received at thy Hands thou hast given us to understand And here thou may'st think thou hast made thy self secure and sufficiently barr'd up our Way of Relief against whom tho' thou knew'st we had done nothing contrary to the Law or worthy of Bonds much less of the Bonds and Sufferings we had sustained thou hast proceeded as hath been rehearsed notwithstanding that thou art as are all the Judges of the Nation Intrusted not with a Legislative Power but to Administer Justice and to do Even Law and Execution of Right to all High and Low Rich and Poor without having regard to any Man's Person and art sworn so to do as hath been said And wherein thou dost Contrary art liâ—ble to Punishment as ceasing from being a Judge and becoming a Wrong-doer and an Oppressor which what it is to be many of thy Predecâ—ssors have understood some by Death others by Fine and Imprisonment And of this thou may'st not be Ignorant that to deny a Prisoner any of the Priviledges the Law allows him is to deny him Justice to Try him in an Arbitrary Way to rob him of that Liberty which the Law gives him which is his Inheritance as a Freeman And which to do is in effect To subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of England and to Introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law which is Treason by the Common Law and Treasons by the Common Law are not taken away by the Statutes of 25 Edw. III. 1 H. IV. 1 2. m. See O. St. Johns now Chief Justice of the Common Pleas his Argument against Strafford fol. 65. c. in the Case These things Friend We have laid before thee in all plainness to the End that with the Light of Jesus Christ who lighteth every one that cometh into the World a Measure of which thou hast which sheweth thee Evil and reproveth thee for Sin for which thou must be accountable thou being still and cool may'st consider and see what thou hast done against the Innocent and shame may overtake thee and thou may'st Turn unto the Lord who now calleth thee to Repentance by his Servants whom for witnessing his living Truth in them thou hast Cast into and yet continuest under Cruel Bonds and Sufferings From the Gaol in Lanceston the 14th day of the 5th Month 1656. Edw. Pyot By the foregoing Letter the Reader may Observe how contrary to Law we were made to suffer But the Lord who saw the Integrity of our Hearts to him and knew the Innocency of our Cause was with us in our Sufferings and bore up our Spirits through and made them Easie to us and gave us Opportunities of publishing his Name and Truth amongst the People so that several of the Town came to be Convinced and many were made Loving to us and Friends from many Parts came to visit us There came Two out of Wales who had been Justices of the Peace there Also Judge Hagget's Wife of Bristol came to visit us and she was Convinced and several of her Children and her Husband was very kind and serviceable to Friends and had a great Love to God's People which he retained to his Death Now in Cornwall Devonshire Dorsetshire and Somersetshire Truth began mightily to spread and many were turned to Christ Jesus and his free Teaching for many Friends that came to Visit us were drawn forth to declare the Truth in those Countries which made the Priests and Professors rage and they stirred up the Magistrates to ensnare Friends Then they set up Watches in the Streets and in the High-ways on pretence of taking up all suspicious Persons under which Colour they stopt and took up those Friends that travelled in and through those Countries coming to visit us in Prison which they did that the Friends might not pass up and down in the Lord's Service But that which they thought to have stopt the Truth by was the Means of spreading it so much the more for then Friends were frequently moved to speak to one Constable and t'other Officer and to the Justices they were brought before and this caused the Truth to spread the more amongst them in all their Parishes And when Friends were got among the Watches it would be a Fortnight or three Weeks before they could get out of them again for no sooner had one Constable taken them and carried them before the Justices and they had discharged them but another would take them up and carry them before other Justices Which put the Country to a great deal of needless Trouble and Charges As Thomas Rawlinson was coming up out of the North to visit us a Constable â—o Devonshire took him up and at Night took Twenty Shillings out of his Pocket And after they had thus robbed him he was cast into Exeter-Gaol They cast Henry Pollexfen also into Prison in Devonshire for being a Jesuit who had been a Justice of Peace for the most part of Forty Years before Many Friends were cruelly beaten many times by them Nay some Clothiers that were but going to Mill with their Cloth and other Men about their outward Occasions they took up and Whipt though Men of about Eighty or an hundred Pounds by the Year and not above four or five Miles from their Families The Mayor of Lanceston too was a very Wicked Man for he would take up all he could get and cast them into Prison And he would search substantial grave Women their Petticoats and their Head-cloaths There came a Friend a Young-Man to â—ee us who came not through the Town So I drew up all the Gross Inhuman and Vnchristian Actions of the Mayor for his Carriage was more like an Heathen than a Christian and I gave it the Young Man and bid him Seal it up and go out again the back-way and then come into the Town through the Gates He did so and the Watch took him up and carried him before the Mayor who presently searched his Pockets and found the Letter wherein he saw all his Actions Characterized Which shamed him so that from that time forward he meddled little with the Servants of the Lord. Now from the sense I had of the Snare that was laid and Mischief intended against the Servants of the Lord in setting up those Watches at that time to stop and take up Friends it came upon me to give forth the following Lines as An Exhortation and Warning to the Magistrates ALL ye Powers of the Earth Christ is come to Reign and is among you and ye know him not who doth Enlighten every one of you that are come into the World that ye all through him might believe who is the Light who treads the Wine-press alone without the City whose Feet are upon it Therefore see all and examin with the Light what ye are Ripe for for the Press is ready for you Before Honour is Humility And all you that would have Honour before ye have Humility mark before ye have Humility are ye not as the Heathen are
Bickliff's and at Non-Eaton at a Priest's Widow's House we had a blessed Meeting wherein the everlasting Word of Life was powerfully declared and many settled in it Then Travelling on again through the Countries visiting Friends Meetings as I went in about three Weeks time from my coming out of Prison London I came to London Richard Huberthorn and Robert Withers being with me When we came to Charing-Cross there were Multitudes of People gathered together to see the Burning of the Bowels of some of them that had been the Old King's Judges and had been hanged drawn and quartered We went next Morning to Judge Mallet's Chamber who was putting on his Red Gown to go sit upon some more of the King's Judges He was then very peevish and froward and said I might come another time We went another time to his Chamber and then there was with him Judge Foster who was called the Lord Chief Justice of England With me was one called Esquire Marsh who was one of the Bed-Chamber to the King When we had delivered to the Judges the Charge that was against me and they had read to those Words That I and my Friends were Imbroiling the Nation in Blood c. they struck their Hands on the Table Whereupon I told them 1660. London I was the Man whom that Charge was against but I was as Innocent of any such thing as a new-born Child and had brought it up my self and some of my Friends came up with me without any Guard As yet they had not minded my Hat but now seeing my Hat on they said What did I stand with my Hat on I told them I did not stand so in any Contempt to them Then they commanded one to take it off And when they had called for the Marshal of the King's-Bench they said to him You must take this Man and secure him but you must let him have a Chamber and not put him amongst the Prisoners My Lord said the Marshal I have no Chamber to put him into my House is so full that I cannot tell where to provide a Room for him but amongst the Prisoners Nay said the Judges you must not put him amongst the Prisoners But when he still answered He had no other place to put me in Judge Foster said to me Will you appear to morrow about Ten of the Clock at the King's Bench-Bar in Westminster-Hall I said Yes if the Lord give me Strength Then said Judge Foster to the other Judge If he say