rest of the believers that were at Ierusalem for not doffing their hats Or did they fine them five pounds a piece because they vvould not swear Or did the Church at Ierusalem fine the Temple-Worshippers the Iews If you can give an example either from believers or unbelievers do if you cannot be ashamed of your doings and repent of your Wickedness And are you like to be Rulers for a Common-Wealth who destroys the Estates of them who are Members of the Common Wealth Such Church-members made the Woman flye into the Wilderness and such Rulers destroyed Israel's Common-Wealth who grinded the faces of the poor and chopt them in pieces as flesh for the Caldron And this is truly verified among you Rulers of New-England who has turned judgement backward and not suffered equity to enter but these actings hastens the scattering of your Church falsly so called and will incur the Wrath of the Lord upon your Nation and make you an abhorrency to all that fear the Lord The cruelty of Francis Newman and others of the Magistrates of New Haven towards the Lords Servant Humphrey Norton their cruel whipping of him burning him with the Letter H. and fining him ten pounds and both him and John Rows whipped at Plymouth Patten Humphrey Norton being moved of the Lord to visit the Dutch Plantation upon the Continent of new-New-England and passing thitherward through an English Plantation was apprehended by Order from the Magistrates of that place where he prevented him and put him a-board of a Vessel that went for a place called New-Haven where he was carried before one Francis Newman a Magistrate in that place having nothing to charge him with besides his giving forth of Papers which he had writ in answer to their Priests yet committed him to a wide open prison which wanted repairing and in the coldest season of the year suffered him not to have either Fire or Candle but chained him to a Log all that night and the next day and night the morning following he was brought before the said Newman and two other of the Magistrates who having nothing to accuse him with but concerning the Papers aforementioned one of the Justices so called stood up and declared That if the said Humph. Norton would return and acknowledge he had done amiss and declare against himself he should be cleared who answered He could not declare that which was false for he had declared the truth already So after they had used both flattery and threats to little purpose this Newman in much rage commanded him to prison again saying he would prosecute him in the same prison the same manner chained him to a Log they kept him sixteen or seventeen days and then brought him before them again and read his Charge which he desired he might have a Copy of to answer to and a Priest being present to whom the said H. Norton had sent some queries who undertook to answer him before the people and the said H. N. replyed to him as he answered each query then they tyed a Key cross his mouth till the Priest had done and was gone and the Court broke up although they promised he should answer vvhen the Priest had done but they returned him to prison till the Afternoon then they sent for him to a private place using flattery to ensnare him but seeing they could not they returned him to prison The next morning they sent for him again and then read a Sentence against him That he should be severely whipt and burnt in the hand vvith the Letter H. for spreading his Heretical Opinions all vvhich vvas severely executed upon him the same day in the sight of the Magistrates and nine or ten Priests and many people they also fined him ten pounds for that the Collony had been put to charges and trouble with him vvhich they had the conscience to take of a Dutch man who had compassion on the suffering man and would needs pay it for his release although much perswaded to the contrary by H. Norton Being released from thence and sent out of their Coasts according to their Sentence he with another friend called John Rous passing into Plymouth Patten was there also apprehended and cast into prison and after called before their Court and sentenced again both of them to be whipped which vvas the same day performed upon them H. Norton received thirty lashes and John Rous fifteen or sixteen and so sent away This is but little in comparison of their cruelties exercised on the bodyes of many of our Friends vvhich the Lord takes notice of as farther hereafter thou mayest hear Humphrey Norton's relation of his and John Rous's sufferings again in Plymouth-Patten by the Magistrates and Governor there I being returned to Road-Island and hearing there was information taken against me in Plymouth-Patten upon oath and also that they had entered me upon record for being convicted of several errors a necessity vvas laid upon me to appear in those parts besides what drawings I had to visit the great Seed of God that there is When the fulness of time was near come for the finishing of that service there vvas a cry in me for tvvo dayes together Bonds abide thee Bonds abide thee and their Court and Collony presented to me With zeal and courage for God I made my vvay with my beloved Brother John Rous who had drawings thither and did accompany me The strength of darkness being on their parts and their late-made Laws being so abominable and wicked the few dayes we had to visit the Seed we were forced so as in the Wisdom of the Father to keep hid in the Wilderness and to have the Church to meet us there it being against me if I could prevent it by lawful means to go bound to Pilate but that in the Povver and Authority of God we might at their Court appear in which time the particulars vvere presented to me vvith the truth of every thing vvhich I sent before me to the Governor and Magistrates to make vvay for me by a Constable with a line to him to this purpose That neither the Governor nor Constable needed to seek any further after me for it was my intent with J. Rous to appear before their Court and Countrey if God permit Which repairing thither upon the first day of their sitting quietly into their Town of Plymouth vvith some friends accompanying us their Under-Marshal so called came to us upon sight in the street and said he did arrest us in the Lord Protector's Name and so took us avvay to prison and there kept us without suffering any to come to us that he could hinder for the most part of two dayes whilst they were sitting upon their Aegyptian Juryes and being then brought before their Court and Magistrates we were demanded the occasion of our coming and whether we had not had warning to depart their Collony My answer was to the Governour That part of my grounds I had sent before me with his
