So he shut them up in a close Room where they were kept without any Food that he knew off for he thought to starve them if they would not do his Work and so Eat for the space of Eight dayes after which his Wise came fearing what might become of them and tendred them Milk or what they would for their Money So that from that time Friends were suffered to put into them at the Window what they needed So through hard suffering they brake your Law and his Cruelty Sometime after this John Rous aforesaid was commanded of the Lord to go to Boston and thither came the 25th of the sixth Month 1658. where he honestly discovered himself to the Man of the House whereto he came after he had set up his Horse what he was that so he might not suffer through an Ignorant Entertaining of him who shortly after fetch'd the Marshal who brought him to your Governor who after an Impertinent Examination committed him to Prison So on the Seventh of the Seventh Month 1658. they Three viz. Christopher Holder John Copeland and John Rous all single young men were had before you and because they had been before You once before and suffered your Law which should have clear'd them from further suffering for by the Law of England a man having suffered the Penalty is clear as if he had not transgressed the Law after a first and second time being at your Court viz. on the Tenth of the Seventh Month aforesaid wherein your Governor and Deputy Governor shewed their Rancour and Unreasonableness of spirit The said Denison saying We are the stronger and so look to your selves which was a base word he often used and Master Rous for so I may call you having heard of your Father that he is a Gentleman yet ye cut off the Gentlemans son's Ear and threatning to Gag them if they would not be silent when they were speaking for themselves in such a Case as the loss of a Member and such a one as an Ear and so to be marked as Rogues which all Law allows viz. to speak for themselves and Denying their Appeal to England which they solemnly made after that the Governor had said unto them It is the Sentence of the Court That you Three have each of you his Right Ear cut off by the Hangman I say after the Sentence Ye hastened the Execution and the Jaylor to that purpose and on the Sixteenth of the said Month sent Your Marshal's Deputy who came with a Company of Blood-thirsty men such as sitted his turn and serv'd his end to the Prison on the Day aforesaid and shutting of the Door whereas the Executions of Justice ought to be Publick but so it was not with Yours nor for the space of Two years and a half before were any of Your Executions so done to those People He caused the Right Ear the Left it seems would not serve of the said Christopher Holder John Copeland and John Rous to be cut off as aforesaid which being done the said Servants of the Lord whose Ears you had caused so to be cut off said They that do it Ignorantly We desire the Lord from our hearts to forgive them but for them that do it Maliciously Let our Blood be on their Heads and such shall know in the Day of Account that every one of these Drops of Our Blood shall be as heavy upon them as a Milstone And your Marshal with those that came with him slunk away as a Dog that is discovered sucking the Blood of a Lamb Who also was so cowardly and the sence of Guilt so upon him that when the Execution began on Christopher Holder who was the first whose Ear was cut he turned from it till John Rous said Nay Turn about and see it done as was his Order The same day that these were the last time had before You Lawrence Southick Cassandra his Wife and Josiah their Son were had before you also whom ye thought to have proceeded with as with the Others viz. the Two Men for with the Women you did by Cruel Whipping according to your Law but your Law was short as to them Which was for every One that came into your Jurisdiction the second time such should have their Right Ear cut off Ye cannot give a Member to any and yet can in your wills destroy for which God will blot your Names out of the Book of Life it is Eternal and you shall witness it So take your Sentence which shall assuredly come upon you as you have done the thing for ye did it wickedly the Lord hath spoken it So you will find it sad cutting off Ears and dealing thus Cruelly as you have by the Innocent whose Cry the Lord hath heard and the Cry of their Blood and Sufferings and He is near to Avenge it But for those that were of the Jurisdiction it provided not so they escaped the loss of that Member but not your other Cruelty for you still kept them in the House of Correction notwithstanding they were clear of your Law and had suffered wrongfully what they had suffered before upon account of your last Law which was That every such Person and Persons that is to say such as ye call Quakers arising among your selves and professing any of their Pernicious wayes as ye reproach but prove not by speaking writing and by meeting on the Lords Day or at any other time a sore Punishment for a Man to dye for meeting with the People of the Lord to wait upon Him yet this in the consequence is your Law for this characterizeth him to be such a One as ye call a Quaker and being a Quaker he must be whipt and then depart the Jurisdiction and if return suffer as in the Case of Strangers viz. be put to Death See whether the Earth ever had the like since the Sun shone upon it It s too long to inculcate Every Particular the Reader may in his own Understanding and the Lord God of Heaven and Earth will do it upon your Consciences ye most unreasonable of Men and the most Brutish of the Nations whom the Lord God will cut off and make you an Example to all that hereafter shall dare to do such things against the Lord God of Heaven and Earth who gives to all Life and Breath and Moving and against those that meet together to wait on Him as He hath said it so He will do it and this shall come to pass the Lord hath spoken it shall incur the Penalty ensuing viz. Every Person so meeting shall pay to the Country Ten shillings and every One speaking in such Meeting Five pounds a piece And in case any such Person hath been punished by Scourging ye speak broad that ye may frighten but the Hand of the Lord will come as large upon you as ye have spoken or Whiyping the first time according to the former Laws which was the Case of these Three shall
is at large Exprest unto which I refer and to the Preamble of the said Act and the other Laws and Acts of the Nation which relate thereunto for the Sevenfold Ground on which the Provisions in that Law are made and Bottom'd as aforesaid and on which they Stand. Now what is this to the People called Quakers or in Justification of your Proceedings against them as to Banishment and Death Are they Papists or Popishly affected Did ye ever find them so or hath the least shadow thereof been laid to their charge by you or found against them Have you ever found them Raising of Arms or Plotting or Contriving in order there unto Or seeking to withdraw the People in your Jurisdiction from their Allegiance unto England its well if some such thing be not found upon you or to you in order to England Or hath it not been manifest that their Principle is otherwise Viz. To Lead out of VVars and the Occasion of them sc the Lusts that are in Men from whence they come Did they ever put the Nation of England into Wars and Confusion to Exert their Principle or any other Nation on the face of the Earth Or on the Contrary hath not Peace been that which they have Endeavoured among men and is not their Gospel Good-will towards men Are they men of Blood of Assassinations and Murders hath any man fallen by their hands or have they stretched out their hand against any man Have they not Endeavoured and is it not their Principle to bring out of Blood and Confusion out of War and Destruction out of Desolation and Calamity And have they not subjected themselves to the Spoiler and their Estates to the Robber in order hereunto Can any of the Seven Particulars aforesaid on which the Law of England in its Provisions against Jesuites which you take to as your Example in the Case is grounded or any thing Congruous or Sutable thereunto be Justly attributed to those People Or have ye charged them with any such in Particular and found it upon them How come ye then to say In Example of the Law of England in their Provisions against Jesuites Surely ye thought to skare Ignorant People therewith as Children are with the Name of Jesuites So that if ye name but Jesuite and speak of a Law made against them it is Enough In Example of the Law of England in their Provisions against Jesuits say ye But the Law of England hath no such Ground for its Provisions against that Order of Men as yours against these People which indeed is none at all nor warrants your Proceedings So your Warranty being gone where 's your Hold Thus are ye taken in the Snare which you have layd for others and in the Pit which ye have digged are your selves fallen And the Law of England is not for but against you is not an Example to you in this Case but the Contrary So henceforwards take heed how you shed Blood and then seek to cover your selves under the Laws of England who would not be under its Law or seek to that for shelter which will not save you Thus much as to the Example of England in their Provisions against Jesuits and what you have built thereupon Now as to those who Suffered by Vertue of your Law And these in the First place are Lawrence Southick his Wife Cassandra and Josiah their Son whom I have often mentioned for your Cruelty by reason you have given me oft the Occasion Samuel Shattock Nicholas Phelps and Joshua Buffum All Inhabitants of Salem as aforesaid against whom in no One Particular had ye proceeded according to Law but having tortured their Bodies and broken their Estates and distracted their Families and often wearied them though in the Lord they had rest Ye Banish'd them from All even from their Countrey the very Court of Election in the Moneth called May following giving them but a very little time to Depart on pain of Death which put them to much straits and hardships yet go they must ther 's no stay ye had now got your Law to rid the Land of them as ye thought but were mistaken or to take the Lives of them from the Land of the Living Your Tugg was Over and ye had carried it of them that stood stiffe a while against the Passing of that Law but Two came to Enter their Dissents viz. Capt. Edward Hutcheson and Capt. Tho. Clark whose Names I mention to remain upon Record as a good Savour to the Lord and his People through all Generations which shall witness for them Indeed there was a great adoe and hard work it Cost ye to get it about John Norton and the rest of your Prests being not able to Convict the Persons aforesaid either by Law or Otherwise or by Ensnaring Questions to bring them under the Law as hath been Declared Petitioned the Magistrates the next day to set forward the Court to make some Law to Banish them upon pain of Death so see the Spring and Fountain of this Work of Darkness and who it was this Bloody Law First moved in and they prescribed Particulars as matter upon which to proceed I could set down all that all might see their Bloody Spirits and what Cruelty lodged in them but I leave the Particulars to rot with themselves seeing the Court thought fit to make it a Law and much strugling there was on the one hand to get it on the other to oppose it The Court of Deputies could by no means be brought to Consent thereunto The Priests and Rulers were all for Blood and they pursued it and the Court of Magistrates Voted it without Tryal of a Jury and in Express words to be put in Execution by a County Court which Three Magistrates made up the Majority of which might hang at pleasure without a Jury a Thing not heard of in these Dominions but it served the Priests purpose who set it on This the Deputies withstood and it could not pass and the Opposition grew strong for the thing came near Deacon VVozel was a Man much affected therewith and being not well at that time that he supposed the Vote might pass he Earnestly desired the Speaker and some of the Other Deputies to send for him when it was to be lest by his Absence it might miscarry The Deputies that were against the Passing of that Law thinking themselves strong enough being indeed the most Reasonable and the more Moderate men of the Court to cast it out forbore to send for him The thing came to it and the Vote was put and carried in the Affirmative for the Law to Pass without Tryal of a Jury and by a County Court The Speaker and Eleven being in the Negative and Thirteen in the Affirmative So One Vote Carried it which troubled Deacon Wozel so when he heard it that he got to the Court in great grief of Spirit desiring to have his Vote and Wept for grief that his absence
