It was now said commonly that the king might not do thus; and those
who grudged the Quakers this liberty, did not stick to set forth this
dispensation in very ill-favoured colours; nay, they said that William
Penn advised the king to do what he could not do without breaking his
promise. Yet if the king had made no greater infringement, his reign it
may be would have lasted longer: but the dispossessing of the fellows
of Magdalen College at Oxford, the imprisonment of the bishops, and
the public admittance of jesuits and monks, caused a ferment in the
minds of people. Now the bishops were tried at the king’s bench bar,
in Westminster-Hall; but they were acquitted, and so released. The
king also had appointed some ecclesiastical commissioners; but many
looked upon this as a kind of inquisition, and it seemed not well to
agree with liberty of conscience, which if he had maintained justly,
according to the advice of the Quakers in their address, it is not
likely that he would have come to such a strait, as now he was put to.
Not long before this time, one Theophila Townsend, a woman of years,
and understanding, published a book, wherein she gave a relation of
the grievous persecution her friends in Gloucestershire had suffered,
by imprisonment and spoil of goods, and how she herself had also
undergone many sufferings, and had been imprisoned in the castle of
Gloucester more than three years. Among other cases, she relates also,
how some time before her imprisonment, it happened, that by order of
the justices, Thomas Cutler and James George, she being seized in
the street, said to the latter, that the Lord would plead her cause,
and that what measure he meted, should be measured to him again. And
it thus happened, that before she was released, the wife of the said
George, who took her from her husband, was by death taken from him.
Afterwards this George came with the bishop of Gloucester into a
meeting, where Theophila was on her knees praying; at which the bishop
asking him whether she was the woman he spoke of, and he answering,
‘Yes, my lord;’ the bishop took her by the arm with such violence, that
he had almost pulled her down backward, saying, ‘Give over, woman, and
obey the king’s officers.’ But such was her zeal, that it could not
be stopped; for the more opposition she met with, the more she felt
herself encouraged, and inspired, to praise God for his goodness: and
though the bishop stirred up the justice, yet it seemed not in his
power to break off the current of her speech; so that they let her
alone, till she having discharged herself, stood up. Then the names of
those that were met, were taken in writing: and sometime after, she,
though aged and weakly, was in winter-season led three or four miles
through the snow, and committed to jail at Gloucester, where she was
kept three years and four months, and then released by king James.
Afterward she published a book, as hath been said already, in which
she gave an account how some of her friends had been beaten, punched,
and abused, to that degree, that they died of it, as she testified to
have seen herself: ‘Yet,’ said she, ‘though many died who were stronger
than I, it hath pleased the Lord to preserve my life, that I may speak
to the praise of his name, and tell of his wonders, and put you,
persecutors, once more in mind of what belongs to your peace. Blessed
be the Lord, he is risen for Zion’s sake, which ye have ploughed long
as a field; and when their enemies have done their worst, then the
Lord shall make his Zion to be an everlasting glory, and Jerusalem the
praise of the whole earth. And as ye see now in others that persecution
is evil, so see it also in yourselves; repent in dust and ashes.
Remember who it was that said, the wise man’s eyes are in his head, but
the fool walketh in darkness. The eyes of fools look out for mistakes
in others, and they blame in others what they are guilty of themselves.
Methinks the eye-lids of the morning, that is now dawned and rising
before you, ought to bring you to a true sight of your condition
in this matter.’ Going on thus, she reproves the informers who had
enriched themselves with the spoils of their neighbours; and she also
relates how the priest of Gloucester had put his name to a petition
to the king, in which, justice George, and others, desired that the
meeting-house of the Quakers might be given to the town, to make a
work-house of for the poor. ‘But,’ said she, ‘this is like Judas, who,
when the woman came with an alabaster box of very precious spikenard,
said, ‘Why was this waste made? Why was not this ointment sold, and the
money given to the poor?’ But the scripture saith, that this he said,
not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the
bag. Thus the priest made it appear by what he did, that he was not a
true minister of the gospel; for he came short of the works of the law,
which saith, ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, nor any thing
that is thy neighbour’s.’ And Christ commands to do unto men, what we
would have them to do to us; by which it is plain that such doings
are contrary to the law and the gospel. Those now who will have such
blind sleepy watchmen to be their teachers, let them pay them, and not
constrain others, who know them to be blind, to pay them also.’
Then speaking to those who had a hand in the spoiling of goods, and
setting forth the odiousness of that work, she saith at last, ‘I do not
write this from a spirit of revenge against any, but it is in the love
of God, to warn you, and to exhort you to repentance, that ye may find
mercy with the Lord, which is the real desire of my soul: I can truly
say, in the presence of the Lord, that I have nothing in my heart but
love and good-will to the worst of our enemies, and this in purity of
heart, and in sincerity of mind. I desire really your eternal peace,
and well-being, though ye have hardened your hearts against the Lord,
and his truth and people. Turn to the Lord, I beseech you; bow before
the Almighty, who will plead with all flesh, and shall call all to an
account, and reward every one according to what he hath done in the
body, whether it be good or bad. Consider this therefore whilst ye have
time, and mind the things that belong to your peace, before they be
hid from your eyes: for the long suffering of the Lord will come to an
end, who said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Therefore
whilst the spirit of the Lord, his light, his grace, yet strives in
your hearts, to turn you off from your evil ways, be willing to embrace
it, believe in it, take counsel of it, submit to it with all your
heart, be willing to be led and guided by it, and incline your hearts
to follow it in all things, and then it will lead you to rest and peace
with the Lord for ever.’ Yet more she said; but I break off. By such
kind of emphatical speeches, sometimes persecutors have been so touched
to the heart, that they themselves became harmless Christians.
