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A28923
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The Quakers cruelty, deceit & wickedness presented to the King and Parliament / by Thomas Boyce ; with a copy of the paper the Quakers put forth against me ; also my neighbours testimony, and Sir Richard Ingoldesby's certificate concerning me.
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Boyce, Thomas.
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1675
(1675)
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Wing B3902; ESTC R23391
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7,449
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14
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some of them took me by the Leggs and dragged me down Stairs with my head on the ground and had me towards the Street where some rude Boys were then set me upon my Leggs and I being scarce able to stand by reason of their abuses to excuse themselves they gave out I was drunk and sent for a Counstable to fetch me away and would not give me a little water to wash off the Blood which they had drawn from me So if these be the practices of those called the best then will I leave it to your Honours to Judg what the worst of these called Quakers are Some of them have presented a Paper to the King and Parliament in the behalf of the people of God as they call themselves it is said in the said Paper they cannot take an Oath for Conscience-sake as they pretend nor Swear at all in any ease One of their Preachers viz. Solomon Eccles said Our Yea and Nay is more then Swearing in a Court of Judicature and if so be pleased to inquire why they do not take one anothers Yea and Nay without subscribing to their form and acknowledging them to be the people of God and that which they declare to be the truth and no other their form is this I A. B. do declare in the truth of my heart in the fear of God and before these meaning the heads of the Quakers his Faithful Witnesses or otherwise in the presence of God or him that knoweth all things and without such or such like declaration they will not permit any one to marry as they call it amongst them nor in some case will not lend Money without such a subscription Now I will leave it to your consideration whether this their Form be not an absolute OATH I speak not this out of envy or prejudice to any but only to discharge my own conscience for I do believe these People what ever they may pretend set as little by the Law as they do by the Gospel or Gospel-order yet now they can cry up the Scriptures in words the most of all people and can make use of the Law upon occasion for they told me by their mouth George Whitehead they would answer the Law but have not yet answered me therein he pretended in the Name of God to cut me down and told me a few days before that a man ought to be heard befor Judgment or Condemnation passed upon him in any Case whatever and the said George Whitehead said he must be true to his principles therein yet nevertheless he would have me cut down without my being heard So that he hath not only proved himself a Lyar but also a Blasphemer if he cannot prove his Authority for so doing from God Also be pleased to take notice of John Boulton one of the called Faithful Witnesses before mentioned who pretends to be a Seer and the mouth of the eternal God for that he the said John Boulton did cause to be brought before him and some others who pretended themselves to be Judges a Woman and her Son being of their own Society and accused them of lying together and being unclean what proof they had for their uncleanness I know not nevertheless John Boulton did pass Judgment that they were unclean and one of his Brethren Thomas Padley said If the World should know of it they would be both hanged I understanding thereof went to the said John Boulton to desire him to hear what I could say in the matter being fully satisfied that he had given wrong Judgment but instead of regarding me therein he the said John Boulton Judged me unclean also Afterwards the Quakers preferred a Lass to this Young-Man who was so judged unclean and joyned them together as Man and Wife according to their form above expressed As to the particular of marrying she proving her self not like a Wife I acquainted some of the heads of the Quakers therewith one of them viz. Walter Miers who was chiefly concerned in the putting them together did acknowledg he had known her long to be a wild Lass and one Thomas Biddle said she was of a bewitching Spirit and a depth of deceit and that she had deceived a Servant of his which Servant he said cried out she had undone him and soon after he died and further T. B. said he feared she would prove a Whore so they were willing to let her have a Husband fearing lest she should bring a dishonour upon the Truth as they call'd it Upon occasion afterwards being urged thereto by the said Walter Mires and the said Thomas Biddle and some others I said she was not his Wife meaning no otherwise than that she was not a good Wife as I did then and there express my self notwithstanding the Quakers seemed to make a wilful mistake of those my words as if thereby I would have had them parted which the Lord can witness for me I had no such thought All which I leave to your Honours to judg of and by this and the two Mouths to wit George Whitehead and John Boulton you may understand what I mean by their Imaginary God and the Seer and the Blind before mentioned And you may also understand that the Quakers have put forth a Paper against me which I desire may be called in for they can prove nothing true of what they have therein asserted against me It is granted after I had been at their private-houses and their private-meetings I did go to their publique Assemblies whereby they pretended I disturbed them the reason of my going was to know what was the deceit and wickedness they had accused me of and wherein I was unclean But insteed of giving me Satisfaction therein some of the Quakers there met laid violent hands upon me to force me out of their Meeting some taking me by the Throat others thrusting their Elboes on my breast and some thrusting me upon my Belly even ready to take away my Breath so that I could have no Right done me neither in private nor in publick After a year and half 's Suffering in this nature I went to William Penn to aske him what was the reason why he concerned himself to tell the People in a Publick Auditory as he had several times done biding them heed not what I said for I was distracted but left out the Cause He told me he did not know the Cause and after he had by me understood the cause did grant I had wrong whereupon he set a time apart on purpose to do me Right and did come to me and desired me to conceal the wrongs I received from Friends meaning the Quakers and let all die because said he if the World should know thereof our enemies may take advantage against us naming one Hicks who he feared most as I suppose which I should willingly have done and imbraced his and George Whithead's reward which was that they would take Care that I should be provided for if it had not been for
