yet therein do they exercise themselves to have always a Conscience void of Offence towards God and Man as ye may read the Saints of Old did Acts 24.14 15 16. not wronging any Man neither giving any just Cause of Offence only being obedient to the Commands of the Lord to declare as they are moved by the Holy Ghost and standing for the Testimony of a Good Conscience speaking the Truth in Christ their Consciences bearing them witness that they lie not For this do they suffer under you who in Words profess the same thing for which they suffer Now see if any Age or Generation did ever persecute as ye do For ye profess Christ Jesus who Reveals the Father and persecute them that witness the Revelation of the Father by Christ Jesus unto them Ye profess Christ Jesus who is the Light of the World that enlightens every one that cometh into the World and yet persecute them that bear Witness and give Testimony to this Light Ye profess that the Word is become Flesh and yet persecute them that witness it so Ye profess that whosoever confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is an Antichrist and yet persecute them that do Confess him come in the Flesh and call them Antichrists and Deceivers Ye profess that the Kingdom of Christ is come and yet persecute them that witness it come Ye profess Christ Jesus the Resurrection and the Life and yet persecute them that witness him to be so If ye say How shall we know that these People who say they witness these things do so or no I answer Turn your Minds to the Light which Christ Jesus hath enlightned you withal which is one in all and if ye walk in the Light ye shall have the Light of Life and then ye will know and see what ye have done who have persecuted the Lord of Glory in his People in whom is Life and the Life is the Light of Men. To no other Touchstone shall we turn you but into your own Consciences and there shall ye find the Truth of what we have declared unto you and of what we bear Testimony to according to the Holy Scriptures And when the Books of Consciences are opened and all judged out of them then shall ye Witness us to be of God and our Testimony to be true though now ye may stop your Ears and harden your Hearts while it is called to day But then ye shall know what ye have done and whom ye have transgressed against and then ye will see that no Persecutors in any Age or Generation that ever went before you did ever Transgress against that Light and Measure of God made manifest in such manner as ye have done For though Christ and the Apostles were persecuted in their times the Jews for the most part of them did not know that he was the Christ when he came notwithstanding that they had the Scriptures which prophesied of him neither did they believe that he was Risen again when the Apostles preached his Resurrection But ye say Ye believe he is come and ye say Ye believe his Resurrection and yet ye persecute those that witness him come in the Flesh those that are buried with him in Baptism those that are conformable to his Death and know the Power of his Resurrection those ye persecute those ye hale before Magistrates and suffer to be beaten in your Synagogues those ye cause to be whipt and stock't and shamefully entreated and into Prison cast and kept as many Goals in this Nation at this day testifie to your Faces Therefore honestly consider what ye are doing while ye are taking notice of others Cruelties lest ye over-look your own There is some difference in many things between the Popish Religion and that which ye call the Protestant but in this Persecution of yours there is no difference For ye will Confess that the Foundation of your Religion is grounded upon the Scriptures and yet now ye are persecuting them that be in the same Life which they were in who spake forth the Scriptures your selves being the mean while under a Profession of the Words they spake and this ye shall one day witness So ye have a Profession and Form and persecute them that are in the Possession Life and Power Therefore know assuredly that ye must come to Judgment for he is made manifest to whom all Judgment is committed Therefore to the Light of Christ Jesus in your Consciences which searcheth and trieth you turn your Minds and stand still and wait there to receive the Righteous Law which is according to that of God in the Conscience which is now rising and is bearing witness against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men and they whom ye persecute are manifest to God and that of God in all Consciences shall bear witness for us that we are of God And this ye shall one day witness whether ye will hear or forbear Our Rejoycing is in the Testimony of our Consciences that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity not with Fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World not handling the Word of God deceitfully but in the Manifestation of the Truth commending our selves to every Man's Conscience in the sight of God and if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost And for the witnessing the holding the Mystery of Faith in a pure Conscience do we suffer and are subject for Conscience sake This is thank-worthy if a Man for Conscience sake endure Griefs and Suffering wrongfully And in this is our Joy and Rejoicing having a good Conscience that whereas we are evil spoken of as Evil-Doers they may be ashamed that falsly accuse our good Conversation in Christ which is not only the putting away of the Filth of the Flesh but the Answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ And this we Witness made manifest Eternal Praises to the Living God and bear Testimony to that which spake it in the Apostle in Life and Power And therefore do we bear witness and testifie against those who being got into a Form and Profession of it do persecute the Life and Power Therefore to the Eternal Light of Christ Jesus the Searcher and Trier of all Hearts turn your Minds and see what ye are doing lest ye overturn your Foundation and Bottom whereon ye pretend to stand while ye are professing the Scriptures and persecuting the Life Light and Power which they were in who gave them forth For the Stone cut out of the Mountains without Hands is now striking at the Feet of the Image the Profession which is set up and stands in the Will of Man Now is that made manifest unto which all must answer and appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord
your Principle and then you will sell your Coat and buy a Sword and Fight for the Kingdom of Christ Answ As for this we say to you that Christ said to Peter Put up thy Sword in his place though he had said before he that had no Sword might sell his Coat and buy one to the fulfilling of the Law and Scripture yet after when he had bid him put it up he said He that taketh the Sword shall perish with the Sword And further Christ said to Pilate Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve Legions of Angels And this might satisfie Peter Luke 22.36 after he had put up his Sword when he said to him He that took it should perish by it which satisfieth us Mat. 26.51 52 53. And in the Revelation it 's said He that kills with the Sword shall perish with the Sword and here is the Faith and the Patience of the Saints And so Christ's Kingdom is not of this World therefore do not his Servants Fight as he told Pilate the Magistrate who Crucified him and did they not look upon Christ as a Raiser of Sedition and did not he say Forgive them But thus it is that we are numbred amongst Transgressors and numbred amongst Fighters 1660. London that the Scriptures might be fulfilled That Spirit of Christ by which we are guided is not changeable so as once to command us from a thing as Evil and again to move unto it and we do certainly know and so testifie to the World That the Spirit of Christ which leads us into all Truth will never move us to Fight and War against any Man with outward Weapons neither for the Kingdom of Christ nor for the Kingdoms of this World First Because the Kingdom of Christ God will exalt according to his Promise and cause it to grow and flourish in Righteousness Not by Might nor by Power of outward Sword but by my Spirit saith the Lord Zech. 4.6 So those that use any Weapon to Fight for Christ or for the establishing of his Kingdom or Government both the Spirit Principle and Practice in that we deny Secondly We do earnestly desire and wait That by the Word of God's Power and its effectual Operation in the Hearts of Men the Kingdoms of this World may become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ that he might Rule and Reign in Men by his Spirit and Truth that thereby all People out of all different Judgments and Professions might be brought into Love and Vnity with God and one with another and that they might all come to witness the Prophets Words who said Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation neither shall they learn War any more Isa 2.4 Mich. 4.3 So we whom the Lord hath called into the Obedience of his Truth have denied Wars and Fightings and cannot again any more learn it And this is a certain Testimony unto all the World of the Truth of our Hearts in this particular that as God perswadeth every Man's Heart to believe so they may receive it For we have not as some others gone about cunningly with devised Fables nor have we ever denied in Practice what we have professed in Principle but in Sincerity and Truth and by the Word of God have we laboured to be made manifest unto all Men that both we and our ways might be witnessed in the Hearts of all People And whereas all manner of Evil hath been falsly spoken of us we hereby speak forth the plain Truth of our Hearts to take away the occasion of that Offence that so we being Innocent may not suffer for other Men's Offences nor be made a Prey upon by the Wills of Men for that of which we were never Guilty but in the Uprightness of our Hearts we may under the Power ordained of God for the Punishment of Evil-doers and for the Praise of them that do well live a peaceable and godly Life in all Godliness and Honesty For although we have always suffered and do now more abundantly suffer yet we know that it 's for Righteousness sake For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Consciences that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World 2 Cor. 1.12 Which for us is a Witness for the convincing of our Enemies For this we can say to all the World we have wronged no Man's Persons or Possessions we have used no Force nor Violence against any Man we have been found in no Plots nor guilty of Sedition when we have been wronged we have not sought to revenge our selves we have not made resistance against Authority but wherein we could not obey for Conscience-sake we have suffered even the most of any People in the Nation We have been counted as Sheep for the Slaughter Persecuted and Despised Beaten Stoned Wounded Stocked Whipped Imprisoned Haled out of Synagogues cast into Dungeons and Noisom Vaults where many have died in Bonds shut up from our Friends denied needful Sustenance for many days together with other the like Cruelties And the Cause of all these our Sufferings is not for any Evil but for things relating to the Worship of our God and in obedience to his Requirings of us For which Cause we shall freely give up our Bodies a Sacrifice rather than disobey the Lord For we know as the Lord hath kept us Innocent so he will plead our Cause when there is none in the Earth to plead it So we in Obedience unto his Truth do not love our Lives unto Death that we may do his Will and wrong no Man in our Generation but seek the Good and Peace of all Men. And he that hath commanded us That we shall not Swear at all Matth. 5.34 hath also commanded us That we shall not Kill Matth. 5. So that we can neither Kill Men nor Swear for nor against them And this is both our Principle and Practice and hath been from the Beginning so that if we suffer as suspected to take up Arms or make War against any it is without any Ground from us For it neither is noâ ever was in our Hearts since we owned the Truth of God neither shall we ever do it because it is contrary to the Spirit of Christ his Doctrine and the Practices of his Apostles even contrary to him for whom we suffer all things and endure all things And whereas Men come against us with Clubs Staves Drawn Swords Pistols cock't and do beat cut and abuse us yet we never resisted them but to them our Hair Backs and Cheeks have been ready But it is not an Honour to Manhoood or Nobility to run upon harmless People who lift not up an Hand against them with Arms and Weapons Therefore consider these things ye Men of Understanding For Plotters Raisers of Insurrections Tumultuous Ones and Fighters running with Swords Clubs Staves and Pistols one
upon his Breast and confess'd What was written therein was Truth but said he if I should confess to it openly they would burn me So John Stubs and Henry Fell not being suffered to go farther returned to England and came to London again And John had a Vision that the English and Dutch who had joined together not to carry them would fall out one with the other And so it came to pass Having now stay'd in London some time I felt drawings to visit Friends in Essex Essex Colchester Cogshall So I went down to Colchester where I had very large Meetings and from thence to Cogshall not far from which there was a Priest Convinced and I had a Meeting at his House And so travelling a little up and down in those Parts and visiting Friends in their Meetings there-aways London I returned pretty quickly to London where I found great Service for the Lord For a large Door was opened and many flocked in to our Meetings and the Lord's Truth spread mightily this Year Yet Friends had great Travels and sore Labours the rude People having been so heightned by the Monarchy-Men's Rising a little before But the Lord's Power was over all and in it Friends had Dominion though we had not only those Sufferings without but Sufferings within also by John Perrot and his Company who giving heed to a Spirit of Delusion sought to introduce and set up among Friends that evil and uncomely Practice of keeping on the Hat in time of publick Prayers Now Friends had spoken to him and divers of his Followers about it and I had written to them concerning it but He and some others rather strengthened themselves against Friends therein Wherefore feeling the Judgment of Truth rise against it I gave forth the following Lines as a Warning to all that were concerned therein WHosoever is tainted with this Spirit of John Perrot it will perish Mark theirs and his End that are turned into those outward things and Janglings about them and that which is not savoury all which is for perpetual Judgment and is to be swept and cleansed out of the Camp of God's Elect. This is to that Spirit that is gone into Jangling about that which is below the Rotten Principle of the old Ranters and gone from the Invisible Power of God in which is the Everlasting Fellowship and so many are become like the Corn on the House-top and like the untimely Figs and now clamour and speak against them that be in the Power of God O consider the Light and Power of God goes over you all and leaves you in the fretting Nature out of the Unity which is in the Everlasting Light Life and Power of God Consider this before the Day be gone from you and take heed that your Memorial be not rooted out from among the Righteous G. F. Among the Exercises and Troubles that Friends had from without one was concerning Friends Marriages which sometimes were ââlled in question And in this Year there happened to be a Cause Tryed at the Assize at Nottingham concerning a Friend's Marriage The Case was thus Some Years before Two Friends were joined together in Marriage amongst Friends and lived together as Man and Wife about two Years Then the Man died leaving his Wife with Child and leaving an Estate in Lands of Copy-hold When the Woman was delivered the Jury presented the Child Heir to its Father's Lands and accordingly the Child was admitted Afterwards another Friend married the Widow And after that a Man that was Near of Kin to her former Husband brought his Action against the Friend that had last married her endeavouring to dispossess them and deprive the Child of the Inheritance and to possess himself thereof as next Heir to the Woman's first Husband And to effect this he endeavoured to prove the Child Illegitimate alledging The Marriage was not according to Law In opening the Cause the Plaintiff's Counsel did use unseemly Words concerning Friends saying That they went together like Brute Beasts with other ill Expressions After the Counsels on both sides had pleaded the Judge viz. Judge Archer took the matter in hand and opened it to the Jury telling them That there was a Marriage in Paradise when Adam took Eve and Eve took Adam and that it was the Consent of the Parties that made a Marriage And for the Quakers he said he did not know their Opinions but he did not believe they went together as Brute Beasts as had been said of them but as Christians and therefore he did believe the Marriage was lawful and the Child lawful Heir And the better to satisfie the Jury he brought them a Case to this purpose A Man that was weak of Body and kept his Bed had a desire in that Condition to Marry and did declare before Witnesses that he did take such a Woman to be his Wife and the Woman declared that she took that Man to be her Husband This Marriage was afterwards called in Question and as the Judge said all the Bishops did at that time conclude it to be a Lawful Marriage Hereupon the Jury gave in their Verdict for the Friend's Child and against the Man that would have deprived it of its Inheritance About this time the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy were tendred unto Friends as a Snare because it was known we could not Swear and thereupon many were Imprisoned and divers Premunired Upon that occasion Friends published in Print the Grounds and Reasons why they refused to swear Besides which I was moved to give forth these few Lines following to be given to the Magistrates THE World saith Kiss the Book But the Book saith Kiss the Son lest he be angry And the Son saith Swear not at all but keep to Yea and Nay in all your Communications for whatsoever is more than this cometh of Evil. Again the World saith Lay your hand on the Book but the Book saith Handle the Word And the Word saith Handle not the Traditions nor the Inventions nor the Rudiments of the World And God saith This is my beloved Son hear him who is the Life and the Truth and the Light and the Way to God G. F. Now there being very many Frionds in Prison in the Nation Richard Hubberthorn and I drew up a Paper concerning them and got it delivered to the King that he might understand how we were dealt with by his Officers It was directed thus For the KING FRiend who art the Chief Ruler of these Dominions here is a List of some of the Sufferings of the People of God in scorn called Quakers that have suffered under the Changeable Powers before thee by whom there have been Imprisoned and under whom there have suffered for good Conscience-sake and for bearing Testimony to the Truth as it is in Jesus Three Thousand One Hundred Seventy Three Persons And there lie yet in Prison in the Name of the Commonwealth Seventy Three Persons that we know of And there have died in Prison
from men and to receive the Gospel from him and their Vnction from him the Word and as they receive him they declare him freely as his Command was to his Disciples and is so still to the Learners and Receivers of him For he Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ is come to teach his People and to bring them from all the Worlds Ways to Christ the Way the Truth and the Life who is the Way to the Father and from all the Worlds Teachers and Speakers to him the Speaker and Teacher as Hebr. 1.1 and from all the Worlds Worshippers to worship God in the Spirit and in the Truth which the Devil the Destroyer is out of which Worship Christ set up above Sixteen hundred years ago when he put down the Jews Worship at the Temple at Jerusalem and the Worship at the Mountain where Jacob's Well was and to bring People from all the World's Religions which they have made since the Apostles days to the Religion that was set up by Christ and his Apostles which is Pure and Undefiled before God and keeps from the Spots of the World And to bring them out of all the Worlds Churches and Fellowships that they have made and set up since the Apostles days to the Church that is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Thess 1.1 and to bring to the Unity and Fellowship in the holy Spirit that doth mortifie and circumcise and baptise to plunge down Sin and Corruption that has got up in Man and Woman by Transgression and in this holy Spirit there is a holy Fellowship and Unity yea it is the Bond of the Prince of Princes and King of Kings and Lord of Lords Peace which heavenly Peace all the true Christians are to maintain with Spiritual Weapons not with Carnal And now my Friend the holy Men of God did speak forth the Scriptures as they were moved by the holy Ghost and all Christendom are on heaps about those Scriptures because they are not led by the same holy Ghost as they were that gave forth the Scriptures which holy Ghost they must come to in themselves and be led by if they come into All the Truth of them and to have the Comfort of God and Christ and Them For none can call Jesus Lord but by the holy Ghost and all they that do call Christ Lord without the holy Ghost take his Name in vain And likewise all that name his Name are to depart from Iniquity then they name his Name with Reverence in Truth and Righteousness And O therefore feel the Grace and Truth in thy heart that is come by Jesus Christ which is a Teacher that will teach thee how to live and what to deny and it will establish thy heart and season thy words and bring thy Salvation and will be a Teacher unto thee at all times and by it thou may'st Receive Christ from whence it comes and as many as Receive him to them he gives power not only to stand against sin and evil but to become the Sons of God if Sons then Heirs of a Life and a World and Kingdom that is Everlasting without end and of the Eternal Riches and Treasures thereof So in haste with my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ that has tasted death for every man and bruises the Serpents head that has been betwixt Man and God that through Christ Man may come to God again and so can praise God through Jesus Christ the Amen who is the spiritual and heavenly Rock and Foundation for all God's People to build upon to the praise and glory of God who is over all blessed for Evermore Amsterdam the 7th of 6th Month 1677. George Fox POSTSCRIPT THE Bearer hereof is a Daughter-in-law of mine that comes with Gertrude Dirick Nieson and George Keith's Wife to give thee a Visit G. F. The Princess Elizabeth her Answer to the aforesaid LETTER Dear Friend I Cannot but have a tender Love to those that love the Lord Jesus Christ and to whom it is given not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him Therefore your Letter and your Friends Visit have been both very welcome to me I shall follow their and your Counsel as far as God will afford me Light and Unction Remaining still Hertfort the 30th of August 1677. Your loving Friend ELIZABETH Buyckslote Purmerent Next day John Claus and I took Boat and passed to Buyckslote and thence to Purmerent where having stayed awhile and refreshed our selves at an Inn we went by Wagon through the Country to Alcmaer Alcmaer about Thirty Miles from Amsterdam We went to a Friend's house there whose name was Willem Willems where I had a Meeting that night I had also another Meeting there next day which was larger for several Professors came to the Meeting and all was quiet and well When the Meeting was done I went and visited some Friends and then taking Boat Hoorn North-Holland passed-by several places to Hoorn which is counted the chief City in North-Holland We lodged at an Inn there that night and taking Wagon again early next Morning we passed through the Country to Enckhuysen Enckhuysen Friezland Workum where we took Ship for Friezland and landing in the Afternoon at Workum took Wagon there again and rode along upon the high Bank of the Friezen Seas till we met Two Friends coming with a Wagon to meet us Mackum with whom discharging our Wagon at Mackum a Village hard by we went Harlingen in their Wagon to Harlingen the chief Sea-port-Town in Friezland We went to a Friend's house whose Name was Hessel Jacobs whither several Friends came to Visit us that night Next day we went among the Friends of the place and Visited them and I wrote a Paper directed To all them that persecute Friends for not observing their Fast-day The day following was the First-day of the Week and Friends had a Meeting there to which we went and many Professors came to it I declared the Everlasting Gospel amongst them John Claus interpreting and they were all very Civil and heard attentively and when the Meeting was done departed peaceably without making any Opposition After Meeting I went to Hessel Jacobs his house again whither after a while came a Calvinist to ask me some Questions which I answered to his satisfaction and he departed friendly Soon after he was gone a Preacher of the Collegians came to discourse with me 1677. Harlingen and he seemed well satisfied also and we parted lovingly That Evening I had another Meeting with the Friends there and next Morning when we had taken our Leave of them we passed to Leuwarden the chief City in Friezland Leuwarden and lodged that night at a Friend's house there whose Name was Sybrand Dowes Next Morning early taking Boat we passed to Dockum Dockum Strobus and walking through the City took Boat again to Strobus which is the utmost part of Friezland There we baited at a
were many loose Spirits there yet they were bound down by the Power and Spirit of the Lord that they could not get up to make disturbance About this time I was moved to write the following Epistle Friends and Brethren WHO have received the peaceable Truth let the fruits of its peaceableness and of your quiet Spirit appear in all your Meetings and in all your Words and Actions for he that inhabits Eternity dwells with an humble heart and he gives Grace to the humble and resisteth the proud Heaven is his Throne and the Earth ye walk upon is his Foot-stool happy are ye that see and know him that is Invisible And now Friends â Let all things be done in your Meetings and otherways in Love without strife or vain-glory For Love fulfils the Law and Love overcomes and edifies the Body of Christ and builds it up and there is neither Self nor Envy in Love neither is it pufft up but abides and bears all things So see that this Love of God have the sway in you all and over you all Christ saith Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy Blessed are the Pure in heart for they shall see God Blessed are the Peace makers for they shall be called the Children of God Blessed are they that are Persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven For so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you Now Friends here is a great deal in these words And all must be in these States and Conditions if they have these Blessings And the Children of God are Peace-makers and strive to make Peace in the Truth and to live in Peace with all men if it be possible So live in the Peace and the Good-will to all men which Good-will is both for their Sanctification and Salvation And Friends consider The Wisdom of God which is from above is pure peaceable and gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisie And now Dear Friends let this pure peaceable gentle Wisdom that is from above that is easie to be entreated 1683. London and is full of mercy and good fruits be exercised and practised in all the true Churches of Christ so that Wisdom may be justified of her Children For the Works of the Flesh or fleshly Spirit are Hatred Variance Wrath Strife Envyings Drunkenness Revilings Adultery Fornication Lasciviousness Uncleanness c. and they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God But the Fruits of the Spirit of God are Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance c. And so Dear Friends and Brethren strive to exceed one another and all People upon the Earth in Humility in Meekness in Gentleness in Temperance in Love and in Patience in Pureness and in Mercy and then ye will shew forth the Fruits of the Spirit of God and of his heavenly Wisdom that is from above And in this Wisdom will be justified of her Children and ye will be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World set on an Hill that cannot be hid and your Moderation will appear to all men And be ye just and righteous and faithful and true in all your Words Dealings and Conversations so that ye may answer the Truth in all People For Christ saith his Father is glorified by such as bring forth Fruits when men do see their good Works for he that doth Righteousness is accepted with God And he that dwells in Love dwells in God for Love is his Habitation And let that be the Habitation of every one that hath received the Truth for if it be not such do not dwell in God let them profess what they will And therefore my desire is that all you who have received Christ the Seed which bruises the Serpent's head may walk in him your Sanctuary Life and Salvation your Rest and Peace Amen London the 14th of the 6th Month 1683. G. F. I continued yet at London labouring in the Work and Service of the Lord both in Meetings and out sometimes visiting the Friends that were in Prison for the Testimony of Jesus encouraging them in their Sufferings and exhorting them to stand faithful and stedfast in the Testimony which the Lord had committed to them to bear sometimes also visiting those that were sick and weak in Body or troubled in Mind helping to bear their Spirits up from sinking under their Infirmities Sometimes our Meetings were quiet and peaceable sometimes they were disturbed and broken up by the Officers One First-day it was upon me to go to the Meeting at the Savoy Sav. Meet and it was a large Meeting for many Professors and sober People were there And the Lord opened many precious weighty things in me to the People which I declared amongst them and directed them to the Spirit of God in themselves which the Lord had given them a measure of that all by the Spirit might understand the Scriptures which were given forth from the Spirit of God And that by the Spirit of God they might know God and Christ whom God hath sent whom to know was Eternal Life And that by the Spirit they might all come into Christ and know him to be their Sanctuary who destroys the Devil the Destroyer and his works and bruises the Serpent's head For Christ was a Sanctuary to them to whom he was a Saviour whom he saved from the Destroyer And Christ did baptize them with the holy Ghost and with Fire and did thorowly purge his floor and burn up their Chaff with unquenchable fire that is Sin and Corruption which is got into Man and Woman by their Transgression But Christ gathereth his Wheat into his Garner So all that are baptized with Christ's Baptism their Wheat is in God's Garner and no Spoiler can get into God's Garner to meddle with the Wheat there though they may be permitted to meddle with the outward Goods c. Now as I was speaking in the power of the Lord and the People were greatly affected therewith on a sudden the Constables with the rude People came in like a Sea and one of the Constables said to me Come down and he laid hands on me I asked him Art thou a Christian We are Christians He had hold on my hand and was very fierce to pluck me down but I stood still and spake a few words to the People desiring of the Lord that the Blessings of God might rest upon them all
with us for Interpreters When this was concluded on William Bingley and Samuel Waldenfield took shipping for Friezland and Jacob Claus their Interpreter Alexander Parker and George Watts remained with me and we tarried a few days longer at Amsterdam where I had further Service And before I left Amsterdam I went to visit one Galenus Abrahams a Teacher of Chief Note among the Mennonites or Baptists I had been with him when I was in Holland about seven Years before and William Penn and George Keith had disputes with him then He was then very high and very shy so that he would not let me touch him nor look upon him by his good will but bid me Keep my Eyes off him for he said they pierced him But now he was very loving and tender and Confessed in some measure to Truth his Wife also and Daughter were tender and kind and we parted from them very lovingly Soon after this feeling our Spirits drawn towards Friezland Alexander Parker George Watts and I having John Claus of Amsterdam with us for our Interpreter took shipping at Amsterdam for Friezland and having sailed some Nine or Ten Leagues we left the Ship Friezland and travelled through Friezland sometimes by Boat sometimes by Wagon visiting Friends and tender People in the Towns and Villages where we came and having commonly one sometimes two Meetings in a day After we had been at Leuwarden Leuwarder Franeker Harlingen in West-Friezland we passed by Franeker to Harlingen in West-Friezland which was the furthest Place we went to that way And having been out six days from Amsterdam and had very good Service in that time in visiting Friends and publishing Truth amongst the People we took Ship at Harlingen for Amsterdam on the 26th of the fourth Month and arrived there that night Amsterdam The First-day following we were at the Meeting at Amsterdam which was very large and precious Many of the World's People were there and some of their Teachers some great Persons also and they seemed very attentive and a good opportunity we all had one after another to declare the Word of the Lord unto them and open the Way of Truth amongst them John Claus interpreting for us I tarried the next day at Amsterdam but George Watts went to a Burial at Harlem where many hundreds of People were amongst whom he had a good opportunity and came back at night to us 1684. Waterland-Osan-overton Lansmeer Amsterdam The day following we went by Boat to Osan-overton in Waterland and from thence in another small Boat about a League over a small River where we passed over and by above an hundred Bridges and so went to Lansmeer to a Friend's house whose name was Timon Peters and there we had a very good Meeting After which we returned to Amsterdam at Night and were at the Meeting there next day There were many at this Meeting besides Friends and among the rest the great Baptist-Teacher Galenus who was very attentive to the Testimony of the Truth and when the Meeting was done came and got me by the hand very lovingly Sardam Alkmaer We went next day by Boat to Alkmaer about eight Leagues from Amsterdam passing through Sardam the great Town of Ship-Carpenters and several other Towns in the way At Alkmaer which is a pretty City we stay'd and had a Meeting there next day at one William Williams his house There were besides Friends many very sober People at this Meeting who were very attentive to the Testimonies of Truth that were born both by Alexander Parker George Watts and my self John Claus being our Interpreter This was on the Sixth-day of the Week and on the seventh we returned to Amsterdam Amsterdam partly by Wagon partly by Draw-boat being willing to be at the Meeting at Amsterdam on the First-day because it was like to be the last Meeting we should have there Accordingly we were at it and a very large and open Meeting it was Many great Persons were at it some Earls we were told with their Attendants out of Germany very grave and sober and the everlasting Gospel was preached unto them After this Meeting we took our leave of the Friends of Amsterdam Harlem and the next morning departed thence to Harlem where we had a Meeting at a Friend's house whose name is Abraham Frondenberg There were great Numbers of People at this Meeting and of great Service it was And after the Meeting a Watch-maker of Amsterdam who with his Wife was come from Amsterdam to the Meeting desired to speak with me concerning Religion I had pretty much discourse with him and both he and his Wife were very Low and Tender and received with gladness what I spake to them and seemed well satisfied when they went away Roterdam Briel We went next day to Rotterdam where we tarried two Meetings and on the sixteenth day of the fifth Month went to the Briel to take Ship for England It was about the fourth hour in the Afternoon that we went on Board the Pacquet Boat of which one William Sherman was Master and set Sail from the Briel But when we had gone over the Maes about a League we cast Anchor at the place called The Pitt The Pitt because it is near unto the Sands and there we tarried till about the fourth hour next morning when having a pretty fair Wind and the Tide with us we weighed Anchor and by the fourth hour next day were got within five Leagues of Harwich over against Alborough-Castle but the Wind falling short and the Tide growing weak 1684. Harwich it was the first hour in the Afternoon before we came so near to Harwich that Boats could come to receive the Passengers and Goods There were on Board about forty Passengers in all of which some were English some Scots some Dutch some French some Spanish some Flemish and some Jews I spent a day with Friends at Harwich while Alexander Parker and George Watts went by water to visit Friends at Ipswich and returned at night Next morning early we all took Coach for Colchester and were at the Meeting there Colchester which was large and peaceable And after the Meeting and that we had refreshed our selves we travelled on to Witham Witham about Ten Miles on the Road towards London and lodged there that night Next day we went on towards London and William Mead meeting us on the way at Harestreet I went with him to his House Harestreet the other Friends going on for London Here being Weak with Travel and continual Exercise I spent some time to rest my self and recover my Health visiting in the mean time the Friends in that part of the Country as I was able to get abroad And when I was a little recovered I went from thence to Enfield Enfield visiting Friends there and thereabouts and so to Dolston to see the Widow Stot Dolston And from thence to London London there being
the praise and glory of God and by the word of his Grace your words may be gracious and in your Lives and Conversations ye may shew forth Righteousness Holiness and Godliness That so God Almighty may be glorified in you all and through you all who is above all blessed and praised for ever Amen London the 11th of the 4th Month 1685. G. F. Several other Letters also I writ at this time to Friends in divers Forreign Countries from whom I had received Letters about the Affairs of Truth Which when I had dispatched the Yearly-Meeting being over and the Country-Friends for the most part gone out of Town I got a little way out of Town also being much spent with the Heat of the Weather South-street Throngs in Meetings and continual Business I went at first but to South-street where I abode some days And among other Services that I had there a great sense entred me of the Growth and Increase of Pride Vanity and Excess in Apparel and that not only amongst the People of the World but too much also amongst some that came among us and seem'd to make a Profession of the Truth And in the sense I had of the Evil thereof it came upon me to give forth the following Paper as a Reproof and Check thereunto THE Apostle Peter saith in 1 Pet. 3. of the Womens Adorning Let it not be mark Let it not be this is a positive Prohibition that outward adorning of plaiting the Hair and of wearing of Gold or of putting on of Apparel But let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit which is in the sight of God of a great price for after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves Here ye may see what is the Ornament of the holy Women 1685. South-street which was in the sight of God of a great price and which the holy Women who trusted in God adorned themselves with But the unholy Women that trust not in God their Ornament is not a meek and a quiet Spirit They adorn themselves with plaiting the Hair and putting on of Apparel and wearing of Gold which is forbidden by the Apostle in his general Epistle to the Church of Christ the true Christians And the Apostle Paul saith 1 Tim. 2.9 10. In like manner also that Women adorn themselves in modest Apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety not with broidered Hair or Gold or Pearls or costly Array but which becometh Women professing Godliness with good Works Now here ye may see what the Women were not to Adorn themselves with who professed Godliness They were not to adorn themselves with broidered Hair nor Gold nor Pearls nor costly Array for this was not looked upon to be modest Apparel for holy Women that profest Godliness and good Works But this Adorning or Apparel is for the immodest and unshamefaced and unsober Women that profess not Godliness neither follow those good Works that God commands And therefore it doth not become Men and Women who profess true Christianity and Godliness to be adorned with Gold or Chains or Pearls or costly Array with broidered Hair for these things are for the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life which is not of the Father And therefore all the holy Men and Women are to mind that which is more precious than Gold who are Redeemed not with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Therefore as obedient Children to God not fashioning your selves according to your former Lusts in your Ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1.14 15. Christ saith The Life is more than Meat and the Body is more than Raiment Luke 12.23 I read of a Moral-wise Philosopher who meeting a Woman with her Neck and Breast bare laid his hand upon her and said Woman wilt thou sell this Flesh and she replying No. Then pray said he shut up your Shop meaning her bare Breasts and Neck So they were looked upon as Harlots that went with their Necks Breasts and Backs bare and not Civil People even among the Moral Heathens Therefore they that profess the Knowledge of true Christianity should be ashamed of such things You may see a Book written by the very Papists and another by Baxter the Presbyterian against bare Breasts and bare Backs and them that shewed their Flesh Vncovered They that were but in an outward Profession did declare against such things and therefore they which are in the Possession of Truth and true Christianity should be ashamed of such things Read I pray you the Third of Isaiah and there you may see how that holy Prophet was grieved with the foolish Womens vain Attire and how he was sent by the Lord to reprove them And envious persecuting Jezabel her Attired Head and Bravery like a painted Harlot out of the Truth did not keep her from the Judgments of God when the Lord stirred up Jehu against her Doth not Pride go before a Fall and a haughty Mind before Destruction And God resisteth the Proud and giveth Grace to the Humble And Solomon saith The Lord will destroy the House of the Proud Prov. 15.25 For the Day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty c. and he shall be brought low Isa 2.12 and Mal. 4. Therefore take heed of calling the Proud happy for The Lord will scatter the Proud in the Imaginations of their own hearts and exalt them of low degree And you may read in the Revelations Chap. 17.4 and 18.16 of the false Church how she was outwardly decked but full of Abomination and came to a Downfal at last And therefore it is good for all that profess the Truth to use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passeth away but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever The Lord taketh pleasure in his People he will beautifie the Meek with Salvation Psal 149.4 Therefore all that know the Truth as it is in Jesus are to be beautified and cloathed with this Salvation which Salvation is a strong Wall or a Bulwark against that Spirit that would lead you down into the Fall from God or into those things which the fallen Man and Woman delight in and beautifie or adorn themselves with And therefore all that profess the Truth be circumspect sincere and fervent following the Lord Jesus Christ who is not of this World in whom ye have Life and Peace with God South-street the 24th of the 4th Month 1685. G. F. After I had been some weeks in the Country at Southstreet and at and about Enfield in which time I had several Meetings with Friends I returned to London Enfield London And
in Wisdom and Glory in this Life or from Natural Infirmities or Death as some have with a weak or ill mind imagined and insinuated against them This they called a Redeemed State Regeneration or the New-Birth Teaching every where according to their Foundation that without this Work were known there was no inheriting the Kingdom of God Third To an acknowledgment of Eternal Rewards and Punishment as they have good Reason for else of all People certainly they must be the most Miserable Who for about Forty Years have been exceeding great Sufferers for their Profession and in some Cases treated worse then the worst of Men yea as the Refuge and Off-scowering of all things This was the Purport of their Doctrine and Ministry which for the most part is what other Professors of Christianity pretend to hold in Words and Forms but not in the Power of Godliness that has been long lost by Mens departing from that Principle and Seed of Life that is in Man and which Man has not regarded but lost the Sense of and in and by which he can only be quickned in his Mind to serve the living God in Newness of Life For as the Life of Religion was lost and the generality lived and Worshipped God after their own Wills and not after the Will of God nor the mind of Christ which stood in the Works and Fruits of the Holy Spirit so that which they prest was not Notion but Experience no Formality but Godliness as being sensible in themselves through the Work of God's Righteous Judgments that without Holiness no Man should ever see the Lord with Comfort Besides these Doctrines and out of them as the larger Branches there sprang forth several particular Doctrines that did exemplifie and further explain the Truth and Efficacy of the General Doctrine before observed in their Lives and Examples As I. Communion and loving one another This is a noted Mark in the Mouth of all sorts of People concerning them They will meet They will help and stick one to another Whence it is common to hear some say Look how the Quakers love and take care of one another Others less Moderate will say The Quakers love none but themselves and if loving one another and having an Intimate Communion in Religion and constant care to meet to Worship God and help one another be any Mark of Primitive Christianity they had it Blessed be the Lord in an ample manner II. To love Enemies This they both Taught and Practised For they did not only refuse to be revenged for Injuries done them and condemned it as of an Vnchristian Spirit but they did freely Forgive yea Help and Relieve those that had been Cruel to them when it was in their Power to have been even with them of which many and singular Instances might be given Endeavouring through Patience to overcome all Injustice and Oppression and Preaching this Doctrine as Christian for others to follow III. The Sufficiency of Truth speaking according to Christ's own form of Words of Yea Yea and Nay Nay among Christians without Swearing both from Christ's express Prohibition to Swear at all Mat. 5. And for that they being under the Tye and Bond of Truth in themselves there was both no Necessity for an Oath and it would be a Reproach to their Christian Veracity to Assure their Truth by such an Extraordinary way of Speaking But offering at the same time to be punnisht to the full for false Speaking as others for Perjury if ever guilty of it and hereby they exclude with all True all False and Prophane Swearing for which the Land did and doth Mourn and the great God was and is not a little offended with it IV. Not Fighting but Suffering is another Testimony peculiar to this People They affirm that Christianity teacheth People To beat their Swords into Plough Shears and their Spears into Pruning Hooks and to learn War no more that so the Wolf may lie down with the Lamb and the Lyon with the Calf and nothing that destroys be entertained in the Hearts of People exhorting them to employ their Zeal against Sin and turn their Anger against Satan and no longer War one against another because all Wars and Fightings come of Mens own Hearts Lusts according to the Apostle James and not of the Meek Spirit of Christ Jesus who is Captain of another Warfare and which is carried on with other Weapons Thus as Truth speaking succeeded Swearing so Faith and Truth succeeded Fighting in the Doctrine and Practise of this People Nor ought they for this to be Obnoxious to Civil Government since if they cannot Fight for it neither can they Fight against it which is no mean security to the State Nor is it reasonable that People should be blamed for not doing more for others than they can do for themselves And Christianity set aside if the Costs and Fruits of War were well considered Peace with its Inconveniencies is generally Preferable But though they were not for Fighting they were for submitting to Government and that not only for Fear but for Conscience Sake where Government doth not interfere with Conscience Believing it to be an Ordinance of God and where it is justly administred a great Benefit to Minkind Tho' it has been their Lot through blind Zeal in some and Interest in others to have felt the Strokes of it with greater Weight and Rigour than any other Perswasion in this Age whilst they of all others Religion set aside have given the Civil Magistrate the least occasion of Trouble in the Discharge of his Office V. Another part of the Character of this People is They refuse to pay Tythes or Maintenance to a National Ministry and that for two Reasons The one is that they believe all compelled Maintenance even to Gospel Ministers to be Vnlawful because expresly contrary to Christ's Command who said Freely you have received freely give At least that the Maintenance of Gospel Ministers should be free and not forced The other Reason of their Refusal is Because those Ministers are not Gospel ones in that the Holy Ghost is not their Foundation but Humane Arts and Parts So that it is not matter of Humor or Sullenness but pure Conscience towards God that they cannot help to support National Ministers where they dwell which are but too much and too visibly become ways of Worldly Advantage and Preferment VI. Not to respect Persons was another of their Doctrines and Practices for which they were often Buffeted and Abused They Affirmed it to be sinful to give Flattering Titles or to use Vain Gestures and Complements of Respect tho' to Virtue and Authority they ever made a Difference but after their Plain and Homely Manner yet sincere and substantial way well remembering the Example of Mordecai and Elihu but more especially the Command of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ who forbad his Followers to call Men Rabby which implies Lord and Master also the fashionable Greetings and Salutations of those