I am come now almost to a conclusion of my relation concerning
persecution; of which I could have written much more, but that I was
unwilling to extend my work beyond what I should have been well able
to complete. Yet before I altogether part with this matter, I will
mention something concerning Theophilus Green, of whom mention hath
been made before. He lived at Battersea, not far from London, and was
a man beloved of his neighbours, because of his honest conversation;
yet he was much persecuted, both for attending meetings, and for
preaching. Once it happened that some officers came to his house to see
whether there was a meeting, and they behaved themselves moderately:
for what they did seemed against their mind, it being only in obedience
to the order of justice Duke, who, on account of a former offence,
had issued out warrants to make distress. The officers not satisfied
in the case, and seeing no meeting, went their way, and returned the
warrant; and T. Green went afterwards to the said justice, and speaking
to him, said amongst the rest, ‘Consider what that mouth and tongue
of thine hath said formerly, viz. that I had been ever kind to thee;
and is this the way of requiting it? Know for certain, that that God
whom I have served, and for whose cause I now suffer, will avenge me;
for vengeance is the Lord’s, and he will repay it one way or other,
except thou speedily repentest.’ At this saying the justice began to
tremble, and crying out, said, ‘I will do you no more hurt than I will
do my own soul. Pray go to the officers and tell them, I will never
trouble them any more upon the account of you.’ Green did so; and they
were glad of it. And Duke being upon some complaint dismissed, one Sir
John Broadrick succeeded in his room; and he was so moderate, that he
prevented the informers, by keeping Theophilus and his friends out of
their meeting-house, which was for about two years and a half.
Afterwards they were suffered again to go into their meeting-house,
but then justice Forster came once, and taking their names, fined
Theophilus 10_l._ as a preacher. And afterwards he with others coming
with a constable to seize for the fine, the constable being come to the
door of the house, said, ‘Neighbour Green, where are you? We are come
to seize your goods, if you will let us in.’ But this so displeased
the justice, that going down the yard, and seeing some oars and poles,
he required the constable to take them away. To which he answered,
‘I am no porter.’ ‘Then,’ said the justice, ‘command some others to
do it.’ To which the constable returned, ‘I command you to do it.’
This so enraged the justice, that he fined him. Some time after the
said justice coming again with an high constable, and another petty
constable, seized a barge, and had it carried away, and several times
offered it to sale, but none would buy it. And after it had been
carried about from place to place for sale, at length it was found
adrift by one who knew not of its being seized; and hearing that it
was Theophilus’s barge, he brought it to him. But Theophilus went to
the constables, and told them how it came to him, and where he had
it, saying, since it was come to him again he was willing to keep it;
but if they took it away again he would not hinder them. This account
being given to the justice, he sent a warrant, and committed Theophilus
to the Marshalsea prison. After three weeks the sessions was held at
the Marshalsea; and the last day the said justice came to him in the
prison, saying, he came out of love to see him, and to advise him for
his good; which was, that he would have him pay his fine; ‘for,’ said
he, ‘I am sure the grand jury hath found the bill against you; and if
you should come off, I have such an influence with the judge, as to
cause the oath to be tendered to you; and I know you will not take it;
and then you will be run to a premunire, and are not like to come out
as long as you live.’ To which Theophilus answered, ‘Thou saidst thy
coming was in love, to advise me for my good; but by what thou hast
said, it appears the contrary; for now I perceive thou hast devised
as much mischief as thou canst against me. As to the fine, if it were
but ten pence, nay ten farthings, I would not pay it. And if the Lord
should permit thee to do as thou hast said, and so be the cause of
bringing my grey hairs the sooner to the grave, my blood will be at
justice Forster’s door, and it will cry vengeance against thee.’
The next day the two constables being called before the grand jury,
were asked what they had against Theophilus Green, that stood there
indicted; and the high constable answered, ‘As to Theophilus Green,
he is as honest a man, though a Quaker, as lives about us; and he was
lately in office for the poor, and behaved himself as well in it as any
hath done these twenty years. And touching the barge he is indicted
for, when it came to him he came to us, and told how it came, and where
he had laid it, saying, if we would take it away again he would not
hinder us. This is all we have to say.’ Some of the grand jury knowing
Theophilus very well, and the cause too, did aggravate the matter very
high against the justice: and as to the indictment they brought it in
_ignoramus_. So Theophilus was cleared by proclamation: and sir Richard
How, being one of the jury, advised him to arrest the justice, there
being two good actions, as defamation and false imprisonment. But
Theophilus said he owned their love, but would leave the thing to the
Lord, for whose cause he suffered; for vengeance was the Lord’s, and
he would repay it. And it was but some little time after that the said
justice Forster died, as was reported, in great horror and misery. The
time when this happened I do not know exactly, yet I take it to have
been some years before the time I now describe. We see by this instance
a very singular deliverance, such as did not befal every one, but which
could not but encourage Theophilus the more.
