righteous Seed so that Mayor Edmond Young said He would break our Meetings or else his Bones should lie in the Dirt. The which he did upon the 14th day of the 8th Moneth being the first day of the Week on the which in the Morning Friends met in private and not in the Street and as two Friends of the Town were going to that Meeting the Mayor laid Hands on them and put them in Prison and in the latter part of the day Friends met in the Street where they used to do where they were without any disturbance until the Mayor came with Officers and said It was an unlawful Assembly and said If there were above eight Persons met together it was an unlawful Assembly And presently laid Hands on Friends and pulled and thrust and kickt and put many in the Prison and in the Stocks and put me and two more in the Dungeon and when he saw that Friends were not afraid of him neither did any run away then he said He wanted another Prison for the Women for he had imprisoned Men in four several places that time when this was done he commanded his Sargeant to make proclamation and command in the Name of the Protector That every one should depart thence on pain of Imprisonment when he wanted more Prisons to put them in Thus he broke our Meetings who harmed not any nor resisted his Violence and then he said If we would meet in Houses or in the Fields he would not molest us Yet on the next First day he saw one of the Town going alone to a Meeting that we had then appointed in a House and him he put in Prison And so I being that Day put in the Dungeon where I now am as once before I was put in for Praying then he endeavoured to keep all People from me and for several Dayes and Nights we were denyed having Candles in this dark Dungeon at last he sent us each man a Penny-worth of Bread and a half Penny-worth of Beer a day the which the Goaler said was the Towns allowance but we still denyed it and sent him word That if we should not have Food for our Money or from our Friends then we should be without it So at last when we could have Bread from our Friends and Water then we did eat and drink and praise the Lord whose presence is with us Thus he much indeavoured to bring us into slavery unto his corrupt will which was according to the Words of Robert Atkins that sate Judge at the Sessions who then said to me thus You have been kept very high all this while but I shall take a course e'er I go hence that you shall be kept shorter And the Mayor Edmond Young caused a Trap-door to be made into the Dungeon locked down and all our Bedding and Bed-cloathes that Friends had sent us to be taken from us and will not let our Friends have it again Joshua Frensham a Prisoner having much pain with his Teeth did something earnestly desire that whilst he was a Prisoner he might have the use of a Pillow that was taken away which was his own but it was denyed On the second day after we were put in the Dungeon a Friend brought some Straw for us to lie on and the Goaler would not suffer it to be brought into us because he would not give him Money to unlock the Doors Once I sent to the Mayor to have Liberty for some man or Friend to fetch out our Dung from us and he denyed it and sent for a Constable to put that Friend in the Stocks that came to ask it And before I came in the Dungeon sometimes our Boxes and Writings were taken from us and sometimes our Stools that we had to sit or write upon and our Candles Besides eight Friends being Prisoners at the Goalers House were much abused by him the which I shall forbear to write only thus he said unto them If they would not pay four Pence a Night for each mans Lodging and eight Pence a Meal for each mans Diet then they should go all to the main Goal Which they refused to satisfie his Will in neither were they used to eat of his Diet being all Towns men But sometimes he would not suffer their Wives nor any other Friend to bring their Diet to them nor yet to come into them Then a man gained leave of him that dwelt next the Goaler and so went through his House and brought Food to the Prisoners which when the Goaler saw he threatned that man which had let him through and took the Beer from them intending by such Actions to force them to his will which they would not be subject to therefore he brought them all to the main Goal and then he said unto us That if he might have his will he would Hang us all And he had said before He might do what he would unto us for we should have no benefit of the Law neither durst any Lawyer plead for us Then were them eight kept in the Goal and we three in the Dungeon under them five dayes to our own Dung as I and some of us have been kept in this Prison and Dungeon with our own Dung in the same Room from time to time for this fourteen Weeks And as for the Prison it is not 12 Foot square but one Goal hole belonging to it four Inches wide where we took in our Food and Straw to lie upon and were forced to burn Candle every day when we have it by reason the Prison is so dark and so close and so many in so little room and so little Air with the stink of our own Dung all which might have occasioned the Death of some e'er this time and one they kept with me in the Dungeon until he had been sick after turned him once in the Night out and some others have not been well by reason of the exceeding closeness of the Prison whereby sometimes the stink of the Prison hath been so strong forth in the Street that People could not indure to stand by it sometimes when the dayes were hot the Breath of some Prisoners was almost stopt and lay for several dayes like men asleep and when dayes are at the coldest we have not room nor place either to make Fire or to walk to keep our Bodies warm Yet there is a large Prison over our Heads where they do sometimes imprison many of our Friends but that large Prison they will not let us be in neither could we nor Friends for us prevail to have Liberty to walk in that Prison sometimes by day and to come down into the other Prison by Night Therefore let all People whose Hearts are tender towards the Lord take notice how we are not only deprived of outward Liberty without the breach of any Law but are also kept in a most barbarous condition worse than Thieves or Murderers as the Goaler hath said That if we had been in for Theft or