Times that so Self-love and Honour to which the proud Mind of Man is incident in his fallen Estate might not be Indulged but Rebuked They also used the Plain Language of Thou and Thee to a single Person whatever was his Degree among Men. And indeed the Wisdom of God was much seen in bringing forth this People in so Plain an Appearance for it was a Close and Distinguishing Test upon the Spirit of those they came among shewing their Insides and what predominated notwithstanding their High and Great Profession of Religion This among the rest sounded so harsh to many of them and they took it so ill that they would say Thou me Thou my Dog If thou thouest me I 'le thou thy Teeth down thy Throat forgetting the Language they use to God in their own Prayers and the common Stile of the Scriptures and that it is an absolute and essential Propriety of Speech And what good had their Religion done them who were so sensibly toucht with Indignation for the use of this Plain Honest and True Speech VI. They recommended Silence by their Example having very few words upon all Occasions They were at a Word in Dealing nor could their Customers many Words tempt them from it having more regard for Truth than Custom to Example then Gain they sought Solitude but when in Company they would neither use nor willingly hear Vnnecessary as well as Vnlawful Discourses whereby they preserved their Minds pure and undisturbed from unprofitable Thoughts and Diversions Nor could they humour the Custom of Good Night Good Morrow God Speed for they knew the Night was Good and the Day was Good without wishing of either and that in the other Expression the Holy Name of God was too lightly and unthinkingly used and therefore taken in Vain Besides they were Words and Wishes of Course and are usually as little meant as are Love and Service in the Custom of Cap and Knee and superfluity in those as well as in other things was Burthensom to them and therefore They did not only decline to use them but found themselves often prest to reprove the Practice For the same reason they forbore Drinking to People or Pledging of them as the manner of the World is A Practice that is not only Unnecessary but they thought Evil in the Tendencies of it being a Provocation to Drinking more than did People Good as well as that it was in it self Vain and Heathenish VII Their way of Marriage is peculiar to them and is a distinguishing Practice from all other Societies professing Christianity They say that Marriage is an Ordinance of God and that God only can rightly join Man and Woman in Marriage Therefore they use neither Priest nor Magistrate but the Man and Woman concern'd take each other as Husband and Wife in the presence of divers Credible Witnesses promising unto each other with God's Assistance to be Loving and Faithful in that Relation till Death shall separate them But antecedent to all this They first present themselves to the Monthly Meeting for the Affairs of the Church where they reside There declaring their Intentions to take one another as Man and Wife if the said Meeting have nothing material to object against it They are constantly askt the necessary Questions as in Case of Parents or Guardians if they have acquainted them with their Intention and have their Consent c. The Method of the Meeting is to take a Minute thereof and to appoint Proper Persons to enquire of their Conversation and Clearness from all others and whether they have discharged their Duty to their Parents or Guardians and make report thereof the next Monthly Meeting where the same Parties are desired to give their Attendance In case it appears they proceeded Orderly the Meeting passes their Proposal and so Records it in their Meeting Book and in Case the Woman be a Widow and hath Children due care is there taken that Provision also be made by her for the Orphans before the said Marriage advising the Parties concerned to appoint a convenient Time and place and to give fitting Notice to their Relations and such Friends and Neighbours as they desire should be the Witnesses of their Marriage Where they take one another by the Hand and by Name promising Reciprocally after the Manner before expressed Of all which Proceedings a Narative in a way of Certificate is made to which the said Parties first set their Hands thereby making it their Act and Deed and then divers of the Relations Spectators and Auditors set their Names as Witnesses of what they Said and Signed Which Certificate is afterward Registred in the Record belonging to the Meeting where the Marriage is Solemnized Which Regular Method has been as it deserves adjudged in Courts of Law a good Marriage where it has been Disputed and Contested for want of the accustomed Formality of Priest and Ring c. which Ceremonies they have Refused not out of Humour but Conscience reasonably grounded in as much as no Scripture Example tells us that the Priest had any other part of Old Time than that of a Witness among the rest before whom the Jews used to take one another And therefore this People look upon it as an Imposion to advance the Power and Profits of the Clergy And for the use of the Ring it is enough to say that it was an Heathen and vain Custom and never in Practice among the People of God Jews or Primitive Christans The words of the Usual form as With my Body I thee Worship c. are hardly defensible In short they are more Careful Exact and Regular than any Form now used and it is Free of the inconveniencies other Methods are attended with Their Care and Checks being so many and such as no Clandestine Marriages can be perform'd among them VIII It may not be unfit to say something here of their Births and Burials which make up so much of the Pomp and Solemnity of too many called Christians For Births the Parents Name their own Children which is usually some days after they are Born in the presence of the Midwife if she can be there and those that were at the Birth c. who afterward sign a Certificate for that purpose prepared of the Birth and Name of the Child or Children which is Recorded in a proper Book in the Monthly Meeting to which the Parents belong avoiding the accustomed Cerimonies and Feastivals IX Their Burials are performed with the same Simplicity If the Corps of the Deceased be near any publick Meeting Place it is usually carried thither for the more convenient Reception of those that Accompany it to the Ground they Bury in and it so falls out sometimes that while the Meeting is gathering for the Burial some or other have a Word of Exhortation for the sake of the People there met together After which the Body is borne away by the Young Men or those that are of their Neighbourhood or that were most of the
thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent of this World and revealed them to Babes For many times hath my Soul bowed in an Humble Thankfulness to the Lord that he did not choose any of the Wise and Learned of this World to be the first Messenger in our Age of his blessed Truth to Men but that he took one that was not of High Degree or Elegant Speech or learned after the way of this World that his Message and Work he sent him to do might come with less Suspicion or Jealousie of Humane Wisdom and Interest and with more Force and Clearness upon the Consciences of those that sincerely Sought the way of Truth in the Love of it I say beholding with the Eye of my mind which the God of Heaven had opened in me the Marks of God's Finger and Hand visibly in this Testimony from the Clearness of the Principle the Power and Efficacy of it in the Exemplary Sobriety Plainness Zeal Steadiness Humility Gravity Punctuality Charity and Circumspect care in the Government of Church Affairs which shined in his and their Life and Testimony that God employed in this Work it greatly confirmed me that it was of God and engaged my Soul in a Deep Love Fear Reverence and Thankfulness for his Love and Mercy therein to Mankind in which Mind I remain and shall I hope to the end of my Daies II. In his Testimony or Ministry he much laboured to open Truth to the Peoples Vnderstandings and to bottom them upon the Principle and Principal Christ Jesus the Light of the World that by bringing them to something that was of God in themselves they might the better know and judge of him and themselves He had an Extraordinary Gift in opening the Scriptures He would go to the Marrow of things and show the Mind Harmony and Fullfilling of them with much Plainness and to great Comfort and Edification The Mistery of the first and second Adam of the Fall and Restoration of the Law and Gospel of Shadows and Substance of the Servant and Sons State and the fullfiling of the Scriptures in Christ and by Christ the True Light in all that are his through the Obedience of Faith were much of the Substance and Drift of his Testimonies In all which he was witnessed to be of God being sensibly felt to speak that which he had received of Christ and was his own Experience in that which never Ers nor Fails But above all he excelled in Prayer The Inwardness and Weight of his Spirit the Reverence and Solemnity of his Address and Behaviour and the Fewness and Fulness of his Words have often struck even Strangers with Admiration as they used to reach others with Consolation The most Awfull Living Reverent Frame I ever Felt or Beheld I must say was his in Prayer And truly it was a Testimony he knew and lived neerer to the Lord than other Men for they that know him most will see most reason to approach him with Reverence and Fear He was of an Innocent Life no Busie Body nor Self Seeker neither Touchy nor Critical What fell from him was very Inoffensive if not very Edifying So Meek Contented Modest Easie Steady Tender it was a pleasure to be in his Company He exercised no Authority but over Evil and that every where and in all but with Love Compassion and Long Suffering A most Merciful Man as ready to Forgive as unapt to take or give an Offence Thousands can truly say he was of an Excellent Spirit and Savour among them and because thereof the most Excellent Spirits loved him with an unfained and unfading Love He was an Incessant Labourer for in his Younger time before his many great and deep Sufferings and Travels had enfeebled his Body for Itinerant Services he laboured much in the Word and Doctrine and Discipline in England Scotland and Ireland turning many to God and confirming those that were convinced of the Truth and setling Good Order as to Church Affairs among them And towards the Conclusion of his Travelling Services between the Years Seventy One and Seventy Seven he Visited the Churches of Christ in the Plantations in America and in the Vnited Provinces and Germany as his following Journal Relates to the Convincement and Consolation of many After that time he chiefly resided in and about the City of London and besides the Services of his Ministry which were Frequent and Serviceable he writ much both to them that are within and those that are without the Communion But the care he took of the Affairs of the Church in General was very great He was often where the Records of the Affairs of the Church are kept and the Letters from the many Meetings of God's People over all the World where settled come upon Occasions which Letters he had read to him and Communicated them to the Meeting that is Weekly held there for such Services he would be sure to stir them up to discharge them especially in Suffering Cases Showing great Sympathy and Compassion upon all such Occasions carefully looking into the Respective Cases and endeavouring Speedy Relief according to the Nature of them So that the Churches and any of the Suffering Members thereof were sure not to be forgotten or delayed in their Desires if he were there As he was Vnwearied so he was Vndaunted in his Services for God and his People he was no more to be moved to Fear than to Wrath. His Behaviour at Darby Litchfield Appleby before Oliver Cromwell at Launston Scarborough Worcester and Westminster-Hall with many other Places and Exercises did abundantly evidence it to his Enemies as well as his Friends But as in the Primitive Times some rise up against the blessed Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ even from among those that they had turned to the Hope of the Gospel and who became their greatest Trouble so this Man of God had his share of Suffering from some that were convinced by him who through prejudice or mistake run against him as one that sought Dominion over Conscience because he prest by his Presence or Epistles a ready and zealous compliance with such good and wholesome things as tended to an Orderly Conversation about the Affairs of the Church and in their walking before Men. That which contributed much to this ill Work was in some a begrudging of this Meek Man the love and esteem he had and deserved in the Hearts of the People and weakness in others that were taken with their groundless Suggestions of Imposition and blind Obedience They would have had every Man Independent that as he had the Principle in himself he should only stand and fall to that and no Body else not considering that the Principle is One in all and though the Measure of Light or Grace might differ yet the Nature of it was the same and being so they struck at the Spiritual Vnity which a People guided by the same Principle are
And such as these I saw might deceive now as they had in former Ages But it is impossible for them to deceive the Elect who were chosen in Christ who was before the World began and before Deceiver was Though others may be deceived in their Openings and Prophecies not keeping their Minds to the Lord Jesus Christ who doth Open and Reveal to his And I saw the State of those both Priests and People who in reading the Scriptures cry out much against Cain Esau and Judas and other wicked Men of former Times mentioned in the Holy Scriptures but do not see the Nature of Cain of Esau of Judas and those Others in themselves And these said It was They They They that were the bad People putting it off from themselves But when some of these came with the Light and Spirit of Truth to see into themselves then they came to say I I I it is I my self that have been the Ishmael and the Esau c. For then they came to see the Nature of wild Ishmael in themselves the Nature of Cain of Esau of Corah of Balaam and of the Son of Perdition in themselves sitting above all that is called God in them So I saw it was the fallen Man that was got up into the Scriptures and was finding Fault with those before-mentioned and with the back-sliding Jews calling them the sturdy Oaks and tall Cedars and fat Bulls of Bashan wild Heifers Vipers Serpents c. And charging them that it was They that closed their Eyes and stopped their Ears and hardned their Hearts and were dull of Hearing And that it was They that hated the Light and rebelled against it and that quenched the Spirit and vexed and grieved it and walked despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and turned the Grace of God into Wantonness And that it was They that resisted the Holy Ghost and They that got the Form of Godliness and turned against the Power And that They were the inwardly Ravening Wolves that had got the Sheep's Cloathing And that They were the Wells without Water and Clouds without Rain and Trees without Fruit c. But when these who were so much taken up with finding Fault with others and thought themselves clear from these Things came to look into themselves and with the Light of Christ throughly to search themselves they might see enough of this in themselves and then the Cry could not be It is He or They as before but I and We are found in these Conditions I saw also how People Read the Scriptures without a right Sense of them and without duly applying them to their own States For when they read that Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that the Law and the Prophets were until John and that the least in the Kingdom is greater than John they read these things without them and applyed them to others without them and the Things were true of others without them but they did not turn in to find the Truth of these things in themselves But as these things came to be opened in me I saw Death reigned over them from Adam to Moses from the Entrance into Trangression till they came to the Ministration of Condemnation which restrains People from Sin that brings Death Then when the Ministration of Moses is passed through the Ministry of the Prophets comes to be read and understood which reaches through the Figures Types and Shadows unto John the greatest Prophet born of a Woman whose Ministration prepares the Way of the Lord by bringing down the exalted Mountains and making strait Paths And as this Ministration is passed through an Entrance comes to be known into the Everlasting Kingdom So I saw plainly that none could read Moses aright without Moses's Spirit by which Moses saw how Man was in the Image of God in Paradice and how he fell and how Death came over him and how all Men have been under this Death And I saw how Moses received the pure Law that went over all Transgressors and how the clean Beasts which were Figures and Types were offered up when the People were come into the righteous Law that went over the first Transgression And both Moses and the Prophets saw through the Types and Figures and beyond them and saw Christ the great Prophet that was to come to fulfil them And I saw that none could read John's Words aright and with a true Understanding of them but in and with the same Divine Spirit by which John spake them and by his burning shining Light which is sent from God For by that Spirit their Crooked Natures might be made strait and their Rough Natures smooth and the Exacter and violent Doer in them might be thrown out And they that had been Hypocrites might come to bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance and their Mountain of Sin and Earthliness might be laid low in them and their Valley exalted in them that there might be a Way prepared for the Lord in them And then the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But all must first know the Voice crying in their Wilderness in their Hearts which through Transgression were become as a Wilderness Thus I saw it was an easie matter to say Death reigned from Adam to Moses and That the Law and the Prophets were until John and That the least in the Kingdom is greater than John But none could know how Death reigned from Adam to Moses c. but by the same Holy Spirit which Moses and the Prophets and John were in They could not know the Spiritual Meaning of Moses the Prophets and John's Words nor see their Path and Travels much less see through them and to the end of them into the Kingdom unless they had the Spirit and Light of Jesus Nor could they know the Words of Christ and of his Apostles without his Spirit But as Man comes through by the Spirit and Power of God to Christ who fulfills the Types Figures Shadows Promises and Prophecies that were of him and is led by the Holy Ghost into the Truth and Substance of the Scriptures sitting down in him who is the Author and End of them then are they read and understood with profit and great Delight Moreover the Lord God let me see when I was brought up into his Image in Righteousness and Holiness and into the Paradise of God the State How Adam was made a Living Soul And also the Stature of Christ the Mystery that had been hid from Ages and Generations Which things are hard to be uttered and cannot be born by many For of all the Sects in Christendom so called that I discoursed withal I found none that could bear to be told that any should come to Adam's Perfection into that Image of God and Righteousness and Holiness that Adam was in before he fell to be so clear and pure without Sin as he was Therefore how should they be able to bear being told that any should grow up to the Measure of
he came up into my Chamber and said to me I have been as a Lion against you But now I come like a Lamb and like the Jailer that came to Paul and Silas trembling And he desired that he might lie with me I told him that I was in his Power he might do what he would But he said Nay he would have my Leave and he could desire to be always with me but not to have me as a Prisoner And he said He had been plagued and his House had been plagued for my sake So I suffered him to lie with me and then he told me all his Heart and said He believed what I had said of the true Faith and Hope to be true And he wondred that the other Man that was put into Prison with me did not stand to it and said That Man was not right but I was an honest Man He confessed also to me that at those Times when I had asked him to let me go forth to speak the Word of the Lord to the People and he had refused to let me go and I had laid the weight thereof upon him that then he used to be under great Trouble amazed and almost distracted for some time after and in such a Condition that he had little Strength left him When the Morning came he arose and soon after went to the Justices and told them That he and his House had been plagued for my sake and one of the Justices replied as he reported to me that the Plagues were on them too for keeping me This was Justice Bennet of Darby who was the first that called us Quakers because I bid them Tremble at the Word of the Lord. And this was in the Year 1650. After this the Justices gave leave That I should have Liberty to walk a Mile I perceived their End and I told the Jailer If they would set down to me how far a Mile was I might take the liberty of walking it sometimes For I had a Sense they thought I would go away And the Jailer Confest afterwards that they did it with that Intent to have me go away to ease them of their Plague But I told him I was not of that Spirit This Jailer had a Sister who was a sickly young Woman and she came up into my Chamâer to Visit me and after she had stay'd some time and I had spoken the Words of Truth to her she went down and told them That we were an Innocent People and did none any hurt but did good to all even to them that hated us And she desired them to be Tender towards me Now forasmuch as by reason of my Restraint I had not the Opportunity of Traveling about to declare and spread Truth through the Countries it came upon me to Write a Paper and send it forth to be spread abroad both amongst Friends and other tender People for the Opening of their Understandings in the Way of Truth and directing them to the true Teacher in themselves And it was as followeth THE Lord doth shew unto Man his Thoughts and discovereth all the secret Workings in Man A Man may be brought to see his evil Thoughts and running Mind and vain Imaginations and may strive to keep them down and to keep his Mind in but cannot Overcome them nor keep his Mind within to the Lord. Now in this State and Condition submit to the Spirit of the Lord that shews them and that will bring to Wait upon the Lord and he that hath discovered them will destroy them Therefore stand in the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Author of the true Faith and mind him for he will discover the Root of Lusts and evil Thoughts and vain Imaginations and how they are begotten conceived and bred and then how they are brought forth and how every evil Member doth work He will discover every Principle from its own Nature and Root So mind the Faith of Christ and the Anointing which is in you to be taught by it which will discover all Workings in you And as he teacheth you so obey and forsake else you will not grow up in the Faith nor in the Life of Christ where the Love of God is received Now Love begetteth Love it s own Nature and Image And when Mercy and Truth do meet what Joy there is And Mercy doth Triumph in Judgment And Love and Mercy doth bear the Judgment of the World in patience That which cannot bear the World's Judgment is not the Love of God for Love beareth all things and is above the World's Judgment for the World's Judgment is but Foolishness And though it be the World's Judgment and Practice to cast all the World's Filthiness that is among themselves upon the Saints yet their Judgment is false Now the Chaste Virgins follow Christ the Lamb that takes away the Sins of the World But they that are of that Spirit which is not Chaste will not follow Christ the Lamb in his Steps but are disobedient to him in his Commands So the fleshly Mind doth mind the Flesh and talketh fleshly and its Knowledge is fleshly and not spiritual but savours of Death and not of the Spirit of Life Now some Men have the Nature of Swine wallowing in the Mire And some Men have the Nature of Dogs to bite both the Sheep and one another And some Men have the Nature of Lions to tear devour and destroy And some Men have the Nature of Wolves to tear and devour the Lambs and Sheep of Christ And some Men have the Nature of the Serpent that old Adversary to sting envenom and poison He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear and learn these things within himself And some Men have the Natures of other Beasts and Creatures minding nothing but earthly and visible things and feeding without the fear of God Some Men have the Nature of an Horse to praunce and vapor in their Strength and to be swift in doing Evil. And some Men have the Nature of Tall sturdy Oaks to slourish and spread in Wisdom and Strength who are strong in Evil which must perish and come to the Fire Thus the Evil is but one in all but worketh many Ways and whatsoever a Man's or Woman's Nature is addicted to that is Outward the Evil one will fit him with that and will please his Nature and Appeâite to keep his Mind in his Inventions and in the Creatures from the Creator O therefore let not the Mind go forth from God ãâã it do it will be stained and venomed and corrupted And if the Mind go forth from the Lord it is hard to bring it in again Therefore take heed of the Enemy and keep in the Faith of Christ O! therefore mind that which is Eternal and Invisible and him who is the Creator and Mover of all things For the things that are made are not made of things that do appear for the visible covereth the invisible Sight in you But as the Lord who
is Invisible doth open you by his Invisible Power and Spirit and brings down the carnal Mind in you so the Invisible and Immortal things are brought to Light in you O therefore you that know the Light walk in the Light For there are Children of Darkness that will talk or the Light and of the Truth and not walk in it but the Children of the Light love the Light and walk in the Light But the Children of Darkness walk in Darkness and hate the Light and in them the earthly Lusts and the carnal Mind choke the Seed of Faith and that bringeth Oppression on the Seed and Death over them O therefore mind the pure Spirit of the Everlasting God which will reach you to use the Creatures in their right place and which iudgeth the Evil. To thee O God be all Glory and Honour who art Lord of all Visibles and Invisibles To thee be all Praise who bringest out of the Deep to thy Self O powerful God who art worthy of all Glory For the Lord who created all and gives Life and Strength to all is over all and Merciful to all So thou who hast made all and art over all to thee be all Glory In thee is my Strength Refreshments and Life my Joy and my Gladness my Rejoycing and Glorying for evermore So to live and walk in the Spirit of God is Joy and Peace and Life but the Mind going forth into the Creatures or into any Visible Things from the Lord this bringeth Death Now when the Mind is got into the Flesh and into Death then the Accuser gets within and the Law of Sin and Death that gets into the Flesh and then the Life suffers under the Law of Sin and Death And then there is straitness and failings For then the Good is shut up and then the Self-Righteousness is set a top and then Man doth work in the outward Law and he cannot Justify himself by the Law but is Condemned by the Light For he cannot get out of that State but by abiding in the Light and resting in the Mercy of God and believing in him from whom all Mercy doth flow For there is Peace in resting in the Lord Jesus This is the Narrow Way that leads to him the Life but few will abide in it Therefore keep in the Innocency and be obedient to the Faith in him And take heed of Conforming to the World and of Reasoning with Flesh and Blood for that bringeth Disobedience and then Imaginations and Questionings do arise to draw from Obedience to the Truth of Christ But the Obedience of Faith destroyeth Imaginations and Questionings and Reasonings and all the Temptations in the Flesh and Buffetings and lookings forth and fetching up things that are past But not keeping in the Life and Light and not crossing the Corrupt Will by the Power of God the Evil Nature grows up in Man and then Burdens will come and Man will be stained with that Nature But Esau's Mountain shall be laid waste and become a Wilderness where the Dragons lie But Jacob the second Birth shall be fruitful and shall arise For Esau is hated and must not be Lord but Jacob the second Birth which is perfect and plain shall be Lord for he is beloved of God G. F. I writ another Paper also much about the same time and sent it forth amongst the Convinced People as followeth THE LORD is KING over all the Earth Therefore all People praise and glorifie your King in the true Obedience in the Uprightness and in the beauty of Holiness O Consider in the true Obedience the Lord is known and an Understanding from him is received Mark and consider in silence in the Lowliness of Mind and thou wilt hear the Lord speak unto thee in thy Mind His Voice is sweet and pleasant His Sheep hear his Voice and they will not hearken to another And when they hear his Voice they Rejoice and are Obedient they also sing for Joy Oh their Hearts are filled with everlasting Triumph They sing and praise the Eternal God in Sion their Joy shall never Man take from them Glory to the Lord God for Evermore But many that had been Convinced of the Truth turned aside because of the Persecution that arose Whereupon I writ a few Lines for the Comfort and Encouragement of the Faithful thus COme ye Blessed of the Lord and Rejoice together Keep in Unity and Oneness of Spirit Triumph above the World Be joyful in the Lord reigning above the World and above all things that draw from the Lord that in Clearness Righteousness Pureness and Joy you may be preserved to the Lord. O hear O hearken to the Call of the Lord and come out of the World and keep out of it for evermore And come Sing together ye Righteous Ones the Song of the Lord the Song of the Lamb which none can learn but they who are Redeemed from the Earth and from the World Now while I was in the House of Correction my Relations came to see me and being troubled for my Imprisonment they went to the Justices that cast me into Prison and desired to have me home with them offering to be bound in One hundred Pounds and others of Darby in fifty Pounds a piece with them that I should come no more thither to declare against the Priests So I was had up before the Justices and because I would not consent that they or any should be bound for me for I was Innocent from any Ill Behaviour and had spoken the Word of Life and Truth unto them Justice Bennet rose up in a rage and as I was kneeling down to Pray to the Lord to forgive him he ran upon me and struck me with both his Hands Crying Away with him Jailer Take him away Jailer Whereupon I was had back again to Prison and there kept until the time of my Commitment for Six Months was Expired But I had now the Liberty of walking a Mile by my self which I made use of as I felt freedom And sometimes I went into the Market and Streets and warned the People to Repent of their Wickedness and so returned to Prison again And there being Persons of several sorts of Religion in the Prison I sometimes went and visited them in their Meetings on the First-days After I had been before the Justices and they had required Sureties for my good Behaviour which I could not Consent should be given to blemish my Innocency It came upon me to write to the Justices again which I did as followeth Friends SEE what it is in you that doth Imprison and see who is Head in you and see if something do not Accuse you Consider you must be brought to Judgment Think upon Lazarus and Dives the one fared sumptuously every day the other a Beggar And now you have time prize it while you have it Would you have me to be bound to my Good Behaviour I am bound to my Good Behaviour And do Cry for Good Behaviour
of Blood running down the Streets and the Market-Place appeared like a Pool of Blood Now when I had declared what was upon me and felt my self Clear I went out of the Town in Peace and returning to the Shepherds gave them some Money and took my Shoos of them again But the Fire of the Lord was so in my Feet and all over me 1651. Lichfield that I did not matter to put on my Shoos any more and was at a stand whether I should or no till I felt freedom from the Lord so to do and then after I had washed my Feet I put on my Shoes again After this a deep Consideration came upon me Why or for what reason I should be sent to Cry against that City and call it THE BLOODY CITY For though the Parliament had the Minster one while and the King another while and much Blood had been shed in the Town during the Wars between them yet that was no more than had befallen many other Places But afterwards I came to understand that in the Emperor Diocletian's Time a Thousand Christians were Martyred in Lichfield So I was to go without my Shoos through the Channel of their Blood and into the Pool of their Blood in the Market-Place that I might Raise up the Memorial of the Blood of those Martyrs which had been shed above a Thousand Years before and lay Cold in their Streets So the Sense of this Blood was upon me and I obeyed the Word of the Lord. Ancient Records testify how many of the Christian Britains suffered there And much I could write of the Sense I had of the Blood of the Martyrs that hath been shed in this Nation for the Name of Christ both under the Ten Persecutions and since but I leave it to the Lord and to his Book out of which all shall be Judged For his Book is a most certain true Record and his Spirit a true Recorder Then passed I up and down through the Countries having Meetings amongst friendly People in many Places But my Relations were offended at me Nottinghamshire Mansfield Darbyshire Yorkshire Doncaster Balby Wakefield So after some Time I came into Nottinghamshire again and to Mansfield and went into Darbyshire visiting Friends Then passing into Yorkshire I preached Repentance through Doncaster and several other Places and after came to Balby where Richard Farnsworth and several others were convinced So traveling through the Countries to several Places preaching Repentance and the Word of Life to the People I came into the Parts about Wakefield where James Naylor lived and he and Thomas Goodyear came to me and were both Convinced and received the Truth William Dewsbury also and his Wife with many more came to me who were Convinced and received the Truth From thence I passed through the Country towards Captain Pursloe's house by Selby Selby and visited one John Leek who had been to visit me in Darby-Prison and was Convinced I had an Horse but was fain to leave him not knowing what to do with him for I was moved to go to many great Houses to admonish and exhort the People to turn to the Lord Thus passing on Beverly I was moved of the Lord to go to Beverly-Steeple-house which was then a Place of high Profession And being very Wet with Rain I went first to an Inn and as soon as I came to the Door a Young-woman of the House came to the Door and said What! is it you Come in said she as if she had known me before for the Lord's Power bowed their Hearts So I refreshed my self and went to Bed And in the Morning my Cloaths being still wet I got ready and having paid for what I had had in the Inn I went up to the Steeple-house where was a Man preaching And when he had done I was moved to speak to him and to the People in the mighty Power of God and turned them to their Teacher Christ Jesus 1651. Yorkshire And the Power of the Lord was so strong that it struck a mighty Dread amongst the People And the Major came down to me and spake a few Words to me but none of them had any Power to meddle with me So I passed away out of the Town And in the Afternoon went to another Steeple-house about Two Miles off And when the Priest had done I was moved to speak to him and to the People very largely shewing them the Way of Life and Truth and the Ground of Election and Reprobation The Priest said he was but a Child and could not dispute with me I told him I did not come to dispute but to hold forth the Word of Life and Truth unto them that they might all know the One Seed which the Promise of God was to both in the Male and in the Female Here the People were very loving and would have had me come again on a Week-day and preach among them But I directed them to their Teacher Christ Jesus and so passed away and the next Day went to Crantsick Crantsick to Captain Pursloe's who accompanied me to Justice Hotham's This Justice Hotham was a pretty tender Man one that had had some Experiences of God's Workings in his Heart After I had had some Discourse with him of the things of God he took me into his Closet where sitting together he told me he had known that Principle these Ten Years and was glad that the Lord did now publish it abroad to the People After a while there came a Priest to visit him with whom also I had some Discourse concerning Truth But his Mouth was quickly stopt for he was nothing but a Notionist and not in Possession of what he talked of While I was here there came a Great Woman of Beverly to speak with Justice Hotham about some Business and in Discourse she told him That the last Sabbath-day as she called it there was an Angel or Spirit came into the Church at Beverly and spake the wonderful things of God to the astonishment of all that were there And when it had done it passed away and they did not know whence it came nor whither it went But it astonished all both Priest Professors and Magistrates of the Town This Relation Justice Hotham gave me afterwards and then I gave him an Account how I had been that Day at Beverly-Steeple-house and had declared Truth to the Priest and People there There was in the County thereabouts some Noted Priests and Doctors that Justice Hotham had acquaintance with and he would fain have them speak with me and offered to send for them under pretence of some Business he had with them but I wish'd him not to do so Now when the First Day of the Week was come Justice Hotham walked out with me into the Fields and then Captain Pursloe coming up after us Justice Hotham left us and returned home but Captain Pursloe went with me into the Steeple-house And when the Priest had done I spake to
both Priest and People and declared to them the Word of Life and Truth and directed them where they might find their Teacher the Lord Jesus Christ Some of the People were Convinced there that Day and received the Truth and stand fast in it and have a fine Meeting there-a-ways to this Day In the Afternoon I went to another Steeple-house about Three Miles off where preached a great High-Priest called a Doctor being one of them whom Justice Hotham would have sent for to have spoken with me So I went into the Steeple-house and stayed till the Priest had done Now the Words which he took for his Text were these Ho every One that Thirsteth come ye to the Waters and he that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Then was I moved of the Lord God to say unto him Come down thou deceiver Dost thou bid People Come freely and take of the Water of Life freely and yet thou takest Three hundred Pounds a Year of them for preaching the Scriptures to them Mayest not thou blush for shame Did the Prophet Isaiah and Christ do so who spake the Words and gave them forth freely Did not Christ say to his Ministers whom he sent to preach Freely ye have received freely give So the Priest like a Man amazed hastned away And after he was gone and had left his Flock I had as much Time as I could desire to speak to the People And I directed them from the Darkness to the Light and to the Grace of God that would Teach them and bring them Salvation and to the Spirit of God in their Inward Parts which would be a free Teacher unto them Then having Cleared my self amongst that People I returned to Justice Hotham's House that Night who when I came in took me in his Arms and said His House was my House for he was exceeding glad at the work of the Lord and that his Power was Revealed Then he told me Why he went not with me to the Steeple-house in the Morning and what Reasonings he had in himself about it for he thought if he had gone with me to the Steeple-house the Officers would have put me to him and then he should have been so put to it that he should not have known what to have done But he was glad he said when Captain Pursloe came up to go with me Yet neither of them was drest nor had their Bands about their Necks And it was a strange thing then to see a Man come into a Steeple-house without a Band Yet Captain Pursloe went in with me without his Band the Lord's Power and Truth had so affected him that he minded it not From hence I passed on through the Country and came at Night to an Inn where was a Company of rude People and I bid the Woman of the House if she had any Meat to bring me some But because I said Thee and Thou to her she looked strangely on me Then I asked her if she had any Milk and she said No. I was sensible she spake falsly And seeing a Churn standing in the Room and being willing to try her further I asked her If she had any Cream she denied that she had any Now there stood a Churn in the Room and a little Boy playing about it put his Hands into it and pulled it down and threw all the Cream on the Floor before my Eyes Thus was the Woman manifested to be a Liar The Woman was amazed and blest her self and took up the Child and whipt it sorely But I reproved her for her Lying and Deceit After the Lord had thus discovered her Deceit and Perversness I walked out of the House and went away till I came to a Stack of Hay and lay in the Hay-Stack that Night in Rain and Snow 1651. York it being but Three Days before the Time called Christmas The next day I came into York where were several People that were very tender And upon the First-Day of the Week following I was Commanded of the Lord to go to the great Minster and speak to Priest Bowles and his Hearers in their great Cathedral Accordingly I went and when the Priest had done I told them I had something from the Lord God to speak to the Priest and People Then say on quickly said a Professor that was among them for it was Frost and Snow and very Cold Weather Then I told them This was the Word of the Lord God unto them that they lived in Words but God Almightly looked for Fruits amongst them As soon as the Words were out of my Mouth they hurried me out and threw me down the Steps but I got up again without hurt and went to my Lodging again and several were Convinced there For the very Groans that arose from the Weight and Oppression that was upon the Spirit of God in me would open People and strike them and make them Confess That the Groans which brake forth through me did reach them For my Life was burthened with their Profession without Possession and Words without Fruit. Now after I had done my present Service in York and that several were Convinced there and received the Truth of God and were turned to his Teaching I passed out of York and looked towards Cleaveland And I saw there was a People that had tasted of the Power of God and I saw then there was a Seed in that Country and that God had an humble People there So I passed onwards that Night and a Papist overtook me and talked to me of his Religion and of their Meetings and I let him speak all that was in his Mind That Night I stayed at an Ale-house and the next Morning I was moved of the Lord to speak the Word of the Lord to this Papist So I went to his House and declared against his Religion and all their Superstitious Ways and told him that God was come to teach his People himself This put the Papist into such a Rage that he could not then endure to stay in his own House The next day I came to Burraby where there was a Priest Burraby and several Friendly People Met together Many of the People were Convinced and have continued faithful ever since and there is a great Meeting of Friends in that Town The Priest also was forced to Confess to Truth though he Came not into it The day following I passed to Cleaveland amongst those People Cleaveland that had tasted of the Power of God They had formerly had great Meetings but were then all shattered to pieces and the Heads of them turned Ranters I told them That after they had had such Meetings they did not Wait upon God to feel his Power to gather their Minds Inward that they might feel his Presence and Power amongst them in their Meetings to sit down therein and Wait upon him for they had spoken themselves dry they had spent their Portions
and not living in that which they spake of they were now become DRY They had some kind of Meetings still but they took Tobacco and drank Ale in their Meetings and were grown light and loose But my Message unto them from the Lord was 1651. Cleaveland That they should all come together again and Wait to feel the Lord's Power and Spirit in themselves to gather them to Christ that they might be taught of him who says Learn of me For when they had declared that which the Lord had opened to them then the People were to receive it and both the Speakers and Hearers were to live in that themselves But when these had no more to declare but went to seek Forms without Life that made themselves dry and barren and the People also and from thence came all their Loss for the Lord renews his Mercies and his Strength to them that Wait upon him The Heads of these People came to nothing but most of the People came to be Convinced and received God's everlasting Truth and continue a Meeting to this day sitting under the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour Upon the First day of the next Week the Word of the Lord came to me to go to the Steeple-house there which I did And when the Priest had done I spake the Truth to him and the People and directed them to their Teacher within Christ Jesus their free Teacher that had bought them The Priest came to me and I had a little Discourse with him but he was soon stopt and silent Then being Clear of the Place I passed away having had several Meetings amongst those People Though at this time the Snow was very deep yet I kept traveling And going through the Country came to a Market-Town where I met with many Professors with whom I had much Reasoning and I asked them many Questions which they were not able to Answer but said They had never had such deep Questions put to them in all their Lives Stath From them I went to another Place called Stath where also I met with many Professors and some Ranters I had great Meetings amongst them and a great Convincement there was and many received the Truth amongst whom One was an Ancient Man of an hundred Years of Age Another was a Chief Constable and a third was a Priest whose Name was Philip Scafe Him the Lord by his free Spirit did afterwards make a free Minister of his free Gospel The Priest of this Town was a lofty Priest and did much Oppress the People for his Tithes for if they went a Fishing many Leagues off he would make them pay the Tithe-Money of what they made of their Fish though they catched them at a great distance and carried them as far as Yarmouth to sell Now I was moved to go to the Steeple-house there to declare the Truth and lay open the Priest And when I had spoken to the Priest and laid his Oppressing of the People upon him he fled away The Chief of the Parish were very light and vain So after I had spoken the Word of Life to them I turned away from them because they did not receive it and left them But the Word of the Lord which I had declared amongst them stuck with some of them so that at Night some of the Heads of the Parish came to me and most of them were Convinced and satisfied and confest to the Truth Thus the Truth began to spread up and down that Country and great Meetings we had at which the Priest began to rage 1651. Stath and the Ranters began to be stirred and they sent me word that they would have a Dispute with me both the Oppressing Priest and the Leader of the Ranters A day was set and the Ranter came with his Company and another Priest a Scotch Man came but not the Oppressing Priest of Stath Philip Scafe who had been a Priest and was Convinced was with me and a great Number of People were met When we were setled the Ranter whose Name was T. Bushel told me He had had a Vision of me that I was sitting in a great Chair and that he was to come and put off his Hat and bow down to the Ground before me and he did so and many other flattering Words he spake I told him It was his own Figure and said unto him Repent thou Beast He said it was Jealousy in me to say so Then I asked him the Ground of Jealousy and how it came to be bred in Man And the Nature of a Beast what made it And how that was bred in Man For I saw him directly in that Nature of the Beast and therefore I would have known of him how that Nature came to be bred in him I told him He should give me an Account of things done in the Body before we came to discourse of things done out of the Body So I stopt up his Mouth that he could say no more and all his Fellow Ranters were silenced for he was the Head of them Then I called for the Oppressing Priest but he came not Only the Scotch Priest came but his Mouth was soon stopt with a very few Words he being out of the Life of what he did profess Then had I a good Opportunity with the People and I laid open the Ranters ranking them with the old Ranters in Sodom And the Priests I manifested to be of the same stamp with their Fellow Hirelings the false Prophets of old and the Priests that then bore rule over the People by their Means seeking for their Gain from their Quarter Divining for Money and Teaching for filthy Lucre and so I brought all the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles over the Heads of the Priests shewing how the Prophets Christ and the Apostles had long since discovered them by their Marks and Fruits Then I directed People to their Inward Teacher Christ Jesus their Saviour and I preached up Christ in the Hearts of his People when all these Mountains were laid low The People were all quiet and the Gainsayers Mouths were stopped for though they broiled inwardly yet the Power bound them down that they could not break out After the Meeting was over this Scottish Priest desired me to walk with him a top of the Cliffs Whereupon I called a Brother-in-Law of his who was in some measure Convinced and desired him to go with me telling him I was willing to have some Body by to hear what we said lest the Priest when I was gone should report any thing of me which I did not say So we went together and as we walked the Priest asked me many things concerning the Light and concerning the Soul To all which I answered him fully When he had done questioning we parted and he went his way and as he wânt meeting with the other Priest Philip Scafe that was Convinced he brake his Cain against the Ground in Madness and said If ever he met with me
He is not a Vagrant by his Linnen and then he set me at Liberty Then I went back to Patrington again with that Man that had ridden before me to the Justice for he lived at Patrington When I came there he would have had me have had a Meeting at the Cross But I said It was no matter his House would serve Then he desired me to go to Bed or lie down upon a Bed Which he did that they might say they had seen me in a Bed or upon a Bed for they had got up a Report that I would not lie on any Bed because at that time I lay many times without Doors Now when the First-day of the Week was come I went to the Steeple-house and declared the Truth to the Priest and People and the People did not molest me for the Power of God was come over them Then presently after I had a great Meeting at that Man's House where I lay And many that day were Convinced there of the Lord 's Everlasting Truth who stand faithful Witnesses for it to this day And they were exceeding sorry and grieved that they did not Receive me nor give me Lodging when I was there before York-shire From hence I Traveled through the Country even to the furthest part thereof Warning People both in Towns and in Country-Villages to Repent and directing them to Christ Jesus their Teacher On the First-day of the Week I came to one Colonel Overton's House and had a great Meeting of the Prime of the People of that Country where many things were opened out of the Scriptures which they had never heard before in all their Lives and many were Convinced and received the Word of Life and were settled in the Truth of God Patrington Then I returned to Patrington again and visited those Friends that were Convinced there by whom I understood that a Taylor and some wild Blades in that Town had occasioned my being carried before the Justice The Taylor came to ask me forgiveness fearing I would Complain of him The Constables also were afraid lest I should trouble them But I forgave them all and warned them to turn to the Lord and to amend their Lives Now that which made them the more afraid was this When I was in the Steeple-house at Oram not long before there came a Professor and gave me a Push on the Breast in the Steeple-house and bid me Get me out of the Church Alas poor Man said I dost thou call the Steeple-house the Church The Church is the People whom God hath purchased with his Blood and not the House It happened that Justice Hotham came to hear of this Man's Abuse done to me and sent his Warrant for him and bound him over to the Sessions So affected was he with the Truth and so Zealous to keep the Peace And indeed this Justice Hotham had asked me before whether any People had meddled with me or abused me But I was not to tell him any thing of that kind but was to forgive all From Patrington I went to several Great Men's Houses warning them to Repent Some Received me lovingly and some slighted me Thus I passed on through the Country And at Night came to another Town where I desired Lodging and Meat and I would pay for it But they would not Lodge me except I would go to the Constable which was the Custom they said of all Lodgers at Inns if Strangers I told them I should not go for that Custom was for suspicious Persons but I was an Innocent Man So after I had warned them to Repent and declared unto them the Day of their Visitation and directed them to the Light of Christ and Spirit of God that they might come to know Salvation I passed away and the People were something tendered and troubled afterwards But when it grew dark I spied an Hay-Stack and went and sate under it all Night till Morning The next Day I passed into Hull Hull admonishing and warning People as I went to turn to Christ Jesus that they might receive Salvation That Night I got a Lodging but was very sore with traveling on Foot so far Afterward passing through the Country I came to Balby Balby and visited Friends up and down in those Parts And then passed into the Edge of Nottinghamshire visiting Friends there Nottinghamshire Lincolnshire Trent and so passed into Lincolnshire and visited Friends there And on the First-day of the Week I went to a Steeple-house on this side of Trent and in the Afternoon I went to another Steeple-house on the other side of Trent declaring the Word of Life to the People and directing them to their Teacher Christ Jesus who died for them â that they might hear him and receive Salvation by him Then I went further into the Country and had several Meetings there-aways And at one Meeting where I was there came a Great Man and a Priest and many Professors but the Lord's Power came over them all and they went their ways peaceably And there came a Man to that Meeting who had been at a Meeting before and he raised a false Accusation against me and made a Noise up and down the Country reporting that I said I was Christ which was utterly false And when I came to Gainsborough Gainsborough where a Friend had been declaring Truth in the Market the Town and Market-People was all in an Uproar So I went into a Friendly Man's House and the People rushed in after me so that the House was filled with Professors and Disputers and rude People And this false Accuser came in before them all and accused me openly before all the People That I said I was Christ and he had got Witnesses to prove the same Which set the People into such a Rage that they had much ado to keep their Hands off me Then was I moved of the Lord God to stand up upon the Table in the Eternal Power of God and tell the People That Christ was in them except they were Reprobates and that it was Christ the Eternal Power of God that spake in me at that time unto them NOT that I was CHRIST And the People were generally satisfied except himself and a Professor and his own false Witnesses And I called the Accuser Judas and was moved to tell him That he was Judas and Judas his End should be his and that that was the Word of the Lord and of Christ through me to him So the Lord's Power came over all 1652. Gainsborough and quieted the Minds of the People and they departed in Peace But this Judas went away and shortly after hanged himself and a Stake was driven into his Grave And afterwards the Wicked Priests raised a Scandal upon us and reported That a Quaker had hanged himself in Lincolnshire and had a Stake driven through him This Falshood they printed to the Nation adding Sin to Sin which the Truth and we were clear of for he was no
