A BOOK Of some of the SUFFERINGS AND PASSAGES OF Myles Halhead OF MOVNT-JOY in VNDERBARROW in the County of Westmorland As also Concerning his Labour and Travel in the Work of the Lord And how the LORD supported him and delivered him by his mighty POWER out of the Hands of his Enemies Printed and Sold by A. Sowle at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway-Lane in Shoreditch And at the Three-Keys in Naggs-Head-Court in Grace-Church-Street 1690. A true and faithful Testimony of the tender Love and Fatherly Care of the Lord in keeping and preserving me by his Eternal Arm and Power in all my Straits and Hardships and making good his Promise unto me from time to time even unto the End of my Dayes IN the Year 1652 in the 4th Month I being about the Age of 38 Years it pleased the Lord to reveal the Light of his Son in me and I saw him whom I had peirced and my Sins and Iniquities were laid before me and I went all the day long and in the Night season I could find no rest I travelled many days in Sorrow in this condition and no pleasure could I find in any thing I had in all the World neither in Wife nor Children in House nor Land in Gold nor Money nor any thing I had about my Habitation till it pleased the God of my Life to blot out my Sins and Transgressions and then that which had condemned me and shewed me my Sins and Evil Deeds even the same doth now bear witness for me that the Lord doth love me and that his Countenance doth shine upon me which made my Heart more glad than Corn or Wine or all the Treasures of the whole Earth so that the same Word which had been to me as a two edged Sword and a Hammer is become to me by the love of God sweeter than the Honey or the Honey-Comb Then I heard the Voice of the Lord in me saying I have Loved thee from thy Mother's Womb I have chosen thee to do my Work my powerful presence shall be with thee in the Fire and in the Water I will never leave thee nor forsake thee but I will be thy God and thou shalt serve me all thy dayes Oh this Voice Oh this Voice this heavenly Voice did make my Heart leap with Joy for I was filled with the sweet incomes of God's eternal Love which is of more worth and value than all the Honour and Glory this World can give And in the 6th Moneth in the Year 1652 in the Government of Oliver Cromwell the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go to the Steeple-House in Kendall and speak to the Chief Priest in that place say unto him Friend come down thy Covering is too narrow the Lord God of Heaven and Earth will plead with thee thou painted Hypocrite After these Words I was taken away and brought before John Archer one of the Justices of the Peace so called for that time being who committed me to Prison in the Common-Goal of Kendall And the very first Night as I lay in Prison the Word of the Lord came unto me saying fear not for I will be with thee according to my Promise and will make thee a burthensom Stone unto the Town of Kendall and to thy Persecutors and I will send my Servants my Sons and my Daughters from the East and from the West from the North and from the South to bear witness to the same Truth that thou suffers for yea against the Justice that committed thee therefore be thou faithful for I have chosen thee to be the first that shall suffer for my Names sake in the Town of Kendall And the Lord God made his Promise good unto me for before I was released out of Prison there was committed of my Brethren and Sisters for the same Truths Testimony by the same Justice Archer two of my dear Brethren Francis Howgill and Thomas Holme with thirty more of the Lords Servants with whom I continued about one quarter of a Year at the end of which the Justices being confounded in themselves set me at liberty Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in my Bed saying Arise and put on thy Cloathes and take thy Horse and ride to the Town of Kendall and put on thy great Coat and speak through the Streets of the Town the Words that I shall give thee As the Lord liveth you painted Hypocrites and Dissemblers as you have seen the Lords Servants both his Sons and his Daughters go naked and bare-footed so shall your Covering be rent from you and your dissembling shall be laid open to all men Therefore repent and take warning while you have time And so having cleared my self of the Town James Cocke Mayor sent for me and committed me to Prison and the said Mayor being one of the chiefest Professors in the Town of Kendall had little Peace from the Lord in what he had done till he had released me Then I returned to my House again and had great Peace with the Lord. In the same Year 1652 in the Government of Oliver Cromwell the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go thy ways to Swarthmore where my Lambs and Babes and Children of Light will be gathered together to wait upon my Name I will feed them with the finest of Wheat and with Honey out of the Rock and with the Dew of Heaven I will refresh them that they may grow as Plants of my right Hand planting that above all the Families of the Earth I may rejoyce to do them good So I freely gave up and took my Journey towards Swarthmore and as I was going between Carptmell-Town and Howker-Hall I met