Chapter XIX: Front Matter (19)

After he had spoken this, he was taken away, and Mary Dyar was called: to whom Endicot spoke thus: ‘Mary Dyar, you shall go to the place from whence you came, (to wit, the prison,) and from thence to the place of execution, and be hanged there until you are dead.’ To which she replied, ‘The will of the Lord be done.’ Then Endicot said, ‘Take her away, marshal.’ To which she returned, ‘Yea, joyfully I go.’ And in her going to the prison, she often uttered speeches of praise to the Lord; and, being full of joy, she said to the marshal, he might let her alone, for she would go to the prison without him. To which he answered, ‘I believe you, Mrs. Dyar: but I must do what I am commanded.’ Thus she was led to prison, where she was kept a week, with the two other, her companions, that were also condemned to die.

* * * * *

The paper of Marmaduke Stevenson, mentioned before, which he gave forth after he had received sentence of death, was thus:

‘In the beginning of the year 1655, I was at the plough, in the
east parts of Yorkshire, in Old England, near the place where
my outward being was, and as I walked after the plough, I was
filled with the love and presence of the living God, which did
ravish my heart when I felt it; for it did increase and abound
in me like a living stream, so did the love and life of God run
through me like precious ointment, giving a pleasant smell, which
made me to stand still; and as I stood a little still, with my
heart and mind stayed on the Lord, the word of the Lord came to
me in a still small voice, which I did hear perfectly, saying to
me, in the secret of my heart and conscience,--I have ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations.--And at the hearing of the word
of the Lord, I was put to a stand, being that I was but a child
for such a weighty matter. So at the time appointed, Barbadoes
was set before me, unto which I was required of the Lord to go,
and leave my dear and loving wife, and tender children: for the
Lord said unto me immediately by his Spirit, that he would be as
a husband to my wife, and as a father to my children, and they
should not want in my absence, for he would provide for them when
I was gone. And I believed that the Lord would perform what he
had spoken, because I was made willing to give up myself to his
work and service, to leave all and follow him, whose presence and
life is with me, where I rest in peace and quietness of spirit,
(with my dear brother,) under the shadow of his wings, who hath
made us willing to lay down our lives for his own name sake, if
unmerciful men be suffered to take them from us; and if they do,
we know we shall have peace and rest with the Lord for ever in
his holy habitation, when they shall have torment night and day.
So, in obedience to the living God, I made preparation to pass to
Barbadoes, in the Fourth month, 1658. So, after I had been some
time on the said island in the service of God, I heard that New
England had made a law to put the servants of the living God to
death, if they returned after they were sentenced away, which
did come near me at that time: and as I considered the thing,
and pondered it in my heart, immediately came the word of the
Lord unto me, saying, ‘Thou knowest not but that thou mayest go
thither.’ But I kept this word in my heart, and did not declare
it to any until the time appointed. So, after that, a vessel
was made ready for Rhode Island, which I passed in. So, after a
little time that I had been there, visiting the seed which the
Lord hath blessed, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
‘Go to Boston with thy brother William Robinson.’ And at his
command I was obedient, and gave up myself to do his will, that
so his work and service may be accomplished: for he hath said
unto me, that he hath a great work for me to do; which is now
come to pass: and for yielding obedience to, and obeying the
voice and command of, the ever-living God, who created heaven and
earth, and the fountains of waters, do I, with my brother, suffer
outward bonds near unto death, and this is given forth to be upon
record, that all people may know, who hear it, that we came not
in our own wills, but in the will of God. Given forth by me, who
am known to men by the name of

MARMADUKE STEVENSON.

But having a new name given me, which
the world knows not of, written in
the Book of Life.

‘Written in Boston prison, in the 8th
Month, 1659.’

Mary Dyar being returned to prison, wrote the following letter, which she sent to the rulers of Boston.

