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<DATE>2012-05-22</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B120410.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A96384">
<STC T="W">W1895</STC>
<STC T="C">R186515</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">47683538</BIBNO>
<VID>172995</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A Brief Account OF THE Illegal Proceedings and SINFUL DOCTRINES of <HI>JAMES BEDFORD</HI> Prie&s;t of <HI>Blun&s;ome</HI> and <HI>Earith</HI> in <HI>Hunting|ton</HI> SHIRE, Who by many hath been e&s;teemed eminent, and above all the Prie&s;ts in the I&s;le of <HI>Ely</HI> for his oppo&s;ing the People called QUAKERS.</P>
<P>This is to di&s;cover his fruits and Doctrines both to Rulers, Prie&s;ts and peo|ple, that both Rulers, Prie&s;ts and people may &s;ee the iniquity that is upheld among&s;t them, and which many of the Prie&s;ts &s;till per&s;i&s;t in; this is to di&s;cover to them a little of their abomination (among much more that they are found in and of the horrible and filthy thing that is committed in the Land, and in particular by <HI>James Bedford</HI> Prie&s;t of <HI>Blun|&s;ome</HI> and <HI>Earith</HI> in <HI>Huntington</HI> Shire, that &s;o they that will uphold or countenance the&s;e Prie&s;ts in their iniquities may be left without ex|cu&s;e, and they that love their &s;ouls may &s;ave them&s;elves from that per|ver&s;e generation, who are de&s;troyers both of bodies and &s;ouls for di&s;hone&s;t gain, becau&s;e of who&s;e iniquities the Nations deeply &s;uffers and wants the true e&s;tabli&s;hment; for it is Right ou&s;ne&s;&s;e that e&s;tabli&s;heth a Nati|on, and Iniquity that confounds and imbondageth it; So mark the fol|lowing account, which is as it was certified from the hands of &s;ome of the Sufferers hereafter mentioned, who are known to be credible and ho|ne&s;t men.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Thomas Simmons</HI> at the &s;igne of the <HI>Bull</HI> and <HI>Mouth</HI> near <HI>Alder&s;gate,</HI> 1660.</P>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>The &s;aid Prie&s;t</HI> Bedford <HI>his proceedings again&s;t</HI> John Cranwell <HI>of</HI> Earith <HI>for the four years p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P>THe two former years he the &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> came into <HI>John Cranwells</HI> f<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1+ letters">ld and took 4 Lambs without leave, and &s;ent his men for Tithe Wool at &s;hear-day, but <HI>John Cranwells</HI> refu&s;ed to give him any (becau&s;e he was convinced in his con&s;cience that Tithes now in the prie&s;thood of Chri&s;t ought not to be paid, and that it was not equity that he &s;hould maintain &s;uch a Mini&s;ter as he is not taught by) where|upon the &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> &s;ent his men and unlockt <HI>John Cranwells</HI> barn door, and took away as much wool as they thought good, and al&s;o took away of his Hay and Corn what they would, and did ca&s;t <HI>John Cranwell</HI> into <HI>Huntington</HI> Goal; So the Prie&s;t having dealt thus illegally (and as appears be|ing convicted in his con&s;cience of the unlawfulne&s;s of this his proceedings.) The two la&s;t years, the Prie&s;t &s;aid he would go on Legally, in the year 1658. he did fetch a warrant for <HI>John Cranwell</HI> to bring him before two Ju&s;tices to &s;hew cau&s;e why <HI>John</HI> had not &s;et forth his Tithe, which <HI>J C.</HI> did &s;hew be|fore Ju&s;tice <HI>Pedley</HI> and <HI>Robert Vintener,</HI> &s;o after &s;ome words pa&s;&s;ed, they called three men to be &s;worn; then they did ask them what Lambs and &s;heep <HI>John Cranwell</HI> had that year, and what Hay and Corn, and what they did value the Tithe of them to be worth that year; and they did value it at 12 <HI>l.</HI> almo&s;t; but if <HI>John</HI> would pay the Prie&s;t, they &s;aid they would abate twenty &s;hillings, <HI>John</HI> told them he oweth the Prie&s;t nothing, nor would give him any thing; Then they &s;aid they would make a warrant for fifteen pounds, which they did; And a while after Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> came with the Con&s;table and took three Cows which was with calf, which the Con&s;table &s;aid was worth 15. <HI>l.</HI> al&s;o they took, Carts, and 4 pair of wheels which al&s;o was worth 15. pound, but they brought three again, and kept one of them, (<HI>viz.</HI> the be&s;t) worth &s;ix pounds, and &s;o they took one and twenty pounds worth of goods for Tithes demanded but to the value
