A BOOK Of some of the SUFFERINGS AND PASSAGES OF Myles Halhead OF MOVNT-JOY in VNDERBARROW in the County of Westmorland As also Concerning his Labour and Travel in the Work of the Lord And how the LORD supported him and delivered him by his mighty POWER out of the Hands of his Enemies Printed and Sold by A. Sowle at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway-Lane in Shoreditch And at the Three-Keys in Naggs-Head-Court in Grace-Church-Street 1690. A true and faithful Testimony of the tender Love and Fatherly Care of the Lord in keeping and preserving me by his Eternal Arm and Power in all my Straits and Hardships and making good his Promise unto me from time to time even unto the End of my Dayes IN the Year 1652 in the 4th Month I being about the Age of 38 Years it pleased the Lord to reveal the Light of his Son in me and I saw him whom I had peirced and my Sins and Iniquities were laid before me and I went all the day long and in the Night season I could find no rest I travelled many days in Sorrow in this condition and no pleasure could I find in any thing I had in all the World neither in Wife nor Children in House nor Land in Gold nor Money nor any thing I had about my Habitation till it pleased the God of my Life to blot out my Sins and Transgressions and then that which had condemned me and shewed me my Sins and Evil Deeds even the same doth now bear witness for me that the Lord doth love me and that his Countenance doth shine upon me which made my Heart more glad than Corn or Wine or all the Treasures of the whole Earth so that the same Word which had been to me as a two edged Sword and a Hammer is become to me by the love of God sweeter than the Honey or the Honey-Comb Then I heard the Voice of the Lord in me saying I have Loved thee from thy Mother's Womb I have chosen thee to do my Work my powerful presence shall be with thee in the Fire and in the Water I will never leave thee nor forsake thee but I will be thy God and thou shalt serve me all thy dayes Oh this Voice Oh this Voice this heavenly Voice did make my Heart leap with Joy for I was filled with the sweet incomes of God's eternal Love which is of more worth and value than all the Honour and Glory this World can give And in the 6th Moneth in the Year 1652 in the Government of Oliver Cromwell the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go to the Steeple-House in Kendall and speak to the Chief Priest in that place say unto him Friend come down thy Covering is too narrow the Lord God of Heaven and Earth will plead with thee thou painted Hypocrite After these Words I was taken away and brought before John Archer one of the Justices of the Peace so called for that time being who committed me to Prison in the Common-Goal of Kendall And the very first Night as I lay in Prison the Word of the Lord came unto me saying fear not for I will be with thee according to my Promise and will make thee a burthensom Stone unto the Town of Kendall and to thy Persecutors and I will send my Servants my Sons and my Daughters from the East and from the West from the North and from the South to bear witness to the same Truth that thou suffers for yea against the Justice that committed thee therefore be thou faithful for I have chosen thee to be the first that shall suffer for my Names sake in the Town of Kendall And the Lord God made his Promise good unto me for before I was released out of Prison there was committed of my Brethren and Sisters for the same Truths Testimony by the same Justice Archer two of my dear Brethren Francis Howgill and Thomas Holme with thirty more of the Lords Servants with whom I continued about one quarter of a Year at the end of which the Justices being confounded in themselves set me at liberty Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in my Bed saying Arise and put on thy Cloathes and take thy Horse and ride to the Town of Kendall and put on thy great Coat and speak through the Streets of the Town the Words that I shall give thee As the Lord liveth you painted Hypocrites and Dissemblers as you have seen the Lords Servants both his Sons and his Daughters go naked and bare-footed so shall your Covering be rent from you and your dissembling shall be laid open to all men Therefore repent and take warning while you have time And so having cleared my self of the Town James Cocke Mayor sent for me and committed me to Prison and the said Mayor being one of the chiefest Professors in the Town of Kendall had little Peace from the Lord in what he had done till he had released me Then I returned to my House again and had great Peace with the Lord. In the same Year 1652 in the Government of Oliver Cromwell the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go thy ways to Swarthmore where my Lambs and Babes and Children of Light will be gathered together to wait upon my Name I will feed them with the finest of Wheat and with Honey out of the Rock and with the Dew of Heaven I will refresh them that they may grow as Plants of my right Hand planting that above all the Families of the Earth I may rejoyce to do them good So I freely gave up and took my Journey towards Swarthmore and as I was going between Carptmell-Town and Howker-Hall I met with