1664.
In the foregoing year we left G. Fox in Lancaster prison, where at
the sessions, the oath of allegiance being tendered to, and refused
by him, he was brought to his trial in the month called March, which
begins the year 1664. Being brought to the bar before judge Twisden, he
said, ‘Peace be amongst you all.’ At which the judge looking upon him,
said, ‘What! do you come into the court with your hat on?’ Whereupon
the jailer taking it off, G. Fox said, ‘The hat is not the honour
that comes from God.’ Then said the judge, ‘Will you take the oath
of allegiance?’ G. Fox answered, ‘I never took any oath in my life.’
‘Well,’ said the judge, ‘will you swear or no?’ G. Fox replied, ‘I
am a Christian, and Christ commands me not to swear; and so doth the
apostle James likewise; and whether I should obey God or man, do thou
judge.’ ‘I ask you again,’ said the judge, ‘whether you will swear or
no?’ To which he made answer, ‘I am neither Turk, Jew, nor Heathen, but
a Christian, and should show forth Christianity. Dost thou not know,
(thus he went on,) that Christians in the primitive times, under the
ten persecutions, and some also of the martyrs in queen Mary’s days,
refused swearing, because Christ and the apostle had forbidden it? Ye
have experience enough, how many men have sworn first to the king, and
then against him. But as for me, I have never taken an oath in all my
life; and my allegiance doth not lie in swearing, but in truth and
faithfulness: for I honour all men, much more the king. But Christ,
who is the great Prophet, who is the King of kings, the Saviour of
the world, and the great Judge of the whole world, he saith, I must
not swear. Now the point is, whether I must obey Christ, or thee. For
it is in tenderness of conscience, and in obedience to the command of
Christ, that I do not swear. And we have the word of a king for tender
consciences.’ G. Fox having spoken thus much, asked the judge, if he
did own the king? To which he said, ‘Yes, I do own the king.’ ‘Why
then,’ said he, ‘dost thou not observe his declaration from Breda,
and his promises made since he came into England, that no man should
be called in question for matters of religion, so long as they lived
peaceably? Now if thou ownest the king, why dost thou call me into
question, and put me upon taking an oath, seeing thou, nor none, can
charge me with unpeaceable living?’ The judge looking angry, said,
‘Sirrah, will you swear?’ To which G. Fox told him, ‘I am none of
thy sirrahs; I am a Christian; and for thee, who art an old man and
a judge, to sit there and give nicknames to the prisoners, doth not
become either thy grey hairs or thy office.’ The judge being a little
more cool, after some words to and fro, said, ‘G. Fox, say whether thou
wilt take the oath, yea, or nay?’ To which he replied, ‘If I could take
any oath at all, I should take this: for I do not deny some oaths only,
or on some occasions, but all oaths, according to Christ’s doctrine,
who said, “Swear not at all.” Now if thou, or any of you, or any of
your ministers or priests here, will prove that ever Christ or his
apostle, after they had forbidden all swearing, commanded Christians
to swear, then I will swear.’ None of the priests offering to speak,
the judge said, ‘I am a servant to the king, and the king sent me not
to dispute with you, but to put the laws in execution; and therefore I
tender the oath of allegiance.’ G. Fox continuing to refuse swearing,
was sent again to prison. Two days after, being brought again before
the judge, it was asked him, whether he would traverse or submit? To
which G. Fox said, he desired he might have liberty to traverse the
indictment, and try it. Then order was given to take him away, and he
was kept in prison till the next assizes.
Being prisoner in Lancaster castle, there was much talk of the Turk’s
great progress in Hungary, there being at that time a war between the
Emperor and the Turks; and many being afraid, he said to some, that
walking once in his chamber, he saw the Lord’s power turn against the
Turk, and that he was turning back again. And within a month after news
came that he was defeated. Another time, as he was walking in the room,
with his mind upon the Lord, he saw an extraordinary great light, and
looking up, he beheld an angel of the Lord, with a glittering sword
stretched southward, which shone so bright, as if the court had been
all on fire. Of which I have for proof what he mentions of it in his
journal, and also another small book he gave out with the title of a
Warning to England. Not long after a war broke out between England and
Holland, and some time after the pestilence appeared at London, (which
lies southwardly from Lancaster,) and after two years that city by the
fire was turned into rubbish.