name and several other of the Magistrates names upon the outside and asked him whether he had received it or not Which thing he vvould neither acknowledge nor deny upon which I tendered him another Copy of the same and required that it should be read in the audience of the Court and that I might have liberty to declare the rest of my grounds the which he would neither receive nor suffer to be read afterwards I made way that I might read it my self and he caused me to be pulled down and haled forth and abused both me and Iohn Rous with his tongue and caused us to be haled to prison again About a day after I sent a little Note to them to require of them that we might not be shufled off in that manner as we were but that we might be called before their Court again wch was done in a wicked and corrupt manner labouring by what means they could to prevent the people from the hearing and sight of us which when we were called the Governor began with his rage and railing the strength of darkness being with him laboured if he could to stop me from speaking so that our ground and cause could not be heard according to our desires as he abused me with Words calling me a number of filthy names and that he looked upon me as the wickedest of all my Consorts or Words to that purpose but at last their Sentence passed upon us to be whipped or to pay five pounds according to their Law I told them if it were the Will of God I could freely lay down my life in witnessing against that Law Upon the day we were called forth to suffer their Law and being brought to the Stocks the people and Magistrates gathered together to see the execution it vvas received by us vvith great courage boldness to the astonishing of the heathen to the tendering of many after wch the Magistrate said we were cleared paying our fees Back again to prison were we returned and continued for our fees not being paid and there continued about five dayes and the Marshal perceiving that we were what we spake came upon the day following and laid before us the poor condition of his Wife and Children and told us the doors vvere open to us he would stand to what the Lord would move our hearts to communicate to his Wife and Children's necessities upon which account vve came forth Humphrey Norton Laws made at their March-Court holden at New-Plymouth where the Governor caused Deputies to be called on purpose to make these following Laws against Friends to prevent the spreading of Truth It is enacted by this Court and the Authority thereof That no Quaker or person commonly so called be entertained by any person or persons within this Government under the penalty of 5. l. for every such default or be whipt and in case any one shall entertain any such person ignorantly if he shall testifie on his Oath that he knew them not to be such he shall be freed of the abovesaid penalty provided that he upon his first discerning them to be such do discâ—ver them to the Constable or his Deputy It is enacted also by the Court and Authority thereof That if any Quaker or person commonly so called shall come into any Township within this Government and by any person or persons be known or suspected to be such a one the person so knowing or suspecting him shall forthwith acquaint the Constable or his Deputy of them on pain of presentment and so lyable to censure in Court who forthwith shall diligently endeavour to apprehend them and command them to depart out of the Township and this Government and in case any such person delay or refuse so to depart then the said Constable or Deputy shall apprehend them or him before a Magistrate in their Township if there be any and if there be none to the select men appointed by the Court for that purpose who shall cause them or him to be whipt by the Constable or his Deputy or pay five pounds and then conveyed out of their Township And the same course is to be taken with them as often as they transgress this Order It is enacted by this Court and the Authority thereof That henceforth no such Meetings be assembled or kept by any person in any place within this Government under the penalty of 40. s. for every Speaker and 10. s. for every hearer and 40. s a time for the owner of the place that permits them so to meet together and if they meet together at their silent so called then every person so meeting together shall pay 10. s. a time and the Owner of the place shall pay 40. s. It is enacted by the Court That henceforth no publike Meetings be set up within this Government but such as the Court shall approve off F.H. and E.B. MY dearly beloved Friends about the last of the sixth Month 1657. I came from Barbado's with another Friend with me an Inhabitant of the Island and according to the appointment of the Father landed on Road-Island in the beginning of the eighth moneth on an out-part of the Island but the Vessel went for Boston and being come thither I heard of the arrival of Friends from England which was no small refreshment to me and after I had been there a little while I passed out of the Island into Plymouth-Patten to Sandwich and several other Towns thereabouts and after some time I was in Conecticut-Patten with John Copeland where the Lord gave us no small Dominion for there we met with one of the Disputers of new-New-England who is a Priest of Hartford who was much confounded to the glory of Truth and his shame and after some staying there we returned to Road-Iland where H.N. was and after some stay there we went to Plymouth-Patten and they having a Court we went to the place where it was having sent before the grounds of our coming but we were straightway put into prison and after twice being before them where we were much railed upon they judged us to be vvhipt H. N received twenty three stripes and I fifteen with Rods which did prove much for the advantage of Truth and their disadvantage for Friends did with much boldness own us openly in it And after we were let from thence vve returned to Road-Island and from thence to Boston and bore vvitness in their Meeting-House against their Worship in a fevv Words till they haled us forth and had us to their house of Correction and that evening vve vvere examined and committed to the prison and on the seventh day in the evening they vvhipt us vvith ten stripes apiece vvith a three-fold Whip to conclude a vvicked Weeks Work which vvas this On the second day they vvhipped six Friends on the third day the Gaoler laid William Brand neck and heels as they call it in Irons as he confessed for sixteen hours and on the fourth day the Gaoler gave
