Barks ss. To the Constable and Tything men of Boxford, or to either of them.

WHereas Information and Complaint hath been made, and given in unto me upon Oath, that Oliver Sansom resident in your Parish, did upon the 2d, the 9th, the 16th, and the 23th dayes of this present July, being Sundayes, neglect to come to your Parish Church to hear Divine Ser­vice, contrary to the Laws in that case made and provided. These are [Page 5]therefore in his Majesties Name to charge and command you, and every of you, to require the said Oliver Sansom to be, and in case of his resu­sal to bring him before me, and others his Majesties Justices of the Peace of this County, at our petty Sessions to be holden at Newbery this next Thursday, and in case he shall hide out of the way, so that you cannot give him notice personally of this Warrant before our said petty Sessions; that th [...]n as soon as you shall meet him, the said Oliver Sansom, within your Liberty, you attach him, and forthwith bring him before me, that if he can he may shew some reasonable excuse for this his neglect, and to be pro­vided to make due proof thereof, or else to pay 4 s. to the use of the Poor of your Parish, and to be further dealt withal, as to Law and Justice doth ap­pertain, hereof fail you not at your perils. Dated at Danford in the said County, the 25th day of July, Anno Dom. 1665. W. James.

Now the Constable having this Warrant, he told me the day of appearance was the day called Tuesday following, but therein he did mistake, and by that means the Petty Sessions was past before I had sight of the Warrant, and though it was the Constables neglect that I appeared not at the punctual time mentioned in the Warrant; yet he fearing the displeasure of William James, compelled me to go with him afterwards to his house at Danford, where much was spoken concerning Worship and compelling thereto; but what was or could be said was in vain, seeing he was resolutely bent to go forward with his Enterprise; and after two or three dayes sent another Warrant to distrain my goods; and on the 16th day of the 6th Moneth, called August, 65. those called Churchwardens, with the Tything men, came when no body was at home, and went into my Barn, and took away my Fan, and carried it to the Priests house, while I with my Fa­mily was in the field at Harvest work; so that the Priest was the man to whom it must be carried, &c.

Then shortly after William James sent another Warrant to require my appearance before him, to shew some reasonable excuse for not coming to their Worship; and I considering that my appearing be­fore him was to no other end, but to make his farther proceeding seem more legal, for what ever was said, he resolved to go on and bring his purpose to pass; I therefore went to the Tything man, who had the Warrant, and told him I was not willing to appear personally, but wisht him to carry my answer to him in writing, which accordingly he did, which was as followeth,

When William James had received this Letter, he without any more ado issued out another Warrant to distrain my goods, unless I would pay four shillings for not coming to their Worship; and on the 30th day of the 8th Moneth, called October, 65. Simon Godard, one of those called Churchwardens, took away a good Harrow, worth near seven shillings.

And toward the latter end of 10th the Moneth, called December, 65. William James issued out another Warrant, after his usual manner, and on the 29th day of the same Moneth, the said Simon Godard, took away two pieces of Pewter, because I came not to their Wor­ship: Thus they took away my Goods three times for not going to their Worship, after I was Excommunicated therefrom; and the said [Page 7] William James did threaten the Officers for not selling the Goods, who complained they could not sell them to the worth, he replyed, that if they were worth twenty shillings, and they sold them for five shil­lings, he would bear them out in it.

And on the 28th day of the same 10th Moneth, 65. a Friend came to my house, who had a Testimony to bear for the Lord, and several Friends came there to wait upon the Lord, and some of the Town, my Neighbours, were there, who a long time had a desire to bear one speak of the things of the Lord, and I did let them know, and there came pretty many; and when the Friend had declared a pretty while, the Priest being informed of it, being at home with his Family, having some others at his house playing at Cards; but when they heard of a Meeting at my house, they left their Card-playing, and the Priest sent [...] the Tything man, who dwelt nigh him, to come away and break up the Meeting; but neither he nor the Constable were at home, for they were peaceably Assembled, with many others at my house, who not at all suspected the Priest should be hatching such a wicked device: but the Priest having no Officer to assist him, without any more ado, came himself to my house, only the Card-players came to assist him; and he began to threaten the people that they should go before the Justice, and some of the people being affraid because the Priest threatned them, would have gone away; but one Francis Dayly, the Priests Journey-man, stood and kept the door, and told them, he must know what they were before they went forth; and the Priest inter­rupted the Friend that was Speaking and Declaring the Truth, and demanded his name and place of abode, and charged the Constable to see them forth-coming the next morning; and the Priest being then passing away, called forth the Constable, and commanded him to set men to keep the Friend that spake, and another that came with him, until the morning; and some of the people hearing it, came in again, and caused the two strangers to go forth into the Orchard until the Constable was gone, and the Constable coming in against his will to apprehend them, and finding them not within, passed away. But the Priest, to prosecute his work which he had enviously begun, sent early the next morning the Parish Clark (Lodowick Yeamons, by name one likewise that had much withstood the Truth) to Wiliam James for a Warrant, who presently answered the Priests end, or desire, granted and sent it to the Constable of the Hundred, requiring him to bring the [Page 8]Constable and Tything men of Boxford, and as many more as the Priests Messenger, the said Lodowick Yeamons could name, that he saw at the Meeting, to appear before him and the others, called Justices of the Peace, at the Sign of the Three Swans at Hungerford, on the 30th day of the 10th Moneth 65. I being in the Warrant appeared with the rest, according to the contents thereof, and my Servant man also was intended by the Warrant, but they mistook his name, therefore he went not.

