CHAPTER IX (5)

Then the judge began to make a great speech, how he represented the lord Protector’s person; who had made him lord chief justice of England, and sent him to come that circuit, &c. We desired him then, that he would do us justice for our false imprisonment, which we had suffered nine weeks wrongfully. But instead of that, they brought in an indictment, that they had framed against us; so strange a thing, and so full of lies, that I thought it had been against some of the thieves; that we came “by force and arms, and in a hostile manner into the court;” who were brought, as aforesaid. I told them, “it was false:” and still we cried for justice for our false imprisonment, being taken up in our journey without cause by Major Ceely. Then Peter Ceely spoke to the judge, and said, “May it please you, my lord, this man (pointing to me), went aside with me, and told me how serviceable I might be for his design; that he could raise forty thousand men at an hour’s warning, and involve the nation in blood, and so bring in King Charles. I would have aided him out of the country, but he would not go. If it please you, my lord, I have a witness to swear it.” So he called upon his witness; but the judge not being forward to examine the witness, I desired that he would be pleased to let my mittimus be read in the face of the court and country, in which my crime was signified, for which I was sent to prison. The judge said, “it should not be read;” I said, “it ought to be, seeing it concerned my liberty and my life.” The judge said again, “It shall not be read;” but I said, “it ought to be read; for if I have done anything worthy of death, or of bonds, let all the country know it.” Then seeing they would not read it, I spoke to one of my fellow-prisoners, “Thou hast a copy of it, read it up,” said I. “It shall not be read,” said the judge; “Jailer,” said he, “take him away, I will see whether he or I shall be master.” So I was taken away; and a while after called for again. I still cried to have my mittimus read; for that signified the cause of my commitment: wherefore I again spoke to the friend, my fellow prisoner, to read it. He did read it, and the judge, justices, and whole court were silent; for the people were eager to hear it. It was as follows:—

Peter Ceely, one of the Justices of the Peace of this County, to the Keeper of His Highness’s jail at Launceston, or his lawful Deputy in that behalf, Greeting:—

“I send you herewithal by the bearers hereof, the bodies of Edward Pyot of Bristol, and George Fox of Drayton-in-the-Clay, in Leicestershire, and William Salt of London, which they pretend to be the places of their habitations, who go under the notion of Quakers and acknowledge themselves to be such; who have spread several papers tending to the disturbance of the public peace, and cannot render any lawful cause of coming into these parts, being persons altogether unknown, and having no pass for their travelling up and down the country, and refusing to give sureties of their good behaviour, according to the law in that behalf provided; and refuse to take the oath of abjuration, &c. These are therefore, in the name of his Highness the lord Protector, to will and command you, that when the bodies of said Edward Pyot, George Fox, and William Salt, shall be unto you brought, you them receive, and in his highness’s prison aforesaid you safely keep them, until by due course of law they shall be delivered. Hereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at your perils. Given under my hand and seal, at St. Ives, the eighteenth day of January, 1665.”

When it was read I spoke thus to the judge and justices: “Thou that sayest thou art chief justice of England, and you justices know, that if I had put in sureties, I might have gone whither I pleased; and have carried on the design (if I had had one), which Major Ceely hath charged me with: and if I had spoken those words to him, which he hath here declared, judge ye, whether bail or mainprize could have been taken in that case.” Then, turning my speech to Major Ceely, I said, “When or where did I take thee aside? Was not thy house full of rude people, and thou as rude as any of them at our examination: so that I asked for a constable or some other officer, to keep the people civil? But if thou art my accuser, why sittest thou on the bench? This is not a place for thee to sit in; for accusers do not use to sit with the judge: thou oughtest to come down, and stand by me, and look me in the face. Besides, I would ask the judge and justices whether or not Major Ceely is not guilty of this treason, which he charges against me, in concealing it so long as he hath done? Does he understand his place either as a soldier or a justice of the peace? For he tells you here, that I went aside with him, and told him what a design I had in hand, and how serviceable he might be for my design: that I could raise forty thousand men in an hour’s time, and bring in King Charles, and involve the nation in blood. He saith, moreover, he would have aided me out of the country, but I would not go; and therefore he committed me to prison for want of sureties for the good behaviour, as the mittimus declares. Now do not you see plainly that Major Ceely is guilty of this plot and treason that he talks of, and hath made himself a party to it, by desiring me to go out of the country, and demanding bail of me, and not charging me with this pretended treason till now, nor discovering it? But I deny and abhor his words, and am innocent of his devilish design.” So that business was let fall: for the judge saw clearly enough, that instead of ensnaring me, he had ensnared himself.

