IN the Year 1651, John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Crandall, called Anabaptists, were proceeded against in Boston Colony for their Faith and Practice in Religion, by Imprisoning, Fining, and Whip­ping; Obadiah Holmes was Whipt Thirty Lashes, several of his Friends being present, among the rest John Spur and John Hazel, who as they were attending the Prisoner back to the Prison) took him by the hand in the Market-Place, and praised GOD for his Courage and Constancy, for which they were fined each of them Forty Shillings, or to be Whipt; they refused to pay the Money, but some of their Friends doing it for them they were dismissed. Which may be seen in Daniel Neals History of New-England, Vol. I. Pag. 279, &c.

The People call'd Quakers, came to Boston about five Years after, and were also proceeded against, by Imprisoning, Fining and Whipping, but in a more barbarous and cruel Manner: But these Punishments proving insufficient to keep them out of their Government: They proceeded to make many Laws, annexing many and grievous Punishments, 'till it came to cutting off Ears and Banishment upon pain of Death, and put­ting to Death: As it is partly Recorded in Daniel Neals History of New-England, Vol. I. but more fully in George Bishop's History of New-England Judged.

The Law of Banishment on pain of Death, was in these Words, ( D. Neals Hist Pag. 306.) ‘ This Court doth Order and Enact, That every Person or Persons of the accursed Sect of the Quakers, which is not an Inhabitant of, but is found within this Jurisdiction, shall be apprehended [Page 2] without Warrant, where no Magistrate is at Hand, by any Constable, Com­missioner, or Select-man, and conveyed from Constable to Constable until they come before the next Magistrate, who shall commit the said Person or Per­sons to close Prison, there to remain without Bail until the next Court of Assistants where they shall have a legal Tryal by a special Jury; and being Convicted to be of the Sect of Quakers, shall be Banished upon pain of Death; and that every Inhabitant of this Jurisdiction being Convicted to be of the aforesaid Sect either by taking up, publishing, or defending the horrid Opi­nions of the Quakers,—or by taking up their absurd and destructive Prac­tices, viz denying civil Respects to Equals, and Reverence to Superiours, and withdrawing from our Church Assemblies, and instead thereof frequent private Meetings of their own, or by adhering to, or approving of any known Quaker,—or condemning the Practice of proceeding of this Court against the Quakers—Every such Person upon Examination and legal Conviction before the Court of Assistants, shall be committed to close Prison for one Month, and then, unless they choose voluntarily to depart this Jurisdiction, shall give Bond for their good Behaviour, and appear at the next Court of Assistants, where continuing Obstinate, and refusing to retract and reform the said Opinions and Practices, shall be Sentenced to Banishment upon pain of Death: And in Case of the aforesaid voluntary Departure, not to remain nor again to return into this Jurisdiction without the allowance of the Counsel first had & published, on penalty of being Banished on pain of Death.’

Four Quakers suffered Death by this Law as followeth,

William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson and Mary Dyar, coming from Rhode-Island in the Month of June, 1659, were apprehended and Bani­shed on pain of Death.

When they were Sentenced to Banishment, a Handkerchief was put into William Robinson's Mouth, to keep them from speaking for themselves; and when he yet attempted to speak the Court in a great Rage caused him to be carried down, and Twenty cruel Stripes to be given him with a threefold corded Whip with Knots on his naked Back. They were allowed till the fourth of September to depart the Jurisdiction, the two Men went into Piscataqua, and the Woman to Rhode Island. But coming again to Boston, they were all Three apprehended about the middle of October, and were demanded why they came again into the Jurisdiction being Banished on pain of Death? To which they answered severally, and declared, the ground or cause of their coming was of the LORD, and in obedience to Him; the Governor said, he desired not their Death, and that they had Liberty to speak for themselves, why they should not be proceeded with as to the giving Sentence against [Page 3] them; yet he bid the Jaylor, take them away; but the next Day, after their Worship was done being heated by their Priest, they brought them before the Court again and the Governour speaking faintly, as a Man whose Life was departing, said to this effect, "We have made many Laws, and endeavoured by several Ways to keep ye from us, and neither Whipping, nor Imprisoning; nor cutting off Ears, nor Banishment upon pain of Death, will keep ye from among us" and further said, "I desire not your Death," yet presently he said, "Give ear, and hearken to your Sentence ot Death," and then made a stop, whereupon William Robinson desired that he might be suffered to read a Paper amongst them, Which was a declaration of his call to Boston, and the Reason why they stayed in the Jurisdiction after Sentence of Banishment, which the Governor denyed, and said in a great [...] "You shall not read it, nor will the Court hear it read."—Then William Robinson laid it on the Table a­mongst them, and it was handed to the Governor, who read it to him­self, and after he had done said, " William Robinson, you need not keep such an adoe to have it read, for ye spake yesterday more than here is Written,"— William Robinson said nay, and desired again it might be read, that all the People might hear the Cause of their coming, and of their stay there, and wherefore they were put to Death, but it was [...] suffered to be read—And the Governor said to him. Hearken to your Sentence of Death. You shall be had from whence you came, and from thence to the Place of Execution to be hanged on the Gallows [...] you are Dead.

