great Hereticks when as they onely differed from them in Church Government and some Eternal Rites and Modes and otherwise held the same true and Catholick Faith and Doctrine with these Men but also because all those penal Laws which were made and ordained before the time of the Reformation against Hereticks as they call'd them stood still in force and none of them was repealed not so much as that De Comburendo Haeretico or for burning the Heretick so that if at any time any one of Eminent power had a mind he might by Virtue of that Law Arraign any one and bring him to that dismal and horrid punishment and have it Executed upon him Which appears by the Examples of two Men under the Reign of K. James the 1st in the 11th year of this Century Which because it has not of a long while been taken notice of by most Writers and yet it is not amiss to be known especially at this time I shall briefly relate One of these Men was Bartholmew Legate of the County of Essex a Man of an unblamable Life ready wit and well read in the H. Scriptures but disliking the Nicene Creed and denying the plurality of persons in the God-head and the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ after he had been for some time kept in Prison at London and being enlarged again more boldly defended his impious Errors and could not be brought to desist from it even by these reasons the King himself brought at last in an Assembly of Bishops was Condemned of Contumacious and Irreclaimable Heresy and delivered over to the secular Judges and by the Kings command according to the Act de haeretico comburendo the 18. day of March about Noon was publickly burn't and Consumed to Ashes The other was one R. Wightman of the Town of Burton near the River Trent who was Condemned by the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield of several Heresies the first was that he was an Ebionite the last an Anabaptist and burn't at Litchfield the 11th day of Ap. 'T is true indeed that this Law for burning the Heretick as also for putting him to Death in any wise was repeal'd in the Reign of Charles the Second but this is true also that that repeal was not made without a great deal of Difficulty and Repugnance of some Men and it was so done too that tho the Clergy had this power of Life and Death taken away from them and yet still out of this power they had so much Authority left them as to Excommunicate as they call it those that they should account Hereticks and thereupon to deprive them of their Liberty and take away their goods and the Consequences which follow thereupon Which thing I have thought fit to take notice as being not well known and yet worth the while to know This repeal was made in the 29th year of his Reign and 77th of the Century in that memorable Parliament Which was continued from the year 61 by several Propagations down to that time There was a certain Man of the Country of Middlesex whose Name was Taylor who had defil'd himself with so many and great Crimes and Vices that he had no fear notice or Apprehension of God wherefore he was sent to London and brought before the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Court. In which Court as they were deliberating what to Determine about a Man so very impious or rather an impure beast one of the younger Bishops being more vehement and hot in his Censures than the rest gave his Judgment that this Man should be Exterminated from humane Society by burning and alledges that Law for the Burning of Hereticks with fire Which seeming somewhat harsh to others of the Bishops and some giving their opinion one way others another The Earl of Hall the next day in Parliament in the House of Lords proposes and perswades that that Law for the Burning of Hereticks might be Abolished for as long as that Law was not yet taken away and repeal'd it might come to pass that what Religion or Sect soever came uppermost the professors of that by Virtue of this Law might put to Death by burning all those that they should count Hereticks The Bishops opposed and cried out against this Petition But when it came to the Vote the present Earl of Hallefax and likewise the Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Shaftsbury and other great Men Considering that at that time things look'd with a fearful aspect and that it was often seen in the Course of Nature that many times things which had been hindred and delayed might break out again as in that cursed Popish Plot and the preparations of the Papists for the Destruction of the reformed Religion at that time was easily to be seen and that that Law particularly might one day be signally Injurious and Destructive they so perswade the rest and make it out so plain by force of Argument that the repeal of that Law is concluded upon and decreed contrary to the mind and will of the Bishops which Bill being carried down to the House of Commons some Excellent Men among which the principal was W. Russell a great Lover of his Countrey and Religion and a Man worthy of immortal honour presently Vote for it and procured the Bill to pass And so by Authority of the King and both Houses of Parliament this ancient Law was Abrogated and Repealed by this Act That from henceforth by Authority of the King and Parliament the writ de heretico comburendo or for burning Hereticks and all Capital punishments following upon any Ecclesiastical Censures should be taken off Not taking away nevertheless or diminishing the Jurisdiction of the Protestant Arch-Bishops or Bishops or any other Ecclesiastical Court to punish Atheism Blasphemy Heresy or Schism or any other Damnable Doctrines or Opinions So that Nevertheless it shall and may be lawful to them to punish such Men according to the Kings Ecclesiastical Laws by Excommunication Deprivation Deposition and other Censures not Extending to Death What but also how fraudulent a Liberty to all Religions was granted by K. James the 2d and what care the Bishops most of them but not all took to oppose it is not necessary now to be insisted on But to return from whence I have digressed Now because these Quakers had made no inconsiderable progress in their Affairs in America that new and to the Ancients unknown part of the World there were some of them who thought it might be a work worth the while to attempt the like all over this part of the World which we inhabit and of which for the most part we have a more ancient knowledge of and that not onely in the European Countreys where we have great dealings but also in Asia it self and Africa among the remotest Nations Destitute of the right knowledge of God and brought up in the profoundest Ignorance of the truth and true Religion with a design to enlighten them and by their Arguments and Sollicitations
