1653-1654.—George Fox disputes most of the day with priest
Wilkinson—many Friends lose their business for declining the world’s
salutations, but afterwards their tried faithfulness and integrity
procure them more than their neighbours—George Fox issues an address
to Friends everywhere—two persecuting justices at Carlisle are cut
off, and a third disgraced—George Fox passes through Halifax, a rude
town of professors—at Synderhill-Green he has a mighty meeting of
some thousands, and there was a general convincement—about sixty
ministers are now raised up in the north, to travel towards the
south, the east, and the west, in Truth’s service—George Fox’s
address to Friends in the ministry—Rice Jones and many other false
prophets rise up against Friends and are blasted—a wicked man binds
himself with an oath to kill George Fox, but is prevented—great
convincement in Lincolnshire—at Swannington George Fox has much
controversy with professors—has a great dispute with priest Stevens,
and seven other priests at Drayton—his father being present was
convinced, and said, “Truly I see he that will but stand to the
truth, it will carry him out”—Priest Stevens propagates lies
respecting George Fox, which the Lord swept away—is taken before
Colonel Hacker, who sends him to the Protector—speaks prophetically
to the Colonel—has a friendly conference with the Protector—is
dismissed by him very friendly—refuses his entertainment—Captain
Drury scoffs at trembling, but is made to tremble in a remarkable
manner—George Fox prays with some officers, who are greatly shaken
by the Lord’s power—priests and professors greatly disturbed because
many of their people are convinced, and moved to declare against the
rest.
After my release from CARLISLE prison, I was moved to go to priest
Wilkinson’s steeple-house again at BRIGHAM; and being got in before him,
when he came in, I was declaring the truth to the people, though they
were but few; for the most and the best of his hearers were turned to
Christ’s free teaching; and we had a meeting of Friends hard by, where
Thomas Stubbs was declaring the word of life amongst them. As soon as
the priest came in, he opposed me; and there we stayed most part of the
day; for when I began, he opposed me; so if any law was broken, he broke
it. When his people would be haling me out, I manifested his fruits to
be such, as Christ spoke of, when he said, “they shall hale you out of
their synagogues;” and then he would be ashamed, and they would let me
alone. There he stood till it was almost night, jangling and opposing
me, and would not go to his dinner; for he thought to weary me out. But
at last, the Lord’s power and truth came so over him, that he packed
away with his people. When he was gone, I went to the meeting of
Friends, who were turned to the Lord, and by his power established on
Christ, the rock and foundation of the true prophets and apostles, but
not of the false.
About this time the priests and professors fell to prophesying against
us afresh. They had said long before, that we should be destroyed within
a month; and after that, they prolonged the time to half-a-year; but
that time being long expired, and we mightily increased in number, they
now gave forth, that we would eat out one another. For often after
meetings, many tender people having a great way to go, tarried at
Friends’ houses by the way, and sometimes more than there were beds to
lodge in; so that some have lain on the hay-mows; hereupon Cain’s fear
possessed the professors and world’s people. For they were afraid, that
when we had eaten one another out, we would all come to be maintained by
the parishes, and be chargeable to them. But after a while, when they
saw that the Lord blessed and increased Friends, as he did Abraham, both
in the field and in the basket, at their goings forth, and comings in,
at their risings up and lyings down, and that all things prospered with
them; then they saw the falseness of all their prophesies against us;
and that it was in vain to curse, where God had blessed.
At the first convincement, when Friends could not put off their hats to
people, or say You to a single person, but Thou and Thee;—when they
could not bow, or use flattering words in salutations, or adopt the
fashions and customs of the world, many Friends, that were tradesmen of
several sorts, lost their customers at first; for the people were shy of
them, and would not trade with them; so that for a time some Friends
could hardly get money enough to buy bread. But afterwards, when people
came to have experience of Friends’ honesty and faithfulness, and found
that their yea was yea, and their nay was nay; that they kept to a word
in their dealings, and that they would not cozen and cheat them; but
that if they sent a child to their shops for anything, they were as well
used as if they had come themselves; the lives and conversation of
Friends did preach, and reached to the witness of God in the people.
Then things altered so, that all the inquiry was, “where is there a
draper, or shopkeeper, or tailor, or shoemaker, or any other tradesman,
that is a Quaker?” Insomuch that Friends had more trade than many of
their neighbours, and if there was any trading, they had a great part of
it. Then the envious professors altered their note, and began to cry
out, “if we let these Quakers alone, they will take the trade of the
nation out of our hands.” This has been the Lord’s doing to and for his
people! which my desire is, that all, who profess his holy truth, may be
kept truly sensible of, and that all may be preserved, in and by his
power and Spirit, faithful to God and man; first to God, in obeying him
in all things; and then in doing unto all men, that which is just and
righteous, to all men and women, in all things, that they have to do or
deal with them in; that the Lord God may be glorified in their
practising truth, holiness, godliness, and righteousness, amongst people
in all their lives and conversation.
Friends being now grown very numerous in the northern parts of the
nation, and many young-convinced ones coming daily in among us, I was
moved of the Lord to write the following epistle, and send it forth
amongst them, in order to stir up the pure mind, and raise a holy care
and watchfulness in them over themselves, and one another, for the
honour of truth:—
“_To you all, Friends everywhere, scattered abroad_.
“In the measure of the life of God, wait for wisdom from God, even
from him, from whom it comes. And all ye, who are children of God,
wait for living food from the living God, to be nourished up to
eternal life, from the one fountain, from whence life comes; that ye
may all be guided and walk in order; servants in your places, young
men and women in your places, and rulers of families; that every one,
in your respective places, may adorn the truth, in the measure of it.
With it let your minds be kept up to the Lord Jesus, from whom it
comes, that ye may be a sweet savour to God, and in wisdom ye may all
be ordered and ruled;—that a crown and a glory ye may be one to
another in the Lord. And that no strife, bitterness, or self-will, may
appear amongst you; but with the Light, in which is unity, all these
may be condemned. And that every one in particular, may see to, and
take care of, the ordering and ruling of his own family; that in
righteousness and wisdom it may be governed, the fear and dread of the
Lord being set in every one’s heart; that the secrets of the Lord
every one may come to receive; that stewards of his grace you may come
to be, to dispense it to every one as they have need; and so in
savouring and right discerning you may all be kept; that nothing, that
is contrary to the pure life of God, may be brought forth in you, or
among you; but all that is contrary to it, may be judged by it; so
that in light, in life, and love, ye may all live, and all that is
contrary to the light, and life, and love, may be brought to judgment,
and by that light condemned. And that no fruitless trees be among you;
but all cut down and condemned by the light, and cast into the fire;
so that every one may bear and bring forth fruit unto God, and grow
fruitful in his knowledge, and in his wisdom; and that none may appear
in words beyond what they are in the life, that gave forth the words.
Here none shall be as the untimely figs; none shall be of those trees
whose fruit withers; such go in Cain’s way, from the light, and by it
are condemned.
