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
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
Bickliff's and at Non-Eaton at a Priest's Widow's House we had a blessed Meeting wherein the everlasting Word of Life was powerfully declared and many settled in it Then Travelling on again through the Countries visiting Friends Meetings as I went in about three Weeks time from my coming out of Prison London I came to London Richard Huberthorn and Robert Withers being with me When we came to Charing-Cross there were Multitudes of People gathered together to see the Burning of the Bowels of some of them that had been the Old King's Judges and had been hanged drawn and quartered We went next Morning to Judge Mallet's Chamber who was putting on his Red Gown to go sit upon some more of the King's Judges He was then very peevish and froward and said I might come another time We went another time to his Chamber and then there was with him Judge Foster who was called the Lord Chief Justice of England With me was one called Esquire Marsh who was one of the Bed-Chamber to the King When we had delivered to the Judges the Charge that was against me and they had read to those Words That I and my Friends were Imbroiling the Nation in Blood c. they struck their Hands on the Table Whereupon I told them 1660. London I was the Man whom that Charge was against but I was as Innocent of any such thing as a new-born Child and had brought it up my self and some of my Friends came up with me without any Guard As yet they had not minded my Hat but now seeing my Hat on they said What did I stand with my Hat on I told them I did not stand so in any Contempt to them Then they commanded one to take it off And when they had called for the Marshal of the King's-Bench they said to him You must take this Man and secure him but you must let him have a Chamber and not put him amongst the Prisoners My Lord said the Marshal I have no Chamber to put him into my House is so full that I cannot tell where to provide a Room for him but amongst the Prisoners Nay said the Judges you must not put him amongst the Prisoners But when he still answered He had no other place to put me in Judge Foster said to me Will you appear to morrow about Ten of the Clock at the King's Bench-Bar in Westminster-Hall I said Yes if the Lord give me Strength Then said Judge Foster to the other Judge If he say Yes and promises it you may take his Word So I was dismissed for that time And next day I appeared at the King's Bench-Bar at the hour appointed Robert Withers King's-Bench-Bar Richard Huberthorn and that Esquire Marsh before named going with me I was brought into the middle of the Court and as soon as I was come in I was moved to look about and turning to the People said Peace be among you and the Power of the Lord sprang over the Court The Charge against me was read openly the People were moderate and the Judges cool and loving and the Lord's Mercy was to them But when they came to that part of it which said That I and my Friends were Imbroiling the Nation in Blood and raising a new War and that I was an Enemy to the King c. they lifted up their hands Then stretching out my Arms I said I am the the Man whom that Charge is against but I am as Innocent as a Child concerning the Charge and have never learned any War-Postures And said I do ye think that if I and my Friends had been such Men as the Charge declares that I would have Brought it up my self against my self Or that I should have beed suffered to come up with only one or two of my Friends with me For had I been such a Man as this Charge sets forth I had need have been guarded up with a Troop or two of Horse But the Sheriff and Magistrate of Lancashire had thought fit to let me and my Friends come up with it our selves almost two hundred Miles without any Guard at all which ye may be sure they would not have done if they had looked upon me to be such a Man Then the Judge asked me Whether it should be Filed or what I would do with it I answered Ye are Judges and able I hope to Judge in this matter therefore do with it what ye will for I am the Man these Charges are against and here ye see I have brought them up my self Do ye what ye will with them I leave it to you Then Judge Twisden beginning to speak some angry Words I appealed to Judge Foster and Judge Mallet who had heard me over-night Whereupon they said They did not accuse me for tney had nothing against me Then stood up he that was called Esquire Marsh who was of the King's Bed-Chamber and told the Judges It was the King's Pleasure that I should be set at Liberty seeing no Accuser came up against me 1660. King's Bench-Bar Then they asked me Whether I would put it to the King and Council I said Yes with a good Will Thereupon they sent the Sheriff's Return which he made to the Writ of Habeas Corpus containing the matter charged against me in the Mittimus to the King that he might see