Sanctuary for ever Farewell Farewell Thy Friend and the Lord's Servant W.P. Briel 30. 8th Month S.N. 1677. Next morning the Pacquet-boat arrived and about Ten we went on board having first taken our solemn leave of our Friends that accompanied us thither We immediately set sail with a great number of Passengers but by reason of contrary and tempestuous Weather we arrived not at Harwich till the third day about the 6th hour Whence next Morning I writ this following salutation and Account to the Friends of Holland and Germany A Letter from Harwich to Friends in Holland and Germany containing the Passages from Holland to England Let this be sent to Friends in High and Low-Dutch-Land O My Soul magnifieth the Lord and my Spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour who hath rebuked the Winds and the Seas and made us to drink of his Salvation upon the great Deeps Yea we could not but praise him in the Tempest for all things are full of his Majesty Blessed is the eye that seeth and the heart that dependeth upon him at all times there is not another God he is the Lord alone that the holy Ancients trusted in and were not confounded what shall my Soul render unto the Lord. We are full of his Mercy he hath made us Witnesses of his care We can say in righteousness they are blessed whose God is the Lord and that serve all the day long no other Master than our God Friends this is an endeared Salutation to you all in High and Low Dutch-land in the deep and fresh sense of the Lord 's preserving Power O that you may abide in that sense of him which he hath begotten in you and in the reverent knowledge of him according to the manifestation which you have received of him in the light of his dear Son O that you may be faithful and fervent for the Lord that his glorious life and power may break thro' you And these Lands long dry and barren as the Wilderness may spring and blossom as the Rose For what have we to do here but to exalâ— him that hath visited and loved us yea saved us in great measure Aâ— he is worthy my Spirit reverenceth him my Heart and Soul do bow before him eternal Blessings dwell for ever with him Dear Friends my love followeth to you as a fountain God even my God and your God hath made you dear to me yea dearer than all natural Kindred You are Flesh of Flesh indeed Sea nor Land Time nor Place can never separate our Joy divide our Communion or wipe out the remembrance that I have of you yea the living Remembrance that my God often giveth me of you in the life of his Son abideth which breaketh my heart to pieces and I can say I have left most of my heart behind me and the Lord only could have outwardly separated me so soon from you O this Love that is stronger than Death more excellent than the love of Women that endureth for ever this Privilege have all the Saints Jesus the light of the World that saveth from the World be with you Amen We got well last night about Seven to Harwich being three days and two Nights at Sea Most part of the time was a great storm of Wind and Rain and Hail the Weâ—ther was against us and the Vessel so leaky that two Pumps went night and day or we haâ— perisht 't is believed that they pumpt twice more water out than the Vessel could contain but our peace was as a River and our joy full The Seas had like to have washt some of the Seamen over-board but the great God preserved all well Frights were among the People and Despondencies in some but the Lord wrought deliverance for all we were mightily throng'd which made it the more troublesome But it is observable that though the Lord so wonderfully delivered us yet some vain People soon forgot it and returned quickly to their wanton Talk and Conversation not abiding in the sense of that hand which had delivered them nor can any do it as they should but those that are turned to his appearance in their hearts who know him to be a God nigh at hand which may it be your Experience and Portion for ever And the Lord be with you and refresh and sustain you and in all your Temptations never lâ—ave you nor forsake you that Conquerors you may be and in the end of Days and Time stand in your Lot among the Spirits of the Just made perfect Amen Amen Yours in that which is Eternal W.P. Harwich 24. of the 8th Month 1677. Here I left dear G F. G Diricks and her Children that came over with us to follow me in Coach who having a desire to be that day at Colchester Meeting went early away on horse-back G K. accompanying me we got the Meeting and were well refresht in Friends That Evening we had a mighty Meeting at J. Furly's house where we lay many being there of the Town that would not come to a publick Meeting and indeed the Lord 's divine Power and Presence was in the Assembly Next day we had a great Meeting at a Marriage where we had good service for the Lord. Afternoon about four we took horse for London G. F. c. through miscarriage of a Letter about the Coach not being come to Colchester That night we lay at I. Ravens eight miles on our Way there we met Giles Barnadiston and Willam Bennet with whom and some other Friends thereabout we were comforted in the Life and Power of the Lord. The day following we took our journey for London came there in good time that Evening where I found all things relating to Friends in a good condition blessed be the Name of the Lord. I stayed about a week in Town both to visit Friends at Meetings and to be serviceable to the more general Affairs of Truth The first day of the next week I went to Worminghurst my house in Sussex where I found my dear Wife Child and Family all well blessed be the name of the Lord God of all the families of the Earth I had that Evening a sweet meeting amongst them in which God's blessed Power made us truly glad together and I can say truly blessed are they who can chearfully give up to serve the Lord Great shall be the encrease and growth of their Treasure which shall never end To Him that was and is and is to come the eternal blessed righteous powerful and faithful One be glory honour and praises Dominion and a Kingdom for ever and ever Amen William Penn. TO THE Children of Light IN THIS GENERATION Called of God to be Partakers of Eternal Life in JESUS CHRIST the Lamb of God and Light of the World My Endeared Friends and Brethren MAny Days and Weeks yea some Months hath my Heart been Heavy and my Soul unusually Sad for the sake of this Nation the Land of our Nativity For I have
AN ACCOUNT OF W. Penn ' s TRAVAILS IN HOLLAND and GERMANY Anno MDCLXXVII For the Service of the Gospel of Christ by way of Journal Containing also Divers Letters and Epistles writ to several Great and Eminent Persons whilst there London Printed and Sold by T. Sowle near the Meeting-House in White-Hart-Court in Grace-Church-Street and at the Croked-Billet in Holy-well-lane near Shoreditch 1694. THE Preface to the Reader THis Ensuing Journal of my Travils in Holland and Germany in the Service of the Gospel of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was written for my own and some Relations and perticular Friends Satisfaction as the long time it hath lain silent doth show But a Copy that was found amongst the late Countess of Connaway's Papers falling into the Hands of a Person that much frequented that Family he was earnest with me both by himself and others to have leave to Publish it for a Common Good Which upon perusal I have found a willingness to comply with hoping that the Lord will make the Reading of it Effectual to some into whose Hands it may Fall as well those who have received a Dispensation of the same Ministry for Their Encouragement in their Publick Service for God as those who are under the same Ministry unto Zeal and Faithfulness For it is the Glorious Gospel-Day in which God is Exalting his Dear Son as Prophet Priest and King in the Hearts of his People Oh that the Nations would hear him their only Saving Health and Israels great Shepherd who takes care of his Sheep that hear his Voice and gives unto them that follow him in the daily Cross unto Regeneration Eternal Life And who hath sent and is sending forth his Servants to gather home the Sheep that are gone astray in all Nations that so there may be but One Shepherd and One Sheepfold according to the Glorious Promise made to these latter Times In which he would be the Teacher of his People himself For he is Teaching thousands by the Light Spirit and Grace of his Son Christ in whom he is well pleased To this God hath sent forth his Servants in this Day to turn all People as God's Call and Visitation to the Nations And blessed are all those that Hearken to this Testimony both Mediately and Immediately For God is awakening Men to the Knowledge of his Glory in the Face or Appearance of Christ by his Spirit in their Hearts and Consciences which reveal to Men the Father yea the deep things of God Oh that they would Hear and Fear and Learn the things that make for their Eternal Peace For if the Righteous scarcely are saved where O where shall they appear that neglect so great Salvation A Salvation that comes so neer them as to knock at the door of their Hearts that teaches them and trys their Reins and tells unto them their most inward Thoughts and brings a Time of Judgment over all their Words and Works This is Christ Jesus the Light of the World that was given of God for Salvation to the ends of the Earth He has Enlightned all and Shines to all and Calls all that they should see their Sins and be sorry for them and forsake them and take up his dayly Cross and follow him whom God hath given for an Example as well as a Propitiation for our Sins And none can know him to be their Propitiation that rejest him as their Example and Leader in their Lives and Conversations Wherefore Reader be Serious Inward and Inquisitive for thy Souls Sake What Faith hast thou One that over-comes the World or one that the Spirit of the World over-comes which is not the Faith of God's Elect without which we cannot please God For that Faith works by love Such a love to God as will not affend him but seeks his Glory through a most willing Obedience to his Holy Will Blessed are the Souls in which this love dwells For such have none in Heaven but God nor in the Earth in comparison of him As they receive all good from him so they resign all up to him and tho' it be through many Tribulations that they must attain the rest of God yet as nothing can seperate them from his love so neither can anything deprive them of their Reward in the End Wherefore Reader be thou perswaded to take thy Lot among