But I return to the Lancaster assizes. Margaret Fell, who was now a
widow, was also under confinement for refusing the oath of allegiance.
And G. Fox being in prison, wrote several papers to the magistrates, in
which he manifested the evil of persecution, and exhorted to virtue and
piety.
In the month called August, the assizes were held again at Lancaster.
G. Fox being brought thither, (judge Turner then sitting on the
crown-bench,) and being called to the bar, the judge asked the
justices, whether they had tendered him the oath at the foregoing
sessions? They saying they had, and having sworn it, the jury were
sworn too. Then the judge asked him, whether he had not refused the
oath at the last assizes? To which he answered, ‘I never took an oath
in my life; and Christ the Saviour and Judge of the world said, “Swear
not at all.” The judge seeming not to take notice of this answer, asked
him whether or no he had not refused to take the oath at the last
assizes? G. Fox maintaining the unlawfulness of swearing, the judge
said, he was not at that time to dispute whether it was lawful to
swear, but to inquire whether he had refused to take the oath, or no.
G. Fox then signifying that he did not disapprove the things mentioned
in the oath, said, ’Plotting against the king, and owning the Pope’s,
or any other foreign power, I utterly deny.’ ‘Well,’ said the judge,
‘you say well in that: but did you deny to take the oath; what say
you.’ ‘What wouldest thou have me to say?’ replied he, ‘I have told
thee before what I did say.’ After some more words from both sides, the
indictment was read. G. Fox having informed himself of the errors that
were in it, said, he had something to speak to it, for there were many
gross errors in it. The judge signified that he would not hear him,
but when he was at the point of giving judgment, the jury going out,
soon returned, and brought him in guilty. Whereupon he told them, that
both the justices and they too had forsworn themselves; which caused
such confusion in the court, that the pronouncing judgment was delayed.
Margaret Fell being next brought to the bar, was also declared guilty.
The next day she and G. Fox were brought up again to receive sentence.
Her counsel pleading many errors in her indictment, she was set by;
and G. Fox then being called, showed himself unwilling to let any man
plead for him; which seemed to make some stop; yet he was asked by the
judge, what he had to say, why he should not pass sentence upon him.
At which he told him, ‘I am no lawyer, but yet I have much to say, if
thou wilt but have patience to hear?’ Thereupon those on the bench
laughed, and said, ‘Come what have you to say?’ Then he asked the judge
whether the oath was to be tendered to the king’s subjects, or to the
subjects of foreign princes. To which the judge said, ‘To the subjects
of this realm.’ ‘Then,’ said George, ‘look on the indictment, and ye
may see that ye have left out the word subject: and not having named
me in the indictment as a subject, ye cannot premunire me for not
taking the oath.’ They then looking to the statute, and the indictment,
saw that it was as he said, and the judge confessed that it was an
error. Next G. F. told him, he had something else to stop judgment;
and he desired them to look what day the indictment said the oath was
tendered to him at the sessions there? They looking, said it was the
eleventh of January. Then he asked, ‘What day of the week was that
sessions held on?’ ‘On a Tuesday,’ said they. To which G. F. said,
‘Look in your almanac, and see whether there was any session held at
Lancaster on the eleventh of January.’ They looking, found that the
eleventh day was the day called Monday, and that the sessions were on
the day called Tuesday, which was the twelfth day of the said month:
‘Look ye now,’ said he, ‘ye have indicted me for refusing the oath in
the quarter-sessions held at Lancaster on the eleventh day of January
last, and the justices have sworn that they tendered me the oath in
open sessions here that day, and the jury upon their oath have found
me guilty thereupon; and yet ye see there was no sessions held at
Lancaster that day.’ The judge, to cover the matter, asked, whether
the sessions did not begin on the eleventh day? To which some in the
court answered, ‘No; the sessions held but one day, and that was
the twelfth.’ Then the judge said, this was a great mistake, and an
error. Some of the justices grew so angry at this, that they seeming
ready to have gone off the bench, stamped, and said, ‘Who hath done
this? Somebody hath done this on purpose.’ Then said G. F. ‘Are not
the justices here that have sworn to this indictment, forsworn men?
But this is not all; I have more yet to offer why sentence should not
be given against me, in what year of the king was it, that the last
assizes, which was in the month called March, was holden here?’ To this
the judge said it was in the sixteenth year of the king. ‘But,’ said G.
