while he knows not the works of the Devil destroyed in him that he may know God to work all his works in him and through him to his own praise and Glory for ever and the heart of man can never be upright unto God while in the old nature with old Adam in the fall which brought death upon all men and in that state man cannot stand up for the Lord as a living witness against sin and wickedness and all unrighteousness of men because he remains in death for all his duties and performances in that nature is without God and without Christ in the world and man in the Flesh cannot please God so people as I have said you that loves and desires to serve the true and living God must come to the Light of his Son in your hearts and be willing to be taught of him who tells you plainly you should not lye nor swear an oath nor do to any but as you your selves would be done by and heare you may know a learning of Christ the good Teacher and Bishop of your Souls and this is in love to you all who desires singly after God for none else can receive it given forth in Scotland by R. R. and VVilliam VVilson A Letter sent to Justice Willam Kirby from Lancaster Gaol 1663. WIllam Kirby the whole cause of my being imprisoned is laid upon thee for thy Cozen Fleming said it was because he was informed that I was as a traveller which I heard thee say with my own Eares and made answer in the open Sessions and if this be the cause as I am informed its shamful that I should be imprisoned for travelling the Lords business six or seven veirs since which was when I saw thee in Hambrough it would but be a shame to thee that I should publish this abroad concerning thee that I should be cast into Prison for this which was past six or seven years since being change of government since and an act of Indulgence since an Act of Grace if it had been a Transgression in those days thou ought not to punish me for it now I believe no Laws in the Land will bear thee out to do it for I believe your act is for them that departs from their house or habitation and meets together to the terrisying of the Kings Subjects which I should be loath to do being the Kings friend as was manifested in the year forty eight both by my continuance with the longest in his service here and suffering imprisonment and the loss of all that I had and more as I can make it appear by my neighbours after I got home and there was none of the Kings friends that then took any care of me then I might have been starved for them then as I am Prisoner by them now and I have as good reason to have this in my mind now by which I had like to have lost my life and lost all I had for obediance to the King as thou to have my travel for the Lord into Hambrough in thy mind where my brother and I was used like dogs sometimes by the dogs nature in many of our English men which we found therein pride and haughtyness which the Lord will abase and bring to nought when we shall be exalted for our abediance unto God and testifying of his eternal truth which shall never dye and of which we shall never be ashamed when ungodly sinners and wicked men shall be consounded and brought to naught therefore consider if envy have rested in thy mind to do we a mischief ever since that time it is a wicked deed of thee and thou had need to amend it and shortly to least the Lord should cut thee off before the time then it would be too late to remember this my friend And I brought a good messuage into the City of Hambrought and that unto you that did understand my Language but you did receive our messuage but badly and entreated the Lords Servants with many dangers as we dayly found among you in the streets and in your English Church as my body found by your unreasonable blows and thrusting by you English men the like was never received among the Dutch by us but our God delivered us then as he will do now to our great comfort and our eternal Peace in that we were found faithful in his work did never shrink to any one of you whom we found out of the way of God in wildness wickedness lightness and vanity lustfulness pleasure and pride of life which things we boldly bare our Testimonys against in the Faith Fear and Power of the Eternal God of Heaven and Earth which did preserve us and will preserve us as we in his Faith abide for whose Faith and Testimony I suffer in Prison now in Lancaster Castle without any just cause or breach of any Law that should have exposed me so imprisonment but only thy Imformation to Justice Fleming of my traveling as it is to me related therefore the cause of my writing is that thou may take care and oversight of my Wife and Children which thou hast caused to be left desolate by staying me in Prison from them and when Justice Fleming was willing that I should have a little Liberty from the Goaler and would joyn with the in any thing thou did as his Brother Roger wrote unto thee then thou did write that the Goaler might let me have some liberty but it most be upon his own account for thou would not meddle in the thing which rather caused my streightning then otherways