The cry of the oppressed being a true and tragical account of the unparallel'd sufferings of multitudes of poor imprisoned debtors in most of the gaols in England ... together with the case of the publisher.

The First Letter from the Gaol in Bury St. Edmond.

SIR,

I Received yours of the Twenty First, which was broke up by one James Hunt, who is a Debtor, and the Keeper's Tapster, so that we had like to have miss'd of the same; and many that are in the Keeper's Debt, are by the Re∣ceipt of that Letter in a Panick Fear of being Committed to the Wards. You Write, that if we have any Abuses from our Gaoler, to let you have a true Account of the same. Now to speak of all the Abuses I and others have met withal, the Keeper's Cruelty is so great, I cannot declare the same at present, without Tears in my Eyes, which Mrs. Payne, now a Prisoner in the Fleet, was an Eye-Witness to a great part thereof. I was Committed to the Prison the 30th of September, 1689, and held to Bail for an Action of Trespass upon a Lease that I took of a piece of ground. I made Oath, That I did not owe the Plaintiff Five Pound upon Bill, Bond, or any Account. Then the Plaintiff Replied, I owed the said Plaintiff Ten Pound; and so I rested till the Twenty Second of February, then I sent to

my Attorney for a Seupersedeas, with directi∣on, that the Keeper should give me the Copy of my Warrant, with a Certificate, that there was no other Warrants against me: But the said Keeper denied the same: And then I de∣manded the same of the Steward of the Li∣berty of Bury St. Edmond, he gave me a lame Answer, That his Writs were then gone to Lon∣don. So that here I must Lie for ever, If Re∣lief come not some other way, as Mordeca said to Ester: For the Cruelty of the Keeper is so great an Oppression, that we can have as much good and wholsome Beer from the Bushel-End for Six Pence, as is Sold in the Gaol for Four∣teen Pence. And to prevent the taking in of Beer at the Windows, the said Keeper caused new Bars to be set up thicker, that now we cannot take in any thing but at the Door, which is opened but when they please. Then I told the Keeper, or Under-Keeper, that in the 22d, and 23d, of Charles the Second, there passed an Act for the Liberty of the Prisoners of England, That Prisoners might send for Beer, and all manner of Necessaries, when and where they would. Upon this they put me into the Inward Prison, or Ward, Five Foot within the ground, on the 25th of December last, wherein I saw no Sun for the space of Eight Weeks. Then I Petitioned the Judg at the Lent Assize, but when my Petition was Read, the Judg Commanded the Gaoler, or Under-Keeper, to bring me down to Depose the same; but I was Wheadled off by the Turn-Key till

the Judg was out of Town, and then when they had almost Foundered me with Lodging in a little Straw, and well near Poisoned me with Noisome Scents, that I broke out with Boils, and Lameness. I then had some Rest, and walked in the Yard, till about June, and then hearing that my Adversary was Dead, demanded my Liberty; then I was shut up a∣gain, and there lay in the fame Ward in Straw, and have had no Provision, or other Necessa∣ries, sometimes, but what is delivered in at the Grate by these Cruel and Unmerciful Men. And this is not only to me, but to several o∣thers; and some Debtors Ironed, and put in∣to the same Ward, next door to the House of Office, where we have a Yard not Three Rod of ground, for Twenty Men, most Criminals, to walk in, with a Sink in the middle. I am a Man of above Sixty Three Years of Age; and Charles the First, and Charles the Second, of Blessed Memory, I serv'd them in their Wars, and have had a Commission for above Thirty Years. Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus Christ, will deliver us from the Hands of those Keepers, whose Mercies are Cruelties. And thus if Their Majesties will be pleased to grant to me a poor Prisoner, after my Discharge, Their Commission, I will venture both Life, Limbs, Liberty, Estate, and Fortune, to Serve Their Majesties in their Wars, to make them still Victors. I rest, and shall for ever express my self to be your Servant, John Suckerman.

I thank God my Natural Strength does not as yet fail. I likewise in the Wars was with the Chyrurgeon of the Army, wherein I took a Note of his Receipts; and since have practi∣sed with good success, That on the 15th Day of March, 1687, I Ript the Body of Simon Hixs, that I saw his Heart, and took an Im∣postom from his Miseron, wherein was a Quart of Matter, and healed up the Orifices in a Month time, that he could go about his Work, and so continues praised be God.

To the Honourable House of COM∣MONS.

The Humble Petition of Samuel Margrey, John Grigges, James Creet, Gabriel Smith, John Suckerman, and others, now Prisoners in the Custody of William Patrick, or his De∣puty, Keeper of the Gaol in Bury St. Ed∣mond.

Sheweth,

THat whereas we the aforesaid Prisoners for Debt, being there Committed to the afore∣said Keeper, or his Deputy, and thro' their Cruelty were thrust into the Ward, or Inward Prison, where now we there Lodg in Straw, Eight of us in one Room, Five Foot within the ground, and where some of us have no other places then the same Noisom Cell to Air our selves in, and a piece of ground, not Four

Rod, where in the middle thereof is a Sink for the Drain of the Houses, wherein is conveyed all manner of Washings, and all other Filthiness; and wherein that they empty their Sigg and Close-stools when they please; and on the o∣ther part there lieth a Dunghil, whereon the Brewers that belong to the Houses throw out their drained Hops, with all the Dregs of the Brew-Houses, and all other Filth whatsoever they please; and on the other side of the a∣foresaid Yard, or piece of ground, slandeth a House of Office that is so Noisom with putting in of stinking Carrion, wherein it remains, and being so full of Man's Ordure, that we cannot sit down upon the Seat without defiling our selves; we desired the Turn-Key to speak with Mr. Patrick, that it might be emptied, but could not be heard; and so it hath conti∣nued ever since about the 14th of April last past, which at that time we were let into the Long Yard, as they call it, to Air our selves there, and so we might go to that House of Office there, but they to fill themselves with Laughter at our Misery, strew Cow-Itch upon the Seat; and in May William Patrick the Keeper had gathered a Rabble, of above Twenty Men, and came into the Ward-Yard to Banter and Laugh at some of us, as they pleased. This is not enough, but some of those that Lodg in the Houses, or Fore-Cham∣bers, as they call them, are let into this our Ward-Yard, in the Night Season, when we are Barred up in our Room, and there some of

them do Spew and Shit to Ease themselves; and some of us the aforesaid Prisoners, the next Day are Locked up in the said Yard, and are denied to come to the Pump for Water, and have none but what is fetched to us at their leisure; and will not suffer some of us to come to the Street, or Grate, to Buy our own Victuals, or other Necessaries, such is their Cruelty, that it may and will breed all manner of Diseases, if it cost not some of us our Lives.

And now we Humbly Pray, That with all speed your Honours will be moved with Pity and Compassion, to look upon our Miserable Condition, and put an end to their Arbitrary Go∣vernment; and that there may be a Table of Fees, and of the Gifts that Benefactors have bestowed upon, and to the said GAOL, for the Relief of poor Prisoners, in the Common-Hall, or some other open place, set up, where all Prisoners may see their Charge; and that the Chamber-Rent may be settled according to the Statute made in the 22d, and 23d, of Charles the Second, of Blossed Memory, so that we may Enjoy so much of the Liberty as is there set forth.

And we shall ever Pray, &c.