deliver you from the power of the Dogg and work mightily in you that with willing mind you deny all for its sake until the Image of the Beloved be formed in you and you in Him where in Love ye will be accepted and the knowledge of his Mystery manifested in flesh in every measure of it is and will be so far above all the Glory Treasure and Pleasure of the Land of Darkness that it will wholly take the Meditations out of them as if they were not worth the minding no more than drosse or dust yea or whatsoever else may attend or can come upon those that follow the Light as Persecution Distress Affliction Famine Nakedness Perils in the Wilderness in the Sea in the City yea or Death it self I am perswaded that Gods Armour of Light as it is lived in and loved will preserve them And I further testifie in the Fear of the Lord God and witness with a Pen of Trembling That the noise of the Whip on my Back all the Imprisonments and Banishing upon pain of Death and after returning the loud threatning sound of an Halter from their mouths who Jezebel like sate on the Imperious Throne of Iniquity did no more affright me through the strength of the Power of God in me than if they had threatned to have bound a Spiders Web to my Finger which makes me say with unfeigned lips Wait upon the Lord O my soul for ever who hath made known unto me his loving-kindness when I even thirsted for Him and kept my feet upon the Rock whilst the raging Waves of the Sea went over my back whilst for the Truth and Cause of God's People I have been freely offered up and am not at all straightned to be baptized for the dead whether into Death or otherwise following his Example who laid down his Life for his Enemies And herein the Record in Heaven knows I lye not and the Witness in Earth is bearing Witness to me that I yet do not as I have not hitherto seek to withdraw my Cheek from the Smiter nor to turn aside my feet from the footsteps of the Flock as witness this Chain and Log at my Leg but do desire so far as the Lord draws me to follow my sorefathers and Brethren in Suffering and in Joy Wherefore my spirit waits and worships at the feet of Emmanuel unto whom I commit my Cause who may work my bodies deliverance if not yet the Freedom Peace Joy and Patience which in the midst of trouble I have enjoyed and I believe shall continue from Him shall fully satisfie me for which let my soul and all that is within me praise him for ever and ever And I shall continue my Exhortation to you earnestly desiring ye may wait to feel the Love and Life of God flow in your particular Vessels and therein watch over and serve one another and let the Strong and Faithful among you dwell in the Power that he may have a Garment ready to cover the Nakedness of the Weak and if the Tares at any time appear let Wisdom and the Spirit of Meekness be alwayes used to separate the Tares from the Wheat both in the ground and off-spring that the bearer may clearly see it and then if he will not put in his sharpthreshing Instrument to cut them down his blood will be required at his hands and with compassion pour Oyl into the wounds of the wounded and bring them into the house where Salvation is for the hope of Glory in you is come to save that which was lost so the Plant of God will grow the Thorns and Thistles will be cut down and the Ground cleansed that the Course may be no more and if the Weeds should appear again let them still be trodden down and broken off the Root and in time you shall see them dye at the Root and then the Plant of Renown the Stem of the Root of Jesse within its seed and beginning may truly be resembled to the little Mustard-seed which will grow and prosper and be watered with the dew of Heaven which like soft drops of Balm will gently fall on the branches thereof as Patience working unto Perfection waits to enter at the door of Life without climbing one step to satisfie the Lion of greedy desire but let it suffer hunger yea and death also through which you will find entrance into the green and pleasant Pastures of the Folds where you shall feed as the Herd in the low Valeys of Achor the entrance thereof will be a Door of Hope in the day of your greatest need and spiritual hunger when Experience and Hope is added to your Patience And at the Threshold theroof I leave all that hunger and thirst after Righteousness to enjoy the Desire of their Souls Boston-Prison in New-England 1660. William Leddra This was given forth about three months before he suffered and was copyed by W. Coddington of Rhoad Island An EPISTLE of WILLIAM LEDDRA to Friends written by him the day before he was put to Death To the Society of the Little Flock of Christ Grace and Peace be Multiplied Most Dear and inwardly Beloved THe sweet Influences of the Morning-Star like a Flood distilling into my Innocent Habitation hath so filled me with the Joy of the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness that my Spirit is as it it did not Inhabit a Tabernacle of Clay but is wholly swallowed up in the bosome of Eternity from whence it had its being Alas alas What can the Wrath and Spirit of man that lusteth to Envy aggravated by the heat and strength of the King of the Locus which came out of the Pit do unto one that is hid in the Secret Places of the Almighty or unto them that are gathered under the healing wings of the Prince of Peace under whose Armor of Light they shall be able to stand in the day of trial having on the breast-plate of Righteousness and the sword of the Spirit which is their weapon of war against Spiritual wickedness Principalities and Powers and the Rulers of the darkness of this World both within and without Oh my Beloved I have waited as a Dove at the Windows of the Ark and have stood still in that watch which the Master without whom I could do nothing did at his coming reward with fulness of his Love wherein my heart did rejoyce that I might in the Love and Life of God speak a few words to you sealed with the Spirit of Promise that the taste thereof might be a savor of Life to your Life and a Testimony in you of my Innocent Death And if I had been altogether silent and the Lord had not opened my mouth unto you yet he would have opened your hearts and there have sealed my Innocency with the streams of Life by which we are all Baptized into that body which is in God with whom and in whose presence there is Life in which as you abide you stand upon the pillar and ground of Truth