W. Brand one hundred and seventeen strokes vvith a pitch Rope on the fifth day vve vvere put in prison and on the seventh day vve suffâ—â—ed and after a vvhile a Warrant vvas given forth that if vve vvould not work we should be whipt once in every three dayes and the first day have fifteen stripes the second time eighteen and the third time twenty one So on the seventh day vvas a Week after our first whipping four of us received fifteen stripes a-piece and on the fourth day after we were released So we returned to Road-Island and continued there a while and after some time H.N. went into Plymouth-Patten to Friends there and I was moved to come to Boston so that day five Weeks as I was released that day five Weeks I was put in again where was Christopher Holder and John Copeland and we do lye according to their Law to have each of us an ear cut off But we are kept in the Dominion of the Lord over all our Enemies This is the proceedings of the great professors of new-New-England whose fruits declare to all sober people what stock they are of even of Cain that hated and slew the just John Rous. Here followeth the Tryals and Examinations and Sufferings of the three Servants of the Lord Christopher Holder John Rous John Copeland and the cruel and unmerciful proceedings of John Indicot who is called a Governor of Boston and their Court called The Court of Assistance but it is of their Father the Devil's work against the above said three servants of God and harmless and innocent Lambs of Christ It came to pass that we two Christ Holder and J. Copeland being moved of the Lord to go to Boston set forth thitherwards on the third day of the sixth month â—nd the same day came to a Town in that Jurisdiction called Dedham and it being near Evening we turned into the Ordinary where we lodged that night and early in the morning came two Constables with some others and demanded of us whither we were going our answer vvas We intend to pass towards Boston Then they said they had a VVarrant to bring us to Boston before the Magistrates Then we required to see it but they would not shew us it so after some hours one Constable and two men with him had us to Boston and brought us to the Governor's house who when he saw us being much perplexed in spirit said in a rage You shall be sure to have your ears cut off then he asked our Names so we told him then he said You have been twice here before and said he looked upon it to be a great judgement of God to them that we were suffered so often to come amongst them to trouble them and asked us why we came seeing you know we would not receive you We answered The Lord hath commanded us we could not but come Then he maliciously said The Lord commanded you to come it was the Devil Then he urged us to prove our call by the Scriptures Our ansvver vvas Our Names are not vvritten in the Scriptures The Governor whose name is John Indicot said he did believe we spoke true for he did think our Names vvere not vvritten in the Scriptures and farther said It vvere something if you could make it appear to me that you are sent of God We answered That vvhile he stood in unbelief though vve speak never so plain to him yet he would not believe it Then one Nathaniel Williams standing by said to this effect Seeing that you knew we would not receive you it must needs be out of malice that you came Our answer was That the Lord God who searcheth the hearts of all knows that we came not in malice but in obedience to him Then J. Indicot asked us Whether vve did believe that Christ's body vvas in heaven Ans. We knovv that his body is in heaven So he sent for the Gaoler and bid him take us avvay and said we should hear from them to morrovv So he had us away and put us in the House of Correction as they call it So on the morrow being the fifth day of the sixth month they had a Court at Boston before vvhich we were brought When we came before them they caused our hats to be taken off and throvvn on the ground Then J. Indicot said You were before me yesterday and I asked you to prove your call but you did not because you said I would not believe it therefore I ask you to prove it before the people it may be they wil believe you Then we asked them if they vvould believe us when we spoke the truth I I if you prove it by Scripture we must as before To prove our call hither by express Words of Scripture we cannot because our Names neither this place is not mentioned in Scripture but that vve have examples in Scripture from the Prophets and Apostles who in obedience to the Lord travelled from place to place as we do that we can prove Then I. I. laughed and said Are you Prophets and Apostles Then he asked us whether we did believe that Christ had a body in heaven distinct from the body of his Members VVe answered That Christ's body is divided from his members we do not believe I.I. turned to the people and said They meaâ— his mystical body Then we said VVe know no such word in Scripture as Mystical and put them to prove by Scripture that Christ had two bodies Then one stood up like a Priest and asked us whether we did not believe that Christ had a body in heaven made of Sinews Flesh and Bone distinct from the body of his Members Then we asked what the body of his Members was To which they gave no ansvver Then the Secretary made a speech to this effect saying That these men have been here twice before and have received the Law and was sent out of this Jurisdiction and now are come the third time And so vvrote an Order and delivered it to the Governor who delivered it to the Gaoler and bid him take us away and keep us according to his Order but they read not the Order to us then So he had us away to the house of Correction again and the next morning the Gaoler came to us and asked us to work Then we required to see his Order so he shewed us it The Order was to this effect To the Keâ—per of the House of Correction You are by vertue hereof to take into your custody the body of Christopher Holder and John Copeland and them safely to keep close to work with Prisoners Diet onely until their ears be cut off and not suffer any to converse with them whilst they are in your custody Then he asked us again to work and said As you are rational men I would wish you not to put your bodyes to so much sufferings saying he had an Order to have us whipt twice a Week if vve vvould not work and shewed
