Chapter IX (2)

It was nine weeks from the time of our commitment to the assizes, to which abundance of people came from far and near to hear the trial of the Quakers. Captain Bradden lay with his troop of horse there, whose soldiers and the sheriff’s men guarded us up to the court through the multitude of people that filled the streets; and much ado they had to get us through them. Besides, the doors and windows were filled with people looking out upon us. When we were brought into the court, we stood some time with our hats on, and all was quiet; and I was moved to say, “Peace be amongst you!” Judge Glynne, a Welchman, then chief justice of England, said to the jailer, “what be these you have brought here into the court?” “Prisoners, my Lord,” said he. “Why do you not put off your hats?” said the judge to us: we said nothing. “Put off your hats,” said the judge again. Still we said nothing. Then said the judge, “The court commands you to put off your hats.” Then I spoke, and said, “Where did ever any magistrate, king, or judge, from Moses to Daniel, command any to put off their hats, when they came before them in their courts, either amongst the Jews, the people of God, or amongst the heathens? and if the law of England doth command any such thing, show me that law either written or printed.” Then the judge grew very angry, and said, “I do not carry my law-books on my back.” “But,” said I, “tell me where it is printed in any statute-book, that I may read it.” Then said the judge, “Take him away, prevaricator! I’ll _jerk_ him.” So they took us away, and put us among the thieves. Presently after he calls to the jailer, “Bring them up again.” “Come,” said he, “where had they hats from Moses to Daniel; come, answer me: I have you fast now,” said he. I replied, “Thou mayest read in the third of Daniel, that the three children were cast into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar’s command, with their coats, their hose, and their hats on.” This plain instance stopped him: so that not having any thing else to say to the point, he cried again, “Take them away, jailer.” Accordingly we were taken away, and thrust in among the thieves, where we were kept a great while; and then, without being called again, the sheriff’s men and the troopers made way for us (but we were almost spent) to get through the crowd of people, and guarded us to the prison again, a multitude of people following us, with whom we had much discourse and reasoning at the jail. We had some good books to set forth our principles, and to inform people of the truth: which the judge and justices hearing of, they sent Captain Bradden for them, who came into the jail to us, and violently took our books from us, some out of Edward Pyot’s hands, and carried them away; so we never got them again.

In the afternoon we were had up again into the court by the jailer and sheriff’s men, and troopers, who had a mighty toil to get us through the crowd of people. When we were in the court, waiting to be called, I seeing both the jurymen, and such a multitude of others swearing, it grieved my life, that such as professed Christianity should so openly disobey and break the command of Christ and the apostle. And I was moved of the Lord to give forth a paper against swearing, which I had about me, to the grand and petty juries; which was as follows:—

“_Concerning Swearing._

“Take heed of giving people oaths to swear: for Christ our Lord and
Master saith, ‘Swear not at all; but let your communications be yea
yea, and nay nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.’
If any man was to suffer death, it must be by the hand of two or three
witnesses; and the hands of the witnesses were to be first put upon
him, to put him to death. And the apostle James saith, ‘My brethren,
above all things swear not, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by
any other oath, lest ye fall into condemnation.’ Hence you may see,
those that swear fall into condemnation, and are out of Christ’s and
the apostle’s doctrine. Therefore, every one of you having a light
from Christ, who saith, ‘I am the light of the world,’ and doth
enlighten every man that cometh into the world; who also saith, ‘Learn
of me,’ whose doctrine is, not to swear; and the apostle’s doctrine
is, not to swear; ‘let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay, in all
your communications; for whatsoever is more, cometh of evil.’ Then,
they that go into more than yea and nay, go into evil, and are out of
the doctrine of Christ.

“Now, if you say, ‘that the oath was the end of controversy and
strife,’ they who are in strife, are out of Christ’s doctrine; for he
is the covenant of peace: and they who are in it, are in the covenant
of peace. And the apostle brings that but as an example: as, men
swearing by the greater; and the oath was the end of controversy and
strife among men; and said, verily, men swear by the greater: but God
could not find a greater, but swears by himself, concerning Christ;
who, when he was come, taught not to swear at all. So such as are in
him, and follow him, cannot but abide in his doctrine.