Then Marmaduke Stephenson, was call'd, and the Governor said to him, If you have any thing to say you may speak, who standing [...] and giving no Answer, the Governor pronounced the Sentence of Death against him, saying. You shall be had to the Place from whence you came, and from thence to the Gallows, and there be hanged till you are dead: Which being pro­nounced, Marmaduke Stephenson said, Give ear, ye Magistrates, and all who are guilty, for this the LORD hath said concerning you, who will perform his Word upon you, That the same Day ye put his Servants to Death, shall the Day of your Visitation pass over your Heads, and you shall be cursed forevermore: The Mouth of the LORD of Hosts hath spoken it, therefore in Love to you all, I exhort you to take Warning, before it be too late, that so the Curse may be removed, for assuredly, if you put us to Death, you'll bring innocent Blood upon your own Heads, and swift Destruction will come upon you.—After he had spoken this he was had to Prison.

Then Mary Dyar was called, and the Governor said to her to this Effect,— Mary Dyar, You shall go to the Place from whence [Page 4] you came, 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: The Governor said, Take her away Marshal: She answered, Yea, Joyfully shall I go.—They were all kept in Prison while the Twenty-seventh of the same Month; and after their Worship was done, their Drums were beat, and these Three were taken out of Prison, who parted from their Friends in Prison full of the Joy of the LORD, who had counted them worthy to suffer for his Name; and having embraced each other in fervency of Love, and gladness of Heart, and peace with GOD, like innocent Lambs:—The Captain with his band of Men lead them to the Place of Execution, and caused the Drums to beat when they attempted to speak, and placed them near the Drums for that purpose, that when they spake the People might not hear them, who in great Multitudes flocked about them; his Drums he would not cease Beating, though he was desired while they were speaking, which ( George Bishop saith) was a barbarous Inhumanity never heard of before in the English Nation;— William Robinson went chearfully up the Ladder to the very top above the Gallows, and spake to the People, that they suffered not as evil doers, but as those who testified and manifested the Truth, and this was the Day of their Visitation, and therefore desired them to mind the Light that was in them, the Light of CHRIST of which he testi­fied, and was now going to seal it with his Blood.—The Executioner put William Robinson to Death, and after him Marma­duke Stephenson, who died both of them full of the joy of the LORD, and steadfast in Him. The Officers were so Barbarous that when their dead Bodies were cut down they fell to the Ground, with which the Skull of W. Robinson was broke, his Body being stiff'ere it was cut down, their Shirts were ripped off with a Knife, and their naked Bodies cast into a Hole of the Earth, which was digged without any covering; and when some Friends came, and desired their Bodies to be put in Cof­fins, the Executioner suffered them to wrap them in Linnen, and to put them into the Hole again, but to take them away he suffered them not, saying, he was strictly charged to the contrary.

Their Priest Wilson, made a Ballad of these Martyrs.

As the People returned from the Executions of these Martyrs, a Draw-Bridge rose up & the one end of it fell upon many, & some were hurt, especially a wicked Woman who reviled the Servants of the LORD at their death, whom it greatly bruised, and her flesh Rotted from her bones; and her stink was so noisom that People could hardly come at her; in which miserable Condition she died.

[Page 5]Three also of Priest Wilson's Grand-Children died in a short Time after.

