her with the Kings Daughter all Glorious within her righteous Heart loved no false Coverings but still was labouring to keep Truth clear over all Deceit always incouraging all both Privately and Publickly to serve the Truth in their day with singleness of Heart and uprightness of Mind and where-ever she found the Lord was dishonoured by any and his Truth evil spoken of she spared not her self but with and in his Wisdom she dealt with such to bring them to a sight of their evil doing the Lord had surely a great regard unto her for her sincerity of Heart in his Service for I am one with many of the Lords People that can testifie of her unwearied pains and care in the Church of Christ like as Priscilla and Aquilla whom Paul calls fellow helpers in the Gospel so I know could many of the Lords Servants and Worthies call her in her day for the Lord was pleased to give large Gifts unto her because her Heart was right in his sight and her delight was to improve her Talent in her Lords Service laying aside all things else for the sake of that a true Mother in Israel indeed taking always due care for them that were in want of help inwardly or outwardly to the simple honest hearted she was truly tender and was as Eyes to the Blind and Legs to the Lame teaching them in the way of Life to the strait path where she had walked and travelled without fainting by the way I would not leave off without giving her her due in more things then these I have hinted but not being willing to be too large knowing that many were the Friends that loved her in her Life served according to their measure in the ever blessed Truth with her that would have the same privilidge in easing of their tender Hearts and broken Spirits as I have her dear and worthy Husbands loss is great indeed in his own particular but that I know his will is resigned to the will of the Lord I saw something of their pure Innocent parting upon her dying Pillow which I believe I shall not hastily forget as she Lived she Died an honourable esteem she had of him in her Life so had she to the Last with great desires that nothing upon her account might hinder his Service of us that were about her she took a dear and tender Farewel with a kind acceptance of our Care and Love to her which was but our reasonable Service and Duty for in her day the Lord gave her amongst us and she was a blessed Instrument and the Lord be good unto us and keep us in his holy fear that we may run the Race that he hath set before us and finish our Course with Joy as I am satisfied she hath done Amen Lord Jesus Amen From a Lover of the Truth and the Servants of it Mary Woolley The 25th of the 7th Month 1686. Bridget Ford HER TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead FInding my self not clear without casting in my Mite by way of Testimony for my dear esteemed and honoured Friend in the blessed Truth Ann Whitehead whom the Lord endued with Wisdom and made her a Mother in Israel and I can say I have seen her take the Weak by the hand and lead them on in the work of the Lord and she hath been comforted and refreshed when she felt any whom the Lord had made willing to put their hand to his Plow their shoulder to his Work she hath rejoyced in Spirit and praised the Lord on their account and like a nursing Mother did tender and cherish the Good and reprove the contrary she often visited the Widow and Fatherless and had compassion towards them sturring up other holy Women thereunto as also to clothe the Naked feed the Hungry and visit those that were in Prison what shall I say it was her delight to serve the Lord and his People she was a faithful Labourer in the Vinyard of our God and I am fully satisfied she hath finished that Work the Lord sent her to do with Joy and now it hath pleased him to gather her to himself where she rests from her Labours and her Works follow her and is crowned with a Crown of Glory everlasting Praises Honour and Dominion be given to our God henceforth and for evermore Amen London the 24th of the 7th Month 1686. Bridget Ford Charles Bathurst HIS TESTIMONY FOâ— Ann Whitehead AS for our dear Friend A. W. I have this short Testimony to bear concerning her She was a Person whom the Lord had endued with singular Wisdom and I have some time hard her say She sought the Lord from her Youth and followed the best of Men and best of Meanes according to the dispensation of those times But when the Lord was pleased to visit this Nation with the manifestation of his glorious Truth she was called in the Morning of that Day and followed the Lord fully through many Sufferings and various Exercises and still grew in the Truth so that she arrived to a high pitch of divine Knowledg whereby we may truly say Deborah like She became a Mother in Israel Her Agency and Usefulness in the Church cannot be better demonstrated then by the many Tears that followed her to the Grave and as she was filled with heavenly Wisdom so she increased in humane also and did not hide her Talent in a Napkin but spent her self in the Service of the Truth and was ready to communicate to any that stood in need of her grave Counsel and of this I know there are many Witnesses I can for my own part say I have often had occasion to resort to her to receive Advice from her in many matters of important weight and always found her Advice very successful and as she was thus serviceable to the Church in General and to many Members in Particular so she was very helpful to the Pooâ— and a frequent visiter of distressed Families I know not indeed wherein she was defective except it were to her self in spending her strength in continual service for the Truth till Nature hastned to its Center But I shall not further enlarge being filled with sorrow for the loss of so worthy a Friend but wish that we that remain behind may in our measure follovv her Footsteps in her vvorthy Actions knovving that novv she hath received a Revvard of all her Labours and is at rest vvith the Lord forever to vvhom be returned praises by a Member of his Church and People The 1st of the 6th Month 1686. Charles Bathurst Bridget Austill HER TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead A Short Testimony lives in my Heart and is weighty upon my Spirit concerning our dear and worthy Friend and dearly beloved of the Lord Ann Whitehead of whose savory Life and sweet innocent Conversation I was a Witness for a considerable terme of Years in all which time since the Lord in his everlasting Mercy brought me into acquaintance with himself and true nearness
part of the Care which fell on her for the Church and to diligence in the Lords Work and Business which she her self was mightily furnished to the performance of through the Wisdom given her of God and in the consideration of our great loss I have secretly desired of the Lord that he would please to pour out of his Spirit on some worthy Instruments to succeed her in his Work and Service This Testimony is part of what rested on my Spirit on behalf of our dear Friend Deceased who I greatly valued in the Truth having often felt the distillings and dropping down of heavenly Dew and refreshment from her Branch which springing from the living Vine brought forth Fruits Savoury and Acceptable which my Soul did often delight in and the savour of that virtuous life which flowed through her Spirit still is Consolation unto me and the remembrance of it I know will yet be pretious to all who are rightly sensible thereof William Ingram Mary Forster HER TESTIMONY Cencerning Ann Whitehead AH my Sister my worthy Friend Ann Whitehead who was highly favoured of the Lord and endued with an excellent Spirit to follow the Lord fully and to be serviceable to him his Truth and People for the Lord did not only enlarge her Heart but fill it full of his divine Vertue and as a Scribe instructed in the Kingdom she did bring forth of the Treasure which God had given her things both New and Old she fought the Lord in her Youth and betimes tasted and was made partaker of his heavenly Grace so that her Experience was great and the fresh living Springs of Life did often run through her to the refreshment of many and in the spirit of true discerning she did divide the Word of God aright to the Poor Penitent and Broken-Hearted Peace Mercy and Forgiveness but to the Stubborn Idle and Disobedient Righteous Judgment and indeed such could not stand before her yet could she bear the Burdens of the Weak and Suffer with the Afflicted Ones I have for about twenty seven Years known her her ability and readiness to serve the Lord in his Church and more especially in the affairs of the Poor which she did in much Wisdom and Prudence not sparing her Person or Substance when either could be serviceable indeed it was her Meat and Drink to do the Will Work of God she was a chearful Sufferrer for the Name and Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ and did encourage others so to do and to hold out to the end What can I say her Worth is sufficiently known to the Children of the Day especially those amongst us and blessed be our