such Honour have the Earthen Vessels of a Remnant and the Excellency of the Power is his and the Glory of all for he is worthy of it for he is no hard Master but a sure Rewarder of his faithful Servants and he endues them with Power that delights in his Law and inclines to keep his Commands and unto such they are not grievous but joyous but looking out hinders and therefore let none look at their own Weakness let my Harms make others beware and let 's be depending on our good Physician for he hath the Balm of Gilead that cures both Soul and Body which makes the weak strong with the sweet Cordials of his Life that relieves the faint hearted and feeble minded and through tender Mercy I have found it very needful and very useful at all times in all Conditions else what could I have done when in such a weak Condition so many Thousands of Miles from my Habitation but blessed be the Lord and magnified be his preserving Power as Tryals did abound Patience did superabound and that brought me to a good Experience of that which sweetned my bitter Cups and that caused the living Hope to spring that anchors in stormy times and then did the Light of my Soul 's Beloved shine upon me and he shewed me what great deliverances he had wrought for me and what great cause I had to trust in his Name that had been a comfortable Refuge unto me at home and abroad and also shewed me that his Rod and Staff had comforted me and he was always with me and in the Enjoyment of his Presence did my Soul rejoice in the midst of great Tryals and then was my cry Lord give me and mine the comfortable enjoyment of thy presence for ever and then try us as thou pleasest Thy preserving Power is all that I desire of thee and unto it I commit all and with thee I leave all for thou art worthy to dispose of all and then would Life flow in as a River to the comforting and strengthening of Soul and Body Everlâ—sting Praises and holy Thanksgivings be returned â—o Christ Jesus for he is worthy my Soul can truly say for I have experienced his dealings and seen his mighty works that he hath done even marvellously for his tender Seed with which my Soul hath travelled and is often concerned for they have much to bear wherever I have been The Lord my God relieve them more and more and work their deliverance for thy own Glory and the comfort of thy true travelling ones for evermore Written aboard the Ship in ths 3 d Month Anno 1681. A further Testimony for the magnifying of that Power that supported my weak Body and comforted my poor Soul in my Travels in America I feel my self concerned to give a Relation of some particular Places and Service FIrst I came to New York and there had been hurt done by some that Friends had lost their 5th Day Meeting and I laboured to settle it again and God's Eternal Power wrought wonderfully in me in several Meetings with his people and we were well refreshed And when the Meeting aforesaid was setled again it was with me to go to Long Island and there the Ranters oppressed Friends but the Lord had a tender People there and his Power was amongst them and we were sweetly refreshed together for God's Almighty Power was over all in all our Meetings wherever I came to the subduing of the dark Power that raged in the Ranters and the relieving of the tender hearted Honour and Praises be ascribed unto it for ever for it made me sensible of the oppression of the tender Seed and for its sake my Soul was in a deep travel and the Night before the general Meeting I was near unto death and many Friends were with me who did not expect my Life and I was so weak when I came there that two Women-Friends led me into the Meeting and there was a great Meeting of several sorts of people and in a little time the God of Wisdom Life and Power filled me with the Word of his Power and I stood up in the strength thereof and it was so prevailing over the Meeting that Friends were very much comforted and refreshed and the Power of Darkness so chained that the opposing Ranters and Apostates could not shew their antick tricks nor oppress Friends as they did use to do for they were very abusive in those remote Islands and commonly did much Mischief in Friends Meetings And they that had been convinced and were turned again with the Dog to his Vomit as saith the Scripture and with the Sow that was washed to wallow again in the mire and had made Shipwreck of Faith and a good Conscience they were most wicked and preached Scripture and had Truth 's Words and grieved Truth 's Spirit and burdened Friends exceedingly and honest Friends could hardly be clear that had a Testimony except they spake while they were speaking But when God's Power did arise over them it many times put them to silence even to admiration and altho Friends Exercise was great especially them that declared yet the blessed Effect of the Almighty Power was and is a precious Recompence and a good Reward And when my Service was over in Long Island it was in my Heart to go to Road Island to the General Meeting that approached soon after I arrived there yet we had a quick passage through Providence and when I came to the General Meeting of Friends