the Foundation of the World and while the World has a Foundation in man's Heart who was dead but is now alive whose Name is called the Word of God Praises Praises endless pure living eternal Praises be given ascribed rendred and returned by all the faithful Followers of the Lamb as this faithful Servant of the Lord hath done Alice Curwen Praises Praises endless Praises be given to the Lord God and the Lamb forever and for evermore saith my Soul and the Souls of the Righteous who are travelling on in the New and Living Way which is the Way of Life and Salvation Glory Honour and Everlasting Praises forever and for evermore And this little Testimony I do not write in any way but that it might be upon Record for Ages and Generations to come and that every Testimony that is from the Right Seed may be kept and that not one Grain be lost that the Blessing of the Lord may be with us and with our Posterity forever which was the Desire of my dear Wife Thomas Curwen Alice Cobb 's Testimony concerning her Mother Alice Curwen OH my dearly beloved Mother though she be gone from us and her Body in the Bowels of the Earth doth lie yet to me her Memorial will never dye and to thousands more of the faithful ones for indeed her Labour hath been great both in this Nation and other Nations and Islands to gather many from Darkness to the Light in which she did walk and in her Day did bear a noble Testimony for the Lord God and his Truth She was freely given up to spend be spent in and for the Service of the Truth for she thought nothing too dear nor too near to part with or from but was freely given up to follow the Lord what way soever he did call her to go and she did preach the Truth very powerfully and in God's Authority did she go on not mattering what man could do unto her for indeed the Lord was with her in every Exercise Tryal for her Labour was great but she did know the Lord to support her and to lift up her Head above the many waters for indeed before Rulers and Governours though they were never so great she was bold and valient for the Lord his Truth And as for us her tender Children our Loss is great for she was a tender Mother to us indeed and she did in her wise Walking and her harmless Conversation preach to us daily for truly her Life was all along as it was now upon her Sick-Bed breathing to the Lord God for her Off-spring That they might live to his Praise and she prayed to the Lord very powerfully and in as much strength as in her Health That if the Lord see it good to remove her that he would lay no more upon her than he would give her Patience to bear that so whether she lived or dyed it might be to the Honour and Glory of the Lord God and the Lord did give her Patience for there came not an unpatient word out of her Mouth in all the time of her Sickness but was exceedingly filled with the good Power and Presence of the Lord our God for she lay making sweet Melody to the Lord when she could not speak a little before her Speech was taken away from her I asked my dear Mother How art thou now and how dost thou feel thy self I fear thou art worse than thou wast and her Answer was My dear Child be not troubled for me I am very Easie and have little Pain upon me but Weakness And so all along the Power and Presence of the Lord did keep her and preserve her to the great Refreshment and Consolation of those that were with her And so the Memorial of my endeared Mother can never be forgotten by me Alice Cobb A Testimony concerning Alice Curwen THE Enemies of Truth among other Devices of the Devil beset the Son of God with hard Questions thereby to ensnare him one which is brought to my Bemembrance was to oppose the Resurrection of the Dead and the Son of God to reprove it sayes God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and of Jacob and not the God of the Dead but of the Living This Answer left that Ranting Generation of the Saduces as blind as 〈◊〉 â—ound them but the Living thereby then learned and are now strengthned in assurance of Faith that He Christ the Resurrection and the Life is risen and alive and lives for evermore and who of this Life hath part the Second Death hath no power over So I speak not the Praise of the Dead but of the Living which in Spirit the Righteous have fellowship with when the outward Vessel is going or gone to Dust as this Servant of the Lord is known to me more by her Life and Testimony than by any outward Acquaintance being with her on her Dying-Bed though I heard not so much as some about her did I could not but take notice of her Resignedness to God's Will though she shewed to me her Unwillingness to take any Medicine not chusing any thing but the Will of God to which she freely gave up though she seemed not very Aged and but a few dayes before appeared a healthy strong Woman and was so and as her Desire and Endeavour was freely to declare what she received of the Spirit of Life and in this she lives and in this stands the Fellowship and Communion of the Saints whether in these earthly Bodies or out of them and in this stands my Unity with her And a near Relation of this deceased Alice Curwen shewing me a Paper writ by one with her in her Sickness and asked me If I could add any thing to it for he intended to print it and in my mind I had not much for printing it there being not much Prophecy in it and so put it off not purposing to do any thing to it But upon my Bed that Night or towards Morning when in stillness was set before me the Blessing of Abraham God's Friend and his Portion was to Dye in Peace and this thou art a Witness this good Woman did and dost thou think it small to be testified to when thou seest so many Restless Impatient Ones tossed and crying for Help to Physicians of no value and can find no Rest Then said I Let me Dye as she has done for I feel it a blessed End to Dye in Peace for Prophecy has and must cease and Torgaes fail but the Peace that is given us of Christ Jesus is Everlasting So in the Spirit is witnessed the Bond of Peace to bind up together in the Bundle of Life which Hell nor Death can never break and here is the Heaven where no Unrighteous enter but the Sanctified rejoyce together therein for evermore R. T. A RELATION OF THE Labour Travail and Suffering OF Alice Curwen THE 10th day of the 11th moneth 1677 when I was retired in my Mind waiting upon
