So they said little to me nor I much to them But after a little while Col. Kirby came in and then I spake to him and told him I came to Visit him understanding that he would have seen me and to know what he had to say to me and whether he had any thing against me He said before all the Company As he was a Gentleman he had nothing against me But said he Mistress Fell must not keep great Meetings at her House for they meet contrary to the Act. I told him That Act did not take hold on us but on such as did Meet to Plot and Contrive and to raise Insurrections against the King whereas we were no such People for he knew that they that met at Margaret Fell's House were his Neighbours and a Peaceable People After many Words had passed he shook me by the hand and said again He had nothing against me and others of them said I was a deserving Man So we parted and I returned to Swarthmore Shortly after when Col. Kirby was gone to London Swarthmore there was a private Meeting of the Justices and Deputy Lieutenants at Houlker-Hall where Justice Preston lived and there they granted forth a Warrant to Apprehend me I heard over Night both of their Meeting and of the Warrant and so could have gone away and got out of their reach if I would for I had not appointed any Meeting at that time and I had cleared my self of the North and the Lord's Power was over all But I considered there being a Noise of a Plot in the North if I should go away they might fall upon poor Friends but if I gave up my self to be Taken it might stop them and Friends should escape the better So I gave up my self to be Taken and prepared my self against they came Next Day an Officer came with his Sword and Pistols to Take me I told him I knew his Errand before and had given up my self to be Taken for if I would have escaped their Imprisonment I could have been gone Forty Miles off before he came but I was an Innocent Man and so mattered not what they could do to me He asked me How I heard of it seeing the Order was made privately in a Parlour I said it was no matter for that it was sufficient that I heard of it Then I asked him to let me see his Order whereupon He laid his Hand on his Sword and said I must go with him before the Lieutenants to answer such Questions as they should propound to me I told him It was but civil and reasonable for him to let me see his Order but he would not Then said I I am ready So I went along with him and Margaret Fell went with us to Houlker-Hall And when we came thither Houlker-Hall there was one Rawlinson called a Justice and one called Sir George Middleton and many more that I did not know besides Old Justice Preston who lived there They brought one Thomas Atkinson a Friend of Cartmel as a Witness against me for some Words which he had told to one Knipe who had Informed them which Words were That I had written against the Plotters and had knockt them down Which Words they could not make much of for I told them I had heard of a Plot and had written against it Then Old Preston asked me Whether I had an hand in that Script I asked him what he meant He said in the Battledoor I answered Yes Then he asked me Whether I did understand Languages I said Sufficient for my self and that I knew no Law that was transgressed by it I told them also That to understand those outward Languages was no matter of Salvation for the many Tongues began but at the Confusion of Babel And if I did understand any thing of them I Judged and knockt them down again for any matter of Salvation that was in them Thereupon he turned away and said George Fox knocks down all the Languages Come said he we will examin you of higher matters Then said George Middleton You deny God and the Church and the true Faith I replied Nay I own God and the true Church and the true Faith But what Church dost thou own said I for I understood he was a Papist Then he turned again and said You are a Rebel and a Traytor I asked him Whom he spake to or whom did he call Rebel He was so full of Envy that for a while he could not speak but at last he said He spake it to me With that I struck my Hand on the Table and told him I had suffered more than Twenty such as he or than any that was there for I had been cast into Darby-Dungeon for Six Months together and had suffered much because I would not take up Arms against this King before Worcester-Fight And I had been sent up Prisoner out of my own Country by Col. Hacker to O. Cromwell as a Plotter to bring in King Charles in the Year 1654 and I had nothing but Love and Good Will to the King and desired the Eternal Good and Welfare of him and all his Subjects Did you ever hear the like said Middleton ' Nay said I ye may hear it again if ye will For ye talk of the King a Company of you but where were ye in Oliver's days and what did ye do then for him But I have more Love to the King for his Eternal Good and Welfare than any of you have Then they asked me Whether I had heard of the Plot And I said Yes I had heard of it They asked me How I had heard of it and whom I knew in it I told them I had heard of it through the High-Sheriff of Yorkshire who had told Dr. Hodgson That there was a Plot in the North and that was the way I heard of it But I never heard of any such thing in the South nor till I came into the North. And as for knowing any in the Plot I was as a Child in that for I knew none of them Then said they Why would you Write against it if you did not know some that were in it I said My Reason was Because you are so forward to mash the Innocent and Guilty together therefore I writ against it to clear the Truth from such things and to stop all forward foolish Spirits from running into such things And I sent Copies of it into Westmorland Cumberland Bishoprick and Yorkshire and to you here And I sent another Copy of it to the King and his Council and it is like it may be in Print by this time One of them said O! this Man hath great Power I said Yes I had Power to write against Plotters Then said one of them You are against the Laws of the Land I answered Nay for I and my Friends direct all the People to the Spirit of God in them to mortifie the Deeds of the Flesh This brings them into the Well-doing and
