Chapter XIV (2)

“Therefore, Friends, I desire you seriously to consider and to
keep this feast, which the apostle directed the church of Christ
to keep. Do you not see Christendom, so called, keep their feasts
with the leavened bread of malice and wickedness? which makes them
so sour, and their hearts so burn one against another, that they
have destroyed, or do destroy one another about religion.
Therefore, all live in the love of God, which keeps above the love
of the world, so that none of your hearts may be choked or
surfeited with these outward things, or with the cares of the
world, which will pass away; but mind ye the world and the life
that is without end, that ye may be heirs of it.

“And Friends, you should strive to excel all, both professor and
profane, in morality, humanity, and Christianity, modesty,
sobriety, and moderation, and in a good, godly, righteous life and
conversation, showing forth the fruits of the Spirit, and that you
are the children of the living God, children of the light, and of
the day, and not of the night. And serve God in newness of life;
for it is the life, and a living and walking in the truth, that
must answer the witness of God in all people; that ‘they, seeing
your good works, may glorify our Father, which is in heaven.’
Therefore, be valiant for God’s holy, pure truth, and spread it
abroad, among both professors and profane, and the Indians.

“And you should write over once a year, from all your yearly
meetings to the yearly meeting here, concerning your diligence in
the truth, and of its spreading, and of people’s receiving it,
both professors and profane, and the Indians; and concerning the
peace of the church of Christ amongst yourselves. For, blessed be
the Lord, truth gains ground in these parts, and many are made
very loving to Friends, and the Lord’s power and seed is over all;
in which God Almighty keep all his people to his glory. Amen.”

G.F.

Gooses, the 28th of the 11th Month, 1689.

While I was in the city, I had a concern upon my spirit with respect to a twofold danger that attended some who professed truth: one was of young people’s running into the fashions of the world; and the other was of old people’s going into earthly things. And that concern coming now again weightily upon me, I was moved to give forth the following paper, as a reproof to such, and an exhortation and warning to all Friends to beware of, and keep out of those snares:—

“_To all that profess the Truth of God._”

“My desires are, that you may walk in humility in it. For when the
Lord first called me forth, he let me see, that young people grew
up together in vanity and the fashions of the world; and old
people went downwards into the earth, raking it together; and to
both these I was to be a stranger. And now, Friends, I see too
many young people that profess the truth, grow up into the
fashions of the world, and too many parents indulge them; and
amongst the elder, some are going downwards, and raking after the
earth. Therefore take heed, that you are not making your graves,
while you are alive outwardly, and loading yourselves with thick
clay (Hab. ii. 6). For if you have not power over the earthly
spirit, and that which leadeth into a vain mind, and the fashions
of the world, and into the earth, though you have often had the
rain fall upon your fields, you will but bring forth thistles,
briars, and thorns, which are for the fire. Such will become
brittle, peevish, fretful spirits, that will not abide the
heavenly doctrine, the admonitions, exhortations, and reproofs of
the Holy Ghost, or heavenly Spirit of God; which would bring you
to be conformable to the death of Christ, and to his image, that
ye might have fellowship with him in his resurrection. Therefore
it is good for all to bow to the name of Jesus, their Saviour,
that all may confess him to the glory of God, the Father.

“For I have had a concern upon me, in a sense of the danger of
young people’s going into the fashions of the world, and old
people’s going into earthly things, and many going into a loose
and false liberty, till at last they go quite out into the spirit
of the world, as some have done. The house of such hath been built
upon the sand of the sea-shore, not upon Christ, the Rock, that
they are so soon in the world again, under a pretence of liberty
of conscience. But it is not a pure conscience, nor in the Spirit
of God, nor in Christ Jesus; for in the liberty in the Spirit
there is the unity, which is the bond of peace; and all are one in
Christ Jesus, in whom is the true liberty: and this is not of the
world; for He is not of the world. Therefore all are to stand fast
in Him, as they have received Him; for in Him there is peace, who
is the Prince of Peace; but in the world there is trouble. For the
spirit of the world is a troublesome spirit; but the Spirit of
Christ is a peaceable Spirit; in which God Almighty preserve all
the faithful. Amen.”

