Chapter X (2)

I made but little stay at Dalston, but returned to LONDON, where I continued most part of the winter, labouring in the service of truth amongst Friends; save that I was a little while at Kingston, in the 10th month of this year, where I wrote a book, setting forth “The state of the birth temporal, and the birth spiritual; and the duty and state of a child, youth, young men, aged men, and fathers in the truth,” &c. But I stayed not long at Kingston, for the heat of persecution still continuing, I felt my service to be chiefly at London; where our meetings were for the most part disturbed and broken up, or Friends were forced to meet without doors, being kept out of their meeting-houses by the officers. Yet sometimes, beyond expectation, we got a quiet and peaceable meeting in the houses. One time I intended to go a mile or two out of town, to visit a Friend that was not well; but hearing that the king had sent to the mayor to put the laws in execution against Dissenters, and that the magistrates thereupon intended to nail up the meeting-house doors, I had not freedom to go out of town, but was moved to go to the meeting in Gracechurch Street; and notwithstanding all the threats, a great meeting it was, and very quiet; the glory of the Lord shone over all.

The same week I went to the meeting at THE PEEL in John’s Street; and the sessions were holden the same day at Hicks’s-Hall. I went to The Peel in the morning; and William Mead being to appear at the sessions-house for not going to the steeple-house worship, came once or twice from Hicks’s-Hall to me at The Peel; which some ill-minded people observing, went and informed the justices at the bench, that he was gone to a meeting at The Peel. Whereupon the justices sent a messenger to see if there was a meeting; but this being in the forenoon, there was none; so the messenger, when he had looked about, went back and told them. Then others informed the justices that there would be one there in the afternoon; whereupon they sent for the chief constable, and asked him “why he suffered a meeting to be at The Peel, so near him?” He told them, “he did not know of any meeting there.” They asked him, “how he could not know, and live so near it?” He said, “he was never there in his life, and did not know that there was a meeting there.” They would have persuaded him that he must needs know of it; but he standing steadfast in the denial of it, they said, “they should take order to have it looked after in the afternoon.” But a multitude of business coming before them at the sessions, when dinner time came, they hastened to it, without giving order, and when they came to the bench again after dinner, the Lord put it out of their minds, so that they sent no officer. The meeting was quiet, beginning and ending in peace; and a blessed one we had, the Lord’s presence being preciously amongst us. Many Friends had a concern upon their minds, when they saw me come into the meeting, lest I should be taken; but I was freely given up to suffer, if it was the Lord’s will, before I went to the meeting; and had nothing in my mind concerning it but the Lord’s glory. I do believe the Lord put it out of their minds, that they should not send to break up our meeting that day. Yet the First-day after, three or four justices (as I heard) came to The Peel, and put Friends out of their meeting there, and kept them out; and inquired for William Mead,[56] but he was not there.

That day I was moved to go to GRACECHURCH STREET meeting; and it was expected that the officers would come to break it up, or keep Friends out; and many hundreds of people came to see what would be done to us. But the officers came not; so we were in peace and quietness; and many of the people that came to look on, stayed all the time; and a glorious, precious meeting we had; for the Lord’s presence was plentifully amongst us, and his power came over all; glory to his name for ever, who is over all!

I had seen the mayor’s printed speech for putting the laws in execution against Dissenters; and it was much in my mind that we should draw up a paper to send to the mayor and aldermen, to clear ourselves from being such, as those laws were made against; and to set forth our peaceable behaviour both towards the king and the government. Accordingly a paper was drawn up and signed, and delivered to the mayor; copies of which were also delivered to the aldermen, and the bishop of London, who generally took it kindly, and were civil to the Friends that delivered it.

About this time I was moved to write the few lines following to Friends:—

“DEAR FRIENDS,

“Feel the power of God in you all, and over all, and by it let
your hearts be united to one another, and to the Lord God who hath
gathered you to himself, by his power and Spirit, to be a people
to serve and worship him. So that you may all strive to excel one
another in virtue, and in that love that beareth all things, and
edifieth the body of Christ, the body of the second Adam. For the
body of old Adam in the fall is full of malice, envy, and vice.
Therefore you, that are called out of old Adam in the fall, and
have put on Christ, the second Adam, that never fell, walk in Him,
who is the treasure of life, wisdom, and knowledge, in whom ye
have peace with God, who is the First and the Last, the Beginning
and the Ending. So let all be gathered up to God, into Him who
reconcileth all things in one, both things in heaven and things on
earth; who is the faithful and true witness in male and female. In
Him sit down, who is above the subtle foxes in their holes, and
the fowls of the air in their nests; I say, sit down in Christ,
who hath no place among them to lay his head; He is your rest. So
in him is my love to you all,”

G. F.

London, the 20th of the 11th Month, 1682.

