A JOURNAL OR Historical Account OF THE Life Travels Sufferings Christian Experiences and Labour of Love in the Work of the Ministry OF THAT Ancient Eminent and Faithful Servant of JESUS CHRIST George Fox Who departed this Life in great Peace with the LORD the 13th of the 11th Month 1690. The First Volume Dan. 12.3 And they that turn many to Righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Verse 4. Many shall run to and fro and Knowledge shall be Encreased 2 Tim. 2.12 If we suffer we shall also reign with him i. e. with Christ LONDON Printed for Thomas Northcott in George-Yard in Lombard-Street MDCXCIV THE TESTIMONY OF Margaret Fox Concerning her Late Husband GEORGE FOX TOGETHER With a brief Account of some of his Travels Sufferings and Hardships endured for the Truth 's sake IT having pleased Almighty God to take away my Dear Husband out of this Evil Troublesome World who was not a Man thereof being Chosen out of it and had his Life and Being in another Region and his Testimony was against the World that the Deeds thereof were evil and therefore the World hated him So I am now to give in my Account and Testimony for my Dear Husband whom the Lord hath taken unto his blessed Kingdom and Glory And it is before me from the Lord and in my View to give a Relation and leave upon Record the Dealings of the Lord with us from the Beginning He was the Instrument in the Hand of the Lord in this present Age which he made use of to send forth into the World to preach the Everlasting Gospel which had been hid from many Ages and Generations the Lord Revealed it unto him and made him open that New and Living Way that Leads to Life Eternal when he was but a Youth and a Stripling And when he Declared it in his own Country of Leicestershire and in Darbyshire Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire and his Declaration being against the Hireling-Priests and their Practices it raised a Great Fury and Opposition amongst the Priests and People against him yet there was always some that owned him in several places but very few that stood firm to him when Persecution came on him There was he and one other put in Prison at Darby His first Imprisonment but the other declined and left him in Prison there where he continued almost a whole Year and then he was Released out of Prison And went on with his Testimony abroad Second Imprisonment and was put in Prison again at Nottingham and there he continued a while and after was Released again And then he Travelled on into Yorkshire and passed up and down that Great County and several received him as William Dewsbury Richard Farnsworth Thomas Aldam and others who all came to be faithful Ministers of the Spirit for the Lord. And he continued in that Country and Travelled thorow Holderness and the Wowlds and abundance were Convinced and several were brought to Prison at York for their Testimony to the Truth both Men and Women So that we heard of such a People that were Risen and we did very much inquire after them And after a while he Travelled up farther towards the Dales in Yorkshire as Wensdale and Sedbur and amongst the Hills Dales and Mountains he came on and Convinced many of the Eternal Truth And in the Year 1652. it pleased the Lord to draw him towards us so he came on from Sedbur and so to Westmorland as Firbank-Chappel where John Blaykling came with him and so on to Preston and to Grarig and Kendal and Vnder-barrow and Poobank and Cartmel and Staveley and so on to Swarthmore my Dwelling-House whither he brought the blessed Tideings of the Everlasting Gospel which I and many Hundreds in these parts have cause to praise the Lord for My then Husband Thomas Fell was not at home at that time but gone the Welch Circuit being one of the Judges of Assize And our House being a Place open to entertain Ministers and Religious People at one of George Fox his Friends brought him hither where he stayed all Night And the next day being a Lecture or a Fast-day he went to Ulverston-Steeple-house but came not in till People were gathered I and my Children had been a long time there before And when they were singing before the Sermon he came in and when they had done singing he stood up upon a Seat or Form and desired That he might have liberty to speak And he that was in the Pulpit said he might And the first words that he spoke were as followeth He is not a Jew that is one outward neither is that Circumcision which is outward But he is a Jew that is one inward and that is Circumcision which is of the heart And so he went on and said How that Christ was the Light of the World and ligheth every Man that cometh into the World and that by this Light they might be gathered to God c. And I stood up in my Pew and I wondered at his Doctrine for I had never heard such before And then he went on and opened the Scriptures and said The Scriptures were the Prophets words and Christ 's and the Apostle 's words and what as they spoke they enjoyed and possessed and had it from the Lord And said Then what had any to do with the Scriptures but as they came to the Spirit that gave them forth You will say Christ saith this and the Apostles say this but what canst thou say Art thou a Child of Light and hast walked in the Light and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God c. This opened me so that it cut me to the Heart and then I saw clearly we were all wrong So I sat me down in my Pew again and cried bitterly And I cried in my Spirit to the Lord We are all Thieves we are all Thieves we have taken the Scriptures in Words and know nothing of them in our selves So that served me that I cannot well tell what he spake afterwards but he went on in declaring against the false Prophets and Priests and Deceivers of the People And there was one John Sawrey a Justice of Peace and a Professor that bid the Churchwarden Take him away And he laid his hands on him several times and took them off again and let him alone and then after a while he gave over and came to our House again that night And he spoke in the Family amongst the Servants and they were all generally Convinced as William Caton Thomas Salthouse Mary Askew Anne Clayton and several other Servants And I was stricken into such a sadness I knew not what to do my Husband being from home I saw it was the Truth and I could not deny it and I did as the Apostle saith I Received the Truth in the Love of it And it was opened to me so clear that I had never a Tittle in my Heart against it but I desired the Lord that
Day of this instant 11th Month 1690 After which he said I am glad I was here now I am clear I am fully clear Then he was the same Day taken with some Illness or Indisposition of Body more than usual and continued weak in Body for two days after at our Friend Henry Goldney's House in the same Court close by the Meeting-House in much Contentment and Peace and very sensible to the last In which time he mentioned divers Friends and sent for some in particular to whom he exprest his Mind for the spreading Friends Books and Truth in the World and through the Nations thereof as his Spirit in the Lord's Love and Power was universally set and bent for Truth and Righteousness and the making known the Way thereof to the Nations and People afar off signifying also to some Friends That all is well and the Seed of God reigns over all and over Death it self That though he was weak in Body yet that the Power of God is over all and the Seed reigns over all disorderly Spirits which were his wonted sensible Expressions being in the living Faith and Sense thereof which he kept to the End And the Thirteenth Instant between the Ninth and Tenth Hour in the Night he quietly departed this Life in Peace being two days after the Lord enabled him to Publish and Preach the Blessed Truth in the Meeting as aforesaid So that he clearly and evidently ended his days in his faithful Testimony in perfect Love and Unity with his Brethren and Peace and Good-will to all Men being about Sixty and six Years of Age as we understand when he departed this Life And on the Sixteenth of this Instant being the day appointed for his Funeral a very great Concourse of Friends and People assembled at our Meeting-House in White-Hart-Court aforesaid about the Mid-day in order to attend his Body to our Burying-place near Bunhill-Fields to be Interred as Friends last Office of Love and Respect due on that Account The Meeting was held about two Hours with great and heavenly Solemnity manifestly attended with the Lord's Blessed Power and Presence and divers living Testimonies given from a lively Remembrance and Sense of this his Dear Ancient Servant his Blessed Ministry and Testimony of the breaking forth of this Gospel-day his Innocent Life long and great Travels and Labours of Love in the Everlasting Gospel for the turning and gathering many Thousands from Darkness to the Light of Christ Jesus the Foundation of true Faith also of his manifold Sufferings Afflictions and Oppositions which he met withal for his faithful Testimony both from his open Adversaries and false Brethren and his Preservations Dominion and Deliverances out of them all by the Power of God To whom the Glory and Honour was and is ascribed in raising up and preserving this his faithful Witness and Minister to the End of his Days whose blessed Memorial will Everlastingly remain He loved Truth and Righteousness and bore faithful Testimony against Deceit and Falshood and the Mystery of Iniquity and often of late time especially warned Friends against Covetousness Earthly-mindedness against getting into the Earth and into a brittle Spirit and the younger sort against Loosness and Pride of Life c. A few days before he died he had a great Concern upon his Mind concerning some in whom the Lord's Power was working to lead them into a Ministry and Testimony to his Truth who through their too much entangling themselves in the things of this World did make themselves unready to answer the Call and Leadings of the Power of God and hurt the Gift that was bestowed upon them and did not take that regard to their Service and Ministry as they ought And mentioned the Apostle's Exhortation to Timothy To take heed to his Ministry and to shew himself approved c. And exprest his Grief concerning such as preferred their own Business before the Lord's Business and sought the advancing worldly Concerns before the Concerns of Truth And concluded with a tender and fatherly Exhortation to all to whom God had imparted of his Heavenly Treasure that they would improve it faithfully and be diligent in the Lord's Work that the Earth might be sown with the Seed of the Kingdom and God's Harvest might be minded by those whom he had called and enabled to labour therein and that such would commit the Care of their outward Concerns to the Lord who would care for them and give a Blessing to them However this is not mentioned to encourage any to run unsent or without being called of God Many are living Witnesses that the Lord raised him up by his Power to proclaim his mighry Day to the Nations and made him an Effectual Instrument in our Day to turn many from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to God and freely to suffer and bear all Reproaches and the manifold Persecutions Buffetings Halings Stonings Imprisonments and Cruelties that were in the Beginning and for some time inflicted on him and others for the Name of Christ Jesus He was in his Testimony as a fixed Star in the Firmament of God's Power where all that be truly wise and that turn many to Righteousness shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and as the Stars for ever and ever He knew and Preached the Mystery of Christ Revealed the Life and Substance and the Power of Godliness above all Shadows and Forms The Lord endued him with a hidden Wisdom and Life He loved Peace and earnestly laboured for universal Love Unity Peace and good Order in the Churches of Christ And wherever he met with the contrary it was his great Grief and Burthen He was greatly for the Encouragement of faithful Labourers in the Lord's Work and it was a great Offence and Grief to him to have their Testimony weakned or Labours slighted through Prejudice in any professing Truth And inasmuch as the Lord suffered him not to be delivered up to the Will of his Enemies and Persecutors who often heretofore breathed out Cruelty against him and designed his Destruction but in his good Pleasure so fairly and quietly took him away in his own time when his Testimony was so blessedly finished and his Work accomplished This is all remarkable and worthy of serious and due Observation as being by a special and Divine Providence and Wisdom of God to whom we ascribe the Glory of all and not unto Man or Creatures Though we must needs allow and own that good Report and due Esteem which faithful Elders Ministers and Servants of God and Christ have by Faith obtained to the Praise of that blessed Power that upheld them in every Age in their day many whereof are even of late taken away from the Evil to come and are at Rest in the Lord out of the Reach of all Envy and Persecution where the Wicked cannot trouble them any more And we must patiently bear our Parting with them and our Loss and Sorrow on that Account with respect to their unspeakable
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 Mortality put off yet we believe he has a Building with God Eternally in the Heavens and is entred into Rest as a Reward to those great Labours hard Sufferings and sore Trials he patiently endured for God and his Truth Of which Truth he was made an Able Minister and One if not the First Promulgator of it in our Age who though of no great Literature nor seeming much Learned as to the outward being hid from the Wisdom of this World yet he had the Tongue of the Learned and could speak a Word in due Season to the Conditions and Capacities of most especially to them that were weary and wanted Soul's Rest being deep in the Divine Mysteries of the Kingdom of God And the Word of Life and Salvation through him reached unto many Souls whereby many were Convinced of their great Duty of inward Retiring to Wait upon God and as they became diligent in the Performance of that Service were also raised up to be Preachers of the same Everlasting Gospel of Peace and Glad Tidings to others who are as Seals to his Ministry both in this and other Nations and may possibly give a more full Account thereof Howbeit we knowing his unwearied Diligence not Sparing but Spending himself in the Work and Service whereunto he was Chosen and Called of God could not but give this short Testimony of his Faithfulness therein and likewise of his tender Love and Care towards us who as a tender Father to Children in which Capacity we stood being so Related unto him he never failed to give us his wholesome Counsel and Advice And not only so but as a Father in Christ he took Care of the whole Family and Houshold of Faith which the Lord had made him an Eminent Overseer of and endued him with such an Excellent Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding to propose and direct Helps and Advantages to the Well-ordering and Establishing of Affairs and Government in the Church as now are found very serviceable thereunto and have greatly disappointed and prevented the false loose and libertine Spirit in some who to their own Confusion have endeavoured by Separation and Division to disturb the Church's Peace And although many of that sort have at sundry times shot their poisonous Darts at him publickly in Print and privately other ways yet he has been always preserved by the Heavenly Power of God out of the Reach of their Envy and all Perils and Difficulties that attended on their Account Who as a Fixed Star in the Firmament of God's Power did constantly abide and held his Integrity to the last being of a sweet savoury Life and as to Conversation kept his Garments clean And though outwardly dead yet liveth and his Memory is right precious unto us as it is and will be to all that abide in the Love of Truth and have not declined the Way of it For he was one of the Lord's Worthies Valiant for the Truth upon Earth not turning his Back in the Day of Battle but his Bow still abiding in its Strength he through many Hardships brought Gladness and Refreshment to Israel's Camp being assisted by the Might of that Power that always put the Armies of Aliens and Enemies to Flight And now having finished his Course is removed from us into a Glorious State of Immortality and Bliss and is gathered unto the Lord as a Shock of Corn in its full Season and to that Habitation of Safety where the Wicked cease from troubling and the Weary be at Rest John Rous. William Meade Thomas Lower William Ingram Daniel Abraham Abraham Morrice Margaret Rous. Sarah Meade Mary Lower Susanna Ingram Rachel Abraham Isabel Morrice An Epistle by Way of Testimony to Friends and Brethren of the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings in England Wales and elsewhere concerning the Decease of our Faithful Brother GEORGE FOX From our Second-Days Morning Meeting in London the 26th of the 11th Month 1690. DEar and truly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters in Christ Jesus our Blessed Lord and Saviour we sincerely and tenderly salute you all in his free and tender Love wherewith he hath graciously visited us and largely shed it abroad in our Hearts and Souls to our own unspeakable Comfort and Consolation and towards his whole Heritage and Royal Off-spring blessed be his pure and powerful Name for Evermore And our Souls do truly and fervently desire and breathe unto the God of all our Mercies that you all may be preserved and kept truly faithful and diligent in his Work and Service according to your Heavenly Calling and Endowments with his Light Grace and Truth unto the End of your Days as being livingly engaged thereby all your appointed Time to serve him and to wait till your Change come That none may neglect that true Improvement of your Times and Talents that God has afforded you here for your Eternal Advantage hereafter in that Inheritance and Life Immortal that never fades away And that the whole Flock and Heritage of Christ Jesus which he has purchased and bought for himself with a Price incorruptible may always be so preserved in his own pure Love and Life as to grow increase and prosper in the same and thereby be kept in Love Vnity and Peace with one another as becomes his true and faithful Followers is that which our very Hearts and Souls desire being often truly comforted and enlarged in the living sense and feeling of the Encrease and Aboundings thereof among faithful Friends and Brethren And Dear Brethren and Sisters unto this our Tender Salutation We are concerned in Brotherly Love and true Tender-heartedness to add and impart unto you some Account of the Decease of our Dear and Elder Brother in Christ namely his and his Church's true and faithful Servant and Minister George Fox whom it hath pleased the Lord to take unto himself as he hath divers others of his faithful Servants and Ministers of late Time who have faithfully served out their Generation and finished their Testimony and Course with Joy and Peace Howbeit O Dear Brethren and Friends that so many Worthies in Israel and serviceable Instruments in the Lord's Hand are of late taken away and removed from us so soon one after another appears a Dispensation that deeply and sorrowfully affects us and many more whose Hearts are upright and tender toward God and one to another in the Truth The Consideration of the Depth Weight and Meaning thereof is very weighty upon our Spirits though their precious Life and Testimony lives with us as being of that same Body united to one Head even Christ Jesus in which we still and hope ever shall have secret Comfort and Union with them whom the Lord has removed and taken to himself out of their Earthly Tabernacles and Houses into their Heavenly and Everlasting Mansions This our said Dear Brother George Fox was enabled by the Lord's Power to Preach the Truth fully and effectually in our Publick Meeting in White-Hart-Court by Grace-Church-street London on the Eleventh
Gain Yet how can we avoid being deeply affected with Sadness of Spirit and brokenness of Heart under the sense and consideration of such Loss and Revolutions which we have cause to believe are Ominous of Calamities to the wicked World though of good to the Righteous Did the Death of plain upright Jacob Gen. 50. namely Israel who was as a Prince of God so deeply affect both his own Children and Kindred as that they made a great and exceeding sore Lamentation for him and even the Egyptians also that they bewailed him seventy days And the Death of Moses so deeply affect the Children of Israel Deut. 34. as that they did weep and mourn for him in the Plain of Moab thirty Days And the Death of Stephen that faithful Martyr of Jesus so deeply affect certain Men fearing God Acts 7. as that they made great Lamentation for him And the Apostle Paul when taking his leave of the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts 20. and telling them They should see his Face no more If this did so deeply affect them that they wept all abundantly sorrowing most of all for these Words That they should see his face no more with many more of this kind How then can we otherwise chuse but be deeply affected with Sorrow and Sadness of Heart though not as those which have no hope when so many of our Ancient Dear and Faithful Brethren with whom we have had much sweet Society are removed from us one after another We pray God raise up and increase more such Yet must we all contentedly submit to the good Pleasure and Wisdom of the Lord our God in all these things who taketh away and none can hinder him nor may any say unto him What dost thou Yet we have cause to bless the Lord that he hath of late raised and is raising up more to publish his Name in the Earth And we that yet remain have but a short Time to stay after them that are gone but we shall be gone to them also The Lord God of Life keep us all Faithful in his holy Truth Love Vnity and Life to the End He hath a great Work still to bring forth in the Earth and great things to bring to pass in order to make way for Truth and Righteousness to take place therein and that his Seed may come forth and be gathered and the Power and Kingdom of our God and of his Christ made known and exalted in the Earth unto the Ends thereof Dear Friends and Brethren Be faithful till Death that a Crown of Life you may obtain All dwell in the Love of God in Christ Jesus in Vnion and Peace in him To whom we tenderly Commit you to keep and strengthen you bless and preserve you to the End of your Days In whose dear and tender Love we remain Your Dear Friends and Brethren Stephen Crisp Geo. Whitehead Fra. Camfield James Park John Elson Peter Price John Field John Edridge Nicholas Gates Francis Stamper John Vaughton Gilbert Latey Charles Marshal Rich. Needham James Martin Daniel Monro John Heywood George Bowles William Robinson William Bingley John Butcher Benjamin Antrobus These Names are since added at the desire of the Persons following Sam. Goodaker Amb. Rigg William Fallowfield POSTSCRIPT BEfore his Death he writ a little Paper desiring all Friends every where that use to write to him about the Sufferings and Affairs of Friends in their several Countries should henceforth write to their several Correspondents in London to be Communicated to the Second-Days Meeting to take Care that they be answered Thomas Ellwood's Account of that Eminent and Honourable Servant of the Lord George Fox THis Holy Man was raised up by God in an Extraordinary Manner for an Extraordinary Work even to Awaken the sleeping World by proclaiming the Mighty Day of the Lord to the Nations and publishing again the Everlasting Gospel to the Inhabitants of the Earth after the long and dismal Night of Apostacy and Darkness For this Work the Lord began to prepare him by many and various Trials and Exercises from his very Childhood And having fitted and furnished him for it he called him into it very Young and made him Instrumental by the effectual Working of the Holy Ghost through his Ministry to call many Others into the same Work and to turn many Thousands from Darkness to the Light of Christ and from the Power of Satan unto God I knew him not till the Year 1660 from that Time to the Time of his Death I knew him well Conversed with him often Observed him much Loved him dearly and Honoured him truly and upon good Experience can say He was indeed an Heavenly-minded Man zealous for the Name of the Lord and preferr'd the Honour of God before all things He was Valiant for the Truth Bold in Asserting it Patient in Suffering for it Unwearied in Labouring in it Steady in his Testimony to it Immoveable as a Rock Deep he was in Divine Knowledge Clear in opening heavenly Mysteries Plain and Powerful in Preaching Fervent in Prayer He was richly endued with heavenly Wisdom Quick in Discerning Sound in Judgment Able and ready in Giving Discreet in Keeping Counsel A Lover of Righteousness an Encourager of Vertue Justice Temperance Meekness Purity Chastity Modesty Humility Charity and Self-Denial in all both by Word and Example Graceful he was in Countenance Manly in Personage Grave in Gesture Courteous in Conversation Weighty in Communication Instructive in Discourse Free from Affectation in Speech or Carriage A severe Reprover of hard and obstinate Sinners A mild and gentle Admonisher of such as were tender and sensible of their Failings Not apt to resent personal Wrongs Easie to forgive Injuries But zealously Earnest where the Honour of God the Prosperity of Truth the Peace of the Church were concerned Very Tender Compassionate and Pitiful he was to all that were under any sort of Affliction full of Brotherly Love full of Fatherly Care For indeed the Care of the Churches of Christ was daily upon him the Prosperity and Peace whereof he studiously sought Beloved he was of God Beloved of God's People and which was not the least part of his Honour the Common Butt of all Apostates Envy whose Good notwithstanding he earnestly sought He lived to see the Desire of his Soul The Spreading of that Blessed Principle of Divine Light through many of the European Nations and not a few of the American Islands and Provinces and the Gathering many Thousands into an Establishment therein which the Lord vouchsafed him the Honour to be the First Effectual Publisher of in this latter Age of the World And having fought a good Fight finished his Course and kept the Faith his righteous Soul freed from the Earthly Tabernacle in which he had led an Exemplary Life of Holiness was translated into those Heavenly Mansions where Christ our Lord went to prepare a Place for His there to possess that Glorious Crown of Righteousness which is laid up
to go to Meetings and Exercise an ordinary Charity in the Church and an honest Behaviour in the World and limit your selves within those Bounds feeling little or no concern upon your Spirits for the Glory of the Lord in the prospirity of his Truth in the Earth more than to be glad that others succeed in such Service Arise ye in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Behold how white the Fields are unto Harvest in this and other Nations and how few Able and Faithful Labourers there are to work therein Your Country Folks Neighbours and Kindred want to know the Lord and his Truth and to Walk in it Does nothing lie at your Door upon their Account Search and see and loose no time I beseech you for the Lord is at Hand I do not Judge you there is one that Judgeth all Men and his Judgment is true You have mightily increased in your outward Substance may you equally increase in your inward Riches and do good with both while you have a day to do Good Your Enemies would once have taken what you had from you for his Names Sake in whom you have believed wherefore he has given you much of the World in the Face of your Enemies But Oh let it be your Servant and not your Master your Diversion rather than your Business Let the Lord be chiefly in your Eye and ponder your Ways and see if God has nothing more for you to do and if you find your selves short in your Account with him then wait for his Preparation and be ready to receive the word of Command and be not weary of well doing when you have put your Hand to the Plow and assuredly you shall Reap if you faint not the Fruit of your Heavenly Labour in God's Everlasting Kingdom And you Young Convinced Ones be you Entreated and Exhorted to a Diligent and Chast waiting upon God in the way of his Blessed Manifestation and appearance of himself to you Look not out but within Let not anothers Liberty be your Snare Neither Act by Imitation but Sense and Feeling of God's Power in your selves Crush not the tender Buddings of it in your Souls nor over run in your desires and your warmness of Affections the Holy and Gentle Motions of It. Remember it is a still Voice that Speaks to us in this Day and that it is not to be heard in the Noises and Hurries of the Mind but is distinctly understood in a retired Frame Jesus loved and chose out Solitudes often going to Mountains to Gardens and Sea-sides to avoid Crowds and Hurries to shew his Disciples it was good to be Solitary and sit loose to the World Two Enemies lie near your States Imagination and Liberty but the plain practical Living Holy Truth that has convinced you will preserve you if you mind it in your selves and bring all Thoughts Imaginations and Affections to the Test of it to see if they are wrought in God or of the Enemy or your own selves So will a true Tast Discerning and Judgment be preserved to you of what you should do and leave undone And in your diligence and Faithfulness in this way you will come to inherit Substance and Christ the Eternal Wisdom will fill your Treasury And when you are Converted as well as Convinced then confirm your Brethren and be ready to every good Word and Work that the Lord shall call you to that you may be to his Praise who has chosen you to be partakers with the Saints in Light of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken an Inheritance incorruptible in Eternal Habitations And now as for you that are the Children of God's People a Great Concern is upon my Spirit for your good and often are my Knees Bowed to the God of your Fathers for you that you may come to be partakers of the same Divine Life and Power that has been the Glory of this Day that a Generation you may be to God an Holy Nation and a Peculiar People Zealous of Good Works when all our Heads are laid in the Dust Oh you Young Men and Women let it not suffice you that you are the Children of the People of the Lord you must also be born again if you will inherit the Kingdom of God Your Fathers are but such after the Flesh and could but beget you into the likeness of the first Adam but you must be begotten into the likeness of the second Adam by a Spiritual Generation And therefore look carefully about you Oh ye Children of the Children of God Consider your Standing and see what you are in Relation to this Divine Kindred Family and Birth Have you obeyed the Light and received and walked in the Spirit that is the incorruptible Seed of the Word and Kingdom of God of which you must be born again God is no respecter of Persons The Father cannot save or answer for the Child the Child for the Father but in the Sin thou Sinnest thou shalt die and in the Righteousness thou doest through Christ Jesus thou shalt live for it is the Willing and Obedient that shall eat the Good of the Land Be not deceived God is not mocked such as all Nations and People Sow such they shall reap at the hand of the just God And then your many and great Priviledges above the Children of other People will add weight in the scale against you if you choose not the way of the Lord. For you have had Line upon Line and Precept upon Precept and not only good Doctrine but good Example and which is more you have been turned to and acquainted with a Principle in your selves which others have been ignorant of and you know you may be as Good as you please without the Fear of Frowns and Blows or being turned out of doors and forsaken of Father and Mother for God's Sake and his Holy Religion as has been the Case of some of your Fathers in the day they first entred into this Holy Path And if you after hearing and seeing the Wonders that God has wrought in the deliverance and perservation of them through a Sea of Troubles and the manifold Temporal as well as spiritual Blessings that he has filled them with in the sight of their Enemies you should neglect and turn your backs upon so great and so near a Salvation you would not only be most ungreatful Children to God and them but must expect that God will call the Children of those that knew him not to take the Crown out of your Hands and that your lot will be a dreadful Judgment at the hand of the Lord. But Oh that it may never be so with any of you The Lord forbid saith my Soul Wherefore Oh ye Young Men and Women look to the Rock of your Fathers chuse the God of your Fathers There is no other God but him no other Light but his no other Grace but his nor Spirit but his to Convince you Quicken and Comfort you to Lead Guide and
Temples Priests and Tithes which God had never Commanded but to bring them off from all these things to Christ the Substance So I shewed them the True Worship which Christ had set up and distinguished unto them Christ the True Way from all the false Ways opening the Parables to them and turning them from the Darkness to the true Light that by it they might see themselves and their Sins and Christ their Saviour that believing in him they might be saved from their Sins After this we went to one Birdet's House where I had a great Meeting and this Old Priest accompanied me still leaving his Steeple-house For he had been looked upon as a famous Priest above Common-prayer-Men and Presbyters and Independents too Before he was Convinced he would have gone sometimes into their Steeple-houses and have preached For he had been a zealous Man in his Way And when they have Complained of him to Justice Hotham he would bid them Distrein his Horse for travelling on the Lord's Day as he call'd it But Hotham did that only to put them off for he knew the Priest used no Horse but travelled on Foot Crantsick Now came I up through the Country again towards Crantsick to Captain Purslo's and Justice Hotham's who received me kindly being glad that the Lord's Power had so appeared and that Truth was spread and so many had received it and that Justice Robinson was so Civil And Justice Hotham said If God had not raised up this Principle of Light and Life which I preached the Nation had been over-run with Ranterism and all the Justices in the Nation could not have stopped it with all their Laws Because said he they would have said as we said and done as we Commanded and yet have kept their own Principle still But this Principle of Truth said he overthrows their Principle and the Root and Ground thereof and therefore he said he was glad the Lord had raised up this Principle of Life and Truth Holderness From thence I travelled up into Holderness and came to a Justice's House whose Name was Pearson where there was a very tender Woman that believed in the Truth and was so affected therewith that she said She could have left all and have followed me Oram Thence I went to Oram to one George Hartise's where many of that Town were Convinced On the first-Day I was moved to go into the Steeple-house where the Priest had got another Priest to help him And a many Professors and Contenders were got together But the Lord's Power was over all and the Priests fled away and a great deal of good Service I had for the Lord amongst the People And some of those great Professors were Convinced and became honest faithful Friends being Men of Account in the Place The next day Friends and friendly People having left me I traveled alone declaring the Day of the Lord amongst People in the Towns Patrington where I came and warning them to Repent And as I traveled one day I came towards Night into a Town called Patrington and as I walked along the Town 1652. Patrington I warned both Priest and People for the Priest was in the Street to Repent and turn to the Lord. Now it grew dark before I came to the End of the Town and a Multitude of People gathered about me and I declared the Word of Life unto them And when I had cleared my self I went to an Inn and desired them to let me have a Lodging but they would not Then I desired them to let me have a little Meat or Milk and I would pay them for it but they would not So I walked out of the Town and a Company of Fellows follow'd me and asked me What News And I bid them Repent and fear the Lord. After I was gone a pretty way out of the Town I came to another House and I desired the People of that House to let me have a little Meat and Drink and Lodging for my Money but they would not neither but denied me Then I went to another House and desired the same but they refused me also By this time it was grown so dark that I could not see the High-way but I discerned a Ditch and got a little Water and refreshed my self Then I got over the Ditch and being weary with traveling I sate down amongst the Furz-bushes till it was day About break of Day I got up and passed on the Fields and a Man came after me with a great Pike-Staff and went along with me to a Town And he raised the Town upon me with the Constable and Chief-Constable before the Sun was up So I declared God's Everlasting Truth amongst them warning them of the day of the Lord that was coming upon all Sin and Wickedness and exhorted them to Repent But they seized on me and had me back again to Patrington about three Miles guarding me with Watch-Bills and Pikes and Staves and Halberds Now when I was come back to Patrington all the Town was in an Vproar and the Priest and Constables were consulting together So I had another Opportunity to declare the Word of Life amongst them and warn them to Repent At last a Professor a tender Man called me into his House and there I took a little Milk and Bread having not eaten for some Days before Then they guarded me about Nine Miles to a Justice and when I was come near his House there came a Man riding after us and asked me Whether I was the Man that was apprehended And I asked him Wherefore he asked And he said For no hurt and I told him I was So he rode away to the Justice before us The Men that guarded me said It was well if the Justice was not drunk before we got to him for he used to be drunk early Now when I was brought in before him because I did not put off my Hat and said Thou to him he asked the Man that rode thither before me Whether I was not mazed or fond But the Man told him No it was my Principle Then I warned him to Repent and come to the Light which Christ had enlightned him withal that by it he might see all his evil Words and Actions that he had spoken and acted his ungodly Ways he had walked in and his ungodly Words he had spoken and to return to Christ Jesus whilst he had time and that whilst he had Time he should prize it Ay Ay said he the Light that is spoken of in the third of John I desired him that he would mind it and obey it And as I admonished him I laid my Hand upon him and he was brought down by the Power of the Lord And all the Watch-men stood amazed Then he took me into a little Parlour with the other Man and desired to see what I had in my Pockets of Letters or Intelligence and I plucked out my Linnen and shewed him that I had no Letters So he said
the World was by whom it was made who is the Righteousness of God and his Wisdom to whom all Glory Honour Thanks and Praise belongs who is God blessed for ever Let no Image nor Likeness be made but in the Light Wait which will bring Condemnation on that part that would make the Images for that prisons the Just. So to the Lust yield not the Eye nor the Flesh for the Pride of Life stands in that which keeps out of the Love of the Father and upon which his Judgments and Wrath remains where the Love of the World is sought after and a Crown that is mortal in which Ground the Evil enters which is cursed which brings forth Bryars and Thorns where the Death reigns and Tribulation and Anguish is upon every Soul and the Egyptian Tongue is heard All which is by the Light Condemned And there the Earth is which must be removed by the Light it is seen and by the Power it is removed and out of its place it is shaken to which the Thunders utter their Voices before the Mysteries of God be opened and Jesus revealed Therefore all ye whose Minds are turned to this Light which brings Condemnation upon all those things before-mentioned that are contrary to the Light Wait upon the Lord Jesus for the Crown that is Immortal and that fadeth not away G. F. This is to be sent amongst all Friends in the Truth the Flock of God to be read at their Meetings in every Place where they are met together While yet Friends abode in the Northern Parts a certain Priest of Rexam in Wales whose Name was Morgan Floyd having heard Reports concerning us sent Two of his Congregation into the North to Inquire concerning us and to Try us and bring him an Account concerning us But when these Triers came down amongst us the Power of the Lord seized on them and they were both Convinced of the Truth So they stayed some Time with us and then returned back to Wales where afterwards one of them departed from his Convincement but the other whose Name was John-ap-John abode in the Truth and received a part of the Ministry in which he continued faithful Now were the Priests in a great Rage at New Castle and at Kendal and up and down in most of the Northern Counties And there being one Gilpin that had sometimes come amongst us at Kendal and soon run out from the Truth into vain Imaginations the Priests made what Evil Vse they could of him against us but the Lord's Power confounded them all And the Lord God cut off Two of those persecuting Justices at Carlisle and the other after a Time was turned out of his Place and went out of the Town About this Time also the Oath or Engagement to O. Cromwel was tendered to the Souldiers and many of the Souldiers were disbanded because in Obedience to Christ they could not swear As John Stubbs for one who was Convinced when I was in Carlisle-Prison and became a good Soldier in the Lamb's War and a faithful Minister of Christ Jesus travelling much in the Service of the Lord in Holland Ireland Scotland Italy Egypt and America and the Lord's Power preserved him out of the Hands of the Papists though many times he was in great Danger of the Inquisition But some of the Souldiers who had been Convinced in their Judgments but had not come into Obedience to the Truth took O Cromwel's Oath and going afterwards into Scotland and coming before a Garrison there the Garrison thinking 1654. NORTH-Country they had been Enemies fired at them and killed divers of them which was a sad Judgment Now when the Churches were settled in the North and Friends were sate down under Christ's Teaching and the Glory of the Lord shined over them Swarthmore Lancaster I passed from Swarthmore to Lancaster about the beginning of the Year 1654 and so through the Countries visiting Friends till I came to Synder-hill-green where there was a Meeting appointed three Weeks before leaving the North fresh and green under Christ their Teacher But before I came to Synder-hill-green we passed through Hallifax Hallifax a rude Town of Professors and came to one Thomas Taylor 's who had been a Captain where we met with some Janglers but the Lord's Power was over all for I travelled in the Motion of God's Power Synder-hill-Green And when I came to Synder-hill-green there was a mighty Meeting some Thousands of People as it was judged and many Persons of Note were there as Captains and other Officers and there was a general Convincement for the Lord's Power and Truth was set over all and there was no Opposition About this Time did the Lord move upon the Spirits of many whom he had raised up and sent forth to Labour in his Vineyard to travel Southwards and spread themselves in the Service of the Gospel to the Eastern Southern and Western parts of the Nation As Francis Howgill and Edward Burrough to London John Camm and John Audland to Bristol through the Countries Richard Hubberthorn and George Whitehead towards Norwich Thomas Holmes into Wales and others otherways for above sixty Ministers had the Lord raised up and did now send abroad out of the North-Country And the sense of their Service being very Weighty upon me I was moved to give forth the following Paper directed thus To Friends in the Ministry ALL Friends every where Know the Seed of God which bruiseth the Seed of the Serpent and is a top of the Seed of the Serpent which Seed sins not but bruiseth the Serpent's Head that doth sin and tempts to Sin Which Seed God's Promise and God's Blessing is to which Seed is One in the Male and in the Female Where it is Head and hath bruised the Head of the other to the beginning you are come and the Younger is known and he that is Servant to the Younger And the Promise of God which is to the Seed is fulfilled and fulfilling and the Scriptures come to be opened and owned And the Flesh of Christ known who took upon him the Seed of Abraham according to the Flesh the Everlasting Priesthood known the Everlasting Covenant Christ takes upon him the Seed of Abraham and is a Priest after the Order of Melchizedeck him that is without Father without Mother without Beginning of Days mark or End of Life This is the Priest that ever lives he that is the Covenant of Life of Light and Peace And the Everlasting Offering here is known once for all which Offering overthrows that Nature which offered out of which the Priesthood arose that could not continue by reason of Death And here is the other Offering known the Everlasting Offering which perfects for ever them that are sanctified which Offering blotted out the Hand-writing of Ordinances triumphs over them and ascends above all Principalities and Powers Now he that hath the Spirit of Jesus sees this and here is the Love of God received that doth not
were with me came in one Cob and a great Company of Ranters with him The Ranters began to call for Drink and Tobacco but I desired them to forbâ—ar it in my Room telling them If they had such a Mind to it they might go into another Room One of them cried All is ours and another of them said All is well I replied How is all well while thou art so peevish and envious and crabbed for I saw he was of a peevish Nature and so I spake to their Conditions and they were sensible of it and looked upon one another wondring Then Colonel Packer began to talk with a light chaffy Mind concerning God and Christ and the Scriptures That was a great Grief to my Soul and Spirit when I heard him talk so lightly so that I told him He was too light to talk of the things of God for he did not know the solidity of a Man Thereupon the Officers raged and said Would I say so of their Colonel This Packer was a Baptist and he and the Ranters bowed and scraped to one another very much for it was the manner of the Ranters to be exceeding Complemental as they call it so that Packer bid them Give over their Complements But I told them They were fit to go together for they were both of one Spirit This Colonel Packer lived at Theobald's near Waltham and was made a Justice of Peace He set up a great Meeting of the Baptists at Theobald's Park for he and some other Officers had purchased it They were exceeding High and railed against Friends and Truth and threatned to apprehend me with their Warrants if ever I came there Yet after I was set at Liberty I was moved of the Lord God to go down to Theobalds and appoint a Meeting hard by them Theobalds to which many of his People came and divers of his Hearers were Convinced of the Way of Truth and received Christ the free Teacher and came off from him and that made him Rage the more But the Lord's Power came over him so that he had not Power to meddle with me Then I went to Waltham hard by him Waltham and had a Meeting there but the People were very rude and gathered about the House and brake the Windows Whereupon I went out to them with the Bible in my Hand and desired them to come in and told them I would shew them Scripture both for our Principles and Practices And when I had done so I shewed them also That their Teachers were in the Steps of such as the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles cryed against Then I directed them to the Light of Christ and Spirit of God in their own Hearts that by it they might come to know their free Teacher the Lord Jesus Christ. The Meeting being ended they went away quieted and satisfied and a Meeting hath since been settled in that Town 1654. London But this was sometime after I was set at Liberty by O. Cromwel For when I came from White-hall to the Mermaid at Charing-Cross which had been my Prison I staid not long there but went into the City of London where we had great and powerful Meetings and so great were the Throngs of People that I could hardly get to and from the Meetings for the Crouds of People And the Truth spread exceedingly Thomas Aldam and Robert Craven who had been Sheriff of Lincoln and divers Friends came up to London after me but Alexander Parker abode with me Then after a while I went to White-hall again and was moved to declare the Day of the Lord amongst them White-Hall and that the Lord was come to teach his People himself So I preached Truth both to the Officers and to them that were called Oliver's Gentlemen who were of his Guard But there was a Priest that Opposed while I was declaring the Word of the Lord amongst them For Oliver had several Priests about him of which this was his News-monger an envious Priest and a light scornful chaffy man I bid him Repent and he put it in his News-book the next Week That I had been at White-hall and had bid a Godly Minister there Repent When I went thither again I met with him and abundance of People gathered about me Then I manifested the Priest to be a Liar in several things that he had affirmed and so he was put to Silence He put in the News-book That I wore Silver-Buttons which was false for they were but Alchimy Afterward he put in the News-book That I hung Ribbands on People's Arms which made them to follow me This was another of his Lies for I never wore nor used Ribbands in my Life Three Friends went to examine this Priest that gave forth this false Intelligence and to know of him where he had that Information He told them It was a Woman that told him so and that if they would come again he would tell them the Woman's Name When they came again he said It was a Man but would not tell them his Name then but if they would come again he said he would tell them his Name and where he lived They went the Third Time and then he would not tell who told him but offered If I would give it under my Hand that there was no such thing he would put that into the News-book Thereupon the Friends carried it to him under my Hand but when they came he brake his Promise and would not put it in but was in a Rage and threatned them with the Constable This was the deceitful doing of this Forger of Lies And these Lies he spread over all the Nation in the News-books to render Truth Odious and to put Evil into People's Minds against Friends and Truth of which a more large Account may be seen in a Book printed soon after this time for the clearing of Friends and Truth from the Slanders Lies and false Reports raised and cast upon them These Priests the News-Mongers were of the Independent Sect like them in Leicester But the Lord's Power came over all their Lies and swept them away and many came to see the Naughtiness of these Priests The God of Heaven carried me over all in his Power and his blessed Power went over the Nation Insomuch that many Friends about this time were moved to go up and down to sound forth the Everlasting Gospel in most parts of this Nation and also into Scotland 1654. White-Hall and the Glory of the Lord was felt over all to his Everlasting Praise And a great Convincement there was in London and some in the Protector 's House and Family I went to have seen him again but could not get to him the Officers were grown so Rude The Presbyterians Independents and Baptists were in a great Rage for many of their People came to be turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and sate down under his Teachings and received his Power and felt it in their Hearts and then they were
became very sober Men and good Friends in the Truth And great Blessing and Praising the Lord there was amongst them and great Admiration in the Country Out of Sussex I traveled through the Country till I came to Reading Reading where I found a few that were Convinced of the Way of the Lord. There I stay'd 1655. Reading till the First-day and then had a Meeting in George Lamboll's Orchard and a great part of the Town came to it A glorious Meeting it was and a great Convincement there was that day and the People were mightily satisfied Thither came Two of Judge Fell's Daughters to me and George Bishop of Bristol came with his Sword by his side for he was a Captain After the Meeting many Baptists and Ranters came privately reasoning and discoursing but the Lord's Power came over them The Ranters pleaded That God made the Devil But I denied it and told them I was come into the Power of God the Seed Christ which was before the Devil was and bruised the Head of him And he became a Devil by going out of Truth and so became a Murderer and a Destroyer So I shewed them That God did not make the Devil for God is a God of Truth and he made all things good and blessed them But God did not bless the Devil And the Devil is bad and was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning and spoke of himself and not from God And so the Truth stopt them and bound them and came over all the highest Notions in the Nation and Confounded them For by the Power of the Lord God I was manifest and sought to be made manifest to the Spirit of God in all that by it which they vexed and quenched and grieved they might be turned to God as many were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God and were come to sit under his Teaching London After this Meeting at Reading I passed up to London where I stay'd a while and had large Meetings and then went into Essex and came to Cogshall Essex Cogshall And there was a Meeting of about Two Thousand People as it was judged which lasted several hours and a glorious Meeting it was for the Word of Life was freely declared and People were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and their Saviour the Way the Truth and the Life Near Colchester On the sixth day of that Week I had a Meeting near Colchester to which many Professors and the Independent-Teachers came After I had done speaking and was stept down from the place on which I stood One of the Independent-Teachers began to make a Jangling which Amor Stoddart who was with me perceiving he said to me Stand up again George for I was going away and did not at the first hear them But when I heard the Jangling Independent I stood up again and after a while the Lord's Power came over him and his Company and they were confounded and the Lord's Truth went over all And a great Flock of Sheep hath the Lord Jesus Christ in that Country that feed in his Pastures of Life On the First-day following we had a very large Meeting at another place not far from Colchester wherein the Lord's Power was eminently manifested and the People were very well satisfied for they were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ's free Teaching and they received it gladly Many of these People had been of the Stock of the Martyrs As I passed through Colchester I went to visit James Parnel in Prison but the Cruel Gaoler would hardly let us come in or stay with him Very Cruel they were unto him The Gaoler's Wife threatned to have his Blood and in that Jail they did destroy him 1655. Colchest as the Reader may see at large in a Book printed soon after his Death giving an Account of his Life and Death and also in an Epistle printed with his Collected Books and Writings From Colchester I went to Ipswich where we had a little Meeting Ipswich and very rude but the Lord's Power came over them After the Meeting I said If any had a desire to hear further they might come to the Inn And there came-in a Company of Rude Butchers that had abused Friends but the Lord's Power so chained them that they could not do Mischief Then I writ a Paper and gave it forth to the Town warning them of the Day of the Lord that they might Repent of the Evils they lived in and directing them to Christ their Teacher and Way exhorting them to forsake their hireling-Teachers We passed from Ipswich to Mendlesham where Robert Duncon lived Suffolk Mendlesham in Suffolk where we had a large Meeting that was quiet and the Lord's Power was preciously felt amongst us Then we passed to a Meeting at one Captain Lawrence's in Norfolk where it was judged Norfolk were above a Thousand People and all was quiet Many Persons of Note were there and a great Convincement there was for they were turned to Christ their Way and their Teacher and many of them received him and sate down under him their Vine Here we parted with Amor Stoddart and some more Friends who intended to meet us again in Huntingtonshire About the Second Hour in the Morning we took Horse for Norwich Norwich where Christopher Atkins that dirty Man had run out and brought dishonour upon the blessed Truth and Name of the Lord. But he had been judged and denied by Friends and afterwards he gave forth a Paper of Condemnation of his Sin and Evil. So we came to Yarmouth yarmouth and there stayed a while where there was a Friend one Thomas Bond in Prison for the Truth of Christ There we had some Service for the Lord and some were turned to the Lord in that Town From thence we rode to another Town about Twenty Miles off where were many tender People and I was moved of the Lord to speak to the People as I sate upon my Horse in several Places as I passed along We went on to another Town about Five Miles from thence and set up our Horses at an Inn having travelled Five and forty Miles that Day Richard Hubberthorn and I. There were some friendly People in the Town and we had a tender broken Meeting amongst them in the Lord's Power to his Praise We bid the Hostler have our Horses ready by the Third Hour in the Morning for we intended to ride to Lyn about three and Thirty Miles next morning But when we were in Bed at our Inn about the Eleventh Hour at Night came the Constable and Officers with a great Rabble of People into the Inn and said They were come with an Hue and Cry from a Justice of Peace that lived near that Town about five Miles off where I had spoken to the People in the Streets as I rode along to search for two Horsmen that rid upon gray Horses and in gray Cloaths an House
us that were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ but since it is become a Larger Meeting Leaving Kingston we rode to London Hide-park And when we came near Hide-Park we saw a great Concourse of People and looking towards them we espied the Protector coming in his Coach Whereupon I rode up to his Coach-side and some of his Life-Guard would have put me away but he forbad them So I rode down by his Coach-side with him declaring what the Lord gave me to say unto him of his Condition and of the Sufferings of Friends in the Nation shewing him ' how contrary this Persecution was to Christ and his Apostles and to Christianity London When we were come to James's Park-gate I left him and at parting he desired me to come to his House The next Day one of his Wife's Maids whose Name was Mary Sanders came up to me at my Lodging and said Her Master came to her and told her he would tell her some good News And when she asked him What it was He told her George Fox was come to Town She replied That was good News indeed for she was one that had received Truth but she said She could hardly believe him till he told her how I met him and rode from Hide-Park down to James 's Park with him After a little time Edward Pyot and I went to Whitehall Whitehal And when we came before him there was one called Dr. Owen Vice-chancellor of Oxford with him We were moved to speak to Oliver Cromwel concerning the Sufferings of Friends and laid them before him and directed him to the Light of Christ who had enlightned appeared to all Men. 1656. London Jude saith Behold the Lord cometh with Ten Thousands of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are Vngodly among them of all their ungodly Deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard Speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him ver 15. Here mark again Him that cometh with ten Thousands of his Saints to Convince all of their ungodly Deeds and hard Speeches Here it is All of their ungodly Deeds and All of their hard Speeches none left out but All to be Convinced and Judged the World Reproved by him who comes with ten Thousands of his Saints and will Reign and be King and Judge And have not ye all something in you that doth Reprove you for your hard Speeches and your ungodly Deeds the Ungodliest of you all who live in your hard Speeches against him and against his Light and spiritual Appearance in his People Again the Apostle writing to the Gentiles saith But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the gift of Christ Ephes 4.7 Now mark Here is the Measure of the Gift of Christ who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World Joh. 1.9 that all Men through him might believe He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned c. And this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World c. Joh. 3.18.19 Now every Man that cometh â—nto the World being enlightned One he loveth it and brings his Deeds to the Light that with the Light he may see whether they be wrought in God The Other he hates the Light because his Deeds are Evil and he will not bring his Deeds to the Light because he knows the Light will reprove him So he that hates the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightned him knows the Light will reprove him for his evil Deeds and therefore he will not come to the Light Again the Lord by his Prophet saith concerning Christ I will give him for a Light to the Gentiles that he may be my Salvation to the Ends of the Earth Isa 49.6 And what is that which the Children that walk according to the Course of this World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience Ephes 2.2 are disobedient to Mark and read your selves who being disobedient walk according to the Course of the World according to the Power of the Prince of the Air Mark I say what it is that all such are disobedient to He that hath an Ear let him hear The Apostle saith to the Colossians The wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Disobedience Col. 3.6 Come ye Professors let us see Is not this something of God that is disobey'd Is it not that which is of God manifest in them which God hath shewed them which lets them see God's Judgments are upon such when they act unrighteously Is not this the Measure of God Mark and the Spirit that is in Prison and the Spirit of God that is grieved And ye Professors come let us read the Parable of the Talents and reckon with you and see who it is that hath hid the Lord's Money in the Earth Come ye that have gained enter ye into your Master's Joy Go thou that hast hid the Lord's Money in the Earth into utter Darkness Take it from him and give it to him that hath and every Man shall have his Reward For the Lord hath given to every Man according to â—is several Ability Mat. 25.15 Mark that To every Man according to his several Ability Read this if you can And now is the Lord coming to call every Man severally to Accompt to whom he hath given severally according to their Ability And now the wicked and slothful Servant who hid the Lord's Money in the Earth will be found out and the Lord's Money will be taken from him although he hath hidden it To him the Lord's Commands have been grievous but to us they are not who love God and keep his Commandments And saith the Apostle to the Romans I say through the Grace given unto me to every Man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every Man the measure of Faith Rom. 12.3 Read and mark here is a Measure of Faith And saith another Apostle As every one hath received the Gift even so minister the same one to another as good Stewards of the manifold grace of God 1 Pet. 4.10 For the grace of God hath appeared to all Men. Now the good Stewards can give their Accompt with Joy But ye bad Stewards that turn the grace of God into Lasciviousness now ye will be reckoned withal now ye shall have your Reward But say the World Must every one minister as he hath received the Gift Yea say I but let him speak as the Oracles of God and let him do it as of the Ability which God giveth ver 11. John in the Revelation saith They were judged every Man according to their works Rev. 20.13 Christ saith Every idle Word that Men shall speak they shall give Account thereof in the day of Judgment Mat 12.36 So ye that name the
those Fifth-Monarchy-Men But when those of them that were taken came to be executed they did us that Right to clear us openly from having any hand in or knowledge of their Plot. And after that the King being continually Importuned thereunto Issued forth a Declaration That Friends should be set at liberty without paying Fees But great Labour and Travel Care and Pains was taken in it before this was obtained for Thomas Moor and Margaret Fell went often to the King about it Much Blood was shed this Year many of them that had been the Old King's Judges being hanged drawn and quartered And amongst them that so suffered Col. Hacker was one he who sent me Prisoner from Leicester to London in Oliver's time of which an Account is given before A sad Day it was and a Repaying of Blood with Blood For in the time of O. Cromwel when several Men were put to Death by him being hanged drawn and quartered for pretended Treasons I felt from the Lord God that their Blood would not be put up but would be required And I said as much then to several And now upon the King's Return when several of them that had been against the King were put to Death as the others that were for the King had been before by Oliver This was sad Work destroying of People contrary to the Nature of Christians who have the Nature of Lambs and Sheep But there was a Secret Hand in bringing this Day upon that Hypocritical Generation of Professors who being got into Power grew Proud Haughty and Cruel beyond others and persecuted the People of God without pity Therefore when Friends were under cruel Persecutions and Sufferings in the Common-wealth's time I was moved of the Lord to write unto Friends to draw up their Sufferings and lay them before the Justices at their Sessions And if they would not do them Justice then to lay it before the Judges at the Assize And if they would not do them Justice then to lay it before the Parliament and before the Protector and his Council that they might all see what was done under their Government And if they would not do Justice then to lay it before the Lord who would hear the Cries of the Oppressed and of the Widows and Fatherless that they had made so For that which we suffered for and which our Goods were spoiled for it was for our Obedience to the Lord in his Power and in his Spirit who was able to help and to succour and we had no Helper in the Earth but him And he did hear the Cries of his People and did bring an overflowing Scourge over the Heads of all our Persecutors which brought a Quaking and a Dread and a Fear amongst and on them all So that they who had nick-named us who are the Children of Light and in scorn called us Quakers the Lord made them Quake and many of them would have been glad to have hid themselves amongst us and some of them through the Distress that came upon them did at length come to Confess to the Truth Oh! the daily Reproaches Revilings and Beatings we underwent amongst them even in the High-ways because we could not put off our Hats to them and for saying Thou and Thee to them Oh! the Havock and Spoil the Priests made of our Goods because we could not put into their Mouths and give them Tithes Besides casting into Prisons and besides the great Fines laid upon us because we could not Swear But for all these things did the Lord God plead with them Yet some of them were so hardened in their Wickedness that when they were turned out of their Places and Offices they said If they had Power they would do the same again And when this Day of overturning was come upon them they said It was all long of us Wherefore I was moved to write to them and to ask them Did we ever resist them when they took away our Ploughs and Plough-Gears our Carts and Horses our Corn and Cattel our Kettles and Platters from us and whipt us and set us in the Stocks and cast us into Prison and all this only for serving and worshipping God in Spirit and Truth and because we could not Conform to their Religions Manners Customs and Fashions Did we ever resist them Did we not give them our Backs to beat and our Cheeks to pull off the Hair and our Faces to spit on Had not their Priests that prompted them on to such Work plucked them with themselves into the Ditch Why then would they say It was all long of us when it was long of themselves and their Priests their blind Prophets that followed their own Spirits and could fore-see nothing of these times and things that were come upon them which we had long forewarned them of as Jeremiah and Christ had forewarned Jerusalem And they thought to have wearied us out and undone us but they undid themselves Whereas we could praise God notwithstanding all their plundering of us that we had a Kettle and a Platter and an Horse and Plow still Many ways were these Professors warned both by Word by Writing and by Signs but they would believe none till it was too late William Sympson was moved of the Lord to go at several times for Three Years Naked and Bare-foot before them as a Sign unto them in Markets Courts Towns Cities to Priest's Houses and to Great Men's Houses telling them So should they be all stripped Naked as he was stripped Naked And sometimes he was moved to put on Hair-Sack-cloth and to besmear his Face and to tell them So would the Lord God besmear all their Religion as he was besmeared Great Sufferings did that poor Man undergo sore Whippings with Horse-whips and Coach-whips on his bare Body grievous Stonings and Imprisonments in three years time before the King came in that they might have taken Warning but they would not but rewarded his Love with cruel Vsage Only the Major of Cambridge did nobly to him for he put his Gown about him and took him into his House Another Friend one Robert Huntington was moved of the Lord to go into Carlisle-Steeple-house with a White Sheet about him amongst the great Presbyterians and Independents there to shew them that the Surplice was coming up again and he put an Halter about his Neck to shew them That an Halter was coming upon them which was fulfilled upon some of our Persecutors not long after Another whose Name was Richard Sale living near West-Chester and being Constable of the place where he lived had a Friend sent to him with a Pass whom those wicked Professors had taken up for a Vagabond because he travelled up and down in the Work of the Ministry and this Constable being convinced by the Friend that was thus brought to him gave him his Pass and Liberty and was afterwards himself cast into Prison After this on a Lecture-day this Richard Sale was moved to go to the Steeple-house in the time
another Meeting we had on the Ninth wherein the Glory of the Lord shined over all blessed and magnified be his Holy Name for ever From hence we intended to go to Anamessy and on the Twelfth Day of the Twelfth Month we set forward in our Boat And travelling by Night as well as by Day in the Night we run our Boat on Ground in a Creek near Manaco-River Manaco River There we were fain to stay till Morning that the Tide came and lifted her off again And in the mean time sitting in an open Boat and the Weather being bitter-cold some had like to have lost the Vse of their Hands they were so frozen and benummed with Cold. But in the Morning when the Tide had set our Boat a-float again we got to Land and made us a good Fire at which we warmed our selves well and then went to our Boat again and passed on about ten miles further to a Friend's House where next day we had a very precious Meeting at which some of the Chief of the Place were I went after the Meeting to a Friend's House about four miles off Anamessy River at the Head of Anamessy-River where on the Day following the Judge of the Country and a Justice with him came to me and were very loving and much satisfied with Friend's Order The next Day we had a large Meeting at the Justice's House but it was in his Barn for his House could not hold the Company There were several of the Great Folks of that Country and among the rest there was an Opposer but all was preserved quiet and well and a precious Meeting it was and the People were much taken and affected with the Truth blessed be the Lord. We went next Day to see one Capt. Colburn who was also a Justice of the Peace and there we had some Service Then returning again we had a very glorious Meeting at the same Justice's where we met before and there were many People of Account in the World Magistrates Officers and others at it It was a large Meeting and the Power of the Lord was much felt so that the People were generally well satisfied and taken with the Truth and there being several both Merchants and Masters of Ships from New-England the Truth was spread abroad blessed be the Lord A Day or two after departing from this place we travelled about sixteen miles through the Woods and Bogs heading Anamessy-River and Amoroca-River Amoroca River Manaoke part of which last we went over in a Canooe and came to Manaoke to a Friendly Woman's House where on the Twenty fourth of the Twelfth Month we had a large Meeting in a Barn and the Lord's living Presence was with us and among the People blessed be his Holy Name for ever-more Friends had never had a Meeting in those Parts before 1673. Mary-land Wicocomaco-River After this Meeting we passed over the River Wicocomaco and through many bad and watry Swamps and Marish Way and came to James Jones a Friend who was a Justice of the Peace where we had a large and very glorious Meeting praised be the Lord God Then passing over the Water in a Boat we took Horse and travelled about Twenty four Miles through Woods and troublesom Swamps and came to another Justice's House where we had a very large Meeting much People of the World being at it and many of Considerable Account amongst them and the living Presence of the Lord was amongst us praised for ever be his holy Name This was on the Third Day of the First Month 1672 3. And on the Fifth Day of the same we had another living and heavenly Meeting at which divers of the Justices with their Wives and many others of the World's People were amongst whom we had very good Service for the Lord blessed be his Holy Name At this Meeting was a Woman that lived at Anamessy who had been many Years in Trouble of Mind and sometimes would sit moping near two Months together and hardly speak or mind any thing When I heard of her I was moved of the Lord to go to her and tell her ' That Salvation was come to her House And after I had spoken the Word of Life to her and intreated the Lord for her she mended and went up and down with us to Meetings and is since well blessed be the Lord Being now clear of these parts we left Anamessy on the Seventh Day of the First Month and passing by Water about Fifty Miles came to a Friendly Woman's House at Hunger-River Hunger River We had very rough Weather in our Passage to this Place and were in great Danger for the Boat had like to have been turned over and I lost both my Hat and Cap yet we recovered them again with much ado and through the good Providence of God got safe thither praised be his Name At this place we had a Meeting where we had never any before and amongst the People that were at it there were two Papists a Man and a Woman the Man was very tender and the Woman confessed to the Truth This Meeting was not so large as it would have been if many who intended to have been at it could have got to it but the Weather was so foul and the Water by reason of high Winds so rough that it was not safe to pass upon it I had no Friend now with me but Robert Widders the rest having dispersed themselves into several parts of the Country in the Service of Truth So soon as the Wind would permit we passed from hence about Forty Miles by Water rowing most part of the way and came to the Head of little Choptanck-River to Dr. Winsmore's Choptanck River who was a Justice of Peace and lately convinced Here we met with some Friends with whom we staid a while and then went on by Land and Water and had a large Meeting abroad for the House we were at could not receive the People There were divers of the Magistrates and their Wives at this Meeting and a good Meeting it was blessed be the Lord who is making his Name known in that Wilderness-Country We went back from thence to a Friend's House whose Name is William Stephen's where we met with those other Friends that had been travelling in other parts and were much refreshed in the Lord together when we imparted to each other the good Success we had had in the Lord's Work 1673. Mary-land and the Prosperity and spreading of Truth in the places where we travelled John Cartwright and another Friend had been at Virginia where were great Desires in People after the Truth and being now returned they staid but a little with us here and then set forward for Barbados But before we left this place we had a very glorious Meeting here at which were very many of the World's People and some of the Chief of them For there was the Judge of that Country and three Justices of the Peace
and the High-Sheriff with their Wives and several others And of Indians there was he who was called their Emperor and one of the Indian Kings and their Speaker who all sate very attentive and carried themselves very lovingly and an establishing settling Meeting it was This was on the Twenty third of the First Month. And on the Twenty fourth we went by Water ten Miles to the Indian Town where this same Emperor dwelt whom I had acquainted before with my Coming and desired him to get their Kings and Councils together In the Morning the Emperor came himself and had me to the Town and they were generally come together and had their Speaker and other Officers with them and the Old Empress sate among them And to give them their due they sate very grave and sober and were all very Attentive beyond many that are called Christians I had some with me that could interpret to them and we had a very good Meeting with them and of very good Service it was for it gave them a good Esteem of Truth and Friends blessed be the Lord After this we had many Meetings in several parts of that Country one at William Stephens's which was a general Meeting once a Month another at Tredhaven-Creek another at Wye another at Reconow-Creek and another at Thomas Taylor 's in the Island of Kent Most of these Meetings were large there being many of the World's People at them and divers of them of the most Considerable in the World's Account And the Lord's Power and living Presence was with us and plenteously manifested amongst the People by which their Hearts were tendred and opened to receive the Truth which had a good Savour amongst them blessed be the Lord God over all for ever Then being clear of that side we passed over the Bay about Fourteen Miles to a Friend's House where we met with several Friends and I sent for Thomas Thurston thither and had a Meeting with him to bring the Truth over his bad Actions Now having travelled through most parts of that Country and visited most of the Plantations thereabouts and had very good Service for the Lord in America having alarm'd the People of all sorts where we came and proclaimed the Day of God's Salvation amongst them we found our Spirits began to be clear of those parts of the World and to draw towards Old England again Yet we were desirous and felt Freedom from the Lord to stay till the General Meeting for that Province of Mary-land was over which drew nigh that we might see Friends generally together before we departed Wherefore spending our time in the interim partly in visiting Friends and Friendly People Clifts Pottuxon and in having Meetings about the Clifts and Pottuxon and partly in writing Answers to some Cavilling Objections which some of Truth 's Adversaries had raised and spread abroad to hinder People from receiving the Truth we were not idle but laboured in the Work of the Lord until that General Provincial Meeting came on which began on the Seventeenth Day of the Third Month The General Provincial Meeting and lasted four Days On the First of these days the Men and Women had their Meetings for Business wherein the Affairs of the Church of God were taken Care of and many things relating thereunto were opened unto them to their Edification and Comfort The other Three Days were spent in Publick Meetings for the Worship of God at which divers of considerable Account in the Government and many others of the World's People were present who were generally satisfied and many of them reached for it was a wonderful glorious Meeting and the mighty Presence of the Lord was seen and felt over all blessed and praâ—â—ed be his Holy Name for ever who over all giveth Dominion After this Meeting we took our Leave of Friends parting in great Tenderness in the sense of the Heavenly Life and vertuous Power of the Lord that was livingly felt amongst us and went by Water to the place where we were to take Shipping many Friends accompanying us thither and tarrying with us that Night Next Day which was the Twenty first of the Third Month 1673 and the Day following we set Sail for England At Sea The same Day Richard Covell came on Board our Ship having had his own taken from him by the Dutch We had foul Weather and contrary Winds which caused us to cast Anchor often so that we were till the Thirty first of the Third Month e'er we could get past the Capes of Virginia and come out into the main Sea But after this we made good Speed ENGLAND King's-Road and on the Twenty eighth of the Fourth Month cast Anchor at Kings-road which is the Harbour for Bristol We had in our Passage very high Winds and Tempestuous Weather which made the Sea exceeding rough the Waves rising like Mountains so that the Masters and Sailers wondred at it and said They never saw the like before But though the Wind was strong it sate for the most part with us so that we sailed away before it and the Great God who commands the Winds who is Lord of Heaven of Earth and the Seas and whose Wonders are seen in the Deep he steered our Course and preserved us from many imminent Dangers The same good Hand of Providence that went with us and carried us safely over watched over us in our Return and brought us safely back again Thanksgivings and Praises be to his holy Name for ever Many sweet and precious Meetings we had on Board the Ship during this Voyage commonly two a Week wherein the blessed Presence of the Lord did greatly refresh us and did often break in upon and tender the Company Bristol Harbour And when we came into Bristol Harbour there lay a Man of War and the Press-master came on Board us to press our men We had a Meeting at that time in the Ship with the Sea-men before we went to Shore and the Press-master sate down with us and staid the Meeting and was very well satisfied with it After the Meeting I spake to him to leave two of the Men he had Pressed in our Ship for he had pressed four one of which was a lame Man and he said At my Request he would We went on Shore that Afternoon and got to Shear-hampton Shear-hampton where we got Horses and rode to Bristol that Night where Friends received us with great Joy 1673. Bristol In the Evening I writ a Letter to my Wife to give her Notice of my Landing as followeth Dear Heart THis Day we came into Bristol near Night from the Seas Glory to the Lord God over all for ever who was our Convoy and steered our Course who is the God of the whole Earth and of the Seas and Winds and made the Clouds his Chariots beyond all Words blessed be his Name for ever Who is over all in his great Power and Wisdom Amen Robert Widders and James Lancaster
the Inhabitants of the City of Hamborough I writ also an Epistle to the Ambassadors that were treating a Peace at Nimmeguen To the Magistrates and Priests of Embden I writ a Book shewing them their Vnchristian Practices in persecuting Friends And several other Books I writ there in Answer to Priests and others of Hamborough Dantzick and other places to Clear the Truth and Friends from their false Charges and Slanders After some time George Keith and William Penn came back from Germany to Amsterdam and had a Dispute with one Galenus Abrahams one of the most noted Baptists in Holland at which many Professors were present But not having time to finish the Dispute then they met again two days after and the Baptist was much Confounded and Truth gained ground Between these Two Disputes we had a very great Meeting at Friends Meeting-Place at which many hundreds of the World's People were and some of high Rank in the World's Account for there was an Earl and a Lord and divers other Eminent Persons who all behaved themselves very Civilly But when the Meeting was ended some Priests began to make some Opposition which when William Penn understood he stood up again and answered them to the great satisfaction of the People who were much affected with the several Testimonies that they had heard declared And after the Meeting several of them came to Gertrude's where we were with whom George Keith had much Discourse in Latin Having now finished our Service at Amsterdam we took Leave of the Friends there and passed by Wagon to Leyden Leyden which is about 25 Miles where we stayed a day or two seeking out and visiting some tender People that we heard of there We met there with a German who was partly Convinced and he Informed us of an Eminent Man that was inquiring after Truth Some sought him out and visited him and found him a Serious Man and I spake to him and he owned the Truth William Penn and Benjamin Furly went to visit another Great Man that lived a little out of Leyden who they said had been General to the King of Denmark's Forces and he and his wife were very loving to them and heard the Truth with Joy From Leyden we went to the Hague Hague where the Prince of Orange then kept his Court and we visited one of the Judges of Holland with whom we had pretty much Discourse He was a Wise Tender man and put many Objections and Queries to us which when we had answered he was satisfied and parted with us in much Love Then leaving the Hague we went to Delft and from thence that night to Rotterdam Delft Rotterdam where we stay'd several days and had several Meetings there While I was here I gave forth a Book for the Jews with whom when I was at Amsterdam I had a desire to have had some Discourse but they would not Here also I reviewed several other Books and Papers which I had given forth before and were now Transcribed And now finding our Spirits Clear of the Service which the Lord had given us to do in Holland we took Leave of Friends of Rotterdam and passed by Boat to the Briel in order to take Passage that day in the Packet-Boat for England several Friends of Rotterdam accompanying us and some of Amsterdam who were come to see us again before we left Holland But the Packet-Boat not coming in till night we were fain to lodge that night at the Briel and next day being the One and twentieth of the Eighth Month and the First-day of the Week we went on Board and set Sail about the Tenth hour viz. William Penn George Keith and I and Gertrude Dirick Nieson with her Children We were in all about sixty Passengers and had a long and hazardous Passage for the Winds were contrary to us and the Weather stormy the Boat also very leaky insomuch that we were fain to have two Plumps continually going both day and night so that it was thought there was twice as much Water plumped out as the Vessel would have held But the Lord who is able to make the stormy Winds to cease and the Raging Waves of the Sea to be calm yea to raise them and stop them at his pleasure he alone did preserve us praised be his Name for ever Though our Passage was hard yet we had a fine time and good Service for Truth on Board among the Passengers some of whom were a sort of great Folks and they were very kind and loving 1677. Harwich We arrived at Harwich on the 23th of the 8th Month at night having been Two Nights and almost Three Days at Sea Next Morning William Penn and George Keith took Horse for Colchester but I stay'd and had a Meeting at Harwich and there being no Colchester-Coach there and the Post-masters Wife being Unreasonable in her Demands for a Coach and deceiving us of it also after we had hired it we went to a Friend's House about a mile and an half off in the Country and hired his Wagon which we bedded well with Straw and rode in it to Colchester Colchester I stay'd in Colchester till the First-day of the Week having a desire to be at Friends Meeting there that day and a very large and weighty Meeting it was for Friends hearing of my Return from Holland flocked in thither from several parts of the Country and many of the Towns People coming in also it was thought there were about a Thousand People at the Meeting and all was peaceable Then having stay'd a day or two longer at Colchester having Service amongst the Friends there I travelled through Essex Essex Halsted Braintree Felsted Saling â—helmsford London visiting Friends at Halsted Braintree Felsted and Saling and having Meetings with them At Chelmsford I had a Meeting in the Evening and there being many Friends Prisoners they got liberty and came to the Meeting and we were well refreshed together in the Lord. Next day being the 9th of the 9th Month I got to London where Friends received me with great Joy and on the First-day following went to Gracious-street Meeting where the Lord visited us with his refreshing Presence and the Glory of the Lord surrounded the Meeting praised be the Lord After I had been a little while in London I writ the following Letter to my Wife whom though I had written to her several times out of Holland I had not written to since I came into England Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to the Children and to all the rest of Friends in the Lord's Truth Power and Seed that is over all Glory to the Lord and blessed be his Name for ever beyond all words who hath carried me through and over many Trials and Dangers in his Eternal Power I have been Twice at Gracious-street-Meeting and though the opposite Spirits were there yet all was quiet and the Dew of Heaven fell upon the People and the Glory of the Lord
it to try you for he upholds all things in Heaven and Earth by the Word of his Power All things were made by Christ and by him all things do consist mark consist whether they be Visibles or Invisibles c. So he hath power over all for all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to him and to you that have received him he hath given Power to become the Sons and Daughters of God so living Members of Christ the living Head and grafted into him in whom ye have Eternal Life And Christ the Seed reigns and his Power is over all who bruises the Serpent's Head and destroys the Devil and his Works and was before he was And so all of you live and walk in Christ Jesus so that nothing may be between you and God but Christ in whom ye have Salvation Life Rest and Peace with God As for the passages of Truth in this Land and abroad I do hear that in Holland and Germany and there-aways Friends are in Love Vnity and Peace And in Jamaica Barbados Mevis Antego Maryland and New-England I hear nothing but Friends are in Vnity and Peace The Lord preserve them all out of the World in which there is Trouble in Christ Jesus in whom there is Peace Life Love and Vnity Amen So my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ to all Friends every where in your Land as though I named them London the 10th of the 11th Month 1690. G. F. THus Reader hast thou had some Account of the Life and Travels Labours Sufferings and Manifold Trials and Exercises of this holy Man of God from his Youth to almost the time of his Death Of which himself kept a Journal out of which the foregoing Sheets were transcribed It remains that an Account be added of the Time Place and Manner of his Death and Burial Which were thus The next day after he had written the foregoing Epistle to Friends in Ireland be went to the Meeting at Gracious-street which was large it being on the First-day of the Week And the Lord enabled him to preach the Truth fully and effectually opening many deep and weighty things with great Power and Clearness After which having Prayed and the Meeting being ended he went to Henry Gouldney 's a Friend's House in Whitehart-Court near the Meeting house and some Friends going with him thither he told them He thought he felt the Cold strike to his heart as he came out of the Meeting yet added I am glad I was here Now I am clear I am fully clear As soon as those Friends that were with him were withdrawn he lay down upon a Bed as he sometimes used to do through Weariness after a Meeting but soon rose again and in a little time lay down again complaining still of Cold. And his Strength sensibly decaying he was fain soon after to go into Bed where he lay in much Contentment and Peace and very sensible to the Last And as in the whole Course of his Life his Spirit in the universal Love of God was set and bent for the exalting of Truth and Righteousness and the making known the Way thereof to the Nations and Peoples afar off so now in the time of his outward Weakness his Mind was intent upon and as it were wholly taken up with that And some particular Friends he sent for to whom he exprest his Mind and Desire for the Spreading Friends Books and Truth thereby in the World and through the Nations thereof Divers Friends came to visit him in his Ilness unto some of whom he said All is well The Seed of God reigns over all and over Death it self And though said he I am weak in Body yet the Power of God is over all and the Seed reigns over all disorderly Spirits Thus lying in an heavenly frame of Mind his Spirit wholly exercised towards the Lord he grew weaker and weaker in his natural Strength and on the Third day of that Week between the hours of Nine and Ten in the Evening he quietly departed this Life in Peace and sweetly fell asleep in the Lord whose blessed Truth he had livingly and powerfully preached in the Meeting but two days before Thus ended he his Days in his faithful Testimony in perfect Love and Vnity with his Brethren and in Peace and Good-will to all Men on the 13th day of the 11th Month 1690. being then in the 67th year of his Age. Vpon the 16th day of the same Month being the sixth of the Week and the Day appointed for his Funeral a very great Concourse of Friends and other People of divers sorts Assembled together at the Meeting-house in White-Hart-Court near Gracious-street about the middle time of the day in order to attend his Body to the Grave The Meeting was held about two hours with great and heavenly Solemnity manifestly attended with the Lord's blessed Presence and glorious Power in which divers living Testimonies were given from a lively Remembrance and Sense of the blessed Ministry of this Dear and Ancient Servant of the Lord his early Entring into the Lord's Work at the breaking forth of this Gospel-day his innocent Life long and great Travels and unwearied Labours of Love in the Everlasting Gospel for the turning and gathering many Thousands from Darkness to the Light of Christ Jesus the Foundation of true Faith his manifold Sufferings Afflictions and Oppositions which he met withal for his faithful Testimony both from his open Adversaries and from false Brethren and his Preservations Deliverances and Dominion in out of and over them all by the Power of God To whom the Glory and Honour always was by him and is and always ought to be by all Ascribed After the Meeting was ended his Body was born by Friends and accompanied by very great Numbers of Friends and other People to Friends Burying-Ground near Bunhill-Fields where after a solemn Waiting upon the Lord and several living Testimonies borne recommending the Company to the Guidance and Protection of that Divine Spirit and Power by which this holy Man of God had been raised up furnished supported and preserved to the end of his Day his Body was decently committed to the Earth but his Memorial shall Remain and be Everlastingly Blessed among the Righteous An Epistle of Dear George Fox's which was writ with his own Hand and left Sealed up with this Superscription viz. Not to be opened before the Time which after his Decease being opened was thought meet to be printed being as followeth Viz. For the Yearly and Second-Days-Meeting in London and to all the Children of God in all Places in the World By and from G. F. This for all the Children of God every where that are led by his Spirit and do walk in his Light in which they have Life and Unity and Fellowship with the Father and the Son and one with another KEep all your Meetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus that be gathered in his Name by his Light Grace Truth Power and Spirit
I might be kept in it and then I desired no greater Portion And then he went on to Dalton Aldingham Dendrum and Ramsyde-Chappels and Steeple-houses and places several up and down and the People followed him mightily and abundance were Convinced and saw that which he spoke was Truth But the Priests were all in a Rage And about two Weeks after James Naylor and Richard Farnsworth followed him and enquired him out till they came to Swarthmore and there stayed a while with me at our House and did me much Good for I was under great Heaviness and Judgment But the Power of the Lord entred upon me within about two Weeks that he came and about three Weeks-end my Husband came home And many were in a mighty Rage And a deal of the Captains and Great Ones of the Country went to meet my then Husband as he was coming home and informed him That a Great Disaster was befallen amongst his Family and that they were Witches and that they had taken us out of our Religion and that he might either set them away or all the Country would be undone But no Weapons formed against the Lord shall prosper as you may see hereafter So my Husband came home greatly offended And any may think what a Condition I was like to be in that either I might displease my Husband or offend God for he was very much troubled with us all in the House and Family they had so prepossest him against us But James Naylor and Richard Farnsworth were both then at our House and I desired them to come and speak to him and so they did very moderately and wisely But he was at first displeased with them but they told him They came in Love and good Will to his House And after that he had heard them speak a while he was better satisfied and they offered as if they would go away but I desired them to stay and not to go away yet for George Fox will come this Evening And I would have had my Husband to have heard them all and satisfied himself farther about them because they had so prepossest him against them of such dangerous fearful things in his coming first home And then was he pretty moderate and quiet and his Dinner being ready he went to it and I went in and sate me down by him And whilst I was sitting the Power of the Lord seized upon me and he was stricken with Amazement and knew not what to think but was quiet and still And the Children were all quiet and still and grown Sober and could not play on their Musick that they were learning and all these things made him quiet and still And then at Night George Fox came And after Supper my Husband was sitting in the Parlour and I asked him If George Fox might come in and he said Yes So George came in without any Complement and walked into the Room and began to speak presently and the Family and James Naylor and Richard Farnsworth came all in and he spoke very excellently as ever I heard him and opened Christ and the Apostles Practices which they were in in their Day And he opened the Night of Apostacy since the Apostles Days and laid open the Priests and their Practices in the Apostacy that if all in England had been there I thought they could not have denied the Truth of those things And so my Husband came to see clearly the Truth of what he spoke and was very quiet that Night and said no more and went to Bed And next Morning came Lampit Priest of Ulversion and got my Husband into the Garden and spake much to him there But my Husband had seen so much the Night before that the Priest got little Entrance upon him And when the Priest Lampit was come into the House George spoke sharply to him and asked him When God spake to him and called him to go and preach to the People But after a while the Priest went away This was on a Sixth-day of the Week about the Fifth Month 1652. And at our House divers Friends were speaking one to another how there was several Convinced here aways and we could not tell where to get a Meeting My Husband also being present he over-heard and said of his own Accord You may Meet here if you will And that was the First Meeting we had that he offered of his own Accord And then Notice was given that Day and the next to Friends and there was a good large Meeting the First-day which was the First Meeting that was at Swarthmore and so continued there a Meeting from 1652 till 1690. And my Husband went that Day to the Steeple-house and none with him but his Clerk and his Groom that rid with him and the Priest and People were all fearfully troubled But praised be the Lord they never got their Wills upon us to this day And then after a few Weeks George went to Ulverston-Steeple-house again and the said Justice Sawrey with others set the Rude Rabble upon him and they beat him so that he fell down as in a Swoon and was sore bruised and black'ned in his Body and on his Head and Arms. Then my Husband was not at home but when he came home he was displeased that they should do so and spoke to Justice Sawrey and said It was against Law to make Riots And after that he was sore beat and stoned at Walney till he fell down And also at Dalton was he sore beat and abused so that he had very hard Usage in divers places in these parts And then when a Meeting was settled here he went again into Westmorland and settled Meetings there and there was a great Convincement and abundance of brave Ministers came out there-aways as John Camm John Audland Francis Howgil Edward Burrough Miles Halhead and John Blaykling with divers others He also went over Sands to Lancaster and Yelland and Kellet where Robert Widders Richard Hubberthorn and John Lawson with many others were Convinced And about that time he was in those parts many Priests and Professors rose up and falsly accused him for Blasphemy and did endeavour to take away his Life and got People to swear at a Sessions at Lancaster that he had spoken Blasphemy But my then Husband and Colonel West having had some Sight and Knowledge of the Truth withstood the two Persecuting Justices John Sawrey and Thompson and brought him off and cleared him for indeed he was Innocent And after the Sessions there was a great Meeting in the Town of Lancaster and many of the Towns People came in and many were Convinced And thus he was up and down about Lancaster Yelland Westmorland and some parts of Yorkshire and our parts above one Year in which time there was above Twenty and four Ministers brought forth that were ready to go with their Testimony of the Eternal Truth unto the World And soon after Francis Howgil and John Camm went to speak to Oliver Cromwel And in
for and shall be given by the Lord the Righteous Judge to all them that love his Appearance Ages to come and Peoples yet unborn shall call him Blessed and bless the Lord for raising of him up And Blessed shall we also be if we so walk as we had him for an Example for whom this Testimony lives in my Heart He liv'd and died the SERVANT of the LORD T. E. Advertisement FOrasmuch as many other Testimonies from divers Counties and Friends concerning George Fox and his Great Service for the Truth are sent up to London which cannot conveniently be printed with the Journal lest they should swell it too Bigg and many of them being of the same Import Therefore they are reserved for further Consideration to be disposed of as a future Service may be seen in the Wisdom of God for them when Way is made for his Epistles or any of his other Works to be published The Appearance of the Lord 's Everlasting Truth and Breaking forth again in his Eternal Power in this our Day and Age in ENGLAND WHerein the Lord 's mighty Power and Word of Life hath been Richly and Freely preached to the Gathering of many into Reconciliation with God by it to the Exaltation and Glory of the great God through the bringing forth of the Heavenly and Spiritual Fruits from such as have been Gathered by his Eternal Light Power and Spirit unto himself And by the Sowing to the Spirit in the hearts of People Life Eternal hath been Reaped That the Flocks have been Gathered which have the Milk of the Word plenteously That the Riches of the Word have flourished and mightily abounded and God's Heavenly Plow with his Spiritual Men hath gone on chearfully to the Overturning the Fallow Ground of the Hearts that had not borne Heavenly Fruit to God And God's Heavenly Threshers with his Heavenly Flail have with Joy and Delight Thresht out the Chaff and the Corruptions that have been a-Top of God's Seed and Wheat in Man and Woman And thus have they Thresht in Hope and are made Partakers of their Hope through which God's Seed is come into his Garner Oh! the Unutterable Glory and the Unexpressible Excellency of the Everlasting Glorious Truth Gospel and Word of Life that the Infinite Invisible and Wise God who is over all hath Revealed and Manifested And how have the Professors Priests and Powers risen up in Opposition against his Children that are born of the Immortal Seed by the Word of God! And Oh! how great have the Persecutions and Reproaches and Spoiling of Goods been that have been Executed upon them But they that have Touched them and Touches them which are as Dear to God as the Apple of his Eye how hath the Lord Manifested himself to stand by them in Overthrowing Powers Priests and States What Changes have there been since 1644 and 1650 and 1652 How have the Gaols been filled since then in this Nation with the Heirs of Life God's Chosen Ones who had no Helper in the Earth but the Lord and his Christ So that Truth 's Faithful Witnesses were scarcely to be found but in Gaols and Prisons where the Righteous were Numbred among the Transgressors who had neither Staff nor Bag from Man but the Staff the Bread of Life and the Bag that holds the Treasure that waxes not old But the Lord Jesus Christ that sent them forth was their Exceeding great Supporter and Upholder by his Eternal Power and Spirit both then and now G. F. THE PREFACE BEING A SUMMARY ACCOUNT Of the DIVERS Dispensations of God TO MEN FROM The Beginning of the World to That of our present Age by the Ministry and Testimony of his Faithful Servant George Fox as an Introduction to the ensuing Iournal DIVERS have been the Dispensations of God since the Creation of the World unto the Sons of Men But the Great End of all of them has been the Renown of his own Excellent Name in the Creation and Restauration of Man Man the Emblem of himself as a God on Earth and the Glory of all his Works The World began with Innocency All was then good that the good God had made And as he blessed the Works of his hands so their Natures and Harmony magnified him their Creator Then the Morning Stars Sang together for Joy and all parts of his Works said Amen to his Law Not a Jarr in the whole Frame but Man in Paradise the Beasts in the Field the Fowl in the Air the Fish in the Sea the Lights in the Heavens the Fruits of the Earth yea the Air the Earth the Water and Fire Worshipped praised and exalted his Power Wisdom and Goodness O Holy Sabbath O Holy Day to the Lord But this Happy State lasted not long For Man the Crown and Glory of the Whole being tempted to aspire above his place unhappily yielded against Command and Duty as well as Interest and Felicity and so fell below it lost the Divine Image the Wisdom Power and Purity he was made in By which being no longer fit for Paradise he was expelled that Garden of God his proper Dwelling and Residence and was driven out as a poor Vagabond from the presence of the Lord to wander in the Earth the Habitation of Beasts Yet God that made him had pitty on him for He seeing he was deceived and that it was not of Malice or an Original Presumption in him but through the Subtilty of the Serpent that had first fallen from his own State and by the Mediation of the Woman man 's own Nature and Companion whom the Serpent had first deluded in his infinite Goodness and Wisdom found out a way to Repair the Breach Recover the Loss and Restore fallen Man again by a Nobler and more Excellent Adam promised to be born of a Woman that as by means of a Woman the evil one had prevailed upon Man by a Woman also He should come into the World who would prevail against him and bruise his Head and deliver Man from his Power And which in a signal manner by the Dispensation of the Son of God in the Flesh in the fullness of Time was personally and fully accomplished by him and in him as Man's Saviour and Redeemer But his Power was not limitted in the Manifestation of it to that time for both before and since his blessed Manifestation in the Flesh He has been the Light and Life the Rock and Strength of all that ever feared God Present with them in their Temptations followed them in their Travels and Afflictions and supported and carried them through and over the Difficulties that have attended them in their Earthly Pilgrimage By this Abel's heart excelled Cains and Seth obtained the preheminence and Enoch walked with God It was this that strove with the Old World and which they rebelled against and which sanctified and instructed Noah to Salvation But the outward Dispensation that followed the benighted State of Man after his Fall especially among the Patriarcks was generally
Rock and Sanctuary and by thee we have leaped over a Wall and by thee we have run through a Troop and by thee we have put the Armies of the Aliens to Flight these People had Right to say it And as God had delivered their Souls of the warisom Burthens of Sin and Vanity and enriched their poverty of Spirit and satisfied their great Hungar and Thirst after Eternal Righteousness and filled them with the Good Things of his own House and made them Stewards of his Manifold Gifts so they went forth to all Quarters of these Nations to Declare to the Inhabitants thereof what God had done for them what they had found and where and how they had found it viz. The way to Peace with God Inviting them to come and see and taste for themselves the Truth of what they Declared unto them And as their Testimony was to the Principle of God in Man the precious Pearl and Leven of the Kingdom as the only blessed means appointed of God to Quicken Convince and Sanctifie Man so they opened to them what it was in it self and what it was given to them for How they might know it from their own Spirit and that of the Subtil appearance of the Evil one and what it would do for all those whose minds are turned off from the Vanity of the World and its Lifeless ways and Teachers and ad-hear to this blessed Light in themselves which discovers and condemns Sin in all its appearances and shows how to overcome it if minded and obeyed in its holy Manifestations and Convictions Giving Power to such to Avoid and Resist those things that do not please God and to grow Strong in Love Faith and Good Works That so Man whom Sin hath made as a Wilderness over-run with Briers and Thorns might become as the Garden of God cultivated by his divine Power and replenisht with the most Virtuous and Beautiful Plants of God's own Right Hand Planting to his Eternal Praise But these Experimental Preachers of Glad Tydings of God's Truth and Kingdom could not run when they List or Pray or Preach when they Pleased But as the Christ their Redeemer prepared and moved them by his own Blessed Spirit for which they waited in their Services and Meetings and Spoak as that gave them utterance and which was as those having Authority and not like the Dreaming Dry and formal Pharisees And so it plainly appeared to the serious Minded whose Spiritual Eye the Lord Jesus had in any measure opened so that to one was given the Word of Exhortation to another the Word of Reproof to another the Word of Consolation and all by the same Spirit and in the good Order thereof to the Convincing and Edifying of many And truly they waxed Strong and Bold through Faithfulness and by the Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus became very Fruitful thousands in a short time being turned to the Truth through their Testimony in Ministry and Sufferings insomuch as in most Counties and many of the considerable Towns of England Meetings were settled and daily there were added such as should be saved For they were Diligent to Plant and to Water and the Lord blessed their Labours with an Exceeding great Increase notwithstanding all the opposition made to their blessed Progress by false Rumors Calumnies and bitter Persecutions not only from the Powers of the Earth but from every one that listed to injure and abuse them So that they seemed indeed to be as poor Sheep appointed to the Slaughter and as a People killed all the Day long It were fitter for a Volumn than a Preface but so much as to repeat the Contents of their cruel Sufferings from Professors as well as from Prophaine and from Magistrates as well as the Rabble that it may well be said of this abused and despised People they went forth Weeping and sowed in Tears bearing Testimony to the Precious Seed the Seed of the Kingdom which stands not in Words the Finest the Highest that Man's Wit can use but in Power the Power of Christ Jesus to whom God the Father hath given all Power in Heaven and in Earth that he might rule Angels above and Men below who impowred them as their Work witnesseth by the many that were turned through their Ministry from Darkness to the Light and out of the Broad into the Narrow Way bringing People to a Weighty Serious and God-like Conversation the Practice of that Doctrine which they Taught And as without this Secret Divine Power there is no Quickning and Regenerating of dead Souls so the want of this Generating and begetting Power and Life is the Cause of the little Fruit that the many Ministrys that have been and are in the World bring forth O that both Ministers and People were sensible of this My Soul is often troubled for them and Sorrow and Mourning compass me about for their Sakes O! that they were Wise O! that they would consider and lay to Heart the things that truly and substantially make for their lasting Peace Two things are to be briefly toucht upon the Doctrine they Taught and the Example they lead among all People I have already toucht upon their Fundamental Principle which is as the Corner stone of their Fabrick And to speak eminently and properly their Characteristick or main distinguishing Point or Principle viz. the Light of Christ within as God's Gift for Man's Salvation This I say is as the Root of the goodly Tree of Doctrines that grew and branched out from it which I shall now mention in their Natural and Experimental Order First Repentance from dead Works to serve the Living God Which comprehends three Operations First a sight of Sin Secondly A Sense and Godly Sorrow for it Thirdly An Amendment for the Time to come This was the Repentance they preached and pressed and a Natural result from the Principle they turned all People unto For of Light came Sight and of Sight came Sense and Sorrow and of Sense and Sorrow came Amentment of Life Which Doctrine of Repentance leads to Justification that is Forgiveness of the Sins that are past through Christ the alone Propitiation and the Sanctification or Purgation of the Soul from the defiling Nature and Habits of sin present which is justification in the compleat Sense of that Word comprehending both justification from the Guilt of the Sins that are past as if they had never been commited through the Love and Mercy of God in Christ Jesus and the Creatures being made inwardly just through the Cleansing and Sanctifying Power and Spirit of Christ revealed in the Soul which is commonly called Sanctification .. From hence sprang a Second Doctrine they were led to declare as the Mark of the Price of the High Calling of all true Christians viz. Perfection from sin according to the Scriptures of Truth which testifie it to be the end of Christ's coming and the Nature of his Kingdom and for which his Spirit was given But they never held a Perfection
Intimacy of the Deceased Party The Corps being in a plain Coffin without any Covering or Furniture upon it At the Ground they pause some time before they put the Body into its Grave that if any one there should have any thing upon them to exhort the People they may not be dissappointed and that the Relations may the more Retiredly and Solemnly take their last leave of the Corps of their departed Kindred and the Spectators have a Sense of Mortality by the occasion then given them to reflect upon their own Latter End Otherways they have no set Rites or Ceremonies on those Occasions neither do the Kindred of the Deceased ever wear Mourning they looking upon it as a Wordly Ceremony and piece of Pomp and that what Mourning is fit for a Christian to have at the Departure of a beloved Relation or Friend should be worn in the Mind which is only sensible of the Loss and the Love they had to them and Remembrance of them to be outwardly exprest by a respect to their Advice and care of those they have left behind them and their Love of that they Loved Which Conduct of theirs though unmodish or unfashionable leaves nothing of the Substance of things neglected or undone and as they aim at no more so that simplicity of Life is what they observe with great Satisfaction though it sometimes happens not to be without the Mockeries of the vain World they live in These things gave them a Rough and Disagreeable Appearance with the Generality who thought them Turners of the World upside down as indeed in some Sense they were but in no other than that wherein Paul was so charged viz. To bring things back into their Primitive and right Order again For these and such like Practices of theirs were not the Result of Humour as some have fancied but a Fruit of Inward Sense which God through his Fear had begotten in them They did not consider how to contradict the World or distinguish themselves being none of their Business as it was not their Interest no it was not the Result of Consultation or a framed design to declare or recommend Schism or Novelty But God having given them a sight of themselves they saw the whole World in the same Glass of Truth and sensibly discerned the Affections and Passions of Men and the Rise and Tendency of Things What gratified the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life which are not of the Father but of the World and from thence Sprang in that Night of Darkness and Apostacy which hath been over People through their Degeneration from the Light and Spirit of God these and many other vain Customs which are seen by the Heavenly day of Christ which dawns in the Soul to be either wrong in their Original or by Time and Abuse Hurtful in their Practice And though these things seemed Trivial to some and rendered this People Stingy and conceited in such Persons Opinions there was and is more in them than they were aware of It was not very easie to our Primitive Friends to make themselves Sights and Spectacles and the Scorn and Derision of the World which they easily foresaw must be the Consequence of so Vnfashionable a Conversation in it But herein was the Wisdom of God seen in the Foolishness of these things First That they discovered the Satisfaction and Concern that People had in and for the Fashions of this World notwithstanding their Pretences to another in that any disappointment about them came so very near them that the greatest Honesty Virtue Wisdom and Ability were unwelcom without them Secondly It seasonably and profitably divided Conversation for making their Society uneasie to their Relations and Acquaintance it gave them the opportunity of more Retirement and Solitude wherein they met with better Company even the Lord God their Redeemer and grew strong in his Love Power and Wisdom and were thereby better qualified for his Service and the success abundantly show'd it Blessed be the Name of the Lord. And though they were not Great and Learned in the Esteem of this World for then they had not wanted Followers upon their own Credit and Authority yet they were generally of the most Sober of the several Perswasions they were in and of the most Repute for Religion and many of them of good Capacity Substance and Account among Men. And also some among them neither wanted for Parts Learning nor Estate though then as of Old not many Wise nor Noble c. were called or at least received the Heavenly Call because of the Cross that attended the Profession of it in Sincerity But neither do Parts or Learning make Men the better Christians though the better Orators and Disputants and it is the Ignorance of People about the Divine Gift that causes that vulgar and mischievous mistake Theory and Practice Expression and Enjoyment Words and Life are two things Oh! 't is the Penitent the Reformed the Lowly the Watchful the Self-denying and Holy Soul that is the Christian and that Frame is the Fruit and Work of the Spirit which is the Life of Jesus whose Life though hid in God the Father is shed abroad in the Hearts of them that truly Believe Oh! that People did but know this to cleanse them to circumcise them to quicken them and to make them New Creatures indeed Re-created or Regenerated after Christ Jesus unto good Works That they might live to God and not to themselves and offer up living Prayers and living Praises to the living God through his own living Spirit in which he is only to be Worshipped in this Gospel Day Oh! that they that read me could but feel me for my Heart is affected with this Merciful Visitation of the Father of Lights and Spirits to this poor Nation and the whole World through the same Testimony Why should the Inhabitants thereof reject it Why should they loose the Blessed Benefit of it Why should they not turn to the Lord with all their Hearts and say from the Heart Speak Lord for now thy poor Servants hear Oh! that thy will may be done thy Great thy Good and Holy will in Earth as it is in Heaven Do it in us do it upon us do what thou wilt with us for we are thine and desire to glorifie thee our Creator both for that and because thou art our Redeemer for thou art redeeming us from the Earth from the Vanities and Pollutions of it to be a Peculiar People unto thee Oh! this were a Brave Day for England if so she could say in Truth But alas the Case is otherwise for which some of thine Inhabitants O Land of my Nativity have mourned over thee with bitter Wailing and Lamentation Their Heads have been indeed as Waters and their Eyes as Fountains of Tears because of thy Transgression and Stiffneckedness becuse thou wilt not Hear and Fear and Return to the Rock even thy Rock O England from whence thou wert Hewen
which the word begets them again to God which is the Regeneration and New Birth without which there is no coming unto the Kingdom of God and which whoever comes to is greater than John that is than John's Dispensation which was not that of the Kingdom but the Consummation of the Legal and Forerunning of the Gospel Times Accordingly several Meetings were gathered in those Parts and thus his Time was employed for some Years In 1652. He being in his usual Retirement to the Lord upon a very High Mountain in some of the hither parts of Yorkshire as I take it his Mind exercised towards the Lord he had a Vision of the great Work of God in the Earth and of the way that he was to go forth to begin it He saw People as thick as Motes in the Sun that should in time be brought Home to the Lord that there might be but one Shepherd and one Sheepfold in all the Earth There his Eye was directed Northward beholding a great People that should receive him and his Message in those Parts Upon this Mountain he was moved of the Lord to sound out his Great and notable Day as if he had been in a great Auditory and from thence went North as the Lord had shown him and in every place where he came if not before he came to it he had his particular Exercise and Service shown to him so that the Lord was his Leader indeed for it was not in vain that he Travailled God in most places sealing his Commission with the Convincement of some of all sorts as well Publicans as sober Professors of Religion Some of the first and most Eminent of them which are at Rest were Richard Farnsworth James Nayler William Dewsberry Francis Howgil Edward Burroughs John Camm John Audland Richard Hubberthorn T. Taylor John Aldam T. Holmes Alexander Parker William Simpson William Caton John Stubbs Robert Widders John Burnyeat Robert Lodge Thomas Salthouse and many more Worthies that cannot be well here Named together with divers yet living of the first and great Convincement who after the knowledge of God's purging Judgments in themselves and some time of waiting in silence upon him to feel and receive Power from on High to speak in his Name which none else rightly can though they may use the same Words They felt the Divine Motions and were frequently drawn forth especially to visit the Publick Assemblies to reprove inform and exhort them sometimes in Markets Fairs Streets and by the High-way-side calling People to Repentance and to turn to the Lord with their Hearts as well as their Mouths directing them to the Light of Christ within them to see and examine and consider their ways by and to eschew the Evil and do the Good and Acceptable Will of God And they suffered great Hardships for this their Love and Good-will being often Stockt Stoned Beaten Whipt and Imprisoned though Honest Men and of Good Report where they lived that had left Wives and Children and Houses and Lands to visit them with a living Call to Repentance And though the Priests generally set themselves to oppose them and write against them and insinuated most False and Scandalous Stories to Defame them stirring up the Magistrates to suppress them especially in those Northern Parts yet God was pleased so to fill them with his living Power and give them such an open Door of utterance in his Service that there was a mighty Convincement over those Parts And through the tender and singular Indulgence of Judge Bradshaw and Judge Fell who were wont to go that Circuit in the Infancy of things the Priests were never able to gain the point they laboured for which was to have proceeded to Blood and if possible Herod like by a Cruel exercise of the Civil Power to have cut them off and rooted them out of the Country Especially Judge Fell who was not only a Check to their Rage in the Course of Legal Proceedings but otherwise upon occasion and finally countenanced this People for his Wife receiving the Truth with the First it had that Influence upon his Spirit being a Just and Wise Man and seeing in his own Wife and Family a full Confutation to all the popular Clamours against the Way of Truth that he covered them what he could and freely opened his Doors and gave up his House to his Wife and her Friends not valuing the Reproach of Ignorant or Evil Minded People which I here mention to His and her Honour and which will be I believe an Honour and a Blessing to such of their Name and Family as shall be found in that Tenderness Humility Love and Zeal for the Truth and People of the Lord. That House was for some Years at first till the Truth had opened its way in the Southern parts of this Island an Eminent Receptacle of this People Others of good Note and Substance in those Northern Countrys had also opened their Houses with their Hearts to the many Publishers that in a short time the Lord had raised to declare his Salvation to the People and where Meetings of the Lord's Messengers were frequently held to communicate their Services and Exercises and Comfort and Edify one another in their Blessed Ministry But least this may be thought a Digression having touched upon this before I return to this Excellent Man And for his Personal Qualities both Natural Moral and Divine as they appeared in his Converse with Brethren and in the Church of God take as follows I. He was a Man that God endued with a Clear and Wonderful Depth a discerner of others Spirits and very much a Master of his own And though the side of his Vnderstanding which lay next to the World and especially the Expression of it might sound Vncouth and Vnfashionable to Nice Ears his matter was nevertheless very profound and would not only bear to be often considered but the more it was so the more Weighty and Instructing it appeared And as abruptly and brokenly as sometimes his Sentences would fall from him about Divine Things it is well known they were often as Texts to many fairer Declarations And indeed it showed beyond all Contradiction that God sent him that no Arts or Parts had any share in his matter or manner of his Ministry and that so many Great Excellent and Necessary Truths as he came forth to Preach to Mankind had therefore nothing of Man's Wit or Wisdom to recommend them So that as to Man he was an Original being no Man's Copy And his Ministry and Writings show they are from one that was not Taught of Man nor had Learned what he said by Study Nor were they Notional or Speculative but sensible and Practical Truths tending to Conversion and Regeneration and the setting up the Kingdom of God in the Hearts of Men and the way of it was his Work So that I have many times been overcome in my self and been made to say with my Lord and Master upon the like Occasion I thank
thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent of this World and revealed them to Babes For many times hath my Soul bowed in an Humble Thankfulness to the Lord that he did not choose any of the Wise and Learned of this World to be the first Messenger in our Age of his blessed Truth to Men but that he took one that was not of High Degree or Elegant Speech or learned after the way of this World that his Message and Work he sent him to do might come with less Suspicion or Jealousie of Humane Wisdom and Interest and with more Force and Clearness upon the Consciences of those that sincerely Sought the way of Truth in the Love of it I say beholding with the Eye of my mind which the God of Heaven had opened in me the Marks of God's Finger and Hand visibly in this Testimony from the Clearness of the Principle the Power and Efficacy of it in the Exemplary Sobriety Plainness Zeal Steadiness Humility Gravity Punctuality Charity and Circumspect care in the Government of Church Affairs which shined in his and their Life and Testimony that God employed in this Work it greatly confirmed me that it was of God and engaged my Soul in a Deep Love Fear Reverence and Thankfulness for his Love and Mercy therein to Mankind in which Mind I remain and shall I hope to the end of my Daies II. In his Testimony or Ministry he much laboured to open Truth to the Peoples Vnderstandings and to bottom them upon the Principle and Principal Christ Jesus the Light of the World that by bringing them to something that was of God in themselves they might the better know and judge of him and themselves He had an Extraordinary Gift in opening the Scriptures He would go to the Marrow of things and show the Mind Harmony and Fullfilling of them with much Plainness and to great Comfort and Edification The Mistery of the first and second Adam of the Fall and Restoration of the Law and Gospel of Shadows and Substance of the Servant and Sons State and the fullfiling of the Scriptures in Christ and by Christ the True Light in all that are his through the Obedience of Faith were much of the Substance and Drift of his Testimonies In all which he was witnessed to be of God being sensibly felt to speak that which he had received of Christ and was his own Experience in that which never Ers nor Fails But above all he excelled in Prayer The Inwardness and Weight of his Spirit the Reverence and Solemnity of his Address and Behaviour and the Fewness and Fulness of his Words have often struck even Strangers with Admiration as they used to reach others with Consolation The most Awfull Living Reverent Frame I ever Felt or Beheld I must say was his in Prayer And truly it was a Testimony he knew and lived neerer to the Lord than other Men for they that know him most will see most reason to approach him with Reverence and Fear He was of an Innocent Life no Busie Body nor Self Seeker neither Touchy nor Critical What fell from him was very Inoffensive if not very Edifying So Meek Contented Modest Easie Steady Tender it was a pleasure to be in his Company He exercised no Authority but over Evil and that every where and in all but with Love Compassion and Long Suffering A most Merciful Man as ready to Forgive as unapt to take or give an Offence Thousands can truly say he was of an Excellent Spirit and Savour among them and because thereof the most Excellent Spirits loved him with an unfained and unfading Love He was an Incessant Labourer for in his Younger time before his many great and deep Sufferings and Travels had enfeebled his Body for Itinerant Services he laboured much in the Word and Doctrine and Discipline in England Scotland and Ireland turning many to God and confirming those that were convinced of the Truth and setling Good Order as to Church Affairs among them And towards the Conclusion of his Travelling Services between the Years Seventy One and Seventy Seven he Visited the Churches of Christ in the Plantations in America and in the Vnited Provinces and Germany as his following Journal Relates to the Convincement and Consolation of many After that time he chiefly resided in and about the City of London and besides the Services of his Ministry which were Frequent and Serviceable he writ much both to them that are within and those that are without the Communion But the care he took of the Affairs of the Church in General was very great He was often where the Records of the Affairs of the Church are kept and the Letters from the many Meetings of God's People over all the World where settled come upon Occasions which Letters he had read to him and Communicated them to the Meeting that is Weekly held there for such Services he would be sure to stir them up to discharge them especially in Suffering Cases Showing great Sympathy and Compassion upon all such Occasions carefully looking into the Respective Cases and endeavouring Speedy Relief according to the Nature of them So that the Churches and any of the Suffering Members thereof were sure not to be forgotten or delayed in their Desires if he were there As he was Vnwearied so he was Vndaunted in his Services for God and his People he was no more to be moved to Fear than to Wrath. His Behaviour at Darby Litchfield Appleby before Oliver Cromwell at Launston Scarborough Worcester and Westminster-Hall with many other Places and Exercises did abundantly evidence it to his Enemies as well as his Friends But as in the Primitive Times some rise up against the blessed Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ even from among those that they had turned to the Hope of the Gospel and who became their greatest Trouble so this Man of God had his share of Suffering from some that were convinced by him who through prejudice or mistake run against him as one that sought Dominion over Conscience because he prest by his Presence or Epistles a ready and zealous compliance with such good and wholesome things as tended to an Orderly Conversation about the Affairs of the Church and in their walking before Men. That which contributed much to this ill Work was in some a begrudging of this Meek Man the love and esteem he had and deserved in the Hearts of the People and weakness in others that were taken with their groundless Suggestions of Imposition and blind Obedience They would have had every Man Independent that as he had the Principle in himself he should only stand and fall to that and no Body else not considering that the Principle is One in all and though the Measure of Light or Grace might differ yet the Nature of it was the same and being so they struck at the Spiritual Vnity which a People guided by the same Principle are
naturally led into So that what is an evil to One is so to All and what is Vertuous Honest and of good Report to One is so to All from the Sense and Savour of the one Vniversal Principle which is common to all and which the disaffected profess to be the Root of all True Christian Fellowship and that Spirit into which the People of God drink and come to be Spiritually Minded and of one Heart and one Soul Some weakly mistook good Order in the Government of Church Affairs for Discipline in Worship and that it was so prest or recommended by Him and other Brethren And they were ready to reflect the same things that Dissenters had very reasonably objected upon the National Churches that have coercively pressed Conformity to their Respective Creeds and Worships Whereas these things related wholly to Conversation and the Outward and as I may say Civil part of the Church that Men should walk up to the Principles of their Belief and not be wanting in Care and Charity But though some have stumbled and fallen through Mistakes and an unreasonable Obstinancy even to a Prejudice yet blessed be God the Generality have returned to their First Love and seen the Work of the Enemy that looses no Opportunity or Advantage by which he may check or hinder the Work of God and disquiet the Peace of his Church and chill the Love of his People to the Truth and one to another and there is hope of divers that are yet at a Distance In all these Occasions though there was no Person the Discontented struck so sharply at as this Good Man he bore all their Weakness and Prejudice and returned not Reflection for Reflection but forgave them their weak and bitter Speeches praying for them that they might have a Sense of their hurt and see the Subtilty of the Enemy to Rend and Devide and return into their First Love that thought no Ill. And truly I must say that though God had visibly cloathed him with a Divine Preference and Authority and indeed his very Presence exprest a Religious Majesty yet he never abused it but held his Place in the Church of God with great Meakness and a most engaging Humility and Moderation For upon all Occasions like his blessed Master he was a Servant to all holding and exercising his Eldership in the Invisible Power that had gathered them with Reverence to the Head and Care over the Body And was received only in that Spirit and Power of Christ as the First and Chief Elder in this Age who as he was therefore worthy of double Honour so for the same Reason it was given by the Faithful of this day because his Authority was inward and not outward and that he got it and kept it by the Love of God and Power of an Endless Life I write my Knowledge and not Report and my Witness is True having been with him for Weeks and Months together on divers Occasions and those of the nearest and most exercising Nature and that by Night and by Day by Sea and by Land in this and in Foreign Countrys And I can say I never saw him out of his Place or not a Match for every Service or Occasion For in all things he acquitted himself like a Man yea a strong Man a New and Heavenly minded Man A Divine and a Naturalist and all of God Almighty's making I have been surprised at his Questions and Answers in Natural things that whilst he was Ignorant of useless and Sophistical Science he had in him the Foundation of useful and commendable Knowledge and cherisht it every where Civil beyond all Forms of Breeding in his Behaviour Very Temperate eating Little and sleeping Less though a Bulky Person Thus he Lived and Sojourned among us and as he lived so he died feeling the same Eternal Power that had raised and preserved him in his last Moments So full of assurance was he that he Triumpht over Death and so even to the last as if Death were hardly worth Notice or a Mention Recommending to some with him the Dispatch and Dispersion of an Epistle just before Written to the Churches of Christ throughout the World and his own Books but above all Friends and of all Friends those in Ireland and America twice over Saying mind poor Friends in Ireland and America And to some that came in and enquired how he found himself he answered Never heed the Lord's Power is over all Weakness and Death the Seed reigns Blessed be the Lord Which was about Four or Five Hours before his Departure out of this World He was at the great Meeting near Lombard-street on the First day of the Week and it was the Third following about Ten at Night when he left us being at the House of H. Goldney in the same Court. In a good Old Age he went after having lived to see his Childrens Children to many Generations in the Truth He had the Comfort of a short Illness and the Blessing of a clear Sense to the last and we may truly say with a Man of God of Old that being Dead he yet Speaketh and though absent in Body he is Present in Spirit neither Time nor Place being able to interrupt the Communion of Saints or dissolve the Fellowships of the Spirits of the Just His Works praise him because they are to the Praise of him that worked by him for which his Memorial is and shall be Blessed I have done as to this part of my Preface when I have left this short Epitaph to his Name Many Sons have done virtuously in this Day but Dear George thou Excellest them All. And now Friends you that profess to walk in the way this Blessed Man was sent of God to turn us into suffer I beseech you the word of Exhortation as well Fathers as Children and Elders as Young Men. The Glory of this Day and Foundation of the Hope that has not made us ashamed since we were a People you know is that Blessed Principle of Light and Life of Christ which we Profess and Direct all People to as the great Instrument and Agent of Man's Conversion to God It was by this we were first Touched and effectually enlightned as to our Inward State which put us upon the Consideration of our Latter End causing us to set the Lord before our Eyes and to Number our Days that we might apply our Hearts to Wisdom In that Day we judged not after the Sight of the Eye or after the Hearing of the Ear but according to the Light and Sense this Blessed Principle gave us we judged and acted in reference to Things and Persons our selves and others yea towards God our Maker For being quickned by it in our Inward Man we could easily discern the difference of things and feel what was Right and what was Wrong and what was Fit and what not both in reference to Religion and Civil Concerns That being the ground of the Fellowship of all Saints it was in
Souls Friend William Penn. London Printed and Sold by T. Sowle at the Crooked Billet in Holly-well-lane Shoreditch and near the Meeting-House in White-hart-court in Grace-church-street 1694. A JOURNAL OR Historical Account OF THE Life Travels Sufferings And CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCES c. OF GEORGE FOX THAT all may know the Dealings of the Lord with me and the various Exercises Trials and Troubles through which he led me in order to prepare and fit me for the Work unto which he had appointed me and may thereby be drawn to admire and glorify his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness I think fit before I proceed to set forth my Publick Travels in the Service of Truth briefly to mention how it was with me in my Youth and how the Work of the Lord was begun and gradually carried on in me even from my Childhood I was born in the Month called July in the Year 1624. Drayton in Leicestershire the Place of G. F's Birth at Drayton in the Clay in Leicestershire My Father's Name was Christopher Fox He was by Profession a Weaver an honest Man and there the was a Seed of God in him The Neighbours called him Righteous Christer My Mother was an upright Woman her Maiden-name was Mary Lago of the Family of the Lago's and of the Stock of the Martyrs In my very Young Years I had a Gravity and stayedness of Mind and Spirit not usual in Children insomuch that when I have seen Old Men carry themselves lightly and wantonly towards each other I have had a Dislike thereof risen in my Heart and have said within my self If ever I come to be a Man surely I should not do so nor be so wanton When I came to Eleven Years of Age I knew Pureness and Righteousness For while I was a Child I was taught how to walk to be kept pure The Lord taught me to be faithful in all Things and to act faithfully two ways viz. Inwardly to God and Outwardly to Man and to keep to Yea and Nay in all Things For the Lord shewed me that though the People of the World have Mouths full of Deceit and changeable Words yet I was to keep to Yea and Nay in all Things and that my Words should be few and savory seasoned with Grace And that I might not Eat and Drink to make my self Wanton but for Health using the Creatures in their Service as Servants in their Places to the Glory of him that harh created them they being in their Covenant and I being brought up into the Covenant as sanctified by the Word which was in the Beginning by which all things are upheld wherein is Vnity with the Creation But People being Strangers to the Covenant of Life with God they Eat and Drink to make themselves wanton with the Creatures devouring them upon their own Lusts and living in all Filthiness loving foul ways and devouring the Creation and all this in the World in the Pollutions thereof without God And therefore I was to shun all such Afterwards as I grew up my Relations thought to have made me a Priest but others perswaded to the Contrary Whereupon I was put to a Man that was a Shoo-maker by Trade and that dealt in Wooll and used Grazing and sold Cattel and a great deal went through my Hands While I was with him he was blest But after I left him he broke and came to nothing I never wronged Man or Woman in all that Time For the Lord's Power was with me and over me to preserve me While I was in that Service I used in my Dealings the Word Verily and it was a common Saying among People that knew me If George says verily there is no altering him When Boys and rude People would laugh at me I let them alone and went my Way But People had generally a Love to me for my Innocency and Honesty When I came towards Nineteen Years of Age I being upon Business at a Fair one of my Cousins whose Name was Bradford being a Professor and having another Professor with him came to me and asked me to drink part of a Jug of Beer with them and I being Thirsty went in with them For I loved any that had a Sense of Good or that did seek after the Lord. And when we had drunk a Glass a piece they began to drink Healths and called for more Drink agreeing together That he that would not drink should pay all I was grieved that any that made Profession of Religion should offer to do so They grieved me very much having never had such a thing put to me before by any sort of People Wherefore I rose up to be gone and putting my Hand into my Pocket I took out a Groat and laid it down upon the Table before them and said If it be so I 'll leave you So I went away And when I had done what Business I had to do I returned home But did not go to Bed that Night nor could not Sleep but sometimes walked up and down and sometimes prayed and cryed to the Lord who said unto me Thou seest ☜ how Young People go together into Vanity and Old People into the Earth and thou must forsake all both Young and Old and keep out of all and be as a Stranger unto all Then at the Command of God on the Ninth Day of the Seventh Month 1643. I left my Relations Lutterworth Northampton Newport-pagnel in Bucks Barnet and brake off all Familiarity or Fellowship with Young or Old And I passed to Lutterworth where I stay'd some Time And from thence I went to Northampton where also I made some stay Then passed from thence to Newport-Pagnel in Buckinghamshire where after I had stay'd a while I went unto Barnet and came thither in the Fourth Month called June in the Year 1644. And as I thus travelled through the Countries Professors took notice of me and sought to be acquainted with me but I was afraid of them For I was sensible they did not Possess what they Profess'd Now during the time that I was at Barnet a strong Temptation to Despair came upon me and then I saw how Christ was Tempted and mighty Troubles I was in And sometimes I kept my self retired in my Chamber and often walked solitary in the Chace there to Wait upon the Lord. And I wondered why these Things should come to me and I looked upon my self and said Was I ever so before Then I thought because I had forsaken my Relations I had done amiss against them So I was brought to call to Mind all my Time that I had spent and to consider whether I had wrong'd any But Temptations grew more and more and I was tempted almost to Despair And when Satan could not effect his Design upon me that way then he laid Snares for me and Baits to draw me to commit some Sin whereby he might take advantage to bring me to Despair I was about Twenty Years of Age when these Exercises came upon me
that To be bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough to make a Man fit to be a Minister of Christ So that which opened in me I saw struck at the Priest's Ministry But my Relations were much troubled at me that I would not go with them to hear the Priest For I would get into the Orchard or the Fields with my Bible by my self And I told them did not the Apostle say to Believers That they needed no Man to teach them but as the Anointing teacheth them And though they knew this was Scripture and that it was true yet they would be grieved because I could not be subject in this Matter to go to hear the Priest with them For I saw that a true Believer was another thing than they looked upon it to be And I saw that being bred at Oxford or Cambridge did not qualifie or fit a Man to be a Minister of Christ and what then should I follow such for So neither them nor any of the Dissenting People could I join with but was as a Stranger to all relying wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ At another time it was opened in me That God who made the World did not dwell in Temples made with Hands This at the first seemed a strange Word because both Priests and People use to call their Temples or Churches dreadful Places and Holy Ground and the Temples of God But the Lord shewed me so that I did see clearly that he did not dwell in these Temples which Men had commanded and set up but in People's Hearts For both Stephen and the Apostle Paul bore Testimony That he did not dwell in Temples made with Hands not even in that which he had once commanded to be built since he put an End to it But that his People were his Temple and he dwelt in them This opened in me as I walked in the Fields to my Relations House And when I came there they told me That Nath Stevens the Priest had been there and told them He was afraid of me for going after New Lights And I smiled in my self knowing what the Lord had opened in me concerning him and his Brethren But I told not my Relations who though they saw beyond the Priests yet they went to hear them and were grieved because I would not go also But I brought them Scriptures and told them There was an Anointing within Man to teach him and that the Lord would teach his People himself And I had great Openings concerning the Things written in the Revelations and when I spake of them the Priests and Professors would say That was a sealed up Book and would have kept me out of it But I told them Christ could open the Seals and that they were the nearest things to us For the Epistles were written to the Saints that lived in former Ages but the Revelations were written of things to come After this I met with a sort of People that held Women have no Souls adding in a light manner no more than a Goose But I reproved them and told them that was not right For Mary said My Soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour And removing again to another Place I came among a People that relied much on Dreams And I told them Except they could distinguish between Dream and Dream they would mash or confound altogether For there were Three sorts of Dreams for Multitude of Business sometimes caused Dreams And there were Whisperings of Satan in Man in the Night-Season and there were Speakings of God to Man in Dreams But these People came out of these Things and at last became Friends Now though I had great Openings yet great Trouble and Temptation came many Times upon me so that when it was Day I wished for Night and when it was Night I wished for Day And by reason of the Openings I had in my Troubles I could say as David said Day unto Day uttereth Speech and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge And when I had Openings they answered one another and answered the Scriptures For I had great Openings of the Scriptures And when I was in Troubles one Trouble also answered to anothâ—â— About the beginning of the Year 1647. I was moved of the Lord to go into Darbyshire Darbyshire where I met with some Friendly People and had many Discourses with them Then passing further into the Peak-Country I met with more friendly People Peak-Country Leicesterâ—â—ire Nottinghamshire and with some in empty high Notions And travelling on through some Parts of Leicestershire and into Nottinghamshire there I met with a tender People and a very Tender Woman whose Name was Eâ—â—â—beth Hootton and with these I had some Meetings and Discourses Bâ—â— my Troubles continued and I was often under great Temptations and I fasted much and walked abroad in solitary Places many Days and often took my Bible and went and sate in hollow Trees and lonesome Places till Night came on and frequently in the Night walked mournfully about by my self For I was a Man of Sorrows in the Times of the first Workings of the Lord in me Now during all this Time I was never joined in Profession of Religion with any but gave up my self to the Lord having forsaken all evil Company and taken leave of Father and Mother and all other Relations and travelled up and down as a Stranger in the Earth which Way the Lord inclined my Heart taking a Chamber to my self in Town where I came and tarrying sometimes a Month sometimes more sometimes less in a Place For I durst not stay long in any Place being afraid both of Professor and Profane lest being a tender Young-Man I should be hurt by conversing much with either For which Reason I kept my self much as a Stranger seeking heavenly Wisdom and getting Knowledge from the Lord and was brought off from outward Things to rely wholly on the Lord alone And though my Exercises and Troubles were very great yet were they not so continual but that I had some Intermissions and was sometimes brought into such an Heavenly Joy that I thought I had been in Abraham's Bosom As I cannot declare the Misery I was in it was so great and heavy upon upon me so neither can I set forth the Mercies of God unto me in all my Misery Oh! the everlasting Love of God to my Soul when I was in great Distress when my Troubles and Torments were great then was his Love exceeding great Thou Lord makest a fruitful Field a barren Wilderness and a barren Wilderness a fruitful Field thou bringest down and settest up Thou killest and makest alive all Honour and Glory be to thee O Lord of Glory The Knowledge of thee in the Spirit is Life But that Knowledge which is fleshly works Death And while there is this Knowledge in the Flesh Deceit and Self will conform to any thing and will say Yes yes to that it doth not know The Knowledge which
the World hath of what the Prophets and Apostles spake is a fleshly Knowledge and the Apostates from the Life in which the Prophets and Apostles were have gotten their Words the Holy Scriptures in a Form but not in their Life nor Spirit that gave them forth And so they all lie in Confusion and are making Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof but not to fulfil the Law and Command of Christ in his Power and Spirit For that they say they cannot do but to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh that they can do with Delight Now after I had received that Opening from the Lord that To be bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not sufficient to fit a Man to be a Minister of Christ I regarded the Priests less and looked more after the Dissenting People And among them I saw there was some Tenderness And many of them came afterwards to be Convinced for they had some Openings But as I had forsaken all the Priests so I left the Separate Preachers also and those called the Most-Experienced People For I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my Condition And when all my hopes in them and in all Men was gone so that I had nothing outwardly to help me nor could tell what to do Then O! then I heard a Voice which said ☞ There is one even Christ Jesus that can speak to thy Condition And when I heard it my Heart did leap for Joy Then the Lord did let me see why there was none upon the Earth that could speak to my Condition namely that I might give him all the Glory For all are concluded under Sin and shut up in Vnbelief as I had been that Jesus Christ might have the Pre-heminence who enlightens and gives Grace and Faith and Powe◠Thus when God doth work who shall let it And this I knew experimentally My Desires after the Lord grew stronger and Zeal in the pure knowledge of God and of Christ alone without the help of any Man Book or Writing For though I read the Scriptures that spake of Christ and of God yet I knew him not but by Revelation as he who hath the Key did open and as the Father of Life drew me to his Son by his Spirit And then the Lord did gently lead me along and did let me see his Love which was Endless and Eternal and surpasseth all the Knowledge that Men have in the natural State or can get by History or Books And that Love did let me see my self as I was without him and I was afraid of all Company For I saw them perfectly where they were through the Love of God which let me see my self And I had not Fellowship with any People Priests nor Professors nor any sort of separated People but with Christ who hath the Key and opened the Door of Light and Life unto me And I was afraid of all Carnal Talk and Talkers for I could see nothing but Corruptions and the Life lay under the Burden of Corruptions And when I my self was in the Deep under all shut up I could not believe that I should ever Overcome my Troubles my Sorrows and my Temptations were so great that I thought many times I should have despaired I was so tempted But when Christ opened to me how he was tempted by the same Devil and had Overcome him and bruised his Head and that through him and his Power Light Grace and Spirit I should Overcome also I had Confidence in him So he it was that opened to me when I was shut up and had not hope nor Faith Christ it was who had enlightened me that gave me his Light to believe in and gave me Hope which is himself Revealed himself in me and gave me his Spirit and gave me his Grace which I found sufficient in the Deeps and in Weakness Thus in the deepest Miseries and in the greatest Sorrows and Temptations that many times beset me the Lord in his Mercy did keep me And I found that there were Two Thirsts in me the one after the Creatures to have gotten Help and Strength there and the other after the Lord the Creator and his Son Jesus Christ And I saw all the World could do me no good If I had had a King's Diet Palace and Attendance all would have been as nothing For nothing gave me Comfort but the Lord by his Power And I saw Professors Priests and People were whole and at ease in that Condition which was my Misery and they loved that which I would have been rid of But the Lord did stay my Desires upon himself from whom my help came and my care was cast upon him alone Therefore all Wait patiently upon the Lord whatsoever Condition you be in wait in the Grace and Truth that comes by Jesus For if ye so do there is a Promise to you and the Lord God will fulfil it in you And Blessed are all they indeed that do indeed hunger and thirst after Righteousness they shall be satisfied with it I have found it so praised be the Lord who filleth with it and satisfieth the desires of the hungry Soul O let the House of the Spiritual Israel say His Mercy endureth for ever It is the great Love of God to make a Wilderness of that which is pleasant to the outward Eye and fleshly Mind and to make a fruitful Field of a barren Wilderness This is the great Work of God But while People's Minds do run in the Earthly after the Creatures and changeable Things and changeable Ways and Religions and changeable uncertain Teachers their Minds are in Bondage and they are brittle and changeable and tossed up and down with windy Doctrines and Thoughts and Notions and Things their Minds being from the unchangeable Truth in the inward Parts the Light of Jesus Christ which would keep their Minds to the Unchangeable who is the Way to the Father who in all my Troubles did preserve me by his Spirit and Power praised be his Holy Name for ever Again I heard a Voice which did say Thou Serpent Thou dost seek to destroy the Life but canst not For the Sword which keepeth the Tree of Life shall destroy thee So Christ the Word of God that bruised the Head of the Serpent the Destroyer preserved me my inward Mind being joined to his good Seed that bruised the Head of this Serpent the Destroyer And this inward Life did spring up in me to answer all the Opposing Professors and Priests and did bring in Scriptures to my Memory to refute them with At another time I saw the great Love of God and I was filled with admiration at the Infiniteness of it And then I saw what was Cast out from God and what Entred into God's Kingdom And how by Jesus the Opener of the Door by his Heavenly Key the Entrance was given And I saw Death how it had passed upon all Men and oppressed the Seed of God in Man and in me
And how I in the Seed came forth and what the Promise was to Yet it was so with me that there seemed to be Two Pleading in me and Questionings arose in my Mind about Gifts and Prophecies and I was tempted again to Despair as if I had sinned against the Holy Ghost And I was in great Perplexity and Trouble for many Days Yet I gave up my self to the Lord still And one day when I had been walking solitarily abroad and was come home I was taken up in the Love of God so that I could not but admire the greatness of his Love And while I was in that Condition it was opened unto me by the Eternal Light and Power and I therein clearly saw That all was done and to be done in and by Christ and how he conquers and destroys this Tempter the Devil and all his Works and is a top of him And that all these Troubles were good for me and Temptations for the Trial of my Faith which Christ had given me And the Lord opened me that I saw through all these Troubles and Temptations My living Faith was raised that I saw All was done by Christ the Life and my Belief was in him And when at any time my Condition was vailed my secret Belief was stayed firm and Hope underneath held me as an Anchor in the bottom of the Sea and Anchored my Immortal Soul to its Bishop causing it to swim above the Sea the World where all the raging Waves foul Weather Tempests and Temptations are But oh then did I see my Troubles Trials and Temptations more than ever I had done As the Light appeared all appeared that is out of the Light Darkness Death Temptations the Vnrighteous the Vngodly all was manifest and seen in the Light Then after this there did a pure Fire appear in me Then I saw how he sate as a Refiner's Fire and as the Fuller's Sope. And then the Spiritual Discerning came into me by which I did discern my own Thoughts Groans and Sighs and what it was that did vail me and what it was that did open me And that which could not abide in the Patience nor endure the Fire in the Light I found to be the Groans of the Flesh that could not give up to the Will of God which had vailed me and that could not be patient in all Trials Troubles and Anguishes and Perplexities and could not give up Self to die by the Cross the Power of God that the Living and Quickned might follow him and that that which would cloud and vail from the Presence of Christ that which the Sword of the Spirit cuts down and which must die might not be kept alive And I discern'd the Groans of the Spirit which did open me and made Intercession to God In which Spirit is the true Waiting upon God for the Redemption of the Body and of the whole Creation And by this true Spirit in which the true Sighing is I saw over the false Sighings and Groanings And by this Invisible Spirit I discerned all the false Hearing and the false Seeing and the false Smelling which was a top above the Spirit quenching and grieving it and that all they that were there were in Confusion and Deceit where the false Asking and Praying is in Deceit and a top in that Nature and Tongue that takes Gods holy Name in vain and wallows in the Egyptian Sea and asketh but hath not for they hate his Light and resist the Holy Ghost and turn the Grace into Wantonness and rebel against the Spirit and are erred from the Faith they should ask in and from the Spirit they should pray by He that knoweth these things in the true Spirit can witness them The divine Light of Christ manifesteth all things and the spiritual Fire tryeth all things and severeth all things Several things did I then see as the Lord opened them to me For he shewed me that which can live in his holy Refining Fire and that can live to God under his Law And he made me sensible how the Law and the Prophets were until John and how the least in the Everlasting Kingdom of God is greater than John The pure and perfect Law of God is over the Flesh to keep it and its Works which are not perfect under by the perfect Law And the Law of God that is perfect answers the perfect Principle of God in every one And this Law the Jews and the Prophets and John were to perform and do None knows the Giver of this Law but by the Spirit of God neither can any truly read it or hear its Voice but by the Spirit of God He that can receive it let him John who was the greatest Prophet that was born of a Woman did bear Witness to the Light which Christ the Great heavenly Prophet hath Enlightned every Man that cometh into the World withal that they might believe in it and become the Children of Light and so have the Light of Life and not come into Condemnation For the true Belief stands in the Light that condemns all Evil and the Devil who is the Prince of Darkness who would draw out of the Light into Condemnation And they that walk in this Light come to the Mountain of the House of God established above all Mountains and to God's Teaching who will teach them his ways These things were opened to me in the Light And I saw the Mountains burning up and the Rubbish and the rough and crooked Ways and Places made smooth and plain that the Lord might come into his Tabernacle These things are to be found in Man's Heart But to speak of these things being within seemed strange to the rough and crooked and mountainous Ones Yet the Lord saith O Earth hear the Word of the Lord The Law of the Spirit crosseth the fleshly Mind Spirit and Will which lives in Disobedience and doth not keep within the Law of the Spirit And I saw this Law was the pure Love of God which was upon me and which I must go through though I was troubled while I was under it For I could not be dead to the Law but through the Law which did judge and condemn that which is to be condemned I saw many talked of the Law who had never known the Law to be their School-master And many talked of the Gospel of Christ who had never known Life and Immortality brought to Light in them by it You that have been under that School-master and the Condemnation of it know these things for tho' the Lord in that day opened these things unto me in secret they have since been published by his Eternal Spirit as on the House top And as you are brought into the Law and through the Law to be dead to it and witness the Righteousness of the Law fulfilled in you ye will afterwards come to know what it is to be brought into the Faith and through Faith from under the Law And abiding in the Faith which Christ
is the Author of ye will have Peace and Access to God But if ye look out from the Faith and from that which would keep you in the Victory and look after fleshly Things or Words ye will be brought into Bondage to the Flesh again and to the Law which takes hold upon the Flesh and Sin and worketh Wrath and the Works of the Flesh will appear again The Law of God takes hold upon the Law of Sin and Death But the Law of Faith or the Law of the Spirit of Life which is the Love of God and which comes by Jesus who is the end of the Law for Righteousness-sake this makes free from the Law of Sin and Death This Law of Life fleshly-minded Men do not know yet they will tempt you to draw you from the Spirit into the Flesh and so into Bondage Therefore ye who know the Love of God and the Law of his Spirit and the freedom that is in Jesus Christ stand fast in him in that divine Faith which he is the Author of in you and be not entangled with the Yoke of Bondage For the Ministry of Christ Jesus and his Teaching bringeth into Liberty and Freedom But the Ministry that is of Man and by Man and which stands in the Will of Man bringeth into Bondage and under the shadow of Death and Darkness And therefore none can be a Minister of Christ Jesus but in the Eternal Spirit which was before the Scriptures were given forth For if they have not his Spirit they are none of his Though they may have his Light to condemn them that hate it yet they can never bring any into Unity and Fellowship in the Spirit except they be in it For the Seed of God is a burdensome Stone to the selfish fleshly earthly Will which reigns in its own Knowledge and Understanding that must perish and in its Wisdom that is Devilish And the Spirit of God is grieved and vexed and quenched with that which brings into the fleshly Bondage and that which wars against the Spirit of God must be mortified by it For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other The Flesh would have its Liberty and the Spirit would have its Liberty But the Spirit is to have its Liberry and not the Flesh If therefore ye quench the Spirit and join to the Flesh and be Servants of it then ye are judged and tormented by the Spirit But if ye join to the Spirit and serve God in it ye have Liberty and Victory over the Flesh and its Works Therefore keep in the daily Cross the Power of God by which ye may witness all that to be Crucified which is contrary to the Will of God and which shall not come into his Kingdom These things are here mentioned and opened for Information Exhortation and Comfort to others as the Lord Opened them unto me in that day And in that day I wondred that the Children of Israel should murmur for Water and Victuals for I could have fasted long without murmuring or minding Victuals But I was judged sometimes that I was not contented to be sometimes without the Water and Bread of Life that I might learn to know how to Want and how to Abound Lancashire And I heard of a Woman in Lancashire that had Fasted Two and twenty Days And I traveled to see her but when I came to her I saw that she was under a Temptation And when I had spoken to her what I had from the Lord I left her her Father being one high in Profession Duckenfield Manchester And passing on I went among the Professors at Duckenfield and Manchester where I stay'd a while and declared Truth among them And there were some Convinced who received the Lord's Teaching by which they were confirmed and stood in the Truth But the Professors were in a Rage all pleading for Sin and Imperfection and could not endure to hear talk of Perfection and of an holy and sinless Life But the Lord's Power was over all though they were chained under Darkness and Sin which they pleaded for and quenched the tender Thing in them About this time there was a great Meeting of the Baptists 1647. Broughton in Leicester-shire at Broughton in Leicester-shire with some that had separated from them and People of other Notions went thither And I went thither also Not many of the Baptists came but abundance of other People were there And the Lord opened my Mouth and his Everlasting Truth was declared amongst them and the Power of the Lord was over them all For in that day the Lord's Power began to spring and I had great Openings in the Scriptures and several were Convinced in those Parts and were turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God and his Power they did receive and by it many were raised up to praise God And when I reasoned with Professors and other People some were Convinced and did stand Yet I was under great Temptations sometimes and my inward Sufferings were heavy but I could find none to open my Condition to but the Lord alone unto whom I cryed Night and Day And I went back into Nottingham-shire Nottingham-shire and there the Lord shewed me that the Natures of those things which were hurtful without were within in the Hearts and Minds of Wicked Men. The Natures of Dogs Swine Vipers of Sodom and Egypt Pharaoh Cain Ishmael Esau c. the Natures of these I saw within though People had been looking without And I cryed to the Lord saying Why should I be thus seeing I was never addicted to commit those Evils And the Lord answered That it was needful I should have a sense of all Conditions how else should I speak to all Conditions And in this I saw the Infinite Love of God I saw also that there was an Ocean of Darkness and Death but an infinite Ocean of Light and Love which flowed over the Ocean of Darkness And in that also I saw the Infinite Love of God and I had great Openings And as I was walking by the Steeple-house side in the Town of Mansfield Mansfield the Lord said unto me That which People do trample upon must be thy Food And as the Lord spake he opened it to me how that People and Professors did trample upon the Life even the Life of Christ was tramâ—led upon and they fed upon Words and fed one another with Words but trampled upon the Life And trampled under Foot the Blood of the Son of God which Blood was my Life and they lived in their airy Notions talking of him It seemed strange to me at the first that I should feed on that which the high Professors trampled upon but the Lord opened it clearly to me by his Eternal Spirit and Power Then came People from far and near to see me And I was fearful of being drawn out by them yet
I was made to speak and open things to them There was one Brown who had great Prophecies and Sights upon his Death-bed of me And he spake openly of what I should be made Instrumental by the Lord to bring forth And of others he spake that they should come to nothing Which was fulfilled on some that then were something in shew And when this Man was buried a great Work of the Lord fell upon me to the admiration of many who thought I had been Dead And many came to see me for about fourteen Days time for I was very much altered in Countenance and Person as if my Body had been New-moulded or changed And while I was in that Condition I had a sense and discerning given me by the Lord 1647. Nottinghamshire through which I saw plainly that when many People talked of God and of Christ c. the Serpent spake in them But this was hard to be born Yet the Work of the Lord went on in some and my Sorrows and Troubles began to wear off and Tears of Joy dropped from me so that I could have wept Night and Day with Tears of Joy to the Lord in Humility and Brokenness of Heart And I saw into that which was without End and things which cannot be uttered and of the Greatness and Infinitness of the Love of God which cannot be exprest by Words For I had been brought through the very Ocean of Darkness and Death and through the Power and over the Power of Satan by the Eternal Glorious Power of Christ even through that Darkness was I brought which covered-over all the Word and which chained down all and shut up all in the Death And the same Eternal Power of God which brought me through these Things was that which afterwards shook the Nations Priests Professors and People Then could I say I had been in Spiritual Babylon Sodom Egypt and the Grave but by the Eternal Power of God I was come out of it and was brought over it and the Power of it into the Power of Christ And I saw the Harvest WHITE and the Seed of God lying thick in the Ground as ever did Wheat that was sown outwardly and none to gather it And for this I mourned with Tears And a Report went abroad of me That I was a Young Man that had a discerning Spirit Whereupon many came to me from far and near Professors Priests and People and the Lord's Power brake forth And I had great Openings and Prophecies and spake unto them of the Things of God and they heard with Attention and Silence and went away and spread the Fame thereof Then came the Tempter and set upon me again charging me That I had sinned against the Holy Ghost But I could not tell in what And then Paul's Condition came before me how after he had been taken up into the Third Heavens and seen things not lawful to be uttered a Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him again Thus by the Power of Christ I got over that Temptation also In the Year 1648 as I was sitting in a Friend's House in Nottinghamshire for by this time the Power of God had opened the Hearts of some to receive the Word of Life and Reconciliation I saw there was a great Crack to go throughout the Earth and a great Smoke to go as the Crack went and that after the Crack there should be a great Shaking This was the Earth in People's Hearts which was to be shaken before the Seed of God was raised out of the Earth And it was so for the Lord's Power began to shake them and great Meetings we began to have and a mighty Power and Work of God there was amongst People to the Astonishment of both People and Priests And there was a Meeting of Priests and Professors at a Justice's House and I went among them And there they discoursed how Paul said He had not known Sin but by the Law which said Thou shalt not lust And they held that to be spoken of the outward Law But I told them Paul spake that after he was Convinced For he had the outward Law before and was bred up in it when he was in the Lust of Persecution but this was the Law of God in his Mind which he served and which the Law in his Members warred against For that which he thought had been Life to him proved Death So the more sober of the Priests and Professors yielded and consented that it was not the Outward Law but the Inward which shewed the Inward Lust which Paul spake of after he was Convinced For the outward Law took hold upon the outward Action but the Inward Law upon the Inward Lust After this I went again to Mansfield Mansfield where was a great Meeting of Professors and People And I was moved to Pray And the Lord's Power was so great that the House seemed to be shaken And when I had done some of the Professors said It was now as in the Days of the Apostles when the House was shaken where they were After I had prayed one of the Professors would pray which brought Deadness and a Vail over them And others of the Professors were grieved at him and told him It was a Temptation upon him Then he came to me and desired that I would pray again But I could not pray in Man's Will Soon after there was another great Meeting of Professors and a Captain whose Name was Amor Stoddard came in And they were discoursing of the Blood of Christ And as they were discoursing of it I saw through the immediate Opening of the Invisible Spirit the Blood of Christ And I cryed out among them and said Do ye not see the Blood of Christ See it in your Hearts to sprinkle your Hearts and Consciences from Dead Works to serve the Living God For I saw it the Blood of the New Covenant how it came into the Heart This startled the Professors who would have the Blood only without them and not in them But Captain Stoddard was reached and said Let the Youth speak hear the Youth speak when he saw they endeavoured to bear me down with many Words There were also a Company of Priests that were looked upon to be tender one of their Names was Kellet and several People that were tender went to hear them And I was moved to go after them and bid them Mind the Lord's Teaching in their inward Parts That Priest Kellet was against Parsonages then but afterwards he got a great One and turned a Persecutor Now after I had had some Service in these Parts Derbyshire Leicestershire I went through Derbyshire into my own Country Leicestershire again and several tender People were Convinced And passing thence I met with a great Company of Professors in Warwickshire who were Praying Warwickshire and Expounding the Scriptures in the Fields and they gave the Bible to me and I opened it on the Fifth of Matthew where Christ expounded
the Law And I opened the Inward State to them and the Outward State and they fell into a feirce Contention and so parted But the Lord's Power got Ground Then I heard of a great Meeting to be at Leicester for a Dispute Leicester wherein both Presbyterians Independents Baptists and Common-Prayer-Men were said to be all concerned The Meeting was in a Steeple-house and thither I was moved by the Lord God to go and be amongst them 1648. Leicester And I heard their Discourse and Reasonings some being in Pews and the Priest in the Pulpit abundance of People being gathered together At last one Woman asked a Question out of Peter What that Birth was viz. A being born again of Incorruptible Seed by the Word of God that liveth and abideth for ever And the Priest said to her I permit not a Woman to speak in the Church though he had before given liberty for any to speak Whereupon I was wrapt up as in a Rapture in the Lord's Power and I stepped up in a Place and asked the Priest Dost thou call this Place the Steeple-house a Church Or dost thou call this mixt Multitude a Church For the Woman asking a Question he ought to have answered it having given liberty for any to speak But he did not answer me neither but asked me What a Church was I told him The Church was the Pillar and Ground of Truth made up of living Stones living Members a spiritual Houshold which Christ was the Head of But he was not the Head of a mixt Multitude or of an old House made up of Lime Stones and Wood This set them all on Fire The Priest came down out of his Pulpit and others out of their Pews and the Dispute there was marr'd But I went to a great Inn and there disputed the thing with the Priests and Professors of all sorts and they were all on a Fire But I maintained the true Church and the true Head thereof over the Heads of them all till they all gave out and fled away And there was one Man that seemed loving and appeared for a while to join with me but he soon turned against me and joined with a Priest in pleading for Infant 's Baptism tho' he himself had been a Baptist before And so left me alone Howbeit there were several Convinced that day and the Woman that asked the Question aforesaid was Convinced and her Family And the Lord's Power and Glory shined over all Nottingham-shire After this I returned into Nottingham-shire again and went into the Vale of Beavor And as I went I preached Repentance to the People Vale of Beavor And there were many Convinced in the Vale of Beavor in many Towns for I stayed some Weeks amongst them And one Morning as I was sitting by the Fire a great Cloud came over me and a Temptation beset me And I sate still And it was said All things come by Nature And the Elements and Stars came over me so that I was in a manner quite clouded with it But inasmuch as I sate still and said nothing the People of the House perceived nothing And as I sate still under it and let it alone a living Hope arose in me and a true Voice arose in me which said There is a living God who made all things And immediately the Cloud and Temptation vanished away and Life rose over it all and my Heart was glad and I praised the living God And after some time I met with some People that had such a Notion That there was no God but that all things came by Nature And I had great Dispute with them and overturned them and made some of them Confess that there was a Living God Then I saw that it was good that I had gone through that Exercise And we had great Meetings in those Parts Nottingham-shire for the Power of the Lord broke through in that side of the Country And returning into Nottingham-shire I found there a Company of shattered Baptists and Others 1648. Nottingham-shire Mansfield Darbyshire Eton. and the Lord's Power wrought mightily and gathered many of them Then afterwards I went to Mansfield and there-a-way where the Lord's Power was wonderfully manifested both at Mansfield and other Towns thereabouts And in Darby-shire the mighty Power of God wrought in a wonderful manner At Eton a Town near Darby there was a Meeting of Friends where there was such a mighty Power of God that they were greatly Shaken and many Mouths were opened in the Power of the Lord God And many were moved by the Lord to go to Steeple-houses to the Priests and to the People to declare the Everlasting Truth unto them And at a certain time when I was at Mansfield Mansfield there was a Sitting of the Justices about hiring of Servants and it was upon me from the Lord to go and speak to the Justices That they should not oppress the Servants in their Wages So I walked towards the Inn where they sate but finding a Company of Fidlers there I did not go in but thought to come in the Morning when I might have a more serious Opportunity to discourse them not thinking that a seasonable time But when I came again in the Morning they were gone and I was struck even blind that I could not see And I inquired of the Inn-keeper where the Justices were to sit that day And he told me At a Town eight Miles off And my Sight began to come to me again and I went and Ran thitherward as fast as I could And when I was come to the House where they were and many Servants with them I exhorted the Justices Not to oppress the Servants in their Wages but to do that which was Right and Just to them And I exhorted the Servants To do their Duties and serve honestly c. And they all received my Exhortation kindly for I was moved of the Lord therein Moreover I was moved to go to several Courts and Steeple-houses at Mansfield and other Places to warn them to leave off Oppression and Oaths and to turn from Deceit and to turn to the Lord and do justly Particularly at Mansfield after I had been at a Court there I was moved to go and speak to one of the Wicked'st Men in the Country one who was a Common Drunkard a noted Whore-master and a Rime-maker And I reproved him in the dread of the Mighty God for his evil Courses And when I had done Speaking and left him he came after me and told me That he was so smitten when I spake to him that he had scarce any Strength left in him So this Man was Convinced and turned from his Wickedness and remained an honest sober Man to the Astonishment of the People who had known him before Thus the Work of the Lord went forward and many were turned from the Darkness to the Light within the compass of these three Years 1646 1647 and 1648. And divers Meetings of
Friends in several Places were then gathered to Gods Teaching by his Light Spirit and Power For the Lord's Power brake forth daily more and more wonderfullly Now was I come up in Spirit through the flaming Sword into the Paradise of God All things were New and all the Creation gave another Smell unto me than before beyond what Words can utter I knew nothing 1648. Mansfield but Pureness and Innocency and Righteousness being renewed up into the Image of God by Christ Jesus so that I say I was come up to the State of Adam which he was in before he fell The Creation was opened to me And it was shewed me how all things had their Names given them according to their Nature and Vertue And I was at a stand in my Mind whether I should practise Physick for the good of Mankind seeing the Nature and Vertues of the Creatures were so opened to me by the Lord. But I was immediately taken up in Spirit to see into another or more stedfast State than Adam's in Innocency even into a State in Christ Jesus that should never fall And the Lord shewed me that such as were faithful to him in the Power and Light of Christ should come up into that State in which Adam was before he fell In which the admirable Works of the Creation and the Vertues thereof may be known through the Openings of that divine Word of Wisdom and Power by which they were made Great things did the Lord lead me into and wonderful Depths were opened unto me beyond what can by Words be declared But as People come into subjection to the Spirit of God and grow up in the Image and Power of the Almighty they may receive the Word of Wisdom that opens all things and come to know the hidden Vnity in the Eternal Being Thus traveled I on in the Lord's Service as the Lord led me And when I came to Nottingham Notingham Leicestershire Clauson Vale of Beavor the mighty Power of God was there among Friends From thence I went to Clauson in Leicestershire in the Vale of Beavor and the mighty Power of God was there also in several Towns and Villages where Friends were gathered While I was there the Lord opened to me Three Things relating to those Three great Professions in the World Physick Divinity so called and Law And he shewed me that the Physicians and Doctors of Physick were out of the Wisdom of God by which the Creatures were made and so knew not the Vertues of the Creatures because they were out of the Word of Wisdom by which they were made And he shewed me that the Priests were out of the true Faith which Christ is the Author of the Faith which purifies and gives Victory and brings People to have Access to God by which they please God Which Mystery of Faith is held in a pure Conscience He shewed me also that the Lawyers were out of the Equity and out of the true Justice and out of the Law of God which went over the first Transgression and over all Sin and answered the Spirit of God that was grieved and transgressed in Man And that these three the Physicians the Priests and the Lawyers ruled the World out of the Wisdom out of the Faith and out of the Equity and Law of God the one pretending the Cure of the Body the other the Cure of the Soul and the third the Property of the People But I saw they were all out out of the Wisdom out of the Faith out of the Equity and perfect Law of God And as the Lord opened these things unto me I felt his Power went forth over all by which all might be Reformed if they would receive and bow unto it The Priests might be Reformed and brought into the true Faith which was the Gift of God The Lawyers might be Reformed and brought into the Law of God 1648. Vale of Beavor which answers that of God that is transgressed in every one and brings to love one's Neighbour as himself This lets Man see If he wrongs his Neighbour he wrongs himself and this teaches him To do unto others as he would they should do unto him The Physicians might be Reformed and brought into the Wisdom of God by whick all things were made and Created that they might receive a right Knowledge of the Creatures and understand the Virtues of them which the Word of Wisdom by which they were made and are upheld hath given them Abundance was opened concerning these things how all lay out of the Wisdom of God and out of the Righteousness and Holiness that Man at the first was made in But as all believe in the Light and walk in the Light which Christ hath enlightned every Man that cometh into the World withal and so become Children of the Light and of the Day of Christ in his Day all things are seen Visible and Invisible by the Divine Light of Christ the Spiritual Heavenly Man by whom all things were made and Created Then I saw concerning the Priests that although they stood in the Deceit and acted by the dark Power which both they and their People were kept under yet they were not the greatest Deceivers spoken of in the Scriptures For these were not come so far as many of them had come But the Lord opened to me who the greatest Deceivers were and how far they might come even such as came as far as Cain to hear the Voice of God and such as came out of Egypt and through the Red Sea and to praise God on the Banks of the Sea-shore such as could speak by Experience of God's Miracles and Wonders such as were come as far as Corah and Dathan and their Company such as came as far as Balaam who could speak the Word of the Lord who heard his Voice and knew it and knew his Spirit and could see the Star of Jacob and the goodliness of Israel's Tent the Second Birth which no Enchantment could prevail against These that could speak so much of their Experiences of God and yet turned from the Spirit and the Word and went into the Gainsaying These were and would be the great Deceivers far beyond the Priests Likewise among the Christians such as should preach in Christ's Name and should work Miracles cast out Devils and go as far as a Cain a Core and a Balaam in the Gospel-times These were and would be the great Deceivers they that could speak some Experiences of Christ and God but lived not in the Life These were they that led the World after them who got the Form of Godliness but denyed the Power who inwardly ravened from the Spirit and brought People into the Form but persecuted them that were in the Power as Cain did and ran greedily after the Error of Balaam through Covetousness loving the Wages of Unrighteousness as Balaam did These Followers of Cain Core and Balaam have brought the World since the Apostles Days to be like a Sea
And such as these I saw might deceive now as they had in former Ages But it is impossible for them to deceive the Elect who were chosen in Christ who was before the World began and before Deceiver was Though others may be deceived in their Openings and Prophecies not keeping their Minds to the Lord Jesus Christ who doth Open and Reveal to his And I saw the State of those both Priests and People who in reading the Scriptures cry out much against Cain Esau and Judas and other wicked Men of former Times mentioned in the Holy Scriptures but do not see the Nature of Cain of Esau of Judas and those Others in themselves And these said It was They They They that were the bad People putting it off from themselves But when some of these came with the Light and Spirit of Truth to see into themselves then they came to say I I I it is I my self that have been the Ishmael and the Esau c. For then they came to see the Nature of wild Ishmael in themselves the Nature of Cain of Esau of Corah of Balaam and of the Son of Perdition in themselves sitting above all that is called God in them So I saw it was the fallen Man that was got up into the Scriptures and was finding Fault with those before-mentioned and with the back-sliding Jews calling them the sturdy Oaks and tall Cedars and fat Bulls of Bashan wild Heifers Vipers Serpents c. And charging them that it was They that closed their Eyes and stopped their Ears and hardned their Hearts and were dull of Hearing And that it was They that hated the Light and rebelled against it and that quenched the Spirit and vexed and grieved it and walked despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and turned the Grace of God into Wantonness And that it was They that resisted the Holy Ghost and They that got the Form of Godliness and turned against the Power And that They were the inwardly Ravening Wolves that had got the Sheep's Cloathing And that They were the Wells without Water and Clouds without Rain and Trees without Fruit c. But when these who were so much taken up with finding Fault with others and thought themselves clear from these Things came to look into themselves and with the Light of Christ throughly to search themselves they might see enough of this in themselves and then the Cry could not be It is He or They as before but I and We are found in these Conditions I saw also how People Read the Scriptures without a right Sense of them and without duly applying them to their own States For when they read that Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that the Law and the Prophets were until John and that the least in the Kingdom is greater than John they read these things without them and applyed them to others without them and the Things were true of others without them but they did not turn in to find the Truth of these things in themselves But as these things came to be opened in me I saw Death reigned over them from Adam to Moses from the Entrance into Trangression till they came to the Ministration of Condemnation which restrains People from Sin that brings Death Then when the Ministration of Moses is passed through the Ministry of the Prophets comes to be read and understood which reaches through the Figures Types and Shadows unto John the greatest Prophet born of a Woman whose Ministration prepares the Way of the Lord by bringing down the exalted Mountains and making strait Paths And as this Ministration is passed through an Entrance comes to be known into the Everlasting Kingdom So I saw plainly that none could read Moses aright without Moses's Spirit by which Moses saw how Man was in the Image of God in Paradice and how he fell and how Death came over him and how all Men have been under this Death And I saw how Moses received the pure Law that went over all Transgressors and how the clean Beasts which were Figures and Types were offered up when the People were come into the righteous Law that went over the first Transgression And both Moses and the Prophets saw through the Types and Figures and beyond them and saw Christ the great Prophet that was to come to fulfil them And I saw that none could read John's Words aright and with a true Understanding of them but in and with the same Divine Spirit by which John spake them and by his burning shining Light which is sent from God For by that Spirit their Crooked Natures might be made strait and their Rough Natures smooth and the Exacter and violent Doer in them might be thrown out And they that had been Hypocrites might come to bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance and their Mountain of Sin and Earthliness might be laid low in them and their Valley exalted in them that there might be a Way prepared for the Lord in them And then the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But all must first know the Voice crying in their Wilderness in their Hearts which through Transgression were become as a Wilderness Thus I saw it was an easie matter to say Death reigned from Adam to Moses and That the Law and the Prophets were until John and That the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But none could know how Death reigned from Adam to Moses c. but by the same Holy Spirit which Moses and the Prophets and John were in They could not know the Spiritual Meaning of Moses the Prophets and John's Words nor see their Path and Travels much less see through them and to the end of them into the Kingdom unless they had the Spirit and Light of Jesus Nor could they know the Words of Christ and of his Apostles without his Spirit But as Man comes through by the Spirit and Power of God to Christ who fulfills the Types Figures Shadows Promises and Prophecies that were of him and is led by the Holy Ghost into the Truth and Substance of the Scriptures sitting down in him who is the Author and End of them then are they read and understood with profit and great Delight Moreover the Lord God let me see when I was brought up into his Image in Righteousness and Holiness and into the Paradise of God the State How Adam was made a Living Soul And also the Stature of Christ the Mystery that had been hid from Ages and Generations Which things are hard to be uttered and cannot be born by many For of all the Sects in Christendom so called that I discoursed withal I found none that could bear to be told that any should come to Adam's Perfection into that Image of God and Righteousness and Holiness that Adam was in before he fell to be so clear and pure without Sin as he was Therefore how should they be able to bear being told that any should grow up to the Measure of
the Stature of the Fulness of Christ when they cannot bear to hear that any shall come whilst upon Earth into the same Power and Spirit that the Prophets and Apostles were in Though it be a certain Truth that none can understand their Writings aright without the same Spirit by which they were written Now the Lord God hath opened to me by his invisible Power how that Every Man was enlightned by the Divine Light of Christ and I saw it shine through all And that they that believed in it came out of Condemnation and came to the Light of Life and became the Children of it But they that hated it and did not believe in it were Condemned by it though they made a Profession of Christ This I saw in the pure Openings of the Light without the help of any Man neither did I then know where to find it in the Scriptures though afterwards searching the Scriptures I found it For I saw in that Light and Spirit which was before Scripture was given forth and which led the Holy Men of God to give them forth That all must come to that Spirit if they would know God or Christ or the Scriptures aright which They that gave them forth were led and taught by But I observed a Dulness and Drowzy Heaviness upon People which I wondred at For sometimes when I would set my self to sleep my Mind went over all to the Beginning in that which is from Everlasting to Everlasting And I saw Death was to pass over this sleepy heavy State And I told People they must come to witness Death to that sleepy heavy Nature and a Cross to it in the Power of God that their Minds and Hearts might be on things above And on a certain Time as I was walking in the Fields the Lord said unto me Thy Name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life which was before the Foundation of the World And as the Lord spake it I believed and saw it in the New Birth Then sometime after the Lord commanded me to go abroad into the World which was like a briary thorny Wilderness And when I came in the Lord 's mighty Power with the Word of Life into the World the World swelled and made a Noise like the great raging Waves of the Sea Priests and Professors Magistrates and People were all like a Sea when I came to proclaim the Day of the Lord amongst them and to preach Repentance to them Now I was sent to turn People from Darkness to the Light that they might receive Christ Jesus For to as many as should receive him in his Light I saw that he would give Power to become the Sons of God Which I had obtained by receiving Christ And I was to direct People to the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures by which they might be led into all Truth and so up to Christ and God as they had been who gave them forth And I was to turn them to the Grace of God and to the Truth in the Heart which came by Jesus that by this Grace they might be taught which would bring them Salvation that their Hearts might be established by it and their Words might be seasoned and all might come to know their Salvation nigh For I saw that Christ had died for all Men and was a Propitiation for all and had enlightned all Men and Women with his divine and saving Light And that none could be a true Believer but who believed in it I saw that the Grace of God which brings Salvation had appeared to all Men and that the Manifestation of the Spirit of God was given to every Man to profit withal These Things I did not see by the help of Man nor by the Letter tho' they are written in the Letter but I saw them in the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ and by his immediate Spirit and Power as did the Holy Men of God by whom the Holy Scriptures were written Yet I had no slight esteem of the Holy Scriptures but they were very precious to me For I was in that Spirit by which they were given forth and what the Lord opened in me I afterwards found was agreeable to them I could speak much of these things and many Volumes might be written but all would prove too short to set forth the Infinite Love Wisdom and Power of God in prepairing fitting and furnishing me for the Service he had appointed me to letting me see the Depths of Satan on the one Hand and opening to me on the other Hand the divine Mysteries of his own Everlasting Kingdom Now when the Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ did send me forth into the World to preach his Everlasting Gospel and Kingdom I was glad that I was Commanded To turn People to that Inward Light Spirit and Grace by which all might know their Salvation and their Way to God even that divine Spirit which would lead them into all Truth and which I infallibly knew would never deceive any But with and by this divine Power and Spirit of God and the Light of Jesus I was to bring People off from all their own ways to Christ the new and living Way and from their Churches which Men had made and gathered to the Church in God the general Assembly written in Heaven which Christ is the Head of And off from the World's Teachers made by Men to learn of Christ who is the Way the Truth and the Life of whom the Father said This is my beloved Son hear ye him and off from all the Worlds Worships to know the Spirit of Truth in the inward Parts and to be led thereby that in it they might Worship the Father of Spirits who seeks such to Worship him Which Spirit they that Worshipped not in knew not what they Worshipped And I was to bring People off from all the World's Religions which are vain that they might know the pure Religion and might visit the Fatherless the Widows and the Strangers and keep themselves from the Spots of the World And then there would not be so many Beggars the sight of whom often grieved my Heart to see so much Hard-heartedness amongst them that professed the Name of Christ And I was to bring them off from all the World's Fellowships and Prayings and Singings which stood in Forms without Power that their Fellowships might be in the Holy Ghost and in the Eternal Spirit of God that they might Pray in the Holy Ghost and Sing in the Spirit and with the Grace that comes by Jesus making Melody in their Hearts to the Lord who hath sent his beloved Son to be their Saviour and caused his heavenly Sun to shine upon all the World and through them all and his heavenly Rain to fall upon the Just and the Unjust as his outward Rain doth fall and his outward Sun doth shine on all which is God's unspeakable Love to the World And I was to bring People off from Jewish Ceremonies and from
Heathenish Fables and from Mens Inventions and windy Doctrines by which they blowed the People about this way and the other way from Sect to Sect and all their beggarly Rudiments with their Schools and Colledges for making Ministers of Christ who are indeed Ministers of their own making but not of Christ's And all their Images and Crosses and Sprinkling of Infants with all their Holy-days so called and all their vain Traditions which they had gotten up since the Apostles Days which the Lord's Power was against And in the Dread and Authority thereof was I moved to declare against them all and against all that Preached and not freely as being such as had not Received freely from Christ Moreover when the Lord sent me forth into the World he forbad me To put off my Hat to any High or Low And I was required to Thee and Thou all Men and Women without any respect to Rich or Poor Great or Small And as I traveled up and down I was not to bid People Good Morrow or Good Evening neither might I Bow or Scrape with my Leg to any one And this made the Sects and Professions to rage But the Lord's Power carried me over all to his Glory and many came to be turned to God in a little time For the heavenly Day of the Lord sprang from on high and brake forth apace by the Light of which many came to see where they were But oh the Rage that then was in the Priests Magistrates Professors and People of all sorts but especially in Priests and Professors For tho' Thou to a single Person was according to their own Learning their Accidence and Grammar Rules and according to the Bible yet they could not bear to hear it And the Hat-Honour because I could not put off my Hat to them it set them all into a Rage But the Lord shewed me that it was an Honour below which he would lay in the Dust and stain it an Honour which proud Flesh looked for but sought not the Honour which came from God only That it was an Honour invented by Men in the Fall and in the Alienation from God who were offended if it were not given them and yet would be looked upon themselves as Saints Church-members and great Christians But Christ saith How can ye believe who receive Honour one of another and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only And I saith Christ receive not Honour of Men Shewing that Men have an Honour which Men will receive and give but Christ will have none of it This is the Honour which Christ will not receive and which must be laid in the Dust Oh! the Rage and Scorn the Heat and Fury that arose Oh! the Blows Punchings Beatings and Imprisonments that we underwent for not putting off our Hats to Men For that soon tried all Mens Patience and Sobriety what it was Some had their Hats violently pluck'd off and thrown away so that they quite lost them The bad Language and evil Vsage we received on this Account is hard to be expressed besides the Danger we were sometimes in of losing our Lives for this Matter and that by the great Professors of Christianity who thereby discovered that they were not true Believers And though it was but a small thing in the Eye of Man yet a wonderful Confusion it brought among all Professors and Priests But blessed be the Lord many came to see the Vanity of that Custom of putting off the Hat to Men and felt the weight of Truth 's Testimony against it About this time I was sorely exercised in going to their Courts to cry for Justice and in speaking and writing to Judges and Justices to do Justly and in warning such as kept publick Houses for Entertainment that they should not let People have more Drink than would do them good And in testifying against their Wakes or Feasts their May-Games Sports Plays and Shews which trained up People to Vanity and Loosness and led them from the fear of God and the Days they had set forth for Holy-days were usually the times wherein they most dishonoured God by these things In Fairs also and in Markets I was made to declare against their deceitful Merchandize and Cheating and Cozening warning all to deal Justly and to speak the Truth and to let their Yea be yea and their Nay be nay and to do unto others as they would have others do unto them And fore-warning them of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord which would come upon them all I was moved also to Cry against all sorts of Musick and against the Mountebanes playing Tricks on their Stages for they burdened the pure Life and stirred up Peoples Minds to Vanity I was much exercised too with Schoolmasters and School-mistresses warning them to teach their Children Sobriety in the fear of the Lord that they might not be nursed and trained up in Lightness Vanity and Wantonness Likewise I was made to warn Masters and Mistresses Fathers and Mothers in private Families to take care that their Children and Servants might be trained up in the fear of the Lord and that they themselves should be therein Examples and Patterns of Sobriety and Vertue to them For I saw that as the Jews were to teach their Children the Law of God and the Old Covenant and to train them up in it and their Servants yea the very Strangers were to keep the Sabbath amongst them and be Circumcised before they might eat of their Sacrifices so all Christians and all that made a Profession of Christianity ought to Train up their Children and Servants in the New Covenant of Light Christ Jesus who is God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth that all may know their Salvation And they ought to train them up in the Law of Life the Law of the Spirit the Law of Love and of Faith that they might be made free from the Law of Sin and Death And all Christians ought to be Circumcised by the Spirit which puts off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh that they may come to Eat of the heavenly Sacrifice Christ Jesus that true spiritual Food which none can rightly feed upon but they that are Circumcised by the Spirit Likewise I was Exercised about the Star-Gazers who drew Peoples Minds from Christ the bright and the Morning-Star and from the Sun of Righteousness by whom the Sun and Moon and Stars and all things else were made who is the Wisdom of God and from whom the right Knowledge of all things is received But the black Earthly Spirit of the Priest wounded my Life And when I heard the Bell toll to call People together to the Steeple-house it struck at my Life For it was just like a Market-Bell to gather People together 1649. Vale of Beavor that the Priest might set forth his Ware to Sale O the Vast Sums of Money that are gotten by the Trade they make of selling the Scriptures and by their Preaching
from the highest Bishop to the lowest Priest What one Trade else in the World is Comparable to it Notwithstanding that the Scriptures were given forth freely and Christ commanded his Ministers to Preach freely and the Prophets and Apostles denounced Judgment against all Covetous Hirelings and Diviners for Money But in this free Spirit of the Lord Jesus was I sent forth to declare the Word of Life and Reconciliation freely that all might come up to Christ who gives freely and who renews up into the Image of God which Man and Woman were in before they fell that they might sit down in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus Nottingham Now as I went towards Nottingham on a First-day in the Morning with Friends to a Meeting there when I came on top of a Hill in sight of the Town I espied the great Steeple-house and the Lord said unto me Thou must go cry against yonder great Idol and against the Worshippers therein So I said nothing of this to the Friends that were with me but went on with them to the Meeting where the mighty Power of the Lord God was amongst us In which I left Friends sitting in the Meeting and I went away to the Steeple-house And when I came there all the People looked like Fallow Ground and the Priest like a great Lump of Earth stood in his Pulpit above And he took for his Text these Words of Peter We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark Place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your Hearts And he told the People that this was the Scriptures by which they were to Try all Doctrines Religions and Opinions Now the Lord's Power was so mighty upon me and so strong in me that I could not hold but was made to cry out and say Oh no It is not the Scriptures But I told them what it was namely the Holy Spirit by which the Holy Men of God gave forth the Scriptures whereby Opinions Religions and Judgments were to be tried For it led into all Truth and so gave the knowledge of all Truth For the Jews had the Scriptures and yet resisted the Holy Ghost and rejected Christ the bright Morning-Star and persecuted Christ and his Apostles and took upon them to Try their Doctrines by the Scriptures but erred in Judgment and did not try them a-right because they tried without the Holy Ghost Now as I spake thus amongst them the Officers came and took me away and put me into a nasty stinking Prison the smell whereof got so into my Nose and Throat that it very much annoyed me But that day the Lord's Power sounded so in their Ears that they were amazed at the Voice and could not get it out of their Ears for some time after they were so reached by the Lord's Power in the Steeple-house At Night they took me out of Prison and had me before the Major Aldermen and Sheriffs of the Town And when I was brought before them the Major was in a peevish fretful Temper but the Lord's Power allay'd him Then they examined me at large and I told them how the Lord had moved me to come Then after some Discourse had passed between them and me they sent me back to Prison again But sometime after 1649. Nottingham the Head-Sheriff whole Name was John Reckless sent for me to his House And when I came in his Wife met me in the Hall and said Salvation is come to our House ☜ And she took me by the Hand and was much wrought upon by the Power of the Lord God And her Husband and Children and Servants were much changed for the Power of the Lord wrought upon them And I lodged at the Sheriff's House and great Meetings we had in his House and some Persons of considerable Condition in the World came to them and the Lord's Power appeared eminently amongst them And this Sheriff sent for the other Sheriff and for a Woman they had had Dealings with in way of Trade and he told her before the other Sheriff that they had wronged her in their Dealings with her for the other Sheriff and he were Partners and that they ought to make her Restitution This he spake chearfully But the other Sheriff denied it and the Woman said She knew nothing of it But the friendly Sheriff said it was so and that the other knew it well enough And then having discovered the Matter and acknowledged the Wrong done by them he made Restitution to the Woman and exhorted the other Sheriff to do the like And the Lord's Power was with this Friendly Sheriff and wrought a mighty Change in him and great Openings he had And on the next Market-day following as he was walking with me in the Chamber in his Slippers he said I must go into the Market and preach Repentance to the People And accordingly he went in his Slippers into the Market and into several Streets and preached Repentance to the People Several others also in the Town were moved to speak to the Major and Magistrates and to the People exhorting them to Repent Hereupon the Magistrates grew very Angry and sent for me from the Sheriff's House and Committed me to the Common Prison Nottingham Prison When the Assize came on there was one moved to come and offer up himself for me Body for Body yea Life also But when I should have been brought before the Judge the Sheriff's Man being somewhat long in fetching me to the Sessions-house the Judge was risen before I came At which I understood the Judge was somewhat offended and said He would have admonished the Youth if he had been brought before him For I was then Imprisoned by the Name of A YOVTH So I was returned to Prison again and put into the Common Goal And the Lord's Power was great among Friends but the People began to be very Rude Wherefore the Governour of the Castle sent down Souldiers and dispersed them and after that they were quiet But both Priests and People were astonished at the wonderful Power that brake forth And several of the Priests were made tender and some did Confess to the Power of the Lord. Now after I was set at Liberty from Nottingham-Goal where I had been kept Prisoner a pretty long time I traveled as before in the Work of the Lord. And coming to Mansfield-Woodhouse Mansfield Wood-house there was a distracted Woman under a Doctor 's Hand with her Hair loose all about her Ears and he was about to let her Blood she being first bound and many People being about her holding her by Violence But he could get no Blood from her And I desired them to unbind her 1649. Mansfield Woodhouse and let her alone for they could not touch the Spirit in her by which she was tormented So they did unbind her And I was moved to speak to her and in the
Name of the Lord to bid her Be quiet and still And she was so And the Lord's Power setled her Mind and she mended and afterwards Received the Truth and Continued in it to her Death And the Lord's Name was honoured To whom the Glory of all his Works belongs Many great and wonderful Things were wrought by the heavenly Power in those Days For the Lord made bare his Omnipotent Arm and manifested his Power to the Astonishment of many by the healing Vertue whereof many have been delivered from great Infirmities and the Devils were made subject through his Name Of which particular Instances might be given beyond what this unbelieving Age is able to receive or bear But blessed for ever be the Name of the Lord and everlastingly Honoured and over all Exalted and Magnified be the Arm of his Glorious Power by which he hath wrought gloriously and let the Honour and Praise of all his Works be ascribed to him alone Now while I was at Mansfield-Woodhouse I was moved to go to to the Steeple-house there and declare the Truth to the Priest and People But the People fell upon me in great Rage and struck me down and almost stifled and smothered me and I was cruelly beaten and bruised by them with their Hands Bibles and Sticks Then they haled me out though I was hardly able to stand and put me into the Stocks where I sate some Hours and they brought Dog-whips and Horse-whips threatning to Whip me And after some time they had me before the Magistrate at a Knight's House where were many great Persons who seeing how evilly I had been used after much Threatning set me at Liberty But the rude People stoned me out of the Town for Preaching the Word of Life to them And I was scarce able to go or well to stand by reason of the Ill Vsage I had received Yet with much ado I got about a Mile from the Town and then I met with some People that gave me something to Comfort me because I was inwardly bruised But the Lord's Power soon healed me again And that day some People were Convinced of the Lord's Truth and turned to his Teaching at which I rejoiced Leicester-shire Then went I out of Nottingham-shire into Leicester-shire several Friends accompanying me And there were some Baptists in that Country whom I desired to see and speak with because they were separated from the publick Worship So one Oats who was one of their Chief Teachers and others of the Heads of them with several others of their Company Barrow came to Meet us at Barrow and there we discoursed with them One of them said What was not of Faith was Sin Whereupon I asked them What Faith was And how it was wrought in Man But they turned off from that and spake of their Baptism in Water Then I asked them Whether their Mountain of Sin was brought down and laid low in them And their rough and crooked Ways made smooth and strait in them For they looked upon the Scriptures as meaning Outward Mountains and Ways But I told them they must find them in their own Hearts Which they seemed to wonder at And we asked them Who baptized John the Baptist and who baptized Peter 1649. Barrow John and the rest of the Apostles and put them to prove by Scripture that these were baptized in Water But they were silent Then I asked them Seeing 〈◊〉 who betrayed Christ and was called the Son of Perdition had Hâ—â—ged himself what Son of Perdition was that which Paul spake of that sâ—te in the Temple of God exalted above all that is called God And â—hat Temple of God that was in which this Son of Perdition sate And whether he that betrays Christ within in himself be not one in Nature with that Judas that betrayed Christ without But they could not tell what to make of this nor what to say to it So after we had had some Discourse together we parted and some of them were loving to us On the First Day of the Week following we came to Bagworth Bagworth and went to a Steeple-House where some Friends were got in and the People locked them in and themselves too with the Priest But after the Priest had done they opened the Door and we went in also and had a Service for the Lord amongst them Afterwards we had a Meeting in the Town amongst several People that were in high Notions Then passing from thence I heard of a People that were in Prison in Coventry for Religion Coventry And as I walked towards the Jail the Word of the Lord came to me saying ☜ MY LOVE WAS ALWAYS TO THEE AND THOV ART IN MY LOVE And I was ravished with the Sense of the Love of God and greatly strengthned in my Inward Man But when I came into the Jail where those Prisoners were a great Power of Darkness struck at me and I sate still having my Spirit gathered into the Love of God At last these Prisoners began to Rant and Vapour and Blaspheme at which my Soul was greatly grieved They said They were GOD But another of them said We could not bear such Things So when they were calm I stood up and asked them Whether they did such things by Motion or from Scripture and they said from Scripture Then a Bible lying by I asked them for that Scripture and they shewed me that Place where the Sheet was let down to Peter and it was said to him What was sanctified he should not call Common or Vnclean Now when I had shewed them That that Scripture made nothing for their purpose they brought another Scripture which spake of God's Reconciling all Things to himself Things in Heaven and Things in Earth I told them I owned that Scripture also but shewed them that that was nothing to their purpose neither Then seeing they said They were GOD I asked them If they knew whether it would Rain to Morrow They said They could not tell I told them God could tell Again I asked them If they thought they should be always in that Condition or should change And they answered They could not tell Then said I unto them God can tell and God doth not change You say you are God and yet you cannot tell whether you shall Change or no. So they were Confounded and quite brought â—own for the time Then after I had Reproved them for their blasphemous Expressions I went away For I perceived they were Ranters and I had met with none before And I admired the Goodness of the Lord in appearing so unto me before I went amongst them Not long after this 1649. Coventry one of these Ranters whose Name was Joseph Salmon put forth a Paper or Book of Recantation upon which they were set at Liberty Atherstone From Coventry I went to a Place called Atherstone and it being their Lecture-day I was moved to go to their Chappel to speak to the Priests and People
And they were generally pretty quiet Only some few raged and would have had my Relations to have bound me I declared largely to them how that God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all their Man-made Teachers to hear his Son And some were Convinced there Market-Bossoth Then went I to a Place called Market-Bossoth and there was a Lecture there also And he that preached there that day was Nathaniel Stevens who was Priest of the Town where I was born And he raged much when I spake to him and to the People and told the People I was Mad tho' he had said before to one Colonel Purfoy That there was never such a Plant bred in England and he bid the People they should not hear me So the People being stirred up by this deceitful Priest fell upon us and stoned us out of the Town Yet they did not do us much hurt Howbeit some People were made Loving that day and others were Confirmed seeing the Rage of both Priests and Professors And some cried out that the Priest durst not stand to prove his Ministry And as I traveled through Markets Fairs and divers Places I saw Death and Darkness in all People where the Power of the Lord God had not shaken them Leicester-shire Twy-Cross And as I was passing on in Leicester-shire I came to a Place called Twy-Cross where there were Excise-Men and I was moved of the Lord to go to them and warn them to take heed of Oppressing the Poor And People were much affected with it Now there was in that Town a great Man that had long lain sick and was given over by the Physicians and some Friends in the Town desired me to go to see him And I went up to him in his Chamber and spake the Word of Life to him and was moved to Pray by him and the Lord was entreated and Restored him to Health But when I was come down the Stairs into a lower Room and was speaking to the Servants and to some People that were there a Serving-Man of his came Raving out of another Room with a naked Rapier in his Hand and set it just to my side But I looked stedfastly on him and said Alack for thee poor Creature what wilt thou do with thy carnal Weapon It is no more to me than a Straw The Standers by were much troubled and he went away in a Rage and full of Wrath But when the News of it came to his Master he turned him out of his Service Thus the Lord's Power preserved me and raised up the Weak Man who afterwards was very Loving to Friends And when I came to that Town again both he and his Wife came to see me After this I was moved to go into Darbyshire where the mighty Power of God was among Friends Darbyshire Chesterfield And I went to Chesterfield where one Britland was Priest He was one that saw beyond the common sort of Priests for he had been partly Convinced and had spoken much on behalf of Truth before he was Priest there But when the Priest of that Town died he got the Parsonage and choked himself with it 1649. Chesterfield So I was moved to speak to him and the People in the great Love of God that they might come off from all Mens Teaching unto God's Teaching and he was not able to gainsay But they had me before the Major and threatned to send me with some others to the House of Correction and kept us in Custody till it was late in the Night And then the Officers with the Watchmen put us out of the Town leaving us to shift as we could So I bent my Course towards Darby having a Friend or two with me And in our way we met with many Professors Kidsey-park and at Kidsey-Park many were Convinced Then coming to Darby I lay at a Doctor 's House 1650. Darby whose Wife was Convinced and so were several more in the Town And as I was walking in my Chamber the Bell rung and it struck at my Life at the very hearing of it So I asked the Woman of the House What the Bell rung for And she said There was to be a great Lecture there that day and many of the Officers of the Army and Priests and Preachers were to be there that Day and a Colonel that was a Preacher Then was I moved of the Lord to go up to them And when they had done I spake to them what the Lord Commanded me and they were pretty quiet But there came an Officer and took me by the Hand and said I must go before the Magistrates and the other Two that were with me It was about the First Hour Afternoon that we came before them They asked me Why we came thither I said God moved us so to do and I told them God dwells not in Temples made with Hands I told them also All their Preaching Baptism and Sacrifices would never sanctifie them and bid them Look unto Christ in them and not unto Men For it is Christ that sanctifies Then they ran into many Words but I told them They were not to Dispute of God and Christ but to Obey him And the Power of God thundred amongst them and they did fly like Chaff before it They put me in and out of the Room often hurrying me backward and forward often For they were from the First Hour till the Ninth at Night in Examining me And sometimes they would tell me in a deriding manner That I was taken up in Raptures At last they asked me Whether I was Sanctified I answered Yes for I was in the Paradise of God Then they asked me If I had no Sin I answered Christ my Saviour has taken away my Sin and in him there is no Sin They asked How we knew that Christ did abide in us I said by his Spirit that he hath given us They temptingly asked If any of us were Christ I answered NAY ☜ we were nothing Christ was all They said If a Man steal is it no Sin I answered All Unrighteousness is Sin So when they had wearied themselves in Examining me they Committed me and one other Man to the House of Correction in Darby for six Months as Blasphemers as may appear by the Mittimus a Copy whereof here followeth To the Master of the House of Correction in Darby Greeting WE have sent you herewithal the Bodies of George Fox late of Mansfield in the County of Nottingham and John Fretwell late of Staniesby in the County of Darby Husbandman brought before us this present Day and charged with the avowed uttering and broaching of divers blasphemous Opinions contrary to a late Act of Parliament which upon their Examination before us they have Confessed These are therefore to require you forthwith upon sight hereof to receive them the said George Fox and John Fretwell into your Custody and them therein safely to keep during the space of
Covetousness and Extortion God doth forbid that Wo be to the Man that Coveteth an Evil Covetousness that he may set his Nest on high and cover himself with thick Clay O do not love that which God doth forbid His Servant thou art whom thou dost obey whether it be of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Think upon Lazarus and Dives the one fared sumptuously every Day the other was a Beggar See if thou be not Dives Be not deceived God is not mocked with vain Words Evil Communication corrupteth good Manners Awake to Righteousness and sin not G. F. That to Justice Barton was in these Words Friend THou that preachest Christ and the Scriptures in Words when any come to follow that which thou hast spoken of and to live the Life of the Scriptures then they that speak the Scriptures but do not lead their Lives according thereunto persecute them that do Mind the Prophets and Jesus Christ and his Apostles and all the Holy Men of God what they spake was from the Life But they that had not the Life but the Words Persecuted and Imprisoned them that lived in the Life which they had back-slidden from G. F. Now as I had written to the Justices and to the Priests so it was upon me to write to the Major of Darby also who though he did not sign the Mittimus had a Hand with the rest in sending me to Prison And to him I writ after this manner Friend THou art set in Place to do Justice but in Imprisoning my Body thou hast done contrary to Justice according to your own Law O take heed of pleasing Men more than God for that 's the way of the Scribes and Pharisees They sought the Praise of Men more than God Remember who said I was a Stranger and ye took me not in I was in Prison and ye visited me not O Friend thy Envy is not against me but against the Power of Truth I had no Envy to you but Love O take heed of Oppression for The Day of the Lord is coming that shall burn as an Oven and all the Proud and all that do wickedly shall be as Stubble and the Day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts It shall leave them neither Root nor Branch O Friend if the Love of God were in thee thou would'st love the Truth and hear the Truth spoken and not Imprison unjustly The Love of God beareth and suffereth and envieth no Man If the Love of God had broken your Hearts you would shew Mercy but you do shew forth what ruleth you Every Tree doth shew forth its Fruit you do shew forth your Fruits openly For Drunkenness Swearing Pride and Vanity rule among you from the Teacher to the People O Friend Mercy and true Judgment and Justice are Cried for in your Streets Oppression Vnmercifulness Cruelty Hatred Pride Pleasures Wantonness and Fulness is in your Streets but the Poor is not regarded O take heed of the Wo Wo be to the Crown of Pride Wo be to them that drink Wine in Bowles and the Poor is ready to perish O remember Lazarus and Dives One fared deliciously every Day and the other was a Beggar O Friend Mind these Things for they are near and see whether thou be not the Man that is in Dives his State I writ also to the Court at Darby thus I Am moved to write unto you to take heed of Oppressing the Poor in your Courts or laying Burdens upon poor People which they cannot bear And of false Oaths or making them to take Oaths which they cannot perform The Lord saith I will come near to Judgment and will be a swift Witness against the Sorcerers against the false Swearers and against the Idolaters and against those that do oppress Widows and Fatherless Therefore take heed of all these things betimes The Lord's Judgments are all true and righteous and he delighteth in Mercy So love Mercy Dear People and Consider in Time Likewise to the Ringers who used to Ring the Bells in the Steeple-house called S. Peter's in Darby I sent these few Lines Friends TAke heed of Pleasures and prize your Time now while you have it and do not spend it in Pleasures nor Earthliness The Time may come that you will say You had Time when it is past Therefore look at the Love of God now while you have Time for it bringeth to loath all Vanities and worldly Pleasures O Consider Time is precious Fear God and rejoyce in him who hath made Heaven and Earth Now while I was there in Prison divers of the Professors came unto me to discourse with me And I had a Sense before they spake that they came to plead for Sin and Imperfection And I asked them Whether they were Believers and had Faith and they said Yes Then I asked them In whom and they said In Christ Then I replyed If ye are true Believers in Christ you are passed from Death to Life and if passed from Death then from Sin that bringeth Death And if your Faith be true it will give you Victory over Sin and the Devil and purify your Hearts and Consciences for the true Faith is held in a pure Conscience and it will bring you to please God and give you Access to him again But they could not endure to hear of Purity and of Victory over Sin and the Devil For they said They could not believe that any could be free from Sin on this Side the Grave Then I bid them give over babling about the Scriptures which were Holy Mens Words whilst they pleaded for Vnholiness And at another Time another Company of Professors came and they also began to plead for Sin And I asked them Whether they had Hope And they said Yes God forbid but we should have Hope Then I asked them What Hope is it that you have Is Christ in you the Hope of your Glory Doth it purify you as he is Pure But they could not abide to hear of being made pure here Then I bid them forbear talking of the Scriptures which were the Holy Men's Words For the Holy Men that writ the Scriptures pleaded for Holiness in Heart Life and Conversation here but since you plead for Impurity and Sin which is of the Devil what have you to do with the Holy Men's Words Now the Keeper of the Prison being an high Professor was greatly enraged against me and spake very wickedly of me But it pleased the Lord one Day to strike him so that he was in great Trouble and under great Terrors of Mind And as I was walking in my Chamber I heard a doleful Noise and standing still I heard him say to his Wife Wife I have seen the Day of Judgment and I saw GEORGE there and I was afraid of him because I had done him so much wrong and spoken so much against him to the Ministers and Professors and to the Justices and in Taverns and Ale-houses After this towards the Evening
he came up into my Chamber and said to me I have been as a Lion against you But now I come like a Lamb and like the Jailer that came to Paul and Silas trembling And he desired that he might lie with me I told him that I was in his Power he might do what he would But he said Nay he would have my Leave and he could desire to be always with me but not to have me as a Prisoner And he said He had been plagued and his House had been plagued for my sake So I suffered him to lie with me and then he told me all his Heart and said He believed what I had said of the true Faith and Hope to be true And he wondred that the other Man that was put into Prison with me did not stand to it and said That Man was not right but I was an honest Man He confessed also to me that at those Times when I had asked him to let me go forth to speak the Word of the Lord to the People and he had refused to let me go and I had laid the weight thereof upon him that then he used to be under great Trouble amazed and almost distracted for some time after and in such a Condition that he had little Strength left him When the Morning came he arose and soon after went to the Justices and told them That he and his House had been plagued for my sake and one of the Justices replied as he reported to me that the Plagues were on them too for keeping me This was Justice Bennet of Darby who was the first that called us Quakers because I bid them Tremble at the Word of the Lord. And this was in the Year 1650. After this the Justices gave leave That I should have Liberty to walk a Mile I perceived their End and I told the Jailer If they would set down to me how far a Mile was I might take the liberty of walking it sometimes For I had a Sense they thought I would go away And the Jailer Confest afterwards that they did it with that Intent to have me go away to ease them of their Plague But I told him I was not of that Spirit This Jailer had a Sister who was a sickly young Woman and she came up into my Chamâ—er to Visit me and after she had stay'd some time and I had spoken the Words of Truth to her she went down and told them That we were an Innocent People and did none any hurt but did good to all even to them that hated us And she desired them to be Tender towards me Now forasmuch as by reason of my Restraint I had not the Opportunity of Traveling about to declare and spread Truth through the Countries it came upon me to Write a Paper and send it forth to be spread abroad both amongst Friends and other tender People for the Opening of their Understandings in the Way of Truth and directing them to the true Teacher in themselves And it was as followeth THE Lord doth shew unto Man his Thoughts and discovereth all the secret Workings in Man A Man may be brought to see his evil Thoughts and running Mind and vain Imaginations and may strive to keep them down and to keep his Mind in but cannot Overcome them nor keep his Mind within to the Lord. Now in this State and Condition submit to the Spirit of the Lord that shews them and that will bring to Wait upon the Lord and he that hath discovered them will destroy them Therefore stand in the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Author of the true Faith and mind him for he will discover the Root of Lusts and evil Thoughts and vain Imaginations and how they are begotten conceived and bred and then how they are brought forth and how every evil Member doth work He will discover every Principle from its own Nature and Root So mind the Faith of Christ and the Anointing which is in you to be taught by it which will discover all Workings in you And as he teacheth you so obey and forsake else you will not grow up in the Faith nor in the Life of Christ where the Love of God is received Now Love begetteth Love it s own Nature and Image And when Mercy and Truth do meet what Joy there is And Mercy doth Triumph in Judgment And Love and Mercy doth bear the Judgment of the World in patience That which cannot bear the World's Judgment is not the Love of God for Love beareth all things and is above the World's Judgment for the World's Judgment is but Foolishness And though it be the World's Judgment and Practice to cast all the World's Filthiness that is among themselves upon the Saints yet their Judgment is false Now the Chaste Virgins follow Christ the Lamb that takes away the Sins of the World But they that are of that Spirit which is not Chaste will not follow Christ the Lamb in his Steps but are disobedient to him in his Commands So the fleshly Mind doth mind the Flesh and talketh fleshly and its Knowledge is fleshly and not spiritual but savours of Death and not of the Spirit of Life Now some Men have the Nature of Swine wallowing in the Mire And some Men have the Nature of Dogs to bite both the Sheep and one another And some Men have the Nature of Lions to tear devour and destroy And some Men have the Nature of Wolves to tear and devour the Lambs and Sheep of Christ And some Men have the Nature of the Serpent that old Adversary to sting envenom and poison He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear and learn these things within himself And some Men have the Natures of other Beasts and Creatures minding nothing but earthly and visible things and feeding without the fear of God Some Men have the Nature of an Horse to praunce and vapor in their Strength and to be swift in doing Evil. And some Men have the Nature of Tall sturdy Oaks to slourish and spread in Wisdom and Strength who are strong in Evil which must perish and come to the Fire Thus the Evil is but one in all but worketh many Ways and whatsoever a Man's or Woman's Nature is addicted to that is Outward the Evil one will fit him with that and will please his Nature and Appeâ—ite to keep his Mind in his Inventions and in the Creatures from the Creator O therefore let not the Mind go forth from God 〈◊〉 it do it will be stained and venomed and corrupted And if the Mind go forth from the Lord it is hard to bring it in again Therefore take heed of the Enemy and keep in the Faith of Christ O! therefore mind that which is Eternal and Invisible and him who is the Creator and Mover of all things For the things that are made are not made of things that do appear for the visible covereth the invisible Sight in you But as the Lord who
and nourished thy Heart as in a Day of Slaughter thou hast killed the Just O look where thou art and how thou hast spent thy Time O remember thy self and now while thou hast Time prize it and do not slight the free Mercy of God and despise the long-suffering of God which is great Salvation But mind that in thee which doth Convince thee and would not let thee Swear nor Lie nor take God's Name in vain Thou knowest thou shouldest do none of these Things Thou hast learned that which will Condemn thee Therefore obey the Light which doth Convince thee and forsake thy Sins and look at the Mercies of God and prize his Love in sparing thee till now The Lord saith Look unto me all ye Ends of the Earth and be ye saved and Cease from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils And Friend prize thy Time and see whom thou servest For his Servant thou art whom thou dost obey whether of Sin unto Death or Obedience unto Righteousness If thou servest God and fearest him thou wilt not blaspheme his Name nor Curse nor Swear nor take his Name in vain nor follow Pleasures and Wantonness Whoredom and Drunkenness or Wrath or Malice or Revenge or Rashness or Headiness Pride or Gluttony Greediness Oppression or Covetousness or foolish Jesting or vain Songs God doth forbid these things and all Unrighteousness If thou professest God and actest any of these Things thou takest him for a Cloak and servest the Devil Consider with thy self and do not love that which God doth hate He that loveth God keepeth his Commandments The Devil will tell thee It is an hard thing to keep God's Commandments but it is an easie thing to keep the Devil's Commandments and to live in all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness turning the Grace of God into Wantonness But let the Unrighteous Man forsake his Ways and turn unto me saith the Lord and I will have Mercy Turn ye why will ye die saith the Lord. Howl ye Great Ones for the Plagues are pouring out upon you Howl ye Oppressors for Recompence and Vengeance is coming upon you Wo unto them that Covetously Join one House to another and bring one Field so nigh unto another that the Poor can get no more Ground and that ye may dwell upon the Earth alone These things are in the Ears of the Lord of Hosts Wo unto him that Covetously getteth evil-gotten Goods into his House that he may set his Nest on high to escape from the Power of Evil. While I was yet in the House of Correction there came unto me a Trooper and said As he was sitting in the Steeple-house hearing the Priest exceeding great Trouble came upon him and the Voice of the Lord came to him saying Dost thou not know ☜ that my Servant is in Prison Go to him for direction So I spake to his Condition and his Understanding was opened And I told him That which shewed him his Sins and troubled him for them would shew him his Salvation For he that shews a Man his Sin is the same that takes it away Now while I was speaking to him the Lord's Power opened him so that he began to have a good Understanding in the Lord's Truth and to be sensible of God's Mercies and began to speak boldly in his Quarters amongst the Souldiers and to others concerning Truth for the Scriptures were very much opened to him insomuch that he said His Colonel was as Blind as Nebuchadnezar to cast the Servant of the Lord into Prison Upon this his Colonel had a Spight at him and at Worcester-Fight the Year after when the Two Armies lying near one another Two came out from the King's Army and challenged any Two of the Parliament-Army to fight with them his Colonel made Choice of him and another to Answer the Challenge And when in the Encounter his Companion was slain he drave both his Enemies within Musquet-shot of the Town without firing a Pistol at them This when he returned he told me with his own Mouth But when the Fight was over he saw the Deceit and Hypocrisy of the Officers And being sensible how wonderfully the Lord had preserved him and seeing also to the End of Fighting he laid down his Arms. Now the Time of my Commitment to the House of Correction being very neat out and there being many new Souldiers Raised the Commissioners would have made me Captain over them And the Soldiers cried They would have none but me So the Keeper of the House of Correction was Commanded to bring me up before the Commissioners and Souldiers in the Market-place and there they proffered me that Preferment as they called it asking me If I would not take up Arms for the Common-wealth against Charles Steward I told them I knew from whence all Wars did arise even from the Lust according to James his Doctrine and that I lived in the Vertue of that Life and Power that took away the Occasion of all Wars But they courted me to accept of their Offer and thought I did but Complement with them But I told them I was come into the Covenant of Peace which was before Wars and Strifes were They said They offered it in Love and Kindness to me because of my Vertue and such like flattering Words they used But I told them If that was their Love and Kindness I trampled it under my Feet Then their Rage got up and they said Take him away Jailer and put him into the Dungeon amongst the Rogues and Fellons Darby-Dungeon So I was had away and put into a lousy stinking Place without any Bed amongst thirty Fellons where I was kept almost half a Year unless it were at Times For they would sometime let me walk in the Garden having a Belief of me that I would not go away Now when they had gotten me into Darby-Dungeon it was the Belief and saying of People that I should never come out But I had Faith in God and believed I should be delivered in his Time For the Lord had said to me before That I was not to be removed from that Place yet being set there for a Service which he had for me to do After it was bruited abroad That I was in Darby-Dungeon my Relations came to see me again and they were much troubled that I should be in Prison For they looked upon it to be a great shame to them for me to lie in Jail It was a strange thing then to be Imprisoned for Religion And some thought I was Mad because I stood for Purity and Righteousness and Perfection Among others that came to see me and discourse with me there came a certain Person from Nottingham a Souldier and that had been a Baptist as I understood and with him came several others And in Discourse this Person said to me Your Faith stands in a Man that died at Jerusalem and there was never any such thing I was exceedingly grieved to hear him say so and I said to
both Priest and People and declared to them the Word of Life and Truth and directed them where they might find their Teacher the Lord Jesus Christ Some of the People were Convinced there that Day and received the Truth and stand fast in it and have a fine Meeting there-a-ways to this Day In the Afternoon I went to another Steeple-house about Three Miles off where preached a great High-Priest called a Doctor being one of them whom Justice Hotham would have sent for to have spoken with me So I went into the Steeple-house and stayed till the Priest had done Now the Words which he took for his Text were these Ho every One that Thirsteth come ye to the Waters and he that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Then was I moved of the Lord God to say unto him Come down thou deceiver Dost thou bid People Come freely and take of the Water of Life freely and yet thou takest Three hundred Pounds a Year of them for preaching the Scriptures to them Mayest not thou blush for shame Did the Prophet Isaiah and Christ do so who spake the Words and gave them forth freely Did not Christ say to his Ministers whom he sent to preach Freely ye have received freely give So the Priest like a Man amazed hastned away And after he was gone and had left his Flock I had as much Time as I could desire to speak to the People And I directed them from the Darkness to the Light and to the Grace of God that would Teach them and bring them Salvation and to the Spirit of God in their Inward Parts which would be a free Teacher unto them Then having Cleared my self amongst that People I returned to Justice Hotham's House that Night who when I came in took me in his Arms and said His House was my House for he was exceeding glad at the work of the Lord and that his Power was Revealed Then he told me Why he went not with me to the Steeple-house in the Morning and what Reasonings he had in himself about it for he thought if he had gone with me to the Steeple-house the Officers would have put me to him and then he should have been so put to it that he should not have known what to have done But he was glad he said when Captain Pursloe came up to go with me Yet neither of them was drest nor had their Bands about their Necks And it was a strange thing then to see a Man come into a Steeple-house without a Band Yet Captain Pursloe went in with me without his Band the Lord's Power and Truth had so affected him that he minded it not From hence I passed on through the Country and came at Night to an Inn where was a Company of rude People and I bid the Woman of the House if she had any Meat to bring me some But because I said Thee and Thou to her she looked strangely on me Then I asked her if she had any Milk and she said No. I was sensible she spake falsly And seeing a Churn standing in the Room and being willing to try her further I asked her If she had any Cream she denied that she had any Now there stood a Churn in the Room and a little Boy playing about it put his Hands into it and pulled it down and threw all the Cream on the Floor before my Eyes Thus was the Woman manifested to be a Liar The Woman was amazed and blest her self and took up the Child and whipt it sorely But I reproved her for her Lying and Deceit After the Lord had thus discovered her Deceit and Perversness I walked out of the House and went away till I came to a Stack of Hay and lay in the Hay-Stack that Night in Rain and Snow 1651. York it being but Three Days before the Time called Christmas The next day I came into York where were several People that were very tender And upon the First-Day of the Week following I was Commanded of the Lord to go to the great Minster and speak to Priest Bowles and his Hearers in their great Cathedral Accordingly I went and when the Priest had done I told them I had something from the Lord God to speak to the Priest and People Then say on quickly said a Professor that was among them for it was Frost and Snow and very Cold Weather Then I told them This was the Word of the Lord God unto them that they lived in Words but God Almightly looked for Fruits amongst them As soon as the Words were out of my Mouth they hurried me out and threw me down the Steps but I got up again without hurt and went to my Lodging again and several were Convinced there For the very Groans that arose from the Weight and Oppression that was upon the Spirit of God in me would open People and strike them and make them Confess That the Groans which brake forth through me did reach them For my Life was burthened with their Profession without Possession and Words without Fruit. Now after I had done my present Service in York and that several were Convinced there and received the Truth of God and were turned to his Teaching I passed out of York and looked towards Cleaveland And I saw there was a People that had tasted of the Power of God and I saw then there was a Seed in that Country and that God had an humble People there So I passed onwards that Night and a Papist overtook me and talked to me of his Religion and of their Meetings and I let him speak all that was in his Mind That Night I stayed at an Ale-house and the next Morning I was moved of the Lord to speak the Word of the Lord to this Papist So I went to his House and declared against his Religion and all their Superstitious Ways and told him that God was come to teach his People himself This put the Papist into such a Rage that he could not then endure to stay in his own House The next day I came to Burraby where there was a Priest Burraby and several Friendly People Met together Many of the People were Convinced and have continued faithful ever since and there is a great Meeting of Friends in that Town The Priest also was forced to Confess to Truth though he Came not into it The day following I passed to Cleaveland amongst those People Cleaveland that had tasted of the Power of God They had formerly had great Meetings but were then all shattered to pieces and the Heads of them turned Ranters I told them That after they had had such Meetings they did not Wait upon God to feel his Power to gather their Minds Inward that they might feel his Presence and Power amongst them in their Meetings to sit down therein and Wait upon him for they had spoken themselves dry they had spent their Portions