<PB N="4" REF="3">of twelve pounds, according to their own account. But mark how this &s;aid Prie&s;t hath added to his Iniquity, In the year 1<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">59. the &s;aid <HI>James Bedford</HI> the prie&s;t came violently with two rude fellows with him upon <HI>Iohn Cranwells</HI> ground, and the prie&s;t &s;aid to <HI>Iohn Cranwells</HI> Son that he came for Tithe Hay, and <HI>Iohns</HI> Son di&s;charged them off his fathers ground, and the Prie&s;t &s;aid he did not care for that, he came for his dues; &s;o <HI>Iohns</HI> Son whipped away their hor&s;es (when the Prie&s;t would not remove them) upon which one of the Prie&s;ts men &s;wore that if he whipped away their hor&s;es again, he would run his fork into his belly, then the Prie&s;t &s;aid he would bear him harmle&s;s if it co&s;t him an hundred pounds, and the Prie&s;t then threatened to overthrow <HI>Iohn Cranwells</HI> Cart, which Cart &s;tood then loaden upon <HI>Iohns</HI> own ground a little way off them; and <HI>Iohns</HI> &s;on putting away the Prie&s;ts hor&s;es again, (notwith&s;tanding his and his mens threatnings) the Prie&s;t rode galloping, and &s;triving to make <HI>Iohn Cranwells</HI> hor&s;es overthrow the Cart; and <HI>Iohn Cranwels</HI> Son told the Prie&s;t it was a &s;hame for him to take away his Fathers goods in that manner; the Prie&s;t &s;aid he could finde in his heart, if he were not a Mini&s;ter, to come off his hor&s;e and whip <HI>Iohn Cranwells</HI> Son; &s;o the Prie&s;t forcibly took a|way what Hay he would.</P>
<P>And moreover the Prie&s;t his men came by night, &amp; bound up and carried away half an aker, and half another half aker of <HI>Jo. Cranwells</HI> wheat, and about the worth of another rood of wheat the Prie&s;t took away for &s;mall Tithe, as he &s;aid.</P>
<P>And the &s;aid Prie&s;ts men violently took away of <HI>Jo. Cran|wells</HI> Barly &amp; pea&s;e as much as they would, never &s;etting out the Tithe, &s;o that the quantity of or worth of all <HI>I.Cs.</HI> Goods which this Prie&s;t hath taken away cannot be certainly known, he hath taken away &s;o much in &s;uch an illegal &amp; fellonious manner, as all that reads this may judge, and &s;ee what fruits are brought forth by the&s;e Teachers in this Nation, who pro|fe&s;&s;e to be Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel, and to take the cure of &s;ouls, when thus they are found in Robbery and oppre&s;&s;ing the people, and to the&s;e unju&s;t proceedings they take the more Liberty from the Rulers not putting a &s;top to them, pretending they have the Law &amp; Government on their &s;ides.</P>
<P><HI>To all the afore&s;aid wicked actings of Prie&s;t</HI> Bedford, <HI>tho&s;e who&s;e
<PB N="5" REF="3">names are hereunto annexed, can te&s;tifie the truth of the &s;ame,</HI> Richard Catlin, Stephen Chody, Matthew Peacock, Bennet Cranwel.</P>
<P>And likewi&s;e take notice of the further Illegal proceed|ings of the &s;aid <HI>James Bedford</HI> again&s;t <HI>Thomas Purcas</HI> of <HI>Blun|&s;ome;</HI> as fir&s;t of all in the year, 1655. it &s;eemed not enough for the &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> to ca&s;t <HI>Thomas Purcas</HI> into pri&s;on, but after he was forth of pri&s;on, &s;ent his men to the land of the &s;aid <HI>Thomas Purcas,</HI> and took away what of his Hay and Corn they would. And al&s;o at another time the &s;aid Prie&s;t &s;ent his man into his yard, and fetcht away a Pig after a felloni|ous manner, and &s;aid his Ma&s;ter would bear him harmle&s;&s;e. Moreover in the year 1658. the &s;aid <HI>James Bedford</HI> ca&s;t the &s;aid <HI>Thomas Purcas</HI> into pri&s;on again, where he continued nine weeks, and after he was forth of Pri&s;on, he &s;ent his men upon the land of the &s;aid <HI>Thomas Purcas,</HI> and took away from him what they would, as afore&s;aid. And moreover in the year 1659. Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> him&s;elf came upon a land of the &s;aid <HI>Thomas Purcas,</HI> &amp; beat off the &s;aid <HI>Thomas</HI> his Team, and took away all the Grain of that Land except three Sheaves; And yet notwith&s;tanding all this his &s;o wicked actings, his cove|tou&s;ne&s;&s;e in all this was not &s;atisfied, but &s;ent his men to a|nother land of the &s;aid <HI>Thomas,</HI> and out of &s;ix &s;hockes took a|way five and left but one, and his &s;ervant <HI>Thomas Bar</HI> by force pulled away the &s;heaves out of the &s;aid <HI>Thomas</HI> his cart, and other of his men at &s;everal other times did the like.</P>
