Given forth by him a little before he was put to Death and after he had received his Sentence IN the beginning of the Year 1655. I was at the Plough in the East Parts of York-shire in Old England near the Place where my Outward being was and as I walked after the Plough I was filled with the Love and the Presence of the Living God which did Ravish my Heart when I felt it for it did increase and abound in me like a Living Stream so did the Love and Life of God run thorow me like Precious Oyntment giving a pleasant Smell which made me to stand still and as I stood a little still with my heart and mind stayed on the Lord the Word of the Lord came to me in a still small Voice which I did hear perfectly saying to me in the secret of my Heart and Conscience I have Ordained Thee a Prophet unto the Nations And at the hearing of the Word of the Lord I was put to a stand being that I was but a Child for such a Weighty Matter So at the time appointed Barbados was set before me unto which I was required of the Lord to Go and leave my dear and loving Wife and tender Children for the Lord said unto me immediately by his Spirit That He would be as a Husband to my Wise and as a Father to my Children and they should not want in my absence for He would provide for them when I was gone And I believed that the Lord would perform what He had spoken because I was made willing to give up my self to his Work and Service to leave All and follow Him whose Presence and Life is with me where I rest in Peace and Quietness of Spirit with my dear Brother under the shadow of His Wings who hath made us willing to lay down Our Lives for his Own Name sake if Unmerciful Men be suffered to take them from us and if they do We know We shall have Peace and Rest with the Lord for ever in His Holy Habitation when they shall have Torment night and day So in Obedience to the Living God I made preparation to pass to Barbados in the Fourth Moneth 1658. So after some time I had been on the said Island in the Service of God I heard that New-England had made a Law to put the Servants of the Living God to Death if they returned after they were sentenc'd away which did come near me at that time and as I considered the Thing and pondered it in my Heart immediately came the Word of the Lord unto me saying Thou knowest not but that Thou mayest go thither But I kept this Word in my Heart and did not declare it to any until the time Appointed So after that a Vessel was made ready for Rhoad Island which I passed in So after a little time that I had been there visiting the Seed which the Lord hath blessed the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go to Boston with thy Brother William Robinson And at His Command I was obedient and gave up my self to do His Will that so His Work and Service may be accomplished For He had said unto me that He had a Great Work for me to do which is now come to passe And for yeelding Obedience to and Obeying the Voice and Command of the Everliving God which created Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of Waters Do I with my dear Brother suffer Outward Bonds near unto Death And this is given forth to be upon Record that all People may know who hear it That We came not in our Own Wills but in the Will of God Written in Boston-Prison in the 8th Month 1659. Given forth by me who am known to men by the Name of Marmaduke Stevenson But have a New Name given me which the World knows not of written in the Book of Life Thus they and thus you but as for Mary Dyar when she had parted joyfully with her Friends between whom she came hand in hand joyfully to the Place of Execution though your Marshal Michaelson was troubled thereat and asked Whether she was not ashamed to walk hand in hand between two young men not knowing her Joy in the Lord To whom she answered It is the greatest Joy and Hour I can enjoy in this World With these words No Eye can see No Ear can hear No Tongue can speak No Heart can understand the sweet Incomes and Refreshings of the Spirit of the Lord which now I enjoy I say after she had parted joyfully with her Friends at the Foot of the Ladder determined to dye and saw her Two Friends dead and hanging so before her and had her Arms and Legs tied and the Halier about her Neck and her Face covered with a Handkerchief which your Priest Wilson lent the Hangman for her Execution and was even with the Lord in Joy and Peace and so as it were out of the Body an Order came from You for her Reprieve upon the Petition of her Son unknown to her which being read and the Halter taken off her Neck and she loosened she was desired to come down which she not answering because she staid to wait on the Lord to know his Pleasure in so sudden a Change she having given up her self to dye as aforesaid and being so near to it the People cryed for her Death they were against Pull her down nor could she Prevail with them to stay a little so earnest were they whilst she might consider and know of the Lord what to do but Ladder and she they were pulling down together In which they were stopt and your Chief Marshal and others took her down by her two Arms and had her to Prison From whence she wrote to you when she understood upon what Account she was Reprieved Denying your Reprieve and the Ground of it and the next Morning tendred her Life again for the Abrogating of your Law but she was not