aspersions Penn being drown'd with such Cares and Businesses esteeming it his duty to look to his own affairs lest by the Continuance of such liberality he should dry up the Fountains of his paternal Inheritance he did not wholly abandon his Beâ—evolence and Diligence but did so by degrees Moderate and rule 'em that he gave â—o occasion of an inviâ—ious Complaint Penn having laid down this certain Conclusion that there must needs be one Society of Christians the common safety and advantage Requiring that every one worship God freely without any Impediment and Hinderance providing only he liv'd peaceably and submissively to the power and honour of the Magistrate and since this Kingdom was deny'd that Priviledge having the way to that liberty obstructed by an Oath which every one by Law was required to take and by other penalties laid upon Dissenters Penn treated with the King of these two who was also desirous to have 'em remov'd and therefore receiv'd the address more willingly Penn so defended and confirm'd the Kings Edict which was now emitted to this purpose in a certain Book he publish'd for that end that â—e incurr'd the hatred bitterness and anger of the Protestant party Universally and Implacably some of the Quakers also were â—o displeas'd that they did not love him and extol him as before others wholly avoided and abandon'd him The Protestants exclaim'd that Penn as well as the King aim'd at Popery with his outmost endeavour calling him not only a Papist but also a Jesuit an order that 's equally crafty and hated The Quakers thought it not at all amiss to have the penal Laws wholly Abiegated which the Quaker subjects most of all were expos'd to but lik'd not to have the Law concerning the Oath repeaâ—'d lest the Papists thereby being let into the Government might quickly renew these sanguinary Laws and by means thereof take weary drive out and kill the Protestants and especially the Quakers according to the custom of their Tenets and Religion as if they had only been absolv'd from former Constitutions to be condemn'd more cruelly to severer punishment Thus they fear'd the snare cheifly to be laid for themselves While many were thus hurried in their minds Penn so proved himself in another book not to be addicted to but an hater of Popery by the Testimony of his word his Conscience which is a thousand Witnesses and of God than whom none can be greater that if the words of Man may ever be believ'd every one may credit Penn not to speak false blazing it with any Colour of subtility but that he wrote truth with Candour and Sincerity Tho Penn cou'd not by that book change the opinion that many had received of him yet he so fully convinced the Quakers that from them he retriev'd his ancient praise for some time intermitted so that they own'd him for one constant to their Religion and yet left him to the singularity of his own opinion So the Quakers under this King liv'd quietly and easily except a few that were somewhat troubled by the ensnaring Tricks of some deceitful men but the Time of New Trouble and Change of all was at hand For now the King weary of waiting thinking his Designs not capable of being defeated by any introduc'd Popery not hiddenly but openly Not to mention others these of the Highest Dignity even Bishops and Archbishops that withstood his Intentions were some of 'em brought over to his Cause by Bribes and others put into the Tower of London These being Resolute and Couragious in their honourable cause found by experience how far it was necessary and yet how hard to suffer for the liberty of their Conscience And since my discourse has led me hither I can't but add what was said by the Quakers themselves When the Bishops of England were now thus Stated some of the Quakers took the Freedom to tell 'em that same mischief return'd now on themselves that formerly came out from them upon the Quakers When it came to their Ears they resented it ill that such words shou'd be spoken and scatter'd of them by the Quakers Robert Barclay understanding this went presently to the Tower and told 'em all modestly that was done against the Quakers both by the command and permission of the Bishops to which narrative they cou'd make no other reply but that of silence But after 3 years K. James's Reign expir'd and was succeeded by K. William the Third of Nassaw hereditary State-holder of Holland Son in Law and Nephew to James by his Sister who in all the series and course of his Life shew'd himself the best of Princes and Generals equally adorn'd with Civil and Warlick virtue and withal Arm'd with Christian Piety a like useful to Church and State both by his Inclination and Education in his own Countrey which tho it hath no Kings yet produces and fits 'em for other Nations Upon his first taking up the Reins of Government he beliav'd himself to all with that Moderation that it was manifest he desir'd rather to be lov'd then fear'd and to bereave none of Liberty of Conscience in Religion so that all justly esteem'd him a most prudent and moderate Prince equal to the best King that e're