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Show \Uf<:<l, ore fo far fromcbeing jmlaw.fnl A!femblers, that therein they do but eXEtefs their Dug they owe1to God. LTumultuaujly j Imports, .S much ~s Diforderl¥, or an A!fcmbly _full of Noife, Buftle, and Confufion, ufing Force and V.10.lence, _to the InJury ?f Fe1fons, Houfes, 01 Grounds. But whetherJ~ehgtous.Dtffenters, m rhetr Peiceable Meetings, rberein.defiring, .and feekmg. nothmg more than toe~"' prefs that Duty they owe to God Alm1ghty,,be ~miry of a Tumultuous Ach· on or Meeting in the Senfe exprefi (and wh1ch IS the very Definmon of the La'w) will be~he Qpeftion . . Certainly, fuch 'as call thefe Meetings Tumul· tuous, as to break "the Peace, offer the greateft Violence to common Words, that can be well imagined ;for t~ey may as rightly fay_, fuch PerfoRs meet Adulteroufiy, Thie.vifhly. etc. as to affirm they meet Tumulruoufly, ?ccaufe they are as truly .applicable; in t'hon, fuoh Particu~ars, as are requucd to prove them fuch Meetings in Law, are wholly Wlnnng . . StU. 9· [T• tbt Difl•rban<t of the Peace.l . H tbe Difturblnce of the Peace be but Matter of Form wah the Reff, as is ufually pleaded 1 leave out this Matter of Form, and then fee what great Matter will be left. . Certainly fuch Affemblies, as are not to the Breach and Dt_fturbance of the 'Peace, are far from being Unlawful, or Tumultuary: But tf the Peace be broken by them, how comes it the Evidence was fo (hort? We cannot believe it was in Favour of the Prifoners. This may !hew to all the rea ronable World, how forward fame are, to brartd Innocency with hateful Names, to bring a Sufpicion, where there was none deferved. Se[/. 10. [That tbe faid Penn and Mead, met by Agreement before bnnd m•de.] , But if Perfons that never faw each other, nor converfed together, neither had Correfpondency by any other Hand, cannot be faid to be agreed, to any A8:ion before it be done; then the Prifoners were far-from an Agreement; fpr they had never Seen, Com·er!l:, nor Correfponded, direaty, nor indiret\ ly, before the Officers came to difturb the A!fembly: We well know how far they would have ftretch'd the Word, ~reeme11t, or Confpiracy; but God, who brings to n~ught all the Counfels of the Wicked, pre\'entcd their Cruel Defigns. Sea. 1 J, [Tb.r William Mead did abet the J aid William Penn in· P.re-acbing.J No Mao can be faid to abet another, whilft they are both unknown to each other, efpecially in this Cafe, where Abetting follows Agreeing, and Agreeing fuppofes Fore-knowledge: Nay, the Word .Abet in Law, fignifies to Command, Procure, or Counfel a Perfon, which W. Mead could not be faid to do, in Reference to W. Penn, they bein~ fo great Strangers one to another, and at fo great a Diftance; for the Evtdence Proves, that he was with Lieutenant C'ot<k, and Lieutenant Cook Swears, he could not ma&_e his Way toW. Penn for the Crowd. Sefi. 12. [That W. Penn's Preacbing and Spenkint, cnufcd a grcnt Concourfe and Tamult of People, to remnin and-continue a long Time in tbc a-J . But this is fo improbable to believe, that the very Nature of a Tumult admits of no fuch Thing as Preaching; but implies a diforderly Multirude, where a11 may be faid to Speak; rather than any to Hear. Sefl. 1. [In Conrcmpt of the King nnd His Law.r.l They are fo far from Contemning the King and :His Laws, that they are obliged and conftrained by their own Principles, to ob&y every Ordinance ?f Man for the_Lord's SaKe, but not "againft the Lord for .Aian'.r Sake, wJtich IS theQ.uefiion tn Hand. Hel'ides, their continuance there, was not if! Contempt, but by the Perrniffion of the Chief Officer prefent, that came there by the King's Authority ; nor is it for the Honour of the King that fuch Ferfons thould be faid to A£\: in Contempt of His Laws as only meet to Honour God and His Laws. • ' • Se[J. 2. [.lind to tbe great [)ijlurba~ce of tbe,Ki•ls l'tue.] It VoL. I. Tbe AuTHoR's LlFE. 21 It is far from Difturbing, or Breaking the King's Peace foi Men Peace- 6 ably co meet to wo~(hip God; for ir i~ then properly broken and invaded 1 70' when Force and V10lence ar_e uf~d, to the Hurt and Prejudice of Perfon~ ~ :md. ~Rates; or whe~ an_y Thmg JS d?ne that tends to the ftirring up of Sedmon, an~ begetting Ill People a D1flik~ of the Civil Gqvernmem: But that fuch Things ate not praa1fed by us tn our Affemblies either to offer· Vi_ol.ence to Me~s _Perfons and E~ates, or to ftir up People1to Sedition, or Dtfhke to the C1v1l Government, ts obyious to all that vifir our Affemhlies. Se[/. 