affection will greatly work at such a time and Interest will have a strong Influence, but neither should prevail against the honour of God, the rules of Justice and the safety of Society.

How much to the honour of Levi, is the Zeal & Impartiality of that tribe, mention'd by Mo­ses, when Idolatry had been committed & a pre­sent severe testimony was expected to be giv'n against it, in order to the preservation of the rest of the people. Deut xxxiii 9. Who said unto his fa­ther & unto his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own chil­dren: for they have observed thy word, & kept thy covenant.

2. Tho' they may be great & Considerable persons who are guilty and they, whose blood they have done Violence unto, may be but Comparatively mean. This should not be so considered as to stop a prosecution, or stifle a testimony, or favour or forward an Escape, A Barbarian is of the meanest Nation, a Servant is of the lowest rank, an Infant is of the most imperfect age, Yet even their blood is required by God and the Laws, when it hath been unjustly shed; Rich [Page 13] and great people are most Honoured, Masters over Servants and Parents over Children, may seem to have most power and authority (I say nothing now of Princes over Subjects, that being a curious Argument and which may need very Cautious handling) Yet even these may not be protected by their greatness, authority or pri­viledge, if they have done Violence to blood, If they have defaced the Image of God in which every man is made and destroyed his work­manship, they also must flee to the pit and none may stay them.

3. Tho' such Malefactors may be ready to bribe & pay well for their being thus Screened from the hand of Iustice. The Law of God is positive in that case. Numb. xxxv. 31. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death. Weal­thy persons would bribe high and be ready to give all the Substance of their house, all that they are worth in the world might they be permitted to Escape.

But such Crimes are not to be purged with offerings or Money, If Justice takes place, all the Substance of their houses will be contemned. Money that is said to answer all things, must do nothing here, The ministers of Justice must be as resolule, as he whom Solomon speaks of, whose bed had been abused. Prov. vi. 35. He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest con­tent though thou givest many gifts. Were this to [Page 14] have any Influence, poor people would be in an hard plight who have little or nothing to offer or buy off their punishment, while the rich might be in Capacity to Escape, But it is cer­tain that blood which hath been spilt can only be satisfied for by the blood of him that shed it. Once more,

4. Tho' the poor Malefactors may beg and plead hard and promise ever so good behaviour for the time to come. What moving Expressions do some­times come out of the mouths of poor people on such Occasions! With what affecting Lan­guage will they plead! With what Earnestness will they cry! They faint, They swoon away under their Dismal apprehensions; The Specta­tors are struck with concern; The Judges are melted into tears, Yet they must not be so mollified thereby as to neglect Justice; With tears in their Eyes they must pronounce the righteous Sentence and commend them to the mercy of God, who have forfeited all Claim to be suffered any longer among men; Oh, pi­teous case, when the cry for Mercy, Mercy must no longer be regarded! They must have Iudg­ment without mercy, who have shewed no mercy. They must be suffered no longer here in this Life and it will be well if they can so manage, as to find mercy in the Next.

No persons should stay the unhappy Male­factors from fleing to the pit, none should lend an helping hand to assist or favor their Escape.

[Page 15] (1) Because in so doing they bring guilt upon them­selves. This is the Language of the action; Such persons do practically and in effect say, These Malefactors have done well, They are innocent people & do not deserve to die; Now they that Iustify the wicked & condemn the Iust, are both of them an Abomination to the Lord; By such favour and countenance they do as it were, put themselves in the place of the Male­factors and Kill them who have been unjustly stain over again; If people were aware of this, they would surely have a care how they did thus load themselves with the guilt of blood. Our own Iniquities, certainly are not too little for us, that we should foolishly Venture to be par­takers of Other peoples sins. Why should any Contract an heavier load when they are already so much overborn? For this reason no person should Countenance & abet, Conceal or shelter them who have been guilty of such an Atro­cious Crime as this.

(2) Because thereby they Contribute to bring guilt upon the Land, to ripen it for & lay it open to divine Iudgments. As on the one hand the putting to Death them that are Innocent sadly Exposeth the places where it is done, So on the other hand, the suffering them to Escape, who by their Crimes have fitted themselves for such De­struction, it Defiles and brings guilt and lays a land open to God's Judgments. Numb. xxxv. 33, 34. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye [Page 16] are; for blood it defileth the land; and the land can­not be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it: Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. We all do, at least we should wish well to the Country in which we live, that it may be a land of peace, favoured from above and shined upon by the light of God's Countenance; Wherefore we should all be Cautious, that we do nothing of this nature to draw down God's Displeasure upon it.

