Mary Dyer, after being sentenced to death

“If you neither hear nor obey the Lord nor his servants, yet will he send more of his servants among you, so that your end shall be frustrated, that think to restrain them, you call cursed Quakers, from coming among you by any thing you can do to them; yea verily, he has a seed here among you, for whom we have suffered all this while, and yet suffer; whom the Lord of the harvest will send forth more laborers to gather (out of the mouths of the devourers of all sorts) into his fold, where he will lead them into fresh pastures, even the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake: 

Oh! let none of you put this good day far from you, which verily in the Light of the Lord I see approaching, even to many in and about Boston, which is the bitterest and darkest professing place, and so to continue so long as you have done, that ever I heard of; let the time past therefore suffice, for such a profession as brings forth such fruits as these laws are. 

In love and in the spirit of meekness I again beseech you, for I have no enmity to the persons of any; but you shall know, that God will not be mocked, but what you sow, that shall ye reap from him, that [He] will render to everyone according to the deeds done in the body, whether good or evil; Even so be it, says

Mary Dyer”

— Mary Dyer, 1659
Quaker martyr

Reader Responses

When have you made sacrifices to follow the will of God, as early Quakers did?

I was a young adult Friend with wife and baby during the Vietnam war when I experienced God's leading to volunteer to risk my life by joining the crew of a 50-foot sailing ship on a Quaker mission to war-torn Vietnam with medical supplies for civilians on all sides of that war. It was a dramatic way to protest the war. 

Our Meeting's clearness committee decided mine was indeed a divine leading, and that the Meeting would take care of my family if I didn't survive. I left, having made my will and knowing Friends would be praying for me. 

After three months that included confrontations with naval gunboats I returned home to rest before traveling in the ministry in order to tell the story to as many Americans as possible who were still waking up to the evil being done by our country's government. 

The story of our dramatic Quaker mission is told in my memoir and the documentary film "Citizen George" which is now available online.

George Lakey, Philadelphia, PA, USA

This Week’s Messages

Mon Jan 12

I could no longer keep back

“And now, persecution coming fast on, and many Friends being in prison, and sufferings growing sharp and great in most places; I could no longer keep back, or conceal myself: but a necessity came upon me to come forth, and show myself, and take my part and lot with the sufferers… Thus were the bonds and sufferings of faithful Friends made a means to confirm, and embolden me to profess the Truth.” …
Tue Jan 13

How to flourish under persecution

“Our Society originated, grew stronger, and flourished under persecution, and the members were united in the strong bonds of mutual love and affection, which qualified them to deeply feel for each other, and made them willing to share in each other’s sufferings. In this state nothing but force or ill health kept them from their meetings.” …
Wed Jan 14

Quaker heroines in prison

“The English Fryar [in the prison] was wrath, and shewed us his Crucifix, and bid us look there. We said, ‘The Lord saith, “Thou shalt not make to thyself the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow to them nor worship them, but I the Lord thy God only.”‘  …
Thu Jan 15

To our persecutors: I seek the welfare of your souls

“You Magistrates of the City and County of Gloucester, who have been active in this unchristian work of Persecution against an In­nocent People, if this should come to your Hands, I entreat you to read it with Moderation, and take Counsel in time, for as I have sometime said to some of you, Good Counsel will not hurt you, or any Man. Oh, that I may prevail with you to take Counsel of the Lord, and obey the Light of his Son Christ Jesus in your own Hearts, that will teach you to do as you would be done by, and not to continue in such an unchristian frame of Mind, still to Oppress the Poor…” …
Fri Jan 16

Imagine the darkness of 1650

“Imagine yourself back in 1650 England. For much of the year, it’s dark by 4 PM. Imagine walking to another Quaker’s home for an evening meeting for worship. Maybe the moon is full or maybe it’s absent. Maybe the moon is shining, but maybe its light is obscured by an overcast sky. Perhaps you carry a candle or an oil lantern, but its light isn’t very bright and it doesn’t extend very far. It’s very dark. It’s that darkness that’s key to understanding a major difference between how early Quakers related to the Light and how we do today.” …
Sat Jan 17

The love I bear

“The Love I bear to the Souls of all Men makes me willing to undergo whatever can be inflicted on me.” …

Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Violet Oakley

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  • Mary Dyer

    Mary Dyer (born Marie Barrett; 1611 – 1660) was an English and colonial American Quaker who was hanged in Boston for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony. She is one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs.

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