MARY DYAR, when she had parted with her Friends, between whom she came Hand in Hand joyfully to the Place of Execu­tion, tho' the Marshal asked her, If she was not ashamed, to walk Hand in Hand between two young Men? (not knowing her joy in the Lord) to whom she answered, It is an Hour of the greatest Joy I can enjoy in this World; no Eye can see, no Ear can hear, no Tongue can speak, no Heart can understand the sweet incomes and refreshings of the Spirit of the Lord which now I enjoy. I say after she had parted with her two Friends at the foot of the Ladder, expecting to die, and saw her two Friends hanging dead before her Eyes, her Arms and Legs tied, the Halter about her Neck, and her Face covered with a Handkerchief, which Priest Wilson sent the Hang-man, An Order coming for her Re­prieve, (upon the Petition of her Son, unknown to her) which being read, and the Halter taken off her Neck, she was desired to come down, but not answering, (in so sudden a Change having given up her self to die) the People cried, Pull her down; and they were so earnest, she could not prevail with them to stay a little, while she might consider what to do, but Ladder and she, they were pulling down together, while the Marshal and others took her down by the Arms, and had her to Prison; from whence she wrote to the Authority, when she understood upon what Account she was reprieved, deny­ing the Reprieve and the Ground of it; and the next Morning tendered her Life again, for the abrogating of their Law, but some came presently and took her in their Arms, and sat her on Horse-back, and [Page 11] conveyed her fifteen Miles towards Rhode-Island, and then left her with a Horse and Man to be conveyed further, so she went to Rhode-Island But she was afterwards put to Death, for but barely coming into the Jurisdiction of Boston, and being such a one as is call'd a Quaker.

WIlliam Leddra, having been several Times cruelly whipt, and en­dures fore and long Imprisonments in Boston, was also sentenced unto Banishment upon Pain of Death; and he coming again to Boston to visit his Friends in Prison, was soon laid hold of and thrust into Prison and there kept Night and Day, locked in Chains, during a cold Winter, and in the first Month, 1660 1, being brought before the Court, was told, That he was found guilty, and that he was to die: William said, What evil have I done? they said, his own Con­fession was as good as a thousand Witnesses: William demanded, What was that? They answered, That he owned those that were put to Death, and that he would not put off his Hatt in Court, and that he would say thee and thou: Then said William, You will put me to Death for speaking English, and for not putting off my Cloaths One replied, A man may speak Treason in English. Let us come to the Thing in Hand then answered William, Is it Treason to say Thee and Thou, to a single Person? To which none replied. But one demanded. Whe­ther he would go for England? William answered, I have no Business there. Then, said one of them, pointing to the Gallows, you shall be hanged or he should go that Way. William replied, What will ye put me to Death, for breathing in the Air of your Jurisdiction i— And for what you have against me, I appeal to the Laws of England (said he) for my Trial, and if by them I am guilty, I refuse not to die—To this they would not agree; but sought to persuade him to recant of those errors, and to conform, and submit; to which he an­swered, [Page 14] What, to join with such Murderers as you are? then let every Man that meets me say,—Lo, this is the Man that hath forsaken the Goa of his Salvation.

At the last. General Court he had Liberty given him to go for En­gland, or to go out of that Jurisdiction; and promising so to do and come there no more, he might save his Life. He answered, I stand not in mine own Will, but in the Will of the Lord; if I may have my Freedom, I shall go, but to make you a Promise I cannot.

William Leddra was sentenced to Death, and returned to Prison in order to Execution; and on the 14th of the same Month, after their Lecture was ended, the Governor came, and a Guard of Soldiers to the Prison; and William having taken his Farewel of Wenlock Christi­son, his Fellow Prisoner, and the rest of his Friends then in Bonds for the same Testimony, went forth to the Slaughter, willingly re­signed up to the Will of the Lord, whom the Guard encompassed round, to prevent his Speech with Friends, or his speaking with any; which Edward Wharton perceiving, and how the Guard strove to pre­vent his speaking with William, he said, Friends, what will you shew your selves worse than bloody Bonner's Brood? What, will you not let me come near my Friend, before you kill him? Chl said one, Edward, it will be your Turn next. The Captain said, If you speak a Word, I will stop your Mouth He was brought to the Gallows, and his Arms pinioned; where he took Leave of his Friend Edward Wharton as he was about to ascend the Ladder, to whom he said, All that will be Christ's Disciples, must take up the Cross. And standing where the Guard ordered him, with an exceeding fresh and lively Countenance, he spake to the People, and said, For bearing my Testimony for the Lord, against Deceivers, and the deceived, am I brought here to suffer.