for what I was Committed Now the Return of the Sheriff of Lancaster was thus BY Vertue of his Majesty's Writ to me directed and hereunto annexed I certifie that before the Receipt of the said Writ George Fox in the said Writ mentioned was committed to his Majesties Jail at the Castle of Lancaster in my Custody by a Warrant from Henry Porter Esq one of his Majesty's Justices of Peace within the County Palatine aforesaid bearing Date the Fifth of June now last past for that he the said George Fox was generally suspected to be a common Disturber of the Peace of this Nation an Enemy to our Sovereign Lord the King and a chief Vpholder of the Quakers Sect and that he together with others of his Fanatick Opinion have of late endeavoured to make Insurrections in these parts of the Country and to Imbroil the whole Kingdom in Blood And this is the Cause of his taking and detaining Nevertheless the Body of the said George Fox I have ready before Thomas Mallet Knight one of his Majesty's Justices assigned to hold Pleas before his said Majesty at his Chamber in Sergeants Inn in Fleetstreet to do and receive those things which his Majesties said Justice shall determin concerning him in this behalf as by the aforesaid Writ is required GEORGE CHETHAM Esq Sheriff Upon Perusal of this and Consideration of the whole matter the King being satisfied of my Innocency commanded his Secretary to send an Order to Judge Mallet for my Release which the Secretary did thus IT is his Majesty's Pleasure That you give Order for the Releasing and setting at full Liberty the Person of George Fox late a
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
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
Powerful Presence being eminently with us and amongst us After the Meeting was done and Friends most of them gone away as I was sitting in the Parlour discoursing with some Friends that staid there came to the House one Henry Parker called a Justice and with him one Rowland Hains a Priest of Hunniton in Warwickshire This Justice came to know of the Meeting by means of a Woman-Friend who being Nurse to a Child of his asked Leave of her Mistress to go to the Meeting to see me and she speaking of it to her Husband he and the Priest plotted together to come and break up the Meeting and apprehend me But by means of their sitting long at Dinner it being the Day on which his Child was sprinkled they came not till the Meeting was over and Friends mostly gone But though there was no Meeting when they came yet I being there in the House who was the Person they aimed at the said Henry Parker took me and Thomas Lower for Company with me and though he had nothing to lay to our Charge sent us both to Worcester-Jail by a strange sort of Mittimus a Copy of which here followeth Worcester ss To the Constables of Tredington in the said County of Worcester and to all Constables and Tithing-men of the several Townships and Villages within the said Parish of Tredington and to the Keeper of the Goal for the County of Worcester COmplaint being made to me being one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said County of Worcester that within the said Parish of Tredington in the said County there has of late been several Meetings of divers Persons to the number of Four hundred Persons and upwards at a time upon Pretence of Exercise of Religion otherwise than what is established by the Laws of England And many of the said Persons some of them were Teachers and came from the North and others from the remote parts of the Kingdom which tends to the Prejudice of the Reformed and Established Religion and may prove prejudicial to the Publick Peace And it appearing to me that there was this present Day such a Meeting as aforesaid to the number of Two hundred or thereabouts at Armscot in the said Parish of Tredington 1670. Armscot and that George Fox of London and Thomas Lower of the Parish of Creed in the County of Cornwal were present at the said Meeting and the said George Fox was Teacher or Speaker of the said Meeting and no satisfactory Account of their Settlement or place of Habitation appearing to me and forasmuch as the said George Fox and Thomas Lower refused to give Sureties to Appear at the next Sessions of the Peace to be holden for the said County to answer the Breach of the Common-Laws of England and what other Matters should be Objected against them These are therefore in his Majesty's Name to will and require you or either of you forthwith to Convey the Bodies of the said George Fox and Thomas Lower to the County-Goal of Worcester aforesaid and there safely to be kept until they shall be from thence delivered by due Course of Law For which this shall be your sufficient Warrant in that behalf Dated the 17th Day of December in the 25th Year of his Majesty's Reign over England c. HENRY PARKER Being thus made Prisoners without any probable Appearance of being Released before the