Part 20 (1/2)

G.o.d forbid, that this should touch you.

And indeed to be sincere, when on the one hand I view the arguments of your guilt, and, on the other, behold your strong a.s.sertions of innocence, to the hazarding of the soul, if untrue, I am greatly perplexed, I know not what to say or believe. The alternative, I presume, is, you are either a believer and innocent, or an infidel and guilty. But that holy religion which I profess, obliging me, in all cases of doubt, to incline to the most charitable construction; I say, that I am willingly persuaded, that you believe in the above mentioned truths, and are in some degree innocent.

You have, dear Miss, applied to temporal counsel, with regard to the determination of your body. They have failed. Your life is forfeited to justice. You are already dead in the eye of the law. Oh! Miss, the counsels which my poor understanding gives, is spiritual; may they be more successful: May G.o.d grant that the fate of your soul may not resemble the fate of your body! May it not perish and die for ever!

Now, Miss, you must necessarily be in one of these two situations; you must either be innocent, by not designing to hurt your father; or you designed to kill your father, and are guilty, and conceal your guilt for private reasons. Permit me to offer something upon each of these heads.

If it should be the case, that you are innocently the cause of Mr.

Blandy's death, which Heaven grant! if you harboured not a thought of injuring your unhappy father, you have the greatest of all comforts to support you. You may think upon that last and awful tribunal, before which all the sons of Adam shall appear, and from which no secret is hid. There will be no injustice. Innocence will be vindicated. The scheme of Providence will be then unfolded. There your patience under your sufferings and resignation to the decrees of Heaven will be rewarded. Your errors and failings G.o.d will pity and have mercy upon; for he remembers whereof we are made. You may face the ignominious tree with calmness. Death has no stings to wound innocence. Guilt alone clothes him with terrors (to the guilty wretch he is terrible indeed!). And at the resurrection, and at the last day, you will joyfully behold Jesus Christ your Saviour, join the triumphant mult.i.tudes of the blessed, and follow them into the everlasting mansions of glory.

The other point I am about to speak to, is upon a supposition of your guilt. G.o.d direct me what to say! If you repent, you will be saved. But what repentance can be adequate to such crimes? O Miss!

your infamous end is a satisfaction due to human laws. But there is another satisfaction which G.o.d expects to be made for such a dreadful violation of laws divine. Once, Miss, you had two fathers to provide for and protect you; one by the ties of Nature, the other by the bonds of grace and religion. And now your earthly parent is your accuser, and your heavenly one your judge. Both are become your enemies. Good G.o.d! what deep distress is this! where can misery like this find comfort and relief? O Miss! the only anchor which can preserve your soul from peris.h.i.+ng, is your blessed Saviour. Believe in Him; whatsoever you ask in His name, believing, G.o.d will grant.

For to them that believe, all things are possible. Unburthen your whole soul. Pour out your fervent prayers to G.o.d. Remember, that infinite mercy is glorified in the vilest sinners. If there are any accessaries to this horrid crime, discover them. Make all possible reparation for injuries you have done. Heartily forgive, and pray for your enemies and more particularly for all concerned in the Prosecution against you. Detest your sins truly, and resolve to do so for the time to come, and be in charity with all men. If you perform these things truly and sincerely, your life, which sets in gloomy clouds, shame and darkness, may, by the mercies of G.o.d, rise in glory, honour and brightness.

But perhaps, Miss, to your everlasting hazard, you will not confess your guilt, for some private reasons. And what must these be?

You may possibly then imagine, that if you confess your crime to G.o.d, you are not obliged to confess to the world. Generally speaking G.o.d is the sole confessor of mankind; but your case is a particular exception to this rule. You will want the a.s.sistance of G.o.d's ministers. But how is it possible for you to receive any benefit from them, if you do not represent to them the true state of your soul without any disguise? A secret of this nature, smothered in the breast, is a fire which preys upon, and consumes all quietness and repose. Consider too the imminent danger of a lie of this nature; consider the justice due to your accusers, to your judges, and to the world.

But you will say, confession of my crime cuts off all hope of Royal Mercy. Dear Miss, do not indulge yourself in such a thought. Prepare for the worst. Consider how pernicious flattery of this nature is.

