illory, that did not matter. The rise of the Puritans and their
public expression of faith is marked by most painful episodes for those
unterrified men. Dr. Leighton, who wrote _Zion's Plea Against Prelacy_,
paid dearly for calling the Queen a daughter of Heth, and Episcopacy
satanical. He was degraded from the ministry, pilloried, branded,
whipped, his ear was cut off, his nostril slit; he was fined L10,000 and
languished eleven years in prison, only to be told on his tardy release,
with the irony of fate, that his mutilation and imprisonment had been
illegal.

In 1664 Benjamin Keach, a Baptist minister, was arraigned for writing
and publishing a seditious book. His arrest was brought about by
another minister named Disney, who, as his fellow-countrymen would say,
"sings small" in the matter. Disney wrote "to his honoured friend Luke
Wilkes, esqre, at Whitehall, with speed, these presents":

"Honour'd Sir And Loving Brother:

This Primmer owned by Benjamin Keach as the Author and bought by my man
George Chilton for five pence of Henry Keach of Stableford Mill neare
me, a miller; who then sayd that his brother Benjamin Keach is author of
it, and that there are fiveteen hundred of them printed. This Benjamin
Keach is a Tayler, and one that is a teacher in this new-fangled-way and
lives at Winslow a market town in Buckinghamshire. Pray take some
speedie course to acquaint my Lord Archbishop his Grace with it, whereby
his authoritye may issue forth that ye impression may be seized upon
before they be much more dispersed to ye poisoning of people; they
containing (as I conceive) schismaticall factions and hereticall matter.
Some are scattered in my parish, and perchance in no place sooner
because he hath a sister here and some others of his gang, two whereof
I have bought up. Pray let me have your speedie account of it. I doubt
not but it will be taken as acceptable service to God's church and
beleeve it a very thankeful obligement to

Honoured Sir,
Your truely Loving Brother,"
THOMAS DISNEY.

As a result of Disney's neighborly and zealous offices, Benjamin Keach
was thus sentenced:

"That you shall go to gaol for a fortnight without bail or mainprise;
and the next Saturday to stand upon the pillory at Ailsbury for the
space of two hours, from eleven o'clock to one, with a paper on your
head with this inscription: _For writing, printing and publishing a
schismatical book, entitled 'The Child's Ins