enâ—oy it and if they do not then the preservation of the People of God you say is lost and all good Government will cease and the People will be made a Prey upon and so the three Nations will be ruined at once and therefore seeing such things are like to come to pass if a Parliament chosen by the People be not upheld some of you have said you will assert their Cause to the last drop of your blood Answ Friends It 's good to be zealously affected in a good Cause and it 's good that the zeal be according to knowledge and it 's precious to have the zeal moderated with the Wisdom of God Therefore I exhort you in that Life and Wisdom which is of Christ my Master who came not to destroy mens lives but to save them that you would mind the Dread and Fear of the Lord God which is the beginning of Wisdom therefore be moderate and in coolness consider these things which I shall declare unto you which in waiting upon the Lord he by his Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding opened in me concerning the chusing of Parliaments by the Voices of the People and I know that you who truly desire the good of God's People and that Mercy and Justice might be established by righteous Laws whereby Equity and Justice might bâ— done unto all without respect of persons may clearly see with God's Witness in you which will answer to my words That you are not like to see your desires fulfilled by a Parliament that 's chosen by the Voices of the People mark the reasons Because the greater part of the People that are admitted to chuse Parliament men are such as do not truly desire the good of God's People whatever they may profess in words therefore it being in their Power to chuse whom they will among themselves as it is because most Voices carry it they will chuse such men as are like minded with themselves that 's plain and according to the Scriptures for the World love their own as saith John and now for proof that the greater part are not such as desire the good of the Lord's People I would have you consider how that the Scripture saith That the flock of Christ is a little flock and Christ saith Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it but broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction and many there be that walk therein and though Israel be as the sand of the Sea yet but a remnant shall be saved Now if ye believe these Scriptures then may you see that a Parliament that is chosen by most voices are not like to act for God and the good of his People and it hath been the complaint of the soberest and honestest men in several Counties when they should have chosen Parliament men that they could not chuse such a man as they judged would act singly for the good of the People of God and the Country because they were over-voted by the wild disaffected People who sometimes have been stirred up by their Priests to vote for such a man as the Priests knew would act for their covetous oppressing self-interest and in some places some great proud men who desired to be in Authority have feasted the People and sent Gifts to them with flatteries thereby striving to get the People to vote for them promising them to stand for their Liberties when it hath been but to serve their own self-ends and thus the People have been deceived and if at any time in some Counties and Places the honest sober People have chosen some honest-men to serve in Parliament yet there being so many in the Parliament that have sought their own Honour and Gain that such men as were honest and would have made just Laws and have acted for Equity and Liberty they have been hindred because what is done in Parliament is done by most voices also and the honest party in the Parliament having been the lesser party have been over-voted also The Light in your Consciences will witness that these things are true And whereas it is said That it is England's Birth-right that the People should chuse their own Law-makers I answer Then many thousands of men in England have been wronged of and kept long from their Birth-right for such as are not Free-men of some Corporations or have not Free-land of their own are not permitted to chuse Parliament men mark that though they be far more honest and understanding men than many that are Free of such Corporations and have such Land so that it 's but a part of the People that must chuse Law-makers And further he that hath Free-land worth forty shillings by the year in several Counties he may give his Voice in several Counties where his Land lyeth for several Parliament men when as he that hath Land but in one County cannot have the same priviledge though he be a far more honest man and he that 's a Free-man of that Corporation that finds a Parliament man or men and hath Free-lands in the Country also he may chuse both in the one and other but he that is not Free of such a Place he may not have the like priviledge though he be more honester than the other And this arose from the same ground that negative Voices arose from and it hath been the Manner and Custom of England to call and chuse many wise men after the flesh and many mighty and Noble men so called to be Parliament men that so we see the calling and chusing of Parliaments in England hath been exactly contrary to God's calling and chusing Read 1 Cor. 1.26 and therefore such Parliaments are not like to act for God and the good of his People but against them But that which God hath called and chosen shall confound and bring to naught the Wise and the Mighty and the Noble things so called of the World and this the Lord will bring to pass that so no flesh may glory in his presence Read 1 Cor. 1.27 28 29. And likewise the chusing of Parliament men according to the Custom of England which is called its Birth-right stands in respect of persons and not in equality for the rich covetous oppressing men who oppress the Poor they have the only power to chuse Law-makers and they will chuse to be sure such as will uphold them in their Oppression and the poor man that is oppressed though he have no power allowed him to chuse yet he must be subject to the Laws which they make who are his Oppressors or else he is accounted a Rebel so what right think ye is the Oppressed like to have when his Oppressors chuse the men that are to be Judges of his Cause and thus the rich men oppress the poor and draw them before their Judgement seats as they did in Jamâ—s his dayes Jam. 2.6 These things being considered ye may see the unequalness and partiality that hath been
