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present government on behalf of the people of these nations; and not knowing how far such proceeding entered into wholly without us may extend in the consequence of it, do hereby desire that the house may let us know the grounds and reasons whereon they have proceeded." From this, it is not unlikely that the Protector might have been disposed to clemency. and to look with a degree of charity upon the weakness and errors of one of his old and tried soldiers who had striven like a brave man, as he was, for the rights and liberties of Englishmen; but the clergy here interposed, and vehemently, in the name of God and His Church, demanded that the executioner should finish his work. Five of the most eminent of them, names well known in the Protectorate, Caryl, Manton, Nye, Griffith and Reynolds, were deputed by parliament to visit the mangled priA reasonable request was made, that some impartial person might be present, that justice might be done Nayler in the report of his answers. This was refused. It was, however, agreed that the conversation should be written down, and a copy of it left with the jailer. He was asked, if he was sorry for his blasphemies. He said he did not know to what blasphemies they alluded; that he did believe in Jesus Christ; that He had taken up His dwelling in his own heart, and for the testimony of Him he now suffered. "I believe," said one of the ministers, "in a Christ who was never in any man's heart.""I know no such Christ," rejoined the prisoner, "the Christ I witness too fills Heaven and Earth, and dwells in the hearts of all true believers." On being asked, why he allowed the women to adore and worship him, he said, he "denied bowing to the creature; but if they beheld the power of Christ, wherever it was, and bowed to it, he could not resist it, or say aught against it." After some further parley the reverend visitors grew angry, threw the written record of the conversation in the fire, and left the prison, to report the prisoner incorrigible.

On the 27th of the month he was again led out of his cell and placed upon the pillory. Thousands of citizens were gathered around-many of them earnest ly protesting against the extreme cruelty of his punishment. Robert Rich, an in

fluential and honorable merchant, followed him up to the pillory, with expressions of great sympathy, and held him by the hand while the red-hot iron was pressed through his tongue, and the brand was placed on his forehead. He was next sent to Bristol, and publicly whipped through the principal streets of that city; and again brought back to the Bridewell prison, where he remained about two years, shut out from all intercourse with his fellow-beings. At the expiration of this period he was released by order of parliament. In the solitude of his cell he said the angel of patience had been with him. Through the cloud which had so long rested over him, the clear light of truth shone in upon his spirit; the weltering chaos of a disordered intellect, settled into the calm peace of a reconciliation with God and man. His first act on leaving prison was to visit Bristol, the scene of his melancholy fall. There he publicly confessed his errors, in the eloquent earnestness of a contrite spirit, humbled in view of the past, yet full of thanksgiving and praise for the great boon of forgiveness. A writer who was present says, the "assembly was tendered, and broken into tears; there were few dry eyes, and many were bowed in their minds."

In a paper, which he published soon after, he acknowledges his lamentable delusion. "Condemned forever," he says," be all those false worships with which any have idolized my person in that Night of my Temptation, when the Power of Darkness was above me-all that did in any way tend to dishonor the Lord, or draw the minds of any from the measure of Christ Jesus in themselves, to look at flesh, which is as gross, or to ascribe that to the visible which belongs to Him." "Darkness came over me through want of watchfulness and obedience to the pure Eye of God. I was taken captive from the true light; I was walking in the Night, as a wandering bird fit for a prey. And if the Lord of all my mercies had not rescued me, I had perished; for I was as one appointed to death and destruction, and there was none to deliver me." "It is in

my heart to confess to God, and before men, my folly and offence in that day: yet there were many things formed against me in that day, to take away my life, and bring scandal upon the truth,

of which I was not guilty at all." "The provocation of that Time of Temptation was exceeding great against the Lord; yet He left me not; for when Darkness was above, and the Adversary so prevailed, that all things were turned and perverted against my right seeing, hearing, or understanding; only a secret hope and faith I had in my God, whom I had served, that He would bring me through it, and to the end of it; and that I should again see the day of my redemption from under it all; and this quieted my soul in its greatest tribulation." He concludes his confession with these words: "He who hath saved my soul from death-who hath lifted my feet up out of the pit, even to Him be glory forever; and let every troubled soul trust in Him, for His merey endureth forever!"

