quick Apprehension and great understanding of a noble Spirit yet in humility condescending to serve the least in Truth his Company was exceeding delightful and pleasant being always cheerful his discourse good and tending to Edification exceeding ripe in the Knowledge of the holy Scriptures and of a strong Memory he was often concerned in Disputations with Priests and other Opposers of the Way of Truth that he bore Testimony too and walked in and the Lord had richly furnished him for that Service to the stopping the Mouthes of Gain-sayers to Truths honour his Declaration and Testimony exceeding large free and affecting almost to all sorts of People many with great delight would flock to hear him in many places which made his Service very great in opening the way of Truth unto all he having a Word in season to all Conditions insomuch that he regarded not his outward Body but many times went beyond the natural strength thereof notwithstanding that he was young and strong yet in this Service was much spent several Years before he departed and laid down his Head. His Life was bound up in the Unity and Fellowship of Friends and Brethren his Labour was ever to conserve the same and prevent whatever would appear to divide As he was honourable in the esteem of Thousands that the Lord through him had called and brought many of them to the Knowledge of the way of Life and Salvation so also had he a right honourable esteem of such as were in Christ before him and especially dear George Fox by whom he was Convinced He was very tender to the springings of Life in Testimony in the least Babe always ready to encourage and give place to the same for it was his great Joy to see the Lord's Work to prosper and the Testimony of Truth to spring in every Bosom In Counsel and Advice he was endewed with heavenly Wisdom beyond many in reproving the Careless and Rebellious he was sharp and powerful In fine I have this to say that he was abundantly furnished with spiritual Gifts a chosen and honourable Vessel in the Hand of his God to the Praise and Glory of his eternal Name Many comfortable daies and times have I enjoyed with him whom I loved and honoured in the Lord and I am not unsensible of his Love to me our Hearts being perfectly united and knit together in that love that 's everlasting passing the love of Women I never thought Travel hard or tedious at any time so that I might enjoy his Company in which I was always delighted greatly satisfied whatever difficulty soever I under-went to obtain the same After he was first called forth into the Work and Service of the Lord he was very diligent therein almost in continual Travels and several times was in Prison for his Testimonies sake as at New-Castle in the North and Bristol often in great Perils in the beginning having many rough places to break through where many times he Suffered sore Beatings and many Strokes together with cruel Mockings Revilings and Scornings from the wicked Rabble often and sometimes from angry bitter-spirited Professors through and over all which the Lord preserved him to his own Glory to inherit a Kingdom that 's everlasting for he counted nothing dear unto him for the Gospels sake but left his dear Wife and Child whom he loved entirely and Trade and all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ the Captain of Salvation having an eye to the eternal recompence of Reward that the Lord hath given him fully to enjoy His dear Wife was not long after him called forth into the same Work and Service and Travelled into several Parts of the North Countrey and after into the South where at Banbury in Oxford-shire she was a Prisoner for one Year and several Months the Lord making her instrumental in his Hand to the turning many from Darkness to Light in that place and many other places where she Travelled When J. A. did grow weaker by his lingering Distemper of a sore Cough his Lungs wasting he would often complain of an inward soreness in his Breast though he seemed to look well being of a Ruddy and fair Complexion and would often say Ah! those great Meetings in the Orchard at Bristol I may not forget I would so gladly have spread my Net over all and have gathered all that I forgot my self never considering the imability of my Body but it s well my reward is with me and I am content to give up and be with the Lord for that my Soul values above all things Betwixt two and three weeks before he died he was taken as was supposed with an hective Feaver and daily it encreased upon him so that his sleep for many days and nights was taken from him in which time I was often with him being his desire and my delight to serve him in which time Friends in abundance flocked to visit him from several parts for as I said before he was a man greatly beloved of the Lord and all his People yea many of the World had a good esteem of and loved him and many times the Lord did wonderfully open his Mouth in Testimony to Friends as if he had been without sence of his Sickness to their great refreshment and exceeding joy and often he would be raised upon his Knecs upon his Bed and supplicate the Lord in the behalf of his whole Heritage and to prosper his Work in the Nation and Nations round about he said that there was nothing in all the World that he desired to live to enjoy except the comfortable enjoyment of his Friends and Brethren in the fellowship of the Life of Truth and that he might be a comfort to his dearly beloved Wife whose desolate condition he often bemoaned being so big with Child as that she was delivered of a Son about ten days after his decease but in this he said his will was in true subjection submitting to the Will of the Lord whether life or death to God he often and again committed and recommended all the whole Flock Heritage and Family of God together with his dear Wife and Child to be kept cared for and preserved saying that he would be a Husband to his desolate Widow and a tender Father to his fatherless Children often entreating his dear Wife freely to give him up to the Will and disposing of the Almighty whose he was being made acceptable in the beloved Son often sweetly comforting her in her Sorrow and great Distress making as little shew of his illness for her sake as ever he might yet we saw that he was under a great weight of Sickness and that his strength daily wasted so that in less then three weeks time after the Feaver took him he finished here and was sweetly taken to rest in the joy of the Lord for ever more it being the day of the first Month 1663. and the next day was accompanied to his Grave by many Friends and others and his Body enterred in the
largely discourse of things relating to Religion and the Duties thereof in so much that amongst a Society then gathered or separated from the common National way of Worship he became an eminent Teacher and highly esteemed of amongst them and not only so but many times he would have gone to Chappels or the Parish Steeple house where there was some Idle Sottish Priests and there would have Preached and abundance of People was taken and affected with him and in great Multitudes would have flocked after him Now being grown upward of twenty years of Age he took to Wife a Sober Vertuous and Religious Maid of the same Separated Society called Ann Newby of Kendal and the Lord made them a great Comfort and Blessing each to other while they both lived together which was about thirteen years Since the Death of her Husband the Lord by his Providence hath Blessed me with the enjoyment of her being given me to Wife But in the fulness of God's appointed time as aforesaid the Lord sent his Messenger and Servant George Fox and by the Message of Life by him Preached in the Demonstration of the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ This John Audland was reached the first time that ever he heard him and he received George Fox into his House being fully satisfied that he was one that possessed what he himself had but a notion and profession of and then by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the Light of God's eternal day he came to see the emptiness of his great Profession and high flown Notion and that all his own Righteousness was but as filthy Raggs Dross and Dung so that he sat down in silence and astonishment like Job for many daies and great and weighty was the Work of the Lord upon his Spirit being as a Man stript of all his earthly Wisdom and his Profession being confounded and brought to nought under the exercise of the Hand of the Lords Power he did Mourn and Weep bitterly biding adieu adieu to all the World and all the empty Professions therein a great Hunger and Thirst the Lord having raised in his Heart and Soul for a Saviour one of a Thousand that could give a Ransom for his Soul and redeem him from the Pit of Corruption for he saw all his great Profession all his Wisdom and Knowledge could not help him but it was the Lord alone that his Soul Thirsted for who