motions and the bad motions which you will see stirring in your minds and if you hold fast the Word of Truth it will preserve and keep you out of the bad thoughts and motions and it will joyn you unto the good and ye will come to feel the operation of the Spirit and Life and Power of God in you to shake and overturn and work out that ground which hath been in you from whence the bad words and bad thoughts and bad motions have arose which have burdened the oppressed and tender Seed in you which you never could witness satisfied with all that ever you have performed but as ye all believe and wait in this unchangable measure of God you will come to feel the burden taken off the Seed and ye will come to feel and witness more true durable peace and satisfaction in one hours waiting upon God than ever you felt and witnessed in all the words that ever you have heard from any man or woman in all your lives or in all your Practices that ever you have practised before you were brought to wait upon God in his Gifts which he hath given you to profit withal although in those things which we have practised I know ye have had a great joy appearing in you for a time but it was not durable nor lasting for when God's true and faithful Witness the Light appeared and shewed you how that God never required those things at your hands which you had practised then your joy and peace withered and came to an end which you appeared sometime to have in those Practices and if at any time ye came to feel some little peace and joy and refreshment through what God opened to the Seed in you when by his Power ye were brought into some tenderness ye soon lost this also by going from that which brought you into the tenderness But as you all come into the Obedience of the Spirit and abide in it this will bring you into the seasoned Life and then ye will come to feel and witness pure peace and joy and refreshment and satisfaction which will last and abide for ever with you if ye abide in the Spirit and then ye will be made willing to lay down and deny all that which ye have been acting which ye never were led and guided to act by God's Pure Holy Spirit and to deny all such also as would draw you to act that which God requireth not at your hands So take heed of such as daub with untempered morter and heal deceitfully who will speak peace when there is no true peace but the pure Witness of God condemns for such with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple keeping them ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth and these through covetousness and feigned words make merchandize of poor People for they have a Form of Godliness but they deny and resist the Power and therefore from such turn away And all mind that and feel that and be subject unto that which for sin condemns sin in the flesh and then you will feel the Spirit of Judgement and Burning and Righteousness through which the Seed is redeemed which Seed is Heir of the Kingdom of God So all wait in the meek lowly quiet Spirit that ye may come to witness this Holy Seed which delights to do the Will of God by the power and Life of God raised up in you satisfied and brought forth out of captivity And look not out nor strive after great and high things beyond your measures for that puffs up and leads into confusion and dark imaginations but all wait and be still in the measure of God's Light manifested in you that so you may come to feel him revealing his secrets and mysteries unto the Babes which cannot live or be satisfied without him God is making known that and stirring that in the hearts of People throughout the World which doth and shall confound and overturn all the Wisdom of this World and the subtilty of the Serpent from whence all the Worlds Wisdom arose and therefore the hand of the Lord will be terrible and heavy upon the disobedient who disobey and transgress that which he hath put into their Hearts whereby he is opening a mighty understanding in the People But the everlasting Blessing and Peace and Joy and Glory of the Lord over all shall arise and rest upon all those that joyn to and believe in and obey that Word which is nigh in the mouth and in the heart By a Labourer in the Power of Truth which doth make free for the Deliverance and Freedom of the Righteous Seed George Fox the younger An Exhortation to Families who have desires to serve the Lord God in their several places that they may all learn in the Light of Christ Jesus the Wisdom and Power of God who is the true Teacher O Ye Fathers and Mothers stand in the pure fear of the Lord and wait in his Light that ye may receive his living Wisdom and live in it that so ye may be ordered by it and with it order all things to God's glory and bring up your Children in the fear of the Lord watching over them in the seasoned savoury Life of God not suffering them to live in wildness nor idleness nor vain talking unreproved but in the sober meek Spirit and in the Authority of God's Lamb reprove them and that will reach the Witness of God in them and correct them in the Fear and Wisdom and Freedom of God in the Patience and follow not their foolish wills neither correct them in your own wills nor in hastiness rashness or passion for if ye do then that will use the Rod which is to be beaten with the Rod of God and that will make your Children more stubborn and wicked and this will offend God but stand ye in God's Counsel and discourage nothing in your Children but evil and let them have that which is meet just and reasonable and no more that none of God's Creatures be wasted and be ye patterns and good examples in all holiness gravity and uprightness unto them and let them have sufficient liberty to go to godly Meetings and rather stir them up and encourage them to go to such than hinder or discourage them and keep your minds out of them unto the Lord and let your love to them be in the Lord that so ye may feel his Blessing coming upon you and them And all ye Children who have Parents honour and be obedient unto them in the Lord and mind the Light of Christ in you and that will not suffer ye to be wild nor wilful stubborn nor vain but it will check and reprove ye for all evil and if ye will own its reproof and believe and wait in it it will lead ye out of all evil and it will bring ye into soberness and meekness tenderness and innocency and preserve ye in it and it will
which all things were created and made and are upheld that therein ye may be ordered in the particular and that therein ye may use and order all God's Creatures to his Glory and then all false Weights and Measures and Wayes and Worships will be destroyed and then shall Truth Equity Righteousness and true Order and Mercy prosper and run down as a River So let your Faith stand in Christ Jesus the Light and Wisdom and Power of God and then true Worship true Weight true Measure shall be set up and established and then shall the Lord be exalted over all the works of his hands and so ye will feel his blessing unto him belongeth the Dominion and Honour for he is worthy of it for evermore Amen By George Fox the Younger The Words of the Everlasting and True Light Who is the Eternal Living God and the King of Saints which he gave unto me his servant to declare unto the Inhabitants of the Earth and unto all such as have any true tender desires in them after Righteousness and Truth HEarken O ye Nations and give ear ye Inhabitants of the Earth Thus saith the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whose Name is the Light I am the Lord and there is no other that can save I the Light Created all things and formed and made you all of the dust and I breathed into you my Light my Life that ye with it should have been guided and led in my Wisdom to have ordered all things which I have Created and to have ruled over them all that I in you might have been honoured and exalted over all the works of my hands which I the Light Created But from me the Light ye have departed