John Fretwell, into your custody, and them therein safely to keep during the space of six months, without bail or mainprize, or until they shall find sufficient security to be of good behaviour, or be thence delivered by order from ourselves. Hereof you are not to fail. Given under our hands and seals this 30th day of October, 1650. GER. BENNET,

NATH. BARTON."

Now did the priests bestir themselves in their pulpits to preach up sin for term of life; and much of their work was to plead for it; so that people said, never was the like heard. After some time, he that was committed with me, not standing faithful in his testimony, got in with the jailer, and by him made way to the justice to have leave to go to see his mother; and so got his liberty. It was then reported, that he said I had bewitched and deceived him; but my spirit was strengthened when he was The priests and professors, the justices and the jailer, were all in a great rage against me. The jailer watched my words and actions, and would often ask me questions to ensnare me; and sometimes asked me such silly questions as, Whether the door was latched, or not? thinking to draw some sudden, unadvised answer from me, whence he might take advantage to charge sin upon me; but I was kept watchful and chaste, so that they could get no advantage of me, which they wondered at.

gone.

Not long after my commitment, I was moved to write both to the priests and magistrates of Derby. And first to the priests.

:

"O friends, I was sent unto you to tell you, that if you had received the gospel freely, you would minister it freely without money or price but you make a trade and sale of what the prophets and the apostles have spoken; and so you corrupt the truth. And you are the men that lead silly women captive, who are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; you have a form of godliness, but you deny the power. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do you resist the truth, being men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But you shall proceed no further; for your folly shall be made manifest to all men as theirs was. Moreover, the Lord sent me to tell you, that he doth look for fruits. You asked me, If Scripture was my rule? but it is not your rule, to rule your lives by, but to talk of in words. You are the men that live in pleasures, pride, and wantonness, in fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness: see if this be not the sin of Sodom. the angels, but Sodom was envious. You show forth the vain nature; you stand in the steps of them that crucified MY SAVIOUR, and mocked him; you are their children; you show forth their fruit. They had the chief place in the assemblies, and so have you; they loved to be called Rabbi, and so do you." G. F.

Lot received

I wrote to the magistrates who committed me to this effect :—

66 FRIENDS,

"I am forced, in tender love unto your souls, to write unto you, and to beseech you to consider what you do, and what the commands of God

call for. He requires justice and mercy, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free. But who calleth for justice, or loveth mercy, or contendeth for the truth? Is not judgment turned backward, and doth not justice stand afar off? Is not truth silenced in the streets, or can equity enter? And do not they that depart from evil make themselves a prey? Oh! consider what ye do in time, and take heed whom ye imprison; for the magistrate is set for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well. Now, I entreat you, in time take heed what you do; for surely the Lord will come, and will make manifest both the builders and the work. If it be of man, it will fail; but if it be of God, nothing will overthrow it. Therefore I desire and pray, that you would take heed, and beware what you do, lest ye be found fighters against God." G. F.

Now, after I had thus far cleared my conscience to them, I waited in holy patience, leaving the event to God, in whose will I stood. After some time I was moved to write again to the justices that had committed me, to lay their evils before them, that they might repent. One of them, Nathaniel Barton, was a colonel, a justice, and a preacher.

"FRIENDS,

،

"You spoke of the good old way which the prophet spoke of; but the prophet cried against the abominations which you hold up. Had you the power of God, ye would not persecute the good way. He that spoke of the good way was set in the stocks. The people cried, 'Away with him to the stocks,' for speaking the truth. Ah! foolish people, who have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, without understanding! 'Fear ye not me,' saith the Lord, and will ye not tremble at my presence?' O your pride and abominations are odious in the eyes of God! You that are preachers have the chief place in the assemblies, and are called of men, Master. Such were and are against my Saviour and Maker: they shut up the kingdom of heaven from men, and neither go in themselves, nor suffer others. Therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation, who have their places, and walk in their steps. You may say, if you had been in the days of the prophets, or Christ, you would not have persecuted them; wherefore be ye witnesses against yourselves, that ye are the children of them, seeing ye now persecute the way of truth. O consider, there is a true judge, that will give every one of you a reward according to your works. O mind where you are, you that hold up the abominations which the true prophet cried against! O come down, and sit in the dust! The Lord is coming with power, and he will throw down every one that is lifted up, that he alone may be exalted."