Quarter-Sessions at Soonest we got some Friends to accompany my Wife and her Daughter into the North and we were conveyed to Worcester-Jail from whence Worcester-Jail by that time I thought my Wife could be got home I writ her the following Letter Dear Heart THou seemedst to be a little grieved when I was speaking of Prisons and when I was taken Be content with the Will of the Lord God For when I was at John Rous's at Kingston I had a sight of my being taken Prisoner and when I was at Bray Doily's in Oxfordshire as I sate at Supper I saw I was taken and I saw I had a Suffering to undergo But the Lord's Power is over all blessed be his Holy Name for ever G. F. When we had beeen some time in the Jail we thought fit to lay our Case before him who was called the Lord Windsore who was the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire and before the Deputy Lieutenants and other Magistrates Which we did by the following Letter THese are to inform you the Lord Lieutenant so called and the Deputy-Lieutenants and the Justices of the County of Worcestershire how Unchristianly and Inhumanly we have been dealt withal by Henry Parker a Justice so called in our Journey or Travel towards the North. We coming to our Friend John Halford's House on the Seventeenth Day of the Tenth Month 1673. and some Friends bringing us on the Way and others coming to Visit us there towards Night there came the aforesaid Justice and a Priest called Rowland Hains of Hunniton in Warwickshire and demanded our Names and Places of Abode And though we were not in any Meeting 1673. Worcester Jail but were discoursing together when they came in yet he made a Mittimus to send us to Worcester-Jail Now whereas he says in his Mittimus That Complaint had been made to him of several by-past Meetings of many Hundreds at a time we know nothing of that nor do we think that concerns us And whereas he says further That no satisfactory Account of our Settlement or place of Habitation appeared unto him This he contradicts in his own Mittimus mentioning therein the Places of our Abode and Habitation the Account of which we satisfactorily and fully gave him And one of us Tho. Lower told him That I was going down with my Mother-in-Law who is George Fox his Wife and with my Sister to fetch up my own Wife and Child out of the North into my own Country And the other of us George Fox told him That I was bringing forward my Wife on her Journey towards the North who had been at London to visit one of her Daughters that had lately Lain in And having received a Message from my Mother an ancient Woman in Leicestershire that she earnestly desired to see me before she died I intended as soon as I had brought my Wife on her Journey as far as Causal in Warwickshire to turn over into Leicestershire to have seen my Mother and Relations there and then to have returned to London again But by his interrupting of us in our Journey and taking the Husband from his Wife and the Son from his Mother and Sister and stopping him from visiting his Wife and Child so remote off we were forced to get Strangers or whom we could to help them on their Journey to our great Dammage and their Hindrance We askt the Priest Whether this was his Gospel and their Way of Entertaining Strangers And we desired the Justice to consider Whether this was doing as he would be done by But he said He had said it
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
Ye would have Honour before ye have Humility Did not all the Persecutors that ever were upon the Earth want this Humility And so they wanted the Honour and yet would have the Honour before they had the Humility and had learned that And so ye that be out of the Humility be out of the Honour and ye are not to have the Honour who have not the Humility for before Honour is Humility mark before it Now ye pretend Liberty of Conscience yet shall not one carry a Letter to a Friend nor Men visit their Friends nor visit Prisoners nor carry a Book about them either for their own Use or for their Friends and yet ye pretend Liberty of Conscience Men shall not see their Friends but Watches are set up against them to catch and stop them and these must be Well-armed Men too against an Innocent People that have not so much as a Stick in their Hâ—nds who are in scorn called Quakers And yet â—mâ—ng such as set up these Watches is pretended Liberty of Conscience who take up them whose Consciences are exercised towards God and Men who worship God in their Way which is the Truth which they that be out of the Light call Heresy Now these who set up the Watches against them whom they in scorn call Quakers it is Because they confess and witness the true Light that lighteth every one that cometh into the World amongst People as they pass through the Country or among their Friends This is the dangerous Doctrine which the Watchmen are set up against to subdue Error as they call it which is the Light that doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World Hâ—m by whom the World was made who was glorified with the Father before the VVorld began For them whom they in scorn call Quakers have they set up their VVatches Able Men well-Armed to take up these that bear this Testimony either in VVords Books or Letters So that is the Light you hate that doth Enlighten every man that cometh into the VVorld and these that witness to this Light are they that you put in Prison And after you have Imprisoned them you set up your VVatches to take up all that go to Visit them and to Imprison them also So that by setting up your VVatches ye would stop all Relief from coming to Prisoners Therefore this is the VVord of the Lord God to you and a Charge to you all in the presence of the living Goâ— of Heaven and Earth Every Man of you being enlightned with a Light that cometh from Christ the Saviour of People's Souls from whom the Light cometh that enlightens you To the Light all take heed that with it you may all see Christ from whom the Light cometh you may all see him to be your Saviour by whom the VVorld was made who saith Learn of me But if ye hate this Light which Christ hath enlightned you withal ye hate Christ who doth Enlighten you all that you all through him who is the Light might believe But not believing in the Light nor bringing your Deeds to the Light which will make them manifest and reprove them this is your Condemnation even the Light Remember you are warned in your Life-time for this is your VVay to Salvation the Light if you walk in it And this is your Condemnation the Light if you reject and hate it And you can never come to Christ the Second Priest unless you come to the Light which the Second Priest hath enlightned you withal So ye that come not to the Light ye go to the Priests that take Tithes as did the First Priesthood and so hale out of your Synagogues and Temples as some call them as that Priesthood did that took Tithes which they that were of the Second Priesthood did not Was there ever such a Generation Or ever did such a Generation of Men appear as doth now in this Age who are so full of Madness Envy and Persecution that they stand up in VVatches with Bills and VVeapons against the Truth to persecute it as the Towns and Countries do declare which Rings as Sodom and like Gomorrah And this hath its Liberty and Truth is stood against And to Reprove Sin is accounted a Breach of the Peace as they say who be out of the Truth and set up their VVatches against it G. F. Besides this General VVarning there coming to my Hand a Copy of a VVarrant Issued out from the Sessions of Exon in express Terms For the apprehending of all Quakers wherein Truth and Friends were reproached and vilified I was moved to write an Answer thereunto and send it abroad for the Clearing of Truth and Friends from the Slanders therein cast upon them and to manifest the wickedness of that persecuting Spirit from whence it proceeded And that which I writ was after this manner WHereas there was a VVarrant granted forth the last Sessions holden at Exon on the Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 1656. which VVarrant is For the Apprehending and taking up all such as are Quakers or call themselves Quakers or go under the Notion of Quakers And is directed to the Chief-Constables to be sent by them to the Petty-Constables requiring them to set VVatches able Men with Bills to take up all such Quakers as aforesaid And whereas in your said VVarrant you speak of the Quakers spreading Seditious Books and Papers I Answer They whom ye in scorn call Quakers have no Seditious Books or Papers but their Books are against Sedition and Seditious Men and Seditious Books and Seditious Teachers and Seditious VVays And so ye have numbred them who are honest Men Godly Men holy Men Men that fear God among Beggars Rogues and Vagabonds Thus putting no Difference between the Precious and the Vile you are not fit to judge who have set up your Bills and armed your Men to stand up together in Battel against the Innocent People the Lambs of Christ which have not lifted up an Hand against you But if ye were sensible of the State of your own Country your Cities your Towns your Villages how the Cry of them is like Gomorrah and the Ring like Sodom and the Sound like the Old World where all Flesh had Corrupted its way which God overthrew with the Flood If you did this consider with your selves you would find something to turn the Sword against and not against the Lambs of Christ and not make a Mock upon the Innocent that stand a Witness against all Sin and Vnrighteousness in your Towns and Steeple-houses Noah the Eighth Person a Preacher of Righteousness was grieved with the filthy Conversation of the Wicked So are we now So likewise Just Lot was grieved with their unmerciful Deeds and the filthy Conversation of Sodom And were not these hated of the World and of them that lived in Filthiness And whereas you speak of those whom you in scorn call Quakers that they are a Grief to those whom you call Pious and Religious People and their
