A Hue and Cry after BLOODSHED;  
OR, A short Relation of that inhuman, barbarous, cruel, and bloody Tragedy, acted upon the Innocent People of God called QUAKERS, at their Meeting, at Bull and Mouth within Aldersgate, upon the 31. of the 6th. Month, 1662. by some of the trained Bands of the City of LONDON.  
Harken and give heed, ye that are called Magistrates, and likewise all People, of what condition soever, of this great City of London and elsewhere: What have we the poor innocent people of God called Quakers done, that such cruel and bloody usage we should receive from your hands? Have we been at any time found plotters against the life of any person? or have we been sowers of sedition? or have we been peace-breakers, or tumult-raisers? or any that have in the least fomented mischief, or trouble to the Government? I say, the God of our life cleareth us in all such cases. Therefore who is not astonished at such bloody actions, to have persons come with swords drawn, and other weapons, and with unheard of violence, to cut and hew, and knock down, sparing neither age nor sex, spilling so much blood as there was; who will not blush at such actions? And as though we were appointed for nothing else, but to satiate the minds of bloodthirsty men, and to do it by order, as they say. Oh fear, dread and tremble, ye Citizens of London, and others; and as if there were no Law in England, but club Law: Was there ever such things acted in times of peace, and at such time as it is said, the restoration of the ancient Laws of England is? I tell you, I have read the History of the Martyrs in Queen Mary's days, but then they dealt with them by Law, though exceeding wicked and cruel, yet not by club-Law, as now; doth not this exceed Bonner and Gardnor's cruelty? for they would still endeavour to convince before they murdered; but you will kill before you convince, all which considered, far exceeds their cruelty: Must innocent blood be the cry in this great City, that must bring down the fierce vengeance of the eternal God upon you, and to make an utter desolation, devastation, and to lay it on heaps? I tell you, the Cry is heard, and Judgement is at hand; therefore lay it to heart all people: And as for the actors of this bloody Tragedy, your portion you will have in the Lake, amongst your Brethren. O London, London, is there no bowels of compassion left in thee! is all given up to obduracy and hardness of heart? Woe is me for thee; dost thou sport thyself, and make such actions thy mirth? and must our innocent blood be mingled with thy daily Sacrifices? why do you hunt our lives, as a Partridge is hunted upon the Mountain? and is it because our Religion is different from yours? do you think to force us to yours by shedding our bloods? I tell you nay, that will never be; we abhor in our souls all such actions, and do also loath that cursed way of (Heaven driving) which never was practised by true Christians, but by cruel Heathens altogether, and such as were professed enemies to every appearance of God; and will ye of this generation practise their cursed bloody works, that ye may pull down the plagues of God upon you and your posterity, as they did? and have ye not read, how that the wicked and bloodthirsty shall not live out half their days? think ye God eternal is not as just as he hath been, and that he will not recompense your work into your bosom? Oh London, London, how am I smitten for thee! Oh, how am I bowed down under the unheard of wickedness that is committed and practised daily, and then covered up in thy skirt! Oh, where is the man in power, that seeks to suppress vice! I say, he need not hunt it in the twilight, or search into corners and holes for it; but at midday, and high-noon, in the chief streets of thy City, and every where else doth it appear? is it past the Magistrate's power, or cannot his sword comprehend it? I say, if so, than an overflowing scourge from the hand of the Lord, is as natural for you as your food and sustenance; and I faithfully believe from God it attends you. Oh my soul, my soul, mourn and weep till thou hast emptied thy Cisterns of sorrow! Oh, that ever a City, a professing City, a City whose Inhabitants are called Christians; (and besides, the cry that is now, that the ancient Laws are restored, and true Religion again settled on its Basis,) should see her Inhabitants blood laid upon the pavements, for their unpolluted Consciences in the worship of their God; yea, and by their own Neighbours, and by authority and order (as is said.) Oh, my very soul bleeds within me for these things! where are you that call yourselves Overseers or Bishops, and by some (reverend Fathers in God?) where are you that you come not forth in this great day of scattering, and of gathering, and seek out the poor, hunted, worried, and driven sheep, and carry them on your shoulders to your fold. If we be in an error, why do not you come and convince us of that error? if we be deluded, why do not you come amongst us, and tell us wherein? I tell you, it would be worth your while, to come into our Meetings, and there both openly confute us, and convince us, before the people; which actions, in meekness and pure moderation performed, would make you honourable in the places wherein you are set, and then those names wherewith you are entitled, would not be vain and a lie, (which otherwise seems to be) and by that means you might haply convert many to your Faith, which you say is the true Faith; and we much question it, because of the fruits, which manifests it: But alas, alas, instead of your coming with humility, in your own persons, your messengers treat us far otherwise; for they come to kill, and not to convince, and to shed our bloods, and not to convert us. Behold ye Bishops, ye cannot be ignorant of this, for known be it to you, it hath not been once or