The convict's visitor: or, Penitential offices, (in the antient way of liturgy) consisting of prayers, lessons, and meditations; with suitable devotions before, and at the time of execution. : [Four lines from Luke] / By William Smith, A.M. Rector of Trinity Church in Newport.

The convict's visitor: or, Penitential offices, (in the antient way of liturgy) consisting of prayers, lessons, and meditations; with suitable devotions before, and at the time of execution. : [Four lines from Luke] / By William Smith, A.M. Rector of Trinity Church in Newport.

Table of contents

Title page

PREFACE.

PENITENTIAL OFFICES.

OFFICE FIRST.

CONFESSION.

ABSOLUTION.

THE LESSON.

BENEDICTION.

OFFICE SECOND, which may be used daily during the last seven days of the convict's life.

THE EXHORTATION.

THE ABSOLUTION.

§

The Lesson for the first day.

The Lesson for the second day.

The Lesson for the third day.

The Lesson for the fourth day.

The Lesson for the fifth day.

The Lesson for the sixth day.

The Lesson for the seventh or last day.

The Lesson for the morning of the execution.

After reading the lesson for the day, may be used the following supplication.

Or the following short Litany may be used.

Let us pray.

BENEDICTION.

OFFICE THIRD, which may be used in behalf of any who are found guilty of murder.

THE EXHORTATION.

CONFESSION.

ABSOLUTION.

THE LESSON.

BENEDICTION.

A PRAYER.

MEDITATIONS, which the convict may use whensoever he finds opportunity.

MEDITATION I.

MEDITATION II.

MEDITATION III.

MEDITATION IV.

MEDITATION V.

DEVOTIONS, suitable for the morning of, and immediately before the execution.

(In the prison.)

(At leaving the prison.)

The convict arrived at the place of execution, and ready to ascend the steps—

The convict on the scaffold—

Giving the signal—

§

§

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THE CONVICT'S VISITOR: OR, PENITENTIAL OFFICES, (IN THE ANTIENT WAY OF LITURGY) CONSISTING OF PRAYERS, LESSONS, AND MEDITATIONS; WITH SUITABLE DEVOTIONS BEFORE, AND AT THE TIME OF EXECUTION.

Penitent,—LORD, remember me when thou comest into thy KINGDOM!

JESUS said unto him, "To-day shalt thou be with me in PARADISE.

(St. Luke, 23.42, 43.)

BY WILLIAM SMITH, A. M. RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH IN NEWPORT.

NEWPORT (RHODE-ISLAND) PRINTED BY PETER EDES.

PREFACE.

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"IF there is joy in the presence of the angels of GOD, over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, who need no repentance;"—and "if the SON of MAN came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," certainly it is the incumbent duty of those to whom he hath committed the "DOCTRINE of remission of sins," and "reconciliation to GOD," not only to "go through the cities and villages," preaching PEACE by JESUS CHRIST;" but also, to "visit the prison-house," even the dungeon, and to communicate the "glad tidings of salvation" to those "who sit under the shadow of death."

To turn such "as are fast bound in affliction and iron, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto GOD, that they may have a portion among those who are sanctified through the blood of Jesus, is the design of the following manual, in conjunction with the morning and evening, and other holy offices of the church.

Though there is in the hands of the public, a great variety of devotional tracts, yet [Page]few or none of them (so far as the author knows) are professedly written for unfortunate victims of justice: therefore, to render the matter and the manner of the following devotions, unexceptionable in the eyes of Christians, and promotive of faith and repentance in convicts, they are written after the manner of the antient liturgies; and the matter is principally selected from the word of GOD.

N. B. As the following devotions are most likely to fall into the hands of the benevolent and humane, "who weep with those that weep, and mourn with those that mourn;" the author has to request their candor for any inaccuracies they may discover, either in the composition or printing, as they were carried directly from the pen to the press; in order that, with all possible expedition, they might be put into the hands of James Williams and Thomas Mount, now lying under sentence of death in the gaol of Newport.

Newport, Wednesday, in Passion week, 1791.

PENITENTIAL OFFICES.

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OFFICE FIRST.

Minister.

THE Lord have mercy upon you.

Convict.

Amen. Have mercy, O Christ.

Min.

Ye who are dead to the law, and under the sentence of condemnation, listen to the voice of your gracious and compassionate GOD calling you to repentance, in order that ye may find mercy in the day of judgment. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of GOD—If ye do sincerely repent, confess and forsake your sins, "tho' they were as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; tho' your wickednesses have gone over your heads, they shall not be your destruction!" Therefore—Be afflicted—mourn, and weep,—humble yourselves in the sight of GOD. Turn unto the Lord, with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. For, the sacrifices of GOD are a broken spirit—a [Page]broken and a contrite heart, O GOD, thou wilt not despise. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy. Ye shall remember your ways, and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for all your evils that ye have committed. If ye confess your sins, GOD is faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Cast away from you all your transgressions (by confessing them freely and without reserve) and turn yourselves from all your transgressions (by sincere repentance) so iniquity shall not be your ruin. "The LAW is made for the lawless and disobedient. By the LAW is the knowledge of SIN; and SIN is the transgression of the LAW. The CIVIL MAGISTRATE beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the MINISTER of GOD, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."

Let us pray.

O most merciful and gracious GOD, who in the midst of deserved punishment, art wont to remember undeserved mercy;—in [Page]thy wise providence thou hast compassed these thy creatures, our brethren, and taken them in the net of their own wickedness; by the power of thy grace, so convince them of justice, temperance, and judgment to come, that they may tremble at the sight of their guilt, and fearfully cry out, "what shall I do to be saved, and escape the wrath to come?"—Grant them repentance unto life, that when the sword of temporal justice shall have received the drink-offering of their blood,—the blood of Jesus, which was shed to wash away the guilt of every penitent, may purify them, both in soul, body and spirit, and qualify them for a portion in the paradise of GOD. Hear us, O merciful GOD, for the sake of thine adorable Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Min.

O Lord, turn them from darkness to light;

Con.

And from the power of Satan unto GOD.

Min.

From blindness of mind, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word and commandments,

Con.

Good Lord deliver us.

Min.

Increase their faith in the divine promises—alarm their minds with a view [Page]of thy terrors—and help them to take their station at the foot of their Saviour's cross, that the blood of Jesus may save them from the angel of eternal death.

Con.

I bow to receive thy judgments, as well as thy mercies, O my gracious, but offended GOD.

Min.

Victims of justice, in the words of Joshua to Achan, I further address you—

Give glory to the GOD of Israel, and make your confession—meekly kneeling and saying after me.

The convicts prostrate, or kneeling, and repeating after the minister, each one for himself shall say with an audible voice, the following

CONFESSION.

Prostrate, on this earth which is soon to receive my wretched and sinful body, and "spreading out my hands unto the Lord my GOD, I thus make my confession," and humbly beseech my good, but highly offended GOD, to have mercy upon me, a miserable sinner, thro' the death and intercession of JESUS my blessed and adorable SAVIOUR; who was in the days of his sojourning on this earth, numbered with malefactors— [Page]died on the cross as one, and on the cross promised pardon to the penitent thief, under that most expressive form "this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."—Grant, O Lord, my repentance may be sincere as his was, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, remember me, when thou comest to judge the world! O my God! I am ashamed and blush, to lift up my face unto thee; for mine iniquities are increased over mine head, my trespass is grown up into the heavens. "My iniquities have bound me with iron," and delivered me into the hands of inexorable justice, which hath condemned me to die "an accursed and ignominious death." Behold I am before thee, O my offended Father, covered all over with my trespasses, those garments of condemnation! I bow down, meekly to acknowledge that thy judgments are altogether right, and that in very faithfulness and mercy hast thou stopt me in my mad career of guilt, and put me in the dungeon under the shadow of death. Behold I am vile: what shall I answer thee? I will acknowledge my sin unto thee (O my Heavenly Father, if so vile, so grievously an offending wretch may presume [Page]to address thee by that endearing name) I will confess my transgressions unto my Lord GOD, that thou mayest forgive the iniquity of my sins. I will declare mine imquity, I will be sorry for my sins. My transgressions are multiplied before thee, and my sins testify against me. Thou, O God, art wroth, for I have sinned in thought, word, and deed against thy holy commandments, and against the laws of civil society. Under the scorching heart of thy displeasure, I fade as a leaf; my iniquities, like the wind, have taken me away from the dwellings of men. But, O Lord, thou art my Father; I am the clay, and thou the potter—I am the work of thy hands—thy blessed and adorable Son died for me a violent death: O may the purifying stream of his blood flow upon me, to cleanse me from my guilty stains! I am made after thy image, O adorable Creator! but, alas! how have I defaced and abused thy likeness—forfeited all claim to my heavenly original—done despite to the spirit of grace, and trampled under foot the price of human redemption!—After this, by what name of connection shall I, wretched man that I am! address thee? But because thy [Page]mercy is over all thy other works. I will hope, I will lean upon that mercy, I will run from the wrath to come, to hide myself under the shadow of thy mercy-seat.—I will flee to my offended, but compassionate GOD, and will borrow the words of the penitent prodigal, and say—Father! I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight—end am no more worthy to be called thy son!—But, O Father, wilt thou receive me? Is thy Son's blood able to atone for my guilt? Is not thy mercy gone for ever?—I know that though mercy standeth continually before thy face, yet justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne! Justly hast thou delivered me over to the tormentors, that I should pay the forfeiture of my life! and therefore, O my GOD! horror taketh hold of me,—my bowels are turned within me!—O that my head were waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears, that I might weep day and night, to wash away the pollutions of my guilty soul and body! My soul shall weep in secret, for my folly—my vanity—my ignorance—my neglect of thy sabbaths and sacraments—for the contempt I have shewn to thy holy word and commandments—for my lying, stealing, and [Page] deceitfulness—for having indulged my depraved nature in every evil thing; for commission of the sins I was warned against, as well as for omission of what I ought to have done!—Woe is me! the crown is fallen from my head! I abhor myself in dust and ashes! O hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my misdees—grant me the comfort of thy salvation, and redeem me from everlasting death! Most merciful, most pitiful, most gracious GOD! hear in heaven the seat of thy holiness, hear my confession and my complaint, and pardon me, for the sake of thy Christ, who was named JESUS, because he saves his people from their sins.—Unto my GOD, I desire to offer up, whether in life or death, all submission, adoration, and thanks, through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