and also Thomas Watters of Bootle whose time might ill be taken up in lying here his Wife being near down lying and having little help about her a little liberty at this time might do him much good so consider and let not the ery of innocent Children fall upon thy head least thou come to be dealt with as thou deal'st with us in keeping us them from helping of them in their time of need and we fear thou will be but a bad friend to them in need therefore let one line or two be under thy hand to the Goaler if thou would have us do good to our Familys as some others have done before thee and then it may be well accepted of so to that of God I leave thee which never wrought evil nor never will work evil thy Friend and a Traveller for the Lord and his Truth Will. Wilson a sufferer also for the same it s not this slip out of thy mind but it was even a shame thou should send so many of thy hoest Neighbours to Prison like Vagabonds from Constable to Constable as not caring for us but sent us away to Prison where I believe it caused the death of two of us and the third was very near the point of death if he yet recover and thou would not come to see us till thou came to work wickedness against us as many hundreds can witness for
it be a hard Exercise to me many a time now in my old age to part with so Dear a Husband but all is but a reasonable sacrifice for the Lord who is the preserver of our Souls that live in obedience unto his Will And this I can truely say and that to my great Comfort that when the Lord was pleased to call him from me upon the Truths Account whether in England or Scotland I never was his hindrance but was freely willing to give him up to the service that the Lord had called him unto for I have often bidden him take no care for any thing he left behind but have said perform thy journey as thou sees the Lord makes thy way which I know he did and that with faithfulness and that is his everlasting joy and my great comfort though I be left behind him in this World but my desire and â—â—eathing is to the Lord to preserve me and my two Daughters in his heavenly way to our lives end as he did my dear Husband who laid down his body as an innocent Lamb Saying often times I have not served the Lord unfruitfully and also said I have no trouble upon me and I am very sensible that all is well with him for he was a peaceable man to the very latter end of his daies Blessed and praised be the name of the Lord for evermore who hath received him unto his everlasting joy and felicity for evermore The 17th of the 11th Month 1682. Dorothy Wilson His Daughter Rebecca's Testimony concerning her Father THis is my Testimony concerning my dear and well beloved Father William Wilson he was a dear and tender Father towards me and that is the cause of my Shedding of tears many times but it is not without hope for I am Satisfied with many more who knew his Life and Conversation that he is entred into everlasting joy and felicity for evermore with his Maker And this I can truly say to my daily comfort he was a true director of Me and my Sister on the Spiritual Journey even Sion wards which he himself did travel on dayly and did bear a faithful Testimony for to the end of his daies both in England and other Nations where the Lord was pleased to call him tho through tryals and hardships but he thought all little enough for the Lord and his holy truths sake Oh blessed and praised be the name of the Lord for evermore for I can truly say my Father was raised up in a spiritual sence towards us his Family when he took his journey towards London and in much tenderness exhorted us with tears to keep in the true fear of the Lord that his name might be glorified by us with many more good and heavenly Exortations to us on this manner which was his last Testimony to us for he lived but two nights and one day after he came home from London and his outward body was much Spent but he was in a Sweet and heavenly frame of Spirit to his last breath and often said his peace was far above his pain And so lay down his head in peace where none can make him afraid Oh Lord God of Infinite love which hath broken my heart unto tenderness before thee thou hast been a Husband to my Mother and Father to Me and my Sister Oh Lord carry us on in thy heavenly way as thou didst my Father that thy name may be glorified by us in our little measures for it is the desire of my heart above all things to live in thy true fear that I may inherit the Crown of life as my Father doth Blessed and praised be thy holy name for evermore saith my Soul The 17th of the 11th Month 82. Rebecca Wilson Ruth Wilsons Testimony concerning her Father THis is my Testimony concerning my dear and faithful Father William Wilson who was a dear and tender Father over me which is the cause of my great lamentation when I heard of his decease for I was gone to Kendal to live and did never see him alive after he took his Journey towards London which was very hard for me to bear and went near my very life but in the Consideration of his holy and pure life that he lived in