reign Then one of them said We were deceived and deluded Ans. If we were deluded and out of the way you had more need to pitty us then do as you do One of them said We pitty you while we punish you Mark the deceit of this Man Then after some more words wherein they call'd us bold boys and blasphemers J. Indicot said You come in a way and shew of love and humility and the spirit of meekness but you are such as Christ spoke of vvho outwardly have sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravening Wolves Ans Christ there speaks of a people very like your selves Then J I. made a speech unto us to this effect Exhorting us to make our peace with God saying That the way we walked in deceiving of people and speaking against Ministers and Ordinances and despising of Magistrates is the way that leads to hell and said the Boaster I speak from heaven but you will not believe me Answ. Nay we do not believe thee he who is a man of blood speaks from the pit of darkness where his residence and abode is but as for deceiving of people and speaking against Ministers of Christ and despising of Magistrates we are not guilty So they bid the Gaoler take us away the which he did and this is the substance of our Examination at that time Again on the tenth day of the same Month we were called before the Court And when we came before them the Deputy-Governor made a Speech to this effect These men have been formerly here and they have been sent avvay and though they know the Law yet are come again in contempt and to revile Magistrates and Ministers and to break all order in Churches and deceive the people and so what ever become of them whether loss of ears or loss of life your blood be upon your own heads Mark worse then Pilate and the envious Jews To which he vvas replyed you heap false accusations upon us and God will heap his judgements upon your heads and if we suffer either loss of member or loss of life our blood will be required at your hands for the Lord hath sent us hither J. I. said Prove that and said Christ's Messengers were to pray for them that persecuted them but you prophesie his judgements upon us We have not done any thing that deserves either death or bonds Then Indicot said You are greater Enemies to us then those that come openly while you come under pretence of peace to poyson the people Then one of us said It grieves me to hear thee speak so many false things Then they urged us to prove that we were sent of God Ans. That vvhich you do unto us doth prove that vve are sent of God for the same things that Christ said should be done to his Disciples by those that were contrary to him have you done unto us as vvhipping c. To vvhich Major Denison said Then evil-doers that are whipped suffer for Christ's sake To vvhich Iohn Rous replyed If we were evil-doers the judgements of God would he heavier upon us then that which we suffer by you but not being evil-doers we have peace with God and his peace keeps us above all sufferings To which Major Denison replyed Mr. Rous for so I may call you having heard your father is a Gentleman what judgement of God do you look for greater then is upon you then to be driven from your fathers house and to run about here as a vagabond with a company of deceivers except you look for a Halter or to be stricken with a Thunder-bolt Reader do but mark this Christian-Magistrate for so he would be called Joh. Rous said I was not driven from my Fathers House but in obedience to the Lord I left it and when the Lord shall have cleared me of this Land I shall return to it again Then J. Indiâ—â—t called to the Secretary to read the Law then he read this Clause in it That if any that had suffered the Law should presume to return again they should have one of their ears cut off worse then the Jews when the Apostles came again into a City after they were commanded not to come yet when they came they cut not off their ears Then J. Indicot did as he used to do spoke many words in derision Then one of us said More gravity would become thee To which J. Indicot said Do you come to reprove us Major Denison said If you could shew unto us your commission as plain as we can shew you that you transgress our Law c. Reader take notice they had no Law at all when the Quakers came into new-New-England till they consulted with the Prince of darkness to make one Whether you believe us or no from the Lord we have received our command and his Spirit is our Seal Then J. Indicot said They have nothing to prove it by but the Spirit within them and that is the Devil Ans. Take heed of blaspheming the Spirit J. Indicot said You come in contempt Reply The Lord God who knows the hearts and reins of all mankind judge betwixt us and you whether we came in contempt So after some words we spake something to them concerning their Law and said We have seen some of your Laws that have many Scriptures in the Margent but what example have you in Scripture for cutting off ears J.I. said What Scripture have you for hanging then M. Denison said in way of derision Yes they would be crucified So they hastened the Governor to dispatch us quickly who spoke to the Secretary to read the Law to us three so he called us three by our Names and as he was going to read it the Governor and Magistrates whispered together and while we were expecting to have the Lavv read against us J. Indicot turned suddenly about and in great haste and bitterness passed his sentence upon us three in these Words It is the Sentence of the Court That you three shall have your right ears cut off by the Hangman Then we seeing their unjust proceedings against us and that they were both our Accusers and Judges we were stirred in Spirit to appeal to the chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth of England the vvhich Appeal we made one by one but they made a light thing of it and hastened the Keeper to take us away so we were had away and put into the prison again and the same day was Laurence Southwick and Casandria his Wife and Josiah their Son called before their Court who had been prisoners in the house of Correction eleven Weeks for being taken in a Meeting at Salem who have been imprisoned here before So they began with them saying This man was a member and this Woman a member Then Josiah asked them What error he held They said You do believe and hold forth That there is that in every man that if he will he may be saved by it Josiah replyed There is no power in any mans Will to save
himself Laurence said The reason why you gave me admonition was because I entertained two men in my house They answered They were Quakers He replyed It was Christopher Holder and John Copeland So they were had to the house of Correction again and on the morrow a Bond was sent them for to sign of vvhich a Copy followeth for the signing of which Bond liberty was offered We Laurence Southwick Josiah Southwick and Casandria Southwick do bind our selves joyntly and severally in the sum of 40. l. to the Treasurer of the County The Condition is That we and every one of us will forthwith depart the jurisdiction of the Masatuthers or that we or any of us shall publish or maintain any of the diabolical Opinions of the Quakers or entertain any of their sect that resort unto us from other parts The which Bond they cannot sign and therefore they remain prisoners still So on the 16. day of the 7th Month 1658. the Marshal with a company of blood-thirsty men came to the prison where we were when they had let in so many as they thought meet they lock't the door did not suffer one friend to come in though some did much press it especially one Friend who was moved to come from Rhode-Island to bear witness against their cruelty at the time of their executing of it on us So when they had made the doors fast the Marshal vvith some