When Charles Peace (a convicted thief and murderer) was being escorted to the gallows, he was accompanied by a clergyman reading from The Consolations of Religion about the “flames never quenched.” Peace was a known criminal for whom the public had no sympathy; no one can say with confidence the prison chaplain was reading without a sneer. Nevertheless, some of the last words this man heard on earth detailed the waiting wrath for unrepentant traitors of the Most High.
Incredulous, Peace turned to the chaplain and exclaimed: "Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!