ye children of Men who are the Workmanship of His hands will ye resist the Lord the Lord God Almighty the Holy One of Israel the Strong and Mighty God who is arising in his Saints and coming forth in His Strength to Scatter His Enemies and to Destroy Pharaoh and all His Hosts and Chariots in the Red Sea after the Seed is come out of Egypt and to turn the pride and haughtiness of men backwards that rises to withstand the Lord Oh consider ye Potsherds who are as unstable as the Waves of the Sea and are as the Wind in His hand which he turneth and causeth to blow which way it pleaseth Him who will confound and destroy you in your Imaginations that you have imagined against Him and His Saints Oh man What art thou that standest to resist the Lord the mighty God of Jacob Did ever any of your Fathers the Persecutors of old prosper Did not the Lord consume them with the breath of His nostrils and with the Word of His mouth Who will tear you to pieces that rise up in Rebellion against Him Consider was it in vain that one said in a certain place That Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft Consider O ye that inhabit the Earth whose dwelling-place is beneath Doth not the Lord behold all your Actions and all your unrighteous Doings Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests are ye combining together are ye joyned together are you in league together as the Rulers and chief Priests were in former ages Consider their Ends and consider what you are doing Are you so blind that you cannot see you are Persecuting the Saints of the most High You who are seeking the Life of the Righteous and that nothing but Blood will satisfie The Lord will give you blood to drink you that thirst for it you shall have enough of it you who spill and drink the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Are not your Brethren gone before you in whose steps ye are treading and the fruits of the Devil you are bringing forth Ye uncircunicised in hearts and ears who do thus resist the Lord of Life As your Fathers did so do ye resist the holy Ghost and the Spirit of Truth which is now appeared in the Saints of the most High who are sent into your borders in love to your Souls and in tender mercy and compassion to the Captive that is within your gates and to the Prisoner Oh why will you strive any longer with the Lord that made you Who is coming in ten thousand of his Saints to render vengeance in flames of sire upon all the ungodly Who hath said Vengeance is mine I will repay it saith the Lord God of hosts Who will recompence into your bosoms the Reward of your doings Oh People and Inhabitants hereof Why will ye die in your sins And whither Christ goes thither you cannot come Oh! Why will ye put the day of the Lord asar off you who hath waited long to be gracious and hath born with you as a man doth with his onely Son that serveth him So hath the Lord spared you And do you thus requite the Lord for his loving kindness to whip to imprison and cut off the Ears of his Servants that are sent unto you Is this your Preaching forth of Christ Are these your good Examples to others Come let us reason together Have you not lost natural affection have you not lost tenderness and compassion Woe is me for thee Oh thou New-England who hast made such a noise among the Nations Is thy Religion come to no more than whipping imprisoning burning in the hand and cutting off Ears and banishing upon death What will be the next Law that thou wilt make Oh New-England against those that thou scornfully callest Quakers terming them the Cursed Sect of the Quakers If they were a Cursed Sect as thou hast termed them it seems they should be so for thee and so die for thee For thou hast made a Law to put them to Death if they come the second time within thy borders But I say the Lord hath blessed the People called in scorn Quakers and they are blessed and shall be blessed for evermore Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests will you proceed no further than putting to Death the Innocent Is thy Praying they Preaching thy many Sacrifices and vain Oblations come to this and will not thy Sacrifices and Prayers and solemn Meetings become Abomination is it not the greatest Abomination that thou committest Dost thou think that this will pacifie the wrath of the Almighty God who is coming forth against thee and will overtake thee and strip thee naked and uncover thee in that day and take all thy Ornaments from thee Oh consider Hast thou forgot although thou wouldest cover the Altar with tears and come before Him with ten thousand of Rams and with a thousand Rivers of Oyl and offer-the Fruit of thy Body for the sin of thy Soul Would it be accepted being offered in that nature wherein thou livest Much more when thou art become so Bloody and so hard-hearted that in stead of covering the Altar with tears dost thou intend to cover it with blood if thou canst Blush and be ashamed hide thy self in the dust for ever because of the presence of the Almighty who is now appeared and is coming to set thy sins in order before thee who will not blot out thy sins nor cover thy Iniquities which are many unless thou speedily repent and forsake thy unrighteousness for thy Destruction hastens apace thou art running headlong to Destruction as the horse rusheth into the Battel so dost thou into Blood How dost thou think to expect any thing from the Lord but a Sore Destruction a Famine and a Plague which is hastening upon thee if thou continue still in Rebellion in Persecuting his Servants This hath the Lord said and this will the Almighty perform upon thee in the day of his righteous Judgements which will overtake all bloody-minded men and blind Persecutors Oh I am full of the Spirit of the Lord and of the Power os him that made me who hath said unto me Fear not man whose breath is in his Nostrils nor the Son of man that must die For the Lord hath said unto me For this end have I called thee and for this cause I have ordained thee Fear them not neither be dismayed at their looks nor be afraid of their threatning words I the Lord that created thee am with thee Therefore fear not what man shall do unto thee for I have made thee as a Wall of Brass whereat the bloody-minded men shall shoot their Arrows but shall not touch thee as to offend thee Therefore the Lord hath said unto me Let not thy heart faint because of what I shall suffer them to do unto thee but let thy hands be strong in the Lord thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel for thy adversaries shall be confounded and the Enemies of the Lord shall be
destroyed in that day Oh ye Hypocrits how can you sing and keep such a noise concerning Religion when your hands are full of blood and your hearts full of Iniquity Wash you make you clean put away the Evil of your doings cease to do Evil learn to do good cleanse your hands you siuners and your hearts you Hypoorites for your Prayers are abomination to me saith the Lord of Hosts your singing is as the howling of a Dog in the Streets such are the Songs you sing in your Temple unto me saith the Lord my Spirit is weary with bearing and my Soul is vexed day after day with your abominations Wo wo to thee thou Bloody Town of Boston and the Rest that are Confederate with Thee and it thou canst not escape Thou who hast shed the blood of the Innocent People called Quakers and Imprisoned and Fined them and taken away their Goods and they have become a Prey unto thee for thee to exercise thy Cruelty upon them and thou boasts in thy wickedness and thinks thou dost God good Service to hang and put to Death the People called Quakers Verily this is the Thoughts and Intents of the hearts of many of you in this New England but especially within thee and within thy Jurisdiction that belongs unto thee Oh thou Town of Boston for these words following did one say in the Governours House whose name is Edward Rawson called Secretary who did Threaten me with these words following on the 18th of the 4. Month 1659 That if I came again after I was sent away or banished he said he would write a Warrant with his own hand to send me to the Gallowes to be hanged Are these your Fruits your corrupt speeches to Threaten the Innocent with your Gallowes to hang them thereon Oh that ever such words should proceed out of a mans mouth to say that he would write a Warrnat with his own hand to send an Innocent Person to the Gallowes to be hanged Well all this we can bear the Lord hath brought forth his Suffering Seed and through Suffering must the Lamb and his Saints overcome and get the Victory and the wicked must be destroyed and such who have been guilty of Blood Was ever the like heard before That men Professing to have so much of the Knowledge of God and Professing to Fear God that such should become so Bloody and become so great Persecutors of a People who are despised of the World but loved of God and the Presence of the Lord is with them whom you Persecute and you must fall before them for the Lord God is with them and among them that are the Sufferers under you The Lord God of Heaven and Earth is now among such which causeth the Heathen to Rage and the People of the Earth to Imagine a Vain Thing For the Lord's Presence and Power in some measure was ever among such as Suffered and were Persecuted for Consoience sake and Suffered with them and in them by the Persecutors of Old in former Ages and Generations as he doth at this day in his Saints and Children for the overthrow of the Powers of Darknesse and Kingdom of the Devil who hath had his Seat in the sons of men for these many Ages and Generations Wherein and whereby the Beast hath made War against the Lamb and His Saints for many Generations But the day doth draw near