of the great Travel that was upon them because of the mighty Power of the Lord which was made manifest in them for the bringing down of that which had been exalted against him and for the restoration of the oppressed Captive that deliverance might be known from the power of Satan and from the bondage of Corruption that we being set free wherein we were held might serve the Lord in Truth and Singleness of Heart and wait upon him and follow the leadings of his Spirit in the exercise of our Hearts and minds in Serving and Worshiping the Lord our God And so the God of Heaven hath revealed and made manifest the Way of Life and Peace the Way wherein Comfort and Satisfaction to the Soul is found the Gate of Mercy even the entrance to the everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Joy for evermore which although it be strait and narrow and a cross to the fleshly part and earthly ground and wisdom yet it is easie pleasent and delightful living in the Spirit and becoming little even as a Child for so must he become that enters in at the strait Gate to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God So we have found the way of everlasting Peace through the rich Mercy and tender Visitation of the Lord walking in the Spirit and living in that which mortifies the deeds of the Flesh being subject to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Here is rest to the Soul here is the sweet Visitations of the Lord known which are as the former and latter Rain to refresh the lowly in Heart and Poor in Spirit Here waiting upon the Lord the strength is renewed and here the Lord speaks Peace to People even as they are in Christ the Power of God growing up in him who is the Truth and the Life they are possessors of lasting Peace which God speaks not to the wicked which is the Portion of the upright in Heart and as the Lord hath made manifest the way of Peace Life and everlasting Happiness he hath also discovered the contrary even the way of misery darkness and destruction the way which is broad and many in the lusts of the Flesh take pleasure in it following the motions of the Flesh and the desires of the carnal mind resisting the motions of Gods good Spirit and hating the blessed Light of the Lord Jesus Christ and so spend away their precious time and in this state that is to say in the Flesh resisting the Spirit of the Lord they cannot serve God nor please him nor worship him in Truth though they may profess him in words and draw near him with their Mouth yet being in the Flesh contrary to the Spirit of Truth the Ear turned away from hearing of God's Law their Prayers are Abomination their plowing is Sin their sacrifice is as Cain's not accepted by the Lord no Peace from God no ture Rest no Satisfaction no beholding the Countenance of the Lord nor no assurance of the Eternal Inheritance which never fades away but an earnest of wrath pain misery anguish and trouble which will come upon all who live and dye in Disobedience of the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ And so we see the Way of Life to all that believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and the way of death to all who live in unrighteousness and are not changed by the power of God and translated from Death to Life and from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God. And these things are of great concernment unto us and we see it is very needful to wait upon the Lord and to follow the motions of his Spirit that we may feel his Power to preserve us in his Will out of the evil of the World that so in the Power of the Lord our God we may war a good Warfare and finish our Course with joy And verily this a matter of great weight unto us even to have our hearts exercised towards the Lord in obedience to his Will in what he requireth of us that we may have a Conscience void of offence towards him And so the Day of the Lord God being come and his Eternal Power made known in many hearts by which many are raised to serve him and obey him yea to worship him according to his own Will and the leadings of his good Spirit We are even constrained by the Power of the Lord to meet together in his Name and Fear to wait upon him and to worship him and also to exhort one another in his holy Power as the Spirit of the Lord directs yea and so much the more as the day appeareth And this we find also to be according to the Scriptures of Truth and practice of the Servants of the Lord in former dayes who did not forsake the assembling of themselves together but met often and sometime in one place and sometime in another as they were directed in the fear of the Lord And they that feared the Lord spake often one unto another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord in the day that I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him And this was in a time when the proud were called happy and they that wrought wickedness were set up and they that tempted God were delivered yet even in such a time did they that feared the Lord speak often together and also in the time when the Gospel of Christ was published by the Apostles and Ministers of Jesus many were brought into the obedience of the Truth and were gathered from the Jews Worship and way of service and they to wit the Jews could plead more justly for the Antiquity of their way of Worship and their order in their Worship then many who this day profess themselves to be Christians and a reformed Church and in that time did they meet together sometime in a Chamber sometime in an House and sometime in an upper Room as the Lord directed them and as they had opportunities and gathered Churches which met at Houses and waited upon the Lord and exhorted one another and might all speak one by one as the Spirit of the Lord led them that all might hear and all be comfored And we do not read that the Jews made a Law or the Romans either who at that time had the Principality that they should not meet above four together or if they meet five or above they should be fined Indeed the Jews who believed not were bad enough and persecuted the Saints from City and haled out of Houses they that professed the Name of Jesus and sometimes scourged them but they are evil examples to be followed and its pitty that any who profess themselves Christians should do the like to any that meet