and ye have hearkned unto the Subtil Serpent which is the Devil who abode not in me the Light the Life the Truth which Created all things whom I have cursed above all the Beasts of the Earth who is the Seed of Enmity and ye hearkening unto him he hath begotten you into Enmity against me the Light and so hath begotten and led you into the Curse and so he is become your Father and Leader whom I have cursed and all that ye bring forth and act in him I have cursed because it stands in the Enmity against me the Light yet I the Light have looked upon you and pittied you because of the loss that ye are come into and the darkness that is come upon you all through your departing from me the Light And I the Eternal God have sent him who was glorified with me before the World was by whom I made the World who is not without me nor I without him but he is in me and I in him and He and I and the Spirit that proceed's from Us are one Being and Substance Mark I the Eternal God have sent him into the World who was glorified with me before the World began and he is called my Son because he is the Express Image of my Glory and bears my Name the Light the Life the Truth which is but one and he is my Love unto you the World and that is he that lets you see the Enmity and darkness that ye are in and how years departed and gone from Me the Life and for this end I have sent him a Light that ye all through him the Light might believe that so he who shews you your Sins your Enmity your Darkness ye believing in him might receive power to come out of it and that he might save you from the curse which ye went into when ye hearkned to the Serpent whom I have cursed who is become your Leader But I have sent you the Light to be your Leader to lead you from the Serpent and out of all that which he hath led you into Mark out of Enmity against me out of Darkness and so out of all unrighteous words and deeds and thoughts And I the Eternal God have given my Son the Light power to plague and to judge to condem and to destroy all those that will not hear him the Light who makes manifest unto you your unrighteous words deeds and thoughts which the Serpent hath led you into and because ye live in these I cannot have fellowship with you nor reveal my secrets unto you but my anger is kindled against you but if ye would hearken unto my Love the Light which lets you see all that ever you have done and own him to be your Leader and receive him and give up your selves to be guided by him then you shall feel his Power in you which I have given him to lead you out of Enmity and Darkness and the curse and out of all Sin which was the cause of the curse and so to destroy that Nature in you which the Serpent hath begotten ye into and to beget you again into the Nature of himself the Light in whom I am well pleased and then my anger would be turned away from you and I should have fellowship with you again as I had in the beginning and the Serpent's head ye should come to witness bruised who drew and led you out of me the Life the Tree of Life which I shut you from because of your disobedience ye should come to know it and to feel it and to feed upon it again and I should delight to do you good But O ye disobedient ye are from this because ye despise Me my Son my Spirit who are one who are Light and Life which is not far from you for I the Light give unto every one of you Life and Breath and you and all things are upheld by me the Light whose presence filleth Heaven and Earth and I have long spared you and my patience and long-suffering towards you hath been exceeding large but you in your imaginations have put me a far off and ye will not own me the Light the Life in you because my appearance in you hath been and yet is to make manifest Sin and Evil in you and to check and reprove you for it and to call you out of it and therefore you are offended at me and you whom the Serpent the Prince of the Power of the Air hath led out of me into airy imaginations you scorn me the Light in you and count me a low poor weak thing not worth the taking notice of because I have been patient towards you and have tenderly meekly and lovingly made manifest unto you Sin and Evil in its appearance and hath reproved you for Evil gently therefore you have disobeyed me and dishonoured me and called me a Natural Light and ye have said I the Light am not able to save those that believe in me and many of you have got my words which I the Light spoke in my servants of old and ye in the Enmity give other meanings to my words and so with my words mixed with your own meanings and imaginations ye fight against me the Light and Life within you and so against my
through Him might believe Mark through Him who lighteth every man that cometh into the World John 1.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. and God is Light 1 Joh. 1.5 and God and Christ are One Joh. 10.30 1 Joh. 5.7 So you that be turned from the Light which shews you sin and evil mark what you are turned from you are turned from the Way and from the Truth and from the Life and from the Covenant of God and from the Power of God and from the Word of God and so from God and Christ from whence the Light doth come and into the Darkness you are turned and gone and the Prince of Darkness ruleth in you Eph. 2.2 that so you cannot find any power over your own perverse Wills nor over your Lusts nor over any Sin there being gone from the Light in your own particulars in which Light if you believed and waited in it you would receive power to overcome sin but you not believing in the Light you believe in him who leads you from the Power of God into sin and there he perswades you that you must live in sin so long as you live upon the Earth and you have believed and received this Doctrin of him and you teach it to others and so are become the Devils Ministers and so you deny the end for which the Son of God was made manifest which was to destroy the Works of the Devil and to take away sin 1 Joh. 3.8 Mat. 1.21 and yet many of you feed your selves with hopes of Life and Salvation but your hopes are vain and will perish be not deceived God will not be mocked for such as you sow such shall you reap Gal. 6.7 8. Ye that live after the flesh fulfilling the lusts thereof you shall surely dye if ye repent not speedily Rom. 8.13 and you that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption The day of the Lord hasteth greatly wherein you must give an account unto him who will judge you righteously and reward you according to your deeds done in the Body and all you who have been slothful and have hid that in the Earth which the Lord gave you to profit withal you will be turned into utter darkness Mat. 25.30 John 12.35 Therefore while you have the Light believe and walk in it lest thick darkness come upon you even such darkness as may be felt the day of your Visitation prize lest the things that belong to your peace be wholly hid from your eyes Consider there is a time when the Candle is lighted and when you may see if you search with it what is in the house but mark this time will not alwayes continue with the wicked for the Candle of the wicked shall be put out Prov. 24.20 Yea the Spirit of the Lord shall not alwayes strive with