God although her Person be removed from us yet that Spirit which made her amiable to us in all her Services is not departed but remains with us and hath its operation in many Sons and Daughters but she is gone and we shall see her no more here and it hath often run through me whose Faith follow she had an inward Life and Conversation in Heaven and whilst here on Earth was clothed upon with Life and Immortality and was entered into the Rest of God and having run the Race having fonght the good Fight having kept the Faith she had the Crown of Life is now Crowned with Glory in that Mansion which Christ our Lord hath prepared for her and not for her only but for all them who love his appearance and in their day diligently wait for his coming to finish Transgression and to make an end of Sin and to bring in everlasting Righteousness so come Lord Jesus The 10th of the 8th Month 1686. Mary Forster A TESTIMONY concerning Ann Whitehead AS the Lord alone is the Author of every good thing that a People or Person doth enjoy which causeth them to differ in any excellent Vertue so he is to have the Praise and Honour over all yet in a living sence which I feel upon my Spi-rit there is a Testimony remains with me for my dear Friend Sister in the blessed Truth Ann Whitehead who was an honorable Woman in her Day and very serviceable in the Churches in and about London and in other parts of the World where her hand of Love and motherly Instructions did reach yea to the Isles afar off oh what shall I say or write concerning my dear Friend whose Body is laid in the Grave but her worthy Acts yet liveth in the memory of the Faithful and time would fail to make mention of the many particulars in which her service was very weighty but this I may say of her that she was a faithful Steward of the manifold Gifts and Graces which she received from the hand of the Lord and that in a plentiful manner and she did not hide her Talents but improved them daily for the benefit of the Churches of Christ being always ready fitted for every good Word and Work and the fervency of her Spirit to serve the Lord his People did often carry her above the weakness of her Body who did attain to a good age and now is gone to her rest in God like a shock of Corn in its season though I with many more are often bowed in our Spirits in the sense of the great want of her yet I am satisfied her gain is great and she is entered into everlasting Joy and Peace with the Lord God and the Lamb forever and evermore and it is the desire of my Soul and Spi-rit to the Lord that I with all the Handmaids of the Lord in and about this City and every where may so attend upon the Lord in our several Places and Services which we are or may be called to that we may receive more and more of his Wisdom and Counsel that according to the ability that God gives unto us we may in some measure supply the place of our dear Friend who is gone before us that the great wise God may be honored by us through us who is worthy of all Praise and living Obedience from me and all that know him in Truth both at this time and for evermore Amen Writ in the 8th Month the 5th Day 1686. S. Plumley Ann Travers HER TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead I Having been well acquainted with our dear and wel-beloved Friend and Sister Ann Whitehead could do no less then bring in my Testimony with the rest of my Sisters in the blessed Truth of God I having known her above thirty Years at my first Convincement she gave up her self to serve the Church of Christ and abode faithful to the Truth and was endued with heavenly Gifts and was able to lend a hand to the Weak for the Lord had endued her with a large measure of spiritual Wisdom and in outward things also she was capable and also willing to help any in Distress as for the Sick her care was for them and for the Fatherless and the Widow she was as a Mother in care for them and the loss
who was a Mother in Israel and indeed our loss was her gain for she is entered into her Rest which the Lord hath prepared for those that love his Appearance and are obedient to his Requirings and have followed him through many Tribulations as our dear Friend did In the beginning when God's Truth did first appear in this City then she became honourable therein by her cleaving thereto in her Youth and hath continued therein to her old Age and hath been honoured above many and now my dear Friends that we may all follow her example is my desire that am your Sister in the holy Truth Elizabeth Camfield A TESTIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead Serious Reader IT cannot be sufficiently lamented that we live in an Age that abounds with profane blasphemous Atheists sprung out of various sorts of Apostates from the way of Truth whose unclean Hearts are filled with envy against such as have followed God faithfully in their day their Mouths with mocking and railing Accusations endeavouring to bury their Names Testimony and Sufferings for God It is meet and needful in such a time that there should be some to speak for God and the way of Truth and for those that have faithfully served him in their Generation and are fallen asleep for so the holy Apostle spake of David Thus the Spirit of God in ages past hath commemorated the Names and Services of his faithful Followers and are not their Names and Services this day fresh and sweet amongst us as precious Odour even from righteous Abel to this day Is not the holy Apostles Catalogue and cloud of Witnesses mentioned in the Hebrews of living and fresh savour and edification in the Church in this our day observe how frequently in all his Epistles he commemorates the Names and Services of the eminently faithful and that the Disciples shewed Dorcas's good Works and holy John commemorates the Names of those that loved the Truth which justifeth the same practice now and reproveth the Atheistical Cavellers of our day that being secretly convicted in their Consciences of Apostacy from God become deriders of the Names and Services of the Joshuas and Calebs in our age upon whom the Apostle hath eternized a just motto That they please not God and are contrary to all good men Dear Friends all feel in your day and time that comfort that is in that God hath set apart the godly for himself these are called his Jewels and God saith in Malachy They shall be mine My Heart is inditing good matter amongst the Lovers of Zion that favour her Dust and takes pleasure in her Stones they shall prosper indeed that love her And I feel constraining in my Spirit to cast in my Mite of Testimony amongst others concerning our dear Friend Ann Whitehead of whom I had large Testimony that the Spirit of God plentifully dwelt in her branching forth it self in many eminent Services for God so that she may well be commemorated as a Mother in Israel that was filled with Zeal for the building of Gods House the Apostle spakes of some that were the first Fruits of Achaia commemorates their Services and exhorts the Church to acknowledge such This godly VVoman was of the first Fruits of London in this our day who hath left a sweet Testimony in the Hearts of Thousands that she sought not her own things but the things of Christ my own experience of Gods honouring her with his Soul consolating presence was large in many Years holy Communion in our retired Meetings where God often filled her Vessel with the VVater of Life to the reaching and refreshing of many Souls That day must never be forgot when her Testimony was indeed as the dew and small Rain to the tender Herbs so that I was made to say where is the Scribe where is the VVise and Disputers of this VVorld meeting with him who is the Glory of Israel whom my Soul sought after through Instruments dispised by this VVorld amongst whom oh Ann thou art numbered and shalt everlastingly shine as a Star in the hand of him that sitteth upon the Throne and though as to the mortal thou art removed yet art present in the general Assembly and Church of the First-Born who having washt their Robes in the Blood of the Lamb with Harps in theis Hands Sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Great and Marvelous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Just and True are thy Ways thou King of Saints The 15th of the 9th Month 86. 