[371]“Whereas there is a pernicious sect, commonly called quakers, lately risen, who by word and writing have published and maintained many dangerous and horrid tenets, and do take on them to change and alter the received laudable customs of our nation, in giving civil respect to equals, or reverence to superiors, whose actions tend to undermine the civil government, and also to destroy the order of the churches, by denying all established forms of worship, and by withdrawing from orderly church fellowship, allowed and approved by all orthodox professors of the truth—whereby divers of our inhabitants have been infected;—for prevention thereof, this court doth order and enact, that every person or persons of “the cursed sect” of the ‘Quakers,’ who is not an inhabitant of, but is found within this jurisdiction, shall be apprehended without warrant, where no magistrate is at hand, by any constable, commissioner, or select man—who shall commit the said person to close prison, there to remain without bail until the next court of assistance, where they shall have a legal trial: and ‘being convicted to be of the sect of the quakers, shall be sentenced to be banished, upon pain of death.’ And that every inhabitant of this jurisdiction, being convicted to be of the aforesaid sect, either by taking up, publishing, or defending the horrid opinions of the quakers, or the stirring up mutiny, sedition, and rebellion against the government, or by taking up their absurd and destructive practices, viz. denying civil respect to equals and superiors, and withdrawing from our church assemblies, and instead thereof frequent meetings of their own, in opposition to our church order, or by adhering to, or approving of any known quaker, and the tenets and practices of the quakers, that are opposite to “the orthodox received opinions of the godly, and endeavouring to disaffect others to civil government, and church orders, or condemning the practice and proceedings of this court against the quakers, manifesting hereby their complying with those, whose design is to overthrow the order established in church and state; every such person, upon conviction before the said court of assistants, in manner as aforesaid, ‘shall be committed to close prison for one month;’ and then, unless they choose voluntarily to depart this jurisdiction, shall give bond for their good behaviour, and appear at the next court; where continuing obstinate, and ‘refusing to retract or reform the aforesaid opinions,’ they shall ‘be sentenced to banishment, upon pain of death:’ And any one magistrate, upon information given him of any such person, shall cause him to be apprehended; and shall commit any such person to prison, according to his discretion, until he come to trial, as aforesaid.” ----- Footnote 371: Id. p. 199. -----