Before I conclude this year I must mention something concerning W.
Penn, who when the government of king James was sinking, not only bore
the blame of many miscarriages; but by some was styled a Papist, though
this was altogether false. But he had a great many enemies; and it was
no new thing to brand the Quakers with the odious name of jesuits:
for thirty years before this time at Bristol great endeavours were
used to persuade people they were Franciscans. William Penn patiently
bore the slander of being decried as a Papist, saying but little in
justification of himself, till at length he made a return to a letter
sent by one who seriously begged of him to give an answer to those
accusations that had been forged in prejudice of his reputation. In
this paper he ascribed his free access to the king, partly to the
relation his father, as admiral, and to the service of the said king,
and who was then duke of York, and high admiral of England; and his
special favour also in releasing him out of the tower of London in the
year 1669. To this he added, ‘My father’s humble request to him, upon
his death-bed, was, to protect me from the inconveniences and troubles
my persuasion might expose me unto; and his friendly promise to do it,
and exact performance of it, from the moment I addressed myself to
him: I say, when all this is considered, any body that hath the least
pretence to good-nature, gratitude, or generosity, must needs know how
to interpret my access to the king.--Is any thing more foolish as well
as false, than that because I am often at Whitehall, therefore I must
be author of all that is done there, that doth not please abroad. But
supposing some such things to have been done; pray tell me if I am
bound to oppose any thing I am not called to do: I never was a member
of council, cabinet, or committee, where the affairs of the kingdom are
transacted. I have had no office or trust, and consequently nothing
can be said to be done by me; nor for that reason could I lie under
any test or any obligation to discover my opinion of public acts of
state: and therefore, neither can any such acts, nor any silence about
them, in justice be made my crime. Volunteers are blanks and cyphers
in all governments. And unless calling at Whitehall once a day, upon
many occasions, or my not being turned out of nothing, (for that no
office is,) be the evidence of my compliance in disagreeable things, I
know not what else can with any truth be alleged against me. I am not
without apprehensions of the cause of this behaviour towards me; I mean
my constant zeal for an impartial liberty of conscience. But if that
be it, the cause is too good to be in pain about it. I ever understood
that to be the natural right of all men; and that he that had a
religion without it, his religion was none of his own. For what is not
the religion of man’s choice, is the religion of him that imposes it:
so that liberty of conscience is the first step to have a religion.
This is no new opinion with me, I have wrote many apologies within
the last twenty years to defend it, and that impartially. Yet I have
as constantly declared, that bounds ought to be set to this freedom,
and that morality was the best; and that as often as that was violated
under a pretence of conscience, it was fit the civil power should take
place. Nor did I ever once think of promoting any sort of liberty of
conscience for any body, which did not preserve the common protestancy
of the kingdom, and the ancient rights of the government: for to say
truth, the one cannot be maintained without the other.--And till I
saw my own friends, with the kingdom delivered from the legal bondage
which penal laws for religion had subjected them to, I could with no
satisfaction think of leaving England, though much to my prejudice
beyond sea, and at my great expense here, having in all this time
never had either office, or pension, and always refusing the rewards
or gratuities of those I have been able to oblige.’ From this little
abstract of William Penn’s Apology, it appears sufficiently what kind
of liberty he defended; and such a liberty afterwards took place in the
reign of the next king.
Of George Fox I have been long silent, and I do not meet with any
very remarkable transactions that concerned him, except that he wrote
much, both for edification of his friends, and for the instruction and
admonition of others; for he was continually occupied with the care
of the church, and that things might be kept in good order, which to
perform the better, he now staid a long while in and about London.
In this year died William Dewsbury, one of the first preachers among
those called Quakers; having been a very zealous teacher, and an
eminent instrument to the conversion of many. He was born in Yorkshire,
and in his youth was a shepherd, and afterwards put apprentice to a
clothier; but when the civil wars broke out, he became a soldier and
joined with those who said they fought for the gospel. Now though he
was religious according to his knowledge; yet growing more and more
serious, and turning his mind inwardly, he saw there were inward and
spiritual enemies to encounter with, according to the saying of the
apostle, ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood; but against spiritual
wickedness,’ &c. And this state was inwardly manifested to him in the
words of our Saviour: ‘Put up thy sword into the sheath. If my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight.’ This wrought so
powerfully upon his mind, that he could no longer meddle with martial
affairs, but left the army; and returned to his former calling,
endeavouring to improve in true godliness, in which he so advanced
gradually, that when George Fox in the year 1651, came to Balby in
Yorkshire, and preached the gospel there, he could not but consent to
the doctrine declared by him, as being the same of which he himself
was already convinced in his mind, viz. that heed ought to be given
to the inward Divine reprovings for that which is evil; which doctrine
was preached by George Fox under the denomination of the true light,
which enlighteneth every man coming into the world; and that heed must
be given thereunto, as being the grace which brings salvation, of which
the apostle speaks in his epistle to Titus, ii. 11, saying, “That it
hath appeared to all men.” W. Dewsbury having heard such a sermon as
this, agreed not only with G. Fox in this point of doctrine, but in
process of time became himself also a very zealous preacher of it, for
which he fell under great sufferings; insomuch that he was prisoner at
Warwick nineteen years for religion’s sake, besides the imprisonments
he suffered on that account in other places. But being now released,
he came in the month called May to London, and preached a sermon there
concerning regeneration, which was taken from his mouth in short
hand, and afterwards printed as underneath.[52] His intention was to
have been at the yearly meeting of his friends; but by illness he was
prevented; and therefore before he grew worse, he returned to Warwick,
where he lived. Being come thither, his disease increased, and lying
very sick in bed, and being visited by some of his friends, he said to
them in great weakness of body, as followeth:
[52] A Sermon preached by William Dewsbury, at Gracechurch
Street, the 6th of the Third month, 1688.