The minister, lifting up his hands over the convicts, shall say the following.

ABSOLUTION.

The almighty and gracious GOD, who to the impenitent is a consuming fire; but is full of mercy and forgiveness to those who turn to him by faith and repentance, [Page]have mercy upon you; grant you repentance unto life, a stedfast faith in your blessed Saviour, and charity towards all men.—GOD deliver you from the guilt and punishment due to your sins, in the day of judgment, and receive you into everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our blessed advocate and redeemer. Amen.

Min.

O Lord, hear our prayer,

Con.

And let our sighing be heard in thy presence.

Min. and Con.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

THE LESSON.

Our GOD is a consuming fire: clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne: a fire goeth before him, and burneth up [Page]his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world; the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal, as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay—fury to his adversaries, and recompence to his enemies. And none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what dost thou. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. His eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings: there is no darkness, nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. There is no creature that is not manifest in his sight. Now, consider this, ye that forget GOD, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you.

Con.

Blessed be thou, O GOD, for thus giving me warning,—grant me now at the eleventh hour, to spend the remainder of my day according to thy word.

Min.

The GOD of Jacob hear thy petition—the strength of Israel be thy guide.

Con.

Amen.

[Page]Min.

Be favorable, O Lord, be favorable to these persons under the sentence of death: be merciful to them turning to thee in weeping, fasting, and prawing. For thou art a merciful GOD, full of compassion, long-suffering, and of great pity. Thou hatest nothing that thou hast made; and dost forgiv the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in these persons, new and contrite hearts, that they worthily lamenting their sins, and acknowledging their wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the GOD of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Con.

Amen.

Min.

O Saviour of the world, who by thy cross and precious blood, hast redeemed us—save us, and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord!

The minister lifting up his hands over the beads of the convicts, kneeling or fallen prosstrate, shall say this

BENEDICTION.

Unto GOD'S gracious mercy and protection I commit thee: the Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his [Page]face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace both now and evermore.

Min.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

Con.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Min.

GOD be merciful to you

Con.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

OFFICE SECOND, which may be used daily during the last seven days of the convict's life.

Min.

In the name of the glorious and undivided Trinity,—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one GOD.

Con.

Amen. Glory be to GOD now and evermore.

Min.

As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them who fear him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are but dust. I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not [Page]keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that ye have transgressed against the Lord your GOD. When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. I will arise, and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

THE EXHORTATION.

Dearly beloved,—your iniquities have turned the hand of justice against you; they have whetted the sword of vengeance: GOD hath beset you before and behind, and shut you up in a place of darkness. A violent death is soon to remove you from the land of the living, and from the place of hope: Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation! "Confess and bewail your manifold offences, and so repent you truly of your sins, as you tender the eternal salvation of your souls. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord! for he is of purer eyes than [Page]to behold iniquity: sinners cannot dwell with him, neither can the ungodly stand in his sight."—What then shall ye do to be saved, and escape the dreadful sentence of the second death? "Repent, and believe in the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and ye shall be saved." "Knowing the terrors of the LORD," let me persuade you, brethren, to prepare for that tremendous day, when the ALMIGHTY GOD shall descend with the voice of ten thousand thunders, and thousand times ten thousands of angels, to command the sun into darkness, the moon into blood, the stars from their orbits, and the dead from their graves! All hearts shall quake; all faces shall gather paleness, when Jehovah shall visit the wickedness of such as dwell upon this earth; when he shall scatter hail, fire, and brimstone, upon the impenitent and the ungodly! O repent in time, and seek an interest in the atonement of JESUS, whilst the day of intercession lasteth. O strive— wrestle with GOD, as Jacob wrestled of old with the ANGEL of the covenant, for the blessing: plead with GOD, to have mercy upon you, for the sake of the world's Redeemer; "for he is merciful and gracious, [Page]and will not for ever turn away his face from you, if ye return to him. As high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him!" Grieve vehemently, that ye have so long despised the goodness, patience, and long-suffering, of GOD, when he called you to repentance, by so many mercies and forbearances; as also by the apprehensions of, and escapes from justice, during a long series of wickedness. Smite upon your breasts, and say, "GOD be merciful to me, a sinner!" and lament with the deepest contrition and heart-rending woe, that ye have been so long led captive by the Devil, the enemy of GOD and MAN; that ye have hated knowledge, that ye have abhorred the counsel of GOD, and despised his correction, and repeated admonitions to amend! No longer abuse that goodness: without delay return to him, who hath promised to receive all true penitents. Although ye have sinned, sinned grievously both against GOD and MAN, yet, upon your repentance, and advocate will stand up to plead your cause "even JESUS CHRIST the righteous, who is the propitiation for your sins. Finally, brethren, number your days so as to apply [Page]your hearts to that wisdom which maketh wise unto eternal salvation! and therefore, examine well your consciences, satisfy all the demands of justice, disclose every part of the scene of iniquity ye have been engaged, in, sincerely forgive those who first seduced you into the ways of unrighteousness, and pray to GOD to have mercy upon them and to reclaim them from the error of their way; forgive and pray for all who have any way been instrumental in bringing you under the sword of justice; bless your judges, and pray that GOD may always render their ministry effectual, for the suppression of wickedness and vice, and the maintenance of religion and virtue, and that they may be always endued with grace, wisdom and understanding, to judge according to truth and justice. Now, and in your last moments, pray for CHRIST'S universal church, to which ye profess to belong; and in the communion of which ye desire to die; that every member of the same may live in unity and charity: pray for the protection and blessing of GOD upon the land of your pilgrimage, and upon all the people that dwell therein; so that all who have "sold themselves to work [Page]wickedness," as ye in times past have done, when they hear of your repentance for your crimes, and of your death to appease the demands of justice; warned by your dreadful end, and encouraged by the example of your contrition, they may, by a seasonable reformation of heart and manners, turn from the error of their ways and live. For GOD desireth not the death of a sinner, nor taketh he any pleasure in the destruction of the ungodly: he delighteth to be glorified in, and to glorify his saints, and proclaimeth, that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons, who need no repentance. Meditate on these things, brethren, and may GOD direct and guide your feet into the way of peace, and have mercy upon you, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST, our only redeemer and advocate; to whom, with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, be all honor and glory, now and evermore. Amen.

Min.

Present your humble confession to the Lord.

Con.

I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

[Page] The following Confession, to be said by the convicts, after the minister, all kneeling.

Almighty and most merciful Father; we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep; we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done: and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou us, O GOD, who confess our faults; restore thou us who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind, in CHRIST JESUS, our Lord. And grant, O most merciful FATHER, for his sake, that we (during our appointed time in the body) may live a godly, righteous and sober life; to the glory of thy holy name.

Con.

Amen.

THE ABSOLUTION.

Min.

Almighty GOD, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy, hath promised forgiveness of sins, to all those who, [Page]with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him; have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Min. and Con.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Min.

