these things because I believe William Mullnex may give you a fuller account Dear Friends your honourable Service and innocent Behaviour amongst us cannot be forgotten by a Remnant in this Island who would be glad if the Lord saw meet once more to see you but in the mean time I desire we may be bound up together in that one Spirit which partakes of the Dew from Heaven and keeps alwayes green and fresh blossoming and bringing forth Fruit well-pleasing to the Lord. And the Desire of my Heart is that in your Breathings to the Lord I may not be forgotten who love and honour in my Soul all true-hearted and right-begotten Friends who have the right Image yea the Father's Image stamped upon them and with such I hope to be one forever So no more at present but mine with my Wife 's dear Love to you both I remain Your Friend in the nearest Relation Edward Wright Barbadoes the 18th of the 12th Moneth 1679. Dear Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen MY dear and well-beloved Friends in God who hath begotten us to himself in his blessed Truth and so one to another in which my Soul and Spirit doth salute you both Having still in my Heart your faithful Labour and Courage in which you travailed amongst us here to the refreshing of the Honest-hearted and lives fresh in the Hearts of the Upright Oh! how did the Lord make you as a Nursing-Father and Mother to the tender weak Lambs of God! and laboured to gather in the straying Sheep which were wandring from the Flock labouring to bring them into the Fold again where Rest is truly known for in the Out-goings and Wandrings there is a Spirit that is seeking for Liberty but not that of God but that which will not bow to Christ's Yoke in which your Spirits had a sore travel whilst here amongst us and all the Valiant to this day do feel the same yet as we keep to the Lord we do find Victory over all the Contrary Opposing Spirits and the Lord's Power and Living Presence is with us to our great Refreshings and Spiritual Comfort of the little ones who keep low in his Fear and are made willing to follow him through whatsoever he will carry them so that we can say It is very good to keep near to the Lord that we may feel him to bear us up continually in Tryals Troubles and Afflictions in which we are made to Rejoyce more than in the Increase of Corn Wine or Oyl to God's Praise and Glory and to the Comfort of our Souls and to the carrying on of his great Work which he hath begun and will carry on by his Faithful Upright Single-hearted Ones The Lord raise up more Faithful Ones that may stand up for God and plead God's Cause against all that shall oppose it as he did faithful Moses and Joshua in the day of Israel's Rebellion that like the good Spies may give a good Report of the good Land and so encourage but not discourage any but are willing to help forward the hindmost of the Flock and encourage the foremost so that we may all come to travel on to the Land of Rest that we may all come to praise God together with one Heart and one Mind and bless him together forever saith my Soul Barbadoes the 12th of the 3d Moneth 1676. Elizabeth Gretton THE People of God called Quakers being met together in the Fear of the Lord to worship God and to feel the Presence of the Lord whereby we might strengthen and edifie one another to the Praise and Glory of our God who is worthy forever and after we had been some hours in the Meeting there came in a Constable called Constable Noyse and a Merchant called Benjamin Gibs with their Aid having a Warrant from Simon Broadstreet in his Majesty's Name as they said to break up our Meeting some Friends desired them to read their Warrant which was to this effect That they were to bring every Person found at a Quakers Meeting then a Friend said This Warrant is to bring such Persons as are found at a Quakers Meeting to the House of Correction Alice Curwen answered This Warrant takes not hold on us we are the Meeting this Warrant is to bring such Persons as are found at a Quakers Meeting So the Constable stood pretty moderately but Benj. Gibs turned about to a Friend in the Ministry and said Come ye are Blasphemers we will not stand to sac the Devil Worshipped Then Benj. Gibs being asked What he heard us say His answer was He had not heard us speak one word though before he had called us Blasphemers and said They would not stand there to see the Devil worshipped Alice Curwen in the Fear of the Lord kneeling down to Prayer was violently haled along the Room and down Stairs to the House of Correction Flushen in New-England the 6th of the 12th Moneth 1677. Thomas Curwen The Sufferings of Thomas Curwen which he hath suffered for Conscience sake towards God which was for the Testimony of Jesus the Spirit of Prophecy the Word of God who have Contended with several Priests concerning my Testimony for the Tythe ever since I was convinced of the Eternal Truth of God who doth Witness the Law changed and the Priesthood changed also that took Tythes under the Law which was an Offering in the time of the Law before Christ came but now Christ Jesus is come and I do witness him come who is the one Offering who was sacrificed and offered up once for all who hath Fulfilled and put an End to all Tythes Types Figures and Shadows and Offerings under the Law of a Carnal Command but now I do witness Glory be to God forever Christ Jesus come who is the Power of God unto Salvation who is a Priest forever without Beginning or End of Days who is Alpha and Omega forever and therefore I cannot pay Tythes Concerning my Sufferings and Persecution by Thomas Shaw Priest of Aldingham in Fornis in Lancashire IN the year 1652. about the 14th day of the 7th moneth I had a Mare taken away worth 6 l. also in the year 1654. I had a Cow taken away worth 2 l. 10 s. and in the year 1656. I had two Cows taken away worth 8 l. and in the year 1658. I had the most part of sixteen Acres of Corn taken away which was worth at least 30 l. whose Bailiffs and Servants came forcibly brake into the Barn and also in the year 1660. about the 10th day of the 11th moneth I had a Horse taken away worth 4 l. or there-about And these Goods took Priest Shaw from me besides Eleaven Years Imprisonment and then shortly after he ended his dayes in great Wo and Misery to the sight of all the World that did know him for the Lord laid his Judgments upon him who was struck into a Palsie that he was not sensible what he did or said And then another with his Horns began to push and make War
A RELATION OF THE Labour Travail AND SUFFERING Of that faithful Servant of the Lord Alice Curwen Who departed this Life the 7th Day of the 6th Moneth 1679. and resteth in Peace with the LORD Here is the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus Rev. 14.12 The Souls of the Righteous are precious in the Eyes of the Lord and they shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance Printed in the Year 1680. Something of Alice Curwen's Testimony which did lie upon her to declare some few dayes before she departed out of the Body she spoke for one to come to write and there was one that did come and did purpose to write but the Lord's Power and Presence was so with her that the Friends that were with her were so broken into Tenderness that there could nothing be written but there was one Friend which was present with her at that time which did remember something of what she did speak as followeth whose Name is Anne Martindall AND I can truly say my Heart was greatly affected and much broken in hearing of that powerful Testimony which dear Alice Curmen did bear for the Lord and for his Eternal Truth and in the Sense and Consideration of that blessed heavenly Power which did run thorow her at that time my Spirit is often tendred as before the Lord and truly many of her Words are past out of my Memory The first time I did see her she had been sick about five dayes and she seemed 〈…〉 but I went again 〈…〉 very sick that 〈…〉 continued that Night yet she was very sensible and desired