Among his papers, written soon after his release, is a remarkable prayer, or rather thanksgiving. The limit I have prescribed to myself will only allow me to copy an extract.

"It is in my heart to praise Thee, O my God; let me never forget Thee, what Thou hast been to me in the night, by Thy presence in my hour of trial, when I was beset in darkness; when I was cast out as a wandering bird; when I was assaulted with strong temptations, then Thy presence, in secret, did preserve me; and in a low state I felt Thee near me: when my way was through the sea; when I passed under the mountains there wast Thou present with me; when the weight of the hills was upon me Thou upheldest me. Thou did'st fight, on my part, when I wrestled with death; when darkness would have shut me up Thy light shone about me: when my work was in the furnace, and I passed through the fire, by Thee I was not consumed. When I beheld the dreadful visions, and was among the fiery spirits, Thy faith stayed me, else through fear I had fallen. I saw Thee, and believed, so that the enemy could not prevail." After speaking of his humiliation and sufferings, which Divine Mercy had overruled, for his spiritual good, he thus concludes: "Thou did'st lift me out from the pit, and set me forth in the sight of my enemies: Thou proclaimed'st liberty to the captive; Thou called'st my acquaintances near me; they to whom I had been a wonder, looked upon

me; and in Thy love I obtained favor with those who had deserted me. Then did gladness swallow up sorrow, and I forsook my troubles; and I said, How good is it that man be proved in the night, that he may know his folly, that every mouth may become silent, until Thou makest man known unto himself, and hast slain the boaster, and shown him the vanity which vexeth Thy spirit."

All honor to the Quakers of that day, that at the risk of misrepresentation and calumny, they received back to their communion, their greatly erring, but deeply repentant, brother. His life, ever after, was one of self-denial and jealous watchfulness over himself-blameless and beautiful in its humility and lowly charity. In the latter part of the 8th month 1660, he left London. on foot, to visit his wife and children in Wakefield. As he journeyed on, the sense of a solemn change about to take place, seemed with him-the shadow of the Eternal world fell over him. As he passed through Huntingdon, a Friend who saw him, describes him as “in an awful and weighty frame of mind, as if he had been redeemed from earth, and a stranger on it, seeking a better home. and inheritance." A few miles beyond the town he was found, in the dusk of the evening, very ill, and was taken to the house of a friend, who lived not far distant. He died shortly after, expressing his gratitude for the kindness of his friends, and invoking blessings upon them. About two hours before his death, he spoke to the friend at his bedside these remarkable words-solemn as Eternity, and beautiful as the love which fills it:

"There is a spirit which I feel which delights to do no evil, nor to avenge any wrong; but delights to endure all things, in hope to enjoy its own in the end: its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exultation and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary to itself. It sees to the end of all temptations; as it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thought to any other: if it be betrayed it bears it, for its ground and spring is the mercy and forgiveness of God. Its crown is meekness; its life is everlasting love unfeigned; it takes its kingdom with entreaty, and not with contention, and keeps it by lowliness of mind. In God

alone it can rejoice, though none else regard it, or can own its life. It is conceived in sorrow, and brought forth with none to pity it; nor doth it murmur at grief and oppression. It never rejoiceth but through sufferings, for with the world's joy it is murdered. I found it alone, being forsaken. I have fellowship therein with them who lived in dens and desolate places of the earth, who through death obtained resurrection and eternal Holy Life."

So died James Nayler. He was buried in " Thomas Parnell's buryingground, at King's Rippen," in a green nook of rural England. Wrong and violence, and temptation and sorrow, and evil-speaking, could reach him no more. And in taking leave of him, let us say, with old Joseph Wyeth, where he touches upon this case in his Anguis Flagellatus: "Let none insult, but take heed lest they also, in the hour of their temptation, do fall away."

