who sits upon the earthly Throne unto the most Inferior in the Kingdom and by this Principle of Love in our own hearts which is of God we are made to bear Love and Good will towards all people and by it we are taught to loy Enemies to Bless and Curse not to Pray for them who De spitefully useth us and to do Good to them that Beateth us and not in the least to render Evil for Evil but endeavour to overcome in our selves and others Evil with Good and by it we are preserved from joyning with the spirit of Envy and from being led by the spirit of Revenge which ruleth in many and leadeth into secret Plottings and evil Contrivances by way of Conspiring to raise Tumult and Insurrection which spirit with all its fruits we deny and judge and all those who are led by it to Contrive and Plot against any or to seek the Destruction of any people though our Enemies such we disown and their actions we defie the Lord is our witness And by the Principle of Love in our hearts are our Consciences made very tender to God-ward insomuch as that we would not willingly and knowingly sin against him and are willing rather to suffer the loss of all External things yea even Life and all then to break our peace with God which we value more then ten thousand Worlds and because we endeavour in the strength and power of the principle of love in our hearts to keep our Consciences void of offence towards God and because we dare not do those things though they be set up by men and tollerated and compelled to be done by a Law which we are perswaded by the unerring spirit of Truth we ought not to do neither joyn with any therein and because we dare not forbear doing those things though prohibited by the Laws of men there from which we are perswaded by the spirit of Truth is our duty towards God to do and perform therefore are we a suffering People this day and for no other Cause the Lord is our witness to the truth hereof And ever since the Lord our dear and tender God who alone hath been and now is our Helper Strength and Refuge and hath stood by us and supported and preserved us or else we had not been a People at this day did raise us up to be a People for to bear witness to his Way and Truth and against the false Ways evil Works false Worships Idolatry Sin and Wickedness of the World we have been a suffering People and all along we have suffered by every Power that hath come up to Rule and all along we have suffered for only our Consciences towards God if our Enemies have had no Law in force against us neither could find any thing on our parts whereby they might take a just occasion against us then have they as Daniel's Persecutors did against him who sought his Destruction without a Cause given them by him even made Laws on purpose to Insnare us and Trappan us concerning our Conscience towards God for which we did suffer by the other Rulers even many ways viz. by Stocking Stoning cruel Whipping Rayling Reviling and cruel Abuses even Imprisonment until Death and spoyling of Goods in a more abundant manner then I can relate and all hath been for our Consciences to God all which we have born and waded through in Patience through the strength of the upholding merciful Arm of our God and by him have been kept from seeking Revenge upon our Enemies but have committed our Cause to God who Judgeth Righteously and Justifieth those whom men Condemn unto whom alone Vengence belongs and he will repay it who will render unto man according to his Works And even at this day our Sufferings are greater then before and now are we even as Sheep appointed for the Slaughter and all is because we endeavour to keep our Consciences void of offence towards God and because we dare not joyn with that Idolatrous Worship which God abhors but must as moved of the Lord rather bear Testimony against Idolatrous Worships and Worshippers vvhatever vve suffer And because vve dare not Svvare at all knovving if vve should Svvear at all we should then transgress the Commands of Christ Matthew Chaper 5. Verse 34 c. James Chapter 5. Verse 5 c. And because vve follovv the practices of the Primitive Christians and dear not forsake the Assembling of our selves together but must as vve are taught of the Lord meet together in the pure fear and dread of the Name of the Almighty God even for no other end the Lord vvho knovveth the secrets of all hearts is our vvitness but to Wait upon the Lord and to Pray to the Lord and to Build up Strengthen and Edifie one another in the Lord and to Serve and Worship God in Spirit and in Truth vvherein God vvho is a Spirit is only Worshipped aright by his Spirituallized people vvho are born of the Spirit and guided and led by the Spirit of Truth into all Truth And it is not in Rebellion and Contempt to King Charles and his Lavvs that vve meet together to vvorship God neither do vve do it in a Cross Stubborn Self-vvill as by some vve are charged the Lord is our vvitness but even in a Cross to our ovvn vvills and in Obedience to the vvill of God vvhere fore vve have peace in the Lord for vvhose sake vve suffer and stand justified in the sight of God though by Men and their Lavvs counted Transgressors Novv Friends as your Moderation in measure hath appeared in this day of hot Persecution and hath been manifested heretofore tovvards the Lords tender Conscientious people in this Tovvn vvhich I believe the Lord hath taken notice of who hath regard unto those vvho have respect to his people and truly it is my Souls desire even for your ovvn good that your Moderation tovvards the people of God called Quakers or any other people vvhose Consciences are tender to God-vvard may continue still and increase more and more so as that ye might not in the lest degree have a hand any more in the Sufferings of the Innocent but might rather chuse as meek Moses did to suffer Affliction vvith the Suffering Abused Tribulated Afflicted People of God then to be found Prosecutors of any unjust Lavv against them for indeed happy in that particular is the man that hath no hand in the sufferings of the Lords people for sure I am the Lord God hath regard unto his people though disregarded by such as know not God nor his People and though Hated and Persecuted by the World yet Loved of the Lord and very dear unto him and though Contemptible Ridiculous and Absurd in the eyes of the wisemen of this World yet Beautiful Comely Delectable and Precious in the eyes of the Lord and what evil any do to them because of their Consciences towards God the Lord takes it as done unto himself and if one
