several years by reason of the hard-hearted cruelty of the Priest that sought for his Goods more then for the good of his Soul as plainly appears by those his unchristian-like Actions even like those of old that would cry Peace Peace while People put into their Mouths but when for Conscience-sake they could not do it then those false Teachers prepar'd War against them and thus he that is born after the flesh persecutes him that is born after the spirit from one Generation to another But after this his so long Imprisonment it pleased God to make way for his deliverance out of those Bonds by the Death of the said Priest his persecuter who on a journey broke his Legg whereof he Died without ever Returning home but his Wise fulfilling her Husband's Cruelty would not condescend to his Enlargement which was in her power to do but constrained him to go to London being above Two hundred Miles which he Travelled on Foot and so obtained his full Liberty by a Habias Corpus the Lord having endued him with Christian patience all this time to undergo what he permitted his persecutor to Inflict upon him And after this it was some time my lot to travel with him in the service of Truth in whose Company I had great satisfaction for he did not only Preach in Word Doctrine but in Life and Conversation also and so was A rightly qualifi'd Minister of the Gospel and was a serviceable Member in the Church of Christ both for the Propagating of Truth and a Support to Friends where he Lived and Travelled the Lord having endued him with a good Understanding which did so sanctifie his Natural acquirements that he was thereby qualified to answer his Call into the Ministry which he delivered in Meekness according to his Deportment in his Conversation which which was Mild Courteous little in his own Eye or in outward shew or appearance Yet would not turn his back off an Enemy to Truth in Truth 's defence and he was qualfi'd for Truth 's service in his open and plain Testimony which was both sweet and lively to the Comforting the Faithful stirring up the Careless and reaching the Witness in those who were unacquainted with the Way of Righteousness For indeed his Labour in the Work of the Gospel was refreshing to the honest-hearted who as a faithful Steward over the manifold Grace's of God a measure of which was committed to his Charge did â—ruly Labour in the Service thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but with a ready Mind neither as being Lord over God's Heretage but being an Ensample unto the Flock for which I doubt not he hath his Reward at the Hand of the great Shepheard even a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away And now I shall speak a little of his manner of Life towards his latter End for as he had been an Innocent carriag'd Man and a lover of Truth and Righteousness from a Child so it pleased God to preserve him all along even to his Lifes end although attended many times with great Weakness of Body by reason of some Distempers occasioned partly by the aforesaid Imprisonment which he underwent for his Testimony 's sake which God had given him to bear against the Anti-christian Ministry of the Age Yet that saying was fulfilled in him as in the Apostles time although the Outward Man perished and grew weaker and weaker the Inward Man was renewed day by day for these light afflictions which last but for a moment work in us a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory while we look not at those things that are seen but at the things that are not seen for the things that are seen are Temporal but the things that are not seen are Eternal So we need not fear any of these things that we may suffer for a good Cause if the Devil be permitted to cast some into Prison and we may have Tribulation for a time yet the promise is to those that are Faithful unto Death they shall receive a Crown of Life So although many be the Tryals and Exercises of the Righteous yet the Lord in his own appointed time can and will deliver out of them all and although for a time the Back be given to the smiter yet the Rod of the Wicked shall not always be upon the Backs of the Righteous but God will Rescue them out of their hands that they shall not be a prey to them any longer But too few Consider when Righteous and Good Men are taken away that it's God's Pleasure and Goodness to them to take them from the Evil to come as he hath done our dear Friend of whom I am writing And though he be removed from us yet the remembrance of his innocent Life doth remain with us and although it be our loss yet it is his gain In that Eternal Joy Rest Where his Soul 's for ever blest And when he was upon his Death-bead he was sweetly preserved in a sense of that Life that flowed from the Fountain of pure Refreshment which made him to utter many savoury Expressions even to the Edifying of those that stood by him some of which that could be remembred are here inserted For when I with some other Friends went to see him we had a Meeting at his House at Ballany Carrick in the County of Wicklow on the first day of the Week before he departed this Life being the 16th day of the Ninth Month 1684. where he sat up in the Meeting all the time and we had a Heavenly season and the Lord's refreshing Presence was with us which he having a sense of did often express his great Joy and Satisfaction therein and in the enjoyment of Friends company and said he could wish if it were the Will of God that he might be taken away when we were there So I with some other Friends stay'd all Night and lodged in the Chamber where he lay and he was very quiet and patiently bore his Affliction The next Morning one of his servants coming to him ask'd him how he did his answer was to her naming her by her Name thou hast had much trouble in attending of me but now the time is short that I have to stay for he was not unsensible that the time of his Dissolution drew near his servant being reached with his words began to weep he said I know there will be Mourning for me but blessed be God it is not as those that have no hope for he knew that hope which was grounded upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner-stone the same that all the Faithful did bear Witness too in former Ages And so that day was chiefly spent in preparing for the time of his Change in setting his House in Order and setling his outward Concerns and when he came to Sign his Will his Hand shoke by reason of weakness of Body He looking up with a chearful
