The History of Thomas Ellwood Written By HimselfEllwood, Thomas
History
The History of Thomas Ellwood Written By Himself
Ellwood, Thomas
Ellwood, Thomas, 1639-1713; Quakers -- Biography
When this martial Justice, who at Amersham had with his drawn sword
struck an unarmed man who he knew would not strike again, had now stood
some time abroad, on a sudden he rushed in among us, with the stackwood
stick held up in his hand ready to strike, crying out, “Make way there;”
and an ancient woman not getting soon enough out of his way, he struck
her with the stick a shrewd blow over the breast. Then pressing through
the crowd to the place where Morgan stood, he plucked him from thence,
and caused so great a disorder in the room that it broke the meeting up;
yet would not the people go away or disperse themselves, but tarried to
see what the issue would be.
Then taking pen and paper, he sat down at the table among us, and asked
several of us our names, which we gave, and he set down in writing.
Amongst others he asked Judith Parker, the doctor’s wife, what her name
was, which she readily gave; and thence taking occasion to discourse him,
she so overmastered him by clear reason, delivered in fine language, that
he, glad to be rid of her, struck out her name and dismissed her; yet did
not she remove, but kept her place amongst us.
When he had taken what number of names he thought fit, he singled out
half a dozen, whereof Morgan was one, I another, one man more, and three
women, of whom the woman of the house was one, although her husband then
was, and for divers years before had been, a prisoner in the Fleet for
tithes, and had nobody to take care of his family and business but her
his wife.
Us six he committed to Aylesbury gaol, which when the doctor’s wife heard
him read to the constable, she attacked him again, and having put him in
mind that it was a sickly time, and that the pestilence was reported to
be in that place, she in handsome terms desired him to consider in time
how he would answer the cry of our blood, if by his sending us to be shut
up in an infected place we should lose our lives there. This made him
alter his purpose, and by a new mittimus sent us to the House of
Correction at Wycombe. And although he committed us upon the Act for
banishment, which limited a certain time for imprisonment, yet he in his
mittimus limited no time, but ordered us to be kept till we should be
delivered by due course of law; so little regardful was he, though a
lawyer, of keeping to the letter of the law.
We were committed on the 13th day of the month called March, 1665, and
were kept close prisoners there till the 7th day of the month called
June, which was some days above twelve weeks, and much above what the Act
required.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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