A COLLECTION Of the several Writings and Faithful Testimonies OF THAT Suffering Servant of God and Patient Follower of the Lamb Humphry Smith Who Dyed a Prisoner for the Testimony of Jesus in Winchester Common-Goal the 4th day of the 3d Moneth in the Year 1663. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not only to me but to them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. LONDON Printed and Sold by Andrew Sowle at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway-Lane near Shoreditch 1683. George Fox HIS TESTIMONY CONCERNING Humphry Smith NOW concerning our dear Friend and Brother Humphry Smith who formerly had been a Preacher and a Man of Note but when it pleased the Lord to call him by his Grace and reveal his Son in him he came to be an able Minister of Jesus Christ and freely did preach the Gospel as he had received it freely and was cast in Prison for the Testimony of Jesus at Eversham in Worcestershire where he suffered very much in Oliver's days about the year 1655. and besides several other Goals that it may be party said of him as it was of Paul who had been zealous among the Letter-Professors and who had then esteem of him but when he came to possess Christ Jesus and to preach him then they hated him and persecuted him Yet through the Eternal Power of the Lord he was upholden through his Sufferings and travelled through many Hardships for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and did convert and turn many to the Lord Jesus Christ that had been outward Professors as he himself had been to the Possession of Christ so that he did see and was comforted in the Fruits of his Labours in Christ and his Grace And at last he was cast into Winchester-Goal where he ended his days and finisht his Testimony in an hard Imprisonment who there dyed in the Lord and rests from his Labour whose Works follow him Whose Memorial is blest among the Righteous in the Lords Heritage for he was a worthy Souldier and Follower of the Lamb and kept his Habitation in Christ Jesus in whom he now sleeps G. F. London the 8th of the 11th Moneth 1682. A TESTIMONY Concerning the Servant of Christ Humphry Smith DECEASED With Respect to his Life Testimony and Service for the Lord in his day ALthough I have not read all the Books and Writings given forth in Truths behalf by our dear Friend and Brother Humphry Smith and therefore cannot knowingly give particular account thereof as to all his Writings though many sound and weighty Experimental things I am sure he has written yet from the knowledge which I had of him his Conversation and Testimony and the living Society I had with him for some time before his Course was finished I have this Testimony nakedly and in the sight of the Lord to bear That he was a man fearing God and hating Iniquity fervent and zealous against Deceit and Hypocrisie and endued with a heavenly Gift and Gospel Testimony which he faithfully bore in his day according to his Ability and the Lord was with him and he was well beloved among his People He endured the Cross and bore Afflictions patiently and he was a great Sufferer in divers Goals and Persecutions for the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Testimony which he declin'd not And he was in the Name of the Lord instrumental and helpful with other faithful Brethren and Servants of Christ to break through rough Oppositions perverse Gain-sayings and Persecutions of many Adversaries to the Life of Christianity even in those days of great Hardships and deep Sufferings not long after the first breaking forth of the Gospel Day to many in this Age and in divers parts of our professing Nation the Exercises deep Sufferings and Tryals of that day and time many now have not known the sharpness of since which the Lord has been with his faithful Servants all along and prospered his Work among the sincere Receivers of his Truth in the love thereof and the Lord our God hath crowned the Labours of his faithful Witnesses whose Dayes are ended in Peace among whom this Honest and Upright hearted man Humphry Smith had his Share and Portion and hath his Crown that fades not and his Inheritance Everlasting in the Kingdom of his and our Heavenly Father among the Spirits of Just Men in Glory I am really satisfied as knowing the End of the Upright Man to be Peace and that in the sight of the Lord the Death of his Saints are Precious as their Life is Acceptible And I pray God that all Friends and all those that yet remain with a Testimony for him and his holy Truth may be preserved in and with tender Regard unto the same Footsteps of the faithful and blessed Flock to the end of their Dayes as those that truly have respect to the Recompence of Reward and Kingdom that 's set before which will remain and stand us in stead when our Dayes Times and Years here are expired and gone George Whitehead London the 4th of the 8th Moneth 1682. THE Faithfulness of the Upright MADE MANIFEST Being a Testimony concerning the Life Death and Sufferings of a precious Servant of the Lord called Humphry Smith Who dyed a Prisoner for witnessing unto the living Truth in Winchester Common-Goal the 4th day of the 3d Moneth 1663. ARE thy famous Works ever to be forgotten Are thy Noble and Valiant Acts to be blotted out of the Memory of the Righteous Is thy holy innocent pure Life to be buried in Oblivion as not to be remembred by us any more Are thy Sufferings with all thy valiant Engagements with the Enemies of thy God to be blotted out of the Record of the Children of the most High Oh! what saith my Soul Nay nay let it be had in living Remembrance among the Followers of the Lamb and let it be written upon the Tables of their Hearts even to all Generations And as concerning this man he from his Youth upwards had desires after the Lord and he was often check'd by his Father because of his Solidity he mourned mightily after the Lord while he was yet a Child yea and panted after the God that made him He followed the zealous Professors and encreased mightily in that Knowledge which stands in the Comprehension yea exceeded many of his equals but at last the Lord seperated him for his own glory and sent him forth in his own Power and Eternal Name so he led him by the hand through the Wilderness and bore up his head above the Waves which sought to destroy him he became a Talk and a By-word unto them with whom before he had his Conversation yea they sought to destroy him in a moment but yet the Lord led him in the way and gave him the threshing Instrument that belongs to
Worm Jacob despised of men and he threshed and beat the Hills to Dust and rooted up the Disobedient that desisted Gods coming he spared not but cut on the right hand and slew on the left and made the Arrows of his Quiver to strike into the Bowels of Gods Enemies but the preached Peace to the Captive and uttered his Voice to the Prisoners of Hope which lay groaning for Deliverance he was sent to publish Salvation and to cry the acceptible year of Redemption though the Rulers of the Earth dealt very hardly with him and the Priests cryed Away with him he is not worthy to live the Professors envied him because of his upright dealing and the Prophane hated and reviled him because of his Innocent Life he was often times cast into several nasty Prisons he was divers times whipt with Cords he was haled before Magistrates that had no pity nor compassion of him he divers times ventured upon hard service and broke through an Host of Wicked and Unreasonable men the Priests fell before him like Tow and the Professors were scattered like Chaff the Wicked and Prophane were even confounded and amazed when his Arrows so sharp did enter within their dark Dwellings but to the Seed he uttered his Voice and it dropped like Wax into the Bowels of the tender hearted Verily the consideration thereof doth even melt my heart and makes me to say Oh! how delightsom was the pleasantness of thy Beauty and how desireable was the habitation of thy Dwelling and how prevalent were thy Prayers and thy Supplications with thy God who answered thee every Morning and satisfied thy Soul every Moment which made thy Cup to overflow and the pleasant Streams to run over its Banks because of the fullness thereof and Wo to him that lifts