“If you say, ‘they swore under the law, and under the prophets,’
Christ is the end of the law, and of the prophets, to every one that
believeth for righteousness’ sake. Now mark; if you believe, ‘I am the
light of the world, which doth enlighten every man that cometh into
the world,’ saith Christ, by whom it was made; and every man of you
that is come into the world is enlightened with a light that comes
from Christ, by whom the world was made, that all of you through him
might believe; that is the end for which he doth enlighten you. Now if
you do believe in the light, as Christ commands, and saith, ‘believe
in the light, that you may be children of light,’ you believe in
Christ, and come to learn of him who is the way to the Father. This is
the light which shows the evil actions you have all acted, the ungodly
deeds you have committed, and all the ungodly speeches you have
spoken; and all your oaths, cursed speaking, and ungodly actions. Now
if you attend to this light, it will let you see all that you have
done contrary to it; and loving it, it will turn you from your evil
deeds, evil actions, evil ways, evil words, to Christ, who is not of
the world; who is the light which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world;—who testifies against the world, that the deeds thereof are
evil. So doth the light in every man, that he hath received from him,
testify against his works and deeds that are evil, that they are
contrary to the light; and each shall give an account at the day of
judgment for every idle word that is spoken. This light shall bring
every tongue to confess, yea, and every knee to bow at the name of
Jesus; in which light, if you believe, you shall not come into
condemnation, but come to Christ, who is not of the world;—to him by
whom it was made; but if you believe not in the light, this, the
light, is your condemnation, saith Christ.”

G. F.

This paper passing among them from the jury to the justices, they presented it to the judge; so that when we were called before the judge, he bade the clerk give me that paper; and then asked me, “whether that seditious paper was mine;” I told him, “If they would read it up in open court, that I might hear it, if it was mine I would own it, and stand by it.” He would have had me to take it, and look upon it in my own hand; but “I again desired that it might be read, that all the country might hear it, and judge whether there was any sedition in it or not; for if there were I was willing to suffer for it.” At last the clerk of the assize read it with an audible voice, that all the people might hear it: and when he had done, I told them, “it was my paper; I would own it; and so might they too, except they would deny the Scripture: for was not this Scripture language, and the words and commands of Christ, and the apostle, which all true Christians ought to obey?” Then they let fall that subject; and the judge fell upon us about our hats again, bidding the jailer take them off, which he did, and gave them to us; and we put them on again. Then we asked the judge and the justices, what we had lain in prison for these nine weeks, seeing they now objected nothing to us but about our hats; and as for putting off our hats, I told them, that was the honour which God would lay in the dust, though they made so much to do about it; the honour which is of men, and which men seek one of another, and is the mark of unbelievers. For “how can ye believe,” saith Christ, “who receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” and Christ saith, “I receive not honour from men;” and all true Christians should be of his mind.

Then the judge began to make a great speech, how he represented the lord Protector’s person; who had made him lord chief justice of England, and sent him to come that circuit, &c. We desired him then, that he would do us justice for our false imprisonment, which we had suffered nine weeks wrongfully. But instead of that, they brought in an indictment, that they had framed against us; so strange a thing, and so full of lies, that I thought it had been against some of the thieves; that we came “by force and arms, and in a hostile manner into the court;” who were brought, as aforesaid. I told them, “it was false:” and still we cried for justice for our false imprisonment, being taken up in our journey without cause by Major Ceely. Then Peter Ceely spoke to the judge, and said, “May it please you, my lord, this man (pointing to me), went aside with me, and told me how serviceable I might be for his design; that he could raise forty thousand men at an hour’s warning, and involve the nation in blood, and so bring in King Charles. I would have aided him out of the country, but he would not go. If it please you, my lord, I have a witness to swear it.” So he called upon his witness; but the judge not being forward to examine the witness, I desired that he would be pleased to let my mittimus be read in the face of the court and country, in which my crime was signified, for which I was sent to prison. The judge said, “it should not be read;” I said, “it ought to be, seeing it concerned my liberty and my life.” The judge said again, “It shall not be read;” but I said, “it ought to be read; for if I have done anything worthy of death, or of bonds, let all the country know it.” Then seeing they would not read it, I spoke to one of my fellow-prisoners, “Thou hast a copy of it, read it up,” said I. “It shall not be read,” said the judge; “Jailer,” said he, “take him away, I will see whether he or I shall be master.” So I was taken away; and a while after called for again. I still cried to have my mittimus read; for that signified the cause of my commitment: wherefore I again spoke to the friend, my fellow prisoner, to read it. He did read it, and the judge, justices, and whole court were silent; for the people were eager to hear it. It was as follows:—

_Peter Ceely, one of the Justices of the Peace of this County, to the
Keeper of His Highness’s jail at Launceston, or his lawful Deputy in
that behalf, Greeting_:—

“I send you herewithal by the bearers hereof, the bodies of Edward
Pyot of Bristol, and George Fox of Drayton-in-the-Clay, in
Leicestershire, and William Salt of London, which they pretend to be
the places of their habitations, who go under the notion of Quakers
and acknowledge themselves to be such; who have spread several papers
tending to the disturbance of the public peace, and cannot render any
lawful cause of coming into these parts, being persons altogether
unknown, and having no pass for their travelling up and down the
country, and refusing to give sureties of their good behaviour,
according to the law in that behalf provided; and refuse to take the
oath of abjuration, &c. These are therefore, in the name of his
Highness the lord Protector, to will and command you, that when the
bodies of said Edward Pyot, George Fox, and William Salt, shall be
unto you brought, you them receive, and in his highness’s prison
aforesaid you safely keep them, until by due course of law they shall
be delivered. Hereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at
your perils. Given under my hand and seal, at St. Ives, the eighteenth
day of January, 1665.”