_To the General Court in Boston._

‘Whereas I am by many charged with the guiltiness of my own
blood; if you mean in my coming to Boston, I am therein clear,
and justified by the Lord, in whose will I came, who will require
my blood of you, be sure, who have made a law to take away the
lives of the innocent servants of God, if they come among you,
who are called by you, cursed Quakers; although I say, and am a
living witness for them and the Lord, that he hath blessed them,
and sent them unto you; therefore be not found fighters against
God, but let my counsel and request be accepted with you, to
repeal all such laws, that the Truth and servants of the Lord
may have free passage among you, and you be kept from shedding
innocent blood, which I know there are many among you would not
do, if they knew it so to be; nor can the enemy that stirreth you
up thus to destroy his holy seed, in any measure countervail the
great damage that you will, by thus doing, procure. Therefore
seeing the Lord hath not hid it from me, it lieth upon me, in
love to your souls, thus to persuade you. I have no self-ends
the Lord knoweth; for if my life were freely granted by you, it
would not avail me, nor could I expect it of you, so long as I
should daily hear or see the sufferings of these people, my dear
brethren, and the seed with whom my life is bound up, as I have
done these two years; and now it is like to increase, even unto
death, for no evil doing, but coming among you. Was ever the
like laws heard of among a people that profess Christ come in
the flesh? And have such no other weapons but such laws to fight
against spiritual wickedness withal, as you call it? Wo is me for
you! Of whom take ye counsel? Search with the light of Christ in
you, and it will show you of whom, as it hath done me and many
more, who have been disobedient and deceived, as now ye are:
which light as ye come into, and obeying what is made manifest to
you therein, you will not repent that you were kept from shedding
blood, though it were by a woman. It is not mine own life I seek,
(for I choose rather to suffer with the people of God, than to
enjoy the pleasures of Egypt,) but the life of the seed, which I
know the Lord hath blessed, and therefore seeks the enemy thus
vehemently to destroy the life thereof, as in all ages he ever
did. O hearken not unto him, I beseech you, for the seed’s sake,
which is one and all, and is dear in the sight of God, which
they that touch, touch the apple of his eye, and cannot escape
his wrath; whereof I having felt, cannot but persuade all men
that I have to do withal, especially you who name the name of
Christ, to depart from such iniquity as shedding blood, even of
the saints of the Most High. Therefore let my request have as
much acceptance with you, if you be Christians, as Esther’s had
with Ahasuerus, whose relation is short of that that is between
Christians; and my request is the same that her’s was: and he
said not that he had made a law, and it would be dishonourable
for him to revoke it; but when he understood that those people
were so prized by her, and so nearly concerned her, as in truth
these are to me, you may see what he did for her. Therefore I
leave these lines with you, appealing to the faithful and true
witness of God, which is one in all consciences, before whom we
must all appear; with whom I shall eternally rest, in everlasting
joy and peace, whether you will hear or forbear. With him is
my reward, with whom to live is my joy, and to die is my gain,
though I had not had your forty-eight hours warning, for the
preparation of the death of Mary Dyar.

‘And know this also, that if through the enmity you shall
declare yourselves worse than Ahasuerus, and confirm your law,
though it were but by taking away the life of one of us, that
the Lord will overthrow both your law and you, by his righteous
judgments and plagues poured justly upon you, who now, whilst ye
are warned thereof, and tenderly sought unto, may avoid the one,
by removing the other. If you neither hear, nor obey the Lord,
nor his servants, yet will he send more of his servants among
you, so that your end shall be frustrated, that think to restrain
them ye call cursed Quakers, from coming among you, by any thing
you can do to them. Yea, verily, he hath a seed here among you,
for whom we have suffered all this while, and yet suffer; whom
the Lord of the harvest will send forth more labourers to gather,
out of the mouths of the devourers of all sorts, into his fold,
where he will lead them into fresh pastures, even the paths of
righteousness, for his name’s sake. Oh, let none of you put this
good day far from you, which verily in the light of the Lord I
see approaching, even to many in and about Boston, which is the
bitterest and darkest professing place, and so to continue so
long as you have done, that ever I heard of. Let the time past,
therefore, suffice, for such a profession as brings forth such
fruits as these laws are. In love, and in the spirit of meekness,
I again beseech you, for I have no enmity to the persons of any;
but you shall know, that God will not be mocked; but what ye
sow, that shall ye reap from him, that will render to every one
according to the deeds done in the body, whether good or evil.
Even so be it, saith

MARY DYAR.’

A copy of this was given to the
general court after Mary Dyar had
received sentence of death, about
the 8th or 9th month, 1659.

The day appointed to execute the bloody sentence, was the 27th of October, when in the afternoon the condemned prisoners were led to the gallows by the marshal Michaelson, and captain James Oliver, with a band of about two hundred armed men, besides many horsemen; as if they were afraid that some of the people would have rescued the prisoners: and that no actors on the stage might be wanting, the priest Wilson joined the company, who, when the court deliberated how to deal with the Quakers, said, ‘Hang them, or else’ (drawing his finger athwart his throat,) as if he would have said, ‘Dispatch ’em this way.’ Now the march began, and a drummer going next before the condemned, the drums were beaten, especially when any of them attempted to speak. Glorious signs of heavenly joy and gladness were beheld in the countenances of these three persons, who walked hand in hand, Mary being the middlemost, which made the marshal say to her, who was pretty aged, and stricken in years, ‘Are not you ashamed to walk thus hand in hand between two young men?’ ‘No,’ replied she, ‘this is to me an hour of the greatest joy I could enjoy in this world. No eye can see, nor ear can hear, no tongue can utter, and no heart can understand, the sweet incomes, or influence, and the refreshings of the spirit of the Lord, which now I feel.’ Thus going along, W. Robinson said, ‘This is your hour, and the power of darkness.’ But presently the drums were beaten; yet shortly after the drummers leaving off beating, Marmaduke Stevenson said, ‘This is the day of your visitation, wherein the Lord hath visited you.’ More he spoke, but could not be understood, by reason of the drums being beaten again. Yet they went on with great cheerfulness, as going to an everlasting wedding feast, and rejoicing that the Lord had counted them worthy to suffer death for his name’s sake.