Thomas Preston's Wife and one man with her on foot I passed by her very quietly and had nothing in my Heart to say to her but she being full of Wrath and Envy towards me commanded her man to go back and beat me and so he did and then the mighty power of the Lord did arise in me I spoke these Words to her Oh thou Jezabel thou proud Jezabel canst thou not permit and suffer the Servant of the Lord to pass by thee quietly that had nothing to say unto thee Then she fell upon me in great Rage and held forth her Hands as though she would have struck at me and spitted in my Face and said I scorn to fall down at thy Words Then I said Jezabel thou proud Jezabel thou that hardenest thy Heart and brasenest thy Face against the Lord and his Servant as the Lord liveth he will plead with thee in his own time and set in order before thee things that thou hast done this day to his Servant So I parted with her and went to Swarthmore where I found the Lords People gathered together to wait upon his Name and the Lord was very good unto that Family in feeding them with the Dew of Heaven and with the sweet incomes of his Love according to his promise Glory and Honour
Reward according to his Work Glory and Honour and living eternal Praises be given to the God of my Life for evermore who is the good Shepherd of my Soul who hath enabled me to do his Work and Service and hath brought me by his eternal Arm and Power safely to my own House again and hath given me Joy and Peace that all the Persecutors in all the World cannot take from me as I dwell and abide faithful unto him who is the good Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul who is my Light my Life my Joy and Peace and eternal Portion for evermore Amen Again in the Year 1669 in the Reign of King Charles about the 5th Month the Word of the Lord came to me saying Go thy way into Cumberland Northumberland and Bishoprick and Yorkshire where I have sent thee formerly to declare my Word and to shew them the Way as thou hadst received it of me that leads to Life and Peace that all the World are but Talkers of and many in that day did receive thy Testimony with gladness of Heart Go thy way and take thy Horse and pass into these Countries and speak my Word freely to my own People my Sons and my Daughters whom I have called and chosen out of the World and the barren Mountains thereof to serve me in Truth and in Righteousness all their dayes Lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet and speak to my own People and charge them in my Name to prepare themselves for I will come and take account of them even from the greatest to the least and he that hath ten Tallents given him shall count for ten and he that hath five Tallents given him shall count for five and he that hath two given shall count for two and every one of my Servants Sons and Daughters shall count for what they have received of me So I was very free in my Spirit to tell my dear Brother Robert Withers a faithful man a fellow Labourer in the Lord's work what lay upon me from the Lord and he was made free to go with me So in obedience to the Lord we were made very willing to go into these Countries to speak to the Lord's People who had received the Lord's Truth in the love it and many of our dear Friends and Brethren were exceedingly broken and their Hearts tendred with the Lord's Testimony and with the true sence of God's everlasting Love and tender fatherly Care to them who hath sent his Servants to give them warning that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth will come and take account of every one of his Servants both Sons and Daughters from the greatest to the least that they may be prepared to meet the Lord with Joy and Rejoycing that they may give their Account with gladness of Heart and so receive the blessed Sentence that the Lord hath prepared for all the Faithful and Upright in Heart that they may finish and end their dayes in Peace and lie down in the Bosom of the Father with all the holy Men of God So when we had been in all these Counties and had many good and pretious Meetings amongst our dear Friends and Brethren to the strenthening and refershing one another in the holy Faith Being free of the Lord's burthen we returned to our outward beings again and had great Peace with the Lord. A true Account of Myles Halhead of Mount-Joy concerning the Payment or Non-payment of his Tythes from the first I was Convinced of the Truth which was in the Year of our Lord 1652 to this present Year 1673. WIthin one year after I had received the Lord's Truth I was moved of the Lord to speak to Tho. Wilson of Heversham-hall he coming to my house to demand Tythe-Wooll and Lamb I said unto him Friend I have paid thee thy Tythes for Wool and Lamb as truly as any man hath done ever since I had Goods of my own to this day but now the Lord God of my Life hath out of his eternal Love to me opened my Understanding and let me clearly see the Unjustness and Unlawfulness of Tythes therefore I dare pay them no more lest I grieve and provoke the God of my Life therefore Friend do what thou pleasest with me for I cannot pay thee Tythes any more The man was very quiet and moderate and said He did believe that I had paid him very truly