up a Tongue against thee and let him not be reckoned among the Congregations of the Righteous that slanders thy Innocent Life let him be smitten with Terror that whisper's or speaks Evil of thee in a Corner for I know the Lord loved thee and hath taken thee from the Evil that is to come upon the Inhabitants of the Earth and out of this dark World that is not worthy of thee But to proceed he was visiting Friends in and near London and he told some of them there-a-wayes That he had a narrow Path to pass through he also said several dayes before he was taken up he saw that he should be imprisoned and that it might cost him his Life and taking his leave of Friends in them-parts he set forward in the Will of the Lord Westward and having a Meeting at Alton some envious men hearing thereof sent Armed men to the House where he was commanding him forth and having him before Humphry Bennet and John Norton Deputy-Lievetenants of the Country both great Enemies to Gods Truth and though he gave a good account of his business which was to visit his Son which was a Child farther Westward yet they without pity or compassion equity or justice committed him to the stinking close Prison at Winchester but to leave them without excuse in the day of the Lord which hastens to come upon them he wrote unto them signifying how illegally they had dealt with him also sent them back an Answer to that which they charged against him likewise shewing that they laid nothing to his charge but what was charged against Gods Servants in the dayes of old and moreover proved unto them that they had acted contrary to the King's Laws Declaration and Word yet though all this and much more might be written both of his Usage in the Prison and likewise how close a Hole it was sometimes other Prisoners Fellons or such taking his Food from him and other Abuses which he bore very patiently which will be too tedious at present to relate and likewise John Norton and Humphry Bennet sending men and robbing him of all his Papers rifling his Pockets Boxes and other places yet he was very quiet and lay down content but the next approaching Sessions being come he laid something of his suffering Cause before some of those called Justices and at that time some of them were willing to have released him but some others of them being contrary minded saying That it was the Deputy-Lievetenants of the Shire that committed him and because they were not there they would not meddle with the thing So the innocent Sufferer was let continue a Prisoner till the next Assizes and he then laid the thing before Judge Terril who before had been pretty moderate to Friends and the Judge gave him this answer That if he would give Bail for his good Behaviour and Appearance at the next Assizes though no evil Behaviour at all was laid to his charge which when this innocent Sufferer heard and being satisfied that he was not guilty of the Breach of any Law neither was there any that laid any thing to his charge he was content to remain there rather than to do such a thing and so remaining there from Sessions till Assizes and from Assizes till Sessions and until that Assizes a whole year was over then Judge Terril came again the Western Circute which Humphry Smith hearing of wrote unto him signifying how contrary to any known Law he had been dealt with and requiring Justice and that true Judgment might proceed from him and leaving him without excuse he sent it to him which he understood he read and about the latter end of the Assizes he was call'd for where having divers words with the Judge he again said That if he would give Bail for his good Behaviour and Appearance at the next Assizes he should be released which he answered thus That he had lain in Prison so long and nothing of evil Behaviour laid to his charge and likewise saying that if any man there should convince him of any evil Behaviour he should willingly acknowledge the same unto which they were all silent then the Judge said If he would meet no more and promise not to break the Law he should be released unto which he answered thus I think it is sufficient that I suffer if I do break the Law and not to suffer because I cannot promise not to break it saying also That he knew no Law that required any such thing so it being near the time of their breaking up he was put aside and others called and soon after they dismissed the Court for that Assizes at that Bench but as the Judge was passing forth Humphry Smith being at the Bar among the Fellons he spake these words unto him Friend remember I have been above a whole year in Prison and no breach of any Law proved against me which the Judge heard but passed away and said nothing to it So he was had back to Prison again where having been not above three weeks but he fell sick first it took him like an Ague and afterward with the Feaver following it and in a short time it grew very violent
the Priests and Professors could not teach but were almost as ignorant as those that in time past had not heard of any such thing and void of the saving knowledge of Jesus the way of God and could not say that he was the Christ by it I then hearing that in this Prison was that faithful Servant of the Lord and having longing desire to see him went with some of Andever that used to visit him there being that day a Meeting in the Prison which day I hope shall never be forgotten by me nor that faithful and able Minister of the new Testament knowing that which only and alone is made alive by the Spirit and quickned and reached unto by the Ministers thereof which Humphry Smith was one to the turning of many from Darkness to the Light from the Power of Satan to the Power of God by which alone People come to receive Remission of sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through the great Mercy and Loving-kindness of God was he an Instrument in convincing and turning me off and from the Worlds by-Paths and crooked Ways of the Wicked which were and are Darkness in which there is no Peace to them that walk therein to the Light of Jesus the Way of the Lord and Path of the Just which is a shining Light which shineth more and more to the perfect Day and to the fear of the Lord which ever was and is the beginning of Wisdom and will be forever to all that do abide therein a Fountain of Life to depart from the Snares of Death I have cause forever to praise the Lord in the behalf of this tender innocent faithful man to God's Truth and People his Memorial cannot pass into Oblivion by any that had a true knowledge of him dear Humphry Smith whose Health was impared him suffocated and visible Body destroyed by this bad corrupt Prison though thou wast here destroyed thou art greatly rewarded God having proved thee and found thee worthy for himself The Memorial of the Just is blessed the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance and the Name of the Wicked shall Rot but they that were and are wise shall shine as the Brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars forever and ever Edward Waldern Winton-Prison the 8th day of the 11th Moneth 1682. Humphry Smith's Testimony concerning his Father COncerning my dear Father who to his unspeakable gain but to my great sorrow and loss the Lord took from me to himself whilst