When they were come near the gallows, the priest said in a taunting way to W. Robinson, ‘Shall such jacks as you come in before authority with their hats on?’ To which Robinson replied, ‘Mind you, mind you, it is for the not putting off the hat we are put to death!’ Now being come to the ladder, they took leave of each other with tender embraces, and then Robinson went cheerfully up the ladder, and being got up, said to the people, ‘This is the day of your visitation, wherein the Lord hath visited you: this is the day the Lord is risen in his mighty power, to be avenged on all his adversaries.’ He also signified, that he suffered not as an evil-doer: and desired the spectators to mind the light that was in them; to wit, the Light of Christ, of which he testified, and was now going to seal it with his blood. This so incensed the envious priest, that he said, ‘Hold thy tongue; be silent; thou art going to die with a lie in thy mouth.’ The rope being now about his neck, the executioner bound his hands and legs, and tied his neckcloth about his face: which being done, Robinson said, ‘Now ye are made manifest;’ and the executioner being about turning him off, he said, ‘I suffer for Christ, in whom I live, and for whom I die.’ He being turned off, Marmaduke Stevenson stepped up the ladder, and said, ‘Be it known unto all this day, that we suffer not as evil-doers, but for conscience sake.’ And when the hangman was about to turn him off, he said, ‘This day shall we be at rest with the Lord;’ and so he was turned off.

Mary Dyar seeing her companions hanging dead before her, also stepped up the ladder; but after her coats were tied about her feet, the halter put about her neck, and her face covered with a handkerchief, which the priest Wilson lent the hangman, just as she was to be turned off, a cry was heard, ‘Stop, for she is reprieved.’ Her feet then being loosed, they bade her come down. But she whose mind was already as it were in heaven, stood still, and said, she was there willing to suffer as her brethren did, unless they would annul their wicked law. Little heed was given to what she said, but they pulled her down, and the marshal and others taking her by the arms, carried her to prison again. That she thus was freed from the gallows, this time, was at the intercession of her son, to whom it seems they could not then resolve to deny that favour. She, now having heard why she was reprieved, wrote the next day, being the 28th of October, the following letter to the court.

_The 28th of the Eighth month, 1659._

‘Once more to the general court assembled in Boston, speaks Mary
Dyar, even as before. My life is not accepted, neither availeth
me, in comparison of the lives and liberty of the Truth, and
servants of the living God, for which in the bowels of love and
meekness I sought you: yet, nevertheless, with wicked hands
have you put two of them to death, which makes me to feel, that
the mercies of the wicked are cruelty. I rather choose to die
than to live, as from you, as guilty of their innocent blood:
therefore seeing my request is hindered, I leave you to the
righteous Judge, and searcher of all hearts, who, with the pure
measure of light he hath given to every man to profit withal,
will in his due time let you see whose servants you are, and of
whom you have taken counsel, which I desire you to search into:
but all his counsel hath been slighted, and you would none of
his reproofs. Read your portion, Prov. i. 24 to 32. For verily
the night cometh on you apace, wherein no man can work, in which
you shall assuredly fall to your own master. In obedience to
the Lord, whom I serve with my spirit, and pity to your souls,
which you neither know nor pity, I can do no less than once more
to warn you, to put away the evil of your doings; and kiss the
Son, the light in you, before his wrath be kindled in you; for
where it is, nothing without you can help or deliver you out of
his hand at all; and if these things be not so, then say, there
hath been no prophet from the Lord sent amongst you; though we be
nothing, yet it is his pleasure, by things that are not, to bring
to nought things that are.

When I heard your last order read, it was a disturbance unto me,
that was so freely offering up my life to him that gave it me,
and sent me hither so to do, which obedience being his own work,
he gloriously accompanied with his presence, and peace, and love
in me, in which I rested from my labour; till by your order and
the people, I was so far disturbed, that I could not retain any
more of the words thereof, than that I should return to prison,
and there remain forty and eight hours; to which I submitted,
finding nothing from the Lord to the contrary, that I may know
what his pleasure and counsel is concerning me, on whom I wait
therefore, for he is my life, and the length of my days; and as I
said before, I came at his command, and go at his command.

MARY DYAR.’