G.F.

Gooses, the 1st of the 2nd Month, 1690.

Another paper I wrote while I was here, “concerning the Ensign, which Isaiah prophesied the Lord should set up for the Gentiles,” which I showed was Christ. Of which follows a copy:—

“The Lord saith, ‘They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the sea,’ Isa. xi. 9. ‘And in that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an Ensign of
the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be
glorious,’ ver. 10. ‘And he shall reign over the Gentiles, and in
him shall the Gentiles trust,’ Rom. xv. 12. This Ensign is Christ,
who was prophesied of by the prophet; which prophecy the apostle,
who was a minister to the Gentiles, showeth was fulfilled in the
New Testament. And in this day of Christ, Isaiah saith, ‘The Lord
shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant
of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria and from Egypt,’
&c. ‘And he shall set up an Ensign for the nations, and shall
assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners of the earth,’ ver. 11, 12. This is
in the day of Christ, and his gospel of life and salvation, which
is preached to every creature under heaven; who ‘enlighteneth
every man that cometh into the world,’ both Jews and Gentiles;
that by his heavenly, divine light, they may see Christ, their
Ensign, and Captain of their salvation; so Christ is one Ensign
both to the Jews and Gentiles.

“Isaiah saith, ‘The Redeemer shall come to Sion,’ &c., Isa. lix.
20. And, ‘This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my
Spirit, that is upon thee (to wit, Christ), and my words, which I
have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed,
saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever,’ ver. 21. ‘Arise,
shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee,’ chap. lx. 1. ‘And the Gentiles shall come to thy
light,’ ver. 3. ‘And the abundance of the sea shall be converted
unto thee,’ ver. 5 (the sea is the world). ‘The Lord shall be thy
everlasting light,’ ver. 20. And, ‘Thou shalt call thy walls,
Salvation, and thy gates, Praise,’ ver. 18. And the Lord saith, ‘I
will make the place of my feet glorious,’ ver. 13. ‘Heaven is his
throne, and the earth is his footstool,’ chap. lxvi. 1. ‘And he
that puts his trust in me, saith the Lord, shall possess the land,
and shall inherit my holy mountain,’ chap. lvii. 13. Which
mountain is established above all the mountains and hills, Isa.
ii. 2. The Lord saith (speaking of Christ), ‘I have put my spirit
upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles,’ Isa
xlii. 1. And he saith of him, ‘I will give thee for a covenant of
the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in
darkness out of the prison-house. I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images,’ ver. 6-8. So Christ the Light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen; and the Gentiles are come to the Light
of Christ. This prophecy of Isaiah concerning Christ, many of the
Gentiles witness fulfilled, that ‘Salvation is come to the
Gentiles,’ Rom. xi. 11. God gave his glory to his Son; and Christ
saith, ‘The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them (namely,
his believers and followers), that they may be one, even as we are
one,’ John xvii. 22.

“Now here you may see, the promises and prophecies are fulfilled
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath given for an Ensign both to the
Jews and Gentiles, and the Captain of their salvation; and he doth
enlighten every one that cometh into the world; that with his
heavenly, divine light, they might see Christ, the Lord from
heaven, their Captain and Ensign, and trust in Him, their
Conqueror, who bruises the serpent’s head, and destroys the devil
and his works; and Christ and his followers overcome the dragon,
beast, and false prophet. Therefore all Jews, Gentiles, and
Christians, that come to believe in Christ, are to stand to their
Ensign, Christ; who is also the Captain of their salvation, above
all ensigns and captains below; for he is from above; therefore
all are to trust in him; for he is certain and able to save to the
utmost, &c. He is the same Ensign and Captain to-day that he was
yesterday, and so for ever, the First and the Last, the Beginning
and the Ending, the Lord of all lords, and King of all kings upon
the earth; and there is nothing certain to be trusted in below
Christ Jesus, who is from above.