from that which the Magistrate's Sword is against which eases the Magistrates who are for the Punishment of the Evil-Doers So People being turned to the Spirit of God which brings them to mortifie the Deeds of the Flesh this brings them from under the occasion of the Magistrate's Sword and this must needs be one with Magistracy and one with the Law which was added because oâ— Transgression and is for the Praise of them that do well So in this we establish the Law and are an Ease to the Magistrates and are not against but stand for all Good Government Then Geo Middleton cried Bring the Book and put the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to him Now he himself being a Papist I asked him Whether he had taken the Oath of Supremacy who was a Swearer But as for us we could not Swear at all because Christ and the Apostle had forbidden it Some of them would not have had the Oath put to me but have let me have my Liberty but the rest would not agree to that For this was their last Snare and they had no other way to get me into Prison for all other things had been cleared to them But this was like the Papists Sacrament of the Altar by which they ensnared the Martyrs So they tendered me the Oath and I could not take it Whereupon they were about to make my Mittimus to send me to Lancaster-Jail But considering together of it they only engaged me to Appear at the Sessions and so for that time dismist me Then I went back with Margaret Fell to Swarthmore and soon after there came Col. West to see me Swarthmore who was at that time a Justice of the Peace He told us He told some of the rest of the Justices that he would come over to see me and Margaret Fell but it may be said he to them some of you will take Offence at it I asked him What he thought they would do with me at the Sessions And he said They would tender the Oath to me again Now whilst I was at Swarthmore there came William Kirby into Swarthmore-Meeting and brought the Constables with him I was sitting with Friends in the Meeting and he said to me How now Mr. Fox you have a fine Company here Yes said I we do meet to Wait upon the Lord. So he began to take the Names of Friends and them that did not readily tell him their Names he committed to the Constables hands and sent some to Prison The Constables were unwilling to take them without a Warrant whereupon he threatned to set them by the Heels But the Constable told him He could keep them in his Presence but after he was gone he could not keep them without a Warrant The Sessions now coming on I went to Lancaster Lancaster and Appeared according to my Engagement There was upon the Bench that Justice Flemming that had bidden Five Pounds in Westmorland to any Man that would apprehend me for he was a Justice both in Westmorland and Lancashire There was also Justice Spencer and Col. West and Old Justice Rawlinson the Lawyer who gave the Charge and was very Sharp against Truth and Friends but the Lord's Power stopt them The Session was large and the Concourse of People great Lancaster Sessions and way beinâ— made for me I came up to the Bar and stood there with my Hat on they looking earnestly upon me and I upon them for a pretty space Then Proclamation being made for all to keep Silence vpon pain of Imprisonment And all being quiet I said twice Peace be among you Then spake the Chair-man and asked If I knew where I was 1663. Lancaster Sessions I said Yes I do but it may be said I my Hat offends you that 's a low thing that 's not the Honour that I give to Magistrates for the true Honour is from Above which said I I have received and I hope it is not the Hat which ye look upon to be the Honour The Chair-man said They looked for the Hat too and asked Wherein I shewed my Respect to Magistrates if I did not put off my Hat I replied In coming when they called me Then they bid one Take off my Hat After which it was some time before they spake to me and I felt the Power of the Lord to arise After some pause old Justice Rawlinson the Chair-man asked me If I did know of the Plot I told him I had heard of it in Yorkshire by a Friend that had it from the High-Sheriff Then they asked me Whether I had declared it to the Magistrates I said I had sent Papers abroad against Plots and Plotters and also to you as soon as I came into the Country to take all Jealousies out of your Minds concerning me and my Friends For it was and is our Principle to declare against such things They asked me then If I knew not of an Act against Meetings I said I knew there was an Act that took hold of such as met to the terrifying of the King's Subjects and were Enemies to the King and held dangerous Principles but I hoped they did not look upon us to be such Men for our Meetings were not to terrifie the King's Subjects neither are we Enemies to him or any Man Then they tendered me the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy I told them I could not take any Oath at all because Christ and his Apostle had forbid it And they had had sufficient Experience of Swearers I told them first one way then another but I had never taken any Oath in my Life Then Rawlinson the Lawyer asked me Whether I held it was unlawful to Swear This Question he put on purpose to ensnare me for by an Act that was made such were liable to Banishment or a great Fine that should say it was Vnlawful to Swear But I seeing the Snare avoided it and told him That in the time of the Law amongst the Jews before Christ came the Law commanded them to Swear but Christ who doth fulfil the Law in his Gospel-time commands not to swear at all and the Apostle James forbids Swearing even to them that were Jews and that had the Law of God So after much other Discourse had passed they called for the Jailer G. F. committed to Prison and committed me to Prison I had about me that Paper which I had written as a Testimony against Plots which I desired they would read or suffer to be read in open Court but they would not So I being Committed for refusing to Swear I bid them and all the People take notice that I suffered for the Doctrine of Christ and for my Obedience to his Command Afterwards I understood the Justices did say that they had private Instructions from Col. Kirby to prosecute me notwithstanding his fair Carriage and seeming Kindness to me before when he declared before many of them That he had nothing against me There were several Friends besides Committed