The magistrates now perceiving that the putting William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson to death, caused great discontent among the people, resolved to send away Mary Dyar, thereby to calm their minds a little. And so she was put on horseback, and by four horsemen conveyed fifteen miles towards Rhode Island, where she was left with a horse and a man, to be conveyed the rest of the way: which she soon sent back, and so repaired home. By the style of her letters, and her undaunted carriage, it appears that she had indeed some extraordinary qualities; I find also, that she was of a comely and grave countenance, of a good family and estate, and a mother of several children: but her husband it seems was of another persuasion.

Whilst I now leave her at home, I am to say that one John Chamberlain, an inhabitant of Boston, having seen the execution of W. Robinson and M. Stevenson, was so reached by their pious speeches, that he received the doctrine of the Truth, for which they died: but his visiting those in prison was so ill resented, that afterwards he was whipped several times severely; as was also Edward Wharton, an inhabitant of Salem: who having said that the guilt of Robinson and Stevenson’s blood was so great and heavy, that he was not able to bear it, was, for this his pretended sauciness, whipped with twenty lashes, and fined twenty pounds.

But before I quite leave the persons that were hanged, I must say, that being dead, their countenances still looked fresh; (for the terror of death had not seized them.) But being cut down, they were very barbarously used, none taking hold of their bodies: which so fell down on the ground, that thereby the scull of W. Robinson was broken: and even their shirts were ripped off with a knife, and their naked bodies cast into a hole which was digged, without any covering. And when some of their friends would have laid their bodies into coffins, it was denied them. Neither would they suffer the place where the bodies were cast, to be fenced with pales, lest ravenous beasts might prey upon them.

When the people returned from the execution, many seemed sad and heavy; and coming to the drawbridge, one end of it fell upon some, and several were hurt, especially a wicked woman, who had reviled the said two persons at their death; but now she was so bruised, that her flesh rotted from her bones, which made such a noisome stink, that people could not endure to be with her: in which miserable condition she remained till she died. But the magistrates, instead of taking notice of this, grew more hardened; and priest Wilson did not stick to make a ballad on the executed.

1660.

Now I return again to Mary Dyar, who being come to Rhode Island, went from thence to Long Island, where she staid the most part of the winter: and then coming home again, she was moved to return to the bloody town of Boston, whither she came on the 21st of the Third month, 1660, and on the 31st she was sent for by the general court. Being come, the governor, John Endicot, said, ‘Are you the same Mary Dyar that was here before?’ And it seems he was preparing an evasion for her, there having been another of that name returned from Old England. But she was so far from disguising, that she answered undauntedly, ‘I am the same Mary Dyar that was here the last general court.’ Then Endicot said, ‘You will own yourself a Quaker, will you not?’ To which Mary Dyar said, ‘I own myself to be reproachfully called so.’ Then the jailer, (who would also say something,) said, ‘She is a vagabond.’ And Endicot said, the sentence was past upon her the last general court, and now likewise: ‘You must return to the prison, and there remain till to-morrow at nine o’clock; then from thence you must go to the gallows, and there be hanged till you are dead.’ To which Mary Dyar said, ‘This is no more than what thou saidst before.’ And Endicot returned, ‘But now it is to be executed; therefore prepare yourself to-morrow at nine o’clock.’ She then spoke thus: ‘I came in obedience to the will of God the last general court, desiring you to repeal your unrighteous laws of banishment on pain of death; and that same is my work now, and earnest request; although I told you, that if you refused to repeal them, the Lord would send others of his servants to witness against them.’ Hereupon Endicot asked her, whether she was a prophetess? And she answered, ‘she spoke the words that the Lord spoke in her; and now the thing was come to pass.’ And beginning to speak of her call, Endicot cried, ‘Away with her; away with her.’ So she was brought to the prison house where she was before, and kept close shut up until the next day.