me to sit up with her and so I did stay all that Night in which time she did utter many precious Words which I cannot call to mind she said That she felt nothing upon her but all was clear for she said I do not know that ever I did any thing that did offend the Lord if it was but a Hasty word or a Thought but I was reproved for it and I was willing to lie low and wait upon the Lord until he was pleased to arise again And she spoke much of the Goodness of the Lord towards her how that He had been with her at all times and in all places Some asked her If she did think that she should not get over it To which she answered I do not know what the Lord has to do but I am freely given up to do his will whatever it be Life or Death I am as clear as a Child this she spoke several times and desired that the will of the Lord might be done And after she had lain a while she said I have something in my Mind to speak if the Lord will enable me and she spoke forth with a Heavenly Melody and so spoke a long time but I do remember very few of her words but she said The Lord is on his way and he will go on Conquerings and to Conquer and he will carry on his great work which he hath begun And she often desired Friends to be faithful and follow the Lord fully and said That she would have none to go before nor none to stay behind nor to turn aside either to the Right Hand or to the Left but follows the Lord your Leader wheresoever he goes for she had 〈…〉 Sense upon her of the 〈◊〉 know the Truth 〈…〉 with us in a great 〈…〉 were sold it for the Preferment of this World which will perish and past away and yet they can come in with us and sit down in Meetings and have their Clothes made like the World's Fashions and like their order and speak their own Words but the Lord will blow such away with the Whirlewind of his Wrath but those that are faithful Travailers in the work of the Lord the Lord will preserve though they may meet with many Tryals and Besetments both inwardly and outwardly And she desired That all would let their Light shine and none to put it under a Bushel or under a Bed but all stand faithful for the Lord in your Day and then you need not be afraid of Death but it will be as easie to you as it is to me Truly she was so filled with the Lord's blessed Power and living Presence that the Sense of her Sickness was many times taken from her and she did often say Truly Friends I have little Pain upon me only weak and many a time she did lie singing and did make a sweet Melody to the Lord when she uttered very few words except on this wise Oh my Heavenly Father how hast thou filled my Cup and made it to overflow for I can do no less but even praise and magnifie they holy eternal Name and so she often desired That the Will of the Lord might be done whether it was Life or Death and said For to me to live is Christ and to dye is Gain and many such like precious words which she did speak which I cannot call to mind She spoke many very clear weighty things concerning the Virgins and their Lamps and exhorted all to be diligent and to know Life and Virtue in themselves to feed upon for she said The time will come that Words will cease and Life shall more arise and many more weighty things she did speak and said if she did live she must declare it and if she did dye she must leave it as a Testimony for the Lord she often desired Friends to be faithful to the Lord and follow the Lord fully as Deborah and Baruk did which if all had stood faithful what a blessed Day would it have been ere now So when she had declared and spoken what was upon her Spirit she had some ease and so continued about two hours and she spoke very much of her Off spring and said She desired nothing more concerning them then that they may Fear the Lord and then they will never Want And then towards the latter end of the Night she had an extream great Pain in her Head which was very hard to bear yet in all this time she did not utter one unpatient word but was like a patient Lamb and said Friends breathe to the Lord for me that he may lay no more upon me than I am able to bear that I may not offend this good God and immediately she did breathe forth in Prayer to the Lord then she had a little Ease and lay still as if she had been in a Slumber and a little after she said I have been in the Deep and I had something to speak but I could not So she did grow weaker and weaker but she was sweetly carryed through it to the End This was declared of this faithful Servant of the Lord who said She would have none to mourn for her when she was gone The Names of them that were with her Mary Nelson Marvell Fallbery Alice Cobb Rebecca Reckly Anne Martindall Thomas Curwen the elder Thomas
Curwen the younger Thomas Cobb Thomas Curwen HIS TESTIMONY Which is in behalf of his Wife's Testimony which she did bear faithfully for God and for his Eternal Truth ever since she was Convinced and her Heart and Mind turned from Darkness to the Light of Jesus Christ and from Satan's Power to the Power of God who did serve the Lord in Fear and rejoyced with Trembling whilst Breath and Life remained And Blessed are the Dead that Dye in the Lord they do Rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them AND this I can say to the Praise and Glory of our God That she did Dye in the Lord for she did Praise and magnifie the Name of the Lord and was freely given up to dye and the Lord's Presence was with her which did carry her up above her Weakness in the Flesh and though she be dead and her Body return to the Dust yet her Spirit is alive where Hell Death and the Grave can never seperate us Glory to our God forever who is the God of the Living and not of the Dead and the Living Praise the Lord the Dead in the Grave of Sin cannot For the Wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life and blessed are they that know the Gift of God and have their Minds exercised in it or else it had been better for them they had never known it but as their Minds are exercised in the Gift of God they come to witness Redemption from Sin and Death and come to witness Eternal Life where the Redeemed of the Lord do rejoyce who are redeemed out of the Earth and have a Habitation in Heaven and the Redeemed do sing Praises and Halelujahs to the Lord God and the Lamb forever and for evermore over Death Hell and the Grave for he is risen whom the Grave could not hold Glory to our God forever to whom all Power is given both in Heaven and in Earth and he will rule all with his Iron Rod everlasting Praises forever be given unto his holy blessed Name the Lamb of God who was slain from the Foundation of the world by whom the world was made who was dead but he is alive whose Name is called The word of God who was in the World and the World knew him not And ye will not come to me saith Christ that ye may have Life who hath given us Life Breath and Being that we may live to his Praise and to his Honour and Glory forever who is worthy who is worthy forever and for evermore saith my Soul And this I can say concerning my dear and loving Wife who was dear and tender over me to serve me in any thing that might do me good either for Soul or Body and the Consideration of her endeared Love to me doth often times come very fresh into my Remembrance which doth break my Heart into much Tenderness which doth cause me to write these few Lines concerning God's Testimony which she did bear for his Eternal Truth And I can truly say She was given me of the Lord who was a Meet Help for me who did live Husband and Wife about Thirty Eight Years who was my true Friend and Companion in Tribulation who did keep the Word of Patience in the Day of Tryal and in the Hour of Temptation and did bear the Burthen in the heat of the Day without Murmuring or looking back to the Flesh-Pots of Egypt but did Rejoyce in Tribulation Know ye not saith the Apostle that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and this Hope maketh not ashamed because we have obtained the End of our Hope which is