ye are naked and bare and who sees your Hearts and knows the bottom of your Intents against these People and accordingly will Judge you whose Judgements are Just You put them to Death These are your Means your all other Means but these are none of the Means which the Spirit of Truth Prescribes in the Scriptures of the Apostles for the Convincing Gainsayers But Exhortation Reproof Admonition the Word of Truth the Sword of the Spirit and these the Apostles used and with these they warred and they wrestled not with Flesh and Blood but with Principallities and Powers and Spiritual Wickednesses in high Places and in Meekness they Instructed them who Opposed themselves if God Peradventure would give them the Knowledge of the Truth And the Son of God tells ye That he came not to destroy mens Lives but to save And when his Disciples would have Fire come down on the men of Samaria He said Ye know not of what Spirit ye are Now these Means failing or you having failed in the using of these Means or you not knowing how to use these Means or you being not in that which would teach you how to use these Means which are the Means ye should have used and would have directed you thereunto Ye betake your selves to other Means Means that you should not have used Means which the using of them cannot Convince the Heart and Conscience of Man nor Instruct the Ignorant nor bring to the Knowledge of the Truth those that Oppose themselves Nor Overcome Principalities and Powers and Spiritual Wickednesses in high Places Nor Subdue the Spirit though it may bring under the Body and through fear of him that can Kill the Body make to Blaspheme Him who can Kill both Soul and Body and cast both into hell fire which was not the Case of these for they feared not you who did Kill the Body and could go no further but Him who can Kill both Soul and Body and cast into hell fire him they feared And Sanctified him in their hearts and made him their Fear and their Dread and he kept them who trusted in Him because they trusted in Him who never failed them who put their trust in Him And Delivered them and they have obtained a good Report and have finished their course with Joy those whom ye have put to Death and kept the Faith and henceforth is laid up for them a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge will give them in that day and not onely unto them but to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and his appearing I say these Means failing you betake your selves to Other Means to the Means which the World useth as aforesaid to shew that you 〈…〉 of this World which never reacheth the Spirit but the Body and because they cannot reach the Spirit they kill the Body When as the Spirit it is that Offers up the Body and presents it a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is its reasonable service and by which they offered up their Bodies on the Point which ye offered unto them and on the Tree triumphed over ye all and shewed that Greater was he that was in them then he that is of this World and that they could die to do the will of God And that nothing could separate them no not Death it self from the Love of God which is Christ Jesus And so as your all other so this Means of Cruelty viz. Death it self hath failed you in thinking thereby to Overcome the Saints of the most High God or to keep them from the doing of his Will Fourthly The Point ye offered them was without Ground in Law or that the Law allows ye to put For as I have said Valuable Considerations must precede and such as will weigh down that of taking away of a man's Life which the Law esteems a most precious thing Now here is no such produced by you nor are there any such The utmost is that they are such as are called Quakers who are proved to be another manner of People in this Nation than you Reproach and are so with you whom you have not Convicted of one Principle or Practice that is contrary to Godliness Onely the Hat ye stumble at which is their Reasonable Apparel and by the Hat ye Judged them to be such and put them to Death And this was the Point which ye offered and this was it against which ye offered it and in this they came in their reasonable Apparel in the Will of God upon your Point and passed through it Now where Valuable Considerations are not the Ground neither is Law nor Reason For as I have said it is Lawful for any English man to reside come in or be in any of the Dominions appertaining to England and as Natural it is for One as for Another For it is an English man's House and where shall a man be if he shall not be in his House And it is not the Name of a Thing Or the Distinction of Word or Habit put by men that must cut a man off from this his Priviledge which is by Nature Nor should Names of Distinction much less of Reproach be given whereby to raise One Part of a Nation against Another for this Ministers Division and is an Occasion thereof and tends to the Dissolution of Government and is contrary to Law Therefore they who come into a Countrey unto which they have a Natural and Legal Right as these had and any English man hath to come in amongst you and have not done any thing by which by the Law of their Countrey they are justly made uncapable of that Right as these had not for you are in Subordination to England Your Lawes are not to be Repugnant unto it There for such to come reside or to be is no Valuable Consideration or Legal Ground as to his Countrey to be put upon the Point or the Point to be offered unto him and if the Point be offered to such and they come upon it and they be killed therewith such cannot be said to be Fellons de se For the Law will say Quo Warranto On what Ground And the Ground is short as hath been Declared and made to appear Nor Violently or Willfully to rush upon the Point but those who without Law or Ground as to the Law of their Countrey and your Countrey is England shall so offer the Point and run them through who come upon it Such are Ingulatores de se Cutters of their own Throats or Shedders of Blood in their own Wrong your Case in this Particular and the Violence and wilfulness will be attributed unto them by the Law who set the Point not to those that come upon it As of one who sets the Sword where another man may lawsully Pass and he that so Passes is Executed thereupon For he that so cometh cometh upon his Right Lastly Oh ye wretched Hypocrites and Murderers Did ye not put the same Mary