I was young besides the natural and dutiful Remembrance of so dear a Father I and many others who knew him can say of him The Righteous shall be in Everlasting remembrance in which I may say by way of Introduction unto many who never knew him and have since received the Truth unto whom these his works may come for their encouragement to read them That the Lord of the Harvest who among other faithful Labourers sent him forth into his Harvest did sanctifie and prepare him to so good a work and prospered it in his hand so that many were turned to God by him notwithstanding the great Opposition of Malicious Cruel and Ungodly Men by whom he suffered more especially in Cromwel's time Imprisonment Dungeon Whipping and much Affliction and Hardships but being zealous for the glory of God and the good of Souls he valiantly endured it all and broke through the Ice-like hardness of envious Professors who having been first some-what warmed by that which formerly stirred up good desires in them after God but not keeping thereto became the sooner and harder frozen And as his diligence was great in this great work so was their Envy great in endeavouring to hinder him therein by many long and hard Imprisonments which brought great Sicknesses upon him yet upon all occasions he was given to Hospitality apt to teach and in his place taking care for the Church of God As his Admonition was tender so his Reproof was sharp not neglecting the one nor refraining the other but dealing with every one according to their Condition not sparing me his only Son any more than another having in his last Letter to me written a little before his Death these words among many tender Expressions And now although as I said before thou art my only Son yet if thou refusest the Instructions of thy Father and shalt reject the Counsel of God and not walk in Gods holy fear nor keep in the way of Truth then let the Judgment of Friends pass upon thee let the Law of God seize upon thy Conscience c. The last time I saw him was about a year before he dyed at which time he gave me such Advice and Warning as thereby I perceived I should never see him again so great a sight of things and men had he that I may truly say he had the necessary Gift of Discerning of Spirits with frequent Visions and Revelations from God by which he foresaw and prophesied of many things some whereof he saw fulfilled others are since and the rest will certainly be fulfilled in their appointed time some of them are herein extant dispersed among his Works which are now printed for thy benefit sober Reader it being agreeable to words he wrote to me in a Volumn of Books he caused to be bound for me That I should keep that Book safe and not spoiled any way that in years to come Ages may read and see my love to the Seed This in short I have written concerning him knowing there be many still living who have a larger Testimony in themselves concerning him And some who were his Fellow-Labourers in the Word and Doctrine whom he did and I do love and in Honour Prefer counting them worthy of double Honour some of them having more knowledge of him are able as they see meet to give a larger Testimony concerning him I shall conclude desiring that my self and all the Children of faithful Parents may walk in the good Way they walked in and not like that Generation mentioned Judges 2. 10. Who arose after the Death of Joshua and the Elders which knew not the Lord nor yet the Works which he had done for Israel but that we may follow the Lord fully and faithfully and he may raise up in us the same Love Zeal Diligence and Vallour as he did in our Parents is the earnest Desire of Humphry Smith Saffron-Walden in Essex the 13th of the 9th Moneth 1682. Dear Friends BE pleased to take notice that dear Humphry Smith was a man that suffered many long and crueâ— Imprisonments for his Love and Testimony he bore to Gods blessed Truth and People in his day which occasioned part of his Writings to be scattered about in Manuscript and not found till part of this Book was printed whereby some few of them are mis-placed as to the years in which they were written but the following Table of Contents will direct to the particular Heads of such collected
Murder he could have let us have more Liberty than now he durst because of the Mayor One day two Country-men were passing by the Prison with their Teams the which Men came and enquired What we were imprisoned for And the Goaler being by inticed them into us and then he lockt the Door again and went his way so the men were constrained by reason of their Teams to send several Messengers with intreating Words to the Goaler to come again and then they were forced to agree with him for to let them forth for Money the which they presently paid Another time one of the Town came in the Prison to see us when the Goaler was there and the Doors open and the Goaler lockt the Door and kept him in that Day from his labour and that Night and his Wife nor her Friends could not prevail with the Mayor nor the Goaler to let him out without Money Also James Wall a Prisoner who had served seven Years an Apprenticeship in the Town and a Free-man thereof and hath born several Offices being a Shop-keeper having for seven Years kept a standing in the Market place until since he was Prisoner that the Mayor Edmond Young forbad his Wife neither would he let her stand that time where he was used to do nor in any place of the Market Then she went to him concerning it and once he said she should have a standing for two Pence but after he began to speak suttilly to her saying I hear that your Husband doth abuse you She answered My Husband did never abuse me but as for that Judgment which he now holdeth I could not own but now seeing it is so much persecuted makes me own it because the Way of God was always persecuted And when the Mayor heard that and saw he could have no occasion against her Husband by her Words then he said She should not have a standing for 5 l. Also two of James Wall 's Chapmen came to him with whom he had dealed much and their Accounts were large and some Money he owed them who went to the Mayor and proffered what Bale he would desire for him to come forth one day to perfect his Accounts But they could not prevail with him but the Mayor said to them If they would have a Warrant to seize on his Goods they should But the men said They had no reason so to do for the Mayor he seeks to ruinate others also On that day we were before the late Mayor George Kemp I said I own Magistrates that are for the Punishing of Evil-doers and the Praise of them that do well He answered You will find no such in England and I am sure I find no such in Evesham On the 17th of the 9th Moneth Margerat Newby and Elizabeth Quorte came to this Town in obedience to the Lord who had a Meeting on the morrow being the First-day in private at Edward Pitway's and after the Meeting ended about the fourth Hour in the latter part of the Day they came to the Prison to visit us that were in it and as they were returning the Mayor laid violent Hands on them and put them in the Prison above us and then caused them to be put in the Stocks that are in that Prison which Stocks are made worse then ordinarily with places to put in both Hands in which Stocks