the Blood of the Covenant wherewith you were in measure sanctified under your Feet as an unholy thing and have slain the Just and crucified the Righteous in your selves Oh poor poor Hearts my Soul pities you and mourns in secret over you and cannot but lament the sadness and deplorableness of your Conditions oh better you had never known the Truth then after you have known it to turn from it to your old Lovers again Oh whither will you go you Backsliding ones where and in what will you hide your selves from the Lord now you are departed from him if you go from Sea to Sea he will find you out and what can defend you from his wrath oh where and in what can you find true Peace Rest and happiness for your Souls seeing you have forsaken him in whom alone it is to be enjoyed Oh are you not sensible that you want true Peace Oh you that have forsaken the Father's House of plenty and are gone out among the Swine who feed upon the Husks oh poor Hearts do you not sometimes a little come to your selves and then remember the Father's House and do you not then find some inclination and desire to return again if you do return how know you but that he will have compassion on you and receive you into his House again though you have been spending your Portion among Harlots and have deal so treacherously by him and so much wounded and grieved him and his Children yet notwithstanding if you can throughly return unto him with your whole Hearts he can and will receive you and heal your Backslidings blot out your Sins forgive you your Transgressions against him and love you freely Therefore return return you backsliding Ones why why will you die and perish forever oh repent and do the first Works turn your minds inward to the pure and just One in your selves which you have grieved wounded and oppressed as a Cart is oppressed with Sheaves Oh that you might look upon him whom you have pierced and behold him whom you have wounded and even mourn and lament over him Oh to the pure holy faithful Witness of God in your own Consciences which you were at first turned unto you must come and the righteous Judgment of the Lord you must own and wait in yea a dreadful Cup you must drink before you can enjoy true lasting peace in God Oh that you could be willing to drink it and to pass again through the Fire and Sword yea through Death to come to eat again of the Tree of Life and live forever Oh that all you that are betrayed like Sampson of their strength by the Adulterous mind so as that the Philistine the uncircumcised Nature hath prevailed over you and put out your Eyes that you are become Blind and cannot see that beauty and comeliness in the Lord and his Truth which you once saw oh that the Lord would be pleased to visit you again that like as the Hair of Sampson grew again his strength increased so that he slew more of his Enemies at his Death then he did in all his Life so the Seed of God may be raised again in your Hearts and the strength therein and thereby may be renewed and grow that by your dying again unto that which is contrary to the Will of God you may witness greater Victory in the Lord over your Enemies and know more of them slain then ever you did Oh! you that find and are sensible that the Lord hath not wholly given you over but is yet striving with you by his pure Witness in you to return unto him his Truth and People again Oh! return before it be too late and before the Door of Mercy be forever shut against you for then if you seek the Blessing with Tears as Esau did you will not obtain it and though you call Lord Lord open unto us we have Eaten and Dâ—unk in thy Presence and in thy Name we have cast out Devils and have had power over unclean Spirits and have done many great Works yet notwithstanding he will say Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity I know you not Therefore be sober and serious and ponderously consider and let these things take deep Impression in your Hearts which are wrote in true Love Pity and Bowels of Compassion to your Immortal Souls by a Mourner over you and a Travailer in Spirit for your Restoration To those that profess the Truth yet walk contrary to the Truth in Life and Conversation For many walk of whom I have told you often and now I tell you weâ—ping that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ c. Phil. 3. 18 19. ANd all you who make a Profession of the Light and Truth in Words but in Works deny it whose Conversations are loose and vain and not consistant with your Profession nor answerable but repugnant to Truth you do not conduce to the honour of Truth but produce a dishonour thereunto by your loofe disorderly walking whereby you also give the Enemies of Truth advantage against the Truth for them to reproach the Truth and those that walk and live in the Truth and also you are a stumbling Block in the way of the simple-hearted that hath a Love and Desire towards Truth and a Grief and Burden to the Faithful that love the Truth and live in it and seek the Glory and Honour thereof and also you deceive your own Souls by being satisfied with a Profession of Truth without the possession thereof and you have no true peace where you are nor unity with the Lord nor fellowship with his People for the unity and fellowship of the Saints is in the Light and holy Life of God and they that are out of the Light though they profess it are out of the unity of Faith and fellowship of the Sons of God and such are but gotten into the outward Court where the Gentiles the uncircumcised in Heart can come but blessed are all they that do the Will of God and keep his Commandments and have right to the Tree of Life and enter through the Gate into the City where no unclean thing can come So all you that profess the Truth and walk contrary to the Truth come to be faithful and obedient to the Truth that in the Way of Truth and Righteousness you may walk as becometh Truth and that in the Light you may shine as Lights in your holy Lives and blameless unspotted Conversations to the praise and glory of God and to the peace rest comfort and happiness of your own Souls verily no Hypocrite in Sion can be hid from the Lord who giveth the Churches to know that it is he that scarcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins who saith I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to every one according as his work shall be To all those that are Convinced of the Truth but still remain in the World's Ways If you know these things happy are you