We may Remember how heavy the hand of God upon Israel was, and that many Years after the fact was done, for the Innocent blood of the Gibeonites which King Saul in a warm fit of false Zeal for the Children of Israel, had shed; Not was the Lord atoned to the Land, till the blood of his posterity was shed for it, & no less than Seven of them hang'd up before the [...].

Wherefore, in a just regard to our Country we must be far from using any attempts to stay them who by the just Judgment of God upon them, for their sins should be fleing to the pit.

(3) To these things may be added, That if such Malefactors may be spared, there is no Security to be bad, but that they will act the same Vile part over again, upon other persons, upon the like or even lesser Temptations. Their having Escaped once will Imbolden them to repeat the same Crimes, with hopes of Impunity too, another time. Especially if they have past a tryal & by any [Page 17] Artifice or trick they have Come off clear; For now they may go about among men without fearing their being again call'd in Question by men for this fact Indeed if they have Escaped by flight or Concealment, such Malefactors are daily Dogg'd or haunted by an Evil Conscience. They start at their own shadow, Suspect every thing and are afraid of every one they meet; They are ready to use Cain's Language, as they are Troubled with the like Horror, Gen iv. 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth & from thy face shall I be hid, & I shall be a fugitive & a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

But where such Malefactors Escape in a Ju­dicial Process, tho' still they may have some racks & twinges of Conscience in their sober Intervals, Yet being Enabled thereby to con­verse with their Neighbours without fear, they will be hardned in sin and be apt to fall into new offences of the same Kind, especially when their former actions shall be cast into their teeth, as somtimes they will. This way, the sparing of such Criminals will also become a plague and mischief to mankind.

III. We may Consider, That Death is the Iust punishment of such persons who have been guilty of doing Violence to the blood of others. They must flee to the pit; They must be Dispatch'd out of the world in all convenient hast; There shou'd [Page 18] be no waiting till Death comes in the form of some Distemper or Accident & doth the work. We may not say of them as David did of Saul, in 1 Sam. xxvi. 10. As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle & perish. No, Violence they have used and with Violence they must be Dispatched out of the world, Here we may Consider two things.

1. The Lord our God in his blessed word hath all along appointed this to be the punishment for this Crimes. Immediately after the flood this Law was given, as was observed before. Gen ix. 6. Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed. The Earth had been filled with Violence before, So much Wickedness was committed, so much Cruelty had been acted that it was Ne­cessary it should be purged by a flood; It was not sufficient it seems for the Lord to set marks upon people that they might be known, poin­ted at and avoided, when they had done this wickedness, as well as secur'd against the aven­ger of blood, as was done upon Cain, and Lamech promiseth himself the like protection & secu­rity, when he had Imitated this his Ancestor in his sin, Gen iv. 23, 24. I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt, If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy & seven-fold. Now the Lord makes this Crime Ca­pital, if we have reason to think that it had not been so by any given Law before, Accordingly [Page 19] he puts it into his Judicial Law which he gave to the people of Israel. Exod xxi. 12. He that smiteth a man so that he die, shall surely he put to death. And it held in use, we see, till Solomon's time, as appears by the words of the Text. Nor is this Law abolished under the New Testament, as we find, 1 Tim. i. 9. The law is not made for a righteous man, but for—Mur­derers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for man-slayers.

2. In all humane Governments, this hath been agreed upon & settled, that Death should be the punishment for this Crime. They have found it necessary for the peace and safety of Societies to have such a Constitution and to put the Law in Execution, as occasions should offer, that they who wittingly & wilfully shed the blood of others, Except it be in their own Defence, in some lawful War, or as Improved so to do by Au­thority as Instruments and Executioners of Justice, Should, when the fact is proved upon them, be surely put to death.

Accordingly there is no Well-ordered Go­vernments in the world, where this Law and practise doth not obtain, Even Barbarous Na­tions have come into it; It is not peculiar to our Nation & Country, but this is the Order and manner throughout the whole World.

I proceed now to make some Improvement of what hath been spoken.