“Let none amongst you boast yourselves above your measure; for if you
do, out of God’s kingdom you are excluded; for in that boasting part
gets up the pride, and the strife, which is contrary to the light,
that leads to the kingdom of God, and gives an entrance thereinto, and
an understanding to know the things that belong to the kingdom of God.
There the light and life of man every one receives, even Him who was,
before the world was, by whom it was made, who is the righteousness of
God, and his wisdom; to whom all glory, honour, thanks, and praise
belong, who is God blessed for ever. Let no image or likeness be made;
but wait in the light, which will bring condemnation on that part that
would make the images; for that prisons the just. So to the lust yield
not the eye, nor the flesh; for the pride of life stands in that which
keeps out the love of the Father; and upon which his judgments and
wrath remain, where the love of the world is sought after, and a crown
that is mortal. In this ground the evil enters, which is cursed; which
brings forth briars and thorns, where death reigns, and tribulation
and anguish are upon every soul, and the Egyptian tongue is heard; all
which is by the light condemned. There the earth is, which must be
removed; by the light it is seen, and by the power it is removed, and
out of its place it is shaken; to which the thunders utter their
voices, before the mysteries of God be opened, and Jesus revealed.
Therefore all ye whose minds are turned to this light, wait upon the
Lord Jesus for the crown that is immortal, and that fadeth not away.”
G. F.
“This is to be sent amongst all Friends in the truth, the flock of
God, to be read at their meetings.”
While Friends abode in the northern parts, a priest of WREXHAM, in
Wales, whose name was Morgan Floyd, having heard reports concerning us,
sent two of his congregation into the North to inquire concerning us, to
try us, and bring him an account of us. But when these triers came down
amongst us, the power of the Lord overcame them, and they were both
convinced of the truth. So they stayed some time with us, and then
returned to Wales; where afterwards one of them departed from his
convincement; but the other, whose name was John-ap-John, abode in the
truth, and received a part in the ministry, in which he continued
faithful.
Now were the priests greatly disturbed at NEWCASTLE, at KENDAL, and in
most of the northern counties. There being one Gilpin, that had
sometimes come amongst us at KENDAL, and soon run out from the truth
into vain imaginations, the priests made what evil use they could of him
against us; but the Lord’s power confounded them all. And the Lord God
cut off two of the persecuting justices at CARLISLE; and the other,
after a time, was turned out of his place, and left the town.
About this time the oath or engagement to OLIVER CROMWELL, was tendered
to the soldiers; many of whom were disbanded, because, in obedience to
Christ, they could not swear. John Stubbs was one, who was convinced
when I was in CARLISLE prison, and became a good soldier in the Lamb’s
war, and a faithful minister of Christ Jesus, travelling much in the
service of the Lord in Holland, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Egypt, and
America. And the Lord’s power preserved him out of the hands of the
Papists, though many times he was in great danger of the Inquisition.
But some of the soldiers who had been convinced, but had not come into
obedience to the truth, took Cromwell’s oath; and going afterwards into
Scotland, and coming before a garrison there, the garrison thinking they
had been enemies, fired at them, and killed many of them; which was a
sad judgment.
When the churches were settled in the North, and Friends were sat down
under Christ’s teaching, and the glory of the Lord shone over them, I
passed from SWARTHMORE to LANCASTER (about the beginning of the year
1654,) and so through the counties, visiting Friends till I came to
SYNDERHILL-GREEN,[32] where a meeting was appointed three weeks before;
leaving the North fresh and green, under Christ their teacher. But
before I came to SYNDERHILL-GREEN, we passed through HALIFAX, a rude
town of professors, and came to one, Thomas Taylor’s, who had been a
captain, where we met with some janglers; but the Lord’s power was over
all; for I travelled in the motion of God’s power. When I came to
SYNDERHILL-GREEN, there was a mighty meeting, some thousands of people
(as it was supposed). Many persons of note were there, as captains and
other officers; and there was a general convincement; for the Lord’s
power and truth was over all, and there was no opposition.
Footnote 32:
Near Handsworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire.
About this time did the Lord move upon the spirits of many, whom he had
raised up, and sent forth to labour in his vineyard, to travel
southwards, and spread themselves, in the service of the gospel, to the
eastern, southern, and western parts of the nation; as Francis Howgill
and Edward Burrough to LONDON; John Camm and John Audland to BRISTOL;
Richard Hubberthorn and George Whitehead[33] towards NORWICH; Thomas
Holmes[34] into Wales, and others different ways; for above sixty
ministers had the Lord raised up, and now sent abroad out of the North
country. The sense of their service being very weighty upon me, I was
moved to give forth the following paper:—
“_To Friends in the Ministry._
“All Friends everywhere, Know the Seed of God, which bruiseth the seed
of the serpent, and is above the seed of the serpent; which Seed sins
not, but bruiseth the serpent’s head, that doth sin, and tempts to
sin; which Seed God’s promise and God’s blessing is to; and which is
one in the male and in the female. Where it is head, and hath bruised
the head of the other, to the beginning you are come; and the younger
is known, and he that is servant to the younger. And the promise of
God, which is to the Seed, is fulfilled and fulfilling; the Scriptures
come to be opened and owned; the flesh of Christ known, who took upon
him the seed of Abraham according to the flesh; and the everlasting
priesthood known, the everlasting covenant. Christ takes upon him the
seed of Abraham, and is a priest after the order of Melchizedek;
without father, without mother, without beginning of days (mark) or
end of life; this is the priest that ever lives; the covenant of life,
of light and peace. And the everlasting offering here is known once
for all, which offering overthrows that nature which offered; out of
which the priesthood arose, that could not continue by reason of
death. And here is the other offering known, the everlasting offering
which perfects for ever them that are sanctified; which offering
blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances, triumphs over them, and
ascends above all principalities and powers.
“Now he that hath the Spirit of Jesus, sees this; and here is the love
of God received, that doth not rejoice in iniquity, but leads to
repent of it. This is the word of the Lord God to you all, Friends
everywhere scattered abroad, Know the power of God in one another, and
in that rejoice; for then you rejoice in the cross of Christ, who is
not of the world; which cross is the power of God to all them that are
saved. You, that know the power, and feel the power, you feel the
cross of Christ, you feel the gospel, which is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth. Now, he that believes in the
light, believes in the everlasting covenant, in the one offering;
comes to the life of the prophets and Moses; comes to see Christ the
hope, the mystery, which hope perisheth not, but lets you see the hope
that perisheth, which is not that mystery; and the expectation in that
perishing hope fades. Where this never-failing hope is witnessed, the
Lord comes to be sanctified in the heart, and you come to the
beginning, to Christ the hope, which perisheth not; but the other
hope, and the other expectation perisheth. So all of you, know the
perishing of the other, and the failing of the expectation therein;
and know that which perisheth not; that you may be ready to give a
reason of this hope with meekness and fear, to every man that asketh
you. Christ the hope, the mystery, that perisheth not; the end of all
perishing things, the end of all changeable things, the end of the
decaying covenant, the end of that which waxeth old and doth decay;
the end of the first covenant, of Moses, and of the prophets; the
righteousness of God, Christ Jesus the Son; his throne ye will know,
heirs with him ye will be; who makes his children kings and priests to
him, and brings them to know his throne and his power.