“You see in the Scriptures there were many ways and religions
among the heathen, as there were many sects among the Jews when
Christ came; and now there are many sects or religions among the
Christians, who believe from the Scriptures that ‘he is come,’ as
the Jews believed ‘he was to come.’ But they that close their
eyes, and stop their ears to the Light of Christ, are not likely
to see Christ, who hath enlightened them, to be their Ensign and
the Captain of their salvation, that see not with the heavenly
eye, nor hear with the heavenly ear, to see and hear their
heavenly Ensign and Captain of their salvation, to convert and
heal them; that they might follow him, and be of his holy camp,
his heavenly soldiers, to whom he gives spiritual arms and armour,
the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the
armour of light, and the shield of faith (which will quench all
the fiery darts of Satan, and give victory), and the sword of the
Spirit, the Word of God, which shall cut, hammer down, and burn up
all the strongholds of Satan. Also he clothed his soldiers with
fine linen, white and clean, his righteousness, and shoeth them
with the everlasting gospel of peace, the power of God; which
clothes and shoes will never wax old. And all that are shod with
the everlasting gospel, the power of God, will never wax old, but
will stand all storms and tempests in the world. They that are
shod with the gospel, the power of God, can in it tread upon
serpents, vipers, and scorpions, and all the venomous beasts upon
the earth, and all the thorns, briars, brambles, thistles, and
sharp rocks and mountains, and never be hurt, nor ever wear out
their shoes; but their feet are always beautiful upon the
mountains. Moses, a captain, the servant of the Lord, said unto
the people of Israel, ‘I have led you forty years in the
wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe
is not waxen old upon thy foot,’ Deut. xxix. 5. Here ye may see
the Jews in the Old Testament, their clothes and their shoes did
not wax old; so they who are Christ’s followers, whom he shoeth
with his everlasting gospel of peace, clothes with his fine linen,
his righteousness, and arms with his arms and armour, are clothed,
shod, and armed, with that which will never decay, or wax old,
never canker, or rust, corrupt, or grow blunt.

“Now, all (whether Christians, or Jews, or Gentiles) that hate the
Light of Christ, and close their eyes and stop their ears to it,
are not likely to see Christ, their Ensign, and Captain of their
salvation; but are blind. As no outward captain would enlist a
company of blind and deaf men, and clothe and arm them with
outward armour; so such as are blind and deaf, whose eyes are
closed, and ears stopped to the heavenly Light of Christ, he is
not likely to clothe them with his fine linen, and arm them with
his heavenly and spiritual armour; neither are they like to be
heavenly and spiritually disciplined, to see and know his holy,
spiritual, living camp, nor to follow him, while they are deaf and
blind, and hate his Light, which is the Life in Christ. For it is
the Light that shines in the heart, which gives the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus; who is the Ensign
and Captain of men’s salvation, and who hath brought, and doth
bring many sons unto glory; praises, honour, and glory be unto the
Lord over all, who liveth for ever. Amen.”

G.F.

Gooses, the 14th of the 2nd Month, 1690.

A week after this I returned to LONDON; and after a little stay there went to visit Friends at KINGSTON, where I stayed not long; but came back to LONDON, and remained there in the Lord’s work till after the Yearly Meeting, which was in the fourth month this year; in which the wonted goodness of the Lord was witnessed, his blessed presence enjoyed, and his heavenly power livingly felt, opening the hearts of his people unto him, and his divine treasures of life and wisdom in and unto them; whereby many useful and necessary things, relating to the safety of Friends and to the honour and prosperity of truth, were weightily treated of, and unanimously concluded.

After the meeting I wrote the following paper to Friends, to be added to the epistle which from the Yearly Meeting was sent into the several counties:—

“All Friends everywhere, that are alive to God through Jesus
Christ, and are living members of Christ, the holy Head, be still;
and stand still in the Lord’s camp of holiness and righteousness;
and therein see the salvation of God, and your eternal life, rest,
and peace. In it you may feel and see the Lord’s power is over
all; and how the Lord is at work in his power, ruling the nations
with his rod of iron, and breaking (in the nations) the old leaky
vessels and cisterns to pieces, like the potter’s vessels, that
will not hold his living water; who are erred from his Spirit.