[Page 20] USE, I. Should no man stay any person, who hath done Violence to the blood of another from fleing to the pit, Learn we hence what a piteous Case such persons bring themselves into, who venture upon such acts of Violence. By this they have forfeited all respect and put themselves out of the pro­tection of the Laws and Justly lose the good-will of their Neighbours; No man must stand by them, Countenance or bolster them up in what they have done; All that may be done for them now, is to prepare them for Death; Nothing to save them from it.

Before this, they might have Expected com­mon protection, assistance and Countenance from all that were round about them; But after such a bloody action committed, Every one in their places are to rise up against them & bear their Testimony against the Violence that hath been done. They are to be look'd upon and treated as the Enemies of mankind & driven out of their Society in all convenient Hast; The Dearest friends they have in the world must so stop the current of their Affection to them, as not to Interpose between them and the fatal stroke; They may sigh and mourn over them and their Souls may weep in secret for the piteous plight they have bro't them­selves into; But they may not say a word or do an act that shall tend to prevent their flee­ing to the pit; None in the world with all their malice, could have bro't them into so sad [Page 21] and wretched a Condition as they have bro't themselves. Here let two things be consider'd.

1. It is not to be wondred at, that they who have been guilty of this Crime, tho' it may be kept a while Concealed from mankind, should be perpetually haun­ted by their own Consciences and made a Terror to themselves. Even Cain, who was secured from being slain, by the particular Care and order of God, after his bloody fact, went about as a fu­gitive & vagabond upon the Earth; So do Ma­lefactors of this kind, carry an heavy Load and burden about them, tho' no man as yet knows of the Evil which they have done, it is strong­ly Imprinted upon their own minds and they be not able to shake off the remembrance; Their Consciences terrify them, They are a­fraid of their own Shadows, Every little noise & Disturbance throws them into a fright and their extraordinary fears have somtimes Disco­ver'd them against their own wills & meaning.

Nor need we wonder at this, since all people are ready to rise up against them wherever they are Known; Yea & they naturally expect that the Judgments of God will follow them and bring them to some Disastrous End at length, tho' they may Escape for a Time; So the Barbarous people at Malta, when they saw the Viper fasten upon Paul's Hand, said among themselves, No Doubt this man is a Murderer, whom tho' he hath escaped the Sea, yet Vengeance suffereth not to live, Act. xxviii. 4.

[Page 22] 2. It may well be expected, that persons Convicted of this Crime, if they have any sense & Consideration left, when they come coolly to reflect, should be Ex­ceeding vile & Odious in their own Eyes. When they see with what abhorrence & general con­sent, mankind riseth up against them; How Neighbours, friends & Acquaintance, as well as Strangers conspire together and that without any prejudice, to bring them to Justice and none dare say a word for their being spar'd any longer, This must make them little, mean & Vile in their own Eyes too, when they think of it; Now surely whatever Pride, haughti­ness or Self-conceit they may have Indulg'd in times past, they must lay it aside for the future and their high-looks will be brought down.

From this Time, surely they will put their mouths in the Dust and cry out, Vnclean, un­clean; Unworthy, unworthy! One would think almost that after such an Odious fact proved upon them, the Light would be painful unto them & the days tedious till they were gotten Clear out of humane sight and had taken sanctuary in the grave, Till, their Sin being pardoned by the great Mercy of God, to which they fly, the memory of their horrid act may be bury'd with them in the Dust & by Length of time come to be more & more forgotten.

II. Should no man stay any person who hath done Violence to the blood of another, from fleing to the [Page 23] pit, this should be a Caution & Warning to all sorts of people to keep themselves clear from this Iniquity. Let no man take part with Evil-doers or lend an hand to obstruct publick Justice; Inconside­rate people may think perhaps that it is a good Office to relieve & rescue Calamitous persons, tho' they are suffering Iustly & receive no more than the Due reward of their deeds. But they will find themselves to be quite mistaken in their Computation; Whosoever are Instrumen­tal to save them who are guilty of Death and Convey them out of the reach of Justice, In the Day, when God shall make Inquisition for blood, it will be charged to their Score and they will have an heavy reckoning of it; They will then see that they have brought themselves to a fine pass by their misplaced Kindness;

