Inheritance among them that are sanctified and have fellowship with the Saints in Light and so come to witness life and immortality brought to light through the Gospel of our Lord Christ Jesus the mighty power of God to whom be Glory for ever Amen And this is to be obtained by following the holy divine Light that shines in the heart in the dayly Cross and true self-denyal of our own wills in true and holy subjection unto the will of God who hath truly loved us and gave his Son Christ Jesus for us who bare the Cross and despised the shame who came not to do his own will but the will of the Father that sent him who was made of no Reputation though he was Lord of all he took upon him the form of a Servant and became obedient to the death of the Cross and was Scourged for our transgressions and bruised for our sins that we might receive Redemption by him and Salvation through Faith in his blood and his living and ruling in us who hath caused his heavenly Light to shine in our hearts that by the living virtue of it our understandings are opened whereby we come to see him that is invisible and to know him that is true and we are in him that is true who having finished the work that his Father sent him to do is ascended up on high and hath led Captivity Captive and given gifts unto men for the work of the Ministry and for the perfecting of the Saints and the edifying of the body of Christ till all come to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ who is sate down at the right hand of the Majesty on high glorified with the Father for ever and ever yet nevertheless he that inhabits eternity also dwelleth with the man of a broken heart and contrite spirit and trembles at his word of this we have a living experience through the goodness and mercy of the Lord unto us who hath begotten us again by the immortal word of Life unto a lively hope in Christ Jesus our Lord who is worthy over all to have the praises the glory honour everlasting renown with living obedience from all that are made pertakers of the riches of his grace now henceforth and for ever Here followeth the Testimony of John and Jane Anderdon concerning Jane Whitehead THis Testimony we have to give for Jane Whitehead that she was a good and honourable Woman in her day and time the Lord having poured forth his Spirit upon her as upon many other of his Servants and Hand-maids in this the day of his power and she was truly called to the work and service of the Lord in which she was valiant for the Truth and feared the Lord in faithfulness in her generation and held the Faith and kept her Integrity to the last was a good Savour in her life and death she is blessed and her good works do follow her and we never found her too forward to speak in Meetings or to seek the Preheminence but to clear her Conscience before the Lord which was well We were present at her death and she died like a Lamb for death was swallowed up of life and she is happy and gone to her grave in peace with God and at her Burial her life did preach and her memorial is blessed and she said a little before she dyed that the Lord laid nothing to her charge and that the Lord did bear her Witness that she never sought her Self in all her Labour and Travels in which she met with many exercises even to bonds and Imprisonment for the Testimony of Jesus and the word of God in all which he kept and preserved her faithful to himself even to the end and she spared not iniquity but took up the Cross and dispised the shame and is entred into rest and she was desirous that all should be in truth and reality what in word they outwardly professed themselves to be and made a shew of and she could not endure Hypocrisie but rejoyced in godly Society and her dear Love was to all Friends whose welfare and prosperity in the Truth she much desired and Peace and Unity among all the Flock of God that they might keep together under the one Shepheard in the Lord Jesus Christ in the Unity of his eternal Spirit for ever Ilchester Prison the 14th day of the 8th month 1675. John Anderdon Jane Anderdon The Testimony of Jasper Butt for Jane Whitehead I Have known her for neer twenty years past about the time when Truth first brake forth in the Southern parts of this Nation she was one on whom God fulfilled his Promise even a Hand-maid on whom he poured out his Spirit and accompanyed with his living Presence he having committed a Dispensation of the everlasting Gospel to her in which she was faithful according to the measure received And though she was the weaker Vessel his Power was manifested in her to the reaching of his own Witness and turning many from Darkness to the Light and many Children may rise up and call her blessed for she was a Mother in Israel She came forth neer the beginning of the Lambs War in these latter dayes and was a faithful follower of him through many Tribulations and Sufferings The Unity Peace and Welfare of the Lords People was precious to her and she Travelled in many Counties of this Nation in the Lords Service in which his Power and Blessing was with her and minded that more than any Self-interest towards her latter end she had a pretty long time