Glory be to GOD on high,

Con.

Peace on earth, and good-will to the sons of men.

The convicts repeating after the minisster.

I will cry unto GOD with my voice; even unto GOD will I cry with my voice, and he shall hearken unto me. When I am in heaviness, I will think upon GOD; when my heart is vexed, I will complain. Will the Lord absent himself for ever! and will he be no more entreated? Is his [Page]mercy clean gone for ever? and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore Hath GOD forgotten to be gracious? and will he shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure? I am become as it were a monster unto many; but my sure trust is in thee. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but GOD is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Glory be to my merciful and gracious GOD now and evermore. Amen.

Of the seven following lessons, one may be used every day during the last seven days of the convict's life, either with this office, or with the penitential offices and collects in the prayer book, as the circumstances of the penitent's case may require.

§

The Lesson for the first day.

Jesus said.—"Take heed and beware of covetousness." Godliness is great riches, if a man be content with that which he hath; for we brought nothing into the world, neither may we carry any thing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith [Page]be content. But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the saith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Therefore, let him that stole, steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands, the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. The thoughts of the diligent tend to plenteousness; but the robbery of the wicked shall destroy them. Speak every man truth to his neighbor, and love no false oath. Know this, that the LAW is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murtherers of mothers, for manslayers, for whore-mongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for manstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and whatever else there is contrary to sound doctrine. Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with [Page]mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of GOD. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false-witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man: because of these things cometh the wrath of GOD upon the children of disobedience.

The Lesson for the second day.

No man can by any means redeem his brother nor give to GOD a ransom for him. Will the Lord thou be pleased with thousands of rams; or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression? the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of CHRIST, as of a lamb without spot, and without blemish. GOD so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only begotten SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In this was manifested the love of GOD towards us, because that GOD sent [Page]his only begotten SON into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved GOD, but that he loved us, and sent his SON to be the PROPITIATION for us. This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners. CHRIST being come, by his own BLOOD entered once into the HOLY PLACE, having obtained eternal redemption for us.—Wherefore—GOD willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for GOD to lie, WE might have a strong CONSOLATION who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the HOPE set before us. Blessed be GOD, who hath begotten us again unto a lively HOPE, by JESUS CHRIST.

The Lesson for the third day.

The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. The desire of all nations shall come. A VIRGIN shall conceive and bear a SON, and shall call his name IMMANUEL. [Page]The angel GABRIEL was sent from GOD unto a VIRGIN named MARY, of the house of DAVID, and said unto her, "Fear not MARY, for thou hast sound favor with GOD; and behold, thou shalt conceive, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. That HOLY BEING who shall be born of thee shall be called the "SON OF GOD." And when the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, MARY brought forth her first-born SON, and wrapped him in swadling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn! And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins. Unto us a CHILD is born, unto us a SON is given; his name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELLOR, the MIGHTY GOD, the EVERLASTING FATHER, the PRINCE of PEACE. In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD; and the WORD was made FLESH, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his GLORY, the GLORY as of the only begotten of the FATHER, full of GRACE and TRUTH.

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The Lesson for the fourth day.

John (the Baptish) seeing JESUS coming unto him, faith, behold the LAMB of GOD, who taketh away the sin of the world. JESUS being baptized, and praying, the heavens were opened, and the HOLY GHOST descended in a bodily shape like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, THOU ART MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. John Baptist bare record saying. "he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, UPON WHOM THOU SHALT SEE THE SPIRIT DESCENDING AND REMAINING, THE SAME IS HE WHO BAPTIZETH WITH THE HOLY GHOST." John sent two of his disciples unto JESUS, saying, "art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" JESUS said, "return and shew John these things which ye do HEAR and SEE: THE BLIND RECLIVE THEIR SIGHT, THE LAME WALK, THE DEAF HEAR, THE DEAD ARE RAISED UP, AND THE POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED UNTO THEM." The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I am come, not to call the righteous, but [Page]sinners to repentance. The Son of Man is come to SEEK and to SAVE that which was LOST. This is the Father's will, who hath sent me, that of all whom he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this BREAD he shall live for ever: the BREAD that I will give, is my FLESH, which I will GIVE for the LIFE of the world. Except ye eat the FLESH of the SON of MAN, and drink his BLOOD, ye have no LIFE in you. Whoso eateth my FLESH, and drinketh my BLOOD, hath eternal LIFE, and I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the SON of MAN be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And I, if I be LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH, will draw all men unto me. This spake JESUS, signifying what death he should die.

The Lesson for the fifth day.

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, [Page]he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations: the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him: he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to [Page]his own way: and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death: because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the [Page]transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The Lesson for the sixth day.

Caiphas the High Priest, said unto them, it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not; and thus spake he not of himself; but he prophesied that JESUS should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in ONE, the children of GOD that were scattered abroad. Afterwards, the chief priests and rulers of the Jews were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And Pilate gave sentence, that it should be as they required. And the soldiers crucified him! And sitting down, they watched him; and set up over his head his accusation, written THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS! Thus, Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree; and by being made a curse for us, redeemed us from the curse of the law: for it is written, curseth is every one that hangeth on a tree. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness [Page]over all the earth, until the ninth hour; the sun was darkned, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when JESUS had cried with a loud voice, "My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me? he said, FATHER INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. And with him they crucify TWO THIEVES; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. One of the thieves raised on JESUS, but the other rebuked him, saying, dost thou not fear GOD, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but THIS MAN hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto JESUS, LORD REMEMBER ME WHEN THOU COMEST INTO THY KINGDOM! And Jesus said unto him, THIS DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.

The Lesson for the seventh or last day.

And Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate, and begged the BODY of JESUS; and Pilate commanded the BODY to be delived. And when Joseph had taken the BODY, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and [Page]laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed. Then the chief priests and pharisees went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdelene and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the women entering into the sepulchre, saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, be not affrighted; ye seek JESUS of Nazareth, who was crucified; he is risen; he is not here. Why seek ye the living (HIM THAT LIVTEH) among the dead? Afterwards, the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where JESUS had appointed them. [Page]And JESUS came and spake unto them, saying, ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH.—Go ye therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen. And he said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behoved CHRIST to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that REPENTANCE and REMISSION OF SINS should be preached in his NAME, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are WITNESSES of these things. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and HE LIFTED UP HIS HANDS AND BLESSED THEM. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said,—"ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same JESUS who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so COME in like [Page]manner as ye have seen him GO into heaven." This man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of GOD; for by ONE OFFERING he hath PERFECTED for ever them that are sanctified. We see JESUS, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that HE, by the grace of GOD, should taste death for every man. Him GOD raised from the dead, and set him at his own right hand, in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, having made him HEAD over all things to the CHURCH, which is his BODY, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to GOD, for a sweet-smelling savor. He was delivered for our offences. Herein GOD commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet enemies, CHRIST died for us. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of ONE, shall [Page]many be made righteous. We are sanctified through the offering of the BODY of CHRIST once for all. JESUS, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Wherefore, GOD hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things (beings or existences) in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess, that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. GOD was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, received up into glory. Of the SON, he saith,—let all the angels of GOD worship him. And again he saith—thy throne, O GOD, is for ever and ever. Worthy is the LAMB that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto HIM who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the LAMB for ever and ever. Unto HIM that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us unto God KINGS and PRIESTS, out of every kindred, [Page]and tongue, and people, and nation, be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lesson for the morning of the execution.

Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him! And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of HIM that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the LAMB; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? I beheld till the thrones were cast down, saith Daniel; and the ANTIENT OF DAYS did sit, whose garment was white as snow, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; his body was like the beryl; his face as the appearance of lightning; his eyes as lamps of fire; the hair of his head like the fine wool; his arms and his feet in colour like to polished brass; and the [Page] voice of his words like the voice of a multitude: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; THOUSAND THOUSANDS MINISTERED UNTO HIM, AND TEN THOUSAND TIMES TEN THOUSAND STOOD BEFORE HIM. The judgment was set, and the books were opened. I was in the spirit, saith the beloved disciple, and behold a throne was set in heaven, and ONE sat on the throne. And HE that sat, was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. The SON of MAN shall come in the glory of his FATHER, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. When the SON of MAN shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before HIM shall be gathered all nations: and HE shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the KING say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit [Page]the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then shall he say also unto them on the left, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels! And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. And I heard (saith the beloved disciple) the number of them which were sealed (on their foreheads) and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Then I beheld, and lo! a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, salvation to our GOD who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

After reading the lesson for the day, may be used the following supplication.

Min.

