For he found case in being so to me and said when I was released he would ask no fees And at the Assizes we were called before the Judge and the Power and Presence of the Lord was so with us that when the Judge examined us many times he would turn his Face another way and he set all Friends at Liberty but me and there I remained three weeks and I wrote to the Justice that did commit me to Prison for by him I was commâ—ted and I laid it upon him to release me and at the three weeks end he sent for me and I met him in the Street as I was going to his House and he looked cheerfully on me and I am perswaded the Lord did plead my cause with him and he demanded of me that if I would promise to come again at the Assizes I should have my Liberty And I said if I had my Health and Liberty I should appear again at the Assizes When the Assizes came I did appear and sent to him that I was come to answer what was laid against me he sent me word again there was nothing laid against me I might go which way I would so I went to the Goaler and he desired me that if I came into that Town I would call upon him and see him for he had a love for me and after that time the Goaler was very loving to Friends who had been very wicked before Blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth for evermore who by his blessed power has made our Enemies become our Friends I with John Moon appointed a Meeting in Wiltshire near to the Vizes where many Friends and People of the World came to our Meeting and two Justices of Peace hearing of it came to our Meeting and broke it up and took the names of most part of Friends that were there and let them all go but John Moon and me and three other Friends and they took us to a House by our selves and examined us The one of the Justices was a Royalist and the other a Turn-Coat a deceitful Man they made a Mittimus to send us to the House of Correction for three Months and when they had done we who were Committed were filled with the Power and Presence of the Lord exceedingly and I said to the Justices Friends I am one that believes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and better it were for you that a Milstone were hanged about your Neck and you be cast into the Sea than to offend one of the little ones that believe in his Name And so we went to the House of Correction and the Man that was the Master of it in a little time became exceeding loving and we had very many pretious Meetings while we were there and many Friends came to visit us And in that time the Justice that had been a Turn-Coat being a Parliament Man went up to London and as he returned home again he Dyed I never saw his Face more We did understand by their Speeches when they examined us that they did intend to profer us the Oath at the three Months end and so to continue us Prisoners but the Lord prevented them and so the keeper of the Prison according to the command of the Justices when the three Months were up sent to know what he should do with us the Man that was a Steward to that great Man who was a Royalist perswaded him to let us go for we were honest Men and through the mercy and goodness of the Lord their snare was broken and we were delivered Blessed be the Name the Lord God for evermore And since that time I have travelled and laboured in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many parts of England and thrice through the most part of Ireland where I have found the blessed presence of the Lord to go along with me and have had a good service for the Lord. And also I went to the West Indies to Barbados with George Fox and other Friends and the power and presence of the Lord was largely manifest with us and over us and many were wonderfully refreshed and comforted and many turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the power of Satan to Christ And I and William Edmundson went down to Anlego where we had several pretious Meetings and many believed and received our Testimony with gladness of heart we also went down to Mevis to visit Friends in that Island and when we came there an Old Persecutor called Wheeler sent eight Souldiers aboard the Vessel to stop us from coming on Shore for many Friends of that place came to visit us and were refreshed abundantly though he was wicked to hinder us to come a shore to see Friends So we returned again to Anlego and had some Meetings there and then returned again to Barbades And I being long upon the Sea was very weak and few Friends did expect that I should live I was giving up freely to stand in the will of God for Life or Death and as I was waiting on the Lord one Morning in my Bed to know his Mind and Will the word of the Lord came to me and broke my heart in great tenderness and said to me lie low before me thou shalt not die in this Island but return to thine own Nation and there thou shalt lay down thy Head in Peace And thus the Lord hath dealt Mercifully and Bountifully with me in all my Travels and Labours in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus his power and presence hath attended and been with me Blessed and Praised and Magnified be his holy Name for evermore Amen IN the forty third year of my Age I was convinced and in the Year of our Lord God 1653. I was drawn out to go from my dwelling Place to declare the everlasting Gospel in most parts of this Nation and these were the words given unto me that John spoke in the Revelations saying The Angel flying in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach again saying fear God and give Glory to him and give over Worshipping the Beast and Worship him that made Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of the great Deep for the hour of his Judgment is come and coming upon all false ways and worship for God who is a Spirit will be worshipped in the Spirit and the Truth and such he hath sought and is seeking to worship him And this is that worship that will stand with Christ Jesus set up Sixteen hundred years ago when he reasoned with the Woman of Samaria saying Neither at this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem will the Father be Worshipped but true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and in the power of the Lord was I carried on to declare the Truth through this Nation and other parts who preserved me and kept me in all my Travels by his mighty power to him be Glory Honour and Praise for ever and for evermore Amen