of answering me the Judge told the Jury They might go out Some of the Jury were not satisfied whereupon the Judge told them They had heard a Man Swear that the Oath was tendered to me the last Sessions and then he told them what they should do I told him He should leave the Jury to their own Consciences However the Jury being put on by him went forth and soon after came in again and found me Guilty I spake to the Jury and asked them How they could satisfie themselves to find me Guilty upon that Indictment which was laid so false and had so many Errors in it They could make but little Answer yet one who seemed to be the Worst of them would have taken me by the Hand But I put him by saying How now Judas hast thou betrayed me and dost thou now come with a Kiss 1674. Worcester Sessions So I bid him and them Repent Then the Judge began to tell me How favourable the Court had been to me I asked him How he could say so Was ever any man worse dealt with than I had been in this Case who was stopped in my Journey being travelling upon my lawful Occasions and then Imprisoned without Cause and now had the Oaths put to me only for a Snare And I desired him to Answer me in the Presence of the Lord in whose Presence we all are Whether this Oath was not tendered me in Envy He would not answer that but said Would you had never come here to trouble us and the Country I told him I came not thither of my self but was brought being stopped in my Travel on my Journey and I did not trouble them but they had brought Trouble upon themselves Then the Judge told me What a sad Sentence he had to tell me I asked him Whether what he was going to speak was by way of passing Sentence or by way of Information For I told him I had many things to say and more Errors to Assign in the Indictment besides those I had already mentioned to stop him from giving Sentence against me upon that Indictment He said He was going to shew me the danger of a Premunire which was the Loss of my Liberty and of all my Goods and Chattels and to endure Imprisonment during Life But he said He did not deliver this as the Sentence of the Court upon me but as an Admonition to me and then he bid the Jailer Take me away I expected to have been called again to hear the Sentence but when I was gone the Clerk of the Peace whose Name was Twittey asked him as I was informed Whether that which he had spoken to me should stand for Sentence And he consulting with some of the Justices told him Yes that was the Sentence and should stand This was done behind my Back to save himself from Shame in the Face of the Country Many of the Justices and the generality of the People were moderate and civil and there was one John Ashley a Lawyer was very friendly both the time before and now speaking on my behalf and pleading the Errors of the Indictment for me But Justice Street who was Judge of the Court would not regard but over-ruled all This Justice Street said to some Friends in the Morning before my Trial That if he had been upon the Bench the first Sessions he would not have tendered me the Oath but if I had been Convicted of being at a Conventicle he would have proceeded against me according to that Law and that he was sorry that ever I came before him And yet he maliciously tendered the Oath to me in the Court again when I was to have Tried my Traverse upon the Indictment But the Lord pleaded my Cause and met with both him and Justice Simpson who first ensnared me with the Oath at the first Sessions For Simpson's Son was Arraigned not long after at the same Bar for Murder And Street who as he came down from London after the Judges had returned me back from the King's-Bench to Worcester said Now I was returned to them I should lie in Prison and rot had his Daughter whom he so doted on that she was called his Idol brought down dead from London in an Hearse to the same Inn where he spake those Words and brought to Worcester to be buried within a few days after And People took notice of the Hand of God 1674. Worcester Prison how sudden it was upon him but it rather hardned than tendered him as his Carriage afterwards shewed After I was carried back to Prison several came to see me and amongst others the Earl of Salisbury's Son who was very loving and troubled that they had dealt so badly by me He stayed about two Hours with me and took a Copy of the Errors in the Indictment himself in Writing The Sessions being now over and I fixt in Prison by a Premunire my Wife came up to me out of the North to be with me And the Assizes coming on soon after in the Sixth Month the State of my Case being drawn up in Writing She and Thomas Lower delivered it to Judge Wild. In it was set forth the Occasion of my Journey the Manner of my being Taken and Imprisoned the Proceedings of the several Sessions against me and the Errors in the Indictment by which I was Premunired which having had Occasion to mention often before I forbear to repeat here When the Judge had read it he shook his Head and said We might Trie the Validity or Invalidity of the Errors if we would And that was all they could get from him While thus I lay in Prison it came upon me to state our Principle to the King not with particular Relation to my own Sufferings but for his better Information concerning our Principle and us as a People It was thus and thus Directed To the KING THe Principle of the Quakers is the Spirit of Christ who Died for us and is Risen for our Justification by which we know we are his and he dwelleth in us by his Spirit and by the Spirit of Christ we are led out of Vnrighteousness and Vngodliness It brings us to deny all Plottings and Contrivings against the King or any Man And the Spirit of Christ brings us to deny all manner of Ungodliness as Lying Theft Murder Adultery Fornication and all Vncleanness and Debauchery Malice and Hatred Deceit Cousening and Cheating whatsoever and the Devil and his Works And the Spirit of Christ brings us to seek the Peace and Good of all Men and to live peaceably and leads us from such Evil Works and Actions as the Magistrate's Sword takes hold upon And our Desire and Labour is that all who profess themselves Christians may walk in the Spirit of Christ that they through the Spirit may mortifie the Deeds of the Flesh and by the Sword of the Spirit may cut down Sin and Evil in themselves Then the Judges and other Magistrates would not have so much Work in