I am satisfied with many that did know him that he is in everlasting Joy and Eternity Blessed and praised be the name of the Lord for ever for he was ever instructing me on in that heavenly way that he himself travelled into his latter end and encouraging men in the way of the Lord often saying to my Sister and Me it would be the best portion that ever we could enjoy which we know now to be very true Blessed and praised be the name of the Lord for ever who hath made us sensible witnesses of it in our little measures and I desire at the Lords hand that I with many more may be preserved in the true fear of the Lord to my lacter end for I know my dear Father did often travel in Spirit for us his family when he was far separated from us outwardly sometimes in his Journey upon truths account and sometimes in his imprisonment for conscence sake and the Lord was with him in every needfull time and now he was pleased to take him out of this troublesome world into his everlasting joy where he hath laid down his head in peace where none can make him afraid and the desire of my heart is that I with my Mother and Sister may truely wait upon the Lord that we may know him to be as a Father unto the Fatherless and as a husband unto the desolate Widow for he is a strong Tower unto the upright in heart and a sure hiding place unto all his little ones O blessed and praised be his Holy Name for ever and evermore saith my Spirit Ruth Wilson William Rawes his Testimony concerning Will. Wilson COncerning our dear friend and brother William Wilson I have this Testimony to bear for him in true remembrance of him he was a man of a Meek and quiet Spirit which with the Lord is of great price he had also a good gift to declare the truth and was full of zeal and heavenly courage in the which he perform'd the same Also he was a good example and patern in his life and Conversation unto us by the which he preached truth unto us as well as by his words for he himself lived according to what he taught us for he was adorned with gravity and walked before us in humility yea he had a blamless conversation and was unspotted from the World so that his presence as well as his words was a strengthening and a comfort to the upright and honest-hearted he was a man that did suffer much for truth's sake both imprisonment often and spoil of goods which he took joyfully knowing that in Heaven he had a better and more enduring substance he patiently endured all saying he had counted the cost before he began to build
nor all Agents can never prevail against the Lord vvill hear the cry of his own and plead the cause of the innocent and release the distressed and set his own life and power at liberty which lies groaning under the burden of oppression where it must not lye the Lord hath spoken and therefore he will deliver he hath striken and he will strike and by his strokes we are healed he hath wrought and he will work and who can hinder if the wicked have his prey for his season yet the Lord will bring him to his end but Gods prosperity and truth shall never have an end neither in this World nor in the World to come Therefore my dear and loving Wife whom God hath given me and not man we may well be content and waite with much patience the Lords time in all things knowing that it hath been our best time we can never call to mind the things that are past since we knew this truth of God but we have had comfort therein and I can never desire it otherwise if I should be restrained of the liberty of my body all the dayes of my life Thine W. W. Dear and loving Wife I Have nothing to write unto thee as yet but only the remembrance of my unfained love unto thee and my Children hoping you are in Health as I am at this preesnt I praise the Lord of Heaven and Earth for it is reasonable well with me every way I bless the Lord for it and desire to know how it is with thee tho indeed it goes near me to ask how things is with thee because I cannot help thee and that is my heaviness sometimes But the Lord will in due time plead my Innocent cause who knows the uprightness of my heart and that one hair of my head shall not uphold the false profits wayes nor the hirelings wages who saith and doth not I have been often assaulted to have it payed for me but my uprighteousness is known to the Lord and I cannot dissemble with my God but this is a Mystery to the World and therefore they cannot receive it but unto thee my loving Wife is it given to understand And therefore am I much comforted and the Lord preserve thee and my little Children in the true fear of God for our way is not to look out and therefore I can inwardly beseech the Lord for you all thy dear and loving Husband W. W. My love to all our Family Kendal the 14th of the 10th Month 1672. Will. Wilson My Dear Friends and Brethren who are like to be fellow sufferers with me in this case of not yielding to satisfie the will of this unreasonable man who is persecuting us for not paying him tythes or reckonings as he calls them TO all you my faithful Friends this is the word of advice unto you