able many times to get on or of his Horse without help through all which the Lord brought him his faith being fixt in his power and his life and whole delight was in the prosperity of Truth and Righteousness in the Earth amongst the Sons of Men. He was a Man that was richly furnished with the gifts of the holy Spirit always patient in his great exercises and weakness of a noble Spirit and exceeding grave in his carriage and deportment profound in judgment and of a quick discerning a sharp reprover of the World and the Wickedness therein as also all deceitful Hypocrites with disorderly walkers who made profession of Truth but walked not according to the Rule thereof Unity of the Brethren was his joy and Souls delight and therefore whatever appeared to break the same his Sword was keen upon to Wound his Ministry was weighty and deep and very powerful not pleasant to the itching Ears that loves smooth words but reached to the witness of God and tended to the refreshment of the Seed of the Kingdom where it was growing and springing up in the Hearts of Gods People also to the weary tossed and afflicted he had often a word in season to their Consolations being very tender over the good in all he had openings and sights of many things to come and he would often say there would come a day of Famine and that in that day many that had made a great shew would but be like the stony Ground or the broken Bow in the day of Battel he would also often say that his other Son my Brother would be an Esau a rough Man and not love the Truth but be a Grief and Exercise to his Mother but she would have Comfort of her other Children all which is fulfilled when he grew near his end his weakness encreasing he had great joy as he always had in the company of Friends that were faithful of which many came to visit him and many times he would have been wonderfully opened with the Power of the Lord and overcome with the sence of his Love and Peace and a fresh Testimony thereof he would often bear to the great refreshment of Friends and his Family when he lay in great weakness upon his Bed. His great care in all his Travels was that the Gospel of Christ which he had to publish might be without charge for all he had or enjoyed of outward things was freely given up to the Service of Truth so that he was willing to lay out part of the same in his Travels also his Heart and House was open to entertain all Friends that came in Truths Service having a great Comfort therein he was a pattern of faithfulness in suffering for Truth 's Testimony though never much in Prison yet his Goods were often spoiled or taken away which he suffered joyfully in Truth 's Testimony against Tythes in which Testimony and all other relating to Truth he was ever firm and never shrunk in the least his frequent Exhortations was to all Friends and his Family to be valiant and noble for Truth and to keep their Faith in God's power and never to look out or consult with the Wisdom of the World. He did often call his Children and Family together and exhort them with much fervency of Spirit to fear the Lord and walk in holiness of Life as becomes the Gospel that they had believed in and would often pray to the Lord for us and bless us in his Name some Months before he died he would often call for me to be with him for he loved me entirely and it was my joy and delight to serve and obey him in all things and many times he would wonderfully extol the Name of the Lord and praise him for his goodness and great mercy counting his bodily weakness a happiness being sanctified unto him by that Word eternal which had sanctified his Soul and made him an honourable Vessel to the praise of his God under the sence of which he would say How great a benefit do I enjoy beyond many who have such a large time of preparation for Death being dying daily that I may live for ever with my God in that Kingdom that 's unspeakably full of glory my outward Man daily wasts and moulders down and draws towards its place and center but my inward Man revives mounts upward towards its Place and Habitation in the Heavens in the sence whereof his Soul would often wonderfully magnifie the Lord. That very Morning that he departed this Transitory Life he called my Mother the Children and Family unto him gave us many good and seasonable Instructions to fear the Lord love his Way and Truth and walk in it with upright Hearts charging us to be kind and loving one unto another telling us that his Glass was run the time of his Departure was come he was to enter into everlasting Ease Joy and Rest charging us all to be patient and content with our parting with him as to the outward and so presently fainting passed quietly away into a sweet Sleep whereupon we were all so overcome with Sorrow and Weeping some of us aloud as one out of Sleep he was again a wakened and desired to be a little help'd up in his Bed speaking to this effect My dear Hearts you have wronged me and disturbed me for I was at sweet Rest you should not so Passionately sorrow for my departure this House of Earth and Clay must go to its place but this Soul and Spirit was to be gathered up to the Lord to live with him forever where we should meet with everlasting Joy so again taking his leave of every one of us and charging us to be content with his Departure lay down and we being troubled and reflecting upon our selves for the disturbance we had given him through our Impatience endeavoured Contentedness and in a little time he departed as to the outward but lives with us in the Spirit and being Dead his Life Preaches and is a sweet savour to the Lord and his People His Distemper was a Cough and Consumption And he departed this Life in 1665. being the seventh day of the Week and the next day was his Body laid in Friends Burying Place at Birk-rigg-Park he being the first that was Buried in that Place John Audland was Born in the same County not above a Mile from Camsgil his Parents and Kindred of good Repute who when he was but a Child was of a very ripe and quick wit of Understanding and Apprehension though somewhat inclineable to youthful Play execept which never addicted to any Vice about the Age of seventeen or eighteen Years the Lord inclined his Heart to Sobriety and reading the holy Scriptures and to be very Religious in what was then manifested so that he chose the Company and Society of the best and most Religious in that day and having a large Understanding and great Memory he became able in the Knowledge of the Scriptures and could
