peace with the Lord where all sighing and tears of sorrow comes to be wiped away so that although our loss and the want of him be great yet surely its his gain and in this shall my soul and spirit be comforted I well remember when the Lord was pleased to raise a Travel in my soul for Sions prosperity and laid a constraint on me to cast in my mite into his Treasury amongst my Brethren and Sisters at that very time was he made instrumental to the helping me forward and after sometime it was laid on me with my dear Sister and Companion Mary Frost to visit Friends in Cumberland and laying it before him being under a True Sence of our own weakness youth and tenderness Oh! How he encouraged us saying Travel on in your innocency and in a sence of your own weakness without the Lord and I do believe he will be with you and make your journey prosperous which time was the last time we see his face his delight was to take the weaklings by the hand and to encourage the good in all wherever it appeared for his care over the Flock of Christ was great and I have heard him often say where he saw a backwardness or slackness in meeting together to wait upon the Lord Oh how it wounded and grieved his spirit within him often stirring Friends up to diligence and faithfulness in serving God Oh the Remembrance of his innocency together with the Lamb-like Nature which mine eyes beheld to appear in him is very pleasant unto me and the many sweet and comfortable expressions which dropped like Honey from his Lips unto my Soul when under great distress the Consideration of it breaks my Heart and Melts my Spirit into Tenderness before the Lord Oh the sweet Councel my Soul received from him when in a mournful state it was even as marrow to my bones and as strength unto my sinews so that I have been made to bless the Lord that ever it was my Lot to see his Face and although it was not ordered so to be for me to see him in the time of his weakness being many Miles distant as also under weakness of body yet at the first hearing of his sickness I was made sensible he might be taken away which at the first came very nigh me but after sometime I was made to say Lord thou has now fitted him for thy Kingdom therefore Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they do Rest from their Labour and their works do follow them and surely thou art taking the Righteous away from the evil to come so being fully satisfied of his well being as also hearing the report of some good friends who were with him near the time he finished of his comfortable end I dare not repine as believing his life was hid with Christ in God and I do feel this time as at many other times servent breathings in my heart and a cry run through my Soul unto the Lord that he will still raise up many more to bare a faithful Testimony to his Name and Truth even as I do believe this my friend did in his young and tender years and it 's my full belief he 's now rejoycing amongst the valiants of Israel who hath not only proved Conquerors but more than Conquerors so what shall I say more but even leave all to the disposing of him whose mercys are over all the works of his hands with True breathings unto the Lord not only for my own Soul but for all his whole flock and Family that 's left behind every where that we may so spend the residue of our time even as I do believe this my Friend of whom I am speaking did that so the reward of the Righteous we may all receive when time on this side the grave shall be no more So unto him who hath been our preservation unto this day and is able to make up all our wants and raise up unto himself many faithful and living witnesses doth my Soul return Glory and Honour with humble and holy thanksgivings having cleared my self and eased my spirit and so remains a Traveller for Sions prosperity and a well wisher to all Elizabeth Leaper DEar Benjamin Padley was one of the Sons of William and Elizabeth Padley of Northcave in the Eastriding of Yorkshire who in former days with many others in whom true desires towards God were begotten was travelling and seeking the Kingdom in Forms and Observations zealously following them that cryed Lo here and lo there in whom the true Birth being not satisfied with any empty husk when it pleased the Lord in his great Mercy to cause his day to dawn and to visit a Remnant that sate mourning in darkness with the Manifestation of his everlasting Light and to send forth faithful Witnesses and Messengers of the Gospel of Peace and Reconciliation in Christ Jesus the Light of the World and the only way to the Father Then I say the said William and Elizabeth his Wife were the first in these parts that received the said Messengers and their Testimony and became faithful Followers of him whom the Father hath sent to gather in his scattered flock to wait for his teaching and to worship him in Spirit and Truth and through much Tribulation in Patience they endured to the end and did not deny him before Men for any Suffering as Imprisonment spoyling of Goods c. with the latter whereof more especially the Widow and Samuel their eldest Son were tryed by Means of Thomas Forge a prophane Priest who was much retained in Williams days but after his death break forth in great Rage and Cruelty against the Widow and Fatherless but most especially after Elizabeths