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So meet they did, and ye pursued them, and Captain Hathorn was a chief who, like a dog called the bloodhound, never left off scenting after them till he found them out, and had his will on them, in person and estate, whom once he considered as his good friends, as they were. And the Constable of the town of Salem was the next who made such search, and was so eager in it that he took an axe and broke open the door of a house wherein they were met, who might have had it opened if he would have waited, and took their names and sent them in, by the advice of the said Hathorn, as the said constable declared, to the Court at Ipswich, which sat shortly after; whereunto four of them were summoned, for it was not usual with them to deal with too many at once, lest the people should take notice. And three of them the constable so brought, viz.,-Samuel Shattock, Nicholas Phelps, and Joshua Buffum, (for the fourth, viz., Ann Needham, she was in childbed, and could not be brought). The Court made much ado, especially about their hats, that being the only character ye could make of such an one as ye called a Quaker, and upon which ye proceeded. They waited for their charge, and wherefore they were sent for thither; which was, "For not coming to your meetings, and for meeting by themselves contrary to your law." Simon Bradstreet put questions to them about the Trinity and Christ's body, &c. They were glad of this opportunity to clear themselves before the people, for those of them who were sent to Boston knew not for what it was; yet thither were they sent, and whipped and detained as aforesaid, since which time they had not opportunity to speak with those that sent them; who punished them by a law made against a "cursed sect of heretics," as the law expresses, "that speak and write blasphemous opinions; whose doctrines," as it saith, "are diabolical," &c. But as no such thing was proved against them, nor were they tried upon any such question, but did deny that they were such a people as the law expresses; and judged it hard and wrong dealing with them that, under colour of a law, they should be proceeded with contrary to and against all law-answer was made, "That they appeared so by their hats and company, and that

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they might appeal." Now they knew well enough that themselves should be of the Court of Appeal. So they appealed, viz., Samuel Shattock, Nicholas Phelps, and Joshua Buffum. "You must do it by petition," said the Court, which they could not; but justice they desired and not mercy, according to their law; and so spake, and required them again to "prove them to be such as the law expresses." The hat was brought up again. "Then let it be so recorded," said they, "that we have been thus punished for not putting off the hat." But this the Court would not. Still they required evidence to prove them blasphemers, heretics, and holding diabolical doctrines, or such a cursed sect as the law speaks of, by which they were punished. "Brend said so and so," said the Court, "and that they did own it." "None of us heard it," said they, "for none of us were there." Yet W. Brend said nothing to them but what was savory and truth, and if he had, he should have heard of it, and they would have produced it, no doubt, to satisfy the people who were so troubled about his suffering; which was reasonable enough and turned a lie upon them, viz., for saying, "They owned what he said," when none of them were there. Then the Court put questions to them, whereby to clear themselves, and Daniel Dennison was chief in it. "Evidence," said the prisoners; "produce your evidence. We desire nothing but a fair trial, the privilege of men. We are not afraid or ashamed to declare what we hold, whether before the Court or elsewhere," and offered it before all the people, first, "to have a fair trial by a jury of twelve men, according to law, by proof and evidence, as to what you have done to us, till which we shall not answer; it being an unreasonable thing for the magistrates to be both accusers and judges. So," said they, "ye may accuse of sodomy and murder, or any other crime, and execute your law causelessly upon us." But this the Court denied, contrary to the law of England, and in the express breach of Magna Charta, and of your charter; and, instead of proving anything against them, or producing anything in order thereunto, except some questions to gain something out of their own mouths wherewithal to accuse them, which they an

swered not, they were each of them sentenced to pay ten shillings a-piece for being at meetings by themselves, and five shillings each for not being at yours; that is to say, Samuel Shattock and Nicholas Phelps, for being at two such meetings and absent twice from yours, thirty shillings a-piece; and Joshua Buffum, for once of each, fifteen shillings, and for being Quakers, as ye called. them; who were not proved to have transgressed the law, and were denied a trial, as aforesaid, when they demanded it, according to the laws of England and the country, and yet now were made to suffer as breakers of that law, as they were before,—such monstrous illegality and great injustice was never heard of! And Daniel Dennison told them, in scoffing sort, after all these punishments unto which they were sentenced thus illegally, "That they had left off being doctors of divinity, and were turned lawyers," when they spoke in their own case like men of understanding, thus making a mock of their sufferings, for which he will have his reward. But they were denied more speech after the sentence was passed, without a trial, which the Court rose up to consider of, and then sat down and gave; only they had the liberty to say or bid the people take notice, "That they could not have justice." And so they were had to prison upon account of your third law, and there dealt with, by receiving ten strokes a-piece at one time, with a knotted-cord whip, within half an hour after, who had received your law before, and yet were not tried, and so were not to be whipped again by your own law, but otherwise to be proceeded with, as aforesaid, as that law provides. What heaps of injustice and illegalities are here altogether so by your laws? So your laws are but covers for your cruelty, which ye had determined to deal out on those people; and, therefore, when they have not broken your law, you can execute it upon them, and also without the due proceeding of law, as thinking ye may do as ye will, and that ye shall never account for it to God or man, as the said Daniel Dennison testified, "This year ye will go and complain to the parliament, and the next year they will send to see how it is, and the third year the government is changed," and this in open Court. But be not deceived:

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sure as ye have acted all this violence and outrage upon the innocent, so will the Lord-if man should not; yet man shall do His will-execute His righteous judgments upon you, yea, seven-fold more, and with grievous indignation will He require it of you: and this the Lord hath spoken, and He will fulfil His Word.

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Now, as this sentence was a work of darkness, so within night, after the moon was up, was the execution. Your jailer was desired to let them see by what order he did it; but he would not, having learned it of you. But the next day he came and required them to work, they were willing so to do for their families, from whom they had been so violently taken, if they might have the benefit thereof; and so they told him. But this would not do, except he might have eight-pence out of the shilling, his usual demand. So they refused to work, and he threatened them with the post and the whip again, but did it not,-the execution al-. ready done upon such peaceable men, who were of good reputation and had families, from which they were taken, so affecting the people of the town, who were so taken therewith and muttered so much, that it was forborne. But, on the 27th of the Eighth month, 1658, after three weeks and three days, they were

*This was fulfilled seven-fold more in the blood of the slain, and that in about fifteen years' time, the natives rising up in great wrath and fury against the English, breaking in upon them in many places, with firing of houses and towns, to the number of about three hundred that may be reckoned; and murdering many hundreds of the inhabitants, torturing of sundry persons with several sorts of torture, and, as reported, hanging up some alive on iron crooks by the under jaw until dead; burning some alive by degrees, and skinning others alive, &c., so that they were in great distress, and many said one to another, "That the destroying those good people,” meaning our Friends that they put to death, "is that which hath brought the displeasure and judgments of the Lord upon this country." The fearful day of God's most righteous judgments, according to His unchangeable Word, spoken by His faithful servants and prophets, seeming like a mighty and terrible one to be come upon that wicked and adulterate place and people. See Increase Mather's History of the Wars in New England, and E. W-'s New England's Present Sufferings, pages 1, 4, and 5; and, if any object, "This mostly befell such as were not so immediately concerned," I may answer in the words of W. Hubb, Present State of New England, Part II., page 84, "They are all but one political body, which ought to be sensible of the sorrows that befell any particular members thereof. Yea," he says, page 28, Part I., "that it broke out through the whole jurisdiction of the Massachusetts."

sent for, by you, to Boston, to your General Court, and delivered to the master of your House of Correction, there to be severely dealt with; and from thence were brought before you, where several of you, as Dennison and Bradstreet, who had been twice their judges, and had now wrongfully accused them, sat as judges a third time upon them. Your deputy-governor and others laid to their charge many grievous things, but proved nothing. They desired a fair trial, either by a jury of twelve men according to law, or the General Court; and for this purpose put forth a paper to you, showing also how they had before been twice wrongfully imprisoned and whipped. This you would not grant; but Simon Bradstreet, one of your magistrates, seeing that they could not prove them such as the law makes Quakers, said,-"That the Court would find out an easier way to find out a Quaker than by blasphemy,"-as ye did afterwards, who could find out no such way,-viz., "the not putting off the hat," upon which you banished and put to death; for matter of doctrine you had not, nor principle nor practice. So they suffered, not for a law already broken, but for one that was intended to be made. What shall I say, whereby to express these your illegal and wrong proceedings? They pressed for a hearing, and argued the reasonableness thereof, and demanded, "Whether their law was made against a name or a thing?" Daniel Dennison, to whom the question was put, answered, "Against a thing." "If so," said they, "then let us be tried by the things contained in the law," as blasphemy, heresy, devilish doctrines, with such like, as are the words of the law, upon which was the penalty. He replied, "That the Court did not punish them for error in judgment, but for fact." They desired to know the fact. He said, "It was for entertaining the Quakers, who were their enemies; and not coming to their meetings, but meeting by themselves." They replied that, "As to those things, they had already fastened their law upon them; as, forty shillings every hour for entertaining of such an one as they called a Quaker, five shillings for absence from their meetings, and ten shillings for meeting by themselves." So ye had nothing left but the hat, for which ye then had no law. They answered,

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