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
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
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
no Reward nor looked for none but what she found in well-doing and I was one that was a partaker of her free Services which was in and for the Truth-sake daily stirring up others thereto that I then said in my Heart she was worthy to be an Example to all but by me rather to be Admired then Imitated for she was so Provident and Endustrious that tho she spent her time in doing good yet did not waste what she had but did encrease it every way having not only an open Heart but a diligent Hand but when she came to be a Wife she was a blessing to her Husband and his Children as he told me himself admiring her with many Praises And since the Womans Meeting came to be settled in which her Services were very great as in the Plague time and after the Fire necessities being so great and many that there was much need of Wisdom and Parts to go through what was required of us her care diligence and pains and readiness in Accounts and disposing of it more then many for her abillities therein exceeded most tho many were willing to work with her but she only in those things moved the great Wheel that caused the rest to follow and she became a Mother to teach and provide for many and some have and may confess and call her Blessed whose counsel and help raised some Families and preserved others from Ruin O let her own Works praise her but being in my Heart since her Removal in the Night and in the Day I could not be clear without making some mention in plainness of that sound Judgment Wisdom with Charity that our God had endued her withal that as she followed our Lord Jesus Christ we might be followers of her but neither I nor any can add unto her but what is brought to our remembrance of one so worthy to be an Example that the minds of some may be stirred up to like Wisdom Endustry and Practice of those Virtues in which she did excel for we have many Daughters among us that have done worthily but in many things she exceeded us all Rebâ—ca Travars POSTCRIPT WHen I heard her Husband and some others had given forth a Testimony of her I desired to have seen it but did not see any until I had writ this of my own for I being sensible of my old Age and decayed Memory with my Incapacity thought it would excuse me if I said nothing but as I put it from me it encreased in my mind the remembrance of her many worthy Works and great Sufferings for the precious Truths sake that if called to it I could have writ a large Relation of her Actings and Sufferings for the Truths sake since I knew her which is about twenty eight Years but let this little suffice to shew my good will c. A better name then that of Sons and Daughters God does give To them that in his Light do purely Live For they receive power to eschew all Evil And so reign over Sin Death and Devil And she and all such even of free Grace Sit down with Christ within the heavenly Place So they and all that in our God do Trust And have no Idol but adore the Just For it s his Righteousness that maketh pure And this is the Life that ever does endure And into this Ocean of Life endless Love God gathers those that seek the things above R. T. Mary Stout HER TESTIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead AS concerning that true and faithful Servant of the Lord our dear and wel-beloved Friend and Sister in the Truth Ann Whitehead there is little need of much to be spoken in Character of her she was so well known and read in the Hearts of most of the Faithful now in Beeing But that the Generations to come may know what Worthies and Faithful Followers of the Lamb the Lord hath blessed this Age withal who were as the first Fruits unto God in their Age that others also may tread in their steeps and walk as they walked therefore it is meet that something should be spoken on this wise and left upon Record for the memorial of the Just shall live forever I am very sensible that there are many dear Friends especially in and about London in whose Hearts the Lord had given her an honourable place and would give her the right hand of Fellowship whereupon every rememberance of her do greatly lament their loss and are ready to say in their Hearts with me Alass our dear Sister who shall supply thy place but that we know him who is al-sufficient and will fit and prepare Instruments to carry on his own Work and is able also to pour forth a double portion of his good Spirit wherewith she was richly endued upon those who persevere in wel-doing and continue to the end as she did She was one of those that came forth early even at the beginning and breaking forth of that glorious day in these our last times which many of the Righteous have longed to see but have not seen it and she received the Truth in the love of it and did bear her part of the Burden and heat of the Day and discharged her Place and performed that service in the Body unto which she was called with Faithfulness and was a true Servant unto the Church of Christ of which she was a living Member her Love and Care extended unto all even from the highest to the lowest and weakest Member thereof and the daily concerns of her Mind and travel of her Spirit and continual endeavours were that all things might be so managed and performed that the Lord might be honoured and his People so preserved as that his Truth might prosper and be advanced through and over all Thus through her true practicing Religion and constant diligence in the Work and Service of the Lord she did arrive to such a state in Christianity and was grown into such a clearness and soundness of Judgment and was so impartial therein that she answered the Witness of God and gained estimation and true value in the Hearts of the Righteous I shall not descend into particulars to speak what I know of her although if I should I could say much having been anciently intimately acquainted with her even above thirty Years and knew the frame of her Spirit and the singleness and uprightness of her Heart to the Lord to be such that I must needs give unto her Memory its due and say that although I do know many Faithful and Worthy Women who are dear and precious in the sight of the Lord and may truly be called Mothers in Israel yet I know none that did exceed her When I look back and call to mind the time of our first Convincement by the Spirit of Truth and thâ— uniting of our Hearts thereby unto the Lord and one unto another and how we with many more dear Friends have been preserved by and in the living sence
