allows of no Name or Pretence whatever for persecuting of any Man for matters of meer Religion Religion being in its very Nature Meek Gentle and Forbearing and consists of Faith Hope and Charity which no Persecutor can have whilst he remains a Persecutor in that a Man cannot believe well or hope well or have a charitable or tender regard to another whilst he would violate his mind or persecute his Body for matters of Faith or Worship towards his God Thus the False Church sprang up and mounted the Chair But though she lost her Nature she would keep her good Name of the Lambs-bride the True Church and Mother of the Faithful constraining all to receive her Mark either in their Forehead or Righthand publickly or privately But Indeed and in Truth she was Mystery Babylon the Mother of Harlots Mother of those that with all their show and outside of Religion were adulterated and gone from the Spirit Nature and Life of Christ and grown Vain Worldly Ambitious Covetous Cruel c. which are the Fruits of the Flesh and not of the Spirit Now it was that the True Church fled into the Wilderness that is from Superstition and Violence to a Retired Solitary and lonely State hidden and as it were out of Sight of Men though not out of the World Which shows that her wonted Visibility was not Essential to the Being of a True Church in the Judgment of the Holy Ghost she being as True a Church in the Wilderness though not as Visible and Lustrious as when she was in her former Splendor of Profession In this State many Attempts She made to return but the Waters were yet too High and her way blocked up and many of her excellent Children in several Nations and Centuries fell by the Cruelty of Superstition because they would not fall from their Faithfulness to the Truth The last Age did set some steps towards it both as to Doctrine Worship and Practice But Practice quickly failed for Wickedness flowed in a little time as well among the Professors of the Reformation as those they reformed from so that by the Fruits of Conversation they were not to be distinguished And the Children of the Reformers if not the Reformers themselves betook themselves very early to Earthly Policy and Power to uphold and carry on their Reformation that had been begun with Spiritual Weapons which I have often thought has been one of the greatest reasons the Reformation made no better Progress as to the Life and Soul of Religion For whilst the Reformers were Lowly and Spiritually Minded and trusted in God and lookt to Him and lived in his Fear and consulted not with Flesh and Blood nor sought Deliverance in their own way there were daily added to the Church such as one might reasonably say should be saved For they were not so careful to be safe from Persecution as to be Faithful under it Being more concerned to spread the Truth by their Faith and Patience in Tribulation than to get the worldly Power out of their Hands that inflicted their Sufferings upon them and it will be well if the Lord suffer them not to fall by the very same way they took to stand In Doctrine they were in some things short in other things to avoid one extream they run into another And for Worship there was for the generality more of Man than God They owned the Spirit Inspiration and Revelation indeed and grounded their Seperation and Reformation upon the Sense and Vnderstanding they received from it in the Reading of the Scriptures of Truth and this was their Plea the Scripture was the Text the Spirit the Interpreter and that to every one for himself But yet there was too much of humane Invention Tradition and Art that remained both in Praying and Preaching and of worldly Authority and worldly Greatness in their Ministers especially in this Kingdom Sweden Denmark and some Parts of Germany God was therefore pleased among us to shift from Vessel to Vessel And the next remove humbled the Ministry so that they were more Strict in Preaching Devout in Praying and Zealous for keeping the Lords-day and Catechising of Children and Servants and Repeating at Home in their Families what they had heard in publick But even as these grew into Power they were not only for Whipping some out but others into the Temple And they appeared Rigid in their Spirits rather than Severe in their Lives and more for a Party then for Piety Which brought forth another People that were yet more retired and select They would not communicate at large or in common with others but formed Churches among themselves of such as could give some account of their Conversion at least of very promising experiences of the Work of God's Grace upon their Hearts and under mutual Agrements and Covenants of fellowship they kept together These People were somewhat of a Softer Temper and seemed to recommend Religion by the Charms of its Love Mercy and Goodness rather than by the Terrours of its Judgments and Punishment by which the former Party would have terrified People into Religion They also allowed greater liberty to Prophecy than those before them for they admitted any Member to Speak or Pray as well as their Pastor whom they always Chose and not the Civil Magistrate If such found any thing pressing upon them to either Duty even without the Distinction of Clergy or Laity Persons of any Trade be it never so Low and Mechanical But alas even these People suffered great loss For tasting of Worldly Empire and the favour of Princes and the gain that ensued they degenerated but too much For though they had cryed down National Churches and Ministry and Maintenance too some of them when it was their own turn to be Tryed fell under the Weight of Worldly Honour and Advantage got into profitable Parsonages too much and outlived and contradicted their own Principles And which was yet worse turned some of them absolute Persecutors of other Men for God's Sake that but so lately came themselves out of the Furnace which drove many a step farther and that was into the Water Another Baptism as believing they were not Scripturally Baptised and hoping to find that Presence and Power of God in submitting to that Ordinance which they desired and wanted These People made also Profession of Neglecting if not Renouncing and Censuring not only the Necessity but use of all Human Learning as to the Ministry and all other Qualifications to it besides the Helps and Gifts of the Spirit of God and those natural and common to Men and for a time they seemed like John of Old a Burning and a Shining Light to other Societies They were very Diligent Plain and Serious strong in Scripture and bold in Profession bearing much Reproach and Contradiction But that which others fell by proved their Hurt For worldly Power spoiled them too who had enough of it to try them what they would do if they had more and they
forth and spake through the Streets which were so strait and short that one might stand in the Midst of the Town and see both the Gates I followed John ap John and a multitude of People were soon gathered about him amongst whom a very dark Priest began to babble but his Mouth was soon stopped So when John had cleared himself I declared the word of Life amongst the People directing them to the Light of Christ in their Hearts that by it they might see all their own Ways Religions and Teachers and might come off from them all to Christ the true and living Way and the Free Teacher Some of the People were rude but the greater part were civil and told us They had heard how we had been persecuted and abused in many places but they would not do so to us there I commended their Moderation and Sobriety and warned them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Sin and Wickedness testifying unto them that Christ was now come to Teach his People himself by his Spirit and by his Power Beaumorris From hence we went to Beaumorris a Town wherein John ap John had formerly been Preacher to a Congregation After we had put up our Horses at an Inn John went forth and spake through the Street and there being a Garrison in the Town they took him and put him into Prison The Inn-keeper's Wife came and told me That the Governour and Magistrates were sending for me