it and defie it which I did do in the Name of the Lord and it did wither vvith all the rest After it vvas gone the English Consul came to us with a Scribe and he brought us a doller from a Master of a Ship that came from Plymouth I told him I did receive my Countrey man's Love but could not receive his Money He askt me What I wouâ—d do if I would take no money I said the Lord was my portion and I could not lack any good thing I said to him We were in thy House near 15. Weeks didst thou see any cause of Death or Bonds in us He said No. I askt him how he would dispence with his Conscience for telling us He would have us before the Inquisitor and thou didst know that Room vvas provided for us and had not we been kept alive by the mighty Power of God we might have been dead long since He said How could I help it I said We are the Servants of the living God and were brought here by permission and in the Spirit of Meekness gave in our Testimony for the Lord in faithfulness and told you the truth as it is in Jesus and called you all to repentance and fore-warned you in love to your souls of the evil the Lord is bringing upon you if you do not repent He said However it be it will go well with you Mark that I told him he required a sign of me when vve vvere at his house if we were the servants of the Lord God I gave him a sign from the living God and my friend gave him another from the Lord to his shame and destruction for ever I askt him Whether it were not true we spake to him he said it was but how should he help it I said Thou art a condemned person and stands guilty before God yet nevertheless repent if thou canst find a place He smil'd upon the Scribe in deceit but his lips did quiver and his belly trembled and he could scarce stand upon his legs He was as proper a man as most was in the City and full and in his prime age O! he was consumed as a Snail in a shell which was a sufficient sign for the whole City if their hearts were not harder than Adamants He said How should he help it He might have helpt it but he was as willing to prove us as any of them all He was sworn upon his Oath to protect the English and their Ruler bid him let us go about our business and said He were honest women and then he might have let us go before we were under the black Rod. Then he went to Sarah with the Doller she told him she could not take the Money but if he had a Letter for us she should be free to receive that He said he had not any He askt her what she did want She said the Lord was her Shepherd she could not want any good thing but she did long for her Freedom He said That you may have in time He told us we should have ink and paper to write But when he was gone they vvould not let us The next time we heard of him he was dead We could have rejoiced if he had dyed for righteousness sake for the Lord delighteth not in the death of a sinner The Fryar was gone to Rome and they said he must stay there till we came There was great working to send us there but the Lord did prevent them that they could not send us there Then the Lord did work to bring us together again after so long time we had been parted There vvere five doors between us with Locks and Bolts but the Keeper had not power to make them fast but as Sarah could undo them to come where I could see her but could not speak to her for there were them that did watch us night and day yet she being moved of the Lord did come to my door by night she must come by the Fryars door he and the Doctor of Law were together and they did set a trap to take her in and many did watch about the Prison and would complain Then she was lockt up again but they had no peace in that till the doors were open again then we did sit in the sight of each other to wait upon the Lord so that our voices were heard far the Magistrates vvould hear and bow to it sometime then the complainers were weary and did work to have us brought together and we did wait and pray and the Magistrates would come in and look upon us many times but would say nothing to us There were of divers Nations brought into the Inquisition Prisoners and the Fryars and the rest that were great would go in their way to make Christians of them and we were made to stand up against them and their vvays and deny them in the Name of the Lord and declare the truth to the simple-hearted continually if vve did suffer death for it We could not endure to hear the Name of the Lord blasphemed nor his pure Way of Truth perverted nor the ignorant deceived They did vvrite all they understood of vvhat vve spake and sent it to the Court-Chamber before the Inquisitor and Magistrates but the Lord did blast it vvith the Mildevvs of his vvrathful indignation and burnt it up vvith the brightness of his Son and vve rejoiced in our God but still our burdens continued very heavy and our righteous souls vvere vexed vvith the filthy Conversation of the Wicked and the pure Seed of God vvas prest from day to day that our spirits did mourn and our hearts vvere grieved because of the hardness of their hearts and their Rebellion against their Maker vvho vvas so gracious to them to suffer them so long in all their abominations and vvaited to be gracious to them and knock at the Door of their hearts calling for Justice Mercy and Humility but behold Oppression Cruelty and Self-Exaltation notvvithstanding the Lord did strive so much vvith them and sent so many undeniable truths and inâ—allible testimonies of the coming of his Son to Judgement and so clear a manifestation of the vvay to eternal Salvation given forth of his ovvn mouth by his eternal Spirit and having us for an example vvho vvere kept by his Povver and Holiness they had not a jot nor tittle against us but for righteousness sake though they had vvinnovved and fanned us so long Glory honor and praises be given to our God for ever O they would not let us know of any English Ship that came into the Harbour as near as they could but the Lord would make it manifest to us We had a great working and striving in our bodies but we knew not what it meant the arrows of the Wicked did flye so that my soul was plunged and overwhelmed from head to feet and the terrors of the unrighteous had taken hold of us and the flames of Hell compassed us about then the Lord appeared
spiritual and so the Lord hath made me as a burthensome stone among them My heart blesseth his Name that wonderfully preserved me Yet some of them came to see somewhat of my innocency About 24. dayes I abode upon the said Island they daily continuing their threatnings against me as aforesaid and many times attempted me to take my passage to Cicillia or to some parts of Italy to produce the unreasonable and unchristian-like Obligation demanded by them but in the fear of God I with my dear friends withstood them and they were freely given up rather to suffer then to hurt God's truth and people thus to gratifie them who as it doth appear the Spirit of the Lord God of truth rules neither in Pope nor in any of his Lords Priest or Jesuits that exerciseth such Lordship over the innocent long-suffering Heritage of the everlasting God The time hasteneth and behold it cometh to pass that the weight of eternal Vengeance is coming over them which the man of 〈◊〉 and his sons of perdition will not be able to bear For the doleful cry of the Innocent it sighs and groans with tears hath long uttered its voice which hath ascended into the ears of the most high who is higher hen the highest yet hath he respect unto the needy to uphold them yea and to such as are of an upright contrite lowly and trembling heart What if I should say the God of love and long-suffeering dwels in such and verily their sacrifice is acceprable in his bosome that liveth for ever and I am a living witness that the sweet testimony and innocent sufferings of these his long-suffering Lambs is right dear and precious in his eye which is the light of his countenance and so is is not otherwise but the same in oneness with his people concerning them And so in the endless Mercy Blessing and Peace of our God we parted and I came away with the love and peace of my God within my heart having the answer and living testimony of a good Conscience and in the wisdom of God brought away these their words and writings which testifieth somewhat of their sufferings and faithfulness unto the Lord his truth and people which I right well know cannot be shut out of the Record of life Eternal unto which I bear record again that they have been and are a sweet savour unto the Lord God of faithfulness and so their reward which attends the same in not onely with them but with all the sons and daughters of truth and innocency that are so travelling in their long-sufferings which are but light and momentary in competition to the Eternal weight of glory which afterwards is to be revealed in the same that suffered in all generâ—tions even from righteous Abel unto this day of our God to whom be wisdom glory salvation and everlasting thanksgivings and dominion for ever Amen saith my soul and spirit even so Amen And it came to pass in the third month of the year 1662. also after my God had well preserved me in my passage and in his work and service from Malâ—â— to diverse places in Italy till I came to the Straights Mouth of the Mediterranean Sea at the place called Gibralter it was the pleasure of the Lord God to suffer the wind and weather to continue contrary well nigh about 30 daies in which season I suffered many trials and tribulations in spirit having little or no rest in the same because of the Vision and words of the Everlasting which sounded often up to my understanding even as the roaring of a Lyon which mine eye saw and mine ear heard also in the year 61. when I was a Prisoner for the pure Word and testimony of God and his Truth in Worcester City Jayl before I departed England and the place was the high Mountain of Gibralter that stands within the King of Spains Dominion which was the subject of the Vision and ofen as I cast mine eye upon the scituation of the place the pure life and power of God's Eternal presence did arise up in me in the Word of Life so that I saw clearly that some great exceeding weighty service for his Name and eternal Truths sake was to be done by me which was so terrible and dreadful to me when as I entred into reasoning so that I was brought down even to the jaws of death in dust and ashes and as Jonah turned his back upon Niniveh the same temptation attended me also to my wounding before I could give up for I fled often from the place to escape with my life from among such an unreasonable and bloody generation and the Lord would not be intreated to let such a bitter Cup pass unfulfilled but behold with the sound and stroak of his eternal Word his Spirit of Life became awakened quickned and mightily revived in me in his Wisdom over all fear of the Nations of men and the same brake through the snares and bonds of death and over destruction and the true seed that mourned cried Not my will but thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and so it was a hard thing to part with little Isaac which is received again in the Covenant of promise of Life and that was offered up which fled so often but at last was caught in a thicket When the ships of diverse Nations attempted to pass through but the God of heaven whom the wind and sea obeieth suffered them not but they knew not what the matter was which was revealed within my heart as the displeasure of God was against them to humble them also as I told them often by words and writings to clear my conscience albeit they strove being perplexed in their minds and attempted often to wit 7 or 8 times in about 21 daies and could not pass but about 2 or 3 leagues and on this wise it happened it would â—ther prove calm and then the currant would drive them back into the Streights again sometimes and otherwhile storms and tempests would scatter them as a figure of Pharaoh and his Hoste of Egyptian darkness so that the Charet-wheels mine eye saw struck off so that they drove but heavily within and without and at last I gave out among them that God had service for me to do at that place and my life was given up to do his will if I never saw my Native Country Kindred or Fathers house at all any more and therefore the pleasure of the Lord in his mighty power had made me wiâ—ling and also gave me dominion through and over the bonds and snares of death and destruction as it were to lay down my precious life that I may take it again together with the body which through his righteous judgments he had prepared to perform the good pleasure of his Almightiness for his Truth and Names sake Now the heavenly voice was often founded within my heart on this wise saying O Jerusalem cut off thine hair and further more to gird