the Minister said God was to be found and all to obtain Peace with my Maker but it as it were fled from me and was not to be found amongst them and and then this cry was great in me O that I knew the Truth Oh that I knew the True and Living Way to the Kingdom of God! O that I could feel that Testimony of Spirit which they so much spoke of bearing witness with my Spirit that I was in the Sonship though I felt and knew I was in the way according to their Judgment and had the signal tokens of a Christian as they produced from that spiritual progress and operation the Saints and Servants of God went through in Ages past which was as Way-marks set up by Patriarchs the Prophets and Children of Israel in their Travel to Canaan and by the Apostles and Servants of our Lord Jesus Christ in their Spiritual Travel to the Heavenly Canaan through the Regeneration and New Birth But being as I said before often deeply humbled before the Lord and tendred and broken in my Spirit distressed in my Soul afflicted in my Body day and night panting and breathing after the Lord as the Hart panteth after the water Brooks being many times deprived of my natural rest and sustenance mine eyes preventing the night Watches as David said watering my Bed with my Tears being almost overwhelmed in the Floods multitudes of Afflictions compassing me about Wars and Commotions on every side Famine and Pestilence and Earthquakes fearful Sights and great Signs appearing from Heaven these were the beginning of Sorrows and Days of great Tribulation then did the sign of the coming of the Son of Man appear in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory whose appearance was as the Lightning that appeared from the East and shined unto the West by which it pleased the Father to manifest the way of Life and to reveal his Son in me and by his Light that gives the Knowledge of the glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 He was pleased to give me a glimpse of that heavenly Land and of the Way to the Kingdom of God which I saw to be in and through the Light of Christ Jesus which Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World as it was then Preached and testified by the Servants of the Lord a measure of which I felt in my self which told me all that ever I did secretly condemning every work in me with every word and action that was against or contrary to the mind and will of the Father and also justifying every good word and work that was according to his Will Thus the Lord having opened my understanding and given me in measure a feeling of himself I was forced to conclude as the woman of Samaria did that this was the Christ this was the Way this was the Truth as by daily experience I found by the operation of the Light in my own heart compared with the Testimony that the Saints and Servants of God had given in Ages past and thus in the mouths of two or three Witnesses this Testimony was established and confirmed in me but how to receive and give obedience I knew not the Enemy often raising Doubts and Fears in me often disswading me from embracing the Light with much questioning whether it were the Truth yea or nay Then as soon as the Seed the Man-child appeared the Dragon appeared also ready to Devour the Man-child then the Read-Sea was as it were before and Pharoh and his Host behind and fear fell on every side then appeared Father against Son and Son against Father one Nation against another and still the greatest Enemies were in mine own House and then was I in great distress then was the Dayes of great Tribulation perceiving the Way strait and narrow being to forsake Father or Mother House or Lands Friends and Relations and all old acquaintances and cast down all Crowns Dignities Wisdom Riches or what other Enjoyments whatsoever and deny my self and become a Fool and a Reproach a Scorn a By-word and a Hissing to the Men of the World and take up the Cross daily and follow the Lord through great Tribulation through the Red-Sea through the Wilderness yea even through Death it self then was I ready to faint and to say with them This was a hard saying who can bear it then the Dragon cast out Floods after the Manchild but God prepared a place in the Wilderness and the Child was preserved then was the warfare great between the Flesh and the Spirit the Law in my Members waring against the Law in my Mind doing that which I allowed not and leaving undone that which I allowed with my mind I served the Law of God but with my Flesh the Law of Sin the Spirit indeed was willing to Drink that bitter Cup but the Flesh was weak then when I would have done good Evil being present prevented me then I became as one destitude of all succour comfort and support not knowing whither to fly or how to escape from the dreadfull wrath of God that was then impending over me if I disobeyed then was I forced in the fulness of time not only to stand still and