such Honour have the Earthen Vessels of a Remnant and the Excellency of the Power is his and the Glory of all for he is worthy of it for he is no hard Master but a sure Rewarder of his faithful Servants and he endues them with Power that delights in his Law and inclines to keep his Commands and unto such they are not grievous but joyous but looking out hinders and therefore let none look at their own Weakness let my Harms make others beware and let 's be depending on our good Physician for he hath the Balm of Gilead that cures both Soul and Body which makes the weak strong with the sweet Cordials of his Life that relieves the faint hearted and feeble minded and through tender Mercy I have found it very needful and very useful at all times in all Conditions else what could I have done when in such a weak Condition so many Thousands of Miles from my Habitation but blessed be the Lord and magnified be his preserving Power as Tryals did abound Patience did superabound and that brought me to a good Experience of that which sweetned my bitter Cups and that caused the living Hope to spring that anchors in stormy times and then did the Light of my Soul 's Beloved shine upon me and he shewed me what great deliverances he had wrought for me and what great cause I had to trust in his Name that had been a comfortable Refuge unto me at home and abroad and also shewed me that his Rod and Staff had comforted me and he was always with me and in the Enjoyment of his Presence did my Soul rejoice in the midst of great Tryals and then was my cry Lord give me and mine the comfortable enjoyment of thy presence for ever and then try us as thou pleasest Thy preserving Power is all that I desire of thee and unto it I commit all and with thee I leave all for thou art worthy to dispose of all and then would Life flow in as a River to the comforting and strengthening of Soul and Body Everlâ—sting Praises and holy Thanksgivings be returned â—o Christ Jesus for he is worthy my Soul can truly say for I have experienced his dealings and seen his mighty works that he hath done even marvellously for his tender Seed with which my Soul hath travelled and is often concerned for they have much to bear wherever I have been The Lord my God relieve them more and more and work their deliverance for thy own Glory and the comfort of thy true travelling ones for evermore Written aboard the Ship in ths 3 d Month Anno 1681. A further Testimony for the magnifying of that Power that supported my weak Body and comforted my poor Soul in my Travels in America I feel my self concerned to give a Relation of some particular Places and Service FIrst I came to New York and there had been hurt done by some that Friends had lost their 5th Day Meeting and I laboured to settle it again and God's Eternal Power wrought wonderfully in me in several Meetings with his people and we were well refreshed And when the Meeting aforesaid was setled again it was with me to go to Long Island and there the Ranters oppressed Friends but the Lord had a tender People there and his Power was amongst them and we were sweetly refreshed together for God's Almighty Power was over all in all our Meetings wherever I came to the subduing of the dark Power that raged in the Ranters and the relieving of the tender hearted Honour and Praises be ascribed unto it for ever for it made me sensible of the oppression of the tender Seed and for its sake my Soul was in a deep travel and the Night before the general Meeting I was near unto death and many Friends were with me who did not expect my Life and I was so weak when I came there that two Women-Friends led me into the Meeting and there was a great Meeting of several sorts of people and in a little time the God of Wisdom Life and Power filled me with the Word of his Power and I stood up in the strength thereof and it was so prevailing over the Meeting that Friends were very much comforted and refreshed and the Power of Darkness so chained that the opposing Ranters and Apostates could not shew their antick tricks nor oppress Friends as they did use to do for they were very abusive in those remote Islands and commonly did much Mischief in Friends Meetings And they that had been convinced and were turned again with the Dog to his Vomit as saith the Scripture and with the Sow that was washed to wallow again in the mire and had made Shipwreck of Faith and a good Conscience they were most wicked and preached Scripture and had Truth 's Words and grieved Truth 's Spirit and burdened Friends exceedingly and honest Friends could hardly be clear that had a Testimony except they spake while they were speaking But when God's Power did arise over them it many times put them to silence even to admiration and altho Friends Exercise was great especially them that declared yet the blessed Effect of the Almighty Power was and is a precious Recompence and a good Reward And when my Service was over in Long Island it was in my Heart to go to Road Island to the General Meeting that approached soon after I arrived there yet we had a quick passage through Providence and when I came to the General Meeting of Friends there was that abominable Crew and Tho. Case the grand Ranter was bawling very loud and I had been there but a very little time but God's living Power did arise most wonderfully and I declared in the demonstration thereof and soon put him to silence and he went forth and the powerful Presence of the Lord was amongst his People and this General Meeting in Road Island lasted Four Days together and I had good Service there and God's Eternal Heart-tendering Power was over all Glory and Living Praises be unto it for evermore And still it was upon me to go to Boston for that was with me before I came from home and I hastened to take a passage in a Sloop and went with some Friends and one was a Maiden Friend that had a few Words sometimes in Meetings who had been there once before and she and another Friend suffered much there both Imprisonment and other Cruelty for Conscience-sake But blessed be the God of all our Mercies we had peaceable Meetings there and his excellent Power was so that it tendered the people and there was hardly any that I saw but shed tears there was a Lawyer that had a hand in the suffering of our Friends that were put to Death and he was very solid all the while And after this I travelled by Sea and Land in the strength of the supporting Power to many places whithersoever the Lord ordered me and as I followed the Line of his Divine Light he failed