Fox, ‘the indictment says it was in the fifteenth year.’ This was also
acknowledged to be an error: but both judge and justices were in such
a fret, that they knew not what to say; for it had been sworn also,
that the oath was tendered to G. Fox at the assize mentioned in the
indictment, viz. in the fifteenth year of the king, whereas it was in
the sixteenth; which made G. Fox say, ‘Is not the court here forsworn
also, they having sworn a whole year false?’ Some other remarkable
errors he showed, which I, having no mind to be tedious, pass by with
silence.
G. Fox then desiring justice, and saying, that he did not look for
mercy, the judge said, you must have justice, and you shall have law:
which made him ask, ‘Am I now free from all that hath been done against
me in this matter?’ ‘Yes,’ said the judge; but then starting up in a
rage he said, ‘I can put the oath to any man here; and I will tender
you the oath again.’ G. Fox then telling him, that he had examples
enough of yesterday’s swearing and false swearing; ‘For I saw before
my eyes,’ said he, ‘that both justices and jury forswore themselves;’
yet the judge asked him if he would take the oath? But he replied, ‘Do
me justice for my false imprisonment all this while;’ for he had been
locked up, as was well known, in a wet and cold room, and therefore he
said, ‘I ought to be set at liberty.’ At which the judge said, ‘you are
at liberty, but I will put the oath to you again.’ G. Fox then turning
himself about, said to the people, ‘Take notice, this is a snare; but
I ought to be set free from the jailer, and from this court.’ But the
judge instead of hearkening to that, cried, ‘Give him the book.’ G. Fox
then taking the book, and looking in it, said, ‘I see it is a bible,
and I am glad of it.’ In the meanwhile the jury being called by order
of the judge, they stood by; for though they had desired, after they
had brought in their former verdict, to be dismissed, yet he told them,
he could not dismiss them yet, because he should have business for
them; and therefore they must attend, and be ready. G. Fox, perceiving
his intent, looking him in the face, which made him blush: nevertheless
he caused the oath to be read, and then asked G. Fox whether he would
take the oath or no; to which he said, ‘Ye have given me a book here to
kiss, and to swear on; and this book says, kiss the Son; and the Son
says in this book, “Swear not at all,” and so says also the apostle
James: now I say, as the book says, and yet ye imprison me, for doing
as the book bids me. How chance ye do not imprison the book for saying
so? How comes it that the book is at liberty amongst you, which bids
me swear not? Why do not ye imprison the book also?’ Whilst he was
speaking thus, he held up the bible open, to show the place where
Christ forbids swearing. But the book was taken from him, and the judge
said, ‘No, but we will imprison George Fox.’
This case was so singular, that it was spread over all the country, as
a by-word, that they gave G. Fox a book to swear on, that commanded
him not to swear at all, and that this book, viz. the Bible, was at
liberty, and he in prison, for doing as the Bible said. But the judge
urged him still to swear; to which G. Fox said, ‘I am a man of a tender
conscience; consider therefore, that it is in obedience to Christ’s
command that I cannot swear: but if any of you can convince me, that
after Christ and the apostle had commanded not to swear, they did
alter that command, and commanded Christians to swear, then ye shall
see I will swear.’ And he seeing there several priests, said, ‘If ye
cannot do it, let your priests do it.’ But none of the priests said
any thing; and the judge said, ‘All the world cannot convince you.’
To which he replied, ‘How is it like the world should convince me?
For the whole world lies in wickedness: but bring out your spiritual
men, as ye call them, to convince me.’ Then the sheriff and the judge
said, that the angel swore in the Revelations. To which G. Fox replied,
‘When God bringeth in his first-begotten Son into the world, he saith,
“Let all the angels of God worship him;” and he said, “Swear not at
all.”’--‘Nay,’ said the judge, ‘I will not dispute.’ Then he told the
jury, it was for Christ’s sake that he could not swear; and therefore
he warned them not to act contrary to that of God in their consciences,
because they must all appear before his judgment seat. After some more
words spoken, the jailer took him away.