if you do them He that knoweth the Fathers Will and doth it not is worthy of many stripes John 13. 17. AND all you that are convinced of the Truth Way of God but do not resign up your Hearts in obedience to walk therein but still remain in the broad way of the World partaking with them of their Sins Idolatry and falfe Worship and though you see the Vanity and Evil thereof yet for by-ends and carnal self-interests to save your selves from Reproach and Suffering you joyn with them therein against the pure Witness of God in your own Consciences and if you continue partaking with them of their Sins how can you but expect also to partake of their Plagues except you haste out from among them and embrace and receive the Truth in the Love and Obedience of it Oh! come out come out from amongst them and be you separated and touch no more the Unclean Thing that the Lord may receive you unto himself and become your God and you become his People Oh! you that know the Fathers Will and do it not are you not worthy of many Stripes Oh poor Hearts shun not the Cross any longer neither be ashamed of the Reproach nor ashamed of the Lord and his People before Men but give up your Hearts to obey the Lord and his precious Truth and take up the daily Cross that crucifies unto the World and Worldly Things unto the Sin Wickedness Formal Worships Vain Customs Ceremonies Pride and Vanity thereof and follow the Lamb in the narrow Way of Holiness and be willing to Suffer with Christ and you shall Reign with him and love not your Lives unto Death and you shall have a Crown of Life Oh! how long hath the Lord been woing many of you day after day if not year after year and hath long waited knocking at the Door of your Hearts in his Grace to be Gracious unto you who desireth not that you should perish in your Rebellion and Disobedience Oh! that the sense of his Goodness Mercy and Patient forbearing towards you might overcome your Hearts and make you willing to resign up your selves to walk in the Way of Truth before the Lord cease striving with you who hath said His Spirit shall not always strive with Man lest the Day of your Visitation pass over your Heads Therefore come forward you that halt and linger behind in the Borders of Babylon and Subburbs of Egypt and come nigh you that stand afar off gazing to see what will become of us He that is not with me said Christ is against me he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad none can serve two Masters God and Mammon To those that are Newly Convinced of the Truth Ye were like Sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls He shall gather his Lambs in his Arms and carry them in his Bosom 1 Peter 2. 25. Isaiah 40 11. AND all you who are newly convinced of the precious Truth and Way of God and have in measure received Truth in the love and belief of it and have and daily do give up your hearts to obey the Truth and to walk in the Way of Righteousness and Path of Holiness Dear Ones unto you my Heart is open in the tender Bowels of my heavenly Fathers Love and happy and blessed of the Lord God are you if you do not faint nor grow weary in your Minds nor turn back again as some have done but persevere on to the End Oh! dear Babes whom the Lord mighty in Power hath by his out stretched Arm brought out of Egypt the Land of Darkness and House of Bondage and hath set your Faces towards Canaan the good Land of Liberty Light Rest and Peace Oh travail on travail on ye weak Ones in the strength of the Lord and drawings of his Light and look not back to Egypt again remember Lot's Wife and fear not the God of the World the Prince of the Power of the airy mind even that wicked Spirit that once had dominion in and over you and kept you Bond-slaves in darkness to Sin and Corruption though he the Enemy of your Souls Liberty Peace and Rest may pursue hard after you with his whole Host of Temptations Snares and Allurements both inward and outward and also a Sea of Troubles Straits Difficulties and Sufferings may appear in your Way both within and without and Mountains of Fears Doubts and carnal Reasonings on every side and also something in you ready to murmur complain and say Oh! that we had tarried still in Egypt and not set one step towards Canaan for the Way is so strait and the Path so narrow the Sufferings so hard and the Difficulties and Dangers so great and various that we fear we shall perish by the way and not get to our desired Rest therefore let us turn back again before we go any further Oh! fear not neither turn back but stand still from reasoning carnally and look not at the Straits Tryals Dangers Sufferings and Losses that may appear before you neither look at your own VVeakness Feebleness and Inability nor at the Strength and Temptation of your Enemy but look up ye little ones unto the Lord and trust you in the Strength of his Arm for he is God all-sufficient for you therefore cast your care upon him and he will make a VVay for you through the Sea and divide the VVaters of the great Deep and make a VVay for you in the VVilderness and a Path through the Thickets and make the Crooked Strait before you and the Rough Smooth he will throw down the Mountains and remove away the Hills and lead you in a VVay you know not and in a Path you never before trod in and will make the hard things easie unto the VVilling and Obedient that turn not back again to their old Lovers but love Truth and Righteousness and follow on to know the Lord in his VVay all such he will give to drink of the Brook by the VVay and feed with Bread from Heaven whereby you shall be refreshed and your Strength renewed daily in which Strength you shall be able to travail on without fainting and to run and not be weary until you come to your desired Rest and see the Travail of your Souls and be satisfied with the Enjoyment of that you have travailed after So the Lord be with you and keep your Eye single unto himself that your Hearts may be full of Light that nothing may cause you to stumble and fall into the Snares of the Enemy who hath hindred many that once begun to run well oh mind and keep to that in your own Hearts which makes you truly sensible of your particular States and Conditions and in that sense daily wait upon the Lord diligently and patiently for the sweet Refreshings from his Presence and for the distillings of his Heavenly Dew that so the tender Plants of Righteousness and Lilly of Holiness may grow and spring