heard his Cries and Mourning in a time acceptable and in a day of great compassion and revealed his saving Health and redeeming Arm of eternal Power in alarge measure by which he raised him up fitting and filling him with all Wisdom and Strength for the performance of that Work and Service that the Lord had predestinated himfor and to be concerned in to the Glory of his eternal Name in gathering home the out-casts of Israel and the dispersed of Jacob who had been held under a strange King in great and most grievous Bondage to which Work the Lord in a short time called him anointing him to Preach and Publish Redemption in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Poor and deliverance to the Captive exile the Year of Jubile And the day of Vengeance upon the Wicked in which Work he was found faithful being filled with power and might from on high and girded with the strength of the Almighty And leaving all outward concerns and enjoyments he faithfully Travelled through many parts of the Nation and the Dread Wisdom and Majesty of the eternal God was with him and the mighty and high exalted ones bowed before the Lord and his Power in all places wherever the Lord called him and many Hundreds were Convinced and turned to God through him as a chosen Vessel and prepared Instrument in the Hand of the Lord of Hosts Glory Glory to God for ever saith my Soul The blessed remembrance of this mighty and notable day of the Lord and the splendant breaking forth of his Glory in the Morning thereof in this Nation often and at this time breaks my Heart and makes my Spirit rejoyce in the God of my Salvation and his eternal Power and Presence that was with this and other of his faithful Servants in the first Publishing of the Gospel in this our day can never be forgotten by many but the great and blessed Work that the Lord hath wrought by the Arm of his holy Power revealed in and through his Servants is greatly to be admired for ever for many thousands of his Israel hath the Lord gathered and brought home that were afar of and hath given them a City with Foundations whose Walls and Bulwarks is Salvation in which Praises waits for him and is sounded sorth unto the Lord and the Lamb that sits upon the Throne Reigns for ever more As he was diligent and laborious in the Work and Service of the Lord in many parts of the Nation so was he furnished for that Service as the effects and Fruits thereof hath abundantly demonstrated in many places where the Lord made him as a Father through the Word of his Power and Spirit to beget and turn many to God but most especially in and about Bristol and several Counties in the West of England where many can speak and bear Testimony to the effectual working of that Word of Reconciliation that God had given him to publish by which they were turned from Darkness to the blessed Light thereof In those Countries and many others his Labours and Travels were great being often accompanied by my Father John Camm as long as he had strength outwardly to Travel their Hearts being firmly knit together as David and Jonathan by the Bond of unspeakable Love their very Lives being endearedly bound up in each other in which Bond of Love their Unity was kept inviolated unto the end whereby their Labours and Travels together were-very comfortable and joyous being perfectly of one heart and spirit and minding the same things the glory of God and the gathering of his Israel in which Service they spent their daies strength After my Father John Camm grew weak of Body and at last was taken away Oh how John Audland would often bemoan the loss of so dear a Companion and faithful Brother he being left behind to bear the Burthen of many weighty Travels and Concerns yet through and over all the Lord assisted him to the end I was from my Child-hood very intimately acquainted with him and loved him with a Brotherly Love before we were brought into the blessed Way and Life of Truth as now revealed after which we became more inwardly acquainted and endearedly bound up together in a more Heavenly and Spiritual relation the Fellowship therein being our Life and Joy and therefore can give a certain account of the Gift and Graces of God by which he was adorned and beautified inwardly and outwardly He was a Man beloved of God and all good Men and esteemed of by most that knew him of a
aforesaid burying place at Birkrigge-Park And although the departure hence of these two faithful Brethren and true Labourers in the Lords Work whose presence with and Labours amongst us was comfortable and joyous may be loss to me and many others yet in this we are satisfied that its their gain being freed from their Labours and their Works follow them and that they are entered into the Kingdom of eternall Glory where thev shall live to Magnifie the Lord World without End. Amen And though their outward Bodies be gone to the dust and therefore their bodily presence we are deprived of yet their Spirits are enjoyed and their lives are amongst us and Preaches and their Names and remembrance is and shall be a sweet Memorial and good Savour to Ages and Generations to come being numbred amongst the Lord's Worthies and the Valiants of his Israel who never turned their Backs of their Enemies neither fainted in their greatest exercises but their Bows like Josephs always abode in strength being helped by the Mighty God of Jacob before whom all Nations is but as the drop of a Bucket or the small Dust of the Ballance whose Breath doth slay the wicked and his right hand doth crush his Enemies and his blessed Work begun he hath determined to Prosper since he will finish and put an utter end to transgression that he may reveal bring in and establish his everlasting Righteousness and cover the Earth with his Truth as with a Garment and the Kingdoms of this World must become the Kingdom of the Lord and his Christ whose right it is to reign and will reign when he hath overturned and overturned till his Scepter be lifted up over all and his Government be extended from Sea to Sea and from one end of the Earth to the other and his Sion be beautified with Salvation and Jerusalem become the praise of the whole Earth even thus exalt thy name O God saith my Soul from hence-forth and for ever more That the Righteous may sing of thy Praise and tell of thy Wonderous Works and extol thy Holy Name and Power over all to reign and rule World without end Amen From Apleby Goal the place of my present confinement for the Testimony of Jesus This 14th of the 12th Month 1680. Thomas Camm The Testimony of Ann Camm concerning John Audland her late Husband deceased COncerning my dear Husband John Audland deceased I am under Obligation to bear this following Testimony as one that had the advantage beyond all others to know as well his Qualifications endowments and Gifts given him of God whether Spiritual or Temporal as also his great Labours and Travels in that blessed work and service of the Lord his Truth and People that he was in the Morning of the day called unto and preserved in in all fidelity and faithfulness to the spending of his natural strength to the end of his days and finishing of his Course here in order to be swallowed up in eternal Joy for evermore The eternal God who by his Providence joyned us together in Marriage in our young days in his blessed Counsel also caused his day to spring from on high upon us in the marvelous Light and bright shining whereof he revealed his Son Christ in us and gave us Faith to believe in him the eternal Word of Life by which our Souls came to be quickned and made alive in him and also in and by the quickning Power of his holy Power we were made one in a Spiritual and Heavenly relation our hearts being knit together in the unspeakable love of Truth which was our Life Joy and Delight and made our days together exceeding comfortable as being that whereby all our temporal enjoyments were sanctified and made a blessing unto us How exceeding dear and kindly affectionate Husband he was to me I am far short in ability to declare but in a word shall say that I believe few ever enjoyed a greater blessing in a Husband then I in him and notwithstanding that I loved his company and the enjoyment of him with me above all the World yet nevertheless in submission to the Will of God whose chosen Vessel he was and also in respect to the honourable Service of Truth and the publication thereof which he was called unto I could freely give him up as to be separated from in the outward a great part of our time after we were convinced of Gods blessed Truth and made living Witnesses of the vertuous Life and powerful Operation thereof as in this our day gloriously made known to the everlasting joy of our immortal Souls But before this blessed work came to be effected great was the warfare and inward exercise that my dear Husband underwent under the chastizing Hand of the Lord and the Spirit of Judgment and of burning that was at work in his inward parts in