Yes and promises it you may take his Word So I was dismissed for that time And next day I appeared at the King's Bench-Bar at the hour appointed Robert Withers King's-Bench-Bar Richard Huberthorn and that Esquire Marsh before named going with me I was brought into the middle of the Court and as soon as I was come in I was moved to look about and turning to the People said Peace be among you and the Power of the Lord sprang over the Court The Charge against me was read openly the People were moderate and the Judges cool and loving and the Lord's Mercy was to them But when they came to that part of it which said That I and my Friends were Imbroiling the Nation in Blood and raising a new War and that I was an Enemy to the King c. they lifted up their hands Then stretching out my Arms I said I am the the Man whom that Charge is against but I am as Innocent as a Child concerning the Charge and have never learned any War-Postures And said I do ye think that if I and my Friends had been such Men as the Charge declares that I would have Brought it up my self against my self Or that I should have beed suffered to come up with only one or two of my Friends with me For had I been such a Man as this Charge sets forth I had need have been guarded up with a Troop or two of Horse But the Sheriff and Magistrate of Lancashire had thought fit to let me and my Friends come up with it our selves almost two hundred Miles without any Guard at all which ye may be sure they would not have done if they had looked upon me to be such a Man Then the Judge asked me Whether it should be Filed or what I would do with it I answered Ye are Judges and able I hope to Judge in this matter therefore do with it what ye will for I am the Man these Charges are against and here ye see I have brought them up my self Do ye what ye will with them I leave it to you Then Judge Twisden beginning to speak some angry Words I appealed to Judge Foster and Judge Mallet who had heard me over-night Whereupon they said They did not accuse me for tney had nothing against me Then stood up he that was called Esquire Marsh who was of the King's Bed-Chamber and told the Judges It was the King's Pleasure that I should be set at Liberty seeing no Accuser came up against me 1660. King's Bench-Bar Then they asked me Whether I would put it to the King and Council I said Yes with a good Will Thereupon they sent the Sheriff's Return which he made to the Writ of Habeas Corpus containing the matter charged against me in the Mittimus to the King that he might see for what I was Committed Now the Return of the Sheriff of Lancaster was thus BY Vertue of his Majesty's Writ to me directed and hereunto annexed I certifie that before the Receipt of the said Writ George Fox in the said Writ mentioned was committed to his Majesties Jail at the Castle of Lancaster in my Custody by a Warrant from Henry Porter Esq one of his Majesty's Justices of Peace within the County Palatine aforesaid bearing Date the Fifth of June now last past for that he the said George Fox was generally suspected to be a common Disturber of the Peace of this Nation an Enemy to our Sovereign Lord the King and a chief Vpholder of the Quakers Sect and that he together with others of his Fanatick Opinion have of late endeavoured to make Insurrections in these parts of the Country and to Imbroil the whole Kingdom in Blood And this is the Cause of his taking and detaining Nevertheless the Body of the said George Fox I have ready before Thomas Mallet Knight one of his Majesty's Justices assigned to hold Pleas before his said Majesty at his Chamber in Sergeants Inn in Fleetstreet to do and receive those things which his Majesties said Justice shall determin concerning him in this behalf as by the aforesaid Writ is required GEORGE CHETHAM Esq Sheriff Upon Perusal of this and Consideration of the whole matter the King being satisfied of my Innocency commanded his Secretary to send an Order to Judge Mallet for my Release which the Secretary did thus IT is his Majesty's Pleasure That you give Order for the Releasing and setting at full Liberty the Person of George Fox late a
And this is the Light which shews the Evil Actions you have all acted the ungodly Deeds you have ungodly Committed and all the ungodly Speeches you have spoken and all your Oaths and cursed Speaking and ungodly Actions Now if you hearken to this Light it will let you see all the Actions that you have done contrary to it and loving it it will turn you from your evil Deeds evil Actions evil Ways evil Words to Christ who is not of the World who is the Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World who testifies against the World that the Deeds thereof are evil And so doth the Light in every Man that he hath received from him testifie against his Works and Deeds that be Evil that they be contrary to the Light which he shall give an Account of at the day of Judgment for every idle Word that is spoken Which Light shall bring every Tongue to Confess yea and every Knee to bow at the Name of Jesus Which Light if you believe in you shall not come into Condemnation but come to Christ who is not of the World to him by whom it was made but if you believe not in the Light this is your Condemnation the Light saith Christ G. F. This Paper passing among them from the Jury to the Justices they presented it to the Judge so that when we were called before the Judge he bid the Clerk give me that Paper and then asked me Whether that Seditious Paper was mine I told him If they would read it up in open Court that I might hear it if it was mine I would own it and stand by it He would have had me to have taken it and looked upon it in my own Hand But I again desired That it might be read that all the Country might hear it and Judge whether there was any Sedition in it or no for if there were I was willing to suffer for it At last the Clerk of the Assize read it with an Audible Voice that all the People might hear it and when he had done I told them It was my Paper and I would own it and so might they too except they would deny the Scripture for was not this Scripture-Language and the Words and Commands of Christ and the Apostle which all true Christians ought to obey Then they let fall that Subject and the Judge fell upon us about our Hats again bidding the Gaoler Take them off which he did and gave them unto us and we put them on again Then we asked the Judge and the Justices What we had lain in Prison for these nine Weeks seeing they now Objâ—cted nothing to us but about our Hats And as for putting off our Hats I told them That was the Honour which God would lay in the Dust though they made so much ado about it the Honour which is of Men and which Men seek one of another and is the mark of Vnbelievers For How can ye believe saith Christ who receive Honour one of another and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only And Christ saith I receive not Honour from Men and all true Christians should be of his Mind Then the Judge began to make a great Speech how he Represented the Lord Protector 's Person and he had made him Lord Chief Justice of England and sent him to come that Circuit c. We desired him then that he would do us Justice for our false Imprisonment which we had suffered Nine Weeks wrongfully But instead of that they brought in an Indictment that they had framed against us such a strange thing and so full of Lies that I thought it had been against some of the Thieves How That we came by Force and Arms and in an hostile manner into the Court who were brought as aforesaid I told them It was all false and still we cried for Justice for our false Imprisonment being taken up in our Journy without Cause by Major Ceely Then this Peter Ceely spake to the Judge and said May it please you My Lord This Man pointing to me went aside with me and told me how serviceable I might be for his Design that he could raise Forty Thousand Men at an Hours warning and involve the Nation into Blood and so bring in King Charles and I would have aided him out of the Country but he would not go And if it please you My Lord I have a Witness to swear it and so he called upon his Witness But the Judge not being forward to Examine the Witness I spake to the Judge and desired That he would be pleased to let my Mittimus be read in the face of the Court and Country in which my Crime was signified for which I was sent to Prison The Judge said It should not be Read I said It ought to be seeing it concerned my Liberty and my Life The Judge said again It shall not be read but I said It ought to be read for if I have done any thing worthy of Death or of Bonds let all the Country know it Then seeing they would not read it I spake to one of my Fellow-Prisoners ' Thou hast a Copy of it Read it up said I. It shall not be read said the Judge Gaoler said he Take him away I 'le