Not long after this, I received an account by letter, from some Friends, that were prisoners at Denbigh, in Wales, that many Friends there were under great sufferings, for the testimony of a good conscience. In the tender sense whereof I was moved, in the love of God, to visit them with a few lines, as a word of consolation to them in their sufferings; and of exhortation, to stand fast in the testimony committed to them, after this manner:—

“Dear suffering lambs for the name and command of Jesus: be
valiant for his truth, and faithful, and ye will feel the presence
of Christ with you. Look at Him, who suffered for you, who hath
bought you, and will feed you; who saith, ‘Be of good comfort, I
have overcome the world;’ who destroys the devil and his works,
and bruises the serpent’s head. I say, look at Christ, your
sanctuary, in whom ye have rest and peace. To you it is given not
only to believe, but to suffer for his name’s sake. They that will
live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution by the
ungodly professors of Christ Jesus, who live out of him. Therefore
be valiant for God’s truth upon the earth, and look above that
spirit that makes you suffer, up to Christ, who was before it was,
and will be when it is gone. Consider all the prophets, Christ,
and his apostles, who suffered, and were persecuted; but they were
never persecuted as true men, but as deceivers, and yet true.
Christ is the same to-day as he was yesterday; a rock and
foundation for your age and generation, for you to build upon.

“I have written concerning you (since I heard your letter) to
Friends in Cheshire to visit you, understanding that you belong to
their quarterly meeting; and therefore I desire that some Friends
of your county would go, and lay your suffering condition before
the monthly or quarterly meeting in Cheshire. I have written
likewise to Richard Davies,[57] that some of that side may go and
visit you, and see what your condition is. My love is to you in
the Lord, who is your alone support.”

G. F.

London, the 27th of the 11th Month, 1682.

Now because the magistrates were many of them unwilling to have fines laid upon meeting-houses, they kept Friends out in many places, setting officers and guards of soldiers at the doors and passages; yet sometimes Friends were fined for speaking or praying, though it was abroad. One First-day it was upon me to go to Devonshire House meeting in the afternoon; and because I had heard Friends were kept out there that morning (as they were that day at most meetings about the city), I went sooner, and got into the yard before the soldiers came to guard the passages; but the constables were there before me, and stood in the doorway with their staves. I asked them to let me go in; they said, “they could not, nor durst not; for they were commanded the contrary, and were sorry for it.” I told them I would not press upon them: so I stood by, and they were very civil. I stood till I was weary, and then one gave me a stool to sit down on; and after a while the power of the Lord began to spring up among Friends, and one began to speak. The constables soon forbade him, and said he should not speak; and he not stopping, they began to be wroth. But I gently laid my hand upon one of the constables, and wished him to let him alone; the constable did so, and was quiet; and the man did not speak long.

After he had done, I was moved to stand up and speak; and in my declaration, I said, “they need not come against us with swords and staves, for we were a peaceable people; and had nothing in our hearts but goodwill to the king and magistrates, and to all people upon the earth. We did not meet, under pretence of religion, to plot and contrive against the government, or to raise insurrections; but to worship God in Spirit and in truth. We had Christ to be our Bishop, Priest, and Shepherd to feed us, and oversee us, and he ruled in our hearts; so we could all sit in silence, enjoying our teacher; so to Christ, their Bishop and Shepherd, I recommended them all.” I then sat down; and after a while I was moved to pray, and the power of the Lord was over all; and the people, the constables, and soldiers, put off their hats. When the meeting was done, and Friends began to pass away, the constable put off his hat, and desired the Lord to bless us; for the power of the Lord was over him and the people, and kept them under.

