on the other hand pay'd the greatest respect and reverence to them imaginable who was thus become the disgrace of his family for ever and the reproach of all his kindred and express'd his violent and severe resentment both in words and deeds and when after all he saw it impossible to reclaim him he discharg'd him his house threatning to disinherit him Unto this his fathers anger were added the reproaches revilings and enmity of his fathers Domesticks and his ancient Companions both at Court and else where with whom he was Educated and had Convers'd much before and also of the Ecclesiasticks who formerly render'd him all manner of Love and Friendship Unto all which disadvantages Penn oppos'd this one remedy the integrity of his Life as opposite to the ill reports that were scattered abroad of him and the constancy of his mind and body to counterballance that weight of afflictions that surrounded him And by these two properties he brought his affairs to that pass that his father not only receiv'd him into favour again and became as fond of and kind to him as ever he had been disgusted at him comforting and refreshing his afflicted and humbled Son but also in his Will left him heir of all his Riches and Enjoyments encouraging and commending his singular piety and fortitude of mind exhorting him to persist in the same Moreover when the father observ'd what heaps of envy and hatred his Son had drawn upon himself what evils were yet impending upon him and what difficulties he might come to grapple with he when lying upon a bed of sickness and looking for certain death sent to the Duke of York High Admiral who as Penn was by place next to him was in dignity next to the King himself and if he surviv'd his brother would undoubtedly succeed him since destitute of a lawful off-spring he sends I say some of his Friends to this Duke to desire of him in his Name that he would recommend his Son to his brother the King and that he himself would preserve and defend him who had already suffer'd so much from what persecutions and oppressions might attend him and unto which both he and all the train of his Associates were so subject to Which both the Duke and his Royal Brother the King granted him because of his great merits towards his Country tho they could not so defend his Son always as to prevent his Imprisonment at sometimes But it is not here to be omitted that Penn the father lying upon his Death-bed and when drawing near to his last exit which he certainly knew to approach took leave of his Son in these his last words My Son remember to serve God the Omnipotent King so constantly and to prefer the same to the service of Earthly Kings and all things besides Which if ye do and if you and your Friends persevere in your simple and innocent way of preaching and living verily ye shall make an end of all the preachers to the end of the World Which words of the dying old Man do not obscurely insinuate what his opinion was of these Men and how great affection he had for their sect Now as to what was the Wit and Spirit of William Penn the son from his youth what promptness and dexterity of discoursing attended the acuteness of his wit what knowledge of Tongues such as are usual among the Learned and of things what Temper and Conversation of life he was of I had rather the Quakers or any body else should give you an account than I. For I know well how difficult and troublesome it is for any Man to interpose his Judgment of a matter in which the Judgments of other Men are so various But certainly tho my pen were silent of him his own Writings will speak him forth to be the most eminent member of all that Society for while in his Writings he studies to Accommodate all to the capacity and understanding of the Vulgar yet the variety and abundance of things therein contain'd his language and style especially the gravity of words and sentences which when he writes of Theological subjects are connected and intermix'd with whole chains of quotations from the Holy Scriptures do so evidently testify of him that unless one be malitiously envious of the vertue and praise of another he must acknowledge that he is an eloquent and well spoken Author The Quakers fed themselves with so great hopes of him that presently they allow'd him to do the part of a teacher among them and their esteem of him was so great that they did not doubt to call him the perfectest of them all Nor is there any among them who do's not acknowledge that there was always an exact consension and agreement betwixt him and all the rest of the Quakers about all the Articles of their Religion This was singular in him that he always esteem'd more slightly of these things which pertain to the knowledge and speculation of sacred and divine matters and chiefly oppos'd himself to the forcing and constraining Mens Consciences to any Religion or persecuting them upon a religious account than which indeed there can be no greater cruelty and oppression us'd pleading for a toleration and liberty to all Religions so that he would not only have the Quakers tolerated the exercise of their Religion but likewise all Men at least that are accounted Christians to be admitted to places of Authority and trust in the Government not excepting the Socinians with their wanton little tricks nay nor the Papists a people so inveterate against that his Religion and all other Religions different from their own so bloody cruel and thirsty of Christian blood that when they have exerted their utmost and cruellest efforts are yet never satiated And Penn was so sensible of the ill demerits of these Men and so well