THE Quakers Charity ABOVE INGRATITUDE: In Answer to a Malicious Pamphlet, ENTITULED, The Quakers Cruelty presented to the KING and PARLIAMENT, And subscribed by Thomas Boyce.
Manifesting the Spirit of Enmity and Madness, which works against the Truth, and seeks to reward those that live in it EVIL for their GOOD.
Sent forth in Pursuit of the said Malicious Pamphlet from that People whom he bath grosly abused, who are call'd QUAKERS.
Printed in the Year 1675.
THE Quakers Charity ABOVE INGRATITUDE, &c.
AMongst the many Enemies that have appeared against us and the precious Truth professed by us, whom many of them hath exercised a large Measure of the Wisdom of this World; at last we have met with one Thomas Boyce, who is attempting to see what Folly and Distraction will do against us (though we doubt not but divers endewed with more Craft then himself are his Assistants herein) in which Folly and Discomposure of Mind, he has made a Book called, The Quakers Cruelty, &c. in which one main Endeavour is, to call the King and the two Houses of Parliament, as Arbitrators between him and the Quakers, which we judge no Man in his right Senses would have done, or if they had it, would have been judged of all Men to be high Impudence and Folly.
And further take notice, That this Appeal or Request for Arbitration is made after the greatest Endeavours that he could make of executing his own Rage and Enmity upon us by the Laws and inferiour Magistrates, and because they appeared to be sensible of the Innocency of our Cause, and of the Malice and Discomposedness of this Complainant, and thereupon found no Cause to be Executioners of his Fury; therefore he reflects upon them, as if they through false Informations had been drawn aside from the Line of true Justice, and had stopt him from his due Proceedings to recover Satisfaction for the great Wrongs and Injuries which he pretends to be done to him.
Now that he is a Composure of Madness, Malice and Folly, no greater Certificate is requisite to prove, then his own Book, together with his daily Practice both in Meetings and upon the Street, and almost where ever he comes, sometimes Roaring, sometimes Singing, Striking People on the Face and Head with his Fist, running upon others in the Street, with his Elbows [Page 4]punching them in a dangerous Sort, when no Word past of either Side, and kicking others on the Belly, and divers other gross Abuses, which too many have already felt; and because of this his mad and dangerous Behaviour, some People who come to our Meetings have sometimes endeavoured to lead him out, upon which he has fallen down, & very hideously cryed out many Times together, Marder, Murder, when no Harm was done nor intended to him by any. As for his Malice, whoever reads his Book, can never be in Doubt of it, especially when they consider how he hath sworn the Peace against some, and offered to do it against others, who none of them had ever any Thing to do with him, but exhort him to that which is good, admonish him of what was Evil, and to extend their Charity to him for the Relief of him & his Family, which are all far contrary to either Acts or Signs of Corporal Harms; his Folly is sufficiently manifested, in that he who saith, He wa [...], and is Poor, and knows how largely our Bounty and Charity extended towards him, as a Person in Necessity, amounting to about 7. of 8. Shillings a Week for a great while together, besides six Pounds, thirteeen Shillings, four Pence half-peny disbursed to his Relief at sundry Times by Walter Miers, whom he hath so salsly accused; and then four Shillings a Week for a good while after his Recovery, till he manifested his Wicked Spirit, for which he was at one of our Meetings, held at Horsly down, on the 5th of the 6th Month called August, 74. denyed by us, as having no Fellowship with him, until he should come to Repentance, as may be seen by our Paper printed in his own Book; and after all this, for him to Imagine, that the King and the two Houses of Parliament should concern themselves with such a Person to enquire out the Cause of his Distemper, is the greatest Folly of all.
Now for the Truth's sake, we shall touch at some of the Matters charged by him against us, and first in the 7th Page, wherein he renders us a People hiding such horrid Incest as we believed would procure Death, and not only so, but marrying the Man to a Lass, who we judged, would prove a Whore, which Charge in every Part of it is false and wicked, and is from the Father of Lyes, as will appear by the Testimonies of those whom he hath falsly scandaliz'd, given under their Hands; the Truth of the Case is as followeth: A certain young Man in Southwarke, Kinsman to the said Thomas [Page 5]Boyce, being his Brothers Son, came to our Meeting to propound the taking of a young Woman to Wife; certain Friends were appointed (as is usual in such Cases) to enquire of their Clearnes from all others, and of their Conversations, which said Friends met with a Report, that the Young Man should have lain with his Mother; they being poor, and living but in one Room together, we believe had given Ground to the Report, whereupon the Matter was enquired farther into, but we never found Just Cause to believe that they were guilty of Incest or Ʋncleaness, nor never did pass any such Sentence upon them, but after long & deliberate weighing the Matter, the young Man and the young Woman were permitted to take each other in Marriage; and after they were marryed, some Strife or Contention arising amongst the Kindred of the young Man, of which we fear this T. B. to be a great moving Cause; for when some Friends were called to hear the Difference, this Boyce as he confesseth in his Book, pag. 7. said, She was not his Wife, upon which, and divers other Manifestations of his Evil Ranting Spirit, the Paper afore-mentioned was given out against him.
So here follow the Certificates of the Parties which he mentions.
WHereas I Thomas Padley am accused with saying, that if the World should know it, to wit, the Woman and her Son being unclean, they would be both hang'd, p. 7. This is a deceitful Insinuation, as if we did conclude they were Ʋnclean, & so lyable to suffer, which is falsly suggested; for we never did declare nor conclude that they were Ʋnclean, but only I speaking by Way of Supposition (in Indignation against Ʋncleaness it self) if they were so, and the World should know it, they would suffer; and this was upon our Enquiry in Order to prevent Scandal and Reproach from coming upon us, or our Meeting.