see the Salvation of God but also to resign my self into his Blessed Will and sweetly to Drink that bitter Cup that was given me to Dâ—iâ—k allowing that the Will of the Lord and not my will should be done being willing to undergo any thing so the Lord be glorified and my Soul might rest in Peace being that for which I had long travelled in spirit having been often as it were at the Pâ—ts brink and as it were at the mouth of the Furnace having Drunk deep of the Cup of Judgment and of Indignation and of the Wrath of the Lord for Sin and for Iniquity often travelling as with my Hands upon my loyns pained and crying outin my Soul as a Woman in Travel that longeth for the appointed hour of her Deliverance often in that state blessing the Lord for the Ministration of condemnation which at that Day was glorious to me often doubting and fearing in my self least the Lord should cease striving with me and have left me and given me up to a reprobate Mind and to heardness of Heart being often ready to Dispair of obtaining the promised Land that was before me considering the many lets impediments obstructions hazards dangers which like Mountains of opposition appeared as high as the top of Carmel And thus being assaulted by the Enemy reasoning in my self I was at a point what to do to turn back to Egypt the Land of Darkness or House of Bondage again I durst not knowing the Light in me the Piller of fire that appeared for my Guide and Leadâ—r led me Canaan ward and knowing the Terrors and Judgments of the Lord that had not only passed upon me but was still impending over me for sin disobedience because I offered not up freely nor sacrificed
THE MEMORY OF That Faithful Servant of the Lord Thomas Carleton Reviv'd BEING A COLLECTION Of several of his VVritings in the ensuing Volume as a Testimony of his Zeal for promoting the blessed Truth and Establishing of Friends therein Also some TESTIMONIES Concerning his Faithfulness and Perseverance in the Way of the Lord unto the Finishing of his Course here with joy which was the 18th day of the Ninth Month 1684. The Memory of the just is blessed Prov. 10.7 The Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance Psal 112.9 Printed in the Year 1694. The Testimony of Thomas Trafford concerning his Friend and Brother in the Truth Thomas Carleton THere is a Testimony in my Heart at this time to bear for dear Thomas Carleton Notwithstanding it is long since he was Removed from us as to the outward yet his Memorial lives with me and in the Revivings of it can do no less then say something of the Experience Knowledg I had of him My first acquaintance with him was by the Spirit of Truth in a Meeting for as soon as I saw his Face as he was coming into the Meeting I felt my heart united or knit to him as Jonathan's was to David and it was sealed to me That he had a Testimony to bear for the Lord's Truth in the Assemblies of his People which was Confirmed to me that Meeting For after some time sitting in the Meeting there came an Exercise upon his Spirit and he stood up in great Fear and Dread which was his usual manner when he was so Exercised under the powerfull Word of Life not being a Man forward in entring upon that service but rather backward until necessitated thereunto by the constraining Power of God And while he was delivering his Testimony I had dear unity with him and my Soul was refreshed by his Ministry although he was but short and my love reached so to him that I could not be satisfied untill I went to see him at his Lodging after which time we grew into a more near acquaintance one with another both inwardly and outwardly so that we became near and dear one unto another and thereby came to have a true sense and knowledge of one anothers Mindâ— and Spirits and truly my heart and spirit is broken at this time in the remembrance of that sweet and brotherly love that continued between us to the last for he was a true Yoke-fellow in the Labour of the Gospel for the good and wel-fare of the Church and I must needs say I have found the want of him with some others who were true sensible Members in the Body or Church of Christ whom the Lord hath been pleased to remove from us and take to himself which I must be content with resting in the Faith that he can and will raise up others in his time to supply their places And although this my Friend and Brother was a Man attended with many Infirmities of Body which disabled him from Travelling much abroad yet I can say he was seldom if ever without a Concern Care or Exercise upon his Spirit that all things might be well in the Church and that those who were Convinced of the Truth might live answerable to what they did profess and was many a time Constrained to bear Testimony in a holy Zeal against such as were dry Formilist Professors of it and did not come up into a Living Experimental Exercise of the power of Truth and such who walked loose in their Conversations as will appear by the following Epistles that he Writ and God who tempers the Body as he Sees meet had indued him with a large and clear understanding both in Divine Spiritual things and also Natural Parts beyond many which did very much adorn him and so much the more in that he did not think so of himself but would appear as simple as any which bespoke him to be one of Christs Followers who had Learned to be Meek and Lowly in heart I Write what I know and it is not to attribute any thing to Man but to acknowledge the great Work of God in and for Man who as Vessels in his Hand he hath honoured therefore we who have been made partakers of their Work and Service can do no less And indeed all his Parts and Gifts were Sanctified unto him for he was a Man of of a