there was that abominable Crew and Tho. Case the grand Ranter was bawling very loud and I had been there but a very little time but God's living Power did arise most wonderfully and I declared in the demonstration thereof and soon put him to silence and he went forth and the powerful Presence of the Lord was amongst his People and this General Meeting in Road Island lasted Four Days together and I had good Service there and God's Eternal Heart-tendering Power was over all Glory and Living Praises be unto it for evermore And still it was upon me to go to Boston for that was with me before I came from home and I hastened to take a passage in a Sloop and went with some Friends and one was a Maiden Friend that had a few Words sometimes in Meetings who had been there once before and she and another Friend suffered much there both Imprisonment and other Cruelty for Conscience-sake But blessed be the God of all our Mercies we had peaceable Meetings there and his excellent Power was so that it tendered the people and there was hardly any that I saw but shed tears there was a Lawyer that had a hand in the suffering of our Friends that were put to Death and he was very solid all the while And after this I travelled by Sea and Land in the strength of the supporting Power to many places whithersoever the Lord ordered me and as I followed the Line of his Divine Light he failed
tender Love and Soul-refreshing Life undeclarably unto them that fear him and dare not offend him and so loves him as to keep his Commands them he will make partakers of his precious Promises for he promised never to leave nor forsake his and to be with them at their down-lying and up-rising and at all times both day and night and as we keep covenant with him he will be with us and we shall be with him that lives for ever to give Life to us who waits upon him and that we may have it more abundantly that we may live to his praise though amongst a crooked Generation who do daily provoke the righteous God surely the crying sins of the ungodly have long cryed for vengeance in the ears of the mighty God of Heaven and Earth and his just Judgments will suddenly find them out and then if Daniel Noah and Lot were there they shall deliver none but their own Souls And therefore we have cause to be concerned as Lot was in Sodom that we may be Preachers of Righteousness in our Lives and Conversations that as the wicked do dishonour and grieve the Lord we may be the more careful to honour and glorifie him by bringing forth much Fruit for his delight is in such and if we abide in Christ Jesus the true Vine then shall we be fruitful in every good Work for he is the Root from whence we receive Vertue else we should wither and soon decay but blessed be the Root from whence we receive Sap and Daily Relief Oh that it may lye always upon our Branches that we may bring forth Fruit in due season and blossom as the Rose of Sharon and grow as the Lilly of the Vally yielding a good savour in our words and actions that whether together or asunder we may be one anothers joy and crown of rejoycing in the Lord Jesus in whom our fresh Springs are who is the Fountain of all our Mercies whose Streams makes glad his whole City who relieves and replenishes our Souls and gives us many fruitful Seasons and makes our Souls partakers of the early and latter Rain and of his eternal Spirit wherein is the Bond of Peace in which the Lord God of all our Mercies keep us all neer unto himself and one unto another that through the enjoyment of the same we may magnifie his eternal Power and Praise his most holy Name for it is worthy to be honoured and renowned over all and that for ever more Amen saith the Soul of your dear Sister in that which reaches over Sea and Land Joan Vokins Written at Droghedah in Ireland the 27. 9 Mo 86. Friends here are well and in the enjoyment of Peace and Plenty blessed be the Lord and Meetings large for the most part and Friends unanimously concerned in the Service of Truth as in the beginning and keep their Zeal for Truth and delights to live in it Here follows a Paper that was printed in 1687 Entituled A Tender Invitation unto all those that want Peace with God by reason of the burden of Sin that keeps them from acceptance with the Lord Jesus and from an assurance of Salvation though it be very desirable to them OH it 's the weary and heavy laden that he tenders rest unto and they that take heed to his good Spirit which is light and leaves off that which it condemns and follows its Instructions they obtain the way of Life and he becomes their Shepherd and they hear his Voice and a Stranger they will not hear but they follow him and he feeds them with that which the Strangers to his Voice and hireling Shepherds cannot attain unto by all their arts or parts external but it comes to be enjoyed by Faith in Christ Jesus that gives Victory over Sin and therefore it 's time for all People to consider and as the Apostle said To try and examine themselves whether they be in the true Faith or no for there is no true Faith but that which stands in the Almighty Power and that gives Victory over the Powers of Darkness