This dying Counsel I do give, hoping you will begin
To serve the Lord in Time of Youth his Precepts for to keep;
To serve him so in Spirit and Truth, that you may mercy reap.
In Youthful blooming Years was I, when I that Practice took,
Of perpetrating Piracy, for filthy gain did look.
To Wickedness as all were bent, our Lusts for to fulfill;
To rob at Sea was our Intent, and perpetrate all Ill.
I pray the Lord preserve you all and keep you from this End;
O let Fits-Gerald’s great downfall untio your welfare tend.
I to the Lord my soul bequeath, accept thereof I pray,
My body to the Earth bequeath, dear Friends, adieu for aye.
– John Fitzgerald on the eve of his
execution on 7/19/1723
A member of Charles Harris’s crew
What an interesting poem for someone's last words. Thanks for sharing something a wee bit different on picture Wednesday. Maybe Mr. Fitzgerald's final farewell will inspire you to share his backstory in a new pirate book....pretty please :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I thought it was so cool when I read it. Here this pirate is about to die for his crimes and he's trying to tell his friends to return to the Lord! Yes, indeed, it may make a good story some day. ;-)
DeleteI really enjoy your site. As a black woman, when I’m asked why I don’t support black nationalism, black power or black lives matter, I respond with Matthew 3:35. “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.” My family, the people I identify with, the culture I follow, the standards I live by are not dictated by a skin color that can be altered by your physical location on the Earth. It is determined by one factor alone - being in love with Jesus Christ. This is the only real line of separation that divides everyone in the world.
ReplyDeleteAMEN! I couldn't have said it better. Skin color, gender, nationality, slave or free, rich or poor, makes no difference in the kingdom of God. We are one big happy family!
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