Spirits of Just Men made perfect and I believe her Name is written in Heaven and she is entred in the Possession of that Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost which is the effect of everlasting Righteousness and hath a Name and a Place in the House of the Lord and within the Walls of Salvation even an everlasting Name that shall never be blotted out nor forgotten Dear Friends Brethren and Sisters who are asking the way to Zion with your Faces thitherward and who have desires to have Intelligence of the State of Affairs among Friends in these Parts this gives you advice of the Departure of the above mentioned Mother in Israel let it not trouble you for it is well with her and this is a living Testimony of never dying Love that 's given forth and sent to you from your Loving Friend and Fellow Traveller in the way of Holyness Austell in Cornwall the 20th of the 10th Month 1682. Thomas Salthouse The Testimony of Thomas Curtis AS for Loveday Hambly that honourable Woman in the Flock of God I have this Testimony to give for her that her Nam â—â—â— eth although she be gone to the Place prepared for all the Living and her Memorial will abide among many Brethren because of her great Care of the Truth amongst the Heritage of the Almighty Before she was convinced of the Truth she was a Zealous Professor a Woman seeking after the Living God in the dead Forms of this World and very diligent to follow after the best men then in esteem amongst those Professors not willing to miss a Lecture or Sermon at that season if Sickness or some other urgent occasion drew her not aside marvelously beloved then by those Ministers that were most eminent in that Place and Part of the County willing to hear them in their Exercise and then greatly to befrind them and in the beginning or breaking forth of the Truth when some Friends rode through the County and sounded the Trumpet of the Lord for which they were taken and committed to the Common Goal in that County a Concern câ—me upon me to visit â—he Prisoners of the Great God and finding them shut up in Doomsdale a Dungeon in the Castle in Lancestâ—n I was troubled in my Spirit and a farther Concern came upon me to go to the Sessions and visit a Commander whom formerly I was acquainted with and then in Authority to see if possible I might do any Service for the Lord and assist my then suffering Brethren which in Gods Strength I did perform and in my Journying I was guided to the House of my deceased Friend Loveday Hambly where after some discourse with her she seemed to be inclinable to know the Truth and God gave me a Testimony suitable to her present Condition and the Lord opened her Heart as he did the Heart of Lidia and she was melted with the Word of Life and the Lord so wrought upon her that although I parted with her in a little time and went forward as it was with me to the Place appointed yet when I returned her Love was greatly inlarged and she constrained me to stay some time and a Door of hope was opâ—ned to that Family and several of the Neighbourhood and many were prickt at the heart and several good Meetings I had in the Family and great tenderness was amongst them the Fame went forth of her convincement and the Word of God had a place in their Affections and many were broken into tears and this honourable Friend did comfort them and was a strength to them and though many stood a loof off and others taunted at them yet her Affections strongly increased towards them and if any thing did befall them she made it as her own Concern for she valued no Delights of this World but her Delight was in the Lord she valued not the Glory of great Men nâ—â—â—her did she covet after great Possessions but was contented with 〈◊〉 Lot in her Pilgrimage and as one that had found a Spring in a dry Ground so was she in her Meditations so that her Fame went far and many good Inclinations were in Peoples Minds so that when I came again as Doves to the Windows how did many flock so that it was then very pleasant to me great Desires after the Lord appeared God opened a Fountain in the Desert but this made the old Serpent angry and set his Ministers in a rage and some came to the House like Champions to see if they could recover her again many strong assaults were made in that day but all in vain sometimes I was met with by the Ministers on the High Way sometimes challenged to come to the Fair some private some publick Discourses but still her Love was fixed to the Lord so that nothing could draw back her Affections because she had in some Degree seen the Kindness of the Lord the more they strove the closer she stuck to the Truth and the more they prest on her the more she saw their Weakness and when they perceived that there was no recovery like to be the Dragon cast a Flood out of his mouth at her and prepared a Troop to come to her House to lay hold of me which drew many tears from her eyes but the Lord was with us and so prevailed with the then Commanders that the Lieutenant and Coronet were convinced and for some time stood in their Convincement and the Coronet had a Meeting at his House and great Peace then was her Portion and her delight was amongst the People of the Lord and which way she might lay out her Endeavours for the Truth and as Friends came to visit the Prisoners at Lanceston they came to visit her and her heart was open and her House was free and Meetings began to be settled and as a Nursing Mother in Israel so was she but when Faithfulness entred her heart so that she could not put into the mouths of the Priests and Impropriators they soon prepared War against her and a deep Sufferer was she both by Priest and Impropriator and often her Cows Horses Oxen Sheep and Calves taken away as the Records of that County can make appear much spoil they made of her Estate so that sometimes her Cattle was so clean gone and carryed away by the Spoilers as if no recovery of a Stock were like to be again but God was a Portion to her and whil'st that Prophesie of the Prophet Isaiah was fulfilling upon her Adversaries Isaiah 33.5 Wo unto thee that spoilest and thou wast not spoiled Her Cows did Calve her Sheep did Yean and bring forth and the Fleece did grow again and Gods Indignation did fall upon the Spoylers and the Goods did not prosper in their Hands but a Consumption came upon it and it wasted and melted away doing but little good and in the End the Lord cut them off from the Earth and gave them their Portion with the Spoilers So that Scripture came to be