man Gen. 6.3 Therefore cease from your dark imaginations which several of you have got into for whosoever followeth the imaginations and thoughts of his own heart which all who believe not in the Light do they run on in darkness and know not whether they go and such are under the wo putting darkness for Light Light for darkness calling the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Error and the Spirit of Error the Spirit of Truth Isa 5.20 as all the world do who lye in wickedness and hate the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the Word which Light reproveth you for your wickednes and this Light you call a Spirit of Delusion and Error and you say that those who are guided by it are deluded and led into Error Oh! take heed of Blasphemy against the pure God who is Light Mark the Spirit of Error what it is and what it leads into it is that which abode not in the Truth and it is a Murderer and was so from the Beginning and they who walk not in the true Light they walk and are guided by this Spirit and some by it are led to murder some to steal some to be drunk to swear to lye to cheat and cozen one another to fight to game and some it leads into vain laughter foolish jesting corrupt communication cursed speaking wantonness lust whoredom fornication and into covetousness which is Idolatry into pride variance strife railing back-biting envy wrath and malice false accusing the Innocent and into all manner of ungodliness into feigned love self-seeking dissimulation hypocrisie and feigned flattery and to hate the very appearance of Truth Eph. 4.29 and 5. Gal. 5.19 20. Now examine with that which reproves you for sin in secret and it will let you see that you bring forth many of these cursed Fruits before-mentioned and so are deluded and guided by the Spirit of Error now the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World comes from the Spirit of Truth and that is the Truth and it witnesseth against all these evil deeds before-mentioned which are out of the Truth and they who believe in the Light which makes manifest sin and evil and wait in it they receive power from him from whence the Light came John 1.12 to abstain from evil and to overcome sin and evil and this I witness and that Spirit which tempts the Creature to evil is the Spirit of Error So we who believe in the true Light which is the manifestation of the Spirit of Truth which is given to every man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 we by it are led out of Error and Delusion into the perfect Truth of God and to act those things which are well-pleasing in his sight Mat. 11.29 they being learned and wrought in the Light which comes from the Son in whom the Father is well pleased Joh. 3.21 and this true Light in us is our Guide and Teacher and this brings us who wait in it to understand the Scriptures of Truth which was given forth from the Spirit of Truth and it brings us into that which the Scriptures speaks of into the Life and Power of God and to witness that which the World talks of for they will talk of Faith in Christ Jesus though they witness not what they speak but we who believe in the Light are made by the power of God Children of the Light and we witness Faith in Christ which Faith purifies our hearts and gives us victory over the World Act. 15.9 1 Joh. 5.4 and the Light leads us into meekness into soberness and love unfeigned into holiness and uprightness into sound and pure Judgement into Mercy into Patience when we are reviled and persecuted and at all times into long-suffering and Truth in the inward parts to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us yea it leads us who abide in it into all Truth Joh. 16.13 and this is not of our selves for it is the free Gift of God who freely gave his Son for a Covenant of Light which ligheth every man that cometh into the World and we who have received the Gift
find some tender-hearted ones cannot bow unto and so with good words and fair speeches they will thus seek to deceive the hearts of the simple and all this is but for their Bellies Therefore take heed of such And take heed of joyning any longer to such as are settled upon their Lees who as one might say are even glued to a Form which is void of the Power For seeing they were to be turned from who had the Form of godliness because they denyed the Power much more are they to be turned from who stick in a Form which cannot he truly called a Form of godliness and therein contend and fight and strive against the Light which is the Power And of this sort there are many in several of the Sects whose searedness dryness hardness is exceeding great though they profess much of godliness in words yet in much perversness wilfulness and crookedness they oppose the Life and Power of the same and will neither enter the Kingdom themselves nor suffer those that gladly would but in a ridgid austere manner seek to keep the People subject to them that they may be Lords over their Consciences Oh Friends you that are tender-hearted come out from among such for the Lord's hand will be stretched out against them in a terrible manner And all wait in the tender Principle of the Fathers Love and Life which hath visited you and begotten sincere desires in you after himself and the Knowledge of his wayes that so you may be strengthned in the inner man and feel your Faith Hope and Patience increased that so you may be able to stand in the Tryal without fainting feeling the Lord to be your strength and continual Preserver This is the sincere and hearty desire of him who is a sufferer with the true Seed where ever it suffers and yet I am gathered in the Spirit into the everlasting Kingdom and Covenant of Peace rest and quietness where nothing can make me afraid By a Prisoner for the Testimony of Jesus who am freely given up to his Will and in patience do wait to see his Kingdom set up over all the Kingdoms of the Earth that he over all may Reign whose Right it is GEORGE FOX the Younger A TRUE RELATION Of the unlawful and unreasonable Proceedings of the Magistrates of HARWICH in ESSEX against the People of the Lord called QUAKERS Also the manner of their Imprisoning of GEORGE FOX the younger whom they with ROBERT GRASSINGHAM accused to the PARLIAMENT And also the manner of the PARLIAMENTS Proceedings against them IN the Year 1656 it was so ordered of the Lord that there came unto the Town of HARWICH some of the People called Quakers and one of them spoke a few words to the People as they were coming from the Steeple-house and so they passed into an Inn but the then MAYOR hearing thereof sent unto them commanding that they should depart the Town which they had not freedom in the Lord presently to do but after a short space they went out And it being upon them to return again they did so and lodged at that Inn all night and the next day they peaceably passed away so not long after the Woman that kept the Inn was commanded to come before the Magistrates of the Town who appeared to be offended with her for lodging of those People and made her to promise them that she would lodge no more such Persons by threatning to take away her License if she did so great was their envy at the appearance of the Truth in that Town But it