therest of the Lord's People we might fill up the Sufferings that remain behind that so the Righteous Blood shed by this Generation may come upon them which they shall not escape So we travailed through the Woods and Places where the devouring Indians had made great Desolation in many Places but the Lord preserved us and we came to Boston and on the First Day of the Week we had a Meeting with Friends there and their Law not being yet published we had our Liberty and our Meeting peaceable and afterward travailed Eastward near One Hundred Miles and visited Friends and sought them out where they were scattered because of the great Distress of the Indians War so that they had not had a Meeting to wait upon the Lord for several moneths before so we travailed Eastward as far as Great-Island and Piscattoway River and Dover and several other places and came to a Friend's House beyond the River where there were about two hundred people some Friends and others who were come thither for Safety and had fortified the House very strongly about for fear of these Bloody Indians which had killed two of our Friends within three miles of that place there we had several good Meetings and the Presence of the Lord was with us and it was a time of great Distress both Friends and others received our Testimony gladly for it was a needful time and the Power of the Lord was with us and was our Support for which we cannot but bless his Name whilst we have a Being Then we travailed again towards Boston and visiting Friends all along and so came to Boston again where being in our Meeting their Law being now published the Constable with others came forcibly and drave us out of our Meeting all along the Street until they came to the Prison or House of Correction whereinto they thrust us but the Lord was with us and our Service there was great for many people both rich and poor came to look upon us and some were convinced it being a time of great Tribulation their Hearts failed for fear and God's Witness was reached Praises to God forever And the third day of our Imprisonment they brought us down to the Whipping-Post but the Presence of the Lord was manifested there which gave us Dominion over all their Cruelty and we could not but Magnifie the Name of the Lord and declare of his Wonderful Work at that time at which the Heathen were astonished and shook their Heads And the next day we were set at liberty and went to our Meeting again from which place they did fetch us to Prison before and we had a good Meeting peaceably and took leave of Friends and so we parted and we came to Sittuate and Dukesberry and to Sandwich and did visit Friends all along in several places until we came to Road-Island and after a little time spent with Friends there it was with us to go into the West part of New-England to Shelter-Island and Long-Istand Oyster-Bay Westchester and Eastchester and to Gravesend and a Place there called Jamaco and Matunicock and New-York and some part of New-Jarsey so far as Friends did inhabit to our Knowledge when we were there in this time of our Passage thither we were several times put on Shore the Wind not being for us where we had good Service for the Lord and for his Truth where there were no Friends upon the main Land at a place called New-London and Seabrook and Milford then we did return unto the Yearly Meeting in Road-Island and then Bermudus and Barbadoes were before us and we would gladly have got a Passage to Bermudus but could not but a Passage to Barbadoes was near ready at that time at the hearing of which I was afraid and great Fear fell upon me considering my own Weakness and the Highness of all sorts of people there and fearing lest they should even trample upon my little Testimony and lest I should suffer Loss and I like Jonah in his day would have fled but there was no Hiding-place but in the Arm of the Lord which was to me and is to all that believe and obey a strong Tower Everlasting Blessing Glory and Honour be ascribed unto his great Name to whom doth belong the Glory for all his Mercies and that for evermore And such as may read this Epistle may believe that it was the Lord that put it into my Heart to write it for the Encouragement of them that hereafter maytrust in the Lord. So my Husband having much upon him to Barbadoes Friends accompanied us on Shipboard where we had a blessed good Meeting before we parted and in Five Weeks and Two Dayes we came to Barbadoes And the next day after we came ashore was their Quarterly-Meeting where our Testimony was gladly received and we travailed in that Island about Seven Moneths where we had good Service both amongst Whites and Blacks and the Lord added unto our Talent another Talent more Everlasting Praises saith our Souls in secret unto his most holy Name who hath given us good Success and is adding unto his Church such as shall be saved in every Nation for many did gather unto our Meetings and we visited some of their Priests and invited them to our Meetings some by Word and some by Writing And when we were clear in our Spirits of this Island we would gladly have gone to Bermudus but could not get a Passage and then we found Freedom to write to Friends in that Island and so to return home and after we had taken leave of Friends in the Freedom of our Spirits we took Shipping and came for London where we arrived the same day Seven Weeks after we came from Barbadoes which was the beginning of the third moneth 1677. And after we had seen Friends at London it was secretly in our Hearts that we must visit all the Meetings upon the Sea Coast Westward unto the Lands-End and now since we had performed that Service it was upon us to visit some Meetings Eastward and the good Presence of the Lord hath been with us for which Cause we have good Cause to bless his holy Name whilst we have a day to live Now in regard we could not meet with a Passago to Bermudus neither from Road-Island nor from Barbadoes it was in our Hearts to write this Epistle to Friends there as followeth Dear Friends WE having this Oportunity it was in our Hearts to signifie our Loves in writing a few words unto you by these our dear Friends Katherine Norton and Eliz. Cater and we would have gladly visited you if we could have gotten a Passage thither for you have been often in our Remembrance but in the Will of the Lord we stand and in that Power that is unlimitted where neither Earth nor Seas can seperate us from the Lord nor one from another but that is known which breathes for the Seed and wrestles with the Lord as Jacob did So dear Friends to whom the
Salutation of our Unfeigned Love reacheth dwell at Home keep in your Tents for they that dwell at Home they divide the Spoil their Enemies shall become subject unto them Truly dear Friends we should have been glad to have seen your Faces but in the Will of our Heavenly Father we stand and we do believe we should have been comforted together in the mean time let us all be diligent to stir up one the other and to provoke one the other to Love and Good Works So see that in Gods Vineyard ye may be all found for they that labour there they do receive their promise which is an earnest of that Inheritance that God hath prepared for all that love him So dear Friends there are but twelve Hours in the Day in which we may all work in the Night none can work therefore said Christ Jesus who is the true Light While ye have the Light walk in the Light that ye may be the Children of the Light lest Darkness come upon you So dear Friends in the unfeigned Love of our God that can never be seperated as we abide faithful do we write unto you in that Love which first begot us unto God and is as precious unto us as ever it was yea the desire of our Hearts is that in this feeling Life ye may all dwell which is nearer then what can be declared either by Word or Writing for blessed be the Lord God for evermore this great and marvellous Light shines through Darkness and shines in Peoples Hearts and the Lord is working secretly though they do little know it And therefore Friends in the Holy Invisible Power of the Immortal Living God all dwell Low and Humble in that quiet and meek Spirit that thinks no evil but in Lowliness of Mind esteeming each other in the Lord and truly denying self so will you dwell upon the Rock Christ Jesus who is become our hiding-place in this our Age and Generation as he was in Ages past unto whom we flee in time of Trouble and we are saved Everlasting Holy Praises be unto his blessed Name for evermore So in this weighty Power Christ Jesus dwell Low that you may spread at the Root as Lebanon and bring forth Fruit upward to the Praise and Glory of God unto whom be Everlasting Holy ' Praises forever and for evermore So dearly beloved Friends Brethren and Sisters in the true Fellowship of the Gospel which is the Power of God unto Salvation though this be the Day of Jacob's Troubles and the Afflictions of Joseph yet the Worm Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall dwell safely and the true Israelite in whose Heart is found no Guile the Seed Christ Jesus the Power of God which doth and shall reign over all the Dark Powers of the Earth who hath a Habitation in the Earth which the Wo from the Lord is to So in the Life and Power of God and in this blessed Seed which never sinned nor consented to Sin all dwell that the Blessing of God every one may receive be kept in true Peace with the Lord when Time shall be no more for the Blessing of God is to the Seed not unto Seeds many but unto the one seed Christ that all may witness the Promise of God fulfilled That the Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head in every particular where the Blessing is received and where the Promise is Yea Amen forever for Caleb Joshua did enter into the Promised Land who were of a right Spirit So dear Friends keep your Dominion and be true to your Testimony that he may reign whose right it is for the Devil the Serpent hath no right to reign in the Hearts of People but Christ Jesus is come to destroy the Works of the Devil and to reign in Righteousness and to set up his Government and would have all People to come under his Government for the Increase of his Government hath no End that he may reign whose right it is And here we can say in the Truth of our Hearts That the Son of God is come and hath given us a good Understanding to understand and know the things of God for the Light is broken forth which comprehends all the