what Church that was for I had spoken in the true Church many times amongst God's People and they did not hinder me and he said Paul spoke against a Womans speaking in the Church I asked him what Woman that was and what Church that was that she should not speak in and he did not answer me but went away and a Woman Friend that was with me took hold of him and said My Friend answer the Womans question and the Dutch People were coming from their worship the while but the Priest put off his Hat to us and busled away and afterwards endeavoured to send me to Prison but the God of Power who preserved me when much Evil hath been intended prevented him that he could not prevail with the Mayor but he endeavoured to harm the Friends of that place after that I was gone And after the first Day Meeting was over I went the beginning of the Week to some other Meetings and came again a fourth Day and God's Power was over all and Friends had no harm and we had another Heavenly Meeting and so I came away and left Friends peaceable and all was well blessed be the Lord and magnified be his preserving Power over all for evermore Amen saith my Soul J. V. I was informed that the Priest above specified did do his endeavour to stir up Persecution against Friends and put the Mayor to some trouble for not punishing me but therein he did nor could do no more than manifest his own Malice and what Birth he was of The Lord had set his Bounds J. V. IN all this long Journey this I can say to the Honour and Glory of my tender God and to the Praise of his Providential Power and be it known to all That altho' I had none to accompany me of my own or Friends providing yet the Lord so ordered it that I had still some honest Woman or Maiden Friend both by Sea Land In the first Vessel that ever I was in I had an honest ancient maiden Friend namely Sarah Yoaklet who was my Companion from London until I came to Long-Island And then in New-England one Lydia Wright another faithful Friend was willing to travel with me and did accompany me a considerable time and still the Lord so ordered it that when ever one left me that another was ready to take her place to be my Companion And when I returned home there came with me an ancient Maiden Friend who had been out in those Countries in the service of Truth six Years whose name was Margaret Kerby and on the 3d of the 4th Month 1681 I arrived safely at Dover in the County of Kent where I was three Weeks in the service of Truth And after that blessed and renowned be the Holy Name of Jesus I came to London and after a little time spent in visiting Friends at London I came safe home And as I pondered weightily and beheld the Preservation of me and mine and the manifold Mercies that we received when so far remote one from another my Heart was truly tendered in the sense of my Heavenly Father's Love and my Soul magnified the Preserving and Delivering Power and the cry run through me Lord God of my Life let me and mine never forget thy Goodness for it is wonderfully to be admired and thy unexpressible Love to be considered by all those unto whom it hath been so largely extended And as I consider our nothingness and thy tenderness towards us I cannot but abhor self and breath unto thee that I and mine may for ever hold self in no reputation and follow Jesus through the daily cross wherein I through tender Mercy have found power when of my self I could do nothing whereby to fulfil what was required of me but self was very ready to hinder me as the self-seeking Spirit is always those that are not aware of it And therefore I desire above all things that I and mine whom the Lord hath been so good unto may be watchful and in order thereunto I commit all unto that God of Power that hath preserved hitherto and is able to keep and preserve unto the end To whom be all Glory and Praise for evermore Amen J. V. A Letter writen at Gravesend to Friends of the Womens Meeting by J. V. when she was going to Sea for her long Journy The 24th of the 12th Month 1679. DEar and well-beloved Sisters my Love and Life Salutes you even in a sense of the tender Love of my Heavenly Father do I embrace you and greatly encourage you to keep your Womens Meetings and keep up your Testimonies every one in your places for every one hath a Testimony for the Pure God tho' not in Words yet in the Word of Life which hath quickened our Souls and powerfully operated thereon even in our Womens Meeting Hath not the sense of it been sufficient to engage our Hearts to serve him and to bare our faithful Testimony for him in Purity of Life and Conversation that his Name may be honoured and the precious Truth propagated For this you know how long hath been the travail of my Soul amongst you and I hope it will be the travail of yours in my absence that if ever we see one anothers Faces again it may be with Joy and not with Sorrow So let your Breathings be for my Welfare in the Lord Jesus as mine are for you for had it not been to keep Covenant with my God I could not have given up my weak Body to the Sea but in my long and sore Exercises I often promised the Pure God that I would give up my Life as a Sacrifice if he would accept of it and now he hath tried me and if he please to take it it is but my reasonable service to offer it up to him but I did intend you should have had more timely knowledge of it but that I could not tell whether it might have been taken of me therefore I forbore speaking of it publickly till at length I could not come back but now in the universal Love of God do I take my leave of you all not knowing whether I may see you again or not Remember my dear Love to the Brethren whose Labour of Love and Work of Faith is for the Propagating of the precious Truth And the Lord God Eternal keep us all close unto himself in that which neither Sea nor Land can separate for in it my Love doth truly reach unto you all being clear in the sight of my God of all service save only this which my Life lies engaged for Here I stand resigned to live or die in the Will of my God and so I desire him to keep me to the end And dear Friends be Valiant for the Truth that it may not be undervalued through a cowardly creeping Libertine Spirit for that hath done too much hurt already stand over it I beseech you all and quit your selves like faithful Soldiers fighting under the Banner of Love