and without this Faith it is impossible to please God as it is left upon Record in the Scriptures of Truth So all is to believe in the Son of God who is the light of the World and hath enlightned every one that comes into the World as saith the Scripture and in the universal love of God he gave his Son for a Light to enlighten the Gentiles and to be Salvation unto the ends of the earth and he died for all and his Love so far extended unto all both Male and Female that he would have none to perish but that all by turning to his good Spirit may be saved from all that the evil Spirit leads into for whosoever follows the leadings of the Spirit of Jesus who is given for a Leader of his People he leads them in the Path of Righteousness and as they come to be Servants of Righteousness they come to be free from Sin but it s written in the Scriptures of Truth that the Servants of Sin are free from Righteousness and they that commit Sin are of the Devil for he is the Original of Sin but Jesus Christ is the Original of the pure and holy undefiled Religion that keeps from the Evil of the World which is Pride Adultery Lying Cheating and Idolatry and Superstition and other Spots that those are stained with who are not acquainted with him that said I Wisdom leads in the midst of the Paths of Judgment to cause them that love me to inherit Substance there is much talking of loving him but few inclined to keep his Commands and much talking of his fear but little standing in awe so as not to offend him but so far are many from taking heed unto the measure of his Spirit of Light as he hath placed in their Hearts that they do not know it leading them to the heart-cleansing fear For if they did how could they plead for Sin so long as they remain in these Bodies whereas it hath been said by the Spirit of the Lord and left upon Scripture Record that the fear of the Lord is as a Fountain of Life to depart from the Snares of Death and the beginning of the true Wisdom and a good Understanding have all they that follow after it for they depart from iniquity and it cleanses the heart and keeps it clean according to the Testimonies the Scriptures bears Record of and therefore unto it I recommend all People that all may have the priviledge of it that their Hearts may be cleansed for it is well known there is no Repentance in the Grave but as Death leaves righteous Judgment will find and therefore let the long suffering and patience of the Lord lead to Repentance such a Repentance that needs no repenting of a changing of the heart abstaining and retraining from every appearance of evil this is that which the Lord hath long waited for and doth yet wait to be
Friends at and nigh Colebrook and Longford Meeting and thereaway Dear Frinds I Having you often in mind thought it long before I could send a few Lines having kept my Bed this three Months or more and have not been able to write and I am very weak still I could not go from my Bed But hearing of an opportunity have in much weakness written that which lay most upon my Mind which is for the building of you up in the most Holy Faith and encouraging of you in Well-doing Oh my dear and tender Friends feel the tender Love of the God of Love that we may magnifie his Name together though at a distance in Person O the unutterable Loving-Kindness of our God what Tongue can declare it how hath he preserv'd us provided for us hitherto beyond what our hearts could desire Hath he not done that for us which none other could do Hath he not delivered out of Dangers deep and Difficulties many Or hath he been ever wanting to us in doing us good Oh surely no but he hath multiplied his Mercies and encreased Blessings frequently and freely as he in his Wisdom sees what is most convenient for us and if he please to feed us with the Bread of Affliction and the Water of Adversity yet let us to his Teachings keep that we may learn to profit thereby Have not the trials and exercises of our Faith and Patience brought us to a good Experience of the Love of our God O let us keep a narrow watch over our Hearts that the Enemy may not subtilly creep in under any pretence for if he be harkened to he will weaken the Faith and Unbelief will enter and then the murmuring Spirit will be ready to charge the Lord foolishly Oh dear Hearts our tender Father is not wanting but is a present help in all our needs therefore let it be the whole and sole bent of our minds to perform our Duties unto him Oh up and be doing for the time is come that none must be idle but all that would have the wages of well-doing must be faithful every one in his place and none to make excuses for Châ—â—st our Head is full of Virtue and Strength and Might and ready to communicate to all his Members a suitable and seasonable supply at all times and if we as diligent Servants wait on him our tender Master he will discover our particular Duties and shew us what is required of us Oh let us go on with Courage unanimously that we may be helpful one unto another and so bring honour to our Head that we may feel his Power supporting of us upon all occasions that we may not doubt nor faint in our Minds