shame it was to offer to draw his sword upon a naked man, and a prisoner; and how unfit and unworthy he was to carry such a weapon; and that if he should have offered such a thing to some men, they would have taken his sword from him, and have broken it to pieces. So he was ashamed, and went his way; and the Lord's power preserved us.

Another time, about the eleventh hour at night, the jailer being half drunk, came and told me that he had gotten a man now to dispute with me (this was when we had leave to go a little into the town): as soon as he spake those words, 1 felt there was mischief intended to my body. All that night and the next day I lay down on a grass-plot to slumber, and I felt something still about my body; and I started up, and struck at it in the power of the Lord, and yet still it was about my body. Then I arose and walked into the Castle-green, and the under-keeper came to me, and told me there was a maid would speak with me in the prison. 1 felt a snare in his words too, therefore I went not into the prison, but went to the grate and looked in; and there I saw a man that was lately brought to prison for being a conjuror, and he had a naked knife in his hand. So I spake to him, and he threatened to cut my chaps (as his expression was); but he being within the jail, could not come at me this was the jailer's great disputant. I went soon after into the jailer's house, and found him at breakfast; and he had then gotten his conjuror out with him; so I told the jailer his plot was discovered. Then he got up from the table, and cast his napkin away in a rage; and I left them and went away to my chamber: for at this time we were out of doomsdale. At the time the jailer had said the dispute should be, I went down and walked in the court (the place appointed) till about the eleventh hour, but no body came then I went up to my chamber again, and after a while I heard one call for me. I stepped to the stairs'-head, and there I saw the jailer's wife upon the stairs, and the conjurer at the bottom of the stairs, holding his hand behind his back, and in a great rage. I asked him, Man, what hast thou in thy hand behind thy back? Pluck thy hand before thee,' said I; 'let us see thy hand, and what thou hast in it.' Then in a rage he plucked forth his hand with a naked knife in it. Then I shewed the jailer's wife the wicked design of her husband and her against me; for this was the man they had brought to dispute of the things of God. But the Lord discovered their plot, and prevented their evil design; and they both raged, and the conjurer threatened. Then I was moved of the

Lord to speak sharply to him in the dreadful power of the Lord; and the Lord's power came over him, and bound him down, so that he never after durst appear before me to speak unto me. I saw it was the Lord alone that did preserve me out of their bloody hands; for the devil had a great enmity to me, and stirred up his instruments to seek my hurt. But the Lord prevented them; and my heart was filled with thanksgivings and praises unto him.

Now while I was exercised with people of divers sorts, that came some out of good will to visit us, some out of an envious carping mind to wrangle and dispute with us, and some out of curiosity to see us, Edward Pyot, who before his convincement had been a captain in the army, and had a good understanding in the laws and rights of the people, being sensible of the injustice and envy of judge Glyn to us at our trial, and willing to lay the weight thereof upon him, and make him sensible thereof also, writ an epistle to him on behalf of us all, which was thus, and thus directed :

To John Glyn, Chief Justice of England.

'Friend,

'We are free men of England, free born; our rights and liberties are according to law, and ought to be defended by it and therefore with thee, by whose hand we have so long, and yet do suffer, let us a little plainly reason concerning thy proceedings against us, whether they have been according to law, and agreeable to thy duty and office, as chief minister of the law, or justice of England. And in meekness and lowliness abide, that the witness of God in thy conscience may be heard to speak and judge in this matter for thou and we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he hath done, whether it be good of bad. Therefore, friend, in moderation and soberness weigh, what is herein laid before thee.

In the afternoon, before we were brought before thee at the assize at Launceston, thou didst cause divers scores of our books to be violently taken from us by armed men, without due process of law; which books being perused (to see if any thing in them could have been found to have laid to our charge, who were innocent men ;) and them upon our legal issue) thou hast detained from us to this very day. Now, our books are our goods, and our goods are our property; and our liberty it is to have and enjoy our property; and of our liberty and property the law is the

defence, which saith, No free man shall be disseized of his freehold, liberties or free customs, &c. nor any way otherwise destroyed: nor we shall not pass upon him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.' Magna Charta, cap. 29. Now friend, consider, is not the taking away of a man's goods violently, by force of arms, as aforesaid, contrary to the law of the land? Is not the keeping of them so taken away, a disseizing him of his property, and a destroying of it and his liberty, yea, his very being, so far as the invading of the guard the law sets about him, is in order thereunto? Calls not the law this, a destroying of a man? Is there any more than one common guard or defence to property, liberty, and life, viz. the law? And can this guard be broken on the former (viz. property and liberty), and the latter (viz. life) be sure? Doth not he that makes an invasion upon a man's property and liberty (which he doth, who contrary to law, which is the guard, acts against either) make an invasion upon a man's life; since that which is the ground of the one, is also of the other? If a penny, or penny's-worth be taken from a man contrary to law, may not by the same rule all a man hath be taken away? If the bond of the law be broken upon a man's property, may it not on the same ground be broken upon his person? And by the same reason, as it is broken on one man, may it not be broken upon all, since the liberty and property, and beings of all men under a government are relative, a communion of wealth, as the members in the body, but one guard and defence to all, the law? One man cannot be injured therein, but it redounds to all. Are not such things in order to the subversion and dissolution of government? Where there is no law, what is become of government? And of what value is the law made, when the ministers thereof break it at pleasure upon men's properties, liberties and persons? Canst thou clear thyself of these things, as to us? To that of God in thy conscience, which is just, do I speak. Hast thou acted like a minister, the chief minister, of the law, who hast taken our goods, and yet detainest them, without so much as going by lawful warrant, grounded upon due information, which in this our case thou couldest not have; for none had perused them, whereby to give thee information? Shouldest thou exercise violence and force of arms on prisoners' goods, in their prison chamber, instead of proceeding orderly and legally, which thy place calls upon thee above any man, to tender, defend and maintain against the other, and to preserve entire the guard of every man's being, liberty, life and livelihood? Shouldest VOL. I.

