Account of the Trial of John Edwards (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ting off ears, and destroying their innocent lives by the ignominious gallows. 19. These detestable scenes of more than savage barbarity, began in the month called July, 1656. Mary Fisher and Ann Austin having arrived in the road before Boston, the deputy governor Bellingham, had them brought on shore, and committed to prison, as Quakers. They were stript naked under pretence of knowing whether they were witches, " and1 in this search, (says Sewel, ) they were so barbarously misused, that modesty forbids to mention it."?After about five weeks imprisonment, they were sent back to Old England, their beds and bibles being taken by the jailor for his fees., 20. Scarce a month after, eight others of those called Quakers came; they were locked up in the same manner as the former; and after about eleven weeks stay, were sent back. John Endicot bid them " Take heed that ye break not our ecclesiastical laws, for then ye are sure to stretch by the halter." 21. Then a law was made to prohibit all masters of ships from bringing any Quakers into that jurisdiction. Nicholas Upsal, a member of the church, and a man of unblamable character, for speaking against such proceedings, was fined twenty-three pounds, and imprisoned also for not coming to church; next they banished him out of their jurisdiction; and though a weakly old man, yet he was forced to depart in the winter. Nicholas afterwards met with an Indian prince, who, having understood how he had been used, offered to make him a warm house; and further said, " What a God have the English, who deal so with one another about their God !" 22. tThe following year, 1657, Anne Burden and Mary Dyer were imprisoned at Boston; and Mary Clark, for warning these persecutors to desist from their iniquity, was unmercifully rewarded with t...