〈◊〉 Plumsted A general TESTIMONY for Ann Whitehead DEar Friends in the blessed Truth to whom this Treatise may come we tenderly salute you in the Lord and further declare and signifie unto you that though these foregoing Christian Testimonies were written apart by particular Friends as they felt a necessity come upon them in commemoration of the Christian Conversation holy Example weighty Service and blessed End of our truly beloved and faithful Sister in Christ Ann Whitehead yet the said foregoing Testimonies are so concurrent in themselves bespaking one and the same spiritual Sence and Judgment in many Witnesses and so clearly agreeing with the general Sence Knowledg Experience of our Womens-Meeting in London to whom the Faithfulness Labour of Love Care and Diligence of our said Sister was well known that our said Meeting doth unanimously own and recommend the same to all our faithful Friends and Sisters in Christ of other Womens-Meetings in this and other Nations Though God is our record 't is not to admire the Person or exalt the Creature above its place that these things are written recommended but to magnifie the Power and Goodness of the Lord our God and his divine Grace and Gifts in his Creature as manifest in this his day who worketh both immediately and instrumentally as he teacheth and instructeth both by himself alone and by his faithful Witnesses according to his good pleasure The Holy One in these his VVays and VVorks is not to be limitted but we ought to admire his great Wisdom to consider his great Kindness to us in all his Ways and daily to pray unto him who is the Father of Spirits that we may both daily feel his immediate Counsel in our Hearts follow their Faith Christian Example of Love Peace and Concord who have thereby left a good Report and such lively Impressions upon tho Hearts of a Remnant as may not be raced out nor easily forgotten God Almighty preserve us all faithful in his Work and Service and in his pure Love blessed Unity and heavenly Order of his holy Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus our Lord unto the end of our Days Amen Mary Stott Hannah Tayler Martha Hull Marrabilla Farmborough Priscilla Hart Agnes Pool Patience Ashfield Constant Etheridge Sarah Mileman Sarah Ellis Elizabeth Man Mary Mardin Mary Birkhead Martha Mathews Sarah Mead Ann Paxton Margaret Drinkwell Elizabeth Fullove Hester Bryan Elizabeth Stoakes Sarah Edge Mary Whitpane Mary Griffen Grace Jenner Rebecca Zachary Elizabeth Vaughton Mary Sanders Grace Staplo Elizabeth Thrope Joan Wheeler Joan Perkins Martha Parker Elizabeth Cobham Mary Howell Elizabeth Gibson Susanna Ingram Abigail Harlow Mary Antrobus Grace Pinder Abigail Maylin Elizabeth Collet Mary Sims Mary Wass Ann Cox Mary Laity Elizabeth Brassey Ann Eccleston Elizabeth Heywood Elizabeth Gouldney Katherine Clarke Margaret Kinth Elizabeth Moss Dorothy Langhorn Margaret Hallowfeild Mary Oades Margery Feild Issabel Jâ—lly Joan Dennis Mary Jennings Elizabeth Baker Mary Quare Elizabeth Newman Ann Browne Hannah Perrie Ellen Petrem Elizabeth Cullcup Ann Hubbard Elizabeth Pate Mary Willson Ann Cooper Willmot Smith Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Grice Elizabeth Skinner Susanna Anthony Ann Phillips Sarah Clarke Elizabeth Cartwright Hannah Scotting THE END
Piety Promoted BY FAITHFULNESS Manifested by several TESTIMONIES Concerning that true Servant of God Ann Whitehead The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance Printed in the Year 1686 George Whitehead HIS Epistle and Account Concerning The Life and Death of Ann Whitehead his dear Wife To be Communicated to Friends especially those who knew her in Truth and Faithfulness MY dear and tender hearted Friends who truly love the Name of the Lord and the precious and living Unity and Society of his holy Spirit whereunto he hath called and gathered us by his invisible Power you are truly dear unto me in that life which shall never die and in that love which is stronger then Death and therein my Soul truly loves all the Faithful in Christ Jesus and such have been and are my Joy and Crown of rejoycing in him and such can sympathize one with another and bear one anothers Burdens in all Afflictions Tryals and Sorrows which befall the Righteous in this short time of our Pilgrimage here on Earth And my dear and tenderly beloved Friends though my Spirit be greatly bowed down and my Heart daily broken before the Lord under my present Exercise and Affliction in parting with so dear and true a Companion and faithful Servant of Christ and his Church as my dear wife was well known to be yet I feel secret peace and acceptance with the Lord in an humble submission to his blessed Will and in being reconciled to him in all his Ways and Dealings with us under all such Tryals as he sees meet to bring upon us as well knowing that precious to the Lord is the death of his Saints and that the Lord who gives he takes away at his pleasure none can hinder him nor may we say to him What dost thou But whâ—re Friends so nearly related have so long lived together in that sincere love unity concord and tender heartedness one to another as we have done 't is a tryal to part 't is a day of exercise and heaviness and requires some time to get thorow it 't is the Lord alone that can effectually relieve comfort and bind up the broken hearted in such Cases and distressed Conditions Yet we sorrow not as those that have no hope of Immortality or of meeting together in immortal Glory and Felicity hereafter for Life and Immortality is revealed and come to light in a good measure and therein have all the faithful Members of the Church of the first Born some spiritual Sense and Union with the Spirits of all just Men and Women who have faithfully served the Lord in their Generation and finished their course with Joy and the real sense of the Sincerity Love and Zeal of my dear Wife for the Name of the Lord lives and has deep impression upon my Heart and upon the Hearts of many more She truly loved Truth and Righteousness and hated Wickedness and Deceit Loosness and Pride She was plain hearted and true and of a right Mind sound Judgment and near and dear to the Lord and therefore I always valued her in Truth esteemed her as one whom God had effectually endued and qualified with Wisdom for her Service which was required of her She truly and tenderly considered the Poor the Widows and Fatherless and spared not her self to serve them that were in distress She was faithful and kept her integrity to the end and the Lord has taken her to himself her Spirit is received into rest with God in Christ She has obtained that blessed end that Crowns all her Labours Sufferings and Service I cannot forget her lively Testimonies and Expressions upon her dying Bed nor be clear without communicating something of the substance thereof unto you my dear and tender Friends who knew and truly loved her as she did you my Soul hath been and still is deeply affected in the sense and seeling of that tender Love and Union that is among you and was between you and her in her Life time and with your tender heartedness towards her and in remembrance of her Life and Testimony and Service for Truth she had among you and therefore recommend unto you some of her living Testimonies Expressions and Desires to Almighty God for his People upon her dying Bed and near her latter end in testimony of her real and tender love in Christ Jesus unto Friends as followeth viz Upon some discourse which a Friend had with Ann Whitehead of the great service which her Husband was in and had done for suffering Friends she answered The Lord has blessed and prospered my Husband in his Service which is great satisfaction to me and this I shall leave behind me as that which is satisfaction to me thâ—â— I never did detain him one quarter of an hour out of the Lord's service c. On the 23d 5th Month 1686 in the presence of several Friends she declared as followeth viz. I would not have you too much concerned about me as to my going hence I am in the hand of the Lord c. and with respect to Friends I desire the God of Peace and Love may be among all Friends and that they may be kept in Love and Peace and Concord unto which we were gathered in the Beginning that the same that gathered us in the beginning may always preserve Friends in the spirit of Love and of a sound Mind these words she expressed several times over so as the God of Peace and Love may continue with them and be with them to the end and as for me however the Lord shall please to dispose of me I am content in his will And Friends Visits she several times acknowledged as their great kindness and love to her though her weak Condition for some time could not bear much Company at once She further declared after this manner viz. And as to my Husband I have signified my mind as to what I would have done and leave it to him to do as he sees meet Hee 'l do what s just and right In our first coming together I had an Eye to the Lord that I might do nothing but what might be accerding to his will and that I might serve the Lord and his Church and the Lord has answered my desire and he has been a tender and true Husband to me in all respects c. I have nothing desireable to me in this World save my Husband but I am content given up in the will of God however he shall please to dispose of me c. On the 24th 5th Month 86 being asked how she was she said I am well I know nothing in this World nor that to come but all 's well Implying that all was well with her A little after again expressing how well she was and given up in the will of the Lord and signified her unity with all faithful Friends as being a living Member of the Body of Christ with them and her great love to all Friends in the Truth