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thou, whose duty it is to punish the wrong doer, do wrong thyself? who oughtest to see the law be kept and observed, break the law, and turn aside the due administration thereof? Surely from thee, considering thou art chief justice of England, other things were expected both by us and by the people of this nation.

And friend, when we were brought before thee, and stood upon our legal issue, and no accuser or accusation came in against us, as to what we had been wrongfully imprisoned, and in prison detained for the space of nine weeks, shouldest not thou have caused us to have been acquitted by proclamation? Saith not the law so? Oughtest thou not to have examined the cause of our commitment? And there not appearing a lawful cause, oughtest thou not to have discharged us? Is it not the substance of thy office and duty, to do justice according to the law and custom of England? Is not this the end of the administration of the law? of the general assizes? of the gaol delivery? of the judges going the circuits? Hast not thou by doing otherwise, acted contrary to all these, and to Magna Charta? which, cap. 29, saith, 'We shall sell to no man, we shall deny, or defer to no man, either justice or right.' Hast thou not both deferred and denied to us, who had been so long oppressed, this justice and right? And when of thee justice we demanded, saidest thou not, If we would be uncovered, thou wouldest hear us, and do us justice?— 'We shall sell to no man, we shall deny or defer to no man, either justice or right,' saith Magna Charta, as aforesaid. Again, We have commanded all our justices, that they shall from henceforth do even law, and execution of right to all our subjects, rich and poor, without having regard to any man's person; and without letting to do right for any letters or commandments, which may come to them from us, or from any other, or by any other cause, &c. upon pain to be at our will, body, lands and goods, to do therewith as shall please us, in case they do contrary,' saith Stat. 20. Edw. III cap. 1. Again, Ye shall swear that ye shall do even law and execution of right to all, rich and poor, without having regard to any person; and that ye deny to no man common right by the king's letters, nor none other man's, nor for none other cause. And in case any letter come to you contrary to the law, that ye do nothing by such letter, but certify the king thereof, and go forth to do the law notwithstanding those letters. And in case ye be from henceforth found in default in any of the points aforesaid, ye shall be at the king's will of body, lands and goods, thereof to be done, as shall please him,'

saith the oath, appointed by the statute to be taken by all the judges, stat. 18. Edw. III. But none of these, nor none other law hath such an expression or condition in it as this, viz. provided he will put off his hat to you, or be uncovered: nor doth the law of God so say, or that your persons be respected; but the contrary. From whence then comes this new law, 'If ye will be uncovered, I will hear you, and do you justice? This hearing complaint of wrong, this doing of justice, upon condition, wherein lies the equity and reasonableness of that? When were these fundamental laws repealed, which were the issue of much blood and war; which to uphold, cost the miseries and blood of the late wars, that we shall now be heard, as to right, and have justice done us upon condition, and that too such a trifling one as the pulling off the hat? Doth thy saying so, who art commanded, as aforesaid, repeal them, and make them of none effect, and all the miseries undergone, and the blood shed for them of old, and of late years? Whether it be so or no indeed, and to the nation, thou hast made it so to us, to whom thou hast denied the justice of our liberty (when we were before thee, and no accuser, nor accusation came in against us) and the hearing of the wrong done to us, who are innocent, and the doing us right. And bonds hast thou cast, and continued upon us until this day, under an unreasonable and cruel jailer, for not performing that thy condition, for conscience sake. But thinkest thou that this thine own conditional justice maketh void the law? or can it do so? or absolve thee before God or man? or acquit the penalty mentioned in the laws aforesaid? unto which hast thou not consented and sworn? viz. ' And in case ye be from henceforth found in default, in any of the points aforesaid, ye shall be at the king's will, of body, lands and goods, thereof to be done as shall please him.' And is not thy saying, 'If ye will be uncovered (or put off your hats) I will hear you, and do you justice;' and (because we could not put them off for conscience-sake) thy denying us justice, and refusing to hear us, as to wrong (who had so unjustly suffered) a default in thee against the very essence of those laws, yea, an overthrow thereof, for which things sake (being of the highest importance to the well-being of men) so just, so equal, so necessary, those laws were made, and all the provisions therein? to make a default in any one point of which provisions, exposeth to the said penalty. Dost not thou by this time see where thou art? Art thou sure thou shalt never be made to understand and feel the justice thereof? Is thy seat so high, and thy fence so great,