all that you see and examine your selves well and see how ye stand in Gods righteousness that so my Dear Friends your sufferings may never become your burden but that your establishment may be felt in Gods Righteousness with you all for my friends you had better never have put your hand to this plow then to look back therefore my friends examine well your own selves how you are minded in this concern for the Lord knows my heart I wish you all well 〈◊〉 the honour of Gods truth as mine own heart and therefore I would not have any of you all to go one step further then you feel the suffering seed of God Almighty to bear you up in your pure blessed minds that sees over all the sufferings that can happen in this present world For indeed Friends in this estate God will plead our cause and our suffering with him will bring a raigning with him and in this state friends you must look over Wife and Children which is near and dear unto you all but Gods righteousness is more then all and will bear you out over all and through all for the Lord alone will be your help and no man shall need to plead our cause but he will appear for us in his due time when he saith it is enough who shall be able to say Nay Therefore my friends feel your hearts purified from all double mindedness that single in God righteousness you may be found and so will his holy seed reign in your hearts and Gods blessing will be upon your Children that so you need not fear the want of any good thing unto them nor your Wifes the beloved of your Bosoms under God and therefore Friends in singleness of heart as having a sence of your Conditions I write these lines unto you for the bettering of your establishment in Gods Righteousness where you will never be made afraid to appear for the Lord and bear a single Testimony for his name and truth upon Earth for truly Friends this is the feeling of my heart and the full bent of my mind that if one hair of my head would serve in consideration of this task I could not give it I believe I shall not be a Hypocrite I would not be found out of Gods Righteousness doing mine own will but even the will of him that hath called me that his power might be more made manifest And therefore friends was this word of Exhortation the more in my heart unto you all that you might truly feel your own selves in that which will carry through or else as I said it were better never to step further then to faint by the way but hoping you are furnished with that heavenly spirit of life that will carry through to the end as need requries I take leave with you all and rest your loving Brother William Wilson And Friends LOok not back into Aegypt for help for it is in vain neither have we need so to do for the Lord is our helper therefore we need not fear what man can do unto us for Friends I dare not look out at any thing of any hand for if I do I am afraid and Gods witness would be against me and would be heavier then a thousand such as Ambrose the Priest could be and therefore that you eye and mind the Lord above all hireling Priests is the advice of your Friend and Brother Will. Wilson William Wilson being moved of and by the living power of God to travel into the North or remote parts of Scotland to declare what the Lord did then and there immediately reveal unto him during the time of which travail he wrote several letters into England to his Wife Coppies of which is as followeth Dear Wife IN the living truth of the Lord Jesus Christ doth the bowels of my unsained love salute thee in the unseparable life doth my dearest love reach unto thee in the unchangeable life of holiness where we cannot forget each other dear heart my life is often powred out before the Lord in consideration of thee my dear love the Lord thy God who hath seperated the from thy Mothers
and truth which I hope I shall reman into the end so I desire that I might have free liberty to live at home and Labour for my Family William Wilson a poor man and means well One to the Justices and Magistrates FRiends Friends that be in Authority a few words from a Prisoner of yours Christ saith Swear not all this is Christs Command Swear not at all and they that loves me keeps my sayings saith Christ marke and be not offended at any of his Servants which keeps his saying and cannot swear at all but lets their comunication be yea yea nay nay for what as is more cometh of evil as saith Christ Matt. 5. Truely friends my heart is turned towards God with many more of my brethern in this the day of our God and we cannot Swear at all for we have learned obediance unto his Doctrin and therefore we are willing to keep his sayings whatever we suffer by man for friends consider I shall put my case with the rest of my brethrens who be of the same Faith to your own selves to judge Christ he saith Swear not at all you say you must Swear so whether it be better to obey God or man Judge ye likewise the Apostle James saith to his brethren above all things my breathren Swear not at all least you sall into Condemnation Jam. 5 but you say Swear or else you shall go to Prison