O ye brethren in iniquity, who for your evil deeds, are appointed to die— come, arise, shake off your enmity to GOD; make your peace with your offended Father, whilst the day of grace lasteth, before [Page]the night of death set in, and ye be shut up in the silent grave!

Con.

O merciful GOD! grant us thy peace and the pardon of our manifold transgressions, for the sake of thy Christ who was pleased to die for his enemies, that he might bring them to thee through the blood of his cross—the merits of that blood we plead—to the Saviour and blessed Mediator between GOD and man, we flee for redemption from sin and sorrow, and from everlasting death.

Min.

O most gracious Lord! in mercy and compassion behold them bewailing their sinfulness, and with tears and sighs lamenting that they have sacrificed the prime of their years to folly, and the manhood of their days to the enemies of their everlasting felicity!

Con.

Accept of us now at the eleventh hour; receive us now in the evening of our day, as thou didst the thief on the cross, and the labourer into the vineyard.

Min.

Thou, O GOD! hast in mercy mixed with judgment, commanded their sun to go down at noon; thou for their evil deeds (because they hated the light) hast shortned their years in midst and spread [Page]over them the thick canopy of death!

Con.

O deliver us not finally into everlasting darkness!

Min.

Grant them, O thou LIGHT of the world, more and more the light of thy countenance, and the comfort of thy salvation.

Con.

Grant us—Oh! grant us—the light of life everlasting.

Min.

May the blood of Jesus cleanse them from all sin, and wash them from every transgression, that at the day of judgment they may be presented before thee, without spot or blemish, to rejoice in the salvation of GOD, and partake in the glories of thy kingdom.

Con.

JESUS! thou powerful intercessor for fallen man, plead our cause; and for the glory of thy name blot out as a thick cloud all our transgressions, and remember them no more.

Min.

In pity and compassion to the work of thine own hands, mercifully save them from the dreadful horrors of the wrath to come.

Con.

Pity us miserable sinners, for thy mercy endureth for ever.

Min.

Thine indignation lieth hard upon [Page]on them, thy displeasure presseth them sore; thou hast put away their friends and acquaintance from them, and so fast bound them in prison that they cannot get forth.

Con.

We bow to acknowledge the justice of thy judgments, and that of very faithfulness thou hast caused us to be troubled: nevertheless, cast us not out from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from us, lest we despair of thy goodness, and so add to our other sins, that of offending against thy mercy.

Min.

They are counted as dead, ready to descend into the chambers of death, O grant unto them a resurrection to eternal life!

Con.

Remember us, O thou glorious source of immortality, we cry day and night unto thee; O shut not thine ears against our prayers, nor thine eyes from beholding our sighs and tears. We are as water spilt upon the ground, but thou art able to gather us among the gleanings of thy vintage at the last day.

Min.

Help them, O holy spirit, GOD equal with the Father and the Son, to consecrate aright the remaining days and hours of their appointed time.

[Page]Con.

And graciously be pleased to seal us unto the day of redemption.

Min.

Have mercy upon them, O blessed Jesus!

Con.

Have mercy upon us, O Saviour of the world!

Min.

Have mercy upon them, O thou who takest away the sin of the world.

Con.

Have mercy upon us, O thou who didst condescend to die for the ungodly—thou bought us with the price of thy most precious blood—we are thine, and not our own; and therefore thy will be done with us and upon us, whether in life or death.

Min.

Glory be to GOD on high, peace on earth, good-will towards men.

Con.

Amen. Glory be to GOD.

Or the following short Litany may be used.

Min.

GOD, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have mercy upon you! and grant that as ye are dead to the law,

Con.

We may become alive to GOD, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the resurrection and the life; and in whom whosoever liveth and believeth, though he die, yet shall he live, and rise again at the last day.

Min.

GOD be gracious to those whom [Page]justice hath overtaken in the midst of their sins;

Con.

And save us from the sentence of final condemnation, for the glory of thy Christ.

Min.

Grant them repentance unto life;

Con.

And the grace of charity to unburthen our consciences by an ample and free confession of our guilt.

Min.

Hear the sighing of the prisoners;

Con.

And have mercy upon us, who are appointed to die.

Min.

"Lord remember them when thou comest in thy kingdom" and glory to judge the quick and the dead;

Con.

And as thou in the days of thy flesh, was numbered with malefactors—Oh! number us, with the penitent thief, and all thy saints, in glory everlasting.

Min.

O Lamb of GOD, who takest away the sin of the world,

Con.

Have mercy upon us.

Min.

O Lamb of GOD, who takest away the sin of the world,

Con.

Hear our petitions, and grant a gracious answer to our humble requests.

Min.

O Lamb of GOD, who takest away the sin of the world,

[Page]Con.

Own us to be thine, and grant us thy peace.

Min.

Unto the Lamb that was slain,

Con.

And hath redeemed us to GOD by his blood;

Min.

Unto him who died to turn away the wrath of divine justice from sinful man;

Con.

Unto him, who loved us, died for us, pleads our cause in heaven, and washed us from our sins in his own blood shed upon earth;

Min.

Who offered up one perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice, and oblation, by dying on the cross,

Con.

That we might not die eternally;

Min.

To him, who received the penitent thief upon the cross;

Con.

And promised him a mansion in paradise;

Min.

Who ascended far above all heavens,

Con.

To prepare mansions for his followers and all true penitents;

Min.

Who shall come again to judge the world, and reward every man according to his works,

Con.

To him be glory from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.

[Page]

Let us pray.

"O Gracious GOD, who hast set forth thy Son Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for the sins of all mankind, and hast not excluded any from the covenant of repentance, who desire with sincerity to embrace and apply it:" we present our supplications in behalf of these persons under sentence of death, who desire to confess their unworthiness of the least of thy mercies, yet desirous to turn to thee in acts of contrition and penitence; humbly imploring thy grace to direct them, the knowledge of thee and of thy Son Jesus Christ to guide them into all truth: that, before they depart hence, they may evidence the sincerity of their repentance by fully confessing their sins both against thy laws and those of civil society. Teach them to know, that a full and free confession of their crimes, together with a suitable discovery of their accomplices in robbery, theft, and such like violent and fraudulent deeds, is a debt not less due the good of their country in general, and the health of their own souls in particular, than the life of their bodies to the demands of inflexible justice. May they be deeply humbled under [Page]thy judgments, and resigned to the present dispensation of thy overruling providence: and help them to devote aright the short remainder of their time in preparing for their departure hence; that as they have lived to themselves in times past, they may now begin to live unto their GOD in order to die in his faith and fear. Work in them, O Father of mercies, every heavenly disposition that shall tend to qualify them for joining the company of blessed spirits, where the temptations of the Devil, the world, and the flesh shall never assail them. Accept of their repentance, and have mercy upon them, for the sake of thine adorable and well beloved Son JESUS CHRIST, to whom with thee, O HOLY FATHER, and thee, O benign SPIRIT of Grace, be all glory, honor and praise, now and evermore. Amen.

Then the minister lifting up his hands over the convicts, may say this

BENEDICTION.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee; the LORD make his face to shine upon thee, [Page]and be gracious unto thee! The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace now and evermore. Amen.

OFFICE THIRD, which may be used in behalf of any who are found guilty of murder.

Min.

Remember not, O Lord, our offences; but in the midst of wrath remember mercy.

Con.

Spare us, good Lord!

Min.

Wicked men, because of their iniquity, and because of their transgression, are afflicted.

Con.

The Omniscient hath set my misdeeds before him, and my secret sins in the light of his countenance: therefore do I consume away in his displeasure, and am afraid at his wrathful indignation.

Min.

When the Lord maketh inquisition for blood, the murderer can no where be hid from his all-seeing eye!

Con.

If I ascend up into the heavens, there is the seat of thy glory, O GOD! If I make my bed in the depths of the earth, there will thy almighty hand find me out!

[Page]Min.

O most blessed and adorable FATTHER of angels and men, grant this murderer sincere repentance and thy pardon.

Con.

From the guilt of shedding innocent blood, FATHER of mercies, vouchsafe to deliver me.

Min.

O most blessed and adorable JESUS, SON of the FATHER, and SAVIOUR of the world, grant this murderer sincere repentance and thy pardon.

Con.

From the guilt of shedding innocent blood, JESUS, SON of the FATHER and SAVIOUR of the world, vouchsafe to deliver me.

Min.

O most blessed and adorable SPIRIT OF GRACE, SANCTIFIER of the faithful, grant this murderer sincere repentance and thy pardon.

Con.

From the guilt of shedding innocent blood, SPIRIT OF GRACE, SANCTIFIER of the faithful, vouchsafe to deliver me.

