a minister, I had no right to appear in such a meeting, and still less to give a vote, but my deportment in prison had gained me so much reputation, that young as I was, the ministers requested to have my opinion.
I pointed out to them what I considered the great error of which they had been guilty, namely, preaching the doctrine of non-resistance from their pulpits. I said it appeared to me that our quiet submission to all the grievous edicts and declarations of the king had encouraged him to go on. Our obedience to one edict only paved the way for another more intolerable to be issued, and I thought we might blame the timid policy of the day for much that we had endured. I dissented totally from the generally received doctrine that our lives and estates are the property of the king, and I thought such an admission reflected discredit upon our forefathers, who had obtained for us, sword in hand, the privileges which were now taken away from us. To make short of the matter, my opinion was that there was nothing left for us but to take up arms and leave the issue to the Lord of Hosts.
I was listened to thus far with impatience, and they then rebuked me sharply for the carnal spirit I had evinced in my remarks, which they said was the reverse of the patience and long-suffering taught in the Gospel, which at the utmost extremity permitted nothing but flight.
I replied that we were men as well as Christians, and that as men we had rights to maintain. If a compact entered into with our fathers, in virtue of which they laid down their arms, was broken, we were certainly called upon to enforce its fulfilment, and if necessary, even at the point of the sword. I entreated them to reflect that it was impossible for this immense Protestant population all to leave the country. I was inter-
