Canaan whom Noah cursed And the beginning of this mighty Hunter's Kingdom was Babel where the Lord whom he hunted before followed after and confounded the Language of all them that belonged to this mighty Hunter who was a mighty one in the Earth and out of this Land of Babel went forth them that built many Cities and afterwards there was a People whose gods were according to the number of their Cities And so see what followeth when man is not led by the Spirit of God as Noah was and so preserved but hunts mightily before him being mighty in that which is Earthly first he is mighty in the Earth then a mighty Hunter then builds a mighty Tower whereby he that is earthly would climb up to Heaven this a Figure and then God confounded the Language and after wards those that were in the many Languages professed God who confounded the Language before whom their Father Nimrod hunted and they being found in that which God confounded though they professed God yet in Works denyed him and crucified his Son the Lord of Glory and writ over his Head of the many Languages Latin Greek and Hebrew and this was written above him that was the Light and so them now who are of the stock of Babel are yet exalted above the Light and count the Light a weak and low contemptible thing not able to save it self much less to save them that believe in it and so therein manifest themselves to be of their Fathers who crucified him that said I am the Light and said unto him If thou be the Son of God save thy self and so despised him who came to save them And this is some of the effect of mans hurting mightily in the Earth before they came to receive the Spirit as Nimrod did Gen. 9. 18 25. ch 10. 8 9 10 11. ch 11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. John 19. 19 20. But Jacob followed obeyed and believed the Lord who is a Spirit and the Presence of God was with him and the Blessing of the Most High was upon him and the Lord promised To be with him who was a Worm in six Troubles and in seven and when he passed through the Fire and the Water and God gave him a new Name and afterwards promised To give his Seed a Name better than of Sons and Daughters and Jacob was a plain man and dwelt in Tents and him God loved and he prevailed with God Isa 41. 14. ch 43. 1 2 3 4 5. Gen. 22. 28. Isa 56. 5. And so Nimrod with his Followers who was mighty in the Earth came to be confounded and Jacob who was little in the Earth as a Worm and dwelt in Tents he and his Seed came to be blessed And Moses the Servant of the Lord whom God Almighty honoured in his everlasting Love and made him a Deliverer unto and a Judge and Ruler over the People Acts 7. 35. he being in Aegypt the Land of Darkness and Bondage and all the Seed and Israel of God in cruel Oppression and I do not read that he had any direction from Man or Scripture or any thing else without him to guide him at first to refuse to be called the Son of Pharoahs Daughter and the glory of Aegypt and to chuse to suffer Affliction with the People of God Neither do I read that he saw the Angel or Glory of the Lord until after he was and had been Obedient unto that which God had given into him for that which may be known of God is manifest within Rom. 1. 19. for it is said in the Scriptures of Truth That it was by Faith Heb. 11. 24. that he refused the evil and chose the good and Faith is that which is in the Heart Acts 15. 9. As it is written If thou believe in thy Heart Rom. 10. 9. Acts 18. 37. And of that Faith in the Heart God hath given to every man a Proportion Rom. 12. 6. And as that which is but little in man is loved and obeyed so man comes to know more of God and hear his Word of Faith which is in the Heart Rom. 10. 8. And by hearing and Obedience of Faith man receiveth the Spirit Gal. 3. 2. which is an undeniable Truth which I might prove by a cloud of Witnesses from the Scriptures which were given forth from the Inspiration of God by his holy Servants And so there being something of God in man whereby man may as Moses did first refuse the Evil and then chuse a suffering state and so learn to do well the Sin then comes to be done away Isa 16. 17 18. and afterwards more of God's enless Love and powerful Presence is made manifest and so being faithful in the little received from God in the Heart man comes to rule over much as Moses did who first learned the Obedience of Faith in the Heart though in Aegypt and in the time of great Persecution where he was also despised of his Brethren yet he obeyed the Word of Faith in the Heart and so afterwards to him God appeared and the Word of the Lord came unto him and he talked with God afterwards face to face as a man talketh with his Friend and the many Wonders that the mighty Power of God wrought in and by him are recorded at large in the holy Scriptures for a Testimony thereof to last throughout many Generations And by this Faith also afterwards the Members of Christ did walk 2 Cor. 5. 