Min.

O most blessed and adorable TRIUNE GOD, THREE IN ONE, and ONE IN THREE, grant this murderer sincere repentance and thy pardon.

Con.

O most blessed and adorable TRINITY OF PERSONS, in UNITY OF ESSENCE, have mercy upon me, grant me repentance [Page]and pardon, and cleanse me from blood, guiltiness.

Min.

Blessed, for ever blessed and adored be the NAME of our most merciful and gracious GOD, who hath excluded none from repentance and pardon, who seek them in sincerity and truth.

Con.

Glory be to HIM, whose MERCY rejoiceth against JUDGMENT, now and evermore. Amen, and Amen.

THE EXHORTATION.

Man! your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity! The voice of your brother's blood crieth unto the Lord, who hath pronounced you cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hands! As I live, saith the Lord, I will even do according to your anger, and according to your envy, which you have used against your brother. The hand of the Almighty hath overtaken you, his hot displeasure flameth against the murderer! Ah! how have you troubled the land, and caused it to mourn because of the innocent blood that you have shed therein! [Page]Did all your other evil deeds appear but trivial in your eyes, that you must sum them up with the additional, the horrible guilt of sheeding innocent blood? Had you then put off the nature of a man, and assumed that of a Devil? But now, that your murderous passion has subsided, does not the atrocity of your crime harrow up your inmost soul, and make you, under the most powerful conviction of guilt, fearfully cry out "what shall I do to be saved and escape the wrath to come?" Look at your hands, bloody man! do they not appear to the eye of our distempered soul, all crimsoned over, as when they did the horrid deed! your clothes, look at them, all blotted with the gore of him whom you have murdered!—Influenced by the spirit of the evil one, whose delight is in blood, and the destruction of the human race, you have outrageously exalted yourself against the meek and loving spirit of HIM, who came into the world to save men's lives, and to give his own life a ransom for many; by doing all that in you lay, to deface the divine likeness stamped upon you by the benevolent Creator, as also to erase your brother's name from the catalogue of the living [Page]and his existence from the volume of creation! against whom have you lifted up your hand? against whom have you exalted yourself? against the HOLY ONE of Israel, who is a jealous and avenging GOD, and whose ears are always open to the voice of blood: against MAN and the LAWS of civil society; for you have broken down the hedge of peace, and plundered man of one of the highest blessings of heaven, that of "sitting quietly under his vine, or under his fig-tree, and none to make him afraid." Also you have sinned against your own life, by incurring a debt, which nothing can pay off, but your blood. And therefore the arrows of the Amighty drink up your spirits, and the sword of temporal justice rages furiously to have your blood. Jehovah, in tremendous majesty, on mount Sinai proclaimed this law, "thou shalt not kill;" and all nations have adopted it into their system of jurisprudence. Tell me, son of blood, was a man ready to give you the fatal blow, would you not remind him of this prohibitory command, and beg of him to spare your life, at the price of all you had? Yes, doubtless. And did not your conscience forbid you? Did [Page]it not again and again, with the stern voice of prohibition, ask you, "what! will thou do this great wickedness, and sin against GOD?" But, your conscience, O murderer! your conscience you had artfully seared as with an hot iron! you had labored hard to extinguish every seed of goodness, humanity and virtue in your soul! you had despised the admonitions of conscience so long, that she ceased to warn you! you had long turned away your eyes from reading the lessons of divine love and godly instruction, tendered to you on the page of revelation; and rather chose to copy into your practice the example of him, who was a murderer from the beginning! GOD was not among your thoughts! Ah! the end of these things is death! Think—murderer—think, if all that is human, except the form, hath not quite abandoned you to most infernal obduracy of heart, and insensibility to the woes of others—think, what poignant anguish rends the soul of the disconsolate widow (here name the kindred, if any) sorrowing with the most bitter lamentation, for his untimely death, whose blood your impious hands have poured out, as water upon the ground, that [Page]cannot be gathered up again! Suffer imagination to present you with a view of the helpless orphans bedewing their father's bloody body with floods of tears!—See, with bitter cries and doleful lamentations, the disconsolate widow falling upon his neck and kissing that ghastly face, which now for wife nor children has no smiles— no look of complacency, but the bitterness of untimely death settled in every feature, expressive of the anguish of the inner man, when your impious hands tore soul and body apart! That parent-eye, which ere while beamed looks of love, gladdening with his approbation all the family—thou —how shall I address thee!—hast veiled in darkness, no more to behold the light of day—no more to see the jovous objects of industry and love!—Ah! what hast thou done!—How has thy murderous touch stamped lamentation and woe on every scene of their domestic happiness!— No more does the tender glance of paternal eye, returning from the labor of the day, invite the dependant young to clasp their father's knee, or climb up upon him to press their spotless breasts to his, and smile like cherubim in his face!—No more [Page]do the cheeks and forehead, furrowed with care and honest labor, borrow the appearance of youth, the instant the lovely babes approach to greet their parent welcome, and to salute him with their prattling stories and their little loves! O man! bloody man! what hast thou done! what thick cloud of darkness and blackness hast thou brought upon all this gay sun-shine of felicity! How hast thou blasted, with thy murderous breath, as with a curse, this fragrant blessing of GOD upon his servants! That body which rose with the rising sun, in order to go forth to honest work and labor—with baneful malice, thou hast stopt in its wonted course, and extinguished its lamp of light and life, at noon day! Who gave thee authority to save life or to kill? Hast thou a right of sovereignty over thy brother? By what authority couldst thou presume to exert upon him the power of the destroying angel of death? But why need I any more to harrow up thy soul!— Look inward, base man! and if thou canst see through the black darkness which encaseth it, view thy guilty conscience! Behold upon it engraven the words of thy condemnation, "He that sheddeth man's [Page]blood, by man shall his blood be shed." The innocent blood thou hast shed, crieth against thee from the dust, with a voice like thunder,—it will be heard—and justice would cease to be justice, were she to stop her ears against it. Justice hath heard the voice of blood, and, miserable man! your own conscience beareth witness that you are justly doomed to die for your offence! to die an ignominious death, to be reckoned accursed from the earth and the heavens; as it is written, "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree!"—GOD is just and holy, but you have been unjust and cruel; and now the measure you have meted to another is ready to be meted out to yourself.—Your body, the instrument of your crime, must repay blood for blood,— your soul, by conforming to the conditions offered you by the covenant of evangelical grace, may, and I pray GOD it may, find mercy in the day of his righteous judgment, through the merits and intercession of Jesus. You have therefore no time to lose, no dallying in making up your peace with your highly offended GOD—on every moment hangs your everlasting happiness or woe. If yet, while the day of mercy [Page]lasteth, before the intercession of Jesus is finished, you neglect the things that belong to your everlasting peace—how will dire agonies, and pangs unfelt before, seize upon your guilty soul, when you shall feel the full force of the wrath of the Omnipotent,—and be delivered over to the inexpressible tortures prepared for the Devil and his angels!!!—It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry GOD! And a wounded spirit who can bear? Murder and idolatry have ever been obnoxious to the hottest indignation of Jehovah; and have brought down his most terrible judgments from time to time, to visit the earth! For these crimes the world has frequently been compelled to mourn! Murder and idolatry provoked the Almighty to drown the generations of men by a flood of waters; to send down streams of lived flame from heaven to consume the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; they occasioned the several captivities of the Jews, and the amazing revolutions and subversions of government among the Gentiles; they have caused famines and pestilences, and the destruction of cities and countries! and finally, as the [Page]EARTH has been in every age and nation so greatly polluted with blood, whether in the field of battle, or by the ruffian hand of personal violence, or by the blood of numberless victims offered to Devils, by idolatrous nations; IT, with all the words that are thereon, shall be burnt up, in the day of the fierce anger of the LORD: but first IT shall be compelled to deliver up IT'S dead, and to disclose all IT'S slain. Alas! who shall live when GOD doth this? If, in the day that tribulation and wrath shall be poured out upon all the ungodly of the earth, the righteous and the penitent obtain redemption from the second death and the unextinguishable fire, through the merits and intercession of a Mediator, where shall the ungodly and the impenitent appear, who have despised the intercession of Jesus? therefore, flee, O sinner, flee from the wrath to come, lest the long-suffering and patience of GOD toward thee, become like oil cast on fire, lest thy guilt and punishment press thee down to the lowest depth of misery! GOD is merciful; if thou canst repent, yea, if with a true heart thou prayest for it, he will grant thee repentance unto life: but in proportion to [Page]the heinousness of thy crime must be the fervency of thy prayer. Did the world's REDEEMER, in atoning for the guilt of man—in paying the redemption-price for penitents, sweat drops of blood, groan, and voluntarily offer up his pure and holy body to die, the innocent for the guilty, to reconcile us to GOD; and thinkest thou that a few "Lord have mercies," will pacify the offended MAJESTY of heaven and earth? No! If thou desirest to enter into life, having so grievously offended by breaking the command, thou shalt not kill, thou must copy so far as thou canst, the example of thy Lord, when he was in an agony for thy sins; a due sense of them will rend thy heart, then will flow the fountains of thy tears, sighs and strong crying, with prayers offered up through the merits and intercession of the ADVOCATE for man, will ascend up before GOD, and prove available for thy pardon. At the right hand of the Eternal, continually standeth the ANGEL of the covenant, the gracious Mediator, in his human nature, ready to offer up the sighs, the prayers, and tears of all penitents, who desire to come to the Father through him. Indeed [Page]there is no other way of obtaining mercy, but through CHRIST; he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the FATHER but by his means. He was called JESUS, because he saves his people from the guilt and punishment due to their sins; and as he is appointed the only MEDIATOR between an offended GOD and his offending creature MAN; there is no other NAME given to men, under heaven, whereby they can be saved, but only the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is GOD over all blessed for evermore. Think not, sinful man, think not of obtaining the pardoning mercy and grace of GOD, by any other means, or on any other conditions, than those of his own appointment; by JESUS CHRIST only, thou mayest be made whole—therefore, labor to embrace with meekness and patience, the conditions and promises of evangelical grace; pray, earnestly pray for a portion of that spirit which was poured out upon the penitent thief on the cross. Learn to realize the hour of thy death,—let it be as the haven to which thou art to bend thy course, in order that thou mayest, in thy death, be conformed to the death of Jesus, seeing [Page]thou wouldest not conform to his life in thine. If thou feelest no godly sorrow, no heart-rending woe, how canst thou presume to have any hope towards GOD? If thou really feelest thy spirit so exceedingly disquieted within thee, on account of the blood that is on thy hands, as to allow thee no rest to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids, reasonably then thou mayest hope in GOD; for he is merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin to the penitent; and takes delight in the oblation of a troubled and broken spirit.—A broken and a contrite heart GOD will not despise.—According to thy sincerity and contrition be it done unto thee.