and hastens apace that the Lamb and the Saints must get the Victory And the Beast and his Followers at that day must be Consumed and Destroyed because of the Presence of the Lord God in his Saints Oh what cruelty is acted now in these dayes That men who Professe God and make such a noise concerning Religion that such should become so hard-hearted to Imprison a Child of Eleven or Twelve Years of Age Was ever the like done among the greatest Tyrants or Bloody-minded-men that are mentioned in the Scriptures Did they ever Imprison a Child that was sent unto them to Warn them of their unrighteousnesse Oh what will become of you Do you think Oh you Heads and Rulers of this Town of Boston who are become so Brutish and so Dark in your Understandings and so unlike Men in your Actions You that cast the Innocent into your Dens Holes Prisons and will not suffer their Friends and Acquaintance to come to visit them not to minister unto them Surely bitter will your Cup be and your Portion will be sad to Surely the sober and tender-hearted cannot but grieve and lament to hear of the Cruelty that is acted by you Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests who are the Beginners of Mischief and the Leaders of them who are the chief Actors of all this Cruelty For well was it spoken by the Prophet The Leaders of this People cause them to Erre and they that are led by them are destroyed for lack of true knowledge Well a little further you shall proceed to fill up the measure of your Iniquities and then shall you have your Reward with the rest of the Uncircumcised For I know it is Blood you thirst after O ye Rulers and chief Priests is it not our Lives ye thirst for come tell us plainly Or have you made this Law of yours only to see if you can make the People called Quakers afraid of you Well however being I am allowed of God I shall tell you plainly that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is now drawing near and coming upon you speedily to try you whether you will exercise your inhumane Law upon us who are now sent among you from the Lord for this very end and purpose I say will you put us to death for only coming into your Jurisdiction or Patent as you call it after we have been once sent away or commanded by you to go out of it Now we say being the Lord God hath commanded us to the contrary Is it meet and just to obey God or man judge ye to obey your bloody Law or to obey God's Righteous Law which He hath writ in our hearts and placed within us which judges and condemns your unrighteous Law that you have made to banish the Righteous Well you that call your selves Christians if you do this bloody Act to shew your selves so unlike men I must tell you plainly for constrained by the Lord God I am to tell you O ye bloody-minded men That if you do put us to death this Action of yours will proceed from the Devil who was a Murderer from the beginning who seeks to destroy mens lives as you do at this day For as it was then so it is now he that is born after the flesh persecuteth him that is born after the Spirit Now you that say you are Christians Come let us reason together concerning this inhumane Law that you have made to put the People called Quakers to death Did ever any true Christians make such Laws as you have made against a People whom you in scorn and derision call
For the Life being the Truth and the Way go not one step without it lest you should compass a Mountain in the Wilderness for unto every thing there is a season As the Flowing of the Ocean doth fill every creek and branch thereof and then retires again towards its own being and fulness and leaves a savor behind it so doth the Life and Virtue of God flow into every one of your hearts whom He hath made partakers of his Divine Nature and when it withdraws but a little it leaves a sweet savor behind it that many can say they are made clean through the Word that He hath spoken to them In which Innocent Condition you may see what you are in the presence of God and what you are without Him Therefore my Dear hearts let the enjoyment of the Life alone be your Hope your Joy and Consolation and let the Man of God flee those things that would lead the Mind out of the Crosse for then the Savor of the Life will be buried And although some may speak of things that they received in the Life as experiences yet the Life being vailed and the savor that it left behind washed away by the fresh floods of Temptation the Condition that they did enjoy in the Life boasted of by the Aiery Thing will be like the Manna that was gathered Yesterday without any good scent or savor For it was onely well with the Man while he was in the Life of Innocency but being driven from the Presence of the Lord into the Earth what can be boast of And although you know these things and many of you much more than I can say yet for the Love and Zeal I bear to the Truth and Honour of God and tender desire of my Soul to those that are young that they may read me in that from which I write to strengthen them against the wiles of the subtil Serpent that beguiled Eve I say stand in the Watch within in the Fear of the Lord which is the very Entrance of Wisdom and the State where you are ready to receive the Secrets of the Lord Hunger and Thirst patiently be not weary neither doubt stand still and cease from thy own working and in due time thou shalt enter into the Rest and thy Eyes shall behold thy Salvation whose Testimonies are sure and righteous altogether Let them be as a Seal upon thine Arm and as Jewels about thy Neck that others may see what the Lord hath done for your Souls Confesse Him before Men yea before His greatest Enemies Fear not what they can do unto you Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World For he will cloath you with Humility and in the power of His Meckness you shall reign over all the rage of your Enemies in the favour of God wherein as you stand in Faith ye are the Salt of the Earth For many seeing your good works may glorify God in the day of their Vitation Take heed of receiving that which you saw not in your Life lest you give ear to the Enemy Bring all things to the Life that they may be proved whether they be wrought in God The Love of the World the Lust of the Flesh and the Lust of the Eye are without the Light in the World therefore possesse your Vessels in all Sanctification and Honour and let your Eye look at the Mark He that hath called you is holy And if there be an Eye that offends pluck it out and cast it from you Let not a Temptation take hold for if you do it will keep from the Favour of God and that will be a sad state For without Grace possessed there is no assurance of Salvation By Grace you are saved and the Witnessing of it is sufficient for you to which I commend you all my Dear Friends and in it remain Boston Goal the 13 of the first Moneth 1660. 61. You Brother William Leddra The 9th of the first Moneth 1660. 61. VVIlliam Leddra being called before the Court and they having found him guilty that by their Law he was to die He asked them What Evil he had done They Answered His own Confession was as good as a thousand Witnesses He Asked What was that Answ He owned those that were put to Death and that they were Innocent for which they died and that he would not put off his Hat in the Court and that he would say Thee and Thou to the Magistrates Then said he You will put me to Death for speaking English and for not pulling off my Cloathes Then Daniel Donison said A man may speak Treason in English Then William said Let us come to the Thing in hand Is it evil to say Thee and Thou to a single Person To it they Answered not Then one of the Court asked him If he would Recant of those Errors He Answered What to joyn with such Murderers as you are Then let every man that meets me say This is the man that hath forsaken the God of his Salvation They said unto him the last general Court he had the liberty granted him to go for England or go out of their Jurisdiction and promising to come here no more he might save his Life He Answered I stand not in my own Will but in the Will of the Lord if I may have my freedom I shall go but to make such a Promise I cannot After they proceeded to Pronounce the Sentence of Death and the 14th of the first Month 60. 61. they went to the Place with a Band of Men and put him to Death When he came upon the Ladder one said William Have you any thing to say to the People and after some time he said For the Testimony of Jesus and for bearing witness against Seducers and Seduced I am come to this day And the last words he spake to best remembrance were Lord Jesus receive my soul for unto thee I commit my spirit This was sent me by Nicholas Upshal and Coppied by me William Coddington of Rhoad Island The COPY of a LETTER from a Stranger to his Friend touching the Death of W. Leddra Boston March 26. 1661. ON the 14th of this instant here was one William Leddra which was put to Death The People of the Town told me he might go away if he would but when I made further Enquiry I heard the Marshal say That he was chained in Prisen from the time he was Condemned to the day of his Execution I am not of his Opinion but yet truly me thought the Lord did mightily appear in the man I went to one of the Magistrates of Cambridge who had been of the Jury that condemned him as he told me himself and I asked him by what Rule he did it He answered me That he was a Rogue a very Rogue But what is this to the Question I said where is your Rule He said he had abused Authority Then I goes after the man and asked him Whether he did not
look on it as a breach of a Rule to slight and undervalue Authority and I said that Paul gave Festus the title of Honour though he was a Heathen I do not say these Magistrates are Heathens I said then when the man was on the Ladder who looked on me and called me Friend and said Know that this day I am willing to offer up my Life for the Witness of JESUS Then I desired leave of the Officers to speak and said Gentlemen I am a stranger both to your Persons and Country and yet a friend to both and I cryed aloud For the Lord's sake take not away the man's Life but remember Gamaliel's Counsel to the Jews If this be of man it will come to nought but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow its but be careful ye be not found fighters against God And the Captain said Why had you not come to the Prison The Reason was because I heard the man might go if he would and therefore I called him down from the Tree and said Come down William you may go away if you will Then Capt. Oliver said it was no such matter and asked What I had to do with it and besides bad me to be gone And I told them I was willing for I cannot endure to see this I said And when I was in the Town some did seem to sympathize with me in my Grief But I told them that they had no Warrant from the Word of God nor President from our Country nor Power from his Majestie to hang the Man I rest Your Friend Thomas Wilkie To Mr. George Lad Master of the America of Dartmouth now at Barbados THE END * The Common Law gives no such Libertie but requires a Man to choose the Particular unto which he will stand but the Civil and Proceedings of State allows and uses it upon a particular Salvo in the first Exhibition and not afterwards Mary Fisher Ann Austin the Fifth Moneth 1656. Mary Prince Sarah Gibbens Mary Weatherhead Dorothy Waugh Christopher Holder Thomas Thirstone William Brend John Copeland The Seventh day of the Sixth Moneth 1656. Robert Lock Nicholas Upshall Richard Smith Simon Kempthorne Mary Fisher Anne Austin * John Hall William Ames John Higgins Samuel Fisher John Stubbs Samuel Fisher * Christopher Brickhead * William Salt * Christopher Brickhead * John Perrot John Love * John Perrot John Love Samuel Fisher John Stubbs Mary Fisher Mary Prince * Samuel Fisher John Stubbs John Perrot John Love John Perrot John Love Mary Fisher Thomas Thirstone Josiah Cole Thomas Chapman * Thomas Thirstone Nicholas Upshall Christopher Holder Thomas Thirstone John Copeland William Brend Sarah Gibbens Dorothy Waugh Mary Weatherhead Mary Prince Nicholas Vpsh 29th of the 6th Month Mary Clark John Clark a Merchant-Taylor in London Christopher Holder John Copeland 21 day 7th month 1657 23 day 7th month 1657 Samuel Shattock Law Southick and his Wife Richard Dowdney Lawrence Southick Cassandra his Wife Josiah their Son * 3d day 12th Month 1657. Edw. Harnet and his Wife Another aged Family William Shattock First Month 1658. John Burton Josiah Southik John Small Sarah Gibbens Dorothy Waugh 13th 2d Moneth 1658. 