this suffering time among his Friends Brethren at home because it was reported he should be sent to Edmonds-Bury Goal and in the aforesaid Prison at Melton he was kept very close and the next Sessions at Woodbridg he was brought into the Court where an Indictment was preferr'd against him for being Riotously and Routously assembled with many others c. to which after many sound Reasons and Arguments to prove our Meetings Innocent without any other design but purely to Wait upon and Worship the Lord as good experience hath shewn and therefore no way Hurtful or Dangerous to the Government c. he pleaded not Guilty it was demanded whether or no he would give Bail for his appearance the next quarter Sessions to be of the good Behaviour which he refused to do knowing he had not Mis-behaved himself so he was again returned to Prison and kept very close and when the next Sessions came about at Woodbridg he was again brought into the Court where Christopher Melton of Ipswich was Chairman as at the Sessions before where he with some other Friends was put on to Tryal and after a great deal of arguing between the Prisoners and the Court the Jury went out and after a considerable time returned and being asked whether the Prisoners were Guilty or not Guilty the Foreman answered not Guilty at which the Chairman was highly displeased and perswaded them at the Bar to alter their Verdict that they were guilty of an unlawful Assembly a practice how just I shall leave to the Judgment of the Impartial Reader and as if this were not useage hard enough they devised another piece of Cruelty which was to remove him to Ipswich to be fined and in a very cold day in the sharpest of this last Winter which for excess of Cold the like cannot be remembered when it was late in the latter part of the Day Snowing very fast all the way he went so that before he got to the Prison it was late in the Evening and being many of us there for want of Beds and for want of timely notice to have made Provision among others of us this tender man was forced to set up all Night in that wet and cold Condition and then he was called upon at that Sessions in Ispwich and fined twenty Pound at which he was no ways dismayed and so he was returned to Prison till he should pay his Fine where he meet with hard usage from the Jayler he not answering his unreasonable demands remained close Prisoner until the next Sessions at Ipswich where he was again called into the Court and nothing of the Fine spoken of but Thomas Covel Clark of the Peace told him they had a particular order from the King to deal with him then he was profferred the Oath of Allegance which he refusing he was again returned to Prison after which in some short time it pleased the Lord to visit him with more then ordinary Sickness which more and more encreased upon him in which time he desired to see several of his dear Friends as he said before he dyed thereby signifying his departure to be at hand and so upon the twenty third day of the fourth Month 1684 about three in the Morning like an innocent man he laid down his Head in peace with God dyed a faithful Sufferer for Christ Jesus in a Testimony against the Persecutors of our Age and my desire is that his innocent Blood may not be laid to the charge of them that had a hand in his last Suffering in which he sealed his Testimony with his Life And there is one thing yet with me concerning my deceased Friend which is worthy of Observation that is when even Persecution was stirred up among us if he had happened to have been from home upon the publick service of Truth when once he heard of it he was not satisfied until he got home to get his Shoulder to the Work such was his care and respect to his Testimony at home in a time of Suffering the which makes our loss and want of him to be very great especially at such a time as this when suffering for the Truth abounds in which he was a good Pattern and indeed time will discover the want of him more then at present it is by some perceived the Lord make up and restore our loss according to his own good will and pleasure though his bodily Presence be removed from us yet his Life is felt to remain blessed be the Name of the Lord. As at the very hour of his departure his dear Wife with several other Friends sitting by the Corps the Life newly departed very sorrowful for their great loss though his great gain I say as they thus sate in retirednâ—ss of Mind the Love Life of God broke in upon them in an abundant manner to their great Refreshment and Satisfaction which signified thus much that though he had taken away his Servant from them yet his Life should remain and it will remain with them that walk worthy of it for it is a never failing Treasure And thus Friends I have given you a brief account of the Life Sufferings and End of this Messenger of Christ who hath delivered his Message and done the Work of God in his Day and Friends that which remains to us is thaâ— we may be found in our Day working the Work of God in answering the Requirings of God that so we may come to finish our Course with Joy and lay down our Heads in Peace as this Servant of God did which is the desire of your Friend Woodbridge the 24th of the 5th Month 1684. William Peart A COLLECTION OF Certain Epistles OF Divine Consolation c. Dear Father and Mother MY Indeared Love abounds towards you and in that which hath brought me into true obedience to God and Man do I salute you and am present with you as you come to be gathered thereunto even into the spirit of holiness in which is the unity of the Faithful into which Spirit wait to feel your growth and your obedience therein more and more which growth standeth not in Words but in Life and in Power and wait to feel your increase therein and decrease in Words which are out of the Power of God many have grown rich in Words and accounted that their growth without the Life and have feed upon the Knowledge more then upon Life and unto such the Famine is to come therefore dear Hearts yea exceeding dear to me oh keep to the measure of God in your own Particulars and be obedient to its operation that you may come to witness your translation into the â—â—rth Imâ—ortal which transâ—ation standeth not in Words but in Life and Power therefore feel the operation of the Power of God â—â— work out and mortifie that which is reproveable by it oh obedience to the operation thereof is required by it of the Creature for as it is to work upon the Soul so