others came into the room where vve vvere and read an Order to this effect as follows To the Marshal General or to his Deputy You are to take with you the Executioner and to repair to the House of Correction and there see him cut off the right Ears of John Copeland Christopher Holder and John Rous Quakers in execution of the Sentence of the Court of Assistance for the breach of the Law tituled Quakers Edward Rawson Secretary So they had us forth into another room vvhere vvas more light Ioh. Rous said to the Marshal We have appealed to the chief Magistrate of England He answered He had nothing to do with that Christoph Holder said Such Execution as this should be done publikely and not in private One called Cap. Oliver replyed We do it in private to keep you from twatling So the Executioner took C.H. and when he had turned aside his hair and was going to cut off his Ear the Marshal he turned his back on him because he would not see it the which I. Rous taking notice of said Turn about and see it for so was his Order and the Marshal being filled with fear turned and said Yes yes let us look on it So in the fear of God we suffered boldly saying Those that do it ignorantly we desire from our hearts the Lord to forgive them but for them that do it maliciously let our blood be upon their heads and such shall know in the day of account that every drop of our blood shall be as heavy upon them as a milstone So when they had done they slank away as a Dog when he had suck'd the blood of a Lamb and is discovered And this is a Declaration of the sufferings of us three C.H. I.R. I.C. The Friend that came to bear witness against their cruelty whose Name is Katherin Scot is committed to the House of Correction Boston Prison the 17. of the 7th Month 1658. Here follows the cruel and merciless sufferings of William Brend by the hands of Pharoah's Task-Masters who would be called Christian Magistrates but by their fruits thou mayest see by whom they bear rule and for whom they rule The Testimony as follows under his own hand take ON the 18th day of the 4th Month 1658. I came to Salem being moved thereunto by the Lord where there was several Meetings which was of service for the Lord Upon the 27. of the 5. Month we had a Meeting at Nicholas Philip's House some five miles from Salem and after we had been some time together and were waiting upon the Lord in silence there came one Edward Batters who called himself a Commissioner as he said and a Constable with him and the said Batters commanded the Constable to take us away I asked him for his Warrant he said he had none Then we refused to go with him Then he bad the Constable command some friends that were present to aid him They refused seeing the Constable had no Warrant Batters willing to drive on his Masters Work went out and brought two other men which he had ready near the House to force us away but stil we refused to go with him unless they would carry us by force though they hailed us and forced off our clothes yet we went not See the fruits of New-England-members on their Sabbath which they pretend to be so zealous for So they went away without us This was about the fourth hour in the Afternoon and we tarryed thereabouts till after the Sun was set expecting their return seeing we had wronged no man There was a man at this Meeting called R. Adams who lived at a Town called Newbury hearing the truth declared did desire if we came that way to come to his houâ—e and have some conference with their Minister We came to this mans house the 29. of the 4. Month in the morning and when we came there he desired that their Minister might be sent â—or whom he said was so moderate a man that he would not wrong us But the Priest notwithstanding all his seeming moderation brought a Club-Man with him whom he called a Magistrate one Captain Garish and others with him and as we were walking in the Wood one came and told us the Priest was come and several others with him they promised Robert Adams they would not injure us but we might freely pass away as we came So we went into the house and had many Words vvith the Priest some of them were That there is a necessity of mens sinning in this life A Doctrine not onely preached but lamentably practised in New-England But Cain's nature began soon to rise and they began to threaten us that they vvould exercise their Power againâ—t us and so kept us several hours notwithstanding their promise but at last said If we would promise to depart their Town they vvould let us go vvhich vve could not do nor make a Covenant with death So we passed away and after vve were gone almost half a mile Garish came riding after us and bid us go back but we refused then he forced us along vvith several men to assist him back again to Robert Adam's house and there kept us till the Constable came whom they had privately sent for and Garâ—sh writ some kind of Warrant and sent us to Rouly to be conveyed from Constable to Constable till we were brought back again to Salem They brought us to Rouly in the night so the next day we passed through Jâ—swich and other places which was of service to the Lord We came to Salem where their
that vvas intended and murder in secret vvas manifest openly and many came into the prison to see vvhat vvas done both small and great vvhich vvhen they savv their eyes afflicted their hearts for they savv my back and arms bruised and black and my flesh become as a jelley and svvelled vvith the blows and the blood hanging as in bags under my arms vvith the cruel beating having received an hundred and seventeen blovvs at the least as vvas told by them that heard and saw them And what the Lord hath done is to make this profession and hypocrisie of theirs manifest that all that fears the Lord may come out from among them And whether these be Magistrates that rule for God and whether these Laws be according to the righteous Law of God vvhich is made to destroy God's Workmanship and to deface his creatures and whether these be the fruits of them that are members of Christ let the vvise in heart judge The Cause is the Lords and whatsoever we suffer it shall be for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ which is the Power of God to salvation to them that do believe And my peace is in him vvho is the Prince of Peace vvho bears me up in his Arms above all the Rage and Wickedness of the Wicked which shall come to an end To him be praise for ever and ever Amen From the Common-Goal in Boston this 13th of the 5th Month 1658. William Brend A true Relation of what some have suffered for conscience-sake in Salem and some other places in the Masathusets Collony in New-England IN September in the year 1657. there came two young men to Salem one Christopher Holder and John Câ—peland these men came from England to Road-Island who on the first day of the Week came to the Meeting-house