see whether He or I shall be Master So I was taken away and a while after called for again And I still cried to have my Mittimus read up for that signified the Cause of my Commitment Wherefore I again spake to the Friend that was my Fellow-Prisoner and bid him Read it up and he did Read it up and the Judge Justices and whole Court were silent for the People were eager to hear it Which is as followeth Peter Ceely Cornwall ss one of the Justices of the Peace of this County To the Keeper of His Highness's Gaol at Lanceston or his Lawful Deputy in that behalf Greeting I Send you here-withal by the Bearers hereof the Bodies of Edward Pyot of Bristol and George Fox of Drayton and Clea in Leicestershire and William Salt of London which they pretend to be the Places of their Habitations who go under the Notion of Quakers and acknowledge themselves to be such who have spread several Papers tending to the disturbance of the Publick Peace and cannot render any Lawful Cause of coming into these Parts being Persons altogether unknown and having no Pass for their Travelling up and down the Country and refusing to give Sureties of their good Behaviour according to the Law in that behalf provided and refuse to take the Oath of Abjuration c. These are therefore in the Name of His Highness the Lord Protector to Will and Command you that when the Bodies of the said Edward Pyot George Fox and William Salt shall be unto you brought you them receive and in His Highness's Prison aforesaid you safely keep them until by due Course of Law they shall be delivered Hereof fail you not as you will Answer
in the Woods and lay there all Night and it being rainy Weather we got under some thick Trees for Shelter and afterwards dried our selves again by the Fire Chester River Next Day we waded through Chester-River a very broad Water and afterwards passing through many bad Boggs lay that Night also in the Woods by a Fire not having gone by reason of Hindrances in the River and Boggs above Thirty Miles that day But on the day following we travelled hard and though we had some troublesom Boggs in our way we rode about Fifty Miles and got safe that Night but very weary to a Friend's House MARY-LAND M les-River one Robert Harwood at Miles-River in Mary-land This was the Eighteenth Day of the Seventh Month and though we were very weary and much dirtied with getting through the Boggs in our Journey yet hearing of a Meeting next day we went to it and from it to John Edmundson's from whence we went three or four Miles by Water to a Meeting on the First-Day following At this Meeting there was a Judge's Wife who had never been at any of our Meetings before and she was reached and said after the Meeting She had rather hear us once than the Priests a thousand times Many others also of the World's People that were there were very well satisfied For the Power of the Lord was eminently with and amongst us blessed for ever be his holy Name We passed from thence about twenty two Miles Kentish Shore and had a Meeting upon the Kentish Shore to which one of the Judges came and a good Meeting it was Then after we had had another good Meeting hard by there at one Henry Wilcock's House where also we had good Service for the Lord we went by Water about twenty Miles to a very large Meeting where were some Hundreds of the World's People and divers of the Chief Rank both English and Indians For there were four Justices of the Peace and the High Sheriff of Delaware and some others from thence and there was an Indian Emperor or Governour and two others of the Chief Men among the Indians With these Indians I had a good Opportunity the Night before the Meeting and I spake to them by an Interpreter and they heard the Truth attentively and were very loving A blessed Meeting this was and of great Service both for Convincing 1672. Mary-land and Establishing in the Truth them that were convinced of it blessed be the Lord who causeth his blessed Truth to spread After the Meeting a Woman came to me whose Husband was one of the Judges of that part of the Country and a Member of the Parliament or Assembly there and told me Her Husband was sick not like to live and desired me to go home with her to see him It was three Miles to her House and I being just come hot out of the Meeting it was hard for me then to go Yet considering the Service I got an Horse and went with her and visited her Husband and spake what the Lord gave me to him And the Man was much refreshed and finely raised up by the Power of the Lord and he afterwards came to our Meetings I went back again to the Friends that Night and next day we departed thence and went about nineteen or twenty Miles to Tredhaven-Creek to John Edmundson's again from whence Tredhaven Creek on the Third of the Eighth Month we went to the General Meeting for all Maryland-Friends This Meeting held five Days together General Meeting the first three Days we had Meetings for Publick Worship to which People of all sorts came the other two days were spent in the Mens and Womens Meetings To those Publick Meetings came many of the World both Protestants of divers sorts and some Papists and amongst these were several Magistrates and their Wives and other Persons of chief Account in the Country and of the common People there were so many besides Friends that they thought there were sometimes a Thousand People at one of those Meetings So that although they had not long before enlarged their Meeting-place and made it as big again as it was before yet it could not contain the People I went by Boat every Day four or five Miles to the Meeting and there were so many Boats at that time passing upon the River that it was almost like the Thames and People said There were never so many Boats seen there together before And as the Concourse of People was very great so that one of the Justices who was there said He never saw so many People together in that Country before so it was a very Heavenly Meeting wherein the Presence of the Lord was gloriously manifested and Friends were thereby sweetly refreshed and the People generally satisfied and many convinced for the blessed Power of the Lord was over all everlasting Praises to his Holy Name for ever After the Publick Meetings were over the Mens and Womens-Meetings began and were held the other two Days for I had something to impart to them which concerned the Glory of God and the Order of the Gospel and the Government of Christ Jesus So when these Meetings were all over we took our Leaves of Friends in those parts whom we left well established in the Truth which is of good Report amongst the People there and great Enquirings there are after it amongst all sorts of People And upon the Tenth Day of the Eighth Month we went from thence about Thirty Miles by Water passing by Cranes-Island and Swan-Island Cranes Island Swan Island Kent Island and Kent-Island in very foul Weather and much Rain whereby our Boat being open we were not only very much wetted but in great danger of being overset Insomuch that some of the World thought we could not have escaped casting away till they saw us come to Shore next morning But blessed be God we were very well And having got a little House and dried our Cloths by the Fire and refreshed our selves a little we betook us to our Boat again and put off from Land sometimes Sailing and sometimes Rowing but having very foul Weather that day too we could not get above twelve Miles forward that Day At Night we got to Land and made us a Fire and some lay by that and some lay by a Fire at an House a little way off Then next Morning pursuing our Journey Great Bay we passed over the great Bay and sailed about Forty Miles that day and making to Shore at Night we lay there some in the Boat and some at an Ale-house by Next morning it being the First-Day of the Week we went Six or Seven Miles to a Friend's House who was a Justice of the Peace where we had a Meeting that Day and this was a little above the Head of the Great Bay So we were almost four Days upon the Water weary with Rowing yet all was very well blessed and praised be the Lord. We went next Day to