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
oppose In Males or Females All Are one in Christ and those oppose His Work shall surely fall God will raise up and furnish more For to supply her Place Vessels of honour sanctifi'd And season'd by his Grace To carry on that blessed Work Of Righteousness which He Will cause to spread and prosper still To all Eternitie Benjamin Antrobus A Short TESTIMONY Concerning our dear Friend Ann Whitehead A Dear and Precious Holy and Upright Woman was she in her day loved Truth and Righteousness and hated all Iniquity she was a Mother in Israel indeed O how did she make it her great Care and Business to serve the Lord his Truth and his People the Widow Fatherless and Stranger she was a good Steward in the House of the Lord her care was that none should suffer Want that all things might be keep Sweet and Clean and in good Order she was a Valiant Woman in her day my Soul loved her my Life was knit unto her how did she travel before the Flock in great Wisdom and Power of the Almighty O when I consider the many blessed sweet and heavenly opertunities that we have had together with her in our retired waitings upon the Lord I am ready to mourn apart for her methinks I feel a miss of her more and more O how did she wait at Wisdom's Gate to be endued with it and when through the operation of the same divine Life and Power opened in her she spoke in Power and demonstration of the Spirit and great Wisdom so that she was a Comfort Refreshing and Edifying unto all to the building of us up in our most holy Faith so it oft rose in me That the Words of the Wise are as Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver and Wisdom is Justified of her Children for so it was indeed for as she Lived so she Dyed in universal Love to all but more especially to the Houshould of Faith for whom her Prayers was Night and Day that they might be keep pure and clean without Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing O she was an upright Woman in her day and the Lords powerful presence was with her from the beginning unto the end to the laying down of her Head in Peace and is at rest with the Lord and I am fully satisfied concerning it and my Soul blesses the Lord on her behalf and magnifies his Name who is worthy of all Praises and Glory and Honour forever Amen amen Ann Mackett A TESTIMONY concerning Ann Whitehead Dear Friends THere was a concern upon me in a short Testimony to give in amongst you with whom my Soul hath Unity concerning our dear and tender Friend Ann Whitehead that she was a Woman whom the Lord greatly honoured with a large measure of his heavenly Wisdom and Power and in that she was made able to speak aword in season to the strengthening of the Weak and the bowed down one and many living Testimonies she bore amongst us in brokenness of Spirit and in that heart melting love of God in which I can truly say my Soul hath often been livingly refreshed with the Souls of many more Friends my Heart is overcome and my Spirit bowed down at this time in a living sence of our loss which indeed is very great the Lord make it up unto us in continuing his presence amongst us and in a sence thereof strength will be administred to do the VVork of the Lord acceptably fot this was the Labour and Travel of our dear and wel-beloved Friend whilst she was amongst us That all be done in Love in the blessed order of Truth and where any thing hapned contrary it became her Burden for she delighted in the prosperity of Truth and in them that lived in it this is my Testimony from a certain knowledg of her in my measure though one of the least amongst you yet as one whom the Lord had reached unto in visiting my Soul in his everlasting Love and Power in the day of my Affliction and hour of Temptation which my Soul was under then did the Lord appear in his unlimitted power for my preservation and limitted the power of Sathan so that deliverance was witnessed to my Soul And this Servant and Handmaid of the Lord travelled amongst us whom he hath removed from amongst us but to her great advantage for she rests from her Labours and her Works follow her the memorial of whom will Live forever in the Hearts of all the Faithful O Lord that it may be thus with me and with all thy whole Heritage is the cry of my Soul This lay as a weight upon me being eased I desire to rest fully satisfied in the will of the Lord London 25th of October 1686. Elizabeth Haynes Senior A short TESTIMONY for Ann Whitehead COncerning dear Ann Whitehead and my truly loving Friend whom I have kown above 20 Years I have this in my Heart to say That she was a Good Woman fearing God and doing that which was right in his sight having a Tender Heart and a Charitable Mind being a Help to the Poor and a Strength to the Weak doing always what she did for the Lord his blessed Truth-sake Oh how good hath her Counsel been and how sweet and refreshing were her Words unto me many a time which begat great Love in my Heart towards her and a true Sorrow for her removal because of the great loss and miss I know there will be of her among Friends Well but the will of the Lord must be submitted to and we therewith contented for she is at Rest and Peace with our God there to abide in everlasting Happiness forever and evermore Dear Ann is gone unto her Rest Of Women sure one of the Best True Wisdom had she from above Filled with Vertue and true Love So that to us her loss was such Caus'd Tears and Sorrow very much But since it doth to us befall And God did to himself her call Let us beg of him that he will Our Women with his Spirit fill And make them able to withstand Truth 's Opposers on ev'ry hand Till they Gods Work have finished And all in Peace laid down the head And Crown'd with Glory in Heaven So let it be O Lord Amen Jane Sowle A TESTIMONY concerning Ann Whitehead COncerning our dear and wel-beloved Friend Ann Whitehead whom I truly Loved and Honoured in the Lord for the Truth 's sake This Testimony arises in my Heart It was her faithfulness to the Truth that made her truly honourable that is her Crown and is now set upon her Head for evermore She having set her House in order the Lord hath gathered her by his gentle hand into Rest and Peace where her Reward is sure with him and through her Faith in Christ Jesus and her steadfastness in the Truth she hath obtained a good Report in her Day and Generation She truly Loved Feared and Served the true and living God being made subject to the Truth through the mighty Power
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