That several questions were asked " him, to some of which he gave the most explicit "answers, but perceiving some insidious design "against him by some of the questions, he refused to "answer any more. That Captain Sears then ob- " served to him, if he understood him right, that they "did not intend to release him, nor to make such a " compromise with him as had been made with Judge " Fowler and Mr. Underhill, 1 but to keep him a pris- " oner till the unhappy disputes between Great "Britain and America were settled. That whatever "your Memorialist might think, what they had done "they would take upon themselves and support. " That your Memorialist then asked an explicit de- " claration of the charges against him, and was told "that the charges against him were: --
"That he, your Memorialist, had entered into a "combination with six or seven others to seize Cap- "tain Sears as he was passing through the county of "West Chester, and convey him on board a man-of- " war.
" That your Memorialist had signed a Protest at the "White Plains, in the county of West Chester, " against the proceedings of the Continental Con-
"That your Memorialist had neglected to open his " church on the day of the Continental Fast.
"And that he had written pamphlets and ncvra- " papers against the liberties of America.
"To the first and last of these charges your "Memorialist pleads not guilty, and will be ready to "vindicate his innocence, as soon as he shall be "restored to his liberty in that province to which only " he conceives himself to be amenable. 2 He considers