to send me to Prison also I told her They had done more than they could answer already and had acted contrary to Christianity in Imprisoning him for Reproving Sin in their Streets and Gates and for declaring the Truth Soon after came other friendly People and told me If I went out into the Street they would Imprison me also and therefore they desired me to keep within the Inn. Upon this I was moved to go and walk up and down in the Streets and told the People What an uncivil and un-Christian thing they had done in casting my Friend into Prison And they being high Professors I asked them If this was the Entertainment they had for Strangers And if they would willingly be so served themselves And whether they who looked upon the Scriptures to be their Rule had any Example in the Scriptures from Christ or his Apostles for what they had done So after a while they set John ap John at Liberty again Next Day being Market-day we were to cross over a great Water and not far from the place where we were to take Boat many of the Market-People drew to us amongst whom we had good Service for the Lord declaring the word of Life and Everlasting Truth unto them and proclaiming the Day of the Lord amongst them which was coming upon all wickedness and directing them to the Light of Christ which he the heavenly Man had enlightned them withal by which they might see all their sins and all their false Ways Religions Worships and Teachers and by the same Light might see Christ Jesus who was come to save them and lead them to God So after the Lord's Truth had been declared to them in the Power of God and Christ the free Teacher set over all the Hireling-Teachers I bid John ap John get his Horse into the Boat which was then ready But there being a Company of wild Gentlemen as they called them got into it whom we found very rude and far from gentleness they with others kept his Horse out of the Boat So I rode to the Boat's-side and spake to them shewing them What an unmanly and unchristian Carriage it was and told them they shewed an unworthy Spirit below Christianity or Humanity As I spake unto them I leapt my Horse into the Boat amongst them thinking John's Horse would have followed when he had seen mine go in before him but the Water being pretty deep John could not get his Horse into the Boat Wherefore I leapt out again on Horseback into the Water and staid with John on that side till the Boat returned There we tarried from the Eleventh Hour of the Fore-noon to the Second in the Afternoon before the Boat came to fetch us and then had we forty and two Miles to ride that Evening and by that time we had paid for our Passage we had but one groat left between us both in Money We rode about sixteen Miles and then got a little Hay for our Horses and setting forward again we came in the Night to a little Ale-house where we thought to have staid and baited But finding we could have neither Oats nor Hay there we travelled on all Night And about the fifth Hour in the Morning got to a place within six Miles of Rexam Near Rexam where that Day we met with many Friends and had a glorious Meeting and the Lord 's Everlasting Power and Truth was over all and a Meeting is continued there to this day Very weary we were with travelling so hard up and down in Wales and in many places we found it difficult to get meat either for our Horses or Our selves The next Day we passed from thence into Flintshire Flintshire Rexam sounding the Day of the Lord through the Towns and came into Rexam at Night Here many of Floyd's People came to us but very rude wild and airy they were and little Sense of Truth they had Yet some were Convinced in that Town Next Morning one called a Lady sent for me who kept a Preacher in her House I went to her House but found both her and her Preacher very light and airy too light to receive the weighty Things of God In her Lightness she came and asked me If she should cut my Hair But I was moved to reprove her and bid her Cut down the Corruptions in her self with the Sword of the Spirit of God So after I had admonished her to be more grave and sober we passed away and afterwards in her frothy mind she made her Boast That she came behind me and cut off the Curl of my Hair but she spake falsly From Rexam we came through the Country to West-chester West-Chester and it being the Fair-time we stay'd there a while and visited Friends For I had travelled through every County in Wales preaching the Everlasting Gospel of Christ and a brave People there is now which hath received it and sitteth under Christ's Teaching But before I left Wales I writ a Paper to the Magistrates of Beaumorris concerning their Imprisoning of John ap John letting them see their Conditions and the Fruits of their Christianity and of their Teachers And afterwards I met with some of them near London but oh how ashamed they were of their Action From West-chester we came through the Country to Leverpool Liverpool where was at that time a Fair also And as I rode through the Fair there stood a Friend upon the Cross declaring the Truth to the People Who seeing me ride
abused and he offered to Assist me in what he could But I told him The Lord's Power was over all So I walked through the People in the Market and none of them had power to touch me then But some of the Market-People abusing some Friends in the Market I turned me about and saw this Souldier among them with his naked Rapier whereupon I ran in amongst them and catching hold of his Hand that his Rapier was in I bid him Put up his Sword again if he would go along with me for I was willing to draw him out from the Company lest some Mischief should be done Yet a few days after seven Men fell upon this Souldier and beat him cruelly because he had taken part with Friends and me For it was the manner of the Persecutors of that Country for twenty or forty People to run upon one Man And they fell so upon Friends in many Places that they could hardly pass the High-ways Swarthmore stoning beating and breaking their Heads Now when I came up to Swarthmore I found the Friends there dressing the Heads and Hands of Friends and Friendly People which had been broken or hurt that day by the Professors and Hearers of Lampitt the Priest My Body and Arms were yellow black and blue with the Blows and Bruises I received amongst them that day And now began the Priests to prophesy again That within half a Year we should be all put down and gone 1652. Walney Island About two Weeks after this I went into Walney-Island and James Naylor went with me and we stay'd one Night at a little Town on this side called Cockan and had a Meeting there where there was one Convinced After a while there came a Man with a Pistol Cockan whereupon the People ran out of Doors He called for me and when I came out to him he snapp'd his Pistol at me but it would not go off This caused the People to make a great Bustle about him and some of them took hold of him to prevent his doing Mischief Buâ— I was moved in the Lord's Power to speak to him and he was so struck by the Power of the Lord that he trembled for fear and went and hid himself Thus the Lord's Power came over them all though there was a great Rage in the Country The next Morning I went over in a Boat to James Lancaster's and as soon as I came to Land there rushed out about Forty Men with Staves Clubs and Fishing-poles and fell upon me beating and punching me and endeavoured to thrust me backward into the Sea And when they had thrust me almost into the Sea and I saw they would have knock'd me down there in the Sea I went up into the Middle of them but they laid at me again and knock'd me down and stunn'd me When I came to my self I looked up and saw James Lancaster's Wife throwing Stones at my Face and her Husband James Lancaster was lying over me to keep the Blows and the Stones from off me For the People had persuaded James Lancaster's Wife that I had bewitched her Husband and had promised her That if she would let them know when I came thither they would be my death And having got knowledge of my Coming many of the Town rose up in this manner with Clubs and Staves to kill