and though she signified that a sadness had come over her Spirit for two or three Weeks insomuch that she was ready to Weep as she said when any Friends looked upon her or spake to her and that she had been something troubled at it as not knowing any thing by her self as the reason thereof but that she was naturally Pensive as she said being then clearly got over all that Sadness of Spirit and over all her Affliction and Pain insomuch that the more near she drew towards her end the more chearful she was her Spirit being greatly revived and comforted in the great love of God and his tender mercies to her whose mercies endure for ever to them that fear him This faithful Servant of our Lord Jesus Christ was in such Patience such Contentedness such Subjection of Spirit and holy resignation to the will of the Lord that she appeared no ways burdened with the thoughts of Death nor concerned nor in the least troubled about it Life immortal was over all But still she was given up in the will of God desiring others not to be concerned nor troubled about her if the Lord pleased to take her away saying Let me go away quietly Upon the 25th 5th Month 1686 when her antient and faithful Friend Mary Stout of Hartford came to visit her towards evening being asked if she knew her she said Yes very well 't is Mary Stout I have my Memory very well and my Understanding is clear though I am very Weak but I am given up into the will of the Lord whether to Die or Live for I have been faithful to him in what I knew both in Life and Death When she discerned any Friends troubled she was concerned would say There 's no cause for you to be troubled or concerned for I am well and in peace and have nothing to do c. with several more words to the same purpose Besides the many seasonable tender Christian Exhortations and Counsel which on her dying Bed she gave in the love of God to particular Friends which I pray God may be truly remembered and practiced and her many weighty and apt expressions in discourse on several occasions relating to Truth c. On the 26th 5th Month 86. in the evening Ann Whitehead said to her Husband c. The Lord is with me I bless his Name and I am well It may be you are afraid I should be taken away and if I be the will of the Lord be done Do not trouble your selves nor make any great ado about me But my dear go to Bed go to Rest and if I should speak no more words to thee thou knowest the everlasting love of God c. The next morning being the 27th 5th Month 1686 near three in the morning she quietly departed this Life at Briget Austil's at Southstreet in Middlesex her Husband Sister Ann-Mary Freeman Ann Cox Mary Stout and Briget Austil being present at her departure And now dear Friends the great tenderness gravity and solemnity among our tender and loving Friends accompanying her Body to the Burial on the 29th of the 5th Month 1686 did very deeply affect my Heart Friends love was felt beyond utterance Thus having given you my dear Friends this naked account I tenderly recommend you all to the grace of God to preserve you in the unity of his holy Spirit faithful to serve out your Generation in the love of God and blessed concord therein I pray God keep you comfort and supply you with all that 's needful for you to the end of your days and in the end crown all your labours of Love for his Names sake with a Crown of Life and Glory that fades not away Amen Your assured Faithful Friend and Brother G. Whitehead Written in the 5th and 6th Months 1686. Ann-Mary Freeman HER Testimony for her dear Sister Ann Whitehead AS to my dear Sister Ann Whitehead who was greatly beloved in the Lord by all that knew her aright in the blessed Truth of God for that she was always given up as a true and faithful Member of his Church to serve him in constant sincere Obedience in her Generation and Day on all accounts as is well known whose practice and manner of Life Conversation being not only Blameless but of good Report and Savour amongst Men from her Youth up when I was but a Child she took me unto her care and tenderly educated and helped me many Years and though young in Years then yet this I can testifie that her desires and inclinations were always religiously bent to serve the Lord both in Private and Publick in that way of Worship her Understanding reached to being so given up and devoted to his Service that her Zeal for the same hath carried her through much hardship of Body early and late and in due time the Lord answered the desires of her Soul in visiting her with his Gospel Day and powerful Testimony of the glorious Light thereof which she willingly imbraced through the Lords goodness and love to her and gave up to walk in the Light of the Living and was a Sufferer for bearing Testimony to the Truth and found great Peace and Satisfaction and the Lords presence and blessings in her Faithfulness and Perseverance and indeed as a natural Sister I can say and that in true thankfulness to God I have had great cause to bless the Lord in her behalf for she was a Treasure to me of great Value and I can truly say I honoured her as my Mother and she was not only a blessing to me but also to my Fathers House and the Memorial of her is pretious to me and will be blessed to Generations to come and now as it hath pleased the Lord to take her hence and I am deprived of so dear and near a Relation I am though in the bowed-downness of my Spirit before him subjected and reconciled to his will as knowing he giveth and taketh and in his own time and pleasure in whose hand the breath of all is So she is gone to Rest and I am fully satisfied her Soul is in Peace and Joy with the Lord eternally Much more might be said of her by me but her daily Care and Service being so well known by Rich and Poor Old and Young I shall forbear inlarging knowing her Reward is with her and her Works follow her for she did spend and was spent to serve the Lord faithfully in Truth and Righteousness to the end of her days and this I am a Witness of though one of the meanest in Gods Vinyard who am by Name Ann-Mary Freeman A Testimony for my dear and wel-beloved Friend Ann Whitehead whom I dearly loved in the Lord and that for her Works sake and for what the Lord had done for her I Had a true knowledg of her in the blessed Truth according to my measure she was a blessed Instrument in the hand of the Lord about some twenty seven Years ago it was my lot
to meet her at Kingston at the House of John Feilders where we had a Meeting on the first day of the Week and the Lord was pleased to seaze so upon me by his everlasting power through her Ministry that the operation thereof did so open my understanding and confirm me in the blessed Truth that I could set to my seal that it was the true and the living way and the way wherein no Soul could ever be deceived which day is never to be forgotten with me amongst the many other days of the Lords tender Visitations to my poor Soul in the days of my Distress and after I came more acquainted with this my dear Friend seeing her Faithfulness and Uprightness in the Church of God and her great care she had of the Servants of the Lord it did incline my Heart more and more unto her blessed be the Name of the Lord who hath quickened and made alive unto himself and hath made us near and dear one unto another and hath knit and tyed and bundled up and hath united us together in that one Spirit which is the bond of our Peace where there is no Rent nor Division but all one in Christ Jesus our Lord. And this is my Testimony further to her Ministry that it was living and true and she was one that never would go beyond the gift of the Spirit but always would return into that blessed Power that gave it forth which was very pretious to all that heard her and I can truly say that my Soul hath been many a time truly refreshed by her and in her and my Heart hath been made right glad for the which I bless and praise the Name of the Lord forever who is worthy saith my Soul She was a true and faithful Woman to the Lord and to his Truth and had a Testimony in her Heart against all things that would make a seperation therein and I can truly say it was very hard for me to part from her because of her worthiness and the want of her in the Church and Family of God and especially in our blessed Woman's Meetings where she was made very serviceable beyond many others through the gift the Lord had given her but considering the work is the Lords and he is alsufficient to carry it on to raise up other Instruments in her place the consideration thereof is a satisfaction to me and many more of my dear Friends and Sisters in the Truth and now she is ceast from her Labours and Sufferings and is at rest with the Lord who is her reward for all but tho she is gone her Spirit lives in the Hearts of the upright forever There is one remarkable thing brought to my mind which was the last Testimony of this our dear and wel-beloved Friend Ann Whitehead at a Meeting at the Bull Mouth a few Weeks before she departed this Life first signifying ' to Friends how she came to the Meeting in much weakness to be refreshed among us but withal declared how she was burdened to