There was present one Thomas Wilkie, a Stranger, having heard in the Town, that William might go away if he would, and being moved with pity, believing he was Innocent; he cried aloud, begging that his Life might be spared, and also called, to William, to come down from the Gallows, saying, You may go away if you will; but the Captain said, It is no such Matter; and William looked upon him, and said, Friend, know that this Day I am willing to offer up my Life, for the witness of Jesus.

As they were putting the Halter about his Neck, he said, I commit my righteous Cause unto thee, O God. And as the Ladder was turning off, he cried, Lord Jesus receive my Spirit.

William Leddra being dead, his Body was cut down and E. Wharton, [Page 15] and three Friends more, catched it in their Arms, and laid it on the Ground, until the Executioner had stripped it of the Cloaths, and they were suffered to lay it in a Coffin, and bury it where they thought mere, which it is like the Out-cry of the Country led unto, because of the Ex­ecutioner's drawing the Bodies of William Robinson, and Marmaduke Stevenson, very barbarously by the Legs, into the Hole that was digged for them, after their Shirts were ripped off.

While William Leddra was suffering Death, Wenlock Christison was brought before the Judgment Seat, the Governor and Deputy-Governor being [...] present, they said to him, Except you will renounce your Reli­gion, you shall surely die. Wenlock (being nothing affrighted) said, Nay, I shall not change my Religion, nor seek to save my Life; neither do I intend to deny my Master; but if I lose my Life for Christ's Sake, and the Preaching of the Gospel, I shall save it. And after a few more Words he was sent to Prison again, there to be kept till the next Court.— The Court being sitting in the 3d and 4th Months, 1661, a Spirit of Confusion was mingled amongst them, so that they were in a Manner broken;—the sense of the innocent Blood spilt, and the Consequences thereof being so weighty on some of them, that they could not consent to the putting of this Man to Death; insomuch that the Governor (John Endicot) was wrath, and went away from the Court discontented, and kept from it the Space of two Days, but he was prevailed with at length to come, they having assured him that if he would, they would proceed against Wenlock according to their Law: So, they being agreed, before the Judgment Seat Wenlock was brought; the Governor asked him, What he had to say for himself, why he might not Die? —I have done nothing worthy of Death, replied Wenlock, if I had, I refuse not to die. Thou art come in amongst us, said one, in Rebellion, which is as the Sin of Witchcraft, and ought to be punished — I came not in Rebellion, said Wenlock, but in Obedience to the God of Heaven, not in Contempt to any of you, but in Love to your Souls and Bodies, and that you shall know one Day, when you and all Men, shall give Account of the deeds done in the Body. Take heed, said he, for you cannot escape the righteous Judgments of God.

Then said their Major-General Adderton, You pronounce Woes and Judgments, and those that are gone before you pronounced Woes and Judgments, but the Judgments of the Lord God are not come upon us yet. — Be not proud, replied Wenlock, neither let your Spirits be lifted up. God doth but wait till the Measure of your Iniquity be filled up and that you have run your ungodly Race, then will the Wrath of God come upon you to the uttermost: — And as for thy Part, it hangs over thy Head, and is near to be poured down upon then, and shall come as a Thief in the Night, suddenly, when thou thinkest not of it.

[Page 16][ G. B. pag. 482, There is an Account that this Adderton was killed by a Fall of his Horse, and of many more untimely Deaths, which befel the most cruel Persecutors, and also their Teachers, that encou­raged thereunto]