1. d. Moneth 1658. Horred Gardner 11th 3d. Moneth 1658. * Mary Staunton Sarah Gibbens Dorothy Waugh Thomas Harris of Barbadoes 19th day 5th Month 1658. William Brend William Leddra Law Southick Cassandra his Wise Josia their Son Sam Shattock Joshua Buffum Sam Gaskin * 2d day 5th Month 1658. Will. Brend Will. Leddra Samuel Shattock Sam. Gaskin Josh Buffum Cassandra Southick Law Southick Josiah his Son William Brend William Leddra VVilliam Brend Humphry Norton John Rouse Will. Leddra Tho. Harris Sam. Shattock Lawrence Southick Cassandra his Wife Josiah their Son Joshuah Buffum Samuel Gaskin July 1. 1658. Humphery Norton John Rous. Appeal to England denied in open Court Lawrence Cassandra Josiah Southick Nicholas Phelps Samuel Shattock Nicholas Phelps Joshua Buffum Anne Needam A Tryal of 12. men according to the Law of England and of that Country when demanded denyed The People called upon to bear witnesse that they could not have Justice Dan. Denison's account of the Reason of your Proceedings so illegally against those People with such Cruelty 27th day 8th Month 1658. A Tryal by 12 men again demanded of the Court General or by the Court Gen. according to Law Such a Tryal denyed by the Court General Simon Broadstreet The Hat made a Character of One called a Quaker when no Principle or Practice could be had upon which they are put to Death The First of this Nature that the Eaâ—â—â— hath heard of Priest Chansey Divinity the Master of your Colledge and Way to Put Men to Death after the nature of Wolves indeed then he must go for one and bear the Penalty who to be one hath so manifested himself Twelve more had before the Court at Salem of the Inhabitants thereof and fined 40 l. 19 sh for Absenting from your Meetings Fines to the value of 100l or upwards laid by that Court William Marston of Hampton 8th Moneth 1658. A Horrible Cruelty 6th Moneth 1658. Christopher Holder Jo. Copeland John Rous 25. Sixth Month 1658. Christop Holder Joh. Copeland John Rous their Ears cut off 7th of the 7th Month 1658. 10th 7th Mon. 1658. * Dan. Denisons second Speech demonstrating their Resolution to root out those People because they were the stronger Another Solemn Appeal in Case of their Ears made to England and Denyed 16th of the Eight Month the Execution done Executions of Punishment as to Whipping and losse of Limb c. done in Private contrary to the Law of England and of God which orders them that are truly so that is Punishments to be otherwise that all may hear and sear And which is like to Justice which seeks no Corner And the Bishops cut off the Ears of W. Prynne Henry Burton and Dr. Bastwick in the Palace-yard at Westminster and upon a Scaffold before the People though it was done by Order of the Star-Chamber Lawrence Southick Cassandra Josiah Cassandra Southick Katherine Scot. 2d day 8th Month 1658. Lawrence Cassandra Josiah Southick Samuel Shuttock Nicholas Phelps Joshua Buffum Banished 3d. Month 1659. Some of the Passages of Proceedings in the procuring and passing that Law of Banishment upon Death Capt. Edward Hutcheson Capt. Thomas Clark a Merchant of Boston Enter their Dissents under the Law of Banishment upon pain of Death The Court of Deputies oposite to the Passing of the Law The Court of Magistrates for it of these Two as of Two Houses is the Court General made up Provision in the Law as to Death without Tryal of a Jury The Court of Deputies oppose it The Priests set it on * The Law pass'd for Life without Jury in the Court of Deputies by One Vote Thirteen for it The Speaker and Eleven against it Deacon Wozell sorely troubled that his Absence should occasion such a Law to pass To be tried by a special Jury added to
say ye received Intelligence from Good hands and what are they from Barbados and England What is Your Intelligence or Hear-say and from whom did ye receive it Seeing that upon this you have grounded all your Illegal and Barbarous Proceedings aforesaid against them What are their Tenets which Ye call Professed and what is it they did profess What their behaviour to Authority which Ye term Turbulent and Contemptuous and say it would have justified and it must have been very Contemptuous and Turbulent a Severer Animadversion VVhat were the Attempts which ye say they made and they must be very great ones then and of a Hostile Nature such as they were never guilty of for they have resisted none against the Peace and Order established among you in making Provision to secure which ye say the Prudence of your Court and what Prudence it was to be so frightned by the coming of two poor Innocent Women without Sword or Stick Relation or Acquaintance in a strange-place some thousands of Miles from their Outward beings and so to manifest it as the whole Country ring'd out And what was Your Peace and Order and how established that the shadow of two Worms or the Hear-say of their moving should so shake you that you were forc'd to such Unmanly Proceedings so base and cruel as ye pretend to let Reasonable Men judge was only Exercised And how came Ye to or could Ye be well assured seeing the whole Charge is a Lie and Ye prove it not nor produce a Particular either by your own Experience who had none nor did Ye ever see them before or any of those People Or the Example of those of Munster whom Ye call their Predecessors that their Design was to Undermine and Ruine the same Now in these things Ye ought to have been particular as I have said if Ye meant any thing that might satisfie the Understandings of Men or clear Your Guilt and not to go and put Men to Death and cruelly exercise them as a Court of Justice and then Apologize for what Ye have done and so submit it to the Judgment of others which should have none to judge it had it been Truth but the Judgment should lye in the Justice of the thing which is higher than all and cannot be submitted and when ye have so done and submitted it to charge only in the general and so ridiculously too that any wise man may see through it before it is opened as if so be You were not to account So working backwards and forwards up and down now here and now there as Men drunk indeed with the Blood of the Innocent whom Guilt suffers not to be silent and yet when Ye speak Ye manifest Your Guilt For as I have said to You Justice needeth no Apology but its Defence lies in the Justice of the thing that arraigns the Malefactor which answers to God and that of Him in every Man's Conscience which is the highest Not in the Declaration or Apologie which arraignes the Justice So had ye been wise men ye would have been silent and have let the thing alone to have wrought as it would and not as Cain who slew his Brother about Religion the state of You have snatcht and catcht at every thing to save You who thereby shew that ye are afraid of every thing Behold thou hast driven me Out this day said Cain when he had slain his Brother his Guilt spake in him from the face of the Earth and from thy Face shall I be hid and I shall be a Fugitive and Vagabond in the Earth and it shall come to pass that every One that findeth me shall slay me Who put Ye upon this Apology Who call'd Ye to account Who disturb'd You What 's the matter When a Superiour Power had called ye to an Account for the Blood of the Innocent and the Cruelties of the Oppressed then it had been a time for You to have Produced Your Cause and brought forth Your strong Reasons and to have shewn if ye could have told how Ground for Your Work and Justice for Your Doings But thus to Apologize to beg to beseech for a right understanding or such an Understanding as Ye would have as is the English of such a Declaration when Ye seem to be in the height of your Blood and of the Pinacle of Your Throne and thus pitifully to do it and to Cut your own Throats sheweth ye much below the Understanding of Men as it manifesteth your Guilt Thus much in Answer to this part of your Declaration Declaration And accordingly a Law was made and Published Prohibiting all Masters of Ships to bring any Quakers into this Jurisdiction and themselves from coming in on penalty of the House of Correction till they should be sent away Answer Hitherto I have had to do with you as to that part of the Sufferings of those People as were by you inflicted before the sitting of your Court Or that any Law was made by You against them Also as to the Ground or Reason of those your Proceedings who made them suffer without a Law All which I have answered in the beginning because ye have placed it so and in regard it contains the sum of your Charge against them Or the Cause of their Sufferings For that which follows is but the gradation of your Proceedings from Imprisonment to Death and rather demonstrates that Ye did such and such things than the Grounds or that ye had Grounds on which ye did them and so Your Declaration is a Charge against your selves Now as to your Laws and the Grounds of them and the Sufferings as to each And because Every Determination of Man is Justifiable or not according to the Ground on which it stands I shall begin with your Grounds which I find to be Two and then proceed to the rest The First is Hear-say Of whose Pernicious Opinions and Practices we had received Intelligence c. say ye in your Declaration as aforesaid Answ Now this is so poor and slender a Foundation or rather none at all on which to ground or by which to warrant what ye have done and the Laws ye have made and so Abominable that I shall need no further to Evince it than in the saying of Virgil a Heathen Poet so accounted viz. Fama Malum quo non aliud Velosius ullum Mobilitate Viget Vinesque acquiret Eundo i. e. Fame Report Hear-say is an Evil than which there is none more Swift It lives by Motion and by going getteth strength The Second is Generals Pernicious Opinions and Practices Professed Tenants Turbulent and Contemptuous Behaviour Attempts Design with such like which I shall repeat as I proceed to the following parts of your Dectaration Answ Now Generals are but the Casts of a Cause they prove nothing as I have said and signifie little but a Design to slander and in them lurks and is conversant Deceie And yet upon these Two and no other Foundations as to Matter
