At Ulverstone, he observes," the people were in a rage, and fell upon me in the steeple-house before his [Justice Sawrey's] face, knocked me down, kicked me, and trampled upon me. So great was the uproar, that some tumbled over their seats for fear. At last he came and took me from the people, led me out of the steeple-house, and put me into the hands of the constables and other officers, bidding them whip me, and put me out of the town. Many friendly people being come to the market, and some to the steeple-house to hear me, divers of these they knocked down also, and broke their heads, so that the blood ran down several; and Judge Fell's son, running after, to see what they would do with me, they threw him into a ditch of water; some of them crying, 'knock the teeth out of his head.' When they had haled me to the common moss side, a multitude following, the constables, and other officers, gave me some blows over my back with willow rods, and thrust me among the rude multitude; who, having furnished themselves with staves, hedge-stakes, holm or holly-bushes, fell upon me, and beat me upon the head, arms, and shoulders, till they had deprived me of sense; so that I fell down upon the wet common. When I recovered again, and saw myself lying in a watery common, and the people standing about me, I lay still a little while, and the power of the Lord sprang through me, and the eternal refreshings revived me; so that I stood up again in the strengthening power of the eternal God, and, stretching out my arms amongst them, I said, with a loud voice, Strike again; here are my arms, my head, and cheeks.' Then they began to fall out among themselves." Whitelock has a notice that refers probably to this very circumstance. "The people in the north set upon the quakers, and beat them; and the Quakers prayed to God to forgive them, which so convinced the people, that they fell out among themselves."

6

This was the life Fox led when out of prison. Of his sufferings in prison, one instance may serve in illustration. When brought before the judges at Lancaster, he observes," Upon my complaining of the badness of my prison, some of the justices, with Colonel Kirby, went up to see it; but when they came, they durst hardly go in, the floor was so bad and dangerous, and the place so open to wind and rain. Some that came up said, sure it was a jaikes-house.' Afterwards, "I was put into a tower, where the smoke of the other prisoners came up so thick, it stood as dew upon the walls, and sometimes it was so thick I could hardly see the candle when it burned; and, I being locked under three locks, the under jailer, when the smoke was great, would hardly be persuaded to come up and unlock one of the uppermost doors, for fear of the smoke; so that I was almost smothered. Besides, it rained in upon my

bed; and many times, when I went to stop out the rain in the cold winter season, my shirt was as wet as muck with the rain, that came in upon me while I was labouring to stop it out; and, the place being high, and open to the wind, sometimes as fast as I stopped it, the wind blew it out again. In that manner did I lay all the long cold winter till the next assize; in which time I was so starved with cold and rain, that my body was greatly swelled, and my limbs much benumbed. By reason of my long and close imprisonment in so bad a place, I was become very weak of body." The magistrates of Lancaster, however, were sooner tired of persecution, than Fox of suffering, and they exerted themselves, successfully, to have him removed to Scarborough. When all was prepared, they came, says Fox," and fetched me out of the castle, when I was so weak with lying in that cold, wet, and smoky prison, that I could hardly go or stand. I told the officers, I had received neither Christianity, civility, nor humanity, from them. They hurried me away about fourteen miles, to Bentham, though I was so very weak I was hardly able to sit on horseback, and my clothes smelt so of smoke, they were loathsome to myself. The wicked jailer, one Hunter, a young fellow, would come behind, and give the horse a lash with his whip, and make him skip and leap; so that I, being weak, had much ado to sit him; then he would come and look me in the face, and say,' How do you do, Mr. Fox?' I told him, It was not civil in him to do so.' The Lord cut him off soon after." Being arrived at Scarborough, he proceeds, " I being very weak, and subject to faintings, they, for a while, let me out sometimes into the common air with the centry. They soon removed me out of this room, and put me into an open room, where the rain came in, and the room smoked exceedingly, which was very offensive to me.