Christ down from above or to descend that is to bring Christ from beneath c. but the word to wit Christ is nigh thee in the heart and in the mouth to be obeyed and done and this is the Word of Faith that Paul preached nigh in the heart Even Christ in them â—he living hope that was as an Anchor to their Souls sure and stedfast the hope of Glory And Paul exhorted the Corinthians to examine themselves and to prove themselves whether they were in the Faith whether they knew not Christ to be in 2 â—or 13. 5. them except they were Reprobates And John in his writing to the Saints reminds them of that within which they had heard from the beginning and says to them Let that remain in you to wit The word which was in the beginning which you have heard from the beginning and if it shall remain in you ye shall continue in the Son and in the Father and tells them That they should not need that any man should teach them but as the anoynting which they had received of God abiding in them should teach them which was the Truth to wit Christ the Truth in them the anoynted the anoâ—nting And as he had and did teach them so they were to abide in him so they knew Christ in them witnessed the Power of God within the Truth witâ—iâ— the Word nigh in their hearts the Spirit of God in their inward parts by which they were led guided taught anâ— instructed For so many as are the Sons of God saith Paul are led by the Spirit of God and he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his and this gave them an understanding in the things of God even the Spirit of God For no man knows the things of God saith Paul but by the Spirit â—f God through which he was made anable Minister of the New 1 Cor. 2. 10 11 12 Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit which giveth life And he Preached the everlasting Gospel Christ the Power of God the Word nigh in the heart and said If our Gospel be hid it is hid from them that are lost in whom Mark in whom the God of the world the Prince of the power of the Air that wicked spirit that worketh in the hearts of the children of disobedience hath blinded their minds lest the light of the glorious Gospel Christ Jesus should shine in and unto them But God who commandeth light to shine out of darkness hath shined Mark in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus and we have this treasure in the Earthen vessel that the glory may be of God and not of us so the Saints Preached up Christ the Word of Life the Light the Truth within and Rom 1. 19. 1 Cor. 12. 7. Tit. 2. 11. said That which is is to be known of God is manifest in them and Paul says That the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall and the free Grace of God saith he Mark that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that we denying ungodliness and worldly lusts should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And the Saints they witnessed their reconciliation and were born again they felt and knew that in themselves of which they were born again even Christ 1 Pet. 23 24 25. in them the Seed incorruptible the Word of God which lives and abides for ever by which they were begotten again unto God and quickened by the Word of life even they who were once as dead stones were raised up as living Children unto Abraham and so they came to taste that the Lord was good and gracious to taste and handle of the Word of Life and to seed upon the Bread 1 Cor. 12. 13. of Life and to drink of the Cup of Blessing and so by one Spirit were baptised into one body and were made to drink into one Spirit wherein they worshipped and served the Lord God and had Unity with the Lord in and through the Eternal Spirit and Unity one with another which united their Souls unto each other and unto the Lord God over all blessed for ever Ah dear people you in whose hearts there is true desires and secret thirstings after the living God where-ever ye are scattered among the many Sects and people towards you doth my soul yea my tender soul yearn and stream with love and good-will and for your sakes dear people doth my Soul travel in the womb of Supplication that you might come to enjoy that which you are seeking after and come to possess that you are thristing for and for your sakes mostly is this written in tender bowels of unfeigned love and pity to your souls And dear people you that have true desires in you after the Lord and hath been seeking of him where you cannot find him and hath been running from Mountain to Hill and from Hill to Mountain from one broken Cistern to another from one dead Form to another but still are unsatisfied and are sensible that you still notwithstanding your long profession and confession of God and Christ in words and notwithstanding your practicing some things that you read of which the Saints once performed in obedience of the Spirit of Truth which led them thereunto want the feeling enjoyment of the Love and sweet Peace of God and go groaning daily under the burden of the bondage of sin and corruption and desires to be set free therefrom Oh dear people retire retire with your minds inward you who have been seeking a God a far off and hunting after the Lord without retire to within and wait to know the Lord God near you to know his pure Truth in your inward parts his pure Spirit in you to lead and guide you to teach and instruct you for God is a Spirit and his teachings are spiritual he must be known in Spirit worshipped in Spirit and in Joh 4. 21 22 23 24. Truth not at the Mountain neither at Jerusalem not in this set Form nor in the other Form As lo here and lo there but in the Spirit is the Lord God known and worshipped aright by them who are born of the Spirit And so the spiritualized people who are born oâ— the Spirit and lives in the Spirit and are taught and led by the Spirit of Truth these are the peculiar people who Worship the God of Truth who is a Spirit in the Spirit and in the Truth and these are acceptable Worshippers with the Lord who own no Worship but his own which he teacheth his people by his Spirit and they that is ignorant of the Spirit of God they are ignorant of the true Worship of God which is in the Spirit and although such may seem to Worship God yet their Worship is not of God nor accepted with God It is the purified Sons of Levy who have passed through