Whatever pity, whatever good will any man may be inclin'd to shew to such kind of Malefactors, Let it be in other ways than this, In Instructing, advising & Counselling of them for the good of their Souls, praying for them, Encouraging them to fly to and hope in God's Mercy, And (when they have truly repented & thrown themselves at God's feet) in chear­ing and bearing them up against the fears of Death, Here they may worthily busie them­selves; This indeed is a good Office; But let them not Venture to put fond Notions into their heads, or form plots & projects for them how they may make their Escape from Justice, [Page 24] This would bring dreadful guilt upon them­selves, Neither would it be any Kindness in the long run to such Malefactors; Such Over-offi­cious people may justly fear a worse doom upon them than that which was once pronounced against Ahab, 1 King. XX. 42—Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to ut­ter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life.

III. Should no man stay any person, who hath done Violence to the blood of another, from fleing to the pit, however since the Occasion is awful and melan­choly it will behove all persons to behave in a proper and becoming manner. Death when it reacheth any by the hand of God, whither it be brought on by some Distemper or by some Accident, is an affecting thing to the Spectators & it should serve to make them grave, serious & Composed, If it happens to any that are near us, whom we are acquainted with or related to, we can scarce look on with Dry Eyes or without throbbing hearts; They must have divested themselves very much of humane Nature who are not greatly moved on such an Occasion:

But when any are found Slain by the hand of Violence, this raiseth grief, Indignation & Horror in the minds of those who flock together upon the occasion and with one Voice they Enquire, Who hath been so wicked as to do [...]?

When the matter remain'd uncertain & the Criminal could not be found out, Expiations [Page 25] were appointed by the Law of Moses and In­tercessions were to be made that God would not Impute Innocent blood to them, by the people of such places as were found nearest to the per­son slain, as you may see, Deut. xxi. 1—9. In like manner, it wou'd be proper in our days that fervent prayers & Supplications of this kind, should be made upon such an Incident as this.

When the Murderer is found out, Convicted, Condemned and Execution is to be done, what more melancholy sight can there scarce be in this world? People Crowd to the Tryal with Eager hast, They attend the Process with A­king hearts; They gaze upon the poor Crimi­nals after Condemnation, observing wistly what Sense they have of the grievous fault which they have Committed, If they see them Hum­ble, penitent and sinking under the weight of it, their Compassions work towards them: But if they are hardened and obstinate and Stupid, they have little pity to throw away upon such abandoned Creatures. When the Day of Ex­ecution comes, then, Multitudes, Multitudes flock together; And Oh! that it might be to learn Wisdom, that they might hear & Fear & none of them ever Venture any more to do so wickedly, so Presumptuously. Deut. xvii. 13. And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously. To the same purpose we read, Deut xiii. 11.

Such a sad Spectacle is before us this Day; such an one as we never yet had in this County [Page 26] since it was first Settled; A poor Woman is to be Dispatched out of this world, for the Murder of her Spurious Child; The Day hath been fixed, The Time is now Come and Execu­tion must be Done. Wherefore I would now Address my self,

1. To the Congregation now gathered together in greater Numbers on this Occasion. You have this Day a moving sight before your Eyes, of One fleing to the pit and none may stay her, Because she hath been wicked Overmuch, she is now to die be­fore her Time, Eccl vii. 17. And here I shall offer these following particulars.

(1) Let us now think with Our selves what reason we all have to bless God, that we have not been left to fall into the like Crimes. Our Hearts also are bad Enough, and what is there so Vile that we are not capable of Committing, if God should leave us to our selves; Let none of us bless our selves too much, and say, It was Impossible for us to have done as she hath done; If any of us should find such thoughts as these rising in us and we should pretend to very much Innocency & Integrity of heart, we may Imagine the Lord speaking to us, as once he did to Abimelech in another case. Gen. xx. 6—I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, for I also witheld thee from sinning against me. If God should take off his restraining grace and think it proper to let us see what is in our Hearts, we should soon do as bad or worse than she hath done; We had [Page 27] need to pray that God would keep a Check, a Bridle still upon us; Instead of triumphing over poor Offenders, who have indeed done very Criminal things, Let us bless God that we are not in their places. For we have that within us which would have prompted us to the like had not God graciously restrained us.

