Emily Manners

“ She came from Providence, Rhode Island, to Boston on hearing of the sentence passed on three young men who, for the crime of being Quakers, were condemned each to the loss of an ear; on account of her comments thereon she was cast into prison and received “Ten Cruel Stripes with a three-fold-corded-knotted-Whip,” and warned that “if she came thither again they were likely to have a law to hang her,” to which she replied: “If God call us, Wo be to us, if we come not; And I question not, but he whom we love, will make us not to count our Lives dear unto our selves for the sake of his Name.” ”

“ Yet another martyr was to seal his testimony with his blood—William Leddra, described as of Barbados but a native of Cornwall, was executed at Boston the 14th of March, 1660/61, under the law of banishment, who, before his final trial, had suffered much persecution and grievous cruelty. His beautiful and saintly nature is revealed in a letter written by him “To the Society of the little Flock of Christ,” dated from Boston prison the day before his execution; therein is no fierce denunciation of his persecutors, but words of consolation and hope to his sorrowing friends. ”

“ In 1657 the law was again strengthened; and if a male Quaker, after he had once been banished, returned again to New England, he was to suffer the loss of one ear and to be kept in the House of Correction, and every woman was to be severely whipped and consigned to the same place. This law was to apply to “every Quaker arising from amongst ourselves” as well as to “Foreign Quakers.” Three men suffered the penalty of loss of their ears at Boston. ”

“ We cannot be understood hereby to direct or wish that any indulgence should be granted to those persons commonly called Quakers, whose principles being inconsistent with any kind of Government, we have found it necessary, by the advice of our Parliament, here to make a sharp Law against them and are well contented that you do the like there.
Undeterred by the prospect of further persecution and the improbability of the King again intervening on behalf of the Quakers, Elizabeth Hooton once more believed herself called of the Lord to visit New England. ”

“ Many examples of the ferocity with which the Quakers were treated in the New England Colonies might be cited, yet so inspired were these early pioneers with the deep significance and importance of their message that they were compelled to brave the untried wilderness paths and surmount difficulties which we in these days might be tempted to deem insurmountable, in order to deliver it ”

“ A perilous journey for two women, neither of them young, to undertake, and one marvels at the high courage and faith, and the deep sense of the guiding hand of God, which sent them forth “looking death in the face” to deliver the message of their Lord. ”

“ George Fox, after his missionary visit into Lincolnshire, accompanied by Robert Craven, the Sheriff of Lincoln (who had been convinced by his preaching) and by Thomas Aldam, passed into Derbyshire and thence into Nottinghamshire to Skegby, “where,” he records, “we had a great meeting of divers sorts of people: and the Lord’s power went over them and all was quiet. The people were turned to the spirit of God, by which many came to receive his power, and to sit under the teaching of Christ their Saviour. A great people the Lord hath in [16] these parts.” ”

“ It is an astonishment that the brains of a man should be [19] parboiled in such impious ignorance”; and, further, John Callender, writing in 1739, said that in 1637 “the true Grounds of Liberty of Conscience were not then known or embraced by any Sect or Party of Christians.” [37]
The early history of the New England Colony shows that, some years before the advent of the Quakers, religious differences had arisen amongst the Colonists, and a certain section of the community had not escaped persecution. ”

“ In these days, when we are constantly reminding those outside our Society of the acknowledgment by our early Friends of the spiritual equality of men and women, it is extremely interesting to note that women were frequently engaged in and actually did carry through negotiations of a very delicate and decidedly secular character. This is proved by George Fox’s account of his wife’s release from Lancaster Castle, which took place in April, 1671 ”

“ The authorities of Boston then passed a law inflicting a fine of £100 on any shipmaster who knowingly conveyed a Quaker to the Colonies. This law failed as a deterrent, many Quakers obtaining an entrance to the Colonies, and still fiercer became the persecution. A strengthening of the law was deemed necessary and it was further decreed:
What Quaker so ever shall arrive from foreign Parts or Parts adjacent shall be forth with committed to the House of Correction ”

“ In March, 1664/5, that stern persecutor of the Quakers, John Endicott, [92] died at Boston. Bowden states [93] :
[51]
Elizabeth Hooton was imprisoned for attending the funeral of this notorious bigot; the probability is she attempted to exhort the company against persecution, and to call their attention to the judgment of the Most High upon the deceased, as evinced in the miserable condition in which he died.
In New England as in the old country, we find E. Hooton foremost in championing the cause of the oppressed, and one marvels again and again at her courage and persistency. ”

“ And greatest of them all is Charity.” Longfellow, New England Tragedies, Prologue to “Endicott.”
We owe to their heroic devotion the most priceless of our treasures, our perfect liberty of thought and speech; and all who love our country’s freedom may well reverence the memory of those martyred Quakers, by whose death and agony the battle in New England has been won.
Brooke Adams, Emancipation of Massachusetts.
Fierce and cruel as was the persecution in England it was far exceeded by the tortures which awaited the first Quaker missionaries in the New World. ”

