A declaration of the General Court of the Massachusets holden at Boston in New-England, October, 1659, concerning the execution of two Quakers. Massachusetts. General Court. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A50066 of text R31887 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing M1001). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 4 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A50066 Wing M1001 ESTC R31887 12272275 ocm 12272275 58301 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A50066) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 58301) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1508:7) A declaration of the General Court of the Massachusets holden at Boston in New-England, October, 1659, concerning the execution of two Quakers. Massachusetts. General Court. 1 broadside. [s.n.], Reprinted in London : 1659. "Printed by their order in New-England, Edward Rawson, secretary." Reproduction of original in the Harvard University Library. eng Executions and executioners -- Massachusetts. Society of Friends -- Massachusetts. Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. A50066 R31887 (Wing M1001). civilwar no A declaration of the General Court of the Massachusets holden at Boston in New-England, October 18. 1659. concerning the execution of two Qu Massachusetts. General Court 1659 689 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-12 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-03 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2008-03 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A DECLARATION OF THE GENERAL COURT OF THE MASSACHVSETS Holden at Boston in New-England , October 18. 1659. Concerning The execution of two Quakers . ALthough the justice of our proceedings against William Robinson , Marmaduke Stevenson , and Mary Dyer , Supported by the Authority of this Court , the Lawes of the Country ; and the Law of God , may rather perswade us to expect incouragement and commendation from all prudent and pious men , then convince us of any necessity to Apologize for the same , yet for as much as men of weaker parts , out of pitty and commiseration ( a commendable and Christian virtue yet easily abused , and susceptible of sinister and dangerous impressions ) for want of full information , may be less satisfied , and men of perverser principles , may take occasion hereby to calumniate us , and render us as bloody persecutors , to satisfie the one , and stop the mouths of the other , we thought it requisite to declare . That about three Years since , divers persons , professing themselves Quakers , ( of whose pernicious Opinions and Practises we had received intelligence from good hands , from Barbadoes to England , arrived at Boston ) whose persons were onely secured , to be sent away by the first opportunity , without censure or punishment , although their professed tenents , turbulent and contemptuous behaviour to Authority would have justified a severer animadversion , yet the prudence of this Court , was exercised , onely in making provision to secure the Peace and Order here established , against their attempts , whose design ( we were well assured of by our own experience , as well as by the example of their predecessours in Munster ) was to undermine and ruine the same , And accordingly a Law was made and published , prohibiting all Masters of Ships , to bring any Quakers into this Jurisdiction , and themselves from comming in , on penalty of the House of Correction , till they could be sent away : Notwithstanding which , by a back Door , they found entrance , and the penalty inflicted on themselves , proving insufficient to restrain their impudent and insolent obtrusions , was increased by the loss of the ears of those that offended the second time , which also being too weak a defence against their impetuous frantick fury , necessitated us to endeavour our security , and upon serious consideration , after the former experiments , by their incessant assaults , a Law was made , that such persons should be banished , on pain of Death , according to the example of England in their provision against Jesuites , which sentence being regularly pronounced at the last Court of Assistants against the parties above named , and they either returning , or continuing presumptuously in this Jurisdiction , after the time limited , were apprehended , & owning themselves to be the persons banished , were sentenced ( by the Court ) to death , according the Law aforesaid , which hath been executed upon two of them : Mary Dyer upon the petition of her Son , and the mercy and clemency of this Court , had liberty to depart within two dayes , which she hath accepted of . The consideration of our gradual proceeding , will vindicate us from the clamorous accusations of severity ; our own just and necessary defence , calling upon us ( other means fayling ) to offer the poynt , which these persons have violently , and wilfully rushed upon , and thereby become felons dese , which might it have been prevented , and the Soveraign Law Salus populi been preserved , our former proceedings , as well as the sparing of Mary Dyer , upon an inconsiderable intercession , will manifestly evince , we desire their lives absent , rather then their death present . Reprinted in London , 1659 Printed by their order in NEW-ENGLAND . Edward Rawson , Secretary . FINIS .