“There is no justification out of the light, out of Christ;
justification is in the light in Christ; here is the doer of the will
of God, here is the entering into the kingdom. He that believes in the
light, becomes a child of light; and here the wisdom is received that
is justified of her children. Here believing in the light, you shall
not abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life; and come
every one to witness the light that shines in your hearts, which light
will give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the
face of Jesus Christ. With which light you will see him reign, who is
the prince of life and of peace; which light turns from him, that is
out of the truth, and abode not in it; where the true peace is not.
“Friends, be not hasty; for he that believes in the light, makes not
haste. Here the grace is received, by which you come to be saved; the
election is known, which obtains the promise; the will is seen that
wills; the mind is known that runs and obtains not, but stops and
becomes dull. Now, that with the light being seen, and judged, and
stopped, the patience is here known which obtains the crown, and the
immortality is come to light. So all they now that act contrary to the
light, and do not believe in it, do not come to justification. And,
all Friends, if you go from the light, from wanting to have the
promise of God fulfilled to the Seed, whereby you may know Christ to
reign, you thereby bring on yourselves changeable garments, and come
to wear the changeable garments, and the strange flesh, which leads to
adultery, which the law goes upon, which shuts out of the kingdom: and
out of this will doth proceed the work or building, that is for the
fire; whereby you may come to suffer loss. Therefore love the light,
which doth condemn that, and receive the power from the Lord, with
which you stand over that, and condemn it: feeling and seeing that
which gives you the victory over the world, and to see out of time, to
before time.
“Again Friends, know Abraham, that must obey the voice of Sarah, that
bears seed; which casts forth the bondwoman and her son: do not go
forth, there will the wildness lodge. Know that which bears the wild
son, and its mother, who is not Sarah; for the promise is to the Seed,
not of many, but one, which seed is Christ: and this Seed now you come
to witness stands above all, yea, on the head of the serpent. And so
all, as I said before, who come to feel and witness this, come to the
beginning; and this to all the seed of God, the church, that it you
all may come to know, where there is no blemish, nor spot, nor
wrinkle, nor any such thing. This is that which is purchased by the
blood of Jesus, and to the Father presented out of all that defiles;
which is the pillar and ground of truth. None come to this, but such
as come to the light of Christ, who purchased this church. They who go
from the light are shut out and condemned, though they profess all the
Scriptures declared from it. Therefore walk in the light, that you may
have fellowship with the Son, and with the Father; and come all to
witness his image, his power, and his law, which is his light; which
hath converted your souls, and brought them to submit to the higher
power, above that which is out of the truth: that you may know here
the mercy and truth, and the faith that works by love, which Christ is
the author of, who lighteth every one of you; which faith gives the
victory. Now that which gives the victory is perfect; and that which
the ministers of God received from God, is that which is perfect; and
that which they are to minister is for the perfecting of the saints,
till they all come in the unity of the faith unto a perfect man. This
is the word of the Lord God to you all; every one in the measure of
life wait, that with it all your minds may be guided up to the Father
of life, the Father of Spirits; to receive power from him, and wisdom,
that with it you may be ordered to his glory; to whom be all glory for
ever! All keep in the light and life, that judgeth down that which is
contrary to the light and life. So the Lord God Almighty be with you
all. And keep your meetings everywhere, being guided by that of God;
by that you may see the Lord God among you, even him who lighteth
every man that cometh into the world: by whom the world was made; that
men, who are come into the world, might believe. He that believeth
not, the light condemns him: he that believeth, cometh out of
condemnation. So this light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world, and which they that hate it stumble at, is the light of
men.
“All Friends, that speak in public, see that it be in the life of God;
for that begets to God: the fruits of that shall never wither. This
sows to the Spirit, which is in prison, and of the Spirit reaps life;
and the other sows to the flesh, and of the flesh reaps corruption.
And this you may see all the world over, amongst these seeds-men, what
may be reaped in the field, that is, the world. Therefore in the
Spirit of the Lord God wait, which cuts down and casts out all this,
the root and branches of it. In that wait to receive power, and the
Lord God Almighty preserve you in it; whereby you may come to feel the
light, that comprehends time and the world, and fathoms it; which,
believed in, gives you victory over the world. And here the power of
the Lord is received, which subdues all the contrary, and puts off the
garments that will stain and pollute. With this light you come to
reach the light in every man, which Christ enlightens every man that
cometh into the world withal: and here the things of Christ come to be
known, and the voice of Christ heard. Therefore keep in the light, the
covenant of peace, and walk in the covenant of life.
“There is that which maketh merry over the witness of God; and there
is that which maketh merry in the Lord; which rejoiceth over that
which hath made merry over it: of that take notice, you who are in the
light. Such the Lord doth beautify, whose trust is in his strength:
and the Lord doth see such, and them that are in his light. But such
as are from the light, whose eyes are after their abominations and
idols, their eyes are to be blinded; and their beautiful idols, and
their abominations to be destroyed, and by the light condemned, which
they have made from the life, in their own strength; which with the
light is seen, and overthrown by the power of God. ‘If you can change
my covenant,’ saith the Lord, ‘which keeps the day in its season, and
the night in its season (mark, my covenant, the light); if you can
change this, then may you change the covenant of God with his seed.’
“So all Friends, that are turned to the light, which cometh from him,
by whom the world was made, who was, before it was made, Christ Jesus,
the Saviour of your souls; abide in the light, and you will see your
salvation to be walls and bulwarks against that, which the light
discovers to be contrary to it. Waiting in the light, you will receive
the power of God, which is the gospel of peace; that you may be shod
with it, and know that in one another, which raiseth up the seed of
God, sets it over the world and the earth, and crucifies the
affections and lusts: then the truth comes to reign, which is the
girdle.”
G.F.
Footnote 33:
George Whitehead, who was convinced when about seventeen years old,
became a valiant minister for about sixty-eight years, till the time
of his decease, which took place, in great peace, after an illness of
some weeks. He waited, patiently resigned to the will of God, desiring
to be dissolved and be with Christ; saying, “he felt the sting of
death to be taken away.” He was a preacher of the gospel in life and
power, and turned many from darkness to light, being a chief
instrument in gathering a people to the Lord in and about Norwich. At
one meeting he had in those parts, it is recorded that “nearly the
whole congregation was convinced by the mighty power of God, through
his lively and piercing testimony and prayer.” He suffered great
hardships, long and sore imprisonments, and severe whipping for his
testimony to the truth, much of which is recorded in his published
Journal, with his travels and other services, to which the reader is
referred.
Footnote 34:
Thomas Holmes was serviceable in his day and generation, suffering
imprisonment on Truth’s account. In 1656, he was in jail, at Chester,
with seven or eight other Friends. Some of his services in Wales are
related, in a letter from him (probably to George Fox,) in Barclay’s
_Letters of Early Friends_, p. 222.