work sake on the contrary where any was slack or negligent or taught themselves in an exalted mind it grieved his Spirit exceedingly I have known him often to lament and mourn under the exercise thereof Some time before he was taken out of the Body he had a clear sight or Vision upon his Bed I being at that time with him concerning two I shall not need to name them the Vision being fulfilled hath marked them out to all whose Eyes are open who were with him in the beginning called to the work and service of the Gospel and being in measure together with himself concerned therein yet grew slack in that work and begun to be exalted and gathered to and sought themselves and being that his Spirit was so grieved therewith and time hath given to see the clear fulfilling thereof I have had it weightily upon my Spirit for a long time as my Husband and some other Friends can bear me record to publish the same for the Glory of that eternal God that reveals his Secrets to those that fear him and by his holy Spirit gives to see things to come and also for the service of Truth and Friends and as a reproof upon the slack and exalted ones who seek themselves not the Glory of God nor the good or unity of his People upon whom its evidently fulfilled and in as much as the Lord hath made way for the foregoing Testimony relating to my dear Husband J. A. deceased in the discharge of my Conscience and to ease my Spirit of its Burthen I am engaged to insert the Substance thereof as followeth judging it both a proper place and season It was on this wise viz. He saw a very large Mine where there was very much precious Ore to be digged out but with great and hard Labour and the Lord and Master had called him with many more to Labour in this Mine in order to work and digg out this good and precious Ore and who was most dilligent in Labour was to be most liberally rewarded and the command was that they might work in every part of the Mine but must all gather to oneplace and to one heap the work prospered and became exceeding great to the glory of the Lord and their Joy comfort who were found diligent but in process of time he looked behind him upon others that were labouring and amongst them beheld two who had been antient Labourers to begin to slack and would but work where it was most easie in their own time and by their own appointment not regarding the command of their Lord and not only so but when they found a piece of Ore more rich and goodly then some other whether it was of their own digging or no they did gather it to another private heap of their own for themselves to their own benefit and not the Lords whereupon he cryed out in the grief and bitterness of his exercise to see such disobey the Lords command in gathering to their own heap Ah! Lord it was thy command that we should all work at thy appointment and gather to one heap and for a time it was so and thy Heap encreased and Work prospered but now there 's two that 's begun to gather to themselves to their own heap and not to thee And being in a great exercise of mind and Spirit he a woke and the power of the Lord was upon him and did make him Tremble very much and under the sence of what he had seen he did sigh and mourn greatly whereupon I asked him what was the occasion of so great exercise and he told me with much Sorrow what he had seen concerning those two Labourers that had been called to the work and gathering to the Lord with him and many others and whilest faithful were loved with a Brotherly love for their works sake and further told me that the thing would come to pass and be fulfilled in a few years as certainly it is as many can testifie yet notwithstanding Gods gathering goes forward and his heap daily encreases and the idle slack unfaithful and the self-gatherers shall be covered with Rags and shall have their Portion with the rebellious in a dry Land. Before his departure he would often be speaking of his being taken from me desiring me to be content therewith for the Lord would care for me and by his heavenly Providence order for the supply of my want of him as I kept my trust in the Lord And truly even so it hath come to pass blessed be the Lord who hath blessed me with the enjoyment of another faithful Husband according to my Hearts desire to my unspeakable comfort so that I might justly reflect upon my self for great ingratitude if I should not both humbly and thankfully acknowledge the care and blessing of my God to be exceeding large and great for which my Soul is under Obligation for ever to extol and magnifie his holy living and powerful Name And thus having in the fore-going Testimony cleared my Spirit as it lived with me in the sight of God I shall conclude with an humble Address to his heavenly Majesty in the behalf of all his gathered ones that they may be kept and preserved in all faithfulness and holy Obedience by the Arm of his everlasting power that having run their race and finished their course they may with their Brethren that are gone before be swallowed up in immortallity for evermore and that by the same eternal Arm that hitherto hath not only girded me with strength to undergo many Trials and deep exercises but also hath been abundantly stretched forth to double and redouble blessings both spiritual and temporal upon me I may be assisted to answer the unspeakable Mercies of my God in all Faithfulness and holy Obedience and having fought the good fight of faith and finished my course with joy in the fulness of Gods appointed time being made acceptable in the beloved Son I may enter into that eternal Kingdom of Glory that 's prepared for the faithful into which my late dear Husband with a Remnant of faithful Brethren are already entered to rest with the Lord in the heavenly enjoyment of them and together with them to Laud and Praise his honourable Name in the Highest World without end Amen Amen Camsgil the 4th day of the 2th Month 1681. Ann Camm A Testimony to the glorious Morning of the Day of unexpressible Visitation of the Love of God in particular to the City of Bristol and adjacent Parts and to the great and mighty Power of the Lord appearing in and with his two precious Servants Jobn Camm and John Audland who came to the City in the year 1654. AFter the long and tedious Night of Apostacy spread over Nations and dismal Darkness over People it pleased the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to visit this Northern Island and first the Northern part thereof with the Morning of his ever blessed day from whence came the aforesaid blessed