Salvation to be as Walls and Bulwarks And now we can say to the Praise and Glory of our God That now is Salvation nearer than when we first believed And when a measure of the Spirit of Grace was manifested to her and she did feel the Operation of it working in her Heart and was led and guided by it Oh! how she did improve her Talent for the Lord and for one Talent he gave her more and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ did teach her to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this World and she did grow in the Grace of God from Strength to Strength and from Grace to Grace and her Affections were not on things below but on things above for her Treasure was in Heaven where neither Rust nor Moth could corrupt nor Thieves break through and Steal and the Lord was her Portion who is the Portion of the Righteous And when she was got into the highest Form of Profession she was very Zealous in her Way and Form that when the Truth came she was ready to receive it who did receive it with great Joy and Gladness of Heart and said Now I have found him whom my Soul loves which was my Desire which the blind watch-men could never know in reading of the Scriptures of Truth She had much comfort in reading of David's Psalms which was much Refreshment to her to sound forth Praises to the Lord and she did sing with the Spirit and with Understanding and she was almost alwayes Praising the Lord and magnifying his holy and blessed Name and when she could not speak she put her Hands together and did lift them up unto the Lord and did Praise the Lord in her Heart And when the Lord did send her forth to preach the Everlasting Gospel she did not reason with Flesh and Blood for the Lord's Power and Presence was with her wherein she did sound forth his Praises to the Nations and did declare of the Wonderful Works which the Lord had done for the Sons and Daughters of Men And she was not ashamed to confess the Name of the Lord before men who was brought several times before Magistrates and Rulers and was cast into Prison and was set in the Stocks and brought to the Whipping-Post for her Testimony which she had to bear for the Lord and for his Eternal Truth for she did follow Christ Jesus fully who was the Captain of her Salvation and did make War in Righteousness with the Beast and the False Prophet and her Captain did never fail her in time of Need but did go before her and did tread down her Enemies as Ashes under her Feet and the Lamb did get the Victory Glory to our God forever who did plead the Cause of the Innocent and did put a Word in her Mouth in every needful time and the Lord was with her and his Eternal Arm and Power did cover her Head in the Day of Battel And she did often pray to the Lord and said Lord let me injoy thy Presence and I desire no more and the Lord did hear her Cry and did answer her Desire for the Love of God was so large unto her which is more than I can express Glory and Everlasting Praises be unto the Lord. And she had great
therest of the Lord's People we might fill up the Sufferings that remain behind that so the Righteous Blood shed by this Generation may come upon them which they shall not escape So we travailed through the Woods and Places where the devouring Indians had made great Desolation in many Places but the Lord preserved us and we came to Boston and on the First Day of the Week we had a Meeting with Friends there and their Law not being yet published we had our Liberty and our Meeting peaceable and afterward travailed Eastward near One Hundred Miles and visited Friends and sought them out where they were scattered because of the great Distress of the Indians War so that they had not had a Meeting to wait upon the Lord for several moneths before so we travailed Eastward as far as Great-Island and Piscattoway River and Dover and several other places and came to a Friend's House beyond the River where there were about two hundred people some Friends and others who were come thither for Safety and had fortified the House very strongly about for fear of these Bloody Indians which had killed two of our Friends within three miles of that place there we had several good Meetings and the Presence of the Lord was with us and it was a time of great Distress both Friends and others received our Testimony gladly for it was a needful time and the Power of the Lord was with us and was our Support for which we cannot but bless his Name whilst we have a Being Then we travailed again towards Boston and visiting Friends all along and so came to Boston again where being in our Meeting their Law being now published the Constable with others came forcibly and drave us out of our Meeting all along the Street until they came to the Prison or House of Correction whereinto they thrust us but the Lord was with us and our Service there was great for many people both rich and poor came to look upon us and some were convinced it being a time of great Tribulation their Hearts failed for fear and God's Witness was reached Praises to God forever And the third day of our Imprisonment they brought us down to the Whipping-Post but the Presence of the Lord was manifested there which gave us Dominion over all their Cruelty and we could not but Magnifie the Name of the Lord and declare of his Wonderful Work at that time at which the Heathen were astonished and shook their Heads And the next day we were set at liberty and went to our Meeting again from which place they did fetch us to Prison before and we had a good Meeting peaceably and took leave of Friends and so we parted and we came to Sittuate and Dukesberry and to Sandwich and did visit Friends all along in several places until we came to Road-Island and after a little time spent with Friends there it was with us to go into the West part of New-England to Shelter-Island and Long-Istand Oyster-Bay Westchester and Eastchester and to Gravesend and a Place there called Jamaco and Matunicock and New-York and some part of New-Jarsey so far as Friends did inhabit to our Knowledge when we were there in this time of our Passage thither we were several times put on Shore the Wind not being for us where we had good Service for the Lord and for his Truth where there were no Friends upon the main Land at a place called New-London and Seabrook and Milford then we did return unto the Yearly Meeting in Road-Island and then Bermudus and Barbadoes were before us and we would gladly have got a Passage to Bermudus but could not but a Passage to Barbadoes was near ready at that time at the hearing of which I was afraid and great Fear fell upon me considering my own Weakness and the Highness of all sorts of people there and fearing lest they should even trample upon my little Testimony and lest I should suffer Loss and I like Jonah in his day would have fled but there was no Hiding-place but in the Arm of the Lord which was to me and is to all that believe and obey a strong Tower Everlasting Blessing Glory and Honour be ascribed unto his great Name to whom doth belong the Glory for all his Mercies and that for evermore And such as may read this Epistle may believe that it was the Lord that put it into my Heart to write it for the Encouragement of them that hereafter maytrust in the Lord. So my Husband having much upon him to Barbadoes Friends accompanied us on Shipboard where we had a blessed good Meeting before we parted and in Five Weeks and Two Dayes we came to Barbadoes And the next day after we came ashore was their Quarterly-Meeting where our Testimony was gladly received and we travailed in that Island about Seven Moneths where we had good Service both amongst Whites and Blacks and the Lord added unto our Talent another Talent more Everlasting Praises saith our Souls in secret unto his most holy Name who hath given us good Success and is adding unto his Church such as shall be saved in every Nation for many did gather unto our Meetings and we visited some of their Priests and invited them to our Meetings some by Word and