and the voice of a Stranger And by the Spirit of the living God are we gathered up together up to God to worship him in Spirit and in Truth and are of one Heart and of one Mind and of one Soul and have all one Teachers and peak all one thing And we being all taught of the Lord are far from Oppression though we be Oppressed and for the Truths sake was I moved of the Lord to lay this before thee that our Conditions may be known that the Truth may not suffer under the reproach of the Heathen who live after the Flesh and Persecute them who live after the Spirit A word more to clear thy mistake when we spoke unto thee that the Lord would make thee an Instrument in his Hand to establish the Gospel wherein thou apprehendest us that should be established by an outward Law that was not our desire nor we spoke no such thing but we witness the coming of Christ in his Kingdom is not by Might nor Power nor Pomp nor Glory from without nor by any Law which is in the will of Man but our desires were that there should be no Law upon Religion for it needs no Law to defend it for pure Religion and undefiled is this to loose the bands of Wickedness and set the Oppressed free and take off every Yoke And where pure Religion is exercised this is the Fruits and if thou be guided by the pure Light of God shining in thy Conscience and the righteous Law set up in thy Heart and the Spirit of God thy Teacher then there need none â—â— desire thee to take away those Laws that ensnare tender Consciences and so they who pretend Conscience and are not guided by the pure Law of God will be seen by those who dwell in the Spirit to have erroneous Consciences and so this Law will take hold of them and the righteous Law is upon the Transgressor and limits the carnal Mind and fleshly Will but doth not limit the Spirit but is at Unity with it And therefore Friend to thy Conscience I speak and witness this to be true in the Presence of God that as thou art guided by this pure Light in thy Conscience and this Law of the Spirit set up in thy Heart thou canst not deny us for we are none of those which dispise Government and defile the Flesh who pull down others to set up themselves but all unfruitful works of darkness we deny and seek to advance the Government of Jesus Christ alone and love all and have unity with all who are here and honour all Men in the Lord and have fellowship with those whose Conversation is as becomes the Gospel of Christ and they who Rule and Live here cannot suffer any outward Law to take hold on us who stand in obedience to the Commands of Christ for there is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord sets free and commands obedience take heed how thou suffer any Law to limit that Spirit for they who are brought into the obedience of the Spirit are dear unto him as the Apple of his Eye and his care is over them and the Lord will free them from their Oppressors And thus were we pressed in Spirit to lay before thee our conditions and the conditions of our Brethren who are gathered into the eternal Unity where there is no Rent nor Schism that thou might not be ignorant of those things and to shew thee that our desire is not for any outward thing or self-advancing for all self we deny for we came contrary to our own will and we declare this unto thee contrary to our own will and if thou stand not in thy own will thou wilt hear us and own us in advancing the Lord Jesus Christ upon the holy-Hill of Sion that the Law might go out of Sion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and this we wait to see accomplished and his promise fulfilled in those who govern the Nations that the Kingdoms of the World may become the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ And thus we have laid our selves naked before thee in the Presence of God and cleared our Consciences to thee and leave it to that which is pure in thy Conscience to judge Take heed for he that is in high Places is subject to many Temptations This I was moved of the Lord to Write unto thee who is a Servant of the Lord and a lover of thy Soul called John Camm For E. V. and the rest of the Flock of God in and about Banbury DEarly beloved Friends and Brethren in the eternal everlasting Covenant of Love and Life doth my Soul dearly salute you all who in your Measures keep in the same Love and Life and grows up in your stature which is well pleasing to God Oh my dear Hearts in the Life and Power of God which casts down Sin and slayes the enmity and gives you Victory and Dominion over the World which keeps you and preserves in the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all men upon the Earth to try them but you abiding in the pure Eternal living Measure of God dwelling in his Life and Power which is your Rock and hiding place shall be kept out of the same which the Enemy hath laid to take your Souls and here is your safe dwelling place so the Lord God of Power in his Life and Power keep you all in your dwelling place which is the Lord that with the Measure of him you may be guided which leads up into the Land of Righteousness into the Holy City where the uncircumcised and the careless and disobedient cannot come so with Bowels of dear and tender love unto you all who are Children of my Father and kept in his work I bid you farewel in the Lord and in him I am your dear brother for evermore John Camm My Wife and little Thomas dearly salutes you who are faithful in your places farewel As for my outward health it is much like as it was I grow weaker in the outward man but in the Lord is my strength and my support continually Glory and pure Praises be unto him for evermore Amen J. C. John Camm's Letter the 5th day of the 11th Month 1654. to Friends DEarly beloved in our Head and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ our dear love in him Salutes you all yea truly the same love runs out unto you all who wait upon the Lord and abide in your Measures that we are loved with all of our Father and we are your Epistles written in your Hearts not with Pen and Ink but with the Spirit of the Living God and then you who are guided by the Light which comes from Christ Jesus may read us daily and truly you are dear and precious unto us as you abide and dwell in your Measures yea truly ye are our very Lines and the Seal of
of the great Travel that was upon them because of the mighty Power of the Lord which was made manifest in them for the bringing down of that which had been exalted against him and for the restoration of the oppressed Captive that deliverance might be known from the power of Satan and from the bondage of Corruption that we being set free wherein we were held might serve the Lord in Truth and Singleness of Heart and wait upon him and follow the leadings of his Spirit in the exercise of our Hearts and minds in Serving and Worshiping the Lord our God And so the God of Heaven hath revealed and made manifest the Way of Life and Peace the Way wherein Comfort and Satisfaction to the Soul is found the Gate of Mercy even the entrance to the everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Joy for evermore which although it be strait and narrow and a cross to the fleshly part and earthly ground and wisdom yet it is easie pleasent and delightful living in the Spirit and becoming little even as a Child for so must he become that enters in at the strait Gate to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God So we have found the way of everlasting Peace through the rich Mercy and tender Visitation of the Lord walking in the Spirit and living in that which mortifies the deeds of the Flesh being subject to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Here is rest to the Soul here is the sweet Visitations of the Lord known which are as the former and latter Rain to refresh the lowly in Heart and Poor in Spirit Here waiting upon the Lord the strength is renewed and here the Lord speaks Peace to People even as they are in Christ the Power of God growing up in him who is the Truth and the Life they are possessors of lasting Peace which God speaks not to the wicked which is the Portion of the upright in Heart and as the Lord hath made manifest the way of Peace Life and everlasting Happiness he hath also discovered the contrary even the way of misery darkness and destruction the way which is broad and many in the lusts of the Flesh take pleasure in it following the motions of the Flesh and the desires of the carnal mind resisting the motions of Gods good Spirit and hating the blessed Light of the Lord Jesus Christ and so spend away their precious time and in this state that is to say in the Flesh resisting the Spirit of the Lord they cannot serve God nor please him nor worship him in Truth though they may profess him in words and draw near him with their Mouth yet being in the Flesh contrary to the Spirit of