preceeded him He granted Freedom and Indulgence to all but only the Papists whose infidelity he suspected those he treated with a mixture of Grace and Severity making always the former the greatest Ingredient The Quakers also cou'd not but love him and embrace him as their most effectual defender being suffer'd to perform their Religious exercises without the hinderance of fear and molestation This Royal benevolence was enhanced by the Parliament which the King called after his Inanguration according to the ancient Custom of Kings who us'd to have a Parliament in the beginning of their Reign that if any former Law were to be chang'd or Abolish'd it might be legally done with consent of the house This Parliament ratify'd a Liberty in Religion giving immunity to all from the force and severity that formerly resulted from any penal Act excepting yet the Papists who were reckoned such Enemies that no peace cou'd be establish'd with them and granting liberty to them wou'd be taking it from our selves and so to raise war against our own safety Excepting also Socinians and those of the like stamp who either openly or by Clandestine practices Aim'd at subverting the Foundations of the Christian faith Thus the Quakers had liberty but since it 's a matter of some moment to know the Rights and Privileges given 'em by King and Parliament and inserted in Acts of Liberty in Religion it will not be fruitless to handle it more largely if it were but for that French Authors sake whom I mention'd before not to his praise a base unconstant and Roguish fellow who after many turnings and windings in Religion as both strangers and they that know him assure me by Letters plays now strenuously the Papist at Paris However it 's certain he treats of
Humane Nature was not so depraved or that there was some Natural Light remaining whereby they may free themselves from that Vitiosity and that God indeed joyns himself to such as do their endeavour and helps them so as that it is not the meer Grace of God but in some sort Merit in Man and that either some Word or somewhat else is bestowed of God to this end whereas the Quakers have no such thoughts The next Article consisted of such Benefits which are peculiar to those whom they said did not resist the foresaid Illumination but obeyed it for when this Article is known and that which all Protestants teach concerning this matter none will deny but that there is a great deal of difference between the Opinion of Protestants and these Men of whom I now speak apart for this is that which they would have that Christ having performed his Obedience and suffered Death obtained for all Men indifferently to be brought into such a state wherein they are capable of receiving of Christ into them which when it comes to pass that then Christ who is altogether Holy and Just exists in that Person and lives and operates and that by that means the same Person the Justice of Christ existing and operating in him becomes himself Just to wit that the Depravation and Malice of his Nature is gradually unlearnt and laid aside and greater proficiency daily made in Justice and Goodness but yet so as that he may always sin backslide and fall into his former Darkness But he may also arrive at that Perfection so as not to sin at all neither can that constancy in Good fail and cease and seeing no one is happy but he that knows himself to be so this same Man is even then fully conscious of his own Felicity The last Division of this their Doctrine was this and which consists in the Measures and Mediums of receiving the Benefits by which how much also these Men differ from those of whom I have spoken will from hence be no hard matter for us to Judge For they would allow no other Mediums and Aids herein than watchfulness of Mind and attention to that Light which shines in the Heart of every Man and to the Oracles of the Holy Spirit in the Scripture or the Admonitions and Exhortations of Spiritual Persons And thus indeed did they receive and admit of the Ministry of the Gospel but such a Ministration as every one ought to undertake though in a different degree being impelled thereunto by the Holy Spirit alone without the Vocation of Men without Price and Reward and that even Women themselves should not be excluded from Teaching This they would now have and require that all Christians ought frequently to meet at certain Times and Places to the end that they might Worship God and the Father with Brotherly and united Minds and Instruct and Admonish one another to the Observation of the Laws of God and Men and to the exercise of Vertue and Modesty but yet not so as that their Worship should be confined to those Places and Times so as that it must necessarily be undertaken begun and finished there and then according to the Decree and Limitation of those Men for that Worship should be performed by the Impulse and Assistance of the Spirit alone who Acts freely being confined to no spaces or limitations now they would admit of no Sacraments Signs or Seals of the Grace of God that were perceptible by the Senses whence they assumed the Notion that Baptism and the Lord's Supper is something that is inward and Spiritual and that those external Rites continued in the Apostolical Churches but as Figures for a time until the substance of the thing it self was obtained The Quakers spoke and wrote many things from the very beginning of their Sect concerning God and Christ as they were in Men and that Men subsisted in them and almost all their Discourse depended hereon but so as that it was hard yea impossible for a Man to understand what they meant thereby or to cause any other to understand it They began in process of time to explain their meaning more clearly upon this Head and to be more open concerning it and therein as it were placed the Foundation of their whole Doctrine which shall be spoken of at a more convenient time This therefore