see the vanity of the minds of some professing the Truth and so she went on Exhorting and Admonishing and Testifying against Pride and Vanity which she saw among some young People that came among Friends So it is the desire of my Heart to the Lord that this her Testimony might not be forgotten but have a living impression upon the Spirits of all those whom it concerns and in that love which desires the good of all I rest Your Friend and Sister in the blessed Truth ihat sets free Mary Elson Margaret Meekings HER TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead IF any surely I have cause to bring in my Testimony for my dear Friend Ann Whitehead who was my antient Acquaintance both before and since she knew the Truth she being girded before by him she did not know not to trust in earthly Riches but did then with prudence and much tenderness do her duty far exceeding any I knew in that day and since she has been convinced of the ever blessed Truth which thorow many tryals and difficulties and great exercises she has passed thorow to walk therein a very useful Instrument in variety of â—â—â—vices in the work of the Lord she hath been by his assisting power who endowed her with much Wisdom and sound Knowledge to give Counsel and Advice to the Simple and much freeness to help the Helpless both with inward and outward Comforts and when in the outward she lived well of her own in the beginning she then gave up all to suffer and serve the Truth Oh her Value and many Vertues I want words to express what she was to me to many more that truly knew her so that her blessed footsteps I desire to walk in all my appointed time that as she did I may lay down my Head in Peace who I am well satisfied is gathered into that bosom of Love where Joy and Felicity endures for evermore Margaret Meekings A TESTIMONY Concerning Our antient and dear Friend Ann Whitehead THE one Eternal God besides whom there is none has in these last days manifested himself Emanuel God with us and in us of a Truth and all that into the new Covenant are gathered and there abide have his Teachings and feel his Presence and in the eating of the Bread that comes down from God discerns the Body whereof Christ Jesus is head and know the Communion and everlasting Union with God and all Saints so when any are removed or fallen asleep laying down their earthly Tabernacles our fellowship in Spirit ceases not nor do we sorrow as those without hope but can with Joy remember and make mention of those that Lived and Dyed in the holy Faith not speaking the praise of the Dead but of the Living as this our dear Sister Ann Whitehead who wrought in God and her Works follow her I knew her enterance was at the straight Gate and had no sooner the sight of the Pearl of great Price but was willing to sell all for it so put away that which was delightful to her tho her own Wotks highly priced by others yet least there should be an Idol in them were thrown in the Fire by her yea all that she thought would stop her in her Enterance or hinder her walking in the narrow Way yea her Relations whom she had manifested much kindness to yet being contrary to Truth she seperated from and thus having cast off that which pressed down she was not Idle but testified of the Truth in City and Country as called of God and she manifested that she was in the true Faith for it worked by Love I am a Witness thereof with many more Before the Womens Meeting was settled she went visiting the young convinced both Rich and Poor Counseling and Exhorting as was needful and supplying the Poor and stirring up others thereto and watching with those that were Sick and comforting the Parents with their dying Children yea helpful in many States and had
feeling of the invisible power of the Lord in Unity with him and one with another even unto the day of her departure out of this World when several who came forth with us are fallen by the way I say the remembrance thereof is precious and rejoyceth my Heart even more then I have words to express And now as to what was spoken by her when she came to her Death-Bed I question not but those dear Friends which vvere about her and vvere longer vvith her then I have already given a more full and particular account then I am able to do only thus much I must say that her patience and quietness of Mind and resignation of Spirit together with those heavenly expressions of that true Peace and full satisfaction and assurance of the Love and Favour of God at her Death doth abundantly evidence confirm what is written of her Life for she did certainly die the Death of the Righteous and her latter End was like theirs the close of her Days and finishing of her Course doth demonstrate that she had keep the Faith and that thenceforth there was laid up for her a Crown of Righteousness Harâ—ord the 12th Day of the 8th Month 1686. Mary Stout Some Account OF Ann Whitehead's Early Experience As written by her near thirty Years Ago IN living Streams that Spring With Tears of Joy now can I Sing Of the Love and Peace that greets When the upright hearted meets In perfect Truth of living Power Which lasteth ever down to shower The blessing of the lasting Hill Into the pure Heart to fill With the fulness of his Grace Which beholds with open Face The glory of the holy Spirit Which changeth man that life to inherit Now being come unto the Life The Tree into the Waters of strife That fell to sweeten them From their bitter sower Leven By its own Fruit is known True Joy Peace from Heaven flown Here he may take and freely Eat For whom God doth prepare his Meat Even his own Seed of Israel's Flock Whose Off-spring is the faithful Flock Which to his Voice alone gives ear Whereby the Heart is kept so clear A place only for the pure fear The awe and dread of perfect sight Which shineth in eternal Light There the Lambs Kingdom is known WhereChrist the Lord hath only Throne Ruling in Life and Spirit meek Subjecting all under his Feet The Earth Air all dark Power Which may arise to tempt an houer And try if in the upright Heart It can find out any part There to get in By Death or Sin The Lamb to Wouud and Slay On whom the Beast would make his Prey But waiting have the Patience tried The Faith that saves is soon espied Which safely keeps the little Flock That drinketh of the heavenly Rock From which the Water freely springs That giveth Life to all good things And here indeed There is no need Because of right All that abide i'th'Light May take and eat There daily Meat And praises gives To him that Lives For evermore to Reign Where there 's no Death nor Pain Glory glory to the Highest Who brings to Peace and perfect Rest These Verses of dear Ann's own Writing she gave me at her return from the Isle of Wight where she â—ad been travelling in the Service of Truth above twenty eight Years since when she had been absent for some space of time M. S. Grace Bathurst HER TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead SInce it hath pleased the Lord who is only Wise by his divine Providence to remove from us his faithful Servant Ann Whitehead my Spirit hath been in Heaviness and Sorrow hath filled my Heart many a time upon the consideration of the great loss that I with many more shall have of her as particulars unto whom she hath been as a Mother in tender Advice and Counsel and also the Church in general whose Service she never declined but in readiness of mind she gave up her self to serve the Lord and his People in uprightness as I can bear my Testimony in Righteousness for her having been Conversant with her ever since I knew the way of the Lord as it is now revealed in and through the Light and Spirit of Christ Jesus in the Heart which discovers the works of Darkness and all secret Iniquity I say ever since it pleased the Lord in the freeness of his Love and tender Mercy to make known his Truth unto me it hath been my priviledg to be acquainted with this faithful Servant of the Lord and I have been exercised with her in many Services relating to the Poor where I have seen her great Care Love and Charity extend to many poor helpless Families as also her Wisdom and Justice in making a difference betwixt the Worthy and the Unworthy and the honest hearted amongst them blessed the Lord for her and as there was a care in her to supply their outward wants she was always furnished with a word of Exhortation according as their States required that they should have their dependency upon the Lord so that from my own knowledg her Exercises were many and her Travels great for the prosperity of Truth and I pray God that we who knew her and are left behind may follow her steps as she followed Christ to the end of her days and some of her last Words that she spoke to me being near her end was That she was satisfied with the will of the Lord and did not desire any thing to be otherways then it was as to her for she felt a Reward from the Lord being filled with Joy she prayed fervenrly for Friends Children That the Lord would bless them and that they might fear the Lord and grow and walk in the Truth and be preserved from the Spirit of Pride which was the Substance of her last publick Testimony as many may remember Much more I could say but this being only to ease my Spirit and discharge my duty to her whom I loved in the Truth The 4th of the 6th Month 1686. Grace Bathurst Mary VVoolley HER TSETIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead ALthough I am satisfied there will be Testimonies many by them more worthy then my self concerning our dearly beloved Friend Ann Whitehead yet can I not peaceably pacifie my own Heart and Spirit without giving in my Mite amongst the rest of my dear Friends and Sisters whom I know have not buried her Works with her Body my Testimony is They shall stand upon Record to after Ages for I know her savoury Life hath been a help to season many Sons and Daughters and though it hath pleased the Lord to gather her into everlasting Rest Peace by Flesh to be seen no more yet doth her Righteous Spirit Life and Testimony live freshly amongst us blessed be the Lord therefore Oh our dear Ann cannot be forgotten by us who knew her as she was a faithful Handmaid and Daughter of the Lord and by us truly Valued for the Lord was pleased to clothe