“But blessed be the Lord God of heaven and earth, who, by his
eternal arm and power hath settled all his people upon the living,
holy rock and foundation, that stands sure; whom he hath drawn by
his Spirit to his Son, and gathered into the name of Jesus Christ,
his only begotten Son, full of grace and truth; who hath all power
in heaven and in earth given to him; whose name is above every
name under the whole heaven; and all his living members know there
is no salvation given by any other name than by the name of Jesus.
He, their salvation and their living head, is felt in the midst of
them in his light, life, Spirit, grace, and truth, and his word of
patience, wisdom, and power; who is his people’s prophet, that God
hath raised up in his New Testament and Covenant, to open to them;
and their living Shepherd, that hath purchased, redeemed, and
bought them with his precious blood.

“Christ, the living One, feeds his living sheep in his pastures of
life, and they know their living Shepherd’s voice with his living
bread and water, and follow him; and will not follow any of the
world’s hirelings, nor thieves, nor robbers, nor climbers, that
are without Christ, the door. Christ’s living children likewise
know him, the bishop of their souls, to oversee them with his
heavenly and spiritual eye, that they may be preserved in his fold
of life, and go no more forth. They also know Christ, their holy
priest, that by the grace of God tasted death for them, and for
every man, and is a propitiation for their sins; and not for
theirs only, but for the sins of the whole world: and by the one
offering up of himself he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.

“Such a High-priest becomes Christ’s sheep in his New Covenant and
Testament, who is holy, harmless, and separate from sinners, and
is made higher than the heavens; who is not made a priest after
the order of Aaron, with his tithes, offerings, &c., but makes an
end of all those things, having abolished them; and is made a
High-priest after the power of an endless life, who ever liveth to
make intercession for his people: and is able to save to the
uttermost all that come to God through him. He is the one holy
Mediator between God and man; who sanctifies his people, his
church, that he is head of, and presents them to God without spot,
or wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing; and makes them a holy,
royal priesthood, to offer up spiritual, holy sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, who is King of all kings, and
Lord of all lords in the earth; so a holy, heavenly King, who hath
all power in heaven and in earth given to him; and rules in all
the hearts of his sheep and lambs, by his holy, divine, precious
faith, that is held in all the pure consciences of his people: of
which holy faith Christ, the holy One, is the author and finisher.
By this holy faith all the just live: in which divine and precious
faith all the just and holy ones have unity; by it they quench all
the fiery darts of Satan, have access to the pure God, and in it
please him.

“Christ, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty
in heaven, in his New Testament and New Covenant, is the minister
of the sanctuary and true tabernacle which the Lord hath pitched,
and not man. Therefore all the lambs and sheep of Christ must feel
this holy Minister in their temple and sanctuary, who ministers
spiritual, holy, and heavenly things to them in their sanctuary
and tabernacle. For all the tabernacles and sanctuaries that are
built or pitched by man, men make ministers for them; and such
ministers are of men and by men, with their worldly sanctuaries
and tabernacles of men’s pitching, by men’s hands.

“And now, dear Friends and brethren everywhere that are of the
flock of Christ; Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us all keep this heavenly feast of our passover in
his New Testament and Covenant, not with old leaven, neither of
malice nor wickedness; but let all that be purged out, with the
sour, old leavened bread, that all may become a new lump; and so
keep this heavenly feast of Christ, our heavenly Passover, with
the unleavened bread (mark, with the unleavened bread) of
sincerity and truth. My desires are, that all the flock of Christ
everywhere may keep this heavenly feast of Christ, our heavenly
passover, with his heavenly, unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth. Amen.”

G.F.

I stayed in town three weeks or a month after the Yearly Meeting; and then went to TOTTENHAM-HIGH-CROSS, where was a meeting on First-day, which I was at; and then went to Edward Mann’s house, at FORD-GREEN, near Winchmore-Hill; and on the First-day following to the meeting at ENFIELD, where the Lord gave me many precious openings to declare to the people. Afterwards moving amongst Friends thereabouts, I visited the meetings at CHESHUNT, WALTHAM ABBEY, ENFIELD, TOTTENHAM, and WINCHMORE-HILL, frequently; the Lord being with me, and opening many deep and weighty truths, divine and heavenly mysteries to his people, through me, to their great refreshment, and my joy. After some time I went to HERTFORD, to visit Friends there; and was at their meeting on a First-day. And having something more particular upon me to the ancient Friends of that place, I had a meeting with some of them the next day, and imparted what the Lord had given me for them. Then passing to WARE, I made a little stay amongst Friends there, and was at their meeting. After which, returning, amongst Friends about EDMONTON side and TOTTENHAM, and taking meetings as I went, I came back to LONDON the end of the seventh month.