that blessed Number if thou art not yet one of them Thou seest the way to that Divine Priviledge walk in it for the End Crowns all If one of that number that have chosen God for their Portion be Diligent Zealous and fervent in the Work and Service of God Redeem thy Time and Run thy Race with care and constancy looking to Jesus the Author that he may be the Finisher of thy Faith Remember who said there are many Mansions prepared for the Faithful Do we beleive and look for another World Let us not then live in this as if there were no other Let our Eyes be upon our better World and live here as Strangers that are but on our way to our Eternal Home that so we may Answer the End of God's Love by working out the Salvation of our own Souls by his Power with fear and Trembling knowing God will Judge all by Christ Jesus according to the Deeds done in the Body Reader this Journal is of a Religious Voyage and has some passages in it that may Engage thy Soul to Seriousness and let the see how Good God is to those that go of his Holy Errands May'st thou be heartily affected with this Testimony of his Love and Presence with his People and feel good desires raised in thee to serve the Lord also according to his blessed will in thy day that Peace thou may'st know to thy Soul when time here shall be no more I am Thy assured Friend in the best Things W. Penn. AN ACCOUNT OF MY JOURNEY INTO Holland and Germany BEING the First Day of the Week I left my Dear Wife and Family at Worminghurst in Sussex in the Fear and Love of God and came well to London that Night The next day I Emploied my self on Friends behalf that were in Sufferings till the Evening and then went to my own Mothers in Essex The next Morning I took my Journey to Colchester and met George Wats of London upon the Way who returned with me and came well to that Town that Evening We lodged at John Furly's the Elder but had a Blessed Meeting at Jonathan Furly's House that Night The next Morning early I left Colchester and came to Harwich about Nine accompanied with George Wats and John Furly the Elder William Tallcoat and J. Whiterly of Colchester where we found dear G. F. at J. Vanderwall's House with many more Friends After Dinner we went all to the Meeting where the Lord gave us a Blessed Earnest of his Love ' and Presence that should be with us in this Voyage for his overcoming refreshing Power did open all
through a very dark Country to that place yet I felt not so great a weight and suffering in my Spirit as six Years ago when I went through the same places At Osnabrug we had a little time with the Man of the Inn where we lay and left him several good Books of Friends in the Low and High Dutch Tongues to Read and to dispose of The next morning being the fifth day of the Week we set forward to Herwerden and came thither at Night This is the City where the Princess Elizabeth Palatine hath her Court whom and the Countess in Company with her it was especially upon us to Visit and that upon several Accompts 1. In that they are Persons seeking after the best things 2. That they are actually Lovers and Favourers of those that separate themselves from the World for the sake of Righteousness For the Princess is not only a private supporter of such but gave protection to De Labadie himself and his Company yea when they went under the reproachfull Name of Quakers about seven Years since This Man was a Frenchman that dissatisfied with the loosness and deadness of the French Protestants even at Geneva it self left them and came for Holland and so vehemently declaimed against the Apostacy of the Priests and People there that the Clergy were inraged and stir'd up the Magistrates against him and the rather because many followed him and several Women of great Quality Upon this the Princess giveth them an invitation and they came and were protected by her but since some miscarriages falling out in that place she thereupon in good measure withdrew her Favour from them and they removed into another place I was moved to Visit this Man and his Company six years ago and did see him and his two great Disciples but they would not suffer me to see the People which I laboured for I in that day saw the airiness and unstableness of the Man's Spirit and that a Sect-master was his Name and it was upon me both by Word of Mouth and Writing to let them know that the Enemy would prevail against them to draw them into inconvenient things if they came not to be stay'd in the Light of Jesus Christ and to know the Holy Silence and that at last they would come to fall out one with another and moulder away which is in some measure come to pass as I fear'd for I clearly perceived that though they had received some Divine Touches a danger there was they would run out with them and spend them like Prodigals not knowing then where to stay their Minds for daily Bread yea though they were something Angelical and like to the Celestial Bodies yet if they kept not their Station they would prove fallen Stars they moved not in the motion of him that had visited them but were fill'd with gross Mixtures and thereby brought forth mixt Births That is to say things not Natural but Monstrous In fine they were Shy of us they knew us not yet I believed well of some of the People for a good thing was stirring in them and in this Case was the Countess commendable in that she left all to have joined with a People that had a pretence at least to more Spirituality and Self-denial than was found in the National Religion she was bred up in for God had reacht her as she told me about Nine Years ago and that by an extraordinary way Now it seemed great pity to us that Persons of their Quality in the World should so willingly expose themselves for the false Quaker the reprobate Silver the Mixtures and that they should not be acquainted with the Life and Testimony of the true Quakers Now about a Year since R.B. and B.F. took that City in the way from Frederickstadt to Amsterdam and gave them a Visit in which they informed them somewhat of Friends Principles and recommended the Testimony of Truth to them as both a nearer and more certain thing than the utmost of De Labadie's Doctrine They left tender and loving Soon after this Getrueydt Dircks and Elizabeth Hendricks from Amsterdam visited them and obtained a Meeting with them improving that little way God by his Providence had made more closely to press the Testimony and though they especially the Countess made some Objections in relation to the Ordinances and certain Practices of Friends yet she seemed to receive at that time satisfaction from them These Visits have occasioned a Correspondence by way of Letter betwixt them and several of us wherein the Mistery of Truth hath been more clearly opened to their Understandings and they have been brought nearer into a waiting Frame by those Heavenly Directions they have frequently receiv'd by way of Epistles from several of us This Digression from the present History I thought not altogether unnessary or unpleasing But to Return being arrived at that City part of which is under her Government we gave her to understand it desiring to know what time next day would be most proper for us to Visit her She sent us word she was glad that we were come and should be ready to receive us the next Morning about the Seventh Hour The next morning being come which was the sixth day of the week we went about the time she had appointed us and found both her and the Countess ready to receive us which they did with a more than ordinary Expression of Kindness I can truly say it and that in God's fear I was very deeply and reverently affected with the Sense that was upon my Spirit of the great and notable day of the Lord and the breakings in of his Eternal Power upon all Nations and of the raising of the slain Witness to judge the World who is the Treasure of Life and Peace of Wisdom and Glory to all that receive him in the Hour of his Judgments and abide with him The Sense of this deep and sure Foundation which God is laying as the Hope of Eternal Life and Glory for all to Build upon fill'd my Soul with an Holy Testimony to them which in a living Sense was followed by my Brethren and so the Meeting ended about the Eleventh Hour The Princess intreated us to stay and Dine with her but with due regard both to our Testimony and to her at that time we refused it desiring if she pleased another opportunity that day which she with all chearfulness yielded to She her self appointing the Second Hour So we went to our Quarters and some time after we had Dined we returned The Meeting soon began there were several present besides the Princess and Countess it was at this Meeting that the Lord in a more eminent manner began to appear the Eternal Word shewed it self a Hammer at this day yea sharper than a two edged Sword dividing asunder between the Soul and the Spirit the Joints and the Marrow yea this day was all Flesh Humbled before the Lord it amazed one struck another broke another
