Crime & punishment > Life and farewell address of Peter Aug. Heaman, who was executed at Leith, on the 9th of January last, for the crimes of piracy and murder

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Neither is it intended to hold out this ex¬
ample as a case of usual occurrence, as if it
was almost a matter of course, that men who
suffer for their crimes were generally brought
to the knowledge of God. On the contrary,
it is believed that this is far from being com¬
mon. And no just occasion, it is presumed,
is here given to any man to yield to the fatal
delusion, that if brought into such circum¬
stances he must necessarily experience the
same happy change of mind. We must stre¬
nuously and constantly affirm, that these cha¬
racters are not excluded from the mercy of the
gospel, the invitations of which, as was stated
to Heaman, are free and direct to all while in
this world. But the gloom of a prison, and
the awful state of a criminal under condemna¬
tion, have no necessary tendency to produce
such an effect. In these circumstances a man
may experience remorse of conscience, and be
deeply concerned about his future condition ;
and this may be overruled for the final salva¬
tion of his soul. But remorse of conscience
and deep concfern often exist without issuing
in conversion to God. Neither the dread nor
the enduring of punishment has, in itself,
any tendency to produce confidence and love.
And even in these most alarming circum-