In the afternoon he was brought up again: and the jury having brought
him in guilty of what he was charged within the indictment, viz. his
not taking the oath, the judge asked him, what he had to say for
himself. He then desired the indictment to be read; since he could not
answer to that which he had not heard. The clerk reading it, the judge
said, ‘Take heed it be not false again.’ But the clerk read it in such
a manner, that G. Fox could hardly understand what he read. And when he
had done, the judge asked G. Fox what he had to say to the indictment.
To which he said, ‘At once hearing so large a writing read, and that
at such a distance, that I could not distinctly hear all the parts
of it; I cannot well tell what to say to it: but if you will let me
have a copy of it, and give me time to consider, I shall answer it.’
This put the court to a little stand; but at length the judge asked
him, what time he would have? And he answered, ‘Till the next assize.’
‘But,’ said the judge, ‘What plea will you make now; are you guilty, or
not guilty?’ To which he replied, ‘I am not guilty at all of denying
swearing obstinately and wilfully: and as for those things mentioned in
the oath, as jesuitical plots, and foreign powers, I utterly deny them
in my heart: and if I could take any oath, I should take this; but I
never took any oath in all my life.’ To this the judge returned, ‘You
say well; but the king is sworn, the parliament is sworn, I am sworn,
the justices are sworn, and the law is preserved by oaths.’ On which
G. Fox told him, they had had sufficient experience of men’s swearing,
and had seen how the justices and jury swore wrong the other day: and
continued he, ‘If thou hast read in the book of Martyrs, how many of
them did refuse to swear, both within the time of the ten persecutions,
and in bishop Bonner’s day, thou mayest see that to deny swearing in
obedience to Christ’s command, is no new thing.’ To this the judge
said, he wished the laws were otherwise. G. Fox said then, ‘Our yea is
yea, and our nay is nay: and if we transgress our yea and our nay, let
us suffer as they do, or should do, that swear falsely. This I have
offered to the king, and the king said it was reasonable.’
After some further discourse, G. Fox was committed to prison again,
and Colonel Kirby ordered the jailer to keep him close, and to suffer
nobody to come to him, as one that was not fit to be discoursed with.
The jailer did not scruple to follow this order, for he locked him up
in a smoky tower, where the smoke of the other prisoners came up so
thick, that sometimes one could hardly see a burning candle; so that
there seemed to have been an intent to choke him; for the turnkey
could hardly be persuaded to unlock one of the upper doors a little to
let out the smoke. Besides this hardship, in wet weather it rained in
upon his bed to that degree, that his shirt grew wet. In this pitiful
condition he lay during a long cold winter, which so afflicted him,
that his body swelled, and his limbs were much benumbed. Here we will
leave him till he was brought again to his trial, which was not before
the next year.
But before I part with him, I must mention, that some time before he
had written several papers to the emperor, the kings of France and
Spain, and also to the pope. These writings were by somebody else
turned into Latin, and so given out in print. In these he levelled
chiefly against persecution for religion’s sake. He reproved the king
of Spain more especially, because of the inquisition, and the burning
of people: and he did not spare the pope, as being the spring of these
evils, saying, ‘Innocent blood hath long cried for vengeance to the
Lord: the earth almost swims with innocent blood; and the cry of it is
heard. Your frozen profession, and your cold winter images being set
up in your streets, the Lord God of power and death, and of heaven and
earth, will be avenged on thee, and you all; his day is approaching.
Ye great and rich cardinals and pope, ye have been fed like fat hogs;
and seeing that thou wouldest not receive the Lord’s messengers, but
threw them in prison, and in your inquisition, it may be the Lord may
give you a visit another way, for his dread is gone out, and his zeal
is kindled against you.--The fields are sprinkled with the blood of
the innocent, and ye are the aceldama, or the field of blood. But the
Lord is coming to take vengeance upon you; his hand is stretched over
your heads, and his power is gone over you; with that he will rule you,
and smite you down, and bring you that are lofty from your seats, and
abase your pride, and take the glory to himself.--How much blood, which
is unmeasurable, and cannot be measured here, have ye drank since the
days of the apostles, and made yourselves drunk with it! But now is
the indignation and wrath of the Almighty come and coming upon you;
and thou pope must feel it. Tremble therefore, thou pope, tremble,
fear, and quake thou pope, tremble ye cardinals, tremble ye jesuits,
tremble ye priors, tremble ye monks and friars, of what rank soever,
for the army of the Lord God is coming over you, by whom ye shall be
taken, and dashed to pieces.’ These are but small sparkles of that
flame which G. Fox blew against the pope, intermixing his writings
with many demonstrations, that the Romish church was the whore of
Babylon, and that she it was that had defiled herself with idolatry
and superstition, and had bathed herself in the blood of the saints,
having furiously attacked them with sword and fire. This he concluded
with these words: ‘The plagues of God will be thy portion, O pope, who
hath deceived the nations: and all ye jesuits and cardinals, howl, for
your misery is coming, the mighty day of the Lord God upon you all; the
Lord God, who will be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and with none
of your inventions.’ Thus G. Fox wrote in that day to the pope and his
counsellors; and no wonder that he paid dear for this sharp language
against the head of the church of Rome; for it may be believed, that a
great many of the court party, in those days, were either concealed
Papists, or favourers of them: and yet among the national clergy, and
even those of other persuasions, many branded the Quakers with the
odious name of secret Papists, thereby to make them incur the hatred of
the people.
