| OCR Text |
Show s An .L{P p EN 'D·I X to Vol. _f; ~~ ,, llGod.dlmi htyto ,.;tnefs thatfuch out Di!I'ent, from No.XXlll. "'an. ~n"d we ~aCe iJ of the Ch.r;b of England has not been, as ~ thefr~ tc~ dn d be'E'ffi:a~fa Sini?,Jilar or Wilful Spirit:, but ourSiu-· fo"?e "''(;l~ ge d' t:U: Religion. Many People of England, have good Ex-· cer~ty to f~ an..,.T thelefs w~ ha,•e been tor near Twenty years laft paft. penence o It. l"'cver 'f h C/ d by Writs De E'x~mmunifeverely pro!ecuted by fome o t e ergy, an 1 h ' f< h 1 ft . ato Ca,iendo thrown into nafty G_oals ~nd. Hoes, w_fcere omef ave ho. ~heir L1ves, ~thers have been k.ept m a lmgnng_ lmpn onment, rom t eJr w· d F T A Punithment not much Infcnor to Death, and thefe tro1~biefom SuT:s 1:~j Proceedings againfi t~em, have been ~hiefiy for not in to tho Church (fo called) and not paymg to the Repazrs of the fam~ ~d ~me for fmoll Tythu, to the V~lue of Eig.bteen ~ence, Twa SJNUmg~,. and fometimes lefs, as in the Relauon {otlowmg, w1ll more p:uucularly. apNo~ we defire you to judge, whether thefe Cruel and Uncharitable ~o-:, ceedings, of thefe Clerl.l.men, towar~s .u~, are. confonant With the Praffice. oft he M,inifters of Cbrift, in the Pnmmve Tm~es, or anfwer that Meek .. nefs and Chdltian Spirit, m:mifefted by them, 10 Inftruilt~g tbof~ ~bttt op-pofed, and not feeking to deftror and r~in them, and theu Famthes, be .. caufe they could not receive theu Dod:nne. . And farther, we defire you to confider, when ~~ are firft ~ued to tha.. Bijhop'r Courtr, although we do appear and are wiJhng to m:mt~eft our ln·· nocency, yet becaufe we do not fee a PraEtor, or do refufe to fwear to our .Anfwer no Notice is taken of our Appearance, but we are foon after ex"l commu~icated and then thrown into a ~Noifom Gaol, and rherc we muit lie unbailable,' (how long the Lord Go~ that is holy and.uu~ ~nly knows) 2.nd in the Mean Time what a Condiuon the poor Farotly ts m at Home~ yo.u may well confider.' And whe~her tllofc A~ions do n?t great~y tend.. to grind the Face oft he Poor, whtch was ~n Evtl complamed ;~garnft, by the Righteous, in all Ages, :md we hope w1ll be confidered and redreifed by lnodu"we pray, that the Lord may incline your Hearts, to read and con· Jider the following Accounts, and to afford the S11jferen fame fpeedy R(4 lief., that they and their Families may not be utterly deftroyed. 1 Prefenud to you on the Behalf of the S~tfferers, by tu, London, r~ 1~1.6 o[!lx: 9rbMonrb, 16io. William Penn, ihrd Tv:enty more. A Preface to a Book entituled, .A brief .Amrmt of fome of rhe late aml · prefent Sutforings of the People eaUed QuA 1< E R s for. meeting together to worfbip God in Spirit. and Truth, •Jon the Conventule .Afl, wrth all .Accormt of [u1h who died Prifoners from the Tear, 166o, for fe-veral Caufes. To the KmG, LORD'• and CoMMONs in Parliament Alfembled. No.XXIV. THE daily Accounts we receive of the great Oppreffions of our Friends ~ in fevcral Counties, upon the Profecutioo of the Statut"e 22 Car. 2, c:Ip. .tBoo::rsll[~ J. entituled, .An Ail to prevent and j11pprejs jeditio11s Conventicler, con· J.trings, •p~n firain us yet hrther to make our Complaint to you, hoping, that upon 1M ,.~uenri· your Weighty Confideratlon diereof, fome Way to relieve us may be foun<l tr:p "11o. by You. In the Perufal of the following Accounts you may fee what De-- . RruCtiQn and fpoil hath been made upon our Eftates within thefe .Two ot Three Years lait pafty many poor Families being wholly ruined, and Tradef .. men that helped to employ and relieve others, are now fo impoveril'hed,. that they are fain to fhut up their Shops, :~nd be helped thcmfclves; and the Indulhious and Laborious are become a Prey to the Rapine of diifo· lute, idle 1nformers, and ethers~ who after they have devopred an they tould find in one County, have gone to the next, hunting from Meeting_ to Meeung VoL. I. i'be A_i1T H o .n's LI F£. Meeting, nothing f~tisfying them, till they