over the members of the body but that which created the body and every Member which is to have the supream authority and preheminence as well in the female as in the male and so he the Spirit of Truth that 's to guide into all truth he the man is not he to speak viz. Christ in the male the same in the female where he is risen and manifest as King Priest and Prophet a Guide Leader and Commander in all equitable and just things which are truly honorable But the woman was in the transgression against the Spirit Flesh lusteth against the Spirit saith the Apostle and the Woman that 's in the transgression is to be under obedience and to be in silence to learn in silence and to ask her Husband at home but what if she have a disorderly drunken Husband and not Christ the man the true Husband the true Lord how can he teach her seeing the woman is to learn of her Husband in silence and to be under obedience and not to usurp Authority over the man as also saith the Law which hath dominion over all that are under it in the transgression but the Spirit of Grace and Truth that 's poured upon sons and daughters teacheth us to deny the sin and guideth from the same and so maketh free from its condemnation and from under the Law to be under the Grace and Truth that is in the one Seed Christ in the Male Christ in the Female the quickning spirit the Lord from Heaven and so who are lead and guided by this are not under the Law which saith the woman is not to usurp Authority over the man as also saith the able Minister of the Mysterie of the glory and riches of Eternity which is Christ the fulness in his Saints their hope of life and glory but the woman is to be under obedience as also saith the Law yea but they that are led by the Spirit are not under the Law so are the sons of God manifest yet under the Grace covered the same Grace with which the Man-Child the holy Child Jesus was covered and filled with the same and no other but that which did and doth save the Saints from sin and so from under the Law and its condemnation and not onely so but also the same Grace which bringeth salvation and appeareth to all men it teacheth them not onely to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts but also to live soberly and righteously in this present world and verily this Grace is in them which saves and justifieth them and it 's not of themselves it is the gift of God And such are the servants of the living and true God that have their fruits and possess the same unto holiness and not onely so but the end of the same which is the pure manifestation of the Eternal substance to wit everlasting life pure clean power which is the excellent Treasure in the Earthen Vessels as saith the holy Scripture 2 Cor. 4. But Oh ye Congregations of the dead ye gathered Churches of so many Names and Heads to you sounds my voice saying What have ye done Oh! how guilty do ye appear before mine eye that 's single in the Lord's Light of despising prohesying and quenching the tender Spirit of glory which resteth at this day in and upon many sons and daughters and behold if ye can see how they do and have prophesied in the Name of the Lord and have fore-warned you of that which is justly come to pass upon you while many of you despised and wondered in the days of haughtiness and its prosperity among you But oh my soul how hast thou been wounded in me whilst I have travelled and mourned over you And so you have been found despising that and quenching that Spirit of Grace which teacheth the Saints in Light and reproves for sin and testifieth against the World and its deeds because they are evil And this same Spirit strived long with you and in you and would have arisen up in its Authority Power and great glory from on high had ye not preferred and exalted the Spirit of this World in it's proper place in you above the just and long-suffering which is but one and the same in male and in female Oh! what have you done Can any of you yet smite upon your thigh and say so yet if ye can enquire enquire ye the Watchman's voice is the same it was and not otherwise viz. Return come yea return and come to the tender Spirit of holiness and of the gentleness of Christ and his yoke of self-denial and the daily Cross they are the two great Ordinances which ye have left behind and so the vail and the Darkness has covered you but the true Israelites have Light in their dwellings and their habitations is in the best of the Land of the living Wherefore my spirit saith Return come and hearken to the Lamb's voice and now see whether ye can follow him or a stranger wheresoever he goeth that 's the true Prophet raised up like unto Moses and obey his voice which savoureth not of this world for so his Kingdom and servants are not Therefore beware lest your souls be cut off from the Land of the living and ye perish in the outward observations by which the Kingdom cometh not among the Congregations of the dead where ye are yet seeking the living but I as a Brother even Joseph tell you yet again He is not there but is arisen from the dead from death to life who is the quickening Spirit the Lord from Heaven over the Earth over all the Land of Aegypt over the Land of darkness the same Lord the same Spirit which hath done excellent things is exalted in the new Heaven and in the new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and let the Virgin-Daughter of Sion publish the same even from henceforth to all generations yea and my spirit it 's ready to say Amen There was one that saw a little Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands and he well retained his sight so long until in the Light of the living he saw the same which was so little wax so great that it became an exceeding great Mountain Verily the beloved City is manifest set upon a holy Hill it cannot be hid from them that see the glory of God doth enlighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof and his Light is like unto a stone most precious clear as Chrystal The Fountain is opened free come down from on high and thou shalt see if thou dost thirst for springs of Life To the Light submit thy mind and cease from strife in the same to behold the Bride the Lamb's Wife from the false Church Dan. Baker A Salutation to the whole Body of the Elect of God whether gathered or scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth And tender Greeting with Information from the same suffering and long suffering Seed whose Earthen Vessels are held in the Bonds of strait Captivity
under the Pope's dark and cruel Authority in his Inquisition in the Island of Malta for the Word of Life which is the living Testimony of Jesus and the truth of his Innocency which they hold and stand fast to and in the same having already suffered more then three years in the said Confinement to the present 12th month of the year accounted 1661. of the same I bear Record also and affirm to the Truth of which I am a Servant and living Witness Daniel Baker O Yee Eternal and Blessed ones whose dwelling is on high in the fulness of all Beauty and Brightness Glory and everlasting Joy Happiness and Peace for evermore We who are poor sufferers for the Seed of God in the Covenant of Light Life and Truth do dearly salute and imbrace you all according to our measures Blessing and honour and Glory be given to our Lord God for ever of all who know him who hath counted us worthy and hath chosen us among his faithfull ones to bear his name and to witness forth his truth before the high and mighty men of the earth and to fight the Lords battle with his spirituall weapons to the breaking down of strong holds high lofty looks and vain imaginations and spirituall wickedness in high places The Lord did give us a prosperous journey hither and when we came to Legorne we were refreshed with friends who were there before us and they did get a passage for us and lodging but as soon as we heard of the Vessel we did feel our service So we went into the City in the living power of the Lord and there were many tender hearts did visit us to their comfort and our joy The little time we staid there we gave some of our Books and one Paper so journying towards Alexandria the Captain told us that Malta was in the way and he must put in there a small time But before we came there our burthen was so heavy that I was made to cry out saying Oh we have a dreadfull cup to drink at that place Oh how am I straitned till it be Accomplished And when we came there the walls of the City were full of people some stood on the top of the walls as if something had troubled them before we came there we stood upon the deck of the ship and I looked upon them said in my heart Shall yes destroy us If we give up to the Lord then he is sufficient to deliver us out of their hands but if we dâ—sobey our God all those could not deliver us out of his hand So all feâ—r of man was taken from us The English Consul came abord the ship as the Captain said but we did not see him and invited us to his House it was the seventh or last day of the week The next morning being moved of the Lord we went a-shore and the Consul met us and we gave him a paper who sent us to his House with his Servant and when we came there at the present we well were entertained like Princes their Neighbours and Kinssolk came in and some Jesuits and we gave them Books they read a little and laid them down they were too hot we declared our message to them in the Name of the Lord and we gave some Books in the Street so they were all set on work Away went the Friers to the King or Supreme in the Island and he would not meddle with us but said we were honest women we might go about our business and that night we went a-bord the Ship again the Consul was troubled for their snare was laid and we felt it being moved of the Lord we went in again the next day and the Consul having a sister in the Nunnery desired us to go there that she might see us and we went to them and gave them a book then to the Consuls we returned again and sitting to wait to know the mind of the Lord what he would have us to do he said we must give in the great Paper and if we would go to save our life we should lose it Here followeth a Copy of some more words which they had written before the former was given forth A True Declaration concerning the Lord's love to us in all our Voyage We were at Sea between London and Plymouth many Weeks and one day we had some trials and between Plymouth and Legorn we were 31. days and we had many trials and storms within and without but the Lord did deliver us out of all And when we came to Legorn with the rest of our friends we went into the Town after we had product and staid there many dayes where we had service every day for all sorts of people came unto us but no man did offer to hurt us yet we gave them Books and having got passage in a Dutch ship we sayled towards Cypâ—us intending to goe to Alexandria but the Lord had appointed somthing for us to do by the way as he did make it manifest to us as I did speak for the Master of the ship had no business in the place but being in company with another ship which had some business at the City of Malta in the Island of Malta where Paul suffered shipwrack and being in the Harbour on the first day of the Week we being moved of the Lord went into the Town and the English Consul met us on the shore and asked us concerning our coming and we told him truth and gave him some Books and a Paper and he told us there was an Inquisition and he kindly entreated us to go to his house and said all that he had was at our service while we were there And in the fear and dread of the Lord we went and there came many to see us and we call'd them to repentance and many of them were tender but the whole City is given to Idolatry And we went a ship-board that night and the next day we being moved to go into the City again dared not to flie the cross but in obedience went desiring the will of God to be done And when we came to the Governor he told us that he had a Sister in the Nunnary did desire to see us if we were free and in the fear of God we went and talked with them and gave them a Book and one of their Priests was with us at the Nunnery and had us into their place of Worship and some would have us bow to the high Altar which we did deny and having a great burthen we went to the Consul again and were vvaiting upon the Lord what to do that we might know And the Inquisitors sent for us and when vve came before them they asked our Names and the Names of our Husbands and the Names of our Fathers and Mothers and how many children vve had and they asked us Wherefore we came into that Countrey And vve told them We were the Servants of the living God and were moved to come and
call them to repentance and many other questions and they went away but commanded that vve should be staid there And the next day they came again and called for us and vve came but they vvould examine us apart and called Sarah and they asked Whether she was a true Catholick She said that she vvas a true Christian that worshippeth God in spirit and in truth and they proffered her the Crucifix and vvould have had her svvare that she vvould speak the truth and she said she should speak the truth but she vvould not svvear for Christ commanded her not to swear saying Swear not at all And the English Consul persvvaded her vvith much entreating to svvear saying None should do her any harm But she denied and they took some Books from her and vvould have had her swear by them but she vvould not And they asked Wherefore she brought the Books And she said Because we could not speak their Language and they might know vvherefore vve came and they asked of her what George Fox was and she said he vvas a Minister And they asked wherefore she came thither She said To do the Will of God as she vvas moved of the Lord. And they asked how the Lord did appear unto her And she said by his Spirit And they asked where she was when the Lord appeared unto her and she said upon the way And they asked whether she did see his Presence and hear his Voice And she said she did hear his Voice and saw his Presence and they asked What he said to her and she said the Lord told her she must go over the Seas to do his Will and then they asked how she knew it was the Lord and she said he bid her go and his living presence should go vvith her and he was faithful that had promised for she did feel his living presence and so they vvent away Two dayes after they came again and called for me and offered me the Crucifix and told me the Magistrate commanded me to swear that I would speak the truth And I told them that I should speak the truth for I was a Witness for God but I should not swear for a greater than the Magistrate saith Swear not at all but let your yea be yea and your nay be nay for whatsoever is more cometh of evil But said they You must obey the Justice and he commands you to swear I said I should obey Justice but if I should swear I should do an unjust thing for the just Christ said Swear not at all And they asked me Whether I did own that Christ which dyed at Jerusalem I answered We owned the same Christ and no other he is the same yesterday to day and for ever And they asked me What I would do at Jerusalem said I did not knovv that I should go there but I should go to Alexandria and they said What to do and I said to do the Will of God and if the Lord did open my mouth I should call them to repentance and declare to them the day of the Lord and direct their miâ—ds from darkness to Light Then they asked me Whether I did tremble when I did preach and I told them I did tremble when the povver of the Lord vvas upon me And they asked Whether I did see the Lord with my eyes I said God was a Spirit and he was spiritually discerned That day that vve vvere had from the English Consuls to the Inquisition the Consul's Wife brought us meat to eat and as she past by me I was smote with an Arrovv to the heart and I heard a