3· [To rbe great Tcr.ror nnd Dijlnrbnncc of t_be King's Liege People ~nd Subf_e[J.r, and ,to, the Evrl Exnmple of nU others m tb~ bile Cafe offend· zng, ngamjlrhe Ktng .r Pence, His Crbwn nnd Dianity.] Were the.i_e blac~ Criminations, as True a; they are wretchedly Falfe, we fhould gtve as JUft an Occafion to lofe our Liberties, as our Cruel Ad· ver_fari~ a_re ready to take any to deprive us unjtdHy of them. 0! How Notonous ts t~to all fober People, that our Manner of Life is far from Terri· fying ~ny; and h~w abfUrd ro think, that Naked Men (in rhe Generality of thea Conyerfauon, known to be Harmlefs and Quier) lhould prove a Tenor, or D1fturbance to the People; certainly, if any fuch Thing fhould be in th~ Time of our Meetin&s, it is brought with the Cruelty and barbarous A8:10ns of your o~n Sold1er~} they ne,·er _Iearped by our Ex:tmple ro :f!ea;, Hale 1?efore !"lagtftrates, Fme and lrnpr n for Matters relating to Gods \¥orfh1p; neuhcr can they fay, we are r eir Prefidents, for all th-ofe .ildulterom, Protligal, Lifciviollt, Dr11nken Sr&cttring and Pr()fnne .dflr they dnily commit, md ejleem rnther Occt!/ion'of Brag t~nd Boajl, tban Sorro~ 11nd 1!-cpenrance: No, th:y need not ~o fo f::~r, they have too many (God Almtghty knows) of thetr own Supenors for their Example. Se[f. 4· But we can never pafs over with Silence, nor enough obferve the deteft~hle,_ Juggle of fu~h lnditl:menrs, which we req4ire all Entlifh and C'.onfc1~ntro11.r .Afe~ to mmd, as they value rhemfelves on the lik~ Occafions. How ltttle a Gram of FaEl: was proved, yet how fpacious an InrliCtmeot was made? Had it related to rhe Evidence, the Bulk had been excufable. but when it only fwelled with malicious fearing Phrafes, to fuggefi to th~ People, that they were the rneere£1: Villains, the mofl dangercus Perfons and defigning mutually the SUbverfion of the Law and Brea'Ch of the Peace1 to the Terrifying of the People, etc. ' , Who can choofe but tell them of their Romnncr-Inifilf1flewt: that is fo Forged, as it truly merits another againft it felf. This they childifllly call Form; b_ut had an lttrlinn, or other Suanger, been in Court, he would ha\'e Judged It M~tter of Faa, as thinking it unworthy of a King's Court, to Accufe Men In Term~, not Legally, Truly, or Probably due rp the F::~ct, they real.ly had committed ; as well as that no Court would praftife it, but that wluch loved to deprive Men of their Liberties, and Lives, rather than to fave them, No/em, Vo!cm. Sea. 5· Had their Cruelty and Juggle ended here it felf, they would have fpared us the Pa1~s of any further Ohfervation. But that which we ha\re t? add, on th.e Pnfoners Behalf, renders their Actions fo abominabl~ in the Stg~t of Jufhce, that all Honeft: and Ingenious Heans, muft needs abhor thetr bafe Snares. • · Thf.Y tell t~e Jur,r, Thnt b~ing hut ]11ilge.r of Faa anly, t f.q were to bring the Prifoner.r rn Gmlty_ (that ts, of the Faa) nt their Ptrif; tlnd it wat rbe Pnrt of the !Jench ~o Judge wbat WtU ~w: So that if_the Jury had brought them tn Gm!ty, Without further additional Explanation (though intenrionally they mea~t only of rhe Faa proved by Eddence) yet the Bench would h:t~·e extended H !O every Part of the Indiftment, and by rhis impious Deluhon, have P~rJured a Well-meaning Jury, and ha\'e had th-eir blrbarous Ends upon the l~noc~n.t Prifoners .. But the Jury better underff:Jnding rhemfelres, br~ught 1n WtUtnm Penn Gu1lty of rhe Faa proved, namely, TbJt he 'WIU Sptak!ng to fom~ People met in Grace·Church-Srreer, bitt not to 'nr. l Tnl~ lfiJful A.Dttlib!y,fc Ctrcumjlnntiaretl (the Mention of which ft:~.bbed their Dehgn of moulding the General Abrwer of Guilry, to their own Ends, to rhe Hem) |