to Worms from whence we the next Morning being the first day of the Week walked on Foot to Crisheim which is about six English Miles from Worms We had a good Meeting from the tenth till the third Hour and the Lord's Power sweetly opened to many of the Inhabitants of the Town that were at the Meeting yea the Vaught or chief Officer himself stood at the Door behind the Barn where he could hear and not be seen who went to the Priest and told him that it was his Work if we were Hereticks to discover us to be such but for his part he heard nothing but what was good and he would not meddle with us In the Evening we had a more retired Meeting of the Friends only very weighty and tender yea the Power rose in high operation among them and great was the Love of God that rose in our Hearts at the Meeting to visit them and there is a lovely sweet and true Sense among them we were greatly comforted in them and they were greatly comforted in us Poor Hearts a little handful surrounded with great and mighty Countries of Darkness 't is the Lord's great Goodness and Mercy to them that they are so finely kept even natural in the Seed of Life they were most of them gathered by dear William Ames The next Morning we had another Meeting where we took our leave of them and so came accompanied by several of them to Worms where having refresh'd our selves we went to visit the Lutheran Priest that was at the Meeting the sixth Day before at Crisheim he received us very kindly and his Wife not without some sense of our Testimony After we had discours'd about an Hour with him of the true and heavenly Ministry and Worship and in what they stood and what all People must come unto if ever they will know how to worship God aright we departed and immediately sent them several good Books of Friends in High-Dutch Immediately we took Boat about the third Hour in the Afternoon and came down the River Rhine to Mentz where we arrived about the fifth Hour in the Morning and immediately took an open Chariot for Frankfort where we came about the first Hour in the Afternoon We presently informed some of those People that had received us the Time before of our return to that City with desires that we might have a Meeting that Afternoon which was readily granted us by the Noble Women at whose House we met whither resorted some that we had not seen before And the Lord did after a living manner open our Hearts and Mouths amongst them which was received by them as a farther confirmation of the coming of the Day of the Lord unto them yea with much joy and kindness they received us The Meeting held till the ninth Hour at Night they constrained us to stay and eat with them which was also a blessed Meeting to them before we parted we desired a select Meeting the next Morning at the same Place of those that we felt more inwardly affected with Truth 's Testimony and that were nearest unto the State of a silent Meeting which they joyfully assented to We went to our Lodging and the next Morning we returned unto them with whom we had a blessed and heavenly Opportunity for we had room for our Life amongst them it was as among faithful Friends Life ran as Oil and swom a-top of all We recommended a silent Meeting unto them that they might grow into an holy Silence unto themselves that the Mouth that calls God Father that is not of his own Birth may be stop'd and all Images confounded that they may hear the soft Voice of Jesus to instruct them and receive his sweet Life to feed them and to build them up About the ninth Hour we departed from that Place and went to Vander Walls where the Meeting was the Time before and there we had a more publick Meeting of all that pleased to come The Lord did so abundantly appear amongst us that they were more broken than we had seen them at any time yea they were exceeding tender and low and the Love of God was much raised in their Hearts to the Testimony In this sensible frame we left them and the Blessings and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ with and among them And after having refresh'd our selves at our Inn we took Boat down the Main to Mentz where we arrived about the fifth Hour 't is a great City but a dark and superstitious Place according to the Popish Way and is under the Government of a Popish Bishop we stayed not longer there than till our Boat was ready which might be better than half an Hour From Mentz we went on our way down the Rhine six German Miles and came that Night to Hampack from thence the next Morning we went by Bacherach Coblentz and other places upon the Rhine to Tresy that Night being about eleven German Miles Next day being the sixth Day of the Week we got to Cullen a great Popish City about the third Hour in the Afternoon We gave notice to a sober Merchant in that Town a serious Seeker aâ—ter God that we were there arrived who presently came to us We sat down and had a living and pretious Opportunity with him opening to him the Way of the Lord as to us it had been maniâ—ested intreating him if he knew any in that City who had desires after the Lord or that were willing to come to a Meeting that he would please to inform them of our being here and of our desire to meet with them He answered That he would readily do it This night when we were in Bed came the Resident of several Princes a serious and tender Man to find us out we had some discourse with him but being late promised to see us the next Day The next Morning came the aforesaid Merchant informing us that it was a busy Time several preparing for the Mass or great Fair at Frankfort yet some would come and he desired it might be at his House in the Afternoon about Three In the Morning we were to visit that Resident whom we met coming to see us but he returned and brought us to his House We had a good Time with him for the Man is an antient Seeker opprest with the Cares of this World and he may be truly said to mourn under them his Heart was opened to us and he blessed God that he had lived to see us We gave him an Account how the Lord appeared in the Land of our Nativity and how he had dealt with us which was as the cool and gentle Showers upon the dry and scorched Desart About Noon we returned Home after we had eaten we went to the Merchant's House to the Meeting where came four Persons one of which was the Presbyterian Priest who preach'd in private to the Protestants of that Place for they are no
thee in his keeping that thou mayest not loose but keep in that Divine Sense which by his Eternal Word he hath begotten in thee Receive dear Princess my sincere and Christian Salutation Grace Mercy Peace be multiplied among you all that love the Lord Jesus Thy Business I shall follow with all the diligence and discretion I can and by the first give tâ—ee an Account after it shall please the Lord to bring me safe to London All my Brethren are well and present thee with their dear love and the rest that love Jesus the Light of the World in thy Family Thou hast taught me to forget thou art a Princess and therefore I use this freedom and to that of God in thee am I manifest and I know my integrity Give if thou pleasest the Salutation of my dear Love to A.M. de Hornes with the inclosed Dear Princess do not hinder but help her that may be required of her which considering thy Circumstances may not yet be required of thee Let her stand free and her freedom will make the passage easie unto thee Accept what I say I intreat thee in that pure and heavenly love and respect in which I write so plainly to thee Farewell my Dear Friend and the Lord be with thee I am more than I can say Thy Great Lover and Respectful Friend W.P. I referr thee to the Inclosed for Passages We visited Giltall and Hooftman and they us they were at one or two of the Meetings at Amsterdam Vale in aeternum For ANNA MARIA de Hornes stiled Countess of Hornes Jesus be with thy Spirit Amen BEloved and much Esteemed for the sake of that love which is raised in thy Heart to the Eternal Truth of God the increase of which I earnestly desire that thou mayst be more than Conqueror through the powerful Workings of that divine Love in thy Soul which casteth out all fear and overcometh the World In this eternal Love it is that I love thee and would be loved of thee blessed are they that hold their fellowship in it It is Pure Harmless Patient Fervent and Constant In fine it cometh from God and leadeth all that receive it to God indeed it is God and they that live in God live in Love If we keep and abide in him that hath visited us we shall always feel his love as a fountain and Wonderful are the Effects of it O it can lay down its Life for its Friend it will break through all Difficulty and hath Power to conquer Death and the Grave This transcendeth the Friendship of the World and the Vain-glorious Honours of the Courts of this World O this kindness is inviolable our purest Faith worketh by this Love O the Tenderness of that Soul in which this Love liveth and hath place the Humility and Compassion that always keeps it Company and who can lively enough describe the lovely Image it giveth the attracting and engaging Conversation it hath but it is discerned and greatly valued by the Children of Love who are born of it which all the Children of Light are What shall I say it is the great Command and keepeth all the Commands Love pure and undefiled it fulfilleth the Law and Gospel too Blessed are they that feel any of this Love shed abroad in their Hearts with this Love it is that God loved us and by the Power of this Love Christ Jesus hath died for us Yea 't is this Love that quickeneth us to Jesus that enflameeth our Souls with pure and ardent Love to him and Zeal for him Yea 't is this holy Love that forsaketh Father and Mother Sister and Brother Husband Wife and Children House and Land Liberty and Life for the sake of Jesus that leaveth the Dead to bury the Dead and followeth Jesus in the narrow Way of Regeneration that can trust him in the Winds and in the Earthquakes in the Fire and in the Waters yea when the Floods come in even unto the Soul this despondeth not neither murmureth and as it cannot despair so it never presumeth yea it can triumphantly say What shall be able to separate me from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus Shall Principalities or Powers Things present or Things to come Shall Life or Death O no neither Time nor Mortality My Dear Friend let this noble Plant of Paradise grow in thy Heart wait upon the Lord that he would Water it and Shine upon it and make an Hedge about it that thy whole Heart may be replenished with the heavenly increase and fruits of it O that thou mayst grow in thy inner Man in Wisdom Strength and a pure Understanding in favour with God and with all People that are in the same Nature and Image for the World only loveth its own I hoped not to have been so quick upon my last long Letter but God's pure Love that hath redeemed me from the Earth and the earthly Nature and Spirit moved fervently upon my Spirit to Visit thee once more before I leave this Land I deferr'd it to this Extremity and being not clear to go hence I send thee my Christian Salutation in this pure Love that many Waters cannot quench distance cannot make it forget nor can time wear it out My Soul reverently boweth before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that it would please him to preserve thee Fear him and thou needest not fear for the Angel of the Lord encampeth about those that trust in his Name The Angel of his Eternal Presence guard thee that none of the Enemies of thy Soul's Peace may ever prevail against thee Perseverance and Victory be thy Portion in this World and a Crown of endless Glory be thy Reward in that which is to come Amen Since my last being the next day after the Date thereof we had a meeting with Galenus Abrahams and his Company for they are the most virulent and obstinate Opposers of Truth in that Land the success thou mayst perhaps see suddenly in Print and therefore I may defer the Narrative only in general our Dear Lord our Staff and Strength was with us and Truth reigned over all That Night we went to Leyden where we visited some Thence next day to the Hague where also we had a little Meeting O the Lust and Pride of that place thou camest into my Mind as I walked in the Streets and I said â—n my self Well she hath chosen the better part O be faithful and the Lord will give thee an eternal Recompence Thence we came to Rotterdam where the Lord hath given us several heavenly Opportunities in Private and Publick We are now come to the Briel and wait our Passage the Lord Jesus be with you that stay and with us that go that in him we may live and abide for ever Salute me to my French Friend bid her be Constant I wish thy Servants felicity but thine as mine own God Almighty overshadow thee hide thee under his Pavillion be thy Shield Rock and