suffered for some came presently and took her forcibly in their Arms and put her on Hourseback and with four Horses besides Men conveyed her away Fifteen Miles towards Rhoad Island and then left her with a Horse and Man to be conveyed the rest which she soon sent back when she saw she might do it freely and as of the Lord for she was sensible how that her sudden Reprieve had served your End in turning the People to you who were turning from you in the Death of the Other which was in your Bottom but the Lord otherwise ordered it afterwards in suffering you to put her to Death after a Reprieve and such a One as this and after such a manner and when she was so near the Execution and as to her self even Out of the Body in the Joy of the Lord of which I shall speak more anon and of your Cruelty therefore He suffered this to be and gave her Liberty to go from those parts to Newport in Rhoad Island from whence she came
Prohibiting all Masters of ships to bring in of your Brethren among you who were not prohibited your selves and themselves from coming in on such a Penalty Which leads me to the next Particular viz. The Sufferings by this your Law And accordingly say you a Law was made and Published Answ This Law is put as the Port or Entrance into this Scene of Blood and Cruel Sufferings and the very Publication of it Enters it and shews the Spirit by which it was made and the Ground on which it went and poor Nicholas Upshall a VVeakly Old Man of your Town of Boston bore the Brunt of it For he hearing it proclaimed and being grieved at the heart for your sakes and the Countries that such a thing should be done which he looked upon as a sad fore-runner of some heavy Judgement gave his Dissent Which ye took so ill at his hands that though he was a Member of your Church and of good Repute among you for a man of a sober and unblamable Conversation and though in much tenderness and love he spake to you the next day when ye had him before you desiring you to take heed lest ye should be found fighters against God and some sudden Judgement follow it on the Land which was the Counsel which wise Gamaliel gave the chief Priests and Pharisees and which they received at his hands and it would have been your Wisdom so to have done Yet you fined him twenty pounds which ye Enacted I 'le not bate him one groat said your cruel Governour John Endicot and three pounds more by another Court for not coming to your Meetings and this after he was Imprisoned and into Prison ye cast him and banish him ye did out of your Jurisdiction allowing him but One Moneths space of which the time of his Imprisonment was part for his Remove neither regarding his old years who had scarce a Tooth in his head to eat his meat and bread and cheese and other Sustenance was scraped into a spoon when he received it nor the weakness of his Body nor the state of his aged Wife and Children which were amongst ye nor the season of the year it being in the beginning of Winter which with you is very cold and he might have perished therein as some have done in passing but from Town to Town though but of Three Miles distance but Out he must go and when he was departed into Plimmouth Patent Jurisdiction which was the next adjacent the Governour thereof One Bradford since dead to help on the matter hearing of his coming for after your Pipe danced that Plantation as will appear by and by in the Cruelties that Ensue which they inflicted on the Innocent issued forth a Warrant that none of Sandwitch whereunto he was come should Entertain the poor Man which not Availing for their hearts were more tender then to cast him Out such an Aged Man in time of VVinter he sent for him to Plimmouth by a special Warrant which was Twenty Miles distant but he not being able to go and writing to him that if he perished his Blood would be required at his hands through the Moderation of some of the then Magistrates he was permitted to stay till the Spring but then was he banished thence who there had done nothing but came into their Jurisdiction for a little shelter in the VVinter Season to Rhoad Island and this so earnestly prest in the early time of the year that he was like to have been cast away in his going thither A Piece of Cruelty able to soften a heart of Flint and Draw it into teares at the sence thereof and which drew such Compassion from a Sagamore or Indian Prince That he told the Old man if he would live with him he would make him a warm house calling him Friend and further he said VVhat a God have the English who deals so with one another about the VVorship of their God Or words to that purpose But from you it drew no Relentings but the spirit of Iniquity having got over you it hardned ye the more by how much the more you were Exercised therein yea upon this very Old Man as in its place I shall shew and by and by make manifest Even the Sea-Monsters draw forth their Breast and give suck to their Young but the Daughter of my People is become Cruel like the Ostrich in the VVilderness Thus Entred as I have said this Scene of Blood and what follows answers unto it For the Eight aforesaid viz. Christopher Holder Thomas Thirstone John Copeland VVilliam Brend Mary Prince Dorothy VVaugh Sarah Gibbens and Mary VVeatherhead who were Committed before this Law was made and kept close Prifoners for the space of about Eleven Weeks the very Day that Nicholas