‘MY FRIENDS,
“_Except you be regenerated and born again, ye cannot
inherit the Kingdom of God._”
‘This is the word of the Lord God to all people this day; this
lies not in airy profession, and in vain imagination, and
whatsoever else it is that you deck yourselves withal; you must
every particular man and woman be born again, else you cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven. This was the doctrine of Christ
in that prepared body wherein he appeared in the world, and
preached to Nicodemus, that standing doctrine to this moment of
time, and will be so while any man breathes upon the earth; there
is no other way, no other gate to enter into life, but by this
great work of regeneration. Now to enforce people to come to this
great work, and to set forward from earth to heaven, all being
driven out of Paradise by the cherubim set with a flaming sword,
there is no returning to that blessed life, but by the loss of
that life that did grieve the Spirit of God, and which did cause
man to be driven out; there is no other way of return again
but by this new birth. As you are all driven and forced out of
Paradise, and the flaming sword and the cherubims are set to keep
the way of the tree of life, so you must return into the favour
of God again, by the light of Christ; and you have line upon
line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little,
to direct your minds to the light of Christ Jesus. As the first
Adam was made a living soul, so the second Adam is a quickening
spirit. This know for certain, no man or woman can be quickened,
and raised up into the life of the second Adam, till the life of
the first Adam be taken away from them.
‘So now, let every one of you deal plainly with your own hearts,
how you came to be a slain people to the life of the first Adam,
in which life there was a working of the mystery of iniquity in
every part of man. One cries, ‘Lo here is Christ;’ another, ‘Lo
there is Christ;’ and every one is following his own imagination
about the letter of the Scripture; this is still but the vain
spirit of man, running and striving to recover himself; and this
is the cause there is so much profession of God, and so little of
his nature appearing among the sons and daughters of men. Now all
of you that come to be regenerated, you must come to the light of
Christ; there is no other way to it. He will search your hearts,
and try your reins, and set your sins in order before you, and
trace out the iniquities that compass you about; therefore you
must see yourselves a lost people, a sinful people, and so come
to feel the weight of your sins upon your consciences, there is
no other way to come to life; you will never complain of sin
till you are burdened with it, till you have a trumpet sounding
in your ears, to awaken you, that you may arise from the dead,
that Christ may give you light: there is no other way, dear
people, you must bring your deeds to the light of Christ, and
abide in the sentence of condemnation; if you save your lives,
you lose them; if you will lose your lives for Christ’s sake,
there is no danger of your eternal life. John the Baptist,
Christ’s forerunner, declared, “I indeed baptize you with water
unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose, he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is
in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will
gather his wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.” What is it the better for you to read the
Scripture, if you know not this fiery baptism, which all must
know that are regenerated; deceive not yourselves, Christ will
appear in flaming fire, and take vengeance on all them that know
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
‘I stand here as a witness of the Lord of life this day, there
is no way for people to come to salvation, but they must know
Christ revealed in all their hearts. What is he doing but
rendering vengeance upon the carnal mind, self-pleasing, and
all inordinate affections; he comes with vengeance to take away
thy life; he will baptize thee with the Holy Ghost, and with
fire. If thou knowest not this, thou art not a true Christian,
thou wilt never look death in the face with joy, nor go down to
the grave with triumph. If thou livest at home in the body, and
flyest for thy life, and wilt not be willing to lose thy life
for Christ if thou art called to it, and if thou wilt not have
Christ to wash thee, (some for shyness and some for self-love
will refuse this,) if Christ doth not wash thee, thou hast no
part in him; you must come to Christ to purify you in the fiery
furnace; the day of the Lord shall burn as an oven, (as the
prophet speaks:) this is a dreadful day, a day of vengeance,
the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemeth his people from
their sins. Sion is redeemed with judgment, and established with
righteousness. Do not make the way to heaven easier on your minds
and imaginations than indeed it is, and think it not sufficient
to live in an outward observance of the ways of God. If your own
wills be alive, and your corruptions remain unmortified, the
judgment of God will be your portion, therefore in the Lord’s
name come along with me; I am come to declare what I have heard
and seen of the Father. Come and examine thy conscience. Hast
thou brought thy deeds to the light? Then thou hast received
condemnation upon thyself, and thy haughtiness is bowed down,
and laid low, and thou seest thyself a poor miserable wretch,
before the eternal God. Whatsoever thou knowest of the mind of
God, hast thou reformed thy ways? Come along with me, and tell me
what is the ground of thy faith, and thy confidence. Is it thy
obedience and qualifications? Because thy obedience is right,
and thy qualifications right, what use dost thou make of them?