an Hours punishment is very bad and after a Constable had put them in the Mayor went up unto them to see if they were punished bad enough and caused them to be removed as far asunder as might be that they might not one help or ease another if they could and so left them with both their Legs therein with two holes distance between their Legs in a most barbarous shameful manner and beastly words he used to them and so went thence lockt the Prison-door that no Friends could come nigh them it being a freezing night in which manner they were kept the space of 15 hours at least the like Punishment seldom heard of I have thoughts that Paul's forty Stripes save one was not so bad And after they had been in that manner all that time then the Mayor caused them to be taken out and sent presently in the Cold out of the Town a back way without any stay for any outward Comfort And the same First-day at Night a Friend that came to the Town the day before being at the Prison hole was put in the common Stocks by the Mayor's order not shewing him any reason why they did and after he had been in the Stocks all that freezing Night in the Street then the Mayor sent him out of the Town by the Goaler but when the Goaler had left him he returned to the Town again along the Road-way it being the Market day and came to the Prison to us and then went to the Mayor to know what offence he had to charge him with that he had thus punished him for But the Mayor having nothing to accuse but was wroth and sent him to the Stocks again where both his Feet were put in and then they sent for Robert Vens who did go along with the Friend forth of the Town that had been in the Stocks all Night and when Robert Vens came before them called Justices Samuel Gardenar and Robert Maiten the one of them said What shall we do with this Fellow The other answered Put him in the Goal But at last they sent him to the Stocks and he knows no reason why they did it but for going with the other Friend out of the Town and when he had been in the Stocks five hours then they sent for him to see what the Goaler had to charge him with for any words that he might speak when he went with the other Friend so when they had punished him they went to enquire what offence he had done and finding none they let him go When this Persecution begun in Evosham and the Corruption of the Magistrates did so plainly appear some of the Inhabitants intended to send two men to the Protector to acquaint him and they writ something to that effect to send by them the which Writing was subscribed with about fifty Hands to it that by it the Protector might know what corrupt men were in Authority in this Town but I said unto them That thâ—y might put themselves to much trouble and yet not speak with the Protector therefore if they would not otherwise be satisfied they might put some four Hands to it and send it to Print and then I should endeavour to have it sent to the Protector that he might be left without excuse So they sent it to Print with twenty Hands to it which was entitâ—led A Representation of the Government of Evesham from many of the Inbabitants thereof directed to the Protector c. And at the Sessions after many of them were fined and some were both fined and have been ever since Imprisoned in the Protectors Name for declaring
say He that is a Fisherman let him so abide neither did Christ say he that will be my Disciple must follow his outward Employment or Trade but he said He that will not hate Father and Mother Brethren and Sisters Wife and Children yea and his own Life too cannot be my Disciple Luke 1â— 20. and if not a Disciple much less a Minister of his But hereby neither Christ nor them Ministers of his neither I did or do intend to draw or perswade People to Idleness or open a Door for any such Evil neither is there many who are called out of the World's Worships and required to leave their Families and called to the Ministry but that hereby it may plainly appear that the Command and Call of Christ to his Work and Ministry is to be obeyed though it be to the forfaking of House Goods or Lands for a Minister of his said We have forsaken all And have not I done so and unto them who had forsaken all unto all such was promised a Hundred fold Matth. 19. 17 18 19. And Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one Jot or Tittle of his Word shall fail And truly I have found his Promise true for a Hundred times Hundred sold have I already received blessed be the Lord forever But how contrary it was to my own Will to fulfill the Will of the Lord. in leaving my Employment and outward Business in the World let all them judge with the Light who knew my Conversation therein and saw my Eagerness in the things of the World and Contrivances therein beyond many men my Heart being set in the Earthly things being very fierce in Labouring therein for the getting and encreasing of the Fruits of the Earth as though I would have laid up Treasure for many Years which might have been good in its place if my Mind had been redeemed out of it and my Heart from the Covetousness thereof but I say again it was much contrary to my strong Will to leave these things and the love of them and much more that might be named and be taken from it with a Hundred and Fifty Pound loss and be exposed to Want Hardships Revilings Imprisonments Whippings Stonings and all manner of cruel Torture that the Soris of men might have Power to inflict upon my Body and for me that ruled over many and was respected by many to become a Servant unto all and counted the Off-scouring of all and be abused by any Boy or the Vilest Person I meet and it was much contrary to my Will to refuse that Glory Honour and Preferment of the VVorld which was offered me by the Rulers thereof when I was beloved of them and Hundreds more and when I preached among them in the Pulpits daily and was then called of men Master like the Hirelings of England who being in the Curse cannot cease from Sin 2 Pet. 2. 14. yet I still refused their Unrighteous Gain and denyed all their Gifts and Rewards for the Lord in his Mercy kept me out of them Temptations though sometimes some that were then near Friends unto me would have perswaded me to have taken something of what was offered as to live upon but I durst not if I had wanted Food or Raiment but answered one Justice who was proposing me a free Gift toward Maintenance which might have been worth a Hundred Pound a Year or more seeing I left my Employment freely to preach daily but I say I answered I shall rather go in Sheep-Skins and Goat-Skins and eat Bread and drink Water and that little honest meek Principle in me which then kept me from that and such Temptations in due time led me to be Ruler over much which before I had not Power over therefore I say unto all it is good to be faithful to the little measure of God in the Conscience For when I was but young and void of the knowledge of God or his Way of Holiness my Mind ran much in the Earth with a covetous care how to gain the Riches thereof and even then did the Hand of the Lord follow me and his Witness in me did so judge and condemn me Night and Day for my Evil that at last I was scarce able to do any thing in the Earth or go upon it then waiting to see what the reason