into the Court of the King's-Bench and sate there among the Lawyers almost an Hour till the Judges came in When the Judges came in the Sheriff took off my Hat and after a while I was called and the Lord's Presence was with me and his Power I felt was over all I stood and heard the King's Attorney whose Name was Jâ—nes who indeed spake notably on my behalf as did also another Counsellor after him and the Judges who were Three were all very moderate not casting any reflecting Words at me So I stood still in the Power and Spirit of the Lord seeing how the Lord was at Work and the Earth was helping the Woman 1673. London King's-Bench-Bar But when they had done I applied my self to the Chief Justice desiring That I might speak and he said I might Then I related the Cause of our Journey the Manner of our being Taken and Committed and the Time of our Imprisonment until the Sessions with a brief Account of our Trial at the Sessions and what I had offered to the Justices then as a Declaration that I could make or sign instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy When I had done the Chief Justice said I was to be turned over to the King's-Bench and the Sheriff of Worcester to be discharged of me He said also That they would consider farther of it and if they found any Errour in the Record or in the Justices Proceedings I should be set at Liberty So a Tipstaff was called to take me into Custody and he delivered me to the Keeper of the King's Bench who let me go to a Friend's House where I lodged and appoâ—nted to meet me at Edward Man's in Bishopsgate-Street next Day But after this Justice Parker or some other of my Adversaries moved the Court That I might be sent back to Worcester Whereupon another Day was appointed for another Hearing and they had Four Counsels that pleaded against me and there was one George Stroud a Counsellor that pleaded for me and was pleading before I was brought into the Court but they bore him down King's-Bench-Bar and prevailed with the Judges to give Judgment That I should be sent down to Worcester-Sessions Only they told me I might put in Bail to Appear at the Sessions and to be of the good Behaviour in the mean time But I told them I was never in Ill Behaviour in my Life and that they the Four Judges might as well put the Oath to me there as send me to Worcester to be ensnared by the Justices in their putting the Oath to me and then premuniring me who never took Oath in my Life But I told them if I brake my Yea or Nay I was content to suffer the same Penalty which they should that break their Oaths This Alteration of the Judges Minds in my Case proceeded as was thought from some false Informations that my Adversary Justice Parker had given against me For between the times of my former Appearance and this he had spread abroad a very false and malicious Story viz. That there were many substantial men with me out of several parts of the Nation when he took me and that we had a Design or Plot in hand and that Thomas Lower stayed with me in Prison long after he was set at Liberty to carry on our Design This was spoken in the Parliament-House insomuch that if I had not been brought up to London when I was I had been stopped at Worcester and Thomas had been Recommitted with me But although these Lies were easily disproved and laid open to Parker's Shame yet would not the Judges alter their last Sentence but remanded me to Worcester-Jail only this Favour was granted that I might go down my own Way and at my own Leisure provided I would be without fail there by the Assize which was to begin on the Second Day of the Second Month next following So I stayed in and about London till toward the latter End of the First Month 1674 and then went down leisurely for I was not able to abide hasty and hard Travel Worcester and came into Worcester on the last Day of the First Month 1674 being the Day before the Judges came to Town 1674. Worcester Jail On the Second Day of the Second Month I was brought from the Jail to an Inn near the Hall that I might be in Readiness if I should be called But not being called that Day the Jailer came to me at Night and told me I might go home meaning to the Jail Whereupon Gerrard Roberts of London being with me he and I walked down together to the Jail without any Keeper Next Day being brought up again they set a little Boy of about eleven Years old to be my Keeper I came to understand that Justice Parker and the Clark of the Peace had gived Order that I should not be put into the Calendar that so I might not be brought before the Judge Wherefore I got the Judge's Son to move in Court That I might be called And thereupon I was called Worcester Assizes and brought up to the Bar before Judge Turner my old Adversary who had tendered me the Oaths and Premunired me once before at Lancaster After Silence made he asked me What I did desire I answered My Liberty according to Justice He said I lay upon the Oath and asked If I would take it I desired he would hear the Manner of my being Taken and Committed and he being silent I gave him an Account thereof at large as is before set down letting him also know ' That since my Imprisonment I had understood that my Mother who was an Ancient Tender Woman and had desired to see me before she died hearing that I was stopped and imprisoned in my Journey so that I was not likely to come to see her it struck her so that she died soon after which was a very hard thing to me When I had done speaking he again asked me To take the Oaths I told him I could not take any Oath for Conscience-sake and I did believe he and they all knew in their Consciences that it was for Conscience-sake I could not Swear at all But I did declare amongst them what I could say and what I could sign in owning of the King 's Right to the Government and in denying the Pope and his pretended Power and all Plotters Plots and Conspiracies against the Government Some thought the Judge had a mind to have set me at Liberty for he saw they had nothing Justly against me but Parker who Committed me endeavoured to incense him against me telling him That I was a Ring-leader that many of the Nation followed me and he knew not what it might come to with many more envious Words which some that stood near took notice of who also observed that the Judge gave him never a Word in Answer to it However the Judge willing to ease himself referred me and my Case to the Sessions
whom she went but could not obtain what she desired for he said The King could not Release me otherwise than by a Pardon And I was not free to receive a Pardon knowing I had not done Evil. And if I would have been freed by a Pardon I needed not have lain so long for the King was willing to have given me a Pardon long before and told Thomas Moore that I need not scruple being Released by a Pardon for many a Man that was as Innocent as a Child had had a Pardon granted him Yet I could not Consent to have one For I had rather have lain in Prison all my Days than have come out in any way dishonourable to Truth Wherefore I chose to have the Validity of my Indictment Tried before the Judges And thereupon having first had the Opinion of a Counsellor upon it one Thomas Corbet of London whom Richard Davis of Welchpool was well acquainted with and recommended to me an Habeas Corpus was sent down to Worcester to bring me up once more to the King's-Bench-Bar for the Trial of the Errors in my Indictment The Vnder-Sheriff set forward with me on the Fourth Day of the Twelfth Month there being with us in the Coach the Clerk of the Peace and some others The Clerk had been my Enemy all along and now sought to Ensnare me in Discourse but I saw and shunned him He asked me What I would do with the Errors in the Indictment I told him They should be Tried and every Action should Crown it self He quarrelled with me for calling their Ministers Priests I asked him ' If the Law did not call them so Then he asked me What I thought of the Church of England Was there no Christians among them I said They are all called so and there are many tender People amongst them London We came to London on the Eighth of the Twelfth Month and on the Eleventh I was brought before the Four Judges at the King's-Bench King's-Bench-Bar where Counsellor Corbet pleaded my Cause He started a New Plea for he told the Judges That they could not Imprison any Man upon a Premunire Whereupon the Chief Justice Hales said Mr. Corbet You should have come sooner at the beginning of the Term with this Plea He Answered We could not get a Copy of the Return and of the Indictment The Judge replied You should have told us and we would have forced them to have made a Return sooner Then said Judge Wild Mr. Corbet you go upon General Terms and if it be so as you say we have Committed many Errors at the Old Baily and in other Courts Corbet was positive that by Law they could not Imprison upon a Premunire The Judge said There is Summons in the Statute Yes said Corbet but Summons is not Imprisonment for Summons is in Order to a Trial. Well said the Judge We must have time to look in our Books and consult the Statutes So the Hearing was put off till the next Day The next Day they chose rather to let this Plea fall and begin with the Errors of the Indictment and when they came to be opened they were so many and gross that the Judges were all of Opinion That the Indictment was quash'd and void and that I ought to have my Liberty There were that Day several Great Men Lords and others who had the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy tendered unto them in open Court just before my Trial