twice, nor many times more, that the like Tragedy hath been acted in that place, though not altogether so bloody as on the day precited; for it was taken notice of, at that time and place, there came one or more Papists to the assistance of the party, and one was seen to take a drawn sword out of a Soldiers hand, who cut and hewed all that in his way stood, which made that days work more bloody than usual; [but in prudence to his cause, he might have had more patience;] these were bystanders, and no Soldiers, but wellwishers to that bloody work, which was that day perpetrated by those that cry out, we will make you conform to the Church of England, and the Laws. Now O ye men, that bear the name of Bishops, do you justify these men in these actions, or do you think that conformity will ever be wrought by that means, and in that way, by spilling of innocent blood? Oh, what shall I say, if these be some of the fruits of your Religion, that you would have us conform to, I must and do call it a bloody Religion; we are not ignorant what true Religion, pure, and undefiled before God is, viz. to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions, etc. which Religion we own, love, and are in, and for which we suffer this day; and I do aver in God's fear to this Religion, there is no Law, either secular or military; for it wholly consists of love and charity, which never was, is, or shall be forced or compelled, nor ever did it mix itself with any coercive power since the world began, but hath remained a pure, chaste virgin from eternity, and will remain to eternity: but what shall I say? this is a mystery to you learned ones; and if at any time it be told you, ye call it (canting, or Chemical Divinity) but that matters little what you call it; I aver it to be so, and the Spirit of the eternal God, which hath instructed and guided me therein, hath sealed it unto me. And further, know you that presume to set your posts by the posts of the Lords house, your Religion, and not only yours, but the Religion of the whole world, from head to tail, not being instituted by the Spirit of the eternal God, and founded upon love [which is free from force] I tell you, it is all a lie, and a juggle, and indeed the great cheat of the world; for the eternal Being is neither to be limited to time, place, as when, and where, or by quantity measured, so much and no more, so little and no less: I say and do aver, God eternal knoweth no such service, as to be limited or comprehended. Oh vain man, what art thou doing! wilt thou that comes forth of time, and ends in time, go about to comprehend eternity in thy vain imaginations? thou potsherd, thou heap of dust, thou Atom of dust, not seen but in the Sun's ray, for littleness; hast thou not read, that the Nations of the earth are as grasshoppers about his Throne? how darest thou then go about to limit and set bounds to his holy Spirit, in any appearance whatsoever in his People? Now consider these things in the pure fear of God, for they are wonderful weighty, and if you can, stop those bloody incursions and inroads that are daily made upon God's innocent people in their Meetings, it may be well for you; but if you persist and persevere in these Tragical works, know this, and be it known unto you from the Lord God, that as you thirst after blood, blood shall be given you to drink, with which you shall be choked, and you shall be spewed out of every mind, as nautious, unsavoury, indigested meat is cast out of the stomach, when it is burdened with it. This is God's Eternal Truth to you, which will stand on your heads for ever: And as for us, who are the only objects of your cruelty, many and great have been the provokations wherewith we have been provoked, not only from you, but from the Powers gone also, though our provokations from you are much more vehement and cruel, and I may say, more barbarous and inhuman, many degrees; and though it hath been your intents, both of you, to make us break forth into rebellion, that you might have but one stroke at us, and no more, and so cut us off from the face of the earth, from being a People; I know in God's fear, this is, and hath been your ends, but the Lord hath prevented you, and doth prevent you even to this day; for the Lord God hath brought us forth in his Lamb like spirit: And know you this, we have not the envy that is said to be in a worm, which being trod upon, will turn again; and the Lord hath clothed us with his patience, which was before your cruelty, or any cruelty in the world was, and I do aver, will also outlive your fury, be it as hot as Hell fire; and so in the strength of God, which is the patient suffering Seed in us, we bid all cruelty and fury of men defiance; for we well know the Power that gives you power, and we further know, he can restrain the wrath and fury of man when he pleaseth, and can turn it to his praise, and in his due time he will also accomplish what he hath determined, concerning the enemies of his holy Seed, not only in this Nation, but throughout the whole world, which this day groans for deliverance, from under that horrid and cruel oppression of Conscience, in matters of Religion. Therefore be awakened all you Magistrates of both Orders, and People of all sorts, lest you dip and plunge yourselves into the blood of the innocent, as some did, not many Generations since, the stench of which remains upon the face of earth to this day, and is yet not wiped away; therefore what they left undone, do not you finish, lest you bear the burden of their wickedness upon your shoulders, and so go out of your generation with a stench, as they did; and what hard measure we have received from you, if it be the will of the Lord, that ye may, both high and low, and every soul who hath contributed to our troubles, be forgiven.  
Rich. Crane.   

Printed in the Year 1662.