before a Magistrate to give an Account of their business Some of the Quakers in Rhoad Island came to bring them Goods to trade with them and that for far Reasonabler terms than the Professing and Oppressing Merchants of the Country but that will not be suffered So that unless the Lord step in to their help and assistance in some way beyond Man's Conceiving their Case is sad and to be pittied and truly it moves bowels of Compassion in all sorts except those in place who carry with a high hand towards them Through Mercy we have yet among us worthy Mr. Dunstar whom the Lord hath made boldly to bear Testimony against the spirit of Persecution Our Bench now is Tho. Prince Governor Mr. Collier Capt. Willet Capt. Winslow Mr. Alden Lieut. Southworth W. Bradford Tho. Hinckley Mr. Collier last June would not sit on the Bench if I sat there and now will not sit the next Year unless he may have Thirty pounds sit by him Our Court and Deputies last June made Capt. Winslow a Major Surely we are all Mercenary Souldiers that must have a Major imposed upon us Doubtless the next Court they may choose us a Governor and Assistants also A Freeman shall need to do nothing but bear such Burdens as are laid upon him Mr. Alden hath deceived the Expectations of many and indeed lost the Affections of such as I judge were his Cordial Christian Friends who is very active in such wayes as I pray God may not be charged on him to be Oppressions of a high nature Thus far the Letter It was written by James Cudworth in the Tenth Month 1658. What he was as to them the thing mentions what as to Tenderness also in reference to Conscience-Persecution which he could not do he could not persecute for which and for Entertaining some of them a Night or two and giving them Provisions during that time against which there was no Law as aforesaid he was turned out I shall not need much further to particularize only a little I shall mention of the Occasion which was the coming of W. Brend aforesaid on whom you exercised your Noted Cruelty and John Copeland into a Plantation in that Patent called Scituate and being entertained by this friendly man and for the ends therein exprest by himself in the Winter season which you know is very cold and hard to travel in and even Cruelty it self if I may so speak would be gentle to the most inconsiderable the vilest of men in such times as those that they might not perish One came with a Warrant which he had fetcht several Miles in a Cold Night from the said Major VVinslow something was in the matter he was so promoted and with others pulled them out of the House and Sarah Gibbens also whom your Cruelty to her gives me cause to remember not having respect unto the Season that so his will he might have and for that purpose pretermitted the two Magistrates that were in the Town and passed to the said VVinslow for that purpose One of which Magistrates out of Tenderness when he saw the Warrant said Mr. Envy had procured that and in lieu thereof gave the Strangers this Protection in these words These are therefore to any that may interrupt these Two men in their Passage that ye let them passe quietly on their way they offering no wrong to any Timothy Hatherlie And now I am thus come unto Particulars I must lay unto your Charge for through your Example and Encouragement it was that these things were done the further suffering of the Innocent in the Particular as you have heard something of it in the General and that as to Cruel Whippings Scourgings as well as to Fines Imprisonment and Banishment chusing rather to observe the order of time when the things were done than the distinction of Punishments First then These very Two viz. W. Brend and John Copeland whom the said tender Gray-headed Hatherly protected from Wrong instead of doing it as aforesaid coming thorow the Town of Plimmouth in order to their Passage in which they were protected as aforesaid were pursued by Lieut. Southworth and brought before his Fellow-Magistrates who because they could not promise for they waited in the Will of God in which all Promises are to be made that they might know what to do in Forty Eight hours to depart the Colony the weather being also very unseasonable and wet in the Winter season caused them both to be whipt with Rods of Twigs VV. Brend a man of years with Ten Lashes in which Four Rods were broken and John Copeland with Twenty two backwards and forwards on Breast and Back and Arms and that with such Fury that as it drew the Blood on all so it wore out Six Rods in the laying of it on and this without Law and in the bitter wet cold snowy Winter season being the Ninth of the Twelfth Month 1657. and in the Snow and Rain Out of their Coasts in which they would have had them to depart through a Vast Wilderness of Sixty Miles in which were many Rivers where the VVeather was so thick and the VVilderness so close that they could not see their way and because they did not so to the apparent hazard of their Lives as many did confess should they have departed therefore dealt they with them as aforesaid and Thomas VVillet Tho. Southworth and VVill. Collier saw the Execution which so struck on the standers-by that one Edward Perry in the presence of the Magistrates gave Testimony and said That he was there an Eye-witness that day of the Sufferings of the People of the Lord For which Will. Collier called him their Fool No marvel that James Cudworth so wrote as aforesaid of their Cruel VVhippings and that it preached more than a Sermon though it cost Dear those Servants of the Lord. Thus they began and so they proceeded and having none before they now proceed to make Laws after that they have done the Executions This is the Justice and Law of Plimmouth Patent which Mischief makes and Blood acts of which many of the Servants of the Lord have born the smart on their Bodies but you must in your Spirits the Indignation of the Lord if not in Soul and Body too which will on you and them certainly fall and divide you your Portion with Hypocrites and Sinners And the time is near wherein the Lord will do it and fulfil the VVord which he hath spoken by me and Avenge the Blood and Sufferings of his Servants and Plead their Cause and Execute Judgment for them upon You and that in the sight of the Heathen who because of it shall say Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous Verily there is a God that judgeth in the Earth With this they are not satisfied but as Men in a Fire the more they drink the more they thirst for the Fire being stronger than the Drink turns that into its own nature So