Truth the Ear turned away from hearing of God's Law their Prayers are Abomination their plowing is Sin their sacrifice is as Cain's not accepted by the Lord no Peace from God no ture Rest no Satisfaction no beholding the Countenance of the Lord nor no assurance of the Eternal Inheritance which never fades away but an earnest of wrath pain misery anguish and trouble which will come upon all who live and dye in Disobedience of the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ And so we see the Way of Life to all that believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and the way of death to all who live in unrighteousness and are not changed by the power of God and translated from Death to Life and from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God. And these things are of great concernment unto us and we see it is very needful to wait upon the Lord and to follow the motions of his Spirit that we may feel his Power to preserve us in his Will out of the evil of the World that so in the Power of the Lord our God we may war a good Warfare and finish our Course with joy And verily this a matter of great weight unto us even to have our hearts exercised towards the Lord in obedience to his Will in what he requireth of us that we may have a Conscience void of offence towards him And so the Day of the Lord God being come and his Eternal Power made known in many hearts by which many are raised to serve him and obey him yea to worship him according to his own Will and the leadings of his good Spirit We are even constrained by the Power of the Lord to meet together in his Name and Fear to wait upon him and to worship him and also to exhort one another in his holy Power as the Spirit of the Lord directs yea and so much the more as the day appeareth And this we find also to be according to the Scriptures of Truth and practice of the Servants of the Lord in former dayes who did not forsake the assembling of themselves together but met often and sometime in one place and sometime in another as they were directed in the fear of the Lord And they that feared the Lord spake often one unto another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord in the day that I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him And this was in a time when the proud were called happy and they that wrought wickedness were set up and they that tempted God were delivered yet even in such a time did they that feared the Lord speak often together and also in the time when the Gospel of Christ was published by the Apostles and Ministers of Jesus many were brought into the obedience of the Truth and were gathered from the Jews Worship and way of service and they to wit the Jews could plead more justly for the Antiquity of their way of Worship and their order in their Worship then many who this day profess themselves to be Christians and a reformed Church and in that time did they meet together sometime in a Chamber sometime in an House and sometime in an upper Room as the Lord directed them and as they had opportunities and gathered Churches which met at Houses and waited upon the Lord and exhorted one another and might all speak one by one as the Spirit of the Lord led them that all might hear and all be comfored And we do not read that the Jews made a Law or the Romans either who at that time had the Principality that they should not meet above four together or if they meet five or above they should be fined Indeed the Jews who believed not were bad enough and persecuted the Saints from City and haled out of Houses they that professed the Name of Jesus and sometimes scourged them but they are evil examples to be followed and its pitty that any who profess themselves Christians should do the like to any that meet
his hand and power against them that so turn their hand and power against his people for obeying him and exercising their Consciences towards him in waiting upon him and worshipping him according to that which he hath made manifest to them and such will be more inexcusable for persecuting now than the Jews were in former dayes for then the Saints met together and professed the Name of Jesus which the Jews did not say they believed in Besides it was in appearance such a new way and so different to the Law and manner of Worship which the Jews had that they had some seeming colour in their way but now for they that profess the Name of Christ and the Sicrptures of the New-Testament and the Saints Practice and Christ's Commands to be obeyed for these all things considered to persecute people for owning the Commands of Christ for practising the same things which they cannot but read the Saints practised and to hale people and commit them to Prison for meeting in the Name of Jesus to Worship God and to wait upon him yea and to be so far from cherishing such as to act the very parts of them that made havock of the Church and haled out both Men and Women and was exceedingly mad and caused some to Blaspheme and committed to Prison for the same things it doth appear to be great evil and to be even Sin against knowledge against their own Prefession as Christans and cannot be parallel'd with any of the Saints but with the Persecutors who hated and evilly entreated the Servants of the Lord in former Ages who never could accomplish their end though they caused many to suffer and now to put all out of doubt and to give all who opposeth the People of God in the way of God an absolute answer that they shall not be able to accomplish their end and therefore it would be far better to be quiet and to mind the Royal Law of Christ lest they by acting contrary do bring innocent suffering and Blood upon their own Heads and incur God's heavy Yoke of displeasure against them yea and a Fire be kinded in their own Bowels and a Worm which shall not dye and a dart strike through the Heart and Liver and so the end be as bitter as Worm-wood and as sharp as a two edged Sword these are Instruments of War which the Lord hath in his Quiver which is reserved for the Day of Battel when God pleads with all Flesh by Fire and by his Sword when the slain of the Lord shall be many when he will rain Snares upon the wicked Fire and Brimstone and grievous Tempests this is the Potion of their Cup But indeed we do desire the Conversion and Salvation even of our Persecutors and therefore to put all out of doubt as is before said that there is no prevailing against the Lord nor against the Sion of the Holy One in whom the Lord is We say the living God of Heaven and Earth hath made manifest unto us the Way to Life and called us to walk in it and united our Hearts together as many as live in his Power to serve him and to wait upon him and to meet together to Worship him in Spirit and Truth and we are perswaded to obey the Lord and believe in the Lord that he will strengthen us in his Way and Will unto the end For our strength is in the Lord and not of our selves who hath called us to follow him through good report and bad report and not to deny his Way because of sufferings but to endure in patience and let the Lord plead our cause in the Hearts of his Enemies Obj. And if any say Why will you not swear And why will you meet seeing there is a Law against you Ans For these two things we say We dare not disobey the Lord for fear of punishment or suffering outwardly and we meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord Because the Lord God of Life requireth it of us that we should meet in his Name and Power and wait upon him and edifie one another in his Love and Life and in our Meetings waiting upon the Lord we have the presence of the living God of Life with us and the feeling of the vertue of his Love in our Hearts and he lifts up his Countenance upon us yea and comforteth us by his free Spirit whereby we know and are assured that it is according to the mind and will of the Lord and that he speaks Peace unto us And this being the real Truth let all the honest-hearted judge how we can in Conscience leave that which God requireth of us in obedience to which we have God's presence with us and do that which Man requireth of us contrary to the Truth in observing of which we should fall into Condemnation and feel God's anger and the Testimony of his Spirit against us to judge us which would be greater sufferings in the inward Man then all the outward sufferings which we may meet with for in these being faithful the Lord comforteth our Hearts 2. Again We meet together to wait upon the Lord because we fear the Lord God he hath placed his Fear in our Hearts and we know him to be great and mighty a great King above all Kings and a great God above all God s that is able to do whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth and in the Kingdoms of men and we know he is worthy to be Worshipped and to have the Heart given up unto him for he hath Power to change the Heart which Men by all their force cannot do and to give true and lasting Peace which the World can never take away and his Fear being in our Hearts we account him Lord and Ruler in our Consciences and worthy to be obeved in Heart Soul and Spirit And because we fear him more than Man we are bound in Duty to obey him for he hath power over both Soul and Body which Man hath not for Man can but kill the Body he hath not power to kill the Soul neither hath he power to redeem the Soul neither can Man convert the Soul by any force or penalty outwardly therefore Man doth but labour in vain for he can neither kill nor cure the Soul but the Lord whom we fear hath Power and is able to kill and to make alive And because we fear him more than Man therefore we chuse to obey him rather than Man and to meet in God's Fear And this being our Condition let the sober-hearted judge How can we deny the Lord who hath all Power and hath quickned us and redeemed our Souls from Death and go to obey Man contrary to Christ's Doctrine who hath no power over the Soul. Surely as we stand in God's Fear and Counsel we may not do this Evil and Sin against our God. 3. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord because God hath made it manifest to us and perswaded