with his People I beheld her Beauty and Comeliness in the Truth and her inward Adorning which was a meek and quiet Spirit seasoned with Graces and Vertue and true Wisdom from above whiâ—h the Lord had largly indued her withal whereby she was always furnished with a Word in season upon all Occasions a true Mother in Israel indeed still making it her greatest concern in her place that all might be kept in right order in the Church of Christ and nothing vvanting tenderly admonishing the young Ones to press forvvard in the vvay of Life and Peace vvhich might make for their everlasting happiness hereafter and gently advising and exhorting the elder Women to vvalk as good examples in all Comeliness in their places that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ might be adorned by them These things have I many a time been an Ear Witness to and my Soul refreshed thereby though but one of the least of the Lords Servants that may give in their Testimonies yet I could not vvith satisfaction pass by without setting Pen to Paper on this wise having ever since the Lord made me sensible of her Worth had an honourable esteem of her in my Heart and my Soul loved her with faithful Love and as she lived the Life of Truth so she finished her Course with Joy I am satisfied as being an Ear Witness of the many sweet heavenly Expressions that passed from her often times on her Bed of Weakness which I believe will remain weighty upon my Spirit oh her free resignedness up to the will of the Lord with true contentedness in her Condition often saying She had done with all things in this Life that she had nothing troubled her but was at true Peace and Ease every way desiring us that were about her whose Love and tender Bowels towards her she sensibly felt that we would not be troubled but give her up freely saying to me but a few houers before she departed That though she was in a dying Condition yet it was a living Death and that Weakness had seasoned her outward Man but her Understanding and Sense was as perfect and clear as when she was in her perfect Health and that she was in true Love and Charity with all Oh great is the loss of her in the Church of Christ she whom the Lord had so furnished and fitted for his Service which she faithfully performed to the last I pray God grant that we which are left behind may according to our measures follow her righteous Example and walk in faithfulness with God as she did in her day my Heart is full at this very Moment and my Spirit broken before the Lord in the remembrance of our dearly beloved Friend my House being the place where she laid down her Head in Peace with the Lord and although her Body be returned to its Center yet her Spirit and Life is truly felt and witnessed in eternal union amongst us So having eased ' my Spirit thus far in this concern I conclude who am known by Name Bridget Austill Ruth Crouch HER TSETIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead COncerning my dear and entirely beloved Friend Ann Whitehead whom it hath pleased God to remove out of this transitory and fading World and from the Troubles Exercises which attend it and the Lord having yet continued me amongst the Livingand capable to say or write something in Commemoration of her I account my self engaged to perform it for as I had a delight to converse with her and took pleasure to be in her Company when she Lived so her Memory is sweet and the savour of her Life remains in the frequent renewings thereof upon my Spirit and the same shall continue amongst the Faithful through Ages she was not to me a Stranger for besides our unity and oneness in Spirit I knew her personally from my Childhood and many precious Oppertunities God afforded us both Publick Private so that I had a full knowledg of her these thirty two Years as my Capacity could retain and can therefore with a good Conscience testifie on her behalf that she was one whom God had in an extraordinary manner visited with the springings of his everlasting Day and furnished her with Wisdom and Gifts beyond many others she had a gift of Discerning and so quick and ready in Comprehension accompanied with soundness of Judgment which she managed with a Wisdom and Gravity even to admiration all which rendered her honorable in the Church of Christ where her Service was very great and unto which she gave her self up to the utmost of which Service and Labour many upon whom it is since sallen may I believe testifie for her and I in particular am a Witness on her behalf she wanted not but was largly extensive in her Charity for the Poor she was always ready to contribute to the Necessitous she was furnished with Counsel from God to many in Distress both inward and outward which she readily gave the same being often accompanied with a good Effect for she opened her Mouth with Wisdom and in her Tongue was the Law of Kindness and in Meetings altho she had excellency of Matter and also of Delivery by saying much in a few Words for she used not many neither was she forward or hasty to Speak for I believe it was her care not to prevent or hinder the Brethren in their Testimony for God and his Truth and when any such thing happened it greatly grieved her for she loved good order in the Church and made it her business to promote and advance it and was her self so subjected by a heavenly Wisdom which instructed her in the right seasons to speak or to with-hold even as the same might be of Service in the Church so that may it not be said Many Daughters have done Virtuously but she excelled us all Her constant and long continued care for the Church and Poor of late through providence seemed harder and more difficult to her then formerly it had done which caused her to desire that some other Women would take upon them some part of that which she had long travelled under with some desire to with-draw a little by reason of some Weakuess she found attending her outward Man and accordingly she went into the Country to Southgate where her Weakness encreasing she did in a few Weeks finish her Course and thither I went to visit her and was sometimes with her in her Sickness and am sensible that the Lord was with her in a wonderful manner and furnished her with Patience and Content in her Condition with a Resignation and holy Submission to his Will in which frame she continued unto the end And now that the Lord who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh would be pleased in Mercy to encrease amongst us the number of such Labourers in his Harvest which is the desire of my Heart and Prayer to God and that he who did in loving kindness visit me early even