One day the governor, who was called Sir Jordan Crosland, came to see me, and brought with him one called Sir Francis Cobb. I desired the governor to go in, and see what a place I had. I had got a little fire made in it, and the room was so filled with smoke, that when they were in they could hardly find their way out again. I was forced to lay out about fifty shillings to stop out the rain, and keep the room from smoking so much. When I had been at that charge, and made it somewhat tolerable, they removed me into a worse, where I had neither chimney nor fire-hearth. This being to the sea-side, and lying much open, the wind drove in the rain forcibly, so that the water came over my bed, and ran about the room, that I was fain to skim it up with a platter; and when my clothes were wet, I had no fire to dry them; so my body was benumbed with cold, and my fingers swelled, that one was grown as big as two. Though I was at some charge on this room

also, yet I could not keep out the wind and rain. Besides, they would not suffer friends to come at me; and many times not any, not so much as to bring me a little food; but I was forced, for the first quarter, to hire another to bring me necessaries. Sometimes the soldiers would take it from her, and she would scuffle with them for it. Commonly a three-penny loaf served me three weeks, and sometimes longer, and most of my drink was water, with wormwood steeped or bruised in it. One time, when the weather was very sharp, and I had taken great cold, I got a little elicampane beer; and I heard one of the soldiers say to the other, They would play me a pretty trick; for they would send for me up to the deputygovernor, and in the mean time drink my strong beer out,' and so they did."

6

Among many extraordinary men, whom suffering brought Fox acquainted with, was Cromwell himself. The whole passage is worth extracting. He had been sent up to London in charge of Captain Drury, for refusing to give his word to Colonel Hacker not to attend meetings.

"After Captain Drury had lodged me at the Mermaid, over against the Mews, at Charing Cross, he went to give the Protector an account of me. When he came to me again, he told me the Protector required that I should promise not to take up a carnal sword or weapon against him or the government, as it then was; and that I should write it in what words I saw good, and set my hand to it. I said little in reply to Captain Drury; but the next morning I was moved of the Lord to write a paper to the Protector, by the name of Oliver Cromwell, wherein I did, in the presence of the Lord God, declare, that I did deny the wearing or drawing of a carnal sword, or any other outward weapon, against him or any man; and that I was sent of God to stand a witness against all violence, and against the works of darkness; and to turn people from darkness to light; to bring them from the occasion of war and fighting to the peaceable gospel; and from being evil doers, which the magistrates' sword should be a terror to.' When I had written what the Lord had given me to write, I set my name to it, and gave it to Captain Drury, to hand to Oliver Cromwell, which he did. After some time, Captain Drury brought me before the Protector himself, at Whitehall. It was in a morning, before he was dressed; and one Harvey, who had come a little among friends, but was disobedient, waited upon him. When I came in, I was moved to say, 'Peace be in this house;' and I exhorted him to keep in the fear of God, that he might receive wisdom from him; that by it he might be ordered, and with it might order all things under his hand unto God's glory. I spoke much to him of truth; and a great deal of discourse I had with him about religion, wherein he carried himself very moderately. But he said, we quarrelled with the priests, whom he called ministers. I told him, ' I did not quarrel with them, they quarrelled with me and my friends. But,