make Havock of Ship and Goods with the World but rather that ye do run to save the Men and the Goods for them and so deny your selves and do unto them as ye would they should do unto you G. F. This Paper had a good Service among People 1660. And Friends have endeavoured much to save the Lives of the Men in times of Wracks and to preserve the Ships and Goods for them And when some that have suffered Shipwrack have been almost dead and starved some Friends have taken them to their Houses to succour them and recover them which is an Act to be practised by all true Christians Now turned I back again from the Lands-End and after I had had many precious and blessed living Meetings in Cornwall several Eminent People being Convinced in that County whom neither Priests nor Magistrates by spoiling Goods or Imprisonments could make to forsake their Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ that had bought them and all Friends who were turned to Christ their Teacher and Saviour being setled in Peace and Quietness upon him their Fundation we left them unto the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching and Ordering fresh and green and Thomas Lower who had accompanied me through all that County brought me over Horse-Bridge into Devonshire again Devonshire And after several Meetings up and down in Devonshire we came into Somersetshire where we had divers large and peaceable Meetings Somersetshire and so passing through the County visiting Friends till we came to Bristol 1660. Bristol I came into Bristol on the Seventh Day of the Week and the Day before the Souldiers came with their Muskets into the Meeting and were exceeding rude beating and striking Friends with their Muskets and drove them out of the Orchard in a great Rage threatning what they would do if Friends came there again For the Mayor and the Commander of the Souldiers had it seems combined together to make a Disturbance amongst Friends Now when I came to Bristol and Friends told me what a Rage there was in the Town how they were threatned by both the Mayor and Souldiers and how unruly the Souldiers had been to Friends the day before I sent for several Friends as George Bishop Thomas Gouldney Thomas Speed and Edward Pyot and desired them to go to the Mayor and Aldermen and desire them seeing he and they had broke up our Meetings to let Friends have the Town-Hall to Meet in and for the use of it Friends would give them Twenty Pounds a Year to be distributed amongst the Poor and when the Mayor and Aldermen had business to do in it Friends would not Meet in it but only on the First Days Those Friends were astonished at this and said The Mayor and Aldermen would think that they were Mad But I said Nay for they should offer them a considerable Benefit to the Poor And it was upon me from the Lord to bid them Go and at last they Consented and went though in the Cross to their own Wills When they had laid the thing before the Mayor it came so over him that he said For his part he could consent to it but he was but one And he told Friends of another Great Hall they might have but that they did not accept of it being inconvenient So Friends came away leaving the Mayor in a very loving Frame towards them For they felt the Lord's Power had come over him When they came back I spake to them to go also to the Colonel that Commanded the Souldiers and lay before him the rude Carriage of his Souldiers how they came Armed amongst naked innnocent People who were waiting upon and worshipping the Lord But they were backward to go to him Next Morning being the First Day of the Week we went to the Meeting in the Orchard where the Souldiers had so lately been so rude And after I had declared the Truth a pretty while in the Meeting there came in many rude Souldiers and People some with Drawn Swords The In-keepers had made some of them drunk and one of them had bound himself with an Oath to cut down and kill the Man that spoke So he came pressing in through all the Crowd of People to within two Yards of me and stopt at those Four Friends before-mentioned who should have gone to the Colonel as I would have had them and fell a jangling with them On a sudden I saw his Sword was put up and gone For the Lord's Power came over all and chained him and the rest and we had a blessed Meeting and the Lord 's Everlasting Power and Presence was felt amongst us On the Day following those Four Friends went and spake with the Colonel and he sent for the Souldiers and Cut and Slasht some of them before the Friends Faces Which when I heard of I blamed the Friends for letting him do so and also for that they did not go on the Seventh Day as I would have had them which might have prevented this Cutting of the Souldiers and the Trouble they gave at our Meeting But thus the