People And said It was great pity that they did not return to the Holy Mother Church Thus they made a Busz among the People and said They would willingly discourse with Friends But Friends were loth to meddle with them because they were Jesuits looking upon it to be both dangerous and scandalous But when I understood it I said to Friends Let us discourse with them be they what they will So a time being appointed at Gerrard Roberts his House there came two of them like Courtiers When we were come together they asked our Names which we told them But we did not ask their Names for we understood they were called Papists and they knew we were called Quakers I asked them the same Question that I had formerly asked a Jesuit namely Whether the Church of Rome was not degenerated from the Church in the Primitive Times from the Spirit and Power and Practice that they were in in the Apostles times He to whom I put this Question being subtile said He would not Answer it I ask'd him Why But he would shew no Reason His Companion said he would answer me and he said They were not degenerated from the Church in the Primitive times I asked the other Whether he was of the same Mind And he said Yes Then I told them that for the better understanding one another and that there might be no Mistake I would repeat my Question over again after this manner Whether the Church of Rome now was in the same Purity Practice Power and Spirit that the Church in the Apostle's time was in When they saw we would be exact with them they flew off and denied that saying It was Presumption in any to say they had the same Power and Spirit which the Apostles had But I told them It was Presumption in them to meddle with the Words of Christ and his Apostles and make People believe they succeeded the Apostles and yet be forced to Confess They were not in the same Power and Spirit that the Apostles were in This said I is a Spirit of Presumption and rebuked by the Apostles Spirit Then I shewed them how different their Fruits and Practices were from the Fruits and Practices of the Apostles Then got up one of them and said Ye are a Company of Dreamers Nay said I ye are the filthy Dreamers who dream ye are the Apostles Successors and yet Confess Ye have not the same Power and Spirit which the Apostles were in And are not they Defilers of the Flesh who say It is Presumption for any to say they have the same Power and Spirit which the Apostles had Now said I if ye have not the same Power and Spirit which the Apostles had then it is manifest that ye are led by another Power and Spirit than the Apostles and Church in the Primitive times were led by Then I began to tell them how that Evil Spirit which they were led by had led them to Pray by Beads and to Images and to set up Nunneries and Frieries and Monasteries and to put People to Death for Religion and this Practice of theirs I shewed them was below the Law and far short of the Gospel in which is Liberty They were soon weary of this Discourse and went their way and gave a Charge as we heard to the Papists That they should not dispute with us nor read any of our Books So we were rid of them But we had Reasonings with all the other Sects as Presbyterians Independents Seekers Baptists Episcopal-men Socinians Brownists Lutherans Calvinists Arminians Fifth-Monarchy-Men Familists Muggletonians and Ranters none of which would Affirm they had the same Power and Spirit that the Apostles had and were in So in that Power and Spirit the Lord gave us Dominion over them all As for the Fifth-Monarchy-Men I was moved to give forth a Paper to them to manifest their Error to them For they looked for Christ's Personal Coming in an outward Form and Manner and they fixed the time of it to the Year 1666 at which time some of them did prepare themselves when it Thundered and Rained thinking Christ was then come to set up his Kingdom and then they imagined they were to kill the Whore without them But I told them the Whore was alive in them and was not burnt with God's Fire nor judged in them with the same Power and Spirit the Apostles were in And their looking for Christ's Coming outwardly to set up his Kingdom was like the Pharisees Lo here and Lo there But Christ was come and had set up his Kingdom above Sixteen Hundred Years ago according to Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and Daniel's Prophecy and he had dash'd to pieces the Four Monarchies the great Image with its Head of Gold Breast and Arms of Silver Belly and Thighs of Brass Legs of Iron and Feet part of Iron part of Clay and they were all blown away with God's Wind as the Chaff in the Summer-threshing-Floor And when Christ was on Earth he said his Kingdom was not of this World If it had been his Servants would have fought but it was not therefore his Servants did not fight And therefore all the Fifth-Monarchy-Men that be Fighters with Carnal Weapons are none of Christ's Servants but the Beast's and the Whore's Christ said All Power in Heaven and in Earth is given to me So then his Kingdom was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years ago and he Reigns And we see Jesus Reign said the Apostle and he shall Reign till all things be put under his Feet though all things are not yet put under his Feet nor subdued This year several Friends were moved to go beyond the Seas to publish Truth in Forreign Countries John Stubbs and Henry Fell and Richard Costrop were moved to go towards China and Prester John's Country but no Masters of Ships would carry them With much ado they got a Warrant from the King but the East-India-Company found ways to avoid it and the Masters of their Ships would not carry them Then they went into Holland hoping to have got Passage there but no Passage could they get there neither Then John Stubs and Henry Fell took Shipping to go to Alexandria in Egypt intending to go by the Carravans from thence Mean while Daniel Baker being to go to Smirna he drew Richard Costrop contrary to his own Freedom to go along with him And in the passage Richard falling sick D. Baker left him sick in the Ship where he died But that hard-hearted Man afterwards lost his own Condition John Stubbs and Henry Fell got to Alexandria in Egypt but they had not been long there before the English Consul banished them from thence Yet before they came away they dispersed many Books and Papers there for the opening the Principles and Way of Truth to the Turks and Grecians They gave the Book called The Popes Strength broken to an Old Frier for him to give or send to the Pope which Book when the Frier had perused he clapped his Hand