Read the book of conscience; hast thou no ground for thy faith?
Thou hast put on the reformed faith, and liveth an unreformed
life: search and try thyself, man or woman. Dost thou watch over
thyself, and keep in a sense of thy dissolution, notwithstanding
all thy qualifications and partial reformation? Dost thou strive
to enter in at the strait gate, and the narrow way? Here is the
lost sheep thou seekest, the life of thy will, the life of the
first Adam; the Justice of God will not suffer thee to make a
saviour of thy duties and qualifications; and to take God’s
jewels, and to deck thyself with them, thou canst not be saved
without the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. What saith thy
conscience, art thou brought to this change of thy mind, and of
thy conversation? Are you all willing to part with your sins,
with your pride and haughtiness? Are you willing to part with
your vile affections? This is the work of God’s grace upon you.
Dost thou place thy confidence in thy duties and qualifications,
and takest God’s jewels and ornaments, and deckest thyself with
them? Thou tookest my jewels, saith the Lord, and didst play
the harlot; if thou return to the Lord, and Humble thyself, and
get through this difficulty, thou wilt be happy for ever. This
judgment of God, this flaming sword that turns every way, will
keep thee from returning to sin, and bring thee to Christ, and
cut thee off from all hope of salvation but by him, and make thee
to see the absolute need of a Saviour, and that thy life is hid
with Christ in God.
‘It is God’s infinite goodness to men that he will hide pride
from them, and humble them under his mighty hand. This is the
condition of poor creatures that are slain by the hands of the
Most High. How may I know when I am slain and baptized, and come
to have sincerity? They that have this baptism enter into the
heavenly life; if you love the light of Christ Jesus, it will be
thus with you; God will make short work in the earth. He will
set thy sins in order before thee, and make thee watchful unto
prayer, and lead thee to holiness of life and conversation, and
make thee abhor thyself, and despise all the pomps and pleasures
and vanities of this world. When he hath adorned thee with his
graces, then watch for the light, and in the light of Christ
thou shalt see light, and that all thou hast done, and canst do,
is but thy duty. All this thou oughtest to do; thou art God’s
creature, and all this will not justify thee in order to thy
eternal salvation, for these services thou owest unto God. If
thou diligently wait, thou shalt see more light; then the sword
that proceeds out of the mouth of Christ, who is called the Word
of God, will cut thee off from all thy hopes of salvation from
any thing thou hast done, from any of thy qualifications, from
any thing that thou canst do; so that thou wilt be a hopeless
soul, nothing in thine own sense and apprehension; the power of
the first Adam must die before him, and thou wilt cry out, ’I
am a dead, lost, and undone creature; but there is a life hid
with Christ in God for me, but I can never have it till I be
slain into the will of God, and become as a little child, and be
stripped of all my own excellency that I have attained; I must
come to a sense of my own misery, and fall down at the foot of
God; when I am become as a little child, humbled and slain as to
my own will, and confidence in my own righteousness; I will not
then question but I shall live a holy life, but I will give all
that life I had, for that life which is hid with Christ in God.‘
O! there is none come so far that ever miss of eternal life. All
shuffling people that would have salvation by Christ, and will
not let him exercise his heavenly power, his princely glorious
power to baptize them into his death, it is they that come short
of salvation; but all those that yield themselves up to Christ to
be redeemed through judgment, and are become as little children,
these are in a happy state. You know that our Lord Jesus Christ
took a little child in his arms, and said, “Whosoever becomes
not as a little child, cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven:”
you must all of you become as little children, and depend upon
the mercy and free grace of God; you must all come to a holy
resignation of your wills to God’s disposal; if you come to
Christ as little children, and depend upon him, you cannot miss
of salvation; it is entailed upon such souls as hear the voice of
Christ, they that hear the voice of the Son of God shall live.
’I stand here as a witness for the God of heaven, I never
heard the voice of Christ, (as his follower,) till I was slain
and baptized, and lay as a little child under his heavenly
chastisements; as soon as ever my soul was brought to this in my
humiliation, O then the dreadful judgment was taken away, and the
book of life was opened unto me, and the Lord spake comfortable
to me, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: and I was
made a Christian through a day of vengeance, and of burning as
an oven, and the haughtiness and pride of man in me was brought
low. Now in this conformity to Christ’s death people may die
into life, and blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for
they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.
Away with all your own wills, and your pride, and haughtiness,
and your hypocrisy and deceit, and all dependency upon any
qualifications of your own; you must come to have your life
separated from you, else you will all perish. Those that will die
with Christ, and be willing to die for him, he is revealed as a
Saviour to them. He was before us in the days of his flesh, and
complied with his father’s will: he was nailed to the cross. The
Son of God, when he was come to the depth of his sufferings, what
was his cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This
was for thy sake, and my sake, and every man and woman’s sake
that do believe in him: he drank the cup which his Father gave
him to drink. If it was done thus to the green tree, what shall
be done unto the dry? He went before us, and when he cometh again
he will take up to himself, and take us from the filth of sin,
that we may be made new creatures.