came on and some of my Adversaries moved the Judges that the Oaths might be Tendered again to me telling them I was a dangerous Man to be at Liberty But Judge Hales who was then Chief-Justice of England 1674. King's-Bench-Bar said He had indeed heard some such Reports of me but he had also heard many more good Reports of me and so he and the rest of the Judges ordered me to be freed by Proclamation Thus after I had suffered Imprisonment a Year and almost Two Months for nothing I was fairly set at Liberty upon a Trial of the Errors in my Indictment without receiving any Pardon or coming under any Obligation or Engagement at all and the Lord 's Everlasting Power went over all to his Glory and Praise and to the magnifying of his Name for ever Amen Counsellor Corbet who pleaded for me got great Fame by it for many of the Lawyers came to him and told him He had brought that to Light which had not been known before as to the not Imprisoning upon a Premunire And after the Trial a Judge said to them You have attained a great deal of Honour by Pleading George Fox 's Cause so in Court During the time of my Imprisonment in Worcester notwithstanding my Ilness and Want of Health and my being so often hurried to and fro to London and back again I writ several Books for the Press one whereof was called A Warning to England Another was To the Jews proving by the Prophets that the Messiah is come Another Concerning Inspiration Revelation and Prophecy Another Against all vain Disputes Another For all Bishops and Ministers to trie themselves by the Scriptures Another To such as say We love none but our selves Another Entituled Our Testimony concerning Christ. And another little Book concerning Swearing being the first of those Two that were given to the Parliament Besides these I writ many Papers and Epistles to Friends to Encourage and strengthen them in their Services for God which some who had made Profession of Truth but had given way to a Seducing Spirit and were departed from the Vnity and Fellowship of the Gospel in which Friends stand endeavoured to Discourage them from especially in their diligent and watchful Care for the well-ordering and managing the Affairs of the Church of Christ Which may be read amongst the rest of my Epistles London Now after I was set at Liberty I visited the Friends in London and having for some time been very Weak and not yet well recovered I went down to Kingston for a little Season Kingston But I did not stay long there London but having visited the Friends there I returned to London again and writ a Paper to the Parliament and sent several Books to them And a great Book against Swearing had been delivered to them a little before the Reasonableness whereof had so much Influence upon many of them that it was thought they would have done something towards our Relief therein if they had sate longer I staid in and near London London-Yearly-Meeting until the Yearly Meeting came on to which Friends came up from most Parts of the Nation and some from beyond the Seas and a glorious Meeting we had in the Everlasting Power of God After this Meeting was over the Parliament being also risen who had done nothing for nor against Friends I was Clear of my Service for the Lord at London And having taken my Leave of Friends there and had a Glorious Meeting with some of them
came to visit us and were Convinced Then got up a great Rage among the Professors and Priests against us and they said This People Thou and Thee all Men without Respect and they will not dâ—ff their Hats nor bow the Knee to any Man This made them fret But said they we shall see when the Assize comes whether they will dare to Thou and Thee the Judge and keep on their Hats before him And they expected we should all be hanged at the Assize But all this was little to us for we saw how God would stain the World's Honour and Glory And we were commanded not to seek that Honour nor give it but knew the Honour that came from God only and sought that It was Nine Weeks from the time of our Commitment to the Assizes 1556. Lanceston Assizes And when the Assize came abundance of People came from far and near to hear the Trial of the Quakers There was one Captain Bradden that lay with his Troop of Horse there at that time whose Souldiers and the Sheriff's men guarded us up to the Court through the Multitude of People that filled the Streets and much ado they had to get us through them besides the Doors and Windows were filled with People looking out upon us When we were brought into the Court we stood a pretty while with our Hats on and all was quiet and I was moved to say Peace be amongst you After that Judge Glyn a Welch-man who was then Chief Justice of England said to the Gaoler What be these you have brought here into the Court Prisoners my Lord said he Why do not you put off your Hats said the Judge to us We said nothing Put off your Hats said the Judge again still we said nothing Then said the Judge The Court commands you to put off your Hats Then I spake and said Where did ever any Magistrate King or Judge from Moses to Daniel command any to put off their Hats when they came before them in their Courts either amongst the Jews the People of God or amongst the Heathens And if the Law of England doth command any such thing shew me that Law either Written or Printed Then the Judge grew very Angry and said I do not carry my Law-books on my Back But said I tell me where it is printed in any Statute-book that I may read it Then said the Judge Take him away Praevaricator I 'le ferk him So they tock us away and put us among the Thieves Presâ—ntly after he calls to the Gaoler Bring them up again Come said he where had they Hats from Moses to Daniel Come Answer me I have you fast now said he I replied Thou may'st read in the Third of Daniel that the Three Children were cast into the fiery Furnace by Nebuchadnezzar's Command with their Coats their Hose and their Hats on This plain Instance stopt him so that not having any thing else to say He cried again Take them away Gaoler Accordingly we were taken away and thrust in among the Thieves where we were kept a great while and then without being called again the Sheriff's men and the Troopers made way for us but we were almost spent to get through the Crowd of People Lanceston Prison and so guarded us to the Prison again a Multitude of People following us with whom we had much Discourse and Reasoning at the Gaol We had got some very good Books to set forth our Principles and to Inform People of the Truth which the Judge and Justices hearing of they sent Captain Bradden for them who came into the Gaol to us and violently took our Books from us some out of Edward Pyot's Hands and carried them away so that we never got them again In the Afternoon we were had up again into the Court by the Gaoler and Sheriff's men and Troopers who had a mighty Toil to get us through the Crowd of People When we were in the Court waiting to be called I seeing both the Jury-men and such a Multitude of others Swearing it grieved my Life to see that such as profest Christianity should so openly disobey and break the Command of Christ and the Apostle And I was moved of the Lord God to give forth a Paper against Swearing which I had about me to the Grand and Petty Juries which was as followeth Concerning SWEARING TAKE heed of giving People Oaths to swear for Christ our Lord and Master saith Swear not at all but let your Communications be Yea Yea and Nay Nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil. And if any Man was to suffer Death it must be by the Hand of two or three Witnesses and the Hands of the Witnesses were to be put first upon him to put him to Death And the Apostle James saith My Brethren above all things swear not neither by Heaven nor by Earth nor by any other Oath least ye fall into Condemnation Now you may see those that Swear fall into Condemnation and are out of Christ's and the Apostle's Doctrine Therefore every one of you having a Light from Christ who saith I am the Light of the World and doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World who saith Learn of me whose Doctrine is not to Swear and the Apostle's Doctrine is not to Swear but Let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay in all your Communications for whatsoever is more cometh of Evil So then they that go into more than Yea and Nay go into the Evil and are out of the Doctrine of Christ Now if you say That the Oath was the End of Controversie and Strife they who be in Strife are out of Christ's Doctrine for he is the Covenant of Peace and who be in it are in the Covenant of Peace And the Apostle brings that but as an Example As Men swearing by the greater and The Oath was the end of Controversie and Strife among Men and said Verily Men swear by the greater but God could not find a greater but swears by himself concerning Christ which when he was come taught not to swear at all So such as be in him and follow him cannot but abide in his Doctrine Now if you say They swore under the Law and under the Prophets Christ is the End of the Law and of the Prophets to every one that doth believe for Righteousness sake Now mark If you believe I am the Light of the World which doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World saith Christ by whom it was made now every Man of you that is come into the World being enlightned with a Light that comes from Christ by whom the World was made that all of you through him might believe That is the End for which he doth enlighten you Now if you do believe in the Light as Christ Commands and saith Believe in the Light that you may be Children of Light you believe in Christ and come to learn of him who is the Way to the Father
