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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	hear_v	speak_v	word_n	2,671	5	4.1800	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45674	The lamentable cry of oppression, or, The case of the poor, suffering & persecuted people called Quakers in and about Fakenham in Norfolk shewing the cruelty, injustice and inhumanity of several magistrates, officers and informers in those parts against the said people for these many years, in the great spoil and havock of their goods and estates ... / by ... Joseph Harrison.	Harrison, Joseph.; Cater, Samuel, d. 1711. Postscript.	1679 (1679)	Wing H898; ESTC R31092	29,850	90

of 4 s. Thomas Watson having been a Prisoner a long time coming home to see his Wife and small Children they took away his Coat for his Wife 's absenting from their Worship Sarah Pond had taken from her a Chair-Table upon the account aforesaid Allice Williamson had taken from her the Covering of her Bed to the value of 4 s. Note William Hemsteely and others they carryed to Prison because they could not take a Distress of them In the same year 68. Henry Gibbs William Wasy and Richard Fideman being at Joseph Harrison's House there came Richard Jessup and Robert Shildrake Churchwardens so called and Tho. Whidby Constable and pulled them out of his House and carryed them in a Cart before Christopher Calthorp called a Justice who dwelt near the Town of Fakenham who required them to find Suerties for their good Behaviour they refusing not being guilty of the Breach thereof he committed them to Prison In the year 69. Hen. Gibbs William Wasey John Wade Robert Peatree Hugh Sheltram Robert Southgate Richard Rouse and Nicholas Witeman being met together with others at the House of Joseph Harrison in Fakenham they were stayed by the Constables until the aforesaid Christopher Calthorp came to them with several disorderly people following of him and he committed the abovesaid Persons to Prison A further Accompt of some of the Sufferings of the People of God called Quakers in and about Fakenham in Norfolk with the Names of some of those Justices Informers Constables and other Officers concerned therein being chiefly for meeting together to wait upon and worship the living God and because of their Dissent from the Publick Worship or Church so called JOseph Harrison of Fakenham was fined 5 l. for a Meeting at his House about the 29th of the 3d moneth 1670. and had taken from him about the 2d of the 5th moneth following by the Officers of the said Town William Watt being Informer two Feather Beds two Feather Boulsters one Flight Boulster a Rugg Curtains Vallans Curtain-Rods two Bed Blankets and a pair of Sheets four Darnick Stools two Darnick Chairs three great Green Chairs and a Bed-cord all worth 7 l. Robert Southgate of Twyford was fined 5 l. for the same Meeting at Joseph Harrison's the 29th of the 3d moneth 1670. and had these Goods taken from him viz. One Side of Beef one Bullock's Hide a Side of Mutton and several other Joynts of Mutton certain Swine two Cupboards and other Goods valued at 5 l. 15 s. John Wade was fined 20 l. for a Meeting at his House in Twyford the 5th of the 4th moneth 1670. and had taken from him by Warrant from Doctor Herbert Ashly called a Justice as followeth Two Horses a Cart a Plough and other Husbandry Goods a Bedstead several Chairs and other valuable Houshold Goods to the value of 24 l. 13 s. Joseph Harrison was fined 5 s. for being at the same Meeting and had taken from him a Brass Pot and a Warming-pan worth 10 s. Robert Southgate was fined 5 s. for being at the same Meeting and soon after had taken from him by Edward Winter and John Banes by Warrant from the aforesaid Herbert Ashly one Bullock's Hide a Neat's Tongue and a Cheek worth 8 s. Robert Southgate was fined more by the said Justice 9 l. 13 s. 2 d. for the House He was fined 10 s. more for the second Offence so called for being at a Meeting at John Wade's aforesaid upon the 26th of the 4th moneth 1670. by the said Justice He was also fined for the said Meeting 9 l. 10 s. more for the House by the said Justice so called and about the 28th of the same moneth Edward Winter and John Browne Constables of Bintree and Twyford came into the said Robert's House to strain for the last three Fines being all expressed in one Warrant and they took from him four Cows one Calf one Cart one Bed as it stood one Feather Bed more one Rugg with all the Furniture belonging to the Bed except the Bedstead four Brass Kettles one Brass Morter several great Pewter Dishes one Framed Table one Chair Table with several other Houshold Goods worth 30 l. Joseph Harrison was fined 15 s. for himself and his Wife for being at the same Meeting by Warrant from the said Dr. Ashly and had taken from him a Horse with Bridle and Saddle Pillion and Pillion-cloth and Foot-stool as they came riding worth 4 l. 10 s. He was fined 3 l. 1 s. 4 d. ob more for a part of John Wade's Fine for the House for the said Meeting and had taken from him one Horse three Pewter Dishes two Porrigers a Tankard a Candlestick a Brass Pot a Brass Kettle a Skimmer a Casting Ladle and a Form all worth 4 l. Edmund Peckover of Fakenham was fined 5 s. for his Wife 's being at the aforesaid Meeting and had taken from him in Money 5 s. There being a Meeting at the House of Joseph