‘I send you herewithal by the bearers hereof, the bodies of Edward Pyot, of Bristol, and George Fox, of Drayton and Clay, in Leicestershire, and William Salt, of London, which they pretend to be the places of their habitations, who go under the notion of Quakers, and acknowledge themselves to be such; who have spread several papers, tending to the disturbance of the public peace, and cannot render any lawful cause of coming into these parts, being persons altogether unknown, and having no pass for their travelling up and down the country, and refusing to give sureties of their good behaviour, according to the law in that behalf provided, and refuse to take the oath of abjuration, &c. These are therefore, in the name of his highness, the lord protector, to will and command you, that when the bodies of the said Edward Pyot, George Fox, and William Salt, shall be unto you brought, you them receive, and in his highness’s prison aforesaid you safely keep them, until by due course of law they shall be delivered. Hereof fail ye not, as you will answer the contrary at your peril. Given under my hand, and seal, at St. Ives, the 18th day of January, 1656. P. CEELY.’ By this mittimus it appears under what odd pretences the Quakers, so called, were committed to prison; for such reasons as are mentioned therein, might be found and picked up at any time. Thus G. Fox and his companions were carried through Redruth, Falmouth, and Bodmin, to Launceston. By the way they suffered great insolences, both from the soldiers that conducted them, and from others, by the connivance of captain Keat; but I will not detain my reader with all those particulars. Being come to Launceston, Keat delivered the prisoners to the jailer. And though many were greatly enraged against them, and expected that these prisoners, who thou’d and thee’d all, and did not put off their hats to any man, should at the assizes be condemned to be hanged if they did not pay that respect to the bench; yet there were many friendly people, out of several parts of the country, that came to visit them; for it was about nine weeks from the time of their commitment to the assizes: by reason of which several got opportunity to speak with them, which had that good effect, that many were convinced of the truth of the doctrine held forth by them.