I remained at London till the beginning of the ninth month, being continually exercised in the work of the Lord, either in public meetings, opening the way of truth to people, and building up and establishing Friends therein, or in other services relating to the church of God. For the parliament now sitting, and having a bill before them concerning oaths, and another concerning clandestine marriages, several Friends attended the house, to get those bills so worded, that they might not be hurtful to Friends. In this service I also assisted, attending on the parliament, and discoursing the matter with several of the members.

Having stayed more than a month in London, and much spent myself in these services, I went to TOTTENHAM; and some time after to FORD-GREEN; at which places I continued several weeks, visiting Friends’ meetings round about there, at TOTTENHAM, ENFIELD, and WINCHMORE-HILL. In this time several things came upon me to write; one was

“_An epistle to Friends in the ministry._”

“All Friends in the ministry everywhere, to whom God hath given a
gift of the ministry, and who travel up and down in it, do not
‘hide your talent, nor put your light under a bushel, nor cumber
or entangle yourselves with the affairs of this world.’ For the
natural soldiers are not to cumber themselves with the world, much
less the soldiers of Christ, who are not of this world; but are to
mind the riches and glory of the world that is everlasting.
Therefore, stir up the gift of God in you, and improve it; do not
sit down, Demas-like, and embrace this present world, that will
have an end; lest ye become idolaters. Be valiant for God’s truth
upon the earth, and spread it abroad in the day-light of Christ,
you who have sought the kingdom of God, and the righteousness
thereof, and have received it, and preached it; which ‘stands in
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’

“As able ministers of the Spirit sow to the Spirit, that of the
Spirit ye may reap life everlasting. Go on in the Spirit,
ploughing with it in the purifying hope; and thrashing, with the
power and Spirit of God, the wheat out of the chaff of corruption,
in the same hope. For he that looks back from the spiritual plough
into the world, is not fit for the spiritual and everlasting
kingdom of God; and is not likely to press into it, as the
faithful do. Therefore you that are awakened to righteousness, and
to the knowledge of the truth, keep yourselves awakened in it;
then the enemy cannot sow his tares in your field; for truth and
righteousness is over him, and before he was. My desires are, that
all may fulfil their ministry, that the Lord Jesus Christ hath
committed to them; and then by the blood (or life) and testimony
of Jesus you will overcome the enemy that opposes it, within and
without.

“All All you that preach the truth, do it as it is in Jesus, in
love: and all that are believers in Jesus, and receivers of him,
he gives them power to become the sons of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; whom he calleth brethren; and he gives them the water
of life, which shall be a well in them, springing up as a river to
eternal life, that they may water the spiritual plants of the
living God. So that all may be spiritual planters, and spiritual
waterers; and may see with the spiritual eye the everlasting,
eternal God over all, to give the increase, who is the infinite
fountain. My desires are, that you may be kept out of all the
beggarly elements of the world, which are below the spiritual
region, to Christ, the Head; and may hold Him, who bruiseth the
head of enmity, and was before it was; that ye may all be united
together in love, in your Head, Christ, and be ordered by his
heavenly, gentle, peaceable wisdom, to the glory of God. For all
that be in Christ, are in love, peace, and unity. In Him they are
strong, and in a full persuasion; and in Him, who is the first and
the last, they are in a heavenly resolution and confidence for
God’s everlasting honour and glory. Amen.

“From him, who is translated into the kingdom of his dear Son,
with all his saints, a heavenly salutation. Salute one another
with a holy kiss of charity, that never faileth.”

G.F.

Ford-Green, the 25th of the 9th Month, 1690.