Considerable Men and the Truth was powerfully declared amongst them and the Scriptures wonderfully opened and the Parables and Sayings of Christ were expounded and the State of the Church in the Apostles Days was plainly set forth and the Apostacy since from that State discovered And the Truth had great Dominion that Day so that those Great Men that were present did generally Confess to it saying They believed that this Principle must go over the whole World There were at this Meeting James Naylor Thomas Goodyear and William Dewsbury who had been Convinced the Year before and Richard Farnsworth also And the Constable stay'd with Thomas Aldam till the Meeting was over And then went towards York-prison but did not meddle with me Wakefield From hence I went to Wakefield and on the First Day after I went to a Steeple-house where James Naylor had been a Member of an Independent-Church but upon his receiving Truth he was Excommunicated When I came in and the Priest had done the People called upon me to come up to the Priest which I did But when I began to declare the Word of Life to them and to lay open the Deceit of the Priest they rushed upon me on a suddain and thrust me out at the other Door and fell a punching and beating me and Cried Let us have him to the Stocks But the Lord's Power was over them and restrained them that they were not suffered to put me in So I passed away to the Meeting where were a great many Professors and friendly People gathered and a great Convincement there was that Day For the People were mightily satisfied that they were directed to the Lord 's Teaching in themselves Here we got some Lodging for Four of us had lain abroad under an Hedge the Night before there being then few Friends in that Place The same Day Richard Farnsworth went to another great Steeple-house belonging to a great High-priest and declared the Word of Truth unto the People and a great Service he had amongst them For the Lord 's Dread and Power was mightily over all The Priest of that Church which James Naylor had been a Member of whose Name mas Marshal raised many Wicked Slanders upon me as That I carried Bottles about with me and made People drink of my Bottles and that made them follow me And That I rid upon a great Black Horse and was seen in one Country upon my Black Horse in one Hour and in the same Hour in another Country Threescore Miles off and That I should give a Fellow Money to follow me when I was on my Black Horse With these Hellish Lies he fed his People to make them think Evil of the Truth which I had declared amongst them But by these Lies of his he preached many of his Hearers away from him For I was then on Foot and travelled on foot and had no Horse at that Time and that the People generally knew But the Lord soon after met with this Envious Priest 1652. High-town and Cut him off in his Wickedness After this I came to a Town called High-Town where dwelt a Woman who had been Convinced a little before and we went to her House and had a Meeting and the Towns-people gathered together and we declared the Truth to them and had some Service for the Lord amongst them and they passed away again peaceably But there was a Widow-woman in the Town whose Name was Green who being filled with Envy went to one that was called a Gentleman in the Town who was reported to have killed Two Men and One Woman and Informed him against us though he was no Officer The next Morning we drew up some Queries to be sent to the Priest And when we had done and were just going away some of the Friendly People of the Town came running up to the House where we were and told us That this Murdering Man had sharpened a Pike to stab us and was coming up with his Sword by his Side We were just passing away and so missed him But we were no sooner gone but he came to the House where we had been and the People generally Concluded If we had not been gone he would have murdered some of us That Night we lay in a Wood and were very Wet for it Rained exceedingly In the Morning I was moved to come back to that Town again and then they gave us a full Relation of this wicked Man From hence we passed to Bradford and came to an House Bradford where we met with Richard Farnsworth again from whom we had parted a little before When we came in they set Meat before us but as I was going to Eat the Word of the Lord came to me saying Eat not the Bread of such as have an Evil Eye Immediately I arose from the Table and ate nothing The Woman of the House was a Baptist So after I had exhorted the Family To turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and hearken to his Teachings in their own Hearts We departed thence And as we travelled through the Country preaching Repentance to the People we came into a Market-town on the Market-day and there was a Lecture there that Day And I went into the Steeple-house where were many Priests and Professors and People The Priest that preached took for his Text those Words of Jeremiah Chap. 5. ver 31. My People love to have it so Leaving out the foregoing Words viz. The Prophets prophesy falsly and the Priests bear Rule by their Means So I shewed the People his Deceit and directed them to Christ the true Teacher within declaring unto them that God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all the World's Teachers and Hirelings that they might come to receive freely from him Then warning them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Flesh I passed from thence without much Opposition At Night we came to a Country-house and there was no Ale-house near They desired us to stay there all Night which we did and had good Service for the Lord declaring his Truth amongst them 1652. Yorkshire The next Day we passed on For the Lord had said unto me If but one Man or Woman were Raised up by his Power to stand and live in the same Spirit that the Prophets and Apostles were in who gave forth the Scriptures â that Man or Woman should shake all the Country in their Profession for Ten Miles round For People had the Scriptures but were not in that same Light and Power and Spirit which they were in that gave forth the Scriptures and so they neither knew God nor Christ nor the Scriptures aright nor had they Vnity one with another being out of the Power and Spirit of God Therefore as we passed along we Warned all People where-ever we met them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon them Pendle-hill As we travelled on we came near a very great and high
but told them If they would appoint a Meeting for the next day at the Steeple-house and acquaint the People with it I might meet them They had a great deal of Reasoning about it some being for it and some against it In the Morning I walked out after I had spoken again to them concerning the Meeting and as I walked upon a Bank by the House there came several poor People Travellers asking Relief who I saw were in Necessity and they gave them nothing but said they were Cheats It grieved me to see such hard-heartedness amongst Professors whereupon when they were gone in to their Breakfast I ran after the Poor People about a quarter of a Mile and gave them some Money Mean while some of them that were in the House coming out again and seeing me a quarter of a Mile off said I could not have gone so far in such an Instant if I had not had Wings Hereupon the Meeting was like to have been put by for they were filled with such strange Thoughts concerning me that many of them were against having a Meeting with me I told them I ran after those poor People to give them some Money being grieved at their hard-heartedness who gave them nothing Then came Miles and Stephen Hubbersty and they being more simple-hearted Men would have the Meeting held So to the Chappel at Vnder-barrow I went and the Priest came and a great Meeting there was and the Way of Life and Salvation was opened and after a while the Priest fled away And many of Crook and Vnder-barrow were Convinced that day and received the Word of Life and stood fast in it under the Teaching of Christ Jesus Now after I had declared the Truth to them for some Hours and the Meeting was ended the Chief-Constable and some other Professors fell to Reasoning with me in the Chappel-Yard Whereupon I took a Bible and opened to them the Scriptures and dealt tenderly with them as one would do with a Child And they that were in the Light of Christ and Spirit of God knew when I spake Scripture though I did not mention Chapter and Verse after the Priest's Form unto them From hence I went along with an ancient Man 1652. Under-barrow whose Heart the Lord had opened and he invited me to his House His Name was James Dickinson He was Convinced that day and received the Truth and lived and died in it From his House I came the next day to James Taylor 's of Newton in Cartmell in Lancashire And on the First-day of the Week Lancashire Newton in Cartmell I went to the Chappel wheâe one Priest Camelford used to preach and after he had done I began to speak the Word of Life to the People But this Priest Camelford was in such a Rage and did so fret and was so peevish that he had no patience to hear but stirred up the rude Multitude and they rudely haled me out and struck and punched me and threw me Headlong over a Stone-Wall yet blessed be the Lord his Power preserved me He that did this Violence to me was a wicked Man one John Knipe whom afterwards the Lord cut off But there was a Youth in the Chappel writing after the Priest and I was moved to speak to him and he came to be Convinced and received a part of the Ministry of the Gospel His Name was John Brathwait Then went I up to an Ale-house whither many People resorted betwixt the time of their Morning and Afternoon-Preaching and I had a great deal of Reasoning with the People there declaring to them That God was come to Teach his People himself and to bring them off from all false Teachers such as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles cryed against And many received the Word of Life at that time and abode in it In the Afternoon I went about two or three Miles to another Steeple-house or Chappel called Lyndal And when the Priest had done I spake to him and the People what the Lord commanded me and there were great Opposers but afterwards they came to be Convinced After this I went to one Captain Sands who with his Wife seemed somewhat affected with Truth and if they could have held the World and Truth together they would have received it but they were Hypocrites and he a very Chaffy light Man Wherefore I reproved him for his Lightness and for his Jesting telling him It was not seemly in a great Professor as he was Thereupon he told me He had a Son who upon his Death-bed had also reproved him for it and warned him of it But he neither regarded the Admonition of his dying Son nor the Reproofs of God's Spirit in himself From hence I went to Vlverstone Ulverstone Swarthmore and so to Swarthmore to Judge Fell's whether came up one Lampitt a Priest who I perceived had been and still was an high Notionist With him I had a great deal of Reasoning for he would talk of high Notions and Perfection and thereby deceived the People He would have owned me but I could not own nor join with him he was so full of Filth He said He was above John and made as though he knew all things But I told him Death reigned from Adam to Moses and that he was under Death and knew not Moses for Moses saw the Paradise of God but he knew neither Moses nor the Prophets nor John For that crooked and rough Nature stood in him and the Mountain of Sin and Corruptions and the Way was not prepared in him for the Lord. 1652. Swarthmore He confessed he had been under a Cross in things but now he could sing Psalms and do any thing I told him Now he could see a Thief and join Hand in Hand with him But he could not preach Moses nor the Prophets nor John nor Christ except he were in the same Spirit that they were in Now Margaret Fell had been abroad in the Day-time and at Night her Children told her that Priest Lampitt and I had dis-agreed which did some-what trouble her because she was in a Profession with him but he hid his dirty Actions from them At Night we had a great deal of Reasoning and I declared the Truth to her and her Family The next day Lampitt came again and I had a great deal of Discourse with him before Margaret Fell who then clearly discerned the Priest and a Convincement of the Lord's Truth came upon her and her Family Within a day or two there was a day to be observed for an Humiliation and Margaret Fell asked me to go with her to the Steeple-house at Vlverstone Ulverstone for she was not wholly come off from them I replied I must do as I am ordered by the Lord. So I left her and walked into the Fields and the Word of the Lord came to me saying Go to the Steeple-house after them When I came the Priest Lampitt was singing with his People But his Spirit was so foul
and the Matter they sung so Vnsuitable to their States that after they had done singing I was moved of the Lord to speak to him and the People The Word of the Lord to them was He is not a Jew that is one Outward but he is a Jew that is one Inward whose Praise is not of Man but of God Then as the Lord opened further I shewed them That God was come to Teach his People by his Spirit and to bring them off from all their old Ways and Religions Churches and Worships for all their Religions and Worships and Ways was but talking of other Mens Words but they were out of the Life and Spirit which they were in who gave them forth Then cried out one called Justice Sawrey Take him away But Judge Fell's Wife said to the Officers Let him alone Why may not he speak as well as any other Lampitt also the Priest in Deceit said Let him speak So at length when I had declared a pretty while this Justice Sawrey caused the Constable to put me out and then I spake to the People in the Grave-yard Aldenham Upon the First-Day after I was moved to go to Aldenham-Steeple-house And when the Priest had done I spake to him but he got away Then I declared the Word of Life to the People and warned them to Return to the Lord. Ramside From thence I passed to Ram-side where was a Chappel in which one Thomas Lawson used to preach who was a high sort of a Priest and he very lovingly spake to his People in the Morning of my Coming in the Afternoon by which means very many People were gathered together When I came I saw there was no Place so Convenient to declare to the People there as the Chappel wherefore I went into the Chappel and all was quiet And the Priest Thomas Lawson went not up into his Pulpit but left all the Time to me And the Everlasting Day of the Eternal God was proclaimed that Day and the Everlasting Truth was largely declared which reached and entred into the Hearts of People and many received the Truth in the Love of it And this Priest came to be Convinced and left his Chappel 1652. Firbank Chappel and threw off his Preaching for Hire and came to preach the Lord Jesus and his Kingdom freely After that some rude People cast Scandals upon him and thought to have done him a Mischief but he was carried over all and grew in the Wisdom of God mightily and proved very serviceable in his Place Then returned I to Swarthmore again Swarthmore Dalton Steeple-house and on the next First-Day went to Dalton-Steeple-house where after the Priest had done I declared the Word of Life to the People that they might be turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan to God and might come off from their Superstitious Ways and from their Teachers made of Man to Christ the true and living Way to be taught of him From thence I went into the Island of Walnah Island of Walnah and after the Priest had done I spake to him but he got away Then I spake to the People and declared the Truth unto them but they were something Rude Then went I to speak with the Priest at his House but he would not be seen The People said he went to hide himself in the Hay-mow and they went to look for him there but could not find him Then they said he was gone to hide himself in the standing Corn but they could not find him there neither So I went to James Lancaster's who was Convinced in the Island and from thence I returned to Swarthmore again Swarthmore where the Lord's Power seized upon Margaret Fell and her Daughter Sarah and several of them Then I went to Becliff where Leornard Fell was Convinced Becliff and became a Minister of the Everlasting Gospel And several others were Convinced there and came into obedience to the Truth Here the People said They could not tell how to dispute and would fain have put on some other to hold Talk with me but I bid them Fear the Lord and not in a light way hold a Talk of the Lord's Words but put the Things in practice And I directed them to the Divine Light of Christ and his Spirit in their Hearts which would let them see all the Evil Thoughts Words and Actions that they had thought spoken and acted by which Light they might see their Sin and by which Light they might also see their Saviour Christ Jesus to save them from their Sins This I told them was their first Step to Peace even to stand still in the Light that shewed them their Sins and Transgressions by which they might come to see how they were in the fall of Old Adam in the Darkness and Death Strangers to the Covenant of Promise and without God in the World And by the same Light they might see Christ that died for them to be their Redeemer and Saviour and their Way to God After this I went to a Chappel beyond Gleaston which was built Chappel beyond Gleaston but never Priest had preached in it Thither all the Country up and down came and a quiet peaceable Meeting it was in which the Word of Life was declared amongst the People and many were convinced of the Truth about Gleaston 1652. Swarthmore Westmorland on Kendal-side From thence I returned to Swarthmore again where after I had staid a few Days and most of the Family were Convinced I went from thence back again into Westmorland where Priest Lampitt had been amongst the Professors on Kendal-Side and had mightily Incensed them against me telling them I held many strange Things So I met with them that he had so Incensed and sate up all Night with them at James Dickinson's and answered all their Objections And then they were both throughly satisfied with the Truth that I had declared and dissatisfied with him and his Lies that he had divulged so that he clearly lost the best of his Hearers and Followers who hereby came to see his Deceit and forsook him Then I passed on to John Audland's and Gervase Benson's and had great Meetings amongst those People that had been Convinced before And to John Blakelin's and Richard Robinson's and had mighty Meetings there and so up towards Grisedale Soon after Judge Fell being come home Margaret Fell his Wife sent to me desiring me to return thither And I feeling Freedom from the Lord so to do Swarthmore went back through the Country to Swarthmore Where when I came I found the Priests and Professors and that envious Justice Sawrey had much Incensed Judge Fell and Captain Sands against the Truth by their Lies But when I came to speak with him I answered all his Objections and so throughly satisfied him by the Scriptures that he was Convinced in his Judgment Then he asked me If I was that George Fox whom Justice
Robinson spake so much in Commendation of amongst many of the Parliament Men I told him I had been with Justice Robinson and with Justice Hotham in Yorkshire who were very Civil and Loving to me and that they were Convinced in their Judgments by the Spirit of God that the Principle which I bore Testimony to was the Truth and they did see over and beyond the Priests of the Nation So that they and many others were now come to be wiser than their Teachers After we had discoursed a pretty Time together Judge Fell himself was satisfied also and came to see by the Openings of the Spirit of God in his Heart over all the Priests and Teachers of the World and did not go to hear them for some Years before he died for he knew it was the Truth that I declared and that Christ was the Teacher of his People and their Saviour And he would sometimes wish that I were a while with Judge Bradshaw to discourse with him There came to Judge Fell's that Captain Sands before-mentioned endeavouring to Incense the Judge against me for he was an evil-minded Man and full of Envy against me And yet he could speak high things and use the Scripture-words and say Behold I make all things new But I told him Then he must have a New God for his God was his Belly Besides him thither came also that envious Justice John Sawrey And I told him His Heart was rotten and he was full of Hypocrisy to the Brim Several other People also came whose States the Lord gave me a discerning of and I spake unto their Conditions And while I was in those Parts Richard Farnsworth and James Naylor came thither to see me and the Family and Judge Fell being satisfied that it was the Way of Truth notwithstanding all their Opposition let the Meeting be kept at his House And a great Meeting was settled there in the Lord's Power to the tormenting of the Priests and Professors which hath continued there near Forty Years until the Year 1690. that a New Meeting-house was erected near it Now after I had stay'd a while Underbarrow and the Meeting there was well settled I departed from thence and went to Vnderbarrow where I had a great Meeting From thence I went to Kellet Kellet and had a great Meeting at Robert Withers to which several came from Lancaster and some from York and many were Convinced there Then on the Market-day I went to Lancaster Lancaster and spake through the Market in the dreadful Power of God declaring the Day of the Lord to the People and crying out against all their deceitful Merchandize And I preached Righteousness and Truth unto them which they should all follow after and walk and live in directing them how and where they might find and receive the Spirit of God to guide them there-into After I had cleared my self in the Market I went to my Lodging whither several People came to me and many were Convinced there who have stood faithful to the Truth On the First-Day following in the Forenoon I had a great Meeting in the Street at Lancaster amongst the Souldiers and People unto whom I declared the Word of Life and the Everlasting Truth And I opened unto them That all the Traditions they had lived in and all their Worships and Religions and the Profession they made of the Scriptures was good for nothing while they lived out of the Life and Power which they were in who gave forth the Scriptures And I directed them to the Light of Christ the heavenly Man and to the Spirit of God in their own Hearts that they might come to be acquainted with God and with Christ and receive him for their Teacher and know his Kingdom set up in them In the Afternoon I went up to the Steeple-house at Lancaster and declared the Truth both to the Priest and People laying open before them the Deceits they lived in and directing them to the Power and Spirit of God which they wanted But they haled me out and stoned me along the Street till I came to John Lawson's House On another First-Day I went to another Steeple-house by the Water-side where one Whitehead was Priest to whom and to the People I declared the Truth in the dreadful Power of God And there came to me a Doctor who was so full of Envy that he said He could find in his Heart to run me through with his Rapier though he was hanged for it the next Day Yet this Man came afterwards to be Convinced of the Truth so far as to be loving to Friends And some People were Convinced there-abouts who willingly sate down under the Ministry of Christ their Teacher And a Meeting was settled there in the Power of God which has continued to this Day After this I returned into Westmorland Westmorland Kendal and spake through Kendal upon a Market-day And so dreadful was the Power of God that was upon me that People flew like Chaff before me into their Houses I warned them of the Mighty Day of the Lord and exhorted them to hearken to the Voice of God in their own Hearts who was now Come to Teach his People himself And when some Opposed many People took my part insomuch that at last some of the People fell to Fighting about me but I went to them and spake to them and they parted again And several were Convinced On the First-Day after I had a very large Meeting in Vnder-barrow at Miles Bateman's House where I was moved to declare That all People in the Fall were gone from the Image of God Righteousness and Holiness and were become as Wells without the Water of Life as Clouds without the heavenly Rain as Trees without the heavenly Fruit and were degenerated into the Nature of Beasts and of Serpents and of tall Cedars and of Oaks and of Bulls and of Heifers So that they might read the Natures of these Creatures within as the Prophet described them to the People of Old that were out of Truth I opened unto them how some were in the Nature of Dogs and Swine biting and rending some in the nature of Briars Thistles and Thorns some like the Owls and Dragons in the Night some like the wild Asses and Horses snuffing up the Wind and some like the Mountains and Rocks and crooked and rough Ways Wherefore I exhorted them to read these things within in their own Natures as well as without And that when they read without of the wandring Stars they should look within and see how they have wandred from the bright and Morning-Star And they should consider that as the Fallow Ground in their Fields must be plowed up before it would bear Seed to them so must the Fallow Ground of their Hearts be plowed up before they could bear Seed to God Now all these Names and Things I shewed them were spoken of and to Man and Woman since they fell from the Image of God but as
they do come to be renewed again into the Image of God they come out of the Natures of these things and so out of the Names thereof Many more such things were declared to them and they were turned to the Light of Christ by which they might come to know Christ and to receive him and might witness him to be their Substance and their Way their Salvation and true Teacher And many were Convinced at that Time Now after I had travelled up and down in those Countries and had had great Meetings Swarthmore Ulverston I came to Swarthmore again And when I had visited Friends a while in those Parts I heard of a great Meeting the Priests were to have at Vlverstone on a Lecture-Day Whereupon I went down to it and went into the Steeple-house in the Dread and Power of the Lord And when the Priest had done I spake among them the Word of the Lord which was as an Hammer and as a Fire amongst them And though Lampit the Priest of the Place had been at variance with most of the Priests before yet against the Truth he and they all joined together But the mighty Power of the Lord was over all and so wonderful was the Appearance thereof that Priest Bennet said The Church shook Insomuch that he was afraid and trembled and after he had spoken a few Confused Words he hastened out for fear the Steeple-house would fall on his Head There were many Priests got together there yet they had no Power as yet to Persecute When I had cleared my Conscience amongst them I went up to Swarthmore again whither came up four or five of the Priests 1652. Swarthmore And coming to discourse I asked them Whether any one of them could say he ever had the Word of the Lord to go and speak to such or such a People None of them durst say He had But one of them burst out into a Passion and said He could speak his Experiences as well as I. I told him Experience was one thing but to receive and go with a Message and to have a Word from the Lord as the Prophets and Apostles had and did and as I had done to them this was another thing And therefore I put it to them again Could any of them say he had ever had a Command or Word from the Lord immediately at any time but none of them could say so Then I told them The false Prophets and false Apostles and Antichrists could use the Words of the true Prophets and true Apostles and of Christ and would speak of other Mens Experiences though they themselves never knew nor heard the Voice of God and Christ and such as They might get the good Words and Experiences of others This puzzled them much and laid them open For at another time when I was discoursing with several Priests at Judge Fell's House and he was by I asked them the same Question Whether any of them ever heard the Voice of God or Christ to bid him go to such or such a People to declare his Word or Message unto them for any one I told them any that could but read might declare the Experiences of the Prophets and Apostles which were recorded in the Scriptures Hereupon one of them whose Name was Thomas Taylor an ancient Priest did ingenuously Confess before Judge Fell That he had never heard the Voice of God nor of Christ to send him to any People but he spake his Experiences and the Experiences of the Saints in former Ages and That he preached This very much Confirmed Judge Fell in the Perswasion he had That the Priests were wrong for he had thought formerly as the generality of People then did That they were sent from God This Thomas Taylor was Convinced at this time Westmorland Cross-land and traveled with me into Westmorland And coming to Crossland-Steeple-house we found the People gathered together there And the Lord opened Thomas Taylor 's Mouth amongst the People though he was Convinced but the day before so that he declared amongst them How he had been before he was Convinced and like the good Scribe that was Converted to the Kingdom he brought forth things new and old to the People and shewed them how the Priests were out of the Way Which did torment the Priests Some little discourse I had with them but they sled away and a precious Meeting there was wherein the Lord's Power was over all and the People were directed to the Spirit of God by which they might come to know God and Christ and to understand the Scriptures aright After this I passed on visiting Friends and had very large Meetings in Westmorland Now began the Priests to Rage more and more and as much as they could to stir up Persecution Whereupon James Naylor and Francis Howgill were cast into Prison in Appleby-Jail at the instigation of the malicious Priests some of whom prophesied That within a Month we should be all scattered again and come to nothing But blessed for ever be the Worthy Name of the Lord the Work of the Lord went on and prospered 1652. Westmorland For about this time John Audland and Francis Howgill and John Camm and Edward Burrough and Richard Hubberthorn and Miles Hubbersty and Miles Halhead with several others being endued with Power from on high came forth into the Work of the Ministry and approved themselves faithful Labourers therein traveling up and down and preaching the Gospel freely by means whereof Multitudes were Convinced and many effectually turned to the Lord. Amongst these Christopher Taylor was one who was Brother to Thomas Taylor before-mentioned and had been a Preacher to a People as well as his Brother But after they had received the knowledge of the Truth they soon came into Obedience thereunto and left their Preaching for Hire or Rewards And having received a part of the Ministry of the Gospel they preached Christ freely being often sent by the Lord to declare his Word in Steeple-houses and in Markets and great Sufferers they were Lancashire Ulverstone After I had visited Friends in Westmorland I returned into Lancashire and went to Vlverstone where Lampitt was Priest who though he had preached of a People that did own the Teachings of God and had said That Men and Women should come to declare the Gospel yet afterwards when it came to be fulfilled he persecuted both it and them To this Priest's House I went where abundance of Priests and Professors âere got together after their Lecture with whom I had great Disputings concerning Christ and the Scriptures for they were loth to let their Trade go down which they made of preaching Christ's and the Apostles and Prophets Words But the Lord's Power went over the Heads of them all and his Word of Life was held forth amongst them though many of them were exceeding Envious and Devillish Yet after this many Priests and Professors came to me from far and near of whom they that were
their way and did no harm Lancaster The time for the Sessions at Lancaster being come I went to Lancaster with Judge Fell who on the way told me He had never had such a Matter brought before him before and he could not well tell what to do in the Business I told him when Paul was brought before the Rulers and the Jews and Priests came down to Accuse him and laid many false things to his Charge Paul stood still all that while And when they had done Festus the Governour and King Agrippa beckned to him to speak for himself which Paul did and cleared himself of all those false Accusations And so he might do by me Being come to Lancaster and Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson having granted a Warrant to apprehend me though I was not apprehended by it Lancaster Sessions yet hearing of it I appeared at the Sessions where there appeared against me about Forty Priests These had chosen one Marshal Priest of Lancaster to be their Orator and had provided one young Priest and two Priests Sons to bear Witness against me who had sworn before-hand that I had spoken Blasphemy When the Justices were set they heard all that the Priests and their Witnesses could say and charge against me their Orator Marshal sitting by and explaining their Sayings for them But the Witnesses were so Confounded that they discovered themselves to be false Witnesses For when the Court had Examined one of the Witnesses upon Oath 1652. Lancaster Sessions and then began to Examin another of them he was at such loss he could not Answer directly but said the other could say it Which made the Justices say to him Have you sworn it and given it in already upon your Oath and now say That he can say it It seems you did not hear those words spoken your self though you have sworn it There were then in Court several People who had been at that Meeting wherein the Witnesses swore I spake those blasphemous Words which the Priests accused me of and these being Men of Integrity and Reputation in the Country did declare and affirm in Court That the Oath which the Witnesses had taken against me was altogether false and that no such Words as they had sworn against me were spoken by me at that Meeting For indeed most of the serious Men of that side of the County that were then at the Sessions had been at that Meeting and had heard me both at that Meeting and at other Meetings also This was taken notice of by Colonel VVest who being a Justice of the Peace was then upon the Bench and having long been weak in Body blessed the Lord and said The Lord had healed him that day adding That he never saw so many sober People and good Faces together in all his Life And then turning himself to me he said in the open Sessions George If thou hast any thing to say to the People thou may'st freely declare it And I was moved of the Lord to speak and as soon as I began Priest Marshal the Orator for the rest of the Priests went his way That which I was moved to declare was this That the Holy Scriptures were given forth by the Spirit of God and all People must first come to the Spirit of God in themselves by which they might know God and Christ of whom the Prophets and the Apostles learnt and by the same Spirit know the Holy Scriptures for as the Spirit of God was in them that gave forth the Scriptures so the same Spirit of God must be in all them that come to know and understand the Scriptures By which Spirit they might have Fellowship with the Son and with the Father and with the Scriptures and with one another And without this Spirit they can know neither God nor Christ nor the Scriptures nor have right Fellowship one with another I had no sooner spoken these Words but about half a dozen Priests that stood behind my Back burst out into a passion and one of them whose Name was Jackus amongst other things that he spake against the Truth said That the Spirit and the Letter were inseparable I replied Then every one that hath the Letter hath the Spirit and they might buy the Spirit with the Letter of the Scriptures This plain discovery of Darkness in the Priest moved Judge Fell and Colonel VVest to Reprove them openly and tell them That according to that Position they might carry the Spirit in their Pockets as they did the Scriptures Upon this the Priests being Confounded and put to silence rusht out in a Rage against the Justices because they could not have their bloody Ends upon me So the Justices seeing the Witnesses did not agree and perceiving that they were brought to Answer the Priests Envy and finding that all their Evidences were not sufficient in Law to make good their Charge against me they discharged me And after Judge Fell had spoken to Justice Sawrey and Justice Thompson concerning the VVarrant they had given forth against me and shewed them the Errors thereof He and Colonel West granted a Supersedeas to stop the Execution thereof Thus was I cleared in open Sessions of all those lying Accusations which the malicious Priests had laid to my Charge And Multitudes of People praised God that day for it was a joyful Day to many There was Justice Benson out of Westmorland who was Convinced and Major Ripan that was Mayor of the Town of Lancaster who was Convinced also It was a day of Everlasting Salvation to hundreds of People for the Lord Jesus Christ the Way to the Father and the free Teacher was exalted and set up and his Everlasting Gospel was preached and the Word of Eternal Life was declared over the heads of the Priests and all such Money-Preachers For the Lord opened many Mouths that Day to speak his Word to the Priests and several friendly People and Professors reproved the Priests in their Inns and in the Streets so that they fell like an old rotten House and the Cry was among the People That the Quakers had got the day and the Priests were fallen Many People were Convinced that day amongst whom Thomas Briggs was one who before had been averse from Friends and Truth insomuch that discoursing on a time with John Lawson a Friend concerning Perfection Thomas Briggs said to him Dost thou hold Perfection and therewithal lift up his Hand to have given the Friend a Box on the Ear. But this Thomas Briggs being Convinced of the Truth that day declared against his own Priest Jackus and afterwards became a faithful Minister of the Gospel and stood so to the End of his Days When the Sessions were over James Naylor who was present thereat gave a brief Account of the Proceedings thereof in a Letter which soon after he writ to Friends which is here added for the Reader 's further satisfaction in this Matter DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ my
Religion to the Simple and Babes and brought thy Deeds to Light How is thy Habitation fallen and become the Habitation of Devils How is thy Beauty lost and thy Glory withered How hast thou shewed thy End that thou hast served God but with thy Lips and thy Heart far from him and thou in the Hypocrisy How hath the Form of thy Teaching declared it self to be the Mark of the false Prophets whose Fruit declares it self for by their Fruits they are known How are the Wise Men turned backward View thy Ways and take notice with whom thou hast taken part That of God in thy Conscience will tell thee 1652. Swarthmore The Ancient of Days will reprove thee How hath thy Zeal appeared to be the Blind Zeal a Persecutor which Christ and his Apostles forbad Christians to follow How hast thou strengthened the Hands of Evil-doers and been a Praise to them and not to them that do well How like a Mad-man and a Blind-man didst thou turn thy Sword backward against the Saints against whom there is no Law How wilt thou be gnawed and burned one Day when thou shalt feel the Flame and have the Plagues of God poured upon thee and thou begin to gnaw thy Tongue for Pain because of the Plagues Thou shalt have thy Reward according to thy Works Thou canst not escape the Lord 's righteous Judgment will find thee out and the Witness of God in thy Conscience shall answer it How hast thou caused the Heathen to Blaspheme and gone on with the Multitude to do Evil and joined hand in hand with the wicked How is thy latter End worse than thy Beginning who art come with the Dog to bite and art turned as a Wolf to devour the Lambs How hast thou discovered thy self to be a Man more fit to be kept in a place to be nurtured than to be set in a Place to nurture How wast thou exalted and puffed up with Pride And now art thou fallen down with Shame that thou comest to be covered with that which thou stirredst up and broughtest forth Let not John Sawrey take the VVords of God into his Mouth till he be Reformed Let him not take his Name into his Mouth till he depart from Iniquity Let not him and his Teacher make a Profession of the Saints VVords except they intend to proclaim themselves Hypocrites whose Lives are so contrary to the Lives of the Saints whose Church hath made it self manifest to be a Cage of Vnclean Birds You having a Form of Godliness but not the Power have made them that be in the Power your Derision your By-word and your Talk at your Feasts Thy ill Savour John Sawrey the Country about have smelled and of thy unchristian Carriage all that fear God have been ashamed and to them thou hast been a Grief In the Day of Account thou shalt know it even in the Day of thy Condemnation Thou wast mounted up and hadst set thy Nest on high but never gottest higher than the Fowls of the Air But now thou art run amongst the Beasts of Prey and art fallen into the Earth so that Earthliness and Covetousness hath swallowed thee up and thy Conceitedness would not carry thee through in whom was found the selfish Principle which hath blinded thy Eye Thy Back must be bowed down always for thy Table is already become thy Snare G. F. This Justice Sawrey who was the first Persecutor in that Country was afterward drowned I writ also to VVilliam Lampit who was the Priest of Vlverston and thus it was upon me to write unto him THE Word of the Lord to thee O Lampitt who art a Deceiver surfetted and drunk with the Earthly Spirit rambling up and down in the Scriptures and blending thy Spirit amongst the Saints Conditions who hadst a Prophecy as thy Father Balaam had but art erred from it as thy Father did One whose Fruit hath withered of which I am a Witness and many who have known thy Fruit have seen the End of it that it is withered and do see where thou art in the blind World a blind Leader of the Blind a Beast wallowing and tumbling in the Earth and in the Lust one that is erred from the Spirit of the Lord who art of old ordained for Condemnation Who art in the Seat of the Pharisees art called of Men Master standest Praying in the Synagogues and hast the Chief Seat in the Assemblies a right Hypocrite in the steps of the Pharisees and in the way of thy Fathers the Hypocrites which our Lord Jesus Christ cried Wo against Such with the Light thou art seen to be and by the Light art Comprehended which is thy Condemnation who hatest it and will be so Eternally except thou Repent To thee this is the Word of God for in Christ's Way thou art not but in the Pharisees as thou may stread Mat. 23. and all that own Christ's Words may see thee there Christ who died at Jerusalem cried Wo against such as thou art and Christ is the same yesterday to day and for ever The Wo remains upon thee and from under it thou canst never come but through Judgment Condemnation and true Repentance To thee this is the VVord of God To that of God in thy Conscience I do speak which will witness the Truth of what I write and will Condemn thee And when thou art in thy Torment though now thou swellest in thy Vanity and livest in Wickedness remember thou wast warned in thy Life-time when the Eternal Condemnation is stretched over thee thou shalt witness this to be the VVord of the Lord God unto thee And if ever thy Eye should see Repentance thou would'st witness me to have been a Friend of thy Soul G. F. Having thus cleared my Conscience to the Justice and to the Priest of Vlverstone who had raised the first Persecution in that Country it was upon me to send this VVarning in Writing to the People of Vlverstone in general COnsider O People who be within the Parish of Vlverston I was moved of the Lord to come into your Publick Places to speak among you being sent of God to direct your Minds to God that you might know where you might find your Teacher that your Minds might be stayed alone upon God and you might not gad abroad without you for a Teacher for the Lord God alone will Teach his People and he is coming to Teach them and to gather his People from Idols-Temples and from the customary Worships which all the World is trained up in And God hath given to every one of you a Measure of his Spirit according to your Capacity Liars Drunkards Whoremongers and Thieves and who follow filthy Pleasures you all have this Measure in you And this is the Measure of the Spirit of God that shews you Sin and shews you Evil and shews you Deceit which lets you see Lying is Sin Theft Drunkenness and Vncleanness all these to be the Works of Darkness Therefore mind your Measure for
nothing that is Unclean shall enter into the Kingdom of God and prize your Time while you have it lest the Time come that you say with Sorrow We had Time but it is past Oh why will ye die Why will ye chuse your own Ways Why will ye follow the Course of the World and why will ye follow Envy Malice Drunkenness and foolish Pleasures Know ye not in your Consciences that all these are Evil and Sin and that such as act such things shall never enter into the Kingdom of God Oh that ye would Consider and see how you have spent your Time and mind how ye do spend your Time and observe whom ye do serve for the Wages of Sin is Death Do not ye know that whatsoever is more than Yea and Nay cometh of Evil Oh ye Drunkards who live in Drunkenness do ye think to escape the Fire and the Judgment of God! Though ye swell in Venom and live in Lust for a while yet God will find you out and bring you to Judgment Therefore love the Light which Christ hath enlightened you withal who saith I am the Light of the World and who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World One loves the Light and brings his Works to the Light and there is no occasion at all of stumbling the other hates the Light because his Deeds are Evil and the Light will reprove him Thou that hatest this Light thou hast it Thou knowest Lying is Evil Drunkenness is Evil Swearing is Evil Whoredom Theft and all Vngodliness and all Vnrighteousness is Evil Christ Jesus hath given thee Light enough to let thee see this is Evil. And this Light if thou lovest it will teach thee Holiness and Righteousness without which none shall see God but if thou hatest this Light it is thy Condemnation And thus are Christ's Words found to be true and fulfilled among you You that hate this Light set up Hirelings and Idols-Temples and such Priests as bear rule by their means and such Shepherds as hold up such things and such as are called of Men Masters and have the chiefest Place in the Assemblies whom Christ cried Wo against Matt. 23. And such as go in the way of Cain in Envy and after the Error of Balaam for Wages Gifts and Rewards These have been your Teachers and these you have held up But who love the Light are taught of God and the Lord is coming to teach his People himself and to gather his from the Hirelings and from such as seek for their Gain from their Quarter and from such as bear Rule by their Means The Lord is opening the Eyes of foolish People that they shall see such as bear Rule over them But all whose Eyes are shut are such as the Prophet spake of That have Eyes and see not but are foolish upholding such things Therefore poor People as ye love your own Souls consider the Love of God to your Souls while ye have time and do not turn the Grace of God into Wantonness That which shews you Vngodliness and worldly Lusts that should and would be your Teacher if ye would hearken to it for the Saints of Old witnessed the Grace of God to be their Teacher which taught them to live Soberly and Godly in this present World And ye that are not sober this Grace of God hath appeared unto you but you turn it into Wantonness and so set up Teachers without you who are not sober not holy not godly Here you are left without Excuse when the Righteous Judgment of God shall be revealed upon you all who live Ungodlily Therefore to the Light in you I speak and when the Book of Conscience shall come to be opened then shall you Witness what I say to be true and you all shall be judged out of it So God Almighty direct your Minds such of you especially as love Honesty and Sincerity that you may receive Mercy in the time of Need. Your Teacher is within you look not forth It will Teach you both lying in Bed and going Abroad to shun all Occasion of Sin and Evil. G. F. As the foregoing was directed To all the Inhabitants of Ulverston in general so it was upon me to write also to those more particularly that did most constantly follow W. Lampitt the Priest there And unto these I writ thus THE Word of the Lord God to all the People that follow Priest Lampitt who is a blind Guide Ye are such as are turned from the Light of Christ within which he hath enlightned you withal Ye are such as follow that which Christ cried Wo against that goes not in Christ's Way but in the Pharisees Way as ye may read Matt. 23. which our Lord Jesus Christ cried Wo against He is the same yesterday to day and for ever but him ye own not while ye follow such as he cried Wo against though under a Colour ye make a Profession and Lampitt your Priest makes a Trade of Christ's and the Saint's Words as his Fathers the Pharisees did make a Profession of the Prophets Words and of Moses his Words Wo was unto them who had not the Life so VVo is unto you who have not the Life that gave forth the Scriptures as your Fruits have made manifest For when the Lord hath moved some to come amongst you to preach the Truth freely you have knock'd them down beat and punch'd and haled them out of your Assemblies Such a People serves thee O Lampitt to make a prey upon and these are thy Fruits O let Shame Shame strike thee and you all in the Faces who make a Profession of Christ's Words thou and they and yet are Stoners and Strikers and Mockers and Scoffers Let all see if this be not a Cage of Vnclean Birds spoken of in the Scriptures which they who had the Life of the Scriptures spake of And such a Company of People thou deceivest and feedest them with thy Fancies and makest a Trade of the Scriptures and takest them for thy Cloak But thou art manifest to all the Children of Light for that Cloak will not cover thee but thy Skirts are seen and thy Nakedness appears And the Lord made one to go Naked among you a Figure of thy Nakedness and of your Nakedness and as a Sign amongst you before your destruction cometh that you might see that you were Naked and not covered with the Truth To the Light in all your Consciences I do speak which Christ Jesus doth enlighten you withal It will shew you the Time you have spent and all your Evil Deeds you have done in that Time who follow such a Teacher that acts contrary to this Light and leads you into the Ditch And when you are in the Ditch together both Teacher and People remember ye were warned in your Life time And if ever your Eye come to see Repentance and you obey the Light of Jesus Christ in you you will witness me to have been a Friend of your Souls and
