was again seized by the contrivance of the friars, and carried into one of the Mahometan mosques; where he was required, on pain of death, to profess the Mahometan religion, in compliance with the custom of the Turks, that whoever enters a mosque must embrace their religion or die. Some of their priests pressed him with much solicitation; but he persisting in his refusal, and in the true spirit of the martyrs declaring that he would rather die than violate his conscience by complying with their demand, they grew angry; and delivering him to the executioner, he was hurried away to the place of execution, to be burnt to death. Here he was made to sit down upon the ground, as a sheep among wolves; and as he sat, engaged in inward supplication, and resigned to the will of his divine Master, He whom he served was pleased to interpose for his deliverance; the Turks began to fall out among themselves; and a grave old man of note among them came up to him, and declared, that whether he would turn to their religion or not, he should not die. He was again interrogated, whether he would deny his Saviour; to which he firmly answered, No! The old man ordered his servants to conduct George to his house, where he treated him kindly for some days. But the friars still plotted against him, and hired a guard of horsemen to carry him to Gaza, before the Pacha, trusting that their insinuations had influenced this officer against him. But coming to Gaza, some of the Turks acquainted the Pacha with the malicious designs of the friars, and instead of complying with their wishes, he made them pay a considerable fine, and compelled them to convey George Robinson in safety to Jerusalem. Their own malice thus proving the means of his obtaining an official authority which they could not withstand, they now tried other arts on his arrival at their convent, to frustrate the object of his journey; and like sycophants, began to flatter him, telling him that his preservation through so many enemies was miraculous, pretending that they had been misinformed about him, and offering that if he would visit their pretended holy places, as other pilgrims, he should do it without cost, instead of having to pay them considerable fees, But George, faithful to his testimony against the superstitious veneration for those places, replied, "I shall not visit them in your manner; for in so doing I should sin against God." They told him that if he would conform, they would honor him as much as they had honored any Englishman that had ever visited them; but he told them he should not conform, and as for their honor, he mattered it not. They then became angry, and began to threaten to make him an example to all Englishmen who should come thither; but he said, I choose your dishonor rather than your honor; and told them, that they, under pretence of doing service to God, in visiting the places where the holy men dwelt, opposed and resisted that life which the holy men of God lived and walked in; adding that he would have them turn from those evil practices, else the wrath of the Almighty would be kindled against them. They did not like such discourse, and replied that whether he would go to see their places or not, the Turks must be paid, and insisted that if he would not visit them, he must pay twenty-five dollars, "for the Turks" as they pretended; though if he would visit their favorite relics, "they would pay the money for him." But, he told them that he would not comply with any such unreasonable demands. They then brought him before one of the Turkish officers of the city, who, discoursing about the worship of the Christians, asked him the ground of his coming to Jerusalem. He answered, "that he came thither by the command of the Lord God of heaven and earth; and that the great and tender love of God was made manifest in visiting them; His compassionate mercies being such, that he would gather them in this the day of his gathering." Having now, as he believed, delivered the message with which he had been commissioned to these people, having practically testified against their bigotry, and cleared his conscience of their blood, he found great peace with the Lord, and returned home, magnifying His glorious name, who had preserved him through so many dangers, and provided a way for him in the midst of his enemies. It is remarkable, that the friars were compelled by the Turks to convey him back safely, and free of charge, to the port of his embarkation. Mary Fisher, who had now returned from the scene of persecutions in New England, felt an extraordinary concern in her mind, to pay a visit to the Sultan of Turkey, Mahomet IV., then encamped with his army near Adrianople. She proceeded as far as Smyrna, where the English Consul stopped her, and sent her back to Venice. Still, however, endeavoring to obey her Maker rather than man, she prosecuted her journey by another route, and travelling overland she arrived safely at Adrianople, a journey of five or six hundred miles. There she requested some of the inhabitants to accompany her to the camp; but fearing the displeasure of the Sultan, they objected, and she was obliged to go alone. At the camp she sent a message to the Grand Vizier, that "there was an Englishwoman who had something to declare from the Great God to the Sultan;" who sent her word that the next morning he would procure her an opportunity of an interview. Accordingly returning to the city that night, she went back to the camp at the time appointed, and was brought before the Sultan and his great officers of state. He asked her whether it was true that she had a message to him from the Almighty, to which she answering that it was so, he bid her speak on. She stood silent a while, with her mind retired in inward waiting for the divine motion and power, to give weight and energy to what she had to deliver; when the Sultan, supposing she might be fearful of expressing herself before them all, asked her whether she wished any of the company to retire. She answered, no; and he then desired her to speak the word of the Lord to them, and not to fear, for they had good hearts, and would hear it; strictly charging her to deliver the whole message, neither more nor less, for they were willing to hear it, be it what it might. She then in a weighty frame relieved her mind of what lay upon it, to which the Turks listened with much seriousness and gravity; and when she had finished, the Sultan asking her if she had any more to say; she asked if he had understood what she had said? To which he replied, "Yes, every word;" adding that it was truth, and respectfully inviting her to remain in the country. When he found that she wished to go to Constantinople in order to return home, he offered her a guard, saying that it was unsafe for her to travel alone, and that he would not, for any consideration, have any injury occur to her in his dominions. This, however, she modestly declined, confiding in the protection of that Divine Arm which had brought her thither. Then some of them asked her, what she thought of their prophet Mahomet? To which she made a cautious reply, saying, "that she knew him not; but Christ she knew, who was the true prophet, the Son of God, the Light of the world, that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." After some more conversation, she took her leave, and departing for Constantinople without a guard, arrived there safely, without the least injury or insult, and thence returned to England; having experienced respectful kindness and attention from those called infidels, in remarkable contrast with the bigoted cruelty of men unworthily claiming the name of Christians, whom she had encountered in New England. CHAPTER XV. THE SUFFERINGS OF CATHARINE EVANS AND SARAH CHEE VERS IN THE INQUISITION AT MALTA—AND OF JOHN the year 1658, Catharine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, Inder your ligion C concern to propagate, in the dark lands of superstition and ignorance, the doctrine of the divine Light of Christ in the heart of man, took passage in a ship bound from London to Leghorn; where arriving safely, they stayed some time, discoursing on religion with the people who came to them, and distributing the books of Friends, explanatory of their principles. Hence they took passage in a Dutch ship bound to Alexandria; but the master put into Malta; and the women landing were met by the English Consul, gave him some books, and accepted an invitation to his residence. Curiosity now drew many of the inhabitants to visit them, whom they found it laid upon them to call to repentance, and several were seriously touched by their testimony. They went also to the nunnery, to see the governor's sister, where they conversed on religious subjects with the nuns, and distributed books. Here a priest found them, brought them into the chapel, and wanted them to bow before the high altar. But with abhorrence of such idolatry they firmly refused, and went back to their abode at the British Consulate. During three months of their stay there, they were several times called before the officers of the Inquisition, and examined about their religious principles; but through the wisdom with which they were furnished, they answered in such a manner as neither to give these men the advantage against them which they were seeking, nor to give away the cause |