love that Light and walk in it there is no occasion of stumbling and if you hate that Light then you stumble at noon-day and there is your condemnation but loving this Light and bringing your works to this Light so far as this Light hath judged you in particular so far you may judge in general for that Judge is but one and waiting in that Light which keeps you in the Fear of the Lord waiting upon the Lord to be made partakers of the precious Faith for the Mystery of Faith is held in a pure Conscience and walking in this Light it enlightens your Consciences and Understandings walking in it you have Union one with another for the Light is but one which will discover all imagined Lights falle Worships Wayes and Churches and draw you to the Church in God the Fountain of Light and their Faith is but one which purifieth the Heart which stands in God which is a Mystery held in a pure Conscience and all who are in it are one if they be ten thousand God Almighty bless direct and keep all you that fear him how to wait upon and walk before him and be low and stand in the Counsel of God that whatsoever you do may prosper but if you go out of the Counsel of God Pride High-mindedness and Oppression and grinding the Faces of the Poor gets up now your minds being guided by that which is pure it is cross to the carnal which oppresseth the Poor in particular if it be not crost and out of it ariseth Pride if the pure Spirit of the Lord be not your guide and head and if there be no oppression within then there is none without for woe is unto him that is covered but not with the Spirit of the Lord Therefore mind every one what you are covered withal John Camm In the Year 1655. The Testimony of George Fox Concerning our Dear Friends and Brethren John Audland and John Camm who were Convinced of Gods Eternal Truth in 1652. and Received it and walked in it and Preached it WHen George Fox came to Furbanck Chapel in Westmoreland John Audland and Francis Howgil was preaching there in the morning but they Preacht freely and there came Major Boosfield and Col. Benson and they were free Preachers in Yorkshire also And in the Afternoon there was a great gathering of People more than in the Morning and so the House would not hold them and so I was moved to go upon a Mountain hard by and the People gathered to the Mountain and sat down though it was then a strange thing to have Meetings any where but in the Church so called because it was holy Ground they thought People were so ignorant then so after Sometime I stood up and said unto them That that Ground was as holy as any other and that Christ did meet upon a Mountain and by the Sea side and in Houses and so did his Apostles and Disciples and though the Jews had a Temple called holy in the old Testament and a Worship there yet Christ had ended that Temple and Worship and set up a Worship in Spirit and Truth and all the true Believers in Christ that received him and his Gospel of Life and Salvation were the true Christians and their Bodies were the Temples of God and Christ of the holy Ghost and many other weighty things were opened in that great Assembly and Many Hundreds were turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God and received the Grace and Truth that comes by Jesus and by it received Christ in their Hearts and many others precious Truths were opened to them that Day And though the Apostles went into the Jews Synagogues and Temple it was not to hold them up but to bring People off the Jews Wayes Traditions and Ceremonies to Christ the Substance for he was come and is come the same to Day as he was Yeasterday and so forever a Leader a Governour a Prophet a Bishop a Shepherd and a Priest to exercise his Heavenly Offices in his People his living Members his Church which he is the holy Head of and a King to Rule in their Hearts by Faith and as I said before many Hundreds received Gods Truth that Day and Immediately after that Christ the Son of God was revealed in them John Audland and John Camm and several others went forth and Preacht Christ and his Everlasting Gospel and John Audland went to New-Castle and there was cast into Prison for Preaching the Lord Jesus Christ and his Everlasting Gospel by the Priests and Magistrates there and hazarded his Life amongst them and after sometime he and John Camm went up and down the North and at last they went into the South and to London and Bristol and other parts and John Audland as far as Plymouth Preaching Christ and his Gospel and Mightily the Lords Power and Spirit did uphold them and carry them on over the persecuting Spirit both of the Priests and Magistrates who were in a great Rage against them that sometimes they were in hazard of their Lives but they being supported by the Lords Power that is over all especially one time when I came Prisoner out of Cornwall to Bristol there was one Paul Gwin a Baptist got into some of the Magistrates and Professours about the Year 1656. which raised the rude People and the Rabble of the City against the Meeting and John Audland their envy was so great against him that it was the Lords Hand Power that he escaped with his Life and I coming out of Prison in Cornwall that Year to Bristol I came to the Meeting in the afternoon in an Orchard where was a Multitude of People and this Paul Gwin being there the Lords Power did mightily confound him and his Company that he came there no more and John Audland stood up and Declared Gods Truth after I had done and so in the Lords Power came over him and them that would have destroyed him and these two Servants and Sons of God spent themselves in the Gospel and Service of our Lord Jesus Christ who had received Christ and he had given them Power to become the Sons of God c. And through their great Services and Labours in the Lord they spent themselves who had their Tryals and their Sufferings by Professors and Prophane some that proved false Brethren and false Apostles But the Lord gave them Dominion in his eternal Power to the last in which they finished their Testimony and dyed in the Lord and rest from their Labours and are Blessed and their Works follow them and as Christ saith He that Believes though he were Dead yet shall he Live and he that liveth and Believeth shall never Dye Joh. 11. 26. In this Life do they Live and are alive in the Spirit they that come to the Innumerable company of Angels and to the Spirits of Just men made perfect know it Kingston upon Thames the 7th of the 4th Month 1689. George Fox The TABLE THomas Camm 's Testimony concerning John Camm and John Audland Ann Camm's Testimony concerning John Audland and John Camm Charles Marshall's Testimony concerning John Camm and John Audland Charles Marshall's Testimony concerning the Vnity of the Spirit J. Camm 's Letter to O. Cromwell pag. 1. J. C 's Letter to E. V. c. p. 11. John Camm 's Letter to Friends p. 14. J. C 's Letter to Friends in Bristol p. 22. John Camm 's Epistle to Friends p. 29. To all dear Friends in about Bristol p. 40. J. C 's and J. A 's Letter to E. Pyot p. 49. Dear and loving Friends c. p. 50. J. A 's and J. C 's Letter to Friends p. 57. Mabel Benson 's Testimony concerning John Camm her Husband p. 61. J. Audland 's Letter to Friends c. p. 63. J. Audland 's Epistle to Friends p. 70. Dear and well-beloved Friends p. 76. John Audland 's Letter c. p. 84. J. Audland 's Letter to C. Marshall p. 88. A Letter to J. A. by his Wife p. 92. J. A 's Letter to Friends at Bristol p. 95. J. Auland 's Letter to Bristol p. 101. The School-Master Disciplin'd c. p. 107. An Answer to William Prynne p. 129. A Reply to W. Prynne p. 144. John Audland 's Epistle c. p. 155. An Epistle to Friends p. 163. J. A 's Letter to Friends p. 170. J. A 's Letter to a Priest p. 176. The Suffering Condition of the Servants of the Lord c. p. 184. A Question answered c. p. 244. To two or three Persons in a Family p. 252. J. C's to Friends and Brethren c. p. 255. J. A 's and J. C 's to Friends c. p. 262. Dear and Loving Friends c. p. 271. Dear and Loving Friends in the c. p. 277. Friends of God and Brethren c. p. 285. Some Particulars concerning the Law sent to Oliver Cromwell c. p. 297. George Fox 's Testimony concerning John Audland and John Camm p. 326. THE END