to them all as if I nam'd them and their Wives one by one And my servent desire is that the precious Truth may prosper amongst you and that faith and patience and love and life and all other spiritual graces and gifts may abound amongst you and that all that is wrong may be purged out Oh that all of you would wait to feel the renewings of the right Spirit that there might be no room in the heart to entertain the wrong Spirit to hinder or hurt innocency And the Lord God of my Life discover its subtilty and keep us all upon our watch that none of us may be taken in his snares for they are many and dangerous and therefore I commit you with my self and all that loves the Truth and lives in it to the never-failing God who is worthy to be feared and obeyed trusted in and depended upon by us and all that love him for ever and for evermore You would say that I have great cause so to declare if you did but know what he has brought me through since I left you but blessed be his Name he enabled me to do his Service every-where and Friends are kind and loving to me here at Barbadoes and so they were at the Leeward Islands No more but unfeigned Love and rest Your Friend and Sister in the precious Truth Joan Vokins From Barbadoes 14th of the 1st Month 1681. To Friends in West Jersey Dear Friend WIlliam Peachee after the Salutation of my Love to Thee and thy Wife and Friends This is to let thee and Friends there know that I cannot forget you but the Travel of my Soul is for you and the tender God of my Life has heard the Cry of his oppressed Seed and arrisen and will appear more and more for its deliverance although the Philistine Spirit do strongly strive and Amaleck lay by the way yet Israel is greatly encouraged and have great cause to travel on for the Captain of our Salvation is going on before us conquering and to conquer and he will gather his Sons from far and his Daughthers from the ends of the Earth and for this end he visits the Dark Corners and for his Seed sake he has appeared on your behalf and if you mind the Gospel-light and live the Gospel-life and keep the Gospel-order then will God's Plantation grow and bring forth Fruit to his praise and then you may expect his Blessings and Prosperity upon you and yours but if you slight the great Love of God and let in the Spirit of this World and get you other Lovers that will greatly provoke the Lord and cause him to withhold his Mercies from you and cause you to fail of your expectations This loving Caution sprung in my Heart unto you and in that which thinks no evil I leave it with you hoping that in the same you will receive it that in the reading our Lives may be refreshed together though in Person far asunder for it is exceeding precious to me and my life rejoyces at the feeling of a living Brother or Sisters growth in the truth and it 's that my Soul travels for who am a friend to it and as I feed with you in the Land of the Living we can sing together as the ransomed of the Lord and the breathing of my Soul is that all that are there may be preserved and that many thousands more may be gathered to the Honour of his great and worthy Name and our mutual Comfort for ever and for evermore Amen J. V. From Barbadoes 1st Month 1681. A short Testimony against that Spirit of Division that gave forth W. R 's Book stiled The Christian Quaker distinguished WHereas there is a Libertine Spirit at work very busie to darken the Hearts of them that touch with it I feel a necessity upon me and that from the Lord to bear my Testimony against it and to caution all the tender ones not to meddle with it lest they be tinctured and hurt by it for it is a subtil Spirit and seeks under fair pretences to betray Innocency and some there are that are come to a loss thereby as woful Experience do daily shew and therefore let it be considered how it is with those that are alive to God and how it is with those that are within the bounds of that Spirit which gave forth W. R's wicked Book and those that owns it are they not in a dying condition as to the pure Life of Jesus and let them whose understandings are not clear take heed how they read in it lest they bring a Vail over them again they know not how I may say from a certain sense that it is a dark Spirit and too many are groping therein and that is the cause they do not see wherein the difference lyes Oh that every such a one would keep to that which did at first convince them that they might have their understandings opened and kept open that they might see how far they are on their Spiritual Journey that this self-seeking Spirit might not betray in the Wilderness for there are howling Deserts and dangerous Places where this Spirit have lurking corners and creeps in at every turn if the watch be not duly kept And therefore let all take heed and beware of this destroying Spirit whatever it does pretend it 's no better than the inwardly ravening Woolf though cloathed outwardly like a Sheep and therefore deceives the more but the Lord will lay it open more and more for his own Seed sake that has long suffered and the upright hearted who are true to God shall have great encouragement to travel on but those that are looking out are in great danger of being ensnared by this Spirit which may make their Journey long and tedious by muddlement of mind and sometimes go backwards yet their way may be so hedged up that they cannot get quite back to Egypt again but may die in the Wilderness if they take not heed Oh that all while they have time may come into obedience to the Truth and feed together in the Land of the Living that in the feeling of Life we may sing together as the Ransomed of the Lord dwelling with him out of all strife in purity of Life cemented together in the bounds of his Love with our Affections fixed on things above J V. To Friends in New England and thereaway Dear Friend SAmuel Spicer my Love salutes thee and thy dear Wife and Father and Mother Tilton if yet alive and the rest of Friends of your Meeting and Friends at New York earnestly desiring your welfare in the Lord Jesus and breathing to the God of my Life that above all things Truth may prosper amongst you and that Faith and Love and Peace and Life may be multiplied amongst you that the Work of the Day may go on whatever you meet with to hinder though the Philistine Spirit do strive and Amaleck lye by the way yet good Encouragement have we as faithful Soldiers
me if my Children should be some of them And therefore look to it I charge you in God's holy fear that you may be warned and escape the dangers that do attend Youth and be preserved out of all the Snares of the Evil One for they are many And by this you may see that I do remember you and the breathing of my Soul is daily for you and for all my Relations and to them at Farringdon and Charney and Goosey and all the rest of Friends there-abouts mind my Love to them all as opportunity is and let them know that the Lord God of my Life and the length of my Days is still exceeding good unto me and enables me by his Power to do his Service and blessed be his holy Name his precious Reward is with me and that causes my Soul to rejoyce and makes my Heart more glad than the greatest increase of all outward things Oh that it may be so with you that your delight may be to serve him according to your measures that you may clearly see by the bright shining of the Light the vanity and folly of needless things in Apparel and to lean after the World 's vain unsetled Fashions is so far from being comely or an Ornament to any professing Truth that it is great cause of shame for any such to wear it and I am certain that if you keep to the Gift of Christ's Spirit that is given you to teach you to profit and to lead you into all truth and plainness I say that I am sure that if you hearken to the Spirit of Christ in your own Hearts that then these needless things aforenamed and foolish Fashions of the World will become a burden to you as they are to me and then you would be soon weary of them and of all that is needless round Attire upon the Head set up aloft nor long Ears to Linnen Dressings I desire that the Lord may lay it home to your consideration And you may also hereby know that I have had not one well Day nor Night since I came here but I am not worse than I was at home I have travelled Three hundred Miles and upwards in this Nation of Ireland and am now going for the North I have been often very like for death but have not lain by it yet blessed be the Lord. I am uncertain when I shall be clear to re-return but I intend to go no further than I have a necessity because of the weakness of my Body and the Winter drawing on it 's hard for me to travel but the Lord is exceeding good unto me beyond what I am able to express My dear love to all Relations and Friends I rest Your dear Mother J. V. From Dublin 18. 