and not living in that which they spake of they were now become DRY They had some kind of Meetings still but they took Tobacco and drank Ale in their Meetings and were grown light and loose But my Message unto them from the Lord was 1651. Cleaveland That they should all come together again and Wait to feel the Lord's Power and Spirit in themselves to gather them to Christ that they might be taught of him who says Learn of me For when they had declared that which the Lord had opened to them then the People were to receive it and both the Speakers and Hearers were to live in that themselves But when these had no more to declare but went to seek Forms without Life that made themselves dry and barren and the People also and from thence came all their Loss for the Lord renews his Mercies and his Strength to them that Wait upon him The Heads of these People came to nothing but most of the People came to be Convinced and received God's everlasting Truth and continue a Meeting to this day sitting under the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour Upon the First day of the next Week the Word of the Lord came to me to go to the Steeple-house there which I did And when the Priest had done I spake the Truth to him and the People and directed them to their Teacher within Christ Jesus their free Teacher that had bought them The Priest came to me and I had a little Discourse with him but he was soon stopt and silent Then being Clear of the Place I passed away having had several Meetings amongst those People Though at this time the Snow was very deep yet I kept traveling And going through the Country came to a Market-Town where I met with many Professors with whom I had much Reasoning and I asked them many Questions which they were not able to Answer but said They had never had such deep Questions put to them in all their Lives Stath From them I went to another Place called Stath where also I met with many Professors and some Ranters I had great Meetings amongst them and a great Convincement there was and many received the Truth amongst whom One was an Ancient Man of an hundred Years of Age Another was a Chief Constable and a third was a Priest whose Name was Philip Scafe Him the Lord by his free Spirit did afterwards make a free Minister of his free Gospel The Priest of this Town was a lofty Priest and did much Oppress the People for his Tithes for if they went a Fishing many Leagues off he would make them pay the Tithe-Money of what they made of their Fish though they catched them at a great distance and carried them as far as Yarmouth to sell Now I was moved to go to the Steeple-house there to declare the Truth and lay open the Priest And when I had spoken to the Priest and laid his Oppressing of the People upon him he fled away The Chief of the Parish were very light and vain So after I had spoken the Word of Life to them I turned away from them because they did not receive it and left them But the Word of the Lord which I had declared amongst them stuck with some of them so that at Night some of the Heads of the Parish came to me and most of them were Convinced and satisfied and confest to the Truth Thus the Truth began to spread up and down that Country and great Meetings we had at which the Priest began to rage 1651. Stath and the Ranters began to be stirred and they sent me word that they would have a Dispute with me both the Oppressing Priest and the Leader of the Ranters A day was set and the Ranter came with his Company and another Priest a Scotch Man came but not the Oppressing Priest of Stath Philip Scafe who had been a Priest and was Convinced was with me and a great Number of People were met When we were setled the Ranter whose Name was T. Bushel told me He had had a Vision of me that I was sitting in a great Chair and that he was to come and put off his Hat and bow down to the Ground before me and he did so and many other flattering Words he spake I told him It was his own Figure and said unto him Repent thou Beast He said it was Jealousy in me to say so Then I asked him the Ground of Jealousy and how it came to be bred in Man And the Nature of a Beast what made it And how that was bred in Man For I saw him directly in that Nature of the Beast and therefore I would have known of him how that Nature came to be bred in him I told him He should give me an Account of things done in the Body before we came to discourse of things done out of the Body So I stopt up his Mouth that he could say no more and all his Fellow Ranters were silenced for he was the Head of them Then I called for the Oppressing Priest but he came not Only the Scotch Priest came but his Mouth was soon stopt with a very few Words he being out of the Life of what he did profess Then had I a good Opportunity with the People and I laid open the Ranters ranking them with the old Ranters in Sodom And the Priests I manifested to be of the same stamp with their Fellow Hirelings the false Prophets of old and the Priests that then bore rule over the People by their Means seeking for their Gain from their Quarter Divining for Money and Teaching for filthy Lucre and so I brought all the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles over the Heads of the Priests shewing how the Prophets Christ and the Apostles had long since discovered them by their Marks and Fruits Then I directed People to their Inward Teacher Christ Jesus their Saviour and I preached up Christ in the Hearts of his People when all these Mountains were laid low The People were all quiet and the Gainsayers Mouths were stopped for though they broiled inwardly yet the Power bound them down that they could not break out After the Meeting was over this Scottish Priest desired me to walk with him a top of the Cliffs Whereupon I called a Brother-in-Law of his who was in some measure Convinced and desired him to go with me telling him I was willing to have some Body by to hear what we said lest the Priest when I was gone should report any thing of me which I did not say So we went together and as we walked the Priest asked me many things concerning the Light and concerning the Soul To all which I answered him fully When he had done questioning we parted and he went his way and as he wâ—nt meeting with the other Priest Philip Scafe that was Convinced he brake his Cain against the Ground in Madness and said If ever he met with me
again he would have my Life or I should have his adding that he would give his Head if I was not knockt down within a Month. By this Friends suspected his intent was in desiring me to walk with him alone either to have Thrust me down from off the Cliff or to have done me some other Mischief And that when he saw himself frustrated in that by my having one with me that made him rage so But I feared neither his Prophecies nor his Threats for I feared God Almighty But some Friends through their Affection to me feared much that this Priest would do me some Mischief or set on Others to do it Yet after some Years this very Scotch Priest and his Wise also came to be Convinced of the Truth and about Twelve Years after this I was at their House After this there came another Priest to a Meeting where I was one that was in Repute above all the Priests in the Country and as I was speaking in the Meeting That the Gospel was the Power of God and how it brought Life and Immortality to Light in Men and so was turning People from Darkness to the Light this high-flown Priest said The Gospel was Mortal I told him The true Minister said The Gospel was the Power of God and would he make the Power of God Mortal Upon that the other Priest Philip Scafe that was Convinced and had felt the Immortal Power of God in himself took him up and reproved him and so a great Dispute arose between them the Convinced Priest holding that the Gospel was Immortal and the other Priest holding that it was Mortal But the Lord's Power was too hard for this Opposing Priest and stopp'd his Mouth And many People were Convinced seeing the Darkness that was in the Opposing Priest and the Light that was in the Convinced Priest Then another Priest sent to have a Dispute with me and Friends went with me to the House where he was But when he understood we were come he slipt out of the House and hid himself under an Hâ—dge The People went to seek him and found him but could not get him to come to us Then I went to a Steeple-house hard by there where the Priest and People were in a great rage This Priest had threatned Friends what he would do but when I came there he would not stand but fled for the Lord's Power came over him and them Yea the Lord 's Everlasting Power was over the World and did reach to the Hearts of People and made both Priests and Professors tremble It shook the earthly and airy Spirit in which they held their Profession of Religion and Worship ☞ so that it was a dreadful thing unto them when it was told them The Man in Leathern Breeches is come At the hearing thereof the Priests in many Places would get out of the way they were so struck with the dread of the Eternal Power of God and Fear surprized the Hypocrites Whitby Scarborough Wowls Malton From this Place we passed to Whitby and Scarborough where we had some Service for the Lord and there are large Meetings settled there since From thence I passed over the Wowls to Malton where we had great Meetings as we had also at the Towns thereabouts At one of those Towns there was a Priest sent me a Challenge to dispute with me But when I came he would not come sorth So I had a good Opportunity with the People and the Lord's Power seized upon them And one who had been a Wild drunken Man was reached therewith so that he came to me as lowly as a Lamb though he and his Companions had before sent for Drink 1651. Yorkshire to make the rude People drunk on purpose that they might abuse us So when the Priest would not come forth I was moved to go to the Steeple-house there and the Priest was Confounded and the Lord's Power came over all On the First-day following there came one of the highest Independent-Professors a Woman who had let in such a Prejudice against me that she said before she came She could willingly have gone to see me hang'd But when she came she was Convinc'd and remains a Friend Then I turned to Malton again Malton and very great Meetings there were to which several People more would have come but durst not for fear of their Relations for it was thought a strange thing then to preach in Houses and not go to the Church as they call'd it so that I was much desired to go and speak in the Steeple-houses One of the Priests writ to me and invited me to preach in his Steeple-house calling me his Brother Another Priest a noted Man kept a Lecture there Now the Lord had shewed me while I was in Darby-Prison That I should speak in Steeple-houses to gather People from thence and a Concern sometimes would come upon my Mind about the Pulpits that the Priests lolled in For the Steeple-houses and Pulpits were offensiâ—e to my Mind because both Priests and People called them the Hâ—use of God and Idolized them reckoning that God dwelt there in the outward House whereas they should have looked for God and Christ to dwell in their Hearts and their Bodies to be made the Temples of God for the Apostle said God dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands But by reason of the People's Idolizing those Places it was counted an heinous thing to declare against them Now when I came into the Steeple-house there were not passing Eleven Hearers and the Priest was preaching to them But after it was known in the Town that I was in the Steeple-house it was soon filled with People When the Priest that preacht that day had â—one he sent the other Priest that had Invited me thither to bring me up into the Pulpit but I sent back Word to him that I needed not to go into the Pulpit Then he sent to me again desiring me to go up into it for he said it was a better Place and there I might be seen of the People I sent him Word again I could be seen and heard well enough where I was and that I came not there to hold up such Places nor their Maintenance and Trade Upon my saying so they began to be angry and said These False Prophets were to come in the last Times Their saying so grieved many of the People and some began to murmur at it Whereupon I stood up and desired all to be quiet and stepping upon an High Seat I declared unto them the Marks of the false Prophets and shewed That they were already come and set the true Prophets and Christ and his Apostles over them and manifested these to be out of the Steps of the true Prophets and of Christ and his Apostles And I directed the People to their Inward Teacher Christ Jesus who would turn them from the Darkness to the Light And having opened divers Scriptures to them I directed them to the Spirit
of God in themselves by which they might come to him and by which they might also come to know 1651. Pickering who the false Prophets were So having had a large time among them I departed in Peace After some time traveling in the Country I came to Pickering where in the Steeple-house the Justices held their Sessions Justice Robinson being Chairman and I had a Meeting in the School-house at the same time and abundance of Priests and Professors came to it asking Questions which were Answered to their Satisfaction And it being Sessions-time four Chief-Constables and many other Poople were Convinced that day And word was carried to Justice Robinson that his Priest was Overthrown and Convinced whom he had a Love to more than to all the Priests besides After the Meeting was done we went to an Inn and Justice Robinson's Priest was very lowly and loving and would have paid for my Dinner but I would by no means suffer it Then he offered that I should have his Steeple-house to preach in But I denied it and told him and the People That I came to bring them off from such things to Christ. The next Morning I went up with the Four Chief-Constables and some others to visit Justice Robinson who met me at his Chamber-door I told him I could not honour him with Man's Honour and he said He did not look for it So I went into his Chamber and opened te him the State of the false Prophets and of the true Prophets and set the true Prophets and Christ and the Apostles over the other and directed his Mind to Christ his Teacher and opened to him the Parables and how Election and Reprobation stood as that Reprobation stood in the first Birth and Election stood in the second Birth I shewed also what the Promise of God was to and what the Judgment of God was against He Confessed to it all and was so opened with the Truth that when another Justice that was present made some little Opposition he Informed him At our parting he said It was very well that I did exercise that Gift which God had given me And he took the Chief-Constables aside and would have given them some Money to have given me saying He would not have me be at any Charge in their Country but they told him That they themselves could not get me to take any Money and so accepting his Kindness refused his Money From thence I passed up into the Country and the Priest that called me Brother in whose School-house I had the Meeting at Pickering went along with me When we came into a Town to bait the Bells rang Whereupon I asked What the Bells rang for And they said for me to preach in the Steeple-house After some Time I felt Drawings that way And as I walked to the Steeple-house I saw the People were gathered together in the Steeple-house-yard The Old Priest would have had me gone into the Steeple-house but I said Nay it was no matter But it was something strange to the People that I would not go into that which they called the House of God Then I stood up in the Steeple-house-yard and declared to the People That I came not to hold up their Idol-Temples nor their Priests nor their Tithes nor their Augmentations nor their Priests-wages nor their Jewish and Heathenish Ceremonies and Traditions for I denyed all these and told them that that piece of Ground was no more Holy than another Piece of Ground 1651. Yorkshire And I shewed them that the Apostles going into the Jews Synagogues and Temples which God had Commanded was To bring People off from that Temple and those Synagogues and from the Offerings and Tithes and Covetous Priests of that Time And that such as came to be Convinced of the Truth and Converted to it and believed in Jesus Christ whom the Apostles preached they met together afterwards in Dwelling-Houses And that all who preach Christ the Word of Life ought to preach freely as the Apostles did and as he had Commanded So I was sent of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to preach freely and to bring People off from these outward Temples made with Hands which God dwelleth not in that they might know their Bodies to become the Temples of God and of Christ And to draw People off from all their Superstitious Ceremonies and Jewish and Heathenish Customs Traditions and Doctrines of Men and from all the World's Hireling-Teachers that take Tithes and great Wages preaching for Hire and divining for Money whom God and Christ never sent as themselves confess when they say They never heard God's Voice nor Christ's Voice Therefore I exhorted the People to come off from all these things and directed them to the Spirit and Grace of God in themselves and to the Light of Jesus in their own Hearts that they might come to know Christ their Free Teacher to bring them Salvation and to open the Scriptures to them Thus the Lord gave me a good Opportunity amongst them to open things largely unto them and all was quiet and many were Convinced Blessed be the Lord. I passed on to another Town where there was another great Meeting and the Old Priest before-mentioned went along with me and there came Professors of several sorts to it Now I sate on an Hay-stack and spake nothing for some Hours for I was to famish them from Words And the Professors would ever and anon be speaking to the Old Priest and asking him When I would begin and when I would speak And he bad them Wait and told them That the People waited upon Christ a long while before he spake At last I was moved of the Lord to speak and they were struck by the Lord's Power and the Word of Life reached to them and there was a General Convincement amongst them From hence I passed on the Old Priest being still with me and several others And as we went along some People called to the Old Priest and said Mr. Boyes We owe you some Money for Tithes pray come and take it But the Old Priest threw up his Hands and said He had enough he would have none of it they might keep it And he praised the Lord he had enough At length we came to this Old Priest's Steeple-house in the Moors And when we were come into it the Old Priest went before me The Moors and held open the Pulpit-Door but I forbad him and told him I should not go into it This Steeple-house was very much painted and I told him and the People That the painted Beast had a painted House Then I opened to them the Rise of all those Houses and their Superstitious Ways shewing them that as the End of the Apostles going into the Temple and Synagogues which God had Commanded was not to hold them up 1651. Yorkshire in the Moors but to bring them to Christ the Substance So the End of my coming there was not to hold up these
more a Quaker than the Priest that printed it but was one of their own People But notwithstanding this wicked Slander by which the Adversary designed to defame us and turn Peoples Minds against the Truth we held forth many in Lincolnshire received the Gospel being Convinced of the Lord 's Everlasting Truth and sate down therein under the Lord 's heavenly Teaching Yorkshire Warnsworth After this I passed in the Lord's Power into Yorkshire and came to Warnsworth and went to the Steeple-house in the Fore-noon but they shut the Door against me Yet after a while they let in Thomas Aldam and then shut it again and the Priest fell upon him asking him Questions At last they opened the Door and I went in and as soon as I was come in the Priests sight he left Preaching though I said nothing to him for he was in a great Maze and asked me What have you to say and presently Cried out Come come I will prove them false Prophets in Matthew But he was so Confounded he could not find the Chapter Then he fell on me asking me many Questions and I stood still all this while not saying any thing amongst them At last I said Seeing here are so many Questions asked I may Answer them But as soon as I began to speak the People violently rushed upon me and thrust me out of the Steeple-house again and lockt the Door on me And as soon as they had done their Service and were come forth the People ran upon me and knockt me sorely with their Staves threw Clods and Stones at me and abused me much the Priest also being in a great rage laid violent Hands on me himself But I warned them and him of the Terrible Day of the Lord and exhorted them to Repent and turn to Christ And being filled with the Lord's refreshing Power I was not sensible of much hurt I had received by their Blows In the Afternoon I went to another Steeple-house but the Priest had done before I got thither So I preached Repentance to the People that were left and directed them to their inward Teacher Jesus Christ. Balby Doncaster From hence I went to Balby and so to Doncaster where I had formerly preach'd Repentance on the Market-day which had made a Noise and Alarm in the Country On the First-day I went to the Steeple-house and after the Priest had done I spake to him and the People what the Lord God had Commanded me And they were in a great Rage and hurried me out and threw me down and haled me before the Magistrates and a long Examination they made of me and much Work I had with them And they threatned my Life if ever I came there again and that they would leave me to the Mercy of the People Nevertheless I declared Truth amongst them and directed them to the Light of Christ in them testifying unto them That God was come to teach his People himself 1652. Doncaster whether they would hear or whether they would forbear After a while they put us out for some Friends were with me among the rude Multitude and they stoned us down the Streets And there was an Inn-keeper that was a Bayliff came and took us into his House and they brake his Head that the Blood ran down his Face with the Stones that they threw at us So we stay'd a while in his House and shewed the more sober People the Priest's Fruits Then we went away to Balby Balby about a Mile off and the rude People laid wait for us and stoned us down the Lane But blessed be the Lord we did not receive much hurt The next first-Day I went to Tickhill Tickhill whither the Friends of that Side gathered together and there was a Meeting and a mighty Brokenness by the Power of God there was amongst the People I went out of the Meeting being moved of God to go to the Steeple-house And when I came there I found the Priest and most of the Chief of the Parish together in the Chancel So I went up to them and began to speak but they immediately fell upon me and the Clark up with his Bible as I was speaking and struck me on the Face with it so that my Face gushed out with Blood and I bled exceedingly in the Steeple-house Then the People cried Let us have him out of the Church And when they had got me out they beat me exceedingly and threw me down and threw me over an Hedge And afterwards dragged me through an House into the Street stoning and beating me as they dragged me along so that I was all-over besmeared with Blood and Dirt. And they got my Hat from me which I never got again Yet when I was got upon my Legs again I declared to them the Word of Life and shewed them the Fruits of their Teacher and how they dishonoured Christianity So after a while I got into the Meeting again amongst Friends And the Priest and People coming by the House I went forth with Friends into the Yard and there I spake to the Priest and People and the Priest scofed at us and called us Quakers But the Lord's Power was so over them and the Word of Life was declared in such Authority and Dread to them that the Priest fell a Trembling himself and one of the People said Look how the Priest trembles and shakes he is turned a Quaker also So when the Meeting was over Friends departed and I went without my Hat to Balby about Seven or Eight Miles Balby And Friends were much abused that Day by the Priest and his People Insomuch that some moderate Justices hearing of it Two or Three of them came and sate at the Town to hear and examine the Business And he that had shed my Blood was afraid of having his Hand cut off for striking me in the Church as they called it but I forgave him and would not appear against him In the beginning of this Year Yorkshire West-Riding 1652 great Rage got up in Priests and People and in some of the Magistrates in the West-Riding of Yorkshire against the Truth and against Friends insomuch that the Priest of Warnsworth procured a Warrant from the Justices against me and Thomas Aldam which was to be executed in any part of the West-Riding of Yorkshire ☜ At the same Time I had a Vision of a Bear and Two great Mastiff-Dogs that I should pass by them and they should do me no hurt and it proved so 1652. West-Riding For the Constable took Thomas Aldam and carried him to York and I went with Thomas Aldam Twenty Miles towards York and the Constable had the Warrant for me also and said He saw me but he was loth to trouble Men that were Strangers but Thomas Aldam was his Neighbour So the Lord's Power restrained him that he had not Power to meddle with me And we came to Lieutenant Roper's where we had a great Meeting of many
Considerable Men and the Truth was powerfully declared amongst them and the Scriptures wonderfully opened and the Parables and Sayings of Christ were expounded and the State of the Church in the Apostles Days was plainly set forth and the Apostacy since from that State discovered And the Truth had great Dominion that Day so that those Great Men that were present did generally Confess to it saying They believed that this Principle must go over the whole World There were at this Meeting James Naylor Thomas Goodyear and William Dewsbury who had been Convinced the Year before and Richard Farnsworth also And the Constable stay'd with Thomas Aldam till the Meeting was over And then went towards York-prison but did not meddle with me Wakefield From hence I went to Wakefield and on the First Day after I went to a Steeple-house where James Naylor had been a Member of an Independent-Church but upon his receiving Truth he was Excommunicated When I came in and the Priest had done the People called upon me to come up to the Priest which I did But when I began to declare the Word of Life to them and to lay open the Deceit of the Priest they rushed upon me on a suddain and thrust me out at the other Door and fell a punching and beating me and Cried Let us have him to the Stocks But the Lord's Power was over them and restrained them that they were not suffered to put me in So I passed away to the Meeting where were a great many Professors and friendly People gathered and a great Convincement there was that Day For the People were mightily satisfied that they were directed to the Lord 's Teaching in themselves Here we got some Lodging for Four of us had lain abroad under an Hedge the Night before there being then few Friends in that Place The same Day Richard Farnsworth went to another great Steeple-house belonging to a great High-priest and declared the Word of Truth unto the People and a great Service he had amongst them For the Lord 's Dread and Power was mightily over all The Priest of that Church which James Naylor had been a Member of whose Name mas Marshal raised many Wicked Slanders upon me as That I carried Bottles about with me and made People drink of my Bottles and that made them follow me And That I rid upon a great Black Horse and was seen in one Country upon my Black Horse in one Hour and in the same Hour in another Country Threescore Miles off and That I should give a Fellow Money to follow me when I was on my Black Horse With these Hellish Lies he fed his People to make them think Evil of the Truth which I had declared amongst them But by these Lies of his he preached many of his Hearers away from him For I was then on Foot and travelled on foot and had no Horse at that Time and that the People generally knew But the Lord soon after met with this Envious Priest 1652. High-town and Cut him off in his Wickedness After this I came to a Town called High-Town where dwelt a Woman who had been Convinced a little before and we went to her House and had a Meeting and the Towns-people gathered together and we declared the Truth to them and had some Service for the Lord amongst them and they passed away again peaceably But there was a Widow-woman in the Town whose Name was Green who being filled with Envy went to one that was called a Gentleman in the Town who was reported to have killed Two Men and One Woman and Informed him against us though he was no Officer The next Morning we drew up some Queries to be sent to the Priest And when we had done and were just going away some of the Friendly People of the Town came running up to the House where we were and told us That this Murdering Man had sharpened a Pike to stab us and was coming up with his Sword by his Side We were just passing away and so missed him But we were no sooner gone but he came to the House where we had been and the People generally Concluded If we had not been gone he would have murdered some of us That Night we lay in a Wood and were very Wet for it Rained exceedingly In the Morning I was moved to come back to that Town again and then they gave us a full Relation of this wicked Man From hence we passed to Bradford and came to an House Bradford where we met with Richard Farnsworth again from whom we had parted a little before When we came in they set Meat before us but as I was going to Eat the Word of the Lord came to me saying Eat not the Bread of such as have an Evil Eye Immediately I arose from the Table and ate nothing The Woman of the House was a Baptist So after I had exhorted the Family To turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and hearken to his Teachings in their own Hearts We departed thence And as we travelled through the Country preaching Repentance to the People we came into a Market-town on the Market-day and there was a Lecture there that Day And I went into the Steeple-house where were many Priests and Professors and People The Priest that preached took for his Text those Words of Jeremiah Chap. 5. ver 31. My People love to have it so Leaving out the foregoing Words viz. The Prophets prophesy falsly and the Priests bear Rule by their Means So I shewed the People his Deceit and directed them to Christ the true Teacher within declaring unto them that God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all the World's Teachers and Hirelings that they might come to receive freely from him Then warning them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Flesh I passed from thence without much Opposition At Night we came to a Country-house and there was no Ale-house near They desired us to stay there all Night which we did and had good Service for the Lord declaring his Truth amongst them 1652. Yorkshire The next Day we passed on For the Lord had said unto me If but one Man or Woman were Raised up by his Power to stand and live in the same Spirit that the Prophets and Apostles were in who gave forth the Scriptures ☞ that Man or Woman should shake all the Country in their Profession for Ten Miles round For People had the Scriptures but were not in that same Light and Power and Spirit which they were in that gave forth the Scriptures and so they neither knew God nor Christ nor the Scriptures aright nor had they Vnity one with another being out of the Power and Spirit of God Therefore as we passed along we Warned all People where-ever we met them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon them Pendle-hill As we travelled on we came near a very great and high
Hill called Pendle-hill and I was moved of the Lord to go up to the Top of it which I did with much ado it was so very Steep and High When I was come to the Top of this Hill I saw the Sea bordering upon Lancashire And from the Top of this Hill the Lord let me see in what Places he had a Great People to be gathered As I went down I found a Spring of Water in the Side of the Hill with which I refreshed my self having eaten or drunk but little in several Days before At Night we came to an Inn and declared Truth to the Man of the House and writ a Paper to the Priests and Professors declaring the Day of the Lord and that Christ was come to teach People himself by his Power and Spirit in their Hearts and to bring People off from all the World's Ways and Teachers to his own free Teaching who had bought them and was the Saviour of all them that believed in him The Man of the House spread the Paper abroad and was himself mightily affected with the Truth Here the Lord opened unto me and let me see a Great People in white Raiment by a River-side coming to the Lord And the Place that I saw them in was about Wentzerdale and Sedbergh The next Day we travelled on and at Night got a little Fern or Brakins to lay under us and lay upon a Common Next Morning we reached to a Town and there Richard Farnsworth parted from me and then I travelled alone again Wentzerdale So I came up Wentzerdale and at the Market-Town in that Dale there was a Lecture on the Market-day and I went into the Steeple-house And after the Priest had done I Proclaimed the Day of the Lord to the Priest and People Warning them to turn from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto God that they might come to know God and Christ aright and to receive his Teaching who teacheth freely And largely and freely did I declare the Word of Life unto them and had not much Persecution there Afterwards I passed up the Dales Warning People to fear God and preaching the Everlasting Gospel to them And in my way I came to a Great House where there was a School-master and they got me into the House And I asked them Questions about their Religion and Worship and afterward I declared the Truth to them They had me into a Parlour and lockt me in pretending that I was a Young Man that was Mad and had got away from my Relations and that they would keep me till they could send to my Relations 1652. Wentzerdale But I soon Convinced them of their Mistake in that and they let me forth and would have had me to stay there But I was not to stay there Then having exhorted them to Repentance and directed them to the Light of Christ Jesus that through it they might come unto him and be saved I passed from them and came in the Night to a little Ale-house on a Common where there was a Company of Rude Fellows drinking And because I would not drink with them they got up their Clubs and were striking at me but I reproved them and brought them to be somewhat Cooler and then I walked out of the House upon the Common in the Night After some time one of these drunken Fellows came out and would have come close up to me pretending to whisper to me but I perceived he had a Knife wherefore I kept off from him and bid him Repent and fear God So the Lord by his Power preserved me from this Wicked Man and he went into the House again The next Morning I went on through other Dales Yorkshire Dales Warning and Exhorting People every where as I passed to Repent and turn to the Lord and several were Convinced At one House that I came to the Man of the House whom I afterwards found to be a Kinsman of John Blakelin's would have given me Money but I would not Receive it As thus I traveled on through the Dales I came to another Man's House whose Name was Tennant And I was moved to speak to the Family and declare God's Everlasting Truth to them And as I was turning away from them I was moved to turn again and speak to the Man himself And he was Convinced and his Family and lived and died in the Truth Thence I came to Major Bousfield's who received me as did also several others and some that were then Convinced have stood faithful ever since Grysedale I went also thro' Grysedale and several other of those Dales in which some were Convinced And I went into Dent where many were Convinced also Dent. But from Major Bousfield's I came to Richard Robinson's and declared the Everlasting Truth to him The next day I went to a Meeting at Justice Benson's where met a a People that were separated from the publick Worship This was the place that I had seen where a People came forth in white Raiment A large Meeting it was and the People were generally Convinced and continue a large Meeting still of Friends near Sedburgh Near Sedburgh Which was then first gathered through my Ministry in the Name of Jesus In the same Week there was a great Fair at which Servants used to be hired And I went and declared the day of the Lord through the Fair. And after I had done so I went into the Steeple-house-Yard and many of the People of the Fair came thither to me and abundance of Priests and Professors There I declared the Everlasting Truth of the Lord and the Word of Life for several Hours shewing that the Lord was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all the World's Ways and Teachers to Christ the true Teacher and the true Way to God I laid open their Teachers shewing that they were like them that were of Old condemned by the Prophets and by Christ and by the Apostles And I exhorted the People to come off from the Temples made with Hands 1652. Near Sedburgh and Wait to receive the Spirit of the Lord that they might know themselves to be the Temples of God Not one of the Priests had power to open his Mouth against what I declared But at last a Captain said Why will you not go into the Church for this is not a fit place to preach in said he But I told him I denied their Church Then stood up one Francis Howgill who was a Preacher to a Congregation He had not seen me before yet he undertook to Answer that Captain and soon put him to Silence Then said this Francis Howgill of me This Man speaks with Authority and not as the Scribes After this I opened to the People That that Ground and House was no holier than another Place and that that House is not the Church but the People whom Christ is the Head of Then after a while the
but told them If they would appoint a Meeting for the next day at the Steeple-house and acquaint the People with it I might meet them They had a great deal of Reasoning about it some being for it and some against it In the Morning I walked out after I had spoken again to them concerning the Meeting and as I walked upon a Bank by the House there came several poor People Travellers asking Relief who I saw were in Necessity and they gave them nothing but said they were Cheats It grieved me to see such hard-heartedness amongst Professors whereupon when they were gone in to their Breakfast I ran after the Poor People about a quarter of a Mile and gave them some Money Mean while some of them that were in the House coming out again and seeing me a quarter of a Mile off said I could not have gone so far in such an Instant if I had not had Wings Hereupon the Meeting was like to have been put by for they were filled with such strange Thoughts concerning me that many of them were against having a Meeting with me I told them I ran after those poor People to give them some Money being grieved at their hard-heartedness who gave them nothing Then came Miles and Stephen Hubbersty and they being more simple-hearted Men would have the Meeting held So to the Chappel at Vnder-barrow I went and the Priest came and a great Meeting there was and the Way of Life and Salvation was opened and after a while the Priest fled away And many of Crook and Vnder-barrow were Convinced that day and received the Word of Life and stood fast in it under the Teaching of Christ Jesus Now after I had declared the Truth to them for some Hours and the Meeting was ended the Chief-Constable and some other Professors fell to Reasoning with me in the Chappel-Yard Whereupon I took a Bible and opened to them the Scriptures and dealt tenderly with them as one would do with a Child And they that were in the Light of Christ and Spirit of God knew when I spake Scripture though I did not mention Chapter and Verse after the Priest's Form unto them From hence I went along with an ancient Man 1652. Under-barrow whose Heart the Lord had opened and he invited me to his House His Name was James Dickinson He was Convinced that day and received the Truth and lived and died in it From his House I came the next day to James Taylor 's of Newton in Cartmell in Lancashire And on the First-day of the Week Lancashire Newton in Cartmell I went to the Chappel wheâ—e one Priest Camelford used to preach and after he had done I began to speak the Word of Life to the People But this Priest Camelford was in such a Rage and did so fret and was so peevish that he had no patience to hear but stirred up the rude Multitude and they rudely haled me out and struck and punched me and threw me Headlong over a Stone-Wall yet blessed be the Lord his Power preserved me He that did this Violence to me was a wicked Man one John Knipe whom afterwards the Lord cut off But there was a Youth in the Chappel writing after the Priest and I was moved to speak to him and he came to be Convinced and received a part of the Ministry of the Gospel His Name was John Brathwait Then went I up to an Ale-house whither many People resorted betwixt the time of their Morning and Afternoon-Preaching and I had a great deal of Reasoning with the People there declaring to them That God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all false Teachers such as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles cryed against And many received the Word of Life at that time and abode in it In the Afternoon I went about two or three Miles to another Steeple-house or Chappel called Lyndal And when the Priest had done I spake to him and the People what the Lord commanded me and there were great Opposers but afterwards they came to be Convinced After this I went to one Captain Sands who with his Wife seemed somewhat affected with Truth and if they could have held the World and Truth together they would have received it but they were Hypocrites and he a very Chaffy light Man Wherefore I reproved him for his Lightness and for his Jesting telling him It was not seemly in a great Professor as he was Thereupon he told me He had a Son who upon his Death-bed had also reproved him for it and warned him of it But he neither regarded the Admonition of his dying Son nor the Reproofs of God's Spirit in himself From hence I went to Vlverstone Ulverstone Swarthmore and so to Swarthmore to Judge Fell's whether came up one Lampitt a Priest who I perceived had been and still was an high Notionist With him I had a great deal of Reasoning for he would talk of high Notions and Perfection and thereby deceived the People He would have owned me but I could not own nor join with him he was so full of Filth He said He was above John and made as though he knew all things But I told him Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that he was under Death and knew not Moses for Moses saw the Paradise of God but he knew neither Moses nor the Prophets nor John For that crooked and rough Nature stood in him and the Mountain of Sin and Corruptions and the Way was not prepared in him for the Lord. 1652. Swarthmore He confessed he had been under a Cross in things but now he could sing Psalms and do any thing I told him Now he could see a Thief and join Hand in Hand with him But he could not preach Moses nor the Prophets nor John nor Christ except he were in the same Spirit that they were in Now Margaret Fell had been abroad in the Day-time and at Night her Children told her that Priest Lampitt and I had dis-agreed which did some-what trouble her because she was in a Profession with him but he hid his dirty Actions from them At Night we had a great deal of Reasoning and I declared the Truth to her and her Family The next day Lampitt came again and I had a great deal of Discourse with him before Margaret Fell who then clearly discerned the Priest and a Convincement of the Lord's Truth came upon her and her Family Within a day or two there was a day to be observed for an Humiliation and Margaret Fell asked me to go with her to the Steeple-house at Vlverstone Ulverstone for she was not wholly come off from them I replied I must do as I am ordered by the Lord. So I left her and walked into the Fields and the Word of the Lord came to me saying Go to the Steeple-house after them When I came the Priest Lampitt was singing with his People But his Spirit was so foul
they do come to be renewed again into the Image of God they come out of the Natures of these things and so out of the Names thereof Many more such things were declared to them and they were turned to the Light of Christ by which they might come to know Christ and to receive him and might witness him to be their Substance and their Way their Salvation and true Teacher And many were Convinced at that Time Now after I had travelled up and down in those Countries and had had great Meetings Swarthmore Ulverston I came to Swarthmore again And when I had visited Friends a while in those Parts I heard of a great Meeting the Priests were to have at Vlverstone on a Lecture-Day Whereupon I went down to it and went into the Steeple-house in the Dread and Power of the Lord And when the Priest had done I spake among them the Word of the Lord which was as an Hammer and as a Fire amongst them And though Lampit the Priest of the Place had been at variance with most of the Priests before yet against the Truth he and they all joined together But the mighty Power of the Lord was over all and so wonderful was the Appearance thereof that Priest Bennet said The Church shook Insomuch that he was afraid and trembled and after he had spoken a few Confused Words he hastened out for fear the Steeple-house would fall on his Head There were many Priests got together there yet they had no Power as yet to Persecute When I had cleared my Conscience amongst them I went up to Swarthmore again whither came up four or five of the Priests 1652. Swarthmore And coming to discourse I asked them Whether any one of them could say he ever had the Word of the Lord to go and speak to such or such a People None of them durst say He had But one of them burst out into a Passion and said He could speak his Experiences as well as I. I told him Experience was one thing but to receive and go with a Message and to have a Word from the Lord as the Prophets and Apostles had and did and as I had done to them this was another thing And therefore I put it to them again Could any of them say he had ever had a Command or Word from the Lord immediately at any time but none of them could say so Then I told them The false Prophets and false Apostles and Antichrists could use the Words of the true Prophets and true Apostles and of Christ and would speak of other Mens Experiences though they themselves never knew nor heard the Voice of God and Christ and such as They might get the good Words and Experiences of others This puzzled them much and laid them open For at another time when I was discoursing with several Priests at Judge Fell's House and he was by I asked them the same Question Whether any of them ever heard the Voice of God or Christ to bid him go to such or such a People to declare his Word or Message unto them for any one I told them any that could but read might declare the Experiences of the Prophets and Apostles which were recorded in the Scriptures Hereupon one of them whose Name was Thomas Taylor an ancient Priest did ingenuously Confess before Judge Fell That he had never heard the Voice of God nor of Christ to send him to any People but he spake his Experiences and the Experiences of the Saints in former Ages and That he preached This very much Confirmed Judge Fell in the Perswasion he had That the Priests were wrong for he had thought formerly as the generality of People then did That they were sent from God This Thomas Taylor was Convinced at this time Westmorland Cross-land and traveled with me into Westmorland And coming to Crossland-Steeple-house we found the People gathered together there And the Lord opened Thomas Taylor 's Mouth amongst the People though he was Convinced but the day before so that he declared amongst them How he had been before he was Convinced and like the good Scribe that was Converted to the Kingdom he brought forth things new and old to the People and shewed them how the Priests were out of the Way Which did torment the Priests Some little discourse I had with them but they sled away and a precious Meeting there was wherein the Lord's Power was over all and the People were directed to the Spirit of God by which they might come to know God and Christ and to understand the Scriptures aright After this I passed on visiting Friends and had very large Meetings in Westmorland Now began the Priests to Rage more and more and as much as they could to stir up Persecution Whereupon James Naylor and Francis Howgill were cast into Prison in Appleby-Jail at the instigation of the malicious Priests some of whom prophesied That within a Month we should be all scattered again and come to nothing But blessed for ever be the Worthy Name of the Lord the Work of the Lord went on and prospered 1652. Westmorland For about this time John Audland and Francis Howgill and John Camm and Edward Burrough and Richard Hubberthorn and Miles Hubbersty and Miles Halhead with several others being endued with Power from on high came forth into the Work of the Ministry and approved themselves faithful Labourers therein traveling up and down and preaching the Gospel freely by means whereof Multitudes were Convinced and many effectually turned to the Lord. Amongst these Christopher Taylor was one who was Brother to Thomas Taylor before-mentioned and had been a Preacher to a People as well as his Brother But after they had received the knowledge of the Truth they soon came into Obedience thereunto and left their Preaching for Hire or Rewards And having received a part of the Ministry of the Gospel they preached Christ freely being often sent by the Lord to declare his Word in Steeple-houses and in Markets and great Sufferers they were Lancashire Ulverstone After I had visited Friends in Westmorland I returned into Lancashire and went to Vlverstone where Lampitt was Priest who though he had preached of a People that did own the Teachings of God and had said That Men and Women should come to declare the Gospel yet afterwards when it came to be fulfilled he persecuted both it and them To this Priest's House I went where abundance of Priests and Professors â—ere got together after their Lecture with whom I had great Disputings concerning Christ and the Scriptures for they were loth to let their Trade go down which they made of preaching Christ's and the Apostles and Prophets Words But the Lord's Power went over the Heads of them all and his Word of Life was held forth amongst them though many of them were exceeding Envious and Devillish Yet after this many Priests and Professors came to me from far and near of whom they that were
abused and he offered to Assist me in what he could But I told him The Lord's Power was over all So I walked through the People in the Market and none of them had power to touch me then But some of the Market-People abusing some Friends in the Market I turned me about and saw this Souldier among them with his naked Rapier whereupon I ran in amongst them and catching hold of his Hand that his Rapier was in I bid him Put up his Sword again if he would go along with me for I was willing to draw him out from the Company lest some Mischief should be done Yet a few days after seven Men fell upon this Souldier and beat him cruelly because he had taken part with Friends and me For it was the manner of the Persecutors of that Country for twenty or forty People to run upon one Man And they fell so upon Friends in many Places that they could hardly pass the High-ways Swarthmore stoning beating and breaking their Heads Now when I came up to Swarthmore I found the Friends there dressing the Heads and Hands of Friends and Friendly People which had been broken or hurt that day by the Professors and Hearers of Lampitt the Priest My Body and Arms were yellow black and blue with the Blows and Bruises I received amongst them that day And now began the Priests to prophesy again That within half a Year we should be all put down and gone 1652. Walney Island About two Weeks after this I went into Walney-Island and James Naylor went with me and we stay'd one Night at a little Town on this side called Cockan and had a Meeting there where there was one Convinced After a while there came a Man with a Pistol Cockan whereupon the People ran out of Doors He called for me and when I came out to him he snapp'd his Pistol at me but it would not go off This caused the People to make a great Bustle about him and some of them took hold of him to prevent his doing Mischief Buâ— I was moved in the Lord's Power to speak to him and he was so struck by the Power of the Lord that he trembled for fear and went and hid himself Thus the Lord's Power came over them all though there was a great Rage in the Country The next Morning I went over in a Boat to James Lancaster's and as soon as I came to Land there rushed out about Forty Men with Staves Clubs and Fishing-poles and fell upon me beating and punching me and endeavoured to thrust me backward into the Sea And when they had thrust me almost into the Sea and I saw they would have knock'd me down there in the Sea I went up into the Middle of them but they laid at me again and knock'd me down and stunn'd me When I came to my self I looked up and saw James Lancaster's Wife throwing Stones at my Face and her Husband James Lancaster was lying over me to keep the Blows and the Stones from off me For the People had persuaded James Lancaster's Wife that I had bewitched her Husband and had promised her That if she would let them know when I came thither they would be my death And having got knowledge of my Coming many of the Town rose up in this manner with Clubs and Staves to kill me but the Lord's Power preserved me that they could not take away my Life At length I got up upon my Feet but they beat me down again into the Boat which James Lancaster observing he presently came into the Boat to me and set me over the Water from them but while we were on the Water within their Reach they struck at us with long Poles and threw Stones after us By that time we were come to the other side we saw them beating James Naylor for whilst they had been beating of me he walked up into a Field and they never minded him till I was gone then they fell upon him and all their Cry was Kill him Kill him Now when I was come over to the Town again on the other side of the Water the Townsmen rose up with Pitchforks Flails and Staves to keep me out of the Town crying Kill him knock him on the Head bring the Cart and carry him away to the Church-yard So after they had abused me they drove me a pretty way out of the Town and there left me Then went James Lancaster back again to look after James Naylor and I being now left alone went to a Ditch of Water and having washed my self for they had all bedirted and besmeared my Face Hands and Cloaths with Miry Dirt and Wet I walked about three Miles to Thomas Hutton's House where lodged Thomas Lawson the Priest that was Convinced And when I came in I could hardly speak to them I was so bruised only I told them where I left James Naylor whereupon they took each of them an Horse 1652. Cockan and went and brought him thither that Night The next day Margaret Fell hearing of it sent an Horse for me but so sore I was with the Bruises I had that I was not able to bear the shaking of the Horse without much pain When I was come to Swarthmore Swarthmore Justice Sawrey and one Justice Thompson of Lancaster granted forth a Warrant against me but Judge Fell coming home it was not served upon me for he was out of the Country all this time that I was thus abused and cruelly used But when he came home he sent forth Warrants into the Isle of Walney to apprehend all those Riotous Persons whereupon some of them fled the Country James Lancaster's Wife was afterwards Convinced of the Truth and Repented of the Evil she had done me and so did some others of those bitter Persecutors also but the Judgments of God fell upon some of them and Destruction is come upon many of them since Judge Fell asked me to give him a Relation of my Persecution but I told him They could do no otherwise in the Spirit wherein they were and that they manifested the Fruits of their Priest's Ministry and their Profession and Religion to be wrong So he told his Wife I made nothing of it and that I spake of it as Man that had not been concerned For indeed the Lord's Power healed me again Yelland After I was recovered I went to Yelland where there was a great Meeting In the Evening there came a Priest to the House with a Pistol in his Hand under pretence to light a Pipe of Tobacco and the Maid of the House seeing the Pistol told her Master who thereupon clapping his Hands on both the Door-Posts told him He should not come in there And while he stood there keeping the Door-way he looked up and spied over the Wall a Company of Men coming some armed with Staves and one with a Musket But the Lord God prevented their Bloody Design so that seeing themselves discovered they went
their way and did no harm Lancaster The time for the Sessions at Lancaster being come I went to Lancaster with Judge Fell who on the way told me He had never had such a Matter brought before him before and he could not well tell what to do in the Business I told him when Paul was brought before the Rulers and the Jews and Priests came down to Accuse him and laid many false things to his Charge Paul stood still all that while And when they had done Festus the Governour and King Agrippa beckned to him to speak for himself which Paul did and cleared himself of all those false Accusations And so he might do by me Being come to Lancaster and Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson having granted a Warrant to apprehend me though I was not apprehended by it Lancaster Sessions yet hearing of it I appeared at the Sessions where there appeared against me about Forty Priests These had chosen one Marshal Priest of Lancaster to be their Orator and had provided one young Priest and two Priests Sons to bear Witness against me who had sworn before-hand that I had spoken Blasphemy When the Justices were set they heard all that the Priests and their Witnesses could say and charge against me their Orator Marshal sitting by and explaining their Sayings for them But the Witnesses were so Confounded that they discovered themselves to be false Witnesses For when the Court had Examined one of the Witnesses upon Oath 1652. Lancaster Sessions and then began to Examin another of them he was at such loss he could not Answer directly but said the other could say it Which made the Justices say to him Have you sworn it and given it in already upon your Oath and now say That he can say it It seems you did not hear those words spoken your self though you have sworn it There were then in Court several People who had been at that Meeting wherein the Witnesses swore I spake those blasphemous Words which the Priests accused me of and these being Men of Integrity and Reputation in the Country did declare and affirm in Court That the Oath which the Witnesses had taken against me was altogether false and that no such Words as they had sworn against me were spoken by me at that Meeting For indeed most of the serious Men of that side of the County that were then at the Sessions had been at that Meeting and had heard me both at that Meeting and at other Meetings also This was taken notice of by Colonel VVest who being a Justice of the Peace was then upon the Bench and having long been weak in Body blessed the Lord and said The Lord had healed him that day adding That he never saw so many sober People and good Faces together in all his Life And then turning himself to me he said in the open Sessions George If thou hast any thing to say to the People thou may'st freely declare it And I was moved of the Lord to speak and as soon as I began Priest Marshal the Orator for the rest of the Priests went his way That which I was moved to declare was this That the Holy Scriptures were given forth by the Spirit of God and all People must first come to the Spirit of God in themselves by which they might know God and Christ of whom the Prophets and the Apostles learnt and by the same Spirit know the Holy Scriptures for as the Spirit of God was in them that gave forth the Scriptures so the same Spirit of God must be in all them that come to know and understand the Scriptures By which Spirit they might have Fellowship with the Son and with the Father and with the Scriptures and with one another And without this Spirit they can know neither God nor Christ nor the Scriptures nor have right Fellowship one with another I had no sooner spoken these Words but about half a dozen Priests that stood behind my Back burst out into a passion and one of them whose Name was Jackus amongst other things that he spake against the Truth said That the Spirit and the Letter were inseparable I replied Then every one that hath the Letter hath the Spirit and they might buy the Spirit with the Letter of the Scriptures This plain discovery of Darkness in the Priest moved Judge Fell and Colonel VVest to Reprove them openly and tell them That according to that Position they might carry the Spirit in their Pockets as they did the Scriptures Upon this the Priests being Confounded and put to silence rusht out in a Rage against the Justices because they could not have their bloody Ends upon me So the Justices seeing the Witnesses did not agree and perceiving that they were brought to Answer the Priests Envy and finding that all their Evidences were not sufficient in Law to make good their Charge against me they discharged me And after Judge Fell had spoken to Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson concerning the VVarrant they had given forth against me and shewed them the Errors thereof He and Colonel West granted a Supersedeas to stop the Execution thereof Thus was I cleared in open Sessions of all those lying Accusations which the malicious Priests had laid to my Charge And Multitudes of People praised God that day for it was a joyful Day to many There was Justice Benson out of Westmorland who was Convinced and Major Ripan that was Mayor of the Town of Lancaster who was Convinced also It was a day of Everlasting Salvation to hundreds of People for the Lord Jesus Christ the Way to the Father and the free Teacher was exalted and set up and his Everlasting Gospel was preached and the Word of Eternal Life was declared over the heads of the Priests and all such Money-Preachers For the Lord opened many Mouths that Day to speak his Word to the Priests and several friendly People and Professors reproved the Priests in their Inns and in the Streets so that they fell like an old rotten House and the Cry was among the People That the Quakers had got the day and the Priests were fallen Many People were Convinced that day amongst whom Thomas Briggs was one who before had been averse from Friends and Truth insomuch that discoursing on a time with John Lawson a Friend concerning Perfection Thomas Briggs said to him Dost thou hold Perfection and therewithal lift up his Hand to have given the Friend a Box on the Ear. But this Thomas Briggs being Convinced of the Truth that day declared against his own Priest Jackus and afterwards became a faithful Minister of the Gospel and stood so to the End of his Days When the Sessions were over James Naylor who was present thereat gave a brief Account of the Proceedings thereof in a Letter which soon after he writ to Friends which is here added for the Reader 's further satisfaction in this Matter DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ my
dear Love unto you all desiring you may be kept stedfast in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of his Love boldly to witness forth the Truth as it is revealed in you by the mighty working of the Father To him alone be everlasting Praise and Honour for evermore Dear Friends the Lord doth much manifest his Love and Power in these Parts Upon the second day of the last Week my Brother George and I were at Lancaster There were abundance of Friends from all parts and a great sort which sided with the Priests giving out They now hoped to see a stop put to that great Work which had gone on so fast and with such Power that their Kingdom is much shaken We were called before Judge Fell Colonel West Justice Sawrey c. to Answer what was charged against George There were Three Witnesses to Eight Particulars but they were much Confused in themselves which gave much Light to the Truth whereby the Justices did plainly see that it was Envy and they divers times told them so One of the Witnesses was a young Priest who Confessed He had not meddled had not another Priest sent for him and set him on Work The other VVitnesses were two Priests Sons It was proved there by many that heard one of them say If he had power he would make George deny his Profession and that he would take away his Life This was a single VVitness to one of the greatest Vntruths that was charged against George And the Justices told him That they saw because he could not take away his Life he went about to take away his Liberty There was one Priest chosen out of the whole number as an Orator to plead against us who spared no pains to shew forth his Envy against the Truth And when he could not prevail he went down in a Rage and there came up a Pack of them into the Room among whom was one Jacus George was then speaking in the Room one of the Justices having wished him if he had any thing to say he would speak at which the said Priest Jacus was in such a Rage that he brake forth into many high Expressions against the Truth spoken by my dear Brother George amongst which this was one That the Letter and the Spirit were inseparable Hereupon the Justices stood up and bid him prove that before he went any further Then he seeing himself caught would have denied it and when he could not get off so the rest of the Priests would have helped him to a Meaning for his VVords But the Justices would admit no other Meaning than the plain sense of the VVords but told him He had laid down a Position and it was fit he should prove it pressing the Matter close upon him Whereupon the Priests being put to silence went down in a greater Rage than before and some of them after they were gone down being asked what they had done Lyed and said They could not get into the Room thereby to hide their Shame and keep the People in blindness The Justices Judge Fell and Colonel VVest were much Convinced of the Truth and did set up Justice and Equity and have much silenced the Rage of the People Many bitter Spirits were at Lancaster to see the Event but went home and cried The Priests had lost the day Everlasting Praises be to him who fought the Batttel for us who is our King for ever There were Others called who the VVitnesses confessed were in the Room when the things charged on George were said to have been spoken but they all as one Man denied that any such Words were spoken Which gave much Light to the Justices and they durst trust what they witnessed for they said they knew many of them to be honest Men. There was a VVarrant granted out against us at Appleby but Justice Benson told them It was not according to Law and so it ceased As I hear he is a faithful Man to the Truth The Priests began to preach against the Justices and said They were not to meddle in these things but to end Controversy betwixt Neighbour and Neighbour They are not pleased with the Law because it is not in the Statute to Imprison us as the Priest that pleaded against us said The Justices bid him Go put it into the Statute if he could he said It should want no will of his They are much afraid that they shall loose all They are much discontented in these parts and some of them cry All is gone Dear Friends dwell in Patience and wait upon the Lord who will do his own VVork Look not at Man in the VVork nor at Man who opposeth the VVork but rest in the Will of the Lord that so ye may be furnished with Patience both to do and to suffer what ye shall be called unto that your End in all things may be his Praise And take up his Cross freely which keeps low the fleshly Man that Christ may be set up and honoured in all things and so the Light advanced in you and the Judgment set up which must give Sentence against all that opposeth the Truth That the Captivity may be led Captive and the Prisoner set free to seek the Lord that Righteousness may rule in you and Peace and Joy may dwell in you wherein consisteth the Kingdom of the Father to whom be all Praise for ever Dear Friends Meet often together and take heed of what Exalteth it self above its Brother but keep low and serve one another in Love for the Lord's sake Let all Friends know how it is with us that God may have the Praise of all Written from Kellet the 30th Day of the 8th Month 1652. J. N. At this Time I was in a Fast and was not to Eat until this Work of God which then lay weighty upon me was accomplished But the Lord's Power was wonderfully set over all and gave Truth and Friends Dominion therein over all to his Glory And his Gospel was freely preached that Day over the Heads of about Forty Hireling-Priests I stayed Two or Three Days afterwards in Lancaster and had some Meetings there And the rude and baser sort of People plotted together to have drawn me out of the House and to have thrown me over Lancaster-Bridge but the Lord prevented them Then they invented another Mischief which was this After a Meeting at Lancaster they brought down a distracted Man and another with him with Bundles of Birchen-Rods bound together like Besoms with which they should have whipped me But I was moved to speak to them iâ— the Lord 's mighty Power which chained down the distracted Man and the other also and made them calm and quiet Then I biâ— him throw his Rods into the Fire and burn them and he did so Thus the Lord's Power being over them they departed quietly But the Priests fretting to see themselves overthrown at the Sessions at Lancaster got some of the Envious Justices to join with them and at the
following Assize at Lancaster informed Judge Windham against me Whereupon the Judge made a Speech against me in open Court and commanded Colonel West who was Clerk of the Assize to issue forth a Warrant for the apprehending of me But Colonel West told the Judge of my Innocency and spake boldly in my defence Yet the Judge commanded him again either to write a Warrant or go off from his Seat Then he told the Judge plainly that he would not do it but that he would offer up all his Estate and his Body also for me So he stopt the Judge and the Lord's Power came over all So that the Priests and Justices could not get their Envy executed That same Night I came into Lancaster it being the Assize-Time and hearing of a Warrant to be given out against me I judged it better to shew my self openly Lancaster Assize than for my Adversaries to seek me So I went to Judge Fell's and Colonel West's Chambers And as soon as I came in they smiled on me and Colonel West said What! 1652. Lancaster Assize are you come into the Dragon's Mouth I stayed in Town till the Judge went out of Town and I walked up and down the Town but no one meddled with me nor questioned me Thus the Lord's blessed Power which is over all caâ—â—â—ed me through and over this Exercise and gave Dominion over his Enemies and enabled me to go on in his glorious Work and Service for his great Name's-sake For though the Beast maketh War against the Saints yet the Lamb hath got and will get the Victory From Lancaster I returned to Robert Wither's and from thence I went to Thomas Leper's to a Meeting in the Evening Meeting at T. Lepers and a very blessed Meeting we had there After the Meeting was done I walked in the Evening to Robert Withers's again And no sooner was I gone but there came a Company of disguised Men to Thomas Leper's with Swords and Pistols who suddenly entring the House put out the Candles and swung their Swords about amongst the People of the House so that the People were fain to hold up the Chairs before them to save themselves from being cut and wounded At length they drove all the People of the House out of the House and then searched the House for me who it seems was the only Person they looked for for they had laid wait before in the High-way by which I should have gone if I had ridden to Robert Withers's And not meeting with me on the VVay they thought to have found me in the House but the Lord prevented them Soon after I was come in at Robert Withers some Friends came from the Town where Thomas Leper lived and gave us a Relation of this wicked Attempt And the Friends were afraid lest they should come and search Robert Withers's House also for me and do me a Mischief But the Lord restrained them that they came not Though these Men were in disguise yet the Friends perceived some of them to be French-men and supposed them to be Servants belonging to one called Sir Robert Bindlas For some of them had said that in their Nation they used to Tye the Protestants to Trees and whip them and destroy them And his Servants used often to abuse Friends both in their Meetings and going to and from their Meetings They once took Richard Hubberthorn and several others out of the Meeting and carried them a good way off into the Fields and there bound them and left them bound in the Winter-Season And at another Time one of his Servants came to Francis Flemming's House and thrust his naked Rapier in at the Door and Windows But there being at the House a Kinsman of Francis Flemming's one who was not a Friend he came with a Cudgel in his Hand and bid the Serving-man put up his Rapier which when the other would not but vapoured at him with it and was Rude he knock'd him down with his Cudgel and took his Rapier from him And had it not been for Friends he would have Run him through with it So the Friends preserved his Life that would have destroyed theirs From Robert Withers's I went to visit Justice West To Justice Wests over the Sands Richard Hubberthorn accompanying me And not knowing the Way nor the Danger of the Sands we Rid where as we were afterwards told no Man ever rid before swimming our Horses over a very dangerous Place When we were come in Justice West asked us If we did not see Two Men riding over the Sands Justice Wests I shall have their Cloaths anon said he for they cannot escape Drowning and I am the Coroner But when we told him that we were the Men be was astonished at it and wondred how we escaped Drowning Upon this the envious Priests and Professors raised a slanderous Report concerning me That neither Water could drown me nor could they draw Blood of me and that therefore surely I was a Witch for indeed sometimes when they beat me with great Staves they did not much draw my Blood though they bruised my Body oft-times very sorely But all these Slanders were nothing to me with respect to my self though I was concerned on the Truth 's behalf which I saw they endeavoured by these Means to prejudice People against for I considered that their fore-Fathers the Apostate-Jews called the Master of the House Beelzebub and these Apostate-Christians from the Life and Power of God could do no less to his Seed But the Lord's Power carried me over their Slanderous Tongues and their bloody murtherous Spirits who had the Ground of Witchcraft in themselves which kept them from coming to God and to Christ. Having visited Justice West I went to Swarthmore visiting Friends there-aways Swarthmore and the Lord's Power was over all the Persecutors there And I was moved to write several Letters to the Magistrates Priests and Professors there-abouts who had raised Persecution before That which I sent to Justice Sawrey was after this manner Friend THOU wast the first Beginner of all the Persecution in the North Thou wast the Beginner and the Maker of the People Tumultuous Thou wast the first Stirrer of them up against the Righteous Seed and against the Truth of God and wast the first strengthner of the Hands of Evil-doers against the Innocent and Harmless And thou shalt not prosper Thou wast the first Stirrer up of Strikers Stoners Persecutors Stockers Mockers and Imprisoners in the North and of Revilers Slanderers Railers and false Accusers and Scandal-Raisers This was thy Work and this thou stirredst up So thy Fruits declare thy Spirit Instead of stirring up the pure Mind in People thou hast stirred up the VVicked Malicious and Envious and taken Hand with the Wicked Thou hast made the People's Minds envious up and down the Country This was thy Work But God hath shortned thy Days and limited thee and set thy Bounds and broken thy Jaws and discovered thy
are too many and large to be inserted in this Place Now after I had cleared my Conscience at that Time to the Priests and People in those Parts near Swarthmore I went again into Westmorland Westmorland And a Company of Men with Pikes and Staves laid wait for me at a Bridge in the Way and they light on some Friends but missed me Afterwards they came to the Meeting with their Pikes and Staves But Justice Benson being there and many considerable People besides they were prevented from doing that Mischief they intended So they went away in a great Rage but did not hurt any Body 1652. Grayrigg I went from the Meeting to Grayrigge and had a Meeting there at Alexander Dixon's House where the Priest who was a Baptist and a Chappel-Priest came to the Meeting to oppose but the Lord Confounded him by his Power And some of the Priest's People tumbled down some Milk-Pales which stood upon the Side of the House the House being much crowded whereupon the Priest after he and his Company were gone away raised a Slander That the Devil frighted him and took away a Side of the House while he was in the Meeting And though this was an apparent and known Falshood yet it served the Priests and Professors to feed on for a while And so shameless they were that they Printed it in a Book Another Time this Priest came to another Meeting and fell to Jangling First he said The Scriptures were the Word of God I told him They were the Words of God but not Christ who is the Word and bid him prove by Scripture what he said Then he said It was not the Scripture that was the Word and setting his Foot upon the Bible he said It was but Copies bound up together Many unsavory Words came from him But after he was gone we had a blessed Meeting and the Lord's Power and Presence was preciously manifested and felt among us Soon after he sent me a Challenge to meet him at Kendal I sent him Word He need not go so far as Kendal for I would meet him in his own Parish So the Hour being set we Met and abundance of rude People were gathered there together besides the baptized People who were his own Members and they had intended to have done Mischief that Day but God prevented them Now when we were Met I declared the Day of the Lord to them and directed them to Christ Jesus Then the Priest out with his Bible and said It was the VVord of God I told him it was the VVords of God but not God the VVord His Answer was He would prove the Scriptures to be the God before all the People So I let him go on having a Man there that could take down in writing both what he said and what I said And when he could not prove it for I kept him to Scripture-Proof Chapter and Verse for it the People gnashed their Teeth for Anger and said He would have me anon But in going about to prove that one Error he run into many And when at length he saw he could not prove it then he said He would prove it a God So he toiled himself afresh till he sweat again but could not Prove what he had Affirmed And he and his Company were full of wrath For I kept his Assertions on the Head of him and them all and told them I owned what the Scriptures said of themselves namely That they were the Words of God but Christ was the Word So the Lord's Power came over all and they being confounded went away and the Lord disappointed their mischievous Intentions against me and Friends were established in Christ and many of the Priests Followers saw the Folly of their Teacher After this as I came through the Country visiting Friends Priest Bennet of Cartmel sent a Challenge to dispute with me Whereupon I came to his Steeple-house on the First-Day and there found him Preaching When he had done I spake to him and his People but the Priest would not stand the Trial but went his Way After he was gone I had a great deal of Discourse with the People And when I was come forth into the Steeple-house-yard and was discoursing further with the Professors and declaring Truth unto them One of them set his foot behind me and Two of them ran against my Breast and threw me down backwards against a Grave-stone wickedly and maliciously seeking to have spoiled me But I got up again and was moved of the Lord to speak to them Then I went up to the Priest's House and desired him to come forth that I might discourse with him seeing he had Challenged me But he would not at all come out or be seen So the Lord's Power came over them all which was greatly manifested at that Time There was amongst the Priest's Hearers one Richard Roper one of the bitterest Professors the Priest had and he was very fierce and hot in his Contention but afterwards he came to be Convinced of God's Eternal Truth and became a Minister thereof and continued faithful to his Death It was now about the beginning of the Year 1653 when I returned to Swarthmore And going to a Meeting at Gleeston Swarthmore a Professor there challenged a Dispute with me Whereupon I went to the House where he was and called him to come forth but the Lord's Power was over him so that he durst not meddle Then I departed thence and went and visited the Meetings of Friends in Lancashire Lancashire and so came back to Swarthmore again Swarthmore And great Openings I had from the Lord not only of Divine and Spiritual Matters but also of Outward Things relating to the Civil Government For being one Day in Swarthmore-Hall when Judge Fell and Justice Benson were talking of the News in the News-Book and of the Parliament that then was sitting which was called the Long-Parliament I was moved to tell them That before that Day Two Weeks the Parliament should be broken up and the Speaker pluck'd out of his Chair And that Day Two Weeks Justice Benson coming thither again told Judge Fell That now he saw George was a true Prophet for Oliver had broken up the Parliament by that Time About this Time I was in a Fast for about Ten Days my Spirit being greatly exercised on Truth 's behalf for James Milner and Richard Myer went out into Imaginations and a Company followed them This James Milner and some of his Company had true Openings at the first but getting up into Pride and Exaltation of Spirit they run out from Truth I was sent for to them and was moved of the Lord to go and shew them their Goings forth And they came to see their Folly and Condemned it and came into the Way of Truth again After some Time I went to a Meeting at Arn-side Arnside where Richard Myer was Now he had been long Lame of one of his Arms And I was moved
of the Lord to say unto him amongst all the People Prophet Myer stand up upon thy Legs for he was sitting down And he stood up and stretched out his Arm that had been Lame a long time and said Be it known unto you all People that this Day I am healed But his Parents could hardly believe it but after the Meeting was done had him aside and took off his Doublet and then they saw it was true Swarthmore He came soon after to Swarthmore-Meeting and there declared how that the Lord had healed him Yet after this the Lord commanded him to go to York with a Message from him 1653. Swarthm and he disobeyed the Lord and the Lord struck him again so that he died about three quarters of a Year after Now were great Threatnings given forth in Cumberland That if ever I came there again they would take away my Life When I heard it Cumberland I was drawn to go into Cumberland again and went to one Miles Wennington's in the same Parish from which those Threatnings came but they had not Power to touch me then Much about this Time too it was that Anthony Pearson was Convinced who had been an Opposer of Friends He came over to Swarthmore and I being then at Colonel West's they sent for me and Colonel West said Go George for it may be of great Service to the Man So I went and the Lord's Power reached him About this Time also the Lord opened several Mouths to declare the Truth to Priests and People so that divers were cast into Prison And I went again into Cumberland and Anthony Pearson and his Wife and several Friends went along with me to Bootle Bootle where Anthony Pearson left me and went on himself to Carlisle-Sessions for he was a Justice of the Peace in Three Counties Upon the First Day of the week I went into the Steeple-house at Bootle and when the Priest had done I began to speak But the People were exceeding rude and struck and beat me in the Steeple-house-yard One gave me a very great blow over my Wrist so that the People thought he had broken my Hand to Pieces The Constable was very willing to have kept the Peace and would have set some of them by the Heels that struck me if I would have given way to it After my Service at that time amongst them was over I went to Joseph Nicholson's House and the Constable went a little way with us to keep off the rude Multitude from us In the Afternoon I went up again and then the Priest had got another Priest to help him one that came from London and was highly accounted of Before I went into the Steeple-house I sate a little upon the Cross and Friends with me but the Friends were moved to go into the Steeple-house and I went in after them The London-priest was preaching who gathered up all the Scriptures he could think of that spake of false Prophets and Antichrists and Deceivers and threw them upon us But when he had done I Recollected all those Scriptures and brought them back upon himself Then the People fell upon me in a rude manner but the Constable charged them to keep the Peace and so made them quiet again Then the Priest began to Rage and said I must not speak there I told him he had his Hour-Glass by which he had preached and he having done the Time was free for me as well as for him for he was but a Stranger there himself So I opened the Scriptures to them and let them see That those Scriptures that spake of the false Prophets and Antichrists and Deceivers described them and their Generation and belonged to them who were found walking in their Steps and bringing forth their Fruits and not unto us who were not guilty of such things And I manifested to them that they were out of the Steps of the true Prophets and Apostles and shewed them clearly by the Fruits and Marks that they were of those whom those Scriptures spake of and not we And I declared the Truth and the Word of Life to the People and directed them to Christ their Teacher And all was quiet while I was speaking 1653. Bootel But when I had done and was come forth the Priests were both of them in such a Fret and Rage that they foamed at the Mouth for Anger against me The Priest of the Place made an Oration to the People in the Steeple-house-Yard and said This Man hath gotten all the honest Men and Women in Lancashire to him and now said he he comes here to do the same Then said I unto him What wilt thou have left And what have the Priests left them but such as themselves For if it be the Honest that receive the Truth and are turned to Christ then it must be the Dishonest that follow thee and such as thou art Some also of the Priest's People did begin to plead for their Priest and for Tithes But I told them It were better for them to plead for Christ who had ended the Tithing-Priesthood and the Tithes and had sent forth his Ministers to give freely as they had received freely So the Lord's Power came over them all and put them to Silence and restrained the rude People that they could not do the Mischief they intended And when I came down again to Joseph Nicholson's House I saw a great hole in my Coat which was cut with a Knife but it was not cut through my Doublet for the Lord had prevented their Mischief And the next day there was a rude wicked Man would have done Violence to a Friend but the Lord's Power stopt him Now was I moved to send James Lancaster to Appoint a Meeting at one John VVilkinson's Steeple-house near Cockermouth who was a Preacher in great repute and had three Parishes under him wherefore I staid at Milholm in Bootel till he came back again In the mean time some of those they called the Gentry of the Country had made a Plot against me and had given a little Boy a Rapier for him to do me a Mischief with it And they came with the Boy to Joseph Nicholson's House to seek me but the Lord had so ordered it that I was not in the House but was gone forth into the Fields They met with James Lancaster but did not much abuse him and not finding me in the House after a while they went away again So I walked up and down in the Fields that Night and did not go to Bed as very often I used to do Meeting near Cockermouth The next Morning we passed from thence and came the next day to the Steeple-house where James Lancaster had appointed the Meeting There were at this Meeting Twelve Soldiers and their VVives who were come thither from Carlisle and the Country-People came in like as it had been to a Fair. I lay at an House somewhat short of the Place so that many Friends were got
Life and Immortality to Light And the day of the Lord was come and Christ was come to teach his People himself by his Light Grace Power and Spirit A fine opportunity the Lord gave me to preach Truth among the People that day for about three hours time and all was quiet And Many hundreds were Convinced that day And some of them praised God and said Now we know the first step to Peace The said Preacher also said privately to some of his Hearers that I had broken them and overthrown them 1653. A Village After this I went to a Village and many People accompanied me And as I was sitting in an House full of People declaring the Word of Life unto them I cast mine Eye upon a Woman and I discerned an Vnclean Spirit in her And I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to her and told her she was a Witch Whereupon the Woman went out of the Room Now I being a Stranger there and knowing nothing of the Woman Outwardly the People wondred at it and told me afterwards that I had discovered a great thing for all the Country looked upon her to be a Witch The Lord had given me a Spirit of discerning by which I many times saw the States and Conditions of People and could Try their Spirits For not long before as I was going to a Meeting I saw some Women in a Field and I discerned them to be Witches and I was moved to go out of my way into the Field to them and declare unto them their Conditions telling them plainly They were in the Spirit of Witchcraft At another time there came such an one into Swarthmore-Hall in the Meeting-time and I was moved to speak sharply to her and told her she was a Witch And the People said afterwards she was generally accounted so There came also at another time another Woman and stood at a distance from me and I cast mine Eye upon her and said Thou hast been an Harlot for I perfectly saw the Condition and Life of the Woman The Woman answered and said Many could tell her of her Outward Sins but none could tell her of her Inward Then I told her Her Heart was not right before the Lord and that from the Inward came the Outward This Woman came afterwards to be Convinced of God's Truth and became a Friend From the aforesaid Village we came up to Thomas Bewley's near Coldbeck Coldbeck and from thence having had some Service for the Lord there At a Market-Town I passed to a Market-Town where I had a Meeting at the Cross and all was pretty quiet and when I had declared the Truth unto them and directed them to Christ their Teacher some received the Truth Then we passed further and had another Meeting upon the Borders in a Steeple-house-Yard to which many Professors and Contenders came but the Lord's Power was over all and when the Word of Life had been declared amongst them some received the Truth there also Carlisle From thence passing on we came to Carlisle and the Pastor of the Baptists with most of his Hearers came to me there to the Abbey where I had a Meeting and declared the Word of Life amongst them and many of the Baptists and of the Souldiers were Convinced After the Meeting was done the Pastor of the Baptists being an high Notionist and a flashy Man came to me and asked me What must be damned I was moved immediately to tell him That which spake in him was to be damned This stopt the Pastor's Mouth and the Witness of God was raised up in him and I opened to him the States of Election and Reprobation so that he said He never heard the like in his Life He also came afterward to be Convinced Then went I up to the Castle among the Souldiers who beat a Drum and called the Garrison together And I preached the Truth amongst them Directing them to the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Teacher and to the measure of his Spirit in themselves 1653. Carlisle by which they might be turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto God And I warned them all that they should do no Violence to any Man but should shew forth a Christian-Life telling them that he who was to be their Teacher would be their Condemnation if they were disobedient to him So I left them having no Opposition from any of them except the Serjeants who afterwards came to be Convinced On the Market-day I went up into the Market to the Market-Cross Now the Magistrates had both threatned and sent their Serjeants And the Magistrates Wives had said That if I came there they would pluck the Hair from off my Head and that the Serjeants should take me up Nevertheless I obeyed the Lord God and went upon the Cross and there declared unto them That the day of the Lord was coming upon all their deceitful Ways and Doings and deceitful Merchandize and that they should put away all Cozening and Cheating and keep to Yea and Nay and speak the Truth one to another So the Truth and the Power of God was set over them And after I had declared the Word of Life to the People the Throng being so great that the Serjeants could not get to me nor the Magistrates Wives come at me I passed away quietly Many People and Souldiers came to me and some Baptists that were bitter Contenders amongst whom one of their Deacons being an envious Man and finding the Lord's Power was over them Cried out for very Anger Whereupon I set my Eyes upon him and spake sharply to him in the Power of the Lord and he cried Do not pierce me so with thy Eyes keep thy Eyes off me On the first day following I went into the Steeple-house And after the Priest had done I preached the Truth to the People and declared the Word of Life amongst them The Priest got away and the Magistrates desired me to go out of the Steeple-house But I still declared the VVay of the Lord unto them and told them I came to speak the word of Life and Salvation from the Lord amongst them The Power of the Lord was dreadful amongst them in the Steeple-house so that the People trembled and shook and they thought the Steeple-house shook and some of them feared it would have fallen down on their Heads The Magistrates VVives were in a Rage and strove mightily to have been at me but the Souldiers and friendly People stood thick about me At length the rude People of the City rose and came with Staves and Stones into the Steeple-house crying Down with these Round-headed Rogues and they threw Stones Whereupon the Governour sent a File or two of Musketeers into the Steeple-house to appease the Tumult and commanded all the other Souldiers out So those Souldiers took me by the Hand in a friendly manner and said They would have me along with them then When we came
forth into the Street the City was in an Vproar and the Governour came down and some of those Souldiers were put in Prison for standing by me and for me against the Towne People There was a Lieutenant that had been Convinced and he came and had me to his House where there was a Baptists-Meeting and thither came Friends also and we had a very quiet Meeting and they heard the VVord of Life gladly and many received it The next day the Justices and Magistrates of the Town being gathered together in the Town-hall they granted a VVarrant against me and sent for me to come before them I was then gone to a Baptist's House but hearing of it I went up to the Hall to them where many rude People were some of whom had sworn strange false Things against me I had a great deal of Discourse with the Magistrates wherein I laid open the Fruits of their Priest's Preaching and shewed them how Void they were of Christianity and that though they were such great Professors for they were Independents and Presbyterians they were without the Possession of that which they professed G. F. committed to Carlisle Prison So after a large Examination they Committed me to Prison as a Blasphemer an Heretick and a Seducer though they could not justly charge any such thing against me The Jail at Carlisle had Two Jailers an Vpper and an Vnder which looked like Two great Bear-wards Now when I was brought in the Vpper-Jailer had me up into a great Chamber and told me I should have what I would in that Room But I told him he should not expect any Money from me for I would neither lie in any of his Beds nor eat any of his Victuals Then he put me into another Room where after a while I got something to lie upon There I lay till the Assizes came Carlisle Assize and then all the Talk and Cry was that I was to be Hanged And the High-Sheriff whose Name was VVilfrey Lawson stirred them much up to take away my Life and said He would guard me to my Execution himself They were in a black dark Rage and set three Musketeers for Guard upon me one at my Chamber-door another at the Stairs-foot and a third at the Street-door and none they would let come at me except one sometimes to bring me some necessary things At Night they would bring up Priests to me sometimes as late as the Tenth Hour in the Night and they would be exceeding Rude and Divellish There were a Company of bitter Scotch Priests Presbyterians made up of Envy and Malice who were not fit to speak of the things of God they were so foul-mouthed But the Lord by his Power gave me dominion over them all and I let them see both their Fruits and their Spirits Great Ladies also as they were called came to see the Man that they said was to die Now while both the Judge Justices and Sheriff were contriving together how they might put me to death the Lord disappointed their Design by an unexpected way For the Judge's Clark as I was Informed started a Question among them which Confounded all their Counsels So that after that they had not Power to call me before the Judge Anthony Pearson being then in Carlisle and perceiving that they did not intend to bring me as was expected upon my Trial he writ a Letter to the Judges directed as followeth To the Judges of Assize and Jail-Delivery for the Northern Parts sitting at Carlisle 1653. Carlisle Assize YOV are raised up to do Righteousness and Justice and sent forth to punish him that doth Evil and to encourage him that doth well and to set the oppressed free I am therefore moved to lay before you the Condition of him who is called George Fox whom the Magistrates of this City have cast into Prison for Words that he is accused to have spoken which they call Blasphemy He was sent to the Jail till he should be delivered by due Course of Law and it was expected he should have been proceeded against in the Common Law-Course at this Assizes The Informations against him were delivered into Court and the Act allows and appoints that way of Trial. How hardly and unchristianly he hath been hitherto dealt with I shall not now mention but you may consider that nothing he is accused of is nice and difficult And to my Knowledge he utterly abhors and detests every Particular which by the Act against Blasphemous Opinions is appointed to be punished and differs as much from those People against whom the Law was made as Light from Darkness Though he be Committed Judgment is not given against him nor have his Accusers been face to face to affirm before him what they have Informed against him Nor was he heard as to the Particulars of their Accusations nor doth it appear that any Word they charge against him is within the Act. But indeed I could not yet so much as see the Information no not in Court though I desired it both of the Clark of the Assizes and of the Magistrates Clark nor hath he had a Copy of them This is very hard And that he should be so close restrained that his Friends may not speak with him I know no Law nor Reason for I do therefore claim for him a due and lawful Hearing and that he may have a Copy of his Charge and freedom to Answer for himself and that rather before you than to be left to the Rulers of this Town who are not competent Judges of Blasphemy as by their Mittimus appears who have Committed him upon an Act of Parliament and mention Words as spoken by him at his Examination which are not within the Act and which he utterly denies The Words mentioned in the Mittimus he denies to have spoken and hath neither professed nor avowed them Anthony Pearson But notwithstanding this Letter the Judges were resolved not to suffer me to be brought before them but reviling and Scoffing at me behind my back left me to the Magistrates of the Town giving them what Encouragement they could to Exercise their Cruelty upon me Whereupon though I had been kept up so close in the Jailer's House that Friends were not suffered to come at me and Colonel Benson and Justice Pearson were denied to see me yet the next Day after the Judges were gone out of Town an Order was sent to the Jailer to put me down into the Dungeon amongst the Moss-Troopers Carlisle Dungeon Thieves and Murtherers 1653. Carlisle Dungeon which accordingly he did A Filthy Nasty Place it was where Men and Women were put together in a very uncivil manner and never a House of Office to it And the Prisoners so lousy that one Woman was almost eaten to death with Lice Yet as bad as the Place was the Prisoners were all made very loving and subject to me and some of them were Convinced of the Truth as the Publicans and Harlots were of
old so that they were able to confound a Priest that might come to the Grates to dispute But the Jailer was very Cruel and the Vnder-Jailer very abusive both to me and to Friends that came to see me For he would beat Friends with a great Cudgel that did but come to the Window to look in upon me I could get up to the Grate where sometimes I took in my Meat at which the Jailer was often offended One Time he came in a great Rage and fell a beating me with his great Cudgel though I was not at the Grate at that time and as he beat me he cried Come out of the Window though I was then far enough from it Now while he struck me I was made to sing in the Lord's Power and that made him Rage the more Then he went and fetched a Fiddler and brought him in where I was and set him to play thinking to vex me thereby But while he played I was moved in the everlasting Power of the Lord God to sing and my Voice drowned the Noise of the Fiddle and struck and confounded them and made them give over Fiddling and go their ways Justice Benson's Wife was moved of the Lord to come to visit me and to Eat no Meat but what she Eat with me at the Bars of the Dungeon-Window She was afterwards herself Imprisoned at York when she was great with Child for speaking to a Priest and was kept in Prison and not suffered to go out when the time of her Travail was come so she was delivered of her Child in the Prison She was an honest tender Woman and continued faithful to the Truth until she died Whilst I was in the Dungeon at Carlisle one James Parnel a little Lad of about Sixteen Years of Age came to see me and was Convinced And the Lord quickly made him a powerful Minister of the Word of Life and many were turned to Christ by him though he lived not long For travelling into Essex in the Work of the Ministry in the Year 1655 he was Committed to Colchester-Castle where he endured very great Hardships and Sufferings being put by the Cruel Jailer into a Hole in the Castle-wall called the Oven so high from the Ground that he went up to it by a Ladder which being six Foot too short he was fain to climb from the Ladder to the Hole by a Rope that was fastned above And when Friends would have given him a Cord and a Basket to have drawn up his Victuals in the Inhuman Jailer would not suffer them but forced him to go down and up by that short Ladder and Rope to fetch his Victuals which for a long time he did or else he might have famished in the Hole At length his Limbs being much benummed with lying in that Place yet being constrained to go down to take up some Victuals as he came up the Ladder again with his Victuals in one hand and catched at the Rope with the other he missed the Rope and fell down from a very great height upon the Stones by which Fall he was exceedingly wounded in his Head and Arms and his Body much bruised and he died in a short Time after And when he was dead the wicked Professors to cover their own Cruelty writ a Book of him and said He fasted himself to Death Which was an abominable Falshood and was manifested so to be by another Book which was written in Answer to that and was called The Lamb's Defence against Lies Now when I saw that I was not like to be brought forth to a publick Hearing and Trial although I had before Answered in Writing the particular Matters charged against me at the Time of my first Examination and Commitment I was moved to send forth the following Paper as a publick Challenge to all those that did belie the Truth and me behind my Back to come forth and make good their Charge IF any in Westmorland or Cumberland or elswhere that profess Christianity and pretend to love God and Christ are not satisfied concerning the things of God which I who am called George Fox have spoken and declared let them declare and publish their Dissatisfaction in Writing and not back-bite nor lie nor persecute in secret This I demand of you all in the presence of the living God as ye will answer it to him For the Exaltation of the Truth and the Confounding of the Deceit is this given forth To that of God in your Consciences I speak declare or write your Dissatisfactions to any of them whom you call Quakers that Truth may be exalted and All may come to the Light with which Christ hath enlightned every one that cometh into the World that nothing may be hid in Darkness in Prisons Holes or Corners but that all things may be brought to the Light of Christ and by the Light of Christ may be tried This am I moved of the Lord to write and send forth to be set upon the Market-Crosses in Westmorland and elswhere To the Light of Christ in you I speak that none of you may speak evil of the things of God which you know not nor act contrary to the Light that gave forth the Scriptures lest you be found Fighters against God and the Hand of the Lord be turned against you G. F. While I thus lay in the Dungeon at Carlisle the Report that was raised at the time of the Assize That I should be put to Death was gone out far and near insomuch that the Parliament then sitting which I think was called the Little-Parliament hearing That a Young-man at Carlisle was to die for Religion caused a Letter to be sent down to the Sheriff and Magistrates concerning me And much about the same Time I writ also to the Justices at Carlisle that had cast me into Prison and that persecuted Friends at the Instigation of the Priests for Tithes expostulating the Matter with them thus Friends Thomas Craston and Cuthbert Studholm YOur Noise is gone up to London before the sober People What Imprisoning what Gagging what Havock and Spoiling the Goods of People have you made within these few Years unlike Men as though you had never read the Scriptures or had not minded them Is this the End of Carlisle's Religion is this the End of your Ministry and is this the End of your Church and of your Profession of Christianity you have shamed it by your Folly and Madness and blind Zeal Was it not always the Work of the blind Guides Watchmen Leaders and false Prophets to prepare War against them that would not put into their Mouths And have not you been the Priests Pack-horses and Executioners When they spur you up to bear the Sword against the Just do not you run on against the Creatures that cannot hold up such as the Scriptures did always testify against Yet will you lift up your unholy Hands and call upon God with your polluted Lips and pretend a Fast who are full of Strife and
unstopped the deaf Ears hath let the Oppressed go free and hath raised up the Dead out of the Graves Christ is now preached in and among the Saints the same that ever he was and because his heavenly Image is born up in this his faithful Servant therefore doth fallen Man Rulers Priests and Peopleâ— persecute him because he lives up out of the Fall and testifies against the Works of the VVorld that the Deeds thereof are Evil he suffers by you Magistrates not as an Evil-Doer For thus it was ever where the Seed of God was kept in Prison under the cursed Nature that Nature sought to imprison them in whom it was raised The Lord will make him to you as a burdensom Stone for the Sword of the Spirit of the Almighty is put into the Hands of the Saints which shall wound all the Wicked and shall not be put up till it hath cut down all corrupt Judges Justices Magistrates Priests and Professors till he hath brought his wonderful thing to pass in the Earth which is to make New Heavens and a New Earth wherein shall dwell Righteousness which now he is about to do Therefore fear the Lord God Almighty ye Judges Justices Commanders Priests and People ye that forget God suddenly will the Lord come and destroy you with an utter Destruction and will sweep your Names out of the Earth and will restore his People Judges as at the First and Counsellors as at the Beginning And all Persecutors shall partake of the Plagues of the VVhore who hath made the Kings of the Earth and the great Men drunk with the VVine of her Fornications and hath drunk the Blood of the Saints and therefore shall you be Partakers of her Plagues We are not suffered to go see our Friend in Prison whom we witness to be a Messenger of the Living God Now all People mind Whether this be according to Law oâ— from the wicked perverse envious Will of the envious Rulers and Magistrates who are of the same Generation that persecuted Jesus Christ for said he as they have done to me so will they do to you And as he took the love the kindness and service that was shewed and performed to any of his Afflicted Ones in their Sufferings and Distress as done unto himself so the Injuries and Wrongs that were done by any to any of his Little Ones he resented as done unto himself also Therefore you who are so far from visiting him your selves in his suffering Servant that ye will not suffer his Brethren to visit him ye must depart ye Workers of Iniquity into the Lake that burns with Fire The Lord is coming to thresh the Mountains and will beat them to Dust And all corrupt Rulers corrupt Officers and corrupt Laws the Lord will take Vengeance on by which the tender Consciences of his People are oppressed And he will give his People his Law and will judge his People himself not according to the sight of the Eye and hearing of the Ear but with Righteousness and with Equity Now are your Hearts made manifest to be full of Envy against the living Truth of God which is made manifest in his People who are contemned and despised of the World and scornfully called Quakers You are worse than the Heathens that put Paul in Prison for none of his Friends or Acquaintance were hindred to come to him by them therefore they shall be Witnesses against you Ye are made manifest to the Saints to be of the same Generation that put Christ to death and that put the Apostles in Prison on the same pretence as you act under in calling Truth Error and the Ministers of God Blasphemers as they did But the day is dreadful and terrible that shall come upon you ye Evil Magistrates Priests and People who profess the Truth in Words outwardly and yet persecute the Power of Truth and them that stand in and for the Truth While ye have Time prize it and remember what is written Isa 54.17 George Benson Anthony Pearson Not long after this the Lord's Power came over the Justices and they were made to set me at Liberty But sometime before I was set at Liberty the Governour and the said Anthony Pearson came down into the Dungeon to see the Place where I was kept and understand what Vsage I had And when they were come down to me they found the place so bad and the savour so ill that they cried shame of the Magistrates for suffering the Jailer to do such things And they called for the Jailers into the Dungeon and required them to find Sureties for their good Behaviour and the Vnder-Jailer who had been such a Cruel Fellow they put into the Dungeon with me amongst the Moss-Troopers 1653. Cumberland At T. B's Now after I was set at Liberty I went to Thomas Bewley's where there came a Baptist-Teacher to Oppose me and he was Convinced And Robert Widders being with me was moved to go to Coldbeck-Steeple-house and the Baptist-Teacher went along with him the same day And the People fell upon them and almost killed Robert Widders and took the Baptist's Sword from him and beat him sorely This Baptist had the Inheritance of an Impropriation of Tithes and he went home and gave it up freely Robert VVidders was sent to Carlisle-Jail where having lain a while he was set at Liberty again VVilliam Dewsberry also went to another Steeple-house hard by and the People almost killed him they beat him so but the Lord's Power was over all and healed them again At that day many Friends went to the Steeple-houses to declare the Truth to the Priests and People and great Sufferings they underwent but the Lord's Power sustained them Now I went into the Country and had mighty great Meetings and the Everlasting Gospel and VVord of Life flourished and Thousands were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Teaching And several that took Tithes as Impropriators denied the receiving of them any longer Westmorland and delivered them up freely to the Parishioners Then passing on into VVestmorland I had many great Meetings and at Strickland-Head I had a large Meeting Strickland head where a Justice of Peace out of Bishoprick whose Name was Henry Draper came up and many Contenders were there The Priests and Magistrates were in a great Rage against me in Westmorland and had a VVarrant to apprehend me which they renewed from time to time for a long time Yet the Lord did not suffer them to serve it upon me So I traveled on amongst Friends visiting the Meetings till I came to Swarthmore Swarthmore where I heard that the Baptists and Professors in Scotland had sent to me to have a Dispute with me Whereupon I sent them word Cumberland that I would meet them in Cumberland at Thomas Bewley's House whither accordingly I went but none of them came Some dangers at this time I underwent in my Travels to and fro Wighton for at one time as
we were passing from a Meeting and going through VVighton on a Market-day the People of the Town had set a Guard with Pitch-forks and although some of their own Neighbours were with us they kept us out of the Town and would not let us pass through the Town under a pretence of preventing the Sickness though there was no Occasion for any such thing However they fell upon us and had like to have spoiled us and our Horses But the Lord did restrain them that they did not much hurt and we passed away Another time as I was passing between two Friend's Houses some Rude Fellows lay in Wait in a Lane and exceedingly stoned and abused us but at last through the Lord's Assistance we got through them and had not much hurt But this shewed the Fruits of the Priest's Teaching which shamed their Profession of Christianity Bishoprick of Durham Now after I had visited Friends in that County I went through the Countries into Bishoprick having large Meetings by the way and a very large Meeting I had at Anthony Pearson's where many were Convinced From thence I passed through Northumberland to Darren-Water where there were great Meetings 1653. Northumberland and the Priests threatned that they would come but none came The everlasting Word of Life was freely preached and freely received and many Hundreds were turned to Christ their Teacher In Northumberland there came many to dispute Darren-Water of whom some pleaded against Perfection unto whom I declared That Adam and Eve were perfect before they fell and All that God made was perfect and that the Imperfection came by the Devil and the Fall But Christ that came to destroy the Devil said Be ye perfect Then one of the Professors said That Job said Shall mortal Man be more pure than his Maker The Heavens are not clear in his sight God charged his Angels with Folly But I shewed him his Mistake and let him see That it was not Job that said so but one of those that contended against Job for Job stood for Perfection and held his Integrity and they were called miserable Comforters Then these Professors said The Outward Body was the Body of Death and Sin I shewed them their Mistake in that also shewing them That Adam and Eve had each of them an Outward Body before the Body of Death and Sin got into them and that Man and Woman will have Bodies when the Body of Sin and Death is put off again when they are Renewed up into the Image of God again by Christ Jesus which they were in before they fell So they ceased at that time from Opposing further and glorious Meetings we had in the Lord's Power Then passed we on to Hexam Hexam where we had a great Meeting a Top of an Hill The Priest threatned that he would come and Oppose us but he came not so that all was quiet And the Everlasting Day and Renowned Truth of the Everliving God was sounded over those dark Countries and his Son exalted over all And it was proclaimed amongst the People that the Day was now come wherein all that had made a Profession of the Son of God might receive him and that to as many as would receive him he would give Power to become the Sons of God as he had done to me And it was further declared That he that had the Son of God he had Life Eternal but he that had not the Son of God though he profest all the Scriptures from the first of Genesis to the last of the Revelations he had not Life So after that all were directed to the Light of Christ by which they might see him and receive him and know where their true Teacher was and the Everlasting Truth had been largely declared amongst them we passed away through Hexam peaceably and came into Gilsland Gilsland a Country noted for Thieving Here a Friend spying the Priest went to speak to him whereupon the Priest came down to our Inn and the Town 's People gathered about us The Priest said He would prove us Deceivers out of the Bible but could find no Scripture for his purpose Then he went into the Inn and after a while came out again and brought some broken Sentences of Scripture that mention the Doctrines and Commandments of Men c. and Touch not Taste not c. for they perish with the using All which poor Man was his own Condition whereas we were persecuted because we would not Taste nor Touch nor Handle their Doctrines and Traditions 1653. Gillsland which we knew perished with the using I asked him What he called the Steeple-house Oh said he the dreadful House of God the Temple of God Then I shewed him and the poor dark People That their Bodies should be the Temples of God and that Christ never commanded these Temples but ended that Temple at Jerusalem which God had commanded While I was speaking the Priâ—st got away and afterwards the People made as if they feared we would take their Purses or steal their Horses judging us like themselves who are naturally given to Thieving Cumberland The next day we came through the Country into Cumberland again where we had a general Meeting of many Thousands of People a Top of an Hill near Langlands Langlands A glorious and heavenly Meeting it was for the Glory of the Lord did shine over all and there were as many as one could well speak over the Multitude was so great Their Eyes were fixed on Christ their Teacher and they came to sit under their own Vine insomuch that Francis Howgill coming afterwards to Visit them found they had no need of Words for they were sitting under their Teacher Christ Jesus In the sâ—nse whereof he sate down amongst them without speaking any thing A great Convincement there was in Cumberland Bishoprick Northumberland Westmorland Lancashire and Yorkshire And the Plants of God grew and flourished so the heavenly Rain descending and God's Glory shining upon them that many Mouths were opened by the Lord to his Praise yea to Babes and Sucklings he ordained Strength Brigham After my Release from Carlisle-Prison I was moved to go to Priest Wilkinson's Steeple-house again and I being got into the Steeple-house before him when he came in I was declaring the Truth to the People though they were but few for the most and the best of his Hearers were turned to Christ's free Teaching and we had a Meeting of Friends hard by where one Thomas Stubbs was declaring the Word of Life amongst them As soon as the Priest came in he Opposed me and there did we stay most part of the Day for when I began he Opposed me so if any Law was broken he broke it And when his People would be haling me out I manifested his Fruits to be such as Christ spake of when he said They shall hale you out of their Synagogues And then he would be ashamed and they would let me
Wither And this sows to the Spirit which is in Prison and of the Spirit reaps Life to you this is the VVord of the Lord God and the other sows to the Flesh and of the Flesh reaps Corruption And this you may see all the World over amongst these Seeds-Men what may be reaped in the Field that is the VVorld Therefore in the Spirit of the Lord God VVait which cuts down and casts out all this the Root and Branches of it So in that wait to receive Power and the Lord God Almighty preserve you in it whereby you may come to feel the Light that comprehends Time and the VVorld and fathoms it which believed in gives you the Victory over the VVorld And here the Power of the Lord is received which subdues all the contrary and puts off the Garments that will stain and pollute With which Light you come to reach the Light in every Man which Christ enlightens every Man that cometh into the world with-all And here the things of Christ come to be known and the Voice of Christ heard Therefore keep in the Light the Covenant of Peace and walk in the Covenant of Life There is that which maketh Merry over the Witness of God and there is that which maketh Merry in the Lord which rejoyceth over that which hath made merry over it of that take notice you who be in the Light Such the Lord doth beautify whose Trust is in his Strength and the Lord doth see such and them that be in his Light But such as be from the Light whose Eyes be after their Abominations and Idols their Eyes are to be blinded and their beautiful Idols and their Abominations to be destroyed and by the Light condemned which they have made from the Life in their own Strength which with the Light is seen and overthrown by the Power of God If you can change my Covenant saith the Lord which keeps the Day in its Season and the Night in its Season mark my Covenant the Light If you can change this then may you change the Covenant of God with his Seed So all Friends that be turned to the Light which cometh from him by whom the VVorld was made who was before it was made Christ Jesus the Saviour of your Souls abide in the Light and you will see your Salvation to be VValls and Bulwarks against that which the Light discovers to be contrary to it Waiting in the Light you will receive the Power of God which is the Gospel of Peace that you may be shod with it And know that in one another which raiseth up the Seed of God and sets it over the VVorld and the Earth and Crucifies the Affections and Lusts and then the Truth comes to reign which is the Girdle G. F. About this time Rice Jones of Nottingham who had been a Baptist and was turned Ranter the same that came to me in Darby-Jail he and his Company began to prophesy against me giving out That I was then at the highest and that after that time I should fall down as fast And he sent a bundle of Railing Papers from Nottingham to Mansfield Clauson and the Towns thereabouts Judging Friends for declaring the Truth in the Markets and in the Steeple-houses which Papers I Answered But his and his Company 's Prophecies came upon themselves for soon after they fell to Pieces and many of his Followers came to be Friends and continued so And through the Lord's blessed Power Truth and Friends have increased and do increase in the increase of God And I by the same Power have been and am preserved and kept in the Everlasting Seed that never fell nor changes But Rice Jones took the Oaths that were put to him and so disobeyed the Command of Christ Many such false Prophets have risen up against me but the Lord hath blasted them and will blast them all who rise against the blessed Seed and me in that My Confidence is in the Lord for whosoever did I saw their End and how the Lord would Confound them before the Lord sent me forth Synder-hill-Green Now was I at Synder-hill-Green where I had had a large Meeting in the day-time and at Night we had a great Meeting again in Thomas Stacy's House for People came from far and could not soon depart The High-Sheriff of the County told Captain Bradford that he intended to have come up with half a dozen of his Troopers to the Meeting but the Lord prevented him and stopt him When I had stayed some Meetings thereabouts Yorkshire Holderness Land'send I traveled up and down in Yorkshire as far as Holderness and to the Lands-End that way visiting Friends and the Churches of Christ which were finely settled under Christ's Teaching At length I came to Captain Bradford's house whither many Ranters came from York to wrangle but they were confounded and stopped Thither came she also who was called the Lady Mountague who was then Convinced and lived and died in the Truth Hallifax Then I came again to Thomas Taylor 's within three Miles of Hallifax where there was a large Meeting of about Two hundred People amongst which were many rude People and divers Butchers several of whom had bound themselves with an Oath before they came out that they would kill me as I was told One of those Butchers had been Accused for killing a Man and a Woman They came in a very rude manner and made a great Disturbance in the Meeting The Meeting being in a Close Thomas Taylor stood up and said unto them If you will be Civil you may stay but if not I charge you to be gone from off my Ground But they were the worse and said They would make it like a Common and they yelled and made such a Noise as if they had been come to a Bear-baiting And they thrust Friends up and down and Friends being peaceable the Lord's Power came over them Several times they thrust me off from the place I stood on by the Crowding of the People together against me but still I was moved of the Lord to stand up again as I was thrust down At last I was moved of the Lord to say unto them If they would discourse of the things of God let them come up to me one by one and if they had any thing to say or to Object I would Answer them all one after another 1654. Near Hallifax at T. B ' s. Then they were all silent and had nothing to say And then the Lord's Power came so over them all and Answered the Witness of God in them that they were bound by the Power of God and a glorious powerful Meeting we had and his Power went over all and the Minds of People were turned by the Spirit of God in them to God and to Christ their Teacher And the powerful Word of Life was largely declared that day and in the Life and Power of God we brake up our Meeting and that Rude