and Fines and Amercements and Searchings and Huntings and such like as I shall shew more particularly by and by Their Lives as to men became worse than Death and as Living Burials though they thought not any thing too much nor their Lives too dear as anon will be made manifest for the Truth and the Testimony of it The next day after W. Brend was so used and layd for dead Humphry Norton on whom the sence of Blood lay much and the Weight thereof pressed him sore for several days and cried in him so that he travailed Night and Day with his Friend John Rous came to Boston where in your Meeting House on your Lecture day notwithstanding the Cry of the Town of your Cruelty and Blood and the speaking of some to the said Humphry that if he loved his life he should depart the Town for otherwise he was but a Dead man they having been looking for him some Moneths which could not hinder them nor all the World such was the sence and weight upon them they appeared and having heard the Earth speaking and the Grave uttering her voice and Death feeding Death through your Painted Sepulchre John Norton Humphry Norton stood up and said after the other had ended Verily this is the Sacrifice which the Lord God accepts not for whilst with the same Spirit that ye sin ye Preach and Pray and Sing that Sacrifice is an Abomination to the Lord Whereupon yea before he had spoke out all these words but all these words he spake he was haled down and both of them had out and in the same fury had before ye and H. Norton ye charged with Blasphemy for those words he had spoken They spake to you to Act according to the Law of God or the Wholesome Laws of the English Nation and spare them not But neither of these ye would come nigh Then they Appealed to England and to the chief Magistrate there or whom he should appoint to whom they said they would freely refer their Case which they did once and again thereby to leave you without excuse but neither would ye yeild to this but slighted and disregarded such their Appeal Your Governour and Deputy Governour with one lip saying No Appeal to England No Appeal to England with other words of Dirision and sorthwith sentenced them to be whipt though charged with Blasphemy and to John Rous ye gave smooth words seeking to ensnare him because of Your knowledge of his Father Lieutenant Colonel Rous of Barbadoes who formerly lived amongst Ye of whom some of You then spake but he knowing Your Deceit and Wickedness and Cruel usuage of the Innocent and seeking by close Rooms and Denial of Food for several days together to Consume and strangle them he required in the audience of the People convenient Food for their money Or otherwise if they perished their Blood would be upon you This ye could not well deny before the People who had heard of much of Your Cruelty in this kind and who were likely to have risen up against Ye should Ye have denied it so Ye granted this when Ye could not help it to the breaking of Your Law but the seventh day of the week following this being the fifth Ye broke their Bodies in Revenge thereof with Ten Cruel stripes a piece according to Your wonted Cruelty and then tendred them to depart if they would hire a Convoy which they not doing for as to the Lord they could not who moved them thither Ye detained them there the week following and then Whipt them Fifteen stripes Each with the same Cruelty as before by vertue of the Law aforesaid of Five to be added to the Ten and to the Five Three each time they should be whipt and to be whipt twice a Week upon their old sores with the rest of their Brethren of which I have spoken Now about Three Weeks after the said Court at Salem the Court sate again at which several of the Inhabitants were presented for not coming to Meetings and the Law read for Five shillings a Week for them as should refuse each to pay for not Comming and many were listed under that Pay which ye Exacted when ye pleased but as for the Six aforesaid they were continued still in your Prison at Boston and no Course taken for their Release neither was it so much as offered them upon the Suffering of your Law to go home paying the Fees as ye used to do to the Strangers which Occasioned a Paper to be sent by them to the Court in these Words This to the Magistrates at Court in Salem Friends WHereas it was your Pleasures to Commit us whose Names are underwritten to the House of Correction in Boston although the Lord the Righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth is our Witness that we had done nothing worthy of Stripes or of Bonds and we being Committed by Court to be dealt withall as the Law provides for Forreign Quakers as ye please to tearm us and having some of us suffered your Law and Pleasures now that which we do expect is that whereas we have suffered your Law so now to be set free by the same Law as your manner is with strangers and not to put us in upon the account of one Law and Execute another Law upon us of which according to your own manner we were never convicted as the Law expresses If you had sent us upon the account of your new Law we should have expected the Goalers Order to have been on that account which that it was not appears by the Warrant which we have and the Punishment which we bare as four of us were Whipt among whom was One that had formerly been Whipt so now also according to your former Law Friends Let it not be a small thing in your Eyes the exposing as much as in you lies our families to Ruine It 's not unknown to you the Season and the time of the Year for those that live of Husbandry and what their Cattle and Families may be exposed unto and also such as live on Trade We know if the Spirit of Christ did dwell and rule in you these things would take impression on your spirits What our lives and conversations have been in that Place is well known and what we now suffer for is much for false Reports and ungrounded Jealousies of Heresie and Sedition These things lie upon us to lay before you As for our parts we have true Peace and Rest in the Lord in all our Sufferings and are made willing in the Power and Strength of God freely to offer up our Lives in this Cause of God for which we suffer Yea and we do find through Grace the Enlargements of God in our Imprisoned state to whom alone we Commit our selves and families for the disposing of us according to His Infinite Wisdom and Pleasure in whose Love is Our Rest and Life From the House of Bondage in Boston wherein we are made Captives by the
your selves He answered They that honoured those that God had set over them honoured God They answered It was true but that it was in Obediente to the Law of God that they had suffered as they had and further asked You whether it were that for that Fault they were committed to Prison before the Law had a being that they were Banished or when was it But ye were silent One of them also desired of the Governor that he would be pleased now to Declare before the People the Real and True Causes as in Truth they were of all Your thus Proceedings against them He answered It was for Contemning Authority in not coming to the Ordinances of God see the Priest in the Bottom to keep up his Audience and Authority For as for the Apostles of Christ they used no such thing but to draw men by reaching to that of God in every mans Conscience thereby to lead them and not by the Outward Sword which is the Weapon of Antichrist But the Weapons of our warfare said Paul are not Carnal Prisons Whipps Cutting off Ears Fines Famishings Stocks Burnings Beatings Banishment Death but mighty through the Spirit So Ye shew where ye are and they what they are upon and whose Kingdom they seek and what they build up and whose they are who seek to Compel that which is the Seat of God viz. the Conscience the Dominion of God which He onely can reach by the Sword of man And that they had kept Meetings of their Own It was Answered that for all this Your Law had taken hold of them That they stood not out against the Authority of the Countrey in not submitting to their Laws That then very lately they had taken from them about Fourscore Pound on that Account which they since find to be Upwards of One hundred Your Governor said They had Rebelled against the Authority of the Countrey in not Departing according to their Order who as they told them had no otherwhere to go and had Wives and Children and Families and Estates to look after and were Conscious of nothing that they had done that was VVorthy of Death or of Banishment or of Bonds or of any of the things which they had Suffered M. General Denison told them and see his Command and what a Man he is to fight with them that do not Resist should an Enemy indeed come to put him to it he and several others it s very like would hardly be so forwards they have been hardly found overforward at that work viz. That they stood out against the Authority of the Country in not submitting to their Laws but upon what are they grounded That he should not go about to speak much concerning the Error of their Judgements who convinced them of none nor could ever he or you and yet see how ye make them suffer but as he had before told them That they and you were not able well to live together what an Athiestical Speech is here as if there were no God that made the VVorld and placed Man in it to dwell upon all the face of the Earth as well one as another and made the Conscience of Man for himself or that would require of Man an Account of what he did to his fellow Creature who because he had Power in his hand would not suffer another whom God had made to live by him So No Man should live by another on the face of the Earth where the other was the stronger and where would this end but in the rooting out Mankind from off the face of the Earth as it believes there is No God and that at present the Power was in your hand but how long may it be can ye tell Could not the Bishops have said so yet they turned not you out as I have said nor do they keep ye out and therefore the strongest must fend off Than which what can be said more wicked or what a more destructive Principle and a more dangerous can there be in the World Yet this hath been his word in all Courts and this is the Principle on which ye go Because Ye have Rower in your hands to whom the Wo is Who devise Iniquity and work Evil upon your Beds and when the Morning is light ye practise it because it is in the power of your hand So see your Portion and your Judgment from the Mouth of the Lord. Then ye put them forth a little while and called them in again and pronounc'd their Sentence of Banishment upon Pain of Death and constrained them to and who departed as aforesaid Their Sentence was dated May 11. 