9 Mo. 86. An Epistle to Friends Dear Friends IN the Covenant of Life unto whom the Lord in his unspeakable love hath done so bountifully by as to reveal his Son in us visiting our Souls when in a lost condition and could find no comfort Oh let his Mercies never be forgotten and the consideration of his tender dealing abide with us and let the renewings of his tender Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal give us fresh occasions to renew our obedience for if we abide in the consideration of his love we cannot but be tendered in the sense of the same and brought thereby into true subjection to the sanctifying Power by which we have been and are preserved notwithstanding all the dangers that hath or do attend Oh the Excellency of the Power it is so precious unto a Remnant that we have continual cause to glorifie our heavenly Father with all and over all for he is worthy and if it be with Life and all it 's but our reasonable service and those that will save that alive that is to die do thereby deprive â—â—emselves of Life eternal and therefore we have all need to dwell low in the self-denying Spirit and the daily Cross that weÌ„ may still enjoy the convincing Power that we may travel on in our heavenly Progress with Valour and Courage those few days that are to come in which we may expect many Troubles But living Praises to the God of our Lives and Length of our Days in him we find that Peace that Man cannot give nor take from us and in Christ Jesus our Life is hid from all that are in darkness and under the shadow of death and because the Son of God lives our Souls lives to praise his worthy renowned Name his Eternal Power that has been manifested to tender our Hearts and to bring us into subjection to so good a Master daily nourishes and enriches our Souls with the reward of Life in our Bosoms which causes us to say with the Prophet One day in his Courts is better than a thousand elsewhere And surely it is better to be a Door-keeper in the House of God than to dwell in the chiefest Palaces of the wicked Oh how goodly are the Tents of Jacob where we find safety in times of need as we abide in Covenant with Jacob's God we have cause to rejoyce as Israel did when the Rock that followed them was Christ Jesus the Rock of Ages the sure Foundation of the Faithful the Hiding-place as the shadow of a mighty Rock in a weary Land to shelter the weary Travellers by the way the streams of Shilo that runs so sweetly to comfort the comfortless and to strengthen the weak and relieve the thirsty Souls Oh how sweet are Shilo's Brooks where no Gally with Oars can pass where the Water of Life flows softly but sweetly without any thing that flesh and blood can do for that avails nothing in our heavenly Journey and therefore to be had in no reputation but to be daily denied and the Cross taken up and following of Jesus faithfully and fully towards the Crown which is the blessed Recompence for us to look unto that we may run the Race that is set before us in patience that in the end we may obtain the Mark of the Prize of the High-Calling that is in Christ Jesus which is a Mystery to those that do not obey him but a sweet benefit to them that do obey his Call for they are chosen ones a peculiar People zealous of good Works glorifying our heavenly Father And here we come to know that Scripture fulfilled where it is said You shall call upon me in times of trouble and I will deliver and you shall glorifie me Oh that all the convinced ones for whom I am so often concerned would but consider that all that are amongst us might be of us in glorifying God by answering the Divine Requirings of his Love for we all know sufficient but all do not obey but yet the unfaithfulness of some do not make void the Reward of the Faithful God forbid but the Reward encourages them to invite all to taste and see for themselves how good the Lord is for he is communicating of fresh supplies of his
worthy Name and magnifie his preserving and delivering Power for it hath been largely manifested may a little remnant truly say that has known the wonderful works of our God to admiration Oh we have great cause to speak well of his Name and to remember his mercies of old and to hold the continuation of his favours in great esteem and blessed be the Lord Jesus he hath not been wanting to us but his renewed Mercies daily are sufficient to deeply ingage us to renew our faithfulness and obedience that our heavenly Father may be pleased to continue and multiply his tender dealings towards us that whatever is yet to come may never be able to separate us from the sense of his love or from the seasonedness of his holy fear or from that cementing life that joyns us as Members unto Christ our Head that if Tryals should abound we may all feel the Love and Life of Jesus to super-abound that every bitter Cup that is yet to come may be sweetened and all hard things made easie and we encouraged to travel on in our heavenly progress keeping a narrow watch in the precious Light and diligently waiting in the same that we may be filled with heavenly Treasure for all other is very uncertain And we here do meet with a sufficient share of many and variable Exercises neither do I expect that you there do go free but this is that I do desire above all things even your living growth in the precious Truth and that you may indure to the end for they are assuredly happy and a blessed Reward is prepared for them And in a living sense of the same the Lord God of our Lives keep us here and you there that our Breathings may be continued one for another that we may be refreshed one in another and praise the God of Heaven and Earth together in his one Eternal Spirit as with one Heart and Soul for he is worthy to be had in living remembrance and his pure power to be magnified and renowned over all and unto it I commit us all for it is over all and worthy to have the disposing of us all and with it I leave all for there is nothing too hard for it to do and it 's worthy to be exalted over all Heaven and Earth and that for evermore saith the Soul of your loving Sister in the unchangeable Truth Joan Vokins London 28. 