was the first Form and Description of their Doctrine but as the Doctrine and Faith of these Men was admirable and singular their Life and Conversation was no less for this chiefly consisted in Abstinence and Continency they said all publick and private Wars were forbidden by the Law of God and they shunned all Acts of Revenge and Resistance also neither would they when they had any concerns with other Men though before a Magistrate and that the matter might require it confirm their Asseverations with any Religious Affirmation much less with an Oath and such ways they said were altogether forbidden Moreover they abstained from Pleasures gay Cloaths and superfluous Attire and hated such ways and artifices as tended to Vanity and Pastime as also Shews Play-houses Plays and all manner of Joking and Laughter and besides these they declined to use such Voices Faces Gestures Motions Salutations Blandishments Obsequiousness and the like which are commonly practised in the Societies and Interviews of Men and go by the name of Vertues or of Good Manners and Breeding and did require this That every one look after practise and perform in a serious prudent sparing sober grave and severe manner all that which the Dignity Honour and Excellency of a Christian did require and this both in words and deeds and that they conformed themselves as much as might be to that way of Living This is that Method of Living which the Quakers from the very first rise of them have retained constantly to this very day and they did indeed so extol this their Theology as if this at last and no other did agree to the Constitution and Condition of the New Covenant between God and Man and of the Instrument thereof the New Testament and as if it were the only one adapted to convince and lead all sorts of Men to the Reception of the Christian Faith and to ingenerate true Piety towards God and Men. And as to what appertained to the Life and Manners of them they were themselves very sensible how the Men of this World hated them made a Laughing-stock of them and accounted them as it were the scum and off-scourings of Men for the austereness and severity of their Manners as being so opposite to the Conversation of Men and as it were upbraiding the Folly of all of them But as they bare this Misfortune with great Constancy of Mind and said that they shunned nothing feared nothing besides what was really a sin either against God or Men so they also retorted this that all good Men who own that the Christian World hath long since groaned and as it were been
and beaten with a mercyless fury and after their stripes kept other three days starv'd as before without any food Dorothy Gardenet when lash'd inhumanely kneeling begg'd of God to forgive her Tormenters It wou'd be long to mention many and impossible to repeat all examples of this kind I shall therefore name only one or two passing by others to pursue my intended brevity There came to Salem and from thence to Newbury William Brand and William Leader who being desir'd by the people there to enter into Conference with their Parish Minister having got liberty from him that commanded the place who also promis'd to Patronize and protect 'em being led by their own Inclination and the peoples desire readily listen'd to the proffer'd proposal But when they departed the cunning Commander a Man equally Malicious and Treacherous thinking his simplicity and integrity sufficiently justify'd since they were not troubl'd all the time of the Conference and that he now kept his promise and answer'd their Expectation sent to seize bind and carry them to Boston Being cast into Goal after two days fasting their naked backs were expos'd to the lash loading 'em with threats they thrust 'em into Bridewell giving charge to the Keeper to task 'em severely Which when they declin'd as impos'd undeservedly the Nominal Master but real Servant of his lust and wickedness knowing these labours to be most commonly his own proper profit and advantage to make a penny by their toil and slavery exacted from 'em violently what he charg'd 'em to perform These poor Men had not yet tasted any thing Brand exceeded the other not only in years but also in patience courage and constancy Him the Villain pretending the publick tho only executing his private Gall and envy dragging along shekel'd his neck and heels together and left him in this misery lock'd in Chains 16 hours without any sense of Compassion or Humanity Then unlocking the Chains he bids him fall to his work if he did not design to despair of his back He reply'd he wou'd not nor cou'd tho he were willing The Butcherly fellow seeing him unmov'd by either hopes or fear of punishment with a Sea-Rope or Cord twisted of hemp did lash the Man with such rage and violence that the Rope it self was broken into pieces but seeing the first did not prevail seeking another to accomplish his end with renewed force he gave him almost an hundred lashes insomuch that his whole body was as it were swell'd into one lump and the greatest part of his flesh as it had been baked in an Oven by reason of an universal tumour and blackness When the fourth day was now come he had not yet tasted any bodily nourishment Afterward this brutish and hard hearted Man shut Brand thus miserably torn with the lashes up in a strait and Solitary place without bed straw or any thing to lye on to refresh his torn and half lifeless body which things when they came to the Ears of the people that are prone to Compassion and as ready to mischief yea sometimes use to demand that these whom they hold guilty may be presently punish'd at other times perhaps they relent and are grieved if they think the punishment to severely inflicted began now to rage rise up and run in Crowds that the Magistrates to prevent their sedition first sent a Surgeon to give him what help he cou'd and on his report that it was mortal and incurable tho