haye devoured all our outward No. XXIV. Subftance: All whtch Oppreffions we have endured with much Patience ~ and Long·fuffering, knowing, that our afi'embling is in G~od Confcience to.. . ward God, and that we have always endeavoured to ex.ercife a C01iftience void of Offente toward Me11 _; and in fuch <";afe where we could not obey what the Law o~ M~n ~equued, we have y1elded our fehres p-atiently to fu~er the Penalttes tnfltft:ed on us, and have never plotted nor contrived to difi:uib the Peace,of the·Kingdom, or fought Revenge under our Suffer-ings, though they h~veextended rypt only to the Spoil of our outward, E_ftatcs, but to lmpnfonment, Bamfhmenr, and Lofs of Life it felf, and that of fo~e Hu~dreds <;~f us fince the King's R(jlorarion, as in the Relati· ons ~ol1Clwmg w11l parucu_larly appear, and that chiefiy for our peaceable Meeung together to wQrfhlp God, a Duty fo incumbent upon us and fo confcientioufly performed by us, that if the Law had been made' ro take 2way our Lives, as it was to deftroy our Eftates, we ·could not have for-born our Afi'embling together, except we fhould have been Treacherous to GoO a·nd our own Confciences. . And farther, W'e defire you to confider the Inequality of the aforefaid AEl:: The Mercenary lnformerr, who _fwcar againff u_s, gain Part of our Eftates to t~emfelves, and we are ~onv18:ed by the Arbitrary Determinatioq of one ]11jfue of the f!e~a? whom our Abfence is both Judge and Jury i And wh:ttever wrong IS mfi18:ed on us, our Appeal muft not lye in any other Court, but only before the Parties themfelves complained of to do us Wrong, who are many Times Judger in th~ir own Cafes, the ]Mrier being overaw'd by them, fo that they are afraid to fpeak their own Reafon and Senfe, b.ut forced to b:ing in fuch a Verdill. as pleafeth our Judger; which ~roceed10gs are concetved ro ~e exprefiy agatnft the Conftitution of our Eng/~ Government, a.nd the .An_ttent Fundam~m~l La~r of the Kingdom, which d1d exprefiy forb1d the SelZure of Mens Llberues and Eftates, with(IUt a Lawful Judgment of their Peerr. How repugnant thefe Severities inflitled upon us are to the Indulgence formerly proniifed to us by the King, you ma.y judge, when you call ro re· membrance the many Declarations he was plea fed formerly to make for tb~ Liberty of Tender Confciencer, that jhould not Jijlurb tbe. Peate oj the Kmgdom. And alfo we fh.allleave it to your impartial Judgment, whecher we have done any ACt or Thing whereby we have juftly incurred the For .. fciture of fuch Ind11igence. If the Lord fh.all put it in your Hearts to relieve us from thefe our gredr Oppreffions, we humbly propofe to your Confideration the Repeal of the Sratutes 22 Car. 2. Cap. r. made againft Convemicles, and the Statute of l~th and 14th Car. 2. &y which lafr Sratute fo many of our Friends fufrered lmprifonment till Death for confcientioufiy refufing to fwear in any Cafe. and for their peaceable Meeting to worfhip God • Signed on the Behalf of the Suffererr, by '"• u,a~,, thl!' 2oth Dey of William Penn, and Sixreen other:, .Du~mbl!'r, 168o. . To the Friends of God in the City of Brifl:ol. N<>. XXV. Thu font to be Read among thmr, wh<n affembleil to Wait upon the Lori. ~ fly beloved in the Lord! I Do herewith fend amongft you the Dear and Tender Salutation of my Hit L~ttrttt unfeigned Love, that is held in the Fellowfhip of the lafting Gofpel of rbt: f~iends tj Peac~, that has many Years been preached and believed amongit you, he· G~d '" rbt:. feechtn~ the God and Father of this- Glorious Day of the Son of Man, to ~~{of Bn~ encreafc and multiply his Grace, Mercy and Peace among you, that you Lif~ p. u~o may be Faithful, and abound in every good Word and '¥ork, doing and · fuffering what is pleafil]_g unto God, that you may prov.e whnt ir that Good and A'.ceptable and Per} ell WiU of God, which becomes you to be found dai· ly D.omg, that fo an Encranc:o may be adminiftred unto you abundantly · into |
