England doth not this allow Again I would fain know whether a man may not invite six poor People to his House and there feed their hungry bodies and instruct their ignorant souls in the knowledge of the Gospel without incurring the penalty of this Law Is not this an Act of Religion Can any man be saved without Charity Doth the Church of England not allow us to go in the way to Heaven except it banish us to Barbados or Jamaico It shall be lawful there to obey God and be Merciful but not in England The holy Apostle Paul bids us Rom. 12.15 Rejoyce with them that rejoyce and mourn with them that mourn and the Apostle James bids us Confess our faults one to another and pray one for another Jam. 5. 16. that we may be healed What must we not do it five or six together without Banishment Doth not the Church of England allow it Have we not just cause to say to these as our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharises Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of none effect by your Tradition Statute Nay besides the Contradiction to our Saviour's Commands Doth not such an Interpretation of this Law forbidding all Religion of six persons but what is performed at Church by hearing a Parson reade the Lyturgy as the never-to-be-forgotten Judge Bridgman expounded it to the ever-to-be-remarked Hartford Juryes Doth it not I say make us inhumane beasts as well as irreligious men and women for how can a man in prudence suffer his wife to go to her neighbours labour when she cryes out for her help lest perhaps there should be four more and they all be taken for Conventiclers for certainly in such extremities it is usual for the Labouring woman to cry to God for help which is a plain Act of Religion nay I hear it is common to the good Women after they have finished their work for the Midwife or some other to give thanks and pray solemnly in other manner than is any where to be found in the Lyturgy Let it therefore be considered that the Travelling-woman or any other for her be henceforth prohibited to pray unto God in such cases lest she bring upon her Neighbours for their good-will and humanity the penalty of three or six months imprisonment or Banishment for seven years Or for better security let the Parson alwayes be sent for as soon as the Midwife to act his part among the good women till their work be finished Again how will it be safe for a man to go to his deceased Neighbours funeral lest some body should salute the surviving Relative with a I pray God comfort you or I pray God give you Joy after your Sorrow and so make the whole company liable to a penalty The like may be said for praying Joy to a new married Couple or saying God be with you to our friend taking a Journey by Land or a Voyage by Sea or much more for five persons going to their neighbours to dinner except the Priest be there to say Grace But lastly I know not how any persons meeting together upon any Occasion whatsoever can escape taking Judge Bridgman's Sentence for Law that is saith he You must not expect a plain punctual Evidence against them for any thing they said or did at their Meeting for they may speak to one another though not with or by auriculer sound but by a cast of the eye or a motion of the head or foot or gesture of the body c. if you find or believe in your hearts that they were in the Meeting under colour of Religion in their way though they sate still only and looked upon each other seeing they cannot say what they did there it was an Unlawful Meeting c. If they are sworn to give Verdict according to Evidence may proceed to condemn men without Evidence according to what they believe in their heart and if they may without hearing or seeing what they did judge them according to what may be in their hearts or gestures then may the Judge have his skin pulled over his ears for false Judgment for it may be he knows in his own conscience it was so But saith he their use and practice was not according to the Lyturgie of the Church of England for it allows and commands when people meet together in the Church that Divine Service should be read c. Is it not rarely well argued the Lyturgy commands that when people meet together in the Church Divine Service shall be read therefore it doth not allow that when people are met together in a private house Divine Exhortations should be given or that people should sit together without saying or doing any thing This is not Lawyers Latin but Lawyers Logick and the great and dreadful God of Heaven and Earth will try it whether it be made in any true mode or figure of Justice I have proved to you that in many cases and might in many more that if the Lyturgy be not contrary to the Scriptures and it self it allows of Meetings and Acts of Religion the manner whereof is not determined by the Lyturgy of the Church of England The Judge might as well have argued thus The Lyturgy allows men to eat and drink Bread and Wine given by the hand of a Priest at Church Therefore men may not eat and drink Bread and Wine with thanksgiving at their own Tables If a Sophister in the Schools should use such a Fallacy he might be hissed at for a Dunce and there 's an end on 't but to delude God and Jury-mens Consciences and to banish harmless and meek men from their Native Country