by reason of the buffettings of the power of Darkness but through the Faith in Christ Jesus we may obtain Victory over all that would hinder the prosperity of Truth and keep it under for Truth must reign and the Lord will be honoured in the dominion thereof And he will sweep the Nation with the Beesom of his Wrath and the Hypocrites shall be tried and fear shall surprize them and woe will be to them that are at ease in Sion but well will it be with them who think nothing too dear to part with for the Truth sake whose Hearts are singly resigned to serve the Lord with all that he hath given them which is no more but our reasonable Duties which we have good cause diligently to perform unto the end that we may daily feel the vertue of Life continued and renewed to us unto the end and in the end a double reward which our God hath prepared for all that hold out and endure thereunto Blessed be his Holy Name for ever and for evermore Dear Friends feel me in that which thinks no evil and in it receive my Salutation that it may reach unto the same in you that we may breath one for another and be refreshed as Members of one Body We cannot say one unto another I have no need of thee for there is work for us all in the Vineyard Oh let us be diligent while we have time that we may receive our Peny of Life to the comforting of our Souls every day for we do not serve a hard Master So in that which engages to his service do I bid you farewell The 1st of the 6th Month 1678. Your Friend in that which engages our Hearts to serve our God faithfully without any reserve J. V. Some account given forth by Joan Vokins of the great Goodness and Mercy of the Lord towards her and of the wonderful Works that he hath done for her conducing to his Glory and her great Joy and Comfort Written with her own Hand a few Months before her decease as followeth SOmthing of the tender dealing of the Lord with me ever since my Childhood for blessed be his Name he preserved me from many Evils that Youth is often ensnared with and by his Light that I then had no acquaintance with shewed me the vanity and vain Customs of the World when I was very young and all along my youth his Good Spirit did still strive with me to preserve me from Sin and Evil And if I had at any time through persuasion of others gone to that they called Recreation I should be so condemned for passing away my precious time that I could have no peace so that I could take no delight in their Pastime but was still condemned And many times I cried to the Righteous God to reveal his way unto me and I promised to walk therein whatever I endured For the snares of the World the Lord was pleased to discover and in some measure to make known the Cross of Jesus that Crucifies unto the World and as I enclined to take it up and follow Jesus through the many Tribulations he endowed me with his Almighty Power wherein hath been my help blessed be his Worthy Name for ever for his Loving-Kindness never fails but his Mercies endure for ever and his great Compassion and tender Dealing towards my Soul when in Darkness and under the Region of the Shadow of Death is never to be forgotten for it hath been largely extended unto me when in deep distress When my cry was often Lord reveal thy Way unto me that I may walk therein whatever I undergo But when I found the way so strait and narrow I could very willingly have turned aside for ease for Flesh and Blood could not bear that which I had then to undergo but blessed and renowned be the Spirit of Truth my Comforter which leads into all Truth for when I was in a dejected condition about Reprobation and Election neither Priest nor Professor could open the Mystery of Election and Reprobation but the Spirit of Light and Life which is the Spirit of Jesus opened my Understanding and revealed the Mystery of the two Seeds how that the one is for ever blessed and the other cursed And also what Happiness might be received by taking
what Church that was for I had spoken in the true Church many times amongst God's People and they did not hinder me and he said Paul spoke against a Womans speaking in the Church I asked him what Woman that was and what Church that was that she should not speak in and he did not answer me but went away and a Woman Friend that was with me took hold of him and said My Friend answer the Womans question and the Dutch People were coming from their worship the while but the Priest put off his Hat to us and busled away and afterwards endeavoured to send me to Prison but the God of Power who preserved me when much Evil hath been intended prevented him that he could not prevail with the Mayor but he endeavoured to harm the Friends of that place after that I was gone And after the first Day Meeting was over I went the beginning of the Week to some other Meetings and came again a fourth Day and God's Power was over all and Friends had no harm and we had another Heavenly Meeting and so I came away and left Friends peaceable and all was well blessed be the Lord and magnified be his preserving Power over all for evermore Amen saith my Soul J. V. I was informed that the Priest above specified did