acquainted with their temper that he us'd to say That the Quakers had reason to fear none so much as the Socinians and Papists who would be last of all in the field against them tho they had vanquish'd all other Religions It seems Penn had a design to shew himself an Abettor of all Religions whatsoever or to encourage that opinion of him which then possess'd every Mans mind that he was deceitful and in his heart a Socinian or as others believ'd that he was a Papist and not only so but a Jesuit The Quakers did not agree with Penn about these Libertine Principles His notions of the Christian faith was that in order to the maintaining of that there was no more necessary than in general to believe the Scriptures and love them as the word of God and believe all the fundamental Articles contain'd in the same By these fundamental Articles a term much in use among Divines he understood such propositions as are expresly and in explicite terms deliver'd in the Scriptures or so evidently attested by them that all Men who are honest and sincere-minded cannot but discern and comprehend the meaning of
of the rending asunder or laceration of Christ's Body in Men for laceration implyeth division or separation of the parts asunder which cannot happen to the life of Christ in men Nor did or do I understand Christ to have Flesh or a Body in the Saints but only in an Allegorical and Figurative sence as when that of Christ which the Faithful perceive in them which they tast and which is to their Souls Meat and Drink whereby they are Spiritually refreshed and nourished is called in Scripture Milk Honey Bread Wine Oyl Fatness and the like all which are Names of a Bodily substance and therefore cannot be applyed to this Mystery but by way of Allegory and that for the defect of proper words P. The same Such a Dogma as this of Keith was entertained by Hereticks and published by Gul. Postellus a Frenchman of which Keith was not ignorant The Annot. Altho in some words and phrases I may seem to agree to these in this Author's esteem or others yet I no-wise agree in sense with them nor have I followed their words but the words and phrases of Scripture which the Hereticks used but wrested to a forraign and contrary sense to the Truth as if by the presence and inhabitation of God and Christ in Men these Men were deifyed and made God and Christ and the same honour were due to them as to God and Christ which never came into my mind yea I always abhorred such sort of Doctrine as not only Heretical but Mad and only proper to Men demented And as concerning Gulielmus Postellus I saw but little of his Writings at any time and what I saw I did not well understand for the obscurity of his stile and diverse things in him did not please me But what I have Writ concerning the Birth or Begetting and Formation of Christ in the Faithful I would not be understood to mean it in the sense of Hereticks but in the sense of Scripture Gal. 4. 19. which speaketh after this manner And in the sence of Augustine and Erasmus who both have Writ If Mary had not conceived Christ in her heart or Soul although she did bear him according to the Flesh she could not have been Saved by him Nor did I ever dream there was such an Union betwixt Christ and the Faithful as to make up one Person as the Soul and Body of Man make up one Man But such an Union I did and do understand betwixt Christ and the Faithful and betwixt God and the Faithful by Christ as is by the sincere Faith and Love of the Faithful begot and wrought in them by the Spirit of God Moreover that I have Writ some things of the Incarnate Word in the Faithful in my Book called The Way Cast Vp. I meant it no otherwise than Allegorically for I never thought that our corruptible flesh which we carry about is the Flesh of the Word but in an Allegorical sence I understand it as Origâ—n and other Ancient Writers by the Flesh of the Word of God Mystically speaking they understood the inward Life and Virtue of Christ which feedeth the Souls of the Faithful as the flesh of a Lamb or Calf feedeth the Bodies and by the like Allegory the same Life of Christ in the Faithful is called Bread but there is a shortness and disparity and that great in all these Similitudes which Life of Christ in the Saints is a certain influence or efflux from the Man Christ or from that fullness of life and Grace in him as he is without the Saints Glorified with the Father in Heaven But this efflux or influence flowing from the Person of Christ without the Saints into the hearts of the Saints too few Christian Teachers do acknowledge They confess indeed that Grace is given us of God for Christ's Merits and so they affirm that the Man Christ is the Moral Cause of the Grace which we have of God which is true But that the Man Christ sendeth down from Heaven the Influences of Grace the Divine Rain and Dew of Grace out of his fullness to few acknowledge for they understand the Grace of Christ to be nothing else than a certain quality after the manner of an accident inherent in the Soul And because it is the very being of an accident to be inherent in its subject therefore they will not own that it comes down from Christ out of Heaven In which I acknowledge I much differ from them in my Perswasion P. 280. Towards the end And these Books he took care to get Printed not in England but in Holland not consulting the Society of his Profâ—ssion nor letting them know it that they might not refuse their Consent The Annot. In this also he doth not well relate the matter of Fact I procured indeed two Books of mine to be Printed in Holland the one called The Way Cast up the other