7. And Joshua who succeeded Moses was full of the Spirit of Wisdom consider that he was first full of the Spirit and so thereby he came to be a Leader and Ruler over others and the Dread of the Lord fell and his Judgments came upon them who rose up or stood against him and those whom he by the Power of the Spirit in him came to rule over and great many and mighty were the Victories that God gave unto this man who was bold and couragious by reason of the fullness of the Spirit that was in him and the People hearkned unto him as they did unto Moses and he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses Deut. 34. 9. Josh 11. 15. But the Lords people in these dayes who are led by the Spirit of God in them are accounted both by Priests Rulers and People to be drunk or mad as it was before when the Son of God who is the Light was revealed in Paul Gal. 1. 15 16. he was accounted by the Ruler of the People to be mad Acts 26. 24. And when the Disciples of Christ had waited and afterwards received the Spirit of Truth within from the which they spake as with new Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance at them then many were amazed others mocked supposing them to be drunk Acts 2. 12 13 14 15. And when Hunnah prayed in Heart being grieved in Spirit was esteemed to be drunk even by Ely the Priest yet she by her Prayers in her Heart obtained her desire of
he left a good savour behind him for even such as were not Friends in the Prison where he dyed were made to speak well of him he was so innocent in his Conversation towards all People William Jenings South-hampton the 11th of the 12th Moneth 1682. The Testimony of Nicholas Gates concerning Humphry Smith DEar Friends Brethren and Sisters in Christ Jesus and all tender hearted People to whose hands thess Testimonies of our dear Friend Humphry Smith may come these few words arose in my heart to signifie concerning him I having had good experience of his Labours and Travails in the preaching of the Gospel of Christ Jesus with many more who were often comforted and refreshed in the sence of the Lords blessed Power which attended him in the living Testimonies he did bear concerning that Gift of God which is to be known in man he was a faithful Labourer in the work and service of the Lord and a patient Sufferer under the many Tryals that did befall him in his day he never murmured at the Exercises that he met withal through Wicked and Vnreasonable men he constantly testified of and unto the Light of Christ in the inward parts of men and women directing all to that of God in their own hearts affirming with the holy Apostle who said That which was to be known of God is manifest in man He was very powerful through the help of the Lord to the convincing of many and turning them to the Light of Christ in themselves his Testimonies yet live in the hearts of many though he be outwardly removed from us and many have cause to praise the Lord in that he raised him up with many more Brethren and Sisters to testifie of and concerning the Light of Christ within man by which we are made nigh unto the Lord who were afar off To whom be Praises and Thanks-giving forever Nicholas Gates senior Alton the 10th of the 12th Moneth 1682. James Potler's Testimony concâ—rning Humphry Smith GOd having raised up Humphry Smith with many other Brethren to publish and make known his Name in this the Land of our Nativity after a long and tedious Night of Apostacy and though the Name of the Wicked shall Rot yet the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance and many are the seals of his Ministry that were begotten to a lively hope in Christ Jesus through the Word of Life in him besides the many Testimonies left upon Record by him which though he be taken away yet live in the hearts of many bearing Testimony that he was of God and that his Word dwelt plentifully in him yet I being a Sufferer with him for more than a years time in that streight noisom Prison at Winchester and in my measure sensible of his faithfulness to God in that work and service which God had called him to I say the Love of God in my Heart to his Truth and to my deceased Brother constraineth me to give in my Testimony in few words with others of my Brethren to the many Testimonies left by him That he was a man that loved the Lord with an upright heart and that it was as Meat and drink to him to do the will of God delighting more in it than in his daily Food being diligent and laborious in his day and time desiring to spend and be spent for the Gospels sake He was a man very bold and valiant for the Truth and for the Testimony thereof suffered many sharp and hard Imprisonments in several Prisons in this Nation besides very much cruel and inhumane Usage by Wicked and Unreasonable men He was released out of Prison