P. CEELY.

When it was read I spoke thus to the judge and justices: “Thou that sayest thou art chief justice of England, and you justices know, that if I had put in sureties, I might have gone whither I pleased; and have carried on the design (if I had had one), which Major Ceely hath charged me with: and if I had spoken those words to him, which he hath here declared, judge ye, whether bail or mainprize could have been taken in that case.” Then, turning my speech to Major Ceely, I said, “When or where did I take thee aside? Was not thy house full of rude people, and thou as rude as any of them at our examination: so that I asked for a constable or some other officer, to keep the people civil? But if thou art my accuser, why sittest thou on the bench? This is not a place for thee to sit in; for accusers do not use to sit with the judge: thou oughtest to come down, and stand by me, and look me in the face. Besides, I would ask the judge and justices whether or not Major Ceely is not guilty of this treason, which he charges against me, in concealing it so long as he hath done? Does he understand his place either as a soldier or a justice of the peace? For he tells you here, that I went aside with him, and told him what a design I had in hand, and how serviceable he might be for my design: that I could raise forty thousand men in an hour’s time, and bring in King Charles, and involve the nation in blood. He saith, moreover, he would have aided me out of the country, but I would not go; and therefore he committed me to prison for want of sureties for the good behaviour, as the mittimus declares. Now do not you see plainly that Major Ceely is guilty of this plot and treason that he talks of, and hath made himself a party to it, by desiring me to go out of the country, and demanding bail of me, and not charging me with this pretended treason till now, nor discovering it? But I deny and abhor his words, and am innocent of his devilish design.” So that business was let fall: for the judge saw clearly enough, that instead of ensnaring me, he had ensnared himself.

Major Ceely then got up again and said, “If it please you, my lord, to hear me: this man struck me, and gave me such a blow, as I never had in my life.” At this I smiled in my heart, and said, “Major Ceely, thou art a justice of peace, and a major of a troop of horse, and tells the judge here in the face of the court and country, that I (who am a prisoner) struck thee, and gave thee such a blow, as thou never hadst the like in thy life? What! art thou not ashamed? Prithee, Major Ceely?” said I, “where did I strike thee? and who is thy witness for that? who was by?” He said it was in the Castle-Green, and that Captain Bradden was standing by, when I struck him. “I desired the judge to let him produce his witness for that, and I called again upon Major Ceely to come down from off the bench, telling him, it was not fit that the accuser should sit as judge over the accused.” When I called again for his witnesses, he said Captain Bradden was his witness. Then, I said, “Speak, Captain Bradden, didst thou see me give him such a blow, and strike him, as he saith?” Captain Bradden made no answer; but bowed his head towards me. I desired him to speak up, if he knew any such thing: but he only bowed his head again. “Nay,” said I, “speak up, and let the court and country hear, and let not bowing of the head serve the turn. If I have done so, let the law be inflicted on me; I fear not sufferings, nor death itself, for I am an innocent man concerning all this charge.” But Captain Bradden never testified to it: and the judge finding those snares would not hold, cried, “Take him away, jailer:” and then, when we were taken away, he fined us twenty marks a-piece for not putting off our hats; and to be kept in prison till we paid it: so he sent us back to the jail.

At night Captain Bradden came to see us, and seven or eight justices with him, who were very civil to us, and told us, they believed neither the judge nor any in the court gave credit to the charges which Major Ceely had brought forward against me in the face of the country. And Captain Bradden said, Major Ceely had an intent to take away my life if he could have got another witness. “But,” said I, “Captain Bradden, why didst not thou witness for me, or against me, seeing Major Ceely produced thee for a witness, that thou saw me strike him; and when I desired thee to speak either for me or against me, according to what thou saw or knew, thou wouldst not speak.” “Why,” said he, “when Major Ceely and I came by you, as you were walking in the Castle-Green, he put off his hat to you, and said, ‘How do you do, Mr. Fox? Your servant, Sir.’ Then you said to him, ‘Major Ceely, take heed of hypocrisy, and of a rotten heart: for when came I to be thy master, and thou my servant? Do servants cast their masters into prison?’ This was the great blow he meant you gave him.” Then I called to mind that they walked by us, and that he spoke so to me, and I to him; which hypocrisy and rotten-heartedness he manifested openly, when he complained of this to the judge in open court, and in the face of the country; and would have made them all believe, that I struck him outwardly with my hand.