Works of Darkness and shines in the Hearts of the Righteous and the Righteous do rejoyce in the Light which gives the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ And so walk in the Light and be encouraged and you shall have the Light of Life and stand fast in your Liberty and Freedom wherein Christ Jesus hath made you Free and that none may be entangled with the Yoke of Bondage which may cause the Just to suffer For though Trouble and Sorrow may endure for a Night yet Joy comes in the Morning and ye shall come to sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb. So dearly Beloved Friends be encouraged to keep to the Word of Patience and the Lord God will keep you in the Day of Tryal and in the Hour of Temptation For the Rod of the Wicked will not alwayes lie on the Back of the Righteous for the Wicked and they that forget God who Repent not shall be turned into Hell Everlasting Holy Praises be unto the Lord our God forever and for evermore From us your Friends though unknown to you outwardly yet well-known in the Mystery of the Fellow ship the Power of God in which we dearly Salute you all and bid you all Farewel Barbadoes the 9th of the 12th Moneth 1676. Barbadoes the 4th of the 8th Moneth 1676. For the Friends of Road-Island DEar Friends in the openness of Gods blessed Life in which our Unity stands not only when we are together but when we are separated in this is the Salutation of our dear Love unto you for the Lord our God hath shed his Love abroad in our Hearts in which love we can truly say the Lord laid it upon us to visit his Seed amongst you though we be the least of many of the Lords People and our Testimony is but little yet we are sure it is true for the Lord. So in the feeling of God's blessed Life which cannot be limited but limits all under it and brings into true Subjection to do the Will of God This blessed Life and Love of God oh our dear Friends which reaches over Sea and Land this Love constrains us as it did to visit you so to write unto you Therefore Friends dwell together in Unity and in this precious Love that thinks no Evil nor is not easily provoked but endureth all things this Love seeketh not its own but every one anothers good Friends we desire you That you would bear with us a little for we do not write these things unto you because ye know not the Truth but because you know it and therefore a necessity is upon us to write unto you That no Prejudices nor Evil Surmisings nor Whisperings nor Back-bitings be or remain among you for
upon the Lord and if ye be called before Magistrates the Lord will put a word into your Mouthes that they shall not be able to gainsay And if it be so that ye suffer joyfully the Spoiling of your Goods ye shall come to witness That the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness of it and they that Fear the Lord shall want no no good thing neither for Soul nor Body And if it be so that the Devil cast into Prison fear it not but in Patience possess your Souls for the Lord will bring thorow for we speak what we know for the Lord has delivered us out of Prison inwardly and outwardly and his Presence has been with us in all our Troubles and he has made us to sing in Prison and in the Stocks Praises be to the Lord God and to the Lamb forever sayour Souls But Friends we do not write this to make our Sufferings known but to encourage all to abide patiently that ye may come through as Gold purified for the Wicked are but like Waters and their Persecution is but like a Wave of the Sea and though they rise never so high yet it is our Faith in God That he that hath put a Limit to the bound of the Sea and hath said unto it Thus far shalt thou pass and no further and there shalt thou stay thy proud Waves Oh Friends bless the Lord with us for it is a Day of fulfilling Therefore O let Truth spread in every Particular let it take Root downward and grow upward and bring forth Fruit to the Praise and Glory of our heavenly Father And this we have to say That every Plant that he hath not planted shall be pluck't up and every Plant that his right hand hath planted he watereth it that it may bring forth more Fruit and in this is our heavenly Father Glorified and Well-pleased that we bear much Fruit Everlasting Praises be unto the Lord our God forever and evermore So with our Unfeigned Love we take leave of you and remain Your Friends in that which never alters nor never changes but remains forever do we Salute you all and bid you all Farewel Thomas Alice Curwen For the Mayor of Plymouth in Devonshire Friend Richard Tomes VVE do read in the Scriptures of Truth that in the Apostles dayes there was a noble Festus amongst the Magistrates Therefore do I write unto thee that thou be not stired up against a peaceable People that meets together singlely to worship God in Spirit in Truth for God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit in Truth and until People turn to the Spirit of Truth which is the Light within with which he hath lighted every one that comes into the World and he that hates this Light has it and though they may kick against it yet it stands a faithful Witness for God and whatever People may profess they never worship the living God acceptably for we know at this day that God hears not Sinners no more then he did in the dayes of Old and that the Prayers of the Wicked are abomination to him as well in this day as in times past but he that fears God and doth his Will them he hears and the Will of God is done in hearing and obeying the Light and by this did they witness in dayes past their Hearts to be Sanctified