quick Apprehension and great understanding of a noble Spirit yet in humility condescending to serve the least in Truth his Company was exceeding delightful and pleasant being always cheerful his discourse good and tending to Edification exceeding ripe in the Knowledge of the holy Scriptures and of a strong Memory he was often concerned in Disputations with Priests and other Opposers of the Way of Truth that he bore Testimony too and walked in and the Lord had richly furnished him for that Service to the stopping the Mouthes of Gain-sayers to Truths honour his Declaration and Testimony exceeding large free and affecting almost to all sorts of People many with great delight would flock to hear him in many places which made his Service very great in opening the way of Truth unto all he having a Word in season to all Conditions insomuch that he regarded not his outward Body but many times went beyond the natural strength thereof notwithstanding that he was young and strong yet in this Service was much spent several Years before he departed and laid down his Head. His Life was bound up in the Unity and Fellowship of Friends and Brethren his Labour was ever to conserve the same and prevent whatever would appear to divide As he was honourable in the esteem of Thousands that the Lord through him had called and brought many of them to the Knowledge of the way of Life and Salvation so also had he a right honourable esteem of such as were in Christ before him and especially dear George Fox by whom he was Convinced He was very tender to the springings of Life in Testimony in the least Babe always ready to encourage and give place to the same for it was his great Joy to see the Lord's Work to prosper and the Testimony of Truth to spring in every Bosom In Counsel and Advice he was endewed with heavenly Wisdom beyond many in reproving the Careless and Rebellious he was sharp and powerful In fine I have this to say that he was abundantly furnished with spiritual Gifts a chosen and honourable Vessel in the Hand of his God to the Praise and Glory of his eternal Name Many comfortable daies and times have I enjoyed with him whom I loved and honoured in the Lord and I am not unsensible of his Love to me our Hearts being perfectly united and knit together in that love that 's everlasting passing the love of Women I never thought Travel hard or tedious at any time so that I might enjoy his Company in which I was always delighted greatly satisfied whatever difficulty soever I under-went to obtain the same After he was first called forth into the Work and Service of the Lord he was very diligent therein almost in continual Travels and several times was in Prison for his Testimonies sake as at New-Castle in the North and Bristol often in great Perils in the beginning having many rough places to break through where many times he Suffered sore Beatings and many Strokes together with cruel Mockings Revilings and Scornings from the wicked Rabble often and sometimes from angry bitter-spirited Professors through and over all which the Lord preserved him to his own Glory to inherit a Kingdom that 's everlasting for he counted nothing dear unto him for the Gospels sake but left his dear Wife and Child whom he loved entirely and Trade and all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ the Captain of Salvation having an eye to the eternal recompence of Reward that the Lord hath given him fully to enjoy His dear Wife was not long after him called forth into the same Work and Service and Travelled into several Parts of the North Countrey and after into the South where at Banbury in Oxford-shire she was a Prisoner for one Year and several Months the Lord making her instrumental in his Hand to the turning many from Darkness to Light in that place and many other places where she Travelled When J. A. did grow weaker by his lingering Distemper of a sore Cough his Lungs wasting he would often complain of an inward soreness in his Breast though he seemed to look well being of a Ruddy and fair Complexion and would often say Ah! those great Meetings in the Orchard at Bristol I may not forget I would so gladly have spread my Net over all and have gathered all that I forgot my self never considering the imability of my Body but it s well my reward is with me and I am content to give up and be with the Lord for that my Soul values above all things Betwixt two and three weeks before he died he was taken as was supposed with an hective Feaver and daily it encreased upon him so that his sleep for many days and nights was taken from him in which time I was often with him being his desire and my delight to serve him in which time Friends in abundance flocked to visit him from several parts for as I said before he was a man greatly beloved of the Lord and all his People yea many of the World had a good esteem of and loved him and many times the Lord did wonderfully open his Mouth in Testimony to Friends as if he had been without sence of his Sickness to their great refreshment and exceeding joy and often he would be raised upon his Knecs upon his Bed and supplicate the Lord in the behalf of his whole Heritage and to prosper his Work in the Nation and Nations round about he said that there was nothing in all the World that he desired to live to enjoy except the comfortable enjoyment of his Friends and Brethren in the fellowship of the Life of Truth and that he might be a comfort to his dearly beloved Wife whose desolate condition he often bemoaned being so big with Child as that she was delivered of a Son about ten days after his decease but in this he said his will was in true subjection submitting to the Will of the Lord whether life or death to God he often and again committed and recommended all the whole Flock Heritage and Family of God together with his dear Wife and Child to be kept cared for and preserved saying that he would be a Husband to his desolate Widow and a tender Father to his fatherless Children often entreating his dear Wife freely to give him up to the Will and disposing of the Almighty whose he was being made acceptable in the beloved Son often sweetly comforting her in her Sorrow and great Distress making as little shew of his illness for her sake as ever he might yet we saw that he was under a great weight of Sickness and that his strength daily wasted so that in less then three weeks time after the Feaver took him he finished here and was sweetly taken to rest in the joy of the Lord for ever more it being the day of the first Month 1663. and the next day was accompanied to his Grave by many Friends and others and his Body enterred in the