By what Law, said Wenlock, will ye put me to Death? They replied, We have a Law, and by our Law you are to die So laid the Jews of Christ, replied Wenlock; Who [...] you said he, to make that Law? One of them said, We have a Patent, and are Patentees, judge whether we have not Power to make Laws. Wenlock replied again. How, have you Power to make Laws repugnant to the Laws of England? Nay, said their Governor. Then, answered Wenlock, you are gone beyond your Bounds, and have forfeited your Patent, and this is more than you can answer. But they owning themselves the King's Subjects, Wenlock said, So am I, and for any Thing I know, am as good as you if not better and therefore, seeing they and he were Subjects to the King, he demanded to be tried by the Laws of his own Nation; and also said, I never heard nor read of any Law in England to hang Quakers. The Governor replied. There was a Law in England to hang Jesuits. Wenlock answered. If you put me to Death, it is not because I go under the Name of a Jesuit, but a Quaker, therefore, said he, I do appeal to the Laws of my own Nation. But the Court proceeded to try him, and he was brought in guilty; whereupon the Secretary said. Wenlock Christison, hold up your Hand. I will not said Wenlock; I am here, and can hear thee. Then he cried, Guilty, or not Guilty? I deny all Guilt, replied Wenlock, for my Conscience is clear in the Sight of God, The Governor answered, The Jury hath condemned thee. But he an­swered, The Lord doth justify me; who art thou that condemnest? Then they voted as to the Sentence of Death, and were in a Manner confoun­ded, for several could not vote him guilty of Death. Then said the Governor, I could find it in my Heart to go Home, being in a Rage, Wen­lock cried. It were better for thee to be at Home than here, for thou art about a bloody Piece of Work Whereupon the Governor put the Court to vote again, which they did, notwithstanding there were some that would not consent. But the Governor stood up and said, You that will not consent, record it And like a Man drunk, he said, I thank God I am not afraid to give Judgment. Wenlock bristison, hearken to your Sentence, You must return to the Place from whence you came and from thence to the Place of Execution and there you must be hanged until you be dead, dead, dead Wenlock Christison called out and said, The Will of the Lord he done, in whose Will I came amongst you, and in his Council I stand, feeling [Page 17] his eternal Power, that will uphold me until the last Gasp, I do not question it. Moreover he cried saying, known be it unto you all, that if you have Power to take my Life from me, that my Soul shall enter into ever­lasting Rest and Peace with God, where you yourselves shall never come, and if you have Power to take my Life from me, the which I do Question; I do believe you shall never more take Quakers Lives from them (note my Words) do not think to weary out the living God, by taking away the Lives of his Servants. What do you gain by it? For the last Man that you put to Death, here are Five come in his Room: And if you have Power to take my Life from me, God can raise up the same Principle of Life, in Ten of his Servants, and send them among you, in my Room; that you may have Torment upon Torment, which is your Portion; for there is no Peace to the Wicked, saith my God. Then the Governor said, take him away to Prison.—Where he rested in Peace, and quietness of Spirit.—But within a Week after, came a Marshal, and Constable to him in the Prison, with an Order from the Court, for his, and other Friends enlargement; who said, they were ordered by the Court, to make them acquainted with their new Law.— Then Wenlock said, what means this? have you a new Law? Yes, said they, then you have deceived most People, said Wenlock; why said they? because, said Wen­lock, they did think the Gallaws had been your last Weapon; have you got more yet? Yes said they, Read it, said he; which they did. Then said Wenlock, Your Magistrates said, your Law was a good and whole­some Law made for the Peace and Safeguard of your Country: What, are your Hands now become Weak? the Power of God is over you all. Then the Prison Doors were set open, and Twenty seven more besides Wenlock, were turned forth; whereof two were stripped to the Waste, and made, fast to Carts-tails, and Whipped through the Town of Boston, with Twenty cruel Stripes, on their naked Backs and Shoulders; so into the Wilderness they were driven, by Sword and Club men, out of that Jurisdiction. Glory, Glory be given to the Lord, over all saith my Soul, who never leaves nor forsakes the Righteous, but redeems his faithful Ones out of all their Trouble; Praise the Lord all his Saints who are upon the Rock of Ages; And the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against you, saith Wenlock Christison.

Edward Wharton▪ who was often cruelly Whipped, and Persecuted other Ways, was also taken from his own House in Salem, and carried to Boston, and after he had been kept close Prisoner almost a Year, was (the 11th of the 1st Month, 1660.) Banished on pain of Death, to depart the Jurisdiction in Ten Days. He replied, Friends, [Page 18] I have Dealings with some People, it were good for me to have Time to make clear with all; and then, if you have Power to Murder me you may. The Governor said, If we give him an Hundred Days it is all one. Edward replied, I shall not go away; therefore be careful what you do.—And he afterwards wrote to them, signifying, where­as they had banished him on Pain of Death, he was yet at home, at his House in Salem, and could not go away, and therefore inti­mated to them to take off their wicked Sentence, from him, that he might go about his Occasions out of their Jurisdiction. John Cham­berlain and Robert Harper, and others, were also banished on Pain of Death.