visited in his endless unchangeable Love even in his making known and manifesting in and unto your souls his pure pretious Truth whereof he hath in measure made you pertakers with his dear Children and Witnesses of in your measures blessed be his Name who hath raised you up to bear a Testimony for him and his Truth which you profess who also hath inabled you through the power of his Love thereunto in this the day of your tryal in that great Town And my dear Friends my soul earnestly desires that you all may dwell and abide in the remembrance and living sence of the loving-kindness of the Lord towards you in his freely making known his Truth unto you that indeed the sence of his Love may bind your hearts and souls to be faithfull unto the Lord and his truth which you profess in still bearing your Testimony for the same in this the day of tryal standing as noble faithfull witnesses for the Truth every one of you in your measures amongst that hard hearted and crooked Generation in the midst of whom my dear friends you in the Light may shine as Lights in the blamless Life and unreproveable Conversation even to the praise of the Lord God and to the honour of his truth which you profess Now dear friends the Lord hath caused you hitherto to bear a testimony for him and against that wicked spirit of Persecution which would limit the Lord in his people in this particuler fix in your meeting and assembling your selves together in his fear to wait upon him and to worship him in spirit and in truth though it hath been though Sufferings And dear friends in the meekness of love unfeigned I Cry unto you saying oh do not grow faint nor weary of bearing your testimony still for the truth and worship of God in your meeting together in his name for dear Friends wherein can we in one particular exercise of the spirit of truth bear a larger testimony for the truth then in our meeting and assembling our selves together in the truth to worship the God of truth in the spirit of truth seeing that this is the thing above many which the wicked spirit of persecution doth so eagerly and so highly oppose and so eanestly seek and so greatly indeavour to deprive us of and confine us from wherefore dear Friends I cannot but in the Love and Zeal of the truth exhort you all not to neglect meeting together in the fear of God so long as the Lord permit you Liberty so to do And oh let not the smalness of your number you little Flock who are hated and rejected by the world be any discouragement to you in this matter but oh rather be you incouraged thereby in the strength of the Lord in love to his truth to bear up your testimony in that great Town in the midst of so many Persecutors faithfully in your measures even to the honour of the Lord his truth My dear friends let me say again neglect not meeting together through giving way to the slothâ—ul careless spirit or through letting in the fear of man into your hearts for indeed my dear friends although you be a poor small Remnant for whom my soul travelleth with the Lord for your preservation yet behold as you keep your meetings in the fear and name of the Lord you will feel and injoy his living presence in and amongst you which will make your meetings profitable unto you And dear Babes in stillness quietness in peace patiâ—nce and contentedness possess your souls in the dominion of truth to reign over all those thoughts reasonings and consultings which the Enemy of your souls would infuse into your minds whereby he would raise trouble and tumult in your hearts and bring faintness and weakness upon you And dear Friends lend not an ear to listen after the rumours and reports of the world nor heed not the boasting of the wicked neither regard the threatning of truths Enemies but dear Babes continually lend an ear unto the Lord and hearken you unto his Counsel and have continual regard unto him in your hearts and wait to feel his presence with you continually and know your unity with him and every perticular one feel and find in your selves that the Lord God almighty is on your sides and then my dear Friends you need not matter who are against you if the Lord be for you so dear Lambs be faithful to the Lord and to his truth in your measures and be not Dâ—scouraged nor Danted through the sence of the rage wroth and bitterness of your Enemies and through the feeling of your own weakness and feebleness but trust ye in the Lord and hope ye in his tender bowels which are opened with groanings of compassion towards his poor afflicted suffering people who is and yet will be a strength to the poor and needy a refuge unto them from the storm and a shadow unto them from the heat a helper in the time of need a Deliverer out of trouble in the greatest straits who will appear to help his helpless ones whâ— have no other helper but the Lord. So the Lord God almighty be with you and gird up your loins with Courage Boldness Strength and Valour and spread upon you the mantle of faithfulness and cause you to persevere on in the perpetual patience and to abide in the continual content therein to run the race that is set before you which you have begun And the Lord almighty of heaven and of earth for his own seeds sake keep you from fainting by the way and carry you through all whatever either outwardly or inwardly you do or may meet withal and keep you and preserve you unto the end that in the end dear Lambs we may lay down our heads together in the sweet bosom of the Lord God of everlasting rest peace and quietness in whose sweet meek heavenly humbling melting love my soul dearly salutes you all and commits you all unto the Lord God almighty Farewell dear Friends Dwell together in that love which thinks no evil therein forgiving and forbearing one another even as the tender God of bowels hath forgiven you and born with you day after day and time after time and dwell all in the meek spirit of self-denial keeping the unity in the spirit in the bond of peace Norwich-Castle the 3 d Moneth 1664. Your tender Friend and Brother WILLIAM BENNIT God only Exalted in his own Work OR THE Works of God Praiseth him in Sion OR A Song of Deliverance from a great and sore Captivity Thraldom and Bondage under the King of Egyptian Darkness the God of the World where the Soul was fast bound as with strong Chains and Fetters but now Ransomed by the out-stretched Arm of Gods Almighty Power and art come to Sion with Songs of everlasting Joy upon thy head and hast obtain'd joy and gladness and thy sighing and mourning is fled away witnessed unto and experienced in that Vessel whose earthly