some by Writing And when we were clear in our Spirits of this Island we would gladly have gone to Bermudus but could not get a Passage and then we found Freedom to write to Friends in that Island and so to return home and after we had taken leave of Friends in the Freedom of our Spirits we took Shipping and came for London where we arrived the same day Seven Weeks after we came from Barbadoes which was the beginning of the third moneth 1677. And after we had seen Friends at London it was secretly in our Hearts that we must visit all the Meetings upon the Sea Coast Westward unto the Lands-End and now since we had performed that Service it was upon us to visit some Meetings Eastward and the good Presence of the Lord hath been with us for which Cause we have good Cause to bless his holy Name whilst we have a day to live Now in regard we could not meet with a Passago to Bermudus neither from Road-Island nor from Barbadoes it was in our Hearts to write this Epistle to Friends there as followeth Dear Friends WE having this Oportunity it was in our Hearts to signifie our Loves in writing a few words unto you by these our dear Friends Katherine Norton and Eliz. Cater and we would have gladly visited you if we could have gotten a Passage thither for you have been often in our Remembrance but in the Will of the Lord we stand and in that Power that is unlimitted where neither Earth nor Seas can seperate us from the Lord nor one from another but that is known which breathes for the Seed and wrestles with the Lord as Jacob did So dear Friends to whom the
Salutation of our Unfeigned Love reacheth dwell at Home keep in your Tents for they that dwell at Home they divide the Spoil their Enemies shall become subject unto them Truly dear Friends we should have been glad to have seen your Faces but in the Will of our Heavenly Father we stand and we do believe we should have been comforted together in the mean time let us all be diligent to stir up one the other and to provoke one the other to Love and Good Works So see that in Gods Vineyard ye may be all found for they that labour there they do receive their promise which is an earnest of that Inheritance that God hath prepared for all that love him So dear Friends there are but twelve Hours in the Day in which we may all work in the Night none can work therefore said Christ Jesus who is the true Light While ye have the Light walk in the Light that ye may be the Children of the Light lest Darkness come upon you So dear Friends in the unfeigned Love of our God that can never be seperated as we abide faithful do we write unto you in that Love which first begot us unto God and is as precious unto us as ever it was yea the desire of our Hearts is that in this feeling Life ye may all dwell which is nearer then what can be declared either by Word or Writing for blessed be the Lord God for evermore this great and marvellous Light shines through Darkness and shines in Peoples Hearts and the Lord is working secretly though they do little know it And therefore Friends in the Holy Invisible Power of the Immortal Living God all dwell Low and Humble in that quiet and meek Spirit that thinks no evil but in Lowliness of Mind esteeming each other in the Lord and truly denying self so will you dwell upon the Rock Christ Jesus who is become our hiding-place in this our Age and Generation as he was in Ages past unto whom we flee in time of Trouble and we are saved Everlasting Holy Praises be unto his blessed Name for evermore So in this weighty Power Christ Jesus dwell Low that you may spread at the Root as Lebanon and bring forth Fruit upward to the Praise and Glory of God unto whom be Everlasting Holy ' Praises forever and for evermore So dearly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters in the true Fellowship of the Gospel which is the Power of God unto Salvation though this be the Day of Jacob's Troubles and the Afflictions of Joseph yet the Worm Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall dwell safely and the true Israelite in whose Heart is found no Guile the Seed Christ Jesus the Power of God which doth and shall reign over all the Dark Powers of the Earth who hath a Habitation in the Earth which the Wo from the Lord is to So in the Life and Power of God and in this blessed Seed which never sinned nor consented to Sin all dwell that the Blessing of God every one may receive be kept in true Peace with the Lord when Time shall be no more for the Blessing of God is to the Seed not unto Seeds many but unto the one seed Christ that all may witness the Promise of God fulfilled That the Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head in every particular where the Blessing is received and where the Promise is Yea Amen forever for Caleb Joshua did enter into the Promised Land who were of a right Spirit So dear Friends keep your Dominion and be true to your Testimony that he may reign whose right it is for the Devil the Serpent hath no right to reign in the Hearts of People but Christ Jesus is come to destroy the Works of the Devil and to reign in Righteousness and to set up his Government and would have all People to come under his Government for the Increase of his Government hath no End that he may reign whose right it is And here we can say in the Truth of our Hearts That the Son of God is come and hath given us a good Understanding to understand and know the things of God for the Light is broken forth which comprehends all the Works of Darkness and shines in the Hearts of the Righteous and the Righteous do rejoyce in the Light which gives the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ And so walk in the Light and be encouraged and you shall have the Light of Life and stand fast in your Liberty and Freedom wherein Christ Jesus hath made you Free and that none may be entangled with the Yoke of Bondage which may cause the Just to suffer For though Trouble and Sorrow may endure for a Night yet Joy comes in the Morning and ye shall come to sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb. So dearly Beloved Friends be encouraged to keep to the Word of Patience and the Lord God will keep you in the Day of Tryal and in the Hour of Temptation For the Rod of the Wicked will not alwayes lie on the Back of the Righteous for the Wicked and they that forget God who Repent not shall be turned into Hell Everlasting Holy Praises be unto the Lord our God forever and for evermore From us your Friends though unknown to you outwardly yet well-known in the Mystery of the Fellow ship the Power of God in which we dearly Salute you all and bid you all Farewel Barbadoes the 9th of the 12th Moneth 1676. Barbadoes the 4th of the 8th Moneth 1676. For the Friends of Road-Island DEar Friends in the openness of Gods blessed Life in which our Unity stands not only when we are together but when we are separated in this is the Salutation of our dear Love unto you for the Lord our God hath shed his Love abroad in our Hearts in which love we can truly say the Lord laid it upon us to visit his Seed amongst you though we be the least of many of the Lords People and our Testimony is but little yet we are sure it is true for the Lord. So in the feeling of God's blessed Life which cannot be limited but limits all under it and brings into true Subjection to do the Will of God This blessed Life and Love of God oh our dear Friends which reaches over Sea and Land this Love constrains us as it did to visit you so to write unto you Therefore Friends dwell together in Unity and in this precious Love that thinks no Evil nor is not easily provoked but endureth all things this Love seeketh not its own but every one anothers good Friends we desire you That you would bear with us a little for we do not write these things unto you because ye know not the Truth but because you know it and therefore a necessity is upon us to write unto you That no Prejudices nor Evil Surmisings nor Whisperings nor Back-bitings be or remain among you for