After this I went up and down, visiting Friends at their houses, who had their goods taken from them for worshipping God. We took an account of what had been taken from them; and some Friends met together about it, and drew up the case of the sufferings of our Friends in writing, and gave it to the justices at their petty sessions. Whereupon they made an order, “that the officers should not sell the goods of Friends which they had in their hands, but keep them until the next sessions;” which gave some discouragement to the informers, and put a little stop to their proceedings.

Next First-day it was upon me to go to the meeting at the SAVOY; and by the time it was gathered the beadle came in; and after him the wild people like a sea; but the Lord’s power chained them all. The Spirit of the Lord went through and over all, and they were quiet, and we had a glorious, peaceable meeting; blessed be the Lord for his unspeakable goodness. This was in the 12th month, 1682.

In the 1st month, 1683, I went to KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES; and it being then a time of persecution, as I went to the meeting, I met the chief constable, who had been at the meeting-place, and had set watchmen there to keep us out; yet he was pretty civil, and the watchmen let Friends have a couple of forms out, to sit upon in the highway; so we met together there, and a very precious meeting we had; for the refreshing presence of the Lord was with us, in which we parted in peace.

Having visited and encouraged Friends there, I returned to LONDON, and went to the meeting at the Bull-and-Mouth, where the constables with their watchmen kept a guard, to keep Friends out of the house. So we met in the street; and when any Friend spoke, the officers and watchmen made a great bustle to pull him down, and take him into custody. After some other Friends had spoken, it was upon me to speak; and I said, “Heaven is God’s throne, and earth is his footstool; and will ye not let us stand upon God’s footstool to worship, and serve the living God?” While I spoke they were quiet; and after I had cleared myself, we broke up our meeting in peace. This was on the Sixth-day of the week.

On the First-day following I was moved to go to the meeting at GRACECHURCH STREET. When I came there, I found a guard set at the entrance in Lombard Street, and another at the gate in Gracechurch Street, to keep Friends out of the meeting-place; so we had to meet in the street. After some time I got a chair, stood up on it, and spoke largely to the people, “opening the principles of truth to them, and declaring many weighty truths concerning magistracy, and concerning the Lord’s prayer.” There were, besides Friends, a great multitude of people, and amongst them many professors; all was very quiet; for the Lord’s power was over all, and in his time we broke up our meeting, and departed in peace.

The next day I went to GUILDFORD in SURREY; and having visited Friends there, passed to WORMINGHURST in SUSSEX, where I had a very blessed meeting among Friends, free from disturbance. While I was there, James Claypole, of London (who was there with his wife also,) was suddenly taken ill with so violent a fit of the stone, that he could neither stand nor lie; but, through the extremity of pain, cried out. When I heard it, I was much exercised in spirit for him; and went to him. After I had spoken a few words to him, to turn his mind inward, I was moved to lay my hand upon him, and prayed the Lord to rebuke his infirmity. As I laid my hand on him, the Lord’s power went through him; and through faith in that power he had speedy ease, so that he quickly fell into a sleep. When he awoke, he was so relieved and well, that next day he rode with me five-and-twenty miles in a coach; though he used formerly (as he said) to lie sometimes two weeks, sometimes a month, in one of those fits. But the Lord was entreated for him, and by his power soon gave him ease at this time; blessed and praised be his holy name therefor!

After I had had some meetings in Sussex and Surrey, and had visited Friends thereaway, I returned to London by KINGSTON, where I had a meeting on the 1st of the 2nd month, being First-day. We were kept out of the meetinghouse by a constable and watchmen, as before, and so were obliged to meet in the highway. But it being the monthly meeting day, and many people being there, the meeting was pretty large, and very quiet; and the Lord’s blessed presence was amongst us; blessed be his name for ever!

Being come to LONDON, I went to the meeting at WHEELER STREET, near Spitalfields, which that day proved very large; and a glorious, blessed time it was; for the Lord’s power and truth were over all, and many deep and weighty things were opened to the people, to their great satisfaction. I tarried in and near London, visiting Friends’ meetings, and labouring in the service of the gospel, till the Yearly Meeting came on, which began on the 28th of the 3rd month.