order to sanctifie him for the Lords own use and service for when the Lords blessed and honorable day Broke upon him he was high in Notion and Profession imagining that he had been filled with durable Riches and Wisdom but in the Light of this day he saw the emptiness of it all while he wanted the Substance Life in the eternal Word and by the same to be sanctified throughout Therefore under the sence of this great want many and great were his Sighs and Groans and his Tears not a few Days and Nights of Sorrow many a one he underwent the Word and Power of the Lord being as a Fire revealed within him to burn the great building that he had been erecting and setting up of Hay Wood and Stuubble and in this exercise I also had a share with him and in great Lamentation I have heard him often Sorrowfully say Ah! what have we been doing what have we been labouring for or what availeth our great Profession all our building tumbles down our Profession is high as the Wind the Day of the Lord is upon it and his Word as a Fire consumes it as dry Stubble and put 's an end unto all empty Professions and high Notions without Life or Substance to all the Wisdom of fallen man we must forsake the World and all its glory it s all but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit 't is a Saviour that I long for 't is him that my Soul pants after Oh! that I may be comprehended into his Life and over-shadowed with his Glory sanctified throughout by his Word and raised up by his eternal Power To this effect did his Soul often Travel before the Lord and the Lord who had called him for the purpose of his own Glory was nor unmindful of him but had regard to his blessed work begun to prosper the same that so out of the Furnace of Affliction a pure and clean Vessel might be brought forth And then the Lord plentifully poured upon him of his holy Spirit filling him with all Wisdom and Power to publish and proclaim his everlasting Gospel and to bring Glad-tidings to the poor the Day
work sake on the contrary where any was slack or negligent or taught themselves in an exalted mind it grieved his Spirit exceedingly I have known him often to lament and mourn under the exercise thereof Some time before he was taken out of the Body he had a clear sight or Vision upon his Bed I being at that time with him concerning two I shall not need to name them the Vision being fulfilled hath marked them out to all whose Eyes are open who were with him in the beginning called to the work and service of the Gospel and being in measure together with himself concerned therein yet grew slack in that work and begun to be exalted and gathered to and sought themselves and being that his Spirit was so grieved therewith and time hath given to see the clear fulfilling thereof I have had it weightily upon my Spirit for a long time as my Husband and some other Friends can bear me record to publish the same for the Glory of that eternal God that reveals his Secrets to those that fear him and by his holy Spirit gives to see things to come and also for the service of Truth and Friends and as a reproof upon the slack and exalted ones who seek themselves not the Glory of God nor the good or unity of his People upon whom its evidently fulfilled and in as much as the Lord hath made way for the foregoing Testimony relating to my dear Husband J. A. deceased in the discharge of my Conscience and to ease my Spirit of its Burthen I am engaged to insert the Substance thereof as followeth judging it both a proper place and season It was on this wise viz. He saw a very large Mine where there was very much precious Ore to be digged out but with great and hard Labour and the Lord and Master had called him with many more to Labour in this Mine in order to work and digg out this good and precious Ore and who was most dilligent in Labour was to be most liberally rewarded and the command was that they might work in every part of the Mine but must all gather to oneplace and to one heap the work prospered and became exceeding great to the glory of the Lord and their Joy comfort who were found diligent but in process of time he looked behind him upon others that were labouring and amongst them beheld two who had been antient Labourers to begin to slack and would but work where it was most easie in their own time and by their own appointment not regarding the command of their Lord and not only so but when they found a piece of Ore more rich and goodly then some other whether it was of their own digging or no they did gather it to another private heap of their own for themselves to their own benefit and not the Lords whereupon he cryed out in the grief and bitterness of his exercise to see such disobey the Lords command in gathering to their own heap Ah! Lord it was thy command that we should all work at thy appointment and gather to one heap and for a time it was so and thy Heap encreased and Work prospered but now there 's two that 's begun to gather to themselves to their own heap and not to thee And being in a great exercise of mind and Spirit he a woke and the power of the Lord was upon him and did make him Tremble very much and under the sence of what he had seen he did sigh and mourn greatly whereupon I asked him what was the occasion of so great exercise and he told me with much Sorrow what he had seen concerning those two Labourers that had been called to the work and gathering to the Lord with him and many others and whilest faithful were loved with a Brotherly love for their works sake and further told me that the thing would come to pass and be fulfilled in a few years as certainly it is as many can testifie yet notwithstanding Gods gathering goes forward and his heap daily encreases and the idle slack unfaithful and the self-gatherers shall be covered with Rags and shall have their Portion with the rebellious in a dry Land. Before his departure he would often be speaking of his being taken from me desiring me to be content therewith for the Lord would care for me and by his heavenly Providence order for the supply of my want of him as I kept my trust in the Lord And truly even so it hath come to pass blessed be the Lord who hath blessed me with the enjoyment of another faithful Husband according to my Hearts desire to my unspeakable comfort so that I might justly reflect upon my self for great ingratitude if I should not both humbly and thankfully acknowledge the care and blessing of my God to be exceeding large and great for which my Soul is under Obligation for ever to extol and magnifie his holy living and powerful Name And thus having in the fore-going Testimony cleared my Spirit as it lived with me in the sight of God I shall conclude with an humble Address to his heavenly Majesty in the behalf of all his gathered ones that they may be kept and preserved in all faithfulness and holy Obedience by the Arm of his everlasting power that having run their race and finished their course they may with their Brethren that are gone before be swallowed up in immortallity for evermore and that by the same eternal Arm that hitherto hath not only girded me with strength to undergo many Trials and deep exercises but also hath been abundantly stretched forth to double and redouble blessings both spiritual and temporal upon me I may be assisted to answer the unspeakable Mercies of my God in all Faithfulness and holy Obedience and having fought the good fight of faith and finished my course with joy in the fulness of Gods appointed time being made acceptable in the beloved Son I may enter into that eternal Kingdom of Glory that 's prepared for the faithful into which my late dear Husband with a Remnant of faithful Brethren are already entered to rest with the Lord in the heavenly enjoyment of them and together with them to Laud and Praise his honourable Name in the Highest World without end Amen Amen Camsgil the 4th day of the 2th Month 1681. Ann Camm A Testimony to the glorious Morning of the Day of unexpressible Visitation of the Love of God in particular to the City of Bristol and adjacent Parts and to the great and mighty Power of the Lord appearing in and with his two precious Servants Jobn Camm and John Audland who came to the City in the year 1654. AFter the long and tedious Night of Apostacy spread over Nations and dismal Darkness over People it pleased the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to visit this Northern Island and first the Northern part thereof with the Morning of his ever blessed day from whence came the aforesaid blessed
World departed Oh! the strippings of all needless Apparel and the forsaking of superfluities in Meats Drinks and in the plain self-denying Path we walked having the fear and dread of God on our Souls that we were afraid of offending in word or deed our Words were few and savory our Apparel and Houses plain being stripped of superfluities our Countenances Grave and Deportments Weighty amongst those we had to do with Indeed we were a plain broken-hearted contrite spirited self-denying people our Souls being in an unexpressible Travel to do all things well-pleasing in the Sight of God for our great concern night and day was to obtain through Jesus Christ the Great work of Salvation and thereby an assurance of the everlasting Rest and Sabboth of our God and in those days Oh! the unexpressible Labour Travels and spending of the Strength of these Servants of the most high God in great Assemblies in that City and Countries round about our Meetings were so large that we were forced to meet without doors and that in Frost and Snow In which Meetings Oh! the extending of Voice of these Servants of God to reach over these great multitudes when several thousands have been assembled together and as the Work of the Lord increased so the Enemy was at work in Priests and People in those dayes who stirred up the Youth of the City into a tumulting like the men of Ephesus and once we had a very great tumult that the Streets were crowded and these two Servants of the Lord were seized upon by the multitude and were in great hazard But the Lord signally delivered them as in dayes past he had done his Servants on such occasions and all came to be quieted and our Meetings peaceable and many grew in Grace and in the Knowledge of God and Christ Jesus which is Eternal Life much more of particulars I might write but affecting brevity for several reasons I say in short such was the effectual working of the Almighty Power of God and makings bare of his Arm of Salvation that attended those Servants of the most High and the great work of our Gospel meeting with the various Trials and exercises that attended them and us that were the fruits of their Labours in the Lord that my Tongue cannot express what I was an eye and ear witness of and a Soul sharer in Therefore to the God of this bright Morning of our day of Visitation ariseth springs up as in Covenant with himself through Christ Jesus holy heavenly high Praises Might Majesty and Dominion is ascribed to the Lord God and the Lamb. So let it be saith my spirit in fear and trembling through Ages and Generation for ever and evermore Ameu And now dear Friends every where but more particularly in and about the City of Bristol who have seen the Morning of the day of God break forth in our Age as aforesaid and by the divine Light thereof have seen the darkness that has covered the people expelled in which darkness people have been Ignorant of the true and living God and his precious work of Salvation in which ignorance they have performed their worship even in the same nature that they are sinning and rebelling and grieving the Good Spirit of God which all ought to be subject too now it pleasing the divine Being in his infinite love and tender pity and compassion to look down upon us whilest in the Land of Egypt and House of Bondage spiritually and to send forth his Light and Truth to give us a sence inwardly of the deplorable states of our Souls in the separation from and depravation of the enjoyments of the Lord which sence and sight begat in us living Breathings and a holy Cry after the knowledge of him we saw our selves ignorant of and he in the fulness of the Dispensation of time visited us as afore mentioned of which dear Friends we were right glad although when the Lord discovered our states he laid Judgment to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet and gave to us the Cup of Trembling in which was the Wine of Astonishment which was in mercy to our Poor Souls that could not be redeemed but by Judgment poured on the nature that had separated us from God and on us as joyned thereunto and here although Sin revived we begun to dye to it O Good day and precious season worthy worthy both to be remembred by us and our Off-spring through Generations for although it was the season of the Administration of Condemnation yet was it glorious and in this season the Almighty God by his spiritual Trumpet sounded to us that the end of this his spiritual Appearance was to root out lay waite and utterly destroy the nature of Sin and Iniquity that had divided and separated us from God and hindred the good things from us of his Heavenly power and Kingdom and we were perswaded the set time was come for clensing and sanctifying the Temple and fitting it for the pure immortal God and did not we begin inward as in the day of Hezekiah that the Temple might be clensed throughly in every part for in the outward Temple they clensed first the inward part of the House of the Lord and so came along to the Porch until the Temple was throughly clensed Indeed in the Morning of our precious Day of Visitation the Ax was laid to the Root of the corrupt Tree and the Hammer to the hard Rocky Heart and the spiritual Fire kindled in the Stubble Now dear Friends in the Word of Truth I say unto you search with the holy Light of Christ Jesus how this work has prospered in your Souls see whether you that knew a right beginning first in the inward part have come along faithfully in the work of Sanctifying the Heart and the Temple from the inward part to the outside see whether the Root has not escaped the Ax the rocky Heart the Hammer and the Chaff the Fire for if it has the cause is not in the Lord nor in his Power but in your disobedience and negligence going from the Ax Hammer and Fire and so sparing the best as disobedient Saul and Israel did so the Root of bitterness sprang up against the work of God and bringings forth of his heavenly wisdom To the holy plain speaking Witness of God I speak earnestly desiring and entreating all to have a single regard to that which will duely and rightly apply these things and let all see whether that nature be alive that the holy Power of the Lord did work against in the beginning and if so see the cause which being seen will deeply humble and seize on the spirits of all concerned Oh! what a day have we had how has the good Husbandman been at work in his Vineyard how did he plant in a fruitful Hill with the choicest Vine he digged pruned and gathered out the Stones and Hedged and Walled about and after all he looked for good Fruit but where the unspeakable
our Ministry begotten into a lively hope in Christ Jesus by the immortal Seed of the Word of God and ye are our Witnesses that we seek not our selves but you nor our own good but the Glory of our God and the recovery of his own Image and the freedom of the Righteous that the Name of our God may be exalted and that he may reign over all and have Dominion in every one of you that you may witness your Head exalted dwell in the pure eternal Light of Christ Jesus which doth discover and make manifest all the deeds of darkness and lays open all deceit and brings it to the righteous Law of God and so condemns Sin in the Flesh and sets up judgment in the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof learn righteousness and when this is witnessed the Oppressor is cast out and the Vail is rent and the bonds of Iniquity is broken and the Serpents Head is bruised and the Seed of the Woman raised which all the Promises of God are yea and Amen unto yea and he fetches up out of time into the beginning before Sin was and leads up into eternity where time shall be no more and therefore dear Hearts all wait in that which you have received the Light which comes from Christ that by it you may come to injoy the pure Life and have Power over all your Enemies for as many as receive him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God and gives them victory over the World to tread and to trample upon it and therefore all of you dwell low and in the pure fear of the Lord abide and in his Counsel stand and be faithful in what you know and imp ove it to the glory of the immortal God that you may be the good Servants and enter into the Joy of your Lord and as you dwell low in meekness and in the pure Fear there you will find the Lord present teaching you and leading you gently by the Hand and open unto you a door of hope and the fresh springs will be opened and the thirsty Land will be refreshed and so you will come to witness the spring time after the Winter be past and the Roses to bud and the Flowers to cast a sweet smel upon the Earth but this is to you my little Ones who is come and coming through the Sword which cuts down the earthly man of Sin it is to you who witness great Tribulation who knows the Day of the Lord to be a day of darkness and not Light and that it is a day that will and doth burn up all the wicked as Stubble and scatter them as the Wind scatters the Chaff and his is the Figure and they who are wicked may read their Portion for the Childrens Bread must not the Dogs have but unto you that fear the Name of the Lord shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing under his Wings and the Secrets of the Lord will be revealed unto you and you shall want no manner of thing that is good as you abide in his Fear and