and he thought that I denyed them not out of any self end therefore if it were not for the Example of others I would not have any Tythe of thee for my time And when I had freed my self of this Testimony I was moved and made willing by the Power of the Lord to leave my House and Family and go as I was commanded to declare the Word of the Lord in Ireland and Scotland and in my own Country and stayed two years together in the Lord's Service and was very little at my own House for many years but what my Wife did then being not convinced of the Truth it is very likely she payed or agreed with him And now of late years when I grew old and infirm and my Eye-sight faileth me I have been sometime at my own house when Jo. Archer sent his men to demand Tythe-Wooll and Lamb I desired his men to let their Man know that he might do what he pleased with me for I could pay him none no more then I could do to Tho. Wilson of Heversham-hall which was in the same place before him Given forth by MYLES HALHEAD of Mount-joy IN the year 1673 in the Reign of King Charles I being in my Bed at a Friend's house in Plymouth in the County of Devonshire the Word of the Lord came to me saying Arise and go thy way and speak to John Lambert the words that I shall give thee so I went to a Friend to desire him to procure a Vessel that I might pass over to a little Island near to the King 's great Fort in Plymouth that I might speak to John Lambert who was Prisoner in that Island and a Vessel we procured and passed to the Island the same day and there we found a strong Guard of Soldiers a Lievtenant asked me What was my Business to the Island I said I desire to speak to John Lambert and then he asked me If I was ever a Captain under his Command and I said No the Soldiers were very quiet and moderate I desired the Lievtenant to bring me to John Lambert and so he did and when I came before him I said Friend is thy Name John Lambert and he said Yea then I said unto him Friend I pray thee hear what the Servant of the Lord hath to say to thee Friend the Lord God made use of thee and others for the Deliverance of his People and when you cryed to him he delivered you in your Distresses as at Dunbar and other places and gave you an opportunity into your hands to do good and you promised what great things you would do for the Lord's People but truly John Lambert you soon forgot your Promises you made to the Lord in that day and time of your great Distress and turned the Edge of your Sword against the Lord's Servants and Hand-maids whom he sent forth to declare his eternal Truth and made Laws and consented to Laws and suffered and permitted Laws to be made against the Lord's People Then John Lambert answered and said Friend I would have you know that some of us never made Laws nor consented to Laws to persecute you nor none of your Friends for Persecution we ever were against I answered and said John Lambert it may be so but the Scripture of Truth is fulfilled by the best of you for although that thee and some others have not given your Consent to make Laws against the Lord's People yet ye suffered and permitted
began to mend by little and little and coming to the Chappel I spoke the Word of the Lord freely as I was moved and when I was clear of the Place and People I went back again to the Friends House and Lord made me sound of all my Blows and Bruses according to his Promise Thence I went to the City of York as I was commanded of the Lord and spoke to the Lord Mayor of York as I was moved and to the Rulers in that City and being clear of it I left it and laboured in the Work of the Lord as I was moved in Towns Villiges and Steeple-Houses and sore Persecution fell to my share and lot in that Shire yet for all that the Lord God of my Life was with me in all my Straits and Hardships according to his Word and Promise So when I was free of that great Shire I returned to my House again and had great Peace with the Lord. For the space of twelve Months after I had received the Truth in the love of it my Wife Ann Halhead was very sore troubled and displeased in her mind because the Truth in my Heart had so much dominion in me that I was made willing by the Power of God to do his Will who had promised that he would never leave me nor forsake me in all my straits and hardships insomuch as she grew and became greatly discontented concerning me and often said I would to God I had Married a Drunkard I might have found him in the Alehouse but I cannot tell where to find my Husband And in this manner she was sore grieved and troubled in her mind for the space of twelve Months But the Lord God of my Life pleaded my Cause according to his promise for my Wife said unto me one time Truly Husband I have something to tell you One Night being in my Bed when I was mourning and lamenting with Tears in my Eyes I heard a Voice saying Why art thou so discontented concerning thy Husband I have callâ—d and chosen him to do my Work my right Hand shall uphold him therefore be thou content and pleased that he serve me and I will bless thee as his Children for his sake and all things shall prosper that thou shalt take in Hand But if thou wilt not be content but grudge and murmer and repine against me and my Servant