who vvhen their Meeting vvas ended they began to speak vvho vvere thrust out of the Meeting in great fury one that vvas a Commissioner in the Tovvn pull'd him back by the hair of the head and thrust his hand with his Glove in his mouth to stop his mouth one Samuel Shattock was present and pulled his hand from his mouth He vvas the next day sent vvith them to Boston with an Accusation sent by Captain Hathorn That he vvas a Friend to Quakers and pleaded for the maintenance of their Opinions for the vvhich he vvas sent to prison the other tvvo men the tvvo men vvere vvhipt 30 lashes a piece with a three-corded Whip with knots on the end laid on with great fury and S. Shottock vvas bound in a bond of twenty pounds to answer it at Court and vvas not to speak with one of them called Quakers but when he madâ— his appearance none appeared to prove the Charge he was required to come the next Week so made three iourneys to the Court and then could prove nothing The Deputy-Governor would have him bound over longer but the Governor said They could not answer it in as much as Evidence did not appear So it was entered into the Court-Rolls that he should make his appearance at the next New-Commons Now there was one Laurence Southwick and his Wife was sent to Boston-Prison for entertaining these two strangers the man they let come home again because the Church was to examine him cast him out but the Woman was kept 7 vveeks in prison although they had no law then made against the thing In the end of this time having nothing against the woman did at last ask her if she owned such a Paper as some in prison had written concerning their owning of God and Christ and the Scriptures She owning of it was fined forty shillings and so let her go Now about this time there were some observing that cruelty that was practised by them altogether unbecoming Christians and the drift of their Preachers vvas to encourage and drive on this design vvhich filleth up most of their Sermons and that time vvhich should have been better spent insomuch that vvhen vve went to look for bread we had a stone given us and a Serpent instead of a Fish At length finding it so unprofitable had no rest nor peace in our spirits to sit down under it as the Ordinances of God and spiritual Worship vvhich was altogether empty of God did then withdraw our selves from them and did meet together on the first dayes of the Week the Constable was then sent to take the Names of them that met and on the next day they were brought bâ—fore Captain Hathorn who was a Commissioner and he read the Law to them for conviction to pay five shillings a Week for not coming to the Meeting but this did not content them but did afterwards send for them again before him and three of them were sent to Boston by the Constable with Laurence Southwick his Wife and his Son Josiah Southwick who were comâ—itted to the prison no breach of any Law being proved but for not meeting for vvhich they made them pay besides so they put them in the house of Correction and vvhipt them in the dead time of all the Winter and the Gaoler required seven shillings six pence fees for each of them and kept some of their clothes for it 7. s. 6. d. vvas each of their fees  l. s. d. Novv they took from Laurence Southwick for six Weeks absence from their Meeting 33. s. 1 13 0 Aftervvards for six Weeks absence for his Wife 33. s. 1 13 0 And from Josiah Southwick upon the same account 27 s. 1 7 0 And from an old man and his Wife one Edward Harnet he was aged about sixty years and nine and his Wife aged about seventy three years of age who was forced in his old age to sell that which he had which was a poor house and a little land and now to be gone or wrong his conscience his labour being almost done and being not able to stand under the Fine of five shillings by the Week did sell and notvvithstanding the poor honest man was going away from troubling of them the Marshal was sent and took away thirty seven shillings from the poor aged people Now about this time there was one William Shattock in Boston a poor man that did refrain from the publike Meeting was had to the Court who because he had not to pay the five shillings a-Week-Fine was put in prison they judged him a friend to Quakers he was by the Courts Order whipt and kept prisoner from his Family and the Gaoler took all his Work for himself allowing his Family not a penny He at last sent to the Court to know what they would do he had this Word sent to him That if he was able to pay five shillings a Week he might stay but the Deputy-Governor said Seeing he had no house of his own into his house he should not come for he was his Tenant that none should receive him into their houses therefore he must abide in the House of Correction The
receive the exceeding weight of glory which God will reveal in his own time to you if you continue in faith and patience which shall be a reward and a recompence for all your sufferings for he is appearing and hath appeared that is able to make war with the Beast and to dry up the sea out of which he arose and take peace from the Earth and scatter the Nations and break them as the East Wind scatters the Clouds and exalt his Name over all And blessed and happy are all they that are faithful in bearing their testimony for him against deceit and suffers any thing for his Names sake their end shall be happy and they shall receive the Crown of glory which God the Father of life will give to all that fear and obey him and keep in the faith unto the end Here follows an Answer to two Letters of John Indicot's and Richard Billingham's stuffed full of envy and inveterate words and sent to some like themselves to strengthen their hands in wickedness the Letters answered as follows John Indicot Governor of Boston and Richard Billingham who have made your selves manifest by your actions and carriages by your papers and writings to be of the Serpents seed who makes war with the Lamb and his followers who joyned with the Dragon and casts out floods after the Woman and the remnant of her Seed to destroy her and them that so you might rule in the Kingdom of darkness without molestation Richard Billingham thy inveterate words and thy persecuting spirit the sound of which hath reached as far as old England you that were cryers out of persecution and cruelty in times past are now become as cruel persecutors as any of the Beasts followers You fled the Cross of Christ here in England when you were proved and tried when you should have born witnesse for God in your generation and now that which fled the cross persecutes them who takes up the cross and follows Christ in the strait way which you never yet set foot in and that nature which was to be limited by the cross of Christ you carried with you into New-England and now it manifests it self by your bloodie crueltie and insolent