quick Apprehension and great understanding of a noble Spirit yet in humility condescending to serve the least in Truth his Company was exceeding delightful and pleasant being always cheerful his discourse good and tending to Edification exceeding ripe in the Knowledge of the holy Scriptures and of a strong Memory he was often concerned in Disputations with Priests and other Opposers of the Way of Truth that he bore Testimony too and walked in and the Lord had richly furnished him for that Service to the stopping the Mouthes of Gain-sayers to Truths honour his Declaration and Testimony exceeding large free and affecting almost to all sorts of People many with great delight would flock to hear him in many places which made his Service very great in opening the way of Truth unto all he having a Word in season to all Conditions insomuch that he regarded not his outward Body but many times went beyond the natural strength thereof notwithstanding that he was young and strong yet in this Service was much spent several Years before he departed and laid down his Head. His Life was bound up in the Unity and Fellowship of Friends and Brethren his Labour was ever to conserve the same and prevent whatever would appear to divide As he was honourable in the esteem of Thousands that the Lord through him had called and brought many of them to the Knowledge of the way of Life and Salvation so also had he a right honourable esteem of such as were in Christ before him and especially dear George Fox by whom he was Convinced He was very tender to the springings of Life in Testimony in the least Babe always ready to encourage and give place to the same for it was his great Joy to see the Lord's Work to prosper and the Testimony of Truth to spring in every Bosom In Counsel and Advice he was endewed with heavenly Wisdom beyond many in reproving the Careless and Rebellious he was sharp and powerful In fine I have this to say that he was abundantly furnished with spiritual Gifts a chosen and honourable Vessel in the Hand of his God to the Praise and Glory of his eternal Name Many comfortable daies and times have I enjoyed with him whom I loved and honoured in the Lord and I am not unsensible of his Love to me our Hearts being perfectly united and knit together in that love that 's everlasting passing the love of Women I never thought Travel hard or tedious at any time so that I might enjoy his Company in which I was always delighted greatly satisfied whatever difficulty soever I under-went to obtain the same After he was first called forth into the Work and Service of the Lord he was very diligent therein almost in continual Travels and several times was in Prison for his Testimonies sake as at New-Castle in the North and Bristol often in great Perils in the beginning having many rough places to break through where many times he Suffered sore Beatings and many Strokes together with cruel Mockings Revilings and Scornings from the wicked Rabble often and sometimes from angry bitter-spirited Professors through and over all which the Lord preserved him to his own Glory to inherit a Kingdom that 's everlasting for he counted nothing dear unto him for the Gospels sake but left his dear Wife and Child whom he loved entirely and Trade and all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ the Captain of Salvation having an eye to the eternal recompence of Reward that the Lord hath given him fully to enjoy His dear Wife was not long after him called forth into the same Work and Service and Travelled into several Parts of the North Countrey and after into the South where at Banbury in Oxford-shire she was a Prisoner for one Year and several Months the Lord making her instrumental in his Hand to the turning many from Darkness to Light in that place and many other places where she Travelled When J. A. did grow weaker by his lingering Distemper of a sore Cough his Lungs wasting he would often complain of an inward soreness in his Breast though he seemed to look well being of a Ruddy and fair Complexion and would often say Ah! those great Meetings in the Orchard at Bristol I may not forget I would so gladly have spread my Net over all and have gathered all that I forgot my self never considering the imability of my Body but it s well my reward is with me and I am content to give up and be with the Lord for that my Soul values above all things Betwixt two and three weeks before he died he was taken as was supposed with an hective Feaver and daily it encreased upon him so that his sleep for many days and nights was taken from him in which time I was often with him being his desire and my delight to serve him in which time Friends in abundance flocked to visit him from several parts for as I said before he was a man greatly beloved of the Lord and all his People yea many of the World had a good esteem of and loved him and many times the Lord did wonderfully open his Mouth in Testimony to Friends as if he had been without sence of his Sickness to their great refreshment and exceeding joy and often he would be raised upon his Knecs upon his Bed and supplicate the Lord in the behalf of his whole Heritage and to prosper his Work in the Nation and Nations round about he said that there was nothing in all the World that he desired to live to enjoy except the comfortable enjoyment of his Friends and Brethren in the fellowship of the Life of Truth and that he might be a comfort to his dearly beloved Wife whose desolate condition he often bemoaned being so big with Child as that she was delivered of a Son about ten days after his decease but in this he said his will was in true subjection submitting to the Will of the Lord whether life or death to God he often and again committed and recommended all the whole Flock Heritage and Family of God together with his dear Wife and Child to be kept cared for and preserved saying that he would be a Husband to his desolate Widow and a tender Father to his fatherless Children often entreating his dear Wife freely to give him up to the Will and disposing of the Almighty whose he was being made acceptable in the beloved Son often sweetly comforting her in her Sorrow and great Distress making as little shew of his illness for her sake as ever he might yet we saw that he was under a great weight of Sickness and that his strength daily wasted so that in less then three weeks time after the Feaver took him he finished here and was sweetly taken to rest in the joy of the Lord for ever more it being the day of the first Month 1663. and the next day was accompanied to his Grave by many Friends and others and his Body enterred in the