’Now except we be born again we cannot enter into the kingdom of
God, and there is no becoming new creatures, till we be slain to
the old man. Thou must be slain to thy pride and haughtiness, and
the corruption of thine own will and all selfishness, thou must
have God to burn it up in thee: the Holy Ghost will destroy, and
burn up nothing in thee, but that which will bring an eternal
fire upon thy soul. Show me thou whom my soul loveth; where is
the path of life, the footsteps, of the flock of thy companions?
Why should I be as one that goes aside? Now every one that lives
at home in the bosom of self, take this with you, though you
profess the truth, and live in an outward conformity thereunto,
yet if you secretly indulge your corrupt wills, and live a
flesh-pleasing life, and consult with flesh and blood, and are
not rent off from your lusts, you cannot enjoy the Lord of life;
while I am at home in the body, I am absent from the Lord.
’The body of sin is a loadstone to draw you from the life of
God, and from glorying in the cross of Christ: this is flesh and
blood, and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
For the Lord’s sake, for your soul’s sake, and for the sake of
your eternal happiness, put not off this work, but pursue it,
and it will be perfected. See how Christ is revealed in you by
the Holy Ghost, and with fire. God will redeem you by the spirit
of judgment and burning; it is not ranging abroad in your minds,
but you must know Christ is in you except ye be reprobates; if
he hath set your eyes and hearts upon himself, and made you to
water your couch with your tears; if he hath broken your sleep,
so as you have cried out, ‘I shall be damned, and never come to
salvation;’ (this will be your cry, it was once my cry,) O let
not your eyes slumber, nor your eye-lids take any rest, till you
be sure the Lord is your God; if you find these qualifications,
you are on your way, otherwise you will be like a deceitful bow,
and never abide in judgment; if you reject the counsel of God
against yourselves, and refuse to be crucified with Christ, and
to be baptized with his baptism, you will never have life; but by
his baptism, and through the heavenly operation of his Spirit, if
thou hast faith in Christ’s name, thou shalt be married to him
in everlasting righteousness; salvation shall be brought to us,
and eternal life be bestowed upon us; even that life which is
hid with Christ in God, he will give to every poor mournful soul
that submits to his blessed will, and believeth in the Lord Jesus
Christ: this is not a faith of our own making, nor a garment of
our own embroidery, but that which the Lord hath given to us. O
happy man or woman, that obtainest this gift of God! O, who will
not lose their lives for this everlasting life? Who will not
die for this eternal life? Now the matter lies in the death of
your own wills; when you have done the will of God, then watch
that your own wills be slain, and that your cursed self take not
the jewels of God, and his bracelets and ornaments, and bestow
them upon self, and paint and deck cursed self: and take not the
members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot; if you
be dead to your own wills, you are risen with Christ, and shall
receive a resurrection to eternal life: crucify self, and set the
world at nought, and trample upon it, and all things of it, and
count them as dross and dung in comparison of Christ; that the
Father hath revealed to be our life, in the days of our sorrow
and mourning, in the day of our calamity, in the day when we
cried our hope is lost.
‘Thus it hath been with the holiest people on earth; it is not
by works of righteousness of thy own that thou canst be saved;
Christ comes to cut all these down, that thou mayest be ingrafted
into him, and justified by his grace. Do not make this matter of
talk, and say, I have heard this and that; but look into your
own hearts, and see what heavenly workings are there; what there
is of the power of the Lord Jesus, that hath made you to loathe
this world, and the inordinate love of the creature, that you may
enjoy all these things, as if you enjoyed them not. We cannot
when we are slain and crucified to this world, but say, my life
is in Christ, when we come to ascribe nothing to ourselves, and
all to Christ: here is a blessed harmony, broken hearts, melted
spirits, and yet joyful souls; poor creatures that were mourning
and sighing, and crying before the Lord in retired places, and
yet rejoicing in Christ Jesus, I am risen with Christ, I said,
my hope is cut off, I will lie down in thy will, O God; do what
thou wilt with me, it is in thy sovereign pleasure and free gift,
whether thou give me life or deny it to me: there must be a
resignation of ourselves to the will of God; it was so with the
Lord Jesus, and it is so with every true saint of God; you must
be humbled as little children before the judgment be taken away,
and the loving kindness of God sealed up to your souls; if you
seek this work of God, you will find it; if you seek it upon your
beds, in all your labours and concernments, in all your stations
and relations; if you press after the new birth, you must use
this world as if you used it not, and live a married life, as if
you were unmarried, for the fashion of this world passeth away.
This is not rantism.