As I had thus written unto them jointly, so, after some time, I wrote to each of them by himself. To Justice Bennet thus :—

c FRIEND,

"Thou that dost profess God and Christ in words, see how thou followest him. To take off burthens, to visit them that are in prison, to show mercy, clothe thy own flesh, and deal thy bread to the hungry; these

are God's commandments. To relieve the fatherless, and to visit the widows in their afflictions, and to keep thyself unspotted of the world; this is pure religion before God. But if thou dost profess Christ, and follow covetousness, and greediness, and earthly-mindedness, thou deniest him in life, and deceivest thyself and others, and takest him for a cloak. Woe be to you, greedy and rich men; weep and howl, for your misery that shall come. Take heed of covetousness and extortion; God doth forbid that. Woe be to the man that coveteth an evil covetousness, that he may set his nest on high, and cover himself with thick clay. O! do not love that which God forbids. His servant thou art, whom thou dost obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Think of Lazarus and Dives; the one fared sumptuously every day, the other was a beggar. See if thou be not Dives: be not deceived, God is not mocked with vain words; evil communication corrupteth good manners; awake to righteousness, and sin not." G. F.

That to Justice Barton was in these words :

"FRIEND,

"Thou that preachest Christ, and the Scriptures in words, when any come to follow that which thou hast spoken of, and to live the life of the Scriptures, then they that speak the Scriptures, but do not lead their lives according thereunto, persecute them that do. Mind the prophets, and Jesus Christ, and his apostles, and all the holy men of God; what they spoke was from the life; but they that had not the life, but the words, persecuted and imprisoned them that lived in the life, which those had backslidden from.' G. F.

دو

Having written to the justices and to the priests, it was upon me to write to the Mayor of Derby also; who, though he did not sign the mittimus, had a hand with the rest in sending me to prison. To him I wrote after this manner :—

"FRIEND,

"Thou art set in place to do justice; but, in imprisoning my body, thou hast done contrary to justice, according to your own law. O take heed of pleasing men more than God, for that is the way of the Scribes and Pharisees; they sought the praise of men more than God. Remember who said, 'I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; I was in prison, and ye visited me not.' O friend, thy envy is not against me, but against the power of truth. I had no envy to you, but love. O take heed of oppression, 'for the day of the Lord is coming, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble; and the day that cometh, shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; it shall leave them neither root nor branch.' O friend, if the love of God were in thee, thou wouldst love the truth, hear the truth spoken, and not imprison unjustly. The love of God beareth, and suffereth, and envieth no man. If the love of God had broken your hearts, you would show mercy; but you show forth what ruleth you. Every tree doth show forth its fruit; you do show forth your fruits openly. For drunkenness, swearing, pride, and

O friend, mercy,

vanity, rule among you, from the teacher to the people. and true judgment, and justice, are cried for in your streets! Oppression, unmercifulness, cruelty, hatred, pride, pleasures, wantonness, and fulness, are in your streets; but the poor are not regarded. O! take heed: 'Woe be to the crown of pride! Woe be to them that drink wine in bowls, and the poor is ready to perish.' O! remember Lazarus and Dives! One fared deliciously every day, and the other was a beggar. O friend, mind these things, for they are near; and see whether thou be not in Dives state."

I wrote also to the court at Derby thus:

"I AM moved to write unto you, to take heed of oppressing the poor in your courts, or laying burthens upon poor people, which they cannot bear; and of imposing false oaths, or making them to take oaths which they cannot perform. The Lord saith, 'I will come near to judgment, and will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the false swearers, and against the idolaters, and against those that oppress widows and fatherless.' Therefore take heed of all these things betimes. The Lord's judgments are all true and righteous; and he delighteth in mercy. So love mercy, dear people, and consider in time."