afterward the Man recover'd of his wounds order'd it to be signify'd by affixing bills through the City that they disapprov'd of such cruel usage and wou'd therefore consider of what the Keeper had done But a certain one of the Town Ministers a Man of Knowledge Authority and Reputation whom I shall not now Name restrain'd the people with words to this purpose That Brand had endeavour'd so to smite the Laws of the Gospel that they might retain the marks of the blows that it was therefore just that his Limbs shou'd smart under the same punishment if he that punish'd him were tax'd with a Crime that he wou'd Transfer the guilt of it on himself Therefore an Act for the future was establish'd that if any Quaker refus'd to perform his task the Goal Keeper might not beat him above twice a week the first time giving ten stripes the next fifteen and so increasing five every diet The next year Cristop Holder and John Copelan above mention'd and John Rousie whose father was I think deputy-Governour of Barmuda's having been here before and driven into Exile returned once more they to Dedham and he to Boston These three in the latter Autumn not openly and in presence of the people had their right Ear cut off by the publick Hangman but only before the Judge that order'd it The mild Men by the loss of their ears being rather further soften'd than imbitter'd contain'd themselves with so much patience that they only broke out in words to this purpose We beg from our heart that God may forgive 'em who have unwarily or imprudently caus'd this to be done but whoe're has malitiously contributed thereto let our blood rest upon their heads And let them find in that day when they must give an account of all they have done that it lies heavily on their head like the weight of a Mill-stone After these Men as well as others had been thus inhumanely dismembred and deform'd they were also detain'd and continu'd in Custody for refusing that slavery they were injoyn'd to perform and remaining unwilling to undergo that punishment which was only proper for Thiefes and Malefactors one trouble so arose upon another that they were forc'd to bear repeated sufferings and stripes There was a certain Man whose Name I know not silence or oblivion has buried it in darkness or at least it seems hinder'd it to be disclos'd who for being a Quaker was branded in the hand with the Letter H. to design him an Heretie There are very many instances of Bitterness and Cruelty that were Barbarously inflicted and patiently endur'd might be easily added were it fruitful to Name ' em The Quakers complain'd of their Enemies fury for raging against 'em for no other cause but coming there without the Magistrates Command and giving their books to those that wou'd read 'em or talking with others concerning their Religion instructing their own Congregations and Flocks and sometimes for going to the Church it self and there speaking when service was ended or for any thing else of the like nature Since they had never rais'd a mutiny nor practis'd any violence or force but were always simple and quiet Men more ready to suffer whate're was inflicted than to Act any thing turbulently or seditiously That yet Men of all Orders and Degrees Politick Ecclesiastick City and Crowd shou'd concur and assemble with an Unanimous consent to destroy and drive out so innocent a crew as the Plague and Contagion of all the Countrey cou'd not but seem strange to all
unprejudiced 'T was then said of them as it 's now of the Browâ—ists that they conspir'd all with one mouth and mind by a mutual Consent Counsel Aid and Endeavour to ingross their Region and Religion to themselves The Magistrates often advis'd with the Ministers and the Ministers in their Meetings consulted with the Magistrates so that for the most part there was but one assembly of 'em both Hence what pleas'd the Magistrates the Clergy approv'd of and what the Ministers took upon 'em to determine the Magistrates by their Authority did confirm And what proceeded from both the two never miss'd of a grateful wellcome from the people But yet all the Magistrates and Rulers in chief of the Cities and Preachers of the word did not so willingly and equally consent to infest afflict and persecute the Quakers Nay some of 'em were not only against it in their Judgment but oppos'd it by their words as far as they cou'd Among the Rulers against persecuting the Quakers they place and praise John Winthoepius a very great and excellent Man and also those Men whose names are subjoyn'd among the better sort of Citizens was William Coddington at that time a Merchant in Boston very considerable for his wealth and prudence who the Quakers testify did so behave themselves both at home and wherever they went as those that must shortly give an account of all their Actions done in the Body Among the Preachers John Cotton Minister at Boston famous for knowledge Administring his Office and Piety in behaving himself towards God and Men They own he was always uncorrupted and untainted and averse to this sort of Rigour and Cruelty The people of New England as yet wanted one piece of severity to suppress the Quakers viz. To take 'em out of the way by Death whom they thought they cou'd not otherwise restrain This Law obtain'd in New as well as Old England that no Criminal shou'd be sentenc'd to Death till the matter be duely known and consider'd by twelve extraordinary Inquirers whom they call Jury Men because they are sworn to determine nothing till they 've diligently search'd and narrowly weigh'd the affair as has been elsewhere shewn on another occasion Since this Law withstood and obstructed the inflicting the punishment of Death upon Quakers they began to consult and greedily endeavour to Abrogate this Law by an Act of the Senate Whereupon 12 voted that it shou'd be retain'd and 13 that it shou'd be rescinded and thus the odd vote carry'd it The matter