these things work not the Righteousness of God but where ye lie in the bottom though covered over with a Profession of the Truth yet ye will eat as a Canker Therefore Friends we beseech you to stand in Awe and in the Fear and Dread of the Lord God and sin not for we have known the Terrors of the Lord against Sin in our own Particulars and also his Mercies blessed be his Name forever and ever And therefore we beseech you in the Love of God that ye wait together to feel God's weighty Power that so the ground Work ye may know and the top Stone laid in the true Self-denyal that so as Lambs of one Fold ye may feed together in the low Valleys Everlasting Glory and Honour be unto the Lord our God for all his Mercies for they are exceeding great unto the Children of men in this Day of God's Salvation which is now broken forth and is largely manifested and the Voice of the Lord is heard which Voice shakes the Earth terribly and even removes it out of its place and not only the Earth but the Heaven also And the Lord is gathering in both Professors and Prophane Everlasting Blessing be to our God the Work of the Lord prospers Therefore Friends that ye may all be diligent and Helpers on of this great Work as Moses and Aaron and Hurr that so Miriam's Curse ye may escape So the Lord God Almighty who separated us from our Native Country and from our dear Relations the Lord of Hosts is his Name he hath found us Worthy with the rest of his Messengers to bear a Testimony unto his blessed Unchangeable Truth Therefore Friends to the keeping of him who keeps his Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps we do commit the keeping of our Souls and Spirits with yours also who are of the Family of God though we be far seperated and cannot behold the faces one of another but in the Mystery of the Fellowship which is the Power of God where the World knows us not we bid you all Farewell From us your Friends in the blessed Truth of God in our measures Thomas Alice Curwen Friends here are generally well and here is an increase daily for a Priest comes to our Meetings and People of all sorts come so that here is good Service for God and the Truth increases for the more the Enemy seeks to hinder the increase of Truth the more it spreads Therefore blessed will all they be who abide faithful in the Truth And we earnestly desire to hear from you in Writing for our Dear Unfeigned Love is more than we can express Thù for Friends at Road-Island in New-England Barbadoes the 11th of the 9th Moneth 1677. DEar Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen whom I truly honour in the Lord My Soul is truly comforted in the remembrance of you and in the feeling of that Heavenly Life by which you are supported in God's Service amongst us my Spirit doth rejoyce and Praise the Lord our God in your behalf who hath been very bountiful in visiting of his Seed by sending of his faithful Servants and Ministers amongst us to declare God's Way which is Life among whom ye shall be numbred Dear Friends this is a Salutation of my unfeigned Love and honourable Esteem which lives in my Heart of you in the blessed Truth of God And Dear Friends I am not a little comforted that ye have thought me worthy of a few Lines from you which I have received and do desire that ye may bteathe to the Lord our God for my Preservation in the pure Truth which is more to be desired than all the World and the Glory of it And so dear Friends I shall conclude this with my dear Love in the Truth to you both and remain Your Loving Friend in the Truth John Readman An Epistle to Nathaniel Sylvester and his Wife at Shelter-Island the 6th of the 4th Moneth 1676. FRIENDS IF the Truth make us free then are we free indeed so let none grieve the Spirit of Truth that the Power of the Lord may be felt which keeps all in good Order and brings the Mind into true subjection to do the Will of God and not our own Wills and therefore this is in our Hearts as a Salutation of our Love That you who are Parents may stand in the Truth of our God as Pillars and watch over your Children in the Fear of the Lord and keep them to Plainness of Speech and not only you to them and them to you but to all people that so the pure Cross they may come to know which is the Power of God that it may rule the Mind and this will bring them as they stand and wait in the Simplicity of it to see and put away all their Needless Attire and so they will grow as tender Plants and this is our Love in the Simplicity of our Hearts that ye may stand over them in the Fear and Wisdom of the Lord as Pillars or else how will ye answer the Lord who sees the secrets of all Hearts we do leave it to that of God in you to judge THOMAS ALICE CURWEN To Friends in Gravesend in Long Island FRIENDS IN the Sense of God's infinite Presence and holy Power in which our Life is preserved and in which our Unity stands with the Father and the Son and one with another do we salute you as we abide faithful to the Lord and in his blessed Truth a Measure whereof ye are Witnesses of and therefore it is in our Hearts in remembrance of God's living Presence in which we were well refreshed when we were together and therefore to stir up your pure Minds and to put you in remembrance of the blessed Presence of the Lord for ye are Witnesses how good the Lord is Oh Dear Friends the Lord even filled our Cup and made it for to overflow which broke our Hearts before the Lord and one to another yea he even caused his living Presence to be manifested amongst us to our great Satisfaction Everlasting Holy Praises be returned to his blessed Name forever and for evermore for his Mercies are exceeding great And now Friends in a living Sense of the Lord's Presence do we write unto you that ye may feel in reading hereof the Springings of that Life in which we write unto you that so as Epistles in one anothers Hearts we may be read and known of all men Oh dear Friends abide in the Vine Christ Jesus that so ye may bring forth precious Fruit to God and this is a Christian's State indeed for the Day of the Lord is come very near and all that bear not this holy Fruit are nigh unto Cursing Therefore do we dearly desire that you and all the rest of our dear Friends with whom we have been well refreshed in God's blessed Truth may so walk as to adorn the same and be Possessors of it that so they that fear not God seeing our Light shining may confess that
Friends would you know where I am and how far I am grown in the Truth of our God I cannot well resolve my self by reason of the gross Darkness and the Straitness of the Way I seek Rest but I cannot find it I seek my Beloved but cannot find him I am often amongst those with whom God is not well-pleased although not yet overthrown amongst those that lust after Evil Things those that tempted Christ and those that Murmured though not yet through the Riches of the Patience and Goodness of God not destroyed of the Destroyer Sometimes I think I feel the Well springing up the Day of the Lord 's burning to burn like an Oven and the Leaven working and the Seed of the Kingdom no more the least of all Seeds the Grave opening and the Dead arising at the Voice of the Son of God And at other times as one that Dreamed and meer Stranger in Israel I am Hungry I am Thursty I am hardly filled yet I must needs acknowledge that sometimes I do meet with Manna and blessed be the Shepherd of Israel I sometimes drink and am resreshed at the Brook by the Way I still wait for the blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I see that Patience must have its Perfect Work that my Beloved must not be awakened until he please and that Times and Seasons are in the Father's Hand and am a Witness for him That he is Faithful who hath promised by what of his Promises I have already found to be Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus He doth not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax on whom I do wait to bring forth Judgment into Victory to kindle his Refiners Fire to consume the Dross and