aforesaid burying place at Birkrigge-Park And although the departure hence of these two faithful Brethren and true Labourers in the Lords Work whose presence with and Labours amongst us was comfortable and joyous may be loss to me and many others yet in this we are satisfied that its their gain being freed from their Labours and their Works follow them and that they are entered into the Kingdom of eternall Glory where thev shall live to Magnifie the Lord World without End. Amen And though their outward Bodies be gone to the dust and therefore their bodily presence we are deprived of yet their Spirits are enjoyed and their lives are amongst us and Preaches and their Names and remembrance is and shall be a sweet Memorial and good Savour to Ages and Generations to come being numbred amongst the Lord's Worthies and the Valiants of his Israel who never turned their Backs of their Enemies neither fainted in their greatest exercises but their Bows like Josephs always abode in strength being helped by the Mighty God of Jacob before whom all Nations is but as the drop of a Bucket or the small Dust of the Ballance whose Breath doth slay the wicked and his right hand doth crush his Enemies and his blessed Work begun he hath determined to Prosper since he will finish and put an utter end to transgression that he may reveal bring in and establish his everlasting Righteousness and cover the Earth with his Truth as with a Garment and the Kingdoms of this World must become the Kingdom of the Lord and his Christ whose right it is to reign and will reign when he hath overturned and overturned till his Scepter be lifted up over all and his Government be extended from Sea to Sea and from one end of the Earth to the other and his Sion be beautified with Salvation and Jerusalem become the praise of the whole Earth even thus exalt thy name O God saith my Soul from hence-forth and for ever more That the Righteous may sing of thy Praise and tell of thy Wonderous Works and extol thy Holy Name and Power over all to reign and rule World without end Amen From Apleby Goal the place of my present confinement for the Testimony of Jesus This 14th of the 12th Month 1680. Thomas Camm The Testimony of Ann Camm concerning John Audland her late Husband deceased COncerning my dear Husband John Audland deceased I am under Obligation to bear this following Testimony as one that had the advantage beyond all others to know as well his Qualifications endowments and Gifts given him of God whether Spiritual or Temporal as also his great Labours and Travels in that blessed work and service of the Lord his Truth and People that he was in the Morning of the day called unto and preserved in in all fidelity and faithfulness to the spending of his natural strength to the end of his days and finishing of his Course here in order to be swallowed up in eternal Joy for evermore The eternal God who by his Providence joyned us together in Marriage in our young days in his blessed Counsel also caused his day to spring from on high upon us in the marvelous Light and bright shining whereof he revealed his Son Christ in us and gave us Faith to believe in him the eternal Word of Life by which our Souls came to be quickned and made alive in him and also in and by the quickning Power of his holy Power we were made one in a Spiritual and Heavenly relation our hearts being knit together in the unspeakable love of Truth which was our Life Joy and Delight and made our days together exceeding comfortable as being that whereby all our temporal enjoyments were sanctified and made a blessing unto us How exceeding dear and kindly affectionate Husband he was to me I am far short in ability to declare but in a word shall say that I believe few ever enjoyed a greater blessing in a Husband then I in him and notwithstanding that I loved his company and the enjoyment of him with me above all the World yet nevertheless in submission to the Will of God whose chosen Vessel he was and also in respect to the honourable Service of Truth and the publication thereof which he was called unto I could freely give him up as to be separated from in the outward a great part of our time after we were convinced of Gods blessed Truth and made living Witnesses of the vertuous Life and powerful Operation thereof as in this our day gloriously made known to the everlasting joy of our immortal Souls But before this blessed work came to be effected great was the warfare and inward exercise that my dear Husband underwent under the chastizing Hand of the Lord and the Spirit of Judgment and of burning that was at work in his inward parts in order to sanctifie him for the Lords own use and service for when the Lords blessed and honorable day Broke upon him he was high in Notion and Profession imagining that he had been filled with durable Riches and Wisdom but in the Light of this day he saw the emptiness of it all while he wanted the Substance Life in the eternal Word and by the same to be sanctified throughout Therefore under the sence of this great want many and great were his Sighs and Groans and his Tears not a few Days and Nights of Sorrow many a one he underwent the Word and Power of the Lord being as a Fire revealed within him to burn the great building that he had been erecting and setting up of Hay Wood and Stuubble and in this exercise I also had a share with him and in great Lamentation I have heard him often Sorrowfully say Ah! what have we been doing what have we been labouring for or what availeth our great Profession all our building tumbles down our Profession is high as the Wind the Day of the Lord is upon it and his Word as a Fire consumes it as dry Stubble and put 's an end unto all empty Professions and high Notions without Life or Substance to all the Wisdom of fallen man we must forsake the World and all its glory it s all but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit 't is a Saviour that I long for 't is him that my Soul pants after Oh! that I may be comprehended into his Life and over-shadowed with his Glory sanctified throughout by his Word and raised up by his eternal Power To this effect did his Soul often Travel before the Lord and the Lord who had called him for the purpose of his own Glory was nor unmindful of him but had regard to his blessed work begun to prosper the same that so out of the Furnace of Affliction a pure and clean Vessel might be brought forth And then the Lord plentifully poured upon him of his holy Spirit filling him with all Wisdom and Power to publish and proclaim his everlasting Gospel and to bring Glad-tidings to the poor the Day
that makes truly Rich and everlasting happy and Truth in the inward parts the Lord loves and every one to speak the Truth from his Heart to his Neighbour and to his Friend watching over one another for good in Truth and Uprightness then there will be no treacherous dealer in the Assembly nor none that lies in wait to hurt the Poor and Harmless nor none to Exalt themselves above their measure in the knowledge which puffeth up and despiseth the Lowly and the Poor such will the Lord God throw down therefore all fear before the Lord and none be high-minded if any man boast he beareth not the Root every one keep in the Pure life in the true love and fellowship of the Gospel of Peace and all look to the Author and the Finisher of your Faith which in Truth stands in the Power of God then you all keep your Habitations your walking is in steadfastness and your going comes to be established Let all be warned and awaked for the Lord is at hand who will bring every mans work to the tryal and happy for evermore are all they who are found faithful when they are weighed in the Ballance of Equity and true Judgment Sow in Patience press on in the way of Righteousness serving the Lord with one consent calling upon his Name with one accord keeping the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace so will you rejoyce in the Lord alone who is the Succourer of the Poor and the Refuge of the Needy in the Day of distress Let all that know him praise him and fear him and in singleness of heart wait upon him whose Mercy endureth for evermore Let nothing draw you from your holy calling and stedfast waiting upon the Lord nor separate you from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Light our Life and our Redeemer So the Lord God Almighty multiply his Grace Mercy and Love his Life Light and Power in you and amongst you that you may be grounded rooted builded established and in the everlasting Covenant of Life find Peace where you may rest in the City of God whose Gates is Praise and hath Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks where no Weapon can prosper that is formed against you glory and honour and living Praises be unto the Lord our God from all who know him now and for evermore I am your Friend who truly desireth after your Prosperity in the Life that shall never dye John Andland To Friends in Westmorland who Love the Truth and in Cumberland Bishoprick c. An Epistle to Friends DEarly beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ Brethren and Sisters in the Eternal Spirit Members of the Body of Christ Grace Mercy and Peace from our God be multiplied in you that every one of you in particular may grow in your measure and encrease in the unsearchable Riches of our God Oh! ye Plants of Gods renown planted into the true Vine by the true Husbandman dear and precious are you to us as you abide in the Vine and grow in the Vine there you are our joy and we are refreshed continually in the Unity of the Spirit for in it are you present in us and we in you in our Hearts are ye written by the Spirit of the Living God and we read you daily our Life is one our Joy is one our Sufferings are one and our Victory