pleased the Lord that shortly after some of the Inhabitants thereof were convinced of the Truth and so a way was made for Meetings there and several received the Truth in the Love of it in and about that Town so that they could not for Conscience sake pay to the repairing of the Steeple-house any longer and therefore had not freedom to Bury their dead in the ground belonging thereunto but they joyned together and bought a parcel of ground to Bury their dead in as did Abraham the Father of the Faithful So in the Year 1659. it was so ordered of the Lord that one who lived a little out of that Town died and several People were accompanying the dead Body to bury it in the place purchased for that end but one of the Magistrates hearing of it sent the Constables with a Guard commanding them not to suffer the dead Body to be laid in that place though the grave was made and by the command of that Magistrate the dead Body was taken away by force and buried in the Steeple-house Yard Also in the eleventh Month of the same Year there dyed another Friend near the same Town and several Friends came along with the dead Body to have buried it in the place afore-mentioned a Grave also being made but Miles Hubburd the now MAYOR and the other Rulers would not suffer the dead Body to be laid therein but caused it to be taken away by force and so they carried it and set it by the Sea-side where it lay above ground part of two dayes and one night and then it was covered over with small stones but by whom I know not Of these things a Record is kept by Friends in Harwich Also in the 3d. Month in the Year 1660. I being in Essex in the work and service of the Lord whereunto he hath called me by his mighty Power and therein sent me forth to publish his Everlasting Truth which he is spreading abroad in this the day of his Power by which he is gathering those that breath and thirst after his Rightcousness out of the dark Wayes and Worships of this World into the true and living Way and Worship which Christ Jesus the true Light in the dayes of his flesh spoke of which is in the Spirit and in the Truth I say as I was labouring in the Work of the Gospel in that County I had much drawings in the Spirit of Truth to appoint a Meeting in the Town of Harwich and that such thereabout who had desires to hear the Truth of God declared might have notice given them that in the Will of the Lord I purposed to be there on the 13th day of the Month aforesaid it being the first day of the Week so notice was given of the Meeting some dayes before and upon the first Day in the Morning there were about forty peaceable People as Men Women and Children coming in a Boat over a River which runs by the Town unto the Meeting but the Magistrates of the Town hearing thereof sent some Officers to the water-side to hinder them from coming on shore who were peaceably come to wait on the Lord and to hear the Truth declared so these Officers with a great number of rude People did hinder those peaceable People from coming on shore and forced them back again also the same Morning Robert Grassingham sent two of his Servants with a Boat to have
and for you do I oft Pray to the Father of Life that ye may be kept stedfast in that Life which ye have felt and tasted of and that nothing may move you from that hope and confidence which God hath begotten in you by the working of his mighty Power Oh dear Babes let the Love of our God break and melt you into the meek tender Spirit of the Lamb and let the consideration of his Mercy and Grace which to you he hath shewn overcome you and make you sick of Love Oh how can I express his Goodness for it is beyond utterance yea his loving kindness to you-ward hath been exceeding large who in an acceptable time hath appeared and visited you with his tender Love the Light of the World and by his unresistable Power hath he caused you to feel the day spring from on High even the breaking forth of Light in your hearts and inward parts yea this did he do for you who were as Sheep without a Shepherd scattered upon the Mountains in the cloudy and dark day Oh Friends how did his Love reach unto you when ye were Enemies unto him how plainly did he shew unto you the evil of your wayes which had separated you from his presence and how tenderly did he hold forth his hand of Love to lead you out of that which had made you miserable and how did he give you strength to walk when ye were lame and inclined your hearts after that which he shewed unto you to be Good and how did he manifest his eternal Power and Righteous Judgement in you against the body of sin and how did he beget and quicken a Righteous Seed in you which cannot live but in his presence and how mightily hath he opened the eye of your understandings by his eternal Spirit that ye are brought to see the false Wayes and Worships of the World wherein ye were once intangled and he hath also given you to see the Way to himself and the Worship which he regards in the Spirit of Truth wherein you are come to know that which only can give satisfaction and make you eternally free Oh let the unexpressable Love of the Father never be forgotten by you my dear Friends but all keep to and dwell in that eternal Immortal Power of an endless Life which ye have felt and tasted or and let your minds be kept to the workings and operations of the same that so none of you may be daunted by the enemy within or without but all wait in the eternal Light the Foundation of God which can never be shaken that so your minds may be girded up and you kept upon your watch and your ear kept open to the Lord that so when he calls ye may answer and when he teaches ye may observe and obey that so your souls may live and that ye may see his eternal Will in all conditions and be contented therewithal then will you feel the peace which none can take away And Friends give all diligence to obey the Word of Wisdom that ye may be known to be its Children and that ye may feel and witness your growth into the nature of the Immortal Seed whose Kingdom is not of this World that so your Redemption from the earth and all earthly things you may know through the blood of the unspotted Lamb of God which blood is the Life which he gave a Ransom for many which Life is manifested in your mortal bodies that through Faith in it ye may be saved And know this my Friends henceforth you are not your own for you are bought with a price and you are called with an holy calling that you might glorifie the Lord in your Bodies and Spirits which are the Lord 's Oh my Friends let not your delight be placed in the things of this World for then will you be intangled but wait in the feeling of the pure Power of the Lord God that ye may be kept and preserved thereby that so ye that marry may be as if you married not and that ye that have of this world as if ye possessed not and that ye may be kept in the living Wisdom of God in the ordering of all things that are given unto you that so the Glory of God and the honour of his Eternal Truth may be minded in all things and that your minds and hearts may be drawn out of all created things and ye kept single and chast unto the Lord that so if it were his Will that ye should be separated either from Wife or Husband outwardly