heed to the Light that shined in my Heart which makes manifest that the way to the Crown of Glory is through the daily cross to my own Will and to take Christ's Yoke upon that Nature that would not be subject Oh how precious is the Counsel of him who said Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for my yoke is easie and my burden is light and ye shall find rest for your souls And that Rest I sorely wanted until I learned of Jesus to be meek and low in Heart and to suffer for well-doing and then glory unto his Holy Name for ever his blessed Reward my Soul was daily made a partaker of though hated by evil doers yet loved by the Lord and that engaged me to give up to his dispose and to answer his requirings not accounting my self nor any thing he hath give me too much to part with that the Truth may be propagated and my tender God honored For blessed be his Worthy Name he hath filled my Cup with the sweet Salvation of his Son Christ Jesus the Light and Saviour of his poor and helpless Ones who have no other to depend upon for Help at all times but wait daily to be furnished upon every occasion to serve him in all Faithfulness for he is Worthy my Soul can truly say for he gave me of his good Spirit and it was with me yet unknown when I rebelled against it and was not willing to be subject to its Leadings nor observing of its Dictates as I ought to have been Oh then did I want power as many do now not knowing the sufficiency of the engrafted Word of God's Grace that is able to save But when I followed its counsel I found it sufficient to bring good to me out of great afflictions beyond my expectation and then could I plead no excuse knowing that unto the Lord Jesus who had brought great things to pass I must give my account for he hath manifested his Power and I have cause to believe it will never fail towards his People if we fail not to obey the manifestation of it but Faithfulness is required to the Talent received for which we must give an account and then what can stand us in stead if we have not an increase This was my concern for many Years and I could not take comfort in Husband or Children House or Land or any visibles for want of the Marriage Union with the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the Souls of those that cannot be satisfied in them but are weary of the burden of them as I was and God by his Spirit shewed me he abhorred my self-righteousness and let me see that in him was Righteousness Life and Power and then I was sensible that he is the the Light of the World that enlightens every one that comes into the World and that it was striving with me from my Youth which was before ever I heard the name Quaker and then I did believe that there was a People or Church over whom Christ Jesus was Head though I could yet not find them nor be a Member of them yet long sought after it sorrowfully with many strong and fervent cries and desires But the Lord in his own due time answered my weary Soul and made known more and more of the way of his Truth and People and at length sent some of his Messengers as Instruments in his Hand for my Encouragement and Confirmation Then was I and many desolate Ones right glad whose Souls had long languished for the glad Tidings that they brought with them how that we might inherit Substance which we had long sought and been searching for both in the Scriptures and amongst Professors of many sorts of Profession for we would fain have filled our Souls with the Husks but that could not satisfie we knew not the saving Health of him who said I wisdom lead in the midst of the Paths of Judgment to teach them that love and follow me to inherit Substance Oh this is that which did at first convince us and tendered our Hearts in the beginning Then what was too near or dear for us to part with in the Day of our deep Distress when none could cure our wounded Souls Oh how precious was the Heart-searching Light when we first knew it to shine upon our Tabernacles to guide us in the narrow Way wherein is Life and perfect Peace for those whose Minds are staied on the Lord And when I have read that he would keep them in perfect Peace whose Minds are staied on him what would not I have done that it might have been my condition But then I could not watch nor wait but was as a Ship without an Anchor among the merciless Waves but Praises unto the Lord for ever he caused the Living Hope to spring that anchored in trying Times And I was even as Israel at the red Sea compassed all round on every Hand great was the strait that I was then in much hardship the Sea before and the Enemy presenting so much impossibility that his proud Waves of Temptations Buffettings and false Accusations had almost sunk me under Oh then did I cry unto the God of Mercy and tender Compassion that I might but stand still and behold his Salvation and he did arise and rebuke the Enemy and made way for me to travel on in my Heavenly Progress and overturned the Mountains that were on each hand and dismaied Pharaoh and his Host which I may compare my Relations and the Professors unto for they pursued me and made my Suffering great till they had wearied themselves and their Oppression was so sore that I somtimes was ready to faint and even to say Surely I shall one Day fall but Living Praises unto the Almighty he hath made me a partaker of the sure Mercies of David and hath subdued Truth 's Enemies before him and kept and preserved me faithful till several of my Relations were convinced that God's Power was with me and now when my Husband and Chhildren and Relations are with me in a good Meeting and the Powerful Presence of the Lord is amongst us it is a blessed Reward for all for one Soul is more worth than all the World as saith the Scripture Therefore Faithfulness is very needful for it doth produce a good effect whatever we may endure for the momentary Affliction that we meet with here doth produce a further weight of Glory hereafter and in the sense of the same my Head was born up to endure hardships when I could willingly have hid or gotten ease but I considered that I could not hide from the Lord who brought to my remembrance my Promise that I made before his Way was revealed to me and if I broke Covenant with the Lord I should never enter into his Rest Oh then a suffering in the Flesh and a ceasing from Sin was the delight of my Soul although the Enemy ceased not but Night and Day as a roaring Lyon
enduring hardships to travel on and follow our Captain fully for his Reward is sure though it is through many Tryals obtained yet when this momentary Pilgrimage is passed through the greater weight of Glory will out-ballance all and in the sense of it let our Hearts rejoyce and our Souls magnifie that Power that has preserved and is able to preserve unto the end and that in and through it we may be strong in the Lord Jesus and fitly furnished to every good Work that we may never be weary of well doing nor faint in our minds though in this World we meet with many Troubles yet we know him that is able to deliver out of them all and if he feed with the Bread of Affliction and the Water of Adversity yet blessed be his living Name he teacheth our Souls to profit thereby and we have cause to say in this Trying Day as the three Children did in Ages past We know that our God is able to deliver us if he please but if he will not we will still trust in him for he has been with us in Six Troubles and we have good cause to depend upon him and to have confidence in him in the Seventh for it is but a little while and Persecution and Affliction shall come to an end but the Word of Patience that preserves in times of great temptation abides for ever and shall never have an end Glory and Honour and Living Praises be returned and ascribed unto the God of all our Mercies and Blessings both Spiritual and Temporal which we daily partake of from his fatherly hand for he is an never-failing God and of his loving-kindness there is no end And unto the Protection of his Almighty Power which reaches over Sea and Land do I commit you with my own Soul henceforth and for evermore Your Sister in the unchangeable precious Truth JOAN VOKINS From London the 3 d of the 1st Month 1682. To Friends of Crambrook in Kent Dear Friends MY Love salutes you and the rest of the Faithful in Christ Jesus who holds fast their Integrity and retains their first Love for such are near and dear unto me and often in my remembrance whatever Exercises they undergo and my Soul do often breath unto the God of my life that we may be kept in a waâ—â—ing frame that if Tryals and Afflictions do abound that his sanctifying Power may superabound that as faithful Soldiers we may endure hardships to the end that in the end we may receive the greater weight of Glory that may out ballance all the momentary Afflictions that we meet with in this short Pilgrimage O Glory to his Name who is the Physician of Value that can cure both Body and Soul he is worthy to be trusted in who never fails them whose confidence is in him and all things are possible for his Power to do therefore let our dependance be on it for ever that we may feel it in all our undertakings that we may have the benefit of it in the use of the Creatures that his Blessing may be upon them then it will go well with us whatever may come Thus the Lord Jesus brings to pass for the honour of his own worthy Name and the comfort of our weak Bodies and everlasting benefit of our immortal Souls is the desire of Your true Friend in the unchangeable Truth J. V. 4th of the 9 Month 1682. For the Friends of Abingdon Meeting in Berkshire My dear and well beloved Friends IF you will be delivered then keep to Truth and that will set you free from Sin and from Iniquity and if you would wear the Everlasting Crown think not for to sit down at ease but follow the Lamb through the many Tribulations that you may partake of his sweet Consolations For the more Tryals and sore Exercises do abound the more the Love and Life of Jesus will super-abound unto all them that do believe in him and suffer with him they shall assuredly reign with him and be crowned with life that are faithful unto death and what is left upon Record we see fulfilling that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer and the worst Enemies are them of their own house let them read that have experience for they may understand me and such I truly simpathize with in the patience and suffering of the Lamb knowing that he and his Followers are deeply engaged in the spiritual warfare and truly it is a precious and a blessed cause to be concerned in and them that love any thing more than him are not worthy to be concerned in his War neither can such partake of his Government and Peace which shall never have end Therefore them that go this spiritual warfare must not be entangled but must follow their Captain through the many tribulations bearing their faithful Testimonies that their Garments may be made white being washed in the Blood of the Lamb that the precious adorning of his meek and quiet spirit we may be covered with that we may feel Justification by him in our own hearts then we need not fear what Man can do unto us though