willing to lay the VVeight thereof upon him and make him sensible thereof also writ an Epistle to him on behalf of us all which was thus and thus directed To John Glyn Chief Justice of England Friend WE are Free-men of England Free-born our Rights and Liberties are according to Law and ought to be defended by it And therefore with thee by whose Hand we have so long and yet do suffâ—r let us a little plainly reason concerning thy Proceedinos against us whether they have been according to Law and agreeable to thy Duty and Office as Chief Minister of the Law or Justice of England And in Meekness and Lowliness abide that the Witness of God in thy Conscience may be heard to speak and judge in this Matter For Thou and We must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad Therefore Friend in Moderation and Soberness Weigh what is herein laid before thee In the Afternoon before we were brought before thee at the Assize at Lanceston thou didst cause divers Scores of our Books to be violently taken from us by Armed Men without due Process of Law which Books being perused to see if any thing in them could have been found to have laid to our Charge who were Innocent Men and them upon our Legal Issue thou hast detained from us to this very day Now our Books are our Goods and our Goods are our Property and our Liberty it is to have and enjoy our Property and of our Liberty and Property the Law is the defence which saith No Free-man shall be disseized of his Free-hold Liberties or free Customs c. nor any way otherwise destroyed Nor we shall not pass upon him but by lawful Judgment of his Peers or by the Law of the Land Magna Charta cap. 29. Now Friend Consider Is not the taking away of a Man's Goods violently by force of Arms as aforesaid contrary to the Law of the Land Is not the Kâ—eping of them so taken away a disseizing him of his Property and a destroying of it and his Liberty yea his very Being so far as the Invading of the Guard the Law sets about him is in order thereunto Calls not the Law this a Destroying of a Man Is there any more than one common Guard or Defence to Property Liberty and Life viz. the Law And can this Guard be broken on the former viz. Property and Liberty and the Latter viz. Life be sure Doth not he that makes an Invasion upon a Man's Property and Liberty which he doth who contrary to Law which is the Guard acts against either make an Invasion upon a Man's Life since that which is the Ground of the One is also of the Other If a Penny or Penny's-worth be taken from a Man contrary to Law may not by the same Rule all a Man hath be taken away If the Bond of the Law be broken upon a Man's Property may it not on the same ground be broken upon his Person And by the same Reason as it is broken on One Man may it not be broken upon all since the Liberty and Property and Beings of all Men under a Government are Relative a Communion of Wealth as the Members in the Body but one Guard and Defence to all the Law One Man cannot be injured therein but it redounds to all Are not such things in order to the Subversion and Dissolution of Government Where there is no Law what is become of Government And of what value is the Law made when the Ministers thereof break it at pleasure upon Mens Properties Liberties and Persons Canst thou Clear thy self of these things as to us To that of God in thy Conscience which is Just do I speak Hast thou acted like a Ministâ—r the Chief Minister of the Law who hast taken our Goods and yet detainest them without so much as going by lawful Warrant grounded upon due Information which in this our Case thou could'st not have for none had perused them whereby to give thee Information Shoulâ—'st thou exercise Violence and Force of Arms on Prisoners Goods in their Prison-Chamber instead of proceeding Orderly and Legally which thy Place calls upon thee above any Man to tender defend and maintain against the other and to preserve entire the Guard of every Man 's Being Liberty Life and Livelyhood Should'st thou whore Duty it is to punish the Wrong-doer do wrong thy self Who ought'st to see the Law be kept and observed break the Law and turn aside the due Administration thereof Surely from Thee considering Thou art Chief Justice of England other things were expected both by Vs and by the People of this Nation And Friend when we were brought before thee and stood upon our Legal Issue and no Accuser or Accusation came in against us as to what we had been wrongfully Imprisoned and in Prison detained for the Space of Nine Weeks shouldest not thou have caused us to have been Acquitted by Proclamation Saith not the Law so Ought'st thou not to have Examined the Cause of our Commitment And there not appearing a lawful Cause ought'st thou not to have discharged us Is it not the Substance of thy Office and Duty To do Justice according so the Law and Custom of England Is not this the End of the Administration of the Law of the General Assizes of the Gaol-Deliveries of the Judges going the Circuits Hâ—st not thou by doing otherwise acted Contrary to all these and to Magna Charta which Cap. 29 saith We shall sell to no Man we shall Deny or Defer to no Man either Justice or Right Hast thou not both Deferred and Denied to us who had been so long oppressed this Justice and Right And when of thee Justice we demanded sayd'st thou not If we would be uncovered thou would'st hear us and do us Justice We shall sell to no Man we shall deny or defer to no Man either Justice or Right saith Magn. Chart. as aforesaid Again We have commanded all our Justices that they shall from henceforth do even Law and Execution of Right to all our Subjects Rich and Poor without having Regard to any Man's Person and without letting to do Right for any Letters or Commandments which may come to them from Vs or from any other or by any other Cause c upon Pain to be at our Will Body Lands and Goods to do therewith as shall please us in case they do contrary saith Stat. 20. Edw. 3. cap. 1. Again Ye shall swear that ye shall do even Law and Execution of Right to all Rich and Poor without having regard to any Person and that ye deny to no Man Common Right by the King 's Letters nor none other Man's nor for none other Cause And in Case any Letter come to you contrary to the Law that ye do nothing by such Letter but Certify the King thereof and go forth to do the Law notwithstanding those Letters
needs no Plea of Liberty of Conscience But the Law have we not offended yet in thy Will hast thou caused and dost thou yet cause us to suffer for our Consciences where the Law requires no such thing and yet for Liberty of Conscience hath all the Blood been spilt and the Miseries of the late Wars undergone and as the Protector saith this Government undertaken to preserve it and a Natural Right he saith it is and he that would have it he saith ought to give it And if it be a natural Right as is undeniable then to attempt to force it or to punish a Man for not doing contrary to it is to act against Nature which as it is unreasonable so it is the same as to offer Violence to a Man's Life And what an Offence that is in the Law thou knowest and how by the Common Law of England all Acts Agreements and Laws that are against Nature are meer Nullities and all the Judges cannot make one Case to be Law that is against Nature But put the Case our standing with our Hats on had been an Offence in Law and we wilfully and in Contempt and not out of Conscience had stood so which we deny as aforesaid yet that is not a ground wherefore we should be denied Justice or to be heard as to the Wrong done to us If ye will not Offend in one Case I will do you Justice in another This is not the Language of the Law or of Justice which distributes to every one their Right Justice to whom Justice is due Punishment to whom Punishment is due A Man who doth Wrong may also have Wrong done to him shall he not have Right wherein he is wronged unless he Right him whom he hath wronged The Law saith not so