take away the Tinn and to answer to save so as by Fire that I may become a Vessel meet for the Masters Use Oh Travel for me Help me forward with your Breathings and that I fall not in the Wilderness From me Henry Byrch who was a Baptist-Teacher but now through the Mercy of the Lord am come to be taught of the Lord and in measure established in the blessed Truth of our God to the Praise Glory and Honour of the Lord our God who is God over all Heaven and Earth blessed forever and for evermore Amen saith my Soul and the Souls of the Righteous whom God hath redeemed from Death to Life to him alone be Glory forever and evermore Barbadoes the 9th of the 7th Moneth 1677. Dear Friends Thomas Alice Curwen YOur Letter I received and I was very glad to hear of your Well-fare and of your arrival safely in England and truly Friends I know you cannot easily be forgotten by me nor many good Friends in this Island for your faithful Service Pains and Travel whilst among us in the Service and Work of the Lord and the Desire of my Soul is That we may be all kept in a living Sense of his Holy Fear dwelling in our Hearts at all times for the Fear of the Lord is only that that keeps the Heart clean and preserves us in the greatest Tryals and Exercises that we meet withal that so continuing faithful to the end of our dayes we may receive our Reward from our Heavenly Father even the Salvation of our Immortal Souls So dear Friends I need not use many words unto you I could not well omit sending these two or three Lines though at present something sâ—â—itned in point of time Friends are generally in pretty good Condition though of late we were like to have had a further Breach here amongst us by reason of altering Men and Womens Meetings at the Bridge-Town but blessed be the Lord the Meetings at present are pretty well ordered and composed so that I am in good hopes that all Difference and Strife will cease and Truth will out-live all here are good Friends which I hope will keep down these Unruly Passions Heats that were usual and too often accustomed by some to rise amongst us My Wife desires dearly to be remembred to you So with my True and Unfeigned Love to you both I rest and remain Your Friend and Brother in my Measure of the blessed Truth John Todd Barbadoes the 4th of the 11th Moneth 1677. Loving Friends dear Thomas Alice WE do dearly salute you in the blessed Truth of our God and in the sence of the same do our Souls truly rejoyce and our Hearts are made truly Glad in that we feel one another in that blessed Life which keeps our Souls alive to God together and assunder And truly our dear Friends you have been often in our remembrance and in the sensible feeling of that blessed Life hath our Souls been truly refreshed in you though many Miles assunder yet can we truly say That oft-times our Hearts and Souls have been truly refreshed in you and the Sence of that Living Testimony you left behind you that oft-times lives in our Hearts Oh! blessed be the Lord our God for evermore that hath brought us to see this blessed Day in that we can feel one another in this blessed Life which keeps our Souls alive to God and tender one to another And so our dear Friends words are too short to tell of the goodness of God to our Souls as our Minds have been truly staid on him Oh! how hath his Love flown forth in our Hearts to the great Refreshment and Satisfaction of our Immortal Souls together and assunder We have known the Renewings of the Blessings and Mercies of the Lord unto our Souls Oh praised be the Name of our God forever and for evermore that he hath brought a Remnant to see this blessed Day of the flowings forth of his Love in our Hearts which makes us truly to rejoyce more than the Encrease of any Visible Thing And so our dear Friends how have we known the bedewings of the Lord as our Minds Hearts have been kept low before him and in the sence of the same we have been kept fresh and green and alive to God Oh! holy Praises be to the Name of the Lord our God forever for evermore And so our dear Friends having not much more in our Hearts to you at this time our dear Love is to you with the rest of Friends We remain Your dear Friends Brother and Sister in that blessed Truth of our God Stephen Richards Anne Barber Falmouth the 1st of the 3d Mon. 1678. Dear Friends Thomas Alice Curwen MY True Love dearly salutes you both and all True-hearted Friends that may enquire after me Since your coming away good Friends have been much wanting and things have been pretty high against me but I hope in the general it will not prevail and the Lord hath made me willing to bear but the Lord's hand of Power will preserve the Simple and Upright in Heart Amen saith your Friend in Brotherly Love Barbadoes the 2d of the 6th Mon. 1677. Ralph Freatwell Dear
Testimony for the Honour of his Everlasting Truth Friends are generally well in Health blessed be the Name of the Lord forever and for evermore So having this opportunity I was willing to write these few Lines Friends you are dear and near unto me and the Springs of Love and Life do often flow sorth unto you more than Tongue or Pen can express So no more but Your assured Friend and Brother in the Truth of our God Matthew Pryar And as Opportunity presents let me hear from you Friends have suffered pretty much at Boston since you were there Margaret Brewster of Barbadoes hath been sorely Whipt and many Friends more and here are a great many Friends come over to Delaware and I fear that there is great need of Faithful Labourers in these parts No more but my dear Love to you both Matthew Pryar Dear Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen IN that Love of God which is Everlasting and Endless in all his dear Babes and Children whom he hath begotten by his Immortal Word do I salute you and you are often in my Remembrance although far seperated as to the Outward yet near in that which is Invisible and Immortal in the Life of Innocency in which Life you were made instrumental in the Hand of our God to comfort me and hold me up in a living hope when I was well nigh overwhelmed with Sorrow but Praises are given by me unto our God that lives forever who hath given me Patience to wait his time and a Contented Heart that into what Estate and Condition I may be brought I hope I shall be contented Dear Friends I do own dearly your Labour of Love and in the sense of the same do bid you Farewel Who am your Friend in the Truth Francis Colley Flushen in New-England the 15th of the 8th Moneth 1677. DEar and Well-beloved Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen ' whom I love in the Truth and as my Love was dear to you when you were with us so it remains now when we are seperated and my Heart is truly knit unto you in Unfeigned Love and as you were a Comfort and a Strengthning in my great Weakness when you were with me which I cannot forget though far seperated but I do say The Lord reward your Labour of Love into your Bosoms for the Lord hath of his abundant Love raised me from a weak estate that I may yet remain in the Land of the Living to declare his Praise and to signifie my endeared Love to my Brethren and Sisters and to bear a Living Testimony for my God against the Wrong Spirits that burden the Seed of God So my dear Friends I have not much to acquaint you with only that which was fore-seen That Bad Spirits are working their own Destruction So in that Love which I began I do take my leave and remain Your Friend and Sister Mary Tyllton Gravesend in New-England the 15th Day of the 8th Moneth 1677. Antego the 19th of the 4th Moneth 1677. Dear Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen MY true love is to you both desiring your Everlasting Well-fare and Well-being in God's Everlasting Truth that is broken forth amongst us blessed be his Name forever who does daily engage us with his Love and gives us a living Experience of his Mercies and Goodness who feeds our Immortal Souls and keeps us fresh and green and bears up our Heads in the time