It was a time of great sufferings; and much concerned I was, lest Friends that came up out of the country on the church’s service, should be taken and imprisoned at London. But the Lord was with us; his power preserved us, and gave us a sweet and blessed opportunity to wait upon him, to be refreshed together in him, and to perform his services for his truth and people for which we met. As it was a time of great persecution, and we understood that in most counties Friends were under great sufferings, either by imprisonments or spoiling of goods, or both, a concern was weightily upon me lest any Friends that were sufferers, especially such as were traders and dealers in the world, should hazard the losing of other men’s goods or estates through their sufferings. Wherefore, as the thing opened in me, I drew up an epistle of caution to Friends in that case, which I communicated to the Yearly Meeting; and from thence it was sent forth among Friends throughout the nation; a copy of which here follows:—

“Dear Friends and brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is your
only sanctuary in this day of storm and persecution, spoiling of
goods, and imprisonments! Let every one’s eye be unto him, who has
all power in heaven and in earth given unto him; so that none can
touch a hair of your head, nor you, nor anything ye have, except
it be permitted or suffered in this day, to try his people,
whether their minds be with the Lord, or in outward things. Dear
Friends, take care that all your offerings be free, and of your
own, that has cost you something; so that ye may not offer of that
which is another man’s, or that which ye are entrusted withal and
not your own, or fatherless’ or widows’ estates; but all such
things settle and establish in their places.

“You may remember many years ago, in a time of great persecution,
divers Friends, who were traders, shop-keepers and others, had the
concerns of widows and fatherless, and other people’s estates in
their hands. And when a great suffering, persecution, and spoiling
of goods came upon Friends, especial care was taken that all might
offer up to the Lord in their sufferings what was really their
own, and not any other people’s estates or goods which they had in
their hands; and that they might not offer up another body’s, but
that which they had bought and paid for, or were able to pay for.
Afterwards several letters came out of the country to the meeting
at London, from Friends that had goods of the shopkeepers at
London upon credit, which they had not paid for; who wrote to
their creditors whom they had their goods of, entreating them to
take their goods again. And some Friends came to London
themselves, and treated with their creditors, letting them
understand ‘that they lay liable to have all that they had taken
from them;’ and told them, ‘they would not have any man to suffer
by them: neither would they by suffering offer up anything but
what was really their own, or what they were able to pay for.’
Upon which several took their goods again. This wrought a very
good savour in the hearts of many people, when they saw such a
righteous, just, and honest principle in Friends, that would not
make any suffer for their testimony; but what they did suffer for
the testimony of Jesus should be really and truly their own, not
other people’s. In this they owed nothing to any, but love. So in
this every man and woman stands in the free offering, a free
people, whether it be spiritual or temporal, which is their own;
and in that they wrong no man, neither inwardly, nor outwardly.
Ornan said unto David, ‘I give thee the threshing-floor, &c., and
the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for
wood, and the wheat for the meat-offering; I give it all.’ But
king David said unto Ornan, ‘Nay, but I will verily buy it for the
full price; for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord,
nor offer burnt-offerings without cost,’ 1 Chron. xxi. 22, &c. So
it should be his own; and so should it be every man’s that offers.
You may see here that David would not accept of another man’s gift
for an offering to the Lord; he would not offer up that which cost
him nothing; but what should be really his own, Psal. cxii. 5. ‘A
good man ... will guide his affairs with discretion.’

“Let this be read in your monthly and quarterly men’s and women’s
meetings.”

G.F.

London, the 2nd of the 4th Month, 1683.

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Footnote 56:

William Mead is often mentioned in these pages; and his trial,
along with William Penn, is alluded to in a previous note. Of his
life and ministry we have much less account than of most others of
note in his day. George Fox sometimes calls him his son, he having
married Sarah, a daughter of Judge Fell; George Fox’s wife being
her mother. Before his joining Friends, William Mead appears to
have been a captain in the army. In his remarks in court on the
term, _vi et armis_, during his trial, he observes, “Time was when
I _had freedom to use a carnal weapon_, and then I thought I
feared no man; but now I fear the living God, and dare not make
use thereof, nor hurt any man.” He died 1713, aged eighty-six.

Footnote 57:

Richard Davies—some account of whose life, written by himself, was
published after his decease, and a third edition of the volume in
1771—was convinced of the truth about the year 1657. He resided in
Montgomeryshire; and his life contains an interesting account of
the first spreading of truth in Wales. Richard Davies was a
faithful minister of the gospel, endued with spiritual gifts, and
serviceable in the exercise thereof in the churches of Christ;
sound in doctrine, and exemplary in conversation.