voice saying It is finished she hath obtained her purpose I did not taste of her meat but went aside and wept bitterly The Consul did affirm to us the night before that there was no such thing as to ensnare us intended but it was in us as fire and our souls were heavy even unto death for many dayes before we saw in a Vision of our going there to prison and we said Pilate would do the Jews a pleasure and wash his hands in innocency He required a sign of me if we were the Messengers of God and the Lord gave me a sign for him that stuck by him while he lived The same day it was he called me and told me the Inquisition had sent for us and they had Papers from Rome and he did hope we should be set free which was a lye For he knew there was a room prepared for us And there came a man with a black Rod and the Chancellor and the Consul and had us before their Lord Inquisitor and he asked us Whether we had changed our minds yet We said Nay we should not change from the truth He asked What new Light we talkt of We said no new Light but the same the Prophets and Apostles bare testimony to Then he said How came this Light to be lost ever since the primitive times We said it was not lost men had it still in them but they did not know it by reason that the night of Apostacy had and hath overspread the Nations Then he said If we would change our minds and do as they would have us to do we should say so or else they would use us as they pleased We said The Will of the Lord be done And he arose up and went his way with the Consul and left us there And the man with the black Rod and the Keeper took us and put us into an inner Room in the Inquisition which had but two little holes in it for light or air but the glory of the Lord did shine round about us After the Consul came with tears in his eyes and said he was as sorry as for his own flesh but there was some hopes in time and so he vvent avvay but never had peace vvhile he lived He would have given up the thirty pieces of silver again but it would not be received the Witness was risen much in him but slavish fear possest him This was upon the sixt day of the Week and our stomacks were taken away from all meat The next second day came a Magistrate two Fryars and the man with the black Rod and a Scribe and the Keeper to the Inquisition to sit upon Judgement and examined us apart concerning our faith in Christ. The Magistrate would have had us to swear and we answered No Christ said Swear not at all and so said James the Apostle He asked if we would speak truth We said yea He asked Whether we did believe the Creed We said We did believe in God and in Jesus Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered at Jerusalem under Pilate and arose again from the dead the third day and ascended to his Father and shal come to judgement to judge both quick and dead He asked How we did believe the Resurrection We answered We did believe that the just and the unjust should arise according to the Scriptures He
we spake one and the same thing being guided by one Spirit They would go from me to Catharine they would bid her speak as Sarah did and so she did to their condemnation Praises to the Lord Amen A Paper sent from them to the Pope's Lord Inquisitor in MALTA For the Lord Inquisitor and his Council c. MEns persons I cannot admire they that do admire and respect any man's person do it because of advantage and such are transgressors the Apostles St. James and Jude say In obedience to the Lord in love to your souls from the Fountain of Love and Springs of Life that stream forth to the refreshment of the whole City of God am I constrained to visit you with these few Lines and I beseech you to read it with the Spirit of Moderation and Meekness and see that nothing in you arise up against it for it is God's Truth Christ Jesus who is the Light of the world which hath enlightned every one that cometh into the world saith This is Life eternal To know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent New the knowledge of God is Life Eternal and there is no other way to come to this knowledge but to have the mind turned from darkness to the Light out of the visible to that which is invisible viz. the Light in the Conscience which conviâ—ceth of sin and iniquity when no mortal eye can see you and as you come to love it and to have your minds staid upon it you will feel the incomes of God's Power to administer condemnation upon the transgressor that keeps the pure Seed â—n bondage in you For Sion is redeemed through Judgement and her Converts with Righteousness Saint Paul saith If thou believest in thy heart the Lord Jesus and confessest with thy mouth that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto salvation and we do believe and see and tâ—ste and handle of the good Word of Life and have received the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all truth and doth bring all things to our remembrance without any visible thing And Saint Paul wrote to the Galatians saying My little Children of whom I travel in birth till Christ be formed in you Where Christ is formed within there needs no form without the outward form is called an Earthen Vessel or an Earthen Tabernacle or an Earthen House but Christ Jesus is the express Image of his Father's Glory or Substance which is Light and Life Now the Image of Christ is a pure and a holy Image a meek and a Dove like Image an innocent and a Lamb-like Image a righteous and a glorious Image Christ in you the hope of glory saith the Apostle to the Saints The Lord our God hath given to every man a measure of the manifestation of his own Spirit to profit withall which is the Light in the Conscience the true Teacher of his People it is the Grace of God that bringeth salvation that appeareth to all men and it teacheth all that come to believe in it and to love and to be guided by it to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to walk soberly righteously holy and godly in this pâ—esent world and it will deal plainly with every one none need to fear being deceived by that in them which doth condemn them for sin and evil But they that live in pride are deceived already they that live in covetousness are deceived already and they that live in Lusts or Drunkenness are deceived already or in Lying Swearing Adultery or Idolatry are deceived or in Hypocrisie and Deceit hard heartedness or Cruelty they are deceived already for those you know are fruits which do proceed from a deceived heart being corrupted for want of knowledge My people perish for want of knowledge saith God He that hath not the spirit of Christ is none of his and he that hath the Spirit of Christ ought himself to walk as Christ walked Now Christ was no persecutor he never imprisoned any nor ever put any to suffer but he and the holy Prophets and Apostles were made to suffer as evil-doâ—rs this we know The Day of the Lord is hot and terrible against all sin and iniquity and that nature from whence it doth proceed and we are a WO for all them that are laying up of a Fuel for it This is God's Truth whether you can receive it yea or nay I am ready to seal it with my blood if the Lord shall call me to it Whosoever shall interpret this Paper before the Lord Inquisitor so called I charge thee in the Name of the living God as thou wilt answer before his dreadful presence to interpret it word by word as it is written without adding or diminishing Katharine Evans THe Fryar then came to me and askt me why I did not work I said unto him What Work dost thou do He said he did write I told him I would write too if he would bring me a Pen Ink and Paper and I would write truth He said He would not that we should write for St. Paul did work at Rome and we might get nine or ten grains a day if we would knit that is three half pence I told him if we could have that priviledge amongst them that St. Paul had at Rome under Caesar which was a Heathenish King we would have wrought and not have been chargeable to any St. Paul lived in his own hired House two years with a Souldier to look to him and had friends of the same Occupation to work with him and could send where he would and whosoever would come to him might and he taught them in the Name of the Lord Jesus and no man for bad him So I askt him Whether he knew the holy War of God yea or nay if he did I told him he then did know we could not be without exercise day nor night Then his mouth was stopped and he spake no more to me of work But though our affliction of body was very great and our travel of soul was greater yet we did knit Stockins and give to them that were made serviceable to uâ— and did make Garments for the poor prisoners and mended their Clothes which had need and were made helpful to them all to their condemnation that did persecute us But we could not vvork at the Fryar's Will nor any man 's else but as we had freedom in the Lord. As I vvas vveak in my bed the Fryar came to me and said We did deny the Scriptures I told him they did deny them we did own them and hold them forth thou dost know it He was in a rage because I said they denyed the Scriptures bid me eat my words again and threatned death upon me I said Christ Jesus was the Light of the World and had lighted every one that cometh into the World which Light is our salvation that do receive it and the same Light
her pride It 's not their golden Candlesticks nor Lamps that be so many That can shine through the Clouds so thick to give a Light to any To lead to a true resting-place where they may still behold The beauty of God's glorious face more bright than fined Gold Thou seest oh Lord what man hath done for to exalt himself Against the Lord thy blessed Son who is our saving health They have changed his glorious Form and Image that 's so bright And fashion'd it like sinful man corrupted in thy sight Arise oh Lord arise in haste and punish for these things These men that have sought thy disgrace that they might reign as Kings Over thine own Inheritance contrary to thy will To keep them still in ignorance without knowledge or skill But now the God of Power is come to raise up Sion bright And to build up Jerusalem in all the Heathens sight The Gates of Hell shall not prevail though they be wide strong Against the gathering in of all that to the Lord belong All glory honor laud and praise be to the Lord of Might Who hath made known in these our dayes his Way his Truth his Light Concerning the Cross of Christ which is not a visible sign or a piece of Wood but the invisible and immortal Power of the Lord God and his Wisdom unto salvation to and in all them that believe is the same Christ the Power of God and the wisdom of God But the same Crosse is to the outward Jew or Christian a stumbling-block and to the wise Greek that 's exalted and puft up in the knowledge above and over the meek life foolishness as saith the Scripture 1 Cor. 1. 18 19. CHrist's Cross I do embrace Which gives me an entrance into Grace Sin and Death it doth deface And makes me run a glorious race A Crown of Life and Grace I do obtain And sin and death is daily slain And Christ himself alone to reign Through the Cross I do obtain The Cross of Christ is more to me Than all the Treasures I can see It brings me to my resting-place For to behold God's lovely face The Cross of Christ is Power indeed Against the Serpent and his seed And salvation it doth bring To all that do believe thereâ—n The Cross of Christ is my delight It doth uphold me day and night It keeps me from the power of sin Through Christ who is my Heavenly King Without the Cross I cannot be From sin and death at all set free The Cross alone doth crucifie Transgression sin iniquity It doth break down the middle Wall And slays the enmity withall And makes of twain one perefect man And so renews Christ for me again The Cross of Christ it doth destroy That Nature that doth disobey In those that do themselves deny And take it up most willingly And daily bear it after him Who is our Lord and Prince and King And not at all to let it down Till they come to enjoy the Crown The Cross of Christ is power and life It doth destroy all mortal strife It keepeth from the Power of sin All those that love to walk therein All that do own Christ Jesus Cross Through self-denial they must pass For to be purged from their sin And no longer live therein The Cross of Christ doth operate Through every vein and vital part The heart and reins to cleanse from sin Of them that 's exercis'd therein They that live in sin and wicedness are enemies to Christ Jesus Cross For all sin and uncleanness doth pierce the life of Christ Jesus Perfect Love and breathings of undefiled Life to the Seed of God greeting THe streams of beauty pure and bright That springeth up both day and night MY love to truth doth me constrain In Prison ever to remain If it be so that even I Cannot in truth be set at liberty My deare Redeemer's face so bright Doth shine upon me day night His count'nance doth exceed all Captivity and bodage thrall Amen K. E. My Love It cometh from a harmless Dove Within vvhose breats doth still remain God's perfect praises to maintain I have not time nor place to shovv The love vvhich from my soul doth flovv The blessing of the Almighty be upon thee And upon the vvhole Israel of God Amen THese Writings follovving are Copies of divers Letters which they had written to their Friends and near Relations in the time of my visitation of them But it came so to pass that as they were handing the same through the Grace of the Prison by the hand of another man to be communicated to my hand being then present in the Room also that the said Letters were intercepted and in the first place communicated to the Pope's Lord Inquisitor and he forthvvith sent for the Consul and charged him to get the same truly copied forth Then the Consul vvas vvrath vvith me that he should be exercised vvith so much trouble But in the Light and Counsel of my God I seeing and â—novving that there vvas nothing in them but vvhat came from a good ground of innocency and truth and pure natural affection I was moved in bovvels of tender love lest the said Letters should be finally miscarried or shut up in obscurity therefore I propounded to the Consul If that were such a trouble to him if he would let me have the Letters I should copy them out truly And after some time he consented and gave them into my hand and laid it upon my Conscience to perform as I had said which I did with gladness of heart not in submission to his Will but in obedience to the God of Love and Peace which guided me in the same and so after I had finished them I gave the fair Copies into the Consul's hands for his Lord Inquisitor And so in the wisdom of the Lord which is wiser than the Serpents I obtained the very desire of my heart for his Truth and Peoples sake and retained the Original Copies and in the endless Love and Power of the Lord Almighty which was and is with me and accompanied me blessed and magnified be the Power of his excellent Majesty and Glory â—men over the heads of the lofty Mountains and barren Hills I brought the Treasures of a blessed and good ground away with this body in which I am so that they were not onely in my hands but also the precious substance and virtue of the same that accompanied them even in my heart within my bosom and the Words of Wisdoms Life did I wear as a Chain of precious Stones and Diamonds about my neck and as Bracelets and Ornaments of a comely and delicate chaste Bride about my hands and loins and behold the Almighty Lord and King of Eternal Life that had so mightily preserved me in the shadow of his hand of Almightiness which stopt the mouths of devouring Lyons and chained and limited the ravening and devouring wild Beasts of the Forrest even he the King of