‘But let me tell you, a new world comes by regeneration; a man is
not lifted up in his own mind, but laid low in his own eyes, he
waits for the wisdom of God to govern him, and he is as a steward
of the grace of God, to give to them that stands in need. When a
man is regenerated and born again, he is as contented with bread
and water, as with all the enjoyments of this world; what is the
matter? His own will is gone, and put down under his feet, and
whatsoever it is that gives life to all his vain desires and
affections, there is a harmony of all within, a man praising of
God, and blessing his holy name; there are no entanglements shall
draw away the heart from serving of God, and seeking his glory;
and if God shall call the husband from the wife, or the wife from
the husband, for the glory of his name, there is no whining and
complaining, and crying out, but giving them up, and a praising
and blessing God, when they are called to such an exercise; and
if they are not called to that, then they set their hearts to
glorify God in their several places and stations; then they have
a full content in a blessed resignation. Here their wills are
slain, but they praise God they have no desire, but Lord thy
will be done, always praising God, always having the fear and
the glory of God before their eyes. All the mischief is hatched
in pleasing men’s own wills: that is, the counsel of every heart
that Christ doth not govern. Will you live as the Quakers? Then
you must live contemptibly, the mistress and the maid are hail
fellows well met. No, every one must walk in humility, and live
in acquaintance with the God of heaven; she that is wrought
upon by the same spirit, must with all diligence behave herself
as becomes a servant of the Lord. Here is now a new world, and
the fashions of the old world are gone; all pride, haughtiness,
crossness, and trampling upon one another are all gone, all slain
through the operation of Christ.
‘What remains now, Christ is in me, and we are all one in
him; Christ laid down his life for thee and me; now he reigns
in me, and he hath prepared my body to die for the truth, as
his prepared body was laid down for my sin. It is a kind of
foolish profession, to make profession of Christ, and live in
covetousness, profaneness, sensuality, and the like; they that
are come to this heavenly birth, seek the things that are above,
thou canst do no other; make the tree good, and the fruit will be
good. You must be ingrafted into the vine of God’s righteousness;
O! slight not the day of your visitation. What was it to me to
read of any being born again, till I was slain, and knew the
heavenly baptism of Christ Jesus? Till I saw the flaming sword
ready to slay me in every way, in every turning. The light of
Christ convinced me of sin, and his righteousness justified me,
and those works were abominable to me, that hindered my soul’s
passage to Christ; Christ Jesus in marrying my soul to himself
seized upon me, and did work effectually in me: there is the
testimony of Christ in me, he hath sealed up my soul to the day
of my redemption. Here is a certain passage, and a certain way
which never any miss of, that lose their lives for Christ: if you
be not ready and willing to lose your lives for Christ, you shall
never come here; the gate is straight, and the way is narrow,
none come hither but those that die into an heavenly oneness with
Christ. O, friends, let us empty ourselves, that Christ may fill
us; let us be nothing in our own eyes, that we may be all in him,
and receive of his fulness.
‘Now I commend you to God’s witness, that you may remember
what hath been spoken among you; but consider, if you do not
hearken to it, it will follow you, and be a plague to you to all
eternity; if you will not yield up ourselves to Christ this day
that burns like an oven, this fire you must dwell with when out
of the body, there will be no quenching of this fire for ever;
but if you be so wise for your souls, as to resign yourselves
up to Christ, and come to him as little children, this will not
hinder your earthly concerns, though the world may account thee a
fool, yet thou hast that part of heavenly wisdom to do what thou
dost as unto God: thou carriest to thy wife, as in the sight of
God, that she may be sanctified to thee, and thou to her; and
thou carriest becomingly to thy children and servants, and thou
wilt abound in grace, and in every good work, which will be for
thine eternal welfare.
‘O, I beseech you people, for the Lord’s sake, wait for the light
of Christ to guide you; learn of him to be meek and lowly, then
happy are you; for he dwelleth with the humble, but he beholdeth
the proud afar off. This new birth, which is a true work, a
sincere and heavenly work, it will make you for ever. O make room
for Christ in your hearts, or else he is never like to dwell with
you; he loveth to dwell with the poor and humble and contrite
spirit, he abhors the proud, he will empty your souls, that he
may fill them.
‘And so I commend you to God. I have been long held in durance
under great weakness; and I was restless, till I could come up
to this great city of London, to preach the everlasting gospel
among you, and you see I am among you here; pray every one of
you turn inward; let not these words, passing through a mean
vessel, be as a bare empty discourse of truth to you, which you
only hear, and take no further care of your salvation. Take heed
of despising the light that shines in the midst of you, and be
pressing forward to the heavenly work that is laid in the power
of Christ Jesus, even through judgment into death, and then he
will give eternal life; the Lord confirm this, that it may rest
upon your hearts, that you may be dead to the things of the
world: we are not come to Mount Sinai, that genders to bondage,
but we are come to Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly, and church of the first-born which
are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. This is the inheritance of the
redeemed of the Most High, blessed be the name of the Lord; let
us rest in hope, till he bring us to humility and lowness of
mind, that he may clothe us with heavenly glory, according to his
promise, I will beautify my house with glory, saith the Lord.
This is the portion of a poor people, that cast down themselves
before the Lord, that he may lift them up, and be all in all to
them, in whose blessed presence they shall have joy, and rivers
of pleasures at his right hand for evermore.’