of time and he bore Testimony for the Truth a full hour or more on the first day before he departed which was on the 4th day after which is all from thy loving Friend John Kennerley NOw concerning our Dear Friend and Brother in the Lord Thomas Briggs who travelled in the Service and Work of God above thirty years and bore Witness both of Christs Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension and to the pure Religion that keeps from the Spots of the World and to the Worship of God that Christ set up in the Spirit and Truth and had a zeal for the living God against all Loosness and Debauchery and Deceit and Hypocricy and all unrighteousness and Ungodliness and Profaneness and such as made a profession of God and Christ and did not walk according to their Profession and was zealous for a pure holy life against all Profaneness in Professors and Profane and could not sow Pillows under the Arm-holes of Hypocricys Apostates Backsliders Disemblers and Flatterers with their fair Speeches that had got a form of Godliness but denied the power thereof for such to lie soft upon But from such he always turned away according to the Apostles Doctrine and gave Gods Judgment upon them that such might not deceive the Simple being an upright hearted Man for God and Christ and his pure holy Truth and sounded and declared the pure holy day of Christ in whose day no workers of the Night nor Darkness cometh without Repentance and he preached Christ in his days in most Countrys in England and Wales and in Ireland and in Bardados and some of the Cariby Islands and was faithful to the end in the service and work of Christ and finished his service for the Lord in Cheshire where he dyed in the Lord and his works follow him Being a Man of a Blameless life and Conversation which preached to people as well as his Doctrine of Salvation who turned many from the Darkness to the Light and from the power of Satan to God And likewise turned many from their vain Conversation to the Spirit of Grace that brought their Salvation and so to serve God in newness of Life and Spirit and to walk in the new and living way Christ Jesus in whom they have peace with God He was a Man that went through great Sufferings and Imprisonments and Afflictions Especially in the other Powers Days and since for I have seen the Butchers and the Tanners set their Masty Dogs at him when he bath declared to them the Truth of Christ at Salisbury in Suffolk and the Lord chained up the Dogs Mouths that never a one fastened upon him and the outward professors have been worse then the outward Dogs against him But none of all these things could separate him from the Love of God which he had in Christ Jesus who esteemed the reward of Righteousness in Christ Jesus his Crown of life above all his Afflictions and Sufferings who loved the Lord Jesus Christ and his Son and was valiant for his name and pretious truth upon the Earth who laid down his head in peace and is entered into Christ Jesus his everlasting rest in whom he hath peace with God And so blessed are they that die in the Lord as this Faithful Servant of the Lord hath done London the 2d of the 8th Month 1685. G. F. NOw as in Relation to Thomas Briggs deceased before he was convinced of Gods blessed Truth he was in the Notion of outward Profession amongst the Presbiterians and Independants without life and power but after the Lord opened his understanding he came to see the emptiness of it and the Lord brought him very low and bowed him by his power and made him subject unto his will and mind and he was obedient to the Lord as a Child unto a Father and the Lord gave unto him his good Spirit to inable him in his service and to clear his Conscience at Steeple-houses and Market Places to them and all People and then they rose up in great Rage against him as the Jews did against Paul he was a Man of Sorrows and was in several Prisons and fastings often yet he gave Bread to the Hungry Milk unto the Babes and stronger Meat to them that were of ripers years he had still in the word and Doctrine of Christ Jesus who made him a Minister of Righteousness Peace and Good Will He was a man for Peace among his Brethren a true Labourer in the work of the Lord and did continue to the end steadfast in the Faith without wavering and he rejoyced to see the increase of Labourers in the Vine-yard of the Lord he brought up his Children to be good servants who were not accused of Riot nor of ill Carriage and when they grew to riper age they marryed with equal Yoak fellows and partners in the Truth and grace of God and he hath left them a blessing behind him and a good example he was to them and to the Flock and Family of God In life and Conversation in Sufferings and Afflictions whom the Lord was with and bore him up in all his Tryals and now hath taken him unto himself where no unclean thing can come to rest from all his Labours and his works follow him for a sweet savour hath he left behind him as many can testify who hath been refreshed and comforted by him and a good report he had of them that were without for his life was pure and harmless and they are blessed that follow the Lord in Faithfulness and Truth as he did to receive a Kingdom that is Eternal and never fades away as the Lord in his Love hath made him partaker of London the 3d. of the 8th Month 1685. Thomas Robertson THE END So he was seventy five Years Old when he wrote this So he Laboured in the Gospel of Christ Jesus 37 Years In Cheshire for worshipping God Namptwhich in Cheshire