with Thomas Preston's Wife and one man with her on foot I passed by her very quietly and had nothing in my Heart to say to her but she being full of Wrath and Envy towards me commanded her man to go back and beat me and so he did and then the mighty power of the Lord did arise in me I spoke these Words to her Oh thou Jezabel thou proud Jezabel canst thou not permit and suffer the Servant of the Lord to pass by thee quietly that had nothing to say unto thee Then she fell upon me in great Rage and held forth her Hands as though she would have struck at me and spitted in my Face and said I scorn to fall down at thy Words Then I said Jezabel thou proud Jezabel thou that hardenest thy Heart and brasenest thy Face against the Lord and his Servant as the Lord liveth he will plead with thee in his own time and set in order before thee things that thou hast done this day to his Servant So I parted with her and went to Swarthmore where I found the Lords People gathered together to wait upon his Name and the Lord was very good unto that Family in feeding them with the Dew of Heaven and with the sweet incomes of his Love according to his promise Glory and Honour
and living eternal Praises be given to the Lord God for evermore About three Moneths after this I was moved of the Lord to go and speak to her again and when I came to Houlter-Hall I asked for Thomas Preston's Wife and she came to the Door her self but I knew her not I asked her if she was the Woman of the House and she said No but if you would speak with Mistress Preston I will intreat her to come to you So she went into the House and brought another Woman with her and said Here is Mistress Preston Then the Lord made it known unto me that she was the Woman then I said Woman how darest thou Lye before the Lord and his Servant Thou art the Woman I came to speak to She was very quiet and did not open her Mouth Then I said Woman hear what the Lord's Servants hath to say unto thee Oh Woman harden not thy Heart against the Lord and his Servant for if thou dost he will cut thee off in his sore displeasure therefore take Warning in time and fear the Lord God 〈◊〉 Heaven and Earth that thou mayst end thy dayes in Peace So I parted with her very quietly and returned to my House in Peace About three Years after this as I was riding from Swarthmore near to Halkor Hall I met with a young Man who said unto me Friend I have something to say unto you which hath lain upon me this long time Truly Friend I am the Man that about three Years since at the command of my Mistress did beat you very sore for which I have been very much troubled more than any thing that ever I did in all my time For truly Night and Day it hath been often in my Heart that I did not well in beating an innocent Man that never did me any hurt or harm I pray you forgive me and desire the Lord to forgive me that I may be at peace and quiet in my mind And I said unto him Truly Friend from that time to this day I never had any thing in my Heart against thee nor thy Mistress but I Love the Lord forgive you both I desire that it may never be laid to your change for ye knew not what ye did So I parted with him 〈◊〉 Heart being exceedingly broken with the true Love of God who hath pleaded my Cause in the Hearts of my Persecutors Glory and Honour and Living Praises be given to the Lord my God for ever of all the Children of Light Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in the 10th Month in the Government of Oliver Cromwell in the year 1652 when I was walking among my Sheep saying Thou shalt not eat nor drink for the space of 14 dayes any thing but Water But fear not for I will feed thee with the Dew of Heaven and with the sweet Incomes of my Love my Word shall be unto thee sweeter than the Honey or the Honey-Comb and I will make thee to know that I am able to keep and preserve thee fresh and strong and able to do my Work without the Creatures as well as with it And so in the Name of the Lord I set on and fasted fourteen dayes without any Meat or Drink save only Water And indeed the Lord was good unto me for in all that time I was kept very fresh and able of Body so that no Friend nor other could discern that I wanted either Meat or Drink So the Lord hath made me a true and faithful witness that the Lord God is the Life and Substance of all the Creatures who is able to support our Bodies with them and without them Glory and Honour be given unto his eternal Name for ever of all the Children of Light Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in the Year 1653 in the 2d Month saying Set thy House in order and go thy way into Cumberland for I have a People there which I have loved from the beginning Whereupon I freely gave up and left my Wife and small Children House and Land and all that I had in this world And as I was going I met with a dear Friend and Brother James Lancaster and I told him what was laid upon me by the Lord and he told me that it was much in him to go with me so we concluded to go together and declared the Lord's eternal Truth in those parts So we went into several Towns and Villages and Steeple-Houses and spoke the Word of the Lord as we were moved and much Persecution fell to our share in that County but many were Convinced of the eternal Truth about Cockermouth and Pardsaw for the Lord 's eternal Word was with us according to his Promise and when we were free and clear of Cumberland we returned to our own Houses again and had great Peace with the Lord. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me in the year of our Lord 1653. in the fourth Month in the Government of Oliver saying Go thy way into York-Shire and declare my Word freely that I shall give thee and fear not the Face of my Man for I will be with thee according to my Promise and speak to the Mayor of York the Word that I shall give thee Then I went as I was commanded of the Lord into York-Shire and came to a Town called Setle from thence to Scripton where I suffered much Persecution for declaring there the Word of Truth and was sorely wounded and laid up for a dead Man nevertheless the Lord was good unto me and healed me by his Eternal Power of all my sore Bruises for within three Houres I was a sound Man to the great astonishment of my Persecutors and the convinceing of many that beheld me this working a very good Effect in the Hearts of the People Thence I went as I was moved of the Lord to Bradford Leeds and Hallifax and declared the Lord's Truth amongst them and much Persecution fell to my lot in those parts but the Lord was good unto me according to his Promise From thence I Travelled to the Town of Doncaster and was moved to go on a first Day to a Steeple-House in that Town and when their Worship was done I spoke as I was moved of the Lord to the Priest and People and they were in great rage and Persecuted me much and drove me out of the Town and being sorely Wounded and Bruised they left me for dead notwithstanding by the Power of God I arose up and got to a Friends House about a Mile from the Town and lay me down upon a Bed and immediately the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Arise and go thy way to yonder little Chappel and speak my Word freely that I shall give thee and I will make thee a sound Man Then I got up on my Feet as well as I could and came down out of the Chamber taking hold of the Walls to support me and setting on freely towards the Chappel I
I was free of that Town I returned to my Wife and Children at Mount joy and had great Peace with the God of Life Again the Word of the Lord came unto me as I was following the Plow in the Year 1655 in the first Month saying Go thy way to the City of London and as thou passes speak my Word freely that I shall put into thy Heart to the Judges and Rulers in this Nation and fear not the face of any man for I will be with thee in the Fire and in the Water and in all thy Troubles and Hardships and I will uphold thee by my eternal Arm and Power according to my Word and Promise Then I went into Yorkshire and travelled up and down as I was moved and came to the City of York and from thence to Hull and so to Beverley and spoke the Word of the Lord to the Heads and Rulers as the Lord commanded me and the Lord's hand did uphold me in all my Travels Thence I passed through Leicestershire and Lincolnshire and spoke the Word of the Lord as I was moved to the Priests People and Rulers and so came to the City of London and there I found many of my dear Brethren where I staid about ten dayes and then my dear Brother Thomas Salthouse and I passed for Bristol and so to Excetter and Plimouth where we suffered much Persecution and were Imprisoned at the Town of Plimouth and Excetter about one year but the Lord God was with us in all our Troubles and Imprisonments and made us a burthensome Stone to all our Persecutors as may be readmore at large in a Book entituled The Wounds of an Enemy in the House of a Friend So the Lord in his own time freed us of all our Bonds and Imprisonments according to his promise Glory and Honour and Eternal Praises be given to his Name forever A Copy of a Letter I was moved to write to my Wife Ann Halhead My deart Heart my dear Love in the Bowels of Love in the Lord Jesus Christ salutes thee and my Children My Soul my Soul is poured forth in love to thee daily and the Breathings of my Soul to my Father is for thee that thou may be kept in the fear of the Lord and in his counsel daily that thou mayst come to Rest and Peace that is laid up for all that fear him and walk in obedience to the Light that Jesus Christ hath enlightned them withal So my dear Heart I declare to thee in the presence of the living God who is Lord of Heaven and Earth and before Men and Angels There is no other way that leads to Peace and Eternal Rest but walking in obedience to the Light that comes from Jesus Christ and of this Light thou hast received a measure Therefore my dear Heart be faithful to the Lord in what is made known to thee that thou mayst come to witness true Peace and Rest that Eye hath not seen nor Ear hath not heard neither hath is entred into the Heart of Man what is laid up for all them that fear him So my dear Heart as I have found Peace and Eternal Rest to my Soul from the Lord so am I moved of the Lord in love in love to thy Soul to shew thee the way that leads to Peace and Eternal Rest which Way is Christ who is the Light and the Way that leads to the Father from whence all Light comes