1659. without a Legal Conviction of one Principle or Practice that was contrary to Law but because they were such as were called Quakers And this is New-England and the Justice of the Court of that part of it as is called the Bay of Massachusets Yet ye were not satisfied with what ye had done to Lawrence and Cassandra and Josiah Southick but as I have touched you must be dealing with the rest of the Family and they having viz. the Old man and woman that were Friends of Truth to wit Daniel and Provided the Courts at Ipswitch and at Salem fined them Ten pounds for not coming to your Meetings but they having no Visible Estate so as you could find to lay hold upon to satisfie it according to your Law and your Resolution in the Case being desired Ye Ordered them to be sold for the Payment thereof Your Order runs thus Whereas Daniel Southick and Provided Southick Son and Daughter of Lawrence Southick have been fined by the Courts at Salem and Ipswitch pretending they have no Estates Resolving not to work that is to the Treasurer to answer the Fines It seems you had rather have moist Meat or Money to buy it or to answer your other Lusts and you will sell the Innocent But you will have it rather than give Dry Blows where there is nothing to be had as those did who sold the Righteous for Silver and the Poor for a Pair of Shoes that pant after the Dust of the Earth on the head of the Poor and turn aside the way of the Meek and lay themselves down upon Cloathes laid to pledge on Every Altar and drink the VVine of the Condemned in the house of their god Because of which the Lord said by the Prophet Amos He would not turn away the Punishment thereof even from Israel where these things were found Nor will he from You but the flight should perish from the Swift and the Strong should not strengthen his force neither should the Mighty deliver himself Neither should he that handled the Bow and he that is swift of foot deliver himself neither should he that rideth the Horse deliver himself and he that is couragious among the Mighty should flee away naked in that day So saith the Lord of You as he did unto them and it shall come to pass So read
Moving and Power of the Lord as One Man to look your Bloody Laws in the face and to try them and to accompany those who should suffer by them Whom ye apprehended and sent to Prison as aforesaid and Provided Southick Daughter to Lawrence and Cassandra Southick aforesaid Who coming to see her sister then in Prison and being met with all in the street and known by your Deputy Governour and asked by him Whether she was a Quaker and she Replying That she was one that was so called He Committed her also So your Prisons began to fill and the time drew near of the sitting of your Court as aforesaid before whom on the nineteenth of the same Moneth W. Robinson and M. Stevenson and Mary Dier were had before your Court and Demanded by you Why they came again into your Jurisdiction being Banished upon pain of Death To which having severally Answered and Declared the Ground or Cause of their coming in as from the Lord and in Obedience to him upon your Governors saying that he desired not their Death and that they had Liberty to speak for themselves why they should not be Proceeded with as to the giving sentence against them He bad the Goaler take them away The next day after your Worship was ended being heated by your Priest and prepared to shed the Blood of the Innocent you sent for them again and speaking faintly as a man whose Life was Departing from him for the hand of the Lord was upon him Your Governor said to this Effect We have made many Laws and endeavoured by Several ways to keep ye from us and neither Whipping nor Imprisonment nor cutting off Ears nor Banishment upon pain of Death will keep ye from among us And he said I Desire not your Death Yet presently he said Give Ear and Hearken to your Sentence of Death and then made a stop Whereupon W. Robinson desired that he might be suffered to Read a Paper amongst them which was a Declaration of his Call to Boston and the Reason why they staid in that Jurisdiction after your Sentence of Banishment which your Governor denied and said in a great Rage You shall not read it nor will the Court hear it Read Then VVilliam laid it on the Table among them and it was handed to your Governour who Read it to himself and after he had done said VV. Robinson you need not keep such an adoe to have it Road for ye spake Yesterday more than here is VVritten which was not so and if it had been yet a man may be permitted to speak the same Words over again and the Law Allows it viz. for a Man to speak for himself ere Sentence is given and the Clarks of the Court usually Proclaim that Liberty but you would not VV. Robinson said Nay he had not and desired again it might be Read that all the People might hear the Cause of their Coming and of their stay there and wherefore they were put to Death which was as I have said what the Law Allowed But you would not suffer it a very hard Case you would not be so dealt with yet so ye have dealt with the Innocent and your Governor said to him Hearken to your Sentence of Death You shall be had back to the Place from whence you came and from thence to the place of Exeoution to be hanged on the Gallows till you are Dead Then M. Stevenson was called and your Governor said to him If you have any thing to say you may speak Who standing still and giving him no Answer for the Lord had shut him up your Governor Pronounced the Sentence of Death against him Saying You shall be had to the Place from whence you came and from thence to the Gallows and there be hanged till you are dead Which being Pronounced M. Stevensons Mouth was opened by the Lord and he said Give ear ye Magistrates and all who are guilty for this the Lord hath said concerning you Who will perform His Word upon you That the same day ye put His servants to death shall the Day of your Visitation pass over your heads and you shall be Curst for evermore The mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it Therefore in love to you all I exhort you to take warning before it be too late that so the Curse may be removed For assuredly if you put us to death you will bring Innocent Blood upon your own heads and swift destruction will come upon you After he had spoken which he was had to Prison Then Mary Dier was called and your Governor said to her to this effect Mary Dier you shall go to the Place whence you came namely the Prison and from thence to the Place of Execution and be hanged there until you are dead To which she Replied The will of the Lord be done Then your Governor said Take her away Marshal she Answered Yea joyfully shall I go So she was brought to the House of Correction again and there continued with her other Two Friends in Prison till the 27th of the same Moneth during which time many People resorted to the Prison windows for the thing struck among them which struck such a fear in you where no fear was for they would not have broken a Thred to have gone out nor push'd down a straw that ye set a Guard about the Prison by Night lest they should be taken away and on W. Robinson and M. Stevenson ye put Chains of Iron And on the 27th of the 8th Moneth aforesaid Ye Caused the Drums to beat to gather your Souldiers together for the Execution after your Worship was ended your Drums beat again and your Captain James Oliver came with his Band of men and the Marshal and some others to the Prison and the Doors were Opened and your Marshal and Jaylor called for W. Robinson and M. Stevenson and had them out of the Prison and Mary Dier out of the House of Correction who having parted from their Friends in Prison full of the Joy of the Lord who had counted them worthy to suffer for his Name and kept them faithful to the Death and having Embraced each other with Fervency of Love and gladness of heart and peace with God and praises to the Lord Went out of your Prisons like Innocent Lambs out of the Butchers Cub to the Slaughter and your Captain with his Band of Men led them the Back way it seems you were afraid of the Fore lest it should touch too much the People to the Place of Execution and caused the Drums to beat when they attempted to speak hard work and plac'd them near the Drums for that purpose that when they spake the People might not hear them who in great multitudes flocked about them as ye used to Imprison any that you took looking in at the Prison Window when they were there to visit them thinking thereby to keep the Seed of God under and them
Quakers since they came among you Are you not ashamed that the Nations about you should hear of your Actions to hear of the cruel Laws that you have made against an innocent and harmless People What was not the Law that you made at first strong enough but you must disanul it and proceed to a more bloodier Come tell us plainly if you be not ashamed to speak of whom did you ask Counsel or to whom did you seek for Instruction I am sure the Lord in whose hand your breath is did never give you Counsel to make these bloody Laws that you have made against the People who are scornfully called Quakers Come let us further reason together that you may appear unto all that have any Moderation in them left as men that surely you are not the true Christians nor Disciples of Christ for they used no such weapons to War withall as you do So that a great deal of difference there is betwixt your Practises and theirs your Weapons and theirs For their Weapons were and are Spiritual and yours are Carnal The difference is great every way as great as there is betwixtLight and Darknesse Again that you may see that in every thing you are altogether unlike them their War was against Spiritual wickedness in high places The Apostles wrestled not with flesh and blood mark not with the Creatures not to destroy mens Lives but made War in Righteousness with the spiritual Weapons having on for an helmet the brest-plate of Righteousness whereby they subdued the Powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness that ruled in high places Now you that call your selves Christians you war against flesh and blood your war is against the Creatures and not against spiritual wickedness you seek to destroy that which Christ came to save and seek not to destroy that which Christ came to destroy He was made manifest to destroy the works of the Devil but you make your selves manifest you intend to destroy the work of God Mark and take notice you unbelievers The Creature is the workmanship of God the spiritual wickedness is the fruit and work of the Devil which Christ came to destroy and was made manifest for that end to destroy the sin which is the fruit of the Devil Take notice ye unlike Christians the fruits and works of the Devil live and remain still among you undestroyed who seek to destroy the workmanship of God when Christ came to save mens lives and not to destroy them but to destroy the works of the Devil but you seek to destroy that which Christ came to save and to save alive that which Christ came to destroy So see if it doth not appear plainly by your Actions and by your corrupt fruits that you are making war against Christ and his Saints whom you seek to destroy from off the face of the Earth As let your actions that you have acted already against God and his Servants bear witnesse against you that you are become more Bloody and more hard-hearted than Pharaoh of old See and search the Scriptures of Truth and consider whose children you are and whose works you are a doing and whom it is you are serving For his servants you are to whom ye obey Did ever God send any of his Servants into a Country or Nation to destroy his workmanship the Creature Is this your gaining many