Now we were kept in prison, and many came from far and near, to see us; of whom some were people of account in the world; for the report of our trial was spread abroad, and our boldness and innocency in our answers to the judge and court were talked of in town and country. Among others came Humphrey Lower to visit us, a grave, sober, old man, who had been a justice of peace; he was very sorry we should lie in prison; telling us how serviceable we might be if we were at liberty. We reasoned with him concerning swearing; and having acquainted him how they tendered the oath of abjuration to us, as a snare, because they knew we could not swear, we showed him that no people could be serviceable to God, if they disobeyed the command of Christ; and that they that imprisoned us for the hat-honour, which was of men, and which men sought for, prisoned the good, and vexed and grieved the spirit of God in themselves, which should have turned their minds to God. So we turned him to the Spirit of God in his heart, and to the light of Christ Jesus; and he was thoroughly convinced, and continued so to his death, and became very serviceable, to us.[47]

Footnote 47:

Humphrey Lower, who resided near Bodmin, in Cornwall, was an
influential magistrate, his name appearing as such in the history of
the county, under Charles I. He could, however, say with Paul, “What
things were gain unto me, those I counted loss for Christ.” In 1658,
for not attending the national worship, and refusing to enter into
bond to appear at the assizes, on a presentment made against him by
the constable of the parish, H. Lower was, on his non-appearance,
committed, notwithstanding his age and high character, to Launceston
jail, where he continued till the assizes; and then was put forth
without examination or trial, or any satisfaction for such rough
treatment. In 1660, he was sent for by a warrant, to appear before two
justices at Wadebridge, when one of them, Roscarrock, tendered him the
oath of supremacy; and for his refusing to take it, a mittimus was
made out and subscribed by him and two other magistrates, who acted
very unwillingly. Thereupon he was again sent to Launceston jail,
where he remained about two weeks, and then was freed by Sir J.
Coryton and E. Hearle. It is stated that H. Lower, when himself in the
commission of the peace, had more obliged the said Roscarrock than any
other man, by doing him many singular offices of justice and courtesy.
The return was a very ungrateful one.

G. Fox mentions large and satisfactory meetings held at his house in
1663 and 1668, and says that he continued serviceable till his death,
the date of which event is not recorded.

There came also to see us one Colonel Rouse, a justice of peace, with a great company with him. He was as full of words and talk as ever I heard any man in my life, so that there was no speaking to him. At length I asked him, “whether he had ever been at school, and knew what belonged to questions and answers;” (this I said to stop him.) “At school!” said he, “Yes.” “At school!” said the soldiers; “doth he say so to our colonel, that is a scholar?” Then said I, “If he be so, let him be still, and receive answers to what he hath said.” Then I was moved to speak the word of life to him in God’s dreadful power; which came so over him that he could not open his mouth: his face swelled and was red like a turkey; his lips moved, and he mumbled something; but the people thought he would have fallen down. I stepped to him, and he said he was never so in his life before: for the Lord’s power stopped the evil power in him; so that he was almost choked. The man was ever after very loving to Friends, and not so full of airy words to us; though he was full of pride; but the Lord’s power came over him, and the rest that were with him.

Another time there came an officer of the army, a very malicious, bitter professor, whom I had known in London. He was full of his airy talk also, and spoke slightingly of the light of Christ, and against the truth, and against the Spirit of God being in men, as it was in the apostles’ days; till the power of God that bound the evil in him, had almost choked him as it did Colonel Rouse: for he was so full of evil that he could not speak, but blubbered and stuttered. But from the time that the Lord’s power struck him, and came over him, he was ever after more loving to us.

The assize being over, and we settled in prison upon such a commitment, that we were not likely to be soon released, we discontinued giving the jailer seven shillings a-week each for our horses, and seven for ourselves; and sent our horses out into the country. Upon which he grew very wicked and devilish; and put us down into Doomsdale, a nasty, stinking place, where they put murderers, after they were condemned. The place was so noisome, that it was observed few that went in ever came out again in health. There was no house of office in it; and the excrements of the prisoners that from time to time had been left there, had not been carried out (as we were told) for many years. So that it was all like mire, and in some places to the top of the shoes in water and urine; and he would not let us cleanse it, nor suffer us to have beds or straw to lie on. At night some friendly people of the town brought us a candle and a little straw, and we burnt some of it to take away the stink. The thieves lay over our heads, and the head jailer in a room by them, over us also. It seems the smoke went up into the jailer’s room; which put him into such a rage, that he took the pots of excrements of the thieves, and poured them through a hole upon our heads in Doomsdale; whereby we were so bespattered, that we could not touch ourselves or one another. And the stink increased upon us, so that what with that, and what with smoke, we had nearly been choked and smothered. We had the stink under our feet before, but now we had it on our heads and backs also; and he having quenched our straw with the filth he poured down, had made a great smother in the place. Moreover he railed at us most hideously, calling us hatchet-faced dogs, and such strange names as we had never heard. In this manner were we fain to stand all night, for we could not sit down, the place was so full of filthy excrements.[48] A great while he kept us in this manner, before he would let us cleanse it, or suffer us to have any victuals brought in but what we had through the grate. Once a girl brought us a little meat, and he arrested her for breaking his house, and sued her in the town-court for breaking the prison. Much trouble he put her to, whereby others were so discouraged, that we had much to do to get water or victuals. Near this time we sent for a young woman, Ann Downer, from London, that could write, and take things well in short-hand, to buy and dress our meat for us, which she was very willing to do, it being also upon her spirit to come to us in the love of God; and she was very serviceable to us.