into so this is the Scene of this Bloody Tragedy the most Inhumane and cruel that Ever Age knew or preceding Generation Declara Notwithstanding which by a Back Door they found Enterance Answ And Why a Back-Door Was not the way by which they came as much before ye as the Sea from England Is Sixty Miles distance by Land from Rhoad Island the Place from whence they came become further then England One would think that Properly and indeed the Land it is that is before you which ye came to Inhabite and that the Sea it is that is behind you from whence ye came How come ye then to say a Back-door By a Back-door they found Entrance Is it because you mistin your Understandings and so have put the fore for the back and the back for the fore Surely then ye were not wise in your Generation to bind the Sea and leave the Land at Liberty Is it because ye had journeyed far enough from Old Enland the House of Bondage so accounted into New a Land of Liberty and now were returning from the Land of Liberty to the House of Bondage Surely then ye are in a bad state to become Persecutors your selves who fled Persecution Or is it because Rhoad Island is the Place into which ye banish't those that differed from you in Matters of Religion who your selves were not banish't who differed in Religion and so having turned your Backs on their Oppression would not hear their Cry as did Joseph's Brethren when they sold him into Egypt Then Just is the Lord to bring your Condemnation from the Place of those whom ye Opprest Declar. Notwithstanding which say ye by a Back Door they found Entrance Answ And Why not Are ye Lord's Propriators of the Creation May not the Lord of Heaven and Earth send His Messengers among ye without your leave May not an English man come into an English Jurisdiction What Insolency is this and high Obtrusion on the Creator of Heaven and Earth who gave you your beings upon the Nation from whence ye came and in which ye first drew your breath and the Right of Nature from which ye are derived and from whence ye spring Declar. They found Entrance Answ And Why should they not seeing the Lord of all is He that sent them Declar. Notwithstanding Which Answ Notwithstanding What Why the Law prohibiting all Masters of Shipps from bringing in any and themselves from coming in Coming in From whence Why From or by Sea for as for the Land that Door was not Shut the Back-Door as ye call it but the Fore was Notwithstanding which viz. the Law aforesaid say ye by a Back-Door they found Entrance Then how come they to be concerned in a Law which was not fitted for them It was for them that came in at the fore door by Sea and Ship-Masters that brought them who were Prohibited from bringing in any such and themselves from so coming in I say how come they to be concerned in a Law which was not for them and you to inflict upon them the Penalty of a Law which concerned them not might they not come in at the back door it being open when the fore door was shut yea a Greater For so say ye And the Penalty inslicted on themselves proving insufficient to restrain their Impudent and Insolent Obtrusions was encreased by the loss of the Eares of those that offended the second time Answ Insufficient indeed and well might it be and too weak a defence as ye afterward spake of cutting off Ears and therefore proceed from Banishment to Death against Him who made the Earth and the Sea and all that therein is Who giveth unto Man Life and Breath and Moving Whose time being come for the sounding of His Everlasting Gospel to those who sate in Darkness and Region of the shaddow of Death in your Jurisdiction he armed his Messengers against the force of Death and the strength of Darkness with his Eternal Spirit and enabled them to endure what the strength of the One and the Gates of the Other could inflict upon them Whom ye have killed and put to Death whipt and scourged burnt in the hand and cut off their ears and so they bear in their Bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus and the dying of Jesus is made manifest in their mortal flesh that they might not trust in themselves but in him that raised up Jesus from the dead And a Crown of Life they shall receive who loved not their lives unto the death for the sake of Jesus Christ Lastly Insufficient against what Against a few innocent Lambs among Wolves a few simple People Men and Women who came to you not with Swords or with spears but in the Name of the Lord whom the Lord God of Life sent to you through Desarts and Wildernesses and Necessities and Straits and Hunger and Thirst and Cold and Heat and Perils by Sea and Perils by Land and Temptations and Distresses to turn ye unto God Whom ye have Imprisoned and Whipt and burnt and cut off their ears and put to Death That all the righteous Blood shed upon the earth from the blood of Righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias who was slain between the Temple and the Altar may come upon you and verily it shall come on this Generation And the time is at hand yea near to be revealed wherein the Righteous God will render unto you according to your Deeds yea according to your Deeds will he recompence you Fury to his Adversaries Recompence to his Enemies yea to his Adversaries will he repay Recompence And the Lord God will Thunder out of Heaven upon you and the whole Earth shall be filled with his Glory when he shall have thrown ye down from your Seats and Exalted the Humble and Meek Even when he shall have turned to hear the Prayer of the Desolate and help him to Right that hath no Helper and the Poor from him who is too strong for him and the Needy amongst men This shall be written for the Ages to come and the Children that are unborn shall praise the Lord And your Carkasses shall fall upon the Earth and ye shall leave your Name a Curse unto my Chosen saith the Lord. Declar. VVhich proving Insufficient Answ What proving Insufficient Why the Penalty inslicted so saith your Declaration sc And the Penalty inslicted proving Insufficient Answ VVhat was the Penalty and what did ye inflict O Ye shameless Men who make so slight of so heavy Punishments whose Cruel stroaks pierc'd the Air and whose Bloody Draughts the hearts and souls of those who saw it as they did the Bodies of them whose Flesh ye tore and whose Blood ye drew Yet this is insufficient the Penalty inslicted proving Insufficient Never Blood Enough to the spirit of Wickedness when once it lanches out and dips its foot in the Blood of the Innocent So it was and so it hath been with men in your state from