all Men should rise up against us yet if our God be for us he can take our part and plead our cause and soon subdue our Enemies if he pleases but if he will not so do yet we have cause to do as the Three Children did to trust in him however for he knows what is most convenient for us and he will cause all things to work together for our good and if he gives the Bread of Adversity and the Water of Affliction yet glory be to his worthy Name he teaches us to profit thereby and what he orders for us is still for the best and let us wait to feel his sanctifying power to strengthen us to follow him which way soever he leads that we may love him above all perishing things and manifest our Love by keeping his Commands and one of his Commands which he gave unto all his is to watch to be aware of their Souls Enemy and to enjoy the sweet benefit of their Souls Friend which far exceeds the Friendship of all the World and for the same we can turn our backs on the glory of the World and do chuse rather to suffer with the Lamb and his Followers then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season for that would captivate our Souls though we might have more favour from the wicked and more ease to our bodies but if hardship be our portion and that we must have a sufficient share therein yet our reward is sure if we endure to the end Glory and honour and praises unto the God of all our Mercies and that for evermore his blessed everlasting reward will out-ballance all therefore great encouragement have we to wait upon the Lord Jesus for the renewing of our inward Man that we may continue in well-doing those few days we have to come in this momentary Pilgrimage that in
us it was very Acceptable and Edifying to the Sincere Hearted that Loved the Truth Her Innocent Life and Conversation lives in our Remembrance and the sense of the Loving Kindness of the Lord is worthy to be retained and kept in mind by all his People which was largely and admirably manifested in preserving and upholding of her through many and great Exercises and Tryals in her Service and Travels in the Work of the Lord even when great Pains and Weaknesses of Body were upon her which did very much attend her all along since and sometime before the Lord was pleased to call her forth in his Service but being born up by his Spirit she was given up in his Will to be at his Dispose and did not look at her own Weakness but was preserved in the true Patience having her Faith standing in the Blessed Power of the Lord that failed not her Afflictions being Rightly Sanctified unto her so that she was made able tho in many Pains and Weaknesses of Body to undergo and perform the Service the Lord called her unto with Chearfulness and it was her Joy to see Friends prosper in the Truth and altho her bodily Presence and Speech did seem Weak yet her Testimony and Writing was Weighty and Powerful for the Lord in the riches of his Love had made her a partaker of Heavenly Treasure in her Earthen Vessel which I have heard her often acknowledg taking nothing to her self but Ascribed the Glory and Excellency of the Power to be the free Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Her care was great concerning the young Generation Exhorting them to be inwardly staid in their Minds that they might grow up in the Love and Life of Truth so as to feel the work of it effected in their own Hearts that they might come up to serve the Lord and succeed their Heavenly minded Parents who had finished their Course and weare at Rest in the Lord. And so now seeing it hath pleased the Lord to take unto himself this our dear Friend who hath done the work of her day in Faithfulness and is entred into everlasting Rest and Peace with the Lord to Sing praise and Hallelujah's to his Holy Name for ever and for ever more So desiring that we who are left a little behind may prize our time so as to walk in the Foot-steps of the Faithful that are gone before who have sought a City as Faithful Abraham did whose Builder and Maker is the Lord. Cirencester the 11th of the 2d Month. 1691. Mary Drewet Concerning our Dear and Tender Mother Joan Vokins who departed this Life the 22 d of the 5th Month 1690. at Reading in the County of Berks at our Friend John Buy 's House SHE being come from London homewards it pleased the Lord to put a stop to her Journey and take her to himself out of all Troubles and from her many sore Pains which her poor Body was afflicted with She was one that did truly fear the Lord and sought the Prosperity of his precious Truth above all the Glory and Honour of this World Whensoever the Lord was pleased to send her forth in his Service she went without murmuring believing the Lord would carry her through it though weak in Body who did enable her to bear a faithful Living Testimony to his Name in this her Native Land and in places remote beyond the Seas as in Barbadoes and in other parts of America and in Ireland through great Exercises in Patience and Chearfulness it being as Meat and Drink to her to do his Will She was one that had a great Care in her Family of us her Children that we might be nurtur'd and brought up in the Fear of the Lord and have a true Regard unto him and his precious Truth above all things in this World This was her earnest Desire and Prayer to the Lord for us That we might be his Children that so we might truly answer the End for which we were created And now though we cannot but sorrow for the loss of so near and dear a Mother as she was to us both inwardly and outwardly in giving us good Counsel to Edification from our Childhood But