harmless and separate from Sinners and is a Priest made higher than the Heavens This is the Priest that gives power to all that receive him to become the Sons and Daughters of God And Jerusalem that is above is the Mother of all the Sons and Daughters of God which is free but Jerusalem that is below is in bondage with her Children And they that are the Children of Jerusalem that is above do not look down at Jerusalem that is below but they look at Jerusalem that is above which is their Mother Christ said Neither at Outward Jerusalem nor in the Mountain of Samaria should God be worshipped but God should be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth for he is a Spirit and such he seeks to worship him John 4. This is the Worship that Christ set up above Sixteen hundred years ago And therefore the Idolatrous Jews must never think to Offer their outward Offerings and Sacrifices nor set up their outward Worship at Jerusalem in the holy Land of Canaan more For Christ by the Offering up of himself once for all for the Sins of the whole World hath ended all the Jews Offerings and changed the Priesthood and the Law by which it was made and hath blotted out the Hand-writing of Ordinances which commanded both Priests and Offerings and triumphed over them And so he is the Offering and Sacrifice of all the Children of the New Testament and New Covenant and heavenly new Jerusalem that is above and he is their Prophet that openeth to them and Shepherd that feeds them and Bishop that oversees them and Priest that died for their Sins and is risen for their Justification and sanctifies them and presents them to God So he is the one Mediator betwixt God and Man even the Man Christ Jesus Kingston the 9th of the 10th Month 1687. G. F. Guilford After this I went from Kingston to Guilford to visit Friends there and stay'd three days with them and had a large and very good Meeting there on the First-day of the Week After which I came back to Kingston again Kingston and tarried there about Two Weeks longer visiting the Friends and having Meetings amongst them both at their Publick Meeting-house and in their Families Many things I writ while I was now at Kingston amongst which the following Paper was one GOD so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish mark not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 And again he saith He that believeth on the Son of God hath mark hath everlasting Life ver 36. So these Believers have Everlasting Life while they are upon the Earth And he that believeth on Christ is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already and the wrath of God abideth on him And He that heareth Christ 's word and believeth on God that sent him hath mark hath everlasting life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from death the death in the first Adam to life the life in Christ the second Adam John 5.24 And that Meat which Christ doth give endureth unto Everlasting Life as in John 6.27 And the Water that Christ doth give shall be in him that drinks it a Well of water springing up into everlasting life John 4.14 Christ said to the Jews Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me And ye will not come to me that ye might have life John 5.39 40. Here ye may see the Eternal Life is to be found in Christ and not in the Scriptures which testifie of him the Life Christ's Sheep that hear his Voice and know and follow him he gives unto them Eternal Life and they shall not perish neither shall any pluck them out of his hand They shall not pluck Christ's Sheep to whom he hath given Eternal life out of his Eternal hand Christ said to Martha I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead mark though he were dead yet shall he live mark live though he were dead and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Believest thou this Martha said Yea Lord John 25.26 This is the true and substantial Belief which they that do believe shall not perish but have Everlasting life John saith This is the Record That God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son 1 John 5.11 The Life was manifested and we saith he have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us 1 John 1.2 So these were the Believers that had Eternal Life in the Son of God and shewed it unto others He that hath the Son hath life saith John and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life 1 John 5.12 Christ saith Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life Matth. 19.29 And the Wicked that do not receive Christ shall go into everlasting punishment but the Righteous into everlasting life And the true Servants of God have their fruits unto holiness and their End is everlasting life For the Wages of Sin is death but the Gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And such have a Building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Therefore I desire that God's People may endure all things that they may obtain this Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with Eternal Glory a Glory which is Eternal For Christ being made perfect became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him And this Eternal Salvation is above an External Salvation for they come to receive an Eternal Inheritance and live in the possession of the everlasting Gospel of Joy Comfort Peace and Salvation having eternal and everlasting life in Christ Jesus which shall never die Kingston the 6th of the 11th Month 1687. G. F. Another Paper I writ there Concerning the Stone spoken of by Daniel Chap. 2. which became a great Mountain and filled the whole Earth shewing that thereby was set forth the Kingdom and Power of Christ WHen Christ the Stone that became a great Mountain and filled the whole Earth had broke to pieces the Head of Gold and the Breast of Silver and the Belly of Brass and the Legs of Iron and the Feet part Iron part Clay which were the four Monarchies to wit the Babylonian and Mede the Persian the Grecian and the Roman and had ended the outward Jews Typical Kingdom Daniel saith In the days of these Kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed Dan. 2.44 Christ saith All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Matth. 28.18 And he saith My Kingdom is not of this
laid in Wait afore-hand for him in many places And then he being return'd at Bristol he declared his Intentions of Marriage and there also was our Marriage solemnized And then within ten Days after I came homewards and my Husband stayed up and down in the Countries amongst Friends visiting them And soon after I came home there came another Order from the Council to cast me into Prison again and the Sheriff of Lancashire sent his Bailiff and pulled me out of my own House and had me Prisoner to Lancaster-Castle upon the Old Premunire where I continued a whole Year And most part of all that time was I sick and weakly and also my Husband was weak and sickly at that time And then after a while he Recovered and went about to get me out of Prison and a Discharge at last was got under the Great Seal and so I was set at Liberty And then I was to go up to London again for my Husband was intending for America And he was full two years away before he came back again into England and then he arrived at Bristol and then came to London and he intended to have come to the middle of the Nation with me But when we came into some parts of Worcestershire they got there Information of him and one Justice Parker by his Warrant sent him and my Son Lower to Worcester-Gaol The ninth Imprisonment and the Justices there tendered him the Oath and Premunired him but Released my Son Lower who stayed with him most of the time he was Prisoner there And after some time he fell sick in a long lingering Sickness and many times was very ill so they writ to me from London That if I would see him alive I might go to him which accordingly I did And after I had tarried Seventeen Weeks with him at Worcester and no Discharge like to be obtained for him I went up to London and writ to the King an Account of his long Imprisonment and how he was taken in his Travel homewards and how he was weak and sick and not like to live if they kept him long there And I went with it to Whitehall my self and I met with the King and gave him the Paper And he said I must go to the Chancellour he could do nothing in it Then I writ also to the Lord Chancellour and went to his House and gave him my Paper and spoke to him That the King had left it wholly to him and if he did not take pity and Release him out of that Prison I feared he would end his days there And the Lord Chancellour Finch was a very tender Man and spoke to the Judge who gave out an Habeas Corpus presently And when we got it we sent it down to Worcester and they would not part with him at first but said he was Premunired and was not to go out on that manner And then we were forced to go to Judge North and to the Attorney General and we got another Order and sent down from them and with much ado and great Labour and Industry of William Mead and other Friends we got him up to London where he Appeared in Westminster-Hall at the King 's Bench before Judge Hales who was a very honest tender Man and he knew they had Imprisoned him but in Envy So that which they had against him was Read and our Counsel pleaded That he was taken up in his Travel and Journey And there was but a little said till he was quitted And this was the Last Prison that he was in being freed by the Court of King's Bench. And when he was at Liberty he Recovered again And then I was very desirous to go home with him which we did And this was the first time that he came to Swarthmore after we were Married and so he stayed here much of two years And then went to London again to the Yearly Meeting and after a while went into Holland and some parts of Germany where he stayed a pretty while and then Returned to London again at the next Yearly Meeting And after he had stayed a while in and about London he came into the North to Swarthmore again and stayed that time nigh two years And then he grew weakly being troubled with Pains and Aches having had many sore and long Travels Beatings and hard Imprisonments But after some time he rid to York and so passed on thorow Nottinghamshire and several Counties visiting Friends till he came to London to the Yearly-Meeting and stayed there and there-aways till he finished his Course and laid down his Head in Peace And though the Lord had provided an outward Habitation for him yet he was not willing to stay at it because it was so remote and far from London where his Service most lay And my Concern for God and his holy Eternal Truth was then in the North where God had placed and set me and likewise for the Ordering and Governing of my Children and Family so that we were very willing both of us to live a-part some years upon God's Account and his Truth 's Service and to deny our selves of that Comfort which we might have had in being together for the sake and Service of the Lord and his Truth And if any took Occasion or Judged hard of us because of that the Lord will Judge them for we were Innocent And for my own part I was willing to make many long Journies for taking away all Occasion of evil Thoughts And though I lived Two hundred Miles from London yet have I been Nine times there upon the Lord and his Truth 's Account and of all the times that I was at London this last time was most Comfortable that the Lord was pleased to give me Strength and Ability to travel that great Journey being Seventy six years of Age to see my Dear Husband who was better in his Health and Strength than many times I had seen him before I look upon that that the Lord 's special Hand was in it that I should go then for he lived but about half a Year after I left him Which makes me admire the Wisdom and Goodness of God in Ordering my Journey at that time And now he hath finished his Course and his Testimony and is entered into his Eternal Rest and Felicity I trust in the same powerful God that his holy Arm and Power will carry me thorow whatever he hath yet for me to do and that he will be my Strength and Support and the Bearer up of my Head unto the End and in the End For I know his Faithfulness and Goodness and I have Experience of his Love To whom be Glory and Powerful Dominion for ever Amen M. F. The Testimony of some of the AUTHOR'S Relations NEither Days nor Length of Time with us can wear out the Memory of our Dear and Honoured Father George Fox whom the Lord hath taken to himself And though his Earthly House of this Tabernacle be dissolved
and some Years I continued in that Condition in great Troubles and fain I would have put it from me And I went to many a Priest to look for Comfort but found no Comfort from them From Barnet I went to London where I took a Lodging London and was under great Misery and Trouble there For I looked upon the great Professors of the City of London and I saw all was dark and under the Chain of Darkness And I had an Uncle there one Pickering a Baptist and they were tender then Yet I could not impart my Mind to him nor join with them For I saw all Young and Old where they were Some tender People would have had me stayed but I was fearful and returned homewards in Leicestershire again Leicestershire having a Regard upon my Mind unto my Parents and Relations lest I should grieve them who I understood were troubled at my Absence When I was come down into Leicestershire my Relations would have had me Married But I told them I was but a Lad and I must get Wisdom Others would have had me into the Auxiliary Band among the Soldiery Coventry but I refused and I was grieved that they proffered such Things to me being a tender Youth Then I went to Coventry where I took a Chamber for a while at a Professor's House till People began to be acquainted with me for there were many tender People in that Town And after some time I went into my own Country again Leicestershire and was there about a Year in great Sorrows and Troubles and walked many Nights by my self Then the Priest of Drayton the Town of my Birth whose Name was Nathaniel Stevens would come often to me and I went often to him and another Priest sometimes would come with him And they would have given place to me to hear me and I would ask them Questions and reason with them And this Priest Stevens asked me a Question viz. Why Christ cryed out upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And why he said If it be possible let this Cup pass from me yet not my Will but thine be done And I told him At that time the Sins of all Mankind were upon him and their Iniquities and Transgressions with which he was wounded which he was to bear and to be an Offering for them as he was Man but died not as he was God And so in that he died for all Men and tasted Death for every Man he was an Offering for the Sins of the whole World This I spake being at that time in a measure sensible of Christ's Sufferings and what he went through And the Priest said It was