About this time Rice Jones of NOTTINGHAM (who had been a Baptist, and
was turned Ranter,) and his company, began to prophesy against me,
giving out, that I was then at the highest, and that after that time I
should fall down as fast. He sent a bundle of railing papers from
NOTTINGHAM to MANSFIELD, CLAWSON, and the towns thereabouts, judging
Friends for declaring the truth in the markets and in steeple-houses;
which papers I answered. But his and his company’s prophecies came upon
themselves; for soon after they fell to pieces, and many of his
followers became Friends, and continued so. And through the Lord’s
blessed power, truth and Friends have increased, and do increase in the
increase of God: and I, by the same power, have been and am preserved,
and kept in the everlasting Seed, that never fell, nor changes. But Rice
Jones took the oaths that were put to him, and so disobeyed the command
of Christ. Many such false prophets have risen up against me, but the
Lord hath blasted them, and will blast all who rise against the blessed
Seed, and me in that. My confidence is in the Lord; for I saw their end,
and how the Lord would confound them, before he sent me forth.
I was now at SYNDERHILL-GREEN, where I had had a large meeting in the
daytime; and at night we had a great meeting again in Thomas Stacey’s
house; for people came from far, and could not soon depart. The high
sheriff of the county told Captain Bradford, that he intended to come up
with half a dozen of his troopers to the meeting; but the Lord prevented
him. When I had attended some meetings thereabouts, I travelled up and
down in YORKSHIRE, as far as HOLDERNESS, and to the land’s end that way,
visiting Friends and the churches of Christ; which were finely settled
under Christ’s teaching. At length I came to Captain Bradford’s house,
whither many Ranters came from YORK to wrangle; but they were confounded
and stopped. Thither came also she who was called the Lady Montague, who
was then convinced, and lived and died in the truth.
Then I came again to Thomas Taylor’s, within three miles of HALIFAX,
where was a meeting of about two hundred people; amongst which were many
rude people, and divers butchers, several of whom had bound themselves
with an oath before they came out, that they would kill me (as I was
told); one of those butchers had been accused of killing a man and a
woman. They came in a very rude manner, and made a great disturbance in
the meeting. The meeting being in a field, Thomas Taylor stood up, and
said unto them, “If you will be civil, you may stay, but if not, I
charge you to be gone from off my ground.” But they were the worse, and
said they would make it like a common; and they yelled, and made a
noise, as if they had been at a bear-baiting. They thrust Friends up and
down; and Friends being peaceable, the Lord’s power came over them.
Several times they thrust me off from the place I stood on, by the
crowding of the people together against me; but still I was moved of the
Lord to stand up again, as I was thrust down. At last I was moved of the
Lord to say unto them, “if they would discourse of the things of God,
let them come up to me one by one; and if they had anything to say or to
object, I would answer them all, one after another;” but they were all
silent, and had nothing to say. And then the Lord’s power came so over
them all, and answered the witness of God in them, that they were bound
by the power of God; and a glorious, powerful meeting we had, and his
power went over all, and the minds of the people were turned by the
Spirit of God in them to God, and to Christ their teacher. The powerful
word of life was largely declared that day; and in the life and power of
God we broke up our meeting; and that rude company went their way to
HALIFAX. The people asked them, why they did not kill me, according to
the oath they had sworn; and they maliciously answered, that I had so
bewitched them, that they could not do it. Thus was the devil chained at
that time. Friends told me, that they used to come at other times, and
be very rude; and sometimes break their stools and seats, and make
frightful work amongst them; but the Lord’s power had now bound them.
Shortly after this, the butcher, that had been accused of killing a man
and a woman before, and who was one of them that had then bound himself
by an oath to kill me, killed another man, and was sent to YORK jail.
Another of those rude butchers, who had also sworn to kill me, having
accustomed himself to thrust his tongue out of his mouth, in derision of
Friends, when they passed by him, had it so swollen out of his mouth,
that he could never draw it in again, but died so. Several strange and
sudden judgments came upon many of these conspirators against me, which
would be too large here to declare. God’s vengeance from heaven came
upon the blood-thirsty, who sought after blood; for all such spirits I
laid before the Lord, and left them to him to deal with them, who is
stronger than all; in whose power I was preserved, and carried on to do
his work. The Lord hath raised a fine people in these parts, whom he
hath drawn to Christ, and gathered in his name; who feel Christ amongst
them, and sit under his teaching.
After this I came to BALBY; from whence several Friends went with me
into LINCOLNSHIRE; of whom some went to the steeple-houses, and some to
private meetings. There came to the meeting where I was, the sheriff of
LINCOLN, and several with him, who made great contention and jangling
for a time. But at length the Lord’s power struck him, that he was
convinced of the truth, and received the word of life, as did several
others also that had opposed, and continued among Friends till they
died. Great meetings there were, and a large convincement in those
parts. Many were turned to the Lord Jesus, and came to sit under his
teaching; leaving their priests, and their superstitious ways; and the
day of the Lord flourished over all. Amongst them that came to our
meetings in that country, was one called Sir Richard Wrey, who was
convinced; as was also his brother, and his brother’s wife, who abode in
the truth, and died therein, though he afterwards ran out.
Having visited these countries, I came into DERBYSHIRE; the sheriff of
LINCOLN, who was lately convinced, being with me. In one meeting we had
some opposition, but the Lord’s glorious power gave dominion over all.
At night there came a company of bailiffs and serving-men, and called me
out. I went out to them, having some Friends with me. They were
exceedingly rude and violent; for they had plotted together, and
intended to carry me away with them in the dark of the evening by force:
and then to do me a mischief; but the Lord’s power went over them, and
chained them, so that they could not effect their design; and at last
they went away. The next day, Thomas Aldam understanding that the
serving-men belonged to one called a knight, who lived not far off, went
to his house, and laid before him the bad conduct of his servants. The
knight rebuked them, and did not allow of their evil carriage towards
us.
After this we came into NOTTINGHAMSHIRE to SKEGBY, where we had a great
meeting of divers sorts of people: and the Lord’s power went over them,
and all was quiet. The people were turned to the Spirit of God, by which
many came to receive his power, and to sit under the teaching of Christ,
their Saviour. A great people the Lord hath in those parts.
I passed towards KIDSLEY PARK, where came many Ranters; but the Lord’s
power checked them. From thence I went into the PEAK COUNTRY towards
Thomas Hammersley’s, where came the Ranters of that country, and many
high professors. The Ranters opposed me, and began swearing. When I
reproved them for it, they would bring Scripture for it, and said,
Abraham, and Jacob, and Joseph swore; and the priests, Moses, the
prophets, and the angels swore. Then I told them, “I confessed all these
did so, as the Scripture records; but, said I, Christ (who said, ‘Before
Abraham was, I am’) saith, ‘Swear not at all.’ And Christ ends the
prophets, and the old priesthood, and the dispensation of Moses, and
reigns over the house of Jacob and of Joseph; and he says, ‘Swear not at
all.’ And God, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world,
saith, ‘Let all the angels of God worship him,’ to wit, Christ Jesus,
who saith, ‘Swear not at all.’ And as for the plea that men make for
swearing to end their strife, Christ, who says, ‘Swear not at all,’
destroys the Devil and his works, who is the author of strife, for that
is one of his works. And God said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear ye him.’ So the Son is to be heard, who forbids
swearing. And the apostle James, who heard the Son of God, followed him,
and preached him, forbids all oaths, James v. 12.” So the Lord’s power
went over them: and his Son and his doctrine was set over them. The word
of life was fully and richly preached, and many were convinced that day.