since it hath pleased the Lord to take her to himself and considering she hath laid down her Head in the Faith and full Assurance of Eternal Happiness it doth out-ballance all she having ceased from her Labours is at rest with the Lord who is worthy of Praises and Honour for evermore Richard Vokins jun. Hopeful Vokins Samuel Burgis Elizabeth Vokins Mary Lockey Sarah Lawrence Hannah Burgis An Account given by Richard Vokins junior of some Words that his dear Mother spoke to him on her Dying Bed Viz. SON MY Weakness is great and my Pains very strong but the Lord is large in his Love to me and good to me he gives me Patience to bear my Pains which are strong Ah Son I have learned a good Lesson Paul's Lesson in all States to be content and now I have nothing to do but to die So putting forth her Hand to take her Leave of me further said Son Remember the Lord and he will remember thee And remember my Love to thy Wife and to all my Children And after a little stop being weak and her Speech low spoke these Words again Remember the Lord and he will remember you and be you faithful to him and he will bless you and you shall be blessed Richard Vokins This is my Testimony concerning my dear Sister Joan Vokins SHE was a True and Faithful Labourer in the Churches of God where it was her Care that all Things might be kept Sweet and Clean Decent and in Order as becomes the Blessed Truth she having chosen the One thing needful which is the better part that shall never be taken away and being given up to follow the Lord faithfully in his Work and Service Her Prayer often in Publick was That the Lord would subdue Death and Darkness out of our Meetings and Families and we might come to witness him to be a Fountain of Life unto us She was very tender-hearted kind and Loving willing to do good unto all and hath left a good Savour behind her who though dead yet liveth Daniel Bunce An Epistle to Friends writ first of all which came to hand after the fore going was thus collected together UPON the Third Day of the Eleventh Month 1669 as I lay very sick in my Bed I felt the everlasting blessed powerful Life to arise and spring up in my Heart which gave Dominion over my bodily weakness and caused me to write these few Lines unto you that so we may consider the large Love of our God and praise his holy Name together Dear Friends the tender Bowels of God's Love dearly yearns towards you all and in his Light hath he made it manifest therefore it greatly concerns you all with the pure Light to make diligent search into the very bottom of your Hearts whether
Friends at and nigh Colebrook and Longford Meeting and thereaway Dear Frinds I Having you often in mind thought it long before I could send a few Lines having kept my Bed this three Months or more and have not been able to write and I am very weak still I could not go from my Bed But hearing of an opportunity have in much weakness written that which lay most upon my Mind which is for the building of you up in the most Holy Faith and encouraging of you in Well-doing Oh my dear and tender Friends feel the tender Love of the God of Love that we may magnifie his Name together though at a distance in Person O the unutterable Loving-Kindness of our God what Tongue can declare it how hath he preserv'd us provided for us hitherto beyond what our hearts could desire Hath he not done that for us which none other could do Hath he not delivered out of Dangers deep and Difficulties many Or hath he been ever wanting to us in doing us good Oh surely no but he hath multiplied his Mercies and encreased Blessings frequently and freely as he in his Wisdom sees what is most convenient for us and if he please to feed us with the Bread of Affliction and the Water of Adversity yet let us to his Teachings keep that we may learn to profit thereby Have not the trials and exercises of our Faith and Patience brought us to a good Experience of the Love of our God O let us keep a narrow watch over our Hearts that the Enemy may not subtilly creep in under any pretence for if he be harkened to he will weaken the Faith and Unbelief will enter and then the murmuring Spirit will be ready to charge the Lord foolishly Oh dear Hearts our tender Father is not wanting but is a present help in all our needs therefore let it be the whole and sole bent of our minds to perform our Duties unto him Oh up and be doing for the time is come that none must be idle but all that would have the wages of well-doing must be faithful every one in his place and none to make excuses for Châ—â—st our Head is full of Virtue and Strength and Might and ready to communicate to all his Members a suitable and seasonable supply at all times and if we as diligent Servants wait on him our tender Master he will discover our particular Duties and shew us what is required of us Oh let us go on with Courage unanimously that we may be helpful one unto another and so bring honour to our Head that we may feel his Power supporting of us upon all occasions that we may not doubt nor faint in our Minds by reason of the buffettings of the power of Darkness but through the Faith in Christ Jesus we may obtain Victory over all that would hinder the prosperity of Truth and keep it under for Truth must reign and the Lord will be honoured in the dominion thereof And he will sweep the Nation with the Beesom of his Wrath and the Hypocrites shall be tried and fear shall surprize them and woe will be to them that are at ease in Sion but well will it be with them who think nothing too dear to part with for the Truth sake whose Hearts are singly resigned to serve the Lord with all that he hath given them which is no more but our reasonable Duties which we have good cause diligently to perform unto the end that we may daily feel the vertue of Life continued and renewed to us unto the end and in the end a double reward which our God hath prepared for all that hold out and endure thereunto Blessed be his Holy Name for ever and for evermore Dear Friends feel me in that which thinks no evil and in it receive my Salutation that it may reach unto the same in you that we may breath one for another and be refreshed as Members of one Body We cannot say one unto another I have no need of thee for there is work for us all in the Vineyard Oh let us be diligent while we have time that we may receive our Peny of Life to the comforting of our Souls every day for we do not serve a hard Master So in that which engages to his service do I bid you farewell The 1st of the 6th Month 1678. Your Friend in that which engages our Hearts to serve our God faithfully without any reserve J. V. Some account given forth by Joan Vokins of the great Goodness and Mercy of the Lord towards her and of the wonderful Works that he hath done for her conducing to his Glory and her great Joy and Comfort Written with her own Hand a few Months before her decease as followeth SOmthing of the tender dealing of the Lord with me ever since my Childhood for blessed be his Name he preserved me from many Evils that Youth is often ensnared with and by his Light that I then had no acquaintance with shewed me the vanity and vain Customs of the World when I was very young and all along my youth his Good Spirit did still strive with me to preserve me from Sin and Evil And if I had at any time through persuasion of others gone to that they called Recreation I should be so condemned for passing away my precious time that I could have no peace so that I could take no delight in their Pastime but was still condemned And many times I cried to the Righteous God to reveal his way unto me and I promised to walk therein whatever I endured For the snares of the World the Lord was pleased to discover and in some measure to make known the Cross of Jesus that Crucifies unto the World and as I enclined to take it up and follow Jesus through the many Tribulations he endowed me with his Almighty Power wherein hath been my help blessed be his Worthy Name for ever for his Loving-Kindness never fails but his Mercies endure for ever and his great Compassion and tender Dealing towards my Soul when in Darkness and under the Region of the Shadow of Death is never to be forgotten for it hath been largely extended unto me when in deep distress When my cry was often Lord reveal thy Way unto me that I may walk therein whatever I undergo But when I found the way so strait and narrow I could very willingly have turned aside for ease for Flesh and Blood could not bear that which I had then to undergo but blessed and renowned be the Spirit of Truth my Comforter which leads into all Truth for when I was in a dejected condition about Reprobation and Election neither Priest nor Professor could open the Mystery of Election and Reprobation but the Spirit of Light and Life which is the Spirit of Jesus opened my Understanding and revealed the Mystery of the two Seeds how that the one is for ever blessed and the other cursed And also what Happiness might be received by taking
which our tender God hath spread over us that we may not be asham'd to bear the Cross and take heed lest any cause the Offence of the Cross to cease for such are Enemies to Christ Jesus let them profess what they will for there is no way to the Crown but by and through the Cross So in that which brings us into subjection do I remain present with you in Spirit though absent in Body your tender Sister in the precious Truth J. V. From Gravesend the 24th of the 12th Month 1679. Let this be read in your Womens Meeting or any where as a service is seen A Letter to her Husband Richard Vokins sent from Road Island Dear Husband MY Love and Life salutes thee with my dear Children and my Father and my brother O. S. and his Wife and my Brother D and his Wife and all the rest of my dear Friends and Heavenly Relations dearly desiring your Preservation and Prosperity in the ever blessed Truth and then I doubt not but our God will increase us in our outward store And dear Heart thou art often in my mind and the breathing of my Life is for thee as for my own Soul and I do believe that all our Trials will work for good if we love the Lord Jesus as we ought to do Those Trials that we have had and do now meet with I hope will fit us for greater and I do not know but I may come home again to suffer with you by the strength of the same Power that hath preserved us hitherto Oh magnified be it for ever saith my Soul for it hath done for me great things And dear Heart my service is greater here than it was there and I have pretty well clear'd my self in Long Island but at New-York I am not quite clear but I hope I shall ere long I am now at Road-Island going on to clear my self as fast as I may as the Lord makes way for me I intend to take the Meetings between this and Boston and when I am clear there I hope you may hear further from me or see me in some reasonable time as our tender God shall be pleased to order And by this you may all know that my tender God is with me and carries me through many sore Exercises and his mighty Power enables me to do his Service and his Reward is not wanting blessed be his Name for all his tender Mercies Friends are tender to me and I am better in Health at present than I have been but I have many Ailments attending my weak Body still So dear Heart let us breathe to our God together though outwardly far asunder yet if it stands with the Will of our Heavenly Father we may see one another again to his Honour and our Comfort and let us pray unto him Day and Night that we may be content to be at his dispose in Life or Death together or asunder that he may be honoured and our Souls comforted And dear Heart remember to have an Eye over our dear Children that they lose not the sense of Truth which my Soul hath so deeply travailled for when I was with them for it is my fear now I am from them that if thou do not supply my place in my absence that the Spirit of this World will prevail and hinder the Work of the Lord in their Hearts and in thine too and that will be to all our Sorrow The Lord God Eternal keep us faithful to him unto the end that we bare our Testimonies for his Truth with boldness at all times and in all places that we may not be asham'd to confess him before Men if we should come to be tried for our Lives for it 's a precious advancement to be a worthy Sufferer and if the Mighty God do bring me home again to partake of Suffering in my Native Land I hope those Exercises that I now go through will still sit me for greater and I hope this is the end for which thee and I am tried And so in the Love of that which is able to preserve us do I once more salute thee and remain Thy true and tender Wife J. V. From Road-Island the 14th of the 4th Month 1680. REmember my dear Love to my Children and bid them mind the Lord and to all Friends of our Meeting and let my Son R. tell them that I greatly desire their Faithfulness and I hope he will have an honest Testimony for God and I would have Mary see this Letter that she may be of a believing Heart that if the Lord should bring us together again it may be to his Honour and our great Comfort the Lord is as well able to preserve me home as he was hither and I hope he will in his time I must leave that to him and so I hope will you for if we be not contented with his Will it will not be well with us And therefore let 's learn Paul's Lesson for we have great need in every state to be content No more but dear Love being in haste J. V. To Oliver Sansom and his Wife Dear Brother and Sister WHom I dearly love in the Lord Jesus our Life who makes hard things easie bitter things sweet and bares up in the greatest Trials do I salute you with my Mary my Sister Margery and the rest of them earnestly desiring your Prosperity every way as for my own Soul And by this you may know that tho' fore Exercises and Travels attend on every hand yet I am alive to magnifie that Power that hath preserved in Dangers great and Difficulties many and is able to Preserve unto the end and therefore I desire that we may trust in it and obey it to the honour of it for it hath been manifest in my weak Body to the admiration of many of the upright in Heart and they are very Loving to me where ever I come And my tender Father hath strengthened me to do his Service in Long-Island and New-York and in Road-Island and Boston and New-Jersey and those parts of America and I was in hope to have come home when I was clear of New England but the Lord hath laid it upon me to go to Barbadoes and in his Strength I am going on in a Vessel that one George Fletcher is Owner and Master of who professes Truth Do you not think that a Line from you would be very precious to me I neither heard from nor saw one of my Native Land since I left it but I cannot blame you not knowing whither to direct it Remember my dear Love to all dear Friends of our Mens and Womens Meetings earnestly desiring their Faithfulness therein and in all things else that pertains to the life of Truth that we may bear our Testimonies in Uprightness unto the end that in the end God may be glorified and our Souls comforted for ever and evermore Dear Anne Lawrence's Children be in my Mind as well as my own I hope you will look
me if my Children should be some of them And therefore look to it I charge you in God's holy fear that you may be warned and escape the dangers that do attend Youth and be preserved out of all the Snares of the Evil One for they are many And by this you may see that I do remember you and the breathing of my Soul is daily for you and for all my Relations and to them at Farringdon and Charney and Goosey and all the rest of Friends there-abouts mind my Love to them all as opportunity is and let them know that the Lord God of my Life and the length of my Days is still exceeding good unto me and enables me by his Power to do his Service and blessed be his holy Name his precious Reward is with me and that causes my Soul to rejoyce and makes my Heart more glad than the greatest increase of all outward things Oh that it may be so with you that your delight may be to serve him according to your measures that you may clearly see by the bright shining of the Light the vanity and folly of needless things in Apparel and to lean after the World 's vain unsetled Fashions is so far from being comely or an Ornament to any professing Truth that it is great cause of shame for any such to wear it and I am certain that if you keep to the Gift of Christ's Spirit that is given you to teach you to profit and to lead you into all truth and plainness I say that I am sure that if you hearken to the Spirit of Christ in your own Hearts that then these needless things aforenamed and foolish Fashions of the World will become a burden to you as they are to me and then you would be soon weary of them and of all that is needless round Attire upon the Head set up aloft nor long Ears to Linnen Dressings I desire that the Lord may lay it home to your consideration And you may also hereby know that I have had not one well Day nor Night since I came here but I am not worse than I was at home I have travelled Three hundred Miles and upwards in this Nation of Ireland and am now going for the North I have been often very like for death but have not lain by it yet blessed be the Lord. I am uncertain when I shall be clear to re-return but I intend to go no further than I have a necessity because of the weakness of my Body and the Winter drawing on it 's hard for me to travel but the Lord is exceeding good unto me beyond what I am able to express My dear love to all Relations and Friends I rest Your dear Mother J. V. From Dublin 18. 9 Mo. 86. An Epistle to Friends Dear Friends IN the Covenant of Life unto whom the Lord in his unspeakable love hath done so bountifully by as to reveal his Son in us visiting our Souls when in a lost condition and could find no comfort Oh let his Mercies never be forgotten and the consideration of his tender dealing abide with us and let the renewings of his tender Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal give us fresh occasions to renew our obedience for if we abide in the consideration of his love we cannot but be tendered in the sense of the same and brought thereby into true subjection to the sanctifying Power by which we have been and are preserved notwithstanding all the dangers that hath or do attend Oh the Excellency of the Power it is so precious unto a Remnant that we have continual cause to glorifie our heavenly Father with all and over all for he is worthy and if it be with Life and all it 's but our reasonable service and those that will save that alive that is to die do thereby deprive â—â—emselves of Life eternal and therefore we have all need to dwell low in the self-denying Spirit and the daily Cross that weÌ„ may still enjoy the convincing Power that we may travel on in our heavenly Progress with Valour and Courage those few days that are to come in which we may expect many Troubles But living Praises to the God of our Lives and Length of our Days in him we find that Peace that Man cannot give nor take from us and in Christ Jesus our Life is hid from all that are in darkness and under the shadow of death and because the Son of God lives our Souls lives to praise his worthy renowned Name his Eternal Power that has been manifested to tender our Hearts and to bring us into subjection to so good a Master daily nourishes and enriches our Souls with the reward of Life in our Bosoms which causes us to say with the Prophet One day in his Courts is better than a thousand elsewhere And surely it is better to be a Door-keeper in the House of God than to dwell in the chiefest Palaces of the wicked Oh how goodly are the Tents of Jacob where we find safety in times of need as we abide in Covenant with Jacob's God we have cause to rejoyce as Israel did when the Rock that followed them was Christ Jesus the Rock of Ages the sure Foundation of the Faithful the Hiding-place as the shadow of a mighty Rock in a weary Land to shelter the weary Travellers by the way the streams of Shilo that runs so sweetly to comfort the comfortless and to strengthen the weak and relieve the thirsty Souls Oh how sweet are Shilo's Brooks where no Gally with Oars can pass where the Water of Life flows softly but sweetly without any thing that flesh and blood can do for that avails nothing in our heavenly Journey and therefore to be had in no reputation but to be daily denied and the Cross taken up and following of Jesus faithfully and fully towards the Crown which is the blessed Recompence for us to look unto that we may run the Race that is set before us in patience that in the end we may obtain the Mark of the Prize of the High-Calling that is in Christ Jesus which is a Mystery to those that do not obey him but a sweet benefit to them that do obey his Call for they are chosen ones a peculiar People zealous of good Works glorifying our heavenly Father And here we come to know that Scripture fulfilled where it is said You shall call upon me in times of trouble and I will deliver and you shall glorifie me Oh that all the convinced ones for whom I am so often concerned would but consider that all that are amongst us might be of us in glorifying God by answering the Divine Requirings of his Love for we all know sufficient but all do not obey but yet the unfaithfulness of some do not make void the Reward of the Faithful God forbid but the Reward encourages them to invite all to taste and see for themselves how good the Lord is for he is communicating of fresh supplies of his