away nor waxeth old from us whom the Lord hath counted worthy to beaâ— his Name and to suffer for his sake to all our Christian Friends Fathers and Elders Pillars of Gods spiritual House Brethren and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my dear Husband with our dear and precious Children Lambs of God and Babes of Christ begotten of the Immortal Seed of Light Life and Truth with us and all the whole Family of everlasting blessedness Pray for us believingly all things are possible with our God So my Dearlings in the arms of everlasting love do I take my leave of you the blessing and peace of the Most High be upon you ever Amen Amen Oh my dear Husband praise the Lord that ever thou hadst a Wife that was found worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Inasmuch as I can understand the moving of the Spirit of God My dear and faâ—thful Yoke-fellow Sister and Friend is worthy to be embraced of all friends for ever the deeper the sorrow the greater the joy the heavier the Cross the weightier the Crown This was written in the Inquisition at Malta of us Malta the 11th Month of the year 1661. Katharine Evans Sarah Chevers From K. E. for two Friends DEarly beloved Brother in the everlasting Covenant of Light and Life do I dearly salute and embrace thee with thy dear Wife my beloved Sister and thy dear Children whom I dearly love in that which never changeth My dear and faithful Friends I am often refreshed in you when the Light brings you to my remembrance then do I feel the springs of Love and Life which ariseth from the pure Fountain of Eternal refreshments to my joy and comfort wherein I am made to praise and glorifie my God and your God who hath redeemed us out of the Chains of darkness and Kingdom of blâ—â—â—ness into the everlasting brightness glory joy and perfect blessedness for ever to dwell in the enjoyment of his living presence as we abide faithful to Eternity in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand is pleasure for evermore My prayers are night and day without ceasing to our Heavenly Father that not one of his begetting may ever turn or slide back but that every one may press forward towards the Mark of the price of the high calling in Christ Jesus who is our Life and glory and so all may come to wear the Crown of Life and Immortality triumphing in the everlasting Blessedness of the Heavenly Riches and Eternal joy and happiness that 's perfect for ever Amen Oh! my dear Brother and Sister we are all children of our Father begotten in the everlasting Seed of the Promise of Eternal life and salvation Oh my precious Friends wait patiently with me always in the pure fear of the perfect and pure God who hath an Eternal Treasure ful of everlasting Riches and ready to distribute them to all his dutiful Children Glory and Praises be given to his blessed Name for ever Oh my beloved ones your love to me is written in the Records that cannot be lost Dear hearts glorifie our God in my behalf that ever he counted me worthy to suffer for his Name I hope to see your faces again yet once more with joy and gladness with my dear yoke-fellow in the Lord's Work before we go hence and be no more seen So in the tender bowels of pure Love do I take my leave of you at this time The everlasting peace and blessedness be upon you and upon the whole Israel of God Amen Dearly salute us to all Friends This was written in the Inquisition at Malta in the 11th Month of the year 1661. Katharine Evans There was another Letter and Paper which was intercepted but I have it not here with me it being sent home from Legorn Yet here followeth more of their Writings to Friends and to my own particular which at several times I received from them unknown to the Oppressors A Copy of a Letter that I was moved to write the next day after I came to the Island and City and communicated to their hands DEar Lambs peace be unto you Amen Now seeing that the everlasting God and Father of all truth hath in his tender love and Fatherly mercy and bowels of compassion through the trials of manifold sufferings and temptations hitherto even to this day upheld and preserved you in the innocency and its testimony against the contrary although sometimes I know that you have tasted the sentence of death in your selves and even as it were ready to despair of life yet in the living testimony of innocency in the answer of a good Conscience I Daniel bear you record in the Covenant of Life the same remaineth with you and you are in it a good sweet savour to the Lord and his Eternal Truth and People Oh! blessed for ever be his Name yea and my very heart and life blesseth and magnifieth the Lord on your behalf Wherefore my dear Friends be faithful full of Faith and the living invisible God of Peace is with you and will not forsake you seeing it is so and much more you know which might be declared Oh! I am moved in the Bowels of my Father's love as one with you in trials and in the exercise of manifold temptations to stir up your pure and innocent minds by way of remembrance and also to beseech you to take heed to the Testimony of Life that 's undefiled and manifest in you and to dwell in the same which retains the joy and comfort of the Lord and his peace which you know is not of the World and so to watch and beware of the Enemy that is near to tempt to make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and to despair and so to betray not only your own innocent long-sufferings but also the Testimony of the Lord God of our Life for which you have so long suffered and by the pure Divine virtue of the same have you been to this day preserved so that the Lord who is and will be your reward hath not been wanting to you on his part Oh faint not but lift up your heads and be faithful still as I am not otherwise perswaded concerning you and I am well perswaded that in his own Covenant and Way deliverance will come to the Seed and ye know if the same come not in his own Covenant of Truth in the Light of his Countenance it cannot be well but your nay you know is to be nay and so to stand in the Truth against the contrary whatsoever our God permits unreasonable men to inflict upon the outward or visible body and the same also will work for his glory and also for the good and eternal peace of his innocent suffering Lambs notwithstanding Your tender Brother D. B. ANd when this with other Papers I had through not a little difficulty communicated to their hands over the heads of our Enemies I was moved to speak my Message as from
the Lord of Life to them after I had offered up my body and to lay down my life for these poor innocents my dear friends and so with my voice I saluted them in the Lord's Truth as they stood at the prison-Grates with these words in the behalf of the general Assembly of the Saints in light to wit The whole Body of God's Elect right dearly owneth your Testimony and you are a sweet savour unto the Lord and his people And forasmuch as one of these poor afflicted Lambs replied and said on this wise as if it was a trouble to them that they could not be more serviceable Then my heart being melted and my bowels of pity mercy and compassion being moved I said That it was a wonderful mercy of the Lord in as much as they were preserved in their own measure of Truth and pure innocency for which my heart praised the Lord for what mine eye saw which right dearly affected my heart and we were well refreshed at that season in the sweet presence of our living God albeit our bodies were at a distance but so as we could behold each others face through the Prison bars of Iron in the Inquisition Now for so much as in the Wisdom of God it is seen meet that the fore-mentioned and following Writings which came from their hands might appear to publike view that thereby every Member of the one Body may have a right understanding and not onely so but also a sensible feeling not onely of the trials and sufferings in part of these innocent Lambs but also of the consolations of each other as fellow-Members of the infinite Body of which Christ Jesus the Lord is both King and Head in whom be endless dominion and pure glory and eternal salvation Amen And so I being as it were constrained to publish the acceptable Words that sound and savor of pure innocency and clear truth for the Elect's sake in the same Love and Life I am the more free hereunto even as a Child that differs but little from a servant as I am in the Father's Love Power and Grace of Life fitted to serve the undefiled Life of the least in the Kingdom of Blessedness and to administer comfort or what else I have received from the Eternal Fountain or Fulness for the use or service of either Body Mind Soul or Spirit of my own Flesh or Family seeing no man ever hated his own Flesh and he is worse than an Infidel that provideth not for his own Family especially them of his own House This is a sweet Salutation to God's Elect Church in England and Ireland RIght dear precious and Heavenly ones whose Beauty shineth bright and at whose Name the hearts of the Heathen do tremble We who through the everlasting Mercies of our God are Members of the same Body and are held in strait Captivity and hard Bondage for witnessing forth the same Testimony and Covenant of pure Light Life and Truth of our God with you dear and faithful ones indeed We here in the same Covenant of pure Love and Bowels of tenderness do dearly salute and embrace you all glorifying and praising our Eternal Father for you all who hath counted us worthy to partake of the fellowship and sufferings for the Bodies sake with you in tribulations fiery trials manifold temptations fastings watchings heats and colds and cruel threatning and persecutions perils by Sea and perils by Land standing in jeopardy of our lives year after year and looking every hour day and night for many Weeks together when we should be brought out to Execution but though Proclamation was made and they came up to the very Caâ—e with a Drum and Musquets to fetch us out to destroy us yet the Lord God of everlasting strength who in the deepest of all dangers and greatest extremity when all hopes were past did but blow upon them with the breath of his nostrils and they did flye as dust before the Wind for which we do entreat all Friends to glorifie our God on our behalf for never did the Lord our God work greater deliverance for any than he hath done for us from time to time who are the least and weakest for what we know that ever the Lord our God sent forth in so great weighty a Work but all things are possible with him who made and created all things it is he alone which carrieth on his own work by his own mighty Power and the glory shal be his own for evermore Amen Oh our dearly beloved Friends did you know but the third part of the afflictions the Lord our God hath carried us through you would say The Lord hath wrought as great a Miracle in our preservation as ever he did in raising Lazarus out of the Grave And in the greatest of our afflictions we could not say in our hearts Father would thou hadst not brought us here but cryed mightily to our God for power to carry us through whatsoever should be inflicted upon us that the Truth of our God might not suffer through our weakness And the Lord did hear us and answered us in righteousness and carried uâ— on with all boldness and made our fore-heads as Flint and our Brows as Brass in the faces of our Enemies that whensoever we were brought forth upon trial all fear was taken away that we stood as Iron-Gates and Castle-Walls in the faces of our Enemies so that they said we would fain be burned but we answered No we would not willingly be burned but if our Heavenly Father doth call us to suffer in that kind for his Name sake he will give us power to go through it and we have great cause to believe it for our Lord God never called us to do any service for him but he gave us power and made way for his own Work glory and praise be to his holy Name for ever Dearly beloved friends marvel not why Israel is not gathered in all this time it is not for want of labour nor travel nor grief nor pain fasting nor mourning nor weeping nor love to their souls but it is because of the great oppression For here are a willing people but they dare not until the Lord make way for them Truly Friends we have not been idle since we saw your faces nor have we had much ease to the flesh but do travel night and day for Sion's prosperity and perfect joy and for the reparation of Jerusalem and her pure praise though our sorrows are deep and our afflictions grievous yet we do wait with patience to reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness and enjoy the benefit of our uprightness Praises be to our God for ever he hath kept us by his power and holiness that our Enemies have not one jot or tittle against us but for the Truth of our God and that we could not join with them so they would not suffer us to have one line of refreshment but stript us out of all so that we could not