People into your Church Is this your Converting of others Is this your way of adding many to your Church What by compelling of people to come to your Meetings What By Fining People and taking away their Goods What by Imprisoning Whipping and Stocking and burning in the hand and cutting off the Ears of those that come to bear witness against your Cruelty and Idolatry Is this your way of convincing gain-sayers What by making of a Law to bannish such upon pain of Death have you no other weapons to fight withall against the Truth Have you no other means nor way ye Idol-shepherds to stop the mouthes of them ye call gainsayers than Imprisoning Whipping Burning in the Hand Fining and taking away their Goods and Banishment upon pain of Death Have you no other way nor word to convince those you call Hereticks and Deceivers but to take away their lives Surely this was not the way nor means nor power which the Apostles used to convince the Gentiles and Jews unto whom they were sent This power which you make use of is not the power neither doth it proceed from the power which ruled in the Saints Prophets Apostles and People of God whereby their Souls were converted to God which turned them from Darkness to Light But the power that rules you and that you act by is of another nature than the power the Apostles were in for their power was and is given to save but yours is to destroy mens lives which the power of God was given for to save which must be set a top of all unrighteous Powers from whom all bloody and unrighteous Laws do proceed So behold what power it is that leads you and what power ye are under ye merciless men that many of you are become past feeling whose Consciences are seared as with a hot Iron who have given your selves over to work wickedness and are become as great Persecutors as any that worship the Beast who have given their power unto the Dragon who thirsts after the blood of the Innocent as the Lion doth after his prey so greedy and hasty are you to spil the blood of the Saints and to take away the Life of the Upright from the face of the Earth Well ye Rulers and Magistrates so called take heed and take warning I lay it upon you while you have time and a day given unto you to consider these things So before the thing come to passe and before you do it weigh the matter Come let us farther reason together Can you convince us of the transgression of any Law of God and if you cannot which we know you cannot nor have the least transgression of the Righteous Law of God to lay to our charge who are now coming among you in obedience to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth for this very end to try you O ye children of men And if you put us to Death because we cannot obey your Commandment but choose rather to obey the Commandment of the Lord and for so doing will you put us to Death Well this know and be it known unto the Sons of Men and Inhabitants within this Town of Boston and elsewhere within your Jurisdiction That the Commandments of the most High must we obey and your Commandment we must disobey and disanul it and make it of no effect because it is against and contrary to that of God in all mens Consciences which is of the nature and according to the Righteous and Royal Law of God therfore we must obey the Command of the Lord because it is according to the Righteous and Royal Law of God
which is according to that of God in every man's Conscience which saith It is more just and meet to obey God than man So being that your Law that you have made is unequal and contrary to the Law of God which he hath writ in our hearts which is equal just and righteous for your Law that you have made against the Innocent People called Quakers is unjust and unrighteous and contrary to that of God in all mens Consciences and contrary to the righteous and Royal Law of God Therefore we say we cannot obey such a Law that doth not agree with the Royal Law of God but herein shall we obey the Lord choosing rather to suffer what you shall be suffered to do unto us than to fulfil the Commandment and unrighteous Law of unrighteous men in flying at your Command when the Lord hath Commanded us to stay Whereby that he may shew his Power in us that his Command and his Righteous Royal Law is of more power virtue and force in us and with us than your unrighteous Laws and Commands can be against us So this know if you put us to death when we return that you will bring innocent blood upon you by so doing which shall not depart from your houses nor from that seed that is guilty thereof So these things we speak that you may no more be guilty of Innocent blood for assuredly know that nothing shall fail of what the Lord hath spoken by us and through us concerning you if you go on still in Rebellion and stiff-neckedness and refuse to hearken to the Voice and Counsel of the Lord God And this know that you have been warned from the Lord of these things before they came to passe For this we know if we disobey the Command of the Lord to fly from you because you have made a Law to put us to Death if we disobey the Lord in this thing he can cut us off and take our Lives from us in his anger and fury Therefore be it known unto you that the Lord hath made us willing to lay down our Lives among you if you be suffered to take them from us and in this thing we know we shall have peace when you shall have sorrow and torment night and day And this shall you certainly know one day that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whom we serve sent us among you if you see our faces again after we have been Banished from you and that which we have spoken you shall know to be truth whether you will hear or forbear Well if you say we are transgressors of a Law in not obeying your unrighteous Law It is your own and not God's Law For his Law is holy just and good but yours is altogether unholy unrighteous unjust and wicked and is to be set at nought and condemned by the servants of the Lord For this Law of yours which you have made to put the Righteous to death hath not proceeded from the Spirit of the Lord which is meek and lowly and easie to be entreated which doth judge and condemn you and your Law Now if you would know from what spirit this wicked and unnatural Law of yours hath proceeded Well we shall speak plainly it hath proceeded from the murdering spirit which raigned and ruled in the Persecutors of Old from whence all such Lawes did and do proceed Now ye Rulers chief Priests and Inhabitants of New-England this we shall say unto you in the fear of the Lord and Spirit of the Almighty and in the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ that you nor your Law is not to be regarded herein and your Law is to be broken and must be broken by the Power of the Lord God and you must be judged and condemned by the same Power for making such a Law For the Lord of Hosts is coming up against you and your Power must be subdued and taken from you by the Prince of Peace even by Him who is come and coming to rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron who is come and coming whose Right it is to Rule and subdue all Powers and Authorities unto Himself and to take the Government into his Own hand unto whom it belongs who will dash you to pieces ye Rulers that rebel against his Righteous Power and his Holy Law that He is Establishing in the Earth in the hearts of the sons of men that obey his Voice and that hearken unto his Counsel his Righteous and Holy Law must be established and his Righteous Government and Kingdom must be set up and your Unrighteous and Unholy Kingdom and Government must be overturned and destroyed by the Power of the Everlasting God in this day of his Eternal Power who is come and coming to make void all your ungodly inhumane and bloody Laws and to reward you according to your works The Lord God hath spoken it and by Him it shall be accomplished upon you for the Decree of the Most High is gone out against you ye unmerciful men whose Wickedness and Unrighteousness doth exceed the Nations about you for barbarous Cruelty and unmanlike Actions Have you not altogether lost your Senses Reason and Understanding that you are become so bruitish and so unlike Christians You are gone so far in your Cruelties and unnatural Actions that you are a stink and a loathsom smell to all People that have the least measure of Uprightness and of the honest Principle ruling in them and your barbarous and cruel actions and bloody deeds they abhor and at your Cruelty that you have acted against the People of the Lord who are by you in scorn called Quakers many of the common sort of People do stand amazed and wonder to hear of such Cruelty to be acted by such a Generation of men that have made such a noise concerning Religion concerning a Church concerning Ministry and Magistracy and Church-Government and Ordinances Preaching Praying Singing Morning and Evening Sacrifices Family-Duties as you call them that such should become so bloody and so cruel it doth astonish many that are called Heathens that all your Preaching Praying Singing making such a noise concerning Religion that it should come to no more and to produce no better fruits than Imprisoning Whipping Stocking Burning in the Hand Cutting off Ears Banishing upon Death as you have banished Six already from their Wives and Children and from their outward beings So that you do not only intend to destroy the Souls but Bodies also Come let us know what have they done what Law of God have they transgressed that you should banish them upon pain of Death from their Families What was it because their Conversations and Actions were honest and upright and yours are evil What was it because their Practices condemed yours What was it because they owned a People that are by you in scorn called Quakers whom you evilly entreat and such as owns them you banish and despitefully use them Surely these things will be remembred Come let