death against the said Samuel who by means of the said Priest and his adherents suffered twice 20 l. fine for Friends meeting in his house to worship God which with other sufferings when he had endured by wicked men for his love to God and his Truth and People he was taken away in peace out of the World and his next brother William stood up in his place in the same Testimony who met with the like usage from the same wicked priest who shut him up in Prison where he remained till the death of his said Adversary and not long after he being taken out of the World also this dear Benjamin came in to the place where his Parents had finished their course And in deep Humility and Zeal towards God and servent love to him and to all that walked in the Truth he did continue a considerable time before his mouth was opened to bare a Testimony of the everlasting Truth of God in the Assemblies of his People and after he was raised in the Power of Truth to bare a Testimony of it I do verily believe he did not go before the motion of Life nor stretch beyond it nor speak of what he lived not in â—either did he aspire into high Notions nor seek to illustrate
Righteousness he alone shall wear that faithful to the end do persevere and I know it was his great desire that he might walk so as to obtain that Crown and I am satisfied the Lord hath answered his desire many of his sweet words and expressions which he spake cannot be remembred which is a trouble to me that they were not taken notice of but my Exercise being very great That I could not remember many of them and being the Lord hath been pleased to strip me of him which was the greatest outward Comfort and Support that I had I desire that I may be willing to submit to the Will of the Lord and that my Will may submit to his Will and that I may not offend him for as it is said If ye love any thing more than me ye are not worthy of me so he is able to make up all our Losses as we stand faithful to him and though my Loss be great in parting with such a dear Husband yet I firmly believe his Gain is great and he is at rest from all the Troubles and Incumbrances of this World for many are the Tryals and Exercises that we meet with here in this troublesome World and therefore it is my great desire that I may be preserved thro' them all and that the Lord alone may stay and anchor my Soul that in all Tryals and Exercises I may look unto him for help and wisdom to walk as becomes his Truth and to order all things to his Glory and that I may wait for Council from him to be ordered and guided by him alone and so return him the Praises and the Honour who alone is worthy of all Honour and Glory for ever and evermore Susanna Padley Northcave the 28th of the 10th Month 1687. A Short Account of B. P. his Expressions in the time of his Weakness taken in writing from his Wifes own Mouth c. HE took his sickness in the 17th of the 6th Month 1687. and continued till the 25 of the same having long before had a sence upon his spirit that his time in this world might not be long often declaring the same to his Dear Wife and the day after he took his illness he spoke as Concerning his two Children on this wise That the Lord would preserve and keep them and that they might if they lived live to Honour his Name or otherwise if it might seem good in his sight that they might be taken away in their Childhood before sin was too much rooted in them On that day or the day following several of his Neighbours came to visit him his Dear Wife being by he said It is well for them that can say on their dying beds their sins and iniquities are blotted out At another time a friend coming into see him he said my Dear Love is to thee and to all friends and I desire you may be watchful and diligent in attending Meetings often declaring his great Love to Friends At another time he said If the Lord have any further work for me to do I desire I may be found faithful and if not I am well satisfied in his will And afterward the pain and sickness being very sharp upon him he said O Lord I pray thee lay no more upon thy servant then thou gives him patience to bare and I pray thee that thy afflictions may be mixt with mercy His Wife weeping being under very great Exercise because of his Affliction he said unto her O why do'st thou weep thou must not do so for keep but to the Truth and fear not but all will be well And the very day before he dyed he got up in the forenoon and several friends as also Neighbours and Relations came in to see him and he being under a deep sence of Gods love unto his Soul begun to declare amongst them but few of his words is remembred but there having been some words given out by some of the worlds people where he lived while he was in the work and service of the Lord abroad visiting Gods Heritage that he had Mony for Preaching therefore he spoke on this manner It is not for any outward thing we Travel neither is that by us lookt at nor any mans Silver or Gold sought or coveted after but it 's for the Gainâ—ng of Souls for said he we have suffered the loss of our goods scoffings and scornings and imprisonment so that it may appear it hath not been the looking at any benefit of any Mans Goods or Estates that hath â—een in our eye but for performing the will â—f the Lord and now it hath pleased him to â—isit me with great