made our usual Inquiry viz. who was worthy in the City and found some that tenderly and lovingly received us to whom we declared the Visitation of the Light and Love of God Among the rest was Dureus our Countryman a Man of Seventy Seven Years of Age who had learned in good Measure to forget his Learning School Divinity and Priest's Craft and for his approaches towards an inward Principle is reproachfully saluted by some with the honest Title of Quaker 't is much better than Papist Lutheran or Calvinist who are not only ignorant of but Enemies to Quaking and Trembling at the Word of the Lord as Moses and others did Upon the Sixth day of the same week about Noon we set out towards Franckfort having left several Books behind us which hath been our Practice in our Journey At Franckfort we Arrived the Second day about Noon being just a Week from Herwerden and having from thence and Cassel made known our intentions of coming to that City two considerable Persons came and met us about half a German Mile from the City informing us of several well affected in that Town upon which we told them the end of our coming and desired to have a Meeting with them in the Afternoon which we easily obtained at the House of a Merchant one of the two that met us The persons that resorted thither were generally People of considerable Note both of Calvinists and Lutherans and we can say they received us with gladness of Heart and embraced our Testimony with a broken and reverent Spirit thanking God for our coming amongst them and praying that he would prosper this work in our Hands this ingaged our hearts to make some longer stay in this City We therefore desired another Meeting the next day which they cheerfully assented to where several came that were not with us the day before and the Lord that sent us into the Land was with us and by his Power reached to them insomuch that they confessed to the Truth of our Testimony Of these Persons there were two Women one a Virgin the other a Widow both Noble of Birth who had a deep Sense of that power and presence of God that accompanied our Testimony and their hearts yearned strongly towards us the Virgin giving us a particular invitation to her House the next Morning where we had the most blessed Opportunity of the three for the Lord's power so eminently appeared that not only those that had been with us before were most effectually reacht but a certain Student residing in the House of a Lutheran Minister sent for by that Young Woman was broken to pieces and magnified that blessed power which appeared Also there accidentally came in a Doctor of Physick who unexpectedly was affected and confessed to the Truth praying God to prosper us This was the blessed Issue of our Visit to Franckfort But there is one thing more not unfit to be mentioned Among some of those that have Inclinations after God a fearful Spirit together with the shame of the Cross hath entred against which our Testimony in part striking we took Notice it was as Life to these noble Women for that was it as they told us which had long opprest them and obstructed the work of the Lord amongst them Therefore said the Young Virginour Quarters are free for you let all come that will come and lift up your Voices without fear for said she it will never be well with us till Persecution come and some of us be lodged in the Stadthouse that is the Prison We left the Peace of Jesus with them and the same Afternoon we departed out of that City being the fourth day of the week Here I writ an Epistle to the Churches of Jesus TO THE CHURCHES OF JESUS Throughout the WORLD Gathered and settled in his Eternal Light Power and Spirit to be one Holy Flock Family and Houshold to the Lord who hath Redeemed them from among all the Kindreds of the Earth Godly Zeal Wisdom Power Perseverance and Victory with all Heavenly Blessings be multiplied among you in the Name of the Lord. William Penn. Printed in the Year 1677. TO THE CHURCHES OF JESUS Throughout the VVORLD Gathered and settled in his Eternal Light Power and Spirit to be One Holy Flock Family and Houshold to the Lord c. Dear Friends and Brethren WHO have been visited with the Fatherly Visitation from on High and have received God's Eternal Word and Testament in your Hearts by which you have been gathered home to Christ Jesus the true Shepherd from all the Idol-Shepherds and their barren Mountains and unprofitable Hills where you have been scattered in the Dark and Gloomy Day of Apostacy and by hiâ— Light Spirit and Power have been convinced of Sin Righteousness and Judgment and can say The Prince of thiâ— World is judged by his Holy Righteous and powerful Appearance in you untâ— whom all Judgment in Heaven and Earth is committed who is the blessed Lamâ— of God the Light and Saviour of the World who is King of Salem and Prince of Peace My Soul loves you with everlasting Love even with the Love with which my God and your God my Father and your Father hath loved me and visited my Soul and your Souls in this do I dearly salute and embrace you all in this the day of the fullfilling of his glorious Promises to his Church in the Wilderness and Witnesses in Sack-cloth And O magmagnified be his Name and everlastingly praised and renowned be his holy Power and Arm by which he hath reached unto us and brought Salvation near us For he hath found us out and hath heard our Solitary Cries the deep and mournful Supplications of our bowed Spirits when we were as the â—ittle silly Dove without its Mate and â—he lonely Pelican in the Wilderness when we were ready to cry out Is â—here none to save is there none to help O when shall the Time and Times and half a Time be finisht when shall the One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Days be accomplisht and when shall the Abomination that stands in the Holy Place â—â—e cast out when shall the Captivity of the People be turned back O when shall Babylon come into Remembrance before God the Dragon Beast and False Prophet be cast into the Lake And when shall the Law go forth out of Sion and the Word of the Lord out of Jerusalem When shall Sion become the Joy and Jerusalem the Praise of the whole Earth And when shall the Earth be covered with the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waâ—ers cover the Sea Friends The Lord of Heaven and Earth hath heard our Cries and the full time is come yea the appointed time is come and the Voice of the Eâ—ernal Spirit in our Hearts hath been And Friends let it never pass out of our remembrance what our God hath done for us since he hath made us a People Hath any Weapon formed against us prospered hath he
Jesus said Fear not for it is my Father's good pleasure to give you a Kingdom And to be of this Flock you must become as Sheep and to be as Sheep you must become harmless and to become harmless you must hear and follow the Lamb of God as he is that blessed Light which discovereth and condemneth all the unfruitful Works of Darkness and maketh harmless as a Dove which word All leaveth not one Piccadillo or Circumstance undiscovered or unjudged and the word Darkness taketh in the whole Night of Apostacy and the word Vnfruitful is a plain Judgment against all those dark Works Wherefore out of them all come and be you separated and God will give you a Crown of Life which shall never fade away O! the lowness and meanness of those Spirits that despise or neglect the Joys and Glories of Immortality for the sake of the things which are â—een that are but Temporal debasing â—he Nobility of their Souls abandoning the Government of the Divine Spirit and embracing with all ardency of Affection the sensual Pleasures of this Life but such as persevere therein shall not enter into God's Rest for ever But this is not all that hindereth and obstructeth in the holy Way of Blessedness for there is the World's Fear as well as the World's Joy that obstructeth many or else Christ had not said Fear not to his little Flock The Shame of the Cross is a Yoke too uneasy and a Burden too heavy for Flesh and Blood to bear 't is true but therefore shall Flesh and Blood never enter into the Kingdom of God And not to them that are born of the Flesh but to those that are born of the Spirit through the Word of Regeneration is appointed the Kingdom and that Throne which shall judg the twelve Tribes of Israel and all the World The Lord perfect what he hath begun in you and give you Dominion over the Love and Fear of this World And my Friends if you would profit in the Way of God despise noâ— the Day of small things in youâ— selves Know this that to desire anâ— sincerely to breathe after the Lord iâ— a blessed State you must seek beforâ— you find Do you believe make noâ— haste extinguish not those small Beginnings by an over-earnest or impatient desire of Victory God's time is the best time be you faithful and your Conflict shall end with Glory to God and the Reward of Peace to your own Souls Therefore love the Judgment and love the Fire start not aside neither flinch from the scorchings of it for it will purify and refine you as Gold seven times tried then cometh the Stamp and Seal of the Lord upon his own Vessel Holiness to him for ever which he never gave nor will give to reprobate Silver the state of the Religious Worshippers of the World And herein be comforted that Sion shall be redeemed through Judgment and her Converts through Righteousness and after the appointed time of Mourning is over the Lord will give Beauty for Ashes the Oil of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness then shall you be able to say Who is he that condemneth us God hath justified us there is no Condemnation to us that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Wherefore my dear Friends walk not only not after the fleshly Lusts