was cast into Prison as aforesaid were they by vertue of this Law conveyed on board a Ship the Ship they came in and sent for England and Nicholas came into their Room Which Prison ye have supplied with the bodies of the Saints and Servants of Jesus for the most part ever since scarce One taken Out but some One or other put into his Rome of which in its Place But how came Nicholas Upshall to be concerned in a Law for Strangers who was an Inhabitant In a Law for Quakers so called who was a Member of your Church In a Law for Masters of Ships who shall bring into your Jurisdiction any People that are called such and for any such People who themselves shall come into your Jurisdiction when as he is neither Master of a Ship nor brought in any such nor came in but is an Inhabitant a Freeman of Boston How comes he to Suffer and to have inflicted upon him a Punishment above the Penalty of the Law How came those Eight to be sent away the Day after the Publication of a Law and by Vertue thereof who were imprisoned before the Law was made These things would be Enquired into and how Repugnant they are to the Lawes of England Declaration Notwithstanding which by a Back door they found Entrance and the Penaltie inflicted on themselves proving insufficient to restrain their Impudent and insolent obtrusions was increased by the losse of the Eares of those who offended the second time Which also being too weak a defence against their Impetuous Frantick Fury necessitated us to endeavour our security and upon serious Consideration after the former Experiments by their incessant Assaults a Law was made That such Persons should be banished upon pain of Death according to the Example of England in their Provision against fesuites Which sentence being regularly pronounced at the last Court of Assistants against the Parties above-named and they either returning or continuing presumptuously in this Jurisdiction after the time limited were Apprehended and owning themselves to be the Persons banished were sentenced by the Court to Death according to the Law aforesaid which hath been Executed upon two of them Answer As the former was the Entrance
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
Magistrate and Commander of theirs to his friend in England formerly of that Jurisdiction also and a Magistrate there written from the sence thereof in the following Words and then I shall touch at some of the Particulars as they are come to my hands The Letter follows AS for the State and Condition of things amongst us it is Sad and like so to continue The Antichristian Persecuting Spirit is very active and that in the Powers of this World He that will not Whip and Lash Persecute and Punish men that Differ in matters of Religion must not sit on the Bench nor sustain any Office in the Common-wealth Last Election Mr. Hatherly and my self left off the Bench and my self Discharged of my Captainship because I had Entertained some of the Quakers at my House thereby that I might be the better acquainted with their Principles I thought it better so to do than with the blind VVorld to Censure Condemn Rail at and Revile them when they neither saw their Persons nor knew any of their Principles But the Quakers and my self cannot close in Divers things and so I signified to the Court I was no Quaker but must bear my Testimony against sundery things that they held as I had occasion and opportunity But withall I told them That as I was no Quaker so I would be no Persecutor This Spirit did work those two years that I was of the Magistracy during which time I was on sundry occasions forced to Declare my Dissent in Sundry actings of that Nature which although done with all Moderation of Expression together with due respect unto the Rest yet it wrought great Dissaffection and Prejudice in them against me So that if I should say some of themselves set others on work to frame a Petition against me that so they might have a seeming Ground from others though first moved and acted by themselves to lay me what they could under Reproach I should do no wrong The Petition was with Nineteen Hands It will be too long to make Rehearsal It wrought such a Disturbance in our Town and in our Millitary Company that when the Act of Court was Read in the Head of the Company had not I been present and made a Speech to them I fear there had been such Actings as would have been of a sad Consequence The Court was again followed with another Petition of fifty four hands and the Court return the Petitioners an Answer with much plausibleness of speech carrying with it great shew of Respect to them readily acknowledging with the Petitioners my Parts and Gifts and how useful I had been in my Place Professing they had nothing at all against me only in that thing of giving Entertainment to the Quakers when as I broke no Law in giving them a Nights Lodging or two and some Victuals For our Law then was If any entertain a Quaker and keep him after he is warned by a Magistrate to depart the Party so entertaining shall pay Twenty shillings a week for entertaining them Since hath been made a Law If any entertain a Quaker if but a quarter of an hour he is to forfeit Five pounds Another That if any see a Quaker he is bound if he live six miles or more from the Constable yet he must presently go and give notice to the Constable or else is subject to the Censure