"That the said Joseph Anthony, John Siffon, John Akin and Philip Tabor,
(on pretence of their non-compliance with the said law) were on the 25th
of the month called May, 1723, committed to the jail aforesaid, where they
still continue prisoners under great sufferings and hardships both to
themselves and families, and where they must remain and die, if not
relieved by the king's royal clemancy and favour." [Footnote: Gough's
_Quakers_, iv. 222, 223.]
A hearing was had upon this petition before the Privy Council, and in
June, 1724, an order was made directing the remission of the special taxes
and the release of the prisoners, who were accordingly liberated in
obedience thereto, after they had been incarcerated for thirteen months.
The blow was felt to be so severe that the convention of ministers the
next May decided to convene a synod, and Dr. Cotton Mather was appointed
to draw up a petition to the legislature.
"Considering the great and visible decay of piety in the country, and the
growth of many miscarriages, which we fear may have provoked the glorious
Lord in a series of various judgments wonderfully to distress us.... It is
humbly desired that ... the ... churches ... meet by their pastors ... in
a synod, and from thence offer their advice upon.... What are the
miscarriages whereof we have reason to think the judgments of heaven, upon
us, call us to be more generally sensible, and what may be the most
evangelical and effectual expedients to put a stop unto those or the like
miscarriages.
Pages:
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516