Con.

Amen.

Min.

Unto GOD, whose mercy reacheth unto the heavens, and whose judgments are a great deep, humbly confess thy sin, and the trespass which thou has trespassed.

Con.

With the most heart-rending sorrow, and profound humility, I do confess to my highly offended GOD, that my hands are defiled with blood, and my fingers with iniquity.

Min.

The earth, from whence thou wast taken, and to which a violent death is soon [Page]to consign thee, refuseth to hide thy guilt: the voice of thy brother's blood crieth loudly against thee unto eternal justice, and his groans, whom thou hast slain, have entered the ears of that omnipotent BEING, to whom vengeance belongeth.

Con.

O GOD! Father I dare not call thee, having forfeited all title to be called thy son! cast me not utterly out of thy sight.

Min.

Good Lord, enter not into judgment with thy creature, who earnestly desireth to return to thee, trembling and afraid at thy displeasure; grant him thy mercy and forgiveness, and incline those whom his guilt hath injured, to pardon him likewise.

Con.

Amen.

Min.

Give glory to the GOD of Israel, and saying after me, make thy

CONFESSION.

Prostrate* on this earth, which is soon to receive my wretched and sinful body, [Page](if thou wilt deign to look upon a murderer) I present myself before thee, O thrice holy and blessed GOD, to confess and bewail my sinfulness in general, and particularly my horrible crime of blood-guiltiness, in violently taking away the life of (here name the person murdered.) O Lord I am not worthy to take thy holy name in my sinful and polluted lips—what shall I answer thee, O my offended GOD, when thou requirest his blood at my hands? Even now, whilst it is the day of mercy, I dare not lift up so much as mine eye to heaven;—Oh! how shall I appear when the terrible day of judgment cometh!— Mine eyes have deceived my heart; my heart hath conceived all manner of wickededness; my hands are full of evil, and are deeply stained with blood. To do good I had no knowledge—but my feet have run to evil, and to shed innocent blood.— Have mercy upon me—have mercy upon me—have mercy upon me, O most merciful Father, for the sake of thine only Son Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Ame.

The minister lifting up his hands over the convict, may say the following

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ABSOLUTION.

The almighty and gracious GOD, who to the impenitent is a consuming fire; but to those who return to him by faith and repentance, is full of mercy and forgiveness, have mercy upon thee; grant thee repentance unto life, a stedfast faith in thy blessed Saviour, and charity towards all men. GOD deliver thee from the guilt and punishment due to thy sins, in the day of judgment, and receive thee into everlasting life, through JESUS CHRIST our gracious advocate and redeemer. Amen.

Min. and Con.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

THE LESSON.

THOU SHALT NOT KILL. Whosoever [Page]sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, because in his own image GOD created man. The murderer shall be put to death, by the mouth of witnesses; in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every thing be confirmed. Moreover, saith GOD, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, but he shall surely be put to death. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood 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. The murderer, rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is a thief, who sleepeth not except he hath done some mischief; and whose sleep is taken away unless he hath caused some to fall. Thus the murderer lieth in wait for his own blood, he lurks privily for his own life. The murderer liveth not half his days, for GOD shall suddenly shoot at him with a swift arrow, and shall overthrow him with his bloody companions. The bloody and deceitful man GOD abhorreth; and such shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

[Page]Min.

Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return: for the murderer's life shall be cut off in the midst, and the avenging sword of justice shall drink his blood.

Con.

JUSTICE, be thou appeased with the drink-offering of my blood; and O, DIVINE MERCY, receive my soul, washed through the purifying blood of JESUS!

Min.

Dost thou believe in the salvation of JESUS? The Lord strengthen thy faith, and have mercy upon thee.

Con.

I believe! O Lord strengthen my faith! and graciously deliver me from the dreadful punishment due to my crimes, in the day of judgment.

Let us pray.

O most compassionate and merciful GOD, who hast promised to open the door of mercy to those who knock, and to grant repentance to those who seek it in sincerity of heart; look down with an eye of pity and compassion on this person, who for murder, is condemned to die. Justly hath he incurred thy wrath and hottest displeasure, for violating one of thy most express commands, and the law of humanity implanted in his nature. We adore the [Page]justice of thy judgment, in that thou hast looked through the cloud of thy wrath, and troubled him with thine heavy hand. O Lord, unto him belongeth confusion of face, because of the blood-guiltiness that is in his hands—he presumeth not to so much as to lift up his eyes to heaven, but with his mouth in the dust, and smiting upon his breast, through the ministry of thine own appointment he prayeth, "GOD be merciful to me a sinner." Grant unto him true and unfeigned repentance for all the errors of his life past, and especially for the grievous crime which hath entailed on him an ignominious death: enable him, by the eye of faith, to see in their proper colours, thy promises to the penitent, and the terrors of thy judgments against the impenitent and unbelieving, that he may neither deceive himself with false hopes of thy mercy, nor do despite to the grace, by throwing himself headlong into the gulph of despair. O holy and omnipotent RULER of the universe, though he hath presumptuously and under the influence of the evil one, risen up to defy the power of thy hand, and with impious rage to blot out from the book of life one of those the SAVIOUR died [Page]for; now he desireth to return to thee, trembling and afraid at thy wrathful indignation, hoping even against hope, that thou, O Father of mercies, wilt receive him—that thou wilt hear his sighing— that thou wilt behold his tears, and grant him an answer of peace.—Graciously hast thou been pleased to suffer the involuntary murderer to fly to the city of refuge, and take hold of the horns of the altar; but the wilful and malicious murderer, where shall he go? Where shall he find an asylum? he can find none; justice hath condemned him to be cut off from the land of the living, by a violent death. But vouchsafe, O heavenly Father, that his punishment may end with this life; that, before he is cut off as a shadow, his soul may, by reparation for the injury done as far as is in his power, and by faith in thy Son, escape the doleful mansions of woe and misery, prepared for the Devil and such as follow his murderous example; and with the penitent have a portion in the paradise of GOD, through thy merits and intercession, O Saviour of the world, who suffered the fountains of thy blood to flow in copious streams, branching forth into all [Page]lands, to wash away the guilt of sinful man. TO GOD, FATHER SON and HOLY GHOST, be all glory, honor and praise, now, henceforth and for evermore. Amen.

The minister lifting up his hands over the convict, may say this

BENEDICTION.

Unto GOD'S gracious mercy and peace I commit thee: the Lord bless thee, and and have mercy upon thee.