Now I return to Francis Howgill, whom in the foregoing year we left
in prison at Appleby. It was in the forepart of this year that he was
brought to his trial. Being come into court before the judges sat,
he spoke to the clerk of the assizes, and told him, he did not know
whether they expected his appearance then or not: the clerk said, ‘You
have done well,’ and that he would acquaint the judge, and he should
only engage to him to appear the next assizes, to answer the indictment
against him, and that he should not appear in court; Francis bid him
do what he would. In the meantime Sir Philip Musgrave, (so called,) a
great adversary to the Truth, and the great and chief prosecutor of
Francis, had informed the judges against him, that he was a dangerous
person, a ringleader, and a keeper up of meetings of dangerous
consequence, and destructive of the peace of the nation; so then they
concluded he should appear in court; and so the clerk informed him, and
told him about what time he should be called. So the court began; judge
Twisden gave the charge to the grand jury, in which he said, there was
a sort of people, who under pretence of conscience and religion, seemed
to build upon the king’s declaration from Breda, and under colour
of this hatched treasons and rebellions, and gave the jury charge
to inquire and present such, that the peace of the nation might be
preserved; so they impanneled the jury, and Francis was called to the
bar, and the judge spake as followeth:
Judge, speaking calmly to him, said, the face of things was much
altered since the last assizes, and made a large speech to him
and the country, telling him, that all sects under pretence of
conscience did violate the laws, and hatched rebellions, ‘Not,
(saith he,) that I have any thing to charge you with; but seeing
the oath of allegiance was tendered to you the last assizes, and
you refused to take it, it was looked upon that such persons
were enemies to the king and government;’ and said, ‘I will
not trouble you now to answer to your indictment, but I must
do that the next assizes; in the meantime you must enter into
recognizance for your good behaviour.’
To which F. H. answered, I desire liberty to speak, which he had
without interruption, and said as followeth:
F. H. Judge Twisden, thou very well knowest upon how slender an
account, or none, I was brought before thee the last assizes,
where thou wert pleased to tender me the oath of allegiance,
though I believe both thou and the rest of the court, did know
it was a received principle among us not to swear at all; many
reasons I gave thee then, many more I have to add, if I may have
audience; for it may appear to you an absurd thing, and obstinacy
in me to refuse it, if I should not tender a reason; I am, (said
he,) none of those that make religion a cloak of maliciousness,
nor conscience a cloak to carry on plots or conspiracies, the
Lord hath redeemed me and many more out of such things, and
seeing I am engaged to appear at the next assizes, I desire no
further thing may be required of me.
Judge. You must enter into bond this dangerous time, and
therefore consider of it, and tell me now, or before the assizes
end.
The second day of the assizes he was called again.
F. H. Seeing thou art pleased to let me answer to the indictment,
which I am willing to do, I have been of good behaviour, and
shall so continue; but it seems a hard thing to me, and full
of severity, that seeing I am obliged to appear to answer an
indictment of so high a nature, (if prosecuted against me,) which
tends to the loss of my liberty for life, and my estate forever,
I hope the court will not envy my liberty for five months.
Judge Turner said, We do not desire your imprisonment, if you
will be of good behaviour.
F. H. pressed that they would not put him upon giving bond to be
of good behaviour, knowing himself to be bound by the truth, that
he could not misbehave himself.