of the Court which may be hang him Another That if the Constable know or hear of any Quaker in his Precincts he is presently to apprehend him and if he will not presently depart the Town the Constable is to whip them and send them away And divers have been whipt with us in our Patent and truly to tell you plainly that the whipping of them with that Cruelty as some have been whipt and their Patience under it hath sometimes been the occasion of gaining more Adherence to them than if they had suffered them Openly to have Preached a Sermon Also another Law That if there be a Quakers Meeting any where in this Colony the Party in whose House or on whose Ground is to pay Forty shillings the Preaching Quaker Forty shillings Every Hearer Forty shillings Yea and if they have Meetings though nothing be spoken when they so meet which they say so it falls out sometimes Our last Law That now they are to be Apprehended and carried before a Magistrate and by him committed to be kept close Prisoner untill he will promise to depart and never come again and will also pay his Fees which I perceive they will do neither the one nor the other and they must be kept only with the Countries Allowance which is but small namely Course Bread and Water No Friend may bring them any thing None may be permitted to speak with them Nay if they have Money of their own they may not make use of that to relieve themselves In the Massachusets namely Boston Colony after they have whipt them cut their Ears have now at last gone the furthest step they can They banish them upon pain of Death if ever they come there again We expect that we must do the like We must dance after their Pipe Now Plimmouth Saddle is On the Bay Horse viz. Boston we shall follow them on the Career For it is well if in some there be not a desire to be their Apes and Imitators in all their Proceedings in things of this nature All these Carnal and Antichristian wayes being not of God's Appointment effect nothing as to the obstructing or hindring of them in their way or course It is only the Word and Spirit of the Lord that is able to convince Gain-sayers they are the Mighty Weapons of a Christian's Warfare by which Great and Mighty things are done and accomplished They have many Meetings and many Adherents almost the whole Town of Sandwitch is adhering towards them and give me leave a little to acquaint you with their Sufferings which is grievous unto and saddens the hearts of most of the Precious Saints of God It lies down and rises up with them and they cannot put it out of their minds to see and hear of poor Families deprived of their Comforts and brought into Penury and Want you may say by what means and to what End As far as I am able to judge of the End it is to force them from their Homes and lawful Habitations and to drive them out of their Coasts The Massachusets have banished six of their own Inhabitants to be gone upon pain of death and I wish that Blood be not shed but our Poor People are pillaged and plundered of their Goods and haply when they have no more to satisfie their unsatiable desire at last may be forced to flee and glad they have their Lives for a Prey As for the Means by which they are impoverished These in the first place were scrupulous of an Oath VVhy then we must put in force an Old Law That all must take the Oath of Fidelity
it not to me And these shall go away into Everlasting Punishment but the righteous into Life Eternal And so I have sealed up your Summe THE END A Few Words to the KING and both Houses of PARLIAMENT and the Rulers and People of these Nations as a WARNING from the LORD AND now Ye Inhabitants of these Nations Ye Princes and Rulers thereof and Thou King CHARLES and Thy Two Houses of Parliament be ye all warned in the Word of the Lord Whose Word and Warning it is how ye tread the steps of these or of the Men that have gone before you Medling with Conscience the Dominion of God Persecuting Men for their Conscience to God and causing them to suffer for their Consciences as hath been in these Nations For if you do and Forget the Lord and be Unmindful of Him that formed you of the Rock that begat you who hath done great Things for you and Wonderful Things and Terrible and change your Glory into the Similitude of an Oxe that eateth Grass and persecute His People Who are Innocent as to you and have suffered with you and Desire your Welfare Against whom ye have no occasion of fault but as to the Law of their God which they may not transgress lest Evil come upon them from the Lord and his Hand be upon them Who are Meek and Patient and Resist not Evil because of Him that said it but bear All things and suffer all things and you have tryed and found it so as have those that went before you whom the Lord hath Plucked up much because of what was done unto them of which they were warned in the Day of their Deliverance which was fulfilled upon Them viz. That which they were warned of as of that which should come if they took not Warning And hath made way for you and hath done for you as it is at this Day beyond what ye could ask or think Without your Sword or Bow or Spear or your Habergeon When your Hopes were almost gone and you were Disappointed in your Stratagems and Overthrown in your Power and even at a stand to Consider Whether ever a Return of your Captivity should be Which He hath turned again as the