but also not after the fleshly Religions and Worships of the World for that that is not born of the Spirit is Flesh and all Flesh shall wither as the Grass and the Beauty of it shall fade away as the Flower of the Field before God's Sun that is risen and rising but the Word of the Lord in which is Life and that Life the Light of Men shall endure for ever and give Life Eternal to them that love and walk in the Light And I entreat you by the Love you have for Jesus have a care how you touch with fleshly Births or say Amen by Word or Practice to that which is not born of the Spirit for God is not to be found of that in your selves or others that calleth him Father and he hath never begotten it in them that Latitude and Conformity is not of God but secretly grieveth his Spirit and obstructeth the growth of the Soul in its Acquaintance and intimate Communion with the Lord. Without me saith Jesus you can do nothing and all that came before me are Thieves and Robbers If so O what are they that Pray Preach and Sing without Jesus and follow not him in those Duties but even in them crucify him O that I may find in you an Ear to hear and an Heart to perceive and embrace these Truths of Jesus And I can say I have great cause to hope and patiently to wait till the Salvation of God be further revealed to you and the whole Family with whom I must acknowledg I was abundantly refreshed and comforted in that God in measure made known the Riches of his Grace and Operation of his Celestial Power to you and his Witness shall dwell with you if we never see you more that God magnified his own Strength in our Weakness With him we leave our Travels affectionately recommending you to his holy Spirit of Grace that you may be conformed to the Image of his own dear Son who is able and ready to preserve you O stay your Minds upon him and he will keep you in perfect Peace and abide with you for ever The Almighty take you into his holy Protection now and for ever I am Your true Friend ready to serve you with fervent Love in the Will of God William Penn. My dear Companions G. K. and B.F. do with me give you the dear Salutation of unfeigned Love and those in the Family that love and desire to follow the Lord Jesus in Sincerity and Truth without wavering P. S. We are this Evening bound towards Manheim the Court of the Prince Palatine and travell'd about twelve English Miles on foot That Night we lodged at Franckenthall and goâ— the next Morning being the seventh Day of the Week to Manheim but were disappointed of our Design which was to speak with the Prince for he was gone the Day before to Heydelbâ—rgh his chief City about fifteen English Miles from that Place and considering that by reason of the Meeting next Day with Friends at Crisheim already appointed we could neither go forward nor stay till he returned and yet being not clear to come away as if we had never endeavoured to visit him it was upon me to write him this following Letter to let him know we had been there and briefly our End in coming To the Prince Elector Palatine of Heydelbergh Great Prince IT would seem strange that I both a Stranger and a Subject should use this freedom of Address to a Prince were he not one whose Actions shew him to be of a free Disposition and easy Access to all
places you may dwell and witness with the Saints of old this heavenly Treasure in earthen vessels O stay your minds upon the appearance of Jesus in you in whose light you shall see light it will make you of a weighty considering spirit more and more that you may see how the mystery of iniquity hath wrought and how mankind is corrupted in all things and what part you yet have that belongeth not to the paradise of God that you may lay it all down at the feet of Jesus and follow him who is going up and down doing good to all that believe in his Name So possess your Souls in the sensible feeling of his daily divine visits shinings and breathings upon your spirits and wait diligently and watch circumspectly lest the enemy surprize you or your Lord come at unawares upon you and you be unprepared to receive his sweet and precious visitations that so those holy beginnings which thou art a witness of with thy companions may not be lost or as if they had never been but that you may from day to day feel the growth of his light life power and kingdom in your souls that you may be able to say the kingdom of God is come yea it is given to the Saints And what I say unto one I say unto all that received our Testimony in that City to whom thou mayest give if thou pleasest the remembrance of my dear Love who travel in the Spirit for their redemption that they may be brought into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God particularly salute me the young Woman that met with us at thy Lodging The Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace dwell amongst you keep your hearts steadfast in his holy Light without wavering all the days of your appointed time until your great and last change shall come when he will receive his own Sheep into his own everlasting Kingdom from the power of the Foxes aiâ—d Wolves and all the devouring Beasts and Birds of prey when he will wipe away all tears from their eyes and sighing and sorrowing shall be no more and when it shall be said There is no more death no more night no more time So dear I. E. M. know that the Lord hath brought us well to Amsterdam not without good service by the way for at Cullen we had a pretious Meeting and were received with much gladness of heart We also went to Duysburg and from thence towards Mullheim being the first day of the week hoping to get an opportunity with the Countess of Bruch and to deliver thy Letter but her Father who is a cruel and severe Man meeting us near his Castle stopt us and after some little time finding what we were said There wanted no Quakers there and sent us with some of his Souldiers out of his Territory it was about Sun-set so that we were forced to return towards Duysburg but the Gates of the City being shut and there being no Houses without it we were forced to lye in the Fields all night where the Lord made us a good and comfortable Bed we told the Graef at parting we were Men that feared the Almighty God we desired the good of all Men and we came not thither for any evil design but he would not hear the Lord if he pleaseth forgive him Nevertheless we had a good Meeting at Duysburg where we had our heart's desire the blessed power and life of God making its own way in the hearts of those that heard our Testimony I also writ a large and tender Letter to the Countess and received a sweet and loving Message from her and I have great hopes that all things will work for the best From Duysburg we went to Wesel where we inquired out who was worthy where we found four or five separated from all Congregations waiting for the Consolation of Israel with whom we had two precious Meetings and leaving the peace of Jesus with them went to Emrick where we visited the chief Baptist-teacher who confessed to our Testimony and received us lovingly We directed him to that gift of God in himself that pure and eternal Word in the heart that he might know the pure Ministry of that from the Ministry of Man's Spirit which cannot profit or give life to the Soul From thence we went to Cleve where at a Lady's House belonging to the Court we had a precious Meeting and we found some that had deserted the publick Ministry as not being anointed of God to preach neither knowing by a true experience the way and travel of the new birth but are made and maintained by Men we sounded the joyfull Gospel amongst them And from thence by the way of Nimmegen and Utrecht we came the last sixt day to Amsterdam which was the 7 th of the 7 th Month. This last first day I had a great and blessed Meeting at Amsterdam almost of every Quality and Religion the Lord 's heavenly Power that is quickning People into a living sense of him that they may say the Lord liveth and he liveth in me reigned that day over all In the Evening I took Boat for Horn and from thence came last night being the second day of the Week to this City of Harlingen where we met with some of our Brethren that had been up at Hamburgh and Frederickstadt and this day we are to have two Meetings in this City the one among our Friends the other publick for the Town It is upon me to visit de Labadie 's People that they might know him in themselves in whom their Salvation standeth for these simple people are to be pittied From thence I think to visit Leeuwaerden Groningen Embden Bremen Herwerden Wesel Emrick Cleve Utrecht and so to return to Amsterdam the Lord enabling me by his Power This ariseth in my Heart to thee give not thy Bread to Dogs spend not thy Portion feed not the Serpent neither hearken to him abide with Jesus and he will abide with thee that thou mayest grow in Wisdom and in Righteousness through the Cross that crucifieth thee to the World and the World to thee So in the Love which over-cometh the World that is divine and from above and leadeth all thither that receive it into their hearts I take my leave of thee with thy Companions and all the rest of that City known to us remaining Thy faithful Friend and the Lord's Day-labourer W.P. Harlingen 11. 7th Month 1677. Next Morning about the 4th hour I took Boat for Leeuwaerden J. Claus who had been at Frederickstadt with G.F. went with me G.F. J.Y. and T.R. with P. Hendricks returned that day towards Amsterdam At Leeuwaerden we came about 9 and began the Meeting about 10 which we enjoyed with peace and refreshment several being there as in other places that were never at a Meeting before The Meeting being done and having refresht our selves with food we took Waggon for Wiewart the Mansion-house of the Family of the Somerdykes