Footnote 48:

We who live in the 19th century, when the impartial administration of
justice extends to all ranks of society, and when the accommodations
of our prisons are so vigilantly looked into, can scarcely credit that
respectable Englishmen should be subjected to such gross abuse in
pestilential dungeons. But the early annals of Friends abound with
similar cases, many of them still more aggravated. Take the following
example:—

During the close imprisonment of Friends at Aberdeen, Patrick
Livingstone often preached to the people through the prison windows,
exhorting the people to fear God. This practice was highly displeasing
to the magistrates. They, therefore, sought to prevent it, by causing
some of them to be separated from the rest of their companions, and
violently thrust into a close-vaulted cell, on the top of the jail,
called the “iron-house,” where the worst of felons and murderers were
usually confined. They had neither light nor air, except through a
long hole in a thick wall, which had a double grating of iron on the
outside and another within. Here they were kept night and day, in the
heat of the summer of 1678, when the filthiness of the place, and the
corruption of the air so closely pent-up, produced a multitude of
worms, called _white maggots_ and _other vermin_, which swarmed about
even upon their beds and victuals, and manifestly tended to the
extreme danger of their health and lives.

This head-jailer, we were informed, had been a thief, and was branded in the hand and in the shoulder: his wife, too, had been branded in the hand. The under-jailer had been branded in the hand and shoulder; and his wife in the hand also. Colonel Bennet, who was a Baptist teacher, having purchased the jail and lands belonging to the castle, had placed this head-jailer therein. The prisoners, and some wild people, talked of spirits that haunted Doomsdale, and how many had died in it; thinking perhaps to terrify us therewith. But I told them, that if all the spirits and devils in hell were there, I was over them in the power of God, and feared no such thing; for Christ, our priest, would sanctify the walls and the house to us, he who bruised the head of the devil. The priest was to cleanse the plague out of the walls of the house under the law, which Christ, our priest, ended; who sanctifies both inwardly and outwardly the walls of the house, the walls of the heart, and all things to his people.

By this time the general quarter-sessions drew nigh; and the jailer still carrying himself basely and wickedly towards us, we drew up our suffering case, and sent it to the sessions at Bodmin. On reading of which the justices gave order, “that Doomsdale door should be opened and that we should have liberty to cleanse it, and to buy our meat in the town.” We also sent a copy of our sufferings to the Protector, setting forth how we were taken and committed by Major Ceely; and abused by Captain Keat as aforesaid, and the rest in order. The Protector sent down an order to Captain Fox, governor of Pendennis Castle, to examine the matter about the soldiers abusing us, and striking me. There were at that time many of the gentry of the country at the castle; and Captain Keat’s kinsman, that struck me, was sent for before them, and much threatened. They told him, “that if I should change my principle, I might take the extremity of the law against him, and might recover sound damages of him.” Captain Keat also was checked, for suffering the prisoners under his charge to be abused. This was of great service in the country; for afterwards Friends might have spoken in any market or steeple-house thereabouts, and none would meddle with them.

I understood that Hugh Peters, one of the Protector’s chaplains, told him they could not do George Fox a greater service for the spreading of his principles in Cornwall, than to imprison him there. And indeed my imprisonment there was of the Lord, and for his service in those parts; for after the assizes were over, and it was known we were likely to continue prisoners, several Friends from most parts of the nation came into the country to visit us. Those parts of the West were very dark countries at that time; but the Lord’s light and truth broke forth, shone over all, and many were turned from darkness to light, and from Satan’s power unto God. Many were moved to go to the steeple-houses; and several were sent to prison to us; and a great convincement began in the country. For now we had liberty to come out and to walk in the Castle-Green; and many came to us on first-days, to whom we declared the word of life. Great service we had among them, and many were turned to God, up and down the country; but great rage got up in the priests and professors against the truth and us. One of the envious professors had collected many Scripture sentences, to prove that we ought to put off our hats to the people; and he invited the town of Launceston to come into the castle-yard to hear him read them: amongst other instances that he there brought, one was, that Saul bowed to the witch of Endor. When he had done, we got a little liberty to speak; and we showed both him and the people, “that Saul was gone from God, and had disobeyed God, like them, when he went to the witch of Endor: that neither the prophets, nor Christ, nor the apostles ever taught people to bow to a witch.” The man went away with his rude people; but some stayed with us, and we showed them that this was not gospel instruction, to teach people to bow to a witch. For now people began to be affected with the truth, and the devil’s rage increased; so that we were often in great danger.