sweet temper mild in Controverting things and could govern his Spirit with gravity either with such as did oppose Truth and contend against it or at other times in Church Discipline or with unruly Spirits that he might have to do with Oh the Remembrance of him makes the loss of him more to be Lamented But having this answer returned sealed unto me that our loss is his gain therefore am Contented in the will of the Lord and notwithstanding his Parts did exceed many yet he was ready to prefer others before himself which was an Ornament to him and did very much become his Holy Profession he was a Man that Loved the Truth and all such that lived in it and he was of a tender Spirit desiring nothing more then the Unity of the Brethren and to hear of the Prosperity of Truth and Peace in the Church So that I have cause to believe he is one of that Number to whom it is said Blessed are the Dead which Die in the Lord from henceforth yâ—â— said the Spirit that they may rest from â—â—eâ—â— Labours and their Works do follow them Written this 15th day of the 6. Month 1693. At Wicklow by one that loves the Brethren Thomas Trafford THE TESTIMONY OF GEORGE ROOKE Concerning Thomas Carleton THis I have to say concerning this our dear Friend and Brother in the Truth that is removed from us by Death according to God's appointment for all Men once to Die he was a Man that was tender of Gods glory in his Day and laboured for the promotion of his Truth into the service of which the Lord was pleased to Call him when he was but young in years and made known unto him the riches of the Mistery which had been hid from Ages past even Christ Revealed within the sure Hope of Eternal Glory by which he was preserved both sure and stedfast in his Testimony-bearing for God where-ever the Lord was pleased to Order him whether it was in a Prison-house or at Liberty he was not unwilling to submit to his Will even to do and suffer whereby he might honour and glorifie his Maker in his day and generation And he had not long been Convinced of the blessed Truth till Lewis West the Priest of the Parish where he lived began to persecute him because for Conscience-sake he could not pay Tythes and cast him into Prison at Carlisle in Cumberland for at Little-Salkeld in that County was the place of his abode then though some years after his Enlargement he removed himself and family into this Nation of Ireland But mark he being put in Prison was kept Prisoner
Countenance said O is it so that I who have written so much can scarce now write my Name well it must be so and the Will of the Lord be done I am content and thus was his precious time spent in giving and resigning himself up unto the Will of the Lord saying come Lord Jesus receive my Spirit And so about the sixth hour at Night as he was in a slumber fell into a Fit or Trance Jonathan Nicholson his Brother in Law being with him in Bed heard him say as he fell into a fit Farewell Farewel Farewell three times as if he had been waiting for the time of his change but in about half an hour he again revived and came to his perfect senses as before Three of his Children being brought to him he called to them by their Names saying dear Babes I am glad to see you expressing it with much joy and gladness advising them to live in the fear of God and to be good Children and to keep amongst Friends and said I have not much Gold and Silver to leave you but I hope the blessing of the Lord will attend you and so Kissing and Embracing them he took leave of them his dear Wife coming to him weeping he said to her Weep not thy care and tenderness hath been much over me and often seemed to lament and pitty his dear Wife that had been a true Help-meet unto him from the time of their first coming together unto that day in his Exercises and Weakness which were not a few And so after he had taken his leave of those about him he fell into another fit and in less then half an hour was taken away with little or no pain being the 18th Day of the aforesaid ninth Month 1684. This is to be noted that he often in his Life time when in great pain and affliction by reason of the Distemper of his Body did desire the Lord to mitigate his pain upon his Death-bed and not take him away in those Tortering fits which the Lord in great Mercy did Answer for he did say that he was not Sick and felt little pain but a great weakness and decay of outward strength yet still was well Preserved in a sweet Frame of Spirit to the great Satisfaction and Comfort of those that were with him at his last End Thus they are blessed that Die in the Lord from henceforth they rest from their Labours and their Works follow them where the voice of the oppressor is no more heard the Wicked cease from Troubling and the weary are at Rest George Rooke The TESTIMONY OF ANTHONY SHARP DEar Thomas Carleton was a True and Sound Meek and Faithful Friend that Loved the Blessed Truth and Faithful Brethren and was so much in the self denial and a Lover of the Brethren that he Preferr'd them before himself And having the marks of a True Desciple was a good Example and left a good Savour behind him and I am satisfied he is at Rest Anthony Sharp The Captives COMPLAINT OR THE Prisoners PLEA Against the Burthensom and Contentious Title of TYTHES With a True Relation of the Prisoners Spiritual Progress and Travel towards the New and Heavenly Jerusalem Together with the sad and grievous Sufferings he sustained by a Persecuting and Covetous High Priest in Cumberland for his Gospel Testimony against Tythes Here is also laid down several Grounds and Reasons against the Propriety Payment of Tythes in this Evangelical Day and Dispensation As also several Papers and Queries sent to