good and gracious unto all those that confess and forsake their evil thoughts words and works and they shall surely find Mercy with him and be acquainted with him and feel acceptance with him and know the work of his sanctifying power to sanctifie throughout in Body Soul and Spirit that the works of sanctification may not be to do when the Messenger of Death will not be denied for then it will be too late to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and therefore it would be good for all to consider how good the Lord is in that he hath considered the frailty of all flesh and hath given unto every one a measure of his good Spirit to help our Infirmities and to teach us But if we neglect this Gift of God we shall be unexcusable in the Day of Account and he will be clear of us all and therefore let all be diligent to hear the Word of Reconciliation that the work thereof may be experienced for it begets again unto God those that were afar off and when the work of Regeneration is witnessed and the Birth of the Water of Life and Spirit of Jesus then the new Creature that avails with God comes to be in unity and peace with him and then the Spirit of Jesus bears witness to the Spirits of such that they are the Children of the Lord but except a being born again there can be no entring into the Kingdom for the first Birth cannot enter into the first Adam's Nature all are dead but they that are begotten again by the Word of God's power as the Scripture testifies they come to be changed into the Nature of the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit in him all such are made alive and as they live in his fear and do not grieve his Spirit their sufficiency is in the engrafted Word of his Grace that is able to save and in the same do witness preservation as in the days of old it is the same that David hid in his heart that he might not sin against the Lord and it was as a Lanthorn unto his feet and a light unto his paths And so it is now blessed be the Name of the Lord unto them that are truly watchful in it but those that are obeying the power of darkness breaks the Command of Christ Jesus and it 's left upon Scripture-Record that he did not say only unto one but unto all watch and surely it is as needful as ever for us to keep a narrow watch and that in the Light for our Souls Enemy works always in the dark and except we keep a continual watch over our hearts in that which doth discover his Snares we cannot escape and so let all that have any sense that it is their Duty to wait upon the Lord be careful to keep the Command of watchfulness that the Enemy nor any of his Instruments do not prevent from waiting in stilness upon the Lord for he doth renew the strength of them that do truly wait upon him and the Lord by his Servant hath said That they shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint and now he is fulfilling the Scripture wherein it is said The children of the Lord shall be taught of the Lord and they shall be established in righteousness and great shall be their peace Oh let all that want it hearken unto the true Shepherd of the little Flock for whom the Kingdom is prepared who encourages them and bids them fear not tho' the Wolfish destroyer is nigh unto them yet he is the Overseer and in all Tryals and Exercises he is their preservation and them that have been exercised deeply and tryed throughly they can tell of his wonderful works and have cause to speak well of his most worthy Name and to invite others to come and taste and see for themselves how good the Lord is in that he gives all a time of tender Visitation Oh! that all People would but consider it before it be too late that while the good Spirit of Light is striving their hearts may be affected with it and joyned to it for it will not always strive and therefore let such as could not come into Obedience because of Sufferings now consider how good the Lord is in that he hath calmed the storms of Persecution and opened a door for such as are convinced to come into Obedience let them now perform what they promised to the Lord when they were looking to see what the Lord would do with his poor despised People called Quakers for said they it is the Truth that they suffer for but we cannot suffer for it the Sufferings is too hard for us to bear else we should own it Oh! let all such truly consider the wonderful love of God his tender mercy may not be disregarded nor his great love undervalued but let every such a one double their diligence and make no delays for delays in this weighty concern are very dangerous for who knows how little time they have to come or what it may bring forth therefore that the present time be not ill spent but while it is to day if any will hear his voice let them not harden their hearts as it was in the day of provocation For many are the invitations of the great love of God and if it be slighted he will certainly with-hold his Mercies and therefore we have great need to embrace his love that we may not provoke him to wrath for he is just and will render unto all people according to their doings Joan Vokins West-Chawlow 14 of 〈◊〉 third Month 168◠A Testimon◠〈…〉 work of God's Power Because of the marvellous love of God in Christ Jesus I cannot conceal my Testimony for the wonderful work of his Eternal Power that hath been admirably manifested in my poor Soul and weak frail Body and if I should not leave a short Testimony of it to Posterity I should be very ungrateful and I pray God that the sin of Ingratitude may not be laid heavy on any of us professing Truth when the Messenger of Death calls but that while we live we may live in subjection to his Almighty Power that when we die we may seal our Testimonies thereunto in true submission and receive the blessed reward of the faithful OH what tongue can declare the wonderful loving kindness of the Lord as is experienced by those that obey his Commands Surely that is the way to abide in his love and his great love has been so largely manifested to me that it has ingaged me so to love him again as to forsake the Worlds Glory Customs and Fashions Vanities Elements Traditions and Superstitions and to take up my Daily-Cross and follow Jesus through the many Tribulations But blessed be his worthy Name he hath filled my cup with his sweet consolations and caused me to say that one day in his Courts is better then a thousand elsewhere and I had rather be a