(2) Let every one now he Humbled before God, for all approaches they have at any time made to­wards this Crime. It may be you have not actu­ally done Violence to the blood of any person in the world, But let persons take a view of their thoughts and their wishes: These may have been bloody Enough. When persons Displeased you, when they have seemed to stand in your way When by Living still they have kept you longer out of those Possessions which you Earnestly Crav'd after, when to your thinking, they only did mischief while they lived, have You not too often stood wishing & waiting for their Death, grudging iem their Health, their Friends & other advantages which God was pleas'd to bless them with and continue to them for a considerable time, And this notwithstanding they were Va­luable persons, nearly related, had formerly been kind and in short had Deserved no such Usage at Your hands; The Psalmist tells us of such people in his day, who said, Psal. xli. 5.— When shall he die & his name perish? Some persons, as if they had been the Sovereign Arbiters of Life & Death, have taken it upon them in their [Page 28] minds to dispose of Others and have thought the time long that they were suffered to Live; Could men have look'd into their hearts as God Can & Doth, they might have seen wild work there a doing, These & those Stript & reduced, mortified & Disabled & several dispatch'd out of the way, upon no desert or provocation; Let Every one now be humbled before God, for this mischievous kind of wishing, this unruly work­ing of their tho'ts, as far as they can find they have been guilty; Tho' Only God & our own Consciences have been privy thereto and those who are about us suspect no such thing by us, Yet it is Enough for our Conviction that God knoweth our hearts and this is a trespass against the Sixth Commandment. Surely we ought to with well to Every one that is about us and if any of them behave themselves ill or are indeed worthy to die, we should leave them to God, who will take his time to deal with them & call them to an account; For he hath said, Vengeance is his and he will repay it. Wherefore let none harbour the least ill-will against any in their hearts, Nay let them take heed that they do not by any unworthy Carriage, grieve the hearts of any whom it is their Duty to love, honour and please, lest they bring down their heads with Sorrow to the grave.

(3) Let Every one be Warned by this Example to take heed to themselves and beware of Every thing that may tend to pave the way to this Crime. Let [Page 29] all be Warned against a Loose and Disorderly way of Living, lest God be provoked to give them up to their Own hearts Lusts & they fall into Ca­pital Offences; And, Oh! that Parents and Masters would be Intreated to look well to the Education of Children & Servants, to train them up in the way wherein they should go, For altho' sometimes it happens that they who have had a good Education & been kept under a strict Disci­pline, do yet break loose and fall into Scandalous & Even Capital Crimes, through their not taking heed to the Instructions that have been given them, Yet little better can be Expected, if Su­periors are altogether Negligent, If they wink at their Crimes and much more if they Enco [...] ­rage and Improve them to do wicked Actions, This is to bring them up to Ruin; Sinners begin with Lesser Crimes and then they grow worse & worse, When once they are set Out in an ill-way, they know not to what Lengths they may go, It is like the passage down some steep Hill, It will be difficult stopping till they come to the bottom;

Beware of Disobedience to Parents or religions Masters, Of Sabbath-breaking, Mispence of precious Time and such like Evils, which they that come to Untimely Ends are wont to Warn the Sur­vivers against & tell them aloud that these were the things which have brought them to this.

But I would Especially Warn Persons against the Lusts of Vncleanness, those Sins against our own [Page 30] bodies and which are said peculiarly to defile the Temples of the Holy Ghost. Since they who have Committed folly of this Kind, are so often (besides this sad Instance before us) tempted, in Order to hide their Sin and Shame from the world, to add Murder to their former Offence.

Diverse have been found Out and brought to Condign Punishment for it both in this Land and Elsewhere, and what great Numbers have Escaped Discovery in this Life and are reserved to the final Judgment of God, he only Knows; Oh! Let Every one from this Time, learn, according to the Apostle's advice, to possess their Vessels in Sanctification & Honour.

(4) Let Every one be moved to pity & pray for this poor Criminal, that God would be pleased to grant her repentance and remission of Sins. That altho' Justice will not suffer her longer to live, Yet that she may find Mercy in God's sight and through the grace of Jesus Christ be made meet for the Inheritance among the Saints in Light, That her Repentance may be sincere and thorow and her heart right in the sight of God.

It will be no Difficulty to his grace to change and make a New Creature of her, Nor any Dishonour to his Name, to pardon her when she is truly penitent, So that there is no Bar lying in the way to discourage such our Applica­tion on her account. She is presently going to her Execution, Let me bespeak your good wishes & prayers for her, fervent & Devout as her Case [Page 31] requires; Were any of us in the like Circum­stances, what, we should desire of our Christian Friends, do ye even the same unto her.