me but the Lord's Power preserved me that they could not take away my Life At length I got up upon my Feet but they beat me down again into the Boat which James Lancaster observing he presently came into the Boat to me and set me over the Water from them but while we were on the Water within their Reach they struck at us with long Poles and threw Stones after us By that time we were come to the other side we saw them beating James Naylor for whilst they had been beating of me he walked up into a Field and they never minded him till I was gone then they fell upon him and all their Cry was Kill him Kill him Now when I was come over to the Town again on the other side of the Water the Townsmen rose up with Pitchforks Flails and Staves to keep me out of the Town crying Kill him knock him on the Head bring the Cart and carry him away to the Church-yard So after they had abused me they drove me a pretty way out of the Town and there left me Then went James Lancaster back again to look after James Naylor and I being now left alone went to a Ditch of Water and having washed my self for they had all bedirted and besmeared my Face Hands and Cloaths with Miry Dirt and Wet I walked about three Miles to Thomas Hutton's House where lodged Thomas Lawson the Priest that was Convinced And when I came in I could hardly speak to them I was so bruised only I told them where I left James Naylor whereupon they took each of them an Horse 1652. Cockan and went and brought him thither that Night The next day Margaret Fell hearing of it sent an Horse for me but so sore I was with the Bruises I had that I was not able to bear the shaking of the Horse without much pain When I was come to Swarthmore Swarthmore Justice Sawrey and one Justice Thompson of Lancaster granted forth a Warrant against me but Judge Fell coming home it was not served upon me for he was out of the Country all this time that I was thus abused and cruelly used But when he came home he sent forth Warrants into the Isle of Walney to apprehend all those Riotous Persons whereupon some of them fled the Country James Lancaster's Wife was afterwards Convinced of the Truth and Repented of the Evil she had done me and so did some others of those bitter Persecutors also but the Judgments of God fell upon some of them and Destruction is come upon many of them since Judge Fell asked me to give him a Relation of my Persecution but I told him They could do no otherwise in the Spirit wherein they were and that they manifested the Fruits of their Priest's Ministry and their Profession and Religion to be wrong So he told his Wife I made nothing of it and that I spake of it as Man that had not been concerned For indeed the Lord's Power healed me again Yelland After I was recovered I went to Yelland where there was a great Meeting In the Evening there came a Priest to the House with a Pistol in his Hand under pretence to light a Pipe of Tobacco and the Maid of the House seeing the Pistol told her Master who thereupon clapping his Hands on both the Door-Posts told him He should not come in there And while he stood there keeping the Door-way he looked up and spied over the Wall a Company of Men coming some armed with Staves and one with a Musket But the Lord God prevented their Bloody Design so that seeing themselves discovered they went
and the Lord crossed them in their Design and Friends passed away peaceably and quietly The Souldiers examined some Friends after I was gone What they did there but when they told them They were in their Inn and had occasions and business in the City they passed away without meddling any further with them From Exeter I travelled through the Countries taking Meetings as I went till I came to Bristol and was at the Meeting there Bristol After the Meeting was done I did not stay in the Town but passed up into Wales and had a Meeting at the Slone WALES Slone Cardiff and so passed through the Country to Cardiff where a Justice of Peace sent to me desiring I would come up with half a dozen of my Friends to his House So I took a Friend or two and went up to him and he and his Wife received us very civilly The next Day we had a Meeting in Cardiff in the Town-Hall and that Justice sent about seventeen of his Family to the Meeting There came some disturbers but the Lord's Power was over them and many were turned to the Lord there There were some that had run out with James Naylor that did not come to Meetings to whom I sent Word That the Day of their Visitation was over and they never prospered after We travelled from Cardiff through the Country to Swanzey Swanzey where we had a blessed Meeting and a Meeting was settled there in the Name of Jesus In our way thither we passed over in a Passage-boat with the high-Sheriff of the County and the next Day I went to have spoken with him but he would not be spoken withal From thence we went to another Meeting in the Country where the Lord's Presence was much with us And from thence we went to a Great Man's House who received us very lovingly but the next Morning he would not be seen One that in the mean time came to him had so estranged him that we could not get to him to speak with him again he was so Changed and yet over-night was exceeding Loving We passed still on through the Countries having Meetings and gathering People in the Name of Christ to him their heavenly Teacher Brecknock till we came to Brecknock where we set up our Horses at an Inn. There went with me Thomas Holmes and John ap John who was moved of the Lord to speak in the Streets I walked out but a little into the Fields and when I came in again the Town was up in an Vproar When I came into the Chamber in the Inn it was full of People and they were speaking in Welch I desired them to speak in English and they did and much discourse we had After a while they went away But towards Night the Magistrates gathered together in the Streets with a multitude of People and they bid them shout and gathered up the Town So that for about Two Hours together there was such a Noise as the like we had not heard and the Magistrates set them on to shout again when they had given over We thought it looked like the Vproar which we read was amongst Diana's Handicrafts-Men This Tumult continued till it was within Night and if the Lord's Power had not limited them they seemed likely to have pulled down the House and us to pieces After it was Night the Woman of the House would have had us go to Supper in another Room but we discerning her Plot refused Then she would have had half a dozen Men come into the Room to us under pretence of discoursing with us but we told her That no Persons should come into our Room that Night neither would we go to them Then she told us we should sup in another Room but we told her we would have no Supper if we had it not in our own Room At length when she saw she could not get us out she brought up our Supper in a great Rage So She and They were crossed in their Design for they had an Intent to have done us Mischief but the Lord God prevented them Next Morning I writ a Paper to the Town concerning their Vnchristian Carriages shewing the Fruits of their Priests and Magistrates and as I passed out of the Town I spake to the People and told them They were a shame to Christianity and Religion From this Place we went to a great Meeting in a Steeple-house-yard where was a Priest and Walter Jenkin who had been a Justice and another Justice and a blessed glorious Meeting we had And there being many Professors I was moved of the Lord to open the Scriptures to them and to Answer the Objections which they stuck at in their Profession for I knew them very well and to turn them to Christ who had enlightned them with which Light they might see their Sins and Trespasses they had been dead in and their Saviour him that came to Redeem them out of them 1657. Brechnock who was to be their Way to God the Truth and the Life to them and their Priest made higher than the Heavens so that they might come to sit under his Teaching A peaceable Meeting we had and many were Convinced and settled in the Truth that day After the Meeting was over I went