One time there came a soldier to us; and whilst one of our friends was admonishing and exhorting him to sobriety, &c., I saw him begin to draw his sword. Whereupon I stepped to him, and told him what a shame it was to offer to draw his sword upon a naked man, and a prisoner; and how unfit and unworthy he was to carry such a weapon; and that if he should have offered such a thing to some men, they would have taken his sword from him, and have broken it to pieces. So he was ashamed, and went his way; and the Lord’s power preserved us.

Another time, about eleven at night, the jailer being half drunk, came and told me he had got a man now to dispute with me (this was when we had leave to go a little into the town.) As soon as he spoke these words, I felt there was mischief intended to my body. All that night and the next day, I lay down on a grass-plat to slumber, and I felt something still about my body; and I started up and struck at it in the power of the Lord, and yet still it was about my body. Then I arose and walked into the Castle-Green, and the under-keeper came to me, and told me there was a maid would speak with me in the prison. I felt a snare in his words too, therefore I went not into the prison, but to the grate, and looking in, I saw a man that was lately brought to prison for being a conjurer, and he had a knife in his hand. I spoke to him, and he threatened to cut my chaps; but being within the jail, he could not come at me. This was the jailer’s great disputant. I went soon after into the jailer’s house, and found him at breakfast; and he had then got his conjurer out with him. I told the jailer his plot was discovered. Then he got up from the table, and cast his napkin away in a rage; and I left them and went away to my chamber; for at this time we were out of Doomsdale. At the time the jailer had said the dispute should be, I went down and walked in the court (the place appointed) till about eleven, but nobody came. Then I went up to my chamber again, and after a while I heard one call for me. I stepped to the stairs’ head, and there I saw the jailer’s wife upon the stairs, and the conjuror at the bottom of the stairs, holding his hand behind his back and in a great rage. I asked him, “Man, what hast thou in thy hand behind thy back? Pluck thy hand before thee,” said I; “let us see thy hand, and what thou hast in it.” Then in a rage he plucked forth his hand with a naked knife in it. I showed the jailer’s wife the wicked design of her husband and herself against me; for this was the man they they had brought to dispute of the things of God. But the Lord discovered their plot, and prevented their evil design; they both raged, and the conjuror threatened. Then I was moved to speak sharply to him in the dreadful power of the Lord, which bound him down, so that he never after durst appear before me to speak to me. I saw it was the Lord alone that preserved me out of their bloody hands; for the devil had a great enmity to me, and stirred up his instruments to seek my hurt. But the Lord prevented them; and my heart was filled with thanksgivings and praises unto him.

Now while I was exercised with people of divers sorts, that came some out of good will to visit us, some out of an envious, carping mind to wrangle and dispute, and some out of curiosity to see us, Edward Pyot, who before his convincement had been a captain in the army, and had a good understanding in the laws and rights of the people, being sensible of the injustice and envy of Judge Glynne to us at our trial, and willing to lay the weight thereof upon him, and make him sensible thereof also, wrote an epistle to him on behalf of us all, thus:—

“_To John Glynne, Chief Justice of England._

“FRIEND,

“We are free men of England, free born; our rights and liberties are
according to law, and ought to be defended by it: and therefore with
thee, by whose hand we have so long suffered, and still suffer, let us
reason a little plainly concerning thy proceedings against us, whether
they have been according to law, and agreeable to thy duty and office,
as chief minister of the law, or justice of England. And in meekness
and lowliness abide, that the witness of God in thy conscience may be
heard to speak and judge in this matter, for thou and we must all
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that everyone may receive
according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Therefore,
friend, in moderation and soberness, weigh what is herein laid before
thee.