the Priest which to this Day remains Unanswered All which is now referred to the view judgment and understanding of every Conscientious impartial Reader of what Profession soever wherein the Prisoner doth recommend himself his Sufferings and the empty groundless Cause thereof to every Mans Conscience in the sight of God as was the Practice of the Apostles and Saints of old in the primitive Times 2 Cor. 4.2 Re-printed in the Year 1604 The Captives Complaint or the Prisoners Plea c. FOrasmuch as it hath pleased the incomprehensible wise God who made Heaven and Earth and all that is therein to create Man and set him apart for his own Service Worship and Glory as the most competent Creature whereby to advance his glorious dreadful Name over all his Creatures upon the Earth over whom He gave Man dominion and for the better Ruling and Governing His Creatures and Worshipping and Glorifying Himself the Author and Creator of all He hath indued Man with Reason and Understanding and infused into him a Principle of his own Life and stamped or set His own Image in him thereby to beautifie His creature Man giving him dominion power and liberty over all that He had made both the Fruits of the Earth and every Creature moving thereon the Fishes of the Sea and the Fowls of the Air and every Creature moving therein save only of the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil he was not to Eat Now the Serpent being more subtil then all the Beasts of the field did insinuate it self into the affections of the Woman and having got room in the weaker Vessel did induce both the Man and the Woman through feigned smooth words and not by direct opposition mark that into disobedience to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whose Image they then lost by the Serpents Transformation who raised the discontented aspiring self-seeking Principle that desired to be equal with God which they soon received and obeyed thereby losing the happy blessed and good estate in which he was placed and thereby fell into the knowledg of Evil and naked miserable estate with God being Transformed into the image of the Serpent was captivated in the Curse and so came to be driven out of the Garden of Eden in which he was placed and to be fenced out from the Tree of Life and from the Presence of the Lord in that State for ever And because the Serpent had done this the Lord cursed it above all Cattel and every Beast of the Field and put enmity between its seed and the Seed of the Woman saying The Womans Seed shall break its Head and it should Bruise his Heel so the Enmity being placed between the Seeds the warfare was begun which ever since hath continued through the Generations of Mankind and hence the striving between the Twins in the Womb comes to be known and the Elected and Reprobated Seed is known and the Seed of the Bond woman and the Seed of the Free-woman is known and the Fleshly Birth persecuting that which is born of the Spirit is known and the Promise of the Lord to the Seed of the Woman is known and fulfilled in those that witness the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven to be come and the Seed of the Covenant is known to such in which all the Nations of the Earth is blessed and blessed and happy are they that are apprehended and overcomes in this Seed for they shall again come to eat of the
Cor. 3.14 15. as is evident and clearly seen to he the very State and Condition of the Ministers and People of England to whom the Way of Life of Regeneration of Light of Righteousness of Peace of having their Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and of witnessing Redemption and Remission of sins is hid and to them the covering is not yet taken away for the Vail is over their Hearts and what they see and know of God is but by the seeing or hearing of the outward Eye or Ear as Job said chap. 42.5 knowing nothing but what they know Naturally in a literal historical notional external Sense and in these Things they foyl and corrupt themselves never owning or obeying the Light that leads out of Darkness and Discovers all the works thereof which makes all things manifest and gives the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ which till then is Vailed through which we draw nigh unto God and makes bold to enter into the inner Sanctuary even the holy Place being purified through his Blood having our Consciences purged from dead works Hebr. 9.14 which is not yet made manifest where the Tabernacle is standing Hebr. 9.8 neither do they know the Power which through his death hath rent the Vail but we that are come to believe in the Light and to witness the New Covenant which God promised to his People Jer. 31.31.23 c. Rom. 11.27 Hebr. 8.8.10 c. Hebr. 10.16 17. they whose Hearts are turned to the Lord know the Vail taken away accord-to his promise 2 Cor 3.16 17 18. and we all with open face behold the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty Now being born of the same Seed and not another and regenerated by the same Life and Power and because we have the same Spirit of Faith which the Apostles and Servants of the Lord had as it is written 2 Cor. 4.13 Psalm 116.10 I believed therefore have I spoken we also have Believed and therefore speak now we have this Treasure in earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us 2 Cor. 4.7 and having this hope and trust we use great boldness and plainness of speech and are not ashamed of that worthy Name by which we have been called nor of the glorious Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God unto all those that Believe and this Mystery viz. Christ in us the hope of Glory Col. 1.26 27 hid from Ages and Generations hath