Likewise to the ringers of the bells in the steeple-house, called St. Peter's, in Derby, I sent these few lines :

“FRIENDS,

"Take heed of pleasures, and prize your time now, while you have it, and do not spend it in pleasures, or earthliness. The time may come, that you will say you had time, when it is past. Therefore look at the love of God now, while you have time; for it bringeth to loathe all vanities and worldly pleasures. O consider! Time is precious. Fear God, and rejoice in him, who hath made heaven and earth.”

While I was in prison, divers professors came to discourse with me; and I had a sense, before they spoke, that they came to plead for sin and imperfection. I asked them, Whether they were believers, and had faith? and they said, Yes. I asked them, In whom? and they said, In Christ. I replied, If ye are true believers in Christ, you are passed from death to life; and if passed from death, then from sin that bringeth death. And if your faith be true, it will give you victory over sin and the devil, purify your hearts and consciences (for the true faith is held in a pure conscience), and bring you to please God, and give you access to him again. But they could not endure to hear of purity, and of victory over sin and the devil; for they said they could not believe that any could be free from sin on this side the grave. I bid them give over babbling about the Scriptures, which were holy men's words, whilst they pleaded for unholiAt another time a company of professors came, and they also began to plead for sin. I asked them, Whether they had hope? and they said, Yes: God forbid but we should have hope. I asked them, What hope is it that you have? Is Christ in you the hope of your glory? Doth it

ness.

purify you, as he is pure? But they could not abide to hear of being made pure here. Then I bid them forbear talking of the Scriptures, which were holy men's words. For the holy men, that wrote the Scriptures, pleaded for holiness in heart, life, and conversation here; but since you plead for impurity and sin, which is of the devil, what have you to do with the holy men's words?

Now the keeper of the prison, being a high professor, was greatly enraged against me, and spoke very wickedly of me: but it pleased the Lord one day to strike him so, that he was in great trouble and under great terror of mind. As I was walking in my chamber I heard a doleful noise; and standing still, I heard him say to his wife, "Wife, I have seen the day of judgment, and I saw George there, and I was afraid of him, because I had done him so much wrong, and spoken so much against him to the ministers and professors, and to the justices, and in taverns and ale-houses." After this, towards the evening, he came up into my chamber, and said to me, "I have been as a lion against you; but now I come like a lamb, and like the jailer that came to Paul and Silas trembling." And he desired that he might lodge with me; I told him that I was in his power, he might do what he would: but he said nay, he would have my leave, and he could desire to be always with me, but not to have me as a prisoner; and he said "he had been plagued, and his house had been plagued for my sake." So I suffered him to lodge with me; and then he told me all his heart, and said he believed what I had said of the true faith and hope to be true; and he wondered that the other man that was put into prison with me did not stand to it; and said, "That man was not right, but I was an honest man." He confessed also to me, that at times when I had asked him to let me go forth to speak the word of the Lord to the people, and he had refused to let me, and I had laid the weight thereof upon him, that he used to be under great trouble, amazed, and almost distracted for some time after; and in such a condition that he had little strength left him. When the morning came, he rose, and went to the justices, and told them, "that he and his house had been plagued for my sake:" and one of the justices replied (as he reported to me), that the plagues were on them too for keeping me. This was Justice Bennet of Derby, who was the first that called us Quakers, because I bid them tremble at the word of the Lord. This was in the year 1650.*

After this the justices gave leave that I should have liberty to walk a mile. I perceived their end, and told the jailer if they would show me how far a mile was, I might walk it sometimes; for I believed they thought I would go away. And the jailer confessed afterwards, that they did it with that intent, to have me escape, to ease them of their plague; but I told him I was not of that spirit.

This jailer had a sister, a sickly young woman. She came up into my chamber to visit me; and after she had stayed some time, and I had

* The designation "Quakers," which was at first applied in scorn, has ever since been used by the world to distinguish Friends from other professors of religion. The first use of the term in the records of Parliament, occurs in the journals of the House of Commons in 1654.