or Children or Houses or Lands or any outward thing for his Name sake that ye may be kept in that temper and frame of mind and Spirit that ye may resign up all freely without murmuring that so ye may be known to be followers of the Lamb whithersoever he goeth for my Babes it is given unto you as well to suffer for his Names sake as to believe and hereby shall the World know that ye are redeemed from the earth if ye in patience and innocency give up to the Will of God in all things Therefore dear hearts wait in the Power and Life of God that ye may feel your strength and courage and boldness for the Lord increased that when you are tryed ye may stand in that Spirit of Life and Meekness which will give you eternal Peace in all your sufferings and Tryals for the Lord will try you that ye may see and know him alone to be your strength and that the world may know that ye are a People saved by the Almighty God And this know that ye that are faithful shall not be proved beyond your strength for the Lord will be with you in all your Tryals and the more that you are persecuted for his Name the greater shall his power be felt in you and the more your Enemies afflict you the greater shall be your joy and this shall torment your Enemies So Friends let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing for the Lord will make up his Jewels and he will take away all the dross and nothing shall remain but that which will abide the Tryal in the fire for the Lord hath been loaded with the sacrifices of many who have professed his Name but have not been subject to the leadings of his Spirit but have grieved it from day to day Therefore will the Lord God try all Professions and the chaff shall be blown away and all false coverings shall be stript off and men shall appear as they are yea the chaff which some time seemed to joyn to the Wheat shall be driven to and fro until the fire consume it or until it mix it self with the mire where the Swine wallow but God will have regard unto his Seed which is weighty And Friends a day of Calamity will come upon â—hem who have worshipped and do Worship 〈◊〉 â—â—known God at a distance and pretend the Worship of
for Friends that dwell in it for they that stand approved shall be made manifest and the upright shall not lose but gain through all these things and certainly when our God hath tryed us to the full he will appear for us and though our Enemies were as the sand of the Sea and as strong as Gyants yet shall they fall as untimely fruit and our GOD shall consume and weaken them by the Majesty of his Power and an exceeding desolation shall come upon the Earth and a Besom of destruction shall sweep away many Therefore dear Hearts be stedfast in the Lord and keep the Word of his Patience and know that not one hair of your Heads shall perish nor any thing shall be done unto any of you but what the Lord will be glorified by and you shall receive a full and a sufficient reward for it if ye continue faithful So live in the Power and Seed of God that ye may possess the Kingdom the eternal Peace Joy and Righteousness which stands in the Power And love fervently Oh Friends let that abound more and more one towards another and by this shall men also know that ye are taught of Christ if ye love one another and wait that ye may feel the springs of Life in your selves and feed upon that which proceeds from God that ye may grow up in the Power and Life and Wisdom of God and therein be established So the Almighty Power Life and Wisdom of God keep and preserve your for ever Amen The Lord God Almighty keep you fresh and lively meek tender and innocent and fill you with every good word and work which accompanieth Peace and Godliness if any Decree unrighteous Decrees heed them not for the Decree of God shall stand which is to establish Righteousness in the Earth and in the Power of the Lord we shall break the bonds of the ungodly and cast their cords from us So the Spiritual Weapon war withal and stand in the Faith and hold fast the Word of Truth that through it you may feel and witness your sanctification and the Birth Immortal raised up over all which is the Heir of the Kingdom without end and assuredly God will do mighty things for his Poples therefore be ye comforted and strengthened in the Lord and dwell in and keep his Covenant and answer his requirings in the Light of Life and live in the retiredness and in the Wisdom of God that your Enemies may have no just occasion against you and that ye may be preserved out of their snares and if they Imprison you and falsely accuse you or spoyle your Goods or Persecute you any manner of wayes keep in Patience and freely forgive them and suffer as Lambs in the true Innocency that so your Peace with the Lord may be preserved in all conditions And Friends let the Dread and Majesty of God fill you And as concerning the changing of Times and Governments let not that trouble any of you for God hath a mighty work and hand therein and he will yet change again until that come up which must Reign and in vain shall Powers and Armies withstand the Lord for his determined work shall come to pass but what is now come up it 's just with the Lord that it should be so and he will be served by it Therefore let none murmur nor distrust God for God will provoke many to zeal against unrighteousness and for Righteousness through things which are suffered now to work for a season yea many whose zeal was even dead shall revive again and they shall see their back-slidings and bewail them bitterly and God shall thunder down from Heaven and break forth in a mighty noise and his Enemies shall be astonished and the workers of Iniquity confounded and all that have not on the Garment of Righteousness shall be amazed at the mighty and strange work of the Lord which shall be certainly brought to pass but my Babes look ye not out but be still in the Light of the Lamb and he shall fight for you So the Almighty hand which must Break and Split and Divide your Enemies and take away Peace from them preserve and keep you whole and in Unity and in Peace with it self and one with another Lambeth-House the 3 d. day of the 4 th Month 1660. I am your Dear Friend and Brother in the Kingdom and Patience of Christ who am a Prisoner for his Testimony and keep his Word and am made as willing to suffer bonds or to dye for his Name as to declare and publish it amongst men Eternal living Praises and Hallelujahs over all be unto him for evermore Amen George Fox the Younger AN EPISTLE UNTO All who love the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity who are made partakers of the riches of his Grace and meet together to wait upon him therein to be read in their Meetings in the Fear of the Lord. DEAR Friends whom the eternal God hath visited with his own Life and Power and thereby hath called you out of the Darkness of the World into his Marvellous Light and hath begotten and quickned a Seed in you unto which pertaineth the Promises of Life and Peace and also hath opened a good understanding in you by the measure of his Eternal Spirit and hath brought you into a feeling and a sensibleness and a savour of that which ministers and reacheth to and refresheth his own Seed Oh Friends great is the Love