About the appointed time the marshal Michaelson came, and called her to come hastily; and coming into the room where she was, she desired him to stay a little; and speaking mildly, said, she should be ready presently. But he being of a rough temper, said he could not wait upon her, but she should now wait upon him. One Margaret Smith, her companion, being grieved to see such hard-heartedness, spoke something against their unjust laws and proceedings; to which he said, ‘You shall have your share of the same.’ Then Mary Dyar was brought forth, and with a band of soldiers led through the town, the drums being beaten before and behind her, and so continued, that none might hear her speak all the way to the place of execution, which was about a mile. With this guard she came to the gallows, and being gone up the ladder, some said to her, that if she would return, she might come down and save her life. To which she replied, ‘Nay, I cannot, for in obedience to the will of the Lord I came, and in his will I abide faithful to the death.’ Then captain John Webb said, that she had been there before, and had the sentence of banishment upon pain of death, and had broken the law in coming again now; and therefore she was guilty of her own blood. To which she returned, ‘Nay, I came to keep blood-guiltiness from you, desiring you to repeal the unrighteous and unjust law of banishment upon pain of death, made against the innocent servants of the Lord; therefore my blood will be required at your hands, who wilfully do it: but for those that do it in the simplicity of their hearts, I desire the Lord to forgive them. I came to do the will of my Father, and in obedience to his will, I stand even to death.’ Then priest Wilson said, ‘Mary Dyar, O repent, O repent, and be not so deluded, and carried away by the deceit of the devil.’ To this Mary Dyar answered, ‘Nay, man, I am not now to repent.’ And being asked by some, whether she would have the elders pray for her, she said, ‘I know never an elder here.’ Being further asked, whether she would have any of the people to pray for her? She answered, she desired the prayers of all the people of God. Thereupon some scoffingly said, ‘It may be she thinks there is none here.’ She looking about, said, ‘I know but few here.’ Then they spoke to her again, that one of the elders might pray for her. To which she replied, ‘Nay, first a child, then a young man, then a strong man, before an elder in Christ Jesus.’ After this she was charged with something which was not understood what it was, but she seemed to hear it; for she said, ‘It is false, it is false; I never spoke those words.’ Then one mentioned that she should have said, she had been in paradise. To which she answered, ‘Yea, I have been in paradise several days.’ And more she spoke of the eternal happiness into which she was now to enter. In this well-disposed condition she was turned off, and died a martyr of Christ, being twice led to death, which the first time she expected with undaunted courage, and now suffered with Christian fortitude.

Thus this honest, valiant woman finished her days: but so hardened were these persecutors, that one of the court said scoffingly, ‘She did hang as a flag for others to take example by.’ And putting to death for religion did not yet cease, as will be related hereafter: but first I will take a turn again to Old England, where there was now great division, and a revolution in the state.

* * * * *

About the beginning of this year, E. Burrough wrote the following letter to the parliament, which then had the power again in their hands.

‘_Friends_,

‘All these overturnings, and almost wonderful changings, were
effected through the justice of the Lord’s hand. You are now
again at the stern of government, and on the throne; and I dare
not but say it is of and by the Lord, and that he hath done it
contrary to the expectations of many; and what his end is in
it, remains with him. But I am sure one cause is, that you may
execute part of his wrath upon that treacherous generation
of hypocritical and deceitful men, some of the army I mean. I
need not say to you, how that many of them were raised up from
a low estate; and, instead of serving the nation, became their
lords and oppressors; they have abused the Lord’s mercy to them,
and exalted themselves, and became as great oppressors, and
as grievous to the nation, as ever they were that went before
them; and some of them took the very tithes and estates of their
enemies, and followed their evil spirit also, though the Lord was
long-suffering to them, and gave them a day, and put opportunity
into their hands, wherein they might have done good; but they
also neglected to serve God and the nation, to themselves; and
because of the ambition and pride of some of them, the Lord
suffered them to make this last interruption upon you, which was
great treachery in man’s account, that thereby their measure
might be filled up, and that he might give you occasion against
them, and suffer you to be filled with indignation towards
them, to break them to pieces: and what you do to some of them,
in casting them out, and afflicting them, you are but God’s
executioners therein; you are the executioners of his anger, in
what you do to them; and who shall prevent you, or forbid him to
go on? For they have long enough dissembled with this nation, in
professing more than others, and doing less, and their downfall
is now. And God hath looked upon you, to be hard-hearted and
cruel enough, and very fit executioners of vengeance upon such
men, as I have mentioned.

‘But now concerning you, and your present state, as you are in
present place and power, I have something to say to you; though
they are fallen, and you yet stand, and you have a little time
after them; but this I say, do not glory over their fall, neither
glory as though you should stand for ever; for they were not
greater sinners than you are, neither are you one whit more
righteous than some of them; but you are as sure to fall, as they
are fallen, with no less measure of dishonour and affliction than
is come upon them; and you are in your last hour; and I dare
not say, that God expects much more from you, than for the end
aforesaid, viz. to be the executioners of justice upon men as
sinful as yourselves; so do not glory over them that are fallen:
but know that your time also is but short, and your fall may
prove to your destruction, and theirs may prove to make them
better, and refine them: and if God hath chosen you to execute
some part of his wrath upon them, for their wickedness, he
will doubtless find instruments to execute his wrath upon you,
else he will do it with his own hands; for he purposeth not to
spare you; for your sins cry as loud as any other people’s, and
the oppressions are as great under you, as under them whom you
condemn. And I desire, if there be any good men amongst you, that
such who are wise may consider, and mind the hand of the Lord in
and through all these things that are come to pass; for God is
working as well as you, he is seeking to set up a kingdom as well
as you, and his government and your’s cannot stand together; and
he will make you know that he is stronger, and his government of
more force, and your kingdom cannot stand in place with his.