ye would not hear it and so in effect forbad that which he bad him I shall set down the Contents thereof and of Stevenson's Call into your Parts for which ye put him to Death as a Perpetual Record to after Ages of that for which they Suffered and your shame Everlasting For it shall rise up in You a Worm that shall never Die and a Fire that shall never go out The mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it Robinson's Paper to the Court before he was Sentenced to death concerning the Cause of their coming into those Parts for which they were put to Death which the Governor in a great Fury said should not be Read and that the Court would not hear it Which was in these Words ON the Eighth Day of the Eighth Moneth 1659. in the after part of the day in Travelling betwixt Newport in Rhoad Island and Daniel Gold's House with my dear Brother Christopher Holder The Word of the Lord came expresly to me which did fill me immediately with Life and Power and heavenly Love by which he constrained me and commanded me to pass to the Towne of Boston my Life to lay down in His Will for the Accomplishing of His Service that He had there to Perform at the day appointed To which Heavenly Voice I presently yeelded Obedience not questioning the Lord how he would bring the Thing to pass being I was a Child and Obedience was Demanded of me by the Lord who filled me with living Strength and Poner from his Heavenly Presence which at that time did mightily Overshaddow me and my Life at that time did say Amen to what the Lord required of me and had Commanded me to do and willingly was I given up from that time to this day the Will of the Lord to do and perform what ever became of my Body For the Lord had said unto me My Soul shall rest in everlasting Peace and my Life shall enter into Rest for being Obedient to the God of my Life I being a Child and durst not question the Lord in the least but rather willing to lay down my Life than to bring Dishonor to the Lord And as the Lord made me willing dealing gently and kindly with me as a tender Father by a Faithful Child whom he dearly Loves so the Lord did deal with me in Ministring his Life unto me which gave and gives me strength to Perform what the Lord required of me and still as I did and do stand in need he Ministred and Ministreth more Strength and Vertue and Heavenly Power and Wisdom whereby I was and am made Strong in God not fearing what man shall be suffered to do unto me Being filled with Heavenly Courage which is Meekness and Innocency for the Cause is the Lord's that we go in and the Battel is the Lord's and thus saith the Lord of Hosts the Mighty and the Terrible God Not by Strength nor by Might nor by Power of Man but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts I will perform what my mouth hath spoken through my Servants whom I have chosen mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth Friends the God of my Life and the God of the whole Earth did Lay this thing upon me for which I now suffer Bonds near unto death He by his Almighty Power and Everlasting Love constrained me and laid this thing upon me and truly I could not deny the Lord much less Resist the Holy One of Israel Therefore all who are Ignorant of the Motion of the Lordin the Inward Parts be not hasty in Judging in this matter least ye speak evil of the things ye know not For of a Truth the Lord God of Heaven and Earth Commanded me by his Spirit and spake unto me by his Son whom he hath made Heir of all things and in his Life I live and in it I shall Depart this Earthly Tabernacle if unmerciful men be suffered to take it from me And herein I rejoyce that the Lord is with me the Ancient of dayes the Life of the Suffering Seed for which I am freely given up and singly do I stand in the will of God for to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain and truly I have a great desire and will to die herein knowing that the Lord is with me what ever Ignorant men shall be able to say against me for the witness of the Spirit I have received and the Presence of the Lord and his heavenly Life doth accompany me so that I can say in Truth and from an upright heart Blessed be the Lord God of my Life who hath counted me Worthy and called me hereunto to bear my Testimony against ungodly and unrighteous men who seek to take away the Life of the righteous without a Cause as the Rulers of Massachusets Bay do intend if the Lord stop them not from their Intent Oh hear ye Rulers and give ear and listen all ye that have any hand herein to put the Innocent to Death For in the Name and Fear and Dread of the Lord God I here Declare the Cause of my staying here among ye and continuing in the Jurisdiction after there was a Sentence of Banishment upon Death as ye said Pronounced against me without a Just Cause as ye all know that we that were Banished committed nothing worthy of Banishment nor of any Punishment much less Banishment upon Death And now ye Rulers Ye do intend to put me to Death and my Companion unto whom the Word of the Lord God came saying Go to Boston with thy Brother W. Robinson Unto which Command he was obedient who had said unto him he had a great Work for him to do Which thing is now seen and the Lord is now a doing of it and it is in Obedience to the Lord the God of the whole Earth that we continued amongst Ye and that we came to the Town of Boston again in Obedience to the Lord the Creator of Heaven and Earth in whose hand your Breath is And will ye put us to Death for Obeying the Lord the God of the whole Earth Well if ye do this Act and put us to Death Know this and be it known unto you all ye Rulers and People within this Jurisdiction That whosoever hath a hand herein will be Guilty of Innocent Blood And not onely upon your selves will ye bring Innocent Blood but upon the Town and the Inhabitants thereof and every where within your Jurisdiction that had the least hand therein Therefore be instructed ye Rulers of this Land and take Warning betimes and Learn Wisdom before it be hid from your Eyes Written in the Common Goal the 19th of the 8th Month 1659. in Boston By One who feareth the Lord who is by Ignorant People called a Quaker and unto such am I only known by the Name of William Robinson yet a new Name have I received which such know not Marmaduke Stevenson's Paper of his Call to the Work and Service of the Lord.