but the Wrong-doer is to suffer and the Sufferer of Wrong to be righted Is not otherwise to do a Denying a Letting or Stopping of Even Law and Execution of Justice and a bringing under the Penalties aforesaid Mind and Consider And should'st Thou have Accused when no Witness appeared against us as in the particulars of striking Peter Ceely and Dispersing Books as thou said'st against Magistracy and Ministry with which thou didst falsly Accuse one of uâ— saith not the Law The Judge ought not to be the Accuser much less a false Accuser And wast not thou such an one in Affirming That he dispersed Books against Magistracy and Ministry when as the Books were Violently taken out of our Chamber as hath been said undispersed by him or any of us Nor did'st thou make it appear in one particular wherein those Books thou so Violently didst cause to be taken away were against Magistracy or Ministry or gavest one Instance or Reply when he denied what thou charged'st therein and spake to thee to bring forth those Books and make thy Charge appear Is not the Sword of the Magistrate of God to pass upon such Evil-Doing And according to the Administration of the Law ought not Accusations to be by way of Indictment wherein the Offence is to be charged and the Law expressed against which it is Can there be an Issue without an Indictment Or can an Indictment be found before Proof be made of the Offence charged therein And hast not thou herein gone contrary to the Law and the Administration thereof and thy Duty as a Judge What just cause of Offence gave George Fox to thee when upon thy producing a Paper concerning Swearing sent by him as thou said'st to the Grand Jury and requiring him to say Whether it was his Hand-writing he answered Read it up before the Country and when he heard it read if it were his he would own it Is it not equal and according to Law that what a Man is charged with before the Country should be read in the hearing of him and of the Country When a Paper is delivered out of a Man's Hand Alterations may be made in it to his Prejudice which on a suddain looking over it may not presently be discerned but by hearing it read up may be better understood whether any such Alterations have been made therein Could'st thou in Justice have expected or required him otherwise to do Considering also that he was not unsensible how much he had suffered already being Innocent and what Endeavours there were used to cause him further to suffer Was not what he said as aforesaid a plain and single Answer and sufficient in the Law Though as hath been demonstrated contrary to Law thou didst act and to thy Office in being his Accuser therein and producing the Paper against him And in his Liberty it was whether he would have made thee any Answer at all to what thou did'st exhibit or demand out of the due Course of Law for to the Law Answer is to be made not to thy Will Wherefore then wast thou so filled with Rage and Fury upon that his Reply Calmly and in the Fear of the Lord consider Wherefore did'st thou Revile him particularly with the reproachful Names of Juggler and Prevaricator Wherein did he juggle wherein did he prevaricate Wherefore did'st thou use such Threatning Language and such Menacings to him and us saying Thou would'st Ferk us with such like Doth not the Law forbid Reviling and Rage and Fury and Threatning and Menacing of Prisoners Soberly mind Is this to act like a Judge or a Man Is not this Transgression Is not the Sword of the Magistrate of God to pass on this as Evil-doing which the righteous Law condemns and the Higher Power is against which judgeth for God Take heed what ye do for ye judge not for Man but for the Lord who is with you in the Judgment Wherefore now let the Fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it For there is no Iniquity with the Lord our God nor Respect of Persons nor taking of Gifts said Jehoshaphat to the Judges of Judah Pride and Fury and Passion and Rage and Reviling and Threatning is not the Lord's It and the Principle out of which it springs is for Judgment and must come under the Sword of the Magistrate of God and it is of an ill Savour especially such an Expression as to threaten to Ferk us Is not such a Saying more becoming a Pedant or Schoolmaster with his Rod or Ferula in his Hand than Thee who art the Chief Justice of the Nation who sittest in the highest Seat of Judgment who oughtest to give a good Example and so to Judge that others may hear and fear Weigh it soberly and Consider Doth not threatning Language demonstrate an Inequality and Partiality in him who sits as Judge Is it not a Deterring of a Prisoner from standing to and pleading the Innocency of his Cause Provides not the Law against it Saith it not That Irons and all other Bonds shall be taken from the Prisoner that he may plead without Amazement and with such freedom of Spirit as if he were not a Prisoner But when he who is
brought them in again and threatned them and charged them To speak no more in that Name Was not this to stop the Truth from spreading in that Time And had not the Priests an hand in these things with the Magistrates and in examining Stephen when he was stoned to Death Was not the Council gathered together against Jesus Christ to put him to Death and had not the Chief Priests an hand in it When they go to persecute the Just and crucify the Just do they not then neglect Judgment and Mercy and Justice and the weighty Matters of the Law which is just Was not the Apostle Paul tossed up and down by the Priests and the Rulers and Prisoned And was not John Baptist cast into Prison 1657. Scotland Edenborough Are not ye doing the same Work shewing what Spirit ye are of Now do not ye shew the End of your Profession the End of your Prayers the End of your Religion and the End of your Teaching who are now come to banish the Truth and him that is come to declare it unto you Doth not this shew that ye be but in the Words out of the Life of the Prophets Christ and his Apostles for they did not use such Practice as to banish any How do ye receive Strangers which is a Command of God among the Prophets Christ and the Apostles some by that means have entertained Angels at unawares but ye banish one that comes to Visit the Seed of God and is not chargeable to any of you Will not all that fear God look upon this to be Spight and Wickedness against the Truth How are ye like to love Eemies that banish your Friend How are ye like to do Good to them that hate you when ye do Evil to them that love you How are ye like to heap Coals of Fire on their Heads that hate you and to Overcome Evil with Good when ye banish thus Do ye not manifest to all that are in the Truth that ye have not the Christian Spirit How did ye do Justice to me when ye could not convict me of any Evil yet banish me This shews that Truth is banished out of your Hearts and ye have taken part against the Truth with Evil-doers and the wicked envious Priests and Stoners Strikers and Mockers in the Streets with these ye that banish have taken part whereas ye should have been a Terror to these and a Praise to them that do well and Succourers of them that be in the Truth then might ye have been a Blessing to the Nation and not have banished him that was moved of the Lord to visit the Seed of God and thereby have brought your Names upon Record and made them to stink in Ages to come among them that fear God Were not the Magistrates stirred up in former Ages to persecute or banish by the corrupt Priests and did not the corrupt Priests stir up the rude Multitude against the Just in other Ages Therefore are your Streets like Sodom and Gomorrha Did not the Jews and the Priests make the Gentiles Minds envious against the Apostles And who were they that would not have the Prophet Amos to prophesie at the King's Chappel but bad him fly his way And when Jeremiah was put in the Prison in the Dungeon and in the Stocks had not the Priests an Hand with the Princes in doing it Now see all that were in this Work of banishing prisoning persecuting Whether they were not all out of the Life of Christ the Prophets and Apostles To the Witness of God in you all I speak Consider Whether or no they were not always the blind Magistrates which turned their Sword always backward that knew not their Friends from their Foes and so hit their Friends Such Magistrates were deceived by Flattery G. F. When this was delivered and read amongst them some of them as I heard were troubled at what they had done being made sensible that they would not be so served themselves But it was not long 1657. Scotland Edenborough Council before they that banished me were banished themselves or glad to get away who would not do good in the Day when they had Power nor suffer others that would After I had spent some time among Friends at Edenborough and thereabouts Heads I passed from thence to