Man greatly prevalent with too many serious people in that Land cannot abide starteth at and runneth away from him howbeit the Lord enabled me to open the thing to him as that it was no plant of God's planting but a weed of Degeneracy and Apostacy a carnal and earthly Honour the effect feeder and pleaser of pride and of a vain mind that no advantage redounded to mankind by it and how could they that ought to do all to the glory of God use that vain and unprofitable custom which cannot be done to the glory of God I intreated him seriously to consider with himself the rise and end of it whence it came whom it pleased and what that was that was angry that it had it not I also told him of the sincere and serviceable respect which Truth substituteth in place thereof and exhorted him to Simplicity and Poverty of Spirit to believe that Jesus he professed to be his Saviour whose outside as well as Doctrine pleased not the Jews and so we parted he took his leave of the Princess and then of us with great Civility After he was gone the Princess desired us to withdraw to her Chamber and there we began our farewell Meeting the thing lay weighty upon me and that in the deep dread of the Lord and eternally magnified be the Name of the Lord that overshaddowed us with his Glory his heavenly breaking dissolving Power richly flowed amongst us and his ministring Angel of Life was in the midst of us Let my Soul never forget the Divine Sense that overwhelmed all at that blessed farewell I took of them much opened in me of the Hour of Christ's Temptation his Watchfulness Perseverance and Victory about the ten Virgins what the true Virgin was the true Oyl and Lamp what the Bride-groom his Door Chamber and Supper and in conclusion that torrent of heavenly melting Love that we were all deeply affected I fell on my Knees recommending them unto the Lord crying with strong Cries for their Preservation and beseeched the Lord's Presence with us and so ended After some pause I went to the Princess and took her by the hand which she received and embraced with great signs of a weighty kindness being much broken I spoke a few words apart to her and left the Blessing and Peace of Jesus with and upon her Then I went to the Countess and left a particular Exhortation with her who fervently beseeched me to remember and implore the Lord on her behalf From her I went to the French-woman and bid her be faithful and constant to that which she knew she was exceedingly broken and took an affectionate and reverent Leave of us Then I spoke to the rest and took leave severally of them my Companions did all the like They followed us to the outward Room and there it was upon me to step to the Countess and once more to speak to her and take my leave of her which she received and returned with great Sense Humility and Love So turning to them all my Heart and Eye to the Lord I prayed that the Fear Presence Love and Life of God with all heavenly Blessings might descend and rest with and upon them then and for ever Home we went for our Lodging clear'd the House exhorted the Family left Books and then took Waggon for Wesel about 200 English Miles from Herwerden we rid three Nights and Days without lying down on a Bed or sleeping otherwise than in the Waggon which was only covered with an old ragged Sheet the Company we had with us made Twelve in number which much streightned us they were often if not always Vain yea in their religious Songs which is the fashion of that Country especially by Night they call them Luther's Songs and sometimes Psalms We were forced often to reprove and testify against their Hypocrisy to be full of all vain and often prophane Talk one hour and sing Psalms to God the next we shewed them the Deceit and Abomination of it We passed through several great Towns by the way as Lipstad Ham c. many Discourses we had of Truth and the Religion and Worship that was truly Christian and all was very well they bore what we said But one thing was remarkable that may not be omitted I had not been six hours in the Waggon before an heavy weight and unusual oppression fell upon me yea it weighed me almost to the Grave that I could almost say My Soul was sad even unto Death I knew not at present the Ground of this Exercise it remained about 24 hours upon me then it opened in me that it was a travel for the Seed that it might arise over all in them I had left behind and that nothing might be lost but the Son of Perdition O the strong Cries and deep Agonies many Tears and sincere bowings and humblings of Soul before the Lord that this holy sense which was raised in them might be preserved alive in them and they for ever in it that they might grow and spread as heavenly Plants of Righteousness to the glory of the Name of the Lord. The Narrative from the 27th of the 7th Month inclusive to the 10th of the 8th Month exclusive is inserted in the following Letter to the Countess of Hornes beginning in P. 220. and ending with P. 244. For Anna Maria de Hornes stiled Countess of Hornes at Herwerden in Germany My dear Friend O That thou mayest for ever dwell in the sweet and tender Sense of that divine Love and Life which hath visited thy Soul affected and overcome thy heart O tell me hath it not sometimes raised thy Spirit above the World and fill'd thee with fervent and passionate desires yea holy resolution to follow Jesus thy blessed Saviour who hath given his most precious Blood for Thee that thou shouldest not live to thy self but to him that hath so dearly purchased thee O the Retired Humble Reverent Frame that I have beheld thee in when this blessed life hath drawn thee into it self and adorned and seasoned thee with its own heavenly Vertue beautifying thy very Countenance beyond all the vain and foolish Ornaments of the wanton Daughters of Sodom and Egypt for therein are Charms not known to the Children of this World O that this holy and chast Life may be always pretious with thee and that thou mayest be for ever chastly kept in the Love and Fellowship of it That out of this World's nature spirit and practice thou mayest be redeemed by him who is the Way the Truth and the Life who as thou watchest with thy holy vigilance will not only daily manifest the Devices of the Enemy to thee but save thee from him For Christ's work in thee is thy sanctification as it is in him his Father's Will as he said of old to his Disciples This is the Will of God even your Sanctification O my dearly beloved Friend â—e stedfast immoveable without wavering and work out thy great Salvation with fear
Righteousness we have a Bread you know not of For this Manna wait daily that thou mayst be strengthened in thy wilderness-travel to the Land of Eternal Rest Wherefore labour not for the Bread that perisheth that is the Bread of Man's inventing and making which cometh from below and profiteth not because it giveth not life eternal But labour thou my dear Friend for the Bread that never perisheth that endureth for ever and that giveth life eternal to all that feed upon it O cast thy care upon this Word love it and dwell with it wait daily upon it hear its Voice only and follow it for it bringeth the Soul to the eternal Habitation of rest and glory Yea when all Flesh wither and the beauty thereof fade away this Word and they that are grafted in shall abide for ever O that this may be thy choice and it shall be thy Diadem and thy Eternal Crown and Glory These are the fervent desires and these the daily prayers of my Soul to the God of my Salvation for thee not only that nothing in thee may be lost besides the Son of Perdition But that thou mayst cast off every weight and burden and that Sin that doth so easily be-set thee that grieveth boweth and oppresseth thee Under the heavy weight of which thou groanest and sighest that the Redeemer would come from Zion to deliver thee O give not heed to the Enemy the false accuser that seeketh to devour that which is begotten of God in thee neither look upon thy own Sins Burdens or Weaknesses but lift up thy head and look to Jesus the Author of thy blessed Visitation and wholly hunger and thirst after him the spiritual brazen Serpent that healeth and relieveth all that in Faith and full Assurance look to him Want of looking to him hearing and obeying him and having true faith in him is the cause both of all the Presumption and Despair that are at this day He did no mighty things of old in those places where they believed not O faint not look not back remember the holy Ancients the holy Pilgrims of Faith the Royal Generation of Heaven Heb. 11. Thou believest in God believe also in him for the Work 's sake that he has already wrought in thee He will minister to thee as he was ministred unto by his Father's Angel in the Hour of his Abasement and great Temptation O watch and be faithful and thou shalt be a noble Witness for the Lord. Once more let me expostulate with thee would thou overcome the Enemies of thy Soul's peace and enjoy the delightful presence of the Lord with thee then keep nothing back let nothing be withheld that he calleth for remember that Saul of old lost his Kingdom for keeping that alive which he should have slain Thou knowest what beâ—el Ananias and Saphira outwardly But be thou like the poor Widow of old that therefore gave more into the Treasury than all the rest because they reserved the greatest part to themselves but she gave all she had O blessed are they that make no Bargains for themselves that have no reserves for Self neither consult with Flesh and Blood nor in any Sense conform to the least Ceremony which is born of them But that submit their Wills in all things to the Lord's that they may be made perfect through Sufferings as Christ was Read me in the mystery of Life I speak not of deserting or flinging away all outward Substance but that thy Heart may reign above all Visibles and make God its Treasure and never rest in any thing of this lower World or short of Christ the Eternal Rest of all the Seed of Faith Here beginneth the Narrative THE Lord brought us well to Wesel on the fift day after we left Herwerden having some Service by the way At Wesel we had a good time with Dr. Schuler and Rosendale and the Woman we mentioned to thee but the Taylor was shy and fearful of coming to us at the Doctor 's The next day we went towards Duysburgh we visited the Schult or Chief Governour that Night whom we found at home he received us with much Kindness His Wife and Sister we fear have been shaken in their good belief of our Testimony since we were last there some Fowls of the Air have devoured the Seed that was sown O that sweet and tender frame in which we left them the time before however the entrance we had upon the Spirit of the Schult a little consolated us Hence we sent Maria Martha's Friend a Letter desiring him to let us have his Answer the next Night at Dusseldorp inclosed to Neander when and wâ—ere we might see him either at Dusseldorp Mulheim or Duysburgh and if it were possible we would gladly visit the Countess of Bruch We got early to Dusseldorp next day being the last day of the Week but Neander was gone to Mulheim in order to Preach on the Morrow so that we were disappointed of our Intelligence Next Morning we went towards Ceulen and there arrived that Evening The next day we had a