with Walter Jenkin to the other Justice's House and he said unto me You have this day given great satisfaction to the People and answered all the Objections that were in their Minds For the People had the Scriptures but they were not turned to the Spirit which should let them see that which gave them forth the Spirit of God which is the Key to open them From hence we passed to Pontamile to Richard Hamborow's Pontamile where was a great Meeting to which there came another Justice of Peace and several Great People whose Understandings were opened by the Lord's Spirit and Power and the Light of Jesus Christ and they came to be turned to the Lord Jesus Christ from whence it came A great Convincement there was and a large Meeting is gathered in those parts and settled in the Name of Jesus After this we returned back to England and came to Shrewsbury England Shrewsbury where we had a great Meeting and visited Friends all up and down the Countries in their Meetings till we came to William Gandy's in Cheshire Cheshire where we had a Meeting of between two and three thousand People as it was thought and the everlasting Word of Life was held forth and received that day A blessed Meeting it was for Friends were settled by the Power of God upon Christ Jesus the Rock and Foundation At this time there was a great Drought And after this general Meeting was ended there fell so great a Rain that Friends said they thought we could not Travel the Brooks and Waters would be so risen But I believed the Rain had gone so far as they had come that day to the Meeting And the next day in
those Fifth-Monarchy-Men But when those of them that were taken came to be executed they did us that Right to clear us openly from having any hand in or knowledge of their Plot. And after that the King being continually Importuned thereunto Issued forth a Declaration That Friends should be set at liberty without paying Fees But great Labour and Travel Care and Pains was taken in it before this was obtained for Thomas Moor and Margaret Fell went often to the King about it Much Blood was shed this Year many of them that had been the Old King's Judges being hanged drawn and quartered And amongst them that so suffered Col. Hacker was one he who sent me Prisoner from Leicester to London in Oliver's time of which an Account is given before A sad Day it was and a Repaying of Blood with Blood For in the time of O. Cromwel when several Men were put to Death by him being hanged drawn and quartered for pretended Treasons I felt from the Lord God that their Blood would not be put up but would be required And I said as much then to several And now upon the King's Return when several of them that had been against the King were put to Death as the others that were for the King had been before by Oliver This was sad Work destroying of People contrary to the Nature of Christians who have the Nature of Lambs and Sheep But there was a Secret Hand in bringing this Day upon that Hypocritical Generation of Professors who being got into Power grew Proud Haughty and Cruel beyond others and persecuted the People of God without pity Therefore when Friends were under cruel Persecutions and Sufferings in the Common-wealth's time I was moved of the Lord to write unto Friends to draw up their Sufferings and lay them before the Justices at their Sessions And if they would not do them Justice then to lay it before the Judges at the Assize And if they would not do them Justice then to lay it before the Parliament and before the Protector and his Council that they might all see what was done under their Government And if they would not do Justice then to lay it before the Lord who would hear the Cries of the Oppressed and of the Widows and Fatherless that they had made so For that which we suffered for and which our Goods were spoiled for it was for our Obedience to the Lord in his Power and in his Spirit who was able to help and to succour and we had no Helper in the Earth but him And he did hear the Cries of his People and did bring an overflowing Scourge over the Heads of all our Persecutors which brought a Quaking and a Dread and a Fear amongst and on them all So that they who had nick-named us who are the Children of Light and in scorn called us Quakers the Lord made them Quake and many of them would have been glad to have hid themselves amongst us and some of them through the Distress that came upon them did at length come to Confess to the Truth Oh! the daily Reproaches Revilings and Beatings we underwent amongst them even in the High-ways because we could not put off our Hats to them and for saying Thou and Thee to them Oh! the Havock and Spoil the Priests made of our Goods because we could not put into their Mouths and give them Tithes Besides casting into Prisons and besides the great Fines laid upon us because we could not Swear But for all these things did the Lord God plead with them Yet some of them were so hardened in their Wickedness that when they were turned out of their Places and Offices they said If they had Power they would do the same again And when this Day of overturning was come upon them they said It was all long of us Wherefore I was moved to write to them and to ask them Did we ever resist them when they took away our Ploughs and Plough-Gears our Carts and Horses our Corn and Cattel our Kettles and Platters from us and whipt us and set us in the Stocks and cast us into Prison and all this only for serving and worshipping God in Spirit and Truth and because we could not Conform to their Religions Manners Customs and Fashions Did we ever resist them Did we not give them our Backs to beat and our Cheeks to pull off the Hair and our Faces to spit on Had not their Priests that prompted them on to such Work plucked them with themselves into the Ditch Why then would they say It was all long of us when it was long of themselves and their Priests their blind Prophets that followed their own Spirits and could fore-see nothing of these times and things that were come upon them which we had long forewarned them of as Jeremiah and Christ had forewarned Jerusalem And they thought to have wearied us out and undone us but they undid themselves Whereas we could praise God notwithstanding all their plundering of us that we had a Kettle and a Platter and an Horse and Plow still Many ways were these Professors warned both by Word by Writing and by Signs but they would believe none till it was too late William Sympson was moved of the Lord to go at several times for Three Years Naked and Bare-foot before them as a Sign unto them in Markets Courts Towns Cities to Priest's Houses and to Great Men's Houses telling them So should they be all stripped Naked as he was stripped Naked And sometimes he was moved to put on Hair-Sack-cloth and to besmear his Face and to tell them So would the Lord God besmear all their Religion as he was besmeared Great Sufferings did that poor Man undergo sore Whippings with Horse-whips and Coach-whips on his bare Body grievous Stonings and Imprisonments in three years time before the King came in that they might have taken Warning but they would not but rewarded his Love with cruel Vsage Only the Major of Cambridge did nobly to him for he put his Gown about him and took him into his House Another Friend one Robert Huntington was moved of the Lord to go into Carlisle-Steeple-house with a White Sheet about him amongst the great Presbyterians and Independents there to shew them that the Surplice was coming up again and he put an Halter about his Neck to shew them That an Halter was coming upon them which was fulfilled upon some of our Persecutors not long after Another whose Name was Richard Sale living near West-Chester and being Constable of the place where he lived had a Friend sent to him with a Pass whom those wicked Professors had taken up for a Vagabond because he travelled up and down in the Work of the Ministry and this Constable being convinced by the Friend that was thus brought to him gave him his Pass and Liberty and was afterwards himself cast into Prison After this on a Lecture-day this Richard Sale was moved to go to the Steeple-house in the time