fear from us and multiplied our strength and gave us power and boldness to plead for the truth of the Lord Jesus and Wisdom of Words to stop the mouths of the gain-sayers that they vvould be made to say we spake truth they could never say otherwise But they vvould say We had not the true faith but we had all virtues Oh dear heart if it be our Eternal Father's good pleasure to carry thee away vvithout us vve do beseeh our Heavenly Father to bless and to give thee a prosperous return and to seed thee with the fulness of the blessing of the povverful Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Amen And vve do believe vve shall not vvant thy prayers nor the prayers of all the faithful that we may keep faithful to the end so that our God may be glorified his Church and People may be refreshed and rejoiced and we may receive our Reward with the rest of the Lord's Lambs Our Life is with thee for oh thou art full of Love thou tender-hearted one vvho hath offered up thy sanctified body and purified life in obedience to the Lord for us poor afflâ—cted lambs vvith thee and companions in tribulations trials and persecutions and in perils at Sea and perils by Land Oh thou precious Lamb of God great is thy Reward in Heaven great will be the Well-spring of joy that vvill arise in thee in thy Journey Oh thou happy one indeed vvhom the Lord our God hath made choice of amongst his faithful Flock and endued with so much povver to come into such a place as this not the like in all Europe by their own report and all others and to stop the mouths of Lyons and to trample upon the heads of Serpents Scorpions and Vipers of the Earth and they could not hurt thee their stings are taken out of their heads and out of their tails glory honor and everlasting praises be given to our God for evermore of all that know him for he is worthy And the Lord bless thee and thine for ever Amen and encrease thy strength and multiply thee abundantly in every good gift and Grace and prosper all thy undertakings that thou mayest be approved for ever before the King of Saints in the General Assembly of the Most High and stand before the Throne of his Majesty vvith joy unspeakable and full of glory Amen Amen saith our spirits Dearly beloved pray for us that we fall not nor fail whereby our Enemies may have any advantage to rejoice and say We served a God that could not serve us and called upon a God that could not deliver us as if we were like them to call upon stocks stones pictures and painted Walls and dead thing that cannot see hear nor speak through their throats We do beseech thee to tel all our dear Friends Fathers and Elders the Pillars of the spiritual Building with all the rest of our Christian Brethren that we do desire their Prayers for we have need of them OH How strong and powerful's our KING To all that do believe in him He doth preserve them from the Snare And seeth of those that would them tear We that are sufferers for the Seed Our Hearts are wounded and do bleed To see th' Oppression and Cruâ—lty Of men that do thy Truth deny In Dungeons strong and Dungeons deep To God alone we cry and weep Our sorrows none can read nor learn But those that have past through the same But he whose Beauty shineth bright Turneth darknesse into Light Maketh Câ—dars to bow and Oaks to bend To him that 's sent to the same end He is a Fountain pure and clear His Chrystal Streams runs far and near To cleanse all those which come to him For to be healed of their sin All them that do patiently abide And never swerve nor go aside The Lord will them deliver out of all Captivity Bondage and Thrall LEt E. C. know That his Exhortations I do dearly embrace and do witness it to be an Eternal Truth I have had large experience of it the Lord hath carried me on in much difficult Service so that many times the vvay hath been stopt up that to the eye of Reason I could not have a way made both by Sea and Land Oh if thou didst but know what experience I had of the mighty hand of the Lord in making a way thou wouldst wonder Once my vvay was stopt and my persecution vvas so hot that I sate in a Field all night to wait upon the Lord to make way for me to do the Work he laâ—d upon me I could not get lodging for money in Town nor City it was at Salisbury where I was whipt in the Market And the next morning I went through the City by the Watchmen and they took no notice of me Wheresoever the Lord did send me into what Land or City or place soever if they did put me out never so oft he would make me go till I got victory save in the Isle of Man there was a Souldier came to my bed side with a naked Sword and took me by the Arm and haâ—â—d me out of the Bed at the tenth hour of the night and carried me on Ship board When I put on my clothes I did not dare to rise That place lies upon me yet and I have motions to Edenburgh in Scotland I was never there the Lord did make me to do him servâ—ce to almost all the mighty men in England and Ireland insomuch that I cryed oft to my God saying Lord What will thou do with me that am so foolish to go to such wise men If I were wise I did not care if thou didst carry me to the end of the Earth The Lord said the foolish things must confound the wise and he would carry me before the mightiest men in all the Earth to bear his Name before them and I should have victory wheresoever I went And I do believe the Lord and we both are made willing to wait the Lord's time which is a time of peace and joy safety and happiness And we do bless land praise and magnifie his holy Name that he sent so heavenly a Messenger to relieve strengthen comfort and refresh us in our great necessity which is a mercy beyond expression all Friends that do understand it will say so Glory and everlasting praises honor power and dominion be given to our Eternal Lord God for evermore of us and all that know him Amen Amen saith our spirit Oh true and faithful Brother into the Arms of everlasting power and holiness strength and mightiness purity and righteousness do we commit thee to be kept and preserved and prosperously carried on in thy Journey â—he powerful blessing peace joy and happiness of the Majesty of the Most High God go along with thee to preserve and protect thee for ever Amen Amen Pray for us dear heart that we may receive strength to overcome that we may sing the song of Moses and the Lamb and the
or what was my Father's House or what is the Land of my Nativity that I a poor â—â—flicted 〈…〉 should be raised up to see and perceive what mine eye 〈◊〉 eve in thy Eternal Power and puâ—e Life beholdâ— Oh my God! thou hast known the innocent travel of my soul â—hich 〈…〉 know the same is not hid from thee even from the day of my birth unto this moment through no small trials and tribulations and through the exercise of manifold temptations yet behold my Life is preserved a at this time And oh my heart my mind my soul my spirit in thy pure undefiled Life and Virtue blesseth thy Name thy pure Name which thy Virgins love and live in and in the same they glorifie thy beloved and the Wings of thy Majesty overshadoweth them and their delight is under the secret shadow of thy Almightiness blessed be thy Glory blessed be thy undefiled Power blessed and magnified be thy pure Wisdom and let the same be so even in the Tabernacles of the just for ever Thou Lamb of Immortality the Thrones the Kingdoms and Eternal Dominions are thine and over all thy Throne is and shall be exalted and thy Lambs behold thy glory and thy Majesty in this the day of thy terrible and glorious appearance Wisdom Riches Glory Power Might and Dominion everlasting with Eternal Salvation over all to thy Name Amen saith my Spirit in the Life which is was and for ever shall be the same which liveth and abideth for ever and fâ—deth not away In the same I commend thy dear tender Lambs to be preserved according to thy unsearchable Wisdom and counsel of thine own heart to thy everlasting Renown and Glory and their Eternal comfort and joy and felicity with thy Saints and Angels in the Light of thy countenance and in everlasting remembrance in the powerful and Eternal Kingdom of Immortality if I be no more in this World when this body is gone to its place according to thy Eternal Purpose and Decree in thy Eternal Counsel so be it saith my spirit yea and Amen saith my soul which blesseth and magnifieth thy Eternal Name in asmuch as thou hast so far fulfilled thy living Word of Prophesie and not onely so but much more also in the desire of my heart in the behalf of thy dear tender suffering and long-suffering Seed of thine own bowels for which be innumerable Praises Wisdom Salvation Glory and Dominion to thy holy Name Amen Amen MY right dearly and well-beloved Friends of Eternal Life of the Church of the first-born of the living God which is the Pillar and ground of Truth of which Christ Jesus our Lord is the alone and onely Head Peace be unto you in him who is arisen in his pure immortal life and hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Word of his Power and his Eternal Gospel of Peace which is not hid from us but it 's clearly manifest in us by his coming who ariseth with healing in his wings Glory Dominion living endless praises Immortal to his Name now and for evermore and let all the upright in heart with my precious life say Even so Amen Dear suffering and long-suffering Lambs ye know that as I came in the Eternal Love and Peace of Immanuel God's Lamb to visit and serve you and minister to your necessities the which in the same Life and Peace and in the integrity and uprightness of heart and in its pure innocency my God knoweth and behold I call your Life that 's manifest in you in which is our perfect unity as Members of one Body to bear me record That I have endeavoured in the good will of my God to perform the same and verily the hand and blessing of Almighty God is with me and hath blessed me and so my reward is with me and my work hath been manifest before me even in the Light of his Countenance that liveth for ever and this Scripture is fulfilled in me also The Father worketh hitherto and I work So my dear Friends I have honestly and nakedly before the Lord cleared my Conscience so far concerning you and on your behalf which is my reasonable service and so I leave the same to the living Testimony of the Lord Jesus which you hold and for which I am satisfied and in the behalf of the whole body of God's Elect you have so long suffered So the Eternal God of Power Dominion and Glory of Heaven and Earth consolate support and strengthen you to the end that your Testimony may be finished with joy to his ever â—asting praise to whom onely it belongs and so my Spirit in the Light and Life Immortal saith Even so Amen Farewel dear Lambs I am your true Brother D. B. Joseph was not made known to his Brethren the first time though his Bowels earned towards and over them till at last he could no longer forbear crying out with tears saying I am Joseph your Brother and little Benjamin the youngest he dearly loved you know This 5th day of the Week and the 30th of the 11th Mo. 1661. When my face you do not see Wait in the Eternal Life and then remember me So farewell and feel the Well-spring of Life This and many other Papers was communicated to each others hands which are seen meet not to be added hereunto with the jeopardy of my life and what else did attend us but magnified and for ever blessed be the living Lord and his Goodness Wisdom and Salvation who prospered his Work and Workers in his own Life of lasting Righteousness through and over self over all that which must dye and go to its place Amen DANIEL Here followeth somewhat relating to the Travel and Service of D. B. which he hath freedom to giveforth for the Truth 's sake and Friends satisfaction THe intent of the Spirit of the Lord within my heart and mind stirring me up to write somewhat concerning my travel from my Native Countrey Kindred and Father's House being freely given up to serve the Lord his Truth and People in the Power and Gospel of God I having no imposition or necessity at all laid upon my Conscience as from any mortal man but certainly it was a pure necessity from the living God of Heaven Earth many of his faithful servants Messengers sons daughters that were are as dear precious to me as my own life may beat me record on the Lords behalf unto the truth of what I write on this wise surely in the counsel everlasting the thing was hid from me then whether ever I should return to my Native Countrey or not However in the love and favour of God and in his fear set up within my heart was I given up with my body also offered as a living Sacrifice which was but my reasonable sacrifice to give a sound to the Nations afar off of the mighty day of our God and his blessed Truth the Light of Jesu-manifest in every Conscience in which Light we