<Q>To all which afore&s;aid &s;everal actions done by the &s;aid Prie&s;t and his men, there are many witne&s;&s;es can te&s;tifie the &s;ame; where|fore men may here plainly &s;ee what &s;pirit this Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> is of, and in what paths he walks, even in the &s;teps of the fal&s;e pro|phets which Chri&s;t prophe&s;ied of, which &s;hould appear in &s;heeps cloathing, but inwardly ravening Wolves, as by his fruits a|fore&s;aid he is made manife&s;t, <BIBL><HI>Mat. 7.15.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P>And now &s;eeing this &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Beford</HI> hath been had in great e&s;teem for an eminent di&s;putant again&s;t the <HI>Quakers,</HI> and after a meeting that <HI>John Whitehead</HI> had with him at <HI>Had|nam</HI> in the <HI>Ile</HI> of <HI>Ely,</HI> Ju&s;tice <HI>Ca&s;tle</HI> of <HI>Hadnam</HI> did e&s;teem of this Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> above all the Prie&s;ts in the <HI>Ile</HI> of <HI>Ely,</HI> in &s;aying <HI>That he had done more (in di&s;puting again&s;t</HI> John
<PB N="6" REF="4">Whitehead) <HI>then any Mini&s;ter in the</HI> Ile <HI>of</HI> Ely <HI>would have done,</HI> and &s;o he &s;et him above all the Prie&s;ts in that <HI>Ile,</HI> (though his folly and confu&s;ion was plainly manife&s;t both at that meeting and other places;) Therefore take notice of &s;ome of the Prie&s;ts Doctrines here, from whence the Readers hereof may ea&s;ily judge what an ignorant com|pany of Prie&s;ts they have in the <HI>Ile</HI> of <HI>Ely,</HI> if this Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> be above them all.</P>
<P>Pr. At the &s;aid meeting, he the &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> deny|ed <HI>that every man is enlightned with a &s;piritual Light,</HI> and affirm|ed <HI>that the light within led men to murther,</HI> in&s;tancing for his proof, John 16.2. <HI>and</HI> Pauls <HI>per&s;ecuting the Saints.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w. Chri&s;t is the true Light that lighteth every man that com|eth into the World,</HI> and his light with which he enlightens e|very man is Spiritual; &s;o the Prie&s;t in &s;aying that <HI>the light within led men to murther,</HI> he hath bla&s;phemed again&s;t the Light of Chri&s;t, who <HI>came not de&s;troy mens lives but to &s;ave them;</HI> and the gifts of his light or grace which he gives free|ly unto man-kinde, are of the &s;ame Nature that Chri&s;t is of from whence they flow forth, and what <HI>Paul</HI> did in per&s;ecut|ing the Saints, he did it ignorantly and not by the light, for the light &s;hewed him his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion in &s;o doing, and they &s;poken of <HI>John</HI> 16.2. who thought they did God &s;ervice in killing the Saints were not led by the light, for they and their thoughts were deceived by him who was a murtherer from the beginning.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> At a meeting which was at <HI>Blun&s;ome</HI> Steeple-hou&s;e the fourteenth day of the twelfth moneth, where <HI>George White|head</HI> oppo&s;ed the &s;aid Prie&s;t <HI>Bedford,</HI> the Prie&s;t &s;coffed at quaking and trembling, judging it <HI>to be of the Devil,</HI> as al&s;o he did at falling down (as &s;ome have done when they were &s;mitten by the power of God.)</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> Here the prie&s;t &s;coft at the power of God, and re|proached its work, which cau&s;ed <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to quake, and <HI>Davids</HI> fle&s;h to tremble, and him to morne all the day long, and the word of the Lord &s;aid unto <HI>Ezekiel, Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking,</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> fell down to the earth when he was &s;mitten, and he trembled, and &s;aid work out your &s;alva|tion with fear and trembling, and <HI>Iohn</HI> fell down at the feet
<PB N="7" REF="4">of Chri&s;t; many more examples might be &s;hewn for this a|gain&s;t Pr. <HI>Bedfords</HI> bla&s;phemy, whom we ask if it was not the power of God that cau&s;ed the Devils to tremble? Surely he is not come &s;o farre as the devils were, to acknowledge the power of God, when they confe&s;&s;ed to the Name of Je&s;us, <HI>Eze.</HI> 12.17, 18. <HI>Acts,</HI> 9.4.6. <HI>Rev.</HI> 1.17.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> <HI>Bedford &s;coft at the Quakers &s;ilent meeting, and called it a Rediculous Foppery.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> So he might as well have &s;coft at <HI>Iob</HI> and his Friends for &s;itting upon the ground together in &s;ilence &s;even dayes and &s;even nights, <HI>Iob.</HI> 2.13. <HI>ch.</HI> 3.1. And at <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> who witne&s;&s;ed the like, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 3.15, 16, 17. And &s;aith the Lord, keep &s;ilent O yee I&s;lands before me, and let the People re|new their &s;trength; &s;o the Prophets and Holy men of God knew a time to be &s;ilent and a time to &s;peak, and in &s;ilence they waiting renewed their &s;trength.