WHereas I Walter Miers am accused by T. B. in the 7th Page as being chiefly concerned in putting two Persons together in Marriage; This is an absolute Falshood; for I do deny that I was Instrumental in bringing them together; for I never spake to them about it, nor was any Wayes in the least concerned in it, until that they of themselves were contracted and agreed, and had declared it in Publick.
WHereas T. Biddle is accused by T. Boyce with saying, That she, the said Woman, was of a bewitching Spirit, and that he feared she would prove a Whore, so that they were willing to let her have a Husband. Tho. Biddle doth deny that he ever said that she was of a bewitching Spirit; neither did he ever say that he was afraid she would prove a Whore; but doth acknowledge that he did say, she had drawn out the Affections of a Servant of his, being an Apprentice, whereby he became Negligent in his Business, but he dyed in the Time of the great Contagion in London; but he doth not charge her with the Cause of his Death; these Things proceed from the Spirit of Spite and Envy that rules in him, and in this Spirit of Cain that Murtherer, Guilt & Fear possesseth him, & that Voice of Cain is heard, It shall come to pass that whosoever shall meet me, shall slay me; and by this Spirit he hath been led to swear, he went in Danger of his Life because of me, who never had a Thought in my Mind to hurt him, and caused me to be bound over to the Sessions; when he was asked before the Magistrate if he had not forsworn himself, he said, If he had, be it upon him, and if he had, he was but damned: I know no other Cause on my Part of this his Envy, but because when Contention and Difference arose between the young-married Persons, who are his Relations; he being present when a Composure was endeavoured; in Order to make the Breach wider, he did affirm, as now he saith in Print, pag. 7. that she was not his Wife, and being reproved for speaking so unadvised and rash, he produced this Argument to prove what he said, bringing Solomon's Words; he that finds a Wife finds a good Thing; but she is not good, therefore not his Wife; for this he was judged of me and all present, and ever since he hath grown worse and worse, and encreased in Rage and Enmity against his best Friends, who have endeavoured his Good and Preservation inwardly and outwardly; herein he hath brought Vengeance upon his own Head, and he shall bear his own Judgment.
Concerning subscribing to our Form, mentioned pag. 6.
All that he hath said upon this Account we do utterly deny, as being totally false and malicious, and do declare, that we did never prescribe any such Form of Words as he hath set down, or any other to those who propound their Marriage among us, or thatever we lent any Mony on any such Subscriptions or Acknowledgments.
As to his Charge against Tho. Padly of speaking about turning him down Stairs, those Words were disowned by us at that present, and Tho. Padly being spoken to about it, did forthwith acknowledge that the Word was spoken in Haste, and thereby gave reasonable Satisfaction in that Matter.
And as to what he saith relating to W. Penn, take the Testimony following.
SInce Tho. Boyce has mentioned W.P. in his abusive Pamphl [...]t who deserved it not at his Hand, W. Penn being enquired of, doth deny that ever he acknowledged that Tho. Boyce had been wronged by Friends, that he found him so full of Distraction mixt with Spight and Envy, that unless he had been as discomposed and envious as himself, he could not have said what T.B. charges upon him; but this W. P. saith, he remembers that he exhorted him to be Calm in his Mind, and demean himself soberly, as became his Pretences, and he with G. W. who was by, would endeavour to encline Friends to assist him, and do him Right in Case he were wronged; but this Condition, to wit, to be sober and quiet, he tells the World, was against his Conscience, and further saith, That he utterly abhors to bribe a Man to a Thing that is Just, much more to stop the Mouth of one oppressed, as he pretended to be; and the said T.B. complaining of his Poverty, in meer Compassion he gave him ten Shillings, but not upon Condition of concealing any Thing, further telling him, that he going under the Name of a Quaker, if he did not walk in God's Fear, and be Cool and Quiet, he would furnish malicious Persons with Occasion against the Truth, not having any Cause of Fear of T. Hicks or any else, as he falsly insinuates; neither doth he remember that he named any Persons to him, since which it doth appear, his Aim was Base and Mercinary, and not only that he is under a kind of Distraction at Times, as his Neighbours certifie, p. 10. of his Book; he continued in a distracted Condition for some Months, but that he is also evidently Hypocritical; for whereas he judged Friends to be fallen from their Integrity, and justifies himself as one more saithful, he has unworthily offered to swear the Peace against divers peaceable Men that never sought his Harm, pulling of his Hat to the Justice, saying, May it please you Sir to tender me an Oath, pray Sir give me my Oath, &c. taking Advantage at our Contrary [Page 8]Practice, hoping thereby to have his Revengeful and Mercinary Ends upon us, and all this because our Friends would not feed him in his Lazyness, nor mantain him when he was able to work; nor are we Ʋnsensible who they are that make Ʋse of these Slanders and Envy to bespatter us, which to be sure doth not become their Pretences to Religion.
This short and candid Account of the Matters contained in his malicious Pamphlet, directed to King and Parliament, we thought meet to give forth for the clearing of the Truth, and the undeceiving of any Persons, whether high or low, who might be in Danger to believe any of his wicked Insinuations; and if any notwithstanding give themselves over, rather to believe Lyes, then to believe the Truth, when both are presented to their View, we are clear, and the Evil thereof will redound unto themselves, and unto those who ministred the Occasion thereof.
POSTSCRIPT.
WHat concerns T. Boyce his Turbulent Rude and Bedlam like Behaviour, roaring and belching out his Outrage in our publick Assemblies, signified in the aforesaid Account, many hundreds can testifie the Truth thereof; so whether his thirteen Witnesses testifying that he is both an Honest Man and a Peaceable Liver where he dwells, will clear him or not, let the Impartial Readers Judge; yet his Neighbours Testimony of him, That he continued in a distracted Condition for some Months, is probable enough.