that I have sought your Eternal Good and written this in dear Love to you And then will you own your Condemnation which you must all own before ye can come into that blessed Life of which there is no End But ye who hate the Light because your Deeds are evil this Light is your Condemnation and will be And when your Condemnation is come upon you remember ye were warned O that ye would love this Light and hearken to it It would teach you both as you walk up and down about your Occasions and as you lie upon your Beds and would never let you speak a vain VVord In loving it you love Christ in hating it you bring the Condemnation thereof upon your selves And to you this is the VVord of God from under which you can never pass nor ever escape the Terror of the Lord in the state you are in who hate the Light G. F. Amongst those who were the Chief Hearers and Followers of this Priest Lampitt of Vlverston there was one Adam Sands who was a very wicked false Man and would have destroyed Truth and its Followers if he could To him I was moved to write thus Adam Sands TO the Light in the Conscience I appeal thou Child of the Devil thou Enemy of Righteousness the Lord will strike thee down though now for a while in thy wickedness thou may'st Reign And the Plagues of God are due to thee who hardenest thy self in thy wickedness against the pure Truth of God With the pure Truth of God which thou hast resisted and persecuted thou art to be threshed down which is Eternal and doth Comprehend thee and with the Light which thou despisest thou art seen and it is thy Condemnation Thou as one bruitish and thy VVife as an Hypocrite and you both as Murderers of the Just in that which is Eternal are seen and comprehended and your Hearts searched and tried and condemned by the Light The Light in thy Conscience will witness the Truth of what I write to thee and will let thee see that thou art not born of God but art from the Truth in the Beastly Nature And if ever thy Eye see Repentance thou wilt witness me a Friend of thy Soul and a seeker of thy Eternal Good G. F. This Adam Sands afterwards died miserably I was moved also to write to Priest Tatham THE Word of the Lord to thee Priest Tatham who art found out of the Doctrine of Christ having the chiefest Place in the Assembly and being called of Men Master and standing Praying in the Synagogue in the Steps of the Pharisees which our Lord Jesus Christ cried VVo against In his VVay thou art not but in the Way of the Scribes and Pharisees as thou mayest read Matth. 23. There Christ's VVords Judge thee and the Scriptures of Truth Condemn thee For thou art such an one as sues Men at the Law for Tithes and yet professest thy self to be a Minister of Christ which Christ never impowered his to do Neither did any of his Apostles or Ministers ever do so Here I charge thee in the presence of the Living God to be out of their Doctrine and that thou art one of those evil Beasts the Scripture speaks of that mindest Earthly Things which the Life of the Scriptures is against Thou art for Destruction in the State wherein thou standest and it will be thy Portion eternally if thou dost not Repent To that of God in thy Conscience I speak which will witness the Truth of what I say Thou art one that goest in Cain's Way in Envy an Enemy to God and from the Command of God Thou art one that goest in Balaam's Way from the Spirit of God for Gifts and Rewards the Wages of Unrighteousness Thou Son of Balaam thou art worse than thy Father for though he loved the VVages of Vnrighteousness yet he durst not take it but thou not only takest it but suest Men at the Law if they will not give it thee which never did Minister of Jesus Christ Therefore stop thy Mouth for ever and never make mention of them or profess thy self one of them With the Light thou art seen and comprehended who art light and vain and speakest a Divination of thy own Brain and deceivest the People That in thy Conscience will witness what I say and will Condemn thee who art one that bearest Rule by thy Means which the Lord sent Jeremiah to cry against Jer. 5. and so thou holdest up the horrible and filthy thing that is committed in the Land And they that do not Tremble at the VVord of the Lord they are the foolish People that hold thee up they are sottish Children and have no Understanding They are Wise to do Evil but not to do Good who are deceived by thee And such an one thou art that seekest for thy Gain from thy Quarter a greedy dumb Dog that never hath enough as thy Practice makes manifest which the Lord sent Isaiah to cry against Isa 56.11 12. And thou art such an one as the Lord sent Ezekiel to cry against who feedest of the Fat and Clothest with the VVooll and makest a Prey upon the People But the Lord is gathering his Sheep from thy Mouth that to thee they shall be a Prey no longer Thou Enemy of God here this Prophecy is fulfilled upon thee Ezek. 34. and thou art one of them I charge it upon thee in the presence of the living God A Hireling thou art and they that put not into thy Mouth thou preparest War against them Thou hatest the Good and lovest the Evil which the Lord sent Micah to cry against Mic. 3. Cover thy Lips and stop thy Mouth for ever thou Child of Darkness for with the Light thou art comprehended and seen to be among them which the holy Men of God cryed W O against and by the Spirit of the living God thou art judged In the Light which is thy Condemnation thou art comprehended thy Race is seen and thy Compass known who art out of the Commands of Christ and out of the Doctrine and Life of the Apostles Thou art proved and tryed and to thee this is the VVord of the Lord and to thee it shall be as an Hammer a Fire and a Sword and from under it thou shalt never come unless thou Repent who art with the Light to be Condemned in that State wherein thou standest And if ever thy Eye see Repentance this thy Condemnation thou must own G. F. I writ also to Burton Priest of Sedbergh much what to the same purpose he being in the same evil Ground Nature and Practice which the other Priests were in Many other Epistles also and Papers I writ about that Time as the Lord moved me thereunto which I sent abroad among the Priests Professors and People of all sorts for the laying their Evil ways open before them that they might see and forsake them and opening the Way of Truth unto them that they might come to walk therein which
Life and Immortality to Light And the day of the Lord was come and Christ was come to teach his People himself by his Light Grace Power and Spirit A fine opportunity the Lord gave me to preach Truth among the People that day for about three hours time and all was quiet And Many hundreds were Convinced that day And some of them praised God and said Now we know the first step to Peace The said Preacher also said privately to some of his Hearers that I had broken them and overthrown them 1653. A Village After this I went to a Village and many People accompanied me And as I was sitting in an House full of People declaring the Word of Life unto them I cast mine Eye upon a Woman and I discerned an Vnclean Spirit in her And I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to her and told her she was a Witch Whereupon the Woman went out of the Room Now I being a Stranger there and knowing nothing of the Woman Outwardly the People wondred at it and told me afterwards that I had discovered a great thing for all the Country looked upon her to be a Witch The Lord had given me a Spirit of discerning by which I many times saw the States and Conditions of People and could Try their Spirits For not long before as I was going to a Meeting I saw some Women in a Field and I discerned them to be Witches and I was moved to go out of my way into the Field to them and declare unto them their Conditions telling them plainly They were in the Spirit of Witchcraft At another time there came such an one into Swarthmore-Hall in the Meeting-time and I was moved to speak sharply to her and told her she was a Witch And the People said afterwards she was generally accounted so There came also at another time another Woman and stood at a distance from me and I cast mine Eye upon her and said Thou hast been an Harlot for I perfectly saw the Condition and Life of the Woman The Woman answered and said Many could tell her of her Outward Sins but none could tell her of her Inward Then I told her Her Heart was not right before the Lord and that from the Inward came the Outward This Woman came afterwards to be Convinced of God's Truth and became a Friend From the aforesaid Village we came up to Thomas Bewley's near Coldbeck Coldbeck and from thence having had some Service for the Lord there At a Market-Town I passed to a Market-Town where I had a Meeting at the Cross and all was pretty quiet and when I had declared the Truth unto them and directed them to Christ their Teacher some received the Truth Then we passed further and had another Meeting upon the Borders in a Steeple-house-Yard to which many Professors and Contenders came but the Lord's Power was over all and when the Word of Life had been declared amongst them some received the Truth there also Carlisle From thence passing on we came to Carlisle and the Pastor of the Baptists with most of his Hearers came to me there to the Abbey where I had a Meeting and declared the Word of Life amongst them and many of the Baptists and of the Souldiers were Convinced After the Meeting was done the Pastor of the Baptists being an high Notionist and a flashy Man came to me and asked me What must be damned I was moved immediately to tell him That which spake in him was to be damned This stopt the Pastor's Mouth and the Witness of God was raised up in him and I opened to him the States of Election and Reprobation so that he said He never heard the like in his Life He also came afterward to be Convinced Then went I up to the Castle among the Souldiers who beat a Drum and called the Garrison together And I preached the Truth amongst them Directing them to the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Teacher and to the measure of his Spirit in themselves 1653. Carlisle by which they might be turned from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto God And I warned them all that they should do no Violence to any Man but should shew forth a Christian-Life telling them that he who was to be their Teacher would be their Condemnation if they were disobedient to him So I left them having no Opposition from any of them except the Serjeants who afterwards came to be Convinced On the Market-day I went up into the Market to the Market-Cross Now the Magistrates had both threatned and sent their Serjeants And the Magistrates Wives had said That if I came there they would pluck the Hair from off my Head and that the Serjeants should take me up Nevertheless I obeyed the Lord God and went upon the Cross and there declared unto them That the day of the Lord was coming upon all their deceitful Ways and Doings and deceitful Merchandize and that they should put away all Cozening and Cheating and keep to Yea and Nay and speak the Truth one to another So the Truth and the Power of God was set over them And after I had declared the Word of Life to the People the Throng being so great that the Serjeants could not get to me nor the Magistrates Wives come at me I passed away quietly Many People and Souldiers came to me and some Baptists that were bitter Contenders amongst whom one of their Deacons being an envious Man and finding the Lord's Power was over them Cried out for very Anger Whereupon I set my Eyes upon him and spake sharply to him in the Power of the Lord and he cried Do not pierce me so with thy Eyes keep thy Eyes off me On the first day following I went into the Steeple-house And after the Priest had done I preached the Truth to the People and declared the Word of Life amongst them The Priest got away and the Magistrates desired me to go out of the Steeple-house But I still declared the VVay of the Lord unto them and told them I came to speak the word of Life and Salvation from the Lord amongst them The Power of the Lord was dreadful amongst them in the Steeple-house so that the People trembled and shook and they thought the Steeple-house shook and some of them feared it would have fallen down on their Heads The Magistrates VVives were in a Rage and strove mightily to have been at me but the Souldiers and friendly People stood thick about me At length the rude People of the City rose and came with Staves and Stones into the Steeple-house crying Down with these Round-headed Rogues and they threw Stones Whereupon the Governour sent a File or two of Musketeers into the Steeple-house to appease the Tumult and commanded all the other Souldiers out So those Souldiers took me by the Hand in a friendly manner and said They would have me along with them then When we came
unstopped the deaf Ears hath let the Oppressed go free and hath raised up the Dead out of the Graves Christ is now preached in and among the Saints the same that ever he was and because his heavenly Image is born up in this his faithful Servant therefore doth fallen Man Rulers Priests and Peopleâ persecute him because he lives up out of the Fall and testifies against the Works of the VVorld that the Deeds thereof are Evil he suffers by you Magistrates not as an Evil-Doer For thus it was ever where the Seed of God was kept in Prison under the cursed Nature that Nature sought to imprison them in whom it was raised The Lord will make him to you as a burdensom Stone for the Sword of the Spirit of the Almighty is put into the Hands of the Saints which shall wound all the Wicked and shall not be put up till it hath cut down all corrupt Judges Justices Magistrates Priests and Professors till he hath brought his wonderful thing to pass in the Earth which is to make New Heavens and a New Earth wherein shall dwell Righteousness which now he is about to do Therefore fear the Lord God Almighty ye Judges Justices Commanders Priests and People ye that forget God suddenly will the Lord come and destroy you with an utter Destruction and will sweep your Names out of the Earth and will restore his People Judges as at the First and Counsellors as at the Beginning And all Persecutors shall partake of the Plagues of the VVhore who hath made the Kings of the Earth and the great Men drunk with the VVine of her Fornications and hath drunk the Blood of the Saints and therefore shall you be Partakers of her Plagues We are not suffered to go see our Friend in Prison whom we witness to be a Messenger of the Living God Now all People mind Whether this be according to Law oâ from the wicked perverse envious Will of the envious Rulers and Magistrates who are of the same Generation that persecuted Jesus Christ for said he as they have done to me so will they do to you And as he took the love the kindness and service that was shewed and performed to any of his Afflicted Ones in their Sufferings and Distress as done unto himself so the Injuries and Wrongs that were done by any to any of his Little Ones he resented as done unto himself also Therefore you who are so far from visiting him your selves in his suffering Servant that ye will not suffer his Brethren to visit him ye must depart ye Workers of Iniquity into the Lake that burns with Fire The Lord is coming to thresh the Mountains and will beat them to Dust And all corrupt Rulers corrupt Officers and corrupt Laws the Lord will take Vengeance on by which the tender Consciences of his People are oppressed And he will give his People his Law and will judge his People himself not according to the sight of the Eye and hearing of the Ear but with Righteousness and with Equity Now are your Hearts made manifest to be full of Envy against the living Truth of God which is made manifest in his People who are contemned and despised of the World and scornfully called Quakers You are worse than the Heathens that put Paul in Prison for none of his Friends or Acquaintance were hindred to come to him by them therefore they shall be Witnesses against you Ye are made manifest to the Saints to be of the same Generation that put Christ to death and that put the Apostles in Prison on the same pretence as you act under in calling Truth Error and the Ministers of God Blasphemers as they did But the day is dreadful and terrible that shall come upon you ye Evil Magistrates Priests and People who profess the Truth in Words outwardly and yet persecute the Power of Truth and them that stand in and for the Truth While ye have Time prize it and remember what is written Isa 54.17 George Benson Anthony Pearson Not long after this the Lord's Power came over the Justices and they were made to set me at Liberty But sometime before I was set at Liberty the Governour and the said Anthony Pearson came down into the Dungeon to see the Place where I was kept and understand what Vsage I had And when they were come down to me they found the place so bad and the savour so ill that they cried shame of the Magistrates for suffering the Jailer to do such things And they called for the Jailers into the Dungeon and required them to find Sureties for their good Behaviour and the Vnder-Jailer who had been such a Cruel Fellow they put into the Dungeon with me amongst the Moss-Troopers 1653. Cumberland At T. B's Now after I was set at Liberty I went to Thomas Bewley's where there came a Baptist-Teacher to Oppose me and he was Convinced And Robert Widders being with me was moved to go to Coldbeck-Steeple-house and the Baptist-Teacher went along with him the same day And the People fell upon them and almost killed Robert Widders and took the Baptist's Sword from him and beat him sorely This Baptist had the Inheritance of an Impropriation of Tithes and he went home and gave it up freely Robert VVidders was sent to Carlisle-Jail where having lain a while he was set at Liberty again VVilliam Dewsberry also went to another Steeple-house hard by and the People almost killed him they beat him so but the Lord's Power was over all and healed them again At that day many Friends went to the Steeple-houses to declare the Truth to the Priests and People and great Sufferings they underwent but the Lord's Power sustained them Now I went into the Country and had mighty great Meetings and the Everlasting Gospel and VVord of Life flourished and Thousands were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Teaching And several that took Tithes as Impropriators denied the receiving of them any longer Westmorland and delivered them up freely to the Parishioners Then passing on into VVestmorland I had many great Meetings and at Strickland-Head I had a large Meeting Strickland head where a Justice of Peace out of Bishoprick whose Name was Henry Draper came up and many Contenders were there The Priests and Magistrates were in a great Rage against me in Westmorland and had a VVarrant to apprehend me which they renewed from time to time for a long time Yet the Lord did not suffer them to serve it upon me So I traveled on amongst Friends visiting the Meetings till I came to Swarthmore Swarthmore where I heard that the Baptists and Professors in Scotland had sent to me to have a Dispute with me Whereupon I sent them word Cumberland that I would meet them in Cumberland at Thomas Bewley's House whither accordingly I went but none of them came Some dangers at this time I underwent in my Travels to and fro Wighton for at one time as
moved of the Lord to declare against the rest of them I appointed a Meeting in the Fields near Acton in which the Word of Life and the Saving Truth was declared freely and the Lord's Power was eminently manifested and his blessed Day exalted over all About this time I was moved to write a Paper and send it forth among the Professors a Copy of which here followeth To all Professors of Christianity ALL they that professed Jesus Christ in Words and yet heard him not when he was come they said he was a Deceiver and a Devil The Chief Priests were they that called him so So the Jews said He hath a Devil and is mad why do ye hear him But others said These are not the Words of him that hath a Devil Can a Devil open the Eyes of the Blind The Jews then doubted whether he were the Christ or no and so all like the Jews in the Knowledge in the Notion that profess a Christ without only where Christ is risen within they do not own him but do doubt of him though Christ be the same now and for ever Jesus Christ said I and my Father are one then the Jews took up Stones to stone him And where Jesus Christ is now spiritually come and made manifest the Jews such as are Christians in outward Profession only have the same hard Hearts inwardly now as they had then and do Cast Stones at him where he is Risen Jesus said For which of these good works do ye stone me The Jews answered for thy good works we stone thee not but for Blasphemy in that thou being a Man makest thy self God Jesus answered them Is it not written in your Law I said you are Gods and the Scripture cannot be broken Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God The Jews said to him say we not well that thou hast a Devil Jesus answered I honour my Father and ye dishonour me And they that were in the Synagogue rose up and thrust him out of the City and took him up to the edge of the Hill whereon their City was built to cast him down head-long The Pharisees said of him He casteth out Devils by the Prince of Devils Jesus Christ was called a Glutton and a Wine-bibber a Friend of Publicans and Sinners But Wisdom is justified of her Children The Officers when the High-priests and Pharisees asked them Why have ye not brought him said Never Man spake like this Man The Pharisees said Are ye also deceived Do any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believe on him 1654. London but this People which know not the Law are accursed Nicodemus said unto them he that came unto Jesus by Night doth our Law judge any Man before it hear him When Stephen confessed Jesus the Substance of all Figures and Types and was brought before the Chief-Priests to his Trial he told them The Most-High dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands and brought the Prophets Words to witneâs and told them They were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in Heart and Ears and always resisted the Holy Ghost as their Fathers had done Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost and said he saw Jesus and they ran upon him and stoned him to Death as he was calling upon the Lord. When Paul Confessed Jesus Christ and his Resurrection Festus said he was Mad When Paul preached the Resurrection some mocked The Jews perswaded the People and they stoned him and drew him out of the City thinking he had been dead The Jews stirred up the Gentiles to make their Minds Evil-affected towards the Brethren The Jews stirred up the Devout and Honourable Women and the Chief of the City and raised up Persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their Coasts And there was an Assault made both of the Gentiles and of the Jews with their Rulers to use them despitefully and to stone them In like manner all in the nature of those Jews now whose Religion stands in Notions do stir up the Rulers and do stir up the ignorant People and incense them against Jesus Christ where he is risen to stone them all with one Consent in whom he is risen This is that the Scripture might be fulfilled and the blindness of the People might be discovered And the same Power now is made manifest and doth overturn the World as did overturn the World to the exalting of the Lord and to the pulling down of the Kingdom of Satan and of this World and setting up his own Kingdom to his everlasting Praise The Lord is now exalting Himself and throwing down Man's self The Proud one 's Head is aloft fearing he should lose his Pride and his Crown the Priests they incense the ignorant People for fear their Trade should go down and the Professors they shew forth what is in them being full of Rage which shews that Jesus Christ the Substance is not there but a stony Heart to stone the Precious where it is risen The Carnal Mind feeds upon the outward Letter and Earth feeds upon Earth and that Vine-yard is not dressed but is full of Briars and Nettles and Ravenous Beasts Swine and Dogs Wolves and Lions and all venemous Creatures lodge in that Habitation That House is foul and is not swept And these are the Persecutors of the Just and Enemies of the Truth and the Enemies of Christ These are Blasphemers of God and his Truth These are they that call upon God with their Lips but their Hearts are far from him These are they that feed on Lies Priests and People These are they that Incense all the People and stir up Envy for it begets its own one like it self These are they that are the Waves of the Sea foaming out their own Shame These are they that have double Eyes whose Bodies are full of Darkness These are they that paint themselves with the Prophets with Christ's and with the Apostles Words most fair whited Walls you are painted Sepulchres you are Murderers of the Just you are Your Eyes are double your Minds are double your Hearts are double Ye Flatterers Repent from your carnal Ends who are full of Mischief pretending God and Godliness taking him for your Cloke But he will uncover you and he hath uncovered you to his Children He will make you bare and discover your Secrets and take off your Crown and take away your Mantle and your Vail and strip you of your Cloathing that your Nakedness may appear and how you sit deceiving the Nations Your Abomination and your Falseness is now made manifest to them who are of God who in his Power Triumph over you Rejoice over you the Beast the Dragon the false Prophet the Seducer the Hypocrite the Mother of all Harlots now thou must have thy Cup double Give it to her double Sing over her ye Righteous Ones sing over them all ye Saints Triumph in Glory Triumph over
became very sober Men and good Friends in the Truth And great Blessing and Praising the Lord there was amongst them and great Admiration in the Country Out of Sussex I traveled through the Country till I came to Reading Reading where I found a few that were Convinced of the Way of the Lord. There I stay'd 1655. Reading till the First-day and then had a Meeting in George Lamboll's Orchard and a great part of the Town came to it A glorious Meeting it was and a great Convincement there was that day and the People were mightily satisfied Thither came Two of Judge Fell's Daughters to me and George Bishop of Bristol came with his Sword by his side for he was a Captain After the Meeting many Baptists and Ranters came privately reasoning and discoursing but the Lord's Power came over them The Ranters pleaded That God made the Devil But I denied it and told them I was come into the Power of God the Seed Christ which was before the Devil was and bruised the Head of him And he became a Devil by going out of Truth and so became a Murderer and a Destroyer So I shewed them That God did not make the Devil for God is a God of Truth and he made all things good and blessed them But God did not bless the Devil And the Devil is bad and was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning and spoke of himself and not from God And so the Truth stopt them and bound them and came over all the highest Notions in the Nation and Confounded them For by the Power of the Lord God I was manifest and sought to be made manifest to the Spirit of God in all that by it which they vexed and quenched and grieved they might be turned to God as many were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God and were come to sit under his Teaching London After this Meeting at Reading I passed up to London where I stay'd a while and had large Meetings and then went into Essex and came to Cogshall Essex Cogshall And there was a Meeting of about Two Thousand People as it was judged which lasted several hours and a glorious Meeting it was for the Word of Life was freely declared and People were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and their Saviour the Way the Truth and the Life Near Colchester On the sixth day of that Week I had a Meeting near Colchester to which many Professors and the Independent-Teachers came After I had done speaking and was stept down from the place on which I stood One of the Independent-Teachers began to make a Jangling which Amor Stoddart who was with me perceiving he said to me Stand up again George for I was going away and did not at the first hear them But when I heard the Jangling Independent I stood up again and after a while the Lord's Power came over him and his Company and they were confounded and the Lord's Truth went over all And a great Flock of Sheep hath the Lord Jesus Christ in that Country that feed in his Pastures of Life On the First-day following we had a very large Meeting at another place not far from Colchester wherein the Lord's Power was eminently manifested and the People were very well satisfied for they were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ's free Teaching and they received it gladly Many of these People had been of the Stock of the Martyrs As I passed through Colchester I went to visit James Parnel in Prison but the Cruel Gaoler would hardly let us come in or stay with him Very Cruel they were unto him The Gaoler's Wife threatned to have his Blood and in that Jail they did destroy him 1655. Colchest as the Reader may see at large in a Book printed soon after his Death giving an Account of his Life and Death and also in an Epistle printed with his Collected Books and Writings From Colchester I went to Ipswich where we had a little Meeting Ipswich and very rude but the Lord's Power came over them After the Meeting I said If any had a desire to hear further they might come to the Inn And there came-in a Company of Rude Butchers that had abused Friends but the Lord's Power so chained them that they could not do Mischief Then I writ a Paper and gave it forth to the Town warning them of the Day of the Lord that they might Repent of the Evils they lived in and directing them to Christ their Teacher and Way exhorting them to forsake their hireling-Teachers We passed from Ipswich to Mendlesham where Robert Duncon lived Suffolk Mendlesham in Suffolk where we had a large Meeting that was quiet and the Lord's Power was preciously felt amongst us Then we passed to a Meeting at one Captain Lawrence's in Norfolk where it was judged Norfolk were above a Thousand People and all was quiet Many Persons of Note were there and a great Convincement there was for they were turned to Christ their Way and their Teacher and many of them received him and sate down under him their Vine Here we parted with Amor Stoddart and some more Friends who intended to meet us again in Huntingtonshire About the Second Hour in the Morning we took Horse for Norwich Norwich where Christopher Atkins that dirty Man had run out and brought dishonour upon the blessed Truth and Name of the Lord. But he had been judged and denied by Friends and afterwards he gave forth a Paper of Condemnation of his Sin and Evil. So we came to Yarmouth yarmouth and there stayed a while where there was a Friend one Thomas Bond in Prison for the Truth of Christ There we had some Service for the Lord and some were turned to the Lord in that Town From thence we rode to another Town about Twenty Miles off where were many tender People and I was moved of the Lord to speak to the People as I sate upon my Horse in several Places as I passed along We went on to another Town about Five Miles from thence and set up our Horses at an Inn having travelled Five and forty Miles that Day Richard Hubberthorn and I. There were some friendly People in the Town and we had a tender broken Meeting amongst them in the Lord's Power to his Praise We bid the Hostler have our Horses ready by the Third Hour in the Morning for we intended to ride to Lyn about three and Thirty Miles next morning But when we were in Bed at our Inn about the Eleventh Hour at Night came the Constable and Officers with a great Rabble of People into the Inn and said They were come with an Hue and Cry from a Justice of Peace that lived near that Town about five Miles off where I had spoken to the People in the Streets as I rode along to search for two Horsmen that rid upon gray Horses and in gray Cloaths an House
Diana's Crafts-men did against Paul At this Place John Crook met us When it was within Night the Mayor of the Town being friendly came and fetched me to his House and as we walked through the Streets there was a Bustle in the Towm but they did not know me it being darkish But they were in a Rage not only against me but against the Mayor also 1655. Cambridg so that he was almost afraid to walk the Streets with me for the Tumult We sent for the Friendly People and had a fine Meeting there in the Power of God and I stay'd there all Night Next Morning having ordered our Horses to be ready by the sixth Hour we passed peaceably out of Town and the Destroyers were disappointed for they thought I would have stay'd longer in the Town and intended to have done us Mischief but our passing away early in the Morning frustrated their Evil-Purposes against us Bishop-Starford Hertford Then rode we through the Countries to Bishop-Starford where were some Convinced And so to Hertford where also there were some Convinced and where now there is a large Meeting London From thence we returned to London where Friends received us gladly the Lord's Power having carried us through many Snares and Dangers And great Service we had for the Lord for maây hundreds were brought to sit under the Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour and to praise the Lord through him James Nailer also was come up to London and Richard Hubberthorn and I stay'd sometime in the City visiting Friends and Answering Gain-sayers for we had great Disputes with Professors of all sorts Many Reproaches they cast upon Truth and lying slanderous Books they gave forth against us But we Answered them all and cleared God's Truth and set it over them all and the Lord's Power was over all Amongst other Services for the Lord which then lay upon me in the City I was moved to give forth a Paper to those That made a scorn at Trembling and Quaking of which a Copy here followeth THE Word of the Lord to all you that scorn Trembling and Quaking who scoff at them and scorn them and throw Stones at them and belch forth Oaths against them who are Trembling and Quaking threatning them and beating them Strangers ye are to all the Apostles and Prophets and are in the Generation that stoned them and mocked them then in those Ages Now ye are the Scoffers which they spake of that are come in the last times Be ye Witnesses against your selves To the Light in all your Consciences I speak that with it you may see your selves to be from the Life of the holy Men of God Moses who was a Judge over all Israel he trembled feared and Quaked when the Lord said unto him I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob then he trembled and durst not behold This which makes to Tremble now ye Teachers and People scoff at and scorn them in your Streets who witness the Power of the Lord. Moses forsook the Pleasures of the World which he might have enjoyed for a Season He might have been called the Son of Pharaoh's-Daughter he refused it and forsook Pharaoh's House yet was no Vagabond And David a King he trembled he was mocked they made Songs on him they wagged their Heads at him Will you profess David's Words and Moses his Words who are in the Generation of your Fathers 1655. London Mockers Scoffers Wonderers and Despisers which are to perish O blush and be ashamed of all your Profession and be Confounded Job trembled his Flesh trembled and they mocked him So do you now mock them in whom the same Power of God is made manifest and yet you profess Job's Words O deceitful Hypocrites will ye not own Scripture O for shame never profess Scripture-words and deny the Power which according to the Scripture makes the Keepers of the House to tremble and the strong Man to bow himself These things both Priests Magistrates and People scoff at but with the Power ye are judged and by the Power and Life condemned The Prophet Jeremiah trembled he shook his Bones quaked he reeled to and fro like a drunken Man when he saw the Deceits of the Priests and Prophets who were turned from the way of God and they were not ashamed neither could they blush Such were gone from the Light and such were they that ruled over the People But he was brought to Cry O foolish People that had Eyes and could not see that had Ears and could not hear that did not fear the Lord and tremble at his Presence who placed the Sands for Bounds to the Sea by a perpetual Decree that the Waves thereof cannot pass And he said A horrible thing is committed in the Land The Prophets prophesy falsly and the Priests bear rule by their means Shall not I arise for these things saith the Lord Shall not my Soul be avenged upon such a Nation as this They were such as did not Tremble at the Word of the Lord therefore he called them a foolish People Hear all ye the Word of the Lord ye foolish People who scorn Trembling and Quaking and Shaking Give over professing the Prophet Jeremiah's Words and making a Trade of them for with his Words you are judged to be among the Scoffers and Scorners and Stockers For he was stocked by your Generation and you now stock them that tremble at the word of the Lord at the Power of the Mighty God which raises up the Seed of God and throws down the Earth which hath kept it down So you that are in the Fall where Death reigneth Enemies of the Truth despising the Power of God as those of your Generation ever did Wo and Misery is your Portion except you speedily Repent Isaiah said Hear the Word of the Lord all ye that Tremble at his Word And he said This was the Man that God did regard that was of a broken and contrite Heart and trembled at his Word When their Brethren hated them and persecuted them saying Let the Lord be glorified he shall appear to your Joy but they shall be ashamed Isa 66.5 Now all ye Scoffers and Scorners that despise Trembling you regard not the Word of the Lord They are not regarded by you that Tremble at the Word which are regarded by the Lord therefore you are contrary to Isaiah's Words Therefore profess him and his Words no more for shame nor make a Trade of his Words Ye that seek for your Gain from your Quarter ye greedy dumb Dogs that never have enough ye are they that despise Trembling ye are such as Isaiah cried against who himself witnessed Trembling Here therefore be ye Witnesses against your selves that with the Light in your Consciences ye may see ye are out of the Prophet Isaiah's Spirit and are Haters of them that Tremble whom the Lord regards but such you regard not but hate and persecute mock and rail
Friends were glad of the Prosperity of Truth and the manifestation of the Lord 's glorious Power that had delivered us and carried us through many dangers and difficulties and I was glad to find Truth prosper in the City and all things well amongst Friends there Only there was one man whose Name was John Toldervey that had been Convinced of Truth and run out from it and the envious Priests took occasion from thence to write a wicked Book against Friends which they stuffed with many Lies to render Truth and Friends odious in People's Eyes and Minds and they Intituled their Book The Foot out of the Snare But this poor man came to see his Folly and returned and Condemned his Back-sliding and answered the Priests Book and manifested all their Lies and Wickedness Thus the Lord's Power came over them and his Everlasting Seed reigned and reigns to this Day Now after I had tarried some time in London and had visited Friends in their Meetings there I went out of Town again leaving James Nayler in the City And as I passed from him I cast my Eyes upon him and a Fear struck into me concerning him But I went away and rode down to Rygate in Surrey Surrey Rygate where I had a little Meeting There the Friends told me of one Thomas Moore a Justice of Peace that lived not far from Rygate and was a friendly moderate man whereupon I went to visit him at his House and he came to be a serviceable man in Truth We passed on to one Thomas Pachin's where we had a Meeting unto which several Friends came from London and John Bolton and his Wife came thither on foot in frost and snow After we had parted with Friends there we went towards Horsham-park Horsham-park Arundel Chicester and having visited Friends there we passed on to Arundel and Cââchester where we had Meetings At Chichester many Professors came in and some jangling they made but the Lord's Power was over them The Woman of the House where the Meeting was though she was Convincâd of Truth yet not keeping her Mind close to that which Convinced her she fell in love with a man of the World that was there that time When I knew it I took her aside and was moved to speak to her and to pray for her But a light thing got up in her Mind and she slighted it Afterwards she Married that man and soon after went distracted for the Man was greatly in Debt and she greatly disappointed Then was I sent for to her and the Lord was intreated and Raised her up again and settled her Mind by his Power And afterwards her Husband died and she acknowledged the just Judgments of God were come upon her for slighting the Exhortation and Counsel I had given her After we left Chichester we travelled on through the Countries till we came to Portsmouth Portsmouth There the Souldiers had us to the Governour 's House and after some Examination the Lord's Power came over them and we were set at Liberty and had a Meeting in the Town Ringwood After which we passed away and came to Ringwood where in the Evening we had a Meeting at which several were Convinced and turned to the Spirit of the Lord and to the Teaching of Christ Jesus their Saviour Pool From Ringwood we came to Pool and having set up our Horses at an Inn we sent into the Town to inquire for such as feared the Lord and such who were worthy and we had a Meeting there with several sober People And William Baily a Baptist-Teacher was convinced there at that time The People received the Truth in the inward Parts and were turned to the Lord Jesus Christ their Rock and Foundation their Teacher and Saviour And there is become a great Gathering in the Name of Jesus of a very tender People who continue under Christ's Teaching Southampton We went also to Southampton and had a Meeting there and several were Convinced there also Edward Pyot of Bristol travelled with me all this Western Journey Dorchester From thence we went to Dorchester and alighted at an Inn that was a Baptist's house And we sent into the Town to the Baptists to let us have their Meeting-house to meet in and to invite the sober People to the Meeting but they denied it us And we sent to them again to know Why they would deny us their Synagogue so the thing was noised in the Town Then we sent them Word If they would not let us come to their house They or any People that feared God might come to our Inn if they pleased But they were in a great Rage and their Teacher and many of them came up and they flapped their Bibles on the Table I asked them Why they were so Angry were they Angry with the Bible But they fell into a Discourse about their Water-Baptism I asked them Whether they could say they were sent of God to baptize People as John was And whether they had the same Spirit and Power that the Apostles had And they said They had not Then I asked them How many Powers there are Whether there are any more than the Power of God and the Power of the Devil And they said There was not any other Power than those Two Then said I If you have not the Power of God that the Apostles had then you act by the Power of the Devil There were many sober People present who said They have thrown themselves on their Backs Many substantial People were Convinced that Night and a precious Service we had there for the Lord and his Power came over all Next Morning as we were passing away the Baptists being in a Rage began to shake the Dust from off their Feet after us ' What said I in the Power of Darkness We who are in the Power of God shake off the Dust of our feet against you Thus leaving Dorchester we came to Weymouth 1655. Weymouth where also we inquired after the sober People and about four score of them gathered together at a Priest's House all very sober People and most of them received the Word of Life and were turned to their Teacher Christ Jesus who had enlightned them with his Divine Light by which they might see their Sins and him who saved them from their Sins A blessed Meeting we had with them and they received the Truth in the Love of it with gladness of Heart The Meeting held for several Hours and the state of their Teachers and the Apostacy was opened to them and the state of the Apostles and of the Church in their Days and the state of the Law and of the Prophets before Christ and how Christ came to fulfil them and how he was their Teacher in the Apostles Days and how he was come now to teach his People again himself by his Power and Spirit All was quiet and the Meeting brake up peaceably and the People were very loving and
Order to Capt. Fox Governour of Pendennis-Castle to Examin the Matter about the Souldiers abusing us and striking me There were at that time many of the Gentry of the Country at the Castle and Capt. Keat's Kinsman that struck me was sent for up before them and much Threatned They told him That if I should change my Principle I might take the Extremity of the Law against him and might recover sound Damages of him Capt. Keat also was checkt for suffering the Prisoners under his Charge to be abused This was of great Service in the Country for afterwards Friends might have spoken in any Market or Steeple-house thereabouts and none would meddle with them I understood that Hugh Peters who was one of the Protector 's Chaplains told him They could not do George Fox a greater Service for the spreading of his Principles in Cornwall than to Imprison him there And indeed my Imprisonment there was of the Lord and for his Service in those parts For after the Assizes were over and it was known we were likely to continue Prisoners several Friends from most parts of the Nation came into the Country to visit us And those parts of the West were very dark Countries at that time But the Lord's Light and Truth brake forth and shined over all and many were turned from Darkness to the Light and from Satan's Power unto God And many were moved to go to the Steeple-houses and several were sent to Prison to us and a great Convincement there began to be in the Country For now we had Liberty to come out and to walk in the Castle-Green and divers People came to us on the First-days to whom we declared the Word of Life and great Service we had among them and many were turned to God here and there up and down the Country but a great Rage got up in the Priests and Professors against the Truth and us One of the envious Professors had gathered together many Scripture-Sentences to prove That we ought to put off our Hats to the People and he invited the Town of Lanceston to come into the Castle-Yard to hear him read them Amongst other Instances that he there brought one was That Saul bowed to the Witch of Endor When he had done we got a little Liberty whether the Gaoler would or no to speak and we shewed both him and the People That Saul was gone from God and had disobeyed God like them when he went to the Witch of Endor That neither the Prophets nor Christ nor the Apostles ever taught People to bow to a Witch The Man went away with his rude People but some of the People staid with us and we shewed them That this was not Gospel-Instructions to teach People to bow to a Witch For now People began to be affected with the Truth and now the Devil's Rage increased so that we were in great dangers many times One time there came a Souldier to us and one of our Friends was admonishing of him and exhorting him to Sobriety c. and I saw him begin to draw his Sword at him Whereupon I stept to him and told him What a shame it was to offer to draw his Sword upon a naked Man and a Prisoner and how unfit and unworthy he was to carry such a Weapon and that if he should have offered such a thing to some Men they would have taken his Sword from him and have broken it to pieces So he was ashamed and went his way and the Lord's Power preserved us Another time about the Eleventh Hour at Night the Gaoler being half-drunk came and told me That he had gotten a Man now to dispute with me this was when we had leave to go a little into the Town As soon as he spake those Words I felt there was Mischief intended to my Body All that Night and the next day I lay down on a Grass-plat to slumber and I felt something still about my Body and I started up and struck at it in the Power of the Lord and yet still it was about my Body Then I arose and walked into the Castle-green and the Vnder-Keeper came to me and told me There was a Maid would speak with me in the Prison I felt a Snare in his Words too therefore I went not into the Prison but went to the Grate and looked in and there I saw a Man that was lately brought to Prison for being a Conjurer and he had a naked Knife in his Hand So I spake to him and he threatned to cut my Chaps as his Expression was but he being within the Gaol could not come at me This was the Gaoler's great Disputant I went soon after into the Gaoler's House and found him at Breakfast and he had then gotten his Conjurer out with him So I told the Gaoler his Plot was discovered Then he got up from the Table and cast his Napkin away in a Rage and I left them and went away to my Chamber for at this time we were out of Doomsdale At the time the Gaoler had said 1656. Lanceston Gaol the Dispute should be I went down and walked in the Court the place appointed till about the Eleventh Hour but no Body came then I went up to my Chamber again and after a while I heard one call for me I stept to the Stairs-head and there I saw the Gaoler's Wife upon the Stairs and the Conjurer at the bottom of the Stairs holding his Hand behind his Back and in a great Rage I asked him Man what hast thou in thy Hand behind thy Back Pluck thy Hand before thee said I Let 's see thy Hand and what thou hast in it Then in a Rage he pluckt forth his Hand with a naked Knife in it Then I shewed the Gaoler's Wife the wicked Design of her Husband and her against me for this was the Man they had brought to dispute of the things of God But the Lord discovered their Plot and prevented their Evil Design and they both raged and the Conjurer threatned Then I was moved of the Lord to speak sharply to him in the dreadful Power of the Lord and the Lord's Power came over him and bound him down so that he never after durst appear before me to speak unto me I saw it was the Lord alone that did preserve me out of their bloody Hands for the Devil had a great Enmity to me and stirred up his Instruments to seek my hurt But the Lord prevented them and my Heart was filled with Thanksgivings and Praises unto him Now while I was exercised with People of divers sorts that came some out of good will to visit us some out of an envious carping Mind to wrangle and dispute with us and some out of Curiosity to see us Edward Pyot who before his Convincement had been a Captain in the Army and had a good Understanding in the Laws and Rights of the People being sensible of the Injustice and Envy of Judge Glyn to us at our Trial and
Visit Prisoners whom you have Imprisoned Doth this shew you to have a Spirit like Paul yea or nay or are you not quite contrary like to them that persecuted Paul The Day hath declared it To that of God in you all I speak which shall witness it at the Last Day in the Day of Judgment Persecution was blind in all Ages and Madness and Folly led it Yet Persecution got always a Form or Presence of Godliness or to talk of Religion as in the Days of Moses in the Days of Jeremy in the Days of Christ and of the Apostles Come saith the Council Let us crush them while they are Young they have almost over-spread the Nation in every Corner This is as much as to say Let us put this Birth to Death as Pharaoh and Herod did the Children But the Lord caused his Truth the more to spread For you may read what Numbers came out of Egypt and what Multitudes followed Christ Therefore with Consideration read these Lines and not with Fury and let not Foolishness appear But consider in Humility your Ways you act in and your Paths you go in and what Spirit you are of and what the End of your Conversation is now see For in Love to your Souls I write that in the Day of your Visitation you may consider it From him who loveth Righteousness and the establishing of it and Truth and Peace and Faith which is by Christ Jesus Mercy and Peace be multiplied among such But a Witness against all Hypocrites and all who have a Profession but live out of the Possession who are in an Hypocritical Religion in the Lusts and Fashions of the World having a Form of Godliness but standing against the Power with might and main Sword and Staff Which things declare your Conversation and Practices to be out of Christ 's Life against the Gospel-practice and contrary to the Manner and Order of the Saints G. F We were continued in Prison till the next Assize 1656. Lanceston Assize before which time divers Friends both Men and Women were sent to Prison that had been taken up by the Watches When the Assize was come several of these were called before the Judge and Indicted and tho' the Jailer brought them into Court yet they Indicted them that they came in by Force of Arms and in an hostile manner And the Judge fined them because they would not put off their Hats But we were not called before the Judges any more but they let us alone Great Work we had and Service for the Lord both between the Assizes and after amongst the Professors and People of all sorts for many came to see us and to reason with us And Elizabeth Trelawny of Plimouth who was the Daughter of one called a Baronet being Convinced as was formerly mentioned the Priests and Professors and some great Persons of her Kindred were in a great Rage concerning her and writ Letters to her And she being a Wise and Tender Woman and fearing to give them any Advantage sent their Letters to me and I answered them and returned them to her again for her to send the Answers to them Which she did till growing in the Power and Spirit and Wisdom of God she came her self to be able to Answer the wisest Priest and Professor of them all and had a Dominion over them all in the Truth through the Power of the Lord by which she was kept faithful to her Death Now while I was in Prison here Lanceston Gaol the Baptists and Fifth-Monarchy-Men prophesied That this Year Christ should come and Reign upon Earth a Thousand Years And they looked upon this Reign to be Outward When as he was come inwardly in the Hearts of his People to Reign and Rule there and these Professors would not Receive him there So they failed in their Prophecy and Expectation and had not the Possession of him But Christ is come and doth dwell in the Hearts of his People and Reigns there And Thousands at the Door of whose Hearts he hath been knocking have opened to him and he is come in and doth Sup with them and they with him the heavenly Supper with the heavenly and spiritual Man So many of these Baptists and Monarchy-People turned the greatest Enemies to the Possessors of Christ But he Reigns in the Hearts of his Saints over all their Envy At the Assize divers Justices came to us and were pretty Civil and Reasoned of the things of God pretty soberly expressing a Pity to us There came also Capt. Fox who was Governour of Pendennis-Castle and lookt me in the Face and said never a word but went his ways to his Company and told them He never saw a simpler Man in his Life I called after him and said Stay Man we will see who is the simpler Man But he went his way A light Chaffy Man There came also at the Assize one Thomas Lower to Visit us and he offered to give us Money which we refused accepting nevertheless of his Love He asked us many Questions concerning our denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and concerning the Sacraments and such like To all which he received Satisfaction And I spake unto him and he afterwards said 1656. Lanceston Gaol My Words were as a flash of Lightning they ran so through him And he said He never met with such wise Men in his Life for they knew the Thoughts of his Heart and were as the wise Master-Builders of the Assemblies that fastned their Words like Nails He came to be Convinced of the Truth and remains a Friend to this Day When he came home to his Aunt Hambley's where he then lived and made Report to her concerning us She with her Sister Grace Billing hearing the sound of Truth came afterwards to Visit us in Prison and was Convinced also And great Sufferings and Spoilings of Goods both he and his Aunt have undergone for the Truth 's sake About this time I was moved to give forth the following Paper to Friends in the Ministry Friends IN the Power of life and wisdom and dread of the Lord God of life and Heaven and Earth dwell that in the wisdom of God over all ye may be preserved and be a Terror to all the Adversaries of God and a Dread answering that of God in them all spreading the Truth abroad awakening the VVitness confounding the Deceit gathering up out of Transgression into the Life the Covenant of Light and Peace with God Let all Nations hear the sound by Word or Writing Spare no Place spare no Tongue nor Pen but be obedient to the Lord God go through the VVork and be valiant for the Truth upon Earth tread and trample all that is Contrary under Ye have the Power do not Abuse it and Strength and Presence of the Lord eye it and the VVisdom that with it you may all be ordered to the Glory of the Lord God Keep in the Dominion keep in the Power over all Deceit