This Thomas Hammersley being summoned to serve upon a jury, was admitted
to serve without an oath; and when he, as foreman of the jury, brought
in the verdict, the judge declared, “that he had been a judge many
years, but never heard a more upright verdict than that Quaker had then
brought in.” Much might be written of things of this nature, which time
would fail to declare. But the Lord’s blessed power and truth was
exalted over all, who is worthy of all praise and glory for ever!
Travelling through DERBYSHIRE, I visited Friends till I came to
SWANNINGTON, in LEICESTERSHIRE, where there was a general meeting, to
which many Ranters, Baptists, and other professors came; for great
contests there had been with them, and with the priests in that town. To
this meeting several Friends came from various parts, as John Audland,
Francis Howgill, and Edward Pyot from BRISTOL, and Edward Burrough from
LONDON; and several were convinced in those parts. The Ranters made a
disturbance, and were very rude, but at last the Lord’s power came over
them, and they were confounded. The next day Jacob Bottomley, a great
Ranter, came from LEICESTER; but the Lord’s power stopped him, and came
over them all. There came a priest too, but he also was confounded by
the mighty power of the Lord. About this time the priests, Baptists,
Ranters, and other professors, were very rude, and stirred up the rude
people against us. We sent to the Ranters to come forth, and try their
God. Abundance of them came, who were very rude, and sung, and whistled,
and danced; but the Lord’s power so confounded them, that many of them
came to be convinced.
After this I went to TWYCROSS, whither came some Ranters, who sung and
danced before me. But I was moved in the dread of the Lord to reprove
them; and the Lord’s power came over them, so that some of them were
convinced, and received the Spirit of God; and are become a fine people,
living and walking soberly in the truth of Christ. I went to Anthony
Brickley’s in WARWICKSHIRE, where there was a great meeting; several
Baptists and other people came and jangled; but the Lord’s power came
over them.
Then I went to DRAYTON in LEICESTERSHIRE to visit my relations. As soon
as I was come in, Nathaniel Stephens the priest, having got another
priest, and given notice to the country, sent to me to come to them, as
they could not do anything till I came. Having been three years away
from my relations, I knew nothing of their design. But at last I went
into the steeple-house yard, where the two priests were; and they had
gathered abundance of people. When I came there, they would have me go
into the steeple-house. I asked them what I should do there; and they
said, Mr. Stephens could not bear the cold. I told them he might bear it
as well as I. At last we went into a great hall, Richard Farnsworth
being with me; and a great dispute we had with these priests, concerning
their practices, how contrary they were to Christ and his apostles. The
priests would know where tithes were forbidden or ended. I showed them
out of the seventh chapter to the Hebrews, “that not only tithes but the
priesthood that took tithes, was ended; and the law was ended and
disannulled, by which the priesthood was made, and tithes were commanded
to be paid.” Then the priests stirred up the people to some lightness
and rudeness. I had known Stephens from a child, therefore I laid open
his condition, and the manner of his preaching; and “how that he, like
the rest of the priests, did apply the promises to the first birth,
which must die. But I showed that the promises were to the Seed, not to
the many seeds, but to one Seed, Christ; who was one in male and female;
for all were to be born again before they could enter into the kingdom
of God.” Then he said, I must not judge so: but I told him, “he that was
spiritual judged all things.” Then he confessed that that was a full
Scripture; “but, neighbours,” said he, “this is the business; George Fox
is come to the light of the sun, and now he thinks to put out my
star-light.” I told him, “I would not quench the least measure of God in
any, much less put out his star-light, if it were true star-light—light
from the morning star.” But I told him, “if he had anything from Christ
or God, he ought to speak it freely, and not take tithes from the people
for preaching, seeing Christ commanded his ministers to give freely, as
they had received freely.” So I charged him to preach no more for
tithes, or any hire. But he said he would not yield to that. After a
while the people began to be vain and rude; so we broke up; yet some
were made loving to the truth that day. Before we parted, I told them
that, if the Lord would, I intended to be at the town again that day
week.
In the interim I went into the country, and had meetings, and came
thither again that day week. Against that time this priest had got seven
priests to help him: for priest Stephens had given notice at a lecture
on a market-day at ATHERSTONE, that such a day there would be a meeting
and a dispute with me. I knew nothing of it; but had only said, I should
be in town that day week again. These eight priests had gathered several
hundreds of people, even most of the country thereabouts, and they would
have had me into the steeple-house; but I would not go in, but got on a
hill and there spoke to them and the people. There were with me Thomas
Taylor, who had been a priest, James Parnell, and several other Friends.
The priests thought that day to trample down truth; but the truth came
over them. Then they grew light, and the people rude; and the priests
would not stand trial with me; but would be contending here and there a
little, with one Friend or other. At last one of the priests brought his
son to dispute with me; but his mouth was soon stopped. When he could
not tell how to answer, he would ask his father: and his father was
confounded also, when he came to answer for his son. So, after they had
toiled themselves, they went away in a rage to priest Stephens’ house to
drink. As they went away, I said, “I never came to a place where so many
priests together would not stand the trial with me.” Whereupon they and
some of their wives came about me, laid hold of me, and fawningly said,
“what might I have been, if it had not been for the Quakers!” Then they
began to push Friends to and fro, to thrust them from me, and to pluck
me to themselves. After a while several lusty fellows came, took me up
in their arms, and carried me into the steeple-house porch, intending to
carry me into the steeple-house by force; but the door being locked,
they fell down on a heap, having me under them. As soon as I could, I
got up from under them, and went to the hill again: then they took me
from that place to the steeple-house wall, and set me on something like
a footstool; and all the priests being come back, stood under with the
people. The priests cried, “Come, to argument, to argument:” I said, “I
denied all their voices, for they were the voices of hirelings and
strangers.” And they cried, “Prove it, prove it.” Then I directed them
to the tenth of John, where they might see what Christ said of such; he
declared, “he was the true shepherd that laid down his life for his
sheep, and his sheep heard his voice, and followed him; but the hireling
would fly, when the wolf came, because he was a hireling.” I offered to
prove that they were such hirelings. Then the priests plucked me off
from the stool again; and they themselves got all upon footstools under
the steeple-house wall.
Then I felt the mighty power of God arise over all, and told them, “if
they would but give audience, and hear me quietly, I would show them by
the Scriptures, why I denied those eight priests or teachers, that stood
before me; and all the hireling teachers of the world whatsoever; and I
would give them Scriptures for what I said.” Whereupon both priests and
people consented. Then I showed them out of the prophets Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi, and others, that they were in the
steps of such as God sent his true prophets to cry against; for, said I,
“You are such as the prophet Jeremiah cried against, chap. v. when he
said, ‘The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means;’ which he called an astonishing and horrible thing. You are such
as they that used their tongues and said, Thus saith the Lord, when the
Lord never spoke to them: and such as followed their own spirits, and
saw nothing; but spoke forth a divination of their own brain; and by
their lies and their lightness had caused the people to err, Jer. xiv.