would have done with his Knife and she said He would have stabbed her Stab thee said I what would he have Stabbed thee for thy Religion Yes said she It is the Principle of the Papists if any turn from their Religion to kill them if they can This Story I told those Papists and told them I had it from one that had been one of them but had forsook their Principles and had discovered their Practices They did not deny this to be their Principle but said What! would I declare this abroad I told them Yes such things ought to be declared abroad that it might be known how contrary their Religion was to true Christianity Whereupon they went away in a great Rage Another Papist came to discourse with me and he said All the Patriarchs were in Hell from the Creation till Christ came and that when Christ suffered he went into Hell and the Devil said to him What comest thou hither for to break open our Strong Holds And Christ said To fetch them all out And so he said Christ was three days and three Nights in Hell to bring them out I told him that was false for Christ said to the Thief This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise And Enoch and Elijah were translated into Heaven And Abraham was in Heaven for the Scripture saith Lazarus was in his Bosom and Moses and Elias were with Christ upon the Mount before he suffered These Instances stopt the Papist's Mouth and put him to a stand Another time there came one called Doctor Witty who was esteemed a great Doctor of Physick He came with him that was called the Lord Falconbridge with whom came also the Governour of Tinmouth-Castle and several Knights And I being called to them this Witty undertook to discourse with me and asked me What I was in Prison for I told him Because I would not disobey the Command of Christ and Swear He said I ought to swear my Allegiance to the King Now he being a great Presbyterian I asked him Whether he had not Sworn against the King and House of Lords and taken the Scotch-Covenant And had he not since Sworn to the King And what then was his Swearing good for But my Allegiance I told him did not consist in Swearing but in Truth and Faithfulness So after some further Discourse I was had away to my Prison again And afterwards this Dr. Witty boasted in the Town amongst his Patients That he had Conquered me When I heard of his Boasting I told the Governour It was a small Boast in him to say He had conquered a Bondman And I desired to bid him come to me again when he came to the Castle He came again a while after with a matter of Sixteen or Seventeen great Persons and then he ran himself worse on ground than before For in Discourse he affirmed before them all That Christ had not enlightned every Man that cometh into the World and That the Grace of God that brought Salvation had not apppeared unto all Men and That Christ had not died for all Men. I asked him ' What sort of Men those were which Christ had not enlightned and whom his Grace had not appeared to and whom he had not died for He said Christ did not die for Adulterers and Idolaters and Wicked Men. Then I asked him Whether Adulterers and Wicked Men were not Sinners And he said Yes ' And did not Christ die for Sinners said I Did he not come to call Sinners to Repentance Yes said he Then said I Thou hast stopt thy own Mouth So I proved That the Grace of God had appeared unto all Men though some turned it into Wantonness and walked despightfully against it and that Christ had enlightned all Men though some hated the Light Several of the People that were present confess'd it was true but he went away in a great Rage and came no more at me Another time the Governour brought a Priest but his Mouth was soon stopt Not long after he brought two or three Parliament-Men and they asked me Whether I did own Ministers and Bishops I told them Yes such as Christ sent forth such as had freely received and would freely give and such as were qualified and were in the same Power and Spirit that they were in in the Apostles days But such Bishops and Teachers as theirs were that would go no further than they had a great Benefice I did not own for they were not like the Apostles For Christ saith to his Ministers Go ye into all Nations and preach the Gospel But ye Parliament-men that keep your Priests and Bishops in such great fat Benefices ye have spoiled them all for do ye think they will go into all Nations to preach or will go any further than they have a great fat Benefice Judge your selves whether they will or no. There came another time the Widow of him who was called the Old Lord Fairfax and with her a great Company and one of the Company was a Priest I was moved to declare the Truth to them and the Priest asked me Why we said Thou and Thee to People for he counted us but 〈◊〉 and â—â—iots for speaking so I asked him Whether they that Transâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 Scriptures and that made the Grammar and Accidence were Fools and Idiots seeing they translated the Scriptures so and made the Grammar so Thou to one and You to more than one and left it so to us And if they were Fools and Idiots then why had not He and such as he that looked upon themselves as Wise Men and that could not bear Thou and Thee to a Singular alter'd the Grammar Accidence and Bible and put the Plural instead of the Singular But if they were Wise Men that had so translated the Bible and had made the Grammar and Accidence so then I wisht him to consider Whether they were not Fools and Idiots themselves that did not speak as their Grammars and Bibles taught them but were offended with us and called us Fools and Idiots for speaking so Thus the Priest's Mouth was stopt and many of the Company did acknowledge the Truth and were pretty loving and tender and some of them would have given me Money but I would not receive it After this came one called Doctor Cradock with three Priests more and the Governour and his Lady so called and another that was called a Lady and a great Company with them Dr. Cradock asked me What I was in Prison for I told him For obeying the Command of Christ and the Apostle in not Swearing But if he being both a Doctor and a Justice of Peace could Convince me that after Christ and the Apostle had forbidden Swearing they commanded Christians to Swear then I would Swear Here was the Bible I told him He might if he would shew me any such Command He said It is written Ye shall Swear in Truth and Righteousness Ay said I it was written so in Jeremiah's time but that was many Ages
Gospel-Order established amongst us is not of Man nor by Man but of and by Jesus Christ in and through the Holy Ghost And this Order of the Gospel which is not of Man nor by Man but from Christ the Heavenly Man is above all the Orders of Men in the Fall whether Jews Gentiles or Apostatized Christians and will be when they are gone For the Power of God which is the Everlasting Gospel was before the Devil was and will be and remain for ever And as the Everlasting Gospel was Preached in the Apostles days to all Nations that all Nations might come into the Order of it through the Divine Power which brings Life and Immortality to Light that they who were Heirs of it might inherit the Power and Authority of it So now since all Nations have drunk the Whore's Cup and all the World hath Worshipped the Beast but they whose Names are written in the Book of Life from the Foundation of the World who have worshipped God in Spirit and Truth as Christ commanded the Everlasting Gospel is to be and is preached again as John the Divine foresaw it should to all Nations Kindreds Tongues and People And this Everlasting Gospel torments the Whore and makes her and the Beast to rage even the Beast that hath Power over the Tongues which are called the Original to order them by which they make Divines as they call them But all that receive the Gospel the Power of God which brings Life and Immortality to Light they come to see over the Beast Devil Whore and False Prophet that hath darkned them and all their Worships and Orders and come to be Heirs of the Gospel the Power of