of Weakness her body being in a Consumption I was with her a few dayes before her Departure and was well refreshed in the sence of Gods living Presence manifested in her which truly refresh'd and comforted her in her outward weakness and gave her true content in the will of the Lord in which she was gathered to her Fathers and laid down her head in everlasting Peace her memory is blessed and her name yields a good savour and in that life into which she gathered whilst conversant amongst us we still enjoy a fellowship with her and though dead she yet lives with us having Fought the good Fight and kept the Faith and finished her Course she hath obtained the Crown laid up in store for them that have the appearance of the Lord Jesus The 29th day of the 11th month 1575. Jasper Butt SO my dear Friends all people to whom this our Testimony may come this is my Exhortation unto you all that you all tread the same path and walk in the same way of holiness of righteousness and faithfulness that this dear Lamb hath trodden and mind the same thing and obey the same Spirit that you may have the same blessed reward and be made partakers of the same everlasting happiness and blessedness by receiving an entrance and having an habitation in that Inheritance that shall never fade away that when this earthly
A TESTIMONY Concerning the LIFE and DEATH OF Jane Whitehead THAT Faithful Servant and Hand-maid of the Lord who was a Mother in Israel and her Memorial is blessed of the Lord for ever Concerning her Sufferings and her Faithfulness in her Testimony in Sufferings With an Exhortation to turn to the True Light in a few words to all Backsliders from the Truth by a Lover of Truth and Righteousness who hath a Testimony against Oppression Cruelty and Persecution wheresoever I see it appear against the Innocent T. T. Thus saith the Lord by his Servant the Prophet Woe to them that decree Vnrighteous decrees and write grievousness which they prescribe to turn aside the needy from Judgment and to take away the right from the poor of my people that Widdows may be their Prey and that they may rob the Fatherless But what will you do in the day of Visitation and in the Desolation that shall come from far To whom will you fly for help or where will you leave your glory Isaiah 10.1 2 3. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their Works do follow them Rev. 13.14 London Printed in the Year 1676. A Testimony concerning Jane Whitehead Wife of Thomas Whitehead of South Cadbury in the County of Summerset late Deceased whose former name was Jane Waugh that faithful Servant and Handmaid of the Lord whose Memorial is blessed for ever because of her uprightness and stedfastness of heart and mind unto the Lord from the first to the last who began in the true Faith and kept in it unto the end of her dayes by which she obtained Victory and was made more than a Conqueror through Christ that loved her over all her enemies both within and without and hath now finished her course in this world and hath obtained an entrance into that everlasting glorious Rest heavenly Felicity and endless Consolation that the Lord hath prepared for them that truly love him and keep their Confidence in him and hold fast their Integrity for him unto the end of their dayes as this true and faithful follower of the Lamb hath done and now hath received of the Lord an immortal Crown of Life and endless Glory as the Reward of her Faithfulness from the hand of a tender Father who never fails any that truly trust in him but is an exceeding great Reward unto all the Vpright in Heart THis Testimony is sealed in my heart by the Spirit of the Lord concerning the everlasting Happiness and endless Well-being of this my dear Friend and Sister in the Heavenly Relation unto whom my Soul was and is truly united in the Unity of the Spirit in the blessed Covenant of life in which in the remembrance of her faithfulness my soul is truly refreshed Therefore we have good cause to say that the Memorial of the Righteous is blessed as one said in the dayes of old that They shall be had in everlasting remembrance among those that fear the Lord So my dear Sister the living remembrance of thee hath often tender'd my heart before the Lord in the consideration of his goodness and the largeness of his Mercy in thy Preservation who hath kept thee by his mighty power in faithfulness to himself in thy holy Testimony through all thy Tryals and Exercises that thou hast met withall from a cruel and hard hearted Generation cruel Mockings Scoffings and Scorning Beating and Reviling ond cruel Imprisonments in nasty places in the cold of Winter and heat of Summer Thus thou Renowned of the Lord did the cruel hearted deal with thee for thy blessed Testimony sake that thou brought'st among them in the Love of God and in love to their own poor souls but they rejecting their own mercies thus requited thee and evily intreated thee for thy love to them but thy reward is with the Lord for ever who hath blessed thy Labour and Travel and made it very effectual and prosperous and very acceptable unto the honest hearted that were seeking after the Lord who received thy blessed