Heads again where Friends had been in great Sufferings for the Presbyterian Priests had Excommunicated them and given Charge That none should Buy or Sell with them nor Eat nor Drink with them So they could neither Sell their Commodities nor Buy what they wanted which made it go very hard with some of them for if they had bought Bread or other Victuals of any of their Neighbours the Priests threatned them so with Curses that they would run and fetch it from them again But Colonel Ashfield being a Justice of Peace in that Country put a stop to the Priests Proceedings This Colonel Ashfield was afterwards convinced himself and had a Meeting settled at his House and declared the Truth and lived and died in it After I had visited Friends at Heads and there-aways and had encouraged them in the Lord Glascow I went to Glascow where a Meeting was appointed but not One of the Town came to it As I went into the City the Guard at the Gates had me up before the Governour who was a moderate Man and a gread deal of Discourse I had with him but he was too light to receive the Truth yet he set me at Liberty and so I passed to the Meeting But seeing none of the Town 's People came to the Meeting we declared Truth through the Town and so passed away and visited Friends in their Meetings thereabouts Badcow and then returned towards Badcow Several Friends went and declared Truth in their Steeple-houses and the Lod's Power was with them And one time as I was going with William Osburn to his House there lay a Company of rude Fellows by the Way-side who had hid themselves under the Hedges and in Bushes and I spying them asked him What they were Oh said he they are Thieves Now Robert Widders being moved to go to speak to a Priest was left behind intending to come after So I said to William Osburn I will stay here in this Valley and do thou go look after Robert Widders But he was unwilling to go being afraid to leave me there alone because of those Fellows till I told him ' I feared them not Then I called to them asking them What they lay lurking there for and I bid them Come up to me but they were loth to come up I charged them to come up to me or else it might be worse with them Then they came trembling to me for the Dread of the Lord had struck them I admonished them to be honest and directed them to the Light of Christ in their Hearts that by it they might see what an Evil it was to follow after Theft and Robbery and the Power
another Meeting we had on the Ninth wherein the Glory of the Lord shined over all blessed and magnified be his Holy Name for ever From hence we intended to go to Anamessy and on the Twelfth Day of the Twelfth Month we set forward in our Boat And travelling by Night as well as by Day in the Night we run our Boat on Ground in a Creek near Manaco-River Manaco River There we were fain to stay till Morning that the Tide came and lifted her off again And in the mean time sitting in an open Boat and the Weather being bitter-cold some had like to have lost the Vse of their Hands they were so frozen and benummed with Cold. But in the Morning when the Tide had set our Boat a-float again we got to Land and made us a good Fire at which we warmed our selves well and then went to our Boat again and passed on about ten miles further to a Friend's House where next day we had a very precious Meeting at which some of the Chief of the Place were I went after the Meeting to a Friend's House about four miles off Anamessy River at the Head of Anamessy-River where on the Day following the Judge of the Country and a Justice with him came to me and were very loving and much satisfied with Friend's Order The next Day we had a large Meeting at the Justice's House but it was in his Barn for his House could not hold the Company There were several of the Great Folks of that Country and among the rest there was an Opposer but all was preserved quiet and well and a precious Meeting it was and the People were much taken and affected with the Truth blessed be the Lord. We went next Day to see one Capt. Colburn who was also a Justice of the Peace and there we had some Service Then returning again we had a very glorious Meeting at the same Justice's where we met before and there were many People of Account in the World Magistrates Officers and others at it It was a large Meeting and the Power of the Lord was much felt so that the People were generally well satisfied and taken with the Truth and there being several both Merchants and Masters of Ships from New-England the Truth was spread abroad blessed be the Lord A Day or two after departing from this place we travelled about sixteen miles through the Woods and Bogs heading Anamessy-River and Amoroca-River Amoroca River Manaoke part of which last we went over in a Canooe and came to Manaoke to a Friendly Woman's House where on the Twenty fourth of the Twelfth Month we had a large Meeting in a Barn and the Lord's living Presence was with us and among the People blessed be his Holy Name for ever-more Friends had never had a Meeting in those Parts before 1673. Mary-land Wicocomaco-River After this Meeting we passed over the River Wicocomaco and through many bad and watry Swamps and Marish Way and came to James Jones a Friend who was a Justice of the Peace where we had a large and very glorious Meeting praised be the Lord God Then passing over the Water in a Boat we took Horse and travelled about Twenty four Miles through Woods and troublesom Swamps and came to another Justice's House where we had a very large Meeting much People of the World being at it and many of Considerable Account amongst them and the living Presence of the Lord was amongst us praised for ever be his holy Name This was on the Third Day of the First Month 1672 3. And on the Fifth Day of the same we had another living and heavenly Meeting at which divers of the Justices with their Wives and many others of the World's People were amongst whom we had very good Service for the Lord blessed be his Holy Name At this Meeting was a Woman that lived at Anamessy who had been many Years in Trouble of Mind and sometimes would sit moping near two Months together and hardly speak or mind any thing When I heard of her I was moved of the Lord to go to her and tell her ' That Salvation was come to her House And after I had spoken the Word of Life to her and intreated the Lord for her she mended and went up and down with us to Meetings and is since well blessed be the Lord Being now clear of these parts we left Anamessy on the Seventh Day of the First Month and passing by Water about Fifty Miles came to a Friendly Woman's House at Hunger-River Hunger River We had very rough Weather in our Passage to this Place and were in great Danger for the Boat had like to have been turned over and I lost both my Hat and Cap yet we recovered them again with much ado and through the good Providence of God got safe thither praised be his Name At this place we had a Meeting where we had never any before and amongst the People that were at it there were two Papists a Man and a Woman the Man was very tender and the Woman confessed to the Truth This Meeting was not so large as it would have been if many who intended to have been at it could have got to it but the Weather was so foul and the Water by reason of high Winds so rough that it was not safe to pass upon it I had no Friend now with me but Robert Widders the rest having dispersed themselves into several parts of the Country in the Service of Truth So soon as the Wind would permit we passed from hence about Forty Miles by Water rowing most part of the way and came to the Head of little Choptanck-River to Dr. Winsmore's Choptanck River who was a Justice of Peace and lately convinced Here we met with some Friends with whom we staid a while and then went on by Land and Water and had a large Meeting abroad for the House we were at could not receive the People There were divers of the Magistrates and their Wives at this Meeting and a good Meeting it was blessed be the Lord who is making his Name known in that Wilderness-Country We went back from thence to a Friend's House whose Name is William Stephen's where we met with those other Friends that had been travelling in other parts and were much refreshed in the Lord together when we imparted to each other the good Success we had had in the Lord's Work 1673. Mary-land and the Prosperity and spreading of Truth in the places where we travelled John Cartwright and another Friend had been at Virginia where were great Desires in People after the Truth and being now returned they staid but a little with us here and then set forward for Barbados But before we left this place we had a very glorious Meeting here at which were very many of the World's People and some of the Chief of them For there was the Judge of that Country and three Justices of the Peace