Husbands from their dear Wives Parents from their tender Babes Kinsfolk from Kinsfolk and loving Neighbours and Friends from the sweet society of their Neighbours and Friends this is intolerable and a Judgment that God will judge and I perswade my self you will ever keep your self from partaking in such gross Iniquity And this leads me to the consideration the Equitableness of the punishment and the proportion that is between that and the Offence for in all just Laws the penalty is not greater than the nature of the Fault requires Now supposing the Fault to be such as the Interpreters would make us believe that is that men and women from an erroneous perswasion do meet together to worship God in other manner than is allowed by the Church of England can it be imagined the Parliament would punish such an Error as this with horrid Banishment for seven years far be it from us to think so unworthily of an English Parliament No the Intention of the Parliament is manifest from the Title and Preface of the Act the Title An Act to prevent and suppress seditious Conventicles but what Sedition in worshipping God erroneously The Preface For remedy against Seditious Sectaries and other disloyal persons who under pretence of Tender Consciences do at their Meetings contrive Insurrections c. and therefore the matter
Daniel was by a miracle defended in disobeying Another Exception which they conceive destroyes the whole Act is its contrariety to the Fundamental Laws of the Land in respect of its proceedings for it seems contrary to the best Clause in all that so much magnified Magna Charta viz. chap. 29. Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur aut disseisietur de libero Tenemento suo vel libertatibus vel liberis consuitudinibus suis aut ut legetur aut exubetur aut aliquo modo destruatur ver super eum ibimus nec super eum mittemus nisi per legale Judicium parium suorum vel per legem terra Nulli vendemus nulli negabimus aut differemus justitiam vel rectum No Free Man may be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free Tenement or his Liberties or free Customes or Out-lawed or Banished or any way Destroyed Neither will we go upon him or send upon him but by lawful Judgment of his Equals or by the Law of the Land We will sell to none we will deny to none or defer Justice or Right It is to be observed that that great Lawyer Sir Edward Cook 2d Part Inst p. 49. observes upon the Exposition of Per Legale Judicium that the manner of Trial by Juries was by Law before this Statute it self and so is more ancient than Magna Charta And upon these words p. 50. Nisi per Legem terra But by the Law of the Land he saith it is without due Process of Law and that is by Indictment or Presentment of good and lawful men where such deeds be done in due manner or by Writ original of the Common Law Against this Ancient and Fundamental Law I find saith he an Act of Parliament made that aswel Justices of Assizes as Justices of the Peace without any finding or presentment by the Verdict of 12. men upon a bare Information for the King before them made should have full Power and Authority by their discretions to hear and determine all Offences and Contempts committed or done by any person or persons against the Form Ordinance and Effect of any Statute made and not repealed c. By colour of which Act shaking this Fundamental Law it is not credible what horrible Oppressions and Exactions to the undoing of infinite numbers of People were committed by Sir Richard Empson Kt. and Edmund Dudley being Justices of the Peace throughout England And upon this unjust and injurious Act as commonly in like cases it falleth out a new Office was erected and they made Masters of the Kings Forfeitures But at the Parliament holden in the first year of Henry the 8th this Act of the 11th of Henry the 7th is receited made void and repealed and the Reason thereof is yeelded for that by force of the said Act it was manifestly known that many sinister crafty feigned and forged Informations had been pursued against divers of the Kings Subjects to their great damage and wrongful vexation And the ill success hereof and the fearful end of these two Oppressors should deter others from committing the like and should admonish Parliaments That instead of this ordinary and pretious Trial Per Legem Terra they being not in absolute and partial Trials by discretion Thus far Cook Now Sir Inasmuch as this Act allows two Justices of Peace or the chief Magistrate of the place not only to be Witnesses but to pass Sentence of Imprisonment or Fine and make Record of the Offence without any Finding or Presentment by the Judgment of twelve men it being contrary both to the Custome of England Magna Charta and the Statute of Henry the 8th they judge it absolutely nul and of no effect So that those that carry on the execution of it are liable to the same miserable end with Empson and Dudley aforesaid Besides That this Judgment and Record of one or two Justices of the Peace is full two parts of the proceedings whereby 5000. of his poor Neighbours may be Banished from their native Country their dear Wives sweet Babes loving Friends and all other accommodations into another world for seven years yea and if they return before that time expired to be hanged as