Harrison in Fakenham the 2d of the 5th moneth 1670. and Samuel Cater being there and declaring the Truth to the people present William Watt his Wife came and after some time went to inform the Officers thereof who came and had Friends before Christopher Calthorp a Justice who asked her tendring her the Oath To speak the Truth and nothing but the Truth of what she saw and heard asking her If she was in the Room where the Meeting was She said No but was at the Door He asked Why she went not in She said The Room was so full she could not get in The said Justice ask't her What Samuel said in the Meeting and she told him Words that Samuel did not speak Samuel appealed to the Officers that heard him who said The Woman Lyed and they were not his Words then Samuel appealed to the Justice to do us right there being no Cause he should convict us by her Testimony and she for her own Ends to accomplish her Ungodly Desires spake that which was not true as it did appear to him The Justice answered He did not believe all was true she said but he did believe that he Preached at Joseph Harrison 's House and for that he would fine Samuel Twenty Pounds which accordingly he did and sent the Records of Conviction to the Magistrates at Elye who sent out their Warrants and took away his Goods Joseph Harrison was fined 5 l. for the said Meeting being at his House and had taken from him by Warrant from the said Christopher Calthorp one Brightus Justices so called two Bedsteads a Tester five Chairs two Chests one Pewter Case two Tables one Bed-cord one Glass-Case one Cow four little Hoggs and one Sow all worth 6 l. 10 s. Mary Johnson was fined 5 l. for part of Joseph Harrison's fine for the said Meeting being at his House and had Goods taken away from her to the value of 7 l. Edmund Peckover aforesaid was fined 15 s. for his Wife 's being at two Meetings at Joseph

was insufficient to convict by did not the Informers espye a fifth Person on the Road and a Stranger to the other four what of Religious Exercise was here and where was the number of Five here what did you do to enquire the Truth of this out and to correct the Malice Envy and Hatred of the Informers but was not this convicted by some of you as a Conventicle and Warrants for the same been granted and Distresses taken did you send for the Accused to hear them and take part with them as much as the Law would have permitted Hath Justice a Ballance in her Hand and will you not put one grain of Equity into the Scale of the pretended Offender We have cause to fear you have taken your Measures to force Conformity upon us from some others besides the English Church so called Have not some of our Neighbours had their Cattel taken from them under Pretence they were some of ours when indeed they were not only the Informer said they were and what Relief could the Owner have at your hands for this Injury none at all until they were forced to right themselves before a Judge of Assize and Jury and then Justice was done them And may I ask one Question Pray who bare the Charge of that Defence of Suit Poor W. Watt was altogether unable if you deny it the People will still surmise from whence he must have had support Indeed that Informer hath been like one of Pharaoh's Lean Kine that swallow'd the Fat and yet was very ill favour'd for what was he the better for all he has been help'd to nay but has he not been much the worse what a Curse hath gone along with it and hath it not been seen by our Enemies surely then they have wilfully shut their Eyes Have not smooth fair words been spoken to some of us although suddenly followed by Harsh and Cruel Actions Oh C. C were not these thy words We know you will not Swear but give me a true Account What was the Reason your Son you were absent from the Church and I will believe you was not Answer then truly made Her Son that was one of the Persons accused for not being at his Parish Church so called was Sick all the time for which he was presented and she her self was to look to him most part of the time And was not this a true Answer but what was the result of this didst thou not that Night grant out Warrants to distrain and was it not done to the greatest Extremity And when Distresses have been taken which of you have made inquiry whether Officers have not done more than they ought to have done that so you might put a stop to part of the Cruelty or is there no Mercy to be extended to Persons that differ in Manner of Worship from you have you not read what that great Monarch of England said to his Son The Extremity of the Law is Tyranny but have you abated us one tittle of it Fellons and Murderers have had the Liberty to bring in Witnesses to clear themselves when accused but we are fallen into the hands of such as we must neither hear our Accusation nor know our Accusers However we can say from the bottom of our Hearts our Desires are to the Lord That he would shew you Mercy before your Sun be set and your Day be over and Mercy be excluded from you And so tender-hearted Reader I refer thee to the following particular Relation and if thou hast any Scruple of the Truth thereof our Neighbours can fully satisfie thee of it if thou enquire of such who are without Prejudice to us who can satisfie thee our Sufferings have been much more than thou wilt find made publick herein And now I commend thee to the Grace of