being known one of the Senators Wozely esteem'd a quiet just and equitable Man was then unhappily forc'd to be absent being hinder'd and detain'd by a bodily indisposition taking it ill that such an Act had pass'd so knowing that if he had been there the design had been frustrated he was reported to have said that had he but known that they were consulting and deliberating of that notwithstanding the bodily sickness he labour'd under he wou'd have crept there on his hands and his feet to oppose the Injustice of so unreasonable an Act. By this Council the matter is brought into the sole power and hand of the ordinary Judges or the supream Court of the province There was now therefore so much Zeal and Eagerness in most of the Rulers of Cities and Provinces in afflicting and puisuing the Quakers to the utmost that if any did not revile and reproach 'em or stopt and retarded the violence of others against 'em especially if any defended and excus'd 'em he was esteem'd a Quaker himself and at least depriv'd of his place and office if he had not great interest at hand There 's a Letter of one of 'em James Cudworth yet extant who was then one of the Magistrates of Boston but for this cause divested of that honour written at that time and sent from Boston to a certain friend of his in Old England which Letter since written in English I shall not here trouble the Reader with but content my self to resume some words of it which were express'd to this effect The State of Affairs are here sad The Antichristian SpiSpirit is wedded to persecution Who declines to persecute and afflict these Men that differ from us in matter of Religion is withdrawn from his place and not permitted to execute any Office in the Government Thus Hatherly and I have been treated Thus they us'd me for no other reason than taking in certain Quakers to my house which I did that I might inquire of 'em more narrowly concerning the foundations of their perswasion this I took always to be more reasonable than to condemn those with the blind World whose Doctrine and Principles we 're utterly ignorant of And tho I declar'd before that I herded not with Quakers and that I was as far from agreeing with 'em in many things as I was from persecuting 'em yet these two years they 've so estrang'd themselves from me that at length they 've unchair'd me from my office in the Magistracy what future event the Teeming womb of such furious Actions will produce time will declare when the birth is disclos'd farewell This kind of Judging being push'd out of Doors a Law was made that if any Quakers did irreclaimably and obstinately persist and cou'd not be otherwise repress'd or restrain'd they shou'd suffer the desert of their Contumacy and end their obstinate life with a halter Soon after Samuel Gorton was try'd for his life but in Judgment 't was carry'd he shou'd be clear'd and that only by one Vote Which decision one of the Ministers whose name I again designedly conceal a Man of a Copious torrent of Knowledge Subtilty and Eloquence digested so heinously that publickly in the Pulpit he broke out in those words by whom to whom and on what occasion they were utter'd is I suppose not unknown to the Learn'd Because thou has let go the accursed Man thy life shall therefore answer for his After this two Quakers were Arraign'd before the same Judges William Robbinson a Merchant in London and Marmadue Stevenson a Countreyman of Yorkshire in Old England Of their Imprisonment Trial and Punishment the Quakers give a large and true account as matters so clear and known in that Countrey that the noise of their fame is not yet quite extinguish'd They came both here knowingly and designedly for no other end than to preach the Gospel to which they had apply'd themselves in their own Countrey before After Robbinson for some time had continu'd at Rhodes and Stevenson at Barmuda's in the year fifty nine they came to Boston in New England Here they were no sooner arriv'd than without either Informer or Witness upon their own betraying of themselves they 're thrown into the Solitary Darkness of a Prison there they find Mary Dyer who was Banish'd from Boston as has already been said and yet return'd thither again as is sometimes their way and Nicholas David These all being brought before the Judges and accordingly charg'd
it were distributed by John Comb which so soon as it was known the Magistrates pronounces them all guilty as breakers of the Peace and disturbers of the Government and sends the Mayor Wyth who seizes the Printer and Publisher and carries them from their Houses into Prison and withal as if he had been in his own Possession or Estate takes out of their Work-houses what Tools or Utensils he pleases and carries them away The next day the Magistrate orders the Mayor to lay his Action against Keith and his Companions and partners in his Crime joyning for help two of the Colledge of the Magistrates who were not Quakers namely Lucius Coke a Lutheran and John Holmes a Baptist who as being of a different Perswasion and partial to neither side might pass for upright Judges But these Gentlemen declin'd the Office for this reason because the thing which these Men were accus'd of arose from Religion and Tending thereunto had nothing of concern with the civil Government and therefore was more proper to be decided by those Men from whom it came and who were concern'd in it To which they added that since neither Humane nor Divine Laws allow'd that any one should be Condemned without being first heard it was just and right that Keith before any Judgment pass'd upon him should be heard This was an answer that did not please those whose designs seem'd not to aim at the quieting of the present Disorders but rather to the increase of them and raising of new And so they go on with their Intention and without hearing of Keith proceed to sentence They give Judgment for Keith's Condemnation