is the Author of ye will have Peace and Access to God But if ye look out from the Faith and from that which would keep you in the Victory and look after fleshly Things or Words ye will be brought into Bondage to the Flesh again and to the Law which takes hold upon the Flesh and Sin and worketh Wrath and the Works of the Flesh will appear again The Law of God takes hold upon the Law of Sin and Death But the Law of Faith or the Law of the Spirit of Life which is the Love of God and which comes by Jesus who is the end of the Law for Righteousness-sake this makes free from the Law of Sin and Death This Law of Life fleshly-minded Men do not know yet they will tempt you to draw you from the Spirit into the Flesh and so into Bondage Therefore ye who know the Love of God and the Law of his Spirit and the freedom that is in Jesus Christ stand fast in him in that divine Faith which he is the Author of in you and be not entangled with the Yoke of Bondage For the Ministry of Christ Jesus and his Teaching bringeth into Liberty and Freedom But the Ministry that is of Man and by Man and which stands in the Will of Man bringeth into Bondage and under the shadow of Death and Darkness And therefore none can be a Minister of Christ Jesus but in the Eternal Spirit which was before the Scriptures were given forth For if they have not his Spirit they are none of his Though they may have his Light to condemn them that hate it yet they can never bring any into Unity and Fellowship in the Spirit except they be in it For the Seed of God is a burdensome Stone to the selfish fleshly earthly Will which reigns in its own Knowledge and Understanding that must perish and in its Wisdom that is Devilish And the Spirit of God is grieved and vexed and quenched with that which brings into the fleshly Bondage and that which wars against the Spirit of God must be mortified by it For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other The Flesh would have its Liberty and the Spirit would have its Liberty But the Spirit is to have its Liberry and not the Flesh If therefore ye quench the Spirit and join to the Flesh and be Servants of it then ye are judged and tormented by the Spirit But if ye join to the Spirit and serve God in it ye have Liberty and Victory over the Flesh and its Works Therefore keep in the daily Cross the Power of God by which ye may witness all that to be Crucified which is contrary to the Will of God and which shall not come into his Kingdom These things are here mentioned and opened for Information Exhortation and Comfort to others as the Lord Opened them unto me in that day And in that day I wondred that the Children of Israel should murmur for Water and Victuals for I could have fasted long without murmuring or minding Victuals But I was judged sometimes that I was not contented to be sometimes without the Water and Bread of Life that I might learn to know how to Want and how to Abound Lancashire And I heard of a Woman in Lancashire that had Fasted Two and twenty Days And I traveled to see her but when I came to her I saw that she was under a Temptation And when I had spoken to her what I had from the Lord I left her her Father being one high in Profession Duckenfield Manchester And passing on I went among the Professors at Duckenfield and Manchester where I stay'd a while and declared Truth among them And there were some Convinced who received the Lord's Teaching by which they were confirmed and stood in the Truth But the Professors were in a Rage all pleading for Sin and Imperfection and could not endure to hear talk of Perfection and of an holy and sinless Life But the Lord's Power was over all though they were chained under Darkness and Sin which they pleaded for and quenched the tender Thing in them About this time there was a great Meeting of the Baptists 1647. Broughton in Leicester-shire at Broughton in Leicester-shire with some that had separated from them and People of other Notions went thither And I went thither also Not many of the Baptists came but abundance of other People were there And the Lord opened my Mouth and his Everlasting Truth was declared amongst them and the Power of the Lord was over them all For in that day the Lord's Power began to spring and I had great Openings in the Scriptures and several were Convinced in those Parts and were turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God and his Power they did receive and by it many were raised up to praise God And when I reasoned with Professors and other People some were Convinced and did stand Yet I was under great Temptations sometimes and my inward Sufferings were heavy but I could find none to open my Condition to but the Lord alone unto whom I cryed Night and Day And I went back into Nottingham-shire Nottingham-shire and there the Lord shewed me that the Natures of those things which were hurtful without were within in the Hearts and Minds of Wicked Men. The Natures of Dogs Swine Vipers of Sodom and Egypt Pharaoh Cain Ishmael Esau c. the Natures of these I saw within though People had been looking without And I cryed to the Lord saying Why should I be thus seeing I was never addicted to commit those Evils And the Lord answered That it was needful I should have a sense of all Conditions how else should I speak to all Conditions And in this I saw the Infinite Love of God I saw also that there was an Ocean of Darkness and Death but an infinite Ocean of Light and Love which flowed over the Ocean of Darkness And in that also I saw the Infinite Love of God and I had great Openings And as I was walking by the Steeple-house side in the Town of Mansfield Mansfield the Lord said unto me That which People do trample upon must be thy Food And as the Lord spake he opened it to me how that People and Professors did trample upon the Life even the Life of Christ was tramâ—led upon and they fed upon Words and fed one another with Words but trampled upon the Life And trampled under Foot the Blood of the Son of God which Blood was my Life and they lived in their airy Notions talking of him It seemed strange to me at the first that I should feed on that which the high Professors trampled upon but the Lord opened it clearly to me by his Eternal Spirit and Power Then came People from far and near to see me And I was fearful of being drawn out by them yet
