By this sanguinary law, which passed the Court by a majority of one vote only, four persons were afterwards executed, and a large number were imprisoned, whipped, fined and banished, until an order from the King, Charles II. in 1661, put an end to these proceedings. The conduct of some of these persons was scandalous,[299] and deserved punishment, as offences against civil order and decency; but nothing can justify the severity with which some of them were treated. The impolicy of persecution was fully displayed on this occasion; for the Quakers multiplied, in proportion as they were threatened and punished. The other united colonies passed severe laws against the Quakers; and they endeavored to prevail on Rhode-Island to unite in this general persecution. But she remained true to her principles. The General Assembly, which met at Portsmouth, March 13, 1657, returned an answer to the commissioners of the united colonies, in which they held this language: “Whereas freedom of different consciences to be protected from enforcements, was the principal ground of our charter, both with respect to our humble suit for it, as also to the true intent of the honorable and renowned Parliament of England, in granting of the same to us, which freedom we still prize, as the greatest happiness that men can possess in this world, therefore we shall, for the preservation of our civil peace and order, the more especially take notice that those people, and any others that are here, or shall come among us, be impartially required, and to our utmost constrained, to perform all civil duties requisite. And in case they refuse it, we resolve to make use of the first opportunity to inform our agent, residing in England.” The commissioners were not satisfied with this reply, and the next autumn they wrote again to the Assembly. An answer was returned, dated October 13, 1657, which, while it expresses disapprobation of the conduct of some of the Quakers, unfolds the Rhode-Island doctrine concerning liberty of conscience, and contains some excellent remarks on the good effects of toleration in allaying sectarian zeal: