Chapter VIII (2)

That evening I passed to CAMBRIDGE. When I came into the town, the scholars hearing of me, were up, and were exceedingly rude. I kept on my horse’s back, and rode through them in the Lord’s power; but they unhorsed Amor Stoddart before he could get to the inn. When we were in the inn, they were so rude in the courts, and in the streets, that miners, colliers, and carters could never be ruder. The people of the house asked us “what we would have for supper.” “Supper!” said I, “were it not that the Lord’s power is over them, these rude scholars look as if they would pluck us in pieces, and make a supper of us.” They knew I was so against the trade of preaching, which they were there as apprentices to learn, that they raged as much as ever Diana’s craftsmen did against Paul. At this place John Crook met us. When it was within night, the mayor of the town, being friendly, came and fetched me to his house; and as we walked through the streets, there was a bustle in the town; but they did not know me, it being darkish. They were in a rage, not only against me, but against the mayor also; so that he was almost afraid to walk the streets with me, for the tumult. We sent for the friendly people, and had a fine meeting there in the power of God: and I stayed there all night. Next morning, having ordered our horses to be ready by six, we passed peaceably out of town; and the destroyers were disappointed; for they thought I would have stayed longer, and intended to do us mischief; but our passing away early in the morning frustrated their evil purposes against us.

Then we rode to BISHOP-STORTFORD, where some were convinced: and so to HERTFORD, where also there were some convinced; and where there is now a large meeting. From thence we returned to LONDON, where Friends received us gladly; the Lord’s power having carried us through many snares and dangers. Great service we had for the Lord; for many hundreds were brought to sit under the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Saviour, and to praise the Lord through him. James Naylor also was come up to London; and Richard Hubberthorn and I stayed some time in the city, visiting Friends and answering gainsayers; for we had great disputes with professors of all sorts. Many reproaches they cast upon truth; and lying slanderous books they gave forth against us: but we answered them all, cleared God’s truth, and set it over them; and the Lord’s power was over all.

Amongst other services for the Lord, which then lay upon me in the city, I was moved to give forth a paper which is as follows:—

_To Those that Made a Scorn of Trembling and Quaking._

“The word of the Lord to all you that scorn trembling, and quaking;
who scoff at, scorn, stone, and belch forth oaths against, those who
are trembling and quaking; threatening them, and beating them.
Strangers ye are to all the apostles and prophets; and are of the
generation that stoned them, and mocked them in those ages. Ye are the
scoffers of whom they spoke, that are come in the last times. Be ye
witnesses against yourselves. To the light in all your consciences I
speak, that with it you may see yourselves to be out of the life of
the holy men of God.

“Moses, who was judge over all Israel, trembled, feared, and quaked:
when the Lord said unto him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, then Moses trembled, and durst not
behold.’ This, which makes to tremble now, ye teachers and people
scoff at, and scorn them in your streets who witness the power of the
Lord. Moses forsook the pleasures of the world, which he might have
enjoyed for a season. He might have been called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter; he refused it, and forsook Pharaoh’s house; yet was no
vagabond. David, a king, trembled; he was mocked; they made songs on
him; they wagged their heads at him. Will you profess David’s words,
and Moses’s words, who are in the generation of your fathers, mockers,
scoffers, wonderers, and despisers, who are to perish? O blush! be
ashamed of all your profession, and be confounded! Job trembled, his
flesh trembled, and they mocked him: so do you now mock them in whom
the same power of God is made manifest; and yet you profess Job’s
words. O deceitful hypocrites! will ye not own Scripture? O shame!
never profess Scripture words, and deny the power, which, according to
Scripture, makes the keepers of the house to tremble, and the strong
man to bow himself. These things both priests, magistrates, and people
scoff at; but with the power ye are judged, and by the power and life
condemned.

“The prophet Jeremiah trembled, he shook, his bones quaked, he reeled
to and fro, like a drunken man, when he saw the deceits of the priests
and prophets, who were turned from the way of God; they were not
ashamed, neither could they blush. Such were gone from the light; and
such were they that ruled over the people. But he was brought to cry,
O foolish people! that had eyes, and could not see; that had ears, and
could not hear; that did not fear the Lord, and tremble at his
presence, who placed the sands for bounds to the sea, by a perpetual
decree, that the waves thereof cannot pass! And he said, ‘A horrible
thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the
priests bear rule by their means. Shall not I visit for these things,
saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged upon such a nation as
this?’ They were such as did not tremble at the word of the Lord;
therefore he called them a foolish people. Hear all ye the word of the
Lord, ye foolish people, who scorn trembling and quaking. Give over
professing the prophet Jeremiah’s words, and making a trade of them;
for with his words you are judged to be among the scoffers, scorners,
and stockers. For he was stocked by your generation; and you now stock
them that tremble at the word of the Lord, at the power of the mighty
God, which raises up the seed of God, and throws down the earth which
hath kept it down. So, you who are in the fall where death reigneth,
who are enemies of the truth, despising the power of God, as those of
your generation ever did, woe and misery is your portion, except you
speedily repent.

“Isaiah saith, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his
word.’ Again, ‘To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and
of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.’ Isa. lxv. 2. ‘Your
brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said,
Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to your joy, and they
shall be ashamed.’ Isa. lxvi. 5. Now all ye scoffers and scorners,
that despise trembling, you regard not the word of the Lord; they are
not regarded by you, that tremble at the word; who are regarded by the
Lord: therefore you are contrary to Isaiah’s words. Profess him and
his words no more, for shame, nor make a trade of his words, ye that
seek for your gain from your quarter, ye greedy, dumb dogs, that never
have enough; ye are they that despise trembling; ye are such as Isaiah
cried against, who himself witnessed trembling. Here therefore be ye
witnesses against yourselves, that with the light in your consciences
ye may see ye are out of the prophet Isaiah’s spirit, and are haters
of them that tremble, whom the Lord regards; such you regard not, but
hate and persecute, mock and rail against them. It is manifest that
you walk in the steps of your forefathers, that persecuted the
prophets.

“Habakkuk, the prophet of the Lord, trembled. And Joel, the prophet of
the Lord, said, ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion, and let all the inhabitants
of the earth tremble: the people shall tremble, and all faces shall
gather blackness, and the people shall be much pained.’ And now this
trembling is witnessed by the power of the Lord. This power of the
Lord is come; the trumpet is sounding; the earth is shaking, the
inhabitants of the earth are trembling; the dead are arising, and the
living are praising God; the world is raging, and the scoffers are
scorning; and they that witness trembling and quaking wrought in them
by the power of the Lord, can scarcely pass up and down the streets,
but with stones and blows, fists and sticks, or dogs set at them; or
they are pursued with mockings and reproaches. Thus you vent forth
your malice against them that witness the power of the Lord, as the
prophets did; who are come to the broken heart and contrite spirit,
who tremble at the word of the Lord, and whom the Lord regards: these
you stone and stock, and set your dogs at; these you scoff and scorn,
these you revile and reproach; but these reproaches are our riches;
praised be the Lord who hath given us power over them. If you see one,
as Habakkuk, whose ‘lips quivered,’ whose ‘belly shook,’ who said,
‘rottenness was entered into his bones,’ and who ‘trembled in
himself;’ if you see such a one in this condition now, ye say, he is
bewitched. Here again you show yourselves strangers to that power, to
that life, that was in the prophet: therefore, for shame, never make a
profession of his words, nor a trade of his words; nor of Joel’s, who
witnessed trembling, which ye scorn and scoff at. Ye proud scoffers
and scorners, misery, misery is your end, except you speedily repent.

“Daniel, a servant of the most high God, trembled; his strength and
his breath were gone; he was imprisoned, he was hated, he was
persecuted. They laid baits and snares for him, in whom the Holy
Spirit of God was. Now for shame, you that make a profession of
Daniel’s words, give over your profession; priests and people, who
scorn and scoff at trembling, with the light you are seen to be out of
Daniel’s life, and by the same power you are judged, at which you
scorn and scoff. Here again be ye witnesses against yourselves, that
ye are scorners and scoffers against the truth; and with the Scripture
ye are judged to be contrary to the life of the holy men of God.

“Paul, a minister of God, made, by the will of God, a messenger of the
Lord Jesus, a vessel of the Lord, to carry his name abroad into
several nations, trembled: and when the dark, blind world, having got
some of his words and epistles, you teachers make a trade of them, and
obtain great sums of money by it, and so destroy souls for dishonest
gain: making a trade of his words, and of the rest of the apostles’
and prophets’, and of Christ’s words, but denying the Spirit and life
that they were guided by; and that power which shook the flesh and the
earth, which the apostle witnessed, who said, when he came among the
Corinthians, that ‘he was with them in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling,’ that their faith might not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God; in that power which made him to tremble.
This power it is that the world, and all the scoffing teachers, scoff
at and scorn in your towns, in your villages, in your assemblies, in
your ale-houses. For shame, lay aside all your profession of the
apostle’s words and conditions! Some of them that scoff at this power,
call it the power of the devil. Some persecute, stone and stock,
imprison and whip them, in whom that power is made manifest, and load
them with reproaches, as not worthy to walk on the earth; hated and
persecuted, as the off-scouring of all things. Here you may see you
are in the steps of your forefathers, who persecuted the apostles, and
acted so against them, stocked them, mocked them, imprisoned them,
stoned them, whipped them, haled them out of the synagogues,
reproached them, and shamefully entreated them. Do not you here fulfil
the Scripture, and Christ’s saying, who said, ‘If they kill you, they
will think they do God service?’ Yet you make a profession of Christ’s
words, of the prophets’ and apostles’ words, and call yourselves
churches, and ministers of the gospel. I charge you, in the presence
of the living God, to be silent who act such things! Mind the light in
your consciences, ye scoffers and scorners, which Christ hath
enlightened you withal: that with it ye may see yourselves, what ye
act, and what ye have acted; for they who act such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God: all such things are by the light
condemned.

“You who have come to witness trembling and quaking, the powers of the
earth to be shaken, the lustful nature to be destroyed, the scorning
and scoffing nature judged by the light; wait in it to receive power
from him who shakes the earth. That power we own, and our faith stands
in it, which all the world scoffs at; the lofty ones, the proud, the
presumptuous, who live in presumption, and yet make a profession of
the Scriptures, as your fathers the Pharisees did, who were painted
sepulchres and serpents; and as the scribes did, who had the chiefest
place in the assemblies, stood praying in the synagogues, and were
called of men masters, which Christ cried woe against. These are not
come so far as the trembling of devils, who believed and trembled. Let
that judge you. The light and life of the Scripture is seen and made
manifest, and with it all you scoffers and scorners, all you
persecutors and railers are seen.

“Take warning, all ye powers of the earth, how ye persecute them whom
the world nickname and call Quakers, who dwell in the eternal power of
God; lest the hand of the Lord be turned against you, and ye be all
cut off. To you this is the word of God. Fear and tremble, and take
warning! for this is the man whom the Lord doth regard, who trembles
at his word; whom you, who are of the world, scoff and scorn, stock,
persecute, and imprison. Here ye may see ye are contrary to God and to
the prophets; and are such as hate what the Lord regards; which we,
whom the world scorns and call Quakers, own. We exalt and honour that
power, that makes the devils tremble, shakes the earth, and throws
down the loftiness and the haughtiness of man; which makes the beasts
of the field to tremble, and the earth to reel to and fro; which
cleaves the earth asunder, and overturneth the world. This power we
own, and honour, and preach; but all scoffers and persecutors, railers
and scorners, stockers and whippers, we deny by that power which
throweth down all that nature; seeing that all who act such things,
without repentance, shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but are for
destruction.

“Rejoice, all ye righteous ones, who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake; for great is your reward in heaven. Rejoice ye that suffer for
well doing; for ye shall not lose your reward. Wait in the light, that
you may grow up in the life that gave forth the Scriptures; that with
it you may see the saints’ conditions, and all that which they
testified against; and there with it ye will see the state of those
that reproached and scoffed at them; that mocked and persecuted them;
that whipped and stocked them, and haled them out of the synagogues
before magistrates. To you, who are in the same light and life, the
same things do they now; that they may fill up the measure of their
fathers. With the light now they are seen, where the light, and life,
and power of God is made manifest; for as they did unto them, so they
will do unto you. Here is our joy; the Scripture is fulfilled, and
fulfilling; and with the light, which was before the world was, which
is now made manifest in the children of light, they see the world, and
comprehend it, and the actions of it; for he that loves the world, and
turns from the light, is an enemy to God; he turneth into wickedness;
for the whole world lieth in wickedness. He who turns from the light,
turns into the works of evil, which the light of Christ testifies
against; and by this light, where it is made manifest, all the works
of the world are seen and made manifest.”

G.F.

This is to go abroad among the scattered
ones, and among the world.

Great was the rage and enmity of professors, as well as profane, against the truth and people of God at this time; and great the contempt and disdain they showed of Friends’ plainness. Wherefore I was moved to write the following, and sent it forth:—

_An Epistle to Churches gathered into outward forms, upon the
earth._

“All ye churches gathered into outward forms upon the earth, the Son
of God is come to reign; he will tread and trample, will shake and
make you quiver, you that are found out of his light, without his life
and power. His day hath appeared; mortar and clay will you be found.
Breaking, shaking, and quaking are coming among you! your high
building is to be laid desolate; your professed liberty shall be your
bondage; the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it. Tremble, ye
hypocrites, ye notionists! the fenced cities shall be laid desolate,
the fruitful fields shall become a wilderness; your false joy shall
become your heaviness; the time of weeping and desolation draweth
nigh! Come, ye witty ones, see how ye can stand before the Almighty,
who is now come to plead with you; you will fall like leaves, and
wither like weeds! Come, you that have boasted of my name, saith the
Lord, and have gloried in the flesh, ye shall fade like a flower; who
have slain my witness yet boast of my words, which have been as a song
unto you. Come, ye novelists, who love novelties, changeable suits of
apparel, who are in the fashions, outward and inward, putting on one
thing this day, and another the other day. ‘I will strip thee,’ saith
the Lord, ‘I will make thee bare, I will make thee naked, and thou
shalt know that I am the Lord.’

“‘What! hast thou professed the prophets’ words? hast thou professed
the apostles’ words, and my Son’s words; hast thou covered thyself
with their expressions? thinkest thou not that I see thee out of my
life? thinkest thou, thou witty one, to hide thyself where none can
see thee? thinkest thou, if thou fliest to the uttermost parts of the
earth, that I am not there? Is not the earth mine, and the fulness of
it, saith the Lord?’ Come, all ye that have trusted in your own
conceited notions, and knowledge, and wisdom, who were never yet out
of the earth, and the lusts of it; never yet got the load of thick
clay off you; never were out of the drunken spirit, whose imperfection
appears, which must be come upon as a potter’s vessel; broken
cisterns; ye that have been made wise in your own conceit, wise in
your own eyes, in which pride hath lifted you up, and not the
humility; you must be abased. You have run on, every one after his own
invention; every man hath done the thing that was right in his own
eyes, that which pleased himself. This hath been the course of people
upon earth. Ye have run on without a king, without Christ, the light
of the world, which hath enlightened every one that is come into the
world. But now is truth risen, now are your fruits withering.

“And you that are fortified, and have fortified your strong houses,
called your churches, make ye your cords strong, the Lord will break
you asunder, ye that are gathering in, and ye that are gathered. For
the Lord is risen to scatter you; his witness is risen in the hearts
of his people, they will not be fed with dead words, nor with that
which dies of itself; nor will they be satisfied with the husks which
the swine feed upon. All ye priests in the nation, and teachers, that
now stand against the light, your envy shows that ye are in Cain’s
way; your greediness shows that ye are in Balaam’s way; your standing
against the light which hath enlightened every man that cometh into
the world, doth manifest that you are in Korah’s way, that spoke the
great high words of vanity; ye whose consciences are seared as with a
hot iron, whose judgment doth not linger, whose damnation doth not
slumber, who serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but your own bellies;
who are the evil beasts spoken of, which have destroyed many families,
taken away their cattle, their horses, their goods, even their
household goods; destroyed many poor men, even whole families, taking
their whole estates from them whom you do no work for. O! the grievous
actions that are done by you, the ministers of unrighteousness; whose
fruits declare to the whole nation that you are the devil’s
messengers! your actions declare it; your taking tithes,
augmentations, treble damages, Midsummer-dues (as ye call them), of
them ye do no work for, nor minister to.

“All ye powers of the earth, beware of holding such up as are
unrighteous. Let not the words of the unrighteous overcome you, lest
God, the righteous judge of heaven and earth, take hold upon you;
whose judgment is according to that of God in you, which will let you
see when you transgress. Come you proud and lofty ones, who have not
considered the handy-works of the Lord, but have destroyed them; nor
have regarded the way of the Lord, but have had plenty of the
creatures, and have therewith fattened yourselves, and forgotten the
Lord and his way: O let shame cover your faces here upon earth! Come
ye that are given to pleasures, and spend your time in sports, and
idleness, and fulness; your fruits declare the sins of Sodom; yet you
will talk of my name, and of my saints’ words. ‘But I behold you afar
off,’ saith the Lord; you are proud and lofty; you are evil patterns,
bad examples, full, rich, and idle; who say others are idle, that
cannot maintain your lusts. O! the unrighteous balances that are among
people! O! the iniquity in measuring! O! the oppression in ruling and
governing! Because of these things my hand shall come upon you, saith
the Lord. For the oppression is entered into the ears of the Lord, who
gives rest to the wearied, to the burthened, to the oppressed; who
feeds the hungry, and clothes the naked; who brings the mighty from
their seats, beats the lofty to the ground, and makes the haughty
bend.

“Come, saith the Lord, ye mockers, scorners, and rebellious ones,
light and wild people, vain and heady; you have had your day of joy,
you have scoffed, you have mocked and derided my messengers and my
ambassadors, who have preached in your streets, and cried in your
synagogues and temples; a day of trembling and lamentation shall come
upon you, when you are not aware. I will take away your pride and your
height; I will shake you as a leaf, and bring you to be as men
distracted. I will distract you, and make you that you shall not trust
one another in the earth, who have joined hand in hand against my
servants in the truth. I will smite you with terrors, and bring fear
upon you; the cup of my indignation and fury shall you drink. Where
will you appear when repentance is hid from your eyes, when profane
Esau, your father, is set before you, and Ishmael and Cain, wild and
envious, whose fruits declare the stock?

“Come, ye proud priests, who have eaten up the fat of the nation, who
by violence have taken other men’s goods, whose envy hath slain many,
whose wickedness and darkness hath abounded, and whose unrighteousness
daily appears; your fruits every day declare it, in summoning up by
writs and subpœnas from most parts of the nation for wages and
tithes, such as you do no work for. O abominable unrighteousness! how
is the state of man lost, that they do not take these things to heart
to feel them! what havoc is made in most parts of the nation with
such! And all ye priests and teachers, who are railing and brawling in
the pulpit, setting people at variance one against another, haters and
hateful, provoking people to hate one another, here is the seed of
enmity seen, which you have sown and are sowing, whose seed must he
bruised by the seed of the woman, which above your heads is set.”

G. F.

This year came out the oath of abjuration, by which many Friends suffered; and several went to speak to the Protector about it; but he began to harden. And sufferings increasing upon Friends, by reason that envious magistrates made use of that oath as a snare to catch Friends in, who, they knew, could not swear at all; I was moved to write to the Protector, as follows:—

“The magistrate is not to bear the sword in vain, who ought to be a
terror to evil-doers; but as the magistrate that doth bear the sword
in vain, is not a terror to evil-doers, so he is not a praise to them
that do well. Now hath God raised up a people by his power, whom
people, priests, and magistrates, who are out of the fear of God,
scornfully call Quakers, who cry against drunkenness (for drunkards
destroy God’s creatures), and against oaths (for because of oaths the
land mourns), and these drunkards and swearers, to whom the
magistrate’s sword should be a terror, are, we see, at liberty; but
for crying against such, many are cast into prison; as also for
testifying against their pride and filthiness, their deceitful
merchandise in markets, their cozening and their cheating, their
excess and naughtiness, their playing at bowls and shuffle boards, at
cards and at dice, and their other vain and wanton pleasures. They who
live in pleasures are dead while they live; and they who live in
wantonness kill the just. This we know by the Spirit of God, which
gave forth the Scriptures, which the Father has given to us, and hath
placed his righteous law in our hearts; which law is a terror to
evil-doers, and answers that which is of God in every man’s
conscience. They who act contrary to the measure of God’s Spirit in
every man’s conscience, cast the law of God behind their backs, and
walk despitefully against the Spirit of grace. The magistrate’s sword,
we see, is borne in vain, whilst the evil-doers are at liberty to do
evil; and they that cry against such, are for so doing punished by the
magistrate, who hath turned his sword backward against the Lord. Now
the wicked one fenceth himself, and persecutes the innocent as
vagabonds and wanderers, for crying against sin, and against
unrighteousness and ungodliness openly, in the markets and in the
highways; or as railers, because they tell them what judgment will
come upon them that follow such practices. Here they that depart from
iniquity are become a prey, and few lay it to heart. But God will
thrash the mountains, beat the hills, cleave the rocks, and cast into
his press, which is trodden without the city, and will bathe his sword
in the blood of the wicked and unrighteous. You that have drunk the
cup of abominations, a hard cup have you had to drink; you are the
enemies of God, and of you he will be avenged.

“Now ye, in whom something of God is remaining, consider; If the sword
was not borne in vain, but turned against the evil-doers, then the
righteous would not suffer, and be cast into holes, dungeons, corners,
prisons, and houses of correction, as peace-breakers, for testifying
against sin openly, as they are commanded of the Lord, and against the
covetousness of the priests, and their false worships; who exact money
of poor people, whom they do no work for. O! where will you appear in
the day of the Lord? or how will you stand in the day of his righteous
judgment? How many jails and houses of correction are now made places
to put the lambs of Christ in, for following him, and obeying his
commands, which are too numerous to mention. The royal law of Christ,
‘to do as ye would be done by,’ is trodden down under foot; so that
men can profess him in words, but crucify him wheresoever he appears,
and cast him into prison, as the talkers of him always did in the
generations and ages past. The labourers, whom God, the master of the
harvest, hath sent into his vineyard, do the chief of the priests, and
the rulers now take counsel together against, to cast them into
prison: and here are the fruits of priests, and people, and rulers,
without the fear of God. The day is come and coming, that every man’s
work doth appear and shall appear; glory be to the Lord God for ever.
So see, and consider the days you have spent, and do spend; for this
is your day of visitation. Many have suffered great fines, because
they could not swear, but obey Christ’s doctrine, who saith, ‘Swear
not at all:’ and are made a prey upon for abiding in the command of
Christ. Many are cast into prison because they cannot take the oath of
abjuration, though they denied all that is abjured in it; and by that
means many of the messengers and ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ
are cast into prison because they will not swear, nor go out of
Christ’s command.

“Therefore, O man, consider; to the measure of the life of God in thee
I speak. Many also lie in jails, because they cannot pay the priest’s
tithes; many have their goods spoiled, and treble damages taken of
them; and many are whipped and beaten in the house of correction,
without breach of any law. These things are done in thy name, in order
to protect them in these actions. If men fearing God bore the sword,
if covetousness were hated, and men of courage for God were set up,
then they would be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that
do well; and not cause them to suffer. Here equity would be heard in
our land, and righteousness would stand up and take place; which
giveth not place to the unrighteous, but judgeth it. To the measure of
God’s Spirit in thee I speak, that thou mayest consider, and come to
rule for God; that thou mayest answer that which is of God in every
man’s conscience; for this is that, which bringeth to honour all men
in the Lord. Therefore consider for whom thou dost rule, that thou
mayest come to receive power from God to rule for him; and all that is
contrary to God may by his light be condemned.

“From a lover of thy soul, who desires thy eternal good.”

G. F.

But sufferings and imprisonments continuing and increasing, and the Protector (under whose name they were inflicted,) hardening himself against the complaints that were made to him, I was moved to issue the following amongst Friends, to bring the weight of their sufferings more heavy upon the heads of the persecutors:—

“Who is moved by the power of the Lord to offer himself to the justice
for his brother or sister, that lies in prison, and to go lie there in
their stead, that his brother or sister may come out of prison, and so
offer his life for his brother or sister? Where any lie in prison for
tithes, witnessing the priesthood changed, that took tithes, and the
unchangeable priesthood come; if any brother in the light, who
witnesseth a change of the old priesthood that took tithes, and a
disannulling of the commandment for tithes, be moved of the Lord to go
to the priest or impropriator, to offer himself to lie in prison for
his brother, and to lay down his life, that he may come forth, he may
cheerfully do it, and heap up coals of fire upon the head of the
adversary of God. Likewise where any suffer for the truth by them who
are in the untruth, if any Friends be moved of the Lord to go to the
magistrate, judge, general, or protector, and offer up themselves to
lay down their lives for the brethren; as Christ hath laid down his
life for you, so lay down your lives one for another. Here you may go
over the heads of the persecutors, and reach the witness of God in
all. And this shall rest a judgment upon them all for ever, and be
witnessed to by that which is of God in their consciences. Given forth
from the Spirit of the Lord through

G. F.”

Besides this, I wrote also a short epistle to Friends, as an encouragement to them in their several exercises; which was as follows:—

“MY DEAR FRIENDS,

“In the power of the everlasting God, which comprehends the power of
darkness, and all temptation, and that which comes out of it, in this
power of God dwell. It will bring and keep you to the Word in the
beginning; it will keep you up to the life, to feed thereupon, in
which you are over the power of darkness, and in which you will find
and feel dominion and life. And that will let you see, before the
tempter was, and over him; and into that the tempter cannot come; for
the power and truth he is out of. Therefore in that life dwell, in
which you will know dominion; and let your faith be in the power, and
over the weakness and temptations, and look not at them: but in the
light and power of God look at the Lord’s strength, which will be made
perfect in your weakest state. In all temptations look at the grace of
God to bring your salvation, which is your teacher to teach you: for
when you look or hearken to the temptations, you go from your teacher,
the grace of God; and so are darkened in going from that teacher, the
grace of God, which is sufficient in all temptations, to lead out of
them, and to keep over them.”

G. F.