he opened and revealed in us blessed honored and glorified by the sweet and precious Name and Love of our God for ever that hath opened the mysteries of his Kingdom and hath revealed them unto Babes Sucklings and to the little and lowly in Spirit and yet hath hid them from the Wise and Prudent of the Earth this is the Lords doing and is marvellous in our Eyes blessed yea everlastingly blessed be his holy Living eternal Name Love Life and Power who alone is worthy of all Glory Rule and Dominion for evermore And having this Testimony and for this Testimonies sake and for our love and faithfulness thereunto we suffer and are brought into bonds by the chief Priests and Rulers of this Generation for as it was in the Apostles dayes so it is now They that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and as Christ said In the World you shall have tribulation but in me you shall have Peace and if you love Me the world will hate you and even so persecuted they the Prophets that went before us this persecuting spirit getting a place and room in the Woman as I said before broke forth in Cain the third Person in the Earth and he slew Abel his only Brother and here the Enmity between the Seeds appeared which I mentioned in the beginning and this envious Persecuting spirit hath had a place and descent through all the Generations of Man-kind to this very Day as the Scriptures are full how they that served and feared the Lord did suffer Persecutions Afflictions Tribulations Reproaches spoiling of Goods Buffettings Imprisonments yea even to the Death and all for following the Lord in the Regeneration and for serving and obeying Him in heart and spirit and for departing and separating themselves from the Ways Worships Customs Traditions and beggerly rudiments of the World and as they persecuted the Prophets and Apostles of Christ that went before us even so do they persecute us and yet they will profess they know God but their Works deny Him for I was no sooner turned from Darkness to Light nor from Satans Power to God nor from sin to righteousness nor from the lusts and pleasures of the Flesh to serve the Living God nor no sooner come to deny my self and take up the Cross of Christ and follow him through Tribulations Reproachings Revilings Mockings Fastings Temptings or what other Sufferings soever or through Death it self unto Life yea no sooner I say was I given up to follow him but persecution arose for the Gospel sake notwithstanding my long Travel and Pilgrimage in the Wilderness neither considering the Faintings the Hungrings the Thirstings the Jeopardies Perils the many desperate Dangers the dark Disconsolate days the long and wearisom Nights my poor Soul sustained with many a sigh and heavy groan with many a dolefull lamentation with much brokenness of Heart and contrition of Spirit when Rivers as it were run down from mine Eyes when my Heart failed me for fear in the day of my spiritual progress from Egyt to Canaan I say never considering the afflictions I bad gone through the enmity in Gods enemies without arose against me to repoach revile and persecute me and as I said before having withdrawn and separated my self from them with their Way and Worship I was hated envied and threatned by them but especially by one of Englands chief Priests named Lewis West a Man whose Life and Gonversation doth more fully declare him to all that knows him part whereof I may set down in this following Treatise and shall leave it to the view judgment and consideration of all sober juditious Men that knows any thing of the Way and Worship of God but especially to those my Neighbours and Country-men that hath known both him and me according to the flesh though he be a Man in esteem honour and repute amongst Men and the Children of this World and hath attained to his several Titles and degrees of Honour and Preferment being reckoned one of their chief and learnedst orthodox Divines being as his Wife once said to me contemning me as â—udatious and for my puerility and illiteratness far inferior to argue or dispute matters of Conscience with him brought up at his Book and School from his Child-hood and I being but a Child
a proceeded to have damnified me any further So seeing thou yet intendest to add weight and oppression to the afflicted and oppressed little enough if thou give me a true account of my supposed transgression which I expect thou wilt forthwith do by this Bearer either in word or writing without any further deferring for sure thou hast not gone about to impose all this upon me that thou hast done and yet intends to do by adding affliction to my bonds but thou canst and will give a reason in every particular wherefore which I expect of thee without any further evasion or otherwise I may conclude thou canst not So that I say again in tender love to thy Souls eternal Peace do I desire thee to ponder well these things and receive the Advice of thy Friend herein for I know there is a Witness in thy Conscience that will receive me from which thou canst not flee nor hide thy self Day nor Night to it I appeal and know thou that it s not that I am weary of Sufferings or am so married to the World that I cannot part with it for though the Devil may have power to Dispossess me of an External Inheritance as he hath had power to cast into Prison yet will I wait upon the Lord knowing he is able to subdue Satan under his Feet and thou could have had no power against me if it had not been given thee so if thou willt not be advised for thy good do what thou hast power to do as for me I have so much Faith as to Trust in the God of Jacob and Patience to endure all these things knowing the Captain of my Salvation was made