Felons And all this for nothing but worshipping God according to what they are fully perswaded to be his will Is this according to the so much Celebrated Laws of England Judge O ye Turks and Pagans But suppose we that this Act were as just in every respect as Justice it self and most neccessary to the Weal of the Nation so that at least a third part of the People would be destroyed without it be duly executed as they are likely to be by the execution of it yet it must by no means be executed upon those that are not proved to be guilty of the breach of it Let us see then what is neccessary to be proved against every man or woman that is justly convicted of Breach of this Act. First This Prisoner must be sixteen years of age 2ly He must be a Subject of this Realm 3dly Ae must be present at an Assembly Conventicle or Meeting 4thly Such Assembly Conventicle or Meeting must be held under colour or pretence of some exercise of Religion 5thly He must be present at such Assembly or Meeting under such colour or pretence of some exercise of Religion 6thly That exercise of Religion must be in another manner then is allowed by the Lyturgie or Practice of the Church of England 7thly There must be present at this Assembly five persons over and above those of the same houshold If the Witnesses fail in any one of these Particulars the Indictment is void Now Sir I beseech you Where shall we find Witnesses competent for such Evidence Take for example a Meeting of Quakers for they are most free and open in their Worship who will be so daring as to venture his soul upon it That they meet together under pretence or colour of any exercise of Religion in other manner then is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England or if any should be so bold and mad as to make no Conscience of Swearing any thing that the Judges should bid him Swear Shall you or I be so mad as to believe him or be satisfied in our consciences that it is so For let us consider what knowledge is requisite in such a Witness and then try the Hackney-Witnesses whether they be so qualified First It is necessary that he know every single person against whom he bears Testimony was there present under colour or pretence of Religion But how should he know this except every such person should tell him so But they do constantly aver That they come not together under any pretence or colour As pretence and colour is opposed to intention and reality and therefore are not guilty I beseech you mark the Act doth not say Whosoever shall be present at any exercise of Religion but shall be present under pretence
of Fact is persons meeting under colour and pretence of Religion whereby it plainly appears they intended not to punish those that have no other Intention in their religious Exercises but what appears but such as only pretend Religion for Seditious ends To such indeed where that Seditious mind is discovered and manifest the punishment may be proportionate but for persons that have no other intention in Meeting or at least in whom no other intention can any way be made manifest but to please God and satisfie their own Consciences for them to be punished in this manner is like as if a Parent should banish one of his Children out of his presence and from his table into Jamaica or Barbados to be educated among his Cow-herds and Hog-herds for seven years because he hath a weak stomach and cannot eat the wholsome food of the other Children Therefore it is wholly to be held that either this is not the punishment or that is not the offence for there is no proportion between them Again how can it be imagined the Parliament would forbid all religious Meetings save at the Parish Church because thirty men once came out of such a Meeting to make a Sedition and Tumult Can any man suppose that Insurrections are contrived in a Meeting of eighty or an hundred People of all sorts Men Women and Children Surely no State or Kingdom need fear such Plots Are not Insurrections rather contrived in secret chambers where questionless there are not above five besides those of the houshold why should it not therefore be prohibited for men to come together upon any occasion whatsoever in any number You will say this cannot be for it will destroy Trading and Society But what I pray is not trading for Heaven and religious Society as necessary as civil commerce and wordly Commodities But you will say They may meet at the Parish Church for Religious Society But I have shewed before that many things are to be done in Religion which cannot be done there neither is it permitted if it could And besides Sedition hath been moved and acted at the publick Church witness Scotland in the beginning of the late Wars and Dr. Duck at Magnes A common thing to preach Sedition in the Pulpit Must we therefore be prohibited from meeting at Church and commanded to worship God at home every Family by it self if some persons abuse of a thing could have made it unlawful we should by this time have had nothing lawful The preaching of the Gospel was in the purest times done by some out of envy and yet that did not hinder others from doing it out of good will The Grace of God was by some turned into Lasciviousness yet it taught others to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts c. Those that met Seditiously were therein as offensive to those that meet now peaceably and religiously as they were to the King and Parliament Now Sir upon the whole matter that I may draw to a conclusion Can you believe in your conscience that the Quakers and others that come before you for religious Meetings have seditious Intentions and Contrivances under the pretence of Religion Do you think it possible for any Witness or Judge on Earth to satisfie your sworn conscience that the Exercise of Religion among the Quakers or any other profession among us is not allowed by the Scriptures Lyturgy or Practice of the Church of England Mistake me not I say not that you cannot be satisfied in conscience that some professions do err in some matters of Doctrine or Practice so as that you can neither consent with them nor do as they do But can you take your Oath that they err maliciously Can you venture your Eternal Salvation on it that their exercise of Religion is a sin that deserves to be punished with seven years Banishment Suppose the Witness say they were met together at a private house and prayed together and exhorted one another but did not reade either their Prayers or Exhortations out of a Book called the Lyturgy and the Judge tell you that this is sufficient as to matter of fact can you hereupon pawn your Soul and all your earthly comforts that they are guilty according to the Indictment They shall be banished out of their Country for seven years Will you freely be banished out of Heaven evermore if they be not sufficiently proved guilty They shall be sent to Jamaico or Barbados Will you be sent to Hell if they be not sufficiently proved guilty They shall be separated from their Wives Children Parents Kinsfolk Friends and Neighbours for seven years will you willingly be separated from the presence of the Lord and his holy Angels and Saints for ever if they be not sufficiently proved guilty They shall be damnified in their Trades and in the comfortable enjoyment of their Families and Friends are you willing to be cursed by God in your Trades Families Friends and in whatsoever is dear to you if they be not sufficiently proved guilty They shall be hanged up as Felons if they return without Licence in seven years space can you appeal to God with a good conscience and say before the great and dreadful Judge of Heaven and Earth Lord let me suffer Death and Damnation as a Murderer if these persons be not sufficiently proved guilty Whoever understands the nature of an Oath and Verdict this is the Case between the Jury-man and the Prisoner But you will say Perhaps the Judge will be angry threaten and say My Masters will you make a nose of wax of the Law and suffer the Law to be baffled those that think to deceive the Law the Law will deceive them and perhaps I shall be sent for to the Court and imprisoned in the Gatehouse and so be undone by great Charges and loss of my Trade But such a thing as that would be such Injustice as never was heard of and it cannot be imagined that his Majesty would suffer it It is altogether improbable that any man should suffer in this kind I only suppose the worst that can be supposed and if the worst is to be endured how much more when it shall be only a chiding I ask thee again Whether thou hadst rather incur the displeasure of God or of man Whether thou hadst rather suffer from men in thy Trade Family and Liberty or be cursed by God in them all Whether the Gatehouse or Hell be worse Whether it be not better to trust God with a good conscience than to trust the Devil with a bad one If thou dost believe that God rules the world that he favoureth and blesseth the Righteous and punisheth the Wicked both in this world and that which is to come then keep thy conscience clean doe righteously though thou suffer by it Fear not them that kill the body and have no more that they can do But rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell But why do I use such severe expostulations with you of whose tenderness of conscience I have so great and clear evidence I know you can sooner dye upon the place then bring in any such peaceable person Guilty as well knowing that there is a heavy Wo pronounced against him that shall offend the least of Christ's little ones it were better for him that a Milstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the depth of the Sea I know you do approve of that most prudent counsel of that most Famous Doctor of Law amongst the Jews Gamaliel Act. 5.38 39. Refrain from these men and let them alone for if this Counselor this Work be of men it will come to nought but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found even to fight against God I cannot but much wonder with what conscience two Justices of Peace or one Cheif Magistrate can play the parts of Judge Jury and Witness against these poor men and condemn them for Meetting Seditiously because they meet simply to exercise Religion according to their conscience I appeal to you whether this Oppression doth not call for the Judgments of God upon the whole Nation The Lord give them that are guilty in this kind Repentance and Remission of Sins and deliver you from partaking with them either in their Sin or Punishment I am Your affectionate Christian Friend H. E. THE END