weakness so that I am not â—ike to continue many days here but I am â—ell satisfied and whether they will hear or â—orbear I shall be clear in the day of the â—ord and although his weakness was very â—reat and even to the Eye of outward reaâ—on as a spent Man yet he was helped to his â—nees and was never heard to be more powerâ—ul in prayer which was for all from the King upon his Throne even to the beggar upon the dunghill to the Admiration and Astonishment of the Beholders and after that few words proceeded from him but weakned very fast and the next day being 25th of the sixth Month 1687. he finished and hath left a good Savour behind him and the Righteous surely shall be had in everlasting remembrance alalthough the Memory of the wicked shall rott Elizabeth Leaper Her Testimony concerning Benjamin Padley who dyed the 25th of the 6th Month 1687. MY Testimony Concerning this my dear Friend B. P. is as followeth that he was a Man whom the Lord had endued with true Wisdom as also a spirit of true discerning and therein did he in his day act for the Lord and for his Truth and People and freely gave himself up with his whole substance to spend and be spent Oh the remembrance of this my Friend is very precious unto me and I am made many times to bless the Lord and to praise the name of Jacobs God in that he hath made me very sensible he had fitted and prepared him and made him a fit vessel for his Masters use who called him into his vineyard and I am made to say surely he was a faithful Labourer therein therefore doth my Soul believe he hath received his reward even a Crown of Glory which can never be taken from him yet I cannot but many times even mourn because of the want I with many more feels of him whom the Lord raised up to be as an instrument in his hand many a time to speak a word in due season unto me when under great exercises and besetments many ways and not only so but he could read my condition and was made willing to bare a part of my burthen yet my sorrow is not as those who sorrow without hope being fully satisfied he had kept the saith finished his course and laid down his head in
his Testimony with high words and expressions but sound plain and weighty his declaration was in the demonstration of the spirit power of God which reached the seed and when he received the aboundings of the heavenly gift that in the overflowings thereof he could Minister and offer the living Sacrifice on the Spiritual Altar and sind acceptance yet he grew not rich and full nor wise in his own conceit but was kept low and humble in a deep sence of the dayly need still to wait on God for the renewings of his mercys and the fresh openings of the springs of life and love from him to help forward in the Spiritual Travel and to persevere to the end and hereunto he did much exhort and stir up friends where he came and to constancy in meetings and to watchful diligence therein that all might come dayly to receive and truly to enjoy that wherein the True blessedness is He sought not worldly riches tho he was a man not slothful in business but in dustrious yet above all seeking the Kingdom of GOD and the Righteousness thereof and the Lord gave him his hearts desire and withheld not from him what his Soul Travelled for for he helped him on his way to the end and Ministred living Consolation to his Soul when all visible things ceased to be any more to him And now his course is finished and his work is done and his reward is everlasting where none can add thereto nor take therefrom and being sensible of this I can Truely Testify that I do not write these things in any vain Ostentation to set up the Nâ—â—â—â—â— of a Creature but for the sakes of those that yet remain That all may be stirred up whom the Lord hath visited with the like mercy in the day of their visitation to give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure seeing none of us knows at what time our end may be but that which is most weighty upon my Spirit whereby I have been drawn to bring in this Testimony is to provoke and stir up all the Children of the Lords People every where to be True followers of their parents in the Lords way in every thing that is good O the joy and comfort to the Souls of all that Love the Lord to behold the Children of Faithful parents that Truely loved and feared the Lord now walking in the same way and striving for the same immortal Crown and Oh the grief and sorrow of heart to be Children of Good parents loose and prophane Or to turn aside from the way of the Lord wherein they have been instructed Oh great will be the Condemnation of all such if they do not speedily return and therefore my earnest desire and Travel is that my Children and all the Children of the Lords faithful servants and people great and small may be hereby Admonished and put in Remembrance by the good Example of this young Man and his Brethren whose Memorial is blessed who Truely followed their good parents in faithfulness to God in doing and suffering what the Lord required of them and the Eternal God of power who helped their parents through all he call'd them to did not fail these young Men their Children but was their helper to the end and I believe is and ever will be a sure Rock to all that chuse and abide in his way from Generation to Generation And I dearly beseech all young people Children of the Lords servants not to count it enough to get and Comprehend into Notion what ye have heard from your parents or others and so to follow them only in the outward form and profession of Truth Oh but wait in the Light to feel the Spirit and power of God to work in you to judge work out and Crucify the worlds Nature in you and to renew you in your hearts and spirits according to his Holy and Heavenly will that so of him who certainly knows the hearts of all ye may be owned and approved which that all the called of the Lord both Old and Young may truly attain unto is the earnest desire and spiritual travel of your Brother and Companion in that which abides for ever Sebastian Ellythorpe THis Testimony remaineth in my heart and hath been as a Concern upon my Spirit many days concerning the Life and Death of my dear Friend Benjamin Padley for he was one that the Lord did bless and preserve in great weakness when he was in his tenderness and in his young years and seeking after the Knowledge of the blessed Truth as it is in Jesus and when he was weeping on his way and seeking the Lord inquiring the way to Sion having his face thitherward who travelled in pain as a Woman to be delivered and had a longing desire after the Lord God who could not be satisfied until he had met with him whom his soul loved and nothing would comfort him short of the Enjoyment of the presence of the Lord neither did he regard the Reproaches but patiently endured the Cross and despised the Shame And all for that Joy that was set before him which the Lord had given him a sence and a seeling of in his young days and in the Lords due and appointed time he did deliver him from under all that which was as a Burthen unto him as that Philistian Nature that was an Enemy unto Israel that would be casting stones into their Wells and would be damming up the precious springs of divine Life these things he knew and met with in his way but still his dependency was upon Christ the Beloved of his Soul who brought him out of the Wilderness and over the Red Sea and over Jordan and through the Ministration of Death and Condemnation which all must pass through before they come into Life and Peace with God and to be possessed of that Inheritance of Life and Salvation Peace and Rest in Christ that Canaan was a Figure of promised to Abraham and his Seed for ever of whose Off-spring and Race in those days are all the Faithful who is willing to leave their Fathers House and all their Kindred and all that is near and dear unto them among whom was this faithful Man who loved not his Life unto Death that he might save his Life unto Eternity this was before him and this was in Moses's eye above Aegypts Glory this was in Abrahams eye above his Native Country and above his Fathers House because they all had an eye unto the Recompence of Reward among whom was this faithful Man after that he had turned his back upon all the World and Aegypts Glory he grew valiant for the Truth and bore a living Testimony against the Abominations and all the Pride and Superstition and Idolatry thereof the sence whereof still remaineth and doth live with me though he be removed from us still the remembrance of him is Chronocled and Engraven in our hearts that it cannot easily be forgotten nor razed out of our
OH feel the Bowels of Enlarged Love which the Lord God Almighty hath opened in me towards thee and hath laid it weightily upon me to visit thee with a tender visitation of love and also to lay open some of the snares and stratagems of the Enemy whereby he kept me in bondage many Months and some Years But the Lord in his tender mercy and infinite compassion hath redeemed me out of them all and hath set me free to worship him in spirit and in Truth unto whom my soul doth at this time and for ever desire to return everlasting glory and endless praises and thanksgiving who alone over all is worthy for ever and ever For after he was pleased in his endless mercy to bring me into the Wilderness into a place of want into a bewildred state into a wantfull state and into a sense of the Necessity I had of seeking after a Saviour the Enemy through hearkening to his deceitful voice kept me long wandring here before I could get thorow or arrive within the River-banks of Canaan yet can I truly say the Lord brought me not hither to starve me but to try me for he never left me nor forsook me but he dayly pursued me with mercy and followed me with his loving kindness he fed me with the Manna from Heaven and caused me to drink of the Rock that followed me which Rock was a shelter unto me and that Rock was Christ which dayly begot a longing desire in me of being redeemed out of that bewildred state and of coming to the full enjoyment of that living refreshment which my Soul at times and seasons was made partaker of for truly I have many times felt such living refreshments from the hand of the Lord both when I have been amongst the Assemblies of Gods People and also when alone in secret Places when my heart hath been kept low in his fear and when in the sincerity of my Soul I have waited upon him in a true Resignation to his Will that my Soul as it were hath been overjoyed and then whilst I have been thus pleasing my self with those Joys and take a Rejoycing in those Refreshments then hath the Enemy com'd