ye children of Men who are the Workmanship of His hands will ye resist the Lord the Lord God Almighty the Holy One of Israel the Strong and Mighty God who is arising in his Saints and coming forth in His Strength to Scatter His Enemies and to Destroy Pharaoh and all His Hosts and Chariots in the Red Sea after the Seed is come out of Egypt and to turn the pride and haughtiness of men backwards that rises to withstand the Lord Oh consider ye Potsherds who are as unstable as the Waves of the Sea and are as the Wind in His hand which he turneth and causeth to blow which way it pleaseth Him who will confound and destroy you in your Imaginations that you have imagined against Him and His Saints Oh man What art thou that standest to resist the Lord the mighty God of Jacob Did ever any of your Fathers the Persecutors of old prosper Did not the Lord consume them with the breath of His nostrils and with the Word of His mouth Who will tear you to pieces that rise up in Rebellion against Him Consider was it in vain that one said in a certain place That Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft Consider O ye that inhabit the Earth whose dwelling-place is beneath Doth not the Lord behold all your Actions and all your unrighteous Doings Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests are ye combining together are ye joyned together are you in league together as the Rulers and chief Priests were in former ages Consider their Ends and consider what you are doing Are you so blind that you cannot see you are Persecuting the Saints of the most High You who are seeking the Life of the Righteous and that nothing but Blood will satisfie The Lord will give you blood to drink you that thirst for it you shall have enough of it you who spill and drink the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Are not your Brethren gone before you in whose steps ye are treading and the fruits of the Devil you are bringing forth Ye uncircunicised in hearts and ears who do thus resist the Lord of Life As your Fathers did so do ye resist the holy Ghost and the Spirit of Truth which is now appeared in the Saints of the most High who are sent into your borders in love to your Souls and in tender mercy and compassion to the Captive that is within your gates and to the Prisoner Oh why will you strive any longer with the Lord that made you Who is coming in ten thousand of his Saints to render vengeance in flames of sire upon all the ungodly Who hath said Vengeance is mine I will repay it saith the Lord God of hosts Who will recompence into your bosoms the Reward of your doings Oh People and Inhabitants hereof Why will ye die in your sins And whither Christ goes thither you cannot come Oh! Why will ye put the day of the Lord asar off you who hath waited long to be gracious and hath born with you as a man doth with his onely Son that serveth him So hath the Lord spared you And do you thus requite the Lord for his loving kindness to whip to imprison and cut off the Ears of his Servants that are sent unto you Is this your Preaching forth of Christ Are these your good Examples to others Come let us reason together Have you not lost natural affection have you not lost tenderness and compassion Woe is me for thee Oh thou New-England who hast made such a noise among the Nations Is thy Religion come to no more than whipping imprisoning burning in the hand and cutting off Ears and banishing upon death What will be the next Law that thou wilt make Oh New-England against those that thou scornfully callest Quakers terming them the Cursed Sect of the Quakers If they were a Cursed Sect as thou hast termed them it seems they should be so for thee and so die for thee For thou hast made a Law to put them to Death if they come the second time within thy borders But I say the Lord hath blessed the People called in scorn Quakers and they are blessed and shall be blessed for evermore Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests will you proceed no further than putting to Death the Innocent Is thy Praying they Preaching thy many Sacrifices and vain Oblations come to this and will not thy Sacrifices and Prayers and solemn Meetings become Abomination is it not the greatest Abomination that thou committest Dost thou think that this will pacifie the wrath of the Almighty God who is coming forth against thee and will overtake thee and strip thee naked and uncover thee in that day and take all thy Ornaments from thee Oh consider Hast thou forgot although thou wouldest cover the Altar with tears and come before Him with ten thousand of Rams and with a thousand Rivers of Oyl and offer-the Fruit of thy Body for the sin of thy Soul Would it be accepted being offered in that nature wherein thou livest Much more when thou art become so Bloody and so hard-hearted that in stead of covering the Altar with tears dost thou intend to cover it with blood if thou canst Blush and be ashamed hide thy self in the dust for ever because of the presence of the Almighty who is now appeared and is coming to set thy sins in order before thee who will not blot out thy sins nor cover thy Iniquities which are many unless thou speedily repent and forsake thy unrighteousness for thy Destruction hastens apace thou art running headlong to Destruction as the horse rusheth into the Battel so dost thou into Blood How dost thou think to expect any thing from the Lord but a Sore Destruction a Famine and a Plague which is hastening upon thee if thou continue still in Rebellion in Persecuting his Servants This hath the Lord said and this will the Almighty perform upon thee in the day of his righteous Judgements which will overtake all bloody-minded men and blind Persecutors Oh I am full of the Spirit of the Lord and of the Power os him that made me who hath said unto me Fear not man whose breath is in his Nostrils nor the Son of man that must die For the Lord hath said unto me For this end have I called thee and for this cause I have ordained thee Fear them not neither be dismayed at their looks nor be afraid of their threatning words I the Lord that created thee am with thee Therefore fear not what man shall do unto thee for I have made thee as a Wall of Brass whereat the bloody-minded men shall shoot their Arrows but shall not touch thee as to offend thee Therefore the Lord hath said unto me Let not thy heart faint because of what I shall suffer them to do unto thee but let thy hands be strong in the Lord thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel for thy adversaries shall be confounded and the Enemies of the Lord shall be