You are such as they were, that sought for their gain from their
quarter; that were as greedy, dumb dogs, that could never have enough,
whom the Lord sent his prophet Isaiah to cry against, Isaiah lvi. You
are such, as they were, who taught for handfuls of barley, and pieces of
bread; who sewed pillows under people’s arm-holes, that they might lie
soft in their sins, Ezek. xiii. You are such as they that taught for the
fleece, and the wool, and made a prey of the people, Ezek. xxxiv. But
the Lord is gathering his sheep from your mouths, and from off your
barren mountains; and is bringing them to Christ, the one Shepherd, whom
he hath set over his flocks; as by his prophet Ezekiel he then declared
he would do. You are such as they that divined for money, and preached
for hire; and if a man did not put into their mouths, they prepared war
against him, as the prophet Micah complained, chap. iii.” Thus I went
through the prophets, too largely to be here repeated. Then coming to
the New Testament, I showed from thence, “that they were like the chief
priests, and scribes, and Pharisees of old, such as Christ cried woe
against, Matt, xxiii. And that they were such false apostles, as the
true apostles cried against, such as taught for filthy lucre; such
antichrists and deceivers, as they cried against, that minded earthly
things, and served not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies: for
they that served Christ gave freely, and preached freely, as he
commanded them. But they that will not preach without hire, tithes, or
outward means, serve their own bellies, and not Christ; and through the
good words of the Scriptures, and feigned words of their own, they made
merchandise of the people then, as (said I) ye do now.”
So when I had largely quoted the Scriptures, and showed them, wherein
they were like the Pharisees, loving to be called of men masters, and to
go in long robes, and to stand praying in the synagogues, and to have
the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the like; and when I had thrown them
out in the sight of the people amongst the false prophets, deceivers,
scribes, and Pharisees, and showed at large, how such as they were
judged and condemned by the true prophets, by Christ, and by the
apostles, “I directed them to the light of Christ Jesus, who enlightens
every man that cometh into the world; that by it they might see, whether
these things were not true, as had been spoken.” When I appealed to that
of God in their consciences, the light of Christ Jesus in them, they
could not bear to hear of it; they were all quiet till then; but then a
professor said, “George, what! wilt thou never have done?” I told him, I
should have done shortly. So I went on a little longer, and cleared
myself of them in the Lord’s power. When I had done, all the priests and
people stood silent for a time: at last one of the priests said, they
would read the Scriptures that I had quoted. I told them, with all my
heart. They began to read the 23rd of Jeremiah, and there they saw the
marks of the false prophets, that he cried against. When they had read a
verse or two, I said, “Take notice, people:” but the priests said, “Hold
thy tongue, George.” I bid them read the whole chapter throughout; for
it was all against them: then they stopped, and would read no further;
but asked me a question. I told them, I would answer their question, the
matter being first granted that I had charged them with, viz., that they
were false prophets, false teachers, antichrists, and deceivers, such as
the true prophets, Christ, and the apostles cried against. A professor
said Nay to that; but I said, “Yea; for you leaving the matter, and
going to another thing, seem to consent to the proof of the former
charge.” Then I answered their question, which was this; Seeing those
false prophets were adulterated, whether I did judge Stephens to be an
adulterer? To which I answered, he was adulterated from God in his
practice, like those false prophets and the Jews. They would not stand
to vindicate him, but broke up the meeting. Then the priests whispered
together; and priest Stephens came to me, and desired that my father and
brother and I might go aside with him, that he might speak to me in
private; and the rest of the priests should keep the people from coming
to us. I was very loath to go aside with him; but the people cried, “Go,
George; do, George, go aside with him.” I was afraid, if I did not go,
they would say, I was disobedient to my parents; so I went, and the rest
of the priests were to keep the people off; but they could not, for the
people being willing to hear, drew close to us. I asked the priest what
he had to say; and he said, “if he was out of the way, I should pray for
him: and if I was out of the way he would pray for me: and he would give
me a form of words to pray for him by.” I replied, “It seems thou dost
not know whether thou art in the right way, or not; neither dost thou
know whether I am in the right way, or not; but I know that I am in the
everlasting way, Christ Jesus, which thou art out of. And thou wouldest
give me a form of words to pray by, and yet thou deniest the Common
Prayer-Book to pray by, as well as I; and I deny thy form of words, as
well as it. If thou wouldst have me pray for thee by a form of words, is
not this to deny the apostle’s doctrine and practice of praying by the
Spirit, as it gave words and utterance?” Here the people fell a
laughing: but I was moved to speak more to him. And when I had cleared
myself to him and them, we parted, after I had told them, that I should
(God willing) be in the town that day week again. So the priests packed
away, and many people were convinced; for the Lord’s power came over
all. Though they thought to have confounded truth that day, many were
convinced of it; and many that were convinced before, were by that day’s
work confirmed in the truth, and abode in it; and a great shake it gave
to the priests. My father, though he was a hearer and follower of the
priest, was so well satisfied, that he struck his cane upon the ground,
and said, “Truly, I see, he that will but stand to the truth, it will
carry him out.”
I passed about in the country till that day week, and then came again;
for we had appointed a meeting at my relations’ house. Now priest
Stephens having had notice beforehand thereof, had got another priest to
him; and they had a company of troopers with them, and sent for me to
come to them. But I sent them word our meeting was appointed, and they
might come to it, if they would. The priests came not; but the troopers
came, and many rude people. They had laid their plot, that the troopers
should take every one’s name, and then command them to go home; and such
as would not go, they should take, and carry them away with them.
Accordingly they began, and took several names, charging them to go
home; but when they came to take my name, my relations told them, I was
at home already: so they could not take me away that time. Nevertheless
they took my name: but the Lord’s power was over them, and they went
away, both professors and troopers, crossed and vexed, because they
obtained not their end. But several were convinced that day, and admired
the love and power of God. This was that priest Stephens, who once said
of me, “never was such a plant bred in England:” yet afterwards he
reported, “that I was carried up into the clouds, and found again full
of gold and silver;” and many lies, and false reports he raised
respecting me: but the Lord swept them all away. The reason why I would
not go into their steeple-house was, because I was to bear my testimony
against it, and to bring all off from such places, to the Spirit of God;
that they might know their bodies to be the temples of the Holy Ghost;
and to bring them off from all the hireling teachers, to Christ their
free teacher, who died for them, and purchased them with his blood.
After this I went into the country, and had several meetings, and came
to SWANNINGTON, where the soldiers came again; but the meeting was
quiet, the Lord’s power was over all, and the soldiers did not
interfere. Then I went to LEICESTER, and then to WHETSTONE. There came
about seventeen troopers of Colonel Hacker’s regiment, with his marshal,
and took me up before the meeting, though Friends were beginning to
gather together; for there were several Friends come from various parts.