was after many Hours I saw clearly if I would leave the Wickedness of the world and follow the Lord and trust him I might have Peace and if not I was like to be cut off And then I left some Sins and resolved to live more Holy and began to Pray and Read and then I went to follow the Priests not knowing that in me which I was to hear and follow yet it secretly led me out of some Evil and so into some Peace and then my Heart was exalted in the Earth though I encreased in a Profession And when I was in the height of the World's Way and Worship and expecting Riches to increase even then in an unexpected time did the dread of the Lord fall upon me and his wonderful mighty Power wrought exceedingly in me to break me off from all my Wayes and seperate me from all the Worship of the VVorld and gave me to see the Abominations of all the Prayers of the Wicked and the Invalidity of all the Worships of all Mankind who are out of God's Covenant and the Operations then upon me by the terrible Hand of the Lord and the strivings that were in me can never be declared and then did the Lord command me to follow him in Obedience to his Will to declare against all Unrighteousness of men which I saw in the Light of Life to be in Priests Rulers and People and I then saw clearly in the eternal Light and foresight of God the Hardships Cruelties Whippings Imprisonments and Dungeon and many such things which since in part have been upon this Body fulfilled as may be read in several of my Books read the True Rule and at that time did the powerful Life of God so much break through me with such unspeakable Love that I was even willing to leave all walk with God But then contrary to Paul I reasoned with Flesh and Blood that I should be esteemed a Mad-man and that People would not believe me and that I was not fit and many such things Then the Word of the Lord was spoken in me saying Who is it that openeth the Mouth Is it not I the Lord Then was my Bowels even turned within me with the constraining Power of Gods Eternal Love and I began to be willing but when that was a little over the Tempter being near â— reasoned concerning my Wife and Children How they should be provided for and presently the Promise of the Lord was That they should be cared for and his Promise was to me That he who converteth Souls to God should shine as the Stars forever And when I had received them VVords into me I was overcome with
opposite to him who came not to destroy mens Lives but to save them And what is here written need not hinder the moving of God in any of my Bretheren his servants in giving forth a more large Answer according to the particulars written in your called Appendix or to any other of your writings the which you may also expect only this was in my heart in which I have discharged my Conscience and so herein give forth my Mite a-amongst the rest of my Brethren by way of Declaration and that from God And by this it is my Souls desire your hearts may be humbled and truly rent and broken for your own Iniquities and that with speed or otherwise Gods dreadful hand you cannot escape And this is in faithfulness to God and love to your souls from a Friend thereof called Humphry Smith The 14th of the first Moneth in the Year 1660. The Lamb his Day PROCLAIMED THe Kingdom of God is at hand which comes not with Observation Salvation is near unto all that will receive it Redemption is coming in a time unexpected and Deliverance in a way not known as a Thief in the dark is the Heir come whose Light out of Darkness is shining and that which shineth out of Darkness is it alone that giveth the knowledge of God whom to know is Life eternal and the brightness of the Day of God is springing forth of Darkness as the Morning-Sun after the Darkness of the Night and glorious is this Day of the Revelation of God to all them that have waited for his coming who in the Life of his Power through the Obedience in his Love come to rejoyce in his Dominion over all the Powers of Darkness forever and sound forth the dreadful Day of his Power unto all the Inhabitants of the Earth from the which Christ the Saviour comes to take Peace and to bring the Sword of Gods Judgments into the Bowels of all the Earthly Minded and in him that judgeth the secrets of all mens Hearts do his Followers rejoyce and proclaim him unto you all that makes an end of Sin who of the Father of Love and Mercy is tendered unto all that will receive him that in him who condemns the Evil deeds and sin in the flesh Salvation might be attained unto who now comes unto his own of whom many receive him not for he is come to judge the World whom God so loved that he gave his Son the Light of the World that whosoever believe in him by whom the secrets of all hearts are and shall be judged may be saved from Wrath to come and find a sure hiding place when the wicked shall be cut off the Earth And now who will receive the Lamb in whose Mouth there is no Guile Who among the Sons of men will receive him that hath been slain from the Foundation of the World Who will receive him that is the Gift of God which is Perfect Who will receive him that is a man of Sorrows whose beauty is hid from the prudent of the Earth Who will receive him that the Priests cry out against and the Rulers say Away with him from the Earth Who will come unto the waters of Life and return unto the Fountain of living Mercies that in his Belly the springs of Life may be felt Who can endure to follow him to end of World whose Kingdom is not of this World and who receiveth not honour of men Who can hear receive and keep the hard sayings and drink his Blood that cleanseth from all sin Who is willing to receive him that is the Resurrection and the Life whose Presence troubled and terrified his own Disciples so that their Hearts burned within them VVho will lay down their Crowns at the foot of him that is the Light and mourn over him that is slain whom they have pierced and through Patience Long-suffering and Obedience follow the one Shepherd in the Regeneration even unto them is the VVord of Consolation sent Therefore be ye awakned O all ye Rulers and People let not your Hearts be hardned against Gods VVitness in you neither stop your Ears nor close your Eyes for of a Truth the Lord is at hand and is come to try you with his Loving-kindness and with his Judgments His flock despised of men hath he sent in the meekness of his love to preach the innocent Life of his Son among you in Meekness Patience Sufferings and Tribulations who being reviled revileth not again but in patience enduring long Imprisonment yea VVant and Sickness there and Abuses cruel Mockings Stonings in the street daily and Revilings by ungodly Persons whose Cruelty is encreased and their Sins multiplied encreasing to the day of Judgment and Righteous Revelation of Gods wrath upon all Unrighteousness of men who hold his Truth in that which is not his Righteousness which is now brought near unto all that fear before him in Uprightness of Heart that Truth in the inward parts they might come to know and in it VVorship the God of the Spirits of all flesh And all you People that are meek and tender who have been taught by the Priests and not by the Lord whose Mercy to the humble abideth forever the Lord God Almighty hath