destroyed in that day Oh ye Hypocrits how can you sing and keep such a noise concerning Religion when your hands are full of blood and your hearts full of Iniquity Wash you make you clean put away the Evil of your doings cease to do Evil learn to do good cleanse your hands you siuners and your hearts you Hypoorites for your Prayers are abomination to me saith the Lord of Hosts your singing is as the howling of a Dog in the Streets such are the Songs you sing in your Temple unto me saith the Lord my Spirit is weary with bearing and my Soul is vexed day after day with your abominations Wo wo to thee thou Bloody Town of Boston and the Rest that are Confederate with Thee and it thou canst not escape Thou who hast shed the blood of the Innocent People called Quakers and Imprisoned and Fined them and taken away their Goods and they have become a Prey unto thee for thee to exercise thy Cruelty upon them and thou boasts in thy wickedness and thinks thou dost God good Service to hang and put to Death the People called Quakers Verily this is the Thoughts and Intents of the hearts of many of you in this New England but especially within thee and within thy Jurisdiction that belongs unto thee Oh thou Town of Boston for these words following did one say in the Governours House whose name is Edward Rawson called Secretary who did Threaten me with these words following on the 18th of the 4. Month 1659 That if I came again after I was sent away or banished he said he would write a Warrant with his own hand to send me to the Gallowes to be hanged Are these your Fruits your corrupt speeches to Threaten the Innocent with your Gallowes to hang them thereon Oh that ever such words should proceed out of a mans mouth to say that he would write a Warrnat with his own hand to send an Innocent Person to the Gallowes to be hanged Well all this we can bear the Lord hath brought forth his Suffering Seed and through Suffering must the Lamb and his Saints overcome and get the Victory and the wicked must be destroyed and such who have been guilty of Blood Was ever the like heard before That men Professing to have so much of the Knowledge of God and Professing to Fear God that such should become so Bloody and become so great Persecutors of a People who are despised of the World but loved of God and the Presence of the Lord is with them whom you Persecute and you must fall before them for the Lord God is with them and among them that are the Sufferers under you The Lord God of Heaven and Earth is now among such which causeth the Heathen to Rage and the People of the Earth to Imagine a Vain Thing For the Lord's Presence and Power in some measure was ever among such as Suffered and were Persecuted for Consoience sake and Suffered with them and in them by the Persecutors of Old in former Ages and Generations as he doth at this day in his Saints and Children for the overthrow of the Powers of Darknesse and Kingdom of the Devil who hath had his Seat in the sons of men for these many Ages and Generations Wherein and whereby the Beast hath made War against the Lamb and His Saints for many Generations But the day doth draw near and hastens apace that the Lamb and the Saints must get the Victory And the Beast and his Followers at that day must be Consumed and Destroyed because of the Presence of the Lord God in his Saints Oh what cruelty is acted now in these dayes That men who Professe God and make such a noise concerning Religion that such should become so hard-hearted to Imprison a Child of Eleven or Twelve Years of Age Was ever the like done among the greatest Tyrants or Bloody-minded-men that are mentioned in the Scriptures Did they ever Imprison a Child that was sent unto them to Warn them of their unrighteousnesse Oh what will become of you Do you think Oh you Heads and Rulers of this Town of Boston who are become so Brutish and so Dark in your Understandings and so unlike Men in your Actions You that cast the Innocent into your Dens Holes Prisons and will not suffer their Friends and Acquaintance to come to visit them not to minister unto them Surely bitter will your Cup be and your Portion will be sad to Surely the sober and tender-hearted cannot but grieve and lament to hear of the Cruelty that is acted by you Oh ye Rulers and chief Priests who are the Beginners of Mischief and the Leaders of them who are the chief Actors of all this Cruelty For well was it spoken by the Prophet The Leaders of this People cause them to Erre and they that are led by them are destroyed for lack of true knowledge Well a little further you shall proceed to fill up the measure of your Iniquities and then shall you have your Reward with the rest of the Uncircumcised For I know it is Blood you thirst after O ye Rulers and chief Priests is it not our Lives ye thirst for come tell us plainly Or have you made this Law of yours only to see if you can make the People called Quakers afraid of you Well however being I am allowed of God I shall tell you plainly that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is now drawing near and coming upon you speedily to try you whether you will exercise your inhumane Law upon us who are now sent among you from the Lord for this very end and purpose I say will you put us to death for only coming into your Jurisdiction or Patent as you call it after we have been once sent away or commanded by you to go out of it Now we say being the Lord God hath commanded us to the contrary Is it meet and just to obey God or man judge ye to obey your bloody Law or to obey God's Righteous Law which He hath writ in our hearts and placed within us which judges and condemns your unrighteous Law that you have made to banish the Righteous Well you that call your selves Christians if you do this bloody Act to shew your selves so unlike men I must tell you plainly for constrained by the Lord God I am to tell you O ye bloody-minded men That if you do put us to death this Action of yours will proceed from the Devil who was a Murderer from the beginning who seeks to destroy mens lives as you do at this day For as it was then so it is now he that is born after the flesh persecuteth him that is born after the Spirit Now you that say you are Christians Come let us reason together concerning this inhumane Law that you have made to put the People called Quakers to death Did ever any true Christians make such Laws as you have made against a People whom you in scorn and derision call