Another epistle I wrote soon after, more particularly to the Friends in the ministry that were gone into America; after this manner:—

“Dear Friends and Brethren, Ministers, Exhorters, and Admonishers,
that are gone into America and the islands thereaway. Stir up the
gift of God in you, and the pure mind, and improve your talents,
that ye may be the light of the world, a city set upon a hill,
that cannot be hid. Let your light shine among the Indians, the
Blacks, and the Whites, that ye may answer the truth in them, and
bring them to the standard and ensign, that God hath set up,
Christ Jesus. For from the rising of the sun to the going down of
the same, God’s name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in
every temple, or sanctified heart, incense shall be offered up to
God’s name.

“And have salt in yourselves, that ye may be the salt of the
earth, that ye may salt it; that it may be preserved from
corruption and putrefaction; so that all sacrifices offered up to
the Lord may be seasoned, and be a good savour to God. All grow in
the faith and grace of Christ, that ye may not be like dwarfs, for
a dwarf shall not come near to offer upon God’s altar; though he
may eat of God’s bread, that he may grow by it. And Friends, be
not negligent, but keep up your negroes’ meetings and your family
meetings; and have meetings with the Indian kings, and their
councils and subjects everywhere, and with others. Bring them all
to the baptizing and circumcising Spirit, by which they may know
God, and serve and worship Him. And all take heed of having your
minds in earthly things, coveting and striving for them; for to be
carnally minded brings death, and covetousness is idolatry. There
is too much strife and contention about that idol, which makes too
many go out of the sense and fear of God; so that some have lost
morality, humanity, and true Christian charity.

“O therefore, be awakened to righteousness, and keep awakened: for
the enemy soweth his tares, while men and women sleep in
carelessness, and security. Therefore so many slothful ones go in
their filthy rags, and have not the fine linen, the righteousness
of Christ; but are straggling, and ploughing with their ox and
their ass, in their woollen and linen garments, mixed stuff,
feeding upon torn food that dieth of itself, and drinking of the
dregs of their old bottle, and eating the sour, leavened bread,
which makes their hearts burn one against another. But all are to
keep the feast of Christ, our passover, with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth. This unleavened bread of life from heaven,
makes all hearts and souls glad and joyful, lightsome and
cheerful, to serve and love God, and to love, and serve one
another in the peaceable truth, and to keep in the unity of God’s
Spirit, which is the bond of peace. In this love and peace, God
Almighty keep and preserve all his people, and make them valiant
for his truth upon the earth, to spread it abroad in doctrine,
good life and conversation. Amen.

“All the members of Christ have need one of another. For the foot
hath need of the hand, and the hand of the foot; the ear hath need
of the eye, and the eye of the ear. So that all the members are
serviceable in the body, which Christ is the head of; and the head
sees their service. Therefore, let none despise the least member.

“Have a care to keep down that greedy, earthly mind, that raveneth
and coveteth after the riches and things of this world, lest ye
fall into the low region, like the Gentiles or heathen, and so
lose the kingdom of God, that is everlasting; but seek that first,
and God knows what things ye have need of; who takes care for all,
both in heaven and in the earth: thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gifts, both temporal and spiritual.”

G. F.

Tottenham, the 11th of the 10th Month, 1690.

Not long after I returned to LONDON, and was almost daily with Friends at meetings. When I had been near two weeks in town, the sense of the great hardships and sore sufferings that Friends had been and were under in Ireland,[64] coming with great weight upon me, I was moved to write the following epistle, as a word of consolation unto them:—

“Dear Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Lord
by his eternal arm and power hath upheld through your great
sufferings, exercises, trials, and hardships (more, I believe,
than can be uttered), up and down that nation, which I am very
sensible of; and the rest of the faithful Friends, who have been
partakers with you in your sufferings; and who cannot but suffer
with the Lord’s people that suffer. My confidence hath been in the
Lord, that he would and will support you in all your sufferings;
and that he would preserve all the faithful in his wisdom, that
they might give no just occasion to one nor other to make them
suffer; and if you did suffer wrongfully, or unjustly, that the
righteous God would assist and uphold you; and reward them
according to their works, that oppressed or wronged you.