4 Mo. 90. POSTSCRIPT HEre have been a very precious time of heavenly Bedewings at our General Meeting at this Season as at many other times blessed be the God of Heaven and Earth his Power has filled the Assemblies of his People and the remembrance of you and other remote Islands is signified by Epistles that were Signed at our Womens Meetings and ordered to be sent to you when opportunity presents that you may rejoyce with us and joy in the God of your and our Salvation in and through Christ Jesus who lives and abides to make intercession for us his poor helpless ones who have had no helper but him Oh glory to his Name for ever he has been with us in many Troubles and gives us cause to believe he will be with us for ever And unto his tender care do I commit all our States and Conditions for fresh and sutable Supplies comes from him the Fountain of all our Mercies to whom be returned the Honour and the Glory over all for he is worthy for evermore The Lord my God in his great goodness to me after a long time of weakness has enabled me by his Power to come once more to this Yearly Meeting to be refreshed among his worthy ones and could do no less then cast my Mite into the Treasury And when the Epistle comes as is directed to West and East-Jersey and Philadelphia I intreat thee and thy Wife to let Copies be sent to York and Long Island J. V. To Antegua and Nevice c. G. W. DEar Friend after the Salutation of my Dear Love which truly reaches to thee thy Wife and Friends This is to let you know That I cannot forget you in those remote Islands but have been often concerned for you in a Travel of Soul before the Lord and now having this opportunity after a long time of bodily Weakness to visit Friends at London I can do no less than let you know that through tender Mercy I am yet alive to tell of the Goodness of the Lord and to admire the Works of his Almighty Power and to speak well of his worthy Name for Glory and Honour and Praises thereunto he is the same as ever and his Mercies and the continuation of his Favours are never to be forgotten and his renewed Goodness and Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal are daily sufficient to engage us to renew our faithfulness and obedience unto our tender God Oh that thus it may be with all that he has been so good unto as to bring near unto himself and one unto another who were once afar off from the Fellowship of the Saints in Light but blessed be the Lord who hath caused his Light to shine in our Tabernacles and shewed us the way that we should walk in and now Christ Jesus is our Life and Salvation and he fills our Cups with sweet Consolation and as many as do walk in the Light have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin and purifies and fits the Earthen Vessel for the Heavenly Treasure and the excellency of the power is of the Lord and the Glory over all is his and he is near unto them that seeks his Glory more than their outward Interest and he will fill their Treasuries with this heavenly Treasure and so as we follow him we inherit substance and have no more need to wander as in the days past after Husks and Shadows but to keep to the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls for blessed be his Name he feeds us in the green Pastures of Life and causes us to lye down by the still Waters when the raging Sea foams out Mire and Dirt Oh this is he that led Israel in the days of old and never said to the Seed of Jacob Seek ye my Face in vain And therefore dear Friends we have cause to say to the praise of his holy Name That goodly are the Tents of Jacob and blessed is his dwelling place for it s within the munition of Rocks where our Bread is ever sure and the Water of Life never fails where the weary finds sweet repose and the thirsty are refreshed and where our Souls feed together when our Bodies are far asunder So therein the Lord preserve us and you unto the end that he may have the Honour and our Souls the Benefit for evermore And by this thou may'st know that we have had a precious time here at London at our Yearly Meeting and many precious Testimonies have been born by Sons and Daughters to the Almighty Power of God that have filled the Assemblies of his People Oh how have the Heavenly Dew distilled upon our Branches and brought forth Fruit that reaches unto you in these Islands and I dearly desire it may be pleasant to your taste that we may be refreshed one in another and be one anothers joy and rejoycing in the Lord Jesus and that the Epistles of Love that were Signed here at our Yearly and Quarterly Meetings may induce you to Write again that you there may have a correspondency with Friends here in the Work and Service that our God hath called us unto that Spiritual Fruits may be brought forth and abound in all the Churches for our heavenly Father who delights in those that brings forth the Fruits of his Spirit and every Member that bringeth forth Fruit to his praise he purges and waters with the Seasons of his early and latter Rain and causes them to bring forth Fruit more and more And so the Dew of the Everlasting Hills rest upon you and us and upon all the Heritage of God every where for evermore Amen saith the Soul of thy true Friend and Sister in that which reaches over Sea and Land as length of time cannot wear out JOAN VOKINS At London I hope to hear from Nevice as opportunity to present my Dear Love is to W. Fifill's Widow if yet alive and to all the rest of those that are alive that loves the Truth and lives in it for they are very precious to me J. V. This was written soon after the Yearly Meeting 1690. about the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th Month 1690. THE END A Catalogue of Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Northcott JOhn Burnyeat's Works Price 2 s. 6 d. G. Keith's Presbyterian and Independant Visible Churches in New-England and elsewhere brought to the Test and examined according to the Holy Scripture Price 1 s. 6 d. His Way to the City of God 1 s. His Fundamental Truths of Christianity Price 8 d. Stephen Crisps Alarum sounded in the Borders of Spiritual Egypt which shall be heard in Babylon Prince 3 d. His Epistle concerning the Present and Succeeding Times Price 2 d. G. Fox the Younger's Works Price 1 s. 8 d. Elizabeth Bathursts Truths Vindication Price 8 d. Sam. Fisher's Works Price 12 s. William Tomlinson's Innovations of Popery Price 6 d. Buds and Blossoms of Piety Price 1 s. G. F's several Treatises worthy of every true Christian's serious Consideration Price 6 d. R. Barclay's Apology for the True Christian Divinity Price 4 s. There is now in the Press Robert Barclay's Works which will be a Book of 12 s.