with intention to come up to this Port and because we sufficieâ—tly have had experience that the carriage of that sort of people is ridiculous and is capable to bring dishonor to our Nation besides other ill-conveniences that may redound to them in particular and to the English in general We therefore will and require you to give a stop to the said Quakers from proceeding any further in their journey either to Constantinople or the present Court of the Grand Signior viz. the Great Emperor of the Turks or to any other place where our Authority extends shipping them away either directly for England or any other part which they shall chuse to imbarque And we do hereby require all Officers and Members of the Factory and Masters and Officers of Ships to be aiding and assisting to you herein And for so doing this shall be your Warrant For our loving Friend Anthony Isaacson Esquire Consul for the English Nation at Smyrna By his Excellency's command Paul Ricoat Secretary Given under our Hand and Seal at our Court at Pare of Constantinople the 19th day of July it should be August for we were not in Asia in the Month called July 1661. Winchels 4. And forthwith this Warrant was dispatcht with a Messenger from the Embassador's Court at Constantinople to Smyrna and behold the Merchants of the Earth and others that could not endure to hear of the sound of Truth received the same not with little gladness poor me wo and alas for them the end of which will not be peace but contrariwise wo and misery and they put the same Warrant in execution and sent a Turkish Janisary and a Drugerman that were Officers under the Consul of the English Nation and they came with Harmols viz called Porters with Cain's Weapons and fetcht us from our Lodging before the Consul and the man was courteous and moderate and had his car open then to what we in the reverence and fear of the Lord then said unto him which was his honor who then saw over and beyond that foolish Ceremony of the Hat neither did he burthen himself with the same as many unwisely do the clouding or veiling of the nobility of a good understanding which hath a more noble respect to Equity Justice and Judgement without respect of persons in them where it is set up in its proper and peculiar Authority than to such foolish ceremonies which are below men of Wisdom yet he desired that we might not take it ill as from him in his place of Authority in doing as he was obliged in the prosecution of the Warrant which summoned all Officers and Members of the Factory with Masters and Officers of Ships to be aiding and 〈◊〉 to surprize and banish two innocent naked harmless men that had neither Bow nor Sword nor any such like material or visible Weapon of War to resist evil as Paul and Barnabas had not against whom the hard-hearted Jews cryed out with the same voice Help men of Israel c. and such like stir there was and we let the Consul first know at our first coming that we owned his place of Authority and were ready to submit to any thing that was 〈◊〉 or equitable and at last in this thing we could not submit without suffeâ—ing forasmuch as in the uprightness of our heart and in the innocency of the same were we come so far to do the Will of God and to suffer for it as his hand permitted So with many other expressions I cleared my Conscience as also by Words Sufferings and Writings to the whole Nation there and the Consul seemed to be unwilling to use violence against us that at our departure prayd for them that hated us without a caus knowing not what they did we seeing it could not at that season be otherwise but what the Lord had permitted them to bring to pass not to their justification but as a Judgement among them from the living God who did not onely dispence the visitation of his Love and Salvation day by day among them but he visited them also with the strokes of his displeasure even unto death and destruction And surely he smote and took away of the chiefest and others of them daily And verily my heart often cryed and besought the Lord for them in secret more especially though I was constrained not to cease uttering my voice openly among them and for them while they sought my hurt as many of them I know by the Witness of God in them may remember And so we were sent away as Prisoners or rather as Lambs driven from the Dens of Lyons or from the barren Caves of ravening Wolves whose Nature wooried them Now we had spoken for a passage by a Dutch ship to have gone from thence to Constantinople but before the ship departed Smyrna the Warrant came to the Consul's hands which thou mayest see came not from either them called Turks Jews Heathen Greeks or Barbarians but even from the men of our own Nation Alas alas yea wo and alas for them So the Reader may see what a stir there hath been in the Region of Asia against the appearance of Truâ—h and its innocency in plainness to expel and banish it together with its Message and Messengers out of their coasts or borders and not to have any entertainment or at least to come within the extent of their Authority whatever becomes of them let them go where they will c. So as in effect they say We will not have this man the Light Truth Temperance Innocency its Life and Wisdom from above to rule or have its preheminence over us in our Consciences We will rather chuse to live in the practice of our own evil hearts and ways and therefore thus to their own hurt they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways and as for the Word of the Lord we have no delight in it Lo they have rejected the Word of the Lord and what Wisdom is in them And such the holy perfect and upright man saw rebel against the Light and said They are of those that rebel against the Light they know not the wayes thereof neither abide in the paths thereof And so with consent they joined together to banish Truth its Message and Messengers of Peace which provoked them to jealousie that believe not who scorned us as fools and what else not honestly considering how that God is provoking the Nations to jealousie and wrath with a foolish people as in the ancient days Deut. 22. was prophesied And such besought our Lord and Master even Jesus to depart out of their Coasts or Borders who loved and fed their Swine upon the Mountains even the Gadarenes besought him to depart who saith He that loveth Father or Mother or what else more than me is not worthy of me and Father and Mother and such Relations are of of more honourable esteem than many Swine And to his Disciples he also saith
This is a short RELATION Of some of the Cruel Sufferings For the Truths sake of KATHARINE EVANS SARAH CHEVERS In the Inquisition in the ISLE of MALTA Who have suffered there above three years by the Pope's Authority there to be deteined till they dye Which Relation of their sufferings is come from their own hands and mouths as doth appear by the following Treatise These two Daughters of Abraham were passing to Alexandria and to Cilicia And thus may that part of Christendom see their fruits together with the Pope's and of what birth they are and that those that are called Christians are worse than Heathens For they falling into their hands should have been refreshed by them with necessary things but the provision which the Inhabitants and Knights of Malta called Christians provided for them is the Inquisition Now it was not so when Paul suffered shipwrack there among the barbarous people which is a manifest token they are not in the love of God whose fruits shew they are not in the true Spirit And this is to all fellow-brethren that are partakers with them in the Power of God and have a feeling and fellowship with them in their sufferings that they might see and know how it is with them and what unkindness they find abroad among them that profess themselves Christians LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson 1662. An Epistle to the Readers MAny there be among the Nations in the world that in their haste have unjustly condemned the innocent guiltless and harmless people of the Lord of Hosts scornfully called Quakers viz. That they are Papists Jesuits and what else adhoring to the Whorish false Church of Rome I say to such on this wise which is my advice as a man to his friend to whom this may come Be not hasty to judge before the time as many do to their own hurt guilt and condemnation before they have a clear and right understanding of the things that differ from equity and truth and so the nobility of the mind which should weigh and pass true sentence of sound and perfect judgment the same being vailed with a hasty dark spirit of prejudice or evil surmising which gets up into the seat of enmity and therein passeth sentence of the pure way and things of God as evil heresie and what else and thus it comes to pass and indeed it cannot be otherwise with such that have not their minds staied and fixed in that which is perfect and true and clear and single as is the clear manifestation of the grace of life which is the Light of the Lord Jesus shining in the heart and conscience of the Sons and Daughters of men and the same Light of the Lord which lightneth the poor and deceitful man's eyes is the true measure and equal ballance which all is to trie and prove and weigh words thoughts intents ways and actions whether they be justifiable or condemnable and hereby with the same measure of the true Spirit of God who is Light is true sentence to be passed accordingly For if that which is perfectly true be measured with a false measure or with an unequal Ballance it doth appear so to all that behold the same with an evil eye or measure that with the same measure save onely to them that discern the measure weight or ballance as for instance as to the thing natural if a deceitful man with a false measure being guided by a deceivable Spirit al-be-it his eyes are inlightned with the Light of the Lord which is true if he measure a piece of cloth to his Customer with his deceitful measure though the cloth be good yet he not giving it its true measure the simple hearted is thereby deceived and knoweth it not till it be brought to a true measure which doth answer the true principle or Light of God in the conscience to justification as doth not the false but contrariwise wherefore its needful and of absolute concernment for the mind of every man male and female to be guided and exercised in the true manifestation of the Light of Jesus in the conscience and so blessed is the man the people the family that brings their deeds to the Light that they may be manifest that they are wrought in God who is Light who is Truth and so what is here following written and published is to be tried and proved by the Witness of God in every Conscience which is true and will answer to the same things or words that springs forth from its own clear nature Therefore when thou hast honestly read this throughout with a meek spirit of sobriety and moderation that 's single and pure then with the same spirit of singleness and of true discerning judge honestly and cease from hastiness in such matters of Eternity least a place of Repentance become finally hid from thine eies not to salvation but contrariwise which I desire not neither doth the Lord whose servant a living and true Witness I am for Him his Truth and People of these things and much more Wherefore let the Reader see hereby how that the Lord hath chosen the foolish things of this life to confound the wise and that the living God Eternal hath chosen the weak things to confound and bring to nought the things that are mighty subtil and potent yea base things which are so deemed despisable and contemptible yet behold God hath chosen them and things that are not approvable in the sight of the prudent of this world even to bring to nought things that are But may some say Wherefore or why doth the most High Wise Invisible Immortal God do thus my answer is one and the same as the Apostle saith viz. That no flesh should glory in his presence who of God is made in us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption And why should it be accounted such a foolish thing in the eyes of the wise men of this world to see the wisdom of God dispensed through a weak Vessel as is a free-born woman from above a weaker Vessel than that of the man Now tell me oh man of understanding What must not the Spirit of Christ or the same that is begotten of God in the female as well as in the male what must not I say the same spirit of life from God speak but be limited in the weaker Vessel in the foolish Vessel in the Vessel which is not esteemed but base contemptible and despised in the eyes of lofty man that must be laid low who excels in that wisdom and knowledge which is not from above but otherwise bruitish and puffeth up the fleshly mind that 's enmity to God and is therefore to be confounded and moved backward and slain upon the Cross which is the Power of God that crucifieth the lusts and inordinate affections of the flesh which thereby come to be silent before the Lord who is that one and self-same spirit that is quick and powerful so that not any other spirit governs or rules
said Do you beâ—ieve in the Saints and pray to them We said We did believe the Communion of Saints but we did not pray to them but to God onely in the Name of Jesus Christ. He asked Whether we did believe in the Catholick Church We said We did believe the true Church of Christ but the Word Catholick we have not read in Scripture He asked if we believed a Purgatory We said No but a Heaven and a Hell The Fryar said We were commanded to pray for the dead for those that were in Heaven had no need and they that were in Hell there is no redemption therefore there must be a Purgatory He asked if we believed their holy Sacrament We said We never read the Word Sacrament in Scripture The Fryar replied Where we did read in our Bibles Sanctification it was Sacrament in theirs He said Their holy Sacrament was Bread and Wine which they converted into the Flesh and Blood of Christ by the virtue of Christ. We said they did work Miracles then for Christ's virtue is the same as it was when he turned Water into Wine at the Marriage in Canaan He said If we did not eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God we had no life in us We said the Flesh and Blood of Christ is spiritual and we do feed upon it daily for that which is begotten of God in us can no more live without spiritual food than our temporal bodies can without temporal food He said that we did never hear Masse We said We did hear the voice of Christ he onely had the words of eternal life and that was sufficient for us He said We were Hereticks and Heathens We said they were Hereticks that lived in sin and wickedness and such were Heathens that knew not God He asked about our Meetings in England And we told them the truth to their amazement And they asked Who was the Head of our Church We said Christ. And they asked What George Fox is And we said He is a Minister of Christ. They asked Whether he sont us We said No the Lord did move us to come The Fryar said We were deceived and had not the faith but we had all virtues We said that saith was the ground from whence virtues do proceed They said If we would take their holy Sacrament we might have our liberty or else the Pope would not leave us for millions of Gold but we should lose our souls and our bodies too We said the Lord had provided for our souls and our bodies were freely given up to serve the Lord. They askt us if we did not believe Marriage was a Sacrament We said it was an Ordinance of God They ask't us if we did believe men could forgive sins We said None could forgive sins but God onely They brought us that Scripture Whose sins ye remit-in earth shall be remitted in heaven We said All Power was God's and he could givâ— it to whom he would that were born of the Eternal Spirit and guided by the same such have power to do the Fathers Will as I answered