When we were come to Hungerford, and had staid there some time, there came three of those called Justices; viz. John Elwes, William Dormer, and William James, and when they had called the Constable and Tything men, and others that were amongst them, where was one poor man which they promised to set free, if he would upon his Oath give them the names of the rest of his Neighbours that he saw at the Meeting, which the said poor man for fear of Suffering presently did; then they called me, and pressed me much to discover the names of the two Friends that kept the Meeting at my house, urging, that thereby I should free my self from suspition of entertaining Jesuits and dangerous persons, tending to the disturbance of the Peace of the Kingdom; I told them they were known to be honest men, and were never suspected to be disturbers of the Peace, nor of doing in­jury or harm to any man; they answered, my words would not satis­fie them, nor clear my self, unless I would discover them; adding further, that if they were honest men what need I fear to tell their names; I answered, I was unwilling to tell their names, because I would not occasion their Sufferings; but if they would promise that they should not trouble nor molest them, I would presently tell who they were; William Dormor promised, that if they were honest men, they should not be medled with; so I told their names, and places of abode, and after some more words by way of Examination, they pro­ceeded to the imposing of Fines, and fined James Basford 10 s. which they compelled him to pay down presently; and the rest they fined 12 d. a piece; and because I could not for Conscience sake stoop under them, as they did, to promise not to go to any more Meettings, and to confess my self guilty, as an Offender in that which before the Lord, and all just men, I was innocent, they fined me 5 l. or else to endure three Moneths imprisonment, upon the first offence, so called; and not paying their demand. I was sent Prisoner to Reading Goal for three moneths.

But yet this satisfied not the Priest, for within four dayes after I was committed, VVilliam James sent another Warrant for my man, for being at the forementioned Meeting (who had been at home but a little time since he was a Prisoner at Reading, being committed for two moneths to the house of Correction there, for being at Meeting) and he accordingly appeared, and VVilliam James committed him (VVilliam Coules by name) to the house of Correction at Abingdon for four moneths, for only being at home at his Masters house.

Now though I never came to hear this Priest, nor never had one penny worth of Service from him, yet he hath by force and violence gotten wages, ruling by force and cruelty over the Consciences of men, like those whom the Prophet was sent of the Lord to cry wo against, read Ezek. 34. his proceedings have been farther on this wise.

First I was summoned by a Subpenae to appear at the Court of Ex­chequer at VVestminster, and when I appeared according to the ex­press words of the Writ, the 12th and 13th dayes of the nineth moneth, 66. there was none as I knew to prosecute, or lay any thing to my charge; and then he would not proceed any farther in the Ex­chequer, but procured a Justicious Warrant, so called, from the Sheriff of the County, and sent two Bailiffs, and took away my Horses, and kept them in the Bailiffs custody at Newbury, and put my Cows in the Pound, and lockt them in, and both Priest and Bailiff was so hard-hearted, that they took no order to give them any meat; so that if I had not carried Fodder to them, in all probability the Cattel might have suffered much, and have been lost: and then one of my Relati­ons went to the under-Sheriff, and past his word that they should have the Goods when they demanded them; and thereupon, after they had kept them seven or eight dayes, they were returned to me again.