God which was before the Beast Whore False Prophet and Devil were and will be when they are all gone and cast into the Lake of Fire And they that be Heirs of this Power and of this Gospel they inherit the Power which is the Authority of this Order and of our Meetings Every Man and Woman that be Heirs of the Gospel are Heirs of this Authority and of the Power of God which was before the Devil was and which is not of Man nor by Man These come to inherit and possess the joyful Order of the joyful Gospel the comfortable Order of the comfortable Gospel the glorious Order of the glorious Gospel and the everlasting Order of the everlasting Gospel the Power of God which will last for ever and will out-last all the Orders of the Devil and that which is of Men or by Men. And these shall see the Government of Christ who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him and of the Increase of his glorious righteous holy just Government there is no end but his Government and his Order will remain for he who is the Author of it is the First and the Last the Beginning and Ending the Foundation of God which over all stands sure Christ Jesus the Amen After I had travelled amongst Friends through most parts of the Nation and the Monthly-Meetings were settled being returned to London London I stay'd some time there visiting Friends Meetings in and about the City While I was in London I went one day to Visit him that was called Esq Marsh who had shewed much Kindness both to me and to Friends and I happened to go when he was at Dinner He no sooner heard my Name but he sent for me up and would have had me sit down with him to Dinner 1668. London but I had not freedom to do so There were several Great Persons at Dinner with him and he said to one of them who was a great Papist Here is a Quaker which you have not seen before The Papist askt me Whether I did own the Christening of Children I told him There was no Scripture for any such Practice What! said he Not for Christening Children I said Nay I told him the one Baptism by the one Spirit into one Body we owned but to throw a little Water on a Child's Face and say that was Baptizing and Christening it there was no Scripture for that Then he asked me Whether I did own the Catholick Faith I said Yes but added That neither the Pope nor the Papists were in that Catholick Faith for the true Faith works by Love and purifies the Heart and if they were in that Faith that gives Victory by which they might have Access to God they would not tell the People of a Purgatory after they were dead So I undertook to prove That neither Pope nor Papists that held a Purgatory hereafter were in the true Faith For the true precious Divine Faith which Christ is the Author of gives Victory over the Devil and Sin that had separated Man and Woman from God And if they the Papists were in the true Faith they would never use Racks Prisons and Fines to persecute and force others to their Religion that were not of their Faith For this was not the Practice of the Apostles and Primitive Christians who witnessed and enjoyed the true Faith of Christ but it was the Practice of the Faithless Jews and Heathens so to do But said I to him seeing thou art a great and leading Man among the Papists and hast been taught and bred up under the Pope and seeing thou say'st There is no Salvation but in your Church I desire to know of thee What it is that doth bring Salvation in your Church He answered A Good Life And nothing else said I Yes said he Good Works And is this it that brings Salvation in your Church a good Life and good Works Is this your Doctrine and Principle said I Yes said he Then said I neither Thou nor the Pope nor any of the Papists know what it is that brings Salvation Then he askt me What brought Salvation in our Church I told him That which brought Salvation to the Church in the Apostles Days the same brought Salvation to us and not another Namely The Grace of God which the Scripture says brings Salvation and hath appeared to all men which taught the Saints then and teaches us now and this Grace which brings Salvation teaches To deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live godly righteously and soberly So it is not the good Works nor the good Life that brings the Salvation but the Grace What! said the Papist Doth this Grace that brings Salvation appear unto all men Yes said I. Then said he I deny that But I said All that deny that are Sect-makers and are not in the Universal Faith Grace and Truth which the Apostles were in Then he spake to me about the Mother-Church and I told him The several sorts of Sects in Christendom had accused us and said We forsook our Mother-Church The Papists charged us with forsaking their Church and they said Rome was the only Mother-Church The Episcopalians taxed us with forsaking the old Protestant Religion and they said Theirs was the Reformed Mother-Church The Presbyterians and Independents
back with me John Stubbs having further Service there stayed behind We were Two Nights at Sea In one of which a mighty Storm arose that put the Vessel in great Danger it rained and blew so hard But I saw the Power of God went over the Winds and Storms he had them in his hand and his Power bound them And the same Power of the Lord God which carried us over brought us back again and in his Life gave us Dominion over all the Evil Spirits that opposed us there Liverpool We landed at Liverpool and went to the Mayor's House it being an Inn. And after we had staid about a Quarter of an Hour in the House we went to a Friend's House about a Mile out of the Town where we staid a while and then went to Richard Johnson's Whence departing the next day Lancashire Cheshire we passed to William Barnes his House and so to William Gandy's visiting Friends and having many precious Meetings in Lancashire and Cheshire We bore towards Bristol and when we came into Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Nailsworth we met with a Report at Nailsworth which was spread about that Country That George Fox was turned Presbyterian and that they had prepared a Pulpit for him and set it in a Yard and that there would be a Thousand People there the next day to hear him I thought it strange that such a Report should be raised of me yet as we went further on from one Friend's House to another we met with the same We went by the Yard where the Pulpit was set up and saw it and went on to the Place where Friends Meeting was to be next day and there we stay'd that Night Next day being the First-day of the Week we had a very large Meeting and the Lord's Power and Presence was amongst us Now the occasion of this strange Report according as I was informed was this There was one John Fox a Presbyterian Priest who used to go about Preaching and some changing his Name as was reported from John to George gave out that George Fox had changed his Religion and was turned from a Quaker to be a Presbyterian and would Preach at such a Place such a day This begat so great a Curiosity in the People that many went thither to hear this Quaker turned Presbyterian who would not have gone to have heard John Fox himself By this means it was Reported they had got together above a Thousand People But when they came there and perceived they had a Trick put upon them 1669. Gloucestershire and that that was but a Counterfeit George Fox and understood withal that the real George Fox was hard by at Friends Meeting there came several Hundreds of them to our Meeting and were Sober and Attentive I directed them to the Grace of God in themselves which would Teach them and bring them Salvation And when the Meeting was done some of the People said They liked George Fox the Quaker's Preaching better than George Fox the Presbyterian's Thus by my providential Coming into those parts at that time was this False Report discovered and Shame come over them that were the Contrivers of it It was not long after this that this same John Fox was complained of in the House of Commons for having a Tumultuous Meeting in which Treasonable words were spoken Which according to the best Information I could get of it was