‘My God hath yet put it in my heart to bear a testimony to his
name and blessed truth, and I can never forget the day of his
great power and blessed appearance, when he first sent me to
preach the everlasting gospel, and proclaim the day of the Lord
to all people. Therefore, friends, be faithful, and trust to the
Lord your God; for this I can say, I never since played the
coward, but as joyfully entered prisons as palaces, and in the
prison-house I sang praises to my God, and esteemed the bolts
and locks upon me as jewels. And, friends, this I must once
again testify to you, in the name of the Lord God, that what I
saw above thirty years ago, still rests as a testimony to leave
behind me, that a dreadful terrible day is at hand, and will
certainly come to pass; but the time when, I cannot say; but all
put on strength in the name of the Lord, and wait to feel his
eternal power, to preserve you through the tribulations of those
days that approach very near. This I have further to signify,
that my departure draws nigh. Blessed be my God, I am prepared,
and I have nothing to do but die, and put off this corruptible
and mortal tabernacle, this flesh that hath so many infirmities;
but the life that dwells in it, ascends out of the reach of
death, hell, and the grave; and immortality and eternal life is
my crown for ever. Therefore you that are left behind, fear not,
nor be discouraged, but go on in the name and power of the Lord,
and bear a faithful and living testimony for him in your day. And
the Lord will prosper his work in your hand, and cause his truth
to flourish and spread abroad. For it shall have the victory, and
no weapon formed against it shall prosper.’
Thus fervent in spirit was W. Dewsbury in his latter end, and he prayed
to God very earnestly for all his friends, especially those that were
met at the annual assembly at London. And so he very piously departed
this life at his house, in a good old age, in the month called June,
in this current year. He was indeed a man of a remarkable zeal and
perception. He spoke sometimes to young lads as to men, telling them
that the blessing of the Lord would rest upon them if they lived a
godly life: some of which being since come to man’s estate, have
experienced the truth of his saying.
Two days before the decease of William Dewsbury, Rebecca Travers
departed this life at about the age of seventy-nine years. She was a
woman exceedingly well gifted; and spoke not only sometimes in public
for edification of the church, but wrote also several books for the
advancement of piety; in one of which she signified, that though she
had been a reader of the Scriptures from a child of six years old; yet
when by the power of the eternal gospel she was turned from darkness
to light, the Scriptures then became much more plain to her, as not
wanting interpretation. She was an excellent open-hearted woman, and
took great care of the poor: she had several times been imprisoned
for religion, but persevered constantly in the faith, and so piously
entered into eternal rest.
As to state affairs, there now appeared a wonderful agitation in
England, since it was reported that the queen was big with child. And
the endeavours for introducing popery, besides the encroaching upon
some rights and privileges, caused such a stir, that William the third,
prince of Orange, and stadtholder, (or lord deputy,) of Holland, &c.
was intreated and invited by the English Protestants, to come to their
assistance. This at length he did, and came over with a fleet, and a
considerable number of forces. What was the issue of this expedition,
is very amply described by other pens, and not properly my province to
relate; wherefore I think it sufficient to my purpose to say, that the
prince after some difficulty at sea, came into England; where having
many adherents, the king, many of whose forces deserted him, resolved
to go to France, whither the queen with the young child was gone
sometime before. Accordingly he went over, where he was well received
by the French king, who provided him a court at St. Germain’s. In the
meanwhile the prince of Orange came to London, and was saluted there
by the great ones as the deliverer of England. The lord mayor of the
said city, with the aldermen and the sheriffs, having congratulated
him, the prince sent for some of the members of former parliaments to
come to him, and signified to them that he had desired them to meet to
advise him in the best manner how to pursue the ends of his declaration
in calling a free parliament, for the preservation of the Protestant
religion, the restoring of the rights and liberties of the kingdom,
and settling the same, that they might not be in danger of being again
subverted.
In answer to this, thanks were given to the prince for his care and
pains in defence of the people, their religion, and laws. And all
things took a favourable turn for him.
In Holland a good while before a paper was published in print, called,
‘A Copy of a Letter written by a Quaker at London to his Friend at
Rotterdam.’ In which forged letter were mentioned several things that
were not altogether untrue, and the prince’s going over to England,
was also in a manner predicted. Who was the author of the said letter,
I could never learn, but of this I am fully satisfied, that he was
no Quaker; for it never was their way to ridicule princes, and to
characterize them with ridiculous denominations, as in the said
letter we find mentioned, of James of Great Britain, Mary of Modena,
William of Orange, and Mary of England, his wife. This was no more the
language of Quakers, than the following expressions that are found in
this letter. ‘The Spirit hath inspired me to tell thee, I should not
be able to declare my opinion, before the Spirit shall have revealed
it to me. If the Spirit doth dictate it to thee, go and speak with
him. Dentsch hath had a revelation, and the Spirit hath assured him,’
&c. This foolish language betrays itself, and serves for a palpable
evidence, that it never proceeded from the pen of any of the people
called Quakers. But perhaps the author of that letter knew a secret of
state, whereof, (to remain unknown,) he would acquaint the world in a
ridiculous way; that under the cloak of being a Quaker, he should best
continue undiscovered, and that by this device the letter would spread
the more, as indeed it did; for it had a very quick vent.