ye would not hear it and so in effect forbad that which he bad him I shall set down the Contents thereof and of Stevenson's Call into your Parts for which ye put him to Death as a Perpetual Record to after Ages of that for which they Suffered and your shame Everlasting For it shall rise up in You a Worm that shall never Die and a Fire that shall never go out The mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it Robinson's Paper to the Court before he was Sentenced to death concerning the Cause of their coming into those Parts for which they were put to Death which the Governor in a great Fury said should not be Read and that the Court would not hear it Which was in these Words ON the Eighth Day of the Eighth Moneth 1659. in the after part of the day in Travelling betwixt Newport in Rhoad Island and Daniel Gold's House with my dear Brother Christopher Holder The Word of the Lord came expresly to me which did fill me immediately with Life and Power and heavenly Love by which he constrained me and commanded me to pass to the Towne of Boston my Life to lay down in His Will for the Accomplishing of His Service that He had there to Perform at the day appointed To which Heavenly Voice I presently yeelded Obedience not questioning the Lord how he would bring the Thing to pass being I was a Child and Obedience was Demanded of me by the Lord who filled me with living Strength and Poner from his Heavenly Presence which at that time did mightily Overshaddow me and my Life at that time did say Amen to what the Lord required of me and had Commanded me to do and willingly was I given up from that time to this day the Will of the Lord to do and perform what ever became of my Body For the Lord had said unto me My Soul shall rest in everlasting Peace and my Life shall enter into Rest for being Obedient to the God of my Life I being a Child and durst not question the Lord in the least but rather willing to lay down my Life than to bring Dishonor to the Lord And as the Lord made me willing dealing gently and kindly with me as a tender Father by a Faithful Child whom he dearly Loves so the Lord did deal with me in Ministring his Life unto me which gave and gives me strength to Perform what the Lord required of me and still as I did and do stand in need he Ministred and Ministreth more Strength and Vertue and Heavenly Power and Wisdom whereby I was and am made Strong in God not fearing what man shall be suffered to do unto me Being filled with Heavenly Courage which is Meekness and Innocency for the Cause is the Lord's that we go in and the Battel is the Lord's and thus saith the Lord of Hosts the Mighty and the Terrible God Not by Strength nor by Might nor by Power of Man but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts I will perform what my mouth hath spoken through my Servants whom I have chosen mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth Friends the God of my Life and the God of the whole Earth did Lay this thing upon me for which I now suffer Bonds near unto death He by his Almighty Power and Everlasting Love constrained me and laid this thing upon me and truly I could not deny the Lord much less Resist the Holy One of Israel Therefore all who are Ignorant of the Motion of the Lordin the Inward Parts be not hasty in Judging in this matter least ye speak evil of the things ye know not For of a Truth the Lord God of Heaven and Earth Commanded me by his Spirit and spake unto me by his Son whom he hath made Heir of all things and in his Life I live and in it I shall Depart this Earthly Tabernacle if unmerciful men be suffered to take it from me And herein I rejoyce that the Lord is with me the Ancient of dayes the Life of the Suffering Seed for which I am freely given up and singly do I stand in the will of God for to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain and truly I have a great desire and will to die herein knowing that the Lord is with me what ever Ignorant men shall be able to say against me for the witness of the Spirit I have received and the Presence of the Lord and his heavenly Life doth accompany me so that I can say in Truth and from an upright heart Blessed be the Lord God of my Life who hath counted me Worthy and called me hereunto to bear my Testimony against ungodly and unrighteous men who seek to take away the Life of the righteous without a Cause as the Rulers of Massachusets Bay do intend if the Lord stop them not from their Intent Oh hear ye Rulers and give ear and listen all ye that have any hand herein to put the Innocent to Death For in the Name and Fear and Dread of the Lord God I here Declare the Cause of my staying here among ye and continuing in the Jurisdiction after there was a Sentence of Banishment upon Death as ye said Pronounced against me without a Just Cause as ye all know that we that were Banished committed nothing worthy of Banishment nor of any Punishment much less Banishment upon Death And now ye Rulers Ye do intend to put me to Death and my Companion unto whom the Word of the Lord God came saying Go to Boston with thy Brother W. Robinson Unto which Command he was obedient who had said unto him he had a great Work for him to do Which thing is now seen and the Lord is now a doing of it and it is in Obedience to the Lord the God of the whole Earth that we continued amongst Ye and that we came to the Town of Boston again in Obedience to the Lord the Creator of Heaven and Earth in whose hand your Breath is And will ye put us to Death for Obeying the Lord the God of the whole Earth Well if ye do this Act and put us to Death Know this and be it known unto you all ye Rulers and People within this Jurisdiction That whosoever hath a hand herein will be Guilty of Innocent Blood And not onely upon your selves will ye bring Innocent Blood but upon the Town and the Inhabitants thereof and every where within your Jurisdiction that had the least hand therein Therefore be instructed ye Rulers of this Land and take Warning betimes and Learn Wisdom before it be hid from your Eyes Written in the Common Goal the 19th of the 8th Month 1659. in Boston By One who feareth the Lord who is by Ignorant People called a Quaker and unto such am I only known by the Name of William Robinson yet a new Name have I received which such know not Marmaduke Stevenson's Paper of his Call to the Work and Service of the Lord.
Given forth by him a little before he was put to Death and after he had received his Sentence IN the beginning of the Year 1655. I was at the Plough in the East Parts of York-shire in Old England near the Place where my Outward being was and as I walked after the Plough I was filled with the Love and the Presence of the Living God which did Ravish my Heart when I felt it for it did increase and abound in me like a Living Stream so did the Love and Life of God run thorow me like Precious Oyntment giving a pleasant Smell which made me to stand still and as I stood a little still with my heart and mind stayed on the Lord the Word of the Lord came to me in a still small Voice which I did hear perfectly saying to me in the secret of my Heart and Conscience I have Ordained Thee a Prophet unto the Nations And at the hearing of the Word of the Lord I was put to a stand being that I was but a Child for such a Weighty Matter So at the time appointed Barbados was set before me unto which I was required of the Lord to Go and leave my dear and loving Wife and tender Children for the Lord said unto me immediately by his Spirit That He would be as a Husband to my Wise and as a Father to my Children and they should not want in my absence for He would provide for them when I was gone And I believed that the Lord would perform what He had spoken because I was made willing to give up my self to his Work and Service to leave All and follow Him whose Presence and Life is with me where I rest in Peace and Quietness of Spirit with my dear Brother under the shadow of His Wings who hath made us willing to lay down Our Lives for his Own Name sake if Unmerciful Men be suffered to take them from us and if they do We know We shall have Peace and Rest with the Lord for ever in His Holy Habitation when they shall have Torment night and day So in Obedience to the Living God I made preparation to pass to Barbados in the Fourth Moneth 1658. So after some time I had been on the said Island in the Service of God I heard that New-England had made a Law to put the Servants of the Living God to Death if they returned after they were sentenc'd away which did come near me at that time and as I considered the Thing and pondered it in my Heart immediately came the Word of the Lord unto me saying Thou knowest not but that Thou mayest go thither But I kept this Word in my Heart and did not declare it to any until the time Appointed So after that a Vessel was made ready for Rhoad Island which I passed in So after a little time that I had been there visiting the Seed which the Lord hath blessed the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go to Boston with thy Brother William Robinson And at His Command I was obedient and gave up my self to do His Will that so His Work and Service may be accomplished For He had said unto me that He had a Great Work for me to do which is now come to passe And for yeelding Obedience to and Obeying the Voice and Command of the Everliving God which created Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of Waters Do I with my dear Brother suffer Outward Bonds near unto Death And this is given forth to be upon Record that all People may know who hear it That We came not in our Own Wills but in the Will of God Written in Boston-Prison in the 8th Month 1659. Given forth by me who am known to men by the Name of Marmaduke Stevenson But have a New Name given me which the World knows not of written in the Book of Life Thus they and thus you but as for Mary Dyar when she had parted joyfully with her Friends between whom she came hand in hand joyfully to the Place of Execution though your Marshal Michaelson was troubled thereat and asked Whether she was not ashamed to walk hand in hand between two young men not knowing her Joy in the Lord To whom she answered It is the greatest Joy and Hour I can enjoy in this World With these words No Eye can see No Ear can hear No Tongue can speak No Heart can understand the sweet Incomes and Refreshings of the Spirit of the Lord which now I enjoy I say after she had parted joyfully with her Friends at the Foot of the Ladder determined to dye and saw her Two Friends dead and hanging so before her and had her Arms and Legs tied and the Halier about her Neck and her Face covered with a Handkerchief which your Priest Wilson lent the Hangman for her Execution and was even with the Lord in Joy and Peace and so as it were out of the Body an Order came from You for her Reprieve upon the Petition of her Son unknown to her which being read and the Halter taken off her Neck and she loosened she was desired to come down which she not answering because she staid to wait on the Lord to know his Pleasure in so sudden a Change she having given up her self to dye as aforesaid and being so near to it the People cryed for her Death they were against Pull her down nor could she Prevail with them to stay a little so earnest were they whilst she might consider and know of the Lord what to do but Ladder and she they were pulling down together In which they were stopt and your Chief Marshal and others took her down by her two Arms and had her to Prison From whence she wrote to you when she understood upon what Account she was Reprieved Denying your Reprieve and the Ground of it and the next Morning tendred her Life again for the Abrogating of your Law but she was not suffered for some came presently and took her forcibly in their Arms and put her on Hourseback and with four Horses besides Men conveyed her away Fifteen Miles towards Rhoad Island and then left her with a Horse and Man to be conveyed the rest which she soon sent back when she saw she might do it freely and as of the Lord for she was sensible how that her sudden Reprieve had served your End in turning the People to you who were turning from you in the Death of the Other which was in your Bottom but the Lord otherwise ordered it afterwards in suffering you to put her to Death after a Reprieve and such a One as this and after such a manner and when she was so near the Execution and as to her self even Out of the Body in the Joy of the Lord of which I shall speak more anon and of your Cruelty therefore He suffered this to be and gave her Liberty to go from those parts to Newport in Rhoad Island from whence she came