a very good full Answer and such an one as he had not heard And at that time he would applaud and speak highly of me to others And what I said in Discourse to him on the Week-days that he would Preach of on the First-days for which I did not like him And this Priest afterwards became my great Persecutor Mansetter in Warwick-shire After this I went to another Ancient Priest at Mansetter in Warwick-shire and reasoned with him about the Ground of Despair and Temptations but he was ignorant of my Condition And he bid me Take Tobacco and Sing Psalms Tobacco was a thing I did not love and Psalms I was not in an Estate to Sing I could not Sing Then he bid me come again and he would tell me many Things But when I came again he was angry and pettish For my former Words had displeased him And he told my Troubles and Sorrows and Griefs to his Servants so that it was got among the Milk-Lasses which grieved me that I should open my Mind to such an one I saw they were all Miserable Comforters And this brought my Troubles more upon me Tamworth Then I heard of a Priest living about Tamworth who was accounted an Experienced Man and I went Seven Miles to him But I found him but like an Empty hollow Cask Then I heard of one called Doctor Cradock of Coventry and I went to him and I asked him the Ground of Temptations and Despair and how Troubles came to be wrought in Man He asked me Who was Christ's Father and Mother I told him Mary was his Mother and that he was supposed to be the Son of Joseph but he was the Son of God Now as we were walking together in his Garden the Ally being narrow I chanced in turning to set my Foot on the side of a Bed at which the Man was in such a Rage as if his House had been on Fire And thus all our Discourse was lost and I went away in Sorrow worse than I was when I came I thought them Miserable Comforters And I saw they were all as Nothing to me for they could not reach my Condition After this I went to another one Macham a Priest in high Account And he would needs give me some Physick and I was to have been let Blood But they could not get one drop of Blood from me either in Arms or Head though they endeavoured it my Body being as it were dried up with Sorrows Grief and Troubles which were so great upon me that I could have wished I had never been born to see Vanity and Wickedness or that I had been born Blind that I might never have seen Wickedness nor Vanity and Deaf that I might never have heard vain and wicked Words or the Lord's Name blasphemed And when the time called Christmas came while others were Feasting and Sporting themselves I would have gone and looked out poor Widows from House to House and have given them some Money And when I was invited to Marriages as I sometimes was I would go to none at all but the next day or soon after I would go and visit them And if they were Poor I gave them some Money for I had wherewith both to keep my self from being Chargeable to others and to administer something to the Necessities of Others About the beginning of the Year 1646. as I was going to Coventry and entring towards the Gate a Consideration arose in me how it was said That All Christians are Believers Coventry both Protestants and Papists And the Lord opened to me that if all were Believers then they were all born of God and passed from Death to Life and that none were true Believers but such And though Others said they were Believers yet they were not At another time as I was walking in a Field on a First-day Morning the Lord opened unto me That being bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough to fit and qualifie Men to be Ministers of Christ And I stranged at it because it was the common Belief of People But I saw it clearly as the Lord opened it to me and was satisfied and admired the Goodness of the Lord who had opened this thing unto me that Morning Which struck at Priest Stevens his Ministry namely
Innocent and Simple-minded were satisfied and went away refreshed but the fat and full were fed with Judgment and sent empty away for that was the Word of the Lord to be divided to them Now when Meetings were set up and we Met in private Houses then began Lampitt the Priest to Rage And he said We forsook the Temple and went to Jeroboam 's Calves-houses So that many Professors began to see how he was declined from that which he had formerly hâ—ld and preached Hereupon the Case of Jeroboam's Calves was opened to the Professors Priests and People and it was declared and manifested unto them That their Houses which they called Churches were more like Jeroboam's Calves-houses even the Old Mass-houses which were set up in the darkness of Popery and which they who called themselves Protestants and professed to be more enlightned than the Papists did still hold up although God had never commanded them Whereas that Temple which God had commanded at Jerusalem Christ came to end the Service of and they that received and believed in him their Bodies came to be the Temples of God and of Christ and of the Holy Ghost to dwell in them and to walk in them And all such were gathered into the Name of Jesus whose Name is above every Name 1652. Ulverstone and there is no Salvation by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus And they that were thus gathered met together in several Dwelling-houses which were not called the Temple nor the Church but their Bodies were the Temples of God and the Believers were the Church which Christ was the Head of So that Christ was not called the Head of an Old House which was made by Mens Hands neither did he come to purchase and sanctify and redeem with his Blood an Old House which they called their Church but the People which he is the Head of Much work I had in those Days with Priests and People concerning their Old Mass-houses which they called their Churches for the Priests had persuaded the People that it was the House of God whereas the Apostle says Whose House we are c. Heb. 3.6 So the People are God's House in whom he dwells And the Apostle saith Christ purchased his Church with his own Blood and Christ calls his Church his Spouse and his Bride the Lamb's Wife So that this Title Church and Spouse was not given to an Old House but to his People the true Believers After this on a Lecture-day I was moved to go to the Steeple-house at Vlverstone where were abundance of Professors Priests and People I went up near to Priest Lampitt who was blustering on in his Preaching And after the Lord had opened my Mouth to speak John Sawrey the Justice came to me and said If I would speak according to the Scriptures I should speak I stranged at him for speaking so to me for I did speak according to the Scriptures and I told him I should speak according to the Scriptures and bring the Scriptures to prove what I had to say for I had something to speak to Lampitt and to them Then he said I should not speak Contradicting himself who had said just before I should speak if I would speak according to the Scriptures which I did Now the People were quiet and heard me gladly until this Justice Sawrey who was the first Stirrer up of cruel Persecution in the North incensed them against me and set them on to hale beat and bruise me Then