and this is it that we meet together for and we are but yet learning the Lord's Prayer and as we are willing to wait that the Will of God may be done in Earth as well as in Heaven the Lord has blest us and we shall spread over the face of the Earth and though Balaam and Balack would rise up to Curse Israel at this day yet this Testimony is in my Heart for God That he hath blest us and no man can Curse that which God hath blest And as we keep the Word of his Patience the Lord God will keep us in the Day of Tryal which shall certainly come upon all that dwell on the Earth and know not a Habitation in the God of Jacob for the Day is come which many would have seen wherein the Lord is bringing mighty Things to pass who reveals his Secrets to them that truly fear him the same which was in the Apostles dayes wherein the Everlasting Gospel was preached which is the Power of God unto Salvation and if any preach any other Gospel let them be accursed And this Gospel is a wonder to you and is hid from you and therefore ye perish in your Sins which separate you from the Living God and doth hinder good things from you who live in the pleasure of the Flesh and drink up Iniquity as the Ox drinks Water but now in the Latter Dayes the Lord is pouring forth his Spirit upon all Flesh his Sons and upon his Daughters and they do Preach and Prophecy in his Name and in his Name do wonderful things and it is a great Wonder to all the World who lies in Wickedness and therefore the People perish for want of Knowledge for the Lord would have gathered you in this Day as he would have gathered Jerusalem in the dayes of old but they would not be gathered and therefore they were left Desolate and the same is coming upon you if you do not speedily Repent for Jerusalem was destroyed who would not be gathered and then Lamentation Wo and Misery did fall upon them and remains upon them till this Day but the Lord hath gathered a Remnant into Covenant with himself wherein Jacob doth rejoyce and Israel doth dwell safely And therefore the Sons of Jacob are not consumed though many be Jacob's Troubles and the Afflictions of Joseph which is now as was in the Dayes of old and they that suffer for him they shall reign with him forever and for evermore and fit at his right Hand in his Throne of Grace and in his Kingdom of Glory forever and for evermore where we shall Sing and Rejoyce with the Lord God and the Lamb forever the Lamb that was slain in us in Sodom and Aegypt while the World had a Foundation in us who was dead but is now alive whose Name is called the Word of God which was in the Beginning as the Scripture doth declare 1 John 1. This was for the Priest of Ives Joshua Herning the 19th of the 10th Moneth 1677. I could not be clear in the sight of the Lord untill I had written a few Lines unto thee seeing thee come into our Meeting with the Constable and his great Staff and I heard thee say That thou wast an Informer I tell thee plainly it were better for thee to be a Hang-man for they do but execute others that by their Law are condemned to dye but many Informers have brought shameful Death upon themselves and Ruin upon their Families as it is on Record Indeed we confess we are a Suffering People at this day as they were that went before us who took
joyfully the spoiling of their Goods who were scoffed and mocked at and said That Bonds and Imprisonments were their portion and it was for their Testimony which they held as thou mayst read at large in the Scriptures of Truth who hast nothing now against us but concerning the Law of our God and there ye go about tocatch us as they of Old did Daniel but oh Priest read what became of these Informers and of those that informed against the three Children thou blind Guide which Christ cryed We against and said They were whited Walls and painted Sepulchres and wore long Robes and loved to be called of men Masters and that they loved the upper most Romes at Feasts and greetings in the Markets and further he said that By your Fruits your are known and so it is this day Wo unto you said he for ye lay heavy Burthens upon the People and ye shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men ye neither enter in your selves nor suffer others Therefore saith Christ Jesus Wo unto you And if thou ask how I know these things I tell thee plainly it is by the invisible Light which shines in my Heart which manifests all things as it is written in the Scriptures of Truth and this Light was in the beginning will be when all visible things shall have an end to which thou shalt be turned to give account of all thy Deeds done in thy Body all thy Life time and of all thy hard Speeches against the Servants of the living God therefore turn to it and let it search thy Heart and believe in it for this is my living Testimony for God that it will deceive no man but it will bring the hidden things of Esau to Light and believing in it and obeying it it will lead out of Sin Therefore Repent pray unto the Lord that he take thee not away in the midst of thy Sins lest thou go down into the Pit out of which there is no Redemption And as for our Names and Place of abode it is in Lancashire in a little Village called Beaklife in the Parish of Alldingham where we were haled to Prison by such a proud Priest as thee because we could not bow in this our day no more than they could do in dayes past but the Lord shortned that Priests dayes and we do witness Christs words fulfilled in this our day where he said That it should come to pass that the Devil should cast some into Prison But blessed be the Lord who has delivered us