tread over them in that which lets you see to the VVorlds End and the utmost Parts of the Earth Reign and Rule with Christ whose Scepter and Throne is now set up whose Dominion is over all to the Ends of the Earth whose Dominion is an everlasting Dominion Throne an everlasting Throne Kingdom an everlasting Kingdom Power above all Powers Therefore this is the Word of the Lord God to you all Keep in the wisdom of God that spreads over all the Earth the wisdom of the Creation that is Pure from Above not destructive For now shall Salvation go out of Zion to Judge the Mount of Esau and now shall the Law go forth from Jerusalem to Answer the Principle of God in all to hew down all Inventors and Inventions For all the Princes of the Earth is but as Air to the Power of the Lord God which you are in and have tasted of Therefore Live in it that is the Word of the Lord God to you all and do not Abuse it And keep down and Low and take heed of false Joys that will Change Bring all into the Worship of God Plow up the fallow Ground thresh and get out the Corn that the Seed the Wheat may be gathered into the Barn that to the Beginning all People may come to Christ that was before the VVorld was made For the Chaff is come upon the VVheat by Transgression he that treadeth it out is out of Transgression and fathoms Transgression and puts a difference between the precious and the vile and can pick out the Wheat from the Tares and gather into the Garner so brings to the lively Hope the Immortal Soul into God out of which it came And none worships God but who comes to the Principle of God which they have transgressed and none are plowed up but who comes to the Principle of God in him that he hath transgressed then he doth service to God then is the planting and the watering and the Increase from God cometh So the Ministers of the Spirit must minister to the Spirit that is in Prison which hath been in Captivity in every one that with the Spirit of Christ People may be led out of Captivity up to God the Father of Spirits and do service to him and to have Vnity with him with the Scriptures and one with another And this is the Word of the Lord God to you all and a Charge to you all in the presence of the living God Be Patterns be Examples in all Countries Places Islands Nations where-ever you come that your Carriage and Life may preach among all sorts of People and to them then you will come to walk Chearfully over the World Answering that of God in every one whereby in them ye may be a Blessing and make the Witness of God in them to bless you Then to the Lord God you will be a sweet Savour and a Blessing Spare no Deceit lay the Sword upon it go over it Keep your selves clear of the Bloods of all Men either by Word or Writing or Speaking and keep your selves clean that you may stand in your Throne and every one have his Lot and stand in the Lot in the Ancient of Days And so the Blessing of the Lord be with you and keep you over all the Idolatrous Worships and Worshippers let them know the Living God for Teachings Churches Worships must be thrown down with the power of the Lord God set up by Man's earthy Vnderstanding Knowledge and Wills For this all must be thrown down with that which gave forth Scripture and who be in that Reigns over it all That is the Word of the Lord God to you all In that is God Worshipped that brings to declare his Will and brings to the Church in God the Ground and Pillar of Truth for now is the mighty Day of the Lord appeared and the Arrows of the Almighty gone forth which shall stick in the Hearts of the Wicked Now will I Arise saith the Lord God Almighty to trample and Thunder down Deceit which hath long reigned and stained the Earth Now will I have my Glory out of every one The Lord God Almighty over all in his Strength and Power you keep to his Glory that you may come to Answer that of God in every one in the World Proclaim the mighty Day of the Lord of Fire and Sword who will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and keep in the Life and Power of the Lord God that the Inhabitants of the Earth may tremble before you That the Lord God's Power and Majesty may be Admired among the Hypocrites and Heathens and ye in the Wisdom Dread Life Terror and Dominion Preserved to his Glory that nothing may Rule or Reign but Power and Life it self and in the Wisdom of God ye may be preserved in it And this is the Word of the Lord God to you all and the Call is now Out of Transgression the Spirit bids Come and the Call is now from all false Worships and Gods and from all Inventions and dead Works to serve the living God and the Call to Repentance to the Amendment of Life whereby Righteousness may be brought forth which shall go throughout the Earth Therefore ye that be Chosen and Faithful which are with the Lamb go through your Work faithfully and in the Strength and Power of the Lord and be obedient to the Power for that will save you out of the Hands of unreasonable Men and preserve you over the World to himself hereby you may live in the Kingdom that stands in Power which hath no end where glory and life is For Tho. Mounts G. F. After the Assize the Sheriff with some Souldiers came to guard a Woman to Execution that was sentenced to die and we had a great deal of Discourse with them One of them wickedly said That Christ was as passionate a Man as any that lived upon the Earth for which wicked Saying we rebuked him Another time we asked the Jailer what Doings there were at the Sessions and he said Small Matters only about Thirty for Bastardy We thought it very strange that they who professed themselves Christians should make small Matters of such things But this Jailer was very bad himself and I often admonished him to Sobriety but he would Abuse People that came to Visit us Edward Pyot had a Cheese sent him from Bristol from his Wife and the Jailer took the Cheese from him and carried it to the Mayor to search it for Treasonable Letters as he said And though they found no Treason in the Cheese they kept it from us This Gaoler might have been made Rich if he had carried himself Civilly but he sought his own Ruin Which soon after came upon him For the next Year he was turned out of his Place and for some wickedness was cast into the Jail himself and there begged of our Friends And for some Vnruliness in his Carriage he was by the succeeding Jailer put into Doomsdale and
at our Meeting in the Orchard As I was going along into the Orchard the People told me That Paul Gwin the rude jangling Baptist was going to the Meeting But I bid them Never heed It was nothing to me who went to it When I was come into the Orchard I stood upon the Stone that Friends used to stand on when they spake and I was moved of the Lord to put off my Hat and to stand a pretty while and let the People look at me for some Thousands of People were there While I thus stood silent this Rude Baptist began to find Fault with my Hair but I said nothing to him Then he run on into Words and at last Ye wise men of of Bristol said he I strange at you that you will stand here and hear a Man speak and affirm that which he cannot make good Then the Lord opened my Mouth for as yet I had not spoken a Word And I asked the People Whether they ever heard me speak before or ever saw me before And I bid them ' Take notice what kind of Man this was amongst them that should so Impudently say That I spake and Affirmed that which I could not make good and yet neither he nor they ever heard me or saw me before Therefore that was a lying envious malicious Spirit that spake in him and it was of the Devil and not of God Therefore I charged him in the Dread and Power of the Lord to be silent And the Mighty Power of God came over him and all his Company And then a glorious peaceable Meeting we had and the Word of Life was divided amongst them and they were turned from the Darkness to the Light and to Jesus their Saviour And the Scriptures were largely opened to them and the Traditions and Rudiments and ways 1656. Bristol and Doctrines of Men were laid open before the People which they had been in and they were turned to the Light of Christ that with it they might see them and see him to lead them out of them I opened also to them the Types and Figures and Shadows of Christ in the time of the Law and shewed them That Christ was come and had ended the Types and Shadows and Tithes and Oaths and put down Swearing and had set up Yea and Nay instead of it and a free Ministry for he was now come to Teach People himself and his heavenly Day was springing from on high So for many hours did I declare the Word of Life amongst them in the Eternal Power of God that by him they might come up into the Beginning and be Reconciled to him And having turned them to the Spirit of God in themselves that would lead into all Truth I was moved to pray in the mighty Power of God and the Lord's Power came over all But when I had done this Fellow began to babble again and John Audland was moved to bid him Repent and fear God So his own People and Followers being ashamed of him he passed away and never came again to disturb the Meeting And the Meeting brake up quietly and the Lord's Power and Glory shined over all a blessed Day it was and the Lord had the Praise After a while this Paul Gwin went beyond the Seas and many Years after I met with him again at Barbado's of which in its Place From Bristol we returned to Edward Pyot's where we had a great Meeting and the Lord's Power was over all and Truth was declared and spread abroad and many were turned to Christ Jesus their Life their Prophet to teach them their Shepherd to feed them and their Bishop to oversee them After the Meeting was done I had some Reasoning with some Professors and the Lord's Truth and Power came over them Slattenford From Edward Pyot's we passed to Slattenford where we had a very large Meeting Edward Pyot and another Friend being still with me and a great turning of People there was to the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and People were glad that they were brought to know their Way and their free Teacher and their Saviour Christ Jesus Wiltshire On the First-day following we went to Nathaniel Crips his House who had been a Justice of Peace in Wiltshire where it was supposed there were between Two and Three Thousand People at a Meeting and all was quiet And the mighty Power of God was manifest and People were turned to the Grace and Truth in their Hearts that came by Jesus Christ which would Teach them to deny all Vngodliness and wordly Lusts and to live soberly and godly in this present world So that every Man and Woman might know the Grace of God which had appeared to all Men and which was saving and sufficient to bring their Salvation This was to be their Teacher the Grace of God which would teach them how to live what to do and what to deny and would season their Words and establish their Hearts And this was a free Teacher to every one of them so that they might come to be Heirs of this Grace and of Christ by whom it came who hath ended the Prophets and the Priests that took Tithes and the Jewish Temple And as for these Hireling-Priests that take Tithes now 1656. Wiltshire and their Temples which Priests were made aâ Schools and Colledges of Man's setting up and not by Christ they with all their Inventions were to be denied For the Apostles denied the true Priesthood and Temple which God had commanded after Christ had put an End thereto So the Scriptures and the Truths therein contained were largely opened and the People turned to the Spirit of God in their Hearts that by it they might be led into all Truth and understand the Scriptures and know God and Christ and come to have Unity with them and one with another in the same Spirit And the People went away generally satisfied and were glad that they were turned to Christ Jesus their Teacher and Saviour The next day we went from thence to Marlborough Marleborough where we had a little Meeting And the Sessions being in that Town that day they were granting forth a Warrant to send for me But one Justice Stooks being at the Sessions stopt them telling them There was a Meeting at his House yesterday at which were several Thousands So the Warrant was stopt and our Meeting was quiet and several received Christ Jesus their Teacher and came into the New Covenant and abode in it From hence we went to Newberry where we had a large Newberry blessed Meeting and several were Convinced there Thence we passed on to Reading where we had a large Reading precious Meeting in the Lord's Power amongst the Plants of God and many of the World came in and were reached and added to the Meeting and all was quiet and the Lord's Power was over all Kingston upon Thames We went from Reading to Kingston upon Thames where a few came in to
Wickedness where was Debate where was bowing down the Head like a Bulrush for a day lifting their Voice on high and the bonds of wickedness yet standing and the Burthens unloosed and the Oppressed not let go free and the Yoke not broken the Nakedness not cloathed the Bread not dealt to the Hungry and this foundation of many Generations not raised up until these things before-mentioned be broken down on such the Light breaks not forth as the Morning and the Lord hears them not And such have their Reward and their Iniquities have separated them from their God and their Sins have hid his Face from them that he will not hear and such their Hands are defiled with Blood and their Fingers with Iniquity whose Lips have spoken Lies and Tongues have muttered Perversness None calleth for Justice nor any Plead for Truth they trust in Vanity and speak Lies they conceive Mischief and bring forth Iniquity They hatch Cockatrice-Eggs and weave the Spiders-Web he that eateth of their Eggs dies and that which is crushed breaks out into a Viper their Webbs shall not become Garments neither shall they cover themselves with their Works Mark and take notice Their works are works of Iniquity and the Act of Violence is in their Hands Their Feet run to do evil and they make haste to shed innocent Blood Their Thoughts are Thoughts of Iniquity Wasting and Destruction are in their Paths the way of Peace they know not and there is no Judgment in their Doings They have made them a crooked Path whosoever goes therein shall not know Peace Mark Such go from the Light therefore is Judgment far neither doth Justice overtake And here is Obscurity and here is the walking in Darkness and here is the groping like blind Men as though they had no Eyes and their stumbling at Noon-day in the desolate Places like blind Men. And here is the roaring like Bears and mourning sorely like Doves and here Judgment is looked for but there is none and Salvation is put far off For the Light is denied which gives to see it But here the multiplying of Transgression and their Sins testifying against them and the Transgression that was within them and their Iniquities which they knew in transgressing and lying against the Lord speaking the things they should not when that they knew with that of God in them they should not speak it So departing from the way of God speaking Oppression revolting conceiving and uttering forth from the Heart words of Falshood here is Judgment turned away backward and Justice stands afar off Truth is fallen in the Streets and Equity cannot enter Yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from Evil makes himself a Prey Yea the Lord saw it and it displeased him These are such that are in the Fast which God doth not accept and are not in the true fast whose Light breaks forth as the Morning but these are such that be in the false fast who grope like blind Men. And that which gives to know the true fast and the false fast is the Light which is the Eye that gives to see each fast where the true Judgment is and the Iniquity standeth not nor the Transgressor nor the Speaker of Lies but that is judged and condemned with the Light which makes it manifest And who be in this fast when they call upon the Lord the Lord will answer them here am I and here Truth is pleaded for and Falshood flies away But who be out of this fast in the Perverseness Tongues uttering perverse things are stumbling and groping like blind Men which be from the Light in the Iniquity which separates from God who hides his Face from them that he will not hear going from the Light goes from the Lord and his Face So this is it which must be fasted from for this is it which separates from God and here comes the Reward openly which condemns all that before-mentioned which is contrary to the Light Injustice Iniquity Transgression Vanity and that which brings forth Mischief which hatcheth the Cockatrice-Eggs and weaves the Spiders Web he that eateth of these Eggs dies Mark That which is crushed breaks out into a Viper mark again Their Web shall not become Garments neither shall they cover themselves with their Works of Vanity Acts of Violence are in their Hands This is all from the Light in the wickedness Their Feet run to do evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood their thoughts are thoughts of Vanity wasting and destruction is in their Path This is all from the Light Again The way of Peace they know not there is no Judgment in their Goings they have made them crooked Paths whosoever goes therein shall not know Peace Mark who goes in their way that know not the way of Peace shall they know Peace Whose Path is crooked where there is no Judgment in their Goings Take notice No Judgment in their Goings And this is all from the Light which manifesteth that which is to be judged where the Covenant of Peace is known where all that which is contrary to it before-mentioned is kept out Which all who live in those things before-mentioned contrary to the Light in the false fast they may mark their Path and behold their Reward who be out of the Light stumbling and groping like blind Men. Which they that be in the true fast are from all them separated their words their actions and fruits and their fast whose fast breaks the bonds of Iniquity and whom the Lord hears and to whom Righteousness springs forth and goes before them the Glory of the Lord is the Re-reward G. F. We passed up into Wales through Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire Radnorshire and so into Radnorshire where there was a Meeting like a Leaguer for Multitudes I walked a little aside whilst the People were gathering and there came to me John ap John a Welch-man whom I spake to to go up to the People and if he had any thing upon him from the Lord to speak to them he might speak to them in Welch and thereby gather them more together Then came Morgan Watkins to me who was then become loving to Friends And said he the People lie like a Leaguer and the Gentry of the Country is come in I bad him go up also and leave me for I had a great Travel upon me for the Salvation of the People When they were well gathered together I passed up into the Meeting and stood upon a Chair about three Hours And I stood a pretty while before I began to speak After some time I felt the Power of the Lord went over the whole Assembly and the Lord 's Everlasting Life and Truth shined over all and the Scriptures were opened to them and the Objections they had in their Minds were Answered And they were every one directed to the Light of Christ the heavenly Man that by it they might all see their Sins and Christ Jesus to be their Saviour their
and his Wife and several others of the Chief of the Town came in about the tenth Hour and stay'd all the Time of the Meeting and a glorious Meeting it was John ap John being then with me left the Meeting and went to the Steeple-house and the Governour cast him into Prison On the Second-day Morning the Governour sent one of his Officers to the Justice's House to fetch me which grieved the Mayor and the Justice for they were both with me in the Justice's House 1657. Tenby when the Officer came So the Mayor and the Justice went up to the Governour before me and a while after I went up with the Officer When I came in I said Peace be unto this House And before the Governour could Examin me I asked him Why he did cast my Friend into Prison He said For standing with his Hat on in the Church I said Had not the Priest two Caps on his Head a black one and a white one and cut of the brims of the Hat and then my Friend would have but one and the brims of the Hat were but to defend him from Weather These are frivolous things said the Governour ' Why then said I dost thou cast my Friend into Prison for such frivolous things Then he asked me Whether I owned Election and Reprobation Yes said I and thou art in the Reprobation At that he was in a Rage and said He would send me to Prison till I proved it But I told him I would prove that quickly if he would confess Truth Then I asked him Whether Wrath Fury and Rage and Persecution were not Marks of Reprobation for he that was born of the Flesh persecuted him that was born of the Spirit but Christ and his Disciples never persecuted nor imprisoned any Then he fairly Confest That he had too much Wrath Haste and Passion in him And I told him Esau was up in him the first-Birth not Jacob the second-Birth The Lord's Power so reached the Man and came over him that he confess'd to Truth and the other Justice came and shook me kindly by the Hand As I was passing away I was moved to speak to the Governour again and he Invited me to Dinner with him and set my Friend at Liberty I went back to the other Justice's House And after some time the Mayor and his Wife and the Justice and his Wife and divers other Friends of the Town went about half a Mile out of Town with us to the Water-side when we went away and there when we parted from them I was moved of the Lord to kneel down with them and pray to the Lord to preserve them So after I had recommended them to the Lord Jesus Christ their Saviour and free Teacher we passed away in the Lord's Power and the Lord had the Glory And there is a Meeting continues in that Town to this Day Pembrockshire Pembrock Haverford west So we travelled through the Country to Pembrockshire and in Pembrock Town we had some Service for the Lord. From thence we passed to Haverford-west where we had a great Meeting and all was quiet and the Lord's Power came over all and many were settled in the New Covenant Christ Jesus and built upon him their Rock and Foundation and they stand a precious Meeting to this Day The next day being their Fair-day we passed through their Fair and sounded the Day of the Lord and his Everlasting Truth amongst them After this we came into another County and at Noon came into a great Market-Town and went into several Inns before we could get any Meat for our Horses At last we came to an Inn where we did get some Meat for our Horses and then John ap John being with me went and spake through the Town declaring the Truth to the People and when he came to me again he said he thought All the Town was as people asleep After a while he was moved to go and declare Truth in the Streets again and then the Town was all in an Vproar 1657. WALES and cast him into Prison Presently after several of the Chief of the Town came down with others to the Inn where I was and said They have cast your Man into Prison For what said I He preached in our Streets said they Then I asked them What did he say Had he reproved some of the Drunkards and Swearers and warned them to Repent and leave off their evil Doings and turn to the Lord I asked them Who cast him into Prison And they said The High-Sheriff and the Justices and the Mayor I asked the Names of them and whether they did understand themselves And whether that was their Carriage to Travellers that passed through their Town and to Strangers that did admonish them and exhort them to fear the Lord and reproved Sin in their Gates So these went back and told the Officers what I said And after a while they brought down John ap John guarded with Halberts to the Inn-door in order to put him out of the Town I being at the Inn-door bid the Officers take their Hands off of him They said The Mayor and Justices had commanded them to put him out of Town I told them I would talk with their Mayor and Justices anon concerning their uncivil and unchristian Carriage towards him So I spake to John to go look after the Horses and get them ready and charged the Officers not to touch him And after I had declared the Truth to them and shewed them the Fruits of their Priests and their Incivility and unchristian-like Carriage they went away and left us They were a kind of Independents but a very wicked Town and false We bid the Inn-keeper give our Horses a Peck of Oats and no sooner had we turned our Backs but the Oats were stolen from our Horses After we had refresht our selves a little and were ready we took Horse and rode up to the Inn where the Mayor and Sheriff and Justices were And I called to speak with them and asked them the Reason Wherefore they had Imprisoned John ap John and kept him in Prison two or three hours But they would not answer me a Word only looked out at the Windows upon me So I shewed them how unchristian their Carriage was to Strangers and Travellers and manifested the Fruits of their Teachers and I declared the Truth unto them and warned them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all the Evil-Doers and the Lord's Power came over them that they looked ashamed but not a Word could I get from them in Answer So when I had warned them to Repent and Turn to the Lord we passed away And at Night came to a little Inn very poor but very cheap for our own Provision and our two Horses cost but Eight Pence But the Horses would not eat their Oats We declared the Truth to the People of the Place and sounded the Day of the Lord through the Countries Travelling from thence we
forth and spake through the Streets which were so strait and short that one might stand in the Midst of the Town and see both the Gates I followed John ap John and a multitude of People were soon gathered about him amongst whom a very dark Priest began to babble but his Mouth was soon stopped So when John had cleared himself I declared the word of Life amongst the People directing them to the Light of Christ in their Hearts that by it they might see all their own Ways Religions and Teachers and might come off from them all to Christ the true and living Way and the Free Teacher Some of the People were rude but the greater part were civil and told us They had heard how we had been persecuted and abused in many places but they would not do so to us there I commended their Moderation and Sobriety and warned them of the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Sin and Wickedness testifying unto them that Christ was now come to Teach his People himself by his Spirit and by his Power Beaumorris From hence we went to Beaumorris a Town wherein John ap John had formerly been Preacher to a Congregation After we had put up our Horses at an Inn John went forth and spake through the Street and there being a Garrison in the Town they took him and put him into Prison The Inn-keeper's Wife came and told me That the Governour and Magistrates were sending for me to send me to Prison also I told her They had done more than they could answer already and had acted contrary to Christianity in Imprisoning him for Reproving Sin in their Streets and Gates and for declaring the Truth Soon after came other friendly People and told me If I went out into the Street they would Imprison me also and therefore they desired me to keep within the Inn. Upon this I was moved to go and walk up and down in the Streets and told the People What an uncivil and un-Christian thing they had done in casting my Friend into Prison And they being high Professors I asked them If this was the Entertainment they had for Strangers And if they would willingly be so served themselves And whether they who looked upon the Scriptures to be their Rule had any Example in the Scriptures from Christ or his Apostles for what they had done So after a while they set John ap John at Liberty again Next Day being Market-day we were to cross over a great Water and not far from the place where we were to take Boat many of the Market-People drew to us amongst whom we had good Service for the Lord declaring the word of Life and Everlasting Truth unto them and proclaiming the Day of the Lord amongst them which was coming upon all wickedness and directing them to the Light of Christ which he the heavenly Man had enlightned them withal by which they might see all their sins and all their false Ways Religions Worships and Teachers and by the same Light might see Christ Jesus who was come to save them and lead them to God So after the Lord's Truth had been declared to them in the Power of God and Christ the free Teacher set over all the Hireling-Teachers I bid John ap John get his Horse into the Boat which was then ready But there being a Company of wild Gentlemen as they called them got into it whom we found very rude and far from gentleness they with others kept his Horse out of the Boat So I rode to the Boat's-side and spake to them shewing them What an unmanly and unchristian Carriage it was and told them they shewed an unworthy Spirit below Christianity or Humanity As I spake unto them I leapt my Horse into the Boat amongst them thinking John's Horse would have followed when he had seen mine go in before him but the Water being pretty deep John could not get his Horse into the Boat Wherefore I leapt out again on Horseback into the Water and staid with John on that side till the Boat returned There we tarried from the Eleventh Hour of the Fore-noon to the Second in the Afternoon before the Boat came to fetch us and then had we forty and two Miles to ride that Evening and by that time we had paid for our Passage we had but one groat left between us both in Money We rode about sixteen Miles and then got a little Hay for our Horses and setting forward again we came in the Night to a little Ale-house where we thought to have staid and baited But finding we could have neither Oats nor Hay there we travelled on all Night And about the fifth Hour in the Morning got to a place within six Miles of Rexam Near Rexam where that Day we met with many Friends and had a glorious Meeting and the Lord 's Everlasting Power and Truth was over all and a Meeting is continued there to this day Very weary we were with travelling so hard up and down in Wales and in many places we found it difficult to get meat either for our Horses or Our selves The next Day we passed from thence into Flintshire Flintshire Rexam sounding the Day of the Lord through the Towns and came into Rexam at Night Here many of Floyd's People came to us but very rude wild and airy they were and little Sense of Truth they had Yet some were Convinced in that Town Next Morning one called a Lady sent for me who kept a Preacher in her House I went to her House but found both her and her Preacher very light and airy too light to receive the weighty Things of God In her Lightness she came and asked me If she should cut my Hair But I was moved to reprove her and bid her Cut down the Corruptions in her self with the Sword of the Spirit of God So after I had admonished her to be more grave and sober we passed away and afterwards in her frothy mind she made her Boast That she came behind me and cut off the Curl of my Hair but she spake falsly From Rexam we came through the Country to West-chester West-Chester and it being the Fair-time we stay'd there a while and visited Friends For I had travelled through every County in Wales preaching the Everlasting Gospel of Christ and a brave People there is now which hath received it and sitteth under Christ's Teaching But before I left Wales I writ a Paper to the Magistrates of Beaumorris concerning their Imprisoning of John ap John letting them see their Conditions and the Fruits of their Christianity and of their Teachers And afterwards I met with some of them near London but oh how ashamed they were of their Action From West-chester we came through the Country to Leverpool Liverpool where was at that time a Fair also And as I rode through the Fair there stood a Friend upon the Cross declaring the Truth to the People Who seeing me ride
by and knowing I had appointed a Meeting to be the next Day upon an Hill not far off gave Notice to the People That George Fox the Servant of the Lord would have a Meeting next day upon such an Hill and if any feared the Lord they might come there and hear him declare the Word of Life to them We went that Night to Richard Cubban's who himself was Convinced but not his Wife 1657. Liverpool but at that time his Wife was Convinced also Next Day we went to the Meeting on the Top of the Hill which was very large and some Rude People with a Priest's Wife came and made a Noise for a while but the Lord's Power came over them and the Meeting became quiet and the Truth of God was declared amongst them And many were that Day settled upon the Rock and Foundation Christ Jesus and under his Teaching who made Peace betwixt God and them Malpoth We had a small Meeting with a few Friends and People at Malpoth And from thence we came to another place where we had another Meeting and there came a Bailiff with a Sword and was rude but the Lord's Power came over him and Friends were established in the Truth Manchester From thence we came to Manchester and the Sessions being there that Day many rude People were come to the Town out of the Country In the Meeting they threw at me Coals and Clods and Stones and Water Yet the Lord's Power bore me up over them that they could not strike me down At last when they saw they could not prevail by throwing Water Stones and Dirt at me they went and Informed the Justices in the Sessions who thereupon sent Officers to fetch me before them The Officers came in while I was declaring the Word of Life to the People and they plucked me down and haled me up into their Court. When I came there all the Court was in a Disorder and a Noise Wherefore I asked Where were the Magistrates that they did not keep the People civil Some of the Justices said They were Magistrates I asked them Why then they did not appease the People and keep them sober For one cried I 'le swear and another cried I 'le swear So I declared to the Justices How we were abused in our Meeting by the rude People who threw Stones and Clods and Dirt and Water and how I was haled out of the Meeting and brought thither contrary to the Instrument of Government which said None should be molested in their Meetings that professed God and owned the Lord Jesus Christ which I did So the Truth came over them that when one of the rude Fellows cried He would swear one of the Justices checked him saying What will you swear hold your Tongue At last they bid the Constable Have me to my Lodging and there I should be secured till to morrow Morning that they sent for me again So the Constable had me to my Lodging And as we went the People were exceeding rude but I let them see the Fruits of their Teachers and how they shamed Christianity and dishonoured the Name of Jesus which they professed At Night we went to a Justice's House in the Town who was pretty moderate and I had a great deal of Discourse with him Next Morning we sent to the Constable to know If he had any thing more to say to us And he sent us Word He had nothing to say to us but that we might go whither we would The Lord hath since raised up a People to stand for his Name and Truth in that Town over those chaffy Professors We passed from Manchester through the Country 1657. Preston having many precious Meetings in several Places till we came to Preston between which and Lancaster I had a general Meeting From which I went to Lancaster There at our Inn I met with Colonel West Lancaster who was very glad to see me and he meeting with Judge Fell told him That I was mightily grown in the Truth when as indeed he was come nearer to the Truth and so could better discern it We came from Lancaster to Robert Widders and on the First-Day after I had a general Meeting near the Sands-side Sands-side of Friends of Westmorland and Lancashire where the Lord 's Everlasting Power was over all in which the Word of Eternal Life was declared and Friends were settled upon the Foundation Christ Jesus under his free Teaching And many were Convinced and turned to the Lord. Next day I came over the Sands to Swarthmore Swarthmore where Friends were glad to see me and I stay'd there two first Days visiting Friends in their Meetings there-aways who rejoiced with me in the Goodness of the Lord who by his Eternal Power had carried me through and over many Difficulties and Dangers in his Service to him be the Praise for ever Having gotten a little Respit from Travel I was moved to write an Epistle to Friends as followeth ALL Friends of the Lord every where whose Minds are turned in towards the Lord take heed and hearken to the Light within you which is the Light of Christ which as ye love it will call your Minds inward that are abroad in the Creatures so your Minds may be renewed by it and turned to God in this which is pure to worship the living God the Lord of Hosts over all the Creatures That which calls your Minds out of the Lusts of the World it will call them out of the Affections and Desires and turn you to set your Affections above The same that calls the mind out of the World will give judgment upon the World's Affections and Lusts that which calls out your Minds from the World's Teachers and the Creatures and so to have your minds renewed There is your Obedience known and found and there the Image of God is renewed in you and ye come to grow up in it That which calls your minds out of the Earth turns them towards God where the pure Babe is born of the Virgin and the Babe's food is known the Children's Bread which comes from the living God and nourishes up to Eternal Life Which Babes and Children receive their Wisdom from above from the pure living God and not from the Earthly Ones for that is trodden under Foot with such And all who hate this Light whose minds are abroad in the Creatures in the Earth and in the Image of the Devil get the Words of the Saints that received their Wisdom from above into the old Nature and their corrupted minds Such are they that are Murderers of the just Enemies to the Cross of Christ in whom the Prince of the Air lodgeth Sons of perdition Betrayers of the just Therefore take heed to that Light which is opprest with that Nature which Light as it arises shall condemn all that cursed Nature and shall turn it out and shut it out of the House 1657. Swarthmore And so ye will come
Everlasting And in this neither Powers Principalities nor Thrones Dominions nor Angels nor things present nor things to come nor Heights nor Depths nor Death Mockings nor spoiling of Goods nor Prisons nor Fetters were able to separate them from the Love of God which they had in Christ Jesus And Friends Quench not the Spirit nor despise Prophesying where it moves neither hinder the Babes and Sucklings from crying Hosannah for out of their Mouths will God ordain Strength There were some in Christ's Day that were against such whom he reproved And there were some in Moses his Day who would have stopt the Prophets in the Camp whom Moses reproved and said in Way of Incouragement to them Would God that all the Lord's People were Prophets So I say now to you Therefore ye that stop it in your selves do not quench it in others neither in Babe nor Suckling for the Lord hears the Cries of the Needy and the Sighs and Groans of the Poor Judge not that nor the Sighs and Groans of the Spirit which cannot be uttered lest ye judge Prayer for Prayer as well lies in Sighs and Groans to the Lord as otherwise So let not the Sons and Daughters nor the Hand-maidens be stopt in their Prophesyings nor the Young-men in their Visions nor the Old-men in their Dreams but let the Lord be glorified in and through all who is over all God blessed for ever So that every one may improve their Talents and every one exercise their Gifts and every one speak as the Spirit gives them Vtterance Thus every one may minister as he hath received the Grace as a good Steward to him that hath given it him so that all Plants may bud and bring forth Fruit to the glory of God for the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withal So see that every one hath profited in heavenly things Male and Female look into your own Vineyards and see what Fruit ye bear to God look into your own Houses see how they are decked and trimmed and see what Odors Mirrh and Frankincense ye have therein and what a Smell and Savour ye have to ascend to God that he may be glorified So bring your Deeds all to the Light which ye are taught to believe in by Christ your Head the heavenly Man and see how they are wrought in God And every Male and Female let Christ dwell in your Hearts by Faith Christ in the Male and in the Female and let your Mouths be opened to the Glory of God the Father that he may rule and reign in you We must not have Christ Jesus the Lord of Life put any more in a Stable amongst the Horses and Asses but he must now have the best Chamber the Heart and the rude debauched Spirit must be turned out Therefore let him reign whose Right it is who was conceived by the Holy Ghost by which Holy Ghost ye call him Lord in which Holy Ghost ye pray and by which Holy Ghost ye have Comfort and Fellowship with the Son and with the Father Therefore know the Triumph in it and in God and his Power which the Devil is out of and in the Seed which is first and last the beginning and ending the Top-and Corner-stone in which is my Love to you and in which I rest Your Friend G. F. POSTSCRIPT And Friends be careful how ye set your feet among the tender Plants that are springing up out of God's Earth lest ye do tread upon them and hurt them and bruise them or crush them in God's Vineyard Now after I had tarried two first-Days at Swarthmore and had visited Friends in their Meetings thereabouts I passed from thence into Westmorland visiting Friends Meetings there Westmorland till I came to John Audland's where there was a general Meeting The Night before I had a vision of a desperate Creature that was coming to destroy me but I got Victory over it And the next Day in the Meeting-time there came one Otway with some rude fellows with him and he rode round about the Meeting with his Sword or Rapier and would fain have gotten in through the Friends to me but the Meeting being great the Friends stood thick so that he could not easily come at me Then when he had rid about several Times raging and found he could not get in being limited by the Lord's Power he at length went away It was a glorious Meeting and ended peaceable and the Lord 's everlasting Power came over all But this wild Man went home and became distracted and not long after died I sent a Paper to John Blaykling to read to him while he lay ill shewing him his wickedness and he did acknowledge something of it Going from hence I went through Kendal Kendal where a Warrant had long lain to apprehend me and the Constables seeing me ran to fetch their Warrant as I was riding through the Town but before they could come with it I was gone past the Town and so escaped their Hands I travelled on Northwards visiting Friends Meetings as I went till I came to Strickland-head where I had a great Meeting Strickland head And most of the Gentry of that Country being gathered to an Horse-Race not far off from the Meeting I was moved to go and declare the Truth unto them 1657. Strickland head and a Chief-Constable that was there did also admonish them Our Meeting was quiet and the Lord was with us and by his Word and Power Friends were settled in the Eternal Truth Cumberland From hence we passed into Cumberland where we had many precious living Meetings And after we had travelled through to Gilsland Gilsland Carlisle and had a Meeting there we came to Carlisle where they had used to put Friends out of the Town but there came a great Flood while we were there that they could not put us out of the Town so we had a Meeting there on the first-Day After which we passed through the Country to Abby-holm Abbey-holm and had a little Meeting there This is a Place where I told Friends long before there would a great People come forth to the Lord which hath since come to pass and a large Meeting there is gathered to the Lord in those Parts Langlands I passed from hence to a general Meeting at Langlands in Cumberland which was very large for most of the People had so forsaken the Priests that the Steeple-houses in some places stood empty And John Wilkinson a Preacher that I have often named before who had three Steeple-houses had so few Hearers lest that giving over preaching in the Steeple-houses he first set up a Meeting in his House and preached there to them that were left Afterwards he set up a silent Meeting like Friends to which came a few for most of his Hearers were come off to Friends Thus he held on till he had not past half a Dozen left the rest still forsaking him and
of the Lord came over them So I stayed there till William Osburn and Robert Widders came up and then we passed on together But it is likely that if we two had gone away before they would have robbed Robert Widders when he had come after alone there being three or four of them We went to William Osburn's House where we had a good Opportunity to declare the Truth to several People that came in there And then we went among the Highlanders Highlands who were so Devillish they had like to have spoiled us and our Horses for they run at us with Pitch-forks but through the Lord's Goodness we escaped them being preserved by his Power From thence we passed to Starling where the Soldiers took us up Starling and had us to the Main-guard and after a few Words with their Officers the Lord's Power coming over them we were set at Liberty But no Meeting could we get amongst them in the Town they were so closed up in Darkness Next Morning there came a Man with an Horse that was to run a Race and most of the Town 's People and the Officers went to see it As they came back from the Race I had a brave Opportunity to declare the Day of the Lord and his Word of Life amongst them Some Confessed to it and some Opposed but the Lord's Truth and Power came over them all Leaving Starling we travelled through the Country till we came to Burnt-Island Burnt-Island where I had two Meetings at one Captain Pool's House one in the Morning and the other in the Afternoon Whilst they went to Dinner I walked to the Sea-side not having freedom to eat with them Both he and his Wife were Convinced and became good Friends afterward and several Officers of the Army came in and received the Truth We passed from thence through several other Places in the Country till we came to Johnston's where were several Baptists Johnstons that were very bitter and came in a Rage to dispute with us Vain Janglers and Disputers indeed they were And when they could not prevail by disputing they went and informed the Governour against us and next Morning they raised a whole Company of foot and banished me and Alexander Parker and James Lancaster and Robert Widders out of the Town As they guarded us through the Town James Lancaster was moved to Sing with a Melodious Sound in the Power of God and I was moved to proclaim the Day of the Lord and preach the Everlasting Gospel to the People For the People generally came forth so that the Streets were filled with them and the Souldiers were so ashamed that they said They had rather have gone to Jamaica than have guarded us so But we were put into a Boat with our Horses and carried over the Water and there left And the Baptists who were the Cause of our being thus put out of this Town were themselves not long after turned out of the Army and he that was then Governour was turned out also when the King came in Being thus thrust out of Johnstons we went to another Market-Town where Edward Billing and many Souldiers quartered We went to an Inn and desired to have a Meeting in the Town that we might preach the Everlasting Gospel amongst them The Officers and Souldiers said We should have it in the Town-hall but the Scotch Magistrates in spight appointed a Meeting there that Day for the Business of the Town Which when the Officers of the Souldiery understood and perceived that it was done in Malice they would have had us to have gone into the Town-hall nevertheless But we told them No by no means for then the Magistrates might inform the Governour against them and say They took the Town-hall from them by force when they were to do their Town-business therein But we told them ' We would go to the Market-place They said It was Market-day We replied ' It was so much the better for we would have all People to hear the Truth and know our Principles So Alexander Parker went up and stood upon the Market-cross with a Bible in his Hand and declared the Truth amongst the Souldiers and Market-people but the Scots being a dark carnal People gave little heed nor hardly took notice what was said After a while I was moved of the Lord God to stand up at the Cross and to declare with a loud Voice the Everlasting Truth and the Day of the Lord that was coming upon all Sin and Wickedness Whereupon the People came running out of the Town-hall and they gathered so together that at last we had a large Meeting for they sate in the Court but only for a Colour to hinder us from having the Hall to Meet in When the People were come away the Magistrates followed them and some walked by but some staid and heard and the Lord's Power came over all and kept all quiet And the People were Turned to the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them and had enlightned them that with his Light they might all see their evil Deeds and be saved from their Sins by him and might come to know him to be their Teacher But if they would not receive Christ and own him it was told them that this Light which came from him would be their Condemnation Several of them were made loving to us especially of the English People and some came afterwards to be Convinced But there was a Souldier that was very envious against us and hated both us and the Truth and spake Evil of the Truth and very despitefully against the Light of Christ Jesus which we bore Testimony to and mighty Zealous he was for the Priests and their Hearers As this Man was hearing the Priest holding his Hat before his Face while the Priest prayed â one of the Priest's Hearers stabbed him to Death So he who had rejected the Teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and cried down the Servants of the Lord was murdered amongst them whom he had so cried up and by one of them Leith We travelled from this Town through the Country to Leith warning and exhorting People as we went to turn to the Lord. At Leith the Inn-keeper told me that the Council had granted forth Warrants to apprehend me because I was not gone out of the Nation after the seven Days were expired that they had ordered me to depart the Nation in several friendly People also came and told me the same To whom I said What do ye tell me of their Warrants against me if there were a Cartload of them I do not heed them for the Lord's Power is over them all Edenborough So I went from Leith up to Edenborough again where they said the Warrants from the Council were out against me and I went to the Inn where I had lodged before and no Man offered to meddle with me After I had visited the Friends in the City I desired those Friends that travelled with me