Company went their way to Hallifax The People asked them Why they did not kill me according to the Oath they had sworn And they maliciously Answered That I had so bewitched them that they could not do it Thus was the Devil chained at that time Friends told me that they used to come at other times and be very rude and unruly and sometimes break their Stools and Seats and make fearful work amongst them But the Lord's Power had now bound them Shortly after this that Butcher that had been accused of killing a Man and a Woman before and who was one of them that had then bound himself by an Oath to kill me killed another Man and was thereupon sent to York-Jail Example Another of those rude Butchers who had also sworn to kill me having accustomed himself to Thrust his Tongue out of his Mouth in derision of Friends when they passed by him had his Tongue so swollen out of his Mouth that he could never draw it in again but died so Several strange and sudden Judgments came upon many of these Conspirators against me which would be too large here to declare God's Vengeance from Heaven came upon the Blood-thirsty who sought after Blood for all such Spirits I laid before the Lord and left them to him to deal with them who is stronger than them all in whose Power I was preserved and carried on to do his Work The Lord hath raised a fine People in those Parts whom he hath drawn to Christ and gathered in his Name who feel Christ amongst them and sit under his Teaching After this I passed through the Countries till I came to Balby Balby Lincolnshire from whence several Friends went with me into Lincolnshire where I had formerly been of whom some went to the Steeple-houses and some to private Meetings There came to the Meeting where I was the Sheriff of Lincoln and several with him who made a great Contention and Jangling for a time But at length the Lord's Power struck him that he was Convinced of the Truth and received the Word of Life as did several others also that did Oppose and continued among Friends till they died Great Meetings there were and a large Convincement in those Parts Many were turned to the Lord Jesus and came to sit under his Teaching leaving their Priests and their superstitious Ways and the Day of the Lord flourished over all Amongst them that came to our Meetings in that Country there was one called Sir Richard Wrey and he was Convinced as was also his Brother and his Brother's Wife who abode in the Truth and died therein though he afterwards Run out Having visited those Countries I came into Darbyshire Darbyshire and the Sheriff of Lincoln who was lately Convinced came with me In one Meeting we had some Opposition 1654. Derbyshire but the Lord 's glorious Power gave dominion over all At Night there came a Company of Bayliffs and Serving-men and called me out so I went out to them having some Friends with me When I was come out they were exceeding Rude and Violent for they had it seems Complotted together and intended To have Carried me away with them in the dark of the Evening by force and then to have done me a Mischief But the Lord's Power went over them and chained them so that they could not effect their Design and at last they went away The next day Thomas Aldam understanding that the Serving-men belonged to one called a Knight who lived not far off went to his House and laid before him the bad Carriage of his Servants And the Knight seemed to Rebuke them and did not allow of their Evil Carriage towards us Nottingham-shire Skegby After this we came into Nottinghamshire to Skegby where we had a great Meeting of all sorts of People and the Lord's Power went over them and all was quiet and the People were turned to the Spirit of God by which many came to receive his Power and to sit under the Teaching of Christ their Saviour A great People the Lord hath that a ways Kidsley-Park Then I passed towards Kidsley-park where there came many Ranters but the Lord's Power checkt them From thence I went up into the Peak-Country Peak Country towards Thomas Hammersly's where there came the Ranters of that Country and many high Professors The Ranters opposed me and fell a Swearing And when I reproved them for Swearing they would bring Scripture for it and said Abraham and Jacob and Joseph swore and the Priests and Moses and the Prophets swore and the Angels swore Then I told them I did confess all these did so as the Scripture records but said I Christ who said Before Abraham was I am saith Swear not at all And Christ ends the Prophets and the Old Priesthood and the Dispensation of Moses and reigns over the House of Jacob and of Joseph and he says Swear not at all And God when he bringeth in the First-begotten into the World saith Let all the Angels of God worship him to wit Christ Jesus who saith Swear not at all And as for the Plea that Men make for Swearing to end their Strife Christ who says Swear not at all destroys the Devil and his Works who is the Author of Strife for that is one of his Works And God said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him So the Son is to be heard who forbids Swearing And the Apostle James who did hear the Son of God and followed him and preached him forbids all Oaths Jam. 5.12 So the Lord's Power went over them and his Son and his Doctrine was set over them and the Word of Life was fully and richly preached and many were Convinced that day This Thomas Hammersly being summoned to serve upon a Jury was admitted to serve without an Oath and he being Fore-man of the Jury when he brought in the Verdict the Judge did declare That he had been a Judge so many Years but never heard a more upright Verdict than that Quaker had then brought in Much might be written of things of this nature which time would fail to declare But the Lord's blessed Power and Truth was exalted over all who is worthy of all Praise and Glory for ever Thus travelling through Darbyshire I visited Friends Leicestershire Swanington till I came to Swanington in Leicestershire where there was a General Meeting to which many Ranters came and Baptists and other Professors for great Contests there had been with them and with the Priests in that Town To this Meeting several Friends came from several Parts as John Audland and Francis Howgil and Edward Pyot from Bristol and Edward Burrough from London and several were Convinced in those Parts The Ranters that came to the Meeting made a disturbance and were very rude but at last the Lord's Power came over them and they were Confounded The next Day Jacob Bottomley a great Ranter came from
Leicester but the Lord's Power stopt him and came over them all There came a Priest too but he also was Confounded by the mighty Power of the Lord For about this Time the Priests and the Baptists and the Ranters and other Professors were very rude and stirred up the rude People against us Now we sent to the Ranters to come forth and Try their God and there came abundance of them who were very rude and Sung and whistled and danced but the Lord's Power so Confounded them that many of them came to be Convinced After this I came to Twy-cross whither came some Ranters again Twy-cross and they Sang and danced before me But I was moved in the Dread of the Lord to speak to them and Reprove them and the Lord's Power came over them so that some of them were reached and Convinced and received the Spirit of God and are come to be a pretty People living and walking soberly in the Truth of Christ So I went to Anthony Brickley's in Warwickshire Warwickshire where there was a great Meeting and several Baptists and other People came and jangled but the Lord's Power came over them Then went I to Drayton in Leicestershire to visit my Relations Leicestershire Drayton and as soon as I was come in Nathaniel Stephens the Priest having gotten another Priest and given notice to the Country sent down to me to come up to them for they could not do any thing till I came Now I having been Three Years away from my Relations knew nothing of their Design and Intentions But at last I went up into the Steeple-house-yard where the Two Priests were and they had gathered abundance of People When I came there they would have had me gone into the Steeple-house I asked them What I should do there And they said Mr. Stephens could not bear the Cold. I told them He might bear it as well as I. At last we went into a great Hall and there was Richard Farnsworth with me And a great Dispute we had with these Priests concerning the Practice of the Priests how contrary they were to Christ and his Apostles The Priests would know Where Tithes were forbidden or ended Whereupon I shewed them out of the Seventh Chapter to the Hebrews That not only Tithes but the Priesthood that took Tithes was ended and the Law was ended and disannulled by which the Priesthood was made and Tithes were commanded to be paid Then the Priests stirred up the People to some Lightness and Rudeness Now I had known this Priest Stephens from a Child therefore I laid open his Condition and the manner of his Preaching 1654. Drayton and how that he like the rest of the Priests did apply the Promises to the first Birth which must die But I shewed that the Promises were to the Seed not to many Seeds but to the One Seed Christ who was one in Male and Female for all were to be born again before they could enter into the Kingdom of God Then he said I must not judge so but I told him He that was spiritual judged all things Then he confessed That that was a full Scripture but Neighbours said he This is the Business George Fox is come to the Light of the Sun and now he thinks to put out my Star light Then I told him I would not quench the least Measure of God in any much less put out his Star-light if it were true Star-light Light from the Morning-star But I told him If he had any thing from Christ or God he ought to speak it freely and not take Tithes from the People for Preaching seeing Christ commanded his Ministers to give freely as they had received freely So I charged him to preach no more for Tithes or any Hire But he said He would not yield unto that Then after a while the People began to be vain and rude whereupon we broke up Yet some were made loving to the Truth that Day Now before we parted I told them That if the Lord would I intended to be at the Town that Day Seven-night again and in the Interim I went into the Country and had Meetings and came thither again that Day Seven-night Against that time this Priest had got Seven Priests to help him for Priest Stephens had given notice at a Lecture on a Market-day at Adderston That such a Day there would be a Meeting and a Dispute with me But I knew nothing of it but only had said I should be in Town that day Seven-night again Now these Eight Priests had gathered several Hundreds of People even most of the Country thereabouts and they would have had me into the Steeple-house but I would not go in but got on an Hill and there spoke to them and the People There was with me Thomas Taylor who had been a Priest and James Parnel and several other Friends The Priests thought that Day to have Trampled down Truth but the Truth came over them And then they grew Light and the People Rude and the Priests would not stand to Trial with me but would be contending here and there a little with one Friend or other At last one of the Priests brought his Son to dispute with me but his Mouth was soon stopt And when he could not tell how to Answer he would go ask his Father And his Father was confounded also when he came to Answer for his Son So after they had toiled themselves they went away in a Rage to Priest Stephens his House to drink And as they went away I said I never came in a Place where so many Priests together would not stand the Trial with me Whereupon they and some of their Wives came about me and laid hold on me and fawningly said What might I have been if it had not been for the Quakers And then they fell a pushing of Friends to and fro to thrust them from me and to pluck me to themselves After a while several lusty Fellows came and took me up in their Arms and carried me into the Steeple-house-porch intending to have carried me into the Steeple-house by Force But the Door being locked they fell down on an Heap having me under them As soon as I could I got up from under them and got to my Hill again Then they got me from that Place again and got me to the Steeple-house-wall and set me on a Bass like a Stool And all the Priests being come back stood under with the People And the Priests cried Come to Argument to Argument I said I denied all their Voices for they were the Voices of the Hirelings and the Strangers And they cried Prove it prove it Then I directed them to the tenth of John where they might see what Christ said of such for he said He was the true Shepherd that laid down his Life for his Sheep and his Sheep heard his Voice and followed him But the Hireling would fly when the Wolf came because he was an Hireling
Spirit as it gave words and utterance Here the People fell a Laughing but I was moved to speak more to him And when I had cleared my self to him and them we parted after I had told them That I should God willing be in the Town that day Seven-night again So the Priests packt away and many People were Convinced that day for the Lord's Power came over all And whereas they thought to have Confounded Truth that day many were Convinced of it and many that were Convinced before were by that day's work Confirmed in the Truth and abode in it and a great Shake it gave to the Priests Yea my Father though he was an Hearer and Follower of the Priest was so well satisfied that he struck his Cane upon the Ground and said Truly I see he that will but stand to the Truth it will carry him out So I passed about in the Country till that day Seven-night and then I came again for we had appointed a Meeting at my Relation's House Now Priest Stephens having had notice before hand thereof had got another Priest to him and they had got a Company of Troopers with them and sent for me to come to them But I sent them word Our Meeting was appointed and they might come to it if they would The Priests came not but the Troopers came and many rude People Now they had laid their Plot That the Troopers should take every one's Name and then command them to go home and such as would not go they should take and carry them away with them Accordingly they began and took several Names charging them to go home but when they came to take my Name my Relations told them I was at home already So they could not take me away that time Nevertheless they took my Name but the Lord's Power was over them and they went away both Professors and Troopers Crost and Vext because they had not their Ends. But several were Convinced that day and admired the Love and Power of God This was that Priest Stephens that had once said of me Never such a Plant was bred in England Yet afterwards he reported That I was carried up into the Clouds and found again full of Gold and Silver and many Lies and false Reports he raised on me but the Lord swept them all away Now the Reason why I would not go into their Steeple-house was because I was to bear my Testimony against it and to bring all off from such Places to the Spirit of God that they might know their Bodies to be the Temples of the Holy Ghost And to bring them off from all the Hireling-Teachers to Christ their free Teacher that had died for them and purchased them with his Blood After this I went into the Country and had several Meetings and came to Swannington where the Souldiers came again but the Meeting was quiet and the Lord's Power was over all and the Souldiers did not meddle Then I went to Leicester and from Leicester to Whetston Leicester Whetston But before the Meeting began there came about Seventeen Troopers of Coll. Hacker's Regiment with his Marshal and they took me up before the Meeting though Friends were beginning to gather together for there were several Friends come out of several Parts I told the Marshal He might let all the Friends go I would answer for them all whereupon he took me and let all the Friends go only Alexander Parker went along with me At Night they had me before Coll. Hacker and his Major and Captains a great Company of them and a great deal of Discourse we had about the Priests and about Meetings for at this time there was a noise of a Plot against O. Cromwel And much Reasoning I had with them about the Light of Christ which enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World Coll. Hacker asked Whether it was not this Light of Christ that made Judas betray his Master and after led him to hang himself I told him No That was the Spirit of Darkness which hated Christ and his Light Then Coll. Hacker said I might go home and keep at home and not go abroad to Meetings I told him I was an Innocent Man free from Plots and denied all such Work Then his Son Needham said Father This Man hath reigned too long it is time to have him cut off I asked him For what what had I done or whom had I wronged from a Child for I was bred and born in that Country and who could accuse me of any Evil from a Child Then Coll. Hacker asked me again If I would go home and stay at home I told him If I should promise him so that would manifest that I was guilty of something to go home and make my home a Prison And if I went to Meetings they would say I broke their Order Therefore I told them I should go to Meetings as the Lord should order me and therefore could not submit to their Requirings but I said we were a peaceable People Well then said Coll. Hacker I will send you to Morrow Morning by six a Clock to my Lord Protector by Captain Drury one of his Life-guard That Night I was kept a Prisoner at the Marshalsey and the next Morning by the sixth hour I was ready and delivered to Captain Drury I desired he would let me speak with Coll. Hacker before I went and he had me to his Bed-side Coll. Hacker at me presently again To go home and keep no more Meetings I told him I could not submit to that but must have my Liberty to serve God and to go to Meetings Then said he you must go before the Protector Whereupon I kneeled on his Bedside and besought the Lord to forgive him for he was as Pilate tho' he would wash his Hands and when the day of his Misery and Trial should come upon him I bid him Then Remember what I had said to him But he was stirred up and set on by Priest Stephens and the other Priests and Professors wherein their Envy and Baseness was manifest who when they could not overcome me by Disputes and Arguments nor resist the Spirit of the Lord that was in me then they got Souldiers to take me up Afterwards when this Coll. Hacker was in Prison in London 1654. Wherston a day or two before he was Executed he was put in mind of what he had done against the Innocent And he remembred it and confest to it to Margaret Fell and said He knew well whom she meant and he had a Trouble upon him for it So his Son who told his Father I had reigned too long and that it was time to have me cut off might observe how his Father was Cut off afterwards being hanged at Tyburn Now was I carried up a Prisoner by Captain Drury aforesaid from Leicester and when we came to Harborough he asked me Leicester Harborough Northampton If I would go home and stay a Fort-night I should
have my Liberty he said if I would not go to nor keep Meetings I told him I could not promise any such thing Several times upon the Road did he ask and try me after the sâ—me manner and still I gave him the same Answers So he brought me to London London Charing-Cross and lodged me at the Mermaid over against the Mews at Charing-Cross And on the way as we traveled I was moved of the Lord to Warn People at the Inns and Places where I came of the day of the Lord that was coming upon them And William Dewsberry and Marmaduke Stor being in Prison at Northampton he let me go and visit them After Captain Drury had lodged me at the Mermaid he left me there and went to give the Protector an Account of me And when he came to me again he told me The Protector did require that I should promise not to take up a carnal Sword or Weapon against him or the Government as it then was and that I should write it in what words I saw good and set my Hand to it I said little in Reply to Captain Drury But the next Morning I was moved of the Lord to write a Paper To the Protector by the name of Oliver Cromwel wherein I did in the presence of the Lord God declare that I did deny the wearing or drawing of a carnal Sword or any other outward Weapon against him or any Man And that I was sent of God to stand a Witness against all Violence and against the Works of Darkness and to turn People from the Darkness to the Light and to bring them from the Occasion of War and Fighting to the peaceable Gospel and from being Evil-Doers which the Magistrates Sword should be a Terror to When I had written what the Lord had given me to write I set my Name to it and gave it to Captain Drury to give to O. Cromwel which he did Then after some time Captain Drury brought me before the Protector himself at Whitehall Whitehall It was in a Morning before he was dressed and one Harvey that had come a little among Friends but was disobedient waited upon him When I came in I was moved to say Peace be in this House and I bid him Keep in the Fear of God that he might receive Wisdom from him that by it he might be ordered and with it might order all things under his Hand to God's Glory I spake much to him of Truth and a great deal of Discourse I had with him about Reliâ—ion wherein he carried himself very moderately But he said We quarrelled with the Priests whom he called Ministers I told him I did not quarrel with them but they quarrelled with me and my Friends But said I If we own the Prophets Christ and the Apostles we cannot hold up such Teachers Prophets and Shepherds 1654. Whitehall as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles declared against but we must declare against them by the same Power and Spirit Then I shewed him That the Prophets Christ and the Apostles declared freely and declared against them that did not declare freely such as preached for filthy Lucre and divined for Money and preached for Hire and were covetous and greedy like the dumb Dogs that could never have enough And that they that have the same Spirit that Christ and the Prophets and the Apostles had could not but declare against all such now as they did then As I spake he would several times say It was very good and it was Truth I told him That all Christendom so called had the Scriptures but they wanted the Power and Spirit that they had who gave forth the Scriptures and that was the reason they were not in Fellowship with the Son nor with the Father nor with the Scriptures nor one with another Many more words I had with him but People coming in I drew a little back And as I was turning he catched me by the Hand and with Tears in his Eyes said Come again to my House for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together we should be nearer one to the other adding That he wisht me no more Ill than he did to his own Soul I told him If he did he wronged his own Soul And I bid him hearken to God's Voice that he might stand in his Counsel and obey it and if he did so that would keep him from hardness of Heart but if he did not hear God's Voice his Heart would be hardened And he said It was true Then went I out G. F. set at Liberty And when Capt. Drury came out after me he told me His Lord Protector said I was at Liberty and might go whither I would Then I was brought into a great Hall where the Protector 's Gentlemen were to dine and I asked them What they did bring me thither for They said It was by the Protector 's Order that I might dine with them I bid them Let the Protector know I would not eat a bit of his Bread nor drink a sup of his Drink When he heard this he said Now I see there is a People risen and come up that I cannot win either with Gifts Honours Offices or Places but all other Sects and People I can But it was told him again That we had forsook our own and were not like to look for such things from him Now I being set at Liberty went up to the Inn again where Capt. Drury had at first lodged me This Capt. Drury though he sometimes carried fairly was an Enemy to me and to Truth and opposed it and when Professors came to me while I was under his Custody and he was by he would scoff at Trembling and call us Quakers as the Independents and Presbyterians had Nick-named us before But afterwards he came on a time to me and told me That as he was lying on his Bed to rest himself in the day-time a sudden Trembling seized on him that his Joints knocked together and his Body shook so that he could not rise from his Bed he was so shaken that he had not strength enough left to rise But he felt the Power of the Lord was upon him and he tumbled off his Bed and cried to the Lord and said He would never speak against the Quakers more such as Trembled at the Word of God During the Time that I was Prisoner at Charing-Cross 1654. Charing-Cross there came abundaâ—ce to see me People almost of all Sorts Priests Professors Officers of the Army c. And one Time a Company of Officers being with me desired me to pray with them I sate still with my Mind retired to the Lord. At last I felt the Power and Spirit of God move in me and the Lord's Power did so shake and shatter them that they wondred though they did not live in it Among those that came thither to see me there was one Colonel Packer with several of his Officers and while they
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
the Rider hath on his own who perhaps hath a Ring in his Ear too and so go to Horse-racing to spoil the Creatures Oh these are Gentlemen indeed these are bred up Gentlemen these are brave Fellows and they must take their Recreation for Pleasures are lawful And these in their Sports set up their Shouts like unto the wild Asses they are like unto the Kine or Beasts when they are put to Grass Lowing when they are full And here is the Glorying of them before-mentioned but it is in the Flesh not in the Lord These are bad Christians and shew that they are gluttoned with the Creatures and then the Flesh rejoiceth And here is bad breeding of Youth and young Women who are carried away with the Vanities of the Mind in their own Inventions Pride Arrogancy Lust Gluttony Vncleanness so Eat and Drink and rise up to Play This is the Generation which God is not well pleased withall but their Eyes are full of Adultery who cannot cease from Evil. These be they that live in Pleasures upon Earth These be they who are dead while they live who glory not in the Lord but in the Flesh These be they that be from the Life that the Scriptures were given forth from who live in the Fashions and Vanities of the World out of Truth 's Adorning in the Devil 's Adorning who is out of the Truth and not in the Adorning of the Lord which is a meek and quiet Spirit which is with the Lord of great price But this Ornament and this Adorning is not put on by them that be adorned and have the Ornament of him that is out of the Truth and that is not accepted with the Lord which is accepted in their Eye G. F. Moreover it came upon me about this time from the Lord to write a short Paper and send forth as An Exhortation and Warning to the Pope and all Kings and Rulers in Europe a Copy of which here follows Friends YE Heads and Rulers and Kings and Nobles of all sorts Be not bitter nor hasty in persecuting the Lambs of Christ neither turn your selves against the Visitation of God and his tender Love and Mercies from on high who sent to visit you lest the Lord's Hand Arm and Power take hold swiftly upon you which is now stretched over the World that is turned against Kings and shall turn Wise Men backward and will bring off their Crowns to the Dust and lay them low and level with the Earth God and Christ will be King who gives Crowns to whomsoever obey his Will and this is the Age wherein the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is staining the Pride of Man and defacing his Glory So you that profess Christ and do not love your Enemies but on the contrary do shut up and Imprison them who are his Friends these be Marks that you be out of his Life and do not love Christ who do not the things he commands The day of the Lord's Wrath is kindling and his Fire is going forth to burn up the Wicked which will leave neither Root nor Branch They that have lost their Habitation with God be out of the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures and from the Light that Jesus Christ hath enlightned them withall and so from the true Foundation Therefore be swift to hear and slow to speak and slower to persecute For the Lord is bringing his People to himself from off all the World's Ways to Christ the Way and from off all the World's Churches to the Church which is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and from off all the World's Teachers to teach his People himself by his Spirit and from off all the World's Images into the Image of himself and from their Likenesses into his own Likeness and from off all the World's Crosses of Stone or Wood into his Power which is the Cross of Christ For all these Images and Crosses and Likenesses are among them that are Apostatized from the Image of God the Power of God which is the Cross of Christ which now fathoms the World and is throwing down that which is contrary to it which Power of God never changes Let this go to the Kings of France and of Spain and to the Pope for them to prove all things and to hold that which is good And first to prove that they have not quenched the Spirit for the mighty Day of the Lord is come and coming upon all Wickedness and Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men who will plead with all Flesh by Fire and by Sword And the Truth and the Crown of Glory and the Scepter of Righteousness over all shall be exalted which shall Answer that of God in every one upon the Earth tho' they be from it Christ is come a Light into the World and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that all through him might believe He that feeleth the Light that Christ hath enlightened him withal he feeleth Christ in his Mind and the Cross of Christ which is the Power of God and he shall not need to have a Cross of Wood or Stone to put him in mind of Christ or of his Cross which is the Power of God manifest in the inward Parts G. F. Besides this I was moved to write a Letter to the Protector so called To warn him of the mighty Work the Lord hath to do in the Nations and shaking of them and to beware of his own Wit Craft Subtilty and Policy or seeking any By-Ends to himself There was about this time an Order for the Trying of Ministers so called and for Approving or Ejecting them out of their Places or Benefices whereupon I writ a Paper To the Justices and other Commissioners who were appointed to that Work Of which Paper the Copy here follows Friends YOU that be Justices and in Commission to Try Ministers who have so long been in the Vine-yard of God now see whether they be such as are mentioned in the Scriptures whom the Prophets Christ and the Apostles did Dis-approve of And if they be such as they Dis-approved then see how ye can stand Approved in the sight of God to let such go into his Vine-yard and Approve of them who will admire your Persons because of Advantage and if you do not give them advantage they will not admire your Persons Such Jude speaks of See if they be not such as teach for filthy Lucre for the love of Money Covetous such as love themselves who have a Form of Godliness but deny the Power from such the Apostle bids Turn away The Apostle said Their Mouths should be stopped who served not the Lord Jesus but their own Bellies being Evil Beasts slow Bellies who mind Earthly Things Paul gave Timothy an Order to Try Ministers by He said They must not be Covetous nor given to Wine nor filthy Lucre nor a Novice lest being lifted up into Pride they fall into the Condemnation of the Devil These he was to
Try and Prove without Partiality Now take heed of your Approving such as he disapproved for since the Apostles days such as he disapproved have had their Liberty and they have told us The Tongues were their Original and that they were Orthodox Men and that the Steeple-house with a Cross on the top of it was the Church the Papists Mass-house you may look on the Top of it and see the Sign But the Scriptures tell us All the Earth was of one Language before the Building of Babel And when Pilate crucified Christ he set the Tongues Hebrew Greek and Latin on the top of him And John tells us That the Beast had power over the Tongues Kindreds and Nations and that the Whore sits upon the Tongues of whose Cup all Nations have drunk and the Kings of the Earth have committed Fornication with her and John said The Tongues are Waters Christ gives marks to his Disciples and to the Multitude how to Try such as these that you are to Try They are called of Men Master they love the Chiefest Seat in the Assemblies they be Sayers but not Doers And said he They shall put you out of the Synagogues and seven Woes he denounced against them and so disapproved them Christ said False Prophets should come and John saw They were come for they went forth from them and since the World hath gone after them But Babylon must be confounded the Mother of Harlots and the Devil must be taken and with him the Beast and the false Prophet must be cast into the Lake of Fire for the Lamb and his Saints over all must reign and have the Victory The Lord God sent his Prophets of Old to cry against the Shepherds that sought for the Fleece Ezek. 34. and to cry against such Shepherds as seek for their Gain from their Quarter and never have enough Isa 5.6 and to cry against the Prophets that prophesied falsely and the Priests that bore rule by their Means which was the filthy and horrible thing Jer. 5. And if you would forbear to give them Means you would see how long they would bear Rule There was in the Old Time a Store-house for the Fatherless Strangers and Widows to come to and be filled and they did not prosper then who did not bring their Tithes to the Store-house But did not Christ put an end to that Priesthood Tithes Temple and Priests And doth not the Apostle say that the Priesthood is changed the Law is changed and the Commandment disannulled Might not they have pleaded the Law of God that gave them Tithes Have ever any of the Priests prospered that take Tithes since by the Law of Man Was not the first Author of them since Christ's time the Pope or some of his Church Did the Apostles cast Men into Prison for Tithes as your Ministers do now As Instance Ralph Hollingworth Priest of Phillingham for petty Tithes not exceeding six Shillings hath cast into Lincoln-Prison a poor Thatcher named Thomas Bromby where he hath been about Eight and Thirty Weeks and still remains a Prisoner And the Priest petitioned the Judge That the poor Man might not labour in the City to get a little Money towards his maintenance in Prison Is this a good Savour amongst you that are in Commission to chuse Ministers Is this glad Tidings to cast in Prison a Man that is not his Hearer because he could not put into his Mouth Can such as be in the fear of God and in his Wisdom own such things The Ministers of Christ are to plant a Vine-yard and then Eat of the Fruit to Plow Sow and Thresh and get the Corn and then let them Reap but not cast them into Prison for whom they do no Work Christ when he sent forth his Ministers bid them Give freely as they had Received freely and into what City or Town soever they came Inquire who were Worthy and there abide and what they set before you said He that Eat And when these came back again to Christ and he asked them If they wanted any thing They said No They did not go to a Town and call the People together to know How much they might have by the Year as these that are in the Apostacy do now The Apostle said Have I not power to Eat and to Drink But he did not say To take Tithes Easter-Reckonings Midsummer-Dues Augmentations and great Sums of Money But have I not power to Eat and to Drink 1655. London And yet he did not use that Power among the Corinthians But they that are Apostatized from him will take Tithes great Sums of Money Easter-Reckonings and Midsummer-Dues and cast them into Prison that will not give it them whom they do no work for The Oxe's Mouth must not be muzz'led that treads out the Corn But see if the Corn be trodden out in you and the VVheat be in the Garner This is from a Lover of your Souls and one that desires your Eternal Good G. F. Now after I had made some stay in the City of London and had given forth the several foregoing Papers and cleared my self of what Service lay upon me at that time there I was mov'd of the Lord to go down into Bedford-shire to John Crook's House Bedford-shire Luton where there was a great Meeting and People generally Convinced of the Lord's Truth When I was come thither John Crook told me that the next day several of those that were called the Gentlemen of the Country would come to dine with him and to discourse with me They came and I declared to them God's Eternal Truth Several Friends went to the Steeple-houses that day And there was a Meeting in the Country which Alexander Parker went to and towards the middle of the day it came upon me to go to it though it was several Miles from me John Crook went with me and when we came there there was one Gritton that had been a Baptist but he was gotten higher than they and called himself a Trier of Spirits He used to tell People their Fortunes and pretended to discover to People when their Goods were stollen or Houses broken up who the Persons were that did it by which he had gotten into the Affections of many People thereabout This Man was got into that Meeting and was speaking and making an hideous Noise over the Young-convinced Friends when I came in and he bid Alexander Parker give a reason of his Hope Alex. Parker told him Christ was his Hope but because he did not Answer him so soon as he expected he boastingly cried His Mouth is stopt Then this Gritton directed his Speech to me for I stood still and heard him and he spake many things which were not agreeable to Scripture I asked him Whether he could make those things out by Scripture which he had spoken and he said Yes yes Then I bid the People Take out their Bibles to search the Places he should quote for proof of his Assertions But he
could not make good by Scripture that which he had said So he was shamed and fled out of the House and his People were generally Convinced for his Spirit was discovered and he came no more amongst them And when his People were Convinced and settled in God's Truth they gave forth a Book against him and denied his Spirit and his false Discoveries Many were turned to Christ Jesus that day and came to sit under his Teaching insomuch that the Judges were in a great Rage and many of the Magistrates in Bedford-shire because there were so many turned from the Hireling-Priests to the Lord Jesus Christ's free Teaching But John Crook was kept by the Power of the Lord Yet he was turned out from being a Justice After some time I turned up through the Country to London again where Friends were finely established in the Truth and great Comings in there were And about this time several Friends went beyond the Seas to declare the everlasting Truth of God Now when I had stay'd a while in the City Kent Rochester I went into Kent And when I came to Rochester there was a Guard kept to examin Passengers Cranbrook but we passed by and were not stopped So I went to Cranbrook where there was a great Meeting and several Souldiers were at it and many were turned to the Lord that day After the Meeting some of the Souldiers were somewhat Rude but the Lord's Power came over them One Thomas Howsigoe an Independent-Preacher who lived not far from Cranbrook was Convinced and became a faithful Minister for the Lord Jesus Some Friends had traveled into Kent before as John Stubbs and William Caton and the Priests and Professors had stirred up the Magistrates at Maidstone to Whip them for declaring God's Truth unto them as may be seen at large in the Journal of William Caton's Life There was also one Captain Dunk Convinced in Kent Sussex Ry. and he went with me to Ry where we had a Meeting to which the Mayor and Officers and several Captains came and they took what I said in Writing which I was well pleased with All was quiet and the People affected with the Truth Rumney From Ry I went to Rumney where the People having had notice of my Coming some time before there was a very large Meeting Thither came Samuel Fisher who was an Eminent Preacher among the Baptists and had had a Parsonage reputed worth about Two hundred Pounds a Year which for Conscience-sake he had given up And there was also the Pastor of the Baptists and abundance of their People And the Power of the Lord was so mightily over the Meeting that many were reached by the Power of God and one greatly shaken and the Life sprang up in divers One of the Pastors of the Baptists being amazed at the Work of the Lord's Power bid one of our Friends that was so wrought upon Have a good Conscience Whereupon I was moved of the Lord to bid him Take heed of Hypocrisy and Deceit and he was silent A great Convincement there was that day and many were turned from the Darkness to the divine Light of Christ and came to see their Teachers Errors and to sit under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching and to know him their Way and the Covenant of Light which God had given to be their Salvation And they were brought to the One Baptism and to the One Baptizer Christ Jesus When the Meeting was done Samuel Fisher's Wife said Now we may discern this day betwixt Flesh and Spirit and distinguish Spiritual Teaching from Fleshly The People were generally well satisfied with what had been declared but the Two Baptist-Teachers and their Company when they were gone from the Meeting fell to Reasoning amongst the People Samuel Fisher with divers others reasoned for the Word of Life which had been declared that day and the other Pastor and his Party reasoned against it So it divided them asunder and cut them in the midst A Friend came and told me that the Baptists were disputing one with another 1655. Rumney and desired me to go up to them but I said Let them alone the Lord will divide them and they that Reason for Truth will be too hard for the other And so it was This Samuel Fisher received the Truth in the Love of it and became a faithful Minister of it and preached Christ freely and laboured much in the Work and Service of the Lord being moved of the Lord to go and declare the word of Life at Dunkirk and in Holland and in divers parts of Italy as Leghorn and Rome it self And yet the Lord preserved him and his Companion John Stubbs out of their Inquisitions From Rumney I passed to Dover and had a Meeting there Dover where several were Convinced And near unto Dover there was a Governour and his Wife Convinced who had been Baptists and the Baptists thereabouts were much offended and grew very envious but the Lord's Power came over all Luke Howard of Dover was Convinced sometime before and became a faithful Minister of Christ Returning from Dover I went to Canterbury Canterbury where there were a few honest-hearted People turned to the Lord who sate down under Christ's Teaching Thence I passed to Cranbrook again Cranbrook where I had a great Meeting A Friend that was with me went to the Steeple-house and was cast into Prison But the Lord's Power was manifested and his Truth spread From thence I passed into Sussex and lodged near Horsham Sussex Horsham where there was a great Meeting and many were Convinced Also at Stenning we had a great Meeting in the Market-House Stenning and several were Convinced there and thereaways for the Lord's Power was with us Several Meetings I had thereabouts and among the rest there was a Meeting appointed at a Great Man's House and he and his Son went to fetch several Priests that had threatned to come and dispute But when the time came none of them came for the Lord's Power was mighty in us A glorious Meeting we had and the Man of the House and his Son were vext because none of the Priests would come So the Hearts of People were opened by the Spirit of God and they were turned from the Hirelings to Christ Jesus their Shepherd who had purchased them without Money and would feed them without Money or Price Many that came expecting to hear a Dispute were Convinced that day amongst which Nicholas Beard was one Thus the Lord's Power came over all and his Day many came to see There were abundance of Ranters in those parts and Professors that had been so Loose in their Lives that they began to be Weary of it and had thought to have gone into Scotland to have lived privately But the Lord's Net catched them and their Understandings were opened by his Light Spirit and Power through which they came to receive the Truth and to be settled upon the Lord and so
having been broken up upon the Seventh Day before at Night as they said We told them We were honest and innocent Men and abhorred such things Yet they Apprehended us 1655. Norfolk and set a Guard with Halberts and Pikes upon us that Night making some of those Friendly People with others to watch us Next Morning we were up betimes and the Constable with his Guaâ— â—arried us before a Justice of Peace about five Miles off and we took Two or three of the sufficient men of the Town with us who had been with us at the great Meeting at Captain Lawrence's and could testify that we lay both the seventh Day Night and the first Day Night at Captain Lawrence's and it was the seventh Day Night that they said the House was broken up Now the Reader is to be Informed that during the time that I was a Prisoner at the Mermaid at Charing-Cross of which an Account is given before this Captain Lawrence brought several Independent-Justices to see me there with whom I had a great deal of Discourse which they took Offence at For they pleaded for Imperfection and to Sin as long as they lived but did not like to hear of Christ's Teaching his People himself and making People as Clear whilst here upon the Earth as Adam and Eve were before they fell Now these Justices had plotted together this mischief against me in the Country pretending an House was broken up that so they might send their Hue and Cry after me so great was their Malice against the Righteous and the Just They were vexed also and troubled to hear of the great Meeting at John Lawrence's aforesaid for there was a Colonel Convinced there that Day that lived and died in the Truth But Providence so ordered it that the Constable carried us to a Justice about five miles onward in our way towards Lyn who was not an Independent-Justice as the rest were When we were brought before him he began to be angry because we did not put off our Hats to him I told him I had been before the Protector and he was not offended at my Hat and why should he be offended at it who was but one of his Servants Then he read the Hue and Cry And I told him That that Night wherein the House was said to be broken up we were at Captain Lawrence's House and that we had several Men here present could Testify the Truth thereof Thereupon the Justice having Examined us and them said He believed we were not the men that had broken the House but he was sorry he said that he had no more against us We told him He ought not to be sorry for not having Evil against us but rather to be glad for to Rejoice when he got Evil against People as for house-breaking or the like was not a good mind in him It was a good while yet before he would Resolve Whether to let us go or send us to Prison and the wicked Constable stirred him up against us telling him We had good Horses and that if it pleased him he would carry us to Norwich-Jail But we took hold of the Justice's Confession That he believed we were not the men that had broken the House and after we had admonished him to Fear the Lord in his Day the Lord's Power came over him so that he let us go and so their Snare was broken A great People were after ward gathered to the Lord in that Town where I was moved to speak to them in the Street and from whence the Hue and Cry came Lyn. Being set at Liberty we travelled to Lyn whither we came about the third Hour in the Afternoon And having set up our Horses we met with Joseph Fuce who was an Ensign and we wisht him to speak to as many of the People of the Town as he could 1655. Lyn. that feared God and to the Captains and Officers to come together which he did And we had a very glorious Meeting amongst them and turned them to the Spirit of God by which they might know God and Christ and understand the Scriptures and so learn of God and of Christ as the Prophets and Apostles did Many were Convinced there that Day and a fine Meeting there is of them that are come off from the Hirelings Teaching and sit under the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lyn being then a Garrison we desired Joseph Fuce to get us the Gate opened by the third hour next Morning for we had forty Miles to ride next day And by that means getting out early we came next Day by the Eleventh or Twelfth hour to a Town near the Isle of Ely called Sutton where Amor Stoddart Sutton and the Friends that were with him met us again A multitude of People was gathered thither and there were no less than four Priests The Priest of the Town made a great Jangle but the Lord's Power so confounded him that he went away The other three Priests stayed and one of them was Convinced One of the other Two whilst I was speaking came to lean upon me but I bid him Sit down seeing he was so slothful A great Convincement there was that Day and many hundreds were turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto God and from the Spirit of Error to the Spirit of Truth to be led thereby into all Truth People came to this Meeting from Huntington and beyond and the Mayor's Wife of Cambridge was there also A glorious Meeting it was and many were settled under Christ's Teaching and knew him their Shepherd to feed them for the Word of Life was freely declared and gladly received by them The Meeting ended in the Power of the Lord and in Peace and after it was done I walked out and went into a Garden where I had not been long before a Friend came to me and told me Several Justices were come to break up the Meeting But many of the People were gone away so they missed of their Design and after they had stayed a while they went away also in a Fret That Evening I passed to Cambridge Cambridg And when I came into the Town the Scholars hearing of me were up and were exceeding Rude I kept on my Horse's Back and rid through them in the Lord's Power but they Vnhorst Amor Stoddart before he could get to the Inn. When we were in the Inn they were so rude there in the Courts and in the Streets that the Miners the Colliers and Carters could never be Ruder The People of the House asked us What we would have for Supper as is the usual way of Inn-keepers Supper said I were it not that the Lord's Power is over them these Rude Scholars look as if they would pluck us in pieces and make a Supper of us They knew I was so against their Trade the Trade of Preaching which they were there as Apprentices to learn that they raged as had as ever
Diana's Crafts-men did against Paul At this Place John Crook met us When it was within Night the Mayor of the Town being friendly came and fetched me to his House and as we walked through the Streets there was a Bustle in the Towm but they did not know me it being darkish But they were in a Rage not only against me but against the Mayor also 1655. Cambridg so that he was almost afraid to walk the Streets with me for the Tumult We sent for the Friendly People and had a fine Meeting there in the Power of God and I stay'd there all Night Next Morning having ordered our Horses to be ready by the sixth Hour we passed peaceably out of Town and the Destroyers were disappointed for they thought I would have stay'd longer in the Town and intended to have done us Mischief but our passing away early in the Morning frustrated their Evil-Purposes against us Bishop-Starford Hertford Then rode we through the Countries to Bishop-Starford where were some Convinced And so to Hertford where also there were some Convinced and where now there is a large Meeting London From thence we returned to London where Friends received us gladly the Lord's Power having carried us through many Snares and Dangers And great Service we had for the Lord for maâ—y hundreds were brought to sit under the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour and to praise the Lord through him James Nailer also was come up to London and Richard Hubberthorn and I stay'd sometime in the City visiting Friends and Answering Gain-sayers for we had great Disputes with Professors of all sorts Many Reproaches they cast upon Truth and lying slanderous Books they gave forth against us But we Answered them all and cleared God's Truth and set it over them all and the Lord's Power was over all Amongst other Services for the Lord which then lay upon me in the City I was moved to give forth a Paper to those That made a scorn at Trembling and Quaking of which a Copy here followeth THE Word of the Lord to all you that scorn Trembling and Quaking who scoff at them and scorn them and throw Stones at them and belch forth Oaths against them who are Trembling and Quaking threatning them and beating them Strangers ye are to all the Apostles and Prophets and are in the Generation that stoned them and mocked them then in those Ages Now ye are the Scoffers which they spake of that are come in the last times Be ye Witnesses against your selves To the Light in all your Consciences I speak that with it you may see your selves to be from the Life of the holy Men of God Moses who was a Judge over all Israel he trembled feared and Quaked when the Lord said unto him I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob then he trembled and durst not behold This which makes to Tremble now ye Teachers and People scoff at and scorn them in your Streets who witness the Power of the Lord. Moses forsook the Pleasures of the World which he might have enjoyed for a Season He might have been called the Son of Pharaoh's-Daughter he refused it and forsook Pharaoh's House yet was no Vagabond And David a King he trembled he was mocked they made Songs on him they wagged their Heads at him Will you profess David's Words and Moses his Words who are in the Generation of your Fathers 1655. London Mockers Scoffers Wonderers and Despisers which are to perish O blush and be ashamed of all your Profession and be Confounded Job trembled his Flesh trembled and they mocked him So do you now mock them in whom the same Power of God is made manifest and yet you profess Job's Words O deceitful Hypocrites will ye not own Scripture O for shame never profess Scripture-words and deny the Power which according to the Scripture makes the Keepers of the House to tremble and the strong Man to bow himself These things both Priests Magistrates and People scoff at but with the Power ye are judged and by the Power and Life condemned The Prophet Jeremiah trembled he shook his Bones quaked he reeled to and fro like a drunken Man when he saw the Deceits of the Priests and Prophets who were turned from the way of God and they were not ashamed neither could they blush Such were gone from the Light and such were they that ruled over the People But he was brought to Cry O foolish People that had Eyes and could not see that had Ears and could not hear that did not fear the Lord and tremble at his Presence who placed the Sands for Bounds to the Sea by a perpetual Decree that the Waves thereof cannot pass And he said A horrible thing is committed in the Land The Prophets prophesy falsly and the Priests bear rule by their means Shall not I arise for these things saith the Lord Shall not my Soul be avenged upon such a Nation as this They were such as did not Tremble at the Word of the Lord therefore he called them a foolish People Hear all ye the Word of the Lord ye foolish People who scorn Trembling and Quaking and Shaking Give over professing the Prophet Jeremiah's Words and making a Trade of them for with his Words you are judged to be among the Scoffers and Scorners and Stockers For he was stocked by your Generation and you now stock them that tremble at the word of the Lord at the Power of the Mighty God which raises up the Seed of God and throws down the Earth which hath kept it down So you that are in the Fall where Death reigneth Enemies of the Truth despising the Power of God as those of your Generation ever did Wo and Misery is your Portion except you speedily Repent Isaiah said Hear the Word of the Lord all ye that Tremble at his Word And he said This was the Man that God did regard that was of a broken and contrite Heart and trembled at his Word When their Brethren hated them and persecuted them saying Let the Lord be glorified he shall appear to your Joy but they shall be ashamed Isa 66.5 Now all ye Scoffers and Scorners that despise Trembling you regard not the Word of the Lord They are not regarded by you that Tremble at the Word which are regarded by the Lord therefore you are contrary to Isaiah's Words Therefore profess him and his Words no more for shame nor make a Trade of his Words Ye that seek for your Gain from your Quarter ye greedy dumb Dogs that never have enough ye are they that despise Trembling ye are such as Isaiah cried against who himself witnessed Trembling Here therefore be ye Witnesses against your selves that with the Light in your Consciences ye may see ye are out of the Prophet Isaiah's Spirit and are Haters of them that Tremble whom the Lord regards but such you regard not but hate and persecute mock and rail
against them But it is manifest that you walk in the steps of your Fore-fathers that persecuted the Prophetâ— Habakâ—uk the Prophet of the Lord trembled and Joel the Prophet of the Lord said Blow the Trumpet in Sion and let all the Inhabitants of the Earth Tremble The People shall Tremble and all Faces shall gather Blackness and the People shall be much pained And now this Trembling is witnessed by the Power of the Lord This Power of the Lord is come the Trumpet is sounding the Earth is shaking the Inhabitants of the Earth are trembling the Dead is arising and the Living is praising God And the World is Raging and the Scoffers are Scorning and they that witness Trembling and Quaking wrought in them by the Power of the Lord can scarce pass up and down the Streets but with Stones and Blows and Fists and Sticks or Dogs set at them or pursued with Mocks and Reproaches Thus you vent forth your Malice against them that witness the Power of the Lord as the Prophets did who are come to the broken Heart and contrite Spirit and who Tremble at the Word of the Lord whom the Lord regards These you stone these you stock these you set your Dogs at these you scoff and scorn these you revile and reproach but those Reproaches are our Riches praised be the Lord who hath given us power over them And if you see one as Habakkuk whose Lips quivered whose Belly shock who said Rottenness was entred into his Bones and who trembled in himself if you see such an one in this Condition now ye say He is Bewitched Here again you shew your selves Strangers to that Power to that Life that was in the Prophet Therefore for shame never make a Profession of his Words nor a Trade of his Words nor of Joel's who witnessed Trembling which ye scorn and scoff at Ye proud Scoffers and Scorners Misery Misery is your End except you speedily Repent Daniel a Servant of the most-high God he Trembled his Strength and his Breath was gone He was Prisoned He was hated he was persecuted they laid Baits and Snares for him in whom the holy Spirit of God was Now for shame all you that make a Profession of Daniel's Words give over your Profession Priests and People who scoff and scorn at Trembling with the Light you are seen to be out of Daniel's Life and by the same Power you are judged at which you scorn and scoff And so here again be ye Witnesses against your selves that you are Scorners and Scoffers against the Truth And with the Scripture you are judged to be contrary to the Life of the holy Men of God Paul a Minister of God made by the Will of God a Messenger of the Lord Jesus a Vessel of the Lords to carry his Name abroad into several Nations when the dark blind World have got some of his Words and Epistles you filthy Teachers make a Trade of them and get great Sums of Money for it and so destroy Souls for dishonest Gain making a Trade of his Words and of the rest of the Apostles and Prophets and of Christ's Words but denying the Spirit and Life that they were guided by and that Power which shook the Flesh and the Earth which the Apostle witnessed who said When he came among the Corinthians he was then with them in weakness and fear and in much Trembling that their Faith might not stand in the Wisdom of Words but in the Power of God in that Power which made him to Tremble This Power it is that the World and all the scoffing Teachers scoff at and scorn in your Towns in your Villages in your Assemblies in your Ale-houses for shame lay away all your Profession of the Apostle's Words and Conditions And some of them that scoff at this Power call it the Power of the Devil and some persecute them and Stone and Stock Imprison and Whip them in whom that Power is made manifest and lade them with Reproaches as not worthy to walk on the Earth hated and persecuted as the Off-scouring of all things Here you may see you are in the steps of your Fore-Fathers who persecuted the Apostles and acted so against them stocked them mocked them prisoned them stoned them whipped them haled them out of the Synagogues reproached them and shamefully entreated them Do not you here fulfil the Scripture and Christ's saying who said If they kill you they will think they do God Service Yet you make a Profession of Christ's Words of the Prophets and Apostles Words and call your selves Churches and Ministers of the Gospel I charge you in the presence of the Living God to be silent who act such things And mind the Light in your Consciences ye Scoffers and Scorners which Christ hath enlightened you withall that with it ye may see your selves what ye Act and what ye have Acted for who Act such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God for all such things are by the Light condemned And who come to witness Trembling and Quaking the Powers of the Earth to be shaken the Lustful Nature come to be destroyed the scorning and scoffing Nature judged by the Light In it Wait to receive Power from him who shakes the Earth That Power we own and our Faith stands in it which all the World scoffs at the Lofty Ones the Proud Ones the Presumptuous Ones which live in Presumption and yet make a Profession of the Scriptures as your Fathers the Pharisees did who were painted Sepulchres and Serpents and as the Scribes did who had the Chiefest Places in the Assemblies stood praying in the Synagogues and were called of Men Masters which Christ cried WO against who are not come so far as the Trembling of Devils who believed and trembled Let that Judge you The Light and Life of the Scripture is seen and made manifest and with it all you Scoffers and all you Scorners and all you Persecutors and Railers are seen Take Warning all ye Powers of the Earth how ye persecute them whom the World Nick-name and call Quakers who dwell in the Eternal Power of God lest the Hand of the Lord be turned against you and ye be all Cut off To you this is the Word of God Fear and Tremble and take Warning For this is the Man whom the Lord doth regard who trembles at his Word which you who are of the World scoff and scorn stock persecute and imprison Here ye may see ye are contrary to God contrary to the Prophets and are such as hate what the Lord regards which we whom the World scorns and calls Quakers own And we exalt that Power and honour that Power that makes the Devils tremble and shakes the Earth and throws down the Loftiness of Man and the Haughtiness of Man and which makes the Beasts of the Field to Tremble and makes the Earth Reel to and fro and cleaves the Earth asunder and over-turneth the World This Power we own and honour and preach up whom
and cast him into Prison as the Talkers of him always did in the Generations and Ages past And the Labourers which God the Master of the Harvest hath sent into his Vine-yard do the Chief of the Priests and the Rulers now take Counsel together against to cast them into Prison And here is the Fruits of Priests and People and Rulers without the Fear of God The Day is come and coming that every Man's Work doth appear and shall appear glory be to the Lord God for ever So see and consider the Days you have spent and the Days you do spend for this is your Day of Visitation Many have suffered great Fines of Money because they could not Swear but do abide in Christ's Doctrine who saith Swear not at all and by that means are they made a Prey upon for abiding in the Command of Christ And now many are cast into Prison and are made a Prey upon because they cannot take the Oath of Abjuration though they denied all that is contained in it and by that means many of the Messengers and Ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ are cast into Prison because they will not Swear nor go out of Christ's Command Therefore O Man Consider to the Measure of the Life of God in thee I speak Many also lie in Jails because they cannot pay the Priests Tithes and many have their Goods spoiled and treble Dammages taken of them and many are whipt and beaten in the Houses of Correction without Breach of any Law And these things are done in thy Name to Protect them in these Actions If Men fearing God did bear the Sword and Covetousness were hated and Men of Courage for God were set up then they would be a Terror to Evil-doers and a Praise to them that do well and not cause them to suffer Here Equity would be heard in our Land and Righteousness would stand up and take Place which giveth not place to the Vnrighteous but judgeth it To the measure of God's Spirit in thee I speak that thou may'st consider and come to Rule for God That thou may'st answer that which is of God in every Man's Conscience For that is that which bringeth to Honour all Men in the Lord. Therefore consider for whom thou dost Rule that thou may'st come to receive Power from God to Rule for him and all that is contrary to God may by his Light be Condemned From a Lover of thy Soul who desires thy Eternal Good G. F. But Sufferings and Imprisonments Continuing and Increasing and the Protector under whose Name they were Inflicted hardening himself against the Complaints that were made unto him I was moved to give forth the following Lines amongst Friends to bring the Weight of their Sufferings more heavy upon the Heads of the Persecutors WHO is moved by the Power of the Lord to offer himself to the Justice for his Brother or Sister that lies in Prison and to go lie in Prison in their stead that his Brother or Sister may come forth of Prison and so to lay down his Life for his Brother or Sister And who lies in Prison for Tithes witnessing the Priesthood changed that took Tithes and the unchangeable Priesthood come If any Brother in the Light who witnesseth a Change of the Old Priesthood that took Tithes and a disannulling of the Commandment for Tithes be moved of the Lord to go to the Priest or Impropriator to offer himself to lie in Prison for his Brother and to lay down his Life that he may come forth he may chearfully do it and heap Coals of Fire upon the Head of the Adversary of God Likewise where any suffer for the Truth by them who be in the Vntruth If any Brother be moved of the Lord to go to the Magistrate Judge General or Protector and offer up themselves to the Prison to Lay down their Lives for the Brethren as Christ hath laid down his Life for you so lay down your Lives one for another here you may go over the Heads of the Persecutors and reach the Witness of God in them all And this shall lie a Judgment upon them all for ever and be witnessed to by that which is of God in their Consciences Given forth from the Spirit of the Lord through G. F. Besides this I writ also a short Epistle to Friends as An Encouragement to them in their several Exercises which was as followeth My dear Friends IN the Power of the Everlasting God which comprehends the Power of Darkness and all the Temptations and that which comes out of it In that Power of God dwell which will bring and keep you to the Word in the Beginning which will keep you up to the Life and to feed upon the same in which you are over the Power of Darkness in that you will find and feel Dominion and Life And that will let you see before the Tempter was and over him and in that the Tempter cannot come for the Power and Truth he is out of Therefore in that Life dwell in which you will know Dominion and let your Faith be in the Power and over the Weakness and Temptations and look not at them but in the Light and Power of God look at the Lord's Strength which will be made perfect in your Weakest State So in all Temptations look at the Grace of God to bring your Salvation which is your Teacher to teach you for when you do look or hearken to the Temptations you do go from your Teacher the Grace of God and so are darkened in going from that Teacher which should bring your Salvation the Grace of God which is sufficient in all Temptations to lead out of them and to keep over them G. F. After I had cleared my self of those Services for the Lord which lay upon me in the City of London I passed down through the Countries into Bedfordshire Bedfordshire Northampton-shire Wellingborough and Northamptonshire And at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire I had a great Meeting in which the Lord 's Everlasting Power and Truth was over all and many in that Country were turned to the Lord. A great Rage was amongst the Professors for the wicked Priests Presbyterians and Independents raised Lies upon us as That we carried Bottles about with us which we gave People to drink of which made them to follow us But the Power and Spirit and Truth of God kept Friends over the Rage of the People Great Spoiling also there was of Friends Goods for Tithes by the Independent and Presbyterian Priests and some Baptist-Priests that had gotten into the Steeple-houses as Books of Friend's Sufferings do at large declare Leicestershire From Wellingborrough I went into Leicestershire where Coll. Hacker had threatned That if I came there he would Imprison me again although the Protector had set me at liberty But when I was come to Whetston the Meeting Whetston from which he took me before all was quiet there And thither came Coll. Hacker's Wife
and his Marshal to the Meeting and were Convinced for the glorious powerful Day of the Lord was exalted over all and many were Convinced that day at that Meeting There were at that Meeting Two 1655. Whetston that came out of Wales who were Justices of Peace their Names were Peter Price and Walter Jenkin who came both to be Ministers of Christ I went from thence to Sileby to William Smith's Sileby where was a great Meeting to which several Baptists came and one of them a Baptist-Teacher was Convinced and came to sit under the Lord 's Teaching by his Spirit and Power This Baptist said he had Baptized Thirty in a day From thence I went to Drayton my Native Town Drayton where so many Priests and Professors had formerly gathered together against me but now never a Priest nor Professor did appear I asked some of my Relations Where were all the Priests and Professors now They said The Priest of Non-Eaton was dead and there were Eight or Nine of them seeking to get into his Benefice They will let you alone now said they for they are like a Company of Crows when a rotten Sheep is dead they all gather together to pull out the Puddings and so do the Priests for a fallen Benefice These were some of their own Hearers that said so of them But they had spent their Venom against me and the Lord delivered me by his Power out of their Snares Then I went to Badgley Badgley where there was a great Meeting from many parts many came far to it and many were Convinced and turned to the Lord And they that were Convinced came under Christ's Teaching and were settled upon him their Foundation and their Rock From thence I passed into Nottinghamshire Nottingham-shire Darbyshire and had large Meetings there and so into Darbyshire where the Lord's Power came over all and many were turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto God and came to receive the Holy Ghost And great Miracles were wrought in many Places by the Power of the Lord through several In Darbyshire James Nailer met me and told me Seven or Eight Priests had challenged him to a Dispute I had a Travel in my Spirit for him and the Lord answered me and I was moved to bid him Go on and God Almighty would be with him and give him the Victory in his Power And the Lord did so insomuch that the People saw the Priests were foiled and they cried A Nailer a Nailer hath confuted them all After the Dispute was over he came to me again praising the Lord. Thus was the Lord's Day proclaimed and set over all their Heads and People began to see the Apostacy and Slavery they had been under to their Hireling-Teachers for Means and they came to know their Teacher the Lord Jesus who had bought them and purchased them and made their Peace betwixt God and them While we were here Friends came out of Yorkshire to see us and were glad of the Prosperity of Truth After this I passed into Warwickshire through Friends Warwickshire Worcestershire Birmingham visiting their Meetings and so into Worcestershire and had a Meeting at Brummingham as I went where several were Convinced and turned to the Lord. At length I came to one Cole's House in Worcestershire near Chattan 1655. Near Chattan This Cole had given an Independent-Preacher a Meeting-place and the Independent came to be Convinced and after he was Convinced he laid aside his Preaching Whereupon the Old Man Cole gave him an hundred Pounds a Year I had a Meeting at that Meeting-place and a very great Meeting it was insomuch that the Meeting-place would not hold the People and many were turned to the Lord that day Afterwards when the time of Trials came this Independent did not stand to that which had Convinced him but turned back Whereupon the Old Man took away his 100 l. a Year from him again But this Old Man Cole himself died in God's Truth Now I heard that at Evesholme the Magistrates had cast several Friends into Prison in several Prisons and that hearing of my coming they made a pair of high Stocks So I sent for Edward Pittaway a Friend that lived near Evesholme and asked him the Truth of the thing and he said It was so Then I went that Night with him to Evesholme Evesholme and in the Evening we had a large precious Meeting wherein Friends and People were refreshed with the Word of Life and with the Power of the Lord. Next Morning I got up and rid to one of the Prisons and visited Friends there and encouraged them Then I rid to the other Prison where there were several Prisoners and amongst them one Friend that had been a Priest but was now become a free Minister of Christ his Name was Humphrey Smith So when I had visited the Friends at both Prisons and was turned away from the Prison to go out of Town I espied the Magistrates coming up the Town to have seized me in Prison But the Lord frustrated their Intents that the Innocent escaped their Snare and the Lord God's blessed Power came over them all But exceeding Rude and Envious were the Priests and Professors about this time in those Parts Worcester I went from Evesholme to Worcester and had a precious Meeting there and quiet But after the Meeting as we came down the Street towards our Inn some of the Professors fell to discourse with Friends and were like to have made a Tumult in the City and as we went into the Inn they all cluttered into the Yard but I went among them and got them quieted The next day I walked forth into the Town and had a great deal of Discourse with some of the Professors concerning Christ and the way of Truth One of them denied That Christ was of Abraham according to the Flesh and that he was declared to be the Son of God according to the Spirit But I proved from Rom. 1. that he was of the Seed of Abraham being made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh and that according to the Spirit he was declared to be the Son of God Afterwards I writ a Paper concerning it Tewksbury From Worcester we went to Tewksbury where in the Evening we had a great Meeting And there came in the Priest of the Town with a great Rabble of rude People and the Priest boasted That he would see whether he or I should have the Victory I turned the People to the Divine Light which Christ the heavenly and spiritual Man had enlightned them withal that with that Light they might see their Sins and that they were in Death and Darkness and without God in the World 1655. Tewksbury And with the same Light they might see Christ from whom it came their Saviour and Redeemer who had shed his Blood for them and died for them and who was the Way to God
the Truth and the Life Here the Priest began to Rage against the Light and denied it for neither Priest nor Professor could endure to hear the Light spoken of So the Priest having railed at the Light went away and left his rude Company amongst us but the Lord's Power came over them though Mischief was in their Hearts Leaving Tewksbury we passed back through the Country and came to Warwick Warwick where in the Evening we had a Meeting at a Widow-woman's House whither many sober People came together and a precious Meeting we had in the Lord's Power and several were Convinced and turned to the Lord. After the Meeting was done and I was walking out a Baptist in the Company began to Jangle and the Bayliff of the Town with his Officers came in and said What do these People here at this time of the Night So he secured John Crook and Amor Stoddart and Gerrard Roberts and me but we had leave to go to our Inn all that were Strangers and to be forth-coming in the Morning The next Morning there came many rude People into the Inn and into our Chambers desperate Fellows but the Lord's Power gave us Dominion over them Gerrard Roberts and John Crook went up to the Bailiff to speak with him and to know What he had to say to us He said We might go our ways for he had little to say to us Then as we rid out of Town it lay upon me to ride to his Hâ—â—se to speak to him and to let him know That the Protector having given forth an Instrument of Government in which Liberty of Conscience was granted it was very much that contrary to that Instrument of Government he would trouble peaceable People that feared God The Friends went with me but the rude People gathered about us with Stones And one of them took hold of my Horse's Bridle and brake it but the Horse drawing back threw him under him Though the Bayliff saw this yet did he not stop nor so much as Rebuke the Rude Multitude so that it was much we had not been slain or hurt in the Streets amongst them for the People threw Stones and struck at us as we Rode along the Town When we were come quite out of the Town I told Friends It was upon me from the Lord that I must go back into the Town again and if any one of them felt any thing upon him from the Lord he might follow me and the rest that did not might go on to Dun-Cow So I passed up through the Market in the dreadful Power of God declaring the Word of Life to them and John Crook followed me Some struck at me but the Lord's Power was over them and gave me Dominion over all And I shewed them their Vnworthiness of the Name of Christians and the Vnworthiness of their Teachers that had not brought them into more Sobriety and what a shame they were to Christianity Having cleared my self I turned back out of the Town again and passed to Coventry but when we came thither Coventry we found the People closed up with Darknâ—ss I went to a Profâ—ssor's House that I had formerly been at 1655. Coventry and he was drunk which grieved my Soul so that I did not go into any House in the Town but rode into some of the Streets of the Town and into the Market-place and I felt the Power of the Lord God was over the Town Duncow Then I went on to Duncow and had a Meeting there in the Evening and some were turned to the Lord by his Spirit as some also were at Warwick and Tewksbury before-mentioned We lay at the Duncow that Night and there we met with John Cham a faithful Minister of the Everlasting Gospel In the Morning there was gathered together a Rude Campany of Priests and People who behaved themselves more like Beasts than Men for some of them came Riding on Horseback into the Room where we were But the Lord gave us Dominion over them Leicestershire Warwickshire Badgley From thence we passed into Leicester-shire where we had a great Meeting again at the place where I had been taken formerly And after that we came back into Warwickshire to Badgley Here William Edmundson a Friend that lived in Ireland having some drawings upon his Spirit to come over into England to see me met with me and by him I writ a few Lines to those few Friends that were then Convinced in the North of Ireland as followeth Friends IN that which Convinced you Wait that you may have that removed you are Convinced of And all my Dear Friends dwell in the Life and Love and Power and Wisdom of God in Vnity one with another and with God and the Peace and Wisdom of God fill all your Hearts that nothing may rule in you but the Life which stands in the Lord God G. F When these few Lines were read amongst the Friends in Ireland at their Meeting the Power of the Lord seized upon them all that were in the Room Swannington Higham Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Hertfordshire Baldock From Badgley we passed to Swannington and Higham and so through the Countries into Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire having great Meetings and many were turned to the Lord by his Power and Spirit When we came to Baldock in Hertfordshire I asked If there was nothing in that Town no Profession and it was Answered me There were some Baptists and a Baptist-woman sick John Rush of Bedfordshire went along with me to visit her and when we came in there were many People in the House that were Tender about her And they told me She was not a Woman for this World but if I had any thing to comfort her concerning the World to come I might speak to her So I was moved of the Lord God to speak to her ☞ and the Lord raised her up again to the astonishment of the Town and Country Her Husband 's Name was Baldock This Baptist-woman and her Husband came to be Convinced and many hundreds of People have been at Meetings at their House since Great Meetings and Convincements there were up and down in those Parts afterwards and many People received the Word of Life 1655. Baldock and sate down under the Teaching of Christ their Saviour When we had visited this sick Woman we went back to our Inn and there were Two desperate Fellows fighting so furiously that none durst come nigh them to part them But I was moved in the Lord's Power to go to them and when I had loosed their Hands I held one of them by one Hand and the other by the other Hand and I shewed them the Evil of their doings and reconciled them one to the other that they were loving and very thankful to me so that People admired at it From thence I passed through the Country to Market-street Market-street Albans London where God had a People and so through Albans to London where
Friends were glad of the Prosperity of Truth and the manifestation of the Lord 's glorious Power that had delivered us and carried us through many dangers and difficulties and I was glad to find Truth prosper in the City and all things well amongst Friends there Only there was one man whose Name was John Toldervey that had been Convinced of Truth and run out from it and the envious Priests took occasion from thence to write a wicked Book against Friends which they stuffed with many Lies to render Truth and Friends odious in People's Eyes and Minds and they Intituled their Book The Foot out of the Snare But this poor man came to see his Folly and returned and Condemned his Back-sliding and answered the Priests Book and manifested all their Lies and Wickedness Thus the Lord's Power came over them and his Everlasting Seed reigned and reigns to this Day Now after I had tarried some time in London and had visited Friends in their Meetings there I went out of Town again leaving James Nayler in the City And as I passed from him I cast my Eyes upon him and a Fear struck into me concerning him But I went away and rode down to Rygate in Surrey Surrey Rygate where I had a little Meeting There the Friends told me of one Thomas Moore a Justice of Peace that lived not far from Rygate and was a friendly moderate man whereupon I went to visit him at his House and he came to be a serviceable man in Truth We passed on to one Thomas Pachin's where we had a Meeting unto which several Friends came from London and John Bolton and his Wife came thither on foot in frost and snow After we had parted with Friends there we went towards Horsham-park Horsham-park Arundel Chicester and having visited Friends there we passed on to Arundel and Câ—â—chester where we had Meetings At Chichester many Professors came in and some jangling they made but the Lord's Power was over them The Woman of the House where the Meeting was though she was Convincâ—d of Truth yet not keeping her Mind close to that which Convinced her she fell in love with a man of the World that was there that time When I knew it I took her aside and was moved to speak to her and to pray for her But a light thing got up in her Mind and she slighted it Afterwards she Married that man and soon after went distracted for the Man was greatly in Debt and she greatly disappointed Then was I sent for to her and the Lord was intreated and Raised her up again and settled her Mind by his Power And afterwards her Husband died and she acknowledged the just Judgments of God were come upon her for slighting the Exhortation and Counsel I had given her After we left Chichester we travelled on through the Countries till we came to Portsmouth Portsmouth There the Souldiers had us to the Governour 's House and after some Examination the Lord's Power came over them and we were set at Liberty and had a Meeting in the Town Ringwood After which we passed away and came to Ringwood where in the Evening we had a Meeting at which several were Convinced and turned to the Spirit of the Lord and to the Teaching of Christ Jesus their Saviour Pool From Ringwood we came to Pool and having set up our Horses at an Inn we sent into the Town to inquire for such as feared the Lord and such who were worthy and we had a Meeting there with several sober People And William Baily a Baptist-Teacher was convinced there at that time The People received the Truth in the inward Parts and were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Rock and Foundation their Teacher and Saviour And there is become a great Gathering in the Name of Jesus of a very tender People who continue under Christ's Teaching Southampton We went also to Southampton and had a Meeting there and several were Convinced there also Edward Pyot of Bristol travelled with me all this Western Journey Dorchester From thence we went to Dorchester and alighted at an Inn that was a Baptist's house And we sent into the Town to the Baptists to let us have their Meeting-house to meet in and to invite the sober People to the Meeting but they denied it us And we sent to them again to know Why they would deny us their Synagogue so the thing was noised in the Town Then we sent them Word If they would not let us come to their house They or any People that feared God might come to our Inn if they pleased But they were in a great Rage and their Teacher and many of them came up and they flapped their Bibles on the Table I asked them Why they were so Angry were they Angry with the Bible But they fell into a Discourse about their Water-Baptism I asked them Whether they could say they were sent of God to baptize People as John was And whether they had the same Spirit and Power that the Apostles had And they said They had not Then I asked them How many Powers there are Whether there are any more than the Power of God and the Power of the Devil And they said There was not any other Power than those Two Then said I If you have not the Power of God that the Apostles had then you act by the Power of the Devil There were many sober People present who said They have thrown themselves on their Backs Many substantial People were Convinced that Night and a precious Service we had there for the Lord and his Power came over all Next Morning as we were passing away the Baptists being in a Rage began to shake the Dust from off their Feet after us ' What said I in the Power of Darkness We who are in the Power of God shake off the Dust of our feet against you Thus leaving Dorchester we came to Weymouth 1655. Weymouth where also we inquired after the sober People and about four score of them gathered together at a Priest's House all very sober People and most of them received the Word of Life and were turned to their Teacher Christ Jesus who had enlightned them with his Divine Light by which they might see their Sins and him who saved them from their Sins A blessed Meeting we had with them and they received the Truth in the Love of it with gladness of Heart The Meeting held for several Hours and the state of their Teachers and the Apostacy was opened to them and the state of the Apostles and of the Church in their Days and the state of the Law and of the Prophets before Christ and how Christ came to fulfil them and how he was their Teacher in the Apostles Days and how he was come now to teach his People again himself by his Power and Spirit All was quiet and the Meeting brake up peaceably and the People were very loving and
Order to Capt. Fox Governour of Pendennis-Castle to Examin the Matter about the Souldiers abusing us and striking me There were at that time many of the Gentry of the Country at the Castle and Capt. Keat's Kinsman that struck me was sent for up before them and much Threatned They told him That if I should change my Principle I might take the Extremity of the Law against him and might recover sound Damages of him Capt. Keat also was checkt for suffering the Prisoners under his Charge to be abused This was of great Service in the Country for afterwards Friends might have spoken in any Market or Steeple-house thereabouts and none would meddle with them I understood that Hugh Peters who was one of the Protector 's Chaplains told him They could not do George Fox a greater Service for the spreading of his Principles in Cornwall than to Imprison him there And indeed my Imprisonment there was of the Lord and for his Service in those parts For after the Assizes were over and it was known we were likely to continue Prisoners several Friends from most parts of the Nation came into the Country to visit us And those parts of the West were very dark Countries at that time But the Lord's Light and Truth brake forth and shined over all and many were turned from Darkness to the Light and from Satan's Power unto God And many were moved to go to the Steeple-houses and several were sent to Prison to us and a great Convincement there began to be in the Country For now we had Liberty to come out and to walk in the Castle-Green and divers People came to us on the First-days to whom we declared the Word of Life and great Service we had among them and many were turned to God here and there up and down the Country but a great Rage got up in the Priests and Professors against the Truth and us One of the envious Professors had gathered together many Scripture-Sentences to prove That we ought to put off our Hats to the People and he invited the Town of Lanceston to come into the Castle-Yard to hear him read them Amongst other Instances that he there brought one was That Saul bowed to the Witch of Endor When he had done we got a little Liberty whether the Gaoler would or no to speak and we shewed both him and the People That Saul was gone from God and had disobeyed God like them when he went to the Witch of Endor That neither the Prophets nor Christ nor the Apostles ever taught People to bow to a Witch The Man went away with his rude People but some of the People staid with us and we shewed them That this was not Gospel-Instructions to teach People to bow to a Witch For now People began to be affected with the Truth and now the Devil's Rage increased so that we were in great dangers many times One time there came a Souldier to us and one of our Friends was admonishing of him and exhorting him to Sobriety c. and I saw him begin to draw his Sword at him Whereupon I stept to him and told him What a shame it was to offer to draw his Sword upon a naked Man and a Prisoner and how unfit and unworthy he was to carry such a Weapon and that if he should have offered such a thing to some Men they would have taken his Sword from him and have broken it to pieces So he was ashamed and went his way and the Lord's Power preserved us Another time about the Eleventh Hour at Night the Gaoler being half-drunk came and told me That he had gotten a Man now to dispute with me this was when we had leave to go a little into the Town As soon as he spake those Words I felt there was Mischief intended to my Body All that Night and the next day I lay down on a Grass-plat to slumber and I felt something still about my Body and I started up and struck at it in the Power of the Lord and yet still it was about my Body Then I arose and walked into the Castle-green and the Vnder-Keeper came to me and told me There was a Maid would speak with me in the Prison I felt a Snare in his Words too therefore I went not into the Prison but went to the Grate and looked in and there I saw a Man that was lately brought to Prison for being a Conjurer and he had a naked Knife in his Hand So I spake to him and he threatned to cut my Chaps as his Expression was but he being within the Gaol could not come at me This was the Gaoler's great Disputant I went soon after into the Gaoler's House and found him at Breakfast and he had then gotten his Conjurer out with him So I told the Gaoler his Plot was discovered Then he got up from the Table and cast his Napkin away in a Rage and I left them and went away to my Chamber for at this time we were out of Doomsdale At the time the Gaoler had said 1656. Lanceston Gaol the Dispute should be I went down and walked in the Court the place appointed till about the Eleventh Hour but no Body came then I went up to my Chamber again and after a while I heard one call for me I stept to the Stairs-head and there I saw the Gaoler's Wife upon the Stairs and the Conjurer at the bottom of the Stairs holding his Hand behind his Back and in a great Rage I asked him Man what hast thou in thy Hand behind thy Back Pluck thy Hand before thee said I Let 's see thy Hand and what thou hast in it Then in a Rage he pluckt forth his Hand with a naked Knife in it Then I shewed the Gaoler's Wife the wicked Design of her Husband and her against me for this was the Man they had brought to dispute of the things of God But the Lord discovered their Plot and prevented their Evil Design and they both raged and the Conjurer threatned Then I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to him in the dreadful Power of the Lord and the Lord's Power came over him and bound him down so that he never after durst appear before me to speak unto me I saw it was the Lord alone that did preserve me out of their bloody Hands for the Devil had a great Enmity to me and stirred up his Instruments to seek my hurt But the Lord prevented them and my Heart was filled with Thanksgivings and Praises unto him Now while I was exercised with People of divers sorts that came some out of good will to visit us some out of an envious carping Mind to wrangle and dispute with us and some out of Curiosity to see us Edward Pyot who before his Convincement had been a Captain in the Army and had a good Understanding in the Laws and Rights of the People being sensible of the Injustice and Envy of Judge Glyn to us at our Trial and
Religion Such as be in the Religion that is Vain whose Tongues are not bridled I believe the Quakers are a Grief to but are not a Grief to such as be in the pure Religion which keepeth unspotted of the World which sets not up Bills nor Watches to maintain it by the World for they are not of the World which be in the pure Religion which keeps them unspotted of the World Mark the pure Religion which keeps unspotted of the World But such as be in the Religion that is not pure which have a Form of Godliness and not the Power such as you call Pious the Truth it self to such was always a Grief and so it is in this Age. And now your Fruits do appear the End of your Religion and Profession and what you do possess But you are in the Error and have been but in the Profession out of the Possession of the Spirit who are not in the Spirit of Truth For where did ever it set Stints and Bounds and number the Just and Innocent with the Wicked But the Wicked set Stints and Bounds and Limits to the Just and number them among the Wicked yea speak all manner of Evil they did of them as ye are doing now of us they did so who did profess that which ye do profess in Words Nay according as it was foretold in the Scripture such as tremble at the Word of God you cast out and hate you that have your Temple-worship and you say The Quakers come to disturb you in your Churches as you call them Was it not the Practice of the Apostles to go into the Synagogues and Temples to witness against the Priesthood that took Tithes And was it not the Practice of the Jews to hale them out and persecute them and stone them that witnessed Christ the Second Priest and went to bring People off from the First Priesthood Was it not the practice of the Prophets to go and cry against the High Places And was it not the Practice of the Jews when they were back-slidden and of the Heathen to Imprison and Persecute the Prophets and send after them into other Countries And is not this the Practice of you now who are holding up your High-Places which the Papists set up which ye now call your Churches where ye beat and persecute What Religious People are you that are filled with so much Madness Did not Paul Confess he was Mad while he was in your Practice haling beating prisoning putting out of the Synagogues having his Authority from the Chief Priests And are not the Chief Priests the cause of this Was there ever such a Cry made in any Age past as there is now in the Pulpits Railing against an Innocent People whom ye in scorn call Quakers who lift not up an Hand against you and who are indeed the Pious that are of the pure Religion who fear God and worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth but cannot Join with you in your Religion And do not the Ministers of God say That the Scriptures are a Declaration which you call the Word Do not you rob Christ of his Title and of his Honour and give it to the Letter and shew your selves out of the Doctrine of the Ministers of God who called the Scriptures by the name of Writings and Treatises and Declarations and said Christ's Name is called the Word of God Are not you here in the Error you speak of which is your Common Talk among you There was talk among some of you of your Gospel-shining Doth your Gospel which you profess persecute Did ever any of them that did possess it cast into Prison and not suffer others to go to Visit them Are you like Christians in this or like Heathen who set Bounds and Watches over the Land that they should not pass to Visit them that be in Prison Was ever the like heard in any Age Search and see if you have not out-stript them all in your Watches if not in your manner of Persecution and in your Imprisonments And oh never talk that we are a Grief to them that are in the pure Religion And whereas in your Warrant we are represented as Dis-affected to Government I say the Law that is a Terror to the Evil-Doer we own the Higher Power to which the Soul must be subject But we deny the Evil-Doer the malicious Man reigning and the Envious Man seeking for his Prey whose Envy is against the Innocent who raiseth up the Country against honest Men and so becomes a Trouble to the Country in raising them up to take the Innocent but that we leave to the Lord to Judge Your false Accusations of Heresy and Blasphemy we do deny you should have laid them down in Particulars what they had been that People might have seen them and not have slandered behind our Backs The Law saith The Crime should be mentioned in the Warrant Then for your saying We deny the godly Ministers to be a true Ministry of Christ that is false for we say that the Godly Ministers are the Ministers of Christ But which of your Ministers dare say that they are truly Godly And for your charging us with seducing many weak People that is false also for we seduce none But you that deny the Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World are seduced from the Anointing which should Teach you and if ye would be Taught by it ye would not need that any Man should Teach you But such as are taught by the Anointing which abideth in them and deny Man's Teaching these ye call Seducers quite contrary to John's Doctrine 1 Joh. 2. You speak quite contrary to him that which is Truth ye call Seducing and that which he calls Seducing you call Truth Read the latter part of the Chapter And beware I warn you all from the Lord God of Glory set not any Bound against him Stint him not Limit not the Holy one of Israel for the Lord is rising in Power and great Glory who will rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron which to him are but as the drop of a Bucket he that measures the Waters in the Hollow of his Hand will dash Nations together as a Potter's Vessel And know you that are found in this his day blaspheming his Work that God hath brought forth calling it Blasphemy fighting against it setting up your Carnal Weapons making your Bonds strong God will break asunder that which your Carnal Policy hath invented and which by your Carnal Weapons ye would uphold and make you to know there is a God in Heaven who carries his Lambs in his Arms which are come among Wolves and are ready to be torn in pieces in every place yea in your Steeple-houses where are People without Reason and that have not natural Affection Therefore all ye Petty-Constables Sheriffs and Justices take Warning and take heed what ye do against the Lambs of Christ for Christ is come and coming who will give to every
one of you a Reward according to your Works you which have the Letter which speaks of Christ but now ye are persecuting that which the Scripture speaks of so your Fruits make you manifest Therefore every one Sheriff Justices Constables c. see what ye do possess Consider what ye do possess and what a Profession ye are now in that all these Carnal Weapons are now set up against the Innocent yea against the Truth Which shews that ye have not the Spiritual Weapons that they are not among you and that ye want the Counsel of Gamaliel yea ye want the Counsel of such a Man among you who said Let the Apostles alone If it be of God it will stand if it be not it will come to nought But ye may see your selves on the Contrary in the Spirit of them that came with Judas with Swords and Staves from the Chief-Priests against Christ still it is against Christ where he is made manifest Paul while Saul went against him though he professed a Christ that was to come and the Jews professed a Christ that was to come Yet Paul persecuted him where he was manifested in his Saints So ye profess a Christ that is come but persecute him where he is manifest You that have the Letter the High-Places the Synagogues you persecute him where he is made manifest in his Saints as the Jews did They who were in the Letter out of the Life persecuted them that were in the Life of that which they profess in the Letter So now do you persecute them that are in the Life and are your selves Strangers to it as your Fruits make appear You have numbred the People of God amongst Transgressors but have you prisoned any of the Rogues and Transgressors you speak of you have prisoned the Innocent and let the others go free G. F. When I had sent abroad the fore-going Papers concerning the Watches that were then set up to Intercept and Stop Friends in their Travels in the Work of tho Lord so great a sense came upon me of the Darkness and Vail that was over the Priests and Professors of Christianity that I was moved to give forth the following Paper as An Awakening Warning to them BLindness hath happened to the professed Christians of the Letter now a days as Blindness happened to the Jews who professed the Letter but owned not the Life which the Letter speaks of As the Christians now to whom this Blindness hath hap'ned who profess the Scripture but own not the Life which the Scripture speaks of For against the Life the Jews stood who profest the Letter of the Scripture but they were Blind they gathered Counsel against the Life they were in an Vproar when the Babe was born in Bethlehem Herod and all the Chief Priests And Herod sought to destroy all the young Children in Bethlehem yet missed the Babe Herod that Fox though he slew John and put him to death And you may here see how the Literal Professors did stand up not for the Truth but quite against it Furthermore the Chief-Priests consulted together how they might take Jesus by Subtilty and put him to death mark by their Subtilty The Professors of a Christ that was to come they preached of a Messias of a Christ of a Saviour but denied the Life when he was made manifest The Chief-Priests and the Council gathered together they profest his words and the Chief-Priests who were gathered together with the Council said That his Disciples had stolen him away by Night and gave large Monies to the Souldiers to declare this Likewise in the day when the Children of Israel were in Egypt and they with their Children began to spread and multiply Come said the Egyptians Let us deal wisely with them to Afflict them and tax them Which held until the Lord overthrew their Oppressors and brought out his Seed by his mighty Power from under the Oppressor and exalted his Son above all though the Heathen raged and the People imagined vain things and he made his Power known that all might see that there was no God upon the Earth but himself This Power now hath brought forth the Work of the Lord Many who be turned to the Light Christ have received the Power of God and are thereby become the Sons of God Now this Birth that is born of God are all the Powers of the World joined together to Crucify to put to Death those Jews in the Spirit as they did put Christ to Death in the Flesh formerly This is the Birth that all the Wicked World is enraged against and mad at Against this they set their Watches this Birth brought forth by the Mighty God of Jacob who rides upon the High-places of the Earth This is the Birth that the profest Christians without the Life in our Days and Age rage against and lay out all their Wisdom about Are not the Chief-Priests and Wise Men of the Earth consulting together how they might destroy this Birth Is not this the Birth that is banished out of your Hearts you that profess the Scripture and are Talkers of it but do not own the Light and Life which the Scripture speaks of as the Jews would not and so will not have Christ to Reign over you as they would not Do you not hale out of your Synagogues and before Magistrates Do you not herein fulfil Christ's Words who said to his Disciples They should be haled out of the Synagogues and before Rulers Do you not Persecute them from City to City Do you not almost fill your Prisons with them And now set your Watches that none should go to Visit them whom ye have put into Prison Is not this an Vnchristian Spirit How can you for shame say You are Vpholders of Truth Or how can you for shame say that Truth hath been profest among you Yet we say We Grant that you have talked of it And how can you for shame say The Gospel shines among you when you will not own it the Life of it when you call it Error and the evil Seed Yea the very Truth yea the very Life of Truth ye have blasphemed against now as the Jews did against Christ calling him a Devil you now call it Error and the Evil Seed and stand up against it and turn the Sword against it As it was in the days of the Jews who turned the Sword against Christ so it is in these days of the Professed Christians of the Scripture but out of the Life that gave it forth as it was with the Jews outward in the Flesh who were not the Jews in the Spirit And is it not a shame to all the Ministers of the Gospel as they are called that they can find no better Way to maintain that which they call the Truth and their Gospel than by Carnal Weapons Stocks and Prisons and Whips Watches and Wards and Powers of the Earth Were these the Apostles Weapons Carnal Watches and Wards Stocks and Prisons and haling out
Visit Prisoners whom you have Imprisoned Doth this shew you to have a Spirit like Paul yea or nay or are you not quite contrary like to them that persecuted Paul The Day hath declared it To that of God in you all I speak which shall witness it at the Last Day in the Day of Judgment Persecution was blind in all Ages and Madness and Folly led it Yet Persecution got always a Form or Presence of Godliness or to talk of Religion as in the Days of Moses in the Days of Jeremy in the Days of Christ and of the Apostles Come saith the Council Let us crush them while they are Young they have almost over-spread the Nation in every Corner This is as much as to say Let us put this Birth to Death as Pharaoh and Herod did the Children But the Lord caused his Truth the more to spread For you may read what Numbers came out of Egypt and what Multitudes followed Christ Therefore with Consideration read these Lines and not with Fury and let not Foolishness appear But consider in Humility your Ways you act in and your Paths you go in and what Spirit you are of and what the End of your Conversation is now see For in Love to your Souls I write that in the Day of your Visitation you may consider it From him who loveth Righteousness and the establishing of it and Truth and Peace and Faith which is by Christ Jesus Mercy and Peace be multiplied among such But a Witness against all Hypocrites and all who have a Profession but live out of the Possession who are in an Hypocritical Religion in the Lusts and Fashions of the World having a Form of Godliness but standing against the Power with might and main Sword and Staff Which things declare your Conversation and Practices to be out of Christ 's Life against the Gospel-practice and contrary to the Manner and Order of the Saints G. F We were continued in Prison till the next Assize 1656. Lanceston Assize before which time divers Friends both Men and Women were sent to Prison that had been taken up by the Watches When the Assize was come several of these were called before the Judge and Indicted and tho' the Jailer brought them into Court yet they Indicted them that they came in by Force of Arms and in an hostile manner And the Judge fined them because they would not put off their Hats But we were not called before the Judges any more but they let us alone Great Work we had and Service for the Lord both between the Assizes and after amongst the Professors and People of all sorts for many came to see us and to reason with us And Elizabeth Trelawny of Plimouth who was the Daughter of one called a Baronet being Convinced as was formerly mentioned the Priests and Professors and some great Persons of her Kindred were in a great Rage concerning her and writ Letters to her And she being a Wise and Tender Woman and fearing to give them any Advantage sent their Letters to me and I answered them and returned them to her again for her to send the Answers to them Which she did till growing in the Power and Spirit and Wisdom of God she came her self to be able to Answer the wisest Priest and Professor of them all and had a Dominion over them all in the Truth through the Power of the Lord by which she was kept faithful to her Death Now while I was in Prison here Lanceston Gaol the Baptists and Fifth-Monarchy-Men prophesied That this Year Christ should come and Reign upon Earth a Thousand Years And they looked upon this Reign to be Outward When as he was come inwardly in the Hearts of his People to Reign and Rule there and these Professors would not Receive him there So they failed in their Prophecy and Expectation and had not the Possession of him But Christ is come and doth dwell in the Hearts of his People and Reigns there And Thousands at the Door of whose Hearts he hath been knocking have opened to him and he is come in and doth Sup with them and they with him the heavenly Supper with the heavenly and spiritual Man So many of these Baptists and Monarchy-People turned the greatest Enemies to the Possessors of Christ But he Reigns in the Hearts of his Saints over all their Envy At the Assize divers Justices came to us and were pretty Civil and Reasoned of the things of God pretty soberly expressing a Pity to us There came also Capt. Fox who was Governour of Pendennis-Castle and lookt me in the Face and said never a word but went his ways to his Company and told them He never saw a simpler Man in his Life I called after him and said Stay Man we will see who is the simpler Man But he went his way A light Chaffy Man There came also at the Assize one Thomas Lower to Visit us and he offered to give us Money which we refused accepting nevertheless of his Love He asked us many Questions concerning our denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and concerning the Sacraments and such like To all which he received Satisfaction And I spake unto him and he afterwards said 1656. Lanceston Gaol My Words were as a flash of Lightning they ran so through him And he said He never met with such wise Men in his Life for they knew the Thoughts of his Heart and were as the wise Master-Builders of the Assemblies that fastned their Words like Nails He came to be Convinced of the Truth and remains a Friend to this Day When he came home to his Aunt Hambley's where he then lived and made Report to her concerning us She with her Sister Grace Billing hearing the sound of Truth came afterwards to Visit us in Prison and was Convinced also And great Sufferings and Spoilings of Goods both he and his Aunt have undergone for the Truth 's sake About this time I was moved to give forth the following Paper to Friends in the Ministry Friends IN the Power of life and wisdom and dread of the Lord God of life and Heaven and Earth dwell that in the wisdom of God over all ye may be preserved and be a Terror to all the Adversaries of God and a Dread answering that of God in them all spreading the Truth abroad awakening the VVitness confounding the Deceit gathering up out of Transgression into the Life the Covenant of Light and Peace with God Let all Nations hear the sound by Word or Writing Spare no Place spare no Tongue nor Pen but be obedient to the Lord God go through the VVork and be valiant for the Truth upon Earth tread and trample all that is Contrary under Ye have the Power do not Abuse it and Strength and Presence of the Lord eye it and the VVisdom that with it you may all be ordered to the Glory of the Lord God Keep in the Dominion keep in the Power over all Deceit
open your Understandings that you may see this great Power of the Lord which he is now manifesting among his Children in this his Day that ye may not withstand it in our Friends that are come into the Power of God and to God and know him by whom the world was made by whom all things were Created that were created and there was not any thing made of all that was made but what was made for him and to him and by him who is the Power of God who doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the world Now our Friends being come to this Light which cometh from Christ and having received Power from him by whom all things were Created who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him who is the wisdom of God we have received wisdom and power from him by which the Lord doth give us to know how to use and order the Creatures to the glory of him who is the Creator of all things So our Friends here are taught of the Lord to be diligent serving him and who come into the Life the Scriptures were given forth from are given up to serve the Lord And of this I have in all your Consciences a Witness So if thou open the Prison-Door we shall not stay there If thou send a Liberate and set us free we shall not stay in Prison for Israel is to go out free whose freedom is purchased by the Power of God and the Blood of Jesus But who goeth out of the Power of God loseth his Freedom The 13th of the 6th Month. 1656. George Fox and the rest who are Sufferers for the Truth in Lanceston-Gaol After this Major Desborow came to the Castle-green and there plaid at Bowles with the Justices and others And several Friends were moved to go to him and admonish him and them of their spending their Time so vainly bidding them Consider That though they professed themselves to be Christians yet they gave themselves up to their Pleasures and kept the Servants of God mean while in Prison and told them The Lord would plead with them and visit them for such things But notwithstanding what was writ or said unto him he went away and left us in prison Yet we understood afterwards that he left the Business to Colonel Bennet who had the Command of the Gaol For sometime after Bennet would have set us at Liberty if we would have paid his Gaoler's Fees But we told him We could give the Gaoler no Fees for we were innocent Sufferers and how could they expect Fees of us who had suffered so long wrongfully After a while this Colonel Bennet coming to Town sent for us to an Inn and insisted again upon Fees which we refused And at last the Power of the Lord came so over him that he freely set us at Liberty It was on the Thirteenth Day of the Seventh Month 1656. that we were set at Liberty and we had been Prisoners Nine Weeks at the first Assize called the Lent-Assize which was in the Spring of the Year Observing while I was here a Prisoner how much the People they especially who were called the Gentry were addicted and given to Pleasures and vain Recreations I was moved before I left the Place to give forth several Papers as a Warning unto them and unto all that so Mispend their Time One of which was thus directed This to go abroad among them who are given to Pleasures and Wantonness SOdom and Gomorrah their Sins were Pride Fulness of Bread and abundance of Idleness whose filthy Conversation vexed the righteous Soul of the Just Lot Day by Day and would not take Warning on whom God sent Fire and turned them into Ashes And in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt was our Lord Jesus Christ crucified And it is written The People sate down to eat and to drink and rose up to play with whom God was not well-pleased and there fell three and twenty thousand in one Day These the Apostle commanded the Saints that they should not follow for these things happened to them for Examples and are written for our Admonition And God spared not the Old World but reserving Noah a Preacher of Righteousness brought the Flood upon the World of the Ungodly making them an Example to all that after should live Vngodly Mark ye Vngodly ones who are as natural brute Beasts who speak great swelling Words of Vanity alluring through the Lusts of the Flesh through much Wantonness as they that count it Pleasure to Riot in the Day-time sporting your selves with your own deceivings ye shall receive the Reward of Vnrighteousness Ye are as Dogs and Swine turned to the Vomit and wallowing in the Mire speaking evil of things that ye know not and unless ye Repent ye shall utterly perish in your own Corruptions Ye have lived in Pleasure on the Earth and been wanton ye have nourished your Hearts as in a Day of Slaughter ye have condemned and killed the Just and he doth not resist you Go to Weep and Houl for the Misery that is coming upon you and she that liveth in Pleasures is dead while she liveth God condemned the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah making them an Example to all those that after should live Vngodly in the wicked filthy Conversation Mark here is your Example Hear this ye that are given to Pleasures and read your Examples G. F. Another Paper upon my taking Notice of the Bowlers that came to sport themselves in the Castle-green was as followeth THE VVord of the Lord to all you vain and idle-minded People who are Lovers of Sports Pleasures and foolish Exercises and Recreations as you call them Consider of your Ways what it is you are doing Was this the End of your Creation Did God make all things for you and you to serve your Lusts and Pleasures Did not the Lord make all things for you and you for himself to fear and worship him in Spirit and in Truth in Righteousness and true Holiness But where is your Service of God so long as your Hearts run after Lusts and Pleasures ye cannot serve God and the foolish Pleasures of the World as Bowling Drinking Hunting Hawking and the like If these have your Hearts God will not have your Lips Consider for 't is true Therefore from the Lord must you all witness VVo and Misery Tribulation and VVrath who continue in the Love and Practice of your vain Sports Lusts and Pleasures Now is the Day when all every-where are exhorted to Repentance O foolish People wicked and slow of Heart to believe the Threatnings of the Great Jehovah against the wicked What will you do in the Day of the Lord 's fierce wrath that makes haste to Come upon the world of ungodly Men And what good have your foolish Sports and Delights done you now they are past Or what good will they do you when the Lord calls for your Souls Therefore all now Awake from Sleep and see where you are And let the Light