and of this Light which comes from Christ I bear record thou hast received a measure Therefore in dear love I exhort thee to walk in obedience to thy measure which thou hast received from the Lord. So in the presence of the Lord God do I declare that walking in obedience to this Light that comes from Christ is the way that leads to eternal Rest and Peace therefore as thou tenders the eternal good of thy Soul be faithful to the Light that comes from Christ which Light beareth witness against Lying and Swearing and vain Talking and all manner of Evil. So my dear Wife in bowels of dear Love to thy Soul which is more pretious than all the World have I shewed thee the way if thou wilt walk in it it will lead thee into the eternal Covenant of Life and Peace So my dear Wife in love in love I have cleared my Conscience to thee in the presence of the Living God as a true and faithful Husband to thee desiring thy eternal good well-fare as my own the Lord God is my witness Dear Wife remember my dear Love to all my Friends and Country-men according to the Flesh for I desire the eternal good and well-fare of you all and that you may all come to believe in the Light in your own Consciences which Jesus Christ hath enlighted you withal which Light bears witness against Lying and Smearing and all manner of Evil This is the Light of Christ and walking in obedience to this Light is the way that leads out of Sin and Evil up to God eternal blessed for evermore and he that acts contrary to this Light in his own Conscience it is his Condemnation Now dear Friends while you have time prise it Thy Husband and a Lover of thy Soul Myles Halhead Wiltshire the 7th day of the 3d Month 1655. An Epistle of Love to Friends DEarly beloved Friends and Brethren in the North of England even to the South the Land of our Nativity whom the Lord God of Heaven and Earth hath called and chosen in this the day of his eternal everlasting Love to serve him in Truth and in Righteousness who hath received the Lord's Truth in the love of it not only to believe in his Name but to suffer Bonds and Imprisonments and hard Sentences for the Testimony of Jesus and Word of God Dear Friends and beloved Brethren my Prayers to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth and Soul's desire is for you all that you may all dwell together as Children of one Father in the eternal Bond of Love and Oneness of the Spirit that you may all grow in the eternal living Truth of God to be established upon the Rock and sure Foundation that the Gates of Hell and Death cannot prevail against you that under the shadow of the Wings of the Almighty you may all be kept and preserved in Peace and Rest now in the day of Tryal and hour of Darkness when Hell hath opened her Mouth and the raging Sea cast out her proud Waves even like to overflow the Banks Glory Glory and eternal living Praises be given to the Lord God and to the lamb for evermore of all the Children of Light who hath found out a resting place for all his dear Ones Lambs and Babes and Children of Light to flee unto in the needful time of trouble where none can make them affraid nor take away their Peace as they abide faithful to him who is our way our Light our Life our Strength and eternal Portion forever My dear Friends
Reward according to his Work Glory and Honour and living eternal Praises be given to the God of my Life for evermore who is the good Shepherd of my Soul who hath enabled me to do his Work and Service and hath brought me by his eternal Arm and Power safely to my own House again and hath given me Joy and Peace that all the Persecutors in all the World cannot take from me as I dwell and abide faithful unto him who is the good Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul who is my Light my Life my Joy and Peace and eternal Portion for evermore Amen Again in the Year 1669 in the Reign of King Charles about the 5th Month the Word of the Lord came to me saying Go thy way into Cumberland Northumberland and Bishoprick and Yorkshire where I have sent thee formerly to declare my Word and to shew them the Way as thou hadst received it of me that leads to Life and Peace that all the World are but Talkers of and many in that day did receive thy Testimony with gladness of Heart Go thy way and take thy Horse and pass into these Countries and speak my Word freely to my own People my Sons and my Daughters whom I have called and chosen out of the World and the barren Mountains thereof to serve me in Truth and in Righteousness all their dayes Lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet and speak to my own People and charge them in my Name to prepare themselves for I will come and take account of them even from the greatest to the least and he that hath ten Tallents given him shall count for ten and he that hath five Tallents given him shall count for five and he that hath two given shall count for two and every one of my Servants Sons and Daughters shall count for what they have received of me So I was very free in my Spirit to tell my dear Brother Robert Withers a faithful man a fellow Labourer in the Lord's work what lay upon me from the Lord and he was made free to go with me So in obedience to the Lord we were made very