wickedness which you have aâ—â—ed which makes your Names and Practises to stink amongst all sober people and are becom as cruel and brutish as the barbarous heathens and the Papists Inquisitors are short of you in cruelty madness and wicked inventions and now ye rejoice in iniquitie as though it were the high-waie onelie to felicitie Richard Billingham Thou saist Thou art glad to hear of Mr. Gurden's careful and faithful proceedings against the incorrigible obstinate roguish Quakers As for Gurden he is manifest to be one of the same race with thee in Cain's way in envie and wrath and hath manifested his follie in the County of Suffolk so that all sober people abhors and detests his practises and is counted no other then a peevish wilful blind ignorant man before whose face the fear of God is not and his proceedings will never bring honor to him but rather infamie and reproach and perpetual shame and truly the least of the children of light them that have but moderation as men are ashamed of his practises both superior and inferior and thou that rejoicest and art glad of his proceedings and also some other whom thou writest to which is one with thy spirit thy rejoicing is not good and thy joy shall be turned into mourning and shame shall cover thy face when the Lord God of Heaven and Earth ariseth in his righteous judgement then shame and confusion shall cover your faces Thou saist They are a formidable people and not to be neglected for many follow their pernicious wayes I say They are a people whose beginning hath been but small who hath come through great tribulation whose end shall be great they are the heritage whom God hath chosen to place his Name in and to reveal his power unto and to be witnesses of his salvation unto the ends of the Earth and they are and have been and shall be a dread unto all their Enemies and though thou maist seek to oppose and use all thy diligence and neglect no opportunitie to withstand them yet it is but as if thou shouldest set Thorns and Briers in battel against the Lord Thou saist If the Lord hath given these Hereticks commission to kill the witnesses they are malignant enough to make it the most direful execution that ever befel Gods people Hereticks are they that denie Christ the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world amongst whom thou with John Indicot and the rest of the blood-thirstie men in new-New-England whose malignitie hath appeared whose crueltie hath surpassed and super-abounded many that are gone before you and the witness you have killed in your selves and the Witnesses you seek to destroy without you and your execution against both the Witnesses hath been as wicked as most of the persecutors of old who hath ploughed long furrows upon the backs of his people so have you done with your whips and stripes again and again by your own confession which hath not onely teared the flesh of Gods people but reached to their sinews and to their Joints and yet you would be called Christians Oh full of ignorance and gross stupidity Christ came not to destroy mens lives but to save them and you pretend your selves Rulers and Christian-Magistrates and would not be accounted men of blood and instead of saving you seek to destroy as your actions have made manifest against William Brend a man fearing God a sober man known to many of the Inhabitants of the City of London to be a just man in his generation in causing one hundred and seventeen stripes and upward to be executed on his body by a pitcht Rope as though he had been a block or a stone altogether insensible Shameless men and full of impudencie and hard-heartedness in whose hearts there is no remorse nor fear of God! Witness your cutting off the ears of John Copeland Christopher Holder and John Rous men fearing God and as well educated as your selves and for no transgression at all of any Law of God neither of any of your own but when you had none that could reach to be a cover for your cruelty you go into the nethermost Hell to invent Laws Christians are ashamed of and all sober people detest it and so let your actions bear witness to your faces let all sober people judge who are in the malignity and who are slayers of the Witnesses And these Quakers by open profession thou saist tendeth to ruine all Christian society compassing Sea and Land to that end Thou vomits out thy rage and casts up mire and dirt like a raging Wave but thy bond is set That which the quakers professeth tendeth to the uniting all that believe unto Christ and one unto another in love and unity and peace in meekness
if there be Used not you and the rest of the Clergy to pray for the conversion of the Jews And are you now angry if any of them be turned from darkness to light But none can escape thy slanderous tongue without reproach Thou saist The juncture between the Jesuits and these Hereticks is strong Thou art nearer joined to the Jesuits then the Quakers for they and you in New-England are working one and the self-same work Will not most people in the Regions know thy lyes Is it not publikely known in many Countreys that two of the Quakers were imprisoned by the Pope and Jesuits at Rome lately and hath been put in the Inquisition and one of them prisoned till death and the other remains in prison under cruel bonds to this day and now read whether the juncture between the Jesuits and you be not great who are acting in one and the self-same Work and brings forth one and the self-same fruit the Apples of Sodom and the Grapes of Gomorah whom God destroyed which will be the end of all the wicked except they repent There is more danger thou saith in this people to trouble and overcome England then the King of Scots and all the Popish Princes in Germany Thy tongue is set on fire of Hell which makes thee utter forth all these horrid Lyes and false Accusations and bitter things against the Lord and his people and will not all sober people in England see thy envy Hath not England had sufficient proof of our fidelity against the King of Scots and the Popish Princes and Confederates with him And thousands in England shall be witness for us against thee and all thy false Accusations Thou saist They strengthen all discâ—ntents against the present Government and hatch all Plots and encourages all combinations and insurrections The present Government of these Nations will be a witness for us against thee That amongst all the people in the Nations we have been most passive and suffering and the discontents and plots and combinations from time to time have been amongst the Presbyter-Priests and their Faction of whose stock and off-spring you are And further thou saist They vent horrid blasphemy against God which ought to be persecuted with the severest censures Thou art of that generation that called the Master of the House Beelzebub and in the steps of the persecuting