of Jesus Christ that shines in every one of your Consciences search you throughly and it will let you clearly see for all your Profession of God Christ and the Scriptures you are Ignorant of them and Enemies to them all and your own Souls also And being found living in Pleasures you are dead while you live And therefore doth the Lord by many Messengers forwarn you and calls you to Repentance and deep Humiliation that you may forsake the Evil of your Doings and so own this Day of your Visitation and while you have Time to prise it lest the things which belong to your Peace be hid from your Eyes for your Disobedience and Rebellion against the Holy One. And then had it been good that you never had been born Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand again I say Repent To the Bowlers in the Green Given forth in Lanceston-Gaol in Cornwall Being Released we got Horses Cornwall and rid up into the Country towards Humphry Lower's and met him upon the Road coming towards us He told us He was much troubled in his Mind concerning us and could not rest at home but was going to Colonel Bennet to seek our Liberty But when we told him VVe were set at liberty and were going to his House he was exceeding glad So to his House we went and there we had a fine precious Meeting and many were Convinced and turned by the Spirit of the Lord to the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching From his House we went to Loveday Hambleys where also we had a fine large Meeting and the Lord's Power was over all and many were Convinced there also and turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher After we had tarried there Two or Three Days we came to Thomas Mounce's where we had a general Meeting for the whole County which being very large was held in his Orchard Friends from Plimouth were there and from many Places and the Lord's Power was over all and a great Convincement there was in many Places of the County And all their Watches were down in all those Countries and all was plain and open 1656. Cornwall for the Lord had let me see before I was set at Liberty that he would make all the Country plain before us Now Thomas and Ann Curtis with another an Alderman of Reading who was Convinced had come to Lanceston to see us while I was a Prisoner And when Ann and the other man returned Thomas Curtis staid behind in Cornwall and did good Service for the Lord there at that Time Lanceston From Thomas Mounce's we passed to Lanceston again and visited that little Remnant of Friends that had been raised up there while we were there in Prison and the Lord's Plants grew finely and were established on Christ their Rock and Foundation As we were going out of Town again the Constable of Lanceston came running to us with the Cheese that had been taken from Edward Pyot which they had kept from us all this while and were tormented with it But we being now set at Liberty would not receive it Okington From Lanceston we came to Okington and lay at an Inn which the Mayor of the Town kept He had stopt and taken up several Friends but was very Civil to us and was Convinced in his Judgment Exeter From thence we came through the Countries to Exeter where many Friends were in Prison and amongst the rest James Nayler For a little before the Time that we were set at Liberty James run out into Imaginations and a Company with him and they raised up a great Darkness in the Nation And he came to Bristol and made a Disturbance there And from thence he was coming to Lanceston to see me but was stopt by the Way and Imprisoned at Exeter As were also several others that were coming to see me one of whom an honest tender Man died in Prison there whose Blood lieth on the Heads of his Persecutors That Night that we came to Exeter I spake with James Nayler for I saw he was out and wrong and so was his Company The next day being the First-day of the week we went to the Prison to visit the Prisoners and had a Meeting with them in the Prison but James Nayler and some of them could not stay the Meeting There came a Corporal of Horse into the Meeting and was Convinced and remained a very good Friend The next day I spake to James Nayler again and he slighted what I said and was dark and much out yet he would have come and kissed me But I said Since he had turned against the Power of God I could not receive his shew of Kindness So the Lord God moved me to slight him and to set the Power of God over him So after I had been warring with the World there was now a wicked Spirit risen up amongst Friends to war against and I admonished him and his Company And when he was come to London his Resisting the Power of God in me and the Truth that was declared to him by me became one of his greatest Burdens but he came to see his Out-going and to Condemn it and after some Time he returned to Truth again as in the printed Relation of his Repentance Condemnation and Recovery may be more fully seen We passed from Exeter through Collumpton and Taunton 1656. Collumpton Taunton Puddimoor visiting Friends and had Meetings amongst them and declared the Word of Life unto them And from thence we came to Puddimoor to William Beaton's and on the First-day we had a very large Meeting there For a great Convincement there was all up and down that Country and many Meetings we had and the Lord's Power was over all and many were turned by the Power and Spirit of God to the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them and they came to sit under his free Teaching From thence we went to John Dandy's where we had another precious Meeting and the Lord's Power was over all and many were Convinced of God's Eternal Truth Some Contention was raised by Professors and Baptists in some Places but the Lord's Power came over them near Bristol From thence we came to Edward Pyot's house near Bristol It was the Seventh-day at Night that we came thither And it was quickly noised over the Town that I was come Now I had never been there before On the First-day Morning I went to the Meeting in Broadmead at Bristol and a great Meeting there was and quiet Bristol Meeting Notice was given of a Meeting to be in the Afternoon in the Orchard There was at Bristol a rude Baptist named Paul Gwin who had used before to make great disturbance in our Meetings being encouraged and set on by the Mayor who as it was reported would sometimes give him his Dinner to Incourage him And such multitudes of rude People would he gather after him that it was thought there had been sometimes Ten thousand people
at our Meeting in the Orchard As I was going along into the Orchard the People told me That Paul Gwin the rude jangling Baptist was going to the Meeting But I bid them Never heed It was nothing to me who went to it When I was come into the Orchard I stood upon the Stone that Friends used to stand on when they spake and I was moved of the Lord to put off my Hat and to stand a pretty while and let the People look at me for some Thousands of People were there While I thus stood silent this Rude Baptist began to find Fault with my Hair but I said nothing to him Then he run on into Words and at last Ye wise men of of Bristol said he I strange at you that you will stand here and hear a Man speak and affirm that which he cannot make good Then the Lord opened my Mouth for as yet I had not spoken a Word And I asked the People Whether they ever heard me speak before or ever saw me before And I bid them ' Take notice what kind of Man this was amongst them that should so Impudently say That I spake and Affirmed that which I could not make good and yet neither he nor they ever heard me or saw me before Therefore that was a lying envious malicious Spirit that spake in him and it was of the Devil and not of God Therefore I charged him in the Dread and Power of the Lord to be silent And the Mighty Power of God came over him and all his Company And then a glorious peaceable Meeting we had and the Word of Life was divided amongst them and they were turned from the Darkness to the Light and to Jesus their Saviour And the Scriptures were largely opened to them and the Traditions and Rudiments and ways 1656. Bristol and Doctrines of Men were laid open before the People which they had been in and they were turned to the Light of Christ that with it they might see them and see him to lead them out of them I opened also to them the Types and Figures and Shadows of Christ in the time of the Law and shewed them That Christ was come and had ended the Types and Shadows and Tithes and Oaths and put down Swearing and had set up Yea and Nay instead of it and a free Ministry for he was now come to Teach People himself and his heavenly Day was springing from on high So for many hours did I declare the Word of Life amongst them in the Eternal Power of God that by him they might come up into the Beginning and be Reconciled to him And having turned them to the Spirit of God in themselves that would lead into all Truth I was moved to pray in the mighty Power of God and the Lord's Power came over all But when I had done this Fellow began to babble again and John Audland was moved to bid him Repent and fear God So his own People and Followers being ashamed of him he passed away and never came again to disturb the Meeting And the Meeting brake up quietly and the Lord's Power and Glory shined over all a blessed Day it was and the Lord had the Praise After a while this Paul Gwin went beyond the Seas and many Years after I met with him again at Barbado's of which in its Place From Bristol we returned to Edward Pyot's where we had a great Meeting and the Lord's Power was over all and Truth was declared and spread abroad and many were turned to Christ Jesus their Life their Prophet to teach them their Shepherd to feed them and their Bishop to oversee them After the Meeting was done I had some Reasoning with some Professors and the Lord's Truth and Power came over them Slattenford From Edward Pyot's we passed to Slattenford where we had a very large Meeting Edward Pyot and another Friend being still with me and a great turning of People there was to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and People were glad that they were brought to know their Way and their free Teacher and their Saviour Christ Jesus Wiltshire On the First-day following we went to Nathaniel Crips his House who had been a Justice of Peace in Wiltshire where it was supposed there were between Two and Three Thousand People at a Meeting and all was quiet And the mighty Power of God was manifest and People were turned to the Grace and Truth in their Hearts that came by Jesus Christ which would Teach them to deny all Vngodliness and wordly Lusts and to live soberly and godly in this present world So that every Man and Woman might know the Grace of God which had appeared to all Men and which was saving and sufficient to bring their Salvation This was to be their Teacher the Grace of God which would teach them how to live what to do and what to deny and would season their Words and establish their Hearts And this was a free Teacher to every one of them so that they might come to be Heirs of this Grace and of Christ by whom it came who hath ended the Prophets and the Priests that took Tithes and the Jewish Temple And as for these Hireling-Priests that take Tithes now 1656. Wiltshire and their Temples which Priests were made aâ— Schools and Colledges of Man's setting up and not by Christ they with all their Inventions were to be denied For the Apostles denied the true Priesthood and Temple which God had commanded after Christ had put an End thereto So the Scriptures and the Truths therein contained were largely opened and the People turned to the Spirit of God in their Hearts that by it they might be led into all Truth and understand the Scriptures and know God and Christ and come to have Unity with them and one with another in the same Spirit And the People went away generally satisfied and were glad that they were turned to Christ Jesus their Teacher and Saviour The next day we went from thence to Marlborough Marleborough where we had a little Meeting And the Sessions being in that Town that day they were granting forth a Warrant to send for me But one Justice Stooks being at the Sessions stopt them telling them There was a Meeting at his House yesterday at which were several Thousands So the Warrant was stopt and our Meeting was quiet and several received Christ Jesus their Teacher and came into the New Covenant and abode in it From hence we went to Newberry where we had a large Newberry blessed Meeting and several were Convinced there Thence we passed on to Reading where we had a large Reading precious Meeting in the Lord's Power amongst the Plants of God and many of the World came in and were reached and added to the Meeting and all was quiet and the Lord's Power was over all Kingston upon Thames We went from Reading to Kingston upon Thames where a few came in to
and about the City and cleared my self of what Services the Lord had at that time laid upon me there I left the Town and travelled into Kent Sussex and Surrey Kent Sussex Survey visiting Friends in those Counties amongst whom I had great Meetings and many times met with Opposition from Baptists and other jangling Professors but the Lord's Power went over them We lay one Night at Farnham where we had a little Meeting Farnham and the People were exceeding Rude But at last the Lord's Power came over them After Meeting we went to our Inn and gave notice That any that feared God might come to our Inn to us And there came abundance of rude People and the Magistrates of the Town also and some Professors I declared the Truth unto them and those of the People that behaved themselves rudely the Magistrates put out of the Room When they were gone there came up another Rude Company of Professors and some of the Chief of the Town and they called for Faggots and Drink though we forbad them and were as Rude a carriaged People as ever I met withal The Lord's Power chained them that they had not power to do us any Mischief but when they went away they left all their Faggots and Beer which they had called for into the Room for us to pay for in the Morning We shewed the Inn-keeper what an Vnworthy thing it was but he told us we must pay it and pay it we did And before we left the Town I writ a Paper to the Magistrates and Heads of the Town and to the Priest shewing them and him how he had taught his People 1656. Basingstoke and laying before them their rude and uncivil Carriage to Strangers that sought their good Then leaving that Place we came to Basingstoke a very Rude Town where they had formerly very much abused Friends There I had a Meeting in the Evening which was quiet for the Lord's Power chained the Vnruly At the Close of the Meeting I was moved to put off my Hat and to pray to the Lord to open their Vnderstandings upon which they raised a Report That I put off my Hat to them and bid them Good Night which was never in my Heart After the Meeting when we came to our Inn I sent for the Inn-keeper as I used to do and he came into the Room to us and shewed himself a very Rude Man I admonished him to be sober and fear the Lord but he called for Faggots and a pint of Wine and drank it off himself and then called for another and called up half a dozen men into our Chamber Thereupon I bid him go out of the Chamber and told him he should not drink there for we sent for him up to speak to him concerning his Eternal good And he was exceeding mad rude and drunk When he continued his Rudeness and would not be gone I told him The Chamber was mine for the Time I lodged in it and I called for the Key and then he went away in a great Rage In the Morning he would not be seen but I told his Wife of his Vnchristian and Rude Carriage towards us Bridport After this we passed through the Country till we came to Bridport having Meetings in the way We went to an Inn there and sent into the Town for such as feared God to come to us and there came a Shop-keeper a Professor and put off his Hat to us and seeing we did not the like to him again but said Thou and Thee to him he told us He was not of our Religion and after some discourse with him he went away his Wife who came with him being somewhat loving Then went he and stirred up the Priest and Magistrates against us and after a while sent to the Inn to us to desire us to come to his House for there were some would speak with us he said Thomas Curtis was then with me and he went down to the Man's House where when he came the Man had laid a snare for him for he had gotten the Priest and Magistrates thither and they boasted much that they had catched George Fox taking him for me When they perceived their Mistake they were in a great Rage yet the Lord's Power came over them so that they let him go again Mean while I had an Opportunity of speaking to some sober People that came to the Inn. And when Thomas was come back and we were passing out of the Town some of them came to us and said The Officers were coming to fetch me But the Lord's Power came over them all so that they had not power to touch me There were some Convinced in the Town that time who were turned to the Lord and have stood faithful in their Testimony to the Truth ever since and a fine Meeting there is there 1657. Portsm Pool Ringwood Weym Dorchester Passing from hence we visited Portsmouth and Pool where we had glorious Meetings and many were turned to the Lord. And at Ringwood we had a large general Meeting where the Lord's Power was over all And at Weymouth we had a Meeting and from thence came to Dorchester and so to Lime where the Inn we went to was taken up with Mountebanks 1657. Lime so that there was hardly any room for us or our horses In the Evening we drew up some Queries concerning the ground of all Diseases and the Natures and Vertues of Medicinable Creatures and sent them to the Mountebanks letting them know If they would not answer them we would stick them on the Cross next Day This brought them down and made them Cool for they could not answer them But in the Morning they reasoned a little with us And we left the Queries with some friendly People that were Convinced in the Town to stick upon the Market-Cross And the Lord's Power reached some of the sober People in that place who were turned by the Light and Spirit of Christ to his free Teaching Then traveled we on through the Country till we came to Exeter Exeter and there at the Sign of the Seven Stars an Inn at the Bridge-foot we had a general Meeting of Friends out of Cornwal and Devonshire to which came Humphry Lower and Thomas Lower and John Ellis from the Land's End and Henry Pollexfen and Friends from Plimouth Elizabeth Trelawny and divers other Friends A blessed heavenly Meeting we had and the Lord 's everlasting Power came over all in which I saw and said That the Lord's power had surrounded this Nation round about as with a Wall and Bulwark and his Seed reached from Sea to Sea And Friends were established in the everlasting Seed of Life Christ Jesus their Life Rock Teacher and Shepherd The next Morning after the Meeting Major Blackmore sent Souldiers to apprehend me but I was gone before they came and as I was riding up the Street I saw the Officers going down So the Wolf missed the Lamb
and the Lord crossed them in their Design and Friends passed away peaceably and quietly The Souldiers examined some Friends after I was gone What they did there but when they told them They were in their Inn and had occasions and business in the City they passed away without meddling any further with them From Exeter I travelled through the Countries taking Meetings as I went till I came to Bristol and was at the Meeting there Bristol After the Meeting was done I did not stay in the Town but passed up into Wales and had a Meeting at the Slone WALES Slone Cardiff and so passed through the Country to Cardiff where a Justice of Peace sent to me desiring I would come up with half a dozen of my Friends to his House So I took a Friend or two and went up to him and he and his Wife received us very civilly The next Day we had a Meeting in Cardiff in the Town-Hall and that Justice sent about seventeen of his Family to the Meeting There came some disturbers but the Lord's Power was over them and many were turned to the Lord there There were some that had run out with James Naylor that did not come to Meetings to whom I sent Word That the Day of their Visitation was over and they never prospered after We travelled from Cardiff through the Country to Swanzey Swanzey where we had a blessed Meeting and a Meeting was settled there in the Name of Jesus In our way thither we passed over in a Passage-boat with the high-Sheriff of the County and the next Day I went to have spoken with him but he would not be spoken withal From thence we went to another Meeting in the Country where the Lord's Presence was much with us And from thence we went to a Great Man's House who received us very lovingly but the next Morning he would not be seen One that in the mean time came to him had so estranged him that we could not get to him to speak with him again he was so Changed and yet over-night was exceeding Loving We passed still on through the Countries having Meetings and gathering People in the Name of Christ to him their heavenly Teacher Brecknock till we came to Brecknock where we set up our Horses at an Inn. There went with me Thomas Holmes and John ap John who was moved of the Lord to speak in the Streets I walked out but a little into the Fields and when I came in again the Town was up in an Vproar When I came into the Chamber in the Inn it was full of People and they were speaking in Welch I desired them to speak in English and they did and much discourse we had After a while they went away But towards Night the Magistrates gathered together in the Streets with a multitude of People and they bid them shout and gathered up the Town So that for about Two Hours together there was such a Noise as the like we had not heard and the Magistrates set them on to shout again when they had given over We thought it looked like the Vproar which we read was amongst Diana's Handicrafts-Men This Tumult continued till it was within Night and if the Lord's Power had not limited them they seemed likely to have pulled down the House and us to pieces After it was Night the Woman of the House would have had us go to Supper in another Room but we discerning her Plot refused Then she would have had half a dozen Men come into the Room to us under pretence of discoursing with us but we told her That no Persons should come into our Room that Night neither would we go to them Then she told us we should sup in another Room but we told her we would have no Supper if we had it not in our own Room At length when she saw she could not get us out she brought up our Supper in a great Rage So She and They were crossed in their Design for they had an Intent to have done us Mischief but the Lord God prevented them Next Morning I writ a Paper to the Town concerning their Vnchristian Carriages shewing the Fruits of their Priests and Magistrates and as I passed out of the Town I spake to the People and told them They were a shame to Christianity and Religion From this Place we went to a great Meeting in a Steeple-house-yard where was a Priest and Walter Jenkin who had been a Justice and another Justice and a blessed glorious Meeting we had And there being many Professors I was moved of the Lord to open the Scriptures to them and to Answer the Objections which they stuck at in their Profession for I knew them very well and to turn them to Christ who had enlightned them with which Light they might see their Sins and Trespasses they had been dead in and their Saviour him that came to Redeem them out of them 1657. Brechnock who was to be their Way to God the Truth and the Life to them and their Priest made higher than the Heavens so that they might come to sit under his Teaching A peaceable Meeting we had and many were Convinced and settled in the Truth that day After the Meeting was over I went with Walter Jenkin to the other Justice's House and he said unto me You have this day given great satisfaction to the People and answered all the Objections that were in their Minds For the People had the Scriptures but they were not turned to the Spirit which should let them see that which gave them forth the Spirit of God which is the Key to open them From hence we passed to Pontamile to Richard Hamborow's Pontamile where was a great Meeting to which there came another Justice of Peace and several Great People whose Understandings were opened by the Lord's Spirit and Power and the Light of Jesus Christ and they came to be turned to the Lord Jesus Christ from whence it came A great Convincement there was and a large Meeting is gathered in those parts and settled in the Name of Jesus After this we returned back to England and came to Shrewsbury England Shrewsbury where we had a great Meeting and visited Friends all up and down the Countries in their Meetings till we came to William Gandy's in Cheshire Cheshire where we had a Meeting of between two and three thousand People as it was thought and the everlasting Word of Life was held forth and received that day A blessed Meeting it was for Friends were settled by the Power of God upon Christ Jesus the Rock and Foundation At this time there was a great Drought And after this general Meeting was ended there fell so great a Rain that Friends said they thought we could not Travel the Brooks and Waters would be so risen But I believed the Rain had gone so far as they had come that day to the Meeting And the next day in
Redeemer their Mediator and come to feed upon him the Bread of Life from Heaven Many were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his free Teaching that Day and all were bowed down under the Power of God 1657. Radnorshire so that though the Multitude was so great that many sate on Horse-back to hear there was no Opposition made by any And a Priest sate with his Wife on horse-back and heard Attentively and made no Objection but the People parted peaceably and quietly with great Satisfaction many of them saying They never heard such a Sermon before and the Scriptures so opened For the New Covenant was opened and the Old and the Nature and Terms of each and the Parables were explained and the State of the Church in the Apostles Days was set forth and the Apostacy since laid open and the free Teaching of Christ and the Apostles was set a top of all the hireling-Teachers and the Lord had the Praise of all for many were turned to him that Day Lemster I went back from thence to Lemster where there was a great Meeting in a Close many hundreds of People being gathered together There were a Matter of six Congregational Preachers and Priests amongst the People and Thomas Taylor who had been a Priest but was now become a Minister of Christ Jesus was with me I stood up and declared about three Hours and none of the Priests were able to open their Mouths in Opposition the Lord's Power and Truth so reached them and bound them down At length one Priest went off about a Bow-shot from me and drew several of the People after him and there set a preaching to them So I kept our Meeting and he kept his But after a while Thomas Taylor was moved to go to him and spake to him and he gave over and then he and the People he had drawn off came up to us again and the Lord's Power went over them all At last a Baptist that was Convinced said Where 's Priest Tombs how chance he doth not come out This Tombs was Priest of Lemster Hereupon some went and told the Priest and up comes he with the Bailiffs and other Officers of the Town And when he was come they set him upon a Stool over against me Now I was speaking of the heavenly divine Light of Christ which he Enlightens every one that cometh into the World withal and turning them to it to give them the Knowledge of the glory of God in the Face of Christ Jesus their Saviour When Priest Tombs heard this he cried out That is a Natural Light and a made Light Then I desired the People to take out their Bibles and I asked the Priest Whether he did Affirm that that was a Created natural made Light which John a Man that was sent from God did bear witness to and did speak of when he said In him to wit in the Word was life and that life was the Light of Men Joh. 1.4 Dost thou affirm and mean said I that this Light here spoken of was a Created Natural Made Light And he said Yes Then said I Before I have done with thee I will make thee bend to the Scriptures Then I shewed by the Scriptures that the Natural created made Light is the outward Light in the outward Firmament proceeding from the Sun Moon and Stars And dost thou Affirm said I that God sent John to bear witness to the Light of the Sun Moon and Stars Then said he Did I say so I replied ' Didst thou not not say it was a Natural Created Made Light that John bore witness unto If thou dost not like thy Words take them again and mend them Then he said That Light which I spake of was a natural created Light I told him 1657. Lemster He had not at all mended his Cause for that Light which I spake of was the very same that John was sent of God to bear witness to which was the Life in the Word by which all the natural Lights as Sun Moon and Stars were made In him to wit the Word was Life and that Life was the Light of Men. So I directed the People to turn to the Place in their Bibles and I recited to them the Words of John how that In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made So all natural created Lights were made by Christ the Word In him was life and the life was the light of Men And that was the true light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World And Christ saith of himself John 8.12 I am the light of the World And bids them Believe in the light John 12.36 And God said of him by the Prophet Isaiah ch 49.6 I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my Salvation to the Ends of the Earth So Christ in his Light is saving And the Apostle said The light which shined in their Hearts was to give them the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ And that was their Treasure in their earthen Vessels 2 Cor. 4.6 7. When I had thus opened the matter to the People the Priest cried to the Magistrates Take this man away or else I shall not speak any more But said I ' Priest Tombs deceive not thy self thou art not in thy Pulpit now nor in thy Old Mass-house but we are in the Fields So he was shuffling to be gone and Thomas Taylor stood up and undertook to make out our Principle by Christ's Parable concerning the Sower Matth. 13. Then said the Priest Let that Man speak and not the other So he got up into a little Jangling for a while till the Lord's Power catched him again and stopt and confounded him Afterwards a Friend stood up and told him How he had sued him for Tithe-Eggs and other Friends for other Tithes for he was an Anabaptist Preacher and yet had a Parsonage at Lemster and had several Journey-men under him And he said He had a Wife and he had a Concubine and his Wife was the Baptized People and his Concubine was the World But the Lord's Power came over him and them all and the everlasting Truth was declared that Day and many were turned by it to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and Way to God And of great Service that Meeting was in those Parts The next day Thomas Taylor went to this Priest and reasoned with him and came over him by the Power of the Word From this place I travelled on in Wales Tenby having several Meetings as I went till I came to Tenby where as I rode up the Street a Justice of Peace came out of his House and desired me to alight and stay at his House and I did so On the First-day the Mayor
and his Wife and several others of the Chief of the Town came in about the tenth Hour and stay'd all the Time of the Meeting and a glorious Meeting it was John ap John being then with me left the Meeting and went to the Steeple-house and the Governour cast him into Prison On the Second-day Morning the Governour sent one of his Officers to the Justice's House to fetch me which grieved the Mayor and the Justice for they were both with me in the Justice's House 1657. Tenby when the Officer came So the Mayor and the Justice went up to the Governour before me and a while after I went up with the Officer When I came in I said Peace be unto this House And before the Governour could Examin me I asked him Why he did cast my Friend into Prison He said For standing with his Hat on in the Church I said Had not the Priest two Caps on his Head a black one and a white one and cut of the brims of the Hat and then my Friend would have but one and the brims of the Hat were but to defend him from Weather These are frivolous things said the Governour ' Why then said I dost thou cast my Friend into Prison for such frivolous things Then he asked me Whether I owned Election and Reprobation Yes said I and thou art in the Reprobation At that he was in a Rage and said He would send me to Prison till I proved it But I told him I would prove that quickly if he would confess Truth Then I asked him Whether Wrath Fury and Rage and Persecution were not Marks of Reprobation for he that was born of the Flesh persecuted him that was born of the Spirit but Christ and his Disciples never persecuted nor imprisoned any Then he fairly Confest That he had too much Wrath Haste and Passion in him And I told him Esau was up in him the first-Birth not Jacob the second-Birth The Lord's Power so reached the Man and came over him that he confess'd to Truth and the other Justice came and shook me kindly by the Hand As I was passing away I was moved to speak to the Governour again and he Invited me to Dinner with him and set my Friend at Liberty I went back to the other Justice's House And after some time the Mayor and his Wife and the Justice and his Wife and divers other Friends of the Town went about half a Mile out of Town with us to the Water-side when we went away and there when we parted from them I was moved of the Lord to kneel down with them and pray to the Lord to preserve them So after I had recommended them to the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour and free Teacher we passed away in the Lord's Power and the Lord had the Glory And there is a Meeting continues in that Town to this Day Pembrockshire Pembrock Haverford west So we travelled through the Country to Pembrockshire and in Pembrock Town we had some Service for the Lord. From thence we passed to Haverford-west where we had a great Meeting and all was quiet and the Lord's Power came over all and many were settled in the New Covenant Christ Jesus and built upon him their Rock and Foundation and they stand a precious Meeting to this Day The next day being their Fair-day we passed through their Fair and sounded the Day of the Lord and his Everlasting Truth amongst them After this we came into another County and at Noon came into a great Market-Town and went into several Inns before we could get any Meat for our Horses At last we came to an Inn where we did get some Meat for our Horses and then John ap John being with me went and spake through the Town declaring the Truth to the People and when he came to me again he said he thought All the Town was as people asleep After a while he was moved to go and declare Truth in the Streets again and then the Town was all in an Vproar 1657. WALES and cast him into Prison Presently after several of the Chief of the Town came down with others to the Inn where I was and said They have cast your Man into Prison For what said I He preached in our Streets said they Then I asked them What did he say Had he reproved some of the Drunkards and Swearers and warned them to Repent and leave off their evil Doings and turn to the Lord I asked them Who cast him into Prison And they said The High-Sheriff and the Justices and the Mayor I asked the Names of them and whether they did understand themselves And whether that was their Carriage to Travellers that passed through their Town and to Strangers that did admonish them and exhort them to fear the Lord and reproved Sin in their Gates So these went back and told the Officers what I said And after a while they brought down John ap John guarded with Halberts to the Inn-door in order to put him out of the Town I being at the Inn-door bid the Officers take their Hands off of him They said The Mayor and Justices had commanded them to put him out of Town I told them I would talk with their Mayor and Justices anon concerning their uncivil and unchristian Carriage towards him So I spake to John to go look after the Horses and get them ready and charged the Officers not to touch him And after I had declared the Truth to them and shewed them the Fruits of their Priests and their Incivility and unchristian-like Carriage they went away and left us They were a kind of Independents but a very wicked Town and false We bid the Inn-keeper give our Horses a Peck of Oats and no sooner had we turned our Backs but the Oats were stolen from our Horses After we had refresht our selves a little and were ready we took Horse and rode up to the Inn where the Mayor and Sheriff and Justices were And I called to speak with them and asked them the Reason Wherefore they had Imprisoned John ap John and kept him in Prison two or three hours But they would not answer me a Word only looked out at the Windows upon me So I shewed them how unchristian their Carriage was to Strangers and Travellers and manifested the Fruits of their Teachers and I declared the Truth unto them and warned them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all the Evil-Doers and the Lord's Power came over them that they looked ashamed but not a Word could I get from them in Answer So when I had warned them to Repent and Turn to the Lord we passed away And at Night came to a little Inn very poor but very cheap for our own Provision and our two Horses cost but Eight Pence But the Horses would not eat their Oats We declared the Truth to the People of the Place and sounded the Day of the Lord through the Countries Travelling from thence we
came to a great Town and went to an Inn. And Edward Edwards went into the Market and declared the Truth amongst the People and the People followed him down to the Inn and filled the Inn-yard and were exceeding rude Yet a good Service he and we had for the Lord amongst them For the Life of Christianity and the Power of it tormented their chaffy Spirits and came over them so that some were reached and Convinced and the Lord's Power came over all and the Magistrates were bound they had no Power to meddle with us After this we passed away and came to another great Town on a Market day and John ap John declared the Everlasting Truth through the Streets and proclaimed the Day of the Lord amongst them In the Evening many People gathered about the Inn and some of them being drunk they would fain have had us forth into the Street again but we seeing their Design I told them If there were any that feared God and desired to hear Truth they might come into our Inn or else we might have a Meeting with them next Morning So some Service for the Lord we had amongst them both over Night and in the Morning And though the People was hard to receive the Truth yet the Seed was sown and thereabouts the Lord hath a People gathered to himself In that Inn also I turned but my Back to the Man that was giving Oats to my Horse and I looked back again and he was filling his Pockets with the Provender that was given to my Horse A wicked theevish People to rob the poor dumb Creature of his Food I had rather they had robbed me Leaving this Town and travelling on there was a Great Man overtook us on the Way and he purposed as he told us afterward to have taken us up at the next Town for High-way-men But before we came to the Town I was moved of the Lord to speak to him And what I spake reached to the Witness of God in the Man and he was so affected therewith that he had us to his House and entertained us very civilly And he and his Wife desired us to give them some Scriptures both for proof of our Principles and against the Priests We were glad of the Service and furnished him with Scriptures enough And he writ them down and was Convinced of the Truth both by the Spirit of God in his own Heart and by the Scriptures which were a Confirmation to him Afterwards he set us on in our Journey And as we travelled we came to an Hill which the People of the Country say is two or three Miles high from the Side of this Hill I could see a great Way And I was moved to set my Face several ways and to sound the Day of the Lord there And I told John ap John a faithful Welch Minister in what Places God would raise up a People to himself to sit under his own Teaching Those Places he took notice of and since there hath a great People arisen in those Places The like I have been moved to do in many other Places and Countries which have been rude Places and yet I have been moved to declare the Lord had a Seed in those Places and afterwards there hath been a brave People raised up in the Covenant of God and gathered in the Name of Jesus where they have Salvation and free Teaching Dalgelthly From this Hill we came down to a Place called Dalgelthly and we went to an Inn and John ap John declared through the Streets and the Town 's People rose and gathered about him And there being two Independent-Priests in the Town they both came out and discoursed with him both together I went up to them and finding them speaking in Welch I asked them What was the Subject they spake upon and why they were not more moderate and spake one by one For the things of God I told them were weighty and they should speak of them with Fear and Reverence Then I desired them to speak in English that I might discourse with them and they did so Now they affirmed That the Light which John came to bear witness of was a created natural made Light But I took the Bible and shewed them as I had done to others before That the Natural Lights which were made and created were the Sun Moon and Stars but this Light which John bare witness to and which he called the True Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World is the Life in Christ the Word by which all things were made and created The same that is called the Life in Christ is called the Light in Man and this is an heavenly divine Light which lets Men see their evil Words and Deeds and shews them all their Sins and if they would attend unto it would bring them to Christ from whom it comes that they might know him to save them from their Sin and to blot it out This Light I told them shined in the Darkness in their Hearts and the Darkness in them could not comprehend it but in those Hearts where God had commanded it to shine out of Darkness it gave unto such the Knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus their Saviour Then I opened the Scriptures largely to them and turned them to the Spirit of God in their Hearts which would reveal the Mysteries in the Scriptures to them and would lead them into all the Truth thereof as they became subject thereunto I directed them to that which would give every one of them the Knowledge of Christ who died for them that he might be their Way to God and might make Peace betwixt God and them The People were attentive and I spake to John ap John to stand up and speak it in Welch to them which he did and they generally received it and with Hands lifted up blessed and praised God The Priest's Mouths were stopt so that they were quiet all the while for I had brought them to be sober at the first by telling them That when they speak of the things of God and of Christ they should speak with Fear and Reverence Thus the Meeting brake up in peace in the Street and many of the People accompanied us to our Inn and rejoiced in the Truth that had been declared unto them that they were turned to the Light and Spirit in themselves by which they might see their Sin and know Salvation from it And when we went out of the Town the People were so affected that they lifted up their Hands and blest the Lord for our Coming A pretious Seed the Lord hath there-aways and a great People in those Parts is since gathered to the Lord Jesus Christ to sit down under his free Teaching and have suffered much for him From this place we passed to a City like a Castle Where when we had set up our Horses at an Inn and refreshed our selves John ap John went
coming away to Friends At last when he had so very few left he would come to Pardsey-Crag where Friends had a Meeting of several hundreds of People who were all come to sit under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching and he would walk about the Meeting on the first-Days like a man that went about the Commons to look for Sheep Now during this time I came to this Pardsey-Crag-meeting and he with three or four of his followers that were yet left to him came to the Meeting that Day and they were all throughly Convinced After the Meeting was done Priest Wilkinson asked me two or three Questions which I answered him to his Satisfaction and from that time he came amongst Friends to their Meetings and became an Able Minister and preached the Gospel freely and turned many to Christ's free Teaching And after he had continued many Years in the free Ministry of Christ Jesus he died in the Truth SCOTLAND I had for some time felt Drawings on my Spirit to go into Scotland and had sent to one Colonel William Osborn of Scotland desiring him to come and meet me and he with some others with him were come out of Scotland to this Meeting So after the Meeting was over which he said was the most-glorious Meeting that ever he saw in his life I passed with him and those others that were with him into Scotland having Robert Widders with me who was a Thundring man against Hypocrisy and Deceit and the Rottenness of the Priests The first Night we came into Scotland we lodged at an Inn and the Inn-keeper told us There was an Earl lived about a Quarter of a Mile off who had a desire to see me and had left word at his House that if ever I came into Scotland he should send him word He told us there were three Draw-bridges to his House and that it would be Nine a Clock before the third Bridge was drawn So finding 1657. Scotland we had time in the Evening we walked down to his House He received us very lovingly and said He would have gone with us on our Journey but that he was before engaged to go to a Funeral After we had spent some time with him we parted very friendly and returned to our Inn. Next Morning we travelled on and passing through Dumfreeze Dumfreez Douglass we came to Douglas where we met with some Friends and from thence we passed to the Heads Heads where we had a blessed Meeting in the Name of Jesus and felt him in the midst Leaving Heads we went to Badcow and had a Meeting there Badcow to which abundance of People came and many were Convinced amongst whom there was one that was called a Lady Convinced Highlands From thence we passed towards the High-lands to William Osburn's House where we gathered up the Sufferings of Friends and the Principles of the Scotch Priests which may be seen in a Book called The Scotch-Priests Principles Afterwards we came back again to Heads and Badcow Heads Badcow Garshore and Garshore where the said Lady Margaret Hambleton was Convinced who afterwards went to warn O. Cromwel and Charles Fleetwood of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon them On the First-day we had a great Meeting and several Professors came to it Now the Priests had frighted the People with the Doctrine of Election and Reprobation telling them That God had ordained the greatest part of Men and Women for Hell and that let them Pray or Preach or Sing and do what they could it was all to no purpose if they were ordained for Hell And that God had a certain Number which were Elected for Heaven and let them do what they would as David an Adulterer and Paul a Persecutor yet elected Vessels for Heaven So the fault was not at all in the Creature less or more but God had ordained it so Now I was lead to open to the People the falseness and folly of their Priests Doctrines and shewed them How the Priests had abused those Scriptures which they had brought and quoted to them as in Jude and other Places For whereas they said There was no fault at all in the Creature I shewed them that they who Jude speaks of to wit Cain Core and Balaam who he says were ordained of old to Condemnation the fault was in them For did not God warn Cain and Balaam and gave a Promise to Cain If he did well he should be accepted And did not the Lord bring Core out of Egypt and his Company And yet did not he gainsay both God and his Law and his Prophet Moses So here People might see that there was a fault in Cain Corah and Balaam and so there is in all them that go in their ways For if they who are called Christians resist the Gospel as Core did the Law and err from the Spirit of God as Balaam did and if they do Evil as Cain did is not here a fault Which fault is in themselves and is the Cause of their Reprobation and not God Doth not Christ say Go preach the Gospel to all Nations Which is the Gospel of Salvation He would not have sent them out into all Nations to preach the Doctrine of Salvation if the greatest part of Men had been ordained for Hell Was not Christ a Propitiation for the sins of the whole World for those that become Reprobates as well as for the Saints He died for all Men the Vngodly as well as the Godly as the Apostle bears witness 2 Cor. 5.15 Rom. 5.6 And he enlightens every Man that cometh into the World that through him they might all believe And Christ bids them believe in the Light But all they that hate the Light which Christ bids all believe in they are Reprobated Again The Manifestation of the Spirit of God is given to every Man to profit withal But they that vex quench and grieve it are in the Reprobation and the fault is in them as it is also in them that hate his Light The Apostle saith The grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us saith he that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tit. 2.11.12 Now all those Men and Women that live Vngodly and in the Lusts of the World that turn this grace of God into Wantonness and walk despitefully against it and so deny God and the Lord Jesus Christ that bought them the fault is in all such that turn the grace into Wantonness and walk despitefully against that which would bring their Salvation and save them out of the Reprobation But the Priests it seems can see no fault in such as deny God and the Lord Jesus Christ that hath bought them such as deny his Light which they should believe in and his grace which should teach them to live godly and which should bring them their Salvation Now all that believe in the Light of
Hand and threw it on the Table before me to see whether I would speak against it or no I took no notice of it but declared the Truth to her and she was reached There came in many Baptists also who were very rude but the Lord's Power came over them so that they went away confounded Then there came in another sort and one of them said He would dispute with me and for Argument's sake would deny There was a God I told him He was one of those fools that said in his Heart There is no God but he should know him in the Day of his Judgment So he went his way and a fine precious time we had afterward with several People of Account and the Lord's Power came over all William Osburn was with me And Colonel Lidcot's Wife and William Welch's Wife and several of the Officers themselves also that were there were convinced at that Time Now Edward Billing and his Wife were at that time separated and lived apart and she being reached by Truth and become loving to Friends we sent for her Husband and he came and the Lord's Power reached unto them both and they joined together in it and agreed to live together in Love and Unity as Man and Wife After this we went back to Edenborough again where many Thousands of People were gathered together with abundance of Priests among them about burning of a Witch and I was moved to declare the Day of the Lord amongst them Which when I had done I went from thence to our Meeting whither many rude People and Baptists came The Baptists began to vaunt with their Logick and Syllogisms but I was moved in the Lord's Power to thresh their chaffy Edenborough light minds and shewed the People That after that fallacious way of discoursing they might make White seem Black and Black seem White as That because a Cock had two Legs And each of them had two Legs therefore they were all Cocks Thus they might turn any thing into Lightness and Vanity but it was not the Way of Christ or his Apostles to Teach Speak or Reason after that manner Hereupon those Baptists went their way and after they were gone we had a blessed Meeting in the Lord's Power which was over all I mentioned before that many of the Scotch Priests being greatly disturbed at the Spreading of Truth and Loss of their Hearers thereby were gone up to Edenborough to Petition the Council against me Now when I came back from the Meeting to the Inn where I lodged an Officer belonging to the Council came to me and brought me the following Order Thursday the 8th of October 1657. at his Highness's Council in Scotland Ordered THat George Fox do appear before the Council on Tuesday the 13th of October next in the Fore-noon E. Downing Clerk of the Council When he had delivered me the Order he asked me Whether I would Appear or no I did not tell him whether I would or no but asked him If he had not forged the Order He said No it was a real Order from the Council and he was sent as their Messenger with it When the Time came I Appeared and was had up into a great Room where many great Persons came and looked at me After a while the Door-keeper came and had me into the Council-Chamber Edenborough Council and as I was going in he took off my Hat I asked him Why he did so and who was there that I might not go in with my Hat on for I told him I had been before the Protector with my Hat on But he hung up my Hat and had me in before them When I was come in and had stood a while and they said nothing to me I was moved of the Lord to say Peace be amongst you and Wait in the Fear of God that ye may receive his Wisdom from above by which all things were made and created that by it ye may all be Ordered and may Order all things under your Hands to God's Glory After I had done speaking they asked me What was the Occasion of my coming into that Nation I told them I came to visit the Seed of God which had long lain in Bondage under Corruption and the Intent of my Coming was that all in the Nation that did profess the Scriptures the Words of Christ and of the Prophets and Apostles 1657. Scotland Edenborough Council might come to the Light Spirit and Power which they were in who gave them forth that so in and by the Spirit they might understand the Scriptures and know Christ and God aright and have fellowship with them and one with another They asked me Whether I had any outward Business there I said Nay Then they asked me How long I intended to stay in the Country I told them I should say little to that My Time was not to be long yet in my freedom in the Lord I stood in the Will of him that sent me Then they bid me withdraw and the Door-keeper took me by the Hand and led me forth In a little time they sent for me in again and told me I must depart the Nation of Scotland by that day Seven-night I asked them Why What had I done What was my Transgression that they passed such a Sentence upon me to depart out of the Nation They told me They would not dispute with me Then I desired them to hear what I had to say to them but they said They would not hear me I told them Pharaoh heard Moses and Aaron and yet he was an Heathen and no Christian and Herod heard John Baptist and they should not be worse than these But they cried Withdraw withdraw Whereupon the Door-keeper took me again by the Hand and led me out Then I returned to my Inn and continued still in Edenborough visiting Friends there and thereabouts and strengthning them in the Lord. And after a little time I writ a Letter to the Council to lay before them their Vnchristian Dealing in banishing me an innocent Man that sought their Salvation and Eternal Good A Copy of which Letter here followeth directed To the Council of Edenborough YE that sit in Council and bring before your Judgment-seat the Innocent the Just without shewing the least Cause what Evil I have done or convicting me of any Breach of any Law and afterward ye banish me out of your Nation and Country without telling me for what or what Evil I had done though I told you when ye asked me How long I would stay in the Nation That my Time was not long I spake it innocently and yet ye banish me Will not all think ye that fear God judge this to be wickedness Consider did not they sit in Council about Stephen when they stoned him to Death Did not they sit in Council about Peter and John when they haled them out of the Temple and put them out of their Council for a little Season and took Counsel together and then
the Meeting some Professors began to jangle Whereupon I stood up again and answered their Questions so that they seemed to be satisfied and our Meeting ended in the Lord's Power quiet and peaceable This was the last Meeting I had in Scotland And the Truth and the Power of God was set over that Nation and many by the Power and Spirit of God were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour and Teacher whose Blood was shed for them And since there is a great Increase 1657. Scotland Dunbar and great there will be in Scotland For when first I set my Horses Feet upon the Scottish Ground I felt the Seed of God to sparkle about me like innumerable Sparks of Fire Not but that there is Abundance of thick Cloddy Earth of Hypocrisy and Falseness that is a top and a briary brambly Nature which is to be burnt up with God's Word and plowed up with his Spiritual Plow before God's Seed brings forth heavenly and spiritual Fruit to his glory But the Husbandman is to wait in Patience From Dunbar we came to Berwick Northumberland Berwick where we were questioned a little by the Officers but the Governour was loving towards us and in the Evening we had a little Meeting in which the Power of the Lord was manifested over all Leaving Berwick we came to Morpeth and so through the Country Morpeth Newcastle visiting Friends to New-castle where I had been once before For the Newcastle-Priests had written many Books against us and one Ledger an Alderman of the Town was very envious against Truth and Friends He and the Priests had said The Quakers would not come into any great Towns but lived in the Fells like Butterflies So I took Anthony Pearson with me and went to this Ledger and several others of the Aldermen desiring to have a Meeting amongst them seeing they had written so many Books against us for we were now come I told them into their great Town But they would not yield we should have a Meeting neither would they be spoken withal save only this Ledger and one other I told them Had they not called Friends Butterflies and said We would not come into any great Towns And now we were come into their Town they would not come at us though they had printed Books against us Who are the Butterflies now said I Then Ledger began to plead for the Sabbath-day but I told him They kept Markets and Fairs on that which was the Sabbath-day for that was the seventh day of the Week whereas that Day which the professed Christians now Meet on and call their Sabbath is the First day of the Week So when we could not have a publick Meeting among them we got a little Meeting among Friends and friendly People at the Gate-side where a Meeting is continued to this day in the Name of Jesus As I was passing away by the Market-place the Power of the Lord rose in me To warn them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon them And not long after all those Priests of Newcastle and their Profession were turned out when the King came in From New-Castle we travelled through the Countries Northumberland Bishoprick having Meetings and visiting Friends as we went in Northumberland and Bishoprick and a very good Meeting we had at Lieutenant Dove's where many were turned to the Lord and his Teaching After the Meeting I went to visit a Justice of Peace a very sober loving Man and he confessed to the Truth From thence we came to Durham Durham where was a Man come down from London to set up a Colledge there to make Ministers of Christ as they said I went with some others to reason with the Man and to let him see That to teach Men Hebrew Greek and Latin and the Seven Arts which was all but the Teachings of the Natural Man was not the Way to make them Ministers of Christ For the Languages began at Babel 1657. Durham and to the Greeks that spake Greek as their Mother-Tongue the Preaching of the Cross of Christ was foolishness and to the Jews that spake Hebrew as their Mother-Tongue Christ was a Stumbling-block And as for the Romans who had the Latin and Italian they persecuted the Christians and Pilat one of the Roman Governours set Hebrew Greek and Latin a top of Christ when he Crucified him So he might see the many Languages began at Babel and they set them a top of Christ the Word when they Crucified him And John the Divine who preached the Word that was in the beginning said That the Beast and the Whore have Power over Tongues and Languages and they are as Waters Thus I told him he might see the Whore and Beast have Power over the Tongues and the many Languages which are in Mystery Babylon for they began at Babel and the Persecutors of Christ Jesus set them over him when he was Crucified by them but he is Risen over them all who was before them all Now said I to this Man Dost thou think to make Ministers of Christ by these natural confused Languages which sprang from Babel are admired in Babylon and set a top of Christ the Life by a Persecutor Oh no! So the Man confest to many of these things Then we shewed him further That Christ made his Ministers himself and gave Gifts unto them and bid them Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth Labourers And Peter and John though unlearned and ignorant as to School-learning preached Christ Jesus the Word which was in the beginning before Babel was Paul also was made an Apostle not of Man nor by Man neither received he the Gospel from Man but from Jesus Christ who is the same now and so is his Gospel as it was at that Day When we had thus Discoursed with the Man he became very loving and tender and after he had considered further of it he never set up his Colledge Cleveland Yorkshire Holderness Hull Pomfret From Durham we went to Anthony Pearson's and from thence into Cleaveland and so passed through Yorkshire to the further End of Holderness and had mighty Meetings the Lord's Power accompanying us After we parted from Anthony Pearson's we went by Hull and Pomfret through the Countries to George Watkinson's House and visited most of the Meetings all up and down in these Parts Scalehouse Swarthmore till we came to Scale-house and so on to Swarthmore the everlasting Power and Arm of God carrying us through and preserving us After I had visited Friends up and down there-aways Yorkshire Cheshire Derbishire Nottinghamshire Nottingham I passed through the Countries into Yorkshire again and into Cheshire and so through other Counties into Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and glorious Meetings we had the Lord's Presence being with us At Nottingham I sent to Rice Jones desiring him To make his People acquainted that I had something to say to them from the Lord. He came and told
me Many of them lived in the Country and he could not tell how to send to them I told him He might acquaint them about the Town of it and send to as many in the Country as he could So the next Day we Met at the Castle there being about fourscore People to whom I declared the Truth for about the space of two Hours And the Lord's Power was over them all so that they had not Power to open their Mouths in Opposition When I had done one of them asked me a Question which I was loth to have answered for I saw it might lead into Jangling and I was unwilling to go into Jangling 1657. Nottingham for some of the People were tender yet I could not tell how well to escape it Wherefore I answered the Question and was moved forthwith to speak to Rice Jones and lay before him How that he had been the Man that had scattered such as had been Tender and some that had been Convinced and had been led out of many Vanities of the World which he had formerly judged but now he judged the Power of God in them and they being simple turned to him and so he and they were turned to be vainer than the World for many of his Followers were turned to be the greatest Foot-ball-players and Wrestlers in the Country So I told him it was the Serpent in him that had scattered and done hurt to such as were Tender towards the Lord. Nevertheless if he did wait in the Fear of God for the Seed of the Woman Christ Jesus to bruise the Serpent's Head in him that had scattered and done the hurt by the Seed Christ Jesus he coming into him he might come to gather them again by this heavenly Seed though it would be an hard work for him to gather them again out of those Vanities he had led them into At this Rice Jones said Thou liest it is not the Seed of the Woman that bruises the Serpent's Head No! said I What is it then I say it is the Law said he But said I the Scripture speaking of the Seed of the VVoman saith It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Now hath the Law an Heel said I to be bruised Then Rice Jones and all his Company were at a stand and I was moved in the Power of the Lord to speak to him and say This Seed Christ Jesus the Seed of the VVoman which should bruise the Serpent's Head shall bruise thy Head and break you all to pieces Thus I did leave on the Heads of them the Seed Christ and not long after he and his Company scattered to pieces and several of them came to be Friends and stand to this Day For many of them had been Convinced about eight Years before but had been led aside by this Rice Jones For they denied the Inward Cross the Power of God and so went into Vanity And it was about eight Years since I had been formerly amongst them in which time I was to pass over them and by them seeing they had slighted the Lord's Truth and Power and the Visitation of his Love unto them But now was the time that I was moved to go to them again and it was of great Service for many of them were brought to the Lord Jesus Christ and were settled upon him sitting down under his Teaching and Feeding where they were kept fresh and green and the others that would not be gathered to him soon after withered This was that Rice Jones that some Years before had said I was then at the highest and should fall But poor Man he little thought how near his own Fall was We left Nottingham and went into Warwickshire 1658. Warwicksh Northamptonshire Leicestersh Bedfordsh Yearly Meeting and thence passing through some parts of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire visiting Friends and having Meetings with them as we travelled we came into Bedfordshire where we had large Gatherings in the Name of Jesus After some time we came to John Crook's House where a General Yearly Meeting for the whole Nation was appointed to be held This Meeting lasted Three Days and many Friends from most Parts of the Nation came to it so that the Inns and Towns round thereabouts were filled for many Thousands of People were at it And although there were some Disturbance by some rude People 1658. Bedfordshire Yearly Meeting that had run out from Truth yet the Lord's Power came over all and a glorious Meeting it was And the Everlasting Gospel was preached and many received it for there were many sorts of Professors came to the Meeting which Gospel brought Life and Immortality to Light in them and shined over all Then was I moved by the Power and Spirit of the Lord to open unto them the Promise of God how that it was made to the Seed not to Seeds as many but to One which Seed was Christ And that all People both Males and Females should feel this Seed in them which was Heir of the Promise that so they might all witness Christ in them the Hope of Glory the Mystery which had been hid from Ages and Generations which was revealed to the Apostles and is revealed again now after this long Night of Apostacy So that all might come up into this Seed Christ Jesus and walk in it and sit down together in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who was the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles and the Rock of Ages and is our Foundation now And all sitting down in him sit down in the Substance the First and the Last that changes not the Seed that bruises the Serpent's Head and was before he was who ends all the Types Figures and Shadows and is the Substance of them all in whom there is no Shadow Now these things were upon me to open unto all that they might mind and see what it is they sit down in For First They that sit down in Adam in the Fall sit down in Misery in Death in Darkness and Corruption Secondly They that sit down in the Types Figures and Shadows and under the first Priesthood Law and Covenant sit down in that which must have an End and which made nothing perfect Thirdly They that sit down in the Apostacy that hath gotten up since the Apostles Days sit down in spiritual Sodom and Egypt and are drinking of the Whore's Cup under the Beast's and Dragon's Power Fourthly They that sit down in the State in which Adam was before he fell sit down in that which may be fallen from for he fell from that State though it was perfect Fifthly They that sit down in the Prophets sit down in that which must be fulfilled And they that sit down in the Fellowship of Water Bread and Wine these being temporal things they sit down in that which is short of Christ and of his Baptism Sixthly To sit down in a Profession of all the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelations and not be
from even that Temple and those Tithes and Offerings which God had for a time Commanded And the Apostles Met in several private Houses being to Preach the Gospel in all Nations which they did freely as Christ had commanded them And so do we who bring People off from these Priests Temples and Tithes which God never Commanded to Meet in Houses or on Mountains as the Saints of old did who were gathered in the Name of Jesus and Christ was their Prophet Priest and Shepherd There was present with the Parliament-Man that I discoursed with one Major Wiggan a very envious Man yet he bridled himself before the Parliament-Man and some others that were there in Company He took upon him to make a Speech and said Christ had taken away the Guilt of Sin but had left the Power of Sin remaining in us I told him that was strange Doctrine For Christ came to destroy the Devil and his Works and the Power of Sin and so to cleanse Men from Sin So Major Wiggan's Mouth was stopt at that time But the next day desiring to speak with me again I took a Friend or two with me and went to him Then he vented a great deal of Passion and Rage beyond the Bounds of a Christian or Moral Man 1658. London Whereupon I was made to reprove him And having brought the Lord's Power over him and let him see what Condition he was in I left him After some time I passed out of London and had a Meeting at Sergeant Birkheads at Twitnam to which many People came Twitnam and some of considerable Quality in the World A glorious Meeting it was wherein the Scriptures were largely and clearly opened and Christ exalted above all to the great Satisfaction of the Hearers But there was great Persecution in many places both by Imprisoning and breaking up of Meetings At a Meeting about Seven Miles from London the Rude People usually came out of several Parishes round about to abuse Friends and did often beat and bruise them exceedingly One day they beat and abused about Eighty Friends that went to that Meeting out of London tearing their Coats and Cloaks from off their Backs and throwing them into Ditches and Ponds and when they had besmeared them with Dirt then they said They look'd like Witches The next First-day after this A Meeting near London I was moved of the Lord to go to that Meeting though at that time I was very weak When I came there I bid Friends bring a Table and set it in the Close where they used to Meet to stand upon According to their wonted course the Rude People came and I having a Bible in my hand shewed them theirs and their Priests and Teachers Fruits and the People came to be ashamed and was quiet And so I opened the Scriptures to them and our Principles agreeing therewith and I turned the People from the Darkness to the Light of Christ and his Spirit by which they might understand the Scriptures and see themselves and their Sins and know Christ Jesus to be their Saviour So the Meeting ended quietly and the Lord's Power came over all to his Glory But it was a time of great Sufferings for besides the Imprisonments through which many died in Prisons our Meetings were greatly disturbed For they have thrown Rotten Eggs and Wild-fire into our Meetings and have brought in Drums beating and Kettles to make Noises with that the Truth might not be heard and among these the Priests as Rude as any as may be seen in the Book of the Fighting Priests wherein a List is given of some of the Priests that had actually beaten and abused Friends Many also of our Friends were brought up to London Prisoners to be Tried before the Committee where Henry Vane being Chair-man would not suffer Friends to come in except they would put off their Hats but at last the Lord's Power came over him so that through the Mediation of some others that perswaded him they were admitted Now many of us having been Imprisoned upon Contempts as they called them for not putting off our Hats it was not a likely thing that Friends who had suffered so long for it from others should put off their Hats to him But the Lord's Power came over them all and wrought so that several Friends were set at Liberty by them Now inasmuch as Sufferings grew very sharp I was moved of the Lord to write a few Lines and send abroad amongst Friends to encourage them to go on faithfully and boldly through the Exercises of the day of which a Copy here follows My Dear Friends every where abroad scattered in Prison or out of Prison Fear not because of the Reports of Sufferings let not the Evil Spies of the Good Land make you afraid if they tell you the Walls are high and that there be Anakims in the Land For at the blowing of the Ram's-Horns did the Walls of Jericho fall down and they that brought the Evil Report perished in the Wilderness But dwell ye in the Faith Patience and Hope having the Word of Life to keep you which is beyond the Law and having the Oath of God his Covenant Christ Jesus which divides the Waters asunder and makes them to Run all on Heaps in that stand and ye will see all things work together for good to them that love God And in that Triumph when Sufferings come what-ever they be Your Faith your Shield your Helmet your Armour you have on ye are ready to skip over a Mountain or a Wall or an Hill and to walk through the deep Waters though they be Heaps upon Heaps For the Evil Spies of the good Land may preach up hardness but Caleb which signifies an Heart and Joshua a Saviour Triumph over all G. F. Now after a while I passed into the Country and went to Reading Reading and was there under great Sufferings and Exercises and in a great Travel in my Spirit for about Ten Weeks time For I saw there was great Confusion and Distraction amongst the People and that the Powers were plucking each other to pieces And I saw how many Men were destroying the Simplicity and betraying the Truth and a great deal of Hypocrisie and Deceit and Strife was got uppermost in the People so that they were ready to sheath their Swords in one anothers Bowels There had been a Tenderness in many of them formerly when they were low but when they were got up and had killed and taken Possession they came to be as bad as others So that we had much to do with them about our Hats and saying Thou and Thee to them For they turned their Profession of Patience and Moderation into Rage and Madness and many of them would be like distracted Men for this Hat-Honour For they had hardned themselves by persecuting the Innocent and were at this time Crucifying the Seed Christ both in themselves and others till at last they fell a biting and devouring one another
until they were Consumed one of another who had turned against and judged that which God had wrought in them and shewed unto them So shortly after God overthrew them and turned them upside down and brought the King over them who were often surmising that the Quakers Met together to bring in King Charles when as Friends did not concern themselves with the outward Powers or Government But at last the Lord brought him in and many of them when they saw he would be brought in Voted for the bringing him in So with Heart and Voice praise the Name of the Lord to whom it doth belong who over all hath the Supremacy 1658. Reading and who will Rock the Nations for he is over them Now I had a Sight and Sense of the King 's Return a good while before and so had some others I writ to Oliver several times and let him know that while he was persecuting God's People they whom he accounted his Enemies were preparing to come upon him And when some forward Spirits that came amongst us would have bought Somerset-House that we might have Meetings in it I forbad them to do so For I did then foresee the King 's Coming in again Besides there came a Woman to me in the Strand who had a Prophecy concerning King Charles 's coming in three Years before he came and she told me she must go to him to declare it I advised her to wait upon the Lord and keep it to her self For if it should be known that she went on such a Message they would look upon it to be Treason But she said She must go and tell him that he should be brought into England again I saw her Prophecy was true and that a great Stroke must come upon them in Power For they that had then gotten Possession were so exceeding high and such great Persecution was acted by them who called themselves Saints that they would take from Friends their Copyhold-Lands because they could not Swear in their Courts And sometimes when we laid these Sufferings before Oliver Cromwel he would not believe it Wherefore Thomas Aldam and Anthony Pearson were moved to go through all the Goals in England and to get Copies of Friends Commitments under the Goalers Hands that they might lay the Weight of Friends Sufferings upon Oliver Cromwel And when he would not give Order for the Releasing of them Thomas Aldam was moved to take his Cap from off his Head and to Rend it in pieces before him and to say unto him So shall thy Government be Rent from Thee and thy House Another Friend also a Woman was moved to go to the Parliament that was envious against Friends with a Pitcher in her hand which she brake into pieces before them and told them So should they be broken to pieces Which came to pass shortly after And in my great Suffering and Travel of Spirit for the Nation being grievously burdened and almost choked with their Hypocrisie Treachery and Falsness I saw God would bring that a top of them which they had been a top of and that all must be brought down to that which did Convince them before they could get over that bad Spirit within and without For it is the pure Invisible Spirit that doth and only can work down all Deceit in People Now while I was under that sore Travel at Reading by reason of Grief and Sorrow of Mind and the great Exercise that was upon my Spirit my Countenance was alter'd and I looked poor and thin and there came a Company of Vnclean Spirits to me and told me The Plagues of God were upon me But I told them It was the same Spirit spake that in them that said so of Christ when he was stricken and smitten they hid their Face from him But when I had travelled with the Witness of God which they had quenched and had gotten through with it and over all that Hypocrisie which the Outside-Professors were run into and saw how that would be brought down and turned under and that Life would rise over it I came to have Ease and the Light Power and Spirit shined over all And then having Recovered and got through my Travels and Sufferings my Body and Face swelled when I came abroad into the Air and then the bad Spirits said I was grown fat and they Envied at that also So I saw that no Condition nor State would please that Spirit of theirs But the Lord preserved me by his Power and Spirit through and over all London and in the Lord's Power I came to London again Now was there a great Pudder made about the Image or Effigies of Oliver Cromwel lying in State Men standing and sounding with Trumpets over his Image after he was dead At this my Spirit was greatly grieved and the Lord I found was highly offended Then did I write the following Lines unto them and sent among them to Reprove their Wickedness and warn them to Repent Oh Friends what are ye doing and what mean ye to sound before aâ— Image Will not all sober People think ye are like mad People Oh how am I grieved with your Abominations Oh how am I wearied My Soul is wearied with â—ou saith the Lord Will I not be avenged of you think ye for yâ—ur Abominations Oh how have ye plucked down and set up On how are your Hearts made whole and not Rent And how are ye turned to Fooleries Which things in times past ye stood over Therefore how have â—e left my Dread saith the Lord O! Therefore Fear and Repent lest the Snare and the Pit take you all The great Day of the Lord is come upon all your Abominations and the swift Hand of the Lord is turned against them all The sober People in the Nations stand amazed at your Doings and are ashamed as if ye would bring in Popery G. F. About this time great Stirs were in the Nation the Minds of People being unsetled and much Plotting and Contriving there was by the several Factions to carry on their several Interests And a great Care being upon me lest any Young or Raw People that might sometimes come amongst us should be drawn into that Snare I was moved to give forth the following Epistle as a Warning unto all such All Friends every where keep out of Plots and Busling and the Arm of Flesh for all that is amongst Adam's Sons in the Fall where they are destroying Mens Lives like Dogs and Beasts and Swine goaring renting and biting one another and destroying one another and wrestling with Flesh and Blood From whence arise Wars and Killing but from the Lusts Now all this is in Adam in the Fall out of Adam that never fell in whom there is Peace and Life Ye are called to Peace therefore follow it and that Peace is in Christ not in Adam in the Fall All that pretend to fight for Christ they are deceived for his Kingdom is not of this World therefore his Servants
do not fight Therefore Fighters are not of Christ's Kingdom but are without Christ's Kingdom For his Kingdom stands in Peace and Righteousness but Fighters are in the Lust And all that would destroy Men's Lives 1659. London are not of Christ's Mind who came to save Men's lives Christ's Kingdom is not of this World it is peaceable and all that be in Strife are not of his Kingdom And all that pretend to fight for the Gospel are deceived For the Gospel is the Power of God which was before the Devil or Fall of Man was and the Gospel of Peace was before Fighting was Therefore they that pretend Fighting and talk of Fighting so are Ignorant of the Gospel And all that talk of Fighting for Sion are in Darkness For Sion needs no such Helpers And all such as profess themselves to be Ministers of Christ or Christians and go about to beat down the Whore with outward carnal Weapons the Flesh and the Whore are got up in themselves and they are in a blind Zeal For the Whore got up by the Inward Ravening from the Spirit of God and the beating down of the Whore must be by the inward Stroke of the Sword of the Spirit within All such as pretend Christ Jesus and confess him and yet run into the use of Carnal Weapons wrestling with Flesh and Blood throw away the Spiritual Weapons They that would be Wrestlers with Flesh and Blood throw away Christ's Doctrine and Flesh is got upon them and they are weary of their Sufferings And such as would Revenge themselves be out of Christ's Doctrine And such as being stricken on the one Cheek would not turn the other be out of Christ's Doctrine And such as do not love one another and love Enemies be out of Christ's Doctrine Therefore ye that be Heirs of the Blessings of God which were before the Curse and the Fall was come to Inherit your Portions And ye that be Heirs of the Gospel of Peace which was before the Devil was live in the Gospel of Peace seeking the Peace of all Men and the Good of all Men and live in Christ who came to save men's lives out of Adam in the Fall where they destroy men's lives and live not in him For the Jews Sword outwardly by which they cut down the Heathen was a Type of the Spirit of God within which cuts down the Heathenish Nature within So live in the peaceable Kingdom of Christ Jesus and live in the Peace of God and not in the Lusts from whence Wars arise and live in Christ the Prince of Peace the Way of God who is the Second Adam that never fell but live not in Adam in the Fall in the Destruction where they destroy one another Therefore come out of Adam in the Fall into the Adam that never fell and so live in Love and Peace with all Men and keep out of all the Buslings in the World and meddle not with the Powers of the Earth but mind the Kingdom the Way of Peace Ye that be Heirs of Grace and Heirs of the Kingdom and Heirs of the Gospel and Heirs of Salvation and Saints of the most-High and Children of God whose Conversations are in Heaven that is above the Combustions of the Earth let your Conversation Preach to all Men and your Innocent Lives that they which speak Evil of you beholding your Godly Conversation may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And all Friends every where this I charge you which is the Word of the Lord God unto you all Live in Peace in Christ the way of Peace and therein seek the Peace of all Men and no Man 's Hurt As I said before in Adam in the Fall is no Peace but in Adam out of the Fall in him is the Peace So ye being in Adam which never fell it is Love that overcomes and not Hatred with Hatred nor Strife with Strife Therefore live all in the peaceable Life doing good to all Men and seeking the Good and Welfare of all Men. G. F. It was not long after this before George Booth rose in Arms in Cheshire and Lambert went down against him At which time some foolish rash Spirits that came sometimes amongst us were ready to have taken up Arms But I was moved of the Lord to warn them and forbid them and they were quiet In the time of the Committee of Safety so called we were Invited by them to have taken up Arms and great Places and Commands were offered some of us but we denied them all and declared agâ—â—â—st it both by Word and Writing testifying that our Weapons and Aâ—â—â—â—r were not Carnal but Spiritual And lest any that came amongâ—â—â—s should be drawn into that Snare it came upon me from the Lord to write a few Lines on that occasion and send them forth as a Caution to all amongst us Of which this is a Copy All Friends every where Take heed to keep out of the Powers of the Earth that Run into the Wars and Fightings which make not for Peace but go from that such will not have the Kingdom And Friends take heed of Joining with this or the other or medling with any or being busie with other Mens matters but mind the Lord and his Power and his Service And so let Friends keep out of other Mens matters and keep in that which answers the Witness in them all out of the Mans-matters-part where they must expect Wars and the Dishonour And all Friends every where dwell in your own in the Power of the Lord God to keep your Minds up to the Lord God from falling down to the Strength of Egypt or going thither for Strength after ye are come out of it like the Children of Israel after they were come out of outward Egypt But dwell in the Power of the Lord God that ye may keep over all the Powers of the Earth amongst whom the just Hand of God is come For they have turned against the Just and disobeyed the Just in their own particulars and so gone on in one against the Just therefore the Just sets them one against another Now he that goes to help among them is from the Just in himself in the mad and unstay'd state and doth not know by the All-seeing Eye that beholdeth him that recompenseth and rewardeth and lives not in the Hand in the Power that mangles and overturns which vexeth the Transgressors that come to be blind and zealous for they do not know what Therefore keep in Peace and in the Love and Power of God and in Unity and Love one to another lest any go out and fall with the Vncircumcised That is they that are from the Spirit in themselves and they that go from it go into the Pit together Therefore stand in that it is the Word of the Lord God to you all in the Fear and Dread of the Lord God his Power Life Light Seed and Wisdom by which ye may take away the occasion of Wars and
your Markets in your Highways and Cities yea and even in your Courts also because they said the Word Thou to you and could not put off their Hats to you That if something did not arise up amongst your selves to avenge the Blood of the Innocent there would come something from beyond the Seas which lay reserved there which being brought by the Arm of God the Arm of Flesh and strongest Mountain cannot withstand Yet ye would not consider nor regard nor hear but cried Peace Peace and feasted your selves and sate down in the Spoil of your Enemies being Treacherous both to God and Man And who will trust you now Have ye not taken Covenants and Oaths And broken Covenants and Oaths betwixt God and Man and made the Nations Breakers both of Covenants and Oaths so that nothing but Hypocrisie and Rottenness and Falshood under fair Pretence was amongst you When ye pretended to set up the Old Cause it was but your selves for which ye long stunk to sober People who saw that no good ye would do But it was a Joy for any of you to get up into Authority that ye might have Praise and Honour and Respect and they that were in the Self-denial were a Derision to you from amongst whom that was banished Thus ye became the Nations Masters and not Servants whereas the Greatest of all should be the Servants of all But there ye lost your Authority not considering your Estates from whence ye were and to what end God had raised you up but forgot the Lord and quenched that which was Good in your selves and persecuted them that lived in it And so are grown so gross and perverse that at last ye are fit for neither God nor Man Have not ye used to call the Quakers the Fanatick People and the Giddy Heads But whither now are ye Giddying Into Cain's City Nod which signifies Fugitive or Wandring Have not ye Persecuted and Imprisoned to Death such as God had Respect to and is now Reproving you for their sakes by them whom ye have hated Were not many amongst you cut off for your Persecution and yet the rest of you would not take Warning Was there not a Book of Examples set out unto you of what sudden and strange Deaths happened upon the Persecutors of the Innocent And yet ye would not take Warning until the Overflowing Scourge is now coming upon you Are not ye They that have killed like Cain who have killed about your Sacrifice and mingled the Blood of the Innocent with it Hath not God now Vagabonded you that ye should become a Curse upon the Earth who have persecuted Friends to Death Did not the Blood of the Righteous cry out of the Ground for Vengeance And will not the Blood of the Righteous be required Could ye think that the Lord would let you sit always with Bloody Hands and Fists of Wickedness Ah! What 's become of all your Feasts and your Fasts the Prayers and Blessings of your Priests G. F. Being now clear of the City and finding my Spirit drawn to Visit Friends in the Western Parts of England I went out of Town and passing first into Surrey and Sussex Surrey Sussex came to a great Town where there was a large Meeting to which several Friends from Reading came and a blessed Meeting it was The Priest of the Town was in a great Rage but did not come out of his House wherefore hearing him make a great Noise in his House as we were passing from the Meeting we bid him Come out into the Street and we would discourse with him but he would not So the Lord's Power being over all Friends were refreshed in the Lord's Power and Truth From thence I went to another Market-Town where in the Evening we had a precious Meeting and the fresh Sense of the Presence of the Lord God was sweetly felt amongst us Hampshire Dorsetshire Ringwood Pool Then turning into Hampshire and Dorsetshire I went to Ringwood and Pool visiting Friends in the Lord's Power and had great Meetings amongst them Dorchester At Dorchester we had a great Meeting in the Evening at our Inn to which many Souldiers came and were pretty Civil But the Constables and Officers of the Town came under pretence to look for a Jesuite whose Head they said was shaved And they would have all to put off their Hats or else they would take them off to look for the Jesuit's shaven Crown So they took off my Hat for I was the Man they aimed at and they looked very narrowly but not finding any bald or shaven place on my Head they went away with shame and the Souldiers and other sober People were greatly offended with them But it was of good Service for the Lord and all things wrought together for good for it affected the People and after the Officers were gone we had a fine Meeting and People were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher who had bought them and would reconcile them to God From thence we passed into Somersetshire where the Presbyterians and other Professors were very wicked and often used to disturb Friends Meetings Example One time especially as we were then informed there was a very wicked Man whom they had got to come to the Quakers Meeting This Man put a Bears-Skin on his Back and undertook with that to play Pranks in the Quakers Meeting Accordingly setting himself just opposite to the Friend that was speaking he Lolled his Tongue out of his Mouth having his Bears-Skin on his Back and so made sport to his Wicked Followers and caused a great Disturbance in the Meeting But an Eminent Judgment overtook him and his Punishmet slumbred not For as he went back from the Meeting there was a Bull-baiting in the way which he stayed to see and coming within the Bulls reach the Bull struck his Horn under the Man's Chin into his Throat and struck his Tongue out of his Mouth so that it hung Lolling out as he had used it before in Derision in the Meeting And the Bull 's Horn running up into the Man's Head he swung him about upon his Horn 1659. Example in a most remarkable and fearful manner Thus he that came to do Mischief amongst God's People was Mischieved himself and well would it be if such apparent Examples of Divine Vengeance would teach others to beware We travelled through Somersetshire and Devonshire Devonshire Plymouth Cornwall till we came to Plymouth and so went up into Cornwal visiting the Meetings of Friends till we came to Land's-End Many precious and blessed Meetings we had all along through the Countries as we went wherein they that were Convinc'd were established and many others were added to them At the Land's-End in Cornwal Lands End there was an honest Fisher-man Convinc'd who became a Faithful Minister of Christ I took notice of him to Friends and told them He was like Peter While I was in Cornwall there were great Ship-wracks about
the Lands-End Now it was the Custom of that Country that at such a time both Rich and Poor went out to get as much of the Wrack as they could not caring to save the Peoples Lives And in some parts of the Country they called Shipwracks God's Grace These things troubled me and grieved my Spirit to hear of such unchristian Actions considering how far they were below the Heathen at Melita who received Paul and made him a Fire and were courteous towards him and them that had suffered Shipwrack with him Wherefore I was moved to write a Paper and send it to all the Parishes Priests and Magistrates High and Low to reprove them for such greedy Actions and to Warn and Exhort them that if they could assist to save Peoples Lives and preserve their Ships and Goods they should use their Diligence therein and consider if it had been their own Condition they would judge it hard if they should be upon a Wrack and People should strive to get what they could from them and not matter their Lives A Copy of that Paper here follows All Friends and People TAke heed of Greediness and Covetousness for that is Idolatry and the Idolater must not enter into the Kingdom of God Take heed of Drunkenness and Oaths and Cursings for such are Destroyers of the Creation and make it to groan Lay away all Fightings and Quarrellings and Brawlings and Evil Speakings which are the Works of the Flesh and not of the Spirit for who follow such things are not like to have the Kingdom of God Put away all Corrupt Words which be unsavoury and misnaming one another for ye must give an Account for every idle Word Lay aside all Profession and Religion that is vain and come to the Possession and the pure Religion which is to visit the Fatherless the Widow and the Stranger and receive them For some thereby may entertain Angels unawares and the Servants of the Lord as Paul was entertained after the Shipwrack at Melita And do not ye take Peoples Goods from them by force out of their Ships which be the Seamens or others neither covet ye after them but rather endeavour to preserve their Lives and their Goods for them For that shews a Spirit of Compassion and a Spirit of a Christian But if ye be greedy and covetous after other men's Goods 1659. â—ands End not mattering what becomes of the Men would ye be served so your selves If ye should have a Ship cast away in other places and the People should come to tear the Goods and Ship in pieces not regarding to save the Men's Lives but be ready to fight one with another for your Goods do not ye believe such Goods would become a Curse to them And may ye not as well believe such kind of Actions will become a Curse unto you When the Spoil of one Ships Goods is idly spent and consumed upon the Lusts in Ale-houses Taverns and otherwise then ye gape for another Is this to do as ye would be done by which is the Law and the Prophets Therefore Priest Hull Are these thy Fruits What dost thou take Peoples Labour and Goods for Hast thou taught the People no better Manners and Conversation who are so Brutish and Heathenish Now all such things we judge in whomsoever But if any Friend or others do preserve Mens Lives and endeavour to save their Goods and Estates and restore what they can save of a Wrack to the Owners and then if they consider them for their Labour doing in that case unto them what they would have done unto themselves that we own And if they buy or sell and do not make a Prey that is allowed of still in the way of doing as ye would be done by keeping to the Law and to the Prophets that is that if ye should be in another Country ye would have other People to save your Lives and Goods and have your Goods restored to you again and you to consider them for so doing All ye that do otherwise that wait for a Wrack and get the Goods for your selves not regarding the Lives of the Men but if any of them escape drowning let them go a begging up and and down the Country and if any scape with a little sometimes they are robbed of it in the Country All such that do so are not for the preserving of the Creation but for the destroying of it And those Goods which are so gotten shall be a Curse and a Plague and a Judgment to them and them the Judgments of God will follow for acting such things The Witness in your Consciences shall Answer it Therefore all ye who have done such things do so no more lest a worse thing come unto you But that which is good do to preserve Men's Lives and Estates and labour to restore the Loss and Breach that the Lord requires Be not like a Company of Greedy Dogs and worse than Heathens as if ye had never heard tell of God nor Christ nor the Scriptures nor pure Religion And Priest Hull Have People spent their Money upon thee for that which is no Bread For a thing of nought that thou hast such Fruits All such Teachers that make a Trade of the Scriptures which are given forth from the Spirit of God to be believed and read and practised and Christ whom they testifie of enjoyed we utterly deny who own Christ and are come off from all your Steeple-houses which were the Old Mass-houses For there are their bad Fruits harboured those are the Cages of them But come to the Church which is in God 1 Thess 1. and come all to the Light which Christ Jesus hath enlightned you withal which shews you all the Vngodly Words ye have spoken the ungodly Thoughts which ye have thought the ungodly Actions which ye have done This will be your Teacher if ye love it your Condemnation if ye hate it For the mighty Day of the Lord is coming upon all Wickedness and Ungodliness Therefore your Whoredoms and Fornications lay aside And ye Magistrates who are to do Justice think ye not that the Hand of the Lord God is against you and that his Judgments will come upon you who do not look after these things and stop them with the Law which is To do unto all men as they would have done unto them whereby ye might be a good Savour in your Country Is not the Law to preserve Mens Lives and Estates Doing unto all Men as they would Men should do unto them For all Men would have their Lives and Estates preserved Therefore should not ye preserve others and not suffer them to be devoured and destroyed The Evil of these things will lie upon you both Priests and Magistrates G. F. POSTSCRIPT ALL Dear Friends which fear the Lord God keep out of the Ravenous World's Spirit whose Spirit is to Raven and Destroy which is out of the Wisdom of God That when Ships are wrackt ye do not run to destroy and
Professors who pleaded for Imperfection I was opened to declare and manifest unto them how that Adam and Eve were perfect before they fell and all that God made he saw that it was good and he blessed it But the Imperfection came in by the Fall through Man's and Woman's hearkening to the Devil who was out of Truth And though the Law made nothing perfect yet it made way for the bringing in of the better Hope which Hope is Christ who destroys the Devil and his Works that made Man and Woman Imperfect Now Christ saith to his Disciples Be ye perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect And he who himself was perfect comes to make Man and Woman perfect again and brings them again to the State which God made them in So he is the Maker up of the Breach and the Peace betwixt God and Man That this might the better be understood by the lowest Capacities I used a Comparison of Two Old People that had their House broken down by an Enemy so that they with all their Children were liable to all Storms and Tempests And there came some to them that pretended to be Workmen and offered to build up their House again if they would give them so much a Year But when they had gotten their Money they left their House as they found it After this manner came a First Second Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth each with his several pretence to build up the Old House and each got the Peoples Money and then cried They could not rear up the House nor the Breach could not be made up For there is no Perfection here Cry they the House can never be perfectly built up again in this Life Though they have taken the Peoples Money for the doing of it For all the Sects in Christendom so called have pretended to build up Adam's and Eve's fallen House and when they have got Peoples Money they tell them the Work cannot be perfectly done here and so their House lies as it did But I told the People Christ was come to do it freely who by one Offering hath perfected for ever all them that are sanctified and renews them up into the Image of God which Man and Woman were in before they fell and makes Man's and Woman's House as perfect again as God had made them at the first And this Christ the Heavenly Man has done freely Therefore all are to look unto him and all that have received him are to walk in him the Life the Substance the First and the Last The Rock of Ages and Foundation of many Generations Largely were these and many other things opened and declared unto the People and the Word of Life was Preached which doth live and abide and all were Exhorted to hear and obey that which did live and abide that by it all might be born again of the Immortal Seed and feed of the Milk of the Word A glorious Meeting there was wherein the Lord 's Everlasting Seed Christ Jesus was set over all and Friends parted in the Power and Spirit of the Lord in Peace and in his Truth that is over all About this time the Souldiers under General Monk's Command were rude and troublesome at Friends Meetings in many places Whereof Complaint being made to him he gave forth the following Order which did somewhat restrain them St. James's the 9th of March 1659. I Do Require all Officers and Souldiers to forbear to disturb the peaceable Meetings of the Quakers they doing nothing prejudicial to the Parliament or Common-wealth of England GEORGE MONK Oldeston Nailsworth After this Meeting at Edward Pyott's I passed through the Countries to Oldeston and to Nailsworth and to Nathaniel Crisp's where there was a large Meeting and several Souldiers at it but quiet And from thence we passed through Friends to Gloucester Gloucester visiting their Meetings And in Gloucester we had a Meeting that was peaceable though the Town was very rude and divided For one part of the Souldiers were for the King and another for the Parliament 1660. Glouceser And as I passed out of the Town over the Bridge Edward Pyott being with me the Souldiers there said They were for the King But after we were gone past them and they understood it was I they were in a great rage that I had scaped them and said Had they known it it had been I they would have shot me with Hail-shot rather than I should have escaped them But the Lord prevented their Devilish Design and brought me safe to Col. Grimes his House where we had a large general Meeting Col. Grimes and the Lord's Truth and Power was set over all and Friends were established upon the Rock and settled under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching We passed from thence to Tewksburg and so to Worcester Tewksbury Worcester visiting Friends in their Meetings in the Towns as we went And in all my time I never saw the like Drunkenness as then in the Towns For they had been then chusing Parliament-Men But at Worcester the Lord's Truth was set over all and People were finely settled therein and Friends praised the Lord Nay I saw the very Earth Rejoiced Yet great fears and troubles were in many People and a looking for the King 's Coming in and that all things should be altered and they would ask me what I thought of Times and Things I told them the Lord's Power was over all and his Light shined over all and that the Fear would take hold only on the Hypocrites such as had not been faithful to God and on our Persecutors For in my Travel and Sufferings at Reading when People were at a stand and could not tell what might Come in and who might Rule I told them the Lord's Power was over all for I had travelled through in it and his Day shined whosoever should come in and whether the King came in or no all would be well to them that loved the Lord and were faithful to him Therefore I bid all Friends Fear none but the Lord and keep in his Power that was over all From Worcester I came through the Countries Badgely Leicestershire Drayton visiting Friends in their Meetings till I came to Badgely and from thence I went to Drayton in Leicestershire to visit my Relations While I was there one Burton a Justice hearing that I had a good Horse sent forth a Warrant to search for me and my Horse But I was gone before they came and so he missed of his wicked End I passed on to Twy Cross Twy-Cross Swanington Darby and Swanington and so to Darby where I visited Friends and found my old Goaler amongst them who had formerly kept me in the House of Correction there and was now Convinced of the Truth which I then suffered under him for Passing still further up into Darbyshire Darbyshire Nottinghamshire Synderhill-green Yorkshire Balby Yearly Meeting and Nottinghamshire I came to Synderhill-green visiting Friends through all
those parts in their Meetings and so passed on to Balby in Yorkshire where our Yearly Meeting at that time was holden in a great Orchard of John Killams where it was suppos'd some Thousands of People and Friends were gathered together In the Morning I heard that a Troop of Horse was sent from York about Thirty Miles off to break up our Meeting and that the Militia newly raised was to join with them So I went into the Meeting and stood up on a great Stool and after I had spoken sometime Two Trumpeters came up sounding their Trumpets pretty near me and the Captain of the Troop cried Divide to the Right and Left and make way Then they rid up to me 1660. Balby Yearly Meeting Now I was declaring the Everlasting Truth and Word of Life in the mighty Power of the Lord. The Captain bid me Come down for he was come he said to disperse our Meeting After some time I spake to him and told him He and they all knew we were a peaceable People and that we used to have such great Meetings But if he did question that we Met in an hostile Way I desired him to make search among us and if he found either Sword or Pistol about any there let such suffer He told me he must see us dispersed for he came all Night on purpose to disperse us I asked him What Honour it would be to him to Ride with Swords and Pistols amongst so many Vnarmed Men and Women as there was But if he would be still and quiet our Meeting probably might not continue above two or three Hours and when it was done as we came Peaceably and Civilly together so we should part For he might perceive the Meeting was so large that all the Country thereabouts could not entertain them but that they intended to depart towards their Homes at Night He said He could not stay to see the Meeting ended but must disperse them before he went I desired him then if he himself could not stay that he would let a dozen of his Souldiers stay and see the Order and Peaceableness of our Meeting He said He would permit us an Hour's time and left half a dozen Souldiers to stay with us Then went the Captain away with his Troop and Friends of the House gave those Souldiers that staid and their Horses some Meat When the Captain was gone the Souldiers that were left told us We might stay till Night if we would But we staid but about three Hours after and had a glorious powerful Meeting For the presence of the Living God was manifest amongst us and the Seed Christ was set over all and Friends were built upon him the Foundation and settled under his glorious heavenly Teaching And after the Meeting was done Friends passed away in Peace greatly refreshed with the Presence of the Lord and filled with Joy and Gladness that the Lord's Power had given them such Dominion For many of the Militia-Souldiers staid also and were much vexed that the Captain and Troopers had not broken up our Meeting and Cursed the Captain and his Troopers For it was reported that they intended to have done us some Mischief that day but the Troopers instead of Assisting them were rather Assistant unto us in not joining with them as they expected but preventing them from doing the Mischief they designed And yet this Captain was a desperate Man For it was he that had said to me in Scotland That he would obey his Superiors Commands and if it were to Crucifie Christ he would do it or execute the Great Turk's Commands against the Christians if he were under him So that it was an Eminent Power of the Lord which chained down both him and all his Troopers and those envious Militia-Souldiers also so that they went away not having power to hurt any of us nor to break up our Meeting Warmsworth The next day we had an heavenly Meeting at Warmsworth of Friends in the Ministry and several others and then Friends parted And as they passed through the Countries several were taken up For that day that our first Meeting was on Lambert was Routed and it made a great Blunder in the Country but Friends were not kept long in Prison at that time 1658. Nottinghamshire Skegby As I went to this Meeting at Balby there came several to me at Skegby in Nottinghamshire that were then going to be Souldiers under Lambert and would have bought my Horse of me and because I would not sell him to them they were in a great Rage against me using many Threatning Words But I told them God would confound and scatter them and within two or three Days after they were scattered indeed From Warmsworth I passed in the Lord's Power to Barton-Abby Barton-Abby T. Taylor 's Skipton General Meeting of Men-Friends where I had a great Meeting and from thence to Thomas Taylor s and so to Skipton where there was a General Meeting of Men-Friends out of many Counties concerning the Affairs of the Church There was a Friend went Naked through the Town declaring Truth and he was much beaten Some other Friends also came to me all bloody And as I walked in the Street there was a desperate Fellow had an Intent to have done me a Mischief But he was prevented and our Meeting was quiet To this Meeting came many Friends out of most parts of the Nation for it was about Business relating to the Church both in this Nation and beyond the Seas Several Years before when I was in the North I was moved to recommend to Friends the setting up of this Meeting for that Service For many Friends suffered in divers parts of the Nation and their Goods were taken from them contrary to the Law and they understood not how to help themselves or where to seek Redress But after this Meeting was set up several Friends that had been Justices and Magistrates and others that understood something of the Law came thither and were able to Inform Friends and to assist them in gathering up the Sufferings that they might be laid before the Justices Judges or Parliament Now this Meeting had stood several Years and divers Justices and Captains had come to brake it up but when they have understood the Business Friends Met about and have seen Friends Books and Accompts of Collections for Relief of the Poor how we took Care one County to help another and to help our Friends beyond the Seas and provide for our Poor that none of them should be chargeable to their Parishes c. The Justices and Officers would Confess that we did their Work and would pass away peaceably and lovingly Commending Friends Practices And sometimes there would come Two hundred of the World 's Poor People and wait there till the Meeting was done for all the Country knew we met about the Poor and then after the Meeting was over Friends would send to the Bakers for Bread and give every one of
Prisoner in Lancaster-Goal and commanded hither by an Habeas Corpus And this signification of his Majesty's Pleasure shall be your sufficient Warrant For Sir Thomas Mallet Kt. one of the Justices of the King 's Bench. Dated at Whitehall the 24th of October 1660. EDWARD NICHOLAS When this Order was delivered to Judge Mallet he forthwith sent his Warrant to the Marshal of the King's-Bench for my Release Which Warrant was thus Worded BY Vertue of a Warrant which this morning I have received from the Right Honourable Sir Edward Nicholas 1660. King's Bench-Prison Kt. one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries for the releasing and setting at Liberty of George Fox late a Prisoner in Lancaster-Jail and from thence brought hither by Habeas Corpus and yesterday committed unto your Custody I do hereby require you accordingly to Release and set the said Prisoner George Fox at Liberty For which this shall be your Warrant and Discharge To Sir John Lenthal Knight Marshal of the King's-Bench or his Deputy Given under my Hand the 25th day of October in the Year of our Lord God 1660. THOMAS MALLET Thus London after I had been a Prisoner somewhat more than Twenty Weeks I was freely set at liberty by the King's Command the Lord's Power having wonderfully wrought for the clearing of my Innocency and Porter who committed me not daring to Appear to make good the Charge he had falsly suggested against me But after it was known I was discharged there was a Company of envious wicked Spirits that were troubled I was set at Liberty and Terror took hold of Justice Porter For he was afraid I would take the advantage of the Law against him for my wrong Imprisonment and thereby undo him his Wife and Children And indeed I was put on by some in Authority to have made him and the rest Examples But I said I should leave them to the Lord if the Lord did forgive them I should not trouble my self with them Now did I see the End of the Travel which I had had in my sore Exercise at Reading for the everlasting Power of the Lord was over all and his blessed Truth Life and Light shined over the Nation and great and glorious Meetings we had and very quiet and many flocked in unto the Truth For Richard Hubberthorn had been with the King and the King said None should molest us so long as we lived peaceably and promised this to us upon the Word of a King telling him We might make use of his Promise Some Friends also were admitted to go into the House of Lords before them and the Bishops and had liberty given them to declare their Reasons Why they could not pay Tithes nor Swear nor go to the Steeplehouse-Worship or join with others in Worship and they heard them moderately And there being about Seven Hundred Friends in Prison in the Nation who had been committed under Oliver's and Richard's Government upon Contempts as they call them when the King came in he set them all at Liberty For there seemed at that time an Inclination and Intention in the Government to have granted Friends Liberty because they were sensible that we had suffered as well as they in the former Power 's days But still when any thing was going forward in order thereunto some dirty Spirits or other that would seem to be for us threw something in the way to stop it It was said there was an Instrument drawn up for Confirming our Liberty and that it only wanted Signing when on a suddain that wicked Attempt of the Fifth-Monarchy-People brake forth 1660. London and put the City and Nation in an Uproar This was on a First-Day Night and very glorious Meetings we had had that Day wherein the Lord's Truth shined over all and his Power was exalted above all But about Mid-night or soon after the Drums beat and the Cry was Arm Arm. I got up out of Bed and in the Morning took Boat and Landing at Whitehall Stairs walked through Whitehall Whitehall They looked strangely on me there but I passed through them and went to the Pell-Mell Pell-mell whither divers Friends came to me though it was now grown dangerous passing the Streets For by this time both the City and Suburbs were up in Arms and exceeding rude the People and Souldiers were insomuch that a Friend Henry Fell going to a Friends House the Soldiers knockt him down and he had been killed if the Duke of York had not come by Great Mischief was done in the City this Week and when the next First-Day came that Friends went to their Meetings as they used to do many were taken Prisoners I stay'd at the Pell-mell intending to be at the Meeting there But on the Seventh-Day at Night a Company of Troopers came and knockt at the Door The Maid letting them in they rushed into the House and strait laid hold upon me and there being amongst them one that had served under the Parliament he clapt his Hand to my Pocket and asked Whether I had any Pistols I told him He knew I did not use to carry Pistols why therefore did he ask such a Question of me whom he knew to be a Peaceable Man Others of the Souldiers run up into the Chambers and there found in Bed that Squire Marsh before mentioned who tho' he was one of the King's Bed-Chamber out of his love to me came and lodged where I did When they came down again they said Why should we take this Man away with us We will let him alone Oh said the Parliament-Souldier he is one of the Heads and a chief Ring-leader Upon this the Souldiers were taking me away but Marsh hearing of it he sent for him that Commanded the Party and desired him to let me alone for he would see me forth-coming in the Morning In the Morning before they could fetch me and before the Meeting was gathered there came a Company of Foot to the House and one of them drawing out his Sword held it over my Head I asked him Wherefore he drew his Sword at a Naked Man At which his Fellows being ashamed bid him put up his Sword These Foot-Souldiers took me away to Whitehall G F. taken Prisoner Whitehall before the Troopers came for me As I was going out several Friends were coming in to the Meeting whose Boldness and Chearfulness I commended and encouraged them to persevere therein When I was brought to Whitehall the Soldiers and People were exceeding rude yet I declared Truth to them But some great Persons coming by who were very full of Envy What said they do ye let him Preach Put him into such a place where he may not stir So into that place they put me and the Soldiers watched over me I told them Though they could confine my Body and shut that up yet they could not stop up the Word of Life Some thereupon came and asked me What I was I told them I was a Preacher of
Righteousness After I had been kept there two or three Hours Marsh spake to him that was called the Lord Gerrard and he came and bid them set me at liberty Then the Marshal when I was discharged demanded Fees I told him 1660. Whitehall I could not give him any neither was it our Practice And I asked him How he could demand Fees of me who was Innocent Nevertheless I told him in my own Freedom I would give him Two Pence to make him and the Souldiers drink But they shouted at that and took it disdainfully So I told them If they would not accept it choose they for I should give them no Fees Then went I through the Guards the Lord s Power being over them and after I had declared Truth to the Guards and Souldiers I went up the Streets with two Irish Colonels that came from Whitehall and went to an Inn where many Friends were at that time Prisoners under a Guard I desired those Colonels to speak to the Guard to let me go in to visit my Friends that were Prisoners there but they would not Then I stept to the Centry and desired him to let me go up and he did so While I was there the Souldiers went to the Pell-Mell again to search for me there but not finding me they turned towards the Inn and bid all come out that were not Prisoners so they went out But I asked the Souldiers that were within Whether I might not stay there a while with my Friends And they said Yes I stay'd a while and so escaped their Hands again Towards Night I went down to the Pell-Mell to see how it was with the Friends there and after I had stay'd a while I went up into the City London Great Rifling of Houses there was at this time to search for People but I went to a private Friend's House and Richard Huberthorn was with me There we drew up a Declaration against Plots and Fightings to be presented to the King and Council But when we had finished it and sent it to the Press it was taken in the Press Upon this Insurrection of the Fifth Monarchy-Men great Havock was made both in City and Country so that it was dangerous for sober People to stir abroad for several Weeks after and hardly could either Men or Women go up and down the Streets to buy Provisions for their Families without being abused In the Countries they dragged Men and Women out of their Houses and some Sick Men out of their Beds by the Legs Nay one Man that was in a Fever the Souldiers dragged out of his Bed to Prison and when he was brought thither he died His Name was Thomas Pachyn Margaret Fell went to the King and told him what sad Work there was in the City and in the Nation and shewed him that we were an Innocent peaceable People and that we must keep our Meetings as we used to do whatever we suffered but that it concerned him to see that Peace was kept that so no Innocent Blood might be shed Now were the Prisons every where filled with Friends and others in City and Country and the Posts were so laid for the searching of Letters that none could pass unsearched Yet we heard of several Thousands of our Friends that were cast into Prison in several places throughout the Nation and Margaret Fell carried an Account of them to the King and Council The next Week we had an Account of several Thousands more that were cast into Prison and she went and laid them also before the King and his Council They wondered how we could have such Intelligence seeing they had given such strict Charge for the intercepting of all Letters But the Lord did so order it that we had an Account notwithstanding all their Stoppings For in the deep Sense I had of the grievous Sufferings Friends underwent and of their Innocency towards God and Man I was moved to send the following Epistle to them as a Word of Consolation and to put them upon sending up their Sufferings My Dear Friends IN the Immortal Seed of God which will plead its own Innocency who be Inheritors of an Everlasting Kingdom that is Incorruptible and of a World and Riches that fade not away Peace and Mercy be multiplied amongst you in all your Sufferings who never feared them whose Backs were not unready but your Hair and Cheeks prepared who never feared Sufferings as knowing it is your Portion in the World from the Foundation of which the Lamb was slain who reigns in his Glory which he had with his Father before the World began who is your Rock in all Floods and Waves upon which ye can stand safe with a chearful Countenance beholding the Lord God of the whole Earth on your side So in the Seed of God which was before the Unrighteous World in which the Sufferings are live and feed wherein the Bread of Life is felt and no cause of Complaint of Hunger or Cold. Friends your Sufferings all that are or have been of late in Prison I would have you send up an Account of them and how things are amongst you that it may be delivered to the King and his Council for things are pretty well here after the Storm London the 28th of the Eleventh Month 1660. G. F. Having lost our former Declaration in the Press we made haste and drew up another against Plots and Fighting and got it Printed and sent some of them to the King and Council others of them were sold up and down the Streets and at the Exchange Which Declaration was some Years after Re-printed and is as followeth A Declaration from the Harmless and Innocent People of God called Quakers against all Sedition Plotters and Fighters in the World For the removing of the Ground of Jealousie and Suspicion from both Magistrates and People in the Kingdom concerning Wars and Fightings Presented unto the King upon the 21th day of the 11th Month 1660. OUR Principle is and our Practices have always been to seek Peace and ensue it and to follow after Righteousness and the Knowledge of God seeking the Good and Welfare and doing that which tends to the Peace of All. We know that Wars and Fightings proceed from the Lusts of Men as Jam. 4.1 2 3. out of which Lusts the Lord hath redeemed us and so out of the Occasion of War the occasion of which War and the War itself wherein envious Men who are lovers of themselves more than lovers of God Lust Kill and desire to have Men's Lives or Estates ariseth from the Lust All Bloody Principles and Practices We as to our own particular do utterly deny with all outward Wars and Strife and Fightings with Outward Weapons for any end or under any pretence whatsoever and this is our Testimony to the whole World And whereas it is Objected But although you now say That you cannot Fight nor take up Arms at all yet if the Spirit do move you then you will change