Testimony with gladness of heart and the Lord blessed thy Labours in his Work and Service who endued thee with power from on high to speak a word in season to several States and Conditions and to reach the Witness of God in their Consciences to the awakening many to righteousness and the blessed power of the mighty God was with thee and his living Presence did sweetly accompany thee in that blessed work which he called thee to in which thou wast faithful and diligent according to the measure of Grace committed to thee Oh thou dearest unto me of many and never to be forgotten by me because of thy spotless life who hath kept thy Garments clean from all manner of defilements and spots of the wicked World Oh thou blessed of the Lord how often hath my heart been broken into tears of true sorrow because of the want of thee as to thy bodily presence because of thy tender care over the Family of God for true Uprightness is very pretious to me amongst those that have a Testimony for the Lord which is the garment of Praise and because of thy Uprightness was my heart joyned unto thee my dear Friend and well beloved in the Lord who hath now taken thee away out of the reach of all thy enemies thou true Jew whose praise is not of men but of God who didst not appear outwardly beyond what the Lord had made thee by the virtue of his Divine power and sanctifying Spirit that hath wrought mightily in thee to the effecting the work of Mortification and Humiliation and true Self-denyal in thee and hath filled thy heart with his Love and with the virtue of his blessed Life by which thou wast prepared and made a vessel of Honour in the hand of the Lord the sweet savour of whose pretious Life abides with us though thou art gone from us as to the outward enjoyment of thee but thy life thy innocent life is with us and will remain with us for ever when all the enemies that hate it and have hunted after it to destroy it shall not be able to stand before it for it will out-live all the wrath of man and all the fury of the wicked and is out of the reach of every envious mind which length of time shall never wear out because it is everlasting in which thy dwelling place is and will be for ever thou dear Servant and Child of the most high God who hath blessed thee and will not have thy Uprightness be forgotten nor thy Faithfulness buryed in the Grave of Oblivion for the Lord God of Life by the word of his power hath often pressed me in Spirit very weightily and his living Word hath run through my heart in the remembrance of thee for Righteousness must not be forgotten nor her Uprightness and Faithfulness be buryed in the Grave of Oblivion for the Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon them and they
Tabernacle shall be dissolved you may receive a house not made with hands eternally in the Heavens which is the end of all our Labour and Travels and Sufferings that the Lord may be glorified and peoples Souls may be saved from the dreadful day and terrible Wrath and Vengeance of the Lord God and the Lamb which is due to the wicked by reason of their Wickedness sin and ungodliness and will be their portion for ever if they do not repent and turn to the Lord by amendment of life Yea Tribulation and Anguish upon every soul that does evil upon the Jew first and also upon the Gentile for if Judgment begin first at the house of God where shall the sinners and ungodly appear So you dear Travellers that are turned Sion-ward run the race with patience that is set before you even the race of Salvation and so run that ye may obtain the prize even the Salvation of your Souls for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong for though Kings of Armies fly apace yet the woman that sits at home divides the spoil whose feet abide in her own house and goe not into the Chambers of Death Oh my dear Country-men and Women my neer and dear Relations Kindred and Acquaintance for my heart is enlarged for your lakes in the tender Love of God that hath opened my heart by the bowels of his own Compassion to invite you all and intreat you all to turn unto the Lord and seek him while he may be found and call upon him while he is neer for he is not far from every one of you therefore turn unto him with your whole hearts that you may receive at the hands of the Lord who is a merciful God even the tenders of Life and Salvation which he is now holding forth freely in his Son Christ Jesus our Lord who delighteth not in the death of a sinner but had rather that all should turn from the evil of their wayes and live Therefore I say again Receive the Tenders of his Universal Love held forth in the Light of his beloved Son for in him are all the Promises of God Yea and Amen for ever for in him is Salvation and plentious Redemption for all that put far from them the evil of their doings who cease to do evil and learn to do well then though their sins were as scarlet he will make them as snow and though they were as Crimson they shall be as Wool therefore do not delay but turn to the Light of his pure Spirit in your own hosoms that Reproves for sin in secret and bears witness against ungodliness for the Scriptures do declare