good opportunity with van Durando and Docemius at the House of the latter and that Afternoon took Boat for Dusseldorp Where arriving next Morning we presently sent for Neander who came to us and three more in company we had a blessed meeting with them and one of the three that came with him our Souls were exceedingly affected with The Meeting done they went away but Neander returned and first of our Letter to Mulheim we found by him as also at our return to Duysburgh that Kuper was so far from endeavouring ouâ— visit to the Countess that he would not meet us himself neither at Dusseldorp Mullheim nor Duysburgh nay it did not please him to send us an Answer much less any the least Salutation I confess it grieved us Now for Neander the Young man hath a Zeal for God and there is a Visitation upon him my Soul desireth that it may not be ineffectual but I have a great fear upon me for this I know certainly from the Lord God that liveth for ever and I have a Cloud of Witnesses to my Brethren that Retirement and Silence before God is the alone way for him to feel the heavenly gift to arise and come forth pure and unmixt this only can preach for God pray to God and beget People to God and nothing else But alas his office in that Family is quite another thing namely to perform Set Duties of fixt times Pray Preach and Sing and that in the way of the World's Appointments His very office is Babylonish namely a Chaplain for 't is a Popish Invention In the good old times Godly Abraham that was a Prince and Joshua a great General and David a King with many more instructed their Families in the knowledge and fear of God But now People are too Idle or too Great to pray for themselves and so they worship God by Proxy How can a
Minister of the Gospel be at the beck of any Mortal living or give his Soul and Conscience to the time and appointment of another the thing in it self is utterly wrong and against the very Nature and Worship of the new and everlasting Covenant You had better meet to read the Scriptures the Book of Martyrs c. if you cannot sit and wait in silence upon the Lord till his Angel move upon your Hearts than to uphold such a formal limited and ceremonious Worship this is not the Way out of Babylon And I have a deep sense upon my Soul that if the Young Man strive beyond the talent God hath given him to answer his Office and fill up his Place and wait not for the pure and living Word of God in his Heart to open his Mouth but either studieth for his Sermons or speaketh his own Words he will be utterly ruined Wherefore O Dear Friend have a care thou art no Snare to him nor he to thee Man's Works smother and stifle the true life of Christ what have you to do but to look to Jesus the Author of the holy desires that are in you who himself hath visited you tempt not the Lord provoke not God what should any Man Preach from but Christ and what should he Preach people too but Christ in them the hope of Glory Consider nothing feedeth that which is born of God but that which cometh down from God even the Bread of God which is the Son of God which giveth his life for the World feel it and feed on it let none mock God nor grieve his eternal Spirit that is come to seal them up from the mouth of Man that hath deceived them that Jesus the anointing may teach them and abide with them for ever Be stedfast and immoveable and this will draw the Young Man near to the Lord and empty him of himself and purge away mixtures and then you will all come to the Divine Silence and when all Flesh is silent before the Lord then is it the Lord's time to Speak and if you will hear your Souls shall live O my Soul is in great pain that you may be all chastly preserved in that divine Sense begotten in your Hearts by the eternal Word of God that abideth for ever that nothing may ever be able to extinguish it But more especially thou my Dear Friend mayest be kept in faithfulness for the Lord is come very near to thee and thou must begin the Work the Lord God expecteth it at thy hand if one Sheep break through the rest will follow wherefore watch O watch that thou may'st be strengthned and confirmed and strengthen all that is begotten of God in that Family by thy weighty savoury and circumspect life O how is my Soul affected with thy present condition it is the fervent Supplication of my heart that thou may'st through the daily obedience of the Cross of Jesus conquer and shine as a bright and glorious Star in the Firmament of God's eternal Kingdom So let it be Lord Jesus Amen We tenderly yet freely spoke ouâ— hearts to him before we parted which done in God's love we tooâ— our leave of him and Dusseldorp and got that Night to Duysburgh being the third Day of the Week We first visited Dr. Mastricht a Maâ— of a good natural Temper but a rigid Calvinist I perceived by him that they held a Consultation about seeing us at Bruch but they all concluded it was best to decline meeting with us because of the Graef he being ready to fling our Name in reproach upon them in his displeasure and this would confirm him in his Jealousies of them This might excuse the Countess but by no means Kuper and if I had any sense Mastricht was there with them upon design to frustrate the hopes we had conceived of meeting with her We from thaâ— descended to other things of weightâ— and in love and peace parted From his House we returned to our Inn and after Supper we visited the Schult who with much civility and some tenderness received us his Sister also came to us and we had a good little Meeting with them and our God was with us and his pure and tender life appeared for our Justification and pleaded our innocent Cause in their Consciences and so we parted with them leaving our Master's Peace amongst them The next day we came to Wesel being the 4th day where we understood by Dr. Schuler that thy Sister desired that we would be so kind as to see her when we returned upon that we went and visited her she received us very kindly Thy Brother in Law 's two Sisters were present we stayed with them at least two Hours Many Questions she put to me which I was glad to have an Opportunity to Answer for it made way for a Meeting she intreated us to come again if we stayed and told us our Visit was very grateful to her adding That because we past 〈◊〉 by the last time she concluded wiâ—â— herself we had no hopes of her with more to that effect From thence we went to Dr. Schuler's who freely offered us his House for a Meeting next day and indeed the Man is bold after his manner The next day about Seven I writ a Billiet in French to thy Sister to inform her of the Meeting to begin about Eight She came and her two Sisters with her there was Rosendale Colonel Copius and his Wife and about three or four more and to our great Joy the Lord Almighty was with us and his holy Power reached their Hearts and the Doctor and Copius confessed to our Testimony The Meeting lasted about three Hours being done we took our leave of them in the Spirit of Jesus and so returned to our Inn. The Taylor all this while afraid of coming to our Inn or to the Doctor 's to the Meeting great Fears have overtaken him and the poor Man liveth but in a dry Land After Dinner we visited Copius and Rosendale and at Copius's we had a blessed broken Meeting he his Wife Rosendale his Wife and another Woman Wife to one Dr. Willick's Brother present they were extreamly affected and overcome by the Power of the Lord 't was like one of our Herwerden Meetings indeed much Tenderness was upon all their Spirits This done and having left Books both there and with thy Sister we left Wesel with Hearts full of Joy and Peace and let me say this That more kindness more openness we have scarcely found in all our Travels O that this blessed Sense may dwell with them A Seed there is in that place God will gather yea a noble People he will find out And I doubt not but there will be a good Meeting of Friends in that City before many Years go about my love is great to that place O how God is our dear Lord to us who helpeth our Infirmities and carrieth through all Opposition and feedeth us with his Divine Presence
that Night at Rotterdam and having the Hague to Visit by the way made our return at that time unpracticable however the Relation of the German concerning the good Inclinations of the great Man and his Wife their disdain of the World voluntary retreat from the Greatness and Glory of it rested strongly upon our Spirits This Person presently conducted us to the House of one who had formerly been a Doctor in the University and there left us To this Person both G. F. and my self were more than ordinarily open he was of a sweet yet quick wise yet very loving and tender Spirit there were few Strangers we felt greater love to He assented to every thing we said and truly his Understanding was very clear and open to the things that lay upon us to declare and express'd his firm Belief of great Revolutions at hand and that they should terminate in the setting up of the glorious Kingdom of Christ in the World What shall I say the Man felt our Spirits and therefore loved us and in the fresh sense of that love writ a Letter by us to a retired Pâ—rson at the Hague like himself which in several places of Germany was the way whereby we found out several of the retired People we visited After near two Hours time with him we took Waggon for the Hague leaving the Peace of God upon him The first thing we did there was to enquire out the Lady Overkirk a Person of a retired and religious Character separated from the publick Worship of that Country She was a home but her Husband with her being a great Man of the Army of another Disposition and Way of Living hindred our Access at that time The next Person we went to was a Judge at the Law of Chief Court of Justice in that Republick he received us with great Respect and a more than ordinary desire to know the truth of our Faith and Principles We declared of the things most surely believed amongst us in the Power and Love of God He made his Observations Objections and Queries upon several things we spake to whom we replied and explained all Mattters in question insomuch that he declared himself satisfied in our Confessions and his good Belief of us and our Principles We took a solemn and sensible leave of him and we felt the Witness reacht and his Spirit tendred which filled our hearts with dear love to him he brought us to his Street-door and there we parted From him we went to visit that Person for whom we had a Letter from the Dr. at Leyden but he was