aforesaid burying place at Birkrigge-Park And although the departure hence of these two faithful Brethren and true Labourers in the Lords Work whose presence with and Labours amongst us was comfortable and joyous may be loss to me and many others yet in this we are satisfied that its their gain being freed from their Labours and their Works follow them and that they are entered into the Kingdom of eternall Glory where thev shall live to Magnifie the Lord World without End. Amen And though their outward Bodies be gone to the dust and therefore their bodily presence we are deprived of yet their Spirits are enjoyed and their lives are amongst us and Preaches and their Names and remembrance is and shall be a sweet Memorial and good Savour to Ages and Generations to come being numbred amongst the Lord's Worthies and the Valiants of his Israel who never turned their Backs of their Enemies neither fainted in their greatest exercises but their Bows like Josephs always abode in strength being helped by the Mighty God of Jacob before whom all Nations is but as the drop of a Bucket or the small Dust of the Ballance whose Breath doth slay the wicked and his right hand doth crush his Enemies and his blessed Work begun he hath determined to Prosper since he will finish and put an utter end to transgression that he may reveal bring in and establish his everlasting Righteousness and cover the Earth with his Truth as with a Garment and the Kingdoms of this World must become the Kingdom of the Lord and his Christ whose right it is to reign and will reign when he hath overturned and overturned till his Scepter be lifted up over all and his Government be extended from Sea to Sea and from one end of the Earth to the other and his Sion be beautified with Salvation and Jerusalem become the praise of the whole Earth even thus exalt thy name O God saith my Soul from hence-forth and for ever more That the Righteous may sing of thy Praise and tell of thy Wonderous Works and extol thy Holy Name and Power over all to reign and rule World without end Amen From Apleby Goal the place of my present confinement for the Testimony of Jesus This 14th of the 12th Month 1680. Thomas Camm The Testimony of Ann Camm concerning John Audland her late Husband deceased COncerning my dear Husband John Audland deceased I am under Obligation to bear this following Testimony as one that had the advantage beyond all others to know as well his Qualifications endowments and Gifts given him of God whether Spiritual or Temporal as also his great Labours and Travels in that blessed work and service of the Lord his Truth and People that he was in the Morning of the day called unto and preserved in in all fidelity and faithfulness to the spending of his natural strength to the end of his days and finishing of his Course here in order to be swallowed up in eternal Joy for evermore The eternal God who by his Providence joyned us together in Marriage in our young days in his blessed Counsel also caused his day to spring from on high upon us in the marvelous Light and bright shining whereof he revealed his Son Christ in us and gave us Faith to believe in him the eternal Word of Life by which our Souls came to be quickned and made alive in him and also in and by the quickning Power of his holy Power we were made one in a Spiritual and Heavenly relation our hearts being knit together in the unspeakable love of Truth which was our Life Joy and Delight and made our days together exceeding comfortable as being that whereby all our temporal enjoyments were sanctified and made a blessing unto us How exceeding dear and kindly affectionate Husband he was to me I am far short in ability to declare but in a word shall say that I believe few ever enjoyed a greater blessing in a Husband then I in him and notwithstanding that I loved his company and the enjoyment of him with me above all the World yet nevertheless in submission to the Will of God whose chosen Vessel he was and also in respect to the honourable Service of Truth and the publication thereof which he was called unto I could freely give him up as to be separated from in the outward a great part of our time after we were convinced of Gods blessed Truth and made living Witnesses of the vertuous Life and powerful Operation thereof as in this our day gloriously made known to the everlasting joy of our immortal Souls But before this blessed work came to be effected great was the warfare and inward exercise that my dear Husband underwent under the chastizing Hand of the Lord and the Spirit of Judgment and of burning that was at work in his inward parts in order to sanctifie him for the Lords own use and service for when the Lords blessed and honorable day Broke upon him he was high in Notion and Profession imagining that he had been filled with durable Riches and Wisdom but in the Light of this day he saw the emptiness of it all while he wanted the Substance Life in the eternal Word and by the same to be sanctified throughout Therefore under the sence of this great want many and great were his Sighs and Groans and his Tears not a few Days and Nights of Sorrow many a one he underwent the Word and Power of the Lord being as a Fire revealed within him to burn the great building that he had been erecting and setting up of Hay Wood and Stuubble and in this exercise I also had a share with him and in great Lamentation I have heard him often Sorrowfully say Ah! what have we been doing what have we been labouring for or what availeth our great Profession all our building tumbles down our Profession is high as the Wind the Day of the Lord is upon it and his Word as a Fire consumes it as dry Stubble and put 's an end unto all empty Professions and high Notions without Life or Substance to all the Wisdom of fallen man we must forsake the World and all its glory it s all but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit 't is a Saviour that I long for 't is him that my Soul pants after Oh! that I may be comprehended into his Life and over-shadowed with his Glory sanctified throughout by his Word and raised up by his eternal Power To this effect did his Soul often Travel before the Lord and the Lord who had called him for the purpose of his own Glory was nor unmindful of him but had regard to his blessed work begun to prosper the same that so out of the Furnace of Affliction a pure and clean Vessel might be brought forth And then the Lord plentifully poured upon him of his holy Spirit filling him with all Wisdom and Power to publish and proclaim his everlasting Gospel and to bring Glad-tidings to the poor the Day