TO RONGE.

BY J. G. WHITTIER.

STRIKE home, strong-hearted man!-Down to the root
Of old Oppression sink the Saxon steel.

Thy work is to hew down. In God's name then
Put nerve into thy task. Let other men
Plant, as they may, that better tree, whose fruit

The wounded bosom of the Church shall heal.
Be thou the Image-breaker. Let thy blows

Fall heavy as the Suabian's Iron Hand,
On Crown or Crosier, which shall interpose

Between thee and the weal of Father-land.
Leave creeds to closet-idlers. First of all,
Shake thou all German dream-land with the fall
Of that accursed tree, whose evil trunk
Was spared of old by Erfurt's stalwart monk.
Fight not with ghosts and shadows. Let us hear
The snap of chain-links. Let our gladdened ear
Catch the pale prisoner's welcome, as the light
Follows thy axe-stroke, through his cell of night.

Be faithful to both worlds; nor think to feed
Earth's starving millions with the husks of creed:
Servant of Him whose mission high and holy
Was to the wronged, the sorrowing and the lowly,
Thrust not his Eden promise from our sphere,

Distant and dim beyond the blue sky's span;
Like him of Patmos, see it, now and here,-

The New-Jerusalem comes down to man!
Be warned by Luther's error. Nor like him,
When the roused Teuton dashes from his limb
The rusted chain of ages, help to bind

His hands, for whom thou claim'st the freedom of the mind!

PAPERS OF AN OLD DARTMOOR PRISONER.

EDITED BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

CHAPTER VI.

LEAVE BARBADOES AND ARRIVE IN ENGLAND.

I PASS rapidly over the events of our residence in Barbadoes. The rumor had for some time prevailed that all the American prisoners were to be concentrated in England; and it was verified about the close of June, by sending one hundred, comprising most of the crew of the Frolic, on board of the Hannibal 74, which sailed in a few days. The paroled prisoners were sent on board the prison-ship preparatory to a voyage to England. The Vestal prison-ship was infested with cockroaches and centipedes; the name of the former was legion; they would drop on to our naked bodies, while turned in, from the beams overhead, in such numbers, that the term shower would be one of verity. Not an article of leather could escape their voracious maws, unless it was put out of their way, and we were obliged to place our shoes under us, when we lay down, to protect them. Incautiously leaving a chip hat exposed one night, I found it the next morning minus all its leather lining. The bite of a centipede is very painful, and causes the part to inflame and swell up to a great degree. The negroes apply a remedy, being rum, in which is infused a number of dead centipedes, on the principle of a hair of the dog which bit you," and I can vouch for its successful application in my own cure; but whether rum simply would not have done as well as this tincture of centipedes, I cannot say.

On the 23d of July we were taken from the Vestal and einbarked on board the Gloucester 74. We were placed under the half-deck, and had a great many sentinels over us, in number ridi

culously disproportionate to our unarmed and defenceless condition. At 11, A. M., we were ordered on the poop, until eight bells, or noon, when we were all driven again, at the point of the bayonet, in about the same style that a pigdrover drives his hogs, down below again. Here they gave us some pea-soup, compounded, I should judge, of about a gill of peas to a gallon of water. One of our men began to strip, intending to dive, as he said, for the pea at the bottom of the mess-kid. After this unsubstantial repast, it was charge bayonets again, and huddle upon the poop. We were much harassed while on board this ship by being driven about, on the poop, on the booms, and below, and by being continually watched by a number of sentinels. After the first meal we had food enough, and the officers and men were sufficiently civil. There seemed to be no disposition to vex us; but they had conceived such a gunpowder notion of us, that they were afraid we meditated mischief. "I am afraid of this gun-powder Percy, though he be dead." The captain of the ship kept his cabin most of the time-I never saw him but once; he was old and had the character of an imbecile. The crew exhibited a total want of order and good discipline; the officers appeared to be inefficient; and as she was weakly manned, I do not think she would have been an overmatch for a Yankee frigate of the first class. The next day we arrived at St. Vincent, with a view to take on board Lady Brisbane and daughter, (the wife and daughter of the Gov. ernor;) but the Benbow 74 had previously been here and taken them away.

