Chapter XIX: Book 2: p. 57 (3)

It hath been already remarked, in the foregoing section, that the rigours with which Laud, and his persecuting brethren treated the puritans, occasioned many of them to transport themselves to New England, for the sake of enjoying that liberty of conscience, which they were cruelly denied in their native country. And who could have imagined, but that their own sufferings for conscience sake must have excited in them an utter abhorrence of these antichristian principles, by which they themselves had so deeply smarted? But though they carried over with them incurable prejudices against persecuting prelates, yet they seem many of them to have thought that they had the right of persecution in themselves; and accordingly practised many grievous cruelties towards those who did not fall in with their doctrine and discipline, and church order.

I shall not here mention the severities practised on great numbers of persons for supposed witchcraft, to the great blemish and dishonour of the government there, those prosecutions being carried on not properly upon a religious account; but I am obliged, in justice, not to pass by the cruel laws they made against the persons called Quakers, who felt the weight of their “independent discipline,” and were treated with the utmost rigour by their magistrates and ministers.

[359]In the year 1656, a law was made at Boston, prohibiting all masters of ships to bring any quakers into that jurisdiction, and themselves from coming in, “on penalty of the house of correction.” When this law was published, one Nicholas Upshal, who was himself an independent, argued against the unreasonableness of such a law; and warned them to take heed “not to fight against God,” and so draw down a judgment upon the land. For this they fined him twenty-three pounds, imprisoned him for not coming to church, and banished him out of their jurisdiction.

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Footnote 359:

Sewel’s Hist. p. 161.

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[360]But though this law was executed upon many persons with unrelenting and extreme rigour; yet, as it did not entirely prevent the quakers from coming into New England, a more cruel law was made against them in the year 1658. “That whosoever of the inhabitants should, directly or indirectly, cause any of the quakers to come into that jurisdiction, he ‘should forfeit one hundred pounds to the country, and be committed to prison,’ there to remain till the penalty should be satisfied: and whosoever should entertain them, knowing them to be so, ‘should forfeit forty shillings to the country for every hour’s entertainment’ or concealment, and be committed to prison till the forfeiture should be fully paid and satisfied. And farther, that all and every of those people, that should arise amongst them there, should be dealt withal, and suffer the like punishment as the laws provided for those that came in: viz. That for the first offence, if a male, ‘one of his ears should be cut off, and he kept at work in the house of correction,’ till he should be sent away at his own charge. For the second, ‘the other ear, and be kept in the house of correction,’ as aforesaid. If a woman, then ‘to be severely whipped,’ and kept as aforesaid, as the male for the first; and for the second offence, to be dealt withal as the first. And for the third, ‘he or she should have their tongues bored through with an hot iron,’ and be kept in the house of correction close at work, till they be sent away at their own charge.”

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Footnote 360:

Id. p. 1

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Could it be imagined that the authors of these bloody laws had been forced from their own native country by the terrors of persecution? or that after all their complaints, about the violences and oppressions of the prelates against themselves, they should yet think persecution for conscience-sake a lawful thing; and that they had a right, as soon as ever they could get power, to persecute others? The making such laws, and the execution of them, was certainly more detestable in them than others; who should have learnt forbearance and compassion towards others, by the things which they themselves had suffered. And yet they seem to have been as devoid of these virtues, as Laud or any of his brethren, against whom they had so bitterly and justly exclaimed.

[370]In pursuance of the before-mentioned law, one William Brend, and William Leddra, were committed to the house of correction at Boston; where they were kept five days without food, and after that received twenty blows each with a three-corded whip. The next day Brend, who was an elderly man, was put in irons, and tied neck and heels close together for sixteen hours. The next morning the jailer took a pitched rope, about an inch thick, and gave him twenty blows over the back and arms with as much force as he could, so that the rope untwisted. But he fetched another thicker and stronger, and gave him fourscore and seventeen more blows, and threatened to give him as many more the next morning. Brend had nothing on but a serge cassock upon his shirt, so that his back and arms were grievously bruised, and the blood hung as in bags under his arms; and so cruelly was his body mangled, that it was reduced almost to a perfect jelly.

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Footnote 370:

Id. p. 195.

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The same year J. Copeland, Christ. Helder, and J. Rous, were apprehended and imprisoned, and condemned to have each of them their right ear cut off by the hangman; which was accordingly executed; after which they were whipped.