Pharoah and his host he utterly destroyed in his wrath and delivered thee oh my soul out of his hand and destroyed them who would have destroyed thee and gave thee dominion over them that had dominion over thee and thou sawest them lie dead as by the Sea shore glory glory glory ah glory glory and pure praises praises to God to the Lord God even thy God oh my soul and now oh my soul thou canst sing a song of deliverance a song of victory and triumph and go into the Sanctuary of God to the Altar of God thy God even God thy exceeding joy ah and upon the Harp thou canst praise God the Lord thy God thy delight and joy Oh! oh my soul my soul thou in the lowly fear and holy dread of the Lord thy tender God and in truth and righteousness livingly and experimentally canst say the Lord my God is my strength and my song he also is become my salvation he is my Rock and strong Tower his work is perfect a God the God of truth and righteousness just and right he is the holy one whose dwelling is on high in the holy place and with him also who is of a poor and a meek and a contrite spirit and that trembleth before his Holiness and fears and dreads before his dreadful Name ah ah thy right hand O Lord thy right hand O Lord God of power is become glorious in power is become mighty in power thy right hand O Lord God Almighty hath dashed in pieces mine enemies by the greatness O Lord my God by the greatness of thy wonderful excellency thou hast O Lord confounded them that rose up against me thou lettest forth thy wrath and consumed them as stubble before a mighty fire thou lettest forth the breath of thy fury and blew upon them and scattered them as chaff before a mighty wind Oh! oh who can stand before thy indignation thy dreadful indignation who can abide the extream fierceness of thy anger thy fury is poured forth like fire thou breakest the râ—cks in pieces the mountains tremble before thee the mighty God thou utterest thy voice and the Heathen tremble thou roarest and the Kingdoms are moved and the earth melteth at the appearance of thy presence who cometh with fire and thy Chariots like a whirle-wind thou renderest thy anger with fury and thy rebukes with flames of fire thou hast thy way in the whirle-winds and the Clouds are as the dust of thy feet Thou art the mighty God who can but fear before thee and tremble at thy eternal presence thou roarest out of thy Sion and utterest thy voice from thy Jerusalem and the Inhabitants of the earth tremble thereat but still thou art the hope of thy People and the strength of thy ransomed ones their strong Tower their present Helper in the time of trouble Wherefore I 'll not fear though the Earth be removed and carried into the midst of the Sea and though the Sea roar and be terrible and the Mountains shake with the swellings thereof and the Hills fly before it though the tall Cedars of Lebanon fall and the strong Oaks of Bashan bend before it yet I will not fear the Lord is with me and he will not forsake me but he will help me and that right early Wherefore I will only fear before the Lord before the Lord my God the mighty eternal God of mighty eternal Power who measureth out the Heavens as with a span and measureth the waters of the Seas in the hollow of his hand who comprehendeth the dust of the Earth in a measure weigheth the Mountains as in scales and the Hills as in a ballance who taketh up the Islands as a very little thing before whose face the Heavens and the Earth flee away and behold there appeareth no more Sea Oh! who can but fear before thee O Lord my God the enemy said I 'll pursue I 'll overtake I 'll not spare my lusts shall be satisfied on him But O Lord O Lord God my God thou wert my God near to help in the time of need and in the time of greatest need appeared appeared in the greatest power of love O Lord thou blew upon them and the Sea covered them and they sunk as Lead in the bottom of the mighty Waters O Lord O Lord God who is like unto thee who amongst the gods is like unto thee the only God who art dreadful in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Oh! let the people hear and be afraid and the Dukes of Edom be amazed and let trembling take hold of the mighty men of Moab oh who can but fear before thee O Lord my God Thou hast redeemed me and led me forth in thy power and guided me in thy strength unto thy holy habitation thou wilt bring me in and plant me in the mountain of thy Inheritance in thy Sanctuary O Lord which thy hands have established wherein I shall live with thee O Lord my God for ever Ah glory glory glory unto thee O Lord God my God The Lord is a man of war the Lord of Host is his name Pharaoh and his mighty men hath he drowned in the Sea but he hath saved thee oh my soul So Lord let thine enemies perish but let them that hope in thy mercy live for ever to declare thy wonders and magnifie thy name in the land of the living Ah! glory glory ah glory glory to God the mighty God ah praises praises honour and thanksgiving unto thee O Lord my God who lives for ever and for evermore Amen Oh! oh what is this what is this that the Lord thy tender God of infinite bowels of pity hath done for thee oh my soul thou wert a slave in the Land of Egypt and the Lord hath redeemed thee oh my soul thou wert in darkness and the Lord hath given thee light and thou wert under the region and shadow of death and he hath brought thee forth in the to Land of life Thou wert in the prison shut up in the prison-house bound up with chains and fetters in the low dungeon of darkness and he hath broken thy chains and snapt thy fetters asunder and loosed thy bonds and broke up the prison door and pulled down the prison house and set thee free oh my soul Oh my soul my soul thou wert a captive in the Land of Babylon estranged from the Common-wealth of Israel and an Alien from Sion sitting sorrowful and solitary by the River of Babylon in the Land of Captivity mourning when thou thoughst upon Sion for thou wert a Captive in a strange Land and sorrow through the sence of thy woful Captivity and Alienation from thy native Land compassed thee about and trouble on every hand tears was thy drink daily sorrow thy meat and groans and sighs thy greatest joy thou wentest bowed down all the day long with an heart aking and thine eyes dropping with tears because of the oppressions of thine enemies and burdens of thine oppressours