that God hath not left himself without a Witness and this is his faithful Witness even Christ Jesus therefore turn unto him I beseech you all unto whom this may come and slight not the day of your Visitation least you never have another for who knows how soon the Lord may call you out of this world then it will be too late to cry to the Lord for mercy when the Gate of mercy is shut and you left to receive a Reward from the hand of the Lord for your evil deeds done in the body for there is no Repentance in the Grave but as the tree falls so it lies and as Death leaves so Judgment finds therefore while you have time Prize it and come down from the high Mountains of your own casting up in your vain imaginations and come O come into the low Vally of Jehosaphat where the true Judgment of the Lord is received for Zion is Redeemed through Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness for when Judgment is set up in the earth then the Inhabitants thereof learn Righteousness and the Prophet saith The fruits of Righteousness that shall be peace the effects of it quietness and assurance for ever but no peace to the Wicked saith my God no peace to the Persecuters of the Lords people no peace to the Despisers of the true Light of Christ within no peace to the blind Seers nor sleepy Watchmen nor false hireling Priests that oppress the poor and live by the sweat of other mens brows no peace to the idle Shepherds that feed with the fat and cloath with the wool and make a prey upon the Flock who pull the sheaf from the hungry and the fatherless from the breast such are they that rebel against the Light who cry peace peace unto people while they put into their mouths but when any for good Conscience sake refuse to put into their mouths then they prepare War against them and fly to the Law to recover treble or other damage against them no peace to the Backsliders and proud boasters who have Apostatized from the Truth and no peace to the false hearted nor double minded and rebellious that never yet came to the Truth No Peace to any of the wicked unless they Repent cease to do wickedly But true peace is the portion of the Righteous who in faithfulness follow the Lord and peace to those that love Uprightness who take delight to walk in the way of the Lord which is a way of holiness and without holiness none can see the Lord therefore turn unto him I beseech you all and embrace the light of his Spirit and make no longer delay let not his Locks be wet with the drops of the night whilst he stands knocking at the door of your hearts but open unto him that he may come in and sup with you and you with him that so you may come by living experience to witness the fulfilling of those weighty sayings that stand upon Record in the holy Scriptures and those Prophesies spoken of by the Prophets in the dayes of old who said Thus saith the Lord I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh upon Sons and upon Daughters upon Servants and upon Hand-maids and they shall Prophesie I will write my Law in their hearts and put my Spirit in their inward parts I will be their God and they shall be my people I will be their Father and they shall be my Sons and Daughters This is our God and in whom we have believed that is good and gracious unto the Children of men who gives gifts unto the Rebellious for thus saith the Lord I gave them my good Spirit to instruct them but they rebelled against it and some there were of old that did despight to the Spirit of Grace and such there are in this Age but if they do not obey the Spirit of Grace their end will be miserable A few words to those that have Apostatized from the Truth and so Conclude ANd now you Backsliders let your eye be turned unto the Lord in the light of his Son from whom you are fallen and look for his fiery indignation to take hold of the transgression to destroy the Adversary of your souls that hath drawn you aside from the Lord and be willing to bear his indignation
us so that we never wanted any thing And this I give as a Testimony against the vain imaginations that have risen in the minds of some Carnal Professors in those parts And truly the Lord made her a blessing unto me in many Respects whose secret hand did bring us together and now hath taken her from me again who was so neer and dear unto me and she is out of the reach of all her Enemies and Persecuters and those that did hate her for the Gospels sake and is at Rest with the Lord with whom is her Reward for ever and ever Yea Blessed are the Dead that dye in the Lord they rest from their Labours and their works shall follow them And that which remains as a desire in my heart is That I may serve the same God to the end of my dayes who never failed her under any Exercise or Tryal that she was accompanyed with for when the Officers sometimes were taking our Goods for to levy a Fine for a Meeting they asked her whether we did still intend to keep Meetings and she answered as it was in her heart Yes we resolve to follow the Lord fully Moreover under the great Exercise or weakness of Body that she was in before her departure she often acknowledged that the Lord was wonderful good