One Daniel Flemming, another persecuting justice, had framed
another indictment against him for meeting, and stood up,
(fearing the snare of giving bond would not hold,) and said as
followeth:
D. Flemming. My lord, he is a great speaker, it may be the
Quakers cannot want him.
Judge. Let him be what he will, if he will enter into bond.
F. H. said he had nothing to accuse himself of, for his
conscience bore him witness that he loved peace, and sought it
with all men.
Judges both spake. What do you tell of conscience? We meddle not
with it; but you contemn the laws, and keep up great meetings,
and go not to church.
F. H. We are fallen in a sad age; if meeting together peaceably,
without arms, or force, or intention of hurt to any man, only to
worship God in Spirit, and exhort one another to righteousness,
and to pray together in the Holy Ghost, as the primitive
Christians of old, that this should be reckoned breach of peace
and misbehaviour.
Judge Twisden. Do you compare these times with them? They were
heathens that persecuted, but we are Christian magistrates.
F. H. It is a doctrine always held by us, and a received
principle which we believe, that Christ’s kingdom could not be
set up with carnal weapons; nor the gospel propagated by force of
arms, nor the church of God built with violence; but the Prince
of Peace was manifested amongst us, and we could learn war no
more, but could love enemies, and forgive them that did evil to
us.
Philip Musgrave stood up, and said, ‘My Lord, we have been remiss
towards this people, and have striven with them, and put them in
prison again and again, and fined them, and as soon as they are
out they meet again.’
Then stood up John Lowther, called a justice, and said, ‘My Lord,
they grow insolent, notwithstanding all laws, and the execution
of them, yet they grow upon us, and their meetings are dangerous.’
Philip Musgrave stood up, and produced a paper, (and justice
Flemming, so called, seconded him,) in great capital letters,
and gave it the judge; he told the judge, that it happened some
Quakers were sent to prison, and one of them died at Lancaster,
and they carried his corpse through the country, and set that
paper upon his coffin, ‘This is the body of such an one, who was
persecuted by Daniel Flemming till death.’
Judge. We have spent much time with you; I will discourse no more.
F. H. I acknowledge your moderation towards me, allowing me
liberty to speak; I shall not trouble you much longer; I shall be
willing to appear to answer to the indictment at the assizes, and
in the meantime to live peaceably and quietly, as I have done, if
that will satisfy.
Judge. You must enter into bond to come at no more meetings.
F. H. I cannot do that; if I should, I were treacherous to God
and my own conscience, and the people and you would but judge me
a hypocrite.
They were loth to commit him, yet at last they did.
This was in the latter part of the month called March, and he was kept
about five months as before in a bad room, and none suffered to speak
with him, but who got secretly to him without the jailer’s knowledge.
It was about this time that John Audland departed this life. He and his
bosom friend, John Camm, (whose decease was some years before,) had
travelled much together in the ministry of the gospel: therefore I will
give an uninterrupted relation of their latter end; but first that of
John Camm.
He was of very good parentage, born at Camsgil, in the barony of Kendal
in Westmoreland, which seat had been possessed by his ancestors long
before him. From his childhood he was inclined to be religious, and
seeking after the best things, he joined with those that were the most
strict in performing religious duties. And having afterwards heard G.
Fox, he embraced as truth the doctrine he preached, and growing up in
it, he himself became an eminent minister of the gospel among those
called Quakers. He and his bosom friend John Audland, were the first of
that society who preached at Bristol, where having been in the meetings
of the Baptists and Independents, they also had meetings in several
places without the city, where there was a great concourse of people,
and many received their doctrine. Since that time these two ministers
travelled much together, and many were convinced by their ministry. But
at length John Camm, who did not spare himself, began to fall under a
kind of consumption, insomuch that through weakness he was fain to stay
at home; and then he often called his children and family together,
exhorting them to godliness, and praying to the Lord for them. Some
weeks before his death, he once expressed himself thus: ‘How great a
benefit do I enjoy above many, having such a large time of preparation
for death, being daily dying, that I may live for ever with my God, in
that kingdom that is unspeakably full of glory. My outward man daily
wastes and moulders down, and draws towards its place and centre;
but my inward man revives, and mounts upwards towards its place and
habitation in the heavens.’ The morning that he departed this life,
he called his wife, children, and family, to him, and exhorting them
to fear the Lord, to love his truth, to walk in it, and to be loving
and kind to one another, telling them that his glass was run, the time
of his departure was come; and he was to enter into everlasting ease,
joy, and rest: charging them all to be patient and content with their
parting with him. And so fainting, he passed into a sweet sleep; but by
the weeping and crying of those about him, he awakened, and desired to
be helped up a little in his bed, and then he spoke to this effect: ‘My
dear hearts, ye have wronged me and disturbed me, for I was at sweet
rest; ye should not so passionately sorrow for my departure; this house
of earth and clay must go to its place; and this soul and spirit is to
be gathered up to the Lord, to live with him for ever, where we shall
meet with everlasting joy.’ Then taking leave of his family, he charged
them to be content with his departure; and lying down, within a little
time deceased.