a Fryar also in the City of Naples and they were silent the Power greatly working We asked them wherein we had wronged them that we should be kept Prisoners all dayes of our lives and said Our innocent blood would be required at their hands The Fryar said He would take our blood upon him and our Journey into Turky too We told him the time would come he would find he had enough upon him without it They said The Popes was Christ's Vicar and we were of his Church and what he did was for the good of our souls We answered The Lord had not committed the charge of our souls to the Pope nor to them for he had taken them into his own possession glory was to his Name for ever They said We must be obedient We said We were obedient to the Government of Christ's Spirit The Fryar said None had the true Light but the Catholicks the Light that we had was the Spirit of the Devil We said Wo to him that calleth Jesus accursed Can the Devil give power over sin and iniquity then he would destroy his own Kingdom He said We were laught at and mockt at of every one We said What did become of the mockers It was no matter He said We did run about to preach and had not the true Faith We said the true Faith is held in a pure Conscience void of offence towards God and man and we had the true Faith And he said There was but one Faith either theirs or ours and askt us which it was We said Every one had the true Faith that did believe in God and in Jesus whom he had sent but they that say they do believe and do not keep his commandments are lyars and the truth is not in them He said it was true but he did thirst daily for our blood because we would not turn and urged us much about our Faith and Sacrament to bring us under their Law but the Lord preserved us They said It was impossible we could live long in that hot room So the next Week-day they sate in Council but oh how the swelling Sea did rage and the proud waves did foam even unto the clouds of Heaven and Proclamation was made at the Prison-Gate we did not know the words but the fire of the Lord flamed against it K. my life was smitten and I was in a very great agony so sweat was as drops of blood and the righteous one was laid into a Sepulcher and a great stone was roll'd to the door but the Prophesie was that he should arise again the third day which was fulfilled But the next day they came to sit upon Judgement again but I say in the true Judgement they sate not but upon it they got up unjustly above the righteous and upon the same they sate a child of Wisdom may understand and they brought many Propositions written in a paper but the Fryar would suffer the Magistrate to propound but few to us for fear the Light would break forth but they askt how many friends of ours were gone forth in the Ministry and into what parts We told them what we did know They said all that came where the Pope had any thing to do should never go back again We said the Lord was as sufficient for us as he was for the children in the fiery Furnace and our trust was in God They said we were but few and had been but a little while and they were many Countreys and had stood many hundred years and wrought many Miracles and we had none We said we had thousands at our Meetings but none of us dare speak a word but as they are eternally moved of the Lord and we had Miracles the Blind receive their sight the Deaf do hear and the Dumb do speak the Poor do receive the Gospel the Lame do walk and the Dead are raised He
The Lord saith Thou shalt not make to thy self the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath nor in the water under the earth thou shalt not bow to them nor worship them but I the Lord thy God only He was so mad he called for the irons to chain Sarah because she spake so boldly to him She bowed her head and said to him Not onely my feet but my hands and my neck also for the Testimony of Jesus His wrath was soon appeased and he said He would do us any good he could he did see what we did was not in malice the power had broken him down for that present they came to us often saying If you would do but a little you should be set at liberty but you will do nothing at all but are against every thing We said We are against nothing that is of God but would do any thing that might make for God's glory Many did think we should not have been heard nor seen after we were in the Inquisition but the Lord did work wonderfully for us and his Truth For they new built the Inquisition and there were many Labourers for a year and a half and the great men came to see the building and we were carried forth with great power to declare in the Name of the Lord Jesus not fearing the face of man the Lord was our strength But behold they threatned us with Irons and Halters for preaching the Light so boldly and they said None ought to preach but Prelates to a Bishop as they use to say in England Now their Lord Inquisitor so called and the Magistrates were kept moderate towards us and gave order we should have Ink and Paper to write to England But we were hindered still and vve do believe they would have set us at liberty had it not been for the Fryars it was they that wrought against us still to the Pope and to the Inquisitor and we told them so They sought three quarters of a year to part us before they could bring it to pass and when they did part us they prepared a bed for Sarah and their own Catholicks lay upon the boards that had not beds of their own When we were parted the Lord would not suffer me to keep any money I knew not the mind of God in it Their Fryars came and said We should never see one anothers faces again but the Inquisitor should send me my food But the Lord would not suffer him to send it Sarah did send me such as she could get neare three Weeks then the Fryar came and askt me what I did want I said one to wash my Linnen and something hot to eat I was weak He sent to Sarah to know if she would do it for me She said she would And by that means we did hear of each other every day The Fryar said You may free your self of misery when you will you may make your self a Catholick and have your freedom to go where you will I told him I might make my self a Catholick and have a name that I did live when I was dead and said he had Catholicks enough already he should bring some of them to the Light in their Consciences that they might stand in awe and sin not He said He would lose one of his fingers if we would be Catholicks I said it was Babylon that was built with blood Sion was redeemed through Judgement They would have had me to a Picture set at my beds head for a representation I askt them if they did think I did lack a Calf to worship And whether they did not walk by the Rule of Scripture The Fryar said They did but they had traditions too I said if their traditions did derogate or discent from the fundamentals of Christ's Doctrine the Prophets and Apostles I denied them in the Name of the Lord. He said they did not I askt him where they had their Rule to burn them that could not join with them for Conscience He said St. Paul did worse he gave them to the Devil and that they did judge all damned that were not of their Faith And he askt whether vve did judge them so I said No We had othervvise learned Christ. I askt him vvhy they did bind that vvhich the Lord did not bind and set tyes chains and limits where the Lord did not as in meats and drinks or in respect of dayes or times vvhich the Apostle called beggarly Elements and rudiments of the wâ—rld and forbidding to marry a Doctrine of Devils said I. He could not tell vvhat to say but told me That Saint Peter was the Pope of Rome and did build an Altar there and the Pope was his Successor and he could do what he would I denied that and said We never read any such thing in Scripture for Peter Christ's Apostle had no money to build Altars he himself did offer Sacrifice upon the Altars made vvithout hands And he said We were but a few and risen up but late and they were many and had stood fourteen hundred years and God was a lyar if they had not the true faith for he had confirmed it to them by a thousand miracles I said the fevv number and the little Flock is Christ's Flock He askt if vve vvere then all the World said he I said our saith was from the beginning Abol was of our Church and the world by wisdom did not know God He went to Sarah with the same temptation and she told him also that Abel was of our Church He said Abel was a Catholick and Cain and Judas were so She said Then the Devil was a Catholick and she would not be one He threatned her and told her how many they were She said Daniel was but one and if there were no more but she her self she would not turn but took her fingers and shewed them if they would tear her joint-meal she did believe the Lord would enable her to endure it for the Truth So they went from one to another thinking to entangle us in our talk but we were guided by one Spirit and spake one and the same thing in effect so that they had not a â—ot nor tittle against us but for righteousness sake Our God did keep us by his own Power and Holiness out of their hands honor and praises be given to his powerful Name for ever He the said Fryar came to me another time like a Bear robbed of her Whelpâ— and told me if I would be a Catholick I should say so otherwise they would use me badly and I should never see the face of Sarah again but should dye by my self and a thousand Devils should carry my soul to Hell I asked him if he were the Messenger of God to me He said he was I said What is my sin or wherein have I provoked the Lord that he doth send me such a strait Message He said Because I would not be a Catholick I said I
troubled in my spirit to know the Vision and I waited upon the Lord and he signified to me in the Light The six Suns were six Nations whose Lights were near out and the five which crossed each other signified to me some rising amongst them And the Fryar came to me and said It was God's will we should be kepâ— there or else they could not keep us I told him the Lord did suffer wicked men to do wickedly but did not will them to do it He did suffer Herod to take off John Baptist's head but he did not will him to do it and did suffer Stephen to be stoned and Judas to betray Christ but he did not will them to do it for if he had he would not have condemned them for it He said Then we are wicked men I said They are wicked men that work wickedness The Fryar would say still We had not the true Faith We said By Faith we stand and by the Power of God we are upholden dost thou think it is by our own power and holiness we are kept from a vain conversation from sin and wickedness He said That was our pride We said No We could glory in the Lord we were children of wrath once as well as others But the Lord hath quickned us that were dead by the living Word of his Grace and hath washed cleansed and sanctified us through soul and spirit in part according to our measures and we do press forward towards that which is perfect He then did say We were good Women but yet there was no redemption for us except we would be Catholicks Now the Lord said Fear not Daughters of Sion I will carry you forth as Gold tryed out of the fire And many precious promises did the Lord refresh us with in our greatest extremity and would appear in his glory that our souls would be ravished in his presence I had the Spirit of Prayer upon me and I was afraid to speak to the Lord for fear I should speak one word that would not please him And the Lord said Fear not Daughter of Sion ask what thou wilt and I will grant it thee whatsoever thy heart can wish I desired nothing of the Lord but what would make for his glory whether it were my liberty or bondage life or death wherein I was highly accepted of the Lord. The Room wherein I was separated was near the Chancery where all the Bishops Courtiers did resort and would come into the Inquisition Courts and I had Work amongst them daily they would come on purpose to their condemnation some would be smitten and run as if they hunted and some would be set on fire and cry Caldere caldere and fuoco fuoco and many would pitty us because we were not Catholicks the Fryars would say We might be Catholicks and keep our own Religion too and we should not be known we were Catholicks except we were brought before a Justice of Peace We askt if we should profess a Christ we should be asham'd of But as for the poor Workmen they were willing to do any thing for us and were diligent to hear us the Witness of God in them did answer to the truth there were many eyes over them had it not been for the great opposition there were hundreds would have flown to the truth And because I said I did talk with G. F. he the Fryar asked Whether G. F. did bring me money to maintain me in prison I said no but though I was absent in body yet I was present in spirit and was refreshed in him and in hundreds more besides They said I had seen Revelations and had talkt with G. F. and he was God's Revelation Sarah said Christ was God's Revelation he said she came under the Halter for saying Christ was God's Revelation She answered St. Paul said As soon as it pleased God to reveal his Son in me I did not consult with flesh and blood but immediately I went and preacht him and is not Christ God's Revelation then He said Who denied that What they would have done to Sarah if they had taken her forth we know not but the Lord did work so wonderfully that night for the preservation of her poor soul out of their net that he is worthy to be glorified for ever The next time he came to me he came in sheeps clothing but he had a Woolf under his Gown he gave me words as soft as Butter and as smooth as Oyl when he had a Sword in his heart and a Spear in his hand when they speak most fairest then beware of them He desired us we would not think so hardly of him as if he were the Author of all our wrongs and troubles he was not he said but would do any good he could for us were it with his blood But we thought he had been the chiefest that cast the poor man in prison but he was the man that hope him out without any punishment at all though the Inquisitor did say he should be severely punished I told him he did well he would have peace in it and would never have cause to repent it He did entreat us he might not bear all the burthen We told him of many wicked things he did act against us and of his lying and cruel words He bid us take no notice what he did speak But we did feel his spirit that what he spake he would do if he had not been chained I did use to tell him My Conscience was not feared with a hot iron J was not past feeling At last he was so weary of coming to us he did entreat the Jnquisitor he might not come to us any more the Judgements of the Lord did follow him so it was like to kill him When we were parted the Lord did vvork mightily for us and we vvere kept by the Power of the Lord over our Enemies and vvere bold for God's Truth and did make war vvith them in righteousness so that they could not gain-say us in the truth So that Scripture was fulfilled The wicked mouths must be stopped and they vvere put to silence praises be to our God and were made to confess or say Of a truth God was in us our God was a consuming fire to them they were not able to stand in his presence but they vvould howl and make a noise like Dogs and cry Jesu Maria and flye as people driven by a mighty rushing Wind the Power of the Lord did pursue after them like a Sword that Scripture was fulfilled which saith Christ came not to send peace on earth but a sword to cut down his Enemies the Lord was on our side and did take our part and did fight for us and did tread down our Enemies under our feet that they could not hurt us Mighty vvas the Work of God daily our tongues cannot express it they did vvork day and night vvith their Incâ—antments and Divinations Sorceries unclean Spirits crying and foaming insomuch we could take