said I, if we own the prophets, Christ, and the apostles, we cannot hold up such teachers, prophets, and shepherds, as the prophets, Christ, and the apostles, declared against; but we must declare against them by the same power and spirit.' Then I shewed him, that the prophets, Christ, and the apostles, declared freely, and declared against them that did not declare freely; such as preached for filthy lucre, divined for money, and preached for hire, and were covetous and greedy, like the dumb dogs, that could never have enough; and that they who have the same spirit that Christ, and the prophets, and the apostles had, could not but declare against all such now, as they did then. As I spoke, he several times said, it was very good, and it was truth. I told him,' That all Christendom (so called) had the scriptures, but they wanted the power and spirit that those had who gave forth the scriptures, and that was the reason they were not in fellowship with the Son, nor with the Father, nor with the scriptures, nor one with another.' Many more words I had with him; but people coming in, I drew a little back. As I was turning, he catched me by the hand, and with tears in his eyes, said, 'Come again to my house; for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other;' adding, that he wished me no more ill than he did to his own soul. I told him, if he did, he wronged his own soul; and admonished him to hearken to God's voice, that he might stand in his counsel, and obey it; and if he did so, that would keep him from hardness of heart; but if he did not hear God's voice, his heart would be hardened. He said it was true. Then I went out; and when Captain Drury came out after me, he told me, the lord Protector said I was at liberty, and might go whither I would. Then I was brought into a great hall, where the Protector's gentlemen were to dine. I asked them, What they brought me thither for? They said it was by the Protector's order, that I might dine with them. I bid them let the Protector know, I would not eat of his bread, nor drink of his drink. When he heard this, he said, 'Now I see there is a people risen, that I cannot win, either with gifts, honours, offices, or places; but all other sects and people I can.' It was told him again, That we had forsook our own, and were not like to look for such things from him.'

Upon another occasion he observes, "Leaving Kington, we rode to London. When we came near Hyde Park, we saw a great concourse of people, and, looking towards them, espied the Protector coming in his coach. Whereupon I rode to his coach side. Some of his life-guard would have put me away; but he forbad them. So I rode by his coach side with him, declaring what the Lord gave me to say to him, of his condition, and of the sufferings of friends in the nation; showing him, how contrary this persecution was to Christ and his apostles, and to Christianity. When we were come to James's Park Gate, I left him; and at parting he desired me to come to his

house. The next day, one of his wife's maids, whose name was Mary Sanders, came to me at my lodging, and told me her master came to her, and said he would tell her some good news. When she asked him what it was? he told her, George Fox was come to town. She replied, that was good news indeed (for she had received truth); but she said she could hardly believe him; till he told her how I met him, and rode from Hyde Park to James's Park with him. After a little time, Edward Pyot and I went to Whitehall; and when we came before him, Dr. Owen, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, was with him. We were moved to speak to Oliver Cromwell, concerning the sufferings of friends, and laid them before him; and directed him to the light of Christ, who had enlightened every man that cometh into the world. He said it was a natural light; but we showed him the contrary; and manifested that it was divine and spiritual, proceeding from Christ, the spiritual and heavenly man; and that which was called the life in Christ, the word, was called the light in us. The power of the Lord God arose in me, and I was moved in it to bid him lay down his crown at the feet of Jesus. Several times I spoke to him to the same effect. I was standing by the table, and he came and sat upon the table's side by me, saying, he would be as high as I was; and so continued speaking against the light of Christ Jesus; and went his way in a light manner. But the Lord's power came over him, so that when he came to his wife and other company, he said, 'I never parted so from them before;' for he was judged in himself."

The reader will have observed that Fox was sent to London by Colonel Hacker, whose conduct towards him was throughout civil, and even kind. Fox, in return, attributes his hanging to the retributive justice of Providence, although we hear nothing of the non-hanging of his nephew, who proposed to cut off the Quaker, and certainly observed nothing of his uncle's courtesy. This severe judgment of others, under pretence of noting the judgments of the Lord, is an offence of perpetual recurrence throughout this volume. After his liberation from Scarborough castle, he observes, "I could not but take notice how the hand of the Lord turned against those my persecutors who had been the cause of my imprisonment, or had been abusive and cruel to me under it. For the officer that fetched me to Houlker-hall wasted his estate, and soon after fled into Ireland. And most of the justices that were upon the bench at the sessions when I was sent to prison, died in a while after ; as old Thomas Preston, Rawlinson, Porter, and Matthew West of Boswick. And justice Fleming's wife died, and left him thirteen or fourteen motherless children; who had imprisoned