whom I have chosen to do my Word as I live I will bring a greater cross upon thee These Words were fresh in my mind both Night and Day I often said within my self what cross can this be that the Lord will bring upon me that is greater than the want of my Husband But for all this I could not be contented but mourned both Night and Day all the joy I had or could find in all the World was in one little Child a Boy about five years old who would often take me about my Neck when he saw me Weeping and Mourning and say My dear Mother I pray thee be contented for my Father will come home in a little time And in this manner he did often refresh me but for all this I could not be content in my mind but mourned Night and Day Then in a little time it pleased the Lord to take from me my only Son Myles Halhead all the Joy and Comfort I had in all the World Then the Voice which I heard came into my mind that this was the cross the Lord had said he would bring upon me Then I smote upon my Heart and said within my self That I was the very cause why the Lord had taken away my only Son Then a great fear ceased upon me and I said within my self O Lord my God! give me Power to be content to give up my Husband freely to do thy will lest O Lord thou take away from me all my Children So from that time I never durst oppose thee my Husband any more in the Work of the Lord for fear the Lord's Judgments do fall upon me and my Children Thus hath the Lord pleaded my cause according to his promise Glory and Honour and living eternal Praises be gvien unto the Lord my God for ever Again in the same year 1653 in the Government of Oliver Cromwell when I was walking in my Garden at Mount-Joy in Vndebarrow in the County of Westmoreland the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go thy way to Stanely Chappel in Lancashire So in Obedience to the Word of the Lord I set on and consulted not with Flesh and Blood but went to Staneley Chappel as the Lord had commanded me and there I found a great company of Professors gathered together in a pretence to Worship God but truly they proved very cruel Heathens to me for all their Profession for they would not suffer me to come into the Chappel but with great force and violence turned the Door of me So I walked quietly in the Yard till their Worship was done and then they came forth from their Worship and fell upon me in very great rage and one Captain William Rawlingson being one of the Cheifest Professors amongst them came to me in great rage and fury even like Cain his Father that fell upon his Brother Abel and slew him and in the same Spirit took hold upon my Arms and Shoulders and called of another man to take me by the Feet and Legs and in great Wrath and Fury they threw me over the Wall and I was sore bruised and much I had to do to get to my House again and as I was going home the Word of the Lord came to me saying Be thou content with that which hath befalen thee this day and be faithful unto me in what I will command thee to do and I will make thee a sound Man of all thy sore Bruises So I waited upon the Lord my God to know his Will so within six dayes the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go the next First Day to Windermore Steeple-House and fear not the Face of any Man but speak my Word freely that I shall give thee and I will make thee a sound Man according to my Word and Promise of all thy sore Bruises So I went to Windermore Steeple-House as the Lord had Commanded me and spoke to the Priest and People the Word of the Lord freely as I had received it So the Lord was very Good unto me for in that day I was made a sound Man of all my sore Bruises according to his Word and Promise Glory Glory and living Eternal Praises be given to the God of my Life for ever Again in the same Year 1653 about the sixth Month being in my Bed waiting in silence the Word of the Lord came to me saying Arise and take thy Horse and go thy way into Furneiss in Lancashire to Captain Sand's House and there thou shalt find a People gathered together in a pretence of my Name go and fear not but be faithful and I will make thee a
Terror unto them and their Wisdom shall be confounded And presently I rose and took my Horse as I was Commanded and went into Furneiss to Captain Sand's House and there I found a great number of Professors gathered together and two Priests with them one Lampitt and one Camdford when I came into the House Lampitt was preaching but presently he was silent and within a pretty time Captain Adam Sands said Sir what is the matter Are you well And the Priest answered I am well but I shall speak no more as long as this dumb Devil is in the House A dumb Devil saith the Captain where is he This is he saith the Priest pointing with his Hand that standeth here Then the Captain said This Man is quiet and saith no thing unto you I pray you Sir go on in the Name of the Lord and if he trouble or molest you in my House I will send him to Lancaster â—astle The Priest answered I shall not Preach as long as this dumb Devil is in the House Then the Captain said Mr Camelford pray you Sir stand up and exercise your Gift and I will see that you be not disturbed But the Priest answered as the other I shall not speak as