Lord's Power came over all those persecuting bloody Minds and the Meeting there was settled in Peace for a good while after without Disturbance I had then also a General Meeting at Edw. Pyot's near Bristol at which it was judged there were divers Thousands of People For besides Friends from many parts thereabouts some of the Baptists and Independents with their Teachers came to it and very many of the sober People of Bristol insomuch that the People that staid behind said The City looked naked there were so many gone out of it to this Meeting It was a very quiet Meeting and many glorious Truths were opened to the People and the Lord Jesus Christ was set up who was the End of all Figures and Shadows and the Law and the first Covenant And it was declared to the People how that all Figures and Shadows were given to Man after Man fell and how that all the Rudiments and Inventions of Men which have been set up in Christendom many of which were Jewish and Heathenish Ceremonies were not set up by the Command of Christ and all Images and Likenesses Man has made to himself or for himself whether of things in Heaven or things in Earth have been since he lost the Image and Likeness of God which God made him in But now Christ was come to Redeem Translate Convert and Regenerate Man out of all these things that he hath set up in the Fall and out of the true Types Figures and Shadows also and out of Death and Darkness up into the Light and Life and Image and Likeness of God again which Man and Woman were in before they fell Therefore all now should come and all might come to receive Christ Jesus the Substance by his Light Spirit Grace and Faith and should live and walk in him the Redeemer and Saviour And whereas we had had a great deal of work with the Priests and
the Lord God that he hath a People in this Nation that seeks the Good of all Men upon the Face of the Earth For we have the Mind of the Lord Jesus Christ that desires not the Death of a Sinner but the Salvation and Good of all Blessed be the Name of the Lord our God for ever G. F. While I continued at Enfield a sense came upon me of an Hurt that sometimes hap'ned by Persons coming under the Profession of Truth out of one Country into another to take an Husband or Wife amongst Friends where they were Strangers and it was not known whether they were Clear and Orderly or no. And it Opened in me to recommend the following Method unto Friends for preventing such Inconveniences Whereupon I writ the following Lines ALL Friends that do Marry whether they be Men or Women if they come out of another Nation Island Plantation or County let them bring a Certificate from the Men's-Meeting of that County Nation Island or Plantation from which they come to the Men's Meeting where they do propound their Intention of Marriage for the Men's-Meeting being made up of the Faithful this will stop all bad and raw Spirits from Roving up and down And then when any come with a Certificate or Letter of Recommendation from one Men's-Meeting to another one is refreshed by another and can set their Hands and Hearts to the thing and this will take away a great deal of Trouble And then what ye have to say to them in the Power of God in Admonishing and Instructing them ye are left to the Power and Spirit of God to do it and to let them know the Duty of Marriage and what it is that there may be an Vnity and a Concord in the Spirit and Power and Light and Wisdom of God throughout all the Men's-Meetings in the whole World in One in the Life Let Copies of this be sent to every County and Nation and Island where Friends are that so all things may be kept holy and pure and righteous in Vnity and Peace and God over all may be glorified among you his Lot his People and Inheritance who are his Adopted Sons and Daughters and Heirs of his Life So no more but my Love in that which changeth not The 14th of the First Month 1670 1. G. F. When I had recovered so much Strength that I could Walk a little up and down I went from Enfield to Gerrard Roberts's again and from thence to the Womens School at Shacklewell and so to London Shacklewell London Grac. Meet to the Meeting at Gracious-Street where though I was yet but Weak yet the Lord's Power upheld and enabled me to Declare his Eternal Word of Life And about this time I was moved to pray to the Lord as followeth O Lord God Almighty 1670. London Prosper Truth and Preserve Justice and Equity in the Land and bring down all Injustice and Iniquity Oppression and Falshood and Cruelty and Vnmercifulness in the Land and that Mercy and Righteousness may flourish And O Lord God! Establish and set up Verity and Preserve it in the Land And bring down in the Land all Debauchery and Vice and Whoredoms and Fornication and this Raping Spirit which causeth and leadeth People to have no Esteem of Thee O God! nor their own Souls or Bodies nor of Christianity Modesty or Humanity And O Lord Put it in the Magistrates