Major Ceely then got up again and said, “If it please you, my lord, to hear me: this man struck me, and gave me such a blow, as I never had in my life.” At this I smiled in my heart, and said, “Major Ceely, thou art a justice of peace, and a major of a troop of horse, and tells the judge here in the face of the court and country, that I (who am a prisoner) struck thee, and gave thee such a blow, as thou never hadst the like in thy life? What! art thou not ashamed? Prithee, Major Ceely?” said I, “where did I strike thee? and who is thy witness for that? who was by?” He said it was in the Castle-Green, and that Captain Bradden was standing by, when I struck him. “I desired the judge to let him produce his witness for that, and I called again upon Major Ceely to come down from off the bench, telling him, it was not fit that the accuser should sit as judge over the accused.” When I called again for his witnesses, he said Captain Bradden was his witness. Then, I said, “Speak, Captain Bradden, didst thou see me give him such a blow, and strike him, as he saith?” Captain Bradden made no answer; but bowed his head towards me. I desired him to speak up, if he knew any such thing: but he only bowed his head again. “Nay,” said I, “speak up, and let the court and country hear, and let not bowing of the head serve the turn. If I have done so, let the law be inflicted on me; I fear not sufferings, nor death itself, for I am an innocent man concerning all this charge.” But Captain Bradden never testified to it: and the judge finding those snares would not hold, cried, “Take him away, jailer:” and then, when we were taken away, he fined us twenty marks a-piece for not putting off our hats; and to be kept in prison till we paid it: so he sent us back to the jail.

At night Captain Bradden came to see us, and seven or eight justices with him, who were very civil to us, and told us, they believed neither the judge nor any in the court gave credit to the charges which Major Ceely had brought forward against me in the face of the country. And Captain Bradden said, Major Ceely had an intent to take away my life if he could have got another witness. “But,” said I, “Captain Bradden, why didst not thou witness for me, or against me, seeing Major Ceely produced thee for a witness, that thou saw me strike him; and when I desired thee to speak either for me or against me, according to what thou saw or knew, thou wouldst not speak.” “Why,” said he, “when Major Ceely and I came by you, as you were walking in the Castle-Green, he put off his hat to you, and said, ‘How do you do, Mr. Fox? Your servant, Sir.’ Then you said to him, ‘Major Ceely, take heed of hypocrisy, and of a rotten heart: for when came I to be thy master, and thou my servant? Do servants cast their masters into prison?’ This was the great blow he meant you gave him.” Then I called to mind that they walked by us, and that he spoke so to me, and I to him; which hypocrisy and rotten-heartedness he manifested openly, when he complained of this to the judge in open court, and in the face of the country; and would have made them all believe, that I struck him outwardly with my hand.

Now we were kept in prison, and many came from far and near, to see us; of whom some were people of account in the world; for the report of our trial was spread abroad, and our boldness and innocency in our answers to the judge and court were talked of in town and country. Among others came Humphrey Lower to visit us, a grave, sober, old man, who had been a justice of peace; he was very sorry we should lie in prison; telling us how serviceable we might be if we were at liberty. We reasoned with him concerning swearing; and having acquainted him how they tendered the oath of abjuration to us, as a snare, because they knew we could not swear, we showed him that no people could be serviceable to God, if they disobeyed the command of Christ; and that they that imprisoned us for the hat-honour, which was of men, and which men sought for, prisoned the good, and vexed and grieved the spirit of God in themselves, which should have turned their minds to God. So we turned him to the Spirit of God in his heart, and to the light of Christ Jesus; and he was thoroughly convinced, and continued so to his death, and became very serviceable, to us.[47]

There came also to see us one Colonel Rouse, a justice of peace, with a great company with him. He was as full of words and talk as ever I heard any man in my life, so that there was no speaking to him. At length I asked him, “whether he had ever been at school, and knew what belonged to questions and answers;” (this I said to stop him.) “At school!” said he, “Yes.” “At school!” said the soldiers; “doth“doth he say so to our colonel, that is a scholar?” Then said I, “If he be so, let him be still, and receive answers to what he hath said.” Then I was moved to speak the word of life to him in God’s dreadful power; which came so over him that he could not open his mouth: his face swelled and was red like a turkey; his lips moved, and he mumbled something; but the people thought he would have fallen down. I stepped to him, and he said he was never so in his life before: for the Lord’s power stopped the evil power in him; so that he was almost choked. The man was ever after very loving to Friends, and not so full of airy words to us; though he was full of pride; but the Lord’s power came over him, and the rest that were with him.

Another time there came an officer of the army, a very malicious, bitter professor, whom I had known in London. He was full of his airy talk also, and spoke slightingly of the light of Christ, and against the truth, and against the Spirit of God being in men, as it was in the apostles’ days; till the power of God that bound the evil in him, had almost choked him as it did Colonel Rouse: for he was so full of evil that he could not speak, but blubbered and stuttered. But from the time that the Lord’s power struck him, and came over him, he was ever after more loving to us.