Remember that G.o.d is only a G.o.d of mercy in this; in another life, he is a G.o.d of justice.

I can hardly think that shame has any share in the concealment of your guilt; for no shame can exceed that which you have already suffered. Besides, confession is all the amends you can make; and mankind know experimentally how frail and imperfect human nature is, and will allow for it accordingly.

And thus, dear Miss, have I wrote to you, with a sincere view to your everlasting happiness. If during this dismal twilight, this interval between life and death, I can serve you, command me. The world generally flies the unfortunate, rejoices in evil, triumphs over distress; believe me glad to deviate from such inhumanity. As the offices of friends.h.i.+p which you can receive from me are confined to such a short period, let them be such as concern your everlasting welfare. The greatest pleasure I can receive (if pleasure can arise from such sad potions), will be to hear that you entertain a comfortable a.s.surance of being happy for ever. Which that you may be, is the fervent prayer of, etc.

Whether or no this gentleman, in the above letter, has not urged the matter home to Miss Blandy, is submitted to the judgment of the public.

Here follows _verbatim_ her answer.

Monday, March 9, 1752.

Reverend Sir,--I did not receive your's till Sunday night late; and now so ill in body, that nothing but my grat.i.tude to you for all your goodness could have enabled me to write. I have with great care and thought often read over your kind advice; and will, as well as the sad condition I am in will give me leave, speak the truth.

The first and most material to my poor soul is, that I believe in G.o.d the Father, and in His blessed Son Jesus Christ, who, I verily believe, came into the world to save sinners; and that He will come again to judge the world; and that we must all give an account in our own bodies, and receive the reward of a good or ill spent life; that G.o.d is a G.o.d of Justice, but of mercy too; and that by repentance all may be saved.

As to the unworthy man you mention, I never heard finer lessons come from any one. Had he, Sir, shewn really what he may be (an infidel), I never should have been so deceived; for of all crimes, that ever shocked me most. No, Sir, I owe all my miseries to the appearances of virtue; by that deceived and ruined in this world, but hope through Christ to be pardoned. I was, and never denied it, the fatal instrument; but knew not the nature of, nor had a thought those powders could hurt. Had I not destroyed his letters, all must have been convinced; but, like all the rest, he commanded, and I obeyed and burnt them. There is an account, as well as I was able to write, which I sent to my Uncle in London. That I here send you. G.o.d knows never poor soul wrote in more pain, and I now am not able hardly to hold my pen. But will not conclude this without explaining the true state of my mind. As I did not give this fatal powder to kill or hurt my poor father; I hope G.o.d will forgive me, with repentance for the ill use I have made of that sense he gave me, and not be for ever angry with me. Death I deserve, for not being better on my guard against my grand enemy; for loving and relying too much on the human part. I hope (when all is done that friends can do for me to save that life which G.o.d has given me, and which if to last these hundred years, would be too short for me to repent, and make amends for the follies I have committed) I shall have such help from my G.o.d, as to convince my poor friends I die a Christian, and with hopes of forgiveness through the merits of our Advocate and Mediator Jesus Christ.

I beg, my dear sir, you will excuse my writing more, and will believe I am truly sensible of your goodness to me. May G.o.d bless you, sir, and send you happiness here and hereafter. I beg my duty to my poor uncle; pray him to forgive, and pity, and pray for me. I beg my tenderest wishes to Mrs. Mounteney; and if she can serve me with the Bishop of W----[22] or any other, I know she will do it.

Pray comfort poor Ned Hearne, and tell him I have the same friends.h.i.+p for him as ever. And pray, sir, continue your friends.h.i.+p and good wishes to,

Reverend Sir,

Your truly affected, Much obliged humble Servant,

MARY BLANDY.

_P.S._--I beg, for very just reasons to myself and friends, that this letter and papers may soon be returned to me; that is, as soon as you have done with them. You will oblige me, if you keep a copy of the letter; but the real letter I would have back, and the real papers, as being my own handwriting, and may be of service to me, to my character after my death, and to my family.

There is no occasion of hinting to the judicious reader that in this letter it is plain that Miss Blandy twice solemnly declares her innocence.

But let us now proceed to Miss Blandy's own relation of an affair which has so much engrossed the attention of the public.

Miss Blandy's narrative referred to in the foregoing letter:--