and we are at this day and time free of all the Goals in the World therefore do we warn thee that thou come not upon thy Neighbours in pretence of a Fine for us for we have to satisfie of our own and according to the Act ye are to fetch it where we live whose Names are here set down Thomas and Alice Curwen And that further We do declare what the Lord hath done for us in the inncency of our Hearts we Bless and Praise the Lord Oh my Soul bless thou the Lord that has witnessed that Scripture of Truth this day fulfilled in my Ears where Christ Jesus said That men should speak all manner of Evil against us for his Names sake and that falsly Rejoyce said he and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven Oh Praises Praises saith my Soul with many Thousands more that God hath redeemed from Death to Life And to his blessed Name be Everlasting holy Praises and that for evermore saith a Friend in the Truth of God though the least of many Who am known unto men by the Name of Alice Curwen Huntingdonshire For the Priest at Godmanchester the 21st of the 11th Moneth 1677. Friend YEsternight I spoke to thee as thou passedst by thou wentst away laughing like the rest of thy Brethren making merry over God's Witness in thee which is the Grace of God which appears at this day as it did in the Apostles dayes and unto all them that believe in it and obey it it works the same effect everlasting Praises be sounded out unto the Lord our God at this day for his blessed Appearance saith my Soul who is come the second time without Sin to save them that believe Everlasting Holy Praises be sounded out aloud saith my Soul in secret unto the Lord for all his Mercies and that for evermore And truly Priest for I do not know thee by any other Name my Spirit is grieved when I do see any of you or where-ever I do meet with you that you should take upon you the charge of Peoples Souls and to teach them the Way of the Lord and in all my Travels I find no men so light and airy as you Priests are who wear your long Robes and by Christ's words as you may read in the Scriptures and by the Spirit of Truth which God hath manifested in my particular do I see you to be them which Christ cryed Wo against therefore is the Word of the Lord as a Sword in my Mouth against the Mystery of Babylon and the Merchants of her also for the Lambs War is begun and as it is written in the Scripture of Truth The Beast and the false Prophet makes War against the Lamb and his followers but God shall take the Beast and the false Prophet alive and cast them into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone forever and evermore and the Lamb and the Saints shall get the Victory And so my Soul blesses the Lord that I have lived to see this day wherein the Scriptures are fulfilled for it is the Lords day therefore I desire thee in love to thy immortal Soul to prise the day of thy Visitation for I could not be clear till I had eased my Spirit who am a Friend to thy Soul and truly loves all Men and Women also with that Love that God hath loved me withal Who am known by my Name Alice Curwen Huntingdonshire My Dear Friends Thomas Alice Curwen I With many more are glad to hear of the Arrival of John Grove his Ship and we hope you are all safe you are often in my Mind but more your Innocent Lives and Conversation amongst us which shewed clear also your great Labour of Love amongst us which will not be forgotten in the Hearts of the Faithful and I hope will not go without its Reward The Lord God of our Life preserve us in these Times of Troubles which are at this time amongst us of which I do believe you will have a full Account I am straitned for Time at present so cannot enlarge only my dear Love with my Childrens is to you both desiring that we may be all kept in his blessed Fear to our Lives end So my dear Friends Farewel Barbadoes the 7th of the 5th Mon. 1677. Your Loving Friend Elizabeth Griffin Dearly Beloved Thomas Alice Curwen YOur good wills towards me and my Wife when you were with us we cannot forget And truly
Friends would you know where I am and how far I am grown in the Truth of our God I cannot well resolve my self by reason of the gross Darkness and the Straitness of the Way I seek Rest but I cannot find it I seek my Beloved but cannot find him I am often amongst those with whom God is not well-pleased although not yet overthrown amongst those that lust after Evil Things those that tempted Christ and those that Murmured though not yet through the Riches of the Patience and Goodness of God not destroyed of the Destroyer Sometimes I think I feel the Well springing up the Day of the Lord 's burning to burn like an Oven and the Leaven working and the Seed of the Kingdom no more the least of all Seeds the Grave opening and the Dead arising at the Voice of the Son of God And at other times as one that Dreamed and meer Stranger in Israel I am Hungry I am Thursty I am hardly filled yet I must needs acknowledge that sometimes I do meet with Manna and blessed be the Shepherd of Israel I sometimes drink and am resreshed at the Brook by the Way I still wait for the blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I see that Patience must have its Perfect Work that my Beloved must not be awakened until he please and that Times and Seasons are in the Father's Hand and am a Witness for him That he is Faithful who hath promised by what of his Promises I have already found to be Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus He doth not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax on whom I do wait to bring forth Judgment into