called The Way to the City of God not consulting the English Quakers I not being an Englishman nor living then in England nor the 2d days Weekly Meeting at London but I consulted the Scots Friends where I lived And notwithstanding that some London-Quakers of the Ministry accused both these Books to contain False Doctrine in some Articles yet George Whitehead recommended the first in Print and both George Whitehead and William Pen at a Solemn Meeting of the Ministry held at London about the year 1678. defended it against the gainsaying of Three Ministers of Note among the Quakers diverse beside the Ministry and my self being present tho of late the same two men have risen up against me after a most offensive manner for my standing up to defend the same Heads of Christian Religion contained in these Books and generally confessed by all True Christians against these most ignorant men who opposed them in Pensilvania The which doth plainly demonstrate the great Hypocrise of these two men The Heads of Doctrine were chiefly Three on which these three Ministers above-mentioned accused my Book and me being the Author of it The first was that in my Book I had affirm'd That the same Body of Christ which was Nailed to the Cross and was Crucified and Buried Rose again and afterwards was taken up into Heaven The Second was That it is the Duty of all Christians to Pray to the same Jesus Christ who was then Crucified and to Worship and Adore him and by him our alone Mediator to Worship Adore and Pray unto God the Father The Third was That the most Holy Men in their highest Attainments of Holiness are to approach unto God with Prayer and Thanksgiving by the Mediation of the Man Christ Jesus But these three men above-mention'd who had divers others even of the Ministry who favoured their Errors did openly and boldly in that Solemn Meeting deny these Three Heads of Doctrine above specified and my other Book called The Way to the City of God cited by the Author in this History some of the People called Quakers when I was absent in
Doctrine Religion and way of Living from God himself whom his own Infallible Oracles term The Ancient of Days and from his Word first delivered from Heaven and then committed to Writing by the inspired Men of God which is the only Rule and Ground of all Truth They likewise Appeal to the Ancient Fathers or to the Testimony of those Books that we hold for true unanimously consenting to and asserting the same very things that they with the Holy Scriptures maintain When I say Fathers I speak after our way of speaking not after the manner of the Quakers who admit no such Names But by those called by us Fathers they understand the Writers who lived in the first and second Centuries after Christ For they conceive those who lived nighest to the Times of the Primitive Apostles that compiled the Holy Writings to have deliver'd their Doctrine with more Integrity than those who lived later who the further distant they be from the Times of the Apostles the more is their Sincerity and Integrity to be called in question like Water that the further it runs from its Fountain the more muddy it grows And therefore it is that they pay but little deference to those who lived in the later Ages of the Church freely acknowledging many things to be contain'd in their Writings that are justly to be rejected nor do they ever quote their Testimony except it be very conducive to the establishment of what they advance If therefore at any time others who are unacquainted with their Doctrines and Conversations or possess'd with Prejudice Envy or Hatred against them do at any time go about to brand them with these ignominious and opprobrious Names they if called to give a distinct Account of themselves do assume the Names of Christians Evangelick Apostolick Catholiek Men as if the Doctrine and Religion preached by them were the same as was delivered at first by Christ himself to the Apostles publish'd throughout the whole World by the Ministry of these his Apostles and embrac'd and retain'd by all the Faithful and Godly of all Ages whom Custom has term'd Catholick And upon this Account in all Debates they recur to the Scriptures not declining the Comparison of their Tenets with those of the Ancienter Fathers nay nor those of later times It follows next that unto what I have said I should subjoin some Account of the Sect that these Men so much follow inviting all Christians to do the same Their Sentiments therefore run in this strain That since the Doctrines and Manners of all Christians as also and consequently of those called Protestants likewise have been for so long a time corrupted and perverted it would seem that Apostacy and Defection from the Apostolick Doctrine and Discipline had its first beginnings in the Times of the Apostles themselves and from thenceforth did by degrees increase till it came to its perfect height in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries and from that time forth having confirm'd and harden'd it self through the firm and constant continuance for so many Ages so that no hope of its removal was remaining did so continue till this very Age we now live in Though add they in all this Series of Time there was always one or other in every Century that appear'd and declar'd against this their General Defection but without any Success as also to their own disadvantage and detriment And thus do they imagine of those great Men called by us the Reformers that all their Endeavours for the Restauration of Religion and Purity tended indeed to overthrow the Falshood Lightness and Vanity of Men but not to establish