I told him I had been a blessing to the nation, in and through the Lord's power and truth, and the Spirit of God in all consciences would answer it. Then he charged me to be an enemy to the king; that I endeavoured to raise a new war, and embrue the nation in blood again. I told him I had never learned the postures of war, but was clear and innocent as a child concerning those things, and therefore was bold: Then came the clerk with the mittimus, and the jailer was sent for, and commanded to take me and put me into the dark-house, and to let none come at me, but to keep me there a close prisoner until I should be delivered by the king or parliament. Then the justice asked the constables where my horse was, for I hear, said he, that he hath a good horse; have ye brought his horse? I told him where my horse was, but he did not meddle with him. As they had me to the jail, the constable gave me my knife again, and then asked me to give it him; but I told him nay, he had not been so civil to me: so they put me into the jail, and the under-jailer, one Hardy, a very wicked man, was exceeding rude and cruel, and many times would not let me have meat brought in, but as I could get it under the door. Many of the world's people came to look at me, some in great rage, and very uncivil and rude. One time there came two young priests, and very abusive and rude they were, the worst of people could not be worse: amongst those that came in this manner, old Preston, of Howker, his wife, was one, and she used many abusive words to me, telling me my tongue should be cut out, and that I should be hanged, shewing me the gallows: but the Lord God cut her off, and she died in a miserable condition.

Being now a close prisoner in the common jail at Lancaster, I desired two friends, Thomas Cummings and Thomas Green, to go to the jailer, and desire of him a copy of my mittimus, that I might know what I stood committed for. They went, and the jailer answered them he could not give a copy of it, for another had been fined for so doing, but he gave them liberty to read it over; and to the best of their remembrance the matters therein charged against me were that I was a person generally suspected to be a common disturber of the peace of the nation, an enemy to the king, and a chief upholder of the Quakers' sect; and that I, together with others of my fanatick opinion, have of late endeavoured to raise insurrections in these parts of the country, and to embroil the whole kingdom in blood : wherefore the jailer was commanded to keep me in safe custody until I should be released by order of the king and parliament.

When I had thus gotten the heads of the charge contained in the mittimus by which I was committed, I writ a plain down-right answer in vindication of my innocency to each particular, as followeth :

I am a prisoner at Lancaster, committed by justice Porter: a copy of the mittimus I cannot get, but such like expressions I am told are in it which are very untrue; as that I am generally suspected to be a common disturber of the nation's peace, an enemy to the king, and that I with others should endeavour to raise insurrections, to embroil the nation in blood; all which is utterly false, and I do, in every part thereof, deny it; for I am not a person generally suspected to be a disturber of the nation's peace, nor have given any cause for any such suspicion; for through the nation I have been tried of these things formerly. In the days of Oliver I was taken up on pretence of raising arms against him, which was also false, for 1 meddled not with raising arms at all; yet I was then carried up prisoner to London, and kept prisoner till I was brought before him, and then I cleared myself, and denied the drawing of a carnal weapon against him, or any man upon the earth, for my weapons are spiritual, which take away the occasion of war, and lead into peace; and upon my declaring this to Oliver, I was set at liberty by him: after this I was taken and sent to prison by major Ceely in Cornwall, who, when I was brought before the judge, informed against me, that I took him aside, and told him that I could raise forty thousand men in an hours time, to involve the nation in blood, and bring in king Charles: this also was utterly false, and a lie of his own inventing, as was then proved upon him, for I never spake any such word to him. I never was found in any plot; I never took any engagement or oath, nor ever learned war postures; and as those were false charges against me then, so are these which come from major Porter now, who is lately appointed to be justice, but wanted power formerly to exercise his cruelty against us; which is but the wickedness of the old enemy for the peace of the nation I am not a disturber of, nor ever was, but seek the peace of it, and of all men, and stand for all nation's peace, and all men's peace upon the earth, and wish that all nations and men knew my innocency in these things.

And whereas major Porter saith 1 am an enemy to the king this is false; for my love is to him and to all men, though they be enemies to God, to themselves, and to me. And I can say it is of the Lord that he is come in to bring down many unrighteously set up, of which I had a sight

three years before he came in. It is much he should say I am an enemy to the king, for I have no reason so to be, he having done nothing against me. But I have been often imprisoned and persecuted these eleven or twelve years by them that have been against both the king and his father, even the party that Porter was made a major by, and bore arms for, but not by them that were for the king. I was never an enemy to the king, nor to any man's person upon the earth; but I am in the love that fulfils the law, which thinks no evil, but loves even enemies, and would have the king saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, and be brought into the fear of the Lord, to receive his wisdom from above, by which all things were made and created that with that wisdom he may order all things to the glory of God, by whom they were created.

:

"Whereas he calleth me a chief upholder of the Quakers sect. I answer: the Quakers are not a sect, but are in the power of God, which was before sects were, and witness the election before the world began, and are come to live in the life which the prophets and apostles lived in, who gave forth the Scriptures: therefore are we hated by envious, wrathful, wicked and persecuting men. But God is the upholder of us all by his mighty power, and preserves us from the wrath of the wicked that would swallow us up.