God and to the Appearance thereof in thine own Heart that therein both thou and I may come to find Acceptance with him and be approved in his Sight J. H. THE Lamentable Cry OF OPPRESSION c. A Brief Account of the Sufferings of the People of God called Quakers at Fakenham upon the account of not going to the Steeple House to their Worship where for several Three First Dayes Absence therefrom they had Goods taken from them and were sent to Prison as follow First follows the Proceedings of Robert Sheldrake and Robert Pepper against the said People in and about the Year 1668. IN the fourth moneth 1668. there was taken from William Monk a Chair-Table and four Joynt-Stools to the value of 6 s. And taken from Anne Harrison of the same Town a pair of Dog-irons a Hake a Chasing-dish and pair of Tongs to the value of 6 s. Her Husband being then a Prisoner in Norwich Castle Taken from Margaret Peckover of the same Town three yards and a quarter of Scotch-cloth to the value of 5 s. Taken from Joan Watson the Curtains from off her Bed to the value of 3 s. her Husband being in Prison at the same time Taken from Fran. Larders for his Wife a Flagon to the value of 1 s. 6 d. In the 5th month following taken more upon the same account From William Monk a Covering off his Bed to the value of 6 s. Taken from Margaret Peckover Goods to the value of 6 s. 6 d. Taken from Anne Harrison a Form and a Smoothing-Iron to the value of 5 s. In the 6th moneth taken more from William Monk two Holland Payles a pair of And irons and a Pewter Pot to the value of 6 s. Taken from Margaret Peckover a piece of fine Vermillion to the value of 7 s. In the same moneth they took more from her a quantity of Vermillion to the value of 7 s. 6 d. In the 7th moneth taken more from Margaret Peckover Caligo Lawn to the value of 6 s. Taken more from the said William Monk being an Aged Man six Pewter Dishes to the value of 10 s. In the 8th moneth the said William Monk and his Wife she being also an Aged Woman had their Mitimus made to send them to Prison by Henry Clifton a Justice so called but falling both sick Margaret Peckover their Daughter took them home to her House before they went to Prison but no sooner were they made able to stir abroad but the said Clifton sent to the Constable threatning to send him to Prison if he did not speedily carry the two Aged Persons away to Prison which accordingly the Officers did and they both Dyed Prisoners in a little above a quarter of a year finishing their Testimony for the Everlasting Truth Note The said Hen. Clifton that committed them to Prison lived not long after but Dyed a Sad and Lamentable Death as it s very well known Further Margaret Peckover aforesaid had taken from her upon the same account a quantity of Scotch-cloth to the value of 6 s. 6 d. her Husband being then in Prison Anne Harrison had taken from her a Pewter Dish and a Kettle to the value

but if the Law-makers did really intend that none should suffer by this Law but such persons as they say were the cause for which they made this Law then Christoph Calthorp and the rest of his Brethren have very much exceeded their bounds in what they have done against their innocent and peaceable Neighbours And Cook in his Institutions who is said to be the Oracle of the English Law in his first part cap. 2. § 3. Book 11. Ever the general words are to be intended of a lawful Act and such interpretation must be made of all Statutes that the Innocent or he in whom there is no Guilt may not be damnified For the Preamble of the Act which expresses the Reason or sole Cause why this Law was made if we may believe the Law-makers is thus exprest An Act to suppress Seditious Conventicles Disloyal Persons who at their Meetings Plot and Contrive Insurrections as late experience has taught c. Now the Question is whether or no any thing of that kind can be proved against Joseph Harrison and the rest of these Sufferers and whether any of these Informers did ever swear that they found Joseph Harrison and his Friends at their Meetings plotting or contriving Insurrections for the preventing and punishing of which Persons the Law was made No there were never nor could be such things proved against them for the Principle which they have received do obey which is the Grace of God teaches them better things which is to obey Christ's Doctrine to do unto others as they would have others do unto them which is but equal And although they have made use of those words in the Act of Five and upwards meeting together besides the Family under pretence of Religious Exercise in other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy to inflict the Penalties of Breach of that Law upon us yet the Five and above the number must have Relation to such as be seditious and contrive Insurrections and are Meeters but in Pretence of Religious Exercise c. But our Meetings are really to worship God in Spirit and Truth and the contrary has not been proved against them neither can he and therefore the Law in that case that is made and provided does not lay hold on them for the Reason why this Act was made we are wholly clean of both in the sight of God and all men for neither in our Meetings nor out of them we never did or is it in our hearts to do to contrive any thing that is or may be hurtful either to Prince or People but we do say that our Meetings