in a long Writing of which these were the heads That the Governours have declared Keith to be a wicked Man an ill Citizen a Teacher ill Principled and Disaffected to the Government King and Queen And this they order the Cryer to publish in the Court before a great Concourse of People In the Ecclesiastical Convention where the debate between Keith and his Adversaries was handled the Governour and other of the Magistracy being present there happen'd a dispute between Keith and the Governour himself about a place which the Governour had quoted out of a book formerly written by Keith Which place when Keith had said it made nothing to the purpose nor was it rightly cited by the Governour he went on and added that the Governour was also one of those who had not cited him to the hearing of the cause but had Condemned him unheard This slipt from Keith in his heat and suddain transport of mind and by a slip of the Tongue which often happens in hot disputes that the Governour was an Impuâ—ent Man and his Name would rot Which words tho the Governour had more than once said that he would not take notice of as spoken upon such a time and occasion yet now he lays to Keiths charge as an Egregious reproach to Magistracy not to be pass'd by without punishment It was added that Keith at the same time Reproached the Governour as a person not capable for the due discharge of his Office But as to that Keith says that he neither said nor thought so In the said sentence of Condemnation also it is contained that Keith should call another of the Magistrates by a Name which in English Signifies one or all of these viz. Scolder Quareller wrody deceiver Sordid fellow Seoundel Knave Which accusation Keith thus wip'd off Not denying the fact he said he call'd that Man by that Name as being one who indeed was not of the Magistracy and yet notwithstanding sate in that assembly that Condemned Keith and as such concurred with them in the same sentence and subscribed his Condemnation Amongst these Disputes and Wranglings there was a New Court of Judicature held at Philadelphia for the passing an Impartial Sentence upon these three Men who had lain under so much prejudice Jenings was President and Cook one of the Judges who I have both said before were Quaker Ministers Now hither were cited to plead their own Cause Keith Bradford Combe Bud Buss and others of the Keithians who all came all and every of them were Indicted of this Crime of Writing Uttering and Devising a Book intituled an Appeal being a very Seditious Scandalous Book and full of a great many Lies in which particularly Jennings the President of this Assembly was Charged as a proud imperious Man and insolent in his Discourse and Demeanour and the said book did Print concealing the Printers Name Buss whose Christian Name was Peter was charged over and above the rest to have said many other things of Jennings more than was contained in the book Wonderful this The case with Jennings the president and the whole Senate was whether they that were brought afore them as Criminals or Jennings himself were guilty he an untainted and unblamable person or they foul Detractors worthy the highest punishment The Court was full of Scolding and Quarrelling Whatsoever they alledged had been said or written against Jennings was not against him as a Magistrate but an Ecclesiastical person a Preacher and if he pleased his Colleague not with an intent to reproach or accuse him but for his Correction and to try all things as brethren us'd or ought to do And these Criminals prov'd by good Witnesses and Evidences that they who complained so much of the Calumnies laid to their Charge were worse than the Objections against them insinuated Namely that they were not onely Proud and Imperious persons but so far from having the Command of themselves that they could scarce contain themselves within any bounds of their Lusts and Pleasures In this troublesome assembly Keith made many grave Speeches whereof this was the sense and sum Will there never an end be put to these sort of Controversies and Quarrels or will these Latentions be always continued which whether we be Victors or Vanquished are so Shameful and Commentable to us and wish'd for and laughed at by those who once seeming desirous of our Friendship and Amity now are turn'd our Haters and Enemies and curse us And as if in this Case we had lost all our wisdom and there was no further place left for a remedy to this mischief which if it remains and spreads farther will not onely reflect an Eternal Disgrace upon our Truth but also will so afflict and spoil it especially in these parts amongst these Barbarians as will at last bring on it all manner of Ruine and Destruction to its utter Subversion The State of the Case lies here While those whose province it is to take care of the safety of this Country and Religion find it a difficult task to please all parties but much more so to set themselves openly against all hence comes there to be called so many Concurâ—ions and so many various and different events till it s come to that pass by the setting up a few bold Men against all Laws that some narrow Soul'd people terrified in Conscience