thus This John Fox had formerly been Priest of Mansfield in Wiltshire and being put out of that place was afterward permitted by a Common-Prayer-Priest to preach sometimes in his Steeple-House At length this Presbyterian-Priest presuming too far upon the Parish Priest's former Grant began to be more bold than welcom and would have preached there whether the Parish-Priest would or no. This caused a great Bustle and Contest in the Steeple-house between the Two Priests and their Hearers on either side in which Contest the Common-Prayer-Book was Cut to pieces and as it was said some Treasonable Words were then spoken by some of the Followers of this John Fox the Presbyterian-Priest This was quickly put in the News-Book and some malicious Presbyterians caused it to be so worded as if it had proceeded from George Fox the Quaker whenas I was above Two hundred Miles from the place when this Bustle happened But when I heard it I soon procured Certificates from some of the Members of the House of Commons who knew this John Fox and gave it under their Hands that it was John Fox who had formerly been Parson of Mansfield in Wiltshire that was complained of to the House of Commons to be the Chief Ring-leader in that Vnlawful Assembly And indeed this John Fox was an Ill Man for when some that had been Followers and Hearers of him came to be Convinced of Truth and received the Truth in their Inward Parts and thereupon left following him he coming to some of their Houses to talk with them about it and they telling him He was in the Steps of the False Prophets preaching for Hire and Filthy Lucre and was like them whom Christ cried Wo against and the Apostles declared against such as served not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies and telling him Christ said Freely ye have received freely give and therefore he should not take Money of People for Preaching especially now times were so hard He Replied God bless Preaching for that brings in Money let times go how they will And fill my Belly with good Victuals and then call me false Prophet or what you will and kick me about the House when ye have done if ye will This Relation I had from a Man and his Wife who had been formerly his Hearers whom this John Fox with others caused deeply to suffer For he and some other Presbyterian Priests using to resort to a Widow-Woman's House who had the Impropriation and took the Tithes of the Parish she told them There was a Quaker in that Parish that would not pay her Tithes and asked Counsel of them what she should do with him They advised her To send Workmen and cut down and carry away his Corn which according to their Counsel she did and thereby Impoverished the Man But to proceed After this Meeting in Gloucestershire was over we travelled through that County Bristol till we came to Bristol where I met with Margaret Fell who was come to visit her Daughter Yeomans there I had seen from the Lord a considerable time before that I should take Margaret Fell to be my Wife And when I first mentioned it to her she felt the Answer of Life from God thereunto But though the Lord had opened this thing unto me yet I had not received a Command from the Lord for the accomplishing of it then Wherefore I let the thing rest and went on in the Work and Service of the Lord as before according as the Lord led me travelling up and down in this Nation and through the Nation
Jamaica and had a Meeting there We passed from Flushing to Gravesands Gravesands about Twenty Miles and there had three precious Meetings to which many would have come from New-York but that the Weather hindred them Then being clear of this Place we hired a Sloop and the Wind serving we set forth for the New-Country now called Jersey And passing down the Bay JERSEY Conny-Island Natton-Island Stratton-Island Middletown-Harbour by Conny-Island and Natton-Island and Stratton-Island we came to Rich. Hartshorn's at Middletown-Harbour about Break of Day in the Morning on the 27th of the Sixth Month. Next day we rode about Thirty Miles in that Country through the Woods and over very bad Boggs one worse than all the rest the Descent into which was so sleep that we were fain to slide down with our Horses and then let them lie and breath themselves before they could go on This place the People of the Country called PVRGATORY We got at length to Shrewsbury in East-Jersey East-Jersey Sâ—rewsbury and on the First-Day of the Week had a precious Meeting there to which Friends and other People came far and the blessed Presence of the Lord was with us The same Week we had a Mens and Womens Meeting out of most parts of New-Jersey They are building a Meeting-Place in the Midst of them and there is a Monthly and General Meeting set up which will be of great Service in those parts in keeping up the Gospel-Order and Government of Christ Jesus of the Increase of which there is no End that they who are faithful may see that all who profess the holy Truth do live in the pure Religion and walk as becometh the Gospel While we were here at Shrewsbury an Accident befell which for the time was a great Exercise to us There was one John Jay a Friend of Barbados who came with us from Road-Island and intended to accompany us through the Woods to Mary-land He being to Trie an Horse got upon his Back and the Horse fell a running and cast him down upon his Head and brake his Neck as the People said They that were near him took him up Dead 1672. Jersey-Shrewsbury and carried him a good Way and laid him on a Tree I got to him as soon as I could and feeling on him concluded he was Dead And as I stood by him pitying him and his Family I took hold of his Hair and his Head turned any way his Neck was so limber Whereupon ☜ throwing away my Stick and my Gloves I took his Head in both my Hands and setting my Knees against the Tree I raiâ—ed his Head and perceived there was nothing out or broken that Way Then I put one Hand under his Chin and the other behind his Head and raised his Head two or three times with all my Strength and brought it in I soon perceived his Neck began to grow stiff again and then he began to rattle in the Throat and quickly after to breath The People were amazed but I bid them Have a good Heart and be of good Faith and carry him into the House They did so and set him by the Fire but I bid them Get him some warm thing to drink and put him to Bed After he had been in the House a while he began to speak but did not know where he had been The next day we passed away and he with us pretty well about Sixteen Miles Middle town to a Meeting at Middletown through Woods and Boggs and over a River where we swam our Horses and got over our selves upon a hollow Tree and many hundred of Miles did he travel with us after this To this Meeting came most of the People of the Town and a glorious Meeting we had and the Truth was over all blessed be the great Lord God for ever Middletown Harbour After the Meeting we went to Middletown-Harbour about five Miles in order to take our long Journey next Morning through the Woods towards Mary-land having hired Indians for our Guides for I determined to pass through the Woods on the other side of Delaware-Bay that so we might head the Creeks and Rivers as much as was possible So on the Ninth Day of the Seventh Month we set forwards Indian Towns and passed through many Indian Towns and over some Rivers and Boggs And when we had ridden about Forty Miles we made us a Fire at Night and lay by it As we came among the Indians we declared the Day of the Lord to them Next Day we travelled fifty Miles as we computed And at Night finding an Old House which the Indians had forced the People to leave we made a Fire and lay there at the Head of Delaware-Bay DELAWARE-Bay Upper-Diuidock The next Day we swam our Horses over a River about a Mile at twice first to an Island called Vpper Dinidock and then to the Main Land having hired Indians to help us over in their Canoos This day we could reach but about Thirty Miles and came at Night to a Swede's House where we got a little Straw and lay there that Night Next day having hired another Guide we travelled about Forty