upon his Breast and confess'd What was written therein was Truth but said he if I should confess to it openly they would burn me So John Stubs and Henry Fell not being suffered to go farther returned to England and came to London again And John had a Vision that the English and Dutch who had joined together not to carry them would fall out one with the other And so it came to pass Having now stay'd in London some time I felt drawings to visit Friends in Essex Essex Colchester Cogshall So I went down to Colchester where I had very large Meetings and from thence to Cogshall not far from which there was a Priest Convinced and I had a Meeting at his House And so travelling a little up and down in those Parts and visiting Friends in their Meetings there-aways London I returned pretty quickly to London where I found great Service for the Lord For a large Door was opened and many flocked in to our Meetings and the Lord's Truth spread mightily this Year Yet Friends had great Travels and sore Labours the rude People having been so heightned by the Monarchy-Men's Rising a little before But the Lord's Power was over all and in it Friends had Dominion though we had not only those Sufferings without but Sufferings within also by John Perrot and his Company who giving heed to a Spirit of Delusion sought to introduce and set up among Friends that evil and uncomely Practice of keeping on the Hat in time of publick Prayers Now Friends had spoken to him and divers of his Followers about it and I had written to them concerning it but He and some others rather strengthened themselves against Friends therein Wherefore feeling the Judgment of Truth rise against it I gave forth the following Lines as a Warning to all that were concerned therein WHosoever is tainted with this Spirit of John Perrot it will perish Mark theirs and his End that are turned into those outward things and Janglings about them and that which is not savoury all which is for perpetual Judgment and is to be swept and cleansed out of the Camp of God's Elect. This is to that Spirit that is gone into Jangling about that which is below the Rotten Principle of the old Ranters and gone from the Invisible Power of God in which is the Everlasting Fellowship and so many are become like the Corn on the House-top and like the untimely Figs and now clamour and speak against them that be in the Power of God O consider the Light and Power of God goes over you all and leaves you in the fretting Nature out of the Unity which is in the Everlasting Light Life and Power of God Consider this before the Day be gone from you and take heed that your Memorial be not rooted out from among the Righteous G. F. Among the Exercises and Troubles that Friends had from without one was concerning Friends Marriages which sometimes were â—â—lled in question And in this Year there happened to be a Cause Tryed at the Assize at Nottingham concerning a Friend's Marriage The Case was thus Some Years before Two Friends were joined together in Marriage amongst Friends and lived together as Man and Wife about two Years Then the Man died leaving his Wife with Child and leaving an Estate in Lands of Copy-hold When the Woman was delivered the Jury presented the Child Heir to its Father's Lands and accordingly the Child was admitted Afterwards another Friend married the Widow And after that a Man that was Near of Kin to her former Husband brought his Action against the Friend that had last married her endeavouring to dispossess them and deprive the Child of the Inheritance and to possess himself thereof as next Heir to the Woman's first Husband And to effect this he endeavoured to prove the Child Illegitimate alledging The Marriage was not according to Law In opening the Cause the Plaintiff's Counsel did use unseemly Words concerning Friends saying That they went together like Brute Beasts with other ill Expressions After the Counsels on both sides had pleaded the Judge viz. Judge Archer took the matter in hand and opened it to the Jury telling them That there was a Marriage in Paradise when Adam took Eve and Eve took Adam and that it was the Consent of the Parties that made a Marriage And for the Quakers he said he did not know their Opinions but he did not believe they went together as Brute Beasts as had been said of them but as Christians and therefore he did believe the Marriage was lawful and the Child lawful Heir And the better to satisfie the Jury he brought them a Case to this purpose A Man that was weak of Body and kept his Bed had a desire in that Condition to Marry and did declare before Witnesses that he did take such a Woman to be his Wife and the Woman declared that she took that Man to be her Husband This Marriage was afterwards called in Question and as the Judge said all the Bishops did at that time conclude it to be a Lawful Marriage Hereupon the Jury gave in their Verdict for the Friend's Child and against the Man that would have deprived it of its Inheritance About this time the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy were tendred unto Friends as a Snare because it was known we could not Swear and thereupon many were Imprisoned and divers Premunired Upon that occasion Friends published in Print the Grounds and Reasons why they refused to swear Besides which I was moved to give forth these few Lines following to be given to the Magistrates THE World saith Kiss the Book But the Book saith Kiss the Son lest he be angry And the Son saith Swear not at all but keep to Yea and Nay in all your Communications for whatsoever is more than this cometh of Evil. Again the World saith Lay your hand on the Book but the Book saith Handle the Word And the Word saith Handle not the Traditions nor the Inventions nor the Rudiments of the World And God saith This is my beloved Son hear him who is the Life and the Truth and the Light and the Way to God G. F. Now there being very many Frionds in Prison in the Nation Richard Hubberthorn and I drew up a Paper concerning them and got it delivered to the King that he might understand how we were dealt with by his Officers It was directed thus For the KING FRiend who art the Chief Ruler of these Dominions here is a List of some of the Sufferings of the People of God in scorn called Quakers that have suffered under the Changeable Powers before thee by whom there have been Imprisoned and under whom there have suffered for good Conscience-sake and for bearing Testimony to the Truth as it is in Jesus Three Thousand One Hundred Seventy Three Persons And there lie yet in Prison in the Name of the Commonwealth Seventy Three Persons that we know of And there have died in Prison
they got the Heathen-Gentiles to help them against Christ and against his Apostles and Disciples who were in the Spirit and Power of Christ G. F. Now after I had made some stay in London and had cleared my self of those Services that at that time lay upon me there I went into the Country having with me Alexander Parker and John Stubbs who was lately come back from Alexandria in Egypt as was mentioned before We travelled down through the Countries visiting Friends Meetings till we came to Bristol Bristol When we were come thither we understood that the Officers were likely to come and break up the Meeting Broadmead Meeting Yet on the First-Day we went to the Meeting at Broadmead And Alexander Parker standing up first to Declare while he was speaking the Officers came up and took him away After he was gone I stood up in the Eternal Power of God and declared the Everlasting Truth of the Lord God and the Heavenly Power came over all and the Meeting was quiet the rest of the time and brake up peaceably I tarried till the First-Day following visiting Friends and being visited by Friends On the First-Day in the Morning several Friends came to me to Edward Pyot's House where I lay the Night before and used great Endeavours to perswade me not to go to the Meeting that day for the Magistrates they said had threatned to take me and had raised the Trained Bands I wisht them to go their way to the Meeting not telling them what I intended to do but I told Ed. Pyot I intended to go to the Meeting and he sent his Son with me to shew me the Way from his House by the Fields As I went I met divers Friends who were coming to me to prevent my going and did what they could to stop me What said one Wilt thou go into the Mouth of the Beast Wilt thou go into the Mouth of the Dragon said another But I put them by and went on When I came into the Meeting Margaret Thomas was speaking and when she had done I stood up Now I saw a Concern and Fear upon Friends for me but the Power of the Lord in which I declared soon struck the Fear out of them and Life sprang and an Heavenly Glorious Meeting we had After I had Cleared my self of what was upon me from the Lord to the Meeting I was moved to Pray and after I had prayed and was stept down I was moved to stand up again and tell Friends Now they might see there was a God in Israel that could deliver A very large full Meeting this was and very hot but Truth was over all and the Life was up which carried through all and the Meeting broke up in Peace For the Officers and Souldiers had been breaking up another Meeting which had taken up their time so that our Meeting was ended 1662. Broadmead-Meeting before they came But I understood afterwards they were in a great Rage that they had missed me for they were heard to say one to another before I 'll warrant we shall have him but the Lord prevented them I went from the Meeting to Joan Hily's where many Friends came to see me rejoycing and blessing God for our Deliverance In the Evening I had a fine fresh Meeting among Friends at a Friend's House over the Water where Friends were much refreshed in the Lord. After this I stay'd most part of that Week in Bristol Bristol and at Edward Pyott's Edward was brought so low and weak with an Ague that when I came first thither he was lookt upon as a Dying Man but it pleased the Lord to raise him up again so that before I went away his Ague left him and he was finely well Now having been two First-Days together at the Meeting at Broadmead and feeling my Spirit clear of Bristol I went next First-Day to a Meeting in the Country not far from Bristol And after the Meeting was over some Friends that came from Bristol told me that the Souldiers that day had beset the Meeting-House round at Bristol and then went up saying They would be sure to have me now But when they came up and found me not there they were in a great Rage and kept the Friends in the Meeting-house most part of the day before they would let them go home and queried of them Which way I was gone and how they might send after me For the Major they said would fain have spoken with me But I had a Vision of a great Mastiff Dog that would have bitten me but I put one hand above his Jaws and the other hand below and tore his Jaws to pieces So the Lord by his Power tore their Power to pieces and made way for me to escape them Then passed I through the Countries visiting Friends in Wiltshire and Barkshire Wiltshire Barkshire London till I came to London and had great Meetings amongst Friends as I went and the Lord's Power was over all and a blessed time it was for the spreading of his glorious Truth It was indeed the Immediate Hand and Power of the Lord that did preserve me out of their hands at Bristol and over the Heads of all our Persecutors and the Lord alone is worthy of all the Glory who did uphold and preserve for his Name and Truth 's sake At London I staid not long this time but was drawn in my Spirit to visit Friends Northward Leicestershire Nottinghamshire Skegby Barnet-hills as far as Leicestershire John Stubbs being with me So we travelled down through the Countries having Meetings amongst Friends as we went and at Skegby we had a great Meeting Thence passing on we came to a place called Barnet-Hills where lived then one Captain Brown a Baptist whose Wife was Convinced of Truth This Captain Brown after the Act for breaking up Meetings came forth being afraid lest his Wife should go to Meetings and be cast into Prison left his House at Barrow and took a place on these Hills saying His Wife should not go to Prison And this being a free Place many both Priests and others got thither as well as he But he who would neither stand to Truth himself nor suffer his Wife was in this place where he thought to be safe found out by the Lord whose hand fell heavy upon him for his Vnfaithfulness so that he was sorely plagued and grievously judged in himself for flying and drawing his Wife into that private place We went to see his Wife and being come into the House I asked him 1662. Barnet-Hills How he did How do I said he The Plagues and Vengeance of God are upon me a Runnagate a Cain as I am God may look for a Witness for me and such as me for if all were no faithfuller than I God would have no Witness left in the Earth In this Condition he lived there on Bread and Water and thought it was too good for him At length he got home
occasion Wherefore I desired William Smith to go speak with the Woman and let her know if she would let us have a Room and let our Friends come up out of the Dungeon and leave it to us and them to give her what we would it might be better for her He went and after some reasoning with her she consented and we were had into a Room Then we were told that the Jailer would not suffer us to fetch any Drink out of the Town into the Prison but that what Beer we drank we must take of him I told them I would remedy that if they would for we would get a Pale of Water and a little Wormwood once a day and that might serve us So we should have none of his Beer and the Water he could not deny us Before we came there when those few Friends that were Prisoners there did Meet together on the First-Days if any of them was moved to pray to the Lord the Jailer would come up with his great Quarter-staff in his Hand and his Mastiff-Dog at his Heels and would pluck them down by the Hair of the Head and strike them with his Staff but when he struck Friends the Mastiff-Dog instead of falling upon Friends would take the Staff out of his Hand Now when the First-Day came after we came in I spake to one of my Fellow-Prisoners to carry down a Stool and set it in the Yard and give notice to the Debtors and Fellons that there would be a Meeting in the Yard and they that would hear the Word of the Lord declared might come thither So the Debtors and Prisoners went into the Yard and we went down and had a very precious Meeting the Jailer not meddling Thus every First-Day we had a Meeting there as long as we stay'd in Prison and several came in out of the City and Country and many were Convinced and some received the Lord's Truth there who stood faithful Witnesses for it ever since When the Sessions came we were had up before the Justices Leicester Sessions with many more Friends that were sent to Prison whilst we were there to the number of about Twenty Being brought into the Court the Jailer put us into the Place where the Thieves were put and then some of the Justices began to tender the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to us I told them I never took any Oath in my Life and they knew we could not Swear because Christ and his Apostle forbad it and therefore they put it but as a Snare to us But we told them if they could prove that after Christ and the Apostle had forbid Swearing they did ever command Christians to Swear then we would take these Oaths otherwise we were resolved to obey Christ's Command and the Apostle's Exhortation They said We must take the Oath that we might manifest our Allegiance to the King I told them I had been formerly sent up a Prisoner by Col. Hacker from that Town to London under pretence that I held Meetings to plot to bring in King Charles I also desired them to read our Mittimus which set forth the Cause of our Commitment to be that we were To have a Meeting and I said he that was called Lord Beaumont could not by that Act send us to Jail unless we had been taken at a Meeting and found to be such Persons as the Act speaks of therefore we desired they would read the Mittimus 1662. Leicester Sessions and see how wrongfully we were Imprisoned They would not take notice of the Mittimus but called a Jury and Indicted us for Refusing to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy When the Jury was Sworn and Instructed as they were going out one that had been an Alderman of the City spake to them and bid them Have a good Conscience and one of the Jury being a peevish Man told the Justices There was One affronted the Jury Whereupon they called him up and tendred him the Oath also and he took it While we were standing in the Place where the Thieves used to stand there was a Cut-Purse had his Hand in several Friends Pockets and Friends declared it to the Justices and shewed them the Man They called him up before them and upon Examination he could not deny it yet they set him at Liberty It was not long before the Jury Returned and brought us in Guilty and then after some Words the Justices Whispered together and bid the Jailer take us down to Prison again But the Lord's Power was over them and his Everlasting Truth which we declared boldly amongst them And there being a great Concourse of People most of them followed us so that the Cryer and Bayliffs were sain to call the People back again to the Court We declared the Truth as we went down the Streets all along Leicester Jail till we came to the Jail the Streets being full of People When we were in our Chamber again after some time the Jailer came to us and desired all to go forth that were not Prisoners And when they were gone he said Gentlemen it is the Court's Pleasure that ye should all be set at liberty except those that are in for Tithes and you know there are Fees due to me but I shall leave it to you to give me what you will Thus were we all set at Liberty on a sudden And being thus set at Liberty the rest passed every one into their Services only Leonard Fell being come thither stay'd with me and we two went again to Swanington Swanington I had a Letter from him they called the Lord Hastings who hearing of my Imprisonment had written from London to the Justices at the Sessions to set me at Liberty Now I had not delivered this Letter to the Justices but whether they had any knowledge of his Mind from any other hand which made them discharge us so suddenly I know not But this Letter I carried to him called the Lord Beaumont who had sent us to Prison and when he had broken it open and read it he seemed much troubled but at last came a little lower yet threatned us if we had any more Meetings at Swanington he would break them up and send us to Prison again But notwithstanding his Threats we went to Swanington and had a Meeting with Friends there and he came not nor sent not to break it up From Swanington we passed through the Country and came to a Place called Twy-Cross Twy-Cross where that Great Man formerly mentioned whom the Lord God had raised up from his Sickness in the Year 1649 and whose Serving-man came at me with a Drawn Sword to have done me a Mischief He and his Wife came to see me From thence we travelled through Warwickshire Warwickshire where we had brave Meetings and so into Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire visiting Friends 1662. Northamptonshire Bedfordshire London Essex Norfolk Norwich Sutton Cambridgeshire till we came to London I stay'd
me that Question and I told them No for all that God made was good and was blest so was not the Devil And he was called a Serpent before he was called a Devil and an Adversary and then he had the Title of Devil given to him And afterward he was called a Dragon because he was a Destroyer The Devil abode not iâ— the Truth and by departing from the Truth he became a Devil and so the Jews when they went out of the Truth were said to be of the Devil and were called Serpents Now there is no Promise of God to the Devil that ever he shall return into Truth again but to Man and Woman who have been deceived by him the Promise of God is that The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head shall break his Power and Strength to pieces Now when these things were opened more at large to the satisfaction of Friends those Two who had let up the Spirit of that Ranting Woman were judged by the Truth and one of them viz. Joseph Hellen run quite out from Truth and was denied by Friends But George Bewly was recovered and came afterwards to be serviceable to Truth We passed from Loveday Hambley's to Francis Hodges Falmouth Penryn Helstone near Falmouth and Penryn where we had a large Meeting and from thence we went to Helstone that Night where some Friends came to visit us and the next day we passed to Thomas Teage's where we had another large Meeting at which many were Convinced for I was led to open the state of the Church in the Primitive Times and the state of the Church in the Wilderness and the state of the False Church that was got up since and to shew that now the Everlasting Gospel was preached again over the Head of the Whore Beast and false Prophets and Antichrists which had got up since the Apostles days and now the Everlasting Gospel was received and receiving which brought Life and Immortality to Light that they might see over the Devil that had darkned them And the People received the Gospel and the Word of Life gladly and a glorious blessed Meeting we had for the exalting the Lord's everlasting Truth and his Name After the Meeting was done I walked out and as I was coming in again I heard a Noise in the Court and coming nearer I found the Man of the House speaking to the Tinners and others of the World's People and telling them It was the Everlasting Truth that had been declared there that day and the People generally confessed to it From thence we passed to the Land's End to John Ellis's house Lands End where we had a precious Meeting and there was a Fisherman one Nicholas Jose that was Convinced and he spake in Meetings and declared the Truth amongst the People and the Lord's Power was over all I was glad that the Lord had raised up his Standard in those dark parts of the Nation where since there is a fine Meeting of honest-hearted Friends and many there are come to sit under Christ's Teaching and a great People the Lord will have in that Country From thence we returned to Redruth and the next day to Truro Redruth Truro where we had a Meeting Next Morning some of the Chief of the Town desired to speak with me and I went to them amongst whom was Col. Rouse 1663. Truro A great deal of Discourse I had with them concerning the things of God and in their Reasoning they said The Gospel was the Four Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John and they called it Natural But I told them the Gospel was the Power of God which was preached before Matthew Mark Luke and John or any of them were printed or written And it was preached to Every Creature of which a great part might never see nor hear of those Four Books so that Every Creature was to obey the Power of God for Christ the Spiritual Man would Judge the World according to the Gospel that is according to his Invisible Power When they heard this they could not gain-say for the Truth came over them So I directed them to their Teacher the Grace of God and shewed them the Sufficiency of it which would teach them how to live and what to deny and being obeyed would bring them their Salvation And so to that Grace I recommended them and left them Then returned we through the Country visiting Friends and had Meetings at Humphrey Lower's again and at Thomas Mount's And afterwards at George Hawkins at Stoke we had a large Meeting Stoke to which Friends came from Lanceston and several other places and a living precious Meeting it was in which the Lord's Presence and Power was richly manifested amongst us and I left Friends there under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching Example In Cornwall I was Informed that there was one Col. Robinson a very wicked Man who after the King came in was made a Justice of the Peace and became a Cruel Persecutor of our Friends of whom he sent many to Prison And hearing that they had some little Liberty through the Favour of the Jailer to come home sometimes to visit their Wives and Children he made a great Complaint thereof to the Judge at the Assize against the Jailer Whereupon the Jailer was fined an Hundred Marks and Friends were kept very strictly up for a while After he was come home from the Assize he sent to a Neighbouring Justice to desire them to go a Fanatick-hunting with him So on the Day that he intended and was prepared to go a Fanatick-hunting he sent his Man about with his Horses and walked himself on Foot from his Dwelling-House to a Tenement that he had where his Cows and Dairy were kept and where his Servants were then milking When he came there he asked for his Bull and the Maid-Servants said They had shut him into the Field because he was Vnruly amongst the Kine and hindred their Milking Then went he into the Field to his Bull and having formerly accustomed himself to play with the Bull he began to fence at him with his Staff as he used to do But the Bull snufft at him and passed a little back and then turning upon him again ran fiercely at him and struck his Horn into his Thigh and heaving him upon his Horn threw him over his Back and so tore up his Thigh to his Belly And when he came to the Ground again he gored him with his Horns and would run them into the Ground in his Rage and Violence and roared and licked up his Master's Blood The Maid-Servant hearing her Master Cry out came running into the Field and came to the Bull and took him by the Horns to pull him off from her Master The Bull without hurting her put her gently by with his Horns but still fell to goring of him 1663. Cornwal and licking up his Blood Then she ran and got some Work-men that were at Work not
far off to come in and rescue her Master but they could not at all beat off the Bull till they brought Mastiff-Dogs to set on him and then the Bull fled in a great Rage and Fury Upon notice of it his Sister came and said to him Alack Brother what a heavy Judgment is this that is befallen you And he Answered Ah Sister It is an heavy Judgment indeed Pray let the Bull be killed and the Flesh given to the Poor said he So they carried him home but he died soon after And the Bull was grown so fierce that they were forced to shoot him with Guns for no Man durst come near him to kill him Thus does the Lord sometimes make some Examples of his just Judgment upon the Persecutors of his People that others may fear and learn to beware Now after I had cleared my self of Cornwall and Thomas Lower who had rid with us from Meeting to Meeting through that County had brought us over Horse-bridge into Devonshire again Horse-bridge Devonshire we took our leave of him And Thomas Briggs Robert Widders and I came through the Country to Tiverton and it being their Fair Tiverton and many Friends there we had a Meeting amongst them and the Magistrates gathered in the Street but the Lord's Power stopt them I saw them in the Street over against the Door but they had not Power to come in to meddle with us though they had Will enough to have done it After the Meeting was done Collumpton Wellington we passed to Collumpton and to Wellington For we had appointed a Meeting Five Miles off where we had a large Meeting at a Butcher's House and a blessed Meeting it was for the People were directed to their Teacher the Grace of God which would bring them Salvation and many were settled under it's Teaching and the Lord's Presence was amongst us and we were refreshed in him in whom we laboured and travelled and the Meeting was quiet There had been very great Persecution in that Country and in that Town a little before insomuch that some Friends questioned the Peaceableness of our Meeting but the Lord's Power chained all and his Glory shined over all The Friends told us how they had broken up their Meetings by Warrants from the Justices and how by their Warrants they were required to carry Friends before the Justices and Friends bid them Carry them then The Officers told Friends they must Go but Friends said Nay that was not according to their Warrants which required them to Carry them Then they were fain to hire Carts and Wagons and Horses and to lift Friends up into their Wagons and Carts to carry them before a Justice And when they came to a Justice's House sometimes he happened to be from home and if he were a Moderate Man he would get out of the way and then they were forced to Carry them before another So that they were Many Days Carting and Carrying Friends up and down from place to place And when afterward the Officers came to lay their Charges for this upon the Town the Town 's People would not pay it but made them bear it themselves and that brake the Neck of their Persecution there for that time The like was done in several other places till the Officers had shamed and tired themselves and then were fain to give over At one place they warned Friends to come to the Steeple-house 1663. Wellington and the Friends met together to consider of it and had freedom to go to the Steeple-house and Meet together there Accordingly when they came thither they sate down together to Wait upon the Lord in his Power and Spirit and minded the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and Saviour but did not mind the Priest When the Officers saw that they came to them to put them out of the Steeple-house again but the Friends told them it was not time for them to break up their Meeting yet A while after when the Priest had done his Stuff they came to the Friends again and would have had them go home to Dinner but the Friends told them They did not use to go to Dinner but were feeding upon the Bread of Life So there they sate Waiting upon the Lord and enjoying his Power and Presence till they found Freedom in themselves to depart Thus the Priest's People were offended because they could not get them to the Steeple-house and when they were there they were offended because they could not get them out again Taunton From the Meeting near Collumpton we went to Taunton where we had a large Meeting and the next day we came to a General Meeting in Somersetshire Somersetshire which was very large and the Lord 's everlasting Word of Life and Truth was largely declared and the People were refreshed thereby and settled upon Christ their Rock and Foundation and brought to sit under his Teaching and the Meeting was peaceable But about the Second Hour in the Night there came a Company of Men about the House and knocked at the Door and bid Open the Door or they would break it open for they wanted a Man that they came to search the House for I heard the Noise and got up and at the Window saw a Man at the Door with his Sword by his Side When they had let him in he came into the Chamber where I was and looked on me and said You are not the Man I look for and so went his way Street Puddimore We came from thence to Street and so to Puddimore to William Beaton's where we had a very large General Meeting wherein the Lord 's everlasting Truth was declared and the People refreshed thereby and all quiet From thence we went to John Dandy's where we had another large and very precious Meeting and then passed on to Bristol Bristol where we had good Service for the Lord and all quiet Here we met with Margaret Fell and her Daughters again And after some time we went to Slattenford in Wiltshire Wiltshire Slattenford where was a very large Meeting in a great Barn and good Service we had there for the Truth as it is in Jesus was published amongst them and many were gathered by it into the Name of the Lord. Gloucestershire Herefordshire Hereford After this I passed into Gloucestershire and Herefordshire having large Meetings in each In Hereford I had a Meeting in the Inn and after the Meeting was over and I was gone the Magistrates hearing there had been a Meeting came to search the Inn for me and were vexed that they had missed of me But the Lord so ordered it that I escaped their Snare and Friends were established upon Christ their Foundation and the Rock of Ages Then went I into Wales into Radnorshire 1663. WALES Radnorshire At a Market-Town towards ENGLAND and had several precious Meetings there and the Lord's Name and Standard was set up and many were gathered to it and
from that which the Magistrate's Sword is against which eases the Magistrates who are for the Punishment of the Evil-Doers So People being turned to the Spirit of God which brings them to mortifie the Deeds of the Flesh this brings them from under the occasion of the Magistrate's Sword and this must needs be one with Magistracy and one with the Law which was added because oâ— Transgression and is for the Praise of them that do well So in this we establish the Law and are an Ease to the Magistrates and are not against but stand for all Good Government Then Geo Middleton cried Bring the Book and put the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to him Now he himself being a Papist I asked him Whether he had taken the Oath of Supremacy who was a Swearer But as for us we could not Swear at all because Christ and the Apostle had forbidden it Some of them would not have had the Oath put to me but have let me have my Liberty but the rest would not agree to that For this was their last Snare and they had no other way to get me into Prison for all other things had been cleared to them But this was like the Papists Sacrament of the Altar by which they ensnared the Martyrs So they tendered me the Oath and I could not take it Whereupon they were about to make my Mittimus to send me to Lancaster-Jail But considering together of it they only engaged me to Appear at the Sessions and so for that time dismist me Then I went back with Margaret Fell to Swarthmore and soon after there came Col. West to see me Swarthmore who was at that time a Justice of the Peace He told us He told some of the rest of the Justices that he would come over to see me and Margaret Fell but it may be said he to them some of you will take Offence at it I asked him What he thought they would do with me at the Sessions And he said They would tender the Oath to me again Now whilst I was at Swarthmore there came William Kirby into Swarthmore-Meeting and brought the Constables with him I was sitting with Friends in the Meeting and he said to me How now Mr. Fox you have a fine Company here Yes said I we do meet to Wait upon the Lord. So he began to take the Names of Friends and them that did not readily tell him their Names he committed to the Constables hands and sent some to Prison The Constables were unwilling to take them without a Warrant whereupon he threatned to set them by the Heels But the Constable told him He could keep them in his Presence but after he was gone he could not keep them without a Warrant The Sessions now coming on I went to Lancaster Lancaster and Appeared according to my Engagement There was upon the Bench that Justice Flemming that had bidden Five Pounds in Westmorland to any Man that would apprehend me for he was a Justice both in Westmorland and Lancashire There was also Justice Spencer and Col. West and Old Justice Rawlinson the Lawyer who gave the Charge and was very Sharp against Truth and Friends but the Lord's Power stopt them The Session was large and the Concourse of People great Lancaster Sessions and way beinâ— made for me I came up to the Bar and stood there with my Hat on they looking earnestly upon me and I upon them for a pretty space Then Proclamation being made for all to keep Silence vpon pain of Imprisonment And all being quiet I said twice Peace be among you Then spake the Chair-man and asked If I knew where I was 1663. Lancaster Sessions I said Yes I do but it may be said I my Hat offends you that 's a low thing that 's not the Honour that I give to Magistrates for the true Honour is from Above which said I I have received and I hope it is not the Hat which ye look upon to be the Honour The Chair-man said They looked for the Hat too and asked Wherein I shewed my Respect to Magistrates if I did not put off my Hat I replied In coming when they called me Then they bid one Take off my Hat After which it was some time before they spake to me and I felt the Power of the Lord to arise After some pause old Justice Rawlinson the Chair-man asked me If I did know of the Plot I told him I had heard of it in Yorkshire by a Friend that had it from the High-Sheriff Then they asked me Whether I had declared it to the Magistrates I said I had sent Papers abroad against Plots and Plotters and also to you as soon as I came into the Country to take all Jealousies out of your Minds concerning me and my Friends For it was and is our Principle to declare against such things They asked me then If I knew not of an Act against Meetings I said I knew there was an Act that took hold of such as met to the terrifying of the King's Subjects and were Enemies to the King and held dangerous Principles but I hoped they did not look upon us to be such Men for our Meetings were not to terrifie the King's Subjects neither are we Enemies to him or any Man Then they tendered me the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy I told them I could not take any Oath at all because Christ and his Apostle had forbid it And they had had sufficient Experience of Swearers I told them first one way then another but I had never taken any Oath in my Life Then Rawlinson the Lawyer asked me Whether I held it was unlawful to Swear This Question he put on purpose to ensnare me for by an Act that was made such were liable to Banishment or a great Fine that should say it was Vnlawful to Swear But I seeing the Snare avoided it and told him That in the time of the Law amongst the Jews before Christ came the Law commanded them to Swear but Christ who doth fulfil the Law in his Gospel-time commands not to swear at all and the Apostle James forbids Swearing even to them that were Jews and that had the Law of God So after much other Discourse had passed they called for the Jailer G. F. committed to Prison and committed me to Prison I had about me that Paper which I had written as a Testimony against Plots which I desired they would read or suffer to be read in open Court but they would not So I being Committed for refusing to Swear I bid them and all the People take notice that I suffered for the Doctrine of Christ and for my Obedience to his Command Afterwards I understood the Justices did say that they had private Instructions from Col. Kirby to prosecute me notwithstanding his fair Carriage and seeming Kindness to me before when he declared before many of them That he had nothing against me There were several Friends besides Committed
to Prison some for Meeting to Worship God and soâ—â—e for not Swearing so that the Prison was very full And many of them being poor Men that had nothing to maintain their Families by but their Labour which now they were taken off from several of their Wives went to the Justices that had committed their Husbands to Jail and told them 1663. Lancaster Prison If they kept their Husband 's in Jail for nothing but the Truth of Christ and for good Conscience-sake they would bring their Children t them to be maintained A mighty Power of the Lord rose in Friends and gave them great Boldness so that they spake much to the Justices Friends also that were Prisoners writ unto the Justices laying the Weight of their Sufferings upon them and shewing them both their Injustice and waâ—t of Pity and Compassion towards their poor Neighbours whom they knew to be honest consciencious and peaceable People that in tenderness of Conscience could not take any Oath yet they sent them to Prison for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance Though several of them who were Imprisoned on that Account were known to be Men that had served the King in his Wars and had hazarded their Lives in the Field in his Cause and had suffered great Hardships with the loss of much Blood for him and had always stood faithful to him from First to Last and had never received any Pay for their Service and to be thus requited for all their Faithful Services and Sufferings and that by them that pretended to be the King's Friends was hard unkind and ungrateful Dealing At length the Justices being continually attended with Complaints of Grievances released some of the Friends that were Prisoners but kept divers of them still in Prison Amongst those that were then in Prison there were Four Friends Prisoners for Tithes who were sent to Prison at the Suit of the Countess of Derby so called and had lain there then near Two Years and an half One of these whose Name was Oliver Atherton being a Man of a Weakly Constitution was through his long and hard Imprisonment in a cold raw unwholsom place brought so low and weak in his Body that there appeared no hopes of his Recovery or Life unless he might be removed from thence Wherefore a Letter was written on behalf of the said Oliver Atherton to the said Countess and sent by his Son Godfrey Atherton wherein was laid before her the Reasons why he and the rest could not pay Tithes because if they did they should deny Christ come in the Flesh who by his coming had put an end to Tithes and to the Priesthood to which they had been given and to the Commandment by which they had been paid under the Law And his Weak Condition of Body was also laid before her and the apparent likelyhood of his Death if she did continue to hold him there that she might be moved to Pity and Compassion and also warned not to draw the Guilt of his Innocent Blood upon her self But when his Son went to her with his Father's Letter a Servant of hers abused him and pluck'd off his Cap and threw it away and put him out of the Gate Nevertheless the Letter was delivered into her own hand but she shut out all Pity and Tenderness and continued him in Prison till Death So when his Son came back to his Father in Prison and told him as he lay on his Dying-Bed that the Countess denied his Liberty he only said She hath been the Cause of shedding much Blood but this will be the heaviest Blood that ever she spilt and soon after he died Then Friends having his Body delivered to them to bury as they carried it from the Prison to Ormskirk the Parish wherein he had lived they stuck up Papers upon the Crosses at Garstang Preston and other Towns through which they passed with this Inscription This is Oliver Atherton of Ormskirk-Parish persecuted to Death by the Countess of Derby for good Conscience sake towards God and Christ because he could not give her Tithes c. Setting forth at large the Reasons of his refusing to pay Tithes the Length of his Imprisonment the Hardships he underwent her hard-heartedness towards him and the manner of his Death After his Death Richard Cubban another of the said Countess her Prisoners for Tithe writ a large Letter to her on behalf of himself and his other Fellow-Prisoners at her Suit laying their Innocency before her And that it was not out of Wilfulness Stubbornness or Covetousness that they refused to pay her Tithes but purely in good Conscience towards God and Christ and letting her know that if she should be suffered to keep them there till they every one died there as she had done their Fellow-Sufferer Oliver Atherton yet they could not yield to pay her And therefore desired her to consider their Case in a Christian Spirit and not bring their Blood upon her self also But she would not shew any Pity or Compassion towards them who had now suffered hard Imprisonment about two Years and an half under her but instead thereof she sent to the Town of Garstang and threatned to complain to the King and Council and bring them into trouble for suffering the Paper concerning Oliver Atherton 's Death to be stuck upon their Cross The Rage that she express'd made the People take the more notice of it and some of them said The Quakers had given her a Bone to pick. But she that regarded not the Life of an Innocent Sufferer for Christ lived not long after her self For That day three Weeks that Oliver Atherton 's Body was carried through Ormskirk to be buried she died and her Body was carried dead that day Seven Weeks through the same Town to her Burying Place And thus the Lord pursued the hard-hearted Persecutor Lancaster Assize As for me I was kept to the Assize and then Judge Turner and Judge Twisden coming that Circuit I was brought before Judge Twisden on the 14th day of the Month called March in the latter end of the Year 1663. When I was set up to the Bar I said Peace be amongst you all The Judge lookt upon me and said What! do you come into the Court with your Hat on Upon which Words the Jailer taking it off I said ' The Hat is not the Honour that comes from God Then said the Judge to me Will you take the Oath of Allegiance George Fox I said I never took any Oath in my Life nor any Covenant or Engagement Well said he will you Swear or no I answered I am a Christian and Christ commands me not to swear and so does the Apostle James likewise and whether I should obey God or Man do thou Judge I ask you again said he Whether you will Swear or no I answered again I am neither Turk Jew nor Heathen but a Christian and should shew forth Christianity And I asked him If he did not know that
Power of God and we are Heirs of Christ who have inherited him and his Everlasting Kingdom and do possess the Power of an Endless Life Knowing this our Portion and Inheritance this is to take off all Jealousies out of your Minds and out of the Minds of all People concerning us That all Plots and Conspiracies Plotters and Conspirators against the King and all Aiders or Assisters thereunto we always did and do utterly deny to be any of us or to be of the Fellowship of the Gospel or to be of Christ's Kingdom or to be his Servants For Christ said His Kingdom was not of this World if it were his Servants would fight And therefore he bid Peter Put up his Sword for said he he that taketh the Sword shall perish by the Sword Here is the Faith and Patience of the Saints to bear and suffer all things knowing as we know that Vengeance is the Lord's and he will repay it to them that hurt his People and that do wrong to the Innocent Therefore cannot we avenge but suffer for his Name 's sake And we do know that the Lord will judge the World in Righteousness according to their Deeds and that when every one shall give an Account to him of the Deeds done in the Body then will the Lord give every Man according to his Works whether they be Good or whether they be Evil. Christ saith he came not to destroy Men's Lives And when his Disciples would have had Fire to come down from Heaven to have consumed them that did not receive him he told them They knew not what Spirit they were of that would have Mens Lives destroyed and therefore he rebuked them and told them That he came not to destroy Men's Lives but to save them Now we are of Christ's Mind who is the great Prophet whom all ought to hear in all things who saith to his If they strike thee on one Cheek turn the other and render to no Man Evil for Evil. This Doctrine of his have we learned and do not only confess him in Words but follow his Doctrine and therefore have and do we suffer all manner of Reproaches Scandals and Slanders and spoiling of Goods Buffetings and Whippings Stripes and Imprisonments for these many years and can say The Lord forgive them that have thus served us and lay not these things to their Charge And we know that the Jews outward Sword by which they cut down the Heathen outwardly was a Type of the inward Sword of the Spirit which cuts down the inward Heathen the raging Nature in People And the Blood of Bulls Lambs Rams and other Offerings and that Priesthood that offered them together with other things in the Law were Types of Christ the one Offering and of his Blood who is the Everlasting Priest and Covenant Christ our Life and Way to God and who is the great Prophet and Shepherd that looks to his Flock and the Head of his Church and the great Bishop of our Souls whom we witness come and he doth oversee and keep his Flock For in Adam in the Fall we know the striving quarrelling unpeaceable Spirits are in the Enmity one with another and not in Peace But in Christ Jesus the Second Adam that never fell is Peace Rest and Life And the Doctrine of Christ who never sinned is to love one another and who be in this Doctrine hurt no man in which we are in Christ who is our Life Therefore it is well for you to distinguish betwixt the Precious and the Vile between them that fear God and serve him and them that do not and to put a difference between the Innocent and the Guilty and between him that is Holy and Pure and the Ungodly and Prophane for they that do not so bring Troubles Burdens and Sorrows upon themselves And this we write in Love to your Souls that ye may consider these things for they that hate Enemies and hate one another we cannot say they are of God nor in Christ's Doctrine but are Opposers of it And such as wrestle with Flesh and Blood with Carnal Weapons are gone into the Flesh out of the Spirit They are not in our Fellowship in the Spirit in which is the Bond of Peace neither are they of Vs nor have we Vnity with them in their fleshly state and with their Carnal Weapons For our Unity and Fellowship stands in the Gospel which is the Power of God before the Devil was the Liar and the Murderer the Man-slayer and the Envious Man Now Christ's Mind and his Doctrine being to save Men's Lives we who are of Christ's Mind are out of and above these things And our desire is 1664. Lancaster Castle that in the Fear of the Lord ye may all Live that in that ye may all receive God's Wisdom by which all things were created that by it all may be ordered to God's Glory This is from them that love all your Souls and seek your Eternal Good Being now a Prisoner in Lancaster Castle a deep sense came upon me of a Day of sore Trial and Exercise that was come and coming upon all that had been high in Profession of Religion And I was moved to give forth the following Paper as a Warning unto such NOw is the Day that every one's Faith and Love to God and Christ will be Tried and who are Redeemed out of the Earth and who are in the Earth will be manifested and who is their Master they serve and whether they will run to the Mountains to Cover them Now will it appear who are the Stony Ground who are the Thorny Ground and who are the High-way-Ground in whom the Fowls of the Air take away the Seed and the Thorns and Cares of the World Choke and the Heat of Persecution scorches and burns up your green Blade For the Day trieth all things Therefore let not such as forsake Truth for saving the Earth say that your Brother Priest only serveth not the Lord Jesus Christ but his own Belly and mindeth Earthly things for such themselves also do the same and do hug and embrace Self and not the Lord. Now it will be made manifest who is every ones God and Christ and Saviour and their Love will be manifest whether it be of the World or the Love of God for if it be the Love of the World it is Enmity and the Enmity will manifest it self what it is and the Day will Try every Spirit and his Fruits Therefore all my dear Friends In the Everlasting Seed of God live that is over all the House of Adam and his Works in the Fall and so dwelling in the Seed Christ that never fell in him you all have Vertue and Life and Peace and through him ye will overcome all that is in the Fall G. F. I writ also another Short Epistle to Friends to Warn them to keep out of that Spirit that wrought in John Perrot and his Company against the Truth Dear Friends DWell in
the Love of God and in his Righteousness that will preserve you above all Changeable Spirits that be foul and unclean and that dwell not in the Truth but in Quarrels Avoid such and keep your Habitations in the Truth and dwell in the Truth and in the Word of God by which ye are reconciled to God And keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus Christ that never fell and then ye will see over all the Gatherings of Adam's Sons and Daughters you being Met in the Life over them all in which is your Vnity and Peace and Fellowship with God and one with another in the Life in which ye may enjoy God's Presence among you So remember me to all Friends in the everlasting Seed of God And all they that are gotten into Fellowship in outward things their Fellowship will corrupt and rot and wither away Therefore live in the Gospel the Power of God which Power of God the Gospel was before the Devil was And this Fellowship in the Gospel the Power of God is a Mystery to all the Fellowships in the World So look over all outward Sufferings and look at the Lord and the Lamb who is the First and Last the Amen in whom farewell G. F. Lancaster Assizes In the Sixth Month the Assizes were held again at Lancaster and the same Judges Twisden and Turner came that Circuit again but Judge Turner then sate on the Crown-Bench and so I was brought before him But before I was called to the Bar I was put among the Murderers and Fellons for about the space of two hours the People the Justices and the Judge also gazing upon me After they had Tried several others they called me to the Bar and impanneled a Jury And then the Judge asked the Justices Whether they had tendered me the Oath at the Sessions And they said They had Then he bid Give them the Book that they might swear they had tendered me the Oath according to the Indictment Some of the Justices refused to be Sworn but the Judge said he would have it done to take away all Occasion of Exception Now when the Jury were sworn and the Justices had sworn That they had tendered me the Oath according to the Indictment then the Judge asked me Whether I had not refused the Oath at the last Assizes I said I never took Oath in my Life and Christ the Saviour and Judge of the World said Swear not at all The Judge seemed not to take notice of my Answer but asked me Whether or no I had not refused to take the Oath at the last Assize I said The Words that I then spake to them were That if they could prove either Judge Justices Priest or Teacher that after Christ and the Apostle had forbidden Swearing they commanded that Christians should Swear I would Swear The Judge said He was not at that time to dispute whether it was lawful to Swear but to Inquire whether I had refused to take the Oath or no. I told him Those things mentioned in the Oath as Plotting against the King and owning the Pope's or any other Forreign Power I utterly deny Well said he You say well in that but did you deny to take the Oath What say you What would'st thou have me to say said I for I have told thee before what I did say Then he asked me If I would have these Men to Swear that I had taken the Oath I asked him ' If he would have those Men to Swear that I had refused the Oath At which the Court burst out into Laughter I was grieved to see so much Lightness in a Court where such Solemn Matters are handled and thereupon asked them If this Court was a Play-house Where is Gravity and Sobriety said I 1664. Lancaster Assizes for this Behaviour doth not become you Then the Clerk read the Indictment and I told the Judge I had something to speak to it for I had Informed my self of the Errors that were in it He told me He would hear me afterward any Reasons that I could alledge why he should not give Judgment Then I spake to the Jury and told them That they could not bring me in Guilty according to that Indictment for the Indictment was wrong laid and had many gross Errors in it The Judge said I must not speak to the Jury but he would speak to them and he told them I had denied to take the Oath at the last Assizes and said he I can tender the Oath to any Man now and Premunire him for not taking it And he said They must bring me in Guilty seeing I refused to take the Oath Then said I what do ye do with a Form Ye may throw away your Form then And I told the Jury it lay upon their Consciences as they would answer it to the Lord God before his Judgment-Seat Then the Judge spake again to the Jury and I bid him do me Justice So the Jury brought me in Guilty Whereupon I told them That both the Justices and they too had forsworn themselves and therefore they had small cause to laugh as they did a little before Oh the Envy and Rage and Malice that was there against me and the Lightness But the Lord confounded them and they were wonderfully stopt So they set me aside and called up Margaret Fell who had a great deal of good Service amongst them and then the Court brake up near the Second Hour In the Afternoon we were brought up again to have Sentence passed upon us And Margaret Fell desired that Sentence might be deferred till the next Morning I desired nothing but Law and Justice at his hands for the Thieves had Mercy Only I desired the Judge to send some to see my Prison which was so bad they would put no Creature they had in it and I told him that Col. Kirby who was then on the Bench said I should be locked up and no Flesh alive should come to me The Judge shook his Head and said When the Sentence was given he would leave me to the favour of the Jailer Now most of the Gentry of the Country were gathered together expecting to hear the Sentence and the Noise among the People was That I should be Transported But they were all crossed at that time for the Sentence being deferred till next Morning I was had back as I came to Prison again Upon my complaining of the badness of my Prison some of the Justices with Col. Kirby went up to see it But when they came to it they durst hardly go into it the Floor was so bad and dangerous and the place so open to Wind and Rain and some that came up said Sure it was a Jakes-house When Col. Kirby saw it and heard what others said of it he excused the matter as well as he could and said I should be removed from that place ere it was long to some more convenient place Next day towards the Eleventh Hour we were called forth
would have done with his Knife and she said He would have stabbed her Stab thee said I what would he have Stabbed thee for thy Religion Yes said she It is the Principle of the Papists if any turn from their Religion to kill them if they can This Story I told those Papists and told them I had it from one that had been one of them but had forsook their Principles and had discovered their Practices They did not deny this to be their Principle but said What! would I declare this abroad I told them Yes such things ought to be declared abroad that it might be known how contrary their Religion was to true Christianity Whereupon they went away in a great Rage Another Papist came to discourse with me and he said All the Patriarchs were in Hell from the Creation till Christ came and that when Christ suffered he went into Hell and the Devil said to him What comest thou hither for to break open our Strong Holds And Christ said To fetch them all out And so he said Christ was three days and three Nights in Hell to bring them out I told him that was false for Christ said to the Thief This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise And Enoch and Elijah were translated into Heaven And Abraham was in Heaven for the Scripture saith Lazarus was in his Bosom and Moses and Elias were with Christ upon the Mount before he suffered These Instances stopt the Papist's Mouth and put him to a stand Another time there came one called Doctor Witty who was esteemed a great Doctor of Physick He came with him that was called the Lord Falconbridge with whom came also the Governour of Tinmouth-Castle and several Knights And I being called to them this Witty undertook to discourse with me and asked me What I was in Prison for I told him Because I would not disobey the Command of Christ and Swear He said I ought to swear my Allegiance to the King Now he being a great Presbyterian I asked him Whether he had not Sworn against the King and House of Lords and taken the Scotch-Covenant And had he not since Sworn to the King And what then was his Swearing good for But my Allegiance I told him did not consist in Swearing but in Truth and Faithfulness So after some further Discourse I was had away to my Prison again And afterwards this Dr. Witty boasted in the Town amongst his Patients That he had Conquered me When I heard of his Boasting I told the Governour It was a small Boast in him to say He had conquered a Bondman And I desired to bid him come to me again when he came to the Castle He came again a while after with a matter of Sixteen or Seventeen great Persons and then he ran himself worse on ground than before For in Discourse he affirmed before them all That Christ had not enlightned every Man that cometh into the World and That the Grace of God that brought Salvation had not apppeared unto all Men and That Christ had not died for all Men. I asked him ' What sort of Men those were which Christ had not enlightned and whom his Grace had not appeared to and whom he had not died for He said Christ did not die for Adulterers and Idolaters and Wicked Men. Then I asked him Whether Adulterers and Wicked Men were not Sinners And he said Yes ' And did not Christ die for Sinners said I Did he not come to call Sinners to Repentance Yes said he Then said I Thou hast stopt thy own Mouth So I proved That the Grace of God had appeared unto all Men though some turned it into Wantonness and walked despightfully against it and that Christ had enlightned all Men though some hated the Light Several of the People that were present confess'd it was true but he went away in a great Rage and came no more at me Another time the Governour brought a Priest but his Mouth was soon stopt Not long after he brought two or three Parliament-Men and they asked me Whether I did own Ministers and Bishops I told them Yes such as Christ sent forth such as had freely received and would freely give and such as were qualified and were in the same Power and Spirit that they were in in the Apostles days But such Bishops and Teachers as theirs were that would go no further than they had a great Benefice I did not own for they were not like the Apostles For Christ saith to his Ministers Go ye into all Nations and preach the Gospel But ye Parliament-men that keep your Priests and Bishops in such great fat Benefices ye have spoiled them all for do ye think they will go into all Nations to preach or will go any further than they have a great fat Benefice Judge your selves whether they will or no. There came another time the Widow of him who was called the Old Lord Fairfax and with her a great Company and one of the Company was a Priest I was moved to declare the Truth to them and the Priest asked me Why we said Thou and Thee to People for he counted us but 〈◊〉 and â—â—iots for speaking so I asked him Whether they that Transâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 Scriptures and that made the Grammar and Accidence were Fools and Idiots seeing they translated the Scriptures so and made the Grammar so Thou to one and You to more than one and left it so to us And if they were Fools and Idiots then why had not He and such as he that looked upon themselves as Wise Men and that could not bear Thou and Thee to a Singular alter'd the Grammar Accidence and Bible and put the Plural instead of the Singular But if they were Wise Men that had so translated the Bible and had made the Grammar and Accidence so then I wisht him to consider Whether they were not Fools and Idiots themselves that did not speak as their Grammars and Bibles taught them but were offended with us and called us Fools and Idiots for speaking so Thus the Priest's Mouth was stopt and many of the Company did acknowledge the Truth and were pretty loving and tender and some of them would have given me Money but I would not receive it After this came one called Doctor Cradock with three Priests more and the Governour and his Lady so called and another that was called a Lady and a great Company with them Dr. Cradock asked me What I was in Prison for I told him For obeying the Command of Christ and the Apostle in not Swearing But if he being both a Doctor and a Justice of Peace could Convince me that after Christ and the Apostle had forbidden Swearing they commanded Christians to Swear then I would Swear Here was the Bible I told him He might if he would shew me any such Command He said It is written Ye shall Swear in Truth and Righteousness Ay said I it was written so in Jeremiah's time but that was many Ages
know How long I had lain in Prison and for what and he did so And when he came down again he told me that Esq Marsh said He would go an Hundred Miles bare-foot for my Liberty he knew me so well And several others he said spake well of me From which time the Governour was very Loving to me There were amongst the Prisoners that were there Two very bad Men that would often sit drinking with the Officers and Souldiers and because I would not sit and drink with them too that made them the worse against me One time when these Two Prisoners were drunk one of them whose Name was William Wilkinson who was a Presbyterian and had been a Captain came to me and challenged me to fight with him I seeing what Condition he was in got out of his way and next Morning when he was grown more sober told him How unmanly a thing it was in him to challenge a Man to fight whose Principle he knew it was not to strike but if he was stricken on one Ear to turn the other And I told him If he had a mind to fight he should have challenged some of the Souldiers that could have answered him in his own way But however I told him seeing he had Challenged me I was now come to Answer him with my Hands in my Pockets and reaching my Head towards him Here said I here is my Hair here are my Cheeks here is my Back With that he skipt away from me and went into another Room At which the Souldiers fell a laughing and one of the Officers said You are a happy Man that can bear such things Thus he was Conquered without a Blow But after a while he took the Oath and gave Bond and got out of Prison and not long after the Lord cut him off There were great Imprisonments in this and the former Years while I was Prisoner at Lancaster and Scarborough At London many Friends were crowded into Newgate and other Prisons where the Sickness was and many Friends died in Prison Many Friends also were Banished and several sent on Ship-board by the King's Order Some Masters of Ships would not carry them but set them on Shore again yet some were sent to Barbados and to Jamaica and to Mevis and the Lord blessed them there There was one Master of a Ship was very wicked and cruel to Friends that were put on Board his Ship for he kept the Friends down under Decks though the Sickness was amongst them so that many died of it But the Lord plagued him for his Wickedness for he lost most of his Sea-men by the Plague and lay several Months crossed with Contrary Winds though other Ships went out and made their Voyages At last he came before Plimouth and there the Governour and Magistrates would not suffer him nor any of his Men to come ashore though he wanted many Necessaries for his Voyage but Thomas Lower and Arthur Cotton and John Light and some other Friends went to the Ship's-side and carried Necessaries for the Friends that were Prisoners on Board The Master being thus crost and plagued and vext he cursed them that put him upon this Freight and said He hoped he should not go far before be was taken And the Vessel was but a little while gone out of sight of Plimouth but she was taken by a Dutch-man of War and carried into Holland When they came into Holland the States there sent the Banished Friends back to England with a Letter of Pasport and a Certificate That they had not made an Escape but were sent back by them But in time the Lord's Power wrought over this Storm and many of our Persecutors were Confounded and put to shame After I had lain Prisoner above a Year in Scarborough-Castle I sent a Letter to the King in which I gave him an Account of my Imprisonment and the bad Vsage I had had in Prison and also that I was Informed no Man could deliver me but he After this John Whitehead being at London and having Acquaintance also with him that was called Esq Marsh he went to Visit him and spake to him about me And he undertook if John Whitehead would get the State of my Case drawn up to deliver it to the Master of Requests whom he called Sir John Birkenhead he would endeavour to get a Release for me So John Whitehead and Ellis Hookes drew up a Relation of my Imprisonment and Sufferings and carried it to Marsh and he went with it to the Master of Requests who procured an Order from the King for my Release The Substance of the Order was That the King being certainly Informed that I was a Man principled against Plotting and Fighting and had been ready at all times to discover Plots rather than to make any c. that therefore his Royal Pleasure was that I should be discharged from my Imprisonment c. As soon as this Order was obtained John Whitehead came down to Scarborough with it and delivered it to the Governour Who upon Receipt thereof gathered the Officers together and without requiring Bond or Sureties for my peaceable Living being satisfied that I was a Man of a peaceable Life he discharged me freely and gave me the following Pasport PErmit the Bearer hereof George Fox late a Prisoner here and now discharged by His Majesty's Order quietly to pass about his Lawful Occasions without any Molestation Given under my hand at Scarborough-Castle this First Day of September 1666. JORDAN CROSLANDS Governour of Scarborough-Castle After I was Released I would have given the Governour something Scarborough for the Civility and Kindness he had of late shewed me but he would not receive any thing but said Whatever Good he could do for me and my Friends he would do it and never do them any hurt And afterwards if at any time the Mayor of the Town sent to him for Souldiers to break up Friends Meetings if he sent any down he would privately give them a Charge Not to meddle and so he continued Loving to his Dying-Day The Officers also and the Souldiers were mightily changed and grown very Respectful to me and when they had occasion to speak of me they would say He is as stiff as a Tree and as pure as a Bell for we could never bow him The very next day after I was Released from Scarborough-Prison the Fire brake out at London and the Report of it came quickly down into the Country Then I saw the Lord God was true and just in his Word which he had shewed me before in Lancaster-Jail when I saw the Angel of the Lord with a glittering drawn Sword Southward as is before expressed And the People of London were forewarned of this Fire yet few laid it to Heart or believed it but rather grew more Wicked and higher in Pride For we had a Friend that was moved to come out of Huntington-shire a little before the Fire and to scatter his Money up and down the
Streets and to turn his Horse loose in the Streets and to untie the Knees of his Britches and let his Stockings fall down and to unbutton his Doublet and told the People So should they run up and down scattering their Money and their Goods half undrest like mad People as he was a Sign to them And so they did when the Fire brake out and the City was burning Thus hath the Lord exercised his Prophets and Servants by his Power and shewed them Signs of his Judgments and sent them to fore-warn the People but instead of Repenting they have beaten and cruelly entreated some and some they have Imprisoned both in the former Power 's days and since 1666. Scarborough But the Lord is just and happy are they that obey his Word Some have been moved to go Naked in their Streets in the other Power 's days and since as Signs of their Nakedness and have declared amongst them That God would strip them out of their Hypocritical Professions and make them as bare and naked as they were But instead of considering it they have many times whipt or otherwise abused them and sometimes Imprisoned them Others have been moved to go in Sack cloth and to denounce the Woes and Vengeance of God against the Pride and Haughtiness of the People But few regarded it And in the other Powers days the Wicked Envious Professing Priests put up several Petitions both to Oliver and Richard called Protectors and to the Parliaments Judges and Justices against us stuft full of Lies and vilifying Words and Slanders but we got Copies of them and through the Lord's Assistance answered them all and cleared the Lord's Truth and our selves of them But oh the Body of Darkness that rose against the Truth in them that made Lies their Refuge But the Lord swept them away and in and with his Power Truth Light and Life hedged his Lambs about and did preserve them as on Eagle's Wings Therefore we all had and have great Encouragement to Trust the Lord whom we did see by his Power and Spirit how he did overturn and bring to nought all the Confederacies and Counsels that were hatched in the Darkness against his Truth and People and by the same Truth gave his People Dominion that in it they might serve him And indeed I could not but take notice how the Hand of the Lord turned against those my Persecutors who had been the cause of my Imprisonment or had been Abusive or Cruel to me in it For the Officer that fetched me to Houlker-Hall wasted his Estate and soon after fled into Ireland And most of the Justices that were upon the Bench at the Sessions when I was sent to Prison died in a while after as Old Tho. Preston Rawlinson and Porter and Matthew West of Borwick And though Justice Fleming did not die yet his Wife died and left him thirteen or fourteen Motherless Children who had Imprisoned Two Friends to Death and thereby made several Children Fatherless Col. Kirby never prospered after And the Chief Constable Richard Dodgson died soon after and Mount the Petty-Constable and the other Petty-Constable John Ashburnham his Wife who railed at me in her House died soon after And William Knipe that was the Witness they brought against me died soon after also And Hunter the Jailer of Lancaster who was very wicked to me while I was his Prisoner he was cut off in his Young Days And the Vnder-Sheriff that carried me from Lancaster-Prison towards Scarborough he lived not long after And one Joblin the Jailer of Durham who was Prisoner with me in Scarborough-Castle and had often incensed the Governour and Souldiers against me though he got out of Prison yet the Lord cut him off in his Wickedness soon after When I came into that Country again most of these that dwelt in Lancashire were dead and others ruined in their Estates So that though I did not seek Revenge upon them for their actings against me contrary to the Law yet the Lord had executed his Judgments upon many of them Being now set free from my Imprisonment in Scarborough-Castle I went about three Miles to a large General Meeting at a Friend's House that had been a Chief-Constable and all was quiet and well On the Fourth Day after I came into Scarborough again and had a Meeting in the Town at Peter Hodgson's House To this Meeting came one called a Lady and several other Great Persons also a Young-man that was Son to the Bayliff of the Town and had been Convinced while I was there in Prison That Lady so called came to me and said I spake against the Ministers I told her Such as the Prophets and Christ declared against formerly I declared against now From hence I went to Whitby and having visited Friends there Whitby I passed thence to Burlington where I had another Meeting Burlington Oram and from thence to Oram where I had another Meeting and from thence to Oram where I had another Meeting and from thence to Marmaduke Stor's and had a large Meeting at a Constable's House Mar. Stor on whom the Lord had wrought a great Miracle Next Day Two Friends being to take each other in Marriage there was a very great Meeting which I was at And I was moved to open to the People the State of our Marriages declaring How the People of God took one another in the Assemblies of the Elders and how that it was God that did Join Man anâ— Woman together before the Fall And though Men had taken upon them to Join in the Fall yet in the Restoration it was God's Joining that was the right and honourable Marriage But never any Priest did Marry any that we read of in the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelations Then I shewed them the Duty of Man and Wife how they should serve God being Heirs of Life and Grace together After the Meeting I passed from thence to Grace Barwick G. Barwick where I had a General Meeting which was very large and when that was over I came to Richard Shipton's where I had another Meeting Whitby and so to a Priest's House whose Wife was Convinced and himself grown very Loving and glad to see me This was that Priest that in the Year 1651. threatned If ever he met with me again he would have my Life or I should have his and said He would lose his Head if I were not knockt down in a Month But now he was partly Convinced and become very kind I went from his House towards the Sea where several Friends came to visit me and amongst others one Philip Scarff who had formerly been a Priest but having received the Truth was now become a Preacher of Christ freely and continued so Passing on I called to see an Ancient Man who was Convinced of Truth and was above an Hundred Years old Then came I to a Friend's House where I had a great Meeting and quiet Near Malton And
passing on through the Country I had a great Meeting near Malton and another large Meeting near Hull from which I went to a place called Holdendike Near Hull Holdendike As we went into the Town the Watch-men questioned me and those that were with me but they not having any Warrant to stay us we went on by them and they in a Rage threatned they would search us out I went to the House of one that was called the Lady Mountague and there I lodged that Night and several Friends came thither to Visit me Next Morning being up betimes I walked out into the Orchard and saw a Man about Sun-rising go into the House in a great Cloak 1666. L. Mountague He stay'd not long but came soon out again and went away not seeing me I felt something strike at my Life and went into the House where I found the Maid-Servant affrighted and trembling and she told me That Man had a Naked Rapier under his Cloak By which I perceived he came with an Intent to have done Mischief but the Lord prevented him From this place passing through the Country I visited Friends till I came to York York where we had a large Meeting After the Meeting I went to visit Justice Robinson an ancient Justice of the Peace who had been very loving to me and Friends from the beginning There was at this time a Priest with him and he told me It was said of us that we loved none but our selves I told him We loved all Mankind as they were God's Creation and as they were Children of Adam and Eve by Generation and we loved the Brotherhood in the Holy Ghost This stopt him so that after some other Discourse we parted friendly and we passed away About this time I had written a Book Intituled Fear God and Honour the King In which I shewed That none could rightly Fear God and Honour the King but they that departed from Sin and Evil This Book did much affect the Souldiers and most People Now having visited Friends at York we passed thence to a Market-Town G Watkinson where we had a Meeting at one George Watkinson's who formerly had been a Justice A glorious blessed Meeting it was and very large and the Seed of Life was set over all But we had been troubled to have got into this Town had not Providence made way for us for the Watch-men stood ready to stop us but there being a Man riding just before us the Watch-men questioned him first and perceiving that he was a Justice of Peace they let him pass and we riding close after him by that means we escaped T. Tailor From this place we passed to Thomas Taylor 's who had formerly been a Captain where we had a precious Meeting Hard by Thomas Taylor 's there lived one called a Knight who was much displeased when he heard I was like to be Released out of Prison and threatned That if the King set me at Liberty he would send me to Prison again the next day But though I had this Meeting so near him yet the Lord's Power stopt him from meddling and our Meeting was quiet Col. Kirby also who had been the Chief Means of my Imprisonment at Lancaster and Scarborough-Castles when he heard I was set at Liberty got another Order for the Taking me up and said He would ride his Horse Forty Miles to take me and would give Forty Pounds to have me taken Yet a while after I came so near him as to have a Meeting within Two Miles of him and then was he struck with the Gout and kept his Bed so that it was thought he would have died From Thomas Taylor 's I passed through the Country visiting Friends Sinderhill-Green till I came to Synderhill-Green where I had a large and General Meeting The Priest of the place hearing of it he sent the Constable to the Justices for a Warrant and they rid their Horses so hard that they almost spoiled them But the notice they had being short and the way long the Meeting was ended before they came I heard not of them till I was going out of the House after Meeting was over and then a Friend came to me and told me 1666. Sinderhill-Green They were searching another House for we which was the House I was then going to As I went along the Closes towards it I met the Constables and Wardens and the Justice's Clerk with them so I passed through them and they looked at me and I went to the House that they had been searching I hus the Devil and the Priest lost their Design for the Lord's Power bound them and preserved me over them and Friends parted and all escaped them And the Officers went away as they came for the Lord God had frustrated their Design praised be his Name for ever After this I went into Darbyshire where I had a large Meeting Darbyshire And some Friends were apprehensive of the Constables coming in for they had had a great Persecution in those parts but our Meeting was quiet There was a Justice of Peace in that Country had taken away much of Friend's Goods whereupon one Ellen Fretwell had made her Appeal to the Sessions and the rest of the Justices granted her her Goods again and spake to that persecuting Justice That he should not do so any more And she was moved to speak to that Justice and to Warn him whereupon he bid her Come and sit down on the Bench. Ay said she If I may perswade you to do Justice to the Country I will sit down with you No said he then you shall not and bid her Get her out of the Court But as she was gong out she was moved of the Lord to turn again and say She should be there when he should not After the Sessions were ended he got amongst some of his Persecuting Companions and said They would get some more of the Quakers Goods if the Devil did not raise up that Woman to hinder them So he went home and drove away her Brother's Oxen for going to Meetings and then another Woman a Friend of Chesterfield whose Name was Susan Frith was moved of the Lord to tell him That if he continued on in his persecuting of the Innocent the Lord would execute his Plagues upon him Soon after which this Justice whose Name was Clark fell distracted and was bound with Ropes ☜ but he gnawed the Ropes in pieces and had like to have spoiled his Maid for he fell upon her and bit her so that they were fain to put an Iron Instrument into his Mouth to wrest his Teeth out of her Flesh And afterwards he died distracted This Relation I had from Ellen Fretwel her self I travelled out of Darbyshire into Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Skegby Mans field and had a large Meeting at Skegby and from thence went to Mansfield where also I had a Meeting and thence went to another Town where there was a
Fair at which I met with many Friends Then passing through the Forrest in a mighty thundering and rainy day Nottingham I came to Nottingham and so great was the Tempest that day that many Trees were torn up by the Roots and some People killed but the Lord preserved us On the First-Day following I had a large Meeting in Nottingham very quiet and Friends were come to sit under their Teacher the Grace of God which brought them Salvation and were established upon the Rock and Foundation Christ Jesus After the Meeting I went to visit the Friend that had been Sheriff about the Year 1649 whose Prisoner I had then been 1666. Leicestershire Syleby Leicester From Nottingham I passed into Leicestershire and came to Syleby where we had a large blessed Meeting After which I went to Leicester to visit the Prisoners there and then came to John Penford's where we had a General Meeting large and precious From thence I passed through the Country visiting Friends and my Relations till I came into Warwickshire and to Warwick where having visited the Prisoners Warwickshire Warwick Badgley Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire London I passed from thence to Badgley and had a precious Meeting there Then I travelled through Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire visiting Friends in each County In Oxfordshire the Devil had laid a Snare for me but the Lord brake it and his Power came over all and his blessed Truth spread and Friends were Increased therein Thus after I had passed through many Counties visiting Friends and had had many large and precious Meetings amongst them I came at last to London But I was so weak with lying almost Three Years in cruel and hard Imprisonments and my Joints and my Body were so stiff and benummed that I could hardly get on my Horse or bend my Joints nor well bear to be near the Fire or to eat Warm Meat I had been kept so long from it Being come to London I walk't a little among the Ruins and took good notice of them and I saw the City lying according as the Word of the Lord came to me concerning it several Years before Now after I had been a time in London and had visited Friends Meetings through the City I went into the Country again and had large Meetings in the Countries Kingston Reading Wiltshire Bristol as I went at Kingston Reading and in Wiltshire till I came to Bristol At Bristol also I had many large Meetings and Thomas Lower came thither out of Cornwal to meet me and Friends were there from several parts of the Nation it being then the Fair-time After I was clear of Bristol I left that City and went to Nath. Crips's N. Crips's London and so through the Countries till I came back to London again having large Meetings in the way and all quiet blessed be the Lord. And thus though I was very Weak yet I travelled up and down in the Service of the Lord and the Lord enabled me to go through in it About this time some that had run out from Truth and clashed against Friends were reached unto by the Power of the Lord which came wonderfully over and made them Condemn and Tear their Papers of Controversies to pieces Several Meetings we had with them and the Lord 's Everlasting Power was over all and set Judgment on the Head of that that had run out And in these Meetings which lasted whole Days several that had Run out with John Perrot and others came in again and Condemned that Spirit that led them to Keep on their Hats when Friends prayed and when they themselves prayed and some of them said That Friends were more righteous than they and that if Friends had not stood they had been gone and had fallen into Perdition And thus the Lord's Power was wonderfully manifested and came over all Then was I moved of the Lord to recommend the setting up of Five Monthly Meetings of Men and Women in the City of London besides the Womens-Meetings and the Quarterly Meetings to take care of God's Glory and to admonish and exhort such as walked disorderly or carelesly and not according to Truth For whereas Friends had had only Quarterly Meetings now Truth was spread 1667. London and Friends were grown more Numerous I was moved to Recommend the setting up of Monthly Meetings throughout the Nation And the Lord opened to me and let me see What I must do and how the Mens and Womens Monthly and Quarterly Meetings should be ordered and established in this Nation and in other Nations and that I should Write to them where I came not to do the same So after things were well settled at London and the Lord's Truth and Power and Seed and Life reigned and shined over all in the City then I passed forth into the Countries again and went down into Essex Essâ—x Suffolk Norfolk And after the Monthly Meetings were settled in that County I went from thence into Suffolk and Norfolk Thomas Dry being with me And when we had Visited Friends in their Meetings in those parts and the Monthly Meetings were settled there we pass'd from thence and went into Huntingtonshire Huntingtoâ—shire where we had very large and blessed Meetings and though we met with some Opposition there yet the Lord's Power came over all and the Monthly Meetings were established there also Bedfordshire When we came into Bedfordshire we had great Opposition but the Lord's Power came over it all Afterwards we went into Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire where we had many precious Meetings and the Monthly Meetings were settled there Then passing into Lincolnshire Lincolnshire we had a Meeting of some Men-Friends of all the Meetings in the County at his House who had been formerly Sheriff of Lincoln and all was quiet Trent Nottinghamshire After this Meeting we passed over Trent into Nottinghamshire again he that had been the Sheriff of Lincoln being with me where we had some of all the Meetings in that County together and our Meeting was glorious and peaceable And many precious Meetings we had in that County At that time William Smith was very Weak and Sick and the Constables and others had seized upon all his Goods to the very Bed he lay upon for Truth 's sake These Officers threatned to come and break up our Meeting but the Lord's Power chained them so that they had not power to meddle with us blessed be his Name After the Meeting was over I went to visit William Smith and there were the Constables and others watching his Corn and his Beasts that none of them might be Removed From thence we passed into Leicestershire and so into Warwickshire Leicestershire Warwickshire where many blessed Meetings we had and the Order of the Gospel was set up and the Men's Monthly Meetings established in all those Counties Then we went into Darbyshire Darbyshire where we had several
And when all things were found clear they being free from all others and their Relations satisfied then they might appoint a Meeting on purpose for the taking of each other in the Presence of at least Twelve Faithful Witnesses Yet these Directions not being observed and Truth being now more spread over the Nation it was therefore Ordered by the same Power and Spirit of God That Marriages should be laid before the Mens Monthly and Quarterly Meetings or as the Meetings were then established that Friends might see that the Relations of those that proceeded to Marriage were satisfied and that the Parties were clear from all others 1667. London and that Widows had made Provision for their First Husband's Children before they Married again and what else was needful to be inquired into that so all things might be kept clean and pure and done in Righteousness to the Glory of God And afterwards it was Ordered in the same Wisdom of God That if either of the Parties that intended to Marry came out of another Nation County or Monthly-Meeting they should bring a Certificate from the Monthly Meeting to which they belong'd for satisfaction of the Monthly-Meeting before which they came to lay their Intentions of Marriage Now after these things with many other Services for God were set in Order and settled in the Churches in the City I passed out of London in the Leadings of the Lord's Power into the Country again and going into Hartfordshire Hertfordshire after I had visited Friends there and the Mens-Monthly-Meetings were settled there I passed on as far as Baldock Baldock where I had a great Meeting of many sorts of People Then returning towards London by Waltham Waltham I advised the setting up of a School there for Teaching Boys and also a Womens-School to be set up at Shacklewel for instructing Girls and Young Maidens Shacklewell in whatsoever things were Civil and Vseful in the Creation Thus after I had had several precious Meetings in the Country I came to London again London where I staid a while in the Work and Service of the Lord Buckinghamshire Weston and then went down into Buckinghamshire where I had many precious Meetings And at John Brown's of Weston near Aylsbury some of the Men-Friends of each Meeting being gathered together the Mens-Monthly-Meetings for that County were established amongst them also in the Order of the Gospel the Power of God and the Power of the Lord confirmed it in all that felt it and they came thereby to see and feel that the Power of God was the Authority of their Meetings Then after the Monthly-Meetings were settled there in the Order of the Gospel Oxfordshire North-Newton near Banbury and upon the Foundation Christ Jesus I passed on into Oxfordshire and went to Nathaniel Ball 's at North-Newton near Banbury who was a Friend in the Ministry And there being a General Meeting where some of all the Meetings were present the Monthly-Meetings for that County were then settled in the Power of God and Friends were very glad of them for they came into their Services in the Church and to take Care for God's Glory After this Meeting we passed through the Country Gloucestershire visiting Friends till we came into Gloucestershire and visiting Friends through that County also we travelled on Monmouthshire till we came into Monmouthshire to one Richard Hambery's where meeting with some of all the Meetings of that County the Monthly Meetings were settled there also in the Lord's Power that all in it might take Care of God's Glory and Admonish and Exhort such as did not walk as became the Gospel And indeed these Meetings did make a great Reformation amongst People insomuch as the very Justices took notice of the Vsefulness and Service thereof When we went from Rich. Humbery's he and his Wife accompanied us a Day 's Journy through the Country visiting Friends till we came to a Widow-Woman's where we lay that Night and from thence passed over the Hills next day Over the Hills visiting Friends and declaring the Truth to People till we came to another Widow Woman's House where we had a Meeting The Woman of the House could not speak English yet she praised the Lord for sending us over those Hills to come and visit them We travelled on through the Country till we came to Swanzey Swanzey where on the First Day we had a large and precious Meeting the Lord's Presence being eminently amongst us Beyond Swanzey On a Week-Day afterwards we had a General Meeting beyond Swanzey of Men-Friends that came from Swanzey Tenby Haverford-West and other Places and there the Monthly-Meetings were settled in the Gospel-Order and received by Friends in the Power of the Lord and the Lord's Truth was over all From hence we endeavoured to have got over the Water into Cornwall and in order thereunto went back to Swanzey Swanzey Mumbles and so to Mumbles thinking to have got Passage there but the Master deceived us For though he had promised to carry us yet when we came he would not Thereupon we turned from thence and went to another place where there was a Passage-Boat into which we got our Horses but there being some Rude Men in the Boat though called Gentlemen that threatned to Pistol the Master if he took us in he being afraid of them turned our Horses out again which put us out of hopes of getting over that way Wherefore turning back again into the Country we stay'd up all Night and about the Second Hour in the Morning took Horse and travelled through the Country Near Cardiff till we came near Cardiff where we staid one Night And the next Day came to a place called Newport and it being Market-day there Newport several Friends came to us with whom we sate together a while and after we had had a fine refreshing Season together we parted from them and went on our way When we were gone beyond this Market-Town we overtook a Man who lingred on the Way as if he stay'd for some body but when we came up to him he rid along with us and asked us many Questions At length meeting with Two others who seemed to be Pages to some great Persons he took Acquaintance with them and I heard him tell them he would stop us and take us up We rid on being in our way and when he came to us and would have stopped us I told him None ought to stop us on the King 's High-way for it was as free for us as for them and I was moved to exhort him to Fear the Lord. Then galloped he away before us and I perceived his Intent was to stop us at Shipton in Wales which was a Garrison-Town through which we were to pass in our way When we were come to Shipton John-ap-John being with me Shipton we walked down the Hill into the Town leading our Horses And it being
cherish the Good and reprove the Evil. 1668. South-hampton Then having visited the Meetings of Friends through the Countries we came to South-hampton where we had a large Meeting on the First-Day of the Week And from thence we went to one Capt. Reeves where the General Men's-Meeting for Hampshire was appointed to which some of all the County came and a blessed Meeting we had There the Mens-Monthly-Meetings for that County were settled in the Order of the Gospel which had brought Life and Immortality to Light in them But there came a Rude Company who were run into Ranterism and had opposed and disturbed our Meetings much One of them had lain with a Man and the man that had lain with her declared it at the Market-Cross and gloried in his Wickedness These lewd People lived a Company of them together at a House hard by the place where our Meeting was Wherefore I went to the House and told them of their Wickedness but the Man of the House said Why Did I make so strange of that Another of them said It was to stumble me I told them Their Wickedness should not stumble me for I was above it And I was moved of the Lord God to tell them That the Plagues and Judgments of God would overtake them and come upon them Afterward they went up and down the Country till at last they were cast into Winchester-Jail where the Man that had lain with the Woman aforesaid stabbed the Jailer but not mortally And after they were let out of Jail this Fellow that had stabb'd the Jailer hang'd himself The Woman also had like to have Cut a Child's Throat as we were Informed These People had formerly lived about London and when the City was fired they Prophesied That all the rest of London should be burnt within Fourteen Days and hastned away out of Town Now though they were Ranters and were great Opposers of Friends and Disturbers of our Meetings yet in the Country where they came some of the People of the World that did not know them would be apt to say They were Quakers Wherefore I was moved of the Lord to write a Paper to be dispersed amongst the Magistrates and People of Hampshire to Clear Friends and Truth of these Lewd People and their Wicked Actions Now after the Mens-Monthly Meetings in those parts were settled and we had visited Friends and the Lord's blessed Power was over all we went to a Town where we had a Meeting with Friends And from thence we came to Farnham Farnham where we met many Friends it being the Market-Day and we had many precious Meetings up and down that Country Friends in those Countries had formerly been plundered and their Goods much spoiled both for Tithes and for going to Meetings but the Lord's Power at this time preserved both them and us from falling into the Persecutors Hands We passed from thence and had a General Mens-Meeting at a Friends House in Surrey Surry who had been plundered so extreamly that he had scarce a Cow Horse or Swine left The Constables threatned to come then and break up our Meeting but the Lord restrained them At this Meeting the Mens-Monthly-Meetings were settled in the Authority of the Heavenly Power And after we had visited Friends in that Country and had many large and precious Meetings among them we passed to a Friend's House in Sussex Sussex where the General Meeting for the Men Friends of that County was appointed to be held 1668. Sussex and thither came several Friends from London to visit us There we had a blessed Meeting and the Mens-Monthly-Meetings for that County were then settled in the Lord 's Eternal Power the Gospel of Salvation that all in it might keep to the Order of the Gospel There were at that time great Threatnings of Disturbance but the Meeting was quiet And afterward we passed from thence and had several large Meetings in that County though Friends were then in great Sufferings there and many in Prison I was sent for to visit a Friend that was sick and went to see Friends that were Prisoners and there was danger of my being apprehended but I went in the Faith of God's Power and thereby the Lord preserved me in Safety Having visited Friends through the Country we passed on into Kent where after we had been at several Meetings Kent we had a General Meeting for the Men-Friends of that County There also the Mens-Monthly Meetings for that County were settled in the Power of God and established in the Order of the Gospel for all the Heirs of it to enter into their Services and Care in the Church for the Glory of God And Friends Rejoiced in the Order of the Gospel and were glad of the Settlement thereof which is not of man nor by man After this Meeting was over I visited Friends in their Meetings up and down in Kent And when I had cleared my self of the Lord's Service in that County I came up to London Thus were the Mens-Monthly-Meetings settled through the Nation For I had been in Berkshire before where most of the Ancient Friends of that County were in Prison and when I had informed them of the Service of these Monthly-Meetings they were settled amongst them also And the Quarterly Meetings were generally settled before I writ also into Ireland by faithful Friends and into Scotland Holland Barbados and other parts of America advising Friends to settle their Mens-Monthly-Meetings in those Countries also For they had their General Quarterly Meetings before But now that Truth was Increased amongst them they should settle those Mens-Monthly-Meetings in the Power and Spirit of God that did at first Convince them And since the time these Meetings have been settled that all the Faithful in the Power of God who be Heirs of the Gospel have met together in the Power of God which is the Authority of them to perform Service to the Lord therein many Mouths have been opened in Thanksgivings and Praise and many have blest the Lord God that ever he did send me forth in this Service Yea with Tears have many praised the Lord. For now all coming to have a Concern and Care for God's Honour and Glory that his Name be not blasphemed which they do profess and to see that all who profess the Truth do walk in the Truth in Righteousness and in Holiness which becomes the House of God and that all order their Conversations aright that they may see the Salvation of God All having this Care upon them for God's Glory and being exercised in his holy Power and Spirit in the Order of the Heavenly Life and Gospel of Jesus here they may all see and know possess and partake of the Government of Christ of the Increase of which there is to be no end Thus the Lord 's everlasting Renown and Praise is set up in every one's Heart 1668. Kent that is faithful so that we can now say that the
Meeting but not without danger of being Apprehended 1669. Balby York the Constables having threatned to take up Friends about that time I passed on from thence visiting Friends through the Country till I came to Balby and so to York to the Quarterly-Meeting there and a blessed Meeting we had Friends had in Yorkshire Seven Monthly Meetings before and they were so sensible of the Service of them that they desired to have Seven more added to them For Truth was much spread in that Country Accordingly in that Quarterly Meeting they were settled and established So that whereas before they had but Seven now they have Fourteen Monthly Meetings in that County It being the Assize-time at York there I met with Justice Hotham a Well-wisher to Friends and one that had been Tender and very Kind to me at the first After I had finished my Service for the Lord in York I passed further up into the Country And as I went a great Burden fell upon me but I did not presently know the Reason of it So I came to a Meeting on the First-Day at one Shipton's R. Shipton which was very large But there being a Meeting the same day at another place also the Priest of that place being mis-informed that I was to be there got a Warrant and made great Disturbance at that Meeting of which Isaac Lindley who was there gave me an Account by the following Letter thus G. F. WHen thou went'st from York the First-Day after thou wast at Richard Shipton's That Day I had appointed a Meeting Ten Miles from York where there had not been a Meeting before But the Priest and the Constable got a Warrant on the Seventh Day and put thy Name only in the Warrant for they had heard that thou wast to be there and they came with Weapons and Staves and cried Where is Mr. Fox over and over many Friends being there they concluded thou wast among them But those Raveners being disappointed plucked me down and abused me and beat some Friends and then had me before a Magistrate but he set me at Liberty Isaac Lindley After the aforesaid Meeting was done I passed through the Countries Whitby Scarborough visiting Friends at Whitby and Scarborough When I was at Scarborough the Governour hearing I was come to the Town sent to invite me to his House saying Surely I would not be so unkind as not to come and see him and his Wife Wherefore after the Meeting was over I went up to Visit him and he received me very Courteously and Lovingly The Wouls Now after I had visited most of the Meetings in Yorkshire and up to the Wouls and Holderness Holderness H. Jackson T. Tayler Eldreth I passed through the Country till I came to Henry Jacksons where I had a great Meeting And from thence to Thomas Tayler's and so to John Moor's at Eldreth where we had a very large Meeting 1669. Eldreth And the Lord's Power and Presence was eminently amongst us Not far off from this place lay Col. Kirby lame of the Gout who had threatned that If ever I came near he would send me to Prison again and had bidden 40 l. to any man that could take me as I was credibly informed After this Meeting I passed through the Countries till I came into Staffordshire and so into Cheshire Staffordshire Cheshire Warrington where we had many large and precious Meetings I had a very large Meeting at William Barns his House about two Miles from Warrington and although Col. Kirby was now got abroad again as violent in breaking up Meetings as before and was then at Warrington yet the Lord did not suffer him to come to this Meeting and so we were preserved out of his hands Now was I moved of the Lord to pass over into IRELAND IRELAND to visit the Seed of God in that Nation and there went with me Robert Lodge James Lancaster Thomas Briggs and John Stubbs We went near to Liverpool and waited there for Shipping and Wind Liverpool and after we had waited some days we sent James Lancaster to take Passage which he did and brought Word the Ship was ready and would take us in at Black-Rock Whereupon we went thither on foot and it being pretty far and the Weather very hot I was very much spent with Walking Yet when we came there the Ship was not there so we were fain to go to the Town and take Shipping there When we were come on Board I said to the rest of my Company Come ye will Triumph in the Lord for we shall have fair Wind and Weather There were many Passengers in the Ship and many of them were Sick but not one of our Company was Sick The Master and many of the Passengers were very loving and we being at Sea on the First-Day of the Week I was moved to declare Truth among them Whereupon the Master said to the Passengers Come here are things that you never heard in your Lives When we came before Dublin we took Boat Dublin and went ashore and the Earth and Air smelt methought with the Corruption of the Nation so that it yielded another Smell to me than England did which I imputed to the Corruption and Popish Massacrees that had been Committed and the Blood that had been spilt in it from which a Foulness ascended We passed through among the Officers of the Custom four times yet they did not search us for they perceived what we were and some of them were so Envious they did not care to look at us We did not presently find Friends but went to an Inn and sent out to inquire for some Friends who when they came to us were exceeding glad of our Coming and received us with Great Joy We stay'd there the Weekly Meeting which was a great one and the Power and Life of God appeared greatly in it Afterwards we passed to a Province-Meeting which lasted Two Days there being both a Mens-Meeting about the Poor and another Meeting more General in which a mighty Power of the Lord appeared and Truth was livingly declared and Friends were much refreshed therein Passing from thence about four and twenty miles we came to another place where we had a very good refreshing Meeting But after the Meeting was over some Papists that were there were Angry and raged very much When I heard of it I sent for one of them who was a Schoolmaster 1669. Ireland but he would not come at me Whereupon I sent a Challenge to him with all the Friers and Monks Priests and Jesuits to come forth and Try their God and their Christ which they had made of Bread and Wine but no Answer could I get from them Wherefore I told them They were Worse than the Priests of Baal for Baal's Priests tried their Woodden God but these durst not try their God of Bread and Wine and Baal's Priests and People did not Eat their God as these did and then make
Liberty the Friends that were with me asked me Grac. Meet Whether I would go I told them To Gracious-Street-Meeting again if it were not over When we came there the People were generally gone only some few stood at the Gate We went into Gerrard Roberts his House and from thence I sent out to know how the other Meetings in the City were And I understood that at some of the Meeting-places Friends were kept out and at others they were taken but set at Liberty again a few days after A glorious time it was for the Lord's Power came over all and his Everlasting Truth got Renown For as fast as some that were speaking were taken down others were moved of the Lord to stand up and speak to the admiration of the People and the more because many Baptists and other Sectaries left their Publick Meetings and came to see how the Quakers would stand As for the Informer aforesaid he was so frighted 1670. London that there durst hardly any Informer appear publickly again in London for some time after But the Mayor whose Name was Samuel Starling though he carried himself smoothly towards us proved afterwards a very great Persecutor of our Friends many of whom he cast into Prison as may be seen in the Books of the Trials of W. Penn W. Mead and others at the Old Baily this Year After some time the Heat of Persecution in the City began to abate and Meetings were quieter there and I being then clear of the City went to visit Friends in the Country having several Meetings as I went in Middlesex Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Middlesez Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Reading which were quiet though in some places there was much Threatning At Reading most of the Friends were in Prison and I went thither to Visit them And when I had been a while with them the Friends that were Prisoners gathered together and several other Persons came in so that I had a fine Opportunity amongst them and declared the Word of Life encouraging them in the Truth and they were Refreshed in feeling the Presence and Power of the Lord amongst them When the Meeting was ended the Jailer understanding that I was there the Friends were troubled and concerned how to get me out safe again for they feared lest he should stop me But after I had staid a while and Eaten with them I went down the Stairs and the Jailer being at the Door I put my hand in my Pocket which he had such an Eye to hoping to get something of me that he asked me no Question So I gave him something and bad him Be kind and civil to my Friends in Prison whom I came to Visit And he let me pass out without Interruption But soon after Isaac Pennington coming to Visit them he stopt him and caused him to be made a Prisoner Next Morning I rid about Fourteen Miles to a Meeting Hampshire Baghurst at a place called Baghurst in Hampshire Thomas Brigges being with me When we came into the Parish some sober People came to us and told us That the Priest of the Town was an Envious Man and did Threaten us We went on to the Meeting which was large and after some time Thomas Brigges stood up and spake Now it seems the Priest had got a Warrant and sent the Constables and other Officers with it And they came to the House and stay'd a while and then went away again but did not come into the Meeting So we in the Meeting did not know of their being there But after Thomas Brigges had done speaking I was moved of the Lord to stand up and declared the Word of Life to the People and a precious Meeting we had When I had done speaking and the Meeting was ended and risen I heard a great Clutter in the Yard and when we came forth the Man of the House told us That the Officers had been in the House before but did not come into the Meeting but went away without doing any thing And that now the Priest in a great Rage had sent them again and his own Servant with them But the Meeting being ended before they came they could do nothing now And thus the good Providence of the Lord preserved us from the Wicked Design of the Envious Priest and out of his Snare but the Priest was in a great Rage 1670. Barkshire Surrey Guilford From thence We went to a Friend's House on the Edge of Barkshire where several Friends came to visit us And afterwards we passed into Surrey visiting Friends and had many precious Meetings till we came to Stephen Smiths near Guilford where great Persecution had been and very much Goods had been taken away from Friends thereabouts for their Meetings and under great Threatnings they were at that time yet we had several blessed Meetings there and thereabouts and the Lord's Power was over all in and by which we were preserved Sussex We went out of Surrey into Sussex by Richard Baxe's where we had a large precious Meeting and quiet though the Constables had given out Threatnings before Afterwards I had many more Meetings up and down in that County and though there were some Threatnings yet Meetings were peaceable and Friends were refreshed and established upon the Foundation of God that stands sure When I had throughly visited Sussex Kent I went into Kent and had many glorious and precious Meetings in several parts of that County I went up into East-Kent to a Meeting near Deal Deal which was very large and returning from thence to Canterbury Canterbury Isle of Sheppy visited Friends there and then passed into the Isle of Sheppy where I staid Two or Three Days and thither came Alexander Parker George Whitehead and John Rouse to me The next day after they came finding my Service for the Lord finished there we passed away towards Rochester And on the way as I was walking down an Hill a great Weight and Oppression fell upon my Spirit I got on my Horse again but the Weight remained so heavy on me that I was hardly able to Ride At length we came to Rochester Rochester but I was much spent being so extreamly loaden and burdened with the World's Spirits that my Life was oppressed under them I got with difficulty to Graves-End Gravesend and lay at an Inn there but could hardly either Eat or Sleep The next day John Rouse and Alexander Parker went for London and John Stubbs being come to me he and I went over the Ferry into Essex Essex We came to a place called Horne-Church Horne-Church Stratford where was a Meeting on the First-Day And after the Meeting I rode with great Vneasiness to Stratford Three Miles from London to a Friend's House there whose Name was Williams and who had formerly been a Captain Here I lay exceeding Weak and at last lost both my Hearing and my Sight so that I could neither hear nor see Several
freely I could not Sweat at all but my Flesh was hot dry and burning And that which before brake out on my Body into Pimples struck in again and struck to my Stomach and Heart so that I was very Ill and Weak beyond Expression Thus I continued during the rest of the Voyage which was about a Month for we were Seven Weeks and some odd Days at Sea On the Third of the Eighth Month early in the Morning BARBADOS we discovered the Island of Barbados but it was between Nine and Ten at Night e're we came to Anchor in Carlisle-Bay We got on Shore Carlisle-Bay as soon as we could and I with some others walked to a Friend's House a Merchant whose Name was Richard Forstall R. Forstall above a Quarter of a Mile from the Bridge But being very Ill and Weak I was so tired with that little Walk that I was in a manner quite spent by that time I got thither There I abode very Ill for several days and was so far from Sweating though in that hot Climate that although they several times gave me things to make me Sweat yet they could not bring me to Sweat but what they gave me did rather parch and dry up my Body and made me probably worse than otherwise I might have been Thus I continued for about Three Weeks after I Landed having very much Pain in my Bones 1671. Barbados Joints and whole Body so that I could hardly get any Rest yet notwithstanding I was pretty Cheary and my Spirit kept above it all Neither did my Ilness take me off from the Service of Truth but both while I was at Sea and after I came to Barbados before I was able to Travel about I gave forth several Papers having a Friend to write for me some of which I sent by the first Conveyance for England to be Printed After I had rested three or four Days at Richard Forstall's where many Friends came to visit me John Rous having borrowed a Coach of one of his Acquaintance there called Colonel Chamberlain came to fetch me in it to his Father Thomas Rous's House Tho. Rous. But it was late e're we could get thither and little or no Rest could I take that Night A few days after that Colonel Chamberlain who had so kindly lent his Coach came thither to give me a Visit and carried himself very courteously towards me Soon after I came into the Island I was Informed of a remarkable Passage wherein the Justice of God did eminently appear It was thus Example There was a Young-Man of Barbados whose Name was John Drakes a Person of some Note in the World's Account but a Common Swearer and a bad Man who having been in England and at London had a mind to Marry a Young Maid that was a Friend's Daughter left by her Mother very Young and with a Considerable Portion to the Care and Government of several Friends whereof I was one He made his Application to me that he might have my Consent to Marry this Young Maid I told him I was one of her Overseers Appointed by her Mother who was a Widow to take Care of her that if her Mother had intended her for a Match to any Man of the World she would have disposed her accordingly but she Committed her to Vs that she might be Trained up in the Fear of the Lord and therefore I should betray the Trust reposed in me if I should consent that he who was out of the Fear of God should Marry her which I would not do When he saw that he could not obtain he returned to Barbados with great Offence of Mind against me but without just Cause Afterwards when he heard I was coming to Barbados he swore desperately and threatned That if he could possibly procure it he would have me burned to Death when I came there Which a Friend hearing asked him What I had done to him that he was so violent against me He would not Answer but said again I 'll have him burnt Whereupon the Friend replied Do not march on too furiously lest thou come too soon to thy Journey 's End About ten days after this he was struck with a Violent Burning Fever of which he died and by which his Body was so scorched that the People took notice of it and said It was as black as a Coal And three days before I landed his Body was laid in the Dust and it was taken notice of as a sad Example While I continued thus Weak that I could not go abroad to Meetings the other Friends that came over with me bestirred themselves in the Lord's Work for the next day but one after we came on Shore they had a great Meeting at the Bridge Bridge and after that several Meetings in several parts of the Island which alarmed the People of all sorts so that many came to our Meetings and some of the Chiefest Rank For they had got my Name understanding I was come upon the Island and expected to have seen me at those Meetings not knowing that I was Weak and unable to go abroad And indeed my Weakness continued the longer on me by reason that my Spirit was much pressed down at the first with the Filth and Dirt and Vnrighteousness of the People which lay as an heavy Weight and Load upon me But after I had been above a Month upon the Island my Spirit became somewhat Easier and I began to recover in some measure my Health and Strength and to get abroad among Friends In the mean time having opportunity to send for England I writ to Friends there to let them know how it was with me as followeth Dear Friends I have been very Weak these Seven Weeks past and so not able to Write my self My Desire is to you and for you all that ye may live in the Fear of God and in Love one unto another and be Subject one to another in the Fear of God I have been Weaker in my Body than ever I was in my Life that I remember yea my Pains have been such as I cannot express But yet my Heart and Spirit is strong I have hardly Sweat these Seven Weeks past though I am come into a very hot Climate where hardly any but are well nigh continually Sweating But as for me my old Bruises Colds Numness and Pains struck inwardly even to my very Heart So that little Rest I have taken and the chiefest things that were comfortable to my Stomach were a little Water and powdered Ginger But now I begin to drink a little Beer as well as Water and sometimes a little Wine and Water mixed Great Pains and Travels I have felt and in measure am under But it is well my Life is over all This Island was to me as all of a Fire e're I came to it but now it is somewhat quenched and abated I came in Weakness amongst those that are Strong and have so continued but now am
got a little Cheary and over it Many Friends and some considerable Persons of the World have been with me I tired out my Body much when amongst you in England it is the Lord's Power that helps me Therefore I desire you all to prize the Power of the Lord and his Truth I was but a Weak Man in Body when I came away from you after I had been in my great Travel amongst you but after that it struck all back again into my Body which was not well settled after so sore Travels in England And then was I so tired at Sea that I could not rest and have had little or no Stomach a long time Since I came into this Island my Life hath been very much burdened But I hope if the Lord give me Strength to manage his Work I shall work throughly and bring things that have been out of Course into better Order So Dear Friends live all in the peaceable Truth and in the Love of it serving the Lord in Newness of Life For glorious Things and precious Truths have been manifested among you plentifully and to you the Riches of the Kingdom have been reached I have been almost a Month in this Island but have not been able to go abroad or ride out only very lately I rid out twice a Quarter of a Mile at a time which wearied me much and almost tired me My Love in the Truth is to you all G. F. Now because I was not yet well able to Travel the Friends of the Island concluded to have their Men's-Meeting and their Womens-Meeting for the Service of the Church at Thomas Rous's where I lay by which means I was present amongst them at each of their Meetings and had very good Service for the Lord in both For they had need of Information in many things and divers Disorders were crept in for want of Care and Watchfulness Wherefore I exhorted them more especially at the Mens-Meeting to be watchful and careful with respect to Marriages to prevent Friends Marrying in near Kindreds and also to prevent over-hasty proceedings toward Second Marriages after the Death of a former Husband or Wife advising that a decent Regard were had in such Cases to the Memory of the Deceased Husband or Wife And as to Friends Children marrying too young as at Thirteen or Fourteen Years of Age I shewed them the Unfitness thereof and the Inconveniences and Hurts that attend such Childish Marriages And I admonished them all to purge the Floor throughly and to sweep their Houses very clean that nothing might remain that would defile And that all should take care that nothing be spoken out of their Meetings to the blemishing or defaming one of another Likewise concerning Registring of Marriages Births and Burials I advised them to keep Exact Records of each in distinct Books for that only use and also to Record in a Book for that purpose the Condemnations of such as went out from Truth into Disorderly Practices and the Repentance and Restoration of such of them as returned again Also I recommended to their Care the providing of convenient Burying Places for Friends which in some parts were yet wanting Some Directions also I gave them concerning Wills and the Ordering of Legacies left by Friends for publick Vses and other things relating to the Affairs of the Church Then as to their Blacks or Negro's I desired them to endeavour to train them up in the Fear of God as well them that were bought with their Money as them that were born in their Families that all might come to the Knowledge of the Lord that so with Joshua they might every Master of a Family say As for me and my House we will serve the Lord. I desired them also that they would cause their Overseers to deal mildly and gently with their Negro's and not use Cruelty towards them as the manner of some hath been and is And that after certain Years of Servitude they would make them free Many sweet and precious things were opened in these Meetings by the Spirit and in the Power of the Lord to the edifying confirming and building up of Friends both in the Faith and holy Order of the Gospel After these Meetings were over the Vessel that was bound for England not being yet gone I was moved to write another Epistle to Friends there the Copy whereof here follows DEar Friends and Brethren to whom is my Love in that which never changeth but remains in Glory which is over all the Top and Corner-stone In this all have Peace and Life as ye dwell in the blessed Seed wherein all is blest over that which brought the Curse where all Shortness and Narrowness of Spirit is and Brittleness and Peevishness is Therefore keep the Holy Order of the Gospel and keep in this blessed Seed where all may be kept in Temperance in Patience in Love in Meekness in Righteousness and Holiness and in Peace in which the Lord may be seen amongst you and no ways dishonoured but glorified by you all And so in all your Meetings in Cities Towns and Countries Mens-Meetings Womens-Meetings and others let Righteousness slow among you and the Holy Truth be uppermost and the pure Spirit your Guide and Leader and the holy Wisdom your Orderer that is pure and gentle and from above and easie to be entreated So keep in the Religion that keeps from the Spots of the World which is pure and undefiled in God's Sight And keep in the pure and holy Worship in which the pure and holy God is worshipped to wit in the Spirit and in the Truth which the Devil is out of who is the Author of all Vnholiness and of dishonouring of God So be all tender of God's Glory and tender of his Honour and of his blessed and holy Name in which ye are gathered And all who do profess the Truth see that ye Walk in it and in Righteousness and Godliness and Holiness For Holiness becomes the House of God the Houshold of Faith And that which becomes God's House God loves for he loves Righteousness and that is the Ornament which becomes his House and all his Family Therefore see that Righteousness do run down in all your Assemblies and that it flow to drive away all the Vnrighteousness This preserves your Peace with God for in Righteousness ye have all Peace with the righteous God of Peace and one with another And so every one that bears the Name of the Anointed that high Title of being a Christian named after the Heavenly Man see that ye be in the Divine Nature and made conformable unto his Image even the Image of the Heavenly Divine Man who was before that Image which Adam and Eve got in the Fall from the Devil So that in none of you that fallen Image may appear or be seen but his Image and you made Conformable unto him Here Translation is shewed forth in Life and Conversation not in Words only yea and Conversion and Repentance which