so loved you that he hath provided a better Teacher for you which shall not be removed and a Priest that abideth forever and a Bishop for your Souls and behold he is no less then a King yea he ruleth over Kings and help is laid upon him who is mighty and he is able to save and he is so willing to do it that he hath laid down his Life for that end and he standeth at the Door and knocks and he that knocks is called the Word and the Word is as a hammer and the Word is in the Heart where Christ is to be received and where this knocks for entrance and it knocks against sin and in him is no sin and he cometh to save you from sin and to lead you the way to the Father and without Money doth he ever teach nay he giveth abundantly unto all that are taught by him and that more then mortal Riches and you may have him to be with you alwayes forever and he can resolve all your Doubts and satisfie every one and replenish the weary and nourish the faint and in him are all Gods Treasures of the which by him you may come to partake forever and he himself is as a Treasure in thy field but hid from thee which I have found in the Earthen Vessel and declare it unto thee that thy Fallow-ground may be ript up to find the Pearl for this is near unto thee and the motion of it is against thy sin the beauty whereof thou canst never see until to it thou comest to hearken H. S. FOR THE honour of the king AND And the great Advancing thereof amongst men over all Nations in the World In the ensuing Proposals tending thereunto stated in Six PARTICULARS Concerning the KING'S
us now we are his people and are purchased unto him with a Ransom more precious than all the Gold in the World Who is it among all the flock of God but have already had much experience of his Love good Will and Mercy And wherefore then should any of the Sons or Daughters of Zion suppose that God will ever forsake or leave them in distress I even say doubtless and certainly it will not be so but the Lord will stand by us and the God of the whole Earth will go before us and the wonderful dreadful powerful Presence of the most High will be with us over us among us and in us for evermore and we shall certainly be preserved by his Power And by this my tenders of Love in these Lines all the dear anâ— humble hearted Friends of Christ may hear from me and understand that something of the virtue of the Vine is and remaineth in me and if the will of God should be so that my Body suffer in this close unsavory Prison at Winchester many Moneths or several Years longer yet shall the Lord be my God forever and my Rest unto the end of Troubles and in silence and secret shall and doth my Heart and Soul pour forth Intercession to the Throne of Power in the behalf of his own Truth and People and for every feeble Plant which God hath planted And when I have put you in mind that you ought not to forsake the Assembling of your selves together I leave you to God at present H. S. ANd you should all take heed of that which would lead you up an easier way than by the Light that condemns sin and terrifies and troubles you for by it doth God speak and in it calls for Repentance and in it strives with you and many more so strongly that they cannot rest night nor day being not yet reconciled to it but this consider that this will not alwayes strive with you therefore while the Light is and is not put out if you will hear his Voice by whom God speaks peace that Peace you might enjoy forever then take heed of that by which a hardness comes upon the Heart and a Vail so thick with unbelief that the true Mourning is done away that there cannot be then a secret Crying unto the Lord for help and deliverance in the true brokeness of Heart which openeth to God with Bowels of Love and Tears whereby Gods Mercy is felt but a hardness upon the heart and a wrong thing ask for Peace in the unbelief from that which darkneth Take heed of this thing And this know assuredly that when Trouble comes in the inward parts and the rumour of War is heard between the two Nations Jacob and Esau both in the Womb and the Light condemning in the heart which hath been fleshly and the Witness of God awakning the Conscience that then if there be not a Brokeness thereby and a Mollifying of the Heart and a humbling of the lofty part then will Hardness take place and Rebellion prevail with thee against the Light Therefore in its season let these things have entrance in you and come to that which can receive it in love faithfulness and plainess as it is written H. S. The Cause of the long Afflicted and sore Oppressed sent forth in brief from Winchesteâ— Prison bâ—iâ—g a Copy of the Mittimus whâ—â—eâ—y Hâ—mphry Smith was again committed in oâ—th pace of his former lonâ— suffering in the same streight unsavory Prison wiâ—h his Answer which was then sent bâ—ck thereunto As likewise a shoâ—t Relation from the rest of them called Quakers there The Mittimus To the Keeper of his Majesties Goal at Winton or to his sufficient Deputy Greeting YOu shall herewithal receive the Body of Humphry Southton Smith who was taken at unlawful Meetings at Alton being a Ringleader and one of the chief of the Quakers who travelleth the Country to seduce the People and disturb his Majesties Peace contrary to the Law in that behalf made and provided These are therefore in his Majesties Name to will and require you forthwith that you receive the Body of him the said Humphry Smith into your Custody and him to detain in your said Goal until he shall be delivered from thence by due order of Law Whereof fail you not at your peril Given under our Hands and Seals at Alton the 14th day of October in the thirteenth year of his Majesties Reign Anno 1661. John Norton Humphry Bennit The Answer THe Jews who denyed him that said I am the Light laid hands on Paul crying out Help men of Israel this is the man that teacheth every where against the Law Acts 21. 28. And the Jewish Christians who denied the Light laid hands on Humphry Smith and in the Mittimus say He was at an unlawful Meeting And so these called Christians say Our Meetings are Unlawful or against the Law And just so it was said of Paul That his teaching was against the Law Again John Norton and Humphry Bennit say That Humphry Smith was a Ringleader Likewise Turtullous said That Paul was a Ringleader Acts 24. Again Humphry Smith is accused for one of the chief of the Quakâ—rs and for travelling the Country to seduce the People And in the same manner Paul was accused for a mover of Sedition among all the Jews throughout the World Acts 24. 5. and if so then Paul was a greater Traveller than Humphry Smith And as Humphry Smith is here accused for seducing the people so Paul was accused for setting forth of strange Gods and for preaching new Doctrine Acts 17. 18. And again Haman accused the Lords People That they kept not the Kings Laws And these men accuse us that we disturb the Peace contrary to the Kings Laws And the Rulers accused Paul for teaching things that were not Lawful And these accuse Humphry Smith That he did that which was contrary to the Law which they say is made and provided which is as much as if they had said We have a Law just like their Fathers who crucified Christ and said We have a Law and by our Law he ought to dye And so these who have Envy which is Murther in their hearts say We have a Law made and provided and by the force thereof Humphry Smith who is a member of Christ must be Imprisoned his Body Mark not his Soul then his Soul may be at liberty And them Magistrates cast Paul into Prison And so these did by H. Smith And they charged the Goaler To keep Paul safely Acts 16. 12. And these charge or require the Goaler in no less than his Majesties Name and at his own Peril to receive and detain the Body of Humphry Smith in his said Goal until he shall be delivered by due Order of Law And in this their acting and writing they themselves have compared Humphry Smith with Paul and others of Gods people And themselves with Pauls Persecutors and But now they have above a year