Professors who pleaded for Imperfection I was opened to declare and manifest unto them how that Adam and Eve were perfect before they fell and all that God made he saw that it was good and he blessed it But the Imperfection came in by the Fall through Man's and Woman's hearkening to the Devil who was out of Truth And though the Law made nothing perfect yet it made way for the bringing in of the better Hope which Hope is Christ who destroys the Devil and his Works that made Man and Woman Imperfect Now Christ saith to his Disciples Be ye perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect And he who himself was perfect comes to make Man and Woman perfect again and brings them again to the State which God made them in So he is the Maker up of the Breach and the Peace betwixt God and Man That this might the better be understood by the lowest Capacities I used a Comparison of Two Old People that had their House broken down by an Enemy so that they with all their Children were liable to all Storms and Tempests And there came some to them that pretended to be Workmen and offered to build up their House again if they would give them so much a Year But when they had gotten their Money they left their House as they found it After this manner came a First Second Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth each with his several pretence to build up the Old House and each got the Peoples Money and then cried They could not rear up the House nor the Breach could not be made up For there is no Perfection here Cry they the House can never be perfectly built up again in this Life Though they have taken the Peoples Money for the doing of it For all the Sects in Christendom so called have pretended to build up Adam's and Eve's fallen House and when they have got Peoples Money they tell them the Work cannot be perfectly done here and so their House lies as it did But I told the People Christ was come to do it freely who by one Offering hath perfected for ever all them that are sanctified and renews them up into the Image of God which Man and Woman were in before they fell and makes Man's and Woman's House as perfect again as God had made them at the first And this Christ the Heavenly Man has done freely Therefore all are to look unto him and all that have received him are to walk in him the Life the Substance the First and the Last The Rock of Ages and Foundation of many Generations Largely were these and many other things opened and declared unto the People and the Word of Life was Preached which doth live and abide and all were Exhorted to hear and obey that which did live and abide that by it all might be born again of the Immortal Seed and feed of the Milk of the Word A glorious Meeting there was wherein the Lord 's Everlasting Seed Christ Jesus was set over all and Friends parted in the Power and Spirit of the Lord in Peace and in his Truth that is over all About this time the Souldiers under General Monk's Command were rude and troublesome at Friends Meetings in many places Whereof Complaint being made to him he gave forth the following Order which did somewhat restrain them St. James's the 9th of March 1659. I Do Require all Officers and Souldiers to forbear to disturb the peaceable Meetings of the Quakers they doing nothing prejudicial to the Parliament or Common-wealth of England GEORGE MONK Oldeston Nailsworth After this Meeting at Edward Pyott's I passed through the Countries to Oldeston and to Nailsworth and to Nathaniel Crisp's where there was a large Meeting and several Souldiers at it but quiet And from thence we passed through Friends to Gloucester Gloucester visiting their Meetings And in Gloucester we had a Meeting that was peaceable though the Town was very rude and divided For one part of the Souldiers were for the King and another for the Parliament 1660. Glouceser And as I passed out of the Town over the Bridge Edward Pyott being with me the Souldiers there said They were for the King But after we were gone past them and they understood it was I they were in a great rage that I had scaped them and said Had they known it it had been I they would have shot me with Hail-shot rather than I should have escaped them But the Lord prevented their Devilish Design and brought me safe to Col. Grimes his House where we had a large general Meeting Col. Grimes and the Lord's Truth and Power was set over all and Friends were established upon the Rock and settled under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching We passed from thence to Tewksburg and so to Worcester Tewksbury Worcester visiting Friends in their Meetings in the Towns as we went And in all my time I never saw the like Drunkenness as then in the Towns For they had been then chusing Parliament-Men But at Worcester the Lord's Truth was set over all and People were finely settled therein and Friends praised the Lord Nay I saw the very Earth Rejoiced Yet great fears and troubles were in many People and a looking for the King 's Coming in and that all things should be altered and they would ask me what I thought of Times and Things I told them the Lord's Power was over all and his Light shined over all and that the Fear would take hold only on the Hypocrites such as had not been faithful to God and on our Persecutors For in my Travel and Sufferings at Reading when People were at a stand and could not tell what might Come in and who might Rule I told them the Lord's Power was over all for I had travelled through in it and his Day shined whosoever should come in and whether the King came in or no all would be well to them that loved the Lord and were faithful to him Therefore I bid all Friends Fear none but the Lord and keep in his Power that was over all From Worcester I came through the Countries Badgely Leicestershire Drayton visiting Friends in their Meetings till I came to Badgely and from thence I went to Drayton in Leicestershire to visit my Relations While I was there one Burton a Justice hearing that I had a good Horse sent forth a Warrant to search for me and my Horse But I was gone before they came and so he missed of his wicked End I passed on to Twy Cross Twy-Cross Swanington Darby and Swanington and so to Darby where I visited Friends and found my old Goaler amongst them who had formerly kept me in the House of Correction there and was now Convinced of the Truth which I then suffered under him for Passing still further up into Darbyshire Darbyshire Nottinghamshire Synderhill-green Yorkshire Balby Yearly Meeting and Nottinghamshire I came to Synderhill-green visiting Friends through all
the Jailer went to wait on him after he was come back from London he was very blank and down and asked how I did pretending that he would find a way to set me at Liberty But having overshot himself in his Mittimus by ordering me to be kept Prisoner till I should be delivered by the King or Parliament he had put it out of his Power to Release me if he would He was the more down also upon reading a Letter which I sent him For when he was in the height of his Rage and Threats against me and thought to ingratiate himself into the King's Favour by Imprisoning me I was moved to write to him and put him in mind How fierce he had been against the King and his Party though now he would be thought zealous for the King And among other Passages in my Letter I called to his remembrance how when he held Lancaster-Castle for the Parliament against the King he was so rough and fierce against those that favoured the King that he said He would leave them neither Dog nor Cat if they did not bring him in Provision to his Castle I asked him also Whose great Bucks-Horns those were that were in his House and where he had both them and the Wainscot that he Ceiled his House withal Had he them not from Hornby-Castle About this time Ann Curtis of Reading came to see me and understanding how I stood Committed it was upon her also to go to the King about it For her Father who had been Sheriff of Bristol was hanged near his own Door for endeavouring to bring the King in Upon which Consideration she had some hopes that the King might hear her on my behalf Accordingly when she returned to London she and Margaret Fell went to the King together Who when he understood whose Daughter she was received her kindly And her Request to him being To send for me up and hear the Cause himself he promised her he would and commanded his Secretary to send down an Order for the bringing me up But when they came to the Secretary for the Order he being no Friend to us said It was not in his Power but that he must go according to Law and I must be brought up by an Habeas Corpus before the Judges So he writ to the Judge of the King's-Bench signifying That it was the King's Pleasure that I should be sent for up by an Habeas Corpus Accordingly a Writ was sent down and delivered to the Sheriff but because it was directed to the Chancellor of Lancaster the Sheriff put it off to him On the other hand the Chancellor would not make the Warrant upon it but said the Sheriff must do that At length both Chancellor and Sheriff were got together But being both Enemies to Truth they sought occasion for Delay and found they said an Error in the Writ which was that being directed to the Chancellor it said Geo. Fox in Prison under YOVR Custody whereas the Prison I was in was not they said in the Chancellor's Custody but in the Sheriff's So the Word YOVR should have been HIS Upon this they Returned the Writ to London again only to have that one Word altered When it was altered and came down again the Sheriff refused to carry me up unless I would Seal a Writing to him and become bound and pay for the Sealing and the Charge of carrying me up Which I denied telling them I would not Seal any thing to them nor be Bound So the matter rested a while and I continued in Prison Mean while the Assize came on But inasmuch as there was a Writ come down for removing me up I was not brought before the Judge At the Assize many People came to see me and I was moved to speak out at the Jail-Window to them and shew them How uncertain their Religion was and that every sort that had been uppermost persecuted the rest For when Popery was uppermost People had been persecuted for not following the Mass and they that did hold up the Mass cried then It was the Higher Power and People must be subject to the Higher Power Afterwards they that held up the Common-Prayer persecuted others for not following that and they said It was the Higher Power then also and we must be subject to that Since that the Presbyterians and Independents cried each of them We must be subject to the Higher Power and submit to the Directory of the one and the Church-Faith of the other Thus all like the Apostate-Jews have cried Help Men of Israel against the True Christians So People might see how uncertain they are of their Religions But I directed them to Christ Jesus that they might be built upon him the Rock and Foundation that changeth not Much on this wise I declared to them and they were quiet and very attentive Afterwards I gave forth a little Paper concerning True Religion as followeth TRue Religion is the True Rule and right way of serving God And Religion is a pure Stream of Righteousness flowing from the Image of God and is the Life and Power of God planted in the Heart and Mind by the Law of Life in the Heart which bringeth the Soul Mind Spirit and Body to be Conformable to God the Father of Spirits and to Christ so that they come to have Fellowship with the Father and the Son and with all his Holy Angels and Saints And this Religion is pure from Above undefiled before God and is to visit the Fatherless and Widows and Strangers and keeps from the Spots of the World So this Religion is above all the defiled spotted Religions in the World that keep not themselves from Defilement and Spots but are Impure and below and spotted whose Fatherless and Widows and Strangers do beg up and down the Streets G. F. Soon after this I gave forth another Paper against Persecution as followeth THe Papists Common-Prayer-Men Presbyterians Independents and Baptists persecute one another about their Inventions which they have invented their Mass their Common-Prayer their Directory their Church-Faith which they have made and framed their Inventions and Handy-works and not for the Truth For they know not what Spirit they be of who persecute and would have Mens Lives destroyed about Church-Worship and Religion as saith Christ who also said He came not to destroy Men's Lives but to save them Now they that know not what Spirit they be of but will persecute and destroy Men's Lives and not save them we cannot trust our Bodies Souls nor Spirits into their hands They know not what Spirit they be of themselves and therefore they are not fit to be trusted with others They would destroy by a Law as the Disciples once would have done by Prayer who would have commanded Fire to come down from Heaven to destroy them that would not receive Christ But Christ rebukes them and tells them They did not know what Spirit they were of And if they did not know what Spirit they
of their Worship and to carry those persecuting Priests and People a Lanthorn and Candle as a Figure of their Darkness But they cruelly abused him and like dark Professors as they were they put him into their Prison called Little-Ease and so squeezed his Body therein that not long after he Died. Many Warnings of many sorts were Friends moved in the Power of the Lord to give unto that Generation which they not only rejected but abused Friends calling us Giddy-headed Quakers But God brought his Judgments upon those Persecuting Priests and Magistrates For when the King came in most of them were turned out of their Places and Benefices and the Spoilers were Spoiled And then we could ask them Who were the Giddy-heads now Then many did confess we had been True Prophets to the Nation and said Had we cried against some Priests only they should have liked us then but we crying against All that made them dislike us But now they did see that those Priests which then were looked upon to be the best were as bad as the Rest For indeed some of those that were counted the most-Eminent Priests were the bitterest and greatest Stirrers up of the Magistrates to Persecution And it was a Judgment upon them to be denied the Free Liberty of their Consciences when the King came in because when they were uppermost they would not have had Liberty of Conscience been granted unto others For there was one Hewes of Plymouth a Priest of great Note in Oliver's Days who when some Liberty was granted pray'd That God would put it into the Hearts of the Chief Magistrates of the Nation to remove this cursed Toleration And others of them prayed against it by the name of Intolerable Toleration But a while after when the King was come in and Priest Hewes turned out of his great Benefice for not Conforming to the Common-Prayer a Friend of Plymouth meeting with him asked him Whether he would account Toleration Accursed now And Whether he would not now be glad of a Toleration To which the Priest returned no Answer save by the shaking of his Head But as stiff as this sort of Men were then against Toleration it is well known that many of them petitioned the King for Toleration and for Meeting-Places and paid for Licences too But to return to the present Time the latter end of the Year 1660. and beginning of 1661. Although those Friends that had been Imprisoned upon the Rising of those Monarchy-Men were set at Liberty yet Meetings were much disturbed and great Sufferings Friends went under For besides what was done by Officers and Souldiers many wild Fellows and rude People often came in There came one time when I was at Pell-Mell an Embassador with a Company of Irish Men with rude Fellows The Meeting was done before they came and I was gone up into a Chamber where I heard one of them say he would kill all the Quakers So I went down to him and was moved in the Power of the Lord to speak to him and I told him The Law said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth but thou threatens to kill all the Quakers though they have done thee no hurt But said I here is Gospel for thee Here 's my Hair and here 's my Cheek and here 's my Shoulder turning it to him This came so over him that he and his Companions stood as Men amazed and said If that was our Principle and if we were as we said they never saw the like in their Lives I told them What I was in Words I was the same in Life Then the Embassador came in for he had stood without for he said that Irish Colonel was such a desperate Man that he durst not come in with him for fear he should have done us some Mischief but Truth came over him and he carried himself lovingly towards us and so did the Embassador also for the Lord's Power was over them all At Mile-End Friends were kept out of their Meeting-Place by Souldiers but Friends stood Nobly in the Truth and were Valiant for the Lord's Name and at last the Truth gave them Dominion About this time we had Account that John Love a Friend that was moved to go and bear Testimony against the Idolatry of the Papists was dead in Prison at Rome and it was suspected he was privately put to Death in Prison John Perrot was also Prisoner there and being released came over again But after his Arrival here he with Charles Baily and some others turned aside from the Vnity of Friends and Truth Whereupon I was moved to give forth a Paper declaring how the Lord would blast them all both him and his Followers if they did not Repent and Return and that they should wither like the Grass on the House-top and so many of them did but others of them returned and repented Also before this time we received Account from New-England That the Government there had made a Law to Banish the Quakers out of their Colonies upon pain of Death in case they returned and that several of our Friends having been so banished and returning were thereupon taken and actually Hanged and that divers more were in Prison in danger of the like Sentence to be executed upon them When those were put to Death I was in Prison at Lancaster and had a perfect Sense of their Sufferings as though it had been my self and as though the Halter had been put about my own Neck though we had not at that time heard of it But as soon as we heard of it Edward Burrough went to the King and told him There was a Vein of Innocent Blood opened in his Dominions which if it were not stopt would over-run all To which the King replied But I will stop that Vein Edward Burrough said Then do it speedily for we know not how many may soon be put to Death The King answered As speedily as ye will Call said he to some present the Secretary and I will do it presently So the Secretary being called a Mandamus was forthwith granted A Day or two after Ed. Burrough going again to the King to desire the matter might be expedited the King said He had no Occasion at present to send a Ship thither but if we would send one we might do it as soon as we would Ed. Burrough then asked the King If it would please him to grant his Deputation to one called a Quaker to carry the Mandamus to New-England which is hereafter inserted He said Yes to whom ye will Whereupon E. B. named one Samuel Shattock as I remember who being an Inhabitant of New-England was banished by their Law to be hanged if he came again and to him the Deputation was granted Then we sent for one Ralph Goldsmith an honest Friend who was Master of a good Ship and with him we agreed for Three Hundred Pounds Goods or no Goods to Sail in Ten Days He forthwith prepared to set Sail and with
occasion Wherefore I desired William Smith to go speak with the Woman and let her know if she would let us have a Room and let our Friends come up out of the Dungeon and leave it to us and them to give her what we would it might be better for her He went and after some reasoning with her she consented and we were had into a Room Then we were told that the Jailer would not suffer us to fetch any Drink out of the Town into the Prison but that what Beer we drank we must take of him I told them I would remedy that if they would for we would get a Pale of Water and a little Wormwood once a day and that might serve us So we should have none of his Beer and the Water he could not deny us Before we came there when those few Friends that were Prisoners there did Meet together on the First-Days if any of them was moved to pray to the Lord the Jailer would come up with his great Quarter-staff in his Hand and his Mastiff-Dog at his Heels and would pluck them down by the Hair of the Head and strike them with his Staff but when he struck Friends the Mastiff-Dog instead of falling upon Friends would take the Staff out of his Hand Now when the First-Day came after we came in I spake to one of my Fellow-Prisoners to carry down a Stool and set it in the Yard and give notice to the Debtors and Fellons that there would be a Meeting in the Yard and they that would hear the Word of the Lord declared might come thither So the Debtors and Prisoners went into the Yard and we went down and had a very precious Meeting the Jailer not meddling Thus every First-Day we had a Meeting there as long as we stay'd in Prison and several came in out of the City and Country and many were Convinced and some received the Lord's Truth there who stood faithful Witnesses for it ever since When the Sessions came we were had up before the Justices Leicester Sessions with many more Friends that were sent to Prison whilst we were there to the number of about Twenty Being brought into the Court the Jailer put us into the Place where the Thieves were put and then some of the Justices began to tender the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to us I told them I never took any Oath in my Life and they knew we could not Swear because Christ and his Apostle forbad it and therefore they put it but as a Snare to us But we told them if they could prove that after Christ and the Apostle had forbid Swearing they did ever command Christians to Swear then we would take these Oaths otherwise we were resolved to obey Christ's Command and the Apostle's Exhortation They said We must take the Oath that we might manifest our Allegiance to the King I told them I had been formerly sent up a Prisoner by Col. Hacker from that Town to London under pretence that I held Meetings to plot to bring in King Charles I also desired them to read our Mittimus which set forth the Cause of our Commitment to be that we were To have a Meeting and I said he that was called Lord Beaumont could not by that Act send us to Jail unless we had been taken at a Meeting and found to be such Persons as the Act speaks of therefore we desired they would read the Mittimus 1662. Leicester Sessions and see how wrongfully we were Imprisoned They would not take notice of the Mittimus but called a Jury and Indicted us for Refusing to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy When the Jury was Sworn and Instructed as they were going out one that had been an Alderman of the City spake to them and bid them Have a good Conscience and one of the Jury being a peevish Man told the Justices There was One affronted the Jury Whereupon they called him up and tendred him the Oath also and he took it While we were standing in the Place where the Thieves used to stand there was a Cut-Purse had his Hand in several Friends Pockets and Friends declared it to the Justices and shewed them the Man They called him up before them and upon Examination he could not deny it yet they set him at Liberty It was not long before the Jury Returned and brought us in Guilty and then after some Words the Justices Whispered together and bid the Jailer take us down to Prison again But the Lord's Power was over them and his Everlasting Truth which we declared boldly amongst them And there being a great Concourse of People most of them followed us so that the Cryer and Bayliffs were sain to call the People back again to the Court We declared the Truth as we went down the Streets all along Leicester Jail till we came to the Jail the Streets being full of People When we were in our Chamber again after some time the Jailer came to us and desired all to go forth that were not Prisoners And when they were gone he said Gentlemen it is the Court's Pleasure that ye should all be set at liberty except those that are in for Tithes and you know there are Fees due to me but I shall leave it to you to give me what you will Thus were we all set at Liberty on a sudden And being thus set at Liberty the rest passed every one into their Services only Leonard Fell being come thither stay'd with me and we two went again to Swanington Swanington I had a Letter from him they called the Lord Hastings who hearing of my Imprisonment had written from London to the Justices at the Sessions to set me at Liberty Now I had not delivered this Letter to the Justices but whether they had any knowledge of his Mind from any other hand which made them discharge us so suddenly I know not But this Letter I carried to him called the Lord Beaumont who had sent us to Prison and when he had broken it open and read it he seemed much troubled but at last came a little lower yet threatned us if we had any more Meetings at Swanington he would break them up and send us to Prison again But notwithstanding his Threats we went to Swanington and had a Meeting with Friends there and he came not nor sent not to break it up From Swanington we passed through the Country and came to a Place called Twy-Cross Twy-Cross where that Great Man formerly mentioned whom the Lord God had raised up from his Sickness in the Year 1649 and whose Serving-man came at me with a Drawn Sword to have done me a Mischief He and his Wife came to see me From thence we travelled through Warwickshire Warwickshire where we had brave Meetings and so into Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire visiting Friends 1662. Northamptonshire Bedfordshire London Essex Norfolk Norwich Sutton Cambridgeshire till we came to London I stay'd
me that Question and I told them No for all that God made was good and was blest so was not the Devil And he was called a Serpent before he was called a Devil and an Adversary and then he had the Title of Devil given to him And afterward he was called a Dragon because he was a Destroyer The Devil abode not iâ the Truth and by departing from the Truth he became a Devil and so the Jews when they went out of the Truth were said to be of the Devil and were called Serpents Now there is no Promise of God to the Devil that ever he shall return into Truth again but to Man and Woman who have been deceived by him the Promise of God is that The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head shall break his Power and Strength to pieces Now when these things were opened more at large to the satisfaction of Friends those Two who had let up the Spirit of that Ranting Woman were judged by the Truth and one of them viz. Joseph Hellen run quite out from Truth and was denied by Friends But George Bewly was recovered and came afterwards to be serviceable to Truth We passed from Loveday Hambley's to Francis Hodges Falmouth Penryn Helstone near Falmouth and Penryn where we had a large Meeting and from thence we went to Helstone that Night where some Friends came to visit us and the next day we passed to Thomas Teage's where we had another large Meeting at which many were Convinced for I was led to open the state of the Church in the Primitive Times and the state of the Church in the Wilderness and the state of the False Church that was got up since and to shew that now the Everlasting Gospel was preached again over the Head of the Whore Beast and false Prophets and Antichrists which had got up since the Apostles days and now the Everlasting Gospel was received and receiving which brought Life and Immortality to Light that they might see over the Devil that had darkned them And the People received the Gospel and the Word of Life gladly and a glorious blessed Meeting we had for the exalting the Lord's everlasting Truth and his Name After the Meeting was done I walked out and as I was coming in again I heard a Noise in the Court and coming nearer I found the Man of the House speaking to the Tinners and others of the World's People and telling them It was the Everlasting Truth that had been declared there that day and the People generally confessed to it From thence we passed to the Land's End to John Ellis's house Lands End where we had a precious Meeting and there was a Fisherman one Nicholas Jose that was Convinced and he spake in Meetings and declared the Truth amongst the People and the Lord's Power was over all I was glad that the Lord had raised up his Standard in those dark parts of the Nation where since there is a fine Meeting of honest-hearted Friends and many there are come to sit under Christ's Teaching and a great People the Lord will have in that Country From thence we returned to Redruth and the next day to Truro Redruth Truro where we had a Meeting Next Morning some of the Chief of the Town desired to speak with me and I went to them amongst whom was Col. Rouse 1663. Truro A great deal of Discourse I had with them concerning the things of God and in their Reasoning they said The Gospel was the Four Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John and they called it Natural But I told them the Gospel was the Power of God which was preached before Matthew Mark Luke and John or any of them were printed or written And it was preached to Every Creature of which a great part might never see nor hear of those Four Books so that Every Creature was to obey the Power of God for Christ the Spiritual Man would Judge the World according to the Gospel that is according to his Invisible Power When they heard this they could not gain-say for the Truth came over them So I directed them to their Teacher the Grace of God and shewed them the Sufficiency of it which would teach them how to live and what to deny and being obeyed would bring them their Salvation And so to that Grace I recommended them and left them Then returned we through the Country visiting Friends and had Meetings at Humphrey Lower's again and at Thomas Mount's And afterwards at George Hawkins at Stoke we had a large Meeting Stoke to which Friends came from Lanceston and several other places and a living precious Meeting it was in which the Lord's Presence and Power was richly manifested amongst us and I left Friends there under the Lord Jesus Christ's Teaching Example In Cornwall I was Informed that there was one Col. Robinson a very wicked Man who after the King came in was made a Justice of the Peace and became a Cruel Persecutor of our Friends of whom he sent many to Prison And hearing that they had some little Liberty through the Favour of the Jailer to come home sometimes to visit their Wives and Children he made a great Complaint thereof to the Judge at the Assize against the Jailer Whereupon the Jailer was fined an Hundred Marks and Friends were kept very strictly up for a while After he was come home from the Assize he sent to a Neighbouring Justice to desire them to go a Fanatick-hunting with him So on the Day that he intended and was prepared to go a Fanatick-hunting he sent his Man about with his Horses and walked himself on Foot from his Dwelling-House to a Tenement that he had where his Cows and Dairy were kept and where his Servants were then milking When he came there he asked for his Bull and the Maid-Servants said They had shut him into the Field because he was Vnruly amongst the Kine and hindred their Milking Then went he into the Field to his Bull and having formerly accustomed himself to play with the Bull he began to fence at him with his Staff as he used to do But the Bull snufft at him and passed a little back and then turning upon him again ran fiercely at him and struck his Horn into his Thigh and heaving him upon his Horn threw him over his Back and so tore up his Thigh to his Belly And when he came to the Ground again he gored him with his Horns and would run them into the Ground in his Rage and Violence and roared and licked up his Master's Blood The Maid-Servant hearing her Master Cry out came running into the Field and came to the Bull and took him by the Horns to pull him off from her Master The Bull without hurting her put her gently by with his Horns but still fell to goring of him 1663. Cornwal and licking up his Blood Then she ran and got some Work-men that were at Work not
far off to come in and rescue her Master but they could not at all beat off the Bull till they brought Mastiff-Dogs to set on him and then the Bull fled in a great Rage and Fury Upon notice of it his Sister came and said to him Alack Brother what a heavy Judgment is this that is befallen you And he Answered Ah Sister It is an heavy Judgment indeed Pray let the Bull be killed and the Flesh given to the Poor said he So they carried him home but he died soon after And the Bull was grown so fierce that they were forced to shoot him with Guns for no Man durst come near him to kill him Thus does the Lord sometimes make some Examples of his just Judgment upon the Persecutors of his People that others may fear and learn to beware Now after I had cleared my self of Cornwall and Thomas Lower who had rid with us from Meeting to Meeting through that County had brought us over Horse-bridge into Devonshire again Horse-bridge Devonshire we took our leave of him And Thomas Briggs Robert Widders and I came through the Country to Tiverton and it being their Fair Tiverton and many Friends there we had a Meeting amongst them and the Magistrates gathered in the Street but the Lord's Power stopt them I saw them in the Street over against the Door but they had not Power to come in to meddle with us though they had Will enough to have done it After the Meeting was done Collumpton Wellington we passed to Collumpton and to Wellington For we had appointed a Meeting Five Miles off where we had a large Meeting at a Butcher's House and a blessed Meeting it was for the People were directed to their Teacher the Grace of God which would bring them Salvation and many were settled under it's Teaching and the Lord's Presence was amongst us and we were refreshed in him in whom we laboured and travelled and the Meeting was quiet There had been very great Persecution in that Country and in that Town a little before insomuch that some Friends questioned the Peaceableness of our Meeting but the Lord's Power chained all and his Glory shined over all The Friends told us how they had broken up their Meetings by Warrants from the Justices and how by their Warrants they were required to carry Friends before the Justices and Friends bid them Carry them then The Officers told Friends they must Go but Friends said Nay that was not according to their Warrants which required them to Carry them Then they were fain to hire Carts and Wagons and Horses and to lift Friends up into their Wagons and Carts to carry them before a Justice And when they came to a Justice's House sometimes he happened to be from home and if he were a Moderate Man he would get out of the way and then they were forced to Carry them before another So that they were Many Days Carting and Carrying Friends up and down from place to place And when afterward the Officers came to lay their Charges for this upon the Town the Town 's People would not pay it but made them bear it themselves and that brake the Neck of their Persecution there for that time The like was done in several other places till the Officers had shamed and tired themselves and then were fain to give over At one place they warned Friends to come to the Steeple-house 1663. Wellington and the Friends met together to consider of it and had freedom to go to the Steeple-house and Meet together there Accordingly when they came thither they sate down together to Wait upon the Lord in his Power and Spirit and minded the Lord Jesus Christ their Teacher and Saviour but did not mind the Priest When the Officers saw that they came to them to put them out of the Steeple-house again but the Friends told them it was not time for them to break up their Meeting yet A while after when the Priest had done his Stuff they came to the Friends again and would have had them go home to Dinner but the Friends told them They did not use to go to Dinner but were feeding upon the Bread of Life So there they sate Waiting upon the Lord and enjoying his Power and Presence till they found Freedom in themselves to depart Thus the Priest's People were offended because they could not get them to the Steeple-house and when they were there they were offended because they could not get them out again Taunton From the Meeting near Collumpton we went to Taunton where we had a large Meeting and the next day we came to a General Meeting in Somersetshire Somersetshire which was very large and the Lord 's everlasting Word of Life and Truth was largely declared and the People were refreshed thereby and settled upon Christ their Rock and Foundation and brought to sit under his Teaching and the Meeting was peaceable But about the Second Hour in the Night there came a Company of Men about the House and knocked at the Door and bid Open the Door or they would break it open for they wanted a Man that they came to search the House for I heard the Noise and got up and at the Window saw a Man at the Door with his Sword by his Side When they had let him in he came into the Chamber where I was and looked on me and said You are not the Man I look for and so went his way Street Puddimore We came from thence to Street and so to Puddimore to William Beaton's where we had a very large General Meeting wherein the Lord 's everlasting Truth was declared and the People refreshed thereby and all quiet From thence we went to John Dandy's where we had another large and very precious Meeting and then passed on to Bristol Bristol where we had good Service for the Lord and all quiet Here we met with Margaret Fell and her Daughters again And after some time we went to Slattenford in Wiltshire Wiltshire Slattenford where was a very large Meeting in a great Barn and good Service we had there for the Truth as it is in Jesus was published amongst them and many were gathered by it into the Name of the Lord. Gloucestershire Herefordshire Hereford After this I passed into Gloucestershire and Herefordshire having large Meetings in each In Hereford I had a Meeting in the Inn and after the Meeting was over and I was gone the Magistrates hearing there had been a Meeting came to search the Inn for me and were vexed that they had missed of me But the Lord so ordered it that I escaped their Snare and Friends were established upon Christ their Foundation and the Rock of Ages Then went I into Wales into Radnorshire 1663. WALES Radnorshire At a Market-Town towards ENGLAND and had several precious Meetings there and the Lord's Name and Standard was set up and many were gathered to it and
be put to him and that he would refuse to Swear But when the Assize came and the Oath was tendered him he desired Time to consider of it and that being granted him till the next Assize he got leave to go to London before the Assize came again and came no more back but staid at London till the Plague brake forth and there both he and his Wife were Cut off He was a very Wicked Man and the Judgments of God came upon him For he had published a very wicked Book against Friends full of Lies and Blasphemies the Occasion of which was this Whilst he was in Lancaster-Castle he challenged Friends to have a Dispute with them Whereupon I got leave of the Jailer to go up to them And entring into Discourse with him he affirmed That some Men never had the Spirit of God and that the true Light which enlightneth every one that cometh into the world is natural For Proof of his first Assertion he instanced Balaam affirming That Balaam had not the Spirit of God I affirmed and proved That Balaam had the Spirit of God and that Wicked Men have the Spirit of God else how could they quench it and vex it and grieve it and resist the Holy Ghost like the stiff-necked Jews To his Second Assertion I answered That the true Light which enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World was the Life in the Word and that was Divine and Eternal and not Natural And he might as well say that the Word was Natural as that the Life in the Word was Natural And Wicked Men were enlightned by this Light else how could they hate it Now it is expresly said that they did hate it And the Reason given why they did hate it was because their Deeds were evil and they would not come to it because it reproved them and that must needs be in them that reproved them Besides that Light could not be the Scriptures of the New-Testament for it was testified of before any part of the New-Testament was written So it must be the Divine Light which is the Life in Christ the Word before Scriptures were And the Grace of God which brought Salvation had appeared unto all Men and taught the Saints but they that turned it into Wantonness and walked despitefully against the Spirit of Grace were the Wicked Again the Spirit of Truth the Holy Ghost the Comforter which leads the Disciples of Christ into all Truth the same should Reprove the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment and of their Vnbelief So the Wicked World had it to reprove them and the true Disciples and Learners of Christ that believed in the Light as Christ commands they had it to lead them But the World that did not believe in the Light though they were lighted but hated the Light which they should have believed in and loved the Darkness rather than it this World had a Righteousness and a Judgment which the Holy Ghost reproved them for as well as for their Vnbelief So having proved that the Good and the Bad were enlightned and that the Grace of God had appeared unto them all and that all had the Spirit of God else they could not vex and grieve it I told Major Wiggan The least Babe there might see him and presently stood up one Richard Cubham and proved him an Anti-christ and a Deceiver by Scripture Then the Jailer had me away to my Prison again And afterwards Wiggan wrote a Book of this Dispute and put in abundance of abominable Lies But his Book was soon Answered in Print and he himself not long after was cut off as afore is said This Wiggan was poor and while he was a Prisoner at Lancaster he sent into the Country and got Money gathered for Relief of the Poor People of God in Prison and many People gave freely thinking it had been for Vs when-as indeed it was for himself But when we heard of it we laid it upon him and writ also into the Country that ' Friends might let the People know the Truth of the Matter that it was not our manner to have Collections made for us and that those Collections were only for Wiggan and another a drunken Preacher of his Society who would be so drunk that once he lost his Britches After this it came upon me to write a Paper to the Judges and other Magistrates concerning their Giving Evil Words and Nick-names to such as were brought before them And that which I writ was after this manner and thus directed To all you that be Judges or other Officers whatsoever in the whole World who profess your selves to be Christians Friends HErein and by reading the Scriptures ye may see both your own Words and Carriage and the Words Carriage and Practice of both Jews and Heathens and of the great King of Kings the great Law-giver and Judge of the whole World First For the Words and Carriage of the Jews when such as were worthy of Death were brought before such as were Rulers amongst them When Achan had taken the Babylonish Garment and the two hundred Shekels of Silver and the Wedge of Gold of Fifty Shekels weight and Joshua who was then Judge of Israel had by the Lot found him out he did not say unto him Sirrah nor You Rascal Knave Rogue as some that are called Christian Magistrates are too apt to do But Joshua said unto Achan My Son Mark his clean Language and Savoury Expression and gracious Words My Son said he give I pray thee Glory to the Lord God of Israel and make Confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done hide it not from me Then Achan confessed that he had sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus he had done And then Joshua the Judge said Why hast thou troubled Israel The Lord shall trouble thee this day and they stoned him and his with Stones and burnt his Goods with Fire But there was no unsavoury Word given to him that we read of though he was worthy of Death Josh 7. So when the Man that gathered Sticks upon the Sabbath-day was taken and brought before Moses the Judge in Israel and put in Ward until the Mind of the Lord was known concerning him We read not of any reviling Language given him but the Lord said to Moses and Moses to the People The Man shall surely be put to Death Numb 15.35 So likewise in the Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram where Moses called them to Trial he did not Sirrah them or mis-call them but said to Corah and the rest Hear I pray you ye Sons of Levi Numb 16.8 And when he gave the Sentence against them he said If these Men die the common Death of all Men c. He did not say If these Rascals or Knaves as many that profess themselves Christians will now do When Elihu spake to Job who was a Judge and to his Friends and said Let me not I pray you
Streets and to turn his Horse loose in the Streets and to untie the Knees of his Britches and let his Stockings fall down and to unbutton his Doublet and told the People So should they run up and down scattering their Money and their Goods half undrest like mad People as he was a Sign to them And so they did when the Fire brake out and the City was burning Thus hath the Lord exercised his Prophets and Servants by his Power and shewed them Signs of his Judgments and sent them to fore-warn the People but instead of Repenting they have beaten and cruelly entreated some and some they have Imprisoned both in the former Power 's days and since 1666. Scarborough But the Lord is just and happy are they that obey his Word Some have been moved to go Naked in their Streets in the other Power 's days and since as Signs of their Nakedness and have declared amongst them That God would strip them out of their Hypocritical Professions and make them as bare and naked as they were But instead of considering it they have many times whipt or otherwise abused them and sometimes Imprisoned them Others have been moved to go in Sack cloth and to denounce the Woes and Vengeance of God against the Pride and Haughtiness of the People But few regarded it And in the other Powers days the Wicked Envious Professing Priests put up several Petitions both to Oliver and Richard called Protectors and to the Parliaments Judges and Justices against us stuft full of Lies and vilifying Words and Slanders but we got Copies of them and through the Lord's Assistance answered them all and cleared the Lord's Truth and our selves of them But oh the Body of Darkness that rose against the Truth in them that made Lies their Refuge But the Lord swept them away and in and with his Power Truth Light and Life hedged his Lambs about and did preserve them as on Eagle's Wings Therefore we all had and have great Encouragement to Trust the Lord whom we did see by his Power and Spirit how he did overturn and bring to nought all the Confederacies and Counsels that were hatched in the Darkness against his Truth and People and by the same Truth gave his People Dominion that in it they might serve him And indeed I could not but take notice how the Hand of the Lord turned against those my Persecutors who had been the cause of my Imprisonment or had been Abusive or Cruel to me in it For the Officer that fetched me to Houlker-Hall wasted his Estate and soon after fled into Ireland And most of the Justices that were upon the Bench at the Sessions when I was sent to Prison died in a while after as Old Tho. Preston Rawlinson and Porter and Matthew West of Borwick And though Justice Fleming did not die yet his Wife died and left him thirteen or fourteen Motherless Children who had Imprisoned Two Friends to Death and thereby made several Children Fatherless Col. Kirby never prospered after And the Chief Constable Richard Dodgson died soon after and Mount the Petty-Constable and the other Petty-Constable John Ashburnham his Wife who railed at me in her House died soon after And William Knipe that was the Witness they brought against me died soon after also And Hunter the Jailer of Lancaster who was very wicked to me while I was his Prisoner he was cut off in his Young Days And the Vnder-Sheriff that carried me from Lancaster-Prison towards Scarborough he lived not long after And one Joblin the Jailer of Durham who was Prisoner with me in Scarborough-Castle and had often incensed the Governour and Souldiers against me though he got out of Prison yet the Lord cut him off in his Wickedness soon after When I came into that Country again most of these that dwelt in Lancashire were dead and others ruined in their Estates So that though I did not seek Revenge upon them for their actings against me contrary to the Law yet the Lord had executed his Judgments upon many of them Being now set free from my Imprisonment in Scarborough-Castle I went about three Miles to a large General Meeting at a Friend's House that had been a Chief-Constable and all was quiet and well On the Fourth Day after I came into Scarborough again and had a Meeting in the Town at Peter Hodgson's House To this Meeting came one called a Lady and several other Great Persons also a Young-man that was Son to the Bayliff of the Town and had been Convinced while I was there in Prison That Lady so called came to me and said I spake against the Ministers I told her Such as the Prophets and Christ declared against formerly I declared against now From hence I went to Whitby and having visited Friends there Whitby I passed thence to Burlington where I had another Meeting Burlington Oram and from thence to Oram where I had another Meeting and from thence to Oram where I had another Meeting and from thence to Marmaduke Stor's and had a large Meeting at a Constable's House Mar. Stor on whom the Lord had wrought a great Miracle Next Day Two Friends being to take each other in Marriage there was a very great Meeting which I was at And I was moved to open to the People the State of our Marriages declaring How the People of God took one another in the Assemblies of the Elders and how that it was God that did Join Man anâ Woman together before the Fall And though Men had taken upon them to Join in the Fall yet in the Restoration it was God's Joining that was the right and honourable Marriage But never any Priest did Marry any that we read of in the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelations Then I shewed them the Duty of Man and Wife how they should serve God being Heirs of Life and Grace together After the Meeting I passed from thence to Grace Barwick G. Barwick where I had a General Meeting which was very large and when that was over I came to Richard Shipton's where I had another Meeting Whitby and so to a Priest's House whose Wife was Convinced and himself grown very Loving and glad to see me This was that Priest that in the Year 1651. threatned If ever he met with me again he would have my Life or I should have his and said He would lose his Head if I were not knockt down in a Month But now he was partly Convinced and become very kind I went from his House towards the Sea where several Friends came to visit me and amongst others one Philip Scarff who had formerly been a Priest but having received the Truth was now become a Preacher of Christ freely and continued so Passing on I called to see an Ancient Man who was Convinced of Truth and was above an Hundred Years old Then came I to a Friend's House where I had a great Meeting and quiet Near Malton And