tender Love and Soul-refreshing Life undeclarably unto them that fear him and dare not offend him and so loves him as to keep his Commands them he will make partakers of his precious Promises for he promised never to leave nor forsake his and to be with them at their down-lying and up-rising and at all times both day and night and as we keep covenant with him he will be with us and we shall be with him that lives for ever to give Life to us who waits upon him and that we may have it more abundantly that we may live to his praise though amongst a crooked Generation who do daily provoke the righteous God surely the crying sins of the ungodly have long cryed for vengeance in the ears of the mighty God of Heaven and Earth and his just Judgments will suddenly find them out and then if Daniel Noah and Lot were there they shall deliver none but their own Souls And therefore we have cause to be concerned as Lot was in Sodom that we may be Preachers of Righteousness in our Lives and Conversations that as the wicked do dishonour and grieve the Lord we may be the more careful to honour and glorifie him by bringing forth much Fruit for his delight is in such and if we abide in Christ Jesus the true Vine then shall we be fruitful in every good Work for he is the Root from whence we receive Vertue else we should wither and soon decay but blessed be the Root from whence we receive Sap and Daily Relief Oh that it may lye always upon our Branches that we may bring forth Fruit in due season and blossom as the Rose of Sharon and grow as the Lilly of the Vally yielding a good savour in our words and actions that whether together or asunder we may be one anothers joy and crown of rejoycing in the Lord Jesus in whom our fresh Springs are who is the Fountain of all our Mercies whose Streams makes glad his whole City who relieves and replenishes our Souls and gives us many fruitful Seasons and makes our Souls partakers of the early and latter Rain and of his eternal Spirit wherein is the Bond of Peace in which the Lord God of all our Mercies keep us all neer unto himself and one unto another that through the enjoyment of the same we may magnifie his eternal Power and Praise his most holy Name for it is worthy to be honoured and renowned over all and that for ever more Amen saith the Soul of your dear Sister in that which reaches over Sea and Land Joan Vokins Written at Droghedah in Ireland the 27. 9 Mo 86. Friends here are well and in the enjoyment of Peace and Plenty blessed be the Lord and Meetings large for the most part and Friends unanimously concerned in the Service of Truth as in the beginning and keep their Zeal for Truth and delights to live in it Here follows a Paper that was printed in 1687 Entituled A Tender Invitation unto all those that want Peace with God by reason of the burden of Sin that keeps them from acceptance with the Lord Jesus and from an assurance of Salvation though it be very desirable to them OH it 's the weary and heavy laden that he tenders rest unto and they that take heed to his good Spirit which is light and leaves off that which it condemns and follows its Instructions they obtain the way of Life and he becomes their Shepherd and they hear his Voice and a Stranger they will not hear but they follow him and he feeds them with that which the Strangers to his Voice and hireling Shepherds cannot attain unto by all their arts or parts external but it comes to be enjoyed by Faith in Christ Jesus that gives Victory over Sin and therefore it 's time for all People to consider and as the Apostle said To try and examine themselves whether they be in the true Faith or no for there is no true Faith but that which stands in the Almighty Power and that gives Victory over the Powers of Darkness and without this Faith it is impossible to please God as it is left upon Record in the Scriptures of Truth So all is to believe in the Son of God who is the light of the World and hath enlightned every one that comes into the World as saith the Scripture and in the universal love of God he gave his Son for a Light to enlighten the Gentiles and to be Salvation unto the ends of the earth and he died for all and his Love so far extended unto all both Male and Female that he would have none to perish but that all by turning to his good Spirit may be saved from all that the evil Spirit leads into for whosoever follows the leadings of the Spirit of Jesus who is given for a Leader of his People he leads them in the Path of Righteousness and as they come to be Servants of Righteousness they come to be free from Sin but it s written in the Scriptures of Truth that the Servants of Sin are free from Righteousness and they that commit Sin are of the Devil for he is the Original of Sin but Jesus Christ is the Original of the pure and holy undefiled Religion that keeps from the Evil of the World which is Pride Adultery Lying Cheating and Idolatry and Superstition and other Spots that those are stained with who are not acquainted with him that said I Wisdom leads in the midst of the Paths of Judgment to cause them that love me to inherit Substance there is much talking of loving him but few inclined to keep his Commands and much talking of his fear but little standing in awe so as not to offend him but so far are many from taking heed unto the measure of his Spirit of Light as he hath placed in their Hearts that they do not know it leading them to the heart-cleansing fear For if they did how could they plead for Sin so long as they remain in these Bodies whereas it hath been said by the Spirit of the Lord and left upon Scripture Record that the fear of the Lord is as a Fountain of Life to depart from the Snares of Death and the beginning of the true Wisdom and a good Understanding have all they that follow after it for they depart from iniquity and it cleanses the heart and keeps it clean according to the Testimonies the Scriptures bears Record of and therefore unto it I recommend all People that all may have the priviledge of it that their Hearts may be cleansed for it is well known there is no Repentance in the Grave but as Death leaves righteous Judgment will find and therefore let the long suffering and patience of the Lord lead to Repentance such a Repentance that needs no repenting of a changing of the heart abstaining and retraining from every appearance of evil this is that which the Lord hath long waited for and doth yet wait to be