long as this dumb Devil is in the House Then the People cryed Lord rebuke thee Satan Lord rebuke thee Satan What manner of Spirit is this that stops our Ministers Mouths Then the Captain came to me and took me by the Hand and put me out of his House and in all this time I had not opened my Mouth for the Lord had made his Promise Good unto me in confounding their Wisdom when never a Word was spoken So I took my Horse and came to my outward being again and had grear Peace with the Lord my God Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in the sixth Month in the same year 1653 saying Go thy way into Bishoprick and New-Castle upon Tine and declare my Word freely that I shall give thee and be not afraid for my Powerful Presence shall be with thee and my right Hand shall uphold thee and speak thou to the Mayor and Priests and Rulers in that Town and tell them My Anger is kindled against them because they have shut my Kingdom against Men and will neither enter in themselves nor suffer them that would So I went as I was commanded of the Lord and spoke to the Priests Mayor and Rulers of New-Castel where I suffered much Persecution and was Imprisoned by them notwithstanding the Lord made his Promise good unto me for he made me a burthen some Stone to the Priests and Rulers of that Town for the Mayor was much troubled and sent for the Sheriff for it was they two which committed me to Prison and the Mayor said unto the Sheriff We have not done well in Committing an Innocent Man to Prison I pray your let us release him Then they caused the Goaler to set me at Liberty so I Laboured in the Work of the Lord in these parts and declared the Word of the Lord as I was moved and many were convinced of the Truth Then being free of these People and Places I returned to my own House again and injoyed my Wife and Children and had great Joy and Peace with the God of my Life Again the Word of the Lord came unto me as I was walking in my Feilds in the year 1654 in the first Month saying Set thy House in order and go thy way into Ierland and declare my Word that I shall give thee to speak in the Cities Towns and Villages in that Nation and go to the Heads and Rulers in that Nation and declare my Word freely that I shall give thee to speak and fear not the Face of any Man for my Powerful Presence shall be with thee and uphold thee in all thy Straits and Hardships according to my Word and Promise Then said I Lord I am an unleaned Man and not versed in the Scriptures and for Wisdom I have but little Then the Lord answered me My Honour and Glory shall be the more for when the wise Men of the World shall see thy Boldness thy Courage and Manhood that I shall give thee and though an unleaned Man they shall be made to confess and acknowledge my Powerful Presence to be with thee of a Truth Then I went towards Ierland and meeting with my dear Brother and old Companion a faithful Man and my fellow Labourer in the Truth James Lancaster the Lord made him very free to go with me and while we were speaking of it old Myels Bateman of Vnderbarrow heard and the Lord made him also very free to go with us so we took our Journey and went for Ireland as the Lord commanded and declared the Word of the Lord as we were moved in Cities Towns and Villages in that Nation and the Lords Presence was with us of a truth and we went to the Heads and Rulers of that Nation and declared the Word of the Lord to them freely as we had received it and many received our Testimony So when we were free of that Nation we came for England again and had great Peace with the Lord. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in the same year 1654 in the 3d Month saying Go thy way into Scotland and declare my Word that I shall give thee to the Heads and Rulers of that Nation and fear not for my right Hand shall uphold thee and I will be with thee in all thy Straits and Hardships according to My Promise and speak thou unto the Souldiers in Cities and Towns and unto the Commanders and tell them My Anger is kindled against them for they have done very deceitfully with me and not performed their Promises with me which they made to me in the day of their deep distress even when their Enemies encompassed them on every side for then I delâ—vered them and gave them Power over their Enemies yet they have rewarded me Evil for my Good-will to them and have drawn their Swords against me and done Violence Against my Sons and my Daughters whom I have sent to declare my Word amongst them therefore I wall cause them to flee before their Enemies and their Harts shall fail them for fear Then I went toward Scotland as the Lord had commanded me and as I was going I met with my dear brother James Lancaster who was very free to go with me so we came to Dumfreece and on a first Day went to a Steeple-House in that Town where many People were gathered together in a deceitful manner Howling and Crying making a great Lameniation as though they had been touched with a sight of their Sins but my Soul was sore grieved with their Deceit and Hypocrisie and when their Worship was done I spoke as I was moved of the Lord and many of them were in great rage and we were persecuted by them very sore and they drove us out of the Town near