(Vol. i., p. 152.; Vol. iii., pp. 324. 377. 451. 485.: and see _Continental
Watchmen_, Vol. iv., pp. 206. 356.)
Formerly it was, according to a very ancient custom, the practice on the
night preceding the execution of condemned criminals, for the bellman of
the parish of St. Sepulchre to go under Newgate, and, ringing his bell, to
repeat the following verses, as a piece of friendly advice, to the unhappy
wretches under sentence of death:
"All you that in the condemn'd hold do lie,
Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die.
Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near,
That you before the Almighty must appear.
Examine well yourselves, in time repent,
That you may not to eternal flames be sent.
And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls,
The Lord have mercy on your souls!
Past twelve o'clock!"
The following extract from Stowe's _Survey of London_, p. 125. of the
quarto edition, printed 1618, will prove that the above verses ought to be
repeated by a clergyman instead of a bellman:
"Robert Doue, citizen and merchant taylor, of London, gave to the
parish of St. Sepulchre's the sum of 50l. That after the several
sessions of London, when the prisoners remain in the gaole, as
condemned men to death, expecting execution on the morrow following;
the clarke (that is the parson) of the church shoold come in the night
time, and likewise early in the morning, to the window of the prison
where they lye, and there ringing certain tolls with a hand-bell
appointed for the purpose, he doth afterwards (in most Christian
manner) put them in mind of their present condition, and ensuing
execution, desiring them to be prepared therefore, as they ought to be.
When they are in the cart, and brought before the wall of the church,
there he standeth ready with the same bell. And after certain tolls
rehearseth an appointed prayer, desiring all the people there present
to pray for them. The beadle also of Merchant Taylors' Hall hath an
honest stipend allowed to see that it is duely done."
This note is an extract from the _Romance of the Forum_, vol. ii. p. 268.