and fearful of appearing Criminal not only now don't stand as Criminals but themselves sit and act as Judges in their own Cause and as such pass Sentances as their own private Animosities and prejudice and desire of revenge which they have been now along while Hatching and Consulting amongst themselves promp't them to And what such great Crime is there Committed that should occasion so great disputes and strife Isaias that great and excellent Prophet cries out that there are those who make a Man guilty for a word and lay a stumbling block for him that is ready to fall in the gate And lately into what Snares what Streights have I been brought and all for a word which besides that it was spoken hastily and not stood in if it were examined to the bottom and might receive a true proper and fair Interpretation or if taken in the best sense which alwaies ought to be follow'd would not onely have been pardoned but brought me Commendation too now for the like cause of Truth and Virtue are I and my Companians arraigned as Criminals For here we are charged with Sedition Dishonouring the Magistrates Treason Yea as if we were almost all guilty of every of these Crimes who are so far from them as we study nothing more than obedience to lawful Power and Authority But what Conviction is there of this What the least proof of it Or what that bears the least Resemblance of it For if to accuse alone be enough neither any of you or any Man living will be innocent and there will be no need to fear those punishments that these Men deserve But here lies the Conviction and proof of the Crime because we have spoken somewhat tartly against some of your order and have us'd sharp Language We hear it After a hostile manner No this your modesty will not give you leave to say tho all the rest you affirm with a geeat deal of Confidence But we have written and spoken a great many Scandalous things against them Whom Those who were and as yet are of our order Who tho they are Ecclesiasticks Doctors Ministers now at this time lay aside those Characters and take upon them to be Magistrates and Judges But what are these Scandalous things Are they such as both they and we do mutually exhort one another to and if that be not enough such as our places and duties oblige us publickly to admonish those that are Committed to our charge Is there any thing more than this That the Printers Name is not prefixt to the Book But what harm is there in that What necessity or Law Custom or Example is there for that I appeal to you O my Companions who have published so many famous books in England and the most Illustrious Penn the Lord and chief Governour of this Countrey of whom there are so many Monuments extant not bearing thy Name or the Names of those that Printed them Which since it is so let all Honest and Impartial people see and Judge who in this place principally are to be esteemed innocent and who guilty whereof the one do not in any wise refuse to stand before their Judges and to have their whole cause plainly determined The others fly from Justice and mock their Judges Now see and consider ye what ye have to determine that it may be that against Truth and Probability falsity and fraud which Tempests and Impure breaths are against the Sun and that it may come to pass if not at present yet that at last oppressed truth may have a Glorious resurrection and light up her head and slighted and injur'd vertue shine forth spendidly as the Suns raies break out so much the more Illustrious after the Gloomy Clouds are dispelled and at last that happy time may come in which the allwise incorrupt and Almighty Judge shall lay open and make manifest those things that are at present obscur'd in an abyss of Darkness and shall reveal the thoughts and counsels of the Heart and every one shall receive their reward from God After a long Quarrelsome and Confus'd disputing of the Case pro and con in which some of 'em so thought their Tongues to be their own as they said what they pleased the Judges having concluded and all people a-gape to hear the sentences They laid upon Keith and Bud the penalty of five pounds each Bradford's Tryal was put off till the next Sessions That which with these Men seems unjust they call the Judiciary Court of the whole province What these Judges seem to think of themselves as if from them there could be no appeal they don't allow of King Charles had reserved to himself in the assignment he had made of the Countrey to W. Penn in the Grand Charter or Grant he gave him the final Decision of such Cases wherein the Inhabitants of the Countrey themselves injured in the highest Tribunal of that Countrey and no other redress was to be had Therefore these Men appeal to the Cognizance of the King and Queen in England and to stand by their Decision And this was denied them by a bold and strong power than which nothing is more formidable or pernicious Wherefore these Men yeilding to their pleasure and the present time reserved their own right to themselves till another time There came in this time of great streights and trouble of mind and dejection these Men lay under two of these kind of people from England who advised Keith out of the ancient Friendship nearness and dearness which he had enter'd into with them and the whole Society that as much as in him lay and as Much as he could and should forego his own private Inconvenience for the sake of the publick and follow peace and avoid the scandal of such a Discension and so great a Distraction And that thereunto they would lend him their advice Which advice of thens Keith liked and approv'd of very well and altho he knew how uncertain a thing it was and full of Danger and that it was no part of a wise Man to follow that that he could not overtake yet that a dubious probability of good was better than an uncertain Evil. And so weighing all things well first he proposes to his Adversaries several Terms of Accommodation by Letters sent to them But they things succeeding now according to their wishes and their hearts being harden'd with inveterate hatred Interpreted this Change of his for an inconstancy unbecoming wise Men and were angry at him for requesting this at their hands Wherefore the Keithians seeing that neither so could this business be brought about and considering that it would be labour in vain and to no purpose but rather hurtful to make any further overtures of peace or if they should obtain any thing that it would not be peace but a Slavish kind of Agreement therefore they kept themselves to themselves and within the bounds of their own Confession which Keith and some others in his own Name and of those