Name of Christ depart from Iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels and then he shall reward every Man according to his Works Mat 16.27 He who is gone into a far Country and hath given the Talents to every one of you according to your several Ability will render to every Man according to his Deeds Rom. 2.6 And further I say unto you If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And if Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is Life because of Righteousness Rom 8.9 10. So let the Light which cometh from Christ Examin for the Lord is appearing Ye that have received according to your Ability smite not your Fellow-servant and think not that the Lord delayeth the Time of his Coming Be not as they that said Let us Eat and Drink for to Morrow we shall die The Apostle tells the Ephesians that unto him this grace was given to make all Men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ Eph. 3.9 Read and understand every one with the Light which comes from Christ the Mystery which will be your Condemnation if ye believe not in it This is to all who stumble at the work of the Spirit of God the manifestation of it which is given to every Man to profit withal Come ye Professors who stumble at it Let us read the Parables A Sower went forth to sow and some Seed fell on the High-way-ground and some on stony ground and some on thorny ground The Seed is the word the Son of Man is the Seeds-man He that hath an Ear let him hear Mat. 13. Now look all ye Professors which Ground ye are And what ye have brought forth And whether the wicked Seeds-man hath not got his Seed into your Ground He that hath an Ear let him hear it And come read another Parable of the Housholder hiring Labourers to go into the Vineyard and agreeing with every Man for a Penny Mat. 20. Every Man is to have his Penny the Last that went in as well as the First and the Last shall be First and the First shall be Last for many are called but few are chosen He that hath an Ear let him hear There is a Promise spoken to Cain that if he did well he should be accepted Gen. 4.7 And Esau had a Birth-right but despised it Yet is it not of him that willeth Rom. 9.16 but by grace ye are saved Ephes 2.8 And stand still and see your Salvation Exod. 14.13 And ye that be Children of Light put on the Armour of Light that ye may come into the Unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ that henceforth ye be no more Children tossed to and fro Eph. 4.13 And the Lord said he would make a new Covenant by writing his Law in People's Hearts and putting his Spirit in their inward parts whereby they should all come to know the Lord him by whom the World was made Now every one of you mind the Law written in your Hearts and this Spirit put in your inward parts that it need not be said to you Know the Lord but that ye may witness the Promise of God fulfilled in you But say the World and Professors If every one must come to witness the Law of God written in their Hearts and the Spirit put in the inward parts what must we do with all our Teachers As we come to witness that we need not any Man to Teach us to know the Lord having his Law written in our Hearts and his Spirit put in our inward parts This is the Covenant of Life the everlasting Covenant which decays not not changes not and here is the way to the Father without which no Man cometh unto the Father And here is the Everlasting Priesthood the End of the Old Priesthood whose Lips were to preserve Knowledge but now saith Christ Learn of me who is the High-Priest of the New Priesthood And saith the Apostle That ye may grow up in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ in whom are hid the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge So we are brought off from the Old Priesthood that did change to Christ to the New Priesthood that doth not change and off from the first Covenant that doth decay to the Everlasting Covenant that doth not decay Christ Jesus the Covenant of Light from whom every one of you have a Light that ye might believe in the Covenant of Light If ye do not believe ye are condemned for Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil I am come a Light into the World saith Christ that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in Darkness but have the Light of Life Joh. 12.46 And Believe in the Light that ye may be Children of the Light But ye who do not believe in the Light but hate it because it manifests your Deeds to be evil ye are they that are condemned by the Light Therefore while ye have Time prize it Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is nigh lest ye say Time is past for the Rich Glutton's Time was past Therefore while Time is not quite past consider and search your selves and see if ye be not they that hate the Light and so are Builders that stumble at the Corner-stone for they that hated the Light and did not believe in the Light did so in Ages past I am the Light of the World saith Christ and who doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World and he also saith Learn of me and of him God saith This is my beloved Son hear ye him Here is your Teacher But ye that hate the Light do not learn of Christ and will not have him to be your King to reign over you him to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given who bears his Government upon his Shoulders who is now come to reign who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and who will give to every Man a Reward according to his Works whether they be good or evil So every Man with the Light that comes from Christ will see his Deeds both he that hates it and he that loves it And he that will not bring his Deeds to the Light because the Light will reprove him that is his Condemnation and he shall have a Reward according to his Deeds For the Lord is come to reckon with you and he looks for Fruits and now the Ax is laid to your Root and every Tree of you that bears not good Fruit must be hewen down and cast into the Fire G. F. Having staid sometime in London and visited the Meetings of Friends in
