George Fox, in many respects so novel, and abhorrent to all the ideas which then prevailed, often provoked the intolerance of the leading men of the day. In a letter to the protector, the quakers complain, that though there are no penal laws in force, obliging men to comply with the established religion, yet their friends are imprisoned for refusing to take an oath; for not paying their tythes; for disturbing the public assemblies and meeting in the streets; while some have been whipped for vagabonds, and for their plain speeches to the magistrates. Like most other sects, their infancy was stained with some errors; and their extravagancies, especially those of the female preachers, their distortions, symbolical actions, and prophetic denunciations, were supposed to justify the injuries heaped on them, by those who had not learned the truly Christian doctrine of toleration. To this day these blots on their history are studiously recollected by their enemies, with the addition of many circumstances, of which they never guilty.

were

The friends soon tacitly admitted the impropriety of their conduct in disturbing the assemblies of other Christians, by the abandonment of the practice; and as their numbers increased, amidst the shameless persecution which they endured, they hired, in the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-four, a place for their own worship, called the Bull and Mouth, in St: Martins-le-grand, London. They were still, however, distinguished by the itinerant labours, both of men and women. Francis Howgill and Edward Borough, were the first who preached in London. John Camm and John Audland travelled to Bristol, where their preaching excited great attention. Their

public assemblies, for want of room in their meeting-houses, were held in the open fields, even in winter; where multitudes, to the amount of four thousand, sometimes attended. Many embraced their doctrine; so that Bristol has ever since been a principal seat of quakerism. This excited envy, and led to their expulsion from the city, by the magistrates, who appear to have given too much countenance to a persecution which would have been a disgrace to a horde of lawless savages.

As their numbers increased, the protector, whose eyes were every where, deeming it prudent to guard against any danger from this quarter, required George Fox to promise not to disturb his government. This engagement was to be given in writing, but expressed in whatever terms the writer chose to employ. George, therefore, wrote to the protector by the name of Oliver Cromwell, declaring, that "he did deny the wearing, or drawing of a sword, or any outward weapon, against him or any man'." Cromwell afterwards admitted Fox to an interview, when the preacher delivered some wholesome truths, which were received in a manner highly to the protector's honour. He who held the sceptre of Britain, and the balance of Europe, with true magnanimity, allowed an obscure individual to remain covered in his presence".

Yet the sufferings which the quakers endured under the protectorate, expose the fallacy of the extravagant praises, which have been bestowed on this period, and prove, that whether the government were episcopalian, presbyterian, or independent, the mass 1 Gough, vol. I. p. 156.

Clarkson's Portraiture of Quakerism.

of the people have ever been graceless heathens. George Whitehead preaching at Nayland, in Suffolk, was seized and whipped, till the sight of his body, covered with blood, roused even the populace to plead for mercy. James Parnel, a well-educated youth of sixteen, having joined the society, and commenced preacher, was confined in jail with so much cruelty, that his feeble constitution sunk in the arms of death. Even the females endured injuries, of which humanity cannot record the history without a sigh, nor decency read without a blush.

While George Fox himself drank to the dregs of the bitter cup which intolerance had mingled for his new society, he still laboured for its welfare, with the courage of a lion, and the patience of a martyr. He began to find that discipline, which had been the idol and the overthrow of the presbyterians, was essential to the well-being, and even to the existence of his system. Some attention began to be paid to this subject, in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty, and six years afterwards, the father of the society travelled extensively to perfect the machine, and set it in complete motion. On this delicate point differences arose, even among the friends; for two preachers of Westmoreland, offended with the new regulations, and particularly with the institution of the female meeting for discipline, separated from the main body, and held meetings with those who espoused their cause".

When death had levelled Oliver Cromwell with the dust, and the officers of the army had hurled Richard from his seat, general Monk, on his march into England, issued general orders to leave the quakers undisturbed

Gough, vol. III. p. 9.

in the exercise of their religion. At the restoration, the quakers participated in the general joy. They probably expected more liberty from the dissolute Charles, than they had enjoyed under the firm grasp 1 of Cromwell; or thought that, at all events, their condition could not be worse. In this, however, they were mistaken. Hundreds were, indeed, liberated at first, but thousands were afterwards imprisoned. They had before been abused in defiance of authority; now to the license of the rabble was added the vengeance of the throne. Charles, in spite of the word of a king, which he had given at Breda, seized the first opportunity to persecute for religion. When Venner's insurrection furnished a pretext, the quakers were singled out as a mark for the deadly shafts of vengeance; for though they were well known to be innocent, they were also known to be defenceless'.

When the conventicle act was in force," the behaviour of the quakers, says Burnet, had something in it. that looked bold. They met at the same place and hour as before. None of them would go out of the way, but when they were seized they went all to prison together, where they staid without petitioning for release, and when discharged they refused to pay any fees. As soon as liberated, they returned to their meetings again, and when they found the place shut up by the magistrates, they assembled before the doors. Thus they carried their point, for the government grew weary of them, and were glad to let them alone"."

Their meeting-house, at Horsely-down, near London, was by an order of council, in the year one thousand six hundred and seventy, pulled down; but Gough, vol. I. p. 442. P Burnet's Own Times, p. 271.

they assembled on the ruins. They were insulted and knocked down. One of them, as he lay bleeding on the ground, was so wounded in the head, that the brain was visible. When the soldiers were asked how they could behave so cruelly, they replied, "if "if you knew our orders, you would say we were merciful." As usual, in the midst of these sufferings, it was made apparent that persecution was as stupid in policy as it was infamous in morals; for in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-six, the celebrated William Penn, son of the admiral, joined their society. By the death of his father, who at first turned his quaker son out of doors, but was afterwards reconciled to him, he came into possession of considerable property. The father had been privy to some of the disgraceful secrets of Charles and his brother James, to which it is added, that he advanced considerable sums to the extravagant king; so that he was in high favour at court, and his son also, though a quaker, was treated by both the brothers with great indulgence. Charles granted, in the year one thousand six hundred, and eighty one, to William Penn and his heirs, the province in America, which lies on the west side of the river Delaware'. To this

he acquired a more legitimate right by a fair purchase from the aboriginal Indians, and settled it by the name of Pennsylvania, of which Philadelphia was the capital. His treaty with the Indians, and the code of laws which he drew up for the new settlement, have received, as they deserve, from every quarter the highest eulogiums. It is, however, by a mistake that writers affirm this to have been the first instance of just dealing in taking possession of the s Gough, vol. II. p. 344. Gough, vol. II. p. 515.