is the World's condemnation that do not believe in it Then he said He would lay me in Chains where I should neither see Sun nor Moon They say The Father hath almost killed you said he but I will kill you quite before I have done He had a Book in his hand and he did study in it I told him he did comprehend the Words in his carnal mind and he vvas vvrath and said he would give me to the Devils to be tormented I said I deny the Devil and all his Works and Workers Some would come unto the Prison upon their Saints days and ask us what day it was We did answer We did not know neither did we observe dayes nor times months nor years Then answer would be made It was St. Joseph ' s day or some other Saint and St Joseph should punish us that night because we did not observe his day We answered We did know the Saints to be at peace with us and we did not fear them We further said St. Paul did call it beggarly Elements and Rudiments of the World to observe days times months and years and their mouths vvould be stopt for a time Then came the Fryar another time and told me it was seventeen dayes to their Christmas and said the Virgin Mary conceived with child that day being the same day he spake to me on as if she did go with Child but seventeen dayes And he said the next day was Lady Ann's day the Virgin Mary ' s Mother a Saint Then as I was crying to the Lord in Prayer because of oâ—r long-suffering our strong travel labour no fruit as did appear the Lord said unto me Be not grieved though Israel be not gathered the seed of Malta shall be as the stars of the skie for multitude That which ye have sown shall not dye but live Glory be to the Name of the Lord for ever A Copy of a Writing from their hands sent in pursuit after the Fryar MALACHY THou saidst thou wouldst try whether we had the true Spirit yea or nay and thou hast tryed day and night but thou never triedst the right way the Seed of God is not tryed with deceit lying hypocrisie nor cruelty But if thou hadst turned in with thy mind to the Light of God in thy Conscience thou wouldst soon have known us or had the love of Christ been shed abroad in thy heart thou might'st have comprehended us or hadst thou found the Ballance of the Sanctuary of the true Tabernacle which God hath pitched and not man thou mightst have weighed us or hadst thou laid Judgement to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet thou might'st have fathomed us or could'st thou have opened the Book of Life thou might'st have read us or hadst thou went into the House of Israel thou might's have had fellowship with us c. Contrary to our wills were we cast in amongst you and have given our testimony for the Lord and called you all to repentance and have forewarned you of the evil the Lord is bringing upon you but you have slighted the day of your visitation aud have done despite to the Spirit of Grace and have cast many hard speeches and false aspersions upon the Truth and the Messengers thereof and the Lord will visit for these things and you have blinded your eyes that you will not see and stopped your ears that you might not hear and hardened your hearts that you might not understand least you should see with your eyes and hear with your ears and understand with your hearts and turn to the Lord and be converted and he should heal you Oh that you had known in this your day what had belonged to your peace but now it is hid from your eyes The desire of our souls is That every one may repent that can find a place and whatever you have done to us we desire it may not be laid to your charge for we count our selves happy that we were found worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord. Written in the Inquisition-Prison in the Isle of Malta Katharine Evans Sarah Chevers Behold victorions Hymns Songs Praises all in Verse the same sprung from the Seed of Life its perfect Righteousness OH Lord my life is given up thy truth for to declare Lord keep me in thy Arms and guide me in thy fear Thy Bow is bent thy Sword is drawn thy enemies to deface Thy fire 's kindl'd 'gainst all those that Truth wil not embrace Thine Arrows sharp and keen upon their heads shall fall Thy double-edged Sword also to cut them down withall So plague the Heathen correct Name the people in thy wrath That they may fear dread thy and come to know thy truth Throughout the World so wide thy truth thou dost declare Thy saving health for to enjoy by thy Light doth appear Thou dost send forth thy Messengers glad tydings to proclaim To call the hungry forth to feed on thy Lamb being slain Feasts of fat things thou dost prepare the hungry for to feed And cloath the nak'd with Garments fair that want and stand in need Heaven's glory is appearing its brightness shineth forth Over all Nations it is clearing the Lords Eternal Truth Every one that 's in darkness and under its shadow lye May come forth into the brightness out of obscurity Oh Lord teach me thy wayes that I may walk therein And lead me in thy Path of life and cleanse me from all sin How gracious is our God and kind to Israel With us he doth make his Abode his presence doth us fill So that we are not desolate nor yet distrest with woes Because the Lord doth take our part and doth confound our foes Every one that is opprest and cast in danger deep If that in God they put their trust he will them safely keep Right dear and precious to the Lord are all his little ones That suffer for his holy Name he will avenge their wrongs And in his wrath he will destroy his enemies so stout And suddenly will make a way and lead his servants out And he himself will them restore to joy and comfort both And will preserve them evermore because they do him love But as for men of corrupt minds whose wayes defiled are The Lord will visit with all kinds of judgments and not spare He will pursue them with his Sword and cut them to the ground That do reject his holy Word his Plagues shall them confound Because that they do not obey his Mercies and his Grace Which he so free to them doth give if they would them embrace But as their Fathers did so they requite the Lord with wrong And persecute thy Messengers and make them suffer long Because that they the Truth declare as Scripture telleth plain That Christ himself the Lord 's own Heir is come and he will reign Both Lord and Prince and King also throughout the World that 's wide And Antichrist will overthrow and Babel in
that was dead and is alive and liveth for ever As they have done unto me so will they do unâ—o you if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you These are his faithful and true saying He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me mark that Verily verily I say unto you Whomsoever receiveth whom I shall send receiveth me and him that receiveth me receiveth him that seâ—â— me c. He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And it 's to be understood that such like dealing J. S. and H. F. our Brethren found at Alexandria from whom they also were banished And on this wise being rejected despised banished out of Asia from Smyrna in about eight dayes we arrived at the Island Zant where my dear Brother and Companion in sufferings and not onely so but in the Kingdom and patience of Christ he was visited with sickness â—igh unto death but the Word and Commandment of the Lord ordered me to pass through part of Italy and my face was set towards Venice and we weighed the thing in the fear and counsel of the Lord and were both given up in one to travel yet it was so that the poor Lamb was not capable in body to travel with me by reason of weakness and he being fully perswaded and satisfied in his own mind that I was to pass onward in the tender Love of our God he did the more constrain me I finding some unwillingness to leave him in that condition which was not a little cross unto me But in the Heavenly Will and Peace of our God and joy of the Lord out of all visibly we parted asunder and it came to pass that he laid down his body there in about two days after There being a Ship of Venice ready I embarqued on the same and had a good passage through the Gulf of Venice After three Weeks were finished was I admitted together with the Ships company to receive Product or Admission to come into the City as their manner is and there I continued about eight days as a sign and wonder among many and gave somewhat of a sound of the Lord's Day in truth among them and from thence I travelled to Legorn and my face was as if it were set towards England I being alone as a Mourning-Dove in a desolate Wilderness Yet it came so to pass when I arrived at the same Port or City that the everlasting Love of my God did fill and overcome my heart and mine eye right dearly affected the same and verily the living Word and Commandment of my God sounded in mine ear and mine understanding was quickened in the Spirit of Life from God so that I was made willing and not to rebel against the Heavenly Voice And what if I testifie that mine eye saw the Angel of his presence which was expresly for me to give up and pass away from thence to visit his long suffering Seed of Innocency shut up in the Inquisition in the Isle of Malta under the Pope's Authority and to communicate to their necessities and verily the sweet promise of the Lord entered and possessed my heart and my God made my way prosperous for in the Light of his countenance he had often set these poor afflicted long-suffering innocents before my face Wherefore my body and mind was freely offered up as my reasonable service to serve his Truth and the least Member of it and so to the death of the Cross whereto I became obedient in uprightness of heart as if I should never see Kindred or Native Countrey more A Vessel of France being ready to depart from thence Eastward I embarqued thereon for the Isle of Cicilia to Musena and from thence to the Isle of Malta in a Vessel of the said Island and in my passage the Vessel did bear in to Syracuse where Paul abode three days in his passage to Rome after he had suffered abode three days in his passage to Rome after he had suffered shipwrack on Malta and at Syracuse I abode five days where I gave a sound of the Lord's Truth and Life And so we immediately sailed from thence and within 24. hours we arrived at the Island of Malta and within some hours after I came upon the said Island I had admittance to the Pope's Lord Inquisitor to whom I delivered my Message in the Italian Tongue on this wise I am come to demand the just Liberty of my innocent Friends the two English women in prison in the Inquisition And he asked if I were related to them as a Husband or Kinsman and whether I came out of England on purpose with that Message And I answered I came from Legorn for that same end and he replied at last They should abide in Prison till they dye except some English Merchants or others that were able would engage or give obligation for the value of three or four thousand dollers conditionally that they should never return again into those parts On this wise was his reply divers times with the Consul and many others together and asunder but in the Name and fear of the Lord God I withstood the same unchristian-like demand and cruelty in the Word Power and Travel of the Lord in his innocent suffering Lamb behalf albeit they daily threatned me with their cruelty and Inquisition of darkness and followed me to and fro with their Officer and Black-Rod and the Popes Deputy would have bound me that I should neither speak good nor evil to any one while I was on the Island as the Consul said save to him neither to come to the Prison alone except the Consul came also with me or some of his Family at least But their snares Bonds and Covenants in the Name of my God I defied because the Spirit of Life from the Lord gave me Dominion through sufferings in Spirit First over their unjust dark Impositions yea and in the same good authority in the innocency and uprightness of my heart I travelled through and over the darkness over its works and ceased not to publish the end of my coming which they would not have known abroad the sound of Truth and its dread and same struck terror in their hearts that both high and wise great men together with the Popish Priests and Jesuits knights them called of the Nobility of the Pope's Dominion of Spain and France and of many Nations they did not burthen themselves a little with my bodily presence my clear testimony and Friends in general all which they defied and withstood as it doth appear by the words of Truth in this Treatise And thus it comes to pass among the Nations because we are not of this world as our Life and Testimony also is not for but against the same therefore we marvel not if the world hate us knowing its birth which is from beneath earthly and sensual persecuteth that which is from above heavenly and