Truth or introduce Gravity of Life and Manners by restoring these Vertues to their Primitive Lustre and Splendor much like unto those that throw down their old Habitation and never think of building up a new one Moreover their Opinion of those who came after the First Reformers is that while they imagin'd to themselves that what they did tended to the advancement of a Reformation it proved diametrically opposite to the same for that in lieu of the Vices and Errors which polluted and defiled the Church that were corrected and rooted out by them they introduced other new ones of their own Invention like Men cleansing a House that cast out the Filth so as to let more come in So that these Men Preach up their Religion for the ancientest as having flourish'd in the first Golden Age of the Church which was afterwards from the very first rise of the Christian Name even unto this our Age miserably mangled and corrupted and in fine quite demolish'd until at length it was retriev'd and restor'd to its Ancient Purity by them being incited and raised up by the Divine Spirit to recover fallen Religion for the Salvation of all Men. Wherefore 't is that in all their Writings this is distinctly treated of having prefix'd as a Title to their Chapters that They as the Servants of Jesus Christ are called and raised up by God for dispensing the Gospel which after so long and dark a Night of Apostacy is now again come to light to be preach'd unto all Nations And thus do they Accuse Condemn and set at nought the Doctrines manner of Worship Rites Ceremonies nay the whole Life and Conversation not only of all these general Christians but of the Protestants who boast so much of their departing from that great Apostacy and cleansing themselves from the Babylonish and Papal Deâ—ilements Unto whom they oppose their Doctrine Worship and way of Life which indeed are such that their Doctrine is for a great part of it new or taken from some Ancient Opinions condemn'd and rejected by the Church which having lain so long dormant are revived anew by them and as to the rest 't is a Medley or Hotch-potch of the several Opinions of Protestants though not radically agreeing with them their Worship is diametrically Opposite to that of ours and their manner of Life so singular that between their Conversation and that not only of Protestants but of all Christians there is as vast a difference as possibly can be And these are the Tenets they have so busily spread abroad both at their first rise and in the further progress of the Sect and all of 'em that are capable either of speaking or writing Publickly do diligently apply themselves in all places to the Explaining Defending and Propagating their Doctrines inveighing and railing against the contrary Opinions of others with as bitter and reviling Expressions as they can invent and such their Accusatory Libels are dispersed abroad into all Countries especially those where they expect to meet with ready Compliants with their Doctrine and Way or at least such as would be fond of new Reformations and Changes in Religion being thus in some measure predisposed to receive and entertain their Advances Having thus spoken in General of the Conditions of these Men I come next to give a more particular Account of their Rise Progress various
in all the Holy Writings that escap'd his Knowledge or Remembrance I have heard some of his Friends say and those not of the Vulgar size but Men of Learning and Knowledge that though the Bible were lost it might be found in the Mouth of George Fox Hence it was that as every one's Perfection and Talent discovers it self in their Discourses and Writings so all the Discourses he ever had to his People and all the Writings left on Record behind him were nothing but a train of several Texts of Scripture sewed and patch'd together Now after he had thus spent so much of his time in studying the Scripture Meditating on Religious Things and seriously weighing the condition and state of his own Soul he could not contain himself within the Bounds of his Trade and Station but began to aspire after higher things and transgressing the limits of his Sphere would needs attempt some nobler Enterprize that might be Serviceable both to himself and others And accordingly not contenting himself with the private use of what he had acquir'd he took occasion oft-times to Discourse of these Matters to his Fellow-Tradesmen and Acquaintance exhorting and admonishing them to be much taken up with these Concerns And in these his frequent Exhortations he was so officious and importunate that he would never give over till at length it came to such a height that neither they would any longer give ear to his severe Discourses nor could he any longer bear with the Contradictions Reproaches and Affronts he met with on that account Which obliged him then to withdraw himself from all manner of Society either Working alone in some hidden corner of his Shop or because even then there was frequently some curious Fellows coming to hear of him what he had to say who since his severe Discourses could never please them were still creating more trouble when he had done with Working he presently forsook the Shop getting up into some Garret or other where being remov'd from all manner of Company he might both be free from the Molestations of others and give Offence to none It happened in the Year of our Lord 1643. that this George Fox being then in the Nineteenth Year of his Age was walking alone in the Fields profoundly Meditating upon the Nature Mind Manners Institutions and Discipline of Mankind of their Societies and Converse