that time which I was Prisoner with him but was afterwards taken from a Meeting at Alton where much of the Lords heavenly Presence was manifested through him by a company of rude Souldiers and had before some Magistrates and committed to the same Prison at Winchester again where after he had been continued some time it pleased the Lord to visit him with sickness which with much patience he passed through yet in all the Lord was good unto him and preserved him in Peace and Contentedness and Submission to his Will magnifying the Name of his God through all being kept sensible and in good and perfect Memory to his decease JAMES POTTER Winchester-Prison the 8th of the 12th Moneth 1682 Edward Waldren's Testimony concerning Humphry Smith I Hearing that the Work and Testimonies left upon Record of that true and faithful Servant of the Lord in whose work and service Humphry Smith was found unto the last are printed in one Volumn I found much stirring and freedom to write this Testimony concerning him that it might be inserted in the Book he being a man that I greatly loved having Acquaintance with him and by him first convinced of the unchangeable Truth and Way of the Lord through the powerful Operation of the Spirit and Word of God that dwelt plentifully in the heart of this faithful Servant of God who loved not his Life to the Death for his Testimonies sake by which he overcame and was found faithful to the end which he finished with joy as by his last words spoken to some Friends doth manifestly appear a little before his decease or laying down of the Body in this close strait nasty stinking Prison or County-Goal in Winchester to the which I this day and time belong and am a Prisoner under the sentence of Praemunire for nothing else but obeying the Doctrine and Command of Christ Jesus because for conscience sake only towards God I cannot Swear at all Humphry was the first in scorn called a Quaker that ever had a publick Testimony for God in the Town of Andever it being a great Meeting in which by his powerful clear Testimony several were convinced though he was then opposed by rude Souldiers Not long after he was cast into this Prison some of those that were convinced by his Testimony that had a love raised to the Lord and some knowledge of his Way and Truth some of these in Andever being thereby led forth to visit Humphry in Prison both Priests and Professors began to stir and be in a rage against and at the breaking forth of Truth in that Town I then being weary of Priests and seperate Professors seeing their Pride Avarice Evil Lives and Conversations though under a specious pretence of God and Godliness but void of the saving knowledge of both I being sensible that this was my Condition and finding and feeling the Judgments of the Lord and the weight and burden of Sin and Iniquity being in the bondage of Corruption like them I had been among under all groaned to be delivered from under the weight and burden thereof into the glorious Liberty and Freedom of the Sons and Daughters of God and being unacquainted with the Way of the Lord or how to do his Will or to have any entrance into the Kingdom that consists in Righteousness Joy and Peace in the holy Ghost which
Devil one way or serve him another XXXVII Whether the man be not Head of the woman and then whether that which is head and above must worship that which is under And whether such a joyning together as this for the one to worship the other be of God and whether God's People in time of Law or Gospel were ever joyned together in such a Covenant and whether it be not contrary to all Scripture and good understanding And whether it be not time to have this put away as is mentioned in the beginning XXXVIII Whether it be not a piece of gross Apostacy See visitation of the â—ick and Popery for proud covetous Priests who are in divers Sins generally to pretend power to absolve the Sick from Sin with these Words I absolve thee from all thy Sins And whether most of the same Priests will not themselves acknowledge that they are miserable Sinners and Offenders And can such forgive the Sins of others and cannot leave Sin themselves Or can they pull the Mote out of anothers Eye before they have cast the Beam out of their own XXXIX Whether the Priest though he by his own confession a miserable Sinner doth absolve the Sick from his Sin that so he is then free from it Or doth he not If he doth whether he doth not more for another than God hath done for him And then whence had he that Power so to do and whether any true Members of Christ can believe it If not whether therein the Priest be not a most miserable blind Leader of the Blind and a foul Deceiver of Mankind both at their coming into the World by a pretended Regeneration and at their going out of the World by as false an Absolution And whether ever there were any greater Deceivers than these