Streams in the South and you are as it were in a Dream now that the Lord hath turned again your Captivity and as those who are so filled with the Apprehension of the thing they have and which they long desired to enjoy and were long kept out of that they are in Doubt whether it be a Dream or the Thing Thus hath the Lord done for you and He that hath done it can undo it again and overturn you as He hath done them that have gone before you and that without Sword or Spear even by the Spirit of the Lord Who hath moved Me to write to You and to warn you of these things For if you do as from the Mouth of the Lord I have said and meddle with Conscience the Dominion of God and impose upon it in Matters of Religion the Worship of God who will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth and the Father seeketh such to worship Him who is Lord of the Conscience and so intrench upon his Dominion which is an Everlasting Dominion and His Kingdom which shall never have end His Hand will be against you and his Fury will come upon you and He will visit you and your Day He will turn into Night and your Joy into Sorrow and your Rejoycing into Heaviness and you shall know that the Most High ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will So in Bowels of Love and Tenderness of Heart as One that desires your Prosperity for ever and the Wel-being of you and your Posterity after you I beseech you take heed of striking against the Rock of Ages or medling with His Kingdom which is an Everlasting Kingdom or with His Dominion which is for ever and ever or persecuting His People for if ye do Know assuredly from the Lord It will dash you to Pieces and by how much the more his Kindness hath exceeded towards you will be your Judgment Therefore my dear Friends Take heed what ye do be Advised and Cool Refuse not the Counsel of One that is your Friend On whom the sence of these things lies Who would not have God your Enemy Who would have it well with you For here have splitted All that have gone before you and here You will be split the Lord hath spoken it And so I have Discharged my Conscience of what the Lord hath laid on Me and manifested my Love and Good-will to You If ye take it well it will be the better for you if otherwise I am Clear Bristol 11th day 4th Month 1661. GEO. BISHOP AN APPENDEX To the BOOK Entituled New England Judged BEING Certain WRITINGS never yet Printed of those Persons which were there EXECUTED Together With a SHORT RELATION of the TRYAL SENTENCE and EXECUTION OF VVILLIAM LEDDRA Written by Them in the time of their Imprisonment in the Bloody Town of BOSTON LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson at the sign of the Black-spread-Eagle and Windmil in Martins Le Grand 1661. An Appendex To the BOOK Entituled New England Judged This concerns all such Rulers Priests and People in New-England who have joyned hand in hand to Persecute the Saints but especially the Rulers and Priests of Masachusets Bay in New-England who are become more Bloody and Cruel Bold and Impudent in their Wickedness than the rest of their Brethren who have attempted to make a Bloody Law and Unrighteous Decree to Banish the Children and People of God upon Death out of their Jurisdiction and by an unrighteous Decree have made a Law to put the Servants of God to Death if they return again into their Patent Therefore mark the Cruelty which is the fruits of New-England's Professors all you that Read this Paper HEarken and give Ear thou Town of Boston lend an Ear O ye Rulers chief Priests and Inhabitants thereof Listen all you that dwell therein Rich and Poor Small and Great High and Low Bond and Free of what sort so ever Give Ear be attentive to the Words of my mouth which proceed from the Spirit of the Lord and from the Power of the Almighty within me I have often considered your Conditions and your Actings have often come into my remembrance which hath caused me often to Lament because of the hardness of your hearts who do thus slight the Almighty and requite the Most High Oh foolish and unwise ye who do not regard the Lord that made you who hath often sent to you his Servants to give you warning of the mighty day of the Lord of Hosts of the terrible day of the Lord God Almighty which draweth near it hastens apace the Lord hath said it for His Elects sake and for His own Names sake will the Lord arise and plead with all His Enemies in this the day of His Eternal Power Oh
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
For the Life being the Truth and the Way go not one step without it lest you should compass a Mountain in the Wilderness for unto every thing there is a season As the Flowing of the Ocean doth fill every creek and branch thereof and then retires again towards its own being and fulness and leaves a savor behind it so doth the Life and Virtue of God flow into every one of your hearts whom He hath made partakers of his Divine Nature and when it withdraws but a little it leaves a sweet savor behind it that many can say they are made clean through the Word that He hath spoken to them In which Innocent Condition you may see what you are in the presence of God and what you are without Him Therefore my Dear hearts let the enjoyment of the Life alone be your Hope your Joy and Consolation and let the Man of God flee those things that would lead the Mind out of the Crosse for