“ J know nothing but J may goe with him it hath been much on mee to goe a great while and to doe ye best that Js Required for him. One Letter haue J written to thy Sons wife and J desire thou may see it ouer, that Jf there bee any thing in it yt is Amisse thou maist mend it, for it ware much on mee to write it, and so at present J haue no more but my Loue to thee and thy daughters and friends for J am in hast to goe up againe to the parlement and so farwell my dearly beloued friend which art in the Power of Truth, god blessed for euer. ”

“ Anne Hutchinson, a brave and intrepid woman, had boldly protested against what might almost be termed a purely theological religion and the extreme power which was of necessity vested in the priest, which was the basis of the Puritan faith. ”

“ Deare Margret who Art faithfull and in the wisdome of god and art A sufferer for god and his Truth and thy sufferings hath been many and great and thou art A Mother in Jsraele god is thy witnese thou hast suffered more then many haue Expected, yet hath ye Lord deliuered thee, Euerlasting praises to his name for euer, bee thou of good Cumfort ye Lord will Deliuer thee still and they that seeke to Ruinate thee will ye Lord Ruinate, Jf they doe not Speedely Repent and Amend: there is no way but to trust in ye Lord for hee is A true deliuerer. ”

“ John Evelyn, too, speaking of the Dutch incursion, says: “The alarme was so greate that it put both Country and Citty into a paniq feare and consternation such as I hope I shall never see more; every body was flying none knew why or whither.”
It is pleasant to turn from sufferings and controversies to events of a domestic character in the strenuous life of Elizabeth Hooton. On 21st September, 1669, her daughter Elizabeth, who had been a sufferer with her mother in New England, was married to Thomas Lambert, of Handsworth, at her mother’s house at Skegby. ”

“ Every wicked worke is now att Libertie; and vertue Rightiousnesse & holynesse you sett yor selues against with all yor force. Oh what a nation would this be if you might haue yor wills. Goe into Smythfeild & you shall see what store of play houses there is; and what abundance of wicked company resorts to them; which greiues the spirit of ye Lord in ye hearts of his people, to see ye wickednesse of this citty.
After more in the same strain the letter concludes:
J am a Louer of yor soules yt am sent to warne you. ”

“ Unquity, or Unquity-quisset was the Indian name for Dorchester, which, in 1662, was incorporated as Milton. It is across the Neponset River from Boston, on the somewhat indirect way from Cambridge to Scituate.
Unquity means “a place at the end of the small tidal stream or creek.” ”

“ So we tooke shipping & went to Barbados & afterwards was moved to returne to New Engld againe, through much of this country we went amonst ffriends & then was moved [33] to goe to Boston againe & cry through ye towne, after ye Lawe was broken, & then ye Constable tooke hold of us to carry me to ye ship & ye wicked officer said it was their delight & could rejoice to follow us to ye execution as much as ever they did, in wch ship we did both of us Returne to England. & ye bloud-thirsty men stopped in their desires blessed be ye Lord for ever & for ever. ”

“ Take heed what you doe Least ye Lord Arise in ye feircenesse of his anger, and find you Beating yor fellow servants, and shamefully abuseing them which doe well, and lett ye wicked goe free. You haue sett ye wicked a worke to spoyle vs of our goodes, and putt vs in prison for worshipping god, and turne yor sword backward, which ye higher power cannot doe, soe you make yorselues rediculouse to all people who haue sence and reason ... ”

“ Agreed that a Testimonie be drawne up Against the Spirit that Leads Sammuell Hooten To pay tythes (& justifie his paying of them) and to be giuen him by Robert Grace and William Malson, a Coppy as followeth:
“A Testimonie from the people of god (in scorne called Quakers) Against Tythes & Tithe takers & all that pay them in Generall (whoe denie Christ Jesus come in the flesh—who hath Ended the Law & the Changable preisthood, and is becom the unchangable high preist over the house of god for Euer) But more Especialy against the Spirit that now acts in & by Sammuell Hooten. ”

“ And now J am come hither for some Justice & to haue my goods restord againe which were taken away in my absence or else my friends restord out of prison, which never did the King nor the Counsell any harme, And soe in love to all your soules J haue written this paper to let you know that by my going to New England J was made serviceable to the King & his Commissioners Therefore reward not me evil for good, as some do threaten me; & let not our friends be put into the hands of wicked & unreasonable men ”

“ The Lord hath somtimes Restrained such men as would haue done us mischeefe and oft haue J been wth the Parlement & they haue been very Ciuell to me & J haue giuen them many Boockes & Letters & they haue Reced them & haue not done those many bad Things against us as Sum would haue had them to haue done; but let persecution sease, and our Meetings in London ware & are still as wee are informed by ye Last Shipes peaceable: and the Last Mayor that wos when J wos there never did us hurt nor broke up ouer metings.... ”