Liberty the Friends that were with me asked me Grac. Meet Whether I would go I told them To Gracious-Street-Meeting again if it were not over When we came there the People were generally gone only some few stood at the Gate We went into Gerrard Roberts his House and from thence I sent out to know how the other Meetings in the City were And I understood that at some of the Meeting-places Friends were kept out and at others they were taken but set at Liberty again a few days after A glorious time it was for the Lord's Power came over all and his Everlasting Truth got Renown For as fast as some that were speaking were taken down others were moved of the Lord to stand up and speak to the admiration of the People and the more because many Baptists and other Sectaries left their Publick Meetings and came to see how the Quakers would stand As for the Informer aforesaid he was so frighted 1670. London that there durst hardly any Informer appear publickly again in London for some time after But the Mayor whose Name was Samuel Starling though he carried himself smoothly towards us proved afterwards a very great Persecutor of our Friends many of whom he cast into Prison as may be seen in the Books of the Trials of W. Penn W. Mead and others at the Old Baily this Year After some time the Heat of Persecution in the City began to abate and Meetings were quieter there and I being then clear of the City went to visit Friends in the Country having several Meetings as I went in Middlesex Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Middlesez Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Reading which were quiet though in some places there was much Threatning At Reading most of the Friends were in Prison and I went thither to Visit them And when I had been a while with them the Friends that were Prisoners gathered together and several other Persons came in so that I had a fine Opportunity amongst them and declared the Word of Life encouraging them in the Truth and they were Refreshed in feeling the Presence and Power of the Lord amongst them When the Meeting was ended the Jailer understanding that I was there the Friends were troubled and concerned how to get me out safe again for they feared lest he should stop me But after I had staid a while and Eaten with them I went down the Stairs and the Jailer being at the Door I put my hand in my Pocket which he had such an Eye to hoping to get something of me that he asked me no Question So I gave him something and bad him Be kind and civil to my Friends in Prison whom I came to Visit And he let me pass out without Interruption But soon after Isaac Pennington coming to Visit them he stopt him and caused him to be made a Prisoner Next Morning I rid about Fourteen Miles to a Meeting Hampshire Baghurst at a place called Baghurst in Hampshire Thomas Brigges being with me When we came into the Parish some sober People came to us and told us That the Priest of the Town was an Envious Man and did Threaten us We went on to the Meeting which was large and after some time Thomas Brigges stood up and spake Now it seems the Priest had got a Warrant and sent the Constables and other Officers with it And they came to the House and stay'd a while and then went away again but did not come into the Meeting So we in the Meeting did not know of their being there But after Thomas Brigges had done speaking I was moved of the Lord to stand up and declared the Word of Life to the People and a precious Meeting we had When I had done speaking and the Meeting was ended and risen I heard a great Clutter in the Yard and when we came forth the Man of the House told us That the Officers had been in the House before but did not come into the Meeting but went away without doing any thing And that now the Priest in a great Rage had sent them again and his own Servant with them But the Meeting being ended before they came they could do nothing now And thus the good Providence of the Lord preserved us from the Wicked Design of the Envious Priest and out of his Snare but the Priest was in a great Rage 1670. Barkshire Surrey Guilford From thence We went to a Friend's House on the Edge of Barkshire where several Friends came to visit us And afterwards we passed into Surrey visiting Friends and had many precious Meetings till we came to Stephen Smiths near Guilford where great Persecution had been and very much Goods had been taken away from Friends thereabouts for their Meetings and under great Threatnings they were at that time yet we had several blessed Meetings there and thereabouts and the Lord's Power was over all in and by which we were preserved Sussex We went out of Surrey into Sussex by Richard Baxe's where we had a large precious Meeting and quiet though the Constables had given out Threatnings before Afterwards I had many more Meetings up and down in that County and though there were some Threatnings yet Meetings were peaceable and Friends were refreshed and established upon the Foundation of God that stands sure When I had throughly visited Sussex Kent I went into Kent and had many glorious and precious Meetings in several parts of that County I went up into East-Kent to a Meeting near Deal Deal which was very large and returning from thence to Canterbury Canterbury Isle of Sheppy visited Friends there and then passed into the Isle of Sheppy where I staid Two or Three Days and thither came Alexander Parker George Whitehead and John Rouse to me The next day after they came finding my Service for the Lord finished there we passed away towards Rochester And on the way as I was walking down an Hill a great Weight and Oppression fell upon my Spirit I got on my Horse again but the Weight remained so heavy on me that I was hardly able to Ride At length we came to Rochester Rochester but I was much spent being so extreamly loaden and burdened with the World's Spirits that my Life was oppressed under them I got with difficulty to Graves-End Gravesend and lay at an Inn there but could hardly either Eat or Sleep The next day John Rouse and Alexander Parker went for London and John Stubbs being come to me he and I went over the Ferry into Essex Essex We came to a place called Horne-Church Horne-Church Stratford where was a Meeting on the First-Day And after the Meeting I rode with great Vneasiness to Stratford Three Miles from London to a Friend's House there whose Name was Williams and who had formerly been a Captain Here I lay exceeding Weak and at last lost both my Hearing and my Sight so that I could neither hear nor see Several
the Lord God that he hath a People in this Nation that seeks the Good of all Men upon the Face of the Earth For we have the Mind of the Lord Jesus Christ that desires not the Death of a Sinner but the Salvation and Good of all Blessed be the Name of the Lord our God for ever G. F. While I continued at Enfield a sense came upon me of an Hurt that sometimes hap'ned by Persons coming under the Profession of Truth out of one Country into another to take an Husband or Wife amongst Friends where they were Strangers and it was not known whether they were Clear and Orderly or no. And it Opened in me to recommend the following Method unto Friends for preventing such Inconveniences Whereupon I writ the following Lines ALL Friends that do Marry whether they be Men or Women if they come out of another Nation Island Plantation or County let them bring a Certificate from the Men's-Meeting of that County Nation Island or Plantation from which they come to the Men's Meeting where they do propound their Intention of Marriage for the Men's-Meeting being made up of the Faithful this will stop all bad and raw Spirits from Roving up and down And then when any come with a Certificate or Letter of Recommendation from one Men's-Meeting to another one is refreshed by another and can set their Hands and Hearts to the thing and this will take away a great deal of Trouble And then what ye have to say to them in the Power of God in Admonishing and Instructing them ye are left to the Power and Spirit of God to do it and to let them know the Duty of Marriage and what it is that there may be an Vnity and a Concord in the Spirit and Power and Light and Wisdom of God throughout all the Men's-Meetings in the whole World in One in the Life Let Copies of this be sent to every County and Nation and Island where Friends are that so all things may be kept holy and pure and righteous in Vnity and Peace and God over all may be glorified among you his Lot his People and Inheritance who are his Adopted Sons and Daughters and Heirs of his Life So no more but my Love in that which changeth not The 14th of the First Month 1670 1. G. F. When I had recovered so much Strength that I could Walk a little up and down I went from Enfield to Gerrard Roberts's again and from thence to the Womens School at Shacklewell and so to London Shacklewell London Grac. Meet to the Meeting at Gracious-Street where though I was yet but Weak yet the Lord's Power upheld and enabled me to Declare his Eternal Word of Life And about this time I was moved to pray to the Lord as followeth O Lord God Almighty 1670. London Prosper Truth and Preserve Justice and Equity in the Land and bring down all Injustice and Iniquity Oppression and Falshood and Cruelty and Vnmercifulness in the Land and that Mercy and Righteousness may flourish And O Lord God! Establish and set up Verity and Preserve it in the Land And bring down in the Land all Debauchery and Vice and Whoredoms and Fornication and this Raping Spirit which causeth and leadeth People to have no Esteem of Thee O God! nor their own Souls or Bodies nor of Christianity Modesty or Humanity And O Lord Put it in the Magistrates Hearts to bring down all this Vngodliness and Violence and Cruelty Prophaness Cursing and Swearing and to put down all these Whore-houses and Play-houses which do Corrupt Youth and People and lead them from the Kingdom of God where no Vnclean Thing can Enter neither shall come but such Works lead People to Hell And the Lord in Mercy bring down all these things in the Nation to stop thy Wrath O God! from coming on the Land This Prayer was writ the 17th Day at Night of the 2d Month 1671. G. F. I mentioned before that upon the Notice I received of my Wife 's being had to Prison again I sent two of her Daughters to the King and they procured his Order to the Sheriff of Lancashire for her Discharge But though I expected she would have been set at Liberty thereby 1671. London yet this Violent Storm of Persecution coming suddenly on upon it the Persecutors there did not Release her but found means to hold her still in Prison But now the Persecution a little ceasing I was moved to speak to Martha Fisher and another Woman-Friend to go to the King about her Liberty They went in the Faith and in the Lord's Power and the Lord gave them Favour with the King so that he granted a Discharge under the Broad-Seal to Clear both her and her Estate after she had been Ten Years a Prisoner and Premunired The like whereof was scarce to be heard in England I sent down the Discharge forthwith by a Friend by whom also I writ to her both to Inform her how to get it delivered to the Justices and also to Acquaint her that it was upon me from the Lord to go beyond the Seas to visit the Plantations in America and therefore desired her to hasten up to London as soon as she could conveniently after she had obtained her Liberty because the Ship was then fitting for the Voyage In the mean time I got down to Kingston Kingston and staid at John Rous his House till my Wife came up and then I began to prepare for the Voyage But the Yearly Meeting being near at hand London-Yea Meet I tarried till that was over A very large Meeting it was for many Friends came up to it from all parts of the Nation and a very precious Meeting it was for the Lord's Power was over all and his glorious everlastingly-renowned Seed of Life was exalted above all Now after this Meeting was over and I had finished my Services for the Lord here in England the Ship also and the Friends that intended to go with me being ready I went down to Graves-end on the 12th day of the Sixth Month my Wife and several Friends accompanying me to the Downs We went from Wapping in a Barge to the Ship Wapping which lay a little below Graves-end and there we found the Friends Gravesend that were bound for the Voyage with me who went down to the Ship the Night before Their Names were Thomas Brigges William Edmundson John Rouse John Stubbs Solomon Eccles James Lancaster John Cartwright Robert Widders George Pattison John Hull Elizabeth Hooton and Eliz. Miers The Vessel we were to go in was a Yatch and it was called The Industry the Master's Name was Thomas Forster and the number of Passengers about Fifty I lay that Night on Board but most of the Friends lay at Graves end Early next morning the Passengers and those Friends that intended to accompany us to the Downs being come on Board we took our Leave in great Tenderness of those Friends that came with
is a Change of the Nature of the Mind and of the Heart and of the Spirit and Affections which have been below which come to be set above and so receive the things that are from Above and have the Conversation in Heaven above not that Conversation which is according to the Power of the Prince of the Air that now rules in the Disobedient So all be faithful This is the Word of the Lord God unto you all See that Godliness do flow and Holiness and Righteousness and Truth and Vertue and the Fruits of the Good Spirit over the Bad and its Fruits that ye may answer that which is of God in all for your Heavenly Father is glorified in that you bear and bring forth much Fruit to God Therefore ye who are Plants of his planting and his Trees of Righteousness see that every Tree be full of Fruit. And all keep in the true Humility and in the true Love of God which doth edify his Body that the true Nourishment from the Head the Refreshings and Springs and Rivers of Water and Bread of Life may be plenteously known and felt amongst you that so Praises may ascend to God So all be faithful to the Lord God and just and true in all your Dealings and Doings with end towards Men. And be not negligent in your Men's Meetings to admonish and to exhort and to reprove in the Spirit of Love and of Meekness and to seek that which is lost and to bring back again that which hath been driven away So let all Minds and Spirits and Souls and Hearts be bended down under the Yoke of Christ Jesus the Power of God Much I could write but am Weak and have been very Weak mostly since I left you and Burdens and Travels I have been under and gone through many ways but it is well And the Lord Almighty knows my Work which he hath sent me forth to do by his everlasting Arm and Power which is from Everlasting to Everlasting blessed be his Holy Name which I am in and in which my Love is to you all G. F. After I had recovered so much Strength that I was able to go abroad and had been a little amongst Friends I went to visit the Governour at his House Lewis Morice Thomas Rouse and some other Friends being with me And indeed he received us very Civilly and treated us very kindly making us Dine with him and keeping us most part of the Day before he let us go away Bridge-Town The same Week I went down to the Bridge-Town where I had not been before save as I passed through it when I first came into the Island There was to be a General Meeting of Friends that Week and the Visit I had newly made to the Governour and kind Reception I had with him being generally known to the Officers both Civil and Military there came many of them to this Meeting from most parts of the Island and those not of the meanest Rank divers of them being Judges or Justices Colonels or Captains so that a very great Meeting we had both of Friends and others The Lord 's Blessed Power was plentifully with us in this Meeting And although I was somewhat straitned for Time three other Friends having spoken before me yet the Lord opened things through me to the general and great Satisfaction of them that were present Col. Lewis Morice came to this Meeting and with him a Neighbour of his a Judge in the Country whose Name was Ralph Fretwell who was very well satisfied with the Meeting and received the Truth After the Meeting I went home with Lewis Morice to his House that Night being about Nine or Ten Miles going part of the way by Boat the rest on Horse-back This place where Lewis Morice his Plantation was I thought to be the finest Air of the Island The next day Thomas Briggs and William Edmundson came thither to see me they intending to leave the Island the day following and to go upon the Lord's Service to Antego and Mevis Lewis Morice went with them and at Antego they had several good Meetings to which there was a great Resort of People and many were Convinced there at that time But when they had finished their Service there and went thence to Mevis the Governour of Mevis who was an old Persecutor sent Souldiers on Board the Vessel to stop them from coming on Shore and would not suffer them to Land Wherefore after Friends of the Place had been on Board the Vessel and with them and they had been sweetly Refreshed together in feeling the Lord's Power and Presence amongst them they returned to Antego again Where having staid a while longer they came back again to Barbados Thomas Brigges being very Weak and Ill. Of the other Friends that came over with me from England James Lancaster John Cartwright and Geo. Pattison were gone some time before to Jamaica and others to other places so that few remained in Barbados with me Yet we had many great and precious Meetings both for Worship and for the Affairs of the Church to the former of which many of the World came At one of these Meetings there came amongst others one Col. Lyne a sober Person who was so very well satisfied with what I declared that he afterward said Now I can gainsay such as I have heard speak evil of you who say you do not own Christ nor that he died whereas I perceive you exalt Christ in all his Offices beyond what I have ever heard before This Man observing one to take in Writing the Heads of what I delivered desired him to let him have a Copy of it and afterward staid another day with us before he went away so great a Love was raised in him to the Truth And indeed a very great Convincement there was in most parts of the Island which made the Priests and some Professors fret and rage Our Meetings were very large and full and free from disturbance from the Government though the envious Priests and Professors endeavoured to stir up the Magistrates against us And when they found they could not prevail that way some of them that were Baptists came to the Meeting at the Town which was very large and full of People of several Ranks and Qualities A great Company came also with them and they brought with them a malicious slanderous Paper written by John Pennyman with which they made a great Noise But the Lord gave me Wisdom and Vtterance to Answer their Cavils So that the Auditory generally received Satisfaction and those quarrelsome Professors lost ground by their coming When they had wearied themselves with Clamour they went away but the People staying the Meeting was continued and the things they cavilled about were further opened and cleared and the Life and Power of God came over all But the Rage and Envy in our Adversaries did not cease but they endavoured to defame Friends with many false and scandalous Reports which they spread
to love their Masters and Mistresses and to be faithful and diligent in their Master's Service and Business and then their Masters and Overseers would love them and deal kindly and gently with them And that they should not beat their Wives nor the Wives their Husbands neither should the Men have many Wives And that they should not Steal nor be Drunk nor commit Adultery nor Fornication nor Curse nor Swear nor Lie nor give bad Words to one another nor to any one else For there is something in them that tells them they should not practise those nor any other Evils But if they notwithstanding should do them then we let them know There are but Two Ways the one that leads to Heaven where the Righteous go and the other that leads to Hell where the Wicked and Debauched Whoremongers and Adulterers Murderers and Liars go To the one the Lord will say Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World but to the other he will say Depart ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels So the Wicked go into everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal Matth. 25. Now consider Friends It is no Transgression for a Master of a Family to instruct his Family himself or for some others to do it in his behalf but rather it is a very great Duty incumbent upon them Abraham and Joshua did so of the first we read the Lord said Gen. 18.19 I know that Abraham will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the Way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham the things that he hath spoken of him And the latter we read said Josh 24.15 Chuse ye this day whom ye will serve But as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. We do declare that we do esteem it a Duty incumbent on us to Pray with and for to Teach Instruct and Admonish those in and belonging to our Families this being a Command of the Lord the Disobedience whereunto will provoke the Lord's Displeasure as may be seen in Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy Fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name Now Negroes Tawnies Indians make up a very great part of the Families in this Island for whom an Account will be required by him who comes to Judge both Quick and Dead at the great Day of Judgment when every one shall be Rewarded according to the Deeds done in the Body whether they be good or whether they be evil At that Day I say of the Resurrection both of the Good and of the Bad of the Just and the Vnjust when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe in that day 2 Thess 1.8 c. See also 2 Pet. 3.3 c. This wicked Slander of our endeavouring to make the Negroes Rebell our Adversaries took occasion to raise from our having had some Meetings with and amongst the Negroes For both I and other Friends had several Meetings with them in several Plantations wherein we exhorted them to Justice Sobriety Temperance Chastity and Piety and to be subject to their Masters and Governours Which was altogether contrary to what our envious Adversaries maliciously suggested against us As I had been to visit the Governour as soon as I was well able after I came thither so sometime after when I was at Thomas Rouse's the Governour came thither to see me carrying himself very courteously Having now been Three Months or more in Barbados and in that time having visited Friends throughly settled Meetings and dispatched that Service for which the Lord brought me thither I felt my Spirit clear of that Island and Drawings to Jamaica Which when I had communicated to Friends I acquainted the Governour also and divers of his Council That I intended shortly to leave the Island and go to Jamaica which I did that as my Coming thither was open and publick so my Departure also might be But before I left the Island I writ the following Letter to my Wife that she might understand both how it was with me and how I proceeded in my Travels My Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to all the Children in the Seed of Life that changeth not but is over all blessed be the Lord for ever I have gone under great Sufferings in my Body and Spirit beyond Words but the God of Heaven be praised his Truth is over all I am now well and if the Lord permit within a few days I pass from Barbados towards Jamaica and I do think to stay but little there I desire that ye may be all kept free in the Seed of Life out of all Cumbrances Friends are generally well Remember me to Friends that enquire after me So no more but my Love in the Seed and Life that changeth not Barbados the 6th of the 11th Month 1671. G. F. I set Sail from Barbados to Jamaica on the Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 1671. Robert Widders William Edmundson At Sea Solomon Eccles and Elizabeth Hooton going with me James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison were gone thither some time before and Thomas Briggs and John Stubbs remained yet longer in Barbados with whom were John Rouse and William Baily We had a quick and easie Passage to Jamaica JAMAICA where we met with our Friends James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison again who had been labouring there in the Service of Truth into which we forthwith entred with them travelling up and down through the Island which is large And a brave Country it is though the People are many of them debauched and wicked We had much Service there for there was a great Convincement 1671. Jamaica and many received the Truth some of which were People of Account in the World We had many Meetings there which were large and very quiet For indeed the People were Civil to us so that not a Mouth was opened against us I was twice with the Governour and some other of the Magistrates who all carried themselves lovingly towards me About a Week after we landed in Jamaica Elizabeth Hooton who went with us from England to Barbados and from Barbados thither being a Woman of a great Age and who had travelled much in Truth 's Service and suffered much for it departed this Life She was well the Day before she died and departed in Peace like a Lamb bearing Testimony to Truth at her Departure When we had been about Seven Weeks in Jamaica and had brought
again bidding the Justices make an End of it there and not trouble the Assizes any more with me So I was continued Prisoner chiefly as it seemed through the means of Justice Parker who in this Case was as false as envious for he had promised Richard Cannon of London who had it seems Acquaintance with him That he would endeavour to have me set at Liberty and yet he was the worst Enemy I had in Court as some of the Court observed and reported Other of the Justices were very loving and promised That I should have the Liberty of the Town and to lodge at a Friend's House till the Sessions Which accordingly I had and the People were very civil and respectful to me Between this time and the Sessions having the Liberty of the Town for my Health's sake I had some Service for the Lord 1674. Worcester Prisoner with several People that came to Visit me For at one time there came Three Non conformist Priests and two Lawyers to discourse with me and one of the Priests undertook to prove That the Scriptures are the only Rule of Life Whereupon after I had plunged him about his Proof I had a fit Opportunity to open unto them The right and proper Vse Service and Excellency of the Scriptures and also to shew that the Spirit of God which was given to every one to profit withall and the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and which hath appeared to all men and teacheth them that obey it to deny Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World that this I say is the most fit proper and universal Rule which God hath given to all Mankind to rule direct govern and order their Lives by Another time there came a Common-Prayer-Priest and some People with him and he asked me If I was grown up to Perfection I told him ' What I was I was by the Grace of God He replied It was a modest and civil Answer Then he urged the Words of John If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us And he asked What did I say to that I said with the same Apostle If we say that we have not sinned we make him a Liar and his Word is not in us who came to destroy Sin and to take away Sin So there is a Time for People to see that they have sinned and there is a Time for them to see that they have Sin and there is a Time for them to Confess their Sin and to forsake it and to know the Blood of Christ to cleanse from all Sin Then the Priest was asked ' Whether Adam was not perfect before he fell and whether all God's Works were not perfect The Priest said There might be a Perfection as Adam had and a falling from it But I told him There is a Perfection in Christ above Adam and beyond falling and that it was the Work of the Ministers of Christ to present every man perfect in Christ and for the Perfecting of them they had their Gifts from Christ And therefore they that denied Perfection denied the Work of the Ministry and the Gifts which Christ gave for the Perfecting of the Saints The Priest said We must always be striving But I told him It was a sad and comfortless sort of striving to strive with a Belief that we should never Overcome I told him also that Paul who cried out of the Body of Death did also Thank God who gave him the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ So there was a time of Crying out for Want of Victory and a time of Praising God for the Victory And Paul said There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus The Priest said Job was not perfect I told him God said Job was a perfect Man and that he did shun Evil and the Devil was forced to confess that God had set an Hedge about him which was not an outward Hedge but the invisible heavenly Power The Priest said Job said He chargeth his Angels with Folly and the Heavens are not clean in his sight I told him That was his Mistake for it was not Job said so but Eliphaz who contended against Job Well but said the Priest What say you to that Scripture The justest Man that is sinneth seven times a Day Why truly said I I say there is no such Scripture and with that the Priest's Mouth was stopped 1674. Worcester-Quarter-Sessions Many other Services I had with several sorts of People between the Assizes and the Sessions The next Quarter-Sessions began on the Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month and there I was called before the Justices The Chair-man's Name was Street who was a Judge in the Welsh Circuit and he mis-represented me and my Case to the Country telling them That we had a Meeting at Tredington from all parts of the Nation to the terrifying of the King 's Subjects for which we had been committed to Prison That for the Trial of my Fidelity the Oaths were put to me and having had time to consider of it he aâked me If I would now take the Oaths I desired Liberty to speak for my self and having obtained that began first to clear my self from those Falshoods he had charged on me and Friends declaring That we had not any such Meeting from all parts of the Nation as he had represented it but that except the Friend from whose House we came and who came with us to guide us thither and one Friend of Bristol who came accidentally or rather providentially to assist my Wife homewards after we were taken they that were with me were in a sense part of my own Family being my Wife and her Daughter and her Son-in-Law And we did not Meet in any way or manner that would occasion Terror to any of the King's Subjects for we met peaceably and quietly without Arms and I did not believe there could any one be produced that could truly say he was terrified with our Meeting Besides I told them we were but in our Journey the Occasion whereof I now again related as before Then as to the Oaths I shewed why I could not take them seeing Christ hath forbidden all Swearing and what I could say or sign in lieu of them as I had done before Yet they caused the Oaths to be read to me again and afterwards read an Indictment also which they had drawn up in Readiness having a Jury ready also Now when the Indictment was read the Judge asked me If I was Guilty I said Nay for it was a great Bundle of Lies which I shewed and proved to the Judge in several particulars which I instanced asking him if he did not know in his Conscience that they were Lies He said It was their Form I said ' It was not a true Form He asked me again Whether I was Guilty I told him Nay I was not Guilty of the Matter
now which Christ is the Author of it must stand in the Power of God in which Power of God the Everlasting Kingdom stands and so as every one's Faith stands in the Power of God this keeps all in the Power of Godliness For as it was in the Days of the Apostles when some was crying up Paul and Apollos and so forth he judged them as Carnal and exhorted them and admonished them that their Faith should stand in the Power of God So it was not to stand in Men nor in the Words of Man's Wisdom but in the Power of God And he said He would not know the Speech of them but the Power amongst them for the Kingdom of God is not in Word but in Power And so it is to be now Every one's Faith must stand in the Power of God and not in Men nor their Speeches of the good Words For we have seen by Experience when they begin to cry up Men and their Faith to stand in them such Men as would have Peoples Faith stand in them loves Popularity and brings not People's Faith to stand in the Power of God and such cannot exalt Christ And when such fall they draw a great Company after them And therefore the Apostle would not know such after the Flesh but would know them that were in the Power and Spirit and struck down every one's Faith that stood in the Words of Man's Wisdom that they might stand in the Power of God And so it must be now And all whose Faith doth not stand in the Power of God they cannot Exalt his Kingdom that stands in Power and therefore every one's Faith must stand in the Power of God And the Apostle denied Popularity when he Judged the Corinthians for looking at Paul and Apollos to be Carnal and such are Carnal still And therefore all should know one another in the Spirit Life and Power and look at Christ and this keeps all low and down in the Humility And they whose Faith stands in Men will make Sects as in the Days of J. N. and J. P. and since in others And such their Faith Christ is not the Author of and if he be they have erred from it and made Shipwrack of it And all those that are in the True Faith that stands in the Power of God they will Judge them as Carnal and Judge down that Carnal Part in them that cries up Paul or Apollos that their Faith may stand in the Power of God and that they may Exalt Christ the Author of it For every one's Eye ought to be to Jesus the Author and Finisher of their Faith and every Just Man and Woman may live by their Faith which Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of And by this Faith every Man and Woman may see God who is Invisible which Faith gives the Victory by which he hath Access to God And so every one's Faith and Hope standing in the Power of God in it they all have Vnity and Victory and Access to God's Throne of Grace in which Faith they do please God which Christ is the Author of And so by that Faith they are Saved and by this Faith they obtain the good Report and subdue all the Mountains that have been betwixt them and God So that Power hath kept and preserved Friends over their Persecutors and over the Wrath of Men and above the Spoilings of their Goods and Imprisonments as seeing God that hath created all and gives the Encrease of all and upholds all by his Word and Power Therefore let every one's Faith be in his Power And here in this no Schism or Sect can come for it is over them and before they were and will be when they are gone But perfect Vnity is in the Truth and in the Spirit that does Circumcise the Body of Death and that puts off the Sins of the Flesh and plunges it down with the Spirit And in the Spirit of God there is a perfect Fellowship and Christ is the Minister of this Circumcision and Baptism So this is upon me from the Lord to write unto you all that every one of your Faith that Jesus is the Author of may stand in the Power of God and from the Lord I do warn you and all every where to the same For if a Star should fall which has been a Light either the Earth or the Sea does receive it that is the Earthly Mind or the foaming raging People Though neither the Seed nor Light nor Power nor Truth ever fell nor the Faith it self the Gift of God but Men going from it then they become Vnsavoury For Adam whilst he kept in Truth and obeyed the Command of God he was happy but when he disobeyed the Lord he fell under the Power of Satan and became unhappy though he might talk after of his Experiences in Paradice but he had lost his Image and his Power and Dominion that God Created him in And the Jews after they received the Law of God as long as they kept the Law of God which was just holy good and perfect it kept them good just and holy and savoury but when they turned their Backs off the Lord and forsook his Law then they came under the Power of Darkness and under the Powers of the Earth and were trodden under as unsavoury And so the Christians they were called a City set on a Hill The Light of the World and the Salt of the Earth but when they forsook the Power of God and their Faith stood in Words and Men and not in the Power then their Walls fell down though the Power in it self stood and they lost their Hill and their Saltness and their Shining And so as Christendom now does confess they are not in the same Power and Spirit as the Apostles were in so not in the same Salt nor upon the same Hill So they came to be trodden under and the Beast and the Whore and the false Prophet are uppermost the unsavoury So their Dead Faith is in Men and in Words and therefore they are full of Sects and one against another And now the Everlasting Gospel the Power of God is preacht again which was before the Devil was that had darkned Man and by this Power of God the Gospel Life and Immortality is come to light again And therefore every one's Faith is to stand in this Power the Gospel that hath brought Life and Immortality to Light in them and so to be Heirs of the Power of God the Gospel And here have all Men and Women a Right to the Power of God before the Devil was and the Power of God is the Authority of the Mens and the Womens-Meetings and of all the other Meetings set up thereby But now as the Gospel is preacht again if your Faith doth not stand in the Power but in Men and in the Wisdom of Words you will grow Carnal and such are for Judgment who cry up as they did Paul and Apollos and not Christ
Lord and being one Body in him For God's Heavenly Flail hath brought out his Seed and his Heavenly Plow hath turned up the fallow Ground and his Heavenly Seed is sown by the Heavenly Man which brings forth Fruits to the Heavenly Sower in some Fifty Sixty and an Hundred fold in this Life And such in the World without End will have Life Eternal Oh therefore all keep within and let your Lights shine and your Lamps burn and that you all may be the Wells full of the Living Water and the Trees full of the Living Fruit of God's Planting whose Fruit is unto Holiness and End is Everlasting Life And so the Lord God of Power preserve you all in his Power and let all your Faith stand therein that you may have both Vnity in the Faith and in the Power and by this Faith and Belief you may be all grafted into Christ the sure Root and Rock of Ages where the Eternal Sun of Righteousness shines in the Heavenly and Eternal Day upon his Plants and Grafts And this Sun never sets nor goes down And the Heavenly Springs of Life and Showers are known to Water and nourish the Grafts and Plants and Buds that they may always be kept fresh and green and never wither bringing forth fresh and green and living Fruit which is offered up to the Living God and he is glorified in that you bear much Fruit. And so as I said before The Lord God Almighty keep you and preserve you all in his Power Light and Life over Death and Darkness that in the Light Life and Power of God you may spread his Truth abroad and be valiant for it upon the Earth answering that of God in all That with it the Minds of People may be turned to God and Christ so that with it they may come to know the Lord Christ Jesus in the New Covenant in which the Knowledge of the Lord shall cover the Earth as the Waters do the Sea and his Life must go over Death and his Light must go over Darkness and the Power of God must go over the Power of Sa tan And so all ye that be in the Light Life and Power Keep the Heavenly Fellowship in the Heavenly Power and the Heavenly Vnity in the Heavenly Divine Faith and the Vnity of the Spirit which is the Bond of the Heavenly Prince of Princes Peace who bruises the Head of the Enmity and of the Adversary and reconciles Man to God and all things in Heaven and in the Earth a blessed Reconciliation And let every one's Faith stand in the Power of God which Jesus Christ is the Author of that all may know their Crown of Life For all outward things without the Substance the Life the Power is as the Husk without the Kernel and doth not nourish the Immortal Soul nor the new-born Babe but that which it is nourished by is the Milk of the Word by which it is born again and groweth by it in the Heavenly Life Strength and Wisdom And the Gospel which is not of Man nor by Man but is the Power of God and answers the Truth in all all the Possessors of it are to see that all Walk according to it which Everlasting Order is ordained of God already and all the Possessors of him possess their Joy their Comfort and Salvation So with my Love unto you all with him that Reigns and is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting So dwell in the Love of God which passeth Knowledge which Love of God doth Edifie the Living Members of the Body of Christ which Love of God you come to be built up in and in the Holy Faith which Christ is the Author of that stands in his Power And this Love of God it brings you to bear all things and endure all things and hope all things From this Love of God which you have in Christ Jesus nothing will be able to separate you neither Powers nor Principalities Heights nor Depths things present nor things to come Prisons nor Spoiling of Goods neither Death nor Life So the Love of God keeps above all that which would separate from God and makes you more than Conquerors in Christ Jesus And therefore in this Love of God dwell which you have in Christ Jesus And that with the same Love you may Love one another and all the Workmanship of God so that you may Glorifie God wiâh your Bodies Souls and Spirits which are the Lord 's Amen G. F. All Friends sit low in the Life and the Lord's Power and keep your Place in it till the Lord and Master of the Heavenly Feast bid you Sit higher lest you take the Highest Place and be put down with Shame He that hath an Ear let him hear G. F. And Friends take heed of speaking the things of God in the Words that Men's Wisdom hath taught for those Words will lift up the foolish that be erred from the Spirit of God which Words and Wisdom is for Condemnation and that which is lifted up by them and they that thereby speak the things of God in them So that Old House with it's Things must be thrown under the Foot of the New Birth And Friends I desire that you may all keep the Holy Order which is in the Gospel the Glorious Order in the Power of God which the Devil is out of which was before all his Orders were and before they made any in the World In this Gospel the Power of God is the Glorious Order this Joyful Order keeps all Hearts pure to God an everlasting Peace Vnity and Order feel it and keep the Order of it both Men and Women and come to be Heirs of the Gospel which brings Life and Immortality to Light and to see over that Power of Darkness by him who was before the Power of Death was In this is the Holy Order in Love and Peace And so keep in this that keeps you always pure and what Men and Women act in this they act in that which will stand when the World is gone This is not received of Man nor by Man every Man and Woman must feel this Power that brings Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel in that feel this then Heirs of this Gospel This is their Inheritance and Portion which they have Right to and to Membership Every Man and Woman inherit it possess it every one take your Possessions of this Gospel of Salvation and of it's Holy Orders There hath been some Scruple about Men and Womens-Meetings Men and Women in the Gospel are Heirs of the Power which was before the Devil was Heirs of this then enter into the Possession of it and do the Lord's Business therein And every one take the Care of God's Honour and to keep all things in Righteousness and Holiness which becomes God's House And in that which Honours the Lord God it eased me when those Meetings were set up for Men and Women That are Heirs of the Gospel have Right to the
Gospel-Order and it belongs to them Then take your Possessions and Practise in it and be not Talkers only but Live and Walk in the Gospel the Power of God which is the Authority of your Meetings Swarthmore the 28th of the Third Month 1676. G. F. Read at the Yearly Meeting in London the 17th of the Third Month 1676. During this time also I Collected together as many as I could of the Epistles I had written in former Years to Friends I made a Collection too of the several Papers that I had written to O. Cromwel and his Son Richard in the time of their Protectorships and to the Parliaments and Magistrates that were in their times And after I had gathered them together I Collected also the Papers I had written to King Charles the Second since his Return and to his Council and Parliaments and the Justices or other Magistrates under him I made also another Collection of Certificates which I had received from divers Governours of Places Judges Justices Parliament-Men and others for the Clearing of me from many Slanders which the Envious Priests and Professors both here and beyond the Seas had cast upon me And this I did for the Truth's-sake as knowing that their Design in Slandering me was to defame the Truth published by me and hinder thereby if they could the Spreading thereof amongst the People Besides these I made Two Books of Collections the one was A List or Catalogue of the Names of those Friends who went first forth out of the North of England when Truth first brake forth there to proclaim the Day of the Lord through this Nation The other was of the Names of those Friends that went first forth to Preach the Gospel in other Nations Countries and Places and in what Years and to what Parts they went I made also another Collection in Two Books one of Epistles and Letters from Friends and others on several Occasions to me The other of Letters of mine to Friends and others I writ also a Book of the Types and Figures of Christ with their Significations and many other things which will be of Service to Truth and Friends in times to come I took notice also of those who had run out from Truth and drawn others out after them and turned against Truth and Friends at several times since the First Breaking forth of Truth in this latter Age and what became of them noting particularly the Repentance and Return of such of them as came back to Truth again But some ran quite out and never returned again but were Cut off in their Gainsaying and Rebellion for the Word and Power of God hath blasted and is blasting them and the Holy Seed hath ground and is grinding them to pieces And this I have observed that they who have been Convinced and have not lived and walked in the Truth have been the Worst Enemies to the Truth and done most Hurt amongst Friends in the Truth and to others And in these I have seen fulfilled what the Lord did long since shew me That such should be greater Deceivers than all the Priests and Professors For such as came as far as Cain and Balaam and Corah and Dathan and could preach Christ and say They had preached in his Name and such as came to be Apostles and had tasted of the Power of Christ and then turned from it such could yet speak their Old Experiences and have the good Words like Corah and Balaam but not keeping in the Life and Truth such Deceived the Hearts of the Simple both then and now and such come to be of the Devil who abode not in the Truth as Cain and and all the Jews that abode not in the Truth were For though Cain did Sacrifice to God and did talk with God and the Jews could talk of Abraham Moses and the Prophets yet Christ told them They were of their Father the Devil In like manner though they who are called Christians can talk of Christ and use his and his Apostles and Disciples Words yet not abiding in the Truth and Power and Spirit that the Apostles were in they are of the Devil out of Truth and do his Work And so are all these that have been Convinced of God's Eternal Truth since it sprang up in this Nation that have not abode in the Light and in the Spirit and Power of Christ Jesus but have turned against the Power and have opposed the Work thereof though they may retain their former Experiences and be able to speak many good Words yet not living in the Life and Power that gave them those Experiences they live in the Power of Darkness which is of the Devil and by the Light and Truth both he and they are Condemned and must own their Condemnations if ever they come to Truth again For to Resist the Heavenly Power and to oppose the Workings and Divine Manifestations thereof through any is not a light Matter And as I had been moved of the Lord to travel in his Power round about this Nation and in other Parts to preach the Everlasting Gospel and to declare the Word of Life which was in the Beginning through many Imprisonments Hardships Sufferings and Trials so I was afterwards moved to Travel in the same Heavenly Power about the Nation again and to write to such Places where I came not to recommend unto Friends the setting up of the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings in all Counties for the looking after the Poor and taking Care for Orderly Proceedings in Marriages and other matters relating to the Church of Christ Though some Meetings for this end were settled in the North of England in the Year 1653. And after this also Truth still spreading further over the Nation and Friends encreasing in number I was moved by the same Eternal Power to recommend the setting up the Womens-Meetings also that all both Male and Female that had received the Gospel the Word of Eternal Life might come into the Order of the Gospel brought forth by the Power of God and might act for God in the Power and therein do Business and Service for him in his Church All the Faithful must labour in God's Vineyard they being his Hired Servants and he having given them the Earnest of his Spirit For a Master that hires a Servant and gives him the Earnest of his Hire expects he should do his Work after he knows his Will in the outward Creation So all God's Prople that be of the new Creation and have received the Earnest of his Spirit ought to labour with by and in his Spirit Power and Grace and Faith in the Light in God's Vineyard that they may have their Wages every one Male and Female when they have done God's Work and Business in his Day which is Eternal Life But none can labour in his Vineyard and do his Work and Will but as they walk in the Heavenly Divine Light Grace and Spirit of Christ which is hath been and is my Travel and
Crown of every one of you that nothing may be between you and the Lord God And be not deceived with vain Words or fained Words or rough for Satan is transforming himself as an Angel of Light to deceive but God's Foundation standeth sure and God knoweth who are his and will preserve his upon the Rock and Foundation of Life in his peaceable Truth and Habitation that in the same they may grow And so keep out of Strife and Contention with it after that ye have born your Testimony in the Lord's Power and Truth against it and then keep in the Truth for it hath a life in scribling strife and jangling because it would enlarge its Hell and bring others into its Misery with the airy Power and would get Power over the Good and disjoin People from it and so to make Rapes upon the Simplicity by its Subtilty But I do believe the Lord will defend his People though he may try them and exercise them with this Spirit for a time as he hath done by it in days past in other Vessels it hath made use of as it doth of these now who have a more seeming fair Outside but foul and rough and rugged enough within against the Seed Christ as ever were the Pharisees to destroy it And they under a pretence of Preaching Christ are the men that are the Destroyers and Crucifiers of him and Killers of the Just not only in themselves but endeavouring with all their might to destroy it in others where it is born Pharaoh and Herod to slay the young Jews in the Spirit as the Old did I do feel it Worrying of them and it is got up to be King which knew not suffering Joseph But God will plague him and the Seed will have more rest and be better entertained in Egypt than under Herod into whom Old Pharaoh's Spirit is entred He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear and an Eye to see let him see how this Spirit hath Transformed in all Ages against the Just and Righteous but mark what hath been its end But the Seed reigneth Glory to the Lord God over all for ever and his Truth spreadeth and Friends here are in Unity and Peace and of good Report answering the good or that of God in People And so my desires are that all God's People may do the same in all places where-ever they be so that the Lord may be glorified in their bringing forth much Fruit that is heavenly and spiritual Amen Amsterdam the 25 of the 7th Month 1677. G. F. After I had given forth the fore-going Epistle whereby my Spirit was in some measure eased of the Weight that lay upon it I went in the Afternoon to the Monthly Meeting of Friends at Amsterdam where the Lord was present with us and refreshed our Spirits together in himself I thought to have gone next day to Harlem but there being a Fast appointed to be kept that day I was stopped in my Spirit and moved to stay at Friends Meeting that day at Amsterdam We had a very large Meeting a great Concourse of People coming to it and amongst them many great Persons The Lord's Power was over the Meeting and in the Openings thereof I was moved to declare to the People That no man by all his wit and study nor by reading History in his own Will could declare or know the Generation of Christ who was not begotten by the Will of Man but by the Will of God After I had largely opened this unto them I shewed them the Difference between the true Fast and the false manifesting unto them that the profest Christians Jews and Turks were out of the true Fast and fasted for strife and debate being under the Band and Fists of Iniquity and Oppression wherewith they were smiting one another but the pure hands were not lifted up to God And though they did all appear to men to Fast and did hang down their Heads for a day like a Bulrush yet that was not the Fast which God did accept but in that state all their Bones were dry and when they called upon the Lord he did not Answer them neither did their Health grow for they kept their own Fast and not the Lord 's And there I exhorted them to come and keep the Lord's Fast which was to fast from Sin and Iniquity from Strife and Debate from Violence and Oppression and to abstain from every Appearance of Evil. These things were opened to the astonishment of the Fasters and the Meeting ended peaceably and well I went to Harlem the day following Harlem having before appointed a Meeting to be there that day Peter Hendricks and Gertrude Dirick Nieson went with me and a blessed Meeting we had There were at the Meeting Professors of several sorts and a Priest of the Lutherans who sate very Attentive for several hours while I declared the Truth amongst them Gertrude Interpreting When the Meeting was done the Priest said That he had heard nothing but what was according to the Word of God and desired That the Blessing of the Lord might rest upon us and our Assemblies Others also confessed to the Truth saying They had never heard things so plainly opened to their understandings before We stayed that night at Harlem at a Friend's house whose name was Dirick Klassen and returning next day to Amsterdam went to Gertrude's house where we had not been long come in before there came a Priest of great note who had formerly belonged to the Emperor of Germany and with him another German Priest desiring to have some Conference with me So I took the Opportunity to declare the Way of Truth unto them opening unto them how they might come to know God and Christ and his Law and Gospel and shewing them that they could never know it by study nor by Philosophy but by Divine Revelation through the Spirit of God opening unto them in the stilness of their Minds The men were tender and went away well satisfied On the First-day of the Week following I was at Friends Meeting at Amsterdam where amongst the several sorts of Professors that were present there was a Doctor of Poland who for his Religion was banished from the place he lived in and he being affected with the Testimony of Truth that was born in the Meeting came after the Meeting to have some Discourse with me and after we had been some time together and I had opened things further to him he went away very Tender and Loving Now while I was at Amsterdam I spent most of my time except it were when I was at Friends Meetings or when People came to speak with me in Writing Books Papers or Epistles on Truth 's behalf For I writ several Epistles from Amsterdam to Friends in England and elsewhere on several Occasions as the Lord moved me by his Spirit thereunto I writ also from thence A Warning to the Inhabitants of the City Oldenburgh which was lately burnt down Also A Warning to
