Part 19 (2/2)

The Examt. says he took Lodgings & agreed for Board for Capt. Cranston at Calais at the Rate of Fifty Livres a Month & upon the 6th Sept.

returned in the same Packet to Dover. That upon his pa.s.sage back the Capt. of the Packet said he believed the person who went with the Examt. to Calais was very glad to be landed, for that he seemed very uneasy; The Examt. answered may be so, & no other discourse happened upon the subject.

That the Capt. of the Packet observed that he thought he had seen the Examt. at Harwych, the Examt. said very likely for that he had pa.s.sed from thence to Holland with his master Lord Home during the War.

The Examt. absolutely denies that he pa.s.sed or attempted to pa.s.s for a King's Messenger, or that he mentioned the name of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, nor was his Grace's name mentioned; nor did any Discourse what so ever pa.s.s about Messengers.

That upon his return to London he waited upon Mr. Home to acquaint him that he had landed Capt. Cranston safe at Calais. Mr. Home expressed himself very much obliged & a.s.sured the Examt. he would represent to his Brother & Lord Cranston the trouble he had had, & did not doubt but they would be equally obliged & reward him very well. The Examt.

said he did not expect any reward, that what he had done was out of grat.i.tude to Lord Home & his family & was very glad he had had it in his power to oblige them: & the Examt. said the same to Capt. Hamilton & never kept it a secret from any body, but talked of his having gone over with Capt. Cranston in common discourse & before anybody.

That the Examt. made out an Acct. of the Expences he had been at & delivered it to Capt. Hamilton, which amounted, with the money lent, to eighteen pounds, for which sum Capt. Hamilton gave him a Bill of exchange upon Ld. Cranston, which Bill the Examt. sent to Scotland to Lord Cranston, who having kept it near six weeks return'd it unpaid; and the Examt. has not yet recd. the money.

And lastly the Examt. says that he arrived in England with his Master at the end of the late War, & has not been out of England since that time except to Calais with Capt. Cranston as aforesaid.

FRANCIS GROPPTTY

this 3rd Feb., 1752.

Taken upon Oath; before L. Stanhope.

APPENDIX III.

A LETTER FROM A CLERGYMAN TO MISS MARY BLANDY, NOW A PRISONER IN OXFORD CASTLE; WITH HER ANSWER THERETO. AS ALSO MISS BLANDY'S OWN NARRATIVE OF THE CRIME FOR WHICH SHE IS CONDEMNED TO DIE.

(No. 3 of Bibliography, Appendix XII.)

(The original copy of this letter, in Miss Blandy's own handwriting, for the satisfaction of the public, is left with the publisher.)

March 14, 1752.

Reader,--Condemn no person rashly. Thou has already, perhaps, pa.s.sed sentence upon this unfortunate. But remember, that G.o.d alone knows the secrets of the heart; and that circ.u.mstances spring many times from motives which it is impossible for man to discover.

The following letter was written to this unhappy lady by a clergyman,[21]

after her receiving sentence of death.

A LETTER TO MISS BLANDY.

March 7, 1752.

Dear Miss,--Had it been at my own option, I never would have chose to be the least concerned in your unhappy affair; but since divine providence, without my own seeking, has thought fit to order it otherwise, I shall, from obligations of compa.s.sion and humanity, offer some things to your serious consideration. Your power of receiving benefit from my advice, is but of short duration; may G.o.d grant that you may rightly use this. That you believe in G.o.d, in the immortal nature of the soul, in Jesus Christ, and in a future state of rewards and punishments, I am willing to persuade myself. As to the unworthy man who has tempted you to your ruin, I have good grounds to believe him to be an infidel. If he has communicated such principles to you, to render you more capable of executing his wicked purposes, your persisting therein will ruin your poor soul for ever. The moment you enter into that awful state of separation, you will be eternally convinced of your error. The very devils believe a G.o.d, and tremble.

You will, perhaps, express surprise at my entertaining a doubt of this nature. What? You that have been so constant at public wors.h.i.+p, that have so frequently partic.i.p.ated of the most sacred rite of the Christian religion, to be thought an infidel? Alas! Miss, externals are but the husks of piety; they are easy to the hypocrite. The body may bow down in the house of G.o.d, yet the soul do homage to Belial.

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