is a Change of the Nature of the Mind and of the Heart and of the Spirit and Affections which have been below which come to be set above and so receive the things that are from Above and have the Conversation in Heaven above not that Conversation which is according to the Power of the Prince of the Air that now rules in the Disobedient So all be faithful This is the Word of the Lord God unto you all See that Godliness do flow and Holiness and Righteousness and Truth and Vertue and the Fruits of the Good Spirit over the Bad and its Fruits that ye may answer that which is of God in all for your Heavenly Father is glorified in that you bear and bring forth much Fruit to God Therefore ye who are Plants of his planting and his Trees of Righteousness see that every Tree be full of Fruit. And all keep in the true Humility and in the true Love of God which doth edify his Body that the true Nourishment from the Head the Refreshings and Springs and Rivers of Water and Bread of Life may be plenteously known and felt amongst you that so Praises may ascend to God So all be faithful to the Lord God and just and true in all your Dealings and Doings with end towards Men. And be not negligent in your Men's Meetings to admonish and to exhort and to reprove in the Spirit of Love and of Meekness and to seek that which is lost and to bring back again that which hath been driven away So let all Minds and Spirits and Souls and Hearts be bended down under the Yoke of Christ Jesus the Power of God Much I could write but am Weak and have been very Weak mostly since I left you and Burdens and Travels I have been under and gone through many ways but it is well And the Lord Almighty knows my Work which he hath sent me forth to do by his everlasting Arm and Power which is from Everlasting to Everlasting blessed be his Holy Name which I am in and in which my Love is to you all G. F. After I had recovered so much Strength that I was able to go abroad and had been a little amongst Friends I went to visit the Governour at his House Lewis Morice Thomas Rouse and some other Friends being with me And indeed he received us very Civilly and treated us very kindly making us Dine with him and keeping us most part of the Day before he let us go away Bridge-Town The same Week I went down to the Bridge-Town where I had not been before save as I passed through it when I first came into the Island There was to be a General Meeting of Friends that Week and the Visit I had newly made to the Governour and kind Reception I had with him being generally known to the Officers both Civil and Military there came many of them to this Meeting from most parts of the Island and those not of the meanest Rank divers of them being Judges or Justices Colonels or Captains so that a very great Meeting we had both of Friends and others The Lord 's Blessed Power was plentifully with us in this Meeting And although I was somewhat straitned for Time three other Friends having spoken before me yet the Lord opened things through me to the general and great Satisfaction of them that were present Col. Lewis Morice came to this Meeting and with him a Neighbour of his a Judge in the Country whose Name was Ralph Fretwell who was very well satisfied with the Meeting and received the Truth After the Meeting I went home with Lewis Morice to his House that Night being about Nine or Ten Miles going part of the way by Boat the rest on Horse-back This place where Lewis Morice his Plantation was I thought to be the finest Air of the Island The next day Thomas Briggs and William Edmundson came thither to see me they intending to leave the Island the day following and to go upon the Lord's Service to Antego and Mevis Lewis Morice went with them and at Antego they had several good Meetings to which there was a great Resort of People and many were Convinced there at that time But when they had finished their Service there and went thence to Mevis the Governour of Mevis who was an old Persecutor sent Souldiers on Board the Vessel to stop them from coming on Shore and would not suffer them to Land Wherefore after Friends of the Place had been on Board the Vessel and with them and they had been sweetly Refreshed together in feeling the Lord's Power and Presence amongst them they returned to Antego again Where having staid a while longer they came back again to Barbados Thomas Brigges being very Weak and Ill. Of the other Friends that came over with me from England James Lancaster John Cartwright and Geo. Pattison were gone some time before to Jamaica and others to other places so that few remained in Barbados with me Yet we had many great and precious Meetings both for Worship and for the Affairs of the Church to the former of which many of the World came At one of these Meetings there came amongst others one Col. Lyne a sober Person who was so very well satisfied with what I declared that he afterward said Now I can gainsay such as I have heard speak evil of you who say you do not own Christ nor that he died whereas I perceive you exalt Christ in all his Offices beyond what I have ever heard before This Man observing one to take in Writing the Heads of what I delivered desired him to let him have a Copy of it and afterward staid another day with us before he went away so great a Love was raised in him to the Truth And indeed a very great Convincement there was in most parts of the Island which made the Priests and some Professors fret and rage Our Meetings were very large and full and free from disturbance from the Government though the envious Priests and Professors endeavoured to stir up the Magistrates against us And when they found they could not prevail that way some of them that were Baptists came to the Meeting at the Town which was very large and full of People of several Ranks and Qualities A great Company came also with them and they brought with them a malicious slanderous Paper written by John Pennyman with which they made a great Noise But the Lord gave me Wisdom and Vtterance to Answer their Cavils So that the Auditory generally received Satisfaction and those quarrelsome Professors lost ground by their coming When they had wearied themselves with Clamour they went away but the People staying the Meeting was continued and the things they cavilled about were further opened and cleared and the Life and Power of God came over all But the Rage and Envy in our Adversaries did not cease but they endavoured to defame Friends with many false and scandalous Reports which they spread
to love their Masters and Mistresses and to be faithful and diligent in their Master's Service and Business and then their Masters and Overseers would love them and deal kindly and gently with them And that they should not beat their Wives nor the Wives their Husbands neither should the Men have many Wives And that they should not Steal nor be Drunk nor commit Adultery nor Fornication nor Curse nor Swear nor Lie nor give bad Words to one another nor to any one else For there is something in them that tells them they should not practise those nor any other Evils But if they notwithstanding should do them then we let them know There are but Two Ways the one that leads to Heaven where the Righteous go and the other that leads to Hell where the Wicked and Debauched Whoremongers and Adulterers Murderers and Liars go To the one the Lord will say Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World but to the other he will say Depart ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels So the Wicked go into everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal Matth. 25. Now consider Friends It is no Transgression for a Master of a Family to instruct his Family himself or for some others to do it in his behalf but rather it is a very great Duty incumbent upon them Abraham and Joshua did so of the first we read the Lord said Gen. 18.19 I know that Abraham will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the Way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham the things that he hath spoken of him And the latter we read said Josh 24.15 Chuse ye this day whom ye will serve But as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. We do declare that we do esteem it a Duty incumbent on us to Pray with and for to Teach Instruct and Admonish those in and belonging to our Families this being a Command of the Lord the Disobedience whereunto will provoke the Lord's Displeasure as may be seen in Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy Fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name Now Negroes Tawnies Indians make up a very great part of the Families in this Island for whom an Account will be required by him who comes to Judge both Quick and Dead at the great Day of Judgment when every one shall be Rewarded according to the Deeds done in the Body whether they be good or whether they be evil At that Day I say of the Resurrection both of the Good and of the Bad of the Just and the Vnjust when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe in that day 2 Thess 1.8 c. See also 2 Pet. 3.3 c. This wicked Slander of our endeavouring to make the Negroes Rebell our Adversaries took occasion to raise from our having had some Meetings with and amongst the Negroes For both I and other Friends had several Meetings with them in several Plantations wherein we exhorted them to Justice Sobriety Temperance Chastity and Piety and to be subject to their Masters and Governours Which was altogether contrary to what our envious Adversaries maliciously suggested against us As I had been to visit the Governour as soon as I was well able after I came thither so sometime after when I was at Thomas Rouse's the Governour came thither to see me carrying himself very courteously Having now been Three Months or more in Barbados and in that time having visited Friends throughly settled Meetings and dispatched that Service for which the Lord brought me thither I felt my Spirit clear of that Island and Drawings to Jamaica Which when I had communicated to Friends I acquainted the Governour also and divers of his Council That I intended shortly to leave the Island and go to Jamaica which I did that as my Coming thither was open and publick so my Departure also might be But before I left the Island I writ the following Letter to my Wife that she might understand both how it was with me and how I proceeded in my Travels My Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to all the Children in the Seed of Life that changeth not but is over all blessed be the Lord for ever I have gone under great Sufferings in my Body and Spirit beyond Words but the God of Heaven be praised his Truth is over all I am now well and if the Lord permit within a few days I pass from Barbados towards Jamaica and I do think to stay but little there I desire that ye may be all kept free in the Seed of Life out of all Cumbrances Friends are generally well Remember me to Friends that enquire after me So no more but my Love in the Seed and Life that changeth not Barbados the 6th of the 11th Month 1671. G. F. I set Sail from Barbados to Jamaica on the Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 1671. Robert Widders William Edmundson At Sea Solomon Eccles and Elizabeth Hooton going with me James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison were gone thither some time before and Thomas Briggs and John Stubbs remained yet longer in Barbados with whom were John Rouse and William Baily We had a quick and easie Passage to Jamaica JAMAICA where we met with our Friends James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison again who had been labouring there in the Service of Truth into which we forthwith entred with them travelling up and down through the Island which is large And a brave Country it is though the People are many of them debauched and wicked We had much Service there for there was a great Convincement 1671. Jamaica and many received the Truth some of which were People of Account in the World We had many Meetings there which were large and very quiet For indeed the People were Civil to us so that not a Mouth was opened against us I was twice with the Governour and some other of the Magistrates who all carried themselves lovingly towards me About a Week after we landed in Jamaica Elizabeth Hooton who went with us from England to Barbados and from Barbados thither being a Woman of a great Age and who had travelled much in Truth 's Service and suffered much for it departed this Life She was well the Day before she died and departed in Peace like a Lamb bearing Testimony to Truth at her Departure When we had been about Seven Weeks in Jamaica and had brought
Friends into pretty good Order and settled several Meetings amongst them we left Solomon Eccles there the rest of us embarked for Maryland leaving Friends and Truth prosperous in Jamaica the Lord's Power being over all and his blessed Seed reigning But before I left Jamaica I writ another Letter to my Wife as followeth My Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to the Children in that which changeth not but is over all and to all Friends in those parts I have been at Jamaica about Five Weeks and Friends here are generally well and here is a Convincement but things would be too large to write of Sufferings in every place attend me but the blessed Seed is over all the great Lord be praised who is Lord of Sea and Land and of all things therein We intend to pass away from hence about the beginning of the nexth Month and we shall pass towards Maryland if the Lord please Dwell all of you in the Seed of God In his Truth I rest in Love to you all Jamaica 23d of the 12th Month 1671. G. F. At Sea We went on Board on the 8th of the First Month 1671 2 and having Contrary Winds were a full Week sailing forwards and backwards before we could get out of sight of Jamaica A difficult Voyage this proved and pretty dangerous especially in our passing through the Gulf of Florida where we met with many Trials by Winds and Storms But the great God who is Lord of the Seas and of the Land and who rideth upon the Wings of the Wind did by his Power preserve us through many and great Dangers when by extream Stress of Weather our Vessel was divers times like to be Over-set and much of her Tackling broken And indeed we were sensible that the Lord was a God at hand and that his Ear was open to the Supplications of his People For when the Winds were so strong and boisterous and the Storms and Tempests so great that the Sailers knew not what to do but were fain to let the Ship go which way she would then did we pray unto the Lord 1672. Jamaica And the Lord did graciously hear and accept us and did Calm the Winds and the Seas and gave us seasonable Weather and made us to Rejoice in his Salvation blessed and praised be the holy Name of the Lord whose Power hath Dominion over all and whom the Winds and the Seas obey We were at Sea betwixt Six and Seven Weeks in this Passage from Jamaica to Maryland But some days before we came to Land At Sea after we had entred the Bay of Potuxan-River a great Storm arose Potuxan River which cast a Boat upon us for Shelter in which were divers Persons both Men and Women People of Account outwardly in the World We took them in but the Boat was lost with Five Hundred Pounds worth of Goods in it as they said They continued on Board us several days not having any means to get off and we had a very good Meeting with them in the Ship But Provision grew short for they brought none in with them and ours by reason of the length of our Voyage was well nigh spent when they came to us So that with their living upon it too we had now little or none left Whereupon George Pattison took a Boat and ventured his Life to get to Shore the Hazard whereof was so great that all but Friends concluded he would be Cast away Yet it pleased the Lord to bring him safe to Land MARY-LAND and in a short time after the Friends of the Place came to fetch us to Land also in a seasonable time for our Provisions were quite spent We partook also of another great Deliverance in this Voyage through the good Providence of the Lord which we came to understand afterwards For when we were determined to come from Jamaica we had our Choice of two Vessels that were both bound for the same Coast One of these was a Frigot the other was called a Yacht The Master of the Frigot we thought asked unreasonably for our Passage which made us Agree with the Master of the Yacht who offered to carry us Ten Shillings a-piece cheaper than the other We went on Board the Yacht and the Frigot came out together with us intending to be Consorts during the Voyage and for several Days we sailed together But what with Calms and Contrary Winds we were in a while separated And after that the Frigot losing her way fell among the Spaniards by whom she was taken and robbed and the Master and Mate made Prisoners Afterwards being retaken by the English she was sent home to her Owners in Virginia Which when we came to understand we saw and admired the Providence of God who preserved us out of our Enemies Hands and he that was Covetous fell among the Covetous Some Friends at Jamaica would have had us gone in the Frigot that was taken but the Lord in his Wisdom ordered it otherwise Here we found John Burneyate intending shortly to Sail for Old England but upon our Arrival he altered his purpose and joined with us in the Lord's Service which we were upon He had appointed a General Meeting for all the Friends in the Province of Maryland that he might see them together and take his Leave of them before he departed out of the Country And it was so ordered by the good Providence of God that we landed just time enough to reach that Meeting by which means we had a very seasonable Opportunity of taking the Friends of the Province together 1672. Maryland A very large Meeting this was and held Four Days to which besides Friends came many of the World's People divers of which were of considerable Quality in the World's Account For there were amongst them five or six Justices of the Peace a Speaker of their Parliament or Assembly One of the Council and divers others of Note who seemed well satisfied with the Meeting After the Publick Meetings were over the Mens and Womens Meetings began wherein I opened to Friends the Service thereof to their great Satisfaction After this we went to another Place Cliffs called the Cliffs where another General Meeting was appointed We went some part of the way by Land and the rest by Water and a Storm arising our Boat was run on ground in danger to be beaten to pieces and the Water came in upon us I was in a great Sweat having come very hot out of a Meeting before and now was Wet with the Water beside yet having Faith in the Power of the Lord I was preserved from taking hurt blessed be the Lord. To this Meeting also many of the World's People came and did receive the Truth with Reverence We had also a Mens-Meeting and a Womens-Meeting at which most of the Back-sliders came in again and several of those Meetings were established for taking Care of the Affairs of the Church After these Two General Meetings
and set over all and they were all brought down and bowed under which was of great Service to Truth and great Satisfaction and Comfort to Friends Glory to the Lord for ever After this Meeting were over and Friends were gone to their several Habitations we staid some Days upon the Island and had several Meetings in several parts thereof and had good Service for the Lord. Oister-bay And when we were clear of the Island we returned to Oister-Bay waiting for a Wind to carry us to Road-Island which was computed to be about two hundred Miles As soon as the Wind served we set Sail ROAD-ISLAND and arrived in Road-Island on the thirtieth Day of the Third Month where we were gladly received by Friends We went to Nicholas Easton's House who at that time was Governour of the Island and there we lay being very weary with travelling by Land and Sea On the First-Day of the Week following we had a large Meeting to which the Deputy-Governour and several Justices came and were mightily affected with the Truth The Week following the Yearly Meeting for all the Friends of New-England Yearly Meeting and the other Colonies adjacent was held in this Island to which besides very many Friends who lived in those parts came John Stubbs from Barbados and James Lancaster and John Cartwright from another way This Meeting lasted Six Days of which the first four Days were general publick Meetings for Worship to which abundance of the World's People came For they having no Priests in the Island and so no Restriction to any particular Way of Worship and both the Governour and Deputy-Governour with several Justices of the Peace daily frequenting the Meetings this did so encourage the People that they flocked in from all parts of the Island Very good Service we had amongst them and Truth had a good Reception with them And indeed to give them their due I have rarely observed a People in the State wherein they stood to hear with more Attention Diligence and Affection than generally they did during the four Days together which also was taken notice of by other Friends After these publick Meetings were over the Mens-Meeting began which was large 1672. Road-Island Yearly-Meeting precious and weighty and the day following was the Womens-Meeting which also was large and very solemn and these two Meetings being for the Ordering the Affairs of the Church many weighty things were opened and communicated to them by Way of Advice Information and Instruction in the Services relating thereunto that all might be kept clean sweet and savoury amongst them In these two Meetings several Mens and Womens Meetings for other parts were agreed and settled to take Care of the Poor and other Affairs of the Church and to see that all who profess Truth walk according to the glorious Gospel of God Now when this great and General Meeting in Road-Island was ended it was somewhat hard for Friends to part For the glorious Power of the Lord which was over all and his blessed Truth and Life flowing amongst them had so knit and united them together that they spent two Days in taking leave one of another and of the Friends of the Island and then being mightily filled with the Presence and Power of the Lord they went away with joyful Hearts to their several Habitations in the several Colonies where they lived When this General Meeting was fully over and Friends had taken their Leaves one of another to depart home we who travelled amongst them dispersed our selves into our several Services according as the Lord ordered us John Burneyate with John Cartwright and George Pattison went into the Eastern parts of New-England in Company with the Friends that came from thence to visit the particular Meetings there whom John Stubbs and James Lancaster intended to follow a while after in the same Service of Truth but they were not yet Clear of this Island Robert Widders and I staid some time longer also upon this Island finding Service still here for the Lord through the great Openness of the People and the daily Coming in of Fresh People in Sloops from other Colonies for some time after the General Meeting was over So that we had many large and serviceable Meetings among them for several Days after During the time that we abode here there was a Marriage celebrated amongst Friends in this Island and we were at it It was at a Friend's House who had formerly been Governour of the Island and three Justices of the Peace and many others of the World's People were there and both they and Friends said They never saw such a Solemn Assembly on such an Occasion and so weighty a Marriage and so comely an Order Thus Truth was set over all and this might serve for an Example to others for there were some present from many other places After this I had a great Travel in Spirit concerning the Ranters for there were many of them in those parts and they had been rude at a Meeting which I was not at Wherefore I appointed a Meeting amongst them and I believed the Lord would give me Power over them and he did so to his Praise and Glory blessed be his Name for ever There were at this Meeting many Friends and divers of the World's People some of whom were Justices of the Peace and other Officers and they were generally well affected with the Truth But one of the Justices who had been a Justice twenty Years was Convinced 1672. Providence and spake highly of the Truth and more highly of me than is fit for me to mention or take notice of Then we had a Meeting at a place called Providence which was very large as consisting of many Sorts and Sects of People and I had a great Travel upon my Spirit concerning the Meeting that it might be preserved quiet and that Truth might be brought over the People and might gain an Entrance and have a Place in them For they were generally above the Priests in high Notions and some of them came on purpose to dispute But the Lord whom we waited upon was with us and his Power went over them all and his blessed Seed was exalted and set above all and the Disputers were silent and the Meeting was quiet and ended well praised be the Lord And the People went away mightily satisfied much desiring another Meeting This place called Providence was about Thirty Miles from Road-Island and we went to it by Water The Governour of Road-Island and many others went with me thither and we had the Meeting in a great Barn which was throng'd with People so that I was exceeding hot and in a great Sweat but all was well the glorious Power of the Lord shined over all Glory to the great God for ever Narraganset After this we went to another place called Narraganset about Twenty Miles from Road-Island and the Governour went with us There we had a Meeting at a Justice's House
where Friends had never had any Meeting before And the Meeting was very large for the Country generally came in and People came also from Connecticut and other parts round about There were amongst them four Justices of the Peace and most of these People were such as had never heard Friends before but they were mightily affected with the Meeting and a great Desire there is after the Truth amongst that People So that our Meeting was of very good Service blessed be the Lord for ever The Justice at whose House the Meeting was and another Justice of that Country invited me to come again but I was then clear of those parts and was going off towards Shelter-Island But John Burnyeate and John Cartwright being come back out of New-England into Road-Island before I was gone I laid this place before them and they felt Drawings thither and went to visit them At another place I heard some of the Magistrates should say among themselves If they had Money enough they would hire me to be their Minister This was where they did not well understand Vs and our Principles But when I heard of it I said It was time for me to be gone for if their Eye was so much to Me or any of Vs they would not come to their own Teacher For this thing of hiring Ministers had spoiled many by hindring them from improving their own Talents whereas our Labour is to bring every one to their own Teacher in themselves Now after we had had very good Service for the Lord in Road-Island and the Parts adjacent and that John Burneyate with the other Friends that went from the General Meeting here into New-England were returned hither again I went off from hence to Shelter-Island having with me Robert Widders James Lancaster George Pattison and one John Jay a Planter in Barbados and leaving John Stubbs and John Burneyate in Road-Island to Water 1672. Road-Island what had been Planted by the Lord there and there-aways who expected John Cartwright whom they had left at Piscataway to come and join shortly with them in the same Service We that were for Shelter-Island went off in a Sloop and passing by Point-Juda and Block-Island Point Juda Block Island Fisher's Island came to Fishers Island where at Night we went on Shore but were not able to stay for the Muschetos a sort of Gnats or little Flies which abound there and are very troublesom Wherefore we went into our Sloop again and put off from the Shore and cast Anchor and so lay in our Sloop that Night Next day we went into the Sound The Sound but finding our Sloop was not able to live in that Water we turned in again for we could not pass that way and so came to Anchor again before Fisher's-Island where we lay in our Sloop that Night also There fell abundance of Rain that Night and our Sloop being open we were exceeding wet The Two Horse-Races Garner's Island Gull 's Island Shelter Island Next day we passed over the Waters called the two Horse Races and then by Garner's Island after which we passed by the Gull's-Island and so got at length to Shelter-Island which though it was but about Twenty seven Leagues from Road-Island yet through the Difficulty of Passage we were three Days in getting thither The Day after we came thither being the First Day of the Week we had a Meeting there Afterwards in the same Week I had a Meeting among the Indians there at which were their King with his Council and about an hundred Indians more They sate down like Friends and heard very attentively while I spake to them by an Interpreter an Indian that could speak English well After the Meeting they appeared very loving and confessed that what was said to them was Truth On the next First-Day we had a great Meeting on the Island to which came many of the World's People that had never heard Friends before They were very well satisfied with the Meeting and would not go away when the Meeting was done till they had spoken with me Wherefore I went amongst them and found they were much taken with the Truth and good Desires were raised in them and a great Love Blessed be the Lord his Name spreads and will be great among the Nations and Dreadful among the Heathen While we were in Shelter-Island William Edmundson came to us who had been labouring in the Work of the Lord in Virginia From whence he travelled through the Desert-Country through Difficulties and many Trials till he came to Roan-Oak where he met with a tender People And after Seven Weeks Service in those parts sailing over to Mary-land and so to New-York he came from thence to Long-Island and so to Shelter-Island where we met with him and were very glad to hear from him the good Service he had had for the Lord in the several Countries and Places wherein he had travelled since he parted from us We staid not long in Shelter-Island but entring our Sloop again At Sea put forth to Sea for Long-Island We had a very rough Passage for the Tide did run so strong for several Hours that I have not seen the like and being against us we could hardly get forwards though we had a Gale We were upon the Water all that Day and the Night following but found our selves next Day driven back near unto Fisher's-Island For there was a great Fog and towards Day it was very dark 1672. New-England so that we could not see what way we made and besides it rained much in the Night which in our open Sloop made us very wet Next day a great Storm arose so that we were fain to go over the Sound and did get over with much ado When we had gotten from Fisher's-Island Faulcon Island we passed by Faulcon-Island and came to the Main where we cast Anchor till the Storm was over Sound and then we came over the Sound being all very wet and much difficulty we had to get to Land the Wind being strong against us But blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth and of the Seas and Waters Long Island Oister-bay all was well and we got safe to Oister-Bay in Long-Island on the Seventh Day of the Sixth Month very early in the Morning which they say is about two hundred Miles from Road-Island At Oister-Bay we had a very large Meeting and the same day James Lancaster and Christopher Holder went over the Bay to Rye on the Continent in Governour Winthrop's Government and had a Meeting there Flushing From Oister-Bay we passed about Thirty Miles to Flushing where we had a very large Meeting many Hundreds of the People of the World being there some or whom came about Thirty Miles to it A glorious and heavenly Meeting it was praised be the Lord God! and the People were much satisfied Mean while Christopher Holder and some other Friends went to a Town in Long-Island called
Jamaica and had a Meeting there We passed from Flushing to Gravesands Gravesands about Twenty Miles and there had three precious Meetings to which many would have come from New-York but that the Weather hindred them Then being clear of this Place we hired a Sloop and the Wind serving we set forth for the New-Country now called Jersey And passing down the Bay JERSEY Conny-Island Natton-Island Stratton-Island Middletown-Harbour by Conny-Island and Natton-Island and Stratton-Island we came to Rich. Hartshorn's at Middletown-Harbour about Break of Day in the Morning on the 27th of the Sixth Month. Next day we rode about Thirty Miles in that Country through the Woods and over very bad Boggs one worse than all the rest the Descent into which was so sleep that we were fain to slide down with our Horses and then let them lie and breath themselves before they could go on This place the People of the Country called PVRGATORY We got at length to Shrewsbury in East-Jersey East-Jersey Sâ—rewsbury and on the First-Day of the Week had a precious Meeting there to which Friends and other People came far and the blessed Presence of the Lord was with us The same Week we had a Mens and Womens Meeting out of most parts of New-Jersey They are building a Meeting-Place in the Midst of them and there is a Monthly and General Meeting set up which will be of great Service in those parts in keeping up the Gospel-Order and Government of Christ Jesus of the Increase of which there is no End that they who are faithful may see that all who profess the holy Truth do live in the pure Religion and walk as becometh the Gospel While we were here at Shrewsbury an Accident befell which for the time was a great Exercise to us There was one John Jay a Friend of Barbados who came with us from Road-Island and intended to accompany us through the Woods to Mary-land He being to Trie an Horse got upon his Back and the Horse fell a running and cast him down upon his Head and brake his Neck as the People said They that were near him took him up Dead 1672. Jersey-Shrewsbury and carried him a good Way and laid him on a Tree I got to him as soon as I could and feeling on him concluded he was Dead And as I stood by him pitying him and his Family I took hold of his Hair and his Head turned any way his Neck was so limber Whereupon ☜ throwing away my Stick and my Gloves I took his Head in both my Hands and setting my Knees against the Tree I raiâ—ed his Head and perceived there was nothing out or broken that Way Then I put one Hand under his Chin and the other behind his Head and raised his Head two or three times with all my Strength and brought it in I soon perceived his Neck began to grow stiff again and then he began to rattle in the Throat and quickly after to breath The People were amazed but I bid them Have a good Heart and be of good Faith and carry him into the House They did so and set him by the Fire but I bid them Get him some warm thing to drink and put him to Bed After he had been in the House a while he began to speak but did not know where he had been The next day we passed away and he with us pretty well about Sixteen Miles Middle town to a Meeting at Middletown through Woods and Boggs and over a River where we swam our Horses and got over our selves upon a hollow Tree and many hundred of Miles did he travel with us after this To this Meeting came most of the People of the Town and a glorious Meeting we had and the Truth was over all blessed be the great Lord God for ever Middletown Harbour After the Meeting we went to Middletown-Harbour about five Miles in order to take our long Journey next Morning through the Woods towards Mary-land having hired Indians for our Guides for I determined to pass through the Woods on the other side of Delaware-Bay that so we might head the Creeks and Rivers as much as was possible So on the Ninth Day of the Seventh Month we set forwards Indian Towns and passed through many Indian Towns and over some Rivers and Boggs And when we had ridden about Forty Miles we made us a Fire at Night and lay by it As we came among the Indians we declared the Day of the Lord to them Next Day we travelled fifty Miles as we computed And at Night finding an Old House which the Indians had forced the People to leave we made a Fire and lay there at the Head of Delaware-Bay DELAWARE-Bay Upper-Diuidock The next Day we swam our Horses over a River about a Mile at twice first to an Island called Vpper Dinidock and then to the Main Land having hired Indians to help us over in their Canoos This day we could reach but about Thirty Miles and came at Night to a Swede's House where we got a little Straw and lay there that Night Next day having hired another Guide we travelled about Forty Miles through the Woods and made us a Fire at Night by which we lay and dried our selves for we were often wet in our Travels in the day-time The next day we passed over a desperate River which had in it many Rocks and broad Stones very hazardous to us and our Horses From thence we came to Christian-River Christian River where we swam over our Horses and went over our selves in Canoos but the sides of this River were so bad and miery that some of the Horses had like to have been laid up From thence we came to a Town called Newcastle 1672. N wcastle alias New-Amsterdam heretofore called New-Amsterdam and being very weary and inquiring in the Town where we might buy some Corn for our Horses the Governour came into the Street and invited me to his House and afterwards desired me to lodge there telling me he had a Bed for me and I should be welcom So I staid there the other Friends being taken care of also This was on the Seventh Day of the Week and he offering his House for a Meeting we had a Meeting there the next Day a pretty large one for the Chief of the Town and indeed most of the Town were at it Here had never been a Meeting before nor any within a great Way of it but this was a very precious One and many of the People both Men and Women were tender and confessed to the Truth and some received it blessed be the Lord for ever On the Sixteenth of the Seventh Month we set forward again from hence and travelled as near as we could compute about Fifty Miles that Day Bohemia River Saxisrax River through the Woods and over the Boggs heading Bohemia-River and Saxifrax River At Night we made us a Fire as we used to do
another Friend's House near the Head of Hatton's-Island Hatton's-Island where we had good Service amongst Friends and others as we had also the Day following at Geo. Wilson's a Friend that lived about three Miles further where we had a very precious Meeting there being a great Tenderness amongst the People After this Meeting we sailed thence about Ten Miles to James Frizby's who was a Justice of the Peace and there on the Sixteenth of the Eighth Month we had a very large Meeting at which besides Friends were some Hundreds of People as it was supposed and amongst them were several Justices of the Peace and Captains and the Sheriff with other Persons of Note in the World's Account A blessed heavenly Meeting this was and a powerful thundering Testimony for Truth was born therein and a great Sense there was upon the People and a great Brokenness and Tenderness was amongst them We stay'd after Meeting till about the Eleventh Hour in the Night that the Tide turned and was with us and then taking Boat again we passed that Night and the next Day about Fifty Miles to another Friend's House The two next days we made short Journies visiting Friends and on the Twentieth we had a great Meeting at a place called Severn Severn where there was a Meeting-Place but not large enough to hold the People by many for the People of those parts came generally to it Divers of the Chief Magistrates were at it and many other considerable People and it gave them generally great Satisfaction Two days after we had a Meeting with some that walked disorderly and we had good Service in it Then spending a day or two in visiting Friends thereabouts Western-Shore we passed to the Western-Shore and on the Twenty fifth Day had a large and precious Meeting at William Coale's where the Speaker of their Assembly with his Wife and a Justice of Peace and several other People of Quality were present Next Day we had a Meeting six or seven Miles further at Abraham Birkhead's where many of the Magistrates and upper sort of People were and the Speaker of the Parliament or Assembly for that Country was Convinced A blessed Meeting it was praised be the Lord. We travelled on next Day and on the Day following which was the Twenty eighth of the Eighth Month had a large and very precious Meeting at Peter Sharp's Clifts on the Clifts between Thirty and Forty Miles distant from the former Many of the Magistrates and upper Rank of People were at this Meeting and a heavenly Meeting it was One of the Governour 's Council's Wives was Convinced and her Husband very loving to Friends and one that came from Virginia being a Justice of the Peace there was Convinced and hath a Meeting since at his House There was some Papists at this Meeting and one of them threatned before he came that he would Dispute with me but when he came he was reached and could not oppose Blessed be the Lord the Truth hath reached into the Hearts of People beyond Words and it is of a good Savour amongst them After the Meeting we went about Eighteen Miles to James Preston's a Friend that liveth on Pottuxon-River and thither came to us an Indian King Pottuxon River with his Brother to whom I spake and I found they understood the thing I spake of Now having finished our Service in Mary-land and intending forthwith to set forward for Virginia Pottuxon we had a Meeting at Pottuxon on the Fourth Day of the Ninth Month to take our Leaves of Friends The Meeting was in the Meeting-Place and many of the World's People of all sorts were at it and a powerful Meeting it was Upon the Fifth Day of the Ninth Month we set Sail for Virginia VIRGINIA and in three days came to a Place called Nancemum Nancemum it being as they there computed about Two hundred Miles from Mary-land In this Voyage we met with nothing but what had been usual with us namely foul Weather Storms and Rain and to lie in the Woods by a Fire in the Night At this Nancemum lived a Friend called the Widow Wright Next Day we had a great Meeting at Nancemum of Friends and People There came to this Meeting one Col. Dewes with several other Officers and Magistrates and were much taken with the Truth declared After this Meeting was over we hast'ned towards Carolina yet had several Meetings by the Way wherein we had good Service for the Lord One about four Miles from Nancemum-Water which was a very precious Meeting and there was a Mens and a Womens-Meeting settled for taking Care of the Affairs of the Church Another very good Meeting also we had at William Yarrow's at a place called Pagan-Creek where the Meeting was so large Pagan Creek that we were fain to be abroad the House not being big enough to contain the People A great Openness there was in the People and the Sound of Truth did spread abroad and had a good Savor in the Hearts of People the Lord have the Glory for ever After this our way to Carolina grew worse being much of it plashy and wet and pretty full of great Bogs and Swamps so that we were commonly wet to the Knees most of us and lay abroad a-Nights in the Woods by a Fire saving that one of the Nights we got to a poor House at a place called Sommertown Sommerton and lay by the Fire in the House The Woman of the House had a Sense of God upon her and the Report of our Travel had reached thither and drawn some People that lived beyond Sommertown to that House in Expectation to have seen and heard us so acceptable was the Sound of Truth in that Wilderness-Country but they missed us The next Day which was the Twenty first of the Ninth Month having travelled hard through the Woods and over many Bogs and Swamps we reached at Night to Bonner's Creek 1672. CAROLINA and there we lay that Night by the Fire-side the Woman lending us a Mat to lie on This was the first House we came to in Carolina And here we left our Horses which were over-wearied with Travel From hence we went down the Creek in a Canooe to Macocomocock-River Bonner's Crâ—â—k and came to a Man's House Macocomocock River whose Name was Hugh Smith where the People of the World came in to see us for there were no Friends in that part of the Country and many of them did receive us gladly Amongst others that came to us there was one Nathaniel Batts who we heard had been Governour of Ronoack He went by the Name of Captain Batts and had been a Rude Desperate Man He asked me about a Woman in Cumberland who he said he was told had been healed by our Prayers and Laying on of Hands after she had been long sick and given over by the Physicians and he desired to know the certainty of it
I told him We did not glory in such things but many such things had been done by the Power of Christ Not far from hence we had a Meeting among the World's People and they were taken with the Truth blessed be the Lord. Then passing down the River Maratick in a Canooe Maratick River Cunnyoke Bay we went down the Bay Connie-oak and came to a Captain 's House who was loving to us and lent us his Boat for we were much wetted in the Canooe the Water flashing in upon us With this Boat we went on to the Governour 's House but the Water in some places was so shallow that the Boat being loaden could not Swim so that we were fain to put off our Shooes and Stockings and wade through the Water a pretty way The Governour with his Wife received us lovingly but there was at his House a Doctor who would needs Dispute with us And truly his Opposing us was of good Service giving Occasion for the Opening of many things to the People concerning the Light and Spirit of God which he denied to be in Every one and affirmed that it was not in the Indians Whereupon I called an Indian to us and asked him Whether or no when he did lie or do wrong to any one there was not something in him that did reprove him for it And he said There was such a thing in him that did so reprove him and he was ashamed when he had done wrong or spoken wrong So we shamed the Doctor before the Governour and the People insomuch that the poor Man run out so far that at length he would not own the Scriptures We tarried at the Governour 's that Night and next Morning he very courteously walked with us himself about two Miles through the Woods to a place whither he had sent our Boat about to meet us Where taking our Leave of him we entred our Boat again and went that Day about Thirty Miles to one Joseph Scot's who was one of the Representatives of the Country And there we had a Meeting and many People were at it a sound precious Meeting it was and the People were tender and much desired after Meetings Wherefore we went to another House about four miles further and there we had another Meeting to which the Governour 's Secretary came who was Chief Secretary of the Province and had it seems been formerly Convinced I went from this place among the Indians 1672. Carolina Indians and spake unto them by an Interpreter shewing them That God made all things in Six Days and made but one Woman for one Man and that God did drown the Old World because of their Wickedness Afterwards I spake to them concerning Christ shewing them That he did die for all men for their Sins as well as for others and had enlightned them as well as others and that if they did that which was Evil he would burn them but if they did well they should not be burned There was among them their young King and others of their Chief Men and they seemed to receive kindly what I said unto them Now having visited the North-Part of Carolina and made a little Entrance for Truth upon the People there we began to return again towards Virginia having several Meetings in our way wherein we had very good Service for the Lord the People being generally tender and open blessed be the Lord. We lay one Night at the Secretary's House to which we had much ado to get for the Water being shallow we could not bring our Boat to Shore But the Secretary's Wife seeing our Strait came her self in a Canooe her Husband being from home and brought us to Land By next Morning our Boat was sunk and full of Water But we got her up and mended her and went away in her that Day about Twenty four Miles the Water being rough and troubled and the Winds high but the great Power of God was seen in carrying us safe in that rotten Boat In our Return we had a very precious Meeting at Hugh Smith's praised be the Lord for ever the People were very tender and very good Service we had amongst them There was at this Meeting an Indian Captain who was very loving and did acknowledge it to be Truth that was spoken There was also one of the Indian Priests whom they call a Pauwaw and he sate soberly among the People On the Ninth of the Tenth Month we got back to Bonners-Creek Bonner's-Creek where we had left our Horses having spent a matter of Eighteen Days in the North of Carolina Our Horses having rested and being now fresh we set forward forthwith for Virginia again travelling through the Woods and Bogs VIRGINIA as far as we could well reach that Day and at Night lay by a Fire in the Woods as we often used to do Next Day we had a tedious Journey through the Bogs and Swamps and were exceeding wet and dirty all the Day but dried our selves at Night by a Fire We got that Night to Sommerton And when we came near the House Sommerton the Woman of the House seeing us spake to her Son to keep up their Dogs for both in Virginia and Carolina they generally keep great Dogs to guard their Houses living lonely in the Woods But the Son said He need not for their Dogs did not use to meddle with these People Whereupon when we were come into the House the Woman told us We were like the Children of Israel whom the Dogs did not move their Tongues against Here we lay but in our Cloths and by the Fire as we had done many a Night before And the next Day before we went away we had a Meeting here for the People having heard of us had a great Desire to hear us and a very good Meeting we had among them where we never had Meeting before praised be the Lord for ever After the Meeting we hasted away And when we had ridden about Twenty Miles 1672. Virginia calling at a House to enquire the Way the People of the House desired us to tarry all Night with them which we did Next Day we came among Friends after we had travelled about an Hundred Miles from Carolina into Virginia In which time we observed a great Variety of Climates having passed in a few Days from a very Cold to a warm and spring-like Country But the Power of the Lord is the same in all and is over all and doth reach the good in all praised be the Lord for ever We spent about three Weeks this time in travelling through Virginia sometimes amongst the World's People only but mostly amongst Friends having many large and precious Meetings in several parts of the Country As at the Widow Wright's where a great many of the Magistrates and Officers and other high People came And a most Heavenly Meeting we had wherein the Power of the Lord was so great that it struck a Dread upon the Assembly and
chained all down and brought a Reverence upon the Peoples Minds Among the Officers that were there there was a Major that was Kinsman to the Priest and he told me The Priest threatned to come and Oppose us But the Lord's Power was too strong for him and stopt him and we were quiet and peaceable and the People were wonderfully affected with the Testimony of Truth blessed be the Lord for ever Another very good Meeting we had at a place called Crickatrough Crickatrough at which many Considerable People were many of whom had never heard a Friend before and they were greatly satisfied with the Meeting praised be the Lord We had also a very good and serviceable Meeting at John Porter 's which consisted mostly of the World's People in which the Power of the Lord was gloriously seen and felt and it brought the Truth over all the bad Walkers and Talkers blessed be the Lord Divers other Meetings we had and many Opportunities of doing Service for the Lord amongst the People where we came And the last Week that we stay'd we spent some Time and Pains among Friends sweeping away that which was to be swept out and working down a bad Spirit that was got up in some And blessed for ever be the Name of the Lord he it is that gives Victory over all Now having finished what Service lay upon us at Virginia on the Thirtieth Day of the Tenth Month we set Sail in an open Sloop for Maryland MARY-LAND But having a very great Storm that day and being much wetted we were glad to get to Shore before Night And walking to an House at Willoughby-Point Willoughby Point we got Lodging there that Night The Woman of the House was a Widow and a very tender Woman She had never received Friends before but she received us very kindly and with Tears in her Eyes We returned to our Boat in the Morning and hoised up our Sail getting forward as fast and as far as we could but towards Evening a Storm rising and the Wind being high we had much ado to get to the Shore and our Boat being open the Water slashed often in and sometimes over us so that we were sufficiently wetted Being got to Land we made us a Fire in the Woods to warm and dry us and there we lay all that Night the Wolves howling about us On the First of the Eleventh Month we sailed again but the Wind being against us and sometimes driving us backwards we made but little Way and were fain to get to Shore at Point-Comfort where yet we found but small Comfort 1672. Mary-land for the Weather was so Cold that though we made us a good Fire in the Woods to lie by yet our Water that we had got for our Use was frozen near the Fire-side We made to Sea again next Day Point-Comfort but the Wind being strong and against us we advanced but little but were glad to get to Land again and travel about to find some House where we might buy some Provisions for our Store was spent That Night also we lay in the Woods and so extream Cold was the Weather the Wind blowing high and the Frost and Snow being great that it was hard for some to abide it On the Third of the Eleventh Month the Wind sitting pretty fair we fetched it up by Sailing and Rowing and got that Night to Milford-Haven Milford Haven Raphahannock River where we lay at Richard Long 's near Quinces-Island Next Day we passed by Raphahannock-River where dwell much People and Friends had a Meeting there-aways at a Justice's House that had formerly been at a Meeting where I was We passed over Potomack-River also the Winds being high Potomack River the Water very rough our Sloop open and the Weather extream Cold and having a Meeting there-aways also some People of the World that came to it were Convinced and when we parted thence some of our Company went amongst them Potuxon River We steered our Course for Pottuxon-River and I sate at Helm most part of the Day and some of the Night About the First Hour in the Morning we reached James Preston's House in Pottuxon-River which is accounted about Two hundred Miles from Nancemum in Virginia We were very weary yet the next Day being the First of the Week and Fifth of the Month we went to the Meeting not far from thence and the same Week we went to an Indian-King's-Cabbin where several of the Indians were Indian-King's Cabbin with whom we had a pretty Opportunity to discourse and they carried themselves very lovingly We went also that Week to a General Meeting from which we went about Eighteen Miles further to John Gearies where we had a very precious Meeting praised be the Lord God for ever But after this the Cold grew so exceeding sharp such extream Frost and snowy Weather beyond what was usual in that Country so that we could hardly endure to be in it Neither was it easie or safe to stir abroad yet we got with some Difficulty six Miles through the Snow to John Mayer's where we met with some Friends that were come from New-England whom we had left there when we came away and glad we were to see each other after so long and tedious Travels By these Friends we understood that William Edmundson having been at Road-Island and New-England was gone from thence for Ireland that Solomon Eccles coming from Jamaica and landing at Boston in New-England was taken at a Meeting there and banished to Barbados that John Stubbs and another Friend were gone into New-Jersey and several other Friends to Barbados Jamaica and the Leeward-Islands It was Matter of Joy to us to understand that the Work of the Lord went on and prospered and that Friends were unwearied and diligent in the Service On the Twenty Seventh of the Eleventh Month we had a very precious Meeting in a Tobacco-House and on the next Day we returned to James Preston's about Eighteen Miles distant J. Preston ' s. But when we came there we found his House was burnt down to the Ground the Night before 1672. Mary-land J. Preston ' s. through the Carelesness of a Maid-servant So we lay three Nights on the Ground by the Fire the Weather being very Cold. We made an Observation which was somewhat strange but certainly true that one Day in the midst of this Cold Weather the Wind turning into the South it grew so hot that we could hardly bear the Heat and the next Day and Night the Wind chopping back into the North we could hardly endure the Cold. Pottuxon On the Second of the Twelfth Month we had a glorious Meeting at Pottuxon and after it went to John Gearie's again where we waited for a Boat Clifts to carry us to the Monthly-Meeting at the Clifts to which we went and a living Meeting it was praised be the Lord This was on the Sixth of the Twelfth Month. And
and he would do it And whereas he says We refused to give Sureties He asked only George Fox for Sureties who replied He was an Innocent Man and knew no Law he had broken But he did not ask Tho. Lower for any as if it had been Crime and Cause enough for his Commitment that he came out of Cornwall And if we were at a Meeting as he says in his Mittimus he might have proceeded otherwise than by sending us to Jail to answer the Breach of the Common Laws though yet he shewed us no Breach of any as may be seen in the Mittimus So we thought fit to lay before you the Substance of his Proceedings against us hoping there will more Moderation and Justice appear in you towards us that so we may prosecute our intended Journey George Fox Thomas Lower But no Enlargement did we receive by our Application to the Lord Windsor so called And although Thomas Lower received several Letters from his Brother Dr. Lower who was one of the King's Physicians concerning his Liberty and one by his Procurement from Henry Savil who was one of the King's Bed-Chamber to his Brother called the Lord Windsor to the same Effect yet seeing it related only to his Enlargement not mine so great was his Love and Regard to me that he would not seek his own Liberty singly but kept the Letter by him unsent So we were continued Prisoners 1673. Worcester-General-Quarter-Sessions till the next General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace At which time divers Friends from several places being in Town did speak to the Justices concerning us who spake fair to Friends and said we should be discharged For many of the Justices seemed to dislike the Severity of Parker's Proceedings against us and did declare an Averseness to ensnare us by the Tender of the Oaths Some Friends also had spoken with him that was called the Lord Windsor who likewise spake them fair so that it was the general Discourse that we should be discharged We heard also that Dr. Lower had procured a Letter from one Col. Sands at London to some of the Justices in Favour of us Some of the Justices also spake to some Friends to acquaint us that they would have us speak but little in the Court lest we should provoke any of the Bench and they would warrant we should be discharged We were not called till the last Day of the Sessions which was the Twenty First of the Eleventh Month 1673. And when we came in they were stricken with Paleness in their Faces and it was some time before any thing was spoken insomuch that a Butcher in the Hall said What! are they afraid Dare not the Justices speak to them At length before they spake to us Justice Parker made a long Speech on the Bench much to the same Effect as was contained in the Mittimus often mentioning the Common Laws but not Instancing any that we had broken adding That he thought it a milder Course to send us Two to Jail than to put his Neighbours to the loss of two hundred Pounds which they must have suffered if he had put the Law in Execution against Conventicles But in this he was either very Ignorant or very Deceitful for there being no Meeting when he came nor any to Inform he had no Evidence to Convict us or his Neighbours by When Parker had ended his Speech the Justices spake to us and began with Thomas Lower whom they examined of the Cause of his Coming into that Country of which he gave them a full and plain Account Sometimes I put in a Word while they were Examining him and then they told me They were upon his Examination but that when it came to my turn I should have free Liberty to speak for they would not hinder me but I should have full time and they would not ensnare us When they had done with him they asked me an Account of my Travel which I gave them according as is mentioned before but more largely And whereas Justice Parker to aggravate the Case had made a great Noise of There being some from London some from the North some from Cornwal and some from Bristol at the House when I was taken I told them That this was in a manner all but one Family For there was none from London but my self none from the North but my Wife and her Daughter none from Cornwall but my Son-in-Law Thomas Lower nor any from Bristol but one Friend a Merchant there who met us as it were providentially to assist my Wife and her Daughter in their Journey homewards when by our Imprisonment they were deprived of our Company and Help When I had spoken the Chair-man whose Name was Simpson an Old Presbyterian said Your Relation or Account is very Innocent Then he and Parker whispered a while together and after that the Chair-man stood up and said You Mr. Fox are a Famous Man and all this may be true which you have said but that we may be the better satisfied will you take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy I told them They had said They would not ensnare us but this was a plain Snare for they knew we could not take any Oath However they caused the Oath to be read and when they had done I told them I never took Oath in my Life but I had always been true to the Government That I was cast into the Dungeon at Darby and kept a Prisoner Six Months there because I would not take up Arms against King Charles at Worcester-Fight and for going to Meetings was carried up out of Leicestershire and brought before Oliver Cromwel as a Plotter to bring in King Charles And ye know said I in your own Consciences that we the People called Quakers cannot take an Oath or Swear in any Case because Christ hath forbidden it But as to the Matter or Substance contained in the Oaths this I can and do say that I do own and acknowledge the King of England to be lawful Heir and Successor to the Realm of England and do abhor all Plots and Plotters and Contrivances against him and I have nothing in my Heart but Love and Good-will to him and all Men and desire his and their Prosperity the Lord knows it before whom I stand an Innocent Man And as to the Oath of Supremacy I deny the Pope and his Power and his Religion and abhor it with my Heart While I was speaking to them they cried Give him the Book And I said The Book saith Swear not at all Then they cried Take him away Jailer and I still speaking on they were Vrgent upon the Jailer crying Take him away we shall have a Meeting here Why do you not take him away That Fellow meaning the Jailer loves to hear him preach Then the Jailer drew me away and as I was turning from them I stretched out my Arm and said The Lord forgive you who cast me into Prison for Obeying the Doctrine of Christ
punishing Sin in the Kingdom neither then need Kings or Princes fear any of their Subjects if they all walked in the Spirit of Christ For the Fruits of the Spirit are Love Righteousness Goodness Temperance c. And if all that profess themselves Christians did walk in the Spirit of Christ and by it did mortifie Sin and Evil it would be a great Ease to the Magistrates and Rulers and would free them from a great deal of Trouble For it would lead all Men and Women To do unto all others as they would have others do unto them and so the Royal Law of Liberty would be fulfilled For if all that are called Christians did walk in the Spirit of Christ by it to have the Evil Spirit and its Fruits mortified and cut down in them then not being led by the Evil Spirit but by the good Spirit of Christ the Fruits of the good Spirit would appear in all Men and Women for as People are led by the good Spirit of Christ it leads them out of Sin and Evil which the Magistrate's Sword takes hold upon and so would be an Ease to the Magistrates But as People err from this good Spirit of Christ and follow the Evil Spirit which leads them into Sin and Evil that Spirit brings the Magistrate into a great deal of Trouble to Execute the Law upon the Sinners and Transgressors of the good Spirit That Spirit that leads People from all manner of Sin and Evil is one with the Magistrate's Power and with the righteous Law for the Law being added because of Transgression that Spirit that leads out of Transgression must needs be One with that Law that is against Transgressors So that Spirit that leads out of Transgression is the good Spirit of Christ and is One with the Magistrates in the Higher Power and owns it and them But that Spirit that leads into Transgression is the bad Spirit and is against the Law and against the Magistrates and makes them a great deal of Troublesome Work Now the Manifestation of the good Spirit is given to every Man to profit withall and no Man can profit in the Things of God but by the Spirit of God which brings to deny all Sin and Evil. It is said of Israel Nehem. 9. The Lord gave them his good Spirit to instruct them yet they rebelled against it But if all People did mind this Manifestation of the Spirit which God hath given to instruct them it would lead them to forsake all manner of Sin and Evil Enmity Hatred Malice and all manner of Vnrighteousness and Vngodliness and to mortifie it And then in the Spirit of Christ they would have Fellowship and Vnity which is the Bond of Peace and then would Love and Peace which are the Fruits of the good Spirit flow among all them that are called Christians Now we are a People who in Tenderness of Conscience to the Command of Christ and of his Apostle cannot Swear for we are commanded in Matth. 5. and James 5. to keep to Yea and Nay and not to Swear at all not by Heaven nor by Earth nor by any other Oath lest we go into Evil and fall into Condemnation The Words of Christ are these Ye have heard that it hath been said by or to them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths These were true and solemn Oaths which they who made ought to perform in Old Time But these Christ and his Apostle forbids in the Gospel-times as well as false and vain Oaths Now if we could take any Oath at all we could take the Oath of Allegiance as knowing that King Charles was by the Power of God brought into England and set up King of England c. over the Heads of our Old Persecutors And as for the Pope's Supremacy we do utterly deny it But Christ and the Apostle having commanded us Not to Swear but to keep to Yea and Nay we dare not break their Commands and therefore many have put the Oaths to us as a Snare that they might make a Prey of us So our denying to Swear is not in Wilfulness Stubbornness or Contempt but only in Obedience to the Command of Christ and his Apostle And we are content if we break our Yea and Nay to suffer the same Penalty as they should that break their Oaths We desire therefore that the King would take this into his Consideration and how long we have Suffered in this Case This is from one who desires the Eternal Good and Prosperity of the King and of all his Subjects in the Lord Jesus Christ. G. F. About this time I had a fit of Sickness which brought me very low and weak in my Body and I continued so a pretty while insomuch that some Friends began to doubt of my Recovery and I seemed to my self to be amongst the Graves and dead Corpses Yet the Invisible Power did secretly support me and conveyed refreshing Strength into me even when I was so Weak that I was almost Speechless And one Night as I was lying awake upon my Bed in the Glory of the Lord which was over all it was said unto me That the Lord had a great Deal more Work for me to do for him before he took me to himself Endeavours were used to get me Released at least for a Time till I was grown stronger but the Way of Effecting it proving difficult and tedious for the King was not willing to Release me by any other way than a Pardon being told he could not Legally do it and I was not willing 〈◊〉 be Released by a Pardon which he would readily have given me because I did not look upon that way as agreeable with the Innocency of my Cause a Friend one Edward Pitway having Occasion to speak with Justice Parker upon some other Business desired him to give Order to the Jailer That in regard of my Weakness I might have Liberty to go out of the Jail into the City Whereupon Justice Parker wrote the following Letter to the Jailer and sent it to the Friend to deliver Mr. Harris I Have beeen much importuned by some Friends to George Fox to write to you I am informed by them that he is in a very weak Condition and very much Indisposed What lawful Favour you can do for the Benefit of the Air for his Health pray shew him I suppose the next Term they will make Application to the King I am Sir Your loving Friend HENRY PARKER Evesham the 8th of Octob. 1674. After this my Wife went to London and spake with the King laying before him my long and unjust Imprisonment with the Manner of my being taken and the Justices Proceedings against me in tendring me the Oath as a Snare whereby they had Premunired me so that I being now his Prisoner it was in his Power and at his Pleasure to Release which she desired The King spake kindly to her and referr'd her to the Lord-Keeper to
whom she went but could not obtain what she desired for he said The King could not Release me otherwise than by a Pardon And I was not free to receive a Pardon knowing I had not done Evil. And if I would have been freed by a Pardon I needed not have lain so long for the King was willing to have given me a Pardon long before and told Thomas Moore that I need not scruple being Released by a Pardon for many a Man that was as Innocent as a Child had had a Pardon granted him Yet I could not Consent to have one For I had rather have lain in Prison all my Days than have come out in any way dishonourable to Truth Wherefore I chose to have the Validity of my Indictment Tried before the Judges And thereupon having first had the Opinion of a Counsellor upon it one Thomas Corbet of London whom Richard Davis of Welchpool was well acquainted with and recommended to me an Habeas Corpus was sent down to Worcester to bring me up once more to the King's-Bench-Bar for the Trial of the Errors in my Indictment The Vnder-Sheriff set forward with me on the Fourth Day of the Twelfth Month there being with us in the Coach the Clerk of the Peace and some others The Clerk had been my Enemy all along and now sought to Ensnare me in Discourse but I saw and shunned him He asked me What I would do with the Errors in the Indictment I told him They should be Tried and every Action should Crown it self He quarrelled with me for calling their Ministers Priests I asked him ' If the Law did not call them so Then he asked me What I thought of the Church of England Was there no Christians among them I said They are all called so and there are many tender People amongst them London We came to London on the Eighth of the Twelfth Month and on the Eleventh I was brought before the Four Judges at the King's-Bench King's-Bench-Bar where Counsellor Corbet pleaded my Cause He started a New Plea for he told the Judges That they could not Imprison any Man upon a Premunire Whereupon the Chief Justice Hales said Mr. Corbet You should have come sooner at the beginning of the Term with this Plea He Answered We could not get a Copy of the Return and of the Indictment The Judge replied You should have told us and we would have forced them to have made a Return sooner Then said Judge Wild Mr. Corbet you go upon General Terms and if it be so as you say we have Committed many Errors at the Old Baily and in other Courts Corbet was positive that by Law they could not Imprison upon a Premunire The Judge said There is Summons in the Statute Yes said Corbet but Summons is not Imprisonment for Summons is in Order to a Trial. Well said the Judge We must have time to look in our Books and consult the Statutes So the Hearing was put off till the next Day The next Day they chose rather to let this Plea fall and begin with the Errors of the Indictment and when they came to be opened they were so many and gross that the Judges were all of Opinion That the Indictment was quash'd and void and that I ought to have my Liberty There were that Day several Great Men Lords and others who had the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy tendered unto them in open Court just before my Trial came on and some of my Adversaries moved the Judges that the Oaths might be Tendered again to me telling them I was a dangerous Man to be at Liberty But Judge Hales who was then Chief-Justice of England 1674. King's-Bench-Bar said He had indeed heard some such Reports of me but he had also heard many more good Reports of me and so he and the rest of the Judges ordered me to be freed by Proclamation Thus after I had suffered Imprisonment a Year and almost Two Months for nothing I was fairly set at Liberty upon a Trial of the Errors in my Indictment without receiving any Pardon or coming under any Obligation or Engagement at all and the Lord 's Everlasting Power went over all to his Glory and Praise and to the magnifying of his Name for ever Amen Counsellor Corbet who pleaded for me got great Fame by it for many of the Lawyers came to him and told him He had brought that to Light which had not been known before as to the not Imprisoning upon a Premunire And after the Trial a Judge said to them You have attained a great deal of Honour by Pleading George Fox 's Cause so in Court During the time of my Imprisonment in Worcester notwithstanding my Ilness and Want of Health and my being so often hurried to and fro to London and back again I writ several Books for the Press one whereof was called A Warning to England Another was To the Jews proving by the Prophets that the Messiah is come Another Concerning Inspiration Revelation and Prophecy Another Against all vain Disputes Another For all Bishops and Ministers to trie themselves by the Scriptures Another To such as say We love none but our selves Another Entituled Our Testimony concerning Christ. And another little Book concerning Swearing being the first of those Two that were given to the Parliament Besides these I writ many Papers and Epistles to Friends to Encourage and strengthen them in their Services for God which some who had made Profession of Truth but had given way to a Seducing Spirit and were departed from the Vnity and Fellowship of the Gospel in which Friends stand endeavoured to Discourage them from especially in their diligent and watchful Care for the well-ordering and managing the Affairs of the Church of Christ Which may be read amongst the rest of my Epistles London Now after I was set at Liberty I visited the Friends in London and having for some time been very Weak and not yet well recovered I went down to Kingston for a little Season Kingston But I did not stay long there London but having visited the Friends there I returned to London again and writ a Paper to the Parliament and sent several Books to them And a great Book against Swearing had been delivered to them a little before the Reasonableness whereof had so much Influence upon many of them that it was thought they would have done something towards our Relief therein if they had sate longer I staid in and near London London-Yearly-Meeting until the Yearly Meeting came on to which Friends came up from most Parts of the Nation and some from beyond the Seas and a glorious Meeting we had in the Everlasting Power of God After this Meeting was over the Parliament being also risen who had done nothing for nor against Friends I was Clear of my Service for the Lord at London And having taken my Leave of Friends there and had a Glorious Meeting with some of them
Gospel-Order and it belongs to them Then take your Possessions and Practise in it and be not Talkers only but Live and Walk in the Gospel the Power of God which is the Authority of your Meetings Swarthmore the 28th of the Third Month 1676. G. F. Read at the Yearly Meeting in London the 17th of the Third Month 1676. During this time also I Collected together as many as I could of the Epistles I had written in former Years to Friends I made a Collection too of the several Papers that I had written to O. Cromwel and his Son Richard in the time of their Protectorships and to the Parliaments and Magistrates that were in their times And after I had gathered them together I Collected also the Papers I had written to King Charles the Second since his Return and to his Council and Parliaments and the Justices or other Magistrates under him I made also another Collection of Certificates which I had received from divers Governours of Places Judges Justices Parliament-Men and others for the Clearing of me from many Slanders which the Envious Priests and Professors both here and beyond the Seas had cast upon me And this I did for the Truth's-sake as knowing that their Design in Slandering me was to defame the Truth published by me and hinder thereby if they could the Spreading thereof amongst the People Besides these I made Two Books of Collections the one was A List or Catalogue of the Names of those Friends who went first forth out of the North of England when Truth first brake forth there to proclaim the Day of the Lord through this Nation The other was of the Names of those Friends that went first forth to Preach the Gospel in other Nations Countries and Places and in what Years and to what Parts they went I made also another Collection in Two Books one of Epistles and Letters from Friends and others on several Occasions to me The other of Letters of mine to Friends and others I writ also a Book of the Types and Figures of Christ with their Significations and many other things which will be of Service to Truth and Friends in times to come I took notice also of those who had run out from Truth and drawn others out after them and turned against Truth and Friends at several times since the First Breaking forth of Truth in this latter Age and what became of them noting particularly the Repentance and Return of such of them as came back to Truth again But some ran quite out and never returned again but were Cut off in their Gainsaying and Rebellion for the Word and Power of God hath blasted and is blasting them and the Holy Seed hath ground and is grinding them to pieces And this I have observed that they who have been Convinced and have not lived and walked in the Truth have been the Worst Enemies to the Truth and done most Hurt amongst Friends in the Truth and to others And in these I have seen fulfilled what the Lord did long since shew me That such should be greater Deceivers than all the Priests and Professors For such as came as far as Cain and Balaam and Corah and Dathan and could preach Christ and say They had preached in his Name and such as came to be Apostles and had tasted of the Power of Christ and then turned from it such could yet speak their Old Experiences and have the good Words like Corah and Balaam but not keeping in the Life and Truth such Deceived the Hearts of the Simple both then and now and such come to be of the Devil who abode not in the Truth as Cain and and all the Jews that abode not in the Truth were For though Cain did Sacrifice to God and did talk with God and the Jews could talk of Abraham Moses and the Prophets yet Christ told them They were of their Father the Devil In like manner though they who are called Christians can talk of Christ and use his and his Apostles and Disciples Words yet not abiding in the Truth and Power and Spirit that the Apostles were in they are of the Devil out of Truth and do his Work And so are all these that have been Convinced of God's Eternal Truth since it sprang up in this Nation that have not abode in the Light and in the Spirit and Power of Christ Jesus but have turned against the Power and have opposed the Work thereof though they may retain their former Experiences and be able to speak many good Words yet not living in the Life and Power that gave them those Experiences they live in the Power of Darkness which is of the Devil and by the Light and Truth both he and they are Condemned and must own their Condemnations if ever they come to Truth again For to Resist the Heavenly Power and to oppose the Workings and Divine Manifestations thereof through any is not a light Matter And as I had been moved of the Lord to travel in his Power round about this Nation and in other Parts to preach the Everlasting Gospel and to declare the Word of Life which was in the Beginning through many Imprisonments Hardships Sufferings and Trials so I was afterwards moved to Travel in the same Heavenly Power about the Nation again and to write to such Places where I came not to recommend unto Friends the setting up of the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings in all Counties for the looking after the Poor and taking Care for Orderly Proceedings in Marriages and other matters relating to the Church of Christ Though some Meetings for this end were settled in the North of England in the Year 1653. And after this also Truth still spreading further over the Nation and Friends encreasing in number I was moved by the same Eternal Power to recommend the setting up the Womens-Meetings also that all both Male and Female that had received the Gospel the Word of Eternal Life might come into the Order of the Gospel brought forth by the Power of God and might act for God in the Power and therein do Business and Service for him in his Church All the Faithful must labour in God's Vineyard they being his Hired Servants and he having given them the Earnest of his Spirit For a Master that hires a Servant and gives him the Earnest of his Hire expects he should do his Work after he knows his Will in the outward Creation So all God's Prople that be of the new Creation and have received the Earnest of his Spirit ought to labour with by and in his Spirit Power and Grace and Faith in the Light in God's Vineyard that they may have their Wages every one Male and Female when they have done God's Work and Business in his Day which is Eternal Life But none can labour in his Vineyard and do his Work and Will but as they walk in the Heavenly Divine Light Grace and Spirit of Christ which is hath been and is my Travel and
Labour in the Lord to turn all to But some that professed Truth and had made a great Shew therein being gone from the Simplicity of the Gospel into Jangling Division and a Spirit of Separation endeavoured to discourage Friends especially the Women from their Godly Care and Watchfulness in the Church over one another in the Truth opposing their Meetings which in the Power of the Lord were set up for that End and Service Wherefore I was moved of the Lord to write the following Epistle and send it forth among Friends for the discovering of that Spirit by which those Opposers were acted and its Work and Way in and by which it wrought and to warn Friends of it that they might not be betrayed by it ALL my Dear Friends Live in the Seed of Peace Christ Jesus in whom ye have all Life And that Spirit that comes amongst you to raise up Strife is out of Christ for it is the Spirit that is not easie to be intreated nor gentle so not of the Wisdom of God which is justified of her Children And so they that follow that Spirit are none of Wisdom's Children Now there is a Spirit that hath made a Separation and has been against Men and Womens-Meetings yet has set up one of their own whom they have given Power to and that none shall sit amongst them but whom they give Power to but shall be looked upon as Vsurpers of Authority Now this Spirit and its Work is not of God though it has made some Jumble amongst some and the Path it may travel in is through the earthly Affections or the Vnestablished or Apostates But all that are in the Life and Spirit and Light and Grace and Truth and the Power of God bar it out and such as sit under their own Vine Christ Jesus and are grafted into him have no need of their Exhortation or Counsel for the true Believers are entred into their Rest And therefore all keep in the Gospel of Peace and they that be Heirs of the Kingdom and of it keep in your Possession of it Now some that are of this Spirit have said to me They see no Service in Womens-Meetings My Answer is and hath been to them and such If they be blind and without Sight they should not oppose others for there is none Imposes any thing upon them for God never received the Blind for a Sacrifice neither can his People But Christ has enlightned all and to as many as receive him he gives Power to become the Sons of God And such as be Heirs of his Power and of his Gospel which brings Life and Immortality to Light they can see over him that has darkned them and all such do keep the Order of the Gospel the Power of God and their Meetings in it which preserves them in Life and in Immortality And all these do see the great Service of the Mens and of the Womens-Meetings in the Order of the Gospel which is the Power of God For they are Meet-helps in this Power which is the Authority of their Meetings And now I say to all you that be against Womens-Meetings or the Mens and say You see no Service for the Womens-Meetings and oppose them you are therein out of the Power of God and his Spirit you live not in For God saw a Service for the Assemblies of the Women in the Time of the Law about those things that appertained to his Worship and Service and to the holy things of his Tabernacle and so do they in the same Spirit see now their Service in the Gospel many things in those Meetings being more proper for the Women to see into than the Men and they in the Power and Wisdom of God may inform the Men of such things as are not proper for them and the Men may inform the Women of such things as are not proper for them as Meet helps each unto another For in the Time of the Law by the Law of God the Women were to Offer as well as the Men and so in the Time of the Gospel much more are they to Offer their Spiritual Sacrifices for they are all called both Men and Women a Royal Priesthood and they are of the Houshold of Faith and they are the Living Stones that make up the Spiritual Building which Christ is the Head of and are to be encouraged in their Labour in the Gospel For all things that they do both Men and Women are to be done in the Power of God And all such as see no Service for these Womens-Meetings or the Mens but do oppose them and make Strife amongst Friends are in the same Spirit of the World that is against and forbids our other Meetings and are in the same Spirit of the World that hath been and is against Womens Speaking in Meetings and says They must be silent c. though the same Apostle commands That Men should keep Silence as well as the Women if there were not an Interpreter And therefore all Friends you may see that the Spirit of the World hath entred such Opposers though they come under another Colour for They would not have us to Meet at all And These are against the Womens-Meetings and some of them against the Men's also and say They see no Service for them Then they may hold their Tongues and not oppose them that do see their Service for God in these Meetings Therefore all you that feel the Power of God and your Service for God as aforesaid in them you Men and Women keep your Meetings in the Power of God the Authority of them as they were settled in it and then ye will be preserved both over this Spirit that opposes them and over the Spirit of the World that opposes your other Meetings For it is all one in the Ground and would bring you into Bondage For such are out of the Peaceable Gospel who oppose its Order and out of the Faith that Works by Love and out of the Wisdom that is gentle and easie and peaceable c. and out of the Kingdom that stands in Peace and Joy Therefore keep over that Spirit that sows Discord or Dissension and would draw you from your Habitation and Possession in the Order of the Gospel For it is the same Spirit that deceived Adam and Eve by which they lost their Habitation in the Righteousness and Holiness and their Dominion and so that Spirit got over them and so it would get over you One while it will tell you It sees no Service for your Meetings and another time Oppose you But I say This is the blind Spirit which is out of the Power of God and which the Power of God is over And therefore keep in the Power that ye may stand up for your Liberty in Christ Jesus Males and Females Heirs of him and of his Gospel and his Order and so stand up for your Liberty in the Gospel and in the Faith which Christ Jesus hath been the Author of for
if ye lose it and let another Spirit get over you ye will not so soon regain it again For I knew the Devil would bestir himself in his Instruments when Mens and Womens-Meetings came to be set up and all in the Power Light and Truth and Heirs of the Gospel to take their Possession of it in every County and City in it to walk and to watch one over another and in it to take Care of God's Glory and Honour and his precious Truth and to see that all did walk in the Truth and as becomes the Gospel and to see that nothing was lacking and so whatsoever was decent modest virtuous lovely comely righteous and of good Report to follow after and to admonish and exhort all that was not faithful and to rebuke all that did Evil I knew that this would give such a Check to all loose Speakers Talkers and Walkers I did not expect but that there would be an Opposition against such Meetings But never heed Truth will come over them all and is over them all and Faith must have the Victory for the Gospel and its Order is Everlasting and the Seed Christ is the Beginning and the Ending and will out-last all the Amen in whom ye have Peace I say all that do oppose the Mens and Womens-Meetings or that Marriages should be laid before them or of Recording of Condemnations of Sin and Evil or Admonishing or Exhorting such as walk not in the Truth they are of a loose Spirit and their Spirits tend to Looseness and let them take them that will for Truth will not have them nor will have none of their Sacrifice For nothing is accepted of God but what is done in Truth and in his Spirit which is peaceable And the Authority of our Mens and Womens-Meetings is the Power of God and all the Heirs of the Gospel are Heirs of that Authority and Dignity and this is of God and shall Answer the Witness of God in all And the greatest Opposers of this Practice and Work will be and are such as have been Convinced of God's Truth but have not lived in it and such were the greatest Troublers of the Church in Moses's Day and in the Days of the Apostles But mark their End and read what became of them all And therefore all keep your Habitation in Truth and therein ye may see what became of all the Opposers of it for Twenty Years past They are all gone and the Truth lives and reigns and the Seed is over all and all is One in it in Rest Peace and Life Everlasting and therein they sit down together in the Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus the Amen Swarthmore the 5th of the 8th Month 1676. G. F. In this Year while I was at Swarthmore died William Lampit the old Priest of Vlverstone which is the Parish that Swarthmore is in He was an Old Deceiver and Perverter of the Right Way of the Lord and a Persecutor of the People of God and much Contest I had with him when I first came into those parts He had been an old false Prophet for in the Year 1652. he Prophesied and said he would Wage his Life upon it That the Quakers would all vanish and come to nought within half a year But he came to nought himself For he continued in his Lying and false Accusing of God's People till a little before he died and then he cried for a little Rest And to one of his Hearers that came to visit him before he died he said I have been a Preacher a long time 1677. Swarthmore and thought I had lived well but I did not think it had been so hard a Thing to die Now after I had finished those Services which lay upon me then to do feeling my Spirit drawn again towards the South though I was yet but weakly and not able to Travel far in a Day I left Swarthmore on the Twenty Sixth Day of the First Month 1677. Westmorland Powbank Camsgill and went to Thomas Pearson's at Powbank in Westmorland where I had a Meeting the next Day and went from thence to Thomas Cam's at Cam's-Gill whither Robert Widders with his Wife and several other Friends came to see me before I left the Country and to be at the Meeting there the next Day which was very large and in which I was largely drawn forth in Testimony to the Truth After the Meeting I had much Discourse with some of that Meeting who at that time were not in Vnity with Friends of the Quarterly Meeting they belonged to but afterwards several of them that were somewhat Tender came to see their Error and gave forth Condemnations against themselves Next day John Blaykling came to Tho. Cam's Yorkshire Sedberg Drawell to bring me to his House at Drawell in Sedberg in Yorkshire whither I went with him visiting Friends in the way I staid at Drawel two or three Nights having Meetings there and thereabouts For while I was there the Men and Womens-Meetings were held there which were very large and precious And on the First Day following I had a Meeting at Brigflats not far off Brigflats where were most part of the Friends from the several Meetings round about and a great Concourse of other People also so that it was thought there were Five or Six Hundred People and a very good Meeting it was wherein Truth was largely declared and preciously opened to the comforting and refreshing the Faithful and the drawing near them that were afar off After this I had another Meeting at John Blaykling's Drawell where were many Friends that were going to the Quarterly Meeting at Kendal With them my Wife went back who with her Daughter Rachel had accompanied me thus far and I having Leonard Fell with me passed on through Sedberg and Garsdale and into Wensydale Sedberg Garsdale Wensydale Counterside visiting Friends as we went And at Night I reached to Richard Robinson's at Counterside where several Friends came to me that Evening and some of them went with me next Day over the Hills to the Widow Tenant's at Scarhouse in Langstroth-dale Langstrothdale Scarhouse whither we had much ado to get the Snow lay so deep though it was a Week in the Second Month. Here on the next Day which was the First Day of the Week we had a large Meeting Friends coming to it from several parts round about and the Lord gave me a very seasonable Testimony to bear amongst them which I did for several Hours to their great Satisfaction and Comfort Thence passing on through Bishopsdale Bishopsdale Mildum Barton Bedal Northallerton Burrowby Mildum Barton and so through the Country by Bedal and North-allerton I came to George Robinson's at Burrowby where also Friends coming out of several parts we had a very large and good Meeting and very Peaceable But not long after an envious Justice who lived not far off hearing that I had a great Meeting there troubled Friends about it
and made them appear at the Sessions where he asked them many ensnaring Questions for he knew not how to Convict them because he had no Proof against them When he saw his Questions did not Catch them 1677. â—urrowby he told them He had heard that George Fox was at a large Meeting with them and they all sate Silent and none spake in the Meeting This false Story he cunningly feigned thinking thereby to have drawn out some of the Friends to have contradicted him and have said That I had spoken in the Meeting that so he mâ—ght have Convicted them upon their own Confession and have Fined them But Friends standing in the Wisdom of God did not Answer him according to his Desire and so escaped his Snare But two other Friends that came out of Ireland and were at this Meeting having a Meeting that Evening about three Miles off this Evil-minded Justice got Information thereof and Fined Friends and plundered them very sorely for it I went from Burrowby to Isaac Lindley's calling upon Friends on the Way as I went And having Robert Lodge and some other Friends with me York from thence next Day we passed to York and the Day following being the First Day of the Week I was at Friends Meeting in York which was large and peaceable The Second day also I staid in York and had two Meetings with Friends at John Taylor 's from whence I writ unto my Wife to let her know how it was with me as followeth Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to thy Daughters and to all Friends that enquire after me My Desires are that ye all may be preserved in the Lord 's Everlasting Seed in whom ye all will have Life and Peace and Dominion and Settlement in the Everlasting Home or Dwelling in the House built upon the Foundation of God In the Power of the Lord I am brought to York having had many Meetings in the Way The Way was many times deep and bad with Snow that our Horses sometimes were down and we were not able to ride and sometimes we had great Storms and Rain but by the Power of the Lord I went through all At Scarhouse there was a very large Meeting and another at Burrowby to which Friends came out of Cleaveland and Bishoprick and many other Meetings we have had At York Yesterday we had a very large Meeting exceeding thronged Friends being at it from many parts and all quiet and Friends well satisfied Oh! the Glory of the Lord shined over all And this Day we had a large Mens and Womens-Meeting many Friends both Men and Women being come out of the Country and all was quiet And this Evening we are to have the Mens and Womens-Meeting of the Friends of the City John Whitehead is here with Robert Lodge and others Friends are mighty glad above Measure So I am in my Holy Element and holy Work in the Lord Glory to his Name for ever To Morrow I intend to go out of the City towards Todcaster though I cannot Ride as in days past yet praised be the Lord that I can Travel so well as I do So with my Love in the Fountain of Life in which as ye all abide ye will have Refreshment of Life that by it ye may grow and gather Eternal Strength to serve the Lord and be satisfied So to the God of all Power who is All-sufficient to preserve you I commit you all to his Ordering York the 16th of the Second Month 1677. G. F. Leaving York I travelled on through Yorkshire 1677. Yorkshire Todcaster Nottingly Doncaster Balby Ballowfield visiting Friends at Todcaster Nottingly Doncaster and so on to Balby having Meetings as I went At Balby I stayed the First-day-Meeting and went next day to Thomas Stacy's at Ballowfield where in the Evening I had a Meeting to compose some difference that had happened between some that professed Truth and they were Reconciled From thence next day I came to Stainsby in Derbyshire Darbyshire Stainsby in which County I had formerly lived some time about the first breaking forth of Truth Here I had a good Meeting with Friends and afterward passed to Skegby in Nottinghamshire and from thence to Nottingham Nottinghamshire Skegby Nottingham to John Reckless his house who being one of the Sheriffs of Nottingham when I first declared Truth in that Town and was Imprisoned for it took me out of Prison into his own house and kept me there till the Mayor and the rest of the Magistrates of the Town took me away from him and sent me to the Prison again At which time this John Reckless was Convinced and abode in the Truth ever after Now I had a Meeting with Friends at his house that Evening after I came thither and another the next day in Friends publick Meeting-house which was peaceable and well I went from thence the day following to John Fox's at Wymes-would in Leicestershire where I had a Meeting that Evening Leicestershire Wymes would Sileby and went next day to William Smith's at Sileby where it being the First-day of the Week we had a very large Meeting for besides Friends that came from several places the Town 's People hearing that I was there came many of them to the Meeting Leicester and heard the Truth declared gladly Next day I went to Leicester where finding many Friends come out of the Country to be at the Horse-fair there next day I had a very good Meeting with them that Night and had another Meeting next Evening after the Fair was over at William Wells his house at Knighton Knighton Swanington about a Mile from Leicester from whence next day I passed to Swanington where I had formerly been taken Prisoner and had a Meeting there from thence went to Samuel Fretwell's at Hartshorn in Derbyshire where I had a Meeting also Derbyshire Hartshorn Warwickshire Badgely And then went through the Country to Henry Sidon's at Badgely in Warwickshire and stayed the Meeting there which it being the First-day of the Week was very large and peaceable notwithstanding that a Justice who lived not far off had threatned that he would come and break it up After Meeting having stay'd a while with Friends I went in the Evening to Richard Baal's of Whittington where several Friends came to visit me Whittington Hartshill Next day I went to Nathaniel Newton's at Hartshill where several Friends met me with whom I had good Service After this I passed on visiting Friends in divers places till I came to Dingley Dingley where a Meeting was appointed before which was very large and Truth was largely opened to the People The Meeting was peaceable and quiet and the People generally Sober saving that while I was declaring and shewing how that Christendom so called was gone from the pure Religion that is undefiled c. One Man rushed out in a furious manner and said I deny that 1677. Warwickshire Adingworth
after the Meeting returning to our other Company on the Road went on with them to William Penn's that Night which is Forty Miles from London Worminghurst I stay'd at Worminghurst about Three Weeks in which time John Burnyeat and I at such times as we were not amongst Friends in Meetings Answered a very envious and wicked Book which one Roger Williams a Priest of New-England or some Colony thereabouts had written against Truth and Friends When we had finished that Service we went with Stephen Smith who was there with us to his house at Warpledon in Surrey Surrey Warpledon where we had a large Meeting Friends thereaway had been exceedingly plundered about Two Months before on the Priest's account for they took from Stephen Smith Five Kine being all he had for about Fifty shillings Tithes From thence we went to Kingston Kingston London and so to London where I stay'd not long for it was upon me from the Lord to go into Holland to Visit Friends there and to preach the Gospel there and in some parts of Germany Wherefore setting things in Order for my Journey as fast as I could I took leave of Friends at London Essex Colchester and with several other Friends went down to Colchester in Essex in order to my Passage for Holland Next day being the First day of the Week I was at the publick Meeting of Friends there which was very large and peaceable and in the Evening I had another large Meeting but not so publick at John Furly's house where I lodged The day following was the Womens-Meeting there which also was very large and I was at that too Harwich From thence next day we passed to Harwich where Robert Duncon and several other Friends out of the Country came to see us and some from London came to us there that intended to go over with me The Packet-Boat in which we were to go not being ready we went to the Meeting in the Town and a precious Opportunity we had together for the Lord according to his wonted goodness by his over-coming refreshing Power opened many Mouths to declare his Everlasting Truth and to praise and glorifie him After the Meeting we returned to John Vandewall's where I had lodged and when the Boat was ready taking Leave of those Friends that had accompanied us thither and that met us there we that were bound for Holland went on Board about the 9th hour in the Evening on the 25th day of the 5th Month 1677. The Friends that then went over with me 1677. Harwich were William Penn Robert Barclay George Keith and his Wife John Furly and his Brother William Tailcoat George Watts and Isabel Yeomans who is one of my Wife's Daughters About the First hour in the Morning we weighed Anchor having a fair brisk Wind which by the next Morning brought us within sight of Holland Holland But that day proving very clear and calm we got forward but little till about the Fourth hour in the Afternoon when a fresh Gale arose which carried us within a League of Land Then being becalmed again we cast Anchor for that Night it being between the hours of Nine and Ten in the Evening But William Penn and Robert Barclay understanding that Benjamin Furly was come from Rotterdam to the Briel to meet us got two of the Boat-men to let down a small Boat that belonged to the Packet-Boat and Row them to shore but before they could get to shore the Gates were shut and there being no house without the Gate they were fain to lie in a Fisher's Boat all Night As soon as the Gates were opened in the Morning they went in and found Benjamin Furly with other Friends of Rotterdam that were come thither to receive us and they sent a Boat with three Young-men in it that lived with Benjamin Furly who brought us to the Briel Briel where the Friends received us with great Gladness We stay'd about Two hours at the Briel to refresh our selves and then took Boat with the Holland-Friends for Rotterdam Rotterdam where we arrived about the Eleventh hour that day which was the 28th of the Fifth Month 1677. I was very well this Voyage but some of the Friends were Sea-sick Yet a fine Passage we had and all came safe and well to Land blessed and praised be the Name of the Lord for ever The next day being the First day of the Week we had Two Meetings at Benjamin Furly's where many of the Towns People and some Officers came in and all were civil Benjamin Furly or John Claus a Friend of Amsterdam interpreted when any Friend declared I spent the next day in Visiting Friends there and the day following William Penn and I and some other of the Friends went towards Amsterdam Amsterdam with some Friends of that City who came to Rotterdam to Conduct us thither We took Boat in the Afternoon Ouerkirk Delft and passing by a Town called Ouerkirk we came to Delft through which we walked on foot and then took Boat again to Leyden Leyden where we lodged that Night at an Inn. This is counted six Dutch Miles from Rotterdam which are eighteen English Miles and five hours sail or Travel for our Boat was drawn by an Horse that went on the shore Next day taking Boat again we went to Harlem Harlem fourteen Miles from Leyden where we had appointed a Meeting which proved very large for many of the Town 's People came in and Two of their Preachers and the Lord gave us a blessed Opportunity not only with respect to Friends but to other sober People Baptists and other Professors that were there and the Meeting ended peaceably and well After Meeting we passed to Amsterdam 1677. Amsterdam accompanied by several Friends of that City and of Alkmaer some by Wagon some by Boat Next day was the Quarterly Meeting at Amsterdam to which came Friends from Harlem and Rotterdam and with them those Friends of our Company whom we had left behind at Rotterdam viz. Robert Barclay George Keith and his Wife c. The Meeting was at Gertrude Dirick Nieson's house and a very large and serviceable Meeting it was for both William Penn and I were drawn forth to open many things concerning the Order of the Gospel and to shew the benefit and service of Yearly Quarterly and Monthly Meetings of Men and Women We had another Meeting at Gertrude's the next day more publick and very large at which were Professors of several sorts unto whom the Way of Life and Salvation was largely and livingly opened which they hearkned very attentively to none making any Objection to what was declared In the Afternoon we had another Meeting in the same place but less and more private The day following we had a Meeting of Friends only wherein by Joint Agreement of Friends were settled several Meetings to wit Monthly Quarterly and a Yearly Meeting to be held at Amsterdam for
Friends in all the United Provinces of Holland and in Embden the Palatinat Hamborough Frederick-stadt Dantzick and other places in and about Germany which Friends were very glad of and it hath been of great service to Truth Next day an Exercise came upon me concerning that deceitful Spirit which wrought in some amongst Friends to make Divisions in the Church and the Care of the Churches being upon me I was moved to Write a few Lines to warn Friends of it as followeth ALL Friends keep over that Spirit of Separation and Division in the peaceable Truth and in the Seed of Life which will wear it all out and out-last it For the Lamb will have the Victory over all the Spirits of Strife as it hath had since the beginning and they will Wither as others have done but all that do keep in the Seed which is always green shall never Wither as Friends have been to this day kept And if any have gone out and backslidden and thrown off the Cross and are grown loose and full and are gone into Strife and Contention with their Earthly Spirits and therein plead for a liberty this Spirit taketh with loose earthly Spirits and cries Imposition to such as do admonish them to come to the Life Light and Spirit and Power of God that they may be alive and may live again with the Living And then upon this Admonishment their Spirits do arise into Contention and Strife and a Separation turning against the Living in their loose earthly Spirits which would have the Name of Truth but is not in the Nature of it but is for Eternal Judgment of the living Seed And this is it which doth deceive but it is judged by that which doth undeceive and save Amsterdam in Holland the 5th of the 6th Month 1677. G. F. This being the First-day of the Week we had a very large Meeting again there coming to it a great Concourse of People of several Opinions as Baptists Seekers Socinians Brownists and some of the Collegians Robert Barclay George Keith William Pen and I did all severally declare the Everlasting Truth among them opening the Estate of Man in the Fall and shewing by what way Man and Woman may come into the Restoration by Christ Jesus And indeed the Mystery of Iniquity and the Mystery of Godliness were very plainly laid open and the Meeting ended quietly and well The day following George Keith Robert Barclay and William Penn leaving me and some other Friends at Amsterdam set forward on their Journey towards Germany where they Travelled many hundred Miles and had good Service for the Lord Benjamin Furly going with them and Interpreting That day and the next I stayed at Amsterdam visiting the Friends and assisting them in some businesses concerning their Meetings And there came Three Baptists to discourse with me unto whom I opened things to their satisfaction and they parted from me in kindness I writ a Letter also to the Princess Elizabeth which Isabel Yeomans delivered to her when George Keith's Wife and she went to visit her Princess Elizabeth I Have heard of thy Tenderness towards the Lord and his holy Truth by some Friends that have visited thee and also by some of thy Letters which I have seen which indeed is a great thing for a Person of thy quality to have such a tender mind after the Lord and his precious Truth seeing so many are swallowed up with Voluptuousness and the Pleasures of this World and yet all make an outward Profession of God and Christ one way or other but without any deep Inward sense and feeling of him For it is not many mighty nor wise of the World that can become fools for Christ's sake or can become low in the humility of Christ Jesus from their mighty state through which they might Receive a mightier Estate and a mightier Kingdom through the Inward holy Spirit and the Divine Light and Power of God and a mightier Wisdom which is from above pure and peaceable which Wisdom is above that which is below that is earthly sensual and devillish by which men destroy one another yea about their Religions Ways and Worships and Churches but this they have not from God nor Christ But the Wisdom which is from above by which all things was made and created which the holy fear of God in the heart is the beginning of that keeps the heart clean And by and with this Wisdom are all God's Children to be ordered and with it come to order all things to God's glory So this is the Wisdom that is Justified of her Children And in this fear of God and Wisdom my desire is that thou may be preserved to God's glory For the Lord is come to teach his People himself and to set up his Ensign that the Nations may flow unto it And there hath been an Apostacy since the Apostles days from the Divine Light of Christ which should have given them the Light of the Knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus and likewise from the holy Spirit which would have Lead them into all Truth and therefore have People set up so many Leaders without them to give them Knowledge and also from the holy and precious Faith which Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of which Faith purifies the heart and gives victory over that which separates from God through which Faith they have access to God and in which Faith they please God the Mystery of which Faith is held in a pure Conscience And also from the Gospel which was preached in the Apostle's days which Gospel is the Power of God which brings Life and Immortality to Light in Man and Woman by which People should have seen over the Devil that has darkned them and before he was which Gospel will preserve all them that receive it in Life and in Immortality For the Eyes of People have been after Men and not after the Lord who doth write his Law in the hearts and puts it into the minds of all the Children of the New Covenant of Light Life and Grace through which they all come to know the Lord from the Least to the Greatest So that the Knowledge of the Lord may cover the Earth as the Waters doth the Sea And this Work of the Lord is a beginning again as it was in the Apostles days that People shall come to receive an Vnction in them again from the holy One by which they shall know all things and shall not need any man to teach them but as the Anointing doth teach them and also to know what the Righteousness of faith speaks the Word nigh in the heart and mouth to obey it and to do it which was the Word of Faith the Apostles preached Which is now received and preached again which is the duty of all true Christians to receive And so now People are coming out of the Apostacy to the Light of Christ and his Spirit and to receive Faith from him and not
Commissary's house and then taking Boat again we passed to Groningen Groningen the chief City of the Province of Groningland One of the Magistrates of that City came with us from Leuwarden with whom I had some discourse on the way and he was very loving We walked near Two Miles through the City and then took Boat for Delfziel and passing in the Evening Delfziel Appingdalen through a Town called Appingdalem where had been a great Horse-Fair that day there came many Officers rushing into the Boat and being somewhat in drink they were very Rude I spake to them exhorting them to fear the Lord and beware of Solomon 's vanities They were a sort of boisterous Fellows yet they were somewhat more Civil afterwards We landed at Delfziel about the Tenth hour at night having travelled much about Fifty English Miles that day We went to an Inn to Lodge and as we passed through the Guards they Examined John Claus whether I was not a Militia Souldier and when he had told them that I was not they let us pass peaceably on This City Delfziel stands on the River Eems over which we passed next day to the City Embden a Place Embden where Friends had been cruelly persecuted and from which they had been often banished I went to an Inn where I stay'd and dined with some men that understood English with whom I had a fine time and they were loving Mean while John Claus went with his Wife to her Fathers who lived in Embden whither after I had dined I went also understanding the old Man was desirous to see me In the Afternoon John Claus and I walked through the City to the place where the Wagon which he had hired was to meet us and while we tarried for it the Friends that were in the City came to the house where we were and there we had a little Meeting When the Meeting was over and the Wagon came not we sent to know the Reason and the Master of the Wagon sent us word that he durst not let his Wagon go for the Bishop of Munster's Souldiers were up in the Country and he was afraid they would take away his Horses So being disappointed of our passage we returned to John Claus his Father-in-law's house where I left him and went my self to my Inn at night We took Shipping next day and passed about Fifteen Miles upon the River Eems to a Market-Town in East-Friezland River Eems East-Friezland Leer Strikehuysen called Leer where lived a Friend that had been banished from Embden and when we had visited him we hired a Wagon in that Town and passed to a Garrison-Town called Strikehuysen where the Guards Examined us 1677. Deteren and then we went on to Deteren where hiring another Wagon we passed through the Country to another Garrison'd Town where we were very strictly Examined Apre From thence we passed unto Apre in the King of Denmark's Country where we lodged that night In our Travel this day we met the Earl of Oldenburgh going to the Treaty of Peace at Lembachie Next day hiring another Wagon we passed through the Country to the City Oldenburgh Oldenburgh lately a great and famous Place but then burnt down and but few houses left standing in it At this place we hired another Wagon and went through the Country to Delmenhurst Delmenhurst where after we had been Examined by the Guards we went to a Burger-Master's to lodge whose house was an Inn. And there being many People I declared the Way of Truth to him and them Warning them all of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Evil-doers Germany Bremen From hence we passed next day by Wagon to Bremen which is a stately City in Germany and from thence after a double Examination Overdelend Fisher-holder we went by Wagon to a Water called Overdelend and there took Boat to Fisher-holder Where finding pretty many People together I declared the Way of God to them and exhorted them to fear the Lord. There we took Wagon again and travelled in the Bishop of Munster's Country Munsterland Closterseven to a place called Closterseven and having no Inclination to stay there we got fresh Horses there intending to travel all night Accordingly we went out a little way but it quickly grew so dark and rained so hard that we thought it best to turn back again thither for our Wagon being open we had no defence against the Rain and our Cloaths were already wet with the Rain that had fallen for several days before So we went back to an Inn and got a little fresh Straw upon which we lay till about break of day and then set out in our Wagon again and travelled through the Country to the City of Buxtehude Buxtehude The People in the Bishop of Munster's Country were very dark and as we passed amongst them I preached Truth to them warning them of the Great and Notable Day of the Lord and exhorting them to soberness and to mind the good Spirit of God in themselves It was on the First-day of the Week that we went through this City Buxtehude and without the Walls was a great Fair of Sheep and Geese that day We stayed but a little to refresh our selves Hamborough and went on as fast as we could to Hamborough partly by Wagon and partly by Water We got to Hamborough time enough to get a Meeting there that Evening and a good and glorious Meeting it was There were at it amongst others a Baptist-Teacher and his Wife and a Great Man of Sweden and his Wife and all was quiet blessed be the Lord whose Power was Exalted over all Yet a dark hard place this is and the People are much shut up from Truth At Hamborough there was a Woman 1677. Hamborough that had spoken against me in John Perrot's time though she had never seen me till now and she had been troubled for it ever since and now was glad of an Opportunity to acknowledge her Fault which she very readily did and I did as readily and freely forgive her We stayed that night at Hamborough encouraging and strengthening the Friends there in the Testimony to the Truth and betimes next Morning we set forward towards Frederick stadt which is Two long days Journey from Hamborough We went the First-day to a Town called Elmshoorn where we baited Elmshoorn and then rode on through a Garrison-Town of the King of Denmark's and passing by the Monument of the Earl of Ransenny Rantzow Itzeho we came to the City of Itzeho where we lodged that night and I had some Service in the Evening among the People in the Inn whom I exhorted to soberness and to live in the Fear of the Lord. Next Morning setting out again we travelled to a Town called Hoghenhorn Hoghen-horn where we dined at an Inn with one of the Council of Frederick-stadt to whom and to the rest of the People
Market-Town where we stay'd to Change our Passage where I declared the Truth to the People warning them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Flesh and Exhorting them to Righteousness and telling them that God was come to Teach his People himself and that they should turn to the Lord and hearken to the Teachings of his Spirit in their own hearts At Bremen we were Examined as we usually were in Cities and Garrison-Towns and after that we went to an Inn Bremen and stay'd a while till another Wagon was provided to carry us further And here though I felt the Lord's Power was over the City and kept the wicked and unruly Spirits down yet my Spirit suffered much in this place for the Peoples sake When our Wagon was ready we left Bremen and travelled through the Country to Keby where we lodged at an Inn that night Keby and early next Morning set forth for Oldenburgh Oldenburgh which was a lamentable sight to see so great and brave a City burnt down We went to an Inn and though it was the First-day of the Week there were the Souldiers drinking and playing at Shovel-board and at those few Houses that were left the Shops were open and the People Trading one with another I was moved to speak to the People and declare the Truth among them and warn them of the Judgments of God And though they heard me quietly and were civil towards me yet I was burdened with their Wickedness 1677. Oldenburgh And many times in Mornings Noons and Nights at the Inns and on the Ways as I travelled I spake to the People preaching the Truth to them and warning them of the Day of the Lord and Exhorting them to turn to the Light and Spirit of God in themselves that thereby they might be led out of Evil. Next day passing through many great Waters we came at night to Leer Leer Embden and the day following to Embden where John Claus his Wife's Father lived at whose house when we went up into Germany we left a Young-man sick who travelled with me and used to write for me whom now at our Return we found pretty well recovered John Claus went to his Father-in-law's John Hill and I to an Inn where we dined and after dinner we went also to John Claus his Father's and had a good Meeting there in the Evening The day following we took shipping at Embden and passed to Delfziel Delfziel and went to an Inn where a Friend came to us that then lived in Delfziel having been often Banisht from Embden He was a Goldsmith by Trade and had an House and Shop in Embden and still as they banished him he went again Then they Imprisoned him and fed him with bread and water and at length took his Goods from him and Banished him his Wife and Children leaving them neither place to come to nor any thing to subsist on We Comforted and Encouraged him in the Lord Exhorting him to be faithful and stand stedfast in the Testimony committed to him And when we had taken our Leave of him Groningen we took Boat and passed the same day to Groningen where we met with Cornelius Andries a Friend that had also suffered much by Imprisonment and Banishment at Embden We went with him to his house and the next day we had a good Meeting in that City to which several Professors came and were very peaceable and attentive After Meeting we passed by Boat to Strobus Strobus Dockum Friezland Leuwarden and so to Dockum where we lodged that night at an Inn. And taking Boat again next morning we passed to Leuwarden the chief City of Friezland where I found my daughter Yeomans who was come from Amsterdam thither to meet me That day we had a precious Meeting there at Sybrand Dowe's house and after the Meeting I had some Discourse with some that were at the Meeting who had been formerly Convinced of Truth but were not come into Obedience to it We stayed there that night but John Hill left us and went that day to Harlingen and so to Amsterdam Next day we passed away by Boat down the River to the Lake of Hempen-Sarmer Hempen-Sarmer Lugmer Anderigo Whispool Gardick and thence by the Lake Lugmer and so to a Town called Anderigo from whence sailing through the Lake Whispool we came to a Town called Gardick It was within night when we came thither and we went and lodged at an Inn and the next day being the First-day of the Week we were at Friends-Meeting there which was very large many of the Towns-People coming in Amongst whom I declared the Truth in the Power of the Lord that was upon me which tendered the People and they were very sober 1677. Gardick After the Meeting we stayed but a little while to refresh our selves and then went to take Boat again but the People observing us gathered together at a Bridge where we were to pass and there I spake unto them again declaring the Way of Life and Salvation unto them and they were very Attentive and Civil We took Boat and went back that Evening to Leuwarden Leuwarden being 27 Miles but before we could get thither the Gates were shut and the Bridges drawn up so that we could not get into the City but were fain to lye in the Boat all night And the next Morning there having been a Man killed in the City that night it was late before the Gates were opened When we could get in we went to a Friend's house where we stay'd a while and then taking Boat again we passed through Franeker to Harlingen Franeker Harlingen to Hessel Jacobs where we found several Dutch Friends who were come to be at the Meeting there next day In the Evening William Penn came to us from Amsterdam who returning two or three days before out of Germany had been at a large Meeting at Amsterdam on the First-day and after Meeting understanding I was at Harlingen came thither to me The next day was the Monthly Meeting for the Men and Women to which we went and it was large and good And there it was Agreed upon amongst Friends That there should be a Meeting held there once a Month both for the Men and for the Women to take care of the outward Concerns of the Church In the Afternoon we had a publick Meeting to which came People of several sorts as Socinians Baptists Lutherans c. amongst which was a Doctor of Physick and a Priest And after I had declared the Truth a pretty large time to the People opening unto them the happy Estate that Man and Woman were in whilst they kept under God's Teaching and abode in the Paradise of God and on the other hand the Wo and Misery that came upon them when they went from God's Teaching and hearkning to the Serpent's Teaching transgressed God's Command and were driven out of the Paradise of God And then came