are for no other End or Cause but to wait upon God and to call upon his Name for his Power to keep us and to preserve us and for his Grace to teach us and instruct us that so we may alwayes worship him in his own Way which is in Spirit and Truth which all Plotters and Contrivers of Insurrection are out of And if the Liturgy does allow that God should be worshipped in Spirit and Truth then the Informers have Forsworn themselves who swore That our Exercise of Religion is in other manner than the Liturgy allows And I am ready to believe that the Leading-men of the Church of England will acknowledge that they are to worship God in Spirit and in Truth which if so why should it be accounted a Crime for us to confess the same and so great a Crime as if for it there was neither Mercy nor Pity Equity nor Justice to be extended towards us as appears by this fore-going Relation in which Chr. Calthorp with the rest of his Brethren the persecuting Magistrates and Informers have so furiously persecuted their honest Neighbours as if God had made them their Wives and Children to be made a Prey upon and to be oppressed as if it were Religion enough to Ruin and Undo others and to take the Bread from the Poor and Clothes from the Needy whilst these Magistrates themselves live in Fulness of Bread who like Dives fare deliciously and clothed with Rich Attire like the Rich Man spoken of by Christ have not only refused and neglected to relieve the Poor but have been Instrumental by encouraging these evil-minded Informers to take away poor peoples Clothes they wore and their Beds they lay upon and their Bedding and expose them to the Cold without either Mercy or Pity to old or young or sick for when the Officers went to Chr. Bedingfield one of these Magistrates and told him that there was nothing to be had of one Mary Larder for her fine but her Bed on which she lay at that time sick more like to dye than to live the said Chr. Bedingfield bad them Go and take the Bed from under her which said Mary dyed that Night Oh great Cruelty and if this be not to over-pass the Deeds of many of the Wicked I know not what is for Christ does not render Dives himself so bad And now I question not but both Magistrates the Officers and Informers who have done these things would judge it hard dealings if any should do by them as you have done by these your honest Neighbours and for no other Cause than for their Obedience to the Lord then out of your own Mouthes you are judged and that you have not done by them as you would be done unto and therefore you have no cause to blame me and other sober men that hear of your Actions although we do say that the Informers Officers and Justices that encourage such Proceedings as these are are to blame and the Sufferers have just Cause to complain of the great Oppression that so long has lain upon them and to give the World an account of your unmerciful dealing with them and behaviour towards them who have exercised your Cruelty upon them these many years by spoiling their Goods from time to time of them that are alive and yet it appears that all this Cruelty does not satisfie your unreasonable Minds that you have done to the Living but you have shewn your Cruelty to the Dead in that some of you in the Town of Fakenham have pulled the D●ad out of the Grave in an inhumane manner more like Beasts of Prey then People that fear God after the Body was decently buried whereby you discover your selves to be far worse and more Cruel than those accounted Heathen that Abraham lived among who offered him a piece of Ground to bury his Dead in but your Envy is so great against the People of God that you will not let them live at quiet amongst you whilst they live nor let the Body lie quietly in the Grave when it was dead And now I having viewed your Works and taken notice of your Actions which are scarcely to be parallel'd for Cruelty in this Nation considering the long continuance of your Oppression for which you have a large Account to give to the Lord from the highest of you to the lowest that have had any hand in persecuting your innocent Neighbours without any just Cause by them given you And now it is upon me from the Lord to Warn you all that have had any hand in this Work to Repent of this your Cruelty and Abuses offered and done unto his People before it is too late and the Day of your Visitation passes over and you be shut up in utter Darkness and the Lord ceases to strive with you as he did with Jerusalem of old in whose steps you have walked in oppressing his Children and evil-entreating his Servants and Messengers that he has sent amongst you to exhort you to turn from the Evil of your Ways and the Violence that is in your Hands Hearts but instead of receiving them and their Testimony you have caused them to suffer and them that did receive them and their Testimony you have from time to time evilly required them so that you would not receive them your selves nor suffer them that would if by all the Violence you could use hinder them The Lord give you Repentance before it be too late and you be cut off is the Desire of him that chooses rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to live in the Pleasures of this World S. Cater THE END Norfolk Note The 26th Day of November was the Day called Thursday Note This was with a Warrant from Fra. Guybon of Thusford