on a sudden the People were in a Rage and they fell upon me in the Steeple-house before his Face and knock'd me down and kicked me and trampled upon me he looking on And so great was the Vproar that some People tumbled over their Seats for fear At last he came and took me from the People and led me out of the Steeple-house and put me into the Hands of the Constables and other Officers bidding them Whip me and put me out of the Town Then they led me about a quarter of a Mile some taking hold by my Collar and some by my Arms and Shoulders and shook and dragg'd me along And there being many Friendly People come to the Market and some of them come to the Steeple-house to hear me divers of these they knocked down also and brake their Heads so that the Blood ran down from several of them And Judge Fell's Son running after to see what they would do with me they threw him into a Ditch of Water some of them crying Knock the Teeth out of his Head Now when they had haled me to the Common-Moss-side a Multitude of People following the Constables and other Officers gave me some Blows over my Back with their Willow-Rods and so thrust me among the rude Multitude who having furnished themselves some with Staves some with Hedge-stakes Common and others with Holm or Holly-bushes fell upon me and beat me on my Head Arms and Shoulders till they had amazed me so that I fell down upon the Wet Common And when I recovered my self again and saw my self lying in a Watry Common and the People standing about me I lay still a little while And the Power of the Lord sprang through me and the Eternal Refreshings refreshed me so that I stood up again in the strengthening Power of the Eternal God And stretching out my Arms amongst them I said with a loud Voice Strike again here are my Arms my Head and my Cheeks There was in the Company a Mason a Professor but a rude Fellow He with his walking Rule-Staff gave me a Blow with all his might just over the back of my Hand as it was stretched out with which blow my Hand was so bruised and my Arm so benummed that I could not draw it unto me again so that some of the People cried out He hath spoil'd his Hand for ever having any use of it more But I looked at it in the Love of God for I was in the Love of God to them all that had persecuted me and atter a while the Lord's Power sprang through me again and through my Hand and Arm so that in a Moment I recovered Strength in my Hand and Arm in the fight of them all Then they began to fall out among themselves and some of them came to me and said If I would give them Money they would secure me from the rest But I was moved of the Lord to declare to them all the Word of Life and shewed them their false Christianity and the Fruits of their Priest's Ministry telling them they were more like Heathens and Jews than true Christians Ulverstone Market Then was I moved of the Lord to come up again through the midst of the People and go up into Vlverstone-Market And as I went there met me a Man a Souldier with his Sword by his Side Sir said he to me I see you are a Man and I am ashamed and grieved that you should be thus
the Deceit Sing the Song of the Lamb Triumph over the World spread the Truth abroad Come ye Captive ones out of Prison and Rejoice with one accord for the Joyful Days are coming Let us be glad and Rejoice for ever Singleness of Heart is come Pureness of Heart is come Joy and Gladness is come The glorious God is exalting himself and Truth hath been talked of but now it is possessed Christ hath been talked of but now he is come and possessed The Glory hath been talked of but now it is possessed and the Glory of Man is defacing The Son of God hath been talked of but now he is come and hath given us an Understanding Vnity hath been talked of but now it is come Virgins have been talkt of but now they are come with Oil in their Lamps He will be glorified alone Where Pride is thrown down Earth and the fleshly Will is thrown down and the Pure is raised up there alone is the Lord Exalted Let the Heavens Bow down to him and the Earth Reel to and fro and Stagger up and down The Lord is setting up his Throne and his Crown and throwing down the Crown of Man and he alone will be glorified To whom be all Honour and Glory all Praises and all Thanks Who gives his Children Wisdom and Strength Knowledge and Vertue Power and Riches Blessings and durable Substance and an Eye to discern and an Ear to hear things singly and brings down the Pride of Man's Heart and turns the Wicked out of the Kingdom The Righteous Ones inherit Righteousness the Pure Ones Pureness the Holy Ones Holiness Praises Praises be to the Lord whose Glory now shines whose Day is broken forth which is hid from the World hid from all worldly wise Ones and from all the Prudent of this World hid from the Fowls of the Air hid from all Vultures Eyes and all venemous Beasts and all Liars and all Dogs and all Swine But to them that fear his Name the Secrets of the Lord are made manifest the Treasures of Wisdom are opened and the Fulness of Knowledge For thou O Lord dost make thy self manifest to thy Children G. F. My Spirit was greatly burdened to see the Pride that was got up in the Nation even amongst the Professors and in the sense thereof I was moved to give forth the following Paper directed To such as follow the World's Fashions WHAT a World is this How doth the Devil garnish himself and how obedient are People to do his Will and Mind that they are altogether carried away with Fooleries and Vanities both Men and Women that they have lost the hidden Man of the Heart and the meek and quiet Spirit which with the Lord is of great price They have lost the Adorning of Sarah they are putting on Gold and gay Apparel Women plaiting the Hair Men and Women powdering it making their Backs look like Bags of Meal They look so strange that they can scarce look at one another they are so lifted up in Pride Pride is flown up into their Head and hath so lifted them up that they Snuff up like Wild Asses and like Ephraim they seed upon Wind and are gotten to be like Wild Heifers who feed upon the Mountains Pride hath puffed up every one of them They are out of the Fear of God Men and Women Young and Old one puffs up another They must be in the Fashion of the World else they are not in esteem else they shall not be respected if they have not Gold or Silver upon their Backs or if his Hair be not powdered But if he have store of Ribbands hanging about his Waste and at his Knees and in his Hat of divers Colours Red or White or Black or Yellow and his Hair be powdered then he is a brave Man then he is accepted then he is no Quaker because he hath Ribbands on his Back and Belly and Knees and his Hair powdered This is the Array of the World But is not this from the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh or the Pride of Life Likewise the Women having their Gold their Spots on their Faces Noses Cheeks Fore-heads having their Rings on their Fingers wearing Gold having their Cuffs double under and above like unto a Butcher with his white Sleeves having their Ribbands tied about their Hands and three or four Gold-Laces about their Cloths This is no Quaker say they This is that that pleaseth