XL. Whether the People that dye in their Sins and the Priests that live in their Sins be not therein truly Brethren See Burial of the dead together in Iniquity seeing the Priest saith at the burying of the dead For asmuch as it hath pleased God to take our dear Brother here deceased XLI Whether the Priest doth give God thanks for the safe deliverance of no other Women but such as are Gods See Churching of Women Servants Or whether they are not to give God thanks for almost all Women after Child-birth And whether all Women that they are to give thanks for and do give thanks for be the Servants of God seeing they say Almighty God which hath delivered this Woman thy Servant Or whether most of the women they give thanks for be not Servants of Sin and led about with divers Lusts And whether it be not one thing to be a Servant of Sin and another thing to be a Servant of God XLII Whether the new Man which is within Children See Commination and People and to be raised up in them be not Christ and whether Christ be not the Light And whether he that is the new Man and the Light be not the Way and whether all they be not blind that know it not And if Christ the Light and the Way be to be known within the hope of Glory and that the Priests have caused Children and People who were so blind they did not know it to go out from that which is the new Man and the Light and the Way within and also teach them to go after and walk in something without Whether such Priests have not these many Years cursed themselves or read the Curse against themselves and causing the People to say Amen to it in saying Cursed is he that maketh the Blind to go out of his Way XLIII Whether the Priests themselves have not put their Trust in Man and taken one Man and Protector afteru aother for their Defence And whether some of them have not been unmerciful in taking more than Ten times the value in Goods of what themselves demanded from men And whether some have not been Fornicators and some Covetous Persons and some Slanderers and Drunkards and many Extortioners If not let Gods Witness and their own Fruits testifie If they are such then whether they have not a long time read the Curse against themselves and that from Year to Year in these late Ages as long as they durst do it saying Cursed are the Vnmerciful the â—ornicators and Adulterers and the Covetous Persons the Worshippers of Images Slanderers Drunkards and Extortioners XLIV Whether the Priests that did in our Infancy sprinkle us who are now in derision by them called Quakers did then by that Water and their Words make us or so many of us as they did so sprinkle the Children of God the Members of Christ and the Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven If not whether did not they grosly deceive us as also by after teaching and perswading us we are already regenerated and born again in our Baptism by which means hindering us what in them lay for ever looking after it and causing us to say we were that we were not and so made innocent Children speak Lyes we not knowing it to be Lyes If they did make us so then what have they since done in Reviling and smiting with the Tongue and Pen and writing against us the Members of Christ and persecuting us the Children of God and that so many Years together and in causing us the Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven to be Imprisoned Year after Year to the depriving many of us of our Healths and some of our Lives and many of their Livelihoods by spoiling of their Goods And by this time some other thing then what the former Composers of the Common-Prayer did put away which did burden mens Consciences are herein by way of Query made manifest to be abused yea even the Prayers abused and several of these things the Minds of People will never be quiet concerning as to own them again unless some better satisfaction in plain and sound Words be given them either by answer hereunto or otherwise in the like nature in Love and not by Severity for Love and sound Words may win the Hearts of those which Severity Bonds and Cruelty cannot force them unto till they are better satisfied concerning it Written by one that hath learned as he was taught To for sake the Devil and all his Works the Vanities of the wicked World to hold the true christian-Christian-Faith and to keep God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the dayes of his Life H. S. An Epistle to all the Meetings in Dorsetshire ONce more am I moved to visit you with an Epistle of plain words from the free and powerful operation of divine Love unto the seed which in many lieth oppressed by reason of that which through disobedience doth hinder the growth thereof so that many come not into the Life of Truth which in the power of God was declared unto you whose hearts at that time were much broken and true desires in many raised but afterwards