The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-03-04
Execution of Quakers on Boston Com
mon in the Seventeenth Century.

~ 'Vf
somewhere beneath the soil of Boston
S0Vilinon lie the ashes of four so-called
SpiKers-three men and one woman
VINO We're cast into their rude graves af-
yer they had been executed on the gall
lows, between the years 1869 and 1861.
ms deoth-penalty was the elimination
OF the successive infections to which
furitan Legislators vainly had recourse
20 be rid Of an intolerable plague. 1t
was denounced upon such as, returning
l9nrth time after punishment and ban
iSh'aeni, refused, even when on the gal
LOWS, to keep their lives on condition
thts they would not again obtrude them
selsRs waere they were so unwelcome.
! Il.elrifi f5isal to comply with this condi-
t,sAs tprevIIRossl the T6essIstratCs, who
) seed their lives absen. rather
tlisii th-eir deaths present" that "they
counted Death and thrust themselves
upon it.
Some readers may find relief in the
fact that, even after the long trial of the
patience of the magistrates, the inflic-
ton of the death-penalty was effected
only by the vote of "a bare majority of
the court, and vas most vehemently OPP
posed by earnest remonstrances from
some OF the bestpeople. Our historian
Hutchinson, nightly balances " the
strange delUsion the Quallers were under
In courtng persecution, and the I'M
prudence of the authorities in gratify-
ing this humor as far as their utmost
wishes could carry them" One may all
the more regret the heady temper, the
rancor, and the violence shown on either
side because the parties were so admira-
hly qualified for testing their issues by
,koE ar,I Tho FpTol4arI
Baxter foiled the weapon of one very
persistent Quaker, who had been argu-
ing that all men were illumined by the
inner light, by asking the question, If
all have il, why may not l have II %.
What would have been the final work
ing ont of the pitched conflict between
Quaker contumacy and Puritan persist
ency had they been left to the action of
their own energies, without tle inter
vention Of an external mediating agency,
it would hardly have been difficult for
any but the most resolute and stern of
the magistrates 10 have forecast. The
Quakers would have conquered by sim
ple endurance. Their weapons were
what IN the Immediate future were to be
recognized as vital and effective truths.
But one Of the sufferers having gone to
England and gained access to Charles
H., brought back from the monarch "a
peremptory command that the death
penalty against the Quakcrs should be
no more inflicted, and that those who
were under Judgment or in prison should
be sent TO England for trial.
The Kings interference with the stern
rule Of the Puritan commonwealth also
involved the immediate removal Of the
restriction of the franchise to church
members, and its extension to all citi-
zeus who were in other respects entitled
TO it. The court, however, managed to
sSnsA ~Scession here required of
So y y ss rrting conditions which
Stained the rigid method
OF sec ing the ballot. On this point
the vital and all-essential security of
their original pOlity-they were soon
compelled to yiel1, because the royal
mandate was reinforced by so strong a
party Of the uncOvenanted non-voters
within the colony insisting upon their
rights
Not till the provincial was substituted
for the colonial charter was the spell of
the Puritan domination effectually
broken and then the Puritan common
wealth was prostrated The survival
from it in tradition. in influence, in the
sway of manifold habits and customs,
and in the lessons of childhood retaining
their power over those who lived to adj
vanced age, perpetuated very much of
its austere aud characteristic qualities
in this community. Nor even in these
days, among the mixed and diversified
elements of our population, and all the
relaxing and liberahzing results of the
most radical social change, is the fire in
the ashes Of Puritanism wholly extin-
guished. - George T.. Ellis.