81                              1676.                        147

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She acknowledged her sin publickly by writing as followeth

 

  I desire to mourn for my foremar Sins of childhood & youth, & for y^e

neglect of y^e use of all the means of grace, & disobedience to my parents, &

neglect of y^e counsell & call of his servants; I have cause to wonder that I

am out of hell, I desire to wonder at y^e goodness of God for giving me Inte

=rest in y^e prayers of his Servants: I desire to be humbled, that I have dishonor

ed so holy a god as he is, & greeved his pp; & especially I desire to mourn

for y^e sin of uncleanness & all y^e aggravations of it & to loath my self for my Sin

while I have a day to live: I desire the prayers of Gods pp that I may hate

and forsake all Sin, & that I may have grace to walk in y^e relations & place

=ces god sets me in according to his rule: I have many times thought that

God may bring that great affliction of warr on y^e country for my sin; I desire

that he would give me true & unfeined repentance for all my sins, & that he

would wash away all my sins in y^e blood of his son, & help me to carry

more obediently & humbly towards himself, & in y^e relations he hath set me in

and y^t he would write his law in my heart: I desire that as I have sined

God would give me a heart to repent & to come to him for pardon & purging

the scriptures I had some help from were 28 prov 13. he y^t confesses his sins, &

forsakes y^m shall find mercy  soe 1 Isai though your sins be as crimson he will

make y^m as woole, & whosoever will let him take of y^e water of life freely

Thes & such like Scriptures I have found some incorragement from though I

                    many

am ready to Question scriptures whither they belong to me or noe: I desire

I may be a warning to all young ones to take heed of sin, & all the occasions

of it I desire y^e continuance of y^e prayers of Gods pp that god would set sin

more & more upon my heart, y^t I may come to Jesus Christ for pardon of

it & purging from it: This acknowledgm^t was accepted by y^e church as appears

pag 74.

As for Thomas Tenny after he came back again from the Southward whether

he had withdrawn himself, hearing of his cousins being delivered of a child

& y^t she lay^d to him he denyed it both to her face & to others very often yea

when he was brought before the court he denied it ther till he saw y^t he was

like to be sent to prison, & some warning him not to deny it any longer he

did own it at last

S. P. did speak with him to se what sence y^r was of his sin upon his heart y^r

appear^d scarse any greif of heart but some penitent expressions he did utter &

desired they might be taken in writing (because he thought he could not possibly

speak before y^e congregation) which was as followeth:

 

                    Thomas Tennys acknowledgm^t of his great

                       Sin of unncleaness.

I have sinned greatly against God, against his pp, against my ffrends & against my

own soul, I am in a very sinfull condition, & if god give me not repentance for my sin

I am undone for ever: I was very much unsensible of of[52] the Evill after I had commit

ted it, hopeing that it would never be known because she might not proove with child:

But when I was abroad I considered what I had done & was troubled, & purposed when

 re

I turned back to honour God by takeing shame to myself if he would inable me: But

after I was come home I denied it, Sathan & y^e corruption of my heart stirred me up

to deny it, & y^t many times, I alsoe mett with bad Counsels that I should not owne it

& that I was a fool if I did, & I thought that way to Escape punishm^t: But I

have since considered that it is a great Sin, & that which is due to me for it is

                                                                    without