is one Oh! Dear Hearts our love reacheth you and our Bowels are shed towards you our Hearts are broken when we know of your faithfulness and stedfastness in the work of the Lord waring against all Deceipt and watching every one in your measure to be serviceable in the calling whereunto you are called we speak the Truth in Christ we lye not it is like precious Ointment shed abroad in us which gives a sweet smell unto us that we are much refreshed by it to know of your faithfulness and boldness to know of your labour and carefulness and tenderness towards one another in the Lord it is like Balm upon our Head in rememberance of you our hearts are broken and we rejoyce to behold your order in the Lord dwelling and abiding in him who is our Head and therefore in the Name of the Lord Jesus do we exhort charge and command you every one to abide in your measure in the true Vine and to dwell and walk in the Light which is Eternal by which you will judge all double minds who talk of the Unity of the Light but do not walk in the Light and abide in the Unity such are not of the Body who do not abide in the Vine but you who do abide in the Vine try all such and have no fellowship with unfaithful Workers for such are unfruitful who do not abide in the Vine such are they who mind earthly things who are Enemies to the Cross of Christ who walk not in the Light with the Light of God all such are seen abiding in it you will separate the clean from the unclean and true Judgment from the Life which is pure will be given upon the impure none can judge but he that is pure thou that judgest another and dost the same things thou art for Judgment let all Flesh be silent before the Lord God and dwell all in the Life of the Son of God in which you will comprehend all busie minds and forward minds who abide not in the Life who are not to judge but to be judged with the Life so in the Life dwell every one and there you have all one Life and we are with you in the Life which was before the World was in that which was before time which in time was made manifest which brings up out of time in that have we Unity and there we behold you ye faithful Ones ye Sons and Daughters of the Lord unto whom the Promise is made manifest which is Yea and Amen to the Seed which Seed is but one unto which shall all Nations bow and they that set themselves against you shall surely fall before you the Lord hath blessed you and you are blessed by his own right hand hath he planted you and the shout of a King is heard amongst you and his Voice is terrible to the Nations and dreadful to the Heathen round about cursed are they that curse thee happy art thou O Israel a People saved by the Lord the Lord of Hosts is with you and there is no Inchantment against you no Weapon formed against you shall prosper the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Therefore in the Name of the Lord and in his fear abide every one for the Voice that is heard amongst you gives Alarm to the Inhabitants of the Land and because of the Man-Child that is born in you are the Nations troubled rejoyce for evermore ye Saints of the most high God for Power is given you to be avenged of all your Enemies yea even to War against the Beast and to make the Whore Desolate the Fire that is kindled
us that the Way in which we walk is according to his Mind and Will and we look not for direction in our Religion by Mans wisdom or will how we shall serve and worship God for we know its God alone by his Spirit that leads people in the Exercise of the true Religion as it is written I the Lord teacheth thee to profit and leadeth thee in the way in which thou shouldest go and lo we are content with our Religion which the Lord hath led us into and in the exercise of it we have Gods Blessing filling our Hearts with Love and Joy Peace and Satisfaction in which our Souls are comforted and we look not for another Religion contrary to that which we are in but our hearts are fixed waiting upon the Lord and we received it from the Lord and not upon any such terms as to continue in it till Man made a Law against it or speak against it and no longer but even as the Way of Truth was made manifest to us so to press on in it unto the end And we see the Ways and Religions of Men to be so changable sometimes one way and sometimes another that it appears to us as if Men received their Religion but till Orders of another sort of Men to the contrary And we see many people so ready to part with their Religion and take up another that gives us just ground to believe they found not the Presence of God with them in their Way and Exercise And so it s but loose with them and they can leave it upon occasion rather than suffer the loss of any thing for it and this makes us prize that which God hath made manifest to us the more because we receive Refreshment from the Lord in the Exercise of our Religion besides if we had been void of the true Religion till this day we should have been as unstable as others tossed about with winds of Doctrine and have known no true Rest to our Souls but it is well known that we were of the same mind that we are now in the time of the former powers and we received not our Religion from them neither but from the Lord our God neither was our Religion or we in the Exercise of it confirmed by any Law or Decree of theirs but on the contrary did suffer much hardship under them and by them whom they cherished at that time in the Religion which they allowed and they then said Theirs was the right Way and they Stockt and Prisoned many who were contrary to them And now others say they are in Way and useth force and such like to them that differ from them One said the Law is on our side and we are in the right the others say The Law is on our side and we are in the right and you must conform or suffer deeply We say None of these things can perswade our Consciences but come forth in the Power of the Lord as good Examples with spiritual Weapons if you will perswade us for we cannot with a safe Conscience leave our Religion which the Lord hath led us into by his own Power upon these things but must rather give up to suffer in the Will of the Lord for we know plainly it is God alone by his Power that doth bring people into the true Worship And this is according to the Scriptures of Truth and also to the Service which is now allowed for 't is said in the Collect for that which is called the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Almighty and most merciful God of whose only Gift it cometh that thy faithful ful People do unto thee true and laudable Service Now then if it come only by the Gift of God that the faithful do true Service unto God then they that would force people from serving God according to his Gift given them would force them from the true and laudable Service of God and do make them act contrary to the Gift of God and unavoidably lead and force people from the true Worship of God into hypocrisie and a false feigned lifeless and heartless Worship in which the Lord takes no pleasure And so this being truly considered we can put it to the Consciences of all that fear the Lord to judge whether he can with a safe Conscience leave our Religion which God hath led us into and and the exercise of it according to the Gift of God by which only true Service is done to God in which also we find acceptance with God through Jesus Christ and go to a Religion in the will of Man contrary to the Gift of God by Force and Compulsion where we could not act affectionately with our Hearts nor yet find the Blessing and Presence of God with us acting contrary to the Gift of God Truly it is in our Hearts and Consciences as the Truth of the Lord that we may not falsly do it But if any should object and say Your Religion is but new or of a late standing Ours is a Hundred Years old or thereabouts since Popery was brought from having the upper-hand in this Nation for they forced but they were out of the way but ours is a Reformed Church 'T is answered That though the Name or Denomination by which we are distinguished from other people be but of late Years which was cast upon us by some that mocked us because of the Power of the Lord which caused many to quake and tremble yet the Life in which we live and the Truth which we profess is ancient and the Practice in which we are exercised in the Worship of God is according to the Truth and Practice of the Saints of old And so it might be said of the Saints and of Paul when he was converted and turned from the Jews Worship that it was a new Religion but it was the mighty Power of God that changed them though many in that day opposed them And so we say Force now with Prisons and carnal Weapons is of the same nature as it was formerly in the Papists and others for they said they had a Law and they were the true Church and they forced about Religion and killed many and now here is but the same Argument The Law saith so and so Therefore we see the same Nature forcing now as formerly as it 's said He that was born after the Flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now And for being of a Hundred Years standing this adds no strength to it at all for the Jews Religion was far more ancient and yet being in the Persecuting nature and resisting the Holy One and the Just though they professed God with their Mouth yet that would not cover them nor will it cover people now to profess God with their Mouth while they are found in the Nature Steps and Practice of them who Persecuted the Saints and Servants of God in Ages past And for that which is said That we are but of late
