  By “liberty” here Fell means freedom from coercion and persecution for one’s religious beliefs and practices. She laments “That the State should pretend Love to the Truth, and yet suffer such things to be of Force, that all Bloody Persecutors may have their Wills, so far as the Lord gives them Power, upon those that live in the Truth” (Fell 1710, 43). Using gender-inclusive language, she calls on the authorities to respect the rights of “free-born English men and women” (Fell 1664, 1). Unlike her fellow Quaker William Penn (who anticipates the tolerationist views of John Locke), Fell does not offer detailed arguments for liberty of conscience based on pragmatic, political, or epistemological principles. She does point out, however, that “to use Violence and Cruelty, is absolutely contrary to the Doctrine and Command of Christ” (Fell 1667b, 45). She calls upon the political authorities to exemplify the Christian virtues in their treatment of religious dissenters.