Miles through the Woods and made us a Fire at Night by which we lay and dried our selves for we were often wet in our Travels in the day-time The next day we passed over a desperate River which had in it many Rocks and broad Stones very hazardous to us and our Horses From thence we came to Christian-River Christian River where we swam over our Horses and went over our selves in Canoos but the sides of this River were so bad and miery that some of the Horses had like to have been laid up From thence we came to a Town called Newcastle 1672. N wcastle alias New-Amsterdam heretofore called New-Amsterdam and being very weary and inquiring in the Town where we might buy some Corn for our Horses the Governour came into the Street and invited me to his House and afterwards desired me to lodge there telling me he had a Bed for me and I should be welcom So I staid there the other Friends being taken care of also This was on the Seventh Day of the Week and he offering his House for a Meeting we had a Meeting there the next Day a pretty large one for the Chief of the Town and indeed most of the Town were at it Here had never been a Meeting before nor any within a great Way of it but this was a very precious One and many of the People both Men and Women were tender and confessed to the Truth and some received it blessed be the Lord for ever On the Sixteenth of the Seventh Month we set forward again from hence and travelled as near as we could compute about Fifty Miles that Day Bohemia River Saxisrax River through the Woods and over the Boggs heading Bohemia-River and Saxifrax River At Night we made us a Fire as we used to do
Oaths we have been Convicted for an unknown Preacher when the Preacher hath been both known and fined And also in their swearing such Persons to have been at such a Meeting such a day when indeed they whom they have so sworn against have not been at that Meeting that day By which proceedings several Families of the King 's peaceable Subjects are like to be ruined if there be not a speedy stop put thereunto Therefore we do both hope and desire that you who are the King's Justices for the time to come when any Informers shall come to any of you with an Information against any of us will Summon such as are Accused to Appear before you and hear us and our Accusers face to face that so none for the time to come may suffer for that they are not guilty of For Pilate the Governour heard Christ and his Accusers face to face before he Condemned him John 19. And the Council and Chief Priests heard Stephen and his Accusers with the Witnesses that were brought against him face to face before they Condemned him Acts 7. The Roman Captain heard Paul and his Accusers face to face Acts 23. And Felix the Governour heard Paul and Ananias the High Priest and the Elders that accused Paul face to face Acts 24. And when the High Priests and Chief of the Jews accused Paul to Festus he heard Paul and his Accusers and them that witnessed against him face to face Acts 25. Doth the Law of God or did the Roman Law or doth the Law of the Land judge any man before he and his Accusers and they that Witness against him be heard face to face This somewhat moderated the Justices and after this several Friends that had been Illegally prosecuted and fined entred their Appeals upon Trial whereof they were Acquitted and the Informers Cast which was a great discouragement to the Informers and some Relief to Friends A little before the time came for the Chusing new Sheriffs for the City they who stood to be Chosen desiring our Friends to give their Voices for them I writ a few Lines tending to discover what Spirit they were of and how they stood affected to true Liberty and it was by way of Inquiry thus DO any here in London who stand to be Chosen Sheriffs own That Christ that was Crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem to be the Light of the World that doth Inlighten every Man that cometh into the World who saith Believe in the Light that ye may become Children of the Light And is any of you against persecuting People for their Religion and Worship of God in Spirit and Truth as Christ commandeth For Christ said I am not of this World nor my Kingdom And therefore he doth not uphold his spiritual Worship and pure Religion with worldly and carnal Weapons And Christ said Swear not at all And his Apostle James saith the same But will not you force us to swear and so to break Christ's and his Apostle's Commands in putting Oaths to us And Christ saith to his Apostles Freely ye have received freely give Will not you force us to give Tithes and Maintenance to such Teachers as we know God hath not sent Shall we be free to serve and worship God and keep his and his Son's Commands if we give our Voices freely for you for we are unwilling to give our Voices for such as will Imprison and persecute us and spoil our Goods But whatever they were that stood to be Chosen I observed there was a Heat and Strife in the Spirits of the People that were to Choose wherefore I writ a few Lines to be spread amongst them directed thus To the People who are Choosing Sheriffs in London People ALL keep in the gentle and peaceable Wisdom of God which is above that that is earthly sensual and devillish And live in that Love of God that is not puffed up nor is unseemly which envieth not but beareth and endureth all things And in this Love ye will seek the good and peace of all men and the hurt of no man Keep out of all heats and be not hot-headed but be cool and gentle that your Christian Moderation may appear to all men for the Lord is at hand who beholds all mens words thoughts and actions and will reward every one according to their works And what every man soweth that shall he reap Now had I some Inclination to have gone into the Country to a Meeting But hearing that there would be a Bussle at our Meetings and feeling a great disquietness in Peoples spirits in the City about Choosing Sheriffs it was upon me to stay in the City and go to the Meeting in Gracious-street upon the First-day of the Week William Penn went with me and spake in the Meeting Grac-Meâ—â— and while he was declaring the Truth to the People a Constable came in with his great Staff and bid him give over and come down but William Penn held on declaring Truth in the Power of God After a while the Constable drew back and when William Penn had done I stood up and declared to the People the Everlasting Gospel which was preached in the Apostles days and to Abraham and which the Church in the Apostles days did receive and came to be Heirs of This Gospel I declared was sent from Heaven by the holy Ghost in the Apostles days and is so now and was not of man neither by man but by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost And now this Gospel is preached again as John saw and said it should be to all Nations Tongues and Peoples and all People now are to hear Christ the Prophet in this his Gospel of the New Covenant For as Moses said Like unto me will God raise up a Prophet and him shall ye hear in all things so said I this Prophet Christ is come and all the Jews in spirit the true believing Christians in the Light who have the Law of God written in their hearts and put into their minds are to hear Christ in his Gospel New Testament and New Covenant which is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus who bruises the Serpent's head which is the head of Enmity and makes free from the Law of Sin and Death And I shewed that all whom Christ quickens and makes alive he makes them to sit together in the heavenly places in himself So that they do not wander up and down like the Fool 's eye in the Corners of the Earth nor are their Eyes abroad in the World to sit down in the World 's invented Seats of Religion but they sit together in him as the Saints did in the Apostles days and so Christ was and is their Treasure of Wisdom Life Knowledge and Salvation Now as I was thus speaking two Constables came in with their great Staves and bid me give over speaking and come down But I feeling the Power of the Lord with me spake on therein both to the Constables