Trying Causes, that there was no Justice to be obtained in the County by means of the Corruption of the Judges Justices and other Officers, that they were ruled intirely by John Grout Attorney at Law, that he was determined to oppose their Authority, while he had a Drop of Blood in his veins; That friendship to this Deponent Induced him to bear this Deponent Company until he had passed by most of the Settlements in Town, and Intimated that if this Deponent should Ride alone through Town he would be in danger of being Assaulted by the People and have some violence done to him ; That this Deponent endeavoured by many arguments to Convince the said Stone of the danger of opposing the Execution of the Laws and exhorted him to alter his resolution and told him that if he and the People would for the future make no opposition to the free execution of the Laws it would be the most likely method he and they could take to induce the Civil authority to pass over the opposition already made in the Tenderest manner ;

VoL. rv. 41

e

642 CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE

that if Mt Grout or any of the Justices or officers whom he accused of bad conduct had done anything wrong the Law pro vided a sufficient Remedy and was the only way by which they could be punished & that this Deponent apprehended he had not given himself time to consider as he ought before he had formed his Resolutions. To which the said Stone replied that he had formed no Resolution about the matter on a Sudden, that his Resolution to oppose Writts being executed had been fixed at least five or six months before, and that while he had life he would oppose the Sherif, and that the people of that Place (meaning Windsor) and some other places would joine and stand by him to the last drop of their blood, That some time after this Deponent arrived at home, he was informed by Daniel Whipple Esquire high Sherif of the said County that he with the Assistance of fifteen or Sixteen men had made an attempt to Retake the same Persons in Windsor he had before taken into Custody & who had Escaped from him being Reseued by the said Stone and others, and the particulars of that Transaction: That on the Sunday next before the sitting of the Inferiour Court of Common Pleas and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace for the said County, Bildad Andrews Esquire came to this Deponents House and shewed him the Copy of a Letter which he Informed this Deponent was wrote by Israel Curtis Esquire one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said County residing at Windsor to one Webb residing in Westminister which gave reason to this Deponent to suspect that he the said Curtis together with the said Nathan Stone anda Number of others from Windsor Intended to assemble in a Tumultious manner at Court, this Deponent therefore as soon as Possible set out for Chester and on his way thither called upon Joseph Lord Esquire one of the Judges of the said Inferiour Court who accompanied this Deponent, that they both arrived at Chester the Evening before the sitting of the Court and communicated the Copy of the said Letter to Thomas Chandler Esquire first Judge of the said Inferiour Court and to some Justices of the Peace, but as the Copy aforesaid was not fully expressive of the Intention of the Tumult it was difficult for them to determine what measures to take--That on Tuesday the fifth day of June last the Day