in the Morning of this his blessed Day and hath preserved me until now grant an encrease daily of his Wisdom and Counsel unto me that I may serve him and his People in my Generation and may follow the steps of this my dearly beloved Friend who is gone before and through Faith obtained a good Report and her Works praise her in the Gate To God Almighty be Glory and Honour over all for ever and ever Amen Ruth Crouch John Staplo HIS TESTIMONY Concerning Ann Whitehead THE Remembrance of dear A. W. cannot be forgotten she was my endeared Friend and whom I loved right well for the Truth 's sake in the enjoyment of whose Company I have been many a time Refreshed Comforted through the savour of Life in her Communication she was endued with the Vertues of Truth and seasoned with the Spirit thereof which rendered her Converse very acceptable great is the want of so dear a Friend the Lord be pleased to raise up more such spirited VVomen like minded to serve Truth in their Generation in the early of her day she began to Fear Love and Serve the Lord and her Perseverance is known to many my knowledge of her was about twenty six Years and she was affectionately tender to me in the time of my first Convincement when I was a Stranger to most Friends she wanted nâ—t in that day to give good Counsel and godly Admonishion and I have this satisfaction in my self I was glad when I had an oppertunity to serve her and my Spirit hath been tendered in the consideration of what she hath been to the Lord and done for the service of his Truth and People I well remember and believe shall not forget while I retain my Love to Truth what she said to me when I first visited her with another Friend as I did often in the time of her Weakness which she resented kindly being about six Miles from London and said What do you come on purpose to see me I take it as an effect of the Love of God and I pray God Bless thy Children Which render and motherly Expressions came very near and affected my Spirit and there was an earning desire in me Oh that the Lord would please to spare thee how glad should I be 't was more to me what she said at that time then if I had had given me a great deal of this World for that the Blessing of the Lord was and is of value in my Eye above all outward Concerns Another time when I went to see her which was her last day save one in this World her dear Sister Ann-Mary Freeman being present Remember me said she to all Friends and I pray God Bless your Families and if I never see thy Face more 't is well with me God doth know my Integrity and how I have been and walked before him and I am in Charity with all Friends and be not over Careful or Troubled for me but be Retired and Quiet My Heart was Comforted to hear her gracious Words yet Sorrow attended at the thoughts of being deprived of so Dear and Antient a Friend Diligent and Faithful Servant of the Lord one that loved the Peace of the Church as there is a Record of David's mighty Men in another Case so may she be Remembered among the first of the honorable Women for such were her attainments indeed I want Words to express what I have at times felt of her Worthiness in my Spirit One thing I have in memory of her she always stood clear of taking any part with those that ever rose in opposition to the Truth and the Servants of it and had a Testimony against that Spirit in all kinds that hath appeared to make Divisions amongst the Lord s People Well she is gone to her Rest and we that are left behind a little time to sojourn here it remains for us to be mindful of our latter Day and season of Change for that it may be perceived Mortality comes on a pace on this Generation some are concerned in the consideration of how many dear and honest Friends are lately taken from us we had need be girt up in Mind and diligent in Spirit that we fall not short of doing the Work of our Day and while we have Time all to prize it John Staplo VVilliam Ingram HIS TESTIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead AS concerning our dear Friend Ann Whitehead she received Truth at the first breaking forth of it among us and was blessed of God who endued her with many spiritual Gifts and Graces whereby she became a Blessing to others and the sweetness of that Life which flowed through her Earthen Vessel hath often Comforted and Refreshed God's People who in the sence of that living Power which plentifully appeared in her have many times been broke into tenderness before the Lord and in their Hearts have returned Praise unto him on her behalf who was knovvn to be Faithful and Sincere a true Preacher of Righteonsness in her Day and although she outvvardly be taken from us and her Body removed to its place yet her Spirit Lives and the memory of her Faithfulness Exercise and Sufferings for Truth 's sake and Labour for the Prosperity thereof continues amongst us hath a deep impression on the Spirits of many and vvill remain in the Churches of Christ vvhere her Service vvas manifest as a matter of great Value and Esteem not to be forgotten for indeed she vvas a Mcther in Israel a Nursing Mother to many Children begotten by the same vvord of Faith vvhich richly dvvelt in her vvhereby she vvas strengthened vvith Might in the invvard Man so that she vvas strong in the Lord and though many Archers shot at her to Grieve Wound her Life yet her Bow always abode in Strength and she was covered by the heaveuly Power of God out of the Enemies reach as one of the Lords hidden ones in favour with him and I am assured in my Spirit he hath preserved her unto his everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Peace who was a sanctified Vessel unto him fit for his use and to bear his Name forth unto the World and an eminent Example of Righteousness unto all who by her chaste Conversation coupled with Fear and diligent perseverance in the Truth did adorn the Gospel of our Lord being as a true Daughter of Abraham adorned with those inward Ornaments of the hidden man of the Heart as were the holy Women of old who trusted in God and she has now finished her Course fought the good Fight of Faith and I am satisfied hath obtained a Crown of Righteousness as a reward of her Travels and Labours which is prepared not only for her but for all that love the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ a more full Enjoyment of whom she had long been waiting in a preparation for and as sensible of her Dissolution or of her Departure being at hand did often Exhort and Admonish Friends to concern themselves with that
of her in the Church of Christ is very great and the Memorial of her will not be forgotten for her Works praise her and will be had in everlasting rememberance with the Lord. The 14th Day of the 8th Month 1686. Ann Travers A short Testimony to the good Life of a worthy Matron in Israel Ann Whitehead I Knew her six and twenty Years ago after the breaking forth of that blessed day of God upon us and she was made an early partaker of the day Star that arose in us even in the Hearts of Thousands both Sons and Daughters of which this my dear Sister Ann Whitehead was one of the chosen Vessels and by her Integrity and Faithfulness was fitted and prepared to and for her heavenly Masters Use and Service and so by receiving her pure divine Sap and Virtue from the blessed divine Root she grew up to be an honorable Vessel throughly furnished unto every good Work she was called unto yea a living Member of the true Body and Church of Christ yea a living Branch of the true Vine my Soul can bear her witness with many more who partaked of her Virtue and saw her motherly Care in the Church and for the good of all and so can do no less in Truth and Righteousness then let her Name be had in living Remembrance and though her bodily presence be removed from us yet her living Works praise her in the Gate for with Wisdom Prudence and godly Sincerity she was richly adorned hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh and very severe she was against any that had defiled their Garments for her Garment was made White in the Blood of the Lamb and she was like one of those who had not defiled their Garments And they shall walk with me in White for they are Worthy saith he that is Holy and True and now what shall I say my Heart is deeply affected to think of our great loss for a true Mother in Israel is gone and taken away to inherit and possess that Crown Immortal laid up for her who loved his appearance and was a faithful follower of the Lamb in the Regeneration and is now fat down in the Kingdom of Glory with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so we cannot Mourn as those without Hope but in the will of my heavenly Father to learn subjection by all my Tryals and Exercises the desire of my Soul is that we that are left behind may be faithful Followers of the footsteps of this our dear Sister with her dear and honorable Companion whose Paths their just Paths have been and are as a clear and bright shining Light shining forth more more to the consolating refreshing of my Soul with very many more and so that Spirit in her unto which I was united shall never dye and in this we feel her amongst us and are content in the will of the Lord. Lucretia Cook This Testimony lives in my Heart for my wel-beloved and rightly esteemed Friend Ann Whitehead SHE was one that did truly fear God by which she had learned a great degree of true Wisdom and through the inspiration of Gods holy Spirit had attained to a good and sound Understanding both of Spiritual and Natural things through which she was made a Vessel of Honour being one whom the Lord had fitly furnished to be of great use and truly serviceable to and amongst the Houshold of Faith through the virtue of that Life which the Lord often communicated through her to and amongst them insomuch that their inward outward Life was often Refreshed Comforted and Strengthned yea I can say and am oblieged to acknowledg that the Lord made her Instrumental to 〈◊〉 both for which I bless the Lord on her behalf and that he hath made known and preserved me in the sence of that Righteous Principle which her Christian Practice did often reach to and answer as Face answereth Face in a Glass and this is that indeed by which I know many with me can in their Spirits seal to who were and are sharers of the