The Westerly echo, & Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1854-1858, 1856-03-27

preston, Try 10 suDdue wat ncr lrlends
called her airy imagiuation,' aud at
tend the preaching of some eminent
Friend. Tut it would not do--the true
character burst forth through all-Mary
was again all wit and laughter, and tho
her friends reproved, they loved her,
and forgave all.
On the accession of James H., which
is the period at which our little narra-
tive is now arrived, persecution ragged
again with greater violence than ever
and the Pixlsys, along with seventeen
other Friends, both men and women,
were dragged from their meeting house
by brutal soldiery, under the COM
mand ofthe justice We have before men,
toned, to the dungeon-like county Jail,
in the depth Of winter. The hardships
they endured were so dreadful that it is
painful to relate them. They were
kept many days without food, and al
lowed neither Ere nor candle their
prison was damp and cold, and they
were furnished with straw only for their
beds; they were also forbidden to see
their friends, who might have procured
them some of the nocessaries Of life >
nor were allowed to repre- ent, by letter,
their case to any influential man of the
county, who might have interested him
self in their behalf And to all this
was added the brutality of cruel jailer,
who beapcd upon them all the ignominy
he could devise. In these dreadful cir
cumstanccs lay the gentle Msrtha Pix
ley and her parents. Mary, not having
accompanied them to their place Of wor-
ship, did not share their fate.
Poor mother Pixley's health had long
been declining, and this confinement
reduced her so low that in few days
her life was despaired of; still, no med
ical aid could be procured, and the
cloabs and coats of many of her suffer-
ing companions were given up to furnish
covering for her miserable bed
When the news came to Mary Of the
commttal Of her friends to Jail, the dis
tress Of her mind expressed itself in
burst of uncomfortable Indignation -
and then, asking counsel Of no one, she
threw on her bat and cloak, and taking
with her an old man who lived in the
family as labourer, she hurried to the
Justices; and rs she did not appear
with any mark Of the despised Quaker,
either in dress or manner, she soon OBJ
tanned admlttanco. The magistrate
was somewhat startled by the sudden
apparition OF so fair and young mai
den, and demanded her pleasure with
unwontcd courtesy, seating her in the
chair beside him, and removing from
his head the lace | hat which he was wear
ing al her entrance. Mary made ber de-
mand for the liberation Of her friends,
tie Quakers. The justice stared, as il
doubring his senses, and rallied her on.
the strangeness of her request, charging
upon the Quakers, all those absurd and
monstrous things which were alleged
against them in those days. Mary,
nothing abashed, denied every charge
as false, and demanded, if not the libcr-
alton of her friends, at least the ameli-
oration of their suffsrings. AS Mary
pleaded, the justice grew angry, and at
length the full violence OF his temper
broke forth, and the high-spirited girl,
even more indignant than terrified, rush
ed from his presence.
What was next to be done : She Or
dcred her old attendant TO saddle the
horses, aud mounting one, and bidding
him follow on the other, she set off to-
the country town. There she found
great numbers Of Friends surrounding
the prison with baskets Of provisions,
bedding, warm clothing, and fuel, beg
ging for admit,ance to their pcr,hing
brethren. Little children, too, there
were, weeping for their imprisoned pa
rents, and Offering their little all to the
jailer, so that they might be permitted
to share their captivity. Mary made
her way through this melancholy crowd,
pcremptorily demanded access to the
jailsr, and was admitted her garb, un-
like that of the prosecuted Quakers, OBJ
tanning FOR her this faver, as at the house
of the justice. But here again bor er.