stand in his Will in the daily Cross which Crucifies the Earthly man and works out that nature which hath Crucified the Just and Righteous One and so as you dwell and are faithful to the Light you come to injoy the Life and grow up in the Life and the pure Eye will be more opened in you by which the Enemy the Tempter will be seen and now you had need to stand upon your watch for the Devil like a roaring Lyon will seek to devour you and Pharaoh will pursue you as you come from under his kingdom and dominion and therefore what I say unto one I say unto all watch and be sober stand with your armour on the whole Armour of God by which you may be able to drive back all the fiery Darts of the Enemy and have Oyl in your Lamps burning continually and all who have desires after the Lord whose minds is convinced of the Eternal Truth in that which doth convince you dwell and wait for the Power of the Lord to shake the Earth and rent the Rocks and melt the Mountains and remove the Earth out of its place and the Heart to purge and cleanse and make a place of holiness of the Lord of Hosts to dwell in and when the Lord comes this to do in you dwell in and love judgment that so Sion may be set free And so all dear Hearts wait in your Measures which you have received of the Lord and in them be faithful that so you may increase in the increases of God and have dominion over all the Beast of the Field and the Fowles of the Aire and Fishes in the Sea and over all unclean Spirits and be kept pure in your places that so the Lord God may dwell amongst you and delight to do you good So the Eternal Everlasting Love of God keep you all and preserve you pure in your Measures that he alone may be glorified and exalted over all to reign in you and that all that oppress him and his Goverment in you may be destroyed and this is the desire and prayer to God for you of us who dearly loves you who desires nothing but that the Lord may be Glorified in you and by you so fare you all well and the God of Power keep you now and evermore Amen Yours in the Bond of Love which cannot be broken from its own Image This is to all who love the the Lord Jesus Christ in Truth and sincerity at and about Bristol and Aulston to be read amongst you all our dear Ones John Camm John Camm's Letter to Friends in Bristol from Preston Patraick in Westmorland LOving Friends of Bristol and all round about who are faithful in your Measures and with the prosperity of Sion I have writ a Letter to be read amongst you all and that you may read it within your selves and witness it and with that I have union which witnesseth it in Life but with that which is in Knowledge and Comprehension without Life I have no union but by that which I have union with shall it be judged and condemned for it shall try all and condemn all that is not of it self but acted in the earthly Wisdom and it will not stand in the presence of the Lord who is pure and all shadows shall fly before him and therefore in the the substance dwell which comprehends the shadows and so I bid you all farewel J. C. DEarly beloved Friends in our Head the Lord Jesus Christ doth my Soul Salute you all who are faithful in your Measures and obedient to the Light of Christ Jesus which is made manifest in you which being faithful in will lead you up to Christ your Head to exalt him over all in you all that he may reign whose right it is in you and that his Scepter of Righteousness maybe swayed in you and the strong man armed may be bound and spoilled
is not malicious and in this thou art a false accuser and in saying I am a Seducer thou art a Slanderer I charge thee to prove it and in what which thou hast not yet done though thou rail upon me and I did not write maliciously against any much less against Godly Magistrates and faithful Ministers but Godly Magistrates I own and honour in the Lord and faithful Ministers I have unity withal and brethren in iniquity are denied therefore thee I do deny who a worker of iniquity art found and from the presence of the Lord shut among the Serpent Generation who in scorn calls us Quakers and the word is against thee who art feeding upon dust and going upon thy Belly and the Word of the Lord even the word of Truth is against thee who art an accuser of the Brethren and rewarded must thou be according to ' thy deeds and though thou hast named that Book the Innocent Delivered yet let all take notice who reads thy filthy Paper that thou hast not answered any one thing there demanded neither confuted any one answer in that Book so the snare remains broken and the Innocent is delivered and he that digged a pit into it himself falls and the Scripture is fulfilled they that help and he that is holpen both fall together And whereas thou sets down many Scriptures as of blind guides Serpents Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites whited Sepulchres and writest Ye Serpents ye Vipers how can ye escape the damnation of Hell ye are they that justifie your selves before men but that which is highly esteemed amongst men is an abomination to the Lord. Relpy In that which is an abomination to the Lord thou art which is esteemed amongst men and these Scriptures were spoken to thy Generation and upon thy own Head they are returned for we seek not the praise of men neither have we the praise of men and therefore it is that the Blind guides Vipers Serpents gather themselves together against the Truth which by the Power of God is now spreading a witness against all deceit and deceivers Thou sayest thou writest directly to thee John Audland and usest these words thou hypocrite why hath Satan filled thy heart to lye against the Holy Ghost why boastest thou thy self in mischief O mighty man thy Tongue deviseth mischief like a sharp Rasor thou lovest evil more then good thou lovest all devouring words O thou deceitful Tongue God shall destroy thee for ever And sayest Paul set his eyes on Elimas the Sorcerer and said as I may say to thee John Audland O full of subtilty and all mischief thou Child of the Devil and sayest repent of this thy wickedness for I perceive thou art in the gall and bitterness and in the Bond of iniquity and many such works thou writest Reply Take it to thy self who art of the Generation to which it was spoken for home to thee do I return it who art in the bitterness and in the gall loving all devouring words these things comes not neer me but over thy head do I rejoyce the misery will fall upon thy self and thy unclean Spirit the Lord rebuke a false accuser thou art and a Slanderer I do not love evil more than good if I had I should not have become thine Enemy neither am I in the gall of bitterness or bond of iniquity thou hast uttered that which thou knowest not for if thou hadst known what this means I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice thou wouldst not have condemned the innocent And whereas thou sayest judge not that thou be not judged and judge nothing before the time and with what measure thou meetest it shall be measured to thee again and writest against others for railing and judging Reply Thou art inexcusable who judgest another and dost the same thing thy Mouth is full of railing lying false accusing which proceeds out of the abundance of thy Heart as in thy Book appears and out of thy own Mouth thou art condemned and this I demand whether calling others Serpents Vipers full of all mischief Children of the Devil be not judging and if this be not then shew the difference between this and judging thou hast gone about to confute that the Saints are not to judge and that confutes thee who yet knows not a Saints Life and art so blind thou cannot behold that thou alloweth thy self in the thing which thou condemneth and with what measure thou measurest it shall be measured to thee again good weight shalt thou receive from the hand of the Lord who art weighed and found as Chaff which the Wind drives to and fro In thy 7th page thou beseecheth all who shall read thy Book upon consideration of the premises which is these things before mentioned to avoid and abandon the Meetings Books erroneous Doctrines and hellish Blasphemies of this new upstart impious Generation Reply All who knows the Lord and reads thy Book will avoid thee and it and have no fellowship with such unfruitful works of Darkness thou hast forgotten judge not and thou Hypocrite first cast out the beam thy envious Spirit which fomes like the Sea casting up filth swells beyond its bounds but thou art limited as all thy impious Generation have been and by the Power of the Lord are we preserved from thy errors and hellish Blasphemy and thy railing and slandering return upon thy self fruitless Tree upon which no Grapes are gathered Thou sayest what Paul said to the Galatians the same thou wilt say to the giddy-headed People of the Church of England Reply The true Church is in God builded upon the true Rock and is not giddy-headed here thou manifests the fruits of the Teachers who so long hath taught and had so much for teaching and the Church of England yet giddy-headed but the Lord is coming to gather his people into the true Fold from the mouths of all Idol Shepherds and to teach his People himself that they may be established in righteousness Thou sayest Paul taught the Romans and in them us first that it is the imputed Righteousness of Christ only that makes us just in the sight of God. Secondly that our election is of Gods free Grace Thirdly that me are justified only by faith in the Sight of God without good works Fourthly that the Scriptures are of divine authority Reply Silence flesh before the Lord upon the Children of disobeience shall the Wrath of God be revealed own thy Portion what Paul said to such as thee thou must witness a change before that which Paul wrote to the Romans be to thy condition the Lord is our Righteousness and our Justification and by his Grace we are saved who hath elected us and chosen us in Christ Jesus who hath all power and authority committed unto him and upon whose Shoulders the Government is laid but from thy earthly wisdom is the Election and the Faith hid who art without good works and belyes the Apostle and ignorant art of the Letter which kills Fifthly