Lord is our strength his â—ower is with us all was silent there This is the day of Israels return out of Captivity joy for evermore will be your Portions waiting npon the Lord you will witness the gathering into the Fold so God Almighty keep thee and all of you in singleness up to him that he alone may be Exalted Salute us dearly to thy Wife and to all Friends as if we named them one by one we are bound to you by the Bond which never can be broken Farewel Remember us to Captain Beal and his Wife and to them at the Red-Lodge John Audland John Camm Dear and loving Friends IN that Unchangable Eternal Everlasting Love of our Father we Salute you even that Love with which I am loved of my Father that Love flows out unto that of God in every one of you without respect of Persons for you are all of you dear and near unto us as you abide in that which doth Convince you but turning from that by which your Hearts and Minds are knit together and brought into the Unity your minds being turned from that then the Unity is broken and the Bond of Peace and Love is broken and that doth make a Rent and a Breach and Schism amongst you for turning from the pure Eternal Light of God which leads up to the door into the Sheep-Fold and so would lead you into the Kingdom of God where there is Rest Joy and Peace for evormore but your minds turning form this you turn into the Carnal and into the Visible and so self gets up and from that nature proceeds self Separation and here the haughty nature gets up self-Exaltation and the Just suffers and by that nature the pure is Crucified and Slain and then Carelesness and Sottishness and self Love abounds which is to be Judged and Condemned by the Light and by the Life and from the Life of God do I declare against all that nature in every one that by the Light of God which you have all received a Measure of you may come to see that nature in every one of your selves which disappoints and separates you from your Head that by the Light that nature may be discerned and so judged and condemned by the Light But first every one come to know Judgment set up in your selves and self in the particular judged that Judgment may be set up in the Earth that the Inhabitants thereof may learn Righteousness and so Judgment being passed upon the Rebellious and Uncircumcised in your particulars and you walking and dwelling in the Life according to your Measure then may you boldly reprove others who walk not up according to their Measure for the Beam being cast out of your own Eyes you will see perfectly to pull out the Mote out of your Brothers Eye but it must be first out of your own or else you are Hypocrites And so I charge you all in the Presence of the Lord every one to keep your own Habitations and to be faithful to your Measures which you have received of God and you will come to grow and increase in the increase of God and abiding in the Vine you will become fruitful and you will become Beautiful and Comely Sweet Precious and Lovely in the Eyes of him who hath loved you with exceeding great Love and with loving kindness hath he drawn you in Measure out of the filthy Polutions and Heathenish Ways and Worships of the World and hath opened your Eyes and letten you see all things openly under the Sun and by the pure eternal Light which hath shined into you by it you see the pure Path and holy Way which leads up to God the Father of Light. Oh dear Hearts prize the eternal Love of God unto you and walk answerable to that Love which is manifest in every one of you for it is great and rich Love Oh the abundance of his Love and Free Grace let not his Benefits slip out of your minds Oh what manner of Love is this that we should be called the Sons and Children of the most high therefore doth not the World know us Dear Hearts walk in the pure eternal Love and Light of God that so you may come to the pure Life of God to follow the Captain of your Salvation who was made perfect through Sufferings that you may endure the Cross dispise the Shame and so come to pertake of the Immortal Crown of Glory which never fades away Oh my dear ones you are written in my Heart and I cannot forget you yea truly I am often with you in the pure eternal Love and Life and my Love runs out to you and my Life is with you and our Rejoycing will be to behold your Faces and to find you walking up orderly in your measure that when we see your Faces in the outward we may see you Beatiful Comely Fresh and Green casting a goodly Smell to all that come nigh you that so you may Preach to the Heathens by your Pure Holy and Godly Conversation letting your Light shine forth in your lives that all who see your Conversation who are Enemies to the Truth may have their Mouthes stopped and be ashamed and confounded and be made to confess the Lord is with you So my dear Hearts all as one who abides in that which is one which unites and knits your Hearts together and gathers up into its self in that we are with you present in that dwell and there you will be preserved and kept safe from your Enemies And the Eternal Everlasting Love of God over-shadow you and keep you in the pure Fear and Power of the Lord over all the World to remain and so we cease to Writ but not to Love you and Pray for you and remain your Friends in the unchangable Love of God. John Camm John Audland John Aulland's John Camm's Letter to Friends at Bristol Dearly beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ you whose minds are turned towards the Lord upon him to wait to receive the hidden Treasure which comes from above Grace Love and Peace be unto you in you and among you that you may grow in Grace in Love in Purity and in the Fear of the Lord this Peace is to you who are waiting upon him from whence peace comes to that which is not of the World but is contrary to the World and gives Victory over the World and bears Testimony against the World for wo unto the World no peace unto the Earth but a Sword and all which is contrary to the Light is to be cut down with the Sword and the Sword is drawn and all that must be cut off which is against the raign of the Lord Jesus therefore all wait in the true discerning and in the true judgment that you may know the redemption of the Soul And prize the Love of God to you in visiting you and letting you see the wayes of the World and the worships of the World and his Love hath been and