But things did not stop here. Norton and others of his brethren the ministers, petitioned the magistrates to cause the court to make some law to banish the quakers, upon pain of death. The court consisted of twenty-five persons; and the law being proposed, it was carried in the affirmative, thirteen to twelve. As the law is very peculiar, and contains the reasons given by these “Independent Persecutors,” and shews the severity of their discipline, I shall give the substance of it; which is as follows:

[371]“Whereas there is a pernicious sect, commonly called quakers, lately risen, who by word and writing have published and maintained many dangerous and horrid tenets, and do take on them to change and alter the received laudable customs of our nation, in giving civil respect to equals, or reverence to superiors, whose actions tend to undermine the civil government, and also to destroy the order of the churches, by denying all established forms of worship, and by withdrawing from orderly church fellowship, allowed and approved by all orthodox professors of the truth—whereby divers of our inhabitants have been infected;—for prevention thereof, this court doth order and enact, that every person or persons of “the cursed sect” of the ‘Quakers,’ who is not an inhabitant of, but is found within this jurisdiction, shall be apprehended without warrant, where no magistrate is at hand, by any constable, commissioner, or select man—who shall commit the said person to close prison, there to remain without bail until the next court of assistance, where they shall have a legal trial: and ‘being convicted to be of the sect of the quakers, shall be sentenced to be banished, upon pain of death.’ And that every inhabitant of this jurisdiction, being convicted to be of the aforesaid sect, either by taking up, publishing, or defending the horrid opinions of the quakers, or the stirring up mutiny, sedition, and rebellion against the government, or by taking up their absurd and destructive practices, viz. denying civil respect to equals and superiors, and withdrawing from our church assemblies, and instead thereof frequent meetings of their own, in opposition to our church order, or by adhering to, or approving of any known quaker, and the tenets and practices of the quakers, that are opposite to “the orthodox received opinions of the godly, and endeavouring to disaffect others to civil government, and church orders, or condemning the practice and proceedings of this court against the quakers, manifesting hereby their complying with those, whose design is to overthrow the order established in church and state; every such person, upon conviction before the said court of assistants, in manner as aforesaid, ‘shall be committed to close prison for one month;’ and then, unless they choose voluntarily to depart this jurisdiction, shall give bond for their good behaviour, and appear at the next court; where continuing obstinate, and ‘refusing to retract or reform the aforesaid opinions,’ they shall ‘be sentenced to banishment, upon pain of death:’ And any one magistrate, upon information given him of any such person, shall cause him to be apprehended; and shall commit any such person to prison, according to his discretion, until he come to trial, as aforesaid.”

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Footnote 371:

Id. p. 199.

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“Here endeth,” says my author, “this sanguinary act, being more like to the decrees of the Spanish inquisition, than the laws of a reformed christian magistracy; consisting of such who themselves, to shun persecution (which was but a small fine for not frequenting the public worship) had left Old England.” And what was it occasioned this bloody law? Why, because the poor quakers refused to pull off their hats, and withdrew from the church assemblies of these independent persecutors, and frequented their own meetings, in opposition to their church order; and because the quakers held tenets opposite to the orthodox received opinions of the godly, i. e. opposite to their own opinions, who by flying from England seem to have imagined that they carried away with them all the orthodoxy and godliness out of the kingdom.

And to shew the rigidness of their discipline, and that they did not intend this law merely “in terrorem,” they wickedly murdered several innocent persons under the cover of it, several of their priests standing with pleasure to see them executed. Thus William Robinson, merchant, Marmaduke Stephenson, Mary Dyer, and William Leddra, were hanged at Boston for being quakers; and they would have proceeded to more executions, had it not been for the Mandamus of Charles II. who, though a papist, yet was of a more merciful disposition than these New England disciplinarians, and ordered all proceedings against the quakers immediately to stop.

It would be endless to recount all the cruelties they used to these poor people, whom they imprisoned, unmercifully whipped, oppressed with fines, and then condemned them to be sold to the plantations, to answer the fines they had laid upon them. But enough hath been said to shew the inhumanity of their spirit and practice, and to raise in the reader an abhorrence and detestation of such a conduct in men, who, though they had been persecuted themselves, carried the principles of persecution with them into the place of their banishment, and used worse severities towards others for conscience-sake, than what they themselves had experienced from the bitterness of their enemies; and thereby made it appear, that they complained against the persecutions of the prelatical party, not because they were for moderation and christian charity in their own conduct, but because they thought the right of persecution only in themselves, and that violence ought not to be made use of to support any but the orthodox opinions of such as they themselves esteemed to be godly, and to maintain what they called the order and fellowship of their own churches.

[372]I have only to add, that I find also from the same author, that the quakers were much persecuted in Scotland; but as he hath given no particular account of that affair, I have nothing farther to enlarge upon that subject.

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Footnote 372:

p. 567.

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And thus have I brought the History of Persecution down to our own times, and nation; and shewn how all parties have, in their turns of power, been sharers in this guilt. If church history would have afforded me a better account, I assure my reader he should have had it told with pleasure. The story, as it is, I have told with grief. But it is time to dismiss him from so ungrateful an entertainment, and see what useful reflections we can make on the whole.