perfect through Sufferings who will be Glorified in the Sufferings of his Saints whom my Soul honours and glorifies above all So be Exhorted and Warned in time lest this stand as a Witness against thee in the Day of the Lord's Indignation for this was in my heart from the Lord to warn thee of so I shall be clear of thy Blood Carlile the place of my outward restraint and inward peace the 14th of the 9th Month 1664. By one that desires from my heart the welfare of thee and thine and to be found in the exercise of love to Enemies Tho. Carleton This second I sent to him after I was Outlawed L. West HEar and understand let thy patience shew forth it self a little to hear read and receive home this herein inserted directed to thee how long will it be ere thou cease to add oppression to the oppressed Wherefore hast thou Outlawed me when in Prison Hadst thou no way to accomplish thy design and obtain thy covetous desire and end but by Treachery and Deceit and by stealing Law against the Innocent Oh how eager hath thy desire been after the dwellings of the Righteous and that without any just cause for which thou hast often refused to give a reason or shew the cause Thou knowest on the day of my Commitment I asked thee what thou couldst demand before many Witnesses also I writ to thee for an account and my Relations desired an account of thee but none yet wouldst or rather couldst thou truly and justly give Oh! be ashamed be ashamed and blush that ever thou should profess a Priests Function and deal so Treacherously as thou hast done was thy cause so evil and thy plea so bad that thou must steal Law to obtain thy greedy desire Is thy love so much professed to my Fathers Children at an end and is envy wrath and malice crept in instead thereof Oh! the Heathen shall condemn thee for this yea the Earth shall open her mouth and the very Beasts of the Field and Fouls of the Air shall abhor and be astonished to hear and see thy proceedings herein The Tribe of the Priesthood will be ashamed of thee and all such Sons of Levi well did Jacob say Instruments of Cruelty was in their hands yea I may say Cruelty in the highest degree pride tyranny and oppression is their way and path well speak the Prophets that which is now come to pass yea seen and felt Micha 3.5 11. Ezek. 13.18 19 22. and chap. 22.25 26 c. Isa 56.11 Oh the oppression of the Priesthood of England the Earth can scarce bear them and among them all canst thou produce a president for Covetousness Cruelty and Oppression surely thou knowest not what spirit thou art of but thy fruits will discover thee by and by if a Man should tell of thy dealings to thy Function how thou hast beat me with the fist of Wickedness persecuted with all thy might sworn or caused to swear deceitfully and how illegally thou hast done and that for filthy lucre sake to obtain the gain of oppression would they tollerate thee and not be ashamed Oh blush to hear of thy corrupt Conversation thy own hand shall witness against thee and thine own heart shall condemn thee for these things thou hast not only dealt Treacherously with me but with the Kings Officers also by causing them to return I could not be found when thou hadst me in Prison and they had me in Custody surely thy Master will deceive thee and thy nakedness treachery and deceit is and will be laid open and made more publick then thy Proclamation was that I might either render my Body or be Outlawed which thing was done in obscurity and deceit but I must be more publick and plain with thee it may be to rip up thy skirts that thy nakedness may appear thy filth and putrifaction though as a chief Priest yet one of the Whores Children for the light manifests thee so to be and all thy crooked deceitful serpentine paths and by the Children of Light thou art seen and shalt be made apparent to them that is yet under the yoke of oppression thy Name shall rot and the memorial of thy Seed shall stink in thy Generations to come a Testimony I have to bear against the workers of Iniquity and for that end the Lord hath called me forth and brought me not only to believe but also to suffer for his Name which Name I have as a Rock a Shield and Helmet of Salvation in this day of great Tryal and in the Strength of the Lord am I resolved to hold forth my Testimony valuing all with it as dross and dung and doth believe that through it I shall undergo all and be able to make War in Righteousness and by his Power shall tread upon the neck of the Scorpion and Adder and on the crown of the head of thee and all the Oppressors of the Lords Seed who at this day is made objects of your Cruelty yea by the Power of the Living God we both do and shall tread you as chaff in the Streets So take heed how thou proceedest least Gods witness in thy own heart break thy rest for the first Priest that imprisoned for Tythes in Cumberland was made a spectacie of his wrath and he is the