Jews who said He hath spoken blasphemy what need we any more witness But how can we speak evil or blaspheme him who is our life And in the day when he ariseth to judge all the Earth in righteousness he will justifie us and clear us and condemn thy malignity and thy hard speeches and vain thoughts which lodge in thy corrupt heart from whence all these unsavourie words hath been uttered forth and is that New-England-Divinity to teach persecution that thou art so impudent to own it in words That which persecutes with the severest censures is of the Devil and is in Cain's way and dost thou lay down this for a Doctrine to Englâ—nd to appease the wrath of God towards it I say Persecâ—tion and severe Censures â—s that which kindleth the wrath of God against these Nations and did overtake the Bishops the King and all their Confederacy and overthrew the Nobles of the Land the ancient and â—e honorable which were the head and all the false Prophets which were the taile and that same Wrath shall be over you who are of that stock and off-spring manifested by these deadly actions and characters of most horrid and wicked cruelty which the Lord God will confound and blast and set his Truth above it all And Iohn Indicot thou saist The quakers trouble us very much though we cause them te be whipt and sent away again and again yet they return again Thou maist see there is another spirit in them then was in you when you fled from old England from under the Bishops you would suffer nothing for the truth and therefore were you given up to the same spirit that was in the persecutors here in England this is entered into you now and become ten fold stronger but now he that is stronger then all hath appeared and is coming to trouble you and disquiet you of your rest which you have taken up in the Earth What hath your Gospel and the Ministers thereof no more strength in them to convince the gain-sayers then gain-sayers have to seduce them that are in the truth The daie of your trouble is come and the beginning of sorrows is kindled upon you a greater wo follows after for the Rod of God is stretched out over you and shall reach unto you and turn your counsels backward and confound you in the midst of your combinations Where did any Christian-Magistrates whip and imprison any for Religion's sake or conscience-sake or cut off their Ears Where is your Law Did any Minister of Christ perswade the Magistrate it was lawful for him to do so Give us some evidence and let us see your rule and by what Authority you do these things and from whence you have your Authoritie I am sure God never authorized it Christ nor his Ministers nor no Christian-Magistrate that ruled for God never countenanced any such thing as to whip again and again to beat with Ropes till men fall down as dead till mens flesh becomes as jelley as some of your own Nation have said and shall not the Saints be bold to tell you that this is of the Devil who was a lyar and a murderer from the beginning in whose footsteps you are who shall receive a reward according to your works And thou saist Divers of you do think that unless the Court do make a Law to banish them and not to return upon pain of death this Collony will nâ—t be rid of them Nay nor then neither though you make covenant with death and agreement with hell and shake hands with the Prince of darkness your Covenant shall be broken and your Confederacie disannulled and you confounded in the midst of your counsels What have you your Law yet to make to serve your turns It seems you act not by the Law of God which is made alreadie which is equal just and good and is for the transgressor of Justice Goodness and Equity but takes not hold upon the just equal nor good but you must now have another invented to satisfie your envious minds and to accomplish your wicked determinations and you that think to make a Law to banish and to put to death your thoughts are vain and wicked and God will bring them to judgement and condemn you for them for Christ came not to destroy mens lives but to save them but the Devil makes Laws to destroy and not to save Read your example and let shame cover your faces and astonishment fill your hearts that you should become so brutish and vain in your thoughts as to think to limit the Lord of Heaven and Earth Can you command the wind that it blow not Can you stop the bottles of heaven that they pour not â—orth water If you cannot no more can you limit the Lord And if you make any such Laws to banish or put to death it will procure the indignation and wrath of God more speedily then if the King of Scots and all the Popish Princes in the World did enter into the midst of your Land But this is come to pass that your hypocrisie and deceit might be made manifest in the sight of the sun and that all men may see what profession of words is without the life of Christ to rule in men If it should have been told you when you fled from this Nation what you would do in the time to come against God and his servants you would have said with Hazael Are we Dogs But the heart of man is deceitful unconverted and your deceived hearts hath led you aside Thou thinkest they are the worst Hereticks Thy eye being blinded and thy understanding darkened and thy heart full of envy how shouldst thou think otherwise But thy thoughts shall be discovered to thee and thou shalt be convinced of the evil of them Thou saist One whom many think is a Iesuit pressed for a conference with one of our Teachers called Mr. Norton but the quaker was quickly weary of it You live by your thoughts and knows nothing if he had been a Jesuit it 's like he might have had more favour from you And the Minister might be very bold knowing before-hand no evil was like to befall him having the Rulers with their Clubs on his side the Prison-doors and House of Correction readie to receive the Quakers the Gaolers and Task Masters with their Whips and butcherly fellows with their Knives to cut off their ears at the pleasure and wills of a company of envious men before whose face the fear of the Lord is not But it is like you will make the Quaker weary soon if he would look out at your cruelty if you did as sometime some of your Priests and Rulers caused to be done in New-England stop Napkins in their mouths and bound keys over their mouths that they could not speak and boast and say The Quaker had nothing to answer Well all these things are recorded and are written as with a Pen of Iron and they are engraved where they shall not be blotted out and you are registred among the uncircumcised with Mesech and Tubal the great Princes of Gog which makes war against the Lamb and his followers but the Lamb and the Saints shall have the victory and you shall be trodden as ashes under the Toles of their feet for they shall melt away that hate the Lord Reading the 16. of the 12. Month 1658. The End