“ No record of Elizabeth Hooton’s ministry, or allusion to her, has been found in contemporary documents for the years 1658-1659, but in the early part of the year 1660 she was in Nottinghamshire, and Besse gives the following graphic description of an apparently unprovoked assault on her by Priest Jackson of Selston: “On the 2d of the Month called April, Elizabeth Hooton, passing quietly on the Road, was met by one Jackson, Priest of Selston, who abused her, beat her with many Blows, knockt her down, and afterward put her into the Water.” ”

“ O frend thou must lighe downe in the dust & Cast thy Crowne at the feete of Jesus, how Can you beleeve that seeke honor one of another & seekes not the honor wch is of god onely; Distribute to the pore, & Denie thy honor, & take up the Crosse & followe Jesus Christ.
Much more follows in the same strain, mingled with warnings of the woes that will come upon him and the nation generally if justice is not done. ”

“ When we came to Boston after a hard passage then there was no house to receive us as we knewe of by reason of their fines, yet did we venture in the night to a woman friends house where when we were gotten in, it pleased the Lord yt we stayed ye night by reason yt the tyde did rise so speedily as we could not get a way, & so we went away in the morning to prison to visit freinds ”

“ That there was considerable doubt in the minds of those in authority in New England as to the manner in which the news of their high-handed and ferocious persecution of the Quakers would be received by the Home Government is evident from a letter written by Captain John Leverett, London Agent for Massachusetts, to Governor Endicott and the General Court, 13th of September, 1660. After some discourse on other matters he continues:
Ye Quakers I hear have been with ye King concerning your putting to death those of theyr Frds executed at Boston. ”

“ The Magistrates which will doe me noe justice—Behman [Beaumont] Dixey, Justice Babington of Rodely [sic] , Earle of Stamford and John Grey his sonne, with many others in Leicestershire, which some said they would doe me Justice, but did me none.
In the Countrey there is no Justice but Cruelty: they will not heare the Cry of the innocent.
She also appeals to the Duke of York, and in the conclusion of a letter to him, she says: [118]
Therefore I allso apply my selfe to thee, for thy asistance, in this thing, yt some effectuall meanes may be used for the restoring of my goods.... ”

“ On 11th May, 1628, a certain Oliver Hooton married Elizabeth Carrier; it is uncertain whether this Elizabeth was the convert to Quakerism, for from further entries in the record of Baptisms and Burials it seems probable that there were two men of the same name living in the parish at that time, and in 1629 the wife of one whose name was Elizabeth died: it is clear, however, that later on an Oliver and Elizabeth Hooton were living in Ollerton, for there on 4th May, 1633, “Samuell s. of Oliver and Elizabeth Hooton” was baptized. ”

“ There is Great need of Justice and Judgment, for if one goe vp into the Countrey, there is A great Cry of the Poore being Robbed by Rich mens Negroes, Soe that they cannot with out great Troble, keep any thing from being Stolen; And if they doe complaine they Cannot get any Sattisfaction; Now it is the Duty of Euery man to take Care and see there family haue Suffitient food and any thing else the stand in need off; as Jnstructed in that that is good, that they may bee Kept from Stealeing and doeing any thing that is Euill ”

“ It seems probable that Patrick Livingstone visited Elizabeth Hooton at her home at Skegby; his future wife, Sarah Hyfeild, of Nottingham, appears as one of the Friends named for “publicke service” in the Minute Book of the Women’s Quarterly Meeting for Nottinghamshire, which Meeting was “setled” in 1671. The marriage took place in 1676, and the occasion elicited from the Friends of Aberdeen Monthly Meeting a fully-signed liberating certificate, which remains a noble tribute to the bridegroom’s Christian character, and a token of the [57] high esteem and love of his north country friends ”

“ Nor into the hands of the Priests who would destroy all that we haue for Tythes; that take Tythes & make a spoyle of their Corne & keepe their bodies in prison many over England. Jf they will haue their Tythes, Let our friends haue their bodies at Liberty to worke for more: for husbandmen are Jmpoverisht much, & ready to throw up their farmes, by reason of Tythes Taxes & Assessments & great Rents. And if Husbandmen cast up their farmes what will ye all doe for there is great oppression in the Country & little money to be had for any thing. ”

“ So early in ye morning before it was light ye Whippr a Member of their Church came up, wch had said to me before yt ye governor of Boston was his God & ye Magistrates were his God, J answered many Gods many Lords blind sottish Men both Priests & people, & asked us whether we would be whipt there or below, J said wilt thou take our bloud in ye dark before ye people be rissen to see wt thou dost, so he tooke me downe & lockt them up, & said J was acquainted wth their whipping because J had been there before. ”