A Letter was sent from the King to the Rulers of New-England, dated the 9th Day of September, 1661, by which they were inquired to put no more Quakers to Death. But George Bishop gives Account in his Book, that they were continually whipped, imprisoned, and their Goods spoiled, in a wonderful, barbarous, and cruel Manner, expo­sed to much Cold and Hardship in their Persecutions, sometimes their Food was kept from them in Prison, and none suffered to come at them, and not suffered to have Food for their Money, the Mini­sters stirring up the Authority to persecute and drive them away; so that in about seven Years, they suffered more than one Hundred and Sixty Whippings, most of them very cruelly laid on; one of them, Anne Coleman, being whipt almost to Death. G. Bishop, pag, 430. —Of which I shall relate one Passage concerning Elisabeth Hocton, an ancient Woman, who came from England to New-England, and went about visiting in a godly Manner, and was many Times whipped, and cruelly used for her Pains.

She crying, Repentance, through Part of Cambridge, was by two Magistrates committed, whose Jailor thrust her into a noisome, stink­ing Dungeon, where there was nothing to lye on, or sit on, and kept her there two Days and two Nights, without helping her to Bread or Water; and because Benanuel Bower, a tender hearted Friend, brought her a little Milk in this her great Distress, (wherein she had like to have perished) they cast him into Prison, for entertaining a Stranger, and fined him Five Pounds. After this cruel Usage, and her lying two Days and two Nights in this dismal Cell, she was had to Court, and ordered to be sent out of their Coasts towards Rhode-Island, and to be Whipped at three Towns, ten Stripes at each, by the Way: So, at Cambrdige she was tied to the Whipping Post, and lashed with ten cruel Stripes, with a three-stringed Whip, with three [Page 19] Knots at an End; and at Watertown she was laid on with ten Stripes more, of Rods of Willows; and at Dedham, in a cold frosty Morn­ing they laid on her aged Limbs ten Lashes more, with exceeding Cru­elty, at a Cart's Tail.

Her Skin and Flesh being thus torn and beaten with the afore­said Extremities, they put her on Horse back, and carried her a weary Journey many Miles into the Wilderness, and towards Night left her there, where many Wolves and Bears, and wild Beasts used sometimes to set upon living Persons, and many deep Water's to pass through, and then, as themselves said, they thought they should see her no more.

But the Lord so preserved her through the Waters, many of which she passed through with the Peril of her Life, and all other the ex­treme Inconveniencies of that her Condition, led her through, and up held her weak, bruised Body, and brought her the next Morning to Town called Reboboth, being neither weary nor faint, and then to Rhode-Island to Friends, where she was refreshed, and gave Glory to the Lord who had counted her worthy, and enabled her to suffer for his Name, beyond what her Age and Sex could otherwise reasonably have born. Several Times after this, she [...] and Boston, and warned them to Repentance, and of [...] that was coming upon them from the [...] Whippings, and other Cruelties at their [...]

All this they suffered in New-England, besides what [...] other parts of America. And some were beaten with pitched Ropes; William Brend was beat almost to Death with a pitched Rope, by the Jaylor, at Boston; but such a cry was made by the People, that the Authority was constrained (for the satisfaction of them) to set a Paper on the Meeting-House Door and other Places, that the Jaylor should be dealt withal the next Court, but it was soon taken down by the instigation of John Norton their high Priest, for said he, William Brend endeavoured to beat our Gospel Ordinances black and blue: and if he was beaten black and blue, it was just upon him, and he said, he would appear in the Jaylor's Behalf, G. B. p 66 John Whiting also gives Account in his Book of these Persecutions, and of the Judgments of God, pronounced by them which were Persecuted, against the Persecutors; and also [...] of many Judgments of God, that came on New-England afterwards.

Whosoever desires to be further informed, may have a large and satisfying Account of all that is above Written, in said Book of George Bishop, out of which these Persecutions were taken, which was Printed 1561, and John Whiting, they being both together in one Book.