Then further thou saith it being in September George Cowlishaw being asked by the said Coppinger if there had been none of those People called Quakers at Bristol he answered no now this is false some of us who is so called was then at Bristol and here I shall take many People to witness against thee for we had Meetings then in Bristol the tenth day of the Mouth called September we had a Meeting at the Fort the thireenth day of the same Month a Meeting at the Red-Lodge in Bristol and at both Meetings there were several Hundreds of People and likewise a Meeting at Fieltin the fifteenth day of the same Month and the seventeenth day we had a Meeting at Bishford and Hundreds went out of the City of Bristol to that Meeting the nineteenth day we had another Meeting at the Red-Lodge and several other Meetings we had in about Bristol in the same Month called September which will all bear witness against thee that thy slander is false and thy Oath false who saith we were at Bristol in September which he hath said on his Oath we were not and here I have proved thy information false again it is full of confusion who saith that Coppinger said that none came so near him as the Quakers and that he met with two in London of his own order and yet he saith to the Informant if that he loved his Religion and his Soul he should not hear them and yet saith they came near him and was of his own order which is false we deny such Lyers and their Order and here he is proved to be in confusion let all that can discern judge Again the man that took the Oath as thou sayest said that Coppinger was one of the Franciscan company and had taken upon him the Order at Rome or Italy here the Informant hath made himself guilty of and liable to the Law in such cases provided who was privy to him who said he had taken up that Order and did not discover him but let him go and then accuseth those that are Innocent which bear the Name of Quakers Now here thou art made manifest to be a false Accuser and a Slanderer I have proved that we came to the City of Bristol in the Month called July before the Fair and likewise that we were at those Meetings before-mentioned and several other Meetings we were at in and about Bristol in the Month called September and this Oath before-mentioned being the ground of a Warrant given forth by the Magistrates of Bristol and several of our Names therein expressed we who had been at Bristol whose names were there mentioned came all forth of Westmoreland near unto Kendal none of us having never been out of the Nation but we lived and walked in and at our own Habitations as that Country can bear witness to our Places and Beings and here your Lyes and Slanders are made to appear and utterly denyed and William Prynne here thou art clearly detected who slanderest the Innocent living in the Spawn thou speaks of the Poison of Asps being under thy Tongue and spuing out thy Venom against the harmless and thy Informant is proved to be guilty in not discovering the man he speaks of which he hath on his Oath said that he confessed to him he had been at Rome and taken upon him the order of a Fryer of the Franciscan company Now here let all people take notice of the dealings of the Magistrates who gave out a Warrant against the Innocent whom they cannot justly prove any thing against whereof they do accuse them and yet lets him go free who concealed the said Coppinger which on his Oath declared that the said Coppinger confessed himself to be one of that Order and we deny all of his Order who lives in lyng and confusion or any such to speak amongst us for we know the Voice of Christ from the Voice of the Stranger so the Devil being the Father of Lyes and a Lye being thy Foundation thou art taken with a Lye in thy Mouth and so adds Lye unto Lye and builds one Lye upon another and then thou cryes against thy own Lyes for thou canst prove no such thing by us as thou accusest us of saying that the Quakers use inchanted Potion Bracelets Ribbands Sorcery and Witchcraft which is false and thou like the raging Sea casts up thy mire and dirt O! thou full of all mischief and Enemy to all Righteousness I charge thee or any of thy Companions of the same Order who lives in lying to prove any such thing by us and make it appear publickly as thou hast accused us or let thy Mouth be stopped and own thy condemnation and confess thy deceipt and call in thy filthy Paper and take shame to thy self for know this that the Lord God will plead with thee for all thy hard speeches and justly by him shalt thou be rewarded and we utterly deny and do bear witness against all such filthy wayes and practises of all such Frogs as thou mentions and against thee who prints Lyes as I have already proved and Lyars must be cast into the Lake and here I have found thee and proved thee in the intoxicated giddy-headed condition thou speaks of who art already deceived and need be deceived no farther and thou art fallen into the Pit thou digged and they for whom thy Net was spread being Innocent are escaped and thy folly is unmasked and thou art clearly detected and proved to be in error in thy very Foundation and so all thy building is made void and if thou cannot begin upon better evidence let thy Mouth for ever be stoped and let shame cover thy Lips and repent of the evil of thy wayes lest the Wrath of the Lord break out against thee and there be no remedy to the Light in thy Conscience I speak and remember that thou are warned Friend thy Spirit is savoured and tryed and now this is the end of thy zeal who art become a Persecutor of the Life which thou hast professed in words and now thy zeal appears without the knowledge of God and so there is many unsavoury speeches in thy Paper put forth by thee William Prynne which worth the mentioning are not but thou hast manifested the end of thy Profession who appears now to be one of those giddy headed English men thou speaks of and as touching leading silly Women Captive laden with sin and led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth to thee this home shall I return who appears to be in this state learning alwayes and silly for how many years hast thou been learning and now dost resist the Truth with thy unclean Spirit as Jannes and Jambers did the Children of Israel which was comming out of Egypt with their corrupt Spirits So with what Measure thou measurest it shall be measured to thee again good weight running over pressed down And Friend in the day of