Con.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

A PRAYER.

To be said by the criminal privately, each day of his preparation; but, particularly, the day of (and if time allowed, immediately before) the execution.

To whom shall I go, O Jesus—to whom shall I go? thou hast the words of eternal life. To thee I desire to live, to thee I desire to die; receive me, O Christ!—O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth, [Page]thou hast cut off my days in the midst, and shortened my life, on account of my sins; thou art just and holy in all thy ways, and I, a wretched and miserable sinner, here bow down to acknowledge that thou metest out to me the just measure of reward for mine iniquities.—My body is about to be offered up! My forfeited life is doomed the victim of justice!—O thou, who art the HEARER of prayer, and to whom of right it appertains to receive all sacrifice, be graciously pleased to accept of my body as a sacrifice, and of my blood or life as a drink-offering to thy JUSTICE, sanctified and rendered acceptable to thee, through the divine efficacy of the BODY and BLOOD of thy dearly beloved SON, my Lord and Saviour, who was suspended and offered up upon the cross, to die an ignominious and painful death; that, by giving his life a ransom for many, he might restore forfeited life to a guilty world. O my GOD! I adore thy judgments!—the voice of temporal justice hath doomed me to be conformed, in a measure, to thy SON'S death, to hang upon a tree! Grant me, O grant me, that as I am doomed to die a violent death, to be suspended between earth and [Page]heaven, as unworthy of a place in either; that in my last moments, when my soul and body are violently torn asunder, they may, in love and mercy, be united unto thee! May thy BODY, O JESUS, save my sinful body!—thy BLOOD, O JESUS, redeem my polluted soul!—thou, O HOLY GHOST, proceeding from the FATHER and the SON, sanctify me wholly, both in soul, body and spirit! Now, and at the hour of my death, I forgive my enemies, and implore thy blessing upon my friends and relations. GOD preserve his holy apostolic church, with all her bishops, priests and deacons— and grant that their episcopacy and holy ministrations may be always precious in thy sight, and accompanied with thy blessing. Grant to all the enemies of our LORD and his CHRIST, the gifts and graces of repentance and a better mind; and to those who are going on in the way that leads to death, and more especially to such as have seduced, or have been seduced by me—shew mercy, and pluck them like fire-brands out of the burning. GOD bless the United States of America, with all their rulers, officers, judges and counsellors, and all their people; and the Lord increase them a [Page]thousand fold. Finally, I supplicate thy grace, mercy and blessing, on all and every part of the creation, of which I, an unworthy member, desire with the most perfect fervency of devotion, my sinful soul is capable of, to commit myself into thy hands. O Jesus! thou didst die for me—I fall a victim for my innumerable offences against the laws of GOD and MAN! I bow down to receive the due reward of my deeds!— Have mercy, O LORD JESUS!—deliver me from the final sentence of condemnation, for "thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens, and thy faithfulness unto the clouds! thy mercy endureth for ever!"— Vouchsafe, O Lord, unto my body, a happy resurrection—to my soul, a portion with the penitent thief—to my whole man, a merciful judgment, and a happy admission into thy everlasting glory, for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Lord and GOD, my Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.

MEDITATIONS, which the convict may use whensoever he finds opportunity.

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MEDITATION I.

I die!—I die!—I die!—tremendous thought! not as other mortals, a natural, but an accursed and violent death! other mortals die on the downy bed; but I between heaven and earth, an outcast from both! but this "is the due reward of my deeds!"—Oh! these hands, what have ye brought me to! Oh! these feet, how have ye carried me to do such acts of wickedness! but Oh! head and heart, what have ye to account for? ye have been my counsellors, my prompters to vice! under the specious pretence of obtaining something good (riches or pleasures) ye have undone me! For this, O head, be thou lifted from my body! and thou, heart, break, if possible ye can thereby make some atonement for the crimes ye have occasioned! Death, comest thou to me in all thy terrors, in the garment of vengeance? or comest thou to release a wretch from this body of sin? Art thou sent for me in wrath or in mercy? Art thou come to tell me with the stern voice of displeasure, "that had I not been thus stopt in the full career of guilt, I might have entirely sinned away my day of grace, [Page]and at last, in one fatal moment, launched into misery!" O Death! this intelligence, I apprehend, is part of thy commission.— Repentance hitherto hath been shut from mine eyes! I hated the light because my deeds were evil; long have I been customed to do evil; and can the Ethiopean change his complexion, or the leopard his spots? no more could I (I verily believe) have turned from the evil of my ways, without this particular interposition of divine providence.

MEDITATION II.

Behold the hour advanceth—every clock that strikes sounds my death's knell! The awful sentence peals through my heart like the thunders of Sinai! "Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return," but not in the way of other mortals, to enjoy the consolations of weeping friends, and those soothing attentions, which seem to pluck up by the roots the thorns of death, and smooth the way to the house appointed for all living: but with a mind harrowed up with guilt, forsaken of all, the pity of the good and the derision of the bad, [Page]my years cut off in the midst. Oh! the pangs and convulsions of my agonizing heart, when I reflect, how my youth has been spent in folly, and my manhood in the most complicated scenes of guilt! Under this impression, my soul! canst thou— darest thou to look up to GOD? Art not thou verily ashamed of thy existence? Why callest thou not to the mountains to cover thee together with thy guilt, or the sea to bury thee in her deepest caverns, to hide thee from the pure and holy eye of HIM that sitteth upon the throne? Ah! wretch! abominable wretch that I am! how shall I one day appear before his awful tribunal? Will not the spirits of good men veil their faces, that they may not behold such a monster of wickedness as I am? O ye guardian spirits, ye providential ministers of the Most High, will ye not rejoice and triumph in my misery? Ye companions of my guilt, ye whom I have seduced, will ye not pierce me with your upbraidings and wishes, that the Omnipotent would hurl at my head the hottest thunderbolts of his wrath?—Oh! despicable wretch that I am! unworthy to breathe the common air—unworthy to behold the light of [Page]day, or the twinkling stars of night, the witnesses of my crimes—unworthy to drink out of the footstep of the meanest animal? How have I, despicable wretch, disgraced the nature of man—thus to bring a curse upon the image of GOD—thus to die like a brute? How have I flown in the face of the Creator, for making me a man, when I strove so hard to become a Devil? How have I wounded the father that begat me, and the brothers who suckled the breasts of my mother! The tears of all good people who behold me, flow in compassion to my wretchedness; and to the bad, what cause have I given to boast themselves in their wickedness, and to make GOD'S long-sufering and forbearance an argument against his very existence! And how have I troubled the land, by the multiplied thefts and robberies I have committed!

MEDITATION III.

Gracious GOD, look in pity and compassion upon me! Why did I not stop to consider, that my crimes would unavoidably bring me to this dismal hour of blackness and darkness? How have I with my [Page]companions, made choice of the most dark and rainy nights (as if heaven frowned upon our intentions, or as if the clouds wept over our crimes) to break in upon some unsuspecting family, to plunder them of their honestly-got store, and, if discovered, to spead death through their dwelling! Alas! often have these accursed hands pilfered the scanty clothing of the poor, and with hellish boldness, robbed the treasures of the rich! Industry—honest, laudable industry, the faithful friend of the virtuous, had forsaken me: but covetousness, that fiend of hell, the companion of the thief and robber, dogged me continually at the heels. My soul! thou hadst well nigh perished—carried down the swiftly-flowing tide of impetuous and dishonest passions, or swallowed up in the whirlpool of unbelief and evil company! Ah me! every thing engaged my heart, my head and hand, that I ought to have detested as the gates of hell.

MEDITATION IV.