“And now my desire is unto the Lord, that in the same holy and
heavenly wisdom, ye may all be preserved to the end of your days,
to the glory of God, minding His supporting hand and power, who is
God All-sufficient, to strengthen, help, and refresh, in time of
need. Let none forget the Lord’s mercies and kindnesses, which
endure for ever; but always live in the sense of them. And truly,
Friends, when I consider the thing, it is the great mercy of the
Lord, that ye have not been all swallowed up, seeing with what
spirits ye have been compassed about. But the Lord carrieth his
lambs in his arms, and they are as tender to him as the apple of
his eye; and his power is his hedge about his vineyard of heavenly
plants.

“Therefore it is good for all his children, to be given up to the
Lord with their minds and souls, hearts and spirits, who is a
faithful keeper, that never slumbers nor sleeps; but is able to
preserve and keep you, and to save to the utmost; and none can
hurt so much as a hair of your heads, except he suffer it, to try
you; for he upholds all things, in heaven and in earth, by the
Word of his power; all things were made by Christ, and by him all
things consist (mark, consist), whether they be visible or
invisible, &c. So he hath power over all; for all power in heaven
and in earth is given to him; and to you that have received him,
he hath given power to become the sons and daughters of God; so
living members of Christ, the living head, grafted into Him, in
whom ye have eternal life. Christ, the Seed, reigns, and his power
is over all; who bruises the serpent’s head, and destroys the
devil and his works, and was before he was. So all of you live and
walk in Christ Jesus; that nothing may be between you and God, but
Christ, in whom ye have salvation, life, rest, and peace with God.

“As for the affairs of truth in this land and abroad, I hear that
in Holland and Germany and thereaway, Friends are in love, unity,
and peace; and in Jamaica, Barbadoes, Nevis, Antigua, Maryland,
and New England, I hear nothing but Friends are in unity and
peace. The Lord preserve them all, out of the world (in which
there is trouble), in Christ Jesus, in whom there is peace, life,
love, and unity. Amen. My love in the Lord Jesus Christ to all
Friends everywhere in your land, as though I named them.”

G.F.

London, the 10th of the 11th Month, 1690.

----------------------------

Thus, reader, thou hast had some account of the life and travels, labours, sufferings, and manifold trials and exercises of this holy man of God, from his youth to almost the time of his death, of which himself kept a journal; out of which the foregoing sheets were transcribed. It remains that an account be added of the time, place, and manner of his death and burial, which were thus:—

The day after he had written the foregoing epistle to Friends in Ireland, he went to the meeting at Gracechurch Street, which was large, being the First-day of the week; and the Lord enabled him to preach the truth fully and effectually, opening many deep and weighty things with great power and clearness. After which having prayed, and the meeting being ended, he went to Henry Goldney’s, in White-Hart-Court, near the meeting-house; and some Friends going with him there, he told them “he thought he felt the cold strike to his heart, as he came out of the meeting;” “yet,” he added, “I am glad I was here; now I am clear, I am fully clear.” As soon as the Friends withdrew, he lay down upon a bed (as he sometimes used to do, through weariness after meeting,) but soon rose again; and in a little time lay down again, complaining still of cold. And his strength sensibly decaying, he was soon obliged to go into bed; where he lay in much contentment and peace, and very sensible to the last.

And as, in the whole course of his life, his spirit, in the universal love of God, was bent upon the exalting of truth and righteousness, and the making known the way thereof to the nations and people afar off; so now, in the time of his outward weakness, his mind was intent upon, and (as it were) wholly taken up with that; and some particular Friends he sent for, to whom he expressed his mind and desire for the spreading of Friends’ books, and truth thereby in the world. Divers Friends came to visit him in his illness; to some of whom he said, “All is well; the Seed of God reigns over all, and over death itself. And though,” said he, “I am weak in body, yet the power of God is over all, and the Seed reigns over all disorderly spirits.”

Thus lying in a heavenly frame of mind, his spirit wholly exercised towards the Lord, he grew weaker and weaker in his natural strength; and on the third day of the week, between the hours of nine and ten in the evening, he quietly departed this life in peace, and sweetly fell asleep in the Lord, whose blessed truth he had livingly and powerfully preached in the meeting but two days before. Thus ended he his day in his faithful testimony, in perfect love and unity with his brethren, and in peace and good-will to all men, on the 13th of the 11th Month [old style], 1690, being in the 67th year of his age.