know it But I know thee to act contrary to them who would take from me who have received nothing from thee And here let the practice of the Ministers of Christ bear Witness against thee that thou art no Minister of Christ from the Lord God do I charge thee that thou art no Minister of Christ who art out of the Doctrine of Christ and doth not live the Life as they did who was sent of Christ for they never Sued any at the Law for Earthly things whatsoever shew me one Example out of the Scriptures of any of the Prophets or Apostles or any of the Ministers that ever did any such thing then take it and follow their Example otherwise thou shewest thy self openly to walk contrary to all that ever Christ sent and to Christ himself and his Commands and art found in the steps of the false Prophets false Shepherds who sought for their Gain from their Quarters as they do that taught for the Fleece as thou makest it appear thou do'st and held up the filthy horrible thing which thou hold'st up the Priests bearing Rule by their Means which is a filthy thing and the false Prophets prepared War against them that did not put into their Mouths as thou do'st against me because I do not put into thy Mouth and here be witness against thy self that thou art in the steps of the false Porphets and the false Teachers which loved the Wages of Unrighteousness and followed the Error of Balaam which thou followest and to take Wages from me for whom thou hast done no Work neither did I ever hire thee or set thee to work This cannot but be Unrighteous Wages to the Light in thy Conscience I speak here let the Life that they lived in that gave forth the Scriptures judge thee and condemn thy practice for the Holy Men of God did not so therefore give over calling thy self a Minister and either make proof of thy Ministry and walk according to the Example of them that were sent of God otherwise I do deny thee and I may not put into thy Mouth although thou prepare War against me for I must walk according to the Commands of Christ and his Apostles though thou wilt not Now blame not me that I walk according to the Scriptures and turn away from proud and Covetous Men such as thee for if I should uphold thee in thy ways which is contrary to the Way of God I should be guilty of thy Sins and might pertake of thy Plagues Now thou art warned if thou goest on in thy Deceit I am clear of thee thy Blood be upon thy own head And now Friend seeing thou professest thy self to be a Minister of Christ thou ought'st to convince me by sound Doctrine and in plain Words I desire thee to shew and prove how I became indebted to thee For no Man would I hinder of his Right neither would I owe any thing to any Man but love This I do acknowledge that the Labourer is worthy of his Hire and the Work-man is worthy of his Meat Now shew when I hired thee or what Work thou hast done for me no Tradesman in the Nation can force their Wares upon me contrary to my mind much less take my Goods from me when I have none of their Ware When did'st thou Plow for me When did'st thou Thresh for me When did'st thou tread out Corn for me Art thou the Ox that treads out the Corn whose mouth must not be muzled Or art thou one of the evil Beasts and slow Bellies who for fi thy Lucre subverts whole Hearts whose Mouth must be stoped Shew me by what Scripture-ground thou claim'st Tythes to be thine and whether ever the Ministers of Christ took Tythes of the People And where ever they took by force from them for whom they did not work and whether the Priest-hood be not changed which received Tythes and whether the Commandment be not disanulled by which the Priests receied Tythes and whether Christ be not the end of the Law which Law made many Priests and whether is not the Law changed as well as the Priest-hood and where did ever Man provide maintenance by a Law for the Ministers of God or whether did not the Lord provide for them and opened the Hearts of People to receive them and where did any Minister of God take by force from them whose Hearts were not opened to receive them Give me a reasonable Answer concerning these things for I would owe nothing but love to any Man and that which is right according to Gospel Order and maintenance allowed by Christ thou shalt have povirded if thou prove thy self a Minister of Christ and abide in his Doctrine now shew thy self whose Servant thou art for he that abides not in Christ's Doctrine hath not God and such I may not follow nor receive into my House Read this to the People which thou profestest to be a Teacher unto and either clear thy self from these things or else stop thy Mouth and confess thy self to be a Hireling John Andland The Suffering Condition of the Servants of the Lord at this day Vindicated And some Reasons given why the People called Quakers do own the Doctrine of Christ to continue in it and to meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord to wait upon him and Worship him in Spirit and Truth notwithstanding they meet with sufferings in this present time for so doing THe good and blessed Day of the Lord is come and the Heavenly Visitation of Life wherein the Light of Righteousness is springing up unto many People and many have received the Blessed Visitation of the Lord and are made partakers of his Heavenly Power by which they are quickened and raised up unto newness of Life to serve him and to follow him in Truth and Righteousness and the blessed Day wherein the Lord Visited us and the notable Works which the Lord hath wrought and his noble Acts which he hath done are not by us to be forgotten but are recorded in our Hearts as things remarkable and considerable to be remembered by us while we have a being upon the Earth and that with fear and reverence in our Hearts unto the Lord our God who is great and mighty whom we have known to execute Judgment in Righteousness to the judging and bringing down of that which was once exalted for when the acceptable Year of the Lord came unto us Judgement was laid to the Line and the Lord did arise to shake terribly the Earth the loftiness of man was bowed down and the haughtiness of man was laid low that the Lord alone might be exalted and the Earth reeled to and fro and was removed like a Shepherd's Tent and the Light of Israel was as a Fire and the Holy One as a Flame to burn up the Thorns and the Thickets in a Day many Faces gathered paleness and Hearts grew weak and Knees feeble and many had their Hands upon their Loins because
of the great Travel that was upon them because of the mighty Power of the Lord which was made manifest in them for the bringing down of that which had been exalted against him and for the restoration of the oppressed Captive that deliverance might be known from the power of Satan and from the bondage of Corruption that we being set free wherein we were held might serve the Lord in Truth and Singleness of Heart and wait upon him and follow the leadings of his Spirit in the exercise of our Hearts and minds in Serving and Worshiping the Lord our God And so the God of Heaven hath revealed and made manifest the Way of Life and Peace the Way wherein Comfort and Satisfaction to the Soul is found the Gate of Mercy even the entrance to the everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Joy for evermore which although it be strait and narrow and a cross to the fleshly part and earthly ground and wisdom yet it is easie pleasent and delightful living in the Spirit and becoming little even as a Child for so must he become that enters in at the strait Gate to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God So we have found the way of everlasting Peace through the rich Mercy and tender Visitation of the Lord walking in the Spirit and living in that which mortifies the deeds of the Flesh being subject to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Here is rest to the Soul here is the sweet Visitations of the Lord known which are as the former and latter Rain to refresh the lowly in Heart and Poor in Spirit Here waiting upon the Lord the strength is renewed and here the Lord speaks Peace to People even as they are in Christ the Power of God growing up in him who is the Truth and the Life they are possessors of lasting Peace which God speaks not to the wicked which is the Portion of the upright in Heart and as the Lord hath made manifest the way of Peace Life and everlasting Happiness he hath also discovered the contrary even the way of misery darkness and destruction the way which is broad and many in the lusts of the Flesh take pleasure in it following the motions of the Flesh and the desires of the carnal mind resisting the motions of Gods good Spirit and hating the blessed Light of the Lord Jesus Christ and so spend away their precious time and in this state that is to say in the Flesh resisting the Spirit of the Lord they cannot serve God nor please him nor worship him in Truth though they may profess him in words and draw near him with their Mouth yet being in the Flesh contrary to the Spirit of Truth the Ear turned away from hearing of God's Law their Prayers are Abomination their plowing is Sin their sacrifice is as Cain's not accepted by the Lord no Peace from God no ture Rest no Satisfaction no beholding the Countenance of the Lord nor no assurance of the Eternal Inheritance which never fades away but an earnest of wrath pain misery anguish and trouble which will come upon all who live and dye in Disobedience of the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ And so we see the Way of Life to all that believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and the way of death to all who live in unrighteousness and are not changed by the power of God and translated from Death to Life and from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God. And these things are of great concernment unto us and we see it is very needful to wait upon the Lord and to follow the motions of his Spirit that we may feel his Power to preserve us in his Will out of the evil of the World that so in the Power of the Lord our God we may war a good Warfare and finish our Course with joy And verily this a matter of great weight unto us even to have our hearts exercised