I told the marshal, “he might let all the Friends go, I would answer for
them all;” so he took me, and let them go, except Alexander Parker, who
went with me.[35] At night they had me before Colonel Hacker, his major,
and captains, a great company of them; and much discourse we had about
the priests, and meetings, for at this time there was a rumour of a plot
against Oliver Cromwell. Much reasoning I had with them about the light
of Christ, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world.
Colonel Hacker asked, whether it was not this light of Christ that made
Judas betray his master, and afterwards led him to hang himself? I told
him, “No; that was the spirit of darkness, which hated Christ and his
light.” Then Colonel Hacker said, I might go home, and keep there, and
not go abroad to meetings. I told him, “I was an innocent man, free from
plots, and denied all such work.” His son Needham said, “Father, this
man hath reigned too long, it is time to have him cut off.” I asked him,
“For what? what had I done? or whom had I wronged from a child? for I
was bred and born in that country, and who could accuse me of any evil
from a child?” Then Colonel Hacker asked me again, if I would go home,
and stay there? I told him, “if I should promise him that, it would
manifest that I was guilty of something, to go home, and make my home a
prison; and if I went to meetings, they would say, I broke their order.”
I told them, “I should go to meetings, as the Lord should order me, and
therefore could not submit to their requirings;” but I said, “we were a
peaceable people.” “Well then,” said Colonel Hacker, “I will send you to
my Lord Protector, by Captain Drury, one of his life-guards.”
Footnote 35:
“Alexander Parker,” says Whiting, “was an eminent servant of God, and
minister of Jesus Christ; born near Bolton, in Lancashire,
well-educated, and had a gentleman-like carriage and deportment, for I
knew him well.” He travelled extensively in the service of the gospel,
often in company with George Fox, being frequently mentioned in this
Journal. He suffered fines, imprisonments, and persecution, being once
pulled down as he was preaching in London, and fined for it £20. He
died in great peace in 1689, having written many books and epistles,
in which, though being dead, he yet speaketh.
That night I was kept a prisoner at the Marshalsea; and the next morning
by six o’clock, I was delivered to Captain Drury. I desired he would let
me speak with Colonel Hacker before I went, and he had me to his
bed-side. Colonel Hacker set upon me presently again, to go home and
keep no more meetings. I told him, “I could not submit to that, but must
have my liberty to serve God and go to meetings.” “Then,” said he, “you
must go before the Protector.” “Whereupon I kneeled by his bedside, and
besought the Lord to forgive him, for he was as Pilate, though he would
wash his hands; and when the day of his misery and trial should come
upon him, I bid him then remember what I had said to him. But he was
stirred up, and set on by priest Stephens, and the other priests and
professors, wherein their envy and baseness was manifest; who, when they
could not overcome me by disputes and arguments, nor resist the Spirit
of the Lord that was in me, then they got soldiers to take me up.
Afterwards, when this Colonel Hacker was in prison in LONDON, a day or
two before he was executed, he was put in mind of what he had done
against the innocent; and he remembered it, and confessed to it to
Margaret Fell, saying he knew well whom she meant; and he had a trouble
upon him for it. So his son, who told his father I had reigned too long,
and that it was time to have me cut off, might observe how his father
was cut off afterwards, he being hanged at TYBURN.
Now was I carried up a prisoner by Captain Drury from LEICESTER; and
when we came to HARBOROUGH, he asked me, if I would go home and stay a
fortnight? “I should have my liberty,” he said, “if I would not go to,
nor keep meetings.” I told him, “I could not promise any such thing.”
Several times upon the road did he ask, and try me after the same
manner, and still I gave him the same answers. So he brought me to
LONDON, and lodged me at the Mermaid over-against the Mews at
CHARING-CROSS. As we travelled, I was moved of the Lord to warn people
at the inns and places, where I came, of the day of the Lord that was
coming upon them. William Dewsbury and Marmaduke Storr being in prison
at NORTHAMPTON, he let me go and visit them.
After Captain Drury had lodged me at the Mermaid, he left me there, and
went to give the Protector an account of me. When he came to me again,
he told me, the Protector required that I should promise not to take up
a carnal sword or weapon against him or the government, as it then was,
and I should write it in what words I saw good, and set my hand to it. I
said little in reply to Captain Drury. But the next morning I was moved
of the Lord to write a paper to the Protector, Oliver Cromwell; “Wherein
I did in the presence of the Lord God declare, that I denied the wearing
or drawing of a carnal sword, or any other outward weapon, against him
or any man: and that I was sent of God to stand a witness against all
violence, and against the works of darkness; and to turn people from
darkness to light; and to bring them from the causes of war and
fighting, to the peaceable gospel, and from being evil-doers, which the
magistrates’ swords should be a terror to.” When I had written what the
Lord had given me to write, I set my name to it, and gave it to Captain
Drury to hand to Oliver Cromwell, which he did.
After some time Captain Drury brought me before the Protector himself at
WHITEHALL. It was in a morning, before he was dressed, and one Harvey,
who had come a little among Friends, but was disobedient, waited upon
him. When I came in, I was moved to say, “Peace be in this house; and I
exhorted him to keep in the fear of God, that he might receive wisdom
from Him, that by it he might be directed, and order all things under
his hand to God’s glory.” I spoke much to him of truth, and much
discourse I had with him about religion; wherein he carried himself very
moderately. But, he said, we quarrelled with priests, whom he called
ministers. I told him, “I did not quarrel with them, but they quarrelled
with me and my friends.” “But,” said I, “if we own the prophets, Christ,
and the apostles, we cannot hold up such teachers, prophets, and
shepherds, as the prophets, Christ, and the apostles declared against;
but we must declare against them by the same power and Spirit.” Then I
showed him, “that the prophets, Christ, and the apostles declared
freely, and against them that did not declare freely; such as preached
for filthy lucre, and divined for money, and preached for hire, and were
covetous and greedy, that can never have enough; and that they that have
the same Spirit, that Christ, and the prophets, and the apostles had,
could not but declare against all such now, as they did then.” As I
spoke, he several times said, it was very good, and it was truth. I told
him, “that all Christendom (so called) possessed the Scriptures, but
wanted the power and Spirit that they had, who gave forth the
Scriptures, and that was the reason they were not in fellowship with the
Son, nor with the Father, nor with the Scriptures, nor one with
another.”
Many more words I had with him, but people coming in, I drew a little
back; and as I was turning, he caught me by the hand, and with tears in
his eyes, said, “Come again to my house, for if thou and I were but an
hour a day together, we should be nearer one to the other;” adding that
he wished me no more ill than he did his own soul. I told him, “if he
did, he wronged his own soul;” and I bid him “hearken to God’s voice,
that he might stand in His counsel and obey it; and if he did so, that
would keep him from hardness of heart; but if he did not hear God’s
voice, his heart would be hardened.” He said, it was true. Then I went
out; and when Captain Drury came out after me, he told me, “his lord
Protector said, I was at liberty, and might go whither I would.” Then I
was brought into a great hall, where the Protector’s gentlemen were to
dine; and I asked them, what they brought me thither for? they said, it
was by the Protector’s order, that I might dine with them. I bid them
let the Protector know, I would not eat of his bread, nor drink of his
drink. When he heard this, he said, “Now I see there is a people risen
and come up, that I cannot win either with gifts, honours, offices, or
places; but all other sects and people I can.” It was told him again,
“that we had forsaken our own, and were not likely to look for such
things from him.”