And on the 8th day of the 2d Moneth, 1667. the Sheriff kept his Court at Abingdon, whether this Priest repaired, and imployed a Lawyer, who drew forth a Declaration against me, wherein were many untruths; and some of my Relations caused an Attorney to make an appearance, and the Attorney said, that the Priest could not have a trial for Tythes in that Court, or words to that purpose; and I heard no more of this Law in four or five moneths, so that I was ready to think the Priest had let fall this Suit also: But on the 26th day of the 6th Moneth, 1667. he procured a trial in the same Court, which was so subtilly and privately prosecuted, that I had no certain knowledge [Page 10]of it, before the Bailiff came with an Execution, which was early the next morning after the Trial; and the Bailiff Richard Smith by name, suddenly approached, and search'd my house, and took away Three pounds of Money, and drove away all my Cows and sheep, a­mounting in all to the value of Thirty pounds, or thereabouts, and the single value the Priest sued for was Six pounds Eight shillings.

The unreasonableness of this Priest doth surpass most in this Nati­on; for there was one, who out of natural affection to me, sent to him, without either consent or knowledge of mine, by several of his Neigh­bours, men dwelling in the Parish of Boxford, that if he would take two indifferent men, and let them value what the Tythes of my Living was worth, he would be engaged to pay it, but the Priest would not, accept of it, but said, he would rout me out of the Town, or words to that effect; and also his envy and malice was so great, that he did even shew murther in his face; for on a certain time, calling me Here­tick, he said to me, that if the King would but grant a Law, he would be the first man that would set a Faggot to my Tayl; and at another time he said, that if the King would grant a Law, he would be the first that would have me burnt; and again at another time he said the like words; whereby it is manifest what lodges in this mans heart, and what Papistical and Jesuitical cruelty he would act, had he a little more power, for it was they who exercised their cruelty in that way toward conscientious People, who could not pay them Tythes, and uphold them, as History do testifie, in setting Faggots to their Tayls and Burn­ing them; and this it seems he would do, nay, he says, the first that would do it, if the King would grant a Law, which God forbid he ever should, for the tender mercies of James Anderton, and such as he is, would be very great Cruelty, as he already doth declare, which may be caution enough, any wise man would think, to the People of Box­ford, yea, and all People in England, to beware of such men, and to mark, and take notice of them, what ever they may pretend, and how smooth and fair soever their words at some times may be, till their ends be accomplished; and I say the Lord give men understanding to consider.

Well, but farther also his envy hath been manifest in this particular; for after I was Excommunicated, as is before mentioned, he said, that none must have any thing to do with me, either to buy or sell, or the like, to which intent the Miller was forbidden to grinde my Corn; yea, the Priest threatned one man that did work for me, that if he did not [Page 11]leave off working for me, he would present him into Oxford Court, and the severity of the Law should be prosecuted against him, and bid him work for me if he did dare; and the man, for fear of the Priest, left off, and did not dare to work for me any longer at that time; but, about a year after, the same man, almost forgetting the Priests threat­nings, did work for me again; but it is evident the Priest had not for­got to deal wickedly by him, for he was presented, and the Parater came to summon him to appear; and the man being in doubt what should be the issue, and fearing the envy of the Priest, agreed with the Parater, and gave him money to prevent further trouble, &c.

One thing more I shall mention, which is this: As I was lately dig­ging a Trench, or Gutter, under the eves of my house, next the Mass­house yard, that the water might pass away, for the Tower formerly fell down, and the rubbish thereof lay so high against the side of my house, that it did much hurt: but when the Priest saw me there at work, he came on, with open mouth, as if he would have devoured me, and violently took the Mattock from me, and threw down my Garden bounds, on the side next the Steeple-house yard, flat on the ground, and caused the Trench to be filled afterwards; and with the clamor that he made several of the Neighbours came, and the Priest asked me before them, whether I would own that Letter I lately sent to him, I bid him produce it, and read it to them, for I would assuredly own it, but he would not produce it. The occasion of my writing this Let­ter to him was this: after he had taken away my goods for Tythes, as is before recited, some of my Relations saw that my goods were like to be sold under hand, they made an agreement with the Priest for to pay him twenty pound, and they to sell the Goods, and (as they say) the residue they will keep for him till another time, that he makes war again; but I do here testifie, that I am so far from consenting to this Agreement, or having any hand to bring about this conclusion, that to the utmost of my power I endeavoured to hinder and withstand it, as the Lord, who knows, bears me witness; and when this Agreement was thus patch'd up, there was a general Release under the Priests hand and seal sent to me, which I returned back again to him with this Let­ter, a Copy whereof follows.