His beloved friend John Audland, (who often bemoaned the loss of so
dear a companion,) died also of a kind of consumption: for his ardent
zeal made him strain his voice beyond what his body was well able
to hear. In a meeting, which he once had with J. Camm, in a field
without Bristol, where Charles Marshall was one of his auditors,
after J. Camm had left off speaking, he stood up, with an awful and
shining countenance: and lifting up his voice as a trumpet, he said,
‘I proclaim a spiritual war with the inhabitants of the earth, who
are in the fall and separation from God, and I prophesy to the four
winds of heaven.’ Thus he went on with mighty power, exhorting to
repentance; and spoke with such a piercing authority, that some of the
auditory fell on the ground, and cried out under the sense of their
transgression. And when at Bristol he many times preached in an orchard
to a great multitude, he would lift up his voice exceedingly, in order
to be heard by all. Thus he spent his natural strength, though he was
but a young man. About the twentieth year of his age, he married with
one Anne Newby, of Kendal, a virtuous maid, not only of good family,
but also excelling in piety, and therefore she freely gave him up
to travel in the service of the gospel, notwithstanding his company
was very dear to her; which made her say, that she believed few ever
enjoyed a greater blessing in a husband so kind and affectionate. And
how heartily and tenderly she loved him, may be seen by the following
letter she wrote to him.
‘_Dear Husband_,
‘Thou art dearer to me than ever; my love flows out to thee,
even the same love that I am loved withal of my Father. In that
love salute me to all my friends, for dear you are all unto me;
my life is much refreshed in hearing from you. I received thy
letters, and all my soul desireth is to hear from thee in the
life; dear heart, in life dwell, there I am with thee out of all
time, out of all words, in the pure power of the Lord, there is
my joy and strength; O! how am I refreshed to hear from thee, to
hear of thy faithfulness and boldness in the work of the Lord. O!
dear heart, I cannot utter the joy I have concerning thee; thy
presence I have continually in spirit, therewith am I filled with
joy; all glory and honour be to our God for ever. O! blessed be
the day in which thou wast born, that thou art found worthy to
labour in the work of the Lord. Surely the Lord hath found thee
faithful in a little, therefore he hath committed much unto thee;
go on in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, from whence
all strength cometh, to whom be all glory, and honour for ever.
O! dear heart, go on, conquering and to conquer, knowing this,
that thy crown is sure. So, dear heart, now is the time of the
Lord’s work, and few are willing to go forth into it. All the
world lieth in wickedness, doing their own work; but blessed be
the Lord for ever, who hath called us from doing our own work,
into his great work. O! marvellous are his works, and his ways
past finding out. O! dear heart, thou knowest my heart, thou
mayest read daily how that I rejoice in nothing more than in thy
prosperity in the work of the Lord: Oh! it is past my utterance
to express the joy I have for thee. I am full, I am full of love
towards thee, never such love as this; the mighty power of the
Lord go along with thee, and keep thee faithful and valiant, and
bold in his pure counsel, to stand single out of all the world.
O! dear heart, all my love to thee is purer than gold seven times
purified in the fire: O! pure is he that hath loved us, therefore
let purity and holiness cover us for ever. A joyful word it was
to me, to hear that thou wast moved to go for Bristol: O my own
heart, my own life! in that which now stands, act and obey,
that thou mayest stand upon thy alone guard; so, dear heart,
let thy prayers be for me, that I may be kept pure out of all
temptations, singly to dwell in the life: so farewell.