Wretched man that I am!—who shall deliver me from the final condemnation, [Page]which I dread, as the due reward of my deeds? Blessed be the Church, the Spouse of Christ, who in pity prays for me, "that I may take thy judgments patiently, and repent me truly of my sins; that I, recovering thy favor, (O my GOD) the fearful reward of my actions may end with this life; and whensoever my soul shall depart from the body, it may be without spot presented unto thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord." O may this prayer be heard, and I trust it will, for the prayer of the righteous availeth much. But, is it, O my GOD, is it in wrath, or in mercy, that thou hast commissioned inexorable justice, to stop up the way before me, to shut me up in the dungeon, and appoint me an ignominious death on a gallows? With tears of the most heart-rending penitence, I deplore—that I have despised the light, the light of life, and now the Sun in the heavens disdains to shine upon me. Yet, my soul, because the mercy of my GOD is over all his works, I will hope he hath done all these things to me in mercy. I will hope he hath not cast me off for ever, but by sending his servants the commissioned executioners of temporal justice, [Page]from time to time to call upon me with the loud thundering voice of the LAW, by imprisonments, by scourgings, and by various correcting dispensations, he intended that I should learn consideration, and ask myself, "ah! me, what have I done?" But alas! charmed to sleep in the lap of impenitence, by the deep and repeated draughts I had taken of the bewitching cup of vice, I turned away mine ear, and like the deaf adder, would listen to nothing short of the thunderings of legal condemnation. Now do I feel, as if awaked out of a deep sleep; before, I was not myself— carried away captive both by evil company, and an evil heart; depraved affections continually ordering me about the Devil's service! Wisely and justly, hast thou thus dealt by me, O offended Father! when gentler corrections were found ineffectual, in mercy hast thou been pleased to compel me, an infamous wretch, and abominable prodigal, "to come to myself."—"Come to myself"—I tremble—I stand amazed —Oh!—it is impossible for this heart to conceive how great my guilt has been!!! O how merciful has my heavenly Father been to me, that when I was so steeled in [Page]vice, as to be beyond the reach of gentler methods, even thus to arrest me, in my way to destruction, and draw me to him by a paternal but justifiable violence!—Had my GOD cast me quite out of his sight, as a mass of crimes and impenitency, no more to be the object of his care, and delivered me over to the powers of darkness, to whom, alas! I had entirely devoted myself, what must have been my final portion?—Think, O my soul, think seriously—had the plunge of an avenging sword, or the well-aimed ball sent me to eternity, with all my robberies, thefts, burglaries, lies, oaths, crimes, and evil words and deeds beyond number, hanging heavy upon my shoulders—no time allowed for repentance—no power granted, not even so much as to pray "Lord have mercy upon me!"—O horrible! horrible! horrible!!! My soul, thou recoilest at the tremendous thought, like a man from the brink of some dreadful precipice, ready to fall and involve him in its ruins!

MEDITATION V.

Be collected every serious thought,— [Page]wandering imagination take thy seat—and O my soul, devoutly meditate on the mercies and judgments of GOD! "Whomsoever the Lord loveth, he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son, whom he receiveth." And doth HE, whose dwelling is in the highest heavens—doth HE, in whose sight all the nations of the earth are but as a drop of the bucket or the small dust of the balance, doth HE vouchsafe to "chasten, to scourge me in his love and mercy, in order to receive me to himself? O gracious display of divine goodness! O the length and the breadth, the height and the depth, of the love of GOD to man, it surpasseth all human comprehension! Grateful to my fainting soul, as the dews of heaven to the parched earth, shall always be every intimation of the will of heaven concerning me, should it come, even by the messenger Death! Already have I lived too long without hearing or receiving any intelligence from my father's house; for though he spoke and wrote to me by his servants the prophets, and that repeatedly, I despised the information they offered, their threatning or promises, I impiously countted but "idle tales." And yet, such is [Page]the benevolence of my heavenly Father, that his ministers, to whom he has committed the "doctrine of reconciliation," in his name and by his command, continually "beg of me to be reconciled to God!" whilst they open to me the scriptures, a gleam of light rushes in upon my benighted soul; and lifting up mine eyes drenched in tears, I perceive even through the intervening cloud of my transgressions, that, "though justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne, yet mercy and truth stand continually before his face!"

DEVOTIONS, suitable for the morning of, and immediately before the execution.

(In the prison.)

Hail thou day, that is to be my last on earth! every hour of thee shall be employed in walking after my blessed Saviour Jesus! "Joyfully I take this spoiling of my goods," this demolition of my "earthly tabernacle," and take up my cross to follow thee! Thou wast obedient unto death, [Page]though innocent; but, ah! guilty me, I would still desire this cup might pass from me!—but, ye wishes—ye sinful desires, no more exalt yourselves against GOD:—with my mouth in the dust, I pray "thy will be done, O heavenly Father.—Lord, had I not forsaken thee, I had not thus died! The apples of Sodom, on which I have so long feasted, are now to my taste the most poignant gall and wormwood:—thy innocence, O Lamb of GOD, pevented thy tasting the gall and vinegar offered thee, by the hand of injustice—my guilt commands me to drink "the dregs of the cup of bitterness, and to wring them out!"—"Strait is the gate that leadeth unto life"—and to that gate point the arms of the cross! Come then my soul, rejoice in the cross of thy Saviour, and tune thy feeble voice to sing a song of Zion;—HE, before his passion, sung an hymn with his "friends"—let me sing one before my ignominious death, with my fellow sinners and fellow penitents, the more to be conformed to the death of my Lord.—

I.

"When rising from the bed of death,

O'erwhelm'd with guilt and fear.

I see my Maker face to face;

O how shall I appear!

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II.

If yet, while pardon may be found,

And mercy may be sought,

My heart with inward horror shrinks,

And trembles at the thought:

III.

When thou, O Lord, shall stand disclos'd

In majesty severe,

And sit in judgment on my soul,

O how shall I appear!

IV.

But thou hast told the troubled mind,

Who does her sins lament;

The timely tribute of her tears

Shall endless woe prevent.

V.

Then see the sorrow of my heart,

E'er yet it be too late;

And hear my Saviour's dying groans,

To give these sorrows weight.

VI.

For never shall my soul despair

Her pardon to procure,

Who knows thy only Son has died

To make her pardon sure.

VII.

TO FATHER, SON and HOLY GHOST,

The GOD whom I adore,

Be GLORY as it was,—is now

And shall be evermore."

Hallelujah—hallelujah—hallelujah—praise the Lord! Amen. Amen. Amen.

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(At leaving the prison.)

Farewel thou school—wherein I have learned to know GOD—my Saviour JESUS—and the HOLY GHOST! my Redeemer went before me in the dark path of death. This path was beaten by thy sacred feet, I follow thee—O receive me at the end of my journey.

(During the conveyance from prison to the place of death, the convict may profitably employ his mind with the foregoing meditations and prayers.)

The convict arrived at the place of execution, and ready to ascend the steps—

O my soul, make haste to follow thy Redeemer—thou wouldst not follow him in the way, in which thou mightest have walked with delight! therefore, meekly follow him now in the way he orders thee, though the path be so ignominious and painful, and leads through the gates of death.

The convict on the scaffold—

By my life, I have denied thee, O GOD: [Page]be thou glorified in my death! Under thy banner, O Jesus! I encounter the King of Terrors—and in thy light I enter the dark valley of death! May the sacrifice of this body, which is now to be offered up to appease the demands of justice, be sanctified and rendered acceptable to thee, O GOD, through the offering of the blessed BODY of thy SON, my Saviour JESUS CHRIST, upon the cross! O Lord my GOD, bless all my friends—reward my benefactors—forgive mine enemies—and shed abroad thy saving health among all the nations of the earth. O Lord Jesus Christ, who died for me, redeem me by thy blood!—O HOLY SPIRIT of eternal purity, sanctify me by thy divine power! O HOLY FATHER, receive an unworthy, but returning prodigal, throwing himself into the arms of thy mercy!—O incomprehensible, gloricus, and merciful TRI-UNE GOD, forsake me not in my last moments, but grant me thy peace! let not the pains of death separate me from thee!

Have mercy upon me, O Holy Father!

Have mercy upon me, O Jesus, Saviour of the world!

Have mercy upon me, O sanctifying Spirit of Grace!

[Page] Lord Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom! Into thy hands, O GOD, I commend my spirit!

Giving the signal—

The Lord have mercy upon him.

Amen!—

Notes

*

Prostration, according to the opinion and practice of their antient Christians, is the proper posture of a murderer, for prayer and confession.

↵

Information about this book

Title statement

The convict's visitor: or, Penitential offices, (in the antient way of liturgy) consisting of prayers, lessons, and meditations; with suitable devotions before, and at the time of execution. : [Four lines from Luke] / By William Smith, A.M. Rector of Trinity Church in Newport.

Smith, William, 1754-1821.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2011-05.

ID [DLPS]

N18328

ID [TCP]

N18328

ID [STC]

Evans 23776

ID [NOTIS]

APV9063

ID [IMAGE-SET]

23776

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99004663

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 23776.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N18328)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 23776)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 23776)

Source

— The convict's visitor: or, Penitential offices, (in the antient way of liturgy) consisting of prayers, lessons, and meditations; with suitable devotions before, and at the time of execution. : [Four lines from Luke] / By William Smith, A.M. Rector of Trinity Church in Newport., Smith, William, 1754-1821..

Extent

[4], ii, 85, [1] p. ; 16 cm.

Printed by Peter Edes.,. Newport (Rhode-Island) :: [1791]. (Preface dated: Wednesday in Passion Week, 1791.)

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