My House hath been fined five times by John Daniel called Justice upon the account of the Conventicle Act and goods taken to the value of 50 l. All the rest of my Sufferings are recorded among other Friends both Imprisonments for Tythe c. as may be seen in other Books not here inserted Thomas Briggs George Fox the 8 th of 7 th Month 1684. Dear Friend I Received a few lines from thee and I was very glad to hear from thee for in the remembrance of thee my heart hath often been refreshed and made glad when I called to remembrance those blessed opportunities and heavenly fellowship that we have had together in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which can never be forgotten But remains as a Nail in a sure place Dear Friend though I have not written to thee yet thou hast often been fresh in my remembrance and many a time hath my Soul been sweetly refreshed in the remembrance of thee Oh blessed be the name of the Lord for ever that hath quickened us together for it was the blessed power of the Lord that quickened my Soul when I lay in Death which I believed in and by which I came to live and I have cause for ever to praise the Lord who sent thee to awaken me out of Adams Grave to hear the voice of his own Son in whom he is well pleased whose voice shoke terribly the Earth and caused the Keepers of the House to tremble and the graves Mouth was opened and the Dead came to hear the voice of the Son of God and believed in him and was made to confess at that time This is the power of that endless life that healed all manner of sickness and diseases so with the heart of Man believeth unto Righteousness and with the Mouth confession is made unto Salvation this was that joyful day indeed of the Lord God which is never to be forgotten by me but to be had in everlasting Remembrance Praise thou the Lord O my Soul and all that is within praise and Magnify his holy Name and power for evermore Amen Amen faith my Soul So dear George in the blessed truth of God my dear love is to thee and I take my leave of thee not knowing that ever I shall see thy face more for I am grown Old and very weak not able to go nor ride not two Miles from my Daughters where I live near Namptwhich so with my Dear love to all my Dear Friends to Dear John Elson and his wife where I lay I rest thy loving Friend and Brother in the Truth Thomas Briggs UPon the 18th of the third Month 1685. A deep Consideration being upon my mind Concerning my late Father Thomas Briggs it sprung up in my heart on this wise Blessed be that Instrument of life by which my Father was convinced let his name shine for ever It was dear G. F. whom the Lord made instrumental in that blessed work of whose Ministry and Apostleship my deceased Father was a seal of whom it lives in my heart thus to say He was a Man of great Exercises in his days which he patiently went thorow he was brought forth in a time when much roughness and cruelty by the men of this World used against the Lords People a great share of it he met withal of which I am a witness for his servant in the beginning lying pretty much to the Steeple-house and Market-place the abuses he suffered were very great and too many to instance yet two particular things of which I was an eye witness are fresh in me to utter forth viz. One time being at a Steeple-house he suffered great abuses after which a Man took hold of a handful of the hair of his Head and having bound him did smite his head against a stone till the hair came off in his hand which my Father bore patiently and when the Man threw the handful of hair upon the ground my Father took it up in his hand and mildly said One hairs of my head shall not fall without my Fathers providence another time standing upon the uppermost step of Lancaster Cross publishing the truth to the People he was violently thrown down to the bottom and many exercises of the like nature he met withall in all which he was as one that gave his back to the Smiter and turned not his Face away from such as pulled off the hair He was a tender Father to me and the worst of his Children an instrument in Gods hand by whom we were convinced his wise circumspect walking was that which first reached me and with much tenderness and care watchings and many several breathings to the Lord for us he brought us up in the fear of God and we are sealers of his Ministry both as to Doctrin and God and he hath many sealers of his Apostleship and Ministry and this Testimony lives in my heart for him he was Father in all his House and Family he kept his integrity to the end and was frequent in exhortation to us his Children to love truth and live up to it the benefit of which exhortation we now receive Blessed be the Name of the Lord. The sence of this Godly care rests upon me to whom in a day of great exercises he was a true Prophet surely although he be removed and taken out of the World being gone to the Father to partake of endless Glory and everlasting joy all Sorrows being ended and tears wiped away and we have the want of him here and suffer the loss of such benefits as we had whilst conversant here together received by him as an instrument in Gods hand yet his life is with us and among us his memorial lives and shall never dye and since it hath pleased God to take him to himself in his good pleasure I do acquiesce in God being comforted believing and being satisfied that if I keep my integrity and be faithful to the end as he was I shall in the Lords time go to him and receive a crown of life with him which God of his infinite love grant to me and to his whole Israel Amen Sanky the 2d of the 2d Month 1685. Deborah Barrow Loving Friend John Hall The 2d of the 9th Month 1685. AS concerning our dear Friend Thomas Briggs he did powerfully declare in our Meeting on the first day and was as large in his Testimony as I had heard him for some time and I really believe it was very well with him only he confessed he was weak and said to his Daughter and others Be not afraid I am not so Ill as you think I am he was not well on the third day and departed on the fourth day after and went away like a Lamb. He powerfully Preached the word of God on the first day before which my Spirit had Unity with Exhorting Eriends to be faithful to God he was a faithful Man and my Soul was Refreshed with him at that juncture