“In the afternoon, before we were brought before thee at the assize at
Launceston, thou didst cause many scores of our books to be violently
taken from us by armed men without due process of law; which being
perused to see if anything in them could be found to be laid to our
charge, who were innocent men, and then upon our legal issue, thou
hast detained from us to this very day. Now our books are our goods,
and our goods are our property; and our liberty is to have and enjoy
our property; and of our liberty and property the law is the defence,
which saith, ‘No free man shall be disseized of his freehold,
liberties, or free customs, &c., nor any way otherwise destroyed: and
we shall not pass upon him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by
the law of the land.’ Magna Charta, cap. 29. Now friend, consider, is
not the taking away of a man’s goods violently, by force of arms, as
aforesaid, contrary to the law of the land? Is not the keeping of them
so taken away, a disseizing him of his property, and a destroying of
it and his liberty, yea, his very being, so far as the invading of the
guard the law sets about him, is in order thereunto? Calls not the law
this, a destroying of a man? Is there any more than one common guard
or defence to property, liberty, and life, viz. the law? And can this
guard be broken on the former (viz. property and liberty), and the
latter (viz. life,) be sure? Doth not he that makes an invasion upon a
man’s property and liberty (which he doth, who, contrary to law, which
is the guard, acts against either,) make an invasion upon a man’s
life; since that which is the guard of the one, is also of the other?
If a penny, or a penny’s-worth, be taken from a man contrary to law,
may not by the same rule all that a man hath be taken away? If the
bond of the law be broken upon a man’s property, may it not on the
same ground be broken upon his person? And by the same reason, as it
is broken on one man, may it not be broken upon all, since the
liberty, and property, and beings of all men under a government are
relative, a communion of wealth, as the members in the body, but one
guard and defence to all, the law? One man cannot be injured therein,
but it redounds to all. Are not such things in order to the subversion
and dissolution of government? Where there is no law, what is become
of government? And of what value is the law made, when the ministers
thereof break it at pleasure upon men’s properties, liberties, and
persons? Canst thou clear thyself of these things, as to us? To that
of God in thy conscience, which is just, do I speak. Hast thou acted
like a minister, the chief minister, of the law, who hast taken our
goods, and yet detainest them, without so much as going by lawful
warrant, grounded upon due information, which in this our case thou
couldst not have; for none had perused them, whereby to give thee
information? Shouldst thou exercise violence and force of arms on
prisoners’ goods, in their prison-chamber, instead of proceeding
orderly and legally, which thy place calls upon thee, above any man,
to tender, defend, and maintain against wrong, and to preserve entire
the guard of every man’s being, liberty, life, and livelihood?
Shouldst thou, whose duty it is to punish the wrong-doer, do wrong
thyself? who ought to see that the law is kept and observed, break the
law, and turn aside the due administration thereof? Surely from thee,
considering thou art chief justice of England, other things were
expected, both by us and by the people of this nation.