‘Therefore, Oh that you would take heed! Oh that you would be
wise, if so be some of you may be spared! and be not too zealous
in your way, nor too furious in your proceedings; do but to
others as you intend to receive from others, and from the Lord;
and go not beyond your commission; for a permission at least
you have had from God, even to scourge hypocrites, and to be a
judgment upon that hypocritical, seeming religious generation of
men aforesaid, which have many a time as it were mocked God, and
pretended love to him with their lips, when their hearts have
yearned after self-honour, and treasures of this world: I say,
your present hour and permission is for this end, but not to
persecute the people of the Lord, nor to destroy God’s heritage;
but if you shall extend your power unto such a work, and if you
do persecute the innocent without cause, and make war against the
Lamb and his followers, and make laws, and execute them to the
oppression of the saints of the Most High, then you go beyond
your commission; for God hath not called you unto this, but to
be instruments in another cause. And the children of Zion, they
trust in the living God, and fear not the terror of mighty men,
neither can they be afraid at the roaring of the sea, nor at
the present threatening of the heathen, for God is with them.
And I say unto you, the servant of the Lord hath pondered and
considered all these proceedings, and viewed the present state of
things at this day, and there is no vision from God unto you of
peace and comfort, nor of a happy and lasting government, as you
stand: if any prophet shall divine this unto you, he speaks what
he hath not from the Lord, but the vision of his own heart, and
he deceives you and himself; for you are not established upon a
right foundation, neither are you acted by a right spirit, which
can truly govern for God; but the spirit of wrath and fury is put
into you, for the work to which you are called. And I know not
how to warn you, that you do not persecute the people of God.
For why? It may be you must fill up your measure of wickedness
thereby, that God may break you perpetually; yet the less will be
your judgment, if you do it not: but and if you do it, the Lord
will take occasion against you, to wound you, and you shall never
be healed, and as you do afflict others, so and much more shall
it be done unto you from the Lord.

‘Wherefore, consider what I have said; for this is the vision of
the Almighty unto you, that shall not go unfulfilled: and what
you do, you must do it quickly; for your time is short, and your
power will God subdue; and his kingdom and power will he speedily
exalt over your heads, and make you and the nations know that
he is God, and that all power is with him, and that he can do
whatsoever he will; and it is his right alone to reign, and his
children’s portion to possess the kingdom with him. Let the whole
earth, and all the powers thereof, bow and tremble before him:
let not your hearts be stout and rebellious against him, for he
can grind you to powder, and sink you into confusion and misery,
as a stone into the sea.’

This was directed for the hands of the speaker in parliament, and
accordingly was given to William Lenthal, being inclosed to him
with these lines following

‘_Friend_,

‘The inclosed I do commend unto thee to present unto the house,
and to endeavour sincerely the reading of it in your assembly;
for it is of special concernment to you all; and in the name of
the Lord, and by his Spirit, I do charge thee not to be negligent
in this matter, as though it were not of worth to you; and I
do lay it upon thee, as thou wilt answer the contrary at the
dreadful day of God, when the King of Righteousness shall judge
thee and all mankind.

E. BURROUGH.’

The 24th of the Eleventh month, 1659.

This parliament did so lord it, that about fifteen hundred military officers were cashiered, and others put into their places.

About this time George Fox the younger wrote also a letter to the parliament and the army, which was as followeth:

‘Your day into darkness is turned; the sun is gone down over you.
You have had a large day, and power given unto you, to have done
the will of God, but you have abused the power, and slighted your
day; and you have refused to do the Lord’s work, and have sought
to serve yourselves, and not the Lord; therefore in justice and
righteousness, is the day wherein you might have wrought for God,
taken from you; and the thick dark night of confusion is come
upon you, wherein you are groping and stumbling, and cannot work;
the decree is gone out, and sealed against you, and it cannot be
recalled; you are not the men, (as ye stand,) in whom God will
appear to work deliverance for his people, and creatures; and yet
deliverance shall come, but not according to man’s expectations.
But as for you, ye have rejected the counsel of the Lord, and
grieved his Spirit, and he hath long borne you; yea, you are
departed from the Lord, and his presence is departed from you;
indeed he hath hewed with you, and if you had been faithful to
the end, he would have honoured and prospered you, and would
have been your sufficient reward: ye were his axe, but you have
boasted yourselves against him; therefore as you have beaten,
and hewed, and broken others, even so must you be beaten, hewed,
and broken; for you have grievously provoked the Lord; and if he
should now suffer that tree, which ye have cut, to fall upon you,
and to break part of you, it were just.

‘O ye treacherous, wilful, proud, self-seeking people, who have
despised the counsel of the Lord, and would not take warning,
though he hath sent his prophets and servants early and late
among you, some of whom you have imprisoned and despitefully
used; what will ye do now? Whom will ye now flee unto for help;
seeing ye are departed from the Lord, and are now rending and
tearing, biting and devouring one another, for proud, ambitious,
self ends? (Mark.) If you would now build again the thing that
you once destroyed, that shall not be able to hide or shelter
you from the wrath of the Lamb; that way whereby you think to
strengthen yourselves, thereby shall you make yourselves much
weaker, and help forward your own destruction; you are now but
a rod, remember your end, which hastens greatly. Now breach
upon breach, insurrection upon insurrection, overturning upon
overturning, heaps upon heaps, division upon division shall there
be, until he come to reign, whose right it is; and all nations
must bow before him, else he will break them with his iron rod.