And whereas he saith, that I, together with others of my fanatic opinion (as he calls it) have of late endeavoured to raise insurrections, and to embroil the whole kingdom in blood: I say this is altogether false; to these things I am as a child, and know nothing of them. The postnres of war 1 never learned: my weapons are spiritual and not carnal; for with carnal weapons I do not fight: I am a follower of him who said, My kingdom is not of this world.' And though these lies and slanders are raised upon me, I deny drawing of any carnal weapon against the king or parliament, or any man upon the earth; for I am come to the end of the law, to love enemies, and wrestle not with flesh and blood, but am in that which saves men's lives; and a witness I am against all murderers, plotters, and all such as would embrue the nation in blood, for it is not in my heart to have any man's life destroyed. And as for the word fanatic, which signifies furious, foolish, mad, &c. he might have considered himself before he had used that word, and have learned the humility which goes before the honour; for we are not furious, foolish or mad, but through patience and meekness have borne lies and slanders, and persecutions many years, and undergone great sufferings. The spiritual man, that wrestles not with flesh

and blood, and the spirit, that reproves sin in the gate, which is the Spirit of truth, wisdom and sound judgment; this is not mad, foolish, furious, which fanatic signifies, but all are of a mad, furious, foolish spirit, that wrestle with flesh and blood with carnal weapons, in their furiousness, foolishness, and rage: this is not the Spirit of God, but of error, that persecutes in a mad blind zeal, like Ne

buchadnezzar and Saul.

Now, inasmuch as I am ordered to be kept prisoner till I be delivered by order from the king or parliament, therefore have I written these things to be laid before you, the king and parliament, that ye may consider of them, before ye act any thing therein; that ye may weigh, in the wisdom of God, the intent and end of men's spirits, lest ye act the thing that will bring the hand of the Lord upon you, and against you, as many have done before you who have been in authority, whom God hath overthrown, in whom we trust, whom we fear and cry unto day and night; who hath heard us, and doth hear us, and will hear us, and avenge our cause for much innocent blood hath been shed, and many have been persecuted to death by such as have been in authority before you, whom God hath vomited out, because they turned against the just: therefore consider your standing, now that ye have the day, and receive this as a warning of love to you,

'From the innocent, a sufferer in bonds, and close prisoner in Lancaster castle, called

GEORGE Fox.'

Upon my being taken, and forcibly carried away from Margaret Fell's house, and charged with things of so high a nature, she was concerned, as looking upon it to be an injury offered to her; whereupon she wrote the following lines, and sent them abroad, directed thus:

To all Magistrates, concerning the wrong taking up, and imprisoning GEORGE FOX at Lancaster.

'I do inform the governors of this nation, that Henry Porter, major of Lancaster, sent a warrant, with four constables, to my house, for which he had no authority nor order. They searched my house, and apprehended George Fox in it, who was not guilty of the breach of any law, or of any offence against any in the nation. After they had taken him, and brought him before the said Henry Porter, there was bail offered, what he would demand, for his appearance, to answer what could be laid to his charge,

but he, (contrary to law, if he had taken him lawfully) denied to accept of any bail, and clapped him in close prison. After he was in prison, a copy of his mittimus was demanded, which ought not to be denied to any prisoner, so that he may see what is laid to his charge, but it was denied him; a copy he could not have, only they were suffered to read it over, and every thing that was there charged against him was utterly false; he was not guilty of any one charge in it, as will be proved and manifested to the nation; so let the governors consider of it. I am concerned in this thing, inasmuch as he was apprehended in my house; and if he be guilty, I am so too. So I desire to have this searched out.

MARGARET FELL.'

After this Margaret Fell determined to go to London, to speak with the king about my being taken, and to shew him the manner of it, and the unjust dealing and evil usage I had received; which when justice Porter heard of, he vapoured, that he would go and meet her in the gap; but when he came before the king, he having been a zealous man for the parliament against the king, several of the courtiers spake to him concerning his plundering of their houses, so that he had quickly enough of the court, and soon returned into the country. Mean while the jailer seemed very fearful, and said he was afraid major Porter would hang him, because he had not put me in the dark-house; but when the jailer went to wait on him after he was come back from London, he was very blank and down, and asked how I did, pretending that he would find a way to set me at liberty: but having overshot himself in his mittimus, by ordering me to be kept prisoner till I should be delivered by the king or parliament, he had put it out of his power to release me if he would: he was the more down also upon reading a letter which I sent him; for when he was in the height of his rage and threats against me, and thought to ingratiate himself into the king's favour by imprisoning me, I was moved to write to him, and put him in mind how fierce he had been against the king and his party, though now he would be thought zealous for the king and among other passages in my letter, I called to his remembrance how when he held Lacaster castle for the parliament against the king, he was so rough and fierce against those that favoured the king, that he said he would leave them neither dog nor cat, if they did not bring him in provision to his castle. I asked him also whose great buck's horns those were that were in his house,