Rend and Devour in the tender Love of the great Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls is my heart opened to you to visit you with a few Lines and in the name of my God and your God my Father and your Father I say unto you he whom you serve hath seen your Afflictions and hath beheld your Sufferings and hath took notice of your Burdens and cognizence of your grievous Oppressions and hath heard your Groanings and hath beheld your Tears he assuredly will in his own time rebuke your Enemies and plead your innocent Cause with your Oppressors and ease you of and free you from your great Afflictions therefore dear suffering Lambs of my heavenly Father lift up your Heads in the Name of the Lord God and take Courage and be Strong in his Power and Truth which is in you and with you and on your sides and it is the Truth that shall prevail against all its Enemies and its Opposers shall be Confounded and the Truth of our God shall Flourish over all therefore dear Hearts still cleave to the precious Truth of God made known unto you and let nothing separate you from it oh blessed be the Lord that he hath begotten such a Love in you to him and his Truth that such is your love thereunto that you are willing to undergo Reproaches Abuses and spoyling of your Goods Imprisonment and to be separated from your Friends and Relations for Truths sake oh dear Lambs great is your Reward if you abide to the end and faint not in well doing oh my heart is open to you in the tender Love and Bowels of Emanuel and my soul is refreshed in your Faithfulness and though many of your Faces I never saw yet I am one with you in your Sufferings wherein my soul simpathiseth with you and hath unity with your Testimony for the Lord and my spirit doth praise the Lord the God of your Salvation on your behalf in that he hath so mightily upheld you and born you up in his Arms in the midst of your Tryals though you of your selves are Weak yet the Lord is Strong whose Strength you know by experience is manifested in Weakness therefore trust hope and depend you upon the Lord forever who is and will be your exceeding great reward cast your care upon him for he your God careth for you and yours he is a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widow he is the Comforter of the Comfortless and gladeth the heavy hearted Oh be still quiet patient and contented in your Minds and wait upon the Lord and be not at all terrifyed by your Adversaries but in the lowly fear of the Lord God rejoyce in that he hath counted you worthy not only to believe but to suffer for his Name sake oh your Reward no man can take away as you continue faithful to the Lord dear Lambs my Bowels yearn towards you and in the Fathers love I salute you desiring that Grace Mercy and Peace may rest upon you and the blessing of the most High distil upon you as dew upon the tender Herbs that you ye tender Plants may grow and be like Willows by the Water Courses and as Cedars by the Rivers side that your Leaf may not wither neither cease bearing Fruit so dear suffering Lambs as none is to be through Joy Exalted above what is meet so none through Sorrow is to be Dejected or cast down but every one in all Conditions is to learn to be Contented with the will of the Lord and none to murmur against the Lord because of the Prosperity of the Wicked and Advancement of Sions Enemies for though they seem to Flâ—uâ—ish like a green Bay-Tree yet they will become like Grass upon the House top that withereth before it is grown up So unto the Lord God I commit you who careth for all his and is a present help in the time of need and leaveth not his Sheep and Lambs when the Wolves come to Devour but he the mighty God standeth by his People and sighteth for mount Sion and defends the Hills thereof and will put to flight her Enemies and with the Breath of his Mouth expel and scatter the Clouds Fogs and Mists that ariseth out of the bottomless pit of Darkness that then oh Sion thy Glory may appear as the Morning without Clouds and as the Sun in its Brightness thy Beauty may shine forth and thy Enemies be Astonished and Confounded forever This is the salutation of my Love who am your Fellow Sufferer and Companion in the Patience and Tribulation of Jesus the Lord God be with you and support the weak and little ones among you and keep you all Faithful to the end and preserve you in Love and Unity one with another Amen saith my soul Bury Goal 1669. William Bennit Dearly Beloved FRiends Brethren and Sisters in the Heavenly Spiritual Relation of the Immortal Incorruptible Seed of Life Eternal of which you are born again and become Heirs of an Inheritance that is Everlasting by Faith in Christ Jesus in and from whom Joy and Peace Mercy and Grace be multiplyed in and unto all your Souls Amen Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who through his abundant Mercy and free Grace hath called us and with the Arms of his Everlasting Kindness hath gathered us and by his Almighty Power hath raised us up to be unto him a People to live unto him in his Life and to walk before him in Truth and Righteousness and to Serve and Worship him in his own Way and Spirit and to bear Testimony thereunto and against the contrary in Word and Doctrine in Life and Conversation and for our Testimonies sake the Nations are angry with us and the Earth is moved and the Waters troubled and swell against us as if we should be swollowed up and wholly over-whelmed with the Floods of the Wrath of the Dragon who seeks to drown the blessed and glorious appearance of the man Child who is to rule the Nations in Justice in Mercy in Judgment in Righteousness and Truth well my dear Friends though at this day we are a suffering People and as it were Killed all the day long and appointed Sheep for the Slaughter and are set as a prey for the Beast of the Field and Lyons of the Forrest and though the Jaws of Death and Gates of Hell seem to be opened wide against us as if we should be swallowed up quick and be extinguished from being a People yet notwithstanding we can rejoyce in the Lord our God because our sufferings are infflicted upon us not for evil doing but for well doing and our Enemies have found no just Cause given them of us thus to give us up to the Spoylers and into the hands of Wicked Ungodly Unreasonable men but altogether without a Cause given of us have they taken an occasion against us as Daniel's Persecutors did against him concerning the Law Commands and Worship of our God so that at