they 'l menace and thunder out their Comminations and Excomunications and some they 'l cast in Prison it may be till Death and yet cloke themselves over with the name of Gospel Ministers and plead innocency and say its the Law that requires it and binds Men to be subject to Ecclesiastical Canons and Censures now wherein doth their innocency appear unless in putting a white Coat above a black one a Popish dress and if the Figure be true they are but outside Pharisees appearing white and clean without and that in Apparel only Yea I may say they are as wise expert Marriners in that Babilonish Wisdom as ever Trafficked or Sailed upon the Waters of the Great Whore they can Sail with any Wind that blows within the Circuit of Babylons Coasts but that Prophesie comes to be fulfilled upon them Evil Men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived c. But blessed be the Lord the Day is dawned that declares them and the Light that makes them manifest with their all Abominations and the Son is appeared that will disperse them as the Morning mist so that their skirts shall be uncovered and their nakedness shall be laid open and their visage shall be no more Vailed for the Judgment of the Great Whore is come and coming wherein all her Merchants shall weep and mourn because no Man buyeth their Merchandice any more So this Mite of my Testimony I have cast in being but a Mite indeed in comparison of the many weighty praise-worthy works given forth by many of the dear and faithful Servants of God upon this very Subject in this very Age from the breakings forth of the Glorious Light in them revealed and made known And for the clearing my Conscience in the sight of the Lord I refer this to publick view and give this Testimony to my Countrymen and Acquaintance or any others that yet see not the difference between us and the Priests in this very point and partly for satisfying or silencing of others especially the People of the Independants or Congregational Church at Melmerby so called who though as I have said before they once made the non payment of Tythes an Article of their Judgment yet have of late since I became a sufferer for them whisperingly or clandestinely condemned me in secret more then many if not all others that have less profession and seem more profane rendring me foolâ—sh and unwise to suffer so much and so long for such a trivial external tempory matter as they call it but to me it was and is no smâ—ll matter being to the Contrary perswaded in my Conscience and knowing by good experience and assured Testimonies that I must stand or fall by obedience or disobedience to the manifestation of the Lords precious Gift and Light in my own Soul and Conscience I therefore value not the Judgment of any Man or People being from the Light the Line of True Judgment and Rule of Life to me and to be accounted a Fool is no new nor strange thing for a Fool I am to their Wisdom as was the good and precious Servants of God in Ages past For the Wisdom of God is foolishness with Men and casting things upon me behind my back becomes them not it were more Christianly for them to Admonish or Instruct me face to face and to give me their Advice and Reasons in matters of this nature which if I found to be more weighty sound and agreeable to the Witness of God in my Conscience I should be very ready willing and glad to receive them and be informed by them I am neither so far remote nor so much a stranger to them though my Principle may but this way they chuse not but makes War and fights as Men that beat the Air hiddenly or a far off slighting and contemning my Principle and me for its sake above most of People as though I had been Poysonous and Infectious where I came prohibiting some of their Society and Members so called to have any Fellowship or Converse with me or to receive either Books or Papers from me or come where I was and one of their leading Teachers G. Nicholson by Name denied to make good their own Principles and Tenents held forth in their own Defence against us and also to make good several contumelious aspertions cast upon us in my Hearing by him and others and also denied to give an account of his Faith and Hope in Christ Jâ—sus saying It was in vain c. with several such like matters which I shall now omit and yet these People will be Slighting and Villifying us in secret indeed we have much more cause to have disesteemed them and their Principles having more knowledge of both them and it when we were amongst them then ever they had of us or ours and in villifying our Principles they speak evil of things they understand not being a Treasure whose worth and value they never knew the mystery whereof is hid and sealed from that state and nature they live in we have known theirs but they never knew ours yea for my own part I can truly say in the Light and Presence of the Lord that I had more love and affection in my Heart for those people then any other Profession that was from the Light yea many a time I could have mourned in secret and been willing to have undergone great hardship that they might have been won and gained to the Lord yea I could as it were have plucked them out of the fire many a time other times my spirit hath been weighed and burthened yea filled with indignation against some of them that were Elders Teachers and Leaders that caused the rest to Err who like the Pharisees of old have Shut the Kingdom of God as it were but I am sure they have drawn backward and hindred the work of the Lord both in themselves and others for they would neither enter themselves nor suffer those that would but have made War against the Light in themselves and others and I testifie they are Strangers to the Covenant of Promise Christ Jesus the Light the New and Living Way who is the Light of the World John 8.12 Who is in the World and the World knows him not and lighteth every Man that comes into the World John 1.4 5 6 7 8 9 unto whom John came to bear Witness and yet how few will believe how few doth receive John's Testimony though he was sent from God to bear Witness of the Light and all hold John as a Prophet also how few do receive Christs own Exhortation who said While you have the Light believe in the Light that you may be Children of the Light John 12.36 no marvel if they receive not ours may it not well be said unto them Behold ye Dispisers and wonder I will work a Work in your day which though a Man declare it unto you yet will you in no wise believe Acts 13.41 mark ye Despisers