do his endeavour to stir up Persecution against Friends and put the Mayor to some trouble for not punishing me but therein he did nor could do no more than manifest his own Malice and what Birth he was of The Lord had set his Bounds J. V. IN all this long Journey this I can say to the Honour and Glory of my tender God and to the Praise of his Providential Power and be it known to all That altho' I had none to accompany me of my own or Friends providing yet the Lord so ordered it that I had still some honest Woman or Maiden Friend both by Sea Land In the first Vessel that ever I was in I had an honest ancient maiden Friend namely Sarah Yoaklet who was my Companion from London until I came to Long-Island And then in New-England one Lydia Wright another faithful Friend was willing to travel with me and did accompany me a considerable time and still the Lord so ordered it that when ever one left me that another was ready to take her place to be my Companion And when I returned home there came with me an ancient Maiden Friend who had been out in those Countries in the service of Truth six Years whose name was Margaret Kerby and on the 3d of the 4th Month 1681 I arrived safely at Dover in the County of Kent where I was three Weeks in the service of Truth And after that blessed and renowned be the Holy Name of Jesus I came to London and after a little time spent in visiting Friends at London I came safe home And as I pondered weightily and beheld the Preservation of me and mine and the manifold Mercies that we received when so far remote one from another my Heart was truly tendered in the sense of my Heavenly Father's Love and my Soul magnified the Preserving and Delivering Power and the cry run through me Lord God of my Life let me and mine never forget thy Goodness for it is wonderfully to be admired and thy unexpressible Love to be considered by all those unto whom it hath been so largely extended And as I consider our nothingness and thy tenderness towards us I cannot but abhor self and breath unto thee that I and mine may for ever hold self in no reputation and follow Jesus through the daily cross wherein I through tender Mercy have found power when of my self I could do nothing whereby to fulfil what was required of me but self was very ready to hinder me as the self-seeking Spirit is always those that are not aware of it And therefore I desire above all things that I and mine whom the Lord hath been so good unto may be watchful and in order thereunto I commit all unto that God of Power that hath preserved hitherto and is able to keep and preserve unto the end To whom be all Glory and Praise for evermore Amen J. V. A Letter writen at Gravesend to Friends of the Womens Meeting by J. V. when she was going to Sea for her long Journy The 24th of the 12th Month 1679. DEar and well-beloved Sisters my Love and Life Salutes you even in a sense of the tender Love of my Heavenly Father do I embrace you and greatly encourage you to keep your Womens Meetings and keep up your Testimonies every one in your places for every one hath a Testimony for the Pure God tho' not in Words yet in the Word of Life which hath quickened our Souls and powerfully operated thereon even in our Womens Meeting Hath not the sense of it been sufficient to engage our Hearts to serve him and to bare our faithful Testimony for him in Purity of Life and Conversation that his Name may be honoured and the precious Truth propagated For this you know how long hath been the travail of my Soul amongst you and I hope it will be the travail of yours in my absence that if ever we see one anothers Faces again it may be with Joy and not with Sorrow So let your Breathings be for my Welfare in the Lord Jesus as mine are for you for had it not been to keep Covenant with my God I could not have given up my weak Body to the Sea but in my long and sore Exercises I often promised the Pure God that I would give up my Life as a Sacrifice if he would accept of it and now he hath tried me and if he please to take it it is but my reasonable service to offer it up to him but I did intend you should have had more timely knowledge of it but that I could not tell whether it might have been taken of me therefore I forbore speaking of it publickly till at length I could not come back but now in the universal Love of God do I take my leave of you all not knowing whether I may see you again or not Remember my dear Love to the Brethren whose Labour of Love and Work of Faith is for the Propagating of the precious Truth And the Lord God Eternal keep us all close unto himself in that which neither Sea nor Land can separate for in it my Love doth truly reach unto you all being clear in the sight of my God of all service save only this which my Life lies engaged for Here I stand resigned to live or die in the Will of my God and so I desire him to keep me to the end And dear Friends be Valiant for the Truth that it may not be undervalued through a cowardly creeping Libertine Spirit for that hath done too much hurt already stand over it I beseech you all and quit your selves like faithful Soldiers fighting under the Banner of Love