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and the third year the government is changed," of which the king took much notice, calling on his lords to hear it, and saying, "Lo! these are my good subjects of New England." And thereupon he asked, "When any ship went thither?" and said, "I will put a stop to them, and grant appeals to England;" and for that purpose would send a letter to them; and he gave the Friend who was then with him, who gave him a relation of your cruelties and the passage in writing, an order to call on his lordchancellor at such a time, and he should have the letter, which was punctually performed, in these words:

"CHARLES R.

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"Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Having been in"formed that several of our subjects amongst you, called Quakers, "have been and are imprisoned by you, whereof some have been "executed, and others, as hath been represented unto us, are in "danger to undergo the like, we have thought fit to signify our "pleasure, in that behalf, for the future; and do hereby require, "that if there be any of those people, called Quakers, amongst "you now already condemned to suffer death or other corporal "punishment, or that are imprisoned and obnoxious to the like "condemnation, you are to forbear to proceed any further there"in, but that you forthwith send the said persons, whether con"demned or imprisoned, over into this our kingdom of England, "together with the respective crimes or offences laid to their "charge, to the end such course may be taken with them here as "shall be agreeable to our laws and their demerits. And for so "doing, these our letters shall be your sufficient warrant and dis"charge. Given at our Court, at Whitehall, the 9th day of Sep"tember, 1661, in the thirteenth year of our reign.”*

So fulfilling the words that passed me in the said page of the said treatise, presently after the words aforesaid, "Be not deceived, as sure as you have acted all this violence and outrage upon the innocent, so will the Lord" (if man should not, yet man shall do His will. See how it was fulfilled in what follows, and how it was the Word of the Lord which He fulfilled) "execute His righteous judgment upon you, yea, seven-fold more, and with grievous indignation will He require it of you. And this the Lord

Subscribed "To our trusty and well-beloved John Endicott, Esquire, and to all and every other, the governor or governors "of our Plantation of New England, and of all the Colonies "thereunto belonging, that now are or hereafter shall be; and "to all and every the ministers and officers of our said Planta"tions and Colonies whatsoever, within the Continent of New "England.

"By his majesty's command,

"WILLIAM MORRIS."

The king's letter being received, a ship* was provided, and Samuel Shattock, of Salem, one of the three banished by you that came over to England, went with it, and a friend of ours, one Ralph Goldsmith, was master of the ship; and he came in over your hundred-pound fine and law of death for any shipmaster who should bring a Quaker into your jurisdiction, even as did the other, which appalled you much, and as a dagger to your hearts began your judgment. As the Power of the Lord in His innocent servants outdid your executions, you were tormented thereby, and it was something for you to see the Quakers come before you and your judgment, whom you would condemn with fine and death, and give judgment against. And your governor Endicott fretted within himself, and one while he would order Samuel Shattock's hat to be taken off, and another while he would order it given to him; and your plagues were doubled upon you. Great commotion it made amongst you, for the Quakers must be put out of the prison, and your courier, Colonel Temple, must post beforehand, and speak to the king about your having set the Quakers at liberty, and so had obeyed his command, as a present to appease him whose wrath you feared was kindled against you. And, lest things should miscarry, after him you sent your high

hath spoken, and He will fulfil His Word, and the time is near." And see how near it was, and how soon fulfilled, as what hath been declared makes manifest.

When the ship arrived at Boston, Captain Oliver, afore-mentioned, went on board, and supposing the seamen were mostly Quakers, he came into Boston and said, as is reported, "There is Shattock, and the devil, and all."

priest John Norton and Simon Bradstreet, one of your magistrates, who were both deeply concerned in the blood of the innocent and their cruel sufferings, the one as adviser, the other as an actor, with an agency, and as much honour as your country would allow, to work things down again to your mind and will, that you might not bleed for the same, but make the Quakers bleed. Oh, how your bowels did tumble within you, to think of the issue, and what might be the consequence! And how they did bespeak you here, and with what courtship and flattering, lest your day should come upon you, and you be tormented before your time! And what good subjects did they endeavour to render you to be, and what fear was upon them! at least, on Simon Bradstreet, lest the murder of our Friends by them and you should be required at their hands. And how they did seek to run into holes as to that! And how wary was Simon Bradstreet, lest he should be entrapped in his discourse, as he accounted it! And he would have witnesses to hear what was spoken, when he was discoursed with friendly about their blood; * whose blood he had answered for here, but that we leave things to Him that judgeth righteously, who will require in due season. And how was John Norton afraid