not at home We immediately took Waggon for Delft and from thence an Express-Boat for Rotterdam where we arrived well about Eight at Night The next day was mostly spent in visiting of Friends and the friendly People in that place which consisted of several Persons of worldly Note The next day being the first Day of the Week we had a large and blessed Meeting wherein the deep Mysteries of the Kingdom of Christ and Antichrist were declared in the power of an endless Life Several of divers Religions were there but no Disturbance and Contradiction but a profound Silence and reverent Attention were over the Meeting That Night I had a blessed Meeting at my Lodging with those Persons of Note that at sometimes visited our publick Meetings as at that day and have a Convincement upon them The Lord's Love Truth and Life preciously reached towards them and they were very sweetly affected Next day I bestowed in perfecting and correcting several publick Letters which I was moved to write both in my first and second Journey in Germany and after my return to these Low-Countries They are left behind to be Translated and Printed they are omitted here because they are large and likely to be â—ereafter printed in English The Titles whereof follow I. A Summons to Christendom in an earnest Expostulation with her to prepare for the great and notable Day of the Lord that is at the door II. To all those who are sensible of the Day of their Visitation and who have received the Call of the LORD by the Light and Spirit of his Son in their Hearts to partake of the great Salvation where-ever scattered throughout the World but more especially in the High and Low-Dutch Nations Faith Hope and Charity which over-come the World be multiplied among you III. To all those Professors of Christianity that are Externally separated from the visible Sects and Fellowships in the Christian World so called wherever hidden or scattered true Knowledge which is Life Eternal from God the Father by Christ Jesus IV. A tender Visitation in the Love of God that over-cometh the World to all People in the High and Low-Dutch Nations who hunger and thirst after Righteousness and desire to know and worship God in Truth and in Sincerity containing a plain Testimony to the Ancient and Apostolical Life Way and Worship that God is reviving and exalting in the Earth in his Spirit and Truth The sense of the serious retreat of this great Man we heard of at Leiden was so strong upon me that I could not see my self clear to leave the Country before I had given him a Visit I purposed therefore the next Morning to set forward to the Hague from thence to Leiden and so to Nortwyck I arrived there in the Evening with B F. A Sonnemans and M Sonnemans and immediately made known our coming and the end of it to him and his Wife by the means of the young German who was got thither before us to visit them An Invitation came to us all at our Inn and immediately we repaired to his House which was very stately and yet plain he presently came to us took us by the hand and bid us heartily welcome We immediately sate down and after some time of retirement I spoke something of what was upon me yet not before he had given us a sober and pathetical Account of his Life and of the present frame and disposition of his Spirit All this was in the absence of his Wife but so soon as I had finisht what was then upon me to speak of the Witness of God and of its Work in Man upon the occasion of the History he gave us of his 〈◊〉 he led us into another Room 〈◊〉 his Wife was he told her here were â—omâ— Christian Friends come to visâ—t her she saluted us very kindly We all sat down and after some â—â—â—ence the heavenly Power of God did in a living and tender manner open their States and Conditions to me and opened my Mouth to them the substance of my Testimony was to this purpose That Death reigned from Adam to Moses Moses was till the Prophets the Prophets till John and John till Christ What Christ's day was how few see this day and whilst People are talking of being in Christ under Grace and not under the Law Death reigneth over them and they are
in which is Life his Candle hath hitherto rested on our Tabernacle and he hath made us glad in his own Salvation Eternal Glory to his excellent Name We immediately took a Post-Carr and came next day about two in the Afternoon to Cleve where we had a very pretious Meeting at an honest Procurator's House who received us with much love four or five more were present all Grave and Tender our Hearts were greatly affected with their love and simplicity We also visited the Lady Hubner who was kind to us Next Morning we set out for Nimeguen and thence immediately to Utrecht where we arrived that Night and took the Night-boat for Amsterdam because of a pressure upon my Spirit to be next day at the Meeting and the rather having intimated as much from Ceulen We arrived in the Morning at Amsterdam where we found our dear Friends generally well the City much Alarm'd and great Curiosity in some and Desires in others to come to the Meeting we had a very great Meeting and many People of note resorted God's Gospel Bell was rung the great Day of the great God sounded and the Dead was raised and much tenderness appeared in several O blessed be the Name of the Lord whose Work and Testimony prospereth The next day was spent in divers Affairs relating to the Truth The day following we had a Meeting with Galenus Abrahams the great Father of the Socinian Mennists in these Parts accompanied with several Preachers and others of his Congregation divers of our Friends were also present It continued about five Hours he affirmed in opposition to us That there was no Christian Church Ministry or Commission Apostolical now in the World but the Lord assisted us with his Wisdom and Strength to confound his Attempts Here endeth the Narrative I intend a Visit to the Hague to the Lady Overkirks Sister of the Somerdikes and some others that have sober Characters of Truth and Friends and thence to Rotterdam where I have much to do both with respect to Meetings and the Press G K. and B F. go with me Thus my Dear Friend have I given thee a tedious Narrative yet I hope not altogether unpleasant perhaps the brevity of my Letters hereafter may best Apologize for the length of this However I consider two things one is That thou hast time enough one time or other to look over it And next That I have plentifully as were thy requests demonstrated I have not forgotten thee O Dear Friend let us live and remember one another now absent in that Divine Sense in which the Lord God dissolv'd our Spirits when together O the Unity of this Faith the Purity of this Love and the Bond of this Peace The Lord Jesus be with thy Spirit and keep thee in this the Hour of thy Temptation that thou mayest come forth as Gold seven times tryed so shall thy Testimony shine for the God that hath called thee and he will reward thee with Honour Glory and Eternal Life Amen Thus saith the Lord I remember thee the kindness of thy Youth the love of thine Espousals when thou wentest after me in the Wilderness in a Land that was not sown Jerem. 2.2 Dear Friend consider this yet again The way of the just is Uprightness thou most upright do'st weigh the Paths of the Just yea in the Way of thy Judgment O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the Remembrance of thee With my Soul have I desired thee in the Night yea with my Spirit within me will I seek thee early for when thy Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness Lord thou wilt ordain Peace for us for thou hast wrought all our Works in us O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us but by thee only we make mention of thy Name Lord in trouble have they visited thee they poured out a Prayer when thy chastning was upon them Like as a Woman with Child that draweth near the time of her Delivery is in Pain and cryeth out in her Pangs so have we been in thy Sight O Lord. We have been with Child we have been in Pain we have as it were brought forth Wind we have not wrought any Deliverance in the Earth neither have the Inhabitants of the World fallen Thy dead Men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise awake and Sing ye that dwell in the Dust for thy Dew is as the Dew of Herbs and the Earth shall cast out the dead Come my People enter thou into thy Chamber and shut thy door about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until the Indignation be overpast For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their Iniquities the Earth also shall disclose her Blood and shall no more cover her Slain Isa 26.7 8. to 21. So come Dear Lord Jesus that was dead but is alive and liveth for ever Amen Very dearly Farewell Thy Friend that faithfully Travelleth for thy Redemption W.P. Amsterdam 10th of the 8th Month 1677. The same day we had a blessed Publick Meeting never to be forgotten O the Majesty Glory and Life that the Lord attended us with our Hearts were deeply affected with his Presence great Reverence and Brokenness was over the Meeting more than I had seen The Meeting done we were opposed by a Preacher who was closely encountred and pursued by several Merchants c. not of us that cryed he was Rude and Ignorant and that they had a Testimony for us who offered to Dispute in our Defence but the Priest run away they followed him till they housed him c. It was upon me this day to engage Galenus Abrahams to a second Conference that we might more fully debate and confute his grand Objections against the present Dispensation of Truth and the heavenly Ministry witnessed among Friends he refused not my offer of a second Meeting but sent me word his Business would not give him leave to let it be any time this day upon which the next was â—ixt for the Conference to begin at Eight which accordingly it did and held till One. The most impartial account of both these Conferences that I am briefly able to give followeth The Meeting ended and having refresht our selves after a solemn leave taken of our dear Friends at Amsterdam G. F. and I went that Night to Leyden accompanied by B. Furly coming there late at Night we forbore to inquire after any worthy in that place But the next Morning we found out two one a German of or near Darmstad who not only express'd much love to the Principle of Truth and unto us the Friends thereof but also informed us of a retired Person of great Quality that liveth about two hours back again towards Amsterdam at a Village called Nortwyck Our Resolutions of being