of the Lord God unto you and large is his Eternal Riches let not his everlasting Love be forgotten by any of you neither slight nor neglect his rich Mercy but dear Friends dwell in the living measure of his Grace and hearken diligently unto the Voice of the Lamb so shall you be refreshed with the living Presence of the Father and the Fountain of Life shall be enlarged unto you whereby the Babe of God shall be strengthned and grow up in stature And when you are met together to wait upon the Lord Oh! feel his living Gift in your selves and be obedient to the motions and operations thereof that so the Presence and Power of the Eternal God may be felt and enjoyed in your Meetings and at other times for the bringing down and working out of all that which is contrary to himself in you and for the working you into the express Image of his own Glory and for the bringing you into the perfect Obedience of his own Life and Power that the Nature of the Lamb which takes away the sins ye may all grow into that so the Patience of Christ may be felt and witnessed in you all and that it may have its perfect Work in you that therein you may possess your Souls then shall the Lord enlarge your understandings and ye shall grow into the meek quiet Spirit wherein your savour and discerning shall be encreased and ye shall feel the gentle leadings of the invisible Life whereby satisfaction and refreshment shall be received unto the Seed
ye can plant a Vineyard as the Apostle did then eat of the fruit thereof Eph. 6.12 and if ye can thus gather a Flock and keep them then Eat of the Milk thereof and if ye can sow Spirituals then reap of their Carnals that receive you and your Testimony and if you be sent forth by Christ then you will not lack any thing Luk. 22.35 but if you dare not come to this tryal then it will plainly appear that you are such as serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but your own bellies and that you are not sent of God but run and he hath not sent you and speak but he hath not spoken unto you and therefore you cannot profit the People Jer. 23.32 mark And if the outward Peace be kept by the Kings Law that so none may do violence to any man's Person or Estate then you need not fear if you be in the Spirit of Truth 1 Joh. 4.4 but that ye shall overcome them that are in the Spirit of Error and make them manifest when they do oppose you Acts 6.9.10 but if you dare not come to this Tryal then it will plainly appear that you are in the Spirit of Error and such as cannot stand except they be upheld by the Powers of the Earth Again and if God should suffer this that either of you could prevail thus far with the King as that he should set up either of your Forms and give you a Law to compel or Persecute outwardly mark thereby you might make many hypocrites who might pretend to joyn unto you to save â—heir 〈◊〉 or Estates until they could find an opportunity to destroy you but by all your outward force you can never convert any unto God for it is Christ the Immortal ingrafted Word which is onely able to convert unto God and it is the work of the true Ministers to turn People from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power unto the Power of God Acts 26.18 and to direct them to the Word which is nigh in the mouth and in the heart Rom. 10.8 and to commend and keep them to that and to exhort them in meekness to receive the ingrafted Word which is able to save their Souls Acts. 20.23 Jam. 1.21 2 Cor. 10.4 and they must not use any Carnal Weapons to do their work withal but Spiritual Therefore if you would be counted Christ's Ministers lay by your Carnal Weapons and use them no longer about Religion neither press the King to set up or uphold either of your Forms of Worship by outward force as before mentioned lest thereby you become Instruments to destroy the King your selves or the Nation So though King CHARLES be accounted and suffered to be Head in things between man and man yet let CHRIST JESUS the everlasting King be accounted and suffered to be Head of his Church that so He may have that which is due unto him Eph. 5.23 4.13 Col. 1.18 and this were the way for the true Church and the King and these Nations to prosper and the way for the false Church the false Prophets and all Plotting Usurping self-interested men to be confounded And this is the desire of me who am a sufferer for Righteousness sake contrary to any Law of God or known Law of the Nation GEORGE FOX the Younger From my Chamber the place of my confinement in Lambeth-House the 14th of the 4th Moneth 1660 where I have perfect Peace with God through Jesus Christ in whom I have true Liberty as a Son according to the appointment of the Father I cannot flatter any but must speak the naked truth unto all and I seek the Peace of my Nation and the good of all men and I cannot fight with any Creature but I can fight with the Spiritual Wickedness though it be in the High Places A Few Queries to the Teachers of the Episcopal Society so Called Qu. 1. WHo was the first Institutor of a man to be Supream Head of the Church next and Immediate under Christ and of Arth-Bishops and Lord Bishops and from whence had they their Original Did not these things arise since the Apostacy and have they not been Practised by the Apostatised Christians since the Antichrists went out from the true Apostles Or were these things Practised by the true Apostles Or did they confesse any more than one Head of the Church Or that to them there was any more than one Lord And was not that Head and Lord Jesus Christ Col. 1.18 And whether they that make or confesse other Lords or another Head of the Church than Christ do not walk according to the course of the Gentiles which know not God and contrary to the Command of Christ and the Practise of the true Apostles 1 Cor. 8 5 6. seeing Christ said to his Disciples the Gentiles exercise Lordship one over another but it shall not be so with you mark that for he that will be greatest amongst you let him be servant unto all Mat. 20 25 26 27. And where was any of the true Apostles or Ministers of Christ called Lord-Bishops or Arch-Bishops Or where was there any King in their time called the Supream Head of the Church next unto Christ Or where did they prophesie that it should afterwards be so among the Saints Or is not this rather a part of the Cup of Fornication which the Whore of Babylon hath caused the Kings of the Earth to drink in the night of Apostacy yea or nay Qu. 2. And who was the first Inventer of Surplices and Tippits as they are called did the true Apostles and Ministers of Christ use any of them in their Worship Or had they Organs and Singing Boys dressed in White going and Singing in their Worship From whom had all things their Original And are any of these things required of the true Worshippers which the Father seeks who Worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth John 4.23.24 if they be prove it by Scripture Or are they not come up since the Apostacy and are they not Practised amongst the Will-Worshippers yea or nay Qu. 3. And who first invented this for a Baptisme viz. that a Teacher should Sprinkle a little water on a Childs face and make a Cross on its forehead with his finger and that there should be God-Fathers and God-Mothers as they are called to name the Child from whom had all these things their Original Did the true Apostles Practise these things Or are they not come up in the night of Apostacy And why do you call those that name the Children God-Fathers and God-Mothers Hath God any Fathers or Mothers Answer to every particular in plain English according to the Scriptures that poor People may see your Ground and Foundation and Rule for all these things And do you believe that any can be free from sin in this life and keep Gods's holy Will and Commandments If not then how dare you enjoyn those that you call God-Fathers and God-Mothers to Promise and Vow these