will be to behold your Faces and to find you walking up orderly in your measure that when we see your Faces in the outward we may see you beautiful comely fresh and green casting a goodly Smell to all that come nigh you that so you may preach to the Heathen by your pure holy godly Conversation letting your Light so shine forth in your Lives that all who see your Conversation who are Enemies to the Truth may have their Mouthes stopt be ashamed and confounded and be made to confess that the Lord is with you So my dear Hearts all as one who abide in that which is one which unites knits your Hearts together and gathers up into it self in that we are with you present in that dwell and there you will be preserved kept safe from your Enemies and the eternal everlasting Love of God overshadow you and keep you in the pure power of the Lord over all the World to reign And so we cease to write but not to love you and to pray for you but remain your Friends in the unchangeable Love of God John Camm John Audland Dear and loving Friends IN the Eternal Fountain of Love we Salute you all even with the same Love wherewith our Father hath loved us the same flows out to you all to that which is of God in you to that we spake and to that we are made manifest even to that of God in all your Conscinces read in that and it will witness our love unto you all Dear Hearts dear and pretious you are unto us as you abide in the pure Light of Jesus Christ which he hath enlightned you withal in that we have Union with you and in that you will see our dear love to you all even such love as the World knows not for it far exceeds the Love of Women Oh we cannot forget you for you are our Epistles written in our Hearts for we see you daily and our Desires to the Lord are for you that you may stand in his Counsel and in his Will and in the daily Cross which will crucifie you to the world and the world to you and will make a separation in you and separate you from the world and draw yon out of it For your Hearts being in the world you are Enemies to God and Strangers to the Covenant of Grace for the Promise is not to that which flees the Cross but to that which stands in the daily Cross for all the Promises of God are Yea and Amen to the Seed but there is no Promise to that which turns away from the pure into the carnal from the Light by which you may come to witness your Redemption from the world into the Earth where the Curss is and where the Woe is for the Woe is to them that do inhabit the Earth and so all whose hearts are in the Earth and in the Fall and turned away from the pure Light are under the woes and under the curse and in the invention and in the witch craft and sorcery and here are all they who have received the Light which is pure and have turned from it into the carnal here is the Dog and the Swine which was washed which is turned to the Vomit and to wallowing in the mire and they who turn from the pure may which leads to Life turned into Cain's way and Balaam's way and Judas's way but we hope better things of you and such as accompany Salvation for we are perswaded that you will not put your hands to the Plow and look back for then you are not fit for the Kingdom remember Lot's Wife and hold fast that which you have received and walk in that which is made manifest and dwell in that which judges and condemns for sin for that leads out of Sin into the pure Paths of Righteousness and so the man of Sin is destroyed and the powers of Darkness removed the Captive redeemed and the Prisoner set free and the Cords of iniquity cut and the Bonds broken and that which is imprisoned and lead captive is brought into Captivity and judged and condemned by the Light so dwelling in the Light the righteous come to flourish and the pure come to grow and the Dead come to live for the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and he that hears shall Live and so Life comes to death and so the one lives in the death of the other for there is no reconciling of them for the one lives in the death of the other there is no communion between Light and Darkness betwixt Christ and Belial and therefore read within and see who is Head and who rules and hath Dominion and let the Light of God search and try you that so no Thief nor Enemy to your Souls may lodge within you but by the Light you may be judged and condemned Dear Hearts we are with you in the pure Life and our Bowels are turned within us for you Yesterday we were with you and broken and melted in remembrance of you it was the first Day of the week when we were at the Meeting in Chester our loves run out to you and the remembrance of you melted us and we think we saw it melting and breaking you Oh! the powerful God of Life throw down all his Enemies in you that he himself may rule and reign in you that Righteousness may run down as a stream and Eqnity as a mighty River that that we might see the fruit of our Labours and the disires of our Souls answered which is the Freedom of the Righteous Seed in every one of you that so the Eternal God of Power my be honoured and he alone glorified and your Souls edified and nourished which is the defire of us who truly love you in the Eternal Love of God. Dear Friends we hope we need not exhort you to meet together we think you do meet often in the Fear of the Lord and there to wait upon him in the Light and there you will find the Power of the Lord manifested to you and in you to the throwing down of strong holds of Sin and Iniquity and to Kill and Crucifie the old nature and to raise up the pure Eternal Life in you for by the Power of the Lord the dead are raised to Life and so waiting every one in your Measure in Faithfulness and Patience and in the Godly Fear you will come to seeth e fresh Springs opened and the pure Eternal Life made manifest in you and so you will see the Rocks rent and the Earth removed out of its place and the Mountains melted and the tall Cedars bowed down and all that is exalted laid low and the Lord alone exalted in you in that Day Dear Hearts let us hear from you with what speed you can and the Eternal and everlasting rich Love of our Father overshadow you and keep you in the hour of Temptation that you may stand stedfast and unmoveable in the