‘They that trust in, or lean upon you for help, it is as if they
leaned upon a broken reed, which is not able to help itself,
nor others; indeed you have been made to do many good things,
but you would not go through with the work which God will have
accomplished, and therefore are these things come upon you;
therefore tremble and dread before the Lord, ye who have been as
strong oaks, and tall cedars, for now shall your strength fail
you, and you shall be weak, even as the weakest of men; but if
you would yet believe in the light, and truly submit to God’s
righteous judgments, many of you might come to witness your souls
saved, in the day of the Lord; though many of your bodies are
to be thrown by, because of your grievous backslidings, as not
counted worthy to be the Lord’s workmen.

‘There is a small remnant yet among you, for whom my soul
breathes, who may be winnowed out; and if they will own the
judgments of the Lord, and truly and thoroughly deny themselves,
and follow his leadings, he will heal their backslidings, and
purge them, that so they may be instruments in his hand: but they
that will continue with you in your sins, shall partake with you
of your judgments.

‘The rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the back of
the righteous; yet even as gold is tried, so shall they be, that
they may be white, and without spot before the Lamb; but God will
avenge their cause, and wo then will be to their oppressors; and
then shall the majesty and the glory of the Lord fill his people,
who have long been trodden under, and they shall be the dread of
all nations; the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this.

GEORGE FOX, _the younger_.’

11th Month, (59.)

This letter being printed, a copy of it was given to each parliament man, before Monk with his army came into London; and how soon the predictions contained therein, as well as those of E. Burrough, in the foregoing year, came to be fulfilled, when many of the great ones were hanged and quartered, we shall see in the sequel.

General Monk came now, with part of the army he commanded, out of Scotland; into England, and made great alterations among the officers, putting in such as were believed to be no enemies to Charles Stuart; for whatsoever Monk said of his resolution to be true and faithful to the parliament, and to promote the interest of a commonwealth; yet it appeared ere long that he aimed at something else; which he could do the easier, because he wanted not adherents in the parliament; though he did not stick to say to Edmund Ludlow, ‘We must live and die for, and with, a commonwealth:’ and to others he declared, that he would oppose to the utmost the setting up of Charles Stuart. In the meanwhile he so ordered it, that many members of the parliament, that had been long excluded as unqualified, took session again in that assembly; and these brought it about, that sir George Booth, who was confined to the Tower, for having carried on a design for Charles Stuart, was set at liberty. Neither was the city of London in a condition to oppose Monk; for he caused the port-cullies, and doors of the city gates, and the posts to be pulled down; and the royalists were now become so bold, that they printed a list of the names of the judges that condemned king Charles the First to death; and some of them were secured, whilst others fled away. General Lambert was also sent to the Tower, and Monk, whose authority now increased, sent for the lords, who until the year 1648, had sat in parliament, and bade them return to the house where they formerly used to sit.

In these overturnings G. Fox came to London, to wit, in the time when they were breaking the city gates. He then wrote a paper to those that were now sinking, and told them, that now the prophecies were fulfilling upon them, which had been spoken to them; and that they who used to call the Quakers fanatics, and giddyheads, now seemed themselves giddy, and fugitives or wanderers.

From London G. Fox went to Sussex, and from thence to Dorsetshire. At Dorchester he had a great meeting in the evening at the inn where he lodged, and there came many soldiers, who were pretty civil. But the constables and officers of the town came also, under pretence to look for a Jesuit, whose head, they said, was shaved. So they took off G. Fox’s hat, but not finding any bald place on his head, they went away with shame. This was of good service among the soldiers and others, and it affected the people, who were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he passed into Somersetshire, where his friends meetings were often disturbed. One time there came a wicked man, who having a bear’s skin on his back, played ugly pranks in the meeting; and setting himself opposite to the person that was preaching, lolled his tongue out of his mouth, and so made sport for his wicked followers, and caused great disturbance in the meeting. But as he went back from thence, an eminent judgment overtook him; for there being a bull-baiting in the way, he staid to see; and coming within his reach, the bull pushed his horn under the man’s chin, into his throat, and forced his tongue out of his mouth, so that it hung out in the same manner as before he lolled it out in derision in the meeting: and the bull running his horn into the man’s head, swung him about in a most fearful manner.