Victory to kindle his Refiners Fire to consume the Dross and take away the Tinn and to answer to save so as by Fire that I may become a Vessel meet for the Masters Use Oh Travel for me Help me forward with your Breathings and that I fall not in the Wilderness From me Henry Byrch who was a Baptist-Teacher but now through the Mercy of the Lord am come to be taught of the Lord and in measure established in the blessed Truth of our God to the Praise Glory and Honour of the Lord our God who is God over all Heaven and Earth blessed forever and for evermore Amen saith my Soul and the Souls of the Righteous whom God hath redeemed from Death to Life to him alone be Glory forever and evermore Barbadoes the 9th of the 7th Moneth 1677. Dear Friends Thomas Alice Curwen YOur Letter I received and I was very glad to hear of your Well-fare and of your arrival safely in England and truly Friends I know you cannot easily be forgotten by me nor many good Friends in this Island for your faithful Service Pains and Travel whilst among us in the Service and Work of the Lord and the Desire of my Soul is That we may be all kept in a living Sense of his Holy Fear dwelling in our Hearts at all times for the Fear of the Lord is only that that keeps the Heart clean and preserves us in the greatest Tryals and Exercises that we meet withal that so continuing faithful to the end of our dayes we may receive our Reward from our Heavenly Father even the Salvation of our Immortal Souls So dear Friends I need not use many words unto you I could not well omit sending these two or three Lines though at present something sâ—â—itned in point of time Friends are generally in pretty good Condition though of late we were like to have had a further Breach here amongst us by reason of altering Men and Womens Meetings at the Bridge-Town but blessed be the Lord the Meetings at present are pretty well ordered and composed so that I am in good hopes that all Difference and Strife will cease and Truth will out-live all here are good Friends which I hope will keep down these Unruly Passions Heats that were usual and too often accustomed by some to rise amongst us My Wife desires dearly to be remembred to you So with my True and Unfeigned Love to you both I rest and remain Your Friend and Brother in my Measure of the blessed Truth John Todd Barbadoes the 4th of the 11th Moneth 1677. Loving Friends dear Thomas Alice WE do dearly salute you in the blessed Truth of our God and in the sence of the same do our Souls truly rejoyce and our Hearts are made truly Glad in that we feel one another in that blessed Life which keeps our Souls alive to God together and assunder And truly our dear Friends you have been often in our remembrance and in the sensible feeling of that blessed Life hath our Souls been truly refreshed in you though many Miles assunder yet can we truly say That oft-times our Hearts and Souls have been truly refreshed in you and the Sence of that Living Testimony you left behind you that oft-times lives in our Hearts Oh! blessed be the Lord our God for evermore that hath brought us to see this blessed Day in that we can feel one another in this blessed Life which keeps our Souls alive to God and tender one to another And so our dear Friends words are too short to tell of the goodness of God to our Souls as our Minds have been truly staid on him Oh! how hath his Love flown forth in our Hearts to the great Refreshment and Satisfaction of our Immortal Souls together and assunder We have known the Renewings of the Blessings and Mercies of the Lord unto our Souls Oh praised be the Name of our God forever and for evermore that he hath brought a Remnant to see this blessed Day of the flowings forth of his Love in our Hearts which makes us truly to rejoyce more than the Encrease of any Visible Thing And so our dear Friends how have we known the bedewings of the Lord as our Minds Hearts have been kept low before him and in the sence of the same we have been kept fresh and green and alive to God Oh! holy Praises be to the Name of the Lord our God forever for evermore And so our dear Friends having not much more in our Hearts to you at this time our dear Love is to you with the rest of Friends We remain Your dear Friends Brother and Sister in that blessed Truth of our God Stephen Richards Anne Barber Falmouth the 1st of the 3d Mon. 1678. Dear Friends Thomas Alice Curwen MY True Love dearly salutes you both and all True-hearted Friends that may enquire after me Since your coming away good Friends have been much wanting and things have been pretty high against me but I hope in the general it will not prevail and the Lord hath made me willing to bear but the Lord's hand of Power will preserve the Simple and Upright in Heart Amen saith your Friend in Brotherly Love Barbadoes the 2d of the 6th Mon. 1677. Ralph Freatwell Dear