After the death of George Fox, an epistle was found written with his own hand, and left sealed up, with this superscription; “Not to be opened before the time”; that is, not till after his decease. When it was opened, it was found to be addressed to Friends, and to all the Children of God, in all places in the world. It was afterwards printed, and is inserted in the Appendix to this Journal.

On the day appointed for the interment of George Fox, a very great concourse of Friends, and others, assembled at the meeting-house in White-Hart-Court, near Gracechurch Street, about the middle of the day, to attend his body to the grave. The meeting held about two hours with great and heavenly solemnity, manifestly attended with the Lord’s blessed presence and glorious power; in which divers living testimonies were given, from a lively remembrance and sense of the blessed ministry of this dear and ancient servant of the Lord, his early entering into the Lord’s work at the breaking forth of this gospel-day, his innocent life, long and great travels, and unwearied labours of love in the everlasting gospel, for the turning and gathering of many thousands from darkness to the light of Christ Jesus, the foundation of true faith; the manifold sufferings, afflictions, and oppositions, which he met withal for his faithful testimony, both from his open adversaries, and from false brethren; and his preservations, deliverances, and dominion in, out of, and over them all, by the power of God; to whom the glory and honour always was by him, and is, and always ought to be by all, ascribed.

After the meeting was ended, his body was borne by Friends, and accompanied by very great numbers, to Friends’ burying-ground, near Bunhill-Fields; where, after a solemn waiting upon the Lord, and several living testimonies borne, recommending the company to the guidance and protection of that Divine Spirit and power, by which this holy man of God had been raised up, furnished, supported, and preserved, to the end of his day, his body was committed to the earth; but his memorial shall remain, and be everlastingly blessed among the righteous.

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Footnote 63:

William Caton, whose service was much in Holland, died at
Amsterdam in 1665. He was one of the earliest associates of George
Fox, being convinced by him in 1652, and is often mentioned in the
earlier part of this Journal. He was not only a literary man, but
zealous for religion; and being of a courteous and affable
disposition, was in general esteem. When about fourteen years of
age he went to reside in Judge Fell’s family at Swarthmore Hall,
as a companion for his son, sharing with him, both in instruction
and recreation. He was very early inclined to religion, and, as he
grew in years, he advanced in godliness.

After joining Friends, he travelled considerably as a gospel
minister, and underwent many sufferings for Christ’s sake. At
Maidstone, in 1654, he and another Friend were stripped, their
necks and arms put in the stocks, and, in that condition, they
were desperately whipped. At Yarmouth he was, with seven other
Friends, taken from a religious meeting on the first day of the
week, and confined six months in prison.

A valuable collection of letters of early Friends was met with at
Swarthmore some years ago, written nearly throughout by William
Caton, and appears to have been intended by him for publication.
It has a title page, dated Swarthmore, 23rd of 6th Month, 1659;
and a preface signed by himself, dated 7th of 2nd Month, 1660. The
life of Caton, George Fox mentions as having been printed, was
re-published in 1839, by John Barclay, forming one of the _Select
Series_, to which the reader is referred for further particulars.

Footnote 64:

The sufferings of Friends in Ireland at this time were very great.
The havoc and spoil they underwent were enormous, as related by
the historians Sewell and Rutty, and more minutely by Besse, in
his _Collection of Sufferings_, to which allusion has been made
before, and to which the reader is now finally referred. The loss
sustained by Friends from persecution in a single year (1689) was
estimated at £100,000, many being deprived of all their substance.
Great numbers were immured for years in prison, and many died
there for Christ’s sake. Others when there was a prospect of their
being released, because they could not satisfy the unjust demand
of fees, as having done no wrong (thus bravely, though passively,
asserting their Christian liberty,) were either detained or
stripped of their clothes, and turned out.

Surrounded as they were with perils on every hand, they placed
their confidence in Divine protection; and in the worst times of
trial, when not in prison, they kept up their meetings for
worship, as well as discipline; collected at the latter the
accounts of the sufferings of their members, and took what care
they could for their relief.