towards the Lord in obedience to his Will in what he requireth of us that we may have a Conscience void of offence towards him And so the Day of the Lord God being come and his Eternal Power made known in many hearts by which many are raised to serve him and obey him yea to worship him according to his own Will and the leadings of his good Spirit We are even constrained by the Power of the Lord to meet together in his Name and Fear to wait upon him and to worship him and also to exhort one another in his holy Power as the Spirit of the Lord directs yea and so much the more as the day appeareth And this we find also to be according to the Scriptures of Truth and practice of the Servants of the Lord in former dayes who did not forsake the assembling of themselves together but met often and sometime in one place and sometime in another as they were directed in the fear of the Lord And they that feared the Lord spake often one unto another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord in the day that I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him And this was in a time when the proud were called happy and they that wrought wickedness were set up and they that tempted God were delivered yet even in such a time did they that feared the Lord speak often together and also in the time when the Gospel of Christ was published by the Apostles and Ministers of Jesus many were brought into the obedience of the Truth and were gathered from the Jews Worship and way of service and they to wit the Jews could plead more justly for the Antiquity of their way of Worship and their order in their Worship then many who this day profess themselves to be Christians and a reformed Church and in that time did they meet together sometime in a Chamber sometime in an House and sometime in an upper Room as the Lord directed them and as they had opportunities and gathered Churches which met at Houses and waited upon the Lord and exhorted one another and might all speak one by one as the Spirit of the Lord led them that all might hear and all be comfored And we do not read that the Jews made a Law or the Romans either who at that time had the Principality that they should not meet above four together or if they meet five or above they should be fined Indeed the Jews who believed not were bad enough and persecuted the Saints from City and haled out of Houses they that professed the Name of Jesus and sometimes scourged them but they are evil examples to be followed and its pitty that any who profess themselves Christians should do the like to any that meet
his hand and power against them that so turn their hand and power against his people for obeying him and exercising their Consciences towards him in waiting upon him and worshipping him according to that which he hath made manifest to them and such will be more inexcusable for persecuting now than the Jews were in former dayes for then the Saints met together and professed the Name of Jesus which the Jews did not say they believed in Besides it was in appearance such a new way and so different to the Law and manner of Worship which the Jews had that they had some seeming colour in their way but now for they that profess the Name of Christ and the Sicrptures of the New-Testament and the Saints Practice and Christ's Commands to be obeyed for these all things considered to persecute people for owning the Commands of Christ for practising the same things which they cannot but read the Saints practised and to hale people and commit them to Prison for meeting in the Name of Jesus to Worship God and to wait upon him yea and to be so far from cherishing such as to act the very parts of them that made havock of the Church and haled out both Men and Women and was exceedingly mad and caused some to Blaspheme and committed to Prison for the same things it doth appear to be great evil and to be even Sin against knowledge against their own Prefession as Christans and cannot be parallel'd with any of the Saints but with the Persecutors who hated and evilly entreated the Servants of the Lord in former Ages who never could accomplish their end though they caused many to suffer and now to put all out of doubt and to give all who opposeth the People of God in the way of God an absolute answer that they shall not be able to accomplish their end and therefore it would be far better to be quiet and to mind the Royal Law of Christ lest they by acting contrary do bring innocent suffering and Blood upon their own Heads and incur God's heavy Yoke of displeasure against them yea and a Fire be kinded in their own Bowels and a Worm which shall not dye and a dart strike through the Heart and Liver and so the end be as bitter as Worm-wood and as sharp as a two edged Sword these are Instruments of War which the Lord hath in his Quiver which is reserved for the Day of Battel when God pleads with all Flesh by Fire and by his Sword when the slain of the Lord shall be many when he will rain Snares upon the wicked Fire and Brimstone and grievous Tempests this is the Potion of their Cup But indeed we do desire the Conversion and Salvation even of our Persecutors and therefore to put all out of doubt as is before said that there is no prevailing against the Lord nor against the Sion of the Holy One in whom the Lord is We say the living God of Heaven and Earth hath made manifest unto us the Way to Life and called us to walk in it and united our Hearts together as many as live in his Power to serve him and to wait upon him and to meet together to Worship him in Spirit and Truth and we are perswaded to obey the Lord and believe in the Lord that he will strengthen us in his Way and Will unto the end For our strength is in the Lord and not of our selves who hath called us to follow him through good report and bad report and not to deny his Way because of sufferings but to endure in patience and let the Lord plead our cause in the Hearts of his Enemies Obj. And if any say Why will you not swear And why will you meet seeing there is a Law against you Ans For these two things we say We dare not disobey the Lord for fear of punishment or suffering outwardly and we meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord Because the Lord God of Life requireth it of us that we should meet in his Name and Power and wait upon him and edifie one another in his Love and Life and in our Meetings waiting upon the Lord we have the presence of the living God of Life with us and the feeling of the vertue of his Love in our Hearts and he lifts up his Countenance upon us yea and comforteth us by his free Spirit whereby we know and are assured that it is according to the mind and will of the Lord and that he speaks Peace unto us And this being the real Truth let all the honest-hearted judge how we can in Conscience leave that which God requireth of us in obedience to which we have God's presence with us and do that which Man requireth of us contrary to the Truth in observing of which we should fall into Condemnation and feel God's anger and the Testimony of his Spirit against us to judge us which would be greater sufferings in the inward Man then all the outward sufferings which we may meet with for in these being faithful the Lord comforteth our Hearts 2. Again We meet together to wait upon the Lord because we fear the Lord God he hath placed his Fear in our Hearts and we know him to be great and mighty a great King above all Kings and a great God above all God s that is able to do whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth and in the Kingdoms of men and we know he is worthy to be Worshipped and to have the Heart given up unto him for he hath Power to change the Heart which Men by all their force cannot do and to give true and lasting Peace which the World can never take away and his Fear being in our Hearts we account him Lord and Ruler in our Consciences and worthy to be obeved in Heart Soul and Spirit And because we fear him more than Man we are bound in Duty to obey him for he hath power over both Soul and Body which Man hath not for Man can but kill the Body he hath not power to kill the Soul neither hath he power to redeem the Soul neither can Man convert the Soul by any force or penalty outwardly therefore Man doth but labour in vain for he can neither kill nor cure the Soul but the Lord whom we fear hath Power and is able to kill and to make alive And because we fear him more than Man therefore we chuse to obey him rather than Man and to meet in God's Fear And this being our Condition let the sober-hearted judge How can we deny the Lord who hath all Power and hath quickned us and redeemed our Souls from Death and go to obey Man contrary to Christ's Doctrine who hath no power over the Soul. Surely as we stand in God's Fear and Counsel we may not do this Evil and Sin against our God. 3. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord because God hath made it manifest to us and perswaded