Hearts to bring down all this Vngodliness and Violence and Cruelty Prophaness Cursing and Swearing and to put down all these Whore-houses and Play-houses which do Corrupt Youth and People and lead them from the Kingdom of God where no Vnclean Thing can Enter neither shall come but such Works lead People to Hell And the Lord in Mercy bring down all these things in the Nation to stop thy Wrath O God! from coming on the Land This Prayer was writ the 17th Day at Night of the 2d Month 1671. G. F. I mentioned before that upon the Notice I received of my Wife 's being had to Prison again I sent two of her Daughters to the King and they procured his Order to the Sheriff of Lancashire for her Discharge But though I expected she would have been set at Liberty thereby 1671. London yet this Violent Storm of Persecution coming suddenly on upon it the Persecutors there did not Release her but found means to hold her still in Prison But now the Persecution a little ceasing I was moved to speak to Martha Fisher and another Woman-Friend to go to the King about her Liberty They went in the Faith and in the Lord's Power and the Lord gave them Favour with the King so that he granted a Discharge under the Broad-Seal to Clear both her and her Estate after she had been Ten Years a Prisoner and Premunired The like whereof was scarce to be heard in England I sent down the Discharge forthwith by a Friend by whom also I writ to her both to Inform her how to get it delivered to the Justices and also to Acquaint her that it was upon me from the Lord to go beyond the Seas to visit the Plantations in America and therefore desired her to hasten up to London as soon as she could conveniently after she had obtained her Liberty because the Ship was then fitting for the Voyage In the mean time I got down to Kingston Kingston and staid at John Rous his House till my Wife came up and then I began to prepare for the Voyage But the Yearly Meeting being near at hand London-Yea Meet I tarried till that was over A very large Meeting it was for many Friends came up to it from all parts of the Nation and a very precious Meeting it was for the Lord's Power was over all and his glorious everlastingly-renowned Seed of Life was exalted above all Now after this Meeting was over and I had finished my Services for the Lord here in England the Ship also and the Friends that intended to go with me being ready I went down to Graves-end on the 12th day of the Sixth Month my Wife and several Friends accompanying me to the Downs We went from Wapping in a Barge to the Ship Wapping which lay a little below Graves-end and there we found the Friends Gravesend that were bound for the Voyage with me who went down to the Ship the Night before Their Names were Thomas Brigges William Edmundson John Rouse John Stubbs Solomon Eccles James Lancaster John Cartwright Robert Widders George Pattison John Hull Elizabeth Hooton and Eliz. Miers The Vessel we were to go in was a Yatch and it was called The Industry the Master's Name was Thomas Forster and the number of Passengers about Fifty I lay that Night on Board but most of the Friends lay at Graves end Early next morning the Passengers and those Friends that intended to accompany us to the Downs being come on Board we took our Leave in great Tenderness of those Friends that came with
Thistles and sharp Rocks and Mountains and never be hurt nor never wear out their Shooes but their Feet are always beautiful upon the Mountains Moses a Captain the Servant of the Lord said unto the People of Israel I have led you forty years in the Wilderness your Cloths are not waxen old upon you and thy Shooe is not waxen old upon thy foot Deut. 29.5 Here ye may see the Jews in the Old Testament their Cloths and their Shooes did not wax old But they who are Christ's followers whom he shooeth with his Everlasting Gospel of Peace and Cloatheth with his fine Linnen his Righteousness and Arms with his Arms and Armour they are cloathed shod and armed with that which will never decay nor wax old nor canker nor rust nor corrupt nor grow blunt Now all whether Christians or Jews or Gentiles that hate the Light of Christ and close their Eyes and stop their Ears to it are not like to see Christ their Ensign and Captain of their Salvation but are blind And as there is no outward Captain would List a Company of blind and deaf men and cloath and arm them with outward Armour so such as are blind and deaf whose Eyes are closed and Ears stopped to the heavenly Light of Christ he is not like to cloath them with his fine Linnen and arm them with his heavenly and spiritual Armour nor are they like to be spiritually and heavenly disciplined and to see and know his holy and spiritual living Camp nor to follow him while they are deaf and blind and hate his Light which is the Life in Christ the heavenly Ensign and Captain of their Salvation For it is the Light that shines in the heart which gives