willing to go into these Countries to speak to the Lord's People who had received the Lord's Truth in the love it and many of our dear Friends and Brethren were exceedingly broken and their Hearts tendred with the Lord's Testimony and with the true sence of God's everlasting Love and tender fatherly Care to them who hath sent his Servants to give them warning that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth will come and take account of every one of his Servants both Sons and Daughters from the greatest to the least that they may be prepared to meet the Lord with Joy and Rejoycing that they may give their Account with gladness of Heart and so receive the blessed Sentence that the Lord hath prepared for all the Faithful and Upright in Heart that they may finish and end their dayes in Peace and lie down in the Bosom of the Father with all the holy Men of God So when we had been in all these Counties and had many good and pretious Meetings amongst our dear Friends and Brethren to the strenthening and refershing one another in the holy Faith Being free of the Lord's burthen we returned to our outward beings again and had great Peace with the Lord. A true Account of Myles Halhead of Mount-Joy concerning the Payment or Non-payment of his Tythes from the first I was Convinced of the Truth which was in the Year of our Lord 1652 to this present Year 1673. WIthin one year after I had received the Lord's Truth I was moved of the Lord to speak to Tho. Wilson of Heversham-hall he coming to my house to demand Tythe-Wooll and Lamb I said unto him Friend I have paid thee thy Tythes for Wool and Lamb as truly as any man hath done ever since I had Goods of my own to this day but now the Lord God of my Life hath out of his eternal Love to me opened my Understanding and let me clearly see the Unjustness and Unlawfulness of Tythes therefore I dare pay them no more lest I grieve and provoke the God of my Life therefore Friend do what thou pleasest with me for I cannot pay thee Tythes any more The man was very quiet and moderate and said He did believe that I had paid him very truly and he thought that I denyed them not out of any self end therefore if it were not for the Example of others I would not have any Tythe of thee for my time And when I had freed my self of this Testimony I was moved and made willing by the Power of the Lord to leave my House and Family and go as I was commanded to declare the Word of the Lord in Ireland and Scotland and in my own Country and stayed two years together in the Lord's Service and was very little at my own House for many years but what my Wife did then being not convinced of the Truth it is very likely she payed or agreed with him And now of late years when I grew old and infirm and my Eye-sight faileth me I have been sometime at my own house when Jo. Archer sent his men to demand Tythe-Wooll and Lamb I desired his men to let their Man know that he might do what he pleased with me for I could pay him none no more then I could do to Tho. Wilson of Heversham-hall which was in the same place before him Given forth by MYLES HALHEAD of Mount-joy IN the year 1673 in the Reign of King Charles I being in my Bed at a Friend's house in Plymouth in the County of Devonshire the Word of the Lord came to me saying Arise and go thy way and speak to John Lambert the words that I shall give thee so I went to a Friend to desire him to procure a Vessel that I might pass over to a little Island near to the King 's great Fort in Plymouth that I might speak to John Lambert who was Prisoner in that Island and a Vessel we procured and passed to the Island the same day and there we found a strong Guard of Soldiers a Lievtenant asked me What was my Business to the Island I said I desire to speak to John Lambert and then he asked me If I was ever a Captain under his Command and I said No the Soldiers were very quiet and moderate I desired the Lievtenant to bring me to John Lambert and so he did and when I came before him I said Friend is thy Name John Lambert and he said Yea then I said unto him Friend I pray thee hear what the Servant of the Lord hath to say to thee Friend the Lord God made use of thee and others for the Deliverance of his People and when you cryed to him he delivered you in your Distresses as at Dunbar and other places and gave you an opportunity into your hands to do good and you promised what great things you would do for the Lord's People but truly John Lambert you soon forgot your Promises you made to the Lord in that day and time of your great Distress and turned the Edge of your Sword against the Lord's Servants and Hand-maids whom he sent forth to declare his eternal Truth and made Laws and consented to Laws and suffered and permitted Laws to be made against the Lord's People Then John Lambert answered and said Friend I would have you know that some of us never made Laws nor consented to Laws to persecute you nor none of your Friends for Persecution we ever were against I answered and said John Lambert it may be so but the Scripture of Truth is fulfilled by the best of you for although that thee and some others have not given your Consent to make Laws against the Lord's People yet ye suffered and permitted