Wherefore Come, not only to feed your Eyes with a Strange & unusual Spectacle or gratifie your Curiosity, but to be assisting as You may, to a person Just upon the Borders of Eternity with Your good wishes and prayers;

Let none be so Barbarous as to Insult her in this Day of her Calamity, But let Every ones Compassions be moved and as far as you have Interest in Heaven, Improve it Earnestly on her account, to draw down a Blessing upon her if possible, in her last Moments; Her Con­dition Cryes to you for this, Her Melancholy Appearance and beseeching Air may even Ex­tort it from You and tho' she cannot Recompence you, Yet if it be performed with a truly Christian spirit, the Lord will remember and Reward this Your Labour of Love.

2. I shall Address my self more particularly to the poor Malefactor that is now to Suffer. We cannot help being Concerned for You as our Fellow-Creature & the more since You are become our Fellow-Christian, Having with Humble Confession of your Sin & Serious Profession of your Faith, given up your self in Solemn Covenant to be the Lord's and at your Earnest Request have been Baptized in the Name of the Lord Iesus; as also Admitted to Sit down with us at the Table of the Lord.

[Page 32] This, tho' it may Contribute, through the Mercy of God to the Salvation of your Soul, if on Your part, it were done with Judgment and Sincerity, Yet it must not by any means free you from the Execution of the Sentence that hath Justly been passed upon You; We may say in your Case, as the Apostle doth in another that is not altogether unlike. Rom. viii. 10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Had you been left to have been Stupid & Obstinate and Insensible under this Sentence of Condem­nation, tho' your Case would have been far more Pityable, Yet in all probability you would have met with a great deal less Compassion. But now you have made a Profession of Religion, this Conciliates the Esteem and draws the Af­fection of the people of God towards You, as far as they have ground to hope & believe that you are Upright therein; Wherefore as to one that hath Own'd & Confessed our Common Lord and Master, Iesus Christ. I would now give these few words of parting Advice.

[1] Be sure you harbour no Grudge or Animosity a­gainst any person what ever. If Ever you took any thing hard that you have met with in the Course of your Tryal, Condemnation & Confinement, Yet now let your heart be made quite clean from all manner of Malignant Passions, as what will not be a little mischievous to one that is passing into Eternity & hastni [...]g to the Iudgment-Seat; Had [Page 33] any persons really wronged you in being In­strumental to bring on this Day of Suffering upon you, Yet it would be your Interest to let your resentment die, before you passed into the Other world, According to the bright Exam­ple of Your & Our blessed Lord and Master, who notwithstanding his being most Injuriously & Inhumanely treated, Yet still bore a good­will to Mankind and prays for his very Persecu­tors. Luk. xxiii. 34. Then said Iesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But when they, who in their several places, have appear'd against you, have kept a good Conscience and only have born witness to the Truth; when they must have brought guilt upon themselves, if they had not testified and acted as they did, When it was with pain and Anguish of heart that they performed this grievous part; Not the least resentment must remain in your mind, as Ever you would hope that the Repentance you have professed, should be Accepted in the sight of God; Wherefore, wish them all well, as you do the best Friends that you have in the world, Pray that all manner of Blessings, Temporal & Spiritual may remain upon them and their Posterity for Ever; Thus, Die, I do not say, forgiving (for what of this sort have you to forgive) but bearing an Universal good­will to all the World, So may you the better hope to be Accepted of your Father which is in Heaven.

[Page 34] [2] Go ever again and again with your work of Repentance while your time remains and beg of God to keep you from any fatal Mistake in that matter. Tho' you have had a long time to Examine it, during your Confinement and we would hope that you have not neglected this Necessary and Important work and it hath look'd well that you have been Sollicitous that you might not build upon a Sandy Foundation, Yet now think as you can whither you have proceeded right in that matter, Whither the ground of your Sor­row for Sin be chiefly the Shame, the Loss & the Punishment, that it hath brought you to, Or is likely farther to Expose you unto; Or whither it be, because thereby you have Disho­noured God, broken his Holy Laws & grieved his good Spirit, If this be the Consideration that sets you on Mourning, that is a token for good; Say unto the Lord, Oh, I have sinned a great Sin, My Life hath been filled up with folly & wickedness, It would be Just with thee to Spurn me from thy Presence, Yet graciously please to put away mine Iniquity that I may not Die; Beg of God to help you to Sorrow after a godly sort and give you that Repentance that is not to be repented of; To make your heart sound in his Statutes and so to give you a Sealed Pardon of all your Sins; To Deliver you from Blood-guilti­ness in particular, that your Tongue may sing aloud of his Righteousness & his Mercy, in the Eternal world, whither you are now immediately hastning.