“And when we were brought before thee, and stood upon our legal issue,
and no accuser or accusation came in against us, as to what we had
been wrongfully imprisoned, and in prison detained for nine weeks,
shouldst not thou have caused us to be acquitted by proclamation?
Saith not the law so? Oughtest thou not to have examined the cause of
our commitment? And there not appearing a lawful cause, oughtest thou
not to have discharged us? Is it not the substance of thy office and
duty, to do justice according to the law and custom of England? Is not
this the end of the administration of the law? of the general assizes?
of the jail delivery? of the judges going the circuits? Hast not thou
by doing otherwise, acted contrary to all these, and to Magna Charta?
which, cap. 29, saith, ‘We shall sell to no man, we shall deny or
defer to no man, either justice or right.’ Hast thou not both deferred
and denied to us, who had been so long oppressed, this justice and
right? And when of thee justice we demanded, saidst thou not, ‘If we
would be uncovered, thou wouldst hear us, and do us justice?’—‘We
shall sell to no man, we shall deny or defer to no man, either justice
or right,’ saith Magna Charta, as aforesaid. Again, ‘We have commanded
all our justices, that they shall henceforth do even law, and
execution of right to all our subjects, rich and poor, without having
regard to any man’s person; and without letting to do right for any
letters or commandments, which may come to them from us, or from any
other, or by any other cause, &c., upon pain to be at our will, body,
lands, and goods, to do therewith as shall please us, in case they do
contrary,’ saith Stat. 20. Edw. III. cap. 1. Again, ‘Ye shall swear
that ye shall do even law and execution of right to all, rich and
poor, without having regard to any person; and that ye deny to no man
common right by the king’s letters, or other man’s, nor for any other
cause. And in case any letter come to you contrary to the law, that ye
do nothing by such letter, but certify the king thereof, and go forth
to do the law notwithstanding those letters. And in case ye be from
henceforth found in default in any of the points aforesaid, ye shall
be at the king’s will of body, lands, and goods, thereof to be done,
as shall please him,’ saith the oath, appointed by the statute to be
taken by all the judges, Stat. 18. Edw. III. But none of these nor any
other law hath such an expression or condition in it as this, viz.,
‘provided he will put off his hat to you, or be uncovered:’ nor doth
the law of God so say, or that your persons be respected; but the
contrary. From whence then comes this new law, ‘If ye will be
uncovered I will hear you, and do you justice?’ This hearing complaint
of wrong, this doing of justice, upon condition, wherein lies the
equity and reasonableness of that? When were these fundamental laws
repealed, which were the issue of much blood and war; to uphold which
cost the miseries and blood of the late wars, that we shall now be
heard, as to right, and have justice done us but upon condition, and
that too such a trifling one as putting off the hat? Doth thy saying
so, who art commanded, as aforesaid, repeal them, and make them of
none effect, and all the miseries undergone, and the blood shed for
them of old, and of late years? Whether it be so or not indeed, and to
the nation, thou hast made it so to us, to whom thou hast denied the
justice of our liberty (when we were before thee, and no accuser, nor
accusation came in against us,) and the hearing of the wrong done to
us, who are innocent, and the doing us right. And bonds hast thou
cast, and continued upon us until this day, under an unreasonable and
cruel jailer, for not performing that thy condition, for
conscience-sake. But thinkest thou that this thine own conditional
justice maketh void the law? or can it do so? or absolve thee before
God or man? or acquit the penalty mentioned in the laws aforesaid?
unto which hast thou not consented and sworn? viz., ‘And in case ye be
from henceforth found in default, in any of the points aforesaid, ye
shall be at the king’s will, of body, lands, and goods, thereof to be
done as shall please him.’ And is not thy saying, ‘If ye will be
uncovered (or put off your hats), I will hear you, and do you
justice;’ and because we could not put them off for conscience-sake,
thy denying us justice, and refusing to hear us, as to wrong, who had
so unjustly suffered, a default in thee against the very essence of
those laws, yea, and overthrow thereof, for which thing’s sake (being
of the highest importance to the well-being of men), so just, so
equal, so necessary, those laws were made, and all the provisions
therein? To make a default in any one point of which provisions,
exposeth to the said penalty. Dost not thou by this time see where
thou art? Art thou sure thou shalt never be made to understand and
feel the justice thereof? Is thy seat so high, and thy fence so great,
and art thou so certain of thy time and station, above all that have
gone before thee, whom justice hath cut down, and given them their
due, that thou shalt never be called to an account, nor with its long
and sure stroke be reached? Deceive not thyself, God is come nearer to
judgment than the workers of iniquity in this age imagine; who
persecute and evil-entreat those that witness the just and Holy One,
for their witnessing of him who is come to reign for ever and ever.
Saith he not, he will be a swift witness against the false swearers?
God is not mocked.

“Surely, friend, that must needs be a very great offence which
deprives a man of justice, of being heard as to wrong, of the benefit
of the law, and of those laws afore-rehearsed; to defend the justice
and equity of which a man hath adventured his blood and all that is
dear to him. But to stand covered (or with the hat on), in conscience
to the command of the Lord, is made by thee such an offence (which is
none in law), and rendered upon us (who are innocent, serving the
living God), effectual to deny us justice, though the laws of God, and
of man, and the oath, equity and reason, say the contrary, and on it
pronounce such a penalty. ‘If ye will be uncovered (uncovered, saidst
thou), I will hear you, and do you justice;’ but justice we had not,
nor were we heard, because Jesus Christ, who is the higher power, the
lawgiver of his people, in our consciences commanded us not to respect
persons, whom we choose to obey rather than man. And for our obedience
unto him hast thou cast us into prison, and continued us there till
this very day, having showed us neither law for it, nor Scripture, nor
instances of either, nor example of heathens nor others.

“Friend, come down to that of God, that is just in thee, and consider,
was ever such a thing as this heard of in this nation? what is become
of seriousness, of true judgment, and of righteousness? An unrighteous
man, standing before thee with his hat off, shall be heard; but an
innocent man, appearing with his hat on in conscience to the Lord,
shall neither be heard nor have justice. Is not this regarding of
persons contrary to the laws aforesaid, and the oath and the law of
God? Understand and judge: Did we not own authority and government
oftentimes before the court? Didst not thou say in the court, thou
wast glad to hear so much from us of our owning magistracy? Pleaded we
not to the indictment, though it was such a new-found one as England
never heard of before? Came we not when thou sent for us? Went we not
when thou bade us go? And are we not still prisoners at thy command
and at thy will? If the hat had been such an offence to thee, couldst
not thou have caused it to be taken off, when thou heard us so often
declare, we could not do it in conscience to the commands of the Lord,
and that for that cause we forbore it, not in contempt of thee or of
authority, nor in disrespect to thine, or any man’s person (for we
said, we honoured all men in the Lord, and owned authority, which was
a terror to evildoers, and a praise to them that do well; and our
souls were subject to the higher powers for conscience-sake): as thou
caused them to be taken off, and to be kept so, when thou called the
jury to find us transgressors without a law?