de Bemise Disp fol. 71. Irenaeus affirmed That all forcing of Conscience though it was but a forbidding of the Exercise which is esteemed by one or another to be necessary to Salvation is in no wise right nor fitting He also affirmed That through the diversity of Religions the Kingdom should not be brought into any disturbance Constantius the Emperour said That it was enough that he preserved the Vnity of the Faith that he might be excusable before the Judgment-seat of God and that he would leave every one to his own Vnderstanding according to the Account he will give before the Judgment-seat of Christ Here-to may we stir up People said he not Compel them beseech them to come into the Unity of the Christians but to do Violence to them we will not in any wise Sebast Frank Chron. fol. 127. Augustinus said Some disturbed the Peace of the Church while they went about to root out the Tares before their time and through this Error of Blindness said he are they themselves separated so much the more from being united unto Christ Retnaldus testified That he who with Imprisoning and Persecuting seeketh to spread the Gospel and greaseth his hands with Blood shall much rather be looked upon for a wild Hunter than a Preacher or a Defender of the Christian Religion I have for a long season determined said Henry the IV. K. of France in his Speech to the Parliament 1599. to Reform the Church which without Peace said he I cannot do and it is impossible to Reform or Convert People by Violence I am King as a Shepherd said he and will not shed the Blood of my Sheep but will gather them through the Mildness and Goodness of a King and not through the Power of Tyranny and I will give them that are of the Reformed Religion right Liberty to live and dwell free without being examined perplexed molested or compelled to any thing contrary to their Consciences for they shall have the free Exercise of their Religion c. Vid. Chron. Van de Underg 2. deel p. 1514. Ennius said Wisdom is driven out when the Matter is acted by Force And therefore the best of Men and most glorious of Princes were always ready to give Toleration Euseb in his Second Book of the Life of Constantine reports these words of the Emperour Let them which err with Joy receive the like fruition of Peace and Quietness with the Faithful sith the restoring of Communication and Society may bring them into the right Way of Truth let none give Molestation to any let every one do as he determines in his Mind And indeed there is great reason for Princes to give Toleration to disagreeing Persons whose Opinions cannot by fair means be altered for if the Persons be Confident they will serve God according to their Perswasions and if they be publickly prohibited they will privately Convene and then all those Inconveniencies and Mischiefs which are Arguments against the permission of Conventicles are Arguments for the publick permissions of differing Religions c. they being restrained and made miserable endears the discontented Persons mutually and makes more hearty and dangerous Confederations The like Counsel in the Divisions of Germany at the first Reformation was thought reasonable by the Emperour Ferdinand and his excellent Son Maximilian for they had observed that Violence did exasperate was unblest unsuccessful and unreasonable and therefore they made Decrees of Toleration The Duke of Savoy repenting of his War undertaken for Religion against the Piedmontans promised them Toleration and was as good as his Word Also it is remarkable that till the time of Justinian the Emperour Anno Domini 525. the Catholicks and Novatians had Churches indifferently permitted even in Rome it self And Paul preached the Kingdom of God teaching those things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence and no man forbad him and this he did for the space of two years in his own hired house at Rome and received all that came to him NOW O KING seeing these Noble Testimonies concerning Liberty of Conscience of Kings Emperours and others and the Liberty that Paul had at Rome in the days of the Heathen-Emperour our desire is that we may have the same Liberty at Dantzick to Meet together in our own hired Houses which cannot be any prejudice either to the King and the City of Dantzick for us to meet together to wait upon the Lord and pray unto him and to serve and worship him in Spirit and Truth in our own hired Houses seeing our Principle leads us to hurt no Man but to Love our Enemies and to pray for them yea them that do persecute us And therefore O King Consider and the City of Dantzick would you not think it hard for others to force you from your Religion to another contrary to your Consciences And if it be so that you would think it hard to you then do you unto others as you would have them do unto you do not you that unto others which you would not have men do unto you for that is the Royal Law which ought to be obeyed And so in Love to thy Immortal Soul and for thy Eternal Good this is written G. F. POST-SCRIPT BLessed be the Merciful for they shall obtain Mercy And remember O King Justin Martyr's two Apologies to the Roman Emperours in the Defence of the persecuted Christians and that notable Apology which was written by Tertullian upon the same Subject which are not only for the Christian Religion but against all Persecution for Religion Dear Peter Hendricks and John Claus and J. Rawlins and all the rest of Friends in Amsterdam Friezland and Rotterdam to whom is my Love in the Seed of Life that 's over all I Received thy Letter with a Letter from Dantzick I have written something to you to the King of Poland which you may translate into High-Dutch and send it to Friends there to give it to the King or you may print it after it be delivered in Manuscript which may be serviceable to other Princes So in haste with my Love And the Lord God Almighty over all give you dominion in his Eternal Power and in it over all preserve you and keep you to his Glory that you may answer that of God in all People Amen London the 13th of 9th Month 1677. George Fox I continued yet in and about London some Weeks the Parliament sitting again and Friends Attending upon them to get some Redress of our Sufferings which about this time were very great and heavy upon many Friends in divers parts of the Nation they being very unduly prosecuted upon the Statutes made against Popish Recusants Though our Persecutors could not but know that Friends were utterly against Popery having born Testimony against it in Word and Writing and suffered under it But though many of the Members of Parliament in either House were kind to Friends and willing to have done something for their Ease yet having much
that and that Liberty answers the Grace the Truth the Light the Spirit the Faith the Gospel of Christ in every Man and Woman and is the Yoke to the Contrary in every Man and Woman And that makes it rage and swell and puff up for that is restless and unruly and out of patience and is ready to curse his God and that which reigns over him because it hath not its Will And it works with all Subtilty and Evasion with its restless Spirit to get in and defile the minds of the Simple and to make Rapes upon the Virgin Minds But as they receive the heavenly Wisdom by which all things were made which Wisdom is above that Spirit through this Wisdom they will be preserved over that Spirit And Christ hath given Judgment to his Saints in his Church though he be Judge of all and the Saints in the Power and Spirit of God had and have Power to Judge of Words and Manners of Lives and Conversations and Growths and States from a Child to a Father in the Truth and to whom they are a Savour of Death and to whom they are a Savour of Life And who serve the Lord Jesus Christ and preach him and who preach themselves and serve themselves And who Talk of the Light and of Faith and of the Gospel and of Hope and of Grace and preach such things and in their Works and Lives deny them all and God and Christ and preach up Liberty from that in themselves to that in Others which should be under the Yoke and Cross of Christ the Power of God And so the Saints in the Power and Spirit of Christ can discern and distinguish who serves God and Christ and who serves him not and so can put a distinction between the Prophane and the Holy But such as have lost their Eye-salve and their Sight is grown dim lose this Judgment Discerning and Distinction in the Church of Christ and such come to be spewed out of Christ's mouth except they Repent and if not they come to Corrupt the Earth and burden it that it Vomits them out of it And therefore all are Exhorted to keep in the Power and Spirit of Christ Jesus and in the Word of Life and the Wisdom of God which is above that that is below in which they may keep their heavenly Understandings and heavenly Discernings and so set the heavenly Spiritual Judgment over that which is for Judgment which dishonours God which leads into loose and false Liberty out of the Unity which stands in the heavenly Spirit which brings into Conformity and to be Conformable to the Image of the Son of God and his Gospel the Power of God which was before the Devil was and his Truth which the Devil is out of in which all are of one Mind Heart and Soul and come to drink into one Spirit being baptized into one Spirit and so into one Body which Christ is the Head of and so keep one Fellowship in the Spirit and Unity in the Spirit which is the Bond of Peace the Prince of Princes Peace And they that Cry so much against Judging and are afraid of Judgment whether they be Apostates Professors or Prophane they are the Most-judging with their censorious false Spirits and Judgment and yet cannot bear the true Judgment of the Spirit of God nor stand in his Judgment This hath been manifest from the beginning they having the false Measures and the false Weights for none have the true Measure and the true Weight but who keep in the Light Power and Spirit of Christ And now there is a loose Spirit that cries for Liberty and against Prescriptions and yet is prescribing ways both by Words and Writings And the same Spirit cries against Judging and would not be Judged and yet is Judging with a wrong Spirit And this is given forth in Reproof to that Spirit London the 9th of the 4th Month 1678. G. F. When I had finished what Service I had for the Lord at this time here I left London and went towards Hartford visiting Friends and having several Meetings in the way At Hartford I stay'd several days having much Service for the Lord there both amongst Friends in their Meetings and in Conferences with such as having let in evil surmisings and jealousies concerning Friends stood in Opposition to the Order of Truth And in Answering some Books that had been written against Truth and Friends And while I was here it came upon me to write a few Lines and send them abroad amongst Friends as followeth Dear Friends LET the holy Seed of Life reign over Death and the unholy Seed in you all that in the holy Seed of the Kingdom ye may all feel the everlasting holy Peace with God through Christ Jesus your Saviour and sit down in him your Life and glorious Rest the holy Rock and Foundation that standeth sure over all from Everlasting to Everlasting in whom all the fulness of Blessedness is so that ye may glory in him that liveth for evermore Amen! Who is your Eternal Joy Life and Happiness through whom you have Peace with God 1678. Hartford Which holy Seed bruiseth the Head of the Serpent and will out-live all his Wrath and Rage Malice and Envy who was before He and It was and remains when He and It is gone into the fire that burns with brimstone The Seed Christ will reign and so will ye as ye do live and walk in him and sit down in Christ and build up one another in the Love of God Hartford the 10 of the 5th Month 1678. G. F. Next day a fresh Exercise came upon me with respect to those unruly and disorderly Spirits which were gone out from us and were labouring to draw others after them into a false Liberty And in the sense I had of the hurt and mischief these might do where they were given way to I was moved to write a few Lines to Warn Friends of them as followeth All Friends KEep in the tender Life of the Lamb over that unruly puffed up and swelling Spirit whose work is for Strife Contention and Division drawing into Loosness and false Liberty under a pretence of Conscience and dangerous to the Spoiling of Youth They that do encourage them will be guilty of their Destruction and set up a sturdy Will instead of Conscience in their Rage and Passion which will quench the universal Spirit in themselves and in every Man and Woman and so that Spirit shall not have the Liberty in themselves nor in Others and so shut up the Kingdom of Heaven in themselves and also in Others And so a loose Spirit getting up under a pretence of Liberty of Conscience or a stubborn Will making a Profession of the Words of Truth in a Form without Power all Loosness and Vileness will be sheltered and covered under this pretence which is for Eternal Judgment for that doth dishonour God Therefore keep to the tender Spirit of God in all humility that
fine Opportunity to open the Way of Truth amongst them After I was come to London London I was moved to write the following Paper concerning that Spirit which had led some who profest Truth into Strife and Division and to oppose the Way and Work of the Lord. Friends YOU that do keep your habitations in the Truth that is over all do see that it is the same Spirit that doth lead the Backsliders and Apostates now from the Spiritual Fellowship and Unity of God's People and the Church of Christ that led out Adam and Eve from God and the Jews from God and his Law to Rebel against his Spirit and so to turn against God and his Prophets And this Spirit was the same that was in the World which was got into the Jews when they were gone from the Spirit of God and then they turned against God and his Prophets and against Christ and his Apostles And that Spirit led them to be as bad as Pilate or worse The Enmity or Adversary was got within them against the Truth and them that walked in it and the Spirit of the Lord so that they killed and destroyed the Just. And this was the Spirit of the Devil the Destroyer who would seek not only to destroy the Truth but the Order of it and them that walk in it when true Christianity was planted among the Possessors of the Light 1681. London Grace and Truth and the Gospel-holy Faith and Spirit and they did enjoy Christ in their hearts But when some did begin to Err from the Spirit and Faith and hate the Light and disobey the Gospel and to turn the Grace of God into Wantonness and walk despitefully against the Spirit of Grace and turn from the Truth and Crucifie to themselves Christ afresh and put him to open shame These were they that let in the Spirit of the World who held the Form of Godliness but denied the Power thereof which troubled the Churches in the Apostles days And when the Spirit of Satan had got into such they were more troublesome to the Church than the open Persecutors that were without And these got into the Assemblies to deceive the hearts of the Simple having the good Words and fair Speeches and Sheep's-Cloathing Paul Peter John Jude and James had much to do with such and to keep them from troubling the Church of Christ For they are out of the Light Power and Spirit and therefore the Apostles of Christ did exhort the Saints to keep to the Word of Life within and to the Anointing and to the Grace and Truth and holy Spirit in their hearts This foul Spirit will profess all the Scriptures in words but by the Spirit of God which is holy that Spirit is tried and its fruits And so the Apostates went from the Power and Spirit of God and turned against the Prophets and the Martyrs of Jesus and became the Whore whose Cup all Nations drunk of And the Dragon with his Tail threw down many of the Stars and would have devoured the Woman with his Flood but the Woman the true Church was preserved and the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against her And then the Dragon made war with her Seed So the Dragon and the Whore and Beast and false Prophets all made war against the Lamb and the Saints but the Lamb and the Saints will overcome them all and will have the Victory And now the Everlasting Gospel is preached again to all Nations Tongues and Peoples and many are gathered into the Gospel the Power of God and are turned to the Light which is the Life in Christ and are grafted into him and are come to walk in the Order of the New Covenant of Light and Life in the Gospel of Peace and Salvation The same Spirit that opposed the Apostles and the Churches in their days opposes now yea it is the same that opposed Christ and disdained him that disdaineth God's Servants now And the same that did oppose the Prophets and rebelled against Moses opposes and rebels against God's Servants and People now And it is the same dark blind and disobedient faithless wilful jealous Spirit that doth persecute some with the Hands and others with the Tongue And it is the same Spirit of Enmity the Adversary and Destroyer that tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God and did deceive them which deceived the Jews and tempted them and deceived all those that went from the Church in the Apostles days And it is the same Spirit that is now going about sometimes like a roaring Lion sometimes like a twisting Serpent to tempt and to deceive 1682. London and to devour having the fair Speeches and good Words and Sheeps-Cloathing in a Form of Godliness and in pretence of the Light and Liberty but denies the Power thereof and inwardly are ravening Wolves and if it were possible they would deceive the very Elect. But the Elect are in the Covenant of Light and Life and in the Power of God over them and in Christ who will grind them to pieces and will slay all his Enemies with his spiritual Sword who will not have him to rule over or in them In Christ all his People have Rest and Peace who is their Sanctuary over all Storms and Tempests And in Christ the Sanctuary no Deceiver nor Destroyer can come for he is a place of sweet Rest and Safety Hallelujah Praise the Lord for his Sanctuary Amen G. F. Sufferings continuing still hard upon Friends at London I found my Service lay mostly here Wherefore I went but a little out of Town and not far being frequent at the most publick Meetings to encourage Friends both by Word and Example to stand fast in the Testimony to which God had called them And at other times I went about from house to house visiting those Friends that had their Goods taken away for their Testimony to Truth And because the wicked Informers were grown very audacious by reason that they had too much Countenance and Encouragement from some Justices who trusting wholly to their Information proceeded against Friends without hearing them whereby many Friends were made to suffer not only contrary to Right but even contrary to Law also I advised with some Friends about it and we drew up a Paper which was afterwards delivered to most of the Magistrates in and about the City which was as followeth WHereas some Informers have obtained Warrants of some Justices of Peace and have Convicted many of us without hearing us or once Summoning us to Appear before them by which proceedings many have had their Goods seized and taken away being generally fined Ten Pounds a piece for an unknown Speaker and some of those Persons so fined have not been that day at the Meetings they were fined for and the Speaker notwithstanding hath himself been fined for the same Meeting the same day the others were fined for the unknown Speaker By which the Justices may see the Wickedness of these Informers by whose false
one another in Vertue and in that Love that doth bear all things and doth edifie the Body of Christ the Body of the second Adam For the Body of old Adam in the Fall is full of Malice Envy and Vice And therefore you that are called out of Old Adam in the Fall and have put on Christ the second Adam that never fell Walk in him who is the Treasure of Life Wisdom and Knowledge in whom ye have peace with God who is the First and Last the Beginning and the Ending So let all be gathered up to God into him who reconcileth all things in one both things in Heaven and things in the Earth who is the faithful and true Witness both in Male and Female And in him sit down who is above the subtle Foxes in their holes and the Fowls of the Air in their nests I say sit down in Christ who hath no place among them to lay his head he is your rest So in him is my Love to you all London the 20th of the 11th Month 1682. G. F. It was not long after this that I received an Account by Letter from some Friends that were Prisoners in Denby in Wales by which I understood that many Friends there were under great Sufferings for the Testimony of a good Conscience In the tender sense whereof I was moved in the Love of God to Visit them with a few Lines as a Word of Consolation to them in their Sufferings and of Exhortation to stand fast in the Testimony committed to them And that which I writ was thus DEar suffering Lambs for the Name and Command of Jesus Be valiant for his Truth and faithful and ye will feel the Presence of Christ with you And look at him who suffered for you and hath bought you and will feed you who saith Be of good Comfort I have overcome the World who destroys the Devil and his Works and bruises the Serpent's head I say Look at Christ who is your Sanctuary in whom ye have rest and peace To you it is given not only to believe but to suffer for his Name 's sake And they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution by the ungodly Professors of Christ Jesus who live out of him And therefore be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth and look above that Spirit that makes you suffer up to Christ who was before it was and will be when it is gone Consider all the Prophets Christ and the Apostles who suffered and were persecuted but they never persecuted them as true men but as Deceivers and yet true And Christ is the same to day as he was yesterday a Rock and Foundation for your Age and Generation for you to build upon I have written concerning you after I heard your Letter to Friends in Cheshire to Visit you understanding that you belong to their Quarterly Meeting And therefore I desire that some Friends of your County would go and lay your suffering Condition before the Monthly or Quarterly Meeting in Cheshire I have written likewise to Richard Davis that some of that side may go and visit you and see how your Condition is So my Love is to you in the Lord who is your alone Support London the 27th of the 11th Month 1682. G. F. Now because the Magistrates were many of them unwilling to have Fines laid upon Meeting-houses they kept Friends out in many places setting Officers and Guards of Soldiers at the Doors and Passages And yet sometimes Friends were fined for Speaking or Praying though it were abroad One First-day it was upon me to go to Devonshire-house-Meeting in the Afternoon Dev. Meet and because I had heard Friends were kept out there that Morning as they were that Day at most Meetings about the City I went somewhat the sooner and got into the Yard before the Soldiers came to guard the Passages but the Constables were got there before me and stood in the Door-way with their Staves I asked them to let me go in They said They could not nor durst not for they were commanded the contrary and were sorry for it I told them I would not press upon them so I stood by and they were very Civil I stood till I was weary and then one gave me a Stool to sit down on and after a while the Power of the Lord began to spring up among Friends and one began to speak The Constables soon forbad him and said he should not speak and he not stopping they began to be wroth But I gently laid my hand upon one of the Constables and wisht him to let him alone The Constable did so and was quiet and the Man did not speak long When he had done after a while I was moved to stand up and speak and in my Declaration I said They need not come against us with Swords and Staves for we were a peaceable People and had nothing in our Hearts but Good-will to the King and Magistrates and to all People upon the Earth And we did not Meet under pretence of Religion to plot and contrive against the Government or to raise Insurrections but to worship God in Spirit and in Truth And we had Christ to be our Bishop and Priest and Shepherd to feed us and oversee us and he ruled in our hearts so we could all sit in silence enjoying our Teacher So to Christ their Bishop and Shepherd I did recommend them all And after I had spoken what was upon me at that time I sate down and after a while I was moved to pray and the Power of the Lord was over all Friends and the People and the Constable and Soldiers put off their Hats And when the Meeting was done and Friends began to pass away the Constable put off his Hat and desired the Lord to bless us for the Power of the Lord was over him and the People and kept them under After this I went up and down visiting Friends at their houses who had had their Goods taken from them for worshipping God and we took an account of what had been taken from them and some Friends met together about it and drew up the Case of the Sufferings of our Friends in writing and gave it to the Justices at their Petty-Sessions Whereupon they made an Order That the Officers should not sell the Goods of Friends which they had in their hands but keep them until the next Sessions which gave some discouragement to the Informers and put a little stop to their proceedings The next First-day it was upon me to go to the Meeting at the Savoy and by that time the Meeting was gathered Savoy Meet the Beadle came in and after him came in the wild People like a Sea but the Lord's Power chained them all The Spirit of the Lord went through and over all and they were quiet and we had a glorious peaceable Meeting blessed be the Lord for his unspeakable goodness This was in the Twelfth Month 1682. In the
Power thereof out of the Order thereof such have turned to Janglings and vain Disputings This sort of Spirit you have been acquainted with who have kept your habitations in Christ Jesus the First and the Last And you are not unsensible of the scurrilous and filthy Books of Lies and Defamations which have been spread abroad in this Nation and beyond the Seas against the Faithful And it is very well that the Lord hath suffered them to publish their own shame in print that Truth 's Enemies may be discovered that their Fruits and Spirits have appeared and manifested themselves both in print and otherwise And I do believe that the Lord will yet suffer this Spirit that it shall so publish forth its Fruits to its publick Shame and Nakedness to Professor and Prophane and to all sober moderate and innocent People that its Shame and Nakedness shall more fully appear And though for a time it hath been hid and covered with the Fig-leaves and an Outward Profession and sometimes with fawning and flattering words as at other times it hath discovered it self by rough lying and defaming words yet the Lord God will blast all such vain Talkers that do not walk in the Order of Life Truth and the Gospel And therefore ye that are Faithful stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free in his Government It is upon his Shoulders he bears it up Of the Increase of it and of its peace there is no end For all the Quarrellers against his Order and Government are without him and without his heavenly spiritual Government and Peace And therefore ye Faithful Ones who have had the Trial through many Persecutions Imprisonments Spoilings of Goods you know that there is a Crown of Glory laid up for you and you that Suffer with Christ shall Reign with him in his Kingdom of Glory and ye that die with Christ shall live with Christ in the Eternal Life in the World that hath no End Who have gone through the Sufferings without and within by false Brethren by Comers and Goers that have caused the Way of Truth to be evil spoken of and have been the Persecuters of the Faithful with their Tongues though they have not had power to do it with their Hands And by printing and publishing their lying defaming Books against the Faithful they have stirred up the Magistrates and Priests who were willing to get any occasion to speak evil of the right Way and precious Truth of Christ by which his People are made free Such had better they had never been born But God hath brought them to light and their Fruits and ravenous Spirit is seen savoured and known who are become Judases and Sons of Perdition to betray Christ now within where he is made manifest to the Priests Magistrates and Prophane as Judas did betray Christ without to the Priests and Pilate Though some of the Magistrates and sober People do see their Envy and Folly and that they have more Malice than Matter against the Faithful But the Lord will consume this Judas or Son of Perdition The Lord will consume him with the Spirit of his Mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his Coming And so let all the Faithful look unto the Lord. And let that wicked Son of Perdition know though he may be got as high as Judas without who was partaker of the Ministry with the Apostles The Lord will consume him with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his Coming That is his portion So the brightness of the Lord will destroy him and the Spirit of his Mouth will consume him And when he is destroyed and consumed there will not be a Son of Perdition to betray Christ in his People and his People that live and walk in Christ who hath all power in Heaven mark in Heaven and in Earth given to him and with his holy and glorious Power he limits and orders so that nothing shall be done against his People but what is suffered for their Trial and for their Good neither by Apostates Persecutors with the Tongue Judases Sons of Perdition to betray or the outward Powers to Imprison or spoil Goods All these are limited by Christ's Power who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him And every ones Faith is to stand in him and his power and rejoice in his power and see the increase of his righteous holy heavenly spiritual peaceable Government in which the glorious holy order of life is lived and walked in by all his Sons and Daughters And in his Spirit is the holy Unity and Bond of Peace Though ye be absent in the Body or Flesh one from another yet all joying and rejoicing being present in his Spirit and beholding in the same Spirit your spiritual Order Unity and Fellowship and the steadfastness of your Faith in Christ Jesus who is steadfast for ever the First and the Last whose Presence is among his People and who is their Head Here is heavenly Sion known and heavenly Jerusalem and the innumerable Company of Angels which are Spirits and the Spirits of the just men made perfect Here is the general Assembly or general Meeting and a general heavenly holy and spiritual joy and rejoicing lauding and praising the Lord the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb that lives for evermore Amen London the 14th of the 8th Month 1683. G. F. Read this in your Assemblies amongst the Faithful I tarried yet a little while in London visiting Friends and Meetings and labouring in the Work of the Lord there And being on a First-day at the Bull and Mouth Bull and M. Meeting where the Meeting had long been kept out but was that day in the House peaceable and large the People were so affected with the Truth and refreshed with the powerful Presence of the Lord that when the Meeting was ended they were loth to go away After some time having several things upon me to write I went to Kingston Kingston that I might be free from Interruptions And when I came there I understood the Officers had been very Rude at the Meeting there nipping and abusing Friends and had driven them out of the Meeting-Place and very abusive they continued to be for some time Among other things that I writ whilst I was there one was a little Book printed soon after the Title whereof was The Saints heavenly and spiritual Worship Vnity and Communion c. wherein is set forth what the true Gospel-worship is and in what the true Vnity and Communion of the Saints stands with a discovery of those that were gone from this holy Unity and Communion and were turned against the Saints that abode therein When I had finished the Services for which I went thither and had visited the Friends there I returned to London and visited most of the Meetings in and about the City Essex Dolston Afterwards I went to visit a Friend in Essex and returning by
amongst other Services that I found there one was to assist Friends in drawing up Testimony to Clear our Friends from being concerned in the late Rebellion in the West and from all Plots against the Government Which accordingly we did and delivered them to the Chief-Justice who was then to go down into the West with Commission to Try Prisoners I tarried some time in London visiting Meetings and labouring among Friends in the Service of Truth But finding my Health much impaired for want of fresh Air I went a little way out of Town to Charles Bathurst's Country-house at Epping-Forrest Epping-Forrest where I stay'd a few days And while I was there it came upon me to write the following Epistle to Friends Dear Friends WHO are called chosen and faithful in this Day of Trial 1685. Epping-Forest and Temptations and Sufferings whom the Lord by his right Hand hath upholden in all your Sufferings and some to Death for the Lord and his Truths sake Christ saith Be of good cheer I have overcome the World In me ye have peace but in the World ye have trouble The Children of the Seed which be Heirs of the Kingdom know this is true And though ye have Trials by false Brethren Judasses and Sons of Perdition that are got into the Temple of God and exalted above all that is called God whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his Mouth and the brightness of his Coming And though ye be Tried by Powers or Principalities yet there is nothing able to separate you from the Love of God which ye have in Christ Jesus In that Love dwell which bears all things and fulfils the Law in which edifie one another and be courteous and kind and humble for to such God giveth his Grace plentifully and such he teacheth And pray in the Holy Ghost which proceeds from the Father and the Son and in it keep your holy Communion and Unity in the Spirit the Bond of Peace which is the King of Kings heavenly Peace In that you are all bound to good behaviour and keeping Peace among your selves and seeking the Peace of all men and shewing forth the heavenly gentle and peaceable Wisdom to all men in Righteousness and Truth answering the good in all People in all your Lives and Conversations for the Lord is glorified in your bringing forth spiritual fruit that ye may eye and behold the Lord in all your actions that the Blessings of the Lord ye may all feel to rest upon you Whether ye be the Lord's Prisoners for his Name and Truth 's sake or at Liberty in all things labour to be Content for that is a Continual Feast and let no Trouble move you then ye will be as Mount Sion that cannot be removed And in all things exercise the Word of Patience which Word will sanctifie all things to you And study to be Quiet and do the Lord's business that he requires of you and your own in Truth and Righteousness and whatsoever ye do let it be done to the praise and glory of God in the Name of Jesus Christ All they that do make God's People to suffer they make the Seed to suffer in their own particulars and Imprison the Just there And such will not visit the Seed in themselves but cast it into Prison in Others and not visit it in Prison You may read that Christ saith Such must go into Everlasting Punishment That is a sad punishment and prison And all such as are become Apostates and Backsliders that do crucifie to themselves Christ afresh and put him to open shame and trample under feet the blood of the Son of God by which they were cleansed and then come to be Vnclean such grieve vex and quench and rebel against the Spirit of God in themselves and then such rebel against them that walk in the Spirit of God Such are Vnfaithful to God and Man and are Enemies to every good Work and Service of God But their End will be according to their works who are like unto the Earth that hath often received Rain but brings forth Briars and Thorns which are to be rejected and are for the fire Therefore Dear Friends in all your Sufferings feel the Lord's Eternal Arm and Power which hath upheld you and supported you to this day and will to the end as your Faith stands in it and as you are settled upon the Rock and Foundation Christ Jesus that cannot be removed in whom ye have life and peace with God And so the Lord God Almighty in him give you Dominion and preserve and keep you all to his Glory that in all your Sufferings ye may feel his presence and that when ye have finished your Testimony ye may receive the Crown of Glory which God hath laid up for them that fear and serve him Amen The 15th of the 7th Month 1685. G. F. Having spent about a week at this time among Friends in the Country London I returned to London Where I continued about Two Months visiting Friends Meetings and labouring to get Relief for Friends from their Sufferings which yet lay heavy upon them in many parts of the Nation Several Papers also I writ relating to the Service of Truth one of which was concerning Order in the Church of God which some that were gone out of the Unity of Friends did much oppose And that was as followeth AMong all Societies or Families or Nations of People in the World they have among them some sort of Order There was the Order of Aaron in the Old Testament and there was the Order of Melchizedeck before that after whose Order Christ Jesus came and he did not despise that Order So God is a God of Order in his whole Creation and in his Church And all the Believers in the Light the Life in Christ that do pass from death to life they are in the Order of the holy Spirit Power Light Life and Government of Christ Jesus of the Increase whereof there is no End And this is a Mystery to all those disorderly People who have written and printed so much against Orders which the Lord's Power and Spirit hath brought forth among his People And you that cry so much against Orders is it not manifest that you are gone into a Land of Darkness thick as darkness it self and of the shadow of death into disorder and where the Light is as Darkness And is not this your Condition seen by all them that live and walk in the Truth and whose Conversations are according to the Gospel of Life and Salvation The Devil Satan Dragon and the first and second Beast 1685. London and the Whore and false Prophets and their Worshippers and Followers all these are out of the Truth and abode not in it nor in the Order of it And the Truth is over them all In Salem is God's Tabernacle a peaceable Tabernacle and his Tabernacle is in Shiloh And these are far beyond the Tabernacles of Ham Psal
said You have nothing to do with us to build an House unto our God Ezra 4.2 3. So here ye may see that God's People refused their building with them and their sacrifice And Solomon saith The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord Prov. 15.8 See also Isa 1.11 and chap. 66.3 Solomon also saith Better is a dry Morsel and quietness therewith than an house full of Sacrifices with strife Prov. 17.1 Now let all People Consider what Good your house full of Sacrifices doth with strife when a dry Morsel and Quietness therewith is better And Consider all People If ye live in Wickedness your Sacrifice is an Abomination to the Lord. Again Solomon speaking of the Sacrifice of Fools saith They consider not that they do evil Eccles 5.1 Fools are such as do not walk in the Spirit of God or begin in the Spirit and end in the Flesh like the foolish Galatians for the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding and cannot Join with the Sacrifices of the Dead nor of the Fools nor of the Wicked whose Sacrifice is Abominable who grieve and quench the Spirit of God by which Spirit of God the Spiritual and Righteous offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ The Apostle Paul saith he was the Minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministring the Gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost Rom. 15.16 So ye may see that all the acceptable Offerings and Sacrifices to God must be sanctified by the Holy Ghost The same Apostle saith to the Corinthians Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's 1 Cor. 6.20 And to the Romans he saith I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Rom. 12.1 Now this is the duty of all true Christians Peter also saith in his general Epistle to the Church of Christ Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house an holy Priest-hood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2.5 So every Man and Woman must come to the Spirit of God in their own hearts if they do offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ For as Christ saith Every Sacrifice shall be salted with salt Mark 9.49 And in the Old Testament ye may see All their outward Offerings they were to season them with salt Levit. 2.13 a Type and Figure of Christ who gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Ephes 5.2 Therefore all his People must be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire that they may be salted with Fire and every Sacrifice salted with salt with the Spirit of Grace that is poured upon all so that they may offer up this spiritual Sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Samuel said to King Saul Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams 1 Sam. 15.22 So ye may see All Offerings and Sacrifices are nothing if there be not an hearkening to the Lord in his Spirit and an obeying of his voice And Christ told the Jews that were outward Sacrificers that he would have Mercy and not Sacrifice and bid them Go and learn what that meaneth Matth. 9.13 Gooses the 28th of the 2d Month 1687. G. F. The beginning of the Third Month I returned to London London Yearly-Meeting and continued there till after the Yearly-Meeting which began on the sixteenth of the same and was very large Friends having more freedom to come up out of the Countries to it by reason of the general Toleration and Liberty now granted The Meeting lasted several days and at the Close thereof it was upon me to write the following Lines to be dispersed amongst Friends every where as A Word of Counsel and Caution to them to walk circumspectly in this time of Liberty Dear Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ THE Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power having supported you in all your Sufferings and great spoiling of Goods and tedious Imprisonments only for serving and worshipping the living God that made you who gave up Wife and Children and Goods and suffered the spoil of them and Imprisonment for his Truth and Name 's sake And now the Lord by his Infinite Power and Mercy having been pleased to open the King's heart towards you by which you are set at Liberty from the Gaols and the Spoilers of your Goods are stopt whereby ye may follow your Callings and Husbandry and confess Christ Jesus and call him Lord by the Holy Ghost in your Assemblies and Meetings without being cast into Gaols or having your Goods spoiled And now Dear Brethren a great Concern lies upon me from the Lord to Write unto you That none may abuse this Liberty nor the Mercies of the Lord but prize them for there is great danger in time of Liberty of getting up and getting into Ease and Looseness and false Liberty And now seeing that ye have not the outward Persecutors to War withal in sufferings with the spiritual Weapons keep down that which would not be subject to Christ that he the Holy One may reign in your hearts So that your Lives Conversations and Words may preach Righteousness and Truth 1687. London Yearly-Meeting That ye may all shew forth good Ensamples of true Believers in Christ in Vertue and Holiness Answering that which may be known of God in all People that ye are the Sons and Daughters of God Standing fast in that righteous holy Liberty in Christ that just and holy One that has made you free over the loose or false shunning the occasions of vain Disputes and foolish Questions of Men of corrupt Minds For the Serpent was the first Questioner of Eve who drew her and Adam out of the Truth Therefore as ye have received Christ all Live and Walk in him who bruises the Serpent's Head who is your safe Sanctuary in whom ye have Election Reconciliation and Peace with God And therefore live in the Peace which ye have from Christ which is not of this World and be at peace one with another and seek the peace of all Men in Christ Jesus for blessed are the Peace-makers And labour to exercise a good Conscience towards God in obedience to him in what he requires and in doing to all Men the thing that is just and honest in your Conversations and Words giving no Offence to Jew nor Gentile nor to the Church of God So that ye may be as a City set on God's Sion-Hill which cannot be hid and may be Lights to the dark World that they may see your good Fruits and Works Righteous and
not Banish him and Persecute him out of your Cities and Corporations And how can you enter into his Kingdom and have a share of his Kingdom though you may profess him in Words And do not they go into Everlasting Punishment that did not visit Christ in Prison Then what will become of you that do Banish and Imprison him where he is manifest in his Members nor suffer them to Meet together to enjoy him amongst them according to his Promise And therefore you that will not let Christ Reign in his People and have his Liberty in them in your Cities and Countries to Exercise his Offices you will not have your Liberty in Heaven and you that will not let Christ Reign in your Hearts nor suffer him to Reign in his People here upon the Earth in this World in your Kingdoms you will not Reign with Christ in Heaven in his Kingdom nor in the World without end And so you that banish the Truth out of your Cities or Countries or his People for its sake you do banish the Truth and Christ out of your hearts from Ruling there and so you your selves are not the Temples of God And then when you have banished Christ and his Truth out of your own hearts then you do banish such in whom he Rules out of your Estates and Country and then see what Judgments the Lord doth bring upon you when you are left to your selves yea Fears and Troubles and one Judgment after another that come upon you you are even filled with them But the Banished and Sufferers for Truth and Christ's sake have a peaceable habitation in the Truth which the Devil is out of and cannot get in which habitation will out-last all the habitations of the Wicked and Persecutors though they be never so full of Words without Life and Truth So the Life and the Truth will out-last all Airy Notions and Christ the Lamb and patient Seed will overcome the Devourer and the unpatient Seed and they that have the Garments the Righteousness of Christ which is the fine Linnen it will out-last all the Rags and Inventions of Men. For Christ saith to his Learners Be of good chear I have overcome the World the persecuting World and so he said unto his Disciples Marvel not if that the World hate you for it hated me before you And therefore let all that profess themselves Christians lay away Persecution about Religion Churches or Worship Fasting or Praying-Days for you have no Command from Christ and his Apostles to Persecute any For Christ who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords when they called him a Deceiver and blasphemed him and said He had a Devil he did not Persecute any of them for it nor force or compel any to hear and believe him nor the Apostles after him but he bad them that would have been plucking up the Tares Let the Tares and the Wheat grow together until the Harvest So you have no Command from Christ or his Apostles to Persecute Imprison or Banish or Spoil the Goods of any for matter of pure Conscience and Religion Worship Faith and Church in the Gospel-times Harlingen in Friezland the 11th of the 6th Month 1677. G. F. A Warning to the Magistrates Priests and People of the City of Hamborough to Humble themselves before the Lord and not to be High-minded Friends YOU have painted and garnished the Inside of your outward Houses and High-places but look within your Hearts with the Light of Christ Amsterdam which he hath enlightned you and every Man that cometh into the World withal and with it you may see To pag. 448 how foul your Hearts and Insides are with Sin and Evil which Christ tells you ye should make clean who told the Pharisees how they painted the Sepulchres of the Righteous and they themselves were full of Rottenness and Corruption Therefore look into your selves 1677. Amsterdam and your own hearts what you are full of to paint out the Sepulchres of the Righteous Apostles and making a Trade and a Profession of their words without the same Holy Ghost and Power and Light and Truth which they were in will not stand at the Day of God's Vengeance And therefore Repent while you have Time and turn to the Lord with your whole hearts and do not think your selves to be secure without his Immediate Almighty Protection For it is not all your Works nor all your own Strength and Power and Defence that can protect you and you to look at them and think your selves secure and to sit down in your Security and in it let your hearts be merry and at rest and ease But then when the Lord brings a Scourge upon you that you are filled with Terrours and Fears remember you were Warned that you were set down but not in the true Rest and then all your own Strength and Force will stand you in no stead and you will acknowledge that it must be God that must protect you And therefore take Warning for your Priests and People are too high and are swallowed up too much in this World and the Vanities of it carry your Minds away from God and your Care is more for the World than for God and more after the Riches of the World than after the Riches of the World that has no end For know you not that all your Heaps of outward Treasure must have an end and that you must Leave them all behind you Therefore I am to Warn and Advice you both High and Low Priests and People to come to the Grace Light and Truth that comes by Jesus Christ and also to come to the Manifestation of the good Spirit of God which is given to you to profit withal that with This Grace and Truth and Light and Spirit of Christ you may turn to Christ Jesus from whence it comes who saith Learn of me and God saith This is my beloved Son hear ye him And so all the Children of the New Covenant that walk in the New and Living Way do hear Christ their Prophet that God has raised up who is their Teacher and Priest whom God hath anointed to Preach And so now God doth speak to his People by his Son as he did in the Apostles Days And so the Lord is come to Teach his People himself by his Grace Light Truth and Spirit and to bring them off all the Worlds Teachers that are made by Men since the Apostles days who have kept People always Learning that they may always be paying of them And is come to bring them off all the Worlds Religions to the Religion that he set up in the Apostles Days in the New Covenant which is pure and undefiled before God in his sight and keeps from the Spots of the World c. And the Lord is come to bring them off all the World's Churches to the Church in God which Christ the heavenly Man is Head of and to bring them off all the World's Worships to