the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus who is the Ensign and Captain of Mens Salvations and who hath brought and doth bring many Sons unto glory Praises Honour and Glory be unto the Lord over all who liveth for ever Amen Gooses the 14th of the 2d Month 1690. G. F. London A Week after this I return'd to London and after a little stay there Kingston went down to visit Friends at Kingston where I stay'd not long London but came back to London and remained there in the Lord's work Yearly-Meeting till after the Yearly-Meeting which was in the Fourth Month this Year in which the wonted Goodness of the Lord was witnessed and his blessed Presence enjoyed and his heavenly Power livingly felt opening the hearts of his People unto him and his Divine Treasures of Life and Wisdom in and unto them whereby many useful and necessary things relating to the safety of Friends and to the honour and prosperity of Truth were weightily treated of and unanimously concluded After the Meeting was over I writ the following Paper to Friends to be added to the Epistle which from the Yearly-Meeting was sent into the several Counties ALL Friends every where that are alive to God through Jesus Christ and are living Members of Christ the holy Head Be still and stand still in the Lord's Camp of Holiness and Righteousness and therein see the Salvation of God and your Eternal Life Rest and Peace and in it you may feel and see the Lord's Power is over all and how the Lord is at work in his Power and ruling the Nations with his Rod of Iron and is breaking in the Nations the old leaky Vessels and Cisterns to pieces like the Potter's Vessels that will not hold his living Water of Life who are erred from the Spirit But blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth 1690. London Yearly Meeting who by his Eternal Arm and Power hath settled all his People upon the living holy Rock and Foundation that stands sure whom he hath drawn by his Spirit to his Son and gathered them into the Name of Jesus Christ his only begotten Son full of Grace and Truth who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him Whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven and all his living Members know there is no Salvation given by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus and he their Salvation and their living Head is felt in the midst of them in his Light Life Spirit Grace and Truth and his Word of Patience Wisdom and Power who is his People's Prophet that God hath raised up in his New Testament and Covenant to open to them and their living Shepherd that hath purchased redeemed and bought them with his precious Blood And Christ the living One feeds his living Sheep in his living Pastures of Life and his living Sheep know their living Shepherd's voice with his living Bread and Water and follow him and will not follow any of the World's Hirelings nor Thieves nor Robbers nor Climbers that are without Christ the Door And likewise Christ's living Children know Christ the Bishop of their Souls to oversee them with his heavenly and spiritual Eye that they may be preserved in his Fold of Life and go no more forth And also they know Christ their holy Priest that by the Grace of God tasted Death for them and for every Man and is a Propitiation for their Sins and not for their Sins only but for the Sins of the whole World and by the one Offering up of himself he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified And such an High-Priest becomes Christ's Sheep in his New Covenant and Testament who is holy and harmless and separate from sinners and is made higher than the Heavens who is not made a Priest after the Order of Aaron with his Tithes Offerings c. but he makes an end of all those things and hath abolished them and is made an High-Priest after the Power of an endless life who ever liveth to make Intercession for his People and is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God through him Who is the one holy Mediator betwixt God and Man and who sanctifies his People his Church that he is Head of and presents them to God without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing and makes them an holy royal Priesthood to offer up spiritual holy Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ who is King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords in the Earth So an holy heavenly King who hath â—all power in Heaven and Earth given to him and rules in all the hearts of his Sheep and Lambs by his holy divine precious Faith that is held in all the pure Consciences of his People which holy Faith Christ the holy One is the Author and Finisher of By which holy Faith all the Just live and in which holy divine and precious Faith all the Just and holy Ones have Unity and by it they do quench all the fiery Darts of Satan and by this holy divine and precious Faith they have access to the pure God in which they do please him And Christ