G. Fox travelling through Somersetshire, came into Devonshire, and so went into Cornwall, till he came to the Land’s End. Whilst he was in Cornwall, there were great shipwrecks about the Land’s End. Now it was the custom of that country, that at such times both rich and poor went out to get as much of the wreck as they could, not caring to save the people’s lives; and this custom so prevailed, that in some parts of the country they called shipwrecks, God’s grace. This grieved G. Fox not a little, considering how far these professed Christians were below the heathen at Melita, who courteously received Paul, and the others that had suffered shipwreck with him, and made him a fire. On this consideration, he was moved to write a paper to the magistrates, priests, and others, both high and low; in which he showed them the wickedness of their deeds, and reproved them for such greedy actions, telling them how they were ready to fight with one another for the spoil, and spend what they got in taverns or ale-houses, letting those that escaped drowning, go a begging up and down the country. Therefore he seriously exhorted them, to do unto others, what they would have done to themselves.

This paper he sent to all the parishes thereabouts: and after having had many meetings in Cornwall, and several eminent people being convinced of the Truth preached by him, he went to Bristol, where the meetings of his friends were exceedingly disturbed by the soldiers. Having heard this, he desired George Bishop, Thomas Gouldney, Thomas Speed, and Edward Pyot, to go to the mayor and aldermen, and desire them to let his friends have the town-hall to meet in, provided it should not be on such days when the mayor and aldermen had business to do in it; and that for this use they would give twenty pounds a year, to be distributed among the poor. These four persons were astonished at this proposal, and said, the mayor and aldermen would think them mad; for the mayor and the commander of the soldiers had combined together to make a disturbance in their meetings. But G. Fox so encouraged them, that at last they consented to what he desired. Being come to the mayor, he was moderate beyond expectation; and when they had laid the thing before him, he said, for his part, he could consent to it; but he was but one. So they left him in a loving frame of mind; and coming back, G. Fox desired them to go also to the colonel that commanded the soldiers, and to acquaint him of their rude carriage, and how they disturbed the meetings. But the aforesaid four persons were backward to go to him. Next morning being the First day of the week, a meeting was kept in an orchard, where many people came; and after G. Fox had been preaching a pretty while, there came several rude soldiers, some with drawn swords, and some drunk, and among these one that had bound himself with an oath to cut down, and kill the man that spoke. But when he came pressing in through the crowd, and was within two yards of G. Fox, he stopped at those four persons before mentioned, and fell a jangling with them; but at length his sword was put up again. The next day they went and spoke with the colonel, and he having heard how mischievous his soldiers had been, sent for them, and cut and slashed some of them. When this was told G. Fox, he blamed those his friends, thinking they might have prevented the cutting of the soldiers, if they had gone to the colonel when he would have had them. Yet this had such effect, that the meeting there was kept without disturbance a good while after.

G. Fox then also had a general meeting at Edward Pyot’s, near Bristol, at which were several thousands of people; and so many of Bristol, that some said, the city looked naked; and all was quiet.

But in other places, about this time, things were not so quiet; for the soldiers, under general Monk’s command, were often very rude in disturbing of meetings. But when complaint was made to him, who was then at Westminster, he showed that he would not countenance such wickedness, and did in that respect better than several other generals had done, for he gave forth the following order.

‘_St. James’s, March 9, 1659-60._

‘I do require all officers and soldiers, to forbear to disturb
the peaceable meetings of the Quakers, they doing nothing
prejudicial to the parliament or commonwealth of England.

GEORGE MONK.’

Monk having thus long declared for a commonwealth, and against a king, began now to take off the mask; for the old lords had now taken their places again in the House of Peers, out of which they had been kept so many years; and by the advice of Monk, Charles Stuart, (who for several years had lived at Cologne, and, having made a voyage to Spain, was from thence come, by France, to Brussels,) repaired to Breda: and in England it being resolved upon to call him back, and to restore him, he gave forth the following declaration at Breda; thereby to persuade those that were yet backward to acknowledge him.

‘_Charles, R._

‘Charles, by the grace of God, king of England, Scotland,
France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. To all our
loving subjects, of what degree or quality soever, greeting. If
the general distraction and confusion which is spread over the
whole kingdom, doth not awaken all men to a desire and longing
that those wounds which have for so many years together been kept
bleeding, may be bound up, all we can say will be to no purpose.
However, after this long silence, we have thought it our duty to
declare, how much we desire to contribute thereunto; and that
as we can never give over the hope, in good time to obtain the
possession of that right which God and nature has made our due;
so we do make it our daily suit to the Divine Providence, that he
will, in compassion to us and our subjects, after so long misery
and sufferings, remit, and put us into a quiet and peaceable
possession of that our right, with as little blood and damage to
our people as is possible. Nor do we desire more to enjoy what is
ours, than that all our subjects may enjoy what by law is theirs,
by a full and entire administration of justice throughout the
land, and by extending our mercy where it is wanted and desired.