good and gracious unto all those that confess and forsake their evil thoughts words and works and they shall surely find Mercy with him and be acquainted with him and feel acceptance with him and know the work of his sanctifying power to sanctifie throughout in Body Soul and Spirit that the works of sanctification may not be to do when the Messenger of Death will not be denied for then it will be too late to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and therefore it would be good for all to consider how good the Lord is in that he hath considered the frailty of all flesh and hath given unto every one a measure of his good Spirit to help our Infirmities and to teach us But if we neglect this Gift of God we shall be unexcusable in the Day of Account and he will be clear of us all and therefore let all be diligent to hear the Word of Reconciliation that the work thereof may be experienced for it begets again unto God those that were afar off and when the work of Regeneration is witnessed and the Birth of the Water of Life and Spirit of Jesus then the new Creature that avails with God comes to be in unity and peace with him and then the Spirit of Jesus bears witness to the Spirits of such that they are the Children of the Lord but except a being born again there can be no entring into the Kingdom for the first Birth cannot enter into the first Adam's Nature all are dead but they that are begotten again by the Word of God's power as the Scripture testifies they come to be changed into the Nature of the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit in him all such are made alive and as they live in his fear and do not grieve his Spirit their sufficiency is in the engrafted Word of his Grace that is able to save and in the same do witness preservation as in the days of old it is the same that David hid in his heart that he might not sin against the Lord and it was as a Lanthorn unto his feet and a light unto his paths And so it is now blessed be the Name of the Lord unto them that are truly watchful in it but those that are obeying the power of darkness breaks the Command of Christ Jesus and it 's left upon Scripture-Record that he did not say only unto one but unto all watch and surely it is as needful as ever for us to keep a narrow watch and that in the Light for our Souls Enemy works always in the dark and except we keep a continual watch over our hearts in that which doth discover his Snares we cannot escape and so let all that have any sense that it is their Duty to wait upon the Lord be careful to keep the Command of watchfulness that the Enemy nor any of his Instruments do not prevent from waiting in stilness upon the Lord for he doth renew the strength of them that do truly wait upon him and the Lord by his Servant hath said That they shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint and now he is fulfilling the Scripture wherein it is said The children of the Lord shall be taught of the Lord and they shall be established in righteousness and great shall be their peace Oh let all that want it hearken unto the true Shepherd of the little Flock for whom the Kingdom is prepared who encourages them and bids them fear not tho' the Wolfish destroyer is nigh unto them yet he is the Overseer and in all Tryals and Exercises he is their preservation and them that have been exercised deeply and tryed throughly they can tell of his wonderful works and have cause to speak well of his most worthy Name and to invite others to come and taste and see for themselves how good the Lord is in that he gives all a time of tender Visitation Oh! that all People would but consider it before it be too late that while the good Spirit of Light is striving their hearts may be affected with it and joyned to it for it will not always strive and therefore let such as could not come into Obedience because of Sufferings now consider how good the Lord is in that he hath calmed the storms of Persecution and opened a door for such as are convinced to come into Obedience let them now perform what they promised to the Lord when they were looking to see what the Lord would do with his poor despised People called Quakers for said they it is the Truth that they suffer for but we cannot suffer for it the Sufferings is too hard for us to bear else we should own it Oh! let all such truly consider the wonderful love of God his tender mercy may not be disregarded nor his great love undervalued but let every such a one double their diligence and make no delays for delays in this weighty concern are very dangerous for who knows how little time they have to come or what it may bring forth therefore that the present time be not ill spent but while it is to day if any will hear his voice let them not harden their hearts as it was in the day of provocation For many are the invitations of the great love of God and if it be slighted he will certainly with-hold his Mercies and therefore we have great need to embrace his love that we may not provoke him to wrath for he is just and will render unto all people according to their doings Joan Vokins West-Chawlow 14 of 〈◊〉 third Month 168◠A Testimon◠〈…〉 work of God's Power Because of the marvellous love of God in Christ Jesus I cannot conceal my Testimony for the wonderful work of his Eternal Power that hath been admirably manifested in my poor Soul and weak frail Body and if I should not leave a short Testimony of it to Posterity I should be very ungrateful and I pray God that the sin of Ingratitude may not be laid heavy on any of us professing Truth when the Messenger of Death calls but that while we live we may live in subjection to his Almighty Power that when we die we may seal our Testimonies thereunto in true submission and receive the blessed reward of the faithful OH what tongue can declare the wonderful loving kindness of the Lord as is experienced by those that obey his Commands Surely that is the way to abide in his love and his great love has been so largely manifested to me that it has ingaged me so to love him again as to forsake the Worlds Glory Customs and Fashions Vanities Elements Traditions and Superstitions and to take up my Daily-Cross and follow Jesus through the many Tribulations But blessed be his worthy Name he hath filled my cup with his sweet consolations and caused me to say that one day in his Courts is better then a thousand elsewhere and I had rather be a
door keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the pleasantest palace of the Wicked For until I through tender mercy had unity with Jesus in his divine Spirit of Light my Soul could have no true satisfaction though never so self-righteous but when the heart-searching Light made manifest my condition my heart was so affected with it that I still desired the operation of the power of it and as I came to watch in the measure of it I became aware of the enemy and through Faith in Christ Jesus obtained a waiting state which could not be obtained by me but as I felt the Almighty Power to rebuke the subtil enemy that lies so nigh but as we are commanded to watch we find great benefit by keeping that command And magnified be that wonderful power that has preserved in dangers deep and difficulties many there is nothing too hard for it to do it has often rebuked the destroyer and helped the helpless and strengthen the weak and supported the needy and as we have waited for it we have been partakers of the arising of it to our comfort when our Souls have been in a desolate condition when we cold not help our selves nor had none to help us Oh! how hath it wrought by Sea and Land among false Brethren it hath so signally preserved and wrought deliverances many somtimes by ways unexpected surely its worthy to be trusted in and depended upon and magnified as it hath been manifested my Soul hath cause to say to the Honour and Renown of it for its perfect strength hath been my support in every great weakness and in its strength I have travelled many thousands of Miles by Land and many thousand Leagues by Sea through many and sore exercises both inwardly and outwardly and it hath raised my Soul from Death and my Body many times from the brink of the Grave oh let it have the honour of its own Works saith my Soul for it is worthy for it will make the strong to bow and the weak to be as David and it is worthy to be extolled in a wonderful manner for no heart can be too much affected with it there is al-sufficiency in it to relieve the poor and to incourage the feble though there be much to be met with in our Heavenly prayers yet here is a sure defence in stormy times wherein glory unto it I have found shelter when many times in a weary condition by reason of exercise of Soul and Spirit and weakness and pain of Body Oh! how many hundred Miles have I travelled in this the Land of my Nativity and thousands elsewhere in such a condition not having many well Days in many Years together but yet have good cause to say to the honour and renown of the sanctifying power of the God of my life blessed be the Lord Jesus his Rod and Staff has comforted me and he is always with me and I have cause to admire the tender dealing of my Heavenly Father for he hath exercised me in the deep and made his wonders known And I have cause to speak well of his worthy Name for it hath been as oyntment powred into my poor wounded Soul and it was also so much comfort and strength to my weak body that I can tenderly invite others to come and tast and see how good that name is that brings salvation that those that desire for it may obtain it for as the heart comes to be bowed unto the powerful Name of Jesus and the Soul and Spirit comes to be gathered into a sense of the great love of God there will then be felt a necessity to serve and obey the God of all our Mercies And this was with me when in great weakness when temptations came in as a flood and the buffetings of the enemy was ready to overcome Oh Blessed and Magnified and Renowned over all be that Everlasting Power that wrought a resignment so effectually and caused me to cast my care upon him that always careth for his children who is the holy one and dwelleth in the highest Heavens and takes regard to them of low degree for he has been more to me then all that this World can produce and hath fulfilled many precious Scriptures and hath not been wanting as a tender Father but his mercies of old and the continuation of his favours and the renewing of his tender dealing have deeply obliged me to glorifie him unto the end and in the end for evermore for he is worthy for he hath redeemed my Soul from out of the grave of Sin and Death and now may I say to the praise and honour and renown of his powerful Name that to live is Christ and to die is so much gain that my soul is deeply affected in a true Consideration of the same oh that my posterity and friends for whom my soul hath so long breathed and travelled may be so concerned that every one may be made partakers of the like precious faith with me while on the stage of this World that we may leave a faithful Testimony behind that the generations to come may be induced thereby to fear and serve the Lord for he is a sure rewarder of all them that are diligent in so doing not only in this Worâ—â— but in that which is to come with Life â—â—â—â—â—â—sting World wtthout end Amen Joan Vokins This was written a few Months before her decease about the 1st Month 1690. To William Cooper and his Wife dwelling in West-Jersey near Delaware-River not far from Burlington These are DEar and tender friends William Cooper and M. my love in the unchangable Truth salutes you and in the same I still desire your welfare as my own with all that holds fast their integrity and retains their first love they are as near and dear unto me as ever and my entire love truly reaches to them all and so I desire thou mayest let them know if they have received my Letters and Epistles for I have sent several but my kindsman dying by the way makes me question whether what I sent did ever come to any of your hands for I sent to you and to S. Spicer and to Lidia Wright as was and to her Husband and to her Sister Mary Andrews and to several others in Pensilvania side as well as on that side and I should be very glad to hear of your welfare in the Lord Jesus for that my soul still travels as truly as when I was amongst you Oh that your faithfulness and living obedience may ingage our Heavenly Father to answer the breathing desires of my Soul for you in those remote places for I cannot forget you but the cry often runs through me for your preservation and prosperity every way and that the honour of Truth and the good one of another may be preferred far more then all other things that our nearness and dearness unto our tender God and one unto another may be felt and witnessed that we may praise his