punishing Sin in the Kingdom neither then need Kings or Princes fear any of their Subjects if they all walked in the Spirit of Christ For the Fruits of the Spirit are Love Righteousness Goodness Temperance c. And if all that profess themselves Christians did walk in the Spirit of Christ and by it did mortifie Sin and Evil it would be a great Ease to the Magistrates and Rulers and would free them from a great deal of Trouble For it would lead all Men and Women To do unto all others as they would have others do unto them and so the Royal Law of Liberty would be fulfilled For if all that are called Christians did walk in the Spirit of Christ by it to have the Evil Spirit and its Fruits mortified and cut down in them then not being led by the Evil Spirit but by the good Spirit of Christ the Fruits of the good Spirit would appear in all Men and Women for as People are led by the good Spirit of Christ it leads them out of Sin and Evil which the Magistrate's Sword takes hold upon and so would be an Ease to the Magistrates But as People err from this good Spirit of Christ and follow the Evil Spirit which leads them into Sin and Evil that Spirit brings the Magistrate into a great deal of Trouble to Execute the Law upon the Sinners and Transgressors of the good Spirit That Spirit that leads People from all manner of Sin and Evil is one with the Magistrate's Power and with the righteous Law for the Law being added because of Transgression that Spirit that leads out of Transgression must needs be One with that Law that is against Transgressors So that Spirit that leads out of Transgression is the good Spirit of Christ and is One with the Magistrates in the Higher Power and owns it and them But that Spirit that leads into Transgression is the bad Spirit and is against the Law and against the Magistrates and makes them a great deal of Troublesome Work Now the Manifestation of the good Spirit is given to every Man to profit withall and no Man can profit in the Things of God but by the Spirit of God which brings to deny all Sin and Evil. It is said of Israel Nehem. 9. The Lord gave them his good Spirit to instruct them yet they rebelled against it But if all People did mind this Manifestation of the Spirit which God hath given to instruct them it would lead them to forsake all manner of Sin and Evil Enmity Hatred Malice and all manner of Vnrighteousness and Vngodliness and to mortifie it And then in the Spirit of Christ they would have Fellowship and Vnity which is the Bond of Peace and then would Love and Peace which are the Fruits of the good Spirit flow among all them that are called Christians Now we are a People who in Tenderness of Conscience to the Command of Christ and of his Apostle cannot Swear for we are commanded in Matth. 5. and James 5. to keep to Yea and Nay and not to Swear at all not by Heaven nor by Earth nor by any other Oath lest we go into Evil and fall into Condemnation The Words of Christ are these Ye have heard that it hath been said by or to them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths These were true and solemn Oaths which they who made ought to perform in Old Time But these Christ and his Apostle forbids in the Gospel-times as well as false and vain Oaths Now if we could take any Oath at all we could take the Oath of Allegiance as knowing that King Charles was by the Power of God brought into England and set up King of England c. over the Heads of our Old Persecutors And as for the Pope's Supremacy we do utterly deny it But Christ and the Apostle having commanded us Not to Swear but to keep to Yea and Nay we dare not break their Commands and therefore many have put the Oaths to us as a Snare that they might make a Prey of us So our denying to Swear is not in Wilfulness Stubbornness or Contempt but only in Obedience to the Command of Christ and his Apostle And we are content if we break our Yea and Nay to suffer the same Penalty as they should that break their Oaths We desire therefore that the King would take this into his Consideration and how long we have Suffered in this Case This is from one who desires the Eternal Good and Prosperity of the King and of all his Subjects in the Lord Jesus Christ. G. F. About this time I had a fit of Sickness which brought me very low and weak in my Body and I continued so a pretty while insomuch that some Friends began to doubt of my Recovery and I seemed to my self to be amongst the Graves and dead Corpses Yet the Invisible Power did secretly support me and conveyed refreshing Strength into me even when I was so Weak that I was almost Speechless And one Night as I was lying awake upon my Bed in the Glory of the Lord which was over all it was said unto me That the Lord had a great Deal more Work for me to do for him before he took me to himself Endeavours were used to get me Released at least for a Time till I was grown stronger but the Way of Effecting it proving difficult and tedious for the King was not willing to Release me by any other way than a Pardon being told he could not Legally do it and I was not willing 〈◊〉 be Released by a Pardon which he would readily have given me because I did not look upon that way as agreeable with the Innocency of my Cause a Friend one Edward Pitway having Occasion to speak with Justice Parker upon some other Business desired him to give Order to the Jailer That in regard of my Weakness I might have Liberty to go out of the Jail into the City Whereupon Justice Parker wrote the following Letter to the Jailer and sent it to the Friend to deliver Mr. Harris I Have beeen much importuned by some Friends to George Fox to write to you I am informed by them that he is in a very weak Condition and very much Indisposed What lawful Favour you can do for the Benefit of the Air for his Health pray shew him I suppose the next Term they will make Application to the King I am Sir Your loving Friend HENRY PARKER Evesham the 8th of Octob. 1674. After this my Wife went to London and spake with the King laying before him my long and unjust Imprisonment with the Manner of my being taken and the Justices Proceedings against me in tendring me the Oath as a Snare whereby they had Premunired me so that I being now his Prisoner it was in his Power and at his Pleasure to Release which she desired The King spake kindly to her and referr'd her to the Lord-Keeper to