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> <HI>Bedford much &s;coffed at going naked; In&s;tancing a friends going naked in Cambridge.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> So he would have &s;coffed at the Prophet <HI>I&s;ays,</HI> going naked and barefoot for a &s;ign and a wonder, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 20. and at <HI>Sauls</HI> being naked a day and a night when the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and therefore it was &s;aid is <HI>Saul</HI> al&s;o a|mong the Prophets? 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 19.23, 24. And &s;ome of the &s;ervants of the Lord in this age, have been moved to go naked, for a &s;igne to tho&s;e who&s;e &s;hame and nakedne&s;s the Lord would di&s;cover, as he hath done the prie&s;ts nakedne&s;s, and the Schollers of <HI>Cambridge</HI> their &s;hame and filthine&s;s, &s;ince the friend went naked there.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> <HI>Affirmed that the Quakers tread under foot the word of God, in denying the Scriptures to be the Word.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> This is al&s;o a lie and a &s;lander, for we own the Scrip|tures in their place in owning that to be the Word which they &s;ay is the Word, and that is God and Chri&s;t, who was before the Scriptures (which is the writtings) were; wherein are the words that God &s;poke, but the word was before the words or writtings were.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> <HI>Affirmed that all the Scriptures from the beginning of Gene|&s;is to the end of the Revelation is the word of God, and that the Devils words are the word of God.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> So you may &s;ee here this prie&s;t makes no di&s;tinction
<PB N="8" REF="5">between the Devils words (which are in many places record+ed in the Scripture) and the word of God, but in counting the Devils words the word of God, he would here make the Divell a Mini&s;ter of Gods word, and here all may &s;ee his bla&s;phemy, for the Devil was a liar from the begining, as he was when he tempted the woman, and &s;poke quite contra|ry to what God had &s;aid, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.3, 4.</P>
<P><LABEL>Pr.</LABEL> <HI>That the Colledges were not built by the Papi&s;ts, for he &s;aid the Colledge at Ieru&s;alem was before the Papi&s;ts were,</HI> 2 <HI>Kin</HI> 22.14.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;.</LABEL> See what a &s;illy prie&s;t this is, the Colledge (&s;o called) at Jeru&s;alem was but one, and theres no mention of any be|ing made Mini&s;ters at it; but that <HI>Huldah</HI> a Prophete&s;s dwelt in that Colledge, who &s;poke the words of the Lord, &s;uch a one as the prie&s;ts will not allow to preach; but here are ma|ny Colledges in <HI>England,</HI> at <HI>Oxford</HI> and <HI>Cambridge,</HI> which this prie&s;t <HI>Bedford</HI> could not clear from being built by Pa|pi&s;ts. Al&s;o this Prie&s;t <HI>Bedfords</HI> deceit and lies again&s;t the people of God called Quakers, was taken notice of in many other things which he read in a book, as he had gathered them out of the prie&s;ts books; and that he dur&s;t not at all fair|ly di&s;pute with <HI>G. Whithead</HI> at the &s;aid meeting, but filled up much of the time with vain &s;tories, lyes, and &s;coffing, laugh|ing, and filthy talk not fit to be mentioned, of which many of his hearers were &s;o a&s;hamed, till many of them cryed out again&s;t him, and &s;ome &s;aid he was mad, and others asked what he was el&s;e but a bea&s;t? When he &s;poke much of a Quakers calling him a bea&s;t, which he was proved to be from <HI>Titus.</HI> 1.10.11, 12, 13. And thus poor people have long been led captive by &s;uch prophane prie&s;ts as this, who&s;e propha|ne&s;s is gone abroad, and will remaine upon record for future ages, by who&s;e iniquities the &s;oul of the Righteous is grie|ved, and this Nation greatly &s;uffereth by rea&s;on of &s;uch pro|phane Teachers, who are the Leaders that cau&s;e the people to erre: And how can ever a Nation be &s;etled in peace, while &s;uch are upheld by the Rulers to be leaders of the peo|ple as oppre&s;&s;e them, who&s;e practices and principles tends to the rum both of bodies and &s;oules, let the &s;erious con&s;ider it, and the people lay it to heart.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>G. W.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>THE END.</TRAILER>
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