Years We say Men are not true Christians by Generation neither by an outward Profession but by an inward Change in the Heart wrought by the Power of God in the Regeneration And so if it be but a few Years in comparison since we or any of us were changed and turned to the Lord yet it was in the time when the Lord was pleased and saw good to visit us and we can truly say it was an acceptable day and time when we were turned from Darkness to the true Light and from the power of Satan to God And we are glad of it and can say Blessed be the Lord for it if it had been but yesterday that any of us were renewed in the Spirit of our minds to God for it is matter of Joy to us that the Lord hath gathered us in our day and time from off the barren Mountains into his Fold to wait upon him and to receive teaching and satisfaction from him This is far more to us to know the Lord changing us in our day and bringing us to know the things that pertain to our everlasting Peace than to have a large Profession of the Saints Words and yet to be out of the Saints Life and out of the way where true Peace and Rest is found to the Soul and so the Lord having manifested his Truth to us and brought us into the Religion in which he manifests his Presence to us we are content to wait in the Will of the Lord and may not forsake our Religion nor the Assembling of our selves together because Man saith to the contrary but walk according to the Gift of God by which only it is that true and faithful Service is performed unto him 4. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord that our Consciences may be kept clear towards him that we may have the answer of a good Conscience towards God which if we should walk contrary to that which the Lord hath made manifest here would be shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience for so it was formerly if any forsook the Lord and his Truth after they had tasted of his good Word if they fell away from that which they had once known and professed of the Truth and Gospel of Jesus they made shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and then they could not have the answer of a good Conscience neither had they Peace with God and what remained if they continued so but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and fiery Indignation which will devour And therefore we knowing the preciousness of the answer of a good Conscience towards God do prize it and esteem it as a Jewel of great worth and we may not forsake the Way of the Lord wherein we have the answer of a good Conscience because of outward Force and go into that in which we should suffer Anguish and have a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and a sting in our own Consciences therefore we can put it to all who fear the Lord to judge of if it be not safe for us to abide in the Way of the Lord and to be faithful to him though we may meet with Sufferings in this World. 5. Again we meet together in the Fear of the Lord and own the doctrine of Christ to live in it because we are perswaded in the Fear and Power of the Lord God of Life who is our strength that nothing shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord the Love of God is so Comfortable and his Favours is so refreshing to us and the Testimony of his Spirit is so satisfactory in our Hearts that we are perswaded nothing will be able to separate us our Strength is in the Lord and he is all-sufficient to keep us through all by his mighty Power unto the end waiting upon him and abiding in his Power he is able to save to the uttermost and this were the Saints formerly perswaded off that nothing should be able to separate them from the Love of God and they met with many hardships and were oftentimse cruelly intreated and shamefully handled as the Scriptures declare yet through all the Lord was with his people and comforted their hearts in their following of him and the Love of God abounded to them and in them and they were Conquerors through him that loved them Now if any at that time denyed the Truth for fear of man or any other thing they came to suffer in their hearts and to feel sorrow in their inward man for when iniquity enters into the heart it darkens the understanding and also the creature loseth the sence of the Love of God and if there be not Repentance and a returning unto the Lord Iniquity grows more strong and love grows cold in such and the heart grows worse and worse and is hardned by degrees against the Lord and his people and then there is a separation from the Love of God and the feeling and earnest of sorrow and tribulation upon every one that doth evil therefore we are perswaded that it is safe for us to wait upon the Lord in the way which he hath made manifest unto us that so we may receive the Power to renew our strength that we may walk on in the Path of Life and nothing separate us from the Love of God which we have in Christ Jesus Shall tribulation or affliction or Principalities or Powers separate us from the Love of God Shall force by carnal weapons or Prisons cause us to deny that which God hath made manifest unto us Is there Powers against us Thrones against us well this is safe for us to abide in the counsel of God that we may always feel his Love in our hearts and if we suffer let us suffer here because of our faithfulness to the Lord If we must go to Prison let us stand in the Power of God that his Love and Life blessing and heavenly Presence may be with us Better to suffer outwardly in Prisons and Holes and have the Love and presence of the Lord with us then to disobey the Lord and walk contrary to his gift and so suffer inward anguish and sorrow of heart and some thing separate us from the Love of God and then who can speak peace to us if the Lord speak trouble but if the Lord speak peace it 's no matter though man may speak trouble though the wrath of man may rise high yet he that doth whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth he can make it to turn to his Praise and the rest of it he will restrain and blessed are they that have the Lord with them on their side he speaks peace to them in the midst of all his love refresheth our Hearts and so to put all out of doubt we are perswaded in the Power of the Lord that nothing will be able to separate us from the Love which we have in our Saviour and here it
is good to abide and not to give one Foot back to give any ground unto the Enemy but to continue where the Love of God is with us and his blessed Presence with us comforting our Hearts which people do not find with them in disobedience walking and acting contrary to what the Lord hath made manifest to them and so we can put it to the Consciences of all People who have any sence of the Love of God in their Hearts Whether it can be safe for us to forsake the Way of peace and rest which God hath made manifest unto us and in which we have the Love of God with us and to go into a Way by force into which the Spirit of the Lord doth not lead us where we shall find anguish and sorrow and something separating us from the Love of God and where God would not speak peace to us but trouble surely we are perswaded to abide in that which the Lord hath made manifest to us and our faith is in the Power of God that nothing will be able to separate us from the Love of God. 6. Again we are perswaded to continue in the Way of Truth meeting together in the Fear of the Lord to serve him because we find the Lord requireth of us to bear a faithful Testimony and witness to his Name and Truth which he hath made known to us at this day and though man require the contrary and would force us to yeild yet we may not deny the Lord and his Truth but must bear witness to his Name in obedience to his Will for we are not our own but the Lords neither must we serve our selves nor do our own will nor the wills of others whose will is not according to the Will of God but we must serve the Lord and be faithful to him and we see we cannot serve two Masters nor cannot be partakers of the Love of God if we be in the love of the World and fâ—llow after the lusts of it and if we love any thing