from men and to receive the Gospel from him and their Vnction from him the Word and as they receive him they declare him freely as his Command was to his Disciples and is so still to the Learners and Receivers of him For he Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ is come to teach his People and to bring them from all the Worlds Ways to Christ the Way the Truth and the Life who is the Way to the Father and from all the Worlds Teachers and Speakers to him the Speaker and Teacher as Hebr. 1.1 and from all the Worlds Worshippers to worship God in the Spirit and in the Truth which the Devil the Destroyer is out of which Worship Christ set up above Sixteen hundred years ago when he put down the Jews Worship at the Temple at Jerusalem and the Worship at the Mountain where Jacob's Well was and to bring People from all the World's Religions which they have made since the Apostles days to the Religion that was set up by Christ and his Apostles which is Pure and Undefiled before God and keeps from the Spots of the World And to bring them out of all the Worlds Churches and Fellowships that they have made and set up since the Apostles days to the Church that is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Thess 1.1 and to bring to the Unity and Fellowship in the holy Spirit that doth mortifie and circumcise and baptise to plunge down Sin and Corruption that has got up in Man and Woman by Transgression and in this holy Spirit there is a holy Fellowship and Unity yea it is the Bond of the Prince of Princes and King of Kings and Lord of Lords Peace which heavenly Peace all the true Christians are to maintain with Spiritual Weapons not with Carnal And now my Friend the holy Men of God did speak forth the Scriptures as they were moved by the holy Ghost and all Christendom are on heaps about those Scriptures because they are not led by the same holy Ghost as they were that gave forth the Scriptures which holy Ghost they must come to in themselves and be led by if they come into All the Truth of them and to have the Comfort of God and Christ and Them For none can call Jesus Lord but by the holy Ghost and all they that do call Christ Lord without the holy Ghost take his Name in vain And likewise all that name his Name are to depart from Iniquity then they name his Name with Reverence in Truth and Righteousness And O therefore feel the Grace and Truth in thy heart that is come by Jesus Christ which is a Teacher that will teach thee how to live and what to deny and it will establish thy heart and season thy words and bring thy Salvation and will be a Teacher unto thee at all times and by it thou may'st Receive Christ from whence it comes and as many as Receive him to them he gives power not only to stand against sin and evil but to become the Sons of God if Sons then Heirs of a Life and a World and Kingdom that is Everlasting without end and of the Eternal Riches and Treasures thereof So in haste with my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ that has tasted death for every man and bruises the Serpents head that has been betwixt Man and God that through Christ Man may come to God again and so can praise God through Jesus Christ the Amen who is the spiritual and heavenly Rock and Foundation for all God's People to build upon to the praise and glory of God who is over all blessed for Evermore Amsterdam the 7th of 6th Month 1677. George Fox POSTSCRIPT THE Bearer hereof is a Daughter-in-law of mine that comes with Gertrude Dirick Nieson and George Keith's Wife to give thee a Visit G. F. The Princess Elizabeth her Answer to the aforesaid LETTER Dear Friend I Cannot but have a tender Love to those that love the Lord Jesus Christ and to whom it is given not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him Therefore your Letter and your Friends Visit have been both very welcome to me I shall follow their and your Counsel as far as God will afford me Light and Unction Remaining still Hertfort the 30th of August 1677. Your loving Friend ELIZABETH Buyckslote Purmerent Next day John Claus and I took Boat and passed to Buyckslote and thence to Purmerent where having stayed awhile and refreshed our selves at an Inn we went by Wagon through the Country to Alcmaer Alcmaer about Thirty Miles from Amsterdam We went to a Friend's house there whose name was Willem Willems where I had a Meeting that night I had also another Meeting there next day which was larger for several Professors came to the Meeting and all was quiet and well When the Meeting was done I went and visited some Friends and then taking Boat Hoorn North-Holland passed-by several places to Hoorn which is counted the chief City in North-Holland We lodged at an Inn there that night and taking Wagon again early next Morning we passed through the Country to Enckhuysen Enckhuysen Friezland Workum where we took Ship for Friezland and landing in the Afternoon at Workum took Wagon there again and rode along upon the high Bank of the Friezen Seas till we met Two Friends coming with a Wagon to meet us Mackum with whom discharging our Wagon at Mackum a Village hard by we went Harlingen in their Wagon to Harlingen the chief Sea-port-Town in Friezland We went to a Friend's house whose Name was Hessel Jacobs whither several Friends came to Visit us that night Next day we went among the Friends of the place and Visited them and I wrote a Paper directed To all them that persecute Friends for not observing their Fast-day The day following was the First-day of the Week and Friends had a Meeting there to which we went and many Professors came to it I declared the Everlasting Gospel amongst them John Claus interpreting and they were all very Civil and heard attentively and when the Meeting was done departed peaceably without making any Opposition After Meeting I went to Hessel Jacobs his house again whither after a while came a Calvinist to ask me some Questions which I answered to his satisfaction and he departed friendly Soon after he was gone a Preacher of the Collegians came to discourse with me 1677. Harlingen and he seemed well satisfied also and we parted lovingly That Evening I had another Meeting with the Friends there and next Morning when we had taken our Leave of them we passed to Leuwarden the chief City in Friezland Leuwarden and lodged that night at a Friend's house there whose Name was Sybrand Dowes Next Morning early taking Boat we passed to Dockum Dockum Strobus and walking through the City took Boat again to Strobus which is the utmost part of Friezland There we baited at a