things in the Childs name mark that it shall forsake the Devil and all his works mark that the pomps and vanities of this World and all the sinful lusts of the flesh and that it should keep God's holy Will and Commandments now if you say they may forsake all these things and keep God's Holy Will and Commandments then will it not overthrow what you Teach your selves at other times and if People do not or cannot forsake the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked World and the sinful lusts of the flesh and keep God's Holy Will and Commandments then do you not cause them you call God-Fathers and God-Mothers to Promise and Vow lies and impossibilities in Childrens Names Now Answer these things in Plainness and Moderation without fleeing to your Carnal Weapons and be not like those that instead of answering have raged and persecuted those that have Queried them There are many things more appertaining to your Worship which I cannot own to be Right but I would see how you will get through these things and what satisfaction you are able to give concerning these few and then as the Lord moves you may hear of many things more which are to be Queried The 22 d. of the 4th Month 1660. From a Faithful Souldier of the Army of the Lamb which must get the Victory for whose Testimony I suffer in Lambeth-House George Fox the Younger THE Testimony of God To those Rulers Teachers and People of this present Age where the Headship of the Church is given to Man and to such as strive to have it so and to those that set themselves in the seat of God by taking upon them that which properly belongs to God and Christ who are one Wherein God's Controversie with them is plainly Demonstrated Opened and given by the Spirit of Truth which is made manifest in that earthen vessel which is called George Fox the younger HEarken O ye Kings and Give ear ye Rulers Teachers and People of all sorts who are striving against the Spirit of God in its workings The Lord's Controversie is great this day and few there be that rightly understand it Therefore are ye confounded broken and breaking one of another and cannot be healed until you return to and receive and obey that which will shew you with what God's Controversie is Therefore consider this The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding Job 32.8 Yea the life of the Immortal Word which is the Light of men John 1.4 giveth to understand the mind of the Eternal God Therefore to the Light which the Word hath enlightned you withal Take heed John 1.9 for that is the faithful Witness of God and to that in you all who shall hear the Testimony which God hath given me to bear shall I be made manifest for that shall answer to the words of the most High which I have to utter Therefore let all flesh be silent that Truth may take place and that the words of the Holy One may be heard and received Thus saith the Lord God My Controversie hath not been nor is not with man any further than as he is departed from me and joyned to and become one with the man of sin that wicked one the Son of Perdition who is exalted in man above me the Eternal God and opposeth me and sitteth in my Temple shewing himself to be God in taking upon him that which properly belongeth unto me for he commands and leads them with whom my Controversie is into whatsoever and whithersoever he pleaseth and they are become subjects unto his Kingdom so that they will not that I should Reign over them but they have taken Counsel of my Adversary who hath taught them also to take as it were my Honour which I will not give to another unto themselves and so they are become one with my Adversary And by his Power they also in many things have set themselves in my stead in taking upon them to do things which did properly belong unto me and they in thus doing have slighted and rejected the thing that I have done and thus the Abomination which maketh desolate standeth in the place where it ought not For which cause I will visit saith the Lord God And now You with whom God's Controversie is who have given the headship of the Church to man that you may further see your Error Mark and consider these things It did properly belong to the Mighty Eternal God to Ordain a Head for his Church and he unalterably Ordained one Head thereof which is Christ the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickening Spirit Yea he gave him to be Head of the Body which is the Church the fulness of him that filleth all in all that he in all things might have the preheminence in whom all fulness dwells Col 1.18 19. Ephes 5.23 and 1.22 23. And by the appointment of the Father he giveth forth all the Laws and Ordinances which his Church that is the Congregation of the Righteous are now to observe and whosoever will not hear him in all things and follow his leadings and obey his voice are to be cut off For all Judgement is committed unto him John 5.22 27. But many of you who in several Nations are called Christians with whom the Lord's Controversie is great unto the dishonour of God You have taken upon you to Ordain other Heads of the Church then Christ and they shall give forth Laws and Ordinances for the Church to observe and they that will not hear your Heads and observe their Laws and Ordinances you will cut them off or Persecute them and in thus doing you have slighted and rejected the thing that God hath done and ye have set your selves in his stead And this is a great Cause of God's Controversie with this Age and until this abomination be removed and broken down God will remove and break down all in whomsoever it doth reside and all such as would uphold it whatsoever their names be called For whosoever will strive to uphold that Authority in themselves or others which properly belongs to God and Christ who are one shall not be able to stand in this the day of God's Controversie neither can the Nations be setled in true Peace until that be given up to Christ which properly unto him belongs and is his Right for though the Lord hath long born with great patience yet now the time hasteth that the Heir must be Possest of that which the Father hath given unto him and they that will not freely give up to him his due must be broken And now O England to Thee I speak mark this did not serve to end the Controversie of God with Thee when thou didst take the Headship of the Church from the Pope and gave it to the outward King Neither did that end God's Controversie with Thee when thou didst take it from thy King again and gave the Nature or Power of the Headship though not the Name