in with those Perswasions and said Thou art now come to the full Enjoyment of thy desire thou art now come to arrive within the Blessed Land for which thou so earnestly travelled for and thou may now take up a rest here for thou need never fear of being deprived of these Enjoyments or of being driven back out of the Land wherein thou art arrived yea these and many more stumbling Blocks hath the Enemy cast before me whilst I was in this Blessed Exercise and through lending an Ear and hearkening to his deceitful Voice in taking up a false Rest which the Lord hath never ordained for me I have been led backward into the Wilderness and the Veil hath again been brought over me and the thick Clouds of Darkness hath covered me and the Mercies of the Lord hath been withdrawn from me and he hath as it were for a Season hid his Face from me so that I have sometimes been ready to say Surely this is Aegypts Darkness and to take up a Lamentation for want of the enjoyment of his presence which I did enjoy whilst I was obedient to him and in the deep sence of these my Wants and of the necessity of the saving Power and Salvation of the Lord God Almighty hath my Soul been bowed down under great Weights and Burthens beseeching him that he would again appear and rend away the Veils and take off all Coverings and let me feel of his wonted Goodness and of the fresh Incomes of his Love and Mercy which formerly I had been partaker of for in the sence of these Wants hath my Soul with David been ready to say Lord hast thou forgotten to be gracious wilt thou be favourable no more O then did he Answer me and say My hand is not shortned at all that I cannot save neither is my ear heavy that it cannot hear buâ— thy Sins hath separated betwixt thee and me through hearkening and lending an ear to the Enemy in taking up a polluted Rest therefore turn from the evil of thy ways and I will still have Compassion on thee and appear to save in all Troubles and carry thee thorow all thy Exercises and Tryals which I will suffer to come upon thee and set thee as a Pillar in my House that shall never be removed O then his Words were strength to my soul and more desired by me than my necessary Food and now can I truly say the Lord is become my chiefest delight and the object of mine eye he is the God of my Salvation therefore will I trust in him and not be afraid though he was angry with me his anger is turned away though in a little wrath he did his face from me yet with everlasting loving kindness he will have Mercy on me And now the Lord having brought me out of the Wilderness out of a Place of Want into a Land of Plenty and given me to drink of the River of his pleasure which is set open and freely tendred to all that will come he hath taught me not to sit at ease and take up a Rest as the Enemy would have perswaded me for though the Enemies be subdued that were within the Borders and that hindred me from arriving within the Blessed Land yet GOD hath shewed me there are yet many Enemies within the Land which if there be not a continual Watch kept will come suddenly upon me and drive me out This is the Philistine Nature which will dam up the Wells of Jacob which will stop the Passage of the Fountain of Life from running into my Soul there are the Pleasures of the World and the Cares of this Life and all vain Traditions and Customs of Men which must be forsaken and Sufferings both of Body and spoyling of Goods Scoffings and Scornings Revilings and evil Entreatings which they that will live godly in Christ Jesus must endure And now the Lord having set before me Life and Death I will rather chuse to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season for when I lay wallowing in my Blood and nothing but Wounds and putrifying Sores and when the Priest and the Levite passed by and regarded me not nor none could speak a word of Peace to my Soul O he was the good Samaritan Who took me up and had Compassion on me he was the skilful Physitian who knew my Infirmity and poured forth Balm from Gilead upon all my Wounds and healed me of mine Infirmities O therefore hath he engaged me to love him and to give up all for him and to follow him thorow the Loss of all things yea to give up my Life for his sake if he should require it at my hand and it is but all what I owe unto him it is but the sacrifice of
famine they did abound with plenty and how much more may thou being a Just man and faithful to God bring a blessing upon thy self and upon thy own house and now here is the sum of all these lines contained To love thy Neighbour as thy self aend to do unto all men as thou would they should unto thee to love mercy and to do justly and walk HVMBLY with thy GOD Which if thou truly observe and do the Lord will plant thee as a Tree by the River side and as a Lilly by the Water courses which neither toyl nor spin yet feed and grow and is beautifully Arrayed for Solomon in all his Glory was never Arrayed like one of these And now I have cleared my Conscience in doing the message of the Lord faithfully according to the Ability which he hath given me and if the Lord should call me to visit in general as he did to thee in particular I desire that I may never be slack but ever ready to answer his requirings and do his will in all things and I pray God set it home upon thee that it may answer