and to God's Spirit and to the Grace and Truth in your hearts that comes by Jesus Christ that with it ye may search your hearts And so do not grieve nor vex nor quench God's good Spirit in your hearts and walk not despitefully against the Spirit of Grace nor turn from it into Wantonness and yet make a Profession of God and Christ in Words 1677. Amsterdam when your hearts are afar off and living in Pleasures and wantonly upon the Earth sporting your selves killing the Just and Crucifying to your selves Christ afresh and putting him to open shame And so dishonouring God and Christ and Christianity and making a Profession and a Trade of the Scriptures keeping People always Learning that they may be always paying Therefore Cease from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils and look unto the Lord all ye ends of the Earth and be saved for the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is come to teach his People himself by his Light Spirit Grace and Truth and to bring them off all the World's Teachers And God hath raised up Christ Jesus his Prophet whom People should hear and saith This is my beloved Son hear ye him and Christ saith Learn of me I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no Man comes to the Father but by me And there is no Salvation by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus who saith I am the good Shepherd and have laid down my Life for my Sheep and my Sheep hear my voice and follow me and will not follow the Hireling For Christ feeds them in the Pastures of Life that will never wither And God hath anointed Christ Jesus to preach if you will hear him and God hath given Christ for a Counsellor and a Leader if you will be Led and Counselled by him and God hath given Christ for a Bishop to Oversee you and a King to Rule you if you will be Overseen and Ruled by him And you that will not have Christ to Rule over you who never sinned nor Guile was found in his Mouth you may read his Sentence in the New Testament upon such And is not Christ a sufficient Teacher whose Blood was shed for you and tasted Death for every Man And doth not Christ say to his Ministers Freely ye have received freely give And the Apostle saith We covet no Man's Gold Silver or Apparel but Laboured with their Hands and kept the Gospel without Charge Have they that are called Ministers amongst you done the same and kept this Command of Christ Jesus Let them be Examined and Examine themselves And have you not trimmed your Outsides but look within with the Light and Spirit of Christ Jesus and see if your Insides be not black and foul For Christ Jesus who doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the World with the Life in himself who is the Word he saith Believe in the Light that ye may become Children of the Light and with the Light ye may see all the Evil Deeds ye have done and all your ungodly Deeds that ye have acted and committed and all your ungodly Words you have spoken and all your ungodly Thoughts ye think that ye may turn from them and turn to Christ from whence the Light comes who is your Saviour and Redeemer who hath given you a Light to see your Sin and how that you are dead in Adam that with the same Light you may see Christ the quickening Spirit who makes you alive to God and saves you from your sin But if you hate the Light which is the Life in Christ the Prince of Life and Love the Darkness and the Prince of Darkness more than the Light or the Life in Christ whose Deeds be Evil and because it will Reprove you Christ tells you This Light will be your Condemnation John 3. And therefore be Warned now in your Day and while you have Time turn to the Lord and do not quench the Spirit of the Father by which he draws to his Son nor hate the Light of Christ for if you do you hate the Life in Christ and so remain under Condemnation from God and Christ with the Light who now speaks to his People by his Son as he did in the Apostles Days so the same God that was the Speaker by the Prophets to the Fathers and Speaker to Adam and Eve in Paradise And happy had Adam and Eve and the Jews and all Christians been if they had kept to this Speaker and not have followed the Serpent that false Speaker and his Instruments And now God is the true Speaker by his Son who bruises the Head of the Serpent the false Teacher who is the Head of all false Ways and false Prophets and false Churches and false Religions and Worships And so God and Christ is bringing People to the pure and undefiled Religion that will keep them from the Spots of the World and into the new and living Way Christ Jesus and to the Church in God which Christ is the Head of as he was in the Apostles Days and to worship God in the Spirit and Truth which Worship Christ set up above Sixteen hundred years since And therefore must all People come to the Grace and Spirit of Truth in their own hearts to know the God of Truth who is a Spirit and in the Spirit and Truth to worship and serve and honour and glorifie the Living God who is over all and Worthy of all Blessed for evermore Amen And ye Magistrates and Officers read this in all your Assemblies and cause all your Priests to read it in their Churches that they and you and all People may hear and fear the God of Heaven as you will Answer it at the Great and Terrible Day of Judgment and Vengeance of the Lord God Almighty And this is in Love to your Souls and for your Temporal and Eternal Good Amsterdam the 19th of the 7th Month 1677. G. F. 1677. Harlingen in Friezland An Epistle concerning true Fasting true Prayer true Honour and against Persecution and for the true Liberty in Christ Jesus To pag. 438 and that all may have a care that the Apostle hath not bestowed his Labour in vain upon you in your observing of Days Months Times Feasts and Years and of coming under the beggarly Elements and the Yoke of Bondage again and of bringing and forcing People into them WHere did ever Christ or his Apostles Command any Believers or Christians to observe Holy-Days or Feast-Days and let us see where it is written in the Scriptures of the New Testament in the Four Evangelists or the Epistles or the Revelation that ever Christ or his Apostles gave the Christians any such Command that they should observe the Time called Christmas or a Day for Christ's Birth or that they should observe the Time called Easter or Whitsuntide or Peter or Paul's or Mark or Luke's Days or any other Saints Day Now you that profess your selves to be