one with another but especially bending his thoughts upon the condition and state of Young People considering what Duties were required at their hands what Diligence Care and Circumspection was necessary in one and all of them for leading Lives while here worthy of the Gospel and becoming Men and for obtaining an Everlasting blessed Life when this is come to its Period All which things he seriously and frequently ponder'd in his solitary Breast fervently applying himself to the Throne of Grace that it might please the Almighty God to Teach and Instruct him a Young Man in this state of Humane Affairs furnishing him with the knowledge of his Duty and ability to perform the same upon which there came a Voice from Heaven dictating unto his Spirit that All Mankind was only and altogether Vanity that Children and Young People grew up in Lyes and Vanities as they did in Years those of middle Age advanced still more and more in the same manner of Vices so that when arriv'd at Old Age they were harden'd and confirm'd in the Customary Practice of the same and when they come to be stricken in Years and their Blood and Spirits to fade they lose all Knowledge and Sense becoming again meer Children having extinguish'd that light of their Minds which should then be shining most brightly and giving themselves up to nothing but Doteries and Childish Trifles Death creeping upon them insensibly which Cites all before the Vniversal Judge and Lord of all things Therefore it was his Duty and Interest as being a Young Man to separate himself from that polluted Multitude keeping no Commerce with them but sequestrating himself to a solitary Life far remov'd from all manner of evil This Divine Response did he many times report to his fellows Whether it was really a Voice from Heaven or only the Reasoning of his own Breast I do not say only this is to be remark'd that both this Fox and his first Followers did at their first appearance and for a long time after account all the Motions of their Spirit or Inclinations to Good which they found in themselves upon serious Meditation or upon any new Occasion to be the effect of the Holy Spirit of God working the same within them and whenever they were sensible of this Commotion within them they used to say that a Voice was sent down from God by his Spirit unto them uttering such and such Discourse and to this purpose they usher'd in all their Discourses to the People with a Thus saith the Lord and his Spirit by his own mouth this was that they might seem more nighly to resemble the Holy Prophets and Apostles that were inspired from above by the Divine Spirit and sent by it But of late they abstain from such high-flown Pretences calling what thus comes upon them the Impulse and Motion of their Minds Fox used to tell how that Heavenly Oracle did so effectually recommend it self to his Youthful Spirit that presently he betook himself home not being able to express what he had heard Nay the Image of this Voice was always so before his Eyes not only all that day but all the succeeding Night that he could not go to bed And from that time he obey'd this Heavenly Admonition And though he had always been diligent in Reading and Meditating on the Holy Scriptures and had frequently set times apart for Fasting and Praying unto God yet then being engaged in so difficult and important a Design in complyance to the Divine Will he went about the same Christian Duties with more Application Fervour and Frequency Especially having by Experience learned that there was no means more effectual than these for taming Man's vicious Nature and suppressing his unruly Appetites so enclinable to Humane though hurtful Society and the Corruptions of a polluted World And though before this he had abstain'd sufficiently from Converse with Men yet from that time forth he was more strict in shunning all manner of Humane Conversation being only intent upon the Exercise of his Trade as much as was necessary for purchasing a Livelihood and spending all the rest of his time in Holy and Religious Exercises Nor did he only shun the Company of or meeting with those he knew or suspected to be given up to the Vanities and Lusts of this World but even those that made large shews of Religion and Vertue For he did not deny that there were many who seemed to be very Religious and Devout pretending the Scripture or Word of God for the Rule and Ground both of Faith and Manners but this he complain'd heavily of that there was so many
embrace that Religion which they loath and shun and if they will do neither of these to torment oppress and destroy and not to allow them a being among Men for another thing is if there are some who cease not to be troublesome unto others but are busie to deceive them to speak ill of their Religion and Ordinances to disturb and infest them and to ruine and destroy their Churches and these if they be restrained and corrected which not to do and to tolerate such especially if they be such who suppose this to belong to their own Religion and Church for to overthrow the Religion and Churches amongst which they live were the same thing as knowingly and wittingly to ensnare themselves and to make way for and run headlong into their own voluntary destruction and a great many People in former times in these Kingdoms have felt the smart of such a Persecution and an innumerable Company of the best of Christians have felt the same from those very Persons who had before undergone themselves that severe Tyranny from others but in reference to the manner how this befel the Quakers in these Countries from the initiation of their Religion