then the Savor of the Life will be buried And although some may speak of things that they received in the Life as experiences yet the Life being vailed and the savor that it left behind washed away by the fresh floods of Temptation the Condition that they did enjoy in the Life boasted of by the Aiery Thing will be like the Manna that was gathered Yesterday without any good scent or savor For it was onely well with the Man while he was in the Life of Innocency but being driven from the Presence of the Lord into the Earth what can be boast of And although you know these things and many of you much more than I can say yet for the Love and Zeal I bear to the Truth and Honour of God and tender desire of my Soul to those that are young that they may read me in that from which I write to strengthen them against the wiles of the subtil Serpent that beguiled Eve I say stand in the Watch within in the Fear of the Lord which is the very Entrance of Wisdom and the State where you are ready to receive the Secrets of the Lord Hunger and Thirst patiently be not weary neither doubt stand still and cease from thy own working and in due time thou shalt enter into the Rest and thy Eyes shall behold thy Salvation whose Testimonies are sure and righteous altogether Let them be as a Seal upon thine Arm and as Jewels about thy Neck that others may see what the Lord hath done for your Souls Confesse Him before Men yea before His greatest Enemies Fear not what they can do unto you Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World For he will cloath you with Humility and in the power of His Meckness you shall reign over all the rage of your Enemies in the favour of God wherein as you stand in Faith ye are the Salt of the Earth For many seeing your good works may glorify God in the day of their Vitation Take heed of receiving that which you saw not in your Life lest you give ear to the Enemy Bring all things to the Life that they may be proved whether they be wrought in God The Love of the World the Lust of the Flesh and the Lust of the Eye are without the Light in the World therefore possesse your Vessels in all Sanctification and Honour and let your Eye look at the Mark He that hath called you is holy And if there be an Eye that offends pluck it out and cast it from you Let not a Temptation take hold for if you do it will keep from the Favour of God and that will be a sad state For without Grace possessed there is no assurance of Salvation By Grace you are saved and the Witnessing of it is sufficient for you to which I commend you all my Dear Friends and in it remain Boston Goal the 13 of the first Moneth 1660. 61. You Brother William Leddra The 9th of the first Moneth 1660. 61. VVIlliam Leddra being called before the Court and they having found him guilty that by their Law he was to die He asked them What Evil he had done They Answered His own Confession was as good as a thousand Witnesses He Asked What was that Answ He owned those that were put to Death and that they were Innocent for which they died and that he would not put off his Hat in the Court and that he would say Thee and Thou to the Magistrates Then said he You will put me to Death for speaking English and for not pulling off my Cloathes Then Daniel Donison said A man may speak Treason in English Then William said Let us come to the Thing in hand Is it evil to say Thee and Thou to a single Person To it they Answered not Then one of the Court asked him If he would Recant of those Errors He Answered What to joyn with such Murderers as you are Then let every man that meets me say This is the man that hath forsaken the God of his Salvation They said unto him the last general Court he had the liberty granted him to go for England or go out of their Jurisdiction and promising to come here no more he might save his Life He Answered I stand not in my own Will but in the Will of the Lord if I may have my freedom I shall go but to make such a Promise I cannot After they proceeded to Pronounce the Sentence of Death and the 14th of the first Month 60. 61. they went to the Place with a Band of Men and put him to Death When he came upon the Ladder one said William Have you any thing to say to the People and after some time he said For the Testimony of Jesus and for bearing witness against Seducers and Seduced I am come to this day And the last words he spake to best remembrance were Lord Jesus receive my soul for unto thee I commit my spirit This was sent me by Nicholas Upshal and Coppied by me William Coddington of Rhoad Island The COPY of a LETTER from a Stranger to his Friend touching the Death of W. Leddra Boston March 26. 1661. ON the 14th of this instant here was one William Leddra which was put to Death The People of the Town told me he might go away if he would but when I made further Enquiry I heard the Marshal say That he was chained in Prisen from the time he was Condemned to the day of his Execution I am not of his Opinion but yet truly me thought the Lord did mightily appear in the man I went to one of the Magistrates of Cambridge who had been of the Jury that condemned him as he told me himself and I asked him by what Rule he did it He answered me That he was a Rogue a very Rogue But what is this to the Question I said where is your Rule He said he had abused Authority Then I goes after the man and asked him Whether he did not