The ORDINARY of NEWGATE his Account of the Behaviour, Confession, and Dying-Words, of John Estrick< no role > This name instance is in set 2843. , who was Executed at Tyburn , on Wednesday, the 10th of March, 1702/1703

IN the Sessions held at Justice-Hall in the Old-Baily, on Wednesday the 24th of February , and thence adjourned to Monday the 1st , and continued to the 2d , and 3d instant; 6 Persons received Sentence of Death: And of these 6; only 1 is now order'd for Execution; the other 5 being graciously Repriev'd.

When the Sessions were over, I constantly visited them, and us'd all possible Endeavours to make them sensible of their deplorable Condition, by reason of their Sins; and of the necessity of applying themselves to God, through Jesus Christ, for his Converting Grace, by which they might be brought out of their corrupted State, into a State of Purity and Holiness; that so being deliver'd from under the Dominion of Sin and Satan, the Spiritual Slavery of their Souls, they might be admitted into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God: An Advantage only to be obtain'd by a Lively Faith, and Sincere Repentance, through the Merits of Christ, which the alone Spirit of God was able to work upon them, and apply to them; and therefore, (as I shew'd them) they ought earnestly to call for it by Prayer, and give themselves no rest, till they feeled the gracious Effects of that Divine Spirit, renewing their Minds, purifying their Affections, and transforming them to the Image of God.

On the Lord's-Day before Condemnation, viz. the 28th of February , I preach'd to them, and other Prisoners, both in the Morning and Afternoon, upon these Words, taken out of the Epistle for the Day, viz. Ephes. ch. 5. v. 1, and 2. Be ye therefore Followers of God, as dear Children: And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us, an Offering, and a Sacrifice to God, for a Sweetsmelling Savour. From which Words I shew'd;

1st. That, To be Followers of God, is, To believe in him, and be obedient to him: To be conformable to his Divine Will, and Holy Nature: To fear him as dutiful Children that dearly love him, and are dearly lov'd of him.

2dly. That, To walk in Love is, To order the whole Course of our Life answerable to the Love which God expresses to us, and that which we ought to have for him, and for our Neighbour; and therein exert our selves continually, going on in the constant Practice of this excellent Duty, while we live here, that hereby we may be fitted one Day to dwell in that blessed Place where perfect Love does reign.

3dly. That the Motive, (and a great one indeed) which we have to our careful Discharge of this Duty, is, Christ's transcendent Love to us, for whom he gave himself an Offering and a Sacrifice, that is, He offer'd his Life and laid it down; he shed his most precious Blood, and endur'd a bitter Death for our Sins; God accepting of that Perfect Sacrifice for a Reconciliation: On the Merit of which we may securely repose our Faith and all our Hopes, if so be th we are desirous, and sincerely endeavouring, to fulfill the Royal Law, (as St. James calls it) viz. To walk in love. Which consists of these two; 1st. To devote our selves to God, having nothing nearer our Hearts, than to serve him continually, and please him in all things. 2d. To deal justly with our Neighbour; and wherein we have wrong'd him, to make him all possible satisfaction; and likewise to do him all the acts of Kindness and Good-will that we can; taking care above all things, to promote the Salvation of his Soul, with our own: Which may be done sometimes by Admonition and Reproof, when there is opportunity for it; but always by good Examples, that may convince him, at last, both of the Necessity and Practicableness of Christian Love, and Holiness of Life.

To these I added some particular Exhortations, suitable to the Auditory. And thereby, as I endeavour'd to prepare them for their leading a better Life here, and enjoying a a happy Life hereafter; so I found them, after Condemnation was past upon them, most willing to improve my former Admonitions, and to receive more of them, to the Comfort and Salvation of their Souls. And so accordingly, I embraced the opportunity of satisfying these their good Desires, and by frequent Prayers for them, and Instructions to them, endeavour'd to dispose them for the Reception and Impression of God's Grace on their Souls, so as to advance them to the blessed Happiness of being presented Holy and unblamable, and unreprovable in the Sight of God.

Thus proceeding in my teaching them, and praying with them twice every Week-Day following: When another Lord's-Day came-on, which was that before Execution, viz. the 7th instant, I preach'd to them again in Publick, both in the Forenoon and Afternoon upon this Text, Luke 18. part of the 1st. Verse, and part also of the 2d. Morning-Lesson, the Words being these - Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Which Words I first paraphrastically explain'd, shewing, that by them, and the following Parable, our Saviour does intend to encourage us to constant Prayer, making us sensible of the Necessity of it. Not that his meaning is, that we should always be actually praying on our Knees, and with our Mouths; but we should be always so dispos'd: We should pray frequently, and make that Holy Exercise the constant Business and chief Employment of our Life: We should readily and gladly embrace all the happy opportunities, which the good Providence of God offers to us for it, whether in Publick or in Private; and should therefore be always in a temper and composure of Spirit fit for Prayer; being always free from wilful Sins; having our Consciences void of offence, both towards God and Men: We should be continually praying in the Spirit; have our Minds always lifted-up to God, and by inward pious Ejaculations, (intermixt with our ordinary secular Affairs,) keep a secret Spiritual Commerce and Correspondence between Heaven and our Souls. By which means our Affections might be utterly alienated from this corrupt World, and our Hearts fixt upon, and closely united to God, our Sovereign and perfect Good. And in this Exercise we should not faint, says our Blessed Saviour in the Text; that is, we should not grow slack or remiss, though God should seem to delay the granting us the things, which we ask of him, and stop (as it were) his Ears to our Requests: For this he judges fit some times to do, in order to exert our Patience and our Faith, and our Resignation to his Holy Will; and so making us thereby still more sensible of his great Excellency and Majesty, and of our own Abjectness and Unworthyness, increase our Humility and Devotion.

Thus having open'd the Text, and shew'd the import of it, I proceeded to discourse more largely from it, upon these following Heads. 1st. I shew'd, the Necessity of Prayer, or of our Application to some more powerful Being to supply our Wants. 2dly. The true Object of our Prayer, or who that powerful Being is, whose Assistance we are thus to implore, viz. God alone, exclusive of all created Beings, even the greatest of Saints or Angels. 3dly. The particular Nature and use of Prayer, as they result from the two foregoing Heads, viz. the Sense, 1. Of our own Weakness and Impotency; And 2. Of the Majesty and Omnipotence of God. 4thly. The certain Success and Advantages attending our Prayers, when duly offer'd. 5thly. and lastly. The Requisites, or Conditions necessary for the due Performance thereof.

Having discoursed upon the first Three of these Heads in the Morning, and on the two last in the Afternoon, I concluded the Whole with particular Exhortations to the condemned Persons, that they would examine and search out their own Hearts, and listen to their own Consciences, that must of necessity tell them, how much they stand in need of Divine Help and pardoning Mercy, and how they ought by Humility, and Godly Sincerity, to prepare themselves to ask it in Prayer; applying themselves to God, as our Church directs in this her excellent Collect for the Day. Grant, we beseech thee Almighty God, that we, who for our evil Deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the Comfort of thy Grace may mercifully be relieved, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. This only necessary Thing of imploring and obtaining God's Favour in the forgiveness of all their Sins, that they might through the Gates of Death