all know me saith the Lord from the greatest to the least for I will write my Law in their Hearts and put my Fear in their inward Parts saith the Lord God Almighty Therefore Oh Priest I tell thee plainly 't was to a Feast that thou wast invited and the Lord is sending out into the High-wayes and Hedges to call in all and even to compell them that will not come that so his House may be filled that so all may be lest without excuse as he was that had not on his Wedding Garment who was Speechless for the Day is come that that whcih is seen in secret must be declared openly And therefore in the invisible Light we are moved to write unto thee seeing thee in the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ which lighteth every man that cometh into the World which hath long shined in Darkness but now the commanding Power of the Lord is gone forth and he hath commanded Light to shine out of Darkness and it shines in Peoples Hearts and will shine more and more untill the Perfect Day for which a Remnant can bless the Lord and sing Praises to his Name and unto the Lamb for evermore who was slain from the Foundation of the World but is now alive and lives forever and evermore and rules in the Hearts of the Upright And therefore in the invisible Light as I was waiting upon the Lord my Heart was truly opened to write unto thee seeing thee to be one of them that shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men that will neither enter in themselves nor suffer others Therefore saith Christ Jesus Wo unto you ye Whited Walls ye Painted Sepulchres ye Blind Guides and indeed you are so and lead the Blind and a Pit of Darkness is before you Therefore is our Advice unto thee and to all whom it may concern That ye turn to this invisible Light and as you wait in it and abide with it it will preserve your Hearts and Minds to God and ye shall not fall into the Pit And if thou enquire of us What is our Way We tell thee plainly Christ Jesus the Light of the World who said I am the Way the Truth and the Life he that believeth in me out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water And He even Christ Iesus the Power of God is the Original and not Hebrew Greek and Latin which the Jews set over his Head when they Crucified him as it is in these dayes and as is said before he is our Way and he is the Hope of our Glory and we are not ashamed to confess him before men for if we should not confess him before men but be ashamed of him as too too many are then he will not confess us before his Father in Heaven Therefore Oh Priest we warn thee that thou cease giving thy Meanings to the Scriptures Thou mayst read thy Doom in the Revelations He that Adds or Diminishes God will add unto him the Plagues written in that Book THOMAS ALICE CURWEN An Epistle written to Friends at Thickets and Clifts Meetings at Barbadoes the 20th of the 1st Moneth 1676. TO you Friends of the Thickets and Clifts Meetings and to all whom it may concern in the Love of God that truly opens our Hearts do we write unto you to stir up the pure Mind and to raise up that Love that brought us unto you even the Love of God that first begat us by the Word of his Power that we should be as the first Fruits unto God and this makes us to Cry many a time in the secret of our Hearts both in Meetings and out of Meetings Oh! how great is thy Loving kindness O Lord Oh that the World knew it And in the feeling of it we can truly say as one did Oh! that all the Lord's People were Prophets that they might speak one by one that all might be comforted and that the Lord would enlarge Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Shem then there would be no complaining for want of Power but the Lord would open even the Windows of Heaven and pour out Blessings upon you that ye shall not have room to hold it in but the Overflowings of it you would feel in your own particulars and when you were thus filled you would bless the Lord you would cry unto others to come away taste feel how good the Lord is for his Mercies endure forever to them that fear him and wait upon him And therefore Friends we beseech you think it not hard to keep your Meetings apart for the Blessing of the Lord is as truly witnessed in Meetings apart both in Men and Womens Meetings and though Women be the Weaker yet he hath laid Help upon one that is Mighty Oh! Praises Praises saith our Souls forever for evermore who feel his Power in our Hearts at this time And therefore do we write unto all that may be concerned in it That ye beware of that Spirit that was in the Children of Israel in the days of old for the Lord knows right well before whom we stand who knows the Innocency of our Hearts and Spirits that we judge no mans Person nor hint at no Particular the Lord knows but we have heard some say That it was well in the Beginning when there was not so many Meetings and we say the same But Friends consider we beseech you all for our Spirits are bowed down in a Sence of the Work of the Lord in this Island and therefore ye that have known good dayes in your Infancy rest not there but come to your Growth to a Young mans state and to an Old mans state for according to the manner of men in Twenty Years time we come to our Growth much more in the Work of the Lord can we come to teach others And therefore look not back as the Children of Israel did who fainted in their Minds because of their long Travel but take heed of that Spirit that would not have many Meetings nor to have Truth to spread for the Enemy lies near that would betray the Simplicity Therefore thus saith the Lord in our Hearts this day as he did unto Moses in dayes past Speak unto the Children of Israel that they go forward for this is the Day of the Lord's Appearance spiritually he is bringing out of Aegypt by a strong Arm and blessed is every one that helps on the Work and puts his Shoulder to it So faint not Friends in your Minds nor be not weary for the Work is the Lords and he will carry it on it shall Prosper and God prospers it in this Island Everlasting Praises be unto the Lord our God can our Souls truly say who feel the Work of the Lord to Prosper and therefore we say again Let none faint in the Day of Tryal for that 's a Testimony that their Strength is small And therefore Friends be Bold and Valiant for God's blessed Truth and take no thought but wait