The truth is of Importance; and it will be laid open: Till that shall be fully effected, the same Principle which influenc'd me, as unconcerned as any Man could be in the whole Matter, and of all Men the least inclined to enter into Disputes and Quarrels, to undertake the Protection, so far as it lay in my scanty Power, of the Innocent, pleads with me, so far as my Opportunities may permit, and so far as may be consistent with that Character which every Man ought to hold sacred, to prevent farther Error.
There will be those who think me wrong from the Beginning; and were I actuated by their Sentiments only, I should
agree with them. It was not prudent to engage unnecessarily, in a Cause that must become a Subject of Debate; but there are Motives superior even to Prudence, and these had, in the present Case, a Right to Attention; Honesty, Humanity, and Love of Justice: These, I hope, I shall always, although it be at the Expence of some Scandal, prefer to that cold Principle; inasmuch as I think it a greater Character to be an honest, than to be a wise Man.
Thus much it may have been necessary, though very unpleasing, to say, with Respect to those Motives which induced an unconcerned Person at all to meddle in this intricate Discovery; since those whose own Hearts do not acknowledge any Thought that has not Self for its Centre, may not (uninformed of the Difference) suppose it possible any others should have Place in the Breast of a Stranger. The Persons are all unknown to me, but the Story was interesting; and Humanity must have been unknown to him, who should have been let into so much of it, as had come to my Knowledge, and not have enquired farther. I could have no Interest in the Event farther than as one Creature of the same Species is concerned in the
Welfare of another; nor was I of any Part, unless inclined to pity the miserable Convict; because she was poor, and a Stranger, and oppress'd, and innocent. Such, at least, I was, at that Time, inclin'd to believe her, and I am, by all that has pass'd since, the more confirm'd in that Opinion.
It will appear, that I have weighty, nay, that I have unanswerable and incontrovertible Evidence, that I ought to be so; whenever those sacred Proofs, which at this Time are in the Hands of that generous Magistrate who has obtained them, shall appear, and untill that Time come, perhaps it may not be thought singular in me to be persuaded of the Innocence of this Woman, from the very Attempts which have been made by those who espouse her Prosecutors, to prove they are not guilty.
I have proposed to consider the whole Story; and to preserve a Conduct answerable to that Intention, I shall begin with it somewhat earlier than those have thought it prudent to do, who have hitherto treated of the Matter. To judge truly of People's Actions, we should enquire into the Designs of them; and this is best done by attending to the earliest Notices.
Some few Days after that first of January, on which this little Child, as those who despairing to convince the Judgment, attempt the Passions of Mankind, affect to call her, is said to have been carried away, I find the following Advertisement in the most Universal of the Daily Papers.
"Whereas Elizabeth Cannon went from her Friends between Hounsditch and Bishopsgate, on Monday last, the 1st Instant, between Nine and Ten o'Clock: Whoever can give any Account where she is, shall have Two Guineas Reward; to be paid by Mrs. Cannon, a Sawyer, in Aldermanbury Postern, which will be a great Satisfaction to her Mother. She is fresh-colour'd, pitted with the Small-Pox, has a high Forehead, light Eye-brows, about five Foot high, eighteen Years of Age, well set, had on a Masquerade Purple Stuff Gown, a black Petticoat, a white Chip Hat, bound round with Green, a white Apron and Handkerchief, blue Stockings, and Leather Shoes.