[Page 35] [3] Cleave close to the Lord Iesus Christ whom you have Openly professed to have Chosen for your Lord and Portion, as to Him that is able to Save you from Eternal Death. He is the great Friend of the Children of Men, the Common Bene­factor who came to seek the welfare are of Mankind; This is that Name of the Lord, which is so strong a Tower, into which the Righteous all run, and where alone they are safe; This is he who Loved us & gave himself for us and washeth us from our Sins in his own Blood; Who remembred us in our Low Estate, Who ransomed us when we were Perishing and sough [...] us up when we were Lost and is able to Save to the Vttermost all that Come to God by him and hath Ordered this Gospel to be preached in all the World, to Per­sons of Every Age, in Every Place & of Every Condition, He that Believeth & is Baptized shall be Saved. He accounts it no Disparagement to him to Save Even the Greatest and Chiefest of Sinners that Come unto him by Faith, His grace will be so much the more Magnified & he means to be Admired at last in all them that do believe. Now therefore Exert your Faith to the Uttermost and fly for refuge to lay hold of the hope that is set before You, Put all your Concerns & Interests, the Choicest and Dearest of them into his Hands as the appointed Me­diator between God and man.

Trust in him and be not afraid, He hath never yet failed any that have put Confidence in him [Page 36] in the manner that he hath Directed, They have all said, that they Knew whom they had be­lieved and that he was able and faithful to keep that which they had Committed to him against that Day; Keep your hold of him, what ever hap­pens, It is best Dying at his feet, as in the posture of that Penitent, mentioned in the Gospel, who washed his feet with her flowing Tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

[4] Look well to your self when the hour of Suf­fering, that Critical Time, shall by & by Come on, that You be sure to glorify God and do all that is in your Power to promote his Fear and Honour among men. Let no Word drop from you, no Beha­viour be Indulged, which may reflect the least Dishonour upon his Name or Disgrace upon Religion; You are, now his Professed & Devoted Servant, and you must be sure to Iustify him as Righteous in all that is brought upon you; His Providence was wise & righteous that brought your Iniquity to Light and Kind [...] in Inspi­ring the hearts of your Judges to andulge you with so much Time; And if he hath Visited you also in your Prison, touched your Heart, Opened your Eyes and given You to see the Evil of Sin, the beauty of Holiness and the Ex­cellency of Jesus Christ, If he hath blessed the Instructions which have been given you, heard the Praerys that have been put up for you and brought you heartily to Close with the Offers of the Gospel, Oh, what a Mercy is this! [Page 37] Better far, than to have been Left in the pos­session of Liberty, to have gone on in your courses of Sin and Vanity & to have filled up the measure of your Iniquity & Dyed in your Sins:

Give him the glory of all the good you have reason to hope hath been done for you and Warn the Survivers that they do not Venture to offend after your Example and Sin against the Lord;

And when presently you must pass along the Do­lorous way and arrive at the Fatal Tree, may the Lord please powerfully to Support you against the Fear and under the Shame of this Death; That as a poor unhappy Sinner you may patiently Submit to the Iustice of this Sentence, to take away by your Death the guilt of Blood from the Land; Yet as a Believer, you may look beyond the grave to an happy Immortality, hoping in His Mercy, who can abundantly Pardon and Committing your Departing Soul into his Fatherly hands.

I shall Conclude with the Instance of a Male­factor, mention'd in the Gospel, suffering for his Faults and that indeed Iustly, who in that hour had repentance unto Life, graciously given unto him; He turns his Dying Eyes to our blessed Saviour, as he hung by his side & saith, Lord, Remember me when thou Comest into thy Kingdom. So do you say, Lord, Remember me now thou art in thy Kingdom. And, Oh! May he please mercifully to say to You, as then unto him; This Day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.