Posted on 05/06/2023 9:07:34 AM PDT by CheshireTheCat
On this date in 1791, a man named William Jones hanged in Newark, N.J.
Jones cut an apologetic figure at his public execution, and a confession he signed off in the hours before was widely reprinted in New England newspapers. (This transcription is from the Boston Independent Chronicle of May 26, 1791.)
Knowing that without repentance there can be no salvation, and without a sincere confession of our public transgressions, there can be no true repentance, therefore I would give glory to God, exonerate and ease my own wretched mind; and as far as possible, afford that satisfaction to the public, by confessing my crimes, that others may take warning by my awful but just end, and be preserved from such horrid iniquities. This is the only reparation I can make to society, for the evil I have done, for which I am righteously, in the midst of my days, cut off from among men.
I confess I have been exceedingly wicked from my youth. I have been habitually addicted to Sabbath breaking, swearing, keeping evil company, gaming, drinking to excess; and when in liquor, passionate and quarrelsome, and have indulged myself to a high degree in other base and horrid abominations......
(Excerpt) Read more at executedtoday.com ...
The word "Wicked" was a very commonly used word in the 17th and 18th centuries, which because of its strict religious implications fell out of favor in our post-modern age. It needs to make a come-back!
Fascinating!
We live in an exceedingly wicked age, where perversions and madness are deemed evidence of progress.
I agree.
A similar confession on the part of practically any modern politician would be so long we’d never get to see them hang.
So as long as a Clinton SOTU? That’s long.
.
If Bill Clinton started reciting his confession before hanging he'd likely live to be 125.
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.
Hilaire Belloc
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