consider this friends and Judge Charitably whether is to be obeyed now if sufferings must be we these to suffer for Christ sayings rather then for much sayings for if we do not Swear we must fall into Prison and if we do Swear we are sure to fall into Condemnation marke that but it is better for us to obey God then man man so we cannot Swear at all whatever we suffer I hope we shall not break our peace with God for pleasing men for we know the Lords care is over them that fear him and he will visit for these things So take heed how you cause us to suffer for not swearing counting it a breach of your Law for us to keep Christ own sayings that is offended in any of you to see us wear our own hats on our heads and to here us speak Gods truth plainly from our hearts without swearing was ever any of Gods people offended at these things or caused any to suffer for not swearing consider friends and take heed how you oppress tender Consciences and cast into Prison them that cannot Swear for Conscience sake and lets Swearers have their Liberty for I am one willing to suffer for not swearing rather then to deny Christ because I love and obey the Lord Jesus Christ which saith Swear not at all VVilliam VVilson Servant of the same Lord. One to Justice Fleming of Rydale OH Justice Fleming that ever this report should be sounded in our Ears that within thy Libertys such spoyling should be amongst thy Nighbours we never had the like in our Parish nor never expected that our own Justice should have made such work as set men of spoyling true mens goods who themselves dare not spoyle nor do any hurt to any man upon the face of of the whole Earth because of their Conscience towards the God of Heaven which is appeared in these latter days and is come and hath taken up his aboad with them and keeps them unto himself out of all spoyling again when they are spoyled of their Cloaths of Horses and their goods which they had honestly gotten by their hard labour and industry and hath learned to live peaceably amongst their Neighbours and a godly life in Christ Jesus who saith learn of me but not to spoyle true mens goods who for Conscience sake cannot Swear nor break of their godly Meetings which God hath set up and not man therefore consider and call in the spoylers from spoyling of true men thy Neighbours who have none in the Earth to plead their cause but gives themselves up to God and all they have to suffer for his sake having received the earnest of the Spirit and the assurance of etern I life from which they never intend to fly for all that ever mortal man can do unto them in this case for it is in matter of holy worship to our God which all the spoylers in the world is out of and all ungodly men an truths gainsayers which be in these latter days and though many Fools and Bablers that is applauded in these latter days for their fooliry and their fordness Jaging and waging in the streats like fools in a play the Lord hates such who fears not him that hath made them but walks in wickedness making a mock at sin and sporting themselves against the Lord and them that fear his name of which sort I am one and am not ashamed to confess his name among men though it be to my great loss and hinderance in this world as all my neighbours can tell and my wife and little children knows the want of me as thine may do of thee in time for ought I know which I do not desire more then I desire my own should want me but if thou knew what it were I believe thou would not be so hard hearted and my friend Willam Grave is lying at the point of Death and this day one Prioner is lying dead and its a wonder and a mercy of God I am not so to and many more of us you have casten into Prison and not one of you that comes to visit us but we may rather think you wish us all dead as thy brother Willam did babling below a man and much more a Captain and thy Cozen Will. Kirby reported the night you had done that wicked act of casting us all into Prison that you had had an honourable Bench and that thou was such a man as was not in many parts and your whole service had almost been taken up about the Quakers and you had hall'd the Fox and stayed his Hambrough Quaker from traveling or the like words to that purpose which is below a man or man-hood to vant of Casting men into Prison it irkes my heart that ever men should be so Foolish as to do as you have done with us in sending us as thou sent us and its thought caused the death of two and the sickness of others it make the Country cry out shame shame and indeed it vexes me that my Country man should loose his honor in being so hard against poor Quakers as many calls us and had gained it so in other things as I have heard thy name honoured among men where I have been both for carrage and understanding so Justice Fleming consider and let men of tender Consciences have their liberty as others doth in other places and be not so hard of the Lords people Even who are engaiged to meet together fearing the Lord as saith the Scriptures they that seared the Lord met often together and spake often one