as deal justly with us but writ therein That we were lately taken at a Meeting as though it had been very lately indeed and thereby have sought to conceal the long Imprisonment we had then suffered for the same Meeting therein signified and concerning which we have also suffered nine weeks more in this Prison of Winchester this 13th of the 11th Moneth 1662. And these our heard and unreasonable Sufferings and grievous Abuses doth even cause a Cry for Mercy and may claim Compassion in Equity as well as Justice from you who in Justice ought to shew Mercy in relieving the oppressed who having suffered all these things only upon the account of some difference in Opinion in matters of Religion or matter in us of Conscience to God wherein also the King 's late Declaration offereth us Relief the benefit thereof we shall gladly receive but if otherwise then we say The will of the Lord be done whom we dare not but follow though it should be to the loss of all John Austin Jonas Goff William Bucklan Thomas Cozens Nichlos Cumplin William Jennings Solomon Nun also a Prisoner eleven Weeks for not paying four Shillings for being absent four First-dayes from their Church at Fareham which in Conscience he could not pay and so he is kept from his Masters business being a young Apprentice-lad John Bishop also a Prisoner nine Weeks being taken out of his own House from the which he was not departed neither were there then found with him any more men but two Humphry Smith a Prisoner one year and three Moneths and never called at Assize or Sessions nor suffered to come to any of the Rulers in the County to lay before them the true state of his Case And now seeing the hardness of the hearts of the Rulers is such that though a Copy of this fore-going Paper was sent unto them at the time of their late appointed Sessions and they not release the said sufferers nor commiserate their long and fore suffering Cause being some of them but poor men and seeing the said Paper was turned again and so the cause of the long oppressed turned aside Therefore is this published with the other that both Rulers and People may hear and see the long and many Afflictions of the harmless And now as touching four Coats that in cold Winter weather were stript off us since we came to this Prison and openly carried forth by one whose name we forbear to write and the Money for them drunk presently in strong Beer concerning the which although we mentioned not a word amongst the rest of our sufferings in the fore-going Paper And yet seeing it is so that just thereupon we were curbed and checked and Friends kept out from us and bitter words used at them that were let in though the Goaler had profit by them and that even by the Goaler's Wife she having slighted Gods love and so now hath little Pity for us and this being also done at the same time when the King's Declaration was come forth which is so largely tending to our Liberty And that the said Goalers Wife and himself if they own that action may know that it was out of forbearance of love and not of slavish fear of any that we mentioned not these our Coats in the said Paper Therefore are these few lines pertaining to this matter now added to the rest of the sufferings of us J. A. T. C. J. G. N. C. This 14th day of the 11th Moneth 1662. And the cause or the Reasons wherefore the Copy of the Mittimus with the answer of me H. S. is herein made publick are these First Because John Norton and Humphry Bennit have not only thus committed me upon no other account but for being such a man as Gods servants were in the days of old and for doing no other thing but what was though sometimes unjustly charged against them and also before this late Law was made intentionally against Meeting Secondly Because they have kept me close Prisoner one Year three Moneths and upward and that only upon this account Thirdly Because I have been all this time deprived even of that benefit of the Law in this Land which Thieves and Murderers have being not all this time called at Assize or Sessions Fourthly Because the said John Norton refused to let me have any liberty for a little season when a Friend came to seek it of him after I had lain here almost a Year Fifthly Because nothing of evil is proved or brought in against me nor any Law known by which they thus keep me in long Bondage though wrongfully in the Mittimus they have pretended a Law Sixthly Because I am more hardly dealt with in my imprisonment then the High-way-men that break out of Prison or any other Ossendor here by their order for the keeping of Friends from coming in to visit him that is one of the Members of Christ in Prison Seventhly Because that by no means all this time I can be permitted once to pass forth to any House in the Town and several Reasons more wherein I am unreasonably dealt with all which having so long and with much silence and patience undergone Eightly Because all this and much more of their hard dealing and my sufferings are so little regarded by the said John Norton and Humphry Bennit and other Rulers who some of them said I might Rot here Therefore I say thus much is at present published and that other tender hearted people and the meekest among the Rulers may both read and consider the cause of the Oppressed and also the long sufferings of Humphry Smith The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service John 16. 2. If the World hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you John 15. 81. But in the great day when it shall be said Come ye Blessed and Go ye Cursed the things then laid to their charge will be these I was Hungry Thirsty a Stranger Naked Sick and in Prison and ye visited me not Answer When saw we thee so Reply In as much as ye did it not unto one of the least of these ye did it not to me according to Mat. 25. 41 42 43 44 45 46. The the Sons of Men. YOu Sons of men whom God hath made to shew forth the works of his hands listen a little be quiet and hear and let your Minds be still Why should Envy arise in your heaâ—ts let my words be received in Love for behold I speak in Righteousness and in Peace from him that hath good-will towards man let your vain thoughts be denied and in coolness of Spirit in true Moderation give ear a little Why should the true fear of the Lord be dispised by you And why should you not receive instruction that your Souls might live in Peace forever Or why should I be esteemed by you as an Enemy for bringing the Message of Everlasting Peace to you which long did want it