unto her for though sometimes she might be under some Exercise of mind by reason of her great Weakness yet she was kept quiet and patient and did often say That the Lord had broke in upon her and with his Heavenly Presence did fill her to the Comfort of her Soul and the Joy of Heart as she did many times acknowledge and said O that the 〈◊〉 may never take his presence from me It was so 〈◊〉 pretious and desirable unto her and blessed be the Lord he was good unto her to the very last she was kept sensible and did acknowledge that she had the Testimony of his Love and that it would be well with her and that she had no desire to live any longer in this World and a little before her departure she had no desire to have her Children with her though they were very neer dear unto her but having given them a Charge to be obedient to their Father and that they should mind Truth and then the Blessing of the Lord would be with them so she desired to be retired and the morning before her Departure she had a sense that the time of her Departure was at hand so she 〈◊〉 a Friend that she was going to her long home and that morning she desired me to go about my occasions though all along before she still desired my Company and I being sometime wanting was called in again she being now upon Departing our dear Friend J. Anderdon being with me we went in unto her and he held her by the hand and I held her up about the neck and she manifested her Sensiblenss and her Faithful Constant Love to me unto the very last and so departed in the Love and Peace of God as several had a Testimony of it that were there present The 28th day of the 7th month 74. was the day of her Departure and she was Buryed the 6th day of the 8th month following being accompanyed with very many Friends and many Neighbours So They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever South-Gadbury the 8th day of the 8th month 75. Thomas Whitehead Here followeth a Relation of more of her Sufferings the 28th day of the 9th Month 1671. JAne Whitehead was brought to Ilchester Prison with a young Child Sucking at her Breast through the Envy and Wickedness of the Priest of North-Cadbury one John Atwood who malitiously Swore against her she being accused that she came into his Congregation with Force and Arms and did Interrupt him and Disturb his whole Congregation which was a very Lye for she neither used Force nor Arms but spake soberly in the Fear of God bearing her Testimony for the Truth against the Covetous Practises of the False Hirelings and spake the words of Truth and Soberness and we are well satisfied that no True Minister nor good People would be offended nor disturbed at this yet notwithstanding R.H. a Justice Committed her to Prison from her Husband and four small Children and one tender Child she carryed in her Arms and brought them again from Ilchester Prison to the Sessions at Wells in the Winter Season and through the fallacious actions of the Priest sent her back to Prison again where she remained until the 2d month 72. all the Cold Winter yet the Goaler was civil towards her but the Lord will plead her innocent Cause in his own Season with those her Enemis as he hath done with other that rose up against her for the Lord was with her in the time of her Exercises who did uphold her by the word of his power and gave her strength and courage to encounter with Truths enemies and blessed be his Name for ever he hath now brought her through the War to Peace and everlasting Rest to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God for ever and hath Crowned her with Victory with a Crown of immortality and eternal Life Glory over all to the Lord God and the Lamb that sits upon the Throne Therefore dear Friends you that are but young and tender who are convinced of the everlasting Truth of the living God and have believed in the Light of his blessed Son Christ Jesus our Lord this is my Councel in the Love and Councel of the Lord unto you all That you abide in the Light and yield all holy Subjection by living in obedience unto it according to the Divine operation and holy requirings of the Spirit of Truth in your inward parts that you hearken to the councel of it and be willing to be led and guided by it and to receive instruction from it at all times and upon all occasions that the way of the Lord may become your delight for ever and the path of the Just the place of your footsteps that so through righteousness you may obtain the blessing of peace from the hand of the Lord as your portion for ever and ever Therefore travel on in the strength of the Lord ye tender Children of the day of Gods everlasting Love I say travel on with Courage with chearful hearts and ready minds in the footsteps of the flock of the holy Companions as this our dear faithful deceased Friend hath done that so you may with the Lords Worthies Open ye everlasting doors that the holy Nation may come in that so you may come truly to be of the general Assembly of the Church of the first Borne whose names are written in Heaven and to the innumerable Company of Angels to the Spirits of Just men made perfect and to God the Judge of all to receive an