Ways and Manners and by what right or wrong these Men did afterward so bewail their hard usage we shall take upon us a little more distinctly to set forth For as the Doctrine of these Men was so opposite to the Doctrine of others hence the same was every where charged with divers Accusations and Reproaches as also Calumnies especially by them who as it usually happens followed only vulgar Reports and were in the mean time ignorant of the Doctrine that these Men held And since their manner of Living was so directly opposite to the Custom and Manners of all and more especially in that they appeared very sad both in gate and countenance in the Streets and in Company and that some of them were very nasty in their Habit and all of them silent or of few words and when they spake used many other unusual Expressions and them delivered slowly and by piecemeals and as it were by points and especially if they treated of any serious matters they made use of such sort of Protractions Hesitations and Delays and expressed every word by syllables and did not only not salute Men in the Streets but utterly disused Salutation both in their approaches to and departures from Men by which things being as it were the Ensigns of this Sect they were commonly known hence it was that they were envied and hated of all that had to do with them The Principal thing which drew upon them much Envy and great Calamities was their first Violence and fierce Incursions both in their words and writings against the Doctrine and Faith of others especially of them who were within the Communion of the Publick Church even because of certain names and words that were used by the whole Church and that for a long time which if not literally contained in the Scripture yet did agree in the thing and were consonant to other words and names in the Scriptures but such indeed as seemed to be foolish unto them Another thing was their rashness and boldness in Judging Condemning Sadding and Cursing of all and singular Persons who did not agree with them in their matters and such besides who were unknown had not been heard made no defence and so innocent as to any Injury done them in the doing whereof they were most forward who held the first Rank amongst this Sect of Quakers but besides these there were divers others but of a different condition and who had this Property to have little Wit and to be thoughtful of nothing but furnished with Imprudence and Impudence that began some sort of Discourse in Publick Places where there were most People in a kind of clamorous manner but with a very unpleasing Noise and even stood in the Churches which now the Quakers in general called Steeple-houses by way of Reproach while Divine Service was performed with their Hats on sometimes during the Sermons of the Ministers and Common-Prayers but such as they called Divinations disagreeing with themselves and not knowing what they said and sometimes after they were ended suddenly uttered some uncouth words and without shewing any previous Reasons reprehended the doings of the former yea and detested them as if they were wicked and accurst and thus did they do those things themselves which they had blamed so much in other Men. There were some who in a Mimical and Fool 's Habit and Gesture of Body did as it were either describe the Actions of Men in the open Market-places or deride them or did take upon them to fore-tell the Fate that should attend them These were commonly such as were of meaner Parts and Fortune than the rest and more especially of the Female kind and even they who did these things said they did them by the Instinct of the Holy Ghost and according to the Example of the Prophets and of Christ and his Apostles whom they contended to have been accustomed to have done such things openly in crouds of People in the Temple and other places from whence the Fame thereof might pass into all places and that there never was any Law made in England that did forbid such things thus over and above defending themselves with their Quibbles and also Law-Sophistry to which also others of them even their Leaders added their Consent there were others who neither approved of this Practice nor blamed it But this in process of time they all left and avoided and hence it was that all Persons were not only alienated in their Affections from these Men but also most enraged against them and as often as they durst do any such thing they were assaulted and had violence offered unto them Though they notwithstanding all were by no means deterred from it but did continuedly repeat the same having this their Opinion as a Brazen Wall unto them neither regarding herein the words and deeds of our Saviour Jesus Christ and of those Holy Men that we should beware of Men and should not provoke them but so admit of those things which we may avoid and run our selves into danger Now when the Quakers were brought into Courts of Justice and put upon answering for themselves they would not off with their Hats nor call the Judges by Names suitable to their station which Honours they thought unlawful to bestow upon Men and that it was a Worship that appertained to God alone and when they were asked some things as solemnly descreetly and mildly as might be many of them shifted backwards and forwards and made such Answers as were no ways to the purpose and when thâ—s without any further hearing of the Cause than this they have been often thrust into Prisons the same Persons have slighted and blamed their Judges to their faces as the framers of such Laws whereby they omitted what God and a good Conscience dictated to them or