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Show ( 446 ) it being very Coltl, the Snow lying by t~e Walls.' (Wd the Wincl blowing cold, which the Whtpfer ( ltke an inhumane Brute) for hajie tor~ p~rt of her ~loath~, the"jlanderJ-by birltling him do ~t, m m1. hearmg ; ./o with Violence he lairJ it on, 'JV:thout P1ty or Mercy; (o, after ?ve came Home, to Sal~m, the ne~t Dtzy, where I was, it was reported, m my hearmg, the /11an, mt knowing that jhe was my Wife, 1vhicb reported it, j'aid, Thar when her Cloaths. were on, the rook one of the Prifoners about the Neck, and kiatd him before lhe Mulricude. To 1J.Jhich I anfwered to him, Ir was falfe, it was nor rrue; for I ')JJ/JS an ere-1JJitnefs to her the time Jhe was there, and 'JJJent away 'Jvith her ; il' s like jhe might take bim br the Hand ; fo many falfe Reports, LJ'e! and Slantlcrs are caft upon. her, and others, lJJhich I kno7Y of my o1vn knowledge to be falfe, and yet believed by rnany 7JJhich envy ~t them. And now (lnother cruel (lef, the like was never heard of in New-England, even keeping her clofe Prifoner in Salem, not {ujftring per to come home to her Haufe, my Children te(t to the wide World, to them that would jhew lv1e1cy to them in the extremi.ty of the cold Wimer-foP {on, a~~d Jo httling he.r to the Prifon the next Day, it beFng foowy wet fVeather, not fit for a Womn.n to Travet m, putting her into the Prifo'IJ again, all wet J-~ith the cold Snow (a mo.ft cruel Thing) and there rupt per in the Winter-feafon, not regarding her if fllt bad been frt-:Gen to Death, receiving many Lyes and falfe Reports~ believing them for Truth, from the Mouths of them that ufe to ~~port Lyes, whofe em· ployment have been taken up withal, ~bicb might be /Jetter ernplo1ed than to carry Lyes (lgflinft the lnno· cent, to fhed Blood cauflrfly ; as of one I am informed, 1hat Mordecai Cr~bau's Wife brought to thee, who · being 'in Prifon, [aid, That ihe faw my Wife rake · fri·P ifJm. f..ing, or· ]obn C.,. hflmberl11ine, about the ~ec4 ( 447 ) Neck at the Prifon-door, or thereabouts. Which u a fal{e Report, in the reporting Of it, becaufe (he reported it of the one to thee, and of the other in Salem. The(e evil Reports, Lyes and Slanders re• proachfully cajl upon her unjuftly, God, in his dut ;ime ')~ill c!em·, 1md recompence into their Bofoms [even .. folcl, m eve_ry Man as hu l¥ork ir, for which I..m.u(f tleclare agamjl, becaufe I fee the !--ove of God Jhne forth ~nurc and more, and her Faithfulnefs to the Lord 14 feen an,d trier!, and her Fait~fulnefs to me Jo 1 o7JJn, . tho many falfe Reports have been caft :tprm her unJuftly~ as. tho~ fhe was light, and uncivil 111 her Converfanon wirh ocher Men · ?JJbich !~ing I am jure fhe doth abhor the pra8ice'of, both m her _{elf and. all otb:rs, ;vh~ch i4 reported through Envy and_ Maltce, wh1ch_ 1 belu:ve f(tithfully fo to be; my Love ts much more zncr_ea[efl to h~r, becnuf'e I fee your Cruelty {o much enlarged to her; which cru-elt~ proceeds not from a Spirit of Love, but from A S~trtt of.Envy and Hatred, yea, from the evil Root of Unbeltef, of which. the Apoftle fpeaketh, for tbtre 'Wt/Q never fucb CruelfJ. dirl proceed from them; but the contrary, the Spirtt of Love, and Meeknefs, anrl Tendernefs, G..::ndenefs, yea, Lq:ve to aU Me~, as the Apojlle John /peaks, ?JJhich Apoftle coTJclurlmg th1s, Thar he that dwdls nor in Love dw~lls nor in God, for God is Love · and h~ that dwellerh nor in Love, hach nor' the Love of God abidjng in him ; and if he love nor his Brother whorn he hath feen, how can he love God whom he hach nor feen ? Oh! "'! Spirit is grieved for thee, becaufo that the Love I dtd once. (ee £~. thee, is departed from thee, tmd there remameth tn .thee a Spirit of Cruelty, of HarJ-heartednefl to thJ poor Neighbours, 'lJJhicb thou ~aft formerly bem much behDlden to, . and relieved by., i" t1me of wrmt, when thou hadft . no Bre11d to eat. . · E e i· ·Qh.l |