THE Quakers Cruelty Deceit Wickedness Presented to the KING and PARLIAMENT By Thomas Boyce With a Copy of the PAPER the QUAKERS put forth against me Also my Neighbours Testimony and Sir Richard Ingoldesby's Certificate concerning me The Bees may gather Honey out of a seeming Weed London Printed in the year 1675. To the King 's Excellent Majesty Most Noble Worthy BE pleased to hear the Complaint of a poor man whose name is Thomas Boyce dwelling at Horsly-Down in Southwark having complained to some of your Majesties Justices of the Peace concerning some wrong which I have received by some of the People called Quakers Whereupon some of the Chiefest of them have as I understand secretly signified to the Justices as well as to others That I am infected with the distemper of Madness and Distraction but have left out the cause and by reason thereof have stopped as much as in them lieth the very current and stream of Justice Now forasmuch as they have told the Distemper be pleased to give me the liberty to tell your Majesty something of the Cause For it is possible that it may be an infectious Distemper and if I should conceal it I may conceal Treason unawares I having heretofore exposed my self to the displeasure of my former Acquaintance and Relations to be a Quaker and was one of them above ten years then believing their ways to be the best during which time I was true to what I profest But finding some of the Heads as well as others of them contrary to their Principles I was willing to tell them of their Error who fell upon me by way of threatning with great and terrible words which caused a trouble upon my mind and about June last was twelvemonth I was taken in a strange manner to the amazement of them that saw me it being amongst several hundreds of the people called Quakers Whereupon some of them cryed out Deceit and it was said that I was made a publick sign for my wickedness After which time my speech was taken from me and I continued speechless 33 weeks together only some few words I might speak for a week or two which they that were with me could not tell what I meant and for five weeks together I could eat no food at all only drank Water neither was it perceived that I had any sleep during that time neither do I know all the 33 weeks I was at all sick The cause of which I humbly conceive is your Majesties conern to inquire into Wherefore I am willing to lay this before you and it is without the advice of any to signifie my duty towards God my obedience to your Majesty and my love to my Neighbour which duty is faithfulness that the Lord requireth He that is not faithful to his God cannot be faithful to his King nor true to his Neighbour And if I should prove some of the Heads of the Quakers to be guilty of Unfaithfulness in the matter aforesaid then I hope your Majesty will not blame me Now as concerning my own Distemper it is Poverty which they have brought upon me by taking away my good name who before did help relieve them but now I am not able to help my self Concerning which distemper one William Pen George Whitehead and Thomas Rudyard did promise upon Condition to cure which Condition I am not willing to perform but if I do I believe I should be an undone man for ever And therefore I had rather be as I am than betray my trust Now I do beseech your Majesty would be pleased to grant That those persons called Quakers or such of them as are chiefly concern'd either in violating your Laws by Threatning or otherwise broak the Commands of God whose Minister I am satisfied you are and have or shall pretend in the Name and Authority of Him who is God and Lord over all the whole World contrary to your knowledg privity or consent take upon them to give Judgment in any cause matter or thing whatsoever may come before such as your Majestie shall think fit and allow of to answer the same and I with them may be face to face and be permitted to declare my knowledg without any interruption and what Evidence concerning the same may be brought also and then your Majesty may know whether these high-talking Quakers are in the Error or not and then you may have an understanding who is the Seer and who is the Blind and so it may be known who is most mad my Accusers the Rich called Quakers or the Poor man by name and your Majesties poor Subject Thomas Boyce The Copy of the abovesaid was delivered by me into the King 's own hand the 25th of April 1675. To the Honorable The Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament IN Obedience to his Majesty I did signifie to him my Duty towards God whose Minister I am satisfied he is a Title indeed worthy of double honour I mean no other God than he who is GOD AND LORD OVER ALL THE WHOLE WORLD The reason why I use such expressions is because there is a people called Quakers some of the heads of them have got an Imaginary God in their own Comprehension which goeth about to dethrone him the true God before mentioned if it were possible so to do and thereby may deceive the whole World Now I am both willing to signify my Love to my Neighbours and lay it before you who are cheifly concerned therein in their behalfe which Love as aforesaid is the Command of God NOBLE WORTHIES be pleased to hear and take notice of the words of a poor Man I speak not in flattery nor by way of insinuation but the plain and naked truth of my heart I have been under great Affliction for some years past and not freed yet the reason whereof is best known to the Lord by which Affliction I have gained some understanding of his ways that I was ignorant of before which understanding I would not willingly lose neither would I hide any thing from you which I apprehend is my Duty to make known These people called Quakers who pretend themselves to be the SEERS and all others that are out of their form and manner of dress to be Blind I would willingly prove them liars out of their own mouths who tell people they must be perfect as God is perfect which State of Perfection say they must be witnessed before they go out of this World And all that preach against this Doctrine of Perfection they say are the Devils Ministers Now be pleased to inquire whether or not these men or any of them which preach this Lesson to others have such Perfection and whose Ministers they are for say they the Tree is know by its Fruit. Now such as are esteemed the best of these called Quakers some particular of them have threatned to vex me and called me Knave Traitor and Judas and would have had me turned headlong down Stairs and at another time