to set forth the Way whereby Man and Woman might come into that happy Estate again The Priest an ancient grave Man stood up just as I had done speaking and putting off his Hat said I pray God to prosper and confirm that Doctrine for it is Truth and I have nothing against it He would willingly have stay'd longer until the Meeting had been ended but being a Parish-Priest and to preach that Evening he could not stay longer the time for his own Worship being come Wherefore when he had made Confession to the Truth he hastned away that he might come to the Meeting again and did come it seems to the Meeting-place but the Meeting was ended first After Meeting we went to Hessel Jacobs where I had a Meeting with Friends and the Doctor of Physick came thither to discourse with William Penn who had a good opportunity to open Truth to him By this Doctor the Priest sent his Love to me wishing him to tell me that he had left Preaching that Evening half an hour sooner than he used to do that he might have come to our Meeting again 1677. Harlingen to have heard more of that good Doctrine I heard afterwards that his Hearers questioned him for what he had said in our Meeting and that he standing by his words they had Complained of him for it to the other Priests of the City who called him to Account about it but the Result I could not learn Early next Morning William Penn taking John Claus with him passed from Harlingen for Leuwarden where he had appointed a Meeting intending after that to Travel into some other parts of Germany to visit a tender People there I with those Friends that were with me Amsterdam took Ship the same day for Amsterdam where we arrived a little after Midnight but the Gates being shut we lay on Board till Morning then went to Gertrude Dirick Nieson's where many Friends came to see us being glad of our safe Return Next day feeling a Concern upon my mind with relation to those seducing Spirits that made Division among Friends and being sensible that they endeavoured to insinuate themselves into the affectionate part I was moved to write a few Lines to Friends concerning them as followeth ALL these that do set up themselves in the Affections of the People set up themselves and the Affections of the People and not Christ But Friends your peaceable Habitation in the Truth which is Everlasting and changes not will out-last all the Habitations of those that be out of the Truth although they be never so full of words And so they that be so keen for J. S. and J. W. let them take them and the Separation And you that have given your Testimony against that Spirit stand in your Testimony till they Answer by Condemnation And do not strive nor make Bargains with that which is out of the Truth nor save that alive to be a Sacrifice for God which should be slain lest you lose your Kingdom Amsterdam the 14th day of the 7th Month 1677. G. F. On the First-day of the Week following I was at Friends Meeting at Amsterdam to which many People came and were very civil and attentive hearing Truth declared several hours and John Roeloffs Interpreted for me Before this time several of the Friends that came over with me were returned to England again as Robert Barclay George Keith's Wife and others and now my Daughter Yeomans went back also so that I was now left alone at Amsterdam And while I was here it came upon me to visit my suffering Friends at Dantzick with a few Lines to encourage and strengthen them in their Sufferings as followeth Dear Friends TO whom is my Love in the Lord's Truth that is over all 1677. Amsterdam and by which all God's People are made free Men and Women being thereby set free from him that is out of the Truth that walking in the Truth they may Answer the Witness of God in all People which Truth all must come to if they be made free Therefore be faithful unto what the Lord manifests and makes known unto you I am glad that the Lord hath Witnesses in that City to stand for his Glory and Name and to stand up for Christ Jesus the great Prophet whom God hath raised up who is to be heard in all things so that ye need none of the Prophets which men have raised up Therefore stand faithful to Christ Jesus your Shepherd that he may feed you and hear his voice and follow him who has laid down his Life for you but follow none of the Shepherds and Hirelings that are made by men though they be angry because ye will not follow them to their dry and barren Mountains who have been and are the Thieves Persecutors and Robbers that Clime up another way than by Christ So set up Christ to be your Counsellor and Leader and then ye will have no need of any of the Counsellors and Leaders of the World for Christ is sufficient whom God has given you And also set up Christ Jesus to be your Bishop and Overseer who is sufficient to Oversee you that ye go not astray from God by which ye may see over all the Hireling-Overseers made by men which do keep the People that they do not go astray from the Rudiments and Formalities Fashions and Customs of the World which hath been and is their Work And I am glad that ye are come to own Christ Jesus your High-Priest who is holy and harmless and separate from Sinners and made higher than the Heavens as the Church and the Apostle did own him in their days Hebr. 7. who is the High-Priest over the houshold of Faith which Faith Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of and this do all the Children of the New Covenant witness who walk in the new and living Way And therefore my desire is that ye all may be stedfast whether in Bonds or out in the Faith of Christ Jesus which is the Gift of God by which Faith all the Valiants overcame the Devil and all their Enemies in which Faith they had Victory and Access to God and in that was their Unity which Mystery of Faith is held in a pure Conscience hidden from the World And I do believe that your Imprisonments and Sufferings in that Place will be for Good in the end as it hath been in other Places ye standing faithful to the Lord who is All-sufficient For your Sufferings and Trials will Try their Teachers and Religions Churches and Worships and make manifest what Birth they are of even that which persecutes him that is born of the Spirit for ye know that there is no Salvation by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus and therefore it is time to leave them when there is no Salvation by or in any of them Now Friends I desire that you would take a List of the Names of all those Persons
shined over all Every day I am fain to be at Meetings about Business and Sufferings which are great abroad and now many Friends are concerned with many Persons about them So in haste with my Love to you all London the 24th of the 9th Month 1677. G. F. About this time I received Letters from New-England 1677. London which gave account of the Magistrates and Rulers cruel and unchristian-like Proceedings against Friends there whipping and abusing them very shamefully for they whipped many Women-Friends and one Woman they tied to a Cart and dragged her along the Street she being stripped above the wast Yea they whipped some Masters of Ships that were not Friends only for bringing Friends thither And at that very time while they were persecuting Friends in this barbarous manner the Indians slew threescore of their Men and took one of their Captains and fleyed the skin off of his head while he was alive and carried it away in Triumph So that the sober People said The Judgments of God came upon them for persecuting the Quakers but the blind dark Priests said It was because they did not persecute them enough So a great Exercise I had in seeking Relief here for our poor suffering Friends there that they might not lye under the Rod of the Wicked Upon this and other Services for Truth to get Friends sufferings in several places taken off I stay'd in London a month or five weeks visiting Meetings and helping and incouraging Friends to labour for the deliverance of their suffering Brethren in other parts Afterwards I went down to Kingston Kingston and visited Friends there and there-away And having stay'd a little among Friends there over looking a Book which I had then ready to go to the Press Bucks I went from thence cross the Country into Buckinghamshire visiting Friends and having several Meetings amongst them as at Amersham Hunger-hill Jordans Hedgerly Amersham Hunger-hill Jordans Hedgerly Wickham-Turvil-heath Wickham and Turvil-heath In some of which they that were gone out from the Unity of Friends in Truth into Strife Opposition and Division were very unruly and troublesome Particularly at the Mens-Meeting at Thomas Ellwood's at Hunger-hill where the Chief of them came from Wickham endeavouring to make a disturbance in the Meeting and to hinder Friends from proceeding in the business of the Meeting When I saw their design I admonished them to be sober and quiet and not trouble the Meeting by interrupting the Service thereof but rather if they were dissatisfied with Friends Proceedings and had any thing to Object let a Meeting be Appointed on purpose some other day So Friends offered them to give them a Meeting another day and at length it was Agreed to be at Thomas Ellwood's the week following Hunger-hill Accordingly Friends met them there and the Meeting was in the Barn for there came so many both of Friends and of them that the House could not receive them So after we had sate a while they began their Jangling and most of their Arrows were shot at me but the Lord was with me and gave me strength in his Power to cast back their Darts of Envy and Falshood upon themselves And so their Objections were Answered and things were opened to the People and a good Opportunity it was and serviceable to the Truth for many that before were weak were now strengthened and confirmed and some that were doubting and wavering were satisfied and settled and the Faithful Friends were refreshed and comforted in the springings of Life amongst us 1677. Hunger-hill for the Power rose and Life sprung and in the arisings thereof many living Testimonies were born against that wicked dividing rending Spirit which those Opposers were joined to and acted by And the Meeting ended to the satisfaction of Friends That night I lodged with other Friends at Thomas Ellwood's and the same week I had a Meeting again with those Opposers at Wickham Wickham where they again shewed their Envy and were made manifest to the Upright-hearted Now after I had visited Friends in that upper side of Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Henly Causham Reading I called upon Friends at Henly in Oxfordshire and afterwards went by Causham to Reading where I was at Friends Meeting on the First-day of the week and in the Evening had a large Meeting with Friends Next day there being another Meeting amongst Friends concerning settling a Womens-Meeting some of them that had let in the Spirit of Division fell into jangling and were disorderly for a while till the weight of Truth brought them down After this Meeting I passed on through the Country visiting Friends and having Meetings amongst them in several places Barkshire Wiltshire Bristol through Barkshire and Wiltshire and so on till I came to Bristol which was on the 24th day of the 11th Month just before the Fair. I stay'd at Bristol all the time of the Fair and some time after and many sweet and precious Meetings we had there at that time Many Friends being there from several parts of the Nation some on the account of Trade and some in the Service of Truth And great was the Love and Unity of Friends that abode faithful in the Truth though some who were gone out of the holy Vnity and were run into Strife Division and Enmity were rude and abusive to me and behaved themselves in a very Unchristian manner towards me But the Lord's Power was over all by which being preserved in the heavenly Patience which could bear Injuries for his Name 's sake I felt dominion therein over the rough rude and unruly Spirits and would leave them to the Lord who knew my Innocency and would plead my Cause And the more these laboured to Reproach and Vilifie me the more did the Love of Friends that were sincere and upright-hearted Abound towards me and some that had been betrayed by the Adversaries seeing their Envy and rude behaviour brake off from them who have cause to bless the Lord for their deliverance When I left Bristol I went with Richard Snead to a house of his in the Country and from thence to Hezekiah Coale's at Winterburn Gloucestershire Winterburn in Gloucestershire whether came several Friends that were under great Sufferings for Truth 's sake whom I had Invited to meet me there And there Stephen Smith Richard Snead and I drew up a Breviat of their Sufferings setting forth the Illegal Proceedings against them which was delivered to the Judges at the Assizes at Gloucester and they promised to put a stop to those Illegal Proceedings Sudbury Next day we passed to Sudbury and had a large Meeting in the Meeting-house there which at that time was of very good Service We went next day to Nathaniel Crip 's at Tedbury and from thence passed on to Nailsworth 1677. Tedbury Nailsworth Finchcomb where on the First-day of the Week we had a brave Meeting and large From thence we went to the Quarterly Meeting
at Finchcomb where were several of the Opposit Spirit who it was thought Intended to have made some disturbance amongst Friends but the Lord's Power was over and kept them down and good Service for the Lord we had at that Meeting We returned from Finchcomb to Nailsworth again Nailsworth and had another very precious Meeting there to which Friends came from the several Meetings thereabouts which made it very large also We went from Nailsworth on the First day of the First Month 1677 8 and travelled through the Country visiting Friends and having many Meetings amongst them at Cirencester Crown-Allins Cirencester Crown-Allins Cheltonham Stoke-Orchard Tewksbury c. Worcester Parshow Evesham Warwickshire Ragley Cheltonham Stoke-Orchard Tewksbury c. so went to Worcester where I had formerly suffered Imprisonment above a Year for the Truth 's sake and Friends rejoiced greatly to see me there again Here I stay'd several days and had many very precious Meetings in the City and much Service amongst Friends After which travelling through the Country I had Meetings at Parshow and Evesham and then struck to Ragley in Warwickshire to visit her that was called the Lady Conway who I understood was very desirous to see me and whom I found tender and loving and willing to have detained me longer than I had freedom to stay About Two miles from hence I had Two Meetings at a Friend's house whose name was John Stangley Stratford Lamcoat Armscott Oxfordshire Sibbard North-Newton Banbury Adderbury c. Buckinghamshire Long-Crendon Ilmer Mendle Weston Cholsberry Chesham c. Hartfordshire Charlewood Watford Hempsted Market-street Bedfordshire Luton Albans South-Mims Barnet Hendon London whither William Dewsbury came to me and stay'd with me about half a day Afterwards I visited Friends in their Meetings thereabouts at Stratford Lamcoat and Armscott from whence it was that I was sent Prisoner to Worcester in the Year 1673 and thence passed into Oxfordshire visiting Friends and having Meetings at Sibbard North-Newton Banbury Adderbury c. Then visiting Friends through Buckinghamshire at Long-Crendon Ilmer Mendle Weston Cholsberry Chesham c. having several Meetings amongst them I came to Isaac Pennington's where I stay'd a few days And then turning into Hartfordshire visited Friends at Charlewood Watford Hempstead and Market-street at which places I had Meetings with Friends From Market-street I went in the Morning to Luton in Bedfordshire to see John Crook with whom I spent good part of the day and went towards Evening to Albans where I lay that night at an Inn. And visiting Friends at South-Mims and at Barnet and Hendon where I had Meetings I came to London on the Eighth day of the Third Month. And it being the Fourth-day of the Week I went to Gracious-street-Meeting which was peaceable and well and many Friends not knowing I was come to Town were very Joyful to see me there and the Lord was present with us refreshing us with his living Vertue blessed be his holy Name The Parliament was sitting when I came to Town and Friends having laid their Sufferings before them were Waiting on them for Relief against the Laws made against Popish Recusants which they knew we were not though some malicious Magistrates took Advantages against us 1678. London to prosecute us in several parts of the Nation upon those Statutes So Friends being Attending on that Service when I came I Joined with them therein and some probability there was that something might have been obtained towards Friends Ease and Relief in that Case many of the Parliament-men being tender and loving towards us as believing we were much mis-represented by our Adversaries But when I went down one Morning with George Whitehead to the Parliament-house to Attend upon them on Friends hehalf on a sudden they were Prorogued though but for a short time Yearly Meeting About two weeks after I came to London the Yearly Meeting began to which Friends came up out of most parts of the Nation and a glorious heavenly Meeting we had Oh the Glory Majesty Love Life Wisdom and Vnity that was amongst us the Power reigned over all and many Testimonies were born therein against that ungodly Spirit which sought to make Rents and Divisions amongst the Lord's People but not one Mouth was opened amongst us in its defence or on its behalf Good and Comfortable Accounts also we had for the most part from Friends in other Countries of which I find a brief Account in a Letter which soon after I writ to my Wife the Copy whereof here follows Dear Heart TO whom is my Love in the Everlasting Seed of Life that reigns over all Great Meetings here have been and the Lord's Power hath been stirring through all the like hath not been And the Lord hath in his Power knit Friends wonderfully together and the glorious Presence of the Lord did appear among Friends And now the Meetings are over blessed be the Lord in quietness and peace From Holland I hear that things are well there Some Friends are gone that way to be at their Yearly Meeting at Amsterdam At Embden Friends that were banished are gotten into the City again At Dantzick Friends are in Prison and the Magistrates threatned them with harder Imprisonment but the next day the Lutherans rose and plucked down or defaced the Popish Monastery so they have work enough among themselves The King of Poland did receive my Letter and read it himself and Friends have since printed it in High-Dutch By Letters from the Half-yearly-Meeting in Ireland I hear that they be all in Love there And at Barbados Friends are in quietness and their Meetings settled in peace At Antego also and Nevis Truth prospers and Friends have their Meetings orderly and well Likewise in New-England and other places things concerning Truth and Friends are well and in those places the Mens and Womens-Meetings are settled blessed be the Lord. So keep in God's Power and Seed that is over all in whom ye all have Life and Salvation for the Lord reigns over all in his Glory and in his Kingdom Glory to his Name for ever Amen So in haste with my Love to you all and to all Friends London the 26th of the 3d Month 1678. G. F. The Letter to the King of Poland before mentioned is as followeth To Johannes III. KING of Poland c. O King WE desire thy Prosperity both in this Life and that which is to come And we desire that we may have our Christian Liberty to Serve and Worship God under thy Dominion For our Principle leads us not to do any thing prejudicial to the King or his People For we are a People that do exercise a good Conscience towards God through his holy Spirit and in it do serve and worship and honour him and towards Men in the things that be equal and just doing to them as we would have them do unto us and looking unto Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith which Faith
in it you may know that ye are all Members of one another and all have an Office in the Church of Christ and all these living Members know one another in the Spirit and not in the Flesh So here is no Man ruling over the Woman as Adam did over Eve in the Fall but Christ the Spiritual Man among and over his Spiritual Members which are edified in the heavenly Love that is shed in their heart from God where all strife ceases Hartford the 11th of the 5th Month 1678. G. F. I went from Hartford to a Meeting at Rabley-Heath about six miles from thence 1678. Rabley-Heath Stevenage Bâ—ldock Hi chin Ashwel Bedfordshire Huntington Ives and after the Meeting to Edward Crouch's of Stevenage from whence next day I went to Baldock where I had a Meeting that Evening and after that had Meetings at Hitchin and Ashwell Then passing through some part of Bedfordshire where I had a Meeting or two I went on to Huntington in which County I stayed several days having many Meetings and much Service amongst Friends labouring to Convince Gain-sayers and to Confirm and Strengthen Friends in the Way and Work of the Lord. At Ives in Huntingtonshire George Whitehead came to me and travelled with me in the Work of the Lord for five or six days in that County and in some part of Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Leicestershire Great Bowden Sâ—dâ—ington Wigston Knighton Leicester Sileby Swannington c. Leicester and leaving me in Great Bowden in Leicestershire he went on towards Westmorland whither he was travelling I stay'd longer in Leicestershire visiting Friends at Saddington Wigston Knighton Leicester Sileby Swannington and divers other places where I had very precious Meetings and very good Service amongst Friends and other People for there was great Openness and many weighty and excellent Truths did the Lord give me to open amongst them At Leicester I went to the Jail to visit the Friends that were in Prison there for the Testimony of Jesus with whom I spent some time encouraging them in the Lord to persevere stedfastly and faithfully in their Testimony and not to be Weary of Suffering for his sake And when I had taken my leave of the Friends I spake with the Jailer desiring him to be kind to them and let them have what Liberty he could to visit their Families sometimes After I had been in Leicestershire I had a Meeting or two in Warwickshire and then went into Staffordshire Warwickshire Staffordshire where I had several sweet and opening Meetings both for gathering into Truth and establishing therein And while I was in Staffordshire I was moved to give forth the following Paper DEar Friends of the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings every where My desire is that ye may all strive to be of one Mind in the Lord's Power and Truth which is peaceable into which Strife and Enmity cannot come and also in the Wisdom of God which is pure peaceable and easie to be intreated which is above that that is below that is Earthly Devilish and Sensual and that with and in this heavenly Wisdom that is peaceable and easie to be entreated you may be all ordered and do what ye do to God's Glory And Dear friends if there should happen at any time any thing that tends to strife dispute or contention in your Monthly or Quarterly Meetings let it be Referr'd to half a dozen or such alike number to debate and end out of your Meeting as it was at first so that all your Monthly and Quarterly Meetings may be kept peaceable And then they may Inform the Meeting what they have done so that the Weak and Youth amongst you may not be hurt through hearing of Strife or Contention in your Meetings 1678. Staffordshire where no Strife or Contention ought to be but all to go on and determine things in one Mind in the Power of God the Gospel-Order in which Gospel of Peace ye will preserve the Peace of all your Meetings And if any Man or Woman have any thing against any one let them speak to one another and end it betwixt themselves and if they cannot so end it let them take two or three to end it And in case they determin it not let it be laid before the Church and then let half a dozen or such a number out of your Monthly or Quarterly Meeting hear it and finally end it without Respect of Persons And let all Prejudice be laid aside and buried and also all Shortness one towards another and let Love which is not puffed up and envies not and seeks not her own but bears all things rule sway and have the Dominion in all your Meetings for that doth edifie the Body which Christ is the Head of and this will sway all sounding Brass and tinkling Cymbals Now this Love will suffer long and is kind and will keep down that which will vaunt it self or be puffed up or behave it self unseemly or is easily provoked It hath a sway over all such Fruits which are not of the Spirit the Fruit of which is Love c. And that with this holy Spirit ye may all be baptized into one Body and so be made all to drink into one Spirit in which Spirit ye will have Unity in which is the Bond of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords his Peace And they that dwell in Love they dwell in God for God is Love Therefore let every one keep his Dwelling-place and his Habitation So with my Love to you in Christ Jesus the everlasting Seed which is over all Staffordshire the 20th of the 6th Month 1678. G. F. Darbyshire Moniash Yorkshire Hill Out of Staffordshire I went to visit John Gratton at Moniash in Darbyshire with whom I tarried one night and went next day to William Shaws of the Hill in Yorkshire where I appointed a Meeting to be on the First-day of the Week following Many Friends out of Darbyshire and from several Meetings in Yorkshire came to this Meeting and a precious comfortable opening Meeting it was wherein was opened the blessed Estate that Man was in before he fell the Means by which he fell the miserable Condition into which he fell and the right Way of coming out of it into a happy State again by Christ the promised Seed After this I spent about two Weeks in Yorkshire travelling from place to place amongst Friends in the Lord's Service and many heavenly Meetings I had in that County Then visiting Robert Widders at Kellet in Lancashire Lancashire Kellet Westmorland Arnside Swarthmore I passed to Arnside in Westmorland where I had a precious living Meeting in the Lord's blessed Power to the great Satisfaction and Comfort of Friends who came from divers parts to it The next day I went to Swarthmore and it being the Meeting-day there I had a sweet opportunity with Friends our hearts being opened in the Love of God 1678. Swarthmore and his blessed Life flowing amongst us
the Lord laid it upon me to write to both the great Turk and the King of Algier severally to Warn them both and the People under them to turn from their wickedness and fear the Lord and do justly lest the Judgments of God came upon them and destroyed them without Remedy But to the Algerines I writ more particularly concerning the Cruelty they exercised towards Friends and others whom they held Captives in Algiers Now when I had finished that Service and visited Friends in their Meetings at Kingston I went on further into the County and had Meetings amongst Friends in many places Worplesdon Guildford Eshing Capell Patchgate Worminghurst Bletchington Horsham Ifield Rygate Gaton c Kingston Hammersmith Battersea Wansworth Kensington Hendon London Edmunton Hartford as at Worplesdon Guildford Eshing Capell Patchgate Worminghurst Bletchington Horsham Ifield Rygate Gaton c. and so came back to Kingston again and from thence to Hammersmith And having spent some days in the Service of Truth amongst Friends at Hammersmith Battersea Wansworth and thereabouts I crossed over by Kensington to Hendon where I had a very good Meeting on the First-day of the Week And having spent about two Months time in this Journey went from thence to London When I had been about Ten days in London I was drawn forth again to visit Friends in the Country and went down to Edmunton to Christopher Taylor 's who kept a School in his House for the educating of Friends Children I had some Service here amongst the Youths and then went on towards Hartford visiting several Friends in the way At Hartford I met with John Story and some others of his Party but the Testimony of Truth went over them and kept them down so that the Meeting was quiet It was on a First-day of the week and the next day being the Mens and Womens Meeting for business I visited them also and the rather because some in that place had let in a Dis-esteem of them Wherefore I was moved to open the Service of those Meetings and the Usefulness and Benefit thereof to the Church of Christ as the Lord opened the thing in me and it was of good Service to Friends 1680. Hartford I had a Meeting also with some of them there that were gone into Strife and Contention to shew them wherein they were wrong and having cleared my self of them I left them to the Lord. Then after I had had another publick Meeting in the Town Waltham-Abby I returned towards London by Waltham-Abby where I had a publick Meeting on the First-day following and another with Friends in the Evening Next day I went to Christopher Taylor 's at Edmunton and stay'd there a day or two Edmunton having some things upon me to write which were for the Service of Truth When I had finished that Service Schacklewell I went to London by Shacklewell where was a School kept by Friends for the breeding up Young Maidens that were Friends Daughters I abode at London most part of this Winter London having much Service for the Lord there both in Meetings and out For as it was a time of great Sufferings upon Friends I was drawn forth in Spirit to visit Friends Meetings more frequently to encourage and strengthen them both by Exhortation and Example The Parliament also was sitting and Friends were diligent to wait upon them to lay their Grievances before them of which we received fresh Accounts almost every day of the sad Sufferings Friends underwent in many parts of the Nation In this Service of seeking Relief for my suffering Brethren I spent much time together with other Friends who were freely given up to that Service attending at the Parliament-House day by day for many days together and watching all Opportunities to speak with such Members of either House as would hear our just Complaints And indeed some of the Members of each House were very Courteous to us and appeared willing to help us if they could But the Parliament being then earnest in Examining the Popish Plot and contriving ways to discover such as were Popishly Affected our Adversaries took advantages against us because they knew we could not Swear nor Fight to Expose us to those Penalties that were made against Papists though they knew in their Consciences that we were no Papists and had had Experience of us that we were no Plotters Wherefore to clear our Innocency in those Cases and to stop the Mouths of our Adversaries I drew up a short Paper to be delivered to the Parliament which was as followeth IT is our Principle and Testimony to deny and renounce all Plots and Plotters against the King or any of his Subjects for we have the Spirit of Christ by which the have the Mind of Christ who came to save mens lives and not to destroy them and we would have the King and all his Subjects to be safe Wherefore we do declare that we will endeavour to our power to save and defend him and them by discovering all Plots and Plotters which shall come to our knowledge that would destroy the King or his Subjects This we do sincerely offer unto you But as to Swearing and Fighting which in tenderness of Conscience we cannot do ye know that we have suffered these many years for our Consciencious Refusal thereof 1680. London And now that the Lord hath brought you together we desire you to Relieve us and free us from those Sufferings and that ye will not put upon us to do those things which we have suffered so much and so long already for not doing for if you do ye will make our Sufferings and Bonds stronger instead of Relieving us G. F. About this time I received Two very envious Books written against Truth and Friends one of them by a Doctor so called of Bremen in Germany the other by a Priest of Dantzick in Poland They were both full of gross Falshoods and â—ad in them many reproachful Slanders I found it upon me to Answer them both and that I might not be over-much interrupted therein by other Business and Company I got out of London for a little while Kingston upon Thames and went down to Kingston upon Thames were I writ an Answer to each of them And also an Answer to some other Scandalous Papers which had been printed and scattered about to mis-represent Friends by While I was there I writ also the following Paper to perswade the Magistrates to Moderation towards Dissenters and take off their Edge to Persecution And because it should have its full Service I directed it To all the Rulers Magistrates and them that are in Authority and Law-makers in England Scotland and Ireland from the Highest to the Lowest and to all other Magistrates every where in that which is called Christendom Desiring their Health and Peace and Tranquillity and Life and Salvation in Christ Jesus the Lord of Glory and Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the
First Month 1683. I went to Kingston upon Thames and it being then a time of Persecution as I went to the Meeting I met the Chief Constable who had been at the Meeting-Place Kingston upon Thames and had set Watchmen there to keep us out yet he was pretty Civil and the Watchmen let Friends have a couple of Forms out to sit upon in the High-way so Friends met together there and a very precious Meeting we had for the refreshing Presence of the Lord was with us in which we parted in peace Having visited and encouraged Friends there I returned to London and went to the Meeting at Bull and Mouth London Bull and M. Meeting where the Constables with their Watchmen kept a Guard to keep Friends out of the House So we met in the Street and when any Friend spake the Officers and Watchmen made a great bustle to pull him down and take him into Custody After some other Friends had spoken it was upon me to speak and I said Heaven is God's Throne and Earth is his Footstool and will ye not let us stand upon God's Footstool to worship and serve the living God While I spake they were quiet and after I had cleared my self of what was upon me to speak we brake up our Meeting in peace This was on the Sixth-day of the Week On the First-day of the Week following I was moved to go to the Meeting at Gracious-street and when I came there Grac. Meet I found a Guard set at the Entrance in Lumbard-street and another at the Gate in Gracious-street to keep Friends out of the Meeting-Place so that we were fain to meet abroad in the Street After some time I got a Chair and stood up in it and spake largely to the People Opening the Principles of Truth to them and declaring many weighty Truths concerning Magistracy and concerning the Lord's Prayer There was besides Friends a great Multitude of People and amongst them many Professors and all was very quiet for the Lord's Power was over all and in the Lord's time we broke up our Meeting and departed in peace The next day I went down to Guilford in Surrey Surrey Guilford Sussex Worminghurst and having visited Friends there I passed from thence to Worminghurst in Sussex where I had a very blessed Meeting among Friends and free from disturbance While I was there James Claypoole of London who with his Wife was there also was suddenly taken very ill with so violent a Fit of the Stone 1683. Worminghurst that he could neither stand nor lie but through the extremity of pain cried out like a Woman in Travel When I heard it I was much exercised in Spirit for him and went to him and after I had spoken a few words to him to turn his mind inward I was moved to lay my hand upon him and prayed the Lord to rebuke his Infirmity And as I laid my hand on him the Lord's Power went through him and through Faith in that Power he had speedy Ease so that he quickly fell into a sleep And when he awaked the Stone came from him like dirt and he was so well that the next day he rode with me five and twenty miles in a Coach though he used formerly as he said to lie sometimes two weeks sometimes a month with one of those Fits of the Stone But the Lord was intreated for him and by his Power soon gave him Ease at this time blessed and praised be his holy Name therefore Now after I had had some Meetings in Sussex and Surrey and had visited Friends there aways I returned to London by Kingston Kingston where I had a Meeting on the First-day of the second Month being the First-day of the Week also We were kept out of the Meeting-House by a Constable and Watchmen as before and so were fain to meet in the High-way But it being the Monthly-Meeting-day and many of the World's People being there the Meeting was pretty large and very quiet and the Lord's blessed Presence was amongst us blessed be his Name for ever London Wheel Meet Being come to London I went to the Meeting at Wheeler-street near Spittle-fields which that day proved very large For besides that there were more Friends there that day than usually there came also many Professors to the Meeting that day and a glorious blessed Meeting it was for the Lord's Power and Truth was over all and many deep and weighty things were opened to the People to their great Satisfaction I tarried now in and near about London visiting Friends Meetings and labouring in the Service of the Gospel until the Yearly-Meeting came on which began on the 28th of the third Month this Year It was a time of great Sufferings and much concerned I was lest Friends that came up out of the Countries on the Churches-Service should be taken and imprisoned at London But the Lord was with us and his Power preserved us and gave us a sweet and blessed Opportunity to wait upon him and be refreshed together in him and to perform those Services for his Truth and People for which we met Now inasmuch as it was a time of great Persecution and we understood by our Friends who came out of the several parts of the Nation that in most Counties Friends were under great Sufferings either by Imprisonments or spoilings of Goods or both a concern was weightily upon me lest any Friends that were Sufferers especially such as were Traders and Dealers in the World should hazard the losing of other mens Goods or Estates through their Sufferings Wherefore as the thing opened in me 1683. London I drew an Epistle of Caution to Friends in that Case which I communicated to the Brethren at the Yearly-Meeting and from thence it was sent forth among Friends throughout the Nation A Copy of which here followeth DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ who is your only Sanctuary in this day of Storm and Persecution Spoiling of Goods and Imprisonments Let every ones Eye be unto him who has all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto him so that none can touch an hair of your head nor you nor any thing ye have except it be permitted or suffered in this day to Try his People whether their minds be with the Lord or in the Outward things And now Dear Friends take care that all your Offerings may be free and of your own that has cost you something so that ye may not offer of that which is another man's or that which ye are intrusted withal and not your own or Fatherless or Widows Estates but all such things ye may settle and establish in their places You may remember many years ago in a time of great Persecution there were divers Friends who were Traders Shop-keepers and others who had the Concerns of Widows and Fatherless and other Peoples Estates in their hands And when a great Suffering Persecution and Spoiling of Goods
Dolston I made some stay at the Widow Stots and there I writ an Epistle to Friends 1683. Dolston declaring the Word of the Lord unto them which Epistle being then printed may be read amongst my other printed Books I came from Dolston to London London and the next day was sent for in haste to my Son Rouse's at Kingston Kingston whose daughter Margaret lay very sick and had a desire to see me I tarried now at Kingston about a week and then returned to London London where I continued for the most part of the Winter and the Spring following until the General Meeting in the Year 1684. save that I went once as far as Enfield to visit Friends thereabouts And in this time I ceased not to labour in the Work of the Lord being frequent at Meetings and visiting Friends that were Prisoners or that were sick and in writing Books for the spreading of Truth and opening the Understandings of People to receive it The Yearly-Meeting was in the Third Month and a blessed weighty Meeting it was wherein Friends were sweetly refreshed together for the Lord was with us Yearly Meeting and opened his heavenly Treasures amongst us And though it was a time of great difficulty and danger by reason of Informers and persecuting Magistrates yet the Lord was a Defence and Place of Safety to his People Now had I drawings in Spirit to go into Holland to visit the Seed of God in those Provinces And as soon as the Yearly Meeting was over and most of the Country-Friends gone out of Town I prepared for my Journey There went with me from London Alexander Parker George Watts and Nathaniel Brassey who also had drawings into that Country We took Coach on the 31th of the Third Month 84. and got to Colchester that night Colchester The next day being the First-day of the Week we went to the Meeting there and though there was no notice given of my coming thither yet our being there was presently spread over the Town and in several places in the Country at seven and ten Miles distance so that abundance of Friends came in double-horsed which made the Meeting very Large I had a Concern and Travel in my mind lest this great Gathering should have stirred up the Town and been more than the Magistrates could well bear but it was very quiet and peaceable and a glorious Meeting we had to the settling and stablishing of Friends both in Town and Country for the Lord's Power was over all blessed be his Name for ever Truly the Lord's Power and Presence was beyond words for I was but Weak to go into a Meeting and my Face by reason of a Cold I had taken was sore but God was strong and manifested his strength in us and with us and all was well the Lord have the Glory for evermore for his supporting Power After the Meeting there came I think above an hundred Friends of the Town and Country to see me at John Furley's and very glad we were to see one another and greatly refreshed we were together being filled with the Love and Riches of the Lord blessed be his Name for ever 1684. Colchester We tarried at Colchester two days more which we spent in visiting Friends there both at their Meetings for Business and at their Houses Then early in the Morning on the Fourth-day of the Week Harwich we took Coach for Harwich where we met with William Bingley and Samuel Waldenfield who also went over with us About the eighth hour at night we went on board the Pacquet-Boat of which one Richard Gray was Master but by reason of Contrary Winds it was the first hour in the morning before we sailed We had a very good Passage and about the fifth hour in the Afternoon next day we landed at the Briel in Holland HOLLAND Briel and there we stay'd that night Early next morning we went to Rotterdam Rotterdam where we abode some days The next day after we came to Rotterdam one Wilbert Frouzen a Burgomaster and Kinsman of Aarent Sunneman's hearing that I was there Invited me to his Country-house having a desire to speak with me about some business relating to Aarent Sunneman's Daughters I took George Watts with me and a Brother of Aarent Sunneman's had us thither The Burgomaster received us very kindly and was very glad to see me and entring into discourse about his Kinsman's Daughters I found he was apprehensive that their Father being dead and having left them considerable Portions they might be stollen and married to their disadvantage Wherefore I told him That it was our Principle and Practice that none should Marry amongst us unless they had a Certificate of the Consent of their Relations or Guardians for it was our Christian Care to watch over and look after all young People that came among us especially those whose natural Relations were dead And as for his Kinsman's Daughters we should take care that nothing should be offered to them but what should be agreeable to Truth and Righteousness and that they might be preserved in the Fear of God according to their Father's Mind This seem'd to give him great satisfaction While I was with him there came many great People to me and I exhorted them all to keep in the Fear of God and to mind his good Spirit in them to keep their Minds to the Lord. After I had stay'd two or three hours and had had discourse with him of several things I took my leave of him and he very friendly set me to Rotterdam in his Chariot The next day being the First-day of the Week we were at the Meeting at Rotterdam which was pretty large and we de-declared to the People by an Interpreter The day following one Alderman Gaul came to speak with me and with him I and the other Friends had much discourse about Religious Matters wherewith he seemed to be well satisfied and was very Tender Several other Persons of Account intended to have come to speak with me that day but being hindred by extraordinary business as I understood they came not Amsterdam We went next day from Rotterdam to Amsterdam where we had a large and very precious Meeting And in the Afternoon I was at another Meeting with the Friends there about Business There is a Yearly-Meeting at Amsterdam for the Friends of Holland and Germany c. 1684. Amsterdam which begun now on the Eighth day of the Fourth Month and ended on the Twelfth Here we had a fine Opportunity of seeing Friends from divers parts and of being refreshed together in the Love of God And after this Meeting before the Friends that came out of the several Provinces were gone we had a Meeting with some particular Friends about the Places and Countries into which we who came out of England in the Work of the Ministry were to travel and to understand who among them were suitable Persons to go along
go from the Love of God that beareth all things and endureth all things and thinks no Evil and doth not behave it self unseemly then they cannot bear but grow brittle and are easily provoked and run into unseemly things and are in that that vaunteth it self and are puffed up and are rash heady high-minded and fierce and become as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal but this is contrary to the nature of the Love of God which is kind and endureth all things and beareth all things And therefore all Dear Friends and Brethren dwell in the Love of God for they who dwell in Love dwell in God and God in them And keep in the Word of Wisdom that is gentle pure and peaceable and in the Word of Patience that endureth and beareth all things which Word of Patience the Devil and the World and all his Instruments can never wear out It will wear them all out for it was before they were and will be when they are gone the pure holy Word of God by which all God's Children are born again and feed on the Milk thereof and live and grow by it And so my desires are that ye may all be of one Heart Mind Soul and Spirit in Christ Jesus Amen G. F. Soon after this finding those Apostates whom the Enemy had drawn out into Division and Separation from Friends continued their Clamour and Opposition against Friends Meetings both Monthly Quarterly and Yearly it came upon me to write another short Epistle to Friends to put them in mind of the Evidence and Seal they had received in themselves by the Spirit of the Lord that those Meetings were of the Lord and accepted by him that so they might not be shaken by the Adversaries Wherefore I writ as followeth My Dear Friends in the Lord Jesus Christ ALL you that be gathered in his holy Name ye know that all your Meetings for Worship of God and all your Quarterly-Meetings and all your Monthly-Meetings and all your Womens-Meetings and all your Yearly-Meetings are set up by the Power and Spirit of the Lord God and witnessed by his Spirit and Power in your Hearts and by the Spirit and Power of the Lord God they are established to you and in the Power and Spirit of the Lord God you are established in them And the Lord God hath with his Spirit sealed to you that your Meetings are of God's Ordering and Gathering and he hath owned them by honouring you with his blessed Presence in them and you have had great Experience of his furnishing you with his Wisdom Life and Power and heavenly Riches from his Treasure and Fountain by which many Thanks and Praises have been returned in your Meetings to his holy glorious Name And so he hath sealed your Meetings by his Spirit to you and that your Gathering together hath been by the Lord and to Christ his Son and in his Name and not by Man And so the Lord hath the Glory and Praise of them and in them who hath upheld you and them by the Arm of his Power against all the Opposers and Backsliders and their slanderous Books and Tongues For the Lord's Power and Seed doth reign over them all in which lie doth preserve his Sons and Daughters to his Glory by his Eternal Arm and Power in his Work and Service as a willing People in the Day of his Power without being weary or fainting but strong in the Lord and valiant for his glorious Name and precious Truth and his pure Religion that ye may serve the Lord in Christ Jesus your Rock and Foundation in your Age and Generation Amen London the 3d of the 11th Month 1686 7. G. F. A little after the fore-going was given forth it came upon me to write something concerning the state of the true Church and of the true Members thereof which I did as followeth Concerning the Church of Christ being clothed with the Sun and having the Moon under her feet THey are living Members and living Stones which are built up a spiritual Houshold and are the Children of the Promise and of the Seed and Flesh of Christ and as the Apostle saith Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone They are the good Seed and are the Children of the Everlasting Kingdom written in Heaven and have put on the Lord Jesus Christ and they sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and so are clothed with the Sun of Righteousness Christ Jesus and have the Moon under their feet as Revel 12. So all changeable things that are in the World and all changeable Religions and changeable Worships and changeable Ways and Fellowships and Churches and Teachers in the World are as the Moon For the Moon changes but the Sun doth not change And so the Sun of Righteousness never changeth nor sets or goes down But all the Ways Religions and Worships and Fellowships of the World and the Teachers thereof change like the Moon But the true Church which Christ is the Head of which is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which Church is called The Pillar and Ground of Truth whose Conversation is in Heaven this Church is clothed with the Sun Christ Jesus her Head who doth not change and hath all changeable things under her feet These are the living Members born again of the Immortal Seed by the Word of God and feed upon the Immortal Milk and live and grow by it And such are the New Creatures in Christ Jesus who makes all things new and sees the old things pass away And his Church and all his Members which are clothed with the Sun their Worship is in the Spirit and in the Truth which doth not change which Truth the Devil the foul unclean Spirit is out of and cannot get into this Worship in Spirit and Truth And likewise the Church of Christ their Religion is pure and undefiled before God that keeps from the Spots of the World c. and their Way is the new and living Way Christ Jesus So the Church of Christ that is clothed with the Sun that hath the Moon and all changeable Religions and Ways under her feet hath an unchangeable Worship Religion and Way and hath an unchangeable Rock and Foundation Christ Jesus and an unchangeable High-Priest and so are Children of the New Testament and in the Everlasting Covenant of Light and Life And now all that profess the Scriptures both of the New and Old Testament and are not in Christ Jesus the Apostle tells them they are Reprobates if Christ be not in them And therefore these that be not in Christ cannot be clothed with Christ the Sun of Righteousness that never changes And they that be not of Christ be under the changeable Moon in the World in the changeable things in the changeable Religions and Ways and Worships and Teachers and Rocks and Foundations But Christ the Son of God and Sun of Righteousness doth not change in whom his People are gathered and sit
the Jews Therefore also said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles and some of them they shall slay and persecute that the blood of all the Prophets which was shed from the Foundation of the World may be required of this Generation from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the Altar and the Temple Verily I say unto you it shall be required of this Generation Luke 11.49 50 51. And Christ said to the Jews Behold your Houses shall be left unto you desolate Matth. 23.34 c. And Christ told his Disciples that the Temple at Jerusalem should be thrown down and there should not be one stone left upon another that should not be thrown down Matth. 24.2 And Christ said to his Disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many thâ—ngs of the Jews Elders and Chief Priests and be killed and be raised again the third day Matth. 16.21 And Christ said When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with Armies then know the desolation thereof is nigh And he foretold that the Jews should fall by the Edge of the Sword and should be led away Captive into all Nations and Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles Luke 21.20 24. Here ye may see how Jerusalem was often warned by Christ and how often he would have Gathered them but they would not before they were scattered over or into all Nations and their Houses left desolate and their Temple and Jerusalem besieged with Armies and destroyed and thrown down And though the Disciples and Apostles of Christ did Meet with the Elders and Church at Jerusalem after Christ was risen yet Eusebius reporteth in his Ecclesiastical History That the Christians at Jerusalem had a Vision or a Revelation to depart out of Jerusalem And they being fore-warned also by Christ that When they should see Jerusalem compassed with Armies its Desolation was nigh and that the Temple should be thrown down and not one stone left upon another 'T is said that the Christians did depart out of bloody Jerusalem before it and the Temple were destroyed by Titus the Emperour who besieged it with his Armies who was of the Gentiles and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem as Christ had fore-spoken to his Disciples because of the Wickedness of the Jews and the Innocent Blood that they had shed in it And so the Lord called his People out of bloody Jerusalem before he destroyed it And it is said that Titus did destroy the Temple and Jerusalem about Two and forty years after they had Câ—ucified Christ and he was risen again and that with so great a destruction that the Jews never did build again the City Jerusalem nor the Temple as Sodom was never built again nor the Cities of the Old World But the Jews for above these Thousand years have been and are a scattered People in all Nations to this day and Christ whom they Crucified and his Doctrine is preached and set over them and the Gentiles whom they hated have Received and do Receive him and his Doctrine and do praise God for it through Jâ—sus Christ Amen And God called his People out of Egypt after he had poured out his Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians when he had destroyed the First Birth of Egypt then the Lord brought his People out of Egypt And after the Lord had clearly brought his People out of Egypt then the Lord destroyed Pharaoh and all his Hosts and Chariots And John saith that he heard a Voice saying Come out of her my People to wit out of Babylon the false Church that ye be not Partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues for her sins have reached to Heaven and God hath remembred her Iniquities Rev. 18.4 5. Here ye may see that God did call his People out of spiritual Babylon before the Lord destroyed her and cast her down to be utterly burnt with fire ver 8 9. and 21. Was not Nebuchadnezzar's Empire thrown down and ended by Cyrus and Darius who were of the Seed of the Medes before Cyrus and Darius gave forth their Proclamations for all the Jews to go into their own Land out of Babylons Captivity And was there not a Prophecy of Cyrus That he should subdue Nations and that the Lord would loose the Loins of Kings before him and break in pieces the Gates of Brass and cut in sunder the Barrs of Iron and open the two-leav'd Gates and that the Gates should not be shut And the Lord said This is for Jacob my Servant's sake and for Israel mine Elect Isai 45. And was not this fulfilled in Cyrus's and Darius's time For did not then the Jews go out of Captivity into their own Land Ezra 1.2 3 4. and ch 6.1 and 12. and Isa 44.28 and 45.13 And was not this Prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled when the Children of Israel came out of Babylon And were not the Assyrians that carried away the Ten Tribes subdued and the Babylonians that carried away the Two Tribes were they not subdued in the days of Cyrus and Darius in whose days the Loins of Kings were loosed and the two-leav'd Gates of Brass and Iron were opened and so had not Israel and Jacob their Liberty by them in their days to go into their own Land And here in England was it not observed that most of the honest and sober People were turned out of the Army and their Commissions Offices and Places taken from them because they could not join with Others in their Cruelty and Persecuting And Others laid down their Commissions themselves and came out from amongst those Persecutors before they were overthrown and brought to Confusion All that are Wise see these things and learn by such Examples and Way-marks to shun such Bogs And the Righteous are safe that do keep in Christ their everlasting Sanctuary that changes not in whom they have Rest and Peace with God Amen Kingston the 29th of the 12th Month 1686 7. G. F While I was at Kingston one day as I was meditating on the Things of God some particular Observations arose in my mind concerning the first and the second or last Adam As that THE First Man Adam was made on the Sixth day of the Week and Christ the Second Adam was Crucified on the Sixth day of the Week The first Adam was betrayed by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden And Christ our Saviour the second Adam was betrayed by Judas in a Garden near Jerusalem Christ arose from the dead on the First-day of the Week and they that do believe on him are entred into Christ their Rest The Christians do Meet together to worship God on the First-day of the Week and on the First day of the Week it was that God said Let there be Light and there was Light The Jews Rest was on the Seventh-day of the Week which was given to the Jews as a Sign of the Eternal Rest of the Lord sanctifying them after they came out
of the Land of Egypt for before that time the Lord had not given to Man and Woman his outward Sabbath-day to keep neither in the Old World nor after in Abraham's time nor in Isaac's nor in Jacob's time until the Jews came out of Egypt to Mount Sina in the Wilderness And then there the Lord gave the Law and his Sabbath as a Sign in the Old Covenant of Christ the Eternal Rest in the New Covenant and they that believe do enter into Christ their Rest. Adam the first Man is the Root from whence we all spring naturally And Christ is called the last or second Adam because he is the Beginning and Root of all them that are spiritual The first Adam was made a living Soul And Christ the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit Christ by the Grace of God tasted death for every Man that they might all come into Favour with God and that every Tongue should Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father I writ also a Paper there Concerning the Two Seeds distinguishing the Seed wherein the Blessing is received from the Seed which the Curse remains upon Of that Paper the following is a Copy THE Lord said to Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 And thy Seed shall be as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore and as the Dust of the Earth that cannot be numbred Chap. 13.16 and 15.5 and 22.17 Now in this Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed but not in the Seed of Evil Doers and of Falshood nor in the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore Isa 1.4 and 57.3 4. for the Seed of the Wicked shall be cut off 1687. Kingston saith the Lord Psal 37.28 The Lord said to David That his Seed should endure for ever Psal 89.36 And again it is said Psal 102.28 The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their Seed shall be established before thee Now ye may see that here is a Distinction betwixt the Two Seeds for the Seed of Evil Doers and of the Adulterer and Whore and of the Wicked shall be Cut off and so it is not blessed But Christ bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed which he soweth in them that do disobey and transgress God's Command and rebel against God's good Spirit This Wicked Seed of the Serpent is Curst and is an Enemy to the Seed in whom all are blessed But Christ bruises the Head of this cursed Seed of Enmity and destroys the Devil and his Works and in his Seed are all blessed and all are in Unity in this Seed And all the Children of the Seed are the Children of the Kingdom of God and of Christ and are blessed with faithful Abraham and who are of the saving divine precious Faith are of Abraham and walk in the Steps of the Seed and Faith of Abraham and are blessed with him yea all Nations and all the Families of the Earth And the Lord said to Abraham Thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them Four hundred years and that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they to wit God's Seed come out with great Substance Gen. 15.13 14. Here ye may see That which Afflicts God's Seed he will judge and did judge for he did destroy the First-birth of Pharaoh and overthrew him and his Host And an holy Man said Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a Seed or Remnant we had been as Sodom c. that is destroyed and burnt But in the Seed which destroys the Devil and his Works and bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed are all Nations and Families of the Earth blessed Christ according to the flesh was of Abraham and of David for he took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham in which Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed And so they that are of his Seed are of the Generation of Christ and so are Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone Now all Nations and Families of the Earth must be in this holy Seed if they have the Blessings and are blessed And out of the Mouth of this Seed's Seed shall not God's Word depart but shall Remain and abide in the Mouth of this Seed's Seed in which they are blessed Isa 59.21 So it is not the First-birth's talking of the Words of Christ the Seed in whose Mouth the Word of God doth not abide that makes an outward Profession like the Jews that did kill and persecute the Prophets and crucified Christ the Seed and Substance of the Law and Prophets which the Jews professed in words but they denied Christ the Seed and Life And all the Christians so called that do profess the Scriptures in Words and are not in the Seed Christ they are in the Confusion and are like the Jews And so neither Jews nor Christians are blessed except they be in Christ the Seed of Life But though Christ is said to be of the Seed of David and of Abraham as his Generation is declared by Matthew and Luke yet Christ was not born of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God For he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and not by the Will of Man but by the Will of God born of the Virgin and supposed to be the Son of Joseph but was the Son of God and his Name was called Jesus because he should save his People from their sins and Emanuel God with us And Christ took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham as I said before and so was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 So the Generation of Christ is a Mystery And Christ saw his Seed or Word to grow up in his Disciples And Christ in you the hope of Glory the Apostle calls The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to the Saints or sanctified Ones Col. 1.26 27. Whom we preach warning every Man and teaching every Man in all Wisdom that we may present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus v. 28. For in Christ the second Adam all are made perfect and compleat and in Adam in the Fall all are deformed and made imperfect So out of Christ all Mankind are Imperfect and Deformed Let them paint and dress themselves with the Sheep's Clothing and with the Form of Godliness of the Prophets and Christ's and his Apostles Words never so much yet if Christ be not in them they are Uncompleat Imperfect Deformed Reprobates But the Apostle tells the Church of Christ Ye are compleat in Christ which is the Head of all
said You have nothing to do with us to build an House unto our God Ezra 4.2 3. So here ye may see that God's People refused their building with them and their sacrifice And Solomon saith The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord Prov. 15.8 See also Isa 1.11 and chap. 66.3 Solomon also saith Better is a dry Morsel and quietness therewith than an house full of Sacrifices with strife Prov. 17.1 Now let all People Consider what Good your house full of Sacrifices doth with strife when a dry Morsel and Quietness therewith is better And Consider all People If ye live in Wickedness your Sacrifice is an Abomination to the Lord. Again Solomon speaking of the Sacrifice of Fools saith They consider not that they do evil Eccles 5.1 Fools are such as do not walk in the Spirit of God or begin in the Spirit and end in the Flesh like the foolish Galatians for the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding and cannot Join with the Sacrifices of the Dead nor of the Fools nor of the Wicked whose Sacrifice is Abominable who grieve and quench the Spirit of God by which Spirit of God the Spiritual and Righteous offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ The Apostle Paul saith he was the Minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministring the Gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost Rom. 15.16 So ye may see that all the acceptable Offerings and Sacrifices to God must be sanctified by the Holy Ghost The same Apostle saith to the Corinthians Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's 1 Cor. 6.20 And to the Romans he saith I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Rom. 12.1 Now this is the duty of all true Christians Peter also saith in his general Epistle to the Church of Christ Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house an holy Priest-hood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2.5 So every Man and Woman must come to the Spirit of God in their own hearts if they do offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ For as Christ saith Every Sacrifice shall be salted with salt Mark 9.49 And in the Old Testament ye may see All their outward Offerings they were to season them with salt Levit. 2.13 a Type and Figure of Christ who gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Ephes 5.2 Therefore all his People must be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire that they may be salted with Fire and every Sacrifice salted with salt with the Spirit of Grace that is poured upon all so that they may offer up this spiritual Sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Samuel said to King Saul Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams 1 Sam. 15.22 So ye may see All Offerings and Sacrifices are nothing if there be not an hearkening to the Lord in his Spirit and an obeying of his voice And Christ told the Jews that were outward Sacrificers that he would have Mercy and not Sacrifice and bid them Go and learn what that meaneth Matth. 9.13 Gooses the 28th of the 2d Month 1687. G. F. The beginning of the Third Month I returned to London London Yearly-Meeting and continued there till after the Yearly-Meeting which began on the sixteenth of the same and was very large Friends having more freedom to come up out of the Countries to it by reason of the general Toleration and Liberty now granted The Meeting lasted several days and at the Close thereof it was upon me to write the following Lines to be dispersed amongst Friends every where as A Word of Counsel and Caution to them to walk circumspectly in this time of Liberty Dear Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ THE Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power having supported you in all your Sufferings and great spoiling of Goods and tedious Imprisonments only for serving and worshipping the living God that made you who gave up Wife and Children and Goods and suffered the spoil of them and Imprisonment for his Truth and Name 's sake And now the Lord by his Infinite Power and Mercy having been pleased to open the King's heart towards you by which you are set at Liberty from the Gaols and the Spoilers of your Goods are stopt whereby ye may follow your Callings and Husbandry and confess Christ Jesus and call him Lord by the Holy Ghost in your Assemblies and Meetings without being cast into Gaols or having your Goods spoiled And now Dear Brethren a great Concern lies upon me from the Lord to Write unto you That none may abuse this Liberty nor the Mercies of the Lord but prize them for there is great danger in time of Liberty of getting up and getting into Ease and Looseness and false Liberty And now seeing that ye have not the outward Persecutors to War withal in sufferings with the spiritual Weapons keep down that which would not be subject to Christ that he the Holy One may reign in your hearts So that your Lives Conversations and Words may preach Righteousness and Truth 1687. London Yearly-Meeting That ye may all shew forth good Ensamples of true Believers in Christ in Vertue and Holiness Answering that which may be known of God in all People that ye are the Sons and Daughters of God Standing fast in that righteous holy Liberty in Christ that just and holy One that has made you free over the loose or false shunning the occasions of vain Disputes and foolish Questions of Men of corrupt Minds For the Serpent was the first Questioner of Eve who drew her and Adam out of the Truth Therefore as ye have received Christ all Live and Walk in him who bruises the Serpent's Head who is your safe Sanctuary in whom ye have Election Reconciliation and Peace with God And therefore live in the Peace which ye have from Christ which is not of this World and be at peace one with another and seek the peace of all Men in Christ Jesus for blessed are the Peace-makers And labour to exercise a good Conscience towards God in obedience to him in what he requires and in doing to all Men the thing that is just and honest in your Conversations and Words giving no Offence to Jew nor Gentile nor to the Church of God So that ye may be as a City set on God's Sion-Hill which cannot be hid and may be Lights to the dark World that they may see your good Fruits and Works Righteous and
Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith ver 4. Were not these that were Born of God in the Kingdom of God And seeing John says Every one that doth Righteousness is born of God do not such see the Kingdom of God that stands in Righteousness and enter into it Peter in his first general Epistle to the Church of Christ saith As new-born Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 And he tells them they were a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that they should shew forth the praises of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvellous light ver 9. And that as lively stones they were built up a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ ver 5. Did not these New-born Babes these lively Stones spiritual Houshold Royal Priesthood holy Nation and chosen Generation who were called out of darkness into Christ's marvellous light see and enter into his holy Kingdom being Heirs of the same who were Born again not of corruptible Seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 And had not such an Entrance ministred to them into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ James in his general Epistle to the Church of Christ saith Hath not God chosen the poor of this World rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him James 2.5 The Apostle Paul saith God sent forth his Son made of a Woman c. to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father Wherefore thou art no more a Servant but a Son and if a Son then an Heir of God through Christ Gal. 4.4 5 6 7. The same Apostle saith As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God And tells the Saints at Rome Ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God And if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint-heirs with Christ if so be we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together namely with Christ Rom. 8.14 15 16 17. Now seeing they are the Sons of God that are led by the Spirit of God and the Spirit beareth witness unto their Spirit that they are the Children of God and Heirs of God and Joint-heirs with Christ Are not all these Children of God Heirs of the righteous glorious Kingdom of God and do they not see it and enter into it The Lord saith in Hosea 1.10 Where it was said unto them Ye are not my People there it shall be said unto them Ye are the Sons of the living God Did not this relate to the Gospel-days of the New Covenant see Rom. 9.26 And what the Lord said by the Prophet Jeremiah Ch. 31.1 the Apostle applies to the Gospel-days and says Be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the Unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty 2 Cor. 6.18 Are not these the Children that see and enter into the righteous Kingdom of God that seperate from that which is Vnclean and touch it not The Lord saith also by Isaiah I will say to the North Give up and to the South Keep not back Bring my Sons from far and my Daughters from the ends of the Earth Isa 43 6. Then doth not he bring them to his Kingdom of Glory that stands in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost And the Lord said to Job When the Morning-stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy Job 38.7 Where did these Sons of God shout for joy Was it not in his Kingdom of Glory Christ saith The least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John Luke 7.28 And in Chap. 16.16 he says The Law and the Prophets were until John since that time viz. since the Law and the Prophets and John the Kingdom of God is preached and every Man presseth into it The good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom Matth. 13.38 And the righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father ver 43. And Christ said unto his Disciples Vnto you it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Mark 4.11 And Christ lifted up his Eyes upon his Disciples and said Blessed be ye poor for yours is the Kingdom of God Luke 6.20 And the Apostles preached the Kingdom of God These were Born again that saw and knew the Kingdom of God preached it Christ said to his Disciples Fear not little Flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Luke 12.32 And I appoint to you a Kingdom said Christ as my Father hath appointed to me Chap. 22.29 The Lord said He that overcometh shall Inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son Rev. 21.7 And John saith I have written unto you Young men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked One 1 John 2.14 And Christ by whom are all things is said To bring many Sons to Glory Hebr. 2.10 Christ said Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men for ye neither go in your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to goin Matth. 23.13 He also said Wo unto you Lawyers for ye have taken away the Key of Knowledge ye entred not in your selves and them that were entring in ye hindred Luke 11.52 Christ gives unto his Children the Keys of the Kingdom his Spirit but the Scribes and the Pharisees and the Lawyers great Professors who were erred from the Spirit like the great Professors in our Age that scoff at the Spirit and draw People from the Spirit of God within these shut up the Kingdom from Men and draw People from the Key of Knowledge and the Key of the Kingdom For no Man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God for the Things of God are spiritually discerned So the Spirit is the Key by which the Kingdom of God and the Things of God are revealed and discerned and known according to 1 Cor. 2.10 11 13 14. The Apostle names some in his Epistle to the Colossians and says These are my Fellow-workers unto the Kingdom of God Col. 4.11 And he tells that Church that God hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son Chap. 1.13 So ye may see these
I was hardly able to stay in a Meeting the whole Time thereof and often after a Meeting was fain to lye down upon a Bed Yet did not my Weakness of Body take me off from the Service of the Lord but I continued to labour in Meetings and out of Meetings in the work of the Lord as the Lord gave me Opportunity and Ability I had not been long in London before a great Weight came upon me and a sight the Lord gave me of the great Bustles and Troubles Revolution and Change which soon after came to pass In the sense whereof and in the movings of the Spirit of the Lord I writ a few Lines as A general Epistle to Friends to fore-warn them of the approaching Storm 1688. London that they might all retire to the Lord in whom safety is That Epistle was as followeth ALL my Dear Friends and Brethren every where who have received the Lord Jesus Christ and he has given you power to become his Sons and Daughters In him ye have both life and peace and in his Everlasting Kingdom that is a stablished Kingdom and cannot be shaken but is over all the World and stands in his Power and in Righteousness and Joy in the Holy Ghost into which no unrighteousness nor the foul unclean Spirit of the Devil in his Instruments can enter And therefore Dear Friends and Brethren every one in the Faith of Jesus that he is the Author and Finisher of stand in his Power who has all power in Heaven and Earth given to him and will Rule the Nations with his Rod of Iron and dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel that are not Subject and Obedient to his Power Whose Voice will shake the Heavens and the Earth that that which may be shaken may be Removed and that which cannot be shaken may Appear And stand in him and all things shall work together for good to them that love him And now Dear Friends and Brethren though these Waves and Storms and Tempests be in the World yet you may all appear the harmless and innocent Lambs of Christ walking in his peaceable Truth and keeping in the Word of Power and Wisdom and Patience and this Word will keep you in the Day of Trials and Temptations that will come upon the whole World to Try them that dwell upon the Earth For the Word of God was before the World and all things were made by it It is a Tried Word which gave all God's People in all Ages Wisdom Power and Patience And therefore let your dwelling and walking be in Christ Jesus who is called The Word of God and in his Power which is over all And set your Affections on things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God mark on those things which are above where Christ sits and not those things that are below which will change and pass away And blessed be the Lord God who by his Eternal Arm and Power hath gathered a People to himself and by his Eternal Arm and Power hath preserved his Faithful to himself through many Troubles Trials and Temptations His Power and Seed Christ is over all and in him ye have life and peace with God Therefore in him all stand and see your Salvation who is First and Last and the Amen God Almighty preserve and keep you all in him your Ark and Sanctuary for in him you are safe over all Floods Storms and Tempests for he was before they were and will be when they are all gone London the 17th of the 8th Month 1688. G. F. About this time great Exercise and Weights came upon me as hath usually done before great Revolutions and Changes of Government and my strength departed from me so that I reeled and was ready to fall as I went along the Streets And at length I could not go abroad at all I was so Weak for a pretty while till I felt the Power of the Lord to spring over all and had received an Assurance from him that he would preserve his faithful People to himself through all In the time that I kept in I writ a Paper shewing How Moses as a Servant was faithful in all his House in the Old Testament and Christ as a Son is over his House in the New Testament THE House of Israel was called God's Vineyard in Isa 5.7 and all the Israelites were called the House of Israel Israel signifies A Prince with God and a Prevailer with Men Gen. 32.28 And when Peter did preach Christ to the House of Israel he said Let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ Acts 2.36 So they were all called the House of Israel And it is said Moses was faithful in all his House to wit this House of Israel as a Servant for a Testimony of those things which were to be spoken after But Christ as a Son over his own House which House are we if we hold fast the Confidence and the Rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Hebr. 3.5 6. Here it is manifest that Moses was faithful in all his house as a Servant viz. in the house of Israel in the Old Testament but Christ Jesus the Son of God is over his house in his New Testament and Covenant and all his true Believers are of his House The Apostle tells the Ephesians who were the Church of Christ They were Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Eph. 2.19 And the Saints are called The Houshold of Faith Gal. 6.10 And Peter in his general Epistle tells the Church of Christ They were a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood a holy Nation a peculiar People 1 Pet. 2.9 And that as lively Stones they were built up a spiritual House an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ ver 5. And the Apostle saith to the Church of Christ at Corinth If our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 And Christ said to his Disciples Let not your hearts be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me In my Father's house are many Mansions a Mansion is a Dwelling or Abiding-place If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also John 14.1 2 3. The Psalmist saith Those that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God They shall bring forth fruit in old Age they shall be fat and flourishing Psal 92.13 14. And again Holiness becomes thine house O Lord for ever Psal 93.5 Isaiah also said by way of Prophecy It shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it Isa 2.2 Is not that a great House Now is not this Mountain Christ who is over his House in the New Testament and New Covenant And to this Mountain and House all the Children of the New Testament and New Covenant slow in these latter days so that it is come to pass which was prophesied of by Isaiah For he said Many People shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And he shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many People and they shall beat their Swords into Plon-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation neither shall they learn War any more O house of Jacob come ye and let us walk in the Light of the Lord ver 3 4 5. Here ye may see They that come to the Mountain of the house of God and to God's Teaching they must walk in the Light of the Lord yea the House of Jacob. Jacob signifies a Supplanter he supplanted profane Esau who is hated and Jacob is loved Now these Two Births must be known within And they that walk in the Light of the Lord and come to Christ the Mountain of the house of the Lord established above all Mountains and Hills they break their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks and in Christ this Mountain and House of the Lord there are no Spears nor Swords to hurt one another withal And Christ the Son of God is over his House and great Family the Children of the Light them that believe in it and walk in it who are the Children of the Day of Christ and are of his Holy and Royal Priesthood that offer up spiritual Sacrifice to God by him All such are of Christ's the spiritual Man's house who are born of God and led by his Spirit They are of the Lord of Lords and King of King's House and Family which he is over and are of the Houshold of the holy divine pure and precious Faith which Christ is the Author and Finisher of And they that be of the Son's house they are pure righteous and holy and can do nothing against the Truth but for it in their Words Lives and Conversations and so are a chosen Generation a holy Nation a peculiar People that they should shew forth the Praise of him who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light And these are Christ's lively Stones that build up a spiritual House which he Christ the spiritual Man the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is over London the 10th Month 1688. G. F. 1688. Essex Gooses Sometime after this my Body continuing Weak I went down with my Son Mead to his House in Essex where I staid some Weeks In which time I Writ many things relating to the Service of Truth of which some were printed soon after others were spread abroad in Manuscript And amongst other things ' there were a few Lines to this purpose THat while Men are contending for Thrones here below Christ is on his Throne and all his holy Angels are about him who is the Beginning and the Ending the First and Last over all And that the Lord will make way and room for himself and for them that are born of his Spirit which are heavenly Jerusalem's Children to come home to their free Mother A few Words also I writ concerning the World's Teachers and the Emptiness of their Teaching Which were thus DOth not all that which is called Christendom live in Talking of Christ's and of the Apostles and Prophets Words and the Letter of the Scriptures And do not their Priests minister the Letter with their own Conceptions thereupon to them for Money though the holy Scriptures were freely given forth from God and Christ and his Prophets and Apostles Yet the Apostle saith The Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life 2 Cor. 3.6 And the Ministers of the New Testament are not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit And they do sow to the Spirit and of the Spirit do reap Life Eternal But Peoples spending their time about Old Authors and their Talking of them and of the outward Letter this doth not feed their Souls For Talking of Victuals and Cloaths doth not clothe the Body nor feed it except they have Victuals to eat and Cloaths to put on No more are their Souls and Spirits fed and clothed except they have the Bread and Water of Life from Heaven to feed them and the Righteousness of Christ to clothe them So only Talking of Outward things and Spiritual things and not Having them they may starve both their Bodies and their Souls Therefore quench not the Spirit of God which will lead to be diligent in all things With this I writ another short Paper shewing the hurt that they did and the danger they run into who turned People from the inward Manifestation of Christ in the heart THE Jews were commanded by the Law of God Not to remove the outward Land-mark Deut. 19.14 And they that did so or that caused the Blind to wander were Cursed in the Old Covenant Deut. 27.17 In the New Covenant the Apostle saith Let him be Accursed that preacheth any other Gospel than that which he had preached Gal. 1.8 Now the Gospel that he preached was The Power of God unto Salvation 1688. Gooses to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 And the Gospel that was preached to Abraham was That in his Seed all Nations and all the Families of the Earth should be blessed And in order to bring Men to this blessed state God poureth out of his Spirit upon all Flesh and Christ doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World and the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men and teacheth the Christians the true Believers in Christ and God doth write his Law in the true Christians hearts and putteth it in their minds that they may all know the Lord from the greatest to the least and he giveth his Word in their hearts to obey and do and the Anointing within them so that they need not any Man to Teach them but as the Anointing doth Teach them Now all such as turn People from the Light Spirit Grace Word and Anointing within remove them from their heavenly Land-mark of their Eternal Inheritance and make them blind and cause the Blind to wander from the living way to their Eternal House in the Heavens and from New and Heavenly Jerusalem So they are Cursed that cause the Blind to wander out of their way and to remove them from their heavenly Land-mark G. F. I writ also a
Paper to shew by Instances taken out of the Holy Scriptures That many of the holy Men and Prophets of God and of the Apostles of Christ were Husbandmen and Tradesmen by which People might see how unlike to them the World's Teachers now are RIghteous Abel was a Shepherd a Keeper of Sheep Gen. 4.2 Noah was an Husbandman and he was a Just man and perfect in his Generation and walked with God Gen. 9.20 and 6.9 Abraham the Father of the Faithful was an Husbandman and had great Flocks of Cattel And just Lot was an Husbandman also and had great Flocks and Herds Gen. 13. Isaac also was an Husbandman and had great Flocks and Herds of Cattel and great store of Corn Gen. 26.12 14. And the Promise was with Isaac for the Lord said to Abraham In Isaac shall thy Seed be called Gen. 21.12 Jacob was an Husbandman and his Sons Keepers of Flocks of Cattel Gen. 46.32 34. and God loved Jacob. Moses kept Sheep Exod. 3 1. and the Lord spake to him when he was keeping Sheep ver 4. and sent him to Pharaoh to bring God's People or Sheep out of Egypt And by the hand and power of the Lord he and Aaron his Brother brought them out of Egypt a Land of Anguish Bondage Darkness and Perplexity And Moses kept the Lord's People or Sheep forty years in the Wilderness A Meek Shepherd of God he was and kept his great Flock of Sheep though some of them were scabbed with the Leprosie of Contention and Murmuring and were destroyed in the Wilderness David though he afterwards came to be a King was a Keeper of his Father's Sheep in the Wilderness 1 Sam. 17.15 28. And the Lord God called him from the Sheep-Cotes to feed his Sheep the House of Israel and to defend them from the spiritual Wolves Bears and Lions and he did it to purpose who was a Man after God's own heart Elisha was a Plowman 1 Kings 19.19 and he was called from the Plow that was outward to Teach God's People the Children of Israel to plow up the Fallow ground of their hearts that they might bring forth Seed and Fruits to God their Creator And the Word of the Lord came to Amos when he was among the Herdsmen of Tekoa Amos 1.1 And Amaziah the Priest of Bethel said to Amos Prophesie not again any more at Bethel for it is the King's Chappel and it is the King's Court Chap. 7.13 Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah I was no Prophet neither was I a Prophet's Son but I was an Herdsman and a gatherer of Sycomore-fruit and the Lord took me as I followed the Flock And the Lord said unto me Go prophesie unto my People Israel ver 14 15. Here ye may see how the Lord made use of a poor man and how he called him from following the outward Flock and from gathering of outward Fruits to gather his Fruits and to follow his People or Flock the Children of Israel Christ called Peter and Andrew his Brother when they were Fishing and casting their Net into the Sea for they were Fishers and he said unto them Follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men Matth. 4.18 19. And likewise Christ called James and John his Brother when they were in a Ship with Zebedee their Father mending their Nets And they immediately left the Ship and their Father and followed him ver 21 22. And he gave them power a Net that will hold and not want mending and made them Fishers of Men to fish them out of the great Sea the World of Wickedness And we read that when Peter and Thomas and Nathaniel and the Sons of Zebedee and other Disciples went a Fishing together and that Night caught nothing And in the Morning Jesus appeared to them and said Cast the Net on the right side of the Ship and ye shall find and they did so and catched so great a Multitude that they were not able to draw them to the shore And when thereupon one of the other Disciples said unto Peter It is the Lord Peter hearing that it was the Lord Girded his Fisher's Coat unto him John 21.2 3 4 5 6 7. And this was after Christ was risen So here ye may see Peter had not laid away his Fisher's Coat all this while that he had been preaching before Christ's Death and after he was Risen And Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the Receipt of Custom and he said unto him Follow me And he arose and followed him Matth. 9.9 And Christ imployed Matthew to gather his People that were scattered from God another manner of Treasure than the outward Custom of the Romans 1689. Gooses Luke was a Physician whom Christ made a Physician spiritual which was better than Outward Paul was a Tent-maker and being of the same Craft with Aquila and Priscilla he abode with them at Corinth and wrought for by their Occupation they were Tent-makers Acts 18.3 And did not Paul and Priscilla and Aquila bring many to their heavenly Tents and to be settled upon Christ the heavenly Rock and Foundation Joseph the Husband of Mary was a Carpenter And the Jews said of Christ Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary c. Mark 6.3 The Jews meant only an outward Carpenter not knowing that Christ was also a spiritual Carpenter who doth build up the fallen Estate of Man and Woman into the Image of God which they were first made in and had shod them with the Gospel of Peace the Power of God which will never wax old and Clothed them with fine Linnen that never will wear out and armed them with Armour and Weapons that will never rust which all the Weapons of the Wicked can never blunt nor pierce The Saints have tried it Gooses the 1st Month 1688 9. G. F. It was now a time of much Talk and People too much busied their minds and spent their time in hearing and telling News To shew them the Vanity thereof and to draw them from it I writ the few following Lines IN the Low Region in the Airy Life all News is Vncertain there is nothing stable But in the Higher Region in the Kingdom of Christ there all things are stable and sure and the News always good and certain For Christ who hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth given unto him ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men And he who doth inherit the Heathen and possess the utmost parts of the Earth with his Divine Power and Light he Rules all Nations with his Rod of Iron and dashes them to pieces like a Potter's Vessels the Vessels of Dishonour and the leaky Vessels that will not hold his living water of Life And he doth preserve his Elect Vessels of Mercy and Honour And his Power is certain and sure and doth not change by which he doth remove the Mountains and Hills and shakes the Heavens and the Earth And leaky dishonourable Vessels and the Hills and Mountains and the Old Heavens and the Earth they are
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
who is set on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens in his New Testament and New Covenant is a Minister of the Sanctuary and true Tabernacle which the Lord hath pitcht and not Man And therefore all the Lambs and Sheep of Christ must feel this holy Minister in their Temple and Sanctuary who ministers spiritual holy and heavenly things to them in their Sanctuary and Tabernacle For all the Tabernacles and Sanctuaries that are built or pitcht by Man Men make Ministers for them and such Ministers are of Men and by Men with their worldly Sanctuaries and Tabernacles of Mens pitching by Mens hands And now all Dear Friends and Brethren every where that are the Flock of Christ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us all keep this heavenly Feast of our Passover in his New Testament and Covenant not with Old Leaven neither of Malice nor Wickedness but let all that be purged out with the sour old leavened Bread that all may become a new Lump and so keep this heavenly Feast of Christ our heavenly Passover with the unleavened Bread mark with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth My desires are that all the Flock of Christ every where may keep this heavenly Feast of Christ our heavenly Passover with his heavenly unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth Amen G. F. I stay'd in Town between Three Weeks and a Month after the Yearly-Meeting was over and then went into the Country first to Tottenham-High-Cross Tottenham-High-Cross Ford-green Enfield where was a Meeting on the First-day of the Week which I was at and then went to Edward Man's House at Ford-Green near Winchmore-Hill and on the First-day following went from thence to the Meeting at Enfield where the Lord gave me many precious Openings to declare to the People Afterwards moving to and fro amongst Friends thereabouts I visited the Meetings at Chess-hunt Chess-hunt Waltham-Abbey Enfield Tottenham Winchmore-hill Hartford Waltham-Abbey Enfield Tottenham and Winchmore-hill frequently the Lord being with me and opening many deep and weighty Truths divine and heavenly Mysteries to his People through me to their great Refreshment and my Joy After some time I went to Hartford to visit the Friends there and was at their Meeting on a First-day And having something more particular upon me to the Ancient Friends of that place I had a Meeting with some of them the next day and imparted to them what the Lord had given me for them Ware Then passing thence to Ware I made a little stay amongst Friends there and was at their Meeting After which returning Edmunton Tottenham London amongst Friends about Edmunton-side and Tottenham and taking Meetings as I went I came back to London in the end of the Seventh Month. I remained now at London 1690. London till the beginning of the Ninth Month being continually exercised in the Work of the Lord either in Publick Meetings opening the Way of Truth to People and building up and establishing Friends therein or in other Services relating to the Church of God For the Parliament now sitting and having a Bill before them concerning Oaths and another concerning Clandestine Marriages several Friends did attend the House to see to get those Bills so worded that they might not be hurtful to Friends In this Service I also assisted attending on the Parliament and discoursing the Matter with several of the Members Having stay'd more than a Month in London and much spent my self in these Services I went out of Town to Tottenham Tottenham Ford-Green and sometime after to Ford-Green near London at which Places I continued several Weeks visiting Friends Meetings round about there at Tottenham Enfield and Winchmore-Hill Tottenham Enfield Winchmore-hill In this time several things came upon me to Write whereof One was an Epistle to Friends in the Ministry and was as followeth ALL Friends in the Ministry every where Ford-Green to whom God hath given a Gift of the Ministry and who use to Travel up and down in the Gift of the Ministry Do not hide your Talent nor put your Light under a Bushel Nor Cumber your selves nor entangle your selves with the Affairs of this World For the natural Soldiers are not to Cumber themselves with the World much less the Soldiers of Christ who are not of this World but are to mind the Riches and Glory of the World that is Everlasting And therefore stir up the Gift of God in you and Improve it and do not sit down Demas-like and embrace this present World that will have an end lest ye become Idolaters But be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth and spread it abroad in the Day-light of Christ you who have sought the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and have received it and preached it which stands in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost As Able Ministers of the Spirit sow to the Spirit that of the Spirit ye may reap Life Everlasting And go on in the Spirit plowing with it in the purifying Hope and threshing with the Power and Spirit of God the Wheat out of the Chaff of Corruption in the same Hope For he that looks back from the spiritual Plow into the World is not fit for the Spiritual and Everlasting Kingdom of God and then he is not like to press into it as the Faithful do Therefore you that are awakened and are come to Righteousness and to the Knowledge of the Truth keep your selves awakened in it then the Enemy cannot sow his Tares in your Field for Truth and Righteousness is over him and before he was So my desires are that all may fulfil their Ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ hath committed to them and then by the Blood or Life and Testimony of Jesus you will overcome the Enemy that opposes it within and without And all you that do preach the Truth do it as it is in Jesus in Love And all that are Believers in Jesus 1690. Ford-Green and receivers of him he gives them Power to become the Sons of God and so Joint-heirs with Christ whom he calleth Brethren and he gives them the Water of Life which shall be a Well in them springing as a River up to Eternal Life that they may water the spiritual Plants of the living God So that all may be spiritual Planters and spiritual Waterers and may see with the spiritual Eye the Everlasting Eternal God over all to give the Increase who is the Infinite Fountain So my desires are that you may be kept our of all the beggarly Elements of the World which is below the spiritual Region to Christ the Head and may hold him who bruiseth the Head of Enmity and was before it was So that ye may all be united together in love in your Head Christ and be ordered by his heavenly gentle peaceable Wisdom to the Glory of God For all that be in Christ are in love peace
and Vnity and in him they are strong and in a full Perswasion and in him who is the First and Last they are in a heavenly Resolution and Confidence for God's Everlasting Honour and Glory Amen From him who is Translated into the Kingdom of his Dear Son with all his Saints a heavenly Salutation And salute ye one another with a holy Kiss of Charity that never faileth G. F. Ford Green the 25th of the 9th Month 1690. Another Epistle I writ soon after more particularly to the Friends in the Ministry that were gone into America which was thus DEar Friends and Brethren that are Ministers and Exhorters and Admonishers that are gone into America and the Islands there-aways Stir up the Gift of God in you and the pure Mind and improve your Talents that ye may be the Light of the World a City set upon an Hill that cannot be hid and let your Light shine among the Indians and the Blacks and the Whites that ye may answer the Truth in them and bring them to their Standard and Ensign that God hath set up Christ Jesus For from the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the same God's Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every Temple or sanctified Heart Incense shall be offered up to God's Name And have Salt in your selves that ye may be the Salt of the Earth that ye may salt it that it may be preserved from Corruption and Putrefaction so that all Sacrifices offered up to the Lord may be salted and seasoned and be a good Savour to God And all grow in the Faith and Grace of Christ that ye may not be like Dwarfs for a Dwarf shall not come near to Offer upon God's Altar though he may eat of God's Bread that he may grow by it And Friends Be not negligent but keep up your Negroes-Meetings and your Family-Meetings and have Meetings with the Indian Kings 1690. Tottenham and their Councils and Subjects every where and with others and bring them all to the Baptizing and Circumcising Spirit by which they may know God and serve and worship him And all take heed of sitting down in the Earth and having your Minds in the earthly Things Coveting and Striving for the Earth for to be carnally minded brings death and Covetousness is Idolatry There is too much Strife and Contention about that Idol which makes too many go out of the Sense and Fear of God so that some have lost Morality and Humanity and the true Christian Charity O therefore be awakened to Righteousness and keep awakened for the Enemy soweth his Tares while Men and Women sleep in Carelesness and Security Therefore so many slothful Ones go in their filthy Rags and have not the fine Linnen the Righteousness of Christ but are stragling and plowing with their Ox and their Ass in their woollen and linnen Garments mixt Stuff feeding upon Torn food and that dieth of it self and drinking of the dregs of their old Bottle and eating the sour leavened Bread which makes their hearts burn one against another But all are to keep the Feast of Christ our Passover with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth And this unleavened Bread of Life from Heaven makes all Hearts and Souls glad and joyful and lightsome and cheerful to serve and love God and to love and serve one another in the peaceable Truth and to keep in the Vnity of God's Spirit which is the Bond of the Lord of Lords and the King of all Kings his Peace In this Love and Peace God Almighty keep and preserve all his People and make them valiant for his Truth upon the Earth to spread it abroad both in Doctrine and good Life and Conversation Amen All the Members of Christ have need one of another For the Foot hath need of the Hand and the Hand hath need of the Foot The Ear hath need of the Eye and the Eye of the Ear. So that all the Members are serviceable in the Body which Christ is the Head of and the Head sees their Service Therefore let none despise the least Member And have a Care to keep down that greedy earthly Mind that raveneth and coveteth after the Riches and Things of this World lest ye fall into the low Region like the Gentiles or Heathen and so lose the Kingdom of God that is Everlasting But seek that first and God knows what things ye have need of who takes care for all both in Heaven and in the Earth Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gifts both Temporal and Spiritual Tottenham the 11th of the 10th Month 1690. G. F. Not long after this I returned to London and was almost daily with Friends at Meetings 1690. London And when I had been near Two Weeks in Town The sense of the great Hardships and sore Sufferings that Friends had been and were under in Ireland coming with great weight upon me I was moved to write the following Epistle as a Word of Consolation unto them DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ whom the Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power hath upheld through your great Sufferings Exercises Trials and Hardships more I believe then can be uttered up and down that Nation which I am very sensible of and the rest of the faithful Friends that have been Partakers with you in your Sufferings and cannot but suffer with the Lord's People that suffer And my Confidence hath been in the Lord that he would and will support you in all your Sufferings and that he would preserve all the Faithful in his Wisdom that they would give no just Occasion to one nor other to make them suffer And therefore if that you did suffer wrongfully or unjustly the righteous God would assist you and uphold you and reward them according to their Works that opprest or wronged you And now my desire is unto the Lord that in the same holy and heavenly Wisdom of God ye may all be preserved to the End of your days to the Glory of God minding God Almighty's supporting Hand and Power who is God Al-sufficient to strengthen help and refresh in time of Need. And let none forget the Lord's Mercies and Kindnesses which endure for ever but always live in the sense of them And truly Friends when I consider the thing It is the great Mercy of the Lord that ye have not been all swallowed up seeing with what Spirits ye have been compassed about But the Lord carrieth his Lambs in his Arms and they are as tender to him as the Apple of his Eye And his Power is his Hedge about his Vineyard of heavenly Plants And therefore it is good for all his Children to be given up to the Lord with their Minds and Souls Hearts and Spirits who is a faithful Keeper that never slumbers nor sleeps but is able to preserve and keep you and to save to the utmost and none can hurt so much as an hair of your Heads except he suffer
lockt in Irons and beaten and bid to Remember how he had abused those good Men whom he had wickedly without any Cause cast into that nasty Dungeon and told That now he deservedly should suffer for his wickedness and the same Measure he had meted to others he should have meted out to himself He grew to be very poor and died in Prison and his Wife and Family came to Misery While I was in Prison in Lanceston there was a Friend went to Oliver Cromwel and offered himself Body for Body to lie in Doomsdale-Prison for me or in my stead if he would take him and let me go at Liberty Which thing so struck him that he said to his great Men and Council VVhich of you would do so much for me if I were in the same Condition And though he did not accept of the Friend's Proffer but said He could not do it for that it was contrary to Law yet however the Truth thereby came mightily over him A good while after this he sent down Major General Desborow pretending to set us at Liberty And when he came he proffered us If we would say VVe would go home and preach no more we should have our Liberty but we could not promise him so Then he urged that we should promise to go home if the Lord permit Whereupon Edward Pyot writ him this following Letter To Major General Desborow Friend THough much might be said as to the Liberty of English-men to Travel in any part of the Nation of England it being as the English-man's House by the Law and he to be protected in any part of it and if he transgress the Law the penalty upon the Transgressor is to be inflicted And as to Liberty of Conscience which is a natural Right and a Fundamental and the Exercise of it by those who profess Faith in God by Jesus Christ is to be protected as by the Instrument of Government appears though they differ in Doctrine Worship and Discipline provided the Liberty extend not to Popery or Prelacy nor to Licentiousness Where these Rights are denied is our Liberties are infringed which are the Price of much Blood and Treasure in the late Wars Yet in the Power of God over all by which all are to be ruled are we and in it dwell and by it alone are guided to do the Will of God whose Will is free and we in the freedom of his Will walk by the Power either as it Commands or Permits without any Condition or Enforcement thereunto by Men but as the Power moves either by Command or Permission And although we cannot Covenant or Condition to go forth of these Parts or to do this or that thing if the Lord permit for that were to do the will of Man by God's Permission yet 't is like we may pass forth of these Parts in the liberty of the will of God as we may he severally moved and guided by the pure Power and not of Necessity We who were first Committed were passing homewards when we were apprehended and as far as I know we might pass if the Prison-Doors were Commanded to be Opened and we freed of our Bonds Should we stay if the Lord commands us to go or should we go if the Lord command us to stay Or having no Command to stay but being permitted to pass from hence the pure Power moving thereto and we yet stay or go when as â—efore commanded to stay we should then be Wanderers indeed for such are Wanderers who wander out from the Will and Power of God abroad at large in their own Wills and earthly Minds And so in the fear of the Lord God well weigh and consider with the just Weight and just Ballance that Justice thou may'st do to the Just and Innocent in Prison Edward Pyot Some time having passed after the fore-going was delivered him and he not giving any Order for our Discharge I also writ unto him as followeth To Major General Desborow Friend WE who be in the Power of God the Ruler of all the Vpholder of all things and know and dwell in his Power â—o it we must be Obedient which brings us to stand out of all Men's Wills not limited To say We will if the Lord permit in a Case of Buying and Selling to get gain if the Intent be so to do may be done but we standing in the Power of God to do his VVill and to stand out of Man's will If Man propound VVe shall have our Liberty if we will say we will go to our outward Being if the Lord permit if it be the VVill of God and because we cannot say these Words in this case shall not have our Liberty when we know that the will of God is we shall go to speak at some other Place here we cannot say these Words truly For to say We will go to our outward Habitation if it be according to the will of God when we know the will of God is otherwise we cannot speak so truly and clearly Neither can any Man say so to him that requires it of him who stands in the Power and knows the Power of God to lead him according to God's will and it leads him to another place than that which is called the outward Home But the Son of God who came to do and did the will of God had no place whereon to lay his Head And the Apostles and many of the Followers of Christ had no certain dwelling-place Now if these should have been restrained because they could not say they would go to that which the world calls their outward Homes if it were the will of God when they knew it was the will of God they should not and they could not do the will of God in doing so and therefore could not speak those words to satisfy man's mind and will would not that have been Evil Abraham could not do the will of God but in going from his Native Country And who are of Faith are of Abraham of whom Christ came according to the Flesh Now if thou alledge and say This is to let all loose and at Liberty to Idleness I say No such as be in the Power of God who do the will of God come to receive his wisdom by which all his Creatures were created by which to use them to his Glory So this I shall say who are moved by the Lord God of Glory and Power to go to their outward Beings or Habitations such of us may go to our outward Beings or Homes and there be diligent in serving the Lord God that they may be a Blessing from the Lord God in their Generation diligently serving him in Life and Doctrine in Manners in Conversation in all things And who are moved of the Lord to go to any other Place we standing in his will and being moved by his Power which comprehends all things and is not to be limited we shall do his will which we are commanded to do So the Lord God
are settled under the Teaching of Christ Jesus their Saviour who hath bought them After I was clear of Wales I turned towards England again and came to a Market-Town betwixt England and Wales where was a great Fair that day and several Friends being at the Fair we went to an Inn and Friends came to us And after we had had a fine Opportunity with Friends we parted from them and went on our way The Officers of the Town took notice it seems of our being there and Friends gathering together to us and they began also to get together to Consult among themselves how to ensnare us though it was the Fair-time but before they could do any thing we were gone on our Journey and so escaped them From thence we came into Shropshire Shropshire where we had a large and precious Meeting And after we had had many Meetings in those parts we came into Warwickshire and visited Friends there Warwickshire Darbyshire Staffordshire White-Haugh At Captain Lingard ' s. and so came into Darbyshire and Staffordshire visiting Friends Meetings as we went At a place called White-Haugh we had a large blessed Meeting and quiet And after the Meeting was done we took Horse and rode about Twenty Miles that Night to one Captain Lingard's We heard afterwards that when we were gone the Officers came to have seized on us and were much disturbed that they mist us but the Lord disappointed them and delivered us out of their wicked Hands and Friends were joyful in the Lord that we escaped them At Captain Lingard's we had a blessed Meeting the Lord's Presence being wonderfully amongst us After this Meeting we passed through the Peak-Country in Darbyshire Darbyshire Peak Country Sunderhil-Green and after we had been at a Friend's House there we went on to Sunderhill-Green where we had a large Meeting Here John Whitehead came to me and several other Friends and then I passed through the Country visiting Friends till I came into Holderness We went to the farther End of Holderness Holderness Scarborough Whitby Malton and so passed down by Scarborough and Whitby and near Malton and then to York having many Meetings in the way and the Lord 's everlasting Power was over all At York I heard of a Plot York whereupon I was moved to declare against all Plots and Plotters both in publick and private and also to give forth a Paper against Plotting of which a Copy here followeth ALL Friends every where Keep out of Plots and Buslings and the Arm of Flesh for all that is among Adam's Sons in the Fall where they are destroying Mens Lives like Dogs and Beasts and Swine Goring rending biting and destroying one another and wrestling with Flesh and Blood From whence riseth Wars and Killings but from the Lusts And all this is in Adam in the Fall out of Adam that never fell in whom there is Peace and Life And ye are called to Peace therefore follow it and Christ is that Peace for all that pretend to Fight for Christ they are deceived and are in Adam in the Fall for Christ's Kingdom is not of this World therefore his Servants do not Fight Therefore Fighters are not of Christ's Kingdom and are without Christ's Kingdom for his Kingdom stands in Peace and Righteousness 1663. York And so Fighters are in the Lust and all that would destroy Mens Lives are not of Christ's Mind who comes to save Men's Lives Christ's Kingdom is not of this World it is peaceable and all that be in Strifes are not of his Kingdom nor any such as pretend to Fight for the Gospel The Gospel is the Power of God which was before the Devil or Fall of Man was or Fighters either which is the Gospel of Peace and they that pretend to Fighting and talk so for Fighting are Ignorant of the Gospel of Peace And all that talk of Fighting for Sion are in Darkness for Sion needs no such Helpers And all such as profess themselves to be Ministers of Christ and Christians and to beat down the Whore with outward Carnal Weapons the Flesh and the Whore are got up in themselves in a blind Zeal That which beats down the Whore which got up by the Inward Ravening from the Spirit of God the Beating down of the Whore must be by the Inward Rising of the Sword of the Spirit within All such as pretend Christ Jesus and Confess him and run into Carnal Weapons wrestling with Flesh and Blood throw away the Spiritual That are Wrestlers with Flesh and Blood they throw away Christ's Doctrine and Flesh is got up in them and they are weary of their Sufferings And such as would Revenge themselves be out of Christ's Doctrine and such as would be stricken on the one Cheek and would not turn the other be out of Christ's Doctrine and such as do not love one another and Love Enemies be out of Christ's Doctrine And therefore you that be Heirs of the Blessings of God which was before the Curse and the Fall was come to Inherit your Portions And you that be Heirs of the Gospel of Peace before the Devil was live in the Gospel of Peace seeking the Peace of all Men and the Good of all Men. And Live in Christ which comes to save Men's Lives out of Adam in the Fall where they destroy Men's Lives and live not in him For the Jews Sword outwardly by which they cut down the Heathen was a Type of the Spirit of God within which Cuts down the Heathenish Nature within So live in the Peaceable Kingdom of Christ Jesus and in the Peace of God and not in the Lusts from whence Wars arise And Live in Christ the Way of God who is the Second Adam who never fell and live not in Adam in the Fall in the Destruction where they destroy one another Therefore come out of Adam in the Fall into that Adam that never fell and so live in Love and Peace with all Men. And keep out of all the Buslings in the World and meddle not with the Powers of the Earth but mind the Kingdom and the way of Peace You that be Heirs of Grace and Heirs of the Kingdom and Heirs of the Gospel and Heirs of Salvation and Saints of the Most-High and Children of God whose Conversations are in Heaven that is above the Combustions of the Earth let your Conversations preach to all Men and your Innocent Lives that they beholding your Godly Conversation may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And all Friends every where this I charge you which is the Word of the Lord God unto you all Live in Peace in Christ the way of Peace in which seek the Peace of all Men and no Man 's Hurt as I said before In Adam in the Fall is no Peace but in Adam out of the Fall in him is the Peace So you being in Adam that never fell it 's Love that overcomes the Evil and not Hatred with Hatred nor
that none should abuse the Power of the Lord God but in all things their Faith was to stand in the power of the Lord God so that they all might be comprehended into the Truth which they did speak to others that they might not be Preachers to others and themselves Cast-aways Therefore it doth concern you to be comprehended into that which ye do preach to Others and to keep low in it And then the God of Truth will exalt the humble in his Truth Light Grace Power and Spirit and in his Wisdom to his Glory So here all are kept in their Measures of Grace Light Faith and the Spirit of Christ the heavenly and spiritual Man So let none quench the Spirit nor its Motions nor grieve it nor err from it but be led by it which keeps every one in their Tents Which holy Spirit of God giveth them an understanding how to serve and worship and please the holy pure God their Maker and Creator in Christ Jesus and how to wait and how to speak and so to answer the Spirit of God in his People in which holy Spirit is the holy Vnity and Fellowship And the holy Spirit teacheth the holy gentle meek and quiet lowly mind to answer the Seed that Christ hath sown upon all grounds and to answer the Light and Grace and Spirit and the Gospel in every Creature though they are gone from the Spirit Grace Light and Gospel in the heart so that by holy Walking all may come to do it as well as by holy Preaching that so God in all things may be glorified by you and that ye may bring forth Fruits to his praise Amen Swarthmore the 30th of the 10th Month 1679. G. F. About the latter end of this Year I was moved of the Lord to travel up into the South again Wherefore after I had taken my leave of my Wife and the Family and of the Neighbouring Friends I set forward on my Journey in the beginning of the First Month 1679 80 Westmorland Lancashire Yorkshire and passing through some parts of Westmorland and Lancashire I visited Friends at several Meetings and so came into Yorkshire Divers large and weighty Meetings I had in Yorkshire before I came to York-City and when I came there it was the Assize-time and there being many Friends in Prison for Truth 's sake I put Friends that were at liberty upon drawing up the Sufferings of the Friends that were in Prison 1680. York that they might be laid before the Judges and I assisted them therein There were then in York many Friends from several parts of the County for the Quarterly Meeting of Friends was at that time so that I had a brave opportunity among Friends and many weighty and serviceable things did the Lord open through me to the Meeting relating to both the inward state of Man how Man by faith in Christ comes to be grafted into him and made a Member of his Spiritual Body and also the outward state of the Church how each Member ought to walk and act according to its place in the Body I spent several days in York amongst Friends having divers Meetings amongst them and all was peaceable and well I went also to the Castle to visit the Friends that were Prisoners there with whom I spent some time encouraging them and strengtnening them in their Testimony Then leaving York I travelled on Southward through Yorkshire having Meetings in many places amongst Friends Yorkshire Lincolnshire Burton till I came to Burton in Lincolnshire where on the First-day of the Week I had a large and precious Meeting Then turning into Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire I travelled among Friends through a good part of that County in which I had several very good Meetings and then passed into Darbyshire and through Leicestershire Darbyshire Leicestershire Warwickshire Warwick Southam Radway Oxfordshire North-Newton Banbury Oxfordshire Gloucestershire Northamptonshire Buckinghamshire Biddlesden Lillingstone Lovel Bugbrook Stonystratford Bedfordshire Dunstable Market-street Albans Mims Barnet Middlesex Gutters-hedge in Hendon London Yearly-Meeting and so into Warwickshire having Meetings all along as I went till I came to Warwick There William Dewsberry came to me and several other Friends and we had a little Meeting in than Town Then passing through Southam and Radway at each of which places I had a very good Meeting I came to Nathaniel Ball 's of North-Newton in Oxfordshire and so went to Banbury to a Monthly Meeting there And after I had visited Friends at their Meetings in the bordering parts both of Oxfordshire Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire I passed to Richard Baker's of Bidlesden in Buckinghamshire and the next day being the First-day of the Week I had a very large Meeting in Biddlesden at an old Abbeyhouse which a Friend Rented and dwelt in Many Friends and People came to this Meeting out of Oxfordshire Northamptonshire and the parts adjacent and of good Service it was After this Meeting I visited Friends in those parts having Meetings at Lillingstone Lovel and Bugbrook and then going to Stony-stratford I went from thence into some parts of Bedfordshire till I came to Edward Chester's of Dunstable From whence passing on by Market-street I had a Meeting at Albans and so calling on Friends at Mims and Barnet I came to the Widow Hayly's at Gutters-hedge in Hendon in Middlesex on a Seventh-day night and had a very large and good Meeting there the day following I passed from thence to London on the Third-day following and went directly to the Peel-Meeting at John Elsons and next morning to the Meeting at Gracious-street which was very large and quiet and Friends rejoyced in the Lord to see me The Yearly-Meeting was in the week following to which many Friends came up out of most parts of the Nation and a blessed Opportunity the Lord gave us together wherein the ancient Love was sweetly felt 1680. London and the heavenly Life flowed abundantly over all After the Yearly-Meeting was over and the Friends that came out of the Counties to it for the most part return'd homewards I continued about a Month or five weeks longer in and about London labouring in the Work of the Lord both in Meetings and out for besides the publick Testimony which the Lord gave me to bear both to Friends and to the World in Meetings I had much Service lay upon me with respect to Friends Sufferings in seeking to get Ease and Liberty for them in this and other Nations And much pains and time I spent while I was now at London in writing Letters to Friends in divers parts of England and in Scotland Holland Barbados and several other parts of America After I had spent about six weeks time in the Service of Truth in and about London I was moved of the Lord to go visit Friends in some parts of Surrey and Sussex Surrey Sussex Kingston I went down to Kingston by water and tarried there certain days for while I was there