who did let his Friends and Acquaintance come to him and minister to him Now this you hinder and will not suffer any of our Friends nor Acquaintance to come to visit us nor to minister unto us much more when your Cruelty is become so great to imprison such as come many miles to visit us as you have done Mary Dyar who came from Rhoad Island to visit us and to minister to our Necessities if we stood in need Now you do not only hinder any for coming or ministring to us but shut such up in Prison to be kept close Prisoners as remember Joseph's Afflictions whose bowels are opened to such whom you dispitefully use Is this your doing as you would be done by O shameless men Are you without all natural affection What Rule is it you walk by You say that she affirmed That the Light within her is the Rule But I say The Light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the World which condemneth the World for evil deeds and unnatural actions this Light which is the Saints Rule is the Worlds Condemnation this Light was not your Rule for what you have done ye took not counsel at this Light which is the Quakers Rule for this Light which shines in the heart of man beholding all his actions this Light doth condemn all blind Persecutors and Judges such to be worse than they that imprisoned Paul who would suffer him to speak for himself which many times you are so mad you will not suffer the Quakers to speak for themselves but you will call to your Officers to take them away to Prison Again It is written in the Warrant whereby we were committed to Prison that we shall be tryed according to Law We desire no more than to be tried according to Equity Truth and true Judgment to be tried according to the Law of God but your Law you unjust men we deny to be tried by it for you are both our Accusers and Judges which is not according to the Law of God for Equity and Truth judgeth and condemneth all unsound Judgment Unrighteousness Partiality and respecting of Persons Therefore all you Magistrates and Rulers so called stoop to the Witness of God and bow to the Light of Jesus Christ own the Light of the Son of God for until you own and be led by the Light of Jesus Christ which leads into Union with God you cannot judge aright of the things of God So take heed how you do for the Line of true Judgment is stretched over you all with which you are measured weighed and tried in the just Ballance of Truth and according to true Judgment you are found wanting and are found tried and judged by the Spirit of Truth to be too light Therefore be awakened all ye Rulers and Inhabitants of Boston and elsewhere within your Jurisdiction and give over persecuting the Saints of the most high God This is a Warning to you all in New-England who have had a hand in persecuting the Saints and Children of the Lord who are by you in scorn and contempt called Quakers Give over your Cruelty and cease from oppressing the Innocent for the Lord God hath regard unto their Sufferings and the Lord God is risen and arising to plead their Cause against all their Enemies and all their Adversaries must fall before them for the Lord is with them and the shout of a mighty Prince is among the Innocent People called Quakers and this is the day of their Suffering and the day of your Cruelties and Persecution upon them within this New-England but the day of their Deliverance draweth near and the day wherein they shall rejoyce in the Lord the God of their Salvation who is mighty to save and able to deliver them out of the hands and out of the mouthes of Devourers and from the Jaws of the Ungodly and Cruel men who will take Vengeance at that day upon all bloudy-minded men and blind Persecutors And at that day you shall find that the Lord will be too hard for you though you now boast in your Wickedness And thus far I am clear and have cleared my Conscience to you at this time And whether you will hear or forbear I am clear of your Bloud I who am now a Sufferer under you with my Brother and Companion whose Lives are not dear unto us to lay them down as a Witness against such a Bloudy and Unrighteous and hypocritical Generation and this We are ready to seal with our Bloud for the breaking of your Bloudy Law The Sixth Moneth 1659. In the Common Goal in the Bloudy Town of Boston From us who are in scorn called Quakers who are Sufferers under Zions Oppressors William Robinson Marmaduke Stephenson The 28th of the 8th Moneth 1659. ONce more to the general Court assembled in Boston speakes Mary Dyar Even as before my Life is not accepted neither availeth me in comparison of the Lives and Liberty of the Truth and Servants of the living God for whom in the bowels of Love and Meekness I sought you Yet nevertheless with wicked hands have you put two of them to Death which makes me to feel that the mercies of the wicked are cruelty I rather choose to dye than live as from you who are guilty of their innocent blood Therefore seeing my request is hindred I leave you to the Righteous Judge and Father of all Hearts Who with the pure measure of Light He hath given to every man to perfect withal will in His due time let you see whose Servants you are and of whom you have taken Counsel which I desire you to search into But all his Counsel hath been slighted and you would none of His Reproof Read your Portion Prov. 1. 24 to the 32. For verily the night cometh on you apace where in no man can work in which you shall assuredly fall to your own Master In obedience to the Lord whom I serve with my spirit and pitty to your poor souls which you neither know nor pitty I can do no less than once more to warn you to put away the Evil of your Doings and Kisse the Son the Light in you before His Wrath be kindled in you for where it is there is nothing without you can help or deliver you out of His hands at all And if these things be not so then say there hath been no Prophet from the Lord sent amongst you Though we be nothing yet it is His pleasure to bring to nought things that are When I heard your last Order read it was a disturbance to me that was so freely offering up my Life to Him that gave it me and sent me hither so to do Which Obedience being His own Work He gloriously accompanied with His Presence Peace and Love in me in which I rested from labor till by your Order and the People I was so far disturbed that I could not retain any more of the words thereof than that I should return to Prison and there remain