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(94)
mee & to eate noe meate but what shee eate with mee att
ye barrs of ye ʌdungeon window: a good honnest woman: whoe after
was Imprisoned her selfe ʌatt yorke for speakinge to a preist: when shee
was great with childe & had childe in prison: & shee
continnued a good freinde till shee dyed
And whilst I was in ye dungeon a litle boy one James
Parnell: about 15 yeeres olde came to mee & hee was
convinct & came to bee a very fine minister of ye worde
of life & turned many to Xt: & att last hee was Impri
soned himselfe in Colchester & ye goaler was cruell with
him & made him climbe vppe & doune ʌfor his victualls Into a place
aled litle ease ʌor y:e ouen where they kept him & hee fell downe; ye
roape breakeinge: & broake his heade: soe as hee dyed
& then ye wicked Independant preists made a booke
of it & saide hee fasted himselfe to death: w:ch was all
lÿes
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and to Eat no Meat, but what she Eat with me at the Bars of the
Dungeon-Window. She was afterwards herself Imprisoned at York,
when she was great with Child, for speaking to a Priest; and was
kept in Prison, and not suffered to go out, when the time of her Tra-
vail was come: so she was delivered of her Child in the Prison. She
was an honest, tender Woman, and continued faithful to the Truth,
until she died.
Whilst I was in the Dungeon at Carlisle, one James Parnel, a little
Lad of about Sixteen Years of Age, came to see me; and was Con-
vinced: And the Lord quickly made him a powerful Minister of the
Word of Life, and many were turned to Christ by him; though he
lived not long. For travelling into Essex in the Work of the Ministry,
in the Year 1655, he was Committed to Colchester-Castle, where he
endured very great Hardships and Sufferings; being put by the Cruel
Jailer into a Hole in the Castle-wall, called the Oven, so high from
the Ground, that he went up to it by a Ladder: which being six
Foot too short, he was fain to climb from the Ladder to the Hole by a
Rope, that was fastned above. And when Friends would have given
him a Cord and a Basket, to have drawn up his Victuals in, the Inhu-
man Jailer would not suffer them; but he forced him to go down and
up by that short Ladder and Rope, to fetch his Victuals (which for a
long time he did) or else he might have famished in the Hole. At
length, his Limbs being much benummed with lying in that Place, yet
being constrained to go down to take up some Victuals; as he came
up the Ladder again with his Victuals in one hand, and catched at the
Rope with the other, he missed the Rope; and fell down from a ve-
ry great height upon the Stones: by which Fall he was exceedingly
[page 113]
wounded in his Head and Arms, and his Body much bruised; and he
died in a short Time after. And when he was dead, the wicked Pro-
fessors, to cover their own Cruelty, writ a Book of him, and said;
He fasted himself to Death: which was an abominable Falshood; and
was manifested so to be by another Book, which was written in
Answer to that, and was called, The Lamb’s Defence against Lies.
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And ʌBut ye goaler continnued exceedinge cruell: soe yt hee beate frends
& freindely people exceedingely: with great cudgells as if hee had
beene beatinge a packe of wooll
And as I coulde reach gett vppe to ye grate: where sometimes I
tooke my meate & ye goaler was offended & came in a rage
with his great staffe: & hee fell a beatinge of mee though
I was not att ye window att yt time: & cryed come
out of ye window though I was farr enough of it: & as
hee strucke mee I was made to singe in ye Lords power
& yt made him rage ye more: & then he fetcht a fidler
& brought Into ye dungeon & sett him to play: &
when hee playde I was moued in ye euerlastinge power
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[page 112]
But the
Jailer was very Cruel, and the Under-Jailer very abusive both to me,
and to Friends, that came to see me: For he would beat Friends
with a great Cudgel, that did but come to the Window to look in upon
me. I could get up to the Grate, where sometimes I took in my
Meat; at which the Jailer was often offended. One Time he came
in a great Rage, and fell a beating me with his great Cudgel, though I
was not at the Grate at that time: and as he beat me, he cried, Come
out of the Window, though I was then far enough from it. Now,
while he struck me, I was made to sing in the Lord’s Power; and
that made him Rage the more. Then he went, and fetched a Fiddler,
and brought him in where I was, and set him to play; thinking to
vex me thereby: But while he played, I was moved in the everlast-
ing Power
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