the World this Array this Attire pleaseth the World and if they cannot get these things they are discontented But this is not the Attire of Sarah whose Adorning was in the hidden Man of the Heart of a quiet and meek Spirit This is the Adorning of the Heathen not of the Apostle nor of the Saints whose Adorning was not wearing of Gold nor plaiting of Hair but a meek and quiet Spirit which was and is of great price with the Lord. And here was the Sobriety and good Ornament which was of the Lord accepted This was Paul's Exhortation and Preaching But we see the Talkers of Paul's Words live out of Paul's Command and out of the Example of Sarah and are found in the steps of the great Heathen who comes to examin the Apostles in his gorgeous Apparel Now are not all these that have got their Ribbands hanging about their Arms Hands Back Waists Knees Hats like unto Fidlers-Boys Which shews that you are gotten into the basest and most contemptible Life who be in the Fashion of the Fidlers-Boys and Stage-Players quite out of the Paths and Steps of solid Men and in the very Steps and Paths of the wild Heads who give themselves up to every Invention and Vanity of the World that appears and is inventing how to get it upon their Backs Heads Feet and Legs and say If it be out of the Fashion it is nothing worth Are not these the Spoilers of the Creation who have the fat and the best of it and waste and destroy it Do not these Cumber God's Earth Let that of God in all Consciences Answer and who are in the Wisdom judge And further If one get a pair of Britches like a Coat and hang them about with Points and up almost to the Middle a pair of double Cuffs upon his Hands and a Feather in his Cap here 's a Gentleman bow before him put off your Hats bow get a Company of Fidlers a set of Musick and Women to dance This is a brave Fellow up in the Chamber up in the Chamber without and up in the Chamber within Are these your fine Christians Yea say they They are Christians Yea but say the serious People They are out of Christ's Life and out of the Apostles Command and out of the Saints Ornament And to see such as are before described as are in the Fashions of the World before-mentioned a Company of them playing at Bouls or at Tables or at Shovel-Board or Each taking his Horse that hath Bunches of Ribbands on his Head as
us to Graves-End only and were to return from thence and set Sail about the Sixth Hour in the Morning for the Downs and having a Fair Wind we Out-sailed all the Ships that were outward bound The Downs and got thither by the Evening Some of us went a-shore that Night and lodged at Deal where we understood Deal that an Officer had Order from the Governour to take our Names in Writing which he did the next Morning though we told him they had been taken at Graves-End In the Afternoon the Wind serving I took my leave of my Wife and the other Friends both that came down from London with us and that came from Dover and other parts of the Country to visit us and went on Board But before we could set Sail The Downs there being two of the King's Frigats riding in the Downs the Captain of one of them sent his Press-master on Board us who took off Three of our Sea-men This had certainly delayed 1671. The Downs if not wholly lost our Voyage had not the Captain of the other Frigat being Informed of the Leakiness of our Vessel and Length of our Voyage in Compassion and much Civility spared us Two of his own Men. And before this was over an Officer of the Custom-house came on Board us to peruse Pacquets and get Fees So that what with the one and the other we were kept from Sailing till about Sun-set during which Stop a very considerable number of Merchant-Men outward bound were got several Leagues before us But being now Clear At Sea we set Sail in the Evening and by next Morning overtook part of that Fleet about the height of Dover We soon reach'd the rest and in a little time left them all behind us for our Yatch was counted a very swift Sailer But she was very Leaky so that the Sea-men and some of the Passengers did for the most part Pump Day and Night One day they observed that in Two Hours time she suck't in Sixteen Inches of Water in the Well When we had been about Three Weeks at Sea one Afternoon we espied a Vessel about four Leagues a-stern of us Our Master said It was a Sally-man of War and he seemed to give us Chase Our Master said Come let us go to Supper and when it grows dark we shall lose him But this he spake to please and pacifie the Passengers some of whom began to be very apprehensive of the Danger But Friends were well satisfied in themselves having Faith in God and no Fear upon their Spirits When the Sun was gone down I saw the Ship out of my Cabbin and I saw she made towards us When it grew dark we altered our Course to miss her but she altered also and gained upon us At Night the Master and others came into my Cabbin and asked me What they should do I told them ' I was no Mariner and I asked them ' What they thought was best to do They said There were but two Ways either to Outrun him or Tack about and hold the same Course we were going before I told them If he were a Thief they might be sure he would Tack about too And as for Outrunning him it was to no purpose to talk of that for they saw he Sailed faster than we Then they asked me again What they should do for they said if the Mariners had taken Paul 's Counsel they had not come to the Damage they did I told them It was a Trial of Faith and therefore the Lord was to be Waited on for Counsel So retiring in Spirit the Lord shewed me That his Life and Power was placed between us and the Ship that pursued us I told this to the Master and the rest and that the best way was to Tack about and steer our Right Course I wished them also to put out all their Candles but that they steered by and to speak to all the Passengers to be still and quiet About the 11th hour in the Night the Watch called and said They were just upon us That disquieted some of the Passengers whereupon I sate up in my Cabbin and looking through the Port-hole the Moon being not quite down I saw them very near us I was getting up to go out of the Cabbin but remembring the Word of the Lord That his Life and Power was placed between us and them I lay down again The Master and some of the Sea-men came again and asked me If they might not steer such a Point I told them They might do as they would By this time the Moon was gone quite down and a fresh Gale arose and the Lord hid us from them and we sailed briskly on and saw them no more The next day being the First-Day of the Week 1671. At Sea we had a publick Meeting in the Ship as we usually had on that Day throughout the Voyage and the Lord's Presence was greatly among us And I desired the People To mind the Mercies of the Lord who had delivered them for they might have been all in the Turks Hands by that time had not the Lord's Hand saved them About a Week after the Master and some of the Seamen endeavoured to persuade the Passengers That it was not a Turkish Pirate that chased us but a Merchant-man going to the Canaries But when I heard of it I asked them Why then did they speak so to me and why did they trouble the