the end for which it is sent that I may cast my bread upon the waters and after many days find it and so unto that power which is only able to save to the uttermost all that will come unto it do I commit thy Soul with my own and all that have any desires of righteousness in them and I desire with all my Heart and Soul that we may for ever be kept upright before the Lord unto the end of our appointed time That when he is pleased to put a period to our days when time unto us on this side the grave shall be no more that we may give up our accounts with joy and lay down our heads with peace where none can make us afraid and where our bread for ever may be sure and our water never failing and that with Paul we may conclude and say We have fought a good fight we have kept the faith and funished our course and henceforth there is laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness and not for us only but for all the Righteous for the Crown of Glory he alone shall wear that faithful to the end persevere So this with dear love to thee is all at present from thy ever loving brother Benjamin Padley North Frodingham in Houllderness in Yorkshire 20th of â—th Month 16â—â— The Copies of part of two Letters to his Brother John Padley at London The First Letter Dear Brother AFter our dear Love to thee these may let thee know That I received thine which I suppose came by the hand of John Yates but it was but two weeks since yesterday and it did rejoyce me greatly to hear from thee but more especially to hear how it was with thee for I can truly say it is that which my Soul has and doth travel for that we may be preserved in Uprightness before the Lord unto the end of our days for blessed be his Name his Tender Care has been over us and his Compassion has been toward us in the days of our Minority and in the time of our Youth that though he was pleased to strip us of our Faithful Parents and to leave us destitute of a Habitation yet he never forsook us but his provident hand has gone along with us and taken care for us beyond what we could ever have expected that with Jacob we may say The Lord hath fed us all our Life long and now it is the desire of my very Soul and Spirit that we may walk worthy of those Mercies and Blessings that the Lord hath bestowed upon us and that we may truly answer the end for which he hath thus visited our Souls in faithfully performing that Duty and Service which the LORD hath called us unto and requires of us and herein will the Lord be glorified by us and our Souls will receive the everlasting Reward that will countervail all our Labour and Exercise so into his hand do I commit our Souls together with the Souls of all his Faithful Children every where who is only able to preserve and keep us unto the end of our days Benjamin Padley Northcave 20th of 1st Month 1687. The Second Letter Dear Brother MY Dear Love is unto thee desiring thee may enjoy thy Health as thro' the Lords Mercy we do at present and not only so but inward Peace Comfort and Satisfaction I do daily witness and feel in my own particular and Truth doth grow and prosper amongst us which is Matter of great Joy and Comfort unto my Soul and it is the breathing Desire of my Spirit that the Lord may preserve thee with my own Soul and the Souls of our Dear Friends and Brethren in the Truth in Uprightness before him unto the end of our days c. Benjamin Padley Yorkshire the 29th of the 11th Month 1689. A Copy of a Letter to his Brother John Padley at London Beloved Brother THe Salutation of my Endeared Love doth reach unto thee in that inseparable unity and fellowship which length of miles or distance of place cannot separate as we dwell and abide in that blessed Truth which the Lord hath convinced us of and not so only but through his great mercy and loving kindness hath brought us into obedience in a pretty large measure to the requirings of it and it is the very desire and Travel of my Soul and Spirit that we may be ever kept and preserved in the same obedience to the end of our days that as the Lord hath been pleased to give unto each particular of us a Tallent to profit with all that we now may be truely and faithfully exercised for the improvement of it to the glory of God and to the benefit and advantage of our immortal Souls that when the Lord is pleased to call us to an account that we may appear before him with joy and receive the answer of Well done into our bosomes and this will be more cause of joy and gladness unto us than though we could gain the whole world and want this And now my Dear Brother by this thee may understand that I have received thine baring date the 26th of this month as also two that my Wife received before I came home the reading of which hath greatly gladed my heart as also the account that I had of thee by our dear Friends John Whitehead John Bouram and Robert Lodge which all did give me a very good account of thee and I can truely say it did abundantly rejoyce me to hear of thy welfare and prosperity every way but more especially of thy growth in the Truth in which I pray God preserve and continue thee with my own Soul and every one whom he hath called that his work may prosper in us and that we may stand as living witnesses for him in our age and generation amongst those whom he hath placed us for blessed be the name