of great and deep Exercises and Tryals which we do meet withal Everlasting Praises and Glory be to his Name forever so that we can say of a Truth Good is the Lord to all that wait upon him and chuse him to be their chiefest Beloved who indeed is the chiefest of Ten Thousand to his little Remnant that has none in Heaven but only the Lord Jesus Christ nor none on Earth in comparison of him And so desiring we may forever wait in singleness upon the Lord that he may keep us and preserve us in the sense of his Love breathing and crying unto the Lord one for another in the blessed Seed and Gift and holy Spirit that the Lord hath blessed through all Ages and Generations Everlasting Praises be unto his holy Name forever Oh Friends your Faithfulness the Lord hath made me in my measure sensible of wherein my Soul is comforted being Members of the one Body of which Christ Jesus is the Head and Leader that goes before his People and leads into the green Pastures of Life which the World cannot give us nor take from us JASPER TREGOUSE Dear Friends Thomas and Alice Curwen I Received your Lines and your Friend R. J. and cannot but accept kindly of your Remembrance of me in the Lord and was refreshed in them and your true Love therein as I have also been in your Company in several good Meetings by God's Power refreshed for which let him have the Praise forever and your tender and dear Advice in the Truth is owned and I desire your Remembrance of me in the Lord may be continued and that I may be preserved through all Tryals to God's Praise and worthy of his Mercies and Loving-kindness which is large and incomparable And dear Friends your Labour of Love in and Service for the Lord is not to be slipt out of Remembrance in many Hearts in this Island but is still very fresh and green and your Reward I question not is in your Bosom and will be with the Lord who was and is the exceeding great Reward of his Servants both in others and in this Age who were willing to forsake their Country and Kindred at his Requirings So dear Friends in the Salutation of that Love which exceeds all other I remember you and desire to be remembred by you And if you see G. F. mind me to him I have him in due Respect and Honour though I am as one of the least of the Thousands of Israel yet of true Jacob's stock the Stem is felt through the Goodness of Jacob's God whose Presence is better than this World's Glory Your Friend and Brother in measure of God's Power JOHN BARKER Barbadoes the 1st of the 5th Moneth 1676. Dear Thomas and Alice Curwen TO whom is my dear Love desiring these precious Seasons may never be forgotten wherein we have been sweetly watered and refreshed together but that the Glory of all may return to him in whom all our fresh Springs are Your Service for God amongst us I believe will be owned forever and a Testimony thereof is fresh in the Hearts of a Remnant in this Island and a sad and bitter Condition are many reduced to who opposed your Testimonies and so have come to wither and blast as is wofully manifest by Henry Jones at this present who is gone out of the Unity into the Enmity and heaped up a parcel of dirty stuff in writing against Friends and some others there about stand by him I think none but such as are out of the Practice of meeting with their Families I write the less of
all know me saith the Lord from the greatest to the least for I will write my Law in their Hearts and put my Fear in their inward Parts saith the Lord God Almighty Therefore Oh Priest I tell thee plainly 't was to a Feast that thou wast invited and the Lord is sending out into the High-wayes and Hedges to call in all and even to compell them that will not come that so his House may be filled that so all may be lest without excuse as he was that had not on his Wedding Garment who was Speechless for the Day is come that that whcih is seen in secret must be declared openly And therefore in the invisible Light we are moved to write unto thee seeing thee in the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ which lighteth every man that cometh into the World which hath long shined in Darkness but now the commanding Power of the Lord is gone forth and he hath commanded Light to shine out of Darkness and it shines in Peoples Hearts and will shine more and more untill the Perfect Day for which a Remnant can bless the Lord and sing Praises to his Name and unto the Lamb for evermore who was slain from the Foundation of the World but is now alive and lives forever and evermore and rules in the Hearts of the Upright And therefore in the invisible Light as I was waiting upon the Lord my Heart was truly opened to write unto thee seeing thee to be one of them that shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men that will neither enter in themselves nor suffer others Therefore saith Christ Jesus Wo unto you ye Whited Walls ye Painted Sepulchres ye Blind Guides and indeed you are so and lead the Blind and a Pit of Darkness is before you Therefore is our Advice unto thee and to all whom it may concern That ye turn to this invisible Light and as you wait in it and abide with it it will preserve your Hearts and Minds to God and ye shall not fall into the Pit And if thou enquire of us What is our Way We tell thee plainly Christ Jesus the Light of the World who said I am the Way the Truth and the Life he that believeth in me out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water And He even Christ Iesus the Power of God is the Original and not Hebrew Greek and Latin which the Jews set over his Head when they Crucified him as it is in these dayes and as is said before he is our Way and he is the Hope of our Glory and we are not ashamed to confess him before men for if we should not confess him before men but be ashamed of him as too too many are then he will not confess us before his Father in Heaven Therefore Oh Priest we warn thee that thou cease giving thy Meanings to the Scriptures Thou mayst read thy Doom in the Revelations He that Adds or Diminishes God will add unto him the Plagues written in that Book THOMAS ALICE CURWEN An Epistle written to Friends at Thickets and Clifts Meetings at Barbadoes the 20th of the 1st Moneth 1676. TO you Friends of the Thickets and Clifts Meetings and to all whom it may concern in the Love of God that truly opens our Hearts do we write unto you to stir up the pure Mind and to raise up that Love that brought us unto you even the Love of God that first begat us by the Word of his Power that we should be as the first Fruits unto God and this makes us to Cry many a time in the secret of our Hearts both in Meetings and out of Meetings Oh! how great is thy Loving kindness O Lord Oh that the World knew it And in the feeling of it we can truly say as one did Oh! that all the Lord's People were Prophets that they might speak one by one that all might be comforted and that the Lord would enlarge Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Shem then there would be no complaining for want of Power but the Lord would open even the Windows of Heaven and pour out Blessings upon you that ye shall not have room to hold it in but the Overflowings of it you would feel in your own particulars and when you were thus filled you would bless the Lord you would cry unto others to come away taste feel how good the Lord is for his Mercies endure forever to them that fear him and wait upon him And therefore Friends we beseech you think it not hard to keep your Meetings apart for the Blessing of the Lord is as truly witnessed in Meetings apart both in Men and Womens Meetings and though Women be the Weaker yet he hath laid Help upon one that is Mighty Oh! Praises Praises saith our Souls forever for evermore who feel his Power in our Hearts at this time And therefore do we write unto all that may be concerned in it That ye beware of that Spirit that was in the Children of Israel in the days of old for the Lord knows right well before whom we stand who knows the Innocency of our Hearts and