more than Christ we should not be true Disciples and Followers of him And if it be objected Why cannot you do as men would have you What God knows your Hearts and you may keep yuor Hearts to your selves and conform outwardly for all that It 's answered Nay we cannot because God requireth it of us to bear witness to his Name and Truth and we may not deal doubly or deceitfully in shewing that before men which we are not in our Hearts to God for the People that God hath formed to himself must shew forth his praise And though it be true that God knows the Heart of every one yet lie looks for Fruit also to be brought forth that we may be glorified It is recorded in the Scriptures that there were many occasions sought against Daniel but they could find none against him except it were concerning the Law of his God and they that hated him consulted to get a Decree that none should ask any Petition of God or man for thirty dayes save of the King if he did he was to be cast into the Den of Lyons and the Decree was sealed according to the Law of the Meades and Persians Now it cannot be denied but Daniel might have prayed to God in his heart and his evil-wishers have known little of it but he was taught by the Lord to pray openly and to confess unto him that he was great mighty and powerful And so though the Decree was sealed he as if he regarded it to not went and prayed to his God three times a day upon his knees with his Window open and his face towards Jerusalem and so held forth his Testimony and bore witness to the Lord that he was worthy to be sought unto and that he was not to be limited by an outward Decree though a strong one from praying and calling upon the Name of the Lord and the Lord vvas vvith him and though he suffered the adventure of being cast into the Lyons Den yet the God of Heaven was his Preserver and he held forth a precious Testimony and God was much glorified for it was said yea and proclaimed through many Nations that all should fear and worship the God of Daniel for there was no other God that could save in such sort And also the three Children that would not bow though the King had commanded it that when the Voice of the Musick was heard all should bow to the Image which he had set up yet they would not obey for it was contrary to the Law of their God and great Wrath was against them and the Furnace was very Hot yet the Lord saved them and they bore a precious Testimony to the Lord in Obedience to his Law and the Lord was much Glorified and was proclaimed through many Nations to be the onely and true God and the King himself did praise and honour and extol the God of Heaven all whose Works are Truth and his Wayes Judgement and those who walk in Pride he is able to abase But now if any should say These were Heathen Kings and so not to be obeyed It 's answered They are more excusable therefore than those that in words prosess themselves Christians and own Scriptures and the Saints practice and yet are found persecutthose who live in the Power of the Lord and forcing by pains and penalties not according to but quite contrary to the Practice of the Saints whose Words they profess and are found in the very steps of them who persecuted the Saints and Servants of God as the Scriptures testifie and are so far from the Doctrine of Christ as to forgive Trespasses and to do as they would be done unto and to love Enemies and to pray for them that Persecute them that they do absolutely Trespass against them who give them no just occasion and do to others as they would not be done unto were it their case and let God's Witness judge and doth even hate and cruelly handle their Friends who wish them well from their Hearts and presecute them who pray for them And surely for these things will the Lord Visit and in the mean time we find that the Lord requireth it of us to be faithful to him in what he hath made manifest unto us that we may bear a true Testimony and faithful Witness to the Truth and for the Lord that he may glorifie himself by us for we are not our own but his who hath formed us and called us to follow him And therefore let the wise in Heart judge Can it be safe for us to lose our Testimony and to cease following the Lord and living in that which he hath made known unto us to his mind and will concerning us in which we have the Arm and Power of the Lord with us and him to take our parts and to go to that which he hath not called us unto where we could bear no Testimony for him for he that goes from the Truth
largely discourse of things relating to Religion and the Duties thereof in so much that amongst a Society then gathered or separated from the common National way of Worship he became an eminent Teacher and highly esteemed of amongst them and not only so but many times he would have gone to Chappels or the Parish Steeple house where there was some Idle Sottish Priests and there would have Preached and abundance of People was taken and affected with him and in great Multitudes would have flocked after him Now being grown upward of twenty years of Age he took to Wife a Sober Vertuous and Religious Maid of the same Separated Society called Ann Newby of Kendal and the Lord made them a great Comfort and Blessing each to other while they both lived together which was about thirteen years Since the Death of her Husband the Lord by his Providence hath Blessed me with the enjoyment of her being given me to Wife But in the fulness of God's appointed time as aforesaid the Lord sent his Messenger and Servant George Fox and by the Message of Life by him Preached in the Demonstration of the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ This John Audland was reached the first time that ever he heard him and he received George Fox into his House being fully satisfied that he was one that possessed what he himself had but a notion and profession of and then by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the Light of God's eternal day he came to see the emptiness of his great Profession and high flown Notion and that all his own Righteousness was but as filthy Raggs Dross and Dung so that he sat down in silence and astonishment like Job for many daies and great and weighty was the Work of the Lord upon his Spirit being as a Man stript of all his earthly Wisdom and his Profession being confounded and brought to nought under the exercise of the Hand of the Lords Power he did Mourn and Weep bitterly biding adieu adieu to all the World and all the empty Professions therein a great Hunger and Thirst the Lord having raised in his Heart and Soul for a Saviour one of a Thousand that could give a Ransom for his Soul and redeem him from the Pit of Corruption for he saw all his great Profession all his Wisdom and Knowledge could not help him but it was the Lord alone that his Soul Thirsted for who heard his Cries and Mourning in a time acceptable and in a day of great compassion and revealed his saving Health and redeeming Arm of eternal Power in alarge measure by which he raised him up fitting and filling him with all Wisdom and Strength for the performance of that Work and Service that the Lord had predestinated himfor and to be concerned in to the Glory of his eternal Name in gathering home the out-casts of Israel and the dispersed of Jacob who had been held under a strange King in great and most grievous Bondage to which Work the Lord in a short time called him anointing him to Preach and Publish Redemption in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Poor and deliverance to the Captive exile the Year of Jubile And the day of Vengeance upon the Wicked in which Work he was found faithful being filled with power and might from on high and girded with the strength of the Almighty And leaving all outward concerns and enjoyments he faithfully Travelled through many parts of the Nation and the Dread Wisdom and Majesty of the eternal God was with him and the mighty and high exalted ones bowed before the Lord and his Power in all places wherever the Lord called him and many Hundreds were Convinced and turned to God through him as a chosen Vessel and prepared Instrument in the Hand of the Lord of Hosts Glory Glory to God for ever saith my Soul The blessed remembrance of this mighty and notable day of the Lord and the splendant breaking forth of his Glory in the Morning thereof in this Nation often and at this time breaks my Heart and makes my Spirit rejoyce in the God of my Salvation and his eternal Power and Presence that was with this and other of his faithful Servants in the first Publishing of the Gospel in this our day can never be forgotten by many but the great and blessed Work that the Lord hath wrought by the Arm of his holy Power revealed in and through his Servants is greatly to be admired for ever for many thousands of his Israel hath the Lord gathered and brought home