Our ship therefore again put to sea, and on the 28th arrived at St. Thomas.

Immediately after our arrival at St. Thomas, eighty of us were sent on board the Benbow 74, Captain R. C. Pearson. This was a good ship, in good order, with an efficient crew under good discipline the captain a skilful seaman, a rigid disciplinarian, and, I have no doubt, a worthy and good man. Everything on board was in perfect contrast to the state of things on board the Gloucester. We were at first put under the half-deck, and not allowed to go up on deck but by permission, and one at a time; but when we got out to sea these restrictions were very much relaxed. Those of us who had been paroled at Barbadoes were exempted from most of the restrictions imposed upon the others. We sailed from St. Thomas the 4th of August, having under convoy nine sail of merchant vessels. We received very good usage on board this ship, and our rations were of good quality and sufficient in quantity. During our passage I slept every night on a twenty-four-pound cannon, being induced to try this new kind of bed from an indisposition I had from a boy to early rising. The service of washing down the decks used to commence very early every morning, and the men employed in this duty were not very ceremonious in splashing the water about over those of us they caught napping. Now I had no great love for this species of shower-bath, and to escape it, and so to be able to sleep a little later in the morning, I mounted upon this iron bedstead, placing my bag of clothes between the gun and the side tackleblocks to widen the bed; and it was a comfortable one enough, when I had once got used to it. Misery and captivity make us acquainted with strange beds as well as bed-fellows.

Nothing particular occurred in our passage, which was a pleasant, though rather a long one, for we were often obliged to slacken sail for the dull sailing merchant vessels. We made the Scilly Isles the 20th September, and the next day at night-fall came to an anchor in Yarmouth Roads, in the Isle of Wight, and the next day we ran up to Spithead.

One of our messmates, a little skipper of a privateer, contrived, while on board the Benbow as everywhere else,

to ingratiate himself with all hands from captain to cook. He was on terms of particular intimacy with the purser's steward, and used to assist him in serving out the provisions; and having a very capacious pair of pockets, our mess reaped advantage from the friendship. Whether there was any masonry here I know not, but there was such a freemasonry of good-fellowship about this man, that if you had placed him on the island of Juan Fernandes, he would have been on the most friendly terms with the seals. At 11, A. M., and 4, P. M., grog is or was served out on board menof-war; the liquor is mixed in a large tub, and when "grog O!" is piped, the canteens to each mess repair to the tub and receive the allowance for their messes, and what remains in the tub after all are served, is called the "plush," and goes to the cooks of the messes. Our little skipper took good care every day to be in the neighborhood of the tub at grog-time; and I have been often amused to see him with a sailor at each elbow vieing with each other in the proffer of a friendly glass. This would be a dilemma to a member of an old-fashioned temperance society, which to accept or which to refuse, on one horn of which he must hang; but not so to our skipper, he had no objection to taking a horn whenever he could get it, so he would take them both and thus avoid giving any offence. He could sing a good song, tell a good story, (but it would not do to inquire very minutely into the truth of it,) take a lunar, sail and fight a vessel, outlie and outbrag any man of his inches, (being sixty,) and was good company for lieutenant or loblolly boy. His dish was seldom bottom up when good things were being distributed; and when it was so, he fared not much the worse, for it had a marvellously capacious bottom. Presents flowed in upon him in abundance; or, at all events, he said that they were presents-that he had the goods was certain, but we sometimes more than suspected that he was indebted to his sleight of hand for them. Be that as it may, he got them gratis, and we were not disposed to inquire very strictly into the circumstances, for he was liberal in sharing them with us; but we could not refrain from casting a sly joke at the captain every now and then. One night, while in Dartmoor, we heard the

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