Virtue of that indwelling Life which her Spirit was gathered into and blessed be the Lord doth my Soul say in the lively sence of her Joy and endless Felicity who did receive an hundered fold in this Life as an earnest of that Incorruptible Immortal Life and is now entered into the full possession of it being an Heir of that Promise Blessed are the Dead that Dye in the Lord she is ceased from her Labour and her Works follow her And now alas what shall I say An Isralite is gone this day Who true and faithful was to God Against all Wickedness a Rod A tender Mother yet indeed Well furnished to help our need Well then bewail our loss may we So faithful true and wise was she For often did she recommend Us to the Lord our lasting Friend Our loss indeed how shall we take What but her gain can it up make For sure revived this may be One said to dye is gain to me Which gain transcends me thinks I find Her reward great that 's in my mind In Gospel work she had a share Great was her Labour and her Care To bring more Children to that place Where Godworks in them by his Grace This I observ'd that still she aim'd The Truth of God might not be blam'd Which faithful Labour I did find Was from a just and righteous mind And now I pray O Lord keep me Even all my days faithful to thee That so an Isralite indeed I may be found of Isaacs Seed Of which right Seed was this my Friend I testifie and so shall end Abigail Fisher. A TESTIMONY concerning Ann Whitehead DEar Ann is gone her Glass is Run She 's entred into Rest She lived here in Gods pure Fear Dy'd in him and is Blest She serv'd the Lord in Faithfulness And when her end drew nigh Told me her Work was finished She 'd nought to do but Dye She did desire her Love to Friends Remembred it might be In that which universal is The Truth which maketh free Great was her Zeal great was her Cars And Labour in her Day To serve and helpful be to those Were turn'd into Gods Way She was a Vessel fitted and Prepared by the Lord To honour him and lov'd all those Who serv'd him with accord Oneness of Heart oneness of Mind Amongst Gods Children dear She valued high Exhorting all To dwell in Gods pure Fear With Wisdom and Discerning great The Lord did her endue Quickness of Sight and Sence she had With Judgment Sound and True To me she was a trusty Friend And good advice did give Her Memory to me is Sweet In that where she did Live And certainly our loss is great May many Children say A Mother that in Israel was Is from us t'ane away But yet the Lord the Living God Her Husband will remain To us a Father dear and will His Childrens Cause maintain 'Gainst those that do his Work
of God She was adorned and furnished by the Truth with a good Understanding true Wisdom and sound Judgment to discern between things that differ whereby she was made a very serviceable Member in the Church of Chrst and a Mother in Israel to many Children ministring the Word in due season sutable to every State and Condition and I can truly say we have been often Refreshed and Comforted together in the Lord and one in another in our Women's Meetings where the Weak and Feeble have been strengthened and that which was heady high abased and brought low and Truth over all exalted and we as Members of that one Body of which Christ Jesus our Lord is the Head build up together a spiritual Houshhold unto God And this was the Labour Travel of our dear Friend and faithful Labourer in the Work Service of the Lord who was therein drawn forth to visit us at our Quarterly-Meeting at the Bull and Mouth the 5th of 5th Month 86. and it was the last publick Meeting she was at amongst us for she was then weak in Body yet she was strong in the Lord and in the power of his might was she enabled to bear a faithful Testimony for the Truth against all such that made a profession of it and was high and lifted up above the pure fear of the Lord and that measure of Truth which many had received and been partakers of in the beginning also signifying of what little value all the Glory Pride vain Fashions Customes and Friendships of this World are and how they all pass away and will not stand any one in stead in the day of account which will certainly overtake all therefore she exhorted and laboured in the Word of Truth that all might be warned against awakened out of all those things which grieves the good Spirit of the Lord are contrary to the pure mind will of God that so your Souls might live to God through your obedience to the Truth and the operation of his Power which works in them that believe to do those things which are acceptable in his Sight that God over all may be glorified for he alone is worthy of all Glory and Praise for evermore Oh that we which yet remain may be found following the footsteps of this our dear Friend as she followed Christ leaving us a good example in all manner of god-like Conversation She was a pattern of Wisdom and Sobriety and her Integrity to God was manifested through her labour of Love and faithful Service for the Truth's-sake In her Life time she sought the good of all and at her Death manifested her Love the same to all being sweetly kept in a living Injoyment of true Peace and Rest with the Lord her Love flowed forth uoto all the whole Flock and Family of God desiring that we might all live in Love And the God of Peace said she be with you preserve you and keep you all in true Love Peaece and Unity with himself and one with another And in this peaceable frame of Spirit I am satisfied that this our dear Friend resigned and gave up to the will of the Lord as in her Life time so at her Death having fought the good Fight finished her Course and kept the Faith and is at Rest with the Lord and her Memory is blest forever Susanna Dew AND I was truely glad I had an oppertunity to visit her in the time of her weakness for I was Comforted and well refreshed with the rest of my Friends then present in the feeling and injoyment of that Love Life which still lives and will remain with all the upright in Heart And altho her Body be removed from us her memory lives in that which is beyond words So unto that pure everlasting Power which works in us and for us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure be all Glory and Honour with Everlasting pure holy Prayses it ascends and is ascribed and given unto him that lives for ever and for evermore S. D. A TESTIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead A Living Testimony springeth in my Heart concerning that worthy Friend and Sister yea Mother for so she was to many Anne Whitehead who was endued with much Wisdom from above and one of great Courage with godly Zeal in the Work and Service of the Lord and a godly care she had over the Flock and Family of the Lord oh often would she come forth in our Womens-Meeting with a living Testimony which hath much refreshed my Heart and Soul and I doubt not but many more can say the same with me stirring up the pure Mind in many and often did exhort all to see how and in what they were gathered often did the Spirit of God move on her Heart to put all in mind that they might have their Minds exercised in their own Gift oh the great care she had to exalt the Name and Power of the Lord over all and that all might come to feel the Power to administer Life to their Souls Blessed be the Lord and Magnified be his pure and holy Name I have often felt him in the midst of our Assembles as an overflowing Fountain and that our own have overflowed to the praise and glory of his Name this is not to adore the Creature but that as she was a faithful Follower of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ so we may be found walking in her steps that as I am fully satisfied this dear and wel-beloved one hath finished her Course and laid down her Head in perfect Peace with the Lord and is enrered into her Rest it may be so with us Dear Ann is fallen asleep yet doth her memorial live and will be had in everlasting remembranee So dear Friends let us be diligent in our places and be found good Examples as dear Ann was in her Day being nursing Mothers and Patterns of Gravity to those Young Ones that are coming up that they may have cause to praise the Lord on our behalfs as a remnant hath on behalf of her that is gone and we must follow the Lord knows how soon therefore dear and wel-beloved let us in all things be careful that we set no bad example to any neither in our Habit or Behaviour I have seen much in my time since the Lord convinced me of his ever blessed Truth that lawful things have not been expedient in Apparel as well as other things So dear Friends this is the true desire of my Heart and Soul and the breathing of my Spirit that we may walk so circumspect in our Day Age and Generation so that when our Change cometh we may lay down our Heads in Peace also to the Praise and Glory of the great Name of the Lord our God who is worthy of all Honour Glory and living Thanksgiving not only at this time but henceforth and for evermore Amen Mary Plumsted MAny are the Testimonies concerning our dear Friend and Sister Ann Whitehead