that were afar of and hath given them a City with Foundations whose Walls and Bulwarks is Salvation in which Praises waits for him and is sounded sorth unto the Lord and the Lamb that sits upon the Throne Reigns for ever more As he was diligent and laborious in the Work and Service of the Lord in many parts of the Nation so was he furnished for that Service as the effects and Fruits thereof hath abundantly demonstrated in many places where the Lord made him as a Father through the Word of his Power and Spirit to beget and turn many to God but most especially in and about Bristol and several Counties in the West of England where many can speak and bear Testimony to the effectual working of that Word of Reconciliation that God had given him to publish by which they were turned from Darkness to the blessed Light thereof In those Countries and many others his Labours and Travels were great being often accompanied by my Father John Camm as long as he had strength outwardly to Travel their Hearts being firmly knit together as David and Jonathan by the Bond of unspeakable Love their very Lives being endearedly bound up in each other in which Bond of Love their Unity was kept inviolated unto the end whereby their Labours and Travels together were-very comfortable and joyous being perfectly of one heart and spirit and minding the same things the glory of God and the gathering of his Israel in which Service they spent their daies strength After my Father John Camm grew weak of Body and at last was taken away Oh how John Audland would often bemoan the loss of so dear a Companion and faithful Brother he being left behind to bear the Burthen of many weighty Travels and Concerns yet through and over all the Lord assisted him to the end I was from my Child-hood very intimately acquainted with him and loved him with a Brotherly Love before we were brought into the blessed Way and Life of Truth as now revealed after which we became more inwardly acquainted and endearedly bound up together in a more Heavenly and Spiritual relation the Fellowship therein being our Life and Joy and therefore can give a certain account of the Gift and Graces of God by which he was adorned and beautified inwardly and outwardly He was a Man beloved of God and all good Men and esteemed of by most that knew him of a
his Power will descend wonderfully in an increasing manner and his Glory will shine his River of Life flow yea rhe Spring of the great deep will be broken up and the Windows of Heaven will be opened that you may be abundantly filled with Joy and Thanksgivings holy Renown and Songs of deliverance with spiritual high Praises ascending his Throne which will be as sweet Incense and a Sacrifice acceptable to our God. And here you shall spend the residue of your days in Dominion over both the Snares of the Enemy attending Prosperity and Liberty Adversity and Persecution seeing over all things that have their rise in Mortality and Time feeling Mortality swallowed up of Life immortal and so gathered to the general Assembly to the Church of the first born to the Spirits of just Men made perfect yea to the first and last God the Judge of all to whom be immortal high Praises and holy Renown for ever and for evermore But if the wonderful Blessings tender Mercies and following loving Kindnesses that the Lord God Almighty every way extends unto us in this Age be not duely reverently and obediently taken notice of but instead thereof any shall forsake and be unmindful of the Lords tender Mercies and thereby imbrace lying Vanities going out of the spiritual Diligence into a spiritual Idleness through which a spiritual Slumber overtakes and the Lamp thereby be inwardly neglected the spiritual Watch and Cross slighted and not duely regarded but the Earth and earthly things take up the exercise of the Mind and Affections Then I say instead of injoying what is above expressed Tribulation and Anguish will seize upon all such and the dreadful Judgement of the eternal God that lives for ever and ever will overtake all such unfaithfulness A dreadful Cup ye shall drink of from the Hand of God and distress from the rebukes of the Lord shall distress you and you shall be numbred amongst the people of his Indignation in his dreadful approaching day of signal pleadings with all Flesh that have corrupted its way before him and therefore hear fear and dread the holy Name of the Lord and whilest it s called to day bow before him and speedily return unto him least your day pass over and ye sleep the Sleep of eternal Death and Destruction and be separated for ever from his refreshing Presence in which is Life and from the glory of his divine Power Therefore all dear Friends every where retire inwardly see feel and understand the Counsel of the Lord which unto you springs all retire inward that are not there in great humility before the Lord that you may feel the blessed Work of God blessedly begun perfecting your inward man growing in the Root of Life and as you have professed the Knowledge of a spiritual Oracle before the Nations you may approve your selves in the sight of God following its Instructions in all things and go not without it lean upon the Lord and cry to him to gu de you with his Eye and lead you by his Arm and so guide you in the way everlasting and this is his promise whilest you keep with him he will be with you never leaving nor forsaking you if you do not leave and forsake him his Presence and glorious Arm of Salvation shall surround you to the renown of his Name and consolation of his People Amen Amen C. Marshall The Several BOOKS EPISTLES Written By those Two Faithful Servants of the LORD John Camm and John Audland John Camm to O. Cromwell ON the last day of the first Moneth called March about two of the Clock in the Morning I was moved of the Lord to write these ensuing Lines and to lay before thee the cause of our coming hither to London Friend we came not to thee to Petition any thing from thee in the outward but in the tender Bowels of Love to exhort thee to mind thy own condition how thou standest in relation to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth who is Powerful and Pure and Holy who will not acquit the Wicked but will wound the hairy scalp of him who goes on in iniquity before whose Presence all stands naked and bare who knows and sees all the secrets of thy Heart thy out-goings and in-comings to whom thou must give account of all things done in the Body whether they be good or evil Therefore in love to thy Soul were we moved to come to exhort thee to stand in the fear of the Lord and in his Counsel and to mind the Light in thy Conscience which is puâ—e and oâ— God to guide thee in the great Affairs of the Nations for to keep in his fear is safe for dreadful and terrible will the day of the Lord be to all who are found out of his fear and acting in their own wills and bounding and limiting the Spirit of the Lord and walking contrary to the pure Law of God the Light in their Consciences And we knowing the Terrors of the Lord were moved to exhort thee in love to thy Soul for the righteous Seeds sake which lies in bondage every where under the oppressing nature that thou might'st be an Instrument in the Lords Hand to take off Oppression from of the necks of the â—eople and to remove their Yoke which hath been promised long and now the power is in thy Hand and thou must give an account to the Lord how thou hast Ruled for him for the mighty day of the Lord is come and is coming wherein all Faces shall gather blackness it is a day of Darkness of bitter Lamentation and Woe at whose Presence the Mountains shall melt and the Hills shall tumble down before him and all the tall Cedars shall bow and the strong Okes shall be broken down and the Roofs rent and the Earth shall remove out of its place it s a day wherein the Lord will plead with all Flesh with his Sword and with Fire In which day the Lofty shall be brought down and the Lord alone exalted which day we witness fulfilled in us in measure Praises Praises to the Lord God for evermore And therefore Friend we having this Testimony made manifest in us by the eternal Spirit of God we declare this unto thee that thou mayest not be found acting against the Truth for they who are guided by the Spirit of God will do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth By which Spirit we are gathered out of the World up to God and have escaped the Polutions of the World and by it we are brought in obedience to the pure Law of God which is written in our Hearts and his Spirit within us is our Teacher and so we deny all the teachings of Men who have not this Law and Spirit to guide them and for so doing we suffer by them who are not guided by that Spirit For my Sheep know my Voice saith Christ and they follow me and will not follow a Stranger and we know the voice of Christ