*When the said Bradstreet was in England, and was examined by George Fox and some other of our Friends, about putting to death, or murdering, some of their Friends in New England, "Whether he had a hand in it, and by what law they did it?" and "Whether they were subject to the laws of England?" he answered in a fearful manner, guilt being upon him, and would shuffle it off from himself, and said, "That they had a law by which they put Jesuits to death." It was asked him, "Whether they were Jesuits?" and, "Whether they had put them to death as Jesuits?" And he said, "Nay, he did not believe they were Jesuits." So then it was said to him, "That they murdered them," when no law of England could be instanced by him, by which they put them to death. At which he was afraid, and said, "What, do you come to catch?" Seeing himself ensnared, he would fain have been gone, and soon after got out of England, or else William Robinson's father might have been on his back, for murdering his son, as before stated. Sce George Fox's Postscript to the first edition, and W. Coddington's Demonstration, pages 7 and 8. And some in authority were much troubled, that our Friends did not seize on him and his company, as murderers; but they left them to the judgment of God, as is said, to whom vengeance belongeth, and He will repay it; and He hath repaid it as aforesaid.

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to own, yea, how did he deny, his having to do in their blood, and the other cruelties practised on the innocent, as not being present at any of those transactions or having advised them, till John Copeland, a person whose ear you cut off, convicted him of the contrary, of whom and his judgment, and of his having more particularly to do in the blood of all our Friends whom ye murdered, and his being the encourager thereunto, I shall speak more anon. Oh, the anguish and trouble that was upon you then, and fears of what the consequence might be! Your hearts were full of blood, your consciences full of guilt, your hands full of cruelty, your resolutions full of mischief. But, O ye serpents! how you did lurk and twine in the ground, to cover and hide your heads, and save a blush! Oh, the day of judgment was a terrible day! Oh, the thought of the bishops made you shake, who dared to wash your hands in the blood of those who feared not to look you in the face! Oh, if the king would now but be your friend, and let you go, and pass by all that you have done, what good subjects you would be! how prostrate you would lie, if you might but be admitted into the number of his loyal subjects, who kneel at his feet! Oh, the sense of a reckoning, how hard it was! oh, to suffer, what an uncouth thing it was! You had forgotten bowels of tenderness and compassion, and now suffering for your demerits was like to be your case. Oh, how comes the scene to be changed? And, oh, how unlike men do you appear, metamorphosed from the highest murderers into the most fearful cowards! But, alas! what fruits did your agents bring forth? what welcome news brought they to you on their arrival? what blessed advantage was the consequence as to you? The king declared liberty of conscience to those in the Colony to whom you had denied it and had made them suffer for it; and so did that to the country which was the design of the plantation, and which you pretended unto in going thither, but having got into the seat would give it to none.

But how did you like this? and how did the king's steps please you? What comfort did all this add to you, and how were your joys increased? Did you triumph at your agent's return, or did

you, with gladness of heart, cause the king's Declaration to be read? How liked you John Norton's cushion, that he brought from the archbishop, as was said? Oh, how paleness grew upon you! how wan your looks! how thin your cheeks! Your hearts grew sad; you sighed. "Oh, this John Norton," said some, "hath brought us into bondage. Oh, John Norton and Simon Bradstreet, what have ye brought over? We shall be picked out at last; we shall be sent for over in England, one after another; we shall be unravelled; we shall be brought to nothing; we shall be ruined and undone; if this takes place, we must think of somewhere else, &c. Commissioners, we of Boston, of the Colony of the Massachusetts, will not receive you."*

So speak your actions, and the things that you have done, and the sense your actors give of what hath been done; and so you have said as aforesaid, which I have drawn before you in that Power which knows your hearts, who will render unto you according to your deeds. The truth of it is, you would have none live who square not with you, but are for yourselves only; and the issue will prove that any may live but you. The hand of the Lord is against you, and His judgments will take hold of you; and you go in the way of them, and your own hands are bringing your work on yourselves, and blood will be given you to drink, for you are worthy.

* Old Hathorn is said to have endeavoured upon a training-day to insinuate with the soldiers, that "the king's commissioners were pretended commissioners; that their commission was made under a hedge, and sealed with yellow wax, and that they were unmannerly, and would not put off their hats to the authority of the country." And that a soldier should reply, "You have a law to whip the Quakers for such things, why do ye not the same to them?" That he then made a speech to the company, and said, "You that are for the king's commissioners stand, and you that are for the country, follow me," &c.

†This hath seemed verified, whom vengeance hath pursued above any that I have heard of, in all respects, as in the wars; as if they were designed to be rooted out, or that any might live but them, so that Cotton Mather confesses, Book VII., page 114, "that when peace was restored unto the whole English Nation, and enjoyed by all America, poor New England was the only land still embroiled in war." So did judgment take hold of them according to their deeds.

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