Being set at liberty I went to the inn again, where Captain Drury had at
first lodged me. This Captain Drury, though he sometimes carried fairly,
was an enemy to me and to truth, and opposed it; and when professors
came to me (while I was under his custody,) and he was by, he would
scoff at trembling, and call us Quakers, as the Independents and
Presbyterians had nick-named us before. But afterwards he once came to
me, and told me, that, as he was lying on his bed to rest himself in the
day-time, a sudden trembling seized on him, that his joints knocked
together, and his body shook so that he could not rise from his bed; he
was so shaken, that he had not strength enough left to rise. But he felt
the power of the Lord was upon him, and he fell off his bed, and cried
to the Lord, and said, he never would speak against the Quakers more, or
such as trembled at the word of God.
During the time I was prisoner at CHARING-CROSS, there came abundance to
see me, people of almost all sorts, priests, professors, officers of the
army, &c. And one time a company of officers being with me, desired me
to pray with them. I sat still, with my mind retired to the Lord. At
last I felt the power and Spirit of God move in me, and the Lord’s power
did so shake and shatter them, that they wondered, though they did not
live in it.
Among those that came to see me, was one Colonel Packer, with several of
his officers; and while they were with me, came in one Cobb, and a great
company of Ranters with him. The Ranters began to call for drink and
tobacco; but I desired them to forbear it in my room, telling them, if
they had such a desire for it, they might go into another room. One of
them cried, “all is ours;” and another said, “all is well.” I replied,
“how is all well, while thou art so peevish, and envious, and crabbed?”
for I saw he was of a peevish nature. I spoke to their conditions, and
they were sensible of it, and looked upon one another, wondering.
Then Colonel Packer began to talk with a light, chaffy mind, concerning
God, and Christ, and the Scriptures; it was a great grief to my soul and
spirit, when I heard him talk so lightly; so that I told him, “he was
too light to talk of the things of God, for he did not know the solidity
of a man.” Thereupon the officers raged, and said, would I say so of
their colonel. This Packer was a Baptist, and he and the Ranters bowed
and scraped to one another very much; for it was the manner of the
Ranters to be exceedingly complimental (as they call it), so that Packer
bid them give over their compliments; but I told them, “they were fit to
go together, for they were both of one spirit.”
This Colonel Packer lived at THEOBALDS near WALTHAM, and was made a
justice of peace. He set up a great meeting of the Baptists at THEOBALDS
PARK; for he and some other officers had purchased it. They were
exceedingly high, and railed against Friends and truth, and threatened
to apprehend me with their warrants if ever I came there. Yet after I
was set at liberty, I was moved of the Lord God to go down to THEOBALDS,
and appoint a meeting hard by them; to which many of his people came,
and divers of his hearers were convinced of the way of truth, and
received Christ, the free teacher, and came off from him; and that made
him rage the more. But the Lord’s power came over him, so that he had
not power to meddle with me. Then I went to WALTHAM close by him, and
had a meeting there; but the people were very rude, and gathered about
the house and broke the windows. Whereupon I went out to them, with the
Bible in my hand, and desired them to come in; and told them, “I would
show them Scripture both for our principles and practices.” And when I
had done so, I showed them also, “that their teachers were in the steps
of such, as the prophets, and Christ, and the apostles testified
against.” Then I directed them to the Light of Christ, and Spirit of God
in their own hearts, that by it they might come to know their free
teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ. The meeting being ended, they went away
quieted and satisfied, and a meeting has since been settled in that
town. But this was some time after I was set at liberty by Oliver
Cromwell.
When I came from WHITEHALL to the Mermaid at CHARING-CROSS, I stayed not
long there; but went into the city of LONDON, where we had great and
powerful meetings; so great were the throngs of people, that I could
hardly get to and from the meetings for the crowds; and the truth spread
exceedingly. Thomas Aldam and Robert Craven, who had been sheriff of
LINCOLN, and many Friends, came up to LONDON after me; but Alexander
Parker abode with me.
After a while I went to WHITEHALL again, and was moved “to declare the
day of the Lord amongst them, and that the Lord was come to teach his
people himself;” so I preached truth both to the officers, and to them
that were called Oliver’s gentlemen, who were of his guard. But a priest
opposed, while I was declaring the word of the Lord amongst them; for
Oliver had several priests about him, of which this was his news-monger;
an envious priest, and a light, scornful, chaffy man. I bid him repent;
and he put it in his newspaper the next week, that I had been at
WHITEHALL, and had bid a godly minister there repent. When I went
thither again, I met with him; and abundance of people gathered about
me. I manifested the priest to be a liar in several things that he had
affirmed; and so he was silenced. He put in the news, that I wore silver
buttons, which was false, for they were but alchymy. Afterwards he said
in the news, that I hung ribands on people’s arms, which made them
follow me; this was another of his lies, for I never wore or used
ribands in my life. Three Friends went to examine this priest, that gave
forth this false intelligence, and to know of him where he had that
information. He said, it was a woman that told him so; and if they would
come again, he would tell them her name. When they returned, he said it
was a man, but would not mention his name then; but if they would come
again, he would tell them his name, and where he lived. They went the
third time, and then he would not say who told him; but offered, if I
would give it under my hand, that there was no such thing, he would put
that into the news. Thereupon the Friends carried it to him under my
hand; but when they came, he broke his promise, and would not insert it;
but was in a rage, and threatened them with the constable. This was the
deceitful doing of this forger of lies; which he spread over all the
nation in the news, to render truth odious, and to put evil into
people’s minds against Friends and truth; of which a more large account
may be seen in a book printed soon after this time, for the clearing of
Friends and truth from the slanders, lies, and false reports raised and
cast upon them. These priests, the news-mongers, were of the Independent
sect, like those in LEICESTER; but the Lord’s power came over all their
lies, and swept them away; and many came to see the naughtiness of these
priests. The God of Heaven carried me over all in his power, and his
blessed power went over the nation: insomuch, that many Friends about
this time were moved to go up and down, to sound forth the everlasting
gospel in most parts of it, and also in SCOTLAND: and the glory of the
Lord was felt over all to his everlasting praise. A great convincement
there was in LONDON, and some in the Protector’s house and family; I
went to see him again, but could not get access to him, the officers
were grown so rude.
The Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, were greatly disturbed;
for many of their people turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and sat down
under his teachings: they received his power, and felt it in their
hearts: and then they were moved of the Lord to declare against the rest
of them.
I appointed a meeting in the fields near ACTON, in which the word of
life, the saving truth, was declared freely. The Lord’s power was
eminently manifested, and his blessed day exalted over all.