Spirits that we judge no mans Person nor hint at no Particular the Lord knows but we have heard some say That it was well in the Beginning when there was not so many Meetings and we say the same But Friends consider we beseech you all for our Spirits are bowed down in a Sence of the Work of the Lord in this Island and therefore ye that have known good dayes in your Infancy rest not there but come to your Growth to a Young mans state and to an Old mans state for according to the manner of men in Twenty Years time we come to our Growth much more in the Work of the Lord can we come to teach others And therefore look not back as the Children of Israel did who fainted in their Minds because of their long Travel but take heed of that Spirit that would not have many Meetings nor to have Truth to spread for the Enemy lies near that would betray the Simplicity Therefore thus saith the Lord in our Hearts this day as he did unto Moses in dayes past Speak unto the Children of Israel that they go forward for this is the Day of the Lord's Appearance spiritually he is bringing out of Aegypt by a strong Arm and blessed is every one that helps on the Work and puts his Shoulder to it So faint not Friends in your Minds nor be not weary for the Work is the Lords and he will carry it on it shall Prosper and God prospers it in this Island Everlasting Praises be unto the Lord our God can our Souls truly say who feel the Work of the Lord to Prosper and therefore we say again Let none faint in the Day of Tryal for that 's a Testimony that their Strength is small And therefore Friends be Bold and Valiant for God's blessed Truth and take no thought but wait
upon the Lord and if ye be called before Magistrates the Lord will put a word into your Mouthes that they shall not be able to gainsay And if it be so that ye suffer joyfully the Spoiling of your Goods ye shall come to witness That the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness of it and they that Fear the Lord shall want no no good thing neither for Soul nor Body And if it be so that the Devil cast into Prison fear it not but in Patience possess your Souls for the Lord will bring thorow for we speak what we know for the Lord has delivered us out of Prison inwardly and outwardly and his Presence has been with us in all our Troubles and he has made us to sing in Prison and in the Stocks Praises be to the Lord God and to the Lamb forever sayour Souls But Friends we do not write this to make our Sufferings known but to encourage all to abide patiently that ye may come through as Gold purified for the Wicked are but like Waters and their Persecution is but like a Wave of the Sea and though they rise never so high yet it is our Faith in God That he that hath put a Limit to the bound of the Sea and hath said unto it Thus far shalt thou pass and no further and there shalt thou stay thy proud Waves Oh Friends bless the Lord with us for it is a Day of fulfilling Therefore O let Truth spread in every Particular let it take Root downward and grow upward and bring forth Fruit to the Praise and Glory of our heavenly Father And this we have to say That every Plant that he hath not planted shall be pluck't up and every Plant that his right hand hath planted he watereth it that it may bring forth more Fruit and in this is our heavenly Father Glorified and Well-pleased that we bear much Fruit Everlasting Praises be unto the Lord our God forever and evermore So with our Unfeigned Love we take leave of you and remain Your Friends in that which never alters nor never changes but remains forever do we Salute you all and bid you all Farewel Thomas Alice Curwen For the Mayor of Plymouth in Devonshire Friend Richard Tomes VVE do read in the Scriptures of Truth that in the Apostles dayes there was a noble Festus amongst the Magistrates Therefore do I write unto thee that thou be not stired up against a peaceable People that meets together singlely to worship God in Spirit in Truth for God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit in Truth and until People turn to the Spirit of Truth which is the Light within with which he hath lighted every one that comes into the World and he that hates this Light has it and though they may kick against it yet it stands a faithful Witness for God and whatever People may profess they never worship the living God acceptably for we know at this day that God hears not Sinners no more then he did in the dayes of Old and that the Prayers of the Wicked are abomination to him as well in this day as in times past but he that fears God and doth his Will them he hears and the Will of God is done in hearing and obeying the Light and by this did they witness in dayes past their Hearts to be Sanctified and this is it that we meet together for and we are but yet learning the Lord's Prayer and as we are willing to wait that the Will of God may be done in Earth as well as in Heaven the Lord has blest us and we shall spread over the face of the Earth and though Balaam and Balack would rise up to Curse Israel at this day yet this Testimony is in my Heart for God That he hath blest us and no man can Curse that which God hath blest And as we keep the Word of his Patience the Lord God will keep us in the Day of Tryal which shall certainly come upon all that dwell on the Earth and know not a Habitation in the God of Jacob for the Day is come which many would have seen wherein the Lord is bringing mighty Things to pass who reveals his Secrets to them that truly fear him the same which was in the Apostles dayes wherein the Everlasting Gospel was preached which is the Power of God unto Salvation and if any preach any other Gospel let them be accursed And this Gospel is a wonder to you and is hid from you and therefore ye perish in your Sins which separate you from the Living God and doth hinder good things from you who live in the pleasure of the Flesh and drink up Iniquity as the Ox drinks Water but now in the Latter Dayes the Lord is pouring forth his Spirit upon all Flesh his Sons and upon his Daughters and they do Preach and Prophecy in his Name and in his Name do wonderful things and it is a great Wonder to all the World who lies in Wickedness and therefore the People perish for want of Knowledge for the Lord would have gathered you in this Day as he would have gathered Jerusalem in the dayes of old but they would not be gathered and therefore they were left Desolate and the same is coming upon you if you do not speedily Repent for Jerusalem was destroyed who would not be gathered and then Lamentation Wo and Misery did fall upon them and remains upon them till this Day but the Lord hath gathered a Remnant into Covenant with himself wherein Jacob doth rejoyce and Israel doth dwell safely And therefore the Sons of Jacob are not consumed though many be Jacob's Troubles and the Afflictions of Joseph which is now as was in the Dayes of old and they that suffer for him they shall reign with him forever and for evermore and fit at his right Hand in his Throne of Grace and in his Kingdom of Glory forever and for evermore where we shall Sing and Rejoyce with the Lord God and the Lamb forever the Lamb that was slain in us in Sodom and Aegypt while the World had a Foundation in us who was dead but is now alive whose Name is called the Word of God which was in the Beginning as the Scripture doth declare 1 John 1. This was for the Priest of Ives Joshua Herning the 19th of the 10th Moneth 1677. I could not be clear in the sight of the Lord untill I had written a few Lines unto thee seeing thee come into our Meeting with the Constable and his great Staff and I heard thee say That thou wast an Informer I tell thee plainly it were better for thee to be a Hang-man for they do but execute others that by their Law are condemned to dye but many Informers have brought shameful Death upon themselves and Ruin upon their Families as it is on Record Indeed we confess we are a Suffering People at this day as they were that went before us who took