fulfilled the Righteous shall be had in everlasting Remembrance but the Name of the Wicked shall rot This did not altogether quiet the Adversaries but when they had taken her Goods they sought after her Body also which they had at their Pleasure ready for the Prison sometimes in one Prison sometimes in another the Goalers can give a more full account of her Personal Suffering for having found the Pearl of great Price she was willing to part with all for the Enjoyment of hâ—t Treasure and believing that there was a measure of the Sufferings of Christ Jesus behind for her to fill up she consulted not with Flesh and Blood but gave her Body to the Prison and left her Goods to the Spoyler as believing God was able to multiply her Substance and truly as Truth prospered in her heart so her Substance was increased and her Eye was to the Lord that gave it and Gods Word was her delight and Meetings still increased and her Faithfulness was found and a nursing Mother was she to the Feeble and Week for she was a Woman of great Hospitality and her Love extended to all the Rich knew her heart was free the Poor missed not her house the Stranger lodged not in the Street but she opened her Door to the Traveller and many times relieved she her very Enemies and to say the truth of her she was very bountiful and an open handed Woman doing good to all but more especially to the Houshold of Faith she was no Flatterer of any Person nor one that would daub with untempered Mortar but as her heart was so was her Language dealing truly with all without respect of Persons she feared no man neither could any mans frowns make her start aside the Plain-mans Path was her delight she feared God and took pleasure in his People and it was her Meat and Drink to do the Will of her Master Christ Jesus she loved to hear of the Prosperity of Truth and of the well-being of Friends and when she had their Company then was her heart inlarged to the Lord after this manner she passed over about twenty six years of her Sojourning here in this World and as all our Fathers were so was she seeking after that Country and to find out that City whose Builder and Maker is the Lord. She constantly had Meetings at her House once or twice a week and took great pleasure therein and often would have a private time to her self in her Closet to spread her condition before the God of Jacob She never turned her back upon the Truth neither for fear of loss of Goods nor did the threatnings of the Prison daunt her but according to the measure of Grace that she had received her Bow did abide in its full strength and underwent the sentence of Many Fines and greatly rejoyced when any were convinced the Truth was so pleasant to her that she would still send to her Relations to come and hear it and when she had a Friend that she was well pleased with both Rich and Poor invited she unto the Meeting but now she is gone from us and we believe she is taken away from the Evil that is to come and her Good Works and Charity follow her yet time will speak of the Integrity of her Heart and of her great Love to Friends although she is removed from us she hath been preserved after a wonderful manner in her latter years and often saw it was the Lord that raised her up and would say she believed that the Prayers of Friends did prevail with the Lord and that her Days were lengthened out that she might be yet more serviceable She lived to a great Age which but few do come to David saith The Age of Man is threescore Years and ten But this Friend of ours lived fourscore Years want but two and if in that day it was counted a wondrous Old Age what may we now esteem it but she hath finished her Course amongst men and departed out out of this World the 14th of the 10th month 1682. And I doubt not but is ascended up to God out of all the Troubles that overtake the Sons of Men. And the Lord Raise up many more such Mothers for the comforting of the Distressed saith my Soul who am your Loving Brother and Companion in the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ Thomas Curtis FINIS