Passengers And why did they Tack about from him and alter their Course And I told them They should take heed of slighting the Mercies of God Afterwards while we were at Barbados there came in a Merchant from Sally and told the People ☜ That one of the Sally-men of War saw a Monstrous Yatch at Sea the greatest that ever he saw and had her in Chase and was just upon her but that there was a Spirit in her that he could not take This did Confirm us in the Belief that it was a Sally-Man we saw make after us and that it was the Lord that delivered us out of his Hands I was not Sea-sick during the Voyage as many of the Friends and other Passengers were But the many Hurts and Bruises I had formerly received and the Griefs and Infirmities I had contracted in England by extream Cold and Hardships that I had undergone in many long and sore Imprisonments returned upon me now that I came to Sea so that I was very Ill in my Stomach and full of Violent Pains in my Bones and Limbs This was after I had been at Sea about a Month for during the space of about Three Weeks after I came first to Sea I sweat abundantly chiefly my Head and my Body brake out into Pimples and my Legs and Feet swelled extreamly so that my Stockings and Slippers could not be drawn on without Difficulty and great Pain Then on a sudden the Sweating ceased So that when I came into the hot Climate where others Sweat most
falsly and did not this Hananiah pretend to speak the Word of the Lord to the Priests and People as in Jeremiah the 28th And did not Isaiah judge in Divine Matters when he judged the Watchmen and the Shepherds Isa 56. And did not Micah judge in Divine and Spiritual Matters when he said he was full of the Power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Judgment did not he Judge both of Priests and Prophets and Judges though they would lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord amongst us and no evil can come unto us yet did not he let them see their States and Conditions and divided the precious from the vile Mich. 3. And so the rest of the Prophets you may see here they Judged for God in his Divine Matters who served him and who served him not and who lived in truth and who not and likewise the Apostles And this Divine Spiritual Heavenly Judgment was given of God to his holy Men and Women And they that do Judge in God's Divine Matters must live in his Divine Spirit and Power and Light now as they did then which Spiritual and Divine Judgment Christ has given to his Church that be the living Stones and living Members that makes up his spiritual Houshold to try Jews and to try Apostles and to try Prophets and to try Faith and to try Religions and to try Trees and Fruits and to try Shepherds and Teachers and to try Spirits So the living Members have a living and divine Judgment in the Church of Christ which he is the Head of the Judge of all Nay the Church has a Power given them which is farther then a Judgment for what they bind on Earth is bound in Heaven by the Power of God and what they loose on Earth is loosed in Heaven by the Power of God and this Power has Christ given to his living Members the Church The 20th of the 12th Month 1685 6. G. F. to Friends 1686. London I came back to London in the First Month 1686. and set my self with all diligence to look after Friends sufferings which we had now some hopes of getting Relief for The Sessions came on in the Second Month at Hicks's Hall where many Friends had Appeals to be Tried with whom I was from Day to Day to advise and see that no Opportunity were slipt nor Advantage lost and they generally succeeded well Soon after also the King was pleased upon our often laying our Sufferings before him To give order for the Releasing of all Prisoners that were imprisoned for Conscience sake and which were in his power to discharge Whereby the Prison doors were opened and many hundreds of Friends some of whom had been long in Prison were set at Liberty and some of them who had for many years been restrained in Bonds Yearly Meeting came now up to the Yearly-Meeting which was in the Third Month this Year Which caused great Joy to Friends to see our Ancient Faithful Brethren again at Liberty in the Lord's Work after their long Confinements And indeed a precious Meeting we had the refreshing Presence of the Lord appearing plentifully with us and amongst us After the Meeting I was moved to write a few Lines to be sent abroad amongst Friends the tenor whereof was thus Dear Friends MY Love is to you all in the holy Seed Christ Jesus that bruises the Serpent's head and destroys the Devil and his Works and who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him Let every ones Faith stand in him and in his Power who is the Author and Finisher of your Faith And now ye who have been Partakers of his Power and are sensible of it in this Day of his Power that is over all whose day and power is over darkness and its power And by his Power the hearts of the King and Rulers have been opened by which your outward Prison-doors have been set open for your Liberty And therefore my desires are that all may be preserved in Humility and Thankfulness in the sense of the Mercies of the Lord and live in the peaceable Truth that is over all that ye may answer God's Grace and his Light and Spirit in all in a righteous godly Life and Conversation And let none be lifted up by their outward Liberty nor let none be cast down by Suffering for Christ's sake but all live in the Seed which is as Wheat which is not shaken nor blown away by the Winds and Storms as the Chaff is Which Seed of Life none below can make higher or lower for the Children of the Seed are the Children of the everlasting unchangeable Kingdom of Christ and God So in Christ Jesus whom God hath given you for a Sanctuary God Almighty keep you in whom ye have Life Everlasting and Wisdom which is from above pure peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits 1686. London Yearly Meeting that ye all now may be exercised in it and may practise this Wisdom in your godly holy Lives and Conversations so that this Wisdom may be justified of all her Children and they I say exercised and preserved in it in this day of the Power of Christ in which all his People are made a willing People to serve and worship God in Righteousness and Holiness and in the Spirit and Truth So that none may abuse the Power of the Lord nor grieve his Spirit by which you are sealed and kept to the day of Salvation and Redemption But always exercise your selves to have a good Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards all men being exercised in Holiness Godliness and Righteousness and in the Truth and in the Love of it that ye may all study to be approved unto God in Innocency Vertue Simplicity and Faithfulness and so labouring and studying to be quiet in the Will of God in all Conditions And whatsoever ye do in Word or Deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving Thanks to God the Father by him That he who is over all may have the Praise for all his Mercies and Blessings with which he doth and hath refreshed his People and by his Eternal Arm and Power hath kept and preserved his People to this day Glory to his Name over all for ever Amen! For Christ hath called you by his Grace into One Body to him the holy Head And therefore live in Charity and in the Love of God which is the Bond of Perfectness in his Body which Love edifies the Body of Christ which Body and all his Members are knit together and increased with the Increase of God from whom they receive Nourishment For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body and have been made all to drink into one Spirit in which Spirit the Body and all his Members have Fellowship with Christ the Head and one with another And so the Vnity of this holy Spirit is the Bond of Peace of all the living