A RELATION OF THE Last WORDS and Departure OF THAT Antient and Honourable Woman Loveday Hambly OF Trigangeeues in the Parish of Austell in the County of Cornwal With farther Testimonies concerning her LIFE and CONVERSATION Prov. 10.6 Blessings are upon the Head of the Just but Violence covereth the Mouth of the Wicked Prov. 31.30 31. A Woman that feareth the Lord shall be praised Give her of the Fruit of her Hands and let her own Works praise her in the Gates Acts 10.4 And he said unto him thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a Memorial before God London Printed by John Gain Living in the Upper Moor-Fields near the Flying-Horse M.DC.LXXXIII The PREFACE DEar Friends unto whose hands this may come this is to signifie of the Decease of our dear Friend Loveday Hambly who hath finished her Course in this World and is gone to her long home where the wicked cease from troubling and if in former time such Women as feared God were esteemed honourable and recorded to Posterity for their Vertue and good Works may not this Friend of ours be recorded amongst the Living at this day whom the Living God raised up and made an Instrument in his hand to be serviceable in doing much good who was a Woman of a noble universal Spirit and descended of honourable Parentage as amongst Men Her fame no doubt is already gon far especially amongst God's People though many never knew her or saw her Personally to whom the following Account may be of service as well as to such as did know her and be a means to stir up the Mind that 's Pure in all to admire the Goodness of the Lord may be encouraged to serve and obey him in faithfulness in their Day and Time that they may come to rest in Gods heavenly Kingdom for evermore into which this faithful Friend is entred I shall not need here much to enlarge concerning this my dear loving and well beloved Friend because the Matter is so fully and truly Stated in the following Relation and Testimonies to which much of it I can truly Subscribe for it was my Lot to be a Houshold Servant to her about two years to look after her Affairs and might have been to her dying day for ought I know if I had not been taken a Prisoner for the Testimony of Truth and kept about eight years in Prison at which she was troubled and disappointed also for she did manifest much Love to me yea I may say she was more like a Mother to me than a Mistriss I was an Eye-Witness to much of her Tryals and Sufferings in which she was very valiant and chearful she had a great Family and God gave her a great Measure of Wisdom to order it her Tables were largely and plentifully spread which is well known to many and she took great care that all might have sufficient and likewise that none of the good Creatures which God had given should be abused or wasted upon any account And how tender was she and pitiful to the meanest Servant in her Family if they were sick or wanted her Help and Assistance and the Lord wonderfully blest her Endeavours for it may be truly said she had a true regard unto him as I have observed upon many occasions her Heart was often tendered in a sense of the Mercies and Love of God and this often was her Expression I give God the Glory Or Blessed be the Name of the Lord. And many times in the day as she had Opportunity she betook her self to her Closet to be retired and many times came out amongst her Family as one whose Strength was inwardly renewed in a cool and tender Frame of Spirit O what could I say of her Sincerity and love to the Lord his Truth and People But shall summe up all in this That she was a good Woman and very serviceable as many in those parts do right well know And as it was her earnest desire often in my hearing so it is mine That the Lord who raised her up in that Place and County would be pleased to raise another in her stead and place to do as she hath done that her Intentions may be fulfilled and answered even the Propagation of the pretious and everlasting Truth in which I do dearly Salute you all and am your real Friend Reading the 20th of the 1st Month 1682 3. Benjamin Coales A Coyy of a Letter sent to M. D. and Friends at Plymouth the 14th day of 10th Month 1682. Margery Dyer AND the rest of Friends in Plymouth knowing that you have a desire to hear how it is with our Friend Loveday Hambly whose Fame for Good Works Charity and Hospitality is gone forth to the uttermost Confines of the Land of our Nativity and we believe it may be affirmed with confidence that her Renown is gone forth to the Isles afar off as a Person accounted famous among Gods People for Sufferings and Zealous of Good Works ever since the Day that she was turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God Now Dear Friend this may certifie thee and Friends there that our Dear Friend above mentioned L. H. hath by reason of Old Age great Weekness and many Infirmities kept her Bed for the most part this Seven Weeks being aged about seventy eight Years and though we are here as in a House of Mourning under the consideration of her Bodily Weakness and in the sense of the Departure of such a Serviceable Friend yet we are Comforted and Refreshed in that we can give a Living Testimony that she is in a good Frame of Spirit in relation to Heavenly Things for it hath been observed of late that if any Friend or other of her Relations have spoken to her about any of her Outward Affairs her Memory fail'd her as to give any direct Answer but when any Friend did Read or Pray by her or speak to her of Spiritual Matters she hath been much Revived and full of good Expressions and Praises to the Lord for his manifold Mercies towards her often saying She desired nothing but the Kingdom of God and in the Evening several Friends Relations and Attendants being about her Bed with a Candle one did desire to see her Tongue she chearfully said Take away the Candle and let me have the Light of the Countenance of the Lord Jesus And dayly and hourly she ceased not to sound forth the Praises of the Lord and her Desires and Prayers to the Lord were to continue his Mercy towards her She saw her own weakness and believed in the Strength of the Lord and as she drew near her End she grew into a loving Child-like State and Condition to all that came to see her desiring earnestly the Prosperity of Gods Truth and often declared her Intent in bestowing her Outward Estate in the manner as she had done was even that the Holy Truth might be propagated and those that profess it might be Supported by