together in the Name of Jesus and Serving and Worshipping God their Creator No they must not Breathe in their Natural Air neither Natural nor Spiritual in your Dominions I pray where had you these Commands from neither from Christ nor his Apostles And do not you profess the Scriptures of the New Testament to be your Rule but I pray you what Scripture have you for this your practice It is good for you to be Humble and do Justly and love Mercy and Call home your Banished and Love them and Cherish them yea though they were your Enemies you are to obey the Command of Christ and Love them I wonder how you and your Wives and Families can sleep quietly in your Beds that do such Cruel Actions without thinking the Lord may do to you the same Yout cannot be without Sense and Feeling except you be given over to Reprobation without Sense and Feeling and your Consciences seared with a hot Iron But Christian Charity doth hope that you are not all in that state but that there may be some Relenting or Consideration of your Actions among some of you either according to the Law of God or his Gospel From him that desires your Temporal and Eternal Good and Salvation and not Destruction Amen Middlesex the 28th of the 2d Month 1688. G. F. Peter Thou may'st Translate this into High-Dutch and send them and you may print it if you will and spread it abroad and Translate that part of the Letter that is to Friends into High-Dutch and send to them Having stay'd in the Country about Three Weeks 1689. London Yearly-Meeting I return'd to London a little before the Yearly-Meeting which was in the Third Month this Year and was a very Solemn Weighty Meeting the Lord as formerly visiting his People and honouring the Assembly with his glorious Presence to the great Satisfaction and Comfort of Friends After the Business of the Meeting was over it was upon me to add a few Lines to the Epistle which went from the Meeting to Friends after this manner Dear Friends and Brethren WHO have known the Lord's Eternal Arm and Power that hath preserved you upon the heavenly Rock and Foundation and hath built your House upon it you have known many Winds Tempests and Storms that have risen out of that Sea where the Beast rose and many raging Storms that have risen by Apostates of several sorts but the Seed that bruises the Serpent's head and is the Foundation of God's People stands sure And therefore Dear Friends and Brethren though there be great Shakings in the World the Lord's Power is over all and his Kingdom cannot be shaken And therefore all ye Children of God Children of the Light and Heirs of his Kingdom a Joyful Peaceable Habitation keep in keeping out of all the Heats Contentions and Disputes about things below And Lay hand on no man nor no thing suddenly lest they should be puffed up with that which fades and so come to loss but mind the Lord's Power that keeps open your heavenly Eye to see things present and to come and in that ye will see and handle the Word of Life And Dear Friends every where Have power over your own Spirits As God hath blessed you with his Outward things have a care of Trusting in them or falling into Difference one with another about these Outward Things that are below which will pass away But all live in the Love of God and in that live in peace with God and one with another And follow the Works of Charity and overcome the Evil with the Good to all For what Good have all the Tinklers done with their Cymbals and sounding Brass They always bred Confusion and never did Good in any Age Tinkling with their Cymbals and sounding with their Brass to draw out the Simple to follow them And therefore it is good for all the Children of God to keep in their Possessions of Life and in the Love of God that is Everlasting And as for all the Tumults of the World and the Apostates from the Truth the Lord's Power is over them all and Christ reigns and the Lord saith No Weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper Isa 54.17 And now Friends you are not unsensible how many Weapons have been formed against us who are the Sons and Daughters of God and the Lord hath restrained them according to his Promise they have not prospered And the Lord said Every Tongue that shall rise up in Judgment against thee thou shalt Condemn so God hath given such a Power to his Children to Condemn all the Tongues that shall rise up in Judgment against them and this is the Heritage of the Servants of the Lord Their Righteousness is of me saith the Lord. And you are not unsensible of the many Tongues that have risen up against us in Judgment yea of Apostates and Prophane But in and with the Truth and the Power of God according to the Promise of God Every Tongue that riseth against thee thou shalt Condemn So it is not one Tongue only thou shalt Condemn but Every Tongue that shall rise up in Judgment against thee thou shalt Condemn So the Lord giveth this Power to his Servants and Children to judge the Evil Tongues and he doth restrain the Weapons formed against them so that they shall not prosper against his Children that he hath begotten Praises and Honour be to his holy Name for ever Amen G. F. Soon after this Meeting was over the Yearly Meeting began at York which because of the Largeness of that County and for the Conveniency of Friends in the Northern parts had for some Years been held there And inasmuch as there had been some Hurt done in that place as some Division made there by some that were gone out of the Vnity of Friends It was upon me to write a few Lines to Friends of that Meeting to Exhort them to keep in the pure heavenly Love which brings into and keeps in the true Unity And that which I writ was thus Dear Friends and Brethren in Christ Jesus WHom the Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power hath preserved to this day all walk in the Power and Spirit of God that is over all in Love and Vnity For Love overcomes and builds up and unites all the Members of Christ to him the Head for Love keeps out of all strife and is of